Cosmo the Cougar

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Cosmo at the 2006 Fourth of July parade in Provo

Cosmo the Cougar is the official mascot of Brigham Young University's (BYU) athletic teams. He can be seen at many sporting events, wearing the uniform of the team that is playing. Cosmo's identity is normally kept a secret each year until an official unveiling ceremony at one of the last home basketball games in the spring. In the past, Cosmo's job was a volunteer position, and no scholarship or academic assistance was given. However scholarships and other benefits are offered today. The mascot is expected to be involved in civic events and university functions.

1 History of Cosmo
2 Past Cosmos
3 Notes
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History of Cosmo

[edit] Before the costume

This cougar was donated by the class of 1965 and stands outside the Lavell Edwards Stadium.

On October 1, 1923, BYU coach Eugene L. Roberts first used the cougar to represent his athletes.^[1] In 1924, the university purchased a pair of cougar cubs for 50 cents each, and brought them out during games to rally the fans. The cubs escaped their cage on the south side of campus, killed two dogs, and harassed livestock. They were recaptured; one died several days later and the other was sent to the Salt Lake Zoo. Through the 1940s, BYU obtained cougars from zoos or bounty hunters and would have them prowl the sidelines during athletic contests. A live cougar was occasionally brought to games in the 1960s as well.^[2]

Two cougar cubs were acquired from a forest ranger on the Kaibab National Forest in 1925-6 after their mother was killed by hunters. They were reared in a kitchen stove woodbox by a group of students which included Glenn S. Potter, George K. (Georkee) Lewis, Chris Lewis, Bliss Finlayson, and others. They named the cubs Cleo (short for Cleopatra) and Tarbo (an Indian name for Brigham Young). Later, they were kept in a concrete cage near the intersection of Eighth North and Second East in Provo just below the canal that rims the hill above the present tennis courts. The location was between what the Upper was then and Lower Campuses of the University. Potter and Lewis were the cougars' primary keepers, taking them to games and caring for them. Potter was an artist and put himself through school, in part, by painting cougars on ties, scarves, jackets, and buildings, also by drawings and oil and watercolor paintings, some of which were prominent on the walls of senior coaching staff offices for many years. He also made snow sculptures of a cougar and produced painted plaster-of-paris plaques with a cougar head on them. His illustrations were used on programs for athletic events, notebooks and other supplies from the BYU Bookstore well into the late 1940s. Lewis was a talented photographer and artist who worked for Movietone News after graduation. He was founded the TDC (Three Dimension Corp) Corporation of Chicago, a pioneer in three dimension photography and optical equipment.

The cougars were possibly the most photographed mascots of their day. Color postcards of the two cats were sold long after they were no longer on campus. After the original handlers graduated, those who succeeded them were not as careful with the cougars. Tarbo died after being taken to an away game in a cage exposed to the wind on the back of an open truck. Cleo lived out her days in the shadow of the hated University of Utah at Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. After Glenn Potter died in 1936, Farrell Collett continued to do illustrations of the cougars; one of which graced the center court of the George Albert Smith Fieldhouse until that floor was replaced in the 1960s when the Marriott Activities Center was constructed for basketball games. Weber State University honored Collett, an outstanding artist and illustrator of many books and publications, for his years of leadership of its Fine Art Department by naming a building after him.

[edit] Cosmo comes to life

On October 15, 1953, Cosmo made his first appearance in front of BYU fans. Dwayne Stevenson, the pep chairman of BYU, bought the costume for $73 and persuaded his roommate Daniel T. Gallego to wear it and thus become the first Cosmo. The name Cosmo derives from the word "cosmopolitan" and was chosen because BYU had recently been selected as a Cosmopolitan school. Cosmo became immediately popular, and since Gallego many people have been Cosmo, including BYU president Ernest L. Wilkinson, who once put on the costume at a pep rally.

[edit] Cosmo undergoes cosmotic surgery

In September 2, 1997, BYU's Athletic Media Relations announced that while hunting Red Tail Hawks (rival Utah's mascot) in Rock Canyon, Cosmo fell 100 feet. Several students saw the fall, however, and fortunately called Utah Valley Search and Rescue, which performed emergency surgery on Cosmo. This included reduction in head size, which allowed Cosmo more range in motion and the ability to perform more daring stunts. Cosmo frequently does flips, walks on stilts, rides motorcycles, and performs slam dunks in order to please the crowd. It was remarked once on ESPN that Cosmo was "probably the most athletic mascot in college basketball."^[3]

[edit] Cosmo today

This van includes a 1600-watt, 12-speaker stereo system, a dance stage on top, a basketball hoop, a variety of specialty lights (on the top), a fog machine, several sirens, and a cordless public address system.

Cosmo's workload of performances at more than 130 functions a year necessitates that there be more than one Cosmo at a time.^[4] A team of people, Team Cosmo, helps him with his antics.^[5] He drives around in the Cosmobile, a van retrofitted for Cosmo's active lifestyle, and also owns a go-cart. He can be reached at cosmo@byucougars.com.