Wimpy Mascot?
TLM suggested in an earlier comment that Penn State's mascot was wimpy.The Nittany Lion wimpy? lol. Our mascot may be the smallest of the animal mascots that colleges and universities, because the outfit is person-sized w/o padding. The process of picking a person is strenous - the Nittany Lion is expected to do one-armed push-ups after each touch down and kick. The number of push-ups he does is equal to the score on the board at that time.
This isn't often seen on televised games, but the students see it after every score. Also, the Lion doesn't just hang out with the cheerleaders. He is running up and down the stairs of the stadium, all over the arena. Students frequently carry him over their heads, passing from hand to hand, from the bottom to the top of the seats. I'm amazed that he doesn't get dropped and get hurt!
Here are some links if you'd like to read up more on the Nittany Lion mascot:
http://www.clubs.psu.edu/cheerleading/nittanylion.html
http://www.clubs.psu.edu/cheerleading/lionalbum.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/news/1999/08/27/purdue_pete/
http://www.raymondeg.com/news.cfm?nf_nfid=35
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/d/a/daj166/HowIBecame.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In related Penn State news, coach Joe Paterno is under fire from the National Organization of Women for statement he made the day before the Orange bowl last week (this is from the AP report):
... when a reporter asked about Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson, who was accused of sexual assault and sent home before Tuesday's game.
Paterno replied by talking about past suspensions of Penn State players. He then added: "There's some tough - there's so many people gravitating to these kids. He may not have even known what he was getting into, Nicholson. They knock on the door; somebody may knock on the door; a cute girl knocks on the door. What do you do?"
"Geez. I hope - thank God they don't knock on my door because I'd refer them to a couple of other rooms," Paterno continued. "But that's too bad. You hate to see that. I really do. You like to see a kid end up his football career. He's a heck of a football player, by the way; he's a really good football player. And it's just too bad."
The entire press conference hasn't been aired that I have seen, nor have I seen a transcript of the whole statement. The part of the video that has been shown does show a JoePa that was somewhat stumbling for words, and did sound stupid and crass. I think he should apologize but I don't think he should be forced to resign. Hopefully he'll realize what he said and I hope that he didn't mean it.
For more info, check out the Philadelphia Daily News article. Also, the story from the Associated Press.
posted by dddragon at 5:20 PM
11 Comments:
I would like to respond in some way to this post, but when it comes to sports, I'm as bright as Brittany Spears.
I didn't mean to imply that your whole mascot is wimpy... I just think the skinny cat suit dude needs to bulk up a little bit. (Those push-ups should certainly help though!) Couldn't you folks go into the mountain areas and capture a real life Nittany Lion to use? That would be very intimidating for an opponent seeing one of those on the sidelines. You could train it to attack helmets with Buckeye stickers on them... Think about it.
As for JoePa, I don't think he said anything too awful He didn't mean it to sound that way. It was tactless, for sure, but not worthy of such scorn from those crazy shrews at N.O.W.
1) He's old, so he should be excused, and
2) His interpretation of what happened with Nicholson is probably pretty darn accurate. Even the media isn't buying the girl's story.
oh, I should have mentioned that there hasn't been a mountain lion in PA for a long time. There are occasional reports of sightings, but nothing fer shure. When I was a student there 1977-1981 a couple of times someone brought their "pet" mountain lion. I've got photos somewhere.
The mascot is strong for sure!
On JoePA. He came off like a jack@ss. But he's a couch, not a public relations man. So, I don't think he should be forced out over this. He should apologize. I know it's true that some girls throw themselves at a lot of players, but that's no excuse for a player to attack a girl.
JoePA will show his colors on this one I bet. He WON'T apologize. I'm afraid his ego is outsized.
The reporters should apologize too. Why are they asking JoePA about this player? He's not a Penn State player.
Allegedly attacked a girl... No charges filed. (I wouldn't be at all surprised if they never are.)
But you're right. It was stupid to even ask him about it.
I don't think what JoePa said merits any discipline. Anybody could have said that, meant it, and it's true.
I am not a Penn State fan, but I AM a fan of that poor Nittany Lion, getting hoisted all over the stadium. What a daredevil.
I miss the Worcester IceCats mascot, Scratch. I always though skating around with that HUGE custome on must be hard.
In general, I think mascots are very fit, athletic people.
The Nittany Lion mascot is da bomb.
I agree with you about JoePa's comments. He should just apologize, and we all move on. I think mostly he was just inarticulate.
I agree with you guys. He was fumbling for words and he blew it. An apology is definitely in order.
Let's put him on a five-second delay.
I'd like to be as wimpy as your mascot. That way, I could easily do one-armed push ups and run stadium stairs.
Wimpy? No way!
I'm not familiar with this situation, but from the quote you posted, he sure sounded like he was rumblin, bumblin, stumblin for words.
Speaking of words...Actonbell, you beat me to it - TLP said JoePa is a couch! Teehee!
I can laugh you see because I would never ever make a typo. ;)
The coach said all that? What exactly did he say? I read it, and still do not know. Is that even english?
The sad part is the coach probably gets paid more than the entire Engligh department.
Post a Comment
<< Home