Category Archives: Cool names and cool logos

August 6, 2010 · 6:09 pm

BALLADEER’S BLOG IS EXPANDING ITS SCOPE

The reaction of the NCAA Division 3 schools’ administration and students to my D3 Edition of the 20 Coolest Named Sports Teams has been so overwhelming  I will now be covering Division 3 sports in addition to NAIA sports. I can be reached about stories in these sports at Thtcom15@aol.com . For links to my various Top 20 Lists click below:

For more of Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/  

For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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August 5, 2010 · 9:19 pm

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM: FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL

FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL DIPLOMATS

 

Location: Lancaster, PA

Division: NCAA Division 3

Conference Affiliation: Centennial Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.godiplomats.com/landing/index

Comment: The Diplomats (“Oh, that word”…Fans of the musical 1776 will get it.) is a pretty cool nickname for sports teams. I guess the only real downside would be people calling them “The Dips” for short. By the way, from now on I’ll be judging U.S. State Department Diplomats by whether or not they “give 110 percent” and if they “came to play”, just like I judge Franklin and Marshall Diplomats.

For more of Division 3’s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/  

For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any member institutions. 
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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August 1, 2010 · 12:42 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – SUNY-CANTON

SUNY-CANTON KANGAROOS

Canton KangaroosLocation: Canton, NY

Conference Affiliation: The Sunrise Conference

Site: http://www.rooathletics.com/

Comment: To cut the sports world’s equivalents of The Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons off at the pass, I’m aware that Continue reading →

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July 26, 2010 · 12:26 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

SOUTHERN NAZARENE UNIVERSITY CRIMSON STORM

 

Location: Bethany, OK

Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://sports.snu.edu/

Comment: With all due respect to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the IUP Crimson Hawks I think Crimson Storm is one of the coolest names for a team! It would also make a great name for a band. You can just picture cd’s titled “The Greatest Hits Of Crimson Storm” or “Crimson Storm: Live In Concert” or “Crimson Storm: Feel The Scarlet Rain”etc.

 
Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions. 
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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July 20, 2010 · 12:11 am

THE 20 COOLEST COLLEGE SPORTS LOGOS

After the phenomenal reaction to my list of The 20 Coolest-Named College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of I’ve put together another Top 20 list. (NOTE: THIS LIST WAS DONE BACK WHEN MY BLOG WAS ONLY COVERING NAIA TEAMS)

To be fair no schools listed in the initial Top 20 list are included, no matter how cool their logo is. Nor are any schools featured if they have been a Cool-Named Sports Team Of The Day. As before this list of 20 is in no particular order and I’ll record votes for the next 20 days for which school has THE coolest logo. You can cast your vote by contacting me at Thtcom15@aol.com .

20. WAYLAND BAPTIST PIONEERS/FLYING QUEENS

Location: Plainview, TX
Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Pioneers is a pretty spiffy name for your sports teams but when I first saw that logo I thought their teams might be called “The Flying W’s” as in a cattle brand. It would be a unique nickname and still have a connection to their Texas heritage.
19. LANGSTON LIONS
Location: Langston, OK
Conference Affiliation: Red River Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball
Comment: I swear to you I have never before seen a lion this angry at the letters “L” and “U”! I thought lions were carnivores, not alphabetivores.
18. SIOUX FALLS COUGARS
Location: Sioux Falls, SD
Conference Affiliation: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: No matter how many times I see it, there’s just something about this logo that reminds me of my local Lincoln Mercury Dealer. You know what I mean?
17.  WESTMINSTER GRIFFINS
Conference Affiliation: Frontier Conference
Major sports: basketball, soccer
Comment: No doubt about it! This Griffin looks like he could tear the more sedate Griffin in the Merv Griffin Productions logo limb from limb!
16. PARK (MO) PIRATES
Location: Parkville, MO
Conference Affiliation: American Midwest Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Now THIS is a swashbuckling logo that puts all other Pirates teams to shame! I always throw in the MO because if you run the words “Park” and “Pirates” together it sounds like they’re people who raid recreational areas. “They’re marauders of the monkey bars…plunderers of the playground…They’re PARK PIRATES, coming this fall on CBS!”   (This is the favorite of my good friend Rachel Laird, a big supporter of Balladeer’s Blog!)
15. CAL BAPTIST LANCERS
Location: Riverside, CA
Conference Affiliation: Golden State Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: I really like this logo. It’s got kind of a Knights Of The Round Table In The 25th Century look. And that gives me a title for my next screenplay!
14. LSU-SHREVEPORT PILOTS
Location: Shreveport, LA
Conference Affiliation: Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: This institution’s teams are called pilots as in riverboat pilots. I’m sure we all remember a riverboat pilot who went on to become one of the most popular and beloved authors in American history. That author’s name, of course, is Tom Clancy, “and now you know the rest of the story.”
13. WALSH CAVALIERS
Location: North Canton, OH
Conference Affiliation: American Mideast Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: I don’t care which side of the English Civil War your sympathies are with, the Walsh University Roundheads just wouldn’t have the same pizzaz that Cavaliers does. (And Dan McCallion, Head Track Coach and Cross Country Coach at Walsh has informed me that the Walsh Cavaliers were around long before the Cleveland Cavaliers came along. And let me add that Walsh has never been jilted by a guy who wears short pants for a living.)
12. PERU STATE BOBCATS
Location: Peru, NE
Conference Affiliation: Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball
Comment: The lesser-know Peruvian toothless breed of Bobcat seen in this picture is every bit as deadly as the regular kind!

11. Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders

Location: Columbia, KY
Conference Affiliation: Mid-South Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Not to be confused with the Orange Ravagers or the Maroon Invaders, this Kentucky school is launching football this fall.
10. VANGUARD LIONS
Location: Costa Mesa, CA
Conference Affiliation: Golden State Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Do the mascots of other schools who use the name Lions for their sports teams ever say to the V.U. mascot, “Get a haircut, ya hippy!”
9. NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA RANGERS
Location: Alva, OK
Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, rodeo
Comment: That’s right, this school is one of the last few who still offer Rodeo as an intercollegiate sport. And that is one butt-kicking, bucking-bronco riding logo!
8. MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers
Location: Olathe, KS
Conference Affiliation: Heart of America Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: You have to love how the logo makes their mascot look like a superhero. “It’s Pioneer Man and his sidekick Scout Boy, blazing a trail toward Truth, Justice and The American Way!”
7. SAINT FRANCIS (IN) COUGARS
Location: Fort Wayne, IN
Conference Affiliation: Mid-Central Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: I looked it up and Saint Francis is indeed the Patron Saint of cougars. Also of ocelots and jaguars. Who knew?
6. SPRING HILL COLLEGE BADGERS
Location: Mobile, AL
Conference Affiliation: Gulf Coast Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: This logo manages to be cool and menacing all at the same time. Do the fans of opposing teams hold up signs that say “Badgers? We don’t need no stinking Badgers!”
5. SOUTHERN POLYTECHNIC RUNNING HORNETS
Location: Marietta, GA
Conference Affiliation: Southern States Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Not only is this logo perfect for any sports team but it would also make a great calling card for the fictional hero The Green Hornet.
4. TABOR COLLEGE BLUEJAYS
Location: Hillsboro, KS
Conference Affiliation: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: A version of this cool logo used to be on the Tabor College football helmets but recently they’ve changed their helmet decal to a less eye-catching “TC”. Bring back the bird! (I’ve been advised that the Bluejays may indeed return to the previous helmets! And they say you can’t fight city hall!)
3. OKLAHOMA BAPTIST BISON
Location: Shawnee, OK
Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference
Major sports: basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Love that logo! And rumor has it this team’s biggest in-state rival is that Oklahoma Presbyterian Pumas team you’ve heard so much about.
2. TEXAS COLLEGE STEERS
Location: Tyler, TX
Conference Affiliation: Red River Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: T.C. can stand for Top Cat, Tim Cowlishaw, Tin Croissants but especially for Texas College. And that logo kicks tail plus those horns on the “T” would let you know where this school is from even without it being spelled out.
1. WARNER PACIFIC KNIGHTS
Location: Portland, OR
Conference Affiliation: Cascade Collegiate Conference
Major sports: basketball, soccer
Comment: From Merrye Olde Portlande comes this team of Knights.Given the team’s American Northwest location I’m wondering if their coat of arms has a Starbucks logo and a cloud with rain pouring out of it.
MORE COOL STUFF
For the 20 Coolest-Named JUCO Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/10/18/the-20-coolest-named-juco-sports-teams/

For more cool named teams that weren’t on the Top 20 List click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-names-and-cool-logos/

For the NCAA Division 2 Coolest-Named College Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/

For The 20 Coolest Football Helmets In NCAA Division 3 click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/23/the-20-coolest-football-helmets-in-ncaa-division-3/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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July 18, 2010 · 2:43 pm

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OF MINES

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 Location: Rapid City, SD
Conference Affiliation: Dakota Athletic Conference
Comment: You know sports teams must be good when they have so many Cafes named after them! (Just be glad I didn’t go with the “Hardrock, Coco and Joe” reference I originally had planned.) What I really want to know is if their marching band does a rendition of Sixteen Ton.
Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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July 17, 2010 · 12:52 am

THE WINNER OF THE “COOLEST-NAMED SPORTS TEAMS” CONTEST – THE USAO DROVERS!

Well the votes are all tallied and the most votes for coolest team nickname went to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers! If I had to coin a quick phrase to capture the allure of the Drover mascot it would be Drovers: The 21st Century Name For Cowboys! As always there’s no need to thank me for these impromptu slogans, just shower me with cash. And you can visit the Drovers athletic site at : http://www.usao.edu/usao-sports/ 
 
As the Drovers gallop their way into the Winner’s Circle let’s take a look at the runners up: 
 
In second place were the Ave Maria University Gyrenes  and playing on their nickname’s Marine Corps origins I previously came up with a pithy slogan for them, too: Want to compete? Join the Gyrenes!
Their athletics website is: http://www.amuathletics.com/
 
Third place went to the Bethany College Swedes who in the past few weeks launched a furious “Get out the vote” drive and were only a few votes behind the Gyrenes for second place. Since I don’t have a slogan for the Swedes I’ll go with a cool fact one reader passed along: Under Bethany College football coach Bennie Owen the Swedes defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in 1903 AND 1904! For the Swedes athletics site go here: http://www.bethanyswedes.com/
 
And in descending order, the placement of the remaining teams from my  Top 20 List.
4. Columbia College Fighting Koalas
5. Evergreen State Geoducks
6. Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves
7. Montana Tech Orediggers
8. Fresno Pacific Sunbirds
10. Cal Maritime Keelhaulers
11. Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions
12. Brewton Parker Barons
13. Southwestern College Mound Builders
15. Trinity Christian Trolls
16. South Carolina-Beaufort Sand Sharks
18. Jamestown College Jimmies
19. UTB-TSC Scorpions
20. Virginia Intermont Cobras
 
And even though they weren’t on the Top 20 ballot the Rogers State University Hillcats received 4 write-in votes.
 
Well, it’s been a fun contest! Thanks once again to everyone who voted. Reaction to the Top 20 list and to Balladeer’s Blog in general has been far beyond anything I expected. The administration, students and alumni of these NAIA schools have been great.
I’ll be launching another Top 20 list in a different category soon and if it gets the same response the first one did I’ll open up that one for your votes, too.
 
Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.
© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
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July 15, 2010 · 1:29 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – LIFE UNIVERSITY

LIFE UNIVERSITY RUNNING EAGLES

 

 Location: Marietta, GA
Conference Affiliation: Association of Independent Institutions 
Major sports: basketball, rugby (technically rugby is club-level, but Life takes rugby to the Nth Degree)
Comment: I guess after rejecting names like “flying turtles” and “swimming kitty cats” as being too odd-sounding common sense prevailed and the good people at Life decided on the nickname Running Eagles for their sports teams.
 

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 
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July 12, 2010 · 1:14 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – ROGERS STATE

ROGERS STATE UNIVERSITY HILLCATS

     

Location: Claremore, OK  
Conference Affiliation: Sooner Athletic Conference
Comment: I’ll bet everyone affiliated with this university wishes they had back all the moments from their life spent explaining “No, it’s HILL-cats, not hellcats”! Just to really confuse people the Rogers State University marching band should start doing a rendition of the theme song from the bad biker movie Hellcats. (bad movie buffs will get it) 

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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July 8, 2010 · 11:43 pm

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – DORDT COLLEGE

DORDT COLLEGE DEFENDERS

  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
Conference Affiliation: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer
Comment: Gee, do you think the X-Men and the Fantastic Four ever get jealous that the Defenders have sports teams named after them? (Marvel Comics geeks will get it)
 

                                 

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or any member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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