By Emily Haleck
He dances, he tumbles, he dunks. He revs up the crowd at any event. And he''s been doing it for 50 years.
Who is this enthusiast extraordinaire? He''s Cosmo the Cougar, BYU mascot.
But who is the man behind the mask?
'I''m a cougar that lives on Y Mountain,' said Cosmo himself, via an e-mail interview. 'Is that what you''re asking?'
Not exactly.
Rich Summers, who does scheduling for Cosmo, said Cosmo doesn''t reveal his identity to anyone, including roommates.
'He feels as though he can be crazier and no one can tell him he''s stupid,' Summers said.
Instead, Cosmo tries to keep up his role as the number-one fan of BYU and BYU athletics. Cosmo claims he is a student, he always has been a student and he always will be a student.
In response to the question of whether or not Cosmo has always been played by a male, he said he couldn''t believe he was being asked that question.
'I''m always visiting the ladies, having them give me hugs and kisses,' he said. 'Yes.'
Since his introduction on Oct.15, 1953, Cosmo has thrilled crowds with crazy stunts, including slam dunking off a trampoline, walking on stilts and tumbling across the court.
Other talents include dancing, riding a unicycle, rollerblading, playing the national anthem on the piano and stunting with cheerleaders.
'I''m majoring in crowd entertainment and minoring in gymnastics,' the Cougar said.
BYU cheerleading coach Nate Felt said Cosmo has been spoken of on ESPN as one of the most athletic mascots in the nation.
Because of the gymnastics involved in many of Cosmo''s routines, the mascot works closely with the cheerleading squad. But even the cheerleaders have been sworn to secrecy.
'It''s highly classified, top-secret stuff,' said Crystal Miyamoto, 19, a sophomore from Waipahu, Hawaii, majoring in math education, and former BYU cheerleader. 'He really is Cosmo - he''s an animal, he''s a cougar, he''s our mascot.'
And a busy mascot he is. Cosmo does an average of three to seven appearances a week, Summers said. The mascot attends all football and basketball games and most volleyball games. He also tries to make it to soccer games, gymnastics and swim meets, Cosmo said.
The bipedal Cougar also does non-BYU events, including elementary and high school assemblies, promotions for local businesses, corporate events and birthday parties, Summers said.
With so many events, one may wonder if there is more than one person who plays Cosmo.
'I''m extremely busy,' was Cosmo''s only reply.
Other universities, though, usually do have more than one person to fill the role of mascot. Kathleen Norgaard, 24, a former University of Oregon mascot, said she was one of five who wore the Oregon Duck mascot uniform.
'There was a team of us so we could do different events on the same day,' Norgaard said. 'For instance, we had two ducks at a football game - one in the stadium and one in the parking lot for the tailgating party.'
Norgaard was also requested to keep her employment a secret.
'But if you have a duck suit sitting in your apartment, of course your roommates knew,' Norgaard said.
BYU is more careful about the storage of Cosmo''s uniform. Cosmo actually has dressing rooms in the Smith Fieldhouse, Marriott Center and two rooms at Lavell Edwards Stadium, his home base.
He also has a team of 15 people called Team Cosmo, dedicated solely to his cause, helping him organize and carry out performances. Team Cosmo''s responsibilities range from keeping the Cosmobile stocked to arranging the Cosmo Kids Club promotions to getting footage of Cosmo''s crazy stunts.
Team Cosmo evaluates Cosmo''s work, and also helps in the initial auditions of the BYU mascot. In fact, some on Team Cosmo actually end up trying out for the position, Felt said.
Tryouts, generally each April, are not advertised, Summers said. Instead, Cosmo hopefuls must contact the Cosmo office.
'He (Cosmo) dedicates so much time that if someone isn''t proactive enough to call us and want to do it, it won''t work,' Summers said.
Felt, who helps judge the tryouts, said they look for someone who shows responsibility, dependability, work ethic and all the necessary qualities to represent BYU worldwide, as well as superior athleticism.
'Many mascots and humans alike try out for the BYU mascot job each year,' Felt said, 'but Cosmo has a 49-year running history of winning the tryouts.'
Norgaard, who had to try out in the Oregon Duck costume and then have a personal interview (without the costume), said her judges were looking for someone energetic with an outgoing personality.
'I was told I had to act like a cartoon character so that a 90-year-old sitting in the back row of the stadium could see you,' Norgaard said.
BYU fans can attest that Cosmo fulfills this requirement. He is always looking for new tricks to perform and asks for challenges to be sent to Cosmo@byucougars.com although Cosmo said that he sometimes gets a little worried about the stunts he''ll perform.
'I''m thinking about finding out more about my animal rights,' he said.
Miyamoto said she thinks Cosmo already knows all the tricks.
'Oh, he''s cool. He can do every trick that I know of,' Miyamoto said. 'He''s just talented.'