I’ll never understand the fascination with the walking Cy. For one cardinals don’t walk, they hop. And the face looks just like the Louisville Cardinal mascot.
Unfortunately, once we identify with the cardinal-like character, it tends to take over. I don't care about making Cy look like a real cardinal. I think of our mascot as being cardinal-colored, but not necessarily a cardinal bird. This allows me to care more about the cyclone-related features. The more Cy looks like a cardinal-colored animated cyclone, the better for me. And the extra features, such as fists and boots are fine, because Cy is a battling cyclone.