Last month I got a note from reader Anthony Giaccone, who wanted to let me know about an interesting baseball-related art project he’d found on the web. I followed the link he provided and found myself at “Stealing Signs,” a series of 100 old-timey baseball paintings, sequenced with musical accompaniment, by an artist named Mark Penxa.
As I clicked through the paintings, I quickly fell in love with them. Some had accompanying text, some had little rows of statistics, almost all were hauntingly beautiful. And of course I loved the uniform depictions.
I got in touch with Penxa, who readily agreed to an interview. Our conversation was interesting, because I tend to think and communicate in very linear terms, while he doesn’t (which is why I’m a writer and he’s an artist). But before you read the transcript, I urge everyone to click through the whole “Stealing Signs” presentation — the cumulative effect is even greater than the considerable sum of its parts.
Uni Watch: Let’s start with you. Where do you live, how old are you, and what do you do for a living?
Mark Penxa: I’m 31, I live in Detroit — well, in the ’burbs, actually, in a village called Plymouth — and I’m a painter.
UW: So you live off your art..?
MP: Yeah.
UW: Wow, that’s really excellent — congrats. Now, “Stealing Signs” is comprised of paintings and sketches about baseball, but what about your other work? Like, do you use other media, do you tend to focus on a particular type of subject matter? In short, how would you describe your art as a whole?
MP: I’m not sure I can answer that. Some of my work is really abstract. I’ve always been involved in art — I did my first drawing when I was three. But my primary focus for years was music, and I did that professionally.
UW: What do you play?
MP: Guitar, piano, a lot of stuff. It’s in the bloodline — both of my parents are musicians. So it was always there.
UW: Were you in bands?
MP: I was in a punk band called Telegraph. We toured around, got to see the world for free, sold some records. But art was always plan B, because the music thing was never gonna last forever. So I started painting and working myself into that — I never went to school for it or anything.
UW: So you’re self-taught, self-trained.
MP: Yeah. Basically, our band left on our first big tour a few days after I graduated high school. And I’ve always been a bit of a worrier, so I was worried about what was gonna happen when this was done. So I would just read Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop manuals while we toured. And when I was home, I’d practice. Then I started painting and getting into that medium. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t really know how to sum up my artwork, because I haven’t been formally trained.
UW: I’m sure artists hate being compared to other artists, but would I be wrong in saying I see a certain Raymond Pettibon influence [additional Pettibon examples here and here — PL] in your work?
MP: Yeah, that’s pretty accurate. That comes from coming up in punk rock — Raymond, you know, he was everywhere. His work is something that just sticks in your head. I don’t know much about him other than his covers for the Black Flag records. And I know that he’s sometimes touched on baseball [I’d completely forgotten about that myself — PL]. So when I started this, I was a little worried about that.
UW: How so? Like your project would seem too derivative, or you’d be viewed as ripping him off or something?
MP [laughing]: Yeah, I usually go right to the worst-case scenario, so I was kinda worried about ripping him off.
UW: I didn’t mean it that way when I brought up his name — I just meant that you’re in good company.
MP: Yeah, that’s how I took it — it’s very flattering.
UW: Have you always been a baseball fan?
MP: Yeah, absolutely.
UW: What about other sports?
MP: I’m primarily a hockey guy.
UW: Who do you root for?
MP: I’m a homer, so I root for the Tigers. And I follow the Wings, because it’s easy to do that, but I actually grew up as a Maple Leafs fan. That’s because my father was always a Canadiens fan, so I kinda did it to piss him off.
UW: Are you an athlete yourself, or were you when you were growing up?
MP: I did the Little League thing. I wasn’t really any good. But I did go 4-for-4 once against the fat kid. And I’ve always been into skateboarding.
UW: Oh, so that explains skateboard art that you’ve done. Alright, but let’s get to “Stealing Signs” and how it all came together.
MP: It sort of started out as an accident. It was a doodle I did of Al Kaline, and when I stopped and looked at it, it looked a bit like a stencil. Something graffiti-like. I thought about it and said, “Yeah, I should do some of these for my grandfather.” I was going to do 10 of them and give them to him as a birthday gift.
UW: This initial doodle of Al Kaline, was it based on a photo of him?
MP: Yeah, it was based on his Hall of Fame induction photo. I was going to do the various phases of his career, because he’s basically the be-all and end-all for my grandfather. No one else existed. So it went from that, and I started adding paint to the drawings, messing around with dye, and soon I had about 20 Al Kalines — the same damn drawing.
UW: So you were doing, like, different treatments of the same drawing.
MP: Yeah, I was just playing with it. I’d make photocopies of the drawing and try different things.
UW: This was all done physically, not on the computer, right?
MP: Yeah, this is all pen, paper, and paint. And this was a few years ago, when the team had turned around and suddenly gotten good, and I started thinking about how the city had changed because of baseball. People weren’t mugging each other anymore. That sounds harsh, but it’s very real here. Normally, if you’re walking down the street in Detroit and someone approaches you who you don’t know, you’re immediately on the defensive. You assume something bad is going to happen. But when they were making that first playoff run in 2006, people would stop you in the street and ask if you knew what the score was. I mean, everyone here’s out of work, the economy is garbage, and baseball was sort of fixing everything. It was very interesting and cool to see.
UW: So how did that play into the project?
MP: It’s hard to explain, but it just got me thinking, and I kept doing more pieces, and soon I had about 60 of them. And when I finally realized where I was going, I tore those up and started over.
UW: And where is it that you realized you were going?
MP: Ah… [Long pause.] I don’t think I’ve figured that part out yet. And maybe because it’s not done. There could be more, I’m not sure. It sounds kind of hokey and hippie-ish, but I think I was kind of playing therapist to some of these guys.
UW: Some of the guys you were painting?
MP: Yeah, the players themselves. Some of them. See, some of the players I painted are completely fictitious. And some of them are very real — Hall of Famers. Grover Alexander, Cool Papa Bell. It’s hard to explain, exactly.
UW: Is that what the title “Stealing Signs” refers to? Like, you’re intercepting the stories of their lives?
MP: Sure. Yeah. You’re the first one to catch that.
UW: What about the subtitle, “Memories from My Past life, 1927″?
MP [chuckling a bit nervously]: That’s a little weird. I’ve always had this strange connection, or nostalgia, for the 1920s and ’30s. That was sort of the subtext. The muted sepia-tone colors, especially, play into that.
UW: But not all of the images are based on photos taken in 1927, right?
MP: No, not at all.
UW: So why is 1927 part of the subtitle?
MP [chuckling again]: It was just sort of the year I put on it. It’s, it’s really, uh, I don’t know if it lessens the whole thing or what, but it just sort of spilled out of me. It felt right. I don’t know why.
UW: I realize I’m asking specific questions about things that may not have specific answers, and that you may have made an artistic choice simply because it felt right to you. And that’s fine.
MP: Paul, this is very weird, because this is actually the first time I’ve talked out loud about the project, and the first time anyone’s asked me any questions about it. So some of these things you’re asking me, they’re things I haven’t really thought through yet. So just bear with me.
UW: No problem. Now, are all of the paintings based on photos?
MP: Most of them. Probably about 75%.
UW: The ones that aren’t, did you just do them out of your head, or are they composites, or what?
MP: Most of those came straight out of my head. There’s one — “My World Still Spins Without You” — that one started with the words. And there’s a couple where I worked some of my friends’ faces into the paintings.
UW: When choosing a photo to render as a painting, were your choices driven primarily by the original photo’s aesthetic qualities, or by who was depicted in a photo, or what? What were your criteria? Were you looking for photos and then basing the idea for a painting around that, or did you already have an idea and you’d go looking for an appropriate photo?
MP: I wasn’t really looking for photos at first. After the Kaline pieces that I was doing for my grandfather, the next batch was completely out of my head. I just started making up all these characters in this soap opera. But once I got an idea of what I wanted it all to look like, those earlier ones didn’t make sense anymore. So then I started referencing photos and things like that.
UW: Were there specific boundaries on the time frame these photos came from, or was it all just “early baseball photos”?
MP: I tried to keep it within the late ’20s, when possible. When I was almost done with the whole thing, someone sent me a link to the Chicago Daily News photo archive. It’s, like, tens of thousands of old negatives. So I started going through that, and I almost — almost — scrapped the whole thing and started over with that. They’ve got some pretty amazing stuff. Prison leagues, prison league football. It’s incredible.
UW: What is it about that particular 1920s era that fascinates you so much?
MP: That’s when my grandfather was growing up, so that’s my connection to it.
UW: OK, now we’ll finally get to some uniform questions. The uniforms from that era had a lot of elements that would look unusual to us today. Some jerseys had pockets or point collars, belt buckles were usually worn off-center, sleeves were often very long, there were sweaters instead of dugout jackets, umpires wore neckties. Were you already aware of all that, or were you surprised to discover these details as you painted them?
MP: I’d always known about that stuff. But I changed some aspects of the uniforms, and in some cases I got a little mischievous and changed the teams that the players played for. There were quite a few that didn’t make the final 100 where they’re wearing those big warm-up sweaters — those didn’t really translate well. The thick-gauge knit looked like popcorn. [Mark’s being too hard on himself. After our interview was over, he sent me some original paintings that didn’t make the cut, including this one. As I think you’ll agree, the sweater came out just fine. — PL]
UW: The uniform fabric was different back then, too. Your painting style, with its thick lines, really meshes well with the thick wool flannels of that period.
MP: Thanks. I think that’s why the colors worked so well. Just that sweaty, dirty-wool thing, like they were never quite clean.
UW: Yeah, I’m assuming all your reference photos were black-and-white, which freed you to impose your own color palette. And I love that muted sepia feel that you got. It’s almost like a color version of black-and-white.
MP: Yeah, if I did have a color photo to work with, I just took the color out of it. There’s not much red, white, or blue in there.
UW: Has this project changed the way you look at baseball, and the way you react when you see a baseball uniform?
MP: It doesn’t change the way I watch a game. But it’s increased my appreciation for the game.
UW: Some of the images have accompanying text, and some don’t. What’s that all about, and how did those choices develop?
MP: Like I said before, it has to do witt that therapy aspect. It’s what I thought these players were saying to me. That sounds so weird. Creepy. At first I looked at it as, “For some reason this came into my head, so I’m writing it down.” Like, “Roy Campanella wants me to say this.” I don’t know. Really, it was my own therapy.
UW: Well, that was my next question — how much of this was therapy for you?
MP: Oh, probably a lot. I mean, I can try to hide behind these guys, but I’m gonna be exposed sooner or later. I mean, a lot of it is about my own, uh, junk. But it’s everyday junk, the junk we deal with. It’s just those things that go unnoticed and get passed off as not being a big deal — bleeding hearts, mild addiction, and stuff like that.
UW: Are there any particular players you chose to depict who might not be household names but who you chose to depict because you found them to be appealing characters in some way? I know there’s one where you listed the guy’s first and last games, and they were just a few weeks apart, for example.
MP: He died soon after his first game. I found him on baseball-reference.com.
UW: Who was it?
MP: Couldn’t tell ya. I didn’t document it. I just noticed it was some player from the ’20s, whoever he was. I like that I can’t remember who he was.
UW: Because his name isn’t as important as the circumstances defining his career?
MP: Yeah. I mean, he got to go to the big game. That’s what matters. It’s sweeter that way. He died, but he made it. His wife was proud of him. It’s a success story.
UW: What about the ones that have stats in the background?
MP: They’re always in reverse order. Don’t ask me why, I just did it that way.
UW: You mean with the player’s final season shown at the top, instead of at the bottom?
MP: Yeah.
UW: Is your grandfather still alive?
MP: Yes, barely. He’s holding on.
UW: What does he think of all this?
MP: He doesn’t. He’s seen it, but he doesn’t understand what he’s seeing. His dementia’s getting really bad.
UW: I’m sorry. Does he understand on some level that you did all this as a gesture to him?
MP: Yeah. He knew about it before it was finished. As I was working on it, I let him know, “Hey, this was meant for you, but it’s kind of taken on its own life.” He got the gist.
UW: Is the project being exhibited in the physical world, or only digitally?
MP: Only online. I tried, I shopped it around to galleries and art spaces, but I kept getting turned down.
UW: Well, hopefully I can help change that.
===========
Can’t even begin to say how much I love Mark’s work. Big, big thanks to him for sharing his thoughts with me, and for creating something so special. And if anyone out there runs a gallery, get in touch with Mark pronto.
Raffle Results: The winner of the helmet raffle is charter member Joel Keller, who has already chosen this helmet as his prize. “I’m a Giants fan,” he says. “This helmet reminds me of the era when my dad became a fan, so I might give it to him. Then again, I might not.”
As for the rest of you, don’t despair — I should have another raffle to announce next Monday or Tuesday.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of readers wrote in to let me know that big-shot designer Michael Beirut has penned an ode to my favorite object, the Brannock Device. … I’ve written several times about Johnny LeMaster’s “Boo” NOB (details here). According to this item, he was fined $500 for that stunt, which I hadn’t known until now. … More Japanese all-stars wearing “E” and “W” (for East and West, natch), courtesy of Jeremy Brahm. … The Pro Football Hall of Fame has some new exhibits — here’s a bunch of pics. Of particular interest: another padded-crown helmet (with thanks to Brandon Yarian). … Not many coats make it to the Museum of Modern Art. And now one that recently did make it has died — literally. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: In the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, Michigan’s Mike Hammerstein had a double-decker FNOB, while teammate Tim Schultz had a single-line version. … I think we’ve all seen illustrations of the new Iowa State football togs by now, but I believe this is the first photo (with thanks to Andrew Cinnamon). … Great hockey jersey collector’s site here (with thanks to Casey Barcomb). … Vince reports that Braylon Edwards said the following during a live web chat yesterday: “I am already mad at Rich Rod because he gave the No.1 jersey to someone other than a WR, which is breaking tradition. But I think he is a great coach and will lead Michigan to a turnaround.” … Fun piece here about players in the “wrong” uniforms. I once did something similar, but there’s always room for more (with thanks to David Cline). … I’ll be partaking of non-uni culture with the ’rents this afternoon, so everyone play nice while I’m gone.
#1 by Brendon on 05.14.08 8:36 am |
Paul, I didn’t take the pics. They were on our local newspapers site.
They were in the Canton Repository.
#2 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 8:40 am |
Who failed the Wonderlic Exam?
http://cache.viewima...
#3 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 8:41 am |
#4 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 8:55 am |
There’s more to the Braylon Edwards story:
http://sports.aol.co...
There was a goof about Cris Carter being one the first to wear the #1 jersey. He, um, went to OSU, and not Michigan.
#5 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 8:57 am |
Mario Manningham agrees…..
#6 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 8:57 am |
Get it while it’s hot:
#21 NY Giants Kenny Phillips jersey. He picked #21 in honor of Sean Taylor. Tiki Barber was unavailable for comment…..
http://giantsproshop...
#7 by derek on 05.14.08 8:57 am |
amazing sabres jersey here, so much better then the current
http://bp0.blogger.c...
#8 by Graf Zeppelin on 05.14.08 9:05 am |
Has anyone been to the new Sports Museum in NYC yet?
#9 by Juan Grande on 05.14.08 9:07 am |
Hey, was that Captain Picard on the MacBeth Playbill?
#10 by Robert on 05.14.08 9:10 am |
Great interview. Here is the scoop on Telegraph:
http://www.allmusic....
#11 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 9:18 am |
why would someone want to honor a hot-dogging, back-stabbing, two-faced punk by wearing his number?
…oh wait…he’s not wearing it to honor tiki
#12 by Duckstyle on 05.14.08 9:19 am |
Mark’s work is fantastic, these type of posts always end up being my favorites. I can’t wait to get home so I can look through them all, I really want to buy one of these beauties. The piece noting the first/last game is my favorite so far.
#13 by Jim on 05.14.08 9:20 am |
Paul,
Mark Penxa said he was also a big hockey fan. Do you know if he has any hockey paintings or sketches? I am a big hockey collector and I would be interested purchasing one that I liked.
#14 by Jim on 05.14.08 9:21 am |
I thought Professor X died in the last X-men movie? :)
http://www.playbill....
#15 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 9:23 am |
Iowa State looks good however they seem to be a hybrid of Syracuse and USC!
Iowa State:
https://admin.xosn.c...
USC:
http://farm2.static....
Cuse, playing UB, not UK:
http://media.college...
#16 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 9:26 am |
I hate to admit this but I realize that I am KING of the Off Topic comment, however, this one ranks right up there!
#17 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 9:30 am |
I keep asking this, but no one has responded. I’m probably gonna try to head there in June or July…..
#18 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 9:38 am |
Sorry, JG!
I haven’t been there yet, however considering that I live 20 minutes away, I am fully planning to go soon.
There is also a new sports exhibit in my county that I’m looking to go checking out.
http://www.rocklandh...
#19 by Jim on 05.14.08 9:39 am |
He’s one actor where everytime I see him I see Professor X. Don’t know why.
Kinda like when I see
http://imagecache2.a...
I think of him as Marty McFly
http://pointlessbant...
and him yelling “What the hell’s a Gigawatt?!?!”
#20 by interlockingtc on 05.14.08 9:45 am |
Thank you for this post. Great questions. And answers. And Mr. Penxa’s work is just really wonderful. Poetic. I find it hard to believe that a gallery would turn down this work.
#21 by Mike Engle on 05.14.08 9:48 am |
I feel the same way about Christopher Mintz-Plasse. He can never be anybody other than McLovin.
#22 by Philly Al in NoCal on 05.14.08 9:55 am |
Ha! When my son and daughter were young I told them when they were at a loss for words regarding art, they could always say the piece was “hauntingly beautiful,” or “beautifully haunting.”
#23 by Juan Grande on 05.14.08 10:11 am |
I’ll always remember him as Captain Picard…
http://upload.wikime...
#24 by Juan Grande on 05.14.08 10:13 am |
Could Tiki Barber care less? He makes a load of money, has a great family, doesn;t have to run drills anymore, and everyday is the off-season. Other than the Super Bowl ring, he think he could care less.
#25 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 10:13 am |
i’ll prolly check it out next time im in the city
isn’t it like some fairly serious coin tho?
#26 by Christian Ruzich on 05.14.08 10:13 am |
Great interview. I love his paintings!
Looks like he took a little bit of liberty with painting where he listed the guy’s first and last games. B-R shows a player named Roy Flaskamper, who played for the White Sox and made his debut on 8/16/27 and played his last game on 10/2/27. But he actually died on 2/3/78…
#27 by Mickel Yantz on 05.14.08 10:14 am |
I just found a great site for shirts with old logos. A lot of Northwest teams. Really cool.
Throwback Max
#28 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 10:15 am |
well…he is the g-men all-time leading rusher, so…perhaps he felt his number should be retired
and with his ego…yeah…i’d say he’s pretty pissed
and i say…good
#29 by Kevin M. on 05.14.08 10:22 am |
Ah they even have the original Macon Whooppe. One of the greatest names for a hockey team ever and used to have a great logo (Maple Leafs esque) till they changed it to the stupid whooping crane and bee.
#30 by ryan c #40 on 05.14.08 10:30 am |
FANTASTIC WORK MARK!!!
and congratulations joel!!!
Paul’s whole post from the interview with mark, to the raffle news, even though i didn’t win, had such a positive effect on my day!
thanks always paul!
#31 by KT on 05.14.08 10:42 am |
“And when I finally realized where I was going, I tore those up and started over.”
“UW: And where is it that you realized you were going?”
“Ah… [Long pause.] I don’t think I’ve figured that part out yet.”
More on this story as it develops.
#32 by Ricko on 05.14.08 10:42 am |
If the guy in the painting played in the 1920s, why is wearing wearing what appears to be Nellie Fox’s road uniform circa 1959? Or am I missing something here?
#33 by Ricko on 05.14.08 10:44 am |
Don’t get me wrong. I love the guy’s work. That one just hung me up a little.
#34 by Paul Lukas on 05.14.08 10:53 am |
People — did you read the interview? He swapped some things around, made up fictitious characters, put his friends’ faces on some of the paintings, etc. Jeez.
#35 by chance on 05.14.08 10:54 am |
I work a block away - was supposed to go this week on my lunch hour, but looks like I’ll have to push it back until next week….
#36 by War Damn Eagle on 05.14.08 11:04 am |
Great blog entry today, Paul. Mark’s work is tremendous. I hope he gets the opportunity to display his art in a gallery.
#37 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 11:07 am |
NO,NO,NO! Raise YOUR left hand!
#38 by Mike Engle on 05.14.08 11:15 am |
What, not my buddy’s?
#39 by Brendon on 05.14.08 11:21 am |
Raise your hand if you feel your helmet has been inadequately decaled.
#40 by Mike on 05.14.08 11:39 am |
I found it interesting that Mark Penxa said he’s from the Village of Plymouth in Michigan. There’s no such place. There is the City of Plymouth (pop 9,000) which lies within the Township of Plymouth (pop 28,000). I live in a bordering town which shares the school district with Plymouth and never once have heard it referred to as a village.
I guess it just lends credence to Paul’s comments about him being artsy.
#41 by Jim on 05.14.08 11:42 am |
Or maybe he just mis-spoke.
#42 by Ricko on 05.14.08 11:46 am |
I love what he does, Paul. Just meant that one–and only that one–seemed a little “anachronistic,” that’s all. He seems so faithful to period in everything else.
Aw, hell, pretend I didn’t say anything about it. I really DO love his work.
#43 by JeffB on 05.14.08 11:54 am |
Did we lose the search function on the blog? I can’t find one today.
#44 by Mpowers1634 on 05.14.08 11:56 am |
Who would rather have Ronnie Woo Woo QB the Bears instead of Rex Grossman?
#45 by Frank Mercogliano on 05.14.08 11:56 am |
That interview and gallery are exactly what I love about this site…..opening the mind up to something new, and someone else’s mind and perspective. Great, great stuff…enjoy the show tonight!
Frank
#46 by Rick White in Cedar Park, TX on 05.14.08 11:57 am |
Or, maybe, we’re just being a little bit nit-picky on this interview. Not that anyone here is “detail oriented”.
#47 by Robert on 05.14.08 12:05 pm |
Is a township like a county?
#48 by Mike on 05.14.08 12:06 pm |
I don’t think it’s nit-picky to expect people to know the name of their own town. By the way, Paul how is life in the Parish of Brooklyn?
Incidentally, I made my original post not to be critical. I really just found it interesting.
#49 by Walaitis on 05.14.08 12:08 pm |
I think he misremembered.
#50 by Mike on 05.14.08 12:08 pm |
No. A township is just a label for the municipality. It could be a city, borough, etc. The county in question is Wayne County.
#51 by Matt Lesser on 05.14.08 12:09 pm |
That’s exactly what I thought, but wasn’t quick enough on the fingers. An upgrade, no doubt, but still not great.
#52 by Duckstyle on 05.14.08 12:13 pm |
No, it’s like a city/village. If you’ve ever been to Michigan for any length of time, you’ll notice they like to go out of their way to name every town something other than city etc; and then there’s those weirdass left turn u-turns, but I digress. At least they dont call pop soda.
#53 by Paul Lukas on 05.14.08 12:14 pm |
We’re having problems with Google. Some spam has gotten thru in our archived posts, and Google has stopped indexing us as a result. Their site-search function no longer works for us either (very frustrating, I know — I use the site search a lot myself).
As with every other problem, we are (read: John is) working on it. Hang in there.
Off to meet the ’rents,
Paul
#54 by Stuby on 05.14.08 12:29 pm |
Townships are just another way of surveying and subdividing the land. A township is generally 36 square mi. (6 mi. x 6 mi.) and Michigan uses the designation more than most places.
#55 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 12:40 pm |
usually it’s just “dad”
#56 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 12:47 pm |
It’s $27 admission for adults…….
Madame Tussauds in NYC is $29 for admission, so everything is relative……
#57 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 12:52 pm |
i’d misremember hitting this too
#58 by E_Ro on 05.14.08 12:56 pm |
I didn’t realize townships were a michigan thing. I grew up in Saginaw Township, For the Plymouth Whalers/Saginaw Spirit michigan based OHL connection
#59 by mmwatkin on 05.14.08 1:01 pm |
Don’t knock the Michigan Left. I am not native to Metro Detroit but when I moved here I loved the Michigan Lefts. I wish more places would adopt the traffic scheme.
http://en.wikipedia....
#60 by Jim on 05.14.08 1:06 pm |
Wow, didn’t realize there was so many Michiganders here.
What? Someone say UniWatch Party? Paul?
#61 by KT on 05.14.08 1:20 pm |
I was born in Pennsylvania. We had townships there. Probably still do.
I used to live in the Village of Lisle, Illinois.
We argue about some pretty esoteric things here, but arguing about what nomenclature someone uses for their municipality is making the people on the Star Trek forums say “Man, those people are geeks.”
#62 by Kenny on 05.14.08 1:22 pm |
Not just a Michigan thing
http://en.wikipedia....
#63 by Dan King on 05.14.08 1:46 pm |
In Ohio its more like, you follow the same laws as the city/town, but you don’t pay income tax.
#64 by Rick White in Cedar Park, TX on 05.14.08 1:51 pm |
Heck, those guys from “Big Bang Theory” are starting to look at us funny.
#65 by warren thompson on 05.14.08 1:57 pm |
Those Iowa State uniforms might look better with the addition of two or three more shoulder stripes. That way, they’d have a nice retro look as per the University of Chicago jerseys shown yesterday.
#66 by Scott on 05.14.08 2:14 pm |
Loved the paintings. Has he posted anymore of the ones that didn’t make the cut anywhere?
#67 by Mark K on 05.14.08 2:14 pm |
I like the Iowa State uniforms. The shoulder striping looks better than Syracuse because of the more contrasting colors.
I’m not a huge fan of the offset median stroke on the A that they’ve worked into both the helmet logo and the jersey lettering. It seems like a “modern” touch that’s slightly out of place.
I’d like to see the NOB lettering as well- that could potentially ruin the whole deal. Helmet numbers can go either way as well. Also I’m assuming they wear white socks and black shoes which would be a good look.
Big Plusses- grey facemasks and no black.
#68 by Duckstyle on 05.14.08 2:34 pm |
Oh, I’m knockin it hard! Way to confuse the hell out of the non-townies. But maybe that’s the point, in which case, well done.
#69 by Ricko on 05.14.08 2:40 pm |
Minnesota and Iowa State football teams have new uniforms.
And, in a related story, a tree fell in the woods.
(pause)
Rimshot.
#70 by RS Rogers on 05.14.08 2:45 pm |
Anyone in the Baltimore-Washington area, the Bowie Baysox are doing a Vintage Base Ball Day promotion on Sunday:
http://www.baysox.co...
My vintage squad, the Chesapeake and Potomac Base Ball Club, will play a scrimmage before the game (split squad, Chesapeakes versus Potomacs) using 1864 rules, and the Baysox will wear throwback 1860s Baltimore Excelsiors uniforms for the game. Lots of other old-timey stuff going on too, but the uniforms are the main thing for me (natch).
Makes me wonder whether any previous team has gone as far back for a throwback uniform as the 1860s. (If my reading of the Excelsiors history is correct, this would actually be an 1860 uniform, but I could be wrong, and I haven’t seen the original artifact in person. Might be from the second half of the decade.)
#71 by James Craven on 05.14.08 3:04 pm |
New ISU unis: Major downgrade from what they had, especially the helmets.
#72 by Juan Grande on 05.14.08 3:05 pm |
The Michigan Left and the New England “roundabouts” need to be eliminated from the US roadway system. What committee sat down and said “yes, this is the system we want.”
#73 by Brendon on 05.14.08 3:06 pm |
Greatest free throw distraction tool ever
http://i301.photobuc...
#74 by Jim on 05.14.08 3:07 pm |
I heard the roundabouts came from Europe because I guess they reduce traffic well over there.
#75 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 3:10 pm |
every year, many times a year, they play olde time base ball near me…i know a couple of the guys who play…games are circa 1864
pretty cool stuff, and very authentic unis (im guessing)…and of course, no gloves and some messed up rules
i bet there are many (well, maybe not many) leagues throughout the country that do this…too bad there aren’t more of them
enjoy
#76 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 3:11 pm |
what do you think he does with eva after the game?
#77 by Kyle on 05.14.08 3:17 pm |
If Mark is at all worried about not being “formally trained,” let me say, I spent 4 years in art school, have my BFA, and can design logos all day long… but I’d give about anything to have talent like this. These things are beautiful. I’ve already downloaded all 100 jpgs, and have them as my new screen-saver. I’m pretty sure that nobody’s doing that with my “formally trained” logos. God-given talent wins out over training all day long.
#78 by Duckstyle on 05.14.08 3:19 pm |
There’s a fantastic Conan O’Brien skit with old timey baseball that people should be riquired by law to see. Look it up people!
They do a very similar game in my area, it’s definitly worth the free admission I paid a few years back. But they people do a very good job keeping it true to the times.
http://www.midwayvil...
#79 by Kyle on 05.14.08 3:19 pm |
Caught my first “Vintage Base Ball” game a couple of weeks ago. Indianapolis Blues vs. Cincinatti Buckeyes at West Baden Hotel in West Baden, IN. Great stuff. Great unis.
#80 by Rick White in Cedar Park, TX on 05.14.08 3:32 pm |
Free throws!
#81 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 3:35 pm |
i didn’t mean tony, rick
#82 by LI Phil on 05.14.08 3:43 pm |
check this out…and a quiz
this is an extremely rare photo of honus wagner…
look closely at the photo…can anyone tell me why the photo (or perhaps the players) is rare?
#83 by Kevin M. on 05.14.08 3:48 pm |
first catcher to wear gear?
#84 by john hedstrom on 05.14.08 3:51 pm |
Check out pate 12 inset of Crains Chicago Business May 12/2008…….Your kind of place.
#85 by Joey Guns on 05.14.08 3:53 pm |
That would’ve been my guess. That catcher looks like a hockey goalie!