The best college sports mascots and logos strike fear into the hearts of competitors, but Nicholls State University has managed to terrify even its own alumni with its revamped logo.
“It looked like a Nazi soldier — a very angry Nazi soldier,” Hollie Garrison, a Nicholls alumna, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “My jaw dropped. I was speechless. I kind of thought it was a joke.”
Let’s hope the controversy has settled by next week, when Nicholls State unveils the new uniform of its mascot, Col. Tillou, named for the former Louisiana governor and Confederate officer Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls.
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23 Responses to Winner, Creepiest Athletics Logo
geoz32 - August 18, 2009 at 4:38 pm
I don’t support the Confederate legacy. The acts of traitors to the United States don’t deserve recognition any more than Tim McVeigh would be a good logo for Oklahoma.
22207901 - August 18, 2009 at 4:53 pm
This logo is beyond bizarre; it would make a good cover illustration for Isaac Babel’s _Red Cavalry_. An angry white colonel wielding a sword to represent a Southern public institution in the twenty-first century! I had lost track of David Duke, but I guess he has the public relations job at Nicholls.
rburns - August 18, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Yes, yes. Let’s insist that every school’s athletics logo is full of nobility, ethics and character—just like the athletics programs they will represent. Go ahead, Nicholls State, find some minority or northern figure who can front for your ego centric sports teams. If you and the other schools really cared about the students of a public university in the 21st century you would spend all that money on the students’ education, not events your fans can use to couch their tail gate parties and beer blasts.
cwinton - August 18, 2009 at 5:33 pm
I think these folks should go with a colonel we’ve actually heard of, perhaps Colonel Klink, or even better, Colonel Sanders.
12022055 - August 18, 2009 at 6:03 pm
@geoz32 I wonder if you defend Sherman’s actions?
carrsa - August 18, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Can’t wait to hear the accompanying infectious new fight song, “Eviscerate the Contagion.”
terryair - August 18, 2009 at 8:38 pm
the T-P reporter has it right. I assume that geoz032 refers to William Tecumseh Sherman, the first president of LSU.
jasonpaneque - August 19, 2009 at 9:34 am
I don’t see a Nazi soldier or a Confederate officer. It just looks like a guy with a sword, which would fit right in with some other logos and mascots such as USC’s Trojan Warriors, for example.
drtimothy - August 19, 2009 at 9:44 am
What’s with all the pc-isms? Let it go, already.
ccherry - August 19, 2009 at 11:16 am
pc-ism or not, what’s unusual about the symbol is that it depicts a human with ordinary proportions in common military attire. The sword adds a menacing touch. These features combine to make an odd graphic. Mascots are often caricatures of animals.
minnesotan - August 19, 2009 at 1:04 pm
The guy’s grey, not white. Clearly a tip of the hat toward integration and the univerity’s support of mixed-race marriages. Some day, hopefully, we’ll all see the world in shades of grey (and maroon?).
eelalien - August 19, 2009 at 1:12 pm
ccherry – I believe it IS a caricature of an animal – it’s a red-state gladiated loon!
unusedusername - August 19, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Ha Ha Ha! This is unbelievable! The only thing missing is the armband. The incredible thing is that several people must have given this the OK before it was released to the public.
crunchycon - August 19, 2009 at 2:11 pm
eel alien — how childish, but then, that is the way wacko liberals make comments ;-)
crunchycon - August 19, 2009 at 2:15 pm
btw, i find the image creepy — not defending it at all
geoz32 - August 20, 2009 at 8:59 am
No, I wasn’t defending or addressing General Sherman’s actions. I think if you re-read my comments you won’t find his name in there. If you have another point, make it.
amccormick - August 20, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Forget the idiotic political jibes, this is a chilling image of someone about to kill or maim you. Go Cossacks!
dkriebel - August 20, 2009 at 7:09 pm
The guy’s wearing a modern officer’s hat, found in many militaries around the world, including ours. Nothing Nazi (or especially, Confederate) about it. It’s a case of the eye of the beholder.And as mascots generally being animals, maybe, but the team is called the “colonels,” after all. The only colonels I know of are human.
bmljenny - August 21, 2009 at 2:15 pm
The Nazi uniform hat did not have a big “N-for-Nazi” on it. Of course, according to the old photos, the real Nicholls had a big ol’ Freddie Mercury moustache. That would have been a nice touch.
ebonstorm - August 21, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Okay, this is a case of much ado about nothing. I just spent the last fifteen minutes searching out all of the college sports logos from all over the nation.1. This logo isnt any more militant than any of the others. It just happens to be one of the few with a human being in it. There are several with giant bears (claws out and arms open) swooping eagles, slashing tigers, and snarling cardinals. There are several with human heads but usually side or profile shots. Okay, so this guy is backhanding you with a saber. His intent is clear and that is the goal of advertising, to send clear messages. Message received. (And for those of you not in the know, his attack posture with his sword held that way would certainly get him killed. But he looked cool…)2. The uniform is no more reminiscent of anything Nazi than any other military uniform. There is barely anything at all on which to call it a uniform EXCEPT his hat. That hat is on par with most police force officer hats and with militaries all over the world. (How many ways can you make a military officer hat? Apparently there are only a few designs used to date.)3. People tend to see what you tell them. Before anyone made mention of Nazi’s I saw exactly what the name of the group told me, a colonel. And just because people see white supremacy everywhere does not mean this logo was catering to it. I am a black man and don’t see anything offensive in the least. A strong logo, maybe a bit intimidating, but if I were that team, I would certainly be able to rally around that.For those of you seeing white supremacy, grow up and get a life. Maybe they are out to get you, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
tee_bee - August 21, 2009 at 10:49 pm
It’s bizarre. But this kind of bad imagery is what you get from image consultants these days. I find it odd that the uniform (the hat) is modern. Replace the saber with a nightstick and you can use this for the Concerned Citizens’ Leagues. But what the heck–if this school wants to go with something as clunky and awkward and fraught with mixed messages as this, I guess that’s their call. Keep us posted on how this works out for them.
jrpluta - August 24, 2009 at 8:56 am
Please tell me that they did not pay someone to come up with this logo. What a waste of money that could go directly to support students. I mean really, is it just me, or is there something disturbing about this logo? There are indeed some unsettling tones to the image regardless if it was not intended. I t seems to me, that in this day in age of heightened cultural and historic sensitivity that the school would have chosen a mascot that is more neutral and thus less offensive. Weird.
bigbou - August 31, 2009 at 6:19 pm
The new mascot is perfect. He accurately portrays the totalitarian dictatorship that rules over the fiefdom of faculty members that are forced into submission of Good Old Boy politics for fear of being unjustly fired from their jobs. What in the world is SACS thinking when they reup the accreditation on this institution that treats women like toys and hires good buddies before even announcing positions. Yes, folks, you might as well know that those jobs you are applying for are pretty much sealed deals before they ever get posted in the Chronicle.