[Karibou]

I've told this story a million times, but I love telling it, so I'll do it again.

1189 started off as Breaking Pointe (Grosse Pointe, and we "broke" the rivalry between Grosse Pointe North and South high schools), with the mascot of a rabid squirrel. After a few years, we* realized how much the logo undermined the support of our sponsors. We also couldn't find any tools or materials that were ready-made to fit with our quirky color scheme. Did I mention that that logo was also really expensive to print on t-shirts and the like?

Sometime in 2003-04, a freshman drew the gearhead image and posted it in the shop. The image kept showing up in more and more places, and it was adopted as the team image starting with the 2004 competition season. We were still Breaking Pointe at that time.

We didn't become The Gearheads until 2004-05.

And now...the image (yellow diamonds, yellow/black, and sprockets/gears galore) is everywhere. On our shirts, in our hair, on our fingernails, on our shoes. On the robot, in the pit (The only non-black-and-yellow items there are spare parts and tools), on the judges, on our backpacks and purses, and on almost every competitor and spectator in the venue. Yellow diamonds work for us.

*note: I wasn't on the team at this point, and it really should be "they chose," but I'm speaking for the team as a whole, past and present.