Before the players hit the field, court, or rink, college mascots are there to get fans on their feet and work the crowd while making a lasting impression of the school they represent. It’s hard to say what impression the schools below wanted to make when they decided to have a tree or an angry religious figure setting the stage for their sports, but here they are just the same — some of the nation’s strangest college mascots to ever grace a sporting event, part three. If you thought part one and part two were strange, you haven’t seen anything yet.
1. Demon Deacons – Wake Forest University
In a surprising twist that Disney never anticipated, Wake Forest has teamed a bad guy with one of the good guys of religion to make the fearsome and famous Demon Deacon mascot. Until 1922, the rather boring Baptists and the not-so-bold Old Gold and Black represented Wake Forest University. But after a fiendish finish against Trinity College, Mayor Parker, editor of the school paper, wrote the headline “Demon Deacons” and launched the alliteration that would lead to the dapper mascot of Wake Forest.
2. Boilermakers – Purdue University
Now for another mascot inspired by a catchy headline. In 1891, after Purdue won a football game against Wabash College, a local paper wrote, “Slaughter of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue.” Engineering students at Purdue at the time had to work in the forge room, as a boiler maker would, and though Purdue fell to Wabash in a game a month later, the name “boilermakers” stuck, now representing Purdue with a very serious-looking male mascot whose chin could rival Jay Leno’s.
[pagebreak]
3. Stanford Tree – Stanford University
When you think of fearful living things lurking in a forest, a tree probably isn’t the first thing to come to mind. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my, but a tree? They help us breathe, fill our living rooms during the winter holidays, and provide shade on sweltering summer days. Despite its unassuming demeanor, Stanford chose the tree after a halftime show in 1975 that jokingly presented suggestions for a new mascot. Now planted firmly in Stanford’s image, the Tree has grown in popularity and sheds its costume every year to make room for a fresh one in the fall. If you’re a Stanford collegiette™ desperate for foliage fame, try these suggestions for becoming the Stanford mascot.
4. Geoducks – Evergreen State
A shining beacon of a mollusk, the Geoducks are not ducks at all. They are burrowing clams that not so subtly call to mind a male member, and with fight song lyrics like “siphon high, squirt it out, swivel all about, let it all hang out,” it takes bucket loads of maturity not to at least smirk at the ridiculous overtones of this laughable mascot. The outside of the Geoducks’ shell has more sequins than Elton John’s wardrobe and its pointed head looks like a pile of prom dresses wrapped together. Nevertheless, there’s something charming about this clam from Olympia, Washington.
[pagebreak]
5. Ichabod – Washburn University
Not to be confused with Ichabod Crane of Sleepy Hollow fame, the Ichabod mascot of Washburn University is so named for Ichabod Washburn, a benefactor for WU from Massachusettes during the 19th century. Ichabod looks like Charlie Chaplin on his way to a dinner party and is much more civil than the mascot you’ll find at number 10 on this list. Bradbury Thompson, a graphic design student who graduated from Washburn in 1938, created Ichabod with the idea that he would be a true gentleman, tipping his hat at collegiettes™ he passed and carrying a book under his arm. Mascots nationwide, you’ve been warned.
6. Chokers – Grays Harbor Community College
Before your mind runs with this odd mascot name, let us clear it up for you. Represented by a burly, shirtless man with a haircut only the military would require, the Chokers proudly recall the height of the logging industry in Aberdeen, Washington. The Choker may look like a stereotypical frat boy, but the cable tied to a hook is specifically for wrapping up logs and carting them around, not for belaying down the side of a sorority house.
[pagebreak]
7. Sagehens – Pomona College
In the bird family, eagles, hawks, and falcons are the most feisty and feared. Last on the list, somewhere near doves and chickadees, is Cecil Sagehen, Pomona College’s goofy blue bird of a mascot. Looking more like a Muppet or a castoff from a children’s show than a mascot with which to contend, the Sagehen mysteriously pecked its way to mascot fame. No one really knows how or why the Sagehen came to be the bug-eyed face of Pomona College, but according to Pomona’s fight song, “Our foes are filled with dread whenever Cecil Sagehen flies overhead!”
8. Fighting Mondales – University of Minnesota Law School
As though the admirable title of 42nd Vice President of the United States under Jimmy Carter and former ambassador to Japan weren’t enough, Walter Mondale has been immortalized as a Fighting Mondale for his alma mater. Dressed in a grey suit and red tie and armed with the scales of justice, the Fighting Mondales honor Walter Mondale’s success in a very unusual way.
[pagebreak]
9. Fighting Pickles – University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Leave it to art students to come up with a violent vegetable for a mascot. Much like the Stanford Tree, the Fighting Pickles came to be UNCSA’s mascot after being presented as a joke in the school’s mascot-choosing contest in 1972. We always had our suspicions that with their tough green exterior and salty core, pickles were ready for a fight. Now whoever faces the UNCSA will have to contend with cucumber’s evil cousin. Before you laugh, consider the fact that CNN recently reported that pickled vegetables might increase the risk of gastric cancer. Think twice before you pick a fight with a pickle.
10. Scrotie – RISD
If clichés have taught this writer anything, it’s to save the best for last. Rhode Island School of Design students have put their creative and, well, artistic minds to use by coming up with the lovable Scrotie in 2001. Scrotie is, just as you might expect, a mascot that unabashedly resembles the male anatomy. The slang saying “balls to the wall” was never so meaningful as in the case of Scrotie, who first displayed his spirited manhood ten years ago to support the Nads, RISD’s hockey team, and has been spotted in full frontal glory at the Balls (RISD’s basketball team) and Nads games ever since. At Balls games Scrotie is in good company with the cheerleaders, affectionately referred to as “Jockstraps” for their supportive role. Although Scrotie is the unofficial mascot for RISD, he’s gained hard-won popularity and shows no signs of softening in the face of competition.
Need more kooky college mascots?
Check out part one and part two.
Which mascots did we miss? Let us know below.
Sources
http://www.evergreen.edu/athletics/geoduck.htm
http://www.washburn.edu/main/about-wu/whats-an-ichabod/
http://www.ghc.edu/athletics/
http://www.wilmington.edu/athletics/fast-facts.cfm
http://www.purduesports.com/
http://www.gostanford.com/school-bio/stan-nickname-mascot.html
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~mondales/
http://www.risd.edu/Students/Student_Life/Clubs_Organizations/
http://www.pomona.edu/about/pomoniana/sagehen-evolution.aspx
http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/699
http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/c-cheer/deacon-mascot.html
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/06/02/dont-freak-out-but-pickles-may-possibly-kill-you-coffee-too/
http://www.uncsa.edu/pressreleases/Releases2011/Apr11/Pickle.htm