According to a news release, the character was created by the ... “Gumbo” will usually be seen in a custom mascot costume.

Modern collegiate mascots — thick-browed cartoon characters in logo sweaters and costumed cheerleaders who hang in the student sections at games — are a far cry from what they were in the late ...

It was chosen as the mascot to complement the Nagano 1998 Paralympic Winter Games logo that was based on the simplified form of the Japanese character for “naga” in Nagano, which was stylised to ...