A Pet Peeve Of Mine

Every year, dozens of teams turn to Dash online auctions to sell a pile of different items through their service. I normally have no issue with any of these auctions as teams use them to recoup some money they spent throughout the year while fans often can acquire one-of-a-kind items from the team that may not be accessible through normal retail means. The item to the left is currently available through the Dash auction site as the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs are selling game-worn jerseys from the 2024-25 season. If you're a fan or supporter of the Frontenacs, this would be a cool way to obtain a jersey worn by one's favorite player from last season, but this is where I pump the brakes because the auction is missing a key element of how I shop. And I feel like this missing information would go a long way in helping the Frontenacs sell these jerseys at higher prices in their auctions.

Every fans loves to wear a jersey sporting their favorite player's name and number on the back. The jersey pictured above is Matthew Soto's jersey, and Soto scored 18 goals and 34 points in 58 games last season for the Frontenacs. The St. Paul, Minnesota native has spent four seasons with the Frontenacs, and he's been a solid contributor in every season with career highs being earned in 2023-24.

Where I'm faulting the Frontenacs is that none of their acutions show a size for the jersey being advertised. Soto, who stands at six-feet tall and weighs at 185 pounds, has a far different body size than leading scorer Jacob Battaglia who is 6'1" tall and 202 lbs. Honestly, neither player's jersey would fit me, but I'm not sure those players' jerseys would fit most men of average height and weight today.

I know what size of jersey I wear, and the push by Reebok to go slimmer and faster has forced every manufacturer to follow which means a jersey that was sized as a 58 in the old CCM standards is now a 60+ in the new measurement standards. In short, none of the jerseys offered by the Frontenacs in their auction would likely fit me, but I couldn't say for certain since none of the jerseys are shown with the size of the jersey in question. That means no bids from me.

If I were 5'8" tall and 190lbs. soaking wet, I could likely bid on more jerseys for my collection. However, since I'm never going to bid on something that I won't wear as a personal rule, any auction that doesn't include sizes is an automatic "no" for me. You can't sell me on the idea that the Frontenacs' jersey is a "one of a kind jersey" and "a unique collectable item" when teams go through multiple jersey sets per year, so the jersey had better appeal to me as something that can be worn as a conversation piece. Because I'm unsure that I can wear it, I won't be bidding on it or talking about it. C'est la vie.

Folks, if you do use an auction site like eBay to sell clothes of any kind, make sure sizes are clearly posted. The Frontenacs clearly forgot an important piece of retail information on their auction descriptions, and that will lead me away from their offerings in this specific auction. If I can't wear it, why would I buy it?

I wasn't going to start this article with this line, but let me be the first to tell you that, when it comes to jersey auctions, sizes matter.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!