Saturday open thread: What was your worst jersey purchase?

Part of the sad tradition of being a Detroit Lions fan is buying a jersey that eventually becomes a mistake. Just take a look around Ford Field on gameday, and you’ll see the stands littered by Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Joey Harrington jerseys. With new jerseys out now, you have to imagine that three years from now, some fans will be shaking their head at the purchase they made.

On one hand, it seems a little pathetic. Pick any Lions player between Barry Sanders and Calvin Johnson on the team, and you’ll find someone who wasted $80 on their jersey. But it’s also kind of beautiful. Lions fans’ commitment to the team is so strong that the embarrassment of a draft bust jersey doesn’t even register on their radars. It’s about the name on the front (or now the shoulder), not the name on the back.

But since most of us have an embarrassing jersey purchase or two, let’s share it with each other. Today’s Question of the Day is:

What is your most embarrassing jersey purchase?

My answer: My poor jersey luck has been well established. Joey Harrington is probably the worst purchase I made, but I don’t consider it that poor of a choice, considering hype around a first-round quarterback is justified. Purchasing an Ernie Sims jersey, however, was not as sound of a decision. Sure he was a first-round pick, too, but Sims was never going to be the face of the franchise.

Yet, for some reason, I became semi-obsessed with Sims. Veteran Pride Of Detroit members may remember that my original screen name here was “simscity,” and sadly that wasn’t a reference to Billy Sims. Little did I know that my Sims jersey purchase would apparently be the start of terribly poor defensive jersey purchases (Louis Delmas and now DeAndre Levy). I’m the worst.

Your turn.