CREDIT TK KARL MAASDAM, '93 AS OSU AND Pacific go up and down the court on this Saturday afternoon, Benny works the crowd. The Beaver Dam student section leaders have distributed newspapers to the students with game information and reminders about cheers. Benny takes his copy, does some doodling on it and then plays tic-tac-toe with some students. There’s frequent posing for photos with fans. And kids. Where there’s Benny Beaver, there are likely to be kids. After a promotion that introduces several children attending their first Beaver game, Benny high-fives them as they come off the court. Another promotion involves a young boy in a miniature car trying to parallel park as Benny motions him toward the spot. Most former Bennys and Bernices carry fond memories of interactions like this. And sometimes, they resurface years later in unexpected ways. Will Later, ’12, MAIS ’14, a Benny from 2008 to 2012 and now an instructor in the OSU School of Communication, has daughters aged 2 and 5 who love seeing Benny and Bernice when they attend Beaver events. They know Dad was Benny, but they sometimes forget; they’ll see a picture of their mom, Sarah Lowe, ’14, standing with Later in the suit and ask,“Mommy,you knew Benny?!” On the walls of Benny and Bernice’s locker room hang a number of cards and letters sent by their youngest fans. Hermon recalled times at basketball games or gymnastics meets when it was announced Benny was in Gill and he would be swarmed by children: “I mean, I was just buried in them. And lots of hugs … their love for Benny was just amazing. That’s special.” On this January day, a youngster asks Benny to autograph his basketball. “That was pretty awesome,” Benny says. He’s gotten used to delivering his signature with bulky gloves on: “You just get used to it. At least I still have a thumb [in the glove], which is nice, so I can hold stuff properly. But it is a little difficult. It doesn’t always come out looking perfect.” THE 1998 FOOTBALL rivalry game is best known for its double- overtime finish as OSU beat Oregon 44-41. Josh Huffman, ’01, remembers the evening well for another reason. Before the game, Huffman was tossing breadcrumbs at Oregon’s marching band in the southwest corner of the stadium — aka “feeding the Ducks.” “The band members were interacting with me, and it was all fun and games,” Hoffman said. At least until the University of Oregon Duck mascot gave him a shove from behind, starting a back-and-forth pushfest. Hoffman wanted that action to be more visible to the home crowd. He gave one more shove — “I took a bit of a cheap shot” — and sprinted to midfield. The Duck followed. In the ensuing skirmish, Huffman ended up on top, with both mascot heads dislodged. Both Huffman and the Duck’s inhabitant ended up in the basement of the Valley Football Center, where they shook hands and shared a laugh. They also got a stern talking-to from OSU Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart and his Oregon counterpart. There is video of the tussle, which Huffman’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon brothers send him every year around rivalry game time. That footage is one reason Benny was ranked No. 13 on a 2010 list of the Worst-Behaved Sports Mascots of All Time. (In fairness, Benny was also named to the 2011 Capital One All-America Mascot Team after winning the Capital One Mascot of the Year Write-In Campaign.) Dunk City The life of Benny and Bernice isn’t lived solely at OSU athletic contests — there are other appearances as well. One annual event is the Portland Trail Blazers’ Mascot Night, which has included a dunk competition that has Benny and his counterparts bouncing off a mini-trampoline toward the hoop. For Later and Erik Roberts,’15, those nights provided a moment of triumph. They not only survived the Benny bounce, but also somehow managed to dunk wearing that giant head and a pair of gloves, both topping the Duck in the competition. “I had to do the jump and I saw the rim,” said Later. “I was able to get my arms tall enough, or high enough up, to get the ball over the rim and land on the crash pad. The only way I knew it went in was because everybody cheered — that was definitely a highlight for me.” Roberts and his brothers grew up with a backyard trampoline so he had a little experience in that aspect. “But just trying to find yourself in the air and make it work was something that was super tricky,” Roberts said, pointing out that the field of vision through Benny’s nose is about 20% of what you’d normally see. When it went through, one reaction was relief: “Because you’re going up against the Duck, and both my parents were Beavs and I’ve been a Beav my entire life, so the hatred runs deep.” Spring 2026 37 2013
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