Does your university have a funny or unusual mascot?
 

Hi Everybody,
I think most universities and colleges try to have a scary name, like "The Warriors", "The Lions", "The Tigers", "The Bears", "The Eagles", "The Hawks"...you know, sort of menacing sounding, so that other teams who play them will be all, "ooh, we have to play the Lions"....

Well, who can forget the movie PULP FICTION and the good ol' University of California - Santa Cruz and their beloved (yet not menacing) Banana Slug?
http://slugweb.com/slugweb/_images/PulpFiction.jpg
So, I have to ask...what is/was your college's mascot?

and here's a very interesting history about how the Banana Slug came to be the mascot of UC-SC! http://slugweb.com/slugweb/index.pht...tHistory.phtml

[This message has been edited by CutiePie2000 (edited July 27, 2001).]

Well, officially the George Mason University mascot is "The Patriots", same big tough mascots. Unoficially however, we call ourselves "GMU, home of the fighting commuters."

Yeah you better not laugh, or else we'll run you down with our Honda Civics. :eek!:

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No funny squiggles, just bold letters: TKE

The tree at stanford is the best mascot.

I know University of Hawaii was the Rainbows..not sure if they still are or if they changed to something else.

(I hope OohTeenyWahine isn't offended)

At SDSU our mascot is the Aztecs. Right now there is so much controversy over using people as mascots...the school actually made a decision about the whole mess and I think that Monty will be an ambassador in the future.

Well, this isn't really a mascot, but at our school, there's a giant pink fiberglass cow in our student centre. Last year, a couple Fiji juniors stole it, and cut it up. They had to pay something like $12000 for a replacement! The new one is even uglier than the last. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif

Our official mascot is the Wildcats, which is not that interesting. Except that the local Masters swim team is called the Wild Catfish, which is pretty funny.

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Travelling with no boundaries, moving in imaginary.

Though we are now the Phoneix, when I graduated from Elon College, NC, we were the Fighting Christians and our mascot was the Notre Dame guy in maroon and gold. Whats funny is even though we complained about it like crazy, when they did change it, everyone was sad! Now our mascot looks like a really big turkey in maroon and gold(the bird, rising from the ashes)

Ok, what is up with Gunston? He's like this big green THING with a yellow nose. How did he come to be GMU's mascot?

Longwood College's mascot is the Lancer. Everyone is always like... what's a lancer??? They're kinda like knights.

My guess is a Lancer is a guy who carries a Lance (sharp, pointy weapon)?

Okay, Syracuse University Orangemen....I think I know what Orangemen are, but I'm not certain. A teacher once told me that green is the color for Catholicism and orange is the color of Protestants?
So if if someone is referred to as an "Orangeman", it used to mean "you're a Protestant". Does that sound right?
I do know that Syracuse is private, does it have religious ties?



[This message has been edited by CutiePie2000 (edited July 27, 2001).]

Hahaha, Cutiepie, I might end up going to UC-Santa Cruz - the home of the Banana Slugs http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif! How about UC Irvine's - the Anteaters, or UC Santa Barbara's Gauchos! Not exactly something to be feared, IMO http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/wink.gif!

Now what is an "Aggie"?? UC Davis' mascot is the Aggie.

[This message has been edited by newbie (edited July 27, 2001).]

CP2000, why would I be offended? LOL. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif

But I was offended when they (the Athletic Dept. & former President Mortimer) decided to pull the rug out from under us and change our name without any kind of input from the community.

We were the Rainbows. The women's teams were the Rainbow Wahine. Then the football team became the Rainbow Warriors and had a guy dress up in a warrior costume and BAM! that was our mascot. And then the Hawaiian community complained that the mascot was a mockery of the Hawaiian culture...and the poor mascot even got death threats--no aloha spirit at all.

So, in Fall 2000, they unveiled our new logo. Gone was the old UH Rainbow logo, now we're limited to an "H" in tapa print (it's a Polynesian kind of print). http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif People have said that the disappointing 2000 football season was a result of the sudden name change.

Then football, men's volleyball and basketball teams are now known as "THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII WARRIORS". The baseball team still goes by "THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII RAINBOWS". The women's teams still go by "THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII RAINBOW WAHINE".

Confusing, I know...and many people in the state are still bitter about the name change. That's why at football games you'll still hear "GO BOWS!" and "RAIIIIIIIN.....BOWWWWWWWS!" because there are a lot of people (myself included) that refuse to acknowledge the new name.

You're right CP2000! And Lancers could also be women. In high school I went to an all girls' Catholic school, and our mascot was the Lancer. St. Joan of Arc was our patroness saint because of her heroism.

Newbie--I think it's pretty funny about those UC schools. I know that UCI's the anteaters, but I can't help but yell "GO AARDVARKS!" whenever they come here to play the volleyball team

Our mascot isn't funny, at least not to most people, but it isn't neccessarily original-
The Texans
and our girls teams are the Tex-Anns, so no one really knows if you are talking about the girls or boys teams.

Our old mascot was pretty funny. Untill about 40 years ago, we were known as the Plowboys. Our mascot was a guy pushing a hand plow. Now our mascot is the Texan Rider, pretty much a girl on a horse.

PS, can you guess what state our school is in-LOL
Only in Texas can a college football team be called the Plowboys and be proud!

Missy

Yes, you are right! My bad! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

Indeed, that is kind of confusing about the Rainbows, the Warriors and the Rainbow Warriors. When I think Rainbow Warrior, I think of the ship owned by Greenpeace which is called "Rainbow Warrior".
BOO on that Mortimer guy who made the chance without any input from the community! BOOOOO!!! He should have left it as Rainbows...it goes more with the beautiful Hawaii idea...rainbows, etc.

Texas A&M's mascot is an Aggie, too, and it basically looks like a big, ugly, scary military guy. I have no idea where it came from, though.

Our school wins major points for originality.
We are- are you ready for this??

The Texans!!!LOL
and the girls teams are the TexAnns.

I still wish we had our old mascot though, The Plowboys! We a long time ago when women the school decided to include other majors besides agriculture.

Missy

PS. A big prize to whoever can guess what state my school is in!



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"To the world I promise temperance and insight and courage...."

"Don't you think that life would be awfully boring, if the good times were all that we had?" -Pat Green

Yeah, that's exactly what it is. But for some strange reason, I get people asking me what a lancer is all the time... even people who go to school here!

Wouldn't "Aggie" come from the A & M part, Agricultural and Mechanical?

Hey, good point CP!@! UC Davis is known for its excellent agricultural and science programs!!!

Thanks Missy for clarifying for me!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif


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How lucky I am to have known somebody who was so hard to say goodbye to.
- Unknown

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- E.E. Cummings

Western Kentucky University's is called "Big Red" it is this actual big red blob kinda looks like a red ghost outfit. Weird, huh?

That's right, forgot about Gunston. He's named after Gunston Hall, George Mason's residence in Virginia (nice, but no Mt Vernon or Montecello). He's a big green moster like thing that dances around at basketball games mostly, and he usually wears some kind of GMU shirt. As to when we were first gifted with gunston...who knows?

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No funny squiggles, just bold letters: TKE

The University of Alabama is the Crimson Tide and the mascot is an elephant named Big Al who drives around (at least he used to) in a giant rollerskate. (No I'm not kidding.) This was a question on Weakest Link and the guy got it wrong!! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/mad.gif

I knew what he was named after, I just could never quite figure out what a green monster has to do with anything http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

I do not go here, but it's where my brother went to Law school...it's in Topeka, Ks and the school is Washburn University and their mascot is the Ichabods, which is defined as a Southern Gentleman

I'd say that's as far away from fearsome as one can get. For starters...I've never quite classified Kansas as a southern state..

It's funny, I think at least

Cory

One of the girls I played volleyball with went to Washburn University. We used to make fun of her because of the mascot.
GOOOOOOOOOO Ichabods!!!!

I didn't go to any of these, but my favorites are...

University of Oregon "Ducks," (not to be confused with the Mighty Ducks) University of Delaware "Fighting Blue Hens," and (although not a college) The Ft. Collins (Colorado) High School "Lambkins."

Then, of course, there's the Stanford Cardinal -- with no "s" on the end.

And, finally (maybe...I keep thinking of more) The Ohio State University "Buckeyes." Before anyone asks, the Buckeye is a tasteless, sentless nut with no known value that grows on trees. (I don't think it's even eatable) It's kinda round and dark brown with a round white spot. Of course the name came from the fact that Ohio is "The Buckeye State." Go figure. I've gotta admit that their mascot "Brutus the Buckeye" is pretty scary. (Trying hard not to giggle)

Oh, I forgot about the Kent State University "Golden Flashers." Oooops, it's actually "The Golden Flashes." Sorry.

DeltAlum

PS The University of Colorado teams are known as the "Golden Buffalos." (They're nicknamed the "Buffs," but I ain't gonna go there) Funny, they always look brown to me -- but you don't want stand in front of that sucker when she (yes, Ralphie III, the real live mascot, is a she) runs around the field at the beginning of each half. The human mascot (who wears this buffalo costume is called "Chip." Get it? Buffalo Chip?

Enough.

[This message has been edited by DeltAlum (edited July 27, 2001).]

I know this is about college mascots, but I had to tell you about this one. One of my friends went to HS near St Louis & his masoct was "The Orphans" (sp?) He said it was becasue a long time ago their team won some big game & the commentator said "they look like orphans" because their uniforms were in such bad shape. How woul you like to cheer for the orphans? lol
Heidi

From the University of Richmond website:

From 1876-1893, Richmond carried the nickname "Colts" into its athletic contests, so dubbed for their play as an "energetic group of young colts." In the summer of 1894, a new nickname was born. A baseball team comprised of UR athletes and city residents adopted the name "Spiders".

Star pitcher Puss Ellyson's lanky arms and stretching kick confused batters to such an extent that Richmond Times-Dispatch writer Ragland Chesterman used the name of that clever creeping insect, the Spider, to fittingly describe the erudite members of the team. So was created perhaps the most unique school nickname in the nation. To this day, the University of Richmond is the only school in the country which sports the nickname "Spiders."

Ok. I just have bad luck with mascots.

In High school I was, get this, A Harvester. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif Our mascot was just a guy who walked around with a scythe. For those not in the know, its the thing the grim reaper carries. Could HAVE been intimidating, but much less so when the guy carrying it is dressed like a farmer from the 1940's. I would have preferred a just selling the rights to John-Deere and using a combine. See...
http://www.pampaisd.net/PHS/Images/Harvester.jpeg
Doesnt he look like GI Joe after he was discharged from the army and became a farmer??

My first year in college I was a javalina. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif From the university's website: The university's first students chose the javelina (in Spanish pronounced hah-vay-lee-nah and in South Texan pronounced hah-vuh-lee-nuh) as the mascot because of its fierce and tenacious behavior. Javelinas can do serious damage to men or hunting dogs with their two-inch long canine teeth, which are well developed for cutting and slashing. However, javelinas are generally not aggressive and will almost always retreat from a person, unless cornered. For a pict...
http://www.tamuk.edu/images/pics/javelina-picture.jpg
Yep. Its a pig with a beard. But yet it belongs to the rat family. Ewwww.

Now I am a Roadrunner. Not all cute like Wiley Coyote, but more like a Blue Chicken on stereiods. An announcer even called it that during the NCAA fianl four we hosted in 1998. See...
http://www.goutsa.com/images/radio.gif

Stolen from the universities webpage. Normally he doesnt wear headphones, but it was the best image I could find.




[This message has been edited by lifesaver (edited July 28, 2001).]

Okay...Brown's is the Bears...normal enough. Tulane's is the Green Wave, Stanford's is the tree, they used to be called the Indians, now they're the cardinal.

Not a college mascot, but I think it was actually on Dave Letterman's dumbest mascots: There is a town near Clarion PA named Cranberry. Their mascot is, I am not kidding, the Cranberry Berries.

Top that.

Don't even get me started on high school mascots. A town in my hometowns district is called "Frost" and their the polar bears. An other town is named "Brr" and they are the blizzards. Don't forget the Hutto Hippos, whos mascot is a big purple hippo with long eyelashes and red lips. Scares me to death. The town where I live now are the Yellowjackets, which is pretty common, but the girls are the Honeybees. very scary.

And now for my alma mater, Hubbard High School. We are the only school in Texas using the mascot the Jaguar, but the funny thing is that I have never heard anyone outside our football district pronounce it right. It's pronounced Jag-ger, like Mick Jagger, and you will get beaten up if you try to tell us otherwise. The funny thing is, that someone actually found a dictionary that listed that pronunciation, so it is blown up and plastered all over our school and town.
Missy


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"To the world I promise temperance and insight and courage...."

"Don't you think that life would be awfully boring, if the good times were all that we had?" -Pat Green

I'm back.

During that epic post above, I don't know how I could have forgotten the University of Maryland "Terapins." I'm not sure of the spelling, but a terapin is a turtle. I'm sure it's a very scary snapping turtle, though. They call themselves the "Terps" for short.

And back to high schools, there is the Westminster (Colorado) "Farmers."

DeltAlum

What about Purdue Boilermakers?!? http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/confused.gif

UC San Diego's official mascot is Triton. The unofficial is the Sun God.

Here's a couple links to some pics:
http://athletics.ucsd.edu/
http://www.ucsd.edu/visit/visitors.html

Nobody really knows what Triton is until they see the picture. The tour guides on campus always say "Triton is Ariel's dad in the Little Mermaid." That clears up any confusion.

The Sun God is a replica of a sculpture in France. It's a little scary looking, but every year there's a huge festival held in its honor!

It is now the rainbow warriors I think.

When I was at Tulane, they decided to change the actual mascot guy from a guy in a wave-like suit nicknamed "Gumby" to a pelican. Don't remember what they named the pelican, but there was much resistance to the loss of gumby. I think they even used to have ppl come in Gumby suits to the football games.

My school's mascott is a MAVERICK named Durango. Now a Maverick is something that kinda looks like a bull and a cow in one...i'm not quite sure. OH WELL.

Ok I've got one.

Jacksonville State University's mascot is the Gamecock, and all my friends ask me if its supposed to be a chicken. lol. Anyway, for short, we're the Cocks.

Now, our rival, Troy State, is the Trojans. So... take your pick. Which is worse, Cocks or Trojans? LMAO. It's almost obscene.

At orientation, I heard a story about a Jax State-Troy State basketball game where some of our students made this huge poster that said "Your Trojans Can't Hold Our Cocks!" http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/eek.gif

Go figure! http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/tongue.gif

[This message has been edited by orchid2 (edited July 28, 2001).]

If you look at Kurt Angle, he has a 'chicken' on his shoulder... the old Clarion mascot looks more like a Chicken than a Golden Eagle. The new Eagle is a blow up thing that walks around... the other schools like to beat it up. My little can make the golden eagle face... its funny... his lips are closed, but you can see his teeth on the sides...

http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif

My friend went to a HS whos mascot was the Fighting Bubbles....

<3

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"...A dynamic sisterhood of powerful and passionate women maintaining uncompromising principles, igniting positive change, and embracing individuality!"

Phi Sigma Sigma - Gamma Gamma Chapter
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1-9-4-6 Doohretsis!

Tau Beta Sigma - Delta Omicron Chapter
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Go Golden Chickens! I mean EAGLES!

There are only a few good things that came out of Clarion- Chris Kirkpatrick of NSync, Kurt Angle (Pre WWF!) and any PHI SIGMA SIGMA!

These are too funny. http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/biggrin.gif My high school mascot was the Colts (ooohhh.. scary baby horses). My brother's was the Panthers, my sister & step-sister the Grizzlies.

My college was the Crusaders. (It's a Lutheran school- sort of). Not too scary. Unless you think of it in terms of the people that went off and killed lots of other people for "religious" reasons. Really great thing to idolize http://www.greekchat.com/forums/ubb/rolleyes.gif

My sister went to U of Akron for her freshman year, and they have this Kangaroo and are called the "Zips". I don't know about her school now. My step-sister goes to Kent State & I don't know about their mascot either.

I live in Columbus, so I get to see that scary Brutus Buckeye all the time, Deltalum!

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SilverTurtle

Phi Beta Fraternity: National Professional Association for the Creative & Performing Arts

I go to the University of Nebraska and our mascot is the Cornhuskers, although most people just shorten it to HUSKERS. Here's a link to a site that shows the what the mascot used to look like as well as what we now use. The background shows Lil' Red (on the left) which is what's used now and on the right is what we used to have: http://www.geocities.com/huskerlew/images.htm