The official mascots of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver were unveiled yesterday. Inspired by first-nations lore and drawn in anime style, they are: Miga the Sea Bear, Quatchi the Sasquatch, and Sumi the Thunderbird.

Personally, I think they're rather cute and I'm sure they'll be quite popular with kids, but I'm a little bummed out that the Olympics committee didn't accept any of my submissions. I can't actually draw, but I thought I had some really good concepts and I would have definitely hired a professional artist to bring these magical mascots to life if any of them had been chosen.

But hey, don't just take my word for it! Here are my top 10 mascot ideas rejected by the 2010 Vancouver Olympics committee.*

10. Rufus, the flatulent beaver

9. Harvey, the belligerent Canada goose

8. Judy and Trudy, the same-sex married spotted owls

7. "Wake" and "Bake", the perpetually stoned moose brothers

6. Sammy, the sexually repressed salmon

5. Byron, the priapismic grizzly bear

4. Ziggy, the chain-smoking Zamboni

3. Youppi (he could use the work)

2. "Sunflower", the dreadlocked, trust-fund hacky-sack

1. "Merchy", the ambiguous, ubiquitous mascot

* No, I didn't really submit these to the Olympic committee, silly goose!

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