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 Univer ...

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

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 Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The "crowd surfer" is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's ...

. Lil' Red won the national championship at the NCAA National Mascot Competition in 1999, and was inducted into the

Mascot Hall of Fame The Mascot Hall of Fame, formally "The Mascot Hall of Fame Interactive Children's Museum", is a hall of fame for North American sports mascots. It was founded by David Raymond, who was the original Phillie Phanatic The Phillie Phanatic is the ...

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