But, Everett Duke, a sophomore in business administration, has a job unlike most.
Duke is Boomer, the mascot of the Columbus Cottonmouths professional hockey team.
“I’m getting ready to start my fourth year (as mascot),” Duke said.
The team is opening its 12th season on Oct. 26.
Duke hasn’t just been the mascot of the Cottonmouths, though. He was also mascot of the Columbus Catfish minor league baseball team for four years.
Duke said he was looking for a job one summer when he came across an advertisement for mascot of the baseball team, and he decided to try out.
To land the job, Duke had to stand on a dugout and react to music that was being played. He did this for 15 or 20 minutes, and has been a mascot ever since.
“That was the only time I had to try out,” he said.
After one season with the Catfish, he decided to be the mascot for the Cottonmouths too.
He stayed mascot for the Catfish for three more seasons, and is now just mascot for the Cottonmouths.
“It’s been great,” Duke said.
Duke hasn’t just been a fan of the Cottonmouths since he got the job, however.
For eight years before he became mascot, his family had season tickets to the games.
“If I wasn’t working for these teams, I’d be going to the game anyway,” Duke said. “As a mascot, my job is to be the biggest fan.”
In addition to appearing at the games, Duke makes different appearances during the off season.
“It’s such a community thing,” he said.
Unlike some mascots, Duke doesn’t share his roll with anyone else. He is the only Boomer, and he said it’s better that way.
“I’ve kind of made the character my own,” he said.
Duke said his mascot roll differs from that of a collegiate mascot.
“When you do the college thing, you do your own show,” he said. “With me, I’m more of an extension of the game.”
Duke doesn’t have his own show, he just adds to the experience of going to a game.
“(Kids) will never know if we won or lost, but they’ll know that Boomer came and sat with them,” he said.
With about 6,000 people at most games, Boomer has a busy job.
“I’m going to make sure that I get to every section,” he said.
Duke said he usually keeps the same routine for going around to the sections. For some of the children who frequently attend games, they know when Boomer should be coming to their section, so they make sure they stay in their seats.
Duke said he enjoys working with the children, and he has watched some of them grow up.
He said if he doesn’t see a child there that he normally sees, he gets worried.
“There’s this kid that I look for every night,” Duke said. “You know how much it means to them.”
Kelly Sasser, one of Duke’s teachers in high school, attends Cottonmouth games with her three children.
“We love Boomer,” she said.
Her oldest son, Zack, likes to dance with Boomer, and her daughter, Ivey, writes notes to Boomer at the games.
“Our youngest son Nicholas, who is now 15 months old, thinks Boomer is his best friend,” she said. “He will probably grow up thinking that randomly in life you encounter a large, blue, furry guy that loves to dance and play.”
As if visiting all the sections and children at the games isn’t hard enough, Duke had something else to make the job even more difficult.
He has to ice skate in his 15-pound mascot suit.
“I had been skating for 10 years or so (before becoming mascot),” Duke said.
But, he said ice skating in the dark with strobe lights on, while looking through a small hole, is much different. Luckily, he hasn’t had any disasters yet.
Duke said it is easy to get dehydrated because the suit is so hot, and he has to drink a lot of Pedialyte during the season.
By the end of the games,, Duke said the suit weighs twice as much as it does when he first puts it on because of all the sweat. His mom washes it after every game, because Duke said it would be a mess if he didn’t.
With all of the games and community appearances, Duke said sometimes he can have a busy schedule, but he still loves his job and hopes to stay mascot during his time as a student.
“I have no regrets because I absolutely love what I do,” Duke said.
