After considerable teasing, the Golden State Valkyries officially have a mascot.
The first-year WNBA expansion franchise introduced her Monday night following an elaborate campaign that featured a faux web-cam focused on a giant spotted egg.
Her name is Violet. She is a raven.
Violet was introduced at halftime of Monday's home game against the Connecticut Sun. In the lead-up to the game, the Valkyries created a webpage featuring a "Chase Center Nest Cam" focused on the egg that would presumably hatch the new mascot.
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Fans in the stands were provided with binoculars for what the Valkyries dubbed "Birdwatchers Night." Then at halftime, Violet was revealed in a video with a first-person — ahem, first-bird view of Violet's imagined hatching.
Violet then showed up in the Chase Center tunnel and danced her way to midcourt for her official introduction.
There, Violet joined the dance team for a brief routine, surely a sign of more to come.
The hatching routine elicited memories of the considerably clumsier reveal of the Colorado Rockies mascot Dinger the dinosaur in 1994.
Budgets and production values for such reveals have come a long way in three decades.
Golden State is off a strong debut season, despite the loss of All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury. The Valkyries entered Monday's game at 15-15, good for the eighth-best record in the league out of 13 teams and in position for the final spot in the postseason.
Now they have a mascot to cheer them on for the stretch run.
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