Sometimes team mascots just want some love too. Surely many mascots get tired of being the happy-go-lucky fun-loving cartoon character whose main job is to fire up the crowd during home games by doing something cheesy like the age old “wave” or the more conventional, yet boring raise the roof guesture to get the fans excited.
While the lucky mascots get to dunk off of a trampoline during halftime, many of their costumes are just too bulky and are relinquished to the seats to annoy and titilate the fans. Only a select few get to show a personality of their own like the Toronto Raptors mascot who is known for devouring cheerleaders.
Sometimes things can go terribly wrong like when collegiate mascots try to do something hardcore like dunking off of an exercise ball but fail miserably and wind up crawling off the court in pain. Other mascots can get a bit testy, like during Playoff time when the Bucks mascot Bango went postal on Hawks fans.
Recently the Utah Jazz “Bear” mascot decided to get a little frisky with a Cleveland Cavaliers fan after the fan took offense to his holding a “I’m a Loser” sign in his vicinity. To make matters worse the fan gets ejected for protesting so vociferously. But it didn’t end there as the angry fan somehow breaks away from arena security and tries to bum rush the mascot one last time for stealing his hat. But the fan instead gets flattened at midcourt by the mascot who puts the smackdown on the angry spectator, then precedes to literally tear the fan’s jersey right off his back, making the evening something he’ll never forget. No word yet on if alcohol was involved but it’s a safe bet the answer is yes on both accounts.
I’m not sure if the whole thing was planned but it’s entertaining either way:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
