Sport's best T-shirt statements
The Sunday Age
Sunday November 29, 2009
1. TitillatingSHE MAY have lost the plot at the US Open, but it was a far more playful Serena Williams who turned up at her triumphant Wimbledon press conference wearing this cheeky T-shirt. Williams had just defeated her sister Venus 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to win her third Wimbledon title, and there was no denying that her attire served to highlight her achievements. As The Guardian reported at the time, her attire was specifically designed to attract attention. "I thought if I won and got 11 titles I would wear this shirt, because I wouldn't know if you guys were looking at my titles, orrrrrr . . ." said Serena, moving her hand across her chest and delivering a suggestive anti-climax, ". . . my Gatorade bottle." Of course, all that playfulness when you're winning is one thing €” it was a totally different story at her US Open outing which saw her abuse and threaten an official. Tennis officials didn't help matters by levying a pitifully small fine on the star player. Which got us thinking, after her first non-apology press conference, that Serena should have kept the laughs flowing by being forced to wear a shirt that read, "Chest a poor loser."2. Obtuse gooseST GEORGE Illawarra may have endured an inglorious exit from the NRL finals, but being humbled was nothing new to full-back Darius Boyd. In August, he was forced to train in the club's pink "goose of the week" T-shirt after fronting a media conference to promote a match against Brisbane and forgetting the bit about promoting the game. And while captain Ben Hornby claimed Boyd's punishment was not because of his 43-second media effort, reading the transcript it's not as if he didn't deserve censure for failing to take the assignment seriously. "Question: Up against the Broncos, excited about facing your old mates? Answer: Yeah, can't wait. Q: That excited? A: Yep. Q: Did you watch them play last week? A: No, I didn't. Q: What's the strategy going into the game? A: We'll decide that on Wednesday, I s'pose. Q: Happy to score another try, it was a good one? A: Yeah, it was good, eh. Q: Second one of the season, it's taken a while, you must be keen to be coming into form at the right time of the season. A: No it was good. Q: What are your thoughts on the way your team is going at the moment, Darius? A: Um, yeah, it was pretty good, eh. Q: Are you fair dinkum? A: Yeah." Dragons winger, experienced media performer and occasional goose Wendell Sailor said his teammate was shy and didn't know what camera to look at. Whatever the reason, as far as a game promotion goes, if the T-shirt fits . . .3. All white nowONCE upon a time in world soccer, the players discovered a way of really cel ebrating a goal. By printing a message on a T-shirt that could be revealed by ripping off your guernsey, you could ensure your festivities were memorable €” and came with a message. Which is exactly what former Arsenal goalscorer Thierry Henry did in this match against Liverpool in August 2000. "Bang goes the 0-0 draw" was the message and not long after, bang went this form of goal celebration. After many similar incidents, including players showing personal sponsors' logos and religious messages, FIFA put a stop to the practice ahead of the 2002 World Cup. FIFA deemed that undershirts could contain no message and must be of one plain colour. The ruling hasn't stopped elaborate celebrations, but at least now it's the club or national jumper that players are wearing under their guernseys4. Lillee is a . . .IS IT the T-shirt or just the authentic 1978 moustache in this image that makes you want to rush out and buy a strawberry Big M? Here is the great Dennis Lillee in his prime, promoting Kerry Packer's controversial new World Series Cricket concept with suitable gravitas and gold chain. Before a bad back and baldness struck down the great man, movie-star Lillee proudly proclaims he "bats" for the World Series. And while riff-raff may point to the colloquialism that suggests this is perhaps something best done in the privacy of your own home, we're going to give Dennis the benefit of the doubt and say that the 1970s were a different, more free and easy era. Still, Richard Hadlee can rightly feel aggrieved given the chants he copped from the MCG crowd.5. Tommy to a TAUSTRALIAN football has its own T-shirt tradition, mostly thanks to legendary collar-less tea sipper Tommy Hafey. And while the evergreen former coach has helped make the plain T-shirt fashionable, some are bringing a new style to the game. The most recent footy T-shirt to catch our interest came from the Western Oval, where fans formed the "Ben Hudson's Beard Appreciation Society" and started producing shirts picturing the hairy Bulldog ruckman and the Spanish proverb "Chins without beards deserve no honour". Now that's one cleanshaven Tommy wouldn't wear.
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