Sellouts?
I've been mulling this over in my mind for the last three or four days, not continously, because it isn't that big of an issue, but for small periods of time on sucessive days.
Has CLX in some way soldout?
The Chad Larson Experience was a do-it-yourself project when we started. We're talking about homemade tee-shirts with iron on transfers. Sure, they didn't wick away sweat, indeed, they were made of cotton, possibly the worst choice for jersey material, but they were unique among high level teams.
At 2004 club nationals, of the attention we received, nearly as much could be attributed to the jerseys (blue tee and santa shorts) we wore as to the things we accomplished. News reporters and newspaper journalists chose to interview our players because we stood out in the crowd. In game write-ups, mention of our uniforms were always included. We were the unique team that was competitive without following the trends of boring ultimate.
Now, I don't wish to take away from the work that has been done on our jersies the past two years and the efforts of Shawn, James, and others, but I have to say that while CLX looks more like a team unit in our uniforms, that we've lost something in the process.
CLX got a deal from Patagonia, which, admittedly, I don't know all the details of. I am fairly sure that we pay as much for our jersies as other teams that order from Patagonia do. Thus, is it really a deal? Now we order all of our jersey components from Patagonia whether they be shirts, shorts, or now all the optional things CLXers will be sporting in the future.
I can't help but feel that we are just ordinary now. Our jersies don't set us apart, but make us look like everybody else. Idris Nolan noted on his blog (why I was reading it I don't know, his blog bores me, as mine probably does to him) in a series of observations that "nearly every" at the tournament he went to was wearing Patagonia jersies.
I was excited for new worlds jerseys, assuming they were something different from what we already had, but now it seems that we're going to have new jersies made for worlds that are simply a tweaked design on a new, possibly blander, nickel color. So, I ask, what is the need for the new jersies? I like it that our Chad design has him sporting Australian attire and gives off a worlds feel, but is it worth making everybody pay another 25 or so dollars for?
Now, there are some on the team excited about new jersies, some uninterested, and probably the majority have no opinion but are just accepting the decisions made by others. I am probably in the minority. Maybe I'm just the old man that doesn't want to accept the changes happening around him.
Shawn, if your feeling are hurt, it wasn't the point of the entry, just to voice my opinions. Again, I appreciate the work done by those involved in decking out CLX, but in a race to moderize our jersies, I think the CLX philosophy was lost along the way.
Shawn, please keep reading my blog.
posted by Kevin Seiler @ 4:48 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Unemployment + controversial blog = excessive comment length. A few points:
-Kevin, if you think that the CLX ideal - what makes this team the most unique, inspiring, joyful, successful endeavour that I've ever been a part of - is completely enveloped within the image that we convey when we step out on to the field, then I think there is a fundamental difference between how you and I view the team. All these things that you mention of the "attention we recieved," although really fun and novel and exciting, have little to do with the reason that I love playing on Chad. Given the success that we've had, people are going to talk about us no matter WHAT we wear. I don't really care that much about what other people think about our team, whether it be the media, other players, etc (this is why I have come to love the annual Carleton Mixed team - do you think any of those folks care that the other Central teams curse them and their CUT spawn for taking a spot at Nationals every year? hell no, the beer truck just pulled up in Sarasota!)- the thing that sets CLX apart, in my opinion, from every other Ultimate team I have been around, is that the players on CLX have a respect for each other that puts the team before the individual, all egos are checked at the door, and everyone uses this humility and a keen sense of humor to get through any struggles that we encounter. Case in point, our newest member, Drew - when you asked him at a critical last point in the Moe game at MUDI, "Would you rather stay another point or take a break?" Drew's instant response - "I don't know, what's better for the team?" I think that speaks volumes more than any damn Santa boxer. I still love the damn Santa boxers though.
To reduce our uniqueness to the threads that we wear out on the field, whether they be cotton, polo, capilene, velour, leather chaps -- does a disservice to the depth of this team's character.
I view the jerseys as a cool, refreshing reward on those hot summer days (and I believe many on the team appreciate) earned through all of the hard work we've put into getting ready for regionals, nationals and worlds - not an attempt to show anybody else that we're something to behold. But there sure are some beautiful ladies, no?
-Our deal with Patagonia is one that isn't even available to all Nationals teams, and is significantly better than the "half off" that is available to most teams. It's really funny that you've never even asked anyone on our team about it.
-Nobody said we were getting Patagonia Shorts for Worlds. Got any ideas? Your teammates do.
-There are things that have meant way less to me that I've spent way more than $25 on, and I'm guessing you're in the same boat. And didn't you say you had too much money?
- You ARE an old man, but you can still huck that 'bee.
-I also think this post would not have been created had "Magenta on Papyrus" won in the jersey vote.
-Kevin, I value your opinion way too much to stop reading your blog - I think we view the world in two very different, but valid ways, and I always enjoy gaining the extra perspective that you provide. And as long as you don't tell me to get off the field and never come back, you won't hurt my feelings.
First, you'd have to be ridiculous to believe that I believe that the CLX ideal and the reason I play for CLX is because of some jersey ideal. So your first two paragraphs were somewhat unnecessary.
Second, I have asked you about the deal and you've never really given me an answer that I've been able to understand. Maybe you don't remember. You don't remember some conversations we've had about them?
Third, I can't huck the bee, but I can catch it.
Fourth, I didn't look to see what jersey won the voting, I only assumed the nickel-blue won because it had so many votes when I checked it last Thursday.
Are you kidding about having ideas for worlds jersies, because I've thrown three or four out there both for shirts and for shorts.
I do have too much money, but I also refuse to buy a lot of the crap that others in my agegroup choose to buy on a regular basis. And, I am going to be in the process of getting rid of a lot of the stuff I have now. Simplify!
Later dude.
I'm probably in the indifferent/don't care camp, but I will say that:
1) Jersey choice and short choice are superficial - a lot like skin color. You can't really choose it and it doesn't reflect on who you are in any significant way. I can appreciate Kevin's concern that the jerseys might reflect a undesireable shift of values, but I really think that you've already over-thought the issue.
2) I prefer the silkweight jerseys entirely because the cotton ones were too thick and too hot. If the cotton shirts weren't so thick, I probably wouldn't have cared either way.
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