Timeout (mascot)
Encyclopedia
Origins as live mascot
Fresno StateCalifornia State University, Fresno
California State University, Fresno, often referred to as Fresno State University and synonymously known in athletics as Fresno State , is one of the leading campuses of the California State University system, located at the northeast edge of Fresno, California, USA.The campus sits at the foot of...
adopted the Bulldog mascot in 1921, ten years after its founding as the Fresno Normal School. That year, which was also the first year of Football for the school, student body president Warren Moody and friends were continually greeted outside the main campus building by a white bulldog. The live dog was adopted by the student body and brought to football games as the mascot.
Transition to costumed mascot
A live dog was brought to footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games as the mascot for several decades, until the 1980's when the Bulldogs moved into a bigger stadium
Bulldog Stadium
Bulldog Stadium at Jim Sweeney Field is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of California State University, Fresno in Fresno, California. It is the home field of the Fresno State Bulldogs of the Western Athletic Conference. The stadium opened in 1980 with a capacity of 30,000 and has a...
and became more successful. A costumed Bulldog
Bulldog
Bulldog is the name for a breed of dog commonly referred to as the English Bulldog. Other Bulldog breeds include the American Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge and the French Bulldog. The Bulldog is a muscular heavy dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose...
was introduced in 1981, and was created by a student named Gary Johns. While Timeout has become a costumed mascot, there are still live bulldogs brought to the game. The costumed mascot, like those at other universities, has become a staple of the football experience, and will occasionally mock-fight the other mascot. A particularly memorable instance occurs when Fresno State plays the conference rival Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football
The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football program represents Louisiana Tech University in Western Athletic Conference. The team currently competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Since the Bulldogs first season in 1901, Louisiana Tech has compiled an all-time record of 554 wins, 422...
in the annual Battle for the Bone
Battle for the Bone
The Battle for the Bone is the college football rivalry game between the Fresno State Bulldogs and the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. Since 2001, the teams have played annually as members of the Western Athletic Conference, and Fresno State holds a 7–4 series lead in games played as WAC foes...
.
In addition to being a costumed mascot, Timeout is also featured in other ways by the athletic department in promotions and contests. Timeout has been made into a bobblehead figure, sold in the Bulldog Shop on the campus of the university and provided in other promotions. Timeout is also used by the University as the information search engine for new students, in the feature "Ask Timeout".
Controversy
A controversy arose in the 2007 season2007 Fresno State Bulldogs football team
The 2007 Fresno State football team represent California State University, Fresno in the 2007 college football season. This season will be the Bulldogs' 27th in their current home of Bulldog Stadium in Fresno, California, and their 11th with Pat Hill as head coach.-Pre-Season:At the end of the 2006...
when the athletic department made a sudden change to the look of the mascot that proved unpopular with many fans. The original Timeout was a gray color, with large jowls and snout, a small mouth with a harmless, protruding tongue. This was replaced by a brown colored 'bulldog' with a large, open mouth with many teeth, and less of a jowly snout. Many people complained the that the new timeout looks less like a bulldog and more akin to a cat or cougar. Some people even protested, and one fan attended the games wearing a former timeout's costume. This caused the university to rethink the decision and allowed fans to make a vote between the newer design and the previous design. the previous design won, although it has been slightly altered it is more like the old mascot and most fans are now content with the costume. The costume was brought back at the start of the 2008 football season