Champ: the lighter side

Champ is a Home Run for Local Baseball Team

For more than 400 years, Champ, the mysterious aquatic creature said to be living in Lake Champlain, has evaded any and all who have tried to prove his existence. But on June 18, the creature appeared before some 3,300 people who took photographs, recorded on video, and even touched this aquatic monster with their own hands.

Sound impossible? It's not.

You see, Champ is the mascot for the Vermont Lake Monsters (formerly, the Vermont Expos) baseball team. This furry, green sea creature, complete with fins and a tail, has been wowing baseball fans with his nutty, pre-historic antics since 1994. June 18 was the season home opener for the minor league team.

While some view the search for Champ as a quite serious matter, most people in Vermont are more than a bit skeptical about the existence of this pre-historic creature. But nearly everyone agrees that the legend is a fun and interesting part of the culture of Vermont and they would hate to see the legend disappear.

"I cannot scientifically confirm the existence of Champ, the sea creature in Lake Champlain," said Marie Heikkinen, public relations director for the Vermont Lake Monsters. "All I can say is that, from the perspective of the Vermont Lake Monsters, Champ definitely exists, because 3,300 people witness him live and in color at every home game!"

Champ the baseball mascot is just one part of the frenzy surrounding the years-old legend. There are t-shirts, coffee mugs, Champ-searching boat tours and more.

"Not many people actually think that there has been some sort of Loch Ness monster living in the lake for the past 400 years. I mean, come on," said Amy Vandale, a 19-year-old college student at the University of Vermont in Burlington. "But we love to talk about it. My friends and I will hang out near the edge of the lake and talk about sea monsters and things like that. It's kind of fun to talk about, and sometimes when you're staring at the lake, you have to wonder..."

The Lake Monsters said Champ has been the team's biggest star since he came aboard in 1994.

"Since we are a minor league team, players move on quickly," Heikkinen said. "But Champ has been the one sure bet for our fans and they love him."

An employee at the Science Center in Burlington, who asked not to be identified, said she has no idea if Champ exists. But she also doesn't think that all of the people who reported seeing the creature were making it up.

"Some people may have lied about seeing it, but I can't believe they are all liars," she said. "My guess is that they are seeing some type of large fish that hasn't been identified, yet. I doubt it is a prehistoric creature, though."

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