Call me naive but I don’t think of our ball team’s new mascot in terms of race or country.
I don’t think of a poodle as being French, nor a dachshund as German.
Then again I’m of a different breed.
I think of the chihuahua benevolently. A chihuahua is something that their owner protects and fosters. It is not a hunter, it is a companion. It is out of plain love that one has a chihuahua.
Webster’s defines mascot this way: “a person, animal, or object used as a symbol to represent a group (such as a sports team) and to bring good luck”.
I know of no dogma that teaches us how to pick a mascot.
My first choice as a mascot for our new ball team would not have been the chihuahua. Also I would have preferred that the ball park matter had been handled differently than it was.
We have however torn down city hall and have started construction of a ball park. At this point I want to try to make the best of the situation, just as I do with the choice of the team mascot.
The issues of how this ball park was foisted upon us are a different matter. We should, as Cato says, be vigilant. We need to keep this from happening again.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
I like your photo….
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Hasn’t it already happened again at the County? $120MM for new clinics. Do you think you’ll get to vote on it? I don’t know who is driving the agenda on these items, but someone has decided that some of the biggest spending items in local history are not to be trusted to a Yes/No citizen vote.
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Could care less what they call the team since I will never stick my big toe in the stadium or downtown, but what is really sad is the way they(MS) always make a big deal about letting the people have a say when its all BS. When they put out the list of names and people voted on it in the Times poll you could see that “Chihuahua” was by far the name no one preferred. As a matter of fact on every Times poll it came in dead last. Why didn’t Foster just come out and say “hey, I own the team and my wife’s pet name for my ding-dong is Chihuahua and she wants the team to be called this name.” Why all the BS media circus ? For Paul’s sake I hope when she saw it she said “ay Chihuahua, que grande” and not “ahhh, my leetle chihuahua” ! Just like the stadium and the tearing down of city hall the citizen never really had a say. Now whats that Mountain Star cliche that Cook said Josh answered ? “Let us worry about that.” I guess that included the name of the team too !
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Alas, it sounds like big Brutus has lost his bite.
Saying that the name Chihuahua doesn’t make him think of Mexico is like saying that a German Shepherd doesn’t make him think of the Fatherland. The word Chihuahua is Spanish. The State of Chihuahua, Mexico, borders El Paso. The Chihuahua is also now the official mascot for Mexican food, thanks to Taco Bell, which featured one of the world’s ugliest, rattiest looking Chihuahuas in its commercials for years.
Next he’ll say that the Washington Redskins don’t make him think of Indians. I’m worried about the big boy.
If this team doesn’t play well, they can count on hearing these phrases a lot:
“If you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.”
“Run for the border.”
C’mon, Brutus. Don’t go soft on us just yet, big guy. I know you still have some fight in you.
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That was arffull.
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Brut, I must confess that l’m a bit envious of the healthy attitude that you’ve taken concerning this name debacle. l’m going to do my best to emulate such positive thinking by NOT making feeble-minded jokes like: l heard that the first 1000 people on opening day will recieve a complimentary pooper-scooper. Or, l can’t wait to witness the pre game inaugural ‘Alpo eating contest’ where the “winner” recieves a sterling silver dog collar. ln fact, to show solidarity for our team, l’m going to change my e-name from ‘Only ln El Paso’ to…..
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When the public outcry regarding the Chihuahuas name arose, the Times quickly rolled out an editorial saying that people would grow to like the Chihuahuas name.
Joe Muench, who must have been one of several persons laid off at the Times this week, even used his last column to state once again that El Paso will grow to like the name.
Today, they ran yet another poll about the team name, asking if the name has grown on readers. I guess they actually thought something would have changed in a matter of a few days. After all, they promoted the new name non-stop with great positions on page one and the sacred editorial page.
I hate to break it to the Times, but their influence must be at an all-time low because more than 70% of respondents still dislike the name, despite all the justification and promotion by the Times.
The Times couldn’t successfully sell Ortega to the public. Now, they can’t sell the Chihuahuas name.
The Times has gone to the dogs. Maybe with this week’s reduction in staff, they will have fewer resources to waste on shameless promotion. Muench, meanwhile, can now openly jockey for a job with Mountainstar, which seems to be what he was doing for the last several months.
Adios, Jose! Hasta nunca. The rest of the Times staff might not be far behind you.
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From the big story in today’s EL PASO TIMES….
“One person who liked the name because of the Chihuahua [Mexico] region was Alejandra De La Vega Foster, a member of MountainStar Sports Group.
“When she heard it and knew it was a suggested name, she got excited and was enthusiastic,” Taylor said. “She saw it from a different perspective than the rest of us.”
Meanwhile self-proclaimed marketing and PR genius Jose Lopez showed that he, too, knows nothing about how major league and minor league baseball works by saying:
“If I was the baseball team, I would start looking for players from Mexico and bring them here.”
Lopez actually thinks that a major league ball club is going to sign certain players because of the local marketing strategy of one of its minor league affiliates!! Yet again, the AAA baseball fiasco becomes a showcase for the stupidity of another El Pasoan. (Note to self: do not hire a PR person who doesn’t know when NOT to talk.)
Lopez fits right in with the Mountainstar owners and management, who have continually said “It’s not about baseball.”
But Lopez, like the TIMES and others, is hoping for a seat in the owner’s box.
Chief Chihuahua Brad Taylor, another one of the Mountainstar carpetbaggers, had this to yap about:
“[People] say, ‘If they are crazy enough to name them the Chihuahuas, what else are they going to do.’ ”
Hey Brad, true El Pasoans have already seen just how crazy you guys are and we learned the hard way that there is nothing that Mountainstar’s owners will not do if they think it benefits them. Nothing surprises us anymore.
Enough already!
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Now I get it. The El Paso Inc. probably best explained the name selection today. The Chihuahua is considered the dog of kings. The only problem is that Mountainstar’s Chihuahuas will now have to try to push aside a number of other political lapdogs who have been doing the bidding and competing for the affections of the Chihuahuas’ masters.
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What is sad is they believe people will come to like the name, and everyone will fall in line and start supporting this baseball idea. They will put a spin on it, and all of the poor uneducated will not know the difference. In the end they will keep doing what they want to do until the citizens of this city all decide to quit supporting the city ignoring what the people want. If you give in and go to the games, you are just saying to the city keep up the good work.
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You are 100% correct. Because of the city’s miniscule share of the revenue, more attendance does not insure that additional tax dollars will not be spent to help fund this for-profit enterprise. Mountainstar by far gets the lions share (probably 99%) of the operating revenue related to the ballpark and ancillary income streams.
The way the deal is structured certain game day operating expenses will hit the city budget regardless whether we support it or not. So supporting it simply means you’re donating more money to the Foster and Hunt personal fortunes, not reducing your tax liability. Everyone can make their own personal choice, but I’m not abandoning my principles. I am certain we’re going to pay more regardless whether they fill the stadium on game nights.
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