USHL’s Madison Capitols to host “Birds Aren’t Real” night, rebrand to Surveillance Swans
This is one of the best promo nights hockey has ever seen.
The United States Hockey League’s Madison Capitols will host its “Birds Aren’t Real” night on Dec. 12 against the Waterloo Black Hawks (a team with a logo featuring a bird), while also renaming themselves as the “Surveillance Swans” for one night.
According to a team press release before the season, the game “will be a night filled with conspiracy theories.”
The number one ball watcher 🤝 the number one watchers for the government.
We'll be rebranding to the Surveillance Swans for one night only. Specialty Jerseys? Yep. Merch? Yep.
See you tomorrow.#GoCapsGo https://t.co/exye6bJnrO pic.twitter.com/gYcnXNnj2A
The “Birds Aren’t Real” movement parodies real conspiracy theories. The concept is that the American government had killed all the real birds back in the 1970s and replaced them with drones used to spy on citizens.
According to the theory, birds recharge on power lines, and they also eat fish to help get extra surveillance information from down low – sort of like inserting a USB into a computer. There’s even a website for the totally real movement, with a page full of “evidence.”
Alternate identities aren’t new in sports, with minor league teams doing it across North America. Minor League Baseball teams have typically done the best rebrands, such as the New Hampshire Space Potatoes (Toronto Blue Jays affiliate), Corpus Christi Honey Butter Chicken Biscuits (Houston Astros), Binghamton Bathub Donkeys (New York Mets) and Wisconsin Udder Tuggers (Milwaukee Brewers).
The Capitols currently sit seventh out of eight teams in the USHL’s Eastern Conference with a 12-9-2 record. The Black Hawks, meanwhile, have an 8-14-1 record to sit seventh in the West.
Madison has one NHL prospect on their roster – Philadelphia Flyers draft pick Austin Moline. The team doesn’t have a lot of NHL alumni, but the most prominent is former Detroit Red Wing and New Jersey Devils blueliner Brian Rafalski, who played with the club from 1990-91.
The team says merchandise will be available if you would like to support the one-night-only Surveillance Swans.