Sam the Minuteman
Encyclopedia
Sam the Minuteman is the mascot
of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
athletics teams. Sam can be found at any event in which the Minutemen or Minutewomen are participants. He has also been seen around the University of Massachusetts Amherst without the athletics teams, and pitching in at charity events.
Sam placed second in the 2005 Capital One Mascot Of The Year competition, behind to Nebraska's Herbie the Husker. Sam has also finished in the top ten at the National Cheerleading Association's Mascot Nationals for the last four years. He was also named the Mascot of the Month by Playboy.com in October 2005.
Sam was featured in a This is SportsCenter
commercial, knocking a tennis ball away from Andy Roddick
, presumably from frustration over the sound of the ball hitting the racket.
Sam was also featured in a SportsCenter
commercial in August 2009 involving the team status of NFL quarterback Brett Favre
where Sam is shown holding either one or two lamps, to indicate his status as retired or not. (A play on the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
poem, The Ride of Paul Revere)
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is a public research and land-grant university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States and the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system...
athletics teams. Sam can be found at any event in which the Minutemen or Minutewomen are participants. He has also been seen around the University of Massachusetts Amherst without the athletics teams, and pitching in at charity events.
Sam placed second in the 2005 Capital One Mascot Of The Year competition, behind to Nebraska's Herbie the Husker. Sam has also finished in the top ten at the National Cheerleading Association's Mascot Nationals for the last four years. He was also named the Mascot of the Month by Playboy.com in October 2005.
Sam was featured in a This is SportsCenter
This is SportsCenter
This is SportsCenter is the name of a series of comical television commercials run by ESPN to promote their SportsCenter sports news show. The ads are presented in a deadpan mockumentary style, lampooning various aspects of sports, and sports broadcasting. The commercials debuted in 1994...
commercial, knocking a tennis ball away from Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
, presumably from frustration over the sound of the ball hitting the racket.
Sam was also featured in a SportsCenter
SportsCenter
SportsCenter is a daily sports news television show, and the flagship program of American cable network ESPN since the network launched on September 7, 1979. Originally broadcast only daily, SportsCenter is now shown up to twelve times a day, replaying the day's scores and highlights from major...
commercial in August 2009 involving the team status of NFL quarterback Brett Favre
Brett Favre
Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...
where Sam is shown holding either one or two lamps, to indicate his status as retired or not. (A play on the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
poem, The Ride of Paul Revere)