Ladies and gentlemen, I’m happy to announce that the Uni Watch membership program is officially open for business.
Thanks for your patience, your suggestions, and your enthusiasm for the membership project. And please join me in thanking Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner, who’s been incredibly patient with the many, many requests I’ve made of him over the past month. None of this would be happening if not for him.
Now then: The heart of the program is the official (and laminated!) Uni Watch membership card, which you can customize with your own name and number on the back, just like a uniform. You can either choose to go with Uni Watch colors (in which case you can opt to have your name lettering be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, below the number, or no name at all), or you can choose to go with the design style of your favorite team (and contrary to what I announced a week or so ago, we will retain the Uni Watch-colored border and bunting on these team-based designs after all). Most MLB, NFL, and NHL teams are available; sorry, no NBA for now, no NCAA, no minor leagues, and no teams with any purple in their uniform. Keep in mind that if you opt for a team-based design, your name must appear in the style used by that team — in other words, you can’t ask for a Phillies treatment with vertically arched lettering, or a Yankees treatment with any name at all. Teams that use nameplates (as opposed to direct-sewn lettering) will have a little nameplate border visible on their cards.
So how do you get one of these cards, and what else does membership entitle you to? Here’s the rundown of annual membership levels, prices, and benefits:
Level One — Wool Flannel ($25): Benefits are as follows:
- Official Uni Watch membership card
- Uni Watch fridge magnet
- Three bonus entries in all Uni Watch raffles
- Your name featured on the Uni Watch “Active Roster” membership listing (see below)
Level Two — Vertically Arched ($60): All of the benefits listed above, plus a special members-only Uni Watch T-shirt (which, like the membership card, was designed by Scott), this year’s version of which is available in your choice of a blue ringer, red ringer, black ringer, orange on navy, or blue on gray. A new T-shirt design will be made available to new or renewing members each year on May 17th, the anniversary of this blog.
Level Three — Chain-Stitched ($100): All the benefits listed above, plus a CD containing the digital art files for three rare, hard-to-find uniform style guides: NFL 1972, XFL 2001, and MLB’s 1999 “Turn Ahead the Clock” series.
Level Four — Leather Helmet ($250): All the benefits listed above, plus Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner will create a logo for your team, fantasy league, company, civic association, church group, or just for you.
Level Five — Satin Piping ($500): All the benefits listed above, plus I will conduct a “Uni Watch Profiles” interview with you, a transcript of which will be posted on the blog. During the interview we will discuss your favorite uniforms, your uni-related pet peeves, your cap collection, or anything else uni-related that you want to talk about. You will be uni-king for a day!
Level Six — Striped Stirrups ($1000): All of the benefits listed above, plus I will fly to your town (or to the nearest city with an airport) and host a Uni Watch party at the local venue of your choosing. Probably your best chance at attending a Uni Watch party if you live in, say, Wichita. Continental U.S. only. If you live within a 100-mile radius of New York City, I will take you and a guest out to dinner either before or after the party. If you and some friends pool your resources to come up with the fee, you will all receive membership cards.
Level Seven — Silver Medal: Available only to Uni Watch staff.
All members will be listed on the official Uni Watch Active Roster, which for now looks like this (click on any member’s uniform number to see the name/number style on the back of his or her membership card; if the person’s name is clickable, you’ll see a photo of that person as well):
| # | Name | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | John Ekdahl | Silver Medal | "My dad's favorite player was Mickey Mantle, and he always wore 7 in his softball leagues. So I always wore that number in my sports leagues and through high school." |
| 7 | Paul Lukas | Silver Medal | As favorite numbers go, 7 is a bit of a cliché, but I've always liked it. Simple as that. |
| 17 | Vince Grzegorek | Silver Medal | "17 was the first number I had on a jersey that had my last name on it, when I was 13 or so. I chose 17 because I was a pitcher and left fielder -- positions 1 and 7." |
| 21 | Scott M.X. Turner | Silver Medal | "I try to fight my battles the way Curt Flood and Roberto Clemente did (or at least catch the final out of a World Series like Cleon Jones)." |
As you can see, John, Scott, Vince, and I are enrolled at the “Silver Medal” membership level (because gold medals are for suckers — silver’s way cooler), which is available only to site staffers. If you want to keep track of people who enroll in the membership program, bookmark this page (which is also accessible via a new “Uni Watch Membership Program” page, which basically repeats a lot of the info from today’s blog entry — as you can see, there’s now a link to that page up at the top of the site).
You probably have some questions. Let’s see if I can anticipate some of them:
Is the membership program voluntary?
Completely. If membership isn’t your bag, no problem. Access to the site will always be free to everyone, members and non-members alike.
How long is membership good for?
One year. I’ll bug everyone to renew at the appropriate time.
Wasn’t the Level Two fee originally slated to be $50, not $60?
Yes. But the T-shirts turned out to be a bit pricier than I’d expected. Sorry about that.
Can I put any name I want on the front of the card?
Personally, I like seeing my real name on a card. But if you’d rather go with a nickname, or just your first name, or John Doe, or whatever, that’s fine with me. But whatever name you have on the front of the card, that’s the name you’ll be listed under on the membership roster.
What about the back of the card?
Again, I like seeing my last name there, but I realize I’m more of a literalist than some other folks might be. So if you want a nickname on the back of your card, or your first name, or whatever, that’s okay too, although I reserve the right to reject anything that’s falls too far on wrong side of the “Is it good or is it stupid?” divide. (Hint: “He Hate Me” is firmly in stupid territory.)
Can I use the name of my business, or the URL of my web site, on the front or the back of the card?
Yes, but you will not be listed on the membership roster. I don’t want the membership program to become a vehicle for stealth marketing — I want it to be a fun way for people to feel like part of a community.
I want to be the only person who enrolls under a certain uniform number. Is there some way I can have an “exclusive” on that number?
No. All numbers are non-exclusive.
Can I have a number greater than 99?
No. But zero and double-zero are fine, and so is any single digit number preceded by a zero (like Benito Santiago’s 09). Requests for “special” numbers or characters, like fractions or pi, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
My favorite teams are the Vikings, Ravens, Rockies, and Kings. Can’t you please let me have my name and number in a design treatment that includes purple?
Sorry, the “no purple” policy is non-negotiable.
What if I want to join but I don’t want to be listed on the membership roster?
I respect your privacy. If you’d rather not be listed on the roster, that’s fine.
Can you offer a full-text RSS feed as a membership benefit?
Several people have asked about this. Naturally, I’m too tech-clueless to know how to do it, but webmaster John Ekdahl is looking into it. More details soon.
Will there be other membership benefits?
I hope so — hang in there while we get this up and running. Once we get the program moving smoothly, I’ll try to add some additional benefits.
How long will it take to get my card and other stuff?
Please give us about three weeks, especially at the start, when I expect we’ll be flooded with memberships (plus Scott Turner is going on vacation next week, so that’ll slow us down). Because each membership card is custom-designed, there’s a decent amount of work involved — designing the card, running to the print shop to pick up the printed card sheets, cutting out the cards, firing up the laminator, blah-blah-blah — so please be patient. If you’re joining at Level Two or above, your T-shirt will come directly from Zazzle, so that may be the first thing that shows up. And if you’re joining at Level Four or above, don’t expect Scott to design that logo for you overnight (four weeks is probably more like it).
I’ll try to add people’s names and numbers to the membership roster listing as soon as possible, but again, please be patient — I have a lot of non-Uni Watch work to deal with today and tomorrow, plus an out-of-town houseguest for the weekend, so it may take a day or three for the wheels to turn.
Isn’t this really just a glorified fund-raiser for you?
To a certain extent. But it’s also a fun way to embrace our shared love of all things uni-related, and to celebrate the larger sense of community that’s sprung up around this site. Like I said before, it’s completely voluntary — if the fund-raising aspect (or any other aspect) offends you, then don’t sign up. But I hope you’ll still check out the site every day.
Who won the membership raffle?
Kenny Keil. He’s now a Level Two member.
Damn, I really wanted to win that raffle. Guess I’ll have to join up the normal way. How do I do it?
First, decide upon the membership level you want and PayPal the appropriate membership fee to paul_lukas at earthlink dot net (plus, if you’re feeling extra-generous, toss in a few extra bucks to cover PayPal’s transaction fee). If you’re not PayPal-ish, send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217.
Please be sure to include all of the following information:
• Your shipping address.
• The name that you want to appear on the front of the card. This will also be the name you’ll be listed under on the membership roster.
• The uniform number that you want on the back of the card. If possible, please provide a quick explanation for why you chose that number, so we can include that info on the membership roster.
• The name, if any, that you want to appear on the back of the card.
• The design treatment you want for your name and number. If you’re choosing Uni Watch colors, indicate if you want the name to be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, subscript, or no name at all; if choosing a team-based design treatment, indicate home or road (or dark jersey or light), and also give a second design option, just in case we don’t have the typeface for your first team choice.
• If you’d like your name on the membership roster to link to a photo of yourself, so other members can see what you look like, please e-mail me a photo separately.
• If for any reason you want to become a member but prefer not to be listed on the membership roster, that’s fine — just say so.
• If joining at Level Two or above, indicate which T-shirt style you want, and your size.
• If joining at Level Four or above, explain what sort of organization or group you want Scott Turner to design a logo for, and provide a phone number so he can contact you to discuss the project.
• If joining at Levels Five or Six, provide a phone number so I can discuss interview and/or travel logistics with you.
That should be enough to keep everyone busy. If I’ve overlooked anything, I trust you’ll let me know. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to figure out just how flat a cockroach has to be squashed before it can be run through the laminator.
Uni Watch News Ticker: For years I thought the White Sox wore their shorts only once — on August 6th, 1976, against the Royals, as seen here. But a few days ago I linked to that great White Sox video, which included a brief Sox-in-shorts shot, and Mark Galus noticed something that I missed: The opposing catcher appears to be wearing Orioles garb. After checking with Hall of Fame historian and longtime Uni Watch pal Tom Shieber, I learned that the Sox actually wore the shorts a second time — on August 21st, against the Orioles. Mea culpa for mistakenly perpetuating the notion that they were only worn once. … Bizarre combo being worn by the Clear Lake (Iowa) high school baseball team: pinstripes below the belt but not above (with thanks to Jesse Gavin). … Nice work by Jim Freeman, who notes that the name on the back of Mark DeRosa’s jersey has changed from this (that photo is from April 9th) to this (May 20th). … Jalen Rose was wearing a seriously weird-ass blazer on ESPN2’s First Take the other day — not to be confused with another blazer he recently wore on TV (great work by Kenny Tobler). … Speaking of blazers, there are some amazing Hockey Night in Canada sportsjackets on display in this video (nice find by Stephen Tod). … Jeff Barak, who attended the Uni Watch party in Minneapolis earlier this month, has catalogued his hockey jersey collection. … Stephen Pindar notes that the Giants’ left-sleeve patch was missing from Dan Ortmeier’s jersey last night. … Similarly, the Devil Rays’ right-sleeve anniversary patch was absent from James Shields’s jersey last night. … A few days ago I ran this photo of a jersey once worn by Casey Stengel. Now Brian Nelson has provided some shots of the jersey being worn by Casey himself in 1972, during Old-Timers’ Day festivities at Dodger Stadium. … Kevin Gee reports that Craig Biggio — the all-time HBP leader — batted without his customary elbow armor last night. … Excellent catch by Bryan Redemske, who spotted Henry Blanco wearing the Cubs’ road helmet at home last night. “Michael Barrett has been wearing the home helmet on the road,” Bryan adds. “Neither seems to work.” … Crosby Kisler reports that Inter Milan will have a new road jersey for the 2007-08 season, to mark their centennary year. … You’ve heard of players having to pay other players in order to get a coveted uni number. But check this out: Jerry Porter will have to pay the Raiders — to the tune of over 200 large — if he wants to change his number. Details here (with thanks to Chris Flinn).
#1 by James P. on 05.31.07 9:00 am |
Biggio has been batting without the arm guard a few times this season. either he is forgetting it, or trying something new…
#2 by Kek on 05.31.07 9:10 am |
Sid Crosby named captain by the Pens. Those with jerseys can get the “C” sewn on them now!
#3 by Stuby on 05.31.07 9:15 am |
Yo, Paul, are those bloused sweat pants you’re wearing with those stirrups? Awesome!
#4 by BCrisp on 05.31.07 9:18 am |
Did Biggio play the entire game without his guard? I’ve seen him come up to bat with the bases loaded sans guard a lot. Obviously a situation where he does not expect to get hit.
#5 by John in Athens on 05.31.07 9:19 am |
The new Inter Milan jersey looks a bit like this women’s top for England’s World Cup ‘06 which of course is inspired by the flag of St. George which represents England in the Union Jack.
Or maybe they just need something to get over the ref fixing scandle that saw them relegated.
#6 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 9:19 am |
Kee-rect.
#7 by Kent on 05.31.07 9:21 am |
In the picture with Casey Stengel at the mic, how come all the players are in Dodgers uniforms except the guy third from left who is in Braves attire?
#8 by Cathy on 05.31.07 9:22 am |
Found another picture of Sox in shorts…I don’t know if this has been posted before.
#9 by David on 05.31.07 9:22 am |
Glad to see the membership program is up and running! I have a couple of questions:
1. You say that most teams are available. Is it possible to ask (in email form or otherwise) about specific teams, and possibly, see a mock-up of what that card would look like?
2. I have a specific “unusual” number that I would love to have, though I don’t know if it would be approved. Is there a way to find out if it would be approved before I send in my order (so I can figure out what other number I want if I am denied)?
#10 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 9:28 am |
To inquire about availability of teams or unusual numbers, just email me. We can’t do mock-ups of every team, though, at least not now. Maybe later on. But that’s too much work for Scott at the moment.
#11 by anthony on 05.31.07 9:29 am |
I just signed up for a “level two” and requested #15 (yankees style) as Munson was my idol growing up.
#12 by Stuby on 05.31.07 9:30 am |
C’mon, you can’t leave us hangin’. What’s the number?
#13 by Elena E on 05.31.07 9:31 am |
The t-shirt would be really nice if it didn’t have the football player first. I have a major aversion to football and can’t wear a shirt that appears to show an interest in football. Picky picky picky. I’m looking forward to next year’s design.
#14 by Frenchie on 05.31.07 9:32 am |
Did anyone win the membership raffle, or will this be announced later?
#15 by anthony on 05.31.07 9:35 am |
By the way, Congratulations on the Uni Watch Membership Program. Cheers!
#16 by Christopher on 05.31.07 9:40 am |
Well it looks like some “farewell” speech… so I am sure it’s a friend or something from the Braves who showed up just for that?
#17 by Lou Reed on 05.31.07 9:43 am |
I see you are rejecting purple as a membership card color, and you list the Vikes, Ravens, and Rockies as examples. What about the Lakers, one of the most popular teams in the country (probably second only to the Yankees and Cowboys)? You’ll deny members the gold and purple of the Lakers? That’s cold, Paul.
I suppose you’ll force them to use vintage Lakers colors: blue and white?
#18 by Pittsburgh Gunny on 05.31.07 9:45 am |
Just joined at Level 3, I selected 71 as my number after much thought, in the style of the Pittsburgh Penguins white sweater.
Thanks Paul!
#19 by Big O on 05.31.07 9:45 am |
He did say “no NBA for now” So I guess He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it.
Just a thought
#20 by Rick on 05.31.07 9:45 am |
Football is great! Why the disregard for football?
#21 by Joey Guns on 05.31.07 9:46 am |
Paul, I’d love to see Penn State, Ohio State, and Michigan (among other colleges) offered next year!
Let’s take bets on who the first #69 is! haha
#22 by Tim on 05.31.07 9:50 am |
Paul,
Can we request a team style in their alternate jersey? I like the color scheme of the Indians Navy Blue alts. with red numbers and letters. Is that an option, or only gray and white?
#23 by Stuby on 05.31.07 9:50 am |
Yeah, there’s one on every softball team on Earth.
#24 by David on 05.31.07 9:50 am |
I will let you all know if Paul approves it…
#25 by Paul P on 05.31.07 9:53 am |
Another player with some under brim writing, Kevin Youkilis
http://www.boston.co...
#26 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 9:53 am |
Holy shit — I totally forgot. Thank you for reminding me! Been so busy with everything else…
I’ll pick the winner right now.
#27 by Dan on 05.31.07 9:54 am |
Hey Paul,
How soon will new NHL templates be available for the cards? I’d like to wait and see how the new Capitals colors/typeset look before I pick the back of my membership card.
Also, can we put in a request for Terps colors/fonts for next “season?”
#28 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 9:54 am |
Alts are fine.
#29 by Stormy on 05.31.07 9:56 am |
Thanks Paul! My money has been sent.
#30 by Pittsburgh Gunny on 05.31.07 9:56 am |
Here is Inter’s President Massimo Moratti with his own centennary shirt, with the number 100.
Even though I don’t like Inter, I do like this shirt.
#31 by Shaftman on 05.31.07 9:59 am |
Paul, can I get mine in a Black Mets style
Personally I think you should ban that one with the purple.
#32 by Mark in Shiga on 05.31.07 9:59 am |
I wonder if that Casey jersey has his #37 on the back, and what team’s font they used. I’d assume the Dodgers’, but the jersey is pinstriped, so maybe they used the Mets’.
And Paul, if you don’t let us have numbers over 100, fans of Paul Manoma and Esterlin Franco of the Hiroshima Carp, Koji Mizutani, Tetsushi Takeshita, and Messrs. Sakai and Takeuchi of the Dragons, and Tsubasa Nakatani (check out all those digits on his helmet and wristbands!) will be very upset!
#33 by Lou Reed on 05.31.07 9:59 am |
He did say “no NBA for now†So I guess He’ll cross that bridge when he gets to it.
Just a thought
Right, I saw that, but I was curious about in the future once the NBA teams are added (I was assuming they would be added?).
#34 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 10:00 am |
from yesterday…
no i am krvanch. i was asked by nelson along with meth, and nikeville to help create that community in 99. i used to be heavily involved in the monitoring, membership and upkeep of the site, but life and priorities have since steered me away from every day involvement. i am still an original administrator, view daily, and post only when something gets me…
hope you enjoy it and find it useful… i have for over 7 yrs.
#35 by Shaftman on 05.31.07 10:01 am |
That was supposed to have [/sarcasm] around the first part…my bad.
#36 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 10:03 am |
i think of all the raffles he’s had, this is the one i’d really like to win the most.
#37 by JohnBoy on 05.31.07 10:04 am |
Bizarre combo being worn by the Clear Lake (Iowa) high school baseball team: pinstripes below the belt but not above
The Pony League teams I coached had this same setup… no photos though. It did always seem weird, but I had to go with the unis the league gave me.
#38 by Joe Young on 05.31.07 10:06 am |
The football player on the shirt looks like Johnny U, the pitcher looks like Juan Marichal. And it looks like a red wing jesery so my guess is Gordie Howe? Is this right paul?
#39 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 10:07 am |
Good idea. No Mets black!
#40 by Jill on 05.31.07 10:07 am |
I think it would be cool to have a stats page along with the membership. You know, favorite team, location, uniform interests, etc. It would also be nice to have some way to allow your email address to be shown to members (without having it shown to the rest of the world).
#41 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 10:08 am |
The winner of the membership raffle is Kenny Keil.
#42 by Miguel on 05.31.07 10:08 am |
I wish there was a way we could get numbers with little UniWatch logos in them, like they do in soccer.
#43 by Johnny O on 05.31.07 10:12 am |
From the comments yesterday… I do hate that the Brewers are among the few in the league that don’t have their city name on their away jerseys. I believe they have it on their sleeve patch for their grey away’s… but stick to the “M” in the Wisconsin logo for the Blue alts.
Brewers grey’s with “Milwaukee” patch
#44 by Dan on 05.31.07 10:13 am |
Looks more like Bobby Orr to me. I think that’s the old Bruins jersey.
#45 by Kenny on 05.31.07 10:14 am |
WOO-HOO!! ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!
I just got bug eyes when I read that
#46 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 10:17 am |
Unitas, Orr, and Marichal.
#47 by Brian on 05.31.07 10:21 am |
Speaking of uniform numbers, has anyone else noticed that Randy Moss has yet to pick a uniform number with the Patriots? Could he be in negotiations with Donte Stallworth for #18?
#48 by Kenny on 05.31.07 10:22 am |
Todd Wellemeyer of the Cardinals was sportin’ some faux stirrups last night in Colorado
#49 by Joe on 05.31.07 10:24 am |
Yeah… I need the Terps! The O’s typeface is just plain and boring, and Paul wont let me have my Ravens…Can I get the Terps if I send in the vector art myself? hehe
#50 by Ryan B. on 05.31.07 10:25 am |
Personally, I think it would be cool to have the Premiership number and name font as an option. Alas, I think nothing is as cool as using the default UniWatch font and colors. I’m really resisting the temptation to use the Mets numbers and lettering (pinstripes, of course).
#51 by Dan on 05.31.07 10:25 am |
congrats on finally getting the membership up and running, i’ll join as soon as i get some disposable income(read: a job).
i think the Inter shirt looks pretty good, but i’ll wait until i see a player using it to pass judgement
#52 by Johnny O on 05.31.07 10:26 am |
Going off of what I just said a few posts ago… I am glad to see the “Milwaukee” script fro the BP jersey’s on Retro Fridays.
Retro Friday BP jersey
#53 by Joe Drennan on 05.31.07 10:28 am |
This whole idea of having the city name on the away jersey first arose to me when I was in college. I played hockey and our mens team always had the school name on both home and away jerseys, but the women got new jerseys my sophomore year. The women abandoned the school name and went with a new school logo on both their home and away jerseys. While the jerseys looked cool, our coach was upset, saying the away jerseys should always have the school name, not the logo or letter abreviation because when you’re at somebody elses arena, not everybody is going to instantly know your logo or abbreviation, especialy since we were D3.
Our coach did make a few concessions though, saying teams like the Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Blackhawks and Habs can go with their logo as they’ve been around long enough that everybody knows the logo as the logo is sometimes more recognizable than the city the team is from.
That made complete sense to me and ever since then, away jerseys that don’t identify where the team is from have buged me.
#54 by Dan on 05.31.07 10:28 am |
Hey Joe. Do you have the football art, or the basketball, with the more rounded numbers?
#55 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 10:28 am |
Please please PLEASE stop asking for stuff like this. Seriously, people, this is a LOT of work, a lot of balls to juggle, and I want it to be fun for everyone — including me. The current offerings are all we’ve got and all we’re gonna have, at least for now. Bear with us.
#56 by Kenny on 05.31.07 10:31 am |
Man I love that logo…I catch a lot of crap for wearing this despite being a Cardinals fan…what can I say, I’m a sucker for a good logo
#57 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 10:35 am |
from yesterdays post…
it was reported that houston’s surnames were against the grain of the template and above player numerals…
lets go to the video tape…
draft day(home jersey)…
http://i95.photobuck...
home…
http://www.spmsports...
away…
http://www.spmsports...
interesting…
oh, and, this is where i put my sue bird comment in.
#58 by Teebz on 05.31.07 10:35 am |
Pick a red, white, and blue colour-schemed team. They’ve already announced the colours. Does it matter if the typography is off? I can send in the .TTF font of the current Washington Capitals’ typography for the name if you really want one badly in the new colours.
And Paul, you said that if a player has a name on a nameplate, the nameplate would appear on the card. Does this mean that the majority of NHL cards would have a nameplate?
No rush on that answer… whenever you have time.
#59 by Pittsburgh Gunny on 05.31.07 10:39 am |
Paul or whomever can answer this,
Is it acceptable to send a photo of myself at a later date? I have already sent in my membership information and $ but have not had time to upload the photo.
Thanks in advance,
Gunny
#60 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 10:40 am |
lets try that second link again…
http://www.spmsports...
#61 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 10:44 am |
todd, f’ing up…
take 3!
http://farm1.static....
#62 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 10:45 am |
Of course.
#63 by Miguel on 05.31.07 10:47 am |
You mention Sue Bird and do not include a photo? That’s just wrong.
#64 by Kwik on 05.31.07 10:49 am |
It would be cool, but I actually think it would cost Paul a mint to do it. That numbering/lettering style is probably exclusive to the Premiership, and since I’ve seen them come down hard on people putting up the full schedule without licensing it, if they ever got wind of these cards being sold with that font, I’d fully expect Paul to get a nice letter from some lawyers in England.
#65 by Joe on 05.31.07 10:50 am |
The football type is just a standard full block slightly modified, and the basketball is a modified version of Aachen Bold/Billboard font.
I’m sure anyone that knows their way around Adobe Illustrator can hook it up.
And we all apologize if it seems we are asking for too much too soon concerning the backs of the cards. Everyone is super excited about it. It’s a great idea and I will surely support it when my next paycheck comes in. I think it just the idea of personalization spurs everyone to want their personal favorite team applied to it. Being a graphic designer myself I know how much work this is going to be to lay out…Scott’s a braver man than I! We all really appreciate it!
But I do have one question (and I hope this is a legit one). I’m only asking this because one of the membership benefits is a collection of older art files, so it got me thinking. Can we request a period specific version of our favorite team? In my case the current O’s type sucks, but the 1966 type has full block numbers (same as current Yankees and Braves) and vertically arched names. A thing of beauty!
#66 by Kenny on 05.31.07 10:50 am |
Mark Cuban again trying to grab headlines
#67 by Joey Guns on 05.31.07 10:52 am |
I heard (via Zack Hample’s blog) that on Tuesday that the Giants took BP at around 3 PM in shorts and t-shirts. Here’s a pic where you can see 2 players by the cage with the shorts and t-shirts on. Maybe it was too hot?? I guess they didn’t care because the fans weren’t in the stadium yet.
http://snaggingbaseb...
#68 by Teebz on 05.31.07 10:57 am |
Perhaps Mark Cuban should remember the following adage: “Those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it”.
The CFL also failed in its US adventure, in case anyone asks. Not that anyone will.
#69 by Dan on 05.31.07 11:00 am |
Sorry, Paul. Didn’t mean to be a pain. Just didn’t want to pick one, then have one that I liked better become available in a couple weeks.
#70 by James P. on 05.31.07 11:01 am |
Cuban just wants to be the officals boss and not be punished for bitching at their calls…
He says he is interested in the Vagas team…does that mean he might think about moving the Mavs to Vagas at some point?
#71 by tc on 05.31.07 11:01 am |
It’s not Cuban’s idea.
It’s Bill Hambrecht’s bbrain child.
check out this article
#72 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 11:02 am |
#73 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 11:03 am |
sorry miguel…
from a friends camera…
http://farm1.static....
#74 by James P. on 05.31.07 11:04 am |
oh, on a Uni related note, the UFL or whatever the hell they want to call that new football league, should hopefully have some cool uni designs…
a cross between Arena League, Any Given Sunday, The Replacemnts, and the XFL would be interesting.
#75 by Tim on 05.31.07 11:05 am |
Maybe this is crossing that fuzzy uniform line, but I couldn’t help but chuckle at this in the Baltimore Sun today covering the spelling bee. It’s Maryland, folks.
#76 by Mark in Shiga on 05.31.07 11:06 am |
Kwik, as far as I know, fonts are not copyrightable in the US. This is why you often see different companies producing fonts that are identical except for the name, such as Palation and Book Antiqua. I’m sure that if the law is different in the UK, the Premiership lawyers would find a way to stop Paul from sending the cards there, so how about Permiership club supporters ignoring the new monotonous look and choosing their teams’ traditional fonts instead?
#77 by Matthew on 05.31.07 11:09 am |
Love the membership idea. Only problem is, I am having a hard time choosing between the leather helmet and satin piping levels….
either way, I think it’s a cool way to raise money for the site, and kinda get some cool stuff out of it….
#78 by Andy Ingram on 05.31.07 11:10 am |
I really like that kit for Inter, especially the way they minimized the size of their corporate sponsor’s logo. I wish all soccer/football teams would designate the sponsor logo as secondary to their team logo, not the vice versa way it is now.
#79 by Matthew on 05.31.07 11:12 am |
…oh, and as I’m watching the National Spelling Bee on ESPN, I have always loved their logo.
#80 by Matthew on 05.31.07 11:12 am |
http://www.spellingb...
#81 by Mike on 05.31.07 11:16 am |
I was up in PNC Park a couple of weeks back and was killing time looking at the Negor League statues they had placed in one of the entrances for last years All-Star Game. Upon closer examination, the stirrups, non stirrups, stripped stirrups of the Crawfords and Grays players seems pretty diverse…..see below…
http://public.fotki....
#82 by Nate on 05.31.07 11:18 am |
That photo absolutely cracks me up. Amazing.
Pumped about the membership idea. I’ll be ordering mine soon enough.
Looking for a good place to buy baseball stirrups. Anyone got any good leads on places on-line?
#83 by Steve on 05.31.07 11:18 am |
Anyone notice Zito’s hat last night? It was missing the orange button on top. Clearly, it was distracting towards the Mets hitters.
#84 by Teebz on 05.31.07 11:23 am |
If he endorses it and is claiming to be the first owner, I’d say he is supporting the idea more than just word-of-mouth.
#85 by Hex on 05.31.07 11:24 am |
Paul, I have a couple of questions.
Are there any issues with joining from abroad? I’m in the UK and would probably just be joining at wool flannel level, so shipping the membership materials shouldn’t be espensive.
Would it be possible to have a pseudonym on the membership roster, but my real name on the card? I would definitely want my real name on the card, but would still like to be on the roster somehow without giving away my real name.
#86 by Jason on 05.31.07 11:26 am |
I bought some recently at baseballsavings.com. Paul also recommended essesco.com for custom striped stirrups.
#87 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 11:26 am |
Yes, that’s fine, as long as you pay in American funds via PayPal.
Oh, I suppose. Just make sure you specify this when sending in your membershp application.
#88 by Paul Lukas on 05.31.07 11:27 am |
Surprisingly enough, there are plenty of options at Amazon. Go to their home page and type “stirrups” into their search engine.
#89 by Shaftman on 05.31.07 11:29 am |
Todd, I went to Junior HS with Sue…she was cute then too.
#90 by Stuby on 05.31.07 11:39 am |
I went to HS with Randy Johnson. He was butt-ugly then too.
#91 by todd krevanchi on 05.31.07 11:39 am |
reppin’ syosset, ehh?
not just cute shaftman, she has got to be the perfect woman…
i have some tv news reports, a dvd “before the bigs” outlining her life, that people have sent me.
she sang the school song in the one, berryhill elementary maybe?
you go there too?
#92 by Dan on 05.31.07 11:41 am |
You know…I think the XFL had the right idea…pick up right after the Superbowl…(for fans of non-playoff teams, you haven’t really been invested in the games since December, so you’ve had a little break.) Ride that spring/early-summer window.
I really had high hopes for the XFL…and they were dashed the moment that idiot grabbed the mic and said “THISSSSSS is the EXXXXXXX-EFFFFFF-ELLLLLLLLL….!” I knew right there that it would be a joke. (Then the “He Hate Me” thing, just drove that judgement home.)
I don’t understand why anyone would try to go head-to-head with the NFL in the Fall. You already have college football on Tuesday, some Wednesdays, and every Thursday…and the NFL on some Thursdays, some Saturdays, Sunday and Monday. I think that a secondary league would be a joke…
The only way I could see it working is if it somehow allied itself with the NFL…some kind of NFL Junior Varsity. NFL teams could call players up IN SEASON to cover injuries. THAT would work! If you knew that some of these players might get the call up to the big club…you might start paying more attention. Otherwise, it’s just another wanna-be league that will get buried by the juggernaut that is the NFL.
#93 by Shaftman on 05.31.07 11:45 am |