High school basketball now has its own version of the Washington Nationals, at least when it comes to uniform errors. Washington, D.C.'s Theodore Roosevelt High School Rough Riders - as in the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry led by the school's namesake in 1898 - have become the Rough "Ryders" this season after new basketball uniforms arrived with what athletic director Daryl Tilghman thought was a typo.
Tilghman told The Washington Post this week that he called the vendor to complain. "We're a school, not a rec [league]," he wrote in a text message to a Post reporter. He was told by the vendor that "Ryders" was the "cool" way to spell "Riders." (Ruff Ryders is a music label that rose to fame in the early 2000s with a roster including rappers DMX and Eve.) Unamused, Tilghman said he wanted the right name on the jerseys but was told he had to return the misspelled ones.
That will have wait until the end of the season. For now, the mishap doesn't seem to be affecting the Rough Riders - er, Rough Ryders. Through Thursday, the team was 14-2, with a 4-0 conference record.
In 2009, Majestic Athletic shipped jerseys to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals with "Natinals" emblazoned across the front. But at least the Nationals received a sincere apology.
