Sports Illustrated Declares Iowa HS Mascot 'Best in Country'

There are hundreds of amazing mascots across the United States at the high school level that stand out as different, unique, and regional in their own way.

Recently, Sports Illustrated put together a massive bracket headlining the best prep mascots across the country, and one Iowa High School's namesake stood out.

That would be the Center Point-Urbana Stormin' Pointers.

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The Pointers received a 7-seed (for whatever that's worth) in the bracket and ended up winning the title as best mascot in the country.

Per SI.com, here's a blurb on the history of the Center Point-Urbana mascot:

Would they be in this position simply as the Pointers? Probably not. But Stormin’ Pointers wielding lightning bolts are an out-of-this-world force to be reckoned with in the mascot universe. According to Urbana resident Kristy Bruce, "the schools in the towns of Center Point and Urbana merged several years ago. Center Point's mascot was a Pointer and Urbana was the Cyclones. There was a strong desire to retain both mascots in some way, which led to the Pointer within the tornado, and a very unique mascot. It was a great way to promote unity during the transition." The physical mascot's name is Stormin' Norman.

Stormin' Norman is just the icing on the cake. Clearly the voters knew what they were doing and landed one of the best mascots in our region on the national stage.

Here's a look at some more love for the Iowa High School:

I just so happened to personally cover a game there back in 2020, here's a look inside their gym:

Bert Remien - Townsquare Media

Congrats to the Stormin' Pointers!

What was your high school mascot? How about the best and worst mascots you've seen or heard of?

Check out this YouTube clip from KCRG-TV9 on the winning school:

Sources: Iowa Chill on Twitter and SI.com

Do You Know Your South Dakota College and University Mascots

The college football experience is an ultimate high for football fans and it takes several other teams to make that happen week after week during the season.

Just think about what goes into gameday.

First and foremost, the players and coaching staff who put in hours and hours of practice and training to play in front of their fans. Then there's field prep, game officials, live broadcasts, concessions, and on-the-field entertainment. Yep, entertainment.

Second to the game, who do you watch? The cheerleaders? The band at halftime? What about the mascot? That's a job not many people can do.

I asked Sioux Falls native and former Cagey mascot for the Sioux Falls Canaries and Little Red & Herbie for the Nebraska Huskers Nate Welch about being a mascot:

What does it take to be a mascot?
"Losing a bet or filling an opportunity!" Welch says, "An internal energized desire to love life. After meeting great performers who are introverts out of costume, they become the center of attention when they take the stage. And also feeding off the performance of others."
Why does the mascot never talk?
"Know your role and shut your mouth. You are there to entertain. Tell the story with your actions and not your voice."
Advice to someone putting on that costume for the first time?
"Remember you are now in a costume. Have fun. Otherwise, you're just a dork in tights. If the fur ain't flying you ain't trying."

So, can you name the mascots at our South Dakota Colleges and Universities? Check out the gallery below:

Gallery Credit: Dave Roberts