If the recent incident at a Gophers gymnastics meet -- during which, you have surely heard by now, Goldy Gopher was punched by an annoyed fan -- has given us anything (aside from a good chuckle), it is a heightened awareness of mascot-fan relations.
Being Goldy is no picnic, two men who used to don the costume said Thursday. You can tear up your ankle taking a dive down the stairs on a sled, as Kevin Kurtt did during his three seasons as a hockey Goldy from 1996-99. Or you can scar a young child for life, as Ross Bernstein is sure he did during one incident 20 years ago at the old Mariucci Arena.
"I was a walk-on for the hockey team during the late 1980s, and I got cut," said Bernstein, a local author who has written nearly 50 sports books, including "Raising Stanley," his latest effort. "They asked if I wanted to become Goldy. They said I had to be a decent skater and a complete idiot. So I became Goldy."
Bernstein's signature story came from an incident when he went to use the restroom. There is only so much room in each stall, so he placed his giant gopher head in a different stall. Next thing he knew, a little kid was yelling for his dad, thinking Goldy Gopher had fallen into the toilet.
Bernstein said he found his share of minor trouble with fans, but one thing is for sure: "You know which guys to mess with and which guys not to mess with," Bernstein said.
Kurtt, now the managing editor of Let's Play Hockey, had the ankle incident. He witnessed other "skits" gone bad -- staged interactions with opposing fans, such as the time a fake Badgers fan was drilled with hockey pucks by Goldy during a promotion at Mariucci Arena (the pucks were plastic, but that wasn't readily apparent to several irate Wisconsin fans).
And he, too, has been involved in a skirmish -- getting jumped by UMD fans at a game in Duluth. Kurtt was irate at the time, screaming through his mask at security guards even while in costume. Nowadays, he laughs it off more easily and does admit to being a bit of an instigator in the entire affair.
"If you're not breaking the rules, you're not really doing your job," Kurtt said, citing an old line apparently used by many mascot mentors.
