Patriots provide perfect gift
There are lots of clever things being written about what happens to the merchandise of losers in the Super Bowl. From a marketing point of view, manufacturers want to have that stuff ready to hit the store shelves and television shopping channels the moment the game ends when consumer demand is feverish.
Of course, that means having merchandise ready in the event either team wins and that also means there are tons of seemingly worthless, high-quality stuff left over. So you'll read where in some far off land, the 2006 Bears are Super Bowl champions and the 2007 Patriots are still perfect.
But the real significance of the gesture hits home when you read on the World Vision Web site (World Vision is the outfit that helps distribute much of the merchandise donated by the NFL and Reebok) that "For many of the recipients, these will be the first new articles of clothing they have ever owned."
It may not ease the disappointment for New England followers, but in cold Eastern Europe or steamy Africa and Central America, their Patriots will have a lot of new fans.
Comments
How beautiful. How wonderful.
Thank you Patriots. You truly are outstanding.
And some of us will never forget you. Your legend will now have worldwide significance.
Thank you.
Posted by: jmgm | February 6, 2008 4:27 PM
This specific program might be new, but it's actually quite a common practice for sports leagues around the world to donate their "losers'" clothing -- meaning the hats and shirts pre-made for teams that lose their title games -- to third-world countries. In Africa, especially, it is pretty easy to find people wearing apparel emblazoned with "2007 World Series champion Colorado Rockies" or "2006 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers." You do a double-take when you see somebody wearing them, but like you point out, these items are a big benefit to a lot of people -- and that it doesn't take a lot, by our standards, to make a big difference in someone else's life.
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Joe,
Thanks for writing and pointing that out.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Joe Dalhart | February 7, 2008 1:52 PM