Image Courtesy of Twitter
Okay, so I lied a little bit… I said I was going to talk about the new goalie-pad sizing rules that were implemented this year in the NHL, but that’s not as important as GRITTY. The new mascot on the block in the league. The Phil(th)adelphia Flyers, the lesser successful NHL team in the state, just before the start of the regular season introduced their first mascot since the failure of “Slapshot” in the mid-1970s. And I must say, thank you meme gods for that!
So first, what the heck is this… thing? His origin story starts with renovation in the dungeons of the Wells Fargo Center, home arena of the Flyers. Construction was breaking through walls when they found a hidden cavern… and within the cavern, came crawling out Gritty. Seeming to be a homeless crack-addicted Sesame Street reject, he was for some reason not subdued, but welcomed to the hockey world, in the hopes of brightening children’s days. Yeah, good PR move there Philly! He’s over six feet tall, has a huge gut, googly eyes, and a thick fire-red beard. Oh, and he’s freaking scary looking, to be honest.
His reception at first wasn’t great. Parents were quick to post videos of their children crying and screaming at the sight of him (which I am assuming it’s a “him” by his beard). Then to add to his menacing looks, his first day on social media showed just how violent he really was by threatening the Penguin’s mascot, the beloved Iceburgh. But that’s where Gritty is in the wrong. Iceburgh is a movie star and knows his way around a fight, after taking on Jean-Claude Van Damme in the masterpiece that was Sudden Death. The blockbuster thriller rocked theaters in the early ‘90s. Don’t test him, Gritty.
Image Courtesy of Twitter
But is this really a shocker coming from Phil(th)adelphia? After living through the decades of the great Philly Phanatic, the Phillies mascot, Gritty’s demeanor of understanding of pop-culture, memes, and situational humor doesn’t come as surprising at all. Fans across America love the Phanatic, and Gritty seems to be a similar rendition only with a better grasp on modern comedy.
In his first appearance, the Flyers’ faithful was loving the sight of the grand Muppet. Not because they thought he was cute, but because he was the complete opposite. Gritty began the game by repelling from the arena rafters down to the ice to begin the pregame festivities. After that, it was a normal night for a mascot. Firing t-shirts, photo-ops, dancing, the whole shebang. Then, during an intermission, it happened. Gritty took a tumble on the ice, in front of the whole crowd, and what a sight it was! That meant there would be even more memes to be made, and Oh have they been made.
For some reason, Courtesy of Golf Digest
One major thing to be taken away from this that is more of an interesting observation of society more than it is Hockey insight. Is this where we are in culture today? We would rather have a creature that looks menacing and shows violent tendencies, all because it is funny? And it isn’t even that Gritty himself is funny, what people find funny are the reactions and jokes others are having. Interesting, isn’t it?
I am both amused and disappointed. Obviously, it is going to be difficult for people to rally behind a mascot such as Gritty, but then again, it is entertaining. I will be interested to see what kind of cheers or mascot-traditions Gritty will be able to come up with–that is, if he is still the mascot in the future. I will say, though, that most mascots are just repeats of other. To see a new mascot idea like this should be inspiring to new teams or old teams looking for a change, I guess.
I think Gritty is amazing and a great PR move by the Flyers at least short term. Gritty definitely spiked interest in the Flyers, coming from a guy who doesn’t follow hockey I have been on the Flyers’ Twitter account more time this month than ever before in my life. Now, Gritty may scare the shit out of all of the younger Flyers fans but as someone who hasn’t had nightmares about muppets in like 6 months I’m excited to see more of Gritty.
I was honestly so confused when I saw the new mascot. What in the world were the Flyers thinking? After reading your analysis, I guess it makes sense. The best way to get free publicity is to go viral and with a mascot as crazy (and ugly) as Gritty, it’s hard not to. The different personality of the mascot gives it a whole other dimension that mascots haven’t really reached, maybe for a good reason. Your analysis of the whole situation was very funny and a good read!
I am glad you talked about Gritty this week! I was very skeptical of Gritty at first. I instantly rejected the idea of Gritty but then I accepted him because of the different persona that Gritty portrays in comparison to the traditional mascots.