# Worst Mascots (High school - Pros) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670 "2003-09-15T03:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/61 "2003-09-16T06:14:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LaurAnge \* > \*\*I went to a small, private all-girls school. The mascot: the beaver. > > Uh huh. \*\* Oh, don’t be so modest, LaurAnge! Tell us all the name of the school, the three houses, and the one with the most appropriate house colour. Go on, don’t be shy. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/62 "2003-09-16T06:18:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMule \* > \*\*Man, for a guy almost finished with a BA in English, you’d think I’d proof read more often :smack: \*\* Oh, I’m not surprised. At my tutoring job, when someone recommended an English major for a job tutoring grammar for the SAT II Writing test, our response was, “Kiss of death.” English majors thought they knew grammar because of some mysterious osmosis that happened in English dean’s offices, but really most of them had very little idea of even how to get the right answer, much less explain it. > [@](#): > > The ones that came out during the hippie days are pretty bad such as the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs and the UC Irvine Anteaters. Quite the contrary. I can very clearly remember a former high school buddy writing me from UC Santa Cruz in about 1986 about how the students had risen up, defied the wishes of the administration, and chosen the Banana Slug as their mascot. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/63 "2003-09-16T06:24:28Z")
Oh, and I’ve told this one before, but the Compton, CA High (that’s the NWA town, where Venus and Serena’s sister just got shot) has the mascot of the Tarbabes. I can’t believe it’s true, but it is. Apparently they wanted to be the little brothers of the Tarheels at the local community college. Someday that has to change, right? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/64 "2003-09-16T07:28:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\* Quite the contrary. I can very clearly remember a former high school buddy writing me from UC Santa Cruz in about 1986 about how the students had risen up, defied the wishes of the administration, and chosen the Banana Slug as their mascot. \*\* Incorrect, my friend. In '86 they have voted to _keep_ that name. The name is from 1965. http://www.ucsc.edu/about/campus\_mascot.html Haj ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/65 "2003-09-16T08:06:07Z")
Well, just because you have the facts on your side, I’m supposed to believe you? ---
**Author:** ![Kaje](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f04885/32.png) [@Kaje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaje)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/66 "2003-09-16T08:14:01Z")
Wow I can’t believe nobody mentioned this yet… [http://www.d111.k12.id.us/BHSmain.htm](http://www.d111.k12.id.us/BHSmain.htm) Yes that’s right… the _Butte Pirates_. We must have spent an hour at dinner once trying to figure out if there was any POSSIBLE mascot that could have been worse for our poor friends in Butte. The only ones that come to mind at the moment were the Butte Pistons and perhaps the Butte Jazz (My roommates were big basketball fans). ---
**Author:** ![Bomzaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Bomzaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomzaway)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/67 "2003-09-16T09:43:37Z")
A local boy private high school here in San Jose are called the Bellarmine Bells. The Bells. Not very intimidating. Fortunately for them, they field some pretty good teams. ---
**Author:** ![Skerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Skerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skerri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/68 "2003-09-16T12:46:35Z")
Heh. Our high school rivals were the St. Andrews Rocks. (They had a giant rock on their campus that was their mascot.) The AAA baseball team in Charleston used to be the Charleston Rainbows. It sounded _fabulous_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/69 "2003-09-16T13:06:25Z")
Pekin (IL) Chinks. No longer in use. They had two kids dressed as cartoon chinese meet on the field at halftime and bow at each other. I am not making this up. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/70 "2003-09-16T13:08:30Z")
My Catholic all-girls high school has everyone beat (for pure stupidity, no fun sexual connotations). We had to wear a uniform of blue plaid skirt, white shirt, socks and saddle shoes. Our mascot was… **a pair of freakin’ saddle shoes!!!** That’s right, we were the “Saddleites” and jerseys and the gym wall had a pair of saddle shoes on them. :smack: [sub]Hell, at least my geeky university has “Blue Devils” with a vaguely debonair-looking satan guy. Not bad![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/71 "2003-09-16T13:11:37Z")
Fordyce (AR) Red Bugs. That’s where bear bryant got his start. Nebraska used to be (unoffially) the Bugeaters. ---
**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/72 "2003-09-16T16:09:28Z")
The Detroit Pistons were also originally a company team, located in Fort Wayne, Indiana and sponsored by the Zollner Company whose product was (maybe still is?)…pistons! How about the New York University Violets for an un-intimidating nickname? ---
**Author:** ![ThatDuckIsEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@ThatDuckIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatDuckIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/73 "2003-09-16T16:16:14Z")
In high school we were the Trojans. Sigh. Condom jokes galore. My friend from Danbury CT had a high school (or was it college?) mascot of a Hatter. Because I guess it was the hat-making capital of the world at some point. I thought that was the most bizarre mascot ever, but now that I’ve read this thread, I have to say its not that odd compared to a pretzel or a banana slug. Yeesh! ---
**Author:** ![gossamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gossamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gossamer)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/74 "2003-09-16T17:39:55Z")
There is Hoopeston, IL: the Cornjerkers ---
**Author:** ![infamousmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d6d6ee/32.png) [@infamousmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infamousmom)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/75 "2003-09-16T17:48:55Z")
The second high school I went to (Beatrice, Nebraska, armpit capital of the midwest) had the team name Orangemen. I think the idea originally was wild Irish warriors. What we got was an orange with legs. Ooo, what a tough image. Oh well, at least it isn’t the USC Condoms. ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/76 "2003-09-16T18:17:02Z")
These aren’t as entertaining as other names on here, but may be worth mentioning. Butte Pirates takes the cake…my sides hurt from laughing. Keyser (WV) High School - The Golden Tornado I’ve never been a fan of non-plural nicknames, but this one is especially bad IMO. No local significance since WV is the mountain state. I was unsuccessful in trying to find out the origin of this name. Man (WV) High School - The Hillbillies Poca (WV) High School - Dots The Poca Dots. Ok…it is clever, but still cheesy. Bramwell (WV) High School - The Millionaires. Not in existence anymore since it closed in 1991. Many years ago in the early half of the 20th century, Bramwell was an extremely wealthy small coal mining town. The school was created with private funding from local coal barons and ‘Millionaires’ was their nickname of choice. _Originally posted by Skerri_ > [@](#): > > The AAA baseball team in Charleston used to be the Charleston Rainbows. It sounded fabulous. I remember seeing the Rainbows 12 or so years ago when they played my home town team (Charleston Wheelers). I thought they were a single A team rather than AAA. University of Hawaii also had Rainbows as a nickname but they changed it 4 or 5 years to the Rainbow Warriors IIRC. They used to have a rainbow across each side of the helmet. ---
**Author:** ![shelsbells13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@shelsbells13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelsbells13)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/77 "2003-09-16T18:22:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ender\_Will \* > And, all you Harry Potter fans out there: Wouldn’t The Death Eaters be, hands down, the greatest school nickname/mascot? \*\* Heck yeah! We were the Railroaders… oh that’s intimidating. ---
**Author:** ![Nimue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d26b3c/32.png) [@Nimue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimue)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/78 "2003-09-16T18:38:30Z")
I went to Baltimore Polytechnic Institute for high school. We were also the Engineers. Our mascot was a giant parrot brandishing a t-square. Struck terror in the hearts of our competitors, I’m sure…! ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/79 "2003-09-16T18:40:10Z")
Stephen F Austin High Maroons (Austin, TX) Represented by that intimidating ball off maroon poof, Mr. Maroo: [http://www.austinhighptsa.com/vb/Images/MrMarooSM.gif](http://www.austinhighptsa.com/vb/Images/MrMarooSM.gif) ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670/80 "2003-09-16T18:48:04Z")
Richmond Spiders - Eeek!!! Virginia Tech Hokies … I hope they don’t have to play on Thanksgiving 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-mascots-high-school-pros/201670.md?page=5)