Fans Should Not Get Championship Rings

[erpowers]

Am I wrong for feeling that fans should not be allowed to buy championship rings? There is a part of me that feels allowing fans to buy rings cheapens the rings. I figure the players who get the rings feel the exact opposite of how I feel. However, I feel you should not be able to sit on your couch all year and then go buy a ring if you have enough money. That takes away from the exclusiveness. If anyone can buy a ring just because they have enough money then the ring is not exclusive. A championship ring should not be something you can buy. You should have to play a role in that organization winning that ring in order to get a ring. So, I also feel it is unfair that fans can buy championship rings. You should have to do something that helps the team win in order to get a ring. I realize that an argument can be made that fans do help teams win so, the fans should be allowed to buy rings.

[wasupaloopa]

1. I guess I don't take sports serious enough to care about this issue.

[lapfog_1]

2. I agree

recently someone I know "inherited" a storage unit. Inside in addition to the furniture and collectibles, he found a military "keepsake" case with a photo of the deceased as he probably looked at 20 in uniform and wearing a boatload of medals. Also, the medals were there, including a bunch of ribbons I didn't recognize and a bronze star with clusters. He started asking me what he could get on Ebay for this and I told him "you really can't do that... either find a museum in his hometown or some other group that might cherish and display his medals. But they should be sold. Oh, he had a purple heart too.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. My first question here is do those medals

have much monetary value? With all due respect for what a Purple Heart signifies, there are so many of them out there I can't imagine they have any value. The same with all of the other medals. My brother-in-law had a bronze star, and after he passed away someone gave a rose bush to my sister that's called Bronze Star, which was very touching and wonderful.

My point is, that even though all of the medals have meaning, I rather doubt they have much monetary value. Except, I'm sure, for a Medal of Honor. And I cannot begin to imagine selling one of those.

But your suggestion about finding a museum or group to cherish and display his medals, what a wonderful suggestion!

[lapfog_1]

4. I rather imagine that they are "worthless" from a pure base metal value

that said, bronze stars are not handed out like candy... unlike theater battle ribbons or good conduct. Purple hearts are fairly common but you have to be wounded to get one.

Bronze and silver stars require you to do something a bit more, like rescue a mate from the field of battle while taking fire from the enemy. Or something like that.

Medals of Honor are mostly handed out posthumously.

While I agree that they may not be so rare that they demand a spot in the local museum... I also don't think someone should sell one to someone who didn't "earn" it.

[JonLP24]

9. I known platoon sergeants typically get them

They often were convoy commanders on missions but my platoon sergeant was never hit once but he was an excellent leader got a bronze star for basically being a platoon Sergeant for a whole deployment.

You're right they are not easy to get but if someone has a high rank or an important job within a company they get bronze stars. I don't know anyone who got a Silver star though.

[pennylane100]

5. It is really hard to care about the importance of championship rings.

Especially if they are for football. We should care more about the brain damage that often shortens the lives of the players rather than the trinkets they earn for taking such a risk. I think the sport should banned in schools,

[Soxfan58]

6. You are right.

Drinking beer from a recliner on Sunday doesn't earn you a Super Bowl ring.

[marble falls]

7. Rings are just 'stuff'. We sure would't want anybody to mistake this guy...

for a World Champion, would we?

[Brother Buzz]

8. I'm cool with it as long as there is no fraudulent engraving and misinterpretation involved

There are a bunch of cheesy knock-off rings out there that run from $15-200 bucks (sans the genuine stones), and if some idiots just have to have one, all the power to them. And if one springs for the real deal, well, I'm cool with that, too, as long as it doesn't get misrepresented as the real deal, although bragging rights in a bar from some jerk with a small gherkin might be entertaining.

[bluedigger]

10. Meh, they're just physical memorabilia.

It's up to the commissioners of the rings to determine how many are created and who receives them. Once they are distributed, the owners may do with them as they will. I'm more concerned about stolen valor situations where people misrepresent their participation in events.