12/21/24
August 04, 2003
At least they found it before they had to print its picture on milk cartons.: For several hours, the Stanley Cup crossed over into that mythical realm where Jimmy Hoffa's body, Saddam's WMDs, the "real killers", and various Martian probes have all vanished. But the Cup returned. Whew!
.... how many people can name that trophy without looking it up? Aye, I'd say that the tournie for that trophy is a bigger event than the Stanley Cup. But the famousness of that piece of hardware certainly does not proportionally outstrip the Stanley Cup famousness. Football/soccer is at least 10 times as big as ice hockey worldwide (and what? 30 (????) times bigger than the NHL) but I would not say that that trophy is 10 times (30 times ????) more famous than the Stanley Cup. So maybe the Stanley Cup get more fame bang for its buck. Plus it is older and heavier and bigger and shinnier. I guess the story shows that the 'guardian of the Cup' position does not involve babysitting it on the tarmac or in the luggage hold.
posted by gspm at 04:21 AM on August 05, 2003
I take your point gspm. I think the Stanley Cup has fame beyond that justified from the relative obscurity (in worldwide terms) of hockey. I'd argue because it's such a big, ugly mothafunker.
posted by squealy at 06:31 AM on August 05, 2003
While the FIFA Cup may be coveted by a larger group of players, execs, and fans, as an object I don't think it compares to the Stanley Cup. The football trophy has been stolen and is now awarded as a gold-plated replica. The 111-year-old Stanley Cup, on the other hand, is still being lugged around the world by the people who win it. That story states one player, Richard Smehlik, drove 250 miles across Slovakia to retrieve it. So if you think the "most famous trophy in sports" title is literal rather than metaphorical, there's no comparison to Lord Stanley's Cup.
posted by rcade at 07:09 AM on August 05, 2003
Well, I wasn't willing to go quite that far since I am sure the Stanley Cup is just a shiny hunk of metal to most of the 795 million people in Africa and 3.7 billion people in Asia. But on a trophy vs trophy fame comparison the Stanley Cup probably isn't doing too badly given those large swathes of the world where it is no great shakes. There needs to be some sort of SABRmetric analysis of Trophy Fame.
posted by gspm at 08:58 AM on August 05, 2003
What the hell are those guys holding up? Did they win a Little League tournament? What kind of trophy is that?!? I'm kidding. I know what it is, but it's nowhere near as famous as the Stanley Cup. Plus, how you gonna inscribe all the names on such a little weiner trophy?
posted by wfrazerjr at 11:55 AM on August 05, 2003
For such a grand sport, baseball certainly has the most fugly of trophies...
posted by vito90 at 11:59 AM on August 05, 2003
gspm said it best.
posted by garfield at 12:20 PM on August 05, 2003
Of course that is not the current World Cup that Moore is holding , it is the original Jules Rimet Trophy . Brazil were given that to keep ( and then have stolen ) in 1970. The Stanley Cup worries me that as the years go by and more rings are added it becomes more and more like the the Nascar and hot rod trophies that compete with the drivers for height more that quality.
posted by stuartmm at 12:47 PM on August 05, 2003
Actually stuart, the Stanley Cup won't get any bigger. When a new ring needs to be added (in the next couple years, IIRC), the top ring of the base is removed and stored in the HHOF.
posted by MeatSaber at 01:04 PM on August 05, 2003
i think it was circa the 100th awarding that they started removing rings. what was that? 1995 or so? They ran out of room right around that time I remember. so they are working on a new ring. i don't know which teams have been bumped off by the removal of that ring though. the stanley cup definitely needs its own website. only trophies that kicks this much ass could ever need their own website. in fact the stanley cup should have its own blog. then it could tell us where it was over those missing 24 hours. (Possibly as surmised on ESPN: Missing Cup - Eventually, photos are going to surface of the Stanley Cup (missing for 24 hours last week on its world tour) on a bender, partying with strippers and mashing with college co-eds. Internet rumors already swirling ...)
posted by gspm at 02:10 PM on August 05, 2003
I should make more of an effort here: First off 'Stanley Cup rings' have another meaning so it would be better to refer to the bands on the base of the Cup and as far as the timeframe for band removal/renewal: When the Penguins filled the last spot on the bottom band, in 1990-91, the top band -- listing winners from 1928 to 1940 -- was removed and the remaining bands moved up. The next band is set to be added in 2005. (citation)
posted by gspm at 02:48 PM on August 05, 2003
After a little research, I found out that the bottom 5 rings hold 13 teams each...or 65 years worth of Cup winners. There has been one ring removed already, and another will be removed to make room for the 2005 winner (barring a work stoppage cancelling any playoffs). So, breaking out the old slide-rule, the years from 1927-1939 would be off the Cup and in the HHOF vault. I don't know if those are in fact the missing years, because I can't find confirmation on it, but number don't lie... =D
posted by MeatSaber at 02:56 PM on August 05, 2003
Nevermind...gspm is right. I remember hearing something about before the Rags won in 1994, there were no Rags teams on the Cup, since the 1940 team was on the removed band...
posted by MeatSaber at 02:57 PM on August 05, 2003
My favorite Stanley Cup moment (the trophy itself) came a few days after the Rangers won it in 94 or 95. On the Letterman show, Dave was doing some comedy bit at his desk, when a policeman walked up and just stood there, silently glowering for a few minutes until Dave stopped what he was doing, acknowledged the cop, and said, "Oh, are you looking for this?" Then he leans over and picks up the Cup, which had been concealed behind those chairs where his guests sit. The crowd went nuts then, as the entire Rangers team walked in.
posted by Jaquandor at 03:13 PM on August 05, 2003
Errr, FIFA Cup?? It's the bleeding World Cup, to everyone apart from Americans and Canadians. Literally. Lug the Stanley Cup around the world all you care. No one gives a fuck.
posted by squealy at 06:11 PM on August 05, 2003
Having reread my last comment it may seem a little snarky. C'est la vie. I'm still glad they found the Stanley Cup. Though how you could lose it is beyond me. *walks away from hockey thread wondering what the fuck he was doing here in the first place*
posted by squealy at 06:48 PM on August 05, 2003
The Stanley Cup, the most famous trophy in all of sports I think you'll find this is more famouserer.
Thank feck for Pickles.