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Archive for August, 2007
As I’ve lamented several times, basketball is by far worst-documented of the major sports, at least from a uniform perspective. So the best way to catch up on hoops history is often through memorabilia sales, one of which is currently underway over at Grey Flannel Auctions, which is conducting its second annual Basketball Hall of Fame auction. Tons of great stuff here, including all sorts of stuff I’d never seen before. Here are some highlights:
• We all love the Warriors’ “The City” design, with its cable car uni number. What I didn’t know until now, however, is that the team’s warm-up jacket from that era was arguably even better. My compliments to the chef.
• It’s come up several times that Brooks Robinson used to run his own sporting goods operation (which produced, among other things, these), but until now I’d never seen the company’s totally gorgeous tag design. So many odd things about this tag: Did they have permission to use that O’s logo? Why’d they put a uni number on Brooks’s sleeve (a completely erroneous detail)? Isn’t it a little weird to a baseball player depicted on a basketball uniform, even if only on the tag? This is probably my favorite discovery of the entire auction.
• The House of David is famous for its baseball team, but they also played basketball, as evidenced by this magnificent warm-up jacket.
• The Globetrotters weren’t the only Harlem-based barnstorming team — there were also the Harlem Magicians, formed by former Globetrotter Marques Haynes in 1953.
• Speaking of the ’Trotters, check out this warm-up set, complete with striped stirrups!
• When I first saw this Peoria Cats jersey, my initial reaction was, “Whoa, a snap-on crotch tab!” But then I read the full auction listing and learned that “Cats” was short for “Caterpillars,” which of course makes perfect sense, because the construction equipment company Caterpillar is headquartered in Peoria. (Even better than the Cats uni: this Cats warm-up outfit.)
• If you like vertically arched lettering, you’ll love this, this, and this.
• I knew Walt Bellamy wore the nickname “Bells” on the back of his Hawks uni in the early ’70s, but I’d never seen a photo of it — until now.
• This jersey struck me as odd, because the front uni number is so much more compressed than the rear number. (Also, note the size tag — 42. If you look through these auction lots, you’ll find that many of the jersey sizes are surprisingly small.)
• Here’s something you don’t see very often: an ABA all-star jersey.
• I’d say this one might qualify for the “So bad it’s great” category.
• But this one is just great — no qualification needed.
• That was one weird-ass font that the Kentucky Colonels used for their player names.
• Note to self: Compile a list of uniforms with diagonal uniform numbers. Here’s another. Who’s got more?
• Last but not least, if you’re dying to own John Havlicek’s jockstrap, here’s your chance.
Want to see more? You can scroll through all the auction lots here.
(Big thanks to Jason Taylor, who tipped me wise to this auction.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Actually, there’s no Ticker today, because I was on the road all day yesterday, didn’t get home until 2 a.m., and was too pooped to deal with the 100+ e-mails that had piled up. But I will pass along this major bit of news: The NFL is revamping its logo (further details here). I’ll have more to say about this next week.
Speaking of which: We’ll have open threads on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; regular entries will resume on Tuesday. A happy Labor Day weekend to all.
August 31st, 2007
My college football preview column will be up later today on ESPN. I’m gonna be traveling (more on that in a sec), so Vince will add the link when it goes live. Drum roll please… here it is.
The Canucks unveiled their new uniforms yesterday, and everything you need to know about them can be found in this photo.
Looks pretty good as a T-shirt, right? But when you add sleeve stripes, sleeve numbers, shoulder patches, and waist striping, the total effect is way too busy. Throw in a captain’s “C” and you’ve reached critical mass.
Personally, I have no problem with the city name on the front (at the very least, it’s certainly not part of any other template we’ve seen, right?), and I give them credit for rendering it in a simple typeface with no drop shadow, no outlining, no bells or whistles. But why pair it with the orca, which nobody ever liked to begin with? Feels like a shotgun wedding. And why make the orca so big? If you combine the logo and the wordmark, the combined acreage takes up much more of the jersey than a typical NHL crest — it’s too much.
Other notes:
• The rear typography is fine.
• As much as I love lower-jersey stripes, I’m starting to think they just don’t work with Reebok’s rounded hemline.
• Nice to see the stick/rink logo on the pants.
Personally, I’m still hoping they’ll eventually use this.
Membership News: As you can see at right, Scott really outdid himself with the Colorado Caribous treatment for Matt Thompson’s card. My original plan was to glue some real fringe to Matt’s laminated card, but I’ve tabled that idea, since it would obscure Scott’s excellent work.
Yesterday’s batch of new designs (which, like all the membership designs, are on display in the card gallery) had two other notable entries: First, there’s our first playing surface-based design. True, it’s not a uniform, but I’ve occasionally written about field design, and that Robert Indiana-designed court was definitely part of the Bucks’ graphic identity in the 1990s, so why not? Looks pretty swank when cloaked in the Uni Watch border, too.
And then there’s this, based on the WFL’s old Southern California Sun. Scott thinks this one’s gonna be controversial because you’re all gonna start screaming, “Hey, that’s purple, what gives?” I say you’re all smart enough to recognize the difference between purple and fuschia. And yeah, fuschia is arguably the more offensive of the two, but it almost never comes up in the uni world, so I can’t get too worked up about it. More of a kitschy indulgence than a loathsome plague.
Weekday Road Trip: Just in case the purple fuschia card design sparks an uprising, Scott and I are high-tailing it upstate today to catch a Binghamton Mets game. If any Bingotown-area readers want to join us for beer and spiedies, we’ll be at the always-wonderful Sharkey’s from about 5:00 to 6:15.
Sorry for the super-short notice. And if you can’t make it to Sharkey’s but want to join us at the game, e-mail your name and cell number to Vince. He’ll get the info to me later in the day, and then I’ll call you from the stadium to let you know where we’re sitting.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s a doozy: MLB exec Bob Watson actually entered the Red Sox dugout during last night’s game to tell Bosox skipper Terry Francona to wear a jersey instead of his usual fleece pullover. Details here. … According to the last item on this page, the 49ers are thinking about wearing Montana-era throwbacks all season long, as a tribute to Bill Walsh (good find by Chris Rogers). … “I happened to stumble across a hurling match on one of the more obscure Dish channels,” writes Craig Ward. “I found it odd that the players wore all sorts of different colored helmets — there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason to it, just personal preference.” Anyone know more about this? … Several readers noted that the MLB logo was missing from Robinson Cano’s jersey on Tuesday night. … “Tuesday night, Comcast ran a special piece about Ryne Sandberg and his life as the manager of the Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs’ single-A affiliate,” writes Pat Ratliff. “Ryne said that when some of his players saw old pictures of him rocking the high stirrups back in his playing days, they were blown away, as if they hadn’t seen stirrups in their lives. Ryne proceeded to order a supply of stirrups from the Cubs for his team to wear on the field. Looks like he needs to take his own advice and show some sock. Also looks like none of his players in the pic are actually wearing stirrups — just socks.” … A source in the Rangers’ clubhouse reports that skipper Ron Washington does not wear a cup. The source also offers this bit of news: “A promising development for next season — we’re most likely going to use the Cool Base material for our sleeveless jerseys, which would provide the benefits of the cooler material without the weird underarm gussets.” … Penn State is pulling a Wisconsin (with thanks to William F. Yurasko). … Vince will be minding the store today while I’m road-tripping. So if you have spam-filter problems or other site-related issues, contact him. Ticker tips can still come to me.
August 30th, 2007
Ten years ago, in the middle of a month-long cross-country road trip, I stopped in Shelby, Montana, where I checked out the Marias Museum — a tiny facility devoted to local history. Shelby had been the site of Jack Dempsey’s heavyweight title defense against Tommy Gibbons back in 1923 (it was supposed to put the town on the map but almost bankrupted it instead), and a good chunk of the museum was devoted to artifacts from the bout. It was a great little exhibit on a little-noted chapter in sports history.
Local history museums like the Marias are among my favorite travel attractions — the smaller, the better. Sometimes amateurish but always lovingly assembled, these informal little reliquaries are often filled with amazing photos and other artifacts you’d never find at “real” museums. Two readers have made this same discovery lately — both in Iowa, oddly. The first is Jesse Gavin, who recently sent the following communiqué:
I would probably have been the last one to imagine that there’d be any vintage uni finds in my hometown of Cascade, Iowa (pop. 2000). But when I was home over the weekend, I stopped by a new exhibit at the hometown Historical Museum. They just opened up a new exhibit on Urban “Red” Faber, a Cascade native who went on to play for the White Sox for 19 years and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964. They had plenty of good stuff there, so here’s a bit of a recap.
First off, they had a pretty cool locker reproduction, including an authentic jersey, cap, pants, and socks. They also had an original seat from old Comiskey Park and a couple of other caps. I’m not sure which team the first of those caps was from, but I’m pretty sure the latter was from an off-season when Faber was loaned to the New York Giants for a world tour.
In addition to the Faber stuff, they also had a few old pictures and uniforms from Cascade-area town teams from back in the day. This Pleasant Grove jersey is from the late ’40s, as are this catcher’s mitt, chest protector, and shin guards.
About a week after I heard from Jesse, I got a note from Neil Berger, who had discovered two more Iowa treasure troves:
A recent family wedding took me to Iowa City, where I visited the University of Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, and Cedar Rapids, where we took in a Cedar Rapids Kernels game and checked out their Hall of Fame, which had uniform samples from the long history of Cedar Rapids baseball.
Neil didn’t fully describe all his photos, but there’s some killer stuff, ranging from the obvious (baseball, football, men’s and women’s hoops) to the not-so-obvious (marching band, letterman sweaters). Treat yourself to a slideshow of his photos here.
Membership News: Two dozen membership kits went out in yesterday’s mail, which means we’re finally caught up. With one exception (sorry, Bobby Hill, your card got botched during trimming and will have to be done over next week), every card that was ordered through last Sunday has now been printed, laminated, and shipped. If you’ve been holding off to give Scott and me a chance to catch up after the flood of orders from late July, now’s the time to sign up — we’re ready for you. And that goes double for the guy who inquired about having us do a Colorado Caribous design treatment.
Uni Watch News Ticker: DeAngelo Hall had a message for Chad Johnson on Monday night (thanks, Vince). … Map manufacturers sometimes put small, phony streets onto their maps, as a way to catch people who are stealing and republishing their maps. Stuart Greenlee reports a similar example from the logo world: “A student from Clemson University once told me that the Clemson ‘paw print’ logo had a notch cut into the bottom of the paw to prevent copyright. Ever since then, I have looked for the notch in other paw-print logos (believe me, there are a lot of them here in the South). Occasionally I’ll see some other school using the logo with the ‘Clemson Notch’ and I wonder if they have permission.” … The DE ROSA-vs.-DEROSA issue is addressed in the next-to-last entry on this Q&A page (with thanks to Jon Aubry). … Cathy Reeder caught an interesting exchange during a Cubs game the other day: “During a discussion of catcher’s gear, color guy Bob Brenly said, ‘Of course there is one piece of protection you ALWAYS wear. In fact, I even wore IT when I was a manager and a coach in the dugout too. I just always felt IT was part of the uniform.’ Now, I’m a girl and I’ve never played baseball, but isn’t it odd that a coach or manager would wear a protective cup? I mean, do you really need one to sit on the bench? Does anyone find this odd but me? Do any other MLB managers do this?” I know there are at least three people reading this who work in MLB clubhouses — what’s the word, people? Do coaches and managers wear the cup? … Entertaining story of possibly dubious veracity from David C. Murphy, who passed along this note that he received from a friend: “When I worked at Airborne Express (’90-’97), occasionally we would see packages go through from whoever made the MLB jerseys at that time. If someone got called up, traded, or needed a new jersey, there would be one shipped out. On more than one occasion, I would get the jersey out and try it on. I think I worked one whole shift wearing a Dwayne Henry Astros jersey. That falls under the ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time’ stories.” … The NFL season is time to start, which means it’s time to make fun of the Bengals’ nameplate/yoke/sleeve inconsistencies. Here’s how it’s supposed to look: Nameplate complete on the orange yoke, which curves down to meets the sleeve stripes. (Note that we matched this style when designing Uni Watch membership cards.) But some players don’t have curved yokes (here’s another example), and sometimes the nameplate extends down into the white area. Yo, where’s the quality control? (Thanks to David Sonny for those pics.) … Separated at birth: Wallace Spearmon and Jeff Weaver. … Here’s something you don’t see very often: a tilde over an A (good spot by Jeremy Brahm). … Follow-up to my recent report on NFL captains probably wearing a “C” designation this season: According to this article (forwarded by Steven Wyder), the Bengals’ captains “will wear the NFL’s new captains’ patch on their uniform jerseys.” Not sure if this patch is simply a C or something more involved, but I’ve got a call in to the NFL and hope to have an answer tomorrow. … These trademark-infringement cases are getting seriously out of hand (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Perfect marriage of product and marketing campaign, as Old Spice is now sponsoring Tony Stewart’s armpits (as reported by my new neighbor and longtime Uni Watch pal Doug Kalemba — welcome to Brooklyn, buddy).
August 29th, 2007
The science fiction-ization of NFL headwear continues. Yesterday it was LaDainian Tomlinson’s facemask; today it’s the gonzo helmet design worn by Brandon Jacobs, Amani Toomer, and several other Giants players during their game against the Jets on Saturday night.
I confess that I totally missed the boat on this one until yesterday afternoon, when ESPN.com photo czar Sean Hintz (the man who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for my Bill Buckner scoop last year) asked me about it. Apparently ESPN.com designer Matthew Walker had mentioned the helmets to Sean, and Sean in turn went and found the two photos I linked to above, which pretty much blew my mind. I mean, I’ve been saying for years that uniform design is showing more and more of a comic book superhero influence, and this is probably the best (or, if you prefer, worst) example yet of that trend.
Fortunately, Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba is a longtime friend of Uni Watch, so I e-mailed him and quickly got a reply. “That’s the Schutt Ion,” he wrote. “It’s a brand-new helmet that’s the next evolution of the DNA.” When I asked if any other Jints players were wearing it besides Jacobs and Toomer, he provided the following list: Shaun O’Hara, Grey Ruegamer, Guy Whimper, Jay Alford, Marcus Bell, and David Diehl.
You can see Diehl wearing the Ion here, in a photo from the Giants’ previous game against the Ravens. The weird thing is that Jacobs is also in that photo, and he’s not wearing the Ion there. Once I started looking at more photos, I found that Jacobs didn’t even wear the Ion for the entire Jets game — you can see him wearing a conventional helmet here and here. More intriguingly, I found no mention of the Ion on the Schutt web site.
So is the Ion (which, incidentally, appears to have a rather innovative facemask mounting system) just a developmental prototype? Are the players just trying it out for a few plays here and there? “Brandon was giving it a test drive,” said Skiba. “It’s in the testing phase, but it’s NOCSAE-approved for field use. We will wear it in the regular season.” So get set to see plenty more of the weirdest-looking helmet to appear on an NFL gridiron since the days of Willie Lanier.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Does anyone have a photo of the new Rutgers jerseys? I linked to a wire service photo a few weeks ago but now it’s gone blank. … Yesterday I asked about this photo, which brought the following response from Ray McCormick: “As I recall, the only instance of NHL teams having corporate sponsorship on their practice jerseys in the 1980s was that Molson Breweries had their name or logo on practice jerseys of all the Canadian-based teams. The only exception was the Quebec Nordiques, who were owned by then-rival brewery Carling-O’Keefe. I remember seeing these jerseys on nightly sportscasts, where footage of various Canadian teams practicing was shown on a regular basis. The pic of the Lemielin card is precisely what I recall seeing back in those days.” … “The USA Eagles, the US national rugby team, unveiled their World Cup uniforms [that's them on the left] on Sunday,” reports Eric Bangeman. “Made by Kooga, they’re actually a lot nicer than any of the other RWC uniforms seen so far. Here’s last year’s version for comparison.” … Think I harp too much on the encroachment of advertising? Look here. … Mike Brodsky, winner of last week’s Helmet Hut raffle, reports that he chose this as his prize. Congrats again. … Oh dear. … Detroit Free Press readers (now there’s a dwindling species) have chosen the Red Wings uni as their favorite local uniform. … Major thrill last night, as I got an e-mail out of the blue from one of the most storied of all NFL equipment managers, Frank Pupello (inventor of the Pupello pouch, don’tcha know). In-depth interview to follow soon-ishly.
August 28th, 2007
LaDainian Tomlinson doesn’t play in preseason games. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing anything uni-notable — it just means most of us can’t see what he’s up to. Fortunately, reader Ryan Luz — who happens to be an assistant equipment manager at U. of San Diego — has been paying close attention, and he’s noticed a some interesting new developments regarding LT’s headwear:
Okay, so you know what LT’s normal facemask and visor look like — just the standard dark tint and a standard three-bar facemask, like this. Within the last week or two, however, he began wearing a new at training camp. This new visor was reflective and blue.
Then he did something I’ve never seen before — well, two things, actually. First, he wore this new facemask that’s like nothing I’ve seen before. Just very odd, very unique, something I’ve never seen in all of my football equipment managing days.
But the weirdest thing isn’t the facemask. If you look closely at this photo again, you’ll see he’s wearing TWO visors. It appears as though he’s wearing the new blue, reflective visor underneath the old standard tinted visor. This is another thing I’ve never seen before.
Since LT doesn’t play preseason games, it’s not yet clear if this is just some practice thing, or if he will use this configuration in games. Meanwhile, I’m currently scouring the internet trying to find what type of facemask that is, but neither Schutt nor Adams shows that mask on their sites, and I’m 90% sure it isn’t a Riddell, because they stick mostly with the traditional masks.
Some quick background: Wearing a tinted visor requires special permission from the NFL (in Tomlinson’s case, it’s because he has a light-sensitivity condition that can lead to migraines), but nobody is allowed to wear a colored or reflective visor. Ronnie Brown, for example, was fined for wearing this sunburst-patterned visor in 2005. So is Tomlinson’s dual-visor setup a way for him to hide the contraband visor behind the kosher one? Bizarre.
Tampa Struck by Lightning Crummy Uniforms Again: The Lightning unveiled their new jerseys over the weekend (there’s a slideshow here and a short video clip here). No question that the new chest logo is better than the old one, if only because it’s more legible, but it still looks like clip art. This isn’t so much an upgrade as a correction — it’s what the original design should have looked like in the first place. The rear view is neither wonderful nor objectionable — compared to the old version, it strikes me as a wash. The really weird thing, which nobody has yet adequately explained: The road jerseys have front uni numbers, but the home set doesn’t. Is this the NHL version of the Red Sox wearing player names on their road jerseys but not at home? Very strange. All in all: Still a dreadful-looking team, although marginally less dreadful than before.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the armpit “victory stripes” are included in the new design.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Can’t understand why I make such a fuss over corporate sponsorships? Look here. … Must be a real joker in the ESPN.com art department. As of about midnight eastern last night, the site’s front page looked like this. Take a closer look at the photo composite — credited as an “ESPN.com illustration” — and tell me what you see under the dog’s eye (good spot by Erik Kenerson). … As you may recall, about 10 days ago Jeff Francoeur began a game with his name misspelled on his back and then switched to a properly spelled jersey later in the game. David Sonny reports that similar situation unfolded yesterday in Cincinnati, where Ryan Jorgensen came to the plate in the 1st inning with his name misspelled as ‘Jorgenson.’ After hitting a grand slam, he returned to the game with his name spelled correctly. … Nice site here devoted to soccer footwear (with thanks to Brad Elliott). … Classic promo giveaway at last Thursday’s Tigers game: a cap with an attached wig, in honor of Magglio and his locks. … Interesting sponsorship-logo dispute unfolding in NASCAR. … MLB coaches may start wearing helmets next season. … Good vs. Stupid Alert: According to a small item buried in this blog entry, the Blues’ new uniforms will have “stripes on the front of the pants” (good find by Kyle Joecken). … This trend of teams wearing BP jerseys for actual games is getting way out of hand. … Two Bears observations from Chris Radford: “(1) Rex Grossman is buckling both chin straps this preseason. The first time ever (including college). (2) Devin Hester has switched to a Schutt/AHIR style helmet after wearing a Riddell his rookie year. Most likely due to the fact that University of Miami players wore Schutt/AHIR style helmuts in college and he finally felt comfortable to ask for that style of helmet.” … The Red Wings wore this throwback jersey back in 1993. But John Baranowski was looking at this photo and noticed that the top stripe appears to have been a lighter color. Anyone know more about this? … Some really cool Blackhawks patches here (as found by Mike Priest). … A little “Los” goes a long way. … Luke Larson was clicking through GoalieCards.com (which looks like a really great site) and came across this. Was it common for practice jerseys to have corporate sponsors back then? … Here’s a bit of Mariners news I hadn’t heard before, from Jon V. Buerstatte: “In 1992, when the new owners completed their purchase in mid-season, the M’s had an ‘opening day’ celebration. To mark the occasion, the M’s wore their usual white home uniforms, but with ‘Seattle’ on the jerseys instead of ‘Mariners.’ That had great significance at the time, because the team was constantly the subject of relocation rumors and the new ownership wanted to send a strong message that the team was the Seattle Mariners, not just the Mariners.” I’ve never seen these “Seattle”-ized home whites, and they’re not shown in either the Okkonen or Henderson guides. Buerstatte hasn’t been able to provide a photo yet, but he did come up with this article, which confirms his account. Anyone got a photo? … On Friday I mentioned that the Steelers used block lettering for their nameplates for the first game of the 1997, before switching to their rounded font. That prompted the following from Ryan Hemminger: “In a related tidbit, the Steelers also used black type for the names, instead of their customary gold, for their road jerseys during the entire 1997 season. I was excited to see them return to the gold names in 1998.” … My recent ESPN column about uniform prototypes included coverage of the black helmets that the Saints wore during the 1969 preseason. Now Tim Fesmire has found this poster — check out the Saints player at lower left. You can bid on that poster here. … In 1964, the Jets wore this helmet design, with a white logo decal instead of the more familiar green decal they began using the following year. I’d never seen any photos or video of the ’64 design until Saturday, when Jay Braiman sent a bunch of screen grabs from the new Jets Complete History DVD. “It’s no wonder they reversed the colors of the decal the following year,” says Jay. “Whether because of the film quality or otherwise, it’s barely visible. Unfortunately, no footage on the DVD of the 1963 jet-plane helmets.” You can see a slide show of Jay’s screen grabs here. … The Astros retired Jeff Bagwell’s number yesterday, and Nicholas Roznovsky got some good pics of the three jerseys Bagwell was presented with, his number inscribed in the infield dirt, and the great little jersey pin that all fans received. As for Bags himself, nice to see him dressing so formally for the occasion. … Speaking of retired numbers, great story here from my friend George Ferrandi, who grew up in Baltimore and attended the game when Brooks Robinson’s number was retired: “They gave out little ‘one size fits all’ jerseys for kids. Alas, I don’t have mine anymore, unless it’s buried in my mom’s attic. This was during my high fandom period, when I went to every home game and wore a hoodie covered with O’s buttons to middle school. (O yeah. “O” was also my rating on the coolness and popularity meter.) This was also the period when I personally took in a wounded Baltimore oriole and named it Brooks. I nursed it back to health but then tried to make it a pet — with tragic results. A traumatic story for another day.” … If you go to this page and scroll down the section headed “The Longest Name” (it begins two paragraphs from the bottom), you’ll find some excellent info about how the Rangers’ equipment manager handled the challenge of fitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s name on a jersey. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: a Bengals-themed corn maze. Details here. … The Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison is currently running an exhibit called World Series Wisconsin, with special emphasis on the 1957 Milwaukee Braves (who won the World Series) and the 1982 Brewers (who won the A.L. pennant). Plenty of uniforms and other memorabilia. There’s a really good video clip about the exhibit here (with big thanks to Uni Watch organic farming priestess and Badger State booster Julie Lindemann). … Braves pitcher Jose Ascaino had some serious undershirt tag issues yesterday (screen grab provided by Jeff Scott, who says, “How could you not feel that on your neck? Wouldn’t it be a distraction?”). … Scott Turner and I were playing softball yesterday, and he mentioned how the Mets used to suit up at their hotel during spring training, take taxis to Al Lang Field, and then climb out of the cabs in full uniform. This was all news to me, so Scott provided this photo. How cool is that?! … Wisconsin isn’t the only school policing its school logo (with thanks to Andrew Flynn). … Not uni-related, but Brett Myers’s latest attempt at community building is too good not to mention. Priceless audio link (NSFW) here.
August 27th, 2007
The Reds retired former shortstop Dave Concepcion’s number 13 last night during pregame ceremonies that included this painting.
On a football note: Romeo Crennel might think there’s no way you could boo the Browns for their performance in Denver last night. He’d be wrong. –Vince
August 26th, 2007
Buffalo wore their gorgeous 1965 throwback uniforms against the Titans last night. Additional views here, here, here, and here. –Vince
August 25th, 2007
So I was looking through the membership card gallery the other day, and I was suddenly struck by something I’d never noticed before: Most of the drop shadows and block shadows fall down and to the right — call it the five o’clock shadow.
As I started looking at photos, I realized that five o’clock shadows are standardized throughout most of the sports world. The primary exception among current teams is the New York Rangers, whose block shadows go down and to the left (a protocol that holds for all their jerseys). For everyone else, it’s down and to the right, down and to the right, ad infinitum.
I was curious about how this phenomenon became so entrenched. Was it because we read from left to right? Was it because the sun sets in the west, casting an eastward shadow? Was it a something designers consciously considered when coming up with uniform designs, or did they just reflexively go with the five o’clock format without even thinking about it?
I posed those questions to Todd Radom and Scott M.X. Turner, both of whom have designed a few uniforms in their day. Here’s an edited version of their responses:
Todd Radom: Agreed, drop shadows traditionally fall off to the bottom right, and I can only assume that this is a logical function of [our culture's] left-to-right thing. Are there any drop shadows in the new Israeli baseball league that go from right to left? [I don't think so. -- PL]
My 2 cents: Bottom-right is the way to go. And the shadow should be connected to the top layer of lettering, as opposed to just being set off. Also, I think any drop shadow should be darker than the layer on top, so white drop shadows on a black background, for instance, make no sense at all.
The 49ers numbers achieve drop shadow perfection for my money.
Scott M.X. Turner: What Todd said, basically. The Rangers’ bottom-left look has become so iconic that it doesn’t strike me as odd (though it does feel counterintuitive when I do Rangers treatments for Uni Watch cardbacks).
I agree block shadow is a better idea than drop shadow. … I’m not as sold that the bottom layer needs to be darker, however — the St. Louis Browns stuck orange under brown back in the ’40s, and Cleveland did it in 1970 with red under navy [and let's not forget this -- PL]. I guess it depends on whether you’re trying to convey a shadow or a block. If it’s a shadow, then Todd’s right, should be darker; block, then most anything goes.
Unlike the well-documented histories of pinstripes, certain colors, and logos, I’m not sure there’s a way to know for sure why shadows came out lower-right. Just that most of us designers agree that’s the way it feels right. And nine times out of ten, the feel’s more important than the math.
Todd also pointed out what may be the oddest configuration of all: the one used by the late-1950s Washington Senators, whose block shadow ran up and to the right. I’m unaware of any other team having done this. But then again, until a week or so ago I hadn’t given much thought to this topic to begin with.
And that’s the thing — once you start thinking about a subject like this, all sorts of things start jumping out at you. With my “shadow radar” more finely tuned in recent days, I’ve suddenly noticed a few more left-leaning shadows. During my recent visit to Lelands, for example, I turned over this New Jersey Knights jersey and immediately fixated on the nameplate. And when preparing yesterday’s ESPN column about “one and done” designs, I was got a little rush of excitement when I saw the shadow configuration on Wisconsin’s one-day design from 1995.
My feeling is that while drop and block shadows often look good (especially on a membership card), they can also add unnecessary clutter to a design. And while I haven’t done a formal tally, my sense of things is that more teams are employing shadows these days than in the past, because they’re so easy to execute digitally. I’m fairly certain teams like the Mets, Dolphins, and 49ers, all of which added drop shadows within the past decade, wouldn’t have done so if it hadn’t been so easy for a designer to call everyone over to his computer and say, “Look, what if we just did this…” I’m not saying there’s no place for shadows, but most of them these days come with the distinct echo of “Because we can.”
Raffle Results: I’m happy to announce that the winner of the Helmet Hut raffle for a free college football helmet is Vertically Arched member Mike Brodsky. Mike, please get in touch with me pronto to claim your prize.
Thanks to all who entered. And I can absolutely promise, incidentally, that next month’s raffle is gonna be a mind-blower.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Creepy Nike product placement of the day — and one of the best ever — here (with mega-thanks to Chris Dominiak). … The Jets, who were originally known as the Titans, will be having a, uh, Titanic throwback game on October 14th. Lots good Titans info is available here (and be sure to check out the JetsTV video link, which features some fantastic Titans footage — special thanks to Mike from Queens for that link). … Cool-sounding exhibit of military uniforms currently on display in Delray Beach, Florida. Details here (with thanks to Jeff Fishman). … Speaking of military unis, check out this. … Yesterday Todd Radom e-mailed me an article about various lowlights in Phillies uniform history (it’s not web-accessible, alas), and one passage in particular caught my eye: “June 10, 1972. Trying to inject some life into a 19-29 club at the start of a homestand, gimmick-obsessed team vice president Bill Giles suggested that, since the Phillies had been playing better on the the road than at home, they ought to try their road uniforms at the Vet. Giles’ plan bombed. The Atlanta Braves’ 15-3 victory included Hank Aaron’s 649th home run, a grand slam.” The Braves were wearing the “feather” design on the road that year, so it wasn’t gray-vs.-gray, but still — two teams wearing road uniforms? I’d never heard about this before. Anyone else? … When not serving me cocktails, doing my laundry, and changing Tucker and Caitlin’s litterbox, Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek moonlights at a dental office. And who should come in for a root canal yesterday but a VP of Sales for Reebok. “He was dressed head to toe in Reebok stuff,” reports Vince. “Shorts, shoes, socks, and the logo was EXTREMELY prominent.” While he was in the chair, Vince slipped him some nitrous oxide and nabbed this Cleveland Browns cap from his briefcase. Then he put a Uni Watch temporary tattoo on his arm, etched a Nike swoosh onto one of his front teeth, and doubled his bill. All in a day’s work. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Major hosiery development Wednesday night, as Esteban Loaiza was wearing special stirrups with the A’s logo on the side. Best photo so far (provided by Roger Faso) is here — you can just barely make out the logo on Loaiza’s left ankle. Anyone got a better shot? I can’t do screen grabs from my backup computer (main machine’s still in the shop, grumble-grumble), but I’m told that there were some close-up views in the first inning. … Here’s a quote for the ages: “It was an interesting lesson to learn in how quickly a fire can happen.” To appreciate the full context, look here (with thanks to Peter Bliao). … The Trenton Thunder unveiled a new identity system yesterday. … And Cleveland State unveiled a new logo (as noted by Josh Yetmar). … Golf report from Dan Sherman, who writes: “At the first round of the FedEx cup, close to 50 golfers were wearing blue belts with silver buckles inscribed with ‘IFF,’ for ‘Ian and Friends Foundation.’” Details here. … I’d heard about the Denver Bears’ “strike zone uniforms” before, but I’d never seen them — until now (with thanks to George McClure). … Can someone please tell the Mariners to stop wearing their BP jerseys in actual games? They did it again last night. … Here’s one I hadn’t been aware of: As you know, the Steelers switched from block numbers to their current font in 1997. But for the first game of that season — and only the first game — they kept their old block lettering for the nameplates, before switching to their now-familiar rounded font in Week 2. … Tired of seeing your favorite team’s baseball cap rendered in all sorts of weird colors? You’re not the only one (good find by Dave Miller). … Latest MLBer to wear toe socks: Brendan Ryan of the Cardinals. This and several other uni-related tidbits can be found in the last four paragraphs of this article. Meanwhile, the second text section of this piece reports that Ryan has some unusual taste in eyewear. (Both items sent my way by Elena Elms, who I’m pretty sure has a crush on Ryan.) … Mike Lowell has been wearing a Jeff Bagwell-style padded batting glove lately. “It was made by using an old piece of catching equipment, an idea conceived by the Red Sox trainers,” says AJ Chalifour. … Got an e-mail last night from Jay Gordon, who’s the editor-in-chief of Uniforms magazine (!), which features lively columns like “The Uniforms Laboratory” and “Ask the Uniforms Guy” (who, for some inexplicable reason, isn’t me). Granted, none of the uniforms are sports-related, but it still looks pretty damn cool. … Jason Cruz notes that there sure seems to be a lot of stuff going on on Lauren Jackson’s shoes. Anyone know what the “153″ is for?
August 24th, 2007
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