The joke is likely on us.

When Gritty was first unveiled I felt there was a reasonable chance he’d be going the Phil E. Moose route. An extreme error of judgement. A boner, if you will. But it took less than 24 hours – like, way less – for him to be embraced as the evil monster he is and for the Flyers, to their credit, to own it… which maybe was their plan all along.

Gritty showed up on the Tonight Show with America’s Mascot Jimmy Fallon last night:

https://youtu.be/PLNBO1T9FHE

This feels like a Brian Roberts play. Once Gritty showed up on Good Morning America the other day, where our nation goes to clap and woop, how long do you think it was until the Comcast CEO said, Gritty, that’s our word! Get me Fallon. The Flyers are quite literally owned by Comcast NBC Universal Global Dominance Media Conglomerate, so they can spray his orange veneer in all sorts of kid-friendly directions until he eventually becomes too big for these britches, goes to LA and, yep, you guessed it, wins a Cup.

There’s always a Jeff Carter reference in there. Always.