BUCN Perfect : Pittsburgh Mascots...and Steely McBeam...

All that talk about the terrible towel and traditions yesterday inspired me to write a little blurb about our Pittsburgh team’s mascots.

College:
Roc is the Pittsburgh Panthers mascot. (**Little known factoid: the Pitt Panthers were the FIRST school to adopt a panther as their animal.) Roc tweets from @roc_1787. RoMo is the RMU mascot, he’s dressed in clothes that someone would have worn in the 1700s, since they are called the Colonials. Duquesne’s mascot is now the Duke, a man wearing a suit and top hat. Prior to 2003, they had a bear as a mascot. Both RoMo and the Duke wear red, white, and blue.

Professional:
The Pirate Parrot seems to be the oldest member of the mascot family. He was introduced in 1979, the same year the Buccos won a World Series. He appears at Pirates events all over the city. He shoots hot dogs and tshirts out of a cannon during games. Last night he almost fell over the side of the dugout. The Pirates also have the pierogies: Jalapeño Hannah (green hat), Cheese Chester (yellow), Sauerkraut Saul (red) and Oliver Onion (purple). Sometimes they throw in another one named Potato Pete. The Great Pierogi Race started in 1999. One of my favorite parts of the games. I’m in love with Oliver Onion.

Iceburgh, of the Penguins, was introduced in 1991. He’s a penguin who wears the 00 jersey and tweets from @iceburghNHL. His tweets are hilarious and he sometimes tweets other teams mascots. You can find him in the crowd and on ice during Pens home games throwing shirts.

Then we have Steely McBeam… the mascot of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Steely is the youngest mascot in the Burgh. He’s a steel worker, he has an almost too tough/scary appearance, and he has not been well received by Steeler fans. His name was selected in a contest that had over 70K entries. The Steelers are a team based on traditions with no distractions. Terrible Towels, Steel Curtain Defense, no nonsense Rooney’s, Styx’s Renegade. Do you think Steely wasn’t well received because he isn’t part of a long standing tradition? I can’t think of any other possibilities. What should the mascot have been? What went wrong? Should the Steelers have a mascot at all?

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