Ranger Mom
09-10-2003, 08:21 PM
I copied this from another website, thought it was worth the read!!
"Our Beloved Mascots"
By Robert Speights
July 19, 2003
To those of us who love football, a mascot name should invoke fear into the hearts of the opponent. Names like the Bulldogs, the Lions, the Bears, the Eagles, the Vipers, the Hornets, the Vikings, the Warriors, the Indians, the Hawks, to name a few.
A school name coupled with the mascot has a forceful ring to it like the Carthage Bulldogs, the Abilene Cooper Cougars , the Amarillo River Road Wildcats, the Bangs Dragons, the Bay City Black Cats, the Dimmitt Bobcats, the Huntington Red Devils, the O'Donnell Screamin' Eagles, the Pilot Point Bearcats, the Port Neches-Groves Indians, the Santa Rosa Warriors or the Arlington Lamar Vikings. The thought of ferocious beast or warriors taking the field of play - competing to the death or at least till the last buzzer comes to mind - when we hear such names.
Across the state there is a menagerie of mascot names. Over 300 different name are used to represent the schools. Wildlife creatures like: the Abernathy Antelopes, the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, the Carrollton Hebron Hawks, the Dallas Sunset Bisons, the El Campo Ricebirds, the El Paso Jefferson Foxes, the Joaquin Rams, the Karnes City Badgers, the Los Fresnos Falcons, the Sharyland Rattlers, the Ralls Jackrabbits, and the Wichita Falls Coyotes
Some mascots are indigenous to Texas like: the Aqua Dulce Longhorns, the Arlington Sam Houston Texans, the Bellville Brahmas, the Burkeville Mustangs, the Dayton Broncos, the Fort Worth North Side Steers, the Happy Cowboys, the Marshall Mavericks, the Mason Punchers, the North Mesquite Stallions and the West Mesquite Wranglers.
Others are synonymous with the town or school like: the Deer Park Deer, the Farmersville Fightin' Farmers, the Frost Polar Bears, the Harlingen Marine Military Academy Leathernecks, the Houston MacAuthur Generals, the Jayton Jaybirds, the Muleshoe Mules and the White Deer Bucks.
A few stick out as not being one to invoke fear into the heart of their opponents but school history says otherwise. For example; the Dallas Hockaday School Daisies, the Farmersville Fightin' Farmers, the Hamlin Pied Pipers, the Kress Kangaroos, the New Braunfels Unicorns and the Robstown Cotton Pickers. Excuse me...but Daisies just doesn't strike fear in my heart. I have know some farm boys that might be feared; but kangaroos and unicorns, well you know what I mean.
While browsing various mascot names it came to mind that some would make interesting bowl games such as:The Eddy Muenster Bowl - the Bruceville-Eddy Eagles vs the Muenster Hornets;
The Eddy Haskell Bowl - the Bruceville-Eddy Eagles vs the Haskell Indians;
Forces of Nature Bowl - the Galveston-Ball Tornadoes vs the Sugarland Hightower Hurricanes;
T
he Terminex Bowl - the Progresso Red Ants vs. the Mesquite Skeeters;
The Blarney Bowl - the Shamrock Irish vs the Highland Park Scots;
The Medieval Bowl - the Woodlands Highlanders vs the Lindsay Knights;
The NASA Bowl - the Sharpstown Apollos vs the Converse-Judson Rockets;
Farm Bowl I & II- the Lewisville Farmers vs the Roscoe Plowboys; the Pampa Harvestors vs the Robstown Cotton Pickers
Let's suppose for a minute, that a school decided to change their mascot. What would be some name changes? What about changing the Boling Bulldogs to the Boling Balls, the Brady Bulldogs to the Brady Bunch, the Yoe Yoemen to the Yoe Mommas, the Wylie Pirates to the Wylie Coyotes, the Kermit Yellow Jackets to the Kermit Frogs or the Valentine Pirates to the Valentine Cards (Cardinals).
While researching this article I noticed some curiosities. 1) Of the letters of the alphabet, none of the mascot names begin with N, Q, U or X. What no Uglies or X-rays, Nukes or Quagmires. 2) The most popular names are Bearcats -14, Dragons - 15, Bears- 17, Warriors - 21, Longhorns - 25, Yellow Jackets - 25, Bobcats - 30, Hornets - 34, Indians - 36, Cougars - 38, Lions - 49, Wildcats - 55, Mustangs - 56, Panthers - 56, Tigers - 75, Bulldogs - 99, with Eagles topping the list with 117. There is even one Zebra and, 3) Since 1920, 54 Bulldog teams have won state championships, followed by 33 Panther teams, 29 Eagle teams and 24 Mustang teams.
Of all the mascot names I looked over, the Trent Gorillas stuck out in my mind. It may well be the most feared mascot of them all. If the football team lived up to it’s name, the Gorillas, comments could be, "Have you seen the size of the Gorillas we play next week?" or "Who needs speed when you have gorillas like that on your team?" or "They have six gorillas on their offense." Further research shows the Gorillas are a feared team in the realm of 6-man football in Texas.
Yes, our beloved mascots are a source of pride and do define who we are but contary to belief, it's not the mascot name that puts fear in the opponents hearts but the young athletes that take the field year after year to do battle for their school.
Till the last buzzer sounds.
"Our Beloved Mascots"
By Robert Speights
July 19, 2003
To those of us who love football, a mascot name should invoke fear into the hearts of the opponent. Names like the Bulldogs, the Lions, the Bears, the Eagles, the Vipers, the Hornets, the Vikings, the Warriors, the Indians, the Hawks, to name a few.
A school name coupled with the mascot has a forceful ring to it like the Carthage Bulldogs, the Abilene Cooper Cougars , the Amarillo River Road Wildcats, the Bangs Dragons, the Bay City Black Cats, the Dimmitt Bobcats, the Huntington Red Devils, the O'Donnell Screamin' Eagles, the Pilot Point Bearcats, the Port Neches-Groves Indians, the Santa Rosa Warriors or the Arlington Lamar Vikings. The thought of ferocious beast or warriors taking the field of play - competing to the death or at least till the last buzzer comes to mind - when we hear such names.
Across the state there is a menagerie of mascot names. Over 300 different name are used to represent the schools. Wildlife creatures like: the Abernathy Antelopes, the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, the Carrollton Hebron Hawks, the Dallas Sunset Bisons, the El Campo Ricebirds, the El Paso Jefferson Foxes, the Joaquin Rams, the Karnes City Badgers, the Los Fresnos Falcons, the Sharyland Rattlers, the Ralls Jackrabbits, and the Wichita Falls Coyotes
Some mascots are indigenous to Texas like: the Aqua Dulce Longhorns, the Arlington Sam Houston Texans, the Bellville Brahmas, the Burkeville Mustangs, the Dayton Broncos, the Fort Worth North Side Steers, the Happy Cowboys, the Marshall Mavericks, the Mason Punchers, the North Mesquite Stallions and the West Mesquite Wranglers.
Others are synonymous with the town or school like: the Deer Park Deer, the Farmersville Fightin' Farmers, the Frost Polar Bears, the Harlingen Marine Military Academy Leathernecks, the Houston MacAuthur Generals, the Jayton Jaybirds, the Muleshoe Mules and the White Deer Bucks.
A few stick out as not being one to invoke fear into the heart of their opponents but school history says otherwise. For example; the Dallas Hockaday School Daisies, the Farmersville Fightin' Farmers, the Hamlin Pied Pipers, the Kress Kangaroos, the New Braunfels Unicorns and the Robstown Cotton Pickers. Excuse me...but Daisies just doesn't strike fear in my heart. I have know some farm boys that might be feared; but kangaroos and unicorns, well you know what I mean.
While browsing various mascot names it came to mind that some would make interesting bowl games such as:The Eddy Muenster Bowl - the Bruceville-Eddy Eagles vs the Muenster Hornets;
The Eddy Haskell Bowl - the Bruceville-Eddy Eagles vs the Haskell Indians;
Forces of Nature Bowl - the Galveston-Ball Tornadoes vs the Sugarland Hightower Hurricanes;
T
he Terminex Bowl - the Progresso Red Ants vs. the Mesquite Skeeters;
The Blarney Bowl - the Shamrock Irish vs the Highland Park Scots;
The Medieval Bowl - the Woodlands Highlanders vs the Lindsay Knights;
The NASA Bowl - the Sharpstown Apollos vs the Converse-Judson Rockets;
Farm Bowl I & II- the Lewisville Farmers vs the Roscoe Plowboys; the Pampa Harvestors vs the Robstown Cotton Pickers
Let's suppose for a minute, that a school decided to change their mascot. What would be some name changes? What about changing the Boling Bulldogs to the Boling Balls, the Brady Bulldogs to the Brady Bunch, the Yoe Yoemen to the Yoe Mommas, the Wylie Pirates to the Wylie Coyotes, the Kermit Yellow Jackets to the Kermit Frogs or the Valentine Pirates to the Valentine Cards (Cardinals).
While researching this article I noticed some curiosities. 1) Of the letters of the alphabet, none of the mascot names begin with N, Q, U or X. What no Uglies or X-rays, Nukes or Quagmires. 2) The most popular names are Bearcats -14, Dragons - 15, Bears- 17, Warriors - 21, Longhorns - 25, Yellow Jackets - 25, Bobcats - 30, Hornets - 34, Indians - 36, Cougars - 38, Lions - 49, Wildcats - 55, Mustangs - 56, Panthers - 56, Tigers - 75, Bulldogs - 99, with Eagles topping the list with 117. There is even one Zebra and, 3) Since 1920, 54 Bulldog teams have won state championships, followed by 33 Panther teams, 29 Eagle teams and 24 Mustang teams.
Of all the mascot names I looked over, the Trent Gorillas stuck out in my mind. It may well be the most feared mascot of them all. If the football team lived up to it’s name, the Gorillas, comments could be, "Have you seen the size of the Gorillas we play next week?" or "Who needs speed when you have gorillas like that on your team?" or "They have six gorillas on their offense." Further research shows the Gorillas are a feared team in the realm of 6-man football in Texas.
Yes, our beloved mascots are a source of pride and do define who we are but contary to belief, it's not the mascot name that puts fear in the opponents hearts but the young athletes that take the field year after year to do battle for their school.
Till the last buzzer sounds.