I’ve noticed the last few years that athletes are getting more and more ink each year. Do you think this takes away from the whole “uniform” aspect of uniforms?
I’m not asking if they should be allowed or not, that’s between them and the league. I’m asking what you as a fan think.
I do believe that tats are out of hand now. I think they detract from the professional appearance I expect from pro athletes. Basketball in particular looks like pickup gaming at the Y.
And you expect this… why?
I mean, I agree, they look stupid, but pro athletes have looked “unprofessional” for a long, long time; across all sports. Long hair, unruly beards, tattoos, etc…
I really, really, really don’t give a crap what they do to their own skin.
Long hair and beards and stuff like that only affects the face. Tattoos affect the whole body, and they absolutely wreck the concept of uniformity. I really like tattoos in general, but the concept does not fit with the concept of a uniform-looking team. This is why the Marine Corps, for instance, does not allow sleeves or any tattoos that would not be covered up with a standard issue T-shirt. They understand that it undermines the uniform appearance.
This is absurd. Tattoos do not cover up a uniform, which pretty much defines the concept of uniformity.
Their skin, not my problem. However, I do worry about impressionable kids getting inked up before they really know the long term consequences, and that may be influenced by sports or other entertainment stars. I won’t sit here and pass judgment, but for the life of me, I can’t think of anything I’d want on my skin for the rest of my life, and the concept perplexes me. To each his own, though.
It’s just a passing fad of the rich and unimaginative, like a thousand other things through history
Don’t care. Yes, some of them have a lot of tattoos and you probably see more bad ones than good ones, but it doesn’t concern me.
I watch their skills, not their appearance… Maybe in the WNBA though I would pay attention and pull out my 1-10 scale. Tattoos are just tattoos and don’t hurt anyone.
What a bunch of babies.
Watching the NCAA March Madness, I saw a few basketball players who weren’t pro (yet) who I thought had let their tattoos get out of hand.
Or to put it a different way, their arms were so covered in tattoos, I wasn’t sure whether they’d have unmarked skin left to put tattoos on once they got to the pros.
I’m not pro-tattoo, but I’m not sure what uniforms and tatoos have to do with each other.
Yeah, I’m not getting the link between tattoos and uniforms either. Now, if there was a sudden trend of NBA players insisting on wearing fedoras and pith helmets onto the court, I could see the argument.
Body modification is still in its infancy. Wait until gene manipulation comes of age!
The only one I can think of where it’s a problem is the guy in Denver with the horrendous thing along the front of his neck.
Quite! Two hats at once?! Rubbish!
I envisioned fedoras for the home team and pith helmets for the visitors, but your way works equally well.
I dislike tattoos in general and think they are getting out of hand in society in general. I don’t think sports are in decidedly worse shape than society as a whole, not sure how I’m supposed to vote here.
There are going to be a lot of really fucking stupid looking people at the retirement home in about 30 years.
A uniform is supposed to make everyone look the same. How is this a difficult concept for people to get? Are the people who don’t get it that aesthetically naive or are they just being deliberately obtuse?
When it was first decided that sportsmen like basketball players would wear uniforms, nobody ever envisioned that the sleeveless nature of the jerseys would ever interfere with the uniformity because back then you didn’t have players with tattoos. Nobody would have ever conceived of it. But today, we have basketball players covered in tattoos, and these tattoos are clearly visible on the legs and on the arms, since those parts of the body are not covered up by the uniform.
Changing the uniform by adding sleeves and pants is obviously unworkable. What we are left with is lots of players that are subverting the concept of the uniform, deliberately or not, with their tattoos.
It’s supposed to make it clear which players are on which team. Tattoos don’t interfere with that at all.