Another nomination from the independent Northern League…
Sioux Falls Canaries
Canaries???
Someone earlier maligned the Cubs, but Canaries? Sheesh!
I’m from Topeka, Kansas and went to Washburn University here. It started out in 1865 as Lincoln College but some years later the struggling school accepted a BIG donation from a Conneticut guy who never even saw the place. His name was Ichabod Washburn, so the school changed its’ name to Washburn University. GUESS what the sports teams eventually got stuck with? Right! The Ichabods!!!
The mascot is Mr. Ichabod, striding along in tophat and tails. I kid you not! Oh well, at least the women’s teams are generally called the Lady Blues, after the school color.
Somehow I missed rastahomie’s posting about the Ichabods. But it IS Topeka Kansas, NOT Wichita.
how about the Denver Nuggets. Woohoo a chunk of metal is a name that will strike fear in the heart of your enemies.
in the town i lived in our middle school football title was the Trojans (hehe) and for the high school it was the beavers. Whats next the Washington VD’s.
Sorry to jump in so late but I couldn’t pass by without mentioning the anagrammatic Swarming Earthworms of Swarthmore. I know it was proposed but I don’t know if it became official.
CM Keller mentioned our near by rivals (the Battle Creek Battle Cats), but imagine if you will, their opponents?
The Lansing Lugnuts. (and that was a contest ** winner **)
I do, however believe that my high school wins the lamest nickname contest. We were the “Seaholm (name of the school) Maples”. Try and get fired up about a tree. So to speak.
Lost in the mists of antiquity is why my high school (Loyola Academy, in Willmette, Illinois) has as it’s nickname: “The Ramblers.”
The symbol is a Viking head - God only knows why.
xizor wrote:
It was worse before they changed their helmet logo.
Their helmets used to have this picture of a totally effeminate pirate on them.
I had mentioned the Lugnuts on the previous page, wring. The sad thing is that when they started selling the team apparel people lined up around the block to buy it. My sister worked for an ad agency in Lansing and she said that the main theory floating around the Lansing ad community was that they purposely gave the team a bad name ( IIRC- the team owner’s daughter, who was the chief flack for the team, came up with the name. ) The thinking was that they would sell a bunch of stuff then rename the team the following year and cash in again when people bought the new stuff. And don’t tell me that people aren’t stupid enough to buy new stuff. They bought Lugnut gear, didn’t they?
Since this was bumped up I would like to point out to Crunchy Frog ( nee BratMan007 ) that while it is true that Jews were not subject to the Inquisition, those who had converted ( the conversos ) were.
So there!
( Actually I was just trying to feed someone the Monty Python joke. You’re welcome, Bluepony. )
Just my 2sense
I always thought it was funny when a school picked the Spartans as their team mascot. “Oh, by the way, did you know your school mascot is based on a group of people that regularly had sex with little boys? You know, to cement the bond of battle?”
As if living the ascetic life was bad enough.
Up til the mid-70s (as a friend who went there told me), Syracuse University used to have an Indian as a school mascot (the ‘Saltine Warrior’ in reference to the area’s salt production and Native American history). Some fraternity boy would dress up in full headdress and warpaint, whooping and hollering to rev up the crowd. In return, the students would throw crackers (saltines) onto the playing field.
In response to criticism, the university dropped the Native American mascot. Keeping the warrior motif, they became the Trojans, with the mascot in the metal skirt, breastplate and helmet.
Guess what the students threw onto the field? Guess what mascot got nixed REALLY fast?
Now, they are the Orangemen, with a fuzzy orange wearing a freshman beanie for the mascot, though the school has prohibited the throwing of oranges onto the field. (Side note, he also pointed out that the new school logo, a stylized letter ‘S’ with a ‘U’ in the center, is awfully close to the logo for a toilet paper manufacturer.
He also mentioned was a private high school for boys (Christia Brothers Academy) that had gone co-ed. The mascot was a monk, and the teams were known as the “Brothers”. Til they decided on a new mascot, the girls were informally known as the “Lady Brothers”.
…I cannot believe that there is still a team called the Washington “Redskins.” Well then, why not Indianapolis “Negros?” (Or worse–I hate that other word and won’t type it.) In fact, any racial slur can be plugged in there to take the place of the offensive name.
Native Americans are a very small and comparatively quiet-voiced minority in this country, and so, apparently, it is easier and more acceptable to cartoonize and mock them. There was talk ten years ago (and it has come up repeatedly since) of changing various names; IIRC, the college teams changed their names, but the pros retained theirs.
I went to Virginia Tech, whose team name (the Hokies) isn’t exactly bad, just a little weird (and in spite of what ESPN says about the name coming from the school fight song, I was always told that the word “hokie” was a nickname for a castrated turkey). But what is really bad is the inscription above the main entrance to the football stadium: “Lane Stadium: Home of the Fighting Gobblers”. I sure hope they never play Oregon State. 
If McDonald’s sponsored the team, they could be the Denver Chicken McNuggets. Yikes.
My vote goes to the Boilermakers. Uh-oh, please don’t make any boilers while we’re playing!
And in Minnesota it’s the Bemidji Beavers!
Over here in the UK, some sports have tried to jazz up their image by giving their teams new nicknames.
Example: the Rugby League club in my old haunt of Leeds have called themselves “the Leeds Rhinos.” I’m sure you’ll remember that, in the old days, large herds of rhinocerii ran wild on the plains of Yorkshire.
So many of the other league names are ripped off of American sports (Bradford Bulls, Wigan Warriors, Halifax Blue Sox) that it makes you wonder whether a class-action lawsuit is around the corner.
To its everlasting shame, cricket is trying the same thing. Some of the names are actually good (my favourite is the Glamorgan Dragons) but worst is the Worcestershire Pears. Imagine getting beaten by a fruit!
there used to be a team called the Fairfield Union Charging Knights (look at the initials ;))
What city and state is this in? You cannot seriously tell me that no one noticed?! Oops, I just noticed the “used to be”; what are they now?
I’m a huge MLS fan (thats an understatement), but i still have to bag on the names.
I’ve said many times to friends, if there were only one thing I would change about Major League Soccer, its the names.
The names were created in the mid-nineties when Nike was trying out with “alternative team names” that will catch on with all the young folk.
An unmitigated disaster.
The ten teams were:
The Kansas City Wiz (they are now called the Wizards, due to fan protests)
The San Jose Clash (my team, season tickets since day 1, but an utterly pathetic name. Got changed last season to Earthquakes which is considered a traditional soccer name in these parts because of the popular NASL and WSA Earthquakes)
The Los Angeles Galaxy (bastards)
The Colorado Rapids
The Dallas Burn (Ugh, i hate this name.)
The New England Revolution (Everyone calls them the Revs, though)
The New York/New Jersey MetroStars (I can say it five times fast, can you?)
Columbus Crew
Tampa Bay Mutiny (I’m still unclear on this, isn’t Mutiny a bad thing?)
DC United (The only good name. A good soccer name)
Don’t think I don’t like MLS, i love it. Anyway its playoff time!! http://www.bigsoccer.com YES!!!
btw, US Men just made the semis in the olympics WOO-HOO!!!
I actually like names without plurals; but maybe thats because I grew up following European Soccer.
No official nicknames in most sports all over the world (except Australia and rugby in England, I think) Nicknames are just that, names made by the fans; not names made by advertising specialists in the boardroom.
Can’t remember who had the quote in his signature, but High Fidelity is the one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Nick Hornby’s first three books are on the three things that are most important to me: soccer, relationships and music. It doesn’t get any better than that.
I’m out,
Chris Sousa