The Oregon duck mascot has quite the history here at LBS. A few years ago, the Duck was suspended after getting in a fight with the Houston Cougar mascot. That may have marked the greatest moment in the history of mascot moments. This time around it was Oregon coach Chip Kelly trying to pump up the home crowd at Autzen Stadium by donning the costume before the USC game. Check it out:

Kelly has quickly become one of the coaches I respect the most in college football. First off, I think he handled the LeGarrette Blount situation quite well, handing down a harsh penalty but maintaining an interest in seeing Blount overcome the incident. Then, Kelly reimbursed a dissatisfied fan who traveled to the Boise State game. And now he’s wearing the Duck suit. Here’s what he said about it, “I take my job seriously, I don’t take myself seriously. It was more of a chance to see our fans. I think they’re the best fans in college football.” Talk about a BMOC … he better savor these days while he can because you can bet your butt the fans will be calling for his head when they have a 6-6 season.

As you all have come to know pretty well, any time there’s an incident involving mascots, it’s going to end up here on LBS. Something about grown men being upset that they dress up in fury costumes for a living and taking it out by fighting must really pique my interest. The last college basketball mascot incident was when the Rice owl got ejected at a game for harassing a referee. This one was probably better than that. From The Sporting Blog:

During a timeout with 7 seconds left and New Mexico State leading 70-69, Utah State’s mascot, “Big Blue” the bull, confronted New Mexico State’s “Pistol Pete” cowboy mascot and ripped off his fake mustache. The cowboy then chased the bull to halfcourt, jumped on his back and tried unsuccessfully to pull him to the floor. “Pistol Pete” then started to try to choke his rival before retreating to his end of the court.

Several newspaper photographers covering the game said they heard a man in a Nevada shirt offer the Utah State mascot $100 to go grab the mustache.

ESPN does have a short video clip of the fight, but then you’d have to endure a segment of Michele LaFountain, something I try to avoid whenever possible. As for the fan that would pay $100 to see a mustache ripped off another mascot, he must hate ‘em more than me. That’s pretty funny.

I’ve made no secret of my fondness for stories involving team mascots. This one is certainly up there. With Andrew Bogut, Michael Redd, and Luke Ridnour out with various injuries, Bucks’ mascot Bongo must have sensed the players were feeling lonely on the injured list. He decided to help make them feel better in the best way possible — by joining their company. Check out this little stunt from the All-Star game in Phoenix. Keep your eye on the mascot doing the Spiderman impression that gets hit in the nuts. That’s Bongo.

As, Jimmy at SI pointed out, I still can’t believe the effin’ thing fit through the freaking hoop! Usually the mascot heads are so fat they would never fit. I’m just astonished. Oh, and as you could tell, Bongo hurt his knee with those shenanigans and will now require surgery. Way to go, Bongo. Hopefully the Bucks have a good health insurance policy for you.

If there’s one thing that’s near and dear to my heart, it’s definitely mascot folly. We haven’t had a ton of it lately unfortunately, leaving me to watch the Oregon Duck/Houston Cougar fight to get my fix. But on Wednesday night in the Rice/Tulane game, Rice’s Sammy the Owl got the heave-ho from referee Quick Draw Curtis Shaw, whose reputation precedes him.

I dunno, pretty hard to act tough when you’re suited up in an owl costume. I guess I understand where he’s coming from — he probably has a serious case of mascot envy. Honestly, how much rhino balls would it suck to be an owl when the other mascots in your conference are ferocious beasts like Tigers, Mustangs, and Cougars? He must have had a lot of pent up frustration he let out with the headbutt on Shaw. And credit to Carter Blackburn for absolutely nailing the call! By the way, who knew that Ben Braun was coaching Rice these days?!?

Thanks to FanHouse via Ballhype for the vid

What is it with mascots these days? You had the Oregon Duck go after the Houston Cougar even teabagging the fool, you had Coco Crisp get run over by the Mariner Moose, and now Benny the Bull is taking target practice on opponents? SpinMax emails in with the news that Benny the Bull took a couple shots at some of the Celtics during Tuesday’s game:

Kevin Garnett and James Posey engaged in some late-game trash talking
with Benny the Bull.

“Bulls can talk,” said Garnett, who initially was upset after he and Posey were hit in the back by clothing fired from a T-shirt launcher during a timeout in the closing minutes of the C’s 106-92 victory. “Walking off the floor we got hit by some shirts.”
…
“I don’t know – I feel threatened,” Posey said. “I don’t feel safe. They really have tough love here, but it was definitely an inside job. They made the mascot do it. I got hit in the back walking away. That spot on my back is sore. I might have to get treatment on it.”

I really wish I could have heard Posey’s comments to see if he was being serious or sarcastic. One thing we do know is that these mascots are getting completely out of hand. Shooting opponents — even with a T-shirt gun — is inappropriate. And this might not be a surprise considering Benny has a criminal record. Maybe Benny’s jacked up personal life is bleeding over into his professional world.

I guess I’ve completely missed the boat (arc?) on this one. Dan Steinberg of the famed DC Sports Bog passes along news that the Maryland Terps mascot, Testudo, is set to have a Bar Mitzvah in the near future. What I hadn’t realized what that this was a common trend. Per Steinz:

In the fall of 2004, Syracuse’s Otto the Orange was Bar Mitzvahed. ” ‘Otto came and tore down the house,’ said Jacob Perlin, communications vice president for Hillel. ‘He came in dancing and everyone went crazy.’…Shortly after Otto entered and danced the horah, about six male party-goers hoisted Syracuse’s favorite mascot into the air.”

In March of 2006, UNC’s Ramses was Bar Mitzvahed. “A blown up image of Ramses was covered by guests with the signatures and words of good luck such as ‘Rock on Ramses’.”

That fall, Miami’s Sebastian the Ibis was Bar Mitzvahed. “The party lasted three hours, but Sebastian did not read from the Torah, the Jewish Holy Scripture …”

Apparently Bucky the Badger and Central Florida’s mascot have also enjoyed the honors. Storming the Floor has put together an excellent list of mascots who surely won’t be getting Bar-Mitzvah’d in the near future. And while we’re at it, you must check out the post Matt did at With Leather — the mascot photo gallery is tremendous (and where I snagged the photo above). Now, this begs the question: are bris’ next?