They are the Nimrods at
Watersmeet (Mich.). Perhaps you've heard about it.
In one of the most popular instances of unforgettable high school mascot names, this school on the Upper Peninsula near the Wisconsin border constantly is mentioned on myriad websites looking for the nation's coolest or most unique mascot names.
Photo courtesy of Mentalfloss.com
It's certainly not uncommon to hear someone describe another person as a nimrod. The band Green Day even titled a 1997 album with the word. It's not a term of endearment, as Merriam-Webster describes the meaning with two words: Idiot, jerk.
But that is the third definition listed, and it's the first two that Watersmeet drew inspiration from.
Nimrod is a biblical figure, the king of Shinar and "according to the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the son of Cush and great-grandson of Noah." He is represented as a mighty hunter and so now the word nimrod can be used to describe anyone who is a hunter.
Just take a look at the
Watersmeet Chamber of Commerce site to see why choosing a hunter-themed mascot name was the right thing to do. According to the site, there are 21,000 acres in the nearby Sylvania Wilderness Area and the town is located within the Ottawa National Forest. Deer hunting is an extremely popular activity in the area, and other types of waterfowl and wildlife are abundant as well.
The mascot name is part of American pop culture. In 2003-04, ESPN featured the Nimrods on a popular commercial, and in 2005-06, an eight-part documentary called "Nimrod Nation" aired on the Sundance Channel.
When something sounds too strange to be true, it likely is. No school would ever want to be known as the Idiots, or the Jerks.
They could have been the hunters at Watersmeet, and instead they went with Nimrods. It definitely has made them one of the most popular mascot names in the nation - not bad for a little town of 1,472.
