phillie phanatic

A.V. Club: For the Love of the Game

in: viewing room

YOU GUYS, baseball’s been very, very good to me. ‘Specially these last few weeks.

Sure, the Nationals are all but a lock for the division title, but the Braves are leading in the Wild Card race, and Chipper Jones is destroying expectations in his final season in the majors, and I’m optimistic we won’t have a replay of last year’s September debacle. I’ve confidence in my boys of summer.

Also, these. Just – these.

Let’s Have a Party, Phanatic’ll Dance the Horah

Y’all know how I feel about Phillie Phanatic. And this could not have been more perfect; the Braves at Citizens Bank Park, celebrating Jewish Heritage Night, and Phanatic dancing the Horah to the Hava Nagila. It’s so many things that fascinate and amuse me, all coupled and in technicolor and gorgeous and perfect.

And, also, let’s not forget Aly Raisman’s London floor routine, to a surprisingly touching “Hava Nagila.”

Frenchy Filches Fan’s Fare

Link here.

Full disclosure: I approach alliteration like I do Pringles – once you pop, you can’t stop.

But, seriously, this video is hysterical. During a Royals road game in my fair city – on the South Side, at US Cellular – Jeff Francoeur took a break from (occasionally) shagging fly balls to steal some popcorn from an unsuspecting fan. The video clip does absolute justice to Frenchy’s cheeky attitude, one I , as a hometown gal and a Braves stalwart, truly miss.

And for good measure, an aquatic Delorean graces McCovey Cove.

A.V. Club: The Ballad of Liz Lemon

in: viewing room

Phillie Phanatic and Liz Lemon on NBC's "30 Rock"

I’ve never been one of those gals who gabs endlessly about my deep connection with Liz Lemon. I mean, the woman’s hilarious, a true comic heroine, but never before have I felt so tied to her. Until now.

Last night, NBC Thursday aired two “30 Rock” episodes, the first a continuation of last week’s plot and the second, the positively hysterical “The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell.” And it was, far and away, some of the best minutes of television I’ve seen in quite some time. Mostly, the latter had me rolling – actually rofl’ing – because of two key things.

First, Jack brought Phillie Phanatic to the office as part of the one year business-versary of Kabletown’s acquisition of GE Sheinhardt NBC Universal. Phillie Phanatic, y’all. If I were ever to get a major sports team’s mascot tattooed on my body, it would absolutely that guy (tramp stamp, tongue furled into the mouth-thing). I am so pleased that The Best Mascot in Sports had a cameo – with speech. PHILLIE PHANATIC SPEAKS!, though it’s a little disappointing he, it seems, is in fact a he. Sorry, Liz.

In the same two-minute clip, Jack rips on “TGS,” citing the show’s recent poor quality. The skit they cut to? TRACY MORGAN AS JUDGE ITO. The five-year-old version of me (and the stuffed animal I still sleep with named after the Simpson trial judge) is jumping up and down and clapping in utter joy.

Enjoy the clip at the link below, as I can’t get embedding to work right now, and I’m grumpy with it.
http://www.hulu.com/embed/reZz0x7xLakCTMd-mu6y5g/690/833

On Tap: Lady Arm Wrestlers

on: tap

Hey, you guys!

I am incredibly thrilled to announce to YOU, my un-loyal audience (and the random Internet users who found my blog through frantic and repeated searches related to the Phillie Phanatic) that I am inviting you all to come hang out with me this weekend. NO, REALLY. Granted, I’ll be dressed up in some ridiculously shiny costume and screeching like a banshee, but it’s going to be fun!

It’s CLLAW X, the Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers, and yours truly will be out in all her glory, working to earn the much-coveted championship belt. Yes, I realize it sounds like a joke, but I assure you it is not. And I also assure you I have been chained to my manager, who has placed me on a strict diet and exercise regimen. Victory is not an option.

Uh, what?

So, come out Saturday, July 2, at 10 p.m. to Joe’s Bar on West Weed Street. Event info is here. Please take lots of photos and use them against me when I am attempting to start my political career. I’ll try and post some of my own after Saturday.

Cool, kids. See you all then.

xoxo, dunce cap girl

Dunce Flash: Phillie Phanatic Sued – Again?

in: the press

Image courtesy of photojournalist Mary Schwalm

Hi folks. It’s time again for the latest installment of Phanatic drama. My favorite mascot – the cherubic green monster of Philadelphia Phillies fame – has gotten his jelly roll into some trouble. A 75-year-old woman from Wernersville, Pa., is suing the Phanatic (my pal Tom Burgoyne), the Philadelphia Phillies and the club’s minor league outfit, the Reading Phillies.

Grace Crass is seeking $50,000 in damages for injuries sustained during a 2008 Reading Phillies minor league game. The adorable cross between Telly Monster and those damned Sesame Street Honkers allegedly maneuvered his muffin top through the crowd, roughing up Crass and causing injury to her knees.

Crass’s attorney, John Speicher, claims Phanatic climbed atop Crass’s legs to the point of her crying out in pain, and says he expects him “to come to a deposition, stick his stomach and his tongue out at me and not say anything,” adding that people around him have said that this is “like suing Santa Claus.” Speicher mentions the Phanatic’s infamous anteater-like tongue in his commentary to The Philadelphia Daily News, but it was Phanatic’s giant structure which aggravated Crass’s arthritis.

Phanatic isn’t a rookie when it comes to litigation. Bob Jarvis, professor of sports law at Nova Southeastern University, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., says that the Phanatic holds the “dubious record as the most-sued mascot in the majors.” In a study published in the May 2002 Cardozo Law Review, Jarvis mused that Phanatic likely held that ill-coveted honor because of both his girth and ready excitability.  He’s a mover, a shaker and a knee quaker.

The last major civil case in recent memory occurred when the Phillies had to pay a judgment of $2.5 million to a man at a paint store event when the Phanatic got out of control and decided to jump the patron and wrestle him into a rough-house bear hug, from which the man sustained serious back injuries and litigated for damages. FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadephia had the last laugh on that one in 2009.

writes Rachel Levitin of We Love DC

Phanatic is a delight, though, and, again, my favorite mascot in all of sportsdom. He is a part of the game of baseball, and it’s sad to see him headed to court – again. He’s just bein’ the Jolly Green Giant, y’know?

A.V. Club: My favorite video of the week

in: viewing room

Bat Romance at Phillies-Nationals


Phillie Phanatic, my favorite mascot in professional sports, shakes his tail feather to a little Gaga.

This video legitimately made me laugh like a hyena. Combining two things I love – athletic mascots and Lady Gaga – into one concise taunting of the Nationals was a sheer act of genius. Phanatic – Tom Burgoyne – donned Gaga drag to heckle Nats third-base coach Pat Listach. And this wasn’t any of the tamer (cough) Gaga get-ups but rather her blood-stained VMAs outfit, complete with Max crown, a la Where the Wild Things Are.

Now, I’m not much of a Phils fan. When I root for the National League – and I always root for the National League – I cheer on my hometown Brav-os. I do have an untold appreciation, however, for Phillie Phanatic. He’s adorable, a fuzzy, green, frenetic dancing creature, all flailing arms and donut waist. And this performance just took the cake. The Nats, though, seem less than pleased.

Below is a photographic comparison of both Phanatic Gaga and regular ol’ crazy Gaga.

It’s nice to see the enthusiasm and the spectacle returning to America’s favorite sport!

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Photo from MTV