And they say Diamonds are a Girl's best friend...

It's not just women who loves diamonds after all. It appears that even the world's burliest, toughest and manliest of men also love diamonds- 404 of them, to be exact- like the latest Stanley Cup champions rings awarded to the Chicago Blackhawks. It used to be that the rings were simple in their design and awarded to commemorate what was already the Holy Grail of the hockey world, the Stanley Cup. But now it appears that the rings are not just a mark of status and hockey success; they are also playing double duty as serious bling.

I guess it's good for the NHL players to have a little street cred. These diamond-loving divas may have no teeth and no idea what a stiletto is, but they know a status symbol when they see one. See associated article:
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/How-do-Blackhawks-Stanley-Cup-rings-compare-to-?urn=nhl-273636

Personally, I think it's funny to see men wearing rings that have more diamonds than their fiances. I also find it funny that there was a point in time when men acted like they were immune to diamonds and that this was just a woman's needless obsession with shiny things. But I guess that falls in line with men's increased sense of vanity over the years which has stimulated the invention of various metrosexual product lines for men and has even declared that certain shades of pink are acceptable to wear.

While I find that the new rings are beautiful and impressive, I really hope that this is not a sign of things to come. It appears that every ring wants to out-do the ring from the year before by adding on the bling. But more isn't always better and a ridiculous amount of diamonds won't make the rings more beautiful- in fact, there's a high risk of gaudiness there and any lady would have told you that.

A simple ring is more effective. It captures the elegance of wearing victory on your hand and a more intelligent use of symbols, numbers and characters does more to enhance the personalized trinkets than the tacking on of more diamonds. As any self-respecting diva who is accessorizing her look will tell you, Chanel put it best: always take off the last thing you put on. You can own Leboutin shoes, an oversized Prada purse, a fur coat, a Hermes scarf, Dolce and Gabbana aviators, and a complete 3-piece Cartier set- just don't wear it all at once.

Let's remember that the most important thing is winning. If you fight through 82 regular season games and 4 rounds of the playoffs right into the summer months, you want something pretty special to commemorate that. But the commemorative object should not be more important than the fact of winning itself. And no prize should be grander than the actual Cup itself.