GW Hoops / GW New Moniker Discussion

**Posted by GW Alum Abroad** 2/15/2023 9:15 pm

None of them are very good, and certainly none is as good as "Colonials" (which says something). Almost makes me wonder why to bother with having a nickname at all; Real Madrid is known simply as "Real Madrid", and it works pretty well for them.
Some of these are just atrocious-- aside from naming and receiving a few, what the fuck did George Washington ever have to do with ambassadors? One poster dismissed "Squad" for its use in the current political vernacular, but in that context what about "Truth"?!?!? And both "Squad" and "Truth" are just plain stupid nicknames even without DC´s political context. What kind of an acid trip does one need to be on to encounter Blue Fog in real life? This does not end well, and the poor new University president is going to be stuck with this turd sandwhich like it or not. Much like "New Coke" and the Ford Pinto, this is making out to be a case study for branding mistakes in business.

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (2/15/2023 9:16 pm)

**Posted by Tennessee Colonial** 2/15/2023 10:05 pm

Terrible, every one. Idiots. Shameful, just shameful and such a waste of money because of plain stupidity. GW announces a new change. Who is GW? Bunch of knuckleheads.

**Posted by moneybox** 2/15/2023 10:13 pm

pick a damn animal and just go with it!

**Posted by FredD** 2/16/2023 7:54 am

trops_fc wrote:
GW0509 wrote:

March 4 men’s basketball game: At the nationally televised men’s basketball game on March 4, which tips off against VCU at 4:30 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center, GW community members will be able to participate in an in-person activity during the game to show support for their preferred moniker option.
Feel like this should get more attention - if senior night vs. VCU isn't enough to get people out, then here's a golden opportunity for fans to get their voices heard.

What a fantastically stupid idea. Really what are they thinking? The outcomes will be some combination of the following

1. Falls flat bc of apathy small crowd
2. VCU fans making fun of the whole thing
3. Some sort of Boaty McBoatface/Hippo smarmy nonsense
4. Anger

After being so serious about this whole thing it ENDS with a lame attempt at fun? Just adding to the Dont Do It This Way case study. I am truly an idiot for thinking GW would do anything else than meticulously build a tire fire.

Last edited by FredD (2/16/2023 7:54 am)

**Posted by GW69** 2/16/2023 9:09 am

Clearly my priorities are skewed.With all the shit that happening in the world right now-mass shootings-
earthquakes-seemingly deep schisms in our political and social cultures what really upsets me is this
incredibly infantile moniker nonsense that we are stuck with.I feel like crying-seriously.We(collective)
can’t even get this right!Absolutely astonishing.People who are “somewhat”depressed are often just
being realistic.

**Posted by Mentzinger** 2/16/2023 9:42 am

GW69 wrote:
Clearly my priorities are skewed.With all the shit that happening in the world right now-mass shootings-
earthquakes-seemingly deep schisms in our political and social cultures what really upsets me is this
incredibly infantile moniker nonsense that we are stuck with.I feel like crying-seriously.We(collective)
can’t even get this right!Absolutely astonishing.People who are “somewhat”depressed are often just
being realistic.

It's almost like we got to 27-3 and started a campaign to incrementally doom the program, starting with admission of recruiting guilt in the press, loudly stating an HS diploma is not necessarily a prerequisite for admission, backing an AD known to be sexually harassing student-athletes by producing false stories in the press, firing a successful basketball coach whose stated wish was to remain a Colonial for life and replacing him with someone whose highest prior title had been DBO, attaching untrue animus to the Colonials nickname, publicly berating spirited fans ... I know, let's rename the entire university by lottery and then start playing our home games in Virginia. Clearly we will never return to the NCAA Tournament and, if we do, will begin naval gazing as to why the hell that happened, exactly. Our inflated sense of self-importance is absolutely withering.

Last edited by Mentzinger (2/16/2023 9:42 am)

**Posted by Gwmayhem** 2/16/2023 9:45 am

Since Colonials is falling by the wayside largely due to a mnisinterpreted definition, it's only fair that we define revolutionaries, my presumed leader in the clubhouse (not what I'd like but what I think will happen).

Revolutionary: A person who works for or engages in political revolution.

A revolutionary person fearlessly advocates radical change. Revolutionary people and ideas challenge the staus quo and might be violent or willing to upset the natural order to achieve their goals. Revolutionary leaders want to change the world by any means necessary.

While violence is not a prerequisite for being regarded as revolutionary, the simple question is what images, themes, and subjects come to mind when one hears the word?

Revolutionary War
Guns/Muskets
Violence
And to a lesser extent, The Beatles.

Whatever problem anyone has with Colonials, how do we not have a similar problem with Revolutionaries?

**Posted by Mentzinger** 2/16/2023 9:45 am

FredD wrote:
Better the 100TH Wildcat than any of these

Rams. It must be Rams, as we obviously aspire to be Fordham, VCU or a third-rate New England state school.

**Posted by BM** 2/16/2023 9:55 am

GW69 wrote:
All of them suck.For me the best of the bunch is revolutionaries-but even that ain’t great.Should be “Revolution”.As far as I know only New England soccer MLS has that moniker.I don’t think any university does.Didn’t the colonials fight in the revolution?

That's even better!

Colonials stank from the beginning. The only chant we had using it was "here we go co-lo-nials, here we go, clap clap"

yawn

**Posted by Steve Urkel** 2/16/2023 10:01 am

George Mason with the epic troll job after last night's win

https://twitter.com/MasonMBB/status/1626036558808612865

**Posted by Poog** 2/16/2023 10:14 am

Still miss “Raggedy shoes. Raggedy socks. We’ve got the team that really rocks. Rock, Colonials rock! Rock, Colonials rock.” Still think the best thing would be for the school to have an announcement press conference and have Patrick Duffy come out wrapped in a towel with wet hair and ask Chris Monroe sitting in the front row, “As a returning senior, how do you think your Colonials will do this year in Coach Hobbs’ 2nd year as head coach?”

**Posted by moneybox** 2/16/2023 10:39 am

Not to worry. The sound system is so bad that that no one will hear anyone "weighing in" anyway.

**Posted by moneybox** 2/16/2023 10:41 am

This makes the choice of "Commanders" look downright brilliant. I have an alternative. How about the moniker "Colonials but not the oppressive kind"?

**Posted by BGF** 2/16/2023 11:16 am

moneybox wrote:
This makes the choice of "Commanders" look downright brilliant. I have an alternative. How about the moniker "Colonials but not the oppressive kind"?

Brilliant.

I have tried to steer clear of this conversation, because I’m so truly bothered and disappointed in the university for how they’ve handle this. I imagine that they’re going to consider people like me, and likely like you, to be whiners who need to get with the times.

I will continue to root for the Colonials. I will root for GW. There’s not a single name on there that is any better than what we have now.

**Posted by creeksandzeeks** 2/16/2023 11:17 am

Free Quebec wrote:
Just call us the Foggy Bottoms. You’d sell a ton in merch And makes more sense than the blue fog.

Especially in July and August.

**Posted by WisconsinColonial2021** 2/16/2023 8:16 pm

If we go with Revolutionaries, maybe our uniforms can have a picture of Che Guevara on the front. That’s the only one I scored higher than “1,” however. The rest are terrible.

**Posted by Florida Colonial** 2/17/2023 10:20 am

Lets me make this clear. I would have just kept Colonials. But lets be honest Colonials wasn't this great moniker.

But we're not keeping it so lets move on!!

For all the complaining on here I'm not sure I have seen any recommendations that are not on the list. So how about we stop complaining, especially if you dont have any better ideas. If you had better ideas maybe you should have engaged with GW with all those great ideas.

Do I love most of our choices NO! Revolutionaries is fine. We can go by Revs.

I really think all the hate for the choices is not so much that all of them are terrible (yes some definitely are) its that most people on here just don't want the change because its what we are used to.

I'll cheer for GW no matter what and will give to the program no matter what. I'll also support the new name.
Take a deep breath and just consider what is going on in the world at the moment and just enjoy supporting GW.

Last edited by Florida Colonial (2/17/2023 10:22 am)

**Posted by Mentzinger** 2/17/2023 11:25 am

Florida Colonial wrote:
Lets me make this clear. I would have just kept Colonials. But lets be honest Colonials wasn't this great moniker.

But we're not keeping it so lets move on!!

For all the complaining on here I'm not sure I have seen any recommendations that are not on the list. So how about we stop complaining, especially if you dont have any better ideas. If you had better ideas maybe you should have engaged with GW with all those great ideas.

Do I love most of our choices NO! Revolutionaries is fine. We can go by Revs.

I really think all the hate for the choices is not so much that all of them are terrible (yes some definitely are) its that most people on here just don't want the change because its what we are used to.

I'll cheer for GW no matter what and will give to the program no matter what. I'll also support the new name.
Take a deep breath and just consider what is going on in the world at the moment and just enjoy supporting GW.

This is a board for discussion of the team all of us have known all our lives as the Colonials. It's perfectly appropriate to discuss and criticize and worry about this here, given the admin and AD have shown a severe, tone deaf lack of acuity when it comes to the school's flagship program (and, well, the university in general). I think you can do this while still being concerned about war in Europe, the inverted yield curve and the ongoing fascist US government takeover.

**Posted by DC Native** 2/17/2023 11:37 am

A new moniker of the singular "Revolution" would be good, imho. Individual athletes could still be called Revolutionaries, but the moniker should be singular. I would be OK with Blue Fog as well. It is very unique, and would therefore stand out. I could see the university buying a fog machine and blowing blue fog at the Smith Center, with the team running through it onto the court before each game. The rest are pretty bad, but almost all are better than the Hippos. And as many have pointed out here, Colonials has always been a bad moniker, if we're being honest. People confuse it with Colonels, and it is very old fashioned and boring.

Last edited by DC Native (2/17/2023 11:38 am)

**Posted by GWRising** 2/17/2023 11:52 am

We are being clowned nationally about not only the name change but the entire process. Tone deaf doesn't begin to describe this. I can't tell you how many emails/texts that I have received from people in college athletics outright laughing at the process and asking if I had anything to do with it. Flat out embarrassing. You really have to wonder if this is just another episode of the old show Punk'd and we are participants.