What's a Hokie?

Here's an interesting factoid I learned. At church, of all places.

Because we're a small congregation, we had been asking for prayers about our job search for months. Matt just informed our church family that he had gotten his new job, and that we were moving.

And apparently, one of our friends, who is a professor at A&M, thought it was hilarious that he was going to be a Hokie. (That's Virginia Tech's mascot.) And gleefully chose to inform him what a Hokie actually is.

And Matt decided to tell me right in the middle of the sermon. Our pastor just started a series on the Seven Deadly Sins, and this week we were talking about Sloth.

Matt pulled the bulletin I was doodling on over to his lap, and wrote:

"[FRIEND] told me that a Hokie is a castrated turkey."

It took all I had to not snort during the middle of Sloth.

I'm sorry … but WHAT? A turkey is like, the worst mascot ever. Why on earth would anyone choose a team mascot to be a turkey with no, erm, Butterballs?

Virginia Tech's official stance is that a Hokie has nothing to do with turkeys. Urban Dictionary says Virginia Tech's stance is an elaborate hoax and/or conspiracy theory to cover up the existence of a Loch Ness Monster-style turkey that lives in the mountains. But Texas A&M is an agricultural school, so it's possible our professor friend is also correct — at least as far as what a castrated turkey is officially called — even if VT disagrees with it.

Whatever it is, it makes me laugh. :)

What is your favorite team mascot, for awesomeness reasons or humorous ones?