Battle of the Collegiate Mascots

First, a disclaimer:  I am not a native Texan.  Until moving to Houston, I had no idea about the importance of college football, nor how devoted Texans are to their Universities.  I now know the colors of the three schools with the most intense rivalries--University of Texas (burnt orange and white), Texas A&M (maroon and grey), and Texas Tech (scarlet and black).

I know the names of the hand signals and how to make 'em--UT is "Hook 'Em Horns"; Aggies say, "Gig 'Em!" and give a vigorous thumbs up; while the Tech fans shout, "Guns Up!" and make a "gun" out of their index finger and thumb (see below).

Most importantly, I know the animal mascots--UT's Bevo, the brown and white Longhorn, A&M's Revielle, the collie, and Tech's Midnight Matador, the black horse.  While I have a soft spot for longhorns and love dogs, I think there's nothing that beats the charge of Midnight Matador, ridden by the Masked Rider across the football field before a Texas Tech football game.

I attended the University of California at Irvine, which has Peter the Anteater as its mascot. We did not have a football team.  We did not have a hand-signal.  We did have a cheer, but I never heard anyone say it outloud.

My son attends Texas Tech at Lubbock.  I have signed publicity photos of the Masked Riders from 2007 forward, one for each year my son has attended. When my son asked me why I liked Tech's mascot so much, I answered: "One reason! There's a horse!"

2009 Masked Rider

He didn't believe the Anteater was UCI's mascot (he's not into College Sports) until I found the logo used during my University years, the one based on Johnny Hart's B.C. character. And yes, our "cheer" was "Zot!"

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Which is Cooler? Artwork by C.Bruhn; Mascot triptych courtesy of the Interwebs; Guns Up by C. Bruhn; 2009 Masked Rider courtesy of Flickr.