Quiz Show
Okay, people, here’s your chance to score some free swag, or just get a jump on your holiday shopping. As mentioned yesterday, our friends at Distant Replays have generously donated a $200 gift card, which they’ve asked me to raffle off.
So here’s the deal: I’ve whipped up a list of uni-related questions — some pretty easy, some not so easy. The subject matter leans heavily toward baseball and football, but hey, those are my strong suits — deal. The 10 people with the most correct answers, plus one wild card entry selected at random from all the other participants, will be have their names put into a Green Bay Packers reproduction helmet (courtesy of the good folks at Helmet Hut), and then we’ll draw the winner. And maybe we’ll post the most amusing incorrect answers at a later date.
To enter the raffle, copy and paste the questions into an e-mail message, add your answers, and send it to uniquiz at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch address). Entries will be accepted until 11pm, eastern time, on next Monday, December 4th. I’ll announce the 11 finalists later that week, and we’ll draw the winning name a few days after that. Only one entry per person, and please don’t try using different e-mail addresses to submit multiple entries — cheating on a blog contest is beyond pathetic, and we’ll probably catch you doing it anyway. Once your entry is submitted, you can’t take it back and change it, so don’t even ask.
Okay, enough preliminaries — here we go:
1) Who was the last MLB player not to wear an earflap while batting?
2) In Jim Bouton’s seminal 1970 book, Ball Four, he refers to a player who would “smooth his uniform carefully, adjust his cap, tighten his belt, and say, ‘I can add 20 points to my average if I know I look ______ out there.’ ” Who was the player, and what’s the missing word in that sentence?
3) The NHL required all teams to wear player names on the backs of jerseys in 1977. But Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballward, who was opposed to the new rule, found a creative way to get around it. What did he do?
4) Only two NFL players have worn the controversial ProCap anti-concussion attachment during regular-season games. Who were they?
5) Name the last NHL player not to wear a helmet and the last NHL goalie not to wear a mask.
6) Only two current MLB team captains wear a “C” on their jerseys. Who are they, and what was the last NFL team whose captains wore “C” designations?
7) Who was the last MLB catcher to wear a conventional mask with a backwards cap (i.e., no helmet, no goalie-style mask)?
8) Durene was the go-to fabric for football, basketball, and hockey jerseys in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. What two fibers make up durene?
9) Back in the 1920s, Notre Dame’s dominating backfield became known as the Four Horsemen. One of these four players later played a key role in the development of NFL uniforms. Which one of the Four Horsemen was it, and what was his impact on NFL uniform history?
10) Eyeglasses have been fairly common over the years in MLB and the NBA, but not in the worlds of hockey or football. Name at least three NFL and/or NHL players (including at least one from each of the two leagues) who’ve worn glasses — not goggles, mind you, but glasses.
11) The Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970 wearing blue and gold. This is because:
- a) Blue for Lake Michigan, gold for lager beer.
b) Blue for Pabst Blue Ribbon and gold for Miller High Life, which were the city’s preeminent breweries at the time.
c) Blue and gold were the colors of the old minor league Milwaukee Brewers, who played from 1902 through 1952.
d) The franchise had previously been the Seattle Pilots, whose colors were also blue and gold, and the team’s new Milwaukee owners recycled the old Seattle uniforms because they were too cheap to spring for new ones.
e) The franchise had previously been the Seattle Pilots, whose colors were also blue and gold, and there wasn’t time to order new uniforms because it wasn’t clear whether the team would be playing in Seattle or Milwaukee until after the end of spring training.
f) The franchise had previously been the Seattle Pilots, whose colors were also blue and gold, and Topps asked the team not to change its colors because it would cause problems with that season’s edition of baseball cards.
g) Trick question — none of the above.
12) True or False: It is against the rules for an NFL player’s hair to obscure his nameplate, but this regulation is never enforced.
13) The little hand-warmer muff worn by many NFL quarterbacks is sometimes referred to by a slang term. What is this term, and what is its derivation?
14) Who is the only major-level athlete to have worn his birthday on his jersey?
15) One of the following facemask designs was worn only in practice, not in an actual NFL game. Which one?
- a) “The Duck”
c) “The Gopher”
f) Trick question — they were all worn in NFL games.
16) In the 1940s, NFL officials’ stripes were color-coded by position — black and white for the referee, red and white for the head linesman, orange and white for the umpire, green and white for the field judge, and so on. This statement is:
- a) True
b) False
c) A trick question — NFL officials didn’t wear stripes until the 1950s.
d) A trick question — the NFL used two-man officiating crews until the 1950s.
17) When the Expos switched from wool uniforms to polyester double-knits in the 1970s, Mike Jorgensen suffered an allergic reaction to the new polyester fabric, and a special non-poly uniform had to be made for him. This statement is:
- a) True
b) False
c) A trick question — Jorgensen actually had an allergy to wool and had to wear a polyester uniform while the rest of the team wore woolens.
d) A trick question — the player in question was actually Ken Singleton.
e) A double-trick question — the player in question was actually Ken Singleton, and he was allergic to wool, not poly.
18) NFL players aren’t allowed to wear dark-tinted visors unless a doctor certifies that it’s medically necessary. This is because:
- a) You can’t market players as personalities if you can’t even see their faces.
b) If a player is knocked out cold, the medical staff needs to see his eyes without having to remove the helmet from his head.
c) The league is concerned that dark visors look gang-related.
d) Trick question — anyone can wear a dark-tinted visor, but most players prefer a clear visor, because it doesn’t cut down on their vision.
19) Ricky Williams wore No. 34 for most of his senior year at Texas. But for one game he wore No. 37. Why?
20) The last time MLB managers wore street clothes was in 1950. One of the two skippers wearing civvies that season was, of course, Connie Mack. Who was the other one?
21) Juan Pierre is the only current MLB player to wear his cap under his batting helmet. Who was the last player to do so before Pierre?
22) Which one of the following MLB players did not wear a facemask attached to his batting helmet at any point in his big league career?
- a) Charlie Hayes
b) Ellis Valentine
c) Warren Cromartie
d) Dave Parker
e) Kevin Seitzer
f) Gary Roenicke
g) Trick question — they all wore facemasks.
23) One of the Original Six NHL teams has never used a lace-up jersey collar. Which one?
24) Every volleyball team has two players whose uniforms are different from their teammates’. Who are these two players, and what is distinctive about their uniforms?
25) The NBA is the only major-level sports league whose uniforms don’t carry a sportswear manufacturer’s logo. This is because:
- a) The sportswear companies have never been willing to meet the NBA’s asking price for uni-borne logo placement.
b) The league and the players’ union have been unable to agree on how to split the licensing revenue, so the union has blocked a deal between the league and the sportswear companies.
c) The NBA’s TV partners have insisted on a cut from the licensing revenue, and the league has balked at that demand.
d) NBA commissioner David Stern strongly believes in the integrity of the league’s team brands, and doesn’t want to clutter up the uniforms with non-NBA logos.
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That’s it — get crackin’. I’m gonna be on the road most of today, so don’t bother peppering me with questions like “Is this an open-book test?” or “Can you use the word in a sentence?” — it’s all pretty self-explanatory.
Back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled blog (including an update on an NFL matter that several readers have been asking about).
133 comments November 30th, 2006
