On What Propaganda is Condemned and Countenanced at Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

The 23rd Winter Olympiad in Pyeongchang, South Korea had a reoccurring theme of Peace, as was evident from the Opening Ceremonies.  It was well known that athletes from North and South Korea would march as a unified team into Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium.  

One of the draws for casual sports fans to watch the Olympics is the Opening Ceremonies. The pageantry of the Opening Ceremonies, as expressed through artistic expression as well as thematic choice sets the mood for the Olympic Games.  Afterwards, there is the Parade of Nations, when all of the competitors gather in a gesture of unity and good will.  During this long march of nations, television viewers often have to endure commentary from NBC announcers to add color and context to the visuals.  Often this dialogue is pap or seems scripted.

However, when the Japanese team made their debut at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, NBC Asia correspondent Joshua Cooper Ramos offered an incredible generalization.  Ramos claimed that Koreans looked with admiration to Japan as an important example of cultural, economic and technological transformation.




Several hours after uttering this insensitive and insulting insinuation, NBC Sports issued a hasty apology.

NBC paid $967 million for broadcast rights for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, and it would seem that they did not want to insult their hosts.

With that in mind, one wonders why NBC keeps pushing North Korean propaganda while covering the Winter Olympics.  No doubt that a unified Korean team marching during the Parade of Nations was a big story.  It epitomizes the international aspiration of brotherhood and exemplifies the Pyeongchang Game's theme of Peace.  

[Front Center] Vice President Mike Pence [Back Center] Kim Yo Jung, sister of DPRK dictator Kim Jun Un

It is understandable that an Olympic broadcaster would want to capitalize on controversy by showing how close Vice President Mike Pence was seated to North Korean Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong during the Opening Ceremonies.




The coverage of the North Korea cheerleaders during the womens' hockey game between Korea and Switzerland does raise eyebrows.  It was a cute featurette to have a piece about the some of the 200 woman squad of  the North Korean "Army of Beauty" cheerleaders leading chants during the 0-8 rout of Korea.  Some say that the synchronized chants of the North Korea Beauty Cheerleaders stole the show. But what what telling is what they chanted and how they performed.  These NPDK cheerleaders chanted "Unity" waving "neutral" flags of a unified Korea. After each goal by their opponent, they chanted: "Cheer up!".  Perhaps that exemplifies a cultural trait.  


What has been shown but little explored are instances in which the female Beauty Squad use big heads of a Korean man.  Hmm.  Who could this be?  


It is dubious that it was an everyman Korean.  The Big Head looks rather like an idealized image of North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un. What does it say about the consequences of  "Unity".  Is that something that all Koreans also believe?

UPDATE 02/12/2018  BBC News quotes Korean media that the DPRK Army of Beauties cheerleaders were holding up big heads of Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (the first of the Hermit Kingdom's Juche post World War II dictators).  Yet the South Korean Unification Ministry insists that the cheerleaders were just holding up cut outs of "a good looking man". 

RIP Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe, a.k.a. Mr. Hockey, died at the age of 88. He had been in failing health for years, struggling with Alzheimer's and was debilitated after a massive stroke in October 2014.  But at Gordie Howe's passing, it is worthwhile to remember his remarkable achievements and motivation to play the sport which he loved.

Howe played 32 seasons in professional hockey-- 26 seasons for the NHL and six seasons for the WHA.  Howe played for the Detroit Red Wings from 1946 to 1971. As a Red Wing, Howe led the team to four Stanley Cup championships, was the NHL's MVP six times and was the league's leading scorer six times. In fact, Howe was in top ten scorers for 21 seasons.  Howe retired in 1971 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of fame.

However, two years after retiring from the NHL, Howe came back in his mid 40s to join sons Mark and Marty Howe to play for the Houston Aeros in the upstart World Hockey Association.  This stint was not just a marquee trick as Gordie Howe managed to rack up 100 points during his six seasons with the Aeros.  

Howe briefly made a comeback in the NHL during the 1979-80 season at age 52 with the Hartford Whalers.  In 1980, Howe make the starting team for his 23rd NHL All Star Game.  The welcome which greeted Gordie at the All Star Game in Detroit that year was astounding.





The new International Bridge over the Detroit River between Ontario and Michigan will be named for Gordie Howe.

Trashing Flyers Fans?

The Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals for game three of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.  The Flyers team initially seemed inspired by the emotional pre-game tribute to the late owner Ed Snider and scored within the first minute of play at the Wells Fargo Center.  But then the momentum stopped for the Orange Crush, which brought out the worst in unhappy Flyers fans.

As the Flyers descended to an eventual 6-1 rout by the Capitals, Flyer fans got unruly. The towards the end of the game, giveaway bracelets began to pelt the ice and even hit Capital players on the bench. Despite the entreaties of  P.A. announcer Lou Nolan, the Philadelphia Flyers were assessed a bench minor penalty for delay of game as the shovel brigade worked to clear the playing surface from debris from pissed off fans.

Red Wings Head Ice Manager Al Sobatka

The Detroit Red Wings have to temper their fans enthusiasm in the playoffs but from the other end of the spectrum. A tradition started in 1952 that enthusiastic fans threw an octopus on the ice symbolizing the eight games that were needed to win the Stanley Cup at that time. In the 1980s, Red Wings fans tossed larger and larger cephalopods weighing 38 and 50 pounds.  The head ice manager would twirl the octopi above his head as he walked to the Zamboni.  The NHL tried to curtail this practice but the league relented after the hue and cry from fans in Octopus-gate.

Philadelphia Flyers fans are renowned for their fierce fanaticism. This seemingly reflects the region (as Veterans' Stadium had  a court and jail for rowdy football fans).  It is not surprising that Flyers fans emulate their team's legend.  During their heyday in the 1970s, the Flyers were known as the Broad Street Bullies. Their fans revel at intimidating and insulting their bete noirs.

To some extent, this fanaticism is admirable.  But it can be a vein for irascible and unmerited anger. Cheering injured players, taunting "traitors" (players now playing for opposing teams), attacking players in the penalty box,  booing Sarah Palin ceremonial puck drop and they even booed Santa Claus.  But what cemented the conceit of classlessness happened several years ago when a PSA played on the Jumbotron featuring several NHL stars in an anti-cancer spot.  The crowd booed because the anti-cancer ad featured it featured Penguin's star Norm Crosby et ali.

There is no particular desire for a unrepentant rivalry in the District of Calamity with the City of Brotherly Love. But it seems ashamed that Flyers fans projected their frustration being three games behind in the playoffs by trashing the ice and endangering players with their projectiles. It seems that Lord Stanley might not want a cheese steak this season.

At a rally prior to the start of the series, I met a woman who was former military fully rockin' the red (including a red coif) who was driving up to the game in Philadelphia with a friend who is a big Flyers fan who was on shore leave.  I shudder at the mood on the ride home based upon the behavior displayed at the arena. 

Grover Norquist on Home Ice Tax Disadvantage

Home Ice TaxDisadvantage is a joint study by the Canadian Taxpayers Foundation and the Americans for Tax Reform which studied the impact of taxes upon labor mobility by focusing on the 123 unrestricted NHL free agents during the 2014 off-season. The study accounted for the team salary spending, the personal tax rate and the "True Cap" which took into consideration these rates.

 Home Ice Tax Disadvantage discovered that 57% of the players who switched teams during that time period chose to migrate to lower tax jurisdictions. The 78 free agents who switched teams, cumulatively saved $7,951,784 in taxes. These choices are more marked when considering particular players' circumstances.

For example, Benoit Pouliot was moved from the New York Rangers to the Edmonton Oilers. Had Pouliot been offered the same deal in New York City, he would have paid $572,752 more in taxes. Jason Spezza had a no trade clause in his contract, which aided him when he moved from the Ottawa Senators to the Dallas Stars, where he now only pays $349,535 in taxes.  Yet P.A. Parenteau did not have a no-trade clause so when he moved from the Colorado Avalanche to the Montreal Canadiens, it cost him $349,352 in taxes to play for the 'Habs.  

Alberta had the lowest jurisdictional tax rate, so players for the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers only paid 38.5% in taxes.  Alberta's overall tax rate was lower than Southern U.S. states like Florida, Texas and Tennessee which boast no state income taxes.  The Los Angeles Kings pay the highest overall amount in taxes, forking over $27.8 million to Uncle Sam and $8.5 million to the state of California.  The Montreal Canadien players face the highest tax rate of 58.5%. 

As CTF Director of Research Jeff Bowes, who authored Home Ice Tax Disadvantage, put it:  

“The numbers don’t lie; NHL players take a financial hit to play in certain jurisdictions.  Obviously, there are other factors at play besides taxes, but the fact remains that disparities in tax rates leave some teams at a major disadvantage.”

The point of the study was not to study comparative advantage in the NHL or to stoke up class envy but to suggest that high tax jurisdictions are alienating skilled workers such as doctors, engineers or corporate executives  with onerous progressive taxation and prompting them to vote with their feet.  The ever increasing tax rates on the top tier of taxpayers may explain why places like New York and California keep losing businesses and population to locales like Texas and Florida.

H/T:  Americans for Tax Reform

NHL Rallies Around Ottawa After Terror Attack on Parliament Hill

After the morning terror attack by an Islamist terrorist on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, much of Canada's capital remained in lock down for much of the day. Thus it was no surprise that the NHL postponed the Ottawa Senators- Toronto Maple Leafs game at the Canada Tyre Centre scheduled for the evening.

Social media allowed NHL players, coaches and reporters to express messages of sympathy and solidarity with the besieged Canadians. 

For me, the most touching tribute to our neighbors to the North was at Pittsburgh Penguins-Flyers game in Pittsburgh where the crowd sang O Canada, the Canadian National Anthem.

Neither club was from Canada or a border town, yet American hockey fans recognized this was Canada's 9/11 moment and showed solidarity.

Duncan Keith on Determination

Rodney Dangerfield on Hockey

Tim Horton on Motivation

Steve Rushin on Violence

Kings Sized Donut in LA

Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, California  has partnered with the LA Kings in their drive for another Stanley Cup championship.  The donut stand partnered with the NHL team to turn their iconic giant Donut which is a landmark on the I-405 freeway into something approximating a hockey puck.

The LA Kings have a long association with Inglewood, as the team played at the Forum of Inglewood for 32 years before moving to their current home at the Staples Center in 1999.

Larry Weintrub, a co-owner of Randy's Donuts, expressed his intent to keep his landmark clad with a faux puck veneer until victory of bust.  Randy's donuts put some icing on their partnership with the Kings by giving away a free glazed donut to all Kings fans  on Tuesday May 27th between 8 to 9 am. 

LA Kings fans are one win away from playing for Lord Stanley's Cup, as the hold a 3-1 lead over the Chicago Black Hawks in the Western Conference finals. 

P.K. Subban--A Classy Canadien Who Rejects Racist Rubes' Barbs

P.K. Subban, Defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens

After PK Subban scored the winning goal in double overtime for the Montreal Canadien's 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins in game one of second round of the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs, he was reportedly pelted with trash by bellicose Bruins fans at the TD Gardens.  When asked if he was hit by the debris, Subban said: I don’t know. It doesn’t even matter.”

What was harder to deny were the brigade of bigoted Bruins fans which took to Twitter to share thousand of racist comments to  trash the 24 year old defenseman from Toronto whose parents emigrated from the Caribbean to Canada.  It got so bad that the Bruins' President Cam Neely issued a statement:

“The racist, classless views expressed by an ignorant group of individuals following Thursday’s game via digital media are in no way a reflection of anyone associated with the Bruins organization.”

This torrent of intolerance is not the first time that some Masshole bigots have sullied the sport.  When Joel Ward clenched the series for the Washington Capitals over the Boston in 2012, some Bruins fans issued a barrage of racist rants on Twitter.   What makes this episode remarkable is that it took place in the turbulent cultural cross currents of the Donald Sterling Clippers controversy in the NBA.

When Subban chose to respond to these racists' rants, his thoughts could not be contained in 140 character limit of Twitter. Subban said:

First things first, the Boston Bruins are an Original Six franchise, they have been around a long time, they are respected. It’s completely unfair for anybody to point the finger at the organization of the fan base. They have passionate fans here, a great fan base and since I’ve been in the league, it’s been awesome. 

I’ve come to Boston many times, my family has come here and it’s been great. What people may say on Twitter or social media is not a reflection by any means of the league or the Boston Bruins.

You know what the funny thing is, is that we get stronger as a league. You see how people come together and it’s great. It’s not just about me. The NHL has tons of players from different backgrounds, from different places around the world and that’s what makes this league so special and that’s what makes sports so special, it brings everybody together.

Another great hockey game today. I’m sure everybody enjoyed it and I look forward to the rest of the series and everybody else should, too.

Even when pointedly interviewed on television about the incident, Subban refused to climb onto the racial victims bandwagon.




Subban brushed off the brusque bigotry, he spoke highly of the passion of his arch-rival  Bruins fans, while touting the virtues of hockey.  When pressed he called out the stupidity of the minority of insult hurlers.

Even diehard Bruin fans are impressed by Subban's class.  Someone reacting to the Boston Herald's coverage of the incident wrote:

I hate the Habs, but in regards to P.K. Subban praise is due. P.K. is a class person and a helluva hockey player, man can he skate — beautiful to watch. Fortunately, I believe we will be loving to hate P.K. (the player) for years to come. Oh, and those walking pieces of human debris who sent those tweets etc. ... can now crawl back into their rats nests while the rest of us enjoy a great playoff series.

Even some Massachusetts politicos have gone out on a limb to praise Subban's poise.  Charlie Baker, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, posted on Twitter

Passions can run high among hockey fans, especially a playoff series between members of the NHL's original six.  But P.K. Subban demonstrated remarkable virtue should be admired across the board as one classy Canadien. Subban's example is a better example of what sports can do.

Bobby Hull on Being A Millionaire

Don Cherry on Common Sense

Not only is Don Cherry's sartorial style on Hockey Night in Canada loud, but so are his opinionated analyses, such as comparing traditions in baseball and hockey. 

Brendan Shanahan on Hockey

Jonathan Quick on Playing Team Russia at Sochi

T.J. Oshie on Heroes

T.J. Oshie on Ice Time

T.J. Oshie,  the St. Louis Blues Center, who is playing on Team USA during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics may be modest about his abilities.  But Oshie's worth was highlighted in a dramatic finish to the USA-Russia hockey matchup.  With the score tied 2-2 after a 5 minute overtime, the game was decided by a shootout.  Oshie took most of Team USA's eight rounds of shots and put the puck in the net four times, thereby winning the game 3-2. 

Herb Brooks on Hockey

Brook's desired virtues for the US Hockey team paid off in Lake Placid (1980), in the Miracle on Ice.  The excitement of Al Michaels' call of the last minute of the game was remarkable considering it was not even the medal game. 

Why Hockey is a Funny Game

Stephen Leacock on Hockey