About three decades ago my son, now also law partner, who was then five years old, and I were acting as volunteer bell ringers for the Salvation Army. My son was wearing a Chicago Bears parka that we had picked up on sale. I was wearing a Packers parka that my in-laws had given me for Christmas. I am such a sport’s agnostic that it did not occur to me that it might not be a popular choice in Central Illinois. I soon learned. I received more than a few comments, although people were generous to the pot, and my son, who looked like a little angel, was my passport to quasi-acceptability that cold and snowy hour.
Samurai Encounters American Sports Fans
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
New England is fairly tolerant of other teams sports jerseys, perhaps because we’ve won so much and so often… and also because we spend so much time beating up our own teams to make them better we don’t have the energy.
I’m a Philly sports fan, but never lived in that market, so I’m used to being the outsider and dealing with any and all heckling, especially with my Eagles fandom in the DC area. However, my best friend was and is a dedicated Redskins/Commanders fan and it makes for some of the best aspects of our banter.
It is interesting that as much as American culture is so heavily influenced by Reformation voluntarist principles, sports fandoms are still very parochial.
Sometimes I wear my Xerox shirt just to piss off the IBM fans. Makes me smile. Corporate big sports are waay cool.