Sidd Finch was a fictional baseball player, the subject of the notorious article and April Fools’ Day hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Plimpton reported that Finch was a rookie baseball pitcher in training with the New York Mets. According to Plimpton, Finch was raised in an English orphanage, learned yoga in Tibet, and could throw a fastball as fast as 168 miles per hour (270 km/h). Finch pitched wearing one work boot and one bare foot. For the article’s photographs, Sidd Finch was played by Joe Berton, a mild-mannered junior high school art teacher who lives in Illinois.

Note: Despite the obvious absurdity of the article, many people believed Finch actually existed. Plimpton eventually broadened his article into a novel, first published in 1987.

Subcomandante Marcos is the nom de guerre used by Rafael Guillén Vicente, the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The EZLN group takes its name from agrarian reformer Emiliano Zapata. On January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective, Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest the Mexican federal government’s mistreatment of the nation’s indigenous peoples. Marcos is also a writer, a political poet and an anti-capitalist. He wears a black ski mask, often with a tobacco pipe sticking out, and a watch on each wrist. Nearly all EZLN villages have murals featuring Zapata, Che Guevara and Subcomandante Marcos.

My wife Heidi has a particular fascination with the mystery and mythology of Subcomandante Marcos. This pixel art character was suggested by her. Also, I am now dropping my publishing schedule to two 8-bit characters per week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The Connecticut Huskies mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #77 of 348. (View reference images.)

The Louisville Cardinals mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #76 of 348. (View reference images.)

The Syracuse Orangemen mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #75 of 348. (View reference images.)

The Pittsburgh Panthers mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #74 of 348. (View reference images.)

The Boston College Eagles mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #73 of 348. (View reference images.)

The Virginia Tech Hokies mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #72 of 348. (View reference images.)

Sebastian the Ibis, the Miami Hurricanes mascot, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #71 of 348. (View reference images.)

Chief Osceola is the mascot of the Florida State Seminoles and represents the historical Seminole leader Osceola. The use of Osceola as a symbol remains controversial but is supported by some leaders in the Seminole Tribe of Florida and by the NCAA. This is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #70 of 348. (View reference images.)