Why Admiral Akbar Will Not Be the New Mascot of the Ole Miss Rebels
by T Kyle King on Feb 25, 2010 12:15 PM EST
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PrintI don’t mean to get all lawyerly on you or anything, but this Admiral-Akbar-for-Ole-Miss-mascot nonsense has got to stop, and, if the line is not drawn here (sorry; I know my "Star Wars" from my "Star Trek," so I regret mixing my sci-fi references), attorneys are going to become involved in their official capacities, and no one wants that.
All those folks who think it would be cute for the University of Mississippi to replace Colonel Reb with the Rebel Alliance’s Admiral Akbar (yeah, yeah, all right, I get it already) need to remember what is involved with getting a character owned by a major motion picture studio onto the sideline of a college football stadium. Take it away, Oregon Ducks:
Oregon's first athletic director, Leo Harris, struck a handshake arrangement with Walt Disney. Donald's likeness could serve as a mascot, as long as it was done in good taste. The unique deal stood for 20 years, with Walt Disney Productions providing several versions of the duck for Oregon's use, until the cartoonist's death in 1966. That's when both parties realized no formal contract existed granting the University the right to Donald's image.
The best evidence Harris could offer was a photograph taken two decades earlier showing the late Mr. Disney in an Oregon letterman's jacket with the Oregon Duck clearly visible on the front. Disney representatives agreed to negotiate the first written contract in 1973 for the athletic department's continued use of Donald.
Note the use of the word "unique," as well as the lengthy backstory that antedated the formal contract between Disney and the University of Oregon. Does anyone think George Lucas is signing off on such a deal with the good people of Oxford? Uh, no:
All trademarks, service marks, and trade names are proprietary to Lucasfilm Ltd. or its affiliates and/or third-party licensors. STAR WARS, STARWARS.COM; STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE; STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES; STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH; STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE; STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK; STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI (collectively referred to herein as the "Star Wars Pictures") and all other Lucasfilm productions, and all logos, characters, artwork, stories, information, names, and other elements associated thereto are the sole and exclusive property of Lucasfilm Ltd.
The advocates of this silliness need to cease and desist. The next lawyer to offer such a suggestion in written form won’t be nearly as nice about it as I have just been. The blogosphere should govern itself accordingly.
It’s a trap! Go ‘Dawgs!
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Dangit Mr. Mayor, why do you gotta ruin the fun?
And the whole thing is a farce anyway. I don’t want to let any proverbial cats out of any proverbial bags but believe me when I say the Ackbar campaign has more to do with giving the anti-Colonel Reb students something to rally behind in a positive way than it does with actually promoting a mascot.
May the farce be with you.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Feb 25, 2010 12:19 PM EST reply actions
Much obliged, Ghost
Did I misspell “Ackbar”? My geek cred is totally shot. . . .
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Feb 25, 2010 12:23 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah but it's okay.
Fun fact: Ackbar is an anagram of “Barack”.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Feb 25, 2010 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
To be fair ...
It would be my guess that Ackbar’s native language does not use our Latin-based alphabet, so any spelling one might offer is a transliteration and subject to interpretation. Some folks write “Tolstoi”, for example. Granted, in such cases, one particular spelling might become standard, but as far as I’m concerned, a little leeway should be tolerated.
Consider for fun: Our accepted spellings of various Native American names are dictated by which Europeans encountered the locals. There are reasons behind Mississippi, Navajo, Oconee, Iriquois, Chicago. I mean, why not Cheroqui or Shyan?
I would pay for admission into The Grove...
… to see someone running around the pregame tailgates with Colonel Reb during the 2010 season dressed as Ackbar with that wide-brimmed hat. (Hey, Colonel Reb is unofficial, too.)
by vineyarddawg on Feb 25, 2010 12:29 PM EST up reply actions
You're in a very small minority then.
The press Ole Miss has gotten from this has been overhwelmingly positive and supportive.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Feb 25, 2010 12:49 PM EST up reply actions
I'm seriously considering changing the tagline atop this weblog to:
“Harshing on Bulldog Nation’s Collective Mellow Since September 2008!”
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Feb 25, 2010 12:28 PM EST up reply actions
Precisely.
I also remember a strong grassroots campaign to elect Pee-Wee Herman president of my fifth grade class. My teacher saw to it that Pee-Wee was not victorious (popular vote be damned) and we all moved on. Which is what will happen here. For my tastes, this is a mediocre joke at best that cannot go away soon enough.
My first thought when this story broke a few days ago was:
“George Lucas would beg to differ.”
I can see Ghost’s point above. I think it is a very funny and witty way to bring a positive spin to the mascot escapade.
I don't know
Have you seen any of Lucas’ latest films on the big screen? It seems to me that Lucas’ interests are more in selling merchandise and tickets than actually protecting the dignity of his creation. I’m sure if Ole Miss writes a big fat check and allows Lucas Films or ILM to create a computer generated Ackbar to roam the sidelines while creating stale responses from the audience he will do it. Hell, he’d probably give ’em Jar Jar for free.
Somewhat serious inquiry
Are the students promoting Ackbar actually anti-col. reb?
I kind of thought the underlying message of the joke was to point out how ridiculous it can get when a college’s mascot becomes unconnected to that college’s history, traditions, region and general nature. While it is precisely this history that now makes col. reb unpalatable to the modern college administrator, at least the mascot is identifiably linked with the university.
I may be reading too much into it, but I think the brilliance of the Ackbar campaign is to poke at those very administrators by showing that once you detach the mascot from its grounding in the university’s identity, then any replacement is equally meaningless and thus can be completely absurd.
Somewhat serious response
I haven’t been anywhere near Oxford for a while now, so I can’t speak to the buzz among the current student body, but I also hadn’t really assumed that the promotors of this thing were necessarily pro- or anti-Col. Reb. In fact, it seems as likely that a Col. Reb supporter would also be supporting Ackbar. I think we’re all warming up to the idea that Col. Reb ain’t coming back, so those who support him passionately might be inclined to get behind this thing to prove a point and/or to satisfy a need to protest in the most bizarre manner possible.
The argument of your final sentence is well put. The really hip fifth graders in my class realized, on some fifth grade-awareness level, that Fifth Grade Class President is a meaningless title and a vote for Pee-Wee did not make us feel like we were throwing our votes away. Likewise, only the chumps are going to be sucked into believing that a school that screams to high heaven about its tradition could possibly embrace a new mascot with no attachment to the school’s past, and the non-chumps are voting accordingly.
My only issue here is that there cannot be one single rational human being who is not 100% sure that they will never see an Admiral Ackbar mascot on the Ole Miss sidelines, and therefore the joke is played out. Done. Thank you. Next please.
I can say, without any doubt,
that the creators of the Ackbar campaign are anti-Colonel Reb. I know them personally. Trust me on this one. The reason they did this was to more-or-less give the anti-Colonel Reb crowd a rallying point. The Colonel Reb folks have their Facebook groups and their website and all of that stuff and they felt the other side of the issue needed just that if they were to demonstrate their strength.
Also, you said:
My only issue here is that there cannot be one single rational human being who is not 100% sure that they will never see an Admiral Ackbar mascot on the Ole Miss sidelines, and therefore the joke is played out. Done. Thank you. Next please.
The point of this is not to trick people into thinking it’s a real campaign. The point is simply to be humorous while pointing out the absurdity of the whole situation. This isn’t some Andy Kaufman “the joke’s really on the audience” type of deal.
Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Take a picture, trick.
by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Feb 26, 2010 12:08 AM EST up reply actions
Can't this be turned into an Andy Kaufman joke?
Please?
I mean, I’ll even settle for it being a Tony Clifton joke at this point.
by vineyarddawg on Feb 26, 2010 12:57 AM EST up reply actions
I knew Trav was giving this joke too much credit for cleverness
Smart people tend to overthink the things dumb people do and make them seem smarter than they are.
Go 'Dawgs!
Right
No such explanation needed. I know it’s a joke, not a trick. It’s internet photoshop humor. All the more reason why, once ESPN and the New York Tmz have referenced it, it’s time for the goobers who still find this funny to STOP sending me links about it.
Just to further explain my disdain here (not that anybody asked) but I don’t even effing like Star Wars (I said effing cause I know Kyle likes to keep it clean here) so none of this appeals to me in the slightest.
Wacky knuckleheads
Even before my time, a UGA student (and fraternity brother of mine) ran for SGA president with a paper bag over his head, calling himself “the Unknown Candidate”. He won. SGA didn’t last too long after that.
From the 25 April 1978 edition of The Red and Black:
Damn it, I was going to mention that
I was a huge Gong Show fan and, although I had signed my letter of intent, had not yet attended the other school.
I believe his campaign promise was to abolish the student government, and he kept that promise.
The Red and Black archives
They have just about every issue going back years and years (long enough to find a mention of our dad on the tennis team and of mom in the theater production, Tiger at the Gate, and a line about their engagement). I found a letter to the editor on the opinion page shortly before the above-referenced election. The entire campaign, apparently, was a series of bad puns about bags and sacks. It appears that my fraternity had a tradition of running joke candidates for SGA president. This was back when the Fijis still were not part of the establishment, I suppose. Times, they change. But yes, I’d always heard (at times, perhaps, in fora I am not at liberty to discuss — I can’t really say) that Strauss’s campaign ended up being centered on the abolition of student government. Maybe someday I’ll dig around some more in the R&B archives and get the rest of the story from contemporary sources.
But Kyle
I have this beautiful image in my head of every time a center pulls to trap block, the stadium thunderously roaring with approval “IT’S A TRAP!” at the top of their lungs. Awesome?
Undeniably. Lucas would be wise to get some free support back by allowing this, what with all the hard work he’s put in to killing the original trilogy.
They have a sense of humor about it. The lawyers can go back to bed now.
Lucasfilm (kinda sorta) Okays Ackbar’s Candidacy for Mascot! (but not really)
I'm not here to be liked by strangers, I'm here for Ole Miss. If you don't like what I post, go tell it to someone that gives a shit. Thanks.
by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Feb 27, 2010 1:01 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Dear Lord,
please don’t let the day come when a group of people feel that animal nicknames for schools are offensive. I truly hope that I will be dust in the ground when that day comes! I can almost see and hear the whining now…“Poor, defensless animals are being portrayed as aggressive flesh-eaters on the gridiron!!!”, “It’s not fair!!! Our mascot is the Ohio Tech Spirit, and they have this offensive, growling Bulldog as a mascot!!! It’s too ferocious!!!” Surely in the year 2525, if man is still alive, we won’t be changed to the “Georgia Pines”, playing in 2,500 seat Sanford Stadium (because administrations across West-of the-Atlantic-Europe, current USA, decided football was too rough, tough, and barbaric for 92,000+ stadiums).
I guess the color red would be called to question too. Obviously because of possible political party affiliation from the 21st century would be considered insensitive to blue. Then, of course, the color black would also be threatened because by then the word “black”, color or other, would have become the “B word”. So, that would certainly have to change!!! And silver??? No way. Because Gordon Liddy doesn’t sell silver…he sells GOLD!!!
How much longer do you think it’ll take some constant whiners to realize that the “new” State flag is pretty much the same design as the 1st National Flag of the Confederacy? Or have my tired ears become deaf to the minute-by-minute crying of the constantly offended?
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