Being the man or woman behind a famous mascot is not a walk in the park. Aside from wearing such oven-like suits, your main responsibility is to entertain the crowd regardless of age or gender. To matters more severe, some organizations ask for more – passion or obsession.

This is exactly the values needed by the University of Florida for anyone who wants to play the role of their infamous Gator mascots Albert and Alberta.

The cuddly Albert has been the official mascot since 1970. Before that, a live alligator named Albert was the first official mascot in 1957. It was replaced by a mechanical alligator robot for a time until Albert the alligator mascot arrived. Alberta came in 1986 as sidekick.

Every year the university holds a try out to determine the ultimate Gator fans. Scrutinized by 7 judges, each aspiring candidate must perform some skits and undergo interviews to assess their improvisational skills.

Albert and Alberta do have several duties to perform. Aside from the regular football games and parades, they also attend birthdays, anniversaries, and even weddings across Florida. Vacation is out of the option for they must still be present during holiday breaks. A 2.5 grade-point average is also a must.

What’s in it for the “lucky” candidate? Aside from the honor of representing his or her alma mater, they are paid $350 per hour for private events or $250 if only one Gator is present. For university events, a discounted rate of $175 an hour for the couple. More importantly, they are entitled to partial scholarships.

via The Ocala

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 1:52 pm and is filed under Logo Design News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.