Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Today we look at some of the ways that various sports figures and teams have gotten into the spirit of the holiday over the years, but with the end result being less than ideal. We’ve got three examples to share, starting with Manchester United, Everton and Three Lions legend Wayne Rooney.
Then we’ll move on to minor league hockey team the Chicago Wolves and former racecar driver Danica Patrick.
Wayne Rooney Confuses Ireland and Ivory Coast flags
St. Patrick’s Day 2016
Wayne Rooney who is of Irish descent (and his wife is named Coleen, so it doesn’t get any more Irish than that!) took to Instagram to post a picture of himself, from back in the day, with former United teammates Jonny Evans and John O’Shea, who are from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland respectively, holding the Premier League trophy.
Underneath the photo Rooney initially added the text: ‘#TBT (throwback Thursday) – Celebrating with my mates. Happy St Patrick’s Day’ followed by three emojis – a ‘thumbs up’, a shamrock and an image of the Ivory Coast flag.
He quickly deleted it, and then replaced it with the right one, but it’s too late as the damage was already done.
There are no “takesies backsies” on the internet as everybody screen shots everything. The Daily Mirror have the screen grab for you if you want to see it.
The two flags are extremely similar, so it’s an honest mistake. Still in the world of social media, no one is safe from ridicule.
Even if you’re 100% right about whatever you’ve just said, you’ll be criticized, so when you get something blatantly wrong, you’ll inevitably be picked apart to no end.
Also on St. Patrick’s Day, today so many people are no doubt “a bit more festive” shall we say, on social media.
2013 St. Patrick’s Day Paint Job on Danica Patrick’s No. 10 Car
Call it Danica St. Patrick, or a Shamrock Shake on wheels. The paint scheme will “Irish up” your NASCAR, but what an eyesore!
Appreciate the effort, but this was ugly.
2014: Chicago Wolves St. Patrick’s Day jerseys
Another well-intentioned endeavor, but it also ended up unsightly. At least it was all for a good cause though!
The Chicago Wolves, then a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Blues, celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing special holiday sweaters, in order to raise money for Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago and Chicago Wolves Charities.
The Chicago Wolves specialty jerseys were made available via auction and raffle as part of the team’s 18th St. Patrick’s Day fundraiser.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.