NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 117: NJ Devils Masked Intentions

For a fairly accurate indication of my knowledge of sports, you can just watch The Lonely Island’s “We Like Sportz.”

Upon this admission, it wouldn’t be fair to categorize today’s NJ T-Shirt Tuesday as a sports post. And don’t start fuming if you hate the Devils, this is a New Jersey blog after all, so don’t hold it against me! I don’t even know enough about the NHL landscape this season to offer much in the way of Hockey commentary, besides, you can go to sports blog for that. I will say that I know that the Devils haven’t had the best season, but this t-shirt will make you quickly forget that.

Inclusion of this tee here at The Sexy Armpit was such a no-brainer that it was like scoring an empty net goal. See, I know a little. What I dug about the New Jersey Devils officially licensed “Masked Intentions” t-shirt is that it’s an imposing combo of various things.

First, the mostly white graphic on the plain black tee calls to mind Sons of Anarchy. The overall design of the shirt is reminiscent of the famous Sons logo that has been copied so many times, especially on t-shirts and hoodies up and down the various boardwalks down the shore. The red outline provides the final touch in capturing the Devil’s color scheme while simultaneously adding a demonic quality. Hence, those red eyeballs peering out from the creepy goalie mask could mean that it’s the actual Jersey Devil heading out on the ice, or a goaltending T-800.

At the bottom, one word brings it all together like that damn rug in The Big Lebowski. HALLOWEEN…of course! This must have been a special Halloween edition t-shirt. I’m several months late on this, but sometimes I prefer it that way. It’s like finding buried treasure. Now what do you say we go slap some pucks or something?

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 83: Sons of Anarchy NJ

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SOA T-Shirt in a store on the Atlantic City Boardwalk

Although fictional, the Sons of Anarchy may very well be the first thing that pops into your head when asked to name a motorcycle club. Sure, the Hells Angels are probably the most recognizable, but the Sons of Anarchy are about to embark on their 4th season of their own show tonight on FX.

SOA are based in California but they also have chapters all over the U.S and around the world. Members of this outlaw motorcycle gang are recognized by the logo on their vest. The logo is white on black and depicts a grim reaper holding a scythe with an M16 handle and crystal ball showing the anarchy symbol. The various regional chapters are cited under the logo and this one is from the New Jersey chapter of the SOA.

The existence of a New Jersey chapter may be the idea of the show’s creator, executive producer, and full blooded Jersey guy, Kurt Sutter. A graduate of Rutgers University, Sutter was also a writer on FX’s “The Shield.” Sutter has proven his versatility by serving as writer, actor, director, and producer on both The Shield and his own creation, Sons of Anarchy. In real life, Sutter is married to Katey Sagal (Peggy Bundy) who also plays Gemma on the show. According to his IMDB profile, he’s got pediophobia, which means he’s scared of dolls.

Sutter grew up in Clark NJ watching a lot of cartoons and told reporter Linda Moss in an interview on New Jersey News Room, that he learned “the essentials of storytelling from Hanna Barbera.” You can watch the premiere of Sons of Anarchy tonight at 10pm on FX!

Follow Kurt Sutter on Twitter and check out his blog!