The Fanatic Magazine - A student-run sports magazine for the UVA fanatic

Capital One Mascot Competition, Week 7

Written by Ben Faust

Thursday, 25 October 2007

Well, just like in college football, the mascots are showing that anything can happen and anyone can beat anyone. Take last week, where we had Otto - that goofy orange - up against Cosmo the Cougar. Who would you take? Yeah, I took Cosmo too. Otto won. An orange defeated a cougar. And it wasn’t like this was a close battle…Otto obliterated Cosmo. I don’t know how this happened and I don’t think we’ll see a bigger upset all year.

Luckily, one upset was a good one: Then in last place, Cavman (yes UVA, he was in LAST PLACE before this week) defeated Seymour the Eagle. Cavman had been in a downward spiral and, unlike the Virginia football team, had been free-falling through the standings. Hopefully he has rebounded and will regain his position amongst the top mascots in the nation. The only undefeated mascot barely stayed perfect last weekend as Zippy just edged out Monte by a couple hundred votes. We’re past the halfway point of the season so every week matters more…let’s get to the picks.

Sample Image Joe Bruin (UCLA) vs. Otto (Syracuse): Otto has surprised me. Big time. The only week I thought he’d have a chance at was when he faced Big Red, but he has really come on to beat a bear and cougar in the last few weeks. He faces another bear this week, and I actually see his run of animal destruction coming to an end. Joe Bruin has had some ups and downs but I think he’ll summon the energy and skill to beat the big orange puff ball.

Sample Image Big Red (WKU) vs. Cosmo (BYU): Cosmo, what the heck happened? I’m speechless. I think last weekend was a major trap game for him; he came in overconfident and didn’t play smart. Unfortunately for Big Red, when a good team/player gets embarrassed one week, it usually doesn’t happen a second straight week…unless you’re Michigan. Although Big Red has probably viewed several hours of tape on Cosmo, I think the cougar brings too much to the table for the “Belly Shake” to stop.

Sample Image Seymour (Southern Miss) vs. Hairy Dawg (UGA): What happened Dawg? You lost to a gamecock? And you expect me to believe that you have a chance against an eagle? Well, I’m picking you to beat the Eagle. For some reason, whenever I pick what should happen, Dawg does the opposite. Reverse psychology. So now, I’m employing reverse reverse psychology: I think he’ll lose, so he’ll win. Makes perfect sense to me.

Sample Image Cocky (South Carolina) vs. Zippy (Akron): Cocky had a big win last week over Hairy but no one has bested Zippy yet. I don’t see that trend changing this week. Zippy has been too consistent to lose now. Fear the Kangaroo!! Of course, everyone thought that about LSU and USC…but Zippy should be okay, right? Right?

Sample Image Cavman vs. Goldy Gopher (UMinn): “Freeze, gopher!” Some tips for Cavman this week: Do not try to pump water into the gopher hole; do not tie a flashlight to the end of a gun, tie branches to yourself, and run around in the middle of the night; and do not mold plastic explosives into little woodland creatures. Those methods have been tried, and they have failed. This is UVA, so he should be able to come up with something intelligent to do. Cavman wins…if people vote for him! (Hint, hint)

Sample Image Hokie Bird (VTech) vs. Monte (Montana): What did I tell you? The turkey couldn’t handle the bear and he gets matched up against another one this week. Rough draw for him and I think Monte continues his rebound after losing to Otto. He almost beat Zippy last week. Besides, it’s almost November and you know what that means: Thanksgiving! Time to eat turkey! Monte wins.