College football world reacts to South Carolina’s live rooster mascot name

Sadly, South Carolina’s live rooster mascot will not be known as Cock Commander.

We learned last week that the South Carolina Gamecocks would need to create a new name for their live rooster mascot due to a controversy surrounding the comb of the new bird representing the school. The old name, “Sir Big Spur,” no longer applied, because it implies the rooster no longer has its comb, which this one does.

While quite a few names were being bandied about, one suggestion stood out from the crowd: Cock Commander.

We’ll leave it to you to figure out why so many people around the college football world had some fun presuming this could be the choice.

Alas, it was announced on Monday that the school had decided to name the mascot “The General,” as a reference to Revolutionary War General Thomas Sumter, whose nickname, the “Fighting Gamecock,” is the basis for the school’s athletics name.

“We know Gamecock fans are passionate about our traditions and seeing the live mascot at games and other Athletics events is something they look forward to,” South Carolina Deputy Athletics Director Eric Nichols said. “When we realized that we would have to change his name to keep that tradition alive, it seemed fitting to go back to where ‘Gamecocks’ got started.”

It might be the “smart” choice, but it’s certainly not the fun choice, and many college football fans and media members shared their disappointment.

don’t care what you name the bird the internet named it cock commander

— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) August 29, 2022

Cock Commander: "I won this election and frankly, I won it by a lot." https://t.co/MAIIWWKMxE

— local bIogger (@fergoe) August 29, 2022

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