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”

b) The Platypus”

c) “The Gopher”

d) “The Gladiator”

e) “The Kitchen Sink”

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.

————————–

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

‘T,’ as in Travesty

A crummy design is bad enough, but a missed opportunity is even worse. The Blue Jays managed to combine the two yesterday, when they introduced newly signed bopper Frank Thomas to the media and used the occasion to unveil their new alternate cap.

And man, is it a stinker. Like, is that the lamest “T” ever or what? It looks like a seagull swooping down to take a dump, and it doesn’t even match the “T” on the team’s road jersey. More importantly, everyone’s been saying for years that it’d be nice if the Blue Jays actually had some blue in their color scheme again, so this was a great chance to introduce a cerulean chapeau. But no, they had to go with black (which created a particularly blinding contrast with the Big Hurt’s bleached white teeth). What a waste.

Meanwhile, there was some uni watchery from the press corps, as a reporter alertly noted that Thomas’s new jersey featured uni No. 35 (the same number he wore during his stints in Chicago and Oakland), which until yesterday belonged to Lyle Overbay. Turns out Thomas and Overbay had already discussed this: “He said he’s open to changes with the number,” said Thomas. “He started with 11 and he said he might go to 11. I’m going to do something special for him.” Someone should inform Thomas that Overbay actually started with No. 23 during his Dbacks days, although he did indeed wear 11 when he moved to the Brewers. For now, he’s listed with no number on the Toronto roster.

Incidentally, while looking for old photos of Thomas, I came across this shot, from his days at Auburn. Check out the “A” logo on the sleeve!

This Space for Sale: As you can see, we now have display ads, which of course means Johnny Ek and I are now counting our millions while sipping cocktails on the French Riviera. Excellent wireless service out here, I’m happy to report, and my laptop hasn’t fallen in the pool even once. Only problem is, there’s nothing on the TV except soccer. Sigh.

More seriously, I can personally vouch for every one of our initial display advertisers: Helmet Hut, run by gridiron historian Curtis Worrell (one of the most knowledgeable and nicest people I’ve ever encountered on the uni beat), is a longtime Uni Watch favorite, with a dynamite array of football helmet reproductions that are true to the original detailing in every respect; Distant Replays sells a broad range of high-quality uni-related apparel that should appeal to any retro-minded fan; and Superba Graphics is the home of our own Scott M.X. Turner, who designed the Uni Watch logo. I hope you’ll check out all these fine sponsors and consider them for your holiday shopping needs.

Speaking of which: We’ll soon have a slew of new Uni Watch merch available for sale, including travel mugs, trucker’s caps, tote bags, and flip-flops. Okay, maybe not flip-flops. These new products will all be available with a choice of two designs: the primary Uni Watch logo, as seen at the top of this page, and this logo. Our previous merch — T-shirts, coffee mugs, and stamps — will be available with this second logo as well. More details on this soon.

This Space for Free: Distant Replays is going the extra mile by donating a $200 gift card to their site, which they’ve asked me to raffle off. Pretty cool, right? Here’s how we’re gonna do it: Tomorrow I’m going to present a uni-centric quiz, along with an e-mail address where you can submit your answers. The 10 people with the most correct answers will have their names put into a hat (or, actually, a Green Bay Packers reproduction helmet, made by Helmet Hut), and then I’ll select the winner. More on all of that tomorrow.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Good view here of Charles Woodson’s leg warmer look from Monday night. … Nice gallery of Philly-area game-worn hockey jerseys here (with thanks to Chris Ashworth). … The Ben Wallace headband story keeps getting stupider. … On Monday I linked to this New York Times article about the brisk sales of Pat Tillman jerseys. But apparently the Times had run a column suggesting sluggish Tillman sales just a few days earlier. Amusing details here. (With thanks to Uni Watch librarian/publicist Carrie Klein.) … Research question: Who is this? I think it’s John Dunlap, but his uni number isn’t clear enough for me to be sure. I know somebody linked to another photo of this player — presumably including a clear view of his number — a few days ago in the Comments section, but I can’t find it now. Little help..? … Yesterday it was Tom, today it’s Dick. Can Harry be far behind? … Mega-thanks to the many readers who rang the cash register in response to yesterday’s call for temporary tattoo purchases (read: donations). We truly appreciate your support.

275 comments November 29th, 2006

And She Bakes Cookies for the Players, Too

A few years ago I went to a ballgame at Shea Stadium and, by fairly amazing coincidence, ended up sitting next to the guy who does all of the Mets’ stitching and embroidery (you should’ve seen my face when he told me what he did for a living). He turned out to be a swell guy, but on some level I was just a teeny bit disappointed, because I had hoped that the team’s stitching was done by some ancient little-old-lady seamstress who’d been on the job for decades. Every team should have one of those, right?

The Iowa Hawkeyes have one, and she’s straight out of central casting. Her name is Betty Madden (perfect, right?), she’s 82 years old, and she’s been sewing repairs on Iowa’s unis for 46 years.

I learned about Betty when reader Matt Nelson pointed me toward a short video about her. It shows her stitching here, snipping there, and pinning all over the place. Smart lady, too, at least judging by this quote: “The uniforms aren’t made of the same material as they was when I started 46 years ago. The material then was fabulous, but now it’s cheap.”

You can check out Betty for yourself here (the audio will start before the video starts streaming, but don’t worry about that — just give it a few seconds). And as long as we’re talking about behind-the-scenes videos, Jose Frontanes has discovered a decent five-minute clip featuring Maryland’s equipment manager, who’s got a serious collection of game-used helmets and jerseys (the latter of which show off today’s ridiculously truncated “sleeves”). The clip has lots of really stupid editing effects — must’ve been produced by a sophomore film student — but it’s still worth checking out. Look here.

So much for the soft sell: Due to overwhelmingly underwhelming demand for the Uni Watch temporary tattoos, I’ve changed the pricing structure. Instead of $5 for the first tat and $1 for each additional one, it’s now a buck apiece for the first five, and 50 cents for each one thereafter, with a five-tat minimum.

The basic point is the same: Gimme five bucks. Not into temporary tats? Gimme five bucks anyway. Why? Because webmaster Johnny Ek and I work really, really hard on this site. It’s usually the first thing we deal with when we wake up, the last thing we deal with before going to bed, and a whole lot of what we deal with in between, often at the expense of our “real” jobs (the ones that pay us, y’know, “real” money). We’re not complaining, mind you — nobody put a gun to our heads and told us to create this site, and we love doing it — but we don’t think we’re out of line asking for a measly $5 contribution to help keep the furnace lit. And if you don’t think our tireless efforts are worth five bucks, well, we respectfully suggest that you think a bit harder.

Am I trying to guilt-trip you? Definitely. But unlike all those family-, girlfriend-, and boss-induced guilt trips, this one can be cured quickly and painlessly: Just PayPal five whole dollars — or more, if you’re feeling particularly holiday-spirited — to paul_lukas at earthlink dot net (or if you don’t do PayPal, mail the dough to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217). We’ll both feel better afterward.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers report that the scuttlebutt in Ohio is that the Buckeyes will wear white in the BCS Championship Game, just like they did last time around in the Fiesta Bowl. … Latest chapter in the ongoing soap opera of Wisconsin’s “motion W” logo, courtesy of Matt Brukman: “Under Armour is running an ad with a pee-wee football team sporting Wisconsin’s ‘Motion W’ helmets. Of course Wiconsin has a deal with Adidas, so I doubt UA got clearance to use the logo. There’s a quick video here — it’s very compressed and blurry, but I captured one frame that clearly shows the W. … Mark Bolding, whose excellent site is a Uni Watch favorite, is campaigning for Rice’s Todd Graham to be named Collegiate Coach of the Year. The uni-related connection? Rice has been wearing a “39″ helmet decal this season, in memory of freshman Dale Lloyd, who died earlier this year. … In case you missed it in yesterday’s Comments section: Chris Cooley had some XYZ issues on Sunday (and unlike Marcus McNeill, Cooley doesn’t have the excuse of having two broken hands). … Logo Creep Alert from Andy Ingram, who notes that Fabio Cannavaro was wearing a swooshstika lapel pin while accepting the Golden Ball award. … Good info in the “New Threads” section of this article regarding the Redskins’ return to burgundy pants (with thanks to Mark Fightmaster). … Some Rockies uniform chatter — including a horrifying suggestion that they use more purple — can be found in the middle of this Q&A article. … Wanna see some serious hockey stripes? Look here. (Full details here, courtesy of Adam Strohm.) … Sleeve-centric note from Ryan Barto: “In Jason Campbell’s first start against Tampa Bay last weekend, his sleeves were the classic cut. It seemed like everytime the TV camera zoomed in on him after a throw, he was either rolling them up or just messing with them. This past weekend against Carolina, he came out of the tunnel with the cropped sleeves.” … Speaking of QB sleeves, Matt Hasselbeck went bare-armed in last night’s snow bowl. According to a quote buried in this article (but alertly spotted by reader Nick Collecchi), “If it hadn’t been the Packers, I would have worn [long] sleeves” (as his former teammate did). … Amateurs.

180 comments November 28th, 2006

Or Maybe He Just Needs to Spend More Time at the Salad Bar and Less Time at the Dessert Bar

New ESPN column today — here’s the link.

Meanwhile: Did the Astros sign Carlos Lee to a $100 million contract and then give him someone else’s ill-fitting jersey when introducing him to the media? Kevin Gee thinks so. Here’s why:

Check out Friday’s press conference for Carlos Lee and Woody Williams. Upon accepting his jersey, No. 45, Lee looks at the tag and says something to GM Tim Purpura. I�m pretty sure it was something like, �This ain�t going to fit,� because he couldn�t get it to button up all the way. [He tries to keep it closed with the jersey’s Velcro patch, but that pops open about 20 seconds later. — PL] When presented with his cap, he puts it on and says, �We got this one right.” Even after sitting back down next to Woody Williams, he still appears to be fussing with the jersey and talking to Woody about it.

My screen grabs don’t do justice to the absurdity of this sequence. For the full effect, you can access the press conference video here (if that link doesn’t work for you, go to this page and click on “Lee/Williams press conference”). Once the video starts playing, fast forward to the 14-minute mark, or drag the progress icon to that point. Lee walks up to the podium at about 14:05.

So why was Lee’s jersey so snug? Again, Kevin Gee: “The last Astros player to wear No. 45 was Mike Gallo. He’s 6′0″, 175 pounds; Lee is 6′2″, 240 pounds.” Did the ‘Stros really just grab a Gallo jersey and swap the name on the back for Lee’s press conference? Are they really paying a guy $100 million but too cheap to spring for a new jersey? Is anyone losing his job over the little snafu? Stay tuned.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Yet another helmet decal snafu yesterday, as Hunter Hillenmeyer was “C”-less. … Good article here about the Bengals’ equipment manager (including a short but informative audio file linked on the same page). … Oh. My. God. … The fight over Wisconsin’s “motion W” logo goes on and on (with thanks to Mike Hughes). … Crystal Falls Forrest Park — a Michigan high school — wears some nifty hoop socks. Further details here (courtesy of Brian Campbell). … On Saturday I mentioned that players on Jeannette High supposedly wore their names in script above their nose bumpers, but the only photo I had was too fuzzy to make out. Now Jason Schiffhauer has provided better pics, here and here. … Remember LeCharles Bentley’s unsuccessful bid to wear double-zero? Patrick Gaughan has an update: “I’m home in Cleveland for Turkey Day, and on the news there was a story about LeCharles Bentley making a Thanksgiving meal for less fortunate people. He was wearing a 00 Browns jersey during the whole interview. Looks like he’s still pursuing the 00 for next season.” … Michael Korczynski notes that Tom Brady Mike Vrabel’s OSU jersey in practice the other day (and note that Vinny Testaverde, kneeling in the background, is wearing the wrong socks). … Hot dogs and baseball: two great tastes that taste great together. … Justin McGrail writes: “I’m watching the Boise State/Nevada game and I noticed that Boise running back Ian Johnson has two number decals on the front of his helmet, a 71 and a 64. Nobody else on the team has them.” Anyone know what this is about? … Pat Tillman jerseys are selling briskly. … Kentucky RB Rafael Little wore one leg sleeve on Saturday. … You probably heard that Ben Wallace was benched for wearing a headband on Saturday. What you may not have noticed is that he was also violating the league’s new anti-armband rules. … High-diddley-ho! Avs goalie Peter Budaj wears Ned Flanders on his mask’s backplate. Why? “According to this page, it was a nickname given to him by one of the Avalanche equipment managers,” says Patrick Lewis. “It’s also worth pointing out that Flanders is holding the flag of Budaj’s native Slovakia, with the country’s coat of arms on his shirt.” … Now that’s right purty. … The Islanders inducted Bob Bourne into their team hall of fame on Saturday, and wore a commemorative patch for the occasion. … Good catch by Jesse Gavin, who writes: “I was at the Vikings/Cardinals game and had good enough seats that I could tell Dwight Smith didn’t have any white socks on during the game.”

184 comments November 27th, 2006

Sunday Open Thread

(AP Photo/Sean Gardner)

There was a gold rush in the NCAA yesterday, as Southern wore solid gold against Grambling (as shown above) and Pitt did likewise against Louisville.

607 comments November 26th, 2006

Head Games

We’re not even a month into the NBA season, and Paul Pierce is already going for a record: most headband designs worn by a single player. He wore solid white last night against the Knicks, which as Mike Hennessy notes was his fourth different headband this month, the others having been solid green, green-and-white striped (note the contraband rubber bands), and Auerbach-memorialized.

When I think of NBA headbands, the first guy who comes to mind is Wilt Chamberlain, who wore a yellow headband during the latter stages of his career. Oddly, it wasn’t a solid terrycloth band like the ones worn today. It was wide across his brow and then much thinner behind his head — weird.

As for Pierce, he may end up holding the NBA record, but he’s got a long way to go before he can catch the sports world’s all-time headband leaders. The top prize probably goes to John McEnroe, whose forehead stylings over the years have included this, this, this, this, this, this, and this — and that’s just a small sampling. McEnroe’s onetime nemesis Bjorn Borg favored stripes — usually on a white ground, sometimes on blue, and very occasionally something a bit more abstract. When the two of them walked onto the court together, it was a regular headbanders ball.

Of course, today’s headbands just look like this. Pfeh.

Uni Watch News Ticker: I’d meant to mention this a few days ago: As some of you know, there was a bizarre scene at North Texas last Saturday, as head coach Darrell Dickey dressed the team in solid black unis (instead of their usual green) with no player names or conference patches, possibly due to a feud with his own athletic director. Full details here. … Doug Keklak was watching Jeannette High School in the WPIAL championships from Heinz Field on Friday and noticed that this guy has “CAPT” on the back of his helmet — never seen that before. Keklak also says the Jeannette players had their names printed in script above their helmets’ nose bumpers, although I can’t really make it out in the photo he took. … Judging by the stripe pattern, I’d say this is an animal that totally Gets Itâ„¢ — and a new one was just born! … Good catch by Nolan Brett, who spotted an Oregon player wearing some sort of Under Armour head thingie under his helmet yesterday. That couldn’t have pleased Phil Knight, who for some reason was allowed to be in the coaches’ box. … Here’s something you don’t see very often: the Lakers wearing yellow on the road (because the Jazz decided to wear their baby blue alts at home). … Cavs and Pacers both wore throwbacks last night. Naturally, Lebron had color-coordinated Livestrong bracelets for the occasion. … Gilbert Arenas was asked about the Wizards’ black and gold alt unis and responded thusly: “I like them better than the blue [road uniforms]. But I really want to bring black the red, white and blue. I don’t want the [old] Bullets name; I just want to go back to [the Bullets’] red, white and blue. I talked to [management] about it and they said it takes two years [to make that kind of uniform change]. Hopefully we will.”

93 comments November 25th, 2006

Turkey, Oysters, Three Kinds of Stuffing, Scalloped Potatoes, Green Beans, Brussels Sprouts, Cranberries, Braised Fennel, Chocolate Tart, Mocha Pie, and Waaaaay Too Much Beer

I don’t know about you, but I don’t even wanna think about food for another week or two.

Anyway: Yeah, those Cowboys throwbacks were pretty nice. But the real throwback action yesterday was at the annual Easton/Phillipsburg high school tilt. Easton had some rad shoulder yoke striping and two-tone pants, while Phillipsburg had old school jersey stripes (here’s another view), and their helmets appeared to be mimicking this old design. It all added up to a very pleasing spectacle.

Two small things I noticed: First, note the inconsistency in Easton’s helmet uni number placement. And second, the officials had non-striped socks — scandalous! Anyone know if this is common in high school football?

Meanwhile, Matt Jagiello stepped away from his Thanksgiving dinner long enough to dash off this note:

I feel like I’m going crazy. While watching the Virginia Tech/Western Michigan basketball game and the Broncos/Chiefs NFL game, something unusual struck me. I noticed Virginia Tech forward A.D. Vassallo had something stenciled into the back-right side of his haircut. It appeared to be the letters “PR.” Vassallo is Puerto Rican, and I can understand the wish to represent his land and show some love for the brothers back home, but we’re not stuck in the 1980s and early ’90s! This caught me completely off-guard and I felt like I had found a loop in the space-time continuum.

Then it got worse. After the Chiefs/Broncos game had wrapped up, I saw Larry Johnson giving an interview — with something [shaved onto] the left side of his head. It appeared to be something like “Y2,” with maybe a “K” in the back.

My guess: LJ’s “Y2K” has something to do with his quest for a 2000-yard season (although there’s no need for the “Y” — “2K” means 2000, and the “Y” only confuses the issue by referring to the year 2000). Anybody know more about this?

It’s worth noting, incidentally, that this leaked memo from a Yahoo senior VP includes the following: “I’m proud to admit that I shaved a Y in the back of my head.” So maybe this trend is spreading. Or maybe Larry Johnson just owns a lot of Yahoo shares.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Browns will be wearing throwbacks this Sunday, complete with uni-numbered helmets (but presumably nobody will be wearing this). Full details here (and an extra plate of leftover turkey for Tim Bennett). … Nasty holiday surprise for Shea McMahon, who went home for Thanksgiving and discovered that his kid brother’s high school — Circleville High, in Ohio — had taken up residence in NikeWorld. … MLS’s newest team, Toronto FC, unveiled their unis the other day (or so Ben Wideman tells me). … The recent story of Danny Forston doing some game-day sneaker shopping prompted this tale from Mike Murray: “Back in 1993, I worked as the shoe department manager for Oshman’s Sporting goods in a rich area of Phoenix (thankfully, I’ve moved on to a better career). … We got a visit from Rod Strickland one afternoon. Portland was to play Phoenix that night, and he walks in the store, slides over to the shoe department, and starts to eyeball our selection of Nike basketball shoes. He picked out the most expensive ones and asked me to get him a pair in size 13. I duly complied and he was set to walk out without even trying them on. But I had to ask: Why was he buying Nike shoes? Didn’t the team or Nike provide them for him? He answered that he’d left his travel bag behind in Portland and needed shoes for that night’s game. I watched the game and sure enough, there were the size 13 Nikes I’d sold him earlier that day.” … Speaking of personal reminiscences, Gene Sevcik checks in with the following: “With the Marquette win over Duke on Tuesday, I though it was about time to send this picture of my dad, Dale, sometime in 1952-55, when he played for them. They were the Marquette Hilltoppers then.” … Interesting auction item here (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … “I just received the latest publicity newspaper from my undergraduate school, Yeshiva University,” writes Aharon Fischman. “They have a picture of the Lady Macs (Maccabees), of the Stern College for Women’s basketball team (Stern is one of the schools in Yeshiva University), and it’s very clear that some team members are wearing shorts and others are wearing skirts.” … Kansas’s socks are normally either white or blue, but Brendan Donohue says we should look for something else in tomorrow’s game against Missouri: “Since Mark Mangino has been at the helm for Kansas football, KU has worn red socks while playing Mizzou in Columbia. There’s a historical significance to this, dating back to the Civil War.” … Our recent discussions of players wearing windbreakers under their jackets led David Murphy to discover this. … Two helmet decal observations from Joshua Knudson: First, check out the bizarre decal patterns being sported here by Gridley High in California. And second, while Miami and Boston College both wore “95″ memorial decals for Bryan Pata last night (you can see B.C.’s decal here), Miami’s Kareem Brown went further: “He also had two trimmed-down 95 decals in between the two parts of the ‘U’ on his main helmet logo,” reports Knudson. … Very odd piece of jewelry here (with thanks to longtime Uni Watch pal Rob Walker, whose Murketing blog is totally worth your time).

729 comments November 24th, 2006

Thursday Open Thread

(Photo by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images)

The San Antonio Spurs Coyote, wearing what may be the world’s only jersey with an exclamation point on the front. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.

90 comments November 23rd, 2006