Sports Mascot Versus Grizzly Bear: A Dramatic Duel

Would you rather encounter a grizzly bear or a random man in the woods?

The question dominated social media discourse for a few weeks back in 2024, generating an impressive tonnage of Internet hot takes, and many women opting for the bear. What these blogs, Tweets, and lengthy Instagram posts failed to determine, however, was what would happen if the grizzly bear encountered a random man—one who happened to be clad from heat to toe in a plush costume of a professional sports team mascot.

Well, here we are in 2025 reckoning with this new important question, thanks to a bizarre if somewhat hilarious news story. This week, the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken team revealed that its mascot, a blue and scraggly sea troll name Buoy, was recently charged by a massive brown bear during a promotional photo shoot in Alaska’s Katmai National Park.

According to the team’s Instagram page, Buoy and Kraken player John Hayden were having their photos taken while fly fishing in a pristine river. Suddenly, a bear emerged from the riverbank and sprinted into the water, scaring them off.

“I want to blame it on Buoy—they were pretty interested in his whole look,” Hayden said in the video. “We got out of it OK, but it was a close call.”

Of course we live in the era of AI-generated video that can make even the most ridiculous bear videos seem vaguely real. If the Kraken’s clip is fabricated, then the team successfully duped the major broadcast news networks as well as Outside. 

But the video provides proof that, when encountering a massive bruin, Buoy the mascot’s reaction is to run as quickly as his cowardly troll legs will take him. And it begs an important follow-up question: How would other sports mascots react when charged by a massive bear?

Go the Gorilla: Jump to Safety

Why does a team named for a celestial body have a mascot that’s essentially an extra from the cheesy 1995 adventure film Congo? Nobody knows. But what all basketball fans do know is that Go the Gorilla is perhaps the most athletic mascot in all of professional sports. Go rappels from great heights, break dances, and walks down the arena steps on his hands. He’s most famous for his high-flying trampoline dunks—he flips, twists, and does mid-air stunts that dazzle the imagination. If faced with a bruin, my guess is that Go would leap over the grumpy bear, dunk a basketball, and then sprint to safety.

Rocky the Mountain Lion: Immediately Pass Out

You might think that Rocky, the zany mountain lion mascot for the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, would use his cat-like reflexes to turn and fight the bear with tooth and claw. This assumption is, alas, wrong. Rocky would immediately faint from fear and lie unconscious on the floor, similar to a macabre scenario that played out in 2013. During the Nuggets’ pre-game ceremony, the performer playing Rocky passed out as he was being lowered to the court. Fans watched in horror as his limp body descended from the rafters.

Gritty: Fight

One of the newest is also one of the best. Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers’ googly-eyed mascot, made his debut in 2018 and quickly became a favorite across all of sports. Why? As Gritty’s promotional copy explains, he is known for his “uniquely Philadelphian personality.” Yeah—Gritty likes to fight. He fights other mascots, players on rival teams, and (allegedly) even small children. My assumption is that Gritty would face the bear and drop his gloves. Would he win? God no—but we’d all enjoy a hilarious blooper video of Gritty’s orange hair and beard being torn from his head.

Mr. Met: Fall and Injure Himself

At 62 years old, Mr. Met, the baseball-shaped mascot for the New York Mets, is quickly approaching retirement age. But that hasn’t stopped him from attempting to appeal to Millennials and Gen Z fans. Earlier this summer, Mr. Met took the stage during a performance by alt-folk band the Lumineers midway through their concert at Citi Field. During a 15-second span, Mr. Met dropped a tambourine, stumbled to his knees, and then fell off the stage. How would he do against a bear? My guess is Mr. Met would become entangled in his fishing line, tumble into the rushing river, and drown.

Phillie Phanatic: Get Sued by the Bear

Long heralded as the best mascot in American professional baseball, the Philly Phanatic dances to Michael Jackson, impersonates Lady Gaga, and yes, occasionally gets rival players to lose their minds. Guess what—he also gets sued, a lot. The Phanatic has the ignominious reputation as the most-sued mascot in history, according to the Cardozo Law Review. In 2018 the Phanatic made headlines when he blasted a fan in the face with a bazooka that shoots hot dogs, and the impact caused real damage. Would he bring the hot dog cannon into a fight with a bear? You bet. Would the bear fight back with a team of personal-injury lawyers? Highly likely.

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