Australias worst Mascot

Naming Australias worst mascot.
Initially one might consider this an easy task yet the plethorea of candidates could make for a very tough decision.
To help out we've compiled a list that you may like to peruse for inspration but please feel free to nominate your own candidates for this prestigious title.
Results published next week after a completely biased reveiw of responses.
1. AFL Freemantle Dockers(pictured right)

Yes it's Johnny 'the Doc' Docker with his stragly blonde hair and surfboard attatched who could resist cringing at his presence alongside elite sportsmen and creepily close to young children

Likes: Cheering crowds and the smell of surf wax.
Dislikes: The mob up the road in Perth and the other old fart mascots.

Enough said.

2. Soccer Syd and Sydnee of Sydney F.C.

These two have featured previously in this blog and we feel that

they cannot be overlooked in this catagory. Not only has the marketing focus strayed from the animal world into a strange humanly animated type region but they have created mascots that look as though they are giving an offensive hand gesture.

3.NRL Sparky the Eel Parramatta

Wow!! Wethink it is the lack of costume bulk that then leads to a grossly enlarged head that most disturbs us about old sparky here. The facial expression that reminds us of the velociraptor from jurassic park is sure to have the kiddies in tears of terror. Good work Parra!

It's Alive.

The West Coast Eagles have had their share of controversy throughout the year. It could be assumed that the club would attempt to (pardon the pun) fly below the radar on any issue that may even slightly raise the public eyebrow. Yet a casual peruse of the clubs website proudlydisplays the one -exhibit zoo that takes place at each home game.

Auzzie the Eagle (pictured) has been a fixture at subiaco home games for the past 2 seasons. With his trainer from the Western Australian Birds of Prey Centre(WABOPC) Auzzies role is the same as any other mascots. Flying high over the stadium to hype up the crowd. Auzzie has his own profile on the website and apparently his hobbies include "flying high and kicking the footy" The website then tells us that "Auzzie is well-trained, accustomed to people and genuinely enjoys his fortnightly football outings.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJznYFl210

Last year People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were vocal opponents to Americas Louisiana State University football teams attempts to replaces its sadly deceased live tiger mascot. Like the Eagles Louisiana describes the positive effects of a live mascot. As it can be used to deliver a stong conservation message. Yet with a prepared performance a thin grey line does exist between zoo and circus.

PETA lists Perth as a location where it is prohibited to use wild or exotic animals for performance acts.

What do you think is there a place for live animal mascots in Australia? If so how will West Coasts local rival compete. Do the Dockers need a wharfie doing cartwheels at the local derby?

Basketball Mascots Face Uncertain Future

With the NBL facing a complete overhaul in the coming year there is much talk about the fate of players, coaches and in fact the viability of the national league all together. This weekend will see the meeting of stakeholders,other relevant parties and Australian basketball officials. The future of the competition will be decided based on the recommendations of an independent review.
Prominent speculation is that the League will follow in the footsteps of the former National Soccer League (NSL)forming something similar to its A league.

The big elephant (or man dressed in an elephant suit) in the room that all seem to be ignoring is; exactly what will happen to our basketball mascots? The Sydney Kings and the Brisbane Bullets characters were buried along with their clubs this year. That awkwardly tall kings lion and silver suited lunatic lost to the special mascot place in the sky. Can we assume this is the fate of all of our NBL mascots?




The job desription requires them to jump through flaming hoops, flip over 5 cheerleaders, bring a crowd to their feet all of this while wearing a cumbersome mascot outfit. Is the League going to leave them out in the cold? If following in the footsteps of A League does it mean that the new mascots would also be the strange human kind that Sydney FC are now using.





All we can do is hope that the marketing think tanks fill the possible mascot vaccum with some quality characters. Also if the mascots have to be the bizarre human kind please pay attention to the structure of the costumes hands, at the moment Syd and Sydnee from Sydney FC appear to be flipping the crowd the bird.


Do you have any suggestions for what is potentially a clean mascot canvas?

CHEER SQUAD CHILDREN

During a casual peruse of the St George Illawarra Dragons website I stumbled upon a number of photos mainly of children.

Sounds disturbing, I know. I'm still attempting to decide if it is. The website proudly displays the dragons junior cheer squad. The Junior Flames. Aged between 7-12 years each player has their own, in uniform, profile picture displayed . Attached to each memebers photo is a short profile that outlines their favourite things, what they want to be when they grow up and why they joined the squad.

Holiday cheer squad camps are available and the children all look happy and healthy.

Grassroots is the catch phrase of a sustainable competition and unfortunately not every child can be the star player.So why is it that the website makes me cringe a little? Is it that I feel I'm watching an American teen movie or more that the profiles are a little too groomed with the marketing comb. How do you feel about primary schoolers with pom poms?

WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA YES IT'S A LION AGAIN!

South Africa is looking forward to the 2010 soccer world cup and in the attempt to get this into the limelight Zakumi the cup mascot has been unveiled. ZA apparently is for South Africa and kumi means ten in a number of African languages. Zakumi has green hair for pitch camoflage.

The Lion theme has been attended to previously. The first Lion being not only the first Lion but also the first mascot in England 1966 with World Cup Willie proudly sporting the union jack kit.

Recently though the Lion mascot hasn't bought the marketing highlights that may have been desired. The company responsible for Germany 2006 world cup mascot Goleo Lion (above) have filed for bankrupcy over less than expcted product demand.

At least South Africa has a legitimate claim to the animal as it actually naturally habitates the country.

What do you think is the Lion making you excited about South Africa 2010?

New Goald Coast Mascot more strange than cringe.

This month the Gold Coast Football club put their case to the AFL for entry into the 2008 season as the 17th team in the competition. Most importantly for this site we must take a look at the proposed team mascot. His name is Gary Clifford Irons. Fortunately it is not some fluffy animal personified into a football player. Nor is it a character that has been hijacked from an American basketball or football teams idea of a mascot. The inverted pyramid of a man resembles a lot of recent cartoon characters somewhere between Captain Hero from the Drawn Together animated television series and Mr Incredible. There seems to be an extreeme effort to make him seem very Australian and a really down to earth likeable kind of bloke. A lifesaver called
Garry who goes by the name Gazza. It becomes a little over the top in trying to tell us that yes he's Australian oh and a good bloke!
In his defence the marketing think tanks claim they were aiming at a younger demographic.
To be honest, due to reputation, I thought I'd cringe at anything the gc team produced but I'm a little more "creeped out" than anything else. It seemed to summon memories of AFLs last Gold Coast link. Maybe Mr Capper could make a better mascot? Just imagine the action figures?
What do you think are we a fan of the new gc mascot or would you prefer our suggestion below?

Blog reviews

The Sydney Morning Herald Sports Bloghttp: www.blogs.smh.com.au/sport/
reviewed on 11/09/08.
The Blog is functional and easy to use with large visual aids such as team logos and appropriate photos that let the viewer know quickly the topic. Such as the Logo of soccer Australia regarding the up coming match against uzbekistahn.
The performer of the week section may be a tool for creating loyalty to the blog. There is regularity to this segment and the simple focused question of 'this is who we picked, what do you think?' is simple to use and may draw viewer into other articles blog posts on their potentially regular visit. Another regular feature seems to be the A League segment where each round is reviewed with a broad question. This appears to be quite popular judging by the comments posted. Possibly an effect of the regularity of posts.
The blog seems to only have links to Herald articles and thus is limited. Video footage or audio grabs may have enriched the post possibly leading to a longer read time, greater viewer interest and comments leading to increased time spent on the blog.
The posts appear to have news sense with very current issues addressed.

Daves Football Blog http://www.davesfootballblog.com/
Reviewed on 11/09/08
This blog is based on the premise that "It's always football season somewhere." This is a quick and effective introduction that lets the viewer know what the blog is about.
The posts then confirm the premise of the blog with a large variety of footbal stories from American football to soccer and even gaelic football.
The news sense is relevant with current news within each code, as well as upcoming or recently played games being covered. Specific issues that may effect players being covered such as the post dealing with depression adds a depth to the blog.
This then extends to a formula where there is a commentry of the issue with a columnist style, providing an opinion that leads into a question. Viewer comments can then flow naturally from this point.
The layout is easy to follow with large pictures, relevant and varied links to online news reports video footage and audio grabs.


The Homeless World Cup Blogs http://www.homelessworldcup.org/
Reviewed 11/09/08
This Blog is attached to a promotional website for what is essentially a charity organisation or event. Due to this topics covered and content may have suffered. The blog relies on a mixture of fans that post news on the team that they support. One blog is simply the announcement of the players selected for the French team. This has no commentry attached nor any questions posed to the viewer that may engage them. No comments are posted by viewers, possibly a symptom of the blogs inability to engage.
The placement of the blogs link is prominent on the top left side of the website yet there is little with regard to visual additions that may draw in a viewer. This extends to the blog posts themselves there are no links to relevant articles, photos, videos or audio grabs.
Interesting event with many stories, profiles and general human interest topics generated yet the blog does not take advantage of this.