Why are the "MAD ANTS" mad?

I suppose they have a good reason but, really, why are they mad? I have never thought about the lives of ants and what might disappoint them or discourage them or disgust them, let alone make them mad. Before I go any farther I better explain what has caused me to contemplate this question.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has their own minor league group of teams. Fourteen teams across the USA play in something called the NBA Development League, commonly abbreviated as the NBA D-League. This league is designed to give basketball players, who are not quite able to make an NBA roster, a chance to develop their skills and to mature into professional basketball players. Since this league does not have a long history, the teams tend to have fairly original nicknames. Often there is a contest in which members of the community are asked to submit their suggestions for what the team nickname should be. One of the new teams in the league this year is located in Des Moines and plays home games at Wells Fargo Arena. They are called the Iowa Energy. That's a nickname designed to take advantage of Iowa's role in ethanol and other alternative sources of energy (I think). The other nicknames in the league are “Thunderbirds”, “Arsenal”, “Toros”, “Jam”, “14ers”, “Wizards”, “Stampede”, “D-Fenders”, “Vipers”, “Skyforce”, “66ers”, and “Flash”,

Recently on Mediacom (cable television) I saw part of an Iowa Energy game in which they played the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants. That nickname caught my attention right away. The logo they have is probably supposed to represent a “Mad Ant” but it wasn't real clear to me. Anyway, this nickname prompted some questions in my mind: Why are those ants mad? Do they live in a state of perpetual madness? Are all ants mad or just some of them? Are there happy ants? Does “mad” mean crazy insane or is it the type of “mad” that means bitterly upset? Is this madness directed to other ants, to human beings or anybody or anything else? Are there ant psychologists available to help these ants recover from their madness?

I have to admit that about the only contact I have with ants is when I crush them with my foot. They might be crawling over a picnic lunch or just meandering down a sidewalk and I admit that my taking of their life is pretty thoughtless on my part. Come to think of it, that might be one of the reasons why they are so mad. If your life could suddenly and unexpectedly be ended by some thoughtless being, thousands of times larger than you, you might be pretty disillusioned too. How many times might you have had one of your family or friends leave home one day and never come back? Why make any plans for the future? Why have children you might not be able to care for? Why even leave your home “hill” when you might never come back? In fact, why even build that hill when some snotty little human being may come along and gleefully destroy it? Can anybody blame ants for having to attend human picnics to get some food for themselves and their families? It really seems that ants might very well consider themselves, not second class world citizens, but maybe fifty-second class. As far as I can tell, they are the Rodney Dangerfield of the world's living beings. They get no respect.

Well, all frivolity (using the term loosely) aside, I did my homework. I wanted to find out how this basketball team from Ft. Wayne Indiana had decided on this particular nickname. As I mentioned before, the officials of the team had conducted a community contest. The name, “Mad Ants” was an easy winner (“Fire”, “Coyotes”, and “Lightning” were the next three in the voting). It was in reference to General “Mad” Anthony Wayne (1745-1796), a US Army General and statesman whose Revolutionary War triumphs and fiery personality had earned him the title, “Mad Anthony”. The town of Fort Wayne Indiana is named after him, as well as many, many other places across the USA including Wayne State College in Nebraska. So, all in all, I have to say that the team did pick a very creative nickname that does reference its community's past as well as reference triumph in battle. However that last part might be not taking hold right now – the Mad Ants are currently in last place in their division in the D-League (something else to be mad at ?).

One final thing that some people might find maddening. All of these teams have their cheerleader dance teams. In Ft. Wayne it is called the “Madame Ants Dance Team.” Ouch.