Mascot

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND : The Yankees had a costumed mascot during the 1970s. On July 10, 1979, the famous costumed mascot the San Diego Chicken (who was working for the Seattle Mariners that day), put a hex on New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry during a Mariners/Yankees game in Seattle. This upset Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella, who then chased the mascot and even threw his glove at the giant costumed bird. After the game, Piniella remarked regarding his irritation at the mascot trend, "If people want to pay to see a chicken, they should dress the players up in chicken suits.

Re "Oregon forbids Native American mascots," May 20 Native Americans have faced numerous battles. They have been victims of genocide - and people continue to view them as mascots? Team mascots are typically animals, occupations and objects. With so many Native American mascots, are Native Americans part of that group as well? Nobody seems to care about the things these people have already faced. I am glad some are finally reversing course. Every board of education throughout the country should follow Oregon's lead and ban such offensive mascots.

The question has been percolating around the Rose Bowl for weeks, Granddaddy muttering under his breath, locals rolling their eyes, the arrival of party-crashing Texas Christian University reminding everyone of college football's greatest ongoing controversy. Why in blasted tarnation would anybody call themselves a Horned Frog? The actual TCU football players are welcome here, glad to have them, rooting for the kids to slingshot that stone into the schnoz of giant Wisconsin, blah, blah, bah. But as Horned Frogs?

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND : The Yankees had a costumed mascot during the 1970s. On July 10, 1979, the famous costumed mascot the San Diego Chicken (who was working for the Seattle Mariners that day), put a hex on New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry during a Mariners/Yankees game in Seattle. This upset Yankee outfielder Lou Piniella, who then chased the mascot and even threw his glove at the giant costumed bird. After the game, Piniella remarked regarding his irritation at the mascot trend, "If people want to pay to see a chicken, they should dress the players up in chicken suits.

From Michael Vick's involvement with dog fighting to Tony Gonzalez posing nude for an anti-fur ad, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hasn't had trouble staying involved with sports. After the death of Uga VII, the University of Georgia's bulldog mascot, PETA requested to Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans that the school use either an animatronic or a costumed mascot. "Like other dogs, bulldogs love to run and play, but their compromised respiratory system causes these playful animals to struggle for breath," wrote Desiree Acholla, the animal rights group's specialist in animals that are used in entertainment.

Jon Burt lives in Torrance, but his real home is eight miles away. Early each morning, he loads himself on his seven-speed black bicycle for the hourlong ride. His destination: Hermosa Beach, a town made iconic by the legends of surfing. Burt is a huddle of clothes, hunched over the handlebars, white plastic bags hanging as sentries. "Stuff for the beach," he says of the contents. PHOTOS: Turkey Jon He is wrapped in layer upon layer of warmth topped by a flannel jacket, ripped in places.

A mascot for the Dodgers? That's one of the changes Lon Rosen, new Dodger executive vice president of marketing, is strongly considering to "try to insert a little bit more energy" into things at Chavez Ravine. "I think two-thirds of the Major League Baseball teams have mascots," Rosen said Monday. "The Angels have a mascot, the Yankees don't have a mascot, Philadelphia has a famous mascot, but I don't know if it will work. We're going to take a look at it and talk to people about it."

Carolina Hurricane mascot Phil Madren, 32, had a seizure inside an ice-resurfacing machine moments before his scheduled debut in an exhibition against Detroit at Greensboro, N.C. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released. . . . The New York Rangers are now considering a deal for Buffalo Sabre captain Pat LaFontaine, according to reports. . . . Alexei Morozov, a 20-year-old Russian right wing selected 24th overall in the 1995 draft, signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Times reports that the San Diego State University student council has voted to boot its mascot, Monty Montezuma, after hearing Native American students complain that the mascot is "demeaning and racist" (Sept. 28). That is a wise move. San Diego State should not have as its mascot an emperor or a people whose acts managed to gross out the likes of the Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish observed as many as 20,000 war captives sacrificed to the gods at once in religious ceremonies on various occasions by the highly civilized and sophisticated Aztecs.

Temple's mascot, Hooter the Owl, was ejected late in the game Sunday after going on the court and gesturing at the referee following a technical foul. The ejection came with 3:12 left in the Owls' 68-62 loss to Penn. The man in the costume went on the court right after Temple Coach John Chaney received a technical for arguing with official John Hughes. The mascot approached Hughes at the foul line and made a gesture. He was given a technical and ejected.

Jon Burt lives in Torrance, but his real home is eight miles away. Early each morning, he loads himself on his seven-speed black bicycle for the hourlong ride. His destination: Hermosa Beach, a town made iconic by the legends of surfing. Burt is a huddle of clothes, hunched over the handlebars, white plastic bags hanging as sentries. "Stuff for the beach," he says of the contents. PHOTOS: Turkey Jon He is wrapped in layer upon layer of warmth topped by a flannel jacket, ripped in places.

Hollywood money Re " Mayor meets Hollywood ," Business, Aug. 25 Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did not need to meet with film executives to solicit ideas on how to make Los Angeles a more film-friendly city. The answer is quite simple: Villaraigosa should do everything in his power to assure that Los Angeles is the most inexpensive city in the nation to film in. Not only would this bring back thousands of outsourced entertainment jobs to Los Angeles, but it would also secure the support of Hollywood in a future bid for the governorship.

Apparel chain Old Navy is reprinting thousands of college T-shirts to correct an embarrassing error. The shirts debuted this month, featuring the names and mascots of dozens of schools including USC and UCLA. Printed at the top of each shirt are the words "Lets Go!!" The problem is that "lets" is missing its apostrophe, which is necessary to create the intended contraction of "Let us go. " Without the apostrophe, "lets go" means to release something. The shirts are part of Old Navy's new "Superfan Nation," an in-store shop that sells college- and professional-licensed sports gear.

I got my first lesson in Indians portrayed as sports team mascots in the early 1950s when my father took me to a Cleveland Indians-New York Yankees game. Dad gave me money to buy a baseball cap, and I was conflicted. I loved the Yankees, primarily because fellow Oklahoman Mickey Mantle had just come up and was being touted as rookie of the year. But being mixed-blood Muscogee/Creek, I felt a (misplaced) loyalty to the Indians. So I bought the Cleveland cap with the famous Chief Wahoo logo on it. When we got back to Oklahoma, my mother took one look at the cap with its leering, big-nosed, buck-toothed redskin caricature just above the brim, jerked it off my head and threw it in the trash.

Is the name Fighting Sioux an insult or a compliment? Even North Dakota's tribes can't agree on that one. What is clear, though, is that supposed leaders — in this case, the North Dakota Legislature — can get on their high horses about anything, putting personal agendas ahead of common sense. The University of North Dakota ran afoul of National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules that ban the use of Native American team mascots. The university has long played its games as the Fighting Sioux . After a long wrangle, though, both sides sat down and negotiated a reasonable agreement: The school could continue to use its mascot if it could win the approval of the state's two Sioux tribes; otherwise it would have to eliminate the mascot by Aug. 15. Some of the Indians liked the name, considering it an honor; Chief Sitting Bull was, after all, the heroic leader of the victory at Little Big Horn, where the Sioux were defending their rights to land under a treaty that had been violated by the U.S. government.

I was listening to the San Diego Chicken give a speech the other day, and he raised some excellent points about sports and the state of the nation, such that it is. The chicken sounded good, especially considering that he had just flown in that morning. Describing himself as the "Minnie Minoso of mascots," he talked about his five decades in the game, and how he thought baseball has the greatest sense of humor of any sport. "Baseball is the only sport where you can still hear the squeal of children in the stands," he went on to say, drawing more knowing nods.

I feel for the good people of Woodbridge High School who are being asked to stop using a Native American warrior as their school mascot (" 'Warriors' Spark Battle," Oct. 12). Perhaps they could choose another mascot that retains the spirit of pride they claim to find in the image of the scowling brave adorning their school. How about the "Woodbridge High Bandidos"? Or the "Menacing Mafiosi"? Then again, maybe the problem is that the image of the warrior unfairly emphasizes a violent stereotype.

A lifeguard at La Jolla Cove realized something was amiss when three neoprene-clad men with spear guns flopped from a boat into a marine ecological reserve. Soon after, he saw them wrestle something big and black into the boat, says California Department of Fish and Game warden Erik Fleet. When authorities intercepted the vessel, they discovered Blackie -- a 50-something-year-old giant black sea bass weighing 171 pounds -- skewered.

NBA fans looking to settle bar bets or simply reminisce about their favorite team's playoff run this spring will now have to search a bit harder. When the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expired, not only the players were locked out. A wrinkle within that agreement meant that NBA teams' websites and nba.com had to remove most images, videos and other likenesses of current players. Fans now see pages advertising a team, but no stories about the players on that team. Cheerleaders and auditions for cheerleaders are featured on some websites, but no stars.

For Chris Kaman , the strong showings are starting to outnumber the less-than-stellar ones. This was his best performance, in terms of production, in his 11 games since returning from his lingering ankle injury. Kaman, coming off the bench, had 23 points and 10 rebounds and two turnovers in a 102-98 overtime loss to the New Jersey Nets on Friday night. He was 11 of 17 from the field and seven of 11 in the first half. "I have good nights. I have bad nights," Kaman said.