It's Gritty's World Now

You will have to understand, if you’re to keep reading and we’re to keep writing, that Deadspin is a pro-Gritty shop. There are allegedly some people out there who don’t like the new Flyers mascot. Frankly, those aren’t the sorts of people we want around here.

Gritty, who is furry and orange and googly-eyed, made his debut yesterday before a group of adoring young fans, a decidedly receptive audience. How would he fare in the big leagues? Well, he won over Twitter pretty quickly by leaning into his weirdness:

Monday night, Gritty showed up for his first day of work, in a preseason Flyers-Bruins game where the final score was Who Cares–Let’s Talk About Gritty.

Gritty ate it:

Gritty caused trouble:

Gritty did the Macarena:

Gritty...got booed?!

It is possible Flyers fans don’t deserve Gritty.

Gritty’s draggin’ that wagon:

Gritty is a star:

Look, who is a mascot really for? It’s for kids. If grown-ass sports fans can get something out of it, that’s just a bonus, whether it’s laughter or even just a vague feeling of unease. Most mascots are forgettable because they’re focus-grouped Poochie types. Not Gritty. Gritty is good because he is unrepentantly strange. Sports could use more weirdness.