OK, to be fair, the makers of this T-shirt have no official affiliation with KU. In fact, the Joe College apparel store in Lawrence, KS, where the shirt at right was produced, has been sued by the University of Kansas in the past for trademark infringement. That said, here’s the sticking point that makes this shirt somewhat offensive: Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin is of Cuban descent; both his parents were immigrants. And everyone knows that Hispanic people make the best gardeners, right? Joe College owner Larry Sinks obviously figured there would be a market for the shirt on the KU campus; it’s made for Jayhawks fans. So should the KU faithful feel some shame over this? And that lawn on the shirt was allowed to get pretty out of hand, wasn’t it?
In an online poll conducted by the Kansas City Star, 57 percent said the shirt was racist, with 11 percent saying they’d wear one.
UPDATE: Has the shirt been pulled from shelves? Here’s the page where it was formerly available on the Joe College web site.
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Would you buy a ‘Frank Martin mows my lawn’ T-shirt? [The Pitch]
Jury finds for KU in Joe-College lawsuit [Lawrence Journal-World]
Does T-shirt jab at K-State coach Frank Martin go too far? [Kansas City Star]
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- KimG - Feb 11, 2010 at 11:55 AM
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Frank Martin is the basketball coach, not football coach! Get it right! Are you guy in such a hurry to get your “stories” out that you don’t proofread anymore?
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- Hercules McRockefeller - Feb 11, 2010 at 6:05 PM
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Irony, thy name is KimG.
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- Dee Mirich and the Supremes - Feb 12, 2010 at 11:19 AM
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What am I missing, KimG? Or more to the point, what are you missing, besides your many medications?
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- Paul in KY - Feb 12, 2010 at 12:22 PM
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Shirt is in pretty poor taste, IMO. Back when I was in student section at UK (many years ago), we said some things that I’m not particularily proud of (although I am proud of every curse we threw Bobby Knight’s way).
