I graduated from GMU, so this is significant to me... It's not that fuzzy alien anymore--something that can actually go head-to-head with a Tar Heel!! Ever since George Mason University announced last week that its athletic department had parted ways with longtime mascot Gunston -- a shaggy green creature of uncertain species and low student-approval ratings... -- our region has breathlessly awaited news of his replacement. Last night, he was introduced at the basketball home opener against Brown, leading the team out to the court. Ladies and gentlemen ... The Patriot. Hmm, okay. This might take some getting used to. The Patriot takes his fashion cues from the university's namesake, a Founding Father and one of the architects of the Bill of Rights, with a Colonial-era jacket and pants and a three-cornered hat, but in the school colors of green and gold. So he's different from George Washington University's mascot, The Colonial ... how, exactly? It's that Incredible Hulk jaw and the wicked "Braveheart"-style war paint. "He is distinctively George Mason's," associate athletic director Andy Ruge said. "His green and gold face will say, 'We are Mason.' " All right then. Does he have a bobblehead doll yet? "There is one in the works," Ruge said.
