A New Look for the New NHL

As many of you know, or may not know, the NHL suffered a crippling lockout during what was supposed to be the 2004-2005 season. When the lockout was resolved, not only was there a new collective bargaining agreement between the players association and the league, but a few changes to the rules that helped hockey become a much more exciting game at the professional level. These changes brought on the need for the league to redesign itself to keep up with its improved game. Everything soon became known as the "new" NHL. Even the league's shield logo changed from the old black and orange to a sleeker black and silver version.

The idea of redesigning the league was so accepted by everyone involved in hockey that Reebok, the league's official uniform manufacturer, wanted to create a new uniform for all the teams to use. The new uniform is known as the Reebok EDGE Uniform System. The material is lighter and more form-fitting than the old synthetic blend sweaters the teams had previously used. The material used is also designed to wick sweat and melted ice away from the player and off his body.

Along with the change in uniform opened the door to all the teams to either change their colors, logo, uniform design, or any combination of the three. There were six teams (Columbus, San Jose, Washington, Tampa Bay, Ottawa, and Vancouver) that actually changed their logo. Along with those previous six teams mentioned, 12 other teams completely redesigned their uniforms. The remaining 12 teams in the league only tweaked their jerseys a little, whether it involved changing or removing a stripe or design.

This presented great opportunities for the teams' marketing departments. Teams such as San Jose held a contest where fans got to design the new uniforms. Other teams, such as Minnesota and Pittsburgh were very secretive of their new uniform design by not letting anyone see them until the day they were revealed to the public. These pictures illustrate the differences between the Minnesota Wild's old home jerseys (left) and new home jerseys (right). Quite a difference, right?

The new jerseys, logos, designs, and rules of the league may not make hockey the most popular sport in America, but they surely make it much more interesting than it was before.

When Sports Commentary Goes Too Far...

Sports commentary has become one of the most popular concepts in today's world. Whether it be on television, radio or online everybody has there opinion and wants to share it to a huge audience. The question is when does sports commentary go too far? When does is become obscene and at what point is it just for ratings?

ESPN is the worldwide leader in sports commentary. Shows such as Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption (PTI) have gained a phenomenal following. These shows are described by ESPN to "featur[e] passionate opinions on the day's hot-button issues." They battle everyday about wins and loss as well as off the field incidents. But when it comes to personal issues that many may consider unrelated to the sport sometimes these journalists go too far. One such example is the sudden passing of Washington Redskin and former University of Miami Hurricane Sean Taylor.

This was obviously the story of the day, both on the front and back pages of the paper. But the way that the personalities of ESPN's PTI handled this tragic story was horrendous. Before word of his passing came the two both stated that the worst part of it all was that they were "not surprised." Although athletes may have their dark pasts when an athlete is in a time of need and their family deserves support what right to journalists have to judge and individual in their final days. If Taylor was not an athlete and simply an "average Joe" would it be acceptable for a news commentary organization to say something of that sort.

There is a thin line that journalist walk. In this case it simply went too far.

Will history be made in the NFL this season?

As the end of the NFL regular season quickly approaches two teams are very close to making history. One of the unbelievable success, and the other of the unbelievably bad. After watching the Patriots play all season and beat quality teams like Dallas and Indianapolis easily I am very confident that the only way New England will lose is if they play the practice squad in week 17. They are very well coached, and everyone on the team plays for one goal... winning and winning big. I know some people have a problem with them running up the score but I am not one of the people. The teams they are beating are professional teams, they all play under the same salary cap and same regulations, but how can one team be so dominant? They have amazing coaching and amazing players, if they run up the score its because the other team obviously doesn't belong on the same field.

Now to the other side of history. The Dolphins are a very bad team this year, they have very little offense and never seem to get a break. After watching them lose to the Jets, another bad team in the NFL yesterday by a score of 40-13 I am almost convinced that it will take a miracle for them to win and not go winless.

So what do you think? Will history be made this season?