Editor’s note: This report on the best intramurals team names from the fall semester was prepared by Daily intramurals reporters Matt Carlson and Jim MacCrea.

What’s in a name?

Moses Whitecotton tells Novalee Nation in Billie Letts’ 1995 novel, “Where the Heart Is,” that she needs to select for her baby “a name that means something. A sturdy name. Strong name. Name that’s gonna withstand a lot of bad times. A lot of hurt.”

The same can be said for ISU students looking to select names for their intramural teams. It can be an important decision, something that will differentiate an intrepid group from all the other teams out there.

Garry Greenlee, associate director of recreation services, said he enjoys seeing people put effort into their team names.

“It’s a chance for them to socialize together and have fun,” he said. “It’s a little sidebar they come up with to describe themselves.”

However, he also said there are limitations as to what words can be used. This includes no racial, ethnic or vulgar language.

“If you can’t say it on TV, then you can’t use it here,” he said. “[If necessary,] we may spell it a different way or put an asterisk in it.”

Students can also be very clever when coming up with names he said.

“Students come up with hidden meanings and we try to figure it out,” Greenlee said. “The comical ones are always fun to see.”

The names students come up with can be very creative and have a variety of origins. Some are as simple as dorm floors (flag football’s Birch Stevenson) or greek houses (broomball’s Beta Sigma Psi).

Others are more complex, ranging from popular music, like Old National, a name which Dan Lemm, senior in finance, said came from an Atlanta highway named in an OutKast song, to inside jokes, like Bigger Than Our Van, a name which Joel Meehan, senior in industrial engineering, said stemmed from a mission trip he was on in Africa this past summer.

So the best names from the team sports over the past semester, coed basketball, broomball, curling, flag football, soccer, volleyball and water basketball were thrown together.

Five categories were picked, and from the mess of names, five were picked in the five categories. The winners in each category were then ranked in a “Best in Show” category.

Best use of an organizational name: Eaton Pussies

This category left the door open for a wide variety of choices. The only criterion for this category was to have a reference to a residence hall or a student organization in the name. The winner is a team out of Eaton Hall, the Eaton Pussies.

Alex Burds, freshman in computer engineering, said his team name was a spinoff of a women’s team named Eaton Cookies.

“Someone just said we should make ours ‘Eaton Pussies,'” he said.

Many teams out of Eaton Hall have selected names which claim to eat something. Of all of those names used this semester, this was the best. Not only is it a great play on words — but these guys had the guts to call themselves pussies.

“It caught on like wildfire,” Burds said.

The Best of the Rest: #2 Cunningham Icebound Cornholes, #3 Freaky Friley, #4 Foxie Hoxie, #5 Sigma Pi-rates

Best Use of the

Traditional Animal Mascot:

Albino Flying Chipmunks

Many sports team names have something to do with animals. The same is true for intramural teams. Of all the names that fell into this category, this name jumped out the most. It’s creative in that it uses descriptions of chipmunks that do not exist. The concept of a white chipmunk flying at you is unusual enough to at least warrant a funny look.

Liz Blaser, freshman in mechanical engineering, said she didn’t know who made up the name. The team was going to use Albino Flying Squirrels, but decided to change it.

“We wanted something interesting,” she said.

The Best of the Rest: #2 Goose, goose Duck, #3 Screaming Beavers, #4 Beached Whales, #5 Polka Penguins.

Best Example of an Obscure Name: Something Witty

Even the most simple names look like pure genius on paper. The names selected for this category had to be off-the-wall names, names that left the impression they really weren’t names at all. The ability to say “My team name is something witty” allowed for this name to win this category — but only by a creative hair ahead of the name Something Important.

Tim Ellison, senior in computer science, said his broomball team’s name was the first name suggested when he and his roommate sat down together to come up with a name.

“It’s nothing spectacular,” Ellison said. “[My roommate] said it; I wrote it down and turned it in.”

How many other teams can gloat that their team’s name is something witty and are actually able to prove it?

The Best of the Rest: #2 Something Important, #3 Insert Team Name Here, #4 So There I Was, #5 Whoever We Are’s.

Best Use of Cyclone Pride: Suspended Cyclones

The only criterion for this category was to have a name that reflected some sense of Cyclone pride. Suspended Cyclones wins because it is creatively intelligent, and very timely in its delivery. It takes an understanding of ISU football, to understand the practicality of the name.

Josh Orr, senior in agricultural business, said his roommate came up with the name for their flag football team about the time that some of the ISU football players were being suspended.

“We were trying to be original and funny,” Orr said. “We thought [the name] would be intimidating to other teams.”

The Best of the Rest: #2 Iowa State Hawkeyes #3 Chris Love 4 Heisman #4 Super Cy’s, #5 Cy’s Angels.

Best Use of Sports

Reference: M. Clarett’s Tutors

The criterion for this category was to have a team name that related to some aspect of the sport in some way. This name wins out for the same reasons that Suspended Cyclones took the “Best Use of Cyclone Pride” category: It’s very timely in its delivery, poking fun at former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett and his academic troubles.

“The team comes together and everyone suggests a name,” said Jason Schafer, senior in community and regional planning, of the name’s selection. “We then vote on the best name.”

Schafer, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity, said the teams from his fraternity usually find an underlying story to exploit in their team names.

He said last year, their softball team name was John Kruk’s Left Nut, referring to the former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman who was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

The Best of the Rest: #2 Larry, Moe and Curling (curling), #3 On Knees to Please (broomball), #4 Three Jerks and a Squirt (curling), #5 Smokin’ Grass (soccer).

Best of Show:

M. Clarett’s Tutors

Of all the top names in these five categories, this was by far the most creative. It is also very timely, and makes a good reference to the sport for which it was used. This name stood out from the rest in its logical use and double-take presentation.

The Best of the Rest: #2 Eaton Pussies, #3 Suspended Cyclones, #4 Something Witty, #5 Albino Flying Chipmunks.