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TORONTO -- A Japanese comic book and a ubiquitous rodent combined to form the inspiration for the 2015 Pan American Games mascot. Pachi the Porcupine was unveiled on Wednesday after a nationwide contest was held among school children to design the international sporting events cartoon character. Four Grade 8 students from Buttonville Public School in Markham, Ont., had their design selected among 4,000 entries. "(The name) came to me once when I was reading my manga book, which is a Japanese comic book. There was a Japanese phrase called pachi pachi, and in English it translates to clapping with joy," said 14-year-old Paige Kunihiro shortly after the mascot was revealed in a ceremony in downtown Toronto. "We know that in the Pan Am Games theres going to be a lot of cheering on our favourite athletes and superstars." Kunihiro put together the winning entry with classmates Fiona Hong, Jenny Lee and Michelle Ing -- all of whom are 13 years old -- after physical education teacher Mari Ellery had them enter the contest as part of a school project. Pachi has 41 quills, one for each country participating in the Pan Am Games. The contest required that all entries use the official colours of the Games, so the quills are multicoloured, with each representing the qualities Pachi has: green for youth, fuchsia for passion, blue for collaboration, orange for determination and purple for creativity. "We saw that there were so many colours left, so we wanted to incorporate all of them so we put them on the quills," said Ing. Added Lee: "What better way to take advantage of the quills." The girls chose a porcupine for the anthropomorphic mascot because its indigenous across North and South America. "We were initially doing research about Canadian animals and Michelle came across the porcupine and we looked into that because we were like, well thats unique," said Lee. "She found out that they are found in all of the countries that are participating." Olympic gold medallist Rosie MacLennan, from Toronto, and Paralympic gold medallist Tyler Miller, from Kitchener, Ont., were also on hand to introduce Pachi in front of hundreds of children at Kids CBC Days. "Mascots are the face of the Games and something that I remember fondly from the Games I have competed at," said MacLennan in a statement. "Pachi is definitely lovable and memorable."Texas Rangers Gear . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Fake Rangers Jerseys . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. https://www.cheaprangersbaseball.com/ . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Texas Rangers Shirts . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Custom Texas Rangers Jerseys . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.RICHMOND, Va. -- Colt McCoy doesnt believe the adage that the backup quarterback is always a teams most popular player.I think Kirk is pretty popular right now, but its where I am, the Washington Redskins second-stringer said, talking of the teams franchise player, second-year starter Kirk Cousins.McCoy, though, has plenty of fans. Every day after practice, he heads for the sidelines at the teams training camp and spends up to a half hour signing autographs, posing for pictures and interacting with the public.Ive been doing a hundred a day at least, he said. I try to mostly hit as many kids as possible. Its really neat to see lots of young Redskins fans out here, just young football fans in general, boys and girls. They may not know who I am, but Im going to give them an autograph and wish them luck.Entering his seventh NFL season and third in Washington, McCoy has never had a more stable situation in a Redskins uniform. The departure of 2012 top draft choice Robert Griffin III after last season has not only minimized the drama of training camp, but it solidified McCoys status as the backup.Being No. 2 isnt exactly McCoys career goal, but his acceptance of his role is appreciated.Hes got a great mentality about balance, knowing Kirk played really well last year and hes the starter, but `I want to play. So the only way Im going to get to play is if I show them when I do have reps that I know what Im doing with them, quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh said. He takes a lot of pride in thaat.ddddddddddddhe other thing he does is he adds to Kirks game. Hes communicative, hes supportive -- all the things that you want in somebody whos not getting a chance to be on the field. But what are you bringing to the room? What are you bringing to the table in the quarterback meetings? He does a great job with that.McCoy had made 25 starts in his career, with 21 of them coming during his first two seasons in Cleveland. Last year, with Cousins emerging, he played in just one game, completing 7 of 11 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown.The Redskins, however, won the NFC East with a 9-7 record before losing in the playoffs against Green Bay.This year, McCoy said, the team anticipates building on that success.I think theres a sense of excitement in the locker room because we realize if we do things the right way, if we stay healthy and we take full responsibility for our jobs and what were supposed to do, we can accomplish a whole lot, he said. Last year, I think, just set the stage.And if Cousins stays healthy, McCoy knows his part in that success will be limited to watching from the sideline, sharing any insight he has from his vantage point. And being ready if hes suddenly called on to play.Theres not a whole lot of glory in what I do, he said, but if Im needed to be counted on, Ill be ready.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '