Think back---what was your High School Mascot? Mine was a Knight on a real white horse. They were

[debm55]

followed by a person to clean up any presents the horse left on the football field

[rsdsharp]

1. We didn't have one. We were the Comets,

which is a little tough to render as a costume.

[debm55]

2. Funny

[rsdsharp]

3. Oh, you saw our football team!

[Ocelot II]

4. It was a ram.

The name of the school was Ramsey, so that figured. But we never had a real ram.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. We were the Panthers.

So, a person from the Pep Club in a Panther costume was our mascot.

No real live Panthers.

[Archae]

6. The official mascot is/was a tiger...

But no one in a tiger costume.

[Glorfindel]

7. Bobcat, but no one ever wore a bobcat costume.

There were two stuffed bobcats in a glass case in the lobby, though. Sad, scruffy -looking specimens.

[Croney]

8. Warning -- this is some last-century crapola.

Our mascot was, and still is, an Indian in full feather headdress that trails on the ground. Not Native American... Indian. That's the team name, the Indians. Still. In 2023.

[CTyankee]

59. Dartmouth College had an Indian and always had a guy dressed up in Indian garb making war

whoops and doing a little dance on the sidelines of Ivy football games. It was pretty bad. I've lived long enough to remember seeing that little dance.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Dartmouth+Indians+mascot&form=QBLH&sp=-1&ghc=1&lq=0&pq=dartmouth+indians+mascot&sc=2-24&qs=n&sk=&cvid=7024A60D211844B7BD73C5711A0257C8&ghsh=0&ghacc=0&ghpl=

[MOMFUDSKI]

9. We were

The Rams.

[Ocelot II]

10. Did you go to my high school? See #4.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Mine was a Blue Devil. Alas, both he and the school are gone.

[ailsagirl]

32. Mine was a Blue Devil, too

But I think DSHS is still going strong

[captain queeg]

12. Ours was the G-man (men). Mascot was a guy in a trench coat with a magnifying glass

Sort of halfway between Elliot Ness and Sherlock Holmes

[TlalocW]

13. The Indians unfortunately

And even one of the cheerleaders dressed up as an Indian maiden that could have put her on an old Land O Lakes butter package.

[thatcrowwoman]

14. Cougar

Not a real one. I don’t remember anyone in a mascot costume, either.
I was marching with the band playing clarinet until senior year when I’d had enough. The guidance office realized I’d missed U.S. History in 10th grade, so I had to take it with the sophomores.

Coach Carter sat in the front of the room with his feet up in his desk, reading the newspaper. “Read the next chapter and answer the questions at the end.”
I’d raise my hand to ask a question. Answer: “Quit that agitating, youngcrowlady!”
I’d cop to 2 out of 3. I’d rather have been back in the band.

Over my 40 years in public education I’ve been a bobcat, a wild cat, a wolverine, an eagle, a pioneer, a warrior, and probably a couple I’m forgetting. Only the pioneer and the eagle had costumed mascots.
🕊thatcrowwoman

[Ocelot II]

15. Sports mascots almost always seem to be carnivores,

usually members of the cat family, but also including bears, wolves, badgers, wolverines and assorted raptors. The University of Minnesota seems to be a rare exception with its Gophers, but otherwise you don't see a lot of rodents, passerine birds (but for the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals, unless the reference is to members of the Roman Catholic clergy, which I doubt), or insects, other arthropods or fish (the Miami Marlins). The Dolphins don't count as fish; they are carnivorous marine mammals. I'd like to see a team named the Bunnies or the Hamsters or the Capybaras.

[ret5hd]

18. An exception to every rule:

The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Santa_Cruz_Banana_Slugs

A pic of mating banana slugs:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Two_Banana_Slugs.jpg

[Ocelot II]

26. Excellent!

[thatcrowwoman]

47. University of West Florida: Nautilus

[Diamond_Dog]

28. Here's one for bizarre.

My college roommate who was from Cleveland, OH, went to John Marshall High School … home of the Lawyers! Their team was actually called The Lawyers.

[Ocelot II]

29. That makes sense (sort of) because John Marshall was the longest-serving Chief Justice

of the Supreme Court. But it's still a rather odd name for a sports team, though lawyers are perceived to be aggressive and dangerous, like tigers and wolverines.

[wnylib]

64. My high school sports teams were named for a person instead of an animal.

The school was named after a local Civil War hero, Colonel Strong Vincent. So we were "The Colonels."

For rallies in the auditorium, and games, we sometimes had a student dressed as "The Colonel."

BTW, his first name was not an adjective. It really was his given name, from a locally prominent surname in his family. When I moved away from the area and listed my school name on job applications, I usually had to explain to interviewers that, no, I did not make a mistake. My school really was a public school called Strong Vincent, not a Catholic school called St. Vincent.

It is no longer a high school. Today it is a middle school with the same name and building. The high school was merged with another high school in the city.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong_Vincent

[yellowdogintexas]

40. Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes. Colors are pink and green

Vincennes, Indiana Alices.
NYU Violets

South Hills High School in Fort Worth is the Scorpions.

[Ocelot II]

41. Fighting Artichokes!

[malthaussen]

50. The Cardinals are, in fact, named for the color of their uniforms...

... to differentiate them from the St. Louis Browns, which are now the Baltimore Orioles. The football team adopted the baseball team's name, and after people decided cute logos should go on uniforms (quite early, in fact, think it was the 1920s), the team adopted the bird as a mascot.

Of course, the St. Louis Cardinals football team has been in Arizona for several years, so the origin of the name has lost its relevance.

-- Mal

[malthaussen]

51. How about the Mud Hens?

Toledo Mud Hens, a minor league BB team with a long history.

-- Mal

[Ocelot II]

52. I think sometimes teams get named ironically.

Something fierce and impressive is expected: lions, tigers, bears, etc. - but everybody does that. So why not come up with something the opposite of lions and tigers and bears, which would be memorably amusing? Et voila: Mud Hens, a completely harmless and unglamorous creature. But I'm still waiting for the Hamsters and the Gerbils. Or the Boxelder Bugs, or the Naked Mole Rats.

[malthaussen]

54. You're right, especially for minor league BB teams.

They are legion, and often have names that show some... creative... thinking. Scranton Iron Pigs, eg. Rocket City Trash Pandas (I shit you not). Minor league BB is a joy.

-- Mal

[BootinUp]

16. Mater Dei Monarchs

Lion

[petronius]

66. Lion for me too - Westminster HS

No real lions on the premises, as I recall...

[Mr.Bill]

17. We were the Royals.

Our school newspaper was The Royal Scroll and our yearbook was The Citadel

[Chainfire]

19. Ours was an English Bulldog, although no one in town had one.

[Backseat Driver]

20. We were the ARCS, a logo; no mascot until 2018.

The logo represented the electric arc light, the invention of the guy for whom the school was named. His invention came to be a way to illuminate the public streets. All jazzed up, the logo was hard to portray as a mascot. In 2018, a sort of Superhero costumed character bearing the logo of a powerful arc as crossed bolts of electricity in the school colors of brown and gold, a Superhero mask, and leggings was created by students to represent the athletic teams at the school. This costumed character was named Arcy. He's fairly new and was used to energize the pride and energy of school team spirit by appearing at games and school events.

[Harker]

21. Mine was also a knight.

Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado, class of 1977, and it was close.

Me graduating, I mean.

[debm55]

22. Norwin Senior High, 10th, 11th, 12th grade. 700 students per class. We had our 50th reunion on

Friday. I had planned to go but didn't because of my Dad's death.

[Harker]

23. Ah. I'm sorry not to have piped up when I saw of your troubles.

I never know quite what to say, and hope my togetherness shows through.

You are a joy to me.

[debm55]

25. Thank you, Harker. It was no problem for me. My mornings are the hardest.

[Harker]

27. My mother died aged 62 in 1991, and there's not a day goes by I don't think of her.

That, to me, is her afterlife, and I welcome that as my responsibility.

[Elessar Zappa]

24. A colt.

We were the Silver High fighting colts!

[herding cats]

30. Mine was also a Knight

So far I think we're in the lead here.

[ailsagirl]

31. Blue Devils!!

[ironflange]

33. The Griffins

Something a little different.

[Wicked Blue]

34. Patriots

as in Revolutionary War soldiers

[gratuitous]

35. We were the Rebels

Complete with confederate iconography. At the time the school opened (1971) nobody made a big deal about it or felt that my lily-white town was being racist. We were the second high school in town, so being the Rebels was a response to the cross-town fuddy-duddies.

A few years ago, the students decided the Rebels had run their course, and they adopted a new mascot, the Red Hawks. Same red-and-gray school colors, but no longer a mascot associated with racism and oppression. I supported the change since I hadn't been back to school in over 40 years, but in some of the online alumni forums, there was some hullaballoo about political correctness and yadda yadda yadda. By and large the mascot change came off just fine. I hope the students at any school take a look at their mascot every now and then, and get rid of the ones that have out-lived their usefulness.

[TexasBushwhacker]

36. Apollo!

[Fla Dem]

37. A Warrior. Wakefield Warrior Sports teams.

[Auggie]

38. Hornet (known as the Hornets)

[AnnaLee]

56. Mine too.

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Rebels. We were in the same county where Jefferson Davis was born

so when we consolidated 3 high schools into one, Rebels was the pick. There was a 4th school, the segregated one. The idea was to get the first 3 merged with out killing each other, then bring in the black kids the second year.

The damn school was thisclose to being named Jefferson Davis High School. This was in 1963. The actual name ended up being Todd County Central.

The actual mascot was a giant stuffed St Bernard dog who sat up on the stage next to the band. He had a rebel cap and a flag in his paw, I think

I do not know if it has been changed. There was a greater controversy over picking the school colors! The colors of the 3 high schools were respectively red & black; Red and white, and blue and gray. So the colors ended up being red and gray. Now had that 4th school been included in that we probably could have ended up red gray and gold. The colors were actually chosen before the nickname. The nickname/mascots of the original schools were Eagles, Blue Jays and Elks; the AA school mascot was Tigers.

[Different Drummer]

42. Purple Hurricanes.

Seriously.

[GoneOffShore]

43. The Dynamiters - PS duPont in Wilmington, Delaware

Named, fittingly after DuPont, the gunpowder and explosives manufacturer.

[Emile]

44. A Viking

[tblue37]

45. Patriot--colonial guy with a long gun.

[BluesRunTheGame]

46. Woody Woodman!

[malthaussen]

48. Golden Bears.

When the local amusement park closed down, they sold or donated a large statue of a Golden Bear that had been sitting around the place for decades. Some cretin (I name no names!) promptly put a banana in the beast's mouth. Later, it was a beer can -- that got a picture in the school yearbook.

We had no living mascot. Which is just as well, the poor thing would have died of embarrassment. Can I tell you how stupid a pep rally feels, with everybody shouting "We're Number One!" and baying for the blood of the next week's opponent, when your team has been shellacked in every game it has played for the past several decades? I think that might have been one of my first experiences of cognitive dissonance.

-- Mal

[csziggy]

49. Yellow Jacket (wasps) - kind of fit the local area

Central Florida had lots of insects, many of the people were easily antagonized, and they were certainly WASPs (White, Anglo Saxon Protestants).

[Doc_Technical]

53. Falcons

Andrew Hill High School

[kimbutgar]

55. A Gremlin a little green looking elf like creature

It was an all girls Catholic school.

[Brother Buzz]

57. Charlie, a very dignified carved Indian chief

Carved out of redwood by Barney West, famous for his tiki carvings. Charlie stood about five feet tall, and small enough to be loaded into a sedan for away games.

[PufPuf23]

58. Went to three high schools of wide variety/

Cadets: 9th - San Rafael Military Academy owned by the Episcopalian Church. Sick place.

Owls: 10th/11th - The Athenian School, a private progressive boarding school in 2nd and 3rd year of existence located in SF Bay Area.

Warriors: 12th - Hoopa Valley High School on the Hupa Reservation. Graduated 1971.

[Angleae]

60. A bear (bruins)

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

61. Go Demons!

[jmowreader]

62. We were the Lumberjacks

Our mascot was a 40-foot-high fiberglass replica of a Texaco service station owner that someone painted to look like he had a flannel shirt on, and that we got because the Texaco station owner assembled him with the feet on backwards and no one could figure out how to fix. (They buried the feet in concrete.)

Bonners Ferry High School’s nickname is the Badgers. Back in the 1950s before mascot suits were a thing, the football team decided they needed a mascot…so they went up to Canada and caught a live badger. It went worse than you think it did.

Orofino used to be home of the state mental hospital so their nickname is the Maniacs.

[Dulcinea]

63. The Gators.

No real gators, just a kid in a green furry costume.

[area51]

65. The Cardinals. n/t