Mascot Power Rankings: Rebel Black Bear is hungry to get started
Oct 19, 2010, 12:20 PM EDT
In which we rank the current top 10 mascots in sports, in terms of newsworthiness, style and general awesomeness. This week’s selections, as determined by reader email and notes tied to bricks found in the lobby:
1. Rebel Black Bear, University of Mississippi. (Last week: unranked).
No, this isn’t the actual mascot; here he is, in an artist’s rendering. In voting by the student body, faculty and administration last week, Rebel Black Bear finished comfortably ahead of the other two finalists, Rebel Land Shark and Hotty Toddy, to replace Colonel Reb as the university’s on-field sports mascot. This continues a trend of eliminating confederate sports stereotypes at Ole Miss; the rebel battle flag and the song “From Dixie With Love” had previously been banned from football games. The black bear was a curious choice for some; there are only about 14 bears in all of Mississippi, practically none of them wearing slacks. But this mascot is an homage to Mississippi-born William Faulkner, whose novel, The Bear, is considered one of the great works of the 20th century.
2. Paydirt Pete, UTEP. (Last week: unranked)
The surprise leader in the Capital One Mascot Bowl standings this week, Paydirt Pete has an impressive 20,804 votes, just ahead of Old Dominion’s Big Blue at 20,628. For the season, Pete is 7-0 in head-to-head competition. For some reason, Paydirt Pete’s Facebook page lists one of his interests as the Oregon State University Marching Band. This needs to be investigated. Also one of the most accomplished dancers in Conference USA, Paydirt Pete knows how to Crank That.
3. Phillie Phanatic, Philadelphia Phillies. (Last week: unranked)
If only Driving Miss Daisy had been based on this, I would have watched it. Ryan Howard spent Sunday afternoon at the Falcons-Eagles game, then hitched a ride across the street to Citizen’s Bank Park with the Phanatic for Game 2 of the NLCS. Passenger wearing no helmet? Check. Limited peripheral vision? Check. Slightest bump in the road placing Phillies’ playoff hopes in serious jeopardy? Yep. Step on it, batting practice starts in three minutes!
4. Jaxson de Ville, Jacksonville Jaguars. (Last week: unranked).
I had no idea that the Jacksonville Jaguars had a kick-ass, death-defying mascot until readers brought this to my attention. Debuting at No. 4 and sure to climb higher, here is one of Jaxson’s signature stunts, complete with sparklers no less. Here’s another view. Let’s see Tom Brady do that! And … dance-off with Paydirt Pete? Other facts from Jaxson’s home page: He’s been the Jaguars’ mascot for 12 years, he once consumed 56 pizzas during a single game, and that rappel off the scoreboard was from a height of 175 feet. He was also the first mascot to travel overseas to visit our troops.
5. Uga VIII, University of Georgia. (Last week: unranked).
A nation mourned when Uga VII, Georgia’s canine mascot, died of heart-related problems in Nov. of last year. The Uga line is a proud one at the university — Uga V famously graced the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997, and appeared in the film Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. And last week, Uga VIII made his debut, to the delight of thousands. Uga VIII is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of the original Uga, who reigned from 1956-66, and is the grandson of Uga VI. And who can forget when, in 1996, Uga V bit an Auburn player?
6. Rufus the Bobcat, University of Ohio. (Last week: No. 1).
His vicious-but-clean tackle of Brutus Buckeye on Sept. 18 is already the stuff of legend … or at least T-shirts. Although now in exile, banned for life by Ohio University (which he didn’t even attend), Rufus has time to ponder: was it all worth it? Heck yes. In an interview following his dismissal, Rufus revealed that it had been his plan to tackle Brutus all along; plotting the attack as far back as mascot tryouts last year.
7. Bucky Badger, University of Wisconsin. (Last week: unranked).
Last week we asked readers to vote between two videos; one featuring the Oregon Duck and one featuring Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger. Reader response was so overwhelmingly in Bucky’s favor that he was awarded a spot in this week’s power rankings. Now everyone can learn how to Bucky.
8. The Famous Chicken, freelancer. (Last week: No. 5)
Although he’s 56 years old and no longer affiliated with the San Diego Padres, the Chicken had a 78.7 awareness score in a recent Forbes magazine poll, making him the nation’s most-liked mascot. The forebear to the Phillie Phanatic is considered the father of the modern sports mascot, and is now in semi-retirement so that he can “spend more time with my family” (pictured). Any mascot who takes the time to try and teach Barney how to dance properly is tops with me.
9. Artie the Artichoke, Scottsdale Community College. (Last week: unranked).
Featured recently on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumble, Artie the Artichoke was voted in as Scottsdale Community College’s official mascot in 1973, beating out “Rutabagas” and “Drovers” in a student election. Proud students then claimed that the fierce thistle-vegetable is the only mascot that can double on game day as a party dip. Bonus: The football team is known as the Chokes, and has that nickname written on their helmets.
10. Cocky, University of South Carolina. (Last week: No. 9)
Cocky’s 30th birthday was celebrated this year with a delicious cake, presented by none other than head coach Steve Spurrier. Cocky returned the favor by leading the Gamecocks to a big home upset of then-No.1 Alabama, 35-21. Cocky also received the most comments in last week’s rankings.
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Think that your mascot deserves to be ranked? Mascot Power Rankings depends greatly on your submissions. Send tales of mascot shenanigans, links and photos to Rickchand@gmail.com.
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- Bob Hovious - Oct 19, 2010 at 11:26 PM
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In an effort to at least keep the facts straight.
1) Faulkner’s The Bear wasn’t a novel. It was at best an overgrown short story. Although it was a good story, it really had nothing to do with Ole Miss.
2) The University of Mississippi distanced itself from the confederate flag about 15 years ago. It originally tried to ban the flag, forgetting that display of even the confederate flag is entitled to protection under the first amendment.
The confederate flag had already been replaced by an “M” flag which consisted of a red “M” on a blue background (the school colors.) This was done in hopes of preserving the tradition of waving flags at ball games by replacing the offensive flag with one designed specifically to represent the modern University.
Sadly, the “M” flag was found to be objectionable because when it was waved, an observer or tv camera at a distance couldn’t tell it wasn’t a confederate flag. The university subsequently banned sticks from the stadium (because sticks are dangerous) which of course ended the waving of flags altogether.
3) The recent ban on “From Dixie With Love” never eliminated the melody from “Dixie” which begins the song. Instead it eliminated the melody of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at the end.
Some members of the student body were chanting “The South Will Rise Again” where the Battle Hymn ended “His truth is marching on.” Regardless of whether or not it was in good taste, it was still their first amendment right to do this, so the administration ordered the band to stop playing that arrangement in order to deny them the opportunity. Many fans who enjoyed the arrangement still feel that they were the ones punished by the administration’s desire to control the students.
A new arrangement transitions from “Dixie” to “America the Beautiful” instead. A couple of personal observations: The new arrangement will only last until the same students work up a new chant. I miss hearing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. It was not only a more stirring arrangement, it was a most fitting expression of the progress the University has made since 1962.
4) With respect to the mascot “election”, the University released percentages which are potentially misleading as the votes added up to more than 100%. No figures regarding total votes or votes against each mascot were released, although voters were given that option. They were also given the option to say that they would “accept” one or more of the mascot candidates.
5) A tv station in Memphis conducted its own poll following the announcement of the bear mascot. Over 70% of the participants requested the return of Colonel Reb and only 8% approved of the bear. The remainder felt the bear was a bad idea.
All of the above should be independently verifiable, with the exception of the comments reflecting my personal opinion and speculation. Thanks.
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- Rick Chandler - Oct 20, 2010 at 4:07 AM
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You really didn’t set anything straight. 1) Far from being merely “a good story,” The Bear is hailed as a masterpiece in American literature. Its main theme is the exploitation of black people in the south; it’s set in Mississippi; and Faulkner is from Mississippi. Does a mascot have to have a direct physical connection to the campus? Are there Badgers running down the halls at Wisconsin? 2) From AP dated Nov., 2000: “The University of Mississippi has the legal right to ban spectators from waving Confederate flags at campus athletic events, the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled. The recent decision by the New Orleans court comes three years after Richard Barrett, a lawyer for the White supremacist Nationalist Movement, sued over the issue, claiming the ban violated his First Amendment rights.” 3). A lot of minutiae that obscures the fact that the song was indeed banned. It is no longer being played. 4). 5). Spin the results any way you want. An election was held, the bear won. The university released the numbers. That’s all I said. 6). Did you know that until 1936, the university’s nickname was The Flood? In an election for a new nickname that year, the winner was (not kidding) Ole Massas. But it was abandoned as being too awkward (Ole Miss Ole Massas), so Ole Miss Rebels, the second choice, was adopted. http://www.slate.com/id/2093335/
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- Bob Hovious - Oct 20, 2010 at 12:35 PM
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Mr. Chandler, thank you for replying civilly.
1) You called it a novel. I called it a good story. We can both agree it’s worth reading.
2) Barret challenged the constitutionality of game management policies which prohibited carrying sticks and large flags or banners into the football stadium. Nothing in the holding banned the mere display of any flag. However, the court did uphold the lower court’s finding that flag waving was not expressive conduct.
http://vlex.com/vid/barrett-vs-university-of-18420399
Please understand, I personally supported getting away from the “Rebel” flag. It was the extreme reaction of banning sticks to discourage flag-waving of any kind that was absurd.
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- Bob Hovious - Oct 20, 2010 at 12:37 PM
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3) With respect to “minutiae”, I disagree. The music from the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which was an anthem of liberation from the time of the Civil War, was stopped? If you won’t agree that’s absurd, will you at least concede it’s ironic? The University tramples on things that are good to attempt to stop things that are bad.
4-5) Respectfully, any “spin” is coming from the University. They even went to great pains to make clear that the “election” was only a poll. The university is a public institution and the complete results of that poll should be a matter of public record. It would be appropriate for them to just publish all the numbers from the poll so nobody could spin them.
6) Sure I know about the Flood. I’ve always thought that was a pretty good name. With respect to the “Massas”, I don’t attempt to defend anything about those times. They are ancient history, and they were not limited to Ole Miss.
Young black men and women have been accepted, and some celebrated as heroes, at Ole Miss since the 1970s. Here in the 21st century, all “Rebel” means at Ole Miss is someone who is on the team or supports the team. When a young man or woman suits up, we don’t care whether they are black or white. We pull for them because they are red and blue.
Because “Colonel Reb”, “Rebels” and even “Ole Miss” share common origins in the Old South, there is no principled stopping point short of completely changing the team name and ending the practice of referring to the University as “Ole Miss”. We should probably take down the Lyceum as well. It was the scene of our most shameful hour and it’s Greek Revival architecture definitely resembles the stereotypical old plantation home.
But, if “Ole Miss” is harmless now, if the team name Rebels is harmless (at UM or UNLV), then Colonel Reb is equally harmless and all this was unnecessary. That’s why so many of us are angry about the bear.
Thank you for your time.
