May 15, 2003

HEY, KIDS, IT'S BLOGGIE, THE BLOGGING MASCOT!

Okay, so that isn't really a mascot. (It is, however, a cool pin you can buy at Wm. Spear Design.)

Anyway, as casual readers may know, Side Salad has struggled with the desire to find a mascot suitable for this fruitless but nonetheless enjoyable pursuit. First it was a dolphin playing soccer, then it was a rabbit, then a dolphin. Now? Now I don't know. I'm open to ideas if anyone has one.

What's the big deal? Why have one? Why string three rhetorical questions in a row?

Because mascots represent all that is innocent and playful about sports. People see mascots spreading joy on a playing field and it's as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. Memories roll so thick they have to brush them away from their faces. The one constant through all the years of sports has been the mascot. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But mascots have marked the time. This endeavor, this furry manifestation, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. It's more than a performance. It transcends the very nature of wha...

Aw, hell. Mascots are great because ... well, they're just about as goofy and American as things get. They're a non-verbal way of saying, "You know, you paid $1,500 for season tickets, but we're going to distract you from the game with an anonymous performer sweating inside an oversized body."

With that in mind, I've installed a permanent piece of furniture on the blog, the Mascot World, on the left rail of the page. Feel free to click your way through the links. They're all pretty amusing in one way or another.


Posted by Jeff at May 15, 2003 08:41 AM | TrackBack
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