If you enjoy reading about the intersections of history and soccer, then I'd recommend the book, Dynamo - Defending the Honour of Kiev, by Andy Dougan. Dougan is a journalist, not a historian, but he did some extensive research and conducted a lot of interviews. The events involving Dynamo and other players had been somewhat romanticized by Soviet history, but he offers what appears to be a very fair treatment. He doesn't try to sugarcoat the NKVD connections, but also doesn't get sidetracked by the Cold War politics. I highly recommend it. Here's a review: Dynamo - Defending the Honour of Kiev Just as a sidenote, it's probably advisable to check with some Dynamo Kiev fans - we have a couple who post here from time to time - about what they think of the idea of appropriating their symbols. They may feel honored that fans of the Houston Dynamo would want to use some of their symbols, but you never know until you ask. People are sometimes particularly concerned when others attempt to equate events in their history with events in other times and places. I think it's a great idea - but just wanted to offer the suggestion for consideration.
... this would make the hemming and hawing about the flag with the "other guy" on it seem trivial by comparison. Now if you went with Mel Brooks/Adam Sandler on the other hand...
i agree with anderson. when we did the TA flags we tried to do some original stuff to get our own things going. some designs were well received others were not, but you tread on sensitive ground when symbols have a deep nationalist meaning to a set of people. and of course there are "universal symbols" that are used the world over like facist symbols and "that guy, not houston gunner but the other guy".
This book has been on my to read list for a while, as well as a couple others on the subject. As for asking for permission, I don't really know whom to ask. I think that I'll go the forgiveness route, but I doubt that I'll get any reaction at all, since who really knows what the Coat of Arms for their city looks like?
If you want to toss it out there, BigSoccer does have an Eastern Europe forum that has a Dynamo Kiev thread. The reaction may be complete indifference. Just a thought.
Here's a rough draft of one I made this morning. I'd like to find a better picture of him to use but that one could work.
that's fkn awesome! can you put pic on top, text on bottom to see how it looks? how about an orange background? and can you get me a coffee, non-fat milk, 2 sugars? also, do you have another pic where he looks even more "thuggish" than that?
So far my favorite is orange background with the picture at the bottom, I haven't spent a lot of time on these so they need to be cleaned up. And I just used his picture from the Dynamo roster page, if anybody has a better one I'll try it out.
big soccer would explode if we walked in with "this guy". not "that guy" or "the other guy" but "this guy":
We're never hear the end of it from the damn Trotskyites. There's nothing worse than Bolshevik-Menshevik smack talk. Oh sure, it sounds funny at first, but then someone always ends up in Mexico City with an ice pick in the back of his head.
SOB, no not Sons of Ben. What a "Rogues" Gallery. First Che, then Yoshi, now this? I think we need this guy next:
Either a British Airman or an Australian Field Artillery Unit. No one is 100% sure, except they all agree the Inferno or Brushes Sand had nothing to do with it.
Yeah right, and who do they suppose paid for all that field artillary over the previous eleven years?