International I Hate Sports Club

Why do grown men and women purchase and wear t-shirts, jerseys, sweat suits etc with Team Logos for teams they never will or have played for. Why do they purchase these things at outrageous prices with the names of people other than their own and wear them as though they were a badge of honor or as if they had some personal connection to the player. I am amazed at the number of supposedly intelligent adults that do this year in and year out. I was a member of the US NAVY SEALs and I will wear SEAL TEAM and Navy shirts, hats and sweats. I am a Vietnam Veteran and came back alive in one piece so I feel I played succesfully for the Team. I donate to the Navy Special Warfare Foundation and the SEAL Warrior Fund. That is how I support my TEAM.

They think it is 'cool'. (But wow, finally some real military personnel on a non-descript internet forum- I am at the most a cadet, so....)

SEAL76 wrote:Why do grown men and women purchase and wear t-shirts, jerseys, sweat suits etc with Team Logos for teams they never will or have played for. Why do they purchase these things at outrageous prices with the names of people other than their own and wear them as though they were a badge of honor or as if they had some personal connection to the player. I am amazed at the number of supposedly intelligent adults that do this year in and year out. I was a member of the US NAVY SEALs and I will wear SEAL TEAM and Navy shirts, hats and sweats. I am a Vietnam Veteran and came back alive in one piece so I feel I played succesfully for the Team. I donate to the Navy Special Warfare Foundation and the SEAL Warrior Fund. That is how I support my TEAM.

Hello SEAL76. I see you have actually been a member of this forum for over a year but have not posted in quite a while, so welcome back. I'm one of the relatively new guys here who's joined up and become somewhat of a regular in your absence. Regarding your post, I believe sports fans just do this to display pride in their team. I don't think they do it because they feel they have any real connection to the player but rather as a way of displaying their support and keen interest in their chosen team. I of course was never bothered by this stuff, and do think it's a little childish that fully grown men would wear shirts with other men's names on even if it is just to display support for a team they like. Maybe they feel the player is more masculine or superior to them and want to try and bring themselves to that player's level by taking on his emblem? I don't know. I really wouldn't understand the sports fan psychology as I'm not one. But I understand the point you're getting at, that people should really only wear these group or team sweaters if they've been a part of that team, or it just seems to be wishful thinking about something that will probably never happen for them. To wear a Navy SEAL uniform and declare your successful involvement with them is something far more honourable than just throwing on the jersey of some overpaid celebrity and declaring a passion for watching them achieve something. It has always been the watching sports aspect that has agitated me the most. I've actually been run down in the past for not watching sports on TV, let alone playing them. It's an absolute farce. There seriously are people out there who regard watching other people play games as an admirable pursuit and one which people should follow. And there are of course the sports "armchair fans" whose closest way of accomplishing any athletic achievements is to... sit in front of the screen all weekend and shout at the players doing so. It's stupid, really. And people like this call me the sad and pathetic one? Because I don't choose to take pride in something I personally have had no involvement with and couldn't have affected in the slightest from sitting behind a TV or computer screen? What on earth is wrong with some people.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

Well, I guess hypocricy is part of a lot of people's 'human nature'.

I have a lot of sports-related apparel. Including jerseys, shirts, mesh shorts (for exercising), hats, and sweatshirts.

I need to get a new Cavaliers' jersey though. The one I have now is... tainted.

Oh yes, and I wear them because I love my teams

I am beginning to suspect that you do not seem to realise that people here dont'y like people who wear fake sport apparel.
(Personally, I don't care, just as I don't care generally about fashion)

I don't have a problem with people choosing to spend their money on sports apparel and wear the strips of famous football players, as long as they don't criticise me for not bothering to. Live and let live is what I say; a rule hardly anybody in my school chose to adhere to. If you were different, you'd be noticed and you'd be ridiculed. The same is the case in most schools, and it's sad. I mean, if everybody was the same, this world would be dull. It'd be monochrome and not colorful. Differences between people are what make the world such a diverse and interesting place with plenty to discover. But try telling this to some of these showoffs and jocks who think they're some sort of role model for everybody.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

Jocks know only one language, and that is physical action. (I am SOOOO not implying anything)

I do realize that, and I'm not sure what you mean by "fake" sports apparel. The clothes that I own are pretty authentic. I wouldn't buy a cheap replica.

Well, I feel that the general attitude of those who wear any sports apparel, and thinks they are so high and mighty, is despicable.

The Imperialist wrote:Well, I feel that the general attitude of those who wear any sports apparel, and thinks they are so high and mighty, is despicable.

Well, it's not just about sports material. There is always a lot of judgement of people based on clothing. Some groups of people are defined by the clothes they wear, like the mods in the 70's and the skinheads in the 80's. Don't forget the punks in the 1970's with those wild hairstyles and often gruesome looking piercings. People are often judged based on the clothes they wear. Such as today in Britain, anybody in a hooded top and tracksuit bottoms is classed as a Chav, the teenage delinquent class over here, and looked down upon by people. It is stupid to judge people based on the clothes they wear, I think. But it happens anyway. I don't feel that wearing sports apparel makes a person despicable or that person thinks they are superior to others for that reason. Clothes are just a way of symbolising one's interests or style. They do not necessarily give an indication of the character of that person.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

Ah, I have seen similar arguements.
Well, here is my, well, analysis of the clothing stereotype.

If one knows the stereotype attached to wearing certain garments, and one doen't want to be associated with it, why do it? For example, the typical chav thing. If you did not want to be thought as a chav, why do it? To look fashionable, knowing that 'fashion' is attached to a certain stereotype? If the clothing they are wearing is to say what they are interested in, it is very likely that they are drawn to that interest maybe, heart and soul. That is what sports fans wearing sport apparel is. Even if non-chavs are wearing what a juvenile delinquent may wear, they are in someway attracted to such stereotype/interest/culture, and therefore, will be veyr much inclined to act like one. I mean, they may say a person is soooo nice and all that rubbish, but middle-class children wearing a typical delinquency suit is the same as trying to become one (unless ofcourse, they really did not know that it is attached to such stereotype, but putting a hood on when it is sunny, or warm, is not very wise anyway, so it is quite illogical, and downright stupid)

People say that you shouldn't judge by appearance, but I think psychologists, and the FBI Behavioural Science people will disagree with that arguement completely.

If one knows the stereotype attached to wearing certain garments, and one doen't want to be associated with it, why do it?

There aren't really stereotypes against people who where athletic apparel where I live. Not any that I'm aware of, anyways. And as previously stated, I wear clothes supporting my favorite teams in order to exhibit my loyalty for them. Especially when my teams are playing horribly, it makes me feel proud to stand by and announce that I always have been and always will be a fan, even when they're not playing so well. Also, most of my wardrobe are clothes are representing bands, my school, or sports teams. I'm not really a name-brand kind of guy.

And I'm not despicable :p

That's just Philadelphia.

Well, the negative stereotyping associated with the sporting fans are hamemred on by us, but it is not necessarily the case for the general public. My point was that people have no excuse to be stereotyped, if they wear garments that carry a certain stereotype that is accepted by most (and when I mean most, I mean the greatest majority ever imagined). And people in this forum have had bad experiences with sports fan/jocks, so we will have negative stereotypes for people who wear 'sporty' clothes.
(Fat Man will probably have a rabid, raging fit if he ever sees anybody who will try to say that 'Ooooh, sports clothing aren't that bad', but then I am inclined to side with him for most of his rage.)