At the recent Uni Watch party in San Francisco, I met reader Al Cummings, who mentioned that his daughter works as a colorist for a major sportswear company. I said I’d be very interested in interviewing her, so he promised to point her in my direction. Sure enough, a few days later I got an e-mail from P.K. Cummings.
P.K. (which is what everyone calls her — it’s not an alias or anything like that) turned out to be quite a character. As you’ll see, she’s not exactly shy with her opinions. But you’ll also see that she’s a highly skilled professional with a lot of specialized technical expertise. That combination makes for a very, very good interview.
P.K. asked that I not name the company she works for, so the firm is referred to as “Company X” in the transcript that follows, even though it’s pretty obvious which company it is. Just keep that to yourself, OK? OK.
Uni Watch: How long have you worked at Company X, and what’s your title there?
P.K. Cummings: I’ve been there almost a year, and I’m a textile color specialist.
UW: How’d you end up with that job?
PKC: It was pretty serendipitous — it kinda fell into my lap. I’d worked in fashion and gone to school for textiles. I saw a post on Monster.com and responded.
UW: Where did you study textiles?
PKC: At the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, in Los Angeles. I studied textile design. We didn’t have any sports teams, so now, whenever we have “Wear Your School Day” at work, I just come in all black.
UW: What are favorite team uniforms, in terms of color?
PKC: I’m a fan of most throwbacks due to the simplicity. The old Celtics, when they wore satin shorts, are decent. And I have a locational and occupational bias towards the Raiders — silver and black always look good as clothing and face paint.
UW: Do you have a favorite color?
PKC: Green. Kelly green. Actually, there’s this gridiron green that we’re using now — it’s like a kelly, but not quite as springy. A bit olive.
UW: What about a least favorite color?
PKC: I don’t have one of those. [Switching to mock-flowery tone.] They’re all my favorites!
UW: Hmmmm…
PKC: Except for Vegas gold, which is just fucking hideous.
UW: So many people seem to hate that color. Why is that?
PKC: It’s like what you look like after a night of gambling in Vegas — jaundiced, drunk. Plus it’s really hard to match, it’s hard for mills to get right.
UW: So what does your job actually entail? You just mentioned fabric mills…
PKC: I work with all our sourced mills — there are over 40 of them. We have a set of in-house color standards on little placards, so the mills send me little samples of what their huge production lot will be like…
UW: Like a swatch?
PKC: Yeah. They send that to me, and then I read it on a spectrophotometer, which reads pure light, so I can see where it is, numerically, compared to our standards.
UW: These placards of yours, they probably have to be replaced from time to time, because they fade, right?
PKC: We keep them in a controlled environment. Our lab is conditioned…
UW: What does that mean?
PKC [after long pause]: Sorry, I just looked at MySpace and saw a picture of my brother’s butt — ugh! Fuck him, y’know? Wait, where were we?
UW: What does “conditioned” mean?
PKC: It’s maintained at a stable temperature and humidity. We like to keep it between 68 and 72 degrees, and 21.3% humidity. That’s the optimum.
UW: What sorts of Company X products do you deal with?
PKC: Everything, from the Dri-Power to the AFL uniforms, to selecting the threads to match with it.
UW: Like, the threads for seam stitching and embroidery?
PKC: Yeah. I just had this super drama today with the Philadelphia Soul.
UW: Um, is that an AFL team?
PKC: Yeah. The coolest thing I’ve gotten to do for the AFL is that the color we’re using for the Philadelphia Soul jersey, I got to name it Jon Bon Jovi.
UW: That’s the name of the color?
PKC: Well, it’s officially Soul Blue, but we reference it internally by a three-letter code, so it’s going to be JB — wait a minute, “Jon Bon Jovi,” okay, so it’s JBJ.
UW: What other leagues do you work with?
PKC: We do Little League Baseball.
UW: So the Little League World Series uniforms..?
PKC: Yeah, we do those.
UW: Any other leagues?
PKC: Company X lost most of their league contracts over the past few years, but they’re hoping to get a lot of them back.
UW: You mentioned to me in an e-mail yesterday that you hate how the gold on the Saints’ helmet doesn’t match the gold on their collar trim.
PKC: Oh, I hate that. I would be, like, fired if I did that. The closest thing we’ve had to that was a mismatch with Washington State — the silver on their pants didn’t match the silver on the helmet. So I had to read the helmet [on the spectrophotometer], redo everything, and then they actually ended up putting these horrible jerseys on the field. It was the saddest thing ever. It wasn’t my fault!
UW: Isn’t it hard matching fabric to plastic, though?
PKC: It can be, yeah. You just have work with the best dye materials. A lot of mills are pretty hesitant to spend the money on something they’re only gonna use once.
UW: Are you aware that the Cowboys have two different blues, and three different silvers?
PKC: Yes. It makes me crazy.
UW: If you could talk to the management of these teams, what would you say to them?
PKC: Look at the jerseys before you put them on the field! Or at least have a woman look at them.
UW: I’ve been told Jerry Jones, who owns the Cowboys, is actually colorblind.
PKC: Well, one of every 12 males is.
UW: What about women?
PKC: I think we’re up in the 200s.
UW: Wouldn’t life be easier, in some ways, if we were all colorblind?
PKC: I suppose, yeah.
UW: But you’d be out of a job.
PKC: Yeah, that would be a bummer. What would I do with my more-than-perfect vision?
UW: Your vision is better than perfect?
PKC: Yes.
UW: What is it, like, 20/15?
PKC: Yes.
UW: That’s pretty good.
PKC: I know.
UW: But wait a minute, you just sent me a photo of yourself wearing glasses.
PKC: I have a slight astigmatism, and my glasses have a glare reducer for the friggin’ computer screen and night driving. That and I take them off to emphasize a point every once in a while.
UW: When you’re dealing with mills and dye manufacturers and such, do you actually travel to the factories?
PKC: I do a little bit of traveling, but not too much. Mostly I work in-house.
UW: Do you communicate directly with any of the teams or leagues?
PKC: Personally? No. But I hear John Elway really liked one of the colors I worked on.
UW: Is he the owner of one of the teams?
PKC: I think he’s involved with the Philly Soul — I think it’s Jon Bon Jovi, Horse Teeth, and someone else. [Actually, Elway is part-owner of the Colorado Crush. — PL]
UW: Do you use Pantone samples?
PKC: We try not to. It’s really hard to get super-accurate color readings, because the piece of fabric is mounted on a white backing, and that makes it hard to get the density of the color. Also, there are optical brighteners in the glue, which can affect the purity of the color.
UW: So do you use something else, instead of Pantone?
PKC: CSI — Color Solutions International. They’re another widely accepted standard within the industry. They work mostly with fabric — they have this color wall that’s, like, the Wonka-land for color. God, it’s amazing.
UW: Where are they headquartered?
PKC: North Carolina.
UW: Have you been there?
PKC: Mmmmm — I can picture it. But I haven’t been.
UW: You fantasize about it!
PKC: I do — it’s really lame. You know, I was e-mailing with my dad about a CD that he invested for me, and I wrote, “Yeah, just let it accrue a little.” But instead of “accrue,” I wrote “ecru,” the color. I didn’t even realize I did it, but he wrote back, “I can tell you’re a colorist.” And I’m like, aw jeez…
UW: You’re a color geek! That’s cool. Do you use one of those special viewing boxes with the special industry-standard lighting?
PKC: Yeah. UV 65 is the industry-wide standard, and then cool-white is another, because that’s similar to retail lighting. So yeah, we all have our light boxes, and our lab coats…
UW: You wear a lab coat?
PKC: Yes, I do. I look very official.
UW: Is it white?
PKC: No, it’s gray. White would reflect and then adulterate your viewing of the color. So it’s a very mellow gray. Our whole lab — everything in it is gray.
UW: Does your lab coat have a little name patch on it?
PKC: No, nothing cool like that.
UW [terribly disappointed]: So it’s sort of a uniform, but it’s not a cool uniform.
PKC: It’s just a boring lab coat, like your science teacher would wear.
UW: Any other rules in terms of what you have to wear?
PKC: No. And we can wear Company X product. Like, you can be super scumbagged-out, but as long as you’re wearing Company X sweats, you’re good to go. So I stocked up on sweats.
UW: What if you show up wearing, say, Nike sweats?
PKC: Hmmm. If someone’s lame enough to say something, you just say you got it at a sample sale so you could knock it off.
UW: Researching the competition, right?
PKC: Exactly. I got a bunch of Quicksilver stuff from one of the women in the graphics department…
UW: What’s Quicksilver?
PKC: They do surfwear stuff. They’re just another company, but someone bought a bunch of their stuff to knock ‘em off.
UW: We see sports design go through lots of color cycles. Like, purple and teal were really popular, and now red seems to be on the rise. How do these cycles come about? Do people like you sit around in a big room somewhere and decide all of this stuff?
PKC: Everything is pretty much decided two years in advance. There are trend operations that put out trend books.
UW: And do you participate in creating those trends, or do you just respond to them?
PKC: I respond to them, because I don’t have any say-so in the design process, as of yet.
UW: But it sounds like you have a world-domination scheme that will eventually call for you to make those decisions.
PKC: Yes, definitely.
UW: Do you belong any professional organizations?
PKC: I’m a member of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. There’s also the CPMA — that’s the Color, uh, something or other. I don’t know, it came free with another membership. [She’s apparently referring to this. — PL]
UW: What do you think are the best and worst trends in sports color?
PKC: Hmmm. I think the yellows never work out. They don’t televise well.
UW: Is that something you’re always thinking about? Like, you have to consider how it’ll look at retail, and then on TV, and then in high-def.
PKC: I do, yeah.
UW: Do you videotape things and then see how they look on TV?
PKC: I’ll do that with my digital camera. I’ll take something outside, film it from different light sources, that sort of thing.
UW: What about good trends?
PKC: I don’t know. You know, I think football uniforms in general are kind of ridiculous. I don’t think they match the current needs of football. Back in the day, it was a sweater or a sweatshirt, but now it’s graduated to this insane microfiber — like, the pants we’re doing for the AFL, it’s crazy. It’s so tight, but it stretches. The designer picked it on purpose, ’cause she’s kind of a pervert.
UW: So it’ll show off the players’ butts, or outline their packages?
PKC: Yeah, that kind of thing. She was like, “Ooh, it’s gonna be so tight on them!”
UW: Any predictions for future trends?
PKC: Well, I know that throwbacks are so much more prevalent now, so people are going with the more standard looks. I think it’s gonna segue into different kind of cut-outs. I don’t think colors per se are gonna change much.
UW: What does the average sports fan not understand about color?
PKC: That there are actually people working to make it happen correctly. Things don’t just show up matching — there’s a lot of work to make it all go together, especially since the fabric that you use for the pants may be different than the fabric for the shirt. And the mesh inserts are different from the dazzle fabric. So there’s a lot that goes into making it a cohesive unit.
UW: It sounds like you’re an actual sports fan yourself.
PKC: I had no choice, really.
UW: You mean it was a prerequisite for the job?
PKC: No, I mean growing up with my father and brother.
UW: Oh! Well, is it a prerequisite for the job? Can you work for Company X if you’re not a sports fan?
PKC: Yeah, you can. We have a lot of overweight people who work there, too. I mean, come on, we make athletic apparel…
UW: How has the job affected how you watch sports?
PKC: I’m way more hyper-critical of what they look like. I’m always looking to see if the socks match, or making sure the numbers and trim match up.
UW: So it’s basically ruined your sports viewing experience?
PKC: No, after about two beers I’m able to put all that aside, and then I could care less.
UW: Do you prefer a team that has only two colors, like the Colts or the Red Wings or the Jets, or a team with a lot of colors?
PKC: Hmmm. [Long pause of consideration.] You know, it doesn’t really matter. I like both approaches. The multiple colors are fun, because it adds more variety to what you can paint your face with.
——–
Well put. Über-thanks to P.K. for an interview as entertaining as it was informative.
#1 by jamie on 02.28.07 9:04 am |
nice interview paul, very informative, Hey paul, what u think about the florida jerseys?
#2 by Robert on 02.28.07 9:09 am |
Outstanding interview. What exactly is Pantone and the history of it? I see if referenced periodically, but have never been clear on it. Perhaps that is another column/interview for another time.
#3 by Paul Lukas on 02.28.07 9:11 am |
C’mon, man, I linked right to their home page!
#4 by John on 02.28.07 9:21 am |
What is the over/under on how soon Paul is asked to take this interview down? Among other things, I am sure that Company X will be thrilled to see one of their employees discussing buying a competitor’s product so that they can “knock ‘em off.” And the AFL is sure to be pleased as well.
(Paul, I don’t fault you. You’re a journalist. It is up to the subject to exercise discretion.)
#5 by Kevin on 02.28.07 9:23 am |
Admittedly as I was reading that interview I was 10 times more interested in what was in there then when I started reading it. Real good insight about something I honestly never thought about before today.
#6 by DC on 02.28.07 9:24 am |
Hilariously ironic that on the day you interviewed her, Paul, (at least I assume you took that picture) she is wearing PURPLE. Someone must have tipped her off… classic.
#7 by Patrick on 02.28.07 9:28 am |
Just in the “for what it’s worth” category, you can clearly see the Company X logo on the warm-up jacket on her chair!
#8 by Paul Lukas on 02.28.07 9:29 am |
I didn’t take the photo — she sent it to me. The interview was done over the phone, not in person.
And I think it’s blue, not purple.
#9 by Chris on 02.28.07 9:32 am |
Florida seemed to be wearing those new NCAA Tournaments uniforms last night. They were different than the ones they have worn all year and eliminated almost all the white.
#10 by Caknuck on 02.28.07 9:35 am |
The whole thing about the Saints helmets and pants not matching reminds me of how bad the blue on the Winnipeg Jets’ uniforms was mismatched. The helmets were always 2-3 shade lighter than the jerseys, even after the uniform redesign in the early 90s…
http://img.aftonblad...
#11 by Richard on 02.28.07 9:36 am |
Great interview today, Paul. It’s interesting to see the insider’s view on uniforms and athletic apparel. This was a great way to spend the first part of a work day.
#12 by tedkerwin on 02.28.07 9:38 am |
I think Paul is using the “wink wink” on Company X because he already identified who she worked for in his San Fran post.
#13 by DC on 02.28.07 9:40 am |
Wait… phone interview? So ESPN doesn’t spend megabucks flying you all over the country and putting you up in fancy hotels to interview people for the blog? I don’t think they realize how many readers Uni Watch brings to the site! They need to re-think some things over there in Bristol.
#14 by Robert on 02.28.07 9:40 am |
I know, and I read a fair amount of it. Their corporate drivel is unreadable compared to the quality writing and commentary that we, the readers, receive via Uni Watch and have come to expect from others.
#15 by Peter Wunsch on 02.28.07 9:44 am |
Re: PK’s color-blind comments. Women can only be color blind if one of her parents are color blind. Men can be color blind even if both parents are not. (Don’t ask me to explain this. My daughter’s pediatrician told me this when i thought my daughter was color blind.)
#16 by NickNH on 02.28.07 9:45 am |
Even now some teams can’t match up all the equipment. I know that NikeBauer’s blue helmets are way lighter than the Maple Leafs uniforms…I think I noticed on Pavel Kubina the other night. Plus, jerseys in hockey will also sometimes not match up quite right with the hockey pants when teams are wearing their solid colored home jerseys.
(Every time I post about something, I wanna apologize because I’m so bad with computers, I can’t ever do links right)
#17 by Mark Mihalik on 02.28.07 10:01 am |
Women can only be colorblind if their father is colorblind as well as either their mother or maternal grandfather. Men only need their maternal grandfather to be colorblind to be colorblind.
I know this because I’m colorblind, which sucks, but there’s one part of it which I’m sure Paul would be jealous of… I can’t see the color purple. It’s just blue to me.
#18 by Madd Matt on 02.28.07 10:05 am |
No ‘Uni Watch News Ticker’ section? I truthfully look forward to that section more, almost like a current events of uni watch news around the globe.
#19 by Miguel on 02.28.07 10:06 am |
I think I’m in love.
#20 by SHane on 02.28.07 10:06 am |
The Florida uni’s weren’t bad, but I think the shorts be cut a little shorter, you don’t really need 3 extra inches below the knee, and they should severely reduce that gator skin pattern that was on the front. Other than that I liked the way the jerseys fit, especially the smaller arm holes. They looked a lot better than ours (LSU) do.
#21 by Teebz on 02.28.07 10:06 am |
Not to bring genetics into it, but it’s a sex-linked recessive gene. If a daughter has it, it’s because the mother carries the recessive gene. It is sex-linked with the Y chromosome which is why it is common in men.
And in sports news….
#22 by Kenny on 02.28.07 10:08 am |
Florida’s unis from last night
#23 by andrew on 02.28.07 10:09 am |
I’m guessing this one will last until noon like that great interview with the jersey guy from Baltimore…
excellent interview!
#24 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 10:11 am |
Great interview, Paul. Russell is near and dear to me, because a) their HQ is in Alabama, my home state, and b) they were the long time outfitters for Auburn University, my alma mater. Russell just doesn’t have the cool factor with the kids, like Nike or Adidas, or now Under Armour. Their designs also seemed to be reactive, not proactive. They used to have MLB, some NFL teams (I know they had the Cowboys in the early 90s), and several college teams. Now it’s the AFL, little league, and just a couple college teams (Wazzu, G-Tech). Their HQ is Alexander City is just a short drive from Auburn, so it was a natural fit. Terry Bowden wanted to sign the football team to a Nike deal in the mid-90s, but Russell threatened to pull the academic scholarship money they had given to the university. That nixed the deal. Under Armour’s offer was just too good, and Auburn was losing the marketing battle against Nike schools like Florida, Alabama and Georgia. It’s sad, but kids (and fans) care who outfits the team. One need only see how hard it is to buy Auburn Under Armour apparel these days (and the prices they can charge - $40 for a damn t-shirt).
#25 by Eric on 02.28.07 10:14 am |
Sense of Humor…check
Likes sports…..check
drinks beer…..check
good looking….check
Over/under on the marriage proposals for Miss Cummings besed on this one interview: 5
#26 by NickSixers on 02.28.07 10:14 am |
Really tough to figure out Company X. It’s not like she’s holding up a piece of its merchandise…ohh wait. If she’s that worried, she might want to be a little more discreet than mentioning the leagues they license for.
#27 by Kim on 02.28.07 10:24 am |
They look dirty/stained.
#28 by Joe Hilseberg on 02.28.07 10:24 am |
Man do I find this funny!!!!
And add me to the list of people who are enamored by PKC!
#29 by hot rodd on 02.28.07 10:26 am |
ahh paul, ever the sneaky one..
you realized that most of us are behind firewalls, that that prevents some of us from seeing some of the images, and that cuts down on the amount of people that can figure out who she works for…
sneaky sneaky
#30 by Paul Lukas on 02.28.07 10:29 am |
Hate to break it to ya, people, but she lives with her boyfriend. Kindly keep all declarations of smitten-ness to yourselves, as it’s embarrassing to all concerned.
#31 by Metsfan AZ on 02.28.07 10:30 am |
Great article about a local seamstress that does Spring training and AAA work here in Tucson. Funny how she works for the Tucson Sidewinders (AAA D-baacks) but not the D-baacks during the spring.
#32 by Dave in Maine on 02.28.07 10:32 am |
I am a colorblind uni geek. My maternal grandfather was colorblind (and when the Army Air Corps discovered his affliction he was booted out).
There are two distinct advantages to my condition from a uni design perspective:
1) I can’t really tell blue from purple unless it’s a screaming purple
2) Simple is good. I have no trouble with bold and strongly contrasting colors. Small wonder that my favorite units are the simple two-color models (Red Wings, Colts, etc.) and the dark/yellow combos (Steelers, Redskins, old MN North Stars, etc.)
#33 by Fredo Corleone on 02.28.07 10:37 am |
I’ve sold Russell Athletic apparel for the past decade or so and they are pretty innovative in basketball and they are ahead of the curve in their materials. In my experience, they are the first to use nylon/lycra in basketball uniforms and all of those real cute racerback college womens basketball uniforms that were posted this winter. I’m glad that she had nothing to do with Russell’s color disaster about 8 years ago…they changed their “red” from “red” to “true red”…every uniform I sold in red now didn’t match the new “true red”. Made my life very difficult, trying to explain to the colleges and high schools wearing their unis that they couldn’t fill in because Russell decided not to carry that color any longer. Like…*poof*…red didn’t exist in Alex City Alabama any longer. I’m still bitter abut that one. Thanks Paul & P.K. for the interview…and I LOVE vegas gold. Love it love it love it…as a salesman, I took pride in converting three schools from yucky athletic gold to beautiful Vegas Gold.
#34 by John on 02.28.07 10:40 am |
Minnesota can’t get it right.
I noticed Keith Tkachuk’s shoulder logos were off on Monday against Boston. At first it looked like the nameplate was too high, but Atlanta’s “Batman logos” were too far back. Just looked bad. (still looking for a pic.)
Edmonton looked good last night. Helmets were off.
Much like the Saints need to get their gold/yellow together, someone stop this kid.
#35 by Original Jim on 02.28.07 11:08 am |
Great interview Paul. It’s nice to see there are a lot of people who take pride in what they do, but don’t take it too seriously that they can’t see the humor in a lot of those things.
Kind of funny how they would “bust” someone wearing Nike. But what else are they going to wear on their feet? Russell doesn’t make footwear.
One thing about “Company X”. I can’t remember which school it was, but the football uniforms had inconsistent branding. The jerseys had the current Russell logo, but the pants had the older multi-color version. It might have been Georgia Tech or Toledo…again, not sure. But it was this season, and the pants were obviously new.
Someone was lapsing in quality control that day…
:)
#36 by Teebz on 02.28.07 11:10 am |
Those pads are his identifying style. Here’s his junior team picture with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Can you pick out M.A. Fleury?
He also wore them for Team Canada which has no yellow whatsoever in its jersey colours.
#37 by Tony The Tiger on 02.28.07 11:12 am |
Oh come on, leave Marc-Andre alone! I think those pads are pretty cool … they may not match but if the league lets it go, it’s his signature!
If he’s gotta get rid of the pads, then DiPietro’s gotta get rid of the busiest mask in NHL history.
I just wish someone would wear brown leather equipment for throwback nights…how awesome would that look?
#38 by Jeff E. on 02.28.07 11:14 am |
Actually, very few people are truly color blind (i.e., only seeing shades of gray). Most people have what’s called color deficiency. This means that they can see colors, but have problems distinguishing between certain shades, red-green being one of the most common. Like Mark Mihalik, I cannot see differences between shades of blue-purple unless they’re very loud. I also cannot distinguish between dark shades of green and brown. It can be frustating sometimes.
#39 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 11:20 am |
I’d say you’re right about Russell and fabric innovation, but I still think their uni design was/is lacking. Auburn never struggled with this in football, b/c the unis are kept the same by tradition (even Under Armour isn’t allowed to mess with them) (and this statement exlcudes the orange number shadowing that Bowden plagued us with from 96-98). I just don’t think they have the wow factor, or pop that some of the Nike stuff has had. Granted, Nike flops a lot with stuff like Oregon’s unis (or Zona), but they’ve also hit some homers with USC, Ohio State, Florida, Georgia, and Maryland (before Under Armour) football redesigns. The basketball unis have also been more cutting edge. The Cincy butt-stripe in the mid-90s, Arizona, UConn, Texas, etc. Very well done. Russell would give Auburn a new hoops jersey every year, and it seemed to get worse every time.
#40 by Teebz on 02.28.07 11:20 am |
Josh Harding of the Minnesota Wild does. He has worn the old-look leather equipment many times.
Against St. Louis.
And here’s a desktop image with him wearing the brown pads.
#41 by Kim on 02.28.07 11:23 am |
Plus, he’s apparently captured the souls of goalies past and had them imprisoned in his mask!
#42 by Pat on 02.28.07 11:31 am |
Just for the record, us colorblind people can be just a uniform-picky as those with normal vision. Also 1 in 12 men are colorblind, but it’s usually just a weakness with respect to one primary color or another. Actual black-and-white colorblindnesses is MUCH rarer.
#43 by KT on 02.28.07 11:35 am |
2300 words with a “textile color specialist.”
And I take crap for being a soccer fan.
#44 by Metsfan AZ on 02.28.07 11:39 am |
Actually, I’m going to give you crap for counting the words. I apologize, I’m a smart-ass and with no security code there’s even less time to filter myself.
#45 by Alex on 02.28.07 11:40 am |
If that is blue consider me the 1 in 12
#46 by Brian from Short Island on 02.28.07 11:41 am |
Actually…. DiPietro wore brown pads last year.
Also, Rico’s mask is one military tribute after another. I never found it too busy. It’s better than the dragons on his first mask.
Someone mentioned once that the yellow pads were somehow advantageous to the keeper, I don’t remember why though.
#47 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 11:42 am |
The Cincy mid-90s shorts:
http://cgi.ebay.com/...
#48 by Jeff Barak on 02.28.07 11:46 am |
Geez, I hope she doesn’t get in trouble for “fucking Philadelphia Soul” or “who cares about the AFL, right?” They are clients afterall.
#49 by Shane on 02.28.07 11:48 am |
In regards to the saints colors not matching, I work for one of the major sporting goods stores in the south and you would be suprised to see how screwed up the lettering, numbering and the colars are on the saints jerseys. The golds are so off that an 80-year old color blind man would notice that they aren’t even close. I know that water affects the dye’s used by plants in different parts of the world but the difference is just ridiculous.
#50 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 11:55 am |
Check out this pic of a Nats pitcher. He’s wearing this year’s BP cap, but the BP jersey from two years ago.
http://www.washingto...
#51 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 12:02 pm |
I think that’s what they have the minor leaguers wear.
#52 by Ian on 02.28.07 12:07 pm |
Paul,
What a fun interivew! Kudos on your Russell-ing up excellent content.
#53 by NickNH on 02.28.07 12:21 pm |
to expand on the info about Rick DiPietro, it is a US military tribute. I believe his father flew choppers in Nam or something, and he has a picture of a chopper on the mask and a picture of a few soldiers standing around in one of those classic, soldiers standing around during time away from fighting pictures. As tributes go, I think it’s a damn good one. (Not blaming anyone who thinks it’s busy, just trying to help you realize why it’s special because of it’s busyness.)
#54 by Ron on 02.28.07 12:47 pm |
i know fonts get mentioned from time-to-time, so if you like that sort of thing and if you have a customized google webpage, you can add a tab that features “font of the day”.
hopefully this link will take you to it:
#55 by Ron on 02.28.07 12:48 pm |
sorry, knew i’d mess the link up
#56 by John on 02.28.07 12:51 pm |
As far as playing in an international tournament, goalies aren’t mandated to wear country colors. They normally bring the gear they feel most comfortable with.
- Rick DiPietro went Red, White and Blue in Torino and the ‘04 World Cup, and 50/50 at the ‘05 World Championships
- Nikolai Khabibulin donned his Tampa gear in SLC
- Miikka Kiprusoff kinda left his Calgary gear at home, then went all Suomi
- Martin Brodeur just lucks out between New Jersey and Team Canada
It’s personal preference. Bring the gear you feel most comfortable wearing.
As far as MAF and his yellow on gold…..screw the kid. Wear the appropriate gear. This is pro hockey, not house shinny.
#57 by John on 02.28.07 1:03 pm |
Rick’s dad did fly choppers in Vietnam and the Isles play at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. It’s a 2-for-1 tribute. One side of the mask has Iwo Jima, the other has Vietnam and a Bell UH-1 Iroquois (aka Huey). You can clearly see a POW-MIA emblem also.
#58 by Paul Lukas on 02.28.07 1:07 pm |
If you look at today’s Page 2 index page, you’ll find a little something I wrote about Arena Football.
#59 by BA on 02.28.07 1:13 pm |
Dont think that this has been discussed yet, but I came across an article today saying that the Ohio State basketball team will have the “LJ23″ logo on their jerseys and will be wearing LeBron’s signature shoes once the tourney starts.
http://www.ohio.com/...
#60 by justin on 02.28.07 1:14 pm |
Actually I think she’s holding up a Washington State Cougar jersey and giving it a thumbs down.
As a U Dub Husky fan and alum, I thought that was great!
#61 by Zach on 02.28.07 1:16 pm |
hey paul did you get a chance to check out the Florida Jerseys last night??
#62 by Paul Lukas on 02.28.07 1:18 pm |
Yeah. What a snooze. Big fuss over nothing, sez I.
#63 by Brian Erni on 02.28.07 1:21 pm |
very interesting spring training tidbit. i’m watching the tigers/mets game on sportsnet new york and both the mets and tigers are wearing their regular game uniforms and NOT the new batting practice caps and jerseys. i know the mets always wear their spring training jerseys and hats for games as opposed to some teams that don’t (yankees , dodgers) so this is an interesting development…
#64 by Rich Bruns on 02.28.07 1:34 pm |
That’s kind’ve surprising to me that they would swtich the logo midseason. I know LJ23 is nothing more than a branch of Nike but still…
#65 by Jeremy on 02.28.07 1:35 pm |
watching the mets game as well, the tigers are wearing their spring training caps though.
#66 by Allison on 02.28.07 1:40 pm |
Nike Pox sleeves spotted in A’s camp.
In regard to color blindness, a close friend of mine had normal vision until a baseball accident that somehow left him colorblind at the age of 17. He can now only see Black and White and anything Yellow. His take on it?
“I’m living in a 1960s sitcom with a highlighter.”
#67 by Teebz on 02.28.07 1:42 pm |
That’s a pretty ridiculous statement. If that’s the case, then talk to the manufacturer of the pads, not Fleury. He wears them to stop pucks, not to compete in a fashion show.
Otherwise, let’s all go back to brown pads, and not worry about colourful pads whatsoever.
#68 by Jonathon on 02.28.07 1:46 pm |
Maybe Russell should consider updating their “team sports” web page. South Carolina bolted for Under Armour.
http://www.russellat...
#69 by Brit on 02.28.07 1:56 pm |
That chick looks exactly like one of the currently hot porn sluts named Gianna Michaels.
#70 by Chaz on 02.28.07 2:00 pm |
WHAT’S QUICKSILVER??????
Great interview Paul, but you just showed your age/geekiness. Keep up the great work.
#71 by Jeff Morris on 02.28.07 2:03 pm |
A logo of someone who not only didn’t go to Ohio State, but didn’t even play college basketball. Odd.
#72 by CollinJ on 02.28.07 2:25 pm |
I can guarantee that they will not have the LJ23 logo on their jerseys…It’s not allowed in college basketball. Manufacturer’s logos are not allowed on the tops of college basketball uniforms.
Florida’s unis were HIDEOUS. The number and letters were way to small. It looked like they were wearing smocks because of that. And the tiny arm hole mixed with the extra wide sleeves just hightened the smock effect.
The shorts were completely ridiculous…I’m not sure if you can call them shorts…Urkel was wearing those back in the early 90s. Florida looked like a high school team.
I’m dreading to see the new unis of my beloved Buckeyes. I love their new uniforms, despite the fact that they entered the nike world, and I think they have some of the best shorts in college basketball. The gray is also WONDERFUL. I wish more colleges with gray as their secondary color would drop the white home jerseys and move to gray. I believe UK even went gray for one game, but I can’t find a link anywhere.
#73 by Chris on 02.28.07 2:36 pm |
Sometimes you ask a question to get an answer you already know because your think not all of your readers know the answer…
#74 by Philip on 02.28.07 2:48 pm |
Great interview! I don’t have a whole lot to add, but the bit about the shortcomings of Pantone was really interesting. We use Pantone chips at work all the time and the fights about color are seemingly never-ending. Perhaps it’s time we invested in a spectrophotometer (though I am disappointed that it’s not a more menacing looking piece of equipment).
#75 by Mark in Shiga on 02.28.07 2:49 pm |
Her outfit is *blue*?
I saw her outfit as purple, gray, and white and was expecting her to mention that she was a Rockies fan!
In any case, great interview. Thanks to Uni Watch, some previously-unheralded jobs are getting some great attention and some informative chances to discuss their trade!
#76 by John on 02.28.07 2:55 pm |
It has absolutely nothing to do with fashion. ALL GOALIES have to adhere to strict equipment rules. Chris Osgood had to change his red and white gear to some combination of blue/orange/white when he was claimed by the Islanders. Goalies have one month, give or take, to adjust or else there is a fine. Last time I checked, Jocelyn Thibault wasn’t complaining by wearing TEAM colors.
#77 by Jason on 02.28.07 3:05 pm |
I agree. Florida won’t even need to wear those unis until at least the NCAA regional finals, as they’ll wear higher-seeded white until then. (Unless of course, the slide continues) However, the home version of those unis may be interesting.
#78 by Teebz on 02.28.07 3:11 pm |
There are absolutely no rules about what colour pads a goalie can wear. This why Arturs Irbe could wear all-white pads throughout his career; this is why M.A. Fleury can wear all-yellow pads.
Patrick Roy wore black-and-white pads in Colorado. Was he breaking league rules since black and white aren’t the primary Avalanche colours? Ron Hextall wore all-white pads in Quebec. Was he breaking league rules? Tomas Vokoun wears yellow-and-blue pads with the Preadtors’ alternate jerseys. Is he breaking league rules?
There is no league-mandated rule. There might be team-mandated rules, but I highly doubt that. Most times, a goalie will match his pads to the jersey colours so that he doesn’t stand out.
#79 by Tony The Tiger on 02.28.07 3:13 pm |
I take back what I said about DiPietro’s mask then.
Thought it was just some over the top I love my country thing. I knew he played for the olympics but that was it.
Thanks for the info on him! Makes me respect the mask.
#80 by Rich Bruns on 02.28.07 3:14 pm |
If the LJ23 is on Ohio State’s uniforms, I’d guess that it’d be on the shorts, like the Nike swoosh currently is.
#81 by PBJ on 02.28.07 3:21 pm |
Goalies can wear whatever colors they like. Take Jim Carey as an example. He wore his Wisconsin pads through most if not all his NHL career.
#82 by Kerry on 02.28.07 3:23 pm |
Definitely not. LSU’s basketball unis are LEAGUES ahead of Florida’s crap.
#83 by Steve on 02.28.07 3:40 pm |
I also thought that was funny Chaz.
I thought these questions were a little bizarre too:
What does that (conditioned) mean?
(told about the Philadelphia Soul) Um, is that an AFL team?
There were pictures of models wearing Soul jerseys in the AFL article on Page 2, so i thought that question was odd….
#84 by Kerry on 02.28.07 3:41 pm |
I wonder why Russel decided to have the logos on the New York Dragons’ jerseys and pants MATCH while none of the other teams’ FEATURED UNIS matched (I’m talking about the “R” logo with “Russel” underneath on all the jerseys, but only on the New York Dragons’ pants).
#85 by Andrew on 02.28.07 3:53 pm |
Dont knock MAF!!
He has worn yellow pads since his QMJHL days at Cape Breton Screamin Eagles, so if he wants to wear yellow pads, he can. Yellow is close enough to gold, gold pads would be a little extreme
#86 by Andrew on 02.28.07 4:15 pm |
Also, as you may know if you know hockey, the Vancouver Canucks were sold and no longer owned by Orca Bay. This means that the stupid orca is now outta the uniform. The actual designs are being unveiled August 1st, but I found this, and what it may look like
New Jerseys
#87 by joe on 02.28.07 4:15 pm |
because on the white chicago jersey the white logo wouldnt be seen? pretty simple, in the 1st example white logo was going to be visible. In the second one white on white wont be seen.
#88 by joe on 02.28.07 4:18 pm |
never mind, I just realized what you were talking about. could just be a set of mismatched pants being used.
#89 by Davie on 02.28.07 4:20 pm |
Thought the same thing, but kept it to myself.
#90 by Teebz on 02.28.07 4:25 pm |
That’s an absolute fabrication. They are not bringing Johnny Canuck back as the primary home logo. Someone whipped those up using Photoshop.
For more info, look here.
#91 by Matthew S. on 02.28.07 4:27 pm |
If they get rid of the side panels and add a hemline, I think those would be incredible jerseys/sweaters. The orca jerseys always struck me as a little cartoonish.
#92 by Metsfan AZ on 02.28.07 4:28 pm |
I don’t see it (Safe for work).
#93 by Philly Bill on 02.28.07 4:32 pm |
Or calling John Elway “Horse Teeth“! I ’bout spat my Fresca on the computer screen when I saw that.
Fantastically amusing interview. Great job!
Other stuff:
Check out the newfangled facemasks on the arena leaguers at the recent fashion show Paul covered. Who makes those? Here’s hoping we don’t see them in the NFL soon.
Love the vintage-style brown goalie pads.
I’m also afflicted with “Mark Mihalik/Jeff E” colorblindness. I have memorized the colors of all my clothes so I don’t wear blue with purple or green with brown. My maternal grandfather was completely colorblind, ie, he saw in grayscale.
Alexander City, Ala., is not only the home of Russell Athletic, it is also the home of this boil on the ass of society.
#94 by Kerry on 02.28.07 4:33 pm |
Maybe….but no one else featured had pants with the name under the “R” logo.
#95 by Philly Bill on 02.28.07 4:37 pm |
Forgot something: I think the surf wear company in question is “Quiksilver,” ie, deliberately misspelled.
And, um, I’m really not liking this idea of comparing PKC to some porn star. In poor taste for a variety of reasons, and not appropriate for this board.
#96 by Metsfan AZ on 02.28.07 4:46 pm |
Good point, apologies all around. Mea culpa