Posted on 09/05/2012 1:33:25 PM PDT by mojito
....I have a jersey I wear when my team plays on Sundays. It's not a good jersey. It's a lame-ass replica jersey I bought because I was too cheap to spring for the real deal. But I wear it. And do I feel like a stallion when I wear it? I DO. I totally do, even though I look like every other middle-aged man wearing an NFL jersey he shouldn't be wearing. I feel like I'm part of the team, which is just absurd.
NFL fans walk around in team jerseys all the time, and even though most of them look like schlubs, most of them FEEL better than they do at any other time of the week. In fact, the fatter and more out of shape you are, the more powerful a spell the jersey casts over your ego. Maybe you look like a real player. Maybe the head coach will be in dire need of a running back in the fourth quarter, see you through the TV screen, and summon you out to the field to go rip off the winning 90-yard swing pass. That will never happen, but the jersey is what lets you dream about it, and often the dream is vivid enough to make a decent substitute for reality. Which is good, because in reality you're fat and your team sucks.
So if you have a jersey sitting in your drawer, I beseech you to take it out right now and throw it on. Don't apologize for it. Don't worry about your girlfriend telling you that you look pathetic. She doesn't get it, man. She doesn't understand the POWER of the jersey. But you do. You put that jersey on and you get yourself fired the f**k up, because the NFL season starts TONIGHT....
(Excerpt) Read more at deadspin.com ...
Well, living in Florida, I do wear cargo shorts, polo shirt and sandals for daily wear. But, I do wear long pants for Sunday church.
Only time I wear shoes is to play golf, go dancing with my wife or attend funerals/weddings.
I can't stand facial hair, on myself, nearly trimmed on others Is OK.
Started developing a furniture problem, my chest was falling into my drawers. So, rather than trying to explain that when one has a good tool, one builds a shed over it, I returned to my military PT regimen and took care of that problem.
No piercings. No tattoos. No jerseys. No jeans.
And whenever I wear a cap, I always remove it when I enter a building or I am in the presence of a lady. I must admit, some of the ladies are quite pleasantly taken aback when I tip my cap to them while riding on bike trails.
Ergo, I do not fit the norm you mention.
Guess I am just a fossil.
I have a jersey too! It is from my son’s high school and had the number he wore through middle school and high school. Now that he’s in college, he has a different number and colors, but I don’t think MIT sells jerseys, so I can’t update mine ... but I do have an MIT Mom t-shirt.
However, our younger son plays pop warner, and this year requested his brother’s old number, and our pop warner team has the same colors as our high school team, so I’m still okay. Just wish I could buy an MIT jersey too!
She is using more than her share of pixels...
What’s his major?
I forgot to mention that I have both the standard ratio and widescreen versions on VHS.
Outsourcing masculinity. The overweight out of shape poor unheralded loser feels like a winning worshipped wealthy athlete if he wears the jersey of HIS team. Their victory was dependent on him and he shares in it donchaknow?
Impressive. Now for the true test. What percentage of the movie do you think you can quote?
Times have changed dramatically since I was in high school back in the early 60s.
First of all, lettering was an honor. Not everyone on the team lettered. You had to play in a certain number of quarters or innings or score a certain number of points. I did a bit of teaching after I retired and was surprised to learn that even band members now get letter jackets.
We all kept our practice jerseys but the school didn’t give us the game jerseys. I don’t recall anyone selling fake jerseys or letter jackets back then.
I can no longer get into my College letter jacket and I have no idea what happened to my high school stuff. I once took my letter jacket to a sporting goods store and asked if they could duplicate it in a larger size. They had no interest in doing so.
My grandchildren have all my old college gear. I will say those Wilson letter jackets were well made. They are still in good shape after more than 40 years.
Nice try.
Right around 60% now. At one time (back in the ‘90s) close to 90%.
I never understood it either, it always seemed absurd to me. This author at least admits the absurdity, and does kind of explain the phenomenon. I have a friend who actually thinks that his team will play better when he is in the stands cheering for them. Intellectually, he must know that’s ridiculous, but somehow he rationalizes it, because I guess that way, he feels like they need him somehow, and he is part of the team. Hey, if it helps him get through the day, so be it.
Ha, about the same for me.
Go to Europe and they’re all walking around wearing hideously loud soccer jerseys bearing adverts for software companies and Muslim airlines.
So what’s your point?
The funniest thing is when the jock whose name is on the jersey you wear moves to the team you suppose to hate as a fan of his old team, and do hate it, and it happens right after you shelled out, what, $45 for the jersey.
Yes, but most of us don’t walk around in public with our FR post count on our chests :)
$45, Where are you shopping?
I don’t own an NFL jersey (or any other league jersey, for that matter), but I am still known to wear Iron Maiden t-shirts. :)
Hong Kong’s Ladies Market.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.