We’d known this was coming thanks to the earlier leak-o-rama, but now it’s official: The Wizards will wear a sleeved version of the Baltimore Bullets’ old racing stripe uni for six games this season. (Naturally, they’re calling it a “pride” uniform, but let’s try to ignore that part.) For some people, this is a non-starter because they think the original Bullets uni sucked. I am not one of those people — I love that old design. How well does this new version capture the spirit of the old one? Let’s take a look:
• The sleeves: Such a mistake. ’Nuff said.
• The rest of the jersey: Really wish they hadn’t put the Wiz logo in the middle of the stripe. On the plus side, the original design had plain black uni numbers, while the numbers on the new version are outlined in white, which is an improvement (although the font is too modern for this throwback — shoulda stuck with the plain, old-school font).
• The shorts: NBA throwbacks often feel a bit off because modern shorts are so much longer and baggier than the ones of yore. If you look at old Bullets pics, you’ll see that the stripe wraps just below the waistband, and with good reason — it couldn’t really sit any lower, because there was no more fabric to work with below that point. Interestingly, the NBA’s own mock-up shown the stripe sitting pretty high on the shorts:
But the finished product shows the stripe sitting a bit lower, which seems OK, given that the shorts themselves are longer. (As an aside, the mock-up also shows the NBA logo just above the stripe, but there’s no sign of that in the unveiling photos.)
• The rear view: No sign of it yet. Would really like to see it, since the original was pretty interesting, what with the lowercase NOB and the continuation of the stripes.
Overall: Not bad, although the sleeves are definitely the turd in the punchbowl.
One final thought: Kinda wish they’d revived the home version of this design, which I like better than the road version. Something really nice about those orange numbers against the white background.
Mike’s Paul’s Question of the Week: Mike is fresh out of questions, so I’m taking over for him this time around.
Back in 1999, I had to do some research in Atlanta, and I arranged to do it when the Mets would be playing there so I could go to a Mets/Braves game at Turner Field. This was when the Mets were building a new rivalry with the Braves and trying to knock them off of their established perch atop the National League East.
I don’t normally wear Mets gear (or any other team gear), but seeing my team on the road, in our rivals’ house, felt different. “Gotta represent,” I thought, so I bought a Mets cap and proudly wore it to the ballpark, where the guy sitting next to me eyed me with some amusement. “You really a Mets fan?” he asked. I explained that I was from New York, and he said, “You know what? I’m gonna buy a you beer, cuz it’s the only thrill you gonna have all night” (He was right about that part — the Mets got thumped.) We ended up having a good time jibber-jabbering throughout the game, although he never stopped needling me. I thought it was a pretty cool response to my cap.
So: Have you ever worn the visiting team’s hat or jersey to a game? If so, how did the home fans respond? Conversely, have you ever engaged, positively or negatively, with a fan wearing the visiting team’s gear in your team’s venue?
As always, post your responses in today’s comments.
The Ticker
By Mike Chamernik
Baseball News: Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Shin-Soo Choo, who normally goes double-flapped, went with a single-flapped left-handed batting helmet on Tuesday night. “Strange time to make a change, as he has been red-hot in September,” says Brad Northstar. … Phillies INF Chase d’Arnaud’s NOB appears to have an upside-down “P” instead of a true lowercase “d” (although the two characters may be identical, so it’s hard to be sure).
NFL News: Bears TE Martellus Bennett says he was fined this week because his cleats were “too black” in Chicago’s Week 3 game against Seattle. … The Cowboys will wear blue on the road on Sunday against the Saints (from Phil). … Here’s a good opinion piece that pans special-event jerseys (from Phil). … I really can’t explain these Helmet Hats without getting too verbose. Check them out (from Evan Kenney). … Here are some early looks at hats for Breast Cancer Awareness month and Salute to Service month. … WR Marvin Jones and QB AJ McCarron are among the Bengals that prefer to use older, worn-in equipment. Jones even bought every Nike Huarache cleat available online in his size after the shoe was discontinued, and then painted them in Bengals colors (from David Sonny).
College Football News: Northwestern will wear its Gothic unis against Minnesota on Saturday (from Phil). … Fans get to vote on what Washington State will wear for its homecoming game (from Phil). … This Saturday, Coastal Carolina will wear white at home for the first time ever (from Phil). … South Carolina will wear white over red this Saturday (from Phil). … The Bonita (California) Bearcats use Penn State’s logo on their helmets. It’s interesting because the Nittany Lions, of course, wear logo-less helmets (from Hugh McBride). ”¦ Arizona State’s GFGS helmets will debut this weekend.
Hockey News: New uniforms for the India’s national team. I like the faux-Sanskrit (from Rob Ullman). … No photos, but there’s a good line in this gamer about Monday’s Flyers/Rangers preseason game: “During a television timeout in the second period, Steve Mason discovered there was a price tag hanging from the sleeve of his jersey; he laughed and removed it to the amusement of teammates on the bench” (from Rahul Vyas). … The Lightning released their uniform schedule (from Kenny Saidah).
NBA News: A graphic artist who did some NBA logo concepts a few weeks ago was hired by the NBA to do some freelance work. … The Grizzlies released their promotional schedule, which includes when they’ll wear Memphis Sounds ABA throwbacks. … Bucks players drew portraits of their teammates at media day. Turns out that Jabari Parker has some art skills. That was a drawing of John Henson. ”¦ Here are the Raptors’ new socks.
Grab Bag: The National Women’s Soccer League will continue to be outfitted by Nike through 2019 (from @holycalamity). … Danica Patrick has a pink paint scheme this month (from ChrisH). … After its initial launch this summer, Converse’s Chuck Taylor All Star II shoes will come in new colors this fall (from Andrew Cosentino). … Under Armour and Adidas will fight with Nike for the rights to outfit the University of Texas (from Phil). … New logo for Best Western hotels. … New logo for the UK’s Channel 4.
Just this weekend I wore an Orioles hat to Fenway. No reaction from the locals, but I did get a “Let’s go O’s!” or a high five from every other Oriole’s fan in attendance, and the knowledge that there were plenty of us there emboldened me and many others to shout the “O” in the National Anthem.
I live near Seattle and wear some sort of Orioles gear whenever they are in town to play the Mariners. Always have been well-received by the fans and ushers. For a long time I was one of a very few, but in recent years there have been more and people sporting the Orioles gear–and enough to really be heard shouting the “OHH.”
I’m a lifelong Detroit Lions fan from Michigan who has lived in Chicago for the past 20 years. Back around 2002, when the Lions were really bad and Marty Mornhinweg was their coach, I went to the Bears/Lions game with some Bear fan friends. I wore my Lions jersey and to show I have a sense of humor about how bad my team was, I wore a paper bag over my head. Bears fans sitting near us didn’t catch on to the subtlety of my joke and just shouted witty rejoinders like “Lions suck!”. I know, that’s why I’m wearing the bag on my head. They weren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer.
QOTW: It was Feb 13th 1999 in New Orleans, three days before Mardi Gras. I was in line waiting for the restroom, when a group of three gentlemen ahead of me took notice of my Gator jacket, and remarked on how UF has been “putting a whoopin'” on their Georgia Bulldogs for some time now. Two LSU fans ahead of them concurred, and we spent the next 20 minutes discussing then current state of SEC football. By the time the first of the LSU fans reached the loo, he stopped, and deferred his place to me. The other four, Tigers and Bulldogs, were in agreement. It was a sweet relief.
On the same trip, on a stopover in Talla-nasty, I had to hightail it out of a fast food joint while donning the same jacket, as the locals weren’t having any of my swampness in there.
On the plus side, the original design had plain black uni numbers, while the numbers on the new version are outlined in white
I thought they were navy blue.
Yeah, you’re probably right. Good call.
Most definitely the numbers were navy blue, to match the navy blue stripe. And they weren’t actually white, either, there was actually a hint of cream in it, which worked far better than a harsh white would’ve. For certain, though, the home version is the more attractive one.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t recall that the Capital Bullets ever wore that uniform style in red, white & blue like the rendering of the back that you originally linked to (but no longer do) showed it. And even if they did, that color combo is nowhere near as attractive as the orange/navy blue/cream one they actually did wear.
Design-wise, the only improvement from the original I see is the jersey’s V-neck being nowhere near as narrow and plunging. Though that’s a dramatic improvement.
Another cool, often neglected feature of the original is that the only place the team name appeared was in small script on the left leg of the shorts. A nice, understated touch juxtaposed against how splashy the uniforms were otherwise. Here the “DC” logo on the shorts is obnoxious – it’d look way better if they transplanted the basketball logo from the jersey stripe to there, and removed the “DC” one entirely.
Finally, the old Bullets’ tube socks topped with the narrow blue & orange stripes was like the rug in The Big Lebowski – they really tied the uniform together. Hopefully they do something similar instead of the plain white socks the player is wearing in the picture shown.
My personal uniform for seeing the Habs in person is my Andrei Markov authentic and an Expos cap. Used to own the pinwheel, but it’s now too small, stinky, and browned, so I use the latter all blue now. Anyway, I’ve been “in uniform” at Nassau Coliseum four times and MSG for a playoff game. At Nassau, Habs fans used to own the place. As if I were at home games. Last time I went, we scored an empty netter and we sang “Kiss Em Goodbye” to exiting Islanders fans! MSG: Different story. Markov happened to score a goal, so I recall one guy yelling: “Boo, sit down” at me from far away. I was literally in the very back row of Section 222, so I paid him no mind. After the game, as everybody was escaping to Penn Station, the Expos hat got universal “whoa cool” compliments, but the Habs jersey was still pretty hostile. Especially waiting for the LIRR.
My Expos pinwheel turns 30 next year and I have to clean the dirt and sweat off inside brim very gently.
It is my uniform for minor league baseball, mostly the Nationals’ Double-A affiliate on the road at New Britain. I unfailingly get a lot a love for the hat, and old-timers (which I am approaching) understand why it “counts” to wear it because of who the Nats used to be.
If the Expos had as many banners as the Habs, there would be more hostility on the LIRR.
1989: Wore my Redskins jersey to a L.A. Raiders game. I got a lot of “Sit down Redskins!!” from some guy behind me for most of the game (‘Skins tried to come from behind, but ultimately lost). Pretty sure this was before Raiders fans went off the deep end–otherwise I’d’ve likely been killed that day.
1991: L.A. Rams game…. Nobody cared.
Haven’t been to an “away game” of any sort since then.
QOTW:
On May 24th, 2008 I wore my Dodgers hat to Wrigley Field and sat in the bleachers. The only situation I would wear my Dodgers hat at a visitors venue is if the Boys in Blue are playing there. I figured like Paul did that I’d represent my rooting interest since I was in Chicago and so was my favorite team.
Friends thought I was a bit nuts to wear my hat(especially in the bleachers) but I did it and people while there were some comments made for sure. It was all in good fun and I’m not one to make a lot of noise at a sporting event which I’m sure helped.
My wife and I went to a Canadiens vs. Rangers game in Montreal in 2012. We wore our Rangers gear and the folks sitting around us could not have been nicer. Actually had a great conversation with a gentleman who had worked in a documentary for the Canadiens’ 100th anniversary so he had some great stories. Even though the Rangers lost it was a fantastic experience.
I went to Montreal with a friend of mine to see the Canadiens play the Bruins, he being the Habs fan and me being the Bruins fan. He was very adamant about how nice the Canadiens fans were so we both wore the respective jersey.
I was truly shocked at how nice the fans were. The older couple sitting next to us chatted with he and I the whole game. This was in the 90s and they bought us a round when they found out we were both in the Coast Guard as the gentleman was retired from the Canadian Coast Guard.
Not quite the same I guess, given the nationalistic fervor at play, but I attended to 2004 World Cup at Bell Center (wearing Team USA and Slovakia jerseys for the games against Canada) and the fans were the worst ever. Went way beyond good-natured jabbering. One couple the same age as me and my then-gf and sitting in our row felt sorry for us and we got drinks across the street after the USA game, so that was cool.
As far as baseball games go, wearing away gear in the northeast (Philly-NYC-Boston) will generally invite some disturbance. Out in the Midwest fans are generally much nicer and accommodating
Me, my dad, and two of my friends wore Wisconsin hockey sweaters to Duluth for a WCHA game against UMD. What resulted was getting screamed at by a guy (interestingly enough) wearing ND State sweatpants. Honest quote from this guy: “Who comes to another team’s stadium and cheers?” By the second intermission he was dragged out of the new DECCA by his wife with his two kids in tow still trying to “take this outside.” My dad handled it perfectly, he kept asking the guy “Is this the kind of behavior you want to teach your kids?” The guy’s response every time was “Shut the f— up!” My dad never raised his voice. I have varied experiences, some positive, some negative, dealing with Minnesotans as a visiting Badgers fan, but this was by far the most memorable.
College hockey fans will have the best stories and similar to this I think. We’re an intense bunch and really don’t like when other people cheer at your rink.
No yellow in the new Best Western logo??!! Apocryphal!!
(oh wait, a quick google search shows they nixed most of the yellow back in the 90’s!)
I’m old (and don’t travel much apparently)!!
I’m a Bills fan and have worn jersey and or hat to many road games (i.e. Dallas, NYJ, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington to name a few) and the only bad reaction was in Cleveland just a couple of years ago and the Browns actually won the game. The verbal abuse on the way out was pretty bad. What ticks me off even more are fans that dress head to toe in a team’s gear that aren’t even playing at that venue. People dressed in Phillies hat/jersey/sweatpants at a Mets-Nats game just make me shake my head.
One of the few scuffles I’ve ever seen at an MLB park came when Phillies fans wore their gear to a Marlins-Mets game in Flushing.
The Wizards’ stripes are reversed from the Bullets’ original (white/navy/white).
link
Whoa — that’s a big change that I somehow glossed right over. Thanks!
Sorry for the late reply. Busy, busy. Anyway, no worries, glad to help if/when I can. Cheers!
I wore my Duluth Huskies cap to a Padres game a few years back. People thought it was a Detroit Tigers cap, as the “D” on the front was a variation on the Olde English font the Tigers use. A few people asked about it, I pointed out the Northwoods League logo on the back. They were all unimpressed. Ach, yah.
Also, whenever I head to Marlins Park wearing a team cap and Joe Robbie camo, the surrounding guests usually remark on how they didn’t know the Marlins had fans.
I once got a beer dumped on me at a White Sox game for wearing a Cubs hat in “The Cell” when I was 18. That wasn’t cool.
After that experience, I try to be nice to visiting fans. I attend a good amount of Blackhawks games and I usually try to strike up conversation with the people about where they’re from and their team. I also like to thank them for visiting and wish them the best on their trip, if they are on one. I don’t want people going back home and saying Chicagoans are mean.
Was it at a Cubs-Sox game, at least?
I’ve seen people wearing Cubs clothing flat-out punched in the jaw at the Cell. Hasn’t stopped me from doing so, though.
Did anyone notice that the only times the Lightning will wear black NOT on a Saturday will be against the Maple Leafs? Kinda bring’s soccer’s “Clash strip” concept into Hockey don’t you think?
Since the Expos moved to DC in 2005 there has not been one game where I haven’t seen at least one fan wearing a pin wheel Montreal hat. Are these displaced fans or simply still in mourning?
Haven’t seen the Nats there, but I’ll go with “in mourning”.
I may have been one of the fans JFinDC saw; I used to wear a pinwheel Expos cap once or twice a season to RFK and Nationals Park, and in my case it was more a matter of celebrating the team’s history. I mean, as thrilled as I was to finally get a team back in DC, every Nats fan should keep at least a little in mind that our joy comes at the expense of a lot of pain for other fans.
Also, I have a personal bugaboo about not wearing cap and shirt or jersey that match. So if I’m wearing my white Nats jersey, I can’t wear a red Nats cap, so it’s either a blue throwback Nats cap or the Expos pinwheel.
My Nats cap etiquette: If I attend a Nats game in DC, I wear the red home cap. If I attend a Nats game in another ballpark, I wear the navy road cap. Even if I’m not at a game, I wear the red cap if the Nats are at home, the navy cap if they’re on the road.
I don’t own an Expos cap. I still own an expansion Senators cap that I bought at a souvenir shop in DC in the mid-70s, where it laid dusty and languishing on the back of a shelf. I wore it to play softball through the 70s, 80s and 90s but almost never to an MLB game. I did wear it once to Fenway Park in 1990, where it drew a “nice hat” comment from George Will, who was there being interviewed in support of his recently published Men at Work.
QOTW:
Wore a Sox t-shirt and hat at the old Yankee Stadium. I didn’t go out of my way to be obnoxious, and it helped that a lot of the crowd left after Pedroia’s grand slam. No trash talk or anything from the Yankee fans in our section.
That Bullets jersey is so good (except for the sleeves) that I would actually wear it (but not to play ball in – I don’t roll on Shabbos and I don’t hoop in sleeves).
I wore an Aaron Rodgers jersey to a Packers-Vikings game at the metrodome. It was the first Favre vs the Packers game. the Vikings fans were pretty awful. A group in front of us was very large men and kept turning around to swear at my girlfriend and me while spilling food and beer. Some Vikings fans further down were throwing food (mostly popcorn but a hot dog was in there) at a different group of packer fans. It’s the only time in my life I left a football game early. I live in Minneapolis but I have no desire to go to a Vikings-Packers game here. I went to the Packers-Lions game in Lambeau last year and sat next to a Lions fan. I was proud to say no one gave them any trouble.
The Lions fan at Lambeau – I’m guessing everyone just assumed, “Lions fans have it bad enough, we don’t need to pile on.”
Which is essentially what your comment is doing.
When it comes to being a Lions fan, I am quite self-deprecating.
QOTD: All. The. Time.
I try to visit road stadiums as much as I can. I live in the DC area now, so the majority of the games are Phillies playing the Nats. When the natinals were losing 100 games year after year, it was pretty much a home game for the Phillies. Even so, I still have had some pretty decent interactions with the home fans, although I will say – of all the road stadiums I’ve visited (NY included), DC fans are the absolute worst. Sorry Connie DC.
Two stories, though – I actually had a girl pick up part of my beer tab at a Phils-Nats game because my wife had the rest of our cash down at the seats, and the credit card reader had started malfunctioning. Phils fans have to stick together, I guess.
Also – probably my favorite road story is when I was a student at NC State. I was up in Blacksburg visiting a childhood friend and going to the game (in 2004, where Brandon Pace missed a FG as time expired). Anyway – I was in my NC State gear, in the North Endzone (student section) and chatting it up with all the Tech people. They weren’t jerks or anything, lots of fun. As Pace set up for the FG, we were all kinda huddled together because it was so tense, and then as he missed I could see the few NC State people scattered throughout the section jumping as everyone else kinda fell flat. We all then shook hands and went on our way. Not much of a ‘story’, but just a fun experience.
Coincidentally, I met my future wife that night. I ended up transferring to Tech and graduated there.
The last time I went to a Packer road game was San Diego in 1999. Everyone knows Packer fans travel pretty well so at least a 3rd of the Murph was green. And most know that San Diego is a wonderful, laid back city and the Murph was no different. Never saw or heard of anything bad as far as I could see. We did sit amongst mostly Packer fans though.
I do fear for Packer fans this weekend though. Travel in groups and drink responsibly, hopefully we won’t hear of any encounters with Niner fans fresh out of the joint looking to go back.
QOTW: My father, brother and I all wore Brewers shirts when we saw Milwaukee play the Twins in Minnesota in 2012. Maybe 40 percent of the fans at the two games we attended wore Brewers apparel. What’s interesting is that when I ordered a batting helmet sundae from the concession stand, I was handed a Brewers one without asking for it (they must’ve seen my shirt).
When I’m visiting a ballpark, I want a home-team sundae helmet. But when I’m attending a home game, I much prefer when they offer visiting-team sundae helmets. Variety!
Nice! :)
I’ve worn Nole gear to many away games for football and have been treated nicely by everybody but Miami fans. Clemson and Va Tech being the most hospitable.
The one funny story came from an away Basketball game. I was getting my Master’s at a school near Pittsburgh. Florida State fresh off the BCS title in football was playing Pitt in hoops. I got some tick ta off stub hub and headed for the Burgh. FSU was in a down year and Pitt was still fighting for a tourney spot, I thought FSU would be crushed. Bar hopping before the games I got a lot of jeers about being lost, this not being a football game, and that Jameis Winston doesn’t play basketball. All in good fun. Got to my seats which were in the Pitt season ticket holders, never got so many weird stares.
QOTW: I drove up to Philly (from DC) with my girlfriend two weeks ago to take in a game at Citizens Bank Park, Nats v Phillies. I wore my Harper jersey because he’s the MVP and I felt like representin as Paul mentioned. It was a great game for the Nats as Strasburg struck out 14 and they won 4-0. Harper hit 2 homers and had 4 RBIs. As we’re leaving the ballpark, some philly fan chanted “Haaaarpeerrrr suuuuuucckkkkkksss” at me. I turned around and looked at him like, “Did you even just watch that game?” But I think we both knew how dumb he sounded, especially after 2 homers and a sac fly against the Phillies total team getting 1 hit.
The frustrating thing about Phillies fans is that you can’t get back at them by booing or mocking the Phillies, because they heckle their own team just as hard as they heckle the opponents. Anything less than every batter hitting a grand slam every at-bat is a boobird-rousing failure to Phillies fans. The loudest booing I’ve ever heard at a ballgame came from Phillies fans at Nationals Park booing their own team in the late innings of a close loss. Who boos a single that advances a runner from first to third in a one-run game? Phillies fans, that’s who.
Ugh. People like you perpetuating the stereotype.
I’d say I’ll see you next year at natinals park, but I probably wont, since the Nats are going to fall back into mediocrity for quite some time.
True fact: Since moving to DC, the Nationals have never drawn as few fans as the Phillies have drawn this year. Most fans of every team are bandwagoneers, at least with regard to game attendance, and the Phillies’ attendance varies more from year to year based on their win/loss record than does the Nats’ attendance. Though surely much of that is based on the fact that the Nats continue to draw relatively large visiting-team crowds, due in part to geographic proximity and in part to the lasting attachment of local fans to out-of-town teams from the decades when DC had no home team. The relatively large visiting-fan contingents insulate the Nats a bit from home-fan variability. When the Nats are more firmly established, their attendance will probably fluctuate based on record just as much as the Phillies.
You won’t see me at Nationals Park in 2016 because I don’t live in DC anymore. By sheer random coincidence, I seem to attend more games during losing seasons than during winning seasons. So the 2016 Nats will probably get it together and cruise to the pennant, since I can’t get to the ballpark, while the Brewers, which I can now attend at will, will probably manage to lose even more games next season.
QotW: Best experience: Wore my Arizona Icecats jersey (and brought my rubber chicken) to a game they played at the University of Delaware. I’m an obnoxious fan, two of the old-timers sitting near me were obnoxious fans, and we hit it off great.
Worst experiences: 2. Sat in front row of Nassau Coliseum wearing my Penguins jersey during a playoff game. During the Chuck-a-puck contest, quite a few of those pucks were aimed at my head. 1. Wore my Penguins jersey to Continental Airlines Arena on opening night 2005 (after the year-long lockout, and also Crosby’s first game). Guy sitting in front of me was dressed as an actual Devil – red paint, horns, the whole bit. That night came close to moving out to the parking lot.
I’ll be curious what happens in a couple of weeks when the newly-minted Division I Arizona State hockey team comes up to Connecticut for 3 games, and I’m wearing my Arizona Icecats jersey, giving the Scum Devils a piece of my mind.
QotW: I always try to make conversation with opposing-team-gear-wearing fans sitting nearby. Watching the game is always more interesting if there’s someone with the opposite rooting interest to talk to. Except for people wearing any kind of Philadelphia gear, especially the idjits who wear Eagles jerseys to see the Phillies on the road. I’ve never met an Eagles-jersey-wearer at a baseball game who was not a monumental jerk, so I’ve given up trying to find one who isn’t.
Back in 2005, I happened to be in Wisconsin while the Nats were visiting Milwaukee, so I went to a game and wore my spanking-new Nats jersey. Nationals won, handily – they spent most of that summer in first place – and on the long slow shuffle out of the ballpark, a couple of Brewers fans got all up in my face wondering whether I supported the team when it was the Expos. No, because I live in Washington, DC, not Montreal, I said, but the idea of someone from out of town attending a baseball game in Milwaukee seemed beyond their comprehension. They kept up their mocking on the assumption that I lived in Milwaukee and was rooting for the wrong team as a bandwagon fan. There was, I’m sure, rather a bit of beer involved in the thought process there.
On a similar note, I attended an election-eve rally for Democratic candidate Jim Webb’s Senate campaign in 2006 and wore a 1963 Washington Senators throwback cap. (The best cap any Washington team has ever worn.) This was back when there was still a thing in Washington about the red Nats home cap being for Republicans and the blue Nats road cap being for Democrats or whatever. I figured I was safe with the navy throwback cap. But multiple people shouted at me for wearing a “Republican” hat – “Go home!” or “Take it off!” – since it had a W on it back when the incumbent Republican president was known as W. At first I ignored the heckling, but eventually I took to replying, “It stands for Webb!” I mean, as ridiculous as the whole red/blue partisan thing was at the time (still is, but it was worse back then), how stupid do you have to be to assume that someone wearing your candidate’s initial actually supports the other guy?
QOTW: I wore Vols gear into Kentucky back when Lorenz was there. I can’t imagine any of it was visible other than the cap, since that day was frigid and I had several layers on. Didn’t get any poor treatment, but as we were leaving after another Vol win, one Kentucky fan told us, “Just wait ’til basketball season.”
RE:NBA ALT LOGOS BY ADDISON….I like the logos but that Grizzlies logo looks awful Arizona Coyotes-like. I hear a lawsuit getting written up now…..just in case.
I wore a Bengals hat to a Browns game at old Cleveland Municipal Stadium together with some friends who were wearing other Bengal swag. In the third quarter of a Bengals blow-out we had tampons (unused thankfully) thrown at us.
Most terrifying experience I’ve had as a visiting fan was in the spring of 2006 going to a Rangers/Bruins game in Boston. Not having any Rangers gear, I wore my NY Giants cap. It was pretty calm for most of the game except for some good-natured harassment by the Boston faithful. One guy sticks out for his constant reminder that “Eli sucks” each and every time he walked past me (he must’ve had 10 beers). I do wonder how much he still thinks Eli sucks now that the Giants have beat the Pats twice in the Super Bowl.
However, during overtime, the tone changed. The all in fun harassment turned into pure hatred. At one point my buddy yelled “fuck!” when the Rangers missed a goal, and the guy in front of us flipped. He turns around and screams, “I will fucking beat your face in if you swear in front of my fucking kid again!”
You stay classy Boston.
QOTW: Trust me. Wearing Tennessee orange in Rupp arena is not a fun experience. Lots of dirty looks and trash talking in the bathroom line.
QOTW:
1) whenever I see my team on the road I always wear their hat and/or jersey. I have worn pinstripes to O’s games, Giants jersey to Washington DC football games and Capitals jersey to Pittsburgh, Philly, MSG, Carolina.
2) I grew up on Long Island before I moved to Maryland, while in NY i shared both Islander and Ranger tickets. When ever I went to the MSG I always would wear the opposition colors {cause I was a hockey fan not a Ranger fan} Yes sometimes I would hear the odd comment “Go home, you suck, etc”. One time when NYR was playing Tampa I did get hit with some peanuts when tampa scored.
3) I currently have Washington Capitals season tickets (going on 18 years) and for the fun of it, sometimes, I will wear other jerseys to games. {But no Ranger or Penguin jersey ~ I don’t like those teams} Some examples of what I do:
a) When the Devils come to DC I wear either a KC Scout or Colorado Rockies (NHL) jersey.
b) When LA is in town I wear the Purple & Gold (or one of my other Kings jersey)
c) when the Flyers come to town I wear my Chicago Blackhawks (2010 stanley cup) or Edmonton or Islander
d) When the Capitals retired #11 for Mike Gartner I wore a WHA Cincinnati Stingers Jersey
e) & on special occasions I wear my tux jersey (opening night), my Olympic Jersey (last game before break), my FDNY hockey jersey on 1st responders night
At the caps games I never had a problem, the fans of the other teams cheer me as one of their own, and caps fan know me.
One last story, 12/30/2006 Giants at Washington ~ FedEx Field. I was in my G man jersey and Dad had his Yankee Jacket. When Washington went up early a few ‘skins fans started to give us the business, one drunk fan ran up to us and yelled in our face that we suck and should just go home now. By half time, the Giants had taken over the game (20-7), I walked by that fan and asked if he was enjoying the game now. He tossed his beer at me. (got a warning from the usher)
I’ve worn away team gear many times in enemy territory. A lot of those times were as part of a soccer supporters group, and that’s a little bit of a different animal as it’s an organized group in a specific section (and very fun).
My favorite story though is September 28, 2008 (which happened to fall on my birthday). Me and my brother at Shea in full Marlins gear. 2 out of 50,000, we were catching flak all day at the park in what was the final ever game at Shea thanks to the Marlins knocking off the Mets that day. After the game on the way to the subway we bumped into two other Marlins fans who couldn’t believe there were other Fish fans there. Then we proceeded to jam into the 7 train shoulder to shoulder with a car full of disgruntled Mets fans on the way to the Empire State Building where the usher at the top observation deck jokingly told us to “take the stairs down” haha. Great trip.
I’m a displaced Braves fan in DC, so I always wear my Braves hat when they’re in town. Always a ton of Braves fans at games, so lots of high fives from them. The only negative thing followed a Braves come-from-behind win a few years ago when a couple of teenagers saw my hat and said “Braves suck!” I just pointed at the scoreboard.
I have worn visitors garb to a great many MLB and college football games without incident, with one big exception. Wearing a visiting team’s jersey to a University of Texas football resulted in much in-your-face harassment from drunken, middle-aged Texas fans, and especially after Texas won the game. The behavior would have been unacceptable from college kids, but from old guys? Freaking ridiculous.
I used to wear my teams’ stuff to road games when I was younger. After incidents in recent years, though, such as the one in LA, I no longer take any chances and go neutral on the road for the most part.
Older photos of the NBA, like the one showing an example of the Bullets home uniform are so striking to me, because they look like they are playing in a high school gym.
As far as wearing my team gear in “enemy” territory..I am a Red Sox fan, I went to two games in Yankee Stadium in the mid-90’s…when Canseco was on the BoSox. I did not wear any Red Sox gear. At the time, that would have been a bad idea. I remember walking to the stadium from where the bus parked, and there was Sox hat on top of some razor wire in an alley.
I think I wore a old New York baseball Giants hat both times.
You wanna know something that’s REALLY striking? Forty-plus years later, the Baltimore Civic Center, shown in that picture (now Royal Farms Arena) is not appreciably changed:
link
QOTW: I wore a Cleveland cap and jersey to several AL playoff games during the 90s at Camden Yards (back when both teams were good). No one gave me any crap about it generally. In fact, one time, the mascot came up to me, “borrowed” my cap, pretended to eat it, then vomit it back up, to much applause by the fans in the section.
I also wore a Browns jersey to FedEx field when they were visiting DC (well, Maryland). There, I did get some shit from some drunk fans, but ignored it and they went away.
ed
QOTW: One of my favorite sports memories is watching my alma mater (Washington State) play a football game on Boise State’s blue turf. You’d better believe I wore all of my gear. Fans around me treated me like I was some yokel who didn’t understand the game, but I had a lot of fun. Thankfully my Cougars won, and that year might have been the last time they had any realistic shot at beating BSU.
Just about every baseball season, I go to a Brewers/Twins game here in Minneapolis while wearing Brewers gear. Brewers v Twins is nowhere near the hostility of Packers v Vikings. Usually I go to the game with a friend, but in 2007, I went by myself and sat next to an elderly Twins fan. He initially gave me crap but I told him I was meeting him halfway because of my Paul Molitor jersey. That Twins fan and I chatted the whole game on the finer points of baseball and had a good time. I even gave him the lowdown on the Brewers recent hotshot call-up Ryan Braun, who raked a double that game.
My son and I were traveling through St. Louis for vacation and stopped at the arch. We were wearing our Cubs hats. Besides getting funny looks multiple times during the day, a few natives came up smiling and told us we were brave lol.
I have worn visiting gear at many stadiums and arenas during the course of my life and never had a problem with home town fans. if there every was interaction it was mainly joking responses and a mutual respect for baseball.
As for interacting with visiting fans wearing uniforms, my only bad interaction was with a collection of young Toronto Maple Leaf fans who had ventured down to Pittsburgh for an early season game in the new Consol Energy Arena. They were rude, constantly swearing even though they were sitting with in 2 rows of impressionable elementary students. after about 2 periods of this, I confronted them about their language and attitude. One of the guests pointed to his sweater and stated “they were supporting their team to victory” and continued swearing. Luckily one of his friends noticed I wasnt the only one in the crowd who was offended and suggested the group quiet down and be respectful.
In the end, I would say it shouldnt matter what jersey/sweater a fan wears to the game as long as they are respectful and civil to the people around them.
Recently moved to Cincinnati and as a life-long Braves fan I make sure to go to each game the Braves play at GABP.
I had no issues this year when I made it to the games, but last year my buddy and I were yelled at throughout the weekend series. We each wore jerseys and shirseys to the games, with the jabs ranging from “Braves suck” to “You are racists” to “F*** You, (insert name on jersey)”
I’m a Vandy guy and went to a game at Texas A&M after they joined the SEC. Vandy was decent at the time but A&M had Manziel and we will always have the well-deserved doormat reputation. Everyone was super nice and anyone we talked to just apologized for the beating we were about to receive (which we did) and hoped we had a good time anyway. Vandy got throttled and nobody seemed to be that concerned by it, but I couldn’t help but think how different it would be if we had gone to a game as LSU or Arkansas fans.
Sidenote: A&M is the most bizarre gameday experience on the planet.
Sidenote: A&M is the most bizarre gameday experience on the planet.
Understatement of the year.
A graphic artist who did some NBA logo concepts a few weeks ago was hired by the NBA to do some freelance work.
Nice kid. But honestly?
My thoughts exactly. At least he only got hired to do social media work. Logos are done by professionals, and sometimes even they can’t cut the mustard, for a variety of reasons.
Tigers @ Reds
Wife wore her Sean Casey Tigers jersey – I wore my Pete Rose Expos jersey. Got a lot of positive attention and conversation. My wife heard a man say to his 6 year old son:
“Sean Casey, my favorite Red, my least favorite Tiger.”
Tigers won.
Tigers @ Dodgers
My mom wore a homemade Tiger tail. After The Tigers won in extra innings a Dodgers fan yelled, “Hey she’s got a Tigers tail, F@CK You Lady!” We took it as a compliment.
Tigers @ NYY
I wore my Lou Whitaker jersey, I couldn’t stop old Yankee fans from wanting to talk about how great the 1984 Tigers where.
Tigers got smoked.
Tigers @ White Sox
Super old dude photo bombed my family picture by flipping the bird. The Cell is the worst field in baseball. By a lot.
Tigers won.
I’ve been to 27 ball parks representing the ‘D’. Baseball fans tend to, overall, be fantastic people who love the game. If the Tigers arn’t playing and it is a National League park – I buy a shirt or hat of the home team and have fun with the being part of the crowd.
QOTW: I wore a Bears gear to a Bear/Packer game at Lambeau. We’d driven up North in a Winnebego the day before and spent the night parked near the stadium. We even went to the Packer hall of fame in our Bears sweatshirts. Packer fans were quite friendly although this was also a situation like Paul where the visiting team was crushed so the home fans felt little need to rub salt in an open wound.
QOTW
I’m from SF Bay Area … Alameda County side. Currently live in Atlanta. I wear my colors to all sporting events, regardless if one of my home teams are playing.
1. It’s fun to meet other transplants from the Bay Area. There’s a feeling of fellowship when you bro-down with someone from home.
2. Occasionally, one of the players will acknowledge your support. (The kids think that’s neat.)
On the reverse side, when I was still living at home, I witnessed horrific acts of shitty behavior by “Raider” fans toward anyone wearing another team’s colors. (I witnessed a family of 4 get verbally harassed and physically intimidated for wearing Dolphins jerseys. The kids were no older than 6 or 5. The whole section was jeering them and calling the mom “slut” and “whore.” That’s just one example.)
As a fan that vividly remembers what is was like before they moved to LA (and returned.) Before the LA move, the “gang allegiance” mentality was not there. Passionate? Yes. Over compensating to prove loyalty? No. It’s embarrassing.
I could right a thesis on this, because I believe there are more than one reason why this type of fandom exists in Oakland. However, I’ll spare the details in the comment section.
On a positive note … I understand that it’s been getting better in Oakland and SF now has that problem.
Go Raiders!
In Atlanta for a wedding but went to Turner Field to watch the Giants play the braves wearing a Giants shirt. Had seats in the right field corner and as we were walking to our seats before first pitch got asked if I was from San Francisco. When I replied that I was this stranger in a Braves hat handed us two tickets and told us to watch the game from some better seats. These tickets were six rows back from the Giants dugout and were great seats. The guy who gave the tickets to us was nowhere to be seen so never got a chance to buy him a beer as a thank you.
QOTW: I’m from just outside Cleveland. One summer in 1997, some friends and I went to Baltimore for work and the next day we went to an Orioles game at Camden Yards wearing “old” Browns jerseys. I know I wore Eric Turner, and I think my friends wore Leroy Hoard and maybe Vinnie Testaverde? Maybe the third one was Touchdown Tommy Vardell. In any case, we were really obviously wearing brown Cleveland football jerseys at a baseball game in Baltimore as a form of protest against our team getting relocated to their city.
We had lots of sympathetic Orioles/former Colts fans come up to us and tell us that they didn’t want to get a team “that way,” meaning having a beloved club pack up and desert a loyal fan base for a more-lucrative city. They’d been through it before with the Colts. Not a single person booed or hassled us.
On Saturday 18th July 1998, I watched the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 10-3 at the then-named SkyDome, wearing a Yankees cap and a navy blue NYR Lady Liberty sweater. No one seemed to mind or notice, and everyone was really polite and friendly, because Toronto.
As a Brooklyn native living in the Philadelphia suburbs, I frequently wear Mets gear to see them play the Phillies. Usually get lots of “Mets Suck” taunts but never too bad. Usually I’m there with some Phillies fans, so they don’t get too rough. Worst case, I just start dropping baseball knowledge on them, like how Tug McGraw pitched more innings for the Mets than the Phillies, and that shuts them up.
For my bachelor party, I had the entire group, which were a majority Phillies fans, wear Mets gear for the day. I wasn’t heartless though, I made DIY shirseys for players who played for both the Mets and the Phillies. Everyone seemed to enjoy the odd experience of wearing the opposing teams gear at your home park.
Other stadiums where I’ve worn the opposing teams gear – Baltimore, DC, Fenway – haven’t been any problem, but not much of a rivalry there.
Football is a different story. Wearing Jets gear to Baltimore was a great time. A lot of friendly ribbing, but general agreement that they were all also somewhat Jets fans because of Rex Ryan.
Cleveland on the other hand was awful. My wife documented what a jerk the guy in front of us was: link
Diehard Philly 4 for 4 fan here and I try to go to as many road games as possible. I always rock my Philly gear no matter what sport and city I’m in, although I’m always respectful and never attempt to cause trouble. Best experience was birds/pack in Lambeau back in 2013. Unreal experience wherein packer fans literally tapped my shoulder to have me turn around and shake my hand, thanking me for coming out to their area/stadium. By far the best hospitality shown and welcoming fans I’ve seen. Worst experience is any time I go to a birds/giant game in the Meadowlands, a phils/mut game in flushing or a flyer/ranger or devils game up north….even if I sit quietly and enjoy the game, I get verbally crushed…..but I take it and quite frankly enjoy it…..comes with the territory and we give it right back to the new yorkers in our houses! Next up for me is birds/pats in Foxboro in dec…should be interesting !
QoTW:
My friends and I were fans of the Philadelphia AHL team and we would gear up and hit the road as often as we could when they’d be playing in Hershey. Good times!
The home team fans were generally tolerant our purple and orange and our cheering (they’d often counter with prolonged cowbell ringing), but after one game where Hershey lost in a shoot-out, a female fan swung her purse at a member of our group (wearing a #98 jersey with CHAMPS on the nameplate made him an obvious target?) to vent her frustrations.
My first soccer game in Europe was a Rangers-Hibs match in Edinburgh. My wife and I wore green gear – a scarf for me, a cap for her – and made sure we were sitting in a home section. When the match ended, we innocently left the stadium, not realizing that the home fans were supposed to stick around for a while to let the visiting fans leave first and keep the two tribes separate on the streets. We first realized something was wrong when we noticed that all of the shops on Albion Road outside the stadium were boarded up with metal shutters in the middle of the day. Then the Rangers chants started, and we realized everyone else was wearing blue, and then a couple of fights started erupting on the margins of the big crowd walking toward Easter Road, where riot-gear-clad police were lining the street. At that point, I stuffed my scarf under my coat collar and my wife put her green cap in her pocket. We dodged into the first pub that was open, and a few minutes later, when it filled up with Hibs fans all in green who had left the stadium only after the visiting fans were clear, we were told that we were lucky to have gotten through the Rangers crowd without harm. It certainly felt dodgy, but none of the Rangers fans actually gave us any grief.
Good story. From my experience, at most matches the visitors are the ones who have to wait around for the home fans to disperse. Have you experienced this same thing at other matches?
I’ve been to Easter Road a few times and to Amsterdam’s ArenA a couple of times, so my experience is limited. The thing with Rangers fans leaving first may have been an exception, since they seemed to be getting escorted by police to the train station, presumably to return quickly to Glasgow. Maybe the real danger was not that Rangers fans would assault us, but that Edinburgh police would herd us onto a train for Glasgow!
My memory is a bit fuzzy on how stadium-leaving worked for the Hearts-Hibs game I attended another time, but I don’t recall there being much by way of police presence that time. I saw mixes of maroon- and green-clad people drinking together in pubs after the game, so maybe that’s a more peaceable rivalry than Rangers versus any Catholic-associated team. In Amsterdam, visiting fans are relegated to a couple of tiny sections with their own isolated entrance. I don’t recall any separate leaving times, though again I didn’t attend games with super-heated rivalries like Eindhoven.
My sister once attended a Red Wings-Maple Leafs game with a friend at Maple Leaf Gardens wearing Wings jerseys, and they did get beer dumped on them.
Oddly enough, because the Penguins are my second-favorite NHL team behind the Red Wings, I’ve been in a position twice where I could have been rooting for the visiting team, but I actually rooted for the home team for those particular games.
The first time was in 2002, in Pittsburgh. I went to the Igloo for a meetup of an online Pens fan community, but it wasn’t because of them that I wore my Pens gear; Detroit was 18 points up in the West at the time, while the Pens were 5 back of 8th in the East, and I rooted for the team that needed the points a lot more. So, naturally, the Wings won that game, 4-2.
The second time was last October at Joe Louis Arena. In this case, I was going with family (my sister, two nephews, and the older nephew’s girlfriend for her first-ever hockey game). There were some visiting fans in attendance, but I didn’t observe any bad behavior between them and Wings fans. Pittsburgh dominated most of the game, but the Wings rallied late and won in OT, 4-3.
Funny this question comes up as I go to AT&T Park to watch the Dodgers play the Giants. I was born in LA but go to school in San Jose, so being a fan of my teams is hard here in the Bay Area.
First time I wore a visiting team jersey to a stadium would have to be a Sharks-Kings preseason game. But, since I was with some friends who were Sharks fans, I was okay in my Kings jersey. This season, I went to the A’s-Dodgers game at the Coliseum, and an A’s fan bought my friends and I beer too.
QOTW: Nothing but good experiences here. I was born in England and moved to California. Being a Red Sox and Dolphins fan, I’ve only ever seen my teams play in enemy territory. First experience was a Dolphins pre-season game in the late 90s at Candlestick. The 49ers fans around me were amused by my presence and were really friendly, although I’m guessing the non-competitive nature of the game helped. I’ve lost track of the number of Red Sox @ A’s games that I have attended in Oakland, always with at least a Red Sox cap on. I always found the few A’s fans at those games to be friendly, probably because they were always outnumbered by Red Sox fans.
This reminded me of an earlier experience – English soccer in the 1990s. Went to see my favorite team (Birmingham City, playing in the second tier of English soccer) playing in my then-hometown of Cheltenham (non-league team in the fifth tier) in a pre-season friendly. Wore my Birmingham City home shirt, which is blue, and stood in the terrace with a group of friends wearing Cheltenham’s colors of red and white. No trouble at all from the home supporters, but I was pulled aside by a police officer who told me to either remove the shirt or go stand in the cage (I kid you not – this was a steel cage behind one goal where they locked the away fans for the duration of the game). Had to borrow my dad’s jacket to cover up the shirt.
Re NFL Helmet Hats:
— A quick eBay search didn’t lead to any vintage helmet hats, but there are some terrible foam hats purportedly made by a company called Apparel Zoo: link
— You can also find youth bicycle helmets that are meant to look like NFL helmets: link
Damn you Paul! Read yesterday’s article — thought it was interesting — appreciated it — worth the read — and then life went on.
Didn’t realize what impact it had until this morning in the mirror. Combing my hair brought a level of bizarre consciousness to a task which has been beyond automatic for decades. Without being prepared for this sudden realization — it took actual thought and effort and to make my hair look like it always does.
Maybe that’s what Enlightenment is like…
I am a NY fan and every event I go to I wear my team colors, most of the time it goes fine (even wearing Islanders jerseys up in the blues at MSG) because I am knowledgeable and I don’t cheer or boo in another person’s house. 2 worst experiences were in Philly though Citizen’s Bank Park wearing Mets gear with my dad after the game 2 20 something guys were walking behind my Dad (he was walking ahead of me) yelling at him and saying they were going to kick his @ss. My dad was 65 at the time. Other was after the Winter Classic (which my dad paid for my ticket as long as I wore a Ranger jersey) I got shoulder blocked by a guy walking the opposite direction wearing a chinese knockoff Flyers jersey no less. I avoid Philly now.
QOTW:
1) I often wear the apparel of my home team when visiting other stadia/arenas. The only bad experience (other than hometown fans razzing me a bit) was in San Jose when I wore my Ducks jersey to a Sharks game. The Ducks shut out the Sharks using their backup goalie. I cheered and clapped for my team but certainly wasn’t obnoxious about it. Nonetheless, when the game ended and as we were leaving someone from the suites above (at least back then the suites were high up, above the upper deck seats) threw their plastic beer cup at me. Fortunately, the cup was basically empty.
2) A group of friends and I went to a Giants-Phillies game in San Francisco. As a Dodger-fan, I really couldn’t stand to cheer for the Giants and didn’t think it was right to wear my Dodgers jersey/hat to a game in which the Dodgers weren’t playing, so I purchased a Phillies jersey on eBay for $11. As per usual, the visiting fans gave me smiles, nods, and the occasional high five. Shortly thereafter, I went to a Padres-Phillies game. Lo and behold, I already had a Phillies jersey in my closet. I wore it to the game, got the usual nice treatment from other visiting fans, and was even asked where in Philly I was from. Not wanting to get into the explanation about the Giants, I noted that I wasn’t from Philly but that I really liked Mike Schmidt when I was growing up (true, but not nearly enough to buy a jersey). The best part of the game was that my daughter and I were above the Phillies bullpen before the game and the bullpen catcher took note of my jersey and tossed my daughter a ball. That alone is well worth the $11 I spent on the jersey.
QOTW:
When I was in college (1984-1988), I went to Wrigley Field in a Mets cap (and often a t-shirt as well) for every Mets @ Cubs game during the school year, and sometimes for other Cubs home games as well. What stands out is that Cubs fans would constantly warn me that I was “taking my life in my hands” or something like that. No one ever actually threatened me, or even gave me a hard time; quite the contrary, people were quite friendly. Had some great conversations about baseball in the seats behind first base. (After sitting in the bleachers once, I never did again. The bleachers were for the people who came to drink; foul territory was for the people who came to watch the game.) People would often ask why I was wearing a Mets cap; a couple of times I posed as a Mets scout, claiming to be a former minor leaguer who got hurt and ended up scouting colleges and such around the Midwest.
I’ve worn Cardinals gear to a few games in KC and Wrigley Field, always resulting in friendly conversations with the locals. Here in Denver I’m a Rockies fan when they’re not playing the Cardinals. Denver has a sizable number of transplants, so there are generally a lot of visiting fans no matter who the opponent, and I usually try to chat with any nearby. Always very enjoyable, never had a negative experience.
I once wore a Colorado shirt to a CU-Texas football game in Austin. I was the guest of a group of UT fans and was with them the whole time, so no problems.
I’m a Michigan State graduate, and starting my senior year a group of buddies and I started a tour of the B1G, seeing our Spartans around the midwest, always dressed in green and white from head to toe. I’ve been to Michigan Stadium, Purdue, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Iowa, but have always heard horror stories (mostly from my UofM friends) about the treatment of Ohio State fans in Columbus. Most have always said they’ll never even go down there, and the few who have had stories of vandalism, poor sportsmanship, and overall negative experiences. Naturally, when we geared up to visit the Buckeyes, I was nervous (especially as my Spartans were favored, during the down year when Fickell was in charge). I could not have been in for a bigger surprise. OSU alumni pointed us toward a great tailgate spot, let us in on a few pointers (mostly that any beer had to be in a cup, rather than a can) and were overall a lovely group. I can only hope for similar treatment when we visit Nebraska in November.
Story on Shin-Soo Choo and the single flapped RED helmet. Supposedly, when Choo was still slumping, he slammed his double-flapped helmet down and broke it. The team didn’t have a replacement for the next game, so he wore the single-flapped helmet next, and during the series against Houston when Choo and the Rangers were at their best. He was encouraged by teammates to stick with it until his streak of success wore off (which it hasn’t!) Since the Rangers followed with a road trip, always wearing blue caps on the road, Choo didn’t have the opportunity to wear the red single-flapped helmet until last night. Article with video here link
Paul, just read your post yesterday about being surprise how you look when you see yourself in pictures ( bc used to see opp in mirror) and it got me thinking a “Stoner” thought…..
1. I hope in heaven, you can get access to every photograph that was ever taken of you…by you someone else or just in the background…you should get that in a nice handy album (digital or old school album)
2. Piggybacking on the first thing a little bit…but you should also get a statistical analysis of everything you’ve done in your life….steps, blinks, dinners broken down by type, time, place, times you went to bathroom etc.
3. This has nothing to do with Uni’s but I just had to share
QOTW: I live in the KC area, but grew up in CT and am a life-long Jets fan (thanks in advance for the sympathy). A few years ago, my brother and I attended the opening-day game, Chiefs v. Jets. Much as Paul described in his piece, I thought, “gotta support the team” a la David Putty. So, I wore a green Jets tee.
When my bro and I exited his car to walk to the stadium, I didn’t get 10 yards before a child, probably 6 years old or so, jumped from his lawn chair (he and his family were tailgating), hurdled a divider and proceeded to scream at me with pointed finger about how his team was going to kick the Jets’ asses. As I stared incredulously at a man I assume was the kid’s dad, the adult looked at me and said pridefully (direct quote) “I raised him right”. I kept walking, but shuddered for that child’s future.
Once inside the stadium at my seat, I was in a sea of red (I actually later found a fan photo on a team website that captured my section; I looked like “where’s Waldo) as the one green-clad person in a whole group of red shirts). The drunk dudes in front of me gave me a little shit during the first half, which I really didn’t give back much, but the game was a blowout in KC’s favor by halftime, so they ultimately calmed down.
As we left I heard a few barbs of “Just End The Season” (wow, how original) and a drunk idiot yelled something I couldn’t understand in the parking lot as we approached our car (an adult this time), but that was about it.
As far as engaging the KC fans, I kept my responses good-natured and with with a smile. That pretty much diffused the really nasty stuff, but honestly, I was pretty embarrassed to be a resident of the area given the fan’s conduct overall. I wanted to suggest to a number of folks to get a life a few times given their level of intensity, but though better of it. In situations where I’ve been the home fan, I always leave the opposing fans alone so they can try to enjoy the game.
QOTW: In 2012 I went to MNF at Candlestick when the Bears were visiting. This was just after the reports were released about how crazy the fans got during the 49ers-Raiders preseason game. To appease the wife (who wore her 49ers gear) I told her that I’d put a shirt on over my Bears jersey and see how it is. When we got there we saw hundreds of Bears fans and no fights. I showed my Bears pride and never got bothered. We just got a few questions about the mixed-allegiance marriage.
In 2011 I saw the Chargers play at Soldier Field. I never saw a Chargers fan get harassed but I did see 2 guys walk down the aisle wearing Colts jerseys. They were loudly booed the whole way down to their seats.
I “represent” always when I follow my team (The A’s) at another ballpark whether it be across the bay or further away – and as one with a number of throwback jerseys it’s usually one of my vintage ones that sparks conversation. I wore my ’71 Rick Monday to Dodger stadium which was a hit due to Monday broadcasting and finishing his career there. Others have been a ’72 Joe Rudi to Petco or 68 Catfish in KC and a ’74 Reggie Jackson in Seattle
December 1998. Broncos at Miami. The week before Denver lost to the Giants in their quest to go undefeated. I was the Bronco fan (friend a Falcon fan) but in the summer of that year when Dolphin tickets went on sale we bought the max (I think 8). We were planning on going with friends but when it looked like Denver could go undefeated late in the year, we decided to sell four of them (had to put an ad in the paper back in those days). Needless to say Denver lost a week prior and my buddy was getting annoying calls making fun of us trying to see tickets the week before…
Anyway, it’s a Monday night and we end up going with a group. My buddy decides to wear a Bronco jersey along with me. Let’s just say he’s really obnoxious and while going into the bathroom kept yellling J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. Two guys picked him up (he is a little guy) and tried to dunk him into one of the toilets. He was able to put his arms up to block them from bringing him fully into the stall…but still, pretty funny looking back at it!
QOTW: You betcha.
Used to wear an Orioles cap to Cleveland Municipal Stadium all the time. No problems. It probably helped that I would wear a Cavs shirt with it sometimes. At the new park I’ll wear whatever NL cap matches my clothes for an interleague game, or an Orioles or Twins cap when those teams visit.
No way I would do it now…in ’84 I wore a Stillers jersey to a Browns game there. Someone gave my friend and I some really nice seats, so we were nowhere near the bleachers. Got some mild ribbing from folks, but I’m pretty laid back (except for truly fantastic plays my cheering consists of a smirk and some nodding with an occasional fist pump). That helps.
My brother’s old girlfriend used to get me floor seats for Cavs games at the Coliseum. Apparently my bro got some flak when Philly came to town and I’d wave my big Sixers pennant. Once I started working there I became more of a Cavs fan. Soccer was a different story…on my vendor shirt I’d wear Pittsburgh and Baltimore pins, and when Dallas came to town one of the announcers gave me a Sidekicks towel that I wore on the strap of my change pouch. Got a lot of grief for that (including from my supervisor). No one was nasty about it, though.
Wore my Pirates cap to Nationals Park about seven years ago. One of the Nats fans had Nate McClouth on his fantasy team so he cut me some slack. Not sure if the other fans even noticed.
For the guy who always sees a expos hats at nats games. Me too. I have never gone to a nats game and not seen a expos cap.
I know I am going to get it for wearing 2 different caps but here goes!
I live near DC and grew up in NJ. So went to lots of O’s games especially against the Yankees. I stopped wearing a yankee cap to these games sometime in the early 80’s after being harassed and almost getting into 2 fights because of the cap. Somebody actually tried to grab it off my head and we nearly got into it. Luckily my friend broke it up cause that guy would have kicked my butt.
Better story. In the early 80’s I wore a Mets cap to a spring training game between the Dodgers and Rangers. I was leaning against the fence and Orel Hersheiser walked by and said to me “what’s with the cap”?…I don’t remember what I said back but Hersheiser laughed and stopped and chatted with me for a few minutes.
I was in Pompano Beach at a Yankess-Rangers exhibition game and Steinbrenner was there. He was amazing working the crowd. This was at the height of his unpopularity. But he talked to anybody who wanted to and was so gracious it was shocking. I was wearing a mets hat and as he walked by me he grabbed it off my head with a big grin. He handed it back to me and shook my hand. Cool moment.
I wear my St Louis Cardinals gear when I see them play on the road. Usually lots of other Cards fans there too. The locals are usually nice, especially in Denver where many support the Cardinals as their 2nd favorite team. Worst encounter was in Cincinnati where a drunken lout yelled vulgar stuff at my sister and me–he was twice our size and less than half our age [we could be classed as a little old ladies], so that didn’t help our poor opinion of Cincinnati. I know there are drunk jerks supporting any team, though.
A group of friends of mine went to Cowboys at Minnesota NFL playoff game a few years back. We all flew in as college friends who lived in different places. Our one buddy, a Vikings fan lived in Minneapolis. The rest of us Cowboys fans. We all wore Dallas gear. I would not do this at an NFC East road game.
Short of it was everyone was great. One guy heckled us pretty rudely in the concourse and a number of people apologized immediately. “We’re not like that here.”
The guy I sat next to and I talked the whole game about the strengths and weaknesses of both teams, genuinely respecting each other’s view.
After the game, a Dallas loss, we were all greeted with “get em next year!” And “your team is good, you’ll be here again.”
Not a negative word. It was awesome and eerie all at the same time. The overt politeness was getting to me. Now I’ve never understood why people get angry at fan of other teams, but to be that friendly is something I never experienced.
I don’t take it too seriously. Sports are entertainment for me. I’m happy when my rams win, not upset when they lose.
I wore a Pittsburgh Maulers throwback to watch the Steelers playing in Oakland back in 2013. My brother made the rookie mistake of actually wearing black and gold. While we did endure threats of violence before and during the game it never resulted in fisticuffs which I considered very lucky. There were many less fortunate Steelers fans just in our vicinity. I’m born in the Burgh and black and gold flows in my veins, but I legitimately began rooting for them to lose for the first time ever. Thankfully the Raiders pulled out the game because I was certain had they not I would not have returned to my car.
A word of advice for you rookies out there: there were many other incognito Pittsburghers there as well. You can represent your city without putting yourself in harm’s way. I spotted many Heinz ketchup shirts, a couple regional beer shirts, bbc.co and even a Hills department store shirt. There are subtle ways to represent your city without putting yourself at risk from “passionate” fans
I wore Packers gear to the end zone of Candlestick for a playoff game, and I got some harassment while on the concourses, but it wasn’t too bad in our seats. The group there were somewhat like a family (kinda like the Red Sox fans in the movie Fever Pitch), and it the treatment was great (mainly because some of them were treated well at Lambeau earlier in the year).
I’ve been to a few University of Wisconsin games (football and hockey) and seen fans get spotted and called out (not sure if it’s just a chant they do for fun or not), but in general, I’ve had good times talking with the fans after the game in my visiting team gear, or talking with visitors from other places (ones that usually end in invitations to local hot spots for post game beverages.
Now, for games with rival teams? I can’t say I’ve seen it as cordial.
There is a number 60 and number 63 represented on Celtics for Media Day.
Lifelong St. Louis resident. My most fun wearing Cardinal gear to an opposing stadium was in 2003 when the Cardinals made their first ever regular season trip through Fenway and the Bronx. I hit the last game at Fenway, which the Cardinals finally won in extras after Nomar tied it twice late. Then I went to the first game in Yankee stadium in which Roger Clemens got his 300th win and 4000th strikeout as part of a Yankees sweep.
This was before the Red Sox got over the Yankees hump, and I could tell the Yankees were still their daddies by interacting with the fans. Red Sox fans would heckle me, and I’d respond by saying the Cards were going to beat up on the Yankees, which earned me a lot of cheers and high-fives. But then when I tried the same response to jeers at Yankee Stadium, saying that the Cards helped out by taking 2 of 3 from the Red Sox, I just received perplexed looks that said “Yeah who cares shut up loser”. All in good fun, though.
Ive gone with Angels shirt/jersey and hat to Dodger Stadium many times, when the Angels are playing the Dodgers of course, without much incident. There was some playful needling and heckling, nothing ever went overboard. Having said that I usually go with my wife and kids and she’s a Dodger fan, so perhaps that excused me from any serious abuse. Same thing wearing Clippers gear to a Laker home game, and USC gear to the Rose Bowl when facing UCLA. Usually all in good fun, I also participate in some playful abuse toward the home fans in those scenarios. Again usually with my family, so (especially at Dodger Stadium) I try to not go off the deep end to potentially put myself or my family in any danger.
I feel like its a little different living here in L.A. because when 2 local teams play there is usually somewhat even numbers in the stands. Ive never been to any road games out of Southern California. Hope to somehow go to Wrigley when the Angels play there next season though.
I watched the Angels up in Oakland. But I stayed quiet and wore neutral clothes. I mean, it is Oakland after all.
QOTW: I live in Orange County (Southern California) and attend Angels, Padres and Dodgers games. In Anaheim and San Diego nobody cares what you wear. I’ve never seen any incidents or even simple arguing of any kind. It’s usually just some simple comments followed by a laugh and “Right on, dude!” Now, LA is a different story, as we all know. I would never wear anything but a Dodgers cap there.
I actually do the opposite of most here: I buy a cap for the home team and wear it. I’m a baseball fan first and foremost, not a team fan.
The one time my family and I actively cheered for the Away team was at an MLS game in Portland, OR. We were big Galaxy fans and the stadium was filled with Timbers fans, but Galaxy was destroying them so badly and most of the stadium was completely stoned, so nobody cared.
I wore the visiting team’s t-shirt in August: a red Patriots tee to their pre-season game against the Saints in New Orleans. I live in Baton Rouge and have been a Saints fan all my life; the Patriots are my “second-favorite” team. I wore a Saints hat to “represent” both teams. My 8 y.o. son actually encouraged me to wear the Pats shirt (he wore one of his Saints shirt). The guy sitting next to me gave me a little good-natured grief.
I only ridiculed a visiting fan once, but it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I’m an LSU alum and was at a home game against Tennessee in 1992. I had imbibed a little prior to the game and somehow found myself on the lower concourse instead of in the student section where I belonged. Actor David Keith of Officer & Gentleman/Lords of Discipline fame was there with the Vols, I guess to stand on the sideline, and he was wearing a bright orange blazer. I stopped and dramatically (I was with a few friends) hollered, “Hey Keith!” He turned and acknowledged me with a wave and I pointed a tipsy finger at him and uttered, “Tiger Bait.” He laughed and walked away. Tennessee blanked LSU that day (just looked up score: 20-0). Tiger Bait, indeed.
QOTD – Not something I wore, but I work at a tour boat in Milwaukee and back in 2011, a couple of Mets fans with wonderful New Yowk accents came on a tour during the day of an evening Mets-Brewers game. We go to talking and they asked how Brewers fans would react to their Mets gear. I said it probably wouldn’t be much of a hassle, as there’s never really been a Mets-Brewers rivalry. Then one of them said, “Hey, if they give us any trouble, we’ll just tell ’em we think that Brett Faaaahv is a real fuggin’ prick just like they do.”
Regarding the Wizard’s uniform: I love the sleeves and the logo in the middle of the stripes. I think it’s the best looking uniform in the game wright now.
I am huge Minnesota fan and live in Chicago so naturally I always where my Teams gear when I goto the games in Chicago, but one story stands out. I was actually living in NY for school and I was going to see the Yanks play the Twins. The weekend before the game I went back to Chicago and at the airport I saw guy wearing a Twins hat. We exchanged pleasantries and both said we were most likely going to some games of the upcoming series. Anyway when I am at an away stadium with my team playing I always make a point of high fiving any body wearing MN gear. So I am leaving the bathroom and see a guy wearing a twins hat. I goto high five him and low and behold its the same guy from the airport. We started talking and it was just cool that the fact that we were both wearing or Twins hats brought this small moment of camaraderie that much better!
Cardinals vs Pirates last night. A rookie named Keon Broxton was pinch hitting for Pittsburgh, wearing their whites. The X in his name looked like a backwards K. Didn’t get a screen grab, and don’t know if it was just the angle, if the Pirates were just out of X’s, or if the guy spells his name with a weird letter.
QOTD – I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, but moved to Boston after college. After a couple of years when I could finally afford it, when the Penguins came to town, I went to my first Bruins game, complete with Pens jersey. No one in the stands where I sat was a problem. No one there seemed to care one way or the other. It was while leaving after the Penguins won that I started getting harassed by a small group drunken Bruins fans. I feel like it was only the presence of two Boston PD officers near the street that saved me from getting into a fight. My single worst experience at a sporting event ever.
Maybe this has been mentioned before, but in regards to the new Wizards logo, is it just me or does it appear to be a person who is standing spread-eagle and about to get violated by the Washington Monument?
QOTD- A friend of mine and I wore the the jerseys of American players for a USA vs. Canada game in Montreal for the World Cup of hockey. We got pelted with popcorn after we stood up to cheer a USA goal. My friend turned to the entire section and she yelled out “OK, who threw that?!?!” Nobody would ‘fess up. The really funny part was during the intermission between periods no less than three different Canadian fans came up to apologize to us.
QotW:
Never actually been to an MLB game in an opposing city, but as a lifelong Cardinals fan, I’ve never shied away from wearing my red Cards’ hat when on vacation. Especially in Chicago. Based on the somewhat tepid reaction there, I’ve always felt that a Cubs fan wearing a hat/jersey for his team receives a slightly louder response here than vice versa, even if it all is in good fun.
Back in 2010 (I think) Man United visited KC. I wore my Wayne Rooney #10 shirt, but didn’t exactly stick out since we’d purchased tickets in the section of the stadium they’d designated for the “away” fans.
In 2013, also saw Man City play Chelsea @ Busch here. Wore the same Utd jersey, just so no one would misjudge my allegiance. No one really said boo, other than a drunk fan behind me who kept saying “Rooney!” periodically throughout the match, as though he’d heard some announcer shout it before, but didn’t know a whole lot else about the sport.
“Wore the same Utd jersey, just so no one would misjudge my allegiance.”
So who exactly were you cheering for? Obviously not for your cross-town rivals. Then again, not for the boys from Southwest London.
I am a Portland Trail Blazers fan and went to a game vs the Charlotte Hornets a couple of years ago. My aunt had gotten us tickets and we were in the season-ticket holders section. Their was this die- hard Hornets fan who was at least 70 years old. Whenever I showed up in my Damian Lillard shirt she started heckling and yelling at me the whole game. By the end of the game the Blazers got crushed and she was so happy. It got so annoying the next time I go to a Hornets game I am sitting on the other side of the arena.
As a north Jersey Oriole fan I’ve worn O’s gear to both Yankee and Mets games; Raiders gear to a Giant/Raider game; when I was about 12 a drunk guy yelled at me for the O’s hat, but later apologized; around the same time a grown man yelled at me with my Raider jacket after a Giant TD. when the Raiders scored in the end zone in front of us, I tapped him on the shoulder and yelled right in his face when he turned around. Also wore a Leafs jersey to a playoff game against the Devils. A little kid booed me in the parking lot. I thought that was awesome. No problems as an adult, though, especially as the O’s have gotten better.
QotW: I’ll answer the converse first, then the former part of the question.
I am a native Nebraskan, so I grew up and remain a Cornhuskers fan. From early on in a child’s life in Nebraska, it is a time-honored tradition to bring up a “true fan” — one that exhibits class, good sportsmanship, appreciates a good play, pays attention to the game (and is smart about it), and applauds the other team, win or lose.
The results are well-chronicled throughout history.
The most recent was when Merril Hoge visited Lincoln to watch his son play for BYU. The Cougars won on a Hail Mary! but that did not stop Husker fans from congratulating BYU.
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While there are numerous others, here’s also one from former Texas Head Coach, Mack Brown, recalling Nebraska fans giving a standing ovation to Ricky Williams when he broke a rushing record, and then, despite losing its first home game in seven years, Husker fans chanting “Heisman” when the Longhorns left the field.
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When attending Cornhusker games at Memorial Stadium, absolutely we welcome the opposing team. It’s a part of the fun and friendly atmosphere. We cheer hard for the Cornhuskers; but if our opponent makes an awesome play, it just makes sense to applaud the play, rather than boo them or shout obsenities.
This is not to sound uppity or prude — Nebraskans are known to curse occasionally… but, as you witnessed when our previous foul-mouthed coach would get too insane, we fired him even after winning at least 9 games each year, during his 6 seasons. We replaced him with “the nicest guy in college football.” That’s Nebraska.
So all that to preface saying, yes, I have worn my Nebraska hat and a sweatshirt to a few games outside of Lincoln. In fact, my friends and I all looked forward to attending Nebraska’s first Big Ten game at Wisconsin. I’d been to Camp Randall before (with a friend from Madison) and raved to my friends about the gameday atmosphere. It really is a special place — from the best beer and brats to their amazing band to their crowd pleasers like “Build Me Up Buttercup” and “Jump Around,” as well as choreographed “waves” that are actually the only entertaining versions I can endure.
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However, that experience really got tainted by the treatment we experienced as we walked around in our gear. Go to a Nebraska tailgate with opponent gear on, and they’ll invite you to have a Runza and a beer and party with them. Walk around Camp Randall and make sure you do not have any kids with you. And don’t go near the student section during game time, as they shout group-led four-letter words across the stadium to each other.
The tamer vulgarities and insults directed at us were things like, “Go back to shucking corn, you inbred hicks!” or “Welcome to the Big Ten, sheep-f@#$ers!” Yes, those were the tame ones. We tried to have thick skin and not to let it get us down — especially given that the Russell Wilson-led Badgers truly did beat the tar out of us. However, it was just the constant onslaught that wore thin, especially the more the night wore on.
After all, it is Wisconsin, so there is a little bit of drinking going on in Madison ;)
Not only do I ALWAYS wear Cubs gear on the road, I’ve braved the NHL world and worn Blackhawks sweaters several places for road games, including Nashville, Minnesota, and Washington. But my oddest experience came when watching the Hawks play vs the Coyotes in Glendale. At LEAST 2/3 but probably more of the “road” crowd was wearing Chicago gear, and the cheering was as if it were a home game, including the national anthem cheering that drew puzzled looks from the Phoenix natives.
I wouldn’t be too sure they were all Phoenix natives. A lot of Canadian “snow birds” in the Phoenix area during the winter – would likely be a minority of the fans at the game but still a sizable chunk.
My daughter (who was 9 at the time) and I wore Patriots gear to the 2012 Seahawks-Patriots game at CLink. I grew up in Massachusetts and have been a Pats’ fan my whole life, and she loves Tom Brady and is #12 in soccer because of him, so being that the Patriots only come to Seattle once every eight years it was my only chance to get her to see her hero in person. Good times, right up until Russell Wilson hit Golden Tate (I think) with a 50-yard bomb to seal the Hawks comeback win. (This was the “You Mad, Bro” game.)
I don’t recall being treated unkindly by Seattle fans. There were a LOT of Pats’ fans there (even a guy n a Zolak jersey) and Seattle fans are pretty laid-back in general. Also, the Pats dominated the first half, which kept the Hawks fans pretty quiet, then the comeback win shut all the Pats fans up, so we weren’t all rowdy at the same time. (And there wasn’t a Pats/Hawks animosity that exists over them being butt-hurt over SB49 yet.) I can vouch for the stadium being ridiculously loud.
QOTD:
I probably bring a bit of an interesting outlook here, as a lifelong fan of the Yankees and Patriots who lives in NYC. (Yes really, no I don’t care that it’s weird. 27 years old, was born into a Yankees family, and started rooting for the Patriots in 1993 because I loved their uniforms as a kid.) During football season, I tend to wear Pats hats of some kind every day and it’s usually pretty fun. Last year I wore a Revis NEP jersey to the Jets/Pats game at Metlife and bonded with the Jets season ticket holders I sat next to, who were pretty cool once they got over that their row-mate had Stub-Hub’d his tickets and that they’d been bought by a Pats fan. The most memorable Pats gear in NY story I have is wearing a Lawyer Milloy Pats jersey to Giants Stadium to see the Pats go 16-0 in 2007. That was a crazy night, as it seemed that about 70% of the Stadium were Patriots fans.
On the other side of the spectrum, I always try to go out of my to be nice to opposing fans when I go to Yankees games (which is usually somewhere between 6 and 8 a season). Had a lovely conversation once with some Twins fans on the Subway out to Yankee Stadium, as they were clearly lost. I helped them out, and then we proceeded to talk baseball for the whole train ride.I’ve always worn Yankees caps pretty much anywhere in the country, and have never really gotten any bad-comments, even in Boston.
Anyone notice what my alma mater has decided to wear for tonight’s game? I’m ashamed.
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Oh, and just when I thought Adidas couldn’t screw up our uniforms any more… These go with the awful helmets.
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Took a west coast trip two years and got to see my Cardinals play at the Angels. Wore a Cardinals t-shirt and cap. Likewise in Atlanta about 10 years ago, but it was cold and rainy that day, so my cap was the only thing anyone could see. My girlfriend at the time was a Braves fan, so she had a Braves lid as well.
Interestingly, I didn’t get any reaction whatsoever from away fans in either instance…probably because there were so many Cardinals fans in the stands with me! In fact, in Anaheim, I probably saw more Cards gear than Angels gear as I scanned the crowd (good seats down the first base line). I certainly wasn’t an outlier either time. Cardinals fans are everywhere, and they travel well too!
Tigers fan transplanted to Northern California. I wore Tigers gear to Game 5 of the ALDS in both 2012 and 2013 (with Verlander shutting out the A’s both times to win the series).
Being Deaf means not having to put up with a lot of nasty crap, and being Oakland, I was in no position to start anything even if I had the desire to (which I don’t).
In 2012, I was fortunate enough to sit with a more aged group of fans (I’m in my early 40’s and I think I was the youngest person within two seats of me), so when the game ended, polite handshakes all around. I don’t remember a lot of interactions in ’13.
I got harrassed by an opposing team member for wearing my home team’s hat. The year before Rays changed unis they handed out hats with the new color. I had seats first row next to the third base dugout. Then unknown Jeremy Guthrie ( he was a September call-up) harassed me about the hat not being the team’s current colors throughout the game.
I have worn a White Sox cap to Chicago road games at Cincinnati and Detroit and never been treated rudely or heckled. Lots of Southside fans made the trek to Cinci so I was not alone.
I’m a Ducks fan who lives in LA, and once visited some friends in the Bay area who were Sharks fans. We went to a Sharks-Ducks game at whatever they were calling the ‘Shark Tank’ at that point. I don’t remember what exactly I was wearing, but I was wearing some Ducks gear, a tshirt or something. I got some good-natured ribbing from both my friends and the people around us, of course, but the best was this guy who actually wanted me to growl and such at his young son, while wearing my shirt, so that he would grow up hating the Ducks. As I recall, he even bought me a beer to do so.
I lived in cleveland ten years ago, and a friend and I went to a day game between the Indians and Twins. I wore a yankee hat because im from the Bronx and thats what I had.
We had seats in the left field bleachers, i didnt hear anything from anybody until at the end of batting practice, Torii Hunter hit a rocket to the section i was in. I was at the railing honing in on catching the ball, next to another fan that was tracking the ball. He had a glove, i had my hat. We both went for the catch, and after.a struggle, the ball was in my hat which was in his glove.
The whole section started to boo me, but after explaining that i was a native Bronxite, i wasnt bothered at all.
QOTW: I am a lifelong UVa fan but attended high school in Durham, NC in the mid 90s. My folks somehow got tickets for UVa v. Duke in Cameron. I happily wore a bright orange shirt and Virginia cap. On the way in there were a few looks of pity but no comments (that I heard). Or seats were up in one corner, opposite the UVa bench, so needless to say I was an island of orange in a sea of blue. The reaction after Virginia won in triple OT was a different story and we left as quickly as we could. Don’t know if that experience will ever be matched.
I am also a Western Carolina alum and until a few years ago, Appalachian State was our big rival (that generally gave us a football beatdown). We had good home tickets where some App fans were also sitting. Talk was cordial but included some Mountaineer boasting. Western took them down that night (along with the goalposts) but nothing too crazy happened with the visiting fans.
I’m not sure which looks worse, the Miami Hurricanes going red-orange and tin foil or Pinktober officially coming back in the NFL. I LOVE October but damn it is hard to watch NFL games for the next 4 (8) weeks!!!
In 2010, we traveled to South Bend to see our Utes take on Notre Dame. We were all decked out in red when we went to the campus bookstore before the game (which is impressive in and of itself). Utah was having a great year and had been ranked in the top-10 before getting dismantled by TCU the week before. The ND fans were great; so many of them mentioned how good our team looked and that they knew we were gonna win. Even in the stadium, completely surrounded by ND fans, everyone was really friendly. I recommend everyone go to a game at Notre Dame because it was such a great experience.
In regards to the helmet hats, in the late 80’s I had a hat that was a copy of the University of Illinois helmets. I wore it til it was so dirty you couldn’t read it
NFL news older equipment article mentions players using equipment manufactured 3-5 years old ago as “old” and “retro”???
The first real example of vintage equipment that springs to my mind is Arturs Irbe; Manny Legace is a slightly more recent example.
Maybe someone more aware of various players playing today in the big four leagues can point out some examples of players using equipment that is a lot more than 5 years old.
I wore my Cubs gear to Turner Field for two games in a row last year (before the Cubs were good) and was treated with nothing but respect on both days. I asked a local friend living in ATL (who’d also lived in Philly), and he told me that fans in Atlanta are some of the nicest fans in the the country. After what I saw, I’d have to agree.
QOTW: I wore a Nationals cap when they played at Anaheim Stadium a while back. I was seated in the midst of a group of serious Angels fans who didn’t take too kindly to it at first. However, once I explained to them that I’d root for the Angels against almost any othe team, they forgave me and we engaged in some pretty tame trash-talking throughout the game.
Conversely, back when the Raiders were in LA, my brother wore a ‘Skins jacket to a game at the Coliseum. The Raiders fans were not quite so tolerant, and responded by throwing a bottle at my brother, hitting his wife in the head. Luckily she was not seriously hurt, but yeah. Raiders fans, ya know?
QOTW: I’ve loved the Tigers and baseball for as long as I can remember. In 2008, I set out with friends to see the Tigers on the road….the last year of (Old)Yankee Stadium was the destination. Clad with our old English D caps we went a bar across the street from the stadium first and the people were great. The fans felt genuinely grateful that fans make the pilgrimage to their city to see their ballpark. We had some great chats with Yankee fans and the few jabs were all for fun and made it that much more enjoyable. The game was great and the fans were too, Gary Sheffield homered against his former team and the Tigers won the game. I think this great first “Road” experience is why I’ve visited 17 more ballparks since.
I’ve worn my Edmonton Oilers jersey to several games in Pittsburgh over the years when the Oilers have come to town. Every time has been an excellent experience. Hockey fans really are the best. the most knowledgeable for sure. Whenever the Oilers score, which isn’t often, I stand up and cheer as loud as possible. Most fans good naturedly boo and I’ve never heard anything really mean or out of line. It also makes for excellent conversation during the game. Who are you, Where did you come from, How in the world did you become an Oilers fan and such on and so forth. Another interesting aspect is running into fellow fans in ‘enemy territory’. there’s a certain tribal feel in running into fellow fans that otherwise you’d never know you had a connection with. Usually nods of acknowledgement are exchanged and sometimes some good conversation as well. All in all it’s been a blast. Now, I would never wear a Cowboys jersey in Philadelphia. I’m not stupid!
You’d think if Martellus Bennett got a doctor’s recommendation for those shoes as a medical necessity they’d have to let him wear them without the fine, provided any logos were covered. This would be similar to how the NFL deals with tinted visors.
Back in ’97 or ’98 I found out I could get pretty decent individual seats to either of the parks in Chicago, so for a Cubs/White Sox game at US Cellular I splurged and got a seat in the Club Box section nearly behind home plate with a lot of season ticket holders. I decided to wear my Cubs gear. The other fans around me gave me some light ribbing, especially when one of the Cubs runners got caught by the fake-to-third-throw-to-first pick off. All in all, it went pretty well.
As the resident Carolina Panthers fan here, I’ve worn the black-and-blue twice in enemy territory for games against the Falcons.
Never had any problems, everybody was cool and the trash-talk was friendly.
That’s how we roll in the South.
I’m also a Season ticket holder at Bank of America Stadium and can assure you that both the team and the fans do everything they can to make opponents feel welcome.
might be a bit pedantic, Paul, but that Indian hockey uniform’s script is more accurately described as Devanagari. Its a script used for numerous South Asian languages, including at times, but most definitely not limited to, the ancient Sanskrit. The script is most commonly seen with Hindi these days
If you like having food items thrown at you and insults of every level of severity hurled your way, go to a Rutgers football game. And I say this after going to several games against Rutgers (in Piscataway, the Meadowlands, and Yankee Stadium) cheering on ARMY, which isn’t exactly a big bad program that most people reserve their venom for. Although then again, RU’s student section is infamous for chanting “Fuck you, Navy” at the Midshipmen so I guess service academy fans shouldn’t expect the milder treatment that they get on the road against other, non-scumbag institutions.
By all accounts, we get it easy compared to other bigger, more prominent visitors. I’ve heard the horror stories from other visiting fans to Piscataway and I believe them all. Rutgers fans are human garbage.