Mystery Solved
Tim Blair is, I'm afraid, a little upset with us for not comprehending his site's new design. His post is titled "Infidels":
"Re this site’s redesign, Power Line writes:
'Australian blogger Tim Blair is one of the pioneers of the genre, and still one of the best. He has a newly-designed site with a penguin theme; itseems to be related to an Australian soccer team. Or maybe rugby, beats me.'
"OK. Penguin theme. Goddamn soccer. Power Line is begging for me to get all Hamas on their ass. So much murdering I need to do!
"The new design stays until Collingwood is removed from the AFL Premiership contest, at which point the site will instantly revert to its previous elegant look. But we won’t be removed, because God and Fate and Love are on our side."
It seems we touched a bit of a nerve, but other than the facts that 1) Blair was unhappy with us, and 2) the penguin look is temporary, I was still in the dark. So I did a bit of research.
Turns out that Deacon's speculation was right; Collingwood is an Australian Rules Football team. They are called the "Magpies." Here is their logo; you tell me whether it looks like a penguin:
I learned, too, why Tim is so sensitive about his beloved Magpies. Turns out they haven't had such a good half-century:
"The Magpies, the working man's club, are the most popular sporting club in Australia, with a fanatical following where ever they play. They were formed in 1892 and won their first and last VFA premiership in 1896 prior to entering the breakaway VFL in 1897.
"Collingwood has won 14 premierships, including 4 in a row from 1927-1930 an unmatched record. Post war however has not been as successful having only won in 1953, 1958 and 1990. In that time they have been runners up 11 times leading to the term 'the Collywobbles' for their failure to win the big games."
You have my sympathy, Tim. If things get too tough with the Penguins, you might want to consider rooting for the Minnesota Twins. That's baseball.
