MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Colorado high school mascots

Just as important as a school's name and its location is its mascot. Options abound, and some teams go with the commonplace while others go with the truly unique.

In Colorado, there are 350 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Colorado, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

MIGHTY MAN-LIKE MELON MASCOT
A mascot name that no other school in America has is a great start. Add in that the mascot is a watermelon made to look like a person, and it moves into the category of awesome. Rocky Ford is the Meloneers, and according to an interview with the Denver Post in 2009, there's not a big huge logical theory behind choosing the mascot. The local community takes a lot of pride in the unusual mascot, and even gives away watermelons to the public at the annual Watermelon Day at the annual Arkansas Valley Fair.

CHEW ON THIS
The mascot for Colorado Rocky Mountain (Carbondale) isn't for the squeamish, but it is a good play on words. Behold: Colorado Rocky Mountain Oysters. Rocky Mountain Oysters, for lack of a better explanation, are cooked bull testicles and are commonly found on the western frontier. Click here if you are interested in learning a little more about rocky mountain oysters.

NO SKIERS IN SKI TOWN
The Skiers don't play in the place nicknamed Ski Town USA, the Sailors do. But in Ski Town USA, the river that runs though town is full of fast-moving rapids and rocks, so sailing isn't really an option.

Steamboat Springs has earned the nickname of Ski Town USA thanks to the Steamboat Ski Area and its pristine powder, but the local school went with Sailors as it combines nicely with the town's name. Aspen is the only Skiers mascot in the entire United States, and it makes perfect sense, as Aspen is a world-renowned ski and snowboard destination as well.

PLUNDERING THUNDER NAMES
Colorado features a diverse group of thunder-themed mascots. There's one plain-old Thunder, three Thunderbirds, two Thunderbolts and two Thunderhakws. No other state has more thunder-themed mascots than Colorado.

GRIFFINS NAMED REBELS
This is a situation where a name change is kind of a name change, but kind of not.



Denver South has seen plenty of controversy regarding its Rebel mascot, Johnny Rebel, who resembles a Confederate soldier from the Civil War. According to the Colorado Independent, the logo has given way to a griffin, which is a gargoyle-like creature that is featured atop Denver South's historic main campus building.

The school keeps its rebel name, but all images of the school's mascot are a griffin.

TOP 17 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Eagles 26 (There is 1 Golden Eagles)
# Tigers 16
# Bulldogs 15 (There is 1 Fightin’ Bulldogs)
# Mustangs 15
# Panthers 15
# Wildcats 12
# Indians 9
Pirates 9
Rams 9
# Trojans 8
# Warriors 8
# Cougars 8
# Falcons 8
Bobcats 6
Huskies 6
# Lions 6
Spartans 6
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Angels Badgers Bearcats Beetdiggers Blue Angels Blue Devils Bluejays Bombers Burros Colts Commanders Conquerors Cubs

Cyclones Danes Devils *Fightin’ Bulldogs Gators Generals Gladiators Golddiggers Golden Eagles *Gore Rangers Gryphons *Impalas *Kadets

Kodiaks *Lambkins Lightning Lynx Marauders Maroons *Meloneers Mountain Lions Norsemen Olympians *Oysters Phoenix Pumas

Rangers Ravens Redskins Roughriders Sailors Savages *Skiers Stallions Sun Devils Terrors Thunder Trailblazers Wizards

* Denotes that no other school in America has that mascot name

MASCOT STATS:
Most popular mascot name is used by 7.4 percent of schools.
There are 108 different mascot names for 350 schools.
8 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Colorado's Top 17 features 12 of America's Top 15 mascot names.