TERRE HAUTE — Over the years, I’ve written at least four columns about unique school nicknames, but Casey resident Jim Blome reminded me in a letter about a year ago that I’ve never done a story about interesting names from Illinois schools. I think it’s time I remedied that error.
Along with his letter, Jim sent a rather long list of names I might want to include in my story, a virtual nickname bonanza that I would normally have had to labor to put together myself through research. He gave credit for the list to long-time Marshall Lions basketball coach Nellie Bennett, so I want to be sure to pass my thanks on to him as well.
Along the way, I also ran into yet another source for my material, Fred Willman’s Why Mascots Have Tales (IHSA, 2005, $20.00). Willman, a retired teacher, told me via e-mail that he got interested in school nicknames because “I like sports and I like good stories.” The Naperville native’s book appears to be filled with both. According to Willman, there are 788 high schools in Illinois; they share 250 nicknames, 144 of which he deemed “unusual.”
For most part, school nicknames from years ago often reflected their communities. In Indiana, as across the country, local businesses (Ladoga Canners), ethnic groups (Mecca Arabs), and tales from history (Vincennes Alices) were often the genesis for the local school’s moniker. Likewise, in Illinois, there is DeKalb (the Barbs were named for the barbed wire manufactured there), Addison Driscoll (the Highlanders), and Lincoln (the Railsplitters). Nicknames were a matter of pride, perhaps even prejudices, but at least they were unique. Illinois, like Indiana, has lost many of those names to consolidation, a few more to political correctness.
When I glanced down Bennett’s list — and I want to make it clear that, to my knowledge, all of these schools still exist — I was first attracted to colorful nicknames. The Alexis Red Storm caught my eye, as did the Aledo Green Dragons, the Carthage Blue Boys, the Galesburg Silver Streaks, the Mattoon Green Wave, the Jacksonville Crimsons, the Knoxville Blue Bullets, the Litchfield Purple Panthers, and the Mt. Carmel Golden Aces. Andy Amey’s personal favorite — the Arcola Purple Riders — made the list too. The absolute coolest name to me was the Illinois Valley Grey Ghosts; there is nothing generic about being a Grey Ghost.
In light of the protest over the retirement of Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois, a number of high schools surely have had to take a look at their nicknames over the years too, and Antioch High School is one of them. According to Willman, Antioch, the home of the Sequoits, is actually using a word that is Native American in origin, but only by a long stretch. There is no tribe of that name, only an Iroquois word, Sadaquoit, a term given to a stream that runs in upper-state New York in Oneida County. When settlers moved from there to Illinois, they used a variance of the word. By the way, the Aurora West Blackhawks, Cahokia Comanches, and Mooseheart Mohawks use names of Native American tribes. Pittsfield, a central Illinois town where Abraham Lincoln once roamed, is known as the “Hog Capital of the Midwest,” but students in its school with an enrollment of about 480 still calls themselves Saukees, presumably after the Sauk Indians.
There was certainly an adventuring spirit at work when many Illinois schools chose nicknames. The Belleville Althoff Crusaders and Alton Marquette Explorers were among that group, as were the Argo Argonauts, the Chicago Mt. Carmel Caravan, and the Mudelein Corsairs. The military was represented as well with schools like the Argenta-Oreana Bombers, the Bunker Hill Minutemen, the Ullin Centurians, the Chicago Marshall Commandoes, the Farragut Admirals, the Decatur MacArthur Generals, the Milledgeville Missiles, and the Streamwood Sabres.
If history is your subject of choice, make the connection between Monticello and its Sages, Arthur and its Knights, East St. Louis and its Fliers, Fulton and its Steamers, Polo and its Marcos, and Springfield and its Senators. You can find Turks in Tremont, Saxons in Schaumburg, Norsemen in Newark, and Pharoahs in Tamms. If meteorology interests you, hang on to your hat in Catlin Salt Fork (The Storm), Woodstock (Hurricanes), Taylorville (Tornadoes), and LaHarpe (Cyclones). You can watch the Meteors in Marissa, and keep your eye on the North Stars at St. Charles North.
I know that Illinois is a civilized place, but it still has its Dragons (Divernon), Demons (Dongola), and Vandals (Vandalia), and, as most towns do, its Tomcats (Aurora East). It is a state abundant in wildlife, substantiated by the Kewanee Weathersfield Flying Geese, Indian Creek’s Timberwolves, Colfax’s Mustangs, Fisher’s Bunnies (Does Fight’in Bunnies sound better?), Havana’s Ducks, McLeansboro’s Foxes, Mounds Meridian’s Bobcats, and Petersburg Porta’s Blue Jays. The Scotties from Waverly, Terriers from Carbondale, and Greyhounds from Chicago Hubbard at least sound more domesticated.
Willman’s “unusual” category must be full too. There’s Appleknockers in Cobden, Orphans in Centralia (the girls’ teams are the Orphan Annies), Flaming Hearts in Effingham, Whip-Purs in Hampshire, Cornjerkers in Hoopeston, Caxys in Lake Forest, and, of course, Wooden Shoes in Teutopolis (their junior high teams are reportedly called Booties).
By the way, have you ever heard about some of the unusual school nicknames in Kentucky? Well, there’s the Somerset Briar Jumpers, and the Lloyd Memorial Juggernauts, and ...
In next season’s Sidelines, Mike Lunsford take a look at Illinois high school nicknames of the past.. You can contact him at hickory913@aol.com, or by regular mail c/o the Tribune-Star, PO Box 149, Terre Haute, IN 47808.
Sidelines
February 27, 2007
Sidelines: Illinois has its share of unique nicknames too
- Sidelines
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Old friend missing as Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic begins
It occurred to me late last month, as I opened my morning newspaper to read up on the draw for this year’s Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic, that when I walk through Terre Haute South’s doors on Wednesday it will be the first time that I won’t find my old buddy Dean Kendall sitting at one end of the gym, a smile on his face a good while before the first whistle is blown or the first shot is taken.
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SIDELINES: Good for even a traditional Classic buff
Lights down, tree out, another year gone at the Classic.
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Sidelines: Pizza Hut Classic is basketball on caffeine
I’m no coffee connoisseur. If it’s hot and black and in a Styrofoam cup, I’ll drink it.
Knowing I consume a good bit of brew every day, my family helps fuel the addiction by buying Christmas gift cards for me at a local coffee shop, but, since I make it into town only occasionally, the cards stay stashed in my wallet until the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic rolls around. - Sidelines: Feeling cold? Here’s a story that just might warm your feet Despite a glowing space heater that hums near my chilly feet, I still hug my arms and rub my legs as I sit to write this story. The sub-zero temperatures this weekend have brutally reminded us all of our human frailty, of our dependence on stoves and furnaces, electricity and natural gas, on blankets and fleece and wool and warm water.
- Tipping my can in honor of the Classic’s 10th It never ceases to amaze me how fast time slides past us… Or should I say, blows by. I’ve lived in my house 28 years; I’ve taught school for over 30, and I’ve been married a little longer than that.
- Hayden's loyalty to Colts pays off Hours before the former University of Illinois cornerback was due to be designated as the Indianapolis Colts’ franchise player, Kelvin Hayden — who had made it known that he wasn’t interested in playing anywhere else — signed a five-year, $43 million deal with the team.
- Thumbing through a real history book My wife and I invest a bit of our time on the occasional Saturday wandering through antique stores and junk shops.
- Sidelines: When it comes to the Classic, it’s better late than never… I’m normally pretty punctual. Despite having to slip into the back pew at church on the occasionally tardy Sunday morning, I’m not in the habit of paying late fees on bills, standing at the back of any buffet lines, or being the last guy in the neighborhood to mow grass. As a matter of fact, I’m often the first employee to pull into the parking lot every morning.
- Colts notebook: Team won't be very active in free-agent market Now that Indianapolis has re-signed unrestricted free agents Bob Sanders (strong safety), Dallas Clark (tight end) and Ryan Lilja (offensive guard), team officials are planning to sit back and see what’s going to happen with the rest of the team’s free agents.
- SIDELINES: Like fine wine, Classic gets better with age I know virtually nothing about wine, but I do know that the best of it gets better with age. That’s apparently true of the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic.
- Sidelines: A man has to do what a man has to do I have a job to do just after Christmas, and believe me, it’s a tough one; it takes four days, involves putting in long hours, requires both physical and mental sacrifice, and perhaps even holds the chance for long-term injury. But a guy has to do what he has to do to bring home a paycheck.
- Metro roundup: ISU announces Hall of Fame class
- Sidelines: Illinois has its share of unique nicknames too Over the years, I’ve written at least four columns about unique school nicknames, but Casey resident Jim Blome reminded me in a letter about a year ago that I’ve never done a story about interesting names from Illinois schools. I think it’s time I remedied that error.
- Sidelines: Advocates had their chance for higher basket Years ago, if atmospheric conditions were just right, I could occasionally dunk a basketball, particularly at one local gym where pick-up game artists like me knew that one rim was at least three inches lower than regulation height.
- Warm up for Classic with Clyde Quiz An obligation at work kept me from being at the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic luncheon and tournament drawing at Terre Haute South a few weeks ago, but I don’t intend to let much get in my way when it comes to showing up for the lion’s share of the 28 games in the Classic, which, by the way, gets started today.
- Mike Lunsford: It’s not how much we’ve gained, but how much we’ve lost I haven’t seen much basketball this fall; the weather outside has been too nice lately to turn my attention to things indoors just yet. So this is the first Sidelines of the year; I was already writing about hoops in October last season. I hope the old adage of it being better late than never still rings true.
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Sidelines: Mail waste of time for some, but not for me
No matter how many bills or how much junk mail I get, I’m one of those folks who anticipates going to the mailbox like Carter opening Tut’s tomb. I’ve always enjoyed getting mail; there’s a feeling of connectedness one gets when he sees his name on a letter from somewhere in the outside world. It makes little difference that what I most often get isn’t worth the postage it took to send it, even at the bulk rate.
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Sidelines: It doesn’t take much for me to name names
It’s no secret that I enjoy talking about old high school nicknames; I’ve done several columns on the subject before. I usually wait a little while before I write about a topic for a second (or third) time, but when Fred Myers of Riley dropped a letter to me a few weeks ago pointing out a potential mistake I made about a nickname, I just couldn’t resist going into it again. After all, it has been a couple of years.
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Old friend missing as Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic begins
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