Hispanic Community Up in Arms Over New Mascot Name

We are all familiar with the debates about the naming of team's nicknames and mascots. The American Indians would love to have the Redskins, Braves, and Seminoles removed as team names. In fact in 2005, the NCAA passed a law that would prevent teams from using any Indian terms or the naming of any mascots deemed "hostile or abusive" on team uniforms or other clothing. The Philadelphia Phillies new Triple A affiliate, the Lehigh Iron Pigs, had a contest to name the their mascot. He is a porcine critter, all gray and fuzzy, with a smile and a cute potbelly. The winning name chosen by the fans was "Pork Chop". Sounds like a great name right? But just hold on a minute. The name did not go over too well with the Hispanic community in Allentown, PA. They complained that "Pork Chop" was an ethnic slur once used in the region's steel mills aimed toward their ancestors who were referred to this name inside the mines and around town. Funny, I don't remember Billy Joel making reference to that slur in his song about the aforementioned town. Anyway, the Lehigh Iron Pigs new mascot name is now "Ferrous", which is a play on the Latin word for iron. It's now politically correct, yet much harder to remember for kids. But this led to further complaints, from the fans of the team, upset that management caved into the force of political correctness. Iron Pigs spokesman Matt Provence says, "The name Pork Chop was not much better than the other names submitted, to cave, you need to give up something. We didn't really give up anything."