The Tulsa Drillers (AA, Texas League) are redesigning their mascot, so the old Hornsby the Bull decided to go out with a bang. Here he is jumping out of an airplane (“I regret nothiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinggggggg!) as a last, defiant act before his character officially jumps the shark.
I’d like to see the reaction of the random guy mowing his lawn when a costumed bull parachutes into his yard.
Anyway, old Hornsby out, new Hornsby in:
Booo! Hornsby was redesigned by “Mascot Doctor” Dave Raymond, who was the original Phillie Phanatic. So the Drillers’ new mascot is now a fat, jolly children’s cartoon caricature just like thousands of others. Get a load of this graph from the story on MiLB.com:
In 2011 Hornsby will be played by an accomplished performer who also plays a key role on the front-office staff. Such efforts point to a future in which the respect and responsibilities given to the mascot are commensurate with his or her (or its) value to the operation as a whole.
I hope that key role doesn’t require peripheral vision.
Don’t we have enough mascots who show no imagination of design and appeal only to small children? I call it the Barney the Dinosaur-ization of America. New Hornsby = Fail. Blowie = Greatness.
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The sky’s the limit [Ben's Biz Blog]
