« Hurry Up And Sign Up For Another Book Club!
Attention Researchers: What Do You Think Of This Type Of Research? »

Is It A Duck? A Chicken? A Dinosaur?…Or Something Else?

Over the years the marketing departments of colleges and professional sports teams have been very creative with making the game more enjoyable. Contests, races, dances and on field activities are now an important part of sports and in minor league parks and colleges are very important.

What is your favorite mascot?

Now that I have kids who are old enough to go to sporting events, mascots have become more important to me and I am on the lookout for them at games. They put smiles on kids’ faces, they make people laugh and frankly they add a tremendous amount to the atmosphere of a game.

My favorite is and has always been the San Diego Chicken. The Chicken has been performing since I was a kid in the early 1970’s. I can remember the Chicken having a TV show with Johnny Bench. The Chicken was named one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century by The Sporting News.

Are you a fan or foe of mascots?

What’s your favorite mascot?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 8th, 2007 at 8:45 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses to “Is It A Duck? A Chicken? A Dinosaur?…Or Something Else?” - Leave a Reply

  1. Stephenie King Gordon Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 9:19 am

    I like Otto the Orange (Syracuse) because it’s just ridiculous that an Orange is their mascot!!!! I don’t know how long Otto has been around nor when they were forced to go from “orangemen” to just “oranges”. Regardless of the history, he’s cute and round and looks happy and makes me giggle.

  2. kath Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 11:30 am

    Here in Manchvegas (Manchester, NH) we have the Manchester Monarch, the AHL affiliate of the LA Kings.
    The Monarch’s mascot is “Max” the lion. He’s fabulous. The kids adore him and he’s great fun to watch during the games.
    Even thought he blocked my daughter’s shot (which would have been a goal) during one the in-between period exhibition games that the youth league plays at the games, she still LOVES Max!
    kath

  3. Bob Graham Says:
    October 8th, 2007 at 11:59 am

    Time to give props to Sam the Minuteman, mascot of the UMASS Minutemen!Sam became the mascot in 1974, replacing Metwampie the Native American, back in less politically correct times when the team was called the Massachusetts Redmen. There was a movement afoot a few years ago to change the mascot to a “non-gender specific animal” to make it more “marketable”. Sam was almost replaced by a Grey Wolf, but there was a huge outcry from students, alumni, and residents of Massachusetts (it also turned out that Grey Wolves was the name of an elite Nazi assignation squad, or so I’ve heard…).

    Sam has been a great ambassador for UMASS and ties back to the history of the Commonwealth. Metawampie is still around, though. There’s a statue of him on the UMASS Campus and legend has it that if a virgin ever graduates from UMASS the statue will drop it’s bow.

    My second favorite is T-Bone, the Irish Setter, mascot of my daughter’s alma mater, Pace University in NY. The team is called the Pace Setters. Gotta love it.

    I’ve sent Merril some pictures via e-mail. Perhaps he’ll be able to post.

  4. Kelly Heatly Says:
    October 9th, 2007 at 10:53 am

    The single best mascot in the world of sports is LSU’s Mike the Tiger — powerful, memorable, and classic. According to LSU tradition, the Tigers will score a touchdown for every time Mike growls before the game. Keep on growling, Mike!

Leave a Reply


Please notify me of new posts on Merrill's Blog. (New posts generally come out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday)

Please enter the text from the image to the left in order to submit your comment