«
»
The In Box Home

Adirondack Flames mascot “Scorch” gets benched.

by on October 13th, 2014

Penalty box for you, Scorchy! Photo: Glens Falls Post Star used with permission

Penalty box for you, Scorchy! Photo: Glens Falls Post Star used with permission

UPDATE:  The Glens Falls Post Star is reporting this morning that the Flames will officially replace “Scorch,” their controversial mascot.  GFPS reporter Maury Thompson reports that Scorch has “benched” even before taking the ice.

Why did the lovable, hockey-puck headed firebrand get doused?  Read on.

This is an actual, real thing.  The brand new Adirondack Flames hockey team, based in Glens Falls, went public last week with their new mascot:  a bright-red fiery looking dude with a hockey-puck head named “Scorch.”  So far, so good.

But the new pro-team’s PR department came up with the whizzy idea of creating “background material” for the character, deciding that he would be known forever-more as the “remaining ember  from the tragic fire that destroyed much of Glens Falls in 1864.”

Now, we’re already on thin ice there.  (Memo to creative team:  Why exactly does kid-friendly Scorch need to be the love-child of a disastrous inferno that destroyed our new host city?)

But it gets worse, or better.  Here’s the press release from the team explaining what happened next:

“We also crafted a skit that helped to launch the new mascot – with the help of the Glens Falls Fire Department.  While it seemed in good taste when it was on the drawing board, it is evident now that it was in poor taste.”
In a Tweet reproduced on the popular national sports site Deadspin on Thursday, Diana Nearhos observed, “In the telling of his story, Scorch overpowered a firefighter.  That happened.”
“On behalf of our entire organization we want to apologize for our thoughtlessness today,” the team said.
“We have obviously turned something good, the launch of a mascot which we will use to entertain and encourage young fans, into something that is in poor taste,” said Brian Petrovek, president of the Flames.
“That was not our intention and again we apologize.  We would like to emphasize that we as an organization take seriously the dangers associated with fire, understand its potentially devastating effects and acknowledge that those in our nation who are called upon to face and fight fires on a daily basis are truly heroes. “

I’m guessing Scorch will bounce back from the bad publicity.  Any creature with a Hostess Ding-Dong for a head is bound to have a long shelf life.

But the Flames skated into more tough publicity over the weekend, dropping their two opening games by lopsided margins (like, a total of 11 goals to 2), with Flames player Trevor Gillies drawing headlines for slamming an opposing player’s head into the ice.  From the video, it looks like Gillies is taking fight advice from Scorch.

Tags: ,

8 Comments on “Adirondack Flames mascot “Scorch” gets benched.”

Leave a Comment
  1. Brian (MOFYC) says:
    October 13, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    Well when you engage in the pointlessness of inventing an “origin story” for a sports mascot, you run the risk of being burnt.

  2. pirateedwardlow says:
    October 13, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    I guess

    “Flame on Johnny.”

    Was taken

  3. Scott Miller says:
    October 14, 2014 at 6:56 am

    Seriously? A tribute to a disastrous fire? Next up, New York dumps ‘Rangers’ and adopts ‘Irenes’, the New Orleans Saints become the New Orleans Kats, etc. Or, how about a nod to the volunteers who prevent such events, The Glens Falls Firemen? The Canton Kangaroo should kick this one back to the drawing board…

  4. Brian (MOFYC) says:
    October 14, 2014 at 12:55 pm

    Scott: Chicago’s Major League Soccer team is named the Fire.

  5. knuckleheadedliberal says:
    October 15, 2014 at 8:09 am

    Gone!

    http://poststar.com/news/local/adirondack-flames-to-replace-controversial-mascot/article_09626962-53c1-11e4-9701-c3b8a3dac487.html

  6. Brian (MOFYC) says:
    October 15, 2014 at 9:39 am

    I love the newspaper headline… I think it was “controversial” to about 10 semi-professional whiners and solicited a big yawn among everyone else.

  7. CJ says:
    October 15, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    Brian (MOFYC),

    Yes.

  8. pirateedwardlow says:
    October 16, 2014 at 7:59 am

    Ha

    Professional whiners.
    Mr. Pot, there is a kettle in the next room I would like to introduce you to

    I guess math skills, no existent, don’t matter when there has been mostly a hailstorm of media… but okay… we will round it down to 10

    again: ha

Leave a Reply