Mascot suggestions are simply scandalous
Deseret News 27Jan99
By Ray Boren: Deseret News staff writer

A Mormon mascot was among those proposed in jest by listeners of the PRI radio program Marketplace. The mascots were proposed in response to the continuing Olympic scandal. The official mascot was to be revealed next month, but because of the scandal, the announcement has been postponed.

The Mormon mascot proposed was a blindfolded Angel Moroni. Other mascots proposed were not as kind, and include Uncle Pennybags (from the Monopoly game), and "Clinty" (merging the Clinton scandal with the Olympic one). Marketplace listeners also suggested a raccoon, a giraffe called "GRRafte" (i.e., graft), a weasel, a ferret and "Bucky" a mature deer that has a manager, a publicist and endorsement contracts. "When people see 'Bucky,' " "Marketplace" was told, "they really know the Buck stopped here!"

Marketplace is not the only show cashing in on the Olympic mascot idea. Comedian Jay Leno has also used a fake mascot, "Cashie the Bag."