Greetings to all!

I’m back to discuss the wonderful world of mascots. Now that you know me a bit better, I’ll tell you about how my career developed.

Without the help of Jean-Claude Tremblay, I would not be here to tell you about my adventures as a mascot. He helped me discover the profession and taught it to me from A to Z. I started my career with Jean-Claude as a mascot for companies, shopping centers, hockey and baseball tournaments, hospital visits, television shows, and some major events in Québec.

That gave me the chance to travel across Canada, meet many people, and experience some incredible moments.

Speaking of interesting moments: I met my wife while I was Alexis the Lion mascot! She was working at the Alexis-Nihon shopping center in Montréal and I was the mascot there almost every week. Since I can’t talk or be seen when I work, I managed to conquer her just by flirting (it took a while), and I accepted her invitation for dinner when she asked me. It was love at first sight, and we got married a year and a half later. We now have a 6-year-old daughter named Gabrielle. Sometimes, what life has in store for us is incredible.

A few years later, I got the opportunity to be the major mascot in Québec : the Montréal Expos’ Youppi. You can’t imagine how important that was for me. My dream became reality on opening day when I had to perform in front of about 56,000 people. The ambiance was amazing. The most incredible moment was during the national anthems that were sung by local star, Julie Masse. I remember that when I was behind the second base looking at the scoreboard, I realized where I was in my career. For a few seconds, some tears went down my cheeks as I fully realized that I was fulfilling my dream. But that’s not all. After the national anthems, I was supposed to pick up the singer with my 4-wheeler, but I was so happy that I forgot and she had to walk off the field. Those who know Julie know how attractive she is and my friends always made fun of me saying that they would never have forgotten her on the field.

As Youppi, I lived memorable events in and outside of the stadium. I mingled with players, journalists, fans and famous people. But, the hospital visits will always remain engraved in my memory (Hi, Chantal Brien!). The Ste-Justine Children Hospital in Montréal is very special for me. In another article, I’ll tell you more about Chantal’s story and some other stories.

During my first season with the Expos, my life was really exhilarating as Youppi. I was a rookie at the same time as players like Larry Walker, Marquis Grissom , Delino Deshields and Gardner.

Furthermore, my room was close to the visitor’s lockerroom, so I met many major league players.

The likeable: Barry Larkin, Bryn Smith, Terry Francona, Bill Doran and the Reds and Cards players.

The detestable: Tim Wallach and Spike Owen for the Expos along with Barry Bonds, George Bell and Tommy Lasorda.

Those are the most memorable, anyway. Why? Wallach and Owen simply didn’t like Youppi. Barry Bonds was detestable when he was with the Pirates and he could be rude without respect anytime. As for Bell, I once played with his cap and he reacted by hitting me on the nose. Finally, the short fat Tom Lasorda (that’s how we’d call him) didn’t like when I was on the Dodgers dugout. During one game, he asked the referee to eject me from the game!

More often than not, I had fun dealing with the players. I also enjoyed dealing with media people such as Rodger Brulotte, Jacques Doucet and René Marchand during the winter promotion Expos caravan.

There were many funny moments with Youppi, which I’ll cover eventually, such as losing a shoe, spilling food, getting a woman to cry, playing with a vibrator, breaking a table, etc, etc.

In conclusion, being Youppi was unforgettable and fulfilling for me. It’s the ultimate dream for anyone being a mascot in Québec. I really enjoyed it and will never forget it.

I’d like to thank Jean-Claude and the Montréal Expos for their support and for the confidence they showed toward me.

See you soon! In the next article, I’ll talk about getting back to reality and going to the minor leagues! If you have questions or comments, you can send me email or visit my website at www.promascot.com.