So I’m watching the All-Star Game last night with my buddy Large from No Mas. We haven’t seen each other since February (he lives in California these days), so I’m trying to not to get all Uni Watch on him. No need to make a pest of myself by pointing out every single pair of white shoes or other uni anomalies when we can enjoy universal pleasures like making fun of Dan Uggla, imagining what the youth of America is thinking about all the Viagra and prostate-shrinkage commercials, wondering how many pitches it will take for Billy Wagner to blow the lead, and despising Tim McCarver.
So when Ryan Ludwick came up in the eleventeeth inning, or whatever it was, with about 17 things wrong with his batting helmet, I held my tongue. Instead of saying, “Holy crap, look at that!” and pointing out all the aberrations Ludwick was wearing on his noggin, I just said, “I bet Dan Uggla’s sister got made fun of a lot when she was growing up” and reached for another drink.
Inside, though, I was thinking, “I bet my readers are all over this.” And I’m proud to say that you did not disappoint. Fourteen of you e-mailed regarding Ludwick’s headwear, and many more posted comments about it. For those who missed it, here’s Ludwick’s helmet, and here’s what was unusual about it:
• It’s red, which is the Cards’ home helmet. The National League was the road team last night, so he should have been wearing a navy lid.
• Although it’s hard to see in that screen shot, Ludwick was wearing a Coolflo helmet, which none of the Cardinals normally wear. (Albert Pujols also wore a Coolflo last night, but at least it was navy.)
• The weirdest thing is that Ludwick’s “StL” logo was red outlined in white, instead of white outlined in navy. If you look again at the Pujols shot, it’s obvious that they used a road helmet decal on Ludwick’s helmet.
Ludwick wasn’t the only National Leaguer improperly wearing a home helmet, by the way. Aramis Ramirez wore the Cubs’ solid-blue model instead of their red-brimmed road version. Fellow Cubs Geovany Soto and Kosuke Fukudome wore the proper helmet, however.
As for Uggla, that was some performance — I’m afraid all the Viagra in the world isn’t gonna help him now. Personally, I was rooting for the N.L. to run out of pitchers and be forced to put Uggla on the mound (whoever took over at second base would have to qualify as a defensive improvement, no?), but ya can’t have everything. And here’s a tidbit that only one reader caught: Uggla wasn’t even wearing his own wristbands. Maybe that was his problem right there.
(Thanks to Bob Sherron for the Cards screen grabs, and to Brett Crane for bringing Uggla’s wristband to my attention.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Another brimless catcher: Jim Essian (with thanks to Andy Chalifour). … Another very stripe-centric football team: Ray High School in Corpus Christi (additional pics here, here, and here). “I’m almost positive they’ve worn an entire ‘candy-stripe’ uniform,” says Todd Hotz. “I’m looking for it.” … According to the third item in this web chat transcript, Idaho State will be wearing solid black at home, and the helmet will be tweaked (with thanks to Mark Snider). … “TCU’s top-ranked baseball team has been wearing throwback uniforms for Sunday home games for the past three years,” reports Mark Rybczyk. “They do a pretty good job and, I know that Coach Jim Schlossnagle requires his team to wear the stirrups on Sundays. I especially like the hats, which use a very old TCU Logo.” These are so nice, I won’t even complain about the purple. … With the Spectrum in Philly now slated for the glue factory, the Phantoms (AHL) and Kixx (MLS) will be wearing a farewell season patch (with thanks to Chris Ashworth). … New football uniforms on the way for Vanderbilt. … Jim Parker sent along a photo of some amazing UMich socks from 1953 — love to see more of these.
#1 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 7:54 am |
well, as =bg= pointed out last night (early morning?)…they didn’t wagnerproof the damn game…
#2 by John on 07.16.08 8:26 am |
Nice to see the total absence of alternate jerseys last night. Home whites for the AL, grays for the NL. Despite the few pairs of white shoes and the continuing ridiculousness of the pajama pants, and Manny’s hair, the teams looked pretty good last night.
#3 by MH on 07.16.08 8:26 am |
Another very stripe-centric football team: Ray High School in Corpus Christi (additional pics here, here, and here). “I’m almost positive they’ve worn an entire ‘candy-stripe’ uniform,” says Todd Hotz.
How come it’s always the high school teams that sport the stripes? What’s up with everyone else?
#4 by Joe on 07.16.08 8:28 am |
i thought MLS folded, how are they gonna wear the patch
#5 by James Craven on 07.16.08 8:33 am |
It’s not MLS that folded. It was the second incarnation of the Major Indoor Soccer League, or the “missile” for the throwback fans.
#6 by Jake on 07.16.08 8:34 am |
The Philadelphia Kixx play in MISL, an indoor soccer league. Philly is getting an MLS team in 2010 however.
#7 by John M on 07.16.08 8:35 am |
Good for Aramis. I hate the Cubs’ red-billed road caps.
#8 by Art on 07.16.08 8:46 am |
PAUL:
I saw one of the Braves players last night with the solid alternate blue hat on. I thought this hat was only to be worn with the navy alternate road tops?????
#9 by scott on 07.16.08 8:54 am |
John said:
That’s the best thing about the All-Star game in recent years: that the home team wears white and the road team wears gray. Somehow all seems right with baseball when that tradition is maintained.
#10 by Josh J. on 07.16.08 8:57 am |
TCU’s throwbacks might be one of the best college uniforms, but they also have some new Blue-Jays inspired black alternates that may be the worst. At last count, I believe they have four different tops they can wear.
http://grfx.cstv.com...
#11 by Jim on 07.16.08 9:02 am |
scott said:
Really wish other sports wore their reglar home/road unis for All Star Games. Gives fan chances to see the unis of teams they rarely see. NHL/NFL/NBA All star unis haven’t been good in a while.
#12 by Adam on 07.16.08 9:08 am |
So I picked up NCAA Football 09 yesterday, scrolling through the teams to see the uniforms, and stumbled across something funny. Every school’s uniforms sets are described by the top color, or top and pants color when the pant aren’t the normal school color. (White top, White and Red, etc. for my Miami University RedHawks). There’s the occasional unitard design (all orange or all purple for Clemson, all black for a bunch of teams) but what was great is that Florida State’s all black set is called the Unconquered set. Why? Because that’s what it says on the right leg of their pants. Way to go FSU, once again you’ve made yourselves look ridiculous.
#13 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 9:14 am |
Adam said:
fsu has worn this uni before…and for the life of me i swore it was a deep green, but was corrected that it was, indeed,
wretchedblackyou can see the “unconquered” on the pant leg
#14 by Dan on 07.16.08 9:25 am |
I don’t know if any of you caught it…and I don’t have the ability to screen-cap it, so I’m hoping someone else might be able to.
During FOX’s pre-game Red Carpet thing yesterday, whenever they’d go to commercial, they’d play clips of various NY personalities and their memories of Yankee Stadium. Somewhere around 6:40 (I think) there was one with Rudy Giuliani. He says something like “My favorite memory of Yankee Stadium…I think it ….” When he pauses there, he furrows his brow…and I swear the vertical lines between his eyebrows formed the Yankees ‘NY’ logo! I backed up the DVR and yelled for my wife… “Holy Shit. That’s crazy” she said…so it wasn’t just me being burned out from a shitty day at work…she saw it too.
Did anyone else catch that?
#15 by Timothy B on 07.16.08 9:25 am |
Did I see Gary Carter out there during the pre-game festivities wearing an Expos cap???
Well, at least he can’t piss them off with anything that comes out of his mouth.
#16 by teamcinnamon on 07.16.08 9:26 am |
John said:
Except for the sand/cream road color of the Pads.
#17 by Stuby on 07.16.08 9:26 am |
scott said:
All Lance Berkman needed was a gray cap to complete the look. He had what looked like gray suede spikes and with his long pants it looked like he was wearing footie PJs
#18 by Dan on 07.16.08 9:26 am |
Dan said:
CORRECTION…I didn’t mean 6:40…it was somewhere around 7:40. Somewhere around the time that Spike Lee was talking to the announcers.
#19 by Randy Miller on 07.16.08 9:28 am |
I’m pretty sure that Ray High School has worn stripes since the ’70s, if not even earlier.
I’m completely sure that the Unconquered bit pays homage to the Seminole tribe.
#20 by Mario on 07.16.08 9:33 am |
Thats weird … I always thought Rudy had a 666 on his forehead.
#21 by teamcinnamon on 07.16.08 9:39 am |
Dan said:
I turned it off at that point.
Seriously, when he started plugging his self-designed New Era cap that he was wearing, that’s all I needed to hear.
#22 by Dan on 07.16.08 9:45 am |
teamcinnamon said:
I can’t remember if Rudy was before or after Spike Lee…I just know it was somewhere right around there.
#23 by Brian W on 07.16.08 9:47 am |
I also believe that George Sherrill of the Orioles was wearing his “road cap” (with the orange bill) with his home jersey last night…
#24 by Stuby on 07.16.08 9:51 am |
Dan said:
That’s almost Charles Manson-esque in its level of freakiness.
#25 by War Damn Eagle on 07.16.08 9:53 am |
From the article about Vandy’s new football unis:
“Commodore coaches, players and football staffers collaborated with Nike uniform experts on the 2008 design, which features black, gold and white options for both jerseys and pants.”
It’s look like a freakin’ Nike template to me. What the hell is unique or distinctive about that uniform? I can see the questionnaire now: would you like to look more or less like Wake Forest?; would you like the Illinois template, but in Wake Forest colors?
#26 by Stephen on 07.16.08 9:55 am |
Art said:
I’m not Paul, but I can answer this. Both Brian McCann and Chipper Jones were wearing the Braves navy alternate cap last night. They have been wearing this cap more and more lately. I am not sure that it has become their official road cap, but it seems like that may be the case. They have been mixing and matching caps and jerseys all year.
~E~
#27 by Hurnf on 07.16.08 9:55 am |
Speaking of the all-star game … is Steinbrenner so afraid of the paying public that there are four fat security guards on the golf cart on which he rides to give the first-pitch balls to Berra, Gossage, Jackson, and Ford?
#28 by Dan on 07.16.08 9:56 am |
Brian W said:
sherrill had the right hat on. orange brim is the home hat. it is a solid black for the road. he should have been the mvp. his two scoreless innings went virtually unnoticed. it was his longest outing of the year. can’t wait to see “baltimore” on the jersey next year.
#29 by Scott on 07.16.08 9:56 am |
Paul -
Read your column about All Star uni’s on ESPN.com. Thought I’d share another unique uni related All Star story. In the 2002 game in Miller park (the infamous tie game), Robin Yount and Ozzie Smith were named honorary captians in recognition of the 20th anviersary of the 2002 World Series. They were given ‘82 authentics to wear. At the time Yount was a coach for the Brewers, so he elected to wear his real uniform (he complained that the uni was not authentic(which he wore on the AL bench, as the Brewers were in the AL in ‘82).
Since the throwback powder blue intended for Yount was not being used, Robin Ventura wore it during batting practice.
No picture, but a blurb about it is here –> http://www.usatoday....
#30 by War Damn Eagle on 07.16.08 9:57 am |
Art said:
The Braves have worn the blue alternate road cap with the gray uniforms in a couple of games this season. It was odd that they went with it for the all-star game, but the decision may have been made the Braves folks to showcase them for merch purposes, similar to their decision to wear the road alts for the Sunday night opener against Washington to begin the season.
http://cache.daylife...
#31 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 10:01 am |
Hurnf said:
you’d have preferred four thin security guards?
#32 by Dan on 07.16.08 10:01 am |
paul,
don’t know if he has been mentioned, but mike fitzgerald also went brimless. http://cgi.ebay.com/...
#33 by TEH on 07.16.08 10:02 am |
Re: Ray Texans striped unis, I have to give Paul credit; while searching for more info, damned if one of the results wasn’t a note from Uni Watch in October, 2007 – he beat me to it, as usual!!
I am still looking for pics from the 70’s/80’s that might show the whole “candy stripe” unis, though..
#34 by War Damn Eagle on 07.16.08 10:04 am |
Brian W said:
Orioles home cap has orange bill.
http://lh5.ggpht.com...
Road cap is all black
http://baltimore.ori...
Batting helmet is all black, for home and road
#35 by mark on 07.16.08 10:05 am |
““TCU’s top-ranked baseball team has been wearing throwback uniforms for Sunday home games for the past three years”
top ranked?????
#36 by chance on 07.16.08 10:08 am |
Hurnf said:
I wouldn’t be surprised if half of them had been medical personnel.
Why should he be afraid? The public loves him. The deification of Steinbrenner has begun, where all his misdeeds are being forgotten and his triumphs repeated. See “O’Malley, Walter.”
#37 by Jet on 07.16.08 10:12 am |
Quote of the Year:
“…so I tried not to get all Uni Watch on him…”
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Jet
#38 by Teebz on 07.16.08 10:12 am |
Jim said:
The NHL teams wear their normal uniforms during the Skills Competition. However, the NHL All-Star Game is a money-whoring festival of corporate sponsorship, so the NHL chooses to dress the players in a brand-new, normally-hideous jersey. You know, so the fans have to buy an All-Star jersey instead of just a patch.
#39 by caknuck on 07.16.08 10:16 am |
Timothy B said:
Although you couldn’t see it well from the camera angle, he also held up a Mets cap. Dave Winfield did the same thing with a Yanks lid.
Anybody else — and no, I haven’t gone back to read the comments on yesterday’s thread — upset with the decision to give the HOF’ers such ugly caps? Firstly… adjustable backs? How low rent. Also, what’s up with making them wear today’s versions of the caps, like McCovey wearing the ugly Giants alt “G” cap?
#40 by josh on 07.16.08 10:16 am |
What was up with the HOFers and their caps? Mays wore a batting practice cap, Aparicio’s looked like a golf cap, Boggs’ looked like a replica. Were they all in the gift shop during batting practice?
#41 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 10:16 am |
Teebz said:
excellent point, teebz, but why doesn’t the nhl do it the opposite (ala baseball) and have the moneygrabbing, hideous-whoring special jersey for the competition/skills, and then the regular sweater for the game? do more people actually watch the game?
#42 by Robert on 07.16.08 10:18 am |
Scott said:
Yount is officially The Man for refusing to wear the poorly executed throwback. I wonder how many guys in his position would even notice that the stripes on the pants were not right.
#43 by scott on 07.16.08 10:20 am |
Timothy B said:
Carter had both an Expos and Mets cap, and Winfield had both a Padres and Yankees cap. Though it appeared Boggs only had a Yankees cap.
#44 by chance on 07.16.08 10:20 am |
caknuck said:
That was the one which surprised me. All of the others wore the current primary caps of their respective HOF teams.
I presume that they did that to de-emphasize the “San Francisco” part of the Giants, play up their New York history?
#45 by Bryan Redemske on 07.16.08 10:20 am |
I have a feeling Aramis Ramirez might not have been to blame for the wrong helmet thing. It’s pretty clearly a new helmet, and Fukudome and Soto had new lids, too. Maybe the clubbies put the All-Star Game sticker on the wrong lid and sent him on his way?
#46 by Teebz on 07.16.08 10:21 am |
LI Phil said:
No, but the All-Star Game is the major event for corporate sponsors, and the NHL normally gives tickets to those sponsors for free to fill the seats and sell the product. In selling the product, the NHL highlights the All-Star Game to the corporations, while the Skills Competition is more for the fans.
I’d prefer to see home versus road, but that will never happen as long as someone with no hockey business sense is running the league.
#47 by Paul Lukas on 07.16.08 10:24 am |
Robert said:
The real question is why Ventura was on the all-star team that year. He was hitting .263 at the break!
#48 by John on 07.16.08 10:30 am |
War Damn Eagle said:
I couldn’t agree more. As a Vandy alum, I am consistently disappointed with the uniform choices the football team makes. That new gold color is so much less distinctive than their previous gold unis. Since it seems they totally revamp their uniforms about every two years, I guess there’s hope that they’ll come out with a better uni for 2010.
#49 by chance on 07.16.08 10:31 am |
Paul Lukas said:
Heck, after this year’s voting, I don’t think we can complain about questionable choices in the past….
#50 by Cosmo on 07.16.08 10:34 am |
I don’t know if any of you caught it…and I don’t have the ability to screen-cap it, so I’m hoping someone else might be able to.
During FOX’s pre-game Red Carpet thing yesterday, whenever they’d go to commercial, they’d play clips of various NY personalities and their memories of Yankee Stadium. Somewhere around 6:40 (I think) there was one with Rudy Giuliani. He says something like “My favorite memory of Yankee Stadium…I think it ….” When he pauses there, he furrows his brow…and I swear the vertical lines between his eyebrows formed the Yankees ‘NY’ logo! I backed up the DVR and yelled for my wife… “Holy Shit. That’s crazy” she said…so it wasn’t just me being burned out from a shitty day at work…she saw it too.
Did anyone else catch that?
I screen capped it. I could see where you’d pick out the “NY”, though it looked more like a “W” to me at first glance.
http://picasaweb.goo...
#51 by Marty Met on 07.16.08 10:37 am |
Dan said:
Can you get a screen capture off the DVR?
#52 by Ian K on 07.16.08 10:38 am |
Hurnf said:
I’m pretty sure 2 of those men on the cart were his son Hal and his son-in-law.
#53 by Dan on 07.16.08 10:41 am |
Cosmo said:
That was exactly where I was looking! Thanks.
#54 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 10:42 am |
Cosmo said:
that is some freaky shit…and here i originally thought he had a swastika-shaped furrow…perhaps it changes for his target audience?
#55 by Wade Harder on 07.16.08 10:43 am |
War Damn Eagle said:
Oh, and you forgot Clemson. Either way, it’s still a downgrade from this:
http://www.vanderbil...
and this:
http://media.scout.c...
#56 by Ian K on 07.16.08 10:46 am |
I’m glad the Uni Watch archives are back up. After watching footage from the ‘06 ASG, I consulted the archives to recall why everyone was wearing yellow wristbands – in honor of Roberto Clemente of course.
Many thanks to Mark Rybczyk and Paul for featuring my alma mater’s sweet baseball unis! I feel I’ve failed my school by not noticing their throwbacks though. I told you guys, purple isn’t all that bad!!
And “top ranked” might be stretching the truth a little bit…they’ve won the Mountain West Conference and made the regionals for a few years now, but the CWS has alluded them.
#57 by Mike L on 07.16.08 10:50 am |
I didn’t get to watch any coverage or even highlights of the AS game last night, so I don’t know the context for the Statue on Parade auction email I got from MLB.com today, but Holy Crap, these are heinous. And 8.5 feet tall?? Starting bid $5k??
#58 by Ricko on 07.16.08 10:50 am |
Maybe if Guiliani didn’t write on his forehead with a blue dry erase marker people wouldn’t notice it so much.
#59 by Kevin on 07.16.08 10:53 am |
I didn’t catch the pregame HOFer deal but I asked my buddy and he said the HOFers weren’t wearing the era specific hat for when they played for whatever team they were on. What’s up with that?
#60 by Ricko on 07.16.08 10:54 am |
Mike L said:
Think I could get $50 if I painted a miniature Liberty Bell to look like Mrs. Butterworth?
Hey, I wouldn’t be being commericial, it would be a totally patriotic gesture.
#61 by Graham on 07.16.08 11:01 am |
scott said:
I’m sorry, but it still cheeses me that Carter won’t just accept that he was inducted as an Expo. It’s kind a big deal to those of us in Canada, as he’s the only person in the HOF from a Canadian team. We all know he was pissed that he wasn’t inducted a Met, but c’mon! Show some respect to a city that got the ass end of baseball’s business bullshit. Montrealers, whom were great fans, deserve it.
#62 by teamcinnamon on 07.16.08 11:04 am |
Jet said:
I’m still partial to: “Fuck this, I’ll make my own motherfucking stirrups.”
#63 by Christopher on 07.16.08 11:06 am |
Graham said:
Yeah, I don’t get the whole hoopla. Did he have problems with the Montreal orginization? I mean- its not like he’s from NY, and its some hometown dream of his.
Some of the Montreal teams he was on were damn good, too.
Even though I adopted the Mets as my second team when I was a kid during the early-mid 80s, I still think of Carter as an Expo.
#64 by LarenR on 07.16.08 11:06 am |
chance said:
From last night’s comments:
LarenR said:
And it was Mays, not McCovey. McCovey never played in NY.
#65 by Dan on 07.16.08 11:07 am |
LarenR said:
Anyone know what was but Mays’ butt during the pre-game? That was one pissed off lookin old man!
#66 by chance on 07.16.08 11:09 am |
Graham said:
Loath as I am to defend Carter, I got the sense that it was something for the hometown fans. Just like Dave Winfield holding up the Yankees cap. Didn’t bother me at all.
Now, if he had done the same thing in another city, I’d agree with you.
#67 by Duckstyle on 07.16.08 11:09 am |
Paul Lukas said:
That’s .045 higher than Varitek!
#68 by Mr. Met on 07.16.08 11:13 am |
Christopher said:
Carter preferred the New York cap because of his championship in New York. If you read old interviews with Carter around the time of his induction he would constantly say that he considered himself a Met and described his years in New York as “magnificent”. I dug up this quote from Carter:
“If the Expos are no longer in existence, how is that going to be beneficial to me and my family when we have an opportunity to be part of a family that will be around a long time? Everybody knows my feelings. But it wasn’t up to me.”
#69 by Marty Met on 07.16.08 11:15 am |
Graham said:
and as a Mets fan, I’m glad he didn’t go in as a Met.
#70 by Joe Hilseberg on 07.16.08 11:20 am |
Ventura pic here!
http://mlb.mlb.com/m...
#71 by Joe Hilseberg on 07.16.08 11:22 am |
And here is Yount NOT in the throwback
http://mlb.mlb.com/m...
#72 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 11:28 am |
Marty Met said:
save that honor for piazza
#73 by Hama on 07.16.08 11:28 am |
Mr. Met said:
I would’ve preferred he gone in as a Met – he is a complete embarrassment of a self-promoter who can’t shut his yap for more than a couple of seconds to take a breath. At least Andre Dawson was proud to have been an Expo, Carter is only proud when it suits him
#74 by SWC Susan (aka Tex) on 07.16.08 11:33 am |
I think we might need to add the Corpus Christi ray striped shoulders to the FAQ… we have done that one numerous times, myself included! However, can’t say I don’t mind looking at those stripes!
#75 by paddy on 07.16.08 11:34 am |
John said:
That gold with the white numbers is horrible, especially on sunny days and on TV. Purdue had the exact same gold, with those numbers and it was putrid. Thankfully Purdue went back to black for home games.
#76 by James Craven on 07.16.08 11:36 am |
Mays and McCovey were sitting because they both have arthritic knees from what I understand. That’s why Willie Mac had one of those “DreamSeats” recliners at last year’s Home Run Derby in San Francisco.
#77 by Tyler on 07.16.08 11:37 am |
I’m sure somebody may have noticed this from last night, too, but Matt Holliday’s helmet was a solid black Cool Flo. The Rockies have gone with a Mets-type style purple front fading into black for the past couple of years on their Cool Flo helmets, but Holliday’s was solid black last night. Any ideas?
#78 by Ronnie Poore on 07.16.08 11:47 am |
paddy said:
yeah, white on gold is not good….makes it very hard to ID the numbers from any kind of distance. it’s gonna drive tv and radio spotters crazy.
#79 by James Craven on 07.16.08 11:51 am |
In other football uni related news…
Rhode Island has flip-flopped their football helmet colors for 2008 from Kearney Blue (Carolina or Columbia Blue to us) horns on white to white horns on Kearney Blue. It will be worn with a navy facemask BTW.
#80 by Tony Miller on 07.16.08 11:54 am |
Minor record set this morning, as we crossed the record for most comments at 12:47 EDT.
Top 5 commented posts ever:
And I Bet He’s Got A Pushy Agent, Too (7/15/08) 387 comments
See Spot Run (9/20/07) 344 comments
The Real First Day of Spring (4/1/08) 340 comments
Just One Little Problem (1/11/07) 332 comments
It’s Academic (6/20/07) 299 comments
#81 by Patrick on 07.16.08 12:06 pm |
mark said:
Well, they are the top ranked college team in Ft. Worth. Maybe that’s what he meant?
Seriously, those are some nice uniforms.
#82 by Skycat on 07.16.08 12:17 pm |
LI Phil said:
LI Phil said:
Are you sure it didn’t say 9/11?
#83 by John T on 07.16.08 12:19 pm |
not really uni related, but funny none the less. A councilman in Jersey trying to ban ‘Baggy’ pants.
http://wcbstv.com/wa...
Can he start something about pajama pants in MLB?
#84 by Jerry on 07.16.08 12:21 pm |
Why were there no Red Sox HOF’s represented last night? I thought Boggs was in the Hall as a BoSox? Was it because of the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry. It was good to see Kaline wearing the Olde English “D”. How ironic was it that a Red Sox player won the MVP at Yankee Stadium?
#85 by Ricko on 07.16.08 12:31 pm |
Jerry said:
On TV said was cuz Boggs was part of a Yankee championship team.
All these “team identity” problems. Sure is different from times past. Hard to imagine guys like Berra, Clemente and Kaline (all of whom have been mentioned today) playing for two or more teams each. But in today’s era, they probably would have.
#86 by Brandz on 07.16.08 12:43 pm |
How bout these stripes out of the North Hills outside of Pittsburgh!
http://www.nhsports....
and
http://www.nhsports....
sorry for the large links, not good at html!
Apparently, after other searching, I found a picture from their pep rally and the away uni’s look more like the atlanta falcons jerseys! Also, I have some friends from the north hills and those aren’t ‘throwbacks,’ those are the actual jerseys from the early years, not replicas!
#87 by Stuby on 07.16.08 12:44 pm |
Here’s a good shot of Berkman wearing the gray spikes…
http://msn.foxsports...
#88 by Brandz on 07.16.08 12:44 pm |
It looks like they also have extremely high NOB as you can see in the first picture…Maybe they all say ‘Indians?’ I’ll look for more.
#89 by Brandz on 07.16.08 12:46 pm |
never mind…looks like actual players NOB
http://www.pghsports...
#90 by Ricko on 07.16.08 12:49 pm |
Stuby said:
David Wright in gray, too, wasn’t he.
#91 by Thomas on 07.16.08 12:49 pm |
I’m going to sound like a crazy person, because I didn’t get a screenshot and I don’t know how to describe it, but I really want to know what it was:
Did anyone else notice that it both dugouts, against the back wall, there were charts with what looked like rules or descriptions of uniforms? There were different colored stars, and each had an oval underneath, with the oval looking almost like a pant leg schematic. In one close-up shot of Lou Pinella, I could see it over his shoulder, and I noticed the word “Outfielders” written below a group of about six of these star/oval designs, which led to me to uni-centric conclusion. (Of course, that could also be wishful thinking.)
But did anyone else see this?
#92 by Christopher on 07.16.08 12:51 pm |
Thomas said:
Any idea of around what inning you saw this? I have the game available.
#93 by Ricko on 07.16.08 12:54 pm |
Ricko said:
Aw,hell I was so tired by then I don’t know who it was. Someone in gray uni with royal trim was wearing gray nike with a shoksorb style heel. Think accent color on shoes was orange.
#94 by Ricko on 07.16.08 12:55 pm |
Ricko said:
Man, I’m still tired. ShockSorb is batting gloves. Shox is shoes.
#95 by Patrick on 07.16.08 1:03 pm |
I think most of us can probably agree that the gray shoes/gray long pants thing is an embarrassment.
You would think some of those dopes might realize they look like they are dressed in kid’s pajamas. But alas, no.
#96 by Christopher on 07.16.08 1:05 pm |
Thomas said:
This is the best I could find:
http://www.baseballr...
http://www.baseballr...
See the thing in the back? Look like what you’re talking about. No idea what it is.
#97 by Christopher on 07.16.08 1:06 pm |
Christopher said:
I do have an idea… might it be the chart of how they’re supposed to line up before the game when being announced? It looks like a drawing of all the players.
I’d suppose such a chart would exist somewhere?
#98 by Jason on 07.16.08 1:06 pm |
Christopher said:
Is it a chart from the pregame pagentry to show the HoFers where to stand?
#99 by James Craven on 07.16.08 1:12 pm |
I’ll bet that Calvin Griffith used that TCU logo as the inspiration for the Minnesota Twins caps…
#100 by Kek on 07.16.08 1:23 pm |
Brandz said:
I could be wrong, but I think the deal with North Hills is that the style of stripes was their traditional look and at that time their NOB were all “INDIANS”. I remember this when Lavar Arrington was going there but I’m sure that look well pre-dates that era.
They upgraded their look as some point, but then went back to the older striped look recently and at that time they must have went to player NOB.
#101 by Kek on 07.16.08 1:34 pm |
Brandz said:
Another thing, this is going to drive me CRAZY, who the hell are North Hills playing in that photo? What TROJANS are they? The reason I ask is that there are no AAAA WPIAL teams named Trojans. I went back to 1999 on epasports.com and they didn’t play any teams with the nickname TROJANS in ANY classification. There were no cases from ‘99-07 where NH advanced out of the WPIAL playoffs to interdistricts so the point of non-WPIAL Trojans-named squads in moot.
I know that PGH North Catholic are named the Trojans but:
a. I thought their colors were yellow and red
b. They haven’t played them in a regular season game recently (They are a Class A school).
c. Yes, they could face-off against each other in preseason scrimmages but it doesn’t appear that’s the case because you can coaches on the sidelines.
#102 by Kek on 07.16.08 1:36 pm |
Kek said:
Never mind, I figured it out, it’s Erie McDowell. They aren’t technically a member of the WPIAL (they are in District 10) but they play all the teams in one of the WPIAL AAAA conferences. Forgot about that.
#103 by KT on 07.16.08 1:52 pm |
The flat-brimmed, duck-hunting hat that George Sherrill had on and the way Edinson Volquez wears his hat both make Baby Jeebus cry.
#104 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 1:55 pm |
KT said:
yes…the future of baseball ‘fashion’ is bleak indeed…and lets hope the brew crew’s habit of untucking as soon as the last out is recorded catches on too
#105 by Mark in Cincy on 07.16.08 1:57 pm |
LI Phil said:
I hate the way Volquez wears his hat … and I’m a Reds fan. I love him, not his hat.
#106 by Jerry on 07.16.08 2:02 pm |
LI Phil said:
I know that the Brewers hope it does. They are trying to get Ned Yost to do it. I was at the press conference the day of the Corey Hart “Beer Celebration” and one of the reporters asked Bill Hall about the untucking and if they are going to try to get Ned to do it.
#107 by Brian on 07.16.08 2:10 pm |
I know I’m a little late in referring back to Paul’s ESPN column, but I couldn’t help but notice how big a change occurred between the Johnnie Callison home run to win the ‘64 game and the photos from the ‘72 game 8 years later. Did anybody really think that garish, polyester uniforms look better than the classics worn by Callison and the other ‘64 All-Stars? Wow. Some bad uni decision making by the powers that be…
#108 by Paul Lukas on 07.16.08 2:17 pm |
Brian said:
Color TV, my friend. Color TV…..
#109 by MPowers1634 on 07.16.08 2:21 pm |
Adam said:
Supposedly, I have heard rumors that they”re not even black, but green!
http://vmedia.rivals...
Well, I am glad to be able to give you a Uni-Watch report today…concerning the John Mayer concert at PNC Bank Arts Center last night…
NOTHING, except some idiot wearing an ASG Yankees 5950.
Rather ironic, don’t you think?
#110 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 2:21 pm |
Paul Lukas said:
and in the case of the astros…lysergic acid diethylamide
#111 by Stuby on 07.16.08 2:26 pm |
Saw a lot of these types of jerseys (not Damon per se) over the past few days…
http://shop.mlb.com/...
I understand that you may not be able to shell out the $185 or whatever for the authentic model, but for god sakes get yourself a ripper and remove the damned name before you wear it out in public looking like a jackass.
#112 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 2:27 pm |
MPowers1634 said:
a little too ironic
i really do think
#113 by Dane on 07.16.08 2:30 pm |
Teebz said:
It’s hard to justify that comment when league revenue has increased ~25% over the last three seasons.
http://www.bizofhock...
Revenue at NHL Enterprises, the league’s business arm, is up 40 percent, licensed merchandise sales have increased 15 percent.
Overall, total league revenue is at a high of $2.56 billion.
Revenue has increased approximately 25% in the post-lockout era.
#114 by Ricko on 07.16.08 2:34 pm |
Paul Lukas said:
Exactly. That and a trend toward, for literally the first time in American history, lots of color in men’s fashions, largely inspired by British rocks band and hippie fashions that later morphed on into the disco look. Doubleknit had its effect other than on the baseball diamond. It was the era of brightly colored or wildly striped bellbottoms, dye tied shirts and—even in all but the straightest of businesses—men wearing (ohmigod) shirts in colors like burgundy and purple and french blue instead of traditional white and oxford cloth blue. In a world of navy and gray suits, suddenly there was…plum…or powder blue.
Often it was hideous, sometimes it worked out great…just like MLB.
#115 by Marty Met on 07.16.08 2:39 pm |
Brian said:
The A’s looked a million times better and so did the Phillies(although they didn’t have those SWEET powder blues until ‘73), the Braves, the Brewers, the Pirates (and the Pirates didn’t have those GREAT uniforms until ‘77) and the Padres.
The Expos who didn’t exist in ‘64 had a fantastic uniform with powder blues on the road.
The Astros in ‘72 wore a fairly mundane uniform.
http://exhibits.base...
#116 by MPowers1634 on 07.16.08 2:40 pm |
MPowers1634 said:
Yes, David Wright wore grey Nike Shox MCS Fuse I believe:
http://d.yimg.com/a/...
For a great breakdown of ASG cleats, check out Mark Mihalik\’s great new site, Player Exclusive.com:
http://playerexclusi...
BTW, shouldn\’t his cleats have been base grey?:
http://d.yimg.com/a/...
#117 by Ricko on 07.16.08 2:50 pm |
Marty Met said:
Saw Astros play Cardinals at Astrodome in ‘73. Between the orange of one team and red of the other (still lots of stirrup showing in those days) it sure was a lot more colorful than watching the Twins play, say, the Yankees at the Metrodome these days.
Not saying better one way or another, but the visual experience is decidedly different. That can’t be denied.
#118 by josh on 07.16.08 2:55 pm |
Stuby said:
There’s been some noise that Hank is going to put NOBs on the Yanks. Maybe that Damon jersey is the canary in the coal mine.
#119 by Ricko on 07.16.08 2:59 pm |
Does any current MBL uni generate more apathy than the Rockies? On most unis I have an opinion (my own, of course, but I least HAVE one). The Rockies are just…eh.
Anyone else notice that? Or feel that? I mean, they just never get mentioned, one way or another (well, except for their vests that look they’re from a 1930’s Flash Gordon serial). They sorta the invisible team here at UniWatch.
#120 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 2:59 pm |
josh said:
josh,
i thought we put this to bed yesterday…the yanks are NEVER going to put NOB until MLB requires it
but then again, my sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
#121 by Stuby on 07.16.08 3:00 pm |
josh said:
Hank would fall under the “jackass” category.
#122 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 3:01 pm |
Ricko said:
ricko
first of all, we’re not apathetic…we just don’t care
secondly, what color is the ‘base’ of the rockie uni? (even if it’s not always apparent)?
right…the color is taboo, so the uni sometimes gets treated with kid gloves
#123 by Neil on 07.16.08 3:03 pm |
Dane said:
Thanks for posting those #s Dane. I am no Bettman Basher. Over the last several months of the season I was listening to the podcast of his one hour radio show from XM. This guy absolutely loves this game and is willing to try almost anything to increase the league’s image. I respect that.
#124 by Ricko on 07.16.08 3:04 pm |
LI Phil said:
Wasn’t thinking of any specific color issue. Just that even the posters don’t bring up the Rockies. It’s like, “Oh, yeah, the Rockies, they DO wear unis, don’t they; forgot about them.” Kinda like they define “nondescript”.
#125 by Stuby on 07.16.08 3:05 pm |
Read the first item in the ticker here…
http://www.uniwatchb...
Then look at the date of the post.
This is how these rumors get started.
#126 by JT on 07.16.08 3:11 pm |
Regarding those TCU uniforms, they should show you that even purple, when used judiciously, is not really that evil of a color. But it’s easy to overdo it.
#127 by Ricko on 07.16.08 3:28 pm |
JT said:
All right, show of hands.
Who’ll agree to the following?
No matter what, camo ranks lower than purple on the “oh, please” scale
(except for Padres; they invented it, and with good reason given their market)
#128 by Ricko on 07.16.08 3:30 pm |
And may I just say this: I LOVE the Washington Huskies unis during the Warren Moon era. Yeah, they were a version of the ‘Niners…but the combo really worked well. White shoes, white high socks, definitely a look for their time…but a great look.
#129 by chance on 07.16.08 3:36 pm |
Stuby said:
But this being the Internet, people remember the joke without any context, and it gets repeated as “There’s been some noise that Hank is going to put NOBs on the Yanks.”
#130 by chance on 07.16.08 3:37 pm |
Ricko said:
The Padres don’t get a pass just because they were the first ones to think of a new crass marketing gimmick.
It’s still a crass marketing gimmick.
#131 by Ricko on 07.16.08 3:40 pm |
Lotta class acts in pro sports these days, I guess.
http://msn.foxsports...
#132 by lwiedy on 07.16.08 3:41 pm |
LI Phil said:
Do you get so dizzy even walking in a straight line?
#133 by Jeff P on 07.16.08 3:44 pm |
Ricko said:
Not sure how to do a hand, but here’s at least one in complete agreement!
#134 by Ricko on 07.16.08 3:44 pm |
chance said:
People of San Diego seem to have embraced it, and I guess that’s how it ought to be measured: Do the home fans like it? Intent shouldn’t be to start a national trend. And, of course, a big factor (HUGE facter) is how often they do it.
#135 by Stuby on 07.16.08 3:46 pm |
Ricko said:
You’re right , Ricko. They went so middle-of-the-road with the uniforms as well as the team name.
“OK, its 1993 so we HAVE to use purple and black and we’ll recycle the old NHL team name, but we’ll really perk up the uniform with a cap design featuring initials of both the place AND the team names. Fans will love it!”
#136 by lwiedy on 07.16.08 3:55 pm |
Hama said:
I saw him in 1999 at spring training walk up to Mark McGwire with an armful of stuff to sign while Mac was trying to get to BP. McGwire was so embarrassed, hell, I was embarrassed watching it. But not “the Kid”.
Regarding Uggla, he had a bad night, but hanging that last error on him was IMPO, unconscionable. Just making a bad night unnecessarily worse.
#137 by Benjamin Bonnet on 07.16.08 3:59 pm |
I forgot to say anything about it last night, but wasn’t Carlos Zambrano’s “8″ upside down?
#138 by Ricko on 07.16.08 4:02 pm |
Gary Carter always struck as one of those people who is pretty smart, but not quite smart enough to know how stupid he really is.
#139 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 4:03 pm |
Ricko said:
camo will ALWAYS rank lower than purple
…unless your last name is lukas
#140 by Marty Met on 07.16.08 4:05 pm |
Ricko said:
Then I’ll say it. The more colorful uniforms were better.
#141 by Mark Richter on 07.16.08 4:10 pm |
The Ludwick helmet has transcended Uni Watch! There was talk of it on two different shows on Team 1380 here in STL today. Of course, the show hosts did not speak of it as intelligently as we do here in this space … for instance, they didn’t seem to know that the Coolflo helmet actually has a name (although they did note that the Cardinals don’t wear those). They did wonder why he didn’t use Pujols’ helmet, although I remember hearing somewhere that Ludwick has an unusually large head (make up your own joke here) so if that’s true I guess it wouldn’t fit him.
#142 by seven on 07.16.08 4:16 pm |
Dane said:
Most of that revenue increase is caused by the stronger Canadian dollar. This is hardly something that Bettman can take credit for. the majority of league revenue is generated by Canadian teams, but Bettman does everything he can to prop up struggling teams in markets tht don’t care about hockey
#143 by Perry on 07.16.08 4:21 pm |
Ricko said:
They’ve done some things well, others not so well.
Pro: Their basic home uni (white, pinstripes, ROCKIES lettering, black caps, socks, and sleeves, purple/silver lettering) is EXCELLENT, IMO, and to their credit, they’ve never really changed it in 16 years. The basic gray road uni has changed some (ROCKIES to COLORADO, removing piping and adding pinstripes), but they’ve basically all been fine as well. The home alt white vest with pinstripes and CR lettering is also great, maybe even better than the basic top.
Con: The purple road tops, now pretty much retired. The hideous black vests, which should be.
Overall: A solid 7/10. Would be an 8 if they’d stick to the basic unis and ditch the black vests.
#144 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 4:24 pm |
seven said:
revenue has increased 25% in the post-lockout era?
i should effin hope so…
im surprised it wasn’t 100%, although nothing times 2 is still nothing
that’s why statistics are bullshit…bettman is the WORST thing that could have happened to the actual sport of hockey…now..whether or not the revenues are greater, who cares? he was on mike and the maddog (radio show) here in NY (i think it was during or after the rangers-devils series) and he is an absolute MORON with little or no historical knowledge of his own sport
but…is he a good businessman…prolly…did he sell his (nhl’s) soul?
i’ll tell you what would get me interested in puck again…real fights
like the isles-flyers-canadians-maple leaf classics of the 1970s i grew up with…f all these european pussies they have in the league now
aight…it’s baseball season, so i’ll knock off the bettman rant till fall
#145 by joe on 07.16.08 4:25 pm |
Neil said:
He’s clueless, hockey does not need to do everything it can to market itself, it was #3 solidly until he took over. Hes trying to put teams where they don’t belong, hes blocking sales of teams that would make sense so that his crook friends can get the teams instead. He has no control of the league, he “claims” to have not know that the corrupt kings ownership actually loaned money to the crooked group that bought Nashville. 3 months ago he confused Ace Bailey who died in 9-11 with Ace Bailey from the 1930’s who got his head smashed in, when in reference to his own leagues commercials on its own network..
#146 by Marty Met on 07.16.08 4:29 pm |
seven said:
and if the Jets were still in Winnepeg, things would be even better
#147 by Kek on 07.16.08 4:37 pm |
LI Phil said:
Never say never. I never thought the Red Sox would go NOB even if it’s just on the road jersey.
Is the rumor for the Yanks on home and road both? I could see them putting names on the road jerseys first.
I’m not defending the idea, I think it would definitely take some getting used to, just saying it’s not unthinkable.
#148 by MPowers1634 on 07.16.08 4:37 pm |
lwiedy said:
Very clever!!!Gordan Matthew Thomas Sumner
Why dio I know this…Matthew Thomas Peter Powers or as my friends know…MTPP, say the initials quickly, you”ll chuckle!
#149 by MPowers1634 on 07.16.08 4:39 pm |
Ricko said:
Huh?
#150 by Teebz on 07.16.08 4:42 pm |
Dane said:
No, it’s quite easy to justify, actually. The salary cap has increased every year since the lockout, and now there are at least six teams losing money in the double-digit millions. The NYI, for example, lost $20-25 million last season under the cap.
There are approximately 10 teams who can afford to pay the players the maximum cap limit. The other 20 teams cannot. Is that parity? The top-earning teams are complaining that their profits are being eaten up by the bottom-earning teams, and the bottom-earning teams are complaining that they can’t turn a profit because they are paying out more money every single year to the players in terms of the minimum cap limit.
Don’t forget: the maximum cap limit when the NHL returned was $39 million. The minimum amount that teams can spend this year is $40 million and change.
Tying league revenue to player salaries (a stupid idea) is a farce because the league has never lost money the way its individual teams have. The league doesn’t spend money on player salaries – it simply makes sure to capitalize on every item sold with the NHL shield on it.
The teams, however, have to worry about ticket sales because they are gate-driven. No attendance + rising player salaries = red ink all over the place.
Gary Bettman tells us that arenas are playing to larger crowds. However, he’s pulling the wool over your eyes. The arenas are getting larger with every new one built, meaning there are more cheaper seats to be filler. The problem is that markets like Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Carolina can’t give tickets away to citizens there. Just because Toronto, Montreal, Pittsburgh, Philly, and the NYR are playing to near-capacity crowds doesn’t mean the league, as a whole, is doing well.
Economics was never Bettman’s strong suit, and every day that he tells you that the league is doing well is a crock.
Does the name “Boots” Del Baggio ring any bells? Who is responsible for the due diligence in researching the money being invested before the sale of the team is brought to the Board of Governors? The NHL. Who reports to the Board directly? Gary Bettman.
The guy is the world’s best spin doctor in the history of Earth. The NHL offices could be burning, and he’d tell you that it’s a minor heating problem.
#151 by Ricko on 07.16.08 4:42 pm |
MPowers1634 said:
Exactly.
#152 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 4:49 pm |
MPowers1634 said:
physician heal thyself
#153 by Ricko on 07.16.08 4:51 pm |
re: NHL
A couple years ago I spoke with good friend, highly placed in hockey, incredible background in financial management. He told me that, from a fianancial standpoint, the NHL would be better to fold, bankrupt all the teams (well, most of them), and start over. For one thing, salaries somewhat on par with other leagues, but TV not generating anything close to the revenue of other leagues. They are leveraged so severely, waiting for some magic moment when interest in hockey becomes as universal as interest in baseball, basketball, football that they are just too far out on the limb. And they add weight to their burden faster that the tree can possibly grow to support it.
Hockey fans hate to hear this, but most of the U.S. really doesn’t care about the game the way it cares about the big three. Not even close.
#154 by BS on 07.16.08 4:52 pm |
josh said:
More importantly, why was Wade Boggs wearing a Yankee cap when he played much longer in Boston? His HOF plaque has him wearing a Sox hat, so why is he wearing a MFY hat?
#155 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 4:55 pm |
LI Phil said:
this is why
#156 by Duckstyle on 07.16.08 4:56 pm |
joe said:
Number 3!? In Detroit maybe. Are you kidding me, in ‘93? I think not. It was #4 then, and probably still is, but it’s about 10 years away from being #5 if more big owners get involved in the MLS.
#157 by Duckstyle on 07.16.08 5:02 pm |
LI Phil said:
If I had the choice of A) getting booed or B) getting a standing ovation…..hmmmmmm….let me think
#158 by joe on 07.16.08 5:13 pm |
Duckstyle said:
hockey was bigger than hoops from the time hoops started until jordan took over. Jordan pulled hoops on par with hockey and them came bettman to drive the nails into the coffin.
#159 by Ricko on 07.16.08 5:23 pm |
“hockey was bigger than hoops from the time hoops started until jordan took over”? Where, on Earth Two? Certainly not is U.S. here on Earth One.
I will grant that hockey can point to Howe and Hull as mainstream legends during that time, but basketball can claim, among plenty of others, Mikan, Russell, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar, Irving, Bird, Johnson…
#160 by JP on 07.16.08 5:33 pm |
Hama said:
While Carter is extremely egotistical and selfish, he was proud of his Montreal days. He wanted to stay with the Expos his entire career. He moved to Montreal. He learned French when ownership asked him to (probably for self-serving reasons of marketability, sure, but still…), and he felt betrayed by the Expos when they traded him.
#161 by joe on 07.16.08 5:43 pm |
Ricko said:
I was not talking about individuals, I’m talking about the leagues, the NHL was bigger then the NBA until the Jordan explosion of the NBA. Remember prior to MJ the NBA finals we played on *late* night tape delays.
#162 by Stuby on 07.16.08 5:47 pm |
joe said:
And in a good part of the U.S. at that time, hockey wasn’t on TV at all.
#163 by JP on 07.16.08 5:48 pm |
Jerry said:
Luis Aparicio was there in Red Sox gear.
Who else?
Orlando Cepeda’s a Giant; Dennis Eckersley’s an A; Tom Seaver’s a Met; Tony Perez’s a Reds; Fergie Jenkins’s a Cub; Juan Marichal’s a Giant; George Kell’s a Tiger; Wade Boggs was in a Yankee cap.
That leaves: Bobby Doerr, Carlton Fisk and Carl Yastrzemski, who may or may not have been there.
Lou Boudreau, Jesse Burkett, Jack Chesbro, Jimmy Collins, Joe Cronin, Rick Ferrell, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Harry Hooper, Waite Hoyt, Heinie Manush, Herb Pennock, Babe Ruth, Red Ruffing, Al Simmons, Tris Speaker, Ted Williams, and Cy Young are all dead.
#164 by Duckstyle on 07.16.08 5:48 pm |
joe said:
I don’t care. It’s gotta be a regional thing then because not even the old timers around here talk about old hockey games, but I here them talkin hoops all the time. Hockey was number 3 in their dreams, or like I said earlier, maybe in Detroit.
#165 by marc on 07.16.08 5:48 pm |
Robert said:
probably not since most guys wearing the throwbacks didn’t wear ‘em before they got thrown back.
#166 by Duckstyle on 07.16.08 5:49 pm |
Duckstyle said:
Here hear!
#167 by Kek on 07.16.08 5:53 pm |
joe said:
Wait, weren’t Magic and Bird credited with bringing the game back from the dead. MJ took it to the next level. I thought the NBA Finals on tape delay was a thing of the 70s.
That was a bad era for the NBA, bad product, no real stand alone superstars and a legit competing league in the ABA.
That all being said, and I’m a hockey guy, I don’t know if hockey was that much in mainstream in the 70s. I would think the game made it’s move to the forefront in the 80s as you had the back-to-back dynasties in the Isles and Oilers.
#168 by rob on 07.16.08 5:56 pm |
so i missed the game last night, what was wrong with Dan Uggla?
#169 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 5:57 pm |
Stuby said:
well said, mr. greenlee
i also fail to see how a league that had only 6 teams until like 1967 was more popular than hoops…although to be fair…neither sport was very popular at all, what with football and baseball…they were almost ‘time fillers’ to get us from late fall/early winter until spring
#170 by Ricko on 07.16.08 6:14 pm |
LI Phil said:
And there is the real truth of it. Neither was big, relatively speaking.
In defense of my earlier point, how could basketball get so many more mainstream legends without the NBA being popular than the NHL? Would seem to be impossible.
I do give the NHL credit for expanding properly. Given their small number of original teams, creating an entire new division was brilliant. It established instant new rivalries among those teams, between the new teams against the storied teams and, equally as important, guaranteed an expansion team would play in the Stanley Cup finals, and it stayed that way for a number of years. Looked really stupid at the time but, long term, was a master stroke.
#171 by LarenR on 07.16.08 6:32 pm |
rob said:
He had 342 errors and struck out 95 times, at least 61 of those with the bases loaded. Or something like that.
#172 by LarenR on 07.16.08 6:34 pm |
rob said:
Well, that’s what it must have felt like.
Here’s the real story:
http://sports.espn.g...
#173 by warren thompson on 07.16.08 6:40 pm |
Randy Miller said:
As a teen growing up in San Antonio, I was always impressed by the Ray HS Texans and their striped shoulders. As far as I know they’ve sported them continuously from the time the school was opened in the late 1940s or early 50s. In early years, the shoulder yoke was a bit different, curved down from the neck to the upper arm, instead of straight across as at present.
For what it’s worth, I have no idea what another poster means by an “entire candy-striped” uniform.
Perhaps college coaches eschew the stripes as too “high school.” (If so, that’s sad ….)
#174 by Giancarlo on 07.16.08 6:55 pm |
Ricko said:
Their uni has always seemed to me unfinished, more of a sketch of a uni than a uni. And the black vest with black undershirt just violates basic principles of style. Didn’t we decide here a while back that their “Flash Gordon” look should be called the “Ace Frehley”?
http://i67.photobuck...
#175 by Barney Fife on 07.16.08 7:10 pm |
Can’t believe Paul missed the opportunity to express his dismay over the HOFers wearing adjustable caps. You’re slipping, Paulie.
#176 by interlockingtc on 07.16.08 7:13 pm |
The Rockies biggest mistake is their logo. A cap logo should never initialize the city/state/region AND the nickname. Looks dumb. Plus, the C and R don’t blend well together.
Think of the possibilities with a simple or stylized C.
Also, like my Twins, pinstripes on road grays just looks wrong.
#177 by Kevin on 07.16.08 7:39 pm |
I am sure this has been all over the site already, but I thought I would link it again. (it’s probably tuning into the green helmet dot thing, but I haven’t been on the site for quite a while) It’s Kevin Durant in his new Barons uniform. I like the color scheme and the font, but I am not crazy about the sides.
http://nbainsidestuf...
One last thought. How nice do you think the players think it is that they can get a 6,000 square foot house for under a million bucks as opposed to Seattle where that will get you a 3 bedroom-2 bath starter? A dollar goes a lot further in Oklahoma….but then you’re in Oklahoma. Goodbye entertainment and fun.
#178 by Tom on 07.16.08 7:47 pm |
Hi everybody. First-time poster, long-time lurker.
Yount is officially The Man for refusing to wear the poorly executed throwback. I wonder how many guys in his position would even notice that the stripes on the pants were not right.
We long-time Brewers fans have considered Yount The Man for quite some time. Some of us even joined Uni Watch by putting Yount’s 19 from his first MVP season on the card …
For the “Animal House” fans among us: In a 1999 Brewers promotional ad he did the full D-Day: Rode his motorcycle up a stairway — ostensibly in the Brewers’ front office — played the “William Tell Overture” on his neck, made the whistling noise.
#179 by Smail on 07.16.08 7:53 pm |
Not to be outdone, in the AAA All Star Game, Rochester Red Wing Darnell McDonald is wearing an Indianapolis Indians batting helmet.
#180 by Tom on 07.16.08 7:56 pm |
but then again, my sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
Do you get so dizzy even walking in a straight line?
Very clever!!!Gordan Matthew Thomas Sumner
Uniform buffs who also make relatively obscure references to The Police? I have come to the right place. For you guys:
http://www.billboard...
The CD/DVD release won’t surprise you, but I love Stewart’s quote about Sting’s “lute thing.”
#181 by BS on 07.16.08 8:17 pm |
Hey Paul, looks like someone else at ESPN Gets It™. (Scroll down to roughly the midway point)
#182 by Barney Fife on 07.16.08 8:20 pm |
REALITY CHECK:
That OKC Barons page is not real. No decision has been announced yet. The uniform design seen there was submitted to the OKC paper weeks ago by a reader.
#183 by Perry on 07.16.08 8:22 pm |
LI Phil said:
Perry said:
The NBA had only 9 teams as late as 65-6 and only 10 in 66-7, then 12 in 67-8. The NHL went from 6 to 12 in 67-8. Not much to choose from there. Not sure either sport was all that popular outside the cities that had teams.
#184 by LI Phil on 07.16.08 8:40 pm |
Tom said:
welcome aboard, tom
/they would kill me for a cigarette
but I don’t even wanna die just yet
#185 by Mike on 07.16.08 9:37 pm |
Tee Ball back at the White House, game 2 this year
http://www.whitehous...
#186 by Mike on 07.16.08 9:58 pm |
Not sure if anybody mentioned this already, but I just looked at the New Era 59fifty w/ the Allstar patch the players wore last night on lids.com and it says that they’re made of wool, not the polyester like the regular 59fifty’s that they wear now. Just thought that is kinda weird. Any thoughts?
#187 by Jeremiah on 07.16.08 11:03 pm |
LI Phil said:
Its like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid.
As to the Rox unis: I like their basic uni (the home whites and road grays, both pinstriped). I hate their alternates. I’m a child of the eighties and grew up with the Showtime Lakers, so purple is not a problem for me.
#188 by Ricko on 07.16.08 11:51 pm |
I never intended to say the Rockies unis were bad looking or good looking, more that they’re just…there. They don’t illicit strong negatives or positives, wouldn’t seem likely to finish on anyone’s top five list, but not on anyone’s bottom five, either.
Except for, again, those black vests.
#189 by Marc on 07.17.08 12:09 am |
Agree with all the comments about NHL All Star uniforms being terrible, but would strike me that in a game as fast as hockey that having up to 12 different uniforms on the ice at once would be tough for the players to differentiate on the fly, even professionals. Even though you’d have six in white sweaters/socks and six in coloured, you’d still have 12 different coloured hockey pants. Less of an issue in baseball due to fact that colours on white and greys are mainly trim and lettering.
#190 by Josh Williams on 07.17.08 12:17 am |
So I just saw this picture on Page2 and was wondering what on earth is on Jason Varitek’s legs here? I presume something to do with catching. Maybe knee braces he slides on over his pants while behind the plate? Anyone?
#191 by BobA on 07.17.08 12:42 am |
JP said:
Wasn’t he wearing a White Sox hat? I was pretty sure because I was interested, being an Oriole fan and all. I wouldn’t swear to it though.
#192 by BobA on 07.17.08 12:45 am |
Smail said:
I saw a couple of hitters in that one. The Pawtucket Red Sox uni had patches on both sleeves and on the left chest. Guy looked almost NASCAR-esque.
#193 by joe on 07.17.08 1:02 am |
Stuby said:
no, just on CBS (last I checked national, and back then one of the few nationals)as a game of the week with the finals getting air time also.
#194 by joe on 07.17.08 1:09 am |
Ricko said:
the NBA finals were on tape delays until 82. Most people thought of the NBA until the 80’s as nothing but a league of pot smoking tall freaks. The league was in trouble until johnson/bird, and exploded with Jordan. Hockey was drawing full houses in almost every game until bettman arrived and diluted the talent by moving the game south. In chicago hawks tickets *were* harder to get than bears tickets. Bettman f’d everything up with his lets go to the sunbelt idea. there shouldnt be any teams south of St louis. Basketball is falling back into irrelevance as hockey did in the 90’s until now. its bigger now, but at the rate its having scandals that might not last.
#195 by joe on 07.17.08 1:13 am |
LI Phil said:
the NBA wasn’t exactly full of teams at that point either, and what they had was very unstable, with teams coming in and out. they went to 10 teams in 51, 9 in 53, 8 in 54, 9 in 61 (bulls). The NHL was stable since the 30’s People whine that too many teams get in the NHL playoffs, 16 make it, same in hoops, but there are less NBA teams, a higher % of NBA teams make the playoffs.
#196 by joe on 07.17.08 1:25 am |
do these look like good attendace figueres?
http://www.apbr.org/... the celtics were averaging under 8,300/game into the 70s. The entire NHL averaged 13847 for the entire season in 73.
http://www.hockeycen...
Look at the numbers for any of the years before the jordan era the NHL was outdrawing the NBA by a wide margin per game. Only the bulls had over a 10,000/game avarage in 73. there were tmeas in teh NBA getting 5000/game, and the NBA areans held more people than the NHL ones since most were used for both and they added floor seating for basketball since the court is so much smaller then the ice surface.
#197 by Thomas on 07.17.08 1:30 am |
Josh Williams said:
Varitek wears knee sleeves, like so:
http://www.comparest...
Sorry if the link doesn’t work, first time trying to insert one. Anyway, after he left the game, he pulled them out from beneath his pants and had them around his ankles. I was surprised to see them, because even as a long-time Sox fan, I had no idea he wore them. It must be because he’s so rarely removed from regular season games, and rarely has the chance to sit back and relax on the bench.
#198 by Thomas on 07.17.08 1:38 am |
Christopher said:
Wow. Thanks a bunch for the screenshot, as well as the excellent theory. The Pinella shot, I think, happened when Marmol was in the game, so the 13th inning. But that’s exactly what I was talking about. Appreciate it.
#199 by James Craven on 07.17.08 4:58 am |
joe said:
Yeah, go on and blame Bettman for that, will you? It was Bill Wirtz’s damn fault he was stuck in the 1970’s with his policy of not televising home games (except for the playoffs on pay-per-view) and not even knowing how to properly promote a team. His son, Rocky has done better, planning to telecast all 82 games and getting the Winter Classic to The Friendly Confines of Wrigley Field where they will more than likely break out the vintage 1940’s barber pole unis for that game, as will the 1928 Red Wings duds as well. Oh, did I tell you that licensed items have gone up in Blackhawk Country, too?
#200 by joe on 07.17.08 10:25 am |
James Craven said:
umm, never said that was wirtz’ fault, the point was the tix were incredibly hard to get because they were popular.
#201 by joe on 07.17.08 12:18 pm |
James Craven said:
umm, never said that was Bettmans fault, the point was the tix were incredibly hard to get because they were popular.
corrected