Monday poll: Get rid of the mascots?

[badger]

Anyone old enough to remember Mex the Dog?
http://kccollegegameday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/mex-the-dog.gif

Before there was a Schooner, there was a dog (and after there was a Schooner, there was another dog, but he was at basketball and wrestling, hehe). And now, there's the experiment known as Boomer and Sooner, which has gone though attempt:

http://www.soonerfever.com/coppermine/albums/nebraska_2005/normal_P1010024.jpg

After attempt:
http://graphics.fansonly.com/schools/okla/graphics/spirit-squad-mascot.jpg

After attempt:
http://www.campusbasement.com/uploads/slider/2pic.jpg

After attempt:
http://sharing.kypost.com/sharewcpo//photo/2010/10/18/sooners_20101018064237_320_240.JPG

Hey look, they temporarily brought back Top Dawg/Daug:
http://www.thelostogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/top-dawg.jpg

And, back to another attempt at the horses:
http://cdn.bleacherreport.com/images_root/image_pictures/0093/3833/horsepig_crop_340x234.jpg

They have removed the spikey fake red hair, the eyelashes, the pig-like appearance, the scary eyes, the fake teeth... is it good enough for you yet? Are these mascots still worthy of the trash bin, or have you finally warmed up to Boomer and Sooner, the costumed version? Has OU finally gotten the mascots right, or do you still wish they never happened and would immediately go away?

Three days of voting, vote anonymously and you can't (obviously) vote for multiple options, or change your vote.

[badger]

Even if you still hate the costumed horses, you have to admit that they have improved from their first awful iteration.

[Mississippi Sooner]

And up until sometime in the 1970s the Sooners had Little Red as a mascot. He was just a guy in an Indian get up that danced around a lot.

[SoonerofAlabama]

I am okay with them, but I do find it funny the transformation they have gone through. At first, it kind of looked like a teddy bear so they changed it and made it really angry looking. Then they at least made it resemble a horse.

[badger]

I forgot how pig-like the horse pigs' faces used to look... I could not find the original version, but it was actually worse that that first photo - they had hoof-like things instead of glvoes, and only wore a giant OU sweater (and no pants!) instead of a football uniform. They were beyond bad. Baaaaaaaad.

EDIT: Nevermind, here they are in all of their terribleness:
http://www.thelostogle.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/horsepigsboomersooner.jpg

[The Ghost of Mex]

Mex foreva...

[Mississippi Sooner]

By the way, if anyone claims they are old enough to actually remember when Mex roamed the sidelines, I might have to throw the flag at them.

[Jacie]

I guess none of ya'll remember this failed attempt to replace Little Red.


'OU Bug' a mystery
30 years ago
Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Originally published on Saturday, Nov. 8, 1975

What appeared to be an OU student dressed as a bug waltzed its way into Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and onto Owen Field preceding OU's homecoming clash with the Iowa State Cyclones, Oct. 25.

Was it really an OU Homecoming creation or just something "cute" brought to campus by the Cyclones who were going to "squash" the mighty Sooners.

Alas, none of the above proved true as the homecoming sponsors disclaimed knowledge of the bug's creation; Iowa State did not transport one of their crawling creatures across state lines, and OU mauled the Cyclones 39-7.

The mystic creature appeared again- but this time in Stillwater at the OU-OSU 27-7 match last Saturday.

Still, no one owns up to being the dancing, frisky creature. Will he grace OU Dad's with another appearance today or will he fall to oblivion like OU's former mascot, Little Red?

Alan Syler, chairman of the Sooner Rally Council, said Friday that the bug was not sanctioned by any university organization and should not have been on the field or at the OSU game.

Syler said a private corporation, the "OU Bug Corporation" presented the idea of the bug tot he Sooner Rally Council about a month and a half ago.

He said the corporation wanted to establish the bug as a mascot for OU, and to capitalize on the idea.

In order for a mascot to be established, the Sooner Rally Council must approve the idea,and then the Athletic Department must give approval. Syler said the council did not approve of the OU Bug and technically the bug never should have been allowed on the playing field.

"The OU Bug Corporation" could not be located for comment Friday- nor could a business listing be found for such a corporation.


During pregame against the Cyclones, the bug, coming from the South endzone, approached that ISU bird and the two of em met around midfield. There was some back-and-forth as the bug kind of shook a couple of red pom-poms on sticks at the bird. Then in a show of reconciliation, stuck out one of it's four hands (or maybe it was six) and when the bird reached for it, kicked the ISU mascot in the a** and ran away, dropping one the pom-poms. The bird, which has an angry-looking face anyway (possibly the inspiration for Angry Birds?) proceeded to stomp on the pom-pom with it's oversized bird feet as the OU student section booed. Most wondered if the bug was a creation of the OU student government, since no one I talked with thought the athletic department had anything to do with it. I don't recall seeing the bug at any other home games.

[badger]

By the way, if anyone claims they are old enough to actually remember when Mex roamed the sidelines, I might have to throw the flag at them.

:D


During Oklahoma football and baseball games from 1915-1928, Mex the Dog wore a red sweater with a big red letter 'O' on the side. One of his main jobs was to keep stray dogs from roaming the field during a game in the days when the football field was more accessible to non-ticketholders.

Before his career as a mascot, Mex was just a helpless 'dog waif.' Then, a U.S. Army field hospital medic found him in Mexico in 1914 during the Mexican Revolution unrest. Mott Keys was stationed along the Mexican border near Laredo, Texas, and found the dog among a litter of abandoned pups one night on the Mexican side.

Mex was adopted by Keys' company, and when Keys finished his duty and moved to Hollis, Okla., he took Mex. He later attended OU and Mex followed him again.

At OU, Mex's experience as an Army medic company mascot landed him the job with the football team and a home in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. He quickly became Oklahoma's most famous dog. 'A joyous staccato bark cheered Sooner touchdowns' at football games and a 'victory woof' punctuated home runs at baseball games. But Mex began to gain national attention in October of 1924 when the OU football headed north to play Drake.

Mex did not board the train in Arkansas City, Kan., as the OU football team and its boosters switched cars to head for Des Moines, Iowa, and the game. Missing their beloved mascot, the Sooners were shut out by Drake, 28-0. The headline from the Arkansas Daily Traveler on October 28, 1924 left no doubt as to the cause of the humiliating loss: "Crushing Defeat of Bennie Owen's Team is Charged to Loss of Their Mascot Here".

A 50-cent reward was offered. Mex was eventually discovered in Arkansas City pacing the train station platform. OU grads J.D. Hull, Hughes B. Davis and J.C. Henley recovered Mex and the men drove him to the next Sooner game against Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater.

Mex died of old age on April 30, 1928. He was so popular among students and faculty that the university closed for his funeral and procession on May 2, 1928. He was buried in a small casket somewhere under the existing stadium.

[pphilfran]

They are for the kids....

[agoo758]

I wish they would bring back Little Red. Too bad he was driven out by a WHITE lawyer who probably had no knowledge of Indian History.

[Flagstaffsooner]

They are for the kids....
So are tits, but do we see them on the sidelines?;)

[Mad Dog Madsen]

I hate those stupid ponies...

[WE ARE dirtburglars]

I dont see how anyone can "hate" anything OU related like this. These horses are great. Yes they sucked really bad at first but they made the changes and Boomer and Sooner now look awesome. Not to mention they are actually relevant to our school. I love them and hope they stay forever, or until something way more cool comes along.

[badger]

I dont see how anyone can "hate" anything OU related like this. These horses are great. Yes they sucked really bad at first but they made the changes and Boomer and Sooner now look awesome. Not to mention they are actually relevant to our school. I love them and hope they stay forever, or until something way more cool comes along.

A lot of the initial hate stemmed from the fact that they were the source of every other school laughing at us...

From BAYLORFANS.com:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b19/jeffnee/sooner_boyfriend.jpg

Think about that - a fellow Big 12 school that has never beaten us in football ever, despite the fact that they get a chance to every year (and every other year is in their dinky home stadium) was joining everyone else in laughing at our short-sighted mascot creators.

The other part of it was by introducing a horse pig or two, they were retiring beloved Top Dawg from basketball games. T'was sadness all around.

[MsProudSooner]

They are much more entertaining than they used to be and.......they are for the little kids.

[silverwheels]

I'm not a fan of getting a lap dance from what was most likely a dude in one of the horsepig outfits at a basketball game last season, but otherwise they are entertaining. Still miss Top Dawg, though.

[WE ARE dirtburglars]

A lot of the initial hate stemmed from the fact that they were the source of every other school laughing at us..

Think about that - a fellow Big 12 school that has never beaten us in football ever, despite the fact that they get a chance to every year (and every other year is in their dinky home stadium) was joining everyone else in laughing at our short-sighted mascot creators.

The other part of it was by introducing a horse pig or two, they were retiring beloved Top Dawg from basketball games. T'was sadness all around.

I understand thinking they were awkward at first but now they look great and people still hate them, I don't get it. Im all for keeping tradition but they changed our mascot and there's nothing we can do about it so now I support it 100% and don't see how any OU fan doesn't.

That's like your wife getting a new haircut that looks terrible but then leaving her or hating her for it...how about support her until it gets better! Come on people!

[EatLeadCommie]

God the horsepigs should have been a fireable offense for whoever was responsible for them. Just awful. What's funny is that I still remember the horsepigs but forgot about all the equally bad incarnations they went through to get to the now hardly-acceptable-but-much-better-though-still-freaking-gay version.

[SoonerinLondon]

Getting rid of them would be like getting rid of kids at Memorial Stadium. My 9 year old daughter has loved them since Boomer hugged her at her first game, when she was 5.

That's when I realized why they were there.

[mightysooner]

Boomer and Sooner belong at kids birthday parties, not on the field in Norman. Either butch them up, or get rid of them.

[70sooner]

And up until sometime in the 1970s the Sooners had Little Red as a mascot. He was just a guy in an Indian get up that danced around a lot.


The guy was an Indian and he didn't just dance around. I went to school with the last Little Red, Randy (can't remember his name) and he was Native American, an Arapaho, I think, but it's been a long time and I don't remember for sure.

[A Sooner in Texas]

We should bring back Little Red for the FSU game.

[StoopTroup]

Not gonna Vote.

I think you should let up on them. They represent the real Mascots and they have worked pretty hard to fix the original Image Problem they created by rushing the change for the Big XII Agenda.

I think that now you might be disrespecting the real Boomer and Sooner.

[Jacie]

I think that now you might be disrespecting the real Boomer and Sooner.

Dressing up a couple of students in "horse" costumes is disrespecting the real Boomer and Sooner . . .

[StoopTroup]

Dressing up a couple of students in "horse" costumes is disrespecting the real Boomer and Sooner . . .

No.

[47straight]

We should bring back Little Red for the FSU game.

Something pointing out that the real Seminoles are in Oklahoma would be nice.

[nativesooner]

And up until sometime in the 1970s the Sooners had Little Red as a mascot. He was just a guy in an Indian get up that danced around a lot.

Actually just a REAL Indian guy in real attire. Not to be confused with just some Italian guy in a store bought costume.... :D

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2005/writers/jay_mohr/08/16/hot.read/p1_mascot.jpg

[soonercoop1]

The horsepigs must go!

[70sooner]

Actually just a REAL Indian guy in real attire. Not to be confused with just some Italian guy in a store bought costume....


Bingo!~

and as an aside....


Never an official mascot, Little Red began appearing at games in 1953. He was an Indian who wore red tights, breech cloth and a war bonnet and was portrayed by Randy Palmer.[12] In April 1970, Little Red was banished by Oklahoma president J. Herbet Hollomon. The student court issued a temporary restraining order to keep Little Red from appearing at Sooner games.[12] Despite this order, Palmer showed up as Little Red for the 1970 season opener where he was met with cheers from the crowd. When Palmer was drafted after the 1971 season, no one showed up for try-outs to replace him.[12]

[delhalew]

I still can't stand them. My kids might feel differently when I take them to a game.

[Boomer.....]

I think they are much better than they used to be and I don't mind them anymore.

[Mad Dog Madsen]

The only change they could make for me to be happy is to get rid of them...

[soonercoop1]

Get rid of the horsepigs or leave them outside the stadium!