Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > July > 01
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Georgia’s finest, fiercest, freakiest college mascots
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Uga VI in 2003.
I guess I just didn’t realize how big a deal Uga, the bulldog, was. I’ve read “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil!” I attended a Big Ten university! I’ve lived here for a few months now! I should have known how important college mascots here, especially here.
Instead, I was surprised to see 141 pages of tributes to the pup on Legacy.com. That’s serious adoration. (Update: make that 173 pages as of 10 a.m. OoooK. Wow.)
Lest you also be caught unawares, I’ve posted a list of Georgia’s public university mascots and nicknames, assembled with the help of AJC librarian Sharon Gaus. (Honest: I didn’t even know most of these schools existed until now.)
- Georgia is home to both Fighting Geese and Fighting Owls! Who knew?
- We seem to love our cats. We have two Jaguars, Cougars, two Bobcats, Wildcats and two Tigers. Also, there are Red-Eyed Panthers, and Pounce, the blue Panther. (Rawr.)
- University of Georgia keeps a live mascot in Uga, but also the absurdly tall, back-flipping, wave-to-the-kids kind. His name is Hairy Dawg. Not as cute as Uga, but easier to maintain, I guess. (By the way, there are 33 Division 1A schools with live mascots, including Georgia. USA Today built this map of mascots. Suffice to say, bulldog is a bit more reasonable than Baylor’s black bear.)
- I suspect all these mascots have names, but I the most interesting I found was ENAC, the mascot for Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus. It’s Cane, as in Hurricanes, spelled backward.
- I think the nomination for the weirdest one — not including the Fighting Owls — goes to the Waycross College Swamp Foxes. Indeed, the mascot is a big smiley fox. I wonder if he knows he shares a nickname with Francis Marion, the father of guerilla warfare?
- Wait, I take that back. How about Clayton State University’s mascot, Loch. There’s a legend written on the Clayton State Web site that asks “Is it a beast? Is it a friend?”
So what’s the fiercest and favorite of them all the public schools? You can pick from the list below…
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton: Stallions
Albany State University, Albany: Golden Rams
Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah: Pirates
Atlanta Metropolitan College: Red-Eyed Panthers
Augusta State University, Augusta: Jaguars
Clayton State University, Morrow: Loch (a Laker supporter, apparently)
College of Coastal Georgia, Brunswick: Mariners
Columbus State University, Columbus: Cody, the Cougar
Dalton State College, Dalton: Roadrunners
Darton College, Albany: Cavaliers
East Georgia College, Swainsboro: Bobcats
Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley: Wildcats
Gainesville State College, Gainesville: Fighting Geese (Laker the Goose)
Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville: Bobcat
Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville: Grizzlies
Georgia Highlands College, Rome: Chargers
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta: Buzz, the Yellow Jacket. (And, I stand corrected, the Ramblin’ Wreck.)
Georgia Perimeter College, Decatur: Jaguars
Georgia Southern University, Statesboro: Eagles
Georgia Southwestern State University, Americus: Hurricanes
Georgia State University, Atlanta: Pounce the Panther
Gordon College, Barnesville: Highlander
Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw: Fighting Owls
Macon State College, Macon: Mustangs
Middle Georgia College, Cochran: Warrior
North Georgia College & State University, Dahlonega: Saints
Savannah State University, Savannah: Tigers
Southern Polytechnic State University, Marietta: Hornets
South Georgia College, Douglas: Tiger
University of Georgia, Athens: Bulldogs, Uga and Hairy Dawg.
University of West Georgia, Carrollton: Wolves
Valdosta State University, Valdosta: Blazers
Waycross College, Waycross: Swamp Foxes
