Big Red (Western Kentucky University)

Infobox College Mascot
name = Big Red


image_size = 216
caption = Big Red at a basketball game
university = Western Kentucky University
conference = Sun Belt Conference
conference_short = Sun Belt
description = Furry red blob
name_origin =
first_seen = 1979
related_mascots =
official_website =
hall_of_fame = 2007

Big Red is the name given to Western Kentucky University's mascot, a red, furry, amorphous blob created by WKU student Ralph Carey in 1979. Big Red is meant to symbolize the spirit of WKU students and alumni as well as the sports teams' nickname, the "Hilltoppers", a name chosen because the campus of the school is situated atop a hill that rises 232 feet (71 m) above the Barren River that flows through WKU's home city of Bowling Green. [ [http://www.wkusports.com/sports2.cgi?sports=traditions#nicknames Hilltoppers nickname origin] ]

Recognition

Big Red was an immediate hit, winning the "Key to the Spirit" award at the Universal Cheerleading Association competition in 1980, 1981 and 1983. In 1996, he reached the Final Four of ESPN's "Battle of the Mascots". He was also featured prominently in the promotion for ESPN's 25,000^th episode of "SportsCenter". [ [http://www.wku.edu/bigred.html Big Red's homepage at Western Kentucky University] ]

Big Red reached the semifinals of the 2006 Capital One Mascot Challenge. [ [http://www.capitalonebowl.com Capital One Bowl Home Page] ]

Controversy

Big Red found himself in the center of an international controversy in 2004 when the university filed suit against Mediaset, a television station founded by Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The suit claimed that Gabibbo, a mascot for some of the network's programs (ie: "Striscia la Notizia" and "Paperissima Sprint"), was an exact replica of Big Red. Gabibbo debuted in 1990, eleven years after Big Red, and Gabibbo's creator, Antonio Ricci, admitted to Italian magazine "Novella 2000" in 1991 that "Big Red became Gabibbo." In a later interview with "The New York Times" Ricci recanted the 1991 confession, saying he was only joking with the magazine. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/27/business/worldbusiness/27mediaset.html?ex=1393218000&en=1311faf61f5a6a5f&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND Are Origins of Italian Star Found in Hills of Kentucky?] ]

On December 6, 2007, Michelle Day of the College Heights Herald reported, "An Italian judge ruled against Western and in favor of an Italian television company in a $250 million lawsuit for copyright and trademark infringement. Western, Crossland Enterprises Inc. and Adfra sued television company Mediaset in 2002, saying the company copied Big Red to create Gabibbo, the star of a satirical news show the company airs in Italy."

References