h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

UC Santa Cruz has my alltime favorite mascot - the Banana Slug. I've looked and looked for a cap with a logo "The Fighting Slugs" but never found one.

The Houston stores don't even have caps for my local alma mater, Rice Univ. - with only about 3,000 undergrads, all living alumni would not half fill the 72,000 seat stadium, somebody said. So there's not a large market for sports paraphernalia. OK, the "Fighting Owls" may not inspire fear, either, but real owls can be pretty tough - I'm not sure about slugs, but I know they like beer (we use it to catch them) so another good reason to have them as a mascot.

More about the UCSC sports philosophy here:

http://www.ucsc.edu/about/campus_mascot.asp

I agree with it, and do not believe Rice should be playing Div.1 football against UCLA and Texas, as they will next month. This debate flairs up every few years, but the athletic supporters always carry the day. Fine, let them make donations to cover the Athletic Dept. losses.