Just a wonderin'

[winters in buffalo]

I've been wearing a Trenton Thunder hat a lot lately, which usually starts a conversation. I'm OK telling them it's only because I think it's an awesome logo.

[jab8281965]

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.

I'm with the Wonk. I usually wear stuff from teams I root for. However, i'm a Yankee/Jet/Net/Islander fan, and I live in Boston. Not a good combo.

Therefore, I wear stuff from my alma mater (Northeastern) or somewhat obscure stuff. I have a Seattle Pilots jersey I wear, along with a NY Knights jersey from the Natural. I also have a Hollywood Stars and SF Seals Jersey from Ebbets Field Flannels I wear if I really want to have people look at me funny at Fenway.

When I travel (which I do a ton for work), I try to find the most obscure t-shirts from the local colleges or minor league teams to wear - so that makes up the basis for my collection.

[PittsburghSucks]

Someone once told me that they liked my Cleveland Browns hat.

I said thanks and asked them how they thought the Browns would do this year?

He said he wasn't a Browns fan but liked the hat because the color matched his skin.

[BallWonk]

Someone once told me that they liked my Cleveland Browns hat.

I said thanks and asked them how they thought the Browns would do this year?

He said he wasn't a Browns fan but liked the hat because the color matched his skin.

Guy had orange skin? (Insert Bob Dole joke here.)

[Shumway]

I wore a Florida(Gators) shirt to the bar the other week, and for some reason, a lot of people don't like the Gators in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm not a Flo'da fan by any means, I just liked the shirt, and I've always liked the logo. Plus, the shirt was $5 at my work. I didn't really give any response to the drunkards who heckled me, I just gave an "oh, ok" or something of the like.

[TruColor]

I avoid all of this completely by not wearing sports apparrel.

Actually, I DO wear the occasional AZ Cardinals t-shirt, but that's about it.

I don't collect jerseys or caps - vector art is good enough for me (!).

[BostonBlazer]

Not really a hat. But I have an AHL Philadelphia Phantoms jersey that I purchased not because I was a fan of the team, but because I liked the logo, colors, and name. No one has ever asked me if I was a fan of the team or anything, though.

[maz]

I would look dumb to cheer for one team while wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the opponent.

Just say youre jynxing the pens. Havent you ever seen "Celtic Pride"?

[SilverEagle5]

I bought a Detroit Tigers cap a few years ago, and I've gotten some people commenting about me being a Tigers "fan". I even had one guy call me smarter than my dad because he was wearing a Phillies cap. I had to tell him that I basically liked the cap, and that I was also a Phils fan. I've recently adopted the Tigers as my AL team, but I don't care about them nearly as much as the Phils, and partly just to avoid confusion.

[Gothamite]

I don't collect jerseys or caps - vector art is good enough for me (!).

Good for you - those are cheaper.

[eRay]

As close as I come to this is when people ask me about the hat I am wearing, and I have to know everything about the MiLB team on it. I have to pretend I didn't just buy the hat because of looks, but for the team on it.

---------------------

Usual convo-

"Hey, nice hat, what team is that? The A's or something?"

"Uhhhhh, nope. The West Virginia Power"

"Who are they?"

"Well, a Class A baseball team....from West Virginia."

"What league are they in?"

"The South Atlantic League, or something like that."

"Oh, ok. Who is their big league team?"

"The Brewers, I'm pretty sure."

{less than impressed} "Cooooooool."

[Discogod]

I'm a die-hard Hornets fan, but I've got a huge collection of basketball jerseys from other teams. My only rules are that if I wear a jersey in public it's either a player or design that's long since retired (Dr J Sixers, Moncrief Bucks, and the rainbow Nuggets jerseys have been getting a lot of wear this summer) - nothing current. Also, I will never, ever wear a Heat or Knicks jersey, no matter what(sucks 'cause I love the early 80's maroon & navy set).

I don't follow football or baseball, and don't really support a hockey team, so anything from those sports that looks good is fair game.

[rmered]

I have a friend in Montreal who bought me a Nordiques jersey back when they were a team.

I wore it round the streets of Melbourne Australia thinking I was the coolest guy ever, only fielding the occasional question about the boy scouts fleur-de-lis.

Until the day I met some guy from Quebec who was wanting to cry on my shoulder about how the team was moving to Denver.

I sympathised with him, and generally bluffed my way round a conversation of how good Joe Sakic was and how Peter Forsberg was going to be better than Gretzky.

I was only wearing it because it was a great jersey.

Still is really.

[adrianb]

I like to take trips to college libraries just to look through old yearbooks. I take pictures of old football helmet logos and try recreate them in AI. Most of the time it is no big deal. Most colleges keep a complete set of yearbooks in their main collection so I don't have to bother anyone or explain what I am doing. Once I took a day trip to visit Catawba college, and I soon found out they keep their yearbooks upstairs in a storage room and I have to ask for the years I am looking for. I have always been a little shy about telling folks about my nerdy little hobby, but I swallowed my pride and told the very nice librarian what I was doing and that I wanted to look at all of the yearbooks from about 1965 to about 2000. I will never forget the look on that lady's face. I felt horrible. I did not want to put anyone to work, and I would be perfectly fine with them saying no, but they obliged me, and they hauled a cart full of yearbooks to my table.

[sleaze]

Its really bad for me because the Giants are my favorite NFL team, yet I own a throwback Eagles jacket, and a lot of Redskins apparel. I collect a lot of sports merchandise so often I can get away with it, especially if there is a certain outfit im wearing and the hat of a particular team will go with said outfit. I'll just tell them I'm wearing the hat because it matches the colors in my shirt so well, or something to that effect. But yeah, im usually alone in my logo obsession. I wont even play with certain teams on NBA2K because their jerseys suck or their court is ugly, and people will say thats ridiculous.

[Gothamite]

Its really bad for me because the Giants are my favorite NFL team, yet I own a throwback Eagles jacket, and a lot of Redskins apparel. I collect a lot of sports merchandise so often I can get away with it

You might think that you're getting away with it, but you're not.

I happen to love the way orange and navy go together as a color set in the absrtact, but I'd sooner eat my own toes than wear anything Chicago Bears related.

[gosioux76]

Its really bad for me because the Giants are my favorite NFL team, yet I own a throwback Eagles jacket, and a lot of Redskins apparel. I collect a lot of sports merchandise so often I can get away with it

You might think that you're getting away with it, but you're not.

I happen to love the way orange and navy go together as a color set in the absrtact, but I'd sooner eat my own toes than wear anything Chicago Bears related.

That's funny, because I'd also rather eat your toes than wear any Green Bay apparel. My toes, however, are off limits -- to ALL of you.

[gordie_delini]

interesting - i've been on the other side of that coin, commenting on someone's hat, jersey, etc. because it's a team I support and have gotten "oh I just like the [hat, jersey, etc.]" I wouldn't feel any shame for it, but then I only wear gear of teams I support.

[FlyersHockey1967]

Personally, I myself don't like wearing other teams' apparel. Just doesn't feel right to me.

When it comes to other people, I can usually avoid awkward situations with other people who do wear stuff from other teams by first asking if they're a fan of the team. That way they don't actually have to BS anything. Case in point, I once saw a cashier in a bookstore wearing a Nordiques shirt (and this is in southwestern Pennsylvania), so naturally I asked if he was a Nordiques fan because I've never seen anyone wearing the old igloo-stick-puck design around there, which is why I left him the option of simply saying he liked the logo, thus avoiding said awkwardness.

By the way, his answer was yes, and a "Thank God," because apparently, his fellow employees didn't know what it was.

Now, what's your take on colors? I can understand buying a team's apparel because of the logo design, but if it's just for the color, why not just buy a shirt that has those colors on it and not the logo?

I'll give you three guesses as to who I'm referring to.

[Mings]

I've gotten a few "Why is there a rat on your hat?" comments while wearing my New Orleans Zephyrs BP hat around Indianapolis this week. I then had to explain that said rat was a nutria...Yes, they really have orange teeth....They are the mascot because they live on the Mississippi and yes Commanders Palace really does serve them.

So I went off topic.