 
by Shawn Bean
Before the beginning of the 1998 NBA season, the Washington Bullets laid their mascot to rest. The Bullet was to hang up his furry helmet and oversized sneakers for the last time and was to give way to Washington's new team mascot, the Wizard, and a new battlefield, the MCI Center. The NBA felt that the Bullet was not only a bad representative for the rising violence problem in Washington, but that it was the politically incorrect red-headed stepchild in a family of happy mascots like the groovy Jazz or the noble Kings. This choice did not come without controversy. Did societal politics use poor ol' Bullet as a soapbox to make a statement against violence, or was it a bunch of smoke and mirrors? Do team mascots affect our lives outside of halftime and timeouts? These are the socioeconomic and cultural dilemmas that arguably can be rooted to oversized shag-carpeted marsupials who molest referees for the amusement of 25,000 onlooking taxpayers. Here is the case:
Starting in this, the 1999-2000 season, the NHL has unveiled a new expansion team, the Atlanta Thrashers. The Bureau of Justice Statistics' latest finding indicates that there were 45,408 violent crimes in Georgia in 1997. However, none of them were listed as "thrashings." The question will come during this season if the Georgia Police Department will need to order a new filing cabinet to house new "thrashing" cases.
Can the forces of nature be affected by mascots? Meteorology and Billy Graham would argue no, but get a whiff of this. Fact- The Miami Heat close out a disappointing season, losing in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs to the New York Knicks. Facts- A record-breaking heat wave during the month of June blazes up and down the East Coast, with temperatures reaching 110 degrees. Coincidence?
The job market. The flux of the bull and the bear (the Chicago Bull and the Chicago Bear, that is). The mascot is eminent here as well, much to the dismay of many local markets. The Orlando Magic was added to the NBA expansion a decade ago. Their success has been bipolar, with the ups being an appearance at the NBA Finals in 1995 against the Houston Rockets, and the downs being a disappointing past few seasons and the exit of Magic star Anfernee Hardaway to the Phoenix Suns. I recently checked out the Orlando Weekly Employment Classified to see if the recent frustrations of the Magic had affected the job market for magicians in the area. Unfortunately, my theory was correct. The classified showed no matches. Research then led me to the Job Site at Disney.com, figuring the Magic Kingdom must be reeking in opportunity for magicians. The depressing truth was that the closest match to a magician in that listing was for a registered nurse.
Pittsburgh, being a city of industry, was my next case study. Statistics from the US Census Bureau show that Pittsburgh's population is roughly 369,000, with over 300,000 listed as employed, an 81% employment rate. The census also reveals that 153,000 are listed as "industry" workers, but it did not break out what percentage of those are steel workers. But another interesting statistical relic was uncovered. The Bureau of Justice Statistics show that there were 17,855 robberies in 1979, the last year the Steelers won the SuperBowl. In 1997, the number of robberies was up to 18,788. Maybe Steelers hasn't proven a positive mascot for Pittsburgh as well.
The mascot: combining the awesome power of Gravedigger with the social ramifications of gangsta rap, and to think you can observe it all while someone brings beer to your seat. We can now make our own arguments for what that NBA commission chose to do about the Bullet, and as informed fans and consumers, realize what success and failure can do to the vital cogs of every individuals' life. One thing is for sure: the campaign of the Reno Lapdancers is sure to get a unanimous no. |
