Amway presents the Detroit Red Wings

[Orthophonic]

I must admit to an ongoing skepticism regarding Amway [[see creepy photo below from the Amway Grand Plaza hotel, presenting Amway history in a faux-Diego Rivera style mural). So I will cringe every time I see Amway associated with the Red Wings.



However, I do agree with corktownyuppie that it is probably good to have the quintessential "West Michigan" company give props to something inextricably linked with Detroit [[or S******* Michigan, as I will not call it). The Red Wings have fans all over. I was working on a project with an engineer from Madison, WI, who informed me that there is a strong contingent of Red Wings fans that way - not the Blackhawks, not the Timberwolves or whatever the current pathetic Mpls/St. Paul team is called, but the Red Wings. And Wisconsin is the land where you can take your underage kid to the bar and let him down some shells, as long as you give him the beer directly rather than the server. What's more hockey than that?

Clearly I have digressed. This is really an odd sponsorship, and Amway continues to not float my boat - please ignore my split infinitive. I really don't think that hardcore Red Wings fans will convert to Amway customers, but maybe some Amwayoids may get more interested in the Red Wings [[and perhaps, under armed guard, they may venture a trip to [[shudder) Detroit to see this mysterious beast). Or maybe not. And I am not overly impressed by organizations/facilities which need to get by on corporate sponsorship [[anyone remember the pre-Comerica [[retch) Park Tiger Stadium?) But I'm sure it was a good deal for the Ilitches, unless they agreed to maintain the Fox Theater with Amway products exclusively.

Now how about the Dow Chemical Lions, the Two Men And A Truck Tigers and the La-Z-Boy Pistons? The horizons stretch limitlessly before us.