Quirky HS Nicknames

[Bleujayone]

Over in New England...

Haverhill (MA) Hillies (more odd considering the city name is pronounced Hayv-rhul)

Greater Lawrence (MA) Tech Reggies

Pelham (NH) High Pythons

Greater Lowell (MA) Tech Gryphons

Govenour Dummer (MA) Accademy Govs

Camdem-Rorkport (ME) High Windjammers

Burlington (VT) High Seahorses (legend has it they found seahorse fossils while building the school)

Dracut (MA) Middies (they now say it's short for "Midshipmen" but orginally it was becuase they were in the middle of the county.)

[jhans203]

you are missing the Freeport (IL) Fighting Pretzels!

[DrBear]

There's another Truckers in Clintonville, Wis., which was the home of FWD Corp. (now Seagrave, a major manufacturer of fire trucks).

My school was the Hortonville Polar Bears, which is pretty rare. (Bowdoin and Ohio Northern are the only ones I know of).

Indiana has some great ones - the Speedway Sparkplugs, the Frankfort Hot Dogs, the Clay City Eels, and the Shoals Jug Rox.

Of course, the classic nickname came out of an Indiana consolidation - or it could have. Three small schools were merging into one central high school, but it almost ended over what to call the teams. The schools were the Blazers, the Blue Devils and the Burros.

They went around until somebody said "I've got it- we'll call them the Blazing Blue Asses!"

[Diablo de Tejas]

Here's a couple from my area: Lewisville Fighting Farmers

Mesquite Skeeters

[bulldogbarks55]

Here's a few from Western New York:

Red Creek MULES

Holley HAWKS (the hollyhock is a type of flower-nice word play)

Rochester Madison High WILSON PARKERS (school was located near the park)

Webster RIDGEMEN (school was on a highway called Ridge Rd.)

South Park SPARKS (self-explanatory)

Byron-Bergen BEES (ditto)

Williamsville BILLIES

Le Roy OATKAN KNIGHTS (Oatka Creek runs through the town)

A school in Niagara Falls used to be the POWER KATS (most of NY's electric comes from the Falls)

Nazareth LASERS

Sodus used to be the CHERRYTOWNERS (the town is a big fruit producer- now SPARTANS)

Rochester Benjamin Franklin High QUAKERS (now Q-DOGS)

Rochester East High ORIENTALS (term for "east")

Rochester West High OCCIDENTALS (term for "west)

[Hardman 1]

My high school is named the Air Academy Kadets. KAY-dets, not kuh-DETS

People from other schools can never pronounce it correctly.

[winghaz]

Two here in North Dakota that are no longer around:

For strange: The Tower City Clams.

For a classic: The Ayr Rifles.

[WJMorris3]

In Richland's proud and peaceful glen

where friends and joy abound,

Stands Alma Mater, home of men,

A treasure nobly found,

Wherever we may chance to be,

Nearby or far from you,

We will not fail eternally

To sing your praises true...

Oh St. Augustine's mighty power

Of our triumphant youth,

Watch over us each hour

With eyes of love and truth,

And when our days with you are done,

Still guide each grateful son.

Yep, I'm an alumnus of St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, NJ -- we were the Hermits. (I don't want to hear one remark about Father Hudson, okay?)

[IronChefShark]

Live Oak HS in San Jose - the Fightin' Acorns

Vintage HS in Napa - Crushers

[slapshot]

Salem (Mass.) WITCHES

Winchester SACHEMS

Peabody TANNERS

Gloucester FISHERMEN

[footballfiji]

Here's a couple from Alabama:

We also have a whippet...The Frisco City Whippets.

Plus...

Gulf Shores Dolphins

LeFlore Rattlers

Spanish Fort Toros

Abbeville Yellow Jackets (not unusual but their colors are maroon gray and white)

Ariton Purple Cats

Daleville Warhawks

Slocomb Red Tops

Bibb County Choctaws

Sidney Lanier Poets

Lyman Ward Rangers

Gardendale Rockets

Hayes Pacesetters

Holt Ironmen

Hueytown Golden Gophers

Indian Springs (has no mascot or nickname)

Leeds Green Wave

Parker Thundering Herd

Paul W. Bryant Stampede (although they should have been the Bears IMO)

Shades Valley Mounties

Wenonah Dragons

Alexandria High Valley Cubs

Coosa Christian Conquerors

Jacksonville Christian Thunder

Gordo Greenwave

Shoals Christian Flames

North Sand Mountain Bison

Sparkman Senators

Dauphin Jr. High Dauphin Fins

Carver Middle School Steers

Five Points Pointers

Tuskegeee Middle School Baby Tigers

Jones Valley Fliers

Drew Middle School Bear Cubs

My Personal Favorite:

The Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind Silent Warriors

But the coolest in my opinion:

The Highland Home Flying Squadron.

[MisterE]

-Effingham Flaming Hearts

My nephew graduated from there, and I'm almost positive they weren't called that..I'd remember.

Are you sure that it's right?

Anyway, the three schools in our county..while not having weird names individually (besides Wood Memorial)..when you put them together (which we did for a baseball tournament up against other counties' HSs:

Gibson Southern Titans (Whoo! Class of '05!)

Wood Memorial Trojans (Yeah..the Wood Trojans..)

and the Princeton Tigers.

When our powers combine, we become the:

GIBSON COUNTY TRIANGLE T'S!

Also, there's a chant when the bigger towns play each other: "Fortsy (nickname for where Gibson Southern is based, Ft. Branch) has the Titans, Princeton has the Tigers, but Oakland City has Wood!"

Here's where you can find the Flaming Hearts:

http://www.effingham.k12.il.us/athletic/index.htm

Here's the Illinois HS Nickname database:

http://www.ihsa.org/school/nicknames.htm

[gbasalmon]

Here's a few from Western New York:

Red Creek MULES

Holley HAWKS (the hollyhock is a type of flower-nice word play)

Rochester Madison High WILSON PARKERS (school was located near the park)

Webster RIDGEMEN (school was on a highway called Ridge Rd.)

South Park SPARKS (self-explanatory)

Byron-Bergen BEES (ditto)

Williamsville BILLIES

Le Roy OATKAN KNIGHTS (Oatka Creek runs through the town)

A school in Niagara Falls used to be the POWER KATS (most of NY's electric comes from the Falls)

Nazareth LASERS

Sodus used to be the CHERRYTOWNERS (the town is a big fruit producer- now SPARTANS)

Rochester Benjamin Franklin High QUAKERS (now Q-DOGS)

Rochester East High ORIENTALS (term for "east")

Rochester West High OCCIDENTALS (term for "west)

Yeah, the old Niagara Falls High School used to be called the Power Kats, but then La Salle High School (oddly enough, named the Explorers) merged with that school and they moved into a new building and became the Wolverines.

[illinirox1]

My school is the Pioneer Pioneers.

Down the road we have the Temperance Bedford Fighting Mules.

[1991]

more from missouri are..... aurora "houn dogs", maryville "spoofhounds", west plains "zizzers" (it's a long story, but basically they use a lightning bolt as a mascot.), bolivar "liberators".

[worst. jersey. ever.]

Shenendahowa Plainsmen

Farmingdale Dalers

East Hampton Bonnackers

Sayville Golden Flashes

Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters

not really that quirky, just cool and unique, all of them have a story behind them... i dont really feel like explaining them all though lol

[BBTV]

One more from Wisconsin>The Whitewater Whippets.  A whippet is a grayhound.

Downington (PA) also has the Whippets.

Dudley High in Greensboro, NC goes by the Whirlies; as far as I can tell, a Whirlie was like a beanie cap with a propellor on it.

The last one's changed, but it was one of my favorites: Auburn High (MA) went by "the Dandies", and the mascot was "an effeminate, well-dressed gentleman". They changed to the Rockets a few years back (birthplace of Lewis Goddard, American father of rocketry).

I was a proud D.E. for the Downingtown Whippets in 1994. We were USA Today #4 that year (until we lost.)

Now, they are the Downingtown West Whippets. Much better than the Downingtown East Cougars.

[rmered]

another classic illinois high school knickname that was changed a while back was the...

Pekin Chinks

Weren't the Pekin allumni written about in this book?

They don't make literary classics like they used to.

[illinirox1]

Shenendahowa Plainsmen

Farmingdale Dalers

East Hampton Bonnackers

Sayville Golden Flashes

Abraham Lincoln Railsplitters

not really that quirky, just cool and unique, all of them have a story behind them... i dont really feel like explaining them all though lol

There's also the Ypsilanti Lincoln Railsplitters who play against the Pioneers,(Michigan's SEC Conference) and isn't Kent State the Golden Flashes?

[Yac12]

One from Northeastern IL>Zion-Benton ZeeBees (named after a group of WWII soldiers)