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USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Ranking all 18 Big Ten Mascots
The Big Ten conference has some of the most aesthetiycally intriguing and iconic mascots. Whether it be the standard-bearing Oregon Duck, which somehow interprets the concept perfect, or USC, whose human and costume mascots add a unique flair to their program, each program has a distinct hype man backing them throughout their as some fanbases may come to find, none at all. 18. Indiana Hoosiers One of two Big Ten schools without a mascot, there's a lot going against Indiana at the bottom. The first reason being that traditionally, Indian has not been a powerhouse Big Ten school for quite some time despite having some success on the gridiron. Add in the fact the the Hoosiers is very much tailored to the state's rich basketball history and that may be the reason why Indiana can't find a mascot to satisfy all fronts. 17. Michigan Wolverines The other school surprisingly without a mascot, at the very least, Michigan has slightly more aura surrounding its program than the Hoosiers. Their rich footballing history combined with their classic maize and blue color scheme give them the edge in the mascotless race. 16. Iowa Hawkeyes Mascot Name: Harry the Hawk The first school with a mascot on this list, Harry the Hawk does not quite fit the intimidating nature of the team's uniforms. The beak on the head is too unwieldy and unappealing and counteracts the aesthetic of adding a uniform. It would be much higher if they figured out a more presentable beak. 15. Purdue Boilermakers Mascot Name: Purdue Pete The low ranking for Purdue Pete stems from the head. It's highly offputting and eliminates all of the visually appealing things going on with the rest of the outfit, including the camo pants and the hard hat. Plus, it doesn't really fit the model of what a "Boilermaker" could potentially be. 14. Illinois Fighting Illini Mascot Name: Kingfisher Surprisingly, a school with the nickname "Fighting Illini" does in fact have a mascot. And while Kingfisher is perfectly okay and is a much better concept than many other Big Ten schools, the clash between an intriguing mascot and an offputting team nickname is enough to scratch your head. Maybe history will be on Kingfisher's side in the long term, but for now, it's a bit befuddling for the Illini. 13. Maryland Terrapins Mascot Name: Testudo While some might find a turtle as a mascot somewhat confusing, I actually like the look of Testudo. It's almost as if he's half Pokemon and half Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. That aesthetic, at least in my mind, somehow works a lot better than I ever imagined. At the very least as well, it's an effort to be creative with a weird nickname. 12. UCLA Bruins Mascot Name: Joe Bruin Joe Bruin is just a classic middle of the pack kind of mascot that doesn't overdo anything but still might not do enough for certain people. It's a good-looking bear at best, but the color clash between the blue and gold jersey and the brown fur makes it look a bit Build-a-Bearish at worst. Not a good look for a blueblood college sports program. 11. Northwestern Wildcats Mascot Name: Willie the Wildcat Willie The Wildcat has an underrated feel to him. Whether it be the way the name rolls off the tongue or because off the interesting color choice of his fur, Willie might not gets the flowers he deserves for simply fitting the part of what a classic mascot should be. Cool name? Check. Cool design? Check. Most importantly, do you fit the school nickname? Check. Willie the Wildcat is about as solid as you can get for a mascot in the conference. 10. Washington Huskies Mascot Name: Harry the Huskie With really nothing much separating both Willie and Harry either aesthetically or stylistically, at least the Washington mascot can hang its hat on being the best ranked mascot named Harry in the conference. 9. Minnesota Golden Gophers Mascot Name: Goldy Gopher With an off-putting nickname such as the Golden Gophers, it must have been hard to come up with a cool concept for Minnesota. However, they somehow pulled it off with Goldy. Her two front teeth are a major selling point and add to the goofiness of the costume. However, a more intimidating look could have seen Goldy higher on this list. However, kudos to Minnesota for trying to get funky with the idea of a gopher. 8. Penn State Nittany Lions Mascot Name: Nittany Lions Unfortunately, bias is a large aspect as to why Penn State's Nittany Lions is this high. Despite the cool nickname and the somewhat decent looking lion costume, the teeth are too creepy and the fur and blue and white color scheme don't quite fit together. However, you can't knock the school you write about too hard and it isn't all that bad when you combine it with the school's crazy atmospheres at football and basketball games. 7. Rutgers Scarlet Knights Mascot Name: Sir Henry the Scarlet Knight It's sometimes hard to pull off a knight mascot considering how bold you might have to go, but Sir Henry is executed to near perfection. He manages to pull off the scarlet and white color scheme better than the teams that wear them. The only points that I would take off are for the disproportionate head. It's a little bit too goofy to fit the whole knight image. 6. USC Trojans Mascot Name: Tommy Trojan It's one thing to have one cool mascot. Having two on the other hand, is quite the feat to pull off. USC do it in style, with the human Trojan riding in on a horse to hype up the crowd and one of the best looking "royal" mascots of the Big Ten, Tommy Trojan, to back it all up. Also, a more intimidating aesthetic is thus created, putting them a bit higher on the list than Sir Henry. 5. Ohio State Buckeyes Mascot Name: Brutus the Buckeye Having the coolest name in the conference, Brutus checks off a lot of boxes: a cool looking head, great design, the scarlet and grey striped shirt, and somehow, the ability to represent a kooky nickname that otherwise would not make sense in the slightest. For that, Brutus just about breaks into the top 5. 4. Nebraska Cornhuskers Mascot Name: Herbie Husker A mascot finally not named Harry but still begins with the letter H, Herbie is forgiven for not exactly being a Cornhusker. Perhaps the most intimidating of the human mascots in the Big Ten, Herbie is the closest thing to a everyman mascot in the conference. Plus the overalls and boots totally add to the Midwestern vibe as well the classic red cowboy hat. 3. Wisconsin Badgers Mascot Name: Bucky Badger Bucky Badger might just be one of the most cerebral mascots of the Big Ten. Somehow the misshapen head works and combines really nicely with the red and white pinstriped shirt. He is a classic in the conference and won't soon be forgotten in the annals of college football history. 2. Oregon Ducks Mascot Name: The Oregon Duck The Oregon Duck could very well make the case for the No. 1 spot on this list. To make a duck mascot more iconic than Aflac's in college sports is difficult and yet Oregon have cracked the code. Equal parts goofy and scary, it shouldn't work as well as it does. But if the Ducks continue to rise in the college sports landscape, the Duck will go down in history as one of the most unusually fascinating mascots of all time. 1. Michigan State Spartans Mascot Name: Sparty Nothing quite beats tradition in college sports, and Sparty the Spartan is steeped in it. Roaming the sidelines since 1955, Sparty represents the tradition of the Big Ten unlike any other program in college sports. He's more than a mascot at some times, he's an institution that is instantly recognizable to those who love college sports. Quite simply a perfect mascot to round off this list.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
WorkWhile, flexible labor platform, raises $23 million Series B
At 16, Jarah Euston landed her first job at a Party City—on the better days, as the balloon person. 'It was my first job ever, and I blew up the balloons with the helium,' she said. 'But the worst possible job you could have at Party City was called go-backs—take a shopping cart full of tchotchkes that parents didn't actually want to buy and put them back on the pegboard. You have to find, say, where this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle goody bag goes, and hang it back up.' Euston, who grew up in Fresno, Calif, is now the CEO and cofounder of flexible labor platform WorkWhile. The startup, which she founded in 2019 after stints at Yahoo and Nexla, focuses on people working the 'frontline,' hourly jobs that she says are the norm in places like Fresno. 'I want to build something for the people I grew up with, the people who work frontline jobs in Fresno,' she told Fortune. 'And not just the people in Fresno, but the 80 million Americans working hourly jobs. It's more than half of the U.S. labor force. And globally, 80% of all workers are working these types of jobs. So, how do we apply technology to improve their situation?' For Euston, part of the solution lay in flexibility—technology that sets up a marketplace where workers can be matched with temporary jobs, adjusting their roles, schedules, and locations to better shape and control their workweek. Six years in, the platform now serves over one million users and employs 63 people. Now, the startup has raised a $23 million Series B, Fortune has exclusively learned. Rethink Impact led the round, with participation from returning investors Khosla Ventures and Reach Capital. Citi Impact Fund, GingerBread Capital, and Illumen Capital also invested. Simon Khalaf, ex-CEO of fintech Marqeta, also recently joined WorkWhile as COO. The startup has worked with vendors serving Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, the Super Bowl, NASCAR, the NCAA Final Four, Comic-Con, Edible Arrangements, Thistle, and Worldpac. WorkWhile's rise signals that the gig economy is maturing—but many of its long-standing controversies remain. In 2024, the company became tangled in a familiar legal battle for gig companies: it was sued by the San Francisco City Attorney, who alleged WorkWhile had misclassified the workers on its platform as independent contractors, denying them the rights and benefits afforded to employees. The case is part of the ongoing fallout from California's Proposition 22, the 2020 ballot initiative that classified most gig workers as independent contractors. In December 2024, WorkWhile agreed to a partial $1 million settlement and committed to reclassifying its non-driver workers as employees. Litigation over the classification of delivery drivers, however, is still ongoing. 'Prop 22 is the law of the land and was upheld by the California Supreme Court, affirming this important right of drivers to work as independent contractors,' Euston added via email. 'Our platform users have been very clear with us: they want flexibility. We respect our users' right to work flexibly and will continue to advocate for it.' Josh Queenan, a WorkWhile user the company connected me with, said he deeply values the flexibility the platform offers—and that it's helped him transform his financial life. He told Fortune he earns an extra $5,000 to $6,000 a month, which he puts toward stock investments and is looking to use to buy investment property. 'If I want to cancel a shift, I just give a 24 hour notice, and press the cancel button,' said Queenan. 'I have peace of mind, I know that somebody else is going to pick up the shift and that the company we work with isn't going to be screwed. That's a huge selling point for WorkWhile.' For her part, Euston still regularly works shifts via WorkWhile. 'It keeps you up at night, I want to make sure workers on the platform feel they're the center of WorkWhile,' she said. 'That's why we're at a startup. The whole point is to help people earn a better living and live better lives. If we don't put them front and center, that won't happen. That's why we try to work shifts.' So, in some ways Euston's Party City days are long gone, and in others they're close—lots of the shifts she works are similar kinds of jobs. With one exception: last year, she took a gig at the Eras Tour last year. 'My job was crowd control,' Euston laughed. 'I was telling people 'you can't dance on the chairs.' And as the night went on, the moms got progressively more loosey goosey!' This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
The Irish Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Laugh at him if you want, but Damien Duff had a point when complaining about Dalymount hedge farce
DAMIEN DUFF had a point when he declared that the photo of him in the Dalymount bushes was an 'embarrassment' for the league. The Shelbourne boss Advertisement 2 It was quite a sight to behold 2 In his more usual matchday garb against Drogheda United But instead of laughing along with the rest of us, There's a reason why the When something this basic needs to be spelt out, it shows the league has bigger image problems than a manager hiding in the long grass in a disguise worse than a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in a trench coat. It should embarrass the Government too. They're coughing up €10million to Advertisement Read More On Irish Football Presumably, a viral photograph of an Ireland legend on a grassy knoll in a council-owned stadium is not the image they had in mind for our domestic league. Still, amid the embarrassment, the Dalymount post-match scenes highlighted what we cannot lose. Ten minutes after the final whistle, the Jodi Stand was still full because any punter sitting in the Phibsborough half has just one exit. But that led to 1,000 or so fans singing along to The Beatles' Twist and Shout. Advertisement Most read in Football You do not get moments like that in modern grounds designed for speedy exits. Dalymount's redevelopment is 'That's for you, son' - James Maddison brutally digs out Roy Keane in savage interview after Europa League final, CBSSportsGolazo
Calgary Herald
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
'A mythology for a generation': Actors, stunt people discuss lasting legacy of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Calgary Expo
Article content It's was not the response most people get at the Calgary Expo. Article content Article content On Saturday morning during a panel featuring stars from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle film franchise, actor Francois Chau was the last to come on stage after being announced as the 'villain' Shredder. Article content Although not the original actor to play the supervillain — the part was played by James Saito in the first film — he was apparently convincing enough in the role to earn a smattering of presumably good-natured boos, a response generally reserved for villains in pantomimes and puppet shows. Article content Article content Chau, who is also known for playing Dr. Pierre Chang on J.J. Abrams sci-fi series Lost, seemed to encourage the reaction at first. He was also among the panelists who in the Parade of Wonders Friday morning, although he was not seated in the boisterous turtle car that featured cast mates Ernie Reyes Jr., Brian Tochi, Kenn Scott, and Robbie Rist. He was by his lonesome in his own 'Shredder car.' Article content Article content 'It felt a little lonely,' Chau said. 'There was a little boy who was dressed as Shredder. I tired to get him to get into this car but he was a little too shy. I wouldn't get in the car with me either.' Article content Saturday's panel was the second of two celebrating the 35th anniversary of the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, just one aspect of what has become a pop-culture juggernaut of film, television, toys. comics books and inventive marketing. Originally created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird as a comic book in 1984, the sewer-dwelling turtle brothers Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo had already been featured in an animated series and line of action figures before Irish filmmaker and music video director Steve Barron took the reins for the cinematic debut of the franchise in 1990. Article content Article content Shredder's lonely parade route notwithstanding, the main thrust of the panel discussion on Saturday was camaraderie and mutual admiration and plenty of deeply serious discussion about why a strange story of anthropomorphic turtles fighting evil in New York became such a sensation for so many decades. Article content 'This room is full of people who love this stuff, including us,' said Rist, who voiced Michelangelo in the first film, its 1991 sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and 1993's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. 'I don't see people doing this — and I'm not denigrating anybody 'else's art — but I don't see people doing this with Spy Kids, I don't see people doing this for the Emoji Movie. I wonder why, 35 years later, I have 40-year-old people coming up and wanting to talk about this thing.'
The Guardian
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the hardest game I ever played – so why am I back?
I do not replay games. Don't see the point. I don't reread books either, and I rarely rewatch movies or TV shows. There's too much new, bigger and better stuff coming out every day, and too little time to consume it. However, I made an exception with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because the original was so special. It came along towards the end of my ZX Spectrum playing days. I was at university and was previously only interested in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle if it came in a tall glass and was at happy hour prices in the Mandela Bar. But the game hooked me one summer back home and became the hardest video game that I ever completed. And that's what worried me when I started the rerelease on the PS4 that comes as part of the TMNT Cowabunga Collection. (Playstation Plus Essentials March) I worried that my gaming brain had got lazy playing modern games, where you are spoiled by power-ups vomiting up all over the place and collision detection so forgiving it could be a priest, and as a result that this golden gaming memory would be tarnished. I was right! The collision detection is at Manic Miner/Mega Man levels of unforgiving, but through trial and error I rediscovered things that make the game easier. The level structures are soft so you can kill an enemy from above or below platforms and even through walls, which brings into play the Turtles different weapon ranges. I remember also that you can 'hot swap' the Turtles. This means using Donatello with his long pole for … everything, switching to Michelangelo with his nunchucks then Leonardo with his swords when Donatello's energy gets low and finally using Raphael with his puny twin sai as a last resort. Sai are tiny metal daggers that resemble whatever cutlery it was that Elon Musk balanced on his fingers at Mar-a-Lago. Only more useless. To kill an enemy with Raphael in this game you have to get close enough to smell what toppings they had on their pizza. I hate-played this for two hours, death after death – it was the first time I'd thrown a controller at a wall since I stopped playing Fifa. Night one ends, as it did for so many of us back in the day, with that bloody underwater level where you have to defuse bombs under a dam within a time limit so unforgiving it reminds me of A-level exams. You cannot get through that level without hitting multiple radioactive weeds. I can't believe I completed it back in the day, and worry it may have been one of those 90s things I imagined, like that time I said hi to Sarah Michelle Gellar at Comic-Con and was sure she smiled back at me. Horrible clunky gameplay like this serves no purpose in 2025. Or does it? I persevered on day two. I remembered the way to get through that damned dam level is to crash through every enemy and hot swap the turtles when the energy gets low. (And by 'remembered' I mean 'searched Reddit'.) Most importantly I discovered that there is a flipping rewind button in this rerelease! You can go back 30 seconds every time you fail a pixel perfect jump! I wish I read gaming manuals, but I am a man in his 50s. I no more read instructions than I ask for directions when I am lost. Sign up to Pushing Buttons Keza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gaming after newsletter promotion I completed the level and was treated to the sweetest sentence ever written in video games history. April saying: 'It's OK the dam is safe – let's go home.' Buoyed by this I beat the next couple of levels over the next couple of days. It's hard, even with the rewind button, but I recalibrate my whole gaming attitude. I can't charge through levels like you can with games today, for this was the era when you literally had to inch forward, then wait, see what enemies appear, learn their patterns, then move. You have to slow down your whole way of playing. And that isn't a bad thing. In 2025, life moves at 10bn miles an hour. I wake up three times a night checking who is about to invade who. With my heart and mind reopened I re-notice the greatness of this game. The scroll and boomerang weapons are immense, I would put them up there with the BFG from Doom, the Golden Gun from Goldeneye and the Holy Hand Grenade in Worms in terms of sheer fun. I even learn to love the indecipherable nature of the blocky graphics. The Mutant Toad looked recognisable, as were Shredder and his Foot Soldiers. So were the Cheeky Space Monkeys, until I discovered they were actually Giant Fleas. Mostly the enemies are like an 8-bit Rorschach test, their identity the results of projections from my subconsciousness. So that might be a feral butterfly I am trying to kill, but it may also be my feelings of male inadequacy. I am so glad I didn't give up on this game. Because we never did as kids. You had one game a month. You played it. You kept at it. We are gaming dilettantes now, flitting from one subscription service to another, sometimes not even getting past the list of games to actually play one. I am still only halfway through. But I will soldier on through every hard-earned inch. And it will be utterly cowabunga.
