Penn St. Mascot Suspended For Drunkenness, Lion Around (Sorry)

Life as a mascot can't be easy. The suits are hot, they aren't always the trendiest fall fashions and you have to appear on those inane Capital One commercials. It's enough, apparently, to drive some to drink. This seems to be a particular problem with the Penn State Nittany Lion, a suit currently donned by Clint Gyory.

Police found Gyory just before 3 a.m. Aug. 1 passed out in the bed of a truck on the 200 block of East Fairmount Avenue. He was cited for underage drinking -- after blowing a .187 in a portable Breathalyzer test -- and for public drunkenness and criminal mischief.

Police say he had broken a rearview mirror off a vehicle and took it.

One must almost applaud Gyory's dedication to his cause -- a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit and the inexplicable bit about removing a rearview mirror -- but also his mindfulness about safety concerns, deciding to sleep in the back of a truck instead of driving drunk.

Unsurprisingly, the university did not view things this way, particularly since the last Penn State mascot also had an alcohol-related meeting with police. Unfortunately, James Sheep did not have the good sense to stay away from driving in the incident that cost him a trip to the Rose Bowl.

Gyory has been suspended for the month of September. Considering this means he will miss the sweltering Alabama heat in the showdown with the Tide and three games against mid-major and FCS opponents, it's certainly not the worst time to sit out. In the interim, his successor must avoid whatever it is that makes the Nittany Lion so fond of the bottle.