The Monkey Cage

Ha! My alma matter, TESC Geoducks, made the short list. I was going to suggest it here if not. Half-ashamed and half-proud, I admit my nose was too deep in my subject of study to care that we had a basketball team… Guess that means I won’t be getting married any time soon?

The Heidelberg College “Student Princes” made me groan, given the source of the name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Student_Prince

Ah, but at least both of those end in ’s’, as do almost all, as they are usually plural. There are roughly a dozen colleges whose nickname does not end in ’s’. Can you name a few? Starter kit / obvious example: Fighting Irish.

Just for starters, off the top of my head: The Red Storm. The Cardinal. The Crimson. The Crimson Tide. The Thundering Herd. The Mean Green. The Minutemen. I’ll give this some thought later, but seven off the top of the head is a good start.

Oops — number eight occurred to me just as I was hitting the send key and I couldn’t stop my finger. The Wolfpack.

Mr. Sigelman, off to a great start. And just to nudge it along, in addition to the NC State Wolfpack, there is the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.

At last count, I believe we had in the neighborhood of 13 or 14.

Carol Sigelman adds The Green Wave. (I taught her everything she knows.)

This complete my top-of-the-head list: Bison, Big Green, Midshipmen, and Orange(men). I’m sure there are some other, obscure ones, too.

And there’s always the Scottsdale Artichokes, just for fun.

Bison, I didn’t have that one!

More good ones. For some reason people frequent miss Orange(men).

This is drawing close to any I know. Under the category of alternative nicknames (IOW, not the main one), Rambling Wreck. And under the category of obscure, Ephmen (pronounced ‘eeefmen’) from Williams College, apparently founded by one Ephraim Williams.

That’s all I got!

what about the TCU Horned Frogs?

drinkof—

Williams’ Ephmen (or Ephs) are also identified with our mascot, the Purple Cow. No joke! =D

Nothin’ like watching the guys on College Gameday seriously discuss the Purple Cows’ epic struggle with the Lord Jeffs. Heh. Heh.

I remember, many years ago during the height of student rebellion in the 60s and 70’s, one of the Arizona schools (might have been Northern Arizona State, but don’t quote me) voted in “The Artichokes,” but the school administration wouldn’t allow it. The admin wouldn’t allow the chosen school colors, either, which were something like mauve and puce. Ah, well. It might have gotten them on this list.

Lee as a South Dakotan, you should always include the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology “Hardrockers”

To Khjalmarj:
Yes, the Artichokes are from Arizona, but as I noted in a comment a few before yours, they represent Scottsdale College. As I recall, this name caused great controversy, with an administration that was (understandably) reluctant. But I guess the idea finally won out.

To William:
Your point about being a South Dakotan reminds me that I should have looked one state to the north, to that gaping void on the map that is called North Dakota. As it happens, North Dakota is home to yet another team whose name doesn’t end with an “s”: The North Dakota Fighting Sioux. That name is currently the source of much hard feelings. A well-heeled alum bought a new arena for the school on the proviso that the name not be changed. There’s an active movement from several local tribes to change it nonetheless. How this is going to play out isn’t clear, but I wouldn’t expect those frugal North Dakotans to tear down their new arena.

Go Ephs!

In my academic career, I’ve been a unicorn, Eph/Purple Cow, Bear (does it really matter the particular type?), and a Titan (which is, apparently, supposed to be an elephant).

I note each has been larger than the last. The closest I’ve been able to come is the Vancouver Canucks have an orca for a mascot, but a) they’re not hiring political scientists and b) orcas CAN be heavier than an elephant, but usually not.

Lee, you might be missing some pretty strong competitors among the New England Small Colleges. I am not saying they are better nicknames, but they are worth some serious consideration. These include the:

Amherst Lord and Lady Jeffs
Williams Purple Cows
Bowdoin Polar Bears
Hamilton Continentals
Colby White Mules

Given how strong the conference is in nicknames from top to bottom, failing to recognize one seems a bit akin to leaving the entire ACC out of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Here’s a more complete list of nicknames note ending is s… from Wikipedia, of course.

Cal Lutheran Kingsmen

Carthage College Red Men (ack!)

Centenary Gentlemen

Cornell Big Red

Dartmouth Big Green

Delta State Statesmen and Lady Statesmen

Elon Phoenix

Green Bay Phoenix

Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (all women’s teams)

Hofstra Pride

Illinois Fighting Illini (How did we miss this one?)

Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen

Missouri-St. Louis Rivermen and Riverwomen

Northern Kentucky Norse

Oberlin Yeomen

Presbyterian Blue Hose

SE Oklahoma State Savage Storm

Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm

Tulsa Golden Hurricane (I should have gotten this one too.. they’ve been in the tourney)

Union (NY) Dutchmen and
Dutchwomen

USC Trojans and Women of Troy (interesting)

William & Mary Tribe

William Penn Statesmen and Lady Statesmen

PLW:

What a great public service you have performed!
:-)

But (1) I was under the impression that William & Mary had changed its name (to what I’m not sure — maybe the Kings and Queens?), though someone may tell me I’m wrong about that; and (2) I thought it was the Tulsa Golden Hurricane_s_. Am I wrong about that?

Your Wikipedia-based list contains a bunch of names not previously mentioned, but is a supplement to rather than a replacement for the previously mentioned names, e.g., Orangemen, Fighting Irish, etc. I assume that that’s what you meant, but I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression from your specific language “a more complete list.”

Never before have so many made comments on one of my posts. I finally seem to have found a topic that truly engages the readers of “The Monkey Cage.”

Hmm. I checked on Tulsa, it is definitely singular. See http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/trads/tuls-trads.html

Also, W&M seem to be sticking with the tribe:

http://www.tribeathletics.com/story.php/6709/

Finally, definitely a supplement. Nice job on the original list. I still can’t believe we missed Illini.

w&m is sticking with “tribe” for now, but they had to dispense with the feathers in their logo.

they spent considerable resources fighting the ncaa about it.

http://tinyurl.com/2cn3al