Hot potato? Shelley High’s russet takes second

SHELLEY (IdahoEdNews.org) — Shelley High School’s mascot isn’t the hottest tater in the land — but it’s still pretty darn warm, according to a national vote of best high school mascots.

The russet-burbank spud dubbed “Boomer” skinned (scalloped?) 11 of 12 competitors vying for Scorebook Live’s “Best High School Mascot in America” competition.

RELATED | Shelley High School’s mascot ranked 2nd in national poll, could win first place with your vote

The potato commanded 72,502 votes in the closely watched yet highly unscientific poll, but it still trailed the winner by a staggering 110,953 votes.

The top dog, or dag, in this case: The Hodags of Rhinelander, Wis.

Not Hotdogs, but Hodags, which Scorebook defines as a “fearsome creature resembling a large bull-horned carnivore with a row of thick curved spines down its back.”

Hot dog.

And speaking of dogs, Idaho had two doozies make the competition’s final round. The Camas County Mushers slid into fifth place overall, with 3,271 votes.

Twelve teams survived a bracket round to compete “as supreme ruler of the high school mascot-verse,” Scorebook announced prior to the final round of voting, which ended late Tuesday. Each school emerged from one of 12 themed brackets, ranging from mythical creatures to food.

How a scepter-wielding spud loses to anything — ever — is beyond us, but here’s Scorebook’s final tally:

1. Mythical Creatures Bracket: The Rhinelander Hodags, Rhinelander, Wis. (183,455 votes).
2. Food Bracket: Shelley Russets (72,502 votes).
3. Pun Bracket: The Poca Dots of Poca, W. Va. (19,030 votes).
4. Class Struggle Bracket: Muskogee Roughers, Muskogee Okla. (6,179 votes). (How any team from Muskogee isn’t automatically dubbed the Okies is also beyond us.)
5. Jobs Bracket: Camas County Mushers (3,271 votes).
6. Animals Bracket: Hutto Hippos, Hutto, Texas (3,175 votes).
7. Historical Figures Bracket: Lincoln Railsplitters, Lincoln, Pa., Mich., N.Y. and Ill. Apparently, at least five schools bear this nickname. What do you expect? It’s Honest Abe, baby. (Lincoln embraced the nickname in 1860 to boost his image as a backwoodsman candidate, according to Scorebook.)
8. Stuff Bracket: Roxanna Shells, Roxanna, Ill. (833 votes). We got nothin’ for this one.
9. Action Bracket: Mount Clemens Battling Bathers, Mount Clemens, Mich. “Mount Clemens’ bath houses were a hot spot for the rich and famous in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the Detroit area,” Scorebook explains.
10. Geography Bracket: Lanai Pines Lads and Lasses, Lanai, Hawaii. (519 votes).
11. Science Bracket: Mars Fightin’ Planets, Mars, Pa. (364 votes). Far out.
12. Random Bracket: Lake Forest Academy Caxys, Lake Forest Ill. (288 votes).

This article was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on Nov. 2, 2022.