Yarmulke Kerfuffle Leaves Fla. Panthers’ Fans Outraged
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The latest egregious disappointment to hit the lowly Florida Panthers’ franchise has nothing to do with hockey. Panthers’ fans are (it baffles me to say) distraught and disappointed over a miscommunication surrounding a Tuesday night yarmulke giveaway, during what was billed as “the biggest Hanukkah party in South Florida.”
The original press release stated all ticket buyers for Tuesday’s game (against the Colorado Avalanche, which also celebrated the 1996 Stanly Cup championship between these two teams, but hockey, who’s talking about hockey?) would receive a black yarmulke with the Panthers’ logo stitched on top. At some point, however, the language was changed to make the prize available only to those who bought “discounted, single-game tickets for the Jewish Heritage Night,” Yahoo! Sports reported. Vanity kippot were ordered based on the number of people who bought a Jewish Heritage Night ticket, meaning season ticket holders were stiffed.
One fan, Caity Kauffman, was peeved she didn’t score a yarmulke — and she let the Twitterverse know about it. Here, she sets the scene: “At guest services hanging out with an actual Hebrew woman who is distraught about lack of yarmulkes.”
Bill Jempty, an Outside the Beltway blogger, noted that the Panthers obviously lack holiday spirit: “The Panthers don’t have a very good rep in South Florida and this sure isn’t to help it. It is Hanukkah after all and this region has one of the biggest Jewish populations in the nation.”
The team claims it posted advertisements about the promotion change in the BankAtlantic Center and online.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
