My choice for the Unofficial 2004 Olympic Mascot is the little owl they sell in all the tourist shops in the Plaka. The owl is of course the symbol of Athena but this one is special. Notice the care taken in the way they eye was glued slightly askew to give him the appearance of being a little unbalanced and extra cute which as we know will lead to more sales. I don't have a name for it but how about Tina?

But choosing this little creature was not that easy. There was lots of competition. For example....

When the American tobacco companies said they were wrong to use Joe Camel to target American children and they were retiring him we didn't know they were retiring him to Greece. Now he has become one of the biggest and most recognized celebrities in the country and has helped make Greece one of the highest in cigarette smokers per capita.

Athens is known for its population of street dogs and it would be tough to find a more appropriate mascot than this one who not only knows how to hang-out but can apparently read Greek! Her name is Dogopotomus.

One of the ducks from the National Garden would have made a great mascot. But which one?

These little smiley balloon faces that are sold in the Plaka would make an excellent mascot and they are cheap too.

Yakova is just one of many cats running wild in Athens but if you cleaned him up a bit he would make a fine mascot. Just as long as he didn't bite or scratch anyone.

Though actually from the island of Poros this pig was under strong consideration for mascot except that he smokes. His name is Mangas.

The Actual Winner

In the end they did not choose any of my suggestions for Official Olympic Mascot just as they did not choose my suggestion for Official Olympic song. Instead they chose 2 Gumbyesque creatures that looked like giant amoebas, named Athena and Phobios who did little but get in the way of the people sitting behind them trying to watch the game since they were each about 7 feet tall. I am not sure how the merchandising went but in 2020 they can rarely be found, while my little owl is still selling like hot-cakes in Monastiraki. Maybe next time they will listen to me.

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