A love letter to Gritty
When Gritty was unveiled in September of 2018, it’s safe to say that most Flyers fans and the general public were a tad confused. When it was announced that the Flyers were finally getting a mascot after many years, I expected it to be a type of bird or some type of mammal not….Gritty. At first, I thought Gritty was a practical joke because he kind of looked like an offspring of Chewbacca and the Montreal Canadiens mascot Youppi!. The mascot world hadn’t had such a polarizing addition like Gritty since the 2012 Summer Olympic mascots “Wenlock and Mandeville” who looked like scraps of metal that came to life. The national media had a field day with Gritty as our very tall orange creature became a media sensation making an appearance on a laundry list of the morning and late-night shows.
In his debut season, Gritty won a Shorty Award, ziplined from the roof of the Linc, went streaking during the Stadium Series game, and recreated a famous magazine cover of Kim Kardashian’s. He was a welcomed distraction from a Flyer’s team in turmoil who fired their GM Ron Hextall, HC Dave Hakstol, and was at the bottom of the standings for a majority of the season. Throughout that 2018-19 season, most Flyer’s fans would talk more about what Gritty did than the guys that played on the ice.
Gritty is so great because he embodies the spirit of Philadelphia sports as you love him if you’re from Philly and have a deep hatred of him if you’re not. Most Gritty fans didn’t seem to be the ones at first but instead came to love him when he was getting constant hate from the rest of the NHL and surrounding media. The most jabs against him have un-surprisingly come from Pittsburgh Penguins fans who have no room to talk as their mascot IceBurgh looks a half thought out high school mascot. But honestly, the hate towards Gritty makes me more protective of him because he is ours and uniquely Philly.
When the Flyers are at home, you always can count on a video of one of Gritty’s intermission and in-game hijinks to appear. In the Flyer’s 2021 campaign, Gritty has danced to the TikTok created “Ratatouille the musical”, jumped into a ball pit, tossed his way oversized hat for 2 hattricks, and been painted like “One of those French girls”. Gritty provides a welcomed comic relief for such an intense and fast-paced sport of hockey, and a welcomed distraction for a Flyers team that has had some frustrating moments throughout the season.
Gritty is essentially the representation of every Flyers fan as we’re often called annoying, over-passionate, too loud, and Claude Giroux obsessed. Gritty is not going to go anywhere anytime soon, and I’ll continue to defend him every step of the way.
Featured image – CBS Philly
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Categorized:Flyers Unique Columns