Mascot Focus Group

[Turbine]

Spirit leader indeed, I agree as there can be no Ragin' Cajun mascot. I view it like the Army mule, and the Navy goat for their teams. Sorry but I just will never accept the gator, or what you all bull gator. Gators are just nasty creatures, reptiles.

True TooLame has used the pelican, but does not promote it and does not own it. EllisWho has the tiger one of the most used mascots but I think their use of a living spirit leader cements them as THE TIGERS as opposed to the rest.

I am just not going with The Swamp and Gators. Now you do seem to be copying UF. We had the original Swamp and am not giving that up, but let them have the gators by themselves.

I know you are partial to gators, but really not a good mascot or spirit leader for UL.

Don't tell Zydeco that . . . he thinks he makes great "deco" and lifts everyones spirit.

[cajun67]

I always thought that the only way to understand the meaning of a Ragin Cajun was to have Cajuns fill Cajun Field and then tell them that duck season was cancelled. At least we'd understand the Ragin part.

It is tough to meld the Ragin Cajun concept with a persona or mascot. I've heard many talk of a hound of various description and naming it Ragin Cajun. Or two, one Ragin and one Cajun. Few takers on either the concept or sponsoring the pooches. Work in progress.

[anhil8tor]

Everyone rips on the Pepper, but I rarely hear decent alternatives.

How about Foote in a large straw chapeau?

[Duggie35]

Let's just get Troy Landry, of Swamp People fame, to be our macot! He would be instantly recognized nation wide. LOL!!!!!

[moorecajun]

I am actually OK with that. I also don't have a problem with using the pepper concept, but the pepper costume just doesn't work. I also wouldn;t have a problem with going back to a bulldog, because it represents our history and is a part of our tradition. We can still be the Cajuns and sport a bulldog on the field. (Not sure how well that would work with the new artificial surface though. I don't want to be in charge of cleaning up after "Drillbit the Ragin Cajun Mascot"). My recollection of UL was that we had some of the most amazingly beautiful females in existance on our campus. No question we could swell the ranks of the Ragin' Jazz.

And speaking of beautiful females on our campus ... the Sun Belt conference was represented very well in this weekend's Ms. USA pageant. There were representatives from:
UL
ASU
MTSU
Ga State (they get mentioned here as a member to be)

Not bad, not bad at all.

[ImperialCajun]

Ya'll should have a TV Show "_____ Eyeee for a Cajun Guy"!!! Not that there is anything wrong with that!!!

[CajunNation]

....the breed originated three centuries later, some time in the 19th century, after French settlers introduced the Beauceron to the North American continent. The French told of strange looking dogs with haunting glass eyes that were used by the Indians to hunt game in the swamp.[3], and the theory states that the Beauceron and the Red Wolf/war dog were interbred to produce the Catahoula....

....Catahoulas are highly intelligent and energetic. They are assertive but not aggressive by nature. They have a need to take charge of their pack whether other dogs or humans. Catahoulas in general are very even tempered. Males tend to be more obnoxious than females, but Catahoulas are very serious about their job if they are working dogs. They make a good family dog but will not tolerate being isolated, so interaction with the dog is a daily requirement. When a Catahoula is raised with children, the dog believes that it is his or her responsibility to look after and protect those children. Many owners will say that the Catahoula owns them and they can be insistent when its time to eat or do other activities. Catahoulas are protective and a natural alarm dog. They will alert one to anything out of the ordinary....

....These dogs are outstanding tracking and hunting dogs, commonly used for hunting feral pigs, squirrel, deer, raccoon, mountain lion, and black bear. They often track silently and only begin to make their distinctive baying bark, eye to eye with the prey, once it is stopped......

....They are fearless in nature and can be fighters yet gentle with their family. They are multipurpose dogs, good at home, but best on the farm.....

Why would you not want this dog to be your mascot/spirit leader? It is the official dog of LOUISIANA after all.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Why would you not want this dog to be your mascot/spirit leader? It is the official dog of LOUISIANA after all.

I would jump all over the Catahoula Hound. In fact spirit leaders, can just see a giant jumbo screen showing a pack of them taking care of say warhawks, if such a thing exists, panthers, bobcats, trojans, panthers, and red blobs from WKU.

[Turbine]

The ONLYproblem with the Catahoula Hound is this. . .

Not in 100 years would someone see a "picture" of one and think UL. Beyond that only a very few even think State of LA.

No/low mileage potential.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Well Trub we have a cartoon gator, or a pack of live hounds taking down real opponents in a prepared video for the home crowd to go into a frenzy.

In any case none will be the red blob of WKU so success is the thing that make it a national icon.

[Turbine]

It would be a vivid video.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Turb, when I say real opponents I am not thinking we take a couple of their players and throw them to the hounds, but characters dressed in oppoents uniforms. I have read of the UF pre game video where a buch of gators swarm out of a pond and create havoc on opponents. That is clearly a high tech cartoon, but you never know about those guys in Florida. lol