I’m mainly talking about high school teams, since most of us are familiar with college and the pros. A couple I know of:
The Poca Dots, in Poca, WV.
The Fluvanna Flying Flucoes, in Fluvanna, VA. (Spelling may be incorrect).
So what else is out there?
New Berlin, IL: Pretzels
Centralia, IL: Orphans
Ellington, MO: Whippets
Cobdon, IL: Apple Knockers
Jacksonville, IL: Crimson
Western Illinois University (I know, not a high school): Leathernecks
I believe I heard of a team (in California?) whose moniker was the Banana Slugs.
I must mention one college team whose name strikes terror in the hearts of their opponents: The Golden Gophers.
Yeah, right.
I can’t imagine what the hell they were thinking when they selected that name for my state’s University team name. Dumb, just dumb.
In utah there is a school whose mascot is the beetdigger
How do you like that! And without so much as a “Kiss my foot” or “Have an apple”!
My all-time favorite actual team name, is an ice hockey team in Macoun(sp?)Georgia called the “Whoopies”.
The “Macoun Whoopies”
I think it was the runaway winner from a short list in a “name the team” vote in that area.
Wishing all you at the SDMB Happy Xmas and a GREAT 2000 and beyond!
Don’t forget the terrifying U of Hawaii Rainbows!
My high school was the Frisco Coons.
Not the raccoons, not the 'coons.
But The Coons.
We live in an age that reads to much to be wise, and thinks too much to be beautiful–Oscar Wilde
Alva (Oklahoma) GoldBugs,
and of course the women’s team was the Lady Bugs.
My husband swears if he ever has the opportunity to name a team, he’ll call it the “Pretty Flowers” just to crack people up.
All hail, the Oregon State Fighting Beavers!!!
TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
There’s no reason why a team name has to be some sort of violent animal or action. That’s a relatively new development. A nickname was merely a way of referring to the team.
For me, a good team nickname is one that is appropriate and which is unique. It’s even better if the name doesn’t stand for anything real. Detroit Red Wings is a perfect example – unique, and what exactly is a red wing?
Some good ones include:
Southern Illinois Salukis (don’t get many named for dogs).
Toledo Mud Hens (of course).
Miami Hurricaines (nice to be named after a natural disaster)
Durham Bulls
Buffalo Bills (the only case where the city is the nickname – i.e., they have buffaloes on their helmets, not bills)
Defunct teams with great names:
Buffalo Buffeds
Chicago Chifeds (and later Whales)
Trenton Tip Tops (named after a bread company)
Chicago Zephyrs
Spirits of St. Louis (first to put the nickname first)
Long Island Ducks
Providence Steamrollers
Columbus Bullies
“East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx
Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. www.sff.net/people/rothman
Not as silly as the others, but stupid considering my high school was in New Jersey.
We were the Pioneers.
Our mascot was either a covered wagon or a guy in buckskins.
Our colors were orange and black, too…a ripoff of Princeton, but stupid choice in its own right.
The razor belonged to a man named Occam, and he was not a scar collector. - William S. Burroughs
A couple of high schools I played against were the Mean Moose and the Fighting Farmers.
That’s sure to strike fear into opponent’s hearts
Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling.
I have heard that there’s a high school in Palo Alto, CA that calls themselves the “Artists.” Can anyone confirm?
“My hovercraft is full of eels.”
My high school’s nickname was the “Tars”. Apparently nobody knows what a tar is anymore, since shortly after I graduated they changed it to the “Sailors”.
Our mascot was a blatant ripoff of Popeye.
A redwing, as any fan of '30’s music is well aware, is a red-winged blackbird.
That would be the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Anyone heard of the Lansing Lugnuts? Ooh, scary. (Although, you don’t want to get the mascot angry if you value your future children.)
I think it’s a rule that sports teams aren’t allowed to have intimidating names unless they are at the top of their hierarchies. It’s like a draft, only with names. (Can you see a Jerry Macguire type hawking his first-round draft pick, the “Macho Killer Stud Bunnies?”)
I have two:
My friend Zach’s intermural softball team was called “The Team Formerly Known As Prince”.
Then, there’s my local hockey team: the Lubbock Cotton Kings. Check out the logo: http://www.lubbockcottonkings.com/cottonwallpaper.jpg
That’s just about as mean as a cotton boll can look…
Delta State University is “The Fighting Okra”.
