UCA Mascot Nationals - It's a Love / Hate Thing

The world of UCA Mascots, that's Universal Cheer Association, to the unfamiliar, will crown a new "National Champion" on Friday night in Orlando.  To the outsiders who read this blog, this is a huge deal for college mascots and is probably one of the most fun weekends of the year for most of the mascots in college.  I had the pleasure of going down to Orlando twice for UCA Nationals, in 2002 and in 2003.  Those are some of the best memories I have while I was in school, many not appropriate for this blog.  I knew after competing in 2003 and really establishing the Sparty program amidst the top UCA mascots, that I was going to be performing well after college.  It's been 8 years since my time in Orlando and I've been a "professional" ever since.  Taking a look back at UCA now, I'm able to see things differently than I did then, a new perspective.  One of the benefits of being older and wiser.

Here's what I love about UCA Mascot Nationals:

• It provides a creative outlet for many college mascots that have limited performance time during games at their schools
• The video portion forces the mascots to create events and staged shots, which leads to better skits, ideas and props during the school year
• It's 4 days in Disney World for 18-22 year old males (there are some female mascots) with Dance Teams and Cheerleaders running around everywhere
• The competition and preparation forges bonds of friendship and teamwork that last a lifetime
• Networking 101 with all the other mascots, I'm still in touch with many of the other performers from 2002 and 2003.
• Every now and then a great performer from a small school blows people away with pure talent and creativity.
• Did I mention it's at Disney World for 4 days?

Here's what I hate about UCA Mascot Nationals:

• I know that the video portion represents the overall scope of the program and the character and community and game entertainment, etc...I get it.  However, the skit you do during Nationals requires no improv or quick thinking, which is what I believe to be at the heart of all the great mascot performers.
• The props.  In 2002 it was like the Wild West with all the sizes of the props.  We had to rent a UHAUL in order to get all our props down to Orlando.  In 2003 the rules changed and we were limited to smaller props, but still, the props were things that we'd never use during an appearance or game.  I'm not sure of the current rules, but this always seems to be an issue.
• Whenever I see the skits, it seems like there are maybe 2 or 3 that are original and funny and well-planned, most of the others are just using the same pop-culture jokes and ripping on the other mascots.  (I'm posting this before the competition, but I will wager on the following things being included in the 2011 skits....Snooki, Lady GaGa, Kim Kardashian, some YouTube celebrity, and some new rap dance move I've never heard of).
• It doesn't include a lot of West Coast schools and their mascots, they do a different competition, so it's really not a "National" competition.
• Like college football, the richer schools and athletic programs are historically better.  $ Talks.

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm on both sides of the fence here.  I love it and I hate it.  It can be better, it needs to be better, it needs to crown a true "champion".  Here's how.  Keep the video portion exactly the same.  Your mascot program submits a 3 minute video highlighting the past year and you invite the top 16 mascots down.  Based on how you place in the video standings determines your seed.  Best video gets the #1 seed, worst video gets the #16 seed.  So it's much like the NCAA tournament where you have the #1 vs #16, #2 vs #15, #3 vs #14, #4 vs #13, #5 vs #12, #6 vs #11, #7 vs #10 and #8 vs #9.  Winners advance, losers are out.

Here is how the competition would work, the mascots come out and have ninety seconds in front of the crowd with some of the following things happening, a pre-determined list of songs, props and scenarios from the judges that show the mascots ability to dance, think and improv.  The mascots would all be kept separate and they wouldn't know what to expect when stepping on the stage.  The music, props and scenarios change from round to round.  I think this set-up allows real performance and mascot talent to shine through.  You'd inevitably have upsets (which everyone likes) and you'd have the "best" college mascot, based on performance.  This system of competition would force mascots to practice true mascotting skills like dance, improv, quick-thinking etc... instead of doing a 2 minute pre-planned, probably not very original skit.

Wouldn't you rather see these mascots go head to head?

I know these ideas may be a bit out there, but it's an opinion.  I do appreciate the fact that there are even competitions like this around.  I'm smart enough to understand that it's a privilege to get to compete and be in Disney World representing your school.  UCA runs a great mascot competition for pre-planned skits and props.  If you abide by the rules and give the judges something good, your chances of winning are great.  I've accepted that the UCA Mascot Competition is what it is, a collegiate mascot competition that is more of a showcase than an actual competition.