Recent Mascot News

Because I've made my insane fascination with mascots perfectly clear on the blog, and because my friends are very generous, I'm now regularly sent e-mails with links and stories about our costumed brethren. From the long-lost Dezmond, once a commenter of extraordinary, entertaining, and demented regularity, comes word about the Indiana Pacers' mascot being sued:

After taking part in the free-throw contest, the lawsuit states that Jackson began to leave the basketball court but was tackled from behind by the team's mascot, "Boomer," a 6-foot-tall blue cat with gold whiskers.

Then my friend Jason W., the wisest of men, sent me two video links. The first is something I saw on Deadspin a while back and meant to post then. It's only a representation of a mascot, but its quick downfall is quite entertaining. This video begins with all the background you need to enjoy it:



There are echoes of recent history in that clip, so one can only hope that Columbus is not soon torn asunder by civil war.

Finally, Jason also sent along word of the Oakland A's mascot, Stompers, who's evidently quite the dancer. Here he is outside the stadium with some fans:



This link features that video as well as another, more extended and impressive dance at a club. More importantly, though, the story describes Stompers as "getting hyphy" with the fans. So I followed the linked phrase over to the Urban Dictionary, which was worth the time:

Main Entry: hyphy
Pronunciation: "HIGH-fee"
Function: adjective

Etymology: San Francisco Bay Area, shortened perhaps from English dialect "hyperactive"; other sources cite a combination of "hype" and "fly." Popularized by E-40 and the Federation's song "Hyphy" (2004); first known use on record by Keak Da Sneak in 1998 (on "Cool," from his LP Sneakacidle).
1 : dangerous and irrational: CRAZY;
2 : amusingly eccentric; without inhibition: GOOFY

I'd love to know how long it would take after reading that for Samuel Johnson's head to explode from incomprehension. An entry further down on the page offers this slight variation, which I think I prefer: "1. Go stupid, dummy, retarted."