Relatively quiet day in the NFL yesterday, but there were still a few noteworthy items. To wit:

• Joe Skiba had promised me that the Giants would wear their road gray pants if forced to wear their blue jerseys on the road this year, and sure enough, that’s what they did last night. Personally, I like it.

• Brandon Jacobs’s left-shoulder Reebok logo was sort of ghosted last night. The entire Giants team wore those sotto voce logos in the first preseason game last month, but since then the logos have been white. Not sure that’s all about — I’ll ask Skeebs, but he probably won’t tell me (at least not on the record), because anything involving Reebok is super-touchy.

• It’s official: The Giants’ new jerseys, with their fancy high-tech fabric, are a disaster. (For details on the fabric, look here.) I don’t know if they’re too stretchy or what, but there were all sorts of situations like this and this. Those two shots are both of Jacobs, but I noticed similar problems with other players. A bad scene. (Screen shots courtesy of Phil — thanks, buddy.)

• Meanwhile, the Cowboys unexpectedly (to me, at least) wore a stadium patch, based on this logo. Not sure if they’ll be wearing it at home all season or if it was just a one-game thing — will investigate.

• Those Falcons throwbacks were the bomb, no? Additional images here and here.

• NFL nameplates usually run the full shoulder-to-shoulder wingspan, even for short surnames. But not in San Francisco, where the Niners are using short nameplates for short names.

• Speaking of the Niners, here’s a small detail I’ve been meaning to mention: For the past several years, the Reebok logo on their pants has been black, but now it’s white — much nicer.

• Anyone know what that logo is on Maurice Stovall’s sock?

• Chris Johnson had his belt unbuckled.

• Stupidest move of the day: Many of the coaches were wearing polo shirts with their division noted along the sleeve or shoulder (on the left side for NFC coaches, on the right for AFC coaches). Because hey, nothing says cool like “NFC West” or “AFC West,” right? What a load of crap.

• Even weirder: Jim Zorn’s shirt wasn’t division-specific — it was conference-specific.

• And speaking of coaches, Brad Childress was wearing this rinky-dink headset instead of the usual Motorola rig. Anyone know what that was about?

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the SoccerPro.com raffle. Details here.

Just Sayin’: Awesome work by Phil over the weekend. In case you missed it, he’s running a cap design contest, plus he and Ricko have proposed an innovative solution to the NFL’s sleeve problem. Great stuff.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Buried on this page is the news that the Browns are going with the chocolate pants on the road all season. Interestingly, the lack of a stripe is cited as a comfort issue (with thanks to Charles Ryals). … New hoops uniforms for Nebraska (with thanks to David McGee). … New mask for Steve Mason (with thanks to Matt Lesser). … Also from Matt: Former Penguins goalie Mathieu Garon is now with Columbus, but he’s still wearing his Pens mask, at least for now. New design presumably forthcoming. … More new NHL masks, this time for Vesa Toskala and Chris Mason (courtesy of Matthew Gahm). … Good observation from Ben Beattie, who writes: “Georgia Tech’s Demaryius Thomas is using a ‘B’ first initial. According to his profile on the GT athletic site, his nickname is Bay-Bay, though he could be doing some sort of dedication to his father, who is named Bobby. Last year he had no initial.” … Got a spare five grand laying around? You can buy yourself over 50 old jerseys. … Other good eBay stuff: a tennis jacket, bowling sweater, basketball warm-up shirt (additional hoops warm-ups here, here, and here), track and field jacket, and baseball jersey (here’s one more). … Wait, here’s one more basketball warm-up. Look at that chest logo! … New hoops uni for Cincinnati. Here’s the rear view. … Those were some weird-ass trunks that Floyd Mayweather wore on Saturday night — fuzzy on the sides and dimpled in the front. … New AHL uniforms for the Texas Stars, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Abbortsford Heat (with thanks to Kevin Wright). … Now that’s a geeky look for tossing out a first pitch. “I think it was a game-used Bob Gibson jersey,” says Elena Elms. … Steve Johnston was at Comiskey on Saturday night and spotted this kid with a converted Joe Crede tee. “His sister did the same thing with her Nick Swisher T-shirt but she taped over the whole thing to turn it into a #15 Gordon Beckham tee, but I didn’t get a photo of that one,” says Steve. … Oh man, check out all these awesome NFL lunchboxes! … Steve Mandich has posted more pocket schedules from the Seahawks and Mariners, plus he’s begun compiling paperback book cover designs from a seminal category I’d forgotten all about: Bill Gutman’s sports biographies. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: According to this interview with Jeffrey Loria, the Marlins will have new uniforms and colors for their new stadium in 2012.

I know, I know, cake designs often feature things we wouldn’t normally eat, like flowers and, um, well mostly flowers. Still, I can’t imagine the sight of a giant vinyl belt is particularly appetizing, even if rendered confectionarily. Is that even a word? It is now.

Hey, speaking of boxing, I’ve said this before, but not recently, so it bears repeating: No Mas boxing scribe Dave “Large” Larzelere is producing some world-class sportswriting that would no doubt be garnering wide acclaim if he weren’t writing about a niche sport on a low-profile blog. And you don’t have to be a boxing fan to appreciate his ace wordsmithery — in fact, his prose is so good that it might convert some non-fans. In his breakdown of the Pacquiao/Hatton and Dawson/Tarver bouts, there’s a great bit where he explains how the Rocky scenario (i.e., effort and commitment can trump talent) is largely a crock. Dig:

I love Rocky as much as the next guy … but the Rocky mythology, when transferred to the real world, does [boxing] a disservice. This game is no more a contest of guts and heart and balls than is basketball or Olympic table tennis. In other words, guts and heart and balls matter greatly, but only, ONLY, if you have the talent and the skill set to compete at the highest level. Otherwise, it’s just you with all your guts and heart standing there like a retard while all those crazy-ass Chinese motherfuckers rocket Ping Pong balls past your face at like a thousand miles an hour.

Later in the same piece, he makes some brilliant comparisons between boxing and tennis. Not to be missed.

And that’s all for today, because I’ve got a bunch of non-uni fires to put out. No comments, sorry. Back tomorrow with some good stuff, promise. — Paul

I’m sure something stupider than the following statement will be uttered at some point this year. I just can’t imagine what it could be. Check this out:

[T]he decision to go back to a jersey with sleeves was again part of the effort to identify with the uniform style of the most successful Pirates teams in the organization’s history. Four of the five world championships won by the Pirates were won by players that had sleeved jerseys.

Yeah, and all of the Pirates’ championship teams wore stirrups, so I suppose you’re gonna go back to those too, right? While you’re at it, go back and see what brand of jockstrap all the players on the ’71 and ’79 World Series teams were wearing.

And people wonder why fans get cynical. I don’t have much of a problem with the Pirates ditching their vests and going back to sleeves (except for the pinstriped vest, which will still be worn for Sunday home games), but c’mon, stop coming up with asinine rationales and just say that you did it change things up a bit and increase merch sales. I’m sure most fans would rather buy a sleeved jersey instead of a vest, so you could say, “We doing it for our fans” and you wouldn’t even be lying.

Anyway, my take on the Buccos’ new uni set breaks down like this:

• New home and road jerseys: Personally, I always liked the Pirates in vests and wish they’d stuck with them, but the addition of sleeves still looks fine, and now at least we won’t have the problems with some players wearing the official patch-inclusive undersleeves and others wearing unofficial patch-free sleeves. (One tangential point of concern: Very disturbing to see Nyjer Morgan wearing solid black socks instead of stirrups. Let’s hope this was just a photo-op shortcut and not a harbinger of a change in Morgan’s hosiery habits.) Good or stupid? Good enough.

• New black alternate jersey and cap: Hate it. If you must have a black jersey, and if you really want to hearken back to your championship heritage, why not go with something like this? Plus I can’t stand that format where the insignia and the uni number don’t vertically align. Plus-plus the new alt cap so similar to the regular cap as to make no difference. Stupid.

• Keeping the pinstriped vest for Sundays: Wait, I thought the whole point of this new set was that sleeves = championships. Whatever — vests and pinstripes are a bad mix. I have a feeling this jersey will be gone for good by 2010, and they should have just gone ahead and retired it now. Stupid.

• Ditching the red vest: Addition by subtraction. Very, very good.

A team source who was present for Friday’s unveiling festivities relayed the following info to me:

Most players I spoke with liked the idea of having sleeves and said with the way each uniform can be tailored to fit, there is no loss of mobility as opposed to the free range of motion associated with the sleeveless design.

The fabric is interesting. It has a mesh texture not unlike your old-school football jerseys. It’s very stretchable and looks like it’ll breath much better than the traditional poly fabric. By the way, the fabric did not match the pants, which were traditional poly. Strange when viewed up close.

Team President Frank Connelly was very tongue-in-cheek with his introductory comments regarding the uniform change, saying (I’m paraphrasing here) “While our red vest design was extremely popular with our fans and players …” That comment got a laugh out of closer Matt Capps and others.

As you can see, there’s gonna be a lot more Cool Base fabrications this season. We’ll address the full implications of that at another time. (Additional Pirates uni info here, and there’s video of the unveiling here.)

Meanwhile, while the Pirates were unveiling their new uniforms, the Rangers were showcasing their new set (full info here, video here): One at a time:

• New letters and numbers: Overlooked in all the hubbub about the new jerseys and caps (which I’ll get to in a sec), the Rangers have introduced a new custom font that’s total shite. NOBs are gonna be illegible on the home and road jerseys, and the numerals look like they’ve got warts. All the jerseys will now use this typography. Seriously stupid.

• New home jersey: Do these Texans have an inferiority complex or what? OK, we get it, you’re from Lone Star country. Jeez. Seriously, a home jersey that doesn’t include the team name or logo is pretty weak. Stupid.

• New road jersey: Fine from the front, but you’ve got that nasty font on the back. Good tempered with a side of stupid.

• New blue alt jersey: Looks just like last year’s blue alt, right? Almost: Last year’s chest insignia had silver-gray outlining, while the new version has MLB’s favorite new design effect, beveling. Plus it’s got the same crummy typography on the back. Stupid.

• New red alt jersey and cap: Jesus H. Christ, would you people please PICK A COLOR AND STICK WITH IT?! Either your primary team color is blue or else it’s red, but it can’t be both. Just start over and use chartreuse or orange or mustard or something. Stupid.

• Ditching the alt home vest and alt road vest: Never liked the home version. Rather enjoyed the road version, but the Rangers just don’t feel like a vest-ish team, so they’re probably better off without both of these. Good.

• Changing the shoes from blue to black: You know the only reason they did this is because the blue spikes wouldn’t work with the red alt jersey. Still, whatever motives, black spikes are always the way to go (Oakland excepted, natch). Good.

• Changing the belts from blue to black: Another change that was no doubt necessitated by the introduction of the red uni set. And it’s too bad, because a blue belt would look better with all their other combos — yes, even with black spikes. Belts and shoes should always match at the office, but that rule doesn’t hold at the ballpark. Stupid.

• New batting helmet: Hahahahahahahahahaha! The great thing about this is that the Mets’ sleeve patch is no longer the worst uni element introduced this winter. I’ll have an entire ESPN column on this helmet later today (look here). Beyond stupid, more like imbecilic.

Fortunately, I was having too much fun at Saturday’s Uni Watch party to get too worked up over any of this. Speaking of which…

Party Update: Saturday’s shindig at Sheep Station was really swell — best Uni Watch party ever, I’d say. Big thanks to all who showed up (especially Ed Hahn, who came all the way from DC and took some photos that you can see here). I’ll have a full report, with lots more pictures, ether tomorrow or Wednesday.

Speaking of this week’s schedule, I’ve got three ESPN columns in the hopper (one today, a really interesting surprise topic for Wednesday, and my annual Super Bowl preview column on Friday), so I may cut back a little here on the blog — not sure yet. In any event, we’ll definitely have regular content tomorrow.

Uni Watch News Ticker: I’ve previously run photos of Richard “Batman” Wood, who got his nickname because of the logo he wore on his pads. But now Chris Markham has found a shot indicating that Wood also wore a Batman helmet decal. … Also from Chris: USFL officials wore really awful Pony-branded socks. … “Southern California” is a lot of letters to fit on a basketball jersey (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … According to this story, the Sixers will be switching to their 1982-83 uni design next season. But I’ve seen next season’s Sixers jersey, and I can tell you that it’s not quite as simple as an ’82-’83 throwback. Sorry, can’t tell you more, but I just wanted to say that the story as stated on that page isn’t quite accurate. … The Bobcats wore their checkerboard uniforms on Friday, forcing the Suns to wear white on the road. … Color vs. color: Marquette vs. DePaul on Saturday. “I had it on in the background and it took me about five minutes to look up and realize that the team in blue wasn’t Marquette — and I’m from Milwaukee,” says Karl Vierthaler. … Last Monday I linked to this article about Nile Kinnick’s old football gear. But the web version of the article didn’t include this great photo of the jersey’s inner tag (big thanks to Brad Eenhuis for mailing me the newspaper version). … Similarly, yesterday’s New York Times featured this article about the 1959 all-star benefit game for Bill Dobbyn, but the web version doesn’t include this great photo that ran in the print version. … A high school goalie in New Hampshire is trying to trick shooters by having a new pattern printed on his pads (with thanks to Justine DeCotis). … According to this column, one of the first things Eric Mangini did after being hired by the Browns was “to tear down a huge mural of the team’s Hall of Famers, a list that includes Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Paul Brown, Dante Lavelli, Marion Motley, Lou Groza and Leroy Kelly. … That wall is now painted white.” What a moron. … UNC’s women’s hoops team wore pink uniforms yesterday, in memory of Kay Yow. … And officials working the Longwood/Va.Tech game wore pink whistles (with thanks to Clark Ruhland). … Yesterday’s post included this shot of the 1950 NHL all-star jersey design, which, as Dan Richardson points out, appears to have been the inspiration for the New Westminster Salmonbellies lacrosse team’s jersey design. … “Our local high school is Georgetown-Ridge Farm High School in Illinois,” writes Joel Hackler. “For our non-major sports, the high school co-ops with another local town, Chrisman. Our mascot is the Buffalo and our colors are purple and gold, while Chrisman is the Cardinals and their colors are red and black. Since we co-op for track and cross country, our coach decided to create a new uniform. As you can see, they stick out. The logo on the front includes ‘CHS’ (for Chrisman high school) and ‘GRF’ (Georgetown-Ridge Farm). It’s hard to see, but the two sets of letters are connected with a white chain symbolizing that the two schools are connected.” That’s Joel at far left in the photo, running in the 4×100 relay. … If you go to this page and scroll down about halfway down the menu on the right, you’ll find an excellent video on how a football helmet is manufactured (with thanks to David Soline). … Badly botched NOB during Saturday’s NBA D-League game between the Anaheim Arsenal and L.A. D-Fenders: Ryan Forehan-Kelly was missing an “e” and a hyphen (good catch by Daniel Peterson). … Kari Lehtonen isn’t the first Thrashers goalie to have a Batman-themed mask. Pasi Nurminen wore Batman and the Joker on his mask in 2003-04 (thanks, Teebz). … If you start at this page from a 1967 issue of Baseball Digest and start scrolling down, you’ll see some unusual (and, I think, very unofficial) MLB team logos (with thanks to Gordon Reid). … Tris Wykes sent along some interesting scans, including Doug Flutie with his mouthguard tucked into his sock, Duane and Brent Sutter in a 1986 photo they probably regret, Bobby Orr wearing No. 27, and Chris Chelios wearing lace-up gloves and rubber bumpers on his helmet. … Kyle Oen — the man behind the awesome Vintage Minnesota Hockey site — reports a hockey/baseball crossover promotion in the offing: “This coming summer we have agreed to do a St. Paul Saints baseball jersey that celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Fighting Saints hockey team.” No images yet. … U.S. Pond Hockey Championships report from Jeff Barak, who writes: “Here’s a Men’s Senior team wearing old IHL Minnesota Moose jerseys. This team won the “Golden Shovel” a couple of years back as division champions. Next we have the Pond Scum, showing some of the unique numbering treatments you sometimes see (I recall a team last year that had fractions, decimals, roman numerals and even π on one of their jerseys). And then there’s District 5, wearing their plaid lumberjack flannels. I did see a few other teams wearing Ottawa 67’s barberpole-style jerseys, 1980 U.S. Olympic jerseys, AHL Iowa Stars, and some with the 1932 Boston Bruins striping pattern, plus more than one tweed jacket, but unfortunately no photos — the combination of 13º weather and a -7º wind-chill made for an unhappy five-year-old son and sucked the life out of my camera batteries.” … Reprinted from last night’s comments: In 1985, Bill Bidwill had the Cardinals wear solid-red hose (no whites), and the players protested. … Here’s something you don’t often see: the towel literally being thrown in at the conclusion of Saturday’s Mosley/Margarito bout. … Dayton wore throwbacks yesterday (with thanks to John Cristiano). … Teal vs. maroon on Saturday, as Coastal Carolina played Winthrop (with thanks to Mike Miller). … Also from Mike: “What’s wrong with this photo? That’s UW-Milwaukee wearing gold vs. Valparaiso in white. Nothing unusual, right? Except that the game is in Milwaukee (check the Brewers ads). Valpo has gold road uniforms and Milwaukee has gold home uniforms, so Valpo had to wear white on the road.” … Adam Telischak was attending the NFL Experience in Tampa sent along some shots of vintage NFL sweatshirts and this program. One thing I hadn’t noticed before: Brownie the elf has five fingers — unusual (and unacceptable!) for a cartoon character. … Lots of NHL all-star pics here. … This is pretty funny (with thanks to Ken Ocker). … Coupla Super Bowl screen grabs from Doug Keklak: First, when Jim O’Brien kicked the game-winning field goal in SB V, his chin strap was unbuckled. Anyone know if he always did this? Also, why did Jim Otto have a first initial in SB II? Was there another Otto on the Raiders? … Rafael Nadal has been wearing some brutal color combos down in Oz.

There was a uni-related sequence for the ages during last night’s Mariners/Rangers game in Arlington. With the Mariners trailing by a run in the top of the 9th, Kenji Johjima was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game. With the Seattle bench running a tad thin (Jeff Clement and Jose Vidro are both nicked up), skipper Jim Riggleman called on pitcher Jarrod Washburn to pinch-run — which turned out to be slightly problematic, because Washburn was out of uniform.

There was a slight delay as Washburn disappeared into the clubhouse to put on spikes and a jersey. He eventually re-emerged into the dugout while still tucking in his shirttails fore and aft. Just one problem: He’d forgotten to put on a belt. So Riggleman, displaying the kind of keen managerial acumen that only a man with a season-opening 14-game losing streak on his résumé can possess, took off his own belt and proceeded to give Washburn a whoopin’ handed it to Washburn, who then held the belt while doing a bit more tucking, zipping up his pants, and trotting to first base, where he finally put on the belt.

All this occasioned a fair degree of merriment in the Rangers’ broadcast booth, where Tom Grieve noted, among other things, that it was a good thing Lou Piniella no longer manages the Mariners, or else Washburn would’ve had to wrap the belt around his waist twice.

Footnote: Washburn eventually scored the go-ahead run. I have not yet been able to ascertain whether he then returned the belt to Riggleman, but it’s worth noting that Seattle ended up losing the game a half-inning later, which is the sort of thing that can happen when your manager is working without a crucial component of his uniform.

(Special thanks to Jerry Gardner for bringing this delicious fiasco to my attention.)

Soylent Green Dot: Monday’s coverage of the NFL’s new logo-emblazoned green dot prompted an interesting note from reader Mike Brodsky. Check it out:

My employer, Deloitte, has a green dot at the end of its logo. It’s been in place since 2003. While the green “dot” is effectively a period at the end of a one-word sentence, the purpose of the green dot is for “finality” or to “stop” — i.e., you need look no further for your professional service needs (audit, tax, financial advisory, consulting). …

The green dot has taken on a life of its own at Deloitte. Our “greening” initiative is called “the greening of the green dot.” If you ask my kids where I work, my youngest will say “Daddy works at Deloitte greendot.” For the past three years, we’ve had an annual “Deloitte Film Festival” where Deloitte employees are invited to make short films about their “Deloitte experience,” and many of the movies focus on the ubiquitous green dot. In addition, we’ve all been given lapel pins with the “D” in the Deloitte logo followed by a green dot.

When the green dot started appearing on NFL helmets last year, someone at work mentioned it to me and thought maybe we’d struck a sponsorship deal with the NFL, but I have a buddy who works for the Pats and he told me what it was about. I admit it’s funny seeing green dots in random places since it’s such a part of our corporate identity. When I read that defensive players would be wearing the dot this season, I thought, “Wonderful branding idea — it could be the NFL Defensive Player sponsored by Deloitte.”

Man, you just know someone at NFL HQ is scurrying to explore that idea at this very moment (because as we all know, if there’s one thing the NFL needs, it’s more corporate sponsorships). Nice going, Mike.

Uni Watch News Ticker: I’d totally bid on this, except it’s too big. … “Do you know what this photo is all about?” asks Neil Paine. “It’s Peter Forsberg in 1995, the first year the Avalanche were in Denver, but the uniform is way off. The burgundy of the jersey is too bright/red, and he’s wearing a black helmet even though the Avs traditionally wear white helmets with their white jerseys.” Anyone know more about this? … Rick Friedel notes that Willis McGahee is now wearing a new LT-ish facemask. And Troy Smith has already worn at least two facemasks during camp, switching from this to this. … We’ve heard this before — let’s see if it really happens this time (with thanks to Eric Borer). … And so it has come to this: People need to be shown how to hike up their cuffs. … Note for Brett Favre watchers: The Jets waived punter Joe Smith yesterday. His uni number was 4. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart appears to have an upside-down M, instead of a W, on his NOB. Check out Troy Tulowitzki for comparison. … “A friend sent me this picture of Cal Ripken, Jr. in his 1981 Rochester Red Wings uniform,” writes Terry Proctor. “The Wings wore those god-awful mesh-backed caps with a heat-sealed letter for most of the 1980s.” … Josh Rose notes that A’s prospect Jemile Weeks, currently playing with the Kane County Cougars, goes high-cuffed in the field but low-cuffed at the plate. Odd. … Check out the bizarre jersey worn by the host Argentinian team in the recent FIBA 18u Americas Tournament. Additional pics here and here (with thanks to Stanton Smith). … Interesting story of questionable veracity regarding Tampa Bay’s old Bucco Bruce logo, courtesy of Jeffrey Moulden: “I couldn’t find any merchandise with the old logo, so I asked the owner of Buc Heaven in Tampa. Supposedly, when the Culverhouse estate sold the team to the Glazers in ’97, they either told them they had to change the uniforms, or else the Glazers got a cheaper price if they didn’t take the logo rights (I’m not sure which is correct), so the Culverhouse estate still owns that logo and colors. Therefore, the team cannot market the old logo, and the Culverhouse estate hasn’t chosen to market it either. The only loophole is if a player who played on a team prior to the sale in ’97 puts his name on a product — for example, when I found a couple of shirts down there, they all had this Mike Alstott tag.” Not sure how accurate all that is, but I bet someone else can help us fill in some of the blanks, yes? … The Ft. Myers Miracle will be hosting a Negro Leagues tribute night this Friday (with thanks to Scott Johnson, who also sent along this article about clubbies). … Hmmm, is this a Boise State cap or a Florida cap? Both, as it turns out. Details here (with thanks to Mike Kingery). … Larry Wiederecht sent along this ad from the 1969 All-Star Game program. Can you spot the anomaly? Give yourself a gold star if you noticed that the Mets cap has an orange button, something that didn’t happen on the field until 1997. … The Astros wore right-sleeve patches last night in honor of the 50th anniversary of NASA. Details here, and there’s a partial close-up here. … Just when you thought logo creep couldn’t get any worse — oy vey (nice spot by Chris Ray). … David Lee has turned up two articles that mention how the Cardinals considered adding a Sportsman’s Park-esque mound ring to the Busch Stadium mound in 2006. For details, scroll down to the end of this piece and look at the third bullet point in the middle of this one. … Mike Piekarski was looking at some old video from the 2002 season and spotted Toronto’s Raul Mondesi with an “18″ inscription on his helmet. “The only player I could find who wore 18 for the Blue Jays that year was Homer Bush, who had been released a month earlier,” writes Mike. “By the time of this game, Bush had already been signed by the Marlins, so I find it hard to believe Mondesi would still have an 18 inscribed in protest of the release.” Must have been a shout-out to some other 18 — anyone know more? … The Chicago Jacks, an American Legion team, look my-t-fine (with thanks to Mike Hlebasko).

There was a classic moment during yesterday’s press conference to unveil the Blue Jays’ new road and alternate uniforms. It came when they trotted out old-timers Lloyd Moseby and John Mayberry to model the team’s new 1979 powder blue throwbacks, which will be worn for Friday home games. At one point Moseby was asked what it felt like when he first wore that uniform back in the day. The prop boy must not have been holding the cue cards high enough for Moseby to see, because instead of giving a scripted reply, he chose to ad lib: “The uniform sucked, okay? So we ain’t gonna go there.”

After a moment of nervous laughter from the audience, followed by a beat or two of silence, Moseby added, “’Course, it was big to put on any uniform,” but it was too late — his point had been made, namely that these things were ugly back then and they’re still ugly now. I know many of you have some sort of nostalgic and/or kitschy fascination with this uniform, but come on — it’s totally minor league. With the centered crest and the pullover style, it looks and feels more like a hockey jersey than a baseball jersey. Plus they’ll be wearing it at home, which means we’ll be treated to blue-vs.-gray games — ugh. (Moseby, incidentally, gave some additional choice comments about the design to a Canadian reporter after the unveiling ceremony.)

While the original design had pants with a double-snap waistband, the throwback has more traditional belted pants (Moseby approved of this change: “When dirt got in your snaps, they wouldn’t work”). The mock-up in the MLB Style Guide shows a striped belt, presumably to simulate the striped waistband, but the belts at the unveiling were solid blue, which is probably for the best. On the other hand, I give them credit for sticking to one aspect of the original design: NNOB.

As for the new road jersey, I like it. Yeah, it doesn’t match the home design, but I count that as a plus, because the home design blows. I see at least four reasons to like this revision: 1) vertically arched lettering; 2) the ascension of blue from trim color to main color; 3) uni numbers finally appearing on the front of the jersey; 4) a pretty cool number font (soooooo much better than the old one). Problems? I count one: They’ve retained the super-clunky NOB typography. But at least it’s blue now, which is mild improvement. Now if we could just get them to wear a blue cap.

Finally, if you believe in omens, there was a bad one: The “N” in “Toronto” is supposed to look like this, with the shadowed side of the bevel down and to the right. But the “N” on the jersey that Jeremy Accardo was wearing was upside-down. Nice going, guys.

(Special thanks to the Chris Creamer board, where many of the above-linked photos were first posted.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Homeless man update from Mike Hennessy, who writes: “At a news conference sometime over the weekend, Belichick wore his regular sweatshirt with the hood cut off. I think with this he has hit rock bottom.” … Speaking of Belichick, for a few weeks now his headband has featured a Pats logo that I haven’t seen elsewhere. I kinda like it, especially since the “New England” part of the team’s name usually doesn’t get much play. Anyone know more about this logo? … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Steve Smith threw his cleats into the crowd after Sunday’s game. … Great catch by Jeremy Iwen, who noticed that the first “R” in Dominique Barber’s nameplate was backwards a few weeks back. … Ray Lewis memorialized Sean Taylor on his eye black last night.

Buried amidst yesterday’s avalanche of Cowboys/Redskins comments was a small mention of the Belleville Bulls, an OHL (Major Junior) team that’s instituted an unusual quirk this year: They’re wearing uni numbers on their shorts.

This design element (which is also featured on the Bulls’ home uniform) raises an interesting question: Are uni numbers on pants ever a good idea?

In order to assess this query, we first need to look at the history of this phenomenon. Okay, then, one sport at a time:

Baseball: The first MLB team to wear pants-borne uni numbers was the 1975 Astros. By 1980 they’d taken the number off the pant leg, but the concept was revived in 1982 by the White Sox, who kept wearing the digitized pants even after switching to a different uni design — seven seasons in all. I’d like to think we can agree that these all fail the “Is it good or is it stupid?” test. Special Uni Watch bonus points to Floyd Bannister, who somehow managed to wear every one of these uniforms during his career.

Football: I’m aware of three NFL teams that have worn uni numbers on their pants: the 1982-89 Cowboys, the 1982-86 Colts (only at home), and the 1984-87 Packers. Not quite as bogus as the MLB examples, but still pointless, needless, a solution to a non-problem.

Hockey: The Belleville design is the first instance I’ve ever seen of uni numbers on breezers. There’s a certain appealing novelty to the look (just as there was, I’m sure, when the Astros and Cowboys introduced pants numbers to their respective sports), but it still feels like over-design to me.

Basketball: Lots of NBA teams have worn uni numbers on their shorts over the years. The current trend, though, is to go numeral-free, as the Bucks, Suns, and Sonics have all abandoned their shorts numbers in recent years. For some reason these all seem less objectionable than the examples from other sports. There’s something about the number on the shorts that resonates with a “Property of Athletic Dept.” sort of feel, which I kinda dig. Wish more NBA teams would go this route.

Soccer: As most of you know by now, my scope of soccer knowledge is very, very limited. But one thing I do know is that many (most?) teams wear uni numers on their shorts. Seems harmless enough, although I think I’d prefer to see it on the side, not on the front. I trust all you soccer fans out there will post some comments filling us in on the history and protocol for this uni element.

As for other sports, like rugby, volleyball, and the like, I hereby yield the floor to those of you who are better versed in those arcane disciplines. But I think our basic point is made: Uni numbers on pants are fairly rare, and for the most part that’s a good thing.

Austin Update: Thanks to all the Austin-ites who responded to yesterday’s query about possibly holding a Uni Watch gathering on the 27th (i.e., a week from tonight). The response was pretty sizable, so let’s definitely plan on getting together that evening.

I insist that we meet at a barbecue joint, and I’m partial to the ones that are outside of town (yes, I’m familiar with the area). I’d prefer Kreuz’s or Smitty’s in Lockhart, but they both close early, so that’s no good. Let’s make it 7:30 p.m. at the Salt Lick in Driftwood. Cool?

ITEM! Membership News: For those of you who’ve been waiting for us to lift the ban on NCAA-themed membership card designs, your patience has been rewarded: As of right now, NCAA designs are kosher. Actually, we already did one of them months ago — the Yale rugby design shown at right (which I liked so much when it was presented to us that I forgot all about the NCAA ban).

A few things to remember: The more obscure the school and/or sport, the more important it is for you to provide a rear-view photo. A backup design option is always a good idea, too. And the ban on purple-inclusive designs still stands. Aside from that, it’s open season — fire when ready.

And remember, discounted gift memberships are available for the holiday season. Full info on that is here. And non-gift membership ordering info is here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Steiner Sports is selling a game-worn Manny Delcarmen World Series cap, and it turns out he had lots of underbrim scribblings. … Remember Lawrence Tynes’s Umbro cleats? Joe Skiba reports that the NFL has instructed him to black out the logos. … Maybe the NFL should have a talk with Brandon Marshall, too, because the Reebok logo was missing from his sleeves last night. Wasn’t like that a few weeks ago. … Back to Joe Skiba: Remember how the “ny” logo on the Jints’ nose bumpers switched from red-outlined blue to blue-outlined red a few games ago? Skiba says he likes the latter design so much that he’s gonna stick with it. Jeez, why not just make the helmets solid red and be done with it. … Jere Smith notes that Rajon Rondo frequently wears his headband upside-down. … Cincinnati maven David Sonny (who recenty conducted an interview with the Bengals’ equipment manager — look for that to appear here soon) reports that new Reds skipper Dusty Baker has claimed his usual No. 12 from Edwin Encarnacion, who will now wear No. 28. … The Canadiens retired Larry Robinson’s number (which he never wore on his shorts) last night and trotted out all the usual trappings — the all-honoree warm-up, the chest patch, etc. Happily, Robinson wore a straight-hemmed CCM jersey for the occasion, instead of the shirttail-hemmed models being worn by the current Habs. … ¡Cuba si, capitalism double-si!: After losing in the final round of the Baseball World Cup, Cuban pitcher Pedro Lazo sold his jersey to a collector after a sotto voce negotiation in a darkened corner. … Before Lloyd Carr dressed like this, he dressed like this and this (nice find by Doug Mooney). … According to this message board post (sent my way by Andres Douzoglou), Arizona State uses tape stripes on belts as an award system, like helmet merit decals. I’ve never heard this before. Anyone know more about it?

We’ve all heard about the NFL’s “uniform police.” But when you see articles about them (like this one, which I linked to a few weeks back), they tend to give boring NFL party-line quotes. Being a company man is how you get that job in the first place.

So I raised an eyebrow when a reader named Danny (who prefers that his last name not be used here) recently contributed some Ticker material and concluded his note with the following: “As a former New York Jets personnel intern, one of my unofficial jobs on game day was to take a look at the players and see who was running the risk of fines. Aaron Glenn [shown at right] was probably the most notorious.”

Naturally, I was intrigued, so I followed up with some questions. Here’s how our correspondence unfolded:

Uni Watch: Got any good stories to share regarding your experiences?

Danny: My uniform code obsession started when I noticed how much Aaron Glenn was being fined week after week for violations. I was having dinner with a couple of the players when I brought up the subject, and they asked if I would help keep them (and the other guys) within the guidelines. After three weeks (two of them being in the preseason), I just gave up, because of course they chose fashion over compliance. I felt like a nagging mother-in-law telling them to “make sure your gloves are strapped,” “your whites are too high,” and “your pants are too short.” The lesson I learned was that, as always, is it that is better to look good than to not get fined by the league.

UW: When was this — what year? What was your staff position at the time? And what violations was Aaron Glenn being fined for?

D: I actually took notice in 1995, before I started working with the team. I had previously noticed that the Jets were one of the teams that had a different numeral “2″ for their linemen’s jerseys and the position players’ jerseys, and that had always bugged me. Then, when I started in 1997 as an operations assistant, I was fascinated by the equipment room. My duties included everything from picking up players’ wives from the airport and making sure the golf carts were full of gas to making sure the jars of vitamins in the weight room were filled and being a security guard at the cafeteria. We were called “honchos,” and there was between six and eight of us. If something needed doing, we did it.

One morning I noticed the poster in the locker room stating the NFL’s uniform regulations (which you’ve linked to a few times). Then I noticed a Newsday article on uni violations, which centered mostly on Deion Sanders, but it also had a section on Aaron Glenn. If I remember correctly, he led the league in uni-related fines that season. He was being find for high whites, unstrapped gloves, unbuckled chin straps, and short pants.

After reading the article, I did some research through old media guides and yearbooks to see how different players were wearing sweatbands, socks, gloves, chin straps, and so forth. I thought there was something oddly cool about the NFL having a standard issue of dress, and even cooler that some players were consciously violating the code in order to look fashion-forward.

UW: Tell me a little more about how your “police” activities worked. Like, when would you approach the players — during pregame warmups? In the locker room?

D: My policing activities were pretty simple. Since I was a mere peon at the time, I wasn’t going to get too visible in the locker room, because I didn’t want to become an annoyance and get fired. But my game day duties had me walking around the locker room anyway, so when I noticed something in violation of the code, I’d walk by the player and say a simple, “Hey, make sure those whites don’t go up too high, they may fine you,” or “Try and keep those pads tucked in your sleeve, they’re fining guys for that,” and so forth. Most of the guys just ignored me, because they just didn’t care about being fined and were more worried about playing the game. The last thing I wanted to do on a game day was distract any of these guys, but a few of them didn’t mind me being their uni-Jiminy Cricket. I also didn’t want to get on the bad side of the equipment managers — those guys really run the show on game day and could be quite ornery when people got in their way.

UW: Did you agree with all the regulations, or did you feel silly trying to enforce some of them?

D: I definitely don’t agree with all the regulations. I think it would be awful if all the players looked exactly the same. I understand the chin strap rule (which I wish I had obeyed myself, because I suffered a lot of concussions while playing football in high school), and I understand that the league wants to keep players looking somewhat uniform, but I think they take it a bit too far. I think guys should be allowed to wear high whites [not much of an issue these days, since most players now prefer low whites -- PL]. I also think they should be allowed to wear team-colored tape and team-colored chin straps.

UW: Any other good stories to share?

D: My best uni-related Jets story comes from when I had been with them in 1997 as an intern. To preface the story, I was recruited by some 1A and 1AA schools to play QB and/or WR but wound up not being able to play after suffering my sixth concussion in my last high school game. After practice during training camp, I would sometimes stay on the field with the young QBs and run some pass routes if they needed some extra bodies. I had made a few acrobatic catches one day and the fans who stayed cheered for me and some of the coaches thought I was ridiculous for trying so hard.

Cut to the very next day — I was cleaning up coffee cups and soda cans in the “war room” after a pro personnel meeting and went into office of a friend I’d made on the marketing staff (I’d routinely hang out in her office after team meetings as she was wrapping up her day). She told me she had just gotten the prototype for the old-school unis the team was going to switch to for the next season (what they wear now). One of the unis was my size, so she asked me to go to the equipment room and get some pads so I could model it for her.

For reasons you would completely understand, I shot downstairs and was downright giddy about putting on the uniform. Once I got all the pads in (I put everything in but hip and butt pads) and the uniform on, I was striking Heisman poses and living out my NFL dream (well, as much as it can be lived out in an office building with no one else around). Lost in my own little world, I had forgotten that the special teams meeting was about to break and that the office I was in was directly across the hall from the auditorium where it was being held. So before I could get the uniform off, the players began to walk by and the ST coach, Mike Sweatman, who had a very dry sense of humor, saw me and let out a chuckle. He then came into the office and said with a smile, “Son, I know you made some nice catches the other day, but it’s just not going to happen for you. Stick to cutting up game films and getting coffee.” We all had a good laugh at my expense, and I took the uniform off.

Coincidentally, I had three drops the next time I ran routes after practice.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s a closer view of the California State Firefighters Association logo, which the Kings are wearing as a patch (thanks, Teebz). … This season’s NHL All-Star Game jerseys will apparently look like this and thiszzzzzzzz. … Yikes. … Check out this NOB: first initial and a “Jr.” at the end (great find by Don Schafer). … The Baseball World Cup is taking place, and Cuba has found a new place for logo creep: on the tips of their belts (good spot by Jeremy Brahm,). … Attention AJ Connelly, and anyone else who owns a Nike chinstrap: You might want to switch to another model (thanks, Bryan). … “ESPN was mistakenly using the St. John’s logo instead of St. Joe’s at the beginning of the Syracuse/St. Joe’s game Tuesday night,” writes Jason Farmand. “They soon made the correction.” … Indiana’s throwback uniforms for this weekend will look like this and this. … Kevin Youkilis has shaved for a good cause. … There’s a great video clip here of a Vikings/Eagles game from 1978. Someone on the Chris Creamer board noticed that the Vikes were wearing black left-sleeve armbands (additional views here, here, and here). Anyone know who was being memorialized?

The big uni-related news in the NFL yesterday had nothing to do with the players. It was the pink ribbons being worn by most coaches, owners, and other sideline personnel (although a few coaches went ribbon-free, including one guy who obviously didn’t want a ribbon messing up his carefully manicured look). The officials got involved too, wearing pink wristbands (here’s a closer look) and ribbons, although the zebras’ ribbons didn’t have the litle NFL logo pin.

Speaking of which: Isn’t a little offensive to turn cancer into a branding opportunity? Like, why use that NFL logo pin in the first place? MLB does this with their Mothers Day and Fathers Day ribbons, too. Similarly, despite what this decal says, hockey doesn’t fight cancer — chemo and radiation do. Why not have a decal that says, “Find a Cure” or “Support Cancer Research,” instead of a message that’s essentially self-aggrandizing?

Meanwhile, in non-cancer developments:

• Can’t say I was in love with the Titans’ blue-on-blue look, but I didn’t hate it either. The more of it I saw, the more it started to grow on me. Hmmmmmmm.

• The Rams, on the other hand….

• As discussed in yesterday’s comments: Although it’s not a new thing for him, John Kasay was wearing a watch and his wedding band while kicking yesterday.

• The Falcons logo on Alge Crumpler’s left sleeve was facing the wrong way (it should look like this.

• No photo yet, but LaDainian Tomlinson’s American flag decal was still missing. (In a related item: The Bills will be wearing their throwbacks tonight, and I’m wondering if their helmets will be completely blank in the back, as they were last year).

Research Reminder: I’m still very much in the market for examples of typos and misspellings on uniforms. In particular, I’m having trouble finding a photo of Wayne Gretzky from his first game with the Rangers, when he wore “Gretkzy” on his back, but non-superstar typos are fine too. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers have noted that Jimmy Rollins wears a Cool-Flo hemet when batting right-handed but a conventional lid when swinging from the left side. … Ryan Purdie notes that the TV numbers on Utah’s uniforms have been doing a slow fade. In 2005 they were on both the home and road unis; in 2006, still on the road set but not on the home design; and this year, they’re missing from both the home and road unis. … Mike Alper notes that the Blackhawks’ sleeve numbers seem to have been cut rather sloppily, without enough white space. Additional examples here, here, here, and here. … Marquette will have some rad throwback alternate jerseys this season (with thanks to Jon Aubry). … Reprinted from last Thursday’s comments but still worth a look: A surprisingly in-depth article devoted to Cole Hamels switching undershirts during Game 1 of the Phils/Rockies series. … Remember last week’s discussion of negative space? Markus Kamp found another good example in this Seahawks 12th man pin. … The National Federation of State High School Associations has enacted a bunch of new lacrosse uniform regulations (with thanks to Ryan Burns). … The Islanders’ Stanley Cup stripes were missing from Bill Guerin’s shoulder the other day (good spot by Tim Hudson). … Not truly uni-related, but there’s a spectacular slideshow devoted to photos of old Comiskey Park here — highly recommended (great find by Michael Gargano). … Check out the unsightly gap between Daniel Sedin’s right sock and pant cuff (as spotted by Daniel Sherman). … Marhsall’s basketball team has entered NikeWorld (that depressing news courtesy of Jake Keys). … “During Friday night’s Pens/Ducks game, the announcers were talking about these special pads that hang over the laces of the skates,” writes Nate Budziszewski. “They said most players don’t like to wear them because they’re embarrassed, so they wear a more cosmetic version that’s hidden under the laces.” … The NFL has enlisted Chelsea FC to help promote the upcoming Giants/Dolphins game in London. First visible evidence of this: Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora wearing Chelsea jerseys. … Jeff Tripodi found a 1987 SportsCenter highlight clip in which George Hendrick is referred to as “He With the Long Pants.” … Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera both wore red trunks for their super featherweight title bout Saturday night. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Illinois players are wearing “Team” on their nose bumpers — a staple of Ron Zook-coached teams. … Bugs and baseball? Nothing new about that. … Hey, speaking of Friday’s bug-a-thon, here’s some recommended movie viewing for Yankees fans and Joba Chamberlain: Them (1954), which features huge nuclear-irradiated ants, and Starship Troopers (1997), in which the military forces of Earth wage intergalactic war against giant alien bugs. Both offer comforting reassurance that humans really can overcome insects. … Auburn’s 1957 throwbacks didn’t do much for me, given that they left so much contemporary clutter on the jersey’s upper chest. … Kent State University wideout Derek McBryde’s right TV number has been backwards for the team’s past two home games (good catch by Brad Foster). … The Japan Basketball League has introduced a new mascot. And his name — I kid not — is Hoopy. This is so fucking great, I don’t even mind that he’s not wearing striped tube socks (big thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Our own Vince Grzegorek was quoted extensively in this article about the Indians’ uniform history, which ran in yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. The printed article included additional quotes from Vince, plus photos, so Ohio readers should fish their copies of the Sunday paper out of the recycling pile. … The striped belt phenomenon has trickled down all the way to high school (good spot by Jack Krabbe). … Susan Freeman attended the Stars’ home opener in Dallas on Friday and reports that “the new slimmer jerseys [kept getting] caught in the shorts, leaving half the numbers obscured” (but she didn’t mind so much cuz she got a pair of jersey beer cozies). The next day she checked out the traveling “Baseball as America” exhibit and took dozens of photos, which are available in a slideshow here. … Wisconsin’s women’s hockey team has won two national championships wearing this design, so Nicole Haase was surprised to attend a game on Saturday and see the team skating out looking like this, which is essentially the same design that the men’s team wears. “I asked a girl who was working the bench about the jerseys,” says Nicole, “and she said they were new and she thought they were permanent.” … During the preseason, the Lightning’s road jerseys had uni numbers on the front but the home jerseys didn’t. Now that the season has started, the numbers are appearing on the home set as well. According to a small item buried on this page (sent my way by Doug Mooney), “The team decided to make the change near the end of the preseason and sewed the numbers on after getting permission from the league.”

I could probably do an entire entry just on this photo. Where to begin? The upturned collar, the number on the sleeve, the vertical placket insignia, the amazing crest, the off-center belt buckle, the striped undersleeves — it’s a visual feast.

That shot (along with this one, which shows the same player with a different uni number) was turned up by reader Jeff Lindquist, who found it while poking around the Library of Congress’s George Grantham Bain Collection, a mother lode of old news agency pics. I’ve always meant to spend more time exploring the LoC’s archive, but it’s a daunting task, because the collection is so big that it can seem overwhelming. So it’s nice when someone else sifts through everything and comes up with some gems, as Lindquist has done. Here are some more pics he turned up:

• Another great vertical insignia here.

• Always good to see more shots of the Giants’ plaid uniforms from 1916.

• Here’s a player from the St. Louis Terriers, one of the early Federal League teams. Note the Federal League logo on the sleeve — “kinda reminds you of a recently redesigned logo from some other league, doesn’t it?” notes Lindquist. Interestingly, the league logo was similar to the team’s logo, which is visible on this sweater. Not sure if all the other Federal League teams had similar logos.

• Speaking of sweaters: As many of you know, I have a serious thing for old baseball sweaters, so I’m totally drooling over this, this, this, and this.

• I’d previously seen this Cubs logo in the Dressed to the Nines templates but never in an actual photo — nice.

• Here’s something from our old uniform cameo project: Babe Ruth as a New York Giant, from an off-season exhibition.

• Check out the American flag patch that the Dodgers wore in 1917, to support the war effort.

• The Yankees didn’t start wearing pinstriped uniforms until 1912, but they appear to have had a pinstriped jacket of some sort in 1909.

• Here’s a Chinese baseball team, from 1910. Almost looks like they’re wearing conventional collared business shirts.

• Bizarre shots here of the Yankees and Tigers doing drill exercises — with rifles!

Uni Watch News Ticker: I’ve recently made the acquaintance of the thoroughly enjoyable Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., whose frontman, Michael McMahon, was kind enough to loan me a pair of gorgeous vintage baseball pants (which didn’t have that big grass stain when he last saw them — oops), complete with nice side piping, even nicer belt tunnels and flap pockets, and — my favorite detail — gold braid on the inner waistband. I paired the pants with a chromatically compatible vintage jersey for my Sunday softball game, where my buddy Joel Wilhelmi snapped some fore and aft shots. The grass stains were the result of two sliding catches in left field (one of which shouldn’t have necessitated a slide — I got a really bad jump). … Reader Ryan Goldstein, who plays club tennis at Georgetown, recently asked me for advice about having an “MEJ” notation added to the club’s shirt sleeves, in memory of former teammate MIke Jurist. Since Georgetown is in DC, I put Ryan in touch with Baltimore’s Joe Hilseberg, who fixed them up right. “We were able to wear them at a tournament two weekends ago in NYC at the National Tennis Center, as well as last weekend at the University of Maryland Invitational,” writes Ryan. … The family that plays together stays together — especially if they’re wearing stirrups. That’s the message from Paul Wiederecht, who sent along a veritable family albums of pics of his father (here and here), his brothers (here, here, and here), and himself (here and here). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Reds played a pants prank on Norris Hopper the other day. … Also from yesterday: Scott Player’s famously loose-bolted single-bar facemask (which has resulted in a good nickname) was seriously askew on the last play of Sunday’s Browns/Raiders game (something that’s happened to him before). … Eric Westover was at Utah/UNLV game the other day and got a shot of Eddie Wide III, whose nameplate includes a roman-numeral ordinal. … Rob Montoya notes that DeSean Jackson had his jersey tucked into his belt the other day. … Laura Frye reports that the Missouri women’s soccer team wore pink jerseys (for breast cancer research) and black wristbands (in memory of former teammate Meggie Malm, who’d been killed in a car accident the night before) on Friday. … LSU will be wearing special Katrina uniforms on Saturday against Tulane (which will mark their first use of white helmets since the 1997 Independence Bowl). Lots of additional images here, full details are here, and there’s a video report here. … According to a small entry buried on this Q&A page, the Patriots will ditch their silver alternate jersey in 2009 and go with a red throwback jersey instead (with thanks to Ryan Van Buskirk). … I’m going to be visiting the ESPN mother ship up in Bristol for most of today, so talk among yourselves and play nice. Meanwhile, I have something very special planned for tomorrow — see you then.

So I was looking through the membership card gallery the other day, and I was suddenly struck by something I’d never noticed before: Most of the drop shadows and block shadows fall down and to the right — call it the five o’clock shadow.

As I started looking at photos, I realized that five o’clock shadows are standardized throughout most of the sports world. The primary exception among current teams is the New York Rangers, whose block shadows go down and to the left (a protocol that holds for all their jerseys). For everyone else, it’s down and to the right, down and to the right, ad infinitum.

I was curious about how this phenomenon became so entrenched. Was it because we read from left to right? Was it because the sun sets in the west, casting an eastward shadow? Was it a something designers consciously considered when coming up with uniform designs, or did they just reflexively go with the five o’clock format without even thinking about it?

I posed those questions to Todd Radom and Scott M.X. Turner, both of whom have designed a few uniforms in their day. Here’s an edited version of their responses:

Todd Radom: Agreed, drop shadows traditionally fall off to the bottom right, and I can only assume that this is a logical function of [our culture's] left-to-right thing. Are there any drop shadows in the new Israeli baseball league that go from right to left? [I don't think so. -- PL]

My 2 cents: Bottom-right is the way to go. And the shadow should be connected to the top layer of lettering, as opposed to just being set off. Also, I think any drop shadow should be darker than the layer on top, so white drop shadows on a black background, for instance, make no sense at all.

The 49ers numbers achieve drop shadow perfection for my money.

Scott M.X. Turner: What Todd said, basically. The Rangers’ bottom-left look has become so iconic that it doesn’t strike me as odd (though it does feel counterintuitive when I do Rangers treatments for Uni Watch cardbacks).

I agree block shadow is a better idea than drop shadow. … I’m not as sold that the bottom layer needs to be darker, however — the St. Louis Browns stuck orange under brown back in the ’40s, and Cleveland did it in 1970 with red under navy [and let's not forget this -- PL]. I guess it depends on whether you’re trying to convey a shadow or a block. If it’s a shadow, then Todd’s right, should be darker; block, then most anything goes.

Unlike the well-documented histories of pinstripes, certain colors, and logos, I’m not sure there’s a way to know for sure why shadows came out lower-right. Just that most of us designers agree that’s the way it feels right. And nine times out of ten, the feel’s more important than the math.

Todd also pointed out what may be the oddest configuration of all: the one used by the late-1950s Washington Senators, whose block shadow ran up and to the right. I’m unaware of any other team having done this. But then again, until a week or so ago I hadn’t given much thought to this topic to begin with.

And that’s the thing — once you start thinking about a subject like this, all sorts of things start jumping out at you. With my “shadow radar” more finely tuned in recent days, I’ve suddenly noticed a few more left-leaning shadows. During my recent visit to Lelands, for example, I turned over this New Jersey Knights jersey and immediately fixated on the nameplate. And when preparing yesterday’s ESPN column about “one and done” designs, I was got a little rush of excitement when I saw the shadow configuration on Wisconsin’s one-day design from 1995.

My feeling is that while drop and block shadows often look good (especially on a membership card), they can also add unnecessary clutter to a design. And while I haven’t done a formal tally, my sense of things is that more teams are employing shadows these days than in the past, because they’re so easy to execute digitally. I’m fairly certain teams like the Mets, Dolphins, and 49ers, all of which added drop shadows within the past decade, wouldn’t have done so if it hadn’t been so easy for a designer to call everyone over to his computer and say, “Look, what if we just did this…” I’m not saying there’s no place for shadows, but most of them these days come with the distinct echo of “Because we can.”

Raffle Results: I’m happy to announce that the winner of the Helmet Hut raffle for a free college football helmet is Vertically Arched member Mike Brodsky. Mike, please get in touch with me pronto to claim your prize.

Thanks to all who entered. And I can absolutely promise, incidentally, that next month’s raffle is gonna be a mind-blower.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Creepy Nike product placement of the day — and one of the best ever — here (with mega-thanks to Chris Dominiak). … The Jets, who were originally known as the Titans, will be having a, uh, Titanic throwback game on October 14th. Lots good Titans info is available here (and be sure to check out the JetsTV video link, which features some fantastic Titans footage — special thanks to Mike from Queens for that link). … Cool-sounding exhibit of military uniforms currently on display in Delray Beach, Florida. Details here (with thanks to Jeff Fishman). … Speaking of military unis, check out this. … Yesterday Todd Radom e-mailed me an article about various lowlights in Phillies uniform history (it’s not web-accessible, alas), and one passage in particular caught my eye: “June 10, 1972. Trying to inject some life into a 19-29 club at the start of a homestand, gimmick-obsessed team vice president Bill Giles suggested that, since the Phillies had been playing better on the the road than at home, they ought to try their road uniforms at the Vet. Giles’ plan bombed. The Atlanta Braves’ 15-3 victory included Hank Aaron’s 649th home run, a grand slam.” The Braves were wearing the “feather” design on the road that year, so it wasn’t gray-vs.-gray, but still — two teams wearing road uniforms? I’d never heard about this before. Anyone else? … When not serving me cocktails, doing my laundry, and changing Tucker and Caitlin’s litterbox, Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek moonlights at a dental office. And who should come in for a root canal yesterday but a VP of Sales for Reebok. “He was dressed head to toe in Reebok stuff,” reports Vince. “Shorts, shoes, socks, and the logo was EXTREMELY prominent.” While he was in the chair, Vince slipped him some nitrous oxide and nabbed this Cleveland Browns cap from his briefcase. Then he put a Uni Watch temporary tattoo on his arm, etched a Nike swoosh onto one of his front teeth, and doubled his bill. All in a day’s work. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Major hosiery development Wednesday night, as Esteban Loaiza was wearing special stirrups with the A’s logo on the side. Best photo so far (provided by Roger Faso) is here — you can just barely make out the logo on Loaiza’s left ankle. Anyone got a better shot? I can’t do screen grabs from my backup computer (main machine’s still in the shop, grumble-grumble), but I’m told that there were some close-up views in the first inning. … Here’s a quote for the ages: “It was an interesting lesson to learn in how quickly a fire can happen.” To appreciate the full context, look here (with thanks to Peter Bliao). … The Trenton Thunder unveiled a new identity system yesterday. … And Cleveland State unveiled a new logo (as noted by Josh Yetmar). … Golf report from Dan Sherman, who writes: “At the first round of the FedEx cup, close to 50 golfers were wearing blue belts with silver buckles inscribed with ‘IFF,’ for ‘Ian and Friends Foundation.’” Details here. … I’d heard about the Denver Bears’ “strike zone uniforms” before, but I’d never seen them — until now (with thanks to George McClure). … Can someone please tell the Mariners to stop wearing their BP jerseys in actual games? They did it again last night. … Here’s one I hadn’t been aware of: As you know, the Steelers switched from block numbers to their current font in 1997. But for the first game of that season — and only the first game — they kept their old block lettering for the nameplates, before switching to their now-familiar rounded font in Week 2. … Tired of seeing your favorite team’s baseball cap rendered in all sorts of weird colors? You’re not the only one (good find by Dave Miller). … Latest MLBer to wear toe socks: Brendan Ryan of the Cardinals. This and several other uni-related tidbits can be found in the last four paragraphs of this article. Meanwhile, the second text section of this piece reports that Ryan has some unusual taste in eyewear. (Both items sent my way by Elena Elms, who I’m pretty sure has a crush on Ryan.) … Mike Lowell has been wearing a Jeff Bagwell-style padded batting glove lately. “It was made by using an old piece of catching equipment, an idea conceived by the Red Sox trainers,” says AJ Chalifour. … Got an e-mail last night from Jay Gordon, who’s the editor-in-chief of Uniforms magazine (!), which features lively columns like “The Uniforms Laboratory” and “Ask the Uniforms Guy” (who, for some inexplicable reason, isn’t me). Granted, none of the uniforms are sports-related, but it still looks pretty damn cool. … Jason Cruz notes that there sure seems to be a lot of stuff going on on Lauren Jackson’s shoes. Anyone know what the “153″ is for?