IOC: Troop Support Is Propaganda
By Wyatt Earp | February 16, 2010
This is propoganda?
I love the Winter Olympics, I really do. I especially love Olympic hockey, because it’s a much faster, more pure version of the sport. But it’s stories like this that make me think my support for the Games is completely misplaced.
Trouble is brewing over United States ice hockey goalie Jonathan Quick and the “Support Our Troops” slogan on his helmet. Slogans of this sort are banned under Olympic rules and Quick will be told to remove it, the International Ice Hockey Federation has told Reuters. Ryan Miller has also been told to remove the slogan “Miller Time” from his helmet.
IOC rules forbid political propaganda or advertisements being placed on equipment. “If the players don’t agree with the interpretation they can ask the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) to petition the IOC.”
Miller said he had agreed to remove “Miller Time”, which is also a popular beer company slogan, but might fight to keep “Matt Man”, a tribute to a dead friend from being taken off his helmet.
“Support the Troops” is now political propaganda? Are they frakkin’ kidding me? Hell, if you want to nitpick, the very notion of displaying a country’s flag can be considered political propaganda! If I were the U.S. team I would fight this. Or better yet, go onto the ice without covering the slogan and let the IOC try and disqualify them.
It’s interesting that the Committee has a problem with this, but they had no problem with freakin’ Palestine competing in the 2008 Beijing Summer Games. Yeah, no political propaganda there.
UPDATE: U.S. beats Switzerland, 3-1.
Topics: Ice Hockey | 11 Comments »
February 16th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
PC ism at it’s finest… sigh…
February 16th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
The Olympic Games have become a political joke. Don’t watch anymore. Only 50,000 people for the opening ceremonies. Crap like this is what turns people off.
February 16th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
I can understand their problem.
After all, how many countries are at the Olympics who have troops fighting us around the world?
February 16th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
Mmm…right….wouldn’t want to offend all the Taliban participants in the winter Olympics.
I look at it in these terms…..would I be offended if another country participating in the games had a similar decoration adorning their goalie mask….
Fuck no….in the host country’s case, I would actively encourage it, since they seem to have been punching above their weight class in Afghanistan the last few years.
February 16th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
UPDATE #2: NBC is killing the Olympics in the U.S. Great, another night of figure skating. Blow me, Jeff Zucker!
February 16th, 2010 at 11:23 pm
As if – being a long-suffering Kings fan – I needed another reason to love Jonathan Quick.
The silver lining to this is that I think the IOC actually brought more attention to the “Support Our Troops” design than if they hadn’t said anything at all. Quick isn’t starting and the helmet will only be seen if he hits the ice. Otherwise he’s riding the bench wearing a ball cap.
Quick needs to bring that helmet back to L.A. and wear it in a Kings game. The fans would back him up 1000%.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:08 am
Quick abso-freakin’-loutely killed the Bruins twice during that atrocious 10-game skid, Melinda. Both in overtime….both in the shootout. Yea….big whoop…Boston got the one point.
Ironically, he and Tim Thomas are teammates now. But good for him in his selection of mask-artwork.
February 17th, 2010 at 7:43 am
Old NFO – It has to affect sports now, too?
Minuteman26 – I tune in for hockey, snowboarding, and curling. That’s pretty much it.
Veeshir – I hear the Iraqi sandboarding team is awesome!
Fenway_Nation – North Korea could have that slogan and I wouldn’t care. Seriously. This should be a non-issue.
Randal – The boys and I were watching curling and hockey on CNBC. NBC has been carrying the crap and the boring interviews.
Melinda – Quick is a stud. If the Kings got some scoring punch for him – besides Kopitar – they’d be dangerous. They need Gretzky back.
Fenway_Nation – Agreed. BTW, what the hell happened to Thomas this year?
February 17th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
NBC Olympic coverage always seems to suck.
I live in the same time zone as the Olympics and have to watch everything on tape delay. WTF? And then when I do watch they are showing replays of something I saw the night before or an interview with a politician. And last night, Mens figure skating?! Even if I wanted to watch figure skating it sure as heck would not be mens figure skating.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:38 pm
1- It IS political propaganda.
2- How would all you patriots like to see the Syrian team with stickers that say “Death to Israel and the Great Satan USA”?
3- I though the Olympics are about Supporting Our Athletes.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Ingineer66 – Hey, can I help it if the East Coast rules the world? Heh.
e.ann – 1. Sure it is. So is “Have a nice day,” and “Welcome to Walmart.”
2. Apples and oranges. You would have a solid leg to stand on if Quick had “Death to Iran” on the back. Nice try, though.
3. It is. Would you rather him have “Support Me” on the back of his helmet?