I’ll chime in while I’m waiting for my 3:00 meeting- not that it will do any good.

 

But if we learned anything from ol’ Slip Madigan it’s a little bit of PT Barnum can go a long ways.  Sports and entertainment are intertwined.  It’s good to provide a whole experience for the audience.  It’s good to be unique and exciting and fun.  It’s good to have an identity.

 

Mascot:  Now… I’m no fan of the “fuzzy mascot.”  (Accept, of course, the Crazy Crab… but that was sorta the anti-fuzzy mascot)  If it’s not Disneyland or the 6th inning at Milwaukee Stadium, I cringe if see people wearing a stupid enormous foam head.  Maybe some kids like them.  But some kids also like clowns and I hate clowns.  I’ll admit some fuzzy mascots are better than others.  SJ Sharky is not bad.  But most are awful unbalanced teetering monstrosities.  Both the SMC Caveman and “GaelForce One” blow-up knight thing fall into the bad category.  They’re embarrassing.  But no other fuzzy mascot in the league is any better.  Better for me would be not to have it.  So ask, what’s your target audience with those things?  The college kids and the alumni and “Joe Fan” are not going to respond well to the fuzzy mascot.  They’re annoying.  (Not the fans, the mascots)  But kids might like ‘em. It’s cartoonish, non-threatening, you can take your picture with it and get a hug, etc.   If you need/want to appeal to that younger demographic, keep it, otherwise, come up with something different.

 

If we have to have a mascot, I’d rather see something more menacing. And something more real. And I’d like to see something that helps answer the moronic question, “What is a Gael?” (Or, at least our interpretation.) Now… You don’t have to go “all things Irish” (For the record, I myself am not all things Irish.)  It’s not a heritage thing it’s an identity.  Notre Dame has done this well for 100 years. So… The idea of a group of “Braveheart” type warriors is good.  Just have ‘em come out pre-game, with kilts, war-paint and swords, banging on their shields in a threatening rhythm and shouting the Gaelic equivalent of “rock chalk Jayhawk”- whatever the f that means.  A Gaelic-type haka dance maybe?  Whatever- Get people fired up for battle.   Another thing that’s already set for us is the song “The Gael.”  We should have commandeered that one a long time ago.  I think drums and war-pipers playing the  “The Gael” outside as fans file in or to pipe in the team would be pretty damn cool and, again, unique.  (For instance, I would have enjoyed these kids from Texas piping in our boys during the Sweet 16 run. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipoygLKbZ_s )  Or just play “The Gael” over the PA system.  Whatever.  It kicks ass.  (Or have her do it- 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg1xqAjQ5e4&feature=related )

 

Now… It doesn’t need to look like we stepped out of a lame Renaissance Faire or the Highland Games.  But there are plenty of active people in the community who could be enlisted to help provide a certain unique atmosphere. I know there are bagpipe clubs in the Bay Area, there are Irish and Scottish heritage groups that dance and play music and chuck axes and throw swords and stuff.  Get ‘em on board!  Most would do it for free.  Just make it a regular gig.  When I was a kid I was in a band and we played all over at events and things just like this.  It was fun.

 

Which brings me to THE BAND.  You need a band.  Again, ol’ Slip figured this out.  Do the math.  How does a small all-boys college with 300 students have a football team with 50+ players, a 100 strong marching band (with Majorette!!) and a 500-member student section at every game?  Slip got professional musicians to play for St. Mary’s in the marching band and gave free tickets to high-school kids to fill up the student section.  Perception is reality my friends.  I don’t give a rat’s ass who makes up the band- students, alumni, people who just like to rock- it shouldn’t matter.  In fact, I think having a mix is fantastic.  (Especially bridging both alumni and students.   We’re a community damn it!)  Anyway, just get them playing again.

 

BTW: MJ’s idea of a school tartan is good.  You could weave the pattern into a lot of different things.  I’d buy the school tie.  Maybe we should scrap talking to the athletic department about all this and go to the SMC marketing department?  This is as much about dollars as entertainment.  Another thing Slip taught us.