For those in the business world, deciding what to wear to work at the end of the week is often made easier because of the tradition known as “Casual Fridays” — leave the dress shirts on the rack and pull on a nice polo or colorful Hawaiian shirt instead. For a dedicated group of San Jose Earthquakes players who find casual dress to be the norm every day, providing a sports-related twist on the concept makes for a whole lot more fun. Thus was conceived the new tradition around the Quakes’ locker room known as “Jersey Friday.”
The brainchild of second year midfielder Brad Ring — the “ringleader” if you will — with some help from teammate Joey Gjertsen, upwards of a dozen Earthquakes players can be seen showing up for Friday training sporting a wide assortment of sports memorabilia.
“Joey and I were talking about the throwback jerseys we own while on a road trip earlier this season,” Ring said. “We thought Friday would be a good day, given that it is more laid back the day before a game, so we started it up earlier this summer.”
With plenty of time to spare on the numerous road trips the team takes each season, it was no surprise to find out the genesis of “Jersey Friday.” That it quickly grew from a couple players looking for a way to spice up the locker room the day before matches to nearly half the roster is a testament to the competitive nature of professional athletes.
“I was pretty upset the first Friday that it happened,” Quakes defender Jason Hernandez said. “They kind of just mentioned it in passing to a few guys and then showed up in jerseys. There I was wearing a normal t-shirt and I asked ‘What is this? What is going on? Why wasn’t I notified?’ But since then a good group of guys have participated, and it’s become a lot of fun.”
Contrary to what you might believe, the players don’t stick to donning soccer jerseys exclusively. In fact, for Indiana University graduate Ring, his collection skews more toward the sport that is king in the Hoosier state.
“Soccer jerseys are actually rare,” noted Ring. “I have two Jordan jerseys. I have a Garnett jersey, a Pippen jersey, a Shaquille O’Neal jersey from the Magic. Mine are mainly basketball.”
Midfielder Jacob Peterson, a fellow IU alum and big fan of the hardcourt, showed up recently in full regalia representing the NBA team of his native state of Michigan.
“Last week Jacob wore a full Detroit Pistons kit — jersey, shorts, and shoes. That was a winner for sure.”
The natural competition that exists on the field for the Earthquakes players quickly translated to “Jersey Fridays,” and before long, what started as a chance for some of the guys to show off the jerseys in their collection soon took on even more importance as Ring turned the whole affair into a de facto fashion contest.
“The winner gets bragging rights and a shout-out on Twitter from Brad,” Hernandez said. “It’s all about who gets to feel the best walking out of the locker room on Friday.”
The consensus choice for the best jersey so far this season? Why, that belongs to none other than team leading scorer and defending MLS Golden Boot winner Chris Wondolowski.
“The Chris Wondolowski Chico State jersey was pretty nice,” Hernandez said with a laugh. “I mean, I’ve never seen Chico State’s jersey so I had no idea what it was when he walked in. It was some old-school brand which also made it pretty funny. Wondo scored big time with that one.”
Wondolowski typically eschews the more obvious choices for throwback jerseys each Friday, and instead digs deep into his closet to find the rarities in his collection.
“Yeah, I love jersey Friday,” said Wondolowski. “It’s a good thing; a fun thing. Of course I’ve worn my Raiders jerseys, but I have a couple Chico State jerseys I’ve come in with as well as my De La Salle track jersey. It’s all fun and we’ve had some great contestants so far.”
Past winners of “Jersey Friday” according to Ring’s Twitter feed include Bobby Burling for a classic John Elway Bronco’s jersey, Sam Cronin in a throwback Wake Forest uniform, Hernandez featuring his match-worn Seton Hall Pirates soccer jersey, and the aforementioned Peterson in his complete Pistons kit. However, this being a collection of athletes, to have winners you must also have losers, and Ring did not hesitate to call out a particular teammate for showing up earlier this summer in what he personally considered an inferior kit.
“Probably the worst jersey worn all year would be Ampaipitakwong rockin’ the Roma jersey,” Ring said, with the rookie out of Akron pleading with him off to the side to keep the faux pas underwraps.
That competitive side of the various Earthquakes has led some of the players to put a bit more stock into their Friday morning decisions on what to wear to training. For Hernandez, who admitted to raiding his housemate Burling’s closet on more than one occasion this season to participate in “Jersey Friday,” going for the win means constantly trying to improve his own collection.
“I’ve been on the look-out when I see those old-time sports merchandise stores. I’ll peek in and see what they have. If I find an old John Starks New York Knicks jersey, I’d be willing to pay the price to look good on jersey Friday,” Hernandez said.
Others, like Ring admitted that they have only a modest portion of their collections available to them here in California, and that they can’t wait to bring back more of their treasures in the offseason. They’ll need that kind of dedication to the event if they want to keep up with Wondolowski, for the Danville native revealed that he has something up his sleeve to close out the 2011 season.
“Yeah, I think it’s going to be a bit of a secret,” said Wondolowski with a hushed voice, “but I have a couple of throwbacks that I’m going to bring out for the win.”
Robert Jonas is a writer for CenterLineSoccer.com and SJEarthquakes.com. Send him feedback on Twitter: @RobertJonas
