Louisiana State University - Gumbo Yearbook (Baton Rouge, LA)

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Mike the Tiger captured in words umbo reporter Laura Forbes gathered her big-game equipment, namely a high- powered cassette recorder, and began to stalk her elusive prey, Mike, the mascot of the LSU Ti- gers. After weeks of false leads and phone calls never returned, Laura cornered the wary feline in his lair, an upstairs apartment somewhere in the heart of Tiger country. What follows is Laura ' s grilling of the human in Tiger ' s clothing. Bob Grenchik. GUMBO: Does the fact that you portray Mike the Tiger affect your dating opportunities any? BOB: It does and does not. I ' ve never been a real active dater. I never have the money to spend, unfortunately. I ' ve never gotten into the regular scene of bar crowds too much, either. I enjoy going out but I don ' t do it on a regular basis. I ' d rather spend my time with just certain friends. staying home, or doing my own fun. A lot of my fun comes from working at Merry Minstrel. I have a good time doing that. For most people who have been Mike the Tiger, I know it has affected them. Don Smith, the guy who did it last year, complained about it and so do I to some degree. Inside the suit, I get a lot of in- vitations but people never see me outside the suit. I ' m usually the last one out of the building or the stadium or whatever. There ' s no real opportunity to do much dat- ing. A lot of the people I ' d really be interested in dating are not the same people that I enjoy messing around with at the Stadium, Assembly Center, or where ever. GUMBO: What is your present curriculum? BOB: I plan to graduate next Au- gust. I am in General Studies right now, with an eventual de- gree in Education, which came from Mike the Tiger too. I ' ve always known I enjoyed being around kids. The more I was around them, the more I came r- ' V ' . ' r ' r 20 JVtike the Ziger

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bu-Vions, . e d her mother, Dr. Diane Buns supervises Travis, David and Joe while they listen to a cassette recording. Jt ' vme Economics Preschool Xabocatory 1Q

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into situations where I was enter- taining them. There ' s a lot of times when you get some real dif- ficult kids. But even when I can ' t talk most of them know what I ' m saying. I can communicate to them and it tells me something about myself. I also have a lot of patience with kids, not all people do. This has led me to start think- ing more about being around them (kids) more. The curricu- lum I first sought after I thought was for me, but then the further I thought about Education the more I liked it. GUMBO: Did you parachute from the plane dressed as Mike at the Cal State Fullerton game? BOB: For special events, like the Kentucky basketball game (Mike rappels from the ceiling of the Centroplex) and so forth, they ' ve ususally gotten someone else to get inside the suit. I would have been happy to do that but you have to be certified. They just can ' t have anybody up there. I wasn ' t happy about it really. I didn ' t want them to do that. I thought it was a great idea to a degree . It speaks of the way the Athletic Department does; they like to be big shows. I was con- cerned because I really thought this guy was going to :uin my character. Just from when he hits the field to where he ran to the back room where I was. Nobody said anything about it though. GUMBO; Were there times when Mike inteferred with your school schedule? BOB: There were times when the Athletic Department was asking us to cut class on a few occasions, like to go to the Rotary Club or something. I don ' t understand, do they want us to be in school or do they not want us to be in school? GUMBO: Is the suit very uncom- fortable? BOB: It ' s real hot. And it gets real pungent besides just getting hot. The heat doesn ' t seem to bother me as much as you might think. Two weeks ago, though, I lost so much water and fluids that my body just started cramping ? A up. The ventilation in the new suit is worse, too. You can ' t breath very well. GUMBO; How would you de- scribe Mike personally? BOB: Mike does anything, he ' s not afraid to so anything people ask him to do. Mike is a symbol of the university. He ' s the mis- chievious Mike, a lady ' s tiger kind of guy. That ' s just Mike. He kisses every woman ' s hand, or cheek or whatever. He ' s a politi- cian at heart, Mike ' s a character. He ' s Uncle Mike to every- body, and everybody ' s best friend. GUMBO: Do you practice with the cheerleaders or alone? BOB: Recently I ' ve been to a couple of their practices, and I did a couple of pyramids with them. I think I ' m one of the first mascots to really get involved with their stuff. That goes from my wanting to and their wanting me to. They ' ve asked me to come join their pyramids and stuff like that. We did those at the last game, we practiced last week. I got in a couple of pyramids and they threw me up once. The crowd seemed to really enjoy that and I was happy to do it. I get nervous because I ' m scared of heights. I don ' t usually practice with them. I practice on my own; I practice in my head. A lot of my stuff is in my head. GUMBO: How do you feel about the Spuds McKinzie mascot? BOB: I like Spuds a lot. He does a good Spuds and stuff. I look forward to working with some- one else instead of being just by myself, but I don ' t look forward to working with someone be- cause I have to almost think for somebody else, too. Since he doesn ' t have as much experience (you don ' t always have to have the experience) he can ' t think of the stagework involved. GUMBO: Will you be portraying Mike next year? BOB: I ' ve enjoyed doing this, but I can ' t do this for more than a year. (Mike, the Ziger 21