The Mad Search for the Mad Dog

A history of UWSP’s forgotten mascot.

Mad Dog has been missing from the ice of the K.B. Willett Arena since 2012. Being gone for over a decade, many have forgotten about UWSP’s flagship hockey mascot. But that doesn’t mean his retirement hasn’t been felt by the current student body.

“Stevie really never shows up to hockey games, and there’s a lack of atmosphere when he’s missing,” said Liam Statz, a current UWSP student and Sports Director for 90FM.

UWSP’s hockey season started on Nov. 1 and while many attending the games only know of Stevie Pointer, Mad Dog’s absence has left a hole for fans yet to be filled. But where did Mad Dog come from and why did his reign over the rink come to an end?

Mad Dog’s debut came during the 1982 homecoming parade according to a UWSP news release from Sept. 29 of the same year.

Unlike his mascot colleagues Stevie and Stephanie Pointer, his origin did not stem from student media and artwork. Mad Dog’s costume came from an unnamed professional costume designer in Chicago who also created an early iteration of the mascot for the Chicago Bulls, Benny the Bull, according to the 1982 news release.

After his debut, Mad Dog became the designated hockey mascot for UWSP and began his rowdy tenure.

“We got people riled up doing whatever really needed to be done,” said Michael Statz, father to Liam Statz and a former UWSP student who wore the Mad Dog costume from 1986-87. “When you saw Stevie out there and stuff like that you always saw that he had kind of a handler or somebody with him. We never had that.”

From his inception, Mad Dog was intended to be “purely and simply rowdy,” according to UWSP’s official mascot handbook How to be a Dog. The handbook even explicitly suggests pranks the mascot can pull during hockey games like offering glasses to the referee or trying to bribe game officials with fake money.

Being rowdy got Mad Dog in some trouble throughout his career as the hockey mascot. Fans of the visiting team filed multiple complaints about how brash Mad Dog could get.

“You want fans on both sides to be having fun,” said Mike Okray, former UWSP Sports Information Director and stand-in Stevie Pointer. “I’ve seen coaches from the other team come over and complain about Mad Dog.”

The rowdiness was also factored into the costume’s physical design. Unlike Stevie’s and Stephanie’s costumes, Mad Dog’s did not have large clunky feet made from scuba flippers and Styrofoam. This gave him greater freedom of movement for riling up the crowd and allowed him to skate.

Skating was a prerequisite for performing as Mad Dog and was a highlight of the job for those who could do it.

“Anytime I could skate with the pointers and be on the ice at halftime or in between periods and stuff like that, that was fun,” said Statz.

However, skating also proved to be a high barrier of entry and not something many students were capable of.

“I mean there really wasn’t a tryout at that time. They just needed somebody to skate, so I did,” he said. “I don’t know if anybody picked it up afterwards because I don’t know if anybody else could skate.”

Mad Dog’s rowdy history and the scarcity of skaters at UWSP made it difficult for the university to fill the costume consistently, resulting in long stints of no Mad Dog to be seen. But what actually forced him into retirement wasn’t a matter of complaints or skating. It was legal matters.

“In 2012, it was illegal to have more than one mascot,” said Okray, referring to collegiate sport regulations. “You could get fined.”

This was the nail in the coffin for Mad Dog’s career as the UWSP hockey mascot. But where is he now?

Mad Dog currently resides in UWSP’s home for retired mascots, the University Archival Center, alongside his colleague, Stephanie Pointer.

Stephanie has had more spotlight recently after being brought back for UWSP’s Pointer Pairs event while Mad Dog remained on archive shelves. However, he appeared recently on the UWSP Library’s Instagram page in their Halloween post.

The costume is still functional but has seen better days with one of its ears currently in need of repair.

There are currently no plans to bring back Mad Dog and he’s been retired for long enough where even Tony Bouressa, a current UWSP Assistant Athletic Director of 10 years, didn’t know who Mad Dog was. Still, there is a Mad Dog-shaped hole to be filled in the atmosphere of the K.B Willett Ice Arena and the power of the student voice is surprisingly effective.

Derek Tritz

Contributor | The Pointer

[email protected]