Yesterday was mascot day in Long Island. And while I’m not sure that’s different from any other day in a place where the hockey team, its goalie, two million-year-old building and cartoonish jerseys are a caricature of a professional sports franchise… on this day, the Islanders invited fuzzy figures from local sports teams to attend watch the Islanders get pummeled by the Flyers.
Mr. Met was there, and he was “roundly booed” by Flyers fans when he was introduced. But when he was shown on the local broadcast, the reaction was much more kind. Isles (and Mets) announcer Howie Rose used the opportunity to take a vicious swing at one Mr. Phillie Phanatic. Broad Street Hockey captured the video:
To quote: "As America’s favorite mascot, voted in a national poll. He beat that overrated washed up hack of a Phillie Phanatic."
Whoa. Not cool, dude.
Joe Lucia of Awful Announcing points out that Rose was likely citing this Forbes poll, from last year.
I like Mr. Met. Think he’s the only thing the Mets have going for them, and he looks exactly goofy enough without being ridiculous. So I won’t sit here and tell you how awful he is. But he’s not better than the Phanatic. And calling our Galapagosian friend a “washed up hack” sounds like Fightin’ words to me.
