Meet the Competitors of Mascot Madness 2019 – Region 3

Our yearly competition to figure out who is New York’s number one mascot has returned! We’re celebrating our 7th anniversary of the SUNY Mascot Madness tournament, and we’re excited to see what our 34 mascot competitors bring to the table this year. Our mascots are eagerly anticipating the first round, which kicks off on Tuesday, March 19. The schedule for the entire tournament is as follows, by round:

• Round 1: Tuesday, March 19 12:00 p.m. – Friday, March 22 3:00 p.m.
• Round 2: Tuesday, March 26 12:00 p.m. – Thursday, March 28 3:00 p.m.
• Round 3: Friday, March 29 12:00 p.m. – Tuesday, April 2 3:00 p.m.
• Final Four: Wednesday, April 3 12:00 p.m. – Friday, April 5 3:00 p.m.
• Finals: Tuesday, April 9 12:00 p.m. – Thursday, April 11 3:00 p.m.

Yet before you cast your vote, you need to get to know our competitors and what they’re all about. Check out the profiles below, in alphabetical order, to learn all about some of competing SUNY Mascots in Region 3 of the bracket to help you make your decision:

Blaze – Onondaga Community College | Burghy – Plattsburgh State | Falco the Falcon – Dutchess Community College | Oakie Acorn – College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) | Pawz – Erie Community College | Victor the Viking – Hudson Valley Community College | Walter T. Wildcat – SUNY Polytechnic Institute | Wolfie the Seawolf – Stony Brook University

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   My name is Blaze. I am from Onondaga Community College. I represent the Onondaga Community College Lazers.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   My hair is WILD! I look like I was struck by lightning and lived to tell about it.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   “Blaze… My Life On Top Of The World”
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   Do I have to pick just one? We’ve won 15 National Championships! Let’s go with the 2018 Men’s Lacrosse National Championship, which was our 11^th in Men’s Lacrosse and extended our two-season winning streak to 30 games.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   My Robin is Onondaga Community College’s President, Dr. Casey Crabill. She LOVES Women’s Basketball. Sometimes we play one-on-one. I like to let her win every now and then so she doesn’t get down on herself. Please don’t tell her. Let’s keep it between us.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   I’ve always respected the San Diego Chicken because he started this whole mascot thing decades ago and gave me a career. But San Diego has never won at anything (except for “best weather”). So I will stick with my school because of our 15 national championships. What’s better than winning and getting another national championship ring?
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   “Mascots,” an original series on Netflix
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   Because people LOVE me I would say a “Blaze” app. People could download the app and constantly monitor where I am. Users would have access to the GoPro camera hidden in my hair and be able to see the large crowds which constantly surround me.
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    Onondaga Community College, “The People’s College,” is one of the nation’s greenest schools. Thanks to our sustainability and environmental responsibility we’ve been named one of “The 10 Best Green Schools in America 2018” by The Knowledge Review, a “Green College” by the Princeton Review, a “Cool School” by the Sierra Club and a “Sustainable Campus” by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Did I mention we’ve won 15 National Championships?

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   Hi, I’m Burghy from Plattsburgh State in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   I can do the worm as I eat worms.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   The Bird Behind The Biz.
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   Our women’s hockey team winning four straight NCAA titles.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   Mike Howard
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   Gritty, because why not.
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   Bird. Bird, Bird, Bird is the word.
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   Game of Thrones
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   Angry Birds (Someone stole it from me.)
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    One Direction filmed on our campus.

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   I am Falco. I was sent to Earth by Zeus to represent Dutchess Community College.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   Sometimes while sleepwalking I sing songs from the Rocky IV Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   Dreams From My Feather. With a title like that, it’s sure to fly off the shelves.
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   Our softball team placed first in the region three years in a row.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   Oddly enough, the popcorn machine from the Student Activities office.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   Eddie from Iron Maiden. I could help Bruce Dickinson hit the high screech in “Number of the Beast.”
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   “Maniac” by Michael Sembello.
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   “Making a Murder of Crows”
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   A video share app for birds of prey who dance. It’s called Talon-ted
   
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    I’m on the advisory committee for our aviation program.

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   I am Oakie Acorn from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). I proudly represent the Mighty Oaks athletic teams and the ESF community as a whole.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   The fact that I’m a giant acorn isn’t wacky enough?
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   “Oakie-Dokie: One Acorn’s Journey to College Mascot Happiness.” I love representing the Mighty Oaks and all the students that make this college unique. For me, everything is “oakie dokie.”
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   The recent OT win by the Mighty Oaks men’s basketball team over Paul Smith’s college for the Barkeater Cup was one for the books. The game was played in the Carrier Dome which made the win extra awesome!
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   Here at ESF we’re less Dynamic Duo and more a team like the Avengers so it’s hard to pick just one person. There are a number of students who hang out with me and staff members who make sure I’m where I need to be.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   Obviously, it’s going to be my best mascot buddy, Otto the Orange over at SU. He’s always out and about having a good time riding around on his scooter and representing Syracuse. The added benefit of such a Freaky Friday switch is that I would be right across the street from my favorite Stumpies. I could never leave them for long.
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   High Hopes by Panic at the Disco. The song has such positive energy and I have high hopes for this year’s competition.
   “Always had high, high hopes
   Had to have high, high hopes for a living
   Didn’t know how but I always had a feeling
   I was gonna be that one in a millionAlways had high, high hopes.”
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   Right now I’m loving “One Strange Rock” with Will Smith on National Geographic. I promise you will see the world in a whole new way after watching this series. And like everyone else, I’m binge watching Game of Thrones before the new season starts. If they kill off Brienne of Tarth I will be a very sad acorn.
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   I would make an app called Squert. It would map out the percentage of squirrels in different locations around campus every day so I know to avoid them.
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    We were recently ranked #1 by The Chronicle of Higher Education for enrolling and graduating women in engineering. I don’t think it’s a surprise, but it is awesome.

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   Pawz from SUNY Erie Community College.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   I prefer the taste of chicken wings rather than the normal diet of my feline brethren.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   Pawz: A Katalogue of my Famous Tails.  I enjoy misspelled puns.
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   I have watched our Kats win an astunding 55 national championships. All of them are special to me.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   The Kats Cheerleaders always have my back on game day.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   I’ve always been jealous of Mike the Tiger down at LSU.  Have you seen that guy’s house? 
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   Game of Thrones – Long Live Ser Pounce!
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   An app that sends daily cat related puns and memes.  I can’t get enough of those.
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?

    ***Campus did not submit an answer to this question

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   I am Victor the Viking, represent Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   I’m a pretty wacky guy so that’s a hard question to answer, but it could be my wacky beard, my wacky horned helmet, but most likely it would be my wacky dance moves!
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   “Under the Horns: My Life as the Hudson Valley Viking.”
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   We’ve had so many victories it’s hard to pick one, just this past year our Women’s soccer team had their first NJCAA All-American player – Sydnee Metzold —  in program history. She also broke the school record for points scored (73) in a single season and tied for most goals in a single season (28)!
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   I’m a proud partner to the Student Senators and leaders in our Student Activities office. They get me out to all the big events and even hook me up with swag for our Viking fans.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   I would probably trade places South Paw, my good friend and the mascot of the Tri-City Valley Cats, a minor league baseball team on campus.
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   Maybe something like “We Are the Champions” by Queen.
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   I’m a big fan of Jeopardy!
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   I think a great idea would be an augmented reality app where students from all over the world could experience the Hudson Valley campus!
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    Not many people realize that Hudson Valley has been around for nearly 65 years now. The college started out in 1956 as the Veteran’s Vocational School for soldiers returning from war. We proudly serve 400 military and veteran students today!

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   I’m Walter T. Wildcat the SUNY Poly Mascot. I rep everything blue and gold!
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   My blue tongue.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   Walter: A Self Paw-trait.
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   Seeing my Women’s Basketball team head to the NCAA Tournament three out of last four years.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   Adrienne Victor. She keeps my coat clean and smelling purrty.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   I’m OBSESSED with Otto the Orange. I mean, he’s like a bright orange ball. I’m just dying to play with him.
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   Stray Cat Strut, Year of the Cat, Roar
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   Garfield, Game of Thrones (I love seeing Ser Pounce). But don’t ask me to watch that 80’s show ALF…that mean alien thinks us cats are for dinner!
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   A teleportation app so I can just zap between our campuses in Utica and Albany.
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    My school makes chips… (nano chips, not potato chips!)

1. Who are you, where are you from, and who do you represent?
   My name is Wolfie the Seawolf and I represent Stony Brook University.
2. What is your wackiest attribute?
   The wackiest thing about me is that I’m always carrying a snack with me for those long days on the job.
3. What would your autobiography be called and why?
   Wolfie: International SpyReason: Classified
   
4. What is the biggest school victory/triumph you have been witness to?
   My favorite triumph was from the past season watching our women’s lacrosse team dominate the America East conference while also breaking NCAA records.
5. Who is your on-campus partner that helps you stay on top of your game, the Robin to your Batman?
   I have 1000’s of on campus partners. Every student and fan of Stony Brook is considered my “Robin.” All these students and fans are led by our amazing spirit squad consisting of band, dance, and cheer.
6. If you could trade places with any mascot for a day, who would it be and why?
   I would trade places with Sparky the Dragon of the New York Islanders. This way I would still be cheering for a local Long Island team. Plus he’s a dragon and dragons are awesome.
7. Should you make it to the finals, what would your entrance song be when you enter the final competition?
   Hungry Like The Wolf by Duran Duran
8. What is your favorite series to binge watch?
   Teen Wolf because it’s about my good friend Scott. He grew up down the road from me.
9. Everyone has a good app idea. What’s yours?
   My app would be Seawolves daily. Everyday the app gives you a fact about what a seawolf is. For some reason people always ask me what’s a seawolf.
10. What one fact about your school do you love to surprise your fans with?
    Stony Brook has the only children’s hospital on Long Island. I regularly visit the patients there to brighten their day but also mine. This past basketball season each member of the team chose one child to honor at the game by wearing a jersey with the child’s name on it.