# Unusual Team Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 5, 1999, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826 "1999-12-05T12:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/1 "1999-12-05T12:17:00Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/2 "1999-12-05T17:04:00Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/3 "1999-12-05T17:11:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/4 "1999-12-05T17:14:00Z")
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”! ---
**Author:** ![meek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@meek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meek)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/5 "1999-12-06T06:27:00Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/6 "1999-12-06T06:35:00Z")
Don’t forget the terrifying U of Hawaii Rainbows! ---
**Author:** ![metroshane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@metroshane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/metroshane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/7 "1999-12-06T06:39:00Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/8 "1999-12-06T06:50:00Z")
Alva (Oklahoma) GoldBugs, and of course the women’s team was the Lady Bugs. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/9 "1999-12-06T06:52:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/10 "1999-12-05T19:06:00Z")
All hail, the Oregon State _Fighting Beavers!!!_ * * * TT “Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/11 "1999-12-05T19:59:00Z")
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](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![keystream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a3d4f5/32.png) [@keystream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keystream)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/12 "1999-12-05T20:28:00Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/13 "1999-12-05T21:44:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/14 "1999-12-05T21:51:00Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/15 "1999-12-05T22:00:00Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/16 "1999-12-05T22:35:00Z")
A redwing, as any fan of '30’s music is well aware, is a red-winged blackbird. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/17 "1999-12-05T23:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I believe I heard of a team (in California?) whose moniker was the Banana Slugs. That would be the University of California at Santa Cruz. ---
**Author:** ![BrainWeasel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@BrainWeasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainWeasel)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/18 "1999-12-05T23:20:00Z")
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?”) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 1999, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/19 "1999-12-05T23:38:00Z")
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](http://www.lubbockcottonkings.com/cottonwallpaper.jpg) That’s just about as mean as a cotton boll can look… ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 1999, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826/20 "1999-12-06T00:19:00Z")
Delta State University is “The Fighting Okra”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-team-names/11826.md?page=2)