Jump to content

Why do you buy jerseys and hats that are not from your favorite team?


Recommended Posts

Basically the title question: Why do you buy jerseys and hats that are not from your favorite team?

 

For example, I am an Arizona Diamondbacks fan, but I used to wear a St. Louis Cardinals hat because I loved the logo and Albert Pujols was my favorite player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 45
  • Created
  • Last Reply

NHL Jerseys:

 

I've been collecting since 1991 and have over 200. When ever the Maple Leafs put out a new one I am sure to get it. Otherwise I want to make sure I have 1 per NHL team. I need to add Seattle when it comes out and some how I dont have Winnipeg yet. I have an old CCM Jets jersey and 3 different Atlanta Thrashers jerseys but I don't have a current Jets jersey. 

 

I collect old ones from when I was a kid or players with my last name, I view them as art also. I am in the processes of finishing our basement and I am getting a few of my favorites framed to be hung up.

 

Also this nearly 30 year old addiction is hard to crack.

Belts.jpg
PotD May 11th, 2011
looooooogodud: June 7th 2010 - July 5th 2012

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I collect hats for one. So if I see one I like I want to add it to my collection.

 

For most sports I don't have a pure favourite. I basically have a ranking from "like very much" to "strongly dislike". The teams toward the like very much end I'm not opposed to buying gear for, the teams towards the strongly dislike end I won't. There is typically one team I like more than the rest, but not enough to exclude myself from buying a hat I like or whatever.

 

The exception is the NHL. I like the Canucks and every other team can rot. I dislike some teams more than others, but the Canucks are my only team. I'll buy Canucks merch and thats it. (Though I would be lying if I said I didn't have some memorabilia from teams that don't exist anymore simply for being a hockey/logo fan).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I collect jerseys and hats of non-favorite teams if they are in my favorite travel destinations... and other teams just out of nostalgia. 

Smart is believing half of what you hear. Genius is knowing which half.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A sports-related cap doesn't have to be from my top team, but it does have to be from a team that I like to some degree. Of my approximately 100 sports-related hats, all but one is from a team to which I have some emotional connection (mainly the teams in my sig). The one exception is a Rochester Red Wings cap that has their alternate FC logo, for Flower City. I wear that for the same reason that Bruce Kulick wears British Knights.

 

Sometimes I am tempted to buy a cap for the sheer beauty of a logo. I remember feeling this upon visits to the Devils team store, because that logo looks so good on a cap. But I can't bring myself to do it, as I would feel uncomfortable wearing a cap of a team that I don't care about (except in the case of the aforementioned FC cap).

 

I also have plenty of hats that have non-sports logos, for instance, logos of pop culture entities such as beloved television shows and my favourite rock band, logos of venerable media outlets, symbols reflecting various aspects of my ideology and/or identity, and even one cap with my full name on it, boxer style.

 

In the choice of a cap the aesthetic quality always plays a role; but for me that alone is not sufficient.

logo-diamonds-for-CC-no-photo-sig.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can’t wear anything from teams I don’t support.

 

I’ve tried. I’ve bought them on occasion if the design was particularly clever or if I had some tenuous connection to the team or city. But in the end, it feels phony and disingenuous, so I almost always end up just getting rid of them.

 

I don’t look down on anyone who can wear the cap or jersey of another team just because they like it, but it’s not for me. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

I can’t wear anything from teams I don’t support.

 

I’ve tried. I’ve bought them on occasion if the design was particularly clever or if I had some tenuous connection to the team or city. But in the end, it feels phony and disingenuous, so I almost always end up just getting rid of them.

 

I don’t look down on anyone who can wear the cap or jersey of another team just because they like it, but it’s not for me. 

 

I bought an NYCFC scarf in Times Square shortly after the team was announced. I was on vacation, I thought the logo and branding was super cool, and I wanted to buy in. So I did! I've also never worn the scarf and it stays folded up with the other soccer scarves I've purchased on vacation (Bayern Munich, Tottemham Hotspur). As far as vacation memorabilia goes, I think scarves are a decent enough purchase except when they pile up. Fortunately, no vacations for a while.

 

There was a great NHL jersey sale about a decade ago where some site (hockey1? something like that?) was selling off old CCM stock prior to the Reebok takeover. I picked up a handful of jerseys then -- Maple Leafs, Thrashers, Islanders, and Coyotes. They were about $30 each, which seemed like a good buy. I do wear them from time to time. And I think I've said before that of all the sports stuff I wear out of the house, hockey jerseys routinely get the most random comments ("Hey Maple Leafs! You suck!").

 

I've loudly shared my love for the Rams bone jersey and I eagerly await my Robert Woods replica arrival next month. It's going to look awesome coming out of the Fanatics bag and going straight into my closet. Maybe I'll wear it out a few times but unlikely.

 

I think sports stuff can look really cool if it's not the center of what you're doing. Like, a Bills hat and jersey and shorts looks stupid unless you're at a game (and even then...). But a Bills jersey worn randomly at the farmers market in the middle of the summer? I don't think that's so bad. Especially if you're in, like, Topeka.

1 hour ago, ShutUpLutz! said:

and the drunken doodoobags jumping off the tops of SUV's/vans/RV's onto tables because, oh yeah, they are drunken drug abusing doodoobags

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have an Arkansas Travelers hat because I had relatives who lived in Little Rock (they moved) when I bought it.

 

I have a Pirates shirt because I visited Pittsburgh for vacation a couple years ago and really like everything about their identity. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't own a whole lot of jerseys or hats from teams outside of the DC area. That used to be on purpose, but now I'm more open to buying merch from other teams if I think it looks cool. My first non-DC purchase was a Quebec Nordiques shirt I bought on amazon about two years ago. (Unfortunately, I lost it somehow.) This past February, I bought a Bucks "cream city" jersey because a friend and I were in FootLocker and we thought it was funny. I'll probably buy a Seattle Kraken jersey when they come out because I like the design. 

I can't see myself buying the jersey of a rival of one of my favorite teams, though. 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Despite being a Cardinals and White Sox fan, my first fitted cap was a red crown/black bill Reds cap that I bought when I was 14 because I thought it looked cool. 
 

Fast forward a decade later, my only fitted caps are a Cardinals home and road and a White Sox black cap. I’ve graduated from college, so I have a little extra money and I start buying caps I like. A Seattle Mariners teal bill was the start. I really liked the Blue Jays rebrand back to blue so that was next. When the diamond era BP caps were released, my spending increased. 
 

Fast forward to today, I have a game or BP cap for every team. It was a slippery slope, but I wear them all. As I’ve aged into my 30s, I’m less inclined to wear team specific shirts and tend to favor blank shirts. That makes it easier to pair with a cap. Sometimes I get asked if I’m a fan of that team, but I’d say in the last 18 months, I’ve had more people ask me if I’m wearing the cap just because it’s a cap. Perhaps it is becoming more normalized? 
 

I always think I’m close to being done. I stay close to what is worn in games or on-field, so I don’t get into the custom releases from Hat Club and the likes. I’ve fought off MiLB collecting. I have a fondness for retro designs. I’d like a black Astros with a red star, but I don’t want a 2005 World Series side patch. So, I wait. 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't buy them anymore but when I was a tween / teen (80s), I would use my paper route money to buy NHL jerseys. The one sporting goods store in the local mall would sell NHL jerseys for $25-$35 during the summer.  in my collection (aside from the Penguins), I had (all CCM / Replica / Blank):
- Islanders Home White (84-95 version)(#22 Bossy with iron on numbers and lettering)
- Bruins Home White (81-95 version)
- Capitals Away Red (87-95 version)
- North Stars Home White (81-88 version)
- Flames Away Red (81-94 version)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Pengin. said:

Basically the title question: Why do you buy jerseys and hats that are not from your favorite team?

 

For example, I am an Arizona Diamondbacks fan, but I used to wear a St. Louis Cardinals hat because I loved the logo and Albert Pujols was my favorite player.

I bought Forward Madison's third kit because it was insane looking. I have a 1999 Jacksonville Jaquar jersey, I think I bought it because it was like 50% and I liked the colors. Most of the other stuff I have I have a little bit of like for. 

km3S7lo.jpg

 

Zqy6osx.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DNAsports said:

I have an Arkansas Travelers hat because I had relatives who lived in Little Rock (they moved) when I bought it.

 

I have a Pirates shirt because I visited Pittsburgh for vacation a couple years ago and really like everything about their identity. 

 

I assume it was the interlocking LR, because that's a baseball-ass baseball cap and it rules.

 

Anyway, I have some sports stuff of teams I don't follow because 1. I like the look and 2. I haven't been horribly wronged by the team. For instance, I am currently wearing a Hartford Whalers shirt I bought at the NHL Store in Manhattan. I also have a Rangers T-shirt. If I based my favorite teams solely on uniforms I would be a New York Rangers fan, but only because the Canucks went away from the flying skate.

 

I used to have a powder blue KC Royals cap that I really liked, but I lost it during my most recent move. It probably wasn't stolen, but if it was I understand and forgive the criminals. It was a pretty sweet cap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, DNAsports said:

Nope. The opossum.

 

Me: Arkansas is more than redneck trash

 

Also Me: Let me tell you the many stories of my husky killing and/or thinking she killed a opossum in my back yard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.