After moving back to Dallas, I had a brief stint as a mascot. I was the now-defunct Frisco Thunder's very own Thundercat. Sweat-stung and blinded by crazy lighting, I would navigate the crowd on intuition alone, knowing I had a duty to the audience. Hurling myself over railings, sliding head-first toward the field goal post--I did it all.
A cumbersome servitude? Yes.
The highest honor? Undoubtedly.
Or so I thought.
Fast forward some four years, and there I sat, in the back room of our Southwest Lounge at Oshkosh's EAA AirVenture. For days, we had (unsuccessfully) attempted to coerce volunteers and Coworkers to dress up in the Spirit Junior costume. Only for a brief while did we manage to get one of our interns, Jacob, to wear the plane and become T.J. LUV.
But did he really become T.J. LUV? I digress.
Clearly, this young Jedi was unaware the dedication required to truly become one with Spirit Junior. T.J. LUV requires complete and total immersion. Recalling my earlier mascot days, I knew I had what it took. I slipped my arms through Spirit Junior's weighty straps. The costume washed over me.
I was T.J. LUV.
Armed with V.I.P. tickets, off I went.
It all culminated into the following video...