The e-mails started arriving at Uni Watch HQ right after the end of Saturday’s Kentucky/LSU game. While the rest of the country was buzzing about Kentucky’s upset victory, Uni Watch readers were puzzling over something that had briefly appeared on their TV screens. Of the dozen or so readers who got in touch, Rob Kustal summed it up best:
With :02 left in regulation, before the big field goal missed by LSU, CBS showed vintage footage of Kentucky, circa 1950 or so. I didn’t even catch the specific story, because I was so distracted by what I thought I saw: I swear it was a player wearing a jersey number reading ‘1A.’ My friend thought he saw the same thing. It could’ve been a funky-looking 14, or maybe 17, but it certainly looked like 1A.
And that’s exactly what it was. What was this all about? The answer is buried on this page, devoted to Kentucky football history. The pertinent passage reads as follows:
During the course of his legendary career, Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was known as an innovator of introducing changes in the game of football. One change Bryant introduced during his tenure at Kentucky was the use of a unique number system to identify twins Harry and Larry Jones, who both lettered three years (1950-52) with the Wildcats. Harry wore 1A and Larry wore 1B. Harry led the Wildcats in all-purpose yardage in 1951 with 964 while Larry led UK in kickoff returns (21.1 avg) in 952.
Maybe someone should have said, “Yo, Bear, here’s an innovation for ya: If you want to tell them apart, howzabout giving them No. 1 and No. 2?” or something like that. In any event, this wasn’t the only time a team used numbers and letters in tandem. In 1952, LSU used an alpha-numberic system based on the players’ positions. And then there’s this YMCA basketball team, circa 1900, which Vince wrote about back in January.
But the Kentucky situation is unique because, as far as I can tell, it’s the only time that an alpha-numeric format — or any non-standard numbering format — was used for just a couple of players, instead of team-wide. A silly idea at the time, but great Uni Watch fodder half a century later.
(Special thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who provided the “1A” screen shot.)
Flap Follow-Up: Last Thursday’s entry on Earl Battey and his improvised earflap led to a nice shout-out from Blake Meyer, who runs the superb TwinsCards.com site. He put out the call among his people, one of whom, Pat Bones, came up with those two elusive Battey photos from the 1963 Twins yearbook. The pics aren’t great, but the flap is there if you’re looking for it. Big thanks to Blake, Pat, and the TwinsCards.com network for coming up with these.
Now let’s see if we can return the favor: Blake and his people want to know what’s up with this 1968 baseball card. It appears to have been taken at an all-star game, but the ’67 game was in Anaheim, so the A.L. players would have been wearing home whites and the N.L. would have worn road grays, instead of the other way around. Maybe it’s from the ’66 game..? Insights welcome.
Research Project: I’m trying to compile a list of uniform quirks and eccentricities that aren’t part of a team’s official uni specs but have nonetheless become part of the team’s established protocol. Examples would include the Cowboys’ Dymo Tape helmet nameplates (as seen at right) and jersey tie-downs, the Giants’ rounded nameplates, the Bears’ horizontal shoulder darts, the Steelers’ heavily ribbed socks, the Red Wings’ preseason use of straight nameplates, and so on. Care to contribute some additional examples? You know what to do.
Uni Watch News Ticker: We’ve often talked about city flags appearing on sleeve patches or serving as the basis of team color schemes. Now Scott Greene has found a page featuring dozens of city flags, most of which I’d never seen before. Did you know Detroit’s flag looked like this? Or that Long Beach’s looked like this? Fascinating stuff — highly recommended. … Speaking of flags, last week I asked if anyone had a shot of the American flag flanked by an Adidas flag during the singing of “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. Now Tim Walsh has provided this, which must surely rank among the most offensive examples of logo creep ever. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: David Carr’s penchant for wearing gloves has led to a new blog. … Susan N. Freeman found an amazing 1929 photo featuring these totally rad Texas Tech uniforms. … Nate Allen lost his shoe the other day (good spot by Greg Riffenburgh). … Last week I linked to a great Sports Business Journal article about the NFL cracking down on uniform violations, but you had to register for a free trial subscription in order to access the story. Now I’ve got a scan of the print version of the article — print quality isn’t top-notch, but it’s legible. Highly recommended reading. … Great catch by Dennis Gray, who noticed that Manny Fernandez’s lace-up collar didn’t have any laces the other night. He doesn’t always go lace-free, so it’s not clear if this was a matter of personal preference or just an oversight. … Dave Eskinazi sent along this old Spalding Tour photo. At first glance the most salient details are the classy chest insignia, the white belt, and the colored pants. But take a closer look at the detailing on the sleeve cuffs. “Never seen anything like it,” says Eskinazi, and neither have I. … “There is so much wrong with this photo, I don’t know where to begin,” writes Jordan Cutler. For the record, that’s Geo Soto playing for the triple-A Iowa Cubs. … In the “Oh. My. God.” department, the Wisconsin hoops team will honor their 1941 NCAA championship squad by wearing throwbacks on December 3rd, and I may just have to fly out to Madison for that one, because we’re talking about some serious striped-sock action (with thanks to Damion Beth and Karl G. Anderson). … Thomas Langan reports that the Hofstra lacrosse team honored former teammate Nick Colleluori, who recently died of lymphoma, by wearing lime green uniforms (the color of the lymphoma ribbon), all with No. 27 (Colleluori’s number), back on October 7th. … Has Dartmouth always had these weird helmet stripes? (As spotted by Zevi Lowenberg.) … Old Dominion will return to football competition in 2009, and their just-unveiled uniforms appear to be a total rehash of the current Miami design. Of course, Miami will have moved on to a new uni by 2009, so ODU is basically getting sloppy seconds here (with thanks to Charles Pritt). … Here’s something I don’t recall having seen before: Evander Holyfield had his surname on his shoes during Saturday night’s bout against Sultan Ibragimov. … No comment. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Western New Mexico has taken the very odd step of putting their helmet decal on the back of the helmet. … Reprinted from Saturday night’s comments: Lots of inconsistencies in Auburn’s nameplate typography (as noted by Kris McInnis). … Since the NFL fines players for having their jerseys untucked, can’t the NHL do something about Jaromir Jagr, who keeps wearing his jersey tucked in? Looks like crap. … Rutgers wore black pants on Saturday. Doesn’t look bad, but also doesn’t look like Rutgers. … The Jets’ Titans throwbacks looked nice, but oddly collegiate, no? (First person to comment, “That’s appropriate, since the Jets play like a college team” gets tossed from the site, so please be more creative than that.) … Major wardrobe malfunction yesterday in Chicago, where Adrian Peterson of the Vikings had his pants come down in the fourth quarter (nice work by Aaron Etshokin). … According to Dressed to the Nines, in 1974 the Red Sox wore an alternate uniform, featuring a multicolored cap and non-striped stirrups. Not sure I’d ever seen a photo of this design until Andy Given came up with this shot of El Tiante (which he found in this excellent gallery of Red Sox pics). … Not sure why, but the Chargers’ new powder-blue alts didn’t quite wow me. I think it’s because the blue panel on the pants creates a blue overload. … Meanwhile, guess whose American flag helmet decal was missing yet again. … Attention all fans of design (which pretty much means everyone reading this): This is National Design Week, which among other things means free admission at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum here in NYC. … Several readers think Santana Moss was wearing a collared shirt under his jersey yesterday. Personally, I’m dubious, but you can kinda see it here. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we went through a similar discussion regarding the Saints’ Will Smith last year. … Interesting volleyball hosiery here (with thanks to Steven Trujillo). … Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero was wearing a ski cap under his mask last night. … Brandon Bowker works at a book store where a copy of this title recently came through. “Check out those socks!” he says. Indeed. … Remember our recent examination of Todd Helton and his Mizuno-ized Nike cleats? Here’s a great close-up from last night’s Rockies/D-backs game. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Nice little video clip here about Martin Gerber’s new mask.
#1 by Erich on 10.15.07 9:05 am |
Anyone else notice Scott Gomez’s A is falling off in the last Jagr pic? I’m thinking that the picture is from the preseason…
#2 by Mike on 10.15.07 9:05 am |
I love after you pushed your own deadline back to 10…you still are getting most posts out by at least 9:15. You rock Paul.
#3 by Tom A on 10.15.07 9:10 am |
Not sure if you caught this (especially not sure if theres an image for it), but in last nights Boise State/Nevada 3OT game there was an amazing (to me, anyway) uniform related circumstance.
Nevada’s muted gray, blue, and white away uni, when contrasted with the crazy blue of that turf, made the entire Nevada offense seem like they had technicolored a black and white football game and left out the Nevada team. Please tell me you can get a screenshot somehow - it was really something to see.
#4 by Ben on 10.15.07 9:22 am |
Now let’s see if we can return the favor: Blake and his people want to know what’s up with this 1968 baseball card. It appears to have been taken at an all-star game, but the ’67 game was in Anaheim, so the A.L. players would have been wearing home whites and the N.L. would have worn road grays, instead of the other way around. Maybe it’s from the ’66 game..? Insights welcome.
Mickey Mantle wasn’t in the 1966 All Star Game, so, the mystery goes on.
#5 by Al Mattei on 10.15.07 9:24 am |
Dartmouth has been wearing that helmet, off and on, since, I think, the 1970s. At one time in the 80s they had a Giants-esque wordmark of DARTMOUTH on the side of the helmet, but they went back to the D on the front.
As for alphanumeric numbering — I am not surprised there hasn’t been this kind of thing before because digits tell you who’s an eligible lineman, receiver, or what have you. The Green Bay Packers should have receivers numbered 8A, 8B, 8C, etc, for example.
For a while, there was some rugby team in London (the Harlequins?) who numbered their players A-M instead of 1-15.
Ohio State and Cornell are two teams who, parenthetically, get around this by making three-digit uniforms (for practice only; if they have more than 100 on the sidelines, they’ll have duplicate numbers).
Look at the field hockey uniforms on this team:
http://emedia.citize...
These tie-dye jerseys are technically illegal since they are not a solid color.
#6 by duckstyle on 10.15.07 9:24 am |
Santana Moss wasn’t the only Redskin with a collared shirt on, if fact the group I watched the game with only saw the collared shirt on Clinton Portis. I’m not technologically advanced enough to put up a screen grab, but there was a perfect view of him on the sidelines right after Charles Woodson scored on the 57 yard fumble. Made the touchdown even sweeter in a way.
#7 by DenverGregg on 10.15.07 9:28 am |
Thanks for both the early post and the vexillological bit.
#8 by dm00n on 10.15.07 9:28 am |
Re: Mays, Mantle and Killebrew:
Anyone recognize the park?
#9 by dirwuf on 10.15.07 9:33 am |
…and even if Mantle WAS there in 1966, Busch Stadium had strictly red seats. Check out the video link at:
http://mlb.mlb.com/m...
A look at Shea Stadium’s (where the 1964 game was played) color scheme shows one identical to what’s on the card.
http://www.carlabrah...
So I’m fairly certain the pic is from the 1964 All Star Game.
#10 by DJ on 10.15.07 9:35 am |
Re: Mays, Mantle and Killebrew:
Anyone recognize the park?
Was that photo taken at the 1964 All-Star Game, which was played at Shea Stadium? That’d be my guess.
#11 by DJ on 10.15.07 9:36 am |
dirwuf beat me by two minutes. Nice job!
#12 by Ben Dover on 10.15.07 9:38 am |
Sure looks like FLUSHING MEADOWS PARK, err Shea to me too
#13 by dm00n on 10.15.07 9:38 am |
You must be right. The front of the second deck looks the same at Shea as it does in this photo, probably taken at the same time as the card.
Wrigley Field L.A. looks different.
#14 by Ben Dover on 10.15.07 9:38 am |
Can some please explain the stupidity of that idiot from Phoenix, Stautomire wearing his D-Bags jersey backwards?
#15 by My name is not Earl on 10.15.07 9:42 am |
Kriss Kross are making a comeback!!!
#16 by Pete on 10.15.07 9:44 am |
I had forgotten about the Dartmouth helmet. According to The Helmet Project, that’s been their look since the 60s, with the exception of 1987-1998. I like the “D” on the front with the stripes toward the side - very unique.
#17 by Kyle O. on 10.15.07 9:45 am |
Anyone else find it odd that on “throwbacks” they still put that stupid captains patch on the uniforms? Shouldn’t throwbacks be, well, somewhat accurate.
#18 by Pete on 10.15.07 9:45 am |
This is why the D-Bags are down 3-0 and about to get swept.
#19 by Justin on 10.15.07 9:46 am |
It was great to see Testaverde play this week. Third oldest QB to start a game… only younger than Steve DeBerg and Warren Moon.
#20 by Dee Dee on 10.15.07 9:48 am |
Why oh why didn’t the Chargers just switch back to the old-style powder blues that everyone’s been loving for years now? Why did they create an entirely new uni template–one that isn’t as good, IMHO–when they had the perfect alt uni all these years and all they had to do was switch to it full time? I know, marketing. I got it. Still don’t like it. The sad thing is the fans really loved those alt powder blues for years, now they’re stuck with these lamer versions.
#21 by Peter G on 10.15.07 9:51 am |
Can’t get enough women’s volleyball pix, no matter the reason!
#22 by Ben on 10.15.07 9:55 am |
Since the NFL fines players for having their jerseys untucked, can’t the NHL do something about Jaromir Jagr, who keeps wearing his jersey tucked in? Looks like crap.
Paul, I bet they can fine him for wearing Nike branded pants however. Note that the Nike logo has been colored in, perhaps, only for the reason that he wears his jersey tucked in as it wouldn’t be exposed with the jersey over it.
#23 by duckstyle on 10.15.07 10:09 am |
Agreed, the powder blues from years past were near perfection. It all come down to the white or blue patches were the bolts reside. makes it look so NFL Europe(RIP). I dont mind the dark blues that much, the road whites are terrible, and, sadly, I think the powder blues are the biggest eyesore of the group. Damn you Chargers’ brass, damn you!
#24 by Justin on 10.15.07 10:10 am |
I don’t know if it was mentioned yesterday or if it has ever been mentioned… but on Saturday I was briefly watching a football game (I can’t even remember what game.. prob Arkansas vs. Auburn) and they showed clips from a game that was 20-30 years old… a team that was playing in the clip (a red jerseyed team… might have been Arkansas) was wearing a jersey with a different color nameplate. I think the jersey was red with a white nameplate and red letters, but it could have been the opposite. Did anyone else see this and does anyone know what team it was for sure?
#25 by JeffB on 10.15.07 10:12 am |
Yesterday my 4 year old son and I were watching the Bears vs. Vikings game and he turned to me and said “Dad, what’s that dot on the back of that helmet for?” I’ve never been so proud of my little UniWatch buddy. Then I found out later he even explained it to his Mom! I may have to get him his own membership card for his birthday after that one.
#26 by duckstyle on 10.15.07 10:12 am |
Sorry for the back-to-back posts, but does anyone else notice that the blue on the Chargers unis looks a lot more highlighter blue than powder blue? Who was asleep at the wheel on that one?
#27 by Joe S on 10.15.07 10:13 am |
Round 3 is up of the NFL Uniform Tournament. I don’t want to spam uni-watch, but I put up this round last Friday and I’ve only had two votes! However, I know at least some people here enjoy it.
#28 by Jeff on 10.15.07 10:13 am |
I like the red Nike logo on Jagr’s pants:
http://us.i1.yimg.co...
Makes for a nice battle between Nike and Reebok on a single player’s body.
#29 by Justin on 10.15.07 10:17 am |
Just came up with this while researching Arkansas… in 2005 they punished “slackers” at practice by making them wear pink jerseys. Do they still do this?
#30 by Rich on 10.15.07 10:18 am |
I wonder if Tomlinson is purposely not wearing the flag decal, knowing Paul is going to point it out.
btw, all I got was a blank screen on the link.
#31 by Jim on 10.15.07 10:22 am |
I applaud you for patiently explaning it to him, rather than tursely directing him to the FAQ section!
#32 by Hank on 10.15.07 10:36 am |
Same reason why their ‘fans’ could not sellout a playoff game and then throw debris on the field. Draw your own conclusions.
#33 by J.T. on 10.15.07 10:42 am |
Santana Moss definitely appeared to be wearing a collared shirt yesterday. I think that it may have actually been a regular mock turtleneck that he may have slit in the middle. Either way he looked as bad as he played yesterday.
#34 by Boston Nick on 10.15.07 10:44 am |
I don’t think the NHL can do anything about that. Traditionally, guys have been able to wear whatever brand of pants they please with their unis. Most Bauer endorsers will definitely have Bauer pants.
The interesting thing is that Jagr is a Reebok endorser with his helmet, gloves (although to my eyes, it looks like he’s wearing a pair of older Koho gloves with a RBK logo covering the cuff) and stick (not sure if he wears RBK or CCM skates…he’s always been a GRaf guy). I’d assume that fact could have implications with RBK not being happy to see a swoosh on one of it’s guys.
Also, the gloves being one brand, but having the logo of another is hardly just a Jagr thing. For a few years, Joe Thornton, one of CCM’s main endorsers, has been wearing black Eastons either with a blacked out cuff logo or a CCM logo placed on the cuff. The tell-tale sign on some of these gloves is the logo or design on the thumbs.
#35 by Dee Dee on 10.15.07 10:45 am |
i agree with you on that point, it’s not the actual powder blue, at least it doesn’t look it to me either. good point, BTW, about the look resembling nfl europe - the whole new uni design is very nfl europe actually. i actually liked their most recent unis, the ones they’ve worn for the past decade or two. the dark blues. very nice. but the powder blue throwbacks were the best, so it would have been nice to see them switch to powder blue throwbacks as main uni, especially for day games, then maybe wear the regular dark blues for night games. but instead we get all new nfl europe versions of these unis. just a mess. nice job, chargers, nice job.
#36 by scott on 10.15.07 10:49 am |
Nice to see the Saints in gold pants last night. When will they start wearing those at home again?
#37 by Dee Dee on 10.15.07 10:49 am |
one more thing about the chargers unis–they had really nice unis back in the dan fouts days also. those were sort of an in-between shade of blue: not too dark, not too light. maybe closer to royal blue? those were sweet also. so, if you look back, the chargers have had some pretty sweet unis over time. this latest batch just looks wrong, however.
#38 by Mike on 10.15.07 10:49 am |
Love guru?
http://news.yahoo.co...
#39 by Elena E on 10.15.07 10:51 am |
The Wisconsin throw-back basketball uni’s make the guys look like Raggedy Ann, with those modern, bloomery shorts.
#40 by Joe Drennan on 10.15.07 10:54 am |
It’s the movie he’s working on where he apparently plays a love guru for some hockey player. I have no idea but will probably see it simply because it’s a hockey movie, then wish I hadn’t - same as I did with Slap Shot 2.
#41 by Brian C on 10.15.07 10:57 am |
I remember that before the Red Sox switched to the red crowned cap back in seventies they wore what Bill Lee called the “Peanut Vendor’s” cap, with a blue crown and red front panel. I forgot about the solid red alternate socks, though. Now that many players show a lot of sock that they’d go back to the ones with the blue and white stripes on them. I know the new ownership changed to solid red socks because “they’re the Red Sox”, but they went overboard with red sleeves (I miss the blue sleeves), red batting practice and alternate jerseys, red warm-up jackets (at home, anyway), etc. Why not just exclusively sign red heads and communists while they’re at it? As long as they don’t switch to red hats…
#42 by Brian C on 10.15.07 10:58 am |
I meant to say “Now that many players show a lot of sock I wish that they’d go back to the ones with the blue and white stripes on them.”
#43 by Dee Dee on 10.15.07 10:58 am |
yes, the saints gold pants are great. all of this nfl uni talk about the chargers and saints makes me want to list my top five favorite current nfl unis.
1. browns. so classic, so amazingly cool. no one today would pick brown and orange as their team colors. just awesome. never change, cleveland, never change!
2. bears. i think the bears and browns might actually be tied for best two unis in the league. again, so classic, but just a great color combo and design–all of the sleave and sock striping, the cool number design, the great helmet “C”.
3. raiders. sensing a theme here…classic!
4. saints. ONLY when they wear gold pants. the all black combo is just awful. their helmet design is great.
5. cowboys. i like how they use a navy blue for their dark jerseys rather than the main royal blue they use on their home whites. interesting. great helmet too.
i also like the dolphins (just wish they’d ditch the block letter/numbers), the panthers caroline blues (not the blacks so much and their logo is crap), colts, chiefs, and packers.
#44 by SWC Susan (aka Tex) on 10.15.07 11:11 am |
Odd how similar Houston and Dallas flags are…
#45 by jonsel on 10.15.07 11:13 am |
Regarding the Adidas logo creep at Yankee Stadium, that is merely a camera angle issue. The Adidas flag is on one of the poles atop the outfield facade, while the US flag (and an MIA flag as well) is on a flagpole in Monument Park.
#46 by Boston Nick on 10.15.07 11:13 am |
I completely agree about the stirrups/socks. I really miss the blue and white striping on those…Tek would look awesome with that look.
I disagree about the sleeves though. I do like the red sleeves under the jerseys. Getting more red in a way that’s not overly intrusive (like the alternate jersey, which I’m not a big fan of) is fine by me.
As far as the batting practice stuff, I can deal with all that. I just wish they hadn’t changed the BP cap design, because I have had the previous incarnation (blue hat, red bill) for about 4 years. It’s comfortable as hell (love the flexfit) and a look that I love, but it’s not easy to find a replacement now that it’s the old model.
#47 by Stuby on 10.15.07 11:13 am |
In regards to a discussion from a week or so ago, Boise State and San Jose State both have a different logo for each side of the helmet.
#48 by Max on 10.15.07 11:16 am |
From: http://imdb.com/titl...
The Love Guru
Plot Outline:
Pitka (Meyers) an American raised outside of his country by gurus, returns to the States in order to break into the self-help business. His first challenge: To settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of a star hockey player (Malco) whose wife left him for a rival athlete (Timberlake).
It’s going to have Jessica Alba in it also.
I wanna see Justin Timberlake and Romany Malco
on skates.
#49 by Justin on 10.15.07 11:19 am |
That is a moot point… the adidas logo shouldn’t even be flying on a flag. the adidas’ marketing team totally thought of this branding oppertunity knowing the camera angles.
#50 by dm00n on 10.15.07 11:29 am |
What is up with the swoosh socks that Michigan State is wearing? Or are those some sort of undershorts?
Meanwhile, the goalie is mixing it up.
#51 by todd krevanchi on 10.15.07 11:30 am |
its funny how the joke that goes,
“whats the best movie about golf? caddyshack.
whats the worst movie about golf? caddyshack 2.”
applies to slapshot as well.
#52 by Mike on 10.15.07 11:31 am |
I was so happy to see the Rox back in black last night. Are they pointless vests? Yes. Are they ugly? No. And are the Rox unbeatable in black? Hell yes!
#53 by Shane on 10.15.07 11:32 am |
Speaking of city flags, how could we possibly forget the greatness that was the old Chicago Fire third jersey?
#54 by Mike on 10.15.07 11:33 am |
Jeff Lerg is still the Michigan State goalie?! I thought he graduated! So much for the rest of the CCHA this season, they’re screwed.
#55 by Phil on 10.15.07 11:36 am |
Were Gilmour & Ferguson issued team neck ties for the event?
#56 by Alan #44 on 10.15.07 11:39 am |
Regarding the city flags, I love that the Denver flag is similar to the NHL Rockies unis, and that the NYC flag is Blue and White, like the Mets USED to be.
#57 by Johnrocks_32 on 10.15.07 11:42 am |
Is it just me or does the Steelers pants on thew home uniform not look Steelers Gold
#58 by Johnrocks_32 on 10.15.07 11:43 am |
WHAT?
#59 by Mark Max on 10.15.07 11:44 am |
That’s actually the Hockey Fights Cancer necktie, you can actually buy it at the shop on NHL.com.
#60 by Jason on 10.15.07 11:45 am |
Love the city flag site. The ratings are just about perfect IMO. The top 20 or so are works of art and the bottom 20 or so…I mean, what was Milwaukee thinking?!?!?
#61 by Mark Max on 10.15.07 11:46 am |
Here’s a link to the tie.
#62 by Karl Anderson on 10.15.07 11:46 am |
http://www.startribu...
All of the Nike college hockey teams wear those socks. Speaking of college hockey-the Gophers are back to wearing Nike under their necks and have lost the “Easton” logo (for a stick sponsorship) this year.
#63 by jere on 10.15.07 11:50 am |
About the sleeves: I have noticed some Red Sox players wearing blue sleeves under the uniform again. Late this season. So maybe they’re making a comeback.
About the ‘74 hats. I had also never seen an actual photo of these, until I found one this past August and blogged about it. Click on the pic in that post, and you can really tell, especially on Bill Lee, right in the middle, that there’s blue on the side of the cap. And on the action shots, it’s hard to tell but the socks are solid red.
#64 by Sean on 10.15.07 11:56 am |
That 1968 card photo is definitely from 1964 for a few reasons.The All Star Game at the time had the NL use home stadiums in even years. Secondly, Mantle was not selected for the 1966 game eliminating St. Louis as a venue.
All three were in the Starting Lineups for the 1964 ASG.
Plus, Shea had yellow field level seats in 1964, so it obviously has to be 1964.
#65 by Shane on 10.15.07 11:57 am |
I know Jon Lester wears black, and I’m pretty sure Mike Timlin ditched his camo for the black as well. Glad to see blue making a comeback though.
#66 by Roger Bertholf on 10.15.07 11:58 am |
Did anyone else happen to note that in yesterday’s (NFL week 6) game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans, the Jags were in black pants with white jerseys, and the Texans were in white pants with black jerseys. Both teams wear black helmets. For a minute there, I thought I was watching a b/w broadcast.
#67 by John M on 10.15.07 12:03 pm |
I was dissapointed in my school’s (ODU) choice of football uniform. I had seen a couple sketches on their website and it had a simple “Old Dominion” across the chest. Oh well.
#68 by ross on 10.15.07 12:05 pm |
Also, the four stars on the Chicago flag represent important events in the city’s history (the actual chicago fire, the columbian exposition, etc.) One of their selling points for the 2016 Olympics is that they will add a fifth star to the flag commemorating the games.
#69 by markcg12 on 10.15.07 12:12 pm |
The Texans wear dark navy blue jerseys and navy blue helmets.
#70 by Jonathon on 10.15.07 12:13 pm |
Helton’s undershirt was on backwards last night. The MLB logo was visible just above the top button of his jersey. It was definitely a Nike Dri-Fit undershirt - and the MLB logo is on the back of the neckline of that Nike product. It was pretty clear during the close-up shots of his at-bats. However, by the end of the game, I guess he turned it around. I don’t have photos of the at-bats, but here he is at the end of the game:
http://sports.yahoo....
#71 by Mike from Queens on 10.15.07 12:13 pm |
The NHL Rockies unis took their design from the Colorado state flag, so it’s not surprising to see Denver’s look like that.
As for the NYC flags… the one on that site is red, white, and blue, which is obviously not the Mets’ colors. But this picture is kind of interesting. Plus, we all know how the Mets got their colors, and it’s not from the state/city flag.
#72 by joe on 10.15.07 12:13 pm |
i’d much prefer Alba in a figure skating outfit.
#73 by krista on 10.15.07 12:18 pm |
in reference to the volleyball socks, those aren’t just plain spots, those guys actually have little volleyballs on them.
#74 by Ian K on 10.15.07 12:19 pm |
I get it that Nike sponsors the team unis. But why couldn’t they put the swoosh on a blue field to match the uniforms? The red looks so out of place.
#75 by dm00n on 10.15.07 12:22 pm |
The Detroit flag has the stars and stripes of the US in the upper left and lower right, lions representing England in the upper right and fleurs-de-lis representing France in the lower right. All of this business surrounds the city seal. The Detroit Historical Museum flies flags of the United Kingdom and France next to the US flag. The flag designs represent the eras when Detroit was a French and British owned city.
For my money, they should change the city flag to a design with the Spirit of Detroit.
#76 by John on 10.15.07 12:36 pm |
Wait, wait, wait….. Romany Malco is playing a star Hockey player? And no one else realizes the irony of that?
#77 by Thomps on 10.15.07 12:37 pm |
FYI, Hawaii switched up their road uniforms this week by adding their home green helmet. I wonder who makes the call on which helmet to wear on the road? Apparently they have also twice worn the silver helmets at home.
Road Uni with Silver Helmet
Road Uniform with Green Helmet
Home Uniform with Green Helmet
Home Uniform with Silver Helmet
Home Uniform with Silver Helmet and Silver Pants
Here is an artcile detailing their recent helmet history.
Regardless, in my opinion they need to scrap the home/road helmet thing and stick with the green helmet. Also, they should switch to Dark Green pants both at home and on the road.
Which do you think looks the best?
#78 by E Ro on 10.15.07 12:39 pm |
Also, all OHL teams wear an equivalent RBK logo on their socks.
#79 by Stormwater Design on 10.15.07 12:40 pm |
The Jets kind of looked like LSU or U of Pitt yesterday.
#80 by Nuk on 10.15.07 12:42 pm |
You know you’ve married the right person, when your wife comes in during the Buffalo-Dallas game last Monday and says - “Why are they (Dallas) wearing pants the colour of my grandmother’s Oldsmobile? They don’t match the helmet or anything else.” and then wanders in during the Dallas-NE game and says “I still can’t understand why they’re wearing ‘ice-mint’ pants…” - leading to a great discussion on uniforms and aesthetic choices.
#81 by Web Designer on 10.15.07 12:43 pm |
Who wouldn’t wear a ski cap for some Denver baseball in October? :) Just think how cold and possibly snowy it will be by the time the Red Sox or Indians arrive.
#82 by John T on 10.15.07 12:45 pm |
Was watching the Pats/Dallas game on Sky Sports in Ireland and saw a weird thing. They had a Gold Patriots helmet on display. They always have a helmet for each team in front of the in studio analysts and I guess they did not want the 2 silver helmets on display. Is this part of an alt uni for the pats (just wondering)??
(I hope that this is not related to the Tampa Bay font question!!)
#83 by Ronnie Poore on 10.15.07 12:46 pm |
i wish they’d make the pants stripes the same as the helmet stripes….black/white/black. the big wide black stripe seems a copy of the steelers design.
#84 by Michael Fraser on 10.15.07 12:48 pm |
In 1952 when UCLA went up to play California, Cal made UCLA wear a white uniform, since UCLA’s “powder keg blue”, blue uniform were a blue against Cal’s navy. (Actually 1952 was the one year UCLA wore white pants, and that Cal wore a dark blue helmet with UCLA wearing a gold one, there would have been enough contrast).
The white uniforms UCLA wore that day used a letter/number setup instead of numbers. For instance center/middle linebacker Don Moumaw wor C3 instead of his now retired #80. The letter worn for the 1st digit was the posistion played, and the 2nd digit was in alphabetical order. So the quarterbacks were Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.
#85 by timmy b on 10.15.07 1:02 pm |
I’m trying to compile a list of uniform quirks and eccentricities that aren’t part of a team’s official uni specs but have nonetheless become part of the team’s established protocol. Examples would include the Cowboys’ Dymo Tape helmet nameplates (as seen at right) and jersey tie-downs, the Giants’ rounded nameplates, the Bears’ horizontal shoulder darts, the Steelers’ heavily ribbed socks, the Red Wings’ preseason use of straight nameplates, and so on. Care to contribute some additional examples? You know what to do.
the steelers never wear the front helmet numerals in the pre-season games. they always wear them on the front in the regular season.
#86 by Kenny on 10.15.07 1:03 pm |
I think they look like Army
#87 by Jake on 10.15.07 1:05 pm |
Please excuse me if I missed a conversation on this earlier, but did anyone else notice that Bill Belichick was wearing a polo shirt on the sideline yesterday ?
Instead of the “I’m a bum” ragged sweatshirt look, he was rocking the “I’m a coach in the NFL” look.
Is there a story here ?
Very weird.
#88 by kings33 on 10.15.07 1:07 pm |
You’ve just made the case for some DAY GAMES! Denver’s got highs in the ’50’s and 60’s for the next 10 days, with lows in the ’40s. How about some 4PM Mountain time starts…6 PM on the East Coast?
#89 by GoMac on 10.15.07 1:09 pm |
Alright..I didn’t get to read through the comments yet..but about Rutgers wearing black pants..I put on the game and didn’t realize it was us playing until I saw the score..
But I kinda saw it coming..because we changed our pants after the Maryland loss..so it only made sense to change it up..
Plus..I’m thinking this is the next step to have a “Black Out” game against South Florida this Thursday..which I think would be pretty sweet..even though I don’t like all blacks..
#90 by Pat on 10.15.07 1:09 pm |
Anyone care to share with an uninformed person?
I’ve never heard the story before.
#91 by Shaftman on 10.15.07 1:10 pm |
What was nice about the Jets throwback day was the way the orginization went all out (in the uni dept, certainly not on the field). Even Coach Mangini and the Flight Crew got into the act.
#92 by Philly Bill on 10.15.07 1:11 pm |
Apparently two links is too many for the post eater.
Let’s try again — here is a shot of the credit card that looks like my Uni Watch membership card:
http://www.texanscu....
#93 by Philly Bill on 10.15.07 1:12 pm |
Blue from the Dodgers, orange from the Giants… right?
#94 by Billy D on 10.15.07 1:18 pm |
I really liked the Jets throwbacks yesterday. It seems like the Fox commentators didn’t though. While watching the Vikings-Bears game I heard multiple comments about the “ugly” Jets uniforms. When will people learn Jets throwbacks=good, Vikings/Bengals/Cardinals new uniforms=ugly?
#95 by Joe from WV on 10.15.07 1:19 pm |
…plus the pinstripes from the Yankees.
#96 by Pat on 10.15.07 1:20 pm |
Makes sense. Thanks.
#97 by Mark in Shiga on 10.15.07 1:26 pm |
Any pictures of these? I’m a big triple-digit aficionado. Here in Japanese baseball, many staffers and other non-players such as BP pitchers, bullpen catchers, interpreters, conditioning assistants, and the like get such numbers. And since last season, “developmental players” (who can appear in JV games only) have to wear three digits. The C