Fear and Excitement at Marquette

I'll start with the excitement.  Firing Coach Wojo was good news.  Seven years is enough time to try and win a single NCAA tournament game, and he failed.  (Don't worry about Wojo; he made enough money at MU to take care of himself for the rest of his life.)  And there's even more excitement: MU hired Shaka Smart as our new head coach.  I am convinced he'll bring an exciting brand of ball to MU, and I think that in many ways MU is more like VCU than UT, so I'm hopeful he'll be able to replicate his early-career success.  Exciting times are ahead!

So what am I afraid of?  The end of Marquette University itself.  It all started when Marquette got rid of its Indian mascot out of fear of possible offensiveness.  There were two problems with that decision.  First, why should offensiveness be the test?  Offensiveness is not discrimination and, for a variety of reasons, universities should not strive to be inoffensive.  Second, the Marquette fans who witnessed the killing of the mascot no doubt rhetorically asked: "If they're getting rid of our mascot, what's next?  Will they get rid of: (1) Our Indian logo?  (2) Our Warrior name?  (3) Our official school seal featuring the explorer Fr. Marquette and his Indian guide? (4) What about the name Marquette University itself?