What the Hell Is Going on With This New Mascot for America’s 250th Birthday?

The mascot for America 250 PA (photo courtesy Hughe Dillon/PhillyChitChat)

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America’s 250th Gets Off to Rather Lackluster Start With New Mascot

I want you to think back to September 24, 2018. A pandemic was still unthinkable. Donald Trump was in the Oval. And the Philadelphia Flyers on that very day introduced a new mascot: Gritty.

At first — and by “at first,” I mean on September 24th — lots of people seemed to hate Gritty. He (it?) was the subject of much ridicule. But by the next day or so, the tide had magically turned. And suddenly, weird old orange Gritty had become the most beloved and talked about Philadelphia mascot of all-time. (Sorry, Phanatic! We still love you. Well, most of us do.)

Sadly, I don’t think the new mascot tied to the 250th anniversary of this great nation is going to have the same fate as Gritty. Intrepid Philadelphia photographer HughE Dillon bumped into said mascot at City Hall during Tuesday’s reveal of the thoroughly yawn-inducing Philadelphia Fourth of July talent lineup. (I’ll save you the googling: It’s Ne-Yo and Kesha.)

Now, this isn’t the mascot for America250, the main organization behind the 250th anniversary of America in 2026. America250 is the much-talked-about group with so much muck and mire swarming around it. We broke the America250 controversy down in this 2023 feature.

This mascot is for a completely separate organization: America 250 PA. That group is all about celebrating Pennsylvania’s role in the birth of the country. And if you paid attention at all in history class, you probably know that the role was pretty huge. “Epic,” as a sizzle reel for America 250 PA describes it.

So we should have an epic mascot. And yet what we wind up with is a frigging keystone symbol in a bow tie and with a face that makes it look like it just took a big bong rip. How do these things happen? Just a few minutes with an AI art-generation program would have given the designers more exciting inspiration:

An example of an alternate mascot for America 250 PA, as designed by OpenArt.AI

Just replace the center star on the hat with a keystone symbol and call it a day. Is this really that hard?

Governor Shapiro Move Leads to Free Speech Concerns

Last week, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro made a slight but important tweak to his office’s policies. According to a new report by Spotlight PA, Shapiro has banned any and all state employees from doing anything “scandalous or disgraceful.” With all of the protests going on over the war in Gaza, and with Shapiro previously speaking out loudly against certain protesters, some observers are concerned that Shapiro is going to use this new policy to suppress free speech.

From the Spotlight PA report:

Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said the vagueness of Shapiro’s amended order could violate free speech protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. He also said it is too subjective.

“If an employee off the job posts, ‘From the river to the sea,’ is that something the governor would consider disgraceful and scandalous?” Walczak asked of a decades-old phrase that supporters of Palestinians say is a call for freedom and peace but which some Jews perceive as a call for Israel’s destruction.

You can read the full Spotlight PA report here.

Shapiro and I recently spoke about the war in Gaza and antisemitism, and you can read the full interview here.

Lidia Bastianich Helps Marc Vetri Raise $385,000 In One Night

There are way too many TV chefs these days, but one that stands out as a true classic is Lidia Bastianich, who has been on public television since way back in 1998. Last night, Bastianich came to Philly to help Marc Vetri and other local chefs cook for a fund-raising meal for the Vetri Community Partnership, which, among other things, teaches kids in Philly how to cook nutritious foods. And it sounds like the evening went pretty well.

Lidia Bastianich with Marc Vetri at last night’s event (photo courtesy Vetri Community Partnership)

The event raised $385,000 from ticket sales, donations, and a silent and live auction. Ciao, Lidia!

Local Talent

As part of our further worship of retired Eagles center Jason Kelce, Havertown (where he has a home) just unveiled this new mural of the Super Bowl-winning legend:

Photo courtesy of Dunkin’

I was really enthused about this until I realized that the Kelce mural was on the exterior wall of a Dunkin’ (nee Dunkin’ Donuts) shop. And that the mural incorporates Dunkin’ colors. How anybody can drink their coffee is beyond me. And just the whole corporatization of this Philly/Delco hero feels icky.

Meanwhile, Kelce’s new ESPN gig was made official on Tuesday at a Disney event (Disney being the owner of ESPN). He’s signed a multi-year deal with ESPN and will be part of the Monday Night Football pre-game show. And he’ll also pop back on your TV at halftime. No word on whether Kelce’s agent negotiated unlimited free rides on Space Mountain into the ESPN contract.

By the Numbers

939: Signatures on a petition to put the brakes on the development of a drug treatment center in Fairmount, as of Wednesday morning. Residents say they were shocked to learn that the city wanted to build something in their neighborhood to house drug users from Kensington. “The lack of community engagement in this process is alarming,” reads the petition.

$12,000: Monthly rent for a three-bedroom penthouse at this new residential tower in Society Hill. Residents of the neighboring towers tried to block the new building, in part because of how it would obstruct their views. The neighbors lost. They usually do.

11,251: Square footage of a new co-working space expected to open at the Cherry Hill Mall this year. The owner of the mall, PREIT, just emerged from bankruptcy proceedings as malls all over the country realize that the Great Mall Era in America is long gone. All I know is this: if the Cinnabon at the Cherry Hill Mall closes, we are really doomed.

Reader Mail

Jeez. Some people were really not big fans of what I had to say on Tuesday about how and when the Philadelphia police department shares information about arrests with the media and general public. I thought it was important to question their protocols, procedures and policies, just as I did several years ago when I wrote about police regularly publicizing the mental health diagnoses of missing persons. I managed to convince the police to stop this massive invasion of privacy. And as you might imagine, getting the police to change their ways is no easy task.

But back to Tuesday’s story. I received lots and lots of mail, DMs and comments about it. And this one pretty much sums up what many people were trying to say. This comes from Robert:

You can’t possibly be this stupid. Retail crime is out of control and costs everyone money… It’s quite OK to slap their faces in mug shots and distribute the photo-op. It’s just gravy to get their names and addresses. EMBARRASS THE THIEVES!! I ran a business for 35 years and employee theft cost me money. You have never run a business … if it ever happened to you…if you ever ran a business..you would probably write a diatribe of “Poor Me”. If you are a senior writer and this is what you pump out…wow…God..I could run the New York Times.

Note that he did sign off: “Respectfully, Robert.”

Just for the record, I stand by the story.

And From the That-Smarts Sports Desk …

For the second day in a row, Alec Bohm got an RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. It happened in the top of the third of yesterday afternoon’s game against the Mets, and the internets had a field day with it.

Teams hitting Alec Bohm with the bases loaded has to be a bit at this point

— Adam Aaronson (@SixersAdam) May 14, 2024

Bryce Harper missed the game entirely with a migraine after he was walloped in the head by a throw from the Mets catcher in Monday’s game.

Bryce Harper scratched with a migraine a day after Tomas Nido inadvertently did this: pic.twitter.com/uUGJNuRenV

— Alex Smith (@AlexSmithSNY) May 14, 2024

Hey, stop hitting our guys! The Phils got another run in the third when Brandon Marsh walked with the bases loaded. Aaron Nola, meantime, retired 15 straight batters through the fifth.

In the sixth, after Yohan Ramírez came in for Mets starter José Buttó, Bohm and Marsh hit back-to-back singles and advanced on a wild pitch but were stranded by three straight outs. Tyrone Taylor’s single to lead off the bottom half spoiled Nola’s no-hitter, but he got the next three batters. New reliever Jake Diekman walked three straight Phils in the seventh (though Kyle Schwarber got picked off), and the Mets brought in Jorge López, who got a double play. Nola stayed in for the eighth and put ’em down one-two-three.

Then in the top of the ninth, all hell broke loose for the Phils, as Schwarber doubled with one out, Nick Castellanos and Stott both singled, and Bohm doubled, making it 4-0 for Nola’s final stand. He gave up a one-out double to pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil, another out, and a Starling Marte single. Men at first and third — would Rob let Aaron keep going? He did, and Johan Rojas caught Francisco Lindor’s pop-up. Series swept with a four-hit shutout: I love New York!

A performance deserving of a nice ice bath pic.twitter.com/0YL8rbm7nv

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 14, 2024

The two teams head to CBP for two more games, the first starting tonight at 6:40.

Any Doop News?

The Union take on New York City at Subaru Park tonight, kicking off at 7:30. Still no Andre Blake.

All Philly Today sports coverage is provided by Sandy Hingston.