On Election Day I thought this was a funny look at the dirty politcal mascot underbelly of Pittsburgh, PA.

Actually, I don’t think these were actually used by the teams…but the concept is strong.

–Cudo

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — With the Oklahoma City Thunder now part of the NBA lineup, the Golden State Warriors‘ mascot might be a goner. Thunder is his name.

Thunder has been part of this franchise for some 12 years and his likeness is featured on the team’s primary logo, though the team doesn’t use that image much anymore.

Warriors team president Robert Rowell is willing to make the switch for the benefit of the other Thunder, formerly the Seattle SuperSonics. When the timing’s right, that is.

“We’re clearly going to do something to accommodate Oklahoma City and not have our mascot named Thunder,” Rowell said. “For the sake of not making things confusing, we’re going to do something. We just have to figure out a good exit strategy.” (SI.com Story)

An interesting move in Oakland, which of course has nothing to do with Oklahoma City’s new team name.

Thunder has always been a tricky mascot character, since he has been limited to being a one-dimensional superhero dunking character, who tries to fill in as a comedy figure.  Thunder has struggled with skits and comedy due to this initially rigid character.

I had a short run as a Superhero character in the 1990’s and found it to be a very difficult character to perform, since you are limited to a rather stoic and limited character.  I always think about how poorly the personality traits of “funny”, “silly” and “clumsy” fit someone like Superman…which is the same problem when you try to make a superhero character into a NBA-style mascot.
As of this weekend Thunder is still listed on the team’s website, so I am not sure where this is headed.  I suspect this was a trial balloon to see how fans would react to the elimination of the mascot.  I wonder if the program wouldn’t be more effective if they pulled Thunder back to the more limited role of occasional special guest who dunked…which is really what he was created to do.  The Houston Rockets had success with their dunking mascot (Turbo) by pulling him back from a full-time role and making him a special guest.
–Cudo

For those who know me they know I love politics as much or more than I love game operations…so you know I love it when those worlds collide.  So I got a kick out of this convergence last week.

Palins Repeatedly Pressed Case Against Trooper

ANCHORAGE — The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska’s public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten. This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin’s Anchorage office was on the line.

As Mr. Monegan recalls it, the aide said the governor had heard that Trooper Wooten was assigned to work the kickoff to the fair in late August. If so, Mr. Monegan should do something about it, because Ms. Palin was also planning to attend and did not want him nearby.

Somewhat bewildered, Mr. Monegan soon determined that Trooper Wooten had indeed volunteered for duty at the fairgrounds — in full costume as “Safety Bear,” the troopers’ child-friendly mascot. (NYtimes. com)

Poor Safety Bear getting drug down into the mud with a political campaign.  He deserves better.
Deep down I just with this dust-up would have been called Safety Bear-gate rather than Trooper-gate.

For more of these links (politics and mascots) see this blog entry on the Supreme Mascot Court.

–Cudo

The Minnesota Wild made an interesting addition to their team this week, adding a mascot.  While most teams would find adding a mascot to be “normal”, it’s a twist for the Wild who have built their in-game presentation around the old-school traditions of Minnesota hockey and have been adverse to having a mascot since they launched their team.  You can read more about the Wild’s game presentation in this Gameops.com Interview with John Maher.

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild today unveiled the team’s new mascot, Nordy, this afternoon at a public event on the Xcel Energy Center ice. Nordy, the newest member of the Team of 18,000, hails from way up yonder and is a lifelong resident of The State of Hockey. Born in Eveleth, Minn. he was raised with a stick and a pair of blades and cut his teeth on the ponds and lakes throughout the Iron Range. He now resides at Xcel Energy Center and calls the Capital City home.

Actually it sounds like the mascot came about as much for community relations as for game entertainment.  “There are many community events and appearances that we would like to have a presence at, but because of the demands of the NHL schedule and the sheer number of appearance requests we receive during the season, we haven’t been able to participate,” said Director of Community Partnerships Brad Bombardir.

I usually catch a Wild game once a year, so I will be looking forward to seeing Nordy in action and seeing how the Wild integrate him into their presentation at the best venue in sports (Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul).

–Cudo

PS:  I love that the Wild have their goal horn on their site as an .mp3….and thanks to Swanny for keeping me abreast of the mascot count in MN.

Us and our rival hockey team are preparing for a home and home mascot boxing intermission where their mascot wins in their building and ours wins in our building etc… Anyway, I am looking to purchase inflatable boxing gloves. Do you sell or can you point me in the right direction?

Barry R.

Thanks for your question Barry.

We are proud to offer over 100 items in our store, many related to promotions, contests and mascots.  In cases, like this one, where we do not offer a product to fit your needs we are always happy to try to locate a product or service for you.

Contact us anytime from our site and we will do what we can to help.

The best way to reach us is the Contact Us link at the top our home page.
And in case you have the same plans as Barry…here is one option for you:

Inflatable Boxing Gloves on Amazon.com

–Cudo

Are you actively promoting your mascot?  The Fresno Grizzlies are.

Besides being proud of their mascot and having recognized that he is a vital part of their marketing efforts, the Grizzlies are building on a brand that they have control over.  Unlike players and coaches who might be promoted or traded, they know their mascot will live on.

The Grizzlies have build their character up enough that they are building game-night promotions around the character (see Mascot Battle) successfully.

This season the Grizzlies not only produced a highlight video of their team, but one of Parker as well…..take a look.

I might sound like a broken record on how well the Grizzlies are promoting their internal assets…its just because they continue to do it right and build on their success.

-cudo