Tracking proCanes - John Routh - Part III

Part III: John Routh talks about his most memorable experiences, what it feels like to put on the Ibis costume and much more! Click here to read Parts I & II.

pC: Name one of your most memorable experiences as the Ibis or Maniac.
JR: Well, probably it’s the Ibis, the Championship game against Oklahoma when we won was amazing.  There’s so many of them so it’s hard picking one.  The Oklahoma game was my first football championship. The ’85 baseball championship was my first real national championship even though in ‘82 I hung out with the team after South Carolina was eliminated but I wasn’t really part of the team.  So the ‘85 championship for baseball I was jumping on top of the pile.  I was supposed to be technically the Maniac not the Miami Maniac but everybody knew I was the Miami Maniac because I was wearing orange and green.  I went to Jerry Miles, the NCAA director, in the pre-tournament meeting and I didn’t do it the year before but for some reason I just felt like we were going win and I said “Jerry I know I’m supposed to be impartial but when Miami wins is it okay if I jump on the pile?”  And he said, “Yeah, oh yeah, well sure.”  Because we were like the 6th or 7th seed so he said “yeah if Miami wins, sure why not.”  When we got two strikes I looked over at him and gave him a thumbs up and he was like yeah go ahead.  So in the videos I’m jumping on top of the pile so it’s things like that that I remember.  There was a time, many times, they’d pass me up the stands and the Ibis would get passed up the student section.  They would start chanting “we want the bird, we want the bird.”  You know and I’d egg them on a little bit.  I’d charge like I was going in and then I’d stop.  And a few times we actually did it. 
 
I just remember one time when they passed me up and it was a blast because I’d go up and the crowd would be cheering, going nuts. It was slow going up because everyone would have to like lift and push but going down it was fast and I came down one time and it was like one whole fraternity decided to go and get something to drink and I’m flying down and literally slammed right into the seats.  They had moved!  There was a gap and I had bruises all on my back although it wasn’t a pleasant memory but being passed up really was a lot of fun and that was a way to connect with the students because it was there moment to shine.  Usually we were up by 30 points at that point so it was like alright let’s have some fun and do something other than watching football.
 
pC: Did you keep your identity?  Did people know John Routh was the Ibis?
JR: Well my name got out because I was here for so long but I don’t think there was ever a photo of me or anything.  And I’d try to sneak in and sneak out.  I’d look like the equipment manager when I was walking in.  Even in baseball, Mark Light is not that big of a ball park so I’d get in early enough to put my stuff away and then I’d kind of just walk around and that was the fun thing too because sometimes I would walk around get a soda and I’d hear someone say did you hear what the Maniac did last night, so the anonymity of it was kind of fun.
 
pC: The costume…I’ve seen those old papier-mâché heads were you in one?
JR: They had a big big head in ‘83.  I wore it one time at the spring game, that was when we were talking about me doing it [the Ibis] for the next year, and I said this thing [the head] is not workable.  I mean the head was so big, the hands were big, the feet were big.  The guy that did it was pretty athletic and did a good job during the ‘82 and ‘83 seasons but I wanted to do more of a comedy thing and be able to just go crazy so the company that did the Maniac redesigned the Ibis to what it is today and I helped in the design. I took some of the things about the Cocky costumes that I liked and some of the things about the Maniac that I liked and combined these two and that’s how we went from having a mouth like this (motioning hands real big) to having a beak so that’s when we redesigned it for the ‘84 season.  But that costume was a monster to work in.  The head was so big and hands were monstrous and the Ibis is a small bird so we brought it down to size.
 
pC: Talk about the feeling of putting on the costume.
JR: Usually before the games I’d be kind of nervous and that was one thing I always said that if I wasn’t nervous it might be time to give it up.  Even though I’d done it hundreds of times it’s kind of like an actor getting on stage, there is somebody there who’s never seen you perform before so you want to do your best.  A quote I heard from Joe DiMaggio was once he dove for a ball late in the season when they weren’t going to make the playoffs and they were winning 10 to 1 and they asked him why did you do that? He said: “well there may be one kid in the stands that’s never seen me perform so I wanted to give him my best.”  So I’d get kind of nervous before games by sitting in the football locker room, baseball is more laidback.  And the Maniac was kind of a loser you know, go play with the girls and the girl would always leave with another guy and I’d do the routines to where the Maniac would be the fall guy whereas the Ibis was tough and like a football team always had to win and the costume fit differently.  The Ibis has a chest patch so once you put that on it really started to get you pumped up a little bit and I was in the locker room where before the game it was deathly quiet.  The guys are just sitting there concentrating and so I’d get pumped up too.  It really was a neat thing. 
 
I wish I could remember more stories of what really happened in the locker room.  I was doing my thing and there were guys, like you see in the movies, hitting each other in the chest.  It was really the quietness that got you pumped up.  And I’ve always said over the years, the games that we played the worst were the games where the guys were walking into the locker room yelling “hey were gonna kick some butt”  the games that we really dominated, particularly games against Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Florida State, were the games where they were so intense that it was quiet before the game.  They had the intensity of, this is the game and we have to do it.  When you put on the Ibis costume, and you’re standing in front of these guys, you know it’s like going to war, I mean granted we know nobody is going get killed out there but there’s a feeling of these are my guys and I’m behind them and they’re behind me and even on the sidelines sometimes guys would come over when they would score a touchdown and I’d be in the end zone they’d hug me and high five me just as much as they would the other players which was kind of neat because they really accepted me as one of their own.
 
pC: Talk a little about he costume itself.
JR: The whole costume weighs 15 pounds it’s mostly the feet.   It’s really not that heavy.  It would be hot in any costume.  Billy the Marlin was a hard head and absolutely no air came in unless I was turned into a 30 mile an hour wind, then maybe.  But the Ibis was a relatively airy costume through the eyes and the mouth and some heat would go out through the top.  You know on a Saturday afternoon if it’s 85 degrees outside, you could assume it would be 110 degrees in the costume.
 
pC: You had to be relatively fit to stand that, right?
JR: Yeah I was back then.  Not now! [Laughter] 
 
pC: Did you train?        
JR: No, I did so many appearances, just running around in the costume was enough. The last time we played the Gators in a regular season in ‘87 it was September 6 about 92 degrees here, a 12 o’clock game.  I did some stuff before the game and normally I eat before but it was a big game and I was out on the field and worked the game and by the end of the third quarter I actually stopped sweating. It was the beginning of a heatstroke and they actually called the paramedics and hooked me up to an IV and then I went out and finished the game.  That was actually the game that I had and inflatable alligator and I strung it up on the goal post in the open end zone and by the end of the game the police came with their guard dogs and I actually threw the gator on the goal post and it was swinging and I was really close to getting the flag but there were like 30 seconds left and the play was at the other end so they didn’t see it but one of the police dogs actually got away and jumped at the gator! I was turned toward the student section and I hear this POP and I look back and the dog had the gator in his mouth! So, I went home and actually spent three days in bed with 104 degree fever.  I actually had a heat stroke.  I weighed myself and I had actually lost 17 lbs. So I started the game at like 160 and when I got home I was at 143.  I’d lose anywhere from 5 to 10 lbs per game but it was water weight.  Within a few days I’d gain it back.  I’d start the season at 155 lbs.  During football I’d lose about 10 lbs but during baseball I could lose up to 20 lbs in a season just because there were more games.
 
Back then we had five or six baseball games a week.  Back then, Tuesday, Wednesday and occasionally a Thursday we had a game and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The first year I was down here we played 65 home games.  We’d go from January 28th and play just about every day.  I’d lose 20 lbs easily during the season.
 
pC: Do you talk to the current Ibis?  Do you help pick them?
JR: I’ve spoken to a couple of the guys. I really don’t help in the selection or anything.  They do that all through campus but over the years I’ve spoken to some.  They’ve got it down pretty good.  These guys have seen other mascots performing over the years and know there’s a lot more you can do instead of just being a Disney mascot.  And these guys do a good job.  I’m very proud of both the Ibis and the Maniac and how they get out and entertain.  And it’s not easy.  I’d have friends who’d say you have the easiest job in the world and I would tell them fine why don’t you come over and put up the costume and they’d do my skit for about 3 minutes and then would ask “alright now what do I do?”  And I would say “Hah!”  It’s not that easy now is it? I’d really try to get into the character.  I’d truly think I’m Sebastian the Ibis and that’s one of the things that these kids seem to do.  You’ve got to be the character because it’s with the character you can get away with a lot more.  And one good thing is that they’ve kept the traditions.  The Ibis has always done funny things he’s always been entertaining.
 
pC: You mentioned the beak, I’ve always wondered why you twist the beak?
JR: That was more for TV.  I always saw every other mascot say were #1 even though they were number four or seven so I was just trying to think of something different.  Occasionally I would just put the beak over the camera and it was just one of those things that you use the costume in any way you can.  It’s something that you always know; that’s the Ibis when you see that, so it was more that I was just using the costume however I could.  It was just like I’d do a little a #1 spin around wave to the camera and then pull the beak kind of like saying alright I’m outta here.
 
pC: Did you ever just randomly go out to the Grove at night in the costume?
JR: Actually in the late 80s I had a Go ‘Canes van.  Oakland Toyota had donated it, it had go ‘Canes along the side and it had the U.  It was a great Toyota van.  So everyone knew where I was!  And people would go up and ask if that was Vinny Testaverde and I’d be like no, no it’s just me, but occasionally I’d just pop the head on and drive down US-1, but if I was going to do a birthday party I’d just pull in with the costume on.  It was more just driving around campus doing stuff.   On some days I’d put on the costume and just go over and hang out by the pool and hang out with the girls at the pool.  If I had a little extra time I’d do that.  And you know it was more about trying to promote the character.  You only saw the character at the games so this was a way of making the character more popular because if it’s something you see all the time [then the awareness rises]. That’s something I like about Donna Shalala, whenever she makes appearances she wants the Ibis there.  And that’s one thing I’m very pleased with about South Carolina that’s something they’ve done with Cocky.  When you see those mascots you know they are from South Carolina and the Ibis is from Miami.  That’s their identity and they identify it with the school. 
 
Part IV: John’s talks about the Ibis’ pipe, being hit by a bullet in New Orleans, Randy Shannon and the current state of the program and much more! Click here to read Parts I & II.