Published: February 10, 2008 01:28 am            

TEEN SPIRIT: Hunting local high school mascots

Be very quiet — we’re hunting mascots.

Where is the General? The Red Devil? The Bulldog? After months on the trail, not a Brave, Hornet, or Dragon could be caught in the wild. Is school spirit a thing of the past? Not if three young men have anything to say about it.

Mascots have been a sports tradition for decades. Locally, however, these colorful characters are an endangered species at high school games. School athletic directors and cheer coaches around Southern Indiana report missing costumes, and no-show tryouts. Still, we managed to catch up with a few students brave enough to embody school spirit.



PIRATES PARLAY SPIRIT, SAVVY?

With no cumbersome wall of fuzz to don, you might consider Clifton Hodges, 17, a fortunate sailor. Donning a paper maché pirate head and a Jack Sparrow-esque costume before posing for photos with Charlestown High School athletics fans, he raises his sword to his neck as if to say “it’s your throat, next.” Fans encourage him to jeer at the opposing team in a threatening manner.

“It’s not really scary, though. Mostly, parents tell their kids to stand by me to take a photo,” says Hodges.

Hodges is uncertain of the exact details, but he believes the Pirate mascot came from a history of Ohio River pirate raids on the area.

“A history teacher told us there were pirate hideout-caves on the river. There was some trouble with a prince at one time, I think.”

Indeed, after months of research, the details are sketchy at best why the Pirates got their name.

“Last year’s yearbook looked like a pirate log, though,” Hodges adds. “It was a good tie-in with Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Hodges, an aspiring Eagle Scout, says the role takes time away from his schoolwork and projects, but he couldn’t help asking the cheer sponsor if he could take on the job. “I just show up and go crazy, and dance with the cheerleaders.”



THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE

Set atop the natural beauty of Floyd Knobs, it’s obvious why Floyd Central High School chose the name “Highlanders.”

Harold McDuff, the Happy Highlander, is currently played by Matt Payne, 18.

“I was asked by the athletic director to do it, and this is my second year,” Payne said. “There’s always a rumor that someone is going to take the head, so I keep it on my nightstand at home.”

The head is old, and difficult to see through.

“I wouldn’t mind being the red-bearded, ‘Braveheart’ kind of Highlander,” says Payne, who studies opera and classical music. “One of the previous Highlanders got a scholarship at UofL to play the Cardinal. He’s one of five Cardinals.”

Universities may be able to swing a team of entertainers to don heavy costumes and rouse the fans, but area high schools are struggling to keep their mascot uniforms in decent shape, let alone filled.

Many of the schools we contacted for this story were unsure of the location of the head, or the body of the costumes. And that may be with good reason.



WILD HORSES COULDN’T DRAG HIM AWAY

“Our mascot suit is 20 years old, and it smells like raw onions,” explains Chris Flowers, 16, of New Washington. “I figure it’s got 20 years of body odor in it. The bag [in which it is stored] smells ten times worse than the actual suit — I lost a shirt in there, and I had to stick my head in to get it. It was bad.”

“A new mascot costume costs about $700,” says Hodges. “The school won’t pay for that.”

“At least my suit is sweat-proof,” says Flowers. “I saw a Southern Illinois mascot sweating out his hind-quarters once.”

School spirit and crowd morale are a difficult job for a guy in big, unsteady head to manage.

“At first, I didn’t like it,” admits Flowers. “I hit an old lady at a pep rally once, by accident. And in the beginning, I got booed, and they yelled at me that I wasn’t moving enough. If the crowd gets bored with the game because we’re getting beat, they find something else to do. I don’t like being that ‘something else’ — if we’re behind.”

Being the mascot’s not all bad, though. “It makes you more outgoing. Once I got up to cheer at a JV game, without my ‘Superman’ suit, and I felt so naked. But it’s fun. I’m a sophomore now, and I’d like to keep doing it until I graduate.”



Leslea M. Harmon is a graduate of Oakland City University, home of the Mighty Oaks. She is a freelance writer in New Albany. She may be reached online at lmharmon.com or via e-mail at Leslea.Harmon@gmail.com.







• In his book about mascots, Roy Yarbrough lists the top non-threatening mascots as:

10. Mule Riders (Southern Arkansas)

9. Classics (Cedar Crest College)

8. Quakers (U of Pennsylvania, Guilford College, Earlham College)

7. Pilgrims (New England College)

6. Squirrels (Mary Baldwin College)

5. Terrapins (Maryland - College Park)

4. Violets (NYU)

3. Vixens (Sweet Briar College)

2. Ichabods (Washburn University)

1. Poets (Whittier College)

• Over fifty women in the U.S. military wear the rank of General or higher. Clarksville High School is quite progressive, by comparison, promoting scores of young women each year to the rank of Lady General.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.