CU's costumed mascot Chip makes his presence known at the CU-CSU football game at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium on Sept. 4, 2010 (CU Independent file/Patrick Ghidossi)
He had me at hello.
OK he didn’t actually, because he’s not allowed to talk, so let me try again.
I’m just a girl, standing in front of a buffalo, asking him to love her.
That’s better.
Back in November, I publicly professed my love for our mascot, Chip. Needless to say, I raised a few eyebrows.
Sure, it’s a little bit funny for a girl to have a crush on a costumed mascot, but we had a lot of fun together first semester.
Unfortunately, it was something that just couldn’t be paralleled. In fact, over the span of a holiday break, our love affair had become utterly non-existent.
We used to spot each other in the hustle and bustle of the Coors Events Center. In the midst of him cheering on our teams and me taking notes for articles, we’d make time to have little moments.
As I mentioned in my first story, our moments were nothing shy of adorable. Chip and I skipped down halls together. He would come over to me in the press area and type his name on my computer.
But after break, Chip acted like I didn’t even exist. Had my first article made me come off as clingy? Had he changed that much in such a short amount of time? (Even this day-dreaming little Buffs fan knows that one person doesn’t occupy that suit forever.)
I kept waiting for Chip to remember all the good times we had. All I wanted was to have another special moment with him, but it never came. It was if I was just another face in the crowd.
As the basketball season went on, I couldn’t help but to be overcome by the amazing runs our two teams made. Our wins against ranked teams and our journey to the NIT and WNIT occupied my whole mind. But, at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel a Chip-sized hole in my heart.
When I first started writing this article during the season, I wrote about young love being blind and stupid and about how love between a costumed mascot and a budding journalist was just as hard as any other relationship.
For the most part, I decided to scrap those ideas.
Sure our love affair seemed to have come to an abrupt end, but that didn’t take anything away from the good times we had. It didn’t mean Chip couldn’t raise my team spirit anymore. It didn’t mean we couldn’t still be friends.
Just as I was coming to terms with our breakup, something happened.
At the last home game I covered, as I was walking past Chip, he looked at me with those same eyes he used to give me back in the day. He put his hand up for a high-five and what can I say? It was magic.
So, regardless of our ups and downs, I’ll always love Chip. And no matter what, we’ll always have the Coors Events Center.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Marlee Horn at Marlee.horn@colorado.edu.
