Mascot amends

During the NCAA First Four tournament last year, I spent a good deal of time running away from Sparky, Arizona State University’s sun devil mascot. Costumed mascots terrify me.

This year, in a cathartic attempt to overcome this fear before I step into a career in sports, I decided to challenge myself to get to know each of the eight mascots leading their spirit squads, speed-dating style.

Meet the mascots — and some honorary peppy people — of the NCAA First Four.

Sammy Seahawk

Wagner College

Sammy hails from Staten Island, New York. He’s pretty confident that he could dunk on LeBron James. He has a fondness for Phillie Phanatic, the Philadelphia Phillies mascot, likely because they are both birds of a green feather. Sammy has Wagner all the way. 

Simonne Legette

Howard University

Stepping in for the Howard Bison was cheer captain Simonne Legette. Between halves, Simonne put down the pompoms to drop some Howard University lore. The school’s rival happens to be the Hampton University Pirates, making their biggest costume competitor Petey the Pirate. Simonne would choose Drake’s “The Motto” as her walk-out song, and she had high hopes for Howard making it to the championship. 

CAM the Ram

Colorado State University

CAM the Ram — the costumed one, not his livestock counterpart — gets his name from the school’s former moniker, Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College. CAM sees himself as a role model for mascot-kind, and he isn’t a big fan of rival mascot Chip from University of Colorado. Who he is a fan of, however, is Taylor Swift. He was rocking his own Swiftie-style friendship bracelet. His album of choice? 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The “Blank Space” on his championship bracket goes to Colorado State. 

Cavman the Cavalier

University of Virginia 

While bouncing back and forth like a video game character — which he did not appreciate me pointing out — Cavman name-dropped Virginia Tech’s HokieBird as his biggest rival, but wouldn’t share details on the feud. His favorite song to walk out to is of course the university’s fight song, "The Good Old Song,” and he was fighting hard for the Cavaliers to make it to the next round of the tournament.

Rashaundra Warren

Grambling State University

The Grambling State mascot, Eddie the Tiger, didn’t travel to Dayton, but the school’s pep band showed out in full force. Their all-camouflage attire didn’t blend in; the whole section stood out among the crowd of fans. Sitting front row with her trumpet in hand was Rashaundra, who was pumped to step in for Eddie and answer a few questions. Her favorite dinosaur is the tyrannosaurus rex, and her breakfast food of choice is a breakfast burrito. She’s hollering “G-S-U” all the way to the championship.

Champ Bobcat

Montana State University

I was stood up by Champ. :(

Chip the Buffalo

University of Colorado 

Chip was quite upset that CAM the Ram called him out. Nonetheless, he stayed in good spirits as he shared that the school's fight song, “Fight CU,” is his one and only choice for a walk-out song. When it comes to breakfast foods, however, he loves them all. Chip had two horns up in support of his squad making it all the way this year.  

Buster Bronco

Boise State University

Buster Bronco was the final boss for me. The only thing scarier than mascots for me is horses, and Buster checked off both of those boxes. I had to bring out the hard-hitting questions for him. He took some reflection time to ponder if he’d rather go up against a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses. In the end, he settled on commanding an army of 100 tiny horses. Buster also was keyed into the meaning of life, which he declared simply was “winning.” He was hoping that coveted answer would send Boise State on to the next round of the tournament.

Up next

After this week — and nearly five years of avoiding it — I think it's about time Rudy Flyer and I meet.