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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 19:58:07 GMT -5
You threw shot? So did my sister. What running events? A cheerleader too and a mascot? Miss Multi-Talented. The two most unlikely events one runner runs, the 100 meter and the 2-mile. I was a bit crazy my freshman year to run the 2-mile, as I volunteered to run it the day of the district meet without practice (our runners didn't appear). I completed it though, in pouring rain, and got a sixth place ribbon. The second year, I fared better, and got a fourth. Got two sixth place ribbons in the 100-meter at district. Funny thing was my last name was butchered to the point the only way we knew I advanced was that I was the only "Mac" on the JV team. I threw discus as well, but as far as my skills with that, uh, no (my throws looked like a spinning dime). I left after my sophomore year because I wanted to be in One Act Play, but since they are both at the same time, I had to choose one. I liked OAP better though, and was cast my first year as Miss Wellington (or the drunk actress as I was called) in "You Can't Take it With You." As far as cheerleading, I was only a mascot. I was never interested in being a cheerleader, and was more intrigued at the challenge of acting out a character. I had a couple of camp outfits the cheerleaders wore as well that I wore outside of being the mascot, including a skirt, so I guess some thought I was a cheerleader. Funny thing the skirt was no one noticed I had the outfit until the last game I wore it. I'll always remember one of my friends kidded with me and took me to the assistant principal, saying my skirt was too short (I actually had mine longer than everyone else's). We all had a laugh at that.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 20:01:12 GMT -5
I ran the two-mile, but I was a distance sprinter...mile and half mile overall. By my senior year, I was hauling booty at the quarter mile. My sister threw discus as well. You in a short skirt? AND taken to the vice principal's office? And you call me racy.
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 20:12:12 GMT -5
I ran the two-mile, but I was a distance sprinter...mile and half mile overall. By my senior year, I was hauling booty at the quarter mile. My sister threw discus as well. You in a short skirt? AND taken to the vice principal's office? And you call me racy. Actually, this was in the cafeteria. Our AP was one of the monitors (funny in a HS, huh?). Our class was known for its friendly joshing, and the AP knew that. Odd thing was I was the only one who didn't roll up their skirt, and people thought I did (I have fairly long legs, hence the illusion). The fellow who did this was actually among several of the football players who were very protective of me when I was the tiger on the fields, so I took the joke as it was. For example, there was a school that had a player actually run over the opponent's mascot. They showed this during advisory as a way to warm us up for that game. It was around the time as volleyball playoffs, and since we didn't know if we would advance to regionals, I was a bit worried. I asked one player to ask them not to show it again just in case I did cheer at the game, and they didn't show it again. But several of the players said not to worry, that they would keep the other team from even coming close. (We advanced in volleyball, so I didn't cheer, and our team trounced the other one, so I guess it worked ).
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 20:14:25 GMT -5
You didn't cheer? How did they ever win without you?
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 20:21:07 GMT -5
You didn't cheer? How did they ever win without you? I did cheer, but not vocally, just the hand motions and silly pratfalls. A megaphone was used for everything except what it really is used for. I used them for a guitar, magic hat, slalom racing, drums, etc. The kids were the ones who really loved the tiger, a lot of times they just would talk to me instead of watch the game. That's what I miss the most. They always made me laugh, and vice versa. They also always gave me something to feed off of, such as if they jumped I did, and so on. The only thing I kept them from doing was pull on the tail. The costume was old (should have been replaced that year), and I didn't want the tail to come off. (Guess on the plus side, I wore out the suit so they had to replace it ). (ETA, on second reading, I think you meant that night. I was playing regional volleyball in Kingsville, near Corpus Christi, the football team was playing in Lockhart, near Austin, which are too far apart to go to both (about a 5 hour drive). That's why I didn't cheer that night.)
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 20:30:46 GMT -5
So they retired your suit? Nice. Even Ralph didn't get that. I love kids too...I think I would make a great mascot. Most "professional" mascots in most sports are so boring.
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 20:47:07 GMT -5
So they retired your suit? Nice. Even Ralph didn't get that. I love kids too...I think I would make a great mascot. Most "professional" mascots in most sports are so boring. Yep, they retired it that year. It was the third year in a row they won the championship, and the suit was very old. I had a lot of people say I should have gotten to break in the new suit, because I was a senior when I cheered, but I think getting to retire the one that was used in three of the four championships was a bigger honor. (Though you can tell in the championship team photos from '96 and '97 a drastic difference in the color of the tiger. I liked the lighter color myself) The biggest challenge with a mascot suit is the tempreatures. It gets to at least 98.6 degrees, and that's just standing there. Add to that moving around and acting, it gets pretty hot even in cold weather. Heat exhaustion was a danger (came close to passing out twice in my college year as mascot), but Gatorade and Powerade for the most part kept that at bay. But, it was a lot of fun, and I miss it. I think I'll never forget the feeling I had getting to walk down the ramp to the field at the Astrodome in the mascot suit. It was a surreal experience.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 21:56:56 GMT -5
Congratulations. It sounds like you had a great career dressing up as a mascot. Even more reason to hate you....why do you get to be a success?
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 22:42:06 GMT -5
Congratulations. It sounds like you had a great career dressing up as a mascot. Even more reason to hate you....why do you get to be a success? Easy, through hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and altitude sickness (jk on last one). I have a tendency to get interested in a lot of things, and if I'm interested, I do research on it and try it. If it doesn't work out, then I wasn't supposed to know it. That's how I learned to juggle, trial and error, and I'm still learning new tricks every day. For example, I just recently learned how to juggle while lying on my stomach. Difficult, but a neat trick.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 22:44:14 GMT -5
No streaming video for us? Lauren might put it to a music video.
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 22:46:08 GMT -5
No streaming video for us? Lauren might put it to a music video. Nope, no video of my mascot days, just photos and not many of those.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 22:47:38 GMT -5
Oh sure...you have photos of that, but not your Halloween costume? Shame.
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 22:52:31 GMT -5
Oh sure...you have photos of that, but not your Halloween costume? Shame. Well, I didn't take the photos from then. Besides, my camera's battery had just died and I was in the middle of work, so catch-22.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 22:53:57 GMT -5
A likely story. I think you would say anything to not be seen as the bad girl here.
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Post by MelMac on Nov 2, 2005 22:56:58 GMT -5
A likely story. I think you would say anything to not be seen as the bad girl here. Well, if I have time, I can scan in the pics I have of me dressed up in the tiger mascot suit.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Nov 2, 2005 22:58:53 GMT -5
That might be acceptable...but no promises.
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