Emotional apologies from sports celebrities have overwhelmed the country for the last 24 hours. In an exclusive letter to¬†The Fizz, Syracuse’s beloved mascot expresses remorse for his recent transgressions.
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I, Otto the Orange, must admit to Orange Nation that I have had several shortcomings over the last few years that I have not been completely upfront about.
I have tried to deal with my issues behind closed doors for too long. I am merely an Orange… with legs. I am by no means a perfect mascot and I have let some things slide that the Syracuse fan base is not deserving of.
I apologize for letting the basketball team miss the NCAA tournament in 2007 and 2008. I nearly cried tears of orange juice all over the Dome when we lost to UMass twice in the 2007-2008 season. The only other team to ever do that to us was Penn State back in the 1922-1923 season when Jim Boeheim was born.
Although I am very well known and I have made my career as a professional mascot, it is very difficult to share some of these mistakes with you.
I am also constantly reminded of the football uniforms I approved with Otto’s Army to start the 2007 season. All orange? What was I thinking? Then someone even had the audacity to start a¬†Facebook group trying to get the field in the Dome painted orange. Do you know how many donations I had to solicit just to get an orange “44” on the sidelines! And you can’t even see that during games.
I can’t believe I’m admitting this all to you. It’s just that, after all the debate lately over some decisions that have been made – I felt I had to say something.
I can’t begin to tell you how distraught I was when Oklahoma beat us in the Sweet 16 in March. I lost so much Vitamin C after that game – but at least I wasn’t the only one in the arena with no teeth. Oklahoma brought a lot of fans too.
And then there was more football:
Losing to Louisville is one of those moments I wish I could erase. I was so happy getting on the plane to go to Kentucky because even if I called the plays, we would still win.
And then Rob Spence got fired! We used to have lunch in the Manley cafeteria and then go powerlift in the weight room together.
Am I ashamed of myself? Yes.
I will strive to be a better mascot and the leader that Orange Nation deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I promise you we will never re-hire Greg Robinson as long as I am ripe.
Which leads me to my last note. I wanted to share with you, before anyone dug it up, this voicemail below that I left for Groobers last month:
Please Forgive Me.
Sincerely,
Otto the Orange
