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Archive for August, 2008
I’m aware of the fluid nature of tennis apparel. Short of restrictions at places like the All England Club, there’s no uniform, really. Players get gear from sponsors, decide what they like and go with it. It changes often. No problem.
Wait — there is a problem, though. Like when the WTA Tour says, “Hey, we’re going to make everybody wear a patch.”
Hmm … how’s that going to work? How will they stick?
“Eh, how about we roll up a couple of pieces of Scotch tape and call it good?”
Works for me. — Bryan
August 23rd, 2008
The more you poke around in various archives, the more surprising it becomes that nobody ever came up with a dedicated uniform column or beat before I did. There’s certainly been plenty of uni-related material published over the years, and some publications have even pursued extended uni-centric themes. We’re going to look at two of those publications today.
The first example is the May 16, 1962, edition of The Sporting News. I came across this issue when Ricko told me he remembered TSN running a Willard Mullin-style uni-centric comic or cartoon on the front page during the ’62 season. I poked around and, sure enough, found this (not just Mullin-style, but actually by Mullin).
The cartoon is awesome — if you haven’t already done so, take a second to read all of it — but that wasn’t the only uni-related content in that issue of TSN. The front page also featured this article about 19th-century uniforms (here’s the jump), which was accompanied by lots of little sidebar items: This one is about the short-lived 1800s practice of each position being assigned a different-colored cap; this one is about the sloppy uniform standards of the 1890s; this one shows a Cooperstown exhibit of an 1876 uniform; and this one shows the cover an 1890 uniform catalog that I would sorely love to own. Note that the caption indicates that point collars on jerseys were no longer used by 1911, but subsequent Okkonen research indicates otherwise (there are several additional examples, too). Once again, I’m not playing “Gotcha!” here — just providing yet another example of how hard it can be to pin these things down, and how skeptical we should be of pronouncements that claim to establish definitive dates for poorly documented eras.
A quarter-century after that Sporting News issue, Sports Illustrated ushered in the 1989 baseball season with, among other things, a lengthy examination of uniforms in its April 5, 1989, issue. The special section was called “Fabric of the Game,” and it’s worth reading — start here, and then move on here, here, here, and here. As you can see, there are also lots of sidebars devoted to things like stirrup styles, the ever-evolving White Sox, some of history’s more questionable design decisions, and so on. Most of it is pretty good — worthwhile reading. If you have a hard time making out the type in the pages I’ve uploaded, go to this link, click on “Show Thumbnails,” scroll ahead to pp. 112-13, and then click “Zoom In” for a better view as you page through the material (or you can read the text-only version — no photos or other graphics — here).
It was almost exactly 10 years later that I approached SI with the idea for Uni Watch. They were very receptive, and I even wrote two pieces for them, but they both got bumped when “more important” stories came up. Then MLB floated an idea about possibly putting ads on jerseys (I remember reading that article on the subway while on my way to cover a non-uni story for a design magazine — funny how certain things can stay with you like that), and I figured, “Great, that’s my beat!” but my SI editor assigned the story to someone else. Between that and the two bumped articles, I was getting the pretty clear message that SI wasn’t taking Uni Watch or me very seriously, so I told them, “Y’know, this doesn’t seem to be working out” and took the column to The Village Voice instead (much lower visibility, natch, but it turned out to be a good incubator for the project’s voice and vision). In retrospect, maybe I should have approached The Sporting News — Uni Watch would’ve been a nice continuation of what I now realize has been their longstanding devotion to uni-related material.
Uni Watch News Ticker: “I teach 4th grade and come across sport books and picture books all the time,” writes Ryan Simmelink. “I came across the book Oliver’s Game by Matt Tavares, which is about a grandpa who had a shot at playing with the Cubs back in 1941. Tavares must have done some research, because many of his pictures are very detailed and accurate. In this picture, you can see the zipper on the jersey. This one is baggy and shows the vest. And this one shows the correct wishbone-C on the caps.” … Very interesting photo here from the 1968 Tangerine Bowl. As you can see, it appears that Ohio University was using “OHIO” as their NOB (excellent find by John Schaefer). … Brian Hilemon notes that Jake Peavy saluted Greg Maddux by going shin-cuffed and faux-stirruped on Wednesday night. … Good video report here about the Oregon equipment room (with thanks to Adam Reinwald). … Totally digging the buttons on Melaine Walker’s track suit (additional views here, here, here, and here). I assume they’re just ornamental, not functional, though. Anyone know for sure? … Wanna compare the Hornets’ old and new color schemes? Look here (old on the left, new on the right). … Two small but telling photos of Andy Chalifour: Here’s Glenn Hubbard wearing a cheekbone mask on his helmet, and Charlie O’Brien apparently wearing a brimless catcher’s helmet (plus some startlingly orange gear). … Bowling Green, Kentucky, is getting a new A-level baseball team, and you can vote on what it should be named. Naturally, I voted for Cave Shrimp, not only because it sounds great but also because the crustacea in question are described as “sightless albino shrimp,” which presents some awesome uni and logo possibilities. … Chris Coste’s mask used to have a Liberty Bell and a Phillies “P,” but lately he’s switched to a plain mask (sorry, no photo). Why? Branding, of course. For details, look here (with thanks to Jon Cannella). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: FNOB alert in Buffalo. … The Giants have overhauled their history section. Lots of cool photos (with thanks to Chris Gilligan). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: News (but no photos) here about the Lightning’s goalies will be wearing on their masks this season. … Phillies will be wearing 1970s throwbacks tonight. … Some really interesting info regarding recent Saints prototype designs here (big thanks to Trev Trahan). … Nice view. Details here (with thanks to Matt Shevin). … This site in a nutshell. … Sorry, no Portland report today — haven’t had time to write it up. It’ll run next week.
August 22nd, 2008
Hello there.
One week, one wedding, two days of record-breaking Portland heat (one of them spent in a jacket and tie — ugh), one Uni Watch party, one astonishingly large cinnamon roll, one visit to a vacuum cleaner museum and another to a kite museum, too many hours spent shopping at various thrift and vintage shops (resulting in one very odd 1960s clock-radio-lamp purchase), many beers, one afternoon spent at a National Volcanic Monument, way too many failed attempts to pronounce “McMenamins” without stuttering, one one visit to a reader’s home, and one giant frying pan later, I’m back.
But more on all that tomorrow. Today we’ve got serious uniform news to discuss, because the Hornets unveiled their new design yesterday. Here’s the scoop:
• The team’s basic colors — blue, purple, and gold, have all been tweaked slightly. Largely irrelevant.
• The primary logo has been tweaked as well, going from this to this. I miss the white gloves, but otherwise this looks like a clear upgrade for both the illo and the typography.
• A new secondary logo has been introduced. Man, does that say, “AAA baseball” or what? What a waste. (You can see various treatments of this logo, the new primary logo, and the “fleur de bee” logo here).
• In a nod to the franchise’s original Charlotte-era design, design, the uniforms are now pinstriped — you know, because basketball players are short and need to accentuate the vertical. I’m generally fond of the new typography (compare to this) and not fond at all of the neckline and ass-crack logo positioning (it’s practically a rule now that every new design has to have these). Still if the overall effect ends up looking more or less like this NBA 2K9 leak, I’d say the world will keep on spinning. A masterpiece? No. But reasonably palatable? Yeah. (Additional details on all this can be found here.)
While we’re at it: As most of you know by now, the Timberwolves have a new design as well. Now, if you were redoing this team’s design, what’s the first thing you’d address? The illegible number font, right? The good news is that they’ve got a new typeface; the bad news is that it’s only marginally better than the last one. On the plus side, shortening the home wordmark to “Wolves” seems like a good move; on the other hand, there’s more rear-logo silliness, and the tree motif on the side panel and shorts seems forced. And c’mon, the collar just looks embarrassing.
But here’s a new wrinkle: The league invited me to participate in a conference call regarding the Minnesota uniforms on Monday. I was busy traveling but asked if they could provide me with a transcript of the call, which they did. It features some predictably rote recitations of corporate marketingspeak but also includes a fair amount of interesting inside info — much meatier than I’d expected. So I’ve posted it here. It’s lengthy, but I think you’ll find it worthwhile.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I’m late getting to this, but Mark Mihalik’s excellent PlayerExclusive.com footwear site has some cool team recaps, plus he’s been building an excellent footwear gallery. The site is so smartly designed that even a non-footwear-obsessive like myself can dig it. Highly recommended. … Latest awesome old baseball photo from Dave Eskenazi shows the 1935 Dayton Ducks. … “I’ve been up in Wisconsin at the Chiefs’ training camp at UW-River Falls,” writes Jason Gomez. “Jon McGraw and Dustin Colquitt gave away their shoes along with autographs, which led to the players signing autographs in their socks — which turned out to be NBA socks. Also, the Chiefs have Trek bikes to get around in — pretty cool.” … Not uni-related, but fascinating all the same (thanks, Kirsten). … Wondering why some countries’ Olympic uniforms have the country names printed in English and others in foreign languages? Look here. … With college football about to start and college hoops not far behind, this is a good time to mention the excellent Pollspeak site, which covers everything related to college poll rankings. … Major NOB possibilities for the Mets, who may soon have three Reyeses on the 25-man roster. … Nyjer Morgan is back in the bigs for Pittsburgh, which means one more pair of stirrups on the diamond. Thanks to Chris Hilf for the tip, and to Bryan for the blurry screen grab. … Here’s a follow-up from Tuesday’s Air Force PT note in the Ticker, from an anonymous contributor: “I read the Ticker posting about the Air Force PT uniform, and I can say wholeheartedly that it’s true. I normally wear a large, but have it up to an XXL in order to have something that reaches mid-thigh and doesn’t feel like spandex. Either way, it reminded me of a story that might interest you. I work on the E-4, an airborne command post that the Secretary of Defense uses for overseas trips. Well, former Secretary Rumsfeld was known for wearing an Army PT coat as his ‘casual’ wear in-flight. But on a flight right after the Air Force’s new PT gear came out, a member of our crew walked up to Mr. Rumsfeld with an Air Force PT coat and asked him to wear it, because ‘we are the ones that take you where you need to go.’ From then on, he wore that coat.” Many thanks for the contribution.
August 21st, 2008
Yeah … Paul’s still gone. No, wait! He’s back today. But I might be back tomorrow anyway. You know, for fun.
I gotta say this picture took me aback when I first saw it. Not exactly something you see every day. That’s marathon swimmer Natalie du Toit of South Africa in the middle, which brings me to this: what’s the deal with South African athletes missing appendages? Oscar Pistorius, the sprinter who sued for the right to qualify for Beijing (but didn’t qualify), is from South Africa, too. What’s going on down there?
Joking aside, for now, you can see the Speedo LZR on all three swimmers. In cycling, aero equipment (helmets, special wheels, etc.) pays off more the longer you ride, obviously. I wonder if it’s the same for marathon swimming, when the LZR could mean minutes — lots of them — compared to .01 seconds in the pool.
Quick! Someone get some research going, pronto.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Dwight Howard is so anti-Nike, he won’t even wear practice gear. Or, he could be under contract with Adidas. Either one. As spotted by Rob Montoya in an ESPN video. Note also, he’s wearing Dr. Dre’s new Beat headphones. … Matt Powers was picking up his daughter at a friend’s house and snapped a shot of this photo on the mantle. “It turns out that the friend’s father was a running back at Princeton during the early 70’s (Letterwinner ‘73). What is even more cool, is that I’ve known him for some time and he has never once mentioned it!” … This trainwreck was in the comments last night. Credit to Glynn McGehee on this one. … Got a dispatch from Susan Freeman, who attended the first Texans preseason game. First, the old NFL logo won’t die, which is a good thing. Second, the NFL has completely whored itself out to Reebok, which we knew, but perhaps not to that extent. But wait, the new NFL logo is here, too. And, finally, socks in shambles near the end of the game. … Here’s an approximation (read: replica, at least) of what the new Adidas-tagged Michigan hockey jerseys will look like, with thanks to Craig Barker. … The Spanish synchronized swimming team is getting totally hosed. They can’t use their light-up suits. Boo! Thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who also sent this article about sexy table tennis unis. No, really. … Jonathan Sluss notes that Virginia Tech is going to have a white out for the home opener. That means the team is going white, too — with a mishmash of unis from the past. This shows that white helmet in original action — but note the different stripes on all the VT guys. … Possible new LA Kings alternate logo here. … Jeff Rinker picked up this postcard at Givens Hot Springs in Idaho while on a Boy Scouts campout. It’s the 1914 Murphy, Idaho, baseball team. … Sean McCall checked in with a couple of cool non-sports links — the first is a pile (in PDF form) of 1970s logos, while the second has a bunch of car badges. … How long have the Colts used this (scroll down) terrible helmet rendering for press conferences? Nick Church wants to know. … Also from Nick, there’s consternation over the rebranding of Western Kentucky University as, simply, WKU. Specifically, people are whacked out about how gigantic the center-court logo is. … Finally, happy birthday to my son, who turns 1 today.
August 20th, 2008
Paul’s still gone. This is still Bryan.
Because I sometimes read too fast — apparently in a hurry to get to the point — I miss important details in stories. For example, I didn’t bother to read the story announcing the Browns’ brown pants too closely. Because of that, I thought they’d be in all brown. Ummm … no. God, that would have been horrible.
But was the brown that bad? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. Brady Quinn, shown above, was wearing brown tights and high whites. I’ve never seen brown tights before, but they obviously exist. Others went with lower whites and more brown showing. That didn’t look so good.
I was prepared for the worst. That had mostly to do with expecting a full turd suit, though. Had those pants included a stripe or two, though — that could have been pretty cool. Same with the socks. Nothing over the top, but just a little bit to break up the brown. And just remember the all brown that was in my head. It could have been worse.
Olympic Oddities: You know those lesser-known sports we talked about last week? Jeremy Brahm checked in with a number of uni-quirks. Italy used a momentary libero against Bulgaria — note the pullover top. Lots of teams will only have one contrasting-color jersey made, so in case of emergency — momentary or not — a pullover will do it. … Kazakhstan’s women’s handball team had name and number plates, front and back. … Team handball has an extra attacker when the goalie is pulled … and there’s a hole in the jersey. Why? … What do you get when you’re a trouble-maker in field hockey? Green triangle, of course. Yellow squares are like going to the penalty box, while a red circle means you’re gone for the rest of the game.
Playing Nice: I owe an apology to Marty Met for being short and not so nice yesterday. In an attempt to end a long-simmering argument before it started (and there was no indication of it starting), I basically told him to lock it up. Not very hospitable of me, and I apologize.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Australia’s A-League is trying to get fans fired up with team NOBs in this ad, courtesy of Jeremy Brahm. Yeah, that looks strange. … Chris Kaman, the American who rediscovered his German roots in time for the Olympics, is missing his swoosh. Good catch by Brian Skokowski. … Remember the ruckus when Penn State said to Nike, “Yes, we’ll take your money in exchange for swooshes for everybody.”? Jesse Weidaw points out the Nittany Lions found plenty of space for the Champion logo prior to the invasion. And one must assume there’s a C on each sleeve, right? … Eddie Royal spent most of Saturday’s Denver-Dallas preseason game with his belt unbuckled. Though, as Rachel Bicicchi points out, he still has his Broncos belt-buckle cover attached. … For those wondering why Australia wears green and gold, rather than the colors of their flag, go here. …The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins unveiled a new third jersey on Monday. Rob Ullman likes it: “Since it just says “PENGUINS” on the front, has the NHL Pens’ logo on the shoulders (as opposed to the far-inferior AHL version) and doesn’t say “Wilkes-Barre/Scranton” anywhere…it’s essentially just a second alternate jersey for the Pittsburgh Penguins (the first being the powder blue ‘67 throwbacks they wore at last year’s Winter Classic, which they’ll wear as alts this season). Anyway, I think I dig it.” Thanks also to Stan Capp. … Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes, on a rehab stay in Scranton, has been pitching with glasses. Good catch by Alan Borock. …Old news here, but the Lakewood (N.J.) Blueclaws were the Bruceclaws for one night in July. Bruuuuuce! Thanks to Neal for the link. … College hockey logo rankings here, though Dan Herr thinks it’s a hack job. … Lots of Olympic flair from the Italian women’s water polo coach here, with thanks to Kevin Soon.
August 19th, 2008
Paul’s still gone, which is probably a good thing considering the content of the Uni Watch inbox. As was noted by, say, 15 or 20 people yesterday, the Browns are breaking out the brown pants tonight.
And I know what you’re thinking — “That’s a lot of brown.” You got that right. And it gets worse: there are no stripes on the pants. All brown. And the socks? All brown. Um … cool?
So, while fans may think the Browns are playing like crap, here at Uni Watch we’ll be happy to say, “And they look like crap, too! Literally.”
Or, bigger turd: the unis or Brady Quinn? I could go on all day, but I’m sure it’s going to spiral out of control on its own accord. Don’t let me down.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s some more info on the Serbian NOB from Saturday’s entry, courtesy of Adam Chkautovich: “The Serbians have two alphabets. They are the exact same alphabet, but one uses English letters (Known as the ‘Latin’ script [Latinica is what it’s called in Serbian]). The other alphabet uses some English letters, but some do not mean the same thing (Ex: The “C” in Serbian is actually an “S”, an “H” is “N”, a “X” is a “H”, a “B” is a “V”, and a “P” is a “R”). This other alphabet is known as the Cyrillic alphabet [Cyrilica in Serbian].” Many thanks, Adam. … Brinke Guthrie wants to know if this logo will be used by the Cowboys this year. I’m gonna guess yes. A lot. … Brinke also checked in with this link — it’s a great read. … Rugby news from Caleb Borchers, who notes Percy Montgomery’s 100th test for South Africa. Montgomery got a special jersey, with the pertinent information on his chest — visible here. None of the others had the info. And afterward he got a neat little cap to mark the occasion. But they didn’t send any pics to Uni Watch. … New NC State football unis here, courtesty of Clay Best, who doesn’t dig the wolf logo south of the collar. Agreed. … Matt Corica spotted a swoosh on the shoulder of NBC poolside reporter Andrea Kramer after Michael Phelps’ 8th gold medal. Makes sense — Nike puts a swoosh everywhere else. Why not on her, too? … A very young Brett Favre can be seen here, thanks to a screen grab from Tris Wykes. Note the Air helmet rather than Favre’s standard Riddell, and also the four-point chinstrap. Tris also dug up a 1965 Minnesota football media guide. Dig the stripes on coach Murray Warmath. “He looks like a state trooper,’ says Tris. And he also looks bad-ass. … Here’s the memorial sticker for Oregon freshman Todd Doxey, who drowned a few weeks ago. Thanks Todd, who has no last name. … Pretty cool old baseball photo here. … As mentioned a few times on Friday, the Broncos are letting the orange jersey out to play for two games. … You know the Esquire mascot I asked about on Friday? Here he is. This one sold for $3,600 at auction recently. Thanks, Anthony. … Florida State is going with tackle twill numbers on its football jerseys this year, rather than screened-on numbers. Thanks to Tom Tollerton for the note. … A jersey-borne political statment here, with thanks to Tom Konecny. … Chafing = bleeding = bad. Good story here. … Vintage Clemson basketball here from Dan Snider. Tree Rollins is No. 30, by the way. … Joe Bowling has an interesting A’s hat. He doesn’t know where it came from, but knows it’s at least 20 years old. Can anybody help? … Larry Woods has spotted some contraband at USC.
August 18th, 2008
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it’s almost football season. Wait … August 17 … hot as balls … fantasy football nerds roaming the streets … Madden has been released … yes! It is almost football season. And that means it’s time to get out your nonsensical hats, everybody. This guy was in the Superdome last night. Unlike this collection of monstrosities, I have no idea what this guy’s hat means. Well, I know what it means for him, but I’m not sure of the message he’s sending. — Bryan
August 17th, 2008
We’ve had a couple of emails in the Uni Watch inbox lately about why some countries at the Olympics have their name spelled out in English, rather than the native tongue. Quite frankly, I have no idea. Nor do I have the time to call each company’s Olympic Committee and find out.
But Serbia is here to help. Novak Djokovic ended up losing to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, but his shirt provided a good example of some non-English spelling. I especially like the ‘J’. Have a good Saturday, ja? — Bryan
August 16th, 2008
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