T-Shirt Times

17 March 2006
By MARK GEENTY

MELBOURNE: The ‘Black Cocks’ are back. New Zealand’s badminton supporters raised eyebrows and had the Melbourne public giggling yesterday as they unveiled their new black t-shirts and caps blaring out the team’s controversial, unofficial nickname.

Eighty t-shirts and caps have been flown to Melbourne and were donned by the players’ parents, siblings, friends and officials as the team beat Kenya 5-0 in their opening Commonwealth Games match.

"Black Cocks: Expect Big Things," is emblazoned on the back of the t-shirt while the caps carry equally subtle messages: "Not A Soft Option" for the men or "Nobody Likes To Come Second" for the women.

The nickname was coined last year as the quirky object of their sport, the shuttlecock, gave them the leeway for a risque approach.

It created a stir and Badminton New Zealand decided not to officially adopt the name, but the team were keen to continue with it and a Hamilton clothing manufacturer climbed on board.

Doubles player John Gordon, whose Games dream was ended a month ago when he ruptured his achilles tendon, proudly wore his t-shirt in the stands yesterday and even his parents followed suit.

"That’s one good thing about being a supporter, you get to don one of these great shirts and a hat," he said.

"It’s certainly quite interesting wearing them through the Melbourne town. We’ve had a really good reaction from people and I think we could make some money out of it.

"Plenty of people have offered to buy them so I’ll be selling mine to the highest bidder.

More…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3606089a15977,00.html

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By Elissa Silverman and Yolanda Woodlee
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 16, 2006; Page DZ02

Monday’s D.C. Council hearing on financing the proposed $412 million National Capital Medical Center left those in the audience with lots of questions: Who would run the hospital? Who would decide what services it would provide?

And who was responsible for the T-shirts?

Worn by approximately 25 people wandering in and out of the council chamber all day, they bore bright red letters:

"NCMC. N=No. C=Charitable. M=Medical. C=Care.

"NCMC Stands for No Charitable Medical Care=If you do not have insurance the NCMC will not treat you like D.C. General would."

Although at first glance the shirts looked supportive of the proposed public-private partnership between the city and Howard University, the message mimicked the mantra of David A. Catania (I-At Large), a hospital opponent who chairs the D.C Council’s committee on health and who repeatedly said during the lengthy session that the NCMC would not be a replacement for D.C. General Hospital. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) ignited a firestorm when he decided to close the city’s public hospital in 2001. Though the hospital was beloved by some city residents for caring for all regardless of ability to pay, Williams put a do-not-resuscitate order on the facility, arguing that it was hemorrhaging money.

It was difficult to get an answer to the T-shirt question, even from some of those wearing the shirts. A few people said they were simply volunteers interested in the hospital issue. Others said they had been given the shirts and told to put them on.

Rodney Riley said he didn’t know who had paid for his. Nor did Riley know who had been responsible for sending a van to his house that morning to bring him to the John A. Wilson Building.

"I just come," said Riley, who sat quietly through eight hours of testimony. "I don’t have anything else to do."

Rose Hamilton , who lives in …

More…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/15/AR2006031500845.html

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By ROBERT MARCHANT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 15, 2006)

CORTLANDT — St. Patrick’s Day will be marked Friday with Irish food, music, cultural celebrations and, in a number of cases, buckets of green beer and T-shirts in really bad taste.

Some Irish-Americans in the Lower Hudson Valley could do without the T-shirts depicting drunken leprechauns or the prowess of the "Irish Beer Drinking Team."

"Why should my heritage be trashed?" asks John Lick, a bagpiper with the Emerald Society and a police officer from Ossining. "It’s such a double standard."

Bob Kelly, a retired Westchester County police officer from Cortlandt, was shopping at the Wal-Mart in his hometown with his grandson this week when a row of T-shirts caught his eye, connecting the Irish with drinking and rowdiness.

"They associate St. Patrick’s Day, which is a day for the patron saint of Ireland, with a drunken, brawling day," said Kelly, who works in the funeral home business and serves in the color guard of the Westchester County chapter of the Emerald Society. "I’m not a prude, but it was something that was really starting to annoy me."

Some Irish-American civic leaders are pushing merchants to stop selling the merchandise.

George Leahy, president of the Rockland County chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, said greeting cards, T-shirts and parade paraphernalia too often depict the Irish in an offensive manner, and members of his organization were trying to limit their sale.

A few years ago, for example, Leahy said Hibernians were successful in getting a Pearl River retail store to remove demeaning cards from its racks.

"I have no problem going up to a store manager and asking them to remove those things. It’s offensive," Leahy said yesterday. "It is a shame, even in 2006, that we have to make sure stores are not stereotyping the Irish."

Leahy said it was important for people and businesses to understand the significance of St. Patrick’s Day to the Irish and Irish-Americans.

"It’s a cultural day. It’s a religious day," Leahy said. "It’s not a day to debase the Irish."

How ethnic stereotypes play out in the larger culture has often proved a divisive issue, as seen in recent criticism by Italian-American civic leaders over popular dramas involving the Mafia, or the move to ban American Indian mascots for sports teams. Not everyone agrees what constitutes defamation, and the debate over what is or isn’t a slur is often a contentious one

And not all sons of Eire find the T-shirt humor offensive.

More…
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060315/NEWS02/603150399/1019/NEWS03

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By The Associated Press
03.09.06

March 7, 2006
By Lebogang Seale

As the Jacob Zuma rape trial resumed in the Johannesburg High Court, supporters of the embattled ANC leader and of the alleged victim were engaged in a contest marked by a plethora of colourful T-shirts and placards.

Both sides wore T-shirts and carried posters that had provocative messages.

From the witty and creative ones to the more predictable and dull messages, spectators were not short of entertainment while waiting for Zuma to emerge from the courtroom.

"There cannot be justice without a judge," was the sarcastic message from one of the posters from the supporters of Zuma’s accuser, following the recusal from the case of Judges Bernard Ngoepe, Jeremiah Shongwe and Phineas Mojapelo last month.

Expectedly, some T-shirts had pro-Zuma messages: "Zuma we will die with you, The friends of Jacob Zuma are behind you" and another read "Innocent until proven guilty".

Others simply read: "100% Zulu Boy" and "Conspiracy: Count 1-Corruption, Count 2-Corruption, Count 3-Rape, What’s next??? Siyabuza (We are asking)".

Then there were the more technologically inclined ones…

More…
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=3143714

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