Red Eddies – Edward Little High School (Auburn, ME)

Well, it’s back to Maine. And back to the color red as well.

This time, though, it’s the Eddies. The what? Huh? The Eddies?

Well, as you can probably guess, this one comes from Mr. Little himself. And he just so happened to be a local philanthropist, founding the school way back in 1835. Well, at least they’re not the Littles.

What you may not have guessed is that the mascot is actually supposed to be the ghost of this guy. 

Auburn’s a city of 24,000 in south central Maine, right across the Androscoggin River from Lewiston (the most populous city in Maine).  Once famous for shoes, it’s pretty depressed these days.

The school has a little over 1,000 students. They do have one alumnus I’ve heard of, former US Senator Olympia Snow.

Old school

They appear to have all the usual sports, as well as such cold-weather faves such as hockey and Alpine skiing. 

Hmm, I wonder who Bonny Eagle was

Red Riot – South Portland (ME) High School

No, this has nothing to do with Communists, or the October Revolution, or anything else like that. Instead … well, let hero.fandom.com explain:

“Eijiro Kirishima, also known as the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot or simply Red Riot, is a major character in the My Hero Academia franchise.”

Seriously, though, it seems to be another coinage from a sportswriter. Some unnamed journo saw the team – dressed in red – come out en masse after halftime and coined the phrase. 

Formerly, the team had been the Capers. No, this had nothing to do with these things:

But, instead, merely reflects being at the time part of the town of Cape Elizabeth. When the latter got their own high school in 1969, they took over the old moniker.

South Portland? Well, this city of 27,000 is basically the southern part of the Portland metropolitan area, separated from Portland proper by the Fore River. It’s got some lighthouses, an old fort, a working waterfront, the Maine Mall, and even some beaches. It’s actually the fourth largest city in the state. “Notable people” include the actor Judd Nelson and Peter Buck, the founder of Subway.

Ah, the wonders of Photoshop

As for the high school, it’s got about 1000 students. Wikipedia lists seven famous alumni, including two I’ve actually heard of. They’re pretty obscure baseball players, though, so you probably haven’t (I’m a certifiable baseball nut).

SPHS has won an unbelievable 101 state championships. Their specialties include tennis and indoor track & field, though they’ve certainly won their fair share of standards like football, basketball, and baseball.

Take that!

Well, I can’t end this article, without sharing the physical manifestation, the graphic persona, the visual embodiment of the Red Riot – this guy:

And, of course, this guy:

Mighty Red Ants – Progreso (TX) High School

In other words, fire ants. Nasty little buggers. Honestly, I’d hate to wrangle with these things. So, really, not a bad mascot at all.

Progreso is a town of about 4,800, right on the border, about 20 miles from the Gulf. Local products include sugar and, formerly, citrus. It’s about 99% Latino.

Really couldn’t find much on the high school. Their website certainly didn’t tell me much. It does, though, rock some pretty 1990s-style web design. In particular, I really dig the multiple colors and fonts: 

Elsewhere, I did find that they have 450 students and are 100% minority and 100% “economically disadvantaged.”

They at least seem to have all the regular sports. Couldn’t find much else on those either though. That said, the logo on the football helmets, with those little pincers, is pretty darn cool:

As for the mascot, it has a rather odd derivation:

“The Mighty Red Ants of Progreso are named not for the pesky insect but for the nickname a beloved teacher called her students when the district had only one elementary school.” (Midland Reporter-Telegram)

Not sure if I’m totally buyin’ it. Those suckers are just too dang scary for something like that:

Prexies – Washington (PA) High School

 

Known, of course, as the Pixies to all their opponents, I'm sure.

Now, what exactly is a prexy, you might ask. Well, it’s the same as the POTUS, the prez, the chief of state, the commander in chief … i.e., the president of these here United States of America.

But why at Washington High School? Well, there is that George Washington guy. Interestingly, this is also a callout to Thomas Jefferson as well. Washington PA just so happens to be the site of Washington & Jefferson College, with their team name being the Presidents. Et voila.

Tom, George & friend

The city? It’s in southwest Pennsylvania, about 60 miles from Pittsburgh. It was settled in 1768. Today, they’ve got about 13,700 people.

The high school’s got about 410 students. It supports 12 different sports, though nothing out of the ordinary. 

I honestly couldn’t find all that much about it. Their website actually does have a fair amount of content, but it’s mostly articles like the following: 

It’s western Pennsylvania, so football’s huge. I do, though, really dig their basketball gym:

Hey, what happened to Tom?

Hard to believe, but there are actually other Prexies out there as well. It looks, though, like these are just nicknames for the more formal "Presidents." In particular, we've got schools in Ohio (Marion Harding) and Minnesota (St. Paul Washington).

Popes – Pius XI High School (Milwaukee)

Geez, usually schools like this get called stuff like Crusaders, or Saints, or Knights. But Popes? Old Italian guys known for their frailty and holiness? Doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of your opponents now, does it?

The school dates back to 1930, when Pius XI was still living. The thinking was that Pius had just celebrated his golden jubilee (50 years) in the priesthood, and was also known for his support of Christian education.  So, why not?

Currently, the school has 730 students. It’s located west of the Milwaukee city center. 

They have the usual sports, but also powerlifting (boys and girls) and Pom Poms (girls only – sorry, guys). They’ve won state titles for private schools in both boys and girls basketball.

Wikipedia lists 15 famous alumni, including one I’ve actually heard of, NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki. Others include folks named Adamczyk, Jurewicz, Protasiewicz, and other names I can’t pronounce.

Extra points for driving the Hooters car

Just to top it all off, the girls teams are called Lady Popes. Believe it or not, there is a legendary female pope, one Pope Joan. Disguising herself as a man, she supposedly rose through the ranks and became the supreme pontiff. Her secret was revealed when she gave birth during a procession, then died soon after.

Even more interesting is the fact that the school’s mascot is one Sugar Bear. Seems the pope as a real, live, on-field mascot was a bit much. And, yes, he is indeed named after the cereal (and cartoon) character.

Pinelads – Lanai (HI) High School

Of course the girls teams are called the Pinelasses. Did you really need to ask?

Whoa! High school in paradise! I would have loved to have graduated from this place.

I’ve got relatives in Hawaii, so am very familiar with the Islands. I’ve never been to Lanai though.

It’s sure no Oahu, having only 3,400 people and 140 square miles. I’d love to visit, as it sounds like the real Hawaii. 

Lanai used to be owned by Dole Food, and was basically one big pineapple plantation. Today, Larry Ellison (of Oracle fame) owns 98%.

Lanai is a K-12 (the biggest one in Hawaii), and is the only school on the island. It has 630 students.

In addition to all the regular sports, LHS also sports a canoe-paddling team. I assume that means outriggers, which are super cool.

Their football team is an 8-man squad. They actually went without football for 60 years, from 1953 to 2013. Glad to hear they’re playing again, as Hawaii is football mad.

Note:  Not the whole team

The mascot could reference pineapples or pine trees. Lanai’s famous for both of them.

Peglegs – Stuyvesant (NY) High School

Wonder why they weren’t just called the Pirates?

Well, it turns out they’re not named after swashbuckling buccaneers at all, but after the Dutch governor of New York, Peter Stuyvesant. And, yes, he did lose a leg (in a battle with the Spanish), getting it replaced with a real, honest-to-goodness peg leg. He is, in fact, the original “Peg Leg Pete.”

Could they have been the Hollanders then, or the Dutchmen? Heck, how about the Bulldogs, or Eagles, or Tigers? Peglegs is just too … weird.

Stuyvesant is one of NYC’s highly competitive specialized high schools. In particular, Stuy is devoted to science and math. Their alumni include four Nobel laureates.

It’s just not nerds though. Other alumni include Eric Holder, Lucy Liu, Thelonius Monk, James Cagney, Tim Robbins, Phil Donahue, and more.

But not Farrah Fawcett

USNWR actually ranks the school 26th in the country. Dating back to 1904, it currently has about 3,300 students. It’s located in downtown Manhattan, about a half a mile from the World Trade Center.

In addition to the math, chess, and debate teams, the school also has 32 sports team. In addition to the usual suspects, they also feature bowling, fencing, cricket, handball, and ultimate frisbee.

The Petrides?

Actually, this just in ... Sounds like it might be a little bit more complicated:

"Only the football, cheerleading, badminton, girls ping pong, baseball, girls handball, girls bowling, and boys’ lacrosse teams retain the traditional Pegleg moniker; other teams have their own unique names, such as the Runnin’ Rebels (boys’ basketball), Vixens (girls’ volleyball), Lemurs (boys’ gymnastics), Phoenix (girls’ basketball), Renegades (girls’ softball), Felines (girls’ gymnastics), Birdies (girls’ golf), Eagles (boys’ golf), Hookers (boys’ bowling), Huskies (girls’ lacrosse), Penguins (girls’ swimming), Pirates (boys’ swimming), Centaurs (boys’ soccer), Mimbas (girls’ soccer), Dragons (boys’ handball), Smokin’ Aces (boys’ tennis), Sticky Fingers (boys’ and girls’ Ultimate), Lobsters (girls’ tennis), Vipers (girls’ fencing), Flying Dutchmen (hockey), Greyducks (track), Tigers (cricket) and Spartans (wrestling and roller hockey)."

Given all that, I've changed my mind - Peglegs is just fine.