I love Jackie Robinson Day, and the new tradition of everyone wearing 42. You don’t think that Twins fans don’t know the guy standing out in centerfield is Byron Buxton if his name isn’t on the uniform? It’s one day honoring one of the most important people to play the game. It originally started with each team assigning one player who got to wear 42, and there was so much demand from the players that they let everyone who wanted to do it. So we’re angry with players who show too much individuality AND players who show too little?
The good news is that you were aware that you were annoying them - I guess that’s a start.
I was more bothered by him having the nickname “Showtime”. For crying out loud, your real name is literally “Golden”, you are the last person to need a nickname.
Hey, Jackie Robinson Day is great! Every year, I can win a bet: “Hey, pal, I bet that Number 42 will hit a home run today.” And every year, somebody on some team does, while wearing Number 42.
(No, I don’t actually take non-baseball fans for their money. But I have had a few ask me why everybody on the field is wearing number 42, and I’m tempted.)
While the Browns had the QB known as Robert Griffin the 3rd, with the personal brand-name “RG3”, I insisted on referring to him as “Griffin”. As far as I know, I am the only one who discussed Browns’ football who did so. Because Griffin the 1st and 2d were immaterial to me, I saw no reason to refer to them at all or to concern myself with Griffin’s status as “the third.”
Branding is important, and I have no trouble with promoting “RG3” as your brand. It’s infinitely more memorable and distinct than any other “Griffin” out there. And it’s only natural for people to talk about “RG3” instead of calling him “Griffin.” YMMV, obviously.
It only bothers me when it’s on the jersey. Sorry, your last name is Griffin, and that’s all that belongs there.
Tangent – I wonder if the NFL will someday allow names to go *under *the numbers, rather than across the shoulders. With long-haired players the name gets obscured.
And then you have players like KC Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who requested “MD” on his uniform after he graduated from med school. The league turned him down. (With a name like Duvernay-Tardif, maybe there wasn’t enough room? :p)
Actually, I like their current My Cause My Cleats campaign. It gives the players the individuality they’re otherwise denied while they raise money for their pet causes.
I’d like it if it was a year-round thing. I never pay attention to shoes until someone brings attention to them and I doubt anyone else outside of the NFL organization itself does either. It’d be cool if the cleats were a way to let players express themselves continually rather than just for a week.
The more jerseys you have, the more you can sell. I’m pretty sure that’s the NFL’s entire motivation. You might as well gripe about mascots and team names, “They’re men not fantasy monsters and airplanes, just call them ‘The New Jersey Pro Football Team’ and ‘The Other New Jersey Pro Football Team’.”
(Just as a reminder, the Bills are New York’s only NFL team.)
I would rather that nicknames etc. be freely chosen and used by fans and journalists rather than “official” nicknames chosen by corporate marketeers. Over time the nicknames should be subject to change based on the whim of the public at large.
To me, the relevant unit is the conurbation, not the state. So a team in north Jersey is a New York City team. There are two New York teams and a Buffalo team. There are no New York State teams.
Back in the 80s I remember the mayor of Detroit being pissed that the Pistons built a new arena in a suburb. My memory is hazy but he may have even threatened to sue to make them remove “Detroit” from their name. Obviously that went nowhere.
