In this edition of the Hudson River Blue Roundtable, John Baney, Andrew Leigh, Matthew Mangam, and Oliver Strand stretch their analytical minds to the breaking point by taking a closer look at Sky, the pant-less, Timbs-wearing pigeon mascot introduced by New York City FC yesterday.
Oliver Strand: Let’s start with a gut check. Sky Scraper the Pigeon: Thumbs up or thumbs down?
Andrew Leigh: It’s a thumbs-up in part because it’s the culmination of something born organically among fans of the club, calling them the Pigeons. It took years and years of outsiders doing it and more and more fans embracing it for the team to fully embrace the fowl, but I’m glad they’re now all-in.
Matthew Mangam: Thumbs up. There’s nothing wrong with adding a mascot, and I think the club did a great job. The fact that it’s a pigeon is also awesome, considering NYCFC is unofficially referred to as “The Pigeons” from time to time.
John Baney: Thumbs up. “The Pigeons” is objectively the club's best nickname because, as Andrew put it, it’s the most organic. As someone who’s spent a weird amount of time researching this topic, I’m confident in that assertion. Mascots aren’t necessary, but if the kids like them, and we needed to pick one, a pigeon is the obvious choice.
Welcome to the club, Sky!
Mark Radigan: Thumbs up for sure! It’s been cool seeing the club lean into the “Pigeons” moniker, and adding a mascot is a great touch. It should be a hit with the young fans as well.
John Baney
OS: How do you like the look? The pigeon is friendly but not a total goof, and it isn’t athletic — it looks like it belongs in the stands, not on the field.
AL: The fitted, the jersey, the Timbs: Sky is a prototypical New Yorker come to life in anthropomorphic pigeon form, all it’s missing is the blue “We Are Happy to Serve You” paper coffee cup.
MR: While I dig it, I can’t sit here and say my first thoughts weren’t “that’s pretty goofy.” It’s like the club tried to combine every New York stereotype into a Disney-style Pigeon. I can only imagine what its accent would sound like.
MM: Some may think the mascot looks silly, but I’m a fan. Sky looks happy, fun, and interactive. I agree that the mascot looks like it belongs in the stands, but I’m sure Sky will be great pitchside before the game and at halftime. Also, the purple feather under Sky’s neck — which is a nod to the 7 train — is a great touch.
JB: I’m gonna be honest, I think Sky looks pretty goofy. But as I write this out, it feels exceptionally weird to be insulting the look of a cartoon bird, so…you do you, Sky.
Mark Radigan
OS: What do we think of the name? Sky Scraper is a mouthful when it comes to a mascot, but Sky doesn’t tell the full story. I’m not sure what else to name it. Pidge? Borough? Yerrrr?
MM: Although long, Sky Scraper ultimately works because it’s a nod to the city, which is something the club always strives to do in its branding and marketing.
AL: Sky for short is nice and neat, reminds me a bit of Sly the Fox, who was mascot for the then-New Jersey Nets in the ‘90s until they moved to Brooklyn.
JB: Sky is just fine, I think.
OS: Personally, I like that Sky wears Timbs, even if they legally can’t call them that. If anything, I wish the Timbs were a little more exaggerated. What do you like – or dislike – about the mascot?
AL: While it’s always disorienting when a mascot is pantsless, I appreciate that Sky isn’t wearing a full kit.
JB: The Timbs were absolutely essential, and it’d be weird if Sky wasn’t wearing them.
MM: I don’t really have anything specific that I don’t like about the mascot. I think if Sky wore a full kit, it would look weird, so the fact that they simply have the hat and jersey works perfectly.
Mark Radigan
OS: Will Sky be a success? If/when this club next wins a title, will we want Sky in the trophy lift?
JB: I think a mascot is a pretty low-stakes endeavor. How do you even measure mascot success? If they go viral for absolutely violating visiting fans like Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot? Or if they jump on a live ball like the Carolina Panthers’ Sir Purr did in 1996? Maybe Sky will stick one in at the back post in the Hudson River Derby this year, and knee slide past Redd in celebration.
MM: I don’t see why Sky wouldn’t work. A mascot is always a fun and interactive addition to a team, so I’m confident Sky will be cool. We’ve already seen weirder things happen when NYCFC won MLS Cup in 2021 – I’m looking at you, Ronny Deila – so when the club wins its next title, Sky has to absolutely be a part of the trophy lift.
AL: The team has lots and lots of marketing to do, what with the opening of a whole stadium next year. Sky is all part of the big puzzle, the latest wrinkle the team introduces as it continues to get transformed heading into Etihad Park. First, it was the nomenclature (death to “NYCFC”), then it was the club crest, now the pigeon: Changes are everywhere.
MR: So long as Sky resonates with the fans and is a boost to the stadium atmosphere, I can’t see a world where this isn’t a success.
Michael Battista
OS: Unlike most pigeons, Sky has four-fingered hands on the end of his wings. If Sky fist-bumps you, will you fist-bump back?
MM: Always.
JB: Indubitably.
MR: Without question.
AL: Sky looks like they would break out an elaborate, multi-step handshake when greeting anyone, I’d just do my best to keep up.
