I've noticed that the trend of modern mascots is something more along the lines of an animal, fantasy character, or some abstract representational mascot Jose= quasi-animal Riktor= animal/fantasy Q= abstract, quasi-animal Thoughts?
Haven't most mascots in the past been in one of those anyway (thought probably leaning more toward the first two)? Still, great point. José Clash was obviously the scorpion from the Clash logo, though it's strange how many times he's changed physical appearance. The 1999 version seemed to look the most kid-friendly of José's three versions, while the 1998 version was the only one of all the Clash/Earthquakes mascots in which I've heard numerous people exclaim "WTF is that?!?" (mainly because of his disproportionately-huge head - even for a mascot - and because of the unusual mascot combination of an entirely hard-plastic headpiece with the rest of the typical mascot costume). Rikter was obviously "teched up" as he was representative of the height of Silicon Valley's boom, though ironically he first appeared about a year before the dot bomb crash and the latest recession hit full bore. It took a year for Rikter to finally wear the San Jose Earthquakes home uniform, much like it took the 1996-97 version of José to wear the Clash jersey. Q's connection is mainly to the 'Q' in the word Earthquakes and Quakes, and in the colors blue and white/silver. If neither he nor Rikter returns as the mascot, another possibilty from another thread a while ago could be a dinosaur-like mascot named Terry Moto who creates an earthquake when he stomps on the ground, dressed in the San Jose Earthquakes home uniform. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I'm friends with the guy who used to be "Bucky the Bronco" (SCU's mascot for those unaware). And yes that's what they got through. They get crap thrown on them, little kids kick them, the costumes are gross on the inside, hot and smelly, and they're not paid much at all. It's a thankless, and ultimately pointless job. Still remember the game he snapped and "accidentally" knocked a kid down with his tail after the kid had kicked him in the ass. It was fun to watch a bit of mascot revenge.
That's been my experience, too. I even saw Mickey Mouse getting kicked at Tokyo Disneyland. No way would I ever get in one of those suits and do that. The way people treat them is reprehensibly evil.
Then again, being the Stanford Tree has always been known as a sloshy, silly, wobbly-fun way to spend a year on campus. Although they (and the band, for that matter) finally managed to screw that up last year. Might be under strict boring guidelines now. Aw who cares about Stanford, anyway? Go UC!
Hopefully whoever dons the San Jose Earthquakes mascot costume next season (whether it's Q, Rikter the CyberDog, Terry Moto or someone else) won't have to go through that same abuse. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Some mascots don't have a person responsible for the upkeep. Sometimes they'll just have the suit in a box in some coordinator's office and people will borrow it for appearances, use it and put it back in the box, icky and wet. Within a week it'll start to smell. Imagine the smell by end of the season! When I did the Clash mascot soccer in '99, we were all impressed by how bad Talon smelled. I'm the homeless coyote, among the defunct, reimaged and retired mascots: At least Bucky's still kickin'. Sad part about the kids is a lot of times they're encouraged by older kids, or even parents. "Kick him! Kick the coyote!" But for every problem kid there are a dozen who are glad to see a silly fuzzy cartoon come-to-life, and that's the thanks I need.
Not all sports organizations have a designated person be the mascot for all appearances? I've seen that happen a few times and I could still never understand those older kids and parents encourage that. This is absolutely true! Despite what a few posters here seem to believe to the contrary, there are proportionately way more kids who like mascots than those who don't. That's why I hope that the San Jose Earthquakes has a mascot for next season and beyond (Q, Rikter the CyberDog or whoever else). GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
If this poll is any indication of what people "don't" find weird or creepy, who's to decide that Jose, Riktor, and Q weren't weird and creepy... I'm sure the FO is on top of it though...
I am not so drawn to the idea of mascots. They can be a distraction during games, if you are there in person (Talon of DCU comes to mind). They are great for kids, I suppose, but I'd rather see less of them rather than more. Back in the Quakes NASL days Krazy George was "the man!!!!" He was one of the biggest reasons the games back in the 70's had atmosphere, and it was a great atmosphere. I remember one game when George had the East and West sides of Spartan (it was open then, with no stands on the north end) alternating yelling "Earth" and "Quakes". It went on for nearly 20 minutes during one of the halves (can't remember which). It was great being part of that and I only wish I could even get back to SJ for a games to be part of that kind of atmosphere again. These days I go to DCU games because I am close to DC, but that experience ( as good as it is) is nothing like it was back in the days when the Quakes were in the NASL. GO Quakes!
I certainly hope so. Hopefully the mascot (whether old or new) will be introduced no later the start of the season. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Ok, here's a question. Have we heard anything on a mascot for the Quakes in 08? Or are we going mascotless?
Ideally, we'd know before the Holiday Season so that plush version of the mascot can be sold ASAP. Most likely we'll find out sometime after the first of the year, though. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
A LandyCakes pinata that walks around periodically popping his head off. Oh, and can we have Lew Wolff bobbleheads handed out for the first match?
We should get a real live panda(in a Quakes Jersey of course)to be our mascot! The panda will slouch around lazily and eat bamboo to fire uo our players!! And then we'll train our panda to attack The Scourge(mostly Becks and Landycakes)!!! This is my best idea ever!!!
Hmm... the only connection I can think of there is that pandas are generally native to China. But isn't Japan more known for earthquakes than China is? GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I'm not reading five pages of this discussion. I say bring Q back. I'm always a beer or two away from kicking his ass. And it's always fun to see him scare the crap out of the kiddies.
I say anyone but Q! We lose all creditability when Q is our mascot. I mean how can you take Q serisously? He looks like a Sesame Street character gone horribly wrong.
How typical is this? One poster says bring Q back, the next one says Q is the last thing we need. Oh, well, they say that variety is the spice of.....
I figure that the mascot is most decidedly NOT meant for the folks who inhabit these dark doorways of cyberspace - they are meant for the kids. I know my wife (the substitute teacher) has taught at schools where Q has visited, and he created a buzz that lasted days after the visits. Q was really good with kids, and from that perspective is definitely the best mascot the clash/quakes have had.