Otto redesign

[tbonezone]

anyone who's eaten a grapefruit will attest that's it's much more menacing than the orange.

 

[David332]

These are cool. I like all renditions of Otto - happy, angry, serious, pouty...
There is no such thing as a bad Otto.

Like pizza really; even when it's bad, it's good.

 

[storange]

Little kids love the friendly otto, I keep him affable .

 

[Toga]

Like pizza really; even when it's bad, it's good.

You haven't been to Buffalo.

 

[CooperCuse]

Maybe Otto should walk out with some Wild animal on a leash. Or have him enter on a horse and pound a hatchet into the ground at the 50. Or blast a cannon
Anyway you get the idea.

Maybe Otto should do a Gallagher style fruit smashing show with WWE announcers hyping up the genocidal atrocity of it all. Then go after the other team’s mascot with a mallet. For some reason I think Crash Bandicoot should be involved in some way.

 

[DoubleDee]

I'm the opposite, I would never buy merchandise with the current otto logo

Me too. You are not alone.

 

[UnknownOrange]

I'm the opposite, I would never buy merchandise with the current otto logo

I guess the only way to settle this is a battle to the death. If you lose I’ll have cuddly Otto on your tombstone!

 

[UnknownOrange]

I guess the only way to settle this is a battle to the death. If you lose I’ll have cuddly Otto on your tombstone!

Me too. You are not alone.

Ah sugar I’m out numbered!!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

So my wife today realized she forgot that she got Cameos for me and the kiddos for Christmas. Mine was from Otto.

Otto is perfect the way he is. It's even clearer to me now.

 

[kcsu]

Who is responsible for Otto. Who was the chancellor when Otto was approved.

 

[Cusefan95]

I didn't know this.

Otto is 1 of the 1st Ten voted into the College Mascot Hall of Fame. Received the highest percentage of votes!

It's ridiculous that an Orange is a loved, recognizable mascot, but it is... Sometimes you don't mess with stuff.

Other mascots are trying to be "something." Otto is just Otto.

At times I think we’re in a weird situation, where fans of other teams absolutely love Otto (in a good way), while we have a large contingent trying to “fix” - or eliminate - Otto for 30 years.

Numerous times I’ve seen visiting fans go out of their way to get a picture with Otto…I could count on zero fingers the number of non-Syracuse (or Albany, their fake Scooby is awesome) mascots I would make a point of getting a picture with.

 

[Cusefan95]

Who is responsible for Otto. Who was the chancellor when Otto was approved.

I know it happened when I was a little kid - late 70s? My dad thought it was absolutely insane for a school in upstate NY to have a walking citrus fruit as the mascot; sometime in the late 80s/early 90s he came around and thought Otto was great.

It’s made me think if you lean into something ridiculous and absurd and just go with it without apology, sometimes you’ll end up with something iconic.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I know it happened when I was a little kid - late 70s? My dad thought it was absolutely insane for a school in upstate NY to have a walking citrus fruit as the mascot; sometime in the late 80s/early 90s he came around and thought Otto was great.

It’s made me think if you lean into something ridiculous and absurd and just go with it without apology, sometimes you’ll end up with something iconic.

Early 80's when the Dome opened.

Became official in 1994.

Syracuse Mascot - Syracuse University Athletics

Did you ever wonder how Otto the Orange became the official mascot of Syracuse University?

cuse.com

 

[bnoro]

Well the good news for you is 2023 ends in 3 days.

Make 2024 a GREAT ONE!!

Wear it proud!!

Talk to people in the Onondaga Nation that work with/for the school talk about how the logo made them feel. Oren Lyons in particular.

But wear your t-shirt proudly.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I know it happened when I was a little kid - late 70s? My dad thought it was absolutely insane for a school in upstate NY to have a walking citrus fruit as the mascot; sometime in the late 80s/early 90s he came around and thought Otto was great.

It’s made me think if you lean into something ridiculous and absurd and just go with it without apology, sometimes you’ll end up with something iconic.

Otto begat Gritty.

 

[Cusefan95]

Otto begat Gritty.

I took my nine year old daughter to a Flyers - Devils game in Philly. Since we’re Devils fans she had a NJ jersey on - but she LOVES Gritty. She saw Gritty walking along, raced over yelling “Gritty!!” and gave him a huge hug.

Happened so quick I think everyone -including Gritty - couldn’t process what happened beyond “What is going on here?” I was too stunned initially to react quickly enough to get a picture, which remains one of my deepest regrets in life. It only lasted for maybe 5 seconds before she let go and Gritty wandered off in what I assume was total confusion and befuddlement at what had just happened.

So I agree with your comment, and think both Otto and Gritty are awesome.

 

[Shoym]

One of the most under reported SU stories in recent memory was the change, and reverse, of the Otto depiction.

When JW took over as AD we started using the angry Otto as our primary mascot representation. It was on TV and in our marketing. It was never announced, it just was.

Then after a couple years we reverted back to the happy Otto. Again, no announcement, it just was.

If Syracuse had a real sports media it would have been a story. But alas…

I don't ever recall seeing anything but 'happy Otto' being used by the University. Others have adapted it over the years, but officially? Always happy.

 

[Shoym]

Lean into what we got. New cuddlier Otto depictions. Get weird with it, give Otto a cuddle area next to the field where he can invite fans to watch the game with him. Sell Otto Juice and Otto full body pillows, Market it as an Otto body experience

Cuddle area? What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Toga]

Cuddle area? What could possibly go wrong?

Oy

 

[OttoinGrotto]

I took my nine year old daughter to a Flyers - Devils game in Philly. Since we’re Devils fans she had a NJ jersey on - but she LOVES Gritty. She saw Gritty walking along, raced over yelling “Gritty!!” and gave him a huge hug.

Happened so quick I think everyone -including Gritty - couldn’t process what happened beyond “What is going on here?” I was too stunned initially to react quickly enough to get a picture, which remains one of my deepest regrets in life. It only lasted for maybe 5 seconds before she let go and Gritty wandered off in what I assume was total confusion and befuddlement at what had just happened.

So I agree with your comment, and think both Otto and Gritty are awesome.

I love that Gritty really looks pretty messed up, and kids absolutely love Gritty unconditionally.

 

[Blotto Otto]

I like the version of Otto used in the Simpsons episode about upstate NY. Made me laugh

 

[MadNY3]

It’s not great, but good for the student to show some grind and hustle to garner this much attention.

 

[jordville]

cto can correct me on this but a few of the board admins got together a long time ago to brainstorm a logo for the board for something people on the board wanted to buy. I think it was t-shirts but I could be wrong on that.

We were doing War Damn Otto at the end of our posts a lot at the time. Maybe not we. Maybe just me. That was inspired by visits to the site from Auburn fans, who all seemed to end their posts here with

'Damn Damn Eagle!'

Anyway, 'War Damn Otto' got me thinking about what Otto would look like if he went to war. We talked about that and ended up with a version of Otto with a Viking helmet, a big axe in one hand and a beer stein in the other.

cto knew a guy on the Boneyard who would draw up the concept and make a proper graphic, which was needed to create the merchandise we will going to brand with this. His name was Tom something. Maybe Tom Dwyer. He created the graphic for us then and it lives to this day.

I believe this was the first time anyone designed an angry version of Otto.

As to when it happened...we played a home and home with Auburn in the early 2000s. The game at Syracuse was played on September 22, 2001 and the game at Auburn was played on September 28, 2002.

The Auburn game at Syracuse was the first game played at the dome post 9/11 and it was a very emotional time for for Syracuse fans and the entire country.

Anyway, the logo was designed in this time frame, which means it is well over 20 years old. That is pretty scary.

Wow.. blast from the past here! That Cuse at Auburn game was my first college football game in the South and what an experience it was... southern tailgating, first time trying moonshine, the War Eagle flying around Jordan Hare, Cadillac going for a career high 200+ yards, SU being TD road dogs and going to triple OT. If I'm not mistaken, it was a later game on ESPN.

About a month later I went to my first UGA game between the hedges.. vs. Eli and Ole Miss. Another incredible experience... and even stronger moonshine.

 

[sutomcat]

Wow.. blast from the past here! That Cuse at Auburn game was my first college football game in the South and what an experience it was... southern tailgating, first time trying moonshine, the War Eagle flying around Jordan Hare, Cadillac going for a career high 200+ yards, SU being TD road dogs and going to triple OT. If I'm not mistaken, it was a later game on ESPN.

About a month later I went to my first UGA game between the hedges.. vs. Eli and Ole Miss. Another incredible experience... and even stronger moonshine.

That Auburn home and home series was pretty epic. As was the Sugat Bowl in 1987.

We should look at playing them again….

 

[OrangeTarheel]

Cuddle area? What could possibly go wrong?

That’s kind of where I was going with it being weird but SOME posters here assumed I meant something much nicer. Yes, something could go wrong - and it could go wrong for Otto depending on who gets into the cuddle pit (patent pending) with him.