Getting that Mavs City Edition… What a Trip
So, I saw the latest Dallas Mavs City Edition jersey pop up online. Gotta admit, it looked pretty sharp this year. I’m not usually one to jump on every new design, but this one caught my eye. Thought, alright, maybe I’ll grab one this time.
Fired up the laptop, went straight to the official Mavs shop online. Clicked on the jersey section. Page loaded slower than molasses in January. Then, poof! Error message. Site probably getting hammered, right? Classic stuff when these things drop.
Okay, deep breath. Tried again. And again. Spent maybe a solid 30 minutes just hitting refresh, trying different browsers, you name it. Felt like I was trying to get concert tickets back in the day. Finally, the page loaded. Scrolled down… Large? Sold out. Medium? Sold out. Everything looked gone already. Seriously? It hadn’t even been an hour.
Checked the usual big online sports stores next. Same deal. Nada. Zip. Felt that familiar frustration creeping in. Why do they make these things so hard to get? I get ‘limited edition’ but come on, feels like they make about ten of them sometimes.
Started browsing those resale platforms. You know the ones. Man, oh man. People asking double, sometimes triple the price. For a jersey that just came out! It just rubs me the wrong way. I like the team, I like the jersey, but I’m not paying some scalper’s rent for it. Just feels wrong.
I almost gave up right there. Figured, okay, it wasn’t meant to be. It’s just a shirt, after all. Plenty of other Mavs gear in my closet. But then I remembered my cousin lives down near Dallas now. Hadn’t talked to him in a bit, actually. Sent him a text, kinda out of the blue: “Hey man, long shot, but any chance you’re near the arena team store anytime soon? Looking for that new City jersey, totally sold out online.”
He texted back pretty quick. Said he was actually heading to that area later for something else and could pop in. Didn’t promise anything, store might be cleaned out too. But hey, it was a chance, right?
- Checked my phone like every 10 minutes after that.
- Tried to distract myself, do some work. Didn’t really work.
- Kept thinking about how dumb it was to be this invested in a jersey.
Then, maybe two hours later, a picture message comes through. It’s the jersey, hanging on a rack, in my size. Text below it: “They had literally two left. Got yours!” I couldn’t believe it. Felt like I’d won the lottery or something, which is kinda sad when you think about it, haha.
Sent him the money right away, plus some extra for lunch. He shipped it out the next day. Got it a few days later. Holding it, yeah, it’s a nice jersey. Good quality, looks cool. But honestly? The main thing I felt was relief that the chase was over. And gratitude for my cousin pulling through.
It makes you think, though. All that effort for a piece of clothing. Guess that’s part of being a fan, the excitement of the new gear. But that whole experience, the website crashes, the resellers… it takes some of the fun out of it. Glad I got it this time, but I don’t know if I’ve got the energy to go through that scramble every single year. We’ll see next season, I guess.
