George Ayoub: Unique names make mascots special breed

You have to call them something, the 312 Nebraska high schools listed on the Nebraska School Activities Association Web site.

Otherwise number 67 would be at home against number 211, and following something like today's Independent's Fall Sports Preview would require a calculator, or an abacus for you old-school types.

Instead, we give schools names, a mascot, an image where they can hang their school spirit.

After spending far too much time on the NSAA site, I found 85 different Nebraska high school mascot names in a variety of colors and delineation.

Starting with animal-vegetable-mineral is appropriate because critters top the list of mascots among the state's high schools, although I found neither the Fighting Rutabagas nor a trace of a team called the Malachites.

Bulldogs (17 schools) and Eagles (17) lead the way. That mascot total of 34 represents more than 10 percent of all Nebraska high schools.

Among the top 10 mascot names, seven animals show up; expand the list to the top 25 and 15 are from the animal kingdom.

The largest non-zoological group of mascots was the Knights, who also checked in with 17 schools.

A word about my methodology: I tended to combine large groups, so, for example, the Hawks (6) took wing with Bluehawks (Hastings St. Cecilia), Silver Hawks (Lincoln Southwest) and SkyHawks (Omaha Skutt).

The Devils (5) are Red and Blue; the Raiders (9) and Hornets (3) include the Red variety; and the Blue Jays (9) include one and two-word configurations, plus the Junior Jays (Creighton Prep) because the seniors are blue birds.



Down the block

I put the Chiefs (Omaha Nation) with the Chieftains (Bellevue East, Yutan) for a total of 3, the same number I got when I added the Timberwolves (Exeter-Milligan) to a couple Wolves (Loomis, Arthur County). The Blue Knights (South Platte) bolstered the Knights' state leading total.

Nor did I pay attention to female derivatives for a girls team. Most of these monikers use Lady before the name (i.e. Ansley's Lady Warriors) or the suffix "ettes" as with the aforementioned St. Cecilia (Hawkettes). A couple teams (Sutton Fillies and Lexington Minutemaids) avoid these constructions but are still technically a byproduct of one of the 312. Hey, this is fun, not science.

Speaking of which, sometimes naming rights happen inadvertently. Thirty-seven schools out of the NSAA's list of 312 have unique mascots, the one and only of its kind in Nebraska.

The 37 schools range from among the state's largest, such as the Islanders from down the block and the Links (Lincoln High), to among the smallest, such as the Beavers (St. Edward).

Animals are represented, from the birds (Ord Chanticleers, Orchard Orioles) to the Bees (Bloomfield). In between, you'll find a couple canines (Minden Whippets, Rising City Terriers), a Wolverine (Wilber-Clatonia) and some Bunnies at Omaha Benson.

Animal parts show up on the unique list, too, as in Antlers (Elkhorn).

I especially like the Griffins (Diller-Odell), which by definition are "fabled monsters" sporting the head and wings of an eagle and body of a lion. You might see one hanging off a large, granite building. Now, that's unique.



By name

Our team of singles is heroic as well, populated with Braves (Battle Creek), Roughriders (Southwest), Pendragons (Pender), Trailblazers (Omaha St. Peter Claver), Discoverers (Columbus), Centurions (Centura) and Cavaliers (Bishop Neumann).

Manly sorts are present, too, as in Minutemen, Orangemen and Plainsmen (Lexington, Beatrice and Perkins County.)

From the sky come the Stars (Kearney Catholic), Thunderbolts (Lincoln Pius X) and Jets (Sterling); from the department of wanderlust come the Sailors (Sutherland), Scouts (David City) and Clippers (Malcom).

Nor can we forget the Cadets and Crimson Pride (West Point-Beemer and Omaha Roncalli Catholic); Dukes and Dusters (York and Holdrege); or Shamrocks and Swedes (Columbus Scotus and Gothenburg).

That leaves only three solo acts: the Haymakers of Cozad, the Jeffs of Fairbury and the Packers of Omaha South.

If you're looking for movies, remember this: The Titans (6) are in the middle of the pack, and the Wildcats make plenty of high school mascot music as 13 teams call them by name.

Finally, even though you have to call them something, among Nebraska high schools, there are no Cornhuskers, no Huskers and no Fighting Pelinis.



George Ayoub is senior writer at The Independent. Read his sports blog, "Bawls and Bats," at www.grandislandblogs.org/george