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Rocky unveiled as new Booyah mascot

By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent

ASHWAUBENON – With the aroma of booyah wafting through the air and a souped-up version of the fable of “Chicken Little” being performed, Rocky, the Green Bay Booyah’s new mascot, made his first official public appearance.

Fans of the former Green Bay Bullfrogs and curiosity seekers packed a conference room at the Ashwaubenon Public Library on Saturday, where the colossal chicken mugged for photos and dished out high-fives.

Later, the crowd was treated to booyah, the chicken-based soup.

If the seven-foot-tall poultry product minded, he didn’t show it.

Third-grader Miles Zepnick called the mascot “awesome” and said he felt the version of “Chicken Little” told with Rocky as the star was a better rendition of the old classic.

Rocky also passed muster with Miles’s elder brother, Mason, 13, a seventh grader at Lombardi Middle School, despite his earlier misgivings.

He was a loyal Bullfrogs fan and resisted the team’s change in name to Booyah at first.

Then he met the venerable beaked sage with the floppy orange feet and all but melted.

“I didn’t think I’d like it, but I do,” Mason said.

Jerry Menne of Ashwaubenon brought his grown son Mark to the library.

“He was visiting from California, and I knew they were going to unveil the new mascot, so I thought he’d enjoy this,” he said.

Menne had his photo taken with the chicken. He and his son awaited reaction from relatives after they sent the photos around.

A devout longtime Brewers fan, Brenden Kennedy, 20, showed up because his dad bought him a Booyah T-shirt.

After meeting other fans and being charmed by Rocky, he admits he may just end up a fan of the Booyah, too.

Which is a pretty good thing, especially since his dad bought a five-game package for him.

“We’d been in Green Bay 11 years and started going to the Bullfrogs games,” said Kennedy’s dad, Robert Kennedy. “We were sort of spurred by the building of a new stadium to migrate over to the other side (of the Fox River, to Ashwaubenon).”

“It’s pretty cool,” Kennedy said, giving the thumbs-up sign.

It was that new stadium, the Capital Credit Union Park, that lured Austin Hansen of Pewaukee up to the Green Bay area.

Hansen’s job might have a little to do with it, too. He’s assistant general manager of the Green Bay Booyah.

So why name the team after a soup?

“It’s a unique name – it’s regional to Green Bay, and we can do lots of new, fun things with the mascot,” Hansen said. “It’s just a new, fresh start with the new Capital Credit Union Park.”

Hansen previously worked with the Madison Mallards professional baseball team, owned by Big Top Sports and Entertainment.

Big Top owns the new Green Bay Voyageurs soccer team unveiled a few months ago.

Jenny and Ted Sarosiek hosted Bullfrogs players for two years and plan to host Booyah players this summer.

“We have them with us from about Memorial day to about mid-August,” said Jenny Sarosiek. “We really enjoy it.”

They’d long been Bullfrogs fans but attending a Host Family Appreciation Night one year prompted them to up their game.

“We thought this is a way we could help out and become more involved,” she said. “Since we have plenty of room in our house, we decided to do it.”

They’ve hosted players from New York, Nevada, Florida and Minnesota.

An added bonus of hosting team members is the positive effect the players’ presence has on their seven-year-old daughter, Josephine.

“She’s an only child, and this way, she gets to see what it would be like to have big brothers,” Sarosiek said. “They really embrace her and take an interest in her.”

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