Greatest team name ever?

[Football_Bat]

The controversial:
Frisco Coons (changed to Raccoons in 2002)
Hereford Whitefaces (have since changed name to Herd)
36 schools called Indians (the only "I" names listed)

The school-related (reflexive version):
Tom Bean Tomcats
Crane Cranes
Cameron Yoe Yoemen
Farmersville Fightin' Farmers
Jayton Jaybirds
Fort Worth Poly Parrots
Hamlin Pied Pipers
Van Vandals

The town-related (complete-the-pun version):
Winters Blizzards
Frost Polar Bears

The spelling-challenged:
Moulton Bobcatz

The vaguely singular/plural:
Spearman Lynx

The truly unique:
Lake Worth Bullfrogs
Little River Academy Bumblebees
Vanderbilt Industrial Cobras
Robstown Cotton Pickers
Dallas Hockaday Daisies (all-girl school and DMN does not use mascots, so no surprise this one's not well known)
Taylor Ducks
Freeport Brazosport Exporters
Baytown Lee Ganders
Groesbeck Goats
Cuero Gobblers
Trent Gorillas
Pampa Harvesters
Hutto Hippos
Harlingen Marine Leathernecks (Ooh-rah!)
Cisco Loboes (as opposed to the proper Lobos -- I got a lesson on that)
Flower Mound Marcus Marauders
Austin Maroons
Munday Moguls
Roscoe Plowboys
Springtown Porcupines
Mason Punchers
Austwell-Tivoli Redfish
Knippa Rockcrushers
Port Lavaca Calhoun Sandcrabs
Grapeland Sandies
Mesquite Skeeters
Texas City Stingarees
Nazareth Swifts
Port Isabel Tarpons
El Paso Eastwood Troopers
New Braunfels Unicorns
Rotan Yellow Hammers

(I left off Wampus Cats as Itasca, Texas; Atoka, Okla.; and Conway, Ark. are all known as such.)
(No doubt I left out some others as I rapidly lost interest in this topic but championed on to its horrific conclusion.)

 

[Stoney]

I thought Nippon Ham Fighters was the greatest name until I realized Nippon Ham was a place.

Actually it's a company.

 

[Del_B_Vista]

In Mississippi, there's this little town called Weir. Their high school is the Weir Wolves. And yes, the town is pronounced so the team is the Werewolves.

 

[Huggy]

Double J could probably explain the origin of these names much better than me, but the Western Ontario senior hockey league has some interesting names:

Clinton Radars (home to a radar installation during the war)

Milverton 4 Wheel Drives

Palmerston 81's

Thedford Dirty Dogs

This league also has the Georgian Bay River Rats who play in beautiful downtown Thornbury, Ont. There used to be a team called the Hensall Sherwoods, named after the hockey stick manufacturer.

 

[Platyrhynchos]

Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Ann Arbor Huron High School had River Rats well before Albany...

And I have three from the upper peninsula of Michigan -- Kingford Flivvers, Ishpeming Hematites and of course, the Watersmeet Nimrods....

Couple more to add from Michigan:

Zeeland East Chix
Zeeland West Dux
Temperance Bedford Kicking Mules
Mt. Clemens Battling Bathers
Goodrich Martians
Detroit Pershing Doughboys
Dearborn Fordson Tractors
Calumet Copper Kings
Bad Axe Hatchets

 

[Birdscribe]

Just laying out our scoreboard, and I come across this team name from the California Leagues in the transactions section under baseball: RANCHO CUCAMONGA QUAKES.
I have no idea how long they've been around. Or even what a Cucamonga is.

I mean wow.

Rancho Cucamonga is a city in Southern California, which of course experiences a lot of earthquakes. The Quakes have been in the California League since 1993. They are the high Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

If I remember correctly, the Quakes used to be the Riverside Pride until moving to Cucamonga, which is located on the western edge of the Inland Empire, with Fontana and Rialto to the east and Montclair, Clairemont and Ontario to the west.

I followed the Cal League rather closely through the 90s. I believe the Quakes lineage can be traced back to the Ventura Gulls (the closest minor-league team to me when I first lived in SB County), who played there for one season before moving to San Bernardino (the Spirit), then SB moved to Rancho and the Salinas team moved to become the new San Bernardino Spirit.

Went to a game in Riverside when the team was called the Pilots. They ended up moving to Lancaster.

I heard a page from SoCalDude, so I'm answering this from Orlando...

This is correct. At one time, I covered all of these teams.

The Spirit (1987-1992) got the ball rolling on Southern California expansion and helped fueled the boom in minor league baseball. Toward the end of the 1992 season, Hank Stickney, the majority owner of the consortium that owned the Spirit (which included Mark Harmon), wanted to move west -- following the money in San Bernardino County.

So in 1993, they got Rancho Cucamonga to build them the park, named the Epicenter. It was the first park in the Cal League to feature skyboxes and all the accoutremonts' you see in major-league parks. Later palaces in Lake Elsinore, Lancaster and San Bernardino (which got a team back first nicknamed the Stampede, then the Inland Empire 66ers) followed.

The park in Lake Elsinore (built in 2004) cost $31 million, effectively blowing the city's redevelopment budget for the next decade.

As for the teams, the Pilots were the second team to flee Riverside in five years. The Riverside Red Wave left after the 1990 season and moved to Adelanto, where they became the High Desert Mavericks, after majority owner Bobby Brett's favorite TV character -- Bret Maverick. Brother George was a part-owner in the team, which featured Bruce Bochy as the manager its first year in 1991 -- when it won the Cal League title.

Riverside became a graveyard for minor league teams because the teams played at the Riverside Sports Complex, which -- because it was a city-owned facility -- forbade the sale of beer. Enough said.

There. Cal League lesson concluded.

Back to the original concept of this thread: Inland Empire 66ers, which does two things. It capitalizes on San Bernardino's role as a stop on Route 66 (and the Route 66 Rendzevous they have there every year), and it de-emphasizes San Bernardino and it's negative image while broadening its appeal across the region.

 

[BBJones]

I always liked the Cleveland Glenville High School Tarblooders.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Greenville Grrrowl - ECHL (Yes, three "r"s in the moniker)

Edenton Steamers - Coastal Plain League, a wooden-bat summer collegiate baseball league. A former colleague couldn't get "Steamers" out of his mouth with a straight face.

The CPL also brings us the Thomasville Hi-Toms and the Wilson Tobs.

 

[Java]

Shoot (ahem), thought when we discovered the Mad Ants yesterday in writing the nonsense below, we were first. Alas, no.

Citing "gross incompetence," commissioner David Stern suspended the New York Knickerbockers for the remainder of the 2007-08 season, replacing them with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA's Development League.

 

[ServeItUp]

From Texas, the Progreso Red Ants

From Michigan, the Colon Magi.

From Washington, the Mariner Mariners (high school in Everett). Yawn.

 

[MacDaddy]

From Texas, the Progreso Red Ants

From Michigan, the Colon Magi.

From Washington, the Mariner Mariners (high school in Everett). Yawn.

Mariner's mascot is actually the Marauders.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

These threads always end up with people throwing out all kind of mascot names, and this one is no different. For my money, I've yet to see anything here that tops the Macon Whoopee. It's dirty. It's sexy. It's funny. And it facilitates having kids wear t-shirts with a reference to doin' it. Perhaps not a positive, but this is a mascot with multiple layers.

 

[fishwrapper]

Best official college one:
UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs

 

[The Green Hornet]

The Amarillo Dillos deserve a mention.

I believe they're the Amarillo Dillas, if the team even exists anymore. Is the Texas-Louisiana League still around?

The Texas-Louisiana League later became Central League. A group of CL teams later joined a group of Northern League teams to form the American Association (of Independent Professional Baseball). The Dillas are back as part of the United Baseball League (which includes two or three other TLL reincarnations).

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Fluvanna County Flying Flucos.

I pity the PA announcer who has to stumble over that one.

I'd be more afraid of announcing for the Amarillo Dillos.

 

[tapintoamerica]

Minor League Baseball: Greensboro Grasshoppers; Savannah Sand Gnats; Batavia MuckDogs; Lansing Lugnuts.
Texas HS football: Port La Vaca Fighting Sandcrabs; El Campo Ricebirds.

While I'm at it, I propose a rule for any new HS in America: No Eagles. No Dogs or Cats or any variation thereof. This means a ban on Wildcats, Cougars, Panthers, Tigers, Bobcats, etc.

 

[WazzuGrad00]

The truly unique:

Groesbeck Goats

Trent Gorillas

In Washington, we've got the Chelan Goats (Pateros High is the Billygoats, the girls teams are the Nannies), and the Davenport Gorillas.

Lake Washington is the Kangaroos. No real reason.

 

[Faithless]

In Mississippi, there's this little town called Weir. Their high school is the Weir Wolves. And yes, the town is pronounced so the team is the Werewolves.

Sorry, but I'm calling B.S. on that one.

They're the Weir Lions. The team <a href=http://www.ece.msstate.edu/~jcf54/HSFootball/Champs/>is known for its state championship success</a>, and it was the subject of a recent Penthouse story on small-town football.

Click the link and you'll see another small school with an original nickname and winning history: the Taylorsville Tartars.

Tupelo, Miss., has had its share of now-defunct unusual nicknamed teams: Hound-Dogs (indoor soccer), T-Rex (hockey), Tornado (baseball, named after a storm that killed about 230 people in Tupelo) and Fire Ants (indoor football).

 

[Angola!]

The truly unique:

Groesbeck Goats

Trent Gorillas

In Washington, we've got the Chelan Goats (Pateros High is the Billygoats, the girls teams are the Nannies), and the Davenport Gorillas.

Lake Washington is the Kangaroos. No real reason.

Lake Washington is not only the Kangaroos, they are the Purple Kangaroos! Look at my alma mater getting some love. Some teacher in my school did a worldwide search (apparently they had a lot of time on their hands) and discovered our high school was the only Purple Kangaroos mascot in the world.

In Texas, I've always been fond of the Winters Blizzards. Also, someone got me a Delta State Fightin' Okra sweatshirt for Christmas. Pretty funny.