I just saw my second Chicago White Sox jacket within 5 minutes here on the streets of Barcelona. There must be a big White Sox contingent in Barcelona or perhaps Antoni Gaudi was a baseball fan? Neither are likely and both are incorrect.
I have noticed most of the Catalan people in Barcelona are progressively, often fashionably, dressed. This is a culturally vibrant city after all. The jeans are ripped by designers and the belts stand out. Their shirts are worn to draw attention to either a design or certain body parts. [“Quit starring at the girl’s breasts, Billy”].
One item of clothing you will not find is a baseball hat. Ball caps are seldom worn, at least not in the winter months. This does not stop people from supporting their favorite sports team. (FC Barcelona is THE team, religion, sports symbol of Barcelona. The Gods of Messe and Henry rule this town, but I’m not here to point this point out.) Percentage-wise, the people in Barcelona wear just as many U.S. sports jersey’s as fans back in the States.* I have seen shirts and jackets from teams ranging from the Packers, Yankees, Red Sox, Lakers, Bulls, Cubs, and the Kansas City Chiefs.
I chalked this up as just America exporting its culture and a foreign nation adopting this as cool. I also thought they liked these teams because they saw a game once or liked a certain player. Perhaps they even liked the sport and just wanted to show support. I own a FC Barcelona jersey for this reason.
It was in Berlin that I discovered a few insights into the European fascination with U.S. sports regalia. In Berlin, I found more Berliners wearing hats of their favorite teams. Here the I found Yankees and Braves hats popular, among other teams. On my first night, I asked Joe, a metal guitar player, why he wore a Yankees cap. (seen here not in hat)
“[Joe,] I noticed your Yankees hat. Are you a fan of the Yankees?”
“No.” He said. “I like the city. I want to visit [New York] one day, something I have always wanted to do.”
There you have it. Joe and many other Europeans know nothing of baseball or [American] football, but use the symbols of our sports teams to hold on to their desire to visit America one day.** This sentiment was echoed but I still do not see it ringing true.
Seeing the Braves hats et al. worn on the heads of both East and West Berliners brought me comfort in knowing that we not only have a kick-ass baseball team, but we export the shit out of it as well. Even if we as baseball fans in America are not buying into the sport like in the past, at least our friends in the rest of the world are supporting our local clubs.
*I am not checking facts I make up
**As a representative European, I will generalize Joe’s opinion to be true of all Europeans
WRudolph is not on assignment but has decided to recount his sports encounters on a recent trip to Barcelona and Berlin. Stay tuned for more updates
2 comments. Leave Your Own!:
Awesome post, I can't wait to here more of the ignorant Europeans. It makes me, as an American, feel that much smarter (about sports).
When I was in Paris, I saw a guy wearing a Detroit Tigers hat. I ask him what city the hat was from, and he didn't know, nor did he know the team was called the "Tigers."
Hey fashion is fashion, and if they are buying merchandise, it means more money to spend on the team. Let them have their fun.
Living in Belgium I know what you're talking about adam. People here wear especially the caps their favorite rapper wears therefore Yankees (50 Cent), Tigers (Eminem), Dodgers (The Game, Dr Dre...), caps dominate. I have found that people don't realize these are baseball caps, they think these are city symbols like the "I love NY" t-shirt is. That's why I wear my Brewers cap so proudly because it actually means something to me.
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