I have a fairly extensive collection of sports jerseys from various sports, thought I rarely actually wear them. Of all sports, I think the soccer jersey is the best for wearing in normal every day life, especially as jerseys in other sports tend to be oversized for the average American male. Player-level (what they wear) jerseys tend to go as small as 40 (men’s medium), and I’d normally wear a 36 (small).
That said, I do like to wears jerseys to support my fandom, either going to a game (rare now) or watching key games from the team on TV. Unfortunately, I’ve convinced myself that my jersey wearing is strongly correlated (if not causal!) to my team losing.
I don’t remember a win while watching a game on TV with a jersey. Some of the brutal losses:
- Warriors lose to Cavs in 2017 Finals, Game 7
- 49ers lose to Chiefs in 2020 Super Bowl
- 49ers lose to Ravens, this past Thanksgiving, the only time I wore a jersey this year.
I am sure there are a few more, because this guilt has been building over time. Am I typically superstitious? No. But last night went too far.
I wore my Patrick Willis jersey watching the 49’ers fall behind 24-7. I decided to take off the jersey, just in case.
The 49ers went on to overcome the largest half-time deficit in NFL conference championship history. It didn’t even take the full game, it took 12 minutes, less than a quarter. to overcome the curse.
No jersey wearing for the Super Bowl.
I Spit Hot Fire 