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.