Life of Cy: under the mask
5/3/2023
Viewed in the millions and cherished by the thousands, mascots are just as much a part of athletics as the athletes.
Maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but the reality remains that most every sporting team and event will have a mascot, and each mascot will have its own life force.
Dan Bieck was one of those life forces.
Bieck, now living in Norwalk, attended Iowa State University in the early 1990s and was one of the school’s mascots, switching between Cy and Clone from 1991-1993.
After pledging to Delta Tau Delta, one of Bieck’s pledge mates, Brian Buttons, who was a former mascot himself, informed Bieck about the opportunity to be Cy.
“At that time, they’re saying there’s roughly probably 200 applicants, and you have to give a written essay of why you want to be a mascot, why you would be good,” Bieck said with a smile. “That cut the applicant pool down in half.”
Bieck knew he had to get creative in order to stand out from other applicants, and a brilliant idea came to mind to spoof an interview with legendary ISU basketball coach Johnny Orr.
“We had an old-school audio recorder, and I had them (Bieck’s friends) come through and enter, pretend they were Johnny Orr, the old basketball coach, and Johnnie Walker was interviewing me, and that got me past the first hurdle.”
The current Cy costume weighs roughly 10 pounds, according to recent mascots. Bieck was not as lucky when it came to what he needed to wear.
“The old-school Cy, which was roughly 10 feet of rebar, I’d say 50 to 70 pounds,” said Bieck.
Bieck was the last man to don the old-school Cy outfit, which had been in use for decades before and even featured in a photo with the legendary Louis Armstrong.
Mascots are continually finding their way into some sort of hijinks on the sidelines, and Bieck was no stranger to this.
Recounting one of the many stories from his tenure, Bieck explains that it’s common for mascots to get into “fights” with each other and allow the home mascot to “win.” However, at Kansas State, a mascot may have overstepped the unspoken agreements.
“He hit me with a right hand, spun my friggin’ head around, and it snapped my chin strap. It turned my whole head about halfway around. Now I’m completely blind, and he takes me out. He kicks me, or something, knocks me down, and all of the sudden the stadium becomes very loud,” said Bieck. “Next thing I know, tuba players from the band are on top of him, and a couple of guys ripped him off.”
Bieck doesn’t hold resentment, as he told the story with a grin, but he did make it clear that the Kansas State mascot needing to only feature a headpiece is “cheating.”
“That’s not a real mascot,” he said.
Bieck singled out one of his favorite memories as being part of the Special Olympics.
“That was actually one of my first dates with my wife,” as his then girlfriend, Jen, would often join him when Cy needed to travel for events.
“I’d be a hugger. So usually, at Special Olympics, every kid would have a hugger. They run the 50-yard dash, and their mom or dad or volunteer or someone would be a hugger when they come across the finish line. They’d be some of the best people you’ll ever meet. But at one of them, I was the only hugger, and it just turned into a mad dash. They didn’t stay in their lanes, and they just pummeled me down on the ground. That will always be one of the highlights of my life,” said Bieck.
Post-Cy life has treated Bieck well. During his time as a mascot, he expected attending the typical events, but hadn’t considered all of the charity events and volunteering that came with it. After moving to Illinois to start his own veterinary clinic, Bieck wanted to continue what the life of Cy had started for him.
“I was volunteering probably at too many things stretching myself thin, but I’m trying to be more of a part of the community,” he said.
Bieck moved back to Iowa and claims he’s never leaving.
“I’ve said for years. If you could put Iowa on the beach, you’d have heaven. But then everyone would move here and ruin it.” ♦
