Phanatic Responsible For the Murder of Another Mascot

The Phanatic is legendary.  The shadow he casts upon the world of mascotdom makes life for any furry team representatives hellish.

In addition, all the other mascots in town are fucking terrible.  Swoop?  Hip hop?  Really?  How the hell is the Philadelphia fan base supposed to care about a mascot when they, not only cannot compete with the Phanatic, but can’t compete with Mr. Met?

Here at TBOH, the Phanatic has morphed from a lovable, fun loving character, to a feral, rodent devouring wild animal.  With this in mind, I suppose the demise of Hip hop, the 76ers inner city bunny mascot, does not come as a shock as it most likely came at the hands of the Philadelphia Phanatic.

Was it Hip hop’s inability to be anything more than a ridiculous caricature of the culture that is his namesake?  Was it the new Sixer’s ownership attempting to distance themselves from a previous ownership’s continued mediocrity?  I think it was something a little less complicated.  The Phanatic was hungry and no one gives a shit about a rabbit in sunglasses and a do-rag.

The new Sixer’s mascot will be handled by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and Raymond Entertainment group.  Dave Raymond is the Phanatic’s original handler and Jim Henson’s Shop was involved in the creation of the Phanatic.  I do not believe that this is a coincidence.  Luckily no one cares that Hip hop is dead.