A Tangled Web

So here we are more than 24 hours after "the leak" and despite rumors of decoys, the Caps have yet to put anything else out to squash "the leak." No diversionary tactics, no other "leaks", just letting things ride now.

So I got the scoop huh?

Well, I'm not ready to pat myself totally on the back yet.

Eric McErlain at his AOL Fanhouse blog offers more evidence as one of his guys does what I couldn't do, which is find the new draft day hat. However, that link is now dead too.

One would think that finding that hat on NHL.com would seal the deal and confirm that as the new logo. However, Ted led the charge to "standardize" the NHL's websites so the setup on one team's page is the same on another team's page. (BTW Ted, MLB did that a long time ago) It is very possible that NHL.com is in the hoax. But as Ted said in an interview elsewhere, us Caps fans are very web savvy. While I have no respect for the webmaster the Caps employ, they had to know that putting it out there somewhere would lead to it being found before the Caps wanted it to be found.

Another sign that this could very well be a hoax, the MSM has yet to pick up on it. Tarik El Bashir of the (Com)Post isn't buying the leaked jersey even though he's doing a story on it and Dan Steinberg has been on radio silence all day (as are Ted's boys over at OFB, at least as it relates to the leak). Only The D.C. City Paper ran with the story.

So was I duped? Well, I very well could have been and I freely admit that. Give Ted and Co. credit, they've created a bigger buzz about this than there was heading into this week. But a word of caution for you guys, this better not be a put on. This is a franchise with little in the way of credibility with their fanbase to begin with. Pulling bait and switch stunts like this will only add fuel to the fire of those who are critical of everything this franchise does. Why praytel do you think that you can do this and win people over? It does not matter what the Caps wear on the ice in the 2007-2008 season, the Caps will be judged on their wins and their losses, not on their uniforms and logos. Lose more than you win again next year and this will not be looked upon very fondly.

Well the flash animation is now back up and the "glitch" that led to "the leak" has been solved. Note now that the colors on the "old" jersey are not accurate on that thing. It has been well documented that the Caps are going back to red, white, and blue so that funky orange and black screen capture is wrong from a color standpoint.

I do however hope that logo is a joke.