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| Topsy? You in there? |
This
story in the Manchester Evening News, about Oldham Athletic's mascot Chaddy
the Owl getting thumped by one of his own fans, reminded me of my own short
story The Man In The Mascot.
Except that Chaddy's inner soul is a little more forgiving than the
vodka-swilling narrator inside Topsy the Toucan.
"I don't even want him banned as we need as many fans as we can
get," says Chaddy. Bless his owlish little heart. (I've no idea why Oldham
should have an Owl as a mascot, by the way. Couldn't anyone imagine what a
Latic would look like?)
Contrast this with Topsy, who was faced with unrelenting hostility from
the crowd at lowly East Park Academy. These fans were happy to scapegoat him
for the team's lack of success, on the grounds that Topsy was supposed to bring
them luck. And as the failed drama student within knew, "these fans
weren't all stupid, they knew when the club was trying it on, and they refused
to be coaxed into a forced jollity, to be told by some prancing puppet when
they were supposed to get excited. Was the mascot's tomfoolery not a tacit
admission by the club that the players themselves were incapable of pushing the
crowd into the realm of emotion?"
I can only think that the as yet untraced Oldham fan felt much the same way
about Chaddy. Makes a nice change from calling for the manager's head.
