"Carry The Flag"

The Columbus Blue Jackets' motto, "Carry The Flag," is very well chosen as far as sports teams' slogans go. It could be the name or album title for an nth-generation emo band, certainly a mark against it, but overall, it's motivational and prideful. It also meshes well with the team's logo and nickname, a play on the Ohio state flag and the state's role in the Civil War, respectively, which is far superior to the nicknames chosen by post-1990 expansion and relocated teams, which usually are needlessly corporate or needlessly disconnected from the team. In fact, the Blue Jackets' game program is refreshingly educational: Who knew that a greater percentage of Ohioans served in the Civil War than residents of any other state?

But all that momentum was nearly halted at Thursday's game against the Nashville Predators, when during the national anthem, among the patriotic symbols shown on the Jumbotron was a flag honoring the Blue Jackets' deceased founding owner, whose family still has the majority ownership stake and owns a local diversified metals company. Later, during a taped sequence meant to charge the crowd, players said they'd "Carry the flag," and "Defend Nationwide," i.e. the arena, named after the insurance company, which is a minority owner in the team and venue. (I assume both things happen at every home game.)

A recurring theme in Tony Judt's collection of essays, "Reappraisals" is how the welfare state has been replaced by the corporation in the late 20th century -- and the accompanying destabilizing consequences. Apparently, this shift trickles all the way down to hockey matches. As we salute the U.S. flag, we also pay homage to some benevolent multimillionaire, and instead of promising to defend Ohioan pride, we'll defend the corporate pride of an insurance conglomerate (both of which are losing lots of money on the team). Sure, the founding owner and Nationwide have done excellent things for Columbus (and people and places farther afield), but do they need to insert themselves everywhere?