Androgynous EURO 2008 Mascot Twins Need a Name

What is it about football tournaments and lame ass mascots? Just when we were getting over the mental image of that half naked lion Goleo from the World Cup along comes the unveiling of the mascots for the 2008 European Championships.

The mascots are twins and their spiked hair is supposed to resemble the mountains of the two host countries, Austria and Switzerland. Lame. The twins are currently without a name and no one is quite sure of their genders.

Fans in the two countries can choose from the names “Zagi and Zigi”, “Flitz and Bitz” or “Trix and Flix”.
However, one newspaper has already pointed out that “Zigi” is a slang word in the Swiss German dialect for “cigarette”.

“Trix” is also more commonly used as a girl’s name in Switzerland (an abbreviation for Beatrice or Beatrix), prompting one journalist to ask about the gender of the mascots.

“They are both boys — I assume,” was the hesitant reply of Austrian football association president Friedrich Stickler.

That would explain why the one in red appears to be wearing a skirt. We’ve always wondered a bit about those Swiss men.

The mascots will be featured on about half of the 2,000 products associated with the tournament and one can only hope that they are a bit more successful at selling shit than that no good Goleo.

Anyone care to take a crack at naming these two creatures?

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Category: Europe, World Football