Greenman Makes Men's Basketball Debut

(Check out Todd Shellock '11 and Derek Chatham '10 as "Greenmen" at the Jan. 23 Tampa Bay Lightning game.) 

When Todd Shellock ’11 of Blackwood, N.J., was looking for a Halloween costume last fall, he came across a “Greenman” suit, a replica of what Charlie from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” wears in episodes of the show. He decided that this would be the perfect costume, but little did he know, this would also be the perfect way to get noticed in the sport management world.

In Fall 2009, Shellock, a sport management major and public relations minor, was assigned a project in Professor Tim Newman’s Sport Marketing class to increase the support for varsity athletics throughout the campus. 

“My idea was to dress as Greenman because he is green and our school color is green, and I already bought the suit,” he said. “I would simply be wacky like Charlie is in the show at sporting events on campus.”

Originally the plan was to lead the “March of the Spartans,” from the Student Union to the playing field, before men’s soccer weekend home games.

“I would stay in the suit the entire game, chanting with the other student fans in Screamin’ Green shirts who traditionally stand along the fence opposite the bleachers,” he said. “But I soon found out it was too hard to watch the games through the costume. I am a diehard fan, so this was a problem.”

In addition, as the sports editor of The Spartan, he needed to be able to see the game so he could write about it.

“I decided only to wear the suit as the teams take the field,” he said. “I storm out after the national anthem and yell random stuff related to York College athletics to the fans along the fence, as well as the fans sitting in the bleachers section.”

Because he had such success with men’s soccer, other fall sports athletes contacted him to ask him to appear at their games. Shellock believes that his presence at the games has led to an increase in support for YCP athletics, the ultimate goal of the class project.

“The games are more fun for the students who are not big on sports,” he said. “One of my roommates comes to the games solely to see me run around as Greenman, ‘making a fool of myself,’ with which I won’t argue.”

Since his classmates and most of his friends knew of Shellock’s plan to dress up as Greenman, it has been hard for him to keep Greenman’s true identity a secret.

“Those who know I am Greenman try to play along, saying things like, ‘Is Greenman going to be at the game today?’ or, ‘Tell Greenman I said hello,’ as if I am the only one who speaks to him,” he said. “I guess in that sense I’m similar to Peter Parker, who seems to be the only one who can snap a photo of Spider-Man.”

After a successful fall semester as Greenman, Shellock came back to campus in January ready to continue where he left off, even though his project was technically over.

“If people are enjoying it, I am going to keep doing it,” he said. “Greenman is catching on all over the country, and at least one suit can be seen at most sporting events.”

This is something Derek Chatham’s boss at the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted in on after seeing YouTube videos of Greenmen in action at other hockey games.

Chatham ’10 of Elkton, Md., a sport management major who is completing his required work experience with the Lightning, knew Shellock was already doing this back at York so he recommended him to his boss.

“Derek’s boss wanted us both to appear as Greenman at one of the Lightning’s games,” he said. “They flew me to Florida so I could not say no.”

While in Florida, Shellock trained Chatham on what Greenman does during games – including chanting and using props. The duo made their debut on Jan. 23 against the Atlanta Thrashers. 

“Because it is loud at hockey games we decided to use more props such as a microphone to pretend to be singing the songs and signs that said ‘ha, ha you are in time out’ and ‘cry me a river’ that we held up to opposing players in their penalty box,” said Shellock. “It was an amazing experience. We were on the JumboTron most of the game.” (See YouTube video.)

When Shellock returned to campus he was even more confident that a career in sport public relations was what he wanted to do with his life. Even though Greenman was the one who was asked to appear in Tampa Bay, it is Shellock who plans to take full advantage of the attention.

“This is certainly something I could share with prospective sports employers when they ask what I have done to promote a team,” he said. 

This winter Shellock has a “few tricks up his sleeve” for men’s basketball games, in particular. 

“You will have to wait and see,” he said. “I will give the fans what they want.”

At the end of the Fall 2010 semester, Shellock will hang up his Greenman suit, and most likely, put on a three-piece suit for his required work experience.

“I am definitely excited about the future and where I will end up,” he said. “I know it will be somewhere in sports.”