The Ducks were one of the first teams to introduce ice girls and I (like many strongly opinionated females) was initially appalled by the idea.  I even remember reading a Ducks employee writing in his blog something along the lines of “…aah, bare midriffs cleaning the ice.  Now I know I’m home.”

**eeeewwwwww!!!**

Now, I’m not some feminist whack-job who burned her bra in the ‘60s, doesn’t shave her armpits or has a girlfriend named “Steve”.  I simply believe women should be respected for who they are and not be objectified.

However, once I came to my senses, I remembered that the male brain is not wired that way.

(And by the way, neither is the female brain – we check out the hot dudes too!)

Everyone responds to eyecandy.  Plus other sports utilize chicks in more pointless fashion.  Football cheerleaders just jump around a bunch, at least ice girls are actually doing something useful!

The Ducks Adam Brady’s coverage can be found here (complete with cool photos).

The average ice girl job is part time and the pay rate (last time I checked) is around $13 an hour.  Not exactly a get rich quick scheme.

Most of the girls I have met are in college, love hockey and are definitely not bimbos.  I say, if you’re pretty, in good shape and can work it, use what you’ve got while you have it.  The window of opportunity for us females is a lot shorter than for guys and we need to use it while we can.  Remember the old saying; women get older, men become more distinguished. 

There’s also a little thing called “free will”.  No one is forcing anyone to do anything.  If you go in with your eyes open and know what you are getting into, then I say knock yourself out!  More power to you and if you manage to leverage a bit of celebrity for yourself, then you’ve accomplished more than the average person.

The blogs where women are complaining about the objectification of ice girls are – as far as I can tell – being spearheaded by women who have self-esteem issues and are the same type of person who takes offense when a male coworker complements them on their new haircut. 

I need to stop.  If I go on like this, it’s going to turn into a huge rant about how unattractive women just love to bag on attractive women instead of trying to improve themselves and that would be stupid, petty and just plain pointless.

Gotta give a shout out to Debbie over at the Kings who was the first lady to prove to me the girls are smart, sassy and definitely a force to be reckoned with!

Will this be the new look for the Ducks?

I now have to relinquish my bragging rights.  I was so proud of my Ducks for eschewing the practice of trotting out retro, throwback, alternate, third, whathaveyou jerseys and sticking to their primary design.

**SIGH** Recently, the Ducks announced they will be unveiling an alternate jersey this upcoming season.  The official press release said that the organization had held off because the current design hadn’t been in place long enough and they wanted fans to get used to it before offering an alternative.  They also assure the fans that we are going love the new design.

Now, let’s think about this for a moment.  Let’s have a look at the Ducks jersey history.

In 1992, a mildly amusing film (apologies to Cam Fowler) that was basically a watered down Bad News Bears on ice was released.  One year later, Disney decided the L.A. Kings deserved some competition and we were introduced to Wild Wing, duck calls, The Pond and a duck mask jersey.

In fact, the Ducks original jersey was named the “most fashionable” uniform in all of sports at the inaugural ESPY awards in 1997.

Chew on that for a moment.  Not just in hockey, but ALL OF SPORTS.  The mind reels at the concept.

Then things took a turn for the worse.  The “Anaheim” baseball-style jersey was bad enough, but words cannot convey the horror of the cartoon monstrosity.

So, what exactly do we have to look forward to?  The team isn’t old enough to justify a throwback jersey and the previous two alts do not bode well for the future.

I pray they don’t go the way of the Kings with their “blackout” jerseys or (even worse) the hideous designs of the Tampa Bay Lightning (BOLTS) or the Ottowa Senators (SENS).  Oh, and one cannot discuss bad jerseys without throwing in the barber poles on acid as displayed by the Montreal Canadiens.

Going back to bashing the Kings for a moment, at a game shortly after their turd jersey had been unveiled, I wondered aloud to my companion why so many people were wearing the ugly monstrosities.  A season ticket holder – sporting a stylish 99 throwback sweater – piped up; “because they’re on sale”.

To me, the best and most iconic alternate jerseys currently are the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks. 

I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that my Ducks don’t screw it up this time.  But then again, what could possibly be more awful than the cartoon Wild Wing?

Wait, how does the old saying go?  Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it will.

**shudder** 

Ooh!  I almost forgot!  I stumbled across the Habs look for next season: