Go Eagles!

My college (formerly Mary Washington College, now the University of Mary Washington) was never high on school spirit. Many people wrote whiny letters to the school newspaper about it, usually attributing it to the absence of a football team and the fairly lopsided 70:30 female to male ratio.
I think the problem was our team name. Our sports teams were called "the Eagles," but nobody ever referred to them that way, they were just "the MWC Crew Team," or "the MWC Girls Basketball team," or whatever. We had no mascot to speak of, and nobody seemed to notice or care. People went to games to cheer their friends, but if we won a big game nobody ever cared enough to talk about it on campus. "MWC beat Hampden Sydney this weekend" was just about as exciting a piece of news as "Associate Professor of History Bruce O'Brien tripped on the steps of Monroe Hall and skinned his knee."

Sports teams often pick animals to represent them; names like Bears, Tigers, Lions, and Raptors associate a team with the sort of strength, speed, and grace that can only be found in nature. Mary Washington picked the Eagle, a bird often thought of as majestic or noble, with great speed, strong talons, and predatorial instincts. Unfortunately, I don't think this name has worked for us. "The Eagles" is just too commonplace, used too frequently by too many organizations. It's the sort of bland name that gets picked by someone who isn't even trying, someone whose focus lies elsewhere.
So, in the wake of one change at Mary Washington I would like to suggest another; namely, that instead of using an eagle as our mascot in a literal sense we distinguish our sports teams by making Philadelphia Eagles great Donovan McNabb our mascot. Here is a man who personifies speed, strength and grace just as much as any bird or beast, and he brings the added benefit of being completely unique; no college has ever before adopted a professional athlete as their school mascot. By adopting Mr. McNabb, we could remain the Mary Washington Eagles, just a different sort of Eagle-- an Eagle who has left the wild to pursue an extravagant life-style made possible by a long term multi-million dollar NFL contract.
A special styrofoam suit could be made, with an oversized head and a #5 jersey, and a larger than life Donovan McNabb could dance around the stands or field, throwing long passes to the fans. This could also provide our gymnasium, our basketball team's "house" as it were, with a cool new nickname-- "The City of Brotherly Love." We might even change the school letterhead, replacing the eagle and its outstretched wings with Mr. McNabb's face, complete with green helmet and approving smile. I'm sure he'd approve if we paid him enough.
To sum up, I think that a symbol of athleticism like Mr. McNabb would do a lot for the sports program at the University of Mary Washington, and provide a much needed boost to our school spirit. I hope that my idea will be received seriously by President Anderson and the Board of Visitors, and given the consideration it obviously deserves.