Portland Trail Blazers
The team's mascot is Blaze the Trail Cat, a two-tone silver-colored mountain lion, which has been the team's official mascot since 2002. Prior to Blaze's debut, the Trail Blazers never had any official mascot. A popular unofficial mascot was the late Bill "The Beerman" Scott, a Seattle beer vendor-cheerleader who worked for numerous pro teams, including the Trail Blazers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Seattle Mariners. Scott worked for the Trail Blazers from 1981 through 1985.
Thunder (mascot)
The original Thunder, also known as Thunder Sr., was retired in 2004 after serving 11 years as the team mascot. Magness-Blake replaced him with Thunder II, a 1994 Arabian gelding registered as Winter Solstyce. He was Magness-Blake's personal pleasure riding horse prior to taking on his new role as team mascot. As Thunder II grew older, Magness-Blake anticipated the need for a replacement and added a third gray horse to the team. He became known as Thunder III, a 2000 Arabian gelding registered as Me N Myshadow. Thunder III initially served as the understudy for Thunder II, and was trained specifically for the role of team mascot from his start under saddle.
Thunder leads the team onto the field at the beginning of each home game, and typically gallops from one end of the field to the other whenever the team makes a touchdown. He may also make a run after a field goal, but not a safety. Each time he makes a run, a four-person crew runs down the sidelines to the end zone to escort Thunder back to his sideline position. Extra handlers ensure the safety of the horse and surrounding people. Thunder's helpers also remove any manure that he might drop while on the field. As well as his support crew, Thunder has a bodyguard who travels to the games. Thunder shares mascot duties with Miles, a human who wears a horse head mask atop a Broncos uniform.