For 22 years, the Phoenix Suns have had a gorilla as a mascot. Why a gorilla, as the species is not exactly native to the American Southwest’s deserts? Because in 1980 a guy delivering a singing telegram to the arena did a couple dances near the basket and the fans loved it. It grew from there.
Now the Suns gorilla is one of the oldest NBA mascots, one of the first to play jokes on opposing coaches, to mock the other team, and one of the first to become a high-flying dunker.
And now, that can be you.
The Suns are looking for a new gorilla (okay, not to ruin the surprise, but for a guy to be inside the gorilla costume). Why? We don’t know but the old gorilla getting in an altercation in a restaurant probably didn’t help his cause. Anyway, follow this link to the ad (hat tip to our sister blog Off the Bench).
You should have a college degree and a couple years mascot experience at the college or pro level. Gymnastics skills and the ability to do high-flying dunks off a trampoline while wearing a costume is a must. You better be in great shape. And you better be able to fire up a crowd, because without Steve Nash this season suns fans are going to need some entertainment.
You also need to be “proficient in Microsoft Office, Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and other related computer skills required.” Of course. Because a thousand gorillas at a thousand typewriters is how they create the game night programs. (Actually, you probably have to keep up the Gorilla’s own web site.)
Anyway, I somehow though a few of my readers here would think they could go ape… sorry, that was too easy. But if you apply, good luck.
