OT - Globetrotter insults entire state
 

As I mentioned in another thread, the reruns of "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" that were running on cable here in Portland this past week featured the Harlem Globetrotters playing for charity - the Make-A-Wish Foundation. On the Friday show, the bonus question was "What state has a beaver on its state flag?" Gee - do you think it might be Oregon? The Globetrotter deliberated out loud and said he knew that the University of Oregon's mascot was the beaver, so it must be Oregon.

Sure, he got it right, but saying the U of O has a beaver for a mascot would cut to the bone of every U of O and Oregon State University alumni and supporter. Here in this state, there is a huge level of animosity between the two schools to the point of having their annual Pac10 football game called "the Civil War". The only thing that modified the "insult" was that one of his teammates corrected him on the subject.

Actually, I'm surprised the local cable channel even let it on the air. :rolleyes:

BTW - thanks to the Globetrotters for winning a lot of money for Make-A-Wish, a great organization of which my wife has been a long-time volunteer.

Cute Little Guy ...
 

you sound like the coach, player, or fan who complains about the call you just made....THAT BENEFITED THEIR TEAM.....

really? you're complaining that he answered the question correctly and earned money for charity?

He's not complaining about anything. He posted a fun story on a slow day to generate discussion.

Sheesh newbie, get a life.

I guess you didn't read my last sentence in that post. Complaining? Are you crazy? As far as I'm concerned, he could have cheated to get that right. I think Make-A-Wish is one of the greatest charities we have. I've seen some of those kids and the way their faces look when they are ready to leave on their wish trip is priceless.

BTW - thanks for the support, BBR.

BFF's (Brief Friends Forever), Right ???
 

Hey Mark Padgett? You know that you always have my full support? Right? And also the left one.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbn...80de8e8c076218

Is that yours? I see an IAABO (I Am A Ballsy Official) patch on it. Oh yeah, the tag says size XS. Must be yours. :D

This reminds me of a Hollywood Squares question: "Which of the following colleges have the Wildcats as their mascot?"

Caroline Rhea tried to answer "Arizona" before hearing the three choices, one of which was the correct answer, Kansas State. Rhea just answered "Kansas" -- which was not one of the choices -- and the contestant disagreed, but Rhea was ruled correct (and the contestant wrong) with "Kansas."

I'm sure that ruffled a few feathers where the buffalo roam, but outside of that, few people would care enough to make a fuss.

Confused In Connecticut ???
 

The differences between these twin-named universities confuse me. Here in Connecticut, we have a very large, public university, the University of Connecticut (UCONN). We also have a very small, private college, Connecticut College. No one would ever confuse them. I am also aware that Pennsylvania has two universities, Pennsylvania State (Penn State), a very large, public university, and the University of Pennsylvania, a private, Ivy League university.

What's the story on other twin-named universities: Oregon, and Oregon State; Kansas, and Kansas State; North Carolina, and North Carolina State, etc.? Is it a matter of public, versus private, as it is in the examples I gave above, or is it something else?

I don't know the full story on Oregon and Oregon State, but both are large public universities. Oregon is in Eugene and Oregon State is in Corvallis. Oregon State started as an agricultural school and, I think, was originally called Oregon Agricultural College. Some Oregon fans still call the Oregon State teams the "Aggies" as a put down. The rivalry between the two schools is intense and Oregon also has a pretty big rivalry with the University of Washington. We also have Portland State University, a public school, and the University of Portland, a private religious-sponsored school.

I think you''ll find that a lot of states have U of <state> and <state> State Univiersity....and that many of them follow that same heritage....agricultural and mechanical (vocational like) vs. the more broad university (physics, literature, psychology, etc).

We All Scream For Ice Cream ...
 

Interesting. The University of Connecticut (UCONN), the largest public university in the state, started as an agricultural college, and still has a very active agricultural department. When we're having trouble with pests in our gardens, or want our soil tested, UCONN has the expertise to help us out. They still have a very active farming department, with their own herd of dairy cows. They serve ice cream made from the milk of these cows at a diary bar on campus. It's the best ice cream in New England. Better than Ben and Jerry's.

Holy cow!
 

Must be the northeast, as Penn State University has a similar program:

Most visitors to the Berkey Creamery at Penn State know only of its famous ice cream, sherbet, and cheeses sold at the store or over the Internet, but what they don't know is that it is the largest university creamery in the nation.

Each year approximately 4.5 million pounds of milk pass through the Creamery's stainless steel holding tanks. About half comes from a 225-cow herd at the University's Dairy Production Research Center, and the rest is purchased from an independent milk producer.

Home &mdash; Penn State Creamery

The things you learn on the Forum.....OT that they are! :p

I know with Iowa and Iowa State, both are public. As is bracket-busting Northern Iowa. Most of the states in this part of the country have the twin Universities (Michigan, Oklahoma, etc.) It's a bit different than other states that have their main university system and each school is named by the campus site (UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, UC-Berkley). Some states have both (UC-Boulder, Colorado State). It seems private schools named after states are typically less known (Penn being an Ivy League exception).

It seems the "State" Universities (Iowa State, Kansas State, West Virginia State) tend to be "Land Grant" universities in heritage (often began as Ag universities). They seem to have a tendency to be "second" public universities in their given states. It's not universally true, though.

Minor correction - I think you mean "Land Grant".

Yup.

I forgot to add that these dual university systems tend to spawn intense sports rivalries when the schools are on the same athletic plane. Iowa-ISU, Michigan-MSU, Oklahoma-OSU, Oregon-OSU, Washington-WSU, Arizona-ASU, etc.

Yeah, University of Pennsylvania and Penn State.....Not!

Bwahahahaha! :p

Been there. My sister-in-law went to Conn College.

Come to think of it, I don't think any states in our region (New England, New York, New Jersey) have a "University of (state)" and "(state) State University." Connecticut somewhat does, in the form of CCSU and others, and New York has the SUNY schools (which go by more common names since Albany and Binghamton went D-I). Pennsylvania and Delaware have both.

......and we have three
 

University of Virginia
Virginia State University
Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Tech?

I grew up in Illinois and there the two "major" sports colleges are the University of Illinois and Northwestern University (a private school). Although Northwestern isn't really a "powerhouse", it has a higher "conference status" than Illinois State (located in a town weirdly named "Normal"), Northern Illinois (where I attended), Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois. Oh yeah, and Prairie State (which I also attended).

The University of Illinois and Northwestern really don't have a hot rivalry going, and I don't think they ever did.

I was well aware of VA Tech and VMI, etc.

But the discussion was along the lines of state/university and being that we had a commonwealth too, I thought that unique. (else we'll be talking Fla, FSU, FAMU, etc. Texas, Texas Tech, TCU, etc. - not as unique IMO)

I don't know much about west coast teams, but I gather the reason for the post was that the Beavers belong to the other Oregon team that you mentioned - OSU; and the OU are something else other than the Beavers.

Oh, this.

Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Massachusetts are all "commonwealths," by their own definitions. According to my Google search, only Virginia has "commonwealth" in a university name. Kentucky and Penn have a "State"; Mass. has neither "State" nor "Commonwealth."

Go live in a state that's bigger than, um, Houston! :) One big enough to NEED more than one state school. Heck, OU and OSU (both the Oklahoma and Oregon versions of this pair) and KSU/KU are probably large enough to fit Connecticut between them!

Not to mention Texas, with UT, TA&M, Texas Tech all "full-sized" public state schools (not to mention about 10 others without Texas in the name and 5 more private schools, all as big as UConn). (Heck, I bet there are subsidiary schools of both UT and TA&M with as much enrollment as Connecticut.!)

Florida / FSU...
Michigan / MSU...
I am sure there are 10 more of these, all far apart enough to fit Conn between them.

NY has both.
New England? Um ... not a state!

You made me curious. Iowa and Iowa State are approximately 115 miles apart as the crow flies (thanks to Pythagoras). Connecticut is 110 miles across.

Now back to my work day.

Yeah, you and Bainsey get this thread's, "over-achiever" Awards! :p

While I'm at it....
FIFY

There you go touching things that don't belong to you.

Like that?

Très drôle, Snaquewells. ;)

There are seventeen state supported schools in the University of North Carolina system.

Appalachian State University
East Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
North Carolina A & T University
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina School of Math & Science
North Carolina State University
University of North Carolina - Asheville
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina - Charlotte
University of North Carolina - Greensboro
University of North Carolina - Pembroke
University of North Carolina - Wilmington
North Carolina School of the Arts
Western Carolina University
Winston-Salem State University

UNC-CH is commonly referred to as the University of North Carolina because it is the oldest state supported university in the state, as well as the nation.

There are also 36 privates four-year institutions, many church affiliated. Among them:

Davidson College
Duke University
Campbell University
Wake Forest University

Gracias mein sadeek

Compass Directions ...
 

I always thought that East Carolina was located in the state of East Carolina.

The word is that they tried to once, but that the University of Illinois folks kept breaking their crayons when they went to sign the contracts to set up more games between the two teams.

The War for Southern Independence took care of that.

fify

At least up north, we know how to spell aggression. :p

I grew up in North Carolina and learned there is State(NCSU) and Carolina(UNC-CH). I moved to South Carolina and was amazed at how many "Carolina" fans there were in SC. I soon learned that South Carolinians mistakenly refer to USC as Carolina. I corrected them that USC is in California and Carolina is in North Carolina. All this time they thought ESPN was referring to their beloved schools when Carolina or USC was mentioned.

Reminds me of my years in Knoxville -- to us, UT will *always* be Tennessee, no matter what those idiots on ESPN say.

Take another look at the person you're allegedly quoting.

I was referencing the REGION.

As for New York, is there a University of New York? I only know of State University of New York.

Maybe not a University of New York......
 

But, there certainly is a New York Univeristy (NYU) - my dad went there back in the day......

UT, as is mentioned everywhere except Tennessee is The University of Texas, Hook EM' Horns.

You may be surprised to learn it, but that's not universally true. To most people around the country, it can be either and both are equally unimportant. I know, it's heresy to those of you who live in the Republic.

UT in this area is a MAC school.

This man speaks the truth! ;)