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Name Game continues for USATF mascot

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field's new mascot, the subject of a great deal
of buzz on the Internet and in print, soon will have a name.

Track and field fans have until January 6 to submit their suggestions for a
mascot moniker on the USATF Web site, www.usatf.org. At that time, USATF
will post its top five finalists for the official name. Fans can then go
online to vote for their favorite. Voting will be open through January 15.

The winning name will be announced February 1 at the first stop on USATF's
2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour, the adidas Boston Indoor Games.

Unveiled December 5 at the Opening Session of USATF’s Annual Meeting, the
mascot caused a commotion when USATF posted its photo online and invited
fans to submit names. More than 3,000 suggestions for a mascot name have
been made thus far on USATF's Web site, though not all suggestions can be
reproduced in a family-friendly press release. All the name suggestions –
good, bad and "creative” – have helped make the mascot naming contest the
biggest Internet success in USATF's history.

Rob Walker of the online magazine Slate.com in December wrote an article on
the mascot, instantly making it news in non-sports media. At the same time,
Track & Field News – whose editor, E. Garry Hill, was quoted by Walker in
Slate – conducted an online survey (www.trackandfieldnews.com) to determine
what the track public thinks of the mascot, and numerous newspapers and
magazines have carried news of the mascot as well.

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