Dress Code

"My son & I at the Red River Rivalry in 2010 appropriately dressed!"

Ninety percent of reality is perception. It is what it is! So everything in life is whatever it's perceived to be.  That's why I need to have a heart to heart with all of my guys that think it's OK to put on another GROWN man's jersey! Bruh, it's under no circumstances permissible! Let's put that on the table right now. I know you see boyz doing it all of the time but they don't know any better. It's like the blind leading the blind at this point.

 Grown men need to look like grown men bruh even at the game. Let me be specific so there's no confusion. I’m hollering to two sets of individuals. Those men that are at least thirty years old and those cats that have children that are at least ten years old. Cat's less than thirty without kids are still trying to figure out what they wanna be so I give them a pass.

A dun that is at least thirty is what the ole timers call “A Fully Grown Man”. Regardless of whether he has children or not, it isn’t permissible for him to walk around looking like a child. A man with children that are at least ten years old shouldn’t leave the house dressed like his kids regardless of his age because one of y'all has to at least look grown. While we’re at it let’s throw in the flat bib baseball caps and the sagging pants too.

I’m not saying that a grown man can’t represent his favorite team. However, that’s why they make team apparel like dry fit polo’s, T-shirts, jogging suits etc. It’s definitely OK to put on your team logo baseball cap too. Just not the flat bib joint bruh. Gentleman, once you become a grown man, you have to assume the look of a grown man. You can't leave the house looking like you're on your way to high school with my fifteen year old.

Although that look can be very fashionable it's a childish look to say the least. I’m speaking specifically about the hats, jerseys and matching sneakers. My son and his boyz rocks that type of gear! If I walk around looking like him, people won’t take me seriously. I am his father, so therefore, I’ve got to look like his father. I can’t afford to look like one of his boyz and we're hanging out in the same places. If you and your son leave the house rockin' the same gear ya'll look like you're about to holler at the same chicks homeboy!

 I think back to how embarrassing would it have been when I was growing up if my dad were rockin' the same gear that my friends and I were wearing. What if I were in the basement with my boyz back in '83 and we were rockin' the shell toe Adidas, Kangols and dookie ropes and my ole man came downstairs with them joints on too? How crazy would he look and how dumb would I feel?

I hear some cat saying , “Well I don’t have kids so I’m good”. Let's keep it real or all the way 100, which ever comes 1st. If you’re Andrew Luck's age with his jersey on you look like a groupie even if you‘re at the game bruh. Think about this… you could potentially show up in the same places he hangs out after the game, like at a restaurant or night club etc. Let's say you're standing at the bar ordering a drink and he walks up to order one too. How stupid do you look? Even though he's making money off of you he's shaking his head. See it's somewhat OK for a professional athlete to wear one of his boyz jerseys because they're on the same level. I still have a problem with it though but it's cool. It's also OK for a father to wear his son's joint because he's daddy! However, the regular cat wearing some other Joe's jersey looks like a groupie.


I’ve got several friends that have played professional sports including basketball, football and baseball. They’re all retired now but it wasn’t uncommon for them to think that people that wore jerseys looked stupid. You can’t be a grown man wearing another man's name of your back. I equate the guy that puts on another man's jersey to a woman that puts on her man's shirt after sex and walks around the house smelling it.

 As much as I liked Eric Dickerson when I was in high school. I wouldn’t have dared to put on his jersey, even when I was eighteen years old for those same reasons. Maybe because I was an athlete and it just seemed silly to me to rock another cats jersey.

Lastly, what kind of grown woman wants to show up somewhere with a child dressed up like a grown man. Ya’ll catch that one later. If your hanging out with women that don’t mind you wearing jerseys. Then they’re probably dressed up like their teenaged daughters and you guys are meant for one another.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
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