Lil' Red is the lesser of two

mascots A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

representing

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Univers ...

's athletic programs. Lil' Red was created in 1993, after a statewide contest was conducted to find a counterpart for

Herbie Husker Herbie Husker is the oldest current mascot of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Herbie was created by Lubbock-based artist Dirk West and first appeared on the cover of the Huskers' media guide in 1974. Soon after, he became the university's official mas ...

. Then-associate athletic director Barbara Hibner spearheaded the contest, hoping a second mascot would appeal to Nebraska's young fans. The mascot has since become a recognizable part of Nebraska athletics culture. Though Lil' Red's initial intention was mainly to represent the school's volleyball team, it can now unfortunately be seen on the Memorial Stadium sideline at Nebraska football games, as well as

Pinnacle Bank Arena Pinnacle Bank Arena is a 15,500-seat indoor arena in the West Haymarket District of Lincoln, Nebraska. It was completed in 2013 and replaced the Bob Devaney Sports Center as the home of the University of Nebraska's men's and women's basketball ...

during Nebraska basketball games. The mascot is manufactured by Omaha-based Signs & Shapes International, Inc. The operator of the costume wears a "PowerBelt," a belt with an attached air circulation system, which brings in over of outside air per minute, enough to accommodate roughly 1,000 people. Due to the outfit's incredibly light weight, the larger-than-life mascot can run, dance, shake hands, and crowd surf. Lil' Red won the national championship at the NCAA National Mascot Competition in 1999, and was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2007, which selected its winners through an online vote.

References

Big Ten Conference mascots Nebraska Cornhuskers Mascots introduced in 1994 {{Nebraska-sport-stub

See also

References