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Australia piques furry interest in 2021 Summer Olympics with anthro characters

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (6 votes)

Not since the 1980s have anthropomorphic animals and the Olympics come together more than in the news out of Australia in the past few weeks. As the Summer Olympics get ready to begin after a year's delay due to the global pandemic, one artist has brought some furry thunder for the teams Down Under.

Could the Phillie Phanatic return to New York?

Your rating: None Average: 3.8 (15 votes)

Phillie Phanatic by Terry Foote/CC-BY-SA This mascot will be licensed, not sold.

Designers of the Phillie Phanatic 'sculpture' have threatened to terminate their copyright transfer after 35 years, per a lawsuit filed by the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

Crucially, the Phanatic was not originally a "work for hire", but owned by its creators:

Initially we leased the Phanatic to the team for appearances and paid a royalty to them for the licensed products we did. The first year of licensing we did over two million dollars in sales in the Philly area. Eventually we had a number of successful programs with teams who wanted to be able to control of the characters and were able to enforce the copyrights so we sold the Phanatic and then others to the teams.

Many made light of the mascot's pending "free agency", with the Washingtonian promoting a move to D.C. But for teams in a similar situation, such disputes could mean serious payouts - at least for lawyers - and given the time periods involved, the issue might soon touch on works in furry fandom.

So, who's your horse at the Kentucky Derby?

Trojan Nation
0% (0 votes)
Suddenbreakingnews
0% (0 votes)
Creator
0% (0 votes)
Mo Tom
0% (0 votes)
Gun Runner
0% (0 votes)
My Man Sam
0% (0 votes)
Oscar Nominated
50% (1 vote)
Lani
0% (0 votes)
Destin
0% (0 votes)
Whitmore
0% (0 votes)
Exaggerator
0% (0 votes)
Tom's Ready
0% (0 votes)
Nyquist
0% (0 votes)
Mohaymen
0% (0 votes)
Outwork
0% (0 votes)
Shagaf
0% (0 votes)
Mor Spirit
0% (0 votes)
Majesto
0% (0 votes)
Brody's Cause
0% (0 votes)
Danzig Candy
50% (1 vote)
Laoban
0% (0 votes)
Cherry Wine
0% (0 votes)
Fellowship
0% (0 votes)
Adventist
0% (0 votes)
Dazzling Gem
0% (0 votes)
Discreetness
0% (0 votes)
Votes: 2

American Pharoah becomes first Triple Crown winning horse in 37 years

Your rating: None Average: 2.9 (15 votes)

Image copyright Bob Carr of Getty Images
Image copyright Bob Carr of Getty Images

The streak is over! Flayrah is running the first story about a non-anthropomorphic animal since September of last year.

Also, colt American Pharoah has won the Triple Crown, becoming the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and, finally today, the Belmont Stakes since Affirmed in 1978. American Pharoah is only the twelfth horse to win all three races since Sir Barton became the first in 1919.

Tennessee Moonshiners win first FBA Championship

Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (4 votes)

FBA LogoThe Tennessee Moonshiners defeated the Edmonton Totems in five games at the conclusion of the 2014 FBA Finals, giving the Eastern Conference club their first title in franchise history. The team’s four-year point guard Aragon Fisher (Otter, G) won 2014 Finals MVP.

The contest made history by being the first FBA Finals series to feature a team out of Canada, with the Totems improving on their previous year when they reached the Western Conference Championship series but failed to enter the Finals. The Totems were heavily watched by fans of 2014 Most Valuable Player Rocky Caracal (Lynx, G) who looked to cap a 12-year career with his first title. The Moonshiners drew fans with 13-year veteran Jamie Velasquez (Seagull, G/F) whose bumpy career has seen her cut from multiple teams, most recently by the Galveston Sand Dollars, yet earning the 2012 Most Improved Player award. Attendees also watched fan favorite Paul Teronura (Otter, C) in his first Finals appearance since 2009, before he won the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year award.

Newly published: Fred Patten's 'Funny Animals and More'

Your rating: None Average: 5 (7 votes)

Funny Animals and More Funny Animals and More: From Anime to Zoomorphics, based on Fred Patten’s weekly columns from Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research animation website, was published March 26 by Theme Park Press. It is available in paperback and digital formats, and on Amazon.com.

The book is about animation and comic books rather than specifically anthropomorphic animals, but cartoon and CGI funny animals are a major theme. Topics include anime cat girls; PokĂ©mon and Monster Rancher; Astro Boy and Atomcat; how a popular 1970s anime TV series led to the import of thousands of baby North American raccoons into Japan as pets, whose descendants are ruining thousand-year-old Buddhist and Shinto shrines today; animated Summer Olympics mascots like Misha the bear cub, Sam the eagle, Hodori the tiger, and Cobi the sheepdog, from 1972 to 2012; Patten’s favorite childhood comic-book funny animals like Amster the Hamster, Doodles Duck and his nephew Lemuel, Nutsy Squirrel, Dunbar Dodo, and SuperKatt, and how he would still like to see them animated; Crusader Rabbit; rats in animation; Reynard the Fox in animation; and Disney’s forthcoming 2016 Zootopia.

2013 Furry Basketball Association Finals begin

Your rating: None Average: 4 (6 votes)

FBA logoThe 2013 FBA Finals will begin Sunday, July 21, with the Dakota Bikers (58-22) traveling to face the Tallahassee Typhoons (66-14) for the seven game series. The series will be featured on FBA Courtside: LIVE!, a podcast hosted by FBA play-by-play commentator T. Matt Latrans (Coyote) and a series of guest color commentators.

Episodes will be broadcast live. Currently scheduled color commentators include Patrick Suarez (Jackal) on July 21, Ollie Royale (Otter) on July 23, Hector Louis (Rat) on July 25, and Nightfire Kitsura (Squnx) on July 27. Archived episodes of the podcast are available.

The votes are in! Porcupine 'Pachi' revealed as Pan Am 2015 mascot

Your rating: None Average: 3.4 (5 votes)

Pachi the PorcupineEarlier today, Pachi the Porcupine was revealed as the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games mascot, in front of thousands of children at the annual Kids CBC Day in Toronto. CBC featured the mascot in action on their Toronto evening news.

Of the six finalists, Pachi was also most-liked by the public, in the online voting contest that gathered over 33,000 votes, according to the official press release. The voting contest results contributed 10% to the final score, along with other criteria including "embodies the spirit and values of the competition" and "has 'strong kid appeal'".

Organizers received 4130 submissions for the mascot, which was narrowed down to 108 in review before selecting the six finalists.

The "Pachi Pals" – Grade 8 students Paige, Fiona, Michelle, and Jenny, from Markham, Ontario, part of the Greater Toronto Area – designed the porcupine as a class project.

Correction (July 20): 33,000 was the number of votes received for all six finalist designs, not just for the winning entry as I initially reported.

2013 FBA Playoffs begin June 1

Your rating: None Average: 4.6 (5 votes)

FBA logoThe 2013 Furry Basketball Association Playoffs begin on Saturday, June 1, with a weekend of games between eight teams. Informal voting is underway to choose which games will be covered on FBA Courtside: LIVE!, a radio podcast featuring sports announcer T. Matt Latrans (Coyote) and friends bringing live coverage of FBA action.

Which is the best mascot for the 2015 Pan American Games?

Beaver
12% (4 votes)
Moose
15% (5 votes)
Owl
18% (6 votes)
Porcupine
32% (11 votes)
Raccoon
24% (8 votes)
Hat twins
0% (0 votes)
Votes: 34

Vote to choose the mascot of the 2015 Pan American Games

Your rating: None Average: 4.4 (5 votes)

The 2015 Pan American Games are running an online vote until May 5 to choose their mascot. The six finalists, selected from 4,130 entries, are:

1) a Maple-leaf headed beaver 2) a moose 3) a multi-colour owl
4) a porcupine with multi-color quills 5) a raccoon 6) twins wearing hats

See more: Original finalist designs, prior to conversion to Pan Am colours and style by illustrator/animator James Caswell of Sheridan College.

FBA accepting character submissions for 2013 Draft

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (3 votes)

The Furry Basketball Association is accepting character submissions for the 2013 FBA Draft.

FBA logoAll fans are invited to submit new characters, regardless of participation level in the FBA or knowledge of basketball. With a fresh emphasis on backstories, submissions no longer require details regarding the stats or playing style of the submitted characters. There is no limit to how many characters may be submitted this year by a contributor.

Submissions will remain open until May 1, or until 100 are received, whichever comes later. Players will be considered for participation in the 2013 FBA Draft, when teams will select new players to join them for the league's 5th season. The 2013-2014 season begins October 31.

Review: 'Divisions', by Kyell Gold

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (9 votes)

'Divisions' cover by BlotchDivisions is set in Kyell Gold’s Forester universe (Waterways, Green Fairy, Winter Games, etc.), and is the third in the series featuring the tiger Devlin Miski and the fox Wiley Farrel (Out of Position, 2009, and Isolation Play, 2011). The series is narrated in the first person by both Dev and Lee in mostly alternating chapters.

Each novel documents a year in their life. In Out of Position, 2006, the two seniors at Forester U. meet, become secret lovers, and at the conclusion Dev, on Forester’s football team, becomes the first “out of the closet” football player. Isolation Play, 2007, starts immediately after Out of Position and deals with the aftermath of Dev’s and Lee’s revelation: Dev’s hostile teammates, shocked parents of both, a reporter determined to use them in a sensationalistic story, and facing life after graduation.

Now in Divisions, 2008, Dev and Lee pursue equally their professional careers, their personal lives, and the results of their open homosexuality.

Divisions is a romance novel intended for an adult audience only and contains some explicit sexual scenes of a primarily Male/Male nature. It is not for sale to persons under the age of 18. (publisher’s advisory)

Sofawolf Press, January 2013, trade paperback $19.95 (xvi + 367 pages; on Amazon). Illustrated by Blotch.

Sparrow chosen as mascot of 2013 Athletics Championships

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (5 votes)

Moscow 2013 World Championships in Athletics MascotIn 2013, Moscow will play host to the 2013 World Championships in Athletics. On Wednesday, organisers unveiled the event's mascot – an anthropomorphic sparrow in a blue T-shirt and running shoes.

The sparrow was amongst more than 200 designs submitted by the public over the Internet. Mikhail Butov, the general secretary of the Russian athletics federation, explained why the sparrow was chosen:

The bird shares a lot of qualities with the athletes: It's quick, light and nimble.

Anthro armadillo 'Fuleco' picked as 2014 World Cup mascot

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (9 votes)

FulecoBrazilians cast almost 1.7 million votes in choosing Fuleco, an anthropomorphic three-banded armadillo, as the mascot for the 2014 FIFA World Cup games (soccer). A fursuited mascot is featured in the BBC's TV coverage.

As one of the most high-profile ambassadors of the event and a member of a vulnerable species, the Official Mascot can play a key role in driving environmental awareness. The name Fuleco™ is a fusion of the words “futebol” and “ecologia”. This seamlessly represents the way in which the FIFA World Cup™ can combine the two to encourage people to behave in an environmentally friendly way. In voting for the name Fuleco™, the Brazilian population has clearly demonstrated an affinity for both themes that the name epitomises. (press release)

But while Brazilians approve of the armadillo as a mascot, the way the name was chosen – a three-way online poll – is less popular. Over 23,000 signed a petition requesting a "more democratic" process, with some asking for a name featuring the vulnerable species itself.