Sunday Open Thread

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen sportin’ the American League Champions shirts and caps.

132 comments October 15th, 2006

Saturday Open Thread

(Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images)

LaDainian Tomlinson in the Chargers’ throwbacks from last Sunday’s game.

131 comments October 14th, 2006

Mods Find New Job Opportunity in NHL

Sportswear companies are always talking about their “performance-enhancing” features, whether it’s moisture-management technology or extra-stretchy fabrics. But what if a uniform could provide superior results simply by virtue of its graphic properties? That’s the question raised by an intriguing note I received in August from reader Dan Franko. Check it out:

I was talking to a friend who works for [a company that does some number-crunching for the NHL]. He was telling me that they have data supporting the theory that teams with symmetrical logos, or more rounded logos, have a goaltender advantage. He said that they’ve noted a higher save percentage in goalies who have what they call a “target” logo — the Flames’ “C,” the Habs’ “C,” the Caps’ “splattered bug,” the circle behind the Devils’ “NJ.” They have a theory that a shooter’s eye is drawn to this image, and that the shot is usually pulled more toward the goaltender’s center mass.

Apparently when they have logos like the Caps’ eagle or the Rangers’ slanted letters, the shooters have higher scoring percentage.

I don’t know where you would even start to validate this theory. But the idea of a uniform/logo giving a team an on-ice advantage — I thought that was something you’d be particularly interested in.

Indeed, I was plenty interested, especially when Franko offered to put me in touch with his friend. Unfortunately, despite my repeated entreaties over the next several weeks, his friend failed to respond (understandable, if frustrating), which essentially leaves us with an unsubstantiated rumor, or maybe an urban legend.

Still, it’s interesting food for thought, especially since target-style jersey designs — or at least logos surrounded by lots of empty space — are pretty much the norm in the NHL. The only clear exceptions are the Rangers, the new Ducks design, and the Avalanche’s third jersey, plus I suppose you could make a case for the Stars and the Senators’ home design.

Anyone ever heard of this phenomenon before? Any hockey players — either goalies or sharpshooters — have any thoughts on the matter?

And I’m going to be v-e-r-y disappointed if the Rev. Nørb doesn’t have some choice comments regarding the hockey/Mod connection.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Wes Walz was wearing mismatched gloves last night (great catch by Matthew Lepke). … Genuinely surprised to see that the Mets didn’t wear any sort of memorial for Cory Lidle last night. On the other hand, almost everything about uniforms feels so scripted and predictable these days that it’s nice to find myself surprised, just for variety’s sake. … Speaking of scripted and predictable, check out the miserable new template-driven college hoops unis that have just been unveiled for UNC and Michigan State, both designed by you know who. … Interesting similarity between the UNO hockey team’s 10th-anniversary patch and the Super Bowl XXXVII logo. Full details here. … Someone else is getting into uni-watching — sort of (registration may be required, but it’s free and worth it). … Huge condolences to the family, friends, and customers of Patrick O’Connor — as fine a bartender, and as good a friend, as ever walked this planet — who died on Sunday. R.I.P., buddy.

231 comments October 13th, 2006

Tuck Rule, NBA Version

Those purple unis aren’t the only thing the Bucks will be leaving behind this season. That news comes courtesy of Trail Blazers play-by-play man Mike Barrett, who has a blog and recently discussed some of the rulebook changes in the NBA this season. Here’s the pertinent passage:

Players can no longer come to the scorer’s table to check in with their jerseys untucked. On the floor, of course, they’ve always had to keep shirts tucked in. Those full-length leg tights that got popular last season are no longer allowed. And sweatbands may be worn only on the wrists, not on the upper arm or forearm. I thought of Kobe when I heard this one, because he always wears one on his bicep. Well, he used to. That won’t be allowed anymore. Players also won’t be allowed wear those rubber bands, which have become so popular, on their wrists. [This is apparently a reference to Livestrong-ish bands. — PL] I’m not trying to put you to sleep here, but just thought you might be interested in some of this stuff.

Note that last bit about sleep inducement, like he’s basically apologizing for talking about uni-related stuff. Is that pathetic or what? We’ve seen this kind of nonsense before, of course, usually from broadcasters who find themselves discussing uniforms on the air and then adopt that mock-ironic tone that basically says, “Ho ho ho, don’t take this too seriously, because I certainly don’t, ha ha ha.” My message to all these clowns: Either talk loud and proud or put a sock in it (striped, natch) and leave the uni chatter to the professionals.

Stormy Weather: Uni Watch South Pole bureau chief Eric Bennett and I had driven about 80% of the way to Shea Stadium last night — through a driving rain the whole way — when, to our great relief, we heard that the game had been called. So we turned around, stopped in Rego Park to have dinner at my favorite kosher Uzbeki kebab house (menu, more menu, typical fare), and then headed back to Brooklyn, where I noticed the following while watching the Tigers/A’s game:

• Placido Polanco’s got something written under his brim.

• Polanco also appears to have a black cap button (or maybe no button at all, tough to be sure), instead of the orange button worn by everyone else.

• Add Fernando Rodney to our roster of players with undershirt tag issues.

As for our tickets, they’re good for tomorrow’s game. Weather’s supposed to be a lot colder that day, which among other things will put a serious crimp in my plans to wear a Ditch the Black T-shirt — dang.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Gotta assume that the Mets and A’s will both start wearing some sort of memorial patch or armband for Cory Lidle, since he pitched for both of those teams. Haven’t heard anything definite on this front, though. … Case Western is planning a throwback weekend in February (thanks to Todd McGuinness). … Wyoming will be wearing throwbacks — presumably similar to the ones they wore last year — this weekend (with thanks to Chad Smith). … Soccer note from A.J. Zydzik, who writes: “The German national team had a European championship qualifier against Slovakia on Wednesday and they broke out the long-sleeve jerseys, which, to my horror, have mismatched sleeves.” … Speaking of soccer, Mark Lockwood sent along this article, which includes the following passage regarding UK player Wayne Rooney: “Rooney appears to have become the latest high-profile casualty of the curse of Nike, wherein the greater the claims made in adverts for a player’s world-altering abilities, the more likely he is to pick up a long-term injury or suffer a drastic shortfall of form. ‘This is my year,’ Rooney proclaims in the advertisement for the partly reinforced carpet slippers that go by the name of his endorsed football boots these days. ‘And I’m not just going to hit the target, I’m going to destroy it.’ Get back to us on that one, Wayne.”

194 comments October 12th, 2006

Hoops for Hoops

It’s no secret that I like me a good pair of striped socks. Hopefully you do too, because I’m about to show you some really amazing examples, thanks to reader Larry Coode. But before we can get to the socks, we need a bit of context, so here’s the note that Coode recently sent my way:

I recently ran across some great pictures of the 1965-66 Pearl High School (Nashville, Tenn.) basketball team on the Nashville Tennessean web site. That was the first year that historically/predominantly black schools were allowed to compete in Tennessee high school ball, and Pearl won the state championship that year with a 31-0 record. … Their entire 1965-66 lineup would dunk during pre-game (apparently allowed in those days), intimidating the hell out of opponents. At least six of the players on that team eventually played college ball.

I was in grade school in Nashville at the time. Pearl and their players were legendary. When they played Father Ryan High School on January 4, 1965 — one of the first, if not THE first, Tennessee high school games between predominantly white and black schools — the game had to be moved to the downtown Municipal Auditorium to handle the huge crowd.

You had to live in Nashville in the 1960s to really appreciate this Pearl team. For a white kid from a conservative Catholic family growing up in a largely Jewish neighborhood in the South during the civil rights era, following a black team was almost surreal. I was 13 or 14 the first time my mother let me go to a game with black teams playing. Man, so exhilarating and so terrifying at the same time. But nothing bad or scary happened — I realized we all loved the game. What an eye-opening moment that was.

Okay, so that’s an interesting story and all, but it wouldn’t be Uni Watch material if not for Pearl’s completely amazing socks. At first glance, the stripes appear to have been a vertical/horizontal combo design, but upon closer inspection it turns out that they were actually wearing horizontally striped crew socks over vertically striped tube socks. Talk about an inspired concept! The mind fairly boggles.

And that’s just one of Pearl’s looks from that season. As Coode wrote, “I think I counted five different jerseys, four shorts, four socks, and two warmup jackets — and this was 1966!” Indeed, Pearl’s other sock stripings included hoops, micro-hoops, and some sort of textured diamond-check pattern. Their opponents often sported some nifty hosiery stylings as well, including hoop stripes, micro vertical stripes and monogrammed Northwestern stripes.

The stripes weren’t limited to the socks, either. Check out these jerseys, this belt, and — I’ve never seen anything like this — this contrast-colored fly placket.

And that’s just a taste. Additional photos, plus full captions, are available here, here, and here.

(Vertically striped thanks to Larry Coode for bringing us up to speed on this interesting chapter in sports, and hosiery, history.)

Remain in Light: As long as we’re talking about high school sports, it’s worth noting that the National Federation of State High School Associations, which sets various rules and standards for high school sports, has announced a new uni-related football regulation, set to take effect in 2010. Here’s the info, from an NFHS press release:

Because of increasing amounts of color in visiting teams’ “light” jerseys, beginning in the 2010 season, more stringent requirements will take effect that will eliminate confusion as to which jerseys are dark and which are light. The revised rule will require the yoke and the body of the visiting team’s jersey to be white and will dictate the areas of the jersey that can have adornments and accessory patterns. Those areas will be stripes on the sleeves, a border around the collar and cuffs, and a side seam (from the underarms to the top of the pants) 4 inches in width.

Approximately 10 years ago, the NFHS Football Rules Committee began liberalizing the “jersey rule” by removing basic restrictions on decorations and other limitations. … An unintended consequence of such liberalization has been the often-reported “blending” of the dark-colored home team jerseys and the light-colored visiting team jerseys, creating confusion on the part of players, officials and spectators. Beginning in 2010, that confusion should be eliminated.

Manufacturers have been asking for more direction with regard to the changes in uniform design. The four-year phase-in period will allow this change to be implemented during the normal uniform replacement cycle, thus minimizing the financial impact on schools. This change will allow the home team to wear some of the newer styles of jerseys, and, over the course of a season, will be fair to all teams.

“I am a high school football coach in Minnesota, and I just don’t understand this at all,” says Dustin Kalis, who brought this new rule to my attention. “You still get to do what you want with your home jersey, but [the new road jersey rules are] to ‘eliminate confusion’? Give me a break.”

A PDF file with the official wording of the new rule can be found here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday I asked if anyone had photos of football jerseys with crotch extensions (which are designed to keep the jersey from coming untucked). Thanks to everyone who provided good examples in yesterday’s Comments section, and also to those who e-mailed photos directly to me (especially Uni Watch Graphics Coordinator Scott M.X. Turner, who provided vintage collegiate examples from Princeton, Wisconsin, and Ohio State). … On Monday I ran this photo of Coolidge High’s football team. That got reader Ian Downes wondering what Coolidge’s baseball team looked like. The answer: pretty conventional for the most part. But one of the team’s pitchers has come up with a genuinely innovative hosiery style — yowza! … Nice view here of the uni number on Curtis Granderson’s right sock (thanks to Jeff Cohen). … Alabama will wearing a special houndstooth-patterned collar this Saturday against Ole Miss, to commemorate the the 25th anniversary of Bear Bryant’s 315th win. Further details here. … Pudge Rodriguez pulled a mid-game footwear switcheroo again last night, as you can see in these shots from the top and bottom of the 4th inning. The Fox broadcast actually caught him changing cleats in the dugout, but the MLB.TV feed isn’t working for me at the moment, so I can’t get a screen grab. … Interesting catch by Paul Bridge, who notes that the orange side panels on Rod Smith’s appear to be distended, so that they actually touch his uni number — on both sides! … Logo Creep Alert from David Sonny who did some handy annotation to a Sports Illustrated spread. … Mets by the Numbers impresario Jon Springer, Uni Watch South Pole bureau chief Eric Bennett, and I will be at tonight’s Mets/Cards game. That’ll be me in the Ditch the Black T-shirt.

129 comments October 11th, 2006

Tag Team

Last year I wrote an ESPN column about an odd NFL trend that was unfolding in Philadelphia: the unbuckled belt. And now I’ve noticed that the Eagles are the prime exemplars of a new midsection-based phenomenon: the exposed shirttail tag.

The Iggles aren’t the only ones with exposed tags, but they’re definitely the ones who’ve raised it to an art form. Once you start looking, you’ll find that the exposed tag is more the rule than the exception in Philly. It appears to know no demographic boundaries, being featured by offensive players and defensive, speedsters and bruisers, black players and white, at home and on the road. (If that’s not enough, you can see additional examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Now, every NFL jersey has an NFL Equipment tag down by the hemline. The thing about the Eagles’ jerseys is that the tag appears to have been moved upward, or maybe the jersey has been cropped to have a shorter hemline — compare this to this.

The Philly tag, as I think we should now start calling it, is related to another trend I’ve noticed this season: the exposed midriff. All over the league, players are showing an alarming amount of abdominal skin. This is apparently due to many jerseys being seriously cropped, sometimes with elasticized hemlines that tend to ride up. It’s all a far cry from the days when players kept their jerseys from coming untucked by wearing snap-on crotch extensions (a photo of which has proven to be surprisingly elusive — anyone..?).

One last note: Speaking of exposed tags, take a close look at this photo (which was provided by reader Rob Montoya). That’s a Reebok logo on the Wyoming player’s hemline tag. But Wyoming is a New Balance school this year, as you can see by the “NB” logo on the player’s chest. Looks like Wyoming had some old Reebok jerseys laying around and just slapped New Balance logos on them when they switched manufacturer affiliations. Bogus!

Uni Watch News Ticker: Last week I noted the logo similarities between the Atlanta Thrashers and USA Rugby. Now Steve Seitz points out a similar separated-at-birth connection between the Red Wings and USA Cycling. … Hilarious logo creep alert from Cort McMurray, who writes: “My brothers are traveling through Asia. They snapped this photo outside of an apartment complex in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.” … I had to attend this food-writer shindig in Manhattan last night, so thankfully I didn’t see the Broncos wearing their blue-on-blues (which were making only their third regular-season appearance).

124 comments October 10th, 2006

Division Series Roundup

There was some weird stuff going on in the various Division Series, and I’m not just talking about the Yankees going down so meekly. The biggest problem involved sleeves. For starters, as several readers noted, the blue sleeve trim on the Dodgers’ road jersey was missing from J.D. Drew’s uni during Games 1 and 2 of L.A.’s series against the Mets. Actually, it was missing for longer than that, as evidenced by this shot from September 29th. Drew had the proper trim, however, on September 27th.

Then there was Eric Chavez. As Joel Dunn and Monte Bogatz point out, Oakland’s “Holy Toledo” memorial patch for broadcaster Bill King was missing from Chavez’s sleeve during Game 3 of the A’s/Twins series (and during the postgame celebration). Just as with Drew, this glitch appears to predate the postseason: Chavez’s sleeve was patch-free at least as far back as September 22nd (although he was properly accessorized on September 16th).

Maybe Chavez discussed this with Twins backstop Joe Mauer when he came up to bat. Because as Ray McCormick points out, the Twins’ “34″ memorial sleeve patch for Kirby Puckett was missing from Mauer’s right sleeve during Game 2 of the series (but it was present and accounted for in Games 1 and 3).

In other Division Series developments:

• The weather in Detroit for Game 4 of the Tigers/Yanks series was cold enough for the umps to allow Jeremy Bonderman to blow on his hand. So why was Bonderman wearing a Cool Base jersey?

• Footwear guru Mark Mihalik observes, “Pudge Rodriguez pulled a mid-game cleat change in Game 3. In the 2nd inning he wore these (which I should add are Verdero cleats, which nobody else wears, as far as I know), but later in the game he switched to the awful Nikes shown here.”

• Endy Chavez may have unwittingly pioneered a new ritual: the rally sock. Chavez was doing a bit of pant and/or sock adjustment during Paul LoDuca’s at-bat in the 8th inning of Game 3. When LoDuco singled in a run, Chavez perked up, jumped to his feet, and partied hard — all with his right calf exposed — before returning to the bench to complete his sartorial maneuvers.

• Great catch by Clark Farrand, who noticed that one end of the little tagging barb (yes, that’s the official term) was still stuck in Aaron Heilman’s cap when he pitched the 8th inning on Friday night.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Amusing article here about Washington State’s recent alternate unis (with thanks to Jerry Gardner). … Glenn Stern passed along this amazing shot from 1964, showing two UNC hoops players wearing uni-numbered stirrups! Dig the real belt on the shorts, too. … Speaking of stirrups, there’s plenty of them on display on the set of the film The Bronx Is Burning — click through this image gallery (with thanks to Matt Edwards). … Admirably detail-oriented article here about the U.S. Army’s new uniforms. … OK, so you already knew European hockey uniforms were pretty wack. But it turns out that the players are nothing compared to the officials! (Kudos to AJ Brandt.) … This does not bode well for America’s future (thanks, but no thanks, to Jeff Stephens). … Jeff Van Gundy is blaming Yao Ming’s foot problems on his shoes — and, specifically, on Reebok (with thanks to Kevin Gee for the tip). … Bryan Redemske notes that the world of competitive field hockey appears to have little if any uniformity when it comes to footwear. “Wear what ya brung,” says Redemske, who then adds: “I don’t know what kind of shoes are in this photo. Not steel-toed, though.” … Longtime Uni Watch pal John Darnielle (a.k.a. the Mountain Goats) notes that the symbol inscribed under Billy Wagner’s brim “bears a resemblance to the word ‘Om’ in Sanskrit.” Why do I think this is just a coincidence? … Michal Rozsival’s name was misspelled on Saturday night. … We all know Nikolai Valuev is a very large man. So the ads on his trunks looked even bigger than usual during his fight two nights ago against Monte Barrett (who, incidentally, wore pink gloves, which will be auctioned off to promote breast cancer research, although maybe research into dementia pugilistica might be more appropriate). … According to this item in yesterday’s New York Post, Isiah Thomas will be wearing an autism-awareness pin while coaching the Knicks this season. Please make your own really obvious joke here. … Genius catch by Big Ed in yesterday’s Comments section, noting that the top of Terrell Owens’s facemask yesterday had only one bar, instead of his usual two-bar design. … Give it up for the Coolidge Colts of Washington, D.C., who have the coolest high school football socks ever (big thanks to Michael Starghill Jr.).

130 comments October 9th, 2006

Gray Lady, Black Unis

Nice bit of Uni Watch coverage in today’s New York Times, as reporter John Gill profiles the Ditch the Black campaign. The web version of the article is here, and a scan of the printed version is available here.

I know many of you are sick of the whole black/blue debate, and I’m not trying to rekindle any of that here. But the article includes two really annoying quotes from Mets executive VP Dave Howard that shouldn’t go unchallenged, especially since they could just as easily apply to any team’s uniform and merchandising programs, not just the Mets’.

The first one is when he says that “our traditional hats and uniforms were selling hardly at all” at the time the team added black to the color scheme. Now let’s think about that: The Mets added black caps and jerseys in 1998. Based on MLB’s usual lead times for uni changes, that means the decision to add black took place in early 1997. Now let’s look at how the Mets were doing on the field in the years just prior to that:

1996: 71-91
1995: 69-75
1994: 55-58
1993: 59-103
1992: 72-90
1991: 77-84

Gee, ya think maybe merch sales had been tanking because the team, um, sucked? Just askin’.

Howard’s second whopper comes toward the end of the article, where he says, “If you look around the building, you’re seeing a lot of the black, so it’s clear fans vote most effectively with their pocketbook.”

How utterly bullshit is this statement? Let us count the ways:

• First of all, keep in mind that there are lots of fans who are in no position to “vote with their pocketbook” for blue, black, or anything else, simply because they can’t afford to spend $200 on a jersey. Maybe those fans love black, maybe they don’t. But Howard’s statement suggests that they simply don’t matter, because they can’t afford to “vote.” And you thought the poll tax was dead.

• Let’s also remember that plenty of other fans simply aren’t in the merch demographic. A 55-year-old is unlikely to buy a jersey, regardless of whether it fits into his budget, because 55-year-olds simply don’t spend money on stuff like that (maybe because they’re too smart to waste $200 on a piece of polyester). But I guess there’s no reason to care what they think, because they’re not spending cash at the pro shop. What a wonderful message to send. This is the most offensive aspect of letting your uniform design be driven by merchandising concerns: It effectively puts the team’s design aesthetic in the hands of a particular (read: young) subset of the fan base.

• When I look around the stadium, I see plenty of people “voting with their pocketbooks” by wearing crazy hip-hop-inspired caps, pink jerseys, and a lot of other outlandish stuff. I suppose we should start having the team wear those designs too?

Okay, I’ll stop. Big thanks to John Gill for the coverage, and no thanks to Dave Howard for helping to turn sports uniforms into a race to see who can sell the most crap at the mall.

Logo Fossil Found!: At the risk of being still more Mets-centric, here’s an interesting item. As many of you know, the Mets’ skyline logo used to feature an “NY” to the left of the “Mets” script, but the team eliminated the “NY” in 1999. At the time, I wrote a short article about this for the Village Voice (the full text is available here), in which a Mets exec said, “The ‘NY’ on the logo never matched the one on the caps. The one on the logo was more primitive-looking, sort of a stick-figure ‘NY.’ At the end of last year we wanted to dress it up and have it match the ‘NY’ on the caps, but then we said to ourselves, ‘Why do we need it on the logo anyway?’”

Yesterday, however, uniform designer and all-around swell guy Todd Radom brought this 1961 article to my attention. It shows the team’s original logo design, as chosen in a design competition. And the “NY” back then, while not quite the same as the one on the caps, was a lot closer — the letters had those flared flourishes (like the symbol for Aries [no, I’m not into astrology, but I know a bit about symbols]) at the end of each stroke. Why did the team eliminate them from the finished logo?

Actually, they didn’t — at least not at first. If you look at the team’s 1962 yearbook cover, you’ll see that the “NY” still has the flourishes. It’s not identical to the cap logo, but it’s a lot closer than this. Apparently some of the logo’s finer details were lost over the years.

Alright, no Mets content tomorrow, except maybe a small item in my roundup of Division Series oddities. Promise.

104 comments October 8th, 2006