Celebrating 'Bear' season

No, making the Mascot Hall of Fame is not up there with Karl Malone being named MVP or John Stockton setting the all-time assist record, but in the world where the Utah Jazz Bear swoops and soars, the honor is sweeter than honey.

On Thursday, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. presented the Jazz Bear with a certificate, set the day aside as "Jazz Bear Day," then got into an aerosol "string fight" with the animal. As with most things Bear, it was very memorable.

Those who follow the Jazz, of course, know the mascot was being recognized for more than his derring-do at the Delta Center. It was a way of saying thanks for the countless hours of service Bear has logged. Whether traveling into Utah's outback to support a fledgling Chamber of Commerce or stopping by hospitals to shoot a ray of sunshine into the lives of ailing children, the Jazz Bear has been a model mascot citizen.

Thirteen years ago when Tom Nisalke told the Jazz brain trust about a nifty hockey mascot in Canada who did tricks in the arena no insurance plan would sanction, few could have guessed the Bear would become a Utah institution. Yet today, when most Jazz fans would struggle to remember game details, they all recall the antics of the state's most famous anonymous animal. The images of him riding a Harley onto center court or sliding down steps like a luge runner are as much a part of Utah Jazz lore as the game highlights.

Few people know the Bear's identity. Some claim they've recognized his husky frame and square shoulders at other venues, but for the most part Bear moves around town without raising an eyebrow. And that faceless quality makes him special. The man in the bear suit is not in it for self-promotion. He's in it for the fun of performing and supporting and lifting. And the lesson he's left behind is a good one: It's not so much who you are, but what you do that matters.

And what the Bear does, he does as well as anyone in sports history. Just ask the ones who voted him into the Mascot Hall of Fame. Or better yet, ask all those kids at Primary Children's Medical Center.