This week's collection of whimsical and curious stories will return to one of your author's favourite topics - mascots. Long-term readers will remember that mascots are a billion Dollar business in Japan and have consequently sparked the creation of a biblical variety of them (ranging in flavours from cuddly to nightmarish). Today's contestants, alas, are much less nuanced. However, they frequently offer some situational comedy that is hard to resist.
A minute of silence - Mascots for football teams (using the word "football" in the sensible, i.e., British way) are often not very interesting. They are mostly outfits of oversized animals dressed in whatever jersey the local team is wearing (with pants generally being seen as optional)*. They are also designed for a single purpose - spreading excitement and cheers. This is generally considered to be a good thing. However, whenever football players are asked to observe a public minute of silence (for a recent or not so recent tragedy), they can look somewhat out of place. Luckily, there is a twitter account devoted to capturing this:
Here are a few examples (with the club names shown below each image):
Borussia Mönchengladbach
Hereford United
Arsenal London
VVV Venlo
Bray Wanderers
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*As with every rule, there are notable exceptions, e.g., the mascot of the Scottish club Partick Thistle F.C. which has a mascot fit for nightmares.
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