A year ago today, the Philadelphia Union’s first-ever mascot hatched at the Philadelphia Zoo.
While the kids present — some who had participated in the kid-guided process of designing the mascot — immediately fell in love with Phang, the snake with arms and legs and a fun back story had more of a mixed response online.
Predictably, Deadspin unironically went after Phang for having arms and legs as if it would even be feasible to have a a mascot that just slithered on the ground, and others weighed in with various levels of venom before moving on to some other internet outrage flavor of the day.
Phang has since gone through something of a transition, appearing in a video with Ed Bassmaster throwing a cinder block through a Red Bull fan’s windshield for a team-produced comedy video and appearing on stage with Wu Tang Clan in Atlantic City. Phang is still firmly for the kids, but the snake has garnered some street cred along the way.
A year later, have your thoughts on Phang changed or stayed the same?
Poll
How do you feel about Phang a year after his birth?
This poll is closed
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71%
Loved him then, love him now
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28%
He’s grown on me
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0%
Still hate him