Yale searches for a new mascot

From Sports Illustrated:

"Back in 1889 when Yale students wanted an animal to symbolize their football team's grit and pluck, the process was simple: One of them bought a bulldog for five dollars from a local blacksmith. Handsome Dan, they called the fierce little creature, and a tradition was born. But when Handsome Dan XV died of a possible heart attack last January after nine years on the job, finding a suitable replacement for America's longest-running live-animal mascot was not easy. First, came a press release, followed by stories in newspapers and on radio about the school's search for canine candidates, as the release put it, "athletic enough to climb stairs, walk the sidelines of a game for four quarters and dodge out-of-bounds football players." Then Steve Conn, Yale's director of sports publicity, evaluated essays and photos from 40 applicants, and enlisted Chris Getman, Handsome Dan XV's caretaker, to help him winnow the field to 10. On April 26, as the Yale Precision Marching Band played How Much Is that Doggie in the Window and several hundred spectators gathered on the New Haven, Conn., campus to watch, the finalists competed to become -- with apologies to Georgia's UGA -- college sports' boss bulldog."

Read the article...

Entertainment in NBA arenas

GameOps.com points us to a recent article in USA Today: "NBA arenas: Fantastic or not?". Some highlights:

• Ten-year-old Austin Pawelka announces the starting lineups in Denver, and wants to be the next Michael Buffer.
• Every team except Boston has a dance team and every team except the New York Knicks has a mascot.
• Phoenix has Dancing Dads — overweight, middle-aged men performing a choreographed routine.
  
• Also in Phoenix: "The Suns also feature one of the best masters of ceremonies. Cedric Ceballos, a former NBA player, conducts contests, oversees promotions and introduces celebs at courtside with a flair unmatched around the league ... During a break at the game I attended, Ceballos coaxed team owner Robert Sarver out of his courtside seat to center court, where he was unceremoniously hurled feet-first, via a giant slingshot, into a set of rubber garbage cans."
• "There is a staple of cookie-cutter entertainment promos used widely in the league, but I found one universal truth: Fans love to see themselves on the video screen. Regardless of the promo — the KissCam is the most popular — they smile, wave and mug for all to see."
• In Denver: When a player leaves the game with an injury, the type of injury is posted — information that is normally shared only with radio and television audiences.

Raymond Entertainment opens mascot hall of fame

This month's GameOps.com interview is with David Raymond (the original Phillie Phanatic), and Chris Bruce (a UCA national mascot champion, and currently performs as REGGY the Purple Party Dude). They're part of the Raymond Entertainment group, and they're launching a new mascot hall of fame.

• Read the interview here
• Visit the Mascot Hall of Fame web site

Confidential to London Knights dj: Some songs for your team

Here are some song ideas for when your goalie makes a big save, or a player makes a big move, etc. Pardon the puns.

• Night Moves / Bob Seger
  
• Don't You Know What the Night Can Do / Steve Winwood
• Wonderful Night / Fatboy Slim
  
• Another Night (Another Dream) / Whigfield
• Fun Night / Andrew W.K.
  

Confidential to Kitchener Rangers dj: If you're lucky enough to have a game back in Kitchener on Sunday, how about:

• Hard Day's Night / The Beatles
• No More Lonely Nights / Paul McCartney & Wings (for when one of the London players is alone in the box)
• Scorpions / Lonely Nights
  
• Help Me Make it Through The Night / Sammi Smith
  

Singer fined for messing up the anthem

From last November, as reported on ABC News International:

A woman who fumbled a few phrases of Mexico's national anthem while singing the song before a soccer game in Guadalajara has been fined $40 for the blunder.

Guadalupe Madrigal acknowledged she got the words wrong while singing before an Oct. 30 soccer match between teams from Guadalajara and Monterrey, Mexico's Interior Department announced Saturday in a written statement.

Madrigal, who could not immediately be reached for comment, could have been fined as much as $880 under Mexican law regarding the national seal, flag and hymn.

Read the article...

Anthem singer forgets words to Star Spangled Banner

You've probably seen the video of this by now:

Singer Carol Marcil was the anthem singer for an exhibition game between Canada and the U.S. in Quebec City last Friday. She forgot the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner -- twice -- so she left the ice to grab a lyric sheet. But when she stepped back onto the ice, she slipped and fell -- and the game started without the national anthems.

Then on Sunday, she redeemed herself by singing the Star Spangled Banner on Good Morning America -- on tape, with a teleprompter as a back-up.

Article:

• Globe & Mail: Star-pangled blunder gets U.S. redemption
  
• CTV.ca: Canadian gets national anthem right for U.S. TV
• CBC: Quebec singer recovers from anthem slip

Did you know: Carol is the daughter of Rene Marcil, the past president of Hockey Quebec. (Source: Edmonton Sun)

Mother's Day baseball at 5:30am

The latest promo from Mike Veeck and the Saint Paul Saints: On Mother's Day this year, the Saints will start a home game at 5:30am. It's believed to be the earliest scheduled start ever for a professional baseball game. Veeck says he hopes the early start time will let fans and players spend more time with their moms. The sun will rise during the game -- as opposed to the normal sunset.

Link: Saint Paul Saints

Did you know: Actor Bill Murray is co-owner of the Saints.

Ottawa 67's playoffs: What music are we using?

The 67's are two wins away from the OHL Championships. Here's a sampling of some of the music we have in 'high rotation' this spring:

• Queen / We Will Rock You. Yes, we've always used We Will Rock You. But until late in the regular season, we were using just a loop of the "boom boom clap" part of the song. Now, we've started using the the full version of the song, lyrics and all, at least once per game. We also found a cool remix that was used in an Evian commercial, by "Water Boy".
  
• Van Halen / Right Now. The soundtrack to our opening video in the first and second rounds. (With a transition to Fatboy Slim's Right Here Right Now partway through.)
  
• AC/DC / Thunderstruck. The soundtrack to our third round playoff video. The buildup creates great atmosphere, plus it ties in to our thunderstick promotion.
• The Fables / Heave Away. Ian Robinson (from the Halifax Mooseheads) sent us this suggestion a while back, and it's a big hit at the Ottawa Civic Centre.
  
• The Zambonis / Drop That Puck. We use this at the start of every game for the opening face-off, right after the National Anthem. I heard fans chanting the song before we started playing it, in anticipation. Cool.
• Loverboy / Lovin' Every Minute of It. A great song that we've been using after some of our goals ... gives a great feeling in the rink.
• Batman (old TV Theme). A pun on our goaltender's name (Danny Battochio). We'll play this once or twice per game, supported with a video graphic featuring Battochio's name inside a Batman logo.
  

Another note: We're hardly using any "top 40" or "filler" music in our playoff games -- it's all call-response and situational. Our fans are eager to clap along, thanks in part to a thunderstick giveaway, so we're catering to that.

(More hockey music via hockeymusic.ca)

Ottawa's Spartacat mascot visits Wisconsin

From an Ottawa Senators press release:

"The Ottawa Senators mascot and Ambassador of Fun, Spartacat, is
taking the popular Senators' education programs - Spelling with Sparty
and Scotiabank Read to Succeed - to 135 students at Chain O'Lakes
Elementary School in Waupaca, Wis. Tuesday, April 19 and Wednesday,
April 20."

Read more...

"Screech the Eagle" is the new mascot for Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals introduced "Screech the Eagle" on Sunday as their new mascot. Perhaps inspired by the San Diego Chicken's debut, Screech busted out of an egg before the game at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

Screech is a friendly-looking bird, with long yellow legs, a white Nationals jersey, and a really big, round white head.

From the Washington Post: "Team officials would not provide information about the person inside the Screech costume, or let that person be interviewed, saying they did not want to distract from Screech's personality and character. Although that person never will speak in his or her own voice from inside the costume, it is possible that the mascot will at some point make some kind of screeching noise to cheer the team on, the officials said."

• Video feed from NBC4.com
• Washington Post: The Newest Eagle Has Landed
• Washington Examiner: Nats hatch a new mascot
  

Did you know:

• The Nationals are the third Washignton pro team to use an eagle as their mascots. The Washington Capitals have had Slapshot since 1995, and Talon was introduced in 1996 by D.C. United soccer.
• UPDATE: At least two other teams have used an eagle, according to an anonymous comment on this site: "The Washington Freedom (WUSA Womens Soccer) also had an Eagle Mascot, and so does American University. (NCAA Div 1) Thatsalotta Eagles!"