Proud to be a Bomber...

June 6, 2006 5:21 PM

Was in Eastern WA this weekend, attending the graduation of my nephew from a high school in Kennewick. He reminded me about nearby Richland High School, and their somewhat unique "mascot", so thought I might do some looking around. For those with true School Spirit, pick up some swag. I'm getting earrings for my wife! --Yikes-O-Rama--
posted by somnambulist (41 comments total)

run!
posted by shoepal at 5:24 PM on June 6, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Fixed Swag
posted by somnambulist at 5:25 PM on June 6, 2006

wtf just happened here?
posted by Dogmilk at 5:25 PM on June 6, 2006

They have an atomic bomb as their mascot ?
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:25 PM on June 6, 2006

Oh, cool
posted by Dogmilk at 5:25 PM on June 6, 2006

woa is it GYOB day?
posted by zenzizi at 5:28 PM on June 6, 2006

If you don't understand why this is, here's a hint.
posted by pitchblende at 5:38 PM on June 6, 2006

I dare you to wear this to the airport.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:40 PM on June 6, 2006

Oh yeah, the Bombers ... you think that's bad, ever hear of the Yuma Criminals?
posted by Relay at 5:40 PM on June 6, 2006

i ate a bee
posted by killdevil at 6:02 PM on June 6, 2006

High school mascots.
posted by Jesco at 6:05 PM on June 6, 2006

Classy.
posted by dersins at 6:17 PM on June 6, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

this one is grate
posted by The Boy at 6:19 PM on June 6, 2006

Well, they could have been called the "Holocausts"
posted by HTuttle at 6:25 PM on June 6, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I want to see the comedy that would result from putting this one in a carry-on bag.
posted by nathan_teske at 6:29 PM on June 6, 2006

Me likey.
posted by cillit bang at 6:30 PM on June 6, 2006

I grew up in Kennewick. The region is pretty fascinating -- probably the most interesting thing is how politically charged it is, with the Hanford nuclear facility and the battles over the Columbia River.

I remember kids with "nuke 'em till they glow" tshirts at football games -- and this was in the mid-90s.

OT: Quirkiest school mascot I've ever seen: The Freeport, Illinois Pretzels. Just kills with the cute, doesn't it?
posted by davideads at 6:32 PM on June 6, 2006

A few local businesses follow the same theme. There's The Atomic Laundry, Atomic Grocery and Atomic Ale Brewpub. Some of the streets have some good names, Proton Lane, Einstein Ave... Q Street. Wikipedia on Richland, WA.
posted by normy at 6:36 PM on June 6, 2006

Bombs are made with love for Tom's fellow Bombers.

Trollers '07 4 Evar!
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:36 PM on June 6, 2006

Lemme guess — those fans in the stands are doing the ShockWave™, right?
posted by rob511 at 6:52 PM on June 6, 2006

So at their games do they have a guy in a "skin mostly burned off, blackened holes for eye sockets" costume pepping up the crowd with a little "screaming and thrashing away your last few tortured seconds of life" dance?
posted by George_Spiggott at 7:07 PM on June 6, 2006

This is the best FFP ever!
posted by sluglicker at 7:12 PM on June 6, 2006

Probably about as often as Minnesota Vikings games include women raped until their pelvis is broken in several places, men butchered like hogs, and piles of dead and broken children. Or as often as Pittsburgh Pirates or Tampa Bay Buccaneers involve the same. And so on.
posted by Justinian at 7:13 PM on June 6, 2006

I'm thinking Richland's mascot would have to be Slim Pickens as Major Kong riding the bomb like a bucking bronco in "Dr. Strangelove", wouldn't you? YEEE-HAW!!!
posted by wendell at 7:15 PM on June 6, 2006

.
posted by sluglicker at 7:18 PM on June 6, 2006

portabella mushroom cloud
posted by A dead Quaker at 7:25 PM on June 6, 2006

My football team is called the Sharks. Can you imagine that? They eat people! The Sharks!
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:26 PM on June 6, 2006

Actually, there mascot used to be a guy dressed up in a big foam mushroom cloud (like in their logo). You could see his face, and he'd get up and lead cheers and that sort of thing.

Not sure if it's still that way.
posted by Relay at 8:40 PM on June 6, 2006

Richland's mascot is a Bomber i think as a result of the Hanford Nuclear plant. Coming from Walla Walla (about an hour away), my high school played Richland... it's really not a weird mascot if you're from the area.
posted by Amanda B at 9:04 PM on June 6, 2006

The Richland High School mascot was briefly satirized in the Douglas Coupland novel "Shampoo Planet."
posted by frogan at 9:28 PM on June 6, 2006

remember this?
posted by shmegegge at 9:35 PM on June 6, 2006

Almost as offensive as the Lemont Injuns.
posted by kyleg at 9:48 PM on June 6, 2006

bombers.ithaca.edu
posted by ChasFile at 10:09 PM on June 6, 2006

A dead Quaker, don't you mean Portobello mushroom cloud?
posted by pierrepressure at 11:01 PM on June 6, 2006

That's awesome, shmegegge!

The Butte Pirates!!!
posted by uncanny hengeman at 11:15 PM on June 6, 2006

Now, I could see me getting some of that Pirate swag. Sooo appropriate.
posted by Goofyy at 11:25 PM on June 6, 2006

Still my favorite (and I really do love it) is the Idaho Vandals. I'm sure there's a good reason behind it, but it's hard for me to imagine that meeting...
posted by Navelgazer at 11:42 PM on June 6, 2006

I was proud to be a Bomber...a Ramey Bomber, that is, from Ramey High School on Ramey Air Force Base in Puerto Rico, home of the 72nd Bombardment Wing, Strategic Air Command (motto: "Peace is Our Profession!"). The mushroom cloud was already ubiquitous on insignia and signage all over the place, so our team mascot was an eagle ready to drop a nuke from its talons! That swag is as long gone now as the cold war.
posted by bonefish at 12:10 AM on June 7, 2006

ahem...the insignia referenced above.
posted by bonefish at 12:12 AM on June 7, 2006

The whole town lives off of the nuclear industry. They have no sense of humor for jokes about being irradiated. They want the high level nuclear waste dump. There is a little field just outside of town in the desert that always blooms bright green - that is where they dumped radioactive water on the ground half a century ago and now they irrigate to prevent too much radioactive dust blowing - it is a thing of beauty to see as you fly into town. Life there is like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Go bombers.
posted by caddis at 5:11 AM on June 7, 2006

Q: What is best in High School sports?
A: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their cheerleaders!
posted by blue_beetle at 8:11 AM on June 7, 2006