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Sam the Olympic Eagle!
I’ve pulled out the ThunderShirt, created a calming cocoon of pillows in the corner of my bathroom, and put drops of lavender oil into my diffuser, and yes, I do that for myself every time I’m about to doom scroll through Twitter. But this time I’m doing it for my dog, because July 4th is Doogy Doomsday AKA Fireworks Armageddon! It’s the day when my poor dog frantically skedaddles away from terrifying and foreboding sounds that aren’t me warbling along to a Beyonce song or some shit. It’s America’s birthday, and this year’s birthday party for America may be as depressing as the birthday party my mom threw for me where the only little friend of mine who showed up was forced to by their mom (and yes, that was this year). But still, I’m going to use this holiday to pay tribute to a patriotic icon from the 80s: Sam the Olympic Eagle!
Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympics in 2028, and it will be the third time the city has hosted. I know, Los Angeles is every Grindr trick’s dream because it’s always ready to host. L.A. hosted for the first time in 1932 and again in 1984. I grew up in 1980s Los Angeles, and I don’t remember much about 1984, but I do remember that the song of the summer of ’84 was my mom screaming at the top of her lungs every day about how the Olympics made the hell-ish L.A. traffic even more hell-ish. And I’m sure she regularly cursed out Sam the Olympic Eagle because he was the official mascot of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games.
Sam the Olympic Eagle is not to be confused with Sam Eagle from The Muppet Show, or Sam the Eagle from Disneyland, or all of the other ten thousand eagles named Sam. Sam the Olympic Eagle was designed by Disney artist Bob Moore, and of course, he was based on Uncle Sam. Sam the Olympic Eagle made his grand debut at the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. And a day later, Sam made his L.A. debut. Trick must have gotten plastered on the flight back from Moscow because his ass fell during his grand L.A. debut. Drunk mess!
Like all Olympics mascots, Sam was everywhere during the 1984 Summer Olympics. You couldn’t escape him! If he wasn’t on TV, he was on someone’s keys, or housing someone’s morning cup of coffee and cocaine (it was the 80s):
Sam even starred in his own Japanese cartoon series where he had a human girlfriend named Canary and battled a roach on a skateboard:
After the 1984 Summer Olympics ended, Sam the Olympic Eagle was not out of a job. For a time, he hosted some track and field events at Mt. SAC in Walnut, CA. As for what Sam the Olympic Eagle is up to now, I’m sure he’s sitting back, and looking at his time at the L.A. Olympics while thinking, “The traffic was pretty fucking insane.”
Pics: Tony Duffy/Getty Images, eBay, eBay, eBay