PICS: The evolution of sporting mascots is downright disturbing

A bloke in a furry costume used to suffice.

However sports mascots are becoming harder and harder to ignore as marketing becomes increasingly important to teams across the sporting spectrum. Some have gone down the route of developing back stories and even relationships for their sideline prowlers, while others have simply gone down the route of devising the most terrifying character possible. Either way, it has come along way from the days when Bradford just had a fat guy in a bowler hat. But even he got fired and replaced by a guy in a chicken suit after he became too thin... true story. Some have become too big for their boots, like the Minnesota Vikings mascot, who was sacked last year after demanding a giant payrise. He now spends his time antagonising his former fans. https://twitter.com/TheVikingAge/status/683756045206831104 Ireland has had little tradition of mascots, so when the provinces saw fit to introduce them they went down the traditional animal root. https://twitter.com/MunsterOscar/status/646274766781980672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/Craicsploit/status/518292895213060096 Although, Leinster have taken to giving Leo the Lion a girlfriend (Leona), who was surprised with flowers on their second anniversary at the RDS. Either that or we were concussed when we witnessed it. In the Premier League Arsenal's Gunnersaurus is the byword for "too much mascot", bowing his stupid green head for minutes of silence and shaking the manager's hand when he knows the cameras are on him. https://twitter.com/Sharknal/status/704427625129910276 However nonsense like that is no longer enough to garner real attention. Now you see Partick Thistle commissioning a proper artist to devise a mind-warping mascot. https://twitter.com/ThistleTweet/status/612966534387007488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Or how about the terrifying effort of the new Japanese Super Rugby franchise? https://twitter.com/arwon/status/703126365923463171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw However as mascots become simultaneously more demented and more "rounded" it is nice to see some sports teams still putting exactly zero effort into their sidekicks. https://twitter.com/ChuckTheCondor/status/704531835548643328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Introduced at the weekend, the LA Clippers new fella already has over 4,000 Twitter followers, so go figure.