A Day in the Life: Spidey

Zorro is a nobleman, Superman is a reporter and Spidey (no, not Spiderman) uses "a job in athletic marketing" as a cover for his secret identity as the man behind the grin.

"I go non-stop when I'm in costume," Spi-T said. "I figure, where's the fun if you're not completely exhausted?"

Spi-T, as he prefers to be called, said that because it was impossible to drink water once he was in costume it was extremely important to start chugging water three days in advance in preparation for game day and to eat a hearty breakfast.

"I'm a Lucky Charms guy myself," he said.

Before the game, he warms up by doing some stretches.

But Spi-T isn't the only student who wears the furry face. Spi-lo and Spi-fus alternate with Spi-T for their chance to see the world through Spidey's eyes.

"The three of us all have really different personalities so we all bring something really different to the mascot," Spi-T said. "For instance, I love to dance in front of the crowd, whereas somebody else is a real big schmoozer and another one is a fan of scaring the children."

Although, Spi-T estimated that the machine-washable costume weighed 10 to 15 pounds he said that he didn't need help putting on his armor unless he was wearing the new 10-foot inflatable suit. He said that they've only used the inflatable suit for basketball games since he's not very mobile in it and people expect him to be jumping around at football games.

Spi-T said that people are generally extremely friendly and receptive to Spidey but there is a mix.

"The mean people are funny because, I mean, Richmond is a small school," he said. "So I'll sit next to them the next day in class and I'm like you were a total pain in the butt, but I can't say anything. It's really interesting because you get to see a whole different side of people. People will look at you and be like 'Spidey you're so ugly!' and you're just like 'cause I picked the costume...'"

This year, Spi-T said that Spidey will be traveling a lot more with the football team and getting more involved in cheerleading practices. The three students are thinking about choreographing some dances for Spidey to go along with certain classic songs for the games.

"I'm the one that loves to dance," Spi-T said. "So now when you see Spidey up there krumping you're gonna be like 'Hey! I know that kid!"