Fans of Mason鈥檚 sports teams have seen the Patriot mascot evolve from a man dressed in colonial garb to large-headed fuzzy cartoon characters with crazy socks to a dapper, almost superhero Patriot.
The early history of Mason鈥檚 mascots is a little fuzzy itself. Perhaps the strangest of all the mascots appeared at the first annual bonfire in 1985鈥攖he Mason Maniak, an unidentified animal character with a huge head and a t-shirt bearing the words, 鈥淢ason Maniak,鈥 complete with lightning bolt. This furry character wore bright striped pants and was often seen dancing to the cheers of spectators.
George Malenich, who works in Facilities, played the Mason mascot for more than 10 years as several different characters, including a patriot, a gorilla, and good old furry Gunston. 鈥淚t was the only time I could ask other women to dance and not get in trouble with my wife,鈥 he says with a laugh.
In the early 1990s, Malenich wore the Patriot mascot costume, which had a cartoon head with a two-foot tall hat. That mascot was retired in 1993 when George Johnson, then president of the university, decided that a white male mascot did not fully represent the diversity of the university鈥檚 campus. Because Coach Paul Westhead, the men鈥檚 basketball coach at the time, liked his players to be fast and strong, Malenich says a search was on for a new mascot that was fast and strong. The result was a short-lived gorilla mascot.
The Green Mask, a mascot based on the Jim Carrey movie The Mask, cheered on Mason sports teams during the 1995鈥96 academic year. Malenich not only played the Green Mask for the Patriots鈥 games, he also used the costume for several Washington Capitals games, because the team鈥檚 goaltender that year was named Jim Carey.
In late 1996, during a basketball game against Ohio State, the furry green Gunston made his first appearance. Although Gunston鈥檚 look changed over the years, the name and concept remained the same. While no one was really sure what exactly Gunston was, he traveled with the men鈥檚 basketball team to the Final Four and even appeared on Good Morning America. Eventually Gunston retired from sports and went on to teach children about the Earth and energy conservation with the 鈥淕o Green with Gunston鈥 program.
The Patriot, the mascot we know today, arrived in time for the 2009-10 basketball season and has been inspiring Mason spirit for almost a decade.
A version of this story originally ran in the spring 2018 issue of the .