Nothing brings out the big kid lurking inside Joby Giacalone more than his alter-ego, Cosmo the Sheepdog. When he steps into that costume and puts on that huge dog head with the big, floppy ears, he can do anything. "All inhibitions are gone," Giacalone said. "All eyes are on you. When you put that costume on, people expect you to be entertaining." Richmond's Sports Backers Stadium was the site yesterday of the opening of a two-day "mascot training camp" put on by Giacalone.

He runs Mascot Consulting, a Charlottesville-based company that provides training camps for veteran and mascot wannabes up and down the East Coast. "It's a tough business to break into," Giacalone said. "You can be the best mascot, but if there's not a team that's willing to have a mascot, you're going to have to find a real job."

Giacalone has a real job. He's a director of programming and systems development for the University of Virginia's Health System development office. But he also works as Cosmo the Sheepdog, a character he created, for minor league-sports and charity events. He spent five years as a mascot for the Charlotte Knights minor-league baseball club in Fort Mill, S.C. He spent half a season with the former Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, then two years with Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies.

"Most people just think mascots are like, 'Give me a six-pack of beer and I'll run around like a crazy person,'" he said. But "you always have to be planning, thinking about what you're going to do next." The camp's participants included Diamond Duck of the Richmond Braves minor-league baseball club; Kickeroo of the Richmond Kickers professional soccer club; Trax, a moose representing Utica College in New York; Titus the Tiger from Shady Spring High School in Shady Spring, W.Va.; and Panda Guy, spokespanda for the Potomac Valley Den of Good Bears of the World International, a children's charity in Washington.

The group performed last night at the Richmond Braves and Kickers games, and will be performing today at the Special Olympics Summer Games at the University of Richmond and the Richmond Speed arena football game tonight. Yesterday's instruction was part serious discussion, part comic relief. The participants talked about how to work the crowd, what their limitations were and how to handle negative situations. Some shared stories of being mobbed by little kids or getting beaned with peanuts by fans, like Richmond's own Fred Adkins, aka Diamond Duck. Jamie Hogan, who performs as Kickeroo and formerly was the Gator for the Richmond Renegades, admits he's like a big kid when he's in costume. "My IQ goes down 50 points when my head goes on," he said.

The camp costs $150. But neither the cost nor the distance kept New Yorkers Paul Ward and Jay Lehmann from driving nine hours to Richmond. Ward, who's a junior at Utica College, and Lehmann, a junior at Hamilton Central High School in Hamilton, N.Y., perform as Trax the moose for some of the college's sporting events. It was a good opportunity to learn from veterans. "There's more involved than I really thought about," Ward said, adding that being a mascot is "the best weight-loss program." The suits vary in weight, but most are between 20 and 30 pounds dry. Get them wet, and that adds even more weight. They can also be expensive. Giacalone's suit is worth about $4,500.

Andrew Hill, a senior at West Virginia's Shady Spring High School, was the driving force behind his school's mascot, Titus the Tiger. "I basically said I would provide the suit," to replace an old, unused suit, he said. He raised $150 and bought a new tiger head and paws.

Among the pointers Giacalone stressed: Make friends with the security personnel, ushers, management staff, players and even season-ticket holders. Hogan said he gets to know the referees so he can incorporate them into his performances at games. "I find out if I'm allowed to mess their hair up, or dig in their pockets and show them a card," he said.

Most of all, Giacalone said, have fun. "If you are not having fun, the fans are going to see that," he said. "If you are, they're going to see that and feed off it. "You'd be surprised, what you think is lame can work," he said. "It's about being able to recognize an opportunity to entertain all of a sudden."

Humphrey Liu is Giacalone's wrangler. He shadows Giacalone when he's working to make sure he remains safe and to help with equipment. He watched yesterday as the guys, in costume, tried to work their way through a line dance for this weekend's performances. "The head goes on and they just turn into animals," he said.