JBlood
Cheesehead
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2004
- Messages
- 3,159
- Reaction score
- 467
I tried to look up some evidence of the "G", but couldn't find any on what the G stands for. I think this blog has it right:
The Wearing Of the Green (and Gold): helmet logo
Thursday, February 3, 2011
"G" Stands For "Gullible"
Several readers have emailed me about this video making the rounds, with Tiki Barber "schooling" the current Packers on the origins of their helmet logo.
So now we know - "Dad" Braisher meant the "G" to stand for "Greatness," not "Green Bay". A little extra motivation from Vince Lombardi to his players, What a fascinating discovery. The unknown tale behind an iconic logo, so little-known that the team itself isn't aware of it. What a great story.
There's just one problem.
It's not true.
It's not supported. There's no source. Not as though there's a lack of material on the subject. Dozens if not hundreds of books on Lombardi's tenure somehow managed to miss this factoid, and I can't find any contemporary evidence to support it. Where did Tiki get that idea? Wikipedia, of course.
It's gone now, but the Packers page used to include this little nugget. Or, heck, it might be back again, as dedicated editors have to keep removing it.
A Google search pulls up pages of results, all of which are recent and all of which lead... right back to Barber. Or to Wikipedia.
This is my problem with Wikipedia. It's a great clearing house for references; read up on a subject and follow the sources, but don't believe anything that isn't supported. Sure, eventually much of the misleading or outright false information will eventually be removed. But until it is, those false claims are picked up and repeated as fact by lazy journalists.
Or even by lazy former football players-turned-journalists.
The Wearing Of the Green (and Gold): helmet logo
Thursday, February 3, 2011
"G" Stands For "Gullible"
Several readers have emailed me about this video making the rounds, with Tiki Barber "schooling" the current Packers on the origins of their helmet logo.
So now we know - "Dad" Braisher meant the "G" to stand for "Greatness," not "Green Bay". A little extra motivation from Vince Lombardi to his players, What a fascinating discovery. The unknown tale behind an iconic logo, so little-known that the team itself isn't aware of it. What a great story.
There's just one problem.
It's not true.
It's not supported. There's no source. Not as though there's a lack of material on the subject. Dozens if not hundreds of books on Lombardi's tenure somehow managed to miss this factoid, and I can't find any contemporary evidence to support it. Where did Tiki get that idea? Wikipedia, of course.
It's gone now, but the Packers page used to include this little nugget. Or, heck, it might be back again, as dedicated editors have to keep removing it.
A Google search pulls up pages of results, all of which are recent and all of which lead... right back to Barber. Or to Wikipedia.
This is my problem with Wikipedia. It's a great clearing house for references; read up on a subject and follow the sources, but don't believe anything that isn't supported. Sure, eventually much of the misleading or outright false information will eventually be removed. But until it is, those false claims are picked up and repeated as fact by lazy journalists.
Or even by lazy former football players-turned-journalists.
