Flyers and Tigers and Marauders, Oh My!

Waiting for the rain to clear, the mind wanders...

Consider:

• When Weymouth competes with Milton, it's always a cat fight.
• When Framingham toes the line against Needham, the sky's the limit.
• When Wellesley battles Natick, both teams see red

Welcome to the world of team nicknames in the Bay State Conference. As you might expect, the sleepy suburban towns of the BSC have adopted nicknames that bristle with barely controlled fury and mayhem. From wild animals to aviators to Native American stereotypes, the team nicknames persist, to the consternation of politically correct educators and to the great delight of local sportwriters.

Here are the school team nicknames for all the schools in the BSC, ranked from least to most offensive:

Least Offensive: Flying Objects

FLYERS - Framingham
ROCKETS - Needham

I like the name "Flyers," although I'm not sure whether it actually refers to aviators, skaters, or Frisbees flung through the air. "Flyer" is perfectly tame, although there is the disadvantage that it's hard to have a Flyer mascot (What does a flyer look like?). Also, flyers don't seem especially competitive. On the other hand, I think "Rockets" is just plain puzzling. The only inanimate nickname of the bunch, "Rockets" suggests 1950's enthusiasm for space travel. It must be hard to cheer for a rocket. For that matter, it must be hard to think up cheers that use the word rocket in clever ways.

Relatively Inoffensive: Wild Animals

MUSTANGS - Norwood
TIGERS - Newton North
WILDCATS - Milton
WILDCATS - Weymouth

These schools were content to play it safe. Who could argue with a "Tiger" or a "Wildcat?" (Well, maybe animal rights activists would prefer that the schools not exploit these clearly endangered species...). Cats have the obvious advantage that they can be ferocious when you need them to be, but soft and cuddly mascots the rest of the time (Think of "George the Tiger"). Norwood doesn't get enough credit for its school team nickname. "Mustangs" is fairly original and suggests a wild, unfettered, and free spirit... roaming untamed through the American Southwest. Never mind that these are exactly the opposite of the qualities valued by HS coaches...

Relatively Offensive: Violent Names

MARAUDERS - Dedham
REBELS - Walpole
WARRIORS - Brookline

"Marauders" and "Warriors" would be ok if they weren't linked to Native American sterotypes and iconography. As it is, Brookline depicts its warrior mascot as a chief in full Native American headress. Dedham depicts its mascot as a Native American brave, going so far as to put it on the sign outside the school. Where is the outrage?



As for the "Rebels," well, are they meant to represent the Colonial rebels, the secessionist South during the Civil War, or teenagers wearing "Question Authority" buttons. At football games, is there some Walpole student who dresses up as Jimmy Dean?

Most Offensive: Blatant Sterotypes

REDMEN - Natick
RED RAIDERS - Wellesley

In this day and age, it's surprising that these names have survived.

Offensive? Inoffensive?

WAMPANOAGS - Braintree

How to characterize Braintree's nickname -- Wampanoags -- the name given to the people who lived in the area long before Braintree had a cross-country team... long before there was an official country to cross. Once those people had been marginalized, their name was taken to represent something strong and capable, but what qualities exactly? The word "Wampanoag" seems to mean "People of the East," although I might be misreading the definition. The Wampanoag people might or might not have been fierce warriors or swift runners. The name itself doesn't offer any clue. Inevitably, in newspaper headlines "Wampanoag" is shortened to "Wamp," which sounds like "whomp!" and gives the name a vaguely belligerent feel.

Pretty silly stuff, I guess.

Or, as Shakespeare wrote long ago, "What's in a name? That which we call a Tiger by any other name would run as fast..."

...or something like that.