Diego Torero wins Capitol One Mascot of the Year

Oliver Wood

Ever since his appearance at the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament in Tampa, Diego Torero has been getting huge amounts of publicity. And now he is about to enter a whole new realm of mascoting. On Tuesday Diego Torero will be named Capitol One’s Collegiate Mascot of the Year in a press conference on the campus of the University of San Diego.

The idea of Diego Torero has been the foundation of the University of San Diego ever since its early existence. He was once just the Torero, but in 2007 he was named Diego by the student body. Though the award flatters Diego he is still not satisfied.
“I feel that this award is great for just me, but I am an even bigger fan of the athletes, and the award should be going to the fans and the athletes, not myself,” said the modest Torero.

Diego is best known for his crazy antics, which began during the 2007 WCC tournament. During the tournament Diego ran around the Jenny Craig Pavilion, took pictures with kids, high-fived loyal Torero fans and caused havoc to the opposing teams.
Diego rode this momentum during the conference tournament all the way to Tampa and the NCAA Basketball Tournament, where he cheered on the team to a win over the University of Connecticut and a close loss to Western Kentucky. After that game the town of Tampa became big fans of the University of San Diego, and that included Diego, whose popularity grew almost overnight.

“I remember when I arrived back at campus, I was just flooded with people trying to take a picture with me. I was just thinking a couple of days ago I was a simple Torero, that just loved to cheer on the athletics at this fine university, but now I am an overnight celebrity,” Torero said.

A local San Diego man, who will remain unnamed, entered Torero into the competition. After Torero became informed of the entry he himself was shocked to hear that me made it to the quarterfinals. “I was honored to be mentioned in the same breath of some hall of fame mascots, such as the Oregon Duck, Western Kentucky’s Big Red, The Stanford Tree and Wisconsin’s own Bucky Badger. All of these mascots set the bar for me, and now to be mentioned in the same competition is unbelievable,” he said.

The country became infatuated with Diego. With his long dark hair, pearly white teeth and muscular physique, he quickly became known around the nation. “I remember I knew that I was no longer a regular mascot when the San Diego Chicken appeared at a football game, and told me that he followed my work. I was just thinking this chicken is a legend around San Diego, he doesn’t even need to be talking to me, I am not worthy,” Torero explained.

Diego began to topple mascots during the Capitol One Mascot of the Year contest until he faced off against one of the best known mascots in college sports in the finals: Smokey the Dog from the University of Tennessee.

“I was honored to have made it as far as I did, but when I found out I would be up against Smokey, I really just had to sit down and realize the gravity of the situation, I was facing not just any mascot, but one of the most worshipped mascots in all of college sports,” Torero said.

Torero had a close battle and eventually beat out Smokey the Dog earlier this week to become Mascot of the Year. “When I found out, I was in absolute shock and grateful to all the fans that have supported me. I once was just known at a little school in San Diego, but now I have fans from the East Coast sending me mail.”

Torero will accept the award on Tuesday in front of what is expected to be a crowd of thousands at the JCP.

For now, Diego will go back to his regular routine of waking up and attending as many USD events as he possibly can. His new found celebrity is seen throughout campus, as he cannot even get through a hallway without being asked for pictures or an autograph. But Torero stays modest through it all. “Hey I may be mascot of the year, but all in all it’s the least I can do for the people that made me.” Just another day in the life of Diego Torero. Diego is still gunning for back-to-back titles, and will look to make 2009 a year to remember.