MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Michigan 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 Michigan, there are 774 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Michigan, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

NIMRODS: A COMPLIMENT OR A KNOCK?
What is known for sure is that those associated with the Watersmeet athletic program take pride in their mascot name: The Nimrods. What isn't so clear is what people take the mascot name to mean. On the plus side for the folks in the town on the Upper Peninsula, Nimrod was a mighty hunter, a man of power and the king of Shimar in the Bible. On the not-so-wonderful side, common dialect refers to someone as a Nimrod when they are an idiot or jerk. All those definitions (great hunter or idiot) come from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. So choose whichever definition you would like, but be careful who you call an idiot.

DOUGHBOYS DON'T HAVE TO BE CHUBBY
Don't think you're going to find a bunch of chubby, unathletic kids at Pershing (Detroit). The mascot name may tell you that the athletes there are Doughboys, but it's got nothing to do with physical fitness or Pillsbury. The school is named after John J. Pershing, who was one of America's most accomplished Army leaders, and the mascot name comes from some of the soldiers he led in World War I. The name Doughboy was routinely used to describe soldiers before World War II, when General Infantry (better know as G.I.) became the common term.

CHIX LEAD TO DUX IN ZEELAND
It's one thing for an individual school to come up with a unique idea for a mascot name. It's another for a town to stick to a theme and have two high schools that play off each other in an amusing way. Zeeland, located on the western part of the Lower Peninsula, gained fame in the 20th century with a multitude of chick hatcheries, and the Chix nickname stuck at the original high school, according to the Michigan High School Athletic Association. It even withstood a vote to change the name. Then in 2002, when Zeeland West was built, a vote determined that the new school's athletes would be called Dux. So Chix (from Zeeland East) have led to Dux at the new school (Zeeland West).

A MAGICAL MASCOT FOR A MAGICAL TOWN
The athletes from Colon might just pull a disappearing act on you in the middle of the game. The little town of Colon, not too far from the Indiana border, is the Magic Capital of the World and earned that title as the hometown of the famous magician Harry Blackstone. Many magic companies make their headquarters there as well. The school chose Magi as the mascot name, and that is represented by a white rabbit wearing a black top hat. Less than a year ago, the school featured an actual living, breathing mascot.

CLEAN PLAY IS THEIR SPECIALTY
The kids from Mt. Clemens are the Battling Bathers, so they must have the cleanest skin of all prep athletes in the nation. The mascot name comes from the town's rich history of mineral springs and bath houses. From around 1870 to about 1970, Mt. Clemens housed bath houses that even attracted movie stars and famous professional athletes. While tourists don't really visit Mt. Clemens for a soak any more, you can still head there to see the Battling Bathers do their thing in the gym or on the field.

TOP 15 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Eagles 44 (There is 1 Aztec Eagles, 1 Golden Eagles and 1 Eaglets)
# Panthers 30
# Vikings 26
# Wildcats 26
# Bulldogs 24 (There is 1 Bull Dogs)
# Trojans 21
# Cougars 18
# Falcons 18
Cardinals 17
# Knights 16
# Mustangs 16
# Tigers 16 (There is 1 Fighting Tigers)
# Warriors 15
Comets 12
Crusaders 12
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Abes Aviators Aztec Eagles Barons * Battling Bathers Bees Bison * Bluestars Bluestreaks Bronchos * Bull Dogs Captains * Chemics * Chippewas * Chix Clippers * Copper Kings Corsairs Cosmos Cowboys Coyotes Cranes Cubs * Doughboys Dreadnaughts Dukes Dutch * Dux * Eaglets Eddies Elks * Emeralds * Eskymos

Explorers * Fighting Bees Fighting Scots Fighting Tigers * Fireballs Flames * Flivvers Flyers Flying Dutchmen * Flying G's Gaels * Gazelles Golden Eagles Golden Hawks Green Devils Gremlins Greyhounds * Griffons Grizzlies Gryphons Hatchets Hawkeyes * Hematites Irish Ironmen Islanders * Jay Hawks Jayhawks * Jungaleers * Kicking Mules Kings * Lakes Loggers Lumberjacks

Lynx * Magi Magic Mariners Marlins * Maroon Giants * Martians Mavericks Miners Minutemen * Modeltowners Mohawks Monarchs Mounties * Muskrats * Navi Gators Navigators * Nimrods Nordics Northmen Oaks Oilers Owls Packers Pharaohs Pilgrims * Portagers Prospectors Pumas * Purple Hornets Quakers Railroaders * Rats * Rayders

Rebels * Red Arrows Redhawks Redmen Redwings * River Rats Rocks Roughriders Sabers Sabres * Saddlelites Saxons Sharks * Shorians * Snowbirds Soldiers Speedboys Squires Stallions Swordsmen Tartars * Technicians Terriers Thunderbolts * Tractors Trail Blazers Vandals * Ventures * Voyagers * Vulcans * Wykons * Yellojackets Zebras

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

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 5.7 percent of schools.
There are 225 different mascot names for 774 schools.
46 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Michigan's Top 15 features 12 of America's Top 15 mascot names.