YouTube fans, don't bother looking for one of those bizarre mascot-on-mascot fights involving the Billiken, Saint Louis University's unusual mascot. This imp has class. "Mascot fights are hilarious to look at, but I like my job too much to have one," explains Scott Sloan, the 21-year-old senior who spends hours sweating inside his costume at SLU sporting events, including hoops at Chaifetz Arena this month. "I did stage a fight once with the Xavier Musketeer, but we talked about it before the game, and it wasn't a real fight."
In his Words ...
• I basically try to overreact to the game. Anything I would do as a fan, I try to exaggerate as the Billiken ... Cheeky or mischievous is how I try to play him. When something goes wrong, it's like "Oh, that Billiken again!"
• The gag the cheerleaders tell me they like the most is when I wag my finger at the official, just like Babu from Seinfeld, who told Jerry he was a "very, very bad man."
• Whenever I'm at a sporting event, I watch the mascot almost more than I watch the game, to get ideas.
• It gets pretty gross inside the head after a while—but it's my sweat and not somebody else's.
• Every time I'm in the suit, I make at least one kid cry just by walking up to him. I feel bad, but there's nothing I can do about it. I just try to remember who I made cry and avoid them for the rest of the game.
• Students have tried to pants me, but the suit is designed so you can't be pantsed.
• I don't think anybody realizes how hard it is to see out of that head. One time Father Biondi had his hand out for a high five, and I never saw it.
