Baseball Betting at Bodog Sports


01.23.08

The Ruptured Duck

at57.jpg

On the “Dressed to the Nines” page devoted to patches, there’s a small paragraph that reads as follows:

In 1945, former servicemen Peanuts Lowrey, Paul Gillespie and Mickey Livingston of the Chicago Cubs were each allowed to wear a special honorable discharge patch, affectionately known as the “ruptured duck,” on their sleeve. Though other clubs discussed the idea, apparently no other players donned these patches.

There are no photos accompanying that text, and I’d never seen a shot of the patch in question until a few days ago, when I got a note from reader Daniel Ostroff-Moskowitz. “I recently went to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, where they have an exhibit on baseball during the war,” he wrote. “I saw these pictures which I found to be interesting.” Sure enough, that’s the ruptured duck being worn by Lowrey, Gillespie, and Livingston.

But what intrigued me more was the museum’s exhibit caption, which Daniel also photographed. As you can see, it mentions a letter that expressed concern about “how those players who didn’t serve [in the war] might be received and even ostracized by fans due to the patch,” which is apparently why the patch wasn’t used by other teams. Unfortunately, Daniel didn’t photograph the letter itself, which I was curious to see.

So I contacted Tom Shieber at the Hall of Fame. Sure enough, he had the letter (which, incidentally, was sent by American League prexy Will Harridge to representatives of four of the eight A.L. clubs, not to National League teams as stated in the museum caption). Since it’s hard to read at that size, here’s a transcript:

July 17, 1945

Messrs. Harry Grabiner
Donald L. Barnes
Jack Zeller
Alva Bradley

Gentlemen:

I enclose herewith sample of the emblem which the War Department has issued to be worn by boys honorably discharged from the service. The sample I am sending you was prepared by the Chicago Embrodiery [sic] Company, which furnished the shield now worn by our ball players.

One Major League Club, at least, The Chicago Cubs, has this emblem attached to the uniform of their players honorably discharged. I will leave it to your judgment as to whether or not this is desirable. There are two sides to it, of course. It may attract too much attention to players who, through no fault of their own, did not enter the service.

If you desire any of the emblems, we will be glad to furnish them on receipt of advice with the number.

As I had only four samples, will ask that you return the enclosed at the earliest possible date so that I can contact the four eastern clubs.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours,

{Signature} Will Harridge {End of signature}
President

There are several remarkable things about this letter, but the one that stands out is Harridge’s recognition that healthy patriotism can often mutate into ugly jingoism. It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

A few other notes regarding the ruptured duck:

• Although “Dressed to the Nines” states that only three Cubs wore the patch, Todd Radom has come up with a fourth: Hiram Bithorn.

• Red Ruffing of the Yankees also wore the patch. No photo, though.

• Finally, take a look at that patch. It’s an eagle, not a duck, and what exactly is “ruptured” about it? According to Wikipedia, the term’s genesis is unknown — but that’s, y’know, Wikipedia. Anyone know more about this?

martini.gif

NYC Party Info: Okay, we’re good to go for a Brooklyn Uni Watch party on Saturday, February 2nd (the day before the Super Bowl). We’ll convene at 2:30 p.m. at Sheep Station, an Aussie-themed pub with plenty of beer choices, a short but excellent menu of chow options, and plenty of room to stretch out. See you there. OK? OK.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Remember how I didn’t have any photos to go with yesterday’s lead entry? Still don’t have any, but we now have a video clip that shows exactly what was going on (big thanks to Mike King). … Got an interesting note yesterday from Orlando Rodriguez, who writes: “With Monday being the Martin Luther King Day, it reminded me of a period when Arizona didn’t have an official MLK holiday (which led the rap group Public Enemy to cancel their sold-out concert in Phoenix), so the Arizona basketball team wore an MLK patch on their uniforms and warm-ups. I remember the first time I saw it, it looked like it said MILK (I was probably around 10 years old). Have any other teams taken a political stance on jerseys?” … David Kranz reports that many people on something called the Jam Cruise (which sounds like a nightmare and a half) were wearing these bizarre-o glitter helmets. Where’s that giant iceberg when you need it? … Lots of gorgeous views here of a game-used 1965 Reds vest, complete with subscript NOB (with thanks to Robert Eden). … As many of you know, the WFL briefly experimented with position-specific pant designs. Whenever that topic comes up, the photo that people refer to is always this one. Anyone got any others? … Some genius on YouTube has come to the brilliant conclusion that authentic NBA jerseys might not be such a good bargain. … Glynn McGehee noticed Georgia Tech wearing some cool sneakers the other day. As always, I’m too sneaker-clueless to know whether these are actually a new design, so I consulted our own Todd Krevanchi, who says, “That shoe is the Nike Zoom BB. The schools that wear these shoes often get exclusive colorways. USC has recently been wearing a maroon/yellow version, which readers on the Nike Talk blog have described as ‘Ronald McDonald’ shoes.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The New York Post ran an interview with R. W. McQuarters on Sunday. Here’s the uni-pertinent part: “Q: [What’s up with] the SpongeBob bandage you used to wear under your right eye? A: Last year was Dora, SpongeBob and a little bit of Scooby-Doo. So this year, it was Hello Kitty, but I ran out of Hello Kitty Band-Aids, so in my bag I just had a bunch of Band-Aids from last year, and I pulled out one and it happened to be SpongeBob. Q: Why under the right eye? A: Demond Parker, we went to the same high school, and our first varsity game he said, ‘Man, we’re gonna wear a Band-Aid up under the right eye.’ I don’t know what it meant.” Man, is that a contender for World’s Least Satisfying Interview Segment Ever or what? … Good article here about the Canadiens’ equipment manager (with thanks to Casey B). … Monday’s Ticker item about old NFL kiddie merch prompted Thomas Turner to send in some photos from his own collection, including these Rawlings helmets (note the black Saints model, which was only used during the 1969 preseason), these MacGregor helmet, and this MacGregor ad. Surprised to see Johnny U. wearing a MacGreger lid — did he ever wear one on the field? Thought he was strictly a Riddell man. … Not uni-related, but Vince just pointed me toward this site which is full of college poll-ranking info — recommended. … The annoying and thoroughly unacceptable advertising sleeve patch worn by the A’s and Red Sox for their season-opening series in Japan will look like this. Depressing details here. … Great contribution from Chris Cruz, who reports that the Emerald City Gazette uses soccer jerseys to denote its issue numbers, as seen here and here (lots of additional examples here). I really, really like that. … Much worse (although in a sort of delicious kind of way) is the All Sports Band, an unlistenable hard-rock outfit dressed in athletic garb. Major points to anyone who can get though this entire video clip without puking (blame Tom Richards, not me). … Decent article here about NASCAR auto numbers (courtesy of Adam deNobriga). … Interesting observation from James DeFrank, who writes: “This week’s Senior Bowl features something that I can’t ever recall seeing in an all-star-type game: Two of the North’s quarterbacks are Chad Henne of Michigan and Joe Flacco of Delaware, who wear nearly identical helmets (just a different shade of blue). During practice this week, it appears that the coaches, organizers, or even Flacco himself have decided to distinguish Flacco from Henne by outfitting him in a generic white helmet. Unfortunately I can’t find a picture but the white helmet is seen and even mentioned in a video clip on this page.” … Special thanks to the several readers I saw at last night’s Union Hall event — good times.

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Technorati
  • YahooMyWeb
  • NewsVine
  • Furl
  • StumbleUpon
  • Spurl
  • Reddit



great display of some classic uniforms over at spawn.com:

http://www.spawn.com...

when i think warren moon, i think techmo bowl dominance!

Anyone know the deal with the blue Colts helmet in the Tony Dungy press conference?????

Not good at linking but here is something you can copy and paste.

http://sports.yahoo....

In my opinion, I think the “I don’t know, I’ve always done it this way” sort of uniform quirk/tradition is one of my favorite sort of answers. ot everything has to have some vast sort of meaning or purpose, just as sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. Routine is confort for a LOT of people.

Anyone know the deal with the blue Colts helmet in the Tony Dungy press conference?????

Not good at linking but here is something you can copy and paste.

http://sports.yahoo....

I wouldn’t read too much into it. The Colts aren’t changing their uniforms. And I’ve seen reversed images like that around Indy for years. It’s just a graphic, not a representation of something we’ll see on the field.

ok…when paul posted this, who didn’t immediately think of this?

you know you did

I think my previous post got eaten.

But, here’s Joe Flacco in the white helmet and Chad Henne in the Michigan “wing” helmet.

Picture

I think they could have let them both wear the helmet, they’re two different shades of blue.

Hopefully Flacco gets to wear his Delaware helmet during the game.

The NBA Authentics video guy asks why they don’t make Authentics authentic.

So….

Why don’t they make Authentics authentic? Is it just the higher margins of offshore production? Lead times? Cussedness?

joe flacco of delaware

i think this might be the missing link

ok…when paul posted this, who didn’t immediately think of this?

you know you did

My hand’s raised.

Ruptured Duck -

When I was 19, I asked my dad if I could wear his Eisenhower jacket. He agreed, so long as we removed the ruptured duck patch. I asked him why it was called that. He said the circle reminded folks of a truss - the common way to deal with a rupture. The “duck”, in his opinion, was a play on “lame duck” as only those no longer on active duty would wear that insignia.

I think “ruptured” probably refers to the way the outer ring intersects the right wing. I thought it was a visually jarring effect even before I read the entry.

what is a ruptured duck?

I think my previous post got eaten.

But, here’s Joe Flacco in the white helmet and Chad Henne in the Michigan “wing” helmet.

Picture

I think they could have let them both wear the helmet, they’re two different shades of blue.

Hopefully Flacco gets to wear his Delaware helmet during the game.

i hope so too…
flacco had a better season than henne…

I think my previous post got eaten.

But, here’s Joe Flacco in the white helmet and Chad Henne in the Michigan “wing” helmet.

Picture

I think they could have let them both wear the helmet, they’re two different shades of blue.

Hopefully Flacco gets to wear his Delaware helmet during the game.

Agreed! UD wears Royal Blue.

Go Joe!

Anyone know the deal with the blue Colts helmet in the Tony Dungy press conference?????

Not good at linking but here is something you can copy and paste.

http://sports.yahoo....

Its no so much that it is blue… its just white lines, not colored in. It happens to be on blue material (a blue that isn’t even their color blue).

I think there was some controversy and resentment about the role of baseball players in the military in WWII. A few players served like every other soldier and many were awarded for valor. However, I am pretty sure that most of those who served (and there were some that called in special favors to avoid service) served in a largely symbolic capacity. Playing unit or service baseball games were a full time job for the majority of baseball players called into service.

I think it is great that majority thought they would rather not wear on their uniforms.

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

Anyone know the deal with the blue Colts helmet in the Tony Dungy press conference?????

Not good at linking but here is something you can copy and paste.

http://sports.yahoo....

Its no so much that it is blue… its just white lines, not colored in. It happens to be on blue material (a blue that isn’t even their color blue).

If y’all are talking about the helmet image on the podium then you are looking for controversy (conspiracy?) where there is none. It’s fairly obvious to me that the podium front is just a piece of black plastic (or like material) with an outline of the helmet in white. Nothing more, nothing less.

another raptured duck???

http://www.flickr.co...

Henne/Flacco links in the Ticker now fixed.

The annoying and thoroughly unacceptable advertising sleeve patch worn by the A’s and Red Sox for their season-opening series in Japan will look like this. Depressing details here. …

They couldn’t even give that Asian guy the new hat? They had to give him a 2006 leftover hat with the grey underbill? Geeze…..

ok…when paul posted this, who didn’t immediately think of this?

you know you did

Not me. For some reason I immediately thought of this show.

Surprised to see Johnny U. wearing a MacGreger lid — did he ever wear one on the field?

Here is a pic I took of a Unitas game helmet at Baltimore’s Sports Legends Museum. I don’t know much about helmets, so I’m not sure if it’s a MacGreger or not.

ok…when paul posted this, who didn’t immediately think of this?

you know you did

Leader in the clubhouse for the comment of the day, and it came at 9:02 AM!

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

You’re the one creating a controversy here — where did I refer to Obama??

The NBA Authentics video guy asks why they don’t make Authentics authentic.

So….

Why don’t they make Authentics authentic? Is it just the higher margins of offshore production? Lead times? Cussedness?

Two words:

e Bay.

If you make an authentic too good, it’s easy to make a counterfeit “game worn” jersey. There was an article in USA Today about how the Astros replicas by Majestic have a felt star rather than a screen-printed or tackle-twill star.

Mitchell & Ness does its best to replicate everything, but even then, there are limits to exactly how far it will go to replicate The Actual Jersey.

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

Patriotism is the refuge of the scoundrel. Exhibit A: Don King.

Joe Flacco’s helmet never arrived from Delaware. They gave him the generic white helmet while at the Senior Bowl, as they usually keep a handful of extra helmets around. His helmet should arrive by gametime, so he will be wearing it. NFL Network has been broadcasting the Senior Bowl practices this past week and they mentioned it on Monday. The practices are at 10:30 and 4:30 for the rest of the week, so his helmet could arrive at any time. Somehow the forgotten helmet problem has occured before in this game, with the player wearing the same plain white helmet as Flacco.

ok…when paul posted this, who didn’t immediately think of this?

you know you did

So which one out of the All Sports band’s the one who actually is gay then? A fun game for all the family!

I love the fact that we can make jokes about events where just over 1500 people died. So good to see someone get bent out of shape about something that wasn’t even political when there’s a clear swipe at the most famous (infamous?) maritime disaster of the last century. No sarcasm here, Paul. I loved it.

Did anyone else find this kind of thing a little creepy? Maybe its a function of the way these kinds of issues are covered nowadays, but grown men who collect pictures of young boy models in uniforms makes me a little uncomfortable. I’m in no way suggesting anything, but I’m kind of curious if I’m the only one who saw it and reacted in a weird way.

It’s kind of a shame that when I saw that I had an immediately negative reaction–the guy’s clearly reliving his own childhood–but, in the same breath, I can’t be alone. Again, not a judgment, but more of a personal observation.

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

You’re the one creating a controversy here — where did I refer to Obama??

Not trying to stir the controversy pot, but just wanted to note that while yes, a recent “controversy” (read: slow news day) came about due to some Presidential candidates, the flag pin issue has been a point of contention since 9/11.

It reminds me of the Sean Taylor decal. Where is the stopping point? It’s not an issue of whether it’s right or wrong for players to still be wearing, it’s about Goodell lacking foresight on the issue.

Just my $.02.

I have an old Rawlings Giants youth helmet from when I was a kid that I need to put on eBay. Apparently my mom is sick of it, and I have realized I don’t need that many things from when I was a kid. Not as vintage as those though, has the Giants wordmark.

As a former Fightin’ Blue Hen I can tell you that Delaware’s helmets essentially are Michigan’s helmets. They were based on their design so as to honor the alma mater of their longtime athletic director (David Nelson) and their former coach, Tubby Raymond. I do believe also that Delaware’s (awesome) fight song is also based on the counter-melody of Michigan’s.

The page with the NBDL video also has an AHL video. It says the Idaho Stampede and Alska Aces are wearing the uniforms of their parent clubs (Dallas and St. Louis) but they’re both wearing last year’s uniforms.

I think McQuarter’s answers is one of the best I’ve ever heard. Q: Why do you wear a Sponge Bob band-aid? A: Because I ran out of Hello Kitty band-aids.

I love it.

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

You’re the one creating a controversy here — where did I refer to Obama??

Not trying to stir the controversy pot, but just wanted to note that while yes, a recent “controversy” (read: slow news day) came about due to some Presidential candidates, the flag pin issue has been a point of contention since 9/11.

It reminds me of the Sean Taylor decal. Where is the stopping point? It’s not an issue of whether it’s right or wrong for players to still be wearing, it’s about Goodell lacking foresight on the issue.

Just my $.02.

ugh here we go…

The page with the NBDL video also has an AHL video. It says the Idaho Stampede and Alska Aces are wearing the uniforms of their parent clubs (Dallas and St. Louis) but they’re both wearing last year’s uniforms.

I believe the alaska aces are part of the ECHL

Paul - I have video somewhere that shows the various multi-colored WFL pants in action (more than just the two in the often-referred-to shot you linked). I’ll try to make screen grabs when I get home tonight.

Also, the upcoming Joe Montana 2 McFarlane shows him in the uniforms the 49ers should never have abandoned and should go back to forthwith.

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

You’re the one creating a controversy here — where did I refer to Obama??

Not trying to stir the controversy pot, but just wanted to note that while yes, a recent “controversy” (read: slow news day) came about due to some Presidential candidates, the flag pin issue has been a point of contention since 9/11.

It reminds me of the Sean Taylor decal. Where is the stopping point? It’s not an issue of whether it’s right or wrong for players to still be wearing, it’s about Goodell lacking foresight on the issue.

Just my $.02.

ugh here we go…

I didn’t come here to read about political controversy, i came here to see pretty uniform pictures.

Can we nip this in the bud NOW

Thankyou

That Sears Wishbook stuff brings back so many memories! I had so much of the Packers gear as kid. Those “wool/leather” jackets were practically required at my grade school. I felt like the only kid in New Jersey with a Green Bay jacket.

great display of some classic uniforms over at spawn.com:

http://www.spawn.com...

when i think warren moon, i think techmo bowl dominance!

I’m still irritated at the Series 3 Reggie Eagles figure.

Green long sleeves worn with the Kelly Green jersey? Heresy!

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

I’m not even thinking of lapel pins myself, but the insistence on leagues to continue to violate the US Flag Code by putting decals and flag patches on uniforms of teams, where they clearly do not belong. It’s just plain insulting to the flag, yet we consider it “patriotic?” Remind me who’s more patriotic next time somebody is burning the flag in protest of something. Perhaps grinding it into the dirt would be more acceptable?

It’s hard to imagine any league president or commissioner exhibiting that kind of foresight and courage today, in an era where some folks treat American flag lapel pins as loyalty litmus tests.

Um, that was a controversy of Obama’s own making… some believe he insulted people who do wear flag pins by claiming their patriotism might be phony.

I’m not even thinking of lapel pins myself, but the insistence on leagues to continue to violate the US Flag Code by putting decals and flag patches on uniforms of teams, where they clearly do not belong. It’s just plain insulting to the flag, yet we consider it “patriotic?” Remind me who’s more patriotic next time somebody is burning the flag in protest of something. Perhaps grinding it into the dirt would be more acceptable?

Thank you Rick. That was point I was trying to make– lack of foresight.

That Sears Wishbook stuff brings back so many memories! I had so much of the Packers gear as kid. Those “wool/leather” jackets were practically required at my grade school. I felt like the only kid in New Jersey with a Green Bay jacket.

Being of slightly older vintage than the pages shown yesterday, I had an item that does not appear in them: An NFL bath towel set. The large towel and hand towel had the names of all (24) of the teams in some great early 70s fonts. But the kicker was the washcloth, which simply had the NFL logo. It was beautiful.

but the insistence on leagues to continue to violate the US Flag Code by putting decals and flag patches on uniforms of teams, where they clearly do not belong.

I see your point.

That said, I think regardless of US Flag Code (which, by the way, says:

# (j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.

I guess sports teams doesn’t count, but did flag insignias show up on baseball teams during/after WWI? If so, that’s when that ship sailed.)

Regardless of that, and regardless of the notion that the vast majority of Americans are clueless about the rules regarding the US flag, I don’t think most Americans have a problem with flag representations on athletic uniforms. Does that make it right? Probably not. But if you believe that the nation is the people, if the people’s will is that it’s okay, I’m okay with it.

Remind me who’s more patriotic next time somebody is burning the flag in protest of something. Perhaps grinding it into the dirt would be more acceptable?

Completely dangerous tangent we’re in danger of here, but I’ll say this:

“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, ’cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, “You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.” You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms.

I’m a fairly staunch Republican and that was written by a pretty liberal Hollywood Democrat. But it’s a point of view I agree with. YMMV.

Check out the fifth bullet point.

say what you will about the use of an american flag or symbol on helmets, lapels and jerseys, but this is just wrong

now…back to unis?

say what you will about the use of an american flag or symbol on helmets, lapels and jerseys, but this is just wrong

now…back to unis?

rex kwon do?

what is a ruptured duck?

I now know why there was a food stand called ‘The Ruptured Duck’ at the Barn(Vetrans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines).

And now, for a somewhat uni-related post. I recently attended (well, over a month ago) the Spice Girls concert in Las Vegas. Go ahead, take a moment to laugh. Being a uni-watcher, I noticed that the backup dancers, better known as the Spice Boys, were all outfitted in Adidas apparel. Now, I think they sported it well, especially the socks, but check it out:

http://flickr.com/ph...

As a former Fightin’ Blue Hen I can tell you that Delaware’s helmets essentially are Michigan’s helmets.

The winged helmet actually started at Princeton.

“Princeton was coached by Fritz Crisler who used a helmet with a wing pattern on it that was manufactured by the MacGregor-Goldsmith Co. To enable his quarterback to distinguish downfield receivers, Crisler had the leather dyed in Princeton’s black and orange colors.” — From Delaware’s Web site

At least the All Sports Band has striped socks and real stirrups.

On a lighter note, here are some other pics of the Nike Zoom BB that Georgia Tech was wearing, as mentioned in the ticker:

1. Mayo

2. Frye

3. Williams

4. Nash Road

5. Cavs

6. Nash Home

7. Wallace

It’s not that those pants are an affront to the flag.

It’s that they’re an affront to the laws of nature.

(as is not closing the anchor tag! ;) )

NBA All Star jerseys leaked?

As a former Fightin’ Blue Hen I can tell you that Delaware’s helmets essentially are Michigan’s helmets. They were based on their design so as to honor the alma mater of their longtime athletic director (David Nelson) and their former coach, Tubby Raymond. I do believe also that Delaware’s (awesome) fight song is also based on the counter-melody of Michigan’s.

And Fritz Crisler, who coached at Michigan and later Princeton. One of his players was in fact Tubby Raymond, who brought the design with him. Raymond was better known as the innovator of the hated Delaware Wing T-Offense. I still have nightmares of lineman pulling all over the place!

Okay, but this discussion does bring up a uni-related thing:

Teams that have used stars and stripes or a flag motif in their uniforms.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

The Memphis/Las Vegas Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League back in the day…didn’t do it in Memphis and apparently didn’t do it after moving to Vegas, either.

Those would have been the first pro teams I’d have thought of who’d have gone with a star spangled banner thing.

Globetrotter unis are obviously patriotically-inspired, but not “flaggy.”

Even the New England Revolution didn’t run afoul of it.

I didn’t come here to read about political controversy, i came here to see pretty uniform pictures.

Your wish is granted.

I didn’t come here to read about political controversy, i came here to see pretty uniform pictures.

Your wish is granted.

OWN IT!

It’s not that those pants are an affront to the flag.

It’s that they’re an affront to the laws of nature.

(as is not closing the anchor tag! ;) )

YES! (to both points)

NBA All Star jerseys leaked?

oh goodie…two-tone unis…i was hoping they’d do something more like this

NBA All Star jerseys leaked?

Is it good or is it stupid?

I think both. I love the front of the jerseys. For the East I wish they would go either with a different shade of blue or white for the chest insignia. But other than they the fronts are great. However the different color backs… just aren’t really doing it for me (Stupid). I am having a hard time imagining them looking good… on anyone. Maybe when I see them on Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen I will think differently.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

love the negative space there

NBA All Star jerseys leaked?

Is it good or is it stupid?

I think both. I love the front of the jerseys. For the East I wish they would go either with a different shade of blue or white for the chest insignia. But other than they the fronts are great. However the different color backs… just aren’t really doing it for me (Stupid). I am having a hard time imagining them looking good… on anyone. Maybe when I see them on Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen I will think differently.

And after reading that article… I REALLY wish they had done something like this. Those are ugly but they are my favorite all star uniforms other than the ones used in Phoenix. Hopefully they revisit something like that next year.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

love the negative space there

Second-best one ever, IMHO.

Number one.

great collections of old youth NFL helmets. i like the “ear fenders” on the McGregor’s…good attentition to detail on those, except for the non-nail-hole-horseshoe on the colts. love the over the top feather on that old Redskins helmet. the Rawlings set is very impressive(except for a very lame Eagles wing). how’d he get his mom to spring for all those uni sets?

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

love the negative space there

Second-best one ever, IMHO.

Number one.

Now, that G has negative space. The A on that helmet however, is not negative space. It’s white on top of the blue and red fields.

Sorry, it’s just that the whole negative space thing is one of my pet peeves reading the comments. A lot of people don’t really get it and keep pointing out things that aren’t really negative space.

#42 by teamcinnamon on 01.23.08 10:46 am | Quote

great display of some classic uniforms over at spawn.com:

http://www.spawn.com...

when i think warren moon, i think techmo bowl dominance!

I’m still irritated at the Series 3 Reggie Eagles figure.

Green long sleeves worn with the Kelly Green jersey? Heresy!

i agree, but, mcfarlane is pretty accurate! reggie must have worn those sleeves during a game or something. can anybody find pics of that?

say what you will about the use of an american flag or symbol on helmets, lapels and jerseys, but this is just wrong

now…back to unis?

rex kwon do?

“You think anyone is fonna mess with me wearing these pants?” I was thinking the same thing!

Okay, but this discussion does bring up a uni-related thing:

Teams that have used stars and stripes or a flag motif in their uniforms.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

The Memphis/Las Vegas Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League back in the day…didn’t do it in Memphis and apparently didn’t do it after moving to Vegas, either.

Those would have been the first pro teams I’d have thought of who’d have gone with a star spangled banner thing.

Globetrotter unis are obviously patriotically-inspired, but not “flaggy.”

Even the New England Revolution didn’t run afoul of it.

The Ohio Glory of the WLAF.

Funny caption on ESPN’s Page 2. They show this picture, and the caption is: Do we even know for sure that this is LaDainian Tomlinson?

http://assets.espn.g...

say what you will about the use of an american flag or symbol on helmets, lapels and jerseys, but this is just wrong

now…back to unis?

rex kwon do?

“You think anyone is gonna mess with me wearing these pants?”

1. They are tacky and hust plain awful.
2. They totally reminded me of this.

Now, that G has negative space. The A on that helmet however, is not negative space. It’s white on top of the blue and red fields.

Sorry, it’s just that the whole negative space thing is one of my pet peeves reading the comments. A lot of people don’t really get it and keep pointing out things that aren’t really negative space.

Good point.

(It’s not an A in there, though - it’s a star that would probably be forming the base of the A if it didn’t have that little blue bit at the bottom.) The logo itself is the A.

Uni-borne memorial news:

The Dallas Stars are wearing an “MM” decal on their helmets for front office employee Matt McKee, who died of cancer last week.

The Ohio Glory of the WLAF.

In the logo, yeah, a bit.

But not in their uniform per se.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

love the negative space there

Second-best one ever, IMHO.

Number one.

Now, that G has negative space. The A on that helmet however, is not negative space. It’s white on top of the blue and red fields.

Sorry, it’s just that the whole negative space thing is one of my pet peeves reading the comments. A lot of people don’t really get it and keep pointing out things that aren’t really negative space.

not to be argumentative, but how is it NOT negative space? i always assumed that that was what negative space was…can you enlighten?

thanks ;)

Now, that G has negative space. The A on that helmet however, is not negative space. It’s white on top of the blue and red fields.

Sorry, it’s just that the whole negative space thing is one of my pet peeves reading the comments. A lot of people don’t really get it and keep pointing out things that aren’t really negative space.

Good point.

(It’s not an A in there, though - it’s a star that would probably be forming the base of the A if it didn’t have that little blue bit at the bottom.) The logo itself is the A.

Yea, I know. I just worded it in an awkward way. And I guess I shouldn’t just say that the A or the G has negative space. Just about anything HAS negative space. Not everything uses it as part of the design like the G did.

Let me apologize for:

1. Post #72, simple mistake
2. Hastily skipping Post #53 before posting #60
Thanks Al for the correct info!

On a different note, KT. You make well-articulated points but your greatest contribution today is introducing me to that Gamblers logo, it is incredible!

Okay, but this discussion does bring up a uni-related thing:

Teams that have used stars and stripes or a flag motif in their uniforms.

The Birmingham Americans of the WFL did not (though they did get *a* star and some stripes and red white and blue into their helmet logo).

The Memphis/Las Vegas Americans of the Major Indoor Soccer League back in the day…didn’t do it in Memphis and apparently didn’t do it after moving to Vegas, either.

Those would have been the first pro teams I’d have thought of who’d have gone with a star spangled banner thing.

Globetrotter unis are obviously patriotically-inspired, but not “flaggy.”

Even the New England Revolution didn’t run afoul of it.

The Ohio Glory of the WLAF.

Rochester Americans of the AHL. Not too overdone.

say what you will about the use of an american flag or symbol on helmets, lapels and jerseys, but this is just wrong

now…back to unis?

rex kwon do?

“You think anyone is gonna mess with me wearing these pants?”

1. They are tacky and hust plain awful.
2. They totally reminded me of this.

MPowers - check # 57 - you’ll enjoy.

H in Negative Space ?

#42 by teamcinnamon on 01.23.08 10:46 am | Quote

great display of some classic uniforms over at spawn.com:

http://www.spawn.com...

when i think warren moon, i think techmo bowl dominance!

I’m still irritated at the Series 3 Reggie Eagles figure.

Green long sleeves worn with the Kelly Green jersey? Heresy!

i agree, but, mcfarlane is pretty accurate! reggie must have worn those sleeves during a game or something. can anybody find pics of that?

Dangit, I’ve only been able to find pics of Reggie wearing dark green long sleeves with his dark green Packer jersey and white long leeves with his white Eagles jersey. There MUST be some visual evidence out there…

I can enlighten, Phil.

The white star inside in that A is just a white field on top of two other colored fields. This white field is part of the design, but it also an object within the design.

The Fed-Ex logo, which is kind of the go-to logo when talking about the use of negative space uses the empty space where there is nothing to create a shape. Think of the ‘E’ and the ‘x’ as positive and the space between that created the arrow as negative. This is not really taking anything away from the positive space to make a shape, which is what the true definition of negative space use is. Negative space is the space where there is nothing. In that A you can clearly see that the blue field is going behind the star and comes out a little bit on the other side. Which says to me that the white star is just that… a white star.

The ‘G’ with the shape of texas in the middle was kind of forced negative space use. It’s adjusted the outline of the positive space to create a shape in the negative space.

I don’t know if that helps, it’s the best I can do right now. I’m friggin’ hungry.

but the insistence on leagues to continue to violate the US Flag Code by putting decals and flag patches on uniforms of teams, where they clearly do not belong.

I see your point.

That said, I think regardless of US Flag Code (which, by the way, says:

# (j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.

I guess sports teams doesn’t count, but did flag insignias show up on baseball teams during/after WWI? If so, that’s when that ship sailed.)

According to “Dressed To the Nines”, the quick answer to the WWII-flag question is no… All MLB teams wore a special patch in 1942 (the first “war season”), and while some teams stopped wearing the patch the following year, it was still used by the White Sox as late as 1948.

Surprised to see Johnny U. wearing a MacGreger lid — did he ever wear one on the field?

Here is a pic I took of a Unitas game helmet at Baltimore’s Sports Legends Museum. I don’t know much about helmets, so I’m not sure if it’s a MacGreger or not.

The helmet in the photo is a Riddell TK. I just never remember Unitas wearing a one bar mask, when he wore the TK.

I didn’t come here to read about political controversy, i came here to see pretty uniform pictures.

Your wish is granted.

The helmet sticker looks like a weather graphic for a local tv news’ meteorologist.

thanks pat

but i was seeing the bottom part (blue) as more of the “block A” (im not making sense but bear with me)…not really as ‘forced use’ but i can totally see where you’re coming from…and whom amongst us doesn’t look at a fedex truck differently after UW goodness?

NBA All Star jerseys leaked?

Is it good or is it stupid?

I think both. I love the front of the jerseys. For the East I wish they would go either with a different shade of blue or white for the chest insignia. But other than they the fronts are great. However the different color backs… just aren’t really doing it for me (Stupid). I am having a hard time imagining them looking good… on anyone. Maybe when I see them on Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen I will think differently.

And after reading that article… I REALLY wish they had done something like this. Those are ugly but they are my favorite all star uniforms other than the ones used in Phoenix. Hopefully they revisit something like that next year.

I love it. This years…eh okay, I do dig the font used. But like the article says, if you’re going to do creative and weird, do it to the maximum and go way out to left field.

I’m wondering how many casual NBA watchers will be confused when they see Red and Blue fronts and White and Gold backs….

• Although “Dressed to the Nines” states that only three Cubs wore the patch, Todd Radom has come up with a fourth: Hiram Bithorn.

Todd’s eye is a marvel to behold and I’ll try to one up him…notice on the Cubs photo that the players on the left and right have button down jerseys but Hiram has a zipper front???

Interesting.

According to “Dressed To the Nines”, the quick answer to the WWII-flag question is no

I said WWI.

The 1917 White Sox (among, I’m guessing, others) had a flag patch (though a waving one, different from the static one you normally see these days).

According to “Dressed To the Nines”, the quick answer to the WWII-flag question is no&