Latest news with #mascots
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Beyond The Game: WNBA Mascots Bring Chaos & Comedy To All-Star Weekend
While the main events of the recent All-Star Weekend were the game and skills challenges, all eyes were also on the league's mascots and their hilarious antics. Eleven WNBA teams have mascots, and they were all present for the exciting weekend in Indianapolis. And while many TikTokers captured moments with the mascots, not all of the character fun was seen by fans. The mascot, BUCKET$, sat down with The Blast to share some of the added fun the WNBA mascots have when they are all together. The wildly popular basketball-loving rabbit also shared a little peek at what it's like in the WNBA mascot world. WNBA Mascots Entertained Fans During All-Star Weekend At last weekend's WNBA All-Star Weekend, the mascots were out in full force! Present for the fun: Scorch (Phoenix Mercury), Skye the Lioness (Chicago Sky), Blaze (Connecticut Sun), Lightning (Dallas Wings), Freddy Fever (Indiana Fever), Sparky (LA Sparks), Prowl (Minnesota Lynx), Doppler (Seattle Storm), Pax (Washington Mystics), Ellie the Elephant (NY Liberty), and of course, BUCKET$. From dancing moments to playful pranks to hyping up the crowd during the two-day long event, the mascots stole the spotlight often. 'It's always a fun time. As you would expect, what is it like when you get so many characters, individuals, and actual mascots themselves, what is it like when you get them all in one place together? It's a fun time,' BUCKET$ (who will remain anonymous) told The Blast exclusively. 'We often do our own mascot antics with each other. We're just a bunch of characters, a bunch of friends. We're all friends. We talk with each other constantly, so it's kind of like when you go back to college, or going back to homecoming, so All-Star is our mascot homecoming. It's nothing but antics and charades and just everything you would think or imagine about having a group of mascots all together in one collective area. That's exactly what you get at All-Star.' All-Star Weekend Is The Only Time The Mascots Are All Together As one might imagine, it's not often that fans get to see more than one mascot at any given time. They typically stay at their home arenas, cheering on their team and hyping up the fans. But All-Star Weekend offers a change of pace for them, as they all come together for the WNBA star-filled weekend. Occasionally, multiple mascots may be together for a game, but it's not often. "Throughout the season, a mascot may have a 'birthday' at a game, or a team may do a kids' day game, so a couple of mascots might get invited out," BUCKET$ said. "A lot of us do get up sometimes with each other at some of those mascot birthdays and kid-based games." What Goes On Behind-The-Scenes With All The WNBA Mascots Together? BUCKET$ said that the behind-the-scenes moments with the mascots are fun, and there are no egos in the room. "We're all characters and we play to our characters strengths and personalities. Just the characters have their own personalities, it's almost like an acting role," BUCKET$ shared. "One person's character might be clumsy, might be a klutz for lack of a better word, might have two left feet and they're always kind of very slapstick comedy and always tripping over themselves, and you might have somebody else who is very outgoing, and then you might have another one who's super athletic and you see them doing trampoline dunks or riding a unicycle, doing flips, and all types of stuff, so everyone's kind of just those personalities that their character embodies, because they are characters." But behind the scenes, the mascots are just a "collective group." They chat about "best practices" and like to "talk shop," sharing what works for them in their markets. They also enjoy brainstorming new ideas with each other. "We like to bounce creative ideas off each other," BUCKET$ told The Blast. "As you imagine, it's a very creative group, so the think tank and the brainstorms and kind of just being able to ideate and pitch those ideas off with each other, and say, 'Hey, what do you think about this?' It definitely allows us to get the wheels turning." Let's Have Some Fun With BUCKET$! The Blast thought it could be fun to play a little game with BUCKET$ as a way to get a little more insight into the mascots' personalities. We asked BUCKET$ to imagine that all the WNBA mascots got together to do a "Big Brother" type reality show. And then we asked which mascot came to mind in certain scenarios. The Blast: "Which mascot would be labeled the troublemaker?" (After asking this question, BUCKET$ wanted to know if he could pick more than just one.) BUCKET$: "I would say the troublemakers would be, in no particular order, BUCKET$, Prowl, Scorch, Ellie, and Freddie." TB: "Who would be the flirt?" B: "That would might be the same group. The troublemakers might also be the same ones that are labeled as the flirts. Again, I would probably say, BUCKET$, Scorch, Freddie, Prowl, Ellie, those are the for sure flirts." TB: "If BUCKET$ had to choose one mascot to go on a date with, who would it be?" B: (Laughing) "That's hilarious! I don't know. I'd be curious to hear what people say. I don't watch 'Love Island' or any of those shows but I'd be curious to see what the people say. Would they go BUCKET$ and Ellie? Would they go BUCKET$ and Skye? That's tough for me to say, so I'd be curious to see what the people would say. Sometimes you see some things online from fans. I've seen things about BUCKET$ and Ellie." TB: "If one of the mascots had to be sent home for bad behavior, who would it be?" B: "Oh, it would definitely be out of the troublemakers group. In mascot terms, what do we consider to be bad? Because we sometimes can do things that the average human cannot do. It comes with the territory of being a mascot. So technically any of us on any given night. My answer would be anyone on any given night, but it might have to Prowl or Scorch. I really think this is splitting hairs, or fur." TB: "Who would be the brains of the operation?" B: "I really feel like that could be a coin flip and I would definitely say I'll put BUCKET$ in that conversation. This one is making me think a little bit. BUCKET$, and kind of makes me go back to that troublemaker group. The troublemakers and the flirts are definitely some brains there in that group. I would put Ellie in that conversation, Scorch, Freddie, Prowl, we all kind of just think in our own ways. There's so much talent in that room and so many great ideas that come back from different perspectives. So I feel that the brains of the group could be largely anyone." TB: "This would be a wild reality show." B: "I would be there for it. We just need a lot of closed captioning and some voiceovers, or a lot of thought bubbles or whiteboards so we can write down our thoughts and feelings." More About The Las Vegas Aces Mascot BUCKET$! According to the Aces' website, BUCKET$ is, "A black-tailed jackrabbit native of the Mojave Desert with origins in Utah and Texas." BUCKET$ "hopped his way from the desert to Las Vegas in the Spring of 2018." The story continues, "After a long trek in the desert heat, the hare was found resting behind Michelob ULTRA Arena where he was pulled out of a hat by his foot by the Aces who were in search of a new home themselves. The basketball team adopted the rabbit and nicknamed him 'BUCKET$.'" The rabbit has since become a "symbol of good luck for the Aces." In 2022, he earned his third All-Star selection as a mascot and was the WNBA's Mascot of the Year. You can see BUCKET$, and possibly interact with the energetic and friendly bunny, at home Aces games. Have your phone ready for when he hops on over to your section because you won't want to miss a photo opp with him.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol, Round 1 — Provincial
Flags versus campsites, mascots from Prince George and Vancouver, and Okanagan icons mark today's votes.


CBC
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Search for B.C.'s Best Symbol, Round 1 — Provincial
Flags versus campsites, mascots from Prince George and Vancouver, and Okanagan icons mark today's votes.


The Guardian
28-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Glory and Fury to Devils and Dolphins: Australian team names come full circle
The naming trends for Australian professional sports teams have come full circle, as fans and officials overlook vibe-driven monikers like Glory and the plurally-challenged Power or Storm to return to animals that bite, some 30 years after one of the great sports marketing revolutions took hold. The three most recent expansion announcements in the NRL and AFL have revived classic animal mascots, through the Perth Bears, Tasmania Devils and Dolphins from Redcliffe. The Tasmania JackJumpers spearheaded this return to more conservative, fauna-driven naming conventions for their entry to the NBL in 2019, even if the creature selected left mainlanders scratching their heads. Paul Kind, chief executive of marketing agency Total Sport & Entertainment and a former NRL executive, says that announcement signalled a shift in Australian sport. 'My immediate reaction was, 'oh my god, what have they just done, how have they gone from a blank sheet of paper and come up with JackJumpers?',' he says. 'But I now give them a huge amount of credit for it. It's got to feel like something local fans are proud to associate with, and the fact that it was uniquely Tasmanian connected with their community in a way that anyone who wasn't from Tasmania could possibly imagine.' The JackJumpers' on and off-court success – selling out more than 50 home games in a row and winning the NBL title in 2024 – was closely observed by those working on the state's AFL expansion bid. 'When the name of the JackJumpers was announced, there was a lot of pushback about that,' says Kath McCann, executive director of the club now known as the Tasmania Devils. 'It's become incredibly powerful, not just because of the attributes of the creature, but the philosophy of how they play and the success that they've experienced.' While the NRL's Bears and Dolphins were decisions by officials to resuscitate older brands, the growing appetite from fans for animals was highlighted by the statewide fan survey for the new AFL club run at the end of 2023. Across 6,000 open-ended questionnaires, 68% of fans proposed the Devils. Critters also dominated the next most-backed options: 9% put forward the Turbo Chooks, otherwise known as the Tasmanian native hen and the subject of a lighthearted campaign, and 6% suggested the Tigers despite the existence of Richmond in the competition already. McCann says there was a 'long tail' of suggestions, but the state's distinctive range of native fauna was the source of most – but not all – options. 'The orange-bellied parrot definitely found its way into the list, the handfish – quite a few fish actually, the Trouts were in there,' she says. 'The one that I thought was really interesting was the Auroras.' In the race for NRL expansion during 2021, the Dolphins beat bids from entities dubbed the Firehawks – a bird that spreads fires to help it hunt – and the Bombers to become the NRL's 17th team in 2023. The Hunters has been mooted as a possible name for the NRL's PNG franchise joining in 2028, though a nationwide poll will help make the final decision. 'It must be a name that at least 50%, 60% or 70% of the country supports,' PNG prime minister James Marape said last week. 'It must not just be a name, there must be a motif behind the name.' These discussions are a long way from a trend kickstarted by Perth Glory 30 years ago which opened up less precise, more abstract concepts as sporting nicknames. At the time an advertising executive called Jim Davies was responsible for the development of the new football club's brand. According to WA's Football Hall of Fame, he received over 800 suggestions which were whittled down to five: Flyers, Storm, Predators, Red Backs and Glory. The latter was chosen to differentiate an entity wanted to be known as 'contemporary'. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Arguably, a more creative outlook to naming conventions began even earlier, when in 1992 Adelaide basketball officials proposed the Lightning, a term both singular and plural. Although it was a novel name in Australian sport, the Lightning was actually chosen for its connection to history. William Light was the colonial administrator who in 1836 had chosen the city's location, and the new WNBL side echoed the city's NBL team, the 36ers. 'We liked the connection and the history,' former Opal and Lightning legend Rachael Sporn says. 'Then obviously, with lightning, you think of energy and power, so we loved the name right from the start.' Not long afterwards, Melbourne Storm and Port Adelaide Power both appeared, debuting non-traditional, singular nouns in Australia's most popular sporting competitions. Port Adelaide – known as the Magpies in the SANFL – were forced to look at creative solutions given the presence of Collingwood in the AFL, while the Melbourne NRL franchise launched a competition for suggestions. Young fan Cameron Duncan was pronounced the winner. However, Duncan revealed on a Melbourne Storm online forum last year his entry was simply the first one picked out that matched the named already chosen by club officials. Duncan wasn't able to attend the promotion where he was to be awarded his prize because he was watching the preliminary final defeat of his beloved Footscray in the AFL, now – for geographic marketing reasons – known as the Western Bulldogs. WNBL club Townsville Fire and later Bendigo Spirit, A-League clubs Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar and North Queensland Fury, along with Super Rugby club Western Force, leaned into this fresh approach, which reached its zenith during the conception of the BBL. Cricket Australia was desperate to distance the new T20 competition from the sport's conservative roots, and adopted eight radical names, two of which were vaguely singular – Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder. Another two were weather-inspired – Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers. The Sydney Sixers echoed naming trends in basketball, but demanded some logical generosity in cricket. Kind, who was working at the NRL in this period, says those unorthodox names reflected a specific marketing requirement. 'The BBL teams had permission to be a bit off-the-cuff and a bit more 'out there', because they were trying to present cricket differently at the time, they were trying to tip cricket on its head,' he says. At around the same time, NRL expansion side Gold Coast was finding its feet in the NRL. Their name the Titans had been selected ahead of the Stingers and Pirates, part of a brief theme of mythical beings like the GWS Giants and SE Melbourne Phoenix. 'The Titans were never going to be the Dolphins,' Kind says. 'They could have easily resonated with the Gold Coast community, but it wasn't cool to be an animal back then.'
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
All Confirmed New Mascots in College Football 26
The post All Confirmed New Mascots in College Football 26 appeared first on ClutchPoints. EA Sports revealed this week that College Football 26 will have 37 new confirmed Mascots in the game. Along with the 50 returning mascots from last year's game, EA Sports added over three dozen new mascots to watch on the sideline. New mascots are just one of the many ways the developer want to improve the game's presentation and authenticity. So, who's joining in on the fun this year? All New Mascots in College Football 26 Overall, the following new mascots are coming to College Football 26. Advertisement Swoop – Utah Herky The Hawk – Iowa Big Red – Arkansas The Blue Devil – Duke Big Jay – Kansas Willie The Wildcat – Kansas State Bully The Bulldog – Mississippi State Buster Bronco – Boise State Baldwin The Eagle – Boston College Louie The Cardinal – Louisville Roc The Panther – Pittsburgh Peruna – SMU Army Mules – Army Bill The Goat – Navy Mrs. Wuf – NC State Rufus The Bobcat – Ohio PeeDee The Pirate – East Carolina Rocky The Bull – South Florida Willie The Wildcat – Northwestern Butch T. Cougar – Washington State Benny Beaver – Oregon State The Scarlet Knight – Rutgers Scratch The Wildcat – Kentucky Truman The Tiger – Missouri 'The Bird' – Air Force Wilbur & Wilma Wildcat – Arizona Bruiser the Bear – Baylor Lucille – Cincinnati Shasta the Cougar – Houston Cy The Cardinal – Iowa State The Masked Rider & Red Raider – Texas Tech Zippy The Kangaroo – Akron Pistol Pete – Wyoming CAM the Ram – Colorado State Chauncey The Chanticleer – Coastal Carolina Pop Tarts Bowl Mascot – N/A Overall, that includes all the new Mascots coming to College Football 26. Additionally, all 40 team mascots and 10 school animals from the previous entry will return for College Football 26. Overall, that makes for 87 unique characters who you'll see throughout your experience. Furthermore, Texas Tech and Arizona both have two mascots each, making it 89 characters. Regardless, you'll see these mascots do their thing across a variety of modes. Whether you play modes like Dynasty or RTG, you'll see these lovable characters doing crazy things on the sidelines. However, take note that the Pop Tarts Mascot doesn't actually represent a specific bowl. In order to actually see this character, you must play in the Pop Tarts Bowl. Overall, this can be done in Dynasty, RTG, or even Play Now. In fact, Play Now will be the fastest way to see the Pop Tarts in action. However, this does not mean that Mascot Mode is returning. At the time of writing, EA Sports did not yet confirm if the classic mode would return. Nevertheless, we remain hopeful. Advertisement Lastly, for more gaming and NCAAF news, visit ClutchPoints. Furthermore, subscribe to our gaming newsletter for more weekly Related: College Football 26 presentation, uniform, & more details revealed Related: NBA 2K25 Season 8 Release Date & Patch Notes