What do the names Hooks, Bandits, Scrappers, Bats, Rattlers, Iron Birds, Threshers, Tin Caps and Lugnuts have in common?

They are nicknames of youth baseball teams in Saxonburg and Center Township.

The names are understandable, of course.

When you are a little kid donning a uniform, you want to sound intimidating.

This is competition, after all.

We want to be tough, rugged, paint the image right away that our team will not go down without a fight.

It all makes perfect sense.

Yet, by scanning a list of college and university nicknames, we apparently mellow out somewhat as we get older.

The Violets play for New York University. The Cotton Blossoms do battle for Arkansas-Monticello. The Ambassadors play for Ozark Christian College and the Poets take to the athletic field for Whittier College.

The Monks play for St. Joseph’s, the Missionaries for Whitmer College, the Gentlemen for Centenary College.

Those images are a far cry from Iron Birds and Lugnuts.

Then again, an interesting scenario could occur if the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan ever took on the Fighting Christians of Elon University.

Such folks actually fighting could spell spiritual doom.

Then again, if Fighting Planets existed anywhere but Mars High School, our entire universe could be doomed.

Not all schools can be considered docile through the implications of their team nicknames.

Grays Harbor College houses the Chokers while the Axemen and Axewomen play for Acadia University. Long Beach State’s baseball team is the Dirtbags. Bethany (Kansas) is home to the Terrible Swedes, if you can imagine such a thing.

If the Smurfs are your thing, perhaps you’d like to root for the Illinois College Blue Boys, Presbyterian Blue Hose or John Carroll Blue Streaks.

Want to play a real name game? Schedule a contest between the Jamestown (N.D.) Jimmies and the St. Thomas (Minn.) Tommies.

The only school with a “the” in front of its nickname is our own Slippery Rock University, known simply as “The Rock.”

While SRU teams may not be considered to have an official nickname, two schools exist with an official nickname, but no teams to use them.

The College of the Atlantic is known as the Black Flies while the University of North Carolina School of the Arts is called the Pickles. Both schools actually have mascots, but no sports teams.

Just for fun, there’s also the Banana Slugs of UC-Santa Cruz, Power Gulls of Endicott, Artichokes of Scottsdale Community College, Flying Fleet of Erskine College, Gee-Gees of the University of Ottawa, Anteaters of UC-Irvine and Hustlin’ Owls of the Oregon Institute of Technology.

The Bandits, Scrappers and Bats don’t sound so bad now, do they?