Jersey error makes Roosevelt High team the Rough "Ryders"

 
According to the Washington Post, Theodore Roosevelt (D.C.) High has played the 2010-11 season with jerseys that misspell the common nickname used for the school's mascot. Roosevelt's teams are known as the Rough Riders, and when Roosevelt athletic director Daryl Tilghman placed the uniform order for the school's basketball team, he requested jerseys that said "Riders" on the front, just as the school has used in prior seasons.

The difference is that this year, the vendor for those uniforms sent back jerseys that say "Ryders" on the front. While that uniform maker has defended the uniforms to Tilghman by claiming Ryders is "the cool way to spell it," that excuse would hardly seem to wash with the nation's 26th president.

"We're a school, not a rec [league]," Tilghman told the Post when asked about what he told the jersey vendor about the misspelling.

The uniform company has reportedly agreed to replace the jerseys with a set that spells the name correctly as soon as Tilghman returns the misspelled ones. That, of course, would leave Roosevelt without uniforms altogether while waiting for the corrected jerseys to arrive, a scenario which Post reporter Alan Goldenbach said has delayed the transaction ... and may for the rest of the season.

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That might not thrill the ghost of Teddy Roosevelt, but the Roosevelt team itself might not be too concerned: The Rough "Ryders" are 13-2 in the erroneous uniforms this season, including a perfect DCIAA record.

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