On Wednesday, it was confirmed that the NBA had officially banned the ninja-style headband. The item had a short-lived popularity in the Association in 2018-19. The banning of the headband got me to think about other sports leagues around the world and some of the bizarre or harmless items that have been stomped out. Of course, the NFL is the no fun league for penalizing excessive celebrations, socks, footwear, and other items. But what sports leagues have come up with other silly banned items?
The Snood
Snoods were all the rage in European football at the end of the noughties. Some of the game’s most popular stars of the time including Carlos Tevez, Gianluigi Buffon, and Mario Balotelli donned the neck warmers.
However, FIFA, football’s governing body, banned snoods in 2011. Why? Apparently, a snood is dangerous and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter even stated, “A snood is not part of the equipment and it can be dangerous, even like hanging somebody.”
It makes more sense that they were banned to prevent sponsors from paying players to wear visible logos on snoods that would be caught by cameras pitchside.
NFL Players Mustn’t Thrust
The NFL has long been a set of stuffy old white guys stomping out fun while they fill their pockets full of money for decades. There is a long list of banned celebrations players cannot do after scoring a touchdown.
One of the more humorous rules is players cannot move their hips forwards and backwards when celebrating. It is okay for a player to move side to side like they are dancing, however, any thrusting of the lower body will result in a fine from the No Fun League.
Media Page Guides
Colleges often use student interns as slave labor to write, edit, and produce the various items given away to the media at sporting events. One of the items students interning in the media relations departments will surely have experience with the editing of the sports media guide.
According to the NCAA, colleges are prohibited from having more than 208 pages in their sports media guides. The NCAA believes that having more pages in the media guide gives colleges an advantage in recruiting. If only other schools could have more media guide pages, they sure could out recruit Alabama football, right?
No Air Jordan 1s
Basketball shoes used to come in one color: white. In 1984, Michael Jordan challenged the notion that NBA players could only wear white sneakers when he donned a pair of Nike made Air Jordan 1s in preseason.
Unsurprisingly, the NBA banned the shoes from thereafter showing just how square they were. There are myths surrounding the banning of Jordan’s shoes, however. Nike may have used it as a marketing ploy (gasp!) to sell millions of sneakers.
No Logo on the Foam
The NBA hasn’t just banned ninja headbands and Jordan 1s. The Association actually has a list of items that are not allowed. While many aren’t as ridiculous as the ‘no tucking in the jersey’ rule in the NHL, the no logo rule is silly.
NBA players are not allowed to wear any logos (other than the NBA trademark) on their person during games. The rule does not apply to sneakers, but don’t think about wearing those Nike or Adidas socks, headbands, wristbands, or undershirts in a game.
