Beat em up, brave Beetdiggers
Whether the Wolfpack will become the new mascot for Glacier High School or not will be a matter of discussion in Kalispell for the next month.
Some love it; others fear that the school will be tainted by its association with a creature famous for disturbing the peace of three pigs and stalking a girl unwisely sent by herself through the forest to visit her grandmother.
No matter what the final decision is, there will be grumbling. But it might cheer those with objections to consider the less fortunate.
The Brush Beetdiggers, for example. An uninspired mascot inspired by a locally produced commodity. But what the name lacks in poetry and intimidation, it makes up for in its educational aspect.
Even as a Colorado native, until I first heard of the Beetdiggers, I was never aware that sugarbeets were grown widely in the northeastern part of the state.
I did however, know that Rocky Ford was an area of Colorado famous for its fruit, thus the name Meloneers always made perfect sense, though whether it has ever stricken fear into the hearts of opponents is debatable.
In Colorado the nicknames for the boys and girls teams were the same. So until I got used to the idea, I found it disturbing that there was a distinction made between the genders when I first came to the Inter Lake as a sportswriter.
At Golden High School, we were just Demons not Demonettes or She-Devils or any of the other mutated names that would have been forced upon the female students if Colorado followed that practice.
There are a few schools, though, where the boys probably wouldnt mind a bit of masculinization. In my college town of Fort Collins, Colo., reside the decidedly warm and fuzzy Fort Collins Lambkins a word defined by Websters as a little lamb.
The Fisher Bunnies from Illinois were brought to my attention by a co-worker who once worked as a sportswriter in that state.
Along with the prize for meekest mascot, this co-worker also came up with the most politically incorrect mascot the Richland Bombers of Washington state.
The schools logo commemorates its status as one of the birthplaces of the atomic bomb. A mushroom cloud adorns the uniforms of cheerleaders and football players alike. The unofficial motto for all Bomber boosters memorabilia is Proud of the Cloud.
My father and husband both graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in Colorado, where they were proud to be Farmers. Their logo a genial-looking man in overalls and a large straw hat, kicking up his heels was not an awe-inspiring sight and will probably never be politically incorrect.
My working-class high school was on an eternal quest to beat the rich kids from Wheat Ridge in all sports endeavors. But in my day anyway, the Demons, even with their decidedly more menacing and powerful mascot, were regularly thrashed by Farmers, who maintained that smug little grin through every victory.
So as the Demons-Farmers rivalry proves, the mascot does not make the team otherwise, those poor Beetdiggers would have given up long ago.
Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com