Ever hear of "Furry Fandom"?

While I was busy honing my craft in Detroit last weekend, a large group of adults were convening in Pittsburgh to share their mutual love of dressing up like animals. Called Anthrocon, this convention of what are playfully called "furries" brings some 4500 people together who spend lots of money. Our 75 conferencees in Detroit pales in comparison. Clearly, more folks enjoy being sports mascots than do writing opinion columns for a living. "Anthro" is derived from the word anthropomorphic as in anthropomorphic animal. 
    Now I did not know that this convention was being hosted in Pittsburgh, until my niece who was visiting her beau in that fair city, told me. I knew furries existed because of an episode of CSI, but I thought it was a boutique fetish. It strikes me as ironic that at the time the furries were mulling around the Steel City, I was in the Motor City posing with Paws, the mascot for the Detroit Tigers (picture above).
   The appearance of Paws during one of our conference breaks spurred a conversation with another conference attendee, Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News, who said he had once donned the outfit of his home city's beloved Phanatic, the green potbellied furry thing that defies classification but is immensely popular. He explained how heavy, cumbersome and smelly the costume was. (Apparently, in the world of sports mascots, there are often several people who take turns assuming the role. It makes for a variety of aromas since the costumes are often very heavy and poorly ventilated.)
   Which leads to me to ponder how furries find comfort and pleasure in wearing them. Heck, I can't even wear a Halloween mask without having a panic attack. But that's me.
   So what is it that furries derive from packaging themselves in animal guises? Or perhaps the better question is: Is it anyone's place to criticize them or poke fun? From the looks of it, they hurt no one, in fact, they don't even speak when they are in character. They prefer exaggerated gesturing and miming as a means of communication.
   Wait a minute. That sounds exactly like a mascot. I guess Shakespeare was right. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet."