These days, it seems, just about any name is bound to offend somebody. I
offer this: Colgate dropped the word "Red" from its nickname to become
simply the "Raiders" a few years ago. Not because the word "red" in their
old nickname was a Native American reference, but because they felt it could
be *construed* as one. So, not wanting to offend, they changed it. I suppose
this is an extreme example (imagine if Cornell followed suit and simply
became the "Big." JTW would need to revamp his entire site!), but the point
is that if nicknames need to be kept PC its nearly impossible to know where
to draw the line.
-Todd