Saturday, June 11, 2011

Some General Information Regarding Mascots

By Adriana Noton


A mascot is defined often as any person, animal, or object that is used to represent a school, military unit, organization, or brand name. It is commonly used within a high school, college aged, and professional sports franchise to project a sense of teamwork, luck, and pride onto the team and the fans. Literally almost all types of people and animals have been characterized as mascots from miners, kings, and firemen to ducks, sting rays, and tigers.

The specific type of mascot that is chosen to represent a team or other organization is typically one which reflects the desired qualities of said group. This is the reason why so many professional sports franchises have mascots such as warriors, outlaws, titans, kings, and raiders. The objects are often also intended to represent a local team or area's traditions or traits like their weather, agriculture, and historical background.

Many a historian will agree that using a school mascot began during the intercollegiate programs in America. The Ivy League universities of the country were among the first documented schools to use them to represent their various programs. Originally, the mascots consisted of home made and primitive costumes that certain students were chosen to wear to sports games such as football and baseball in order to rile up the crowds of students in attendance.

The ideas of these types of representations quickly became phenomenons and spread out to other schools eventually in just a matter of years. The first mascot of a college, whether it was an elephant, soldier, or bulldog, was solidified usually and kept alive as a permanent fixture for subsequent graduating classes. Most schools across today's United States can mostly still be recognized by their important and historical mascots, which have become significant aspects of their heritage and school pride.

There are presently mascots for practically every brand name, company, and sports franchise in today's existence and to most of them, their symbol is both irreplaceable and extremely important to them. These giant headed horses, fish, dogs, and other comical characters can help generate motivation and excitement for the group which they represent.

A mascot, particularly one that represents a university or high school, generates a feeling of pride and togetherness for the student body while also creating a feeling of brand awareness and good luck.

A big corporation will use the item for much of the same reasons. For them, adoption of a mascot to exemplify brand names and products will mean that the items will be bigger hits among young children and generally more memorable.

The job of mascots is often both a rewarding and highly difficult one. The person behind or under the mask, especially one who works for a pro team, is present at every game, both home and away, and spends the match entertaining the crowd by dancing and conducting various high jinks. They usually have contracts that specify additional appearances and projects they must adhere to as well. These can include things like visiting local schools, appearing in team related commercials, and attending important charity functions.




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