Another soundbite gem: Washington State head coach Mike Leach went on a hysterical rant about how much he loves live mascots in college football.
Mike Leach is many things: Washington State’s head coach, a bit unstable sometimes, and an absolute icon. Not long after Mike Gundy blessed us with his gem of a rant about Twitter, Leach came out and went on a rant about his unabated love for live mascots.
This came just moments after saying that is least favorite household chore was fighting with “technology [that doesn’t] automatically work.” Similar to an old-school uncle at the Thanksgiving table, Leach blends cranky old man with comedic gold seamlessly.
But no contest, live mascots are cool.
The Cougars’ head coach had high praise for Colorado’s Ralphie and live mascots in a video that went viral.
“Their mascot is just outstanding.” Leach beamed, “That buffalo… [is] utterly outstanding.” He was stumbling and stuttering his way through the rant just to find the proper words to describe his admiration for the 500-pound animal.
“No, [the handlers] aren’t pulling the buffalo, the buffalo is pulling them,” Leach laughed. “I mean, you see these kids running these buffaloes… and sometimes they’ll wipe out or whatever.”
The only mascot that can top a live buffalo? According to Leach, none, “unless you have a live grizzly bear or something.”
Ralphie wasn’t the only live mascot that Leach has an appreciation for; he mentioned LSU’s Mike the Tiger in the same breath. He also went on about the Air Force Academy’s Falcon and Georgia’s Uga.
“That falcon’s getting higher and higher, pretty soon you can’t see that falcon, that falcon just left. That falcon’s seen all the football he wanted to see that day.” With Air Force sitting at a mediocre 3-6 on the season, who can blame him?
Minutes after seemingly finishing up his comments about Ralphie, Leach returns to the subject, stating that people, “don’t realize that is a small, small, small buffalo. I mean, that’s like a baby buffalo.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool to watch. Part petting zoo, part football.”
Leach even pondered the feasibility of bringing back a live cougar for Washington State but doubted both their ability to live in captivity, and their cooperation while parading the field. Wazzu hasn’t had a live mascot since 1978, and probably for good reason.
Though laws can’t stop the ownership of big cats, mass concern of safety from the people of Pullman certainly will.
At least we were left with some of the best minutes of presser you’ll hear this season.