If it's good enough for an intelligent, left wing, anti-war icon and fellow musician like Neil Young, it's good enough for me.

After fifteen years, the Winnipeg Jets are back, and the season opener is only a handful of hours away.

The Return of the Winnipeg Jets has been a triumphant moment for this great city of Winnipeg!  The only bump in the runway came earlier this summer when the new logo was released.  Weakerthans frontman John K. Samson embarrassed himself and the city by writing a ridiculous column for The Winnipeg Review titled "The New Jets Logo, a Boardroom, and a Bargain".

In it, Samson essentially accuses anyone of wearing the new Jets logo of supporting the War on Terror.

"...the new logo will imply that whoever wears it supports both the actions of the Canadian military and the politicians who deploy them. Where does that leave those hockey fans that feel varying degrees of otherwise?"

I wonder if Samson is willing to change his embarrassing stance on the new Jets logo after seeing the video below.
(The video will open in a new window.)

The same Neil Young who wrote Ohio, and recorded an entire anti-war album in 2006 titled Living with War which included a song called "Let's Impeach The President" seems quite able to separate politics and sports without any trouble whatsoever.

I respect Samson's politics and activism.  We probably share many of the same views on war. But his worry about the new Jets logo being a "recruiting device for a specific branch of the Canadian military" is not based in reality.  If sports logos were that influential, Los Angeles Kings fans would be flocking to Monarchist Societies en masse, Calgary Flames fans would routinely commit acts of arson, New Jersey Devils fans would worship Satan, and Washington Capitals fans would unequivocally support every move that the White House makes.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were named after the elite Maple Leaf regiment that fought in World War I (hence the name "Leafs" instead of "Leaves").  Samson should take a break from this self-made predicament and go bother Leafs fans for a while like the rest of Canada does!

While I personally love the Winnipeg Jets 2.0 logo, I can see where people are coming from when they accuse the Winnipeg Jets logo of being unimaginative and bland.  But suggesting that by wearing it proudly I am going to suddenly want to see dead Iraqis and hope that my daughter grows up to see the world and kill people is ridiculous and paranoid.

I doubt John K. Samson will ever have the desire to backtrack and change his views on the new Jets logo, but really, if it's good enough for an intelligent, left wing, anti-war icon and fellow musician like Neil Young, it should be good enough for him.

Currently playing: Neil Young - Cinnamon Girl
Proudly in my sixth Cola free year!