Insider Justin

Greetings Fans & Mascots On behalf of the entire team at Mascot.Blog we are so happy to be back and beginning to resume the full features of the website Our article "It's Been Two Years Too Long" has been well received and we are so honored for the support we've received from Fans and Mascots over the years and we understand how crazy it's been. Today I'm excited to share plans for Mascot Insider in 2022. So let's dig in! Let's start off with the exciting news. Events are scheduled to RETURN to Mascot Insider. At this time, we are looking into hopefully covering the following events: including the NHL All-Star Mascot Events, NFL Pro Bowl Mascot Events, and even looking at expanding back into having a chance to cover the UCA College Nationals Mascot Division either in person or virtually like we've done in the past. And of course, the BIGGEST thing to return in more than 2 Year is the Mascot Games in Orlando, Fla. Be sure to stay up to date on our Social Media Channels for updates as these events are subject to change. Now let's talk about the Mascot Insider Brand. For the past 10 years, we've had the honor to cover the Mascot World and put a spotlight on the Mascot to show us one of the BEST Jobs in the world. That's why we've brought back our original slogan inspired by Matt Biegun, which is "The Next best thing to being inside the suit is being a Mascot Insider" we thank Matt Biegun for helping inspire this awesome slogan and we are thankful for what he's done to help us at Mascot Insider from time to time. Also, you've may have noticed we just launched our newest Social Media Banners, which from time to time we plan to update with great events we've gotten to attend. Also sometime in 2022, we are LAUNCHING an ALL-NEW Intro Video. We can't wait until production of this amazing project begins. It will highlight our mission and what we do to both fans and mascots alike. Also coming soon, there will be slight adjustments to our website. To have fans understand Mascot.blog awesome Social Features such as being able to upload your favorite photos to share with us, commenting on our articles, and more! Plus, we plan to be working closely with professional mascots on collecting feedback on how we can make Mascot.blog even more awesome. And as you can tell Articles and Mascot.Blog is HERE to stay. We've revised the dissension to focus on Social Networks only and instead continue to have this amazing full featured website that we offer currently. So, look forward to some great content in 2022, including the hopeful return of Mascot Interviews! As we end this article, we also wanted to take a moment to THANK our former Team Members. The biggest thing I say even once they depart, they are ALWAYS a part of the Mascot Insider Family and even though they aren't currently active with us you never know they may be working with in the Background to continue to help us inspire this amazing community. So today we’d like to thank the following for inspiring this journey and being with us you ALL mean the world to Mascot Insider for your help. Navey U, Justin M, Steven C, John C, Ann Marie C, Jordan B Well that's all we have for now we are SUPER excited for the future of Mascot Insider and can't wait till 2022 as the Sports world continues to recover from COVID-19. We look forward to an exciting future and again on behalf of the entire Mascot.blog team THANK YOU for the support we love what we do and see you in 2022!

COVID has put pause on lots of things in the Mascot World and things are finally changing. On June 4, 2020, the NBA announced they would return to finish the season at the Walt Disney World Resort. This return would place players in a "Bubble," and mascots would not be allowed to attend any of the events. This left mascots out of the sports world. The same rule applied when the NHL resumed its season, which was played in Canada at Rogers Place and Scotiabank Arena. With these Bubbles, mascots were not able to entertain the players or fans watching on television. Now the good news. Through social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, some mascots continued to interact with fans, and some even became creative and did Paid or Free Zoom Meet and Greets and more. This allowed mascots to do what they do best — put a smile on the faces of fans. A prominent example is Toro from the Houston Texans football team who was able to do LIVE Zoom Calls and Crash into Student's Lessons to allow fans stuck at home learning to have some smiles. It was amazing to see and we've attached a clip below. As things looked better with COVID, sports organizations started to allow players to return to their arenas or have Host Arenas instead of being stuck in a formal Bubble. While this was good news for many fans, it still was an issue with mascots. When the NFL announced they were beginning operations, it was advised that NFL Mascots would be restricted from stepping foot on the field; the same applied to others such as the NBA, MLB, and the MiLB. This again stopped mascots from interacting directly with players, with fans still being suspended in the area. But this also brought some bright spots for mascots. Many mascots discovered they were permitted to do other things and broadcast it on their social media networks. This included being allowed to do fun skits in the arena's seating areas and even use some lounges as spaces to do fun things. This is WHY mascots are fantastic. Even in a pandemic, it allowed them to still interact with fans while their team played. I've attached some examples, and the fun mascots did during this time. And that's just the small snip of what Mascots did during the sports shutdown. Now onto today's date of November 2021, sports are BACK!! Fans are slowly returning to the stands, and Mascots restrictions are gradually being lifted, which allows them again to see fans' faces and make them smile. It's been a crazy two years, but we are SO excited to see everything returning to normal. We here at Mascot Insider have also lost great events such as IAAPA and Mascot Games, but thankfully, event's are coming back for us to attend! We are very excited to be slowly returning back soon, and we THANK all the amazing fans for the support you've offered, including the great mascots. Let's make the upcoming 2022 amazing and onward. Founder of Mascot.Blog Justin J Photo Credit: Chris Szagola from the AP.

Today it's been released that Franklin, the Official Mascot for the Philadelphia 76ers, also known as "Fan's Best Friends," has taken home this year's NBA Jon Absey Leadership Award. Jon Absey created this award, originally who's was the original Utah Jazz Bear mascot. Per the NBA, the award is presented during the NBA Mascot Conference. It is given to a mascot who demonstrates leadership not only on the court but also in respect to performance, fan and community engagement, and mentorship. With the NBA Teams returning to the arenas, Franklin has a fantastic spot that still allows him to perform safely and intact with fans via Social Media and those who might attend the games in person. We've watched it many times all the fun he's had and congratulate him on this award! He's also proudly a Mascot who's travel down to Orlando, FL for the Mascot Games. We hope to see him again soon! This is another win for Mascot Games as this is yet another mascot taking home an award that attends the games. Below we've attached a video of the team 76ers honoring Franklin with all the fantastic work he's done for the squad! As well as some awesome photos from Franklin's official Twitter account showing casing him with the award.

Released by MascotGames.org has announced today that Mascot Games in Orlando. FL has been postponed till 2022! We are sadden to hear the news but understand the Health and Safety of everyone as well there’s still currently travel restrictions in place. At this present moment in time Mascot Games has not set a 2022 date and that well come at a later time! We’ve posted the entire announcement from there site below! Mascot Insider has FULL coverage of the event available from Videos to Photos of Years Past. We invite everyone to check them out while they wait! And also Follow Mascot Games on there social platforms as they post great content from time to time including fun content from mascots themselves! For more information regarding Mascot Games please visit MascotGames.org.

Yesterday was a new day for America as they welcomed it’s 46th President Joe Biden's for his inauguration Day and those who where watching may have been surprised to see Bango from the Milwaukee Bucks had a special message to show to America which we’ve posted below thanks to Timothy for posting it to twitter.

Mascot Insider is excited to be taking a moment to interview Mini Mascot one of the First Kids Professional Mascot. What Team does he want to be on that he currently hasn't performed for? The Minnesota Vikings. Their football stadium seems really cool and Viktor the Viking is great! He came to our school last year to do an assembly and he was super fun to be around! What was it like getting a chance to work with Blue from the Colts? Fun! I got to be Blue, Junior and also got to try on their Blue Air suit. That was really cool and way different than a mascot head. The fans at the Colts game were crazy and made it so fun! What is a Favorite Skit you've done in the Past? My favorite skit was the Thunderstruck video with Benny the Bull. You can watch it on my Facebook page (Mini Mascot). We practiced most of the day and the players were warming up before the game and they watched us go through the skit. They thought it was funny so I knew it was going to work. The crowd went crazy when we did it during the game. I loved it! Do you have any input with whom you work or get to collaborate with? I watch a lot of videos of mascots and tell my mom about who would be fun to work with. She emails them and tries to make it work out. What made you want to become a Mascot? I liked watching the mascot at our basketball games for the Skyforce in Sioux Falls. I wanted to watch videos of him on Youtube and we couldn’t find any. So, my mom did a search for basketball mascots and Benny the Bull came up right away. I was three years old then. I wanted to watch his videos all day long! I also wanted to be Benny for Halloween. So my mom put a costume together for me and that was the beginning of it all! (Attached are photos of the first game I ever performed – I was four years old – with Benny the Bull!) Are there any mascots in which you idolize? Benny the Bull, Aubie, Toro, Blue, Sluggerrr — and so many more! If you could design your character, what would you want it to be? That is a hard question. Maybe a hedgehog. I really like the hedgehog that Barry and Scott were in Europe. And I think it would be fun to be something like that. Photo Credit: Two Photos Provided by Nick's Mom Angela. Mini Mascot Nick Seen on the Left and Mini Mascot Performing as Mini Benny at a Bulls game. What an Awesome interview we wanna congulate Mini Mascot on all those amazing things and being of the first Professional Mascot as a Kid. You can follow Mini Mascots Fun Adventures on the follow Social Media Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.

Mascot Insider is excited to present another Mascot Interview this time we are interviewing Chompers from the Yartford Yard Goats his pal Caden helped with the answers check them out below! What is a Favorite Skit you've done in the Past? My favorite skit I’ve done was a WWE style royal rumble with 10 other mascots at a hockey game. It was in a big inflatable wrestling wring we all got in and once the bell rang everyone went at it. I had a WWE championship belt with the Hartford yardgoats logo on it and I lifted it up in the air and knocked someone over the ropes with it and the crown went insane it was the best feeling and the most memorable skit I’ve ever done so far. Are there any mascots in which you idolize? The mascots I “Idolize” are KC wolf and Stuff the Magic Dragon. I idolize them because ever since I was little and liked mascots I would always think to myself it’s crazy the amount of stuff they can do in that big suit and I never really understood how much it really takes to do that until I got in a suit that big (Chompers). How do you collaborate with ChewChew? I collaborate with ChewChew on TikTok we go to the baseball stadium once a week to load up on TikToks to post throughout the week. We also go to appearances together all the time and it’s truly amazing how much Chompers and ChewChew click when they do appearances together What have you been doing since the Extended Off Season of Baseball? During the extended off season I have been joining Zoom calls for kids and adults that have birthdays, I go to off site appearances and do drive by birthday party’s for kids and adults around CT it’s really awesome to put a smile on peoples faces especially in a time like now. Another thing I during the extended off season is make lots of TikToks and make Tweets for the Chompers twitter account. Based on what we’ve seen from your online Bio, we understand you like to do Bat Chewing any brand particular that you like the most? My favorite bat to chew would probably be a slugger Bat. We wanna thank Chompers and his pal Caden for taking the time to do an interview with us. You Can follow Chompers on TikTok, Twitter and can follow some of his adventures on the Facebook Team Page.