Lightning Postpone Unveiling
Monday · Jan 24 · 2011 | 11:44 AM PST
Before I even had a chance to mention that the Tampa Bay Lightning scheduled a press conference for this afternoon to unveil new uniforms, some pathetic excuse for a human forced the team to postpone it.
Just yesterday, the St. Pete Times reported that the Bolts had submitted paperwork with the league to change their uniforms. Then last night, the team had already called a press conference regarding a "major announcement concerning the organization's complete brand and business transformation."
I was really looking forward to that.
Unfortunately, a weasel hiding in his attic shot and killed two police officers this morning in St. Petersburg. By the way, if that's not enough to convince us that guns really aren't cool, just yesterday two officers were shot by a lunatic outside Seattle. And four in Detroit.
But that's a discussion for a different kind of blog. Here's what the Lightning said on their website:
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s press conference scheduled for this afternoon at the St. Pete Times Forum has been postponed indefinitely. Out of respect for those involved in an ongoing emergency situation in St. Petersburg today, the Lightning has elected not to move forward as previously scheduled.
More information will be available later today. Thank you for your consideration.
Good for them. We can wait. This isn't news today.
I'll keep on eye on future updates regarding the rescheduling of the press conference, which will probably be sooner than later. Despite no longer living in Tampa, I'm very excited to see what my team is up to.
By the way, when the Times mentioned the postponement on its website, the headline specifically said that new uniforms would be unveiled as this news conference. The team has not officially confirmed this yet.
Reader Comments (33)
I'm sure you won't let this comment past your censor capabilities, but you should keep politics out of your blog. Particularly on a topic you obviously know virtually nothing about. Not only have studies shown that "in 98% of confrontations, armed citizens needed only to brandish their weapons and aggressors fled unharmed,"1 but that "armed citizens kill only a tenth as many innocent people by mistake as police do."2
Or, how about the fact that "when the city of Kennesaw, Georgia passed an ordinance requiring each household to keep a firearm, crime dropped by 74% the following year."3 Even better yet, how about you take a look at crime rates before and after the passage of right-to-carry laws, such as in J. Lott's More Guns, Less Crime (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000) - specifically pp. 170-174.
More fun facts:
"Boys given guns by their fathers are less likely to use drugs or commit crimes than boys who carry no guns or have obtained them illegally."4
"In the entire Unitd States, 824 people died in firearm accidents in 1999, while the defensive use of guns saved approximately 400,000 lives."5
"Although 81% of handgun victims are relatives or acquaintances of the killer, some 80% of the killers have prior arrest records, frequently for crimes of violence. The average domestic killer is not a model citizen corrupted by guns, but a violent offender who has attacked before. Put another way, two-thirds of the people who die each year from gunshot wounds are criminals shot by other criminals, usually with illegally obtained weapons. Gun bans do little to reduce such killings."6
"over 90% of police officers want citizens to be able to buy firearms for defense as well as sport."7
1- G. Kleck and M. Gertz, "Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense with a Gun," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 86: 150-187, 1995.
2- J.R. Lott Jr., More Guns, Less Crime (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), pp 1-2.
3- "Town to Celebrate Mandatory Arms," New York Times, April 11, 1987, p. 6.
4- U.S. Department of Justice, Urban Delinquency and Substance Abuse: Initial Findings, Research Summary (Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1994), p. 18.
5- Centers for Disease Control and V. Suprynowicz, The Ballad of Carl Drega: Essays Based on the Freedom Movement, 1994 to 2001 (Reno, NV: Mountain Media, 2002), p. 413
6- D.B. Kopel, "Trust the People: The Case Against Gun Control," Policy Analysis No. 109 (Washington, DC: Cato Institute, 1988), p. 7.
7- National Association of Chiefs of Police, "13th Annual National Survey of Police Chiefs & Sheriffs, 2000"
Human depravity is just sickening. Kudos to the Bolts for keeping their priorities straight.
has the next conference been announced? and once they've announced the new jerseys will they wear them for the rest of the year, or wait unitl next year to wear them?
It's highly unlikely they'd change mid-season. When the new uniforms are unveiled, that's all it will be. They'll hold off on using them until next season.
Chris, I do like your blog a lot, but there's been several times over the years where you've managed to slip in some left-of-center politics then quickly say it's not a topic for this blog. If that's so, why even bring it up? Your entitled to your opinion, but it seems like you like to get a quick shot in of your views then discourage any further commenting on it by calling it off-topic. If it's really out-of-bounds for a hockey blog (which I do agree with you it should be), make it out-of-bounds for yourself too and don't mention your politics.
I think Chris Rock had it right. Guns stay cheap, but make bullets cost $5,000.
Evan A i love your southern redneck view just priceless
It's his bog he can write about whatever he wants.
heard about this all day :/ from tampa myself and the jerseys and everything can definitely wait. very happy to see what my teams true colors are
Hey Alex,
Are you saying all liberals hate guns and all conservatives like them? Can't Chris condemn this senseless act for what it is? Chris has the First Amendment to use as he sees fit, even if it's the odd blip in his hockey jersey blog.
10,000 Americans shot to death every year - I'm sure those dead people just love the Second Amendment as much as you do.
I'll say this and then leave it alone. If my sharing a relevant opinion in an off-handed comment threatens you, I apologize but perhaps the Internet isn't the best place to hang out. I know this is just a hockey blog, but there's still an actual person with thoughts and feelings that writes it. Dave put it best. It's a terrible thing that happened close to my hometown and that's all I was saying.
And for the record, I have no agenda or political bias. I've shot guns before but I don't choose to own them. I don't think they're cool and I said so. It's ok with me if you like them. I've also said I don't think the Thrashers' third jersey is cool and that didn't threaten anyone. They're just words. We can disagree without being nasty or assuming the worst in each other.
I really applaud the Lightning organization for delaying this news. Public servants all around the country have been shot and killed in the last 2 weeks or so and it's extremely sad and troubling. There was a cop in New Jersey that was killed execution style the other week. As a son of a now retired police officer, it's nice to know news around large communities can come to a halt to mourn something like this. Job well done Lightning, a big +1.
On that note, I'm on the edge of my seat to see these new jerseys/logo, and whenever they are ready to show them is fine by me.
The Atlanta Thrashers third jerseys are not cool and that cannot be argued.
Then again, neither are their first or second jerseys either.
They should probably get in on this whole rebranding thing. Them and Nashville .....and Carolina .....and Anaheim should probably try again too.
Evan A, Alex, it's his backyard, he can say/do anything he wants, at all, no exceptions or asterisks. You don't like it, go to someone else's barbeque. You're here as a guest.
Also, you're both Conservative awfuls.
Wait--blogs aren't written by politically oblivious robots?!
Anyway, isn't it sort of weird for the team to unveil new threads while they're still wearing their current ones? I'd think they'd want to wait until the offseason.
My point wasn't really liberal or conservative, just that it should be one or the other, either we talk about that here or we don't. Chris can do whatever he wants on his blog, yes, and I'm not going to stop following him or anything. I just felt it's cheap to put in a quick political aside then imply it's off topic for anyone else to respond.
Trying to argue with anyone that condones the ownership or use of tools specifically designed to kill is a pointless exercise, especially someone who believes in nailing their colours to "left" or "right" rather than thinking their way through an issue independently. As for the first rather baffling and bitter post on this topic I take a quote from a great British Prime Minister: "There are lies, there are damn lies, and then there are statistics.", as Benjamin Disraeli once said.
We're not too keen on the whole getting shot thing in the UK, so we tend to steer well clear of guns; a rather reassuring notion when it's 3am in a rough neighbourhood. Not that I don't understand the "guns don't kill people, people do" mentality, I do, yet I can't help but think that the gun plays rather a large part in the proceedings...but I digress.
Echoing most other people's sentiments, a very classy move on the part of the Lightning management, it doesn't do to detract from such a terrible turn of events. What is sad though is that when they do eventually unveil the new uniforms, the occasion will have been tainted somewhat by today; it makes looking forward to them with the same fresh faced enthusiasm as before a very difficult thing.
I can't find the link to the article, but yesterday in Mexico 2 guys with guns walked into a community soccer stadium and killed 7 people for no reason, also injuring 2.
Sick.
I tip my hat to the Lightning for pushing the announcement back and giving Tampa's finest the respect they deserve.
I think the Thrashers third jerseys would be sweet if they were blue!
We are all hockey fans. Some may be liberals while others are conservatives. At the end of the day, we ALL love hockey. We shouldn't find things that separate us, like gun control and political agendas. Instead, we need things that bring us together in hard times... like hockey sweaters and our favorite past time. We also can all agree that when a police officer is killed in our community it stirs up emotions that cause us to say things we regret.
In the end, there will always be crazy people in our world. We can't stop them with weapons, and they are determined to kill. We deal with it and move on. So on the day of the Stare of the Union address, think of ways to help yourself and EACH OTHER. STOP finding ways to divide our country.
I just love it how one off-hand remark in a blog post can cause all of this. Is this the nation that we have become? That one off-hand remark in a well written blog post causes us to start this political crap all over again? I'm really getting sick and tired of politics entering every single discussion in any forum. I don't think that the remark was made just to get those on the right off, it's obvious that gun violence is an issue, and whatever side your on, you need to realize this, and be willing to take action.
Let's just all calm down, and enjoy this blog for what it is, and leave politics out of this, and all agree that Atlanta's 3rd jersey has introduced a frightening element to hockey.
And to Evan, stats and reports are only valid to those who use them, but look at the real stats, the deaths and injuries from gun violence.
Hats off to the Lightning for thinking about their community first and foremost. Also, hats off to Chris for being honest. A lousy incident happens in his home town, so I can understand why he would voice his opinion on the matter. It is really fun being Canadian and reading the comments of Evan A, and you wonder why so much of the world looks down their noses at the right wing in the US. and if you don't like politics popping up in a hockey blog, then you're sadly misinformed. It's been my experience that hockey is almost nothing but politics, from pee-wee all the way up to the NHL. Oh and conservatives, I didn't see you complaining when every non political blog had their say about 9/11, and that seems to be the basis for all Republican platforms and agendas. Again, thank you Chris for speaking your mind on YOUR blog. Can't wait to see what the Lightning roll out here.
Chris, i don't know who you think you are, but just because the constitution says you have rights doesn't mean anything! Don't you know that? I mean all of these people couldn't possibly be wrong could they? I mean just because your first amendment rights grant you the right to speak your mind doesn't mean you should use it! I mean that's just plain silly! I can't seem to understand why people are getting so ridiculously fired up over your comments. It's just your opinion, doesn't make it wrong, or right for that matter. It certainly is more than welcome by myself and a few other readers I know of. You have a blog that I can only assume a few thousand people read at the very least. I applaud you for using your platform to voice your opinion. It seems today that everyone is always so fearful of saying and doing the right thing, and that creates half of the problems in the first place. I thank you for your opinion no matter what the topic Chris. Don't let the negativity stop you from continuing what you do!
Not sure how much I like the idea of blue/white for the Lightning... it just screams Maple Leafs at me.
I like getting rid of the black, we've seen so many teams add it in the past decade or so... however I'd like for them to keep the silver around. Blue/silver was always one of my favorite color combos.
I'm with you sauce. Heavy on the silver and blue, easy on the white. And for god sakes, fix that damn boring Lightning Bolt logo.
God bless our nation's finest. I pray for the families of every officer involved.
Good for the Lighting organization. Tragedies like this obviously take priority over mere sports.
And Evan and Alex.... get off your damn soapbox. Nobody was talking about restricting gun rights or whatever you seem to be going off on. It's not anti-gun to be against gun violence, geniuses.
The attitude of some is "I disagree with you, this is what I think..." while others say "I disagree with you, you shouldn't say what you think."
I used to think expressing your opinions was OK but the country has changed a lot since I was a kid.
On topic, I must say that I'm a Red Wings fan I love Stevie Y. and I love traditional-styled uniforms. I like the idea of the Lightning going with a traditional look but they also have a color scheme that is both unique to them and, compared to most other recent expansion teams, tasteful. I hope they keep the black and silver in some way, although if they pare it down to blue and silver that's still pretty Lightning-y.
I've got to think there's some mistake and that blue and white will simply be the most prominent colors. I definitely still see at least silver in the color scheme. Other wise they'd look too much like the Maple Leafs.
Please shut up. Chris is cool. He makes on awesome blog. The people who keep talking about the shooting aren't. This is not CNN. Go voice your opinions somewhere else. Hockey is cool. Shooting people isn't. Drop the subject.
As for the logo and jersey change, I think they need to scale back the black, but keep it as an accent. Blue Jersey with white stripes outlined in black. Numbers can be white with black and silver outlines.
Are we gonna se the Tmpa Bay Blue Lightning?
Hey, you know what, the Lightning have won five straight so Chris has a right to do whatever he wants. I come to the comments section to get peoples opinion on the lightning jerseys, not hear people whine like girls. Quit being an Alexander Ovechkin, ok?
Respect.