Stanford’s Groovy Band (and Tree) Give Vegas More Cowbell

By ALAN SNEL

LVSportsBiz.com

 

As Stanford’s basketball team was crushing California’s hoops squad at T-Mobile Arena, a little-known tragedy struck Stanford’s well-known mascot, The Stanford Tree.

 

Stanford senior Anaxi Mars, who plays The Tree, was shakin’ and bakin’ so much in his 45-pound costume of angular-shaped, kite-looking leaves that he cracked the outfit’s metal frame.

 

The Stanford Tree and its costume went on the disabled list Wednesday.

 

“It was a costume malfunction,” Mars said with a straight face as he stood with his pals with the Stanford band.

 

“I was dancing so hard that I snapped the metal under carriage. I rode it too hard. I danced too hard. The metal just couldn’t handle it,” Mars said. “But if we win, I’m getting another costume shipped and it will be stronger than ever.”

 

Well, Mars hit the jackpot. His Stanford Cardinal easily dismantled the Cal Bears,76-58, in the Pac-12 tourney’s first round game, so Mars will be back in action with The Tree outfit Thursday. He’s having a second Tree mascot outfit sent to Las Vegas for Thursday’s contest.

 

Born in 1975, the Stanford Tree, technically the university’s unofficial mascot (the sports team’s nickname is Cardinal, named for the red color, not the songbird), occupies a fascinating niche in the lexicon of college sports mascots.

 

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Most college mascots are Tigers, Bears, Lions, Cats, Beavers, Bruins, Trojans, Huskies and even Rebels, but the Stanford mascot is unique because The Tree doesn’t hide the fact that a human being is right there playing the role and even talks.

 

“We show our face and we talk. It’s really fun messing with people,” Mars said. “But The Tree gets a lot of hatred too. But we love The Tree.”

 

Mars is ending his mascot career with the Pac-12 hoops tournament in Las Vegas. Each Stanford student who plays The Tree builds his or her own mascot costume.

 

Mars took pride in fashioning the “first geometric tree” because his outfit bears triangular-shaped leaves that led him to utter modestly, “I really love the shape.”

 

Mars even noted his Tree mascot has three different faces.

 

The Tree is also the mascot of the Stanford Band, which is officially known as the “Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band,” according to band member and tenor saxophonist Drew Bassilakis.

 

Let’s just say the Stanford Band, the 27 or so members who made the trip to Las Vegas, have a fun-filled, expressive and irreverent performing style. They’re a little different from the other college bands.

 

“We’re student-run,” Bassilakis explained. “We get to dictate how we run it. We’re a fun-loving organization.”

Stanford’s band in action Wednesday afternoon.

What sets the bands of the Pac-12 schools apart from the bands of the Big 10 and SEC is the universities of the West have unique styles, which is unlike the other major conferences. Stanford’s band members were adorned in blue jeans and fishing hats, while Oregon State’s band member wore matching black pants and orange shirts.

 

“No two bands in the Pac-12 are alike,” said Olin Hannum, Oregon State’s band leader.

 

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