Kick TV’s Jimmy Conrad: unabashed jersey snob!

Aug 1, 2012, 12:25 PM EDT

On the one hand, I respect a man who can conduct an interview with the straight face while sporting head wear that only a Burger King shift manager could appreciate.

On the other hand, I differ with the face of Kick TV on his jersey treatise.

It is a peculiar tenet of the U.S. soccer supporter, this business of wearing your team colors to friendlies, never mind whether your team is actually playing is said friendly.

But I get it. Soccer has long been a niche sport in our land. The domestic game is growing out of that teenage, pimply stage (you could argue it’s already past it), but old habits die hard. Hence the team colors habit.

Wearing soccer jerseys here has always been a way of announcing yourself as a fan, a way to go just a little counter-culture. It’s a subtle poke at convention, a way to say, “Screw the media dinosaurs and their tired old set – I love this game.”

So you wear your team’s colors to the soccer event of the moment, rather than that cheesy t-shirt that’s only cool if you’re driving a mini-van to the local Olive Garden. Not that there’s anything wrong with mini-vans. Or Olive Garden. But I think you understand.

Anyway, here’s Jimmy’s fun take on it from our friends at Kick TV:

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7 Comments (Feed for Comments)

dfstell - Aug 1, 2012 at 12:56 PM

I agree with Jimmy. It’s even worse at the lower levels where you see people in Brazil jerseys or Real Madrid jerseys at a PDL game. I get that the person is clearly a soccer fan, but we already knew that because they were at the game. Why not either (a) wear a neutral shirt or (b) buy a jersey for the little PDL team that could use the $25 to put gas in the team bus? You’re among friends. You don’t have to show US that you’re a soccer fan. Wear your Chelsea jersey to the next pool party where you can use it to strike up conversation with non-soccer fans.

Clearly, people are allowed to wear what they want. It’s a free country, but I think we’re allowed to Tweet out pictures mocking some dude in a Manchester United jersey at a game between the Carolina Railhawks and the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Two exceptions to this “rule”. Little kids are more than welcome to wear what they want. I’ve got no problem with little kids running around in their Messi jerseys. Of course, it would be better if their parents bought their kid a jersey for the team they’re supporting, but…. And I think there is a “hot chick” exception too just because hot chicks are allowed to do what they want.

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- Steve Davis - Aug 1, 2012 at 2:14 PM
  
  Good thoughts … and I do appreciate your commendably flexible allowance of two very worthy exceptions.
  
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dreadpirate82 - Aug 1, 2012 at 12:58 PM

I love Jimmy, but I couldn’t disagree more on this one:

1) It’s hot in the summer, and those jerseys are DriFit or similar material. Way more comfortable than a t-shirt. I wear my SKC, Estudiantes Tecos, USA, and Fiorentina jerseys to anything outdoors in the summer.
2) Soccer is the only sport where the jerseys actually look good (for the most part).
3) I’m generally more interested in seeing jerseys of the team not playing that day. Always fun to see what people are wearing. My favorite at SKC games are the old school MISL Kansas City Comets jerseys.

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- handsofsweed - Aug 1, 2012 at 9:18 PM
  
  No to #2. Because “Xango” or “Barbasol” on a jersey looks so much better than “New York” or “Lakers” or a Winged Wheel, etc. does.
  
  But, I’ll give you this: There is no remotely acceptable argument to point #1!
  
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  - handsofsweed - Aug 1, 2012 at 9:26 PM
    
    Oh, and I’m NOT a fan of the Yanks, Wings or Lakers at all. They’re just examples, obviously. It’s just that classic is classic, and ads for unrelated products suck. I just hope they never start putting ads on National side jersey fronts. That would suck BAAAAD.
krazymunky - Aug 1, 2012 at 1:07 PM

i think its somewhat ok if you wear the national team jersey of where one of the clubs based in. other than that…non related jersey GET OUT.

***though i did see a bunch of Gooners booing the Spurs players everytime they touched the ball at the Tottenham vs Galaxy game which i thought was hilarious (in a good way)

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jvnewell - Aug 2, 2012 at 3:27 AM

I’ve been it a handful of Chicago Fire matches and I always wear red because I haven’t been able to find a 3XL OR 4XL jersey to buy.

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