Gritty celebrates 1st birthday with parade through Philadelphia
It him.
PHILADELPHIA - The once scoffed, now beloved mascot of the Philadelpia Flyers celebrated his first birthday Tuesday.
To mark the occasion, Gritty embarked on a one-man parade from Penn's Landing to Philadelphia's Art Museum.
"Today I walk through Philadelphia, river to river, and summit Dr. Balboa's steps," Gritty wrote in a birthday poem. "For you, but really for me."
Gritty — who has been described as a ghastly empty-eyed Muppet with a Delco beard, a non-binary leftist icon, an orange menace, a raging id, and an antihero — has come a long way since his debut, when he was met with calls for euthanasia.
"It’s been one year of you hating me (people don’t forget), loving me, loving me, and then loving me some more," Gritty said in a statement.
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Since the mascot’s turbulent September 2018 unveiling, he has scored a Broken Goblet Brewing beer in his name, a formal resolution issued by Philadelphia’s City Council welcoming him to the city, a BBC profile and an inordinate amount air time on late-night programs across the country.
He also humbly nominated himself for TIME Magazine’s "Person of the Year."
One year later, Gritty basked in all of his birthday glory.
"Is rioting legal on Gritty's birthday?" writer Brian Hickey asked the Philadelphia Police Department on Twitter.
Philadelphia police responded that it was a "hard no," but asked Gritty for his thoughts before giving a final answer.
Highlights of Gritty's birthday excursion included stealing a woman's baby stroller, which he gleefully pushed down the street as he received high-fives from passersby.
"What is a year, really," Gritty pondered as he concluded his birthday quest. "Just 365 measly days? No. Much more. Today I embarked on a journey to find all of you, but in the end - the end of 3 short miles - I found my truth. And what is that truth? It me."