USA Hockey: Goalie Jonathan Quick Forced to Remove Helmet Slogan

I'm not a hockey fan, never have been and probably never will be. But this story caught my attention after Arnie Spanier of 105.3 FM in Dallas brought it up at the beginning of his show yesterday.

A lot of us that have been to hockey games, or watched them on TV, have noticed that a lot of goalies have their own style of helmets that they design. Often times those helmets have slogans written on them or they have pictures or designs that make it unique to their own style.

Such was the case for USA Hockey goalie's Ryan Miller and Jonathan Quick. Miller was asked by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to cover up or remove "Miller Time" from his helmet as it violated the "banning advertisements and propaganda." Miller has agreed to do so but will fight to keep "Matt Man," as it is a tribute to his cousin Matt Schoals who lost his battle with cancer.

Similarly, Quick has been asked to remove "Support Our Troops" as the IOC has called it "political propaganda." Quick, nor the US Olympic Committee, is letting that go quietly. Bob Condron, a spokesman for the USOC told the Associated Press, "We're going to meet with USA Hockey tonight to see what their thoughts are. We don't know if it's a federation or a USOC situation."

Should Quick be forced to remove "Support Our Troops" and is this really "political propaganda" for a goalie to want to show his support to those that are doing something that a lot of us would never have the guts to do? Is this really something that would offend people?

I had written an article about the NCAA banning eye black "messages" and I'm of the opinion that it was a "just in case" move so they wouldn't have to worry a player writing something offensive under their eyes. Though the NCAA had not had a case like that, there were some that argued that former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow was forcing his religion on people by writing pieces of biblical scripture under his eyes.

This reeks of that same kind of situation and that the IOC is making a politically correct move to keep themselves out of trouble just in case something might happen.

While I agree that there is no place for a political statement in the olympics, "Support Our Troops" is hardly a political statement. Since when can we not show our support for the men and women in uniform. It doesn't say "Support the War."

I'm fully behind the US Olympic Committee and Jonathan Quick on this one as I know there was no political intent with the message. But because the IOC is too scared to tell people to get over themselves and allow the First Amendment to apply, they'll tuck their tail between their legs and ask USA Hockey to "pretty please remove it because we don't want to make anyone upset."

This isn't the first time the IOC has come under fire, especially not after the death of 21-year old luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from the Republic of Georgia just hours before the opening ceremonies. But instead of taking responsibility for what was called a dangerous track by the Calgary Herald just hours before Kumaritashvili's crash, the IOC put the blame squarely on Kumaritashvili saying he didn't compensate coming out of a turn.

According to National Public Radio, the IOC's statement read in part "There was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track." Though changes were made in the track after the death, the IOC said it had nothing to do with the death. International Luge Federation president Josef Fendt told NPR, "We never said it is too fast but a decision was made to alter the track based on the emotional components of the athletes."

The IOC seems to be more upset about three words on a goalie's helmet than saving their own skin over a tragedy that was their fault to begin with. Seems like a double standard to me.