Free Quebec wrote:

Hippos would be a disaster for recruiting for women’s sports.  Not exactly a flattering nickname.

This and Boaty McBoatface  is why GW can’t put it up to a vote

GWRising wrote:

Skittles wrote:

The Colonials in the schools case mostly refers to both the time period when the revolution began as well as the colonies of our blossoming country. That is exclusively what it refers to. It was the colonial period. That's not the same thing as a focus on colonizing or the act of creating the original colonies. If "colonials" offends you I agree with the above sentiment of getting rid of the crusaders and cowboys and musketeers and every other Mascot related to troublesome history and activities. Hell, is the GW part next? Without him there's no THIS as we know it. But he had slaves. So where do you draw this line the "woke" culture has demanded of you?

C'mon Skittles there is no line to be drawn because there is rank hypocrisy. These kids are so full of it and it's mostly our generation's fault because we generally raised them in the participation trophy era and acted as snow plow parents so they wouldn't have to suffer consequences of their actions. They scream "Stop Climate Change"  and you say "Ok hand over your iphone and stop taking 20 minute showers." And they say "Wait, what do you mean?" They scream "no more bigotry and racism" but have no problem fully supporting regimes (ex. Palestinians like Hamas) where the culture is to harass and even kill those who identify as LGBTQ. There is no appreciation of anything that came before them and almost everything that came before them should be nullified because it existed in an era that they viewed as fundamentally flawed because there were aspects that were terrible (as if these geniuses don't think 100 years from now people won't find things done today by them to be flawed and terrible). 

 Whoa! Calm down.  Those are some amazing generalizations.
 

GW73 wrote:

GWRising wrote:

Skittles wrote:

The Colonials in the schools case mostly refers to both the time period when the revolution began as well as the colonies of our blossoming country. That is exclusively what it refers to. It was the colonial period. That's not the same thing as a focus on colonizing or the act of creating the original colonies. If "colonials" offends you I agree with the above sentiment of getting rid of the crusaders and cowboys and musketeers and every other Mascot related to troublesome history and activities. Hell, is the GW part next? Without him there's no THIS as we know it. But he had slaves. So where do you draw this line the "woke" culture has demanded of you?

C'mon Skittles there is no line to be drawn because there is rank hypocrisy. These kids are so full of it and it's mostly our generation's fault because we generally raised them in the participation trophy era and acted as snow plow parents so they wouldn't have to suffer consequences of their actions. They scream "Stop Climate Change"  and you say "Ok hand over your iphone and stop taking 20 minute showers." And they say "Wait, what do you mean?" They scream "no more bigotry and racism" but have no problem fully supporting regimes (ex. Palestinians like Hamas) where the culture is to harass and even kill those who identify as LGBTQ. There is no appreciation of anything that came before them and almost everything that came before them should be nullified because it existed in an era that they viewed as fundamentally flawed because there were aspects that were terrible (as if these geniuses don't think 100 years from now people won't find things done today by them to be flawed and terrible). 

 Whoa! Calm down.  Those are some amazing generalizations.
 

 Not that amazing and not that general. Try talking to a few kids especially at schools like GW. I am among them a lot. Gen Z mostly. I am telling you without almost any hesitation that the future is not bright if we continue down this path.

Jettisoning the old nickname is a bunch of woke crap! Now we're in big trouble as the two other really good options are taken, ie, Eagles (AU) and Patriots (Mason), although the latter might be too militaristic and America-centric for the woke crowd. How about The George Washington Men's Basketball Club? That shouldn't be too controversial, but it would be tough fitting that on a jersey. 

When I read the phrase "the participation trophy era", I have to admit that I take exception with this.  First, allow me to start with the actual participation trophy.  This isn't a bad thing in and of itself.  In fact it's a good thing.  I've coached youth sports and at younger ages, my kids' faces beamed as I handed out their participation trophies.  They developed a sense of accomplishment and confidence at a young age.  A good thing. 

Interestingly, the league I was coaching in decided at a point to stop providing these.  Trophies only went to division and league champions.  At first, I was faced with "where's my trophy?", from players and parents alike.  When I explained what the new policy was going to be, everyone understood.  Nobody cried.  Nobody complained.  Nobody was outraged that something which had historically been provided was no longer gointg to be.

Today, my own children are young adults.  I look at them and their friends.  There isn't a spoiled brat to be found.  Not one who expects something for nothing.  They all seem to understand the value of working hard, contributing to society, and being compensated fairly for effort and performance.  

Over the course of history, practically involving any group of people concerning any issue, there has been and will always be a few bad apples to spoil the bunch.  These voices tend to be louder than others which may explain in part why the "participation trophy generation" tends to get stereotyped and whose opinions often tend to get magnified.  There's no denying that there are spoiled, selfish people in this world.  But are there really any more of them in Generation Z than in any other generation?

You'll notice that I have not used the word woke until now.  Those characterized as woke tend to be often perceived by some as selfish and petulant.  Again, to be certain, some of these individuals are likely just that.  But is that how every woke person came to be?  Or maybe, they simply hold passionate views about changing the world for what they see as for the better, but don't necessarily feel any sense of entitlement for holding these views?  Can we all agree that this possibility certainly is viable?

I'll say this very simply.  I am far, far more turned off by someone who is selfish,  or by someone who feels falsely entitled, than I am someone who is perceived as woke.  Merely handing out participation trophies did not cause this.  At the same time, ultimately demanding and feeling entitled to receive these trophies did not help matters.

Gwmayhem wrote:

When I read the phrase "the participation trophy era", I have to admit that I take exception with this.  First, allow me to start with the actual participation trophy.  This isn't a bad thing in and of itself.  In fact it's a good thing.  I've coached youth sports and at younger ages, my kids' faces beamed as I handed out their participation trophies.  They developed a sense of accomplishment and confidence at a young age.  A good thing. 

Interestingly, the league I was coaching in decided at a point to stop providing these.  Trophies only went to division and league champions.  At first, I was faced with "where's my trophy?", from players and parents alike.  When I explained what the new policy was going to be, everyone understood.  Nobody cried.  Nobody complained.  Nobody was outraged that something which had historically been provided was no longer gointg to be.

Once again, GWMayhem shoots and scores. Great post.

Today, my own children are young adults.  I look at them and their friends.  There isn't a spoiled brat to be found.  Not one who expects something for nothing.  They all seem to understand the value of working hard, contributing to society, and being compensated fairly for effort and performance.  

Over the course of history, practically involving any group of people concerning any issue, there has been and will always be a few bad apples to spoil the bunch.  These voices tend to be louder than others which may explain in part why the "participation trophy generation" tends to get stereotyped and whose opinions often tend to get magnified.  There's no denying that there are spoiled, selfish people in this world.  But are there really any more of them in Generation Z than in any other generation?

You'll notice that I have not used the word woke until now.  Those characterized as woke tend to be often perceived by some as selfish and petulant.  Again, to be certain, some of these individuals are likely just that.  But is that how every woke person came to be?  Or maybe, they simply hold passionate views about changing the world for what they see as for the better, but don't necessarily feel any sense of entitlement for holding these views?  Can we all agree that this possibility certainly is viable?

I'll say this very simply.  I am far, far more turned off by someone who is selfish,  or by someone who feels falsely entitled, than I am someone who is perceived as woke.  Merely handing out participation trophies did not cause this.  At the same time, ultimately demanding and feeling entitled to receive these trophies did not help matters.

Gwmayhem -

To be clear, it is the combination of participation trophies and snow plow parenting that has led to most of the issues. So I blame the parents not the kids. This generation has become entitled in a different way. because they have been sheltered from any negative outcomes and told they are special at every turn no matter the behavior or action (see Mom, I got a trophy even when I finished last and it's the same trophy as the champions got ... see Mom, I failed the test but they are going to pass me anyway because it's the teacher's fault I failed ... see Mom, I walked out of school to protest ____________, but even though its against the rules to leave school, they will not punish me because the administration believes in the cause I was protesting) . The entitlement is also that they can conduct themselves as they please without consequence if they believe their cause is just (whether or not is in fact just). If you think that is a recipe for productive individuals within a society then we will just have to agree to disagree because life comes at you fast and all the participation trophies and snow plow parenting can't protect you forever from the consequences of life. These kids are ill-prepared for adversity and when it strikes you can see it. Perhaps GW69 can weigh in here but everything I read is suicides are up for Gen Z, more Gen Z kids on anti-depressants than ever before, and there is more anger and disrespect of fellow humans than at probably anytime in recent memory. Whatever we are doing isn't working!


 

I'm dropping in The GW Rockets!

Free Quebec wrote:

GWRising wrote:

Skittles wrote:

The Colonials in the schools case mostly refers to both the time period when the revolution began as well as the colonies of our blossoming country. That is exclusively what it refers to. It was the colonial period. That's not the same thing as a focus on colonizing or the act of creating the original colonies. If "colonials" offends you I agree with the above sentiment of getting rid of the crusaders and cowboys and musketeers and every other Mascot related to troublesome history and activities. Hell, is the GW part next? Without him there's no THIS as we know it. But he had slaves. So where do you draw this line the "woke" culture has demanded of you?

C'mon Skittles there is no line to be drawn because there is rank hypocrisy. These kids are so full of it and it's mostly our generation's fault because we generally raised them in the participation trophy era and acted as snow plow parents so they wouldn't have to suffer consequences of their actions.). 

I really don’t care to get involved in this argument, but I just want to say that the “participation trophy” argument about young people is like the dumbest, most trite, snowflake argument someone can make.

You know who grew up with participation trophies? Every friggin American under the age of 55, maybe older. I was getting them when I was 8 - and I’m 52. So the idea that kids today are a problem because of participation trophies is just such a lazy, inaccurate canard.

If you’re going to use it to talk smack about kids today, like you are a hard ass and kids today are just soft compared to you, you might as well wear a shirt that says “I’m an old snowflake who likes to complain about young people, doesn’t care about facts, and is using the same jokes comedians were making in 35 years ago.” And you can top it off with the “I’m the real victim. No seriously” hat that completes the ensemble.

 
Haha guy with snowflake moniker comes on here to respond to something he claims to not care about and makes the biggest snowflake argument yet. Thanks for making my point and it figures you got participation trophies as a child. 

Anyone who unironically uses the terms "woke" or "snowflake" is unserious. Hate to state the obvious, but Gen Z is in almost zero positions of power anywhere in the world. Stuff doesn't suck because of us and to write off a whole generation based on strawman arguments and bad experiences on this campus is silly.

It's all old men yelling at clouds on this board.