Color Line
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: Every so often, someone writes in and says, “Why don’t you write about the designs on basketball courts, or the logos painted on football fields, or stadium design?”
As I’ve always explained to the people who raise this type of question, I’m interested in field/court/ice/arena design, but I’ve held off on writing about it because, strictly speaking, it’s not uni-related. But this type of material clearly falls within the wider boundaries of athletics aesthetics, and I recently told myself, “The next time someone raises a really good issue regarding fields or courts or whatever, I’ll run with it.”
That day came yesterday, when I got a note from Brian Hunsicker, a sportswriter for a small daily newspaper in northern Virginia. Here’s his communiqué:
On Friday night I covered a game between Woodbridge and C.D. Hylton high schools. It was Woodbridge’s homecoming, and the school celebrated by painting its yardlines black. The individual yardlines along the sideline and the inside of the numbers were painted yellow.
After the game, I asked Woodbridge’s coach in passing if it was legal, and he said it didn’t matter what color they used, as long as it was contrasting. …
Anyway, I’ve been playing or covering football for most of my life and have yet to see anything like this.
This is definitely a first for me, too. Even Boise State’s blue gridiron has white yard markers. Anyone else ever seen anything like this?
Anyway, a field with black yardlines seems perfect for Halloween, no?
Signal Flare: If Matthew T. Olson is reading this, please get in touch — thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Speaking of field graphics, anyone interested in that subject area should check out these guys. … While looking at photos of Maryland’s black jerseys and red-trimmed undersleeves yesterday, I noticed something I hadn’t picked up on before: The Terps appear to have football’s subtlest rear-helmet uni numbers (here’s another view). I like, I like. … Thanks to Mark Dagwell for pointing out this article about the 1974-75 Washington Capitals’ white pants (although the article mistakenly says they wore the white breezers with their home unis, when they actually wore them on the road). … Good catch by Billy Ramirez, who notes that the space between the Panthers’ helmet stripes is a lot narrower for players wearing the Riddell Revolution helmet — compare this and this to this and this. … Lots of Ohio State news, courtesy of Buckeyes fanatic Chad Klenk. For starters: It’s tough to see, but OSU is wearing a black “AP” helmet decal in honor of freshman Andrew Polakowski, who died in an elevator accident on October 20th. Also, as Klenk explains, “Anthony Gonzalez has worn a different helmet/facemask each year: 2004, 2005, 2006. And Troy Smith is sporting a different facemask this season than he has in the past.” … Good to see that Adidas is taking good care of its talent (with thanks to Morris Bird). … Odd catch by Eric Distenfeld, who notes that Ian Laperriere’s jersey sort of folded over on Sunday night, briefly creating the illusion that he was wearing the “C” and the “A” simultaneously.
185 comments October 31st, 2006
