A Jersey Dilemma

A few months ago, a great friend from Michigan (we’ll call him Uncle Brad) sent my then 3 month old son a present. Inside, my wife and I found a customized, toddler-sized Detroit Red Wings jersey with ‘BRYANT’ and the number ‘10’ stitched to the back in teeny-tiny twill lettering. Aside from being very small and having the flying wheel logo screen printed to the front of the jersey rather than stitched, the jersey is an exact replica of what the Wings actually wear. It's very cool.

Now the dilemma: do I ever actually let my son wear the thing?

I’ve always been a bit of a hockey history buff. My favorite player is Bobby Orr, even though he retired before I was born. I know about Milt Schmidt, Cyclone Taylor, Art Ross, and ‘Boom Boom’ Geoffrion. I also know that the number 10 is retired by the Detroit Red Wings. It’s Alex Delvecchio’s number. Since toddlers are exempt from Jersey Fails, I think that's cool as well.

But as a lifelong Caps fan, can I allow my son to wear a Red Wings jersey? What if, because of this jersey, he were to become a Wings fan? Could I ever live with myself? It’s an interesting study of loyalty vs. doing what’s right. Loyalty says no, he should only ever wear his tiny Ovechkin jersey to games. The right thing would be to allow him to wear his jersey (it was given to him, not to me), and I’ll make sure to teach him about the man who actually wore that same #10 for the Wings. But there’s no way he can wear that jersey to a Caps game. What's a dad to do!?

Fortunately for me, I have an easy solution to this dilemma. As my son’s name is Cameron, the jersey has a purpose. It will prove very helpful in recreating an iconic image sometime in his early life:

Now all I need is a grey suit and a red Ferrari...