Yesterday — in a post about Staples High School’s sports mascot — I said I was pretty positive there’s no other team in the country with our nickname: the Wreckers.
No one disagreed.
But Pete Aitkin knows of one school that — many years ago — was also the Wreckers.
The owner of the Black Duck is also a noted speedboat racer. He’s been to Key West many times.
Their original “Wreckers” nickname came, he says, from the long-ago practice of stringing fake lights, to lure unsuspecting cargo ships onto reefs. Locals would then swarm the wrecks, and loot them.
A while ago though, they changed their name. Key West High — which sounds like a pretty chill place — is now the home of the Conchs.
The name — and the mascot — do not instill “nearly as much fear in opponents as the mean-looking Wrecker,” Aitkin notes.
The reason for yesterday’s post was the antiquated — but still occasional – use of “Lady Wreckers” when referring to girls teams.
Several commenters wrote that once upon a time, the term was “Wreckerettes.”
Down in Key West, the cheerleaders are still called the “Conchettes.”
That’s not a great sports name. Perhaps, though, Jimmy Buffett could use it for his backup singers.
You did say “our country.” Some in Key West consider the place to be a separate country–“The Conch Republic.”
My first wife was a proud Key West High alum. Their rivals used to mockingly call their sports teams the “Fighting Seashells”.