Another Sparky attack???

[uicstomper]

UIC does not do to many things right, but the one thing they do is sparky. He is in my opinion one of the best mascots out there. I agree with front row, is any of the other mascots cool or intimidating in the horizon, no definitly not. Lets take this a step further a few weeks ago we had the mascot game. Is anyone going to go to any of those games because of the mascot? No they are not. Now if you want to add a high flying sparky go ahead. But good luck finding someone with the talent to do that Bottom line is the mascot is the last of the problems of putting students in the seats.
I agree the lighting of the flame has to change or be done. Now it would be a cool thing if we had a student body who had school spirit but we dont. One thing they could do though is keep the lighting of the flame to people we might have a clue who they are. So stick with former players or people associated with the sport being played. Also note that they say the lighting is only for alumni. Which I think is garbage. I personally would one day like to light the flame. Ill tell you what That flame actuallly has a lot of meaning that most of the alumini have no clue about because they never had any school spirit. It does mean something to me along with a number of other seasonticket holders who are not alums. And the reason it does suck is you can tell that the honor of lighing it has no meaning to them other than a free drink and a meal. Now they have asked me for my email the last 2 years saying they might try and find a spot. Im sick of being stood up. Also note my brother is a proud alum and former stomper, who has gotten the false promises a few times himself. Bottom line though is lets get rid of this ceremoney, until we can get a student body that could show up and appreciate the meaning of it.

Also note F*$k the college of medicine. They are the biggest bunch of losers ever. They have 50 people show up, say its 180 people and as soon as there dean is done shooting baskets they leave. That dean should give up the trophy and write a letter of apology for that sad display of school spirit. Obviously We have a bunch of suck up students attending school. SO maybe if we could get the deans to sit in the student section with there pants down the whole game, the brown nose f@%&ers will show up. BUt honestly Ill take the 500 bused in kids over them

[flamesportseditor]

Hi everyone,
This is Andrew Smothers, the sports editor for the Chicago Flame. I'm excited to see the discussion that Chris' article spurred and at how well the men have been doing as of late (knock on wood).
At the Flame we're never really sure of how many people actually read our stuff, something that at times takes the fun out of our writings and passion out of our jobs. So even if this message board disagreed with the position of the Flame sports staff, at the very least we know people are reading our articles.
Through reading this thread, I have resolved to take it upon our new weekly sports forum to change two things in UIC basketball: 1. no more "May the Flame Burn Brightly Forever." We all know how uninspiring and ridiculous it sounds. We will take that up after one more important thing first, though-
2. Get the Stompers to light the torch. No one is as passionate about UIC Basketball and no one gets the Pavilion rocking better than them.

UIC has almost guaranteed themselves a home game for the first round of the HL Championships, so there should be a date open. That will be in the newspaper this week and I do everything I can to get the Stompers their deserved recognition.
-If the Stompers could send me their contact information, I would love to include you in the story-

If anyone has any suggestions, comments, questions for the Flame staff please e-mail me at [e-mail]

Thanks. Go Flames.
-Andrew Smothers

[FuryJP]

what do you think about an article about the College of Medicine, and the other departments who run out after half time. Sports Opinion section? Maybe have an alumni be a "special to the flame".

[Big D]

Hey Andrew,

I read the Chicago Flame every week. I've enjoyed that newspaper (and UIC News) since I was a student there. A couple things...

1) I think that the sports forum is a great idea. Anything you can do to increase awareness is a positive. Even if some disagree on the material (e.g. Sparky), all of us still love UIC and are trying to make it better.

2) I agree that the "May The Flames Burn Brightly Forever" song needs to go. Every time I come back for my yearly non-conference game in December, I feel like all of the visiting fans are laughing at us when that song goes off. The concept of lighting the flame is great, but how about trying to pump up the crowd with a reworked version of that song or a different song? If they're going to keep the same song, for the love of god, please get rid of that awful recording of the guy that sounds like he's been kicked in the berries. Think of something else. We're at a basketball game...not graduation...

3) Get the stomping crew to light the flame....they're among the best fans UIC has. Degree or no degree that says "UIC" on it, those guys are honorary alumni in my book. In fact, they're better than 99.9% of the alumni we do have. They have spirit and they show support.

4) Have you ever thought about doing a forum topic about this message board? Do people know about it? I think it would be a good topic for a week. Even just getting the link out there would help. Once people get here, it's addicting.

5) Finally, a small complaint. When you click on a number of stories in the online Chicago Flame, the picture at the top of the story covers a portion of the article to the left. One example is this week's baseball rebuilding article. Can you guys fix this?

Anyway, looking forward to more articles by you and the rest of the crew. And don't be a stranger to the board.

[soccer fan]

Andrew:

I read the Chicago Flame every week. I make a point of walking my dog over to the box on Halsted and 14th place specifically to get a copy. Before I moved to University Village I read it online. And when I went to UIC, I always read the Chicago Illini (which is what it used to be called).

Just a couple of thoughts on the Lighting of the Flame:

I believe the consensus is that the biggest problem is the music. Basketball games are rowdy good-time events, and that recording sounds like something that should be played at a wake.

I think a punk or hard rock version of "May the Flame Burn Brightly Forever" might be just the thing. The Chicago Fire's "FIRE, GOAL" song is as cheezy as it gets, but it works simply because it is rowdy and gets the crowd going.

If that idea is too radical for the Alumni Association (who are the people I believe you would need to take it up with), maybe they'd consider getting one of the bouzouki bands from Greektown to do a Greek-styled version. Then, when they light the flame, everyone can stand up and scream "OOOPAAAA"!!!! (just kidding)

I honestly believe that the best course would be for the school to allow the students put several options together and then vote on it, like they did when we selected "Flames" for the name of the team. That would give the ceremony the legitimacy WITH THE STUDENTS that it currently lacks.

Good luck with your crusade, and if you succeed at getting something less Simpson-esque, we'll all be grateful.

[I'm In The Front Row]

I have to second the motion of having the Stompers Light The Flame. They're at every game, they inspire the crowd. They get things going.

HOWEVER, I would NOT recommend doing it for the 1st round of the conference tournament. Having been at those games in the past (and a lighter of the flame at one) the crowd is way to small to honor those guys. You want to do it right, give them the shot at the DePaul game next year. Large crowd, loud noise!! That would be better. Start the season off right.

Also, I'm going to say again that I HATE the current version of the "May The Flame Burn Brightly Forever". It starts the game on a somber note. It's a death march. Or something you hear at a funeral parlor. IT IS NOT A SCHOOL SONG!! I was told that the Alumni Association liked it and that the Alumni approved. I find it unlikely, since I'm in the Alumni Association and never got a notice of a vote or any other notification.

So, here's the deal I propose. Lay off Sparky and put your energy and influence in getting a new song. A different version or a new one all together would be great.

[Big D]

Guess who appeared in the Flame Forum today?...Sparky himself (Mr. Bill Bavirsha), with a response to the recent attack...

Flame Forum
Mailbag edition
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports

Bill Bavirsha may be better known as "the guy in the Sparky suit." His letter is a response to our article "Putting the Lame in Flame" from earlier this month.

At first I didn't feel that the article wrote in The Flame two weeks ago needed any sort of rebuttal. It was an opinionated piece without any factual support expressing the views of one or a few students on campus. I admire you for taking the time to share your feelings. I only wish more students were that dedicated to UIC Athletics.

While this was my first impression, it became clear to me after about 100 messages from various Dragon supporters around campus that maybe I should say something. Many of these messages were just words of encouragement telling me to ignore the article from the paper; mostly stating "this guy doesn't speak for us" type of stuff. There were some, however, that were just as passionate for the current Dragon costume as you are against it. It was after all this I decided to share some of the history of the Dragon costume so people realize why it is the way it is.

The current costume has been a work in progress for many years, constantly changing as time goes on. It has seen many changes in an attempt to not only meet the expectations of the students, faculty and staff, but also the expectations of donors, sponsors, and most of all, kids. There have been scary T-Rex dragons with glitter suits, Athletic Dragons with muscle suits, mean dragons, skinny dragons, fat dragons, ones with long tails, ones with short tails and, yes, even at one time a dragon that wore shorts!

No matter what changes that were done, there were always critics expressing their views. I remember one time that a student trustee was so convinced that the University needed a fierce athletic dragon with wings that he allocated some of his budget to coming up with the logo and changing the costume. So we did and it was a huge flop!

Kids ran away crying, sponsors would ask for cheer and dance but not the dragon at their events, and students on campus couldn't really care less about the new logo or the new costume. Therefore, Athletics decided to pick a costume that was most appealing to the masses.

This was not because we didn't value the opinions of the students, quite the opposite. We found that the bulk of the attendees at UIC Basketball games were kids and when kids were happy, it made their parents happy, sponsors were happy, everyone enjoyed the games and thus came back more often for repeat visits. It was win-win for everyone.

While I am sure no direct correlation can be drawn between the costume and UIC's success, one can make the argument that it adds to the overall value. Athletics bills men's and women's basketball games as family entertainment, and a fan-friendly costume is a big part of that.

You made mention in your article about one of the bookstore employees working at the Pavilion and his/her eyewitness account of a kid disappointed in the Dragon logo on an available shirt. I am not so sure this account was a case of the character costume being lame but rather the Dragon logo being lame.

Personally I know a lot of people that don't care for that logo, me being one, but it is what the campus has copyrighted so that's what they use. Athletics is the process of working on a marketing and merchandise agreement where eventually we hope to change this logo along with many other things. Like most things here at the campus it takes time to get things changed. This is something we are committed to and your reference just adds fuel to our cause.

There is something to be said about the energy and excitement of a sporting event. It takes an intricate web of branding, marketing, promotions, sponsors and product to be successful. While a mascot adds to all this, it is by no means the one and only attraction.

Fans are the key component into making the event what it is. They support the team; they tell us what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. They make the decisions for the future. No fans, No future!

Now I am not saying UIC Athletics has no future, but if you analyze our crowd at the games, you find the UIC students are a very small percentage of the fan base. This is sad; maybe you can do a feature piece on this in The Flame. Athletics has been trying to answer this question for years. I know we are a big commuter school and such, but there is no reason we can't draw better. We have the worst student attendance at our games in the Horizon League, and I seriously doubt the mascot is the reason for this.

As I stated earlier, fans make the decisions and if the bulk of our fans were UIC students and they wanted a different mascot, I am sure the Athletic department would look into it. Until that time, UIC's mascot is what it is.

Bill Bavirsha

---------------------------------

Score one for Sparky!

[spike1057]

Before I start my full post I just want to thank Andrew for everything he did for Stomper and me. Without your interest and for that matter everyone on this board I would not be able to make this announcement.

A letter was sent to Stomper and myself and we will indeed light the flame at a UIC game. On Thursday January 15 we will both be able to finally be able to deliver on one of our greatest wishes. I know many of you are not fond of the lighting of the flame, but to me it is one of my favorite parts of the game. I have always wanted to be the one lighting the flame and felt like it was not a possibility because I was not an Alumni of UIC.

Thanks to Andrew I will be able to stand out on the court a proud UIC Flames fan. This is one of the greatest honors I feel I could have achieved with UIC. Thanks again to everyone who have backed our antics through the years. We never did it for the laughs but always because we felt like we were apart of the team. I hope everyone on this board who have supported us will be at the game cheering us on.

Thanks Again

Spike

[I'm In The Front Row]

This is great to hear. I think this will be a good crowd with Valpo. Lighting the Flame is a great honor and the only bad thing about it is that your hand smells like kerosene after you light it.

Other than that...it's all good.

[cravinmelon42]

Anyone who caps on Sparky or "Sparkles" as I like to call him needs only to play a little "Paint Wars" (Big Man's Game of 21) with Bill Bavirsha to know that Sparky is not weak! And I love the Aloha Sparky, Mahalo Bill!