Why is this item on sale?

By: Robert | April 7th, 2008

Allow me to deviate a minute from remarks and player ratings, regarding Sunday’s Houston disaster, to discuss something that for some reason irks me to no end. The other day I was searching the FC Dallas online store to find how much a Hoops scarf would cost to send to Stephen Colbert (yes I am resorting to bribery, every good politician has a price; therefore Stephen as a not as good a politician should have a lower price). Anyways, I’m on the site and low and behold what do I see for sale? An FC Dallas pennant.

Now I have no problem with the Hoops moving product, however, it seems to me that any merchandise should in some way be related to the sport at hand. Maybe I’m all alone here, but when I think pennants I think baseball. Bobby Thompson hitting the “shot heard ‘round the world” as the announcer yells “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” The pennant is a symbol of baseball success. Yet when a soccer team wins a championship, all the commentators talk about the glory of lifting the cup.

I know MLS is still struggling to make soccer appeal to the average American sports fan but co-opting the national pastime just seems wrong. I know there are probably more ridiculous items for sale out there but at least make an argument for them, for example:

FC Dallas computer mouse: It’s an online store
Earrings: Women like earrings, women like soccer, there you go (I never said they were good arguments)

I haven’t checked any other teams’ store because a) I’m too lazy and b) well, I’m too lazy to think of a “b” and maybe somewhere else lies a product even more ridiculous on sale but at this point it seems like the FC Dallas pennant is the “winner.”

So tonight in Dallas the FC stands for “forget the commerce” as we band together and boycott such silly products. Either that or get ready to buy a David Beckham LA Laker jersey…

HOOPS PRIDE!

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