| | The frothing throng of hockey journalists (do they even qualify as a throng at this point? pack? group? two Canadians in a bar?) have been ranting about the dire need for the NHL to pull its stars from the Olympics. They cite wear and tear, lackadasical play and a missing sense of team cohesiveness.
It's really the only news the hockey world has seen lately short of gambling, gold-digging wives, and I shan't touch either of those. There's a bigger, more pressing issue regarding Olympic hockey going untouched: The USA's uniforms.
Really, could they be more patheitic? USA in block script, with a little star in the "A" and a sort of red-and-white-striped flag pattern weaving out of the bottom end of the "S." That's it. That's duller than a broken spork.
Look at the other countries. They all have some sort of nifty crest or logo representing the spirit, the emblem of the county. Germany has its sleek eagle. Sweden the three crowns. Finland, its rampant lion. Slovakia has ... whatever that cross-thingy they have is. That's pride. That's having something to identify yourselves with. That's knowing your heritage. (Switzerland, by the by, doesn't count. That's a neutral country, and what symbolizes neutral? Maybe they need solid grey uniforms. And Italy, well, its hockey team is a novelty cobbled together for this week-long stretch. What else can we expect?)
Should the Americans' unis sink to the level of those droll nations? I would argue otherwise. We need a crest, something inspired and patriotic, not a bland template that could be used to market anything from athletic apparel to drill bits.
Why not a bald eagle, something emblematic of the presidential seal? Or maybe a statue of liberty-type design (The Capitals and Rangers can suck it up; this is our country dammit!). Something the players can look down to and remember why they leapt on this plane in the first place. Something we can see to remind us why we want to watch and root for them. Something that embodies: AMERICA.
Actually, come to think of it, never mind. We'd end up either with Uncle Sam lighting all those other crests on fire, or a giant "Drink Coke."
U-S-A!
|
| | Posted 2/20/2006 1:42 PM - 11 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
