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Archive for September, 2009
I believe this is the first time I’ve seen an NOB with a hyphen and roman numerals. What’s it all about? Reader Jeff Nephew explains: “That’s Eric Louis-Seize, a forward from Quebec, who recently joined the Truro Bearcats of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MJAHL). ‘Louis-Seize’ translates literally to ‘Louis the 16th,’ which explains his unusual nameplate. This is in contrast to last year, when he played with Halifax of the QMJHL and had his name fully spelled out.” (Both photos taken by Richard Lafortune.)
New ESPN column today — the annual NHL season preview, which will cover uniforms and goalie masks (link coming soon). And then I’ll have another ESPN column tomorrow, devoted exclusively to goalie pads, blockers, and the like. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go collapse.
Sure, a new raffle, why the hell not?: Our friends at SportsCrack are once again making a free T-shirt available to one lucky reader — winner’s choice (although I can tell you they’re particularly pleased with this one).
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the NEW raffle address (note that this isn’t the old raffle address or the regular Uni Watch e-mail address) by 10pm next Monday, October 5th. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday. … Sorry, raffle canceled.
Uni Watch News Ticker: FNOB alert. That’s Mick Williams, who plays for Pitt. The funny thing is, Mick is just his nickname — his real first name is Ernest. Interestingly, the other two Williamses on the Pitt roster are Greg and Manny — no photos of them, but does anyone know if Greg has FNOB or just a first initial? (All this courtesy of Denis Kirstein.) … Hate to admit it, but Abercrombie & Fitch actually has some decent tees (with thanks to Matthew Gahm). … Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but have you ever noticed that the two design icons most frequently found on the back of a car — the Jesus fish and the yellow ribbon — are basically the exact same thing? … Two Houston football players misplaced their helmets after last weekend’s game (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Matt also claims that he heard a broadcaster saying that the UTEP Miners’ short, spiky helmet stripe is supposed to represent the business end of a rock hammer. Never heard that before. Can anyone confirm? … Good observation by Joseph de la Riva, who notes that the Cowboys’ old field at Texas Stadium had royal blue trim, but their new field has navy blue trim. … “Worst Uni Ever” articles are a penny a dozen, but this one has a small saving grace: a Sox in shorts photo I’d never seen before (with thanks to Keith Dow). … Not uni-related, but the prediction of the year — or maybe of all time — took place during Sunday’s Mariners/Jays game. Listen to the two audio clips here (as forwarded by my ESPN colleague Dave Schoenfield). … Then again, I’ve been predicting Daniel Murphy double-play grounders for months, so what’s the big deal? … Good tip from James Huening: “If you go here, you can hear some discussion with Bears linebacker Nick Roach about swapping out the helmet radio receivers (he was playing the strong side position at the start of Sunday’s game but moved to the middle when Hunter Hillenmeyer had to leave the game). Unfortunately, there’s no timer on the progress bar, but it’s about 20% of the way through the interview. If you drag the progress icon to the point right under the letter ‘h’ in the words ‘the future,’ you can go directly to that point in the conversation.” … You know, it’s not like I ever thought Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, or Ghandi worked in the NFL offices. But when you read some of the quotes in a story like this one, the league comes off sounding disturbingly like the tobacco industry, at least in terms of its ability to lie about the health effects of its product. … Eleven new screen shots have been added to our AFL Full Color set. Among the highlights: a Texans logo with a spur (never seen that before) and Babe Parilli with FNOB (major thanks to Mako Mameli). … If you skip ahead to the 12:10 mark of this video, you’ll find a report on the Nets’ practice jersey ads (with thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Tons of great goalie mask photos available here (big thanks to Jeff Brand). … I love socks, uniforms, and the color green, so you think I’d be all over a vintage baseball uni for a team called the Green Sox. But not at this price. … Matt Harris notes that Hideki Matsui’s bat logo appears to have a Godzilla tail motif. … Slideshow of Nebraska football uniform evolution here (with thanks to Eric Brown). … Tyler Hull was watching the Champions League match between Arsenal and Olympiakos and saw that Olympiakos players were wearing two different type of socks.
September 30th, 2009
Got a note the other day from reader Aaron Rich, who’s identified a troubling lack of NOB consistency in Ann Arbor. I’ll let him explain:
As you might know, Michigan football has a freshman QB, Tate Forcier. He’s the younger brother of Jason Forcier, who was once a third-string QB on the team (about five years ago or so) and then transferred to Stanford. When Tate started practicing in the spring, there was a thought that Jason would transfer back to Michigan and both brothers would be on the team at the same time. This never happened, but Tate still wears a ‘T. Forcier’ nameplate, as if Jason were on the team.
Meanwhile, we have Kevin Grady at FB and his brother Kelvin Grady at WR (who had been on the basketball team last year and then moved to football this summer). They’re both K. Grady — in fact, they’re both Ke. Grady — but they both wear just ‘Grady,’ even though they’re sometimes on the field at the same time. I sorta wish they did FNOB, which I love, or else ‘Kel. Grady’ and ‘Kev. Grady,’ but alas, they just wear their surname.
Finally, we have Stevie Brown at LB and Carlos Brown at RB. Carlos’s NOB is just ‘Brown,’ while Stevie wears ‘S. Brown’ — weird.
I’m surprised this would happen at Michigan, where they take the home uniforms so seriously.
I think we can all agree that if the Wolverines can’t maintain a consistent NOB protocol, they should be demoted to D-II (or else forced to go NNOB). Big thanks to Aaron for his eagle eye and helpful background info.
Follow-Up Roundup: In case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch has a new e-mail address: uniwatching at gmail dot com. Please update everything that needs to be updated. Thanks.
Also, if you read yesterday’s blog entry prior to 1pm, you may have missed the link to some NFL uni news I posted yesterday on Page 2. Go here and scroll down to the lower-left corner.
Note for Discerning NYCers: Scott M.X. Turner’s band, RebelMart, is playing this Friday night at Freddy’s. Be a smart lad and show up, won’tcha?
Uni Watch News Ticker: Speaking of NOBs, I’ve been waiting for someone to provide a good screen shot of Pierre Garçon’s nameplate, complete with the cedilla, and Andrew Enright is the one who came through. It’s tough to be sure, but it looks to me like they took a regular “C,” positioned it at a slight superscript, and then sewed on an extra loop of fabric to form the cedilla. Major props to the Indy equipment staff for going the extra mile. … That noise you just heard was half the readership saying, “So maybe now they can sew some extra fabric on the shoulders to complete the truncated loops already?!” … Contribution of the day goes to Art Florio, who spotted this pair at Sunday’s Jets/Titans game. … Oooh, check out this awesome old Rawlings ad (with thanks to Jim Ransdell). … I don’t have Showtime, so I’ve been wondering what that AFL Full Color show looks like. Fortunately, Mako Mameli was nice enough to make a bunch of screen grabs. … Best minute and a half you’ll spend today: this short video showing the 11 worst helmets in Maple Leafs history. Don’t miss (big, big thanks to Jeff Barak). … Awesome Venn diagram here (with thanks to David Brown). … Third-to-last graf on this page includes some Nuggets uni number news (with thanks to Ryan Hess). … Late-breaking NFL uni change that we all missed: The Jags’ road captaincy patches are now teal (same as on the home jerseys). Last year they were black (good catch by Jonathon Binet). … Very cool home movie footage of the 1957 Michigan/Indiana game here (nice find by Ethan Crooks). … Good analysis on the difference between Umbro on-fields vs. retail authentics here (with thanks to Nolan Reagan). … The Blue Jackets will apparently have a new alternate jersey next year (thanks, Teebz). … Arkansas wears this road jersey these days, but Rudell Crim wore this design. “The Hogs wore both styles last year,” notes Lance Perrin. … An FNOB jersey I’d never seen before is available here (with thanks to Nick Hanson). … You know autumn has arrived when we have our first Mr. Met-O-Lantern sighting of the season (with thanks to Terence Kearns). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Holy shit. That’s Florida, wearing the Confederate flag against Penn State in the 1962 Gator Bowl. Thoroughly depressing details here (screen shot courtesy of Larry Bodnovich). … Plan B Branding, which has done lots of uni design work over the years, has a blog called the Clink Room, where they discuss ideas, share concepts and failed experiments, and so on. Now they’ve unveiled a piece of Clink Room merch: a stupid-expensive cap. … Awesome-looking Campbell’s Kids baseball catalog here. … Speaking of catalogs, there are some killer uni catalogs up on eBay at the moment. Even if you don’t want to own them, the graphics shown on the auction pages are pure gold. Dig: Spalding 1913, Reach 1913, Spalding 1916, Rawlings 1929, Spalding 1939, Wilson 1940 (whoa, check out that color center spread!), Spalding 1961, Rawlings 1963, and Louisville Slugger 1972. … No more stadium patch for the Cowboys, so that was apparently just a one-game thing (as noted by Brinke Guthrie). … Nice look at the Pistons’ “Mr. D.” memorial tribute to Bill Davidson here. That will be a permanent memorial, by the way — the first such gesture in NBA history (with thanks to Jeff Cohen). … The 2010 Mets uni info buried in the middle of this report is accurate. The related but slightly different report that ran in yesterday’s N.Y. Post is NOT accurate.
September 29th, 2009
We have a lot to cover today, boys and girls, so let’s get started:
• The Giants continue to have issues with their Reebok logos, which of course amuses me no end. Alas, this is probably the last we’ll see of this particular problem. I can’t divulge all the details, but let’s just say it’s been addressed and shouldn’t happen again. Too bad.
• What are those orange tabs in Mark Sanchez’s helmet? Are those the radio speakers? If so, I’ve never seen them stand out so clearly like that.
• Speaking of helmet radios, Michael Vick didn’t have a green dot yesterday (presumably because he wasn’t always used as a QB, right?).
• And speaking of the Eagles’ radio-equipped helmets, they don’t just have a green dot — they also have an extra i.d. label.
• Braylon Edwards went double-sock-striped for the Browns, and Chris Johnson did likewise for the Titans-as-Oilers. (In a related item, Eric Taylor did the same thing on Saturday for the Edmonton Eskimos.)
• No photo, but I was really surprised to see Tennessee cornerback Ryan Mouton returning punts bare-handed — no gloves! (Not sure if he also went gloveless while playing defense.) As it happens, he fumbled twice, which makes me wonder if he’ll be wearing gloves — or returning punts — next week.
• Similarly, it’s surprising to see Rams TE Daniel Fells going gloveless — and with the old-school tape loops on his fingers to boot!
• Speaking of the Rams, they retired Deacon Jones’s number at halftime yesterday.
• Jeff Fisher looked like he was wearing his big brother’s too-big shirt.
• I don’t know if holding was called on this play, but I hope so.
• Kinda early in the season for the Texans’ annual Halliburton Day uniforms, no?
• Oh, right — this. Frankly, I don’t have a lot to say about it, other than the obvious: It’s a very poor piece of design, and it takes the Seahawks’ inexplicable fascination with that neon-snot tone (which I have never liked — not on the pants, not on the logo eyeball, not on the gloves) to its logical conclusion. In other words, they’ve taken the worst element in a bad identity package and blown it up to its full potential. Congrats!
When Phil, Michael Princip, and I first proposed this design as an April Fool’s joke last spring, it was just a fun prank. We didn’t realize a bunch of idiots in the Seattle front office would take it as some sort of frat-boy dare. This would be flattering if it weren’t so depressing.
Anyway, now that we know the power of a Uni Watch April Fool’s rumor, next year I’ll be sure to propose something more useful, like the Mets ditching the black, or universal single-payer health care, or Guy Fieri developing laryngitis. Promise.
(Thanks to everyone who submitted tips and screen shots, including Bryan Stabbe, Mako Mameli, Max Sellman, Wayne Koehler, Steve Cadger, Chad Todd, and Mat Bernstein.)
Busy Week: On Wednesday, my annual NHL season-preview column will be running on ESPN.com. In addition, I’m going to have a companion column devoted to goalies’ new gear (not just masks, but also pads and blockers) — not sure yet if this bonus column will be running on ESPN or here on the blog. Plus I have a small NFL-related item running on the Page 2 index page right now (scroll down to the lower-left corner).
I’ll post updates here on the blog as things sort themselves out. Stay tuned, etc.
That’s all I can stand, I can’t stands no more: My Earthlink account had yet another major hiccup on Friday, the two primary results of which are as follows: (1) If you sent me anything between noon-ish on Friday and early Saturday morning, I probably didn’t receive it. And (2) I’m changing e-mail accounts.
So as of right now, Uni Watch’s new e-mail address is uniwatching [at] gmail dot com. All Ticker contributions and other uni-related correspondence should go to that address. I also have a new my personal address: plukas64 [at] gmail dot com (but please don’t use that one for uni-related stuff).
I’m keeping the Earthlink addresses active for a while and am forwarding them to my Gmail account, but please update your address books now. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the very nice throwbacks that Oregon wore on Saturday. But just in case, there are plenty of photos available here. … Here’s a great shot of the thick memorial armband that the Pirates wore in 1932 in remembrance of team owner Barney Dreyfuss (with thanks to Bruce Menard). … New mask for Brett Johnson (with thanks to Zack Tanner). … Hey, is this the first time Arkansas has worn merit decals? (As spotted by Justin Bates.) … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: First 10 mins. or so of this podcast features Greg Coleman talking about his role as a NFL uni cop. … Steelers will be wearing their throwbacks twice this season. … Unusual scene in the ring on Saturday night, and Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola both wore black trunks for their WBC heavyweight title bout. … The Cubs wore that little cub-head patch on their left sleeve for most of the 1960s, but here’s Lou Brock wearing it on his right sleeve — weird (good catch by Matt DeLeon). … Speaking of sleeves, those green sleeve patches worn by college football coaches two days ago were part of a muscular dystrophy initiative. … Small item at the very end of this page indicates that the Cavs will be wearing a 40th-season patch this season (thanks, Vince). … Speaking of the NBA, I was up at their offices on Friday and saw all the new stuff for this season, and some for next season. Lots of interesting things in the works — stay tuned. … Ryan Simmelink has created a new web site called Baseball Backs, in which he creates Photoshopped versions of MLB rear-jersey views. … Some cool old University of New Hampshire sports photos here (with thanks to Tris Wykes). … Good eye by Chris Mangan, who notes that several NHLers are using a new brand of stick — a brand whose name sounds pretty damn good to me. Anyone know more? … Hey, remember how Sheldon Brown wore a Jason mask for pregame intros last week? That’ll cost him (with thanks to Kenny Ocker). … Terry Proctor sent along a nice Ruby’s Sporting Goods ad that ran in the Rochester Amerks program in 1965. … Happy High Heeb Holy Days to those of you who are observing (although if you’re really observing, shouldn’t you be off starving yourself in a corner and contemplating your sins, not reading a sports blog?).
September 28th, 2009
on these sorts of things
By Phil Hecken & A.P.
Last weekend, in a teensy item I had buried after the main post, I had a little snippet from someone who had rated the 10 Worst Unis in football. Specifically, here’s what I said:
I don’t usually pay much mind to “top 10 best” or “worst” lists of uniforms. I mean, we here on UW should have the final word on that sort of thing anyway, right? But Ricko sent me this one. This one is a head shaker. Plus the guy who wrote it is either a homophobe or a bad comedian. Probably both. But check out the choices and the rationales. Here’s a typical quote: “The Dolphins uniforms should be San Fransisco’s uniforms. It’s hard to imagine a uniform that better represents fruit than these.” Right. Not quite sure how old it is, but it’s definitely not from this season. Still, this gets a huge “WTF?”
I didn’t think too much about it, but I received an E-mail this week from one of UW’s stalwart posters, we’ll call him “A.P.” (for ‘Anonymous Poster’) — why he wanted to remain anonymous, I’m not sure, but he did request the anonymity for the purposes of this post. (He’ll reveal himself to you once we get our results). What results, you may ask? Well, A.P. took me to task over my claim that “we here on UW should have the final word on that sort of thing anyway.” As such, he proposed that we come up with a “Ten Worst/Best” list, based on the opinions of the UW faithful. In my reply, I said, “well, if you can come up with a system, and you do the tabluations, I’m up for it.”
So that’s how this got started. I threw down a gauntlet, as it were, and now it’s up to you guys to pick it up. So, without further ado, here’s what A.P. has set up:
~~~
Hey, I’m just trying to make this thing as “scientific” as possible. I don’t want to skew the results somehow. I assure you I’m not hiding my identity as part of some nefarious plot. Anyway…
From time to time, someone will publish a list of best or worst uniforms. Invariably, we the Uni Watch community will strongly disagree with the author’s assessments. So we figured what better way to compile a “definitive” list of how the uniforms stack up than to reach out to the Uni Watch readers? Since the NFL season is in full swing, let’s start there. We want to know what you think of each team’s primary home uniform. That means dark jerseys for everybody except the Cowboys, Redskins and Dolphins — no alternates and no throwbacks.
So what do we want from you? Just complete a short online survey. It should only take a minute or two of your time. You’ll need to enter a password to access it — greendot.
1) Rate each team from 0 to 5 points (0 being the worst, 5 the best). You can use these photo collages, broken out by division, to help guide you: AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, AFC West, NFC East, NFC North, NFC South, and NFC West.
2) You don’t have to use every number and you can use each number as many times as you want. For example, if you think every NFL uni is garbage, feel free to rate them all a zero (0). Or if your opinion is that every team looks outstanding, go ahead and give them each a five (5).
3) Please mention the uniform that you think is the best and the one that you think is the worst. If you want to, include a brief explanation why. It’s possible you’ll be quoted, so you may wish to put some thought into this.
4) Please tell us what your favorite team is. If you don’t have one or if you’re not a fan of the NFL in general, go ahead and tell us that.
5) THIS IS OPTIONAL: tell us your age, gender and where you live.
Again, the survey can be found here and greendot is the password.
~~~
Sounds simple, right? Sure it is. What we’re hoping to do, obviously, is to figure out the ranking of ALL NFL teams, so by placing a numerical value beside each one, it will make tabulation of them much easier and much more scientific. I’m not real good with math, so A.P. will be handling the duties of figuring out the “best and worst”. I figure there are close to 800 members and a lot of random readers, and I’m hoping everyone who sees this post will take a few minutes to complete the survey.
At the conclusion of the survey, we’ll be back with our “un-official official UW NFL Best and Worst List.” OK? OK!!!
We can do this! Just assign a numerical value next to each team. Tell us your favorite team, and give a one or two sentence explanation of what you consider to the the “best” and “worst” uniform in the NFL. If you want to give any other info, that’s completely up to you.
Awesome. I’ll keep you guys apprised of the status of this next week and likely bug the shit out of you probably will need to remind those who haven’t sent in their surveys to please do so.
Thanks, and a big thanks to A.P. for not only the suggestion but for setting the whole thing up.
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 Our man in the street, Jim Vilk brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from yesterday:
5. California/Oregon – Who knows … Ducks may make the list again, but Cal won’t.
4. Vanderbilt/Rice – Stars and Old English add a little class to these helmets.
3. Ohio University/Tennessee – MAC schools CAN compete … looks-wise.
2. Southern Miss./Kansas – Not traditional, but very colorful.
1. Indiana/Michigan – Hail to the victors of this week’s list.
And a tie for the baddie:
1a). Miami/Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
and
1b). Tennessee State/Florida A&M – Just think…A&M plays Miami in a couple of weeks.
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 Well, it’s finally here. The oft-rumored lime jersey Paul wrote about, Paulie Soto mocked up, and Mike Princip hosted on Greenglare, is here. And the Seahawks will wear it tomorrow, against the Bears. We just didn’t know whether the numbers would be white nor with what pants the neon lime would be paired. But now we know, thanks to this leaked Twitter pic. So it’ll be white numbers with blue pants. I suppose it could be worse. I’ll reserve all judgment until I actually see the jersey on the players, the field and the lighting. I’m sure we’ll all be near a TV around 1:00 PDT (that’s 4:00 pm eastern 3:00 pm central & 2:00 pm mountain). The game’s on FOX (and there are only 2 games on Fox at that time, the Bears versus the Seahawks, or the Saints versus the Bills). All I know is I better get that game. Have your goggles ready.
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 Ricko’s running out of Sunday Benchies, so we’re gonna run one from the way-back machine today. But it’s a good one. Bub’s star wide receiver Mick is having one of those days all weekend warriors dream of. So, as you dream of starring on the football field as your team plays today, live vicariously though Mick in this Sunday Benchies. And, any similarity between Mick and Ricko is purely coincidental.
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 Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Once again, today’s scoreboard is brought to us by SlimandSlam. However, I believe the date he gave me for this was not correct (or, more likely, I wrote it down incorrectly) — and since I normally play the game (if I don’t know the answer) along with you guys, if I had the time, I’m sure I could figure it out ahead of time — but I don’t, so I can’t. So I’m leaving it up to you to solve it for us. As always, please don’t post the actual answer, but use the link (which will contain the answer) to Retrosheet or Baseball Almanac. Date, location and final score, please. Ready? Guess The Game.
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 UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game. Yesterday the U of Zero Ducks provided us with a lovely throwback and a win to boot! (A 42-3 asskickin’, no less.) Only one problem, though: Sweatbox problems continue to plague Nike. So, Here’s The Updated Ducktracker. Thanks Mike!
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 Ah, those Nike sweatboxes: Last weekend, we began to see the curious phenomenon of the “Sweatbox” — it wasn’t the first occurrence, but we noticed. We even gave it a name. Paul even remarked on the “problem” in his ESPN column (scroll down to “College Football”). Well, yesterday, it wasn’t just Oregon in their nifty throwbacks who encountered the problem. Sometimes it’s the big “square” in the middle of the stomach, or just the back and sides of the jersey, but it’s obviously caused by different materials Nike is using to piece together their jerseys. Depending on the team playing, the sweatlines make a two-tone appearance on the uni. It’s like a rorschach test of weird squares and right angles. It seems few teams are immune to the two-tone terror. Just not a good look … oh wait…that last one really was an intentionally two tone. Yeesh.
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WOW…now that was a post. If you haven’t already done so, please be sure to vote in the UW Best/Worst NFL uni poll. … Bad Newz for the Chiefs today? … Titans versus Oilers (Jets versus Titans) in AFL throwbacks … Hawks in neon snot … just a full day any way you slice it. G’mar chatimah tovah to all those observing. And, I’m not closing the contest, but this is the last time I’ll link back to it — if you want to participate in the Design A Cap Contest, just click the linkie and follow the instructions.
Have a great Sunday everyone!
September 27th, 2009
By Phil Hecken
There seemed to be great interest by UW readers in developing new concepts for Major League Baseball teams, following previous columns in which readers tweaked the ChiSox and the Brewers (see here and here). I put out the call for you guys to send me your submissions for any MLB team, and you didn’t disappoint. In fact, there were so many submissions, it’s going to take two posts to get to them all. But we will. So, lets see what everyone came up with, shall we?
~~~
The first two in this batch were actually featured before, but I wanted to include them in this post so they’d receive full comparison:
Jason Krause had a couple mock-ups for his hometown team, the Colorado Rockies:
I based these Colorado Rockies jersey mockups off of the old school logo of the hockey Colorado Rockies before they became the New Jersey Devils. I made them a pull-over top such as the Blue Jays and the Cards from the 70’s.
I created two different home looks, as well as an alternate that pays homage to the Colorado Flag. The black jerseys are also a big hit out here, so I created a look for one of those.
~~~
Alex Rocklein sent me some mockups for the New York Mets. Very interesting. Says Alex, “I attached some Mets uniform concepts. Some are outrageous, but there is considerably less black.”
Indeed, when it comes to the Mets, less black is usually much better. He has come up with three new uniform concepts: a clean new home and away set, with all the black removed (but where are the stirrups???); and two alternates. The first, featuring pinstripes (I guess we can say they’ve reduced the once venerable pins to an alt) and a royal blue top with “New York” in fancy block letters. As you know, I’m not a fan of the “alternate/softball” tops, but if the Mets could replace the black tops with this one, I’d be 100% behind it. Finally, Alex came up with another home alternate, and it is considerably more colorful. He combines a new alternate cap, featuring a blue crown and an orange bill, with a new orange alternate top (plus he has put the script “Mets” on the blue alternate).
~~~
OK, you may remember seeing those before, but the rest are all brand spankin’ new.
Another longtime reader, a Yankees fan no less, Kenny Jacobson saw the above section on New York Mets uniform concepts (when I first posted it), and, having already done some up, thought I’d like to repost them. With pleasure, Kenny, with pleasure. Here’s Kenny:
I’d posted these in the comments this summer but maybe you could get them out there.
I’m a Yankee fan but would really like to see the Mets go back to a classic look.
Home
Road
and if you MUST…
Alt
~~~
Got another submission from Uni Creator Alex Rocklein, (see above for his first uni tweak of the Mets) who this time has been working on some fixes for the Oakland A’s. I’ll let him explain:
I updated the primary (A’s in the circle) because the one they use now is outdated. I added cream to the scheme (now looking similar to their rivals across the bay) and added some piping because, let’s face it, who doesn’t like some piping?
I kept the away set relatively the same because I think it’s one of the most underrated sets in baseball. Threw some alts in there for the sake of having them. I feel like the solid color alts need to be limited by teams because when you watch a Cubs/ChiSox game in which its royal blue on black it feels as though I’m watching Spring Training or a couple of Thursday Night Slow-Pitch Softball games.
Also, matched the A’s “A” from the logo to the one on the hat (right now they use two different “A”s).
~~~
Another uniform concept submission comes from reader Daniel L. Dennis, who has got some proposals for the Texas Texases Rangers. Here’s Dennis:
I read the blog quite often, and I hope these are along the lines of what you’re looking for.
First of all, the Rangers erred greatly in not having their team name on their home jerseys. The Texas Texases (as Paul is fond of calling them) need an identity, but this minor facelift would probably suffice. It’s simple, it’s elegant, and above all, it’s somewhat unique (no comparison to the Angels, please – besides, I think the Rangers were using this typeface first).
Here’s the home jersey. All I did was go back to red as the primary color, and arch the team name like they did in 1972 with the original wordmark. Back then, the bigger “R” and “S” stood for “Robert Short” – today, they don’t really stand for anything, but it’s a nice treatment IMHO.
The away jersey is pretty much – well, gray. But the wordmark gets the same treatment.
Now for the alternate jersey. Seems like every team needs one. This time, I got rid of the blue (too many bad flashbacks to the Dallas Cowboys of the ‘70s, who always seemed to lose when wearing their blue jerseys), and went with the primary red.
Not sure I’m sold on the NNOB treatment, but at least it stands out.
Sleeve patch stays the same, and stripes on the pants go red and blue. Same with the sleeve stripes on the home and away. The red alt can keep the white trim.
This is what Nolan’s boys need to be wearing next year – and it wouldn’t take that much to pull it off. Oh, yeah, and I got rid of that gawdawful typeface for the NNOB.
Now don’t go selling this to the Rangers!
~~~
I received two concepts from “losalkyle,” who tweaked the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. A man of few words, this sentence accompanied his Padres tweak: “Take the light blue in their primary logo and make it the uni color.” The next one was simply an attachment, with the subject “Mariners Powder Blue.” That should be pretty self-explanatory. Here it is. If you’re reading this and want to identify yourself, please do!
~~~
Next up is Matt Keller, who actually sent me two submissions, but the second one is going to wait for the next batch. His first tweak is for the Minnesota Twins. Here’s Matt:
I’m not legally eligible for a prize being 16, but I mess around in photoshop on occasion.
1st off, I’ve eliminated those dreadful pinstripes from the Twinkies’ away uniforms. I think what I’ve done is pretty O.K. looking.
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Our final uniform tweak for today comes from Matt Murray, who unfortunately missed the Brewer tweaks which ran a couple weeks ago. But I promised Matt I’d include his mockups of the Milwaukee Brewers in the next set of uniform concepts. So, here’s Matt:
Mr. Hecken,
Attached are my uniform ideas for the Milwaukee Brewers. I might be a little late, but I think can still contribute to the discussion.
I like the Brewers current color scheme, but I think the current script and wordmarks are just a failed attempt at a classic look. I combined the navy and gold scheme with throwback lettering to create a modern look that reflects the past of the program. Both the home and away caps have the ball and glove “mb” logo, and the beloved beer barrel man on the sleeve. I’m a big fan of thick piping on pants and sleeves, but not on the front of the jersey. I used cream for the home threads and a powder blue(ish?) grey for the road uniforms to further compliment the historical aspect. A red mock-up is included. Thanks!
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OK, that’s going to do it for this first batch of uniform concepts from the fantastic UW readership. The next batch will be coming real soon. One interesting thing about this exercise, while I didn’t call for any specific teams whose uniforms needed updating/changing/tweaking, I got (so far) a bunch of submissions for the Toronto Blue Jays. How I didn’t see this team as the obvious choice for a uniform upgrade in the first place is beyond me, but I give myself a huge “DUH” for neglecting to ask for specific submissions for them. Let me tell you, the four or five I have received so far are tremendous. So, if anyone else wants to try their hand at tweaking the Toronto team, send em along. Of course, any teams you want to upgrade are fine as well.
As long as we’re on the topic of upgrading/tweaking, it sounds like it’s official that the Miami Marlins will be getting new uniforms when they move into their new digs (there’s a link in that article to the New York Times article [registration required]) where owner Jeffrey Loria mentioned the new unis. Now, I don’t want to step on Paul’s toes in calling for reader submissions for new Miami Marlins uniforms, since he’s been known to have done those type of things on the mothership. However, if you have done, or in the process of doing a Miami Marlins mockup, feel free to send it my way as well.
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 Is this the end of the world as we know it? Apparently so. Yesterday evening, several readers reported seeing Chris Berman state that the oft-rumored Seahawks alternate lime green jersey is a reality. Will it actually be worn this Sunday? And, will if so, will be paired white pants, as in the Wikipedia entry? Or, blue pants, or, heaven help us, lime green pants? And, what color will the jersey numbers be: White? (just imagine this) or blue? Perhaps we’ll know more tomorrow or later this evening. But if Boomer reported it, Wiki posted it, and Madden mocked it … it must be true, right?
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
[*late night edit: I just watched the repeat of the "2 Minute Drill" and here's what Berman said: "The Seahawks will unveil their bright green -- I guess '80s retro-ish green uniforms -- It'll be a 'Green Day'. I think they'll have the time of their lives." (The latter reference was because Boomer spent a portion of the segment discussing LPs {"albums to those of you under 30"}.) So that's what we have to go on. Who knows -- PH]
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, got another submission from our resident ’scoreboard finder’ SlimandSlam, who has brought to you another good one. Shouldn’t have too much trouble with the teams or the stadium, but the game itself may prove more elusive. As usual, please post the answer in the form of a linkie from Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet. Date, location and final score please. Ready? Guess The Game. Anyone interested in football? I think we’ll try a football scoreboard guessing game tomorrow…see how that goes. Thanks, Slim!
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UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game. Tomorrow marks the debut of his first tracking graphic on UW. It will be a regular feature through the end of the Ducks season. Sounds like a fun little idea. Assuming the Ducks wear the rumored throwbacks tomorrow against Cal, this will be updated with the final score. Otherwise, Mike will insert whatever uni they choose to wear. Check back tomorrow to see the result and the uni they wore!
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Ah, time for Mick and Mike to relax and (presumably) enjoy a game on the tube. And that’s a biiiiiiiig couch, innit? Enjoy the wit and wisdom of Mick in today’s Saturday Benchies. Yakitty-yak…don’t talk back.
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This and That: Seems that the Huskers will be donning vintage 1962 uniforms today, complete with black numbers on white helmets. According to the article, “Fans are wearing red, as usual, but retro red. Women are asked to wear red dresses and carnations.” Good times, good times, except, Nebraska hopes, for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Unis and helmets should look like this. … The Yom Kippur religious observance is going to force New York football fans to have to choose between games this Sunday — first time the Jets and Giants have kicked off at the same time (other than when playing each other) since 1984; both teams are 2-0, and the Titans (Jets) versus Oilers (Titans) are wearing AFL throwbacks … And speaking of throwbacks, Navy plays Western Kentucky on CBS today, with Navy to wear replica 1959 uniforms — it’s in honor of the dedication of the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium — check out the program cover from that day! … The Florida State Seminoles will wear white at home for the first time — ever — against USF today; not just the normal white over crimson, but white over white! Nice. Of course, the best thing about FSU games are the uniforms worn by the fans sitting in the stands … The Turkeyfoot Middle School, which, not coincidentally, is located on Turkeyfoot Road, is under pressure to change its name — no, they’re keeping “Turkeyfoot,” but they may be dumping their mascot and nickname, because that is much worse than “Turkeyfoot.” Try saying “Turkeyfoot” five times fast … The LeBron James farewell to Cleveland Cavaliers 40th Season is just jam packed with giveaways, and here’s the list … Reader Ed Westfield shot me a note, “In Any Given Sunday, the Miami Sharks never wore white jerseys on the road, or anywhere. So, I wanted to see what it would look like.” … Let it be known: it is NOT OK to profit of Tim Tebow’s name or likeness! Is that clear? Unless, of course, it’s the University of Florida that’s doing the profiting, natch [*NOTE...I was alternately getting a "404 not found on website" and the article, so if it comes up 404, I apologize] … Speaking of the Gators tho, ESPN has posted an “instant classic” video game, sure to be great fun for all Gator haters … Of course, political correctness is still the hot topic at UND, where the school must get permission from the two Sioux tribes in North Dakota in order to keep using the nickname, “Fighting Sioux,” or face NCAA sanctions, including being banned from post-season play — and they need it by October 1st … Wanna have more shoe combinations than Oregon has uniform possibilities? (Like, 2 million possible combinations???) Now you can. … Here’s a little uniform story that slipped below the radar: seems that UW readers are not the only ones who want to ditch the black — especially when your team is called the “Cardinals” and, “We have the Cardinal as a mascot and our colors are red and white. I don’t understand why you would want to change that.”
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OK folks…that’s a lot to digest. Still time to participate in the Design A Cap Contest that started last weekend — just follow the directions there if you’re still interested. Some great college football matchups today, including a bunch of throwbacks — wonder if any of them will make the Top 5 uni matchup list tomorrow. Enjoy your Saturday everyone!
September 26th, 2009
Two days ago I Ticker-linked to this photo of a Wisconsin high school football player and asked, “Is this where football sock design is headed?”
I got a much more thorough answer than I’d anticipated from reader Jeff Bahry, who informed me that the socks are actually leg sleeves with elastic stirrup loops. “The fabric is comparable to higher-end polyester — not cotton,” he wrote. “They also feature a silicon band to
prevent slipping.”
The company behind this is a Wisconsin operation called Dye Sport, which specializes in sublimated graphics. If you click on “Team Sports” and then start poking around from there, you can get an idea of what they’re about — basically, if you have really bad taste some innovative design ideas, they’ll indulge you as far as you want to go.
The socks aren’t mentioned on the Dye Sport site, however, so I gave them a call and found myself talking to company founder Scott Yeomans. Here’s how our chat went down:
Uni Watch: So what’s the story with these socks? I’ve never seen anything like them.
Scott Yeomans: We developed that about four years ago. We test-marketed it on one Wisconsin high school — Lancaster — to see how it performed, how the kids liked it, blah-blah-blah. And they ended up winning the state championship in it. And from there, things really started exploding. And actually, the Lancaster coach told us they didn’t have any kids cramping up with calf cramps that season. Is it the socks, is it that the kids were in better condition or better hydrated? I can’t say it’s definitely the socks…
UW: What was the design that you did for them?
SY: I’m trying to remember. I remember how we were watching the state tournament on TV and the commentators and the camera kept focusing on the socks. “Look at those socks!” I think we had a gradient — white down at the shoe and fading up to royal blue — with an arrow design.
UW: And how many teams are wearing the socks now?
SY: Last year we had 30 teams here in Wisconsin. This year it’s close to 50, plus we have a team in Michigan wearing them. And we have a dealer now in Arizona — I just shipped him 70 pairs for a youth soccer team. And we have our own boys’ and girls’ soccer teams wearing them here in town — they’re just lovin’ ’em. So we’re gonna expand more into soccer, girls’ softball. And getting back to football, last year we had six Wisconsin teams wearing our socks in the state tournament, and two of them won their divisions, so we’re getting a lot of good exposure.
UW: Since these socks are open at the bottom, does the player wear an ankle sock under it or what?
SY: Some of ’em wear a full-length sock underneath; some of ’em wear a little ankle or no-show sock. It’s personal preference. But you have that stirrup strap to pull it down into the shoe, so it looks like a full sock.
UW: Why’d you choose to make it that way, instead of making a traditional sock with a toe?
SY: It’s less bulky, and it lasts longer. If a sock develops a tear or wears out, it’s usually in the toe.
UW: And again, just to make sure I understand, you developed this product yourself, and you offer it exclusively?
SY: Yes.
UW: Has there been any negative feedback from people who think these designs are too radical or whatever?
SY: No. You have your old-school coaches, but you have more and more younger coaches, and they seem to like the socks a little more cutting-edge.
UW: And, of course, you can offer this product in a conservative design too — it doesn’t make any difference to you.
SY: Right. If they just want a solid red sock, that’s fine. Most of them, though, they’ll put the helmet logo on the side, or the school logo.
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So there you have it, the beginning of the end for football hosiery as we know it, all thanks to my favorite state, which I will henceforth refer to as Hades, the end.
And speaking of sock-related follow-up items: Back on Monday I asked about the sock logo that Maurice Stovall has been wearing. Turns out it’s the logo for a brand of compression gear I’d never heard of before: Sweat It Out. The bad news is that I just played into their hands by giving them free publicity; the good news, I hope, is that some of the NFL’s uni police guys read this site and will now start cracking down on this pernicious logo creep.
Gazoo Boo-Boos Up the Wazoo: I really messed up the part of yesterday’s ESPN column that pertained to the new S100 batting helmet. As originally published around noontime, the column stated that only three players had worn the helmet in a game: David Wright, Ryan Dempster, and Shane Victorino. But then, shortly after the column went live, Guy Serumgard informed me that Carlos Guillen wore the S100 on Sept. 3rd (apparently this was even noted at some point in the comments section on this site, but I either didn’t notice or didn’t remember), so we added a little “Update” graf to that section of the column. That was shortly before 2pm.
Then I went out and didn’t get back to a computer until about 9pm, at which point I found several e-mails from people telling me that Edgar Gonzalez had also worn the S100. Too late to add another update to the column — I’ll just run a correction in my next ESPN piece.
Not sure how I missed the boat so badly on this — I thought I’d been keeping track of the S100 situation. Interestingly, when I interviewed Rawlings exec Mike Thompson for yesterday’s column, the very first question I asked him was, “Just to make sure I have my facts straight, to my knowledge only Dempster, Wright, and Victorino have worn the new helmet — is that right?” He replied, “Yes.” Of course, it’s not his job to keep track of that — it’s mine — so that doesn’t absolve me. If anything, it’s another reminder that I need to do my own homework and not depend on others to confirm things for me.
Anyway: Let the record show that five MLBers have worn the S100 — unless you know of any others who’ve done so.
Research Query: Got a note yesterday from Matt DeLeon, who poses a very good question: “I was wondering if you knew the history of the ‘Property of’ T-shirts. Were there shirts that were actually the ‘property of’ certain teams? I would assume so, although a T-shirt would seem to be something worth giving away after a few uses. How far back do these shirts go, and what’s the history behind them?”
Excellent question! Anyone out there know anything about this? If so, give me a shout.
“Turntable? What’s a turntable?”: I’ve put a few more old indie-rock 45s up for auction on eBay, and I’ll continue to add more over the next couple of weeks. You can keep track of everything I’m selling here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: LSU will be wearing purple jerseys this Saturday against Mississippi State. “This is unusual because they generally only wear purple at home for non-conference opponents — this is a conference game on the road,” notes Ben Melancon. … New mask for Yann Danis. … The Swedish military has some uni issues (with thanks to Chad Todd). … Is it OK to wear ONOB is the jersey is given to you by the team? (Nice find by John Brooks.) … There’s a resurgence in sales of Expos gear, and it’s coming from an unlikely source (with thanks to Graham Bakay). … Jon Canella notes that Pedro Feliz always has a line of dirt on the back of his road jersey. “I’ve been noticing it since the end of May,” he says. “Superstitious? Not a good enough stain remover by the clubhouse attendant?” And before you propose any theories of your own, remember it only happens on Feliz’s road jersey. Weird. … A few months ago I got some e-mails from a Milwaukee marketing exec who wanted to redesign the Packers’ logo. I didn’t post his designs, because (a) I didn’t think they were very good, and (b) the Packers obviously aren’t going to change their mark. But I guess it was a slow news day at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal.
September 25th, 2009
Hey look, it’s a can of Gay Up! What is Gay Up, you ask? It’s a new Spanish energy drink, of course! Very popular on the Spanish gay discotheque scene (insert “…or so I’m told” here, preferably in italics).
And what does all this have to do with Uni Watch, you ask? This: The guy holding the can of Gay Up is a bullfighter named Joselito Ortega, who will soon become the first matador to have an ad on his cape — an ad for, of course, Gay Up! The cape ad is an apparent first, although one other matador, Luis Reina, wore the Akai logo on his pants in the 1980s.
I’ll let you decide if another energy drink — say, one called, oh, Red Bull, perhaps? — might have been better suited to break the bullfighting advertising barrier. Meanwhile, anyone want to take bets on how long it’ll be before they use a branding iron to put an ad on the bull?
New ESPN column today — look here. — Paul
(Thanks to Ryan Burns for letting me know about the cape ad, and to Kirsten for finding the old photo of Luis Reina.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: In a move that will no doubt throw the entire solar system into disarray, Oregon is apparently planning to wear throwbacks this weekend. … Here are the new Sixers uniforms that everyone already knew about. Additional info here, plus Enrico Campitelli Jr., who covered the unveiling, has this to add: “I talked to someone who said the current jerseys could receive a tweak. Perhaps later this year or before next season. Or not at all, nothing confirmed, but it sounded like they may want to mess with the lettering/coloring a bit.” … Meanwhile, the Rockets have unveiled an alternate uni. Additional info here. … Yesterday I linked to some pics of the Rams wearing these pants, which were only worn for one preseason game in 2001. As it turns out, Kevin Mericle owns a pair of these very pants, worn by Joe Germaine in that preseason game. … Okay, so I’m just gonna keep slapping this logo on everything that doesn’t move. … Bit of a soccer jersey controversy in the Europa League (with thanks to Patrick O’Donnell). … Check out what Danilo Roman was wearing on Monday night. … What happens when you combine sports jerseys with literature? You get Novel-T, a new T-shirt company that’s come up with some simple but clever designs. Captain Ahab gets a captain’s C, Hester Prynne gets the telltale A (although it should have been red, no?), and so on (with thanks to Dane Drutis). … A double-decker FNOB jersey is up for auction (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … Tremendous news from Chris Ashworth, who reports that the Adirondack Phantoms are now purple-free! … Let’s hear it for W.B. Ray High School in Corpus Christi, whose football team wears some super-cool shoulder stripes. “They’ve worn these stripes for as long as I can remember, at least 35-40 years,” says Troy Griggsby, who adds that the team in red is the Robstown Cottonpickers. … Vintage uni items of note: a Babe Ruth uni patch and a pair of 1930s stirrups. … Kentucky QB Mike Hartline has begun wearing a glove on his throwing hand. There was an article about this on the web yesterday, but it was subscription-only, so here’s the text (big thanks to Jeremy Burson). … Tremendous old Gatorade ad here (with thanks to Jim Ransdell). … Decent look at the NHL officials’ new TV numbers here (with thanks to Matt Lesser). … New pads for Cam Ward and a new mask for Johan Hedberg. And speaking of masks, Ryan Miller wore a camera on his the other day (all this courtesy of Tyler Hull). … Decent view here of the NHL officials’ new TV numbers. … See that “Hero” NOB? No, the kid’s name isn’t Hero — that’s Holliday High in Texas, and the NOB, which the whole team wears, is short for the team’s slogan: “Holiday Eagles…,” uh, Andrew McNeel isn’t sure what the other two words are. Anyone..? … Okay, so I don’t really understand this one, but the Yomiuri Giants just clinched the Central League title, and Jeremy Brahm reports that they celebrated by dressing up as a bottle of beer and a kindergartner, among other things.
September 24th, 2009
I think it’s fair to say that relatively few people bothered to tune in for Monday night’s Mets/Braves game, what with both teams playing out the string and Peyton Manning plying his trade a mere click of the remote control away. I think it’s even fairer to say that the game’s initial TV audience, however paltry it might have been, had dwindled considerably by the bottom of the 5th, by which time the Braves were winning by the tidy score of 11-2.
But those who stuck with the SouthSports telecast that long (including Becky Taylor, who informed me of what I’m about to describe) bore witness to an epochal moment in broadcasting history, as Braves play-by-play man Jon Sciambi pulled out a T-shirt and presented it to his partner, Joe Simpson, who obligingly draped it across his chest. “Simpson was always unabashed in talking about his hatred of that stadium, so it was a gag gift,” explains Becky.
Sciambi and Simpson then took turns making fun of this guy, which I believe marked the first time the gray and royal Shea tees have both been featured on TV in the same half-inning (and definitely marked the dorkiest dual endorsement ever). And then Simpson, who clearly knows how to hit a hanging curve, said, “You know, the funny thing about this shirt is, right after Chipper’s son was born, that’s what he said.”
For the record, I sent a shirt to Chipper a few months ago, but nothing ever came of it — dang. Meanwhile, if this moving exchange between Sciambi and Simpson has led to a stirring in your loins wallet, you can scratch that itch here.
And after you buy the T-shirt…: When Brian Schulz asked us to pattern his membership card after his high school football jersey, complete with the mesh treatment, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to do it, but Scott really outdid himself, as you can see at right. That’s one of several new designs that have been added to the membership card gallery. For those of you who’ve been waiting a few weeks for your cards, a new batch will mail out today.
I know lots of you have been “meaning to” sign up (or at least that’s what literally dozens of you have told me in recent weeks), so hey, there’s no time like the present, am I right?
Yet another way for you to give me all your money: I’ve been going through my record collection and making a few old 45s available on eBay. The current crop includes fairly rare stuff from the Apples, the Dead C., and Big Black, all of which should be very exciting to the four or five of you who’ve actualy heard of those bands. Remember, the more records I sell, the less likely I’ll have to resort to the latest trends in sports media (and/or the sooner I can just retire to New Zealand already, whatever).
Uni Watch News Ticker: On Monday I asked about Brad Childress’s non-Motorola headset. As several readers informed me, he wears it because of a hearing problem. … Stopped by the Shake Shack the other day and was disappointed to see that this sign had an apostrophe catastrophe. … Of course, some apostrophe catastrophes are more catastrophic than others. … Shaun Tunick notes that Brian McCann has been wearing a road catcher’s helmet at home. … Neglected to mention that Floyd Mayweather was wearing two-in-one faux stirrups on Saturday (thanks to Kenneth Ritz for reminding me). … In a related item, a player for AC Fiorentina was wearing stirrups in a Champions League match last week (as spotted by Stephen Boyd). … The Army has a new uniform for use in Afghanistan (with thanks to Kyle Kalkwarf). … Reprinted from Monday’s comments: Here’s something I’ve never seen before — a hockey helmet getting ripped in half. … Also from Monday: Hyphen vs. hyphen! … Here’s the new Mavs alt jersey. Additional photo here. … New hockey jerseys for Ohio State (with thanks to Nick Houser). … Rookie hazing is in full swing. … If you go to this link and scroll down to the “Interesting Story” headline, you’ll learn how the Twins were considering having corporate sponsorship for their organ (courtesy of Nate Hill). … Unusual NOB typography here (with thanks to John Dugan). … Here’s a good look at the Tribe’s “We lost last year’s World Series” patch, worn in 1996. … Now there’s a train wreck. That’s Washington High School, from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (with thanks to Bill Blewett). … New uni set for the Bobcats, and I can’t say I’m a fan of the pinstripes. … Jeff Meyers notes that one of the Colts’ coaches was wearing a red cap on Monday night, presumably so players on the field could pick him out as he gave signals. … Adidas and Puma have buried a 60-year hatchet, or something like that (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Take a deep breath to prepare yourself for this. That’s Vida Blue (duh), wearing FiNOB and what appears to be cut-off baseball pants while working out in March of 1980 (tremendous find by Morris Levin). … Didn’t realize that Sheldon Brown wore a Jason mask for his pregame intro on Sunday until Shaun Tunick mentioned it to me. … Excellent stripes being worn by Battle Mountain High School in Edwards, Colorado (with thanks to Jeff Moddelmog). … Longtime Uni Watch fave Mark Penxa has designed the logo for this very entertaining site devoted to “an alternative baseball lexicon.” … Good article about Vanderbilt players’ eye black messages here (with thanks to Wade Harder). … Longtime contributor Michael Orr has started a new blog about English soccer, including some uni coverage. … New mascot for Tulsa, and be sure to check out the gallery of past ’scots — fairly hilarious stuff (with thanks to Dan Bewley). … And in a related item, there’s a new logo for Cal State Fullerton. … What’s the latest way for players to keep cool on the sidelines? Air-conditioned pads (props to my Page 2 colleague DJ Gallo). … Navy will wear these throwbacks on Saturday (as sent my way by Mike Althouse). … Most of you have never seen the Rams wearing these pants. That’s because I believe they’ve only been worn once, during a 2001 preseason game against the Chargers. Reader Mako Mameli has provided a bunch of additional photos. … Is this where football sock design is headed? That’s Wautoma High, and I’m embarrassed to report that they’re from Wisconsin. Yeesh (with thanks to Ray Barrington). … Michael Princip is keeping track of Oregon’s uniform combos, plus he’s added some program covers to his excellent Illustrated NFL site, including this killer Lions cover. … Always fun to see as many shots as possible of Clarence Weathers and his double-decker FNOB (with thanks to Zak Kalina). … Do you have dreams about uniforms? If so, here’s how to interpret them (thanks, Phil, but why were you cruising around that site to begin with?). … Tremendous vintage football jersey available here (nice find by John Sheehan). … A few years ago, Doug Brei sent me a note in which he claimed that Wendell Tyler wore mismatched cleats in Super Bowl XIV. Or at least that what he says — I don’t actually remember. In any event, he now has visual evidence. See this photo spread? Check out Tyler’s footwear — Adidas on one foot and Pony on the other! Bizarre, right? Similar to the Pete Vukovich photos I wrote about last year. … What’s better than a lot of stripes? A lot of stripes with striped trim. That’s School baseball team from Groton, MA about 1899. If the dude in the white necktie looks familiar, it’s because he’s FDR (great find by Justine DeCotis). … Eric Wright of the Browns has been fined $5000 for having his knees uncovered (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … TNOB alert. That’s the Canadian High School football team, from the incongruously named town of Canadian, Texas. Further non-uni details here (with thanks to Dan Cichalski). … This article about game-used Mets merch is intermittently uni-related and consistently hilarious — highly recommended reading. … One of America’s foremost collectors, Lester Glassner, has passed away. He died over a month ago, but nobody is officially dead until the New York Times says they are, and that didn’t happen for Lester until two days ago. His obituary is fascinating and entertaining, as I’m fairly certain Lester himself must have been. RIP, brother.
September 23rd, 2009
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