You may remember that last week, SoBro Editor-In-Chief Stoney Keeley reported that Paul Heggen had been removed from the morning news.

Yesterday, in an apparent attempt to further fuel their dumpster fire, WSMV made the decision to fire their iconic weather reporting penguin, Snowbird.

Steven Good, the actor and comedian who has played Snowbird for the past 24 years, confirmed yesterday that WSMV had informed him that his position would be eliminated, and that any future appearances would be carried out by in-house staff.

Ralph Wiggum worked really hard on this, so make sure to share the bajesus out of it on social media.

WSMV proceeded to remove all readily-accessible pages referencing Snowbird on their website, including his booking form, and took down his Facebook fan page that boasted over 40,000 fans.

Then, less than a day later, while Steven was at home eating a sandwich, WSMV reanimated snowbird’s lifeless corpse and pranced the costume around as if nothing had changed.



For those of you who did not grow up in Middle Tennessee, it’s difficult to describe the love that abounds for this infamous mascot. Snowbird is a timeless winter staple for school children. The second that I hear the flute from his theme song, I am transported back in time to a fervor of excitement as the school closings were announced. As a constituent of Wilson County, anticipation built alphabetically as we leaned in so close that we could feel the static electricity from our CRT televisions. The second that Snowbird freed us from the shackles of public school, we knew that responsibilities were postponed and we had an entire day of hot chocolate, sledding, and snow angels.

WSMV has sent a message: they want to destroy childhood.

What is going on at this station to stem such terrible decision making? They’re firing people faster than the White House. In removing Paul Heggen and Snowbird, two crucial demographics have been alienated and abandoned: women and children.

The ONLY reason to move Paul Heggen away from weekday mornings would be to move him to weekday nights so as to get my wife into the mood before bed. The man is a natural aphrodisiac.

The Tennessean reports that the station is in between general managers, and that the position is dated to be filled in a few weeks. Until then, who is causing this chaos? Has some long-term employee lucked into a short window of power, and, fueled by a chip on their shoulder, made it their mission to destroy the company from within during their interim?

Needless to say, people are outraged. If you thought that the Heggenites were numerous, you should take a second to glance over at Twitter and measure the reaction of angry Snowbird fans.

Steven Good noted in his Facebook Post that his holy trinity included Jim Henson, Fred Rogers, and Bob Keeshan. I can honestly say that, to those of us who grew up in Nashville, we see the name “Steven Good” as synonymous. Steven, you have a master of silliness and a provocateur of whimsy for as long as I’ve remembered the news–WSMV was your anchor, and without it I hope you are able to be fully appreciated.

I am truly saddened. To those of us who grew up knowing Snowbird as a way of life, this is a heavy-handed blow. Much like if a fiery dragon were to somehow be succumbed to snow, our Snowbird has been fired.

What can you do?

Write to the station. Let them know how upset you are, and that you’re concerned that they might actually be experiencing some form of psychotic break. If they don’t respond,

Sign the petition to bring back the real Snowbird.

Share your Snowbird stories in the comments below! Show us your favorite tweets and we’ll help to spread the word.

Post on WSMV’s wall. Tweet at them. Message them. Let them know that they’ve struck a nerve–we want Paul, Dagny, and Snowbird!

Share this article with your friends, and have them take action as well.

If all else fails, turn the channel.

Ralph Wiggum covers it all for The SoBros Network – breaking news, politics, technology, anything of importance going on in the world. He is also an expert turtle photographer.

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