I Just Saw Gritty on the West Coast

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I was enjoying a nice Saturday morning in Seattle’s Pike Place Market without any signs of rain. The good thing about going East Coast to West Coast is that you wake up early enough the first couple of days that you can hit the tourist spots before they get too crowded.

One of the treasures of the Market is Read All About It News.

This place has to have the largest inventory of magazines.

Who knew there were this many magazines still in print?! Read About It News even carries magazines from around the world.

Are you a puppeteer? They’ve got a magazine for you. I didn’t even realize there were enough puppeteers in the world to justify a Puppetry Magazine.

Then, I saw him. I can recognize those tweaker eyes from a hundred feet away. It was as if he was stalking me 3,000 miles from home.

Fuckin’ Gritty! He’s on the cover of The Hockey News? In a way, this feels like the perfect cover for the Flyers. They’ve been a mess of a franchise for so long that the only way they get on the cover of The Hockey News is with their mascot. Meanwhile, some fans are still clamoring for the reinstatement of a “lucky charm” for a franchise that hasn’t won in over FOUR DECADES.

You gotta love the headline with the photo: WE NEVER THOUGHT WE’D PUT A MASCOT ON THE COVER THEN CAME…GRITTY.

There’s a part of me that loves what Gritty has become and a part of me who wishes he never came into existence because that would mean the Flyers performance made them relevant instead of a gimmick. I think we’d all be happier if the cover featured Giroux or Provorov on a hot streak going into the Playoffs.

Maybe next year. Hopefully next year.