Last Tuesday I had a small Ticker item about how the old Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA used to put first intials. in addition to last names, on the back of every player’s uniform (as you can see in this video clip). That prompted an interesting reply from Bob Halfacre of AIS uniforms, who happens to have some very strong thoughts on the matter:
First initials on jerseys may be my greatest professional pet peeve. My disdain for them rivals your distaste for purple. I have always hated them and will fight clubs from placing them on their jerseys to the bitter end. Clubs that we provide lettering for who don’t use them include the Anahiem Ducks (Niedermayers) and the LA Kings. You also won’t see them on the Mets. To quote the great longtime equipment manger/traveling secretary Charlie Samuels [we’re gonna have to agree to disagree on that assessment of Charlie. — PL], “What the fuck are they wearing numbers for?” I couldn’t agree more. It eventually leads to one of players being out of the lineup or off the club and the other one sporting an initial for no reason.
A few specific experiences:
• The San Francisco Spiders of the old IHL had every player’s first initial on their jerseys. It was at the insistence of the owner’s wife.
• When Reggie Smith was with the Dodgers, he was adamant that his jersey have “R. Smith” on the back. He didn’t care if the Dodgers had another Smith or not.
• Tim Brown of the Oakland Raiders always wore “T. Brown” on the back of his jersey, whether or not the Raiders had another Brown. His first NFL jersey was that way and I think he was superstitious about it.
A specific instance that I remember is when Howard Johnson joined the Mets in 1985: His jersey read “H. Johnson,” but manager Davey Johnson just kept wearing “Johnson” — no initial — which I always interpreted to mean, “I’m the main Johnson around here.” (And please, let’s not have a slew of johnson jokes in the comments section.)
As for the “They’ve got uniform numbers, so why bother with the initial?” gripe, it’s fine as far as it goes, but it’s a bit of a straw man argument. If you take that line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, it becomes, “They’ve got uniform numbers, so why bother putting names on the jerseys in the first place?” I still haven’t heard a completely satisfying answer to that one.
Membership Update: Preparations continue for the launch of the Uni Watch membership program (if you missed the initial announcement, look here), including a new twist regarding the membership card: As I mentioned last week, you can choose your own uniform number for the back of the card, along with your choice of lettering styles for your name (vertically arched, radially arched, NFL-style, subscript [a new offering!], or no name at all). HOWEVER, if the Uni Watch colors aren’t good enough for you, you can instead choose to have your name and number rendered in the style of your favorite team (but we’ll remove the border and bunting around the edge, so the colors won’t clash). There are a few gaps in our typeface collection, but we can do most MLB, NFL, or NHL teams. Unfortunately, no NBA teams for now. And to nobody’s surprise, I will not permit anything involving the Vikings, Ravens, Rockies, or any other purple-inclusive team. Also, please don’t ask for minor league or old historical teams, since we don’t want to drive poor Scott Turner crazy as he prepares the cards.
Personally, I’m kinda hoping you’ll all choose to stick with the Uni Watch colors for your name and number (as I’ll be doing on my own card) — Uni Watch is our team here, after all. But at least now you have some additional options.
And if you want your name to include your initial, that’s okay with me. But we won’t tell Bob Halfacre about it.
Meanwhile, don’t forget that I’m raffling off a free membership as we speak. If you haven’t already done so, go ahead and send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (one per person, please), and I’ll announce the winner when the entire membership program is ready to go, which I hope will be within a few days. Be patient, people — it’s gonna be worth the wait, I promise. (Extra-special thanks to Ben Thoma, who whipped up the super-cool raffle ticket graphic.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Cinematic report from Jared Peterson, who writes: “The Syracuse Athletic department has put up a gallery of pictures from the set of the upcoming Ernie Davis biopic, with 1959 Syracuse uniforms.” … Greg Evans reports that the Anderson Joes, whose logo was the subject of much discussion here last week, had their home debut over the weekend. Additional photos of their retro-style uniforms are available here. … Brilliant catch by Ferdinand Cesarano, who writes: “I was watching a little of the LSU/Stanford college softball game on ESPN on Saturday and noticed that LSU’s jerseys buttoned in the direction of men’s baseball jerseys [i.e. buttons on the right, buttonholes on the left], but Stanford’s jerseys buttoned the opposite way, like a women’s coat. I watch very little women’s softball, but it seems that most college softball jerseys that I’ve seen button in the same direction as men’s baseball jerseys.” … Rugby update from Caleb Borchers, as follows: “The American tradition of wearing patches to commemorate appearances in championship games is certainly preferable to what went on in rugby this weekend. The Bulls, who won the Super 14 final, wore this jersey. Note that to commemorate the occasion they added the verbose ‘Finaal Bulls v. Sharks Durban 19 MEI 2007.’ (I don’t believe that the Final of May are misspelled. Instead they are in Afrikaans, even though the Super 14 is a primarily English-speaking league.) They also have put each player’s first name on both the front and back of the jersey near the top, something they had not done all season.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Nice video report here on ambidextrous pitcher Pat Venditte and his special lefty/righty glove. … I loooooove this guy’s baseball uniform drawings. … Anthony Memme has come up with a rare sight: Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons in an actual jersey (instead of that annoying smock he usually wears)! … Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek notes that Fausto Carmona tends to leave the MLB hologram sticker on his underbill (additional pics here and here). … Also from Vince: Bernie Williams got an honorary degree from Iona College the other day, leading at least one graduate to wear the Yankees logo on his mortarboard. … “The Capitals signed and introduced 2006 No. 1 pick Nicklas Backstrom on Monday,” writes Michael Alper. “It’s interesting that they had him pose with the current jersey, since the Caps are introducing new ones in a few weeks. It’s also interesting (and pretty sad) that it was a cheap replica jersey, not even a game-issued or authentic one — note the CCM logo on the left sleeve. It’s also dumb that he posed in an empty locker room!” … Interesting documentation of game-used Roger Clemens jersey here — among other things, he likes to have the front shirttail tags removed (courtesy of Kevin Gee). … Tough to see in this screen grab (snapped by Tom Mowbray), but pitcher Winston Abreu was wearing shades during a night game yesterday. … My vote for the Miss Universe pageant is going to the Canadian entrant, Inga Skaya, for obvious reasons (with thanks to Nick Vossbrink). … The double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats wore a Manchester Police Dept. patch last night in honor of a slain officer, and are also retiring his badge number (with thanks to Eric Martin and Mike Hennessy). … Don Whelan notes that uniform designer and longtime Uni Watch pal Todd Radom designed this really nifty clock as part of a fundraiser for the American Institute of Graphic Arts (you can see the rest of the clocks here).
#1 by Monte on 05.22.07 9:06 am |
THANK YOU. I’ve always hated first initials on uniforms.
#2 by Mike V on 05.22.07 9:06 am |
Is there any meaning behind the numbering on the new uni-raffle ticket? By the way, the membership program keeps getting better and better
#3 by Paul Lukas on 05.22.07 9:09 am |
Well, I didn’t design it — no meaning from my perspective. Ben, is there any significance to the number you chose?
#4 by WVU Tom on 05.22.07 9:15 am |
I remember first hearing about it on this site that the NFL supposedly is doing away with the first initial rule for this season.
#5 by Kek on 05.22.07 9:17 am |
Neat conversation about initials. I know someone mentioned the Pitt Panthers entire football team sporting a first initial on the nameplate at some time in the 80s but I don’t know what reasoning was given for that.
Another Pittsburgh related item is ex-Pirates’ pitcher Don Robinson. He was the last player to remain with the team following the ‘79 World Series and at that time, the Pirates also had Bill Robinson on the roster. Long after Bill left the team Don wore “D. Robinson” on the back of his jersey. I’m thinking eventually he took the “D.” off, but I’m not 100% sure.
I never thought of the school of thought that the initial isn’t necessary because there are different numbers but I also see the “then, you don’t need names at all since there are different numbers”.
To me, I think of it as a personal preference. It seems to me in this day and age of shortening everyone’s name to some short, trendy nickname like “J.Will” or “A-Rod”, that more players would request this even if there wasn’t another player with the same last name.
#6 by Seth H on 05.22.07 9:17 am |
MSG Network showed parts of Game 6 of the Rangers/Islanders 1979 playoff series. A few uni-related notes from the game:
1) Dave Maloney and Don Maloney had their full first names on their sweaters, since “D” Maloney would not do the trick. (I wonder what Bob Halfacre thinks of that.)
2) The Islanders helmets were far from uniform in color. I’m not talking about slightly different navy blues. There were colors that were not even close.
3) Strange to see Chico Resch in an almost completely white birdcage mask.
#7 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 9:18 am |
No Johnson jokes?
Too bad. I suppose that once you enter that vein it’s just the tip of the iceberg. You never know what might come about!
Seriously, though, classy touch by the Fisher Cats. And the Joes’ unis are STELLAR!!!
Also, it just goes to show that there are one or two intelligent Yankee fans out there (Yankee logo on mortarboard). Blowing holes in my theory that the best way to get rid of a Yankee fan is to pay for the pizza…
#8 by aputelo on 05.22.07 9:20 am |
In the Ernie Davis pics, nice to see the saltine warrior making an appearance on uniwatch … also, Ryan Field at Northwestern fills in nicely for the Cotton Bowl.
#9 by Lockbull on 05.22.07 9:22 am |
If you hate first initials on uniforms, don’t watch Sevilla. In the UEFA cup final at least half the players had their first initial (like J.Navas) or their entire first names (Dani Alves). None of the other players had the same last name, is that a preference allowed in La Liga?
#10 by Wade on 05.22.07 9:23 am |
At Alabama, Shaun Alexander always wore the nameplate “SU. ALEXANDER”. Not quite sure of the reasoning behind it unless there was a Shane or any other Sha… Alexander on the team as well.
#11 by Kim on 05.22.07 9:24 am |
What’s with the criticism of the Caps’ Backstrom photos.
They said the new jerseys will be unveiled at the draft. Should they have held off signing Backstrom? No. The now retro-black is fine. And now it’s a weird little footnote in his (and the Caps) history.
Empty locker room gripe? Well the boys have been home for weeks now, and with all new uniforms and equipment on order for next season (not to mention the inclusion of new players) a clean slate locker room is what I’d expect.
#12 by Joe Drennan on 05.22.07 9:26 am |
I was watching the movie 61* last night as my wife Tivo’ed it becasue she had never seen it. WHile I loved that the uniforms were pretty accurate, the glaring mistake to me was that at parts of the movie the Yankees were playing the Minnesota Twins, then in other parts, different games of course, they were playing the Washington Senators.
This is troublesome to me because these two teams are the same franchise. The franchise moved to Minnesota in 1961, the year of the home run race. If the Senators would have appeared first one could make the argument that it was early in the season and uniforms were in production, blah blah blah, but in the first game of the season they have the Yankees playing the Twins.
It’s a minor issue that bugged me the entire movie.
#13 by Mark in Shiga on 05.22.07 9:31 am |
Randy Bass had “R. BASS” on the back of his Hanshin Tigers jersey despite there not being another Bass on the team, or indeed any other Bass in the history of the league! He must have asked for it for some reason.
Several other players who were known mainly by their first names in Japan used only their first names on their jerseys: Mark Mimbs, Alex Ochoa, and Darwin Cubillan come to mind.
With Orix, Kevin Beirne did this, and Jeremy Powell went even further!
#14 by Jason on 05.22.07 9:34 am |
Can I get a swoosh in place of my name on the membership card?
Kidding!
#15 by JoshC on 05.22.07 9:35 am |
#12: The Twins-Senators franchise was immediately replaced in 1961 by an expansion Senators franchise that later became the Rangers. So 61* was fine in that regard.
#16 by Stuby on 05.22.07 9:35 am |
About 10 years ago, the Braves had 3 Joneses. Andruw, Chipper and hitting coach Clarence. so of course they went with ‘A. Jones’, ‘C. Jones’ (Clarence) and just ‘Jones’ for Chipper. I guess they didn’t want to go with L. Jones for his given name - Larry.
I always thought that was really, really dumb.
#17 by Hank on 05.22.07 9:35 am |
MLB managers who wear ’smocks’ annoy the hell out of me, too. And it’s a bad look. (Not that big old fat guys like Charlie Manuel look good in unis in any event.)
How is that part of the official team uniform? Aren’t all on-field personnel required to wear the same uniform? Or does this apply to players only. You can add to this players who wear those sweatshirt-type uniform tops on the bench if they are on the DL or pitchers who will not be playing that day.
#18 by LouUmp on 05.22.07 9:37 am |
When the ORIGINAL Senators moved to Minnesota, the AL put a expansion team into Griffith Stadiun in 61…named The Senators..thus when the Twins played ‘The Senators’ that year, most of the DC fans probably knew the ‘Twins’ players better than their ‘own’ team…
#19 by Wes Durham on 05.22.07 9:37 am |
As bad as initials are…there was a time in the 1970’s when ACC Basketball had a first name and first initial problem. Skip Brown of Wake Forest had his name “Skip” on the back of his jersey, while Howard White of Maryland (later a swoosh exec), just had the letter “H”. Ah, the 1970’s!!
#20 by Joe Drennan on 05.22.07 9:38 am |
Thanks for the info. I did not know that as I wasn’t born for another 20 years after that happened. Now I can watch the movie again and not be annoyed.
#21 by interlockingtc on 05.22.07 9:39 am |
Those “slinkmoss’ illustrations are wonderful. Am I being presumptuous to suggest that every one of us has done something similar at one point in our lives?
#22 by Robert on 05.22.07 9:39 am |
Those purple-over-purple LSU softball uniforms are nearly dead ringers for the baseball uniforms that I wore in high school in the early 1980s. I really need to find a photo of them . . . or could it result in me being banned from the site?
#23 by Jason on 05.22.07 9:41 am |
Not uni related, but this morning’s NY/Boston headline made me laugh,
“Wang pulls Yanks closer to Sox”
#24 by Marty Met on 05.22.07 9:41 am |
Why the dis on Charlie Samuels? Is he responsible for the black Mets uniforms?
#25 by Paul Lukas on 05.22.07 9:43 am |
He didn’t design them, but he decides what the team wears each day. So when we gripe about the Mets wearing their road cap at home, and never wearing their home cap, etc., we’re really griping about him.
#26 by Kenny on 05.22.07 9:45 am |
Now I’m irked…should have gone to the open casting call for The Express!! They were calling for former college players to make it look “real”…I think I would have look pretty good in those old ‘cuse jerseys…if I don’t say so myself
#27 by Joe on 05.22.07 9:46 am |
I NEED a Joe’s jersey!!!! However, their website store is officially the worst in all of professional baseball.
#28 by Eric B on 05.22.07 9:51 am |
Here’s a screencap of the Bulls Super 14 Final jersey with the player’s first name on the back. The Chiefs (Waikato, New Zealand) are the only team in the league that puts the last name on the uniforms.
#29 by Jason on 05.22.07 9:53 am |
I can’t wait for the memberships to kick off. However, I fear that I won’t be able to choose what color scheme to use. I love the Uniwatch scheme, but the cards modeled after pro uniforms look amazing, too. I may go crazy trying to decide.
#30 by Jonathon on 05.22.07 9:55 am |
I noticed there was no black on that Mets-inspired Uniwatch membership card . . .
#31 by DCM on 05.22.07 9:56 am |
About 10 years ago, the Braves had 3 Joneses. Andruw, Chipper and hitting coach Clarence. so of course they went with ‘A. Jones’, ‘C. Jones’ (Clarence) and just ‘Jones’ for Chipper. I guess they didn’t want to go with L. Jones for his given name - Larry.
I always thought that was really, really dumb.
This year neither Jones’s wears an initial, the way I like it. In years past one might show up with an initial and the other not have one…it often wasn’t consistent.
#32 by Mike V on 05.22.07 9:58 am |
Not really uni related, but check out this Carson Palmer add my buddy just sent me. Being from Pittsburgh, it makes it that much funnier.
#33 by Denis on 05.22.07 9:58 am |
I am not sure if this was discussed or not already but I think the best part and most over looked part of the Joes uniform is the number 8 that is in the middle of the O in Joes.
I believe this is to designate “The Eight Men Out.”
Pretty crazy
http://media.indepen...
#34 by Mike V on 05.22.07 9:59 am |
Not really uni related, but check out this Carson Palmer add my buddy just sent me. Being from Pittsburgh, it makes it that much funnier.
#35 by paul on 05.22.07 10:01 am |
What’s worse than an initial is when they find it necessary to use the first *two* letters. Example: when Richie Regehr suits up for the Calgary Flames, he has to wear “Ri. Regehr” in deference to his older brother Robyn. I can’t remember if they made Robyn suffer the indignity of wearing “Ro.”
Lord help us if Marian and Marcel Hossa are ever teammates.
#36 by Shaftman on 05.22.07 10:01 am |
I vaguely remember Connie Mack not being allowed on the field during the game (dugout was fine) because he wasn’t in uniform (he always wore a suit). So, I guess current managers can wear smocks if they like, but IMHO, they should not be allowed onto the field if they do.
#37 by Anthony Verna on 05.22.07 10:02 am |
And isn’t it done, anyway, to avoid “Larry”?
#38 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 10:03 am |
It’s funny, because I think every time Wang pitches, I giggle at the caption the next day……..
#39 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 10:07 am |
Paul, everyone on this board cringed when the Patriots signed Kyle Brady on 3/2/07, but then everyone’s fears were calmed when we heard that Tom would still have “BRADY” on his jersey and not “T. BRADY”.
#40 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 10:10 am |
Wow, the Anderson Joes website is BAD. Six small pics (without prices), that you can’t even click on, and then a non 1-800 number to call……
http://www.andersonp...
#41 by Stuby on 05.22.07 10:14 am |
When I was in High School, there were 2 guys on the football team with the same last name, let’s say it was Smith, and their first names were Jim and Jon. The names on their jerseys read ‘SMITH, JIM’ and ‘SMITH, JON’.
Now that’s about as stupid as it gets.
#42 by WVU Tom on 05.22.07 10:19 am |
…not sure you can speak for everybody. I’ve always hated the NFL first initial rule, but that fact that it was going to effect Tom Brady didn’t concern me that much.
Much as I’m sure not everybody is eager to see #52 for the Ravens without the “R.” on his jersey (even though with #31 gone, I think he would have been able to do so regardless).
#43 by nybatt on 05.22.07 10:21 am |
keeping with the first name theme, I can remember the youngblood brothers, jack and joel, playing for the rams in the late 70’s… their nameplates had their full names in small print OVER their last names in much larger print… of course jack youngblood wearing #85 as a DE/OLB was priceless!!
I really DO NOT like suzuki wearing his first name for the mariners… at all!! seems like it puts him before the team. irony is, from all I watch and read, he is a true professional and completely un-assuming…. so, as much as I dislike it, I’ll deal with it.
#44 by todd krevanchi on 05.22.07 10:24 am |
from yesterday…
he is wearing the lebron zoom soldiers…
http://i103.photobuc...
from today…
for the membership cards. are those team fonts from dafont.com? id like to download them on my pc. what searches did you use to find team appropriate fonts?
what level membership is going to be raffled off?
i noticed that rob brown is portraying ernie davis in that biopic. he is one of those guys who “looks like an athlete and can play any sport in a movie”. which is to say he is this generations wesley snipes and omar epps. you might have seen mr. brown in such uni-relevant movies such as “finding forrester” and “coach carter”.
howard white is not just a nike exec, he is the vice president of jordan brand…
it would have been really odd to see what the headline would have read if torre would have been fired after last nights game.
“torre pulls wang, gets early release”
#45 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 10:25 am |
Pretty much the only uni-related item in this You Tube clip is a guy with a blue Mets hat (at the 23 second mark), but it’s a hilarious clip of the “running of the urinals” at the Preakness race this past weekend.
http://www.youtube.c...
#46 by Doug on 05.22.07 10:26 am |
Shaun wore SU. Alexander and Shawn Alexander wore SW. Alxander. When ShaWn graduated, ShaUn kept the SU. Alexander on his jersey. He told me on the sidelines during his Sr year when I asked him about it that he was encouraged by some in the student body to keep the SU.. Every time he had a big run,the crowd would say “Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuu” kinda like when David Palmer was here . Everytime he made a big play the crowd would say “Duuuuuuuuuuuce” for his #2.
#47 by Seth H on 05.22.07 10:28 am |
I really DO NOT like suzuki wearing his first name for the mariners…
We need to be aware of our American bias. Over in Taiwan, Chien-Men Wang is known as “Wang Chien-Men.” So which is his “first” name and which is his “last”?
#48 by todd krevanchi on 05.22.07 10:29 am |
its even more interesting that he holds the “carson palmer cornhole classic” too.
http://www.bengals.c...
all jokes aside, ive played the game of cornhole, and it is addicting. great game to tailgate and drink to.
#49 by Paul Lukas on 05.22.07 10:31 am |
Great catch!
#50 by Paul Lukas on 05.22.07 10:34 am |
The fonts are Scott Turner’s. He’s a sports designer, so he has access to all sorts of stuff like that. I’m not going to ask him to share them for downloading — that’s his livelihood.
The raffled membership will be for the $50 level, including the T-shirt. If the winner wants a higher level, s/he can pay the difference.
#51 by Tim on 05.22.07 10:34 am |
Hey Paul, it was great to hear your radio interview last night with Chris Ello on XX Sports Radio here in San Diego. I wish they’d archive the interview on their website, but they probably won’t. Thanks for staying up past midnight to do that. I hope it’s not the last time, because I felt you guys had a great conversation.
#52 by SpartyCuse on 05.22.07 10:36 am |
The biggest gripes are that (a) The Caps could have used an authentic or game-issued jersey. Instead, they basically took a replica off a store shelf and put Backstron and 19 on it. Pretty cheesy for a #1 pick, and (b)taking pictures in an empty locker room, IMO, is also cheesy. Either pull some jerseys out of storage and hang them up, or just dont do the pictures there.
As a diehard, lifelong Caps fan, this is just another example of how they run a second rate organization.
#53 by Kek on 05.22.07 10:36 am |
Yao Ming is another example of this. I always thought this was the case with Ichiro too, not that he was setting himself apart.
#54 by Teebz on 05.22.07 10:39 am |
In Japanese, the last name is first in nomenclature. Your family name is the first word spoken followed by your given name.
It’s like saying “I am of the Smith family, and am known as Robert”. It’s the accepted way of nomenclature. In Japanese, his name is Suzuki Ichiro.
#55 by Andrew F on 05.22.07 10:39 am |
I may get smacked around/ IP banned, but I actually don’t mind the bunting around the team team uniforms. I think it would look a little too plain without it.
#56 by Derek G on 05.22.07 10:41 am |
Here’s another interesting Carson Palmer fact. I was in the doctor’s office today getting my knee checked up after tearing my ACL and I play college basketball and the doctor told me because I play college basketball that I had to have the same knee brace as Carson Palmer. Well they showed me the catalog and his knee brace has bengal stripes on it. Anyone seen this in a game? They have a bunch of different colors
#57 by Mark in Shiga on 05.22.07 10:42 am |
It’s not a bias; players should have their surnames (family names) on their backs, not their given names, and his family name is Suzuki.
Actually, he began his career wearing “Suzuki” (1992 jersey here), but one of his coaches thought of the idea of his using his “first” name so that he would stand out more — Suzuki is Japan’s most common surname — and it just stuck. Another guy named “Saburo” in Chiba did the same thing; I can’t even remember his last name now. He even took #53 (the “sabu” in “saburo” is the number 3) to match Ichiro’s 51.
#58 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 10:43 am |
No Johnson jokes!
tee hee.
#59 by Mark in Shiga on 05.22.07 10:44 am |
BTW, regarding the Joes’ jersey, why is the number so small? I love the font, but the size and positioning really looks weird.
#60 by diz on 05.22.07 10:46 am |
Can’t find any pictures, but the Young brothers, Darren and Derek, went with first and surnames, radially arched at Aberdeen in the SPL. And then again at Dunfermline. According to soccerbase, they both transferred on the same day. Still need to find some pictures when I get time later though
#61 by Erich on 05.22.07 10:46 am |
Over on Chris Creamer’s site, he has alot of the team fonts stored on the Forums…
#62 by Ian K on 05.22.07 10:48 am |
The “Ichiro” isn’t due to any Japanese naming tradition, but because Suzuki is a common surname in Japan. I read that he was like 1 of 7 Suzukis on his team and wore his first name to distinguish himself. He just kept up the habit for the Mariners.
#63 by Mike V on 05.22.07 10:53 am |
It’s not a Johnson joke, it was a Palmer joke. I can’t help it if some peoples minds are in the gutter.
#64 by Richard on 05.22.07 10:54 am |
And add former Maverick Wang Zhizhi to the list too - his jersey did not have the Zhizhi on the back.
#65 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 10:55 am |
Potential awful headlines:
“Cashman, Yanks, Wang Agree on New Deal”
“Torre Pulls Wang Out Early”
“Wang Crushed by Happy Sox”
#66 by Wade on 05.22.07 10:55 am |
Doug, thanks for the info. I never knew there was a Shawn Alexander. Throw in Curtis Alexander, and the team was just full of Alexander surnames.
#67 by Teebz on 05.22.07 10:58 am |
If that’s the case, my co-worker from Korea might only be speaking about Korean and Chinese naming. He was certain that the naming was the same in all the Far East countries.
And now he’s cussing in Korean because of his mistake. Too funny. :o)
#68 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 11:03 am |
Aren’t all of these initial/no initial questions cleared up before they’re asked by the four best uniforms in sports?
OK, just kidding with the last one…
#69 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 11:05 am |
I was joking. Duh.
#70 by Big O on 05.22.07 11:06 am |
The Ripkens when all three were together with Orioles never had an initial. Cal Sr., Bill, and Cal Jr..
I know these are Replicas but they are correct from my memory. Here, here, and here.
#71 by Patrick on 05.22.07 11:06 am |
I second that. Cornhole was one of our favorite lazy Saturday afternoon drinking games. We even made custom boards for our off campus house. And we lived in Massachusetts, I like to think that we were single handedly responsible for bringing cornhole to Worcester.
#72 by Scott on 05.22.07 11:09 am |
Here’s a quick report, with a couple of pictures, on the vintage base ball game I played in on Saturday: on my blog. It was a great time, though our team lost 9-4. The guys from the Old Cowtown Museum team(s) were very period, including wearing spikes that strapped over their boots. There were a couple of guys on their team who wore gloves, which were not wore in 1860, the rules under which we were playing (of course most of the footwear wore by our team were NOT period!). My adidas cleats at least looked closer to period as I painted over the stripes and other branding marks the night before.
As I feared my pants were too short, leaving an unauthentic 2″ gap between the cuffs and the top of my socks. After the game a gentleman came up and gave me a business card offering to make me authentic pants if we played again next year.
“High Pockets”
#73 by Stuby on 05.22.07 11:09 am |
My favorite jersey name.
#74 by Kevin from Ohio in Virginia on 05.22.07 11:09 am |
There shouldn’t need to be any debate on the initial/no initial question. These arguments were settled before they began by this, this, this, and this.
I love the unis, old or new, sans nomen.
#75 by Talon Lardner on 05.22.07 11:11 am |
Very odd coincidence… Right now I’m dealing with initials with jerseys in a side project of mine. Currently, I am lettering jersey textures for a SL Hockey team, and due to how Second Life has you choose from a list of last names, The owner of the virtual team and I decided to use initials to make the jersey more personal. I tossed up a few screenshots of the front, Back, and Side.
#76 by tessa on 05.22.07 11:21 am |
Today’s NY Times Headline (on the web, at least) is “For at Least a Night, Wang and the Yanks Have Control”
I think we need to make a rule - when Wang is pitching, the headline writers need to call the team the “Yankees.”
Of course, they probably love getting away with the double entendre.
#77 by Broker75 on 05.22.07 11:22 am |
I was driving home from the North Sunday Night and caught the Yankees-Mets on ESPN radio, Dan Shulman was saying Jorge Posada was working with the ‘engineers’ on desiging a new Titanium catchers mask as the “hockey mask-like ones aren’t really good against concussions” ie[Mike Matheny]. That’s all I got..
#78 by Kenny on 05.22.07 11:31 am |
Well I happened to notice a Pirates hat with the red bill and an Indians hat as well
#79 by Ferdinand Cesarano on 05.22.07 11:32 am |
Paul, many thanks for describing my observation on the softball jerseys as “brilliant”! Now here is yet another brilliant thought from my fecund mind: uniforms should not have player names, and “They’ve got uniform numbers, so why bother putting names on the jerseys in the first place?” is actually a pretty good argument for this position.
It seems to me that player names on uniforms serve no logical purpose if each player has a unique number. Also, they don’t do anyone any good, since they are too small for spectators in the park to read, and they are superfluous for the viewers at home, thanks to announcers and on-screen graphics.
Furthermore, there is the philosophical argument that the player’s “name”, in the context of the game, is his number. To have his real name on the jersey too kind of causes a Costanza-esque “worlds colliding” thing.
Finally (and perhaps most importantly) there is the aesthetic argument against numbers. Pictures from the early 70s and earlier have taken on a majesty that is absent in more recent shots. The number 41 in blue and orange meant Seaver; number 24 in the Giants’ font meant Mays; etc. Seeing their names written above would have only detracted from the beauty of those images.
Of course, some teams still do it right. There are the Red Sox and Giants at home, and until this season we also had the Cubs and Dodgers at home. But, the standard-bearers are of course the Yankees (which makes me gag at the sight of those goofballs who wear t-shirts that say “JETER 2″, or even “MANTLE 7″ or “RUTH 3″!). Behold the beauty of Yankee opening day, or, even better, of Old Timers’ Day, when the baseline is lined with uniforms with only numbers and no names.
#80 by Cathy on 05.22.07 11:33 am |
Cool…I KNOW Paul would get the fade design…purple to pink…of course ;) So, tell us, which design did you go for? Going to make it match your college team colors?
#81 by Ryan on 05.22.07 11:33 am |
Check out the link… could be the new Capitals sweaters
http://www.bradsmole...
#82 by Ferdinand Cesarano on 05.22.07 11:34 am |
Finally (and perhaps most importantly) there is the aesthetic argument against numbers.
Duh on me. Of course I meant “…against names.”
#83 by Mark in Cincy on 05.22.07 11:38 am |
I doubt that we would be able to see the game-worn knee brace since it would have to be under the sock (as seen in this photo). However, this pre-cheap shot (j/k Steelers fans) pic shows that he wore a brace on that knee in college as well. The brace appears to be maroon in that pic. Finally, I did find this pic of him in a black brace during practice last year.
As far as those ads are concerned, they are horrible. There are a couple of commercials running during the Reds games that feature him in a replica jersey. I’m glad he is a better QB than an actor.
#84 by Mike V on 05.22.07 11:38 am |
Me too. Duh
#85 by Jason on 05.22.07 11:38 am |
Uhh…Yuck?
#86 by Mike V on 05.22.07 11:42 am |
Ditto
#87 by Ryan on 05.22.07 11:43 am |
Here’s the white Capitals Sweaters as well… and yes they are just as ugly as the other ones I just posted
http://www.bradsmole...
#88 by Korch on 05.22.07 11:47 am |
I know this a promotional item but I like this Steelers helmet with the grey facemask:
http://www.eastbay.c...
#89 by CollinJ on 05.22.07 11:49 am |
It’s good to see someone else recognize Ryan field as the new home of the syracuse orange. As a student I have known about this film for a while. They have been filming all around campus, so if you decide to see the film, called the EXPRESS, know that the campus is actually northwestern, and that the Clevland General Hospital is actually a residence hall. Talk about a disturbing experience, I accidentally walked onto the set when the residence hall said cleveland general hospital, and there were a ton of 50s cars in the parking lot. Needless to say I was a little disturbed.
Japanese does not follow the same practice as the other asian countries. Yao’s first name is Ming, as evident by his familie’s restaraunt entitled Yao’s. Japan however addresses people like the US does…first name first, last name last.
#90 by Kenny on 05.22.07 11:49 am |
I heard the same thing - there wasn’t much after that, just how Posada prefers the “old school” look to the hockey style mask, well except for the titanium part
Then there was something about catchers looking out for one another
Interesting none the less
#91 by Mike on 05.22.07 11:49 am |
This initial talk reminds me of Sammy Moore, a speedy WR for Washington State in ‘02 and ‘03. His longtime nickname was “S-Dot” (as in S-Dot-Moore), so he always requested to have “S. Moore” on his jersey, even though he was the only Moore on the team.
Needless to say, he was repeatedly turned down — not only because it was stupid, but because the name on his jersey would’ve basically said S’more.
#92 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 11:49 am |
I love the PSU reference!
#93 by Joe Drennan on 05.22.07 11:50 am |
The only thing I like about the logo is that they incorperated a hockey stick in it. I am very scared of this league wide overhaul of jerseys, especialy for Original 6 teams.
Nice work finding this though.
As far as names on the back of jerseys, the only reason there is an argument for them is so a coach can say, “The name on the front is more important than the name on the back.”
#94 by Teebz on 05.22.07 11:50 am |
They are not. Those have been up on a Caps message board for over three months. Someone Photoshopped it as an example of what they may look like.
#95 by Joey Guns on 05.22.07 11:52 am |
Paul, what are your thoughts on the XFL allowing guys to use whatever they wanted on the backs of their jerseys?
http://www.4aces.net...
#96 by Richard on 05.22.07 11:52 am |
It looks like I’m going to be the first to argue in favor of the occasional first initial on the back of uniforms.
My reasons are entirely personal — my last name also happens to be a fairly common first name. I’ve had the experience of having my gym clothes (with just the last name on them) get stolen and some guy with that first name be my chief suspect. So that’s why all my customized jerseys include the first initial — so they’re mine and nobody else’s. Maybe that’s why some players prefer using the initial (not that they would ever get their gym clothes stolen).
Havings said that, the worst example I can remember is the Chargers of the early ’80s, who would put the first initial *after* the last name. I’m having a terrible time finding photos of this, but Gary Johnson wore “Johnson, G.” and Mike Williams wore “Williams, M.”
#97 by Dwight on 05.22.07 11:52 am |
Blasphemy!!!!!
Those are faux stirrup socks on shoeless joe!
#98 by Cathy on 05.22.07 11:55 am |
Well…just when you thought it would be hard to fu** up Red White and Blue…double yuck…why the busy logo…I mean the captital building with the logo outlined…barf. Why not