FULL FLEDGED CFB

Probably no surprise. I had a great time putting it together. I met six new friends age eighty two, got too reminisce with one very old friend who I first met thirty five years ago. Now, look, it's it's a huge sport. There were what a thousand worthy guests to help illustrate the unique passion surrounding this sport. We had to whittle that down. We chose just seven. But you're gonna enjoy getting to know all of them. We've got some tremendous

tailgating legend. Now, they wouldn't always share their recipes, but they shared lots of stories. We'll talk to the Ohio State susophone player, who's gonna dot the eye at the Buckeyes home opener. He's waited a lifetime and then had to wait the whole extra year to live his dream. We'll talk to the leader of the one fab four Horsemen, the tremendous drum majors of the mighty Marching Wildcats of b Thune Cookman University, a legendary band. We got the

mascots covered. They're back this year too, and you're gonna hear exactly what it's like to run with Ralphie, the beloved Buffalo and Boulder and the hazard they don't warn you about beforehand, and what it was like to be the ultimate bad boy mascot in college football back in the day, back when there were no rules. We're gonna start though, two very generous souls who are experts to

throw on one hell of a party. Jane and Lance Foster are creators of the Zebra Tent, which is the centerpiece and the epicenter of tailgating the Grove in Oxford, Mississippi. We're socializing, eating, and drinking before a football game. Our

sacred rituals elevated to an art form. Well. The grove is ten precious acres of land at the heart of the old miss campus with magnolia and elm and oak trees, and it comes alive on home football Saturdays with a barrage of tense and is probably the epicenter of tailgating. So Jane and Lance Foster take us through what makes the grove such a special place of what sets it apart, Jane from all the other spots on the tailgate landscape. I like to describe it like this, the tailgating, other

than the food is for the ladies. The football game is for the men. And in the grove, both of those things meant me. You know, you've got your fashion, you've got your fancy, but you've got your rough and raality football. It is just such a combination of family time, girl time, guide time. It's just such a mix and that's what makes it so different. Yeah, it feels like a celebration. Even though there's an important game that a

lot of folks might be nervous about. It seems like they checked their their worries and cares about that and just kind of have a good time and learn to separate the party going from the serious business of the football game. Right. It's it's just like you just have

to experience it. I've had people come in and writers have described it as like a wedding reception before the football game because everything is so fun and fancy, and the women are dressed so keyed, and the men really are enjoying the women and the you know, it's just such a good time to enjoy each other and have two good things, fun things going on that everybody enjoys. Well.

At the heart of all this, with the tense and old miss colors red, white, and blue, there is the tent that has painted black and white and zebra stripes with the decor under your tent as plenty of zebra stipes as well, so it stands out. But why zebra stripes in the middle of Oxford. Well, I went to Mississippi State, So what I went. I attended Mississippi State

and I'm from Star from Mississippi. So I had never been to the grove when I met my husband because when I was in college we played each other in Jackson. It was such a rivalry. We played on neutral field.

So when I got there, I was like, Okay, I'm going to calm, but I'm gonna have this tent where everybody's welcome and we're gonna just painted zebra stripe, and I have a little chip on my shoulder, and I got there loved it so much that now when you come to the zebra tent, it has red and blue stripes all over it too, with fans up and hotty

tiddy everywhere. So she became a rebel. Yeah, you still got that bulldog inner because it's where she went to school, which she is a relevant You can love taste scoots, you can do it. Oh that's you just upset Mississippi Safe fans. But because it is a fierce rivalry down there. But I'll tell you what I've been to both places. Tailgating Old miss has a clear edge. There's no question about that. It is a fabulous place. Now you mentioned

it's like a wedding reception. I mean food, drink, hospitality, the guest list, rank in order of importance, those those crucial components to a tail okate, what what what's first? Second, third in that group? Okay, we're gonna go with the food as number one. Then we're gonna go with the decorations. It's number two. Um, then we'll probably go with what you're gonna wear men and women because the men look good to know they're all they're both tied up and they this one in but both ties on as big

as people might come out. But everybody is really fresh and looks looks really nice for the football game. And then I would go number four with the party, the drinks, that kind of thing. Well, some tailgates have special food. You know, it might be barbecue. Throughout the South, it might be and delay at L. S U. Or crawfish at Toufe. It might be broughts. They keep it pretty simple in the Midwest. You guys, I've seen your tent. You have something of everything under there. Well, why is

it so important to be so comprehensive of the menu. Well, one thing we do is every ball game is a different thing. So if we're playing L. S U. Then we have a lot of swamp food. We have corn dogs number one, but we also have you know, we have like fried fish. We have shrimp usually ball two hundred three hundred pounds of shrimp. I respect that you guys, honor the opponent with the themes though you've had. If Texas comes in or another sec temp comes in, you're

not just about old miss. You're you're welcoming the hospit mentality is amazing. Talk about the different themes and how you come up with that. Um Texas, of course, it's like a Southwestern theme, and that's my favorite one. I mean, we pull out saddles. Sometimes we have little uh cutouts where people can have their face in a cowboy and a cow girl, and we do all the hay bells. But we'll do like a Mexican fiesta bar for that. When when we did the Hawaiian thing, we played Alabama,

both quarterbacks were from Hawaii. It was extravagant. We had palm trees like big like I mean, we went and bought the fake palm trees. We it was. We ordered I think ten thousand lays and they lit up all different type and gave those away to everybody. Um I enjoyed. When Cal came, we did Surfing with the Sharks was our theme, and we we made it twhere. I mean, we had surfboards all of that type of stuff in there, and that was a lot of groovy surfer surfing kind of and we had a lot of fins up and

shark things. And Lance said not to mention this because people don't like to. But I thought it was so cute. Our shark had this big mouth and it coming out of the mouth was this chewt up sign that said, ain't never lost a party, You're still undefeated. Criss back my favorite um We when l s U came, I believe it would have been in thirteen. We had live fish and we had fish bowls with fish swimming around it. Dry we we did a pi row half of pier row. We put drys behind it, and we had all the

bold shrimp in it. So it was it was like a cauldron with that, and it was the whole thing. We had magnolia leaves hanging from them and hanging moss is all that. That one was really very extravagant before with that, that was a fun one. I would imagine even though it's Austin p one of those opponies talked about that doesn't have a lot of tradition with the Rebels, I would imagine the build up, the anticipation, the excitele for this coming season at the Zebras must be off

the charts. It is going to really be kind of a welcome home for us. It's gonna be we look honestly, to be really honest, with you as far as the tailgun he goes. When it's a place like that, you have time to visit with your guests because it's not a mad, crazy crowd. You learned so much about their school and their traditions, and we really enjoy those games so much. We've made friends. People have sent us like concert tickets and paid our way to go see concerts.

We've been paid. They paid our way to Mardi Gras with the hotel. I went to the man because they came to the Zebra tent and we're so impressed and had so much fun. So honestly, we can't wait to host those people. They seem to be really wild. Really, they just love it so much. They've heard about it for so long. I mean, it's legendary. It's a it's a tourist attraction on Saturday morning, says, folks have heard about it, and the legends spread all across the landscape.

What I think is great about the grove and in particularly your tent, is the hospitality that you are welcoming to folks, because there's this idea that SEC football is so fierce that fans get to scuffling before, during, and after the game and there's no way to break bread earlier, because folks are just so mad at each other, right and and we you know, we've had some things break out around the tent before. They wouldn't dare inside the

zebra tent. But I had to beat some some young boys out of the tent with the metal here one time to the police could get there. But they were actually watched her. They thought it was funny. Security did Wait a minute, Wait a minute, wait a minute. You had some visiting fans, some unruly young college sentence you had to hit with a chance. I can't blame it all on the visitors. It was a combination, and it

was it was younger college, it was college kids. And they got into a huge brawl which just kept growing and growing, and then they just kind of they fell over into the tent. They knocked the champagne fountain down, and all I could do was, I mean, I sent people to get the cops. But all I could do is fold that metal chair up and start swinging to get them back out of the tea. Chris, I wasn't in the tent, so I got to hear her side of the story, and all of you p d they

come to our tent. They know us. Well, just listen to them tell the story. And one guy's I just crossed my arm, Lance, you hadn't handled its beautiful. Don't mess with Jane and the Zebra to I'd say what, somebody should have spent a week in jail for knocking over the champagne because that that is sacrily that. I know that Mimosa fountain is is a feature part of the beverage table back there. Someone dared knock that over that they should get banned for life from the grove.

We've had some crazy it's happening there, beautiful. We've had waiting for proposals, you know, I mean so many great things. The most memorable moment to us of people coming in we had six New York firemen reach out to us and ask if they could have a bachelor party. And you talk about fun, Well, I'm imagining, Lance, I'm trying to imagine the collision of cultures. Let's say the meeting of cultures between New York City firemen and the genteel

tailgate scene in the Zebras. And how how did that go? Well? They they were so enamored with the women, and they were so funny. We I mean we planned it ahead of time and we it was just just watching them watch the women. I mean it was like they had never seen women for I can't. I mean they could, I'm telling you. It was maybe like what you would expect if a man went to Hugh Hefner's house for the first time or something. They were very I hope

they were well behaved despite yes they were. They were great. And they wore Yankee pin stripe overalls with no shirts and they were, you know, twenty four seven years old. Buff could have been on account. Yeah, I mean they were, and they mean they truly had an absolute I think they were thinking Mississippi and the overalls, and when they got there, they were like, I think we wore the wrong thing, you know, a little underdressed, a little underdressed

for the Zebra na. It was so much they were cordious. I mean, they had great manners. I don't mean that they but I just mean they were so taken with the women. They just could not. It was so much they didn't. They weren't accustomed to women dressing up like that football games, you know, I find that incredibly easy you to believe what you just said, but I've just

said that that's I'm glad they behaved themselves. I'm glad they had a great time and they certainly left Fox were some some great memories to tell around the fire station back in New York City, I'm sure. And we do a lot of Make a Wish Kids, and we did Tim Tebow's Tim Tebow since his make a Wish Kids every year. We that is so rewarding. I mean we've also done like um, we had three brothers who had a deal where they were going to all SEC schools around the nation, and the one brother died before

they made it to the groves. So the two brothers contacted us and so we were able to get them on the field. We were able to get them tickets in the club house. Surprised them with it. So they came to the Zebra tent and they had this last you know, hurrah that they didn't get to have with the third brother. It was the most I mean, I get a little teared up when I think about it because it was such an emotional time and they had no idea we had planned all this form. You know,

that's a wonderful surprise. You guys have made great use of the platform. You created another fundraising components of what you do with the zebra tense. So I I applaud that it's Folks need to know that it's a whole lot more than than food, fancy dress and drink before a game. I appreciate what you guys, what you guys have done. It takes a team, though, right there's no way if you feel if folks were to see the spread of food and deserves, there's no way two humans

can do that just in a few days. I know you're surrounded by folks who support you and and and you know I get a lot of credit that I do not deserve. So if there's one statement I ever make that they often did cut out, is we have the We have an encrea. We have a team that could plan an inauguration. We get there at five o'clock on Saturday morning. We're there Friday night usual until about

nine thirty or so. We get there at five a clock Saturday morning, and that's when the decorations, everything is set up, The decorations are done, then we leave in about an hour later. We're back and all the food is brought in and then that's where the ladies get all the the food styling. It takes two and a half hours to put out all the food and styling the college game. They finally made it to the grove

to document that scene in two thousand and fourteen. It was my most enjoyable episode in twenty five years of hosting the show. Katie Perry as the guest picker did it as well as anybody ever has. But Lands and Jaine were also a part of that show. They were so hospitable and they told me that that fourteen game day that was kind of an equation changer for the Zebra Tent Chris. Before fourteen Game Day on an SEC weekend,

we would feed in the neighborhood of five hundred. After that, now it's anywhere from twelve hundred to seventeen hundred that we feed in, and we've counted before we've had have over five thousand come through the tent most SEC games. Two look, take pictures, you know, grab a bike. D I feel like I should apologize. ESPN has got a lot of money. Send us the bill for all the extra folks that are showed up since game day. That's

that's pretty overwhelming. I hope you guys seem to be taking it in the right way to think that this began with pickup trucks and station wagons driving to a stadium and dropping their tailgate and getting out a little beer and maybe some tupper worth full of food. Maybe eventually they began to grill in a habachi and it's grown into this. You guys have been at the top of the game for so long. What's left to do? What? What can the zebra tempt possibly do next to top

what you've done? Are the wheels turning now they are really thought about it? I mean, we just have you know. We we do the Breast Cancer Awareness because we've had several of our members who are breast cancer survivors. We usually do another charity um different, We've done Palmer Home, We've done so we look, we have kind of goals that we set with that. But for the most part, I don't ever want it to be something where it's

not fun anymore. You know. We do try to do it cuter or better every time, just because we like what we do. But I don't ever really want it to be competitive, and I don't even want to feel like I have to outdo it every time. I'd say if the Fosters have it wired, I don't mean just party giving, I mean life. Throw yourself into it with passion and energy, but never take it so seriously that the fun is robbed. They're very modest and talking about

how inclusive and hospitable they are. But I'm just gonna tell you everyone is welcome with the Zebra Tent. If you were an Oxford you don't know a lot of people, you're new in town, you don't have a social click to hang onto, you are welcome to visit the Zebra Tent on a football Saturday along with fans of the other team in Folks who have just made pilgrimages to Oxford to be a part of it. Very grateful for

their time. Now two thousand miles away from Oxford. Another tremendous tailgating scene at Washington Huskies games, or as they call it, salegating, or folks take their boats if they're lucky, they dock them in Union Bay, maybe drop bankor take a raft in and create a tremendous environment inside Husky Stadium. Genie Miles is the matriarch of that scene on the boat that her late husband Frank bought the Big Dog,

and gen is filled with great stories and justice. Enthusiastic at age eighty two about husky sports as she was at age eight when her dad first took her to games. Okay, Gennie describe what a college football Saturday aboard the Big Dog is like. Well, we get up early at our house. The boat is docked at my home, but my son and daughter in their spot houses on the boat, and um, we take our customers, we take friends, UM and our family and m Under normal circumstances, with this particular boat,

we can take eighty to people. So we have someone Greedim. They go down the hill and go to the dock and and we get going. We serve them coffee and a little um continental breakfast kind of thing. Because we have to start out early, we're normally the first ones on the dock, and it's a treat for lots of the people. They've never been to a husky game, let alone on my boat. So we beat the traffic. It's perfect, lots of fun and everybody enjoys it immensely. It's a

full day. However, you're committed. When you're on that boat and you come back, you'll have to uber home if you don't want to come back with us, because we we get there early and we stay late. So that's how it goes, and it's it's awesome and I personally just love it. I can tell it in your voice. So you're sailing along, you leave Mercer Island, you get the Cascade Mountains over to the you're right, there's Mountaineer. The Olympic Mountains are across, and you make your way

into Union Bay and Husky Stadium is totally unique. It's right there on the water. So then it's kind of a you're not you're not alone, there's you're surrounded by I'm sure plenty of friends and fellow voters on those saturdays, right, there's lots of voters there. I don't know how many, but probably a hundred and semi would guests, and they

raft out. We have to be lucky to be the first ones on the on the dock and people will drive over and meet us um and we then before the game starts, we have the I Love My band comes down and entertains our folks. They get on the back deck and they play a lot of the songs to fight songs and the music and everybody sings and carries on and it's great fun. I absolutely love it. Somebody had invited me to do something this fall and

I said, I can't do that. I go to this Musky season when loser draw, I just think it's a it's a wonderful pastime on Saturday. I love the game. I understand the game, and I'm not one of these ladies that sits there and doesn't know what's going on. And um, I just we all just love it with the kids. Um one of my grandsons that lives next door, he came as an infant, and you know, we just

don't leave anybody home. We all go and um that it's just fun to be together, fun to be in that atmosphere, and um less to be able to do that and share with other people. I'm sure as much as you've appreciated it, season is going to feel even more special because, like so many other traditions, it didn't exist last year. There were some very quiet Saturdays around stadiums. The games went on, but none of the none of

those surrounding things and make the sports so great. So how are you feeling knowing that you didn't get a chance to do it last year. Well, I'm really excited about the season, and I a little bit nervous. I just hope that this pandemic doesn't interfere with us again. I suppose we'll have to wear masks. I don't know that they'll will have to find out if they limit the number of people. Every state's different. I fully intend to that the kids bring, we bring the boat, and

we bring people with us. We probably won't bring as many people as my guests, and we have people that are timid about going to the going out and going to the games. But I wouldn't miss it. I've had my vaccinations, I'm careful. I'll have all that disaffect on all over. The boat will be hopefully we'll be just fine. That's great. I think that it'll be a celebratory all over the country, but especially place lately. It will be and I can't wait for that. The Husky fans are

so loyal. So you were able to enjoy a national championship season there. I'm sure there were some big parties on the Big Dog, and then then you had the the opposite end of the spectrum. You had a season in two thousand and eight where they didn't win a single game. But but rain or shine, win or lose, you guys seem to show up every every Saturday. Absolutely, I wouldn't miss it because you don't just support the team and the you know, the players and the athletic department.

When they win, you support them all the time. And um, I want them. They need to feel that and know that. And the voice that we've had given scholarships too, they know that and appreciate that too. One time, I vividly remember it was I think we played the Cougars and it was the last game of the season and it snow ode and we were one of three boats on the dock, and um, I didn't think about the dock. We were covered with ice. When we departed to go

to the game. I was in my ski outfit. I mean, it was just it was so cold, and I think we had a sixty ft boat. Then oh my gosh. Um we had guests day, were night with us two other couples, and we even had ice on the inside of the windows. But we're tough huskies, great slate storm We're there. We always have. We always have the opponents on the boat. It doesn't somebody's capite rivals. Yes, they do come on the boat. I I can't. I mean, they're dear friends. I can't not let them them. But oh,

I like it. I like it when we reigned supreme and we win. I'm not I don't like to lose. I'm sensing that. I'm sensing you're very competitive. When you're passionate and you want, you want the uski Is to have a huge season. Oh we do, we really do. We have a new coach. We we miss coach Pete, but um, we have a nice new coach. And um, I hope that he does really really well. He has all kinds of enthusiasm and and um, it's changed. I've watched how the game the um, how it's changed. We

used to always beat Oregon. Now it's a challenge to beat Oregon. And and I'm always, um eager for that game to come. I don't I used to go to all those games down in Oregon. Not anymore. They don't like us very much, but you know what, I don't like them very much anyways. The rivalry. The people outside the Northwest don't fully appreciate how how salty it gets between those two schools. You're write about that it does, and it does what w s U two, Although it's

more friendly, yeah to say that. One of the beautiful things about college football the traditions that spanned generations in the Miles family. You're about what is it four or five generations now that have have been a part of this and supported the Huskies. Okay, we're five generations right. My husband went to school there, got a master's degree, My kids got master's degrees from there, and I've gone I'm ad two. I've gone to those games since I was about eight and my dad used to take me

and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. The early Lord that the Lord before they actually built the docks, I guess Husky Citium being built around the nineteen twenties. People actually used to pull up these small boats, hide him in the grass, and then go to the games. Right before they had a fancy dock there. When I was a little girl, we didn't get to go by boat. But when I married Frank, you bet we went by boat.

And I can't tell you how many We've entertained, probably thousands of people, and we have lots of tickets and um, everybody has a good time. We have a dance on the way home and we have a disco ball and um we like and uh we like to um. What's that song? We are family anyway, we danced to that and they can hear us all over the lake, you know, voices and noise carries over water nicely. So we'll celebrate.

Believe me, it's fun. My grandson's will dance with Grandma and I go get them if they're not available, and they come and we we dance and all our friends on the back deck. It's fun. It's really it's it's a good day. But I'll tell you by the end of that day and we go up to the house, I'm exhausted. I love seeing all the people. I love cheering at the game and being with everyone, and it's just probably one of my favorite things in my life, to be very honest with you, besides loving my family.

But then I have them all with me when we do this, so it's pretty special. I know, I know you realize how lucky you are. I tell you why. I feel the same way in the football Saturday it's exhilarady. I'm exhausted by the end of the day too, So there's no shame in giving everything you've got on a Saturday to entertain those folks. How great is Genie Miles, She's a treasure. I vow to get back there and tailgate once again on the boats at a Husky game.

I had a great experience there after College game Day one time in the pass. Also vowed by the way to get back to the grove and the Zebra ten. Now to the marching bands the soundtrack of a college football game that wasn't there a year ago, no fight songs, no pageantry. And I've always had massive respect for bands, the energy, the commitment they put in, how competitive it is within a band in between bands. But my appreciation grew even deeper when they weren't there a year ago.

I expect that might even get a little bit emotional calling a game when I hear one of those familiar fight songs, belt it out loudly. Now, the band of a Thune Cookman is always near the top of the list, especially in the very competitive HBCU band division. Dona b Wells has been a director of bands there since ninety seven, since before the current band members were born, and he has built a wonderful legacy of valuable visible part of

Bethune Cookman's identity. I got a chance to talk to Kevin Gohan's one of the senior drum majors of Bethun Cookman, and you can't hear in his voice how pumped up, how passionate he is about the coming season. But then Cookman often mentioned as the top or certainly one of the top elite HBCU bands. It's a small private school, the enrollments under three thousand, the band is enormous. You've got more than three folks on the field at once.

That's a huge percentage of the student body. And we described the Marching Wildcats kind of the role they played in campus life at Bethune. Cookman Man, Uh, It's it's kind of weird because like, coming from high school, people respected my high school band. I came from Carroll City, by the way, guards Yes, sir, so people respected the band, but there was always like, yeah, you're the band, but you're not the football team and so forth. That's almost

flipped on its head here. And I'm not disrespecting a football team. I love those guys, my cousins of football player as a matter of fact. For Cookman, but yeah, it's like it's flipped on his head, and it's just mind blowing because I never thought I would have seen it. So it's it's banned up here, football team down there, if you're being honest, Yeah, it's it's kind of crazy. I'm like, wow, Like I never would have thought because you know, you know the stereotypes and all that stuff.

You know, But you walk around now as a drum major, one of four drum majors for the coming season. So you are a leader in the band. You put in your time, You've been through a rigorous tryout process that we'll get to. What does that make you one of the campus rock stars as one of the drum majors of the Marching Wildcats. I wouldn't say all of that. I don't really feed into any of that, unfortunately, because you know some people would be like, well, you do

all this, you do all this. I'm like, I don't even think about that. I just think about doing my job. I'm so lazy focused on on making sure that I can make the band staff jobs easier for those people that have never seen it. And I would encourage you to go to YouTube and check out the Marching Wildcats because unbelievable videos on there what what what is a drum majors on the field now at halftime, So it all starts with attention and we're the ones that blow

the whistle and called tension. At that point Mr Wells job is essentially over until it comes to him, uh conducting the concert number most For the most part, the show is in our hands. So we give whistle commands pertaining to you know, uh, tempos for these various songs, because we're not playing everything at the same tempo. Be

mind you and um, you know. Starts with attention, then we go on into our entrance typically which if you've never seen the Thune Cookman drum major entrance, Man oh man, this robbery. Every year, every squad brings something different and it's so it's just so beautiful. But you know, besides all of that, when you got part musical, it's part leadership. Like you said, you guys got the whistles, and it's

all so really athletic. It's really physical, is what you guys are doing is not just marching around in place. I mean, take take folks through the sort of the athletic part of it. So we spend almost the entire summer just working on ourselves working on our our our physical performance. But it's not always oriented towards or center towards our physical our physical prowess. It's also covering our leadership skills as well, because that's a that's a huge aspect.

You're coming in as um at the earliest, a sophomore in this leadership position and you're you're basically leading three plus people of various classes and in age groups and so on and so forth, so you have to be prepared for just about anything. Anything could really happen there. There there are good times and there are bad times throughout this band program, but we we have to leave them in order to show the crowd that, you know, forget all of that. At the end of the day,

we're marching wildcats. It's just a matter of putting all that discipline and and effort into a few condensed hours and our product is just unmatched. It's beautiful. Describe the drum major's uniform on game day fancy, oh yes, man, beautiful uniforms. Uh. If I'm not mistaken, they were designed by Mr Wilson self. And um, this isn't just for

the drum major uniforms. This is across the entire band there there of course you see like film cooking university, but there are also little tidbits of when back when we were at college, so it pays homage to what came before us. It's just a beautiful thing to see when we're all walking up just menacing. It just looks menacing. I get this from my grandfather because he's like, man, every time y'all get on that field, you'll look like

a look like an army. Uh. I love it. Now, what is the anticipation like for one given all that how hyped or people to to get back in the field and and do what you came there to do. Man. So so just going back to a second. Last year was my first year as a drum major, and I was I was more than prepared after after sacrificing a lot of my time just trying to get in the position that I'm in. So when I finally got here last year and and turns out we're not having a season,

it was a little bit of a bummer. I'm not gonna lie, but and honestly, it just it just made me a little more hungry for this year, this upcoming year to do the best that I can those are some very quiet saturdays. You say a little bit of a bummer, you kind of. I think you're underselling it. It It was probably pretty devastating for folks not to be able to be out there. Oh yes, oh no, it definitely hurt. It definitely hurt. But you know, minor, minor

setback for a major comeback, you know. And and there's a lot of talk about us moving into the SWAT Conference and what is BC you gonna do in the Swag and all honesty, all those swack schools better be afraid because we're coming from them. You're talking about the marching Wildcats, not the football team. Oh yeah, well, I mean football team too, football team too. We stand behind them. It's it's it's no divide their football team band, all of that. We're coming for them. I like it. I

like the competitive nature. Mr Wells is always talking about performing like we're the best because that's where we are and and and not trying to be boastful or have a cocky nature about it. But that all starts with the work. Um, just putting in that work so that the performance aspect becomes easy. You shouldn't be thinking about what move is next in the dance routine, or or where should I be marching next in the formation or

anything like that. When we're actually performing at this point, it should be it should be engraved into your mind well enough until the point where it's just second nature, you know. So when it comes to him saying need to perform like we're the best, but act like we're the best, and that that goes where everything just effort during practice, putting everything you have onto that field at

each moment. Don't slack up at all, so that when that performance comes, it's over for whoever bands tries to step against us. Ever since I got here, Like from the moment I stepped in the band room for the freshman meeting, I told him I wanted to be a horseman. So for for me making all those sacrifices as I alluded to before, uh, working out, trying to gain waight um, just doing stuff that was out of the realm of

comfortability so that that that uncomfortable can become comfortable. And finally being in the position where I worked for I prayed for all of that. But when I got that call and I was shump up for Jore, I was jumping for Jore. Yeah, it's a lifelong dream, right, you get to live. Man. It's crazy because I was I was sitting over here thinking about how my grandfather and my mother attended to school and uh, just and neither of them were in the band, but they knew how

how hard the band worked while they were here. And my grandfather used to take me to cooking and games every now and then because you know, we stayed in Miami. Uh. And I remember just watching the drum majors and just being fascinated by them, never thinking that I would be in that position, but here I am. It's crazy how things going back around full circle. And then my grandfather, Man, my grandfather is so proud, just just so proud. All right.

Take us through the emotions, the hype as it builds towards that showdown with family and they're famous band, which is an annual event or homecoming night at Bethune Cooking, which is another massive thing where you know all the alums who know their bands, they know their routines. They're all watching very carefully. What are the emotions like going

into huge events like that? Man? How exhilarating, man, How exhilarating because it's just watching the alumni, and I think it goes for any band program at any any school just watching the alumni show support for you, and they've been a lot of them have been in the same position as you. You know, going back to see them come back and be like, hey, you're doing a good job means that you're carrying on that legacy, that legacy that that begins back from Dotted with. It's just um man,

it's just a mind blowing thing. So it goes back to even when I was talking about not disappointed Mr Wells, another factor of that is not disappointed the alumni either. I want to make sure that I'm doing the best with every march, I step, whatevery, whatevery, uh dance move with every with every entrance. You know, you gotta check out the videos of the Marching Wildcats and their drum majors on YouTube. They are amazing. Wishing Kevin the best

for his senior season. Now, the numbers are down a bit in the band because of COVID, and Director Welles told me he's got his fingers crossed that despite a spike in cases down in Florida won't get so bad and the band will be able to perform at football games all season long. He's just hopeful. Another band that

I've always admired as the Ohio State Marching Band. I've seen firsthand their dedication, the practices of the rehearsals, musicians practicing on their own for the practices what he Hay has called them the s damn band in the land, and it's stuck. My buddy Kirk cerb Street has always told me that the band of the football team are held an equal esteem in Ohio State at the top

of the pecking order, or the susophone players. Susophone is basically a tuba modified from marching and the lead susophone player. This year, as Luke Eisler, I mean, the Buckeyes host the Oregon Ducks, Luke will finally live out a dream that he has worked for and waited for a long time. Help folks understand the feeling of what it's like to be a part the Ohio State band, to have put in the commitment and earn your spot and now you're marching around Ohio Stadium before a game, spelling out the

word Ohio Take take us there. I mean, it's a feeling unlike any other in the world. You putting all that effort and here you are in a game day. It's already six hours in. We show up six hours before kickoff. We go through morning rehearsal and do our skull session at St. John Arena. See everybody, see the football team here from coach day, march back over the stadium, marching on the ramp entrance, and you see the hundred thousand people up above you and the crowd is there's nothing.

I was like it really, it's just all the screaming. Everyone's clapping in sync with the cheering you want. And it's just something that I've done it twenty one times over the last three years. I've marched every home game. It's just, um, you don't really lose that magic to it. It's just like anything else. But of course, yeah, ramps over then you have to go do scripts, so you keep going and uh a lot of a lot of pushing. It's just, uh, you're just kind of going out a pilot.

At one point. Don't tell my directors, I said that can't go on a pilot. But it's just you get locked in and for and a half minutes of pure focus, pure adrenaline, blasting away on the horn and you get to your spot and you watch your friends live out their dream at the top of the eye. So it's just that's that's something you don't get anywhere else. It's quite quite an opportunity. That's well put. Watching your friend live out their dream means a fellow susaphone player dotting

the eye. For those who don't know what we're talking about, I'd urge you to go to YouTube and watch. There are plenty examples of script Ohio being spelled out, drum major leading the band around as they march and finally spilled everything out, and finally, after the entire stadium has watched that group in that precise marching drill, one instrument and one musician separate from the group, all eyes on them.

They are the sole focus on a hundred thousand people high step out, take off the hat and take about now. How much is it gonna mean to have a chance to do that the Oregon game this year in Columbus because in course bands couldn't perform, fans were not able to watch this great tradition, this great ritual. Yeah, and it's it's almost indescribable thinking and forward and I don't know,

it's just one of those things with my love. Last year you learned about delayed gratification and never taking anything for granted. It's just um, when it comes to dotting the eye, I guess it's something I was forced to wait for, but it's something that is meant to be waited for. You just have to put in the work each and every day and keep that positive outlook going forward. And UM, I have done everything I can to stick

around and make it happen for this fifth year. I graduated uh in May, but I am putting things on hold. I'm not moving for a job. I'm doing things on my term And it's just something that you have to commit to. Six of the eight eye dollars this year all actually graduated from Ohio State at this point. So whether we're working full time or just putting our lives on hold, it's we're making this dream happen. And uh,

it's it's kind of hard to put into words. It's something that you've been working on since you were a little kid with ambitions or say you didn't even have the ambitions, but it's just something you've learned to want more than anything. And UH, we are all super excited myself. And but it's just, um, I can hear your voice, matic, I can hear your voice, and it says a lot that the sus bone players came back after having graduated. You said, put the life on hole to live out

the dream. I mean that tells folks everything they need to know about what it means to have those few seconds kind of cap a great career as a musician. There. I know there's an important person in your life who was looking forward to watching you do that last year when you were scheduled to do it, and and she won't be able to watch this time. But but but tell us about what you expect your emotions will be luke when you get your chance to guatt and dot the I uh in a short time now. It's really

hard to put into words as well. It's just a lot of mixed emotions. I'm excited, I'm nervous. I don't want to screw it up and do really well. And like you said, it's uh. There's a lot of people in my life that this means a lot too, and myself, but especially in my family. They've done nothing but support me unconditionally over these last few years, and they are all supportive for me taking the time to do this, and I think this the Oregan game is just going

to be a massive celebration for all of us. But yeah, one person will have in mind the whole way is definitely give me my grandma. She my biggest fan, absolutely the most vocal supporter as well. She was She told anyone and everyone she met m about how her grandson was in the High State Marching Band, and I just got the I but from sports games growing up to

Bankard since I got older. She and my grandpa they lived a couple of hours away and in Canton, and I grew up in Columbus, so um, they always put in that effort. But when the bands, Yeah, when we weren't able to do it last year, we were both really bummed, but we said one our eyes on this coming season and looking forward to this day coming up. But you know, sometimes stories don't always have a perfect hunting like that. So yeah, we we lost her back

in March. She uh, she passed away after a long, fierce, courageous fight with art disease. So her unrelenting spirit I know, will live on and I even though she won't be there physical with me, thankful to have had her so many of my other life milestones, and I know she'll be right there with me in Ohio Stadium that day.

Lad is beautifully put. My grandmother is very very important in my life as well, very influential, incredibly supportive, and I can understand the little bit about what you're feeling and what the emotions will be for you when you go out and honor her at that Oregon game. That's just tremendous. So Luke, I learned about the challenge system of the Ohio State Band researching this. Somebody has an

off day on Saturdays. Someone who else who plays their instrument goes out to practice on Monday and says, I want their slot. I'm gonna take you down, and now you have to fight to keep your starting spot in effect, that's intense. It is. It's something that keeps us. It sounds pretty cut throat, but it is. It's for the greater good, you know. It's something that keeps us rotating and keeps us at the top of our game at all times, and that's what keeps us the best. You know.

It's unnecessary evil almost uh, but yeah, there's twelve people that marched on Saturdays, but fourteen that's in a row, so you have two people. But in the case of the Suxophones were sister Rose and we're right next to each other, so technically four people looking at the twenty four that marched. And they're always watching you throughout the week. Are you learning to drill to the show for the halftime show correctly? Are you is you or fundamentals for

the pregame looking out of whack? Or do you seem like you're out of time? Are you long with your step size? And just all these different things. They pick you apart on the sideline while also working on stuff their own. And I mean there are weeks I've had sinus infections and I'm on the verge of vertigo and barely able to stand up, horribly tired, and someone that was an alternate the next week is like, I'm going

to take him down. And so I get my number called on that Monday, and I have to run out to the field, still on antibiotics and trying to make the most of it and power through. And I mean sometimes you just gotta dig deep and play the mental game. And uh yeah, I mean I had to lay the hammer down. I guess I kept my spot. But it's just one of those things you never know. People are always expecting your best. So and much like Michael Jordan Man you had your flu game, you had to answer

the absolutely. I like the SUSA phone section swag. The whole band has swag and to go buy the best and band the land T B D B I T L I guess tibiddle for short. I mean that's that's that's some swag right there. That's kind of cocky. Is the title deserved? I don't know. I something that our director likes to say. There may be bigger bands than

us that can play louder and better than us. There may be some bands that can march better than us, but we're the best of doing both, and we're the best of what we do, so I understand by that. I'm gonna leave it to the view point of our our staff and our band. But it's uh, I don't know.

I respect anyone that does college marching band, and I love all the big ten bands, think that they all have something good to offer, but I don't know, there's just something unique about what we do, and I think it's um, It's just I'm glad I'm on the one that people call the best. So Luca is a solid dude. He's a self proclaimed band nerd admires all the big ten bands, but you can just hear the pride in his voice being a part of Ohio States. Now to

the mascots. They were also missing last year, and they returned in the Live Mascot Division. Where's Mike the Tiger at l s u Get Bevo at Texas, Boomer and Sooner, the Ponies and Norman, the various birds, Auburn's war Eagle swooping around above Jordan Hair Stadium, the Air Force Falcon, all the dogs. Most have been the sec Smokey and my favorite Ugga who'll be back, spread Eagles in a bag of ice when the weather gets hot down there, and Athens. But as a see You graduate, my favorite,

hands down is Ralphie the Buffalo. Come h. Ralphie is always a female buffalo. The males are kind of large, kind of hard to handle. And Ralphie's six will debut for see You this season now. Sean Tufts ran out behind Ralphie for three seasons. He was a linebacker and a captain. Then he played four years with the Carolina Panthers before coming back to school in Boulder, and the story of how he became a guy who ran alongside Ralphie.

It's pretty unique. I was sitting in the in the stands and I got the emails that hey, you're in and like this total year four year kicked in and I ran down to the rail. I said, I'm a student, I can run and they were like, oh man, you're old. Like I know that, but I'm also a student now. And they asked me if I still had the juice, if I still had a good forty time, and I had to go prove it and I had to I had to get on with my merit, and uh yeah

it worked. They they also saw some of the marketing appeal of like getting to brand the Ralphie program, showing what it looks like from different angles. Um and and I was a part of that, which is pretty fun. So Sean, describe what it's like to be part of a crew hanging onto a rope for dear life. As an eleven pound round bunctious buffalo charges down the field. Does a you turn and charged back? Yeah, there's no there's no on the job training that can prepare you

for that moment. It's it's quite literally, you do a lot of work, you talked to a lot of people, you watch them film, and then at some point someone hands your rope and they tie it to a buffalo, and then you get up and get going. It's you know a lot of people talk about like getting thrown in the deep end. I think I think we could rebrand that getting getting handed a buffalo rope um. There's there's nothing you can do to experience the prep to

to go through that event. You practice your trained but like most things, it's not quite like the real thing, right with a crowd of fifty thousand and she must feed off that, get a little more charges up. And the challenge really is when the lights are running, you're doing it for real. Yeah, And you know, the crowd does give a kind of a deafening component to it. It limits some communication, I think for you know, for some eighteen year olds that hadn't gone through that before.

I think looking up and seeing all the you know, the smiling faces, yelling and screaming, I think it's a it's it's a bit of a starstruck moment for a lot of people that haven't had that experience before. But yeah, nothing, nothing compares to that first twenty or thirty ft when she's running out and your hats blown off and you're you know, you're running faster than you can humanly run because you've got something towing you down the field. That

that's the unique system overload that you know. I don't think you really catch up on it until you're on the back stretch and you're finishing the run, like just the effort in the momentum of what's happening. The funny part is when one thing they don't tell you when you're training Ralphie and they purposely don't tell anyone this. So she wears a harness that goes roun her front, round her chest or on her side, and around her butt.

So in your first run and I ran loop, which is a heavy position, you stayed in the back and you're runner with your heels down and try to slow Ralphie with your body weight. But that rope runs right around her backside and it collects anything she drops off. So when you're running, you'll be running down the field and there's just a little pivots of full of ships like popping off into your face. In your hat and

under shure, they don't tell you that that wasn't. People have their favorite mascots in their favorite schools, but I think Ralphie has in universal appeal just because it's so unique. You have any comments from folks who found out you had done this or why you were doing this, and that had correct questions about her because she is a curiosity.

You know, we used to get a lot of competing sports program that buffaloes from Mascot's college pro and they were always trying to like figure out what made us sick. And it was always like that's our thing, Like we're not going to teach you how to do that. And we check in with them and see how they were doing, and they sometimes they pull like a two year old male buffalo off a ranch somewhere and try to get some some yokels to run with it, and that always

ended poorly. Um. Outside of that, I think there's just a general curiosity, right, Like we're a couple of degrees away from you know, farm to tables a term, but you never actually get to the farm, right, You never got to get to see it. So I think people are very curious around like what is the temperament of a buff Hello, you know you seem in Yellowstone and you see him somewhere else. It's a unique animal. And you know we've got one that's you know, uh, not

domesticated by any amusing. But she's approachable. We can interact with her. She goes to to you know, public events and licks gloves. She loves to take the leather, so she'll lick your gloves. She'll lick your shoes, and she'll lick. Her tongue is like sandpaper, so she will lick the finish off your shoes if you show up with some nice wing tips around Edmund or something. And people just aren't used to that. They want to know what makes the buffalo take And we got you know, I got

two years doing it. And getting able to train her and be with her and have her train me was was an honor. You mentioned the training the year before this. I guess it was Ralphie five that the two thousand and eight in the Spring Game, which was her debut. Folks can see this on YouTube if you want to see her get away and a Ralphie run that not

did not work out perfectly. She kind of got free, uh completely from from the handlers and kind of decided to do her own thing before they finally reined her in, not completely. We had one rope on her still and that was our saving great um. When we run Ralphie, she's typically between a thousand and fift pounds UM in the first year. Uh, this upcoming year, she'd be she's

gonna be about four to five hundred pounds UM. That year her first run, we put a game day harness on her that wasn't sized right, so that was our mistake, and she stepped out of it. She stepped up over the up over the line and shook loose of four or the five ropes. So we still had one that was around her head halter that we used to kind of anchor down and get her back. I'm safe, but that was that was some of the worst case scenario.

How do you get the buffalo back? You know, she's a little she's trained to go to her her trailer. She loves her trailer. It's where she gets fed. She you know, she travels, she loves hanging out in there, and so once we can get her vision on the trailer, she'll know that's her home. You know. She she likes being unfulsome field, But I wouldn't say it's it's her top ten favorite or you know her her number one.

She wants to be in the trade, learn be safe, and so once we can get her vision on that, that's all the counts and then we can kind of hurt her with the rest of the people. For anyone listening who wonders about putting a wild animal in a harness in ropes and having her run around in front of a crowd and what that might do. UM, can you can you speak to that in terms of how how she's treated, how she seems to respond to this this ritual. Yeah, all live mascots across the country, from

you know, from war Eagle to Mike the Tiger. UM. They have programs. They are tied into Petera and tied and everything else, and they make sure she's trained. Well, we've got a veterinary staff that's that's always looking after her. Um. She is the best trainer, sorry, the best kept buffalo in the world. I can guarantee of that. UM. She she likes working with us. She she has fun with it,

especially in her younger years. She really enjoys getting out and running and honestly, being a part of the team, which is kind of fun. You can see her get excited and like waggertail like that's like kind of like a dog. When you come out to see year. She loves to come up and say hi to you. The problem with young ralphiees is that they want to play, so she'll play with you with her head and her horns,

not knowing her own strength. UM. So certainly keeping her in in the best top physical form to go do what she does and keep her safe is our priority. UM. I think the one part the misconception. I think a lot of people see from the outside when she runs to a trailer, we do a big loop and then about a hundred yards back into a trailer. People think we're dead ending her into a wall and like just running her into a trailer and hoping she hits the

other side. Right. That's not the case. Um. She actually will turn around and and look at us before we can slam the door, which is a very fast process. So all her weight is in her front quarter of her body, your big head, big shoulders, little tiny button. So when she decides to hit the brakes, she can turn around literally on a dime and be running the other way faster than you can, faster than humans really can.

So that's the biggest misconception. People think we're like bonking her into a wall in there, but she's actually turning her around and coming out towards us faster than we can handle. If you can stereotyper at least characterize that the typical Ralphie handler. There. There are men and women who do this. Uh what is it that makes them tick? It makes them want to do this. You know, we aim for a diverse team. Um. We've had people that had military backgrounds that had served, that had come out.

We've got kids that are a computer science major that have never been around livestock um our goal, and we have farm kids, and we've got people from the inner city. It doesn't matter. We're looking for that well rounded team so that we can learn from each other as well. I think the piece that makes those diverse minds tick,

you know, it's a desire to perform. We get a lot of former athletes who, you know, for one reason another didn't make the baseball squad or love see you, or you know, I just didn't have the right genetic gift um to play basketball or football or something, and they want to compete and they want to do something fun, they want to adventure. That's the piece everyone shares, so that one common thrend is that like the desire for something bigger and desire to to to be adventurous and

do this. Right, that's not a normal person. You just don't walk down the street and say like, hey, hold this rope and then see what happens. Right, You got to find that right mentality who wants that that adventure. It's a fun part to to watch her run um. A lot gets baked into that. That's not just like a show piece, right, she is really a part of the team. She's kind of the team captain for us

in a lot of ways. And and we take and listen to her and I think, you know, we I talked a little bit on this podcast about like learning from your coworkers, learning from from people, and she has a lot to offer the Ralphie team, and and that to me was the piece that was really interesting, right, like learning patients, learning how to interact, learning trust and how to do that with an animal that you know most people look at and just think is a savage

horned sprinting stampeding beast. But that's not the case, right. It thinks a lot of trust between both parties to be able to execute that run, and that it isn't early lightly. That goes through a lot of trials and tribulations, right, And that's that's something you imply to your marriage, to your business life, to your raising kids, um, you know whatever.

And I think that's a unique piece about Ralphie that that gets overlooked, is that trust, that bond that's developed between us and her and the fifty people four thousand people in Polo Field. Don't short me, Chris, there's four thousand. You're missing there now. Sean reminded me that Ralphie's location is kept secret by CEU. She lives in a ranch. The address is never published so that fans and foes don't know where to find her and she can live peacefully.

To take us home in this episode, A very old friend of mine with some great stories to tell. I met John Ruth in the eighties when he was the man inside the Sebastian the ibis costume at Miami, the bad boy mascot of college football. John was a student in South Carolina was hired professionally to be the mascot for baseball and football. You have him, that's very rare. Went onto the floor to Marlin's. He'll tell a story about a nearer death experience before a Sugar Bowl. That's scary.

But we begin with a funny one nine Miami at Florida State Camp. Someone Ole's had that great tradition when Chief Asciola has a flaming spear, goes out to the center of the field aboard renegade and plants it in the field. So John and some buddies sat around in Miami, had a few drinks and came up with a crazy idea. Sebastian would where a firefighter's costume, bring a fire extinguisher to the field and maybe mess with that great tradition.

It did not go well that night in Tallahassee. So as the game starting, I'm in the I've got the fireman's hat, the fireman's jacket, and I've got a fire extinguisher, and I got it. I actually was standing there for two or three minutes before the team came around, and Coach Erickson and the team come around, and and I really hadn't figured out exactly what I was gonna do.

Yet I was still standing there going okay. You know, I figured i'd squirt the Miami fans, you know, and I'd squirt near renegade, and I see you all look, but I wasn't. I mean, I knew I wouldn't get out of Tallahassee alive if I put the spear out. But it was just kind of that Okay, y'all got your flaming spear, and we're gonna put it out, you know,

that kind of a joke to the robbery. And but as as Coach Jarrickson and the team come around, and the guy from the TV says, all right, coach, five seconds, let's go, and boom. I take the first step and someone grabs me and whips me around and it's this young face right and you know, up in the face of the eyelas, and I'm thinking it's the students who opened the gate and I He's yelling, give me the

fire extinguisher, give me the effing fire. You know, he's going crazy, and I'm yelling no. Of course, nobody can hear me because the baby bands playing as the team is going out. But I jerked away from him, and as I jerked away, I squeezed the trigger accidentally and sprayed water all over the chest of a Leon County share Stepanie. So I got maybe another step for two before there were five of them now and they had slammed me up against the fence. Uh, there's a wonderful

picture of the Miami Herald photographer took. He just snapped real quick. It's the only known photo of it. There's no video of it. But you nowadays, there'd be five thousand people who had their their cell phones out. But they got me up against the fence, one wing to one side, one wing behind my back, and one guy had the beak and was trying to pull it off.

And so there it's now you know the team is out there, but now the Miami fans are noticing what's going on, and cups of ice started coming down, and I mean they're One of the guys had his handcuffs out and was yelling, I'm gonna take you to jail, you know, And and it was getting really bad. I mean literally, can you imagine a guy of bird costume being carried out in handcuffs. But our cheer and adviser walked over and said, excuse me, gentlemen, what are you

doing to our bird? And I think that kind of hit him that yeah, okay, waiting, let's calm this down. So they poured out the fire extinguisher. They literally one guy had his hand on my chest held me against the fence until Chief Assola went and did the flaming spear thing. And to this day when Sebastian and the I with, when Miami goes to play in Tallahassee, someone from Leon's County Sheriff's deputy will find Sebastian the ib was prior to the game and keep him off the

field until Ossiola does his little flaming spear. I guess that's the tradition I started. Listen, you had no you had no intention of charging out to center of the football field in a bird costume and dousing the flame after we've been thrown on the ground, right, No, I, I mean I really had not even thought it that far. I really just thought, okay, well, you know, we'll have the fire extinguisher and and but yeah, I would not

have gone out in the middle of the field. But I've literally had people who tell me, man, I was in Tallahassee when you grabbed that spear. He broke it over your knee and scored it down and and and then the cops grab you. And I'm like, no, the cops grabbed me before I ever got out on the field. So, uh, you know, just another one of those things. And and of course, I mean Sebastian has a history of doing

things with fire extinguishers. You know, obviously we do the smoke, but there were there are a few other instances where some fire extinguishers got involved. Any other stories from a career of being one of one of the bad boys of college football, Well, you know, as to say, we didn't think we were. And when it first started, um, uh you know, I asked Sebastian, I I started in My first game was Jimmy Johnson's first game. I had been brought down to Miami to work as the baseball mascot,

the Miami Maniac, and had worked a couple of years. So, uh, coach and Ellenberger left and and it kind of seemed like a great fitlain you got me on salary, Let's make him do the football games as well. And so my first game in uh with with Coach Johnson, we're actually up in the meadowlands, and put the kickoff classic. We're playing number one Auburn, and uh uh, I didn't a place to change, so I knew the equipment guy and I just said, can I change somewhere in the

locker rooms? He said yeah. So I'm sitting there and and I didn't know when the schedule, what the schedule was, when the team was gonna go yeah, And I got kind of stuck in the back corner as the team was came in and I'm sitting there and you know, tights and fur and the head sitting there and Coach John walking around. He's slapping guys on the helmet. Come on, god, you know, he he's motivating. Everybody Suddenly comes to me and he goes, who are you? And I, Hey, coach,

I'm John Ruth. I'm your mascot. He goes, the mascot changes in the locker room and yeah, coach, it's a tradition at Miami. Well I started the tradition right then and there. So he let me stay and and that was one of the things that kind of helped over the nine years of me being uh Sebastia. The ibis was that I got I was dressing in the locker room most part of the team, and I really got to know the guys and and so that helped as

as things evolved over the years. And and you know, your your football mascots are a lot tougher than the small mascots. As the maniac, he was kind of a lovable loser. But Sebastian had to be tough. And it was an amazing time to be a Miami Hurricane. And I was so fortunate to to you know, be the mascot. You know, I did have There was a newspaper article in the early nineties that I was talking about how

we were the bad boys. We had some amazing guys, We had some great guys that you know, we weren't as bad as people thought. But there was one article that came out and it said, Sebastian the Ibis is the baddest of the bad. And it wasn't that I was trying to be bad. It was just I looked at at my job as upholding the traditions and and one of those traditions was just being as tough as the football team mascots back in the day versus now. John, how much more or how much less latitude do they have.

How much more scrutiny is there? How do you think the job has changed two current times now? Well, I mean back when I was doing it, there worked in the rules, So we made up the rules as we went along. You know, if we did something and we had to apologize, which happened quite often, we'd apologize um and said, you know, over the years, there have been a few instances where things have happened, and uh so now there are some rules, and you know, the characters are a lot less um free to just go out

and do things. So some of the mascots are trying to do things that you know, get a little more exposure and a little more attention. But yeah, the rules are a lot different now. And you know, we we just kind of made him up. Well, I don't know about the rules. The day that Cosmo the Cougar jumped on the set when college Game Day visit a b y U. You you're singing him out as a guy that's doing it. We listen. I looked over my right shoulder, Desmond Howard, it's to my right. Cosmo climbed up the

scaffolding to the game day set. I said, what the hell? What is he doing. He gets down. I think we're fine, It's all good. Then he climbs back up a second time, jumps the railing, comes around behind Desmond, behind me and between myself and Courso, jumps up on the little table

that I have. The entire show is on that table, cards, notes, shot sheets, jumps on the table, kicks and stuff on the floor, knocks my cup of coffee over onto the show, knocks my phone on the floor, grabs a piece of paper that I need for the show, rips it in half, and I'm trying to play off. Hey Cosmo, Hey Buddy jumps down, and finally I couldn't resist it. If it's okay with Cosmo going on with the show. We weren't talking about b y U at all in that segment, Johnny,

he jumped down. I was told we didn't insist on it. He got fired on the spot from his role as as Cosmo the Cougar. I don't know if they kicked him out of school, but that was serious business. That's funny you bring up Cosmo that that was the most disruptive episode we ever had with the mascot. Yeah, well, I don't know if it's the same one, but the one who's done the dances has done pretty good. But but yeah, I mean, and that's what mascot's got to

be careful. You know, you can't go a little too far. Um. You know, we, like I said, we always kind of pushed it to the line. But there are many times where you know you can go too far. And that was always you left just before game they went on the road. I'll bet you had you still been Sebastian and college game day comes outside the old Orange Bowl in that parking lot, surrounded by people who were preparing for the game, I bet you you'd have been disruptive. Man. Uh,

we'd have had some fun. I'm sure that what the people might understand about the art of being a mascot that challenges everything that goes into it underneath the suit that folks see on Saturday afternoons. Well, obviously the first thing is you're sweating like crazy. Uh. You know, you lose between eight and ten twelve pounds a game. Uh. I Actually the worst game I ever did was we played Florida early September noon game and I think I

lost seventeen and a half pounds. And at the time I waited about for about a hundred and forty pounds. I was down to almost a hundred twenty pounds. At the end of the game. I got heat stroke, spent three days in bed um and and actually at the end of the third quarter, I stopped sweating and and it happened to be in the lot. Went to the locker room take a break, and the paramedic looked at me. There was always one and you know, outside our locker room. And he looked at me and says, you look bad

and I and I said, well, I'm not sweating. He goes, we put some flips, so they put two I V s in me for about ten minutes. I emptied the bottles quickly. I went back out because we're playing the gators or what, we're beating them. So I went back out finished the game. But then I realized I had each struck and I spent three days in bed with like a hundred and three Greek fever. From your experience mentoring mascots talking to other guys who did the job,

is it a case of an alter ego? Is the real person far different from the character in the costume? Very often most mascots, Yeah, there's kind of a little jackal and high type thing. Um, I always felt that my family probably said no, but um, you know, I always felt like I would do a crazier things in

the costume. I mean, I mean the physical things. I'm not a very physical person outside of the costume, but you know, getting me in the in the costume, and and I mean just some of the crazy things, you know, climbing upstand letting the crowd pass you up stands, and you know, I had more knee surgeries, and I had had a bigger file in the training room, and some of the football players, Uh, you had plenty of injuries as Sebastian you you you got consistently hurt. I missed

missed a couple of games. Um the most of it was was late in my career. But um, I blew out my knee at b y U And another game we were a home game, I went up in Arizona, missed the field goal that would have won the game. At the end of the game, that was I believe in. And Ryan McNeil are All American defensive back, you know, was the guy at the back when the field goal missed. And then we went reached up and high fived each other,

you know, jumping high. I at the goal line. Unfortunately his body kind of pushed me back and I landed awkward and and uh RIPTI meniscus in my knees. So there I had. I had six surgeries total in my career. Uh, four of them while I was at um and uh so there was It's a good thing we had a wonderful doctor who who liked me and said, hey, come on in, we'll take care of There was one other time when John needed medical attention on the job. It was the night before the Sugar Bowl down in New Orleans.

At the end of the ninety two season. Miami was set to colign with Alabama for the National Championship. It was gonna be John's last game in the Sebastian costume. So as we were walking the first block of Bourbon Street, just just off the canal. Uh We're walking and uh, I just felt something. Damn. I was at the back of the group, so most most of our group was in front of me, and so there were only a couple of people with me, and I just felt something

hit me. And I've kind of bent over as if I thought it was a rock of be a bottle um and I just kind of bent over. I didn go down, you know what, been over And about fifteen feet away were some police officers on the corner there, and one of them saw me and came over and goes, hey, guys, we got our first one. And I said first one. What he says, gunshot victim? I was what? And a blood, of course, was now coming out of my face. We

walk over. There was a wool Worst department store right there, and there was a mirror in the window, and he or the window itself, I guess was more of a mirror, and he held a towel against me and he pulled it away and he goes, look, entrance wound, exit wound, and well, we'll slowing down to that kid. And he goes entrance wound, exit wound, and he's pointing to your temple in your cheek, right, yeah, the bullet had I

had just turned my head. We were doing the fight song with those little New Year's eveborns, you know that that that that that that, and I just turned my head and the bullet grazed entered right next to my h My eyebrow went under the skin hugs the own and then exited right here on the middle of my cheek, then grazed my shoulder. I still have the jacket that had had a powder burn, and my shoulder actually had

a It almost entered my chest the second time. So when we go to the hospital, they stitched me up. I think it was a total of eleven stitches, five on the top, six on the on the cheek. So the next night, uh is the National Championship game, and uh so, prior to the game, I've got this little bandage on my face and I'm walking around the sidelines as you're in costume. Now now you're now you're out

of costume. Just prior to I like to kind of check out the you know, the stadium, where where the exits. How can I, you know, take a break and things like that. So I'm walking around and the game was on ABC and Bob Greasy was doing the game. I've got to know Bob. When he started his broadcasting career,

he did some University of Miami baseball games. So Bob and I start talking and he's I'm telling him the story, and other reporters started gathering around, and the report I believe it was from the AP walks up and you know it's listening to the story. He goes, well, you're not gonna work the night's game, are you? And I said, it's going to take a hell of a lot more in the bullet hold of the head to keep me

out of this game. And my mother had always said I was the luckiest person on earth, and literally the doctor said I was the luckiest person on earth that you know, could have taken just millimeters away, could have taken out the nerves in my face and paralyzed me, or you know. So I kind of looked at it as as as God was looking out for me there, and uh, you know, I just kind of took it as another example of enjoy every day. Isn't that a

perfect message to end on? Enjoy every day, count our blessings, be grateful for all the things that we have, including the things we loved by college football that we didn't have a year ago. I hope this has got you pumped up for this season. I had. I know that I certainly am my thanks to all my guests, Thanks to the sports information departments that all miss Washington and Colorado and the band directors socond Ohio State and Donovan

Welles at Beuthun Cookman. Thanks to Jason Whitekeel for his editing skills and most important and next to my co executive producer Jennifer Dempster, we are certainly excited about the episodes to come in season three. Invite you to subscribe, rate and review, and in the meantime enjoy all of your college football saturreays.