What Is The Motivation?

Whenever I go to a sporting event, I expect to see a fair amount of the other team's fans wearing the visiting team apparel. I can even roll with wearing the jersey of a team in a different sport, but at least from the same city, because you have still declared a side. But, during the Celtics' game the other night, the Jumbotron (and subsequently the national broadcast) showed a couple fans in the stands wearing Lakers gear. For those of you who don't follow basketball, the Celtics are currently playing the Magic. Now, I'm sure that these two just like to get attention anyway they can and in that spectrum they succeeded. I can only hope the beating they got once they left the stadium from the drunk crew of Sully, Murphy, Sully, Sully and O'Doyle was totally worth being on TV for 25 seconds. (Seriously, one of them was wearing one of those awful half home/half away jerseys. That alone is worth a punch to the ribs.) While I understand that the Lakers and Celtics are long-time rivals, I have never understood the practice of wearing the jersey of a team that is not involved in the game you are attending. When I worked at Gillette Stadium there was a guy who always wore a Giants jersey, no matter who the Patriots were against. It never failed to vex me.

The way I can figure it, there are only 5 reasons you could ever justify wearing the jersey of an uninvolved third team to a sporting event. They are as follows:

-It's a brand new player's old team jersey. If your team recently acquired a star player from another team and they haven't started to mass-produced his new jersey yet, you can get away with wearing his old one. However, this is voided after a period of one offseason, so no more Kevin Garnett Timberwolf jerseys.

-A retired Hall of Fame player is now coaching another team. For example, if there was a Knick fan living in Boston when Patrick Ewing inevitably gets his first coaching job with another team, I would allow him coming to the Fleetcenter in a Knick jersey to show support for one of the greatest players in franchise history. But, it has to be an all-time great. Rocking a Celtic jersey because Rick Carlisle is now the coach is pushing it.

-It's the college jersey of a star player's Alma mater. This one pushes the boundaries, but I'll allow it. If you want to wear a Kentucky jersey to a John Wall game I guess that makes some level of sense. I mean, I wouldn't do it, but then again, I wouldn't do a lot of things sports fans want to do.

-You plan to use the jersey as a giant middle finger to the other team's fan. In this regard, wearing a Giants jersey to a Patriots game is a master stroke. Let's face it, Patriots fans still have very few comebacks for "18-1". However, I don't give that guy credit, because the Super Bowl hadn't happened yet.

-You're a tourist from a far away land. You know nothing of this sport you are watching and this was the only jersey you could find. Even then, the people you are travelling with should know better.