Jersey Wearing Rules

[DG_ThenNowForever]

What's the policy on an athlete changing his number? If I had shelled out $150+ for an authentic Reds Griffey #30 jersey, I would have been awful upset this season. Is it still okay to wear the #30?

Or how Expos jerseys at RFK? Is that okay? Unitas jerseys at Ravens games? I'm sure there are enough Ravens fans that see their team as the spiritual successor to the old Colts.

[Brian in Boston]

Brian in Boston's Jersey-Wearing Rule

1) I spent the money to purchase the authentic jersey, therefore I decide what I will have put on it (my last name and my favorite number), where I will wear it (primarily in the comfort of my home... additionally, to select games of the team in question... on occasion, to my local sports pub to watch a game involving the team in question) and how I will wear it (never tucked in).

[Gothamite]

And we will make fun of you when you consequently look like a dweeb.

You can buy a necktie too and wear it around your head, too. Free country, but we're also free to point out the bad choices people make.

[KevinMcD]

I know you can't get one online from most retailers, but if you could get one made, where does getting a Falcons #7 w/ "Mexico" on the back fit into these rules.....

Well if you wear that into Ralph Wilson Stadium you will have it confiscated(sp?) or you will be kicked out.

Last year people with it were thrown out of the stadium becuase they didn't want to take 'em off.

Wow, I missed the part in the Constitution where it says the First Amendment doesn't apply in Ralph Wilson Stadium.

They were doing a little bit of heckling also and the Falcons staff told the security guards they were bothering themand wanted them out. So they kicked them out. Now the NFL takes home field advantage away also.

[infrared41]

And we will make fun of you when you consequently look like a dweeb. 

Does that mean acting like a dweeb is fair game as well?

If so, we all better get busy around here. There's a lot of it to go around.

[Brian in Boston]

... but we're also free to point out the bad choices people make.

So, we're free to point out that you actually feel compelled to share the content of your posts with this community?

Just asking?

[Brian in Boston]

Oh, ... I just noticed that I spilled beer and dropped salsa on my authentic Red Sox home jersey when Ortiz hit is second homer tonight!

[ElwoodCuse]

Where does an Atlanta Braves "CHANNEL" 17 jersey fit?

Never seen one, but I think it'd be cool.

Now here's a throwback jersey for the ages. I'd buy one.

Andy Messersmith represent.

[jrh31584]

Where does an Atlanta Braves "CHANNEL" 17 jersey fit?

Never seen one, but I think it'd be cool.

Now here's a throwback jersey for the ages. I'd buy one.

Andy Messersmith represent.

Every time there has been a thread asking what throwbacks we would like to see, this has been one of my suggestions, along with whatever jersey Ted Turner wore for the one game he managed.

[chakfu]

What's wrong with fake mitchell and ness's from a fashion standpoint? It's one thing if it looks terribly fake...but if it looks decent, it's a nice jersey for a reasonable price. It's not like Mitchell and Ness is the original official manufacturer, they started out as some random people making throwback replicas, just the same as the bootleggers...I want a nice replica of a throwback jersey, not an official brand name Mitchell and Ness necessarily...

Obviously the legal rights are one thing; but as a consumer I don't really care too much about that when the non bootleg product is grossly overpriced...

[ZoDogg34]

Bootleg jerseys are just lame...like the guys that walk around with a Michael Jordan M&N jersey, knowing damn well that M&N never made one. It's annoying.

As for "past glory" jerseys, my rule is this:

Once a guy leaves your team, you can not wear his jersey until he retires, thus making the jersey a throwback.

When Charles Barkley left the Suns I put my authentic Barkley jersey on Ice, only to break it out again once the Suns retired his number. Of course, I have since gotten said jersey autographed, so I can't wear it anymore anyway.

[ElwoodCuse]

Of course, I have since gotten said jersey autographed, so I can't wear it anymore anyway.

Actually, here's another rule I always considered: wear jerseys whenever you want, but autographed jerseys are strictly arena/stadium only. I have an autographed Marc-Andre Fleury jersey that I've only worn to Mellon Arena or Wachovia Arena (AHL).

As to the fake M&Ns (the decent ones, anyway), it's your own peril. Morals and legalese aside, I know I enjoyed a good laugh at the guy I saw wearing a Michigan State 1979 Magic Johnson jersey with an M&N tag. To me, it means you're either cheap or a sucker.

[cbeach40]

I definitely like most of the points raised in the article, although I'm guilty of one thing on the list- yes, I tuck in my baseball jersey. I just never liked them untucked, just the way they're tailored at the bottom and the length of them (authentics in particular) just doesn't sit right with me. Hockey jerseys are always left untucked by me. I also like having a name ont he back soemtimes, but don't view it as a necessity. I'm not paying to get the numbers professionally done for the most part. I usually wait until there's a sale or something on that, and even then not too often.

Another thing I'm guilty of is that whenever I wear one of my Blue Jays jerseys I'm always certain to wear the corresponding cap- yeah, I'm a geek.

[spyboy1]

I don't see a problem with replica jerseys. In fact, I personally think people who drop 100's on something that looks no different than a replica (and I suppose I'm talking hockey here) are just plain stupid. I'm sure you won't be sitting at the arena with a guy staring at you and heckling "you moron, that's not real, you're a loser." The other one I disagree with is putting your own last name on a jersey. I've never had a problem with that, in fact all the hockey jerseys I own have my name and # on the back. I'd rather have a jersey that can be worn for a lifetime than wear a jersey of a guy who one day might be playing for your teams rival. Eric Lindros for example.

He wasn't talking about replicas that look just like the real thing, he meant ones that don't look right...for example, take a look anywhere in NYC and you'll see Yankee jerseys with names on the back and the wrong number font. That's the type of thing he's talking about.

As for your own last name on a jersey, you are obviously the guy he was talking about.

Well if that's the case, I can understand where that is coming from. I've seen some pretty awful combos when it comes to wrong numbers/letters on jerseys.

It drives me just NUTS how many cheap-ass Minnesota Twins jerseys there are out there right now. People, if you are going to all the time and effort to create customized jerseys, is it really, really that hard to do it correctly? The world if filled with Twins jerseys that have one color dark blue numbers. The Twins simply use red numbers with blue trim and the one color names go on a nameplate. That's all. What's so impossible about that to duplicate?

Here's the right way.

While I'm at it, spend a bazillion on a throwback Harmon Killebrew, but make damn sure you don't get one with his name on the back!

[spyboy1]

The one I agree with the most is the no-tuck rule. Cripes that makes me nuts when I see dorks tuck their hockey jerseys in.    Perhaps this year is the year I start to confront people about it...

haha, like that Gretzky dork!

Anyone who knows their hockey knows Gretzky only tucked in one side of his jersey. He did not stuff the whole thing down into his pants making him look like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.

[chakfu]

It's vaguely lame for a bootlegger to put a mitchell and ness tag on, but I really could care less what tag is on the jersey if it's accurate and well made, and if it looks okay I'd certainly buy a 50 dollar bootleg mitchell and ness over a 300 dollar authentic...they're both just somebody making a replica jersey...

Now if the bootleg is completely lame and inaccurate, that's a different story. But I got an '76 Austin Carr off one of those racks at the mall, a lot of the other ones looked bad, but it looks fine; I got a Jim Brown jersey off ebay for 40 bucks, it looks perfect except for the sleeves not being the length of the old school ones; presumably they're bootlegs, but I don't see anything lame about them. I think calling a decent looking bootleg lame is just making a status symbol out of the brand name and the price tag without regard to the quality of the product.