Philly Sports: I don’t buy active players’ jerseys anymore
In Philly sports, nothing is better than wearing the jersey of your favorite local player, until something inevitably goes wrong.
My colleague Matty Breisch just wrote a cool piece about how he’ll be treating himself to a #18 Philadelphia Eagles jersey to show his support for Jalen Reagor, and I wish him the best of luck with that. He acknowledges the risk involved, but I admire the optimism around such a choice from a big fan of Philly sports. If you know me, however, you can bet that I have a tale of jersey woe. Several in fact. And this is why I just can’t bring myself to buy an active player’s jersey anymore.
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I enjoy the old-school aspect, and that’s why I have both a powder blue Steve Carlton and a red pinstriped Tug McGraw in my repertoire. They were safe and solid choices when I bought them years ago, and I get great use out of largely alternating them when I go to Phillies games. But the times I’ve pulled the trigger on jerseys for active players have not gone so well.
I believe it started for me in 2010. The Flyers were fresh off a surprise run all the way to the Cup Final, so I decided to buy a home orange Mike Richards featuring the “C” on the chest as well as a spiffy “black ice” practice jersey of up and coming winger James van Riemsdyk. It seemed like a smart gamble, as both players were expected to be franchise cornerstones for years to come.
You know what happened next.
Richards was shipped off a year later in what was probably the craziest day in Flyers history. I estimate that I only wore my Richards jersey half a dozen times or so while he was on the team, though I immediately started calling it a “throwback” as an excuse to wear it. I still do.
JVR would also be traded out of town the following season. But I was rewarded years later when the Flyers brought him back, though he had to change to #25 since Scott Laughton had already staked a claim to #21 by then. But I think that makes my #21 van Riemsdyk even more “vintage”.
Sometime between Richards and JVR being traded, I purchased another pair of Flyers jerseys for the 2012 Winter Classic. For myself, I bought a Claude Giroux, and it’s turned out to be the best assessment I’ve ever made in the jersey department. But I did buy my wife a Chris Pronger jersey since he was her man, and that didn’t work out so well. Between the time that the jersey was purchased and the Winter Classic itself, Pronger suffered a career-ending eye injury. Even so, my wife has worn her Pronger sweater many times since, despite the fact that Pronger never actually took the ice in that particular look.
My final jersey failure came when I bought a LeSean McCoy Eagles jersey, which I believe was sometime in 2013. McCoy would put up a tremendous season to lead the league in rushing that year. He was just 25 years old but already seemed well on his way to the Hall of Fame. What could go wrong?
After McCoy was heavily used again in 2014 but seemed to take a step back while also clashing with Kelly, he was traded away. Along the way, McCoy took an image hit by leaving a 20 cent tip, and it seemed like all of the goodwill he had built up was going by the wayside. So much for that jersey. I still wear it when I watch games on occasion, but I don’t feel good about it, especially as his reputation has gone down the tubes even more since he left the Eagles. I need to get a Brian Dawkins or something so I don’t feel unclean.
Next. Eric Lindros just makes me sad. dark
So, you can see why I personally don’t jinx things by donning the name and number of an athlete I’m currently rooting for. I’ve just gotten burned too much. I only wish that I had the wherewithal and confidence that my colleague does, but I feel like I’d just be setting Jalen Reagor or anyone else up for failure. Maybe you think I’m being silly, but perhaps you can relate. And if your mind started drifting to that Bobby Hoying jersey that you still have in your closet, you definitely get where I’m coming from.