Berkeley no go

Well folks, here it is, the final judgement. After weeks of waiting in anxious anticipation of any word whatsoever from Berkeley, I just received confirmation that I was not admitted. And I feel fine with this, to be honest. Truth be told, I never had a very compelling reason for wanting to go to Berkeley, other than it being Berkeley. The school is incredible, and going there would have certainly been a good thing both academically and career wise. And they have some of THE top profs in the areas I am interested in (community health). BUT, the program I applied to was not very compelling. It was never the "great-fit" I felt with U-Dub, nor even the "pretty darn good fit" with the U of M. It was always, "well, of the programs I see here, this one looks the best."

Am I rationalizing things here? I don't think so. Yes, I am a little bummed and my ego is a bit shaken. But I am not crushed. I don't feel that bad at all, really. This was my reach school, and I didn't get in. Same thing happened to me in undergrad (fuck you, Princeton), and I wouldn't change my undergrad experience for anything, Ivy league or not.

I belieave this calls for a new Domestique Poll: Who's got the better mascot?

In this corner, we've got Goldy and a big maroon "M" with gold piping.

Pluses: Goldy is very familair to me, I grew up with him at the old Marriucci and Willaims arenas. Already know the fight song (ra-ra-sis-koom-bah or something)

Minuses: Not very intimidating. Seriously, Gophers? Even the neighboring Badgers have a more fierce vermin as a mascot. At least the Gophs can rest well knowing they can outwit a drug-addled Bill Murray.

In the other corner, we've got Spirit, and a big purple "W" with gold piping.

Pluses: Live, actual dog. Fierce. Grrrr!

Minuses: Live, actual dog. These things are liable to be stolen by some stupid frat, or some stupid frat from Idaho. They also die, which could induce some serious separation anxiety with the fan base. And the last thing I want are fans crying for a dog when they should be cheering a touchdown or basket or something.

Also, there is this stylized version of the mascot:

Sorta lame in that way that all new age stylized sports logos are (see MN Wild for prime example), but again, we're competing against afriggin' GOPHER here! All in all, not that bad, and really they seem to rely on the big W over this version of the husky.

I can take or leave both these big letters, I guess it just comes down to which color combo you like better...