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hail Monte: Capital One Mascot of the Year |
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UM
mascot reigns supreme again
For the
second time in three years, Monte, the lovable grizzly bear mascot
of The University of Montana, is the national Capital One Mascot of
the Year.
The announcement of his win came during the nationally televised Capital
One Bowl on Jan. 1. The victory comes with a $10,000 award for the
UM mascot program.
“This is something we didn’t expect,” said Christie
Anderson, director of marketing and promotions for Grizzly Athletics.
“Since Monte won in 2003, we didn’t think he’d win
again so soon. But this just shows how good Monte is.”
Montanans are invited to celebrate Monte’s national win during
the Feb. 3 home men’s basketball game.
Last summer Monte was one of 12 critters from I-A and I-AA football
programs around the country selected to the Capital One All-America
Team. He then submitted a video of his antics to a panel of judges
who ranked Monte based on fan interaction, sportsmanship and community
service.
As required, Monte’s video highlights came from the 2003–04
athletic season. The man who powered the bear during that time was
Barry Anderson, the UM graduate from Terry who has since gone pro
as mascot coordinator with the Chicago Bulls.
Fifty percent of Monte’s score came from the judges’ ranking,
and 50 percent came from online voting at www.capitalonebowl.com.
Voting consisted of 11 weekly match-ups between finalists. After a
slow start, the UM bear surged in the polls, placing third in the
win/loss category in the online portion of the contest. Strong voter
turnout combined with his earlier ranking gave Monte the undisputed
national win.
“During the final weeks, Monte clawed ahead from 11th to third
place in the popular online voting,” said Pam Girardo at Capital
One. “That, combined with the judges’ ranking from the
summer nomination process, propelled Monte to the highest perch in
the mascot world. Atta bear!”
“I was very surprised by the win,” Barry Anderson said
during a recent telephone interview. “I think our video put
us at the top one or two for the judges. The voting didn’t look
so good at first — I think we were dead last two weeks —
but UM marketing really helped out, with things like mass e-mails
telling people to vote.”
Running around inside a sweaty bear suit has really paid off for Barry.
After getting multiple offers from pro teams, he now works at Chicago’s
United Center, walking past a statue of Michael Jordan every day on
his way to work. He has changed skins, going from Monte the bear to
Benny the bull.
He said Washington-Grizzly Stadium and the United Center have comparable
crowd sizes.
“But it’s been an adjustment,” he said. “In
Montana you saw the same friends and families at the games week after
week, and you became familiar with them. Here, there are a lot more
companies buying tickets for their employees and clients, so the faces
change more.”
Barry said Benny used to be rotund and didn’t do much. His first
job was to put the bull on the South Beach Diet so he could become
more athletic. He said Chicago fans now are slowly getting used to
a thinner, more hyperactive Benny who does skits and halftime trampoline
acts. He will work 41 home games for the Bulls this season.
“I’m not quite sure they know what to think of me yet,”
Barry said with a laugh. “We are taking it slow so the fans
can adjust.”
Barry said he still considers Missoula home, and he watched all the
Griz football games on the Internet last fall. He’s also pleased
with what his successors have done with Monte.
“I wouldn’t want to follow those guys,” he said.
“They’ve done some incredibly good work.”
Barry said one of the sweetest parts of winning the national mascot
championship this time around was beating James Madison University’s
Duke Dog, who finished first in online voting. JMU beat Montana 31-21
in the I-AA national championship game this season.
“It was nice to take down Duke Dog,” he said. “At
least we beat them in something.”
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