Big 5 mascots stop by Action News studio ahead of Classic Spirit Day

Big five sports tradition is alive and well in Philadelphia. What do we have in here? We have the Wildcat from Villanova. We have the Quaker from Penn. We have the Explorer from LaSalle. We have Hooter the Owl from Temple University, Mario the Magnificent, and we have the Hawk from St. Joseph's University. You got the game ball, Aliana. Thank you, Matt. And we also have our friends here as well. We've got Michael Sulcus, the GM of Xfinity Mobile Arena and Bob McCormick here with Toyota. This is your third year now being sponsored with the Big Five event. This is also huge. First, talk to us about... How this is, how do you prepare for an event of this magnitude? Yeah, this has been a great tradition that's been created over the last four years. And, you know, along with the support of Toyota, just the entire Philadelphia community has embraced this event, taking a longstanding Philadelphia tradition, making it even better. And we're so excited to host December 5th at Xfinity Mobile Arena. It's going to be a great day. This is wonderful. You've been flapping away here. You're giving me a nice, like, Beyonce breeze. I love it. Thank you. We want to see some tricks here. I know Wildcat has been ready to show us something. Woo! Okay, always ready. Let me see. Let's see that LeBron stepback. Oh, hey, that's in there. Okay, this ball is deflated, like you said. Hey, Bob McCormick, so you're a St. Joe's guy. Absolutely. Talk about the Big Five. I feel like it's our local Big Ten. You know, they have 450 teams in the Big Ten. Big Five is really Big Six. Why is it so important to keep the branding and keep that alive all these years? Well, first of all, the Big Five is distinctly unique to Philadelphia. Six colleges that, frankly, have great generations of tradition. They have great rivalries. You know, you take those teams and you put them in an arena. You have the cheer team. You have the band. You have the mascots. Obviously, what we have here today. You know, you have the streamers. And my personal favorite of the Big Five is the rollouts, which one school pits against the other. It's just great, great camaraderie. And frankly, from Toyota's standpoint, we couldn't be happier to support. Not only the men's, but the women's programs as well. It's just really about growing the game of basketball in Philadelphia. How do you stay partial, given your alma mater? Well, I'm going to take the Pope's line, okay? When I'm Toyota, I'm neutral, okay? But when I'm not, the Hawk will never die. Yay! Okay, okay. It is good to have the Pope on your side, though, isn't it? It is, right. I mean, he's a pretty big guy in the world. Okay, we've got some more tricks here. I know you've been itching. Let's see what you've got. Come on. Come on, what you got? We got some, OK, we got a little ball handling, yes. Not easy in those boots. We got the flick of the wrist. Who's next? OK, Drexel, come on, you're somewhat of a newcomer, right? Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, OK, OK, OK. There you go, Hawk. We'll be back. Let's see it. I love it. You know what I love about these mascots? They're well-represented men and women. We got the ladies, and we got the men behind these nice costumes. So oh, we got one. Woo! That was a miss. We're not going to judge it. We're not going to judge that first one. Sometimes the Hawkeyes aren't really all that great. The wings are in the way. We love it. I mean, the first game is LaSalle-Villanova tomorrow, right? How are we feeling? Who's going to take it? Who's going to take it? Come on, let's see the Royal Rumble right here, right here. Let's go. Let's go. Come on. Raise your hand if you're in NIL money. Who's got the NIL money? Number one? Not me. We don't talk about that here. Thank you so much for coming in early this morning, guys. First game tomorrow night, right? Yes. Yep, first game of the pod tomorrow night. It culminates in the Exide Mobile Arena, so exciting times. Thanks for getting these guys and gals out of bed this morning. Look at that. Well done. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Oh, the streamers. Oh, my goodness. The streamers are flying. That was fun earlier in the morning. Thanks, guys, for coming in.