You guys will recall several weeks ago I ran a “Design-A-Cap” contest, for Coach Jerome Nemanich and his Sartell Sabres, and the results were outstanding. Reader Marc Walls saw the original contest, and thought our fantastic readers could do the “Design-A-Cap” one better — to wit: Design A Whole Uniform!
Here’s Marc’s original e-mail to me explaining his idea:
Love the work you’ve been doing on the website. I really enjoyed the design a cap idea for today’s column. I saw that you had proposed a design a uni option. I think that’s a great idea, and if you’re interested I’d like to offer the school I coach to be the team you choose.
I am one of the baseball coach’s at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. We are looking to undergo a complete redesign, including possibly a new logo.
Here’s the catch, which I think will make it fun for uniwatchers. Our colors are purple and gold! I’ve tried with no hope to come up with uniform designs that use the purple in a way that isn’t awful, and I could really use everyone’s creativity. Our current hat is solid purple with the Chicago Cubs “C” in gold.
Intrigued, but semi-swamped with weekend entries, I did respond to Marc, who then got back to me with more of the guts of the idea, as well as a few pictures from which to base the uniform redesigns:
Our high school is planning to undergo a complete redesign of our uniforms over the next year. I’m going to make some requests, and attach some pictures to show what the team has had in years’ past.
The school has been using the same hat design for the last 20 years, the Chicago Cubs “c” logo in yellow on a white outline. The hat is solid purple. We are probably going to keep that logo, but are looking to add a few alternate logos. I’m hoping the savvy guys at UW can create some great logos for us to use. Here’s what we’re looking for:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
If we decide to use any of these designs in the future, we will definitely work out some kind of payment for all of your hard work.
* The parameters: colors are purple and gold, which I know is hard enough, without including the black.
Marc included four photographs to emphasize his points above:
I got one last e-mail from Marc this week, with one or two points he wants to stress:
While we are looking for uniform ideas, we would also really appreciate any logo redesigns and cap designs. That’s almost as important as the uniform designs. And like I said, we will gladly contribute some goodies to everyone who works so hard on those mock-ups.
Well there you guys have it. Another reader has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging you to come up with not just a new cap and logo redesign, but a whole uniform redesign as well. I’m not sure what “goodies” Marc will be able to provide to the contest winner(s), but we’ll worry about that when we get there.
So, anyone who is interested, the “rules” are basically the same as the “Design-A-Cap” contest: Take Marc’s ideas and put them into cyber-reality. Just remember the “guidelines”:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
*The parameters: colors are purple and gold.
As with the Design-A-Cap contest, I would ask that when you have your design(s) ready, please send them to me and put as your “SUBJECT” line: Design A Uniform Contest. You can also E-mail me at that address if you have any questions. I won’t set a hard and fast deadline, but I’d expect the contest to be open for at least two weeks — so try to have your submissions to me by the weekend of November 14-15.
If you don’t have any “blank” templates, a few designs can be found here, here, here, and here, or you can simply google “baseball uniform builder”, which will provide ample ways to customize a baseball uniform. There are probably a bunch of other blank uni templates out there too.
OK? OK. Don’t disappoint us Uni Watchers! After seeing those Sartell Sabres Cap designs, I know how great your entire uniforms, caps and logo designs will be.
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Well, folks, in case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch Prexy and ESPN Page 2 columnist Paul Lukas had a great piece on World Series Rings. Paul didn’t get to upload the column to the main article yesterday, since by the time it was released, he was on his way to Cooperstown. I hope there’s some stuff for him to do up there. Check it out if you didn’t get to read it yesterday — really great, and timely article.
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Dipping into the E-mail bag again, got one this week from Dave Magruder, who has done some fascinating research regarding NFL alternate and throwback uniforms, and the frequency with which they have been worn. Obviously, with the “Legacy” uniforms, and the tremendous number of alternates out there (as well as several teams throwing back this year), Dave wondered which teams were the least guilty of this. Here’s what he found:
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“Last night as I was thinking about the widespread use of throwback and alternate uniforms in the NFL recently. It made me wonder: How many teams have NOT redesigned their uniforms, or worn alternate/throwback uniforms since 1995? In other words, how many teams have retained the exact same look and uniform set for every game?
“(Obviously, I thought 1995 was a good starting point since it is still recent history, and most NFL teams wore throwbacks to celebrate the league’s 75th Anniversary in 1994).
“You may be surprised by the answer. From 1995-2009 there is not a single team that has retained the same uniform set for literally every game. All 32 teams in the league have either redesigned their uniforms, worn alternates, or worn throwbacks at some point since 1995. There were four teams that came close to retaining the same look throughout this period, though. I have outlined them below:”
Packers: Green Bay has diverted from their traditional uniform set only twice since 1995. This occurred in 2001 and 2003 when they wore throwbacks as mandated by the league for Thanksgiving Day games.
Colts: Indianapolis donned league-mandated Thanksgiving throwback uniforms in 2004. (Note: Colts have also changed their look in a couple minor ways. The team wore blue pants for several games in 1995–no longer a part of the team’s wardrobe– and permanently switched from a blue to a gray facemask).
Chiefs: Kansas City sported the same uniform until this year’s AFL Legacy celebration.
Raiders: Like the Chiefs, Oakland’s steak of uniform consistency was broken by league-mandated AFL Legacy celebration.
“As you can see, these teams were mostly eliminated for use of throwbacks that were mandated by the league, instead of issued by the team itself. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find that there is literally not a single team in the NFL that has survived the alternate/throwback/redesign craze.
“Thought this may interest readers. Thanks for all your hard work on this blog.”
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Thanks Dave! That’s very interesting. Only four teams (and even they are not immune) seem to have escaped the alternate/throwback craze. Not surprisingly, those four also ranked very highly on our recent home and road uniform surveys (results of the road poll here). Obviously, when you have a uniform that works, you don’t mess with it. Wish a few other teams would take a page from their books. Great stuff there.
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Teepee for your bunghole? Oh…wait — that’s Cornholio, not cornhole. Good thing Milwaukee’s finest David Frost (”Frosty”) has some schweet cornhole game boards he’s designed. I’ll let Frosty explain:
Very sexy…not trying to be a whore or anything, but I gotta tell ya – I got done with them last Thursday, took them to my kids’ baseball tourney in Charleston this past weekend…the compliments and inquiries – wow! There’s Packer fans everywhere!
So what exactly did Frosty design? Check ‘em out: here, here and here.
I’m guessing those are supposed to be Packers boards? Probably no significance to the numbers either.
Thanks Frosty!
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Cleaning out the cupboards today, I wanted to feature a Mets Uniform Redesign (is it me, or do we seem to have a lot of folks clamoring for the Mets to redo their unis? Don’t worry, we won’t be having any “Fixin’ the Mets” full entries this year — that’s what Spring is for, no?.) Anyway, reader Laurence Holland missed the last batch of uni-tweaks, but wanted to send along his Mets redesign concept, so without further ado, here’s Larry:
Hi Phil,
I know the moment may have passed, but with all the buzz about a possible Mets redesign for 2010, I thought I’d pass along my two-cent contribution. I first mocked up a cream-and-pinstripes combo over the summer, when the Mets rocked the oversized-NY throwbacks, so I was very happy to see that it might come to pass. I also tweaked the rest of their uniforms, the idea being to make them simple, classy, traditional, and black-less.
A couple of notes: the racing stripe on the away grays is supposed to be a little more subtle than the original ’80s version, though my ham-handed photoshop skills couldn’t really convey it. And the all-blue alternate with the blue-and-white trucker-style cap isn’t my favorite, but it’s the best I could come up with. Consider it a concession to merchandising reality.
Anyway, please do with this what you will. From my lips to Jeff Wilpon’s ears, eh?
Thanks Laurence. Next up is Bill Jones, who also missed the last “uni tweaks” but had a “Rays” tweak he wanted to share. Here’s Bill:
Hey Phil,
I love the uni tweaks! I know I’m late, but I did this almost 2 years ago had some trouble finding the MS paint file. I thought it was pretty good though, so I wanted to send it to you.
PL has mentioned that he liked the TB Devil Rays unis that featured green as a primary color. I too liked this design, and although I don’t completely hate it, I think the newer Rays unis are too sterile and flat out boring. I did, however, like the introduction of light blue, so I combined that with the deep green. I think it’s a handsome combination, one that is original and nicely captures the tropical feel without the use of aqua/teal (Does the world need more aqua? I think not!)
A couple notes…
For the logo, I kept the actual Ray that the team currently features as a sleeve patch. I also took the liberty of changing the team’s name to the St. Petersburg Rays (maybe it’s just me, but I think calling teams “Tampa Bay” is lame…the cities are Tampa and St. Pete, “Tampa Bay” is the body of water between them, and the Rays play in St. Pete). Besides, how can you argue with that two-tone interlocking S-P (for the hat), and the sweet “St. Pete” sleeve patch? I like the idea of calling the team the “St. Pete Rays”. Also, for that jersey, you may be thinking “what is going on with that that neck trim?” Well, think of the early 90’s Royals jerseys…
I’m proud of this one … and I never got around to it, but I totally envisioned a powder blue road uni (with the dark green hat…it would be killer!). Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!
–Bill Jones (not the gumball helmet guy)
Good stuff Bill. Thanks again to all who have sent me their uni concepts. I expect some time in the near future to begin running your Football Uni Tweaks, so if you’ve sent me something, it’s-a-comin’ — and if you want to send me some NFL tweaks, drop me a line.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, another “apropos” scoreboard today. Shouldn’t pose any difficulty at all. But we’re winding down the major league baseball season so today’s game should reflect the timeliness of the year, no? Of course it should. Most of you, if you’ve been paying attention to events on the national stage, should be able to “name the game” (although, probably not the date) just from site. The rest of you may need to hit Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet. You gotta hit them anyway, in order to provide the link to the game. So, here we go: Guess The Game From The Scoreboard.
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The boys are back for a little football today, (could Mick possibly wear more sweatbands, btw?), and Mick is about to make the acquaintance of one of Mike’s relatives. The things you learn about your friends when you meet a member of their family. So…enjoy the beginnings of a serial benchies:
That’ll do it for today. Hope you guys, especially all you designers (and wanna-be designers) out there really go to bat, no pun intended, for the Wildcats and Coach Marc Walls. If the ‘design a cap’ nominees were any indication of the incredible talent in UW-land, then I’m sure we’ll get some amazing entries for the full-blown “Design A Uniform” contest. Remember, send me your submissions to me, or email me if you have any questions about the contest. Take the last train to Clarksville — I’ll be waiting at the station.
Game 3 of the Fall Classic and lots of college football today — and surely there’ll be some interesting uni-matchups for Jim to choose from. Don’t forget to post some of your suggestions in the comments. There will be at least ONE color-on-color matchup (and maybe more) — with those colors to be black and orange. How fitting.
Today is the 35th anniversary of a seminal sports event: the Rumble in the Jungle, which pitted George Foreman against Muhummad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. And No Mas honcho Chris Isenberg is marking the occasion with some seriously gorgeous video animation.
Some quick background: Most of you probably think of No Mas as a T-shirt brand, but it’s actually a multi-faceted media project — a project that was born out of Isenberg’s fascination with Ali. That fascination eventually blossomed into Isenberg becoming an official Ali licensee (you can read more about the unusual route he took to that destination here), and he’s used that connection to commission three short animations to commemorate the Rumble anniversary.
The first one, called Zaire, is by watercolorist David Rathman and is sort of a gray-wash time capsule that juxtaposes iconic Rumble sound bites with Rathman’s spectacular brushwork. You can see additional stills here, or just watch the video below.
Next up: Round Zero by oil painter Jerome Lagarrigue. No Mas describe this one thusly: “Lagarrigue draws inspiration from Ali’s own zoological poetry (’I done wrassled with an alligator/Tussled with a whale’) in exploring Ali’s mental and spiritual transformation in the moments before the bell sounds round one.” OK, so that sounds a tad pretentious, but the imagery is magnificent, all the more so when you see it in motion. Check it out:
The third video is by pen-and-ink illustrator James Blagden, is a hoot. As you may know, James Brown was headlining an all-star soul concert in Zaire that was organized in conjunction with the Rumble (and was also the subject of a recent documentary). So with the Godfather of Soul and the Greatest of All Time having been in the same place at the same time, Blagden has imagined a fictitious showdown between the two of them, set to JB’s “Cold Blooded.” Dig:
Great stuff, three great takes on a seminal event, and three potent reminders that boxing is still the most aesthetically potent sport of them all. Chris is going to be making some of the original animation artwork available for sale, and there may be an exhibit at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. You can keep track of all that news on the No Mas site.
I love these short films, and I certainly don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but I do feel a reality check is in order regarding the Rumble. To wit: It was a bad fight, and a boring one. Forget all the When We Were Kings mythologizing and just watch the fight. If you do, one thing quickly becomes apparent: Foreman looks like an amateur. No balance, no leverage, no nothing. Watch how he often he has his palms awkwardly extended and open in front of him, like a two-bit street pug. He doesn’t even look like a credible slugger — more like a third-rate Tough Man contestant. Seriously, there are multiple points in the fight where it’s embarrassing to watch him. Meanwhile, Ali’s rope-a-dope tactics, while canny, make for a snooze of a bout. Even the eventual knockout is unsatisfying — more of a cumulative meltdown than major punch-and-drop.
And yet the legend of the Rumble has endured. Why? (1) Foreman had built up an aura of invincibility in his previous fights, so the result was seen as a huge upset. (2) This was the fight in which Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title, something that had only been done once before (by Floyd Patterson, don’tcha know). (3) Ali, as was his habit, used the buildup to the fight as a backdrop for addressing powerful themes of race and culture — particularly powerful in this case, since the fight was in Africa. (4) Fight fans love epic themes, even if they’re more rooted in myth than in fact, and this fight had lots of powerful thematic elements. (5) “Rumble in the Jungle” is a catchy slogan.
None of which makes the No Mas videos any less compelling. Like I said, I’m just trying to provide a nugget of reality amidst the mythmaking.
Finally, one interesting uni-related note from the Rumble: Referee Zack Clayton wore zebra stripes — not something you often see in the boxing ring.
Bonus Column: I’ll have a short piece on World Series rings up on ESPN today. I won’t be around to add the link when it goes live, but it should be at this URL (that link will give an error message until the piece goes live, probably around 12:30pm eastern).
College Hoops Home Stretch: I’m currently working on my annual college basketball season-preview column for ESPN. Compiling one of these columns for college sports is different than doing it for one of the pro leagues, because there’s no central database of all the new uniforms, no league PR office or single manufacturer to go over things with. Basically, it’s a free-for-all, so I just try to stay alert and keep track of all the new designs and patches as I become aware of them.
Here’s what I have so far: Alabama, Auburn, Cal, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Creighton, Georgia Tech, Grand Canyon, Iowa State, Kentucky (rumors of something Lebron-ish, but no confirmation yet), Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio U., Oregon (I think — not yet confirmed), Pacific (alternate uni for the Dec. 9 game against Cal), Pitt, San Diego State, South Carolina, UNC (1957 throwback), UNLV, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington (new black alt), Washington State, and WVU (black alt).
I’m sure there are others I’ve missed — not just new uniforms, but also patches, court designs, etc. — and that’s where you come in. If you know of any college hoops unveilings not listed above, or if you become aware of any over the next week or so, please speak up. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The single-bar facemask lives! That’s our old friend Scott Player, now plying his trade in the UFL (with thanks to Doug Keklak and Mike Rigby). … The 49ers are changing who gets to wear the green dot on defense (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Some great uniform shots in this video tribute to the late NHL ref Bill Chadwick (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … England’s new rugby kit is my favorite color, with a poppy thrown in for Armistice Day (with thanks to Michael Orr). … Striped stirrups sighting in yesterday’s “Family Circus” (big thanks to Vernona Elms). … Insert joke about one white hockey glove here (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Not uni-related, but if you wanna see something really beautiful — I mean really beautiful — click on the embedded video here (thanks, Kirsten). … You’ve heard of FNOB, but how about FNOF? That’s the Raja, of course, wearing a Chicago youth organization uni (great find by Paul Wiederecht). … Good article about early Red Wings mask history here (with thanks to Tim Shay). … New uniforms for the Jacksonville Suns. … For next year’s April Fool, maybe I’ll start a rumor that the Seahawks are gonna be wearing this (bizarre find by Matthew Weber). … New World Cup kit for Ivory Coast. I don’t like that diagonal shoulder treatment, but I love their new crest (with thanks to Coachie Ballgames). … Tremendous batch of old 1940s Washington Huskies photos here (big thanks to John Doodigian). … According to the fourth graf of this story, Avs goalie Craig Anderson once “lived in Sweden and inserted a double-s in the middle of his surname to to fit in. When he played for the Blackhawks, he had an incorrect [double-s] spelling on the name bar of his jersey until the NHL, as he says, ‘questioned the legality of it.’” I don’t like to post watermarked Getty photos (and I ask that none of you do so either), but you can see the single-s and double-s versions of Anders(s)on’s Blackhawks NOB if you go to Getty’s main page and search on “Craig Anderson 2003 Chicago” (with thanks to Paul Richard Cook). … I like socks as much as the next guy — probably more — but this is going overboard. … I’m heading to Cooperstown later today and will be there throughout the weekend (good place to be during the Series, right?). See you on Monday.
[Editor's Note: Today we have a guest entry from Thomas weeks, who had a remarkable uni-related encounter on the streets of New York last week. -- PL]
By Thomas Weeks
I’ve always been a fan of hard work. For that reason, the only two NHL players whose jerseys I own are Adam Graves’s and Jed Ortmeyer’s.
I don’t need to tell you anything about Graves, but you might not know too much about Ortmeyer. In five-plus seasons, he’s scored 15 goals, but he’s a hard worker who kills penalties and never gives up. He was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in August of 2006 but returned to the Rangers lineup just four months later. The following season he was a finalist the season following his embolism for the NHL’s Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy, given for dedication to the game. He’s also been honored by the Rangers by twice winning the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award, for outstanding commitment and hard work on and off the ice.
For these reasons, I purchased a Jed Ortmeyer #41 Rangers home jersey. He even signed it for me, at an event for Rangers advertising sponsors that I happened to get tickets for. This has been one of my favorite jerseys to wear to Madison Square Garden.
After wearing my Ortmeyer jersey to last Thursday’s Rangers/Devils tussle, I was walking out of the Garden when I was approached by a group of Swedish tourists. They spoke in half-broken English, but I barely made out one of them saying, “I would like to trade my sweater for yours. My name is Ortmeyer.”
He was wearing an authentic Frolunda Indians sweater (the team Henrik Lundqvist played for before he was drafted by the Rangers), with sponsor patches and all. I had no second thoughts. I took my jersey off right there on Seventh Ave. and handed it to a complete stranger. We thanked each other in our own languages and draped our new sweaters over our heads.
Like Jed Ortmeyer, I too pride myself on hard work and making good decisions. I hope I have made that man named Ortmeyer as happy as the man named Jed Ortmeyer made me.
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Culinary Corner: Paul here. I was down in Baton Rouge last weekend, working on an ESPN story that you’ll be hearing about shortly. Most of my “research” involved spending Saturday afternoon tailgating with a bunch of LSU fans. There was a ton of food — chicken, shrimp, pork chops, three kinds of sausage, blueberry pie, etc., etc. — so I was surprised to see that someone brought along a pack of Oreos. Seemed like overkill.
And yet, and yet. As we cooked throughout the afternoon, it occurred to me that the Oreos seemed a bit lonely in their sterile plastic package while the rest of the food was basically having a party on the grill. Why not let the Oreos join the party? Why not indeed. I took two of the cookies out of the package and placed them on one of the grills, where they fit in just fine. Then I put the lid back on the grill and went to find myself another beer.
About three minutes later, the Oreos were hot and slightly soft, and the creme feeling had developed a nicely caramelized edge. I tried one of them — deeeee-lish. Sweet with a smoky undercurrent, mmmmm. I offered the second cookie to one of the other tailgaters and rushed to put a few more Oreos on the grill.
Soon I was being hailed as a genius, and we were running low on Oreos. Which just goes to show that anything tastes better when it’s fresh off the grill.
Membership Update: Birthday boy Scott Turner just whipped up a bunch of cool new membership designs. In addition to Dan Bardin’s Blackhawks Winter Classic throwback, shown at right, this batch also includes two orange alternates — Orioles and Dolphins — our first Kansas City Scouts design, and Ed Westfield Jr.’s odd choice of infinity as a uni number.
As always, you can see the full gallery of membership cards here and sign up to get your own card here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Virginia Tech will be wearing this orange-centric outfit for tonight’s game against UNC. … I’ve written several times about the pinned-on uni numbers in the 1934 All-Star Game (if you want the full story, begin here and then go to the “Cold Case File Revisited” section of this column), and now Don Sherman has come up with some photos I hadn’t seen before — look here and here. … Good white-at-home article here (with thanks to Craig Friday). … Faaascinating article about an old Negro Leagues stadium in New Jersey here (major thanks to Baroness Karen McBurnie). … Good breakdown of NBA team names backstories, with some swell photos to boot, here (with thanks to Tom Griffith). … Excellent piece on the mud used to rub up baseballs here (with thanks to Matthew Keegan). … NHL.com is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jacques Plante wearing the first goalie mask with a series of articles on mask history. The first installment is here, and be sure to check out all the additional multimedia links — good stuff (with thanks to Michael Blinn). … The All Blacks have been told to cover up their tats for a match in Japan (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Super-cool optical illusion on display here (nice find by Kirsten). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Great home movie footage from a 1952 WVU/Wash. & Lee game — with both teams wearing solid-color uniforms — here. … Dylan Buell’s local coffee shop held a dog costume contest. One guy had a dog named Tressel, so he dressed him as Jim Tressel, and another guy dressed his dog as a Maple Leaf (here’s the view from the other side). … Utah will be wearing black uniforms this Saturday (with thanks to Chris Buttgen). … New hoops uniforms for South Carolina. There’s some video footage of the new designs in action here. … Zak Koval has spotted a little bracelet being worn by Lamar Odom and Luke Walton. Definitely not a Livestrong. Maybe titanium? Anyone know more? … Amazing behind-the-back football pass here (with thanks to Brandon Creeger). … Dozens of cool old Phils/Yanks photos in this slideshow (nice find by Douglas Hirschman). … Scott Turner notes that the base of the “P” decal on the Phillies’ batting helmets extends all the way down to where the brim meets the rest of the helmet. Never noticed that before. … As many, many readers noted, Cliff Lee was once again squatchee-free last night. … The Heat retired Tim Hardaway’s number last night.
Tremendous moment at Yankee Stadium yesterday, as my ESPN colleague Jim Caple and CC Sabathia had the following exchange during an afternoon press conference (you can watch the exchange by skipping ahead to the 7:02 mark of this video clip):
Caple: CC, this is a little [bit of a] goofy question. It’s always been considered a great honor to wear the Yankee pinstripes, and there’s been a lot of speculation that since you are such a broad-shouldered, broad-chested man, that perhaps you have more pinstripes on your jersey than any Yankee in history. I’m wondering whether you’ve ever considerd that? Have you ever counted the pinstripes and where you think you may rank with the other Yankee greats?
Sabathia [smiling]: I don’t know. I mean, I never thought about that, never counted ’em. I do know I probably have the biggest uniform in the history of baseball, though. Proud o’ that.
By “a lot of speculation,” of course, Caple was referring to this column I wrote last December (to my knowledge, nobody else has ever addressed the topic). As you can see, Sabathia handled the question rather adroitly, but others were less amused. Over on WFAN (New York’s top sports talk station), afternoon blowhard Mike Francesa abruptly terminated the station’s coverage of the press conference after Caple’s query, declaring it the dumbest question he’d ever heard, and then dispatched a gopher to determine who’d had the temerity to pose such a worthless query within the hallowed halls of Yankee Stadium. (If you watch the rest of the presser video, you’ll see that the more “serious” questions were real deep-thought material like, “Does the weather forecast concern you?” and “What does it mean to be the ace of a staff?” — soooo much more illuminating that Caple’s question.)
And if the press conference question was enough to raise Francessa’s blood pressure, then he’ll probably bust an artery when he sees this video clip that Caple and I shot at Yankee Stadium yesterday afternoon. (And yes, you can all go ahead and crucify Jim for his jersey choice, but the wardrobe dept. was a bit strapped yesterday.)
Naturally, I’m pleased that Caple has revived this discussion. My only gripe: He asked the question almost apologetically, labeling it “goofy” before the fact. Never apologize, Jim — no compromises, no apologies! In fact, Caple tells me that several reporters asked him for further details on the pinstripe topic after the presser was over, which just goes to show that there are other media folks who take uni-related storylines seriously, even if a certain radio windbag doesn’t.
Research Request: Got this note yesterday from reader Bruce Genther:
I am writing and illustrating a book on the various professional franchises that have called Baltimore home and the uniforms they wore during their tenure. The sports include baseball, football, basketball, hockey, indoor and outdoor soccer, lacrosse, and indoor football. Almost finished, but information on the 1992-98 Baltimore Spirit soccer uniforms is hard to come by, so I would like the membership’s help. Any photos, descriptions, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Any and all information can be sent directly to me via e-mail. Thanks very much.
Stirrup Club Reminder: Robert Marshall has a new set of stirrups — and football socks! — available for order. For details, look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: A high school x-country runner was disqualified for wearing black compression shorts with white stitching, which violated a rule against contrast-color stitching. … A Massachusetts high school is changing its logo because it looks too much like Virginia Tech’s (with thanks to Scott Kaplan). … Dana Czerwinski notes that Nebraska’s sleeve stripes were slightly off-white on Saturday. Anyone know more about that? … New rugby kit for Fiji (”Pretty epic,” says Adam Hainsfurther). … Another pair of interesting practice socks for Raheem Brock (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Speaking of socks, why not get some for your furniture? For further examples, click on “Products” here (nice find, Kirsten). … Tremendous little video clip of Blackhawks logo crests being chain-stitched in a Quebec City factory here. It’s in French, but whatever, chain-stitching is the universal language of beauty, non? (Big thanks to Matt Smith.) … The first time I wrote about my uni catalog collection, way back in July of 2006, I included a paragraph about this Harv-Al catalog. Yesterday I got the following note from Bernadette Lipkin: “My son found your 1966 Harv-Al Catalog on the internet. What a great surprise! My husband is the ‘Harv’ in the Harv-al; his partner at that time was ‘Al’ Rimer, who passed away years ago. They were both young entrepreneurs from Winnipeg. The company was owned by my husband until 2002, when it was sold to Badger Athletic Teamwear of Statesville, North Carolina, where my son now works. I believe the company was started in 1950 or so. In 1972 a branch was opened in Fargo, North Dakota, and then it was moved to Ranger, Texas, in 1979 for marketing and business reasons. What a lot of memories come back when seeing the catalog out there!” … Now there’s a supermarket name! Too bad they don’t sell uniforms (great find by the Baroness Karen McBurnie). … If you liked the curling photos in yesterday’s entry, you’ll love this old curling footage from 1952 (great find by Nathan Haas). … Josh Jedwab has created a set of Mets-themed hockey jerseys. “I’ve lurked around uni web sites long enough to know that people like what they like and hate what they hate, so feedback isn’t my primary aim here. The fact is, I like them. What’s more, I like them enough to be interested in having a prototype of each one fabricated.” Anyone know a likely source where he could get that done? … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Ricko posted some pics of Lincoln High, a Minnesota school that wore vertically striped hose in the early ’60s. … Check out this old shot of Johnny Ramone in a Miami Dolphins tee (and yes, some fan in an Adidas tee, who cares). That’s from this photo exhibit, which is half a mile from my house. I’ll be checking it out shortly. … The Lakers got their rings (further ring info here, and additional photos here and here) and raised their banner last night, and then wore their Opening Night championship patches while beating the Clippers. … We also got our first look at the new NBA officiating attire, which looks very odd from behind.
Brothers and sisters, I am excited to announce that reader Zac Neubauer has made a remarkable discovery, to wit: Noted soft-porn magazine National Geographic, in addition to photographing all those adorable naked tribespeople, has published a surprising amount of high-quality sports imagery over the years. Really! Many of these photos are very much in the Uni Watch wheelhouse, and Zac has generously combed through the NatGeo archives to compile them for us. Let’s take a look:
• And speaking of sweeping, there is soooooo much to like in this curling photo. Additional curling goodness here.
• If not for the caption, I might not have noted the white glove being worn by this Japanese umpire. Jeremy, Mark, and all you other Japan-knowledgeable folks out there, was it once standard practice for umps to go white-gloved? Only plate umps or also base umps? Details, please.
• Check out the lower photo here — indoor miniature golf!
• Hey, there’s nothing like a friendly ballgame to inspire a lighthearted caption.
• Can anyone fill us in on the game being played here?
• Okay, there are more surreal elements to this shot than I can count. The funny thing is that there’s a guy around the corner from me who looks exactly like the batter. Sits out on his stoop every day and grumbles about this and that. Not sure if he bats right-handed, though.
• This pond hockey shot is amazing. Love how so many of the kids have matching sweaters (except the one at far right has the colors reversed) and how two of the others have nearly matching plaid shirts.
• Whoa — that’s some gorgeous setting for a soccer field. Zac says the uni number is “a Persian ‘2.’”
• Here’s something I’d never seen before: motorball (i.e., soccer on motorcycles), complete with uniforms and numbers.
• Here’s a fairly early shot of the Little League World Series, before TV cameras ruined it. The guy at lower left is Little League founder Carl Stotz.
Want to see more? A few dozen additional photos are available here. Major thanks to Zac for compiling all of these while he was looking for nudie tribe photos.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Whoa, major discovery here: Connie Mack in uniform! That shot was taken during spring training in 1950 (awesome find by Jason). … Speaking of major baseball discoveries, look at this! That’s from Hall of Fame curator Tom Shieber’s blog, Baseball Research. … Ben Traxel has created a new Broncos uni concept that mixes and matches several elements from the team’s history. … Remember this weird uni item? Craig Bates ended up winning that auction, and he’s provided a bunch of photos. … Matt Clement sent along some highlights from the Buffalo Sports Museum. Among his picks: the Bisons’ “Pepsi” jersey, Sabres season ticket books sponsored by Utica Club, and the sign from the Aud Club. … The U. of Minnesota hockey team has a new alternate jersey. Here’s the rear view (with thanks to John Thompson). … Regatta news from sailing enthusiast Doug Steffenson, who sent along a bunch of pics from the ICSA Sloop National Championship. “Interesting to note that U. South Alabama not only goes with what looks like a car manufacturer’s logo (Jaguar) on the front but also has a big “USA” across the back. Looks like UC Irvine got a sponsor deal for across the front (WaMu –- but I thought they were out of business?) with the school’s initials on the back. A sailing anteater would seem to be more interesting than the initials. BC, Brown, and Wisconsin went with letter logos across the back while Charleston has their burgee (flag) on the front.” … MLB umps and the Carolina Panthers: Separated at birth? (Good observation by Doug Brei.) … There are tragedies, and then there are tragedies (as forwarded by Keith Owen). … Very nice shot of Jackie Robinson as a UCLA baseball player (with thanks to Mark Loveland). … Robert Marshall informs me that he and fellow reader James T. Huening will be going curling here this Sunday. Full report to follow. … The Chargers are selling some super-cool posters for several of their home games this season. So far they’ve released the Broncos and Raiders editions, with Eagles and Chiefs versions still to come (with thanks to Dustry McGowan). … Good article about Joey MacDonald’s mask and pads here (with thanks to John Muir). … “Jordan’s and Palestine’s women’s soccer teams faced each other on Monday in Al-Ram on the West Bank,” says Morris Levin. Note the Jordanian player wearing the hijab. Ditto for goalkeeper here, although Morris says that’s “less interesting since keepers often wear long pants and sleeves anyway.” … Nice Super-8 footage from a 1998 Mets/D-backs game, including dubbed-in audio from Gary Cohen and Bob Murphy, here. It’s hard to see, but this was one of those rare games when the Metsies wore black jerseys with blue undersleeves, a configuration I’ve done my best to forget about over the years (with thanks to Brian Erni). … What’s that printed on the inside of Cam Janssen’s shirttail? A high-res version of the photo reveals this. The first part is simple enough — “Lettering by Liebe” (a St. Louis company, remember — I wrote about them back in 2007). As for the rest, Joe Barker explains: “Bert Godin is the Blues’ equipment manager. The date on the jersey is from a preseason game against the Avs, the Blues’ first road preseason game of the year. Probably the first time they had the road whites done up.” Faaaascinating. … Big birthday wishes to our own Scott M.X. Turner today. See you tonight, buddy.
Fairly quiet day in the NFL yesterday: Got our first looks at the Chargers’ and Jets’ road throwbacks (both really nice, right?), and this year’s London game featured a new patch. Aside from that, nothing major, unless you maybe count Larry Fitzgerald’s silver cleats. I might’ve missed a few things, though — I admit I wasn’t at my sharpest after getting back from Louisiana on almost zero sleep. More on that trip soon.
As for today, my annual NBA season-preview column t is up on ESPN.
In case you missed it: Phil and his support crew were really dealing over the weekend. In particular, yesterday’s entry, featuring some stellar research by Ricko, is one for the ages. If you didn’t see this material, do yourself a favor and scroll down to take a look.
Uni Watch Stirrup Club Update: Comrade Robert Marshall is back with another dispatch from the front lines of the hosiery wars. Let us turn a kind ear to his report:
Comrades, it is once again time for a call to arms. This will be the last order until the new year, and it contains two parts, the second of which seeks to unite a heretofore neglected moiety of the striped Revolution:
1) With the holidays coming up, the party has seen fit to choose two sets of stirrups you could wear to your various office parties, family functions, and services. First, for you secular types, we have the Oakland Oaks. Match these with a red sani and you will be the bell of any Christmas ball. The second stirrup was worn by the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (note the one colored-in sock at far-left), the Homestead Grays, and others. This stirrup just so happens to match the colors of Hanukkah, for those who observe the Festival of Lights, plus it also mimics the liturgical colors of the church — blue on Christmas Eve, white Christmas Day.
2) Now, on to the new business of the Revolution: right proper football hosiery. The socks will be white on the bottom and you have lots of choices for the color/stripe pattern on top. In fact, I’ve worked with Twin City Knitting to develop some new stripe patterns. Those pour bastards at TCK never saw us coming but are nonetheless doing excellent work for the Revolution.
Of course, the most excellent work of all is being done by comrade Robert himself. To join the hosiery wars (and avoid being blacklisted for counter-Revolutionary behavior), place your orders here.
Beefsteak Update: It’s now confirmed that I’ll be doing a live presentation at the Brooklyn Beefsteak, which is slated for November 8th at the Bell House. Plus there will be additional entertainment from the mighty Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Company (whose set list will no doubt feature their classic “Hey Mister, Is That Your Cow?”). Tickets are available here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hey look, more vertically striped socks! (Odd find by Chad Todd.) … “We just re-did my son’s room by painting a couple dozen transportation-related patent sketches on the walls — jeeps, trains, space shuttle, hot air balloon, zamboni, etc.,” says David Tybor. “The helmet cart looks the best.” … Good list of soccer teams broken down by uni manufacturer here (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Bizarre Don Cherry-inspired hockey jerseys on display in this video clip. Additional info here and here. … Latest NHL team to project completely annoying ads on the boards during the TV broadcast: the Blackhawks, as seen here and here (as reported by Chaz Noerenberg). … FNOB alert, from the 1984 USFL championship game (nice screen shot by Dan Lee). … New hoops uni for Creighton (with thanks to Matt Hays). … Check out this gorgeous footage from the 1948 Rose Bowl (big thanks to Tom Wilcox). … Rare view of the Giants’ old “World’s Champions” uniforms here (with thanks to Kevin Walsh). … According to this article, the Panthers will debut their third jersey on November 23rd, and the Avs will wear theirs for an as-yet-unspecified game in November (with thanks to John Muir). … Also from John: Whalers gear is back among us. … Lots of shots of the New Warrior USA Lacrosse uniforms here (with thanks to Nathan Haas). … Raheem Brock of the Colts supposedly wore this at practice the other day (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Good rundown of the backstories behind the original AFL uni designs here (with thanks to Eric Juergens). … Good article on the Fudd caps here (thanks, Vince). … Also from Vince: arguably the coolest vintage Cleveland uniform photo ever. … Here’s a good photo gallery of all the FIFA World Cup soccer balls since 1970 (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Andrew McNeel points out that if Baylor’s going to do the “gold-out” thing, they really need to settle on one shade of gold for their jersey, pants, helmet, end zone, and fans. … Gophers WR Troy Stoudermire had some helmet decal issues on Saturday (screen shot courtesy of Jesse Larson). … Interesting hockey/CFL crossover story here (with thanks to Will Leslie). … Good survey of Minnesota Wild jersey history here (with thanks to Chris Hodge). … What is this? It’s a pie chart that shows the relative ratio of colors in all the world’s national flags. The individual flag pie charts are here — mouse over any of the pie charts to see which country it represents, and click on the chart to see the actual flag. And as this guy points out, the international flag scene is gratifyingly devoid of purple (great find, Kirsten). … Non-sports uni revelation from my weekend trip to Louisiana: I flew on Northwest and was stunned to see one stewardess on my outbound flight wearing blue jeans and a Northwest T-shirt. I figured maybe her uniform had gotten lost or stained or something, but there was another jeans-clad crew member on my return flight yesterday. I mean, I wear jeans and a tee most days myself, but come on — how am I supposed to respect the authority of someone telling me to bring my seatback forward when she’s wearing that? … I didn’t know Everlast used to make baseball uniforms until I saw this.
It struck Ricko and me at about the same time. We were trading E-mails before the Denver Broncos played the San Diego Chargers in their throwbacks this past Monday, and exchanging some barbs about the uniforms as depicted on the 1960 AFL section of the Football Uniforms Past and Present website — that website is an invaluable tool, and the amount of incredible research that has gone into it cannot be undervalued — and Ricko asked me, “you don’t think the Broncos are gonna wear brown pants with white stripes, do you?” Now, I wasn’t born when the Broncos played that first season, but I did know they only had one pair of pants. Yet, on the 1960 section of FUPP, those pants are depicted as having white stripes (which would have made infinitely more sense, only it didn’t happen).
Then we looked more closely at some of the other uniforms — and Ricko informed me they were wrong too. In fact, it occurred to him (and it hit me at about the same time): “Did the NFL actually use the FUPP site to base a good number of their AFL throwback uniform upon?” Could they have been that lazy? Were they relying on a (very good, but not infallible) website to dictate the look of their throwbacks? Certainly, the Houston Oilers, who are depicted as having blue numbers and blue stripes on their socks (for their road uniform) — which is also wrong — could have been the NFL’s model. When the Titans came out wearing their road throwbacks, sure enough they were wrong. In fact, they really butchered the socks, (those are the home socks).
Anyway, this got us (and by us, I mean Ricko) to thinking … just how many of those 1960 uniforms depicted on FUPP were not correct? As it turns out — EVERY SINGLE ONE had something that is incorrect — some mistakes are minor, some are major — but every single one of them is incorrect. And that is a shame, because FUPP is such a great site, but really, accuracy is of paramount importance. As it turned out, the Broncos did wear the correct pants for their game, but many believed they screwed up. Had FUPP correctly depicted the gold pants stripes, perhaps no one would have even noticed. But the fact that many felt the Broncos were actually “wearing the wrong pants” speaks volumes about the importance of making sure the historical record is correct.
One of UW’s outstanding research historians, Tim Brulia, who has compiled two historical columns for the UW archives (”White At Home in the NFL” and “Pro Football Uniform History” — both of which can be found on the right hand side of the UW main page, under “Research Projects”), is actually planning on working with and expanding upon the efforts begun by the FUPP website. I will now turn the column over to Tim, who will explain a bit about that and more. Here’s Tim:
~~~
“What is my stake in all of this? I am trying to extend the great work the FUPP site did when it was first launched. But in order for a site to have teeth, it must be accurate, as close to 100% accurate as possible. With a site like FUPP, every little nuance, and detail (colors, stripes, numeral fonts, patches, logos, etc.) has to be accurate.
“In my research, I have used the Proquest archives of the New York Times that are available online. When I was a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), they made available the Proquest archives of the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. I utilize the Pennsylvania State Library in Harrisburg, PA and their vast microfilm collection of PA newspapers, including the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia papers. When I get a rare chance to make it to Washington, I also use the microfilm newspaper collection from the Library of Congress. As well as various historical football pictorial books. Not to mention various contributions from others along the way. I thank all the facilities and generous people for the help.
“Currently, I am working with a contributor who is doing the graphic work on the pre-1959 uniforms. The aim is to complete these sets of unis. From here, we hope to revise the corrections that need to be made that is currently shown on FUPP and bring the uni combos that have been worn since 2003 up to date. When will all of this see the light of day on a website? Frankly, it is too early to tell. But even after our dream becomes reality, our work will never be done. There will always be something that we missed or we need to fix.”
~~~
Thanks Tim. I will now turn the remainder of this section over to Rick Pearson, who will explain the importance of “getting it right” when it comes to stuff like this. Through Ricko’s tireless efforts this past week, he has reworked every single AFL uniform template for the 1960 season. This has come about by using his personal recollections, the study of numerous photos and clippings from “The Ricko Files” and the experience of being a “uni watcher” from birth. I’m often impressed, usually wowed, suitably satiated, and never bored by what we as a Uni Watch community bring to the table. But what you’re about to read and see, which is the culmination of that lifetime of paying attention to the little things that really DO matter, is one of the most amazing efforts I have ever seen, and not just on UW. If he and Tim (and others) collaborating now and into the future produce results like those below, then the historical record will have found in Tim and Ricko an equal to Marc Okkonen.
And with that, here’s Ricko:
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I’d just turned 14, with six or seven years of serious uni watching (lower case) already under my belt. It was a black and white world, except for Sports Illustrated, SPORT magazine, baseball and football cards (the latter being almost worthless) and Preview Annuals. One NFL game a week on TV and only a half-hour weekly highlight show on Saturday mornings. So if you didn’t see it on Sunday, you pretty much weren’t gonna see it.
And then along game this new American Football League. Lots of ink, mostly about how stupid and lame-brained the idea was. Precious little detail. Hard to know who the players were, much less anything about team colors or unis. Such things were of little or no concern to most people. No “gamers” on sale anywhere. No fan hats. Nuthin’.
Anyway, here comes this loopy new league, with lots of new names and faces, and plenty of familiar old ones.
I parked myself in front of the TV every Sunday. Actually had one in my bedroom, a bit of novelty for a kid back then, and I watched the AFL, making sketches of their unis. What color were they? Well, that required something of a science in itself. Scarlet and royal look almost alike on b&w TV…unless they’re on the field at the same time. If you knew “A” was red, then you could figure “B” (although when together, royal generally did look a bit darker).
You needed to be around for the beginning of the telecast. That was the time, if ever, the announcers would “set the scene. “ Maybe half the time, though, they didn’t bother to describe the unis at all.
Gradually, I figured them out. Logic indicated the Oilers were in powder blue (though yellow gold was something of a possibility). Eventually, announcers confirmed the blue. The Titans certainly wore old gold pants. One announcer said they were in “maize and blue, like Michigan.” My ass, they were. Those pants were WAY too dark to be “maize” as Wolverines knew it. And so it went. And sometimes you’d guess. Educated guesses, but still guesses. And look for details. Is there a feathered edge on those stripes? Especially on socks. That could be a tough one. Not a ton of close-ups back then.
Wasn’t until maybe the third time I saw the Broncos that someone said they were in brown and gold. Until then, I was thinking maybe navy and gold. Or navy and the light orange we now call “Tennessee Orange.” I had reckoned the Patriots were in royal (not wanting to be the “Redcoats,” as many of you have mentioned) and that the Bills had chosen red and silver. Why not, it was a great look at Georgia at the time, and had served the 49ers well the season before. Then I learned it was just the opposite, probably when they played each other and I could compare the “grays”. Or when an announcer bothered to tell us what the hell the teams were wearing.
After a full season of carefully watching all or part of probably every ABC telecast, I had everything pretty much down. Then it was just a case of waiting until the end of the following summer to check preseason magazines (and hope for SOME quality in football cards) to check my findings … even though the magazines would all be black and white, too (it wasn’t until SI’s pro football preview in ’62 that I finally saw a color photo an AFL game).
And somewhere along the line it occurred to me that maybe no one else what recording the things I was recording … and that maybe someday it all would mean something to someone. Guess maybe now it finally does.
So that’s it. The photos I’ve supplied Phil all are from 1961 publications (unless noted), so they have to be 1960 games. Tough to find a camera that will photographs next year’s games.
And I have nothing but respect for FUPP. When I first saw the site, the mistakes irritated me. Then I came to realize they had taken on an outrageous task and very probably just hadn’t had the time to search for everything. I wish I’d know of them sooner, I’d have been glad to help.
What DOES irritate me is that it almost appears that the NFL simply went to FUPP for a lot of its input for the Legacy project. You like to think they’d have bothered to, oh, I dunno, look through their own photo files…or send someone to probe the local newspaper archives.
When Paul visited me a year ago, I kidded about being available to consult with the NFL on the AFL’s 1960 unis for the 50th celebration “for a reasonable fee.” We both laughed, and then he said, matter-of-factly, “They don’t care.”
He was right. The league doesn’t. The Broncos, though, put some extra effort into it. And whether we liked the ’60 duds or not, they got it right. All things considered, that’s exceptional. Also unusual, unfortunately.
~~~
Phil here. Before we return to Rick’s write up, I want to show you what Rick did to fix the FUPP 1960 AFL team graphics. So, here, for the first time, are all Eight Original AFL teams, properly rendered by color, stripe, helmet, etc. OUTSTANDING effort Rick! And here are each of those eight teams individually:
Raiders wore the same as the Bears at the time. Titans wore something different altogether. It might have been MacGregor, but I don’t remember any other teams wearing it (and I probably should have made theirs a darker blue, because they were). That blue-helmets-darker-than-blue-jerseys thing.
You can see on my “Kids Cards” that I had the Raiders’ gold wrong. It had a bit of sheen to it, and I thought it was metallic old gold, like UCLA or Notre Dame. It wasn’t until I saw the 1962 cards (’61 Raider cards all were hand-tinted black & white PR photos and pretty useless) that I learned positively that it was yellow-gold.
6. One-year wonders.
Only Bills and Raiders were unchanged for second season.
In 1961…
* Titans went to white-added loop unis used for the Legacy games.
* Patriots changed loops to royal around white, and lost the white road socks. And, of course, the three-corner hat was gone.
* Chargers changed all bolts to yellow-gold edged in blue.
* Texans ditched white high road socks.
* Oilers changed to block numbers with no contrasting edge on numbers or sock stripes, either home or road.
*Broncos had no TV numbers on home jerseys.
~~~
Well, that’s it for the history lesson. All I can say is “WOW”. Outstanding effort Mr. Richard Pearson. It’s clear to me that the once and future FUPP website will be getting an outstanding resource in you, and when combined with Tim Brulia’s yeoman research and a quality graphic artist, we can look forward to an historical record that will rival that of Marc Okkonen. (And maybe even surpass it). Tip of the cap to you gentlemen, for this first salvo. I’m sure the project, when it finally does come to fruition, will be well worth the wait for those uni watchers (and non-uni watchers) who have been waiting for something like this since … well — forever.
What say YOU, Uni Watch community? How freakin’ great was this? Big round of applause for both Ricko and Timmy B!
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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. Oregon continued on its winning streak, remaining unbeaten in PAC-10 play and taking Washington behind the woodshed this week, with a 43-19 buttwhoopin’. Look for Oregon to move up from the 11-spot in the rankings and into to the Top 10. The Ducktracker is now updated.
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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. USF/Pitt: Bulls are growing on me, while Pitt is a script away from being awesome-looking.
4. Indiana/Northwestern: A lack of Northwestern striping kept this from being rated higher.
3. Tennessee/Alabama: Oh, Bama…if you would have let the Vols wear orange you could have been #1.
2. Auburn/LSU: Tigers win this battle of the unis…
1. Iowa State/Nebraska: Cyclones blew me away with this look, while the Huskers remain classic.
OK that’s all for today. Apologize for the lack of “extras” but needed to get this loaded early. Everyone have a great Sunday. Don’t forgot to nominate your Worst Uni Ever (see yesterday’s post for details). Two legacy games today, plus the ALCS resumes, following the rainout yesterday.
Back again with UW pollster James Huening, who is here to tell us the results of our second Uni Watch poll, in which we asked you to rate the NFL road uniforms. At the conclusion of this piece, we’re going to describing our next poll, and it’s one that requires the ultimate in reader participation. Be sure to keep reading after the road uni review. With that, I give you James, who has his write up on the last poll. Here’s James:
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The results are in for the second part of our NFL uniform survey. The turnout wasn’t quite as good this time around, but we still got a respectable number of responses (1,535). That was to be expected, though. I mean, the NFL road uniforms are pretty dull compared to their home counterparts, right? Of course I’m right. The numbers bear that out. We’ll get to that in a bit.
OK, let’s get to it. Here are our top ten and bottom five.
and the worst road uniform in the NFL, as decided by you, the reader:
1) Bills
When we compare the previous lists, the bottom 5 is virtually unchanged. The only difference is that the Vikings and Seahawks swapped places. The top 10, on the other hand, had quite a few changes. Most notably, the Bears plummeted all the way from the top spot down to #7. The Colts jumped from #4 all the way to the top. The Chargers dropped out completely and the Redskins move in to the ninth spot. The last major change is the Giants dropping from #7 to #10.
Again, no really big surprises here. I’m certainly not surprised the Bears fell from the top spot. However, I wasn’t expecting the drop to be quite so drastic. Are their road unis really that much worse than their home ones? As you may recall, when we asked for your choices for best and worst, we also asked for a brief explanation why you chose them. Perhaps this comment can partially explain this phenomenon: “I think they didn’t deserve the top spot early so I’m voting them last now. Revenge.” Hmmmm …
Anyway, I mentioned that the numbers will show that the road unis are far less interesting than the home versions. What I mean by that is in the home survey, we had four teams (Bears, Packers, Steelers and Colts) that averaged more than four points per response. This time around, NOBODY averaged more than four. The Colts came the closest at 3.988. Interestingly enough, the Bills road unis were actually rated a bit higher, but they still failed to average better than a full point (0.983).
And speaking of the Bills, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you chose them as the worst once again.
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* They look like the Montreal Alouettes, which is french for ‘If it looks like crap and plays like crap, its probably crap.’
* again … it looks like a differet committee did each part — pants, jersey, helmet, etc. — in the dark.
* The only good thing I can say about it is that it would make an okay minor league hockey uniform.
* I cannot help but wonder if the person who created the design for the modern jersey bet his friends that he could create the worst jersey in the history of mankind and still convince the Bills ownership to give it the OK.
* Look like a semi-pro team sponsored by a used car lot.
* Jim Kelly is turning in his grave at these eyesores.
* They resemble toddlers’ pajamas
* This could be the worst uniform in ALL OF SPORTS.
* My roommate is a bills fan, and I honestly think the uniform alone makes him cry himself to sleep every night
* They aren’t modern; they aren’t classic; they can’t even figure out how to be bad correctly.
* They suck out loud. I think they let my mom design those uniforms, and she has a habit of wearing homemade bedazzled sweatpants.
~~~
OK, bottom line: what’s the lesson here? We need color-on-color in the NFL. Bears in their navy jerseys vs. the Packers in green? Not enough contrast you say? Take a look. Plenty of contrast, I say.
Again, thanks to all of you for responding. And an extra thanks goes to Adam Walter again. He’s the man behind the curtain. Take a look at the fantastic PowerPoint and PDF files he put together from the data we collected.
Oh, one other thing that I found interesting. When Paul wrote the Page 2 Column with his own version of the NFL survey, he linked back to our post with the results of the home survey where we introduced the road survey. At that point, the responses picked up. All of the top 10 teams on this list got lower scores in the responses submitted after the ESPN column went up than in the responses that came in beforehand and all of the bottom 10 teams got higher scores.
~~~
Thanks James and Adam. Awesome stuff, as usual. And now, on to the next poll: Worst. Uni. Ever.
OK, much has been made recently, on the UW boards, about these “Worst Uniform Ever” polls. We’ve rightly mocked them as incomplete, lame, or just not good — in fact, it was Ricko’s sending me one of those very same “Worst Uniform Ever” pieces that got us started on this whole polling thing.
So, it’s time to put our money where our mouths are. Here’s how we’re going to do this, and it requires YOUR help.
We want to come up with a “Worst. Uni. Ever.” poll/survey that will once and for all put the eternal question of “what’s the worst uniform ever?” to rest. What do we want from you?
Please post, in the comments below, your nominee(s) for what you consider to be the worst uniform in the history of uniforms. There aren’t too many guidelines here (as our crack staff will narrow these down for next week’s poll), but there are a few:
(1) Professional teams (with the exception of NCAA Division I — or whatever it’s called these days — football or basketball) only. No high school teams. Sorry — we have to draw the line somewhere
(2) The uniform you are nominating MUST have been worn at least once and in a regular season game. This means you can nominate a “one and done” uniform, but it had to appear in a regular season game.
(3) Team sports only (so, no tennis or golf outfits, please).
(4) North American sports only. We apologize, but if a Zimbabwe rugby squad has a really awful kit, we can’t consider it. I know there’s a few french football (soccer) kits that are really terrible, but for the purposes of this survey, we can’t include them.
That’s pretty much it. The rest is up to you. We haven’t quite decided upon the parameters of the survey yet, but we will before we ask you to actually vote. For now, we want YOU to provide us with your nominee in the category of WORST UNI EVER. If you don’t know how to post a link, all you need to do is find a picture of what you consider to be the worst uniform, then “right click” your mouse on the address bar. Simply copy the address (you’ll be prompted with options — simply hit copy) and paste it into your post.
It’s that simple. We’ll keep this particular thread open all week, so if you’re reading this (or were directed to it through a link), please post your nomination IN THIS THREAD. If you don’t want to post in the comments, or if you have a question about this request, you can send me an email — simply put “WORST UNI NOMINEE” in the subject line.
OK? OK!
Let the “Worst Uniform Ever” nominations begin.
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Well, with two amazing polls already completed, and a third in the works (don’t forget to nominate your worst uni ever below), and we still haven’t “officially” met the man behind all this, James Huening, who is one of the stalwart posters on Uni Watch. But I couldn’t go any longer without giving “JTH” his Q & A due. So, let’s meet James in a little more intimate detail:
Phil Hecken: So James, what led you to UW?
James T. Huening: I don’t specifically remember what led me to the Page 2 column. I’m pretty sure I was doing an image search. Maybe something related to a throwback uni someone was wearing and I was looking for pics of the originals in action. I do remember how I ended up at uniwatchblog.com, though. It was the e-mail from Paul announcing the launch of the blog. I didn’t check my messages that day, though. So I can’t say I’ve been reading since Day One. It’s actually Day Two. I did submit one of the very first ticker items (before it was called the ticker) and I’m happy to report that the link I sent in is not dead yet.
PH: So how long would you say that you’ve been into athletics aesthetics?
JTH: Pretty much as long as I can remember. Most of the sports disappointments I had as a kid had nothing to do with things like tough losses, being on bad teams or favorite players being traded, but rather being on poorly-dressed teams, getting bad replica merchandise, etc. I remember my parents took me to a Cubs game when I was about 5 or so and they bought me a cap. The underbill was green plaid. When I complained about it, my mom assured me that it was exactly like what the players wore. But I knew better.
Then there were my little league teams. One year we were the Padres. We had replica jerseys of the previous year’s style. That was bad enough, but to make matters worse, the caps had the “swinging friar” logo instead of the interlocking SD. A few years later, it was the Tigers — replica road jersey with a white D on the cap instead of orange. In football, I was on the Redskins one year. Our jerseys looked like the real thing — almost. They were burgundy with the correct stripe pattern on the sleeves. But they had yellow numbers and we wore yellow pants with them. Such a letdown.
PH: I know you made some “specialized” Bears shorts — are you into the DIY scene?
JTH: Not so much. Other than the shorts, I doctored up a White Sox jersey to make it kinda look like a 1959 throwback. I helped my wife make a Hallowe’en costume for one of the kids tonight, does that count?
I did a fair amount of DIY stuff as a kid. The first one I remember was that I made a Cubs “jersey” out of one of my dad’s t-shirts using a marker. My dad was not pleased. I don’t know if he was more mad that I ruined his shirt or that I did a terrible job. It was supposed to be a Bobby Murcer jersey and he gave me a hard time for putting a serif on the 7 because “that’s not what the Cubs’ 7s look like.” Oh, and because I used a black marker, too.
A really cool DIY thing that I did with and a couple of my friends was a “baseball stadium” in the vacant lot across the street from my house. The lot was just about the perfect shape for a baseball diamond and my front yard had a chain link fence that faced it. We measured the distance from home plate to the fence at various spots — down the line, the power alley and as close to center field as we could get. Then we painted signs with the distances on them and hung them on the fence every time we would play. We also would mow basepaths into the grass.
PH: OK, last question. A lot of the folks who read and post on UW are jersey/uniform collectors, or cap collectors, or memorabilia collectors. What about you?
JTH: I don’t really consider myself a collector, but I do have quite a few jerseys and caps. You’ve seen the pic of my Bears jerseys. I have 7 of them. I also have some other random NFL teams’ jerseys. There are some baseball, basketball and hockey as well. Also, for some reason, I have quite a few soccer jerseys even though I never watch or play the sport. I played it for half a season in kindergarten and it wasn’t my thing (also, incidentally, that was another one of my uni-disappointments as a kid).
PH: Awesome, James. Thanks again for all your help with these UW polls. Really looking forward to seeing the nominations for the “Worst. Uni. Ever.” We should have some fun with that.
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Design-A-Cap Winner! If you folks remember the Design-A-Cap Contest which resulted in over 20 OUTSTANDING nominees held a few weeks ago, I’m pleased to announce that Coach Jerome Nemanich and his Sartell Sabres have selected a winner. After careful deliberation and consideration (and really, they were all outstanding), Coach has chosen Dan Grieve as the winner! Here’s The Cap that Dan designed. All the nominees were great, but only one could be the chosen one.
Next week, I hope to announce the next contest, and this one should be a full-blown “Design A Uniform” contest for a baseball team. Prize(s) to be announced as well, so be sure to check back for that. Based on the outstanding submissions we received for the Design-A-Cap contest, I’m sure we can expect more great stuff when we move on to a complete uni overhaul! Thanks again to Coach Nemanich and all who participated.
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Got a great E-Mail this week from Fred Strohm — you remember Fred, he’s the one who gave us this Seahawks mockup (plus some other great stuff I’ve used in the past). Fred sent me this, which is so awesome, I need to share it with you:
Hey Phil – I was at my parent’s house over the weekend and found a book that might be interesting to the Uniwatch community. It’s Richard Kaplan’s “Great Linebackers of the NFL” from 1970. I’ve scanned and uploaded the pictures from the book to here. Captions are added where provided, and they’re named in order how they are in the book, plus by the name of the person being discussed.
Man those are some purdy pictures, Fred. Thanks for sharing!
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Ricko’s got a double header worth of Benchies today, since tomorrow we’re gonna have something really special from the man, the myth the legend. So, without further ado enjoy:
Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: As the baseball season winds down, and the baseball winds are blowing towards the World Series every Mets fan absolutely dreams of (hint…hint), comes today’s Guess the Scoreboard game. Sure, the actual scoreboard might be a little difficult to make out, but all the clues you need are right there in front of you. And what a be-youtiful picture this is. The stadium and teams will be instantly recognizable. All that’s left if for you to figure out the date, and the final score. Please post the LINK to the answer, rather than the answer itself, in the comments. Good luck. Guess The Game From The Scoreboard.
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That will do it for today. You have your assignment. Now, go out and find a pic of what you consider that “Worst Uniform Ever” and post it in the comments below. We’ll consider all the nominations and narrow it down for our next poll next weekend. C’mon Uni Watchers — give us your best worst!
Well, folks, in case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch Prexy and ESPN Page 2 columnist Paul Lukas had a great piece on World Series Rings. Paul didn’t get to upload the column to the main article yesterday, since by the time it was released, he was on his way to Cooperstown. I hope there’s some stuff for him to do up there. Check it out if you didn’t get to read it yesterday — really great, and timely article.
Dipping into the E-mail bag again, got one this week from Dave Magruder, who has done some fascinating research regarding NFL alternate and throwback uniforms, and the frequency with which they have been worn. Obviously, with the “Legacy” uniforms, and the tremendous number of alternates out there (as well as several teams throwing back this year), Dave wondered which teams were the least guilty of this. Here’s what he found:
Teepee for your bunghole? Oh…wait — that’s Cornholio, not cornhole. Good thing Milwaukee’s finest David Frost (”Frosty”) has some schweet cornhole game boards he’s designed. I’ll let Frosty explain:
Cleaning out the cupboards today, I wanted to feature a Mets Uniform Redesign (is it me, or do we seem to have a lot of folks clamoring for the Mets to redo their unis? Don’t worry, we won’t be having any “Fixin’ the Mets” full entries this year — that’s what Spring is for, no?.) Anyway, reader Laurence Holland missed the last batch of uni-tweaks, but wanted to send along his Mets redesign concept, so without further ado, here’s Larry:
Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, another “apropos” scoreboard today. Shouldn’t pose any difficulty at all. But we’re winding down the major league baseball season so today’s game should reflect the timeliness of the year, no? Of course it should. Most of you, if you’ve been paying attention to events on the national stage, should be able to “name the game” (although, probably not the date) just from site. The rest of you may need to hit Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet. You gotta hit them anyway, in order to provide the link to the game. So, here we go: Guess The Game From The Scoreboard.
The boys are back for a little football today, (could Mick possibly wear more sweatbands, btw?), and Mick is about to make the acquaintance of one of Mike’s relatives. The things you learn about your friends when you meet a member of their family. So…enjoy the beginnings of a serial benchies:
Culinary Corner: Paul here. I was down in Baton Rouge last weekend, working on an ESPN story that you’ll be hearing about shortly. Most of my “research” involved spending Saturday afternoon tailgating with a bunch of LSU fans. There was a ton of food — chicken, shrimp, pork chops, three kinds of sausage, blueberry pie, etc., etc. — so I was surprised to see that someone brought along a pack of Oreos. Seemed like overkill.
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. Oregon continued on its winning streak, remaining unbeaten in PAC-10 play and taking Washington behind the woodshed this week, with a 43-19 buttwhoopin’. Look for Oregon to move up from the 11-spot in the rankings and into to the Top 10. The 
Our man in the street, 
Thanks James and Adam. Awesome stuff, as usual. And now, on to the next poll: Worst. Uni. Ever.
Well, with two amazing polls already completed, and a third in the works (don’t forget to nominate your worst uni ever below), and we still haven’t “officially” met the man behind all this, 
Design-A-Cap Winner! If you folks remember the 
