Somebody needs to do a “Behind the Music” or “ESPN: 30 for 30” style documentary on the San Diego Chicken.
Drew Brees is probably the biggest current name in San Diego sports; with Tony Gwynn or Junior Seau the most legendary.
However, who can deny the San Diego Chicken?
The mascot is as much a symbol of “America’s Finest City” as the Star of India clipper ship. Ron Burgundy is the the only comedic character ever to be as synonymous with the city on the same level as the San Diego Chicken.
Today the Chicken suit rests in the San Diego Hall of Champions Museum in Balboa Park.
It’s hilarious that the city’s sports Hall of Fame is referred to by “Champions” when you consider: the Chargers have only been to one Super Bowl; where they lost badly, the Padres lost both of their World Series appearances, and the Clippers never won anything before moving to Los Angeles. (Go here for more on why the Clippers name was perfect for San Diego, but really dumb for L.A. and why they need a name change now as much as the Redskins do)
And I’d go on in detail about the San Diego Gulls and the San Diego State Aztecs history, but I don’t want to lose the audience for this post; which is very limited as it is.
Yes, the San Diego Chicken suit is no doubt the highlight of the San Diego Sports Hall of Fame, and he resides just across the way from the old 1984 Padres National League pennant that used to reside in Jack Murphy Stadium.
Sorry, if this picture opens up old wounds Chicago Cubs fans. But you gotta love that old school logo with the so hideously ugly that they’re beautiful uniforms. They came in the infamous taco colors because, as you know, Taco Tuesday is a huge thing in San Diego.
Back to the San Diego Chicken, the character originated as an animated TV commercial for KGB-FM Radio in San Diego. Writer, cartoonist, and actor Brian Narelle, star of John Carpenter‘s film Dark Star, was working for Odyssey Productions and offered to animate a wacky acrobatic chicken as part of a commercial contract bid, says it’s Wikipedia entry.
It also refers to the mascot as The Famous Chicken, the KGB Chicken or The Famous Chicken. The posting also says the San Diego Chicken is created and portrayed by Ted Giannoulas.
But here’s the best part of the San Diego Chicken Wiki:
“The success of the Famous Chicken helped lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball. The Chicken was named one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century by The Sporting News. The New York Times referred to Giannoulas as “the Lawrence Olivier of sports mascots.”
Currently, the Chicken continues to make appearances annually across the United States. So the San Diego Chicken is not only the highlight of the museum, but he lives on today. Still doing appearances.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk shows across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, Washington Times, NBC and The History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)