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Archive for August, 2006
Two significant Uni Watch developments today, starting with the annual college football roundup over on ESPN — here’s the link. Thanks to everyone who let me know about this year’s uniform changes.
The other big news is that we’ve finally got Uni Watch merchandise for sale. Just coffee mugs and T-shirts for now (although we may expand the offerings later on) — scroll down a bit and look in the left sidebar and take a look. The merch is being handled by Zazzle, an on-demand fulfillment company that produces really high-quality stuff. I can say with some confidence that you will not be disappointed.
Two people deserve big shout-outs here: The first is Scott M.X. Turner, who designed a logo for the Uni Watch Athletics Aesthetics Party six months ago (without even being asked — he just e-mailed it to me out of the blue) and has been extremely gracious about letting me plaster it wherever I like. Thanks, bud.
The other all-star here is Uni Watch webmaster John Ekdahl, who set up our Zazzle store (along with the site’s RSS feed, the Google ads, the new mailing list system, and about a jillion other technical things I wouldn’t know how to do by myself). He also puts up with a bunch of pesky requests from me on an all too frequent basis, with nary a complaint. Like most behind-the-scenes types, he deserves a lot more credit than he gets. Thanks, John — next round’s on me.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Shaun Marcum was smote by the cross — literally — last night. … A soccer player in the English Premier League has been reprimanded for adding his dead son’s first initial to the back of his jersey. Full details here (with thanks to Matthew Bonnett). … Is this the second coming of Eddie Gaedel or what? … Underbill Update: Mark Mulder’s got something (like maybe “Thank god my contract is guaranteed”) written under there. … Joe Mauer’s been wearing that 1970s-style helmet for a while now, but it looks particularly odd when he wears it with the Twins’ blue alternate jersey. … Although my TV sound was muted because I was on the phone, it looked like the Mets TV broadcast team was paying some serious attention to the wristband on Colorado pitcher Ramon Ramirez’s glove (very similar to this) during the top of the 2nd last night. Unfortunately, the MLB.TV game video is taken from the Rockies’ broadcast feed, not the Mets’, so I can’t go back and hear the discussion. Did anyone catch it? … I’m heading upstate today to see these guys and eat this stuff (I’ll be at Sharkey’s from about 4:30pm to 6pm, if any Binghamtonians want to say hi), so talk amongst yourselves and all that. I’ll be back tomorrow.
August 31st, 2006
Everyone knows about the White Sox’s one-game experiment wearing shorts in 1976. But you might not know that the Chisox weren’t the only professional baseball team to wear shorts, nor were they the first. That distinction goes to the Hollywood Stars, a triple-A team that paired pinstriped shorts with non-pinstriped pullovers in 1950. The outfit was worn for warm-weather games, usually on weekends, for two seasons. You can read a short account of what it was like to wear the shorts, from Stars player Chuck Stevens, here.
Those photos and text come from The Grand Minor League: An Oral History of the Old Pacific Coast League, by Dick Dobbins, a copy of which was generously donated to the Uni Watch library last week by reader Ken Clark. Much like Rain Check, which I wrote about a few weeks ago, this book is filled with some spectacular photos of jerseys, caps, and small details. Here are some highlights:
• At first glance, it looks like the 1956 Los Angeles Angels (who were a minor league team in those days) were using stretch gussets very much like the ones seen on today’s MLB batting practice jerseys. But it turns out that the Angels also used the gusset stripe pattern on their pants!
• Lots of great caps here. I especially like that the Oakland Oaks used an acorn-shaped logo.
• It’s hard to see, but in 1940 the Stars experimented with chenille lettering, which is a puffy, textured weave, sort of like a towel.
• Always cracks me up when I see little underarm ventilation eyelets on old jerseys. Like, yeah, I’m sure those holes made a huuuuuge difference. (Also: Note the odd stitching pattern along the seam.)
• Striped pockets — nice.
• Can’t decide which sleeve patch I like better — this one or this one.
As for the shorts — which deserve a closer look — the real problem, it seems to me, is that the jersey and shorts don’t match. Like, was the fabric mill running a special on pinstriped flannel or what? Also, is that a satin belt? Yikes.
Finally, one last left-coast baseball note: Dave Eskinazi, who provided all the great photos in the Rain Check book, has an excellent photo project available on the web: a slide show documenting baseball’s early history in Washington state, filled with more photos from his amazing collection. You can see the exhibit’s home page, and click to begin the slide show, here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Excellent article here about Ohio State’s new jerseys. … Diacritical Update: We have a circumflex sighting, courtesy of Doug Brei, who snapped this photo of Rochester Rhinos player Matthew Delicâte last Saturday. … Underbill Update: Leaving aside Andre Ethier’s goofy self-portrait pose, it’s interesting to see that he spells out his uni number on his underbill (with thanks to Lauro Diazzesati). … Italy has finally added the fourth star to their soccer crest.
August 30th, 2006
Last month we discussed several ballplayers whose caps have had a tendency to fall off, including Mike MacDougal, Jim Bouton, and John Pacella. (For those who missed it, the full treatment is here.) But those were all pitchers — it’s much rarer to find a position player with cap-retention problems. In fact, I’m not sure I’d ever heard of one until Shawn Green came along.
Green has played in four games since being acquired by the Mets last week, and he’s lost his cap at least once in each of them. It usually happens when he’s tracking a fly ball, but yesterday it happened as he chased a double into the corner.
Normally you wouldn’t see something like this being covered by the beat writers. But thanks to Sunday’s Mets game being rained out, the local scribes were poking around for something — anything — to write about for Monday’s editions. And so it came to pass that Monday’s Daily News actually contained a small item about Green and his cap. Here’s the relevant passage:
It seems every time Shawn Green makes a play in right field, his cap flies off and lands some 20 feet behind him. He swears it’s not intentional. “I’ve got a good answer,” he said. “I have to wait until it shrinks up on me to fit my head.”
Green pointed to the blue cap in his locker. “That one fits but I have to wait until we wear that color of uniform,” he said. “I’m lucky I’ve got Carlos (Beltran in center field) to pick them up for me.”
It’s hard to know what to make of this — like, if his cap doesn’t fit, can’t he just ask for another one? In any case, Green’s being too kind to Beltran here, since he’s usually picked up his cap himself.
This is the part where I mention that since Green is MLB’s most prominent Jewish player, maybe he should just wear this. But you all saw that one coming.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hot tip from the purple battlefield: It has come to my attention that a certain purple-clad team will be going purple-free next season. Can’t share any details just yet, but look for more news in this Thursday’s ESPN column. … Interesting post-game moment after Friday’s Bears/Cardinals preseason contest, as documented by Mike Murray: “Matt Leinart and Brian Urlacher were chatting on the field after the game. Leinart must have asked Urlacher for his jersey, because Urlacher started to take it off while they were talking. The jersey got stuck on his shoulder pads, so Leinart reached over and helped him remove it. Then they stood and chatted some more while Leinart had Urlacher’s jersey slung over his shoulder. Apparently Urlacher didn’t want Leinart’s jersey in return.” … Jersey swapping is also big in MLB, but it goes on behind the scenes. … By now we all know about MLB’s Cool Base jerseys (if you need a refresher course, look here), and now reader Jordan Sidwell has noticed the Cool Base’s natural counterpart showing up on MLB.com: the Therma Base fleece, which we’ll presumably start seeing when the weather gets colder. Like virtually everything else being produced nowadays, it features some seriously unnecessary piping. … Speaking of which, could something please be done about this? … Remember our recent discussion of umlauts and tildes and such? It took a while, but Jeremy Brahm has finally turned up some cedillas, as seen here (a Portuguese volleyball player, from 2003) and here (Portuguese soccer player Sergio Conceiçao, playing for Standard Liege in Belgium).
August 29th, 2006
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just show up in a city far from home, announce your presence, and have a bunch of cool strangers come out of the woodwork to play with you? That’s what happened to me in Milwaukee on Thursday night, as about a dozen Uni Watchers joined me for drinks and good times at the very wonderful Art Altenburg’s Concertina Bar (where, yes, there was a live polka band, along with lots of polka-themed signage and promotional props). Seriously, how lucky can a fella get? Like I always say, Uni Watch readers are the coolest, and no writer could ever hope to have a better or nicer readership. Here’s to everyone who came down.
Among the highlights:
• Here’s Dave Mann, wearing the Manitoba Moose jersey that he designed himself (along with the rare chest patch that never went into full production because, as he explained, “it had too many colors”). Mann also delivered a blistering critique of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new logo, which we’ll get to in a sec.
• Wisconsin punk diety and longtime Uni Watch contributor the Rev. Nørb came down from Green Bay — and brought along a slew of purple jerseys, just to fuck with me (he was actually wearing them all when he arrived). For good measure, Nørb also brought me a purple pen, a purple floor tile, and a scrap of purple carpeting (the latter two left over from a recent home “improvement” project), all of which were, of course, confiscated by airport security just prior to my flight back to New York.
• This is Mitch Teich, who came down to interview me for WUWM’s “Lake Effect” radio show. Not sure yet when the interview will run, but probably around the middle of next month — details to follow.
• At left is Nicole Haase, who runs the Cute Sports blog (and who generously served as the local coordinator for this shindig); at right, Tim Adams, who came up from Chicago and joined me for pre-gathering frozen custard at Kopp’s (best ice cream in America, don’tcha know) and some kickass ribs at Speed Queen BBQ.
• Tavern owner and national treasure Art Altenburg got plenty of attention from the ladies, including Stephanie West (here’s another shot) and Mary the Birthday Girl (who also had fun with her newly purchased Concertina Bar T-shirt — complete with accordian straps).
• When our beer-to-protein balance threatened to go haywire, Uni Watch readers turned to pickled eggs — or at least Eric Graves, Gwen Graves, and Tim Langenohl did. The rest of us kept our distance.
• A few more random shots: A.J. Zydzik and Stephanie West; A.J. and me; Nørb and Tim Adams; Nørb, Tim, and me; the Concertina Bar’s highly sophisticated Lost and Found department; and the rare Concertina Bar sign that doesn’t mention polka.
So that was Thursday night. On Friday morning, I was supposed to have breakfast with Bucks vice president John Steinmiller, but it turned out that he wasn’t able to make it. This was tragic on several levels, not the least of which was that I wasn’t able to present Steinmiller with Dave Mann’s deconstruction of the team’s new logo. But I can still present it here (and hopefully I can also arrange for Steinmiller to take a look at this blog entry), so here it is, in Mann’s own words:
What follows is a nutshell synopsis of the major problems with the Bucks new primary logo. These are by no means all the errors in their entirety — some are only visible at huge sizes, such as when printed on the team van (yes, I stalked the promo van) — but this covers the more egregious ones.
Note #1 — The vertical yellow line would appear to divide the (symmetrical) image in half, yes? The line is evenly spaced between the antlers at the top and cuts the apex of the bottom of the red triangle dead-center. Great. Or is it? Look closely at the white shapes that make up the nose and mouth. They are WAY off-center to the right. To be fair, this problem appears to have been present even prior to the change. Still odd.
Note #2 — This is meant to illustrate the glaring difference in silver stroke (industry term for outline) width. It’s nearly twice as wide on the right as on the left. Closer inspection reveals varying stroke width EVERYWHERE. Look at the difference between the stroke width on the deer’s right cheek vs. left — yikes! The stroke around the antlers is thinner than everywhere else. This is NOT a subjective issue. Illustrators use varying line weight for different reasons all the time. But it almost never appears in sports logo design, NEVER appears in symmetrical artwork, and also NEVER appears in differing weights around the very outside of the shape. Outlines in that manner are meant to separate and contain the artwork from distractions around it. While there is a 1% chance the inner linework is intentionally varied, there is NO chance the outer, containment outline should be of different thicknesses.
Note #3 — This is meant to illustrate that the triangle also appears to not be centered. On the right, the triangle/shoulder intersection comes to a point; on the left, there’s an obvious gap.
I never expect any of these issues to be addressed. After all, who’s gonna notice? But what I expect — nay, insist! — on getting corrected is this.
The top example is exactly how the team’s full wordmark appears on the baseline of the Cousin’s Center [the team's practice facility]; the lower example is what it SHOULD look like. There are lots of missing bevels, which I’ve highlighted in blue. Once you’ve seen it, I hope it’s as obvious to you as it is to me. It’s like a car wreck — I can’t turn away. If they paint the Bradley Center game floor like that, I’ll honestly never be able to attend a game again.
The rest of my Wisconsin trip wasn’t particularly uniform-oriented (unless you count the rad outfits worn during the Porch Honkees photo shoot I sat in on [NSFW: check out their cool new hit, with me cheering in the background, here]), although I did see a nice old high school baseball uni in a vintage shop. Overpriced, though, so I passed.
(A big pickled egg jar full of thanks to Tim Adams and A.J. Zydzik for their photographic contributions, and to Todd Krevanchi for so ably filling in for me on Friday.)
Speaking of Uni Watch gatherings…: Looks like there’s room for another couple of bodies at the Uni Watch bbq party, slated for this Sunday in Brooklyn, New York. If you’re interested, send a note to unibbq at earthlink dot net. I’ll get back to you regarding address, time, etc.
Uni Watch News Ticker: In case you missed it in the Comments section a few days ago, Troy Polamalu was wearing some gonzo socks in practice the other day. … Twins news from an anonymous source in Minnesota: “I work at a Minnesota Twins Pro Shop. We are owned and operated by the Twins, so we get a bunch of game-used jerseys and stuff in. With the trade-deadline trade of Kyle Lohse, we received a few of his game-used jerseys. One of them was that new style of all-mesh with the vents under the arms [i.e., the Cool Base model]. I was asking my boss about it, and he said they’re planning on switching to those jerseys for all of their different styles for next season. He said the players really liked them so they’re making the switch.” … Good catch by Chris Rosa, who notes that the MLB logo on Carlos Delgado’s batting gloves appears to be teal and black — “clearly a holdover from his Marlins days,” says Rosa. … I actually liked Cuba’s red pants during the World Baseball Classic, but check out the faux white stirrups they’re now being paired with during the Pre-Olympic Baseball tourney — ugh. … Looks like Ryan Shealy has something written on his underbill. … Brad Hennessey appears to be the latest pitcher to be wearing a glove that looks impermissibly pale. … Looks like Fred Smoot was wearing no whites with his purple socks the other day. … Our recent discussion of players wearing stick pins prompted a note from Chris Marcinko, who points out that Joey Cora used to wear pins in his cap but was then told to cease and desist by the league office (scroll about two-thirds of the way down that page for the appropriate segment). … Nike’s asymmetrical-sleeve concept has now spread to the high school level (with thanks to Nick Zajicek). … Stunning NFL development on Saturday night, as the Rams went white-on-white. … A recent New York Times article about a 42-year-old U.S. Open ball “boy” includes a tidbit I’d never heard about before: During a 1990 doubles match, a frustrated Ilie Nastase was playing so poorly that he asked the ball boy to find a tennis skirt for him to play in — and the ball boy found one for him. Can’t find a photo yet, though. … Speaking of the U.S. Open ball boys, they’re wearing some nasty jerseys. … Good catch in yesterday’s Comments section by Ryan Real, who notes that Ben Roethlisberger’s wristbands appeared to have a blacked-out logo on Friday night. Turns out it’s made by Neumann, which isn’t an approved NFL licensee (read: isn’t Reebok). … After several Seattle players wore those neon green gloves in the Super Bowl, it’s not surprising that we’re now seeing stuff like this. … Soccer note from Jeremy Brahm: “I was watching Gol (a weekly highlights show on soccer leagues from around the world) on GolTV tonight and saw a game from Portugal between Sporting Club de Portugal (Sporting) and Boavista FC. Boavista traditionally wears a checkered shirt, and Sporting wears white and green stripes — but for this game, both teams wore their white uniforms to start the game. The referee made Sporting change colors for the second half.”
August 28th, 2006
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
We rarely cover anything NASCAR-related at Uni Watch, but Matt Kenseth won both races this weekend and has won two Nextel Cup races in a row, so let’s give him some props…
August 27th, 2006
(Adrian Dennis/Getty Images)
August 26th, 2006
Good morning Uni Watch commUNIty. Paul is doing some traveling. I’m Todd Krevanchi and I’m taking care of today’s entry.
When the FIBA World Championships and Olympic Games come around every few years, it not only gives us a chance to see how our boys can mess up bringing home a gold medal, but also allows us to see how our apparel manufacturers can mess up the uniforms.
One of the earliest demonstrations of logo creep on the international stage occurred at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Apparel manufacturer Descente was given the contract to outfit the men’s basketball team. Three uniforms were issued, in red, white, and blue. The uniforms were quite classy. Vertically arched chest lettering, no last names on the back and a simple USA on the sides of the shorts, but the Descente logo was on the upper-right shoulder of the jersey and the left leg of the shorts. And since Converse was the exclusive Olympic footwear provider, they found it appropriate to throw their logo beneath the waistband on the shorts.
In 1988, at the Seoul Games, the Red Army beat the U.S. and the red uniform was dropped. Descente was once again called in to outfit the squad, and they used the same template from the ’84 games, except that last names were added to the jerseys. The white and blue uniforms still featured Descente-driven logo creep, but this time the Converse logo was gone.
1992: The Dream Team. This time Champion outfitted the men’s hoopsters. This Olympiad featured a new USA Basketball Logo (still in use today), which functioned as the main jersey insignia and also appeared on the sides of the shorts. Once again, white and blue uniforms were used, with red still on the hanger. Champion displayed its corporate logo this time on the left shoulder and by the left waistband of the shorts.
USA Basketball maintained this classic design for the 1994 World Championships in Ontario, Canada. Dream Team II again played with the traditional white and blue.
Then came 1996 and the Atlanta Games. They must have held a contest for area middle school students to design these, which were cluttered with stars, script lettering, and new typography. The white and blue uniforms now had a waistband star and fields of stars down both sides, as well as the USA basketball logo on both the jersey and shorts. And Champion added their mark as well.
The 1998 World Championships were held in Greece, and Champion held tight with the same design. But there was a redesign for the 2000 Sydney Games, beginning with sleeveless tees. In addition to the stripes that Y out to a single star on either side of the shorts, you have the USA Basketball logo on the waist. On the jersey, another USA Basketball logo, a new neck mark, and, of course, the oversized Champion logo. And let’s not forget the USA Basketball star on the back. Again, only white and blue.
In 2002, the World Championships were held in Indianapolis. This was the start of Reebok’s relationship with USA Basketball, and the uniforms took on more of an asymmetrical approach. The stars returned to the shorts and jerseys on the right, but not on the left. The neckline was now a solid color. And the team got smoked.
In Greece in 2004, the trio of unis returned — red, white, and blue. Reebok still had the contract and made significant adjustments, including horizontal stripes down the sides, a collar-style neckline along with the neck star, and curved piping. The back star also returned to the mix. But one thing didn’t change: The team got smoked — again!
That brings us to this year’s World Championships in Japan. Nike now has the USA Basketball contract, and they’re made some interesting adjustments to the uniform. Red has apparently been dropped once again, since it hasn’t been used in any preliminary games. The white and blue uniforms show quite a bit of piping, wedges of red, white, or blue, and the piping connecting the arm- and neckholes that Nike has used in their college uniforms. Meanwhile, the back of these uniforms looks like something out of Nike’s college football template. I guess I still don’t understand the wraparound feature. These uniforms have come upon some serious scrutiny over the last month based on their design. In architecture, the mantra “form follows function” has lived for over a century. However in Nike’s case, with these uniforms, they missed the boat on both form and function.
I’m interested to see what the Beijing Games bring us…
August 25th, 2006
Ever wish you could play ball in a vintage uniform? A bunch of college and high school players will get to do that today at the Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual event event staged to benefit charity, with the players dressing in period garb.
There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the unis’ authenticity. This article refers to one player wearing “[Robin] Roberts’ woolens,” implying that the guy is wearing an authentic uni that Roberts actually wore. The article then adds: “The keeper of the flame, or uniform at least, is 70-year-old Dave Leibovitz, who owns Royal White Laundry in Somerville. … [He] keeps a sharp eye on all the duds, delicately placing each uniform in its rightful storage spot.” Again, this suggests that the unis are vintage authentics. But they’re actually throwback repros, as you can tell from all the bogus patches. The good news is that they’re clearly made from natural fibers (unlike the wretched polyester used in MLB throwback games), so they drape right. You can see additional photos from past games here and here.
One amusing detail: Kids today are so stirrup-clueless that some of them have worn sanitaries that are dangerously low.
Pin-Up Follow-Up: Yesterday’s entry on World Series press pins prompted an interesting response from graphic designer and longtime Uni Watch correspondent Ross Yoshida, who used to work for the Dodgers. He writes:
Cool feature on press pins. I didn’t know much about them myself until 2004, when I was asked to design one for the Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Dodgers were eliminated in the Division Series by the Cards that year, so I think only a few production samples exist. One of the directives I was given was to make the design non-year-specific, in case a large run was produced and the team failed to make the Series. Because of this, there is still a slim chance that the design could resurface if and when the Dodgers make it to the World Series again.
Underbill Update: Got a really interesting note yesterday from Everett Duke. Check it out: “One of my professors made note of how popular it is to write on the underbrims of hats these days. He instituted a rule that on test days, we could wear no hats or must turn them backwards, since they could be used to aid in cheating.” How long can it be before Prof Daddy-O bans inside-out pocket flappage too?
Meanwhile, back on the diamond, reader Karl Anderson checks in with the following: “Matt Garza, the Twins’ new call-up from the minor leagues, has something written under the bill of his cap. Before each start he stands behind the mound and reads something on his bill. No pictures yet.”
War on Purple Gains Ground: As you probably know by now, the Raptors will have new, purple-free unis this season. This came up in an interview that a blogger named Lil Dice recently conducted with newly acquired Raptor Kris Humphries. Here’s the key portion of the interview:
Lil Dice [pointing to Humphries' Raptors T-shirt]: You excited to be playing with the Raptors?
Kris Humphries: Yes.
LD: Have you seen the new uniforms?
KH: They have new uniforms?
LD: Yep. They look pretty sharp and much cooler than the Wolves uniforms [Humphries is from Minnesota].
KH: Do they still have purple in them?
LD: It doesn’t look like it.
KH [in a tone of exasperation and with some hand gesturing]: You can’t do anything with purple…
This Humphries fella, he sounds like a smart guy.
(Special purple-free thanks to Anfernee Lam for the tip on this one.)
“Now pinch-hitting…”: By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on my way to Wisconsin (remember, Uni Watch meet-and-greet tonight, 7pm, at the completely wonderful Art Altenburg’s Concertina Bar), and I’m going to be busy with other stuff on Friday. So tomorrow’s entry will be handled by longtime Uni Watch contributor Todd Krevanchi, co-founder and administrator of the NikeTalk message board, and a swell guy besides. Everyone treat him nice, OK? OK.
August 24th, 2006
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