The other day when I came to work a couple of people commented that the shirt I was wearing looked like a Shelley High School (Idaho) coach’s shirt.
It was not. It was a shirt I bought while on vacation a few years back but it is the same colors as Shelley High’s. It’s really not that significant except for the fact that Shelley’s mascot is the Russet.
And since I’m always looking for a topic for this column – and have a slight interest in high school and other mascots – I started to do some research on mascots. Part of that interest is due to my days as a freelance sports writer and one of the teams I used to cover regularly played the Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes.
In addition to the Shelley Russets, other Idaho high schools with interesting mascots include the Sugar-Salem Diggers (there used to be a sugarbeet factory in town) and, of course, the Orofino Maniacs. And while my wife lived in Montana, she was a cheerleader for the Powell County Wardens. The state penitentiary is located in the town where the high school is.
Many of the mascot names I already knew about and was reminded of as I was poking around on the internet, and they are definitely amusing, interesting and, well, kind of bizarre. Nearly all the mascots have a story behind them, far too many for the space I have. I also learned that most all mascots have a name, i.e., Weezie the Weevil (University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils) and Cayenne (University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns).
While I’m going to focus only on mascot names that are agriculture-related, I just have to share a handful of mascots that are amusing, interesting and bizarre. I assure you I’m not making any of these up. Like, for instance, the University of California, Irvine Anteaters. Or the Mount Clemens (MI) High School Battling Bathers. Or the Warren Lincoln (MI) High School Abes. Then there’s the University of California, Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. Or the Presbyterian College (SC) Blue Hose. And the Yuma High School (AZ) Criminal. Wait, there’s more: Poca High (WV) Dots, Carbon High School (UT) Dinos, Ozark High School (AR) Hillbillies, Watersmeet High School (MI) Nimrods, Freeport High School (IL) Pretzels, New Braunfels High School (TX) Unicorns and Brewer High School (ME) Witches.
There are so many more but it’s time to focus on ag-related mascots that I was able to find. So here goes, in no particular order:
- Cobbers (Concordia College, MN)
- Boll Weevils (University of Arkansas at Monticello)
- Cornhuskers (University of Nebraska)
- Buckeyes (The Ohio State University)
- The Fighting Okra (Delta State University, MS)
- Beetdiggers (Jordan High School, UT)
- Appleknockers (Cobden High School, IL)
- Cornjerkers (Hoopeston High School, IL)
- Swathers (Hesston High School, KS)
- Farmers (Wheat Ridge High School, CO)
- Haymakers (Phillips University, OK ***university is now closed***)
- Kernals (Cedar Rapids minor league baseball team, IA; Mitchell High School, SD)
- Sugarbeeters (Chinook High School, MT)
- Harvesters (Pampa High School, TX)
- Orange (Syracuse University, NY)
- Grape Pickers (North East High School, PA)
- Irrigators (Newell High School, SD)
- Plowboys, Plowgirls (Roscoe High School, TX)
- Sparkplugs (Speedway High School, IN)
- Threshers (Bethel College, KS)
- Canefires (Christian Liberty Academy, HI)
- Cottonpickers (Robstown High School, TX)
- Tillers (Tustin High School, CA)
- Tractors (Fordson High School, MI)
- Shockers (Wichita State University, KS ***mascot is wheat***)
And, of course, my favorites:
- Spuds (Moorhead High School, MN)
- Spudders (Ridgefield High School, WA)
- Russets (Shelley High School, ID)
- Spud Kings (Idaho Falls, ID, minor league hockey team)
I know I probably missed some but I was able to compile a pretty good list.
Surprisingly, there are a number of websites that offer information about mascots from high school to professional sports. Here are two we thought were most helpful: Mascot Hall of Fame (https:// mascothalloffame.com/) and https:// unischolars.com/blog/weirdest-us[1]college-mascots/.