Ahoy! We begin today's big day in the #NicknameSeries with the #pirates. A lot of similarities with eye patches, hats, skulls, swords, & flags, yet different looks for each. Fun colors too. I enjoy the Jolly Roger designs.

#corsairs are ships, planes, or pirates, some with French origins. C. of the Redwoods picked Corsairs since the first 3 letters match the school's initials. They eventually adopted their local giant trees as their mascot. UMassD honors a president that flew fighter planes in WW2.

#marauders are like pirates, partaking in piracy & looting. The mascot logos are just like the pirates & corsairs. Should note that most of these aren't anywhere near the oceans as marauders aren't necessarily naval-influenced.

#buccaneers have similar elements as pirates but I'd say less eyepatches & skulls, more bandanas & feathers. I applaud Barry U. for going out of the norm with Bucky the Parrot.

Have to follow that with the #cavaliers, whose styles are similar to the pirates & bucs. We see some more of the tricorne hats adorned with feathers and also sabres in addition to swords. Seems like mustaches are a must. Virginia's is new from this summer.

#raiders are those who plunder or attack enemies. Their depictions aren't necessarily required to be like pirates as we see different mascots such as a cowboy, a knight, a wolf, birds. Rose State honors the Doolittle Raiders from WW2. Some once had Native American imagery.

With 3 #redraiders, they get their own entry. Texas Tech's Red Raiders draws from once being the Matadors & their Spanish architecture. Shippensburg adopted the ship logo in '93 in connection with their school's nickname, "Ship". Don't think Northwestern ever had a mascot.

There are some additional #raiders that are color-themed. MTSU borrowed from Colgate's Red Raiders & replaced it with blue, a school color. They adopted the winged horse in '98. I'm confident that Mount Union discontinued their sword logo. Rutgers-Newark is working on a new one.

Ahoy, Me Hearties! What interesting day of different nicknames but similar mascots with a few unique takes. Any favorites you want to share? Tomorrow is the biggest day of the #NicknameSeries with Trojans, Spartans, Knights, Crusaders, & more!