By Braden Weinel//
A big red bag sitting on the floor of a second-floor office in the Volpe Athletic Center encases one of two things: The face of Hood college school spirit or just a few pieces of smelly fabric.
There was no mascot on the Hood College campus during the 2020-2021 school year due to health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, Blaze is making a comeback.
The Hood campus was quiet and calm last year, as opposed to a normal year in which the campus is filled with chaos from hundreds of loud college students. The absence of a school mascot added to the emptiness of campus and the lack of school spirit.
In the fall of 2021, Blaze was back on site for move-in day, freshman orientation, and the fall athletics pep rally. With the bleachers filled once again with screaming fans as well as the sight of Blaze, Hood school spirit is back to normal.
“It’s a good opportunity to have Blaze back in action and I think it’s good for the school,” Michael Impellittiere, the Hood baseball coach, and man in charge of Blaze, said.
Blaze walks around in his fluffy white horse costume giving high fives and hugs to the students. The inside of the Blaze costume is hot and heavy and doesn’t provide the person in the costume with much vision.
Blaze first made an appearance at the 2010 convocation and has been on campus since then. The mascot typically appears at athletic matches and campus events.
Blaze most often makes appearances at basketball games, but Impellittiere said he wants to get the mascot more involved.
Juniors and seniors are the only students on Hood’s campus that remember Blaze before his year-long break. Juniors and seniors liked seeing Blaze and hope to see him even more this year.
“I would usually see the mascot during athletic events,” junior Preston Harford said. “I think it would be cool to see the mascot during important games, for example, season openers and conference games.”
The design of the mascot’s costume was based off the Blazers logo that was created in 2005. The logo depicts a wild horse, inspired by the school’s and Maryland’s history of equestrianism. The white streak on a horse’s head is called a blaze, hence the mascot’s name. On the mascot costume, however, the streak is blue to match Hood’s school colors.
The mascot has two outfits. Blaze either wears a blue sports jersey with blue shorts, for athletic events, or blue slacks and a white blazer, for more professional events such as convocation and commencement.
The students at Hood typically have unwavering school spirit. All the athletic matches are filled with students from first-years to seniors. The student section is formed as close to the field or court as possible, right in the front row.
Layers of students dressed in blue and grey stretch across the sidelines yelling positive remarks to Hood players and not-so-positive comments at the opponents. All this even without Blaze in attendance.
If that speaks to school spirit, imagine the atmosphere over the fans and players if Blaze was there.
“I think the mascot is a good addition to the feeling of a college crowd,” junior Paul Hagen said. “It adds to the school spirit and can even motivate a student section.”
Although Blaze is commonly seen at sporting events, he represents not just Hood athletics, but the whole school.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Blaze would be seen all around campus. In the fall of 2019, a photo shoot was set up for students to take a picture with Blaze. The impossible to miss mascot was also seen around campus during mid-terms and finals week.
Hagen said that seeing Blaze during the exam weeks was a bright spot. He added that it could “provide motivation or a nice distraction from the stress.”
Impellittiere said that Blaze provides a sense of unity, positive influence, and pride around the school.
The question many people ask is, who is Blaze?
Anyone can be Blaze. The Blaze costume is worn by student workers. To be Blaze, fill out the mascot application on the Hood athletics website or contact Michael Impellittiere at impellittiere@hood.edu.
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