While Kent State’s lame nickname has already been mentioned, Ohio has some other very weak names:
Youngstown State’s Penguins
Akron Zips
Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jackets
John Carroll University Blue Streaks
Muskingum College Fighting Muskies
The Zips are actually represented by kangaroo named “Zippy.” Shamelessly ripping off Maryland’s “Fear the Turtle” slogan, Akron now sells "Fear the Roo t-shirts. I have one.
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I’m very proud of my alma mater, but I have to say, the Carnegie Mellon team name is pretty pathetic–The Tartans. Our team is named for a plaid. Ooooh! We’re gonna come CLASH with you! :rolleyes:
I was complaining about this to my brother one day. He pointed out that as he went to the University of Pennsylvania, his team was named for a peace-loving brotherhood. While not as lame as The Tartans (IMHO), I had to admit that a name like The Quakers wasn’t exactly intimidating.
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Yep. My alma mater too. We would joke about it: “Penn: Home of the Fighting Quakers!”
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Over the past few days (weeks even) the references to the Western Carolina Catamounts in the buildup to their season opening game with the Alabama Crimson Tide has caused me to snicker. The snicker is due to this unfortunate relationship:
Is there much chance that the individuals responsible for the choice of nickname/mascot had any idea of this?
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My friends of mine and I at the UU church in Atlanta used to joke about fielding a community softball team called the “Fighting Catamites.” But we never got around to it.
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ]
Does Arkansas Tech have any female teams? That’d be weird to play as the Wonderboys.
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They do, but alas, in an uncharacteristic burst of common sense, they’ve used the "Golden Suns " as their nickname for over 30 years (they were formerly the “Wonderettes”, which no doubt lead to them being mistaken for a Motown vocal group at times). Apparently, the idea of unifying the schools teams under a single “athletic brand” is an area of contention currently on campus: http://www.atu.edu/mascot/index.shtml .
Probably the most unfortunate nickname belonged not to a college, but to a high school: the athletic teams of Pekin High School, in Pekin, Illinois, were the Pekin Chinks!
Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina are the Blue Hose. The University of Delaware are the Blue Hens Now that Presbyterian and Delaware are both in Divison 1-AA of the NCAA, we can only hope for a match up between the Blue Hose and the Blue Hens!
What about actual college names? Arcadia University in southeastern PA was until recently named Beaver College. And it was founded as a women’s college.
I went to Tulane whose mascot is the Green Wave. It is odd and a little abstract but the concept really breaks down when you need a live mascot at football games and things. The live mascot is a person in a giant Gumby suit.
I went to grad school at Dartmouth whose mascot is just the “Big Green” so I guess I was riding a theme.
Apparently the women’s teams at Western Illinois U. didn’t want to be Leathernecks (bulldogs, not Marines) so they’re the Westerwinds. Don’t know what the mascot is, though.