College Sports

Are you a mascot fan or not?

Mascots have been around in one form or another since the beginning of sports teams. But they really took off in the late 60’s, and there has been no turning back.

Mascots have developed into the focus of marketing campaigns, the “brand identity” of universities. T-shirts, bumper stickers, web sites. It all adds up to some serious money.
At some schools, the “human” version grew out of a live version. Georgia’s Uga (canine version) has been joined by Hairy Dawg (costumed version), or Smokey at Tennessee (both canine and costumed versions).

Mascots range from the sublime The Hawk (St. Joseph’s mascot who stands at the end of the bend and never stops “flapping” its wings, even at halftime) to the ridiculous (Artie the Fighting Artichoke of Scottsdale Community College or Sammy the Slug, the banana slug mascot of California Santa Cruz).

Mascots have a history of getting into some trouble, too. Pretty entertaining trouble.

Take, for instance, the Stanford Cardinal “Tree.” Forget for a minute that it looks kind of ridiculous to have a tree running around the sideline. But on Feb. 9, 2006, the Tree was disciplined for drinking during the 65-62 loss on the road at Cal. He registered a .157 blood alcohol level. Oh, and don’t forget that the Tree was banned from ESPN.com’s Battle of the Mascots in 1997, for hacking into the voting database and fixing the results!

That is one creative tree!

Mascots have gotten ejected from games for poor sportsmanship, for stair surfing, and for harassing other teams. And on several occasions, mascots got into fistfights with each other, making for some entertaining youtube video.

But what is it like to wear the fur? To be right there on the sidelines? Let’s go to an informed opinion…

Mine.

Yes, my dirty little, well-guarded secret. I was a mascot at a major university. Big football weekends, bowl games, NCAA tournaments. Fun stuff… sort of. You think it is hot sitting in the stands when it is 90 degrees out? Try being on the field with no breeze in a costume that weighs 10-20 pounds… or more. Being thrown in the air by some ambitious cheerleaders… or taken out by some angry football players. Having a basketball thrown into your gut because you are wearing the wrong colors. Or being kidnapped!

That’s right, I was kidnapped at my very first football game. Taken into the middle of the opponent’s fans and thrown up in the air repeatedly. My tail was ripped off, I lost a “paw,” but honestly… it was fun (once it was over!).

Why did I do it? I wanted to go to the games, didn’t want to have to camp out for tickets or pay for hotel rooms. In short, I was a big fan and wanted to take it to the next level… for free (hey, I was a college student, money was always an issue!).

And here is some info I bet you didn’t know. A lot of college mascots get scholarship money, ranging from books being paid to full rides. And a fairly good percentage of these college mascots turn it into a career. Yes, mascots in the pros started out on the collegiate level. Sort of a PMA career (Professional Mascots Association).

So whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em, there aren’t going anywhere. And unless you have to run to a distant corner of the arena with a screaming four year old, you might as well sit back and enjoy the show.

For a comprehensive list of U.S. college mascots: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._college_mascots

For Scout.com’s list of top 25 mascots:
http://cfn.scout.com/2/588904.html

For more on St. Joseph’s amazing Hawk mascot (my personal favorite — and no, I wasn’t the Hawk!)
http://sjuhawks.cstv.com/school-bio/stjs-the-hawk.html

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