Groups representing victims of Catholic priest sexual abuse are calling for sports teams at all levels to get rid of the nickname "Cardinals," claiming the name's connotations are hurtful and offensive.

"Would you call a team the St. Louis Pederasts or the Arizona Buggerers?" asked an angry Patrick O'Hara, 36, who said he was molested by a priest 25 years ago while an altar boy at Our Lady of the Holy Chalice in South Boston, Mass. "Well, given what uncaring church leaders have allowed to happen, you may as well use those names if you use 'Cardinals.' "

The groups, working together as Don't Impugn or Deny the Damage Lasting in Everyone (DIDDLE), made their demands public after Cardinal Bernard Law's resignation as Archbishop of Boston. Law's resignation came in light of, according to court documents, overseeing an environment in which priests engaged in conduct that, were she alive today, would have turned Lot's wife into a pillar of salt.

Some alleged victims had worked on their own for months on this project before allying into one group. In Muncie, Ind., a small cadre of protestors marched outside of every home Ball State University football game this year, carrying placards with slogans like "End the Pain, Punt the Name," "Ball State = Sexual Abuse" and "What Would Touchdown Jesus Do?"

"Man, I can't get out of my locker room without these people all over me," Ball State mascot Charlie Cardinal said through a spokesman, who interpreted the mute symbol's gestures. "I mean, I tell these people, I'm a bird! Just because I don't wear pants doesn't mean I'm a child molester!"

"I'm not even allowed to touch children!" the perturbed Charlie mimed while pulling the top and bottom of his bill in opposite directions.

Meanwhile, some alleged victims say they didn't have a problem with the Cardinals nickname.

"In some cases, it could be a name of honor, for those good Cardinals out there," said John McDonough, 42, who said he was molested by a priest for at least five years growing up in Braintree, Mass.'s St. Mary of the Lake parish. "It's fine as long as they don't have a dancing Cardinal at halftime doing some sort of molestation ritual."

However, O'Hara said DIDDLE is having lawyers contact various professional, college, high school, junior high, elementary, pee-wee and preschool teams carrying the Cardinals nickname in hopes of pressuring them to change. If not, lawsuits could be in the offing, he said.

"We're telling them changing the nickname is a painless thing to do, and it's the right thing to do," he said. "Who wants fans to say to their team, 'Get 'Em, Pedophiles!'"