Lucky no more

Lucky, the oddball mascot of the Boston Celtics, has left the team. Whether or not he has been fired is still up for debate. The Boston Globe ran an article on the matter the other day:

Damon Lee Blust, the gymnast who plays the acrobatic leprechaun, has parted ways with the Celtics. According to a statement released last night by his agent, Blust and the Celtics "mutually agreed to relieve Damon from his contract as the team's mascot for the remainder of this season and next."

Celtics president Rich Gotham declined to say whether Blust quit or was fired. "It's a private employer-employee matter, something I can't talk about right now," he said. The team also declined to say whether or when Blust might be replaced.

I always found Lucky to be a strange mascot. Call me old school, but I like my mascots to wear big costumes. The mask-less Lucky was kind of strange. In person, he always looked a bit unshaven and gave off a gruff vibe. But he did do some great dunks during half-time.

I actually had a phone conversation with Blust once. He was trying to figure out a way to put a tiny video camera inside a basketball for a stunt he was trying to develop. He came off as a nice enough guy, though he did seem to think that there was some sort of cache by saying he was "Lucky." It was as if my co-workers and I would be bowled over by the celebrity that we'd want to bend over backwards to find a solution for his dilemma (what he was trying to do, in the long run, wasn't feasible - a super-lightweight, wireless, lipstick HD camera for a ball just doesn't work for no money). 

You can read the Boston Globe article, along with some really brutal reader comments, over here.