That 12-foot or 14-foot ladder didnt allow enough time for me to understand that I was going to unwind. We have no respect, no credibility, and please download and share this episode as a simple reminder that Jon Absey is exactly the same in person as he is in that suit. They formed the mask to fit my face so that it fits perfectly right around my eyes. My mom calls me when she gets home. }, Welcome to the show. "url":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1573990224", Required fields are marked *. When you have an opportunity, never doubt yourself. "controls":[ "Pomp and circumstance were plentiful at Game 5, beginning with . We honor you. Welcome to #nbaallstar #utah. According to Eric Woodyard of theDeseret News, a source said Absey was relieved of his role after a "rift with the staff. Here, we will focus on the top 10 most popular sports mascots. Before, he says, he hid under a mask. "buttons":[ According to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News, a source said Absey was relieved of his role after a rift with the staff.. I got an offer from all three teams, but I didnt call anybody back because I was too scared. Dick Butkus, the guys that are from Meyer that I grew up idolizing, played for the love of the game and had a second career or another job in the off-season so they could pay their bills. Absey worked as the mascot for 24 years, but with the beginning of the 2018-2019 season he has been let go. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. I looked at Greg and I was like, You got a tough kid. fuseboxPlayer(e.detail).setConfig({ I was in the Army. My vision was my eyes. That was one of the moments where I was like, Im going to show him. I would grab people and haul him out on the court because it was like, This is what makes fans, fans, being able to interact and come on the court. Honestly, I was never a gymnast. They thought I was either going to kill myself or kill a fan, he said. . They were patient enough with me to put up with the stupid stuff I would do. While the Jazz declined to comment on Absey specifically, they confirmed in a statement that Jazz Bear will continue to be the team's mascot: Mascot of the Year award as Jazz Bear, marking, While Absey won't don the costume, the Jazz confirmed that Jazz Bear will be present when they host the. My only thought was, Im not letting her die. I dont care what happens to me because of the stupid decision that we decided because were doing Phantom of the Opera. He didnt try to be anyone else or act like someone else in the suit. He was famous in our neighborhood because little kids would come home, have a lemonade stand, and Karl would pull up and pay a hundred dollars for a couple of glasses of lemonade and bring them home. I felt like I needed to give back. Not for everybody, but for some. Reply [deleted] . It was something fun to do. Absey then worked more than 800 home games as the Jazz Bear. There are other guys that can look through their eyes, but theyre screened almost like your microphone, just those little holes, and then they have painted in their eyes. Who is this human being who comes up with extraordinary ideas and creative ways to get the audience riled up and entertained, especially when there are timeouts and theres nothing worth watching on the field, which is the case of all the teams who have losing records? At your age, youre still so fit and so strong. It was my training ground. Im not a fan of a team that I dont know anybody on it. It's the first time he's spoken about his time in the . He said he never feared anything he could control. Just dont hang yourself. He was the guy that went to battle for me. window.FuseboxPlayerAPIKey = '736|Bt3uGzU4xc0sddXrD2L8BnN1FwLmic13Qk65z0pZRktxo58SWbNAcFgDsC3FYQ3MK0XyoUWYU7WUaQjG'; Dan, I cant thank you enough for having me on. Its an opportunity to entertain people without spending as much as it was back then to go to a game. When you take a rope and put both ends on the cable, youd put your hand in it and twist it. I want to know that I put a footprint on this planet like you. She grabbed another one and she goes to me, Am I done now?. Bold predictions for the 2018-19 NBA season. Give us the inside scoop of the Mascot Bowl. When I started, I wanted to find my own path. Now he has much more time with his wife and 3 daughters. Mascot Team 2005 Clutch: Houston Rockets: 2006 Jazz Bear: Utah Jazz: 2007 Hugo the Hornet: New Orleans Hornets: 2008 Jazz Bear (2) Utah Jazz 2009 Rumble the Bison: Oklahoma City Thunder: 2010 Bango: Milwaukee Bucks: 2011 Grizz: Memphis Grizzlies: 2012 Crunch the Wolf: Minnesota Timberwolves: 2013 Clutch (2) Houston Rockets 2014 The Coyote Jazz forward Rudy Gay powered through two Oklahoma City defenders for a second-quarter layup as Utah fights back against the Thunder. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. No, but when we have arguments with our spouses or significant others, we call it the rebound rate. I was there for a number of years and then came back to school in Moorhead, Minnesota, at the Moorhead State, and then I joined the military to help pay for college. archived form does not constitute a republication of the story. Thats why I like a lot of these minor league sports teams like the Warriors here and Utah Grizzlies, those are players that they want to elevate, but they still understand that its those fans in the seats that are making us have the ability to play and hopefully get to their goal. Have a tip? I said, If I dont share it and nobodys trying to copy it, one, I dont know if its good enough to that Im doing this. Before I go out, I was working on doing a flag where you would hold yourself out sideways on a bar and I was going to do it up top and then my guys below would spin it so that I would spin around the top of the ladder, but thankfully I never had to do it. }); Jon Absey, the original Utah Jazz Bear, shares his journey from farm boy to becoming a world-class mascot. You must be the same person in your house as you are outside of your house, the same person on the field or on the court as you are off the court and vice versa. I wrapped my hand in, we do the practice, but I did it off a ladder that was probably fourteen feet. Behind every successful husband is an astonished mother-in-law. She grabbed me by the ear and held me all the way down to the office. It was called American Gold Gymnastics. That was my first experience before I came with you. Theres a big difference. AboutPressCopyrightContact. In this YouTube video, the Utah Jazz Bear gets revenge on a Houston Rockets fan who poured beer on the mascot's head during a game. His community initiative, Bear Hugs for Kids, is at the forefront of efforts to improve life for a myriad of people throughout the intermountain region. i was today years old when i found out i posted the 2nd most viewed tiktok in the nfl this season I used one of those when I started in Fargo. Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! I feel blessed that youve let me into your life. Buster, the team's first-ever mascot, will wear uniform #1. One thing led to another, and he was asked to try out to be the Jazz mascot in the early 1990s. Bleacher Creatures Milwaukee Bucks Bango Mascot 8" Kuricha Sitting Plush. I was like, Thatd be great, because I was a poor college kid making $25 a game. A metaphor for life. I got smart when I got to the Jazz as I started putting two sleds together and put a wood board in the middle of them so that it was more solid. }, Absey had suited up as the Jazz Bear in more than 800 home games and won the 2017-18 NBA Mascot of the Year award this summer, his third time winning the award. Stick through the whole video (You can give up 4. The event was put together for kids who participated in the Utah Department of TransportationsSpring Walk N Win program. The message of this show is a simple reminder, we become the average of the five people we associate with the most, which means you need to find a mascot in your life, but more importantly, if you were a mascot, you must be the same offstage as your onstage. There was a Winnipeg Thunder and those guys had brought me up to Winnipeg to mascot for the summer, but unlike Fargo, they had no rules. The mascot, named Jazz Bear, showed off his talents on the water, doing some impressive waterskiing and wakeboarding in full costume, all to the bangin' lyrics from good ol' Alan himself. Jon Absey wore the Jazz Bear suit well, there were nine of them for almost 25 years. Absey did handstands on a 23-foot tall ladder, rappeled from the ceiling, and slid down the stairs. [1] I read a lot of speeches for celebrities and I got a call from Danny Mantle, one of the four sons of the famous Mickey Mantle. Two, once somebody does it, I want to be able to do something else. [4] The Bear has suffered many injuries while performing, including tearing his bicep and rupturing a tendon in his calf. The mascot has proven to be so popular in the city that he even has a day named after him. However, mascots in the NBA reportedly receive salaries between $40,000 and $65,000 per year. Inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2006, Absey. Absey worked as the mascot for 24 years, but with the beginning of the 2018-2019 season he has been let go. Yes. It was so cool. There were a number of times where I went a little outside the box and he went to battle, and he knew that, in order for the character to keep creating and growing, it needed to push those bounds. Describe what happened there. I'm grateful that the maker of my handmade journals, Utah-based Rustico, became an underwriter. Spencer Lund January 14, 2014. The Jazz did not cite Absey by name, but did confirm his ouster, alerting media that a new mystery person will be inside the Jazz Bear costume when Utah hosts the Golden State Warriors in Fridays home opener. I did stunts and I was one of the first mascots to start doing stunts. I love her. Absey is telling all in a new podcast called "Return to Real.". We do not discuss individual personnel matters.". You wont come back from this 100%. Id be like, Now, its a challenge. Its like when they did my knee, they took my hamstring instead of a cadaver tendon and stuff. This year, the Utes will face Penn State. He was the old Phoenix Gorilla. He created the idea, costume, and antics that allowed him to be named and honored as the MBA Mascot of the Year five times and the number one voted Most Popular, Most Amazing, Most Significant Mascot across all professional sports and cold sports nationwide two different times. If I look back over the years of being Bear, Im definitely grateful for having a job like this, as well as blessed that Im able to take a character and give back to the community and the fans who have given so much to us, Absey said in that interview. He didnt try to be anyone else or act like someone else in the suit. That was my push. Absey is telling all in a new podcast called Return to Real. Its the first time hes spoken about his time in the costume since his firing. You come to the Jazz in 93. Tom Nissalke was the commissioner up there for the NBL back in the day. No. Tell us about where you grew to love charity and service before yourself. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) It took a bear Jazz Bear to catch a bat and leave the high-flying hijinks to the NBA players. That kid took a knee. He was the best & always willing to drop by with a confetti cannon. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The man most basketball fans knew as the Jazz Bear for more than two decades is talking about his time in the suit, and why he was fired. The Jazz Bear unmasked Incidentally, he was also fired from his very first job as a mascot for the CBA for all those stunts he tried out. It was so fun. We do not discuss individual personnel matters.. Jazz Bear was introduced to the league on November 4, 1994. Or, perhaps it was because he heard how great the winters in Phoenix are. NBA Mascot: As a mascot, the thing that can keep you out of so many injuries is flexibility. I started sledding down the stairs back then and bungee jumping out of the ceiling. Do you see like 180 degrees? There were a number of times that we had gone over. I was not a mean kid. Utah Jazz Fall To Oklahoma City Thunder In Turnover-Prone Outing, New Utah Jazz Guard Kris Dunn Is Causing Problems In OKC, Utah Jazz Forward Rudy Gay With Strong Drive Against Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz Center Walker Kessler Starts Hot In Oklahoma City, Antoine Davis Falls Short In Bid To Break Pete Maravichs Scoring Mark, Ryan Smith: I Want Jazz Fans To Watch Games In Any Format, Notable Moments From The Utah Jazz Season So Far, Everything You Need to Know to Watch the 2022 World Cup. Its about knowing that what youre doing is on the right path. ", While the Jazz declined to comment on Absey specifically, they confirmed in a statement that Jazz Bear will continue to be the team's mascot: "The Jazz Bear will continue to be one of the most iconic mascots in the NBA. Last question, Jon. Looking back at everything that I did and how I started, I was fortunate to have the beginning of it all like the perfect management. All the other leagues copied it. Jazz Bear was introduced to the league on November 4, 1994. On October 19, 2018, it was reported that Jon Absey, who had performed as the Jazz Bear for twenty-four years, had been fired for unknown reasons. When you think about it, these athletes are playing the kids games. Then a couple of months later, theyre the ones who get to take the other kids Christmas shopping. So by your logic the kiss cams are fake also? At the beginning of the season, the Utah Jazz were second to last.
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