Rivalries Gone Wild

Each year staffers at the University of Utah student newspaper "kidnap" and blindfold Cosmo the Cougar, the BYU mascot, and hide him somewhere on campus the week before the BYU/Utah football game, aka, the Holy War. They give clues each day as to his whereabouts until someone finds him.


In 1966 Sue Paterno, wife of Coach Joe Paterno (yes, he was coach way back then), and a girlfriend painted the Nittany Lion with orange paint to heat up the rivalry game with Syracuse University. The latex paint came off easily but the oil-based paint applied later by actual Orangemen had to be sandblasted off.

Which brings us to the South Carolina/Clemson rivalry. Each year USC students construct a giant Clemson Tiger and do this to their mascot:



So, what is it with all this abuse to cat mascots?