The Yale Bulldogs mascot, Boola the Bulldog, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #88 of 352. (View reference images.)
Harvard Crimson – No. 708
The Harvard Crimson mascot, a hideous distortion of John Harvard (who was a puritan clergyman from England), is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #87 of 352. (View reference images.)
Jim Jarmusch – No. 707
Jim Jarmusch is an American independent filmmaker, script writer and composer. He has been a major proponent of independent cinema since the 1980s. Jarmusch’s filmography includes 11 feature films, a documentary (Year of the Horse), six music videos and four short films. His feature films include Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Night on Earth (1991), Dead Man (1995), Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999), Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) and Broken Flowers (2005). Jarmusch was born on this day in 1953.
Princeton Tiger – No. 706
The Princeton Tigers mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #86 of 352. This costumed tiger has terrifying bared teeth and gums, which look even more terrifying when it holds a seven-month-old baby. (View reference images.)
Dwyane Wade – No. 705
Dwyane Wade is an American professional basketball guard for the NBA’s Miami Heat. Named the 2006 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Wade is one of the league’s most popular players. He was named to the All-Rookie team in 2004 and the All-Star team the following nine seasons (2005-2013). In his third season, Wade led the Miami Heat to its first NBA championship and was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade won a gold medal and led the “Redeem Team” in scoring. In 2009, he led the league in scoring and earned his first NBA scoring title. After LeBron James joined the Heat in 2010, Wade and James led Miami to back-to-back NBA championships (2012 and 2013). Wade was born on this day in 1982.
Memphis Tiger – No. 704
The Memphis Tigers mascot, Pouncer, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #85 of 352. In addition to having a costumed mascot, Memphis is also one of only two universities in America with a live tiger mascot, TOM III. (View reference images.)
Evergreen State Geoduck – No. 702
The Evergreen State Geoducks mascot, Speedy, is NAIA pixel art mascot #1. I couldn’t resist this one any longer. In real life, a geoduck is a large, edible, saltwater clam from the Puget Sound that resembles a penis. But the Evergreen State mascot is basically a googly-eyed pickle wrapped in a gilded silver taco. The motto of Evergreen State, located in Olympia, Washington, is the tongue-in-cheek phrase “Omnia Extares,” which means “Let it all hang out.” By the way, real-life geoducks have an average lifespan of 147 years. (View reference images.)
Willamette Bearcat – No. 701
The Willamette Bearcats mascot, Blitz, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #2 of 449. If you’re wondering, a bearcat is neither cat nor bear. Bearcats, also known as binturongs, are arboreal mammals with prehensile tails native to South and Southeast Asia forests. I’m really not sure how so many American college teams ended up with bearcat mascots. Maybe because bear + cat sounds extra ferocious? (View reference images.)
I miss Salem, Oregon, home of Willamette University. I lived there for four years, from 2001 through 2005, and I still visit when I can. I particularly enjoy the area around Willamette University, the capitol building grounds and Bush’s Pasture Park. Kurt Vonnegut called Willamette University’s campus “heaven on Earth.” I used to play tennis on the Willamette courts. The lovely Mill Race runs the full length of campus. In 2004, I almost got a web developer/designer job at Willamette University but ended up accepting a similar position at Oregon State University (where I still work). This ultimately meant I had to move south, because the 45-minute commute to Corvallis got old after nine months.
J. D. Salinger – No. 700
Jerome David Salinger was an American writer who won acclaim early in life. In 1948, his critically acclaimed story “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” appeared in The New Yorker magazine, which became home to much of his later work. In 1951, his novel The Catcher in the Rye was an immediate popular success, which led to public attention and scrutiny. Salinger became reclusive, publishing new work less frequently. He followed The Catcher in the Rye with a short story collection, Nine Stories (1953); a volume containing a novella and a short story, Franny and Zooey (1961); and a volume containing two novellas, Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). He led a very private life for more than a half-century. Salinger published his final original work in 1965 and gave his last interview in 1980. He was born on this day in 1919 and died of natural causes on January 27, 2010.
P.S. Happy New Year! In November 2013, three unpublished Salinger stories from the 1940s were scanned into PDF form and leaked online. One of the stories, “The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls,” is about the Caulfield boys and is sort of a prequel to The Catcher in the Rye. It is stipulated in Salinger’s will that these stories are not to be published until 50 years after his death, but the Internet made other plans. If you miss the Glass family and Holden Caulfield and you’re eager for more rare Salinger stories, you may also want to track down an unauthorized compilation of Salinger’s 22 uncollected stories. These “lost” stories were all from the 1940s, just like the three leaked stories, with one exception (“Hapworth 16, 1924” was published in 1965). This lovely quote is from one of his early stories: “She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there, leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.” – J. D. Salinger, “A Girl I Knew“
William Penn Statesman – No. 703
The William Penn Statesmen mascot, Willy P., is NAIA pixel art mascot #2. William Penn University, located in Oskaloosa, Iowa, used Statesmen as both the nickname and mascot for its athletic teams from 1959-2000. In 2000, then-University President Thomas Boyd (1998-2003) donated a 400-pound bronze eagle sculpture and mandated a controversial transition to an eagle as the school’s mascot. Curiously, the Statesmen nickname was retained despite the eagle mascot. In 2011, eight years after Boyd’s departure, Elvis the eagle mascot was retired and a more traditional statesman mascot was reintroduced. (View reference images.)
My mom and stepdad have worked for William Penn University for many years. Being from Pennsylvania, I always found it strange that my mom managed to find the one school in Iowa that was named after the same wealthy Quaker guy who founded Pennsylvania. I took art classes at William Penn during high school and later remotely served as their webmaster from 2000-2003 (partly while attending Penn State University, oddly enough). So many Penns!