Held Prisoner in Hampton Roads

School ties . . .

. . . dissolved.

The mascot/team name of the small-town high school I attended in Illinois was the Bulldogs. The Virden (IL) Community High School Bulldogs, that is. Our colors were purple and white.

No longer.

Virden schools have now consolidated with nearby Girard (IL), and now the Bulldogs and our #2 sports rival, the Redbirds are now one.

Of course, neither mascot could survive, as that would cause an inter-village war among the athletic supporters (so to speak). So some sort of referendum was held, and the schools have a new name, new colors and a new mascot.

The school name is North Mac, the colors are black and blue, and the mascot is a panther - showing a complete lack of imagination, I might add.

North Mac comes from North Macoupin County, IL, where the schools are located. However, I suspect a forthcoming lawsuit from McDonalds, as they believe they have full rights to anything starting with Mc or Mac.

Black and blue colors for a football team? Come on. Besides, the new logo is an exact copy of an existing logo for a semi-pro team.

Finally, there are NO panthers in Illinois, panthers have no historical connection to Illinois, and there are already dozens of teams in in the state with the same name.

At least it's an improvement of the name the Pekin, IL teams formerly used. Can you believe the Pekin "Chinks?" Yep, because Pekin sounds kind of like the old pronuncation for China's capital, they were called the "Chinks."

Makes the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians nicknames a bit tame.

Why should I care?

I guess I really don't, but high school years are some of the most formative of our lives, and changing those anchors of who we are just doesn't seem right.