Sixers begin vote for new mascot
The latest 76ers news from Philly.com.
Sixers begin vote for new mascot
The Sixers' new ownership decided pretty early on that HipHop was going to be no more. That was backed up by overwhelmingly negative reaction from fans.
The team announced the move two weeks ago, saying it had hired Jim Henson's Creature Shop and Raymond Entertainment Group, founded by Dave Raymond, the former Phillie Phanatic.
The owners wanted to go with a colonial theme, but realized there is not an obvious tie-in with the 76ers name. They also wanted to stress an element of Ben Franklin.
The owners reviewed drawings and have selected three finalists. Voting is beginning today at SixersMascotFanVote.com.
You can see the drawings and vote by clicking the link.
The three finalists are:
* A 7-foot tall rendition of Ben Franklin, named "Big Ben."
* B. Franklin Dogg, the All-American pet, adapted from artist drawings from the day nestled under the table beside Franklin.
* Phil E. Moose, a 7-foot tall adaption of a basketball player; the moose being "one of the most regal animals to roam the wild."
“A new era is beginning for the Philadelphia 76ers under new ownership and we welcome Philadelphia sports fans helping us to select the new Sixers mascot,” CEO Adam Aron said. “Jim Henson’s Creature Shop has done an outstanding job in giving Philadelphia fans three heart-warming characters to embrace.”
Aron continued, “It’s un-American not to like B. Franklin Dogg, who after all is man’s best friend. With his great height, Phil E. Moose is a natural who can stand tall defending and cheering the Sixers as they take on all comers. And then there is lovable, venerable Big Ben, perhaps the greatest Philadelphian of all time.”
Once selected, Raymond will help bring the new mascot to life. The new mascot is expected to be unveiled early in the season.
Well, I am embarrassed that my initial post on the website that I have diligently ready for way to long is over a mascot. While I am a harcore Philly fan through and through, the Sixers are where it is at for me. Being highly educated in the arts, I am befuddled over this decision. I was highly encouraged when I heard they were finally giving HipHop the boot--long time coming. However, these sketches, if you want to call them that, are sophomoric, cliche, trite: everything we tell our current students not to go after. I mean, when have you ever seen a moose in PA? Who would that old-head relate to? A dog--c'mon--after the Vick debacle--are you serious? The ridiculous thing is the amount of money they probably shelled out for these "sketches" which freshman college students could surpass. This really is not a good indicator of where the new leadership is heading--I am highly disappointed. I am not one of those Philly haters always bustin out the negativity but I just want to make it clear--this is NOT the way to go. With all of the artistic and creative resources available in Philly, one would think they could do much better than this. Please, reconsider these choices.— Dr.Jp- Well, I am embarrassed that my initial post on the website that I have diligently ready for way to long is over a mascot. While I am a harcore Philly fan through and through, the Sixers are where it is at for me. Being highly educated in the arts, I am befuddled over this decision. I was highly encouraged when I heard they were finally giving HipHop the boot--long time coming. However, these sketches, if you want to call them that, are sophomoric, cliche, trite: everything we tell our current students not to go after. I mean, when have you ever seen a moose in PA? Who would that old-head relate to? A dog--c'mon--after the Vick debacle--are you serious? The ridiculous thing is the amount of money they probably shelled out for these "sketches" which freshman college students could surpass. This really is not a good indicator of where the new leadership is heading--I am highly disappointed. I am not one of those Philly haters always bustin out the negativity but I just want to make it clear--this is NOT the way to go. With all of the artistic and creative resources available in Philly, one would think they could do much better than this. Please, reconsider these choices.— Dr.Jp
I hear Sigmund the Sea Monster is available.- These are horrifyingly bad. Make it a ping-pong ball -- that's more accurate to the Sixers experience.— FKD215
- Bring back Big Shot!!!! Beats these three lame choices, and definitely was better then the gangster rabbit— lw63
Comment removed.- How about a red, white, and blue ball? Kind of like the Syracuse orange.— MASTERNC
- Am I missing something or does this make Hip Hop look good??? Could they have possibly done worse??? An old guy, a dog pretending to be an old guy, and Bullwinkle...yikes. How about this mascot- Andre Ig pretending to be a player with a jump shot?— rwolffd12
- Someone actually got paid to come up with these three lame options.
Come on Owners - did you forget what you learned in Marketing Class at Wharton? Start from scratch!— BMJ - Next January, Obama will be available. He could dribble around the floor and do the trampoline dunks. He'd certainly attract huge crowds.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- OH MY GOD,,Hip Hop was better then these choises.Take a Sixer Dancer and make her a naked mascot.These new owners are dumber then the last owners..Cmon already,wise up you dopes!— TheRod
- All of them are embarrassingly bad— Chainsaw
- Is this a joke?? I can't believe this is for real! They paid a big fancy company to come up with these ideas? Perhaps, they should have had a call to local artists to submit ideas. No offense to our very talented children but, I'm sure there would have been several elementary school students with better ideas than these!— Tsunami808
- To All Those Hip Hop haters out there:
Be careful what you wish for...— rcfoot
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
