Friday, July 08, 2022

Pierre The Pelican

 The original Pierre, mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans in 2013.  He was so creepy, looking half like a horror movie clown, that there were complaints and they regrouped.

They cooked up this whole story about an injury at the All-Star game and even had him showing up with his beak wrapped in bandages.

That a beak could grow like this is implausible even in the complete fantasyland of sports mascots.  OTOH, realism is irrelevant.  Entertainment and sales of merch are key. This is the current mascot.

Pelicans in folklore are goofy, gooney birds that one thinks must fish passively, like herons wading in shallow water looking for frogs. Pelicans are in fact pretty intimidating, and despite the completely wrong beak, the first Pierre is probably closer to the truth.

Update: Cambias points out the other mascot, maybe even creepier




3 comments:

  1. There was a video on Drudge years ago that showed a pelican swallowing a pigeon in a London park. From what I have seen and read, pelicans, herons etc. will eat any animal they can catch.

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  2. The Pelicans seem to have a gift for acquiring creepy mascots. Check out the now-departed King Cake Baby.

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  3. Fishing from charter boats in Florida, it's common for pelicans to become hooked as they dive after your bait dropped or tossed into the water. Real PITA for the boat crew to have to unhook the angry birds from the fishing line.

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