How do you take the measure of a mascot? Is it the ability to pump up the crowd when the game's going badly? Is it athleticism, creativity or community involvement? Is it cuddliness, orneriness or just plain silliness? Or is it the ability to kick the snot out of the other mascots during the annual UCA Mascot National Championships (including that darned Big Jay from the University of Kansas)? It's all of those things, which is why Chip, the University of Colorado's costumed buffalo, has won that contest two years running and earned his place among the animal elite.