Students and alumni at Amherst College could soon be rooting for the Hamsters.
Hamsters was among the most popular nicknames submitted to a committee put together to come up with a new athletic mascot for the Massachusetts school. Trustees dropped Lord Jeffs last year in part because 18th century British Gen. Jeffery Amherst suggested giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans.
The committee has winnowed a list of nearly 600 unique suggestions to 30 semifinalists.
Many people noted that Hamster is an anagram for Amherst. Other semifinalists include Moose, Aces, Dinosaurs, Irradients, Fighting Poets and Mammoths.
Among the nicknames that didn't make the cut were Biddys and Purple Martins, nods to current college President Carolyn "Biddy" Martin.
The committee hopes to have five finalists for a community-wide vote in March.
Buenos errors
A statue in Buenos Aires of Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi has been vandalized, with the head, torso and arms all being removed -- leaving only the legs and a soccer ball on display.
The statue was installed in late June, just shortly after Argentina and Messi lost the final of the Copa America against Chile.
The city government says it is working to reconstruct the statue.
The vandalism took place Monday, just hours after Cristiano Ronaldo was named FIFA's best player of the season for the fourth time. Messi, who finished second in the voting, has won the award five times.
The Messi statue is among several others in the area, all of them dedicated to Argentine sports stars. They include a figure of basketball player Manu Ginobili, tennis players Gabriela Sabatini and Guillermo Vilas, Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio, and hockey player Luciana Aymar.
Vandals also stole the racket from Sabatini's statue.
Sore winner
Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter was arrested Sunday night outside a Pittsburgh bar after allegedly assaulting the doorman. Porter is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, resisting arrest, public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
"Wow," wrote Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com. "Imagine what might have happened if Pittsburgh actually lost."
Headlines
From sportspickle.com:
• "Report: Patriots not even planning to cheat to beat Texans"
• "Alabama reloads by signing first-ever 6-star recruit with multiple superpowers"
Sports quiz
The most popular college nickname is (A) Tigers, (B) Bulldogs, (C) Eagles, or (D) Panthers?
Sports quiz
C. Eagles with 76. Tigers finished second (46), followed by Bulldogs (40) and Panthers (33).
Sports on 01/11/2017