Wearing Team Gear As a Form of Expression

[LEWJ]

All the teams I wear I wear for pride.

I've thought about getting a cap or a shirt only because it matches an outfit, or because I like the colors/logo, but I haven't done so. It just doesn't feel right.

I think I own one shirt that isn't one of "my teams" and it's a vintage Phoenix Cardinals Football sweatshirt. It's a hand-me-down from my mom. It's not one of those "made to look old" shirts, it's the real deal. I love it because it's worn out looking and it fits good.

'88 was the first year in Phoenix, so I guess it's not that old, but it's old to me!

[DrJack]

I read somewhere that a few years back red Travis Outlaw Trail Blazer jerseys were selling out all over NYC. The reason being that red and blue were gang colors and it was against the rules to wear those colors at school - sports jerseys being the only exception. So gang members ended up buying red sports jerseys to show off their gang affiliation and a jersey that said "Outlaw" on the back was about as gangster as you could get.

I was surprised that you could even buy a Travis Outlaw jersey in NYC, let alone it being popular. But there you go, team gear as a form of expression (gang related). Of course now he plays for the Nets, who rock a red jersey on the road and are soon to actually be IN Brooklyn - maybe also wearing red. Could we see Travis freakin Outlaw near the top of the jersey sales charts soon?

[Luigi]

When I'm over East (usually in Sydney) I always make sure to pack my western force gear. For me it's about pride. The only pieces of team gear that I own for teams that I don't go for are a Blake Griffin clippers jersey, which I bought because I like the player and the look of the jersey, and a bunch of t-shirts with various collegiate logos on them because I don't really support a college.

[Jungle Jim]

I am a Kentucky Wildcats fan, through and through, but have a weak spot for Tennessee orange. So I have owned and worn Tennessee stuff for years while shunning UK stuff because you literally see it EVERYWHERE in Kentucky, even on people who probably don't know a football from a lacrosse stick. I get questions from my frustrated fellow UK fans as to how I could live with myself wearing UT stuff, but I just tell them I have no love for Tennessee athletics whatsoever, but love the ORANGE.

Now that is weird.

Guilty as charged. Don't get me wrong, I won't wear it to UK games and I don't wear it all the time, by any means. After re-reading what I wrote above, I realized that I may have given the impression that it's the majority of my wardrobe, and it's far from that. But I've always had one or two UT things in the rotation for the past several years.

Totally agree with you on this. I am a UK and Oklahoma State fan for almost 30 years and I NEVER ask anyone wearing OU or OSU garb anything anymore. I wait until they ask me and when people have asked me I can talk for hours with them. I have noticed around Louisville anyone wearing a Sooners jersey or anything OSU has no clue what I am talking about so I smack them and dive into a waiting car.....just kidding.... not as frequently as in the past

That's funny that you would say that. I have an Oklahoma State sweatshirt that I bought on a business trip to Tulsa / Oklahoma City in 1994. It doesn't fit as well as I'd like for it to anymore, but I still throw it on occasionally and wear it here in Kentucky. I bought it for three reasons at the time: 1) I wanted something different, something that no one else in Kentucky would have, 2) it had orange in it, and 3) I was a big Garth Brooks fan at the time, and Ok State is is alma mater and he's a big fan.

I hadn't thought of it until just now, but when we wear Ok State shirts in Kentucky these days, some may think we're supporting head men's basketball coach Travis Ford. (For those unfamiliar, he's a Kentucky native and former UK player.)

[ElwoodCuse]

Yeah switching to Athletics is a given soon after they announce the move to San Jose officially. But otherwise yeah it would be crazy to make any major changes to their set. All 4 jerseys they have today just look right. And have aged VERY well. You'd be hard pressed to figure out they've been wearing largely the same thing since the mid 80's with of course the early 90's addition of the green.

don't the A's already almost always wear the green Athletics alt as a road jersey? not to the extent Houston wore that red road alt but still.

[Fox]

I am a Boston sports fan but I have a lot of hats and shirts that aren't Celtics, Red Sox, Patriot, or Bruins. I wear them because I just love sports logos and uniforms. Off the top of my head, the ones that I can think of are:

Sonics Kevin Durant Jersey, DBacks shirt, Phillies Shirt, Cubs shirt (from Wrigley field), SF Giants hat, Oakland A's hat, LA Dodger's hat, Florida Marlins 2010 stars and stripes hat, Angels 2009 stars and stripes hat, Miami Heat Dwyane Wade t-shirt (Bought it in early 2010, before the Big-3 in Miami. I never wear it any more. He went from being one of my favorite players to my least favorite, along with LeBron), Kevin Durant Thunder T-shirt, Hartford Whalers fleece, Ohio State Buckeyes T-shirt, Nets Jason Kidd Jersey, Cavs Lebron James Jersey, Chicago Blackhawks shirt, Orange Mets Jose Reyes T-shirt, Phillies classic Maroon-P logo t-shirt, Orioles cartoon bird t-shirt (from cooperstown hall of fame), and probably more.

Hats, jerseys, and some shirts, I pay full price for. Otherwise, whenever I see a good deal, (Especially clearance) I'll buy it, unless it's a team that I hate. Many of the ones I listed above I don't have any more, or are now too small for me, but I have a pretty big collection of sports apparel, and that's excluding my 4 favorite teams.

[bosrs1]

Yeah switching to Athletics is a given soon after they announce the move to San Jose officially. But otherwise yeah it would be crazy to make any major changes to their set. All 4 jerseys they have today just look right. And have aged VERY well. You'd be hard pressed to figure out they've been wearing largely the same thing since the mid 80's with of course the early 90's addition of the green.

don't the A's already almost always wear the green Athletics alt as a road jersey? not to the extent Houston wore that red road alt but still.

Lately it is featured on the road most often, but it is worn at home occasionally too. And originally it was worn at home all the time when it was introduced in the early 90's.

[Gothamite]

Personally, I won't wear any merchandise from a team I don't support. Just won't - it feels disingenuous when I even consider it.

I'd love to pick up a Winnipeg Jets sweater, because I love the design, but in order to do that I'd also have to adopt them as "my" team.

I bought a 1939 Orioles cap for the beautiful design, but found that I just couldn't wear it, lest it be mistaken for the current team.

The only exception I'll make is for the Brooklyn Dodgers, because their stuff has been accepted as generic borough wear. Nothing that says "Dodgers" on it, though, only "Brooklyn" or one of the "B"s.

With that one caveat, for me the gear is bound up in fandom. Can't separate the two.

[greyraven8]

Though I don't follow basketball at all I bought a Warrior 'The City' cap with the bridge logo because I liked the logo. Have some other basketball jerseys bought from thrift stores that I just wear as pajama tops.

I don't follow baseball all that much anymore but still wear my Mariners cap. Followed them years ago back when Buhner was still playing for them. Back when playing slo-pitch I would wear various teams hats that matched the colour of my uniform.

Only really have Sabres and Nordiques stuff that I wear as clothing. Have a number of teams that aren't my favourites that I wear on the ice.

Needless to say, I don't wear anything of teams I dislike no matter how good the logo/jersey. I tried wearing Leafs and Habs jerseys and minor league teams with these colour schemes and/or logos on ice but gave up after wearing them once and sold/gave away these jerseys.

I'd have to lose a bet or someone would have to pay me big $ to wear anything Yankees.

[Glover]

I was born and raised in the Carolina's (born in NC, moved to SC when I was 5) but I always felt a strong connection and love for Cleveland because that is where my parents and family are all from. As far as sports went, I was always a huge Cleveland fan since that is how I was raised. The only team I grew up liking not from Ohio was the South Carolina Gamecocks (hate Ohio State.) Every single day I wore my Chief Wahoo fitted cap and a t-shirt of either the Browns or Cavs to go with it. Even though I was a diehard Cleveland fan and wore my Cleveland stuff every day, I still had soft spots for the Carolina teams like the Panthers, Hornets, Hurricanes, and the Bobcats to a lesser extent.

I decided to go to college in Bowling Green, and my parents recently moved back to the Cleveland area a few months ago. However, now that I am up here I find myself wearing my Gamecocks stuff nearly every day, and I hardly ever wore my Gamecocks stuff in South Carolina. I asked one of my buddies back in South Carolina if he could get me a Panthers shirt, and he thought there was something wrong with me, haha. Since moving to Ohio, I have bought a good amount of Cleveland sports apparel, but I have bought just as much Carolina sports apparel to go with it.

I am still a diehard Cleveland fan and always will be, but when I moved up here, my soft spot for the teams in Carolina got even bigger for some reason. I feel that I have a special tie to both areas. I suppose that when I was down in Carolina, I wanted to show my love for where my family is from, and up here in Ohio, I want to show my love for where I grew up.

[Tomahawk10]

Personally I'm too busy either supporting Tony Stewart, my favorite NASCAR driver, or the Braves to wear anybody else's stuff. Sometimes I'd like to buy another team's shirt or hat or something cause it looks cool, but there's no point - at least for me - in buying something I'll never wear. The Braves are my one team, I know some fans have multiple favorites or pick a team from the league their favorite doesn't play in and I do have a soft spot for a few teams, but as a fan I'm Braves only, pretty much. Well Braves and anyone who's playing the Mets or Phillies.

For me it's definitely a local deal, I became a Braves fan because of being born/raised in North Georgia, and I don't follow football or basketball but I've thought of buying Falcons/Hawks gear because I love being a Georgian and supporting our sports teams.