There’s a Nickname for Those Afraid of a Devil Mascot

In a week in Orange County when a 14-year-old shoots a 17-year-old, a 4-year-old grabs a gun from atop a baby stroller and shoots a 3-year-old and school officials contemplate using German shepherds to patrol school hallways for drugs, what’s bugging parents in Mission Viejo?

The school mascot.

Which tells you one of two things:

A) Either this mascot problem is pretty darn serious, or . . .

B) Some parents have way too much free time on their hands.

Let me relay the facts to you (with appropriate insights and historical perspective from me, where necessary), and then you decide who’s nuts. To make your decision-making easier, I’ll leave open the option that everybody’s nuts.

Mission Viejo High School opened in 1966 and adopted the Diablos as its nickname. No question about it, a top-flight nickname. For some reason, I always thought a diablo was either a headstrong steed, a parched gully or a wind blowing in from the north, but I found out this week that Diablos means Devils in Spanish. OK, the Mission Viejo High School Devils ! Cool.

Here’s where it gets tricky. Although the nickname was Diablos, the school in those early days used a longhorn steer for its insignia. That would be like calling your team the Falcons and having a field mouse as the mascot.

Over time, and not surprisingly, a caricature of a (eek!) devil began showing up around the school and became the semiofficial logo. It was as if someone sat down one day and said, “Hey, we’re called the devils. Why not have a devil for our logo?”

Some wise guy piped up and said, “Hey, why don’t we just change our name to the Toros?” but he was hooted down and forced to leave the community.

So, Devils it was.

Until several years ago, that is, when a group of parents complained that the devil imagery around the school was anti-Christian and, therefore, not at all what Mission Viejo was all about. They beseeched the school administration to ban the devil from the premises.

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that at that point school officials, all of them grown men and women, said, “Don’t be foolish. We have 100 problems around here but that isn’t one of them.”

Well, you’re wrong. They buckled, banning the devil logo and putting the mascot issue to a vote in 1986.

The students, probably getting a big kick out of the whole thing, voted for bulldogs. So, the administration accepted the bulldog for the mascot but retained the nickname Diablos.

The Spanish word estupidos comes to mind at this point.

To make a long story short, the devil has returned to campus this year. Some students have sported a devil logo either on their clothing or other possessions. Again, the complaints came in from some parents, saying they’re offended by the devil imagery and demanding that school officials enforce the old ban.

Once again, school officials did the el foldo and outlawed the devil insignias.

This might be a good point for that insight I had promised:

I attended three different high schools, so I know a little more about mascots than most people. My first school’s nickname was the Indians, the second the Eagles and the third (and the school from which I graduated) was the Bunnies.

Folks, the idea of a mascot is to connote all-powerfulness and mercilessness. In that way, the fearful opponent, such as in a football game, crumples when they see your team sweeping right end. For example, it was hard for our football team to believe in ourselves when our cheerleaders yelled, “Go Bunnies, kill the Vikings!” We knew that Bunnies could not kill Vikings.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s why teams are nicknamed Bulls and Lions and Stallions and, yes, Devils. Using that same reasoning, you can see why very few teams are nicknamed the Kitties. Or the Librarians.

Do you see? Do you see how it doesn’t really involve religion at all? Can you see how being called the Devils doesn’t mean the school administration supports Satan?

I think the point I’m really trying to make is, IT’S JUST A STUPID NICKNAME!

School officials say they’re banning the logo because it offends some people, and schools aren’t in the business to offend.

Very true, but how about the parents and students whose intelligence is offended because such an inane issue can even crowd itself onto the docket?

How do you say, ‘Get your priorities straight’ in Spanish?

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.