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Iowa football: Herky not getting respected in these mascot rankings

By Andrew Wade

EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 17: Herky the Hawk of the Iowa Hawkeyes stands on the sidelines during the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ryan Field on October 17, 2015 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, IL - OCTOBER 17: Herky the Hawk of the Iowa Hawkeyes stands on the sidelines during the game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Ryan Field on October 17, 2015 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Jon Durr/Getty Images) /
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Herky is a fantastic mascot for the Iowa football program, but for some reason, he was not included in this top-10 mascot list, and that’s a travesty.

Recently FanSided released their top-10 mascot rankings, and the Iowa football team’s mascot, Herky, was nowhere to be found. And let me tell you, that’s crap.

Before I jump in though, let me give you the actual top-10 list:

10. Brutus (Ohio State)
9. Oregon Duck (Oregon)
8. Traveler (USC)
7. The Leprechaun (Notre Dame)
6. Mike the Tiger (LSU)
5. Sparty (Michigan State)
4. West Virginia Mountaineer (West Virginia)
3. Sebastian the Ibis (Miami)
2. UGA (Georgia)
1. Bevo (Texas)

Here’s are my issues with the list:

  • Bulldogs are awesome and cute dogs, but other schools have this mascot. Plus, no offense to Bulldogs but they don’t exactly get a crowd going.
  • Not only is a Buckeye not an intimidating nickname, but a person with a buckeye head is just stupid.
  • I’ll give Miami credit for coming up with an Ibis as the mascot because it’s actually a really cool story but it isn’t a hurricane. Try again.
  • A duck is not cooler than a Hawkeye.
  • The mountaineer just looks like a normal West Virginia person.
  • The traveler is just a pretty white horse.

I am actually okay with Bevo who is a large bull because that takes a lot of work to manage that and bulls are cool. I’m not high on Sparty, but at least it makes sense given Michigan State’s nickname and the same thing with Notre Dame’s Leprechaun. Last, but not least, Tigers are legitimate hunters.

Personally, I think the Iowa football team’s mascot, Herky, should at least be top-10 and I could argue he should be top-5. He actually represents the nickname and isn’t a stretch plus he knows how to hype up Kinnick Stadium anymore. He’s so revered by Iowa football fans, people actually ask for autographs and request Herky’s presence at weddings.

Also, the Iowa football team could have had a live Hawk like the other teams have live animals, but that’s cheating in my opinion.

Other mascots I think should have been included on this list include Bucky the Badger (Wisconsin), Otto the Orange (Syracuse), and Pistol Pete (Oklahoma State).

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