It’s a big, wild world of mascots out there. It’s time to think beyond Wolves.
We are the Wolves, but so is everyone else.
Coupeville High School shares a mascot with at least six other Washington state high schools, including one rival we face a lot.
That’s Sequim, the school which produced current CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith.
But if Coupeville were to play Black Hills, Eastlake, Muckleshoot Tribal, South Kitsap or Wapato, it would offer an equal amount of confusion.
And that’s not to mention our former Cascade Conference rival, the Cedarcrest Red Wolves, or the schools — Goldendale, Heritage, Jackson, Morton-White Pass and Tekoa-Rosalia — which celebrate Timberwolves.
Frankly, it’s time to mix things up.
The closest real wolf pack as of June 2016 is halfway across the state, with the vast majority of wolves camped out in upper Eastern Washington these days.
We have no real connection to the animal here on Whidbey, and that’s never going to change, barring a wild and illogical plan being hatched to relocate a pack to Deception Pass State Park to weed out the weaker tourists.
It’s just a mascot we have for no particular reason (much like Oak Harbor’s Wildcats and South Whidbey’s Falcons) and it lumps us into a large gray mass in the middle.
Now would be a great time to change mascots, build a new brand, sell a lot of merchandise and catch everyone’s attention.
How, you ask?
By actually hailing our heritage or surroundings and doing so in a fun manner that would get people talking (and t-shirts flying out the door).
By being unique.
Let’s break from the pack (nudge, nudge…) and join the likes of the Davenport Gorillas, the Quincy Jackrabbits, the Ridgefield Spudders or the Northwest Yeshiva 613s.
And yes, that last one is real. The school is offering a shout-out to the number of commandments in the Torah.
While calling ourselves the Coupeville Head-Loppers (in tribute to Isaac Ebey’s final encounter with the natives) would probably be frowned upon, imagine if we were the Coupeville Clams (Killer Clams?), Sea Captains or Mussels.
For one thing, the new student chant “We are the mighty, mighty Mussels” practically writes itself.
Heck, there are enough cows (“Bow Down to Cow Town”) and Raccoons (“Rabies, Rabies, You’re all Gettin’ Rabies”) in our town that both make more sense than Wolves.
Or, pay tribute to the Puget Sound mosquito fleets (“The Coupeville Mosquitoes drained the life blood out of the Cowboys”).
Choose creatively — don’t wuss out like Port Townsend did when they replaced Redskins with RedHawks, passing on Riptides and Sasquatch — then craft a memorable logo.
No one outside of our immediate fan base is buying Coupeville Wolves merchandise.
The Coupeville Cows, with a cartoon heifer doing the Heisman pose, or the Coupeville Killer Clams (with a saucy cartoon mollusk striking an Arnold Schwarzenegger pose?
We’re talking Biloxi Shuckers or Hartford Yard Goats style money for days.
Translation: 17 random guys in Michigan who couldn’t tell you where Washington state was on a map suddenly all want to wear your gear.
We’re sitting on a financial windfall here, and we just need someone in power brave enough to stand up and say, “I have seen the future … and it’s full of mighty, mighty Mussels, baby!!”
Mckenzie Meyer pulled double duty, bouncing between band and cheer all night long. She also ripped off a string of cartwheels (seriously) for extra credit. (John Fisken photos)
Who hides behind the mascot heads? It’s a state secret.
“You ever see that movie “Drumline?” Bunch of amateurs compared to us…”
Wolf net ace Aiden Crimmins swings by to hang out with the band.
The back row, up to no good, as usual.
“A sax solo? You don’t have to ask twice.”
It ain’t a thing, unless it’s got that swing.
Stepping up bold and loud, the Coupeville High School pep band, with some help from a guest appearance by the Oak Harbor High School pep band, made its season debut Wednesday when it held court at the Wolf basketball doubleheader.
In between wailing on their instruments and screaming their lungs out in support of their hoops teams, the band members also snagged some photo ops thanks to travelin’ clicker John Fisken.
The CHS band, while not all pictured here, includes:
Jamar Jenkins (Instructor)
Jakobi Baumann
Jaschon Baumann
Nick Blalock
Laurence Boado
Luci Coleburn
Beauman Davis
Natasha Estes
Kaley Grigsby
Jake Hoagland
Garrett Machen
Mckenzie Meyer
Claire Mietus
Matt Millenbach
Ben Olson
McKenzie Rice
Grey Rische
Brian Roberts
Harris Sinclair
Connor Thompson-Moler
Allison Wenzel
Coupeville, unlike new league rival Port Townsend, will be keeping its mascot and nickname. Senior cheerleader Emilee Crichton is pleased. (John Fisken photo)
Everything changes.
This fall, Coupeville High School, the smallest 1A school in the state, will end an eight-year run in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference.
Frequent trips to Everett, battles against private schools that operated under different rules and routinely facing schools with 200-400 more students will come to an end.
While they’ll still rep the smallest school, the Wolves will be much closer in size to new league foes Port Townsend, Chimacum and (sort of) Klahowya in the 1A Olympic League.
Another thing changing is the controversial nickname of one of their new league mates.
Port Townsend, which CHS has often faced in non-league games, is retiring its Redskins nickname and will open the 2014-2015 school year with a new mascot.
PTHS students will choose from three options — Redhawks, Sasquatch and Rip Tide.
Considered but eliminated in the early going were Thunder, Marauders, Red Tide and Rising Tide.
Once the students make their choice, the school will meet with the alumni association to discuss the matter, but expects little resistance, according to reports in the Port Townsend Leader.
The school board has no say in the mascot hunt, and school officials tried to keep the matter in the hands of the students.
The coronation of a new mascot, and the subsequent removal of Redskins-related branding, including the large logo that graces the school’s basketball court, will largely bring an end to what has been, at times, a touchy subject.
Port Townsend has been the Redskins since the 1920s, and there have been several recall efforts in the past. The current change was sparked after a parent complained to the Port Townsend School Board in 2012.
Debate at school board meetings raged a bit, with some defending the mascot/nickname as a “source of pride,” but those in favor of change won out in the end.
Not that the argument is totally dead.
Supporters of the old nickname/mascot have posted “No MASCOT is Better than a LAME one” on Facebook pages.
They also posted a cartoon of a man in a Native American headdress on a psychiatrist’s couch saying, “Well, for most of 88 years I felt good about myself, then I walked into a Port Townsend School Board meeting.”
Regardless of which new mascot/nickname Port Townsend selects, Chimacum will still be the Cowboys and Klahowya the Eagles.
Since no one has yet to complain that Wolves are being defamed by Coupeville’s use of them — despite the fact you would be hard-pressed to find one of the animals on Whidbey (eagles we do have) — expect that to stay the same, as well.
Coupeville Sports 