I grew up watching MASH, and I remember very vividly an interview in which Alan Alda said that the dog tags the cast wore belonged to real soldiers. I thought that was cool. I also remember a time when dog tags were used as a fashion accessory. I remember wanting some.

Now, there’s a company, Quick Trophy, offering fashion colored dog tags as an alternative to medals or participation prizes for school or community sports teams. I don’t play any kind of sport (well, unless improv counts), but I liked the idea of using these dog tags as a form of advertising for my website, especially after I learned that one of the colors available is pink.

I first had to choose my sport, because each tag comes with a little icon, representing the sport or event in question. I selected LaCrosse because I think it’s an underrated sport. When I order more, I’ll probably pick cheerleading or music. Since I was ordering only one tag, I only had to fill out one set of engraving information, but the website is set up to allow customization within each order, so if you want different names on each of ten tags, you can do that.

The interface was easy to use and intuitive, and I received an email confirming my order after I’d completed the checkout procedure. A few days later, I received another email telling me my order has shipped, and a couple of days after that, my pink dog tag was waiting for me in the mailbox, with the 18″ ball chain sealed in a baggie, just as promised. (Each piece is wrapped in plastic, so that nothing arrives scratched.)

The chain was a little bit tough to link together, mainly because I didn’t want to break a nail, but it snapped into place, and the shiny pink tag can be worn around my neck with no fuss, and no discomfort because it weighs almost nothing. The color of the pink, by the way, is the same as the pink iPod shuffle.

I would definitely use Quick Trophy again, as I had my tag within a week, even without special shipping, and I really liked the ease of use of their site. As well, I like that there are discounts for ordering items in larger quantities.

Of course, they sell other sorts of prize trophies as well – including actual medals.

But I really like the dog tags.

1. The quarterback is the most important player on a football team. He controls the action, and the responsibility for the team’s success is on his shoulders. Which musician is your choice for musical QB?
   It’s completely cheesy, and totally dates me, but I have to say Billy Joel. If you’ve never seen his episode of Inside the Actors Studio, you’ve missed a treat.
2. What album scores a touchdown for you (i.e. it’s just the best)?
   One of my favorite albums EVER is Barenaked Ladies’ Stunt, but right now I’m really digging the newest offering from Mandy Moore.
3. What song needs a game ejection?
   There are only two songs that I’ve had intense negative reactions to, and neither are terribly recent. The first was Uncle Kracker’s “Follow Me,” and the second is the Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow duet “I Put Your Picture Away.” It’s the lyrics I have an issue with, especially – the first actually has kind of a kicky melody.
4. Football is about intense, bone-crushing excitement. What song or artist gives you that same feeling?
   All summer I’ve been listening to this ancient Eric Carmen song “Make Me Lose Control” – it just has that summer sun-sand-surf bonfire on the beach, retro chording sort of feeling. It’s exciting in a nostalgic sort of way. Otherwise, I’m kind of partial to Robbie Williams’s “Let Me Entertain You,” and have been ever since I heard it used in a skating show several years ago.

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