Friday, June 12, 2009

UF Poll Time!

We've had a quick little debate in the email threads today and thought we would open it up to you. Bigus got a new England shirt today and, after we made fun of him for it being a Rooney shirt, let slip that it has his surname on the back. After some chiding, BD says that he could never get another team's players names on his shirt since he does not support those teams. The comeback was that National Teams don't transfer their players, so you'll never be as embarrassed as you would by a Keane Liverpool shirt. Then, of course, there's the third option--no name at all.

So what do you say? Is it OK for an adult to get their own name on a shirt, the actual player name or a blank? Spam the poll as much as you want.

26 comments:

The NY Kid said...

Even more embarrassing is Bigus' shirt with "Bursitis" on the back

The Likely Lad said...

apparently, bigus, all the readers are aged 10 and above!

BackBergtt said...

"Is it OK for an adult to get their own name on a shirt"


Absolutely not.

(wearing a Sidney Crosby jersey right now)

Jim Hendry said...

@NY Kid: how many Titi jerseys do you have? Be honest -- you've got an Arsenal one, a Barca one, a Monaco one, and a France one. They go well with your Malouda collection

The NY Kid said...

I have a "Titi" from Clairefontaine - he was only 15, so I just took it off his back.

I actually only have an Arsenal Titi - I have requested the red France jersey for my b-day, and I have a friend who is traveling to Barcelona this summer looking out for the Barca kit.

No, Zizou, on the other hand. Real Madrid, Juve, France...

The NY Kid said...

Also, I see that Bigus voted twice.

Bigus Dickus said...

I did not, it's 11.15 here in England where I am right now. I just discovered this little gem. I will point out that while I choose to have my name on my shirt, like many English people do, I only support Norwich City and not 3-4 teams like other UF'ers. I love Norwich and no one else. This is why I refuse to have Gerrard. Lampard, Cole, Rooney or Crouch on my England shirt. Country and club may seem different to Americans but I guarantee an England player is booed when he visits other clubs during the season should he have fucked up for his country. This polls content seems to be an exclusive faux pas to Americans. Most of my friends in England do as I do, nicknames, surnames etc. I dont wish to have the name of a player I dont care from, from a team I loath. I am sure Georger looks fabulous in his Crosby shirt, along with everyone else, and the Likely Lad can mock my mentality as he wears the shirt of many different teams, which in my opinion is the sign of a glory hound. Mock away, I love my country's national team a great deal, more than most, yet I don't care much for half the players that have the great honor of wearing the 3 lions and neither do many fans who support teams outside of Liverpool, Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal.

Unknown said...

For what it's worth, BD, I leave mine blank. Mainly because I never had a good nickname to go on the back

Unknown said...

Also, no-one's actually mocking you. It's a worthy debate to have, especially on a lazy Friday afternoon

The NY Kid said...

well, there are definitely players on Les Bleus that I don't care for and I would never get their name on a national team jersey.

I think the distinction is that you can still get the name of a player on the back for a variety of reasons.

Should I not get a Ribery kit because Arsenal might play Bayern in a CL match? Because I have both a Real and a Juve Zizou kit does that mean that I support both those clubs, or just that I love Zizou?

Many people collect kits, most often without names (I have a Bayern and an Ajax, for starters), but when it comes to getting a name on there I see no problem with getting a national team jersey of a player from a club that is not in direct competition with Arsenal. Obviously, I would never get an Anelka, Malouda, Evra, etc. I would never get a USA Dempsey jersey.

But I would never get my own name on there either.

The NY Kid said...

Also, Bigus has now gotten 18 of his mates to vote.

Bigus Dickus said...

1: I dont want the name of any of the current England team. And many in England don't. Rooney is booed at Liverpool and no Pool fans have his name, there are many reasons and next time a Norwich player makes the England team I will be delighted to have their name on my shirt.

2: I am away right now and on a BB with limited signal. I voted once to say I did.

The NY Kid said...

I honestly think we are talking at cross-purposes here. I agree that you should not get a national team kit with the name of either: (1) a player you like from a team you hate, or a team in competition with your team (the Dempsey or Anelka examples for me); or (2) a player you hate from your team (Silvestre for me). To be certain, I would heartily boo Malouda or Evra despite the fact that they play consistently for Les Bleus - I understand that sentiment.

Obviously, the best situation (for me) is to have someone from Arsenal be on Les Bleus (which obviously happens quite a bit).

The main question from me is - what if you really like a player from another league (i.e. not on a club in competition with Norwich) who starts consistently for the England national team? Why wouldn't you get that player's name on a kit?

Bigus Dickus said...

Why would you? and to my point and to that of most people in England..I dont and they don't like any player as much..So as fun...They get their name or nickname. I hate Chelsea so why would I entertain Terry or Lampard? If they play well for my country I will appreciate their efforts but not enought to wear their name on my back!

jjf3 said...

As a born and raised American, whose next trip to England will be his first, I can't speak to the English mindset regarding this topic. If BD's telling the truth (and I don't doubt him at all), then he's thinking the way he was raised, so I have no problem with it. But for an American with the American mindset, adults wearing any type of team jersey with their own name or nickname on it automatically drops them into the 9th ring of douchiness, surrounded by Massholes and bandwagon Yankees/Cubs/Steelers/Cowboys/Braves/etc fans.

I wouldn't argue whether either mindset is right or wrong, just that they are in direct opposition.

To me/American, the answers are:
a) your favorite player's name and number
b) no name or number
c) a number only (for footie, 9 or 10 is probably the most likely to be seen)

The one non-option is your name (barring you happening to share a name with a player you like).

If that's not the case in England, so be it. But BD should probably expect to get some shit from uninformed (ie, most) people here in the states...

BackBergtt said...

Hm, if it were a situation where none of my players were on the national team, I probably would go blank. Hadn't really thought about that

Or with something like 'fuck off Germany'

And yes, I look absolutely fucking stunning in my Crosby sweater.

Bigus Dickus said...

@
'Fuck off Germany', I 8 Maradona (wish I'd thought of that) your name or nickname is far better option than a player you dont like. Bigus Snr just saw this thread and said "how stupid..Why would you want to get the name of a player you dont care about, having your name shows your pride for your country" I will also point out that in 7 years of living in NY I have never been given any shit from anyone except the Likely Lad and he is a spurs fan (loosley applied) who parades around in a Barcelona jersey.

BackBergtt said...

You could always go the other way with it and go classic. I know you guys don't have the hugest list of English national team players, but you could do a new jersey with a classic England player and the number they wore. Like Martin Peters or something like that, I think that could be pretty cool.

BackBergtt said...

Wait he didn't play for City when he was playing for England did he.

Whatever, I'm sure there's someone, you'd know better than I.

Goat said...

I have a friend who's a Blackburn fan but got his then 2 year old son an Arsenal Henry shirt because his son's name is Henry. What's the ruling on a situation like this?

krossfader said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
krossfader said...

I think you're in the clear Goat. Rare exception to the "own name = douche" clause. Kids are almost always exempt from such nonsense, and no one is going to know the difference outside your inner circle.

Pretty much agree w/ jjf3's entire post...

jjf3 said...

Friend is fine, Goat. Kids are exempt from all the douchiness; no problems with kids having jerseys with thier last names on them, or, as in this case, first name. Hell, he might one day grow up to be an Arsenal player. A 25-yo whose "career" ended in HS doesn't need to be wearing a NT jersey with his name on it - that dream sailed a long time ago...

jjf3 said...

And BD, I can definitely see the argument that by putting your name on it you are showing your support for the NT. I suspect that the difference is because America has never focused heavily on sports that have country-v-country competition. For the sports we have historically followed, you're supporting your local team, not a "national" one, so its not an issue of hating a player 45 weeks a year and then having to "support" him the other 7 (or whatever the numbers actually are). So the issue of wearing a Cowboy or Titan player's name on our national throwball team's jersey has never been an issue for me or anyone else...

This is actually kind of an interesting subject - how the sports culture of each country has affected some of the things that are considered "acceptable" for fans to do or not do...

bergkampesdios said...

Simple solution - share a last name with one of the most prolific goal scorers your club team has ever seen.

"Behind every great goalkeeper there's a ball from Ian Wright"

Is it your name on the back? Is it his? Who cares - go Arsenal!

Bigus Dickus said...

Georger. Martin Peters did play for Norwich! But old names look silly on new shirts.

JJF3 has nailed it.