Justin Bieber. The Stanley Cup.
Everyone’s favorite Canadian delighted thousands of Chicago fans at his show on Tuesday, but a certain element in the Windy City is baying for the 19-year-old’s blood.
The issue? The Bieb’s proximity to and touching of the Stanley Cup .
Even though Bieber grew up playing ice-hockey, loves the game, and previously held the Stanley Cup on The Today Show back in 2010, images of him touching the sport’s Holy Grail in champion’s Chicago Blackhawks’ locker room has unleashed fury from the team’s fans and that of stragglers who love a bit of Twitter trolling.
In addition to getting up close and personal with Lord Stanley, the Hawks also customized a jersey for the heartthrob.
But the cherry on the cake of contempt many Hawks fans are currently masticating, is a shot of today’s punchbag standing on the Blackhawks Indian logo in the middle of the locker room while he took a photo of the Cup.
Inevitably, due to the fact that ice-hockey fans and sports fans in general often over-identify with the artifacts of their chosen game, all hell has broken loose.
Nuclear reaction to the first image of Bieber’s meet with the Stanley Cup erupted when Blackhawks senior marketing director Peter Hassen tweeted a picture of the fateful moment.
The Biebs meets THE CUP!!! pic.twitter.com/oh4AvDbYbT
— Peter Hassen (@PJHASSEN) July 10, 2013
A Twitter meltdown ensued. Most of them are still venting.
Justin Bieber better get his damn hands off the Stanley Cup.I don’t care who you are, a civilian has no right to touch the hockey holy grail
— TOU (@TheOrangeUpdate) July 10, 2013
If you don’t know the rules! don’t play hockey @justinbieber #hockeygodsaremad #dontsteponthelogo pic.twitter.com/Kqbr2jTN2c
— Kevin Demers (@KevinDemers32) July 10, 2013
Whoever let @justinbieber touch the Stanley cup should be fired then shot
— Jason Ficarrotta (@JasonFicarrotta) July 10, 2013
Is someone washing the cup after this? RT @USATODAYsports Justin Bieber meets the Stanley Cup. http://t.co/Danzh2gQbL #BecauseItsTheBiebs — Carly J. Garber (@CarlyJGarber) July 10, 2013
Not sure why Blackhawks fans are so upset Justin Bieber touched the Cup. He’s always been a fan (Pic): pic.twitter.com/CXunynWQXY — Fake SportsCenter (@FakeSportsCentr) July 10, 2013
Justin Bieber has touched the Stanley Cup more times than some of the best hockey players to ever live. Fury. — Josh Batelli (@Josh_Batelli) July 10, 2013
I want to punch Justin Bieber in the face for even being in the same room as the Stanley Cup — Stanley Cup Rob (@rbktzberg23) July 10, 2013
@jessespector Stanley Cup, forever unclean — Frank Castaldi (@knarFc14) July 10, 2013
Justin Bieber….. With the Stanley Cup… and a jersey…Is this a sick joke? Please just leave pic.twitter.com/h0SWmKtQqh — Allie LaCombe (@allielac) July 10, 2013
Justin Bieber touching the Stanley cup??? That’s a big slap in the face -_- — Crimson Chin (@Veky38) July 10, 2013
Aaaand now the Stanley Cup isn’t cool anymore…thanks Bieber (via @PJHASSEN ) pic.twitter.com/2ynkk2afoQ — SportsNation (@SportsNation) July 10, 2013
And so on. Bieber did get some support though. Obviously Bieber fans, but there were others too.
@oc_sports people need to relax. Justin Bieber reaches the same market audience that we will need to be the next Blackhawks fans.
— Peter Hassen (@PJHASSEN) July 10, 2013
he touched the stanley cup and got a jersey, fucking get over it jesus christ — Emily Ostermann (@emilyostermann) July 10, 2013
And I bet half of the people who’ve touched the Stanley cup aren’t even fans — Emily Ostermann (@emilyostermann) July 10, 2013
Over at Yahoo Sports , Greg Wyshynski reiterates my earlier point that Bieber is a hockey fan and a player, something “99.9% of the celebrities photographed with the cup can’t say.”
Step forward Lindsay Lohan , Kid Rock, Jeremy Piven, Hayden Panettiere — who licked it — Ryan Seacrest, and many others.
Wyshynski also adds that it’s ridiculous that some hockey fans are losing their collective s*** over the fact that Bieber stood on the Hawks logo when NHL teams continue to put logos on the floor.
Good points all. But they won’t matter a jot. On today of all days while the P**s Mop Bucket-Clinton story holds sway, the true national sport of hating Justin Bieber looks set to rage on.