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In the spirit of the NCAA’s March Madness, Pa. Gov. Shapiro’s office ran an online tournament to find Pennsylvania’s best mascot.
The bracket was shared on the state office’s social media accounts, starting with a “sweet 16” of Pennsylvania sports team mascots, representing major and minor teams as well as college sports. Competitors included Temple University’s Hooter the Owl, Franklin the Dog with the Sixers, Steely McBeam at the Pittsburgh Steelers and Phang the snake with the Philadelphia Union.
One glaring omission was Birdy McBirdface, the mascot for the Philadelphia Phoenix ultimate frisbee team.
In most matchups, Philly-based mascots overcame the ones from other parts of the Keystone state.
The notable Cinderella story was Coco, the mascot for the Hershey Bears American Hockey League team, who upset Pittsburgh Penguins major leaguer Iceburgh in the first round. Coco was no match for the Eagles’ Swoop, though.
The Hawk for Saint Joseph’s University defeated Franklin to reach the final four, before losing to Flyers mascot and chaos agent Gritty. The Phillie Phanatic beat Swoop in the other final four matchup.
In the final between the Phanatic and Gritty, the Phanatic emerged as the champion.
The result feels like a victory for mascot blue bloods, with the nearly 50-year-old Galapagos Island native overcoming the social media savvy new blood, who’s approaching its eighth birthday.
We are equal parts excited and terrified to see how Gritty responds to this result.
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