I saw their Tweet Friday night, but didn’t want to believe it was true.

It had to be a joke from a lower level’s team staff. After all, this is a team that got booted from USL-PRO after last year and now plays in the fourth division NPSL. Heck, even the team website on their Twitter account is innacurate.

But Saturday the New York Times Goal Blog reported that Long Island-based FC New York began wearing jerseys with Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign logo on front of them this past weekend.

According to the Times, an anonymous donor paid for the privilege of having Romney’s name and tagline on the jerseys. Let’s count the ways that this is stupid.

  1. You can’t have an “anonymous donor.” This is politics, making your paying for the jersey sponsorship an in-kind contribution to the campaign. If all parties involved are going to treat this as anonymous and unreported, I hope you have a good elections law attorney.
  2. No matter what political statement you make, making a political statement you’re going to end up cheesing off half of your fan base, especially when it comes to a presidential election.
  3. FC New York is in the NPSL Atlantic Conference, not exactly a hotbed of states that are anything but the bluest of the blue. The only thing this is likely to accomplish is attract attention, as the story has also been picked up by The Daily Beast, and will likely make the internet rounds today.

So bravo FC New York for selling out and making a few bucks off of a fan of a guy who thinks I shouldn’t have the right to marry, adopt, or even keep my job.