Interesting article. I had never really considered the 'C of Red' in a historical sense. Actually the more I think about it, has any team, from any city in any league been capable of filling the stands with so many people wearing the home team's home jersey(s)??
I don't think there is a single professional sports team in the world that can top us.
Calgary has some of the best fans in hockey. However, these Japanese football fans are pretty damn impressive. Football (soccer) fans in general are absolutely crazy with their colours and choreography.
Bookmarked for the next Jets fan who tries to convince me the White out came first.
That's the result of a radio DJ (at the time), and now TSN 1290 program director named Raccoon Carney, spreading false information that 2015 was the "30th anniversary" of the Whiteout.
He took full credit for the imaginary 85' Whiteout, and said it had nothing to do with countering Calgary's "C" of Red. Coincidentally, I lost all respect for the Winnipeg Free Press and TSN, as they failed to fact check, even when I presented the author of the piece with video evidence of the 85 series.
At least Global TV got it right:
In 1987, as the Jets prepared to play the Calgary Flames in game six of the first round, the Jets organization wanted to do something to counter the crowd at the Saddledome and the sea of red.
“They wanted to counter attack it with encouraging people to wear red, white and blue,” said Palson who made a simpler, more cost effective suggestion, “I threw out the idea of everyone has a white shirt, t-shirt, sweat shirt, let’s encourage our fans to wear white with the theme, good guys wear white…three days later the community was white, it was just an enormous response.”
The Winnipeg Jets whiteout was born April 16, 1987.
That's the result of a radio DJ (at the time), and now TSN 1290 program director named Raccoon Carney, spreading false information that 2015 was the "30th anniversary" of the Whiteout.
No, it sure ain't. There has been the odd fan site that misremembered the start of the Whiteout as 1985 for many years before the Jets even returned. Errors on this date go back as far as 2007 on Wikipedia - only because the articles didn't mention an actual year of creation before that point. Some Jets fans were so desperate to believe that theirs came first that they didn't even believe the Winnipeg Free Press when I pointed them to an article from 1987 that flat out said it was a response to the C of Red. Your radio DJ was merely spreading old misinformation.
Both are great traditions though, no matter which came first.
The Following User Says Thank You to Resolute 14 For This Useful Post:
Good read. It's pretty cool the Flames were mentioned so many times.
The part I found most interesting though was that the iconic Red Wings jersey from Ferris Bueller couldn't be purchased at the time so they had to ask Gordie Howe for it.
I love seeing the cost of the real authentic NHL "sweaters" for sale for $2 and change. As the article noted its a price in the $37 range in todays dollars.
It really makes you wonder about the price of merchandise now when an authentic jersey costs I believe $320+ $100 in authentic stitching from FanAttic. I may be off a bit in terms of dollars but you get the point.
I also believe I had read somewhere that the authentic on ice jerseys are no longer made in Canada like before which to me is just a travesty.
I am the biggest stickler for authentic on ice jerseys but its getting out of hand it terms of costs. I have a large collection to last me a while but how much will a jersey cost in the future? I don't even have a child and the thought of buying my son an authentic jersey in the future to wear to games literally puts a chill in my spine. A couple of authentic jerseys for you favorite player is going to run like $1200 in 10 or so years. Just wow!
First, in the 1930s, authentic sweaters were literally that: sweaters. They weren't made with the higher quality materials, didn't have fight straps and the like, didn't have high quality crests for the logos like we have today.
Second: The NHL realized the value of licensing. We're paying a tax to the league for the right to advertise for the league. (This, incidentally, forms the core basis of my hatred of jersey advertising: I am willing to be a billboard for the Flames. I am not willing to be one for Scotiabank.)
Third, and this applies to replica jerseys: Reebok effing sucks. They realized that they could produce something far inferior to the quality of what CCM produced before, and charge more for it. I'm hoping that Adidas can be better in this regard, but I very much doubt it. The only "improvement" we're likely to see are those obnoxious three stripes put somewhere.
The Following User Says Thank You to Resolute 14 For This Useful Post:
