The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, the article is likely to be merged, redirected, or deleted.Find sources: "Spike the Bulldog" mascot – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Spike the Bulldog
University	Gonzaga University
Conference	WCC
Description	Anthropomorphic bulldog

Spike the Bulldog is the mascot for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs, also known officially as the Zags.^[1]

History

In Gonzaga's early football history, the teams were called the "Blue and Whites" or "The Fighting Irish". After a football game in 1921, a reporter wrote that Gonzaga fought tenaciously like bulldogs. Thus, that description became the new mascot. Over the years, Gonzaga has had numerous live bulldogs as mascots.^[2]

Human mascots replaced live dogs in 1980 when a Gonzaga student, Mike Griffin, wore a cape and called himself "Captain Zag." He remained the Gonzaga mascot from 1980 until 1982. A few more students donned the Captain Zag uniform before a bulldog mascot returned in 1985. Spike was named by Craig Evans a 6 year old of the assistant basketball coach Bill Evans. Lee Mauney, a student from Hatchie Bottom, Mississippi, introduced the Gonzaga crowd to the first costumed bulldog mascot in 1985. He held the role from 1985-88.^[3]

Spike has become synonymous with Gonzaga Athletics. In 2000, Spike rose to national prominence when he was among a group of mascots that appeared in Nike's "Welcome to Bracketville" promotional commercials for the NCAA Tournament.^[4]

References

^ "Athletics | Gonzaga University".
^ "Mascot". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
^ "Mascot". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2014-07-29.
^ "Mascot". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2014-07-29.

v t e Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball
Venues	Russell Gymnasium (1907–1958) Spokane Coliseum (1958–1965, 1979–1980) Charlotte Y. Martin Centre (1965–2004) McCarthey Athletic Center (2004–present) Spokane Arena (alternate, 1995–present)
Rivalries	BYU Idaho (dormant) Saint Mary's Washington
Culture & lore	Spike the Bulldog "Go, Gonzaga!"
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Gonzaga Bulldogs women's basketball
Venues	Charlotte Y. Martin Centre (1986–2004) McCarthey Athletic Center (2004–present)
Culture & lore	Spike the Bulldog "Go, Gonzaga!"
People	Head coaches Record holders
Retired numbers	21
Seasons	1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

v t e Gonzaga University
Located in: Spokane, Washington
Academics	Law
Facilities	Charlotte Y. Martin Centre Foley Center Library
Athletics	Baseball Washington Trust Field and Patterson Baseball Complex Men's basketball Women's basketball McCarthey Athletic Center Men's soccer Football (1892–1941) Gonzaga Stadium Spike the Bulldog
Media	The Gonzaga Bulletin KAGU
Related	Gonzaga University v. Doe Joseph Cataldo Aloysius Gonzaga
Founded: 1887