Sports Fan Gear
Introduction.
Wearing sports fan gear has always been an essential part of supporting my teams when I go to watch them play. Needless to say, I also enjoy wearing my sports fan gear at other times - just to make sure everyone knows where my sporting allegiances are. Of course these days its easy buying buy sports fan gear, as most of it is available over the internet. Living in Boston, before coming to college the only team I was interested in was my local NFL football team - the New England Patriots; and I had just about every piece of sports fan gear available for them. Now I’m here at the University of Massachusetts, with so many different sports teams to choose from - it really is quite difficult stopping myself from buying all the sports fan gear for all the teams.
Sports fan gear items.
The sight of walking into a sports stadium and seeing the fans at opposing ends producing contrasting seas of their teams’ colors can be truly moving. This effect is most obvious when just about everyone sitting there is in the correct team shirt. Although I’ve only ever seen it on TV - watch out for an international soccer game that the Dutch (Holland) are playing in. I can’t think of a team anywhere that can produce the spectacle that their supporters make. I’m not kidding you but a whole half of the stadium will just be a mass of orange, their national color, in support of their team. The sight of supporters massed in a stadium in a teams colors must, in itself, be an encouragement to the players. After all let’s not forget here in the USA we’d be wearing our NFL sports fan gear to show the team that we think they’re the best and we want them to do well. Of course sports fan gear isn’t just about shirts or baseball caps. For most teams and most sports these days, even for those in quite minor leagues, you can buy fleeces, waterproofs, training tops and all manner of jewelry and other accessories.
NCAA sports fan gear.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the organisation that governs college sports and provides a framework in which colleges can compete with one another. It is largely through their work that teams playing college sports are deemed to be of such a high quality as the competitions are so well governed and respected. Subsequently it is not unusual to go to a college football team match and see the ends of the stadium full of supporters wearing their team’s colors. Here in Amherst our team - the Minutemen, what else - play in maroon and being a member of the Maroon Platoon, the University of Massachusetts athletics supporters club is de rigueur! Turning up to support any of the university’s teams not wearing maroon, or at least grey, is simply not done. The same as for NFL teams, there’s no excuse for not having the right NCAA sports fan gear to wear, as it can all be bought online over the internet.
Which sports supporters wear the most sports fan gear?
Lets face it, as a nation we’re obsessed with three sports in particular; Football, Baseball and Basketball. Now I know there are plenty of Ice Hockey, Golf, Track & Field or even NASCAR fans out there; but over a year you won’t get the number of fans that the other three do. If you take a moment to look at the above link, which is a 2008 abstract from the National Data Book, you’ll see that whilst Baseball is very well supported by adults attending a game at least once a month; by combining attendances at professional and college football games you get to a much higher overall figure. Also, you’ll have to agree, unlike Baseball it is played through the Fall and Winter and unlike Basketball it’s played outside. So, there is both greater scope and a greater need to buy more sports fan gear for Football than for other major American sports. ie Fleeces, waterproofs and scarves etc. However, having said that I suppose being able to wear short-sleeved tops outdoors in the summer or indoors anytime - could help to sell some of the jewelry and other sports fan gear accessories available to show your sporting allegiance?