Just a wonderin'

[jhans203]

So today I went to Staples to pick up some "supplies." I was wearing my blue Mets hat. I bought this hat for a few reasons (I am a fan New York NL Baseball, I hate the Yankees, and I love New York), but the real reason I bought it is because I love the design. I also own a Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, Pilots and Giants hat for the same reason.

When I went to checkout, the salesclerk, made mention of my Mets hat, and said, "You don't get many Mets fans out here, I'm a diehard." Instead of explaining to the clerk the reason why I have the hat. I just said, "yeah you don't see many fans." He then went on to ask me about their chances and the game tonight against Milwaukee. I totally BS'd the conversation. It was really quite awkward.

My question is this...has anyone else on this board gone through this? Do you wear hats for their visual appeal? Do you pretend fanhoodship just so won't have to explain why you have the hat?

[gingerbreadmann]

Hmm, that's interesting. I think if I were in your position I would have done the exact same thing. Imagine how much of a prick you would sound like if you said, "Oh, I only wear it because I like how it looks."

[habsfan1]

Of course. I've already bought another team's merchandice just because I like the logo or a certain player from that team. The thing is I would not feel right if I were to wear it at an actual game. For example, I have a Sidney Crosby t-shirt. Just picture me at a Habs/Penguins game. I would look dumb to cheer for one team while wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the opponent.

Elsewhere, I'd be honest to the people I know and, like you said, BS the strangers just to come off as polite.

[BBTV]

Hmm, that's interesting. I think if I were in your position I would have done the exact same thing. Imagine how much of a prick you would sound like if you said, "Oh, I only wear it because I like how it looks."

I don't think that makes you sound like a prick at all. I think lying (and probably sounding like you know nothing about "your team") is worse.

[ColeJ]

i only wear hats/shirts of teams i support... the most out-there i've gone is a chicago cubs hat i got at wrigley... and if anyone says "oh! a cubs fan! i love the cubs" i'm just honest. i say "yeah. cubs are cool. the red sox are my real baseball team, but i was at wrigley last year visiting family, and fell in love with the whole wrigleyville setup, and the fanbase. they're not my favorite team, but they're cool as hell, and i had to buy this cap."

you'd be suprised how little people get offended when you tell the truth about stuff like that.

[sc49erfan15]

It's happened to me a few times with jerseys - me wearing a jersey of a team that's not my favorite, or because I like the player. My response is "yeah, I'm actually a die-hard 49ers fan, I just like (insert player here) and wanted his jersey."

I have weird rules about apparel. I'll wear jerseys of other teams (never Cowboys, Panthers or post-1999 Rams) but never another NFL team's hat.

Nobody's gotten upset yet (regarding my explanation for non-favorite team jersey) so it's worked.

[hhfranks]

I think this has changed somewhat with sports apparel becoming so mainstream (hip-hop artists wearing throwback jerseys, etc.). I think it is more acceptable to wear another team's hat/jersey because of this trend over recent years. Personally, I usually just say "Oh no I just really like the way the hat looks." People don't seem to mind. It might kill the whole "Oh you are a ______ fan!?" conversation though..haha.

[gosioux76]

This seems to happen to me a lot, but I also try not to think of my fascination with sports branding as some sort of an affliction. As a result, I find no difficulty in deflecting any awkwardness.

An example: Last fall I was grabbing some lunch for my family at a fast food joint, wearing my 1994 Miami Dolphins Dan Marino jersey, when a kid in line in front of me started giving me about the Dolphins. Clearly, he assumed I was a big Dolphins fan. I just said, "sorry, man, I just like the shirt" and moved along. That usually does it for me.

[AndrewPF]

Well sometimes, as I do have a lot of random hats you wouldn't really see out here. I have a hard time explaining that "I like the logo", because people don't get it. I have a Florida State hat that caused a Miami fan that I know to make threats on my life. My uncle's the same way with logos/hats and has wierd ones of his own, and people are always asking him what connection he has with random colleges and such. Here's a list of "weird" hats I own:

Alma College (MI)-NCAA D3

Cal State Northridge

Long Beach State (CA)

Worcester IceCats-AHL (now known as Peoria Rivermen)

Milwaukee Brewers

New Jersey Nets

Cameron University-NCAA D2

Quebec Nordiques

Washington Senators (Rangers)

All those have caused me to be asked "What's that?" or "Why?" or "The Nationals suck!" or "Take the old-school Avalanche off! Get some Bruins, fag!"

[Ez Street]

Yeah, I like to get merchandise from where I travel.

Southern Illinois Miners shirts are confusing to the locals. They aren't sure if it's a university or what. I state it's a independent baseball team in the frontier league.

Some of the stuff I wear:

Southern Illinois Miners

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Wyoming Cowboys

Iowa Cubs

Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks

Omaha Royals

Chatanooga Lookouts

[Sport]

I've pretended to be an Oakland A's fan twice. I have an all green road Athletics hat just because I think it's one of the best in the league. At the time I was into the A's because of Nick Swisher and his affiliation with Ohio State so I bought the hat. Twice someone came up to me excited to see another A's fan and rather than squelch their exuberance I played along. I knew enough about the A's to not seem like a complete dumbass phony.

I've been on the other side of the conversation as well. I was at a campground in Michigan when I saw a guy wearing a Cincinnati Reds hat. I asked him what he thought of the team this year. he responded by saying that he wasn't really a fan he just liked the hat. Of course I understood, but still I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to talk Reds baseball.

[erlovepuck]

Interesting point EZStreet. I actually for some reason have some hats and shirts that I otherwise would never by because of my feelings towards the particular team but felt like buying them when I visited the place was ok.

Related but not exactly the same: The other morning I was on the site on my laptop. My girlfriend had noticed me being on the site a lot throughout the weekend and finally asked what I was posting about. She then asked me about the site and was like so you discuss the teams and players and stuff? I was like no more the uniforms and logos and people make up drawings of new logos and uniforms. It really is very hard for some people to understand our interest and fascination with these things!

[DGivens87]

Good topic. I have about 60 different hats, and honestly, I color-coordinate them with what I'm wearing. I also have a Mets hat (the sports store near me is selling all the old 5950s for $15. Needless to say, I've been stocking up), and I often wear it with a white and royal polo, or my Tim Tebow FLA jersey (another item I like because of the player, not necessarily the team. Another topic, perhaps?)

One thing I find is that sometimes logo addiction can be a good ice breaker. Back in the day, before the throwback rage, I wore my old school powder blue Junior Seau jersey around campus. For whatever reason, that thing was a chick magnet. "Oh I like your jersey!" "What team is that?" "Wanna come by my dorm later tonight?" (I made that last one up. No jersey alone will ever get me that far.)

[goforbroke]

Ill never wear a pro hat for teams other than the Yankees, NY Rankers, Jets, and Knicks. Those are my teams. However, since i'm not a big college sports fans I wear those hats just for design. I have a Georgia, Virginia Tech, and Rutgers hat and a Seton Hall and Duke jersey.

I don't think you should ever wear a hat of a team if you are a fan of another. For example, I'd never wear a Red Sox hat, but I'd also never even wear a Brewers hat. I'm a yankees fan, thats my MLB team. Now, if i wasn't a fan of any team, like i am with college sports or minor league baseball, then I think its ok to wear whatever u like

[mmejia]

Unfortunately, allegiances to my favorite teams really narrow down my pool of sports gear to choose from. I love design and there are certainly many options out there, but I just cannot see myself sporting anything other than Longhorn college gear or Houston pro sports gear.

As mentioned in this thread, it's a real shame because as everyone else on this board, I have an appreciation for design and color.

[BallWonk]

I avoid this problem by wearing only:

(A) Stuff from teams I actually root for; or

( Stuff from obscure teams that most people can't identify.

So lately, for example, I've been getting a lot of people looking at my cap and asking, "Is that a Patriots cap?" To which I reply, "No, it's a Potomac Nationals cap. They're a Nats farm club in Virginia. You a Patriots fan?" And then we talk about their favorite teams and I don't have to fake anything.

On the other hand, I definitely base most of my thinking about which teams to root for on the quality of their logos and uniforms. I've been getting more into NHL hockey lately, and I kind of root for Minnesota and Washington because I consider them my "home" teams. But really, I'm much more a fan of Phoenix and Vancouver's logos and unis, so they're my "other" root-for teams.

[MotownMadman11]

I was wearing an A's hat in an Olga's near my house and a lady came up to me with a huge smile on her face explaining that she was a big A's fan and that she was from either Oakland or San Francisco, can't remember which. I politely nodded and agreed to being a fan all while enjoying the 2006 ALCS in my head all over again.

[PhilliesPhan1325]

I was wearing an A's hat at Hersheypark earlier this summer and someone came up to me and asked about it. Although they thought it was an Arizona Diamondbacks hat at first (yeah i almost laughed in his face) he asked about their chances. And since the person was had no idea about what team it was I just pretended to sound like a fan. But with my friends I talk alot about uniforms and such. And BallWonk, I like to wear obscure teams stuff too but when I do I get more questions than if I'm wearing stuff of well known teams.

[oddball]

I think it's some ridiculous phony rule that you can't wear another team's stuff. If that's the rule you live by, then fine, but I shouldn't live by your rules. We've been taught correct principles (respect for others) here in the sports community and we live by them. I think some people get way too involved into their team and/or have no life outside of sports to where they can't accept someone wearing another team's apparel. I as a Dodger fan own a Dodger hat but it's the one with the silver brim, as an Angel fan I wear occasionally when going to games their red cap, and now that I have the 1971 cap that they gave away I wear that predominantly because it's most comfortable (cotton vs. wool). I have a Boston Red Sox red franchise cap that my parents got for me when they went back to Boston and it was August of the year they first won the Series, so I'm no bandwagon fan, I just like the red Red Sox cap. I have an all blue Mets cap that I got for Christmas a couple years ago. I wanted it because while growing up I played on the Mets. I plan on getting all the teams caps that I played on as a kid. Oh and I have a teal Marlins cap because I like it. I've had a Rockies cap, but that was too small, and I've had Rangers caps because I played on the Rangers a few times. When I see someone wearing a cap, I don't think, "Oh they're a fan" and try and strike up a conversation with the, I don't care. I just observe whether I like the cap or not. I've had people ask me about the Mets cap and I tell them the truth. I like the cap because it brings back memories and it's the best cap that they have. The funniest thing is, a guy I went to school with would get on me when I wore the Angel caps and he knew I was a Dodger fan. I'm an Angel fan too as I live closer to the Big A and have gone to way more Angel games, but he'd ride me about the wrong hat and all and yet I'd always see him wearing a dark blue "CA" Angels hat. I meant to ask him about that. He's a good guy, but I just found it funny.

[TheAK47]

I'm pretty flat out about it, I collect hats, jerseys and shirts so if someone asks me about a being a fan I just tell them I collect sports apparel. I've actually had the same thing happen to me where I asked a guy about his Met's hat (where I am a Mets fan) and been told they only wear it because its cool. But I've had the same thing happen with my Brewer's hat which I wear alot. Although I have to say I have been starting to like the Brew Crew after seeing them play in Milwaukee.