MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Maine 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 Maine, there are 140 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Maine, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

DO THEY WEAR UNIFORMS OR RIOT GEAR?
Only two American high schools can be found in the MaxPreps database that use Riots as part of the mascot name. Both of them happen to be located in Maine. A riot is a a tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons assembled together and acting with a common intent, as defined in the dictionary. In a way, that is a fierce mascot name. Orono is the Riots and South Portland chose to be a little different, going with the Red Riots. It's hard to think of what the reasoning could be, as neither school has an explanation on its website. Our best guess? It's related to some types of civil disobedience during the American Revolution or it's shorthand for Patriots.

DON'T CALL 'EM LITTLE. WELL, SOMETIMES YOU CAN
The origins of the mascot name for Little (Auburn) is a simple story. The more you think about it, though, the more it can get a bit confusing. The story is that the school is named after Edward Little, an attorney who moved to the Auburn area and in the early 1800s and gave generously of his time and money. The official name of the school is Edward Little High School, so it is the Edward Little High School Red Eddies. In shorthand, people are likely to call them the Little Red Eddies, but they aren't designed to be little if you go by the mascot name. They are supposed to be Red Eddies. They are the only Red Eddies in the nation.
 
PANDAS IN MAINE?
Yes, they exist. Well, not for real. But if you see an athlete from Lee Academy, you've just seen a Panda from Maine. The school doesn't tell the story of how it got the mascot name online, and since there are no pandas indigenous to the area, we have to assume it was just an attempt at creativity. Pandas are found in China, though many zoos worldwide have them. Regardless of whether it is strange to have a mascot name like Pandas in a place like Maine, nobody can doubt the quality of the logo.

AN ENGLISH LESSON IN HOULTON
Houlton has a mascot name that doesn't fit in many parts of America. The Shiretowners mascot name is totally New England, and it derives from England. A shire is a town where a court of law is located, and Houlton is the seat of Aroostook County, which means the county jail and a county courthouse preside in the town that sits on the United States' eastern border with Canada. The school goes by a shortened name often, though, as the names "Shires" adorns the center of the basketball court.

BUILDING BOATS IN BATH
At Morse (Bath), they honor the first ship built in America by going as the Shipbuilders. History has declared that the Virginia of Sagadahoc was built by English settlers in Bath, which sits at the mouth of the Kennebec River, and that it was the first known ship built in the new land. The city calls itself the "City of Ships" and during World War II was a major producer of iron ships. The industry is still doing well in Bath, and Morse High pays homage to its hometown's economic and historical claims to fame.

TOP 14 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Eagles 9
# Bulldogs 6
# Tigers 6
# Vikings 5
Hawks 5
Rams 5
# Warriors 4
# Knights 4
# Panthers 4
Patriots 3
# Raiders 3 (There is 1 Black Raiders)
Lakers 3
# Mustangs 3
Huskies 3
15 schools tied at 2

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Bears Black Raiders * Blue Blazes Bobcats Breakers Broncos Bucks * Capers Clippers Cobras Coyotes Eddies

Flyers * Golden Bucks Greyhounds Guardians * Howlers Indians Lions Lumberjacks Lynx Minutemen Owls Pandas

Pioneers Pirates Ponies Ramblers Rebels Red Devils * Red Riots Red Storm * Riots Roadrunners Royals Sabers

Saints Scots Seagulls Seahawks * Ship Builders * Shiretowners Stags * Windjammers Witches Wolverines * Yachtsmen

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

MASCOT STATS
Most popular mascot name is used by 6.4 percent of schools.
There are 76 different mascot names for 140 schools.
10 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Maine's Top 14 features 9 of America's Top 15 mascot names.