[martyup]

You don't even like the tree? Maybe just become a fan of Notre Dame or Duke, seems simplest.

I don't mind having a tree as a mascot, but I think we can come up with a better term than "trees."  Also, the band's tongue-in-cheek goofy tree costume is no longer funny.  I think that spoof has run its course.

1.  I would support the "Redwoods."  However, I'm afraid someone would be offended and call me a racist.  

2.  I would also support the "Sequoias," but I'm afraid that the new transfer athletes would have a hard time remembering how to spell it.   I can just hear the game announcer say "Here come the mighty Sequoias."  Interestingly, the term Sequoia is the tree genus name given in 1847 by Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher (1804-1849), originally to a different tree, the coast redwood, apparently in honor of Sequoya (a.k.a. George Guess, 1760-1843), the Cherokee man who invented a system of writing for his people's language, whose name is from Cherokee (Iroquoian) Sikwayi, a word of unknown etymology.  So by adopting the Sequoia as our mascot, we would be sort of honoring our original mascot "Indians" without offending native americans (hopefully).

3.  When I was an undergraduate at Stanford there was a campus wide vote on naming a new mascot and I supported the "Griffens"  or "Gryphons."  I mean who doesn't bow down to a mythical animal typically having the head, forepart, and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion?  Add to that, there are two Gryphon statues guarding the entrance to the athletic department (are they still there?).  Harry Potter's Buckbeak was described as a Hippogriff, which is a distance cousin to the Gryphon.  You've go to admit, Buckbeak was very cool.

The key aspect to any mascot should be that it is strong, respected, fearsome, fearless, and majestic.  I have no love for the ridiculous counter-culture mascots like the Banana Slugs, Artichokes, Purple Cows, Geoducks, or Anteaters.  This same anti-establishment counter-culture crowd would have Stanford adopt "Robber Barons" as its mascot.  No, thank you.

[martyup]

You don't even like the tree? Maybe just become a fan of Notre Dame or Duke, seems simplest.

I don't mind having a tree as a mascot, but I think we can come up with a better term than "trees."  Also, the band's tongue-in-cheek goofy tree costume is no longer funny.  I think that spoof has run its course.

1.  I would support the "Redwoods."  However, I'm afraid someone would be offended and call me a racist.  

2.  I would also support the "Sequoias," but I'm afraid that the new transfer athletes would have a hard time remembering how to spell it.   I can just hear the game announcer say "Here come the mighty Sequoias."  Interestingly, the term Sequoia is the tree genus name given in 1847 by Austrian botanist Stephan Endlicher (1804-1849), originally to a different tree, the coast redwood, apparently in honor of Sequoya (a.k.a. George Guess, 1760-1843), the Cherokee man who invented a system of writing for his people's language, whose name is from Cherokee (Iroquoian) Sikwayi, a word of unknown etymology.  So by adopting the Sequoia as our mascot, we would be sort of honoring our original mascot "Indians" without offending native americans (hopefully).

3.  When I was an undergraduate at Stanford there was a campus wide vote on naming a new mascot and I supported the "Griffens"  or "Gryphons."  I mean who doesn't bow down to a mythical animal typically having the head, forepart, and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion?  Add to that, there are two Gryphon statues guarding the entrance to the athletic department (are they still there?).  Harry Potter's Buckbeak was described as a Hippogriff, which is a distance cousin to the Gryphon.  You've go to admit, Buckbeak was very cool.

The key aspect to any mascot should be that it is strong, respected, fearsome, fearless, and majestic.  I have no love for the ridiculous counter-culture mascots like the Banana Slugs, Artichokes, Purple Cows, Geoducks, or Anteaters.  This same anti-establishment counter-culture crowd would have Stanford adopt "Robber Barons" as its mascot.  No, thank you.