Desperado
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Cool story about live mascots on ESPN.com, including Bevo. "Hey, wassup?"
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/21187100/the-secret-life-live-mascots
A ranch is located 45 minutes north of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, a quiet, grass-fed counter to the 100,000 roaring fans who show up to watch their beloved Texas Longhorns play.
"When you take the job as head coach at the University of Texas, you realize two things real quick," says Mack Brown, who held that job from 1998 to 2013. "1. You will be required to make a lot of appearances, everything from high school coaches conferences to birthday parties of the school's biggest supporters. And 2. Even if you think you're the headliner, if you show up and Bevo is also there, you are merely the opening act. He's the star."
Make that a child star. Bevo XV took over the job in 2016, the centennial celebration of a live longhorn's first game appearance, at the 1916 Texas A&M contest, replacing the previous mascot, a pit bull terrier named Pig. Historically, only steers of some age were considered for the job. But after the heartbreaking death of Bevo XIV, who succumbed to leukemia during the 2015 season, a Texas-wide search led back to the same ranch where beloved XIV had lived. After sifting through hundreds of entries, Sunrise Spur, who'd electrified the longhorn show circuit, was chosen. When he walked into DKR last fall, he was only 19 months old, years younger than any previous UT live mascot.
"He's just a magnificent animal," new Texas head coach Tom Herman says of his sideline companion. "More importantly, he's steady as a rock. There's chaos going on around him, and he's just like, 'Hey, wassup?' I wish I could stay that calm in the middle of all that."
That's no accident. Part of his audition process was to bring the noise to the ranch, from fireworks to band instruments. Even with the booming and blaring, Spur just stood there. And why not be calm? The steer is pampered at the ranch, watched over by John Baker, former president of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, and his wife, Betty. They also looked after Bevos XIII and XIV, all living alongside a barn turned bed and breakfast. He keeps such a chill profile that overnight guests often have no idea that their stablemate spends his days rolling to 40 to 50 appearances, looked after by a group known as the Silver Spurs, whose sole job is make sure Bevo has the best of everything. He even has a scholarship named in his honor, having already awarded nearly $700,000 to local students.
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/21187100/the-secret-life-live-mascots
A ranch is located 45 minutes north of Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, a quiet, grass-fed counter to the 100,000 roaring fans who show up to watch their beloved Texas Longhorns play.
"When you take the job as head coach at the University of Texas, you realize two things real quick," says Mack Brown, who held that job from 1998 to 2013. "1. You will be required to make a lot of appearances, everything from high school coaches conferences to birthday parties of the school's biggest supporters. And 2. Even if you think you're the headliner, if you show up and Bevo is also there, you are merely the opening act. He's the star."
Make that a child star. Bevo XV took over the job in 2016, the centennial celebration of a live longhorn's first game appearance, at the 1916 Texas A&M contest, replacing the previous mascot, a pit bull terrier named Pig. Historically, only steers of some age were considered for the job. But after the heartbreaking death of Bevo XIV, who succumbed to leukemia during the 2015 season, a Texas-wide search led back to the same ranch where beloved XIV had lived. After sifting through hundreds of entries, Sunrise Spur, who'd electrified the longhorn show circuit, was chosen. When he walked into DKR last fall, he was only 19 months old, years younger than any previous UT live mascot.
"He's just a magnificent animal," new Texas head coach Tom Herman says of his sideline companion. "More importantly, he's steady as a rock. There's chaos going on around him, and he's just like, 'Hey, wassup?' I wish I could stay that calm in the middle of all that."
That's no accident. Part of his audition process was to bring the noise to the ranch, from fireworks to band instruments. Even with the booming and blaring, Spur just stood there. And why not be calm? The steer is pampered at the ranch, watched over by John Baker, former president of the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America, and his wife, Betty. They also looked after Bevos XIII and XIV, all living alongside a barn turned bed and breakfast. He keeps such a chill profile that overnight guests often have no idea that their stablemate spends his days rolling to 40 to 50 appearances, looked after by a group known as the Silver Spurs, whose sole job is make sure Bevo has the best of everything. He even has a scholarship named in his honor, having already awarded nearly $700,000 to local students.
