Sports Journalist Gets Trolled On Twitter, Tattles To Troll's Parents

The Day Counterfeit Jerseys Saved Soccer

from the fake-it-until-you-make-it dept

Tue, Nov 19th 2013 3:02pm — Timothy Geigner

While it's calmed down some, there was a great deal of talk about the horrific dangers of counterfeit products during the SOPA and ACTA campaigns. For some reason, professional sports jersey knockoffs in particular seem to get IP holders knickerbockers in a twist, resulting in fun little American traditions like the annual pre-Super Bowl website takedown bonanza. Now, we've discussed before why knockoffs generally aren't a major threat to legitimate apparel producers, or the sports leagues, but this is not one of those posts. Instead, this is the story of how knockoff jerseys saved soccer, or futbol if you're one of those people who wants to kick us Americans in our guardless shins over that kind of thing.

Down in Colombia, visiting soccer (futbol, whatever) team Independiente Santa Fe took a break from having a cool-sounding name to play a soccer (okay, futbol) match against Boyaca Chico. Now, here's a lesson for all of us that sucked too hard at the sport to play and had to be team managers: double check your damned luggage. See, whoever was in charge of bringing ISF's "away" uniforms on the trip took a nap instead, leaving the team with only their warmups and numbers taped to their backs. As it turns out, Colombia's climate closely resembles a sauna and the Macgyver-inspired unis weren't cutting it. There was talk of aborting the game entirely, because Boyaca Chico refused to allow their adversaries to wear their home uniforms, until:

A Santa Fe staffer ran outside the stadium and bought counterfeits from vendors for about $6 each, then used red marker to write the numbers on the back of the shirts. Santa Fe took the pitch to start the second half donning their own team's fake jerseys, but still went on to drub Boyacá Chicó, 2-0. This concludes our daily reminder to not be a dick.

Meaning that the great Colombian fake-jersey industry not only saved the match for the fans at the stadium, but also taught the home team a valuable lesson: karma is a bitch and it wears a $6 uniform. So thank you, counterfeit jersey sellers, for filling in the gaps where sports team logistics fails. And fair thee well until February, when the NFL will be sending the feds to kick down your doors.

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Filed Under: boyaca chico, colombia, counterfeits, independiente santa fe, shirts, trademark

26 Comments

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S. T. Stone, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:15pm

�karma is a bitch and it wears a $6 uniform�

Best thing I�ve read all week.
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out_of_the_blue, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:28pm

Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
You know, there's nothing with playing sports, but even dogs can watch it: sheer mindless motion. But at least soccer doesn't make many millionaires out of athletic brutes.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:54pm
  
  Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
  Good god guys, fast on the trigger much? As much as his posts are habitually trolling, you're only making his case when you flag something as honestly harmless as this.
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  - Alana (profile), 19 Nov 2013 @ 4:12pm
    
    Re: Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
    The user is not worth any attention, and has constantly, continually been destructive to conversations, spewed lies and falsehoods, and attacked people who run this site and the people who comment.
    
    Why are you defending him now?
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    - This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
      
      Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 4:24pm
      
      RE:RE:RE - too long
      This particular case came to my attention at this particular time, and I had nothing better to do with five minutes. Does it matter?
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    - Bergman (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 1:40pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
      His comment is more worthy than yours. So I upvoted his and reported yours.
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- Niall (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 5:04am
  
  Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
  You obviously know nothing about the English Premier League. Go google Ashley Cole for starters...
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  - Fushta (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 5:44am
    
    Re: Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
    There is a chick that plays in the EPL? I searched for Ashley Cole, and all I got was porn links/images. She's pretty hot!
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- Pragmatic, 20 Nov 2013 @ 5:52am
  
  Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
  Zakida Paul, can you step up to the plate, please? It's for you.
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- crade (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 7:45am
  
  Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
  Was that supposed to actually make sense? Are you saying you can't understand sports and only see chaotic movement when watching them? Are you saying soccer players don't get rich or that they are smarter and less brutish than other professional sports players? Your post is making less sense than usual.
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 10:09am
    
    Re: Re: Saved soccer? Down with counterfeit jerseys for SURE, then.
    Are you saying you can't understand sports and only see chaotic movement when watching them?
    
    This is how I feel whenever I watch football, even with my wife there to explain everything. I understand the basics of the game, but there are apparently a gazillion little silly rules that render the basic understanding meaningless, as whenever I watch, the other people often cheer or jeer at apparently random points during the game, leaving me to constantly wonder what the hell is happening.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:30pm

As anyone from the Intellectual Protectionism industry will tell you, hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage are done with every counterfeit or illegal sale/copy of a work distributed. Although the team might only pay a few hundred dollars for each jersey, through the advanced measurements of IP economics they have now done easily in excess of $3.6 million in damage. Or rather, their designated representative did that. I look forward to the international manhunt for these brazen thieves, and that their multi-million dollar caper is properly prosecuted.

Shame, soccer team, shame. You should have patronized an authorized outlet for your gear. As everyone knows, legal options are available for any possible purchase, and it's the duty of the consumer to seek them out. I'm sure that if the team had made the effort, they could have secured legitimate outfits overnight.
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- Bergman (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 1:43pm
  
  Re:
  Exactly! They could easily have had legit uniforms to play in by the next day...a shame that they'd have forfeited the game by then, but what's a little collateral damage?
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:33pm

But if these counterfeit jerseys spread, they may strangle the wearers on their own, burst into flames, and siphon billions of dollars out of our bank accounts!
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PRMan, 19 Nov 2013 @ 3:56pm

But, but
But now, isn't the knockoff jersey the official jersey? So I should just buy one of those and color a "10" on the back with a pink marker if I want an "official" jersey?
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That One Guy (profile), 19 Nov 2013 @ 5:42pm

The funniest part?
Those particular 'counterfeit' jerseys are now probably worth more than the 'official' ones.
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- Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 12:56am
  
  Re: The funniest part?
  Those particular 'counterfeit' jerseys are now probably worth more than the 'official' ones.
  As opposed to the official ones that cost more than they're worth...
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Jotunbane, 19 Nov 2013 @ 9:30pm

The reason Europeans find the American version of football a little odd is that (1) You don't play it with your feet, and (2) That there is not really a ball is it.

If anything, the American version should be called "hand-egg".

Oh, and while we are at it, why do you call your best team for "world champions" when they don't play ANYBODY besides other US teams. Arrogant much??
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- G Thompson (profile), 19 Nov 2013 @ 10:52pm
  
  Re:
  The reason the WORLD finds American "football (Gridiron) WEIRD! is that there are two teams per side - what they cant figure out how to play offense AND defense at once???
  
  and that they are nancy boys dressed in armour who cant understand that playing real sports (Soccer, Rugby League/Union) takes guts and no crying to mummy for a booboo hurty on their knee.. Muwahahahaha
  
  *I'll run now*
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  - Not an Electronic Rodent (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 1:09am
    
    Re: Re:
    is that there are two teams per side
    From a brief foray watching the edited highlights (read: "the bits where they actually do stuff) when they started showing it over here years ago (meaning a match only took about an hour to watch instead of 3...), I'd kinda understood there are 3 or 4 teams per side? Isn't there yet another special kicking team or something?
    and that they are nancy boys dressed in armour who cant understand that playing real sports (Soccer, Rugby League/Union)
    Well I suppose that could be an extension to the old saying:
    Football: A gentlemen's game played by thugs.
    Rugby: A thugs' game played by gentlemen.
    American football: A commercial game played by big wusses in armour
    
    Then there's Australian Rules Football....
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  - Anonymous Coward, 20 Nov 2013 @ 4:51am
    
    Re: Re:
    It's just a different game. Not better or worse but different. The positions are specialized where the players develop specific skills. It focuses more on the setup and execution of specific planned actions rather than the dealing with a constantly changing situation. It's more of a chess match than a free for all. Also, because players are positioned in such a manner that directly opposing forces are pitted against each other in a violent conflict so much more frequently the level of protection needed is much greater to avoid catastrophic injuries. The players also didn't always wear that much protection and due to the frequency of injuries the sport was once almost banned.
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- Anonymous Coward, 20 Nov 2013 @ 5:05am
  
  Re:
  "Oh, and while we are at it, why do you call your best team for "world champions" when they don't play ANYBODY besides other US teams. Arrogant much??"
  
  That is because few other countries play the sport (other than Canada) I can't think of any. There have in recent years been efforts by the NFL to introduce the sport to Europe through an alternate league but those teams are mainly more like minor league teams for the major NFL franchises. If the sport takes off there perhaps in the future you could see a new World Championship played between a European team and an American team. After all, that is how the Superbowl originated in the first place. Two separate leagues, the AFL and NFL each putting their top teams against each other to determine one champion. It's just that they later combined to be under one entity.
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Anonymous Coward, 20 Nov 2013 @ 12:37am

but this is exactly why the knock-offs have to be stopped! some also ran made a tiny bit of money that day. the true vendor with the official shirts back in whereever that couldn't sell anything because the game wasn't being played where he was, didn't make anything!
how dare anyone else make next to fuck all instead of the official making a fortune!
when will car parts be stopped? people can easily afford to pay the 500% or more for a genuine muffler, rather than use that money to buy a knock off muffler AND SOMETHING ELSE THAT HELPS KEEP THE ECONOMY GOING! fucking morons! unbelievable!
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- Niall (profile), 20 Nov 2013 @ 5:06am
  
  Re:
  Not enough spittle, 'for the children/terrorists', or 'but Google!', but otherwise 9/10 :)
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hobo, 20 Nov 2013 @ 6:49am

Didn't see a way to contact the author directly, so into the regular comments it goes.

Unless there is a pun I'm not getting in, "...fair thee well until February..," it should be "fare."

Dug the story though.
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Rekrul, 20 Nov 2013 @ 10:48am

If the climate is like a sauna, why are they wearing long sleeve jerseys?
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