Call it Ishmael.

Call it Raul — that’s the name I’d bet on. In fact, call the new Panther mascot whatever your heart desires. You can even call it late for dinner.

But don’t expect anyone to care about it enough to be surprised.

Most who remember there ever being a mascot are still Billy backers, and the rest likely don’t care all that much.

The fine folks in the athletic department have decided on a name for the new mascot, but they don’t want to tell you — at least, not yet. The mascot’s name unveiling goes down Jan. 16 in Lantz Arena during Eastern’s game against Murray State.

The Panther will hold a name that is non-gender specific. A non-politically correct Panther? That would be unheard of.

Why does the athletic department and the cheer team enjoy keeping wraps on who is inside the Panther suit? The University of Illinois makes it clear who the chief is each year.

Does the cheer team and athletic department think fans don’t realize there is a person inside?

They must take us all for being dumber than Cubs management.

Here’s some more dumb stuff that might just be more surprising than a mascot name.

u After the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers defeated Western Illinois in a barn-burner last week, a post-game brawl ensued. While the action wasn’t acceptable, where was that sort of fire when the Panthers played the Leathernecks?

u So what if the Panther women’s basketball team is missing its best player? So what if the team has the rebounding skills of John Stockton?

The team’s real problem is halftime. The Panthers need to simply get rid of it. Who needs all those silly promotional games anyway?

Eastern simply has struggled to hang with teams or hold leads this season in the second half much like it did last year.

So, if the Panthers can’t abolish halftime completely, they ought not to go in the locker room. The team could continue playing the game against an imaginary team, or possibly against the young ones from the YMCA who are often allowed to roam the court.

Somehow the team must figure out how to carry over some momentum or else warm up the team bus 20 minutes early.

u Which Thompson will go pro first? Jan of Panther basketball fame or Jason of soccer. Unless goofiness earns a paycheck these days, it’s a safe bet to put the money on Jason, even though he’s not a senior.

u There are no rankings for this sort of thing, but the Ohio Valley Conference has the best football coach last names in the country. A new one was added this week to replace another classic. Names like Spoo, Kidd, Reese and now Hope add to what is a collection of gold for headline writers in places where OVC football is played.

Here’s hoping Hope and Spoo spurn and Reese pieces together some good game content for headline writers in the future.

u Here’s a parting shot: Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame next year? Don’t bet on it.