Andrew Kamenetzky: When mascots and mustaches go bad
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There is a large cross-section of sports fans that aren’t big on mascots. There’s an even larger cross-section of sports fans -- and in this case, by ‘sports fans,’ I mean, ‘the general population’ -- that aren’t big on mustaches, unless they’re above the lip of an NFL football coach, motorcycle cop or Burt Reynolds. (Not that Jeff Kent gives a hoot.) Thus, given the negative vibes that accompany both mascots and mustaches, it should come as no surprise that bad things would occur upon their worlds colliding.
Case in point, last night’s Western Athletic Conference tournament semifinal match between the Utah State Aggies and New Mexico State Aggies. ‘Big Blue’ the Bull, the USU mascot, ended up in a brouhaha with ‘Pistol Pete,’ a cowboy mascoting for the opponent. Why did this happen? Because the bull ripped the mustache off the cowpoke. Pete can’t help but react, attempting to tackle and choke Blue before cooler heads finally prevailed.
What on earth was Blue thinking, you may ask? Well, some wise apple in the crowd offered him a C-Note to swipe Pete’s ‘stache. Apparently, he didn’t think Pete Maravich’s namesake would react so angrily. I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict the said money man didn’t give the potential consequences quite enough thought. I mean, if you’re the type who bothers putting in the effort needed to grow a full caterpillar on your face, you better believe exception will be taken upon thievery of it. If that means violence, then put up the dukes. You’ll even take a bullet for that mustache. Hopefully, Pete netted a hundred bucks for his troubles as well.
WAC Commissioner Karl Benson was at the event but didn’t see the incident. I’m guessing he was too busy combing out his mustache to pay attention.
New Mexico State mascot Pistol Pete, left, chokes Utah State mascot Big Blue after he had his mustache ripped off by Big Blue during a timeout in an NCAA college semifinal basketball game of the Western Athletic Conference men’s tournament in Reno on Friday.