Anyone can be a Tiger, or a Bulldog, or an Eagle.

It takes a special someone to be a proud Cog.

Or a mighty Pretzel.

When I was in high school, about this time of year, whenever my school was in the postseason, I was a Titan. In hindsight, that mascot was a lost opportunity. The school (Toll Gate) took its name from its location on an old New England toll road. We could have had a more inventive ambassador, we could have been the Fighting Toll Attendants.

Or even Speed Bumps.

Had we known, we might have turned to Illinois, which, for better and worse, has been a pioneering incubator of questionable high school nicknames for at least a century. The Centralia Orphans. The Hoopeston Cornjerkers. The Elk Grove Grenadiers. The Monticello Sages. The Polo Marcos. The Morton Potters. The Cobd

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