XXL Athletics: Dispelling the Myth
Ever seen the letters "XXL" on the front of sweatshirts or T-shirts for sports teams (see picture above)? I did some digging online and even asked the University of Hawaii equipment room manager to look into this. He was gracious enough to offer up this question to other equipment room managers at a conference but STILL no definitive answer. Thus, I'm going with an explanation given to me over 10 years ago. It made a whole lot of sense to me back then, and it still makes more sense to me than any other explanation I've heard since then.
I believe it was Carl Schroers, Iolani School Co-Athletic Director, who told me this, but it's been a while... high school details are already a bit fuzzy. He said that the "XXL" stands for "to excel" -- I thought it was a clever, perfectly cryptic motto for athletes. So you can imagine my dismay when I arrived at the University of Pennsylvania to play volleyball and received my standard issues -- a sweatshirt, T-shirts, and basketball shorts -- all printed with an "S"!!! As grateful as I was for the free gear, I couldn't help but feel embarassed that my school could make such an error. Not even the fact that the "S" could stand for "Shayna" consoled me. I wrote an email to the Penn athletic director, informing him of the potential error. He never replied. I guess a little "S" like me couldn't ruffle enough feathers to question the practice.
In their defense, I now realize the pervasiveness of the XXL myth. I've heard the explanation that it's easier to distribute clothing to athletes when the size is printed on the front, and I suppose if people don't really question the practice, nothing would change. But it really isn't so hard to check the tag for the size. And I imagine it would cost less to just print "XXL" on all of the shirts.
The most prevalent explanation I've read or heard is that these letters represent the shirt size, but this doesn't account for the fact that some shirts, regardless of size, are printed with the same letters. Besides, it never made much sense to me why so many people would want to wear a shirt size. Since when have we been so eager to publicly display our size? I imagine a big "XL" sported on the chest of an overweight woman would be a source of embarassment, and an "M" would spawn ridicule for a 16-year-old boy subsisting on protein shakes and living in the weight room to no avail.
I'm standing by this story until someone makes a convincing argument otherwise. If you have any information that might shed some light on this question, please share!
I believe it was Carl Schroers, Iolani School Co-Athletic Director, who told me this, but it's been a while... high school details are already a bit fuzzy. He said that the "XXL" stands for "to excel" -- I thought it was a clever, perfectly cryptic motto for athletes. So you can imagine my dismay when I arrived at the University of Pennsylvania to play volleyball and received my standard issues -- a sweatshirt, T-shirts, and basketball shorts -- all printed with an "S"!!! As grateful as I was for the free gear, I couldn't help but feel embarassed that my school could make such an error. Not even the fact that the "S" could stand for "Shayna" consoled me. I wrote an email to the Penn athletic director, informing him of the potential error. He never replied. I guess a little "S" like me couldn't ruffle enough feathers to question the practice.
In their defense, I now realize the pervasiveness of the XXL myth. I've heard the explanation that it's easier to distribute clothing to athletes when the size is printed on the front, and I suppose if people don't really question the practice, nothing would change. But it really isn't so hard to check the tag for the size. And I imagine it would cost less to just print "XXL" on all of the shirts.
The most prevalent explanation I've read or heard is that these letters represent the shirt size, but this doesn't account for the fact that some shirts, regardless of size, are printed with the same letters. Besides, it never made much sense to me why so many people would want to wear a shirt size. Since when have we been so eager to publicly display our size? I imagine a big "XL" sported on the chest of an overweight woman would be a source of embarassment, and an "M" would spawn ridicule for a 16-year-old boy subsisting on protein shakes and living in the weight room to no avail.
I'm standing by this story until someone makes a convincing argument otherwise. If you have any information that might shed some light on this question, please share!
