Would Francesa have a different opinion on it if that were the case? I'm not sure. Sometimes musicians will wear the jersey of a current player. If Jay-Z were to wear a #2 Yankees jersey at his upcoming concert and the jersey had either no nameplate or "JETER" on the back, it wouldn't bother anybody, I don't think. Much of this falls on Jay-Z, of course. It's almost in poor taste to take 3, 4, or 7 and then put your own name on it. It would be just as silly for him to do a concert at Cleveland Browns Stadium while wearing a #32 jersey with "S. CARTER" on the back. It's not the end of the world, but a different number on the "S. CARTER" jerseys would have made a hell of a lot more sense. Francesa was also complaining about how the Yankees make such a huge deal about tradition and retired numbers, so to turn around and sell #4 jerseys with "S. CARTER" on them is curious.
That Francessa and junc agree with your opinion kind of weakens your argument, dude. :smile: That's fine, and look, I can see not liking it. I don't particularly care for it myself. I just don't think its any of the following: stupid, disgusting, ridiculous, disgraceful, embarrassing, etc. In my book, that's blowing things way out of proportion. Don't like it? Don't buy it. It's not sacrilege. It's just a jersey, and it's nothing new. If the Yanks were letting a new player wear #4 on the field, I could see being more upset. But, really, the Yanks have retired so many numbers that even that is losing its specialness.
Believe it or not, I'm actually a guy who does not like the practice of retiring jersey numbers. I like how the Raiders and Cowboys do not retire numbers. But the thing is, the vast majority of teams retire numbers and they treat it as a big deal. So then I end up buying into the whole thing and, as a result, get a little tweaked about Rice/Largent and Gehrig/Carter type stuff. How many star players change teams in the offseason and then pay their new teammate to switch jersey numbers? Jersey numbers are quite important to many players. Ehh, enough already from me. I'm rambling at this point. I think you just talked me into not giving a shit anymore.
I think it's ridiculous when any fan of the Yankees has a jersey with the guy's name on the back of it. Like Ruth over the 3 or DiMaggio over the 5. Really? This is coming from a Mets fan, too. Any fan of the Yankees should know it ain't right. At least now your Giambi jersey could now (easily, in fact) be a Texiera jersey.
I really dont care about him using the number, whatever those things are going to be in the discount bin in two months. I don't care Jay Z doesnt play for the Yankees. Though not gonna lie, the hats look sweet
It's one thing to allow customization, it's another to allow a name on the back hanging in a store. It's embarrassing for the organization but we know it's all about money so I don't really worry about. Sports stopped being about the fans a long time ago.
What's the difference (in the context of one being embarrassing and the other not)? You should either find both offensive or neither.
The customized ones aren't on display, I don't find either offensive. I am not going to picket outside Yankee Stadium I just think it embarrasses the organization. I am not losing sleep over it but if they add a plaque in Monument Park to commemorate the Jay Z/Eminem concert then I might lose it:smile:
But that doesn't make sense, either. It's not the actual act of selling the goods that is embarrassing, only that they are displaying them? *shrugs* I dunno. That doesn't seem very consistent.
I agree with you on this, I'm have a ton of jerseys hanging in my closet especially college jerseys and I hate those fake looking Colosuem ones. They look awful so I wouldn't buy one. It's not even the fact that they're selling them but I think it's a slap to Gehrig and his legacy. I don't see the Orioles running around with Norton on the back of a Ripken Jersey or the Dbacks selling Alice Cooper jerseys. It's a cash grab and I'm sure they'll make plenty of money but it doesn't change the fact that it's stupid. The mets are a disgrace and always looking to make money without giving the fans a winner so don't be surprised when you see the #5's with Seinfeld on LosMets.com
You can get any name on a jersey but they aren't displying jerseys that have those names on them. if some Jay Z fan wants to customize a jersey w/ S Carter #4 that's up to them but they shouldn't be displaying such jerseys at the Stadium. I think they already sell "Los Mets" jerseys:up:
i am no way close to a fan of the yankees. BUT it annoys me to no end when yankee fans wear yankee jerseys with the name of the player on the back.
Right. You already said that. That's the part that doesn't seem consistent to me. If Gehrig's number is sacred, then it shouldn't be okay for any fan to wear a jersey with his number. If it's not, then it shouldn't be a problem whether it's displayed or not. The act of displaying that jersey, to me, seems like an odd place to draw the line between embarrassing or not. Especially when you say it's not about the fans. They're selling those jerseys (presumably) because they think the fans will want them and purchase them. We know why Francessa drew the line there; he's a blowhard who wants to maximize his ratings by ranting about something. That doesn't mean the reasoning makes much sense.
Holy shit, I typed in www.losmets.com and it redirected to http://mlb.mlb.com/es/index.jsp?c_id=nym with the Mets site in Spanish. Who knew. I guess the 'mazin's really are going for that market.
Wait, you mean the Yankees are trying to grow their fan base in addition to catering to current fans?! Well, that's it. You've convinced me. This is an embarrassment.
this is stupid Jay-Z isn't playing the outfield for the Yankees, who cares if it's on a bunch of teeshirts, most real old school Yankee fans with any appreciation of Gehrig probably don't know anything about Jay-z
No they are trying to sell more merchandise. There's a difference. if they were trying to grow the fanbase maybe they wouldn't charge outrageous ticket prices and we'd see Yankee Stadium full on a regular basis again? Again, it's not a big deal to allow customization but it is an embarrassment to have on their website and in the Stadium jerseys w/ S Carter #4. I'm surprised they don't have Steinbrenner patches on those S Carter jerseys.
Hey, you're the one who called it a new fanbase. I'm going off what you said. Why don't you just come out and say "black people"? (I'm kidding.)
