The Philippine Online Chronicles

Sports is the “modern war”. A kind of warfare where players clash with rivals, where fanatics duel with other fanatics. And as the battle becomes more and more intense, supporters devise creative ways to boost the morale of their modern gladiators. Loud howls and cheers are outdated; today, it is all about who dons their garb the proudest.

“Pride merchandise” has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms of sports fanaticism. From “Go Azkals” shirts, “Ginebra Gin Kings” jerseys, to “Manny Pacquiao: Para sa iyo ang laban na ito” ballers, these items have found themselves in the wardrobe of avid fans and supporters. Normal shirts and items instantly become the new canvass of forwarding sports popularity, a cannon catapulting it to the ranks where audience cheer their voices out.

By wearing such items, the fans become part of the intense and thrilling game. At the same time, they can cheer for their teams even outside the playing court through their shirts, ballers and other apparels. Simply put, pride merchandise removes the passive state of an individual supporter. It allows them to put themselves in the world of the players and teams they patronize.

“Wearing your support in your shirts is the most tangible manifestation of sports pride. It allows us to communicate our support,” says Gael Literal, a college student and avid sports fan.

Analyzing the situation, the ascent of “pride shirts” into the sport scene is a mutual relationship. It is beneficial to the sport for it forwards its popularity. With the shirts and other merchandise, people see the intensity of the game. Oftentimes, trends like these are by-products of the popularity of the sport. But the flight of its popularity can never escalate further without the help of this auxiliary catalysts. Merchandise fans the flames of fanaticism, furthering the pervasiveness of sports among the people.

On the other hand, businessmen who manufacture these apparel reap profits as they take advantage of the pre-established popularity of the sport. Notice how stores are strategically located at sporting event venues to convince the people to purchase, purchase, purchase.

Also, business enterprises maximize the rivalries and tension between fans of different sports teams. For instance, Adidas and Nike, two established manufacturers of sports clothing, released their limited-run school pride apparel. Tagged as “Wear a piece of history, Ateneo @ 150” and “Pump up the Animo and get the Archer in You”, they elicit school pride as part of the campaign in sports. Adidas also released their limited Ateneo and FEU sports apparel at the height of the UAAP basketball championship.

Despite the positive outcomes resulting from the manufacturing of the merchandise, others still express their doubts and apprehensions towards it. They argue that it is a means to commercialize sports. By using its popularity to gain profit, in a way, they are doing a disservice to the sports.

One of the effects of commercialism in sports is the divide between fans. Because businesses rely too much on the rivalries to escalate their gains, sometimes, they indirectly fan the furor of intense supporters, resulting in stereotyping and bashing. Reducing fanaticism to outright conflict is darkening the institution of sports.

The question of whether it really helps in forwarding sports also arises.

“Sa tingin ko, hindi naman enough ang pride shirts to express your support to the sport eh. What you must do as a fanatic is to support your teams directly—manood ka, ganun.” says Raisa Serafica, another college student.

Fanaticism is healthy in the sense that we are expressing our opinions. But if your brand of support harms others in one way or another, you should reconsider your actions. We should be critical in expressing our opinions. As in other precepts of expression, the right to show pride through one's apparel requires carefulness and responsibility.

Image taken from John Alex Reyroso on Flickr. Some rights reserved.