All Marquette, all the time

First, congrats to Travis Diener. He was the 8th pick of the second round of the NBA draft this evening, and will be heading south to the Orlando Magic, which places him just a few hundred miles from his former teammate (and current NBA superstar, Dwyane Wade). He may be the last "Golden Eagle" ever drafted into the NBA.

Second, and the point to this post, is the impending athletic nickname announcement. My vote went to the Hilltoppers (the ORIGINAL Marquette nickname) and I'm hoping that enough people agree. Regardless, at least this time there was a transparent selection process and not a dictate from the top of the ivory tower (which was basically how the "Golden Eagle" name was picked in the first place).

I'll have another post for you readers tomorrow after the official announcement is made.

JS Online: "Marquette University on Wednesday plans to announce its new team nickname, or go back to its old one.

There were two choices left to a binding, largely online vote: Golden Eagles, the nickname the school adopted in 1994 and dropped this year, or Hilltoppers. The voting ended Friday.
Golden Eagles and Hilltoppers were selected from 10 possible nicknames the school had offered alumni, students, faculty, staff, donors and season-ticket holders.
The school's Board of Trustees had voted to switch to Gold, but dropped it a week later after widespread criticism. The trustees then adopted a two-stage voting system that put the final nickname decision in the hands of the voters.
School officials are also expected to release additional details of the breakdown from the first round of voting.
On Friday, the school will officially join the Big East Conference."

T minus 12 (depending on how Friday's announcement goes).