When I was in high school back in Elkhart, Indiana, our unique team mascot was the Blue Blazer, a funny looking character with flaming hair and a corkscrew nose, dressed in blue and riding on a lightening bolt.  I’ve never seen another mascot like it, and only know of a few teams identified with any variation of the Blazer nickname.   A friend of mine dressed for each game in blue and wore a paper mache’ helmet with the long yellow, twisted nose.  He was “Mister B,” one of the first male cheerleaders that I ever knew.

I’ve always been intrigued with team nicknames, and knew the moniker of most schools across the state.  One of my favorites was the Frankfort Hot Dogs, but my own grade school also had a very unique name, the Rice Krispies.  I’m sure Kellogg’s was not impressed, but I don’t recall a lawsuit over copyright infringement.  Rice University in Texas are the Owls – “wise” not to have taken the name of a company with lots of lawyers.  Along the lines of the lines of the Rice Krispies, for those with an appetite here in Oregon we have the Tillamook Cheesemakers.

Come to think of it, I’ve only gone to schools with unique nicknames.  I first went to college at Albion and became a Briton, and then graduated from Indiana University as a Hoosier.  Their are no other schools with those names, although either really made any sense.  A “Briton” is a native or inhabitant of Great Briton, and Albion was in Michigan.  A “Hoosier” was supposedly popularized by an 1833 poem from John Finley called “The Hoosier’s Nest.”  Even as a fellow poet, I was not impressed.

I think it was fate that led me to Portland, Oregon to be a fan of the NBA Trail Blazers.  The Trail Blazers nick-name was apparently the result of a contest back in 1970, established just after my graduation as a Blue Blazer.   I’m not sure the story of the Blue Blazer name, but I know we didn’t the history of Lewis and Clark, the original trailblazers, to provide a creative source of inspiration.  I find it remarkable that 172 people submitted the name “Trail Blazers” as part of the contest, so there’s no way to provide proper individual credit.  At the time, there were supposedly no other major Professional or University sports teams using either Blazers or Trail Blazers.  I’m sure that was thoroughly checked out by the team attorneys before the name was officially  adopted.  Obviously, they were not familiar with the Elkhart Blue Blazers.  it just goes to show how innovative that nickname has become.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham was founded in 1969, but didn’t start their intercollegiate athletic program until 1978.  They too named their sports teams the Blazers.  I then quickly skimmed the list of college team nicknames and found the Saint Benedict’s College (Minnesota) Blazers, Valdosta State Blazers, and Vincennes University Trailblazers.  I noted that Vincennes, founded in 1801, named their teams after the inspiration of George Rogers Clark who resided in Indiana after his military career.  Maybe the Elkhart Blue Blazers stole the idea from them and the Portland Trailblazers didn’t do as thorough of search as they thought?  After all, George Rogers Clark’s younger brother was the William Clark (Lewis & Clark Expedition 1804-1806), the original Portland Trailblazer.

As I examined a Wikipedia list of college nicknames more extensively, I had to laugh at Chicago’s Shimer College Flaming Smelts.  Founded in 1853, it has fewer than 150 students and no more than 12 students per class, according to their website.   I found no reference to a sports team, just a colorful illustration of a Lake Michigan smelt flying out of an explosion with its black top-hat on fire.   I couldn’t help but think of the Blue Blazer’s hair on fire.  I also stumbled across another unusual nickname, the Presbyterian College Blue Hose.  I suppose it’s no different than calling the Chicago White Sox the “Pale Hose.”  I’m of course being silly here but I couldn’t help but think of “Mister B” in his silly head gear and blue tights.  I also noted that of all the college team nicknames, only a relative few didn’t end in a plural “s” like the Blue Hose.  Just for fun, I’ve listed the others below and highlighted what I consider to be the major programs:

ASA College (Miami) Silver Storm

Bethany College Bison

Bucknell University Bison

Cankdeska Cikana Community College C4

Central College (Iowa) Dutch

Cornell University Big Red

Cumberland University Phoenix

Dartmouth College Big Green

Delta State University Statesmen and Lady Statesmen

Denison University Big Red

Elon University Phoenix

Greensboro College Pride

Harding University Bison

Harvard University Crimson

Hobart College Statesmen

Hofstra University Pride

Hope College Flying Dutchmen

Howard University Bison

Illinois Fighting Illini

Lake Erie College Storm

Lebanon Valley College Flying Dutchmen

Lesley University Lynx

Loyola University of New Orleans Wolfpack

Luther College Norse

Marshall University Thundering Herd

Massachusetts Minutemen

McDaniel College Green Terror

Navy Midshipmen

Nevada Wolf Pack

North Carolina State University Wolfpack

North Dakota State University Bison

North Texas Mean Green

Northern Kentucky University Norse

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Oak Hills Christian College Wolfpack

Oberlin College Yeomen

Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish

Presbyterian College Blue Hose

Rhodes College Lynx

Saint Francis University Red Flash

Saint John’s University Red Storm

Simpson College Storm

Slippery Rock University The Rock

Southeastern Oklahoma State University Savage Storm

Southeastern University Fire

Southern California Women of Troy (Trojans – men)

Southern Nazarene University Crimson Storm

Southern New Hampshire Penmen

Springfield College Pride

Stanford University Cardinal

Syracuse University Orange

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Union College Dutchmen and Dutchwomen

Wellesley College Blue

College of William and Mary Tribe

I know the Wikipedia list was not complete, because my alma mater, Albion College, was not listed.  Albion is a lot bigger school than Shimer College, so I was offended.  I hope you weren’t equally annoyed if I missed your alma mater, or didn’t highlight your school as a major program. After all, even the Portland Trail Blazers did not acknowledge the Vincennes University Trail Blazers back in 1970 when the team was named. In all fairness, I think the Vincennes was only a junior college back then, so they may not have yet labeled their team, and may even have copied Elkhart or Portland in establishing their team identity.  Only the 21 major programs listed chose to eliminate the “s” from their team name.  That fact alone makes each of them unique, thinking outside the box.  I think you’ll find the same to be true of Professional teams.  I will wait to explore that list, but in the meantime “Go Blazers.”