Soccer Jerseys - A Fad among Soccer Lovers

Soccer players are not the only persons who wear soccer jerseys. These days more and more people are wearing jerseys of their favorite soccer team. Wearing authentic jerseys to promote their favorite teams and display their affiliations is not a new concept among sports lovers. However, off late wearing authentic jerseys of popular teams has acquired the status of passion. Even though you will find people of all ages wearing replica jerseys, young and college going crowd displays and added inclination towards soccer jersey.

Soccer Jersey- Reasons for Increasing Popularity

Soccer has always lagged behind as sports apparel-merchandising opportunity in America. Traditionally soccer uniforms were not as popular as football, basketball, hockey and baseball sports gear. However, the World Cup Soccer in 1994 has added a new dimension to the popularity of this sport. Thereafter sports apparel of soccer has gained extreme popularity and sports equipment manufacturers are overwhelmed by the continuous expansion in demand for authentic jerseys and replica jerseys.

Authentic jerseys of soccer are not only popular during the soccer season but people prefer to wear them even otherwise. This jersey is a short sleeve T-shirt type jersey and is very comfortable. Since the official gear of soccer teams has bright and vibrant colors, it is more of a fashion statement and display of style for the younger generation.

You can shop for a jersey of your favorite soccer team or player at the nearby sports apparel store, departmental store or online sports apparel stores. If you are on a lookout for authentic jerseys, you should contact the sports store or the team's store selling the official gear. It is better to buy sports apparel at least two months before the start of the soccer season. That time the stores have fresh stock of sports merchandise and you can pick a good jersey of your favorite soccer team.

Self Improvement Blog

Learning from Sport - By George!

George was a runner. A quarter-miler. One of the best.

His club, South London Harriers, wrote to his RAF Commanding Officer to explain that George was an athlete. George was put in charge of the squadrons athletic team.

George won the London Championship and his County Championship. But a muscle sprain and an uncomfortable night, trying to sleep on a hard wooden floor, probably cost him the All England Championship at Bath in 1949. George came second.

His hand-crafted running spikes sit beside me in my study.

George was a boxer.

From the time I was a young boy, we used to spar together. Hed be pretty gentle until Id catch him off guard with a punch. Then hed really show me how to do it!

His boxing gloves hang in my study.

George loved tennis.

His old wooden tennis rackets were put to good use when we used them to practice badminton in the back garden. Once Id learnt to control a heavy tennis racket, using a lightweight badminton racket seemed easy.

One of those old rackets stands in the corner.

George taught me to run and to swim. To cycle and to play chess. We joined a badminton club. We played squash and Monopoly. Holidays were spent playing cricket, learning to row and flying kites. We queued up for hours in the cold and the rain to get tickets to see Sutton United play Leeds in the 4th round of the FA Cup. I sat on his knee to watch Henry Cooper knock down Muhammed Ali. We revelled in England winning the World Cup. And my first attempts at golf were with George.

When my children were small it seemed perfectly natural to enjoy sport with them too. Cycling, running, football, netball, badminton, tennis, rugby, swimming; not to mention endless indoor games. Whilst other children were hanging around the streets, mine were too busy training and looking after themselves.

Sport and sportsmanship is ingrained in our lives thanks to George.

Yesterday, I was with George when he was diagnosed as suffering from cerebral atrophy. We didnt understand exactly what the doctor was telling us but a leaflet with the tablets she prescribed said Alzheimers.

George and I are lucky. Were into extra time and were going to play this game the way it should be played. Right up to the final whistle.

I love you Dad.

Water Beds

Gamers in the Game

Sometimes at night, while I sleep, I dream that I am the point guard on Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls. Other nights, I bat cleanup for the Chicago White Sox. If that isnt busy enough, I still often find time to quarterback Jimmy Johnsons Dallas Cowboys.

The bad thing about my dreams: they end.

By no means am I a professional athlete. Yet almost every night, I watch myself on TV draining three pointers, hitting towering home runs, and throwing sky scraping touchdown passes with the best in the game.

I realize all my sports dreams are make believe. I live for lifes little pleasures.

The tiny light at the end of my tunnel is thanks to todays digital technology. I can become a professional athlete by creating myself in a video game.

Im not the only person to do it, or to have ever done it.

Joffrey Lupul is a winger for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. In addition, he is also a featured athlete in EA Sports NHL 2004.

I used to create my own player and try to make it look as much like me as possible, said Lupul in an interview with John Gaudiosi of ESPN Gamer. I guess now I wont have to do that.

Sports video games have been evolving since Pong, a tennis-like game where two players use long bars to defend their end of the screen from what vaguely resembles a ball. It debuted on the Atari game system in 1976. In 2003, the top-selling game of the year was EA Sports Madden NFL 2004, which sold over 1.3 million copies in its first week.

Unlike me, many athletes today do not need to create a digital image of themselves to be featured in a game. Todays popular sports video games have the characteristics of all active players. Professionally licensed games even have players accurate height, weight, and hometown. The best games even feature individual trademarks of certain players, like Vince Carters classic double-handed sky point after a furious dunk, or Ichiros bailout first step as he swings at an inside pitch.

When I was a little kid, everybody could do the same dunks and lay-ups, said Jay Williams in an interview with Patrick Hruby of ESPN Gamer. Williams, formerly an NBA point guard, plays video games daily as a diversion from the rigors of rehabilitating his left leg following a 2003 motorcycle accident. I remember last year, the game version of me was doing the same hand gestures I do.

The NCAA prohibits endorsement by its amateur athletes, but that doesnt mean collegiate athletes are less fortunate. All the player attributes are there, only the names are deleted to protect the unpaid.

Jason Colson is a 61, 215 pound, sophomore tailback who proudly wears No. 24 at West Virginia University (WVU). In EA Sports NCAA Football 2005, his name has been changed to HB #24, but the height, weight, and class rank are all the same. When No. 24 steps into the backfield, the game player knows they are about to hand off to Mr. Colson.

As a youngster, I never pictured myself being in a video game, said Colson. Its cool playing as yourself.

Todays younger athletes have grown up in the video game generation. All of them have memories of playing games as kids and teens. Many still play.

One of my favorite game players growing up was Terrell Davis in the Madden games, remembers Kay-Jay Harris, another WVU tailback you can find in NCAA Football 05, starring as HB #1. [Davis] never looked like he was running that fast, yet no one could catch him. Our running styles are similar.

Most athletes play video games the way most gamers play: as entertainment, for fun. In WVUs football player lounge, a PlayStation2 (PS2) is plugged in next to the team TV. Several players take the games they play on the screen as serious as the games they play on the field.

Ray Lewis, whose spastic pre-game dances and primal, near death-causing hits on the field make him one of the most intimidating players in the NFL, is also known to be one of the most competitive video game players in the league. Lewis hates to lose at anything he does. Thanks to his competitiveness on the field and in front of the screen, Lewis became the first defensive player to be chosen as cover man for the 2005 installment of EAs Madden NFL series in August.

Video game popularity with athletes has soared because of the free time they have in the off-season.

[Games are] relaxing. Its pure entertainment. This is the way you kill four, five hours, Lewis said in an interview with Matt Wong of ESPN Gamer. You have your boys over, you have your kids over, and you have a big tournament. We might have three TVs going.

I played [EA Sports] MVP Baseball 2004 all summer long, and Rasheed Marshall and I played MarioKart on [Ninetendo] Gamecube for a week straight, said Harris. I could play games like that all day, 10 straight.

Games are clearly the best cure for the off-season blues, but many athletes see the benefits video games have as recruiting tools.

Video games can be a positive influence for younger kids, who might not have started skating yet, said Minnesota Wild center Pierre-Marc Bouchard, in an interview with Gaudiosi. If you get into the realism of the video games, kids might try street hockey and eventually graduate to the rink.

The National Hockey League has been entrenched in a lockout since Sept. 16. With no end in sight, holding the interest of young fans will be crucial to its future. While it seems possible that the entire 2004-2005 season could be cancelled, fans can still find excitement by turning on their PS2.

Its tough to replicate the battles along the boards in video games, said Eric Staal in an interview with Gaudiosi. Staal plays center for the NHLs Carolina Hurricanes. But if kids dont know anything about hockey, [video games] are fun to play because its up and down action and scoring goals.

Microsofts Xbox, PS2, and GameCube allow sports to be played year round. Fans can get their fix at any time of the year with a simple flip switch. Indeed, they are simulated, but the World Series can go on in the dead of winter, and hockey games can hit the ice in the scorch of summer.

For athletes, video games can help them stay entertained, or distracted, when they arent on the field.

For future athletes, gaming consoles provide the ultimate first step to falling in love with a sport.

Video games allow all who play to live outside themselves. Armchair quarterbacks become heroes. On the field quarterbacks get the opportunity to dominate their most hated rivals. Everyone can live out dreams in cyber world they never could on the field.

Free Online Dating