- Is it hot in those puma suits?
- Why "the little pumas?"
- Do you get free tickets?
- How can I be a little puma?
- How many games do you come to?
- How do you get along with the other fan
clubs in the stadium?
-
Aren't pumas black?
Is it hot in those puma
suits?
It's not as hot as you might think, but we do get
pretty sweaty in the puma suits. But hey, you've got to
make sacrifices for the Big Puma.
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Why "the
little pumas?"
Lance Berkman jokingly nicknamed
himself the "Big Puma," so we nicknamed ourselves "the
little pumas." It was on local radio, and we're
sticking to the idea that he was the one who suggested
the nickname, even if as a joke. There was a video link
but it got removed, so read this excerpt from an
article from espn.com by Jerry Crasnick:
"Berkman unveiled his
current nickname, Big Puma, during some juvenile banter
on a Houston radio show. He joked that the name fits
him perfectly because Pumas are so "fast, sleek and
deadly." He finds it infinitely preferable to "Fat
Elvis," the name he was briefly tagged with after an
appearance on Dan Patrick's former ESPN Radio
show."
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Do you get free
tickets?
Yes, in our dreams. We usually get the cheapest tickets
available ($7-10) and stand up the entire game. Still,
we're mostly college students spending our student
loans on tickets (and dozens of hot dogs on $1 hot dog
day), so we might have to miss a few games here and
there.
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How can I be a little
puma?
The
little pumas just started up as a small group of
friends that show up to all the games to support Lance
Berkman and the Astros. We're all good sports, don't
get excessively drunk at the games, and don't heckle
too much. If it sounds like you might fit this
description, and if you think you might look good in a
Puma suit, come on by the next game and talk to us.
We'll tell you all you need to know to become a little
puma. If you want to save yourself some money and the
embarrassment of being seen dressed like an animal,
feel free to come cheer with us anyway. We need all the
noise and enthusiasm we can get.
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How many games do you come
to?
We plan on going to all of the home games if possible.
There are a whole lot of games to go to, and that adds
up to a lot of money, so we might have to miss a few. A
lot of the little pumas are on a softball team that
plays on Sundays, so we might be lacking in numbers on
those days. Also, some of us go to UT in Austin, so
making games come September might be hard for some
pumas too. Still, we try to be out there for every home
game.
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How do you get along with the other fan
clubs in the stadium?
There's no rivalry between us and the other fan clubs.
We're all there to support the Stros, and we all get
along great. We've hung out with the Caballitos and the
O's Bros and they're really nice people.
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Aren't pumas black?
They can be, but theyre also brown. Pumas are the same
animals as cougars, people just call them different
things based on the region.
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