Stepping through the gymnasium door trying not to trip over hishuge feet, Charlie Cardinal makes his way to the middle of theroom. As the music starts, Charlie grooves to the beat of theblaring techno dance music trying to impress the four peoplecritiquing his every move.
Leaning his shoulders back, kicking out his legs and swinginghis arms nonchalantly, he struggles to imitate the perfect "CharlieWalk." Finally, after the great difficulty of running a huge circlearound the gym to prove he can do it without falling flat on hisface, Charlie struts out of the room and in comes another Charlieto do the routine all over again.
Seven Ball State students donned the Charlie Cardinal suitSunday night as they auditioned to become Ball State's mascot.
Because of the secrecy behind Charlie Cardinal, none of thepeople trying out, or the current Charlies, could reveal theiridentity. Currently there are two experienced Charlies, and thejudges were looking to add two or three more from last night'sauditions.
According to one current Charlie who was helping judgeauditions, Charlie Cardinal is one of the most highly recognizedfigures on campus.
"I think Charlie [Cardinal] is the ultimate icon becauseeverybody associates the Cardinal with Ball State," one juniorauditioning to be Charlie said. "I think it's a very high honor torepresent the school, the alumni, the students and all of theteams."
Each person trying out had their own idea of the role Charliefills in the Ball State community.
"Charlie reminds me of the Fonz," one freshman during auditionssaid. "Charlie Cardinal represents everything that is good andsacred. He's a nice guy and really laid back. He's a ladies' man,but he's not a player."
Students with all types of majors including telecommunications,theater and political science came to audition to be Charlie.
"I want to be a motivational speaker, and this is awesomepractice for that," the freshman said. "You can't talk, but you caninteract with people and get them to smile."
Some students had experience and for others it was their firsttime climbing into a mascot costume.
"Wearing that suit for three hours and sweating all of your facebut still having to be excited and pumped for the game would behard," the junior said.
A Charlie Cardinal with three years experience told thenewcomers about the amount of dedication, the time commitment andthe school spirit it takes to be Charlie.
"You have to be willing to give up your partying and drink waterinstead, otherwise you're going to pass out in the suit," hesaid.
Being an experienced Charlie, he informed those auditioning thateven though being Charlie isn't a paying job, it's a full timecommitment involving not only sports games but other school,community and alumni events.
The judges informed the students last night who was selected tobe the new Charlies, and those students will begin training tobecome a true Charlie Cardinal.
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