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Sports News: Spring 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

MORAVIAN’S AMOS THE GREYHOUND MASCOT ADVANCES TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP IN SPORTSTALKNY MASCOT MADNESS

COMMACK, NY --- Moravian College’s Amos the Greyhound Mascot defeated Ozzie the Osprey, the Unviersity of North Florida mascot in the final four in the Second Annual SportsTalkNY Mascot Madness to advance to championship.

Amos is taking on Ben & John, the mascots from the Franklin & Marshall College in the championship as the Centennial Conference football foes reached the finals.

Your can vote for Amos by visiting http://www.sportstalknylive.com/ and clicking on Mascot Madness.

Amos defeated Goldy, the University of Minnesota gopher mascot in the opening round, Timeout, the Fresno State University mascot in the Round of 16, and Iggy. the mascot from Loyola Marymount University in the round of 8.

Below is the official release from SportsTalkNY –

Mascot Madness is back by popular demand, and better than ever, with an eclectic collection of 32 anthropomorphized cats, dogs, fowl, humans, humanoids, vegetables, spices and inanimate objects vying  to be crowned Top College Mascot by the increasingly popular Internet television talk show SportsTalkNY.

The selection committee worked extra hard this year to present an exciting slate of competitors and match them in a way that will generate maximum excitement on campuses across the nation. We congratulate the committee for its hard work,” said Co-host A.J. Carter, who doubles as the selection committee.

 “This year shapes up to be even more competitive than the last,” said Co-host Mark Rosenman. “Our defending champ, Dartmouth’s Keggy the Keg has his, or its, or whatever’s work cut out for his/itself to come out on top again. We urge all of Keggy’s supporters to vote early and often, just as they did last year.”

Thousands of votes from more than 30 states wert case in the final weeks last year as the field of 32 was reduced to 16, then 8, and finally to Keggy, the University of Delaware’s YouDee, Michigan State’s Sparty and the University of Minnesota’s Goldy Gopher.  Students on each of the campuses rallied their troops and cast votes on the show’s website,www.sportstalknylive.com.

The Final Four return this year, along with 28 mascots who were not in last year’s competition but who, like last year’s collection, represent the best suits with big heads in college athletics.
This year’s first round pairings are:

In the Cats and Dogs quadrant:  Goldy Gopher,  University of Minnesota vs. Amos the Grayhound, Moravian;  Boss the Terrier (and Lil Ruff), Wofford College  vs. Timeout,  Fresno State;  Mr. Cat,  Davidson University vs. Pouncer, University of Memphis; and  Iggy the Lion,  Loyola Marymount University vs. Mingus the Cool Cat, Berklee College of Music.

In the Fish and Fowl quadrant:  (Okay, it’s only fowl. No fish made this year’s cut):  YouDee, University of Delaware vs. Oswald the Penguin, Clark  College;  Bucky  the Parrot,  Barry University vs. Cardinal Bird, University of  Louisville;  Scrappy  the Eagle , University of North Texas vs. Scrappy the Mockingbird, University of  Tennessee Cat hattanooga;  and Ozzie the Osprey, University of North Florida vs. Sebastian the Ibis, University of Miami.

In the Humans and Humanoids quadrant:  Sparty, Michigan State University vs. Ben and John, Franklin and Marshall College;  Yosef, Appalachian State University vs. CavMan, University of  Virginia; The Troll, Trinity  Christian College vs. The Billiken, St. Louis University; and Rudy Flyer, University of Dayton vs. Ace Purple, University of Evansville.

In the Other quadrant:  Keggy the Keg, Dartmouth College vs. The Tree, Stanford University;  The Fighting Okra, Delta State University vs. Cayenne, U niversity of Louisiana at  Lafayette; Don the Mastodon,  Indiana-Purdue University Fort Wayne vs. Marco the Buffalo, Marshall University; and Petey the Griffin, Canisius College vs. Corky the Hornet, Emporia State University.

Since its inception  27 months ago, the weekly SportstalkNY has built a growing loyal following with its mix of interviews with sports celebrities and authors and its analysis of the week’s developments. Guests have ranged from boxing greats Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvelous Marvin Hagler to hockey legends Phil Esposito and Gordie Howe and authors Peter Golenbock, Phil Pepe and Jim Bouton.

What makes Sportstalkny different from other sports talk shows is the live chat component, allowing viewers to comment, in real time, on the evening’s discussion, talking about the hosts, to them, or even asking questions that are passed on to the guests.
Mascot Madness stemmed from a chat room discussion, as Carter reported on his trip to the college cheerleading championship at Disney World (his son cheers for the University of Delaware) and watching the mascot competition. The reports sparked so much back-and-forth in the chat room that Carter and Rosenman decided to run a bracket competition similar to the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament.

Viewers wishing to catch up on the competition can view previous shows in the archive section of the SportstalkNY website. They can also download podcasts of the interviews.

The show airs from 9-11 p.m. Sundays on UStream Television. The winner of the Mascot Madness competition will be announced on the April 18 show.