Excellent article

Michigan Monday -- Brady Hoke's Perfect Storm
By Tony Gerdeman

http://www.the-ozone.net/football/2011/PerfectStorm.htm

Don't do it Dave!

Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon floated a trial balloon last week – “We're interested in doing a mascot” – he announced.

A Michigan mascot idea is a dumb idea. 

How many cool mascots are there out there?  There’s Ralphie the buffalo in Boulder.  There’s nothing like being at Folsom Field and seeing her stampede onto the field.  I’ve always wondered if making her run before 54,000 fans should be considered cruelty to an animal - but that’s a story for another time.  Students at Oregon love their duck – but what else are you going to do if your team is named the Ducks.  And then there’s the story of the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.

Brandon says it will be good for kids, stating, ‘But there's a generation coming up, and you've got to connect with them and keep them excited."  

I say there’s enough magic walking into Michigan Stadium just as it is.  If a kid isn’t hooked on that experience, forget about them!

Dave, look at the stupid mascots around the Big Ten – a gopher, a badger, a buckeye nut.  Don’t stoop to the levels of lesser schools.

I agree with Brian Bennett of espn.com – “Many Michigan fans cherish their tradition of non-tradition with mascots. For them, a big fuzzy costumed animal belongs at a theme park, not at the Big House.”