Technique - 2001-10-12 - Being Buzz: ESPN spot one of the many perks

Anyone who has ever attended a Tech sporting event more than likely knows who Buzz is. The lovable Tech mascot is both cheerleader and ambassador, and is as much a part of Tech community as the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Although Buzz’s origins are rather ambiguous, it is known that Buzz showed up at a game sometime in the early 1980s as an unofficial cheerleader, and was soon adopted by the GT cheerleading squad. Today Buzz is actually a member of the cheerleading squad, and even attends a special mascot camp hosted yearly by the National Cheering Association at Myrtle Beach.

Because of his popularity, Buzz is called upon for many duties as the official Tech mascot. Along with the obvious duty of attending sporting events, Buzz is involved with charity events, team photos, sports conventions, and official Georgia Tech events such as the annual President’s Dinner. Buzz can also be hired for social gatherings, such as weddings and birthday parties.

Another one of Buzz’s duties is to help choose a successor during cheerleading tryouts. Buzz hopefuls attend a three-day camp during tryouts in which they are taught how to be Buzz, learning the walk, mannerisms and hand gestures. After the workshop, tryouts are held, where the former Buzz joins other judges to decide who will receive the honor of being the next Buzz.

One must be in peak physical condition in order to be Buzz. In addition to the burden of wearing the Buzz suit during football games, Buzz must do push-ups every time the Tech football team scores. This may not seem bad at first, but imagine how difficult this would be during a game like this year’s Navy game, which Tech won 70-7. Since Buzz did push-ups every time Tech scored, then he did a total of 385 push-ups during the game. To maintain this level of fitness, Buzz works out almost every day with weights in the Wardlaw Building, located behind the south end zone of Grant Field.

To preserve the mystique of Buzz certain ground rules must be followed. The first rule is that nobody is allowed to know who Buzz is until after his term is complete. The second rule is that Buzz is not allowed to talk while in uniform. To compensate for this, Buzz makes great use of hand gestures to express his ideas and feelings. The final rule is that Buzz is never supposed to start a fight, but he is always expected to finish them. One example of Buzz having to defend himself happened at a Duke football game in Durham two years ago. During the game the Blue Devil attacked Buzz with a giant flyswatter that he had made. Buzz fought back, grabbing the flyswatter away from the Blue Devil and beating him with it. After he had sufficiently embarrassed the Blue Devil, Buzz walked in front of the Duke fans and broke the flyswatter in half, throwing the remains into the trash.

Although Buzz is well known around campus he has also made quite an impact on the rest of the world, winning his third national mascot competition in 2000. As well as being the No. 1 mascot in the nation, Buzz has appeared in many sports television commercials, including one on ESPN’s Sports Center.

It’s hard to imagine life at Tech without Buzz. He has ingrained himself into students’ lives, even going as far as having his very own Buzz Card made. Always friendly and full of spirit, Buzz will continue to represent Tech as one of the best college mascots in the nation.