Think twice before wearing team colors

John Stone was fired from his job in Oak Lawn, Ill. after refusing to remove his Green Bay Packers tie after the team beat the Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship game.

Will McAvoy, the main character in Aaron Sorkin’s much-hyped new show The Newsroom, declared in the series’ pilot episode that America is no longer the greatest country in the world.

And while he might be right -- statistically, anyway -- many citizens would be quick to disagree. One of the most commonly cited reasons in Americans’ fervent defense of our nation’s greatness is the First Amendment. Americans are guaranteed freedom of speech and expression, so long as they don’t harm others.

Unless, of course, you’re a Duke fan.

In one of the strangest caveats to the American ideal of free speech, it has become surprisingly common to see individuals punished for supporting a rival sports team in die-hard fan territory.

The issue arose this week when 10-year-old Cameron Chang was allegedly “hazed” at a Georgetown University basketball camp for wearing a Duke T-shirt. While Duke and Georgetown don’t compete in the same conference, the similarity between the two universities (and general widespread hatred of Duke) leads most Hoyas to consider the Blue Devils sworn enemies.

Camp staffers attempted to teach Chang this concept by repeatedly taping over the Blue Devils logo on his shirt, according to local ABC affiliate WJLA. The incident sparked outrage from the camper’s mother.

“If you are wearing something different, or if you are different, you're going to be hazed, tortured and made fun of,” Christy Chang told WJLA.

But while it is regrettable that the younger Chang felt oppressed, it’s highly unlikely that the incident will have a dramatic effect on the camper’s life. A simple apology from the camp staff should smooth things over pretty quickly. After all, a nation as great as the United States wouldn’t allow serious decisions to be based on something as silly as athletic partisanship ... right?

Well, not quite.

Seattle Seahawks fans are well-known for their devotion to the team -- the crowd at CenturyLink Field is sometimes referred to as the Seahawks’ “12th man” -- so it should come as no surprise that a slightly more serious case comes from Washington state.

In January of last year, 13-year-old Tacoma native Grendon Bailie wore a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey to school on Truman Middle School’s “Seahawks Appreciation Day.” Bailie was threatened with an in-school suspension for his wardrobe choice and eventually left early.

"All those Seahawks fans got to wear their stuff, so why can't I?," Bailie told NWCN.

School administrators chalked the decision up to a violation of the school’s uniform code. The only reason students were allowed to dress in non-uniform clothing, they argued, was to dress in Seahawks gear. But would another team’s jersey have provoked the same response? After all, Pittsburgh did beat Seattle in 2006’s controversial Super Bowl XL.

Incredibly, disputes like this aren’t unique to the middle-school crowd.

An Illinois car salesman was fired from his dealership last January after refusing to remove a Green Bay Packers tie. The Packers had knocked off the Chicago Bears in the previous day’s NFC championship game, prompting John Stone to celebrate by wearing his team’s tie to work.

After repeatedly ordering Stone to remove the tie, Bears fan and dealership general manager Jerry Roberts fired his employee. Stone quickly found a job with a new dealership, but wouldn’t soon forget his experience.

“After everything is over with and the smoke clears, I’m going to frame this tie,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

These aren’t the only cases of sports memorabilia causing trouble, and the Georgetown incident certainly won’t be the last. But whether you find them admirable, disturbing or simply comical, they represent an undoubtedly compelling quirk of American civil life.

Freedom of speech is sacred. As long as you don’t root for the wrong team.

Patrick Curran is a Summer 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about him here.

This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.