64 Mascots~College Basketball Mascots

Welcome to 64Mascots.com, the 2012 Edition

Please pardon the dust and the broken links.

I'm in the process of transferring 64-mascots.com to 64mascots.com. It will take a bit to change all the links, but it will be done before the 2012 tourney.

Sixers hire fan behind mascots' Twitter

Sixers hire fan behind mascots' Twitter

A hobby for a recent college grad became a full-time social media job.

Jerry Rizzo started unofficial Twitter account for two mascots competing to become the next Philadelphia 76ers mascot. In a clever PR move, the 76ers offered game tickets in exchange of control of the Twitter accounts. Rizzo agreed.

Now Rizzo is the social media coordinator for the team. Score!

Next question, will Phil E Moose (@PhilEMoose), B. Franklin Dogg (@BFranklinDogg) or Big Ben (@BigBen_76ers) be the next 76ers' mascot? 

Cast your vote at NBA.com. 

 

 

Capital One Mascot Challenge

Since 2002 the Capital One Mascot Challenge has celebrated college mascots. Past winners are lists on the site, along with videos of this year's nominees. Hey, BCS, even the mascots have a play-off format. 

The 2011 finalists are Nevada's Wolfie Jr. and Georgia Tech's Buzz. 

The wolverine that wasn't | Michigan Today

"Why doesn't Michigan have a mascot?"

via michigantoday.umich.edu

Nice background info on why Michigan doesn't have a live or costumed Wovlerine mascot. 

(Photo courtesy U-M Bentley Historical Library.)

Looking at the man behind the mascot | USA TODAY College

Looking at the man behind the mascot | USA TODAY College

A brief peek under the head with Jonathan the Husky, Wilma the Wildcat and the Duke Blue Devil.

(Photo submitted by Micki Fahner.)

Congrats to Jonathan the Husky, Mascot of NCAA D1 Champion UCONN Huskies

Butler Blue 2 was the mascot media champion of the tournament, but congrats are due to Jonathan the Husky, costumed of UCONN. (Johathan the live Husky mascot didn't make the trip to Houston.) This picture is from the National Championship game. 

 

 

 

 

In Honor of Butler: The Blue II Martini

A pic of the Blue II Martini (and recipe) offered at the Intercontinetal Hotel. Proceeds benefit SPCA Houston and the Butler Mascot/Puppy Fund. Pics thanks to Twitpic users. Of course he has reserved seating the bar. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fox 59 in Indy also did a short piece about the Blue 2 Martini. 

Prepared for the puparazzi? Butler Blue 2 in TMZ Sports

Butler's live Bulldog mascot, Butler Blue 2, is leaving on a jet plane* for his 2nd consecutive Final Four appearance. TMZ ran this sweet composite pic with their article about Blue.

Last year's Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianaoplis was a short drive from the Butler campus. This year's Final Four at Houston's Reliant Stadium requires a different ride.

Due to NCAA regulations, he has not been at Butler's other NCAA Tournament games, but he was cleared for the Final Four shortly after Butler made it in. Of course, he broke the news on Twitter. 

BTW, Blue has flown before to the IZOD Center (Meadowlands) for the Butler-Duke game in December 2010. (Duke won by 12.)

Quite the social media hound, here's Blue 2's linkage:

Twitter @ButlerBlue2

Facebook ButlerBlue2

Flickr ButlerBlue2

UStream (webcam) Life and Times of Butler Blue II

YouTube ButlerBlue2

FourSquare ButlerBlue2

and finally, a blog Life and Times of Butler Blue 2. (The last update was August 2008. Safe to say he's evolved with the times.) 

 *3/31/11 Correction: Blue will be flying on a fan-chartered plane, not the team plane. 

Shaka Smart, Scarface, & the Morris Twins

Shaka Smart was on the Dan Patrick Show (a well-listened to nationally syndicated radio show) this morning. A few things caught my ear: 

*His only hobby: collecting quotes. He has about 120 pages of quotes, which is uses with his team.

*He also likes to use movies, funny and inspirational. 

Dan said that was too deep and asked for another. 

Combining the use of quotes and movies, Smart went to a line from Scarface. Tony Montana, under the influence, says, "There goes the bad guy."  He likens this to people doubting VCU and used it to motivate his team. 

I thought this was sweetly ironic, in light of one the Kansas Jayhawks' Morris twins smack-talk before the Kansas-VCU tip off.  

If you haven't heard about that, here's a clip from an AP story on Yahoo!Sports after that game:

"Once again we felt like nobody really thought we could win going into this game," said VCU coach Shaka Smart, the budding star of the tournament. "Our guys have done a phenomenal job of putting all the doubters aside, all the people that didn't believe in us, and going out to do their job."

VCU guard Joey Rodriguez counted one of Kansas' vaunted Morris twins — Marcus or Markieff — as one of those many doubters. During a pregame captains meeting with officials, Rodriguez said one of the brothers offered him some parting words: "The run ends here."

"We'll see," Rodriguez shot back.

There goes the bad guy. 

2011 NCAA Final Four Mascots Pictures

Saturday, April 2, 5:09 pm CST

#8 Butler Bulldogs

Costumed Mascot: Hink

Live Mascot: Butler Blue 2 (will attend)

 

#11 Virginia Commonwealth Rams

 Costumed Mascot: Rodney the Ram

Live Mascot: none found

 

 

 

 

Saturday, April 2, 7:49 pm CST

#3 Connecticut Huskies

Costumed Mascot: Jonathan the Husky

Live Mascot: Jonathan the Husky (won't attend)

vs. 

 

 

#4 Kentucky Wildcats

 Costumed Mascot: The Wildcat (not Scratch)

Scratch is the Junior Wildcat Club Mascot 

Live Mascot: Blue, wildcat at Salato Wildlife Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The Butler, VCU and UConn pics are affiliate links to Replay Photos.)

Butler Blue 2 - Lift off cleared for Houston

With a win over Florida on Saturday, Butler reserved their spot at the Final Four in Houston. The team will go, but what about Butler Blue 2, their live Bulldog mascot who has not been able to attend the tournament games so far? 

via Twitter, @ButlerBlue2 announced after the game: 

"I am pleased to announce that the NCAA has officially declared me FREE to attend the Final Four in Houston. #freeButlerBlue2 is retired!"

Though he will be there in person,there is also a spiffy Butler Blue 2 mask available to print and wear. (The original Butler Blue 2 masks, sans astronaut helmet, were available in the earlier rounds of the tournament so Butler fans could support their team with Blue's likeness.)