STORMY KROMER OWNER BOB JACQUART WANTS THE U.S. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE TO PUT HIS HATS ON US OLYMPIANS

Bob Jacquart

But the catch is that Jacquart only gets 15 minutes to make his case. The contract for Olympic hats and uniforms is now held by Canadian company, Roots until 2010.

Jacquart is sticking to his story that the wool Stormy Kromer hat is "not superior, but different -- and American-made." If you have the courage to put one on the first time, you'll see the Stormy Kromer is the only hat that doesn't make you look dorky, he said.

The Stormy Kromer has a legendary history - Wisconsin railroad engineer, George (Stormy) Kromer got tired of his baseball cap blowing off his head so he asked his wife Ida to make it warm and secure.

The couple went into business in 1903 and Jacquart bought the company in 2001 (he is the third owner).

Fans of Stormy complained to Bob when they saw Roots caps on American athletes at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. Bob asked for help from his congressman, Bart Stupak, and last summer he got a chance to plug his hat to the marketing chief of the Olympic Committee.

Olympics CEO Jim Scherr, visiting the Olympics Training Center in Marquette, said he would let Jacquart speak his mind. Bob sent an e-mail to everyone he knew, asking for tales and testimonials about the hat he called a "Midwest icon." Among them: A dead man's pals ask his widow for his hat, and bury it in his favorite hunting spot. A baby in a Stormy Kromer is photographed at 10 minutes old. A photographer wears the hat atop Mt. Everest. Soon after he bought the company, Bob's mother showed him a photo of his own grandfather in the hat taken in 1942.

"There's going to be stopwatches involved. But I can talk fine. I've just got to convey warmth, friendliness, the American dream, hard work, and what a small company can do. And I want to walk in with a pile of endorsement letters. If you have a Stormy Kromer story contact: info@stormykromer.com.