Putting the O in Olympics

Okay. If this little radio gig falls through, I know I can find another job. Designing crap for International sports events.

I’ve already ranted a bit about the World cup of Hockey Trophy, which looked like two blocks of ice. I'd like to think the NHL was so distracted by the upcoming lockout, they accidentally hired this twit. The artist they hired, Frank Gehry, ran a firm with broad international experience in museum, theater, performance, academic, and commercial projects. I have no doubt he believes hockey players drink Zima and sing show tunes after games.

I’ve already ranted about the Mascots for the Vancouver Games. These figures are symbolic of really, really bad art.

The Mascots for 2008 Games in Beijing are called Friendlies. Very distrubing. Picture Care Bears after I've set their heads on fire. Jing Jing, Huan Huan, and Ying Ying are just 3 of the adorable little friendlies. These little characters Suck Suck.

Lastly, the medals for the Italian Winter Olympics this February were unveiled late last week. If you finish first, second or third, you’ll receive what appears to be an oversized washer. Or maybe it’s a CD of Sinatra’s greaest hits.

There’s a big freakin’ hole in the centre of the medals! The holes apparently represent the Italian piazza (maybe they should be pink. Baseball fans will get that joke) - meaning city square or plaza - that is at the heart of the image designs for the Feb. 10-26 Olympics.

If you want to use an Italian symbol, how about instead of piazza, we go with pizza? Circular! No holes! Everybody’s happy. Even a calzone would be better. By that, I don’t mean the shape of a calzone. I mean, an actual calzone. My god, they’re delicious.

Hey! Nice Demitra!

Anytime Pavol Demitra comes to town, Sens fans whip out their revisionist history textbooks. Right after chapter 1, “The Alexandre Daigle Debacle”, and before Chapter 3, “How Could We Cut Martin St. Louis in Training Camp?” you’ll find the revised story of Demitra.

Recount the fan rage, the mob scene that became known to NHL historians as the Demitra Riots. Remember the emotional press conference to bid a sad farewell to Demitra the Dominant. “I told Alfie I wouldn’t do this.” the star forward would say as he wiped tears form his eyes.

Of course, none of that ever happened. Yet the trading of Demitra is acknowledged as the club’s worst ever trade. I can live with that. But spare me the rolling of the eyes. No one, not the Sens, the media or the fans thought this guy would be this good when, 9 years ago this week, Demitra was dealt to St Louis for Christer Olsson. When it happened, it wasn’t much more than a footnote.

Keep in mind, it was the Senators who saw something no one else did. He was drafted 227th overall so every other team passed on him about 8 times. The Sens saw the potential. What they didn’t like seeing was the moaning and whining. His first three years in the pros were mostly in PEI, where he racked up 196 points in 150 AHL games. The Sens were loving it.

But they rightly had to examine and favour more highly touted prospects like Daniel Alfredsson (rookie), Radek Bonk (year 2), Alexandre Daigle (year 3), Alexei Yashin (year 3) and Martin Straka (year 3). Demitra didn’t like it, forcing Pierre Gauthier to ship him out.

Sure, the Sens would like a mulligan but their history of regrettable trades is a very short read. There simply aren’t many players who left town and really made a positive impact somewhere else. The list gets pretty short after Demitra and Martin St Louis. The best of the rest would be guys like Martin Straka and Vaclav Prospal. Unless you’re Kreskin, you can’t do much better than the Sens have in limiting tales of the ones that got away.