[Leica] Note To Brian: Will Cafe Press Put Our LUG Logo Here, Too?

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

Coffins to bear logos of baseball teams
PATRICK WALTERS
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA - Baseball fanatics won't have to leave behind their beloved
teams when they finally go to that big stadium in the sky. Instead, they'll
soon be able to rest in peace inside a coffin with team colors and insignia.
Major League Baseball has a marketing deal with a company called Eternal
Image. It'll put team logos on caskets and urns. The effort begins next
season with the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers. It
could eventually include all 30 teams.
Each urn will be stamped with a message saying Major League Baseball
officially recognizes the deceased as a lifelong fan of that team.
After starting with baseball, Eternal Image hopes to branch out by making
similar deals with the NFL, the NHL and NASCAR.
"We have been receiving these requests either directly or through our clubs
for several years," said Susan Goodenow, an MLB spokeswoman. "Passionate
fans express their love of their team in a number of different ways."
The National Funeral Directors Association is meeting in Philadelphia this
week and giving its members a sneak peak of what the urns will look like.
Eternal Image says urns for the six teams should be available by Opening Day
2007, and caskets for those teams should be ready later in the year. The
products have not been made yet and the exact cost has not been set.
Kurt Soffe, a spokesman for the funeral association, said the MLB caskets
are part of a trend of trying to capture "the life and the passions of the
person that has passed away." At this year's convention, for instance, there
was a Harley Davidson-themed casket and one featuring Betty Boop.
"More and more families are wanting to have something that respects the
personalities," Soffe said.
Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Eternal Image, which also makes a line of
Vatican-themed products, "wanted to break into a sports venue of some kind,"
said Clint Mytych, the company's CEO. "It is the all-American sport."
He said he has gotten at least 1,000 inquiries since June.
The Phillies urn was the first of the MLB products to be designed. Each urn
will feature recognition of the deceased's passionate support, stamped with
a message that says "Major League Baseball officially recognizes (person's
name) as a lifelong fan of (team)."
The league, the manufacturer and funeral directors are trying to fill a need
with the products. But they acknowledge that the sales will have to be done
with respect, like all transactions in the sensitive world of funerals and
burials.
David Griffin, funeral director at L.J. Griffin Funeral Home in suburban
Detroit, said fans in many blue-collar cities have undying loyalty to their
teams, which could make the MLB caskets and urns a hot commodity.
"Looking at it as a consumer, I was thinking this is some pretty
interesting, unique stuff," Griffin said.
Nevertheless, funeral homes will have to be very careful so as not to offend
their clients, many of whom will surely be scared off by the idea.
"They are a little bit hesitant because of what others might think," Soffe
said.
The manufacturer also will have to make sure the products aren't too
expensive. People who opt for cremation, for example, often do so partly
because it is cheaper.
"I guess it's going to be interesting to see how it's accepted," Griffin
said.


To paraphrase Kyle: Keep pushing on that lid, it'll become unstuck.