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.

Football Season Is Here!

The Ravens won! The Terps won! Even the Orioles won 2 out of 3 against the Yankees! It was a great weekend to be a Baltimore/MD sports fan. So what if the MD win was ugly. And who cares if the Ravens special teams leaves a little to be desired. It's still early in the season and there were a lot of good things that happened.

First of all, MD is going to struggle for any wins they can get this season. And for that reason, I don't care if it's ugly. This is not a national championship team. This is a young team trying to figure out what it's doing on the football field. I have faith that this team will continue to get better over the season. And since MD is always tumultuous to watch, I think they will still be able to finish with a decent, but not great record.

As for the Ravens, they won the opening game. That's whats important. At the end of the season, it's really all about wins and loses. Flacco looked good under center and the Ravens are undefeated right now. All of the sudden the Ravens have a passing game. So while the defense and special teams might not have shined yesterday, the Ravens have a new element to their game. And the special teams might be a bit rusty. But I'm happy with the play. If we can consistently pull out wins, I'm not that worried about how we get them.

Overall, it was a good weekend. And it's now football season. I can hardly contain my glee. I love everything about it. So exciting. Cheering on my team, tailgating with friends, talking trash about fantasy teams. Yeah, this is a great time of year.

Photo: David Bergman/SI

Pre Season Fun

Yes, in general preseason games are meaningless and just excuses to get excited about football while nothing is really on the line. They give us something to talk about and analyze when it comes to rookies and free agents and the final roster. Remember that catch he had in that preseason game? He's got so much potential. That type of thing. But last nights preseason game was extra fun. The Ravens got to beat up on the Redskins.

Generally watching your team's second or third string beat up on another team's second or third string is not all that satisfying. Sure, it's fun, but not as good as watching your first string team pummel another team during the regular season. But in Baltimore there is not really a rivalry between the Ravens and Redskins fans, but at least a mostly friendly competition between fans of two team that almost never play each other during the regular season. And it is really satisfying to watch the Redskins get beat up. Even if it is their third string, because honestly, their first and second strings didn't look so hot either.

I'm not going to read too much into the 23-0 victory for the Ravens, but it was nice to watch. It made me feel a little better about our possible receiving options. I already felt good about our quarterback situation and our defense. Ray Rice and Willis McGahee both looked good. It's too early to form too many expectations. But overall it was a good showing for the Ravens. It's always fun to watch you team win. And also to watch them beat the Redskins.

Photo: AP/Nick Wass

Top Ten Reasons I'm Ready For Football Season

10. More than one sport I care about is going on. Time to get excited about something other than a losing baseball team and hope the Terps can play well enough to avoid giving me an anxiety attack.

9. It means I can stop paying attention to the terrible end of the Orioles season and actually start cheering for a team with a possibility of finishing with a winning record be it the Terps or the Ravens.

8. Hope. There is nothing better than the beginning of the season before any games are played when you can believe anything is possible and your team has a real chance of winning it all.

7. Fantasy Football. Any friendly competition is a good thing in my mind. Drafting a great team, making good trades, deciding to play and sit the right players all so you can rag on your friends makes football season even more enjoyable. Plus, you can get interested in games you otherwise wouldn't care about at all.

6. Trash talk. All of a sudden everyone's teams are going to have great years, of course, yours will do the best. Oh no, that guy from VT is out for the season, now Maryland will dominate them for sure.

5. Great rookies and big busts? Will Flacco shine again this year? Will Cutler help the Bears become a competitive team? Who will be a surprise super star and who will be an over hyped bust? The suspense is killing me.

4. Tailgating. Drinking outside and playing games like corn hole, beer pong and ladders while eating delicious, unhealthy food. Does life get any better?

3. Rivalries. In football so many of the games are in your own division in the NFL and in your conference in college. So even if the other team is not a true rival, it's always fun to beat up on someone else in the division. And hoping the Ravens will take some revenge and pound the Steelers this year is going to be fun.

2. There are entertaining college and/or NFL games to watch up to four days/nights a week.

1. The Ravens and the Terps are going to be awesome. Watch out.

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