Western President Gary Ransdell awaits his debut as Big Red before the men’s basketball game against Florida International Thursday night at Diddle Arena. No one in the crowd knew Ransdell was inside the suit, except for his wife, Julie. “It’s been burning inside me for 22-years,” said Ransdell, who was on the planning committee that developed Big Red more than two decades ago. After 30 minutes of working the crowd and anonymously performing as Big Red, Ransdell said that it was fun. “The kids are neat. The students are neat. But the adults don’t quite know how to take Big Red.” H. Rick Mach/HERALD ARCHIVE