It's A Mascot!

Entry posted by Nukaya March 2, 2010

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As A 'Rebel' Mascot For Ole Miss, Who's Better Than Admiral Ackbar?

By Mark Memmott

Let me say up front that I'm biased on this story.

My now 24-year-old son Matt was a huge Star Wars fan as a kid, and one character he particularly loved was Admiral Ackbar -- the Mon Calamari rebel commander who famously shouts "It's a trap!" in Return of the Jedi.

Matt's Admiral Ackbar action character was like a member of our family for several years back in the early '90s.

So hearing that some students at the University of Mississippi inadvertently started a movement to make Ackbar the school's mascot is bringing back fond memories for me -- and I, for one, like the idea.

As Morning Edition's Renee Montagne said this morning, Ackbar may be "pretty far out," but he is, after all, a rebel commander and that makes sense at Ole Miss.

Star Wars director George Lucas' Lucasfilm studios, by the way, has weighed in to say it's flattered by the possibility of Ackbar being the mascot -- though "it will be difficult for him to show up for the games!"

OK, so maybe it's just some college kids having some fun. But what about it?

What do you guys think? To me, it's a pretty awesome idea, and if Admiral Ackbar does become their new university mascot, I think that it would be amazing if my university changed their mascot from the Mountaineers to the EOU Tauntauns. It would totally work since we're in the mountains already and it'd be loads cooler than our current mascot....I mean, Tauntaun versus a mountaineer named "Monty":