Avoiding the Drop

My soccer shirt collection; small but mighty!

Thanks to Fuse for allowing me to guest post for “Out of the Closet” this week and next. In putting this week’s collection together, my theme was “Gifts”. All the shirts featured this week are shirts that I did not have to pay for. The added bonus with nearly all of these shirts is that they are also shirts that I wear on a regular basis.

Shirt #1: Portsmouth FC (Thank you Miss Tina!)

I received this shirt from my eldest daughter’s ballet teacher. She is originally from Portsmouth and last spring when she returned to England to visit, she brought this back for me. Her sister still lives there and her niece actually takes dance lessons at a studio across the street from “Fortress Fratton”.  I have a number of shirts from Premier League and Championship League teams and this is the only shirt with an “inscription” on the back collar. It was hard to get the camera to focus it, so here it is:

“I grant the city a crescent of gold on a shade of azure with a blazing star of eight points”

– King Richard I The Lionheart

Shirt #2: Hammarby IF (Thanks Lisa!)

For a number of years, one of the fifth grade teachers at my prior school would frequently travel to Sweden to visit her father. With every trip she would bring back gifts for the other teachers, usually sweets and other Swedish foods, but NEVER anything for her favorite assistant principal. When Charlie Davies broke onto the US Soccer scene, I mentioned to her that he used to play in Sweden for Hammarby. Low and behold last summer just before my transfer to another school, she came to my office with my farewell gift:  a Hammarby jersey that her cousin gave to her to give to me. Apparently her cousin is a “super fan” who attends EVERY Hammarby match complete in green and white body paint. Interestingly, this shirt is labeled as an XXL, which leads me to wonder if modern day Swedes are not as swarthy as their Viking ancestors because it fits me perfectly.

Shirt #3: Syndey FC (Thanks Loraine!)

(Forgive me FUSE; I know it’s a Reebok.) This jersey was given to me by the eighty year old mother of one of my teacher friends. Before I was an assistant principal, I worked as a technology trainer for the school district. Loraine had some computer problems, but lived about 30 miles away. She was absolutely amazed that I was able to log into her computer remotely and solve her problem. She promised to bring me something back from her trip to Australia to thank me for my “genius”. (Her words; not mine. However, feel free to agree with her all you like.) It is only one of two tops I have with a sponsor on the back. Australians must be quite frugal because the MBF sponsorship is overlaid on top of a previous sponsor (ABH Health Insurance).

Shirt #4: Fulham FC (Thanks Liz, Gabbi, Emmy, Livi, and Zeke!)

This was my birthday present last year from my wife and kids and I love it. It is a “complete” top with league patches on the sleeves and official name and numbers. This would be perfect except that it is a little on the big size. The reason being that NIKE has the most frustrating sizing consistency of any of the shirts I have. Prior to this shirt, I had two other NIKE shirts in an extra large that fit OK, but are a little snug through the shoulders and armpits. My kids had heard me mumble about this on occasion so they told my wife to order it in a XXL. It fits great through the shoulders/pits, but hangs a little long everywhere else. I still love it and probably wear more often than any other shirt I have. It also is great because when it gets “cold” here in Vegas I can wear a black or a white Under Armour shirt and it still looks official.

Shirt #5: Everton FC (5K in 25:34.5 – You lose Matt!)

While not technically a gift, I did not have to pay for it. My friend Matt and I have working on losing weight and getting back into “college shape” for awhile. We decided to buy this shirt to wear for our first 5K race, winner to get reimbursed by the loser. I know this shirt has gotten a lot of hate from most of the ATD family, but I absolutely love it! Perhaps it is because it really does stand out in a crowd, perhaps it is because I “earned” the wearing of it through all the workouts leading up to the competition of the 5K, or perhaps because it is the only soccer shirt I own that made my daughters say,  “Ooooh! I like that one Daddy!” when I first put it on. Whatever it is, it is one of my favorites. On a side note, my daughters were all happy to receive one of their own for Christmas this year….hmmmmmm perhaps an Everton “Away” Christmas card is in order for 2011!

Shirt # 6: England (Thanks Jennifer!)

Another shirt that was given to me by a teacher  (kindergarten) at my last school. While not an official kit, this is one of the most treasured shirts I have. Jennifer was dying from brain cancer for most of last school year and on the days she felt well enough to come to work, there were a number of us who would drive her to and from work. She lost her battle in August. However, one day last spring, when I picked her up she gave me a gift wrapped box saying, “The world cup is starting pretty soon, right?”.  I still can’t believe she thought of this shirt and me with everything else she had going on at that time, but then that pretty much sums up what kind of teacher and person she was.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment on any of the above. Next week’s theme “The Comfort Collection”.