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![Hip-Hop is Dead in Philly. After receiving hundreds of notes and emails from fans asking for the ouster of the long-tenured mascot, Philly.com is reporting that the 76ers have listened to their fans and ended the Hip-Hop era. The Sixers PR team wouldn’t confirm or deny the news, but did say “keep your eyes and ears open.”
(10:45 official statement from Sixers PR): “The Philadelphia 76ers new Chief Executive Officer and co-Owner Adam Aron announced today that its rabbit mascot, Hip-Hop, informed the team’s new ownership group that he has fallen in love, married and will relocate to a rural part of Pennsylvania to start a family. He will therefore be unable to serve as the 76ers team mascot going forward, and will not again appear at a Sixers game.”
From Philly.com’s Rich Hoffman:
“A decade ago, with Allen Iverson as the face of the franchise and Pat Croce rappelling the Walt Whitman Bridge as the out-there owner, Hip Hop arrived as a replacement for another mascot, Big Shot (whose demise wasn’t exactly mourned, either, if memory serves). Big Shot was lumbering and dopey. Hip Hop was acrobatic and edgy. Then, it was the image they sought. But all of these years later, after all of the coaches and all of the losses, fans were nearly unanimous in the missives they sent to newsixersowner.com. Before the forum was closed, more than 6,500 comments were received on every conceivable Sixers topic, but hundreds focused specifically on the bunny.”
As @GonzoCSN explained in late October, calling for the rabbit’s ouster:
“Even in the late ‘90s, when baggy jeans and over-sized jerseys and the like were the standard youth uniform, Hip-Hop was a gross, embarrassing, obvious attempt to appeal to 20-somethings…Back when it was created – and for, oh, the first decade or so thereafter – Hip-Hop was a transparent and lame marketing ploy. Now it’s lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking.”
Where will the new mascot come from? Hoffman reports that “The task of coming up with a replacement for Hip Hop will fall to two firms specializing in the business. One is Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which began as the workshop of the late creator of the Muppets. The other is Raymond Entertainment Group, whose founder is Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic.”
The20’s @dhm has his own suggestion:
“There is no other option: Pat Croce in a pirate costume must be the Sixers’ new mascot.”
We still long for the days of Big Shot (I mean, look at this Michael Jackson impersonation). Thoughts? Suggestions?
-LD
[Philly.com, @GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly, Youtube, @dhm]
Photo: Getty Images](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lv2g0jbcWT1qfnxkko1_500.jpg)
Hip-Hop is Dead in Philly. After receiving hundreds of notes and emails from fans asking for the ouster of the long-tenured mascot, Philly.com is reporting that the 76ers have listened to their fans and ended the Hip-Hop era. The Sixers PR team wouldn’t confirm or deny the news, but did say “keep your eyes and ears open.”
(10:45 official statement from Sixers PR): “The Philadelphia 76ers new Chief Executive Officer and co-Owner Adam Aron announced today that its rabbit mascot, Hip-Hop, informed the team’s new ownership group that he has fallen in love, married and will relocate to a rural part of Pennsylvania to start a family. He will therefore be unable to serve as the 76ers team mascot going forward, and will not again appear at a Sixers game.”
From Philly.com’s Rich Hoffman:
“A decade ago, with Allen Iverson as the face of the franchise and Pat Croce rappelling the Walt Whitman Bridge as the out-there owner, Hip Hop arrived as a replacement for another mascot, Big Shot (whose demise wasn’t exactly mourned, either, if memory serves). Big Shot was lumbering and dopey. Hip Hop was acrobatic and edgy. Then, it was the image they sought. But all of these years later, after all of the coaches and all of the losses, fans were nearly unanimous in the missives they sent to newsixersowner.com. Before the forum was closed, more than 6,500 comments were received on every conceivable Sixers topic, but hundreds focused specifically on the bunny.”
As @GonzoCSN explained in late October, calling for the rabbit’s ouster:
“Even in the late ‘90s, when baggy jeans and over-sized jerseys and the like were the standard youth uniform, Hip-Hop was a gross, embarrassing, obvious attempt to appeal to 20-somethings…Back when it was created – and for, oh, the first decade or so thereafter – Hip-Hop was a transparent and lame marketing ploy. Now it’s lame and stale, like the mascot version of planking.”
Where will the new mascot come from? Hoffman reports that “The task of coming up with a replacement for Hip Hop will fall to two firms specializing in the business. One is Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which began as the workshop of the late creator of the Muppets. The other is Raymond Entertainment Group, whose founder is Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic.”
The20’s @dhm has his own suggestion:
“There is no other option: Pat Croce in a pirate costume must be the Sixers’ new mascot.”
We still long for the days of Big Shot (I mean, look at this Michael Jackson impersonation). Thoughts? Suggestions?
-LD
[Philly.com, @GonzoCSN, CSNPhilly, Youtube, @dhm]
Photo: Getty Images
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