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Archive for August, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: My Wednesday evening got completely derailed when Tom O’Grady posted a really interesting find in last night’s comments section: this jersey, supposedly a game-worn Don Meredith model. I say “supposedly” because I was having a hard time coming to grips with that wraparound-styled collar. I mean, shit, look at that thing! I couldn’t decide if it reminded more of this or this.
But within half an hour Tom had found this photo of Meredith, which seemed to confirm the odd collar style. Further evidence came when I found this photo (which I know I’ve seen before, and probably even linked to, but I never noticed the collar). Turns out Dandy Don was indeed quite the dandy!
Note that these photos all show Meredith wearing the Cowboys’ “stars on the shoulders” jersey design, which the team wore from 1960 through 1963. The next step, I figured, was to look at other Cowboys photos from this era (there’s a slew of them available at this site). And that’s where things get seriously weird: Some players appear to have had collars that were very much like Meredith’s (here’s one more). For other players, the collar’s crossover/wraparound effect was less pronounced. And some players just had a fairly normal-looking collar — pretty similar to this, right? There was also one collar that was extra-severe, with the crossover seam running all the way down to the uniform number. (Naturally, none of these variations were incorporated into the throwback version of the early-’60s jersey.)
We’ve examined collar styles before, but never anything like this. It’s such an odd design for an athletic jersey — plus it creates some unfortunate pucker patterns. Can’t believe I never noticed it before. Anyone know of any other football teams that wore anything like this?
The wraparound collar appears to have bitten the dust when the Cowboys switched to their current jersey design in 1964. (As an aside: In 1964 and ’65, the sleeves had three stripes. The switch to two stripes didn’t come until ’66.)
Senatorial Protocol: The Senators unveiled their new uniforms last night (there’s a gallery here). I always thought the soldier’s eyes looked way too big, like he was possessed or hypnotized or something, so I vastly prefer the new rendition of him. Like everyone else, I love the shoulder patch. Can’t say I’m thrilled with the rear view (especially the sock stripes, which are patterned after the ones used at the All-Star Game) but at least it’s better than this. All in all: Could’ve been worse.
Last-Chance Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the free college football helmet from Helmet Hut. If you haven’t already entered, send an e-mail here. One entry per person, but all Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees get three bonus entries — and that includes anyone who signs up today, up to 10 p.m. eastern, which is the deadline for the raffle. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.
And speaking of members, I’m now inclined to think there are three enrollees (not two, as I thought yesterday) who’ve inadvertently been left off the roster. So again, if you’ve signed up for membership, please check the roster and make sure you’re on it. If you’re not, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Although the best Nike product placement ever remains the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide, this comes close (thanks, Vince). … Someone has created a ingeniously simple photo blog devoted to pics of people wearing jerseys on the street. Looks like it only launched a few weeks ago, but it has the makings of potential brilliance (great find by Josh Berliner). … Speaking of brilliant, check out this composite of the Canucks’ logos. … Eric Wisthoff sent me this photo with no explanation. I noticed that the URL indicated it was from Chance Michaels’s site, so I asked him to fill us in: “It’s from Halloween 1994, the Packers beating the Bears at Solider Field in monsoon-like conditions. Ken Ruettgers was goofing around in the holiday spirit, having some fun with the rather plain Packers throwback helmets. I don’t know if he ever actually wore it on the field, or if the decals were taken off before the game started. I suspect that they were — can’t imagine that the NFL would have been too happy with such a modification.” … Can you believe Alonzo Mourning has his own signature golf glove? (Good find by Chris Flinn.) … You Can’t Make This Stuff Up Dept.: The Portland Beavers are letting fans vote to help choose the team’s new name (or to keep it as is, which is the only acceptable outcome), and one of the choices is the Portland Wet Sox. Really. Depressing details here. … I don’t usually like the look of Livestrong-style bracelets, but on Tuesday night I was given this one, and I may never take it off. It was part of this amazing event (look closely and you’ll see me in one of the photos). … Latest cancer-fighting color: teal, which will be worn by Callaway-sponsored golf pros next month to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Details here (with thanks to Seth Horowitz). … Jeff Bethune checks in with a follow-up to last Friday’s shoe-cutting discussion: “Cubs announcer Bob Brenley suggested tonight that shoe cutting and alterations happen in baseball as well. After Benjie Molina was hit in the toe with a foul ball, and Brenley — a former catcher — said how painful that is, and that with the swelling of the big toe, you sometimes need to cut a hole in the toe of the shoe to give extra room to the swollen toe.” … Speaking of footwear, add Yadier Molina to the list of MLBers wearing modified sneakers with cleat plates (as noted by footwear fetishist specialist Mark Mihalik, who almost made me spit out my Diet Coke by sending me this). … I assume everyone knows that the Cubs use an embroidered felt logo appliqué on their batting helmets, rather than a decal (it has actual depth). That distinction apparently came up in last night’s Cubs game, as Adam Collins explains: “In Henry Blanco’s first at bat in the top of the 10th, the ‘C’ patch on the front of his helmet appeared to be wrinkled in the middle and the upper portion was falling off. Interestingly, Cubs TV play-by-play man Len Kasper actually acknowledged this. He said something along the lines of, ‘It looks like Blanco needs some glue for the sticker on his helmet.’ He then went on to clarify that ‘the “C” is not actually a sticker, well it is, but it is made up of stitches.’ The discussion moved on further as Cubs color man Bob Brenley gave some props to Cubs equipment managers by saying he was certain they would take care of the situation. As if the story weren’t already interesting enough, Blanco successfully laid down the suicide squeeze to put the Cubs up 4-2. Could Giants pitcher Patrick Misch have been too focused on Blanco’s patch flap?” … Don Zimmer will be back with the Devil Rays next season, and you know what that means.
Gratitude Dept.: Literally dozens of you answered my call for “one and done” examples for today’s ESPN column. I’m grateful to everyone who contributed ideas and leads, but especially to Dave Kendrick, Chad Stegemiller, Vince DeMarco, Matthew Campbell, Mark Mayall, Chance Michaels, Jon Eisen, John Eick, Adrian Brashier, Paul Pokaski, Nate Gruz, Todd Radom, Brian Carroll, Mark Lackinger, Jeffrey Israel, Todd Krevanchi, Frank Mercogliano, Mike Miller, Pedro Naranjo, Mark Divine, and of course Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek. Could I have written this column without you guys? Yeah. But would it be as good? Not even close. Thanks again.
August 23rd, 2007
Listen up, boys and girls, for today I bring you a bona fide scoop. It begins with a note I recieved yesterday from a source who checked in with the following: “Word I hear is that the NFL is going to go to Cs on the captains’ jerseys this year, NHL-style. They’re supposedly going to start during the regular season.”
This was news to me, so I checked with an NFL source, who passed along a press release I hadn’t previously seen, dated May 22nd of this year. According to the release, the league’s Player Advisory Council has been developing a “team captain leadership initiative” for this season, designed to “to support and recognize the importance of team leadership through the role of the captains.” Among the measures being considered: “captain identification on game uniforms.”
So are they going ahead with that plan? My NFL source initially indicated that the Cs were pretty much a done deal for this season. “Captains will wear a C on the right chest,” he told me. And what about teams that already have a patch in that spot? “The C will go above the patch.” (I didn’t think to ask about the Broncos, who present some unique challenges for letter placement.) But later in the day he told me that he’d asked a few more people and had now been informed that the Cs were just a “possibility,” although I got the strong sense that they’re, y’know, a strong possibility.
Captaincy designations aren’t so uncommon in the NCAA, but they’re rare in the pros. The last team to employ the C was the 1994 Patriots (here’s another shot), and the only other C-ified team I’m aware of is the 1983 Cowboys, who slapped the C on Danny White, Bob Breunig, Drew Pearson, and Ron Fellows.
Can’t say I’m in love with this idea. For starters, real estate on NFL jerseys is already in short supply, what with the disappearing sleeves, the massive NFL Equipment logo, the increasing use of chest wordmarks, and so on. Adding another element to the mix is gonna make for some seriously crowded jerseys.
And consider this: As we all learned last week, the Red Wings are moving their C and A designations to the other side of the jersey this season, because Reebok’s new tailoring template puts too many seams and fabric panels where the letters would normally appear (for further details, look here). Given that today’s football jerseys are a veritable crazy quilt of stretch panels and seams compared to hockey jerseys, I’m willing to bet right now that the NFL’s newfound embrace of the C — assuming it happens at all — won’t last long.
Research Project Update: A big pat on the back to everyone who responded to yesterday’s call for “one and done” uniforms (i.e., uniforms that were worn just once, or a handful of times, before being abandoned) — my ESPN column tomorrow will be stronger thanks to your efforts. I won’t have room to thank everyone by name within the column itself, but I’ll do so here on this site tomorrow.
Membership News: Very odd development on Monday, as two completely unrelated people both asked for Harlem Globetrotters treatments for their membership cards (you can see one of them at right). This tops the membership program’s previous coincidental oddity, which came a few weeks ago when three consecutive new enrollees asked for No. 17.
Meanwhile, if you’ve signed up for membership, have you checked to see if your name’s on the roster? Here’s why I ask: The current roster listing has 420 names, plus there are two members who’ve asked not to be listed (although their cards are shown in the design gallery), so that’s a total of 422 enrollees. There are 421 designs in the card gallery, plus there are three cards that haven’t yet been designed, so the full gallery would have 424 designs. That means there are two people who I somehow left off the roster. Are you one of them? Let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I meant to list this on Monday, but it fell through the cracks when my computer crashed over the weekend (and by now most of you probably know about it anyway, but just in case…): Iowa State is letting fans vote on a new helmet design for 2008. … Meanwhile, the Fresno Grizzlies are asking for fan input on redesigning the logo (with thanks to Aaron Wiens). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Blue Jays have added an “SP” memorial patch for former team CEO/chairman Sam Pollock. … The Mets will be wearing Los Mets jerseys this Friday, for Fiesta Latina. … Several people have asked why I haven’t mentioned anything about the Little League World Series. Answer: Because I think the LLWS is bad news. The level of media coverage, the hype, etc. — it’s unhealthy for the kids involved, and arguably even worse for any kid watching it. I’ve written plenty of times about Little League, Pop Warner, and the like, and will continue to do so, but I won’t be party to something like the LLWS. … Nice little piece here about the Brewers’ batting helmets. … Very good article here about players who don’t wear batting gloves. … Just imagine the potential uni-related ramifications of this. … Scotty Johnson reports that dirt late model driver Scott James, who’s from Cincinnati, has a Bengals-themed helmet (and note the “Ocho Tres,” because his car number is 83). … Good catch by Jason Taylor, who notes that Andruw Jones appears to have added an American flag decal to the back of his batting helmet. … Victory Pennants honcho Morris Levin totally kissed my butt wrote some really nice stuff about Uni Watch in his blog yesterday. … Here’s yet another photo of the “8″ on Fenway Park’s exterior wall, and in this shot you really can see that the numeral is upside-down (nice job by Matthew Knell). … Merchandise malfunction, as documented by Justine DeCotis: “I work in the team store of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Recently this hat came in with the correct PawSox logo on the front, but on the bill, where it’s supposed to say ‘Pawtucket Red Sox’ on one side and ‘Pawtucket, Rhode Island’ on the other, it says ‘Atlanta Braves.’” … Cardinals punter Scott Player is currently doing an excellent Hulk Hogan impersonation. “Add in his single-bar facemask and the fact his last name is on most prototype jerseys, and Scott’s my new favorite,” writes Eric D.
August 22nd, 2007
Last Tuesday morning I drove out to Seaford, Long Island, home of the sports memorabilia auction house Lelands (I’m writing a business story about them for the Financial Times). I’ve devoted several blog entries to Lelands’ auction offerings — you can see examples here and here — so I was all pumped up to see some of their stuff in person.
As it turned out, most of the best items for their next auction weren’t available, because they were out being photographed for the next catalog. But there was still plenty of good material on hand — much of it hockey-related — and Lelands prexy Mike Heffner was nice enough to let me photograph a bunch of it. Here are some highlights:
• Although technically not uni-related, the single most affecting thing I saw was this Puerto Rican winter league contract, which was signed by Josh Gibson.
• Here’s Elston Howard’s catcher’s mitt. Dig that torn label!
• I loved all the chain-stitching on this 1970 Phillies jersey (worn by Byron Browne). Check out the chest emblem, the front number, and the back number (which was starting to fray — here’s a closer view).
• There was very little NFL stuff on hand. The primary exceptions: these Bills helmets.
• When I first saw this, my initial thought was, “Cool, a 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey jersey.” Then I turned it over and learned that it was actually an early Nordiques design, from the franchise’s WHA days. (I was apparently so flabbergasted by this discovery that I neglected to snap a photo of the front side.)
• My love of green and gold found Shangri-la in this Chicago Cougars jersey. And here’s the home version. Note the front jersey numbers, similar to what the Sabres did last year and what the Islanders have just unveiled.
• Here’s another great WHA design, from the New Jersey Knights (worn by Harry Howell!).
• There was also a really cool set of WHA pennants (additional pics here, here, here, here, and here). I especially liked this one — like, is that logo an all-time classic or what? Let me go on record right here: I’d gladly pay an extra $10 per ticket to see hockey players smoking pipes while they played.
• Not quite WHA, but close: a pair of California Golden Seals jerseys, home and road.
• Here’s a minor league team I hadn’t been aware of: the Cincinnati Swords.
• My biggest nightmare was embodied in this Nordiques jersey. “I didn’t realize they had purple trim,” I said to Mike. “They didn’t,” he said. “But some of the blue turned purple in the laundry. Look, it happened on the back, too.” At this point I ran screaming from the room.
• My favorite item in the entire place: Tom Seaver’s toothpick, complete with an affadavit of authenticity.
Big, big thanks to Mike for his hospitality. And when my Lelands article is published (probably early next month), I’ll link to it here.
Research Project: Last week’s ESPN column about uniform prototypes led many readers to suggest a related topic: uniforms that made it onto the field (or court, or ice) but were worn only once. Classic examples would include the Phillies’ solid-maroon design shown at left (worn on May 19th, 1979, and then quietly abandoned after intensely negative fan reaction) and the Mavericks’ silver ensemble (October 28th, 2003). I agree that this is a good topic, and I’m going to write an ESPN column about it for later this week, as a follow-up to the prototypes column.
Before you flood me with additional examples, let me spell out what I’m not looking for. I don’t want throwbacks, commemoratives, MLB’s futuristic jerseys, special designs created for particular bowl games, or anything else that was only supposed to have been worn once in the first place. I’m also not interested in uni elements that are technically active today but rarely worn (I already devoted a column to that topic two winters ago).
What I want here are designs that were supposed to be full-fledged components of a team’s wardrobe but barely got out of the starting gate before being mothballed. Limiting the project to things that were worn only once would probably make for a very small list, so let’s expand the parameters to include things that were worn, say, up to three or four times. This would allow us to include the Orioles in solid orange (worn twice in 1971, according to this page from Bill Henderson’s CD, although I’d prefer to know the exact dates), the Twins’ Dairy Queen jerseys (worn on April 6th and 21st, 1997, according to reader Tim McCabe), the Mets’ white caps, which were worn just a handful of times in early 1997 (anyone know exactly how many, or when?), and the Phillies’ “bad luck” 1994 blue caps. But it would not include designs that were worn for an entire season before being abandoned, like the Lions’ blue pants (with gray socks!), which were worn for all of team’s 1998 road games.
One thing that should definitely be included: N.C. State’s unitards. As many of you know, I’m weak on college hoops — when exactly was this design worn, and how often? Also: What year was it that Jim Boeheim had Syracuse dress up in blue for one game, and does anyone have a photo of that?
Got more contributions? Let’s have ’em. And don’t delay — I’ll be delivering this column to my ESPN editors on Wednesday afternoon.
Membership News: About 40 membership kits went out in yesterday’s mail, and another dozen or so should be ready by the end of the week. Almost caught up! My continued thanks to everyone for your patience.
Incidentally, there’s an absolute doozy of a raffle coming up next month — one for which you’ll definitely want those three extra raffle entries that come with membership. Can’t tell you the details just yet, but a hint is lurking somewhere on this page.
And speaking of raffles, remember that entries are currently being accepted for the football helmet from Helmet Hut. The drawing is Thursday, 10 p.m., so e-mail your name to uniraffle at earthlink dot net by then. One entry per person, but membership enrollees automatically get three extra entries.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s entry prompted a couple of great follow-ups. First, as you’ll recall, yesterday’s post made prominent mention of Helen Robinson, the Red Sox’s switchboard operator who did double-duty as the team’s emergency seamstress. Jere Smith provided a photo of her. And second, the upside-down 8 on Fenway’s exterior facade can be seen in this photo, which was linked in yesterday’s comments by Rick Schoffelen (if you squint hard enough, you can see that the upper opening in the 8 is larger than the lower). … Several sources inform me that Reebok is poised to acquire Mitchell & Ness, with the deal slated to become public in about two weeks. … Latest example of NFL’s miraculous disappearing sleeves: the Ravens (here’s another shot). “What’s next, wife-beater tees?” asks Tim Walsh. … “Julio Franco reported to the Rome Braves, the Class A minor league affiliate for Atlanta, to finish out the month of August before being recalled to the big leagues in September when the rosters expand,” writes Jonathon Binet. “All of the Braves’ minor league teams where home whites identical to what the big league club wears. But it’s clear that Franco is wearing his Atlanta Braves jersey, and not a jersey issued by Rome. This photo gallery shows that Franco’s jersey has the MLB logo on the back collar, not the MiLB logo. Also, his jersey lacks the American flag patch that the other players are wearing. Finally, Franco’s jersey still has the Lew Burdette/Johnny Sain memorial patch that Atlanta is wearing this year, while none of the Rome players have such a patch.” … I love Tom Bachtell’s illustrations in The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” section, but why the hell did he depict Barry Bonds wearing a double-earflapped helmet? … Great photo gallery here of the UCF staff applying decal’s to the football team’s helmet (with thanks to Kyle Mas). … Rugby news from Eric Bangeman, who writes: “England has unveiled their alternate World Cup uniforms. It looks like another bad Nike idea from the world of college football (think Florida and Va. Tech) has been transplanted across the Atlantic. Here’s a photo gallery. In this shot, you can see the different shades of red in the shorts; there’s at least 3 different shades of red in the uniform.” … No photos yet, but 20-year-old Tigers call-up Cameron Maybin wears braces. I can’t think of any other brace-faced MLBers — or NFLers, NHLers, or NBAers, for that matter. Anyone..? … Amusing gallery here of Evel Knievel uniforms (with thanks to Knievel-phile Steve Mandich, who also notes that the CBA team from Evel’s hometown of Butte, Montana, is called the Daredevils). … Todd Burus notes that Kevin Cash is back in the majors — and so is his front-facing helmet brim. … There’s been lots of chatter in the comments about the inconsistencies in how Mark DeRosa’s name has been styled on his jerseys, but I think Chris Andringa is the first to offer visual proof. Here’s DeRosa as DE ROSA at home, and here he is as DEROSA on the road. Andringa says he’s seen both typographic styles on both jerseys at various points, meaning DeRosa has worn four different jersey/name combos. … Ohio University has unveiled a line of “heritage logos” (details here), and their new uniforms are out too (with thanks to Tim Burke).
August 21st, 2007
Last week I posted a Ticker item about how Red Sox jerseys sometimes have an upside-down 8 (the larger opening should be on the bottom). That prompted the following note from reader Rick Subrizio: “The error extends beyond the uniforms. On the exterior facade of Fenway Park, overlooking Van Ness Street, the Sox have a display of their retired numbers, and sure enough, Yaz’s 8 is upside-down there too. I don’t have a photo, but if I am in the neighborhood soon, I’ll try to get one.”
Subrizio knows his Red Sox stuff, because he used to work for the team. And like any team employee, he was privy to some great uni-related episodes. Here’s a really interesting one that he was willing to share:
Longtime Red Sox switchboard operator Helen Robinson used to do a lot of last-minute sewing work for the team. She was pretty much an expert seamstress, and she’d do emergency repairs, numbering, and patches, all by hand, while sitting behind the switchboard and answering calls.
Anyhow, one day in 2001, I walked by her desk, where she was sewing the American League 100th-anniversary patch onto Sun-Woo Kim’s jersey (I don’t remember if he had been recalled from Pawtucket or just acquired), and I noticed that she had put the patch on the wrong sleeve — it was on the left instead of the right.
When I mentioned it to her, she said “It isn’t wrong — it is on the sleeve opposite the [Russell] sleeve logo.” It seems that Kim was issued an older jersey from a year or two earlier, when the Russell logo was on the right sleeve rather than the left, so Helen was thrown off by the logo and had placed the patch on the wrong sleeve. She wasn’t too happy about it (she was a stickler for detail too and very proud of her work), but it was getting close to game time, and she didn’t have time to fix it before the first pitch, so she sent it down to the clubhouse as it was.
I don’t know how long Kim wore the jersey with the patch on the wrong side, but I found this photo of him from August 15th of that year, so he appeared in at least one game with the patch error.
Great stuff. Big thanks to Rick for this behind-the-scenes tale of logo creep-induced uni dysfunction.
Raffle Reminder: Remember, our friends at Helmet Hut are giving away a free college football helmet. You’ve got until this Thursday, 10 p.m. eastern, to get your name in the hat by sending an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch e-mail address). One entry per person, but all enrollees in the Uni Watch Membership Program will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner on Friday.
Blame It on WordPress: I had a really big, involved entry planned for today — a different lead item, a new research project, membership news, a nice, big Ticker, etc. But when I uploaded it this morning, about two-thirds of the entry disappeared. What the fuck?! Plus my main computer’s in the shop, we’ve been having server problems, and you don’t even wanna know about the ongoing battles I’ve been having with my high-speed internet provider. In short: Technology and I haven’t been getting along too well lately. My apologies to everyone who contributed great Ticker material over the weekend — it appears to have vanished into the ether. Meanwhile, I’m gonna look into transferring the entire site onto an abacus.
August 20th, 2007
Western Kentucky University unveiled a slew of the new Russell uniforms they will wear this year. –Vince
August 19th, 2007
Tremendous feel-good story behind this photo: Jordan Leandre, the kid in the picture, is a cancer survivor and sang the national anthem at Fenway the other night. He first sang the national anthem when he was 4 years-old and stricken with the disease, which had left him debilitated. For his remarkable recovery, he got to meet members of the 1967 Red Sox team this time around.
Why is this important to us (other than the obvious reasons)? Take a look at the No. 9 in the jersey of Bill Landis. I wonder whose autograph he sought out that day. –Vince
August 18th, 2007
Look closely at the photo shown above and you’ll notice something odd: The player (who happens to be Titans linebacker Ryan Fowler) has cut holes in the tips of his shoes, and his sock-covered big toes are poking out.
Football players are known for modifying their equipment, but I’d never heard of this one before. And it turns out that it’s actually quite common, at least according to a faaaaaaascinating article that ran in yesterday’s Nashville Tennessean (helpfully brought to my attention by reader Wade Harder), which explains that many players cut holes in their cleats — sometimes for performance-related reasons, sometimes to avoid damaged toenails. Here are some of the choicer bits:
It’s an NFL equipment oddity and something most fans would never notice. But in a locker room where players pay attention to every last uniform detail, at least a dozen Titans lace their cleats and then cut slits or even gaping holes over the big toes.
Some players believe it might make them better because it helps them feel lighter, faster, able to change direction more quickly. If nothing else, they at least feel more comfortable.
“I like tight shoes, and it kind of makes you feel like you’re out there with no shoes on at all,” said cornerback Kelly Herndon, who cut slits that make an X at the tips of both his cleats. “You want something light, and as tight as possible so you can move around better. If that means cutting them to make them tighter, that’s what you do.”
Linebacker Ryan Fowler has gone to the extreme. Both of his entire big toes hang out through man-made holes cut in his cleats.
Fowler said he’s not worried about someone stepping on his exposed toes. He’s more worried about moving around effectively. … “Also, a lot of times when you change directions and you stop, your toe hits the front of your shoe and toenails crack and you get an in-grown toenails. … It’s for comfort as well.”
[...]
Cornerback Eric King said he feels a little faster with the tight shoe, so he doesn’t mind breaking out the scalpel.
Cornerback Michael Waddell started experimenting after seeing some of his teammates perform shoe surgery. After he puts on two pair of socks and has his ankles taped, sometimes a little relief at the front end is nice, he said.
This probably qualifies as the coolest, most Getting It™ article of the year so far, so let’s give credit to Tennessean reporter Jim Wyatt, who wrote it (and to his editor, for not saying, “What the hell is this? An article about shoe surgery? We’re not running that!”). You can read the full article here.
And the Titans aren’t the only ones with one little piggy sticking out of their shoes. When the Tennessean article was briefly discussed in yesterday’s comments section, Mike from Queens pointed to this short item about Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, and a few other readers offered enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that cleat-cutting is a fairly standard practice.
Who knew? Not me. Do Reebok, Nike, and all the other shoe companies realize that the players are cutting up their footwear? How long before these companies start manufacturing cleats with pre-cut toe holes?
And it’s a shame that the late artist Don Martin Don Martin didn’t live long enough to be aware of this phenomenon. The guy was obsessed with toes (like, really obsessed), whether barefoot or shoe-clad. He would’ve had a field day with this.
August Raffle Announcement: With college football just around the corner, our good friends at Helmet Hut and Gridiron Memories have generously volunteered to raffle off one of their NCAA helmets — a selection that includes over 500 designs — to a lucky Uni Watch reader.
To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch e-mail address) by next Thursday, August 23rd, at 10 p.m. eastern. I won’t actually be reading these e-mails, so don’t bother including any messages or questions. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch Membership Program by the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries (i.e., members will get their names put in the hat three times even if they don’t send an e-mail entry, or four times if they do).
I’ll announce the winner a week from today.
Speaking of the membership program, I believe we’re now completely caught up on card designs (including the one shown at right, which is based on Belmont Park jockeys’ silks). If you’ve signed up and don’t see your card in the design gallery, and/or if you don’t see your name listed on the active roster, please let me know.
For the roughly four dozen of you who haven’t yet received your membership kits, you’ll be happy to hear that I plan to get your cards printed today. Figure another week for trimming, laminating and envelope-stuffing. Thanks for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: If you click here and scroll up to the 12-minute mark, you’ll find a not-too-bad interview I recently did with the MLB Video guys (with thanks to Todd Krevanchi for reminding me to post the link). … Spectacular work by Richard Craig, who checks in with the following report: “At the beginning of last night’s Braves/Giants game, Jeff Francoeur’s name was misspelled on his jersey. He must have been clued in and switched jerseys later on, because suddenly his name was correct again. I know his name is easily misspelled, but wouldn’t you think he’d notice while suiting up?” … Major NBA hairstyling story here (with thanks to Vince, who also notes that there’s been some hair-related rookie hazing at Patriots camp). … A year ago I did an entry about the Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event in which the players wear flannel throwbacks. This year’s installment of the event just took place, and there’s a great photo gallery here. … More amateurs. … Todd Krevanchi notes that Shanna Zolman-Crossley was wearing a full-length Under Armour-ish undershirt the other day. … Matt Craig wonders why Darrell Royal had No. 20 on his jacket sleeve during the 1970 Cotton Bowl. Anyone..? … Decent breakdown of all the current and pending NHL uni changes here (with thanks to Kim Kolb). … Oliver Perez fell victim to the classic bubble gum prank last night (as captured by James Fleming). … Great contribution from Jared Wheeler, who writes: “The Houston Colt .45s had a minor league team named the .22s — check out the caps on John Hoffman and Dave Adlesh.”
August 17th, 2007
New ESPN column today — the long-awaited prototypes installment. Here’s the link.
The prototypes column probably wouldn’t have been possible without the help of Bill Henderson, who’s just published a new edition of his MLB Game Worn Jerseys of the Double Knit Era (formerly known as The Double Knit Era Collector’s Reference). By any name, it’s an utterly essential reference, every bit as necessary a presence on your shelf as Marc Okkonen’s Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century. Think of it this way: If you care enough about uniforms to read Uni Watch, you’ll totally love this reference guide.
Unlike the Okkonen tome, Henderson’s opus is available on a CD-R or as a downloadable file, not as a printed book. And it doesn’t cover the pre-1970 era. But within its stated area of coverage, it’s absolutely encyclopedic. For each MLB team, there’s list of basic rules of thumb, a chronological chart of basic styles, and then lots and lots of photos showing the progression of each team’s jersey over the past three-plus decades, with plenty of attention paid to sleeve patches, throwbacks, prototypes, BP jerseys, oddities, and the occasional bit of storytelling.
There’s also info on fabrics, undershirts, tagging, typography, and a lot more. The whole thing is over 1200 “pages” (it’s basically a massive PDF file), with over 30,000 photos. And new for this edition, Bill has added info showing what each team’s last set of flannels looked like, so we can see the transition from flannel to double-knit, along with lots of other new material.
I find myself referring to Bill’s research almost every day. Okay, so I probably have more use for it in my daily workday than you do, but you get the idea. Uni Watch’s highest rating.
In addition, Bill is generously offering a discount to Uni Watch readers. If you go to his web site, click on “Purchase,” and scroll down to the bottom of the ordering page, you’ll see a “If you received a special offer…” prompt. Click on it, and then enter the username “special” and the password “bonds” (all lowercase in both instances). This will qualify you for a price of $29.99 — five bucks off the usual price. And worth every penny.
NHL News: Two more NHL teams have unveiled their new uniforms. Let’s start with Detroit, where Reebok’s new tailoring template has forced the Red Wings to move their “C” and “A” designations to the other side of the jersey (full details here). But as Craig Barker points out, putting the designatory letters on that side is nothing new for the Red Wings. I know we’ve covered this before, but I forget the details, so can someone please provide a quick recap of the side-to-side migrations of Detroit’s “C” and “A”?
The bigger problem, it seems to me, is that rounded hemline, which hasn’t looked so bad on most other teams but is really accentuated — and not in a good way — by the Wings’ design.
Meanwhile, if you want a good laugh, take a look at this photo and then check out the headline on this article. I think I’ll let both the uniform (additional views here and here) and the journalism speak for themselves.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Really nice slideshow here, showcasing the flannel uniforms recently worn by a Russian baseball team traveling through the U.S. And although he’d be too humble to say anything, it just so happens that the Ruskies’ duds were designed by none other than our own Scott M.X. Turner. … Underbrim history may have been made last night, as Vince explains: “Last night, Indians vs. Tigers, featured perhaps the first pitching matchup ever to feature both pitchers still wearing their holograms on the underbrim of their hats. Fausto, of course, has a long documented history of this, but the kid the Tigers called up from AA for the game, Jair Jurrjens, had his hologram on also.” … Good survey of recent Cardinals throwbacks here (with thanks to Elena Elms). … Andy R. reports that his sister Kiirsta has just become a Charger Girl (aka a San Diego Chargers cheerleader), which must make Mama R. very proud. “Did you know about their Halloween tradition?” asks Andy. “For the game closest to Halloween, each girl chooses her own costume/uniform. This year, it’s the on the 28th, against the Texans. I found out, though, that they may not be the only team that does it. Also, sadly, I found out that they’re not as interested in being creative and/or different as they are in simply ‘looking hot.’” I may never recover from that stunning bit of news.
August 16th, 2007
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