The Marquette Golden Eagles mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #112 of 351. (View reference images.)
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk – No. 918
The Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks mascot, Willy Warhawk, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #4 of 449. UW-Whitewater has won six of the last eight NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls) and has appeared in the national championship game in nine of the last 10 years. The Warhawks played the perennially dominant Mount Union Purple Raiders in all nine championships. (View reference images.)
Mount Union Purple Raider – No. 917
The Mount Union Purple Raiders mascot, MUCaw, is NCAA Division III pixel art mascot #3 of 449. Mount Union has appeared in 10 consecutive NCAA Division III Football Championships (Stagg Bowls), winning four. Since 1993, Mount Union has appeared in the national championship game a record 18 times, winning 11. The football team has won 94 consecutive regular season games and has posted a 204-1 regular season record since 1994. (View reference images.)
Opus the Penguin – No. 891
Opus the Penguin is a fictional character created by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. First introduced in 1981, Opus is a large-nosed penguin (occasionally mistaken for a puffin) with a herring addiction who lost track of his mother during the Falklands War. Opus has appeared in many of Breathed’s works, most notably his 1980s comic strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an “existentialist penguin” and the favorite of his many characters. Opus’ hopeless naïveté and optimism was at the center of Bloom Country, and he’s also the subject of two “sequel” strips (Outland and Opus), three children’s books and the 1991 television special A Wish for Wings That Work.
Note: As of this week, Berkeley Breathed is creating new Bloom County comics, after over 25 years. I was a 10-year-old when the strip ended.
Creighton Bluejay – No. 847
The Creighton Bluejays mascot, Billy Bluejay, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #108 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: This is NCAA Division I mascot #4 of 5 in celebration of the first week of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
Eastern Washington Eagle – No. 779
The Eastern Washington Eagles mascot, Swoop, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #95 of 351. (View reference images.)
Note: Last year, the Eagles opened their football season with an impressive 49-46 victory over the No. 25 Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. Dynamic Eastern Washington QB Vernon Adams threw for four touchdowns and ran for two more, including one with 18 seconds left that sealed the game for the Eagles. Four months later, Eastern Washington (12-2) made its third trip to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals in four seasons. The Eagles nearly advanced to the national title game against two-time defending champion North Dakota State, but were upset in the closing seconds of their 2013 FCS semifinal game. Three years prior, Eastern Washington won the school’s first national championship in football following the 2010 installation of red turf in Roos Field. Eastern Washington is now known for its intense red playing surface, nicknamed “The Inferno.”
Woodsy Owl (U.S. Forest Service) – No. 738
Woodsy Owl is an owl icon for the United States Forest Service most famous for his motto, “Give a hoot! Don’t pollute.” Woodsy was designed to be seen as a mentor to children, providing them with information and advice to help them appreciate nature. Harold Bell of Western Publishing (and producer of Smokey Bear public service announcements), along with Glen Kovar and Chuck Williams, originally created the mascot in 1970 as part of a U.S. Forest Service campaign to raise awareness of protecting the environment. In 1997, Woodsy Owl’s design was overhauled.
Mr. Owl (Tootsie Pops) – No. 737
Mr. Owl is a character first introduced in an animated Tootsie Pops commercial which debuted on U.S. television in 1969. Tootsie Pops are hard candy lollipops filled with chocolate-flavored chewy Tootsie Roll. After the commercial, Mr. Owl became the mascot for Tootsie Pops, appearing in marketing campaigns and on the packaging. How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
King Moonracer – No. 699
King Moonracer is a character from the stop-motion children’s Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass in 1964. He is a winged lion who rules the Island of Misfit Toys. His appearance is similar to a griffin, the legendary creature who is part lion and part eagle.
P.S. Merry Christmas! I enjoyed this forum thread, which addresses King Moonracer’s possible villain status: “Was King Moonracer a fraud?” Indeed. Why was King Moonracer holding the misfit toys hostage for so long? Since he regularly flies around the world collecting unwanted toys, why wasn’t he already collaborating with Santa to find new homes for those toys? Moonracer only thought to contact Santa after Rudolph, Hermey, and Yukon showed up? Really? King Moonracer is very possibly a manipulative cult leader with megalomaniac tendencies who hoards rare, emotionally damaged toys. It seems like the unexpected arrival of visitors to his remote island shamed him into doing the right thing with his sad toy collection.
Louisville Cardinal – No. 637
The Louisville Cardinals mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #76 of 348. (View reference images.)
Boston College Eagle – No. 634
The Boston College Eagles mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #73 of 348. (View reference images.)
Virginia Tech Hokie – No. 633
The Virginia Tech Hokies mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #72 of 348. (View reference images.)
Miami Hurricane – No. 632
Sebastian the Ibis, the Miami Hurricanes mascot, is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #71 of 348. (View reference images.)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket – No. 630
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets mascot is NCAA Division I pixel art mascot #69 of 348. (View reference images.)
The Phillie Phanatic (Philadelphia Phillies) – No. 619
The Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball (MLB) team. He is a large, furry, green bipedal creature with an extendable tongue. According to his official biography, the Phanatic is originally from the Galápagos Islands and is the Phillies’ biggest fan. He entertains fans during baseball games and makes public appearances for the Phillies. The Phanatic is usually acknowledged as one of the best ballpark mascots.
P.S. The Phillie Phanatic was designed by Bonnie Erickson, formerly a designer for Jim Henson, and the designer of Miss Piggy, Statler and Waldorf and other Muppets characters. The Phillie Phanatic is one of only three mascots inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The other two are the Famous San Diego Chicken and Montreal’s Youppi!, another Erickson design.
The Famous Chicken (San Diego Padres) – No. 618
The San Diego Chicken, also known as the Famous Chicken, is an advertising mascot played by Ted Giannoulas. The character, created by writer-cartoonist Brian Narelle, originated as an animated TV commercial for KGB-FM in San Diego. In March 1974, Giannoulas was hired to wear the first suit for a promotion to distribute Easter eggs to children at the San Diego Zoo. The Famous Chicken then moved on to features at concerts and sporting events, including appearing at more than 520 San Diego Padres games in a row. The success of the Famous Chicken helped lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball (MLB).
Metatron – No. 557
Metatron is an archangel in Judaism. According to Jewish medieval apocrypha, he is Enoch, ancestor of Noah, transformed into an angel. There are no references to Metatron as an angel in the Jewish Tanakh or Christian scriptures (New and Old Testament). Although he is mentioned in a few brief passages in the Talmud, Metatron appears primarily in medieval Jewish mystical texts and other post-scriptural esoteric and occult sources. In Rabbinic tradition, he is the highest of the angels and serves as the celestial scribe.
While he does have a cube (for understanding the tree of life?), Metatron is not to be confused with the sentient robotic lifeform Megatron (of Transformers fame), though both are described as having formidable power. Metatron can also be found in Megami Tensei role-playing video games. Happy New Year!
Cupid – No. 351
In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is often portrayed as the son of the goddess Venus, with a father rarely mentioned. His Greek counterpart is Eros. Cupid is often portrayed as a nude (or sometimes diapered) winged boy or baby armed with a bow and arrows. These days we know him as a symbol of a certain commercialized holiday popularized by a greeting card company.
Buzz the Bee (Honey Nut Cheerios) – No. 270
The anthropomorphic cartoon bee mascot of Honey Nut Cheerios. This sweetened variation of Cheerios breakfast cereal was introduced by General Mills in 1979. It has a honey and almond flavor. As of 2006, it no longer includes actual nuts.
Carson-Newman Eagle – No. 744
The Carson-Newman Eagles mascot, Talon, is NCAA Division II pixel art mascot #3 of 320. This is also college mascot pixel art #100. (View reference images.)
Carson-Newman University, in Jefferson City, Tennessee, is where my cousin Adam Cavalier works as Director of Athletic Communications/Voice of the Eagles. He is getting married today in West Virginia. I will be attending Adam’s wedding with my wife Heidi and daughter, my dad and stepmom, my sister and her family, and almost all of my dad’s side of the family. I’ve been looking forward to this reunion for months. The following mascot matchup is for Adam, who is a Marshall alum: Marshall Thundering Herd vs. Carson-Newman Eagle.