BuzzerBeater Forums

Excellent points.

I dont think a person gives up his identity when he wears a uniform. I wear decidedly different clothes at work then I do in my free time. I speak differently to my boss than I do to my buddies at the bar. Is this a concession of my identity?

The Yankees have a policy about facial hair. If a player got traded to the Yanks in this hypothetical example, and had a beard that he refused to shave so the yanks fined and benched him. Which side of this argument would you tend to side with? Not quite sure myself.

I dont think a person gives up his identity when he wears a uniform. I wear decidedly different clothes at work then I do in my free time. I speak differently to my boss than I do to my buddies at the bar. Is this a concession of my identity?

Of course, wearing a uniform means you are a part of that particular team (and it's useful for identification purposes along the match). But if a player wants to express himself by using extravagant haircuts, exuberant tattoos, using his daddy's shoe brand... as long as it doesn't affect his performance on the field, why not?
As for the example you gave regarding the work environment, it just means that you keep your private and professional lives separated. So, yes... that separation, is itself a part of who you are. As long as you feel comfortable, nothing wrong with it.

The Yankees have a policy about facial hair. If a player got traded to the Yanks in this hypothetical example, and had a beard that he refused to shave so the yanks fined and benched him. Which side of this argument would you tend to side with? Not quite sure myself.

I don't know enough about baseball to talk about it. For example, I know there are Olympic marathon athletes and speed athletes that shave their hair in the legs, so they can have less air resistance. I don't know if that's the reason for that policy. If that's the case, I think it is completely justified. If it is based on tradition, I think it is completely absurd. I mean, hundred and fifty years ago, racial segregation was a tradition. We've developed since then, haven't we? We understood that it was a very unfair, unfounded and plain ignorant thing to do, haven't we? Then, there's no reason not to cut a tradition that directly affects personal freedom of expression. Plus, I think that giving the opportunity for a player to express himself (within a certain reason, as I said before) might influence in a positive way his self-confidence.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that, the reason why you do it matters. And that's something I'm missing about that particular example, that prohibits me from giving a more explicit opinion on it.

Last edited by the L train at 10/29/2009 4:21:07 PM

You make a good argument. I believe the Yankee rule (which may not even be in effect anymore, but I think it is) is because the ownership felt the players should look professional and somewhat clean cut. I agree that being able to express who you are can help motivate you to play better, but I also think that too much 'on-court' personal expression can be a distraction and may subtract from the whole 'team-unity' thing. Something to be said for a guy who leaves his personality in the locker room and goes on the court as a professional concerned about winning. I dont wear dress clothes to work to hide my personality, I do it because it is a condition of employment, like athletes who must conform to uniform requirements.

Good post, I think you may have swayed me more towards the 'personal expression' side of the fence.

You make a good argument. I believe the Yankee rule (which may not even be in effect anymore, but I think it is) is because the ownership felt the players should look professional and somewhat clean cut. I agree that being able to express who you are can help motivate you to play better, but I also think that too much 'on-court' personal expression can be a distraction and may subtract from the whole 'team-unity' thing. Something to be said for a guy who leaves his personality in the locker room and goes on the court as a professional concerned about winning. I dont wear dress clothes to work to hide my personality, I do it because it is a condition of employment, like athletes who must conform to uniform requirements.

Of course, there's a limit for everything. When it begins to affect the player's performance, I believe it's time to intervene. It's very hard to draw a line at the beginning, but I don't believe that prohibiting it completely it is the way to go. It's like banning pets because you don't know how to handle them. In that aspect, it may require a couple of tries before you get to the right policy.

That way, I think that the professional look can be summed up to tidiness. But more important than that is having a professional attitude. Because, it's true, they are on their jobs... but they are also on the entertainment business. So, it's required for them to have a certain showman's spirit. And there are good examples of showmanship with extravagant looks. Birdman, comes to my mind. Playing skills opinions aside, I really think he tries to keep the crowd and the team excited while playing around with one of his favorite themes. I don't see how that subtracts on the "team unity" spirit. Au contrair, to be honest, I think it adds a lot. And I think he's tidy. Shirt tucked in, clean clothes at the beginning and leveled socks. For Jordan, this could be a more intimate motivation but still as important.

So no more Dennis Rodmans?


Last edited by Solana_Steve at 10/30/2009 12:12:37 AM

Rodmans are fine, as long as they dont wear the wedding dress for the game :)

I think it's horrendous that a corporation can dictate to amateur athletes still attending an educational institution what footwear they have to use to play for the college team.

But if the university really did make that promise, they should rip up their contract with Adidas and sign a deal with Nike. If i was in Nike's marketing department, I'd sure as hell compensate them for any breach of contract. It's great PR for Nike and a no-win situation for the three stripes.




Last edited by Elmacca at 10/30/2009 7:29:07 PM

I should add, some premiership footballers have been known to wear one brand's boots made up to look like another brand. Perhaps that's an idea for Marcus.

Looks like we've got a resolution:

(http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/os-adidas-ucf-contract...)

Marcus Jordan wins. No more adidas contract for UCF.

Last edited by IronDoofus at 11/5/2009 10:42:19 AM

So how good is this kid? Its not like UCF is a powerhouse basketball program.