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Philadelphia 76ers fans #RaiseTheCat (lifting cats) on Twitter after Sixers wins

Brett Brown blinks at the future. (Getty Images)
Brett Brown blinks at the future. (Getty Images)

It used to be, you had to go to the stadium to do something like this. To the arena. To the field. You had to show up in person, do something stupid, and encourage other giddy fans, drunk on all the winning (or, just, alcohol), to follow suit in aping your stupid thing. Then your stupid thing becomes a stupid tradition, and suddenly we’re all throwing octopuses onto the ice after a hockey goal.

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In the social media age, though, we can raise a cat over our shoulders in the comfort of our own home, take a picture, and watch as it becomes a movement. Suddenly, stupid is glorious.

Especially in this case, where Philadelphia 76ers fans delirious at the team’s 8-2 record over its last 10 games are raising their housecats over their heads following each victory. The sweep, inspired by Sixers rookie Ben Simmons and originally thought up by fan @GipperGrove, is now a bit of a thing. As everything tends to be these days.

(Via SB Nation)

#RaisetheCat

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#RaisetheCat

#RaisetheCat

#RaisetheCat

#RaisetheCat #TrustTheProcess #NeverBuyAHatThroughTheMail

And now, for charitable causes, #BuyTheShirt.

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Of course, in the wake of Joel Embiid’s charming yet unsuccessful attempts at becoming an All-Star starter, this reminds that we’ve got yet another social media movement to consider in Philadelphia. Not that coach Brett Brown would notice, as here is what he had to say in the wake of the social media-inspired rumor that Ben Simmons would soon to return to the team:

“I am a social-media hermit,” he said, with a smile. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Brown might want to get wise, as it was his recovering rookie that inspired this craze in the first place:

A photo posted by Ben Simmons (@bensimmons) on Jan 9, 2017 at 8:44pm PST

????for those asking they are F2 Savannahs

A photo posted by Ben Simmons (@bensimmons) on Jan 15, 2017 at 2:29pm PST

After a 0-7 start, the Sixers have won 15 of 34 games, and currently stand just four and a half games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern conference at the team’s midpoint of the season. The club’s 30-win pace (or the 37-win groove they’ve been in since Nov. 9) would stand light years ahead of the results provided by the previous three iterations of this unendingly rebuilding squad, which compiled 47 wins total between 2013 and 2016.

Those clubs hardly featured highlights like the ones the Sixers in winning its third consecutive game, gave the Philly fans on Friday night:


Things are looking up, in Philadelphia. Up at cats.

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!