Product Review | Stoppage Time Shopping?

Just for the record, I'll confess to having a touch of obsessive planner-itis. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that my Christmas shopping was wrapped up before Thanksgiving. But when my friends at SoccerPro.com offered me the opportunity to do another review just as the clock began to wind down on holiday shopping season, I took full advantage of this “stoppage time” chance.

Longtime readers of FBF will know that I have a little Oranje crush, so I hope my USMNT supporter-cred isn’t exhausted when I put on the Objectivo Dutch Lion t-shirt. Minimalist and classy, the shirt features an orange lion on the front and stylish script ("Objective" + "Oranje") on the back, as well as an old-school ball near the bottom. Having subjected myself to the cheap end of the t-shirt spectrum for many years, I’d almost forgotten how good fine cotton felt. The shirt also gets bonus points for not looking out of place in my largely earth-tone wardrobe.

But let’s pull a Cruyff turn here and jet from Amsterdam to Barcelona. Again, those of you who have been around a while will know that I’m not much a Barça fan beyond appreciating their style of play. But my daughter..? Well, she’s already getting too much shoved under the tree this year, but I couldn’t resist adding some Barcelona gear to the mix. It might be a challenge to wrap, but I know she’ll dig the Barcelona soccer ball, even if she doesn’t treat it as the display object it probably should serve as.

I couldn’t resist (naturally) inflating the thing and having a dribble around the house (apologies, Ireland fans)...



...before she got home from school last week. While this isn’t the best playing ball you’ll ever set foot to (hello, thermoplastic polyurethane!), it is pretty attractive for display (though the aesthete in me wishes it weren’t quite so shiny), featuring “Barça” in big, bold yellow and the club logo on one side, with the club logo a bit dwarfed by a big Nike swoosh on the other.

And when she’s kicking the ball around at soccer practice next summer, I’ll probably be jogging alongside, toting a whistle and clipboard, in my Adidas Tiro jersey--red and black, of course, to match the township club colors. At the moment, as I stare at the ice dangling from my gutters, the "so light they feel like they might not even be there" fabrics and ClimaCool features (”ventilation and moisture management for your body, providing optimum comfort and performance” say the marketing droids) aren’t doing much for me, but my trial run with the shirt tells me that I’ll really be appreciating them come August and humidity you can practically swim in. Come to think of it, this might double as a pretty decent mowing shirt as well...

As always, thanks to the folks at SoccerPro.com for providing the chance to test out some of their wares. If you’re in the market (or doing the last minute holiday shuffle) for soccer shirts, soccer balls, or soccer uniforms, check them out. (Additional thanks for the lollipop and coloring page from my soccer and candy-loving 6-year old.)

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Product(s) for this review were provided to FBF by SoccerPro.com.