With an athletic program best known for its men's tennis squad and a long-standing reputation as one of California's most liberal, granola-loving enclaves, UC Santa Cruz is the last place you'd expect to find one of college sports' most famous (and beloved) mascots. Playboy.com met the Banana Slug courtside for a talk about Zen meditation, his hippie heritage and the advantages of having two sets of 'nads.

Playboy.com: What's the Banana Slug's natural habitat?
The Banana Slug: The forest. Our campus is located in a redwood forest that overlooks the Monterey Bay. When it gets rainy up here, the slugs like to come out, and they work over the ground and create mulch and take care of all the little problems in the forest.

PB: Okay. But what's the Banana Slug's natural habitat on campus?
BS: I go to all the basketball games, and I especially like to go to all the volleyball games.

PB: What are some of the Slug's best moves?
BS: The Slug loves to do kick worms -- you know, you kind of move the crowd into an old break dancing routine. I also like to do a couple of back spin moves here and there, maybe take a couple of free throw shots, plus a little heckling on the sidelines.

PB: Tell us about your fans.
BS: Slug supporters are called "Slug Ooze." They wear yellow shirts and get into the game and get everybody hyped up. So far, I've never had any problem rolling down the stairs and falling on my butt, thanks to them.

PB: Why do you have such universal appeal?
BS: Everybody loves cheering on the underdog, and we're the constant underdog. People don't take us seriously. Everybody else in the country thinks Santa Cruz is a hippie town that lives in the 1960s and is constantly smoking pot and dropping acid and driving Volkswagen buses around, and so they kind of take a shine to the school and the team.

PB: What's your game day routine?
BS: This is Santa Cruz, so we're more bohemian than some places. I like to start off with a little meditation to get in the zone and visualize what my game plan is going to be. I warm up with the athletes and get them pumped up and ready to go. Once the game starts, I'm on the sidelines keeping the crowd lively.

PB: What happens after the game?
BS: We're one of the top party schools in the nation. You can put two and two together.

PB: Do you feel the Banana Slug is a good representation for competitiveness and athletic prowess?
BS: Simply being a Slug speaks for itself. It's easy to be a bear, it's very easy to be a tiger, it's very easy to be an eagle -- there are tons of them. How many schools in the country have a banana slug as their mascot? One. It's not easy being a slug, you know. People laugh at you at first. But you know what? I earn their respect. Anyway, [the opposing mascot] definitely doesn't want to go home and tell its friends that a slug kicked its ass.

PB: Do you prefer to appear at men's or women's games?
BS: The Slug has no preference. I go either way.

PB: Do your two sets of genitalia give you extra sex appeal?
BS: If I were to walk into the Playboy Mansion, everyone would fall in love with me.

PB: But banana slugs can be kind of violent. Sometimes they bite off the male genitalia during copulation.
BS: I cannot confirm or deny that.

PB: Do you think that's part of how you turn people on?
BS: Well, you know, some people are into that. So whatever floats your boat.