Chuck the Condor is Fun, and You Guys Are Not

Mascots are almost universally bad.  They are also almost universally fun.  The Clippers' new mascot, Chuck the Condor, is some combination of silly, goofy, weird, creepy, and entertaining.  The only thing he doesn't have is tenure, which seems to me to be the only difference between a beloved symbol of a team and what people call a creepy monstrosity.

I don't think anyone has ever gone to a circus, seen a clown, and gone: "That guy is so stupid looking!  Why is his face so colorful!  That's so embarrassing!".  Of course it's a little embarrassing for the guy dressed up, but mascots and clowns generally exist to make you laugh.  If you're worried about your schoolyard bully picking on you for wearing a Clippers jersey because of Chuck the Condor, you're taking this too seriously and forgetting that Lakers fans have quite a bit of more substantive material to tease us about.

Now I know that not everyone is going to love it.  In fact, I anticipated a far more negative reaction that I observed last night, but generally a lot of people seemed to have fun with Chuck.  People always hate change and new things, and then they get used to it.  People also always tend to resist change and new things because they're sure that their idea was better.  For example, I'm sure there's a small contingent out there who is still overly attached to Larry the Lob City Lobster (and who can blame them).  Everyone wants to say, "they should have made the color more red" or "they should have chosen a different bird" or "he should have a different jersey number".  Come on guys.

What really doesn't make sense to me, though, are people who actually hate Chuck the Condor.  Do you have nothing better to do with your time?  I mean, I spend large amounts of energy hating Draymond Green and James Harden, and that's pretty pathetic on my part, but I'm still worlds above someone who goes out of their way to troll a freaking mascot on twitter.  I mean, the thing is harmless.  It's designed so that kids (and non-kid losers like myself) will buy plush toys.  It's designed to do some silly dances and celebrations.  It is the most easily ignorable minute detail--far easier to forget about than Clipper Darrell.

Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate silliness for silliness's sake.  I mean, the funniest aspect of the mascot is that it embodies Steve Ballmer's lighthearted but energetic demeanor when he watches the games.  How nice is it to have an owner who loves this team and franchise and fan base?  Are we really going to complain that our owner is too energetic?  Some of you guys forgot Donald Sterling too soon--and while blocking him out of our memory is undoubtedly a good thing, let's just chill out, relax, and have a laugh at a mascot intended to make us laugh.