{"id":18795,"date":"2018-02-06T11:54:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T16:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=18795"},"modified":"2019-02-18T14:24:44","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T19:24:44","slug":"mascot-the-man-behind-the-mask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/02\/06\/mascot-the-man-behind-the-mask\/","title":{"rendered":"Mascot: The Man Behind the Mask"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0According to the Oxford Dictionary, a mascot is any person, animal or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Being a mascot is a grand tradition starting back before television, internet and cosplay! <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0To be a mascot one must invoke the essence of the institution it is representing. It must be that group\u2019s motto in the living flesh. Sinclair\u2019s motto is \u201cFind the need and endeavor to meet it.\u201d Well, last semester I tried to be an example of this motto by taking on the mantle of the Sinclair mascot, known as the Tartan Pride.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0So many of you might be asking, \u201cwhat the heck is a Tartan Pride?\u201d The pride part refers to a lion, and the lion wears a kilt adorned with a traditional plaid Scottish pattern called tartan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The choice of a tartan kilt to adorn the lion, which is a traditional symbol of strength and pride, likely roots from David Sinclair\u2019s Scottish heritage. It often represents a specific family or lineage with a distinct color and pattern. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"15846.jpeg\" \u00a0Last semester I had the honor of being the Sinclair Tartan mascot. I accomplished this through a rigorous, intense and complicated process\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I was one of the only ones able to fit into the suit! When I put that costume on my first thought was \u201cman it\u2019s hot in here,\u201d but my second thought was \u201cyeah it\u2019s really hot in here.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0After getting used to the temperature change and heft of the suit, something magical happened that I didn\u2019t expect. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I ceased to be Justin Baker, Sinclair student. I became the strong, but silent, Sinclair Tartan. Anywhere I walked in those giant lion feet I was met with glee and excitement. High fives were abundant, so were photoshoots and hugs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0As the Tartan I was beloved by many and despised by none. As a mascot you become a symbol of pride, hope and determination. It makes you really realize how much a silly little thing like a mascot matters to those looking for something to believe in. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I found that Sinclair needed me as this mascot, and I gladly filled that position. It was an honor and a pleasure to put smiles on people\u2019s faces while making memories that would last a lifetime. It was something that I hope you can experience in your lifetime. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I felt true excitement and joy to be in that suit for the first 10 to 20 minutes. Then the sweat starts. Did I say it was hot in that suit? Because what I meant was it felt like I was vacationing on the surface of the sun in a sauna suit. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Ventilation is limited, and it seemed to be made out of material that retained heat. If you wonder why the Sinclair tartan doesn\u2019t speak, that\u2019s because most of the Tartan\u2019s time is spent trying to breathe. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Other than that I implore anyone who can, to try and be a symbol for those who need it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Justin A. Baker<\/strong>
\nStaff Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0According to the Oxford Dictionary, a mascot is any person, animal or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity. \u00a0 \u00a0Being a mascot is a grand tradition starting back before television, internet and cosplay! \u00a0 \u00a0To be a mascot one must invoke the essence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":18814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2102,2110,2109,2107,3],"tags":[2528,2299,2366,1384,14,930],"class_list":["post-18795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-local","category-opinion","category-sports","category-tartan-news","tag-bakers-beat","tag-justin-a-baker","tag-mascot","tag-opinion","tag-sinclair","tag-tartan-pride"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/11673.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-4T9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18795"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22957,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18795\/revisions\/22957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}