SJSU mascot receiving 'face life'

By: Kyle Hansen

Posted: 2/21/07

Students have no need to fear, Sammy Spartan will be back in the fall according to assistant athletic director Erica Mares.

San Jose State University's mascot Sammy Spartan is having a face lift done and has missed a few events, Mares said, but he should be back in time for the next football season.

"We are doing a full body redo, it takes six months," Mares said. "He was showing in some places."

Spartan Squad leader Bradyn Blower said that some students might not have noticed Sammy was missing.

Blower said she thought that there was no mascot because the athletic department had not hired a replacement after the student who played Sammy graduated last semester.

Mares said that was not the case. The athletic department, which is responsible for the mascot, has two students lined up to play the part once the costume is back.

"Knowing that, I am a little bit more relieved," Blower said. "I thought that athletics just had not hired anybody to be Sammy."

Mares said the school has had the current Sammy costume for about five years, which is about the normal life span for a mascot outfit.

Students and administrators said that the mascot is an important part of the university.

"I think it is important," said Erich Campana, a senior majoring in business. "It is just kind of traditional. It is one of those things that is necessary when you are at a game. You are kind of expecting him to be there."

Associate Athletic Director Tom Hastings also said that the mascot adds to the school.

"I think that he is huge," Hastings said. "It just ads to the overall ambience and spirit of the university. He just adds so much."

The Spartan Squad is charged with promoting school spirit at athletic events and sometimes works with the mascot, said squad leader Blower.

"I don't think (having a mascot) is a top priority," Blower said. "But I think it does produce spirit among the student population as long as the mascot is good at his job and knows what to do."

Of course Sammy is not the only one on campus that can raise spirit levels, said squad leader Alan Holiman.

"I think that Krazy George is better than Sammy Spartan," Holiman said, referring to SJSU's famous alumni and professional cheerleader George Henderson. "He has a charm to him."

Holiman said that with or without a mascot, the Spartan Squad aims to boost spirit on campus and encourage students to attend sporting events.

"We try to get people to come to sporting events and have school spirit and be a community," he said. "We like to have everyone in the same shirts (at sporting events) so that people see the students there and know they care."