© iStock / J.P. Gomez
The vast majority of Luxembourg teenagers who wear caps bearing the logo of United States sports teams admit their choices are senseless and random.
"We neither follow the sports, support the teams, nor can locate the cities on a map," said Pol Shultz, 17, a spokesboy for teens across the country. "We were just at Foot Locker one day and were like, okay, cool." The teens, who wear their caps while hanging out on streets and in shopping centers, or while giving their friends awkward high fives and fistbumps, say they are not ashamed that their head ornaments were chosen on a whim.
Louis Wecker, 15, says he is proud to wear an iconic New York Yankees cap even if he doesn't know "who the quarterback is or how many baskets they scored last year."
Another boy who wears an identical Yankees cap, 16-year-old Francisco Frank, says that while he didn’t think about his choice, for him, now it has become a bold statement.
"It's more for the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop battle," he said. "West Coast for life, bro."
However, some local teen boys say they carefully selected the caps before asking their parents for money to buy them.
Christian Bouc, 14, says he has a whole collection of American sports caps not because he is a fan of the teams or has an affinity with the country, but because he is passionate about letters.
"LA, B, C, and D," he said. "Also, SD, A, and P. I have no idea what they stand for, but I love them."
One youth says he wears a Lakers cap because he is fond of lakes, rivers, and other bodies of water. Another wears a black and silver Raiders cap – with its famous logo of a man with an eye patch – because he supports those who have suffered traumatic eye injuries. Yet another teen says he wears a Miami Heat cap because he wants to draw attention to the dangers of not hydrating properly in hot climates.
According to some sources, a similar phenomenon has been observed in the U.S. In one state, teen boys are known to wear random t-shirts bearing the logos of Luxembourg sports teams such as the Sparta Bertrange basketball team, the F91 Dudelange football team, and the national Keelespill – nine-pin bowling – team.
"It's like an episode of 'Black Mirror,'" said one observer.
In a related story, it has been suggested that as many as 20 percent of all Luxembourg teen girls are secretly attending the elite U.S. university Harvard, as evidenced by the sweatshirts and t-shirts they regularly wear.
