Is it sweaty? Can you see? A real mascot answers our burning questions
Just how competitive, dangerous and sweaty is the real world of sports mascots? Judging from director Christopher Guest's new Netflix comedy Mascots (in iPic theaters and streaming Thursday), the world is filled with comic rivalries and one-upmanship.
"In costume, I came to life," says Kevin Vanderkolk, 38, who worked as Big Red for the Arizona Cardinals NFL team for one season and was the high-flying (and dunking) Bango for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks for 13½ seasons.
"You’re energetic and crazy and excited," says Vanderkolk, who starred in Hulu's Behind the Mask series before retiring in 2014. "It becomes another personality. You kind of turn it on."
The man dubbed "the LeBron James of mascots" for daring feats such as his ladder dunk answers our questions about what it's really like inside the suit.
Q: How much are sweat and lack of vision a factor in those outfits?
A: Sweat is part of the job. You get used to it. The worse time for heat was with the Cardinals when the temperature was like 125 on the field. I was climbing up a fence and blacked out. It was like, 'My God, what just happened?'
You hydrate like crazy. I’d drink 10 to 20 bottles of water during a game. You sweat it all out. Maybe I would take a bathroom break at halftime.
That outfit was bigger. Even as Bango, I couldn’t see below me, or my feet. You have limited left and right vision. You work with it.
Q: Were there mascot battles?
A: All the mascots get along really well in the NBA — it's a great community. We get together once a year and brainstorm. They are some of my best friends in the country. There are team rivalries. But as far as the people behind the costumes, there’s no ill will. I was never involved with a mascot fight.
Q: So you were never even irked?
A: I never said that. But I’m not going to throw dirt on these guys. You get together with 25 mascots, there are strong personalities.
Q: What was your worst moment?
A: I was doing a routine 360-degree dunk but twisted too early off the trampoline and lost air awareness. I ended up missing the mats and landed over by the opposing team's huddle flat on my back. It knocked the wind out of me. But I also had another minute and a half to kill. So I ran back, did two more dunks, and got out of there.
Q: How bad were the injuries?
A: Injuries are ultimately why I retired. I tore my ACL twice, went through two reconstructions, had numerous ankle sprains. You’re jumping on trampolines and flying anywhere from 15 to 20 feet in the air and landing on crash mats on your face and back. You do that for 10, 15 years, it eventually takes a toll.
My theory was to keep pushing the envelope. Go bigger, harder. ... If I didn’t get out, I was going to end up dead. It was either all in or I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to rebrand my character and go to funny shtick-type stuff.
But I poured my life and heart into that job and I did a ton of cool stuff. It was a really great gig.