Rick Koster offers weekly lists of ideas, notions and things that must be seen to be believed.

High school football season cometh! While such a topic normally would be the responsibility of our esteemed sports staff, I have a slightly more aesthetic angle. To wit, team mascots. According to a site called highschoolnicknames.com, the 10 most frequently used monikers for school teams are Eagles, Panthers, Bulldogs, Tigers, Wildcats, Warriors, Lions, Cougars, Indians and Knights.

If, as a student or alum, you have to root for any of these, you're a product of a lazy, unimaginative school district and you should be ashamed - particularly since it's fairly easy to come up with singular nicknames that would resonate with local pride. Here are possibilities for towns in nearby counties. Consider the existing mascot, followed by my recommendation.

1. Griswold Wolverines. Should be: Griswold Clarks.

2. Woodstock Academy Centaurs. That's actually not bad but, really, how can you resist the Woodstock Hendrixes?

3. Occum is an old milltown that was incorporated into Norwich. They should secede, start their own school district, and of course the high school's sports teams would wage war as the Occum Razors.

4. Even though Darien High School - home of the fightin' Blue Wave - is across the state in Fairfield Country, I want to include them just so they can change their name and take the gridiron as the Darien Super-Rich People.

5. And finally - because nothing says "high school pigskin" like a Roberta Flack pun! - the Killingly Redmen should change the name to the Killingly Softlies.