Petey (mascot)

Petey is the mascot for the Canisius Golden Griffins, the athletic teams of Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, USA. Petey is an anthropomorphic golden griffin who performs live at all Canisius athletic events. Canisius adopted the nickname "Golden Griffins" for their school athletic teams in 1932, in honor of Great Lakes explorer La Salle's ship, Le Griffon.[1] Canisius first used an unnamed costumed griffin as a sideline mascot in 1967.[1] In preparation for the 2002–2003 athletic season, the griffin mascot was completely re-designed and given a new costume and name. The name "Petey" was chosen as a reference to St. Peter Canisius, who Canisius College is named for.[1]

Petey
UniversityCanisius College
ConferenceMAAC
DescriptionAnthropomorphic golden griffin
First seen1967

Canisius' golden griffin has been called one of the most unusual of all NCAA mascots.[2][3] In 2010, after the College of William & Mary adopted the Griffin as their new school mascot, Petey "wrote" a satirical open letter to the William & Mary griffin that was published in USA Today, welcoming the new griffin mascot to the college mascot community.[4][5]

In 2013, the Catholic website Busted Halo held a March Madness-style competition to determine the title of "Best Catholic Mascot" through online voting. Petey won the online tournament, besting a field of 32 Catholic school mascots, including Notre Dame's Leprechaun and Boston College's Baldwin the Eagle.[6][7][8][9] The following year, Petey advanced to the Final 4 of the same Busted Halo contest, but was ultimately defeated by Iggy the Royal Wolf from the University of Scranton.[10][11] In 2015 Petey was entered in to the College Court Report "Mascot Mayhem" contest, where he made it to the Final 4 - surpassing Butler, North Florida, St. Louis, and UNLV.[12] Sam the Minuteman from the University of Massachusetts Amherst claimed the 1st place prize.[13] In 2016 Petey faced off against Boomer from Missouri State in the semi-finals of Court Report's "Mascot Mayhem" contest.[14] Over 7,000 votes were cast in the final contest pairing, and Petey was narrowly defeated by a margin of 56.8% to 43.2%, claiming the 2nd place title.[14]

References
  1. "Petey Griffin behind the beak". The Griffin. January 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  2. "Unusual college sports mascots". Boys' Life. November 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  3. "Mascot Monday: The Canisius College Golden Griffins". SurvivingCollege.com. August 26, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  4. "An open letter to William & Mary from a (really) old friend". USA Today. April 7, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  5. "Petey the Griffin Sounds Off About Canisius' History". Buffalo Rising. April 16, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  6. "Catholic Mascotology: And the Winner is…". Busted Halo. October 12, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  7. "Petey Griffin Named Best Catholic Mascot". Canisius College. October 16, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  8. "Petey Voted Best Catholic Mascot". GoGriffs.com. October 12, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  9. "Prestigious Petey wins 'Best Catholic Mascot'". Buffalo.com. October 14, 2013. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-19.
  10. "Catholic Mascotology 2014: The Winner is... | Busted Halo". Busted Halo. 2014-09-20. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  11. "Petey Griffin in Final Four of Catholic Mascot Contest | The Dome". blogs.canisius.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  12. "Vote Petey 2015 | The Dome". blogs.canisius.edu. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  13. "Sam the Minuteman Claims College Court Report's Mascot Mayhem Challenge Title". Office of News & Media Relations | UMass Amherst. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
  14. Bennett, T. (2016-10-18). "3rd Annual College Court Report Mascot Mayhem Challenge Recap". College Court Report. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
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