Wireless: News and Alerts Update Services Free News Headlines Live Radio Streaming CBC Newscasts

News
Business
Sports
Golf »

Arts and Entertainment
Weather
Health and Science
Archives
Kids
Teens
ProgramGuide
Newsletters
Services
Contact Us
About CBC

Sports Digest


Radio-Canada - French

Shop

 
Mascot
Madness
They're annoying, intriguing, and sometimes even entertaining

Randall Simon's beatdown of a Milwaukee racing sausage is only the latest in a long list of events where team mascots make the headlines. Few things in sports generate as much discussion, passion and hatred as mascots and their escapades.

YOUR SAY

Discuss our choices, disagree with us, talk amongst yourselves

Sports Online has combed the annals of sports to bring you our list of sports' most notable mascots. It's not an exclusively Canadian list, but Canucks are more than adequately represented in the subculture of those who wear stifling suits for a living.

ACE & DIAMOND v BJ BIRDY | AMERICAN INDIANS |
HARVEY THE HOUND | MILWAUKEE RACING SAUSAGES |
NCAA ... YOU NAME IT
| PHILLY PHANATIC |
PHOENIX SUNS' GORILLA | THE RALLY MONKEY |
SAN DIEGO CHICKEN
| YOUPPI!

ACE & DIAMOND v B.J. BIRDY

The Jays have parted ways with many popular players over the years. But the club made one of its more controversial transactions in 1999 when it unceremoniously released longtime mascot BJ Birdy. The franchise replaced the big-eyed, open-mouthed jay in early 2000 with the spunky duo of Ace and Diamond. Many Birdy fans were outraged.

RELATED

Ace & Diamond's web page

The 20-year fixture at both Exhibition Stadium and SkyDome was a victim of market research and the much-dreaded change in direction. Ace the boy and Diamond the girl (who the Jays claim is the lone female mascot in the big leagues, although the verdict is still out on the androgynous Youppi!) now rule Toronto's in-game entertainment roost.

Inside Info: Kevin Shanahan, the creator and performer behind BJ Birdy, also created the Toronto Argonauts' mascot Scully.

AMERICAN INDIANS

There's been an ongoing debate for years about whether American Indian symbols and imagery should be used in sport teams names and mascots.

The Cleveland Indians' logo, used in honour, not prejudice, of American natives

There are still several aboriginal names and mascots in professional sports, including the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks, MLB's Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves, and the NFL's Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs.

They can depict natives in traditonal (Blackhawks) or cartoonish (Indians) fashion. Fans of these teams often display "native" icons, including tomahawks, feathers, facial paints, symbolic drums and pipes (see Chief Zee in our sidebar). Braves fans have made famous the "tomahawk chop."

Despite protests from American Indian groups that these names create or reinforce stereotypes, some teams, particularly the Braves, Indians and Redskins, have resisted change, arguing that the Indian references are used in honour, not prejudice, and that the names are an important tradition to fans. Guess that’s why the Braves and Indians, respectively, had characters called Chief Nokahoma (say it out loud) and Chief Wahoo.

Inside info: Though the Indians won't give up the official team logo, they did unveil a new mascot in 1990 - a purple and yellow fuzzy monster named "Slider."

HARVEY THE HOUND
A speechless Harvey The Hound peers into the Edmonton Oilers bench after head coach Craig MacTavish, centre left, ripped his tongue out.

Harvey the Hound may be the NHL's very first mascot (he was created in 1983), but he’s better known for being, well, really bad to the bone. For instance, during a playoff game in 1989, Harvey ripped up a Vancouver Canucks jersey.

But on January 20, 2003, after nearly two decades of taunting the opposition, Harvey the Hound was finally paid back for his crowd-pleasing antics

With the Flames leading the Edmonton Oilers 4-0, the six-foot-six, 200-pound Harvey positioned himself behind the Oilers bench and began pestering the losing team.

It worked too well.

Oilers players squirted water on the mascot, and Oilers coach Craig MacTavish took it one step further and shut him up -- literally. MacTavish ripped out Harvey's signature floppy red tongue and threw it into the crowd.

"(Harvey) was in a place he shouldn't have been," Flames spokesman Peter Hanlon said. "Usually he's our seventh man, but this time perhaps he went too far."

MacTavish's actions seemed to spark the Oilers. They scored three goals, but still lost 4-3.

Inside info: Harvey the Hound is also the former mascot of the Calgary Stampeders.

MILWAUKEE RACING SAUSAGES
As Sports Illustrated says, "It's not a question of why you would take a swing at an eight-foot sausage ... but why not."

Forget Randall Simon or even Mandy Block’s skinned knee. The true loser in the Milwaukee sausage scandal was Bernie Brewer.

The Brewers’ official mascot, who cheers on his beloved Brew Crew atop Miller Park’s left field perch, was instantly overshadowed by a group of running meat products.

The Milwaukee sausage-race incident vaulted the Polish sausage, bratwurst, hot dog and -- of course -- the Italian sausage, into the upper tier of mascot celebrity. How long before Larry King comes knocking?

RELATED

No charges for Simon in mascot incident
Pirates’ Simon suspended three games

Even if he doesn’t, the meat-encased athletes are sure to be circling the Miller Park bases long after Simon is sporting a big-league uniform.

Inside Info: As if racing sausages aren’t enough, the Brewers are tossing running pierogies into the mix next month.

NCAA ... YOU NAME IT
Geometric perfection: Syracuse's Otto the Orange

American college teams have some solid names: Alabama Crimson Tide. Indiana Hoosiers. Michigan Wolverines. Penn State Nittany Lions.
But the Virginia Tech Hokies? University of California at Santa Cruz Banana Slugs? And what about names that challenge you to come up with an image? North Carolina Tar Heels (how do you dress up like a Tar Heel?). Southern Illinois Salukis (What is a Saluki again?) Southern Carolina Gamecocks (Ummm...).

There also seems to be a practice of having a mascot that has nothing to do with the team name. The Hofstra Flying Dutchmen were given their name because the school's founder was from the Netherlands. Their mascot? A lion. The Syracuse Orangemen? A giant orange orb. OK, at least it's orange.

Is Colonel Reb a genteel southerner or a throwback to the plantation?

And then there are the controversies. Just last month the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) set off the mascot equivalent of a tactical nuke by virtually eliminating its cherished Colonel Reb mascot. 138 years after Lee surrendered, the removal of a Confederate symbol ignited passions that would have shamed Scarlett O'Hara.

Inside info: The Saluki is one of the oldest dog breeds, favoured by ancient Egyptian royalty. Their images were found on tombs as far back as 2100 B.C. They look like greyhounds, with feathering on their ears, legs and tails. Illinois and ancient Egypt... Makes sense to us.

PHILLY PHANATIC

Often called baseball's best mascot, this overweight, floppy-footed, green-beaked beast is also the game's bad boy. He spent many summers getting into ugly scuffles with the Dodgers' Tommy Lasorda -- his abuse of Lasorda effigies and mockery of Lasorda's SlimFast promotions are legendary. He is also the "most sued mascot" in baseball. Among the decisions: one senior citizen got $128,000 US when he was knocked over at a church carnival.

The Phanatic has survived and thrived in Philadelphia since 1978, not an easy thing to do in a town where fans once booed Santa Claus off the field. The Phanatic joins Youppi! and the San Diego Chicken in Cooperstown.

Inside info: Apart from Opening Day, for the past nine years the Phillies have failed to draw more than 40,000 fans for any April home game. That changed in 2003 when 40,016 spectators showed up. The reason? The Phanatic's last birthday party at Veterans Stadium, where he was hatched.

GO, THE PHOENIX SUNS' GORILLA

Nothing speaks to the sun-baked desert city of Phoenix like a big hairy gorilla. Nevertheless, this primate is the dean of the NBA mascot fraternity and a regular on sportscast highlight reels with his dunking prowess.

Go burst on the scene in 1980 and set the gold standard for mascot athletics. Plenty of NBA teams now sport crazy dunking mascots at half-time, but Go was first and, some say, still the best.

As part of his charity fundraising efforts, Go bounces a basketball dipped in paint against a canvas and sells the paintings.

But for all his charity efforts, Go is not without controversy. NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar took exception to the ape, suggesting it was a racist slur against African-American players.

Inside info : Go once performed the John Travolta role (Danny Zuko) in a Grease number with the Suns' dance team.

THE RALLY MONKEY
Believe in the power of the rally monkey!

After the Anaheim Angels' World Series win last year, the Rally Monkey's story is now legend. The monkey debuted in June 2000 as the Angels were losing to the San Francisco Giants. Looking to whip up the fans, the stadium's video crew found a clip of a monkey jumping up and down from Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

Adding the words "Rally Monkey," they played the clip on the JumboTron. The crowd loved it, the Angels rallied.

The Monkey's legend was cemented in Game 6 of last year's World Series. The Angels were trailing the Giants 5-0 in the seventh when the Monkey made an appearance on the Jumbotron. The Angels, of course, came back, won the game, and won the series.

Inside info : The Angels' inspiration is a capuchin monokey, a species that gets its name from the Capuchin monks, whose cowl the monkeys' head colouring resembles. Capuchins are favoured by organ grinders everywhere.

SAN DIEGO CHICKEN

The Famous Chicken, a.k.a. the San Diego Chicken (there are legal issues over the name, wouldn't you know) set the template for mascots everywhere. He debuted his zany antics years before most pro franchises even thought of using humans dressed in fuzzy suits to entertain sports fans.

RELATED

The Famous Chicken's web site

The Hall of Fame mascot first entered the fowl world as a college kid taking a $2-an-hour job handing out Easter eggs to kids at the San Diego Zoo (dressed in a chicken suit, of course). From there, he evolved into a radio pitchbird before becoming a regular at Padres baseball games. The Chicken was the first to introduce such mascot staples as a playful repertoire with opposing players and elaborate on-field stunts. In his nearly-30-year career, the Chicken has taken his act to all 50 U.S. states and multiple countries.

Inside Info: The Famous Chicken claims to have missed just one career booking, but even that night was not a complete wash. After an airline misplaced his luggage, Chicken creator Ted Giannoulas took to the ice at a Wichita Thunder hockey game in 1998 wearing just his Chicken head, tail, gloves, socks and underwear. Let’s just say he made all the nightly highlight shows.

YOUPPI!
The androgynous Youppi! is popular with the ladies. Halle Berry, for instance.

This furry monster is arguably more popular in his hometown than the baseball team it supports. Indeed, some Expos have complained in the past that the team did more to promote Youppi! than the team's own stars.

One of three mascots inducted into Cooperstown, Youppi! -- French for hooray, including the exclamation mark -- is the first mascot to be thrown out of a game for his antics. In a 1989 extra-innings tilt it was tossed after Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda complained about his dancing on the visitors' dugout.

With the Expos since 1979, Youppi! is definitely a product of its decade -- its orange covering being reminiscent of that era's rec room shags.

Inside info: Youppi! has endured relentless speculation about his/hers sexual orientation. The debate isn't helped by the Expos' steadfast refusal to say whether Youppi! is a he or a she.


Ersatz mascots

None of these are official team mascots, but they each hold a special place in the history of sports fandom:

BLUE
Don Cherry and Blue, maybe the best-known dog in CanadaBlue is perhaps the most famous dog in Canada. Though she's not an official team mascot, the white, often-barking bull terrier is forever linked to hockey because of her owner, HNIC personality and former NHL coach, Don Cherry. It's been rumoured that the eccentric coach modelled the Bruins' bruising playing style after that of Blue. Though the Bruins didn't win a Stanley Cup under his tenure, they were among the top teams of the late '70s.
Blue is featured on the covers of Cherry's famous Rock 'em Sock 'em video series and as the poster dog for Cherry's chain of restaurants. The pup also stars in the intro to Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada.
Inside info: People who want their own Blue, without the commitment or mess, can buy a cute little stuffed animal replica online from Don Cherry’s Sports Grill.

KRAZY GEORGE
Armed with a drum and lung power to spare, “Krazy” George Henderson vaulted into the North American spotlight in the late 1970s as the ultimate superfan. Football, hockey, baseball -- “Krazy” George could be seen at almost any form of sporting event urging fans to get off their duffs and root for the home side.
Inside Info: “Krazy” claims to have invented The Wave, but the declaration isn’t without controversy. Robb Weller, a former University of Washington cheerleader and ex-Entertainment Tonight correspondent, also says he created the sequence in which fans rise out of their seats to form a simulated wave. “Krazy” lays out detailed evidence on his official website. We’ll let you be the judge.

SCHOTTZIE
Schottzie's 1990 World Series baseball cardFormer Cincinnati Reds majority owner Marge Schott was rarely seen without her 170-pound droopy-eyed wonder. Schott allowed the unofficial Reds mascot to roam the field at Riverfront Stadium, leaving messy surprises for the ballplayers. According to baseball-lore, Schott rubbed Schottzie hair on the chest of manager Lou Piniella for good luck. In 1998, she begged St. Louis' Mark McGwire to pet Schottzie's successor, Schottzie 02. Even though McGwire is allergic to dogs, he did it anyway. Schottzie 02 died in 2001 and was buried with a Reds hat and a replica of the 1990 World Series ring.
Inside info: Schottzie had her own baseball card and also appeared on the box of Meaty Bone dog bones.

CHIEF ZEE
Perhaps the worst mascot beating in sports history, Chief Zee was an unofficial Washington Redskins mascot who earned the wrath of Philadelphia Eagles fans by showing up at a Veterans Stadium game in 1983. Eagles "fans" smashed his eye, broke his leg and stripped him to his underwear. "They treated me like chopped meat," he said later.
Inside info: Invited back to Philadelphia the next year by Eagles brass as an apology, Chief Zee had yet another fan run-in. In his own words, "
this senior-citizen lady comes up to me and says, ‘You've got a lot of nerve coming up here! We mugged the guy who dressed like that last year!' And then she threw her drink in my face. I can still smell that drink."

MORGANNA
The buxom blonde from Kentucky was baseball’s Kissing Bandit for almost three decades. Dressed in hot pants and a tight top, Morganna jumped onto ball diamonds across the U.S. for nearly three decades, planting smooches on unsuspecting, and sometimes entirely willing, players. She started her life of crime at age 17 while attending a Cincinnati Reds game in 1971. On a friend’s dare, Morganna hopped onto the field at Riverfront Stadium to kiss Pete Rose. Morganna went on to count dozens of kisses from both superstar athletes and entertainment icons. Now almost 50, she is retired from the celebrity smooching circuit.
Inside Info: Morganna once pulled off a Canadian kissing heist, stealing a kiss from Toronto Blue Jays reliever Duane Ward.

CHARLIE O.
Charlie Finley, perhaps baseball's most flamboyant owner, cashiered the venerable cartoon elephant of the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics for a real, live mule named Charlie O. Despite the mule's size, smell and lack of toilet training, it had an all-access pass to Veterans Stadium (and later the Oakland Coliseum) incuding the press box and field. Needless to say, fans loved the mule a lot more than the players, who had to deal with Charlie's droppings while shagging flies.


Top 10 Archive
Nov. 24 Hockey gimmicks
Nov. 3 Worst cheaters
Aug. 1 Bad investments
July 25 Sports movies
July 18 Mascot madness
July 11 Greatest sports downfalls