Winnipeg White Out

The Winnipeg White Out is a hockey tradition that dates back to 1987 when hockey fans in Winnipeg were asked to wear white clothing to home playoff games in Winnipeg, creating a very intimidating effect and atmosphere. [cite news |first=Hal |last=Sigurdson |title=Whiteout aside, defence tells tale |publisher=Winnipeg Free Press |page=83 |date=1987-04-18] It was created as a response to the "C of Red" created by fans of the Calgary Flames, whom the home town Winnipeg Jets were facing in the first round of the 1987 playoffs. The Jets would eliminate the Flames in six games and fans wore white for every home playoff game thereafter. Fans coined it the "White Out". When the Jets moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes, fans quickly adopted the "Whiteout" tradition for playoff games.

College football

visit on September 8th, 2007. A Whiteout usually occurs when there is a night game, a homecoming game, or a game that will be nationally televised.

Other college teams have modified the tradition to match their own school colors. For instance, Georgia held its first "blackout" in 2007, when head coach Mark Richt surprised the more than 90,000 at Sanford Stadium by having the Bulldogs wear black jerseys for the first time in over 70 years, and Missouri normally has two color games: a "Gold Rush" (normally marked by the Tigers wearing their formerly-traditional gold pants) and a "Blackout" (which until the change in uniform supplier to Nike was special because Mizzou would wear their road black pants at home).

Other NHL teams

Several other teams have since tried to replicate the success of this tradition. In 2004, the Philadelphia Flyers gave away orange t-shirts to create an "orange crush" against their semi-final opponent. They also use it sometimes in the 2008 Playoffs, mostly for Game 3 and Game 6. The Tampa Bay Lightning, who countered with a white out of their own.

Among other teams, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim fans have also attempted the Whiteout, along with fans of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Los Angeles Kings attempted to produce a "black out" — requesting all their fans wear black to playoff games — but this backfired, as it had the opposite effect of making the arena appear more empty than full.

At the request of Sidney Crosby,Fact|date=May 2008 the Pittsburgh Penguins gave away white T-shirts before Game 1 of their series vs. the New York Rangers in the 2008 playoffs. A second white out event was held for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers on May 9, 2008. [cite web |url=http://penguins.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=362726 |title=Pens Call For Whiteout Friday Night |accessdate=2008-05-07 ]

Miami Heat

The Miami Heat of the NBA held Whiteouts throughout the playoffs during their championship run in 2006 known as "White Hot Heat", while the Utah Jazz had their fans create a "blue wave" during 2007 home playoff games, wearing light blue shirts in the team's dominant color.

References