TigerScots – Weston-McEwen High School (Athena OR)

Tigers make a ton of sense. Scots, though rather unusual, make some sense as well. TigerScots, on the other hand, makes no freakin' sense whatsoever.

As you’ve probably guessed, though, the name simply comes from the mascots of the two schools before they merged, back in the 1970s.

The school has only 215 students. They are, though, somewhat famous for a pipe and drum corps, as well as a highland dancing team. They seem to have an athletic program, though they also seem to do their best to hide any information on it.  :^(

Sounds like they have two separate mascots, a tiger and a Scottie dog. I do like that the tiger at least has a kilt and sporran. Put a tam-o-shanter or a glengarry on him, and he could do for a single mascot.

I dunno – looks like the Esso tiger & Muttley to me

No evidence that these guys ever appear on the field in any form.

I do have to make a call out to the school yearbook, the – groan! – Paws & Claws:

Athena? It dates back to 1878, and was originally called Centerville. Today, it has about 1,100 people. It’s in the upper northeast part of the state, and is part of the Hermiston-Pendleton Micropolitan Statistical Area. It was originally settled by Scots, and hosts a yearly Caledonian games.

I don’t know, Tripadvisor, I think something might be slightly off here

Thorpes – Pine Ridge (SD) School

Noun, “a village or hamlet.”

Unlike last post’s Tarriers, this one actually makes a little sense. 

The first thing you need to know, though, is that Pine Ridge is on an Indian reservation. The mascot simply recognizes Jim Thorpe, the legendary Native American athlete.

Interestingly, the name was changed back in the pre-PC year of 1957. Even more interestingly, the former mascots had been the definitely-non-PC Indians, Braves, and Scarlet Warriors.

Pine Ridge is the largest city in the Rine Ridge Indian Reservation, as well as tribal headquarters of the Oglala Sioux. It’s in the northwest part of the state, right on the border with ND. The current population is 3,100 or so. 

The town’s probably most famous for a 1975 shootout between Native Americans and the FBI. There were 3 deaths, with Leonard Peltier being convicted of 2 of them (and becoming something of a cause celebre).

The school dates back to 1879, with the current building erected in 1995. It has 700 students enrolled in a full K-12 program, and features a Lakota language full immersion program. The athletics department features all the typical sports except for baseball. 

And, yes, the girls teams are known as the Lady Thorpes.

Unfortunately, they don’t appear to have a physical mascot. 

Tarriers - Charles Wright Academy Tacoma WA)

Noun, “a person who stays longer than intended.”

Or, alternatively, “an Irish immigrant railroad worker who … drilled holes in rock to blast out railroad tunnels [school website].” You know, the subject of the 1888 American folk song "Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill”? … Yeah, I never heard of it before either.

That said, why use something like that as your mascot? 

Well, it actually seems to tie back to Charles Wright, the school’s namesake. He effectively founded Tacoma by making it the western terminus of the Northern Pacific railroad, of which he was the president. So, railroad president, railroad workers … Well, it makes some kind of sense (kind of like the Tarblooders, I suppose).

 

Today, the private school has 600 students. They’ve shone in things like sailing, robotics, knowledge bowls, and something called an envirothon. They also have standard sports such as football, baseball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee.

All of that is supported by “a mascot named Spike, a man wearing a plaid shirt and a bowler hat while holding a mallet.”

The school website grudgingly admits that “Due to the obscure nature of the term ‘tarrier’ and it being a homophone of the small dog, the ‘terrier,’ the Charles Wright Academy community spends a great deal of time explaining their mascot and its origins.” 

Google isn’t exactly helping here any:

Especially when clicking on that gave me stuff like this:

Damn, I think I see what they mean.

Tarblooders – Glenville (OH) High School

Tarbabes?  Meet Tarblooders.

Glenville, population 22,500, is a suburb in the northeast part of Cleveland. It dates back to 1870, and was originally a small village, then a resort community. Later, it became the center of Cleveland’s Jewish population. Finally, it became a victim of white flight, and is now 90% African American.

The high school dates back to 1892, and currently has 400 students. Alumni include Steve Harvey and the creators of Superman, Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster.

The school is well-known for its athletics, especially football and track. As for the latter, they hold no less than 18 state titles.

There are a couple of possibilities for the mascot, including from a:

• School cheer, indicating that they would whack the "tar" and "blood" out of their opponents
• Person who installed (tar-soaked) railroad ties, working so hard they were said to sweat "blood" and "tar"
• Person who used to haul tar from the tarpits to the railroad tracks

Fittingly, the school's colors are red & black.

Oddly, though, their mascot is some robot-y kind of thing.

Tarbabes – Compton (CA) High School

Whoa! I’m not sure I wanna touch that one.

Luckily, it’s not what I thought at all.

Turns out the high school was once associated with a community college. And the latter’s mascot was a Tartar. With me so far?

Now, you may associate said mascot with a sauce served with fish, what’s scraped off in the dentist’s office, or perhaps raw hamburger. It also, however, describes a member of a Mongol tribe – and, thus, something suitably fierce enough for a mascot. In fact, it’s also used in general to describe a person “with a generally bad temper or an unexpectedly formidable individual.” Even better.

Now, back to the high school… Seeing as the community college were originally the Tartars, the high school began calling themselves the Baby Tartars. Somehow or other that became the Tartar Babies, and eventually the Tar Babes and then the Tarbabes.

You’re probably familiar with Compton. It’s actually pretty notorious. It was the turf of the Bloods and Crips, and was once known as the “Murder Capital of the United States.” It’s also the home of gangsta rap, including NWA (who did Straight Outta Compton), Easy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Coolio & Kendrick Lamar.

On a more wholesome side, it was also home to actors James Coburn and Kevin Costner, Hall of Fame baseball player Eddie Murray, and Venus & Serena Williams.

The high school dates all the way back to 1896. Today, it has 1,300 students. Surprisingly, it is now 80% Latino. Some famous alumni include actress & singer Polly Bergen, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle & baseball player Duke Snider.

You know, Candice’s mom

By the way, in case you couldn’t tell from the pic at the top, the Tarbabe is wearing a diaper.

Syrupmakers – Cairo (GA) High School

Hard to believe, but this one actually has nothing to do with the fact that the town name is pronounced exactly like Karo syrup.

The connection comes rather from the W.B. Roddenbery Company, who were known for manufacturing sugarcane syrup. As I understand it, that’s like molasses, but not as strong. In addition to cane syrup, the company also produced other syrups, pickles, boiled peanuts, and peanut butter. It closed in 2002

The town has over 10,000 people, and is in the southwest part of the state, right on the border with Florida. It dates back to 1835. It’s main claim to fame is being the birthplace of Jackie Robinson.

The high school is officially the Cairo High School College and Career Academy. It’s got quite 1,300 students. Looks like they have all the standard sports, with the 2008 football team winning the Georgia AAA title. 

The mascot dates back to 1940, replacing the very standard (and extremely boring) Tigers. Supposedly, the Rodenberry Company had donated rain jackets to the school with “Roddenbury Syrup” on them. Guess the name stuck. In 1986, ESPN voted the mascot the best in the country. 

In 1994, the high school added a physical mascot – basically, a big pitcher. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a pic of it.

By the way, it’s only the boys teams that are the Makers. Girls teams are called the Maids instead.

Swathers – Hesston (KS) High School

What the hell is that? Hold on, and I’ll explain.

Hesston is about 40 miles north of Wichita. It dates back to 1886, when the railroad came through. Today, it has about 3,500 people 

It’s known for a Mennonite college (Hesston College), lawn mowers, farm equipment, an F5 tornado, and a school shooting.

It’s that farm equipment that is the secret to the mascot. A swather is a piece of such, typically used to cut hay. According to good, ol’ Merriam-Webster, "A swather is a harvesting machine that cuts and windrows grain and seed crops; also: a mower attachment that windrows the swath." The mascot dates back to 1970.

The high school has about 270 students. I really couldn’t fine much on it, or on its athletics (though it does seem they support the usual sports – football, baseball, basketball, debate, forensics …). I do know that a swather machine plays a special role for the football team, with the players massing behind it at the start of home games, then running onto the field.

Must be pretty awe-inspiring.