Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Sadly, Sadly Predictable

We fought hard and well against the longest of odds. And in the end, our half-court heave met the same fate as Gordon Hayward's. Given the opportunity to break with tradition, to leaven three centuries of self-seriousness with a hint of whimsy, to boldly go where no institution of higher learning has gone before, William & Mary chose...the Griffin.

Yes, it has an eagle's head and a lion's body, symbolizing the College's historical debt to both the United States and Great Britain. And sure, it'll play well with the Harry Potter demo. But how do we explain this to our children? How do I look into my daughter's perplexed eyes and answer her question: "Why does it have a naked man's legs and a tail?"

Why, indeed, sweetheart?

On this sad occasion, I feel it both appropriate and necessary to cast about for a silver lining. And in the Griffin's animated namesake, I think we may have found just such a balm.



I suspect Peter may make the occasional appearance in these parts as the Griffin assumes his place in W&M lore. And if you think today's announcement signals the end of the Wren, I think you may underestimate the power of our stubborn laziness.

Go Wrens!

68 comments:

  1. the bog weighs in on the griffin. kindly, he says that it intimidates him. he's lying.

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/04/william_mary_chooses_the_griff.html#comments

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  2. I approve of this. http://bit.ly/c3z4f6

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  3. Just for a minute do the Peter Griffin bump...

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  4. Point of order: Harry Potter lived in the Gryffindor House. It was not spelled Griffindor. You must be a Slytherin to make a mistake like that.

    (commence jammming myself)

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  5. yes, tr, but a hippogriff is much like a griffin, and spelled appropriately.

    now get out of the way so i can jam myself, too.

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  6. Maybe you should have just come out and called him Buckbeak to avoid the confusion.

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  7. I'm completely culturally illiterate - I never read a Harry Potter book or saw a Harry Potter movie, and I've never watched Family Guy - so this post and its comments are completely over my head. I think it's funny that rob's daughter looks at the griffin and sees a naked man though.

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  8. I work with an ex W&M person who had this to say:

    "I actually think Griffin was the best option, but then instead of a traditional representation, they draw a cartoon Bigfoot giving the #1."

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  9. Ever see the classic battle between the hippogriff and the jackelope? Something to behold.

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  10. i just broke the zipper of my pants. awesome.

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  11. dunno, teej. just kinda liked it. also, it was the first one that came up.

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  12. my office view is about a short par 4 to the ocean...one of the public access lots though is a 60-degree wedge, i look right down on it.
    summer is here and i can't put these binoculars down as i typethiswithonehand(andviewwiththeother,nottheotherthing)

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  13. rob - you should run into your underling's office (the guy that shat his pants a few weeks ago) with your zipper down and member hanging out while saying - "guy, my zipper broke and i can't keep my member in my pants...i have to go home"
    or to your boss - whichever.

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  14. anyone else experiencing a 5-10 minute delay beteen leaving comment and seeing comment.
    is there a number to call for the g:tb:IT?
    1-800-474-3346 Perhaps (which is...1-800-GRIFFIN)

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  15. G:TB is going to be experiencing a lot of additional traffic today, Dan. Moose out front should've told you.

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  16. the griffin's body language says: i am giving a really boring lecture right now about accounting. perfect for W&M.

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  17. "Yeah, but I'm a dork with a 4.0."

    This quote was actually uttered by a W&M undergrad during our time as a snappy comeback to a taunt during an intramural competition.

    And this is what the W&M griffin is saying in that picture.

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  18. So ... the W&M griffin has a bald eagle's head and a lion's legs and feet. Why does it have green arms and clawed hands? Neither animal is green. I guess the arms are a feathered extension of the eagle's head? And why does it have crests like a horned owl? I'm more confused than normal.

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  19. So Igor, during this intramural competition, one of your cohorts called this guy "a dork?". Good one...

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  20. "Why does it have a naked man's legs and a tail?"

    Because it's half lion. Men don't have 3 toes. And lions have tails.

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  21. oh, good, the literalists are here.

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  22. Lions don't have 3 toes either. Maybe the griffin has the feet of a sloth?

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  23. you guys had chess in intramurals?

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  24. People who answer rhetorical questions are generally fun to be around.

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  25. this could be kind of cool...what's the keystroke recipe for shortening link lengths?

    http://www.masters.com/en_US/news/articles/2010-04-07/201004071270646690348.html

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  26. i'm late to this party, but have any of you hip-hop aficianados seen the k'naan/j. period collaboration, the messengers? they adapt and remix fela kuti, bob marley, and bob dylan to very cool effect. free download at http://www.jperiod.com/knaan/.

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  27. Jesus Dan...you're so old I'd like to put you up on the balcony with Stadler and Waldorf but there is simply no room. Go to this thing called google and type in either "tiny url" or "bitly". You'll be fine.

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  28. grrrrrr. and waldorf's not that old.
    http://tiny.cc/2fb3m
    there you go hardcharger!
    did someone cut and paste rob to tiny url?

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  29. Someone get Dan another set of galoshes, stat!

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  30. A fair point, Geoff -- we got more laughs out of his Mad Magazine "snappy comeback" than we did the original slag. As a dork with a 1.7 at the time, I had little room to laugh.

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  31. And it's Statler and Waldorf. Stadler is teeing off, waxing his mustache, and trying to get a patent for his "Jump to Conclusions" mat.

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  32. That it is Eye-gor. That it is.

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  33. Deadspin making a Statler/Waldorf joke at same time as G:TB? Hmmmmmm.....

    http://bit.ly/deaoIJ

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  34. Somewhere on Sesame Street, Jim Henson smiles. Which scares the hell out of the kids, since he's been dead for 20 years.

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  35. On a related note, those of you who have never administered a "Muppet Special" to a girl, you're missing out.

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  36. we need jerry to weigh in on this year's obft grooming challenge. what are we doing? sideburns? bikini waxing? ponytails?

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  37. I can't wait for Dave to get out of class so he can tie my 3-toed sloth reference in with his Scrabble skills and post something about the ai.

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  38. I defer to Jerry's wisdom, but I'm going to go ahead and begin growing sideburns. It's just so Civil War.

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  39. I guess Simmons can now stop comparing Ortiz to Ghandi:

    "Good," he said, turning to face the reporters encircling him. "You guys wait 'til [expletive] happens, then you can talk [expletive]. Two [expletive] games, and already you [expletives] are going crazy.

    "What's up with that, man? [Expletive]. [Expletive] 160 games left. That's a [expletive]. One of you [expletives] got to go ahead and hit for me."

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  40. "A [expletive] eye for a [expletive] eye only ends up making the whole [expletive] world blind, [expletive]."

    -- Mahatma Gandhi

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  41. dino gaudio out at wake. didn't see that coming.

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  42. Hey Davey Boy, perhaps you want to just tell us know what made you and ManRam and 69 percent of baseball so prolific for the last deacde? Oh, no comment? Well then, shut the fuck up...cause you are 50 games from being Mo Vaughn 2.0

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  43. 50 games from being Vaughn. Or 0 games from being Dave Kingman.

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  44. you have to hit the occasional homerun to be kingman.

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  45. and for those of you that care, all none of ya....the mastuhs toonament is airing its par 3 on the intraweb - and the golf channel

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  46. I'm quite enjoying the Masters Par 3...

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  47. Dan, can I get the key to the brain back? Thanks.

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  48. for the wkd i'll be using the georgian southern drawl..starting tomorrow at 8 - the preview you were just given. (that was hootie johnson)

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  49. Dan, just asked rob and Whit for your email...I want in on your Masters pool.

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  50. i don't know what a "muppet special" is, but i did learn one of the definitions of a "dutch windmill" today. check urban dictionary-- it took us a while to work out a scenario for the first definition, and the other definitions have no connection with the first.

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  51. teej - ok....deadline passed but can probably get you in...email me as soon as they get to you and i'll email you the rules & such...

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  52. i knew i shouldn't have looked up dutch windmill. it's nsfw, in case you were wondering.

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  53. Jim Furyk...get in the hole!!!!

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  54. rob, just call it "Masters Research"...I'm sure Tiger knows what it is.

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  55. teej...sorry fella - the pool is closed, someone peed in it. will get you in next year, and/or for us open pool if interested.

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  56. How I missed this earlier I don't know, but rob, who told you to put the balm on it?

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  57. arnie: so tiger got himself into a world of shit huh jack?
    jack: that he did arnie.
    arnie: it's probably a good thing we didn't have things like this texting and the world wide intraweb you know?
    jack: you said a mouthful there partner. and especially you arnie. i don't know how you managed to do it quite frankly.
    arnie: well, you're not exactly zach fucking johnson jack.
    jack: true. true. but i didn't post near the numbers you did.
    gary player: what are you chaps going on about?
    jack: nothing gary. you're away. putt the fuckin ball.

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  58. we were thinking a "dutch windmill" only occurs if someone is passed out or at gunpoint. muppet special?

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  59. But much like the bad guy in Leathal Weapon 2, Gary has diplomatic immunity.

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  60. The Muppet Special is, quite simply, when you reach your hand so far up their ass you can make them talk. At least that's it was when I idiotically coined it and explained it to the prudish Kappa Kappa Gamma one ngiht in Dewey Beach.


    NSFactuallydoing

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  61. Nike has a new Tiger commercial involving a voiceover by Earl Woods. Their marketing guys are either morons or geniuses.

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  62. Genius. Nike did for Tiger what he couldn't: seem genuine and contrite.

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  63. my inner fanboy is really enjoying nomar on this espn2 telecast

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  64. granderson hits the fuck out of the ball, doesn't he?

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  65. Oh yeah, there is absolutely zero fuck remaining in the ball after Granderson hits it. Maybe less than zero fuck, maybe negative fuck.

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  66. Granderson puts chastity into the ball.

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