Mascot Halloween Costumes

As Halloween quickly approaches, a lot of people are still scrambling for costume ideas. Don't worry, as a sports fan there are always a bevy of ideas to be had. Grab a jersey and some eye black and you can be pretty much any player. But there is a great untapped resource of Halloween costumes in the sports world. Yes, the Mascot, these are people dressed up in costume every game and are a great way to support your team and have a fun costume or even better mock another (rival) team.

I personally am going as a penguin for Halloween this year. I do hate the Pittsburgh Penguins, but love there cute Antarctic counterparts. So I will do my best to be completely non-threatening and no way a fierce rival a capital. I'm more of a penguin from one of those cute animated movies they keep making. However, I thought about it and decided some other fun/easy mascots to dress up as.

First, there are any mascots that are people, Steelers, Patriots, Volunteers, you get the idea. Grab a hard hat and some overalls and you too can be Steely McBeam, preferably some parody of. For some reason the idea of a pirate carrying home plate is particularly funny to me. Probably because the Pirates were so terrible, actual pirates would probably have had more luck steeling bases.

Generally, I think some of the best mascot costumes are probably those creature that doesn't exist and aren't based on anything in particular. A prime example is the Western Kentucky Hilltopper. It's a big red blob. Also, though it pains me to say it, the Philly Phanatic would be a good one as well. These costume goers must make sure that their costumes are somewhat relative. The Hilltopper probably doesn't work outside of Kentucky and many people outside of Philadelphia probably want to punch the Fanatic so beware.

I personally would like to see people as Terps or Ninja Turtles or any type of turtle one might fear. I think that would be great. But seeing someone wander around in a Raven outfit would also be nice. Even an Oriole would be nice to see. Maybe one with a short leash being held by Peter Angelos.

Overall, if you are still searching for a costume, think local, everyone wants to buy there teams mascot a drink. Plus minor league teams have some crazy names and mascots. Show your support for your favorite team or taunt a rival. It's a win -win situation.

FAILgate

Oh, this title could refer to so many things. The Terps routing by Virginia, the Ravens coming back in the 4th quarter only to shank a 44 yard field goal. The miserable seasons both seem to be having now. My complete and utter lack of blogging for the last two weeks. So many things I wanted to write and just got caught up being distracted. I guess this might happen occasionally when someone starts a new job. So forgive me for the slacking. I promise to try and write more again, if there is still anyone out there reading.

I'm not going to talk about the Terps, I'm only going to say that tailgating in the cold rain sucks. And if possible, Maryland should try figure out a way to schedule homecoming for a day when it's not miserable out. This is two years in a row it's been terrible weather. If we are going to lose to a terrible team, I'd like to at least enjoy the tailgating. Come on now.

I also don't have many words for the Ravens right now. After an amazing start where there was talk of them being possibly the best team in the NFL, they seem to have fallen apart. Yes, they found their offense in the 4th quarter, but it didn't matter because of that lousy field goal attempt. People were calling for Stover, who is now a Colt. Something is just wrong in the world. I believe luck plays a big part in any season. And this season, it's against us. I don't know why, but we are not clutch this year. We just can't seal the deal. If you needed more proof than the Mark Clayton missed catch during the Patriots game, now you have it. A missed 44 yd field goal in a dome. No wind, no snow, not even any cold. A dome. Inside. I can't stop shaking my head every time I think about it. It's pathetic.

The Ravens have a bye week next week where hopefully they can regroup and come back strong. Unfortunately, their schedule remains much harder than expected at the beginning of the season. They face the surprisingly good Broncos and Bengals before playing the dismal Browns again. I hope that the Ravens are not relegated to the bottom of the AFC North with the Browns by the time they play again. This Ravens team has a lot of talent. But they need to step up and play every week.

There are some serious concerns about the defense. The cornerbacks can't seem to keep up and we need a real threat receiver, yes, Mason is good, but there is no fear there. Give Joe Cool someone to throw to and and Mason will get more looks by default. It all just makes me want to throw my hands up in the air. The AFC is too good as a whole to drop this many games so early and expect to make the playoffs.

Photo: ESPN/AP/Jim Mone

Never Say Never

I had given up on the Terps. It was just too painful to watch their games. So I was shocked when my friend looked up the Maryland score on Saturday to find out they beat Clemson 24-21. I'm still not really sure how they did it. The clip on ESPN mentioned something about stellar defense and quarterback Chris Turner aka Napoleon Dynamite playing really well. I now wish I had watched this game because I can't really believe either of those things without seeing them.

I'm not sure if this is the Terps getting better or if it's just the classic Maryland is going to beat a few teams they shouldn't every season with absolutely no way to predict when they are going to show up and when they are going to get blown out. I hope it's the former, but realistically I think it's the latter. The Terps have played some ugly football games this season and while they probably are getting better, I don't expect them to show up and get lucky every week.

A big part of the win was Clemson missing two field goals in the fourth quarter. That's lucky, and I'll take it. But I'm quite ready to believe there is a big turn around. I will however actually make an effort to watch the game next week. And I might try to get an actual ticket to homecoming instead of just going to hang out with friends and tailgating.

I'm not going to get too excited. But it's good to know there is some life in this Terrapin team. We'll see what happens this weekend against Wake Forest. Will Maryland turn this season around and become respectable or will the Clemson game just be an unexplained high point of an otherwise lousy season? I guess we'll know soon.

GO TERPS!

Also, I know the photo says 2008, but how awesome is that maze. And since October is the official month of corn mazes, I felt that the picture was totally appropriate.

Ravens Domination

Last week had some of the most dominating play ever by the Ravens. They totally destroyed the Cleveland Browns. They outplayed the Browns in every aspect of the game. The 34-3 win was so overwhelmingly one sided it almost didn't seem worth writing about. But then I thought about how depressing the Terps season is and how depressing the O's season is and I thought wow, not only do I need to write about this, I need to boast about this. The state of Baltimore area sports is a little sad right now. So back to the Ravens.

What can I say except wow. That is one balanced game. Yes, it was against the Browns who I believe have a good chance of matching Detroit's amazingly sad feat of last year. There is no way this team wins more than 2 games unless something drastic happens. And I only give them two because they do actually play the Lions.

The Ravens look really good this year. And for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, other people are going to know this because they are watching the games. Yes, other years people have known they were good. But now that the Ravens have an offense, other people are interested in watching their games. They are exciting. People are picking up Ravens players for their fantasy teams. People are paying attention in a way they normally don't. People respect a good defense, but they want to watch offense. And now the Ravens have that appeal. I believe this is why the Ravens have topped the power rankings for two straight weeks.

Yes, they have a tough schedule coming up. But I don't care, I still see them doing well. It's a little early to declare them a playoff team, but I think they've gotten off to a solid start. And at this point will own a tiebreaker over San Diego for a wild card spot or seed. I also have to give some love to the Bears. I believe the Steelers are going to rebound and that while the Bengals may be good or at least better this year, the Steelers are still going to be the biggest source of competition in the AFC North. As a result, I have to thank the Bears for their win over the Steelers. And as anyone who has read this blog regularly over the last year knows, I kind of love Jay Cutler. Not because he's hot, though some recent modeling pictures surfaced and he is kind of hot when put in the right clothing, but because he is a constant source of entertainment. So I'm glad to see him do well which means he'll be in the league for a while to entertain me. So thank you Chicago.

This week the Ravens take on the Pats who have struggled but seem to be finding their stride. I'm hoping we catch them before they have found it completely. It's going to be a good game and I'm excited to watch them. And for the first time, I think a lot of people outside of Baltimore are too.

GO RAVENS!!

Photo: ESPN/AP/Gail Burton