MaxPreps Mascot Mondays: Idaho 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 Idaho, there are 155 schools with mascots listed in the MaxPreps database. Listed below are the Top 15 most popular mascot names in Idaho, the mascot names that only one school owns and other mascot facts/stats.

MANIACAL MANIACS
The kids from Orofino are the Maniacs, and that can mean one of two things. Either they are raving or violently insane persons (lunatics) or they are overly zealous and enthusiastic people. Whatever your thoughts on the appropriateness of the mascot name, it's undeniable that Maniacs is a unique mascot, as no other high school has chosen it. The mascot name has drawn some criticism because Orofino is also home to a state psychiatric hospital. The Deseret News of Utah featured the controversy in a 1990 article.

THEY MUST BE RECORD BREAKERS
McCall-Donnelly is the only school in Idaho to go as Vandals, and that is the same mascot as the University of Idaho. It's an interesting lesson in etymology (the study of the history of words), as the common current definition of vandal is "A person who deliberately destroys public or private property." What many don't know is that the word comes from the Vandals, who lived in present-day Germany and pillaged parts of Gaul, Spain and North Africa in the fourth and fifth centuries. They even attacked Rome in 455. They were known for destroying the areas they attacked.

POTATO POWER
No state in the nation is more potato-linked than Idaho. And no school in Idaho loves the potato more than Shelley. The town of 3,813 (from the 2000 census) has hosted the Idaho Annual Spud Day since 1927, according to the city's website, and its heritage is revealed in the school's mascot choice. Rather than a simple potato, the school uses more of a royal-looking lifelike potato, complete with a crown and scepter. Some websites refer to the mascot as a King Russet but the school's site says Russets.

IT'S A CUTTHROAT COMPETITION
The name is much more jarring than the likely inspiration for the Community (Sun Valley) Cutthroats. Nobody is getting their neck chopped. Instead, it's likely a reference to the cutthroat trout, which is native to the western United States. It's difficult to fathom a school, a relatively newer one at that, choosing a mascot name associated with cutting throats.

AMERICA WAS DISCOVERED IN IDAHO?
New Plymouth, located near the Oregon border, touts itself as "the World's Largest Horseshoe" and its name was inspired by Plymouth, Mass., the first colony established by pilgrims. It obviously took Europeans much longer before they made their way to western Idaho. The Pilgrims play their home games in a town that started with horseshoe-shaped streets, another claim to fame.
 
TOP 22 MOST POPULAR MASCOT NAMES
# Tigers 8
# Trojans 7
# Bulldogs 7
Huskies 6
# Wildcats 6
Pirates 6
Grizzlies 5
# Indians 5
# Mustangs 5
# Panthers 5
Spartans 4
# Vikings 4
Bears 3
Bobcats 3
# Warriors 3
Wolverines 3
Wolves 3
# Cougars 3
# Eagles 3
Jaguars 3
# Knights 3
Lions 3
# Denotes mascot name is in America's Top 15

MASCOT NAMES USED BY ONLY 1 SCHOOL

Badgers Beavers Bees Bengals Blue Devils Braves Broncos Bruins Cardinals Chargers Chiefs

Conquerors Cowboys * Cutthroats Diamondbacks Diggers Dragons Falcons * Great Danes * Kavemen * Kubs Loggers

* Maniacs Mavericks Mountaineers * Mushers Otters Patriots Pilgrims Pilots Raiders Ramblers Rangers

Raptors Red Devils Redskins Riverhawks Royals * Russets Senators Timberwolves Titans Vandals Vipers Wampus Cats

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

MASCOT NAMES:
Most popular mascot name is used by 5.2 percent of schools.
There are 73 different mascot names for 155 schools.
7 schools have mascot names that no other American school has.
Idaho's Top 22 features12 of America's Top 15 mascot names.