Patriot Pop Quiz: Mascots of the 1990s

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 18:39:39 +0000

Patriot Pop Quiz: Mascots of the 1990s Lauren Reuscher Wed, 07/19/2023 - 14:39

Question:

One person has portrayed three different Mason mascots over the years, including the tricorn-hat Gunston (1993), the brief Gorilla period (1994), and the fuzzy Gunston (1996).

He is still a Mason employee. Who is it?

Gunston, 1996. Photo provided by Mason Athletics

Gunston, 1993. Photo provided by Mason Athletics

Answer:

George Malenich, plumber, Facilities. Photo provided

George Malenich, Mason Square plumber, Facilities Management

“I loved being the mascot at Mason. The exposure opened doors for me. I did the play-by-play for Mason women’s basketball and hosted a sports talk show at WGMU radio with several students. We had great guests, including legends like Dick Vitale, Arnold Palmer, and Gus Johnson. [Former Mason Men’s Basketball Coach] Jim Larrañaga was a frequent guest, too," said Malenich, also a Mason alum.

"Being the mascot helped me land the job as a plumber here 26 years ago, which is a position I love," he said. "I was courtside for the Final Four run in 2006. One of my greatest thrills was being in the second row of the press section for the UConn upset—in regular clothes, not dressed as a mascot."

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From the Archives: A History of Mason Mascots

Colleen Rich — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 13:11:04 +0000

From the Archives: A History of Mason Mascots Colleen Rich Wed, 03/09/2022 - 08:11

Fans of Mason’s 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’s mascots is a little fuzzy itself. Perhaps the strangest of all the mascots appeared at the first annual bonfire in 1985—the Mason Maniak, an unidentified animal character with a huge head and a t-shirt bearing the words, “Mason Maniak,” 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. “It was the only time I could ask other women to dance and not get in trouble with my wife,” 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’s campus. Because Coach Paul Westhead, the men’s 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 1995–96 academic year. Malenich not only played the Green Mask for the Patriots’ games, he also used the costume for several Washington Capitals games, because the team’s 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’s 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’s 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 “Go Green with Gunston” 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 Mason Spirit.

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Patriot Pop Quiz: Mascots of the 1990s

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Question:

Answer:

George Malenich, Mason Square plumber, Facilities Management

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From the Archives: A History of Mason Mascots

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