The Appeal of Jerseys

[MgoSam]

It's crazy just how popular Jerseys and other sports-team related items are.

The University of Michigan has an apparel deal with Nike, the clothing line was launched today and one of the main retailers' website has been crashing due to how many people are on the website. The brick and mortar store opened at midnight and I'm told there were several thousand people waiting to be among the first to buy the merchandise....and this doesn't include jerseys. Jerseys will be unveiled tomorrow with sales beginning on the 6th.

[MandalayVA]

I see far more jerseys for pro sports than college sports.  Back in the day I used to own a lot of football jerseys, but I would get them off eBay rather than buy straight from the team.  The only time I ever saw a popular college jersey was when Michael Vick was getting busted for the Ron Mexico/herpes thing.  People immediately got the bright idea of buying Atlanta Falcons jerseys with Vick's number 7 and the name "Mexico" on the back.  The NFL just as immediately put "Mexico" on its list of words that couldn't be on jerseys.  The NCAA had no such rule, and for a while Richmond was awash in maroon Virginia Tech jerseys with MEXICO 7 on the back.  :D

Waiting in line for new stuff, though ... no.

[LiveLean]

Hard to believe now, but the replica team jersey with name on back phenomenon is only 20-25 years old. I can remember growing up in the 1970s and having a No.75 Pittsburgh Steelers (though no Steelers logo, just colors and no name) or No.10 Minnesota Vikings (ditto). Those numbers belonged to Mean Joe Greene or Fran Tarkenton but it didn't say "Greene" or "Tarkenton" on the back. Whoever produced them -- and the NFL didn't at the time -- might have been getting around licensing issues, though back then the leagues didn't have much of a licensing department.

It just seems ridiculous for an adult man to wear a jersey with someone else's name for anything other than Halloween. Not only that, if you waste the $100-plus on this the shelf life is inevitably only 2-3 years before that player is traded.

And the most ridiculous jerseys are those that say "Ruth" or "Mantle" or "Jeter" on the back. No player in New York Yankees history ever has worn a Yankees jersey with a name on the back.

[Chris22]

It just seems ridiculous for an adult man to wear a jersey with someone else's name for anything other than Halloween.

Definitely agree with this, which is why I don't buy any jerseys.  That said,

Not only that, if you waste the $100-plus on this the shelf life is inevitably only 2-3 years before that player is traded.

Assuming your player isn't busted doing something stupid or leaves in an incredibly unpopular way (Lebron) it's usually considered okay to wear an "obsolete" jersey from a popular player.  No shortage of Jordan 23 or Urlacher jerseys at Bulls/Bears games.

[MgoSam]

It just seems ridiculous for an adult man to wear a jersey with someone else's name for anything other than Halloween. Not only that, if you waste the $100-plus on this the shelf life is inevitably only 2-3 years before that player is traded.

This seems like a reason to wear college football jerseys as players names aren't on them, and it's more about the institute and the number. Michigan holds the #1 in very high regard, as well as several other numbers.

[slugline]

Assuming your player isn't busted doing something stupid or leaves in an incredibly unpopular way (Lebron) it's usually considered okay to wear an "obsolete" jersey from a popular player.  No shortage of Jordan 23 or Urlacher jerseys at Bulls/Bears games.

That's probably a smarter way to go about it. It's like refusing to name bridges/highways/airports/etc. after anyone living, especially politicians.

[stoaX]

I would probably wear the jersey of an athlete or team if they paid me to do it.   But I wouldn't spend my own money to advertise someone else's corporation / team / athlete.  That goes for "amateur" college gear as well.   I do happily cheer on my favorite teams and athletes, just won't spend money on them.

[RetiredAt63]

Ah the right/wrong team.  Read Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater.  Of course I too am mortified that people root for the Leafs when the one true religion requires rooting for the Habs (Sens are a barely acceptable substitute).
Fun article about jerseys/retro jerseys, etc.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/12/31/the_hockey_sweater_roch_carrier_story_animated_by_sheldon_cohen_watch_before.html

[Metric Mouse]

"Does he/she wear his/her jersey around in public?"
"No."
"Then neither should you."

 

[dcheesi]

I have a jersey for one of my NFL teams (go Steelers!), but I only wear it when I'm going to watch football with friends. IIRC I got it on some kind of discount; no way I would pay full price for one of those things. It's the absolute bottom of the line jersey as well.

I picked a player who also played on my college team, and who didn't seem likely to be traded. Sure enough, he retired as a Steeler, which means I can keep wearing the same jersey forever!

Meanwhile, I grew up watching the Redskins, and still sort of root for them as my "NFC team" (and now also my local team). But I can't bring myself to buy any of their official merch, given the issues with their name. It never bothered me as a kid, but now the idea of wearing a blatantly racist nickname (or a questionable logo) on my chest just doesn't seem very appealing.

[zephyr911]

I love jerseys. Back when my wife was in grad school at WVU and I wanted to support her team, I bought someone's old collection off eBay and sold most of them individually for about what I paid... after keeping a couple for us to wear.
Prices for new ones have always seemed inordinately high to me.

[fat-johnny]

I'm in Cleveland, OH (Go Browns!!) and our running joke here is the sheer number of quarterbacks that we have had/lost over the past 17 years since the ream returned to Cleveland.  We have had 24 quarterbacks in 17 years!!

A man would go BROKE trying to keep up with the jerseys!!
FJ