Meet the REAL 52 year old Cy Please

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 02:26 PM

Collegiate Manufacturing designed and built the new mascot with input from the Pep Council and the cheerleading squad. The cost was $200. The eight foot bird was introduced at Homecoming, October 16, 1954.

Cy and Mrs. Ohlsen. 1954.

http://www.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/exhibits/Cy/home.html

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 02:44 PM

Cy was a chick in 1975:

**bos** · 09-13-2006, 02:45 PM

nothing hotter =)

**ripvdub** · 09-13-2006, 02:51 PM

Cy's been a chick a lot. The last couple years they were rotating boy/girl. One was extremely tall, the other was almotsa midget.

**AirWalke** · 09-13-2006, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by ripvdub

Cy's been a chick a lot. The last couple years they were rotating boy/girl. One was extremely tall, the other was almotsa midget.

That would explain it at basketball games, then. I remember Cy would flirt with the girls in the 1st half, and then flirt with the guys in the second half whenever "he" came over to Cyclone Alley. Funny stuff.

**redrocker** · 09-13-2006, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by AirWalke

That would explain it at basketball games, then. I remember Cy would flirt with the girls in the 1st half, and then flirt with the guys in the second half whenever "he" came over to Cyclone Alley. Funny stuff.

HEY,... Don't Ask,... Don't Tell.

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 04:09 PM

2 years old, $200, and 8 ft tall:

Homecoming. 1956.

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 04:10 PM

1972 was not a good year:

In 1972, on the way to the Liberty Bowl, Cy and his traveling companions were involved in an accident near St. Louis, Missouri. That year’s Cy, Robert “B.J.” John, along with the costume, traveled the rest of the way to Memphis, Tennessee and a Greyhound bus. John had only bruises and scratches—but Cy was another story. His frame was bent and he had been spattered with oil and battery acid.

When John and Cy arrived at alumni headquarters—the Memphis Sheraton-Peabody Hotel—it was early in the morning of December 18. The game was to be played that evening. Alumni and friends who were on hand went into action. A bowl for donations was placed on the alumni registration table. Max Porter of the Civil Engineering Department and Jim Hopson of the Alumni Association coordinated repairs. The body was removed from the frame and staff of the hotel worked on getting the frame back into shape. Then Porter and Hopson located fabric to match Cy and a Memphis costumer. The costumer, with her assistants, spent the rest of the day reassembling Cy. Except for the costumer, who charged a minimum amount to pay her staff, no one involved charged for any of the work. The money collected at the Sheraton was used for more permanent rejuvenation once Cy got homeCy arrived at the pre-game rally that evening as Governor Robert Ray was speaking. The fans—who had heard about the accident—went wild, and the applause effectively ended the Governor’s speech. Cy was back to normal, and ready for his appearance on national television.

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 04:17 PM

Here are some more xCYted people. Those clodhoppers are exCYting.

**BryceC** · 09-13-2006, 05:27 PM

Honestly, old Cy has some googly eyes that made me laugh out loud in my office.

**Jeremy** · 09-13-2006, 06:33 PM

I love ISU but my gosh that mascot is hideous:) It's a wonder anybody growing up in those days chose ISU as their school, their kids would have been scared to death if they saw CY in person...

**IsUaClone2** · 09-13-2006, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Jeremy

I love ISU but my gosh that mascot is hideous:) It's a wonder anybody growing up in those days chose ISU as their school, their kids would have been scared to death if they saw CY in person...

Intimidating it was. No other mascot pushed the Big Cy around. Plus the body cavity held various goodies ranging from a full fifth of spirits to blue-dyed chickens which Cy dropped at midfield during halftime of the Kansas game in the mid-sixties. Unfortunately we had animal rights groups even back then and the chickens didn't over well.

**Angie** · 09-13-2006, 09:10 PM

Quote from IsUaClone2:

Plus the body cavity held various goodies ranging from a full fifth of spirits to blue-dyed chickens which Cy dropped at midfield during halftime of the Kansas game in the mid-sixties. Unfortunately we had animal rights groups even back then and the chickens didn't over well.

I guess that idea really laid an egg...
(Everyone groan...)

**Wesley** · 09-13-2006, 09:54 PM

If he was loaded done with all the extra stuff inside the cavity, no wonder he wobbles along. Maybe at the Red game he can sit on the inflated Lil Red.