Pay Up, or We're Sending Barney Over

By Sora Song

This week in a court in Ravenna, Italy, Western Kentucky University will square off with Mediaset, a TV company controlled by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. WKU, whose mascot has been the fuzzy-slipper-like BIG RED, right, since 1979, claims that GABIBBO, the mascot for Mediaset's nightly show Striscia la Notizia (Stripping the News), is a clear rip-off, and is suing for $250 million. In support of the claim, Big Red and the kid who plays him are traveling to Italy to do interviews. But are they a match for the Italian blob's charm? Gabibbo had a best-selling album, and like so many Italians, he's better dressed.