In Which I Obsess About Uniforms, Part 2

For those of you who were a fan of the first article in this series, I apologize in advance. This is going to take a much darker turn. Still plenty of pictures, but a more serious topic. I was in the middle of writing an article taking a look around the league, but while I was researching for that article, I found an interesting piece by a Mr. John Stiegerwald, a longtime Pittsburgh Sports Announcer. In the article, he actually went after Mr. Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was assaulted and put into a coma by drunk Dodger "fans". I'd advise you to give it a read before continuing with this, but I'll briefly go over what he said.

In the article, Mr. Stiegerwald accosts Mr. Stow (who he calles Bryan Snow, which is like pissing on his grave at this point) for actually wearing the Giants Jersey in the first place. He says its cute when the 7-year-old walks in with the jersey on, but wonders why adults have to go the game in jerseys and not dressed like a "regular human being". So, that leads me to believe that anyone who wears a jersey to a ballgame is seen as "less" of a human being in Mr. Stiegerwald's eyes? What makes wearing a suit and tie to a ballgame any less peculiar? When half the stadium/arena/ballpark is wearing the jersey of either the home or away team, doesn't that make you the odd man out when you go in a Hawaiian shirt and board-shorts? What do "Regular Human Beings" dress like?


With all the different ways I see "Regular Human Beings" dress in everyday life, if its in a suit, or in a t-shirt, or a turtleneck, or a nice blouse... What makes those any more normal than a Yankees Jersey? Or a Kobe Bryant Jersey?


I suppose I've been going on about this the wrong way. If one person thinks jerseys are a fashion faux pas, thats really their opinion. But the real issue is attacking one man's right to wear a Giants Jersey to a Dodgers game. Are you really accusing the victim of a brutal attack to being at fault? REALLY? The Drunk Dodger "fans" who beat him mercilessly were essentially forced to attack him because he had the gall to wear his team's jersey as he watched them play? I've read over the article a couple times now, and I can't find anywhere where he retracts his statement. I won't go as far as to say he should lose his job, but this is a great example of where taking an unpopular stand as a media member takes a very disturbing turn. You know what the sickest part is? Since I started writing this about an hour ago, the article has been viewed an additional 10000 times. I'm sure he is loving the publicity.

This is a touchy subject for me. One of my favorite fashion accessories is a stylish sports jersey. Some people actually pull them off very well. Throw in the fact that he actually blames the man in a coma for being put into a coma, and Mr. Steigerwald comes off as one of the most ignorant sports media members in the country. Congrats Bill Plaschke, it looks like you are off the hook!


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Update: The news website responsible for the article has corrected Bryan Stows name, and disabled comments because of the high volume. I looked it up, the piece now has over 65k views... the top viewed page for all of last week? Just 10k. I'm sure the Observer-Reporter (and Mr. Steigerwald) is loving the pub this is getting. Their were a total of 264 comments before the feature was disabled for the article. Here are a few of my favorites:

"Finally, someone with the cojones to step up and explain to the world that just because you are a citizen of the United States you do not have the right to not get beaten nearly to death by multiple aggressors who dislike your wardrobe. That isn't guaranteed in the bill of rights, look it up! We could all use a lesson from Doug Funny, who always wore the same green sweater vest over a white shirt and rarely if ever ended an episode in a coma."

"Ah, the Jason Whitlock school of journalism. If I say something as ridiculous as I possibly can, people will hear about it on web and find my story. Maybe I'll even get a TV interview out of it. Absolutly the time and place for a tired rant about adult wearing jerseys."

"And Rosa Parks had it coming to her for sitting in the front, right?"