Not to pick a fight

[wuapinmon]

But, honestly, isn't "Utah Utes" kind of a lame name for a mascot?

Too much alliteration
It sounds like Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny
It's in grave need of an adjective (e.g. The Runnin' Utes)


Great team names out there:

The Tulane Green Wave
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets/The Ramblin' Wreck
Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Syracuse Orangemen (or The Saltine Warriors)
Wichita State Shockers
CSU Long Beach Dirtbags
USC Gamecocks
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wyoming Cowboys
Alabama Crimson Tide

I just find the "Utah Utes" a little boring. Not that the "Cougars" is amazing, but it has some syllables before it "BYU."

[cougjunkie]

But, honestly, isn't "Utah Utes" kind of a lame name for a mascot?

Too much alliteration
It sounds like Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny
It's in grave need of an adjective (e.g. The Runnin' Utes)


Great team names out there:

The Tulane Green Wave
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets/The Ramblin' Wreck
Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Syracuse Orangemen (or The Saltine Warriors)
Wichita State Shockers
CSU Long Beach Dirtbags
USC Gamecocks
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wyoming Cowboys
Alabama Crimson Tide

I just find the "Utah Utes" a little boring. Not that the "Cougars" is amazing, but it has some syllables before it "BYU."

I always thought Long Beach was the 49ers.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I always thought Long Beach was the 49ers.

I'm also pretty sure that USC is Trojans also.

[TripletDaddy]

I'm also pretty sure that USC is Trojans also.

The US Court of Appeals agrees with you!

[il Padrino Ute]

But, honestly, isn't "Utah Utes" kind of a lame name for a mascot?

Too much alliteration
It sounds like Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny
It's in grave need of an adjective (e.g. The Runnin' Utes)


Great team names out there:

The Tulane Green Wave
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets/The Ramblin' Wreck
Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Syracuse Orangemen (or The Saltine Warriors)
Wichita State Shockers
CSU Long Beach Dirtbags
USC Gamecocks
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Wyoming Cowboys
Alabama Crimson Tide

I just find the "Utah Utes" a little boring. Not that the "Cougars" is amazing, but it has some syllables before it "BYU."

Are you an Andrew Jackson fan?

[U-Ute]

But, honestly, isn't "Utah Utes" kind of a lame name for a mascot?

I think the biggest problem is that both the state and the nickname are based on the same thing. At least there some significance though. The Wildcats are the most overused nickname.

Best name in my book: Cal Santa Cruz Banana Slugs

[SeattleUte]

Disagree. The best names are intensely local, and somewhat or wholly a mystery to the uninitiated. Utes is good.

Cougars is banal, not unique, and horrid.

[il Padrino Ute]

Disagree. The best names are intensely local, and somewhat or wholly a mystery to the uninitiated. Utes is good.

Cougars is banal, not unique, and horrid.

[LiveCoug]

If you are going to use "dirtbags" for Long Beach State instead of 49ers, then you can think of the Utes other nickname too. The Utah Fightin' Swoops. That's pretty cool!

[wuapinmon]

If you are going to use "dirtbags" for Long Beach State instead of 49ers, then you can think of the Utes other nickname too. The Utah Fightin' Swoops. That's pretty cool!

What the hell is a Swoop? A tortilla chip?

[YOUTUBE]TM-G0bkl8MQ[/YOUTUBE]

[KillerDog]

Disagree. The best names are intensely local, and somewhat or wholly a mystery to the uninitiated. Utes is good.

Cougars is banal, not unique, and horrid.

While I agree with your analysis on what makes a great mascot, Utes is not very good. You might as well call them the Indians. Much better examples would be the Boilermakers, the Hoosiers and Buckeyes. Utes are not more local or a mystery than the Seminoles.

See what I mean here: http://utahutes.cstv.com/trads/swoop.html The "redskins" how local...

[OrangeUte]

I like the name Utah Utes. It's strong and proud and unique.

[Spicy McHaggis]

Unique is good. Anyone can be named for a vajay-jay euphemism.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Using a mountain lion or any other member of the animal kingdom isn’t very original (although one who is always so impressed by whether others agree him might give some deference to the vast majority of schools who have adopted animals as mascots).

Among the many benefits of having a mountain lion as a mascot are (i) we don’t have to confer constantly with the cougar to make sure we’re not offending it, (ii) we can actually use pictures of the mascot as a symbol, rather than being limited to a picture of a band instrument played on rare occasions by the cougar, (iii) we aren’t reviewing case notes about successful lawsuits brought by cougars against other schools seeking changes to how the mascot is portrayed, or whether it can be used at all, (iv) we don’t have to use a dumb bird as an ersatz mascot lest the cougar be offended, (v) as an independent, or in whatever football conference we eventually join (which will not be the PAC 10), we won’t have to waste even more time demonstrating how sensitive we are to the feelings of the cougar (although if any conference would demand changing the mascot to avoid any possible offense, it would be the PAC 10), etc., etc.

BTW, has anyone noticed that the only team in the PAC 10 that used living humans as their mascot eliminated that shameful practice many decades ago? How long will Utah choose to remain woefully behind the times?

[Sizzle]

BTW, has anyone noticed that the only team in the PAC 10 that used living humans as their mascot eliminated that shameful practice many decades ago? How long will Utah choose to remain woefully behind the times?

I thought USC still had the Trojan man as their mascot.