View source for Buzz (mascot)

{{Short description|One of the two official mascots of the Georgia Institute of Technology}}
{{Infobox college mascot
| name = Buzz
| image = Georgia Tech's Buzz logo.svg
| image_size = 200
| university = Georgia Institute of Technology
| conference = Atlantic Coast Conference
| conference_short = ACC
| description = Anthropomorphic [[yellowjacket]] 
| name_origin =
| first_seen = 1972
| related_mascots = [[Ramblin' Wreck]]
| official_website =  
}}
'''Buzz''' is the current official [[mascot]] of the [[Georgia Institute of Technology]]. Buzz is usually represented as a stylized [[yellowjacket]] with yellow-and-black fur, white wings, a yellow head, and antennae. Buzz is almost never drawn with six legs, but rather with arms, legs, hands (in white gloves) and feet (in black [[Chuck Taylor All-Stars|Converse high tops]]), [[anthropomorphism|like a human]]. Invented in 1972 and restyled in 1979, Buzz reflects the tradition of referring to Georgia Tech students as "Yellow Jackets." Buzz is also one of Georgia Tech's emblems and trademarks, one that they defended in a 1998 legal conflict with the [[Salt Lake Buzz]].

== Tradition ==
Like many mascots, Buzz communicates via hand gestures and sign language, rather than speech.<ref name="Number1Mascot">{{ cite news | work = [[The Technique]] | title = Buzz vies for nation's No. 1 mascot | url = http://www.nique.net/issues/2002-10-11/sports/1 | date = 2002-10-11 |access-date = 2007-02-02 | last = Turner | first = Finny |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134255/http://www.nique.net/issues/2002-10-11/sports/1 |archive-date = September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> At some school events, there are a few people who dress up as Buzz. The identities of these individuals must be kept secret until their graduation.<ref name="Number1Mascot"/><ref>{{cite news|first=Julia|last=Trapold|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/2000-09-08/campus%20life/4|title=Faces at Georgia Tech: Profile on Bert Reeves|work=[[The Technique]]|access-date=2007-06-09|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929133408/http://www.nique.net/issues/2000-09-08/campus%20life/4 |archive-date = September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="espn">{{cite news|first=Robert|last=Cunningham|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/2001-10-12/sports/3|title=Being Buzz: ESPN spot one of the many perks|work=[[The Technique]]|date=2001-10-12|access-date=2007-05-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929135530/http://www.nique.net/issues/2001-10-12/sports/3 |archive-date = September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> They must be in excellent physical condition,<ref name="espn"/> about {{cvt|5|ft|4|in|m|disp=x| tall (|)}}, and must be able to do a front "[[Suicide (breakdance move)|suicide]]" flip called a Buzz Flip, Buzz's trademark move.<ref name="playboy">{{cite web |url= http://www.playboy.com/on-campus/mascot/buzz/index.html |title=College Team Mascots: Buzz |publisher=[[Playboy]] |access-date=2007-05-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022061606/http://playboy.com/on-campus/mascot/buzz/index.html |archive-date=October 22, 2007 }}</ref> Those interested in donning the Buzz suit must take part in a two-day tryout, judged by the former Buzz.<ref name="espn"/><ref name="bland">{{cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/news/ttopics/fall04/article2.html|title=Buzz: How Time Flies|work=Tech Topics|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Fall 2004|access-date=2007-05-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041021235611/http://gtalumni.org/news/ttopics/fall04/article2.html |archive-date = October 21, 2004}}</ref> Buzz is officially part of Georgia Tech's [[cheerleading]] team, so the Buzz tryout happens at the same time as the other cheerleading tryouts.<ref name="cheer">{{cite web|url=http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/ot/geot-cheerleading.html|title=Georgia Tech Cheerleading and Dance Team|work=RamblinWreck.com|publisher=Georgia Tech Athletic Association|access-date=2007-06-09}}</ref>

Buzz is beloved by Georgia Tech students and fans for his spirit and antics.  He is a prankster and likes to [[Crowd surfing|crowd-surf]].<ref name="fever">{{cite news|first=Jody|last=Shaw|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/2000-09-08/campus%20life/1|title=Fall football fever sweeps through campus for season|work=[[The Technique]]|date=2000-09-08|access-date=2007-05-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929134824/http://www.nique.net/issues/2000-09-08/campus%20life/1 |archive-date = September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Buzz is seen at [[College football|football]] games, [[basketball]] games, Georgia Tech [[Six Flags Over Georgia|Six Flags]] Night, and other events.<ref name="everything">{{cite news|first=Allison|last=Roberts|url=http://www.nique.net/issues/1999-01-22/campus%20life/3|title=Here's everything you ever wanted to know about our own Buzz|work=[[The Technique]]|date=1999-01-22|access-date=2007-05-26|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929141259/http://www.nique.net/issues/1999-01-22/campus%20life/3 |archive-date = September 29, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> Buzz has parachuted onto the field for pre-game festivities, does push-ups every time Tech scores,<ref name="fever"/> and conducts the band for the [[Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)|Budweiser]] song,<ref name="playboy"/> a common jingle for the beer. Buzz is involved with charity events, team photos, sports conventions, and official Georgia Tech events such as the annual President's Dinner.<ref name="espn"/> Buzz can also be hired for social gatherings, such as weddings and birthday parties.<ref name="Number1Mascot" /><ref name="everything"/>

== History ==
[[File:Buzz riding on the back of the Ramblin' Wreck.jpg|thumb|280px|right|Buzz riding on the back of the Ramblin' Wreck]]
The term Yellow Jacket or Yellowjacket has been used to refer to students and the various sports teams as early as the 1890s. Fans of Georgia Tech would often wear yellow jackets to sporting events in support of the early Georgia Tech teams. The early football teams, lacking gold fabric for jerseys, wore yellow jerseys. John Heisman told the [[Atlanta Constitution]] that he wanted his teams to be referred to as the Yellow Jackets in October 1905. In November 1906, the ''[[Atlanta Journal]]'' portrayed a [[University of Georgia]] [[American football|football]] player being attacked by a [[yellowjacket]] with the words "Somebody's about to get stung" as the caption.<ref>{{ cite news|title=First Yellowjacket Image in AJC |url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/fall06/InFocusImg1.html |date=Fall 2006 |access-date=2007-06-17 |work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine |publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028081840/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/fall06/InFocusImg1.html |archive-date=2007-10-28 }}</ref> This was the first time  that the Georgia Tech sports teams were referred to as the [[Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets]] in print.<ref>{{cite news|title=Yellow Jackets Fly By 100-year Mark |url=http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/fall06/InFocus.html |date=Fall 2006 |access-date=2007-06-17 |work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020185000/http://gtalumni.org/Publications/magazine/fall06/InFocus.html |archive-date=October 20, 2007 }}</ref><ref name="walk">{{cite news|url=http://gtalumni.org/stayinformed/magazine/sum04/article1.html|title=A Walk Through Tech's History: Buzz: Bold as Brass|work=Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Online|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Summer 2004|access-date=2007-06-09 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050327213444/http://gtalumni.org/stayinformed/magazine/sum04/article1.html |archive-date = March 27, 2005}}</ref>

=== Invention and reinvention ===
The original Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket mascot was Judi McNair who, according to the Winter 2004 edition of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association ''Tech Topics'' magazine, donned a homemade yellowjacket costume in 1972 and performed at home football games.<ref name="judi">{{cite news|first=Cam|last=McNair|url=http://smartech.gatech.edu/dspace/bitstream/1853/10619/5/TT%202004%20Winter%20NoAds%20LoRes.pdf|page=4|title=Give My Wife Some Credit|work=Tech Topics|publisher=Georgia Tech Alumni Association|date=Winter 2004|access-date=2007-05-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060913232213/http://smartech.gatech.edu/dspace/bitstream/1853/10619/5/TT%202004%20Winter%20NoAds%20LoRes.pdf |archive-date = September 13, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref> She rode on the [[Ramblin' Wreck]] and appears in the 1972 Georgia Tech Blueprint yearbook.<ref name="judi"/> McNair's mascot was considered a great idea, as it was a big hit with the fans.<ref name="judi"/>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:YellowJacketProgression.jpg|thumb|150px|left|1927, 1952, & 1987 Yellow Jacket Emblems {{puic|1=YellowJacketProgression.jpg|log=2009 May 16}}]] -->

[[Image:GeorgiaTechBuzz.jpg|thumb|200px|Buzz playing [[Twister (game)|Twister]] at a basketball game]]
In 1979, McNair's idea for a Yellow Jacket was reintroduced by another Georgia Tech student, Richie Bland.<ref name="bland"/> Bland, who was apparently unaware of McNair's prior initiative, paid $1,400 to have a local theme park costume designer make a yellow jacket costume that he first wore at a pep rally prior to the Tennessee football game.<ref name="bland"/> Rather than obtain permission from Georgia Tech as Judi had done in 1972, this student, a few weeks later simply sneaked onto the field in costume during a football game and ran across the field.<ref name="bland"/> The fans naturally believed that this costumed character was acting as an official member of the [[cheerleading]] squad and responded accordingly.<ref name="bland"/> By 1980 this new incarnation of the yellow jacket mascot was given the name Buzz Bee and was adopted as an official mascot by Georgia Tech.<ref name="bland"/> This new Buzz character would be the model for a new Georgia Tech emblem, designed in 1985 by [[Mike Lester]].<ref name="walk"/>

=== Salt Lake Buzz lawsuit ===
In 1998, Georgia Tech filed a [[trademark infringement]] lawsuit against the [[Salt Lake Buzz]], a [[Pacific Coast League]] [[minor league baseball]] team.<ref name="slb">{{cite news|first=Scott|last=Lange|url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/spring1998/apr24/news1.html|title='Like Buzz, if I could be like Buzz...'|work=[[The Technique]]|date=1998-04-24|access-date=2007-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129060932/http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/spring1998/apr24/news1.html|archive-date=2015-01-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Institute had negotiated a deal with the team,<ref name="sln">{{cite news|first=Amy |last=Armond |url=http://www.sportslawnews.com/archive/Articles%202001/GeorgiaTechbuzzTM.htm |title=Georgia Tech Pays to Protect Rights to Mascot Buzz |work=Sports Law News |date=2001-10-02 |access-date=2007-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003944/http://www.sportslawnews.com/archive/Articles%202001/GeorgiaTechbuzzTM.htm |archive-date=2007-06-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but the team backed out of the agreement before it was finalized and filed suit in Utah for the right to use the mark.<ref name="slb"/> Tech filed a countersuit and won in 2001.<ref name="udc">{{cite news|first=Natalie|last=Dicou|url=http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2006/05/24/Sports/Salt-Lake.Buzzer.Stingerser.I.Forget-2013971.shtml|title=Salt Lake Buzz...er, Stingers...er, I forget|work=[[Daily Utah Chronicle]]|date=2006-05-24|access-date=2007-05-20|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070508062331/http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2006/05/24/Sports/Salt-Lake.Buzzer.Stingerser.I.Forget-2013971.shtml|archive-date=2007-05-08}}</ref> As a result, the team was forced to change its name (to the "Salt Lake Stingers"; several years later, it would adopt its current name of the "Salt Lake Bees") and pay Georgia Tech $600,000,<ref name="udc"/> although Georgia Tech spent $700,000 to $800,000 during the dispute.<ref name="sln"/>

=== Contests and stunts ===
Buzz participates in several mascot contests.<ref name="cheer"/> In 1997, Buzz won an [[Access Atlanta]] poll due to creative [[ballot stuffing]] by Tech students.<ref>{{cite news |first=Simit |last=Shah |url=http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/spring1997/may2/sports3-s.html |title=Students stuff ballot box in mascot poll |work=[[The Technique]] |date=1997-05-02 |access-date=2007-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519203254/http://technique.library.gatech.edu/issues/spring1997/may2/sports3-s.html |archive-date=2009-05-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2005 and 2006, Buzz was named to the Capital One All-American Mascot Teams and participated in the Capital One Mascot Challenge.<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=641 |title=Buzz Does Battle in Capital One Mascot Challenge |publisher=Georgia Institute of Technology |date=2005-09-12 |access-date=2007-06-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060905111529/http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=641 |archive-date=September 5, 2006}}</ref> In 2000 and 2001, Buzz won the NCA (National Cheerleaders Assoc.) mascot of the year and in 2004 and 2006, Buzz received second place in the NCA Mascot Competition in Daytona, Florida.<ref name="cheer"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/genrel/040704aaa.html|title=Tech Cheerleaders Place Fourth|work=RamblinWreck.com|publisher=Georgia Tech Athletic Association|date=2004-04-07|access-date=2007-06-09}}</ref> On June 14, 2008, Buzz rappelled down the 40 story Viewpoint lofts building in Midtown, Atlanta as part of a university fundraiser.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/tech/entries/2008/06/12/whither_jamaal.html |title=Whither Jamaal, Curry, Kristi and Buzz? |publisher=[[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |date=2008-06-12 |access-date=2008-06-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080620003645/http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/tech/entries/2008/06/12/whither_jamaal.html |archive-date=June 20, 2008 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Georgia (U.S. state)}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}

{{Georgia Tech}}
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|titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle|Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets|color=black}}
|list =
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[[Category:Atlantic Coast Conference mascots]]
[[Category:Georgia Tech]]
[[Category:Fictional Hymenoptera]]
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[[Category:Mascots introduced in 1972]]