What's new in gangsta cred

In one of the most sensible judicial decisions in memory, a New York City judge has ruled that anyone, even wannabe gangstas, have the right to look like idiots in the name of authenticity:

Judge Ruben Franco said that although Julio Martinez may have offended the fashion police with his low-hanging and underwear-exposing pants, his manner of dress didn't deserve a ticket from a cop.

All I can say is that I'm glad that saggy pants wasn't a thing back when I was into things. As bratty suburban teams we roamed the streets at night, rifling cars for cassettes and lobbing eggs at rich folks' houses. We thought we were gangsta -- Colors had just come out, so we upped our cred by wrapping our heads in blue and red bandanas. It was a serious thing though, in some parts of America, and the media tried to spook us with stories about kids inadvertently wearing a red bandana while wandering into crips terrritory and getting shot for their troubles. Even just a few years ago, activists staged protest marches in Harlem after a baseball cap company started selling Yankees caps in the colours of bloods, crips, and the Latin Kings.

But time gentrifies all things eventually, and nowadays tourists can pay $65 to get a gangland tour of south central L.A. Meanwhile, Complex magazine brings us a top-ten list of the most gang-affiliated hats in sports. Surprisingly, the Yankees don't even make the list; number 2 is the Cincinnati Reds, and number one are the LA Dodgers. This is shocking news to Matt Bartosik of NBC Chicago, who concluded a blog post about the Complex story by saying, "Still, it is disturbing to think that a sports hat might not signify loyalty to a favorite team but rather to a band of criminals."