As the Cubbies and their fans sift through the rubble of yet another disappointment, reader Dave Lundborg has alerted me to something that may explain some of the team’s recent troubles.
Take a look at these photos from the 1984 National League playoffs between the Cubs and Padres. You’ll see that they all have one thing in common: a huge bulls-eye-ish patch on the Cubbies’ right sleeve. And what does that patch say, you ask? The answer can be found on this Mitchell and Ness throwback — it’s a 1984 division championship patch. And I’m embarrassed to say I wasn’t aware of it until Lundborg brought it to my attention (even though I distinctly remember watching that playoff series in my off-campus apartment during college).
The rub, of course, is that this patch was worn in 1984. In other words, the Cubbies were already patting themselves on the back even though they hadn’t really won anything yet. They even went to the trouble of creating two different versions of the patch — one with a blue ring for their home pinstripes and one with a white ring for their road blues (they didn’t wear grays that year). Jeez, talk about hubris — you’d think a team with this kind of history would know better than to engage in premature boasting. If they had advanced to the World Series, would they have swapped in a set of “1984 N.L. Champions” patches?
“I contend they lost to the Padres in large part due to that enormous patch,” says Lundborg (a reasonable analysis). “Is there another instance that you can recall where a team (in any sport) wore a division championship patch during that year’s playoffs?”
Excellent question. I can’t think of any comparable examples. Anyone..? Meanwhile, we can definitely add this little incident to the legend of the Cubbie curse.
Membership News: As I’ve said many times before, the ugliest uniform designs make the coolest membership cards. Case in point: Jeff Frank’s Oregon-themed card, shown at right — a doozy, no? The again, sometimes the most beautiful uni designs make the coolest membership cards, as in the case of Justin Sink’s inspired choice of the 1964-65 Philly 76ers motif. As always, these and all other card designs are displayed in the membership gallery.
As promised, a bunch of cards mailed out last Friday, and a bunch more should mail out tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Preseason NBA note from Tony Laurenzana, who writes: “My season ticket representative told me that the Pacers will be wearing retro uniforms for the upcoming preseason game this Wednesday against New Orleans. It will be at Pepsi Coliseum, where the team first played (1967-1974).” … Saturday’s a press passes for the MSU/Iowa game showed the Iowa helmet logo backwards. … The first few seconds of this video clip show Brian Westbrook getting his helmet inflated (with thanks to Maks Skuz). … Latest player to wear the Riddell Revolution Speed helmet: Danny Clark (thanks, Joe Skiba). … Check out the amazing uniform worn by Pahokee High in Florida. The socks, the pants, the jersey, the rear helmet logo (big thanks to Ronnie Poore). … The Wild have a really lame new mascot. Depressing details here (with thanks to Ben Kmetz). … All you sneakerhead types will want to check out this. … “Apparently Sony Pictures is afraid that college students aren’t watching Seinfeld anymore,” writes Ben Wideman. “They’ve launched the Seinfeld Campus Tour to get people excited about the show again. I visited the tour bus at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and was excited to see that the exhibit included David Putty’s famous Devils jersey from the ‘face painter’ episode” (and yes, we all know you can quote chapter and verse from that episode and many others, but please don’t, thanks). … The Maple Leafs unveiled their new alternate jersey yesterday. As expected, it’s a straight throwback job. … Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game — so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.” … According to this message board post (sent my way by Steven James DeBlasi), the Jets “have announced that they … will unveil an away Titans uniform next season.” I have my doubts about that, at least in terms of a game uni, although a fashion replica isn’t such a stretch.
#1 by Peter on 10.07.08 7:56 am |
In regards to the back to back Jets games with Throwbacks…I love my Jets no matter what uni we wear, but I have a question:
Does/Has ANY other professional sports team wear their old ownerships uniforms?
The Titans were sold after the 62 season (correct me if I am wrong please)..and then became the Jets…and we have had a bevy of uni’s…(when will the 80’s futuristic Jet helmet/jerseys make an appereance as a throwback?)
Wouldn’t that allow for other teams (say Tennesse Titans) to break out old Oilers gear? Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?
I just find it odd that most other teams who have transferred ownership don’t do previous ownerships throwbacks….(and I do understand that Hartford owns everything whalers….so that’s automatically ruled out)
#2 by Jim MI on 10.07.08 8:04 am |
The TOR uni was almost the worst kept secret in hockey.
http://farm4.static....
From that pic it looks like it’s not a RBK jersey, so we’ll be able to see jerseys flapping in the wind again as players skate. That tag at the bottom is not going to be there in the game unis is it? I REALLY hope not. Will be nice to see stripes at the bottom of TOR unis again though…
As for the Wild mascot….
A) Looks like he’s wearing a furry helmet
B) AWESOME that they actually gave him a mullet!
C) He’s wearing 18,001 as a number. Oh so stupid.
D) Give the poor guys some hockey socks! If you’re going to have him wear a jersey AND hockey pants, why not socks? Looks like he got dressed too fast and forgot to put on shin pads and socks.
E) The article says he’s a hybrid of a bunch of animals. WHAT? So they’re saying he’s some kind of offspring of a huge forest animal orgy? Gross…
Here’s more pics of ‘Nordy’…
http://wild.nhl.com/...
#3 by Ricko on 10.07.08 8:06 am |
For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
http://www.geocities...
#4 by DJ on 10.07.08 8:10 am |
The Cubs didn’t have gray road uniforms in 1984. Their road uniforms were the solid blue jerseys, and solid white pants with a red/blue stripe down the side.
#5 by dgc on 10.07.08 8:10 am |
Both the Rangers and Twins have had “Turn Back the Clock” days wearing Senators jerseys. I think the Nats also did a Senators tribute, but that may have just been a Walter Johnson era hat.
#6 by Ricko on 10.07.08 8:10 am |
Only problem with that site is that’s the guy who thinks teams didn’t wear helmets in the 30’s.
Riiiiiiiight.
#7 by Shane on 10.07.08 8:11 am |
I think they did that during warmups once.
#8 by Ricko on 10.07.08 8:16 am |
Since Craig Leopold bought the Wild he has, among other things…
* Raised ticket prices.
* Begun charging the media for pre-game meal.
* Taken a 10-year lease on the honeymoon suite at a nearby hotel (so he can be close to his team when he’s in town) at an estimated cost of possibly $10 million.
* Failed to sign or deal Marion Gaborik.
* Given fans a nifty new mascot.
So far, I am not optimistic.
#9 by Jonathan Sluss on 10.07.08 8:25 am |
The video clip is Bryan Westbrook, not Michael
#10 by Jon on 10.07.08 8:28 am |
With regards to the championship patch. In 2003 the Red Sox Painted the field at Fenway with all the World Series Logo’s prior to game seven of the ALCS against the Yanks. They showed it multiple times on TV. Then Arron “Bleepin” Boone happened. Around Boston it was largely blamed on the grounds crew jinxing the team by painting the logo’s early.
#11 by timmy b on 10.07.08 8:34 am |
From Yesterday:
re: George Preston Marshall.
On my drive home from the office was thinking it’s gotta be frustrating for the NFL. Baseball had some visionary proponents of integration (Branch Rickey and Bill Veeck being probably the most well-known). The NFL, though, had no such comparable individual or inviduals, but rather only an intracable, vocal, diehard racist in Marshall, who held to a stance so entrenched that it took the threat of government intervention to fully integrate the league.
Pretty tough to spin that.
—Ricko
They’ve tried, the stuff about integrating long before 1947. Nobody tells a story like NFL Films but they are pretty thin in that department for sure.
The NFL (I’m guessing) DID have ass stripes: http://s226.photobuc...
Striping on helmet of guy on ground to the right is different. Was that an “eligible/ineligible” thing or something?
Wow, like the WFL thing? Makes sense, since the QB/HB sees them running away and all.
Calling Tim Brule. Oh, Ti-immmm. Or someone from one of those “helmet” sites?
That shot is from Ebbets Field and it’s the Brooklyn Dodgers hosting the Chicago Cardinals. The game is October 19, 1941, as The Dodgers changed their look in 1943. The Dodgers would be wearing red and the Cardinals wore blue if there was a color clash on the road. The Dodgers did have red stripes on their helmets and rear stripes during this era.
Hope this helps!
#12 by Robert on 10.07.08 8:35 am |
Media should pay for their pre-game meal. Otherwise, there is the appearance that the home team is attempting to curry favor with them.
#13 by Geeman on 10.07.08 8:37 am |
The Cubs got rid of their road greys after the 1981 season and did not wear them again until 1990. Their road uniform for that 1982-89 span (which included two division championships) was blue jerseys on white pants. Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.
#14 by mmwatkin on 10.07.08 8:39 am |
Ahh yes, the ‘84 NL playoffs.
Didn’t really matter who won…the Tigers would steamroll either team.
#15 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 8:49 am |
don’t know if this was ever posted before (apologies if it was)…check out these sandknits…paul would prolly love one (or all of them)
#16 by KT on 10.07.08 8:58 am |
“The rub, of course, is that this patch was worn in 1984. In other words, the Cubbies were already patting themselves on the back even though they hadn’t really won anything yet.”
Except for…the division title, which the patch acknowledged.
“If they had advanced to the World Series, would they have swapped in a set of “1984 N.L. Champions” patches?”
Considering that if they had advanced to the World Series, they would have then, by definition, actually been the 1984 NL Champions, I would imagine they would have been within their rights.
“I contend they lost to the Padres in large part due to that enormous patch,” says Lundborg (a reasonable analysis).
I would hope that both of your tongues were firmly in your cheeks there.
They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.
#17 by Kevin G. on 10.07.08 8:59 am |
Not only were those Cubs “Softball” jerseys from the 80’s horrible, but how pathetic was that patch? It must have taken less than 1 minute to design. Plain lettering inside a couple of circles… brilliant!
#18 by Peter on 10.07.08 9:03 am |
Once again, Hockey teaches us true values:
“However, a traditional superstition that is prevalent among many of today’s NHL players is that no player should either touch or hoist the Wales Trophy (or the Western Conference’s trophy, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl) when they have won the conference playoffs as the Eastern Conference champions. Players feel that the Stanley Cup is the only true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that should be hoisted”
That’s why you don’t celebrate anything until you’ve won it…
#19 by KT on 10.07.08 9:04 am |
Because, God knows, I’d sell out my journalistic integrity for a hot dog.
In any case, the ship sailed a long time ago on free media pregame meals. I haven’t covered an NFL game in years, but they used to have really good pregame meals. I don’t recall anyone pulling any punches because of it. Some fat print bastards would get upset if the food wasn’t there on time or wasn’t good enough for them, but that’s how fat print bastards are.
I don’t think they were grays, were they? I remember light blue with white pinstripes on the road. Yep, 1978-81, they were light blue with white pinstripes. The true road grays last saw the light in 1975.
#20 by Mike Engle on 10.07.08 9:04 am |
I took this picture at Fan Fest 2008.
I’ll stop patting myself on the back now.
#21 by KT on 10.07.08 9:07 am |
Point was…they were celebrating something they actually HAD already won (and only that). They hadn’t won jack in 39 years, so the overexuberance could probably have been excused.
Was it an inspired design? No. But what was in 1984? Did you see the Padres’ uniforms that year?
#22 by Hank on 10.07.08 9:07 am |
Or Brian.
#23 by Pat on 10.07.08 9:07 am |
I don’t remember anyone blaming the grounds crew. I think people thought it was just an awful thing to show on TV. I mean sure, it definitely jinxed them, but not many people made a big deal out of it. I think… scratch that… I know most people in Boston blamed it on Grady Little leaving Pedro in too long.
Not on the uniform, but how about these? They never learn, do they?
#24 by david on 10.07.08 9:10 am |
a few college teams have started getting a few Revolution speed helmets as well-saw an Oklahoma Sooner with one.
So be on the look out-I think Riddell is sending more out to be tested.
#25 by Jason Gomez on 10.07.08 9:10 am |
you know, the NHL out to get the terrible teams out of the US and put them back in Canada, Quebec, Winnipeg and including the Hartford Whalers.
#26 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 9:13 am |
it could also be argued that due to the playoff format employed at the time, (in even years, nl east division champ hosted games 1 & 2, west 3-5), the cubs, despite their superior record, were deprived of their home field advantage (they were 51-30 at the confines)…thus, costing them the shot at the big dance
…or, more likely, it was the patch
#27 by Robert on 10.07.08 9:16 am |
Exactly my point. A hot dog is cheap, so pay for it yourself and avoid even the possibility of impropriety. If I see a judge outside the courtroom, I can’t buy him a hot dog without risking action by the bar against both him and me.
#28 by MPowers1634 on 10.07.08 9:21 am |
Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game — so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.”
Josh, is the catalogue online in PDF form or is it a hardcopy?
#29 by Kevin G. on 10.07.08 9:23 am |
It also came out last year that if the Cubs would have made the World Series that year, they would have played their World Series games at Comiskey Park. Commisioner Ueberroth had the whole scheme in place, but obviously it was not needed. He wanted nothing to do with World Series games being played in the daytime.
#30 by MPowers1634 on 10.07.08 9:27 am |
Texas, for one, has many players wearing them!
#31 by SteveABQ on 10.07.08 9:31 am |
Hmmm, you say this as though the Cubs were the only team to fall into the “80’s softball jersey” trap. As I recall, most teams went that route, with varying degrees of yuck. As for the patch, I agree it is devoid of serious design or style, but again I think it is simply a reflection of the time. Take a look at the 1976 National League Centennial patch sometime…while it is an improvement from the division patch being discussed, it was a reflection of 1970s logo design.I dare say, that the god-awful “wild card” caps the Brewers (cue; CC Sabathia) were wearing, some players even before the game was complete, should also go down as ugly and presumptuous. I would think those guys would have been a better target for Mr. Lukas since they contributed to his precious Mets being eliminated from the playoffs. Note to Paul: I like your blog, but I find your ridiculous comments about the Cubs and “curses” to be dissapointing and not reflective of what I have come to expect from your ESPN column or most of your posts on this blog. There are alot of Cubs fans out here, try not to bite the hand that feeds you, we read your thoughts even though your a Mets fan.
#32 by Original Jim on 10.07.08 9:35 am |
Back in ‘84, there was no Wild Card in baseball. You won your division or you were home for the winter.
Is it a little too self-congratulatory? Perhaps, but not inappropriate. The Cubs did win the division.
#33 by Michael Romero on 10.07.08 9:45 am |
Looking at that Wild picture, the kids in the purple and yellow gear. Am I the only person who immediately thought of the first Mighty Ducks movie? They have the kids dressed in those things before they get their (original green and yellow) Duck jerseys.
#34 by Teebz on 10.07.08 9:46 am |
He’s the representative of the Team of 18,000 so they gave him 18,001 in order not to remove anyone from the Team of 18,000. The Wild have used this slogan - Team of 18,000 - as a way of bringing the fans closer to the team.
The commercial shown last week with Andrew Brunette poked fun at the slogan because he couldn’t get his familiar #15. Check it out here.
#35 by Jason Gomez on 10.07.08 9:48 am |
I think the Vikings should go back to their origional unis, those look so good, and so much better than those new ugly ones, but then again you cant look good in purple unless you are Barney. They all cant look as good as the Chiefs in their home and road unis.
Also the 49ers should go to that retro they wore in 94, it looks so sharp.
#36 by chance on 10.07.08 9:52 am |
The Brewers started wearing their retro alternates after Attanasio bought the team.
I think it’s more common than not - in these days of diminishing long-term ownership, virtualy all throwbacks of more than a decade are looking to an earlier owner’s tenure.
#37 by Teebz on 10.07.08 9:54 am |
Except that neither Winnipeg nor Quebec are NHL cities. And Hartford is in the same boat. There is absolutely no corporate sponsorship there.
If you put NHL teams back into those places, you displace the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, and the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL. All three of those franchises are extremely successful in their niche market.
There’s no easy answer, but the right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north. Contraction sucks, but so does loses hundreds of millions of dollars.
You know, combine teams like Toronto and Atlanta. Kovalchuk in the Big Smoke? He’d be huge there.
#38 by Jordan Pope on 10.07.08 9:55 am |
it was in PDF but i believe it has been taken off of the site
#39 by Jordan Pope on 10.07.08 9:58 am |
its back on the niketeam.com site
#40 by Peter on 10.07.08 9:59 am |
Actually, my point was to say that the only true championship is the finals….wether it is the stanley cup, world series, super bowl…etc.
The conference trophies aren’t even really recognized as a milestone with most franchises…
What if the Detroit Lions (if ever) won a Division title, and they wore NFC North Champ patches and then bounced in their first playoff game…its a futile accomplishment and goes to show how little a team will settle for.
#41 by Ian on 10.07.08 10:00 am |
I believe that Peter in comment #1 is referring more specifically to throwbacks to ownership changes that correspond to relocation - hence his referral to the defunct Oilers and Nordique.
Thoughts?
#42 by Teebz on 10.07.08 10:01 am |
I posted this on my blog today, but I had never seen it before, so I thought I’d throw it out here. Paul, you may like this.
“I have never seen nor heard of a mascot for the California Golden Seals, but I have been holding on to this photo for some time. Apparently, the Seals commissioned Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to come up with Sparky the Seal for the franchise. Yes, the same Charles Schulz who was responsible for these guys. I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have ever seen in terms of having someone design a mascot for an NHL team.”
#43 by MPowers1634 on 10.07.08 10:04 am |
Let the bashing commence!
Yes, I do think that the older style, Fran Tarkenton era, Vikings unis were simple and clean.
However, I do like the new AP era unis as well.
I really like the yellow piping but wish that they had kept the grey facemasks that they wore during at least one pre-season game this year.
#44 by MPowers1634 on 10.07.08 10:06 am |
Thanks, JP!!
#45 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 10:07 am |
jesus
you owe me a new monitor
#46 by ToasterPoodle on 10.07.08 10:09 am |
This patch is the yet another curse on the cubs, and if you’ll notice they all begin with ‘B’
Billy Goat
Black Cat
Bartman
Big Ass Patch
#47 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 10:09 am |
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)
#48 by Peter on 10.07.08 10:12 am |
To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian
#49 by John T on 10.07.08 10:12 am |
Very Cool indeed Teebz, Shultz was a big time Hockey fan, so much so, that he had his own rink.
http://www.snoopysho...
I still have a Christmas decoration of Snoopy and woodstock playing hockey in a bird bath, very cool for a ten yr old to get!
#50 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:13 am |
The Brewers have worn Milwaukee Braves unis (against Atlanta, making it a Braves vs. Braves game). That was not just different ownership, but obviously a completely different franchise.
#51 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:16 am |
So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.
#52 by Jason Gomez on 10.07.08 10:19 am |
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers
#53 by GoNords on 10.07.08 10:20 am |
Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?
I think they did that during warmups once.
In September 2002, the Avs played an exhibition game vs the Habs in Québec City. That was the first time the team came back to Québec City after they moved to Denver. At that time, only 3 Avs players (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote) were member of the Nordiques in their last season (1995). For the exhibition game, they entered the ice dressed in their old Nordiques jersey while the rest of the team was wearing the full Colorado Avalanche uniform. http://www.nordiques...
The jereys were later given to guests in pre-game ceremonies. Forsberg, Sakic and Foote had their regular Avs jersey underneath their Nords jersey.
#54 by dwight on 10.07.08 10:25 am |
Being in Houston, it’s been well reported/documented/stated that the new ownership has severed all ties w/ previous ownership (Bud Adams) and intentionally does not associate or promote anything related to the Oilers, the colors etc. It would be sweet, but it ain’t happening anytime soon. FYI.
#55 by John T on 10.07.08 10:25 am |
Sorry was not a bird bath
http://cgi.ebay.com/...
#56 by Beats in Buffalo on 10.07.08 10:29 am |
Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over
#57 by Teebz on 10.07.08 10:34 am |
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe - anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris - central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams - any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick - any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?
#58 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:35 am |
I remember ‘94 as the first season of the “Team Cuba” road unis, but I don’t remember them wearing the blue alts until 1998. I remember them wearing batting practice jerseys in a 1997 game as a slump-buster. The BP jersey was almost identical to the current blue alt, except that it was a mesh fabric and the chest patch was solid white behind the walking cub (like this rather than this.
Then the next season, the official blue alts debuted (or at least that’s the way I remember it).
#59 by Peter on 10.07.08 10:36 am |
would they be allowed to wear throwbacks?
I still haven’t seen the Dallas Stars wear the Old
North Stars / Cleveland Barons….
#60 by Ricko on 10.07.08 10:38 am |
What? No mention of the WFL Houston Texans? Well, of course, they did become the Shreveport Steamers, so I suppose we’ll have to wait for the Steamers to do a throwback.
Oh, wait, that could be tough.
(Hey, Don Maynard played for the those kelly and light gold Texans, let’s not forget that. Only their home games, though.)
#61 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:39 am |
Not as long as Gary Bettman’s still around.
#62 by Geeman on 10.07.08 10:40 am |
You are correct, sir. My bad. That was at a time when a lot of teams’ “road greys” were actually light blue (Phillies, Cardinals, Royals, Twins, et. al.).
#63 by John T on 10.07.08 10:42 am |
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
http://www.snoopy.co...
#64 by Geeman on 10.07.08 10:43 am |
My memory (which does not always serve me perfectly) is that they debuted the blue alternates (in the same style as Cuba — good point) at home for the first time ever in May 1994, but lost that game and shelved them for a while. I think 1994 was the year when alternate colored jerseys really started to take traction. That was a great season until the players and owners blew it.
#65 by Teebz on 10.07.08 10:44 am |
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second!
#66 by Al Gruwell on 10.07.08 10:45 am |
Re: the Titans’ road unis for next year. I would think there would be some more “original” AFL teams announcing throwbacks as 2009 will be the 50th season of the AFL. Note I didn’t say anniversary. Wasn’t there something a few weeks back that said Oakland was going with silver numbers on white for home next year? I hope Houston/Tennessee goes with the powder blue and cool number font. Denver hopefully doesn’t use the brown/baby poo yellow.
#67 by Geeman on 10.07.08 10:51 am |
As Steve Garvey (who hit that incredible home run to win Game 4) said, he looked like the American flag when playing for the Dodgers and a taco when playing for the Padres. Yes, the Pads’ uniforms were awful, but better than their ’70s versions.
I lived in San Diego for four years while on active military duty and always wondered why they didn’t go with navy blue, gold, and scarlet, in honor of the colors of the Navy and Marine Corps, which so dominant the landscape of San Diego. They had great blue pinstripe uniforms in the 1990s and ditched them.
#68 by TEAMCINNAMON on 10.07.08 10:51 am |
Reasonable.
Get Bettman on the phone!
#69 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:52 am |
#70 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 10:53 am |
well…i was just kinda hopin’ you’d give all the good preds to the icelanders :o)
#71 by JTH on 10.07.08 10:54 am |
Ugh. Is this better?
Well, it would actually be the 50th anniversary. The first season was 1960, but the league was founded in 1959.
#72 by Teebz on 10.07.08 10:56 am |
Not until Charles Wang dies, sells the franchise, or turns it over to someone who knows the sport. ;o)
Actually, I almost left Nashville in there and went with combining the NYR and NYI due to Wang’s mismanagement of the team.
#73 by ScottyJ in WV on 10.07.08 11:04 am |
The Sparky the Seal character is really great. What an amazing talent Charles Shultz possessed.
I’ve always been kinda surprised that more sports teams don’t have comic book and/or comic strip artists create characters and logos for them. At the very least, they could have those characters available for marketing purposes.
#74 by Raymond Neal on 10.07.08 11:12 am |
Well, let’s do this logically…
Pretty good plan. The only thing I would disagree on is going back to the division names. It may be a great tradition but it’s confusing as hell to newcomers and the NHL needs to attract all the new fans it can get. As a kid in SC I was fascinated by hockey but couldn’t make heads or tails of what those weird names meant. Stick with geographically based names and I’ll join the cause! :-)
#75 by Jim MI on 10.07.08 11:17 am |
As sad as it is the NHL is all about $$$$, so merging teams wouldn’t work because owners wouldn’t share a team, or give a team up.
But if we’re living in a fantasy workd where money doens’t matter, and we actually do things so it’s good for the league, I believe some teams should be removed. I like re-naming the divisions with historical names, but let’s update them a bit. Realignment would be nice, it’s too much detail to getinto here, but I’ll do my own “If I were the Commish” at lunch when I have time.
#76 by JTH on 10.07.08 11:23 am |
Except that the geographical names don’t always work out so great, either. (Dallas in the Pacific Division?)
Of course, the NHL is nowhere near as bad as the NFL. (Dallas in the NFC East, Baltimore in the AFC North, Indianapolis in the AFC South…)
#77 by LI Phil on 10.07.08 11:23 am |
that third one wouldn’t be too much of a disruption ;)
#78 by joe on 10.07.08 11:24 am |
its clearly an ugly edge cut you can see the flap in the back.
#79 by SWC Susan (aka Tex) on 10.07.08 11:25 am |
They should… but - Bud hates Houston and Houston hates Bud! He kept the name so we could never use it… And if he EVER has that team don an Oiler throwback, he risks bodily harm - so don’t look fo rthat kiind of love either… Several ex-Oilers won’t even let him put their jersey number/name in the rafters!
#80 by Jeff P on 10.07.08 11:27 am |
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish. No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.
Contraction looses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you loose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.
Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.
Oh, and another note- a poster mentioned up top hat the TML jerseys were not RBK edge. They are. Rounded hem, jock tag on the replica hanging there, NHL logo webbing thing at the neck. But this is further proof of what I’ve been saying since they came out- it’s not the Edge uniform, it’s the designers who determine the Uniform look.
What’s the betting this sells better then their normal ones this year?
#81 by Jeff P on 10.07.08 11:29 am |
I also want to say that this rink is friggin sweet.
And I finally learned the HTML!
#82 by joe on 10.07.08 11:33 am |
from everything I have ever head the games would have been at wrigely, but it would have been the last time they ever did it.
#83 by Terri on 10.07.08 11:35 am |