Thu 10 Jan 2008
While I like to blog about book reviews, to be honest I read a lot of books out of the political and historical sections of the bookstore….which have zero interest to most readers of the “Gameops” blog. So I was stopped dead in my tracks while reading a book about the Supreme Court Justices when I read this:
“At that moment, the door to the dining room swung open and a giant beast with green fur, purple eyelashes, and a Philadelphia Phillies jersey burst into the room. The Phillie Phanatic lumbered over to Alito, gave him a prolonged embrace, and then left the room, leaving raucous laughter in it’s wake.” (page 323-4)
Once I got past my shock over the inclusion of the Phanatic’s appearance, I thought this is a good example of the wide range of appearance any mascot makes. Talk to any mascot and you will doubtless hear stories about oddball appearances to random celebrity run-ins. These can be a great source of content for your mascot’s web page, blog or myspace page. It’s a way to connect with your teams fan base that is sometimes wide-ranging and hard to reach.

It’s also a way to tell fans about what your mascot does outside of the friendly confines of your arena or stadium. Show your fans your mascot is out doing appearances for kid’s birthdays, mall opening, or parades and you can be certain you will start getting more calls about doing birthday parties, grand openings and parades. For performers and teams who count on appearances for revenue generation this can be a real boost.
Perhaps someday the Supreme Court will call you and request a mascot appearance including a prolonged embrace with another justice….if you are lucky. And if they do, let me know so I can blog about it.
–Cudo
PS: If you want to read more about the Supreme Court I do recommend Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine. However I have read the entire book and there is no other mascot references, if you are only interested in giant green furry creatures you may be disappointed.






The book was superbly written, full of valuable background and insights both of the sport and the people, but also the ripple effects of her life. The final chapters focus more on the current realities of women’s status in sports through the successes (and failures) of US Womens Soccer, womens tennis, and Title IX.
Looking back at Aaron’s 716th home run (see the video below) I think the Atlanta Braves actually did a great job with the celebration….relying on fireworks and a crowd who knew they were a part of history to highlight the feat. I just wonder if they can find the two guys who chased Aaron around the bases to play an honorary role this time around. (read more about the Aaron home run also below).