"Gritty", the most beloved mascot on the Internet, explained

It has been 24 hours since the world was honored with "Gritty", the Philadelphia Flyers' new mascot, who captured hearts and minds with his scruffy appearance, wide-eyed eyes and bizarre behavior.

Why has Gritty become so popular?

Mascots are inherently stupid. It's really odd that professional sports teams use them, but that's part of the tradition. In recent years, the new mascots were far too serious. They contained their own biography pages on teams' websites containing complicated stories. They can not convince old mascots like the Philly Phanatic, which makes no sense – and that's why he's considered one of the best (and weirdest) mascots of all time.

Photo of Mitchell Leff / Getty Images

Fans like weird. The fans like the stupid ones. So compensates for the seriousness and tension that often accompanies the sport. The name "Gritty" itself is a joke inside used as a descriptor by fans for any player who is not the most athletic talent, but who still inspires outdated metaphors.

The Flyers are heading for the drift to make Gritty as weird as possible and tell people, "This mascot is stupid, all the mascots are stupid, let's have fun anyway." His mascot story turns him into an underground entity from the bowels of the Wells Fargo Center (the Flyers Arena) during construction as the ghost of the Opera, where he enjoys hot dogs.

Gritty is the 2018 mascot needs.

Along with this awareness comes a series of traits that feel perfectly at home in 2018. Gritty declines himself, clumsy, and his very existence is a meme that works.

When he made his debut in the Flyers pre-season game on Monday night, he slipped on the ice, reinforcing his legendary loser.

Gritty's first night as a mascot ended not with a groan, but in the blink of an eye – making fun of Kim Kardashian's photo shoot for "Paper" in 2014.

Fans gravitate towards their new hero.

Since Gritty has revealed to us, he has become a staple for memes. Many of them make up for its clumsy nature with sheer horror.

Gritty is perfect.

Rarely a mascot is a canvas, but Gritty is. Part of Benny Hill, part of Cthulu – fans make Gritty what they want. But whether you think he's just an awkward mascot or an old Lovecraftrian, he's here to stay.