Pass or Fail: The No. 87 Calgary Flames Crosby jersey

Since our buddy Seth at the Post-Gazette first opined on the concept of Jersey Fouls, we've been getting flooded with images of sweaters good and horrendous, asking for the Simon Cowell treatment. Some are easy calls; some are a bit more challenging, like the creative "Detroit Sucks Infinitely" one from earlier this week.

Now, most of you are seeing this Crosby No. 87 Calgary Flames jersey, and your fingers are already perched on the "E" and the "P" in order to type "EPIC FAIL." That's fine; Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby on a Flames sweater makes about as much sense as a Seattle Mariners Derek Jeter jersey, right?

But what if we told you the dude who owns the jersey is named Matthew Crosby? His e-mail explanation:

I'm sure you're already getting sick of the whole jersey "fouls" situation, but I'm sick of the abuse I get for having the last name Crosby, and being a new huge Flames fan, and being ignorant (read: Australian) enough at the time to get a Crosby 87 jersey.
No. 87 in cricket is considered a "devils" number because it's 13 short of a century. So it was my idea of not being superstitious that I got that number. Then my wife (girlfriend at the time) tells me a few months later that a Crosby had been drafted No. 1 overall and I'd never guess his number. If I'd done the whole birth year thing, I'd get even weirder looks wearing 85.

Our first thought was that this is a royal snow job by a clever puckhead. But lo and behold, the "devils number" thing is true.

Clearly, this isn't your garden variety Pass/Fail. At its core, we're still dealing with a fan putting his own name on a sweater, which is a jersey foul. But if your name is Crosby, and there's some crazy pre-Sidney justification for having 87 ... man, who knows? Matthew said in his e-mail that he and his lady are tired of "the pathetic group that mill around in a knitting group fashion and just shout out ridiculous insults at me because they know everything hockey related." With all of this in mind, we ask ...