Mascot Tails
Category: WebExtras
Admit it: You want to know more about what it’s really like to shoulder the weight of a massive costume head, not to mention the responsibility of being a school’s most reliable, perhaps most visible embodiment of spirit. We did, too, which is why we asked Paul Walsh for more of the scoop on his days as the Towson Tiger. Read on for all the other good stuff that we just couldn’t fit in the print issue. …
On inadvertently scaring small children:
“My favorite things in being a school mascot were relating to the little kids who would come to sporting events with their folks and with alumni. [They would] really just spend the entire basketball game saying ‘Ooh, ooh, I want to go see the tiger, I want to go see the tiger.’ Then when you went over to see them, you were just too big, you were 7 ½ feet tall, and as long as you were over there … but you get close to say hi after they’ve been saying hello all game, and they’d start crying and carrying on. You want to say ‘I’ll come back later,’ but you can’t talk.”
On false mascot bravado:
“Some mascots get carried away and don’t treat other mascots like there’s a real person in there that’s not going to take kindly to the fact that you’re beating on them.
“Generally, when you [and your team] visit another school, you’re humble. [The mascots] shake hands, start with your fists up and pantomime a fight. Sometimes it doesn’t turn out to be pantomime.
“There was a basketball game against the [University of Maryland, College Park] Terps at Cole Field House. I was new at being the tiger. Mascots can talk to one another, and [Testudo, the University of Maryland’s Diamondback terrapin mascot] said, ‘Why don’t you give me a piggyback ride?’ I did, and the next thing I knew, he starts beating on my head, and he had his finger up, like he was saying he was No. 1 and that he had dominated the tiger.
“I figured OK, well, duh, I should’ve seen that one coming. The next time out, in between quarters, he came back around and said, ‘This time, I’ll give you a piggyback ride.’ And I figured OK, now it’s my chance to bang on your head and hold up the big No. 1 for Towson. We get out there, I hop on his back, and he starts to spin. All I could do was hold on. I couldn’t bang him in the head, I couldn’t let go with one hand—I would’ve gone flying. And I’m thinking, ‘Son of a gun, he got me again, I’m really embarrassed for myself and for the tiger.’
“So he sets me down, I guess to watch me stumble around dizzy, and he puts his fists up, [saying] ‘Time to fight.’ I’m thinking yes, indeed, now we’re talking about something I can do. There was only one punch, and it was mine. I hit him as hard as I could, smack in his little turtle jaw, and he walked away—which is what you’re supposed to do.”
On his extra motivation to keep the mascot gig:
“I was officially, although not ever named, part of the cheerleading squad in that we would have practices together and travel together. If I was going to a football game, I would travel with the cheerleaders. … I could have driven myself and nobody would have given me a second’s notice, [but] I kind of gravitated to the cheerleaders for some reason that escapes me. They were very good about it, and they were good to the tiger, too. They were good sports when the tiger would flirt with them in front of several thousand people.”
On making the tiger his own:
“When I was still the tiger, I built a wooden-frame mannequin [to hold the costume] next to the front door of my apartment. The mannequin’s arms were up, and when you walked into the apartment, you would encounter a 7-foot-tall tiger.
“The costume was kind of mine; nobody ever asked for the suit back. [The university administration] would call and say, ‘We have an event we’d like you to appear at.’ I did it all myself.
“After I graduated, I was about to deliver the costume back when [the administration] said [it] didn’t have anyone to be the tiger and asked if I would continue as an alum. I ended up getting a second degree and kept doing [tiger appearances] for another year.
“Once I graduated with my second degree, I washed the suit, sewed it up and turned it in. It was a different time then; the public relations department said, ‘We should really think about what we do with the suit, we should send it out for repairs.’”
On passing down his mascot wisdom to Eubie:
“I had heard that the [new] bee was coming, but I didn’t know who was going to be the bee. I thought it would be kind of cool to go volunteer. I had the opportunity to talk to him beforehand, and it was fun for me. I told him how to stand, who to look for in the crowd, how to give a high five.
“The hard part is watching somebody else [perform as a mascot]. It was hard to watch the bee that first day. But he did a great job on his debut. I’ve seen him at other events, like the soft opening for [UB’s] Barnes & Noble, and he walked most of the way there—no escalator, no [escorts]—he just walked across campus and was willing to go through midtown Baltimore in costume.”
Paul Walsh and Eubie
Paul Walsh and Eubie
Paul Walsh and Eubie
Paul Walsh and Eubie
Paul Walsh and Eubie
Paul Walsh and Eubie
The Towson Tiger is, of course, front and center in the cheerleading squad’s 1986 team photo.
The Towson Tiger is, of course, front and center in the cheerleading squad’s 1986 team photo.
You have to wonder if mascot insurance was an option: For Towson’s 1985 homecoming celebration, the tiger (not Walsh, in this instance) makes a grand entrance.
You have to wonder if mascot insurance was an option: For Towson’s 1985 homecoming celebration, the tiger (not Walsh, in this instance) makes a grand entrance.
this and previous two photos courtesy of Paul Walsh
this and previous two photos courtesy of Paul Walsh
Read the Main Article
Mascot Tails
Learn more about what it’s like to shoulder the weight of a massive costume head, not to mention the responsibility of being a school’s most reliable embodiment of spirit.
