Central Wyoming sports fans for years have made the trek up to Swede Erickson Thunderbird Gym to witness Casper College's volleyball and basketball teams do battle.

Over the years, thousands have watched the Thunderbirds, cheered the Thunderbirds and booed the Thunderbirds.

But have you ever wondered why Casper College's teams are called the Thunderbirds - or, in the case of the women's teams, the Lady Thunderbirds?

And just what the heck is a thunderbird anyway, besides a mascot, a classic Ford automobile and a cheap alcoholic "beverage" that stretches the definition of "wine" to the limit?

According to American Indian legends, thunderbirds were a species of gigantic avian predators which terrorized the skies above North America in the distant past.

The thunderbirds were said to cause thunder with their mighty wings and lightning with their eyes and were as large as war canoes.

Of course, there were never any birds that actually shot lightning out of their eyes, but there are some who believe thunderbird legends are not entirely rooted in the Indians' imaginations.

It is known through fossil evidence that in the prehistoric past there were winged creatures with wingspans several times larger than any bird alive today.

For example, the teratorn, which lived during the Pleistocene, a period which ended around 11,000 years ago, had a wingspan of up to 25 feet, according to the Web site of the University of California's Museum of Paleontology.

There are also claims - though unsubstantiated by orthodox science - that something akin to the teratorn, or the thunderbird, still lives.

According to cryptozoology.com, a Web site dedicated to the study of animals that may or may not exist, there have been many sightings of giant predatory birds within the confines of the United States in fairly recent times.

Most of these purported sightings consist of people simply seeing "thunderbirds."

But, supposedly, on July 25, 1977, a "thunderbird" attacked 65-pound Marlon Lowe of Lawndale, Ill., and carried him in its talons for about 30 feet before dropping the him. Or so the story on cryptozoology.com goes.

Most thunderbird sightings seem to take place in Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes region, according to cryptozoology.com.

It seems unlikely strange stories of giant birds moved those who nicknamed Casper College's teams to label them the Thunderbirds.

The name has, however, been around since the beginning of Casper College athletics.

Casper College Historian Kevin Anderson says the school's basketball team was called the Thunderbirds during its 1946-1947 inaugural season.

The nickname was chosen in February of 1946 by a vote of the college's first class, Anderson said.

Warren Weaver, a Casper College art student in 1946, told Anderson several years ago that the name was probably first suggested to the voting students by either Maurice Griffith, the school's first dean, or Ken Ury, an instructor at the college.

Weaver later designed the school's original thunderbird emblem, Anderson said.

There is no indication Casper College's original class chose the Thunderbird name because of any mysterious strange giant birds that some folks claim they still see from time to time over North America.