Nothing But Knit - A Yarny Rant About Rants

When Super Bowl XLVI came to Indianapolis in 2012, volunteers wore scarves made by area knitters, including one made by me.  They had specific guidelines, like type of yarn, size, dimensions, and color (blue and white - Colts colors).  Other than that, you could make whatever pattern you wanted, so no two were exactly alike.  They originally asked for 8,000 scarves, but 13,000 were made.  After knitters turned in their scarves, other volunteers sewed an official Super Bowl patch on each "Super Scarf."  It was a fun way to show some good ol' Hoosier Hospitality and welcome people to the city.

Well, here we go again!

My hats, so far!

The NBA announced that Indianapolis will host the 2021 All-Star Game, and asked for volunteers to make 5,000 navy blue and gold (Pacers colors) knitted hats for the volunteers, hospitality employees, players, coaches, and NBA representatives.  The news spread through the Indianapolis area knitting community.  We were excited to get started!

However, naysayers and killjoys abound, judging by MOST of the comments I read following the announcement of the initiative.  I was shocked!  Omitting commenters' names to protect the grouchy, here is a sampling of the negativity expressed:

"Pretty sure coaches, players and league representatives can afford their own hat. Why not give the hats to local schools for kiddos that need them?"

"These multi-million dollar events, for teams whose owners and a lot of the players are millionaires and billionaires, in arenas and stadiums that are almost all paid for by tax money, are asking people to DONATE knit hats (scarves for the super bowl) for swag bags for these same millionaire players, and volunteers, staff, etc. To get the 'community involved.'  SERIOUSLY!??!"

"As much money as you have, as much money that pours into your pockets from these events because this ain't no charity game -- it's a for-profit thing -- you can't afford to give your volunteers 'swag bags' to thank them without asking for freebies from secretary people? Isn't that what your corporations are for? After all, they can still probably write it off their taxes."

"You want to involve the community? Increase your donations to schools, food pantries, women's shelters. Give more to your community instead of asking them to give more to you. (And yes, I know that the per-person time and materials cost for those scarves and hats aren't huge, but it's the principle of the thing. Greedy bastards found another way to get something free while making it look like they're doing YOU a favor by letting you 'help.' And I'm just going to ignore the whole idea that they have volunteers working these games for now. But, really? Damn.)"

Yes, SERIOUSLY.  Yes, REALLY.  Some of us DO want to make hats and donate our time and materials.  Get over yourselves.  If you don't want to contribute, DON'T.  And don't judge those of us who do.  We do it because we want to.  We're proud of our community.  One commenter claimed the time and money spent would be better going to a "real charity."  Well, hospitality shown to strangers is also charity.

I've made three hats, and I'm making more.  Full speed ahead!  Damn the torpedoes! 

As of today, the official count is 856 hats turned in.

For those who DON'T want to participate, guess what - NOBODY is going to twist your arm and FORCE you to make a hat.  And guess what else?  Your opinion?  NOBODY CARES.