On February 16, 2007, the University of Illinois board of governors voted to eliminate the school's mascot, "The Chief". The reasons for this action included the possible cultural insensitivity toward Native Americans. Subsequently, the school no longer allows Chief Illiniwek to dance at the half times of basketball or football games.

Moreover, the school has removed all images of the chief from uniforms as well as the name "Fighting Illini". While officially the teams are still known as the Fighting Illini, uniforms now feature the big blue block letter "I" or the word "Illinois" only.

On March 8, 2008, the Illinois High School Association held it's 1A and 2A boys basketball state championships. Interestingly, the Class 1A second place team in boys high school basketball was the Nokomis Redskins.

They achieved this milestone while playing on the court of the Bradley University, home of the Bradley Braves.

i·ro·ny1/ˈaɪrəni, ˈaɪər-/ ahy-ruh-nee, ahy-er- –noun, plural -nies.
5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

I'm just sayin'...

Subscribe to Midwestern Meditations eMagazine by Email

Words mean things. It's true. In addition, pronunciation or inflection in the pronunciation of words can change the meaning of the phrase or sentence.

For example, take this delivery truck for a vending machine company. The slogan is "Fresh To You".



So, is that "FRESH to you"? Meaning, here is something fresh for you to consume. It's fresh and it's here just for you. The vending machine is bringing fresh food to you!

Or, "Fresh to YOU"? Meaning, to YOU, it's fresh. Because, YOU are buying lunch from a vending machine. Otherwise, this food is far from "fresh".

Yeah, I'm not sure either.

Subscribe to Midwestern Meditations eMagazine by Email