By Phil Hecken with 13th Man, and UW Hockey Wing President, Teebz
The CFL, or Canadian Football League commenced it’s 56th Season this past Canada Day (52nd as the “CFL”, although the league has been around, in one form or another, since 1909). As such, Hockey Wing President and Chancellor of Canuckistan, Teebz, wanted to bring some of the uniforms of the northern league to UW’s largely American audience. We could have done (and may yet do) a review of the current CFL teams and their unis, but Teebz thought a great twist on that would be to show the uniforms of the American-based teams who played in the CFL. “American teams?” you say. That’s right. For a few years back in the early and mid-1990’s the CFL thought invasion expansion into America would boost that the CFL’s popularity while the different style off football would be a hit with American fans, much the way the NFL is loved by Canadians. Unfortunately, they were wrong. For reasons Teebz will explain below, the experiment was largely a failure, although not without some high points.
I’m vaguely familiar with the Canadian game, having watched it on several occasions when the games were broadcast here in the States. I also dated a Winnipegger a few years ago, and had a ticket to the Grey Cup in 2006 played at the Canad Inns Stadium, but didn’t make it. So, I was, by default, a Blue Bombers fan. The CFL takes some getting used to, and there are several important distinctions. To describe them better than I could, I borrow this paragraph from misterhabs.com, a fantastic helmet site, which describes the CFL rules (or differences in the rules between the US and Canadian games):
The Canadian Football League, or CFL, has played football as an organized league since 1909, ten years before the NFL officially got it’s start. There are five major differences between the NFL we are used to in America and the CFL game played north of the border. In Canada, they play 3 downs instead of 4. The field is larger, 110 yards long and 65 yards wide. There is an additional way to score — a rouge, or single, is worth one point. A rouge can be scored on a missed field goal attempt or kickoff. It is the equivalent of a touchback or safety in the NFL. Overtime is different, resembling the NCAA rules where each team gets two possessions to score. If the score is the same after that, the a tie game is called. Overtime losses are counted on team records, and teams compete for playoff points, similar to hockey. Teams earn 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 for a loss.
But we’re not here for the logistics of the Canadian game. We’re here to look at the uniforms and logos of those franchises that played in the US during the CFL’s forray into her southern neighbor’s territory. And with that, I’ll turn the post over to Teebz, and see you after the main portion of this post.
Of course, there were other major events that happened that year in sports, but it is that last statement that changed the course of one league and two countries. I am referring to the Canadian Football League’s expansion into the United States. In 1992, the CFL played a game between the Toronto Argonauts and Calgary Stampeders in Portland, Oregon as they looked south for ideas on expansion.
With the WLAF announcing that is was suspending operations, two upstart owners named Fred Anderson, who owned the WLAF’s Sacramento Surge, and Larry J. Benson, who owned the WLAF’s San Antonio Riders, approached the CFL with a very radical idea: Canadian football in their markets. CFL Commissioner Larry Smith, seeing the opportunity to grab a hold of a football-hungry country, granted two US expansion franchises to Anderson and Benson. The Sacramento Gold Miners and the San Antonio Texans would join the CFL for the start of the 1993 season. There were benefits to each side. Sacramento and San Antonio wanted a professional football team without the major costs of the NFL, and the CFL wanted to build its exposure and popular appeal of being an offence-first league while boosting revenues.
SAN ANTONIO TEXANS – Part I: Mr. Benson’s Texans never got off the ground, and the franchise folded before they played their first game. It didn’t help that Bobcat Stadium only held 15,218 people, the smallest stadium in the CFL at that time. Benson had gone out and hired Tom Landry as the team’s general manager, a holdover from the WLAF’s San Antonio Riders. Landry hired current Oregon State Beavers’ head coach Mike Riley as the Texans’ head coach. Things looked promising, but the financial situation of running a CFL franchise, combined with altering a stadium to CFL standards, proved to be too much for Benson’s pocketbook, and the team shut its doors in the spring of 1993. But this was not the last of the Texans.
SACRAMENTO GOLD MINERS: Sacramento joined the West Division for the 1993 season, and finished a respectable 6-12 as an “expansion” team. Quarterback David Archer, slotback Rod Harris and defensive tackle George Bethune all jumped from the WLAF to the CFL to give the Gold Miners a decent pool of talent to work with. The team was coached by Kay Stephenson, and Tom Huiskens occupied the General Manager’s chair. However, learning the Canadian game proved to be a little tougher than they had imagined, but their six wins was indicative of the improvements being made by the Gold Miners as the season progressed. Their jerseys were solid, but unspectacular.
The Gold Miners made history on July 7 when they became the first US-based franchise to play in a CFL regular-season game. They lost 32-23 to the Ottawa Rough Riders, but showed some character in their first game. On July 18, Sacramento hosted the Calgary Stampeders for the first CFL game played on American soil between an American and Canadian team. The Stampeders won that game 38-36. On July 24, the Gold Miners won their first CFL game – 37-26 over the Saskatchewan Roughriders – making them the first US-based team to win a regular-season CFL game.
After seeing the Sacramento Gold Miners play to decent-sized crowds, the CFL opened the door to future US expansion, and three more teams joined the CFL for the 1994 season: the Baltimore CFL Colts, the Las Vegas Posse, and the Shreveport Pirates.
Competition from the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford University really hurt the Gold Miners’ attendance in the second-half of the CFL season. They received no marketing assistance from the CFL as they were the only US-based club in 1993. Hornet Stadium was not the best venue as well as its make-shift bleachers were uncomfortable at best. The Gold Miners left Sacramento after the 1994 season, moving to San Antonio for the start of the 1995 season. After two seasons in the CFL in Sacramento, the Gold Miners had a 15-20-1 record, but never made the playoffs.
BALTIMORE STALLIONS: The Stallions were actually called the Baltimore (CFL) Colts when they were granted an expansion team. Owner Jim Speros wanted to use the name to draw fans to the game by capitalizing on fan sentiment towards their former NFL team. And it worked as the Baltimore franchise ranked first in attendance in their inaugural season. How they became the Stallions is below.
The Baltimore CFL Colts went about building a CFL team by getting experienced CFL people. Owner Jim Speros brought Don Matthews in to coach the team. Quarterback Tracy Ham, a long-time CFL star with the Edmonton Eskimos, was signed. They signed the CFL’s leading rusher from 1993, Mike Pringle, away from the Gold Miners. And they signed several big stars on the defensive side of the ball. They were dressed fairly traditionally, and looked good in navy and gray. The logo itself could stand the test of time, in my opinion.
However, the NFL was a little unhappy, you could say, with their team name and sued the franchise. Of course, the Indianapolis Colts had played in Baltimore from 1953 until 1984. The NFL won the injunction due to the CFL Colts not wanting to risk bankruptcy during the court battle, and they essentially became a team with no team name. For the 1994 season, the Baltimore franchise would be known as the “Baltimore Football Club” or, thanks to their fans, the “CFLers”.
In their first season, the CFLers set a CFL record for wins by an expansion franchise, going 12-6 and finishing second in the CFL East Division. The defeated the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the playoffs to become the first US-based team to appear in the Grey Cup Final. They lost in the Final, however, to the British Columbia Lions on a last-second Lui Passaglia field goal.
After the 1994 season, owner Jim Speros held a “name the team” contest that ran into the 1995 season. After one week of being called the “CFLers” in 1995, Speros announced that the Baltimore franchise would be called the “Stallions”. The Stallions proved to be one of the CFL’s best teams as they would go 15-3 in 1995 and win the Grey Cup with a 37-20 victory over the Calgary Stampeders, making them the first US-based team to win the CFL’s biggest prize.
Cleveland Browns’ owner Art Modell threw a major monkey wrench into the Baltimore CFL effort when he announced on November 6, 1995 that he was moving the Browns to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Speros, knowing that there was no way he could compete head-to-head with the NFL, relocated the franchise to Montreal, Quebec after deals with Norfolk, Virginia and Houston, Texas fell through. The team would drop the “Stallions” moniker, and they were renamed the Montreal Alouettes. This would be the third version of the Alouettes in CFL history. After two seasons in the CFL, the Stallions posted a 27-9 regular-season record, winning the Grey Cup once and finishing as the Grey Cup Runner-Up once.
LAS VEGAS POSSE: Nick Mileti was granted a CFL franchise in 1993, and the Posse was born. Former UNLV and NFL head coach Ron Meyer was brought in to coach the squad. The team was made up of young players and former college stars, and the transition from four-down football to three-down football was a steep learning curve. Combined with the environment and entertainment aspects in Las Vegas, and this franchise was lucky to make it through the 1994 season. And for the love of things good and pure, why would you dress in black in Las Vegas in the summer?!?
The Posse actually started the 1994 campaign 2-0 with wins over the Sacramento Gold Miners and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. July 8, 1994 was a memorable day as the game between the Gold Miners and Posse marked the first time that two US-based teams played a regular-season CFL game. However, by mid-season, this team was suffering mightily. Sam Boyd Stadium was located a long way from downtown Las Vegas, and fans stopped making the trip once the Posse started losing. In a game against Winnipeg, a total of 2350 fans were in attendance, and most were fans of the Blue Bombers. Needless to say, the experiment in Las Vegas was failing miserably. Players complained about playing in ridiculous heat, and there was concern raised about player safety by the CFLPA. The Posse’s final home game was moved from Las Vegas to Edmonton – a sign that the CFL was done Vegas.
This franchise was doomed from the moment it put a stake in the Las Vegas countryside. Some of the more questionable things that happened were:
• Singer Dennis K.C. Parks mangled the Canadian national anthem by singing it to the tune of “O Christmas Tree” at the Posse’s first home game.
• Head coach Ron Meyer caused the “Showgirl incident” when he asked the Posse cheerleaders, named the “Showgirls”, to hang out near the bench of the BC Lions in an effort to distract them.
• Half-time bikini contests were held until the CFL stepped in to protect its “family entertainment” image.
• The Posse’s practice field was only 70 yards long, and was set-up in a casino parking lot.
The Posse’s end zones were only 15 yards deep instead of the CFL-mandated 20 yards.
After the season ended, there was an effort to move the franchise to Jackson, Mississippi, but that fell through, and the team was folded. A dispersal draft was held, and the players of the Posse were sent to the various teams throughout the league. After only one season of play in Las Vegas, the Posse posted a meagre 5-13 record, and did not appear in the CFL Playoffs. The team folded, and a dispersal draft happened before the start of the 1995 CFL season.
SHREVEPORT PIRATES: Bernie and Lonnie Glieberman, owners of the Ottawa Rough Riders, sold the Ottawa franchise and were awarded an expansion franchise which they located in Shreveport, Louisiana. Much like the Las Vegas franchise, this team started badly and ended worse. Is it just me, or does the Pirate look like a primitive version of the Patriot? At least Shreveport looked respectable on the field in comparison to some of the stuff that happened off the field.
Head coach John Huard was fired during the team’s first training camp due to conflicts with staff and personnel. Forrest Gregg, previously a coach in both the NFL and CFL, was brought in to replace Huard. Billy Joe Tolliver was signed as the team’s starting quarterback. Jon Heidenreich played with the team before becoming a professional wrestler. After starting the season 0-14, the Pirates recorded their first win in franchise history with a 24-12 win over the Sacramento Gold Miners. They finished last in the East Division with a 3-15 record in 1994. After another dismal season in which the Pirates went 5-13, the real circus began off the field.
Their win-loss record was the least of the franchise’s problems. Soon after the 1995 season ended, the Gliebermans attempted to move the franchise to Norfolk, Virginia. However, that relocation attempt fell through when Norfolk told the Gliebermans that they would pass due to the sketchy business dealings the Gliebermans had made, and the franchise remained in Louisiana for the time being.
The Gliebermans, however, owed the City of Shreveport a pile of money over debts related to the Pirates’ lease at Independence Stadium. This led to the “Great Tucker Caper”, and an obscene amount of embarrassment for the CFL. The City of Shreveport attempted to seize Bernie Glieberman’s prized 1948 Tucker, which was on loan to a classic automobile museum in downtown Shreveport. Glieberman’s lawyer, Mark Gilliam, tried to escape Shreveport one night with Bernie’s prized possession with orders to hide the car, but he ran out of gas along the way and was forced to pull over on the highway. The police spotted him, and took the car back to the museum where it was being stored until the case could be settled.
The Shreveport Pirates folded after the 1995 season with an overall record of 8-28, and zero appearances in the CFL Playoffs. The team was contracted in 1995 after the CFL decided to end the US experiment.
SAN ANTONIO TEXANS – Part II: This version of the Texans was simply the Sacramento Gold Miners in a new home. All of the previous players from the Sacramento team travelled with the franchise to San Antonio, Texas for play in the 1995 CFL season. They changed their clothes, but still stuck with a traditional football look. The logo is so-so.
For the first time in franchise history, the team made the playoffs. They posted a 12-6 record in the Southern Division, and defeated the Birmingham Barracudas in their first playoff appearance. However, they lost to the Baltimore Stallions in the Southern Division Final to end their playoff record at 1-1. After the 1995 season, the CFL ended the US experiment, and the San Antonio Texans were contracted.
The Mad Dogs lost their first two games of the 1995 season before defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders by an 11-5 score at home for their first franchise victory. They ended up .500 for the season with a 9-9 record, but that wasn’t good enough for a playoff spot. The team was contracted at the end of the 1995 season as the CFL ended the US experiment.
Just as the Las Vegas Posse had, the Mad Dogs’ home field in the Liberty Bowl only had 15-yard endzones, not the CFL-mandated 20-yard endzones. Thankfully, Memphis didn’t have the other problems that Las Vegas experienced.
There was no shortage of offence in Birmingham as the Barracudas were routinely in shootouts with other CFL teams. They scored 40-or-more points five times in 1995, including a 48-42 loss to San Antonio in their final game of the season. Defensively, they struggled against some of the better offences in the CFL, but they managed to go 11-7 in the regular season for a playoff berth. They met San Antonio in the first round and were crushed 51-9. Despite their success on the field, there were a lot of black clouds off the field.
Williams was unhappy as an owner. He claimed he lost between $4 million and $6 million publicly, but some have said the losses piled up to $10 million. Attendance was strong in the early going, but, like the Sacramento Gold Miners, college football and the NFL hurt the Barracudas in the second half of the CFL season. Williams also criticized the CFL over its uniqueness. He suggested changes that included:
• The reduction of the Canadian field to US Football Field standards.
• The reduction from 12 players to 11 players on either side of the ball.
• Changing the name of the league to show more US presence.
In the end, the Barracudas were sold after the 1995 season to a group from Louisiana who wanted to bring the CFL back to Shreveport after the Gliebermans had left town. However, the CFL contracted the team as they ended the US experiment.
Clearly, there were some interesting developments in the history of the CFL, and the uniforms used by these seven teams are quite unique. Will the CFL ever expand to the US again? It’s doubtful that it will ever happen in our lifetimes, but never say never. Right now, the only place you can see uniforms like the Mad Dogs’ gear is at the CFL Hall of Fame.
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Thanks Teebz! That was great, but you spelled a shitload of words wrong. Anyway, good stuff. I always learn something new whenever I do a column with a “guest” but this one was really fun to do with you. And it was particularly entertaining and educational searching for some of the pics that went with this article — there are a good number of historical CFL sites out there you guys should check oot!
We had planned this column over three weeks ago, wondering how the UW audience might take a column on defunct uniforms from a foreign sport, but judging by the great interest in the CFL (at least as seen in the comments’ section this week), we hope you enjoyed the look-back. Some good unis (Colts-CFLers-Stallions and Miners), some meh (Texans, Pirates and Posse — who I don’t think ever wore those black unis, especially not at Boyd in the summer), and some just godawful (Dogs, ‘Cudas) as well. In later years, the WLAF was probably (notably teams like the Monarchs, Dragons, and Galaxy ) influenced by some of those uniforms as well.
For those of you with viewing interests, here’s a link to the CFL on Internet and American TV. For those who know the CFL, obviously you know what to expect and for those who don’t, it’s a great alternative to the NFL, it’s on all summer, and worth a look-see (if you can find the games). If you can’t get the games on regular television, I know they’re available on the Interwebs (and although some people posted their availability during the past week, perhaps they could do so again in the comments below). And depending upon the response (and yes, it’s a holiday weekend in the States, so I’m sure the comments will be light), if anyone is interested in working with me on another CFL article, you know what to do.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Today shouldn’t require too much thinking. So I made it pretty easy. Guess The Game. Remember, date, location and final score.
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Teamed up again with my doubles partner, Brinke Guthrie, who’s here to say a few words about this morning’s Wimbledon Gentleman’s Final. We both think Fed’s going to win, in straights, but I’m predicting a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 win, whereas Brinke feels it’s going to be The Fed: 4, 4 & 4. Here’s Brinke:
Big day today @ The Big W. Slugger Andy Roddick going for his second Grand Slam title (been a long time since the 2003 U.S. Open) — going up against The Fed, who is going for his, uh, 15th major. Lot of style here. Roddick favors his traditional white Lacoste, with his Babolat sneakers. But points off for the constant ball cap. Borg didn’t do that. Roger Federer wearing his usual white Nike attire with the gold trim. He does get points off for this abomination.
PS- Let’s compare wives, while we’re here. In the Roddick corner, his wife Brooklyn. In the Federer corner, his wife Mirka. Advantage, Mrs. R.
Thanks Brinke.
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Got a note late yesterday from James Huening, who brought to my attention something of which I wasn’t aware. Here’s James:
I don’t know if you got a chance to watch much baseball today, but did you see how bad those ALS patches looked on some teams, particularly the ones who just have the logo on the left breast? As if the red caps weren’t bad enough…
Even though the Cardinals have the full jersey wordmark treatment, it still looked terrible on the left side.
Makes you wonder why they all didn’t just put it on the right side, like the Royals did.
OK, and we all knew it was gonna happen with the Natinals, but the Yankees managed to fuck up the LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE patch, too? Come on.
Thanks, James. Actually, no, I didn’t watch one minute of baseball yesterday, so that’s all news to me. But you’re right. The caps (especially with some of those alts — WTF?) are bad enough. The patch (well-intentioned though it is) is just overkill. Super.
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That’s all for today. Hope everyone had a great Fourth. Enjoy your Sunday.
• Excellent Patriots album here. Lots of view of the tri-corner hat logo.
• This album has lots of grabs from the 1955 championship game between the Browns and Rams. Remember, the Rams had originally played in Cleveland, so this game probably had added resonance in that city.
• More Steelers pics — not quite as old, including lots of “golden triangle” shots — here.
• Here are some shots from the 1941 Sugar Bowl, which featured BC vs. Tennessee.
• Some Iowa sorority girls were showing school spirit prior to a 1939 game against Minnesota.
• Larry even scours DVDs of CFL action. Here’s a bunch of Hamilton Tiger Cats shots. Look at those sleeves!
• And just to provide some non-football material, here are some galleries devoted to the Philly Warriors, Lakers, and Pirates.
Finally, as I was putting this entry together, I happened to get a note from Larry. It read, “My brother Dan also reads Uni Watch. He saw all the ‘I’m Calling It Shea’ and others comments, so he dug out this T-shirt he got a few years ago for the All-Star Game.” Holy moly, we’ve been scooped! Or at least that’s what I thought until I saw the rear view — pfeh.
As it happens, No Mas and I are now planning to do “I Still Call It…” shirts for Comiskey, the Jake, and Mile High. Our shirts won’t have the cool little “Survey Says” line like the one on Larry’s brother’s shirt, but they’ll have a few other things going for them (like no corporate crap on the back). More details to follow shortly.
And hey, speaking of that: We’ve been giving 10% of our T-shirt proceeds to a local food bank here in NYC, and we’d like to do the same for the Jake, Comiskey, and Mile High tees. If anyone can point us in the right direction for food banks in Clevo, Chicago, and Denver, please get in touch. Thanks.
Raffle Results: Baby needs a new pair of shoes — and baby will get them, if baby’s name is Kenneth Nee.
Mr. Bubble Bobble: In case you missed it yesterday, Robert Marshall’s bobblehead operation is now open for business. Scroll down to the middle of yesterday’s post for details.
Uni Watch News Ticker: OK, I’m sure Harry Kalas was a swell guy and all, but aren’t the Phils laying it on a bit thick? … More great news for the Wilpons. … Here’s Danica Patrick’s new car. … Larry Bodnovich found this old Arizona helmet design in the SI Vault. … The new Star Trek movie opens today, and people are already talking about the uniforms. (That panel comes from this comic strip.) … Jesus, how awful-looking is this? Dude looks like he’s a rag doll with a tourniquet on his leg. … Hahahahaha. … New uniforms for the Philadelphia Phantoms (with thanks to Matt Pesotski). … As you know, the spread of gay marriage means Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are being abolished after this year, so teams are gonna go all out this Sunday and wear solid pink uniforms as a last hurrah. … I have no idea why the new Brakes album is called Touchdown — there are no football references, and besides, the band is British. But by any name, it’s really, really good. … “One of my friends is currently a graduating senior at University of Tennessee,” writes Jing Xu. “For his final senior project, he created ‘NBA Europa,’ an eight-time European league with crests, shields, logos, jerseys, the whole package.” Good stuff. There’s even a video of the uni “unveilings” here. … Hmmm, was Mike Schmidt wearing a Ryne Sandberg jersey? Very odd (with thanks to Drew Wiesner). … Looks like the NFL isn’t the only football league that will be wearing 1960s throwbacks this season. … Interesting DIY project by Dave Murphy, who writes: “Instead of purchasing those overpriced Fatheads, I photocopied some logos and mascots onto transparencies. Then I used an overhead projector to enlarge and then stencil them onto the walls. Forty dollars’ worth of paint and about 10 hours’ worth of painting on each I was done. The mascots are at the head of my boys’ beds and the logos are in my basement/sportsroom.” … “I recently noticed that Julien Dupuy (a Frenchmen who plays for the English Leicester Tigers) wears a wedding ring while he is playing,” says Caleb Borchers. “It might just be tape, but it looks metallic from all the video and photos I have seen. Seems like a bad idea, particularly because Dupuy is a scrum half. Without going into too much minutiae, his job is to clear the ball out of a mass of bodies called a ruck, and thus is likely to get his hand stepped on. You’d think a wedding ring would be a poor choice for a guy who makes a living from sticking his hand into masses of cleats.” … Some good photos of the original Belmont Park, which was shut down in 1968, here (with thanks to Emily Gordon). … New 90th-anniversary logo for the Packers (with thanks to Ray Barrington). … This eBay seller has peddling jerseys from all three Mighty Ducks movies (with thanks to Jonathan Malone). … Orlando Hudson needs to button up (with thanks to Jon Bradford). … Throwback game in Anaheim last night, and Jared Weaver wore stirrups for the occasion. Mike Napoli, too. … Hey, it looks like Reebok is starting to Get It™! (With thanks to Jeff LaHaie.) … Tigers on donkeys! Note that the second player from left has a different jersey (nice find by Bruce Menard). … Not uni-related, but there’s a fascinating article here about a high school basketball team that made really good use of a full-court press, and how that relates to underdog strategies, game theory, etc. Highly recommended.
A week or so ago we had some chatter about this player wearing a bib. I was unfamiliar with the phenomenon, but as Al Cummings explained in the comments, “The bibs were used by the punting and punt return teams of that time so players with numbers that didn’t conform to the position could be eligible. (Eligibility standards for position numbers were much stricter around 1966). I remember UCLA utilizing snap-on numbers for this purpose.” Other commenters confirmed that it was special teams thing.
Now reader Quint Lange found another example of a bib-clad player — but not on special teams. While watching a rebroadcast of the 1982 Grey Cup (Toronto Argonauts vs. Edmonton Eskimos), he noticed an Edmonton player at the left end of the line who appears to have been bibbified during a running play. After the play’s conclusion, Mr. Bib walked away from the pile and then began taking off the bib right there on the field, revealing a different uni number.
Was this a common practice for the CFL? Why didn’t the NFL ever go for this? Actually, there were bibs in the NFL — sort of. As some readers may recall, last winter we came up with a shot of Donny Anderson wearing a Packers dickey that was very bib-ish. Not quite the same thing, but definitely in the same family.
Untucked update: You people are so damn great. The virtual ink on yesterday’s entry had barely dried when readers started coming up with additional examples of untucked basketball uniforms. On the men’s side, we’ve got mid-’70s Arizona State and late-’70s West Virginia (here’s an additional shot), plus the 1958 Thomas Jefferson High squad in Port Arthur, Texas, took things a step further by going untucked and sleeved (here’s another shot of them, this time against an untucked — but sleeveless — opponent).
Big thanks to everyone who contributed, including Jim McCue, Sam Allison, Jeremy Brahm, Dave Eichblatt, Adrian (who didn’t give his or her last name), and pseudonymous Silver Salmon.
Raffle Results: The winner of the SoccerPro.com raffle is Greg Lamm. As for all the rest of you, I’ll have another raffle to announce either tomorrow or Monday.
DIY MVPs: Our two most accomplished DIY jersey sewers, Bryan Justman and Nick Tavares, have joined forces and created a Facebook group for people who want to learn more about making their own jerseys. Should be a good forum for sharing feedback, pointers, photos, etc. Membership is open to all, so all current and aspiring seamstresses and tailors should sign up, pronto.
Uni Watch News Ticker: These are the most padded knee pads I’ve ever seen in a basketball photo (with thanks to Randy Miller). … The Flames have added a memorial helmet decal, in memory of owner Daryl (Doc) Seama. Details here (with thanks to Gibby Davis). … Here’s a doozy: members of the Houston Oilers playing basketball. “Love those uniforms!” says Glenn Stern, who found the photo on a friend’s Facebook album. “I think the Cowboys did this kind of thing in the off season too, as late as the mid-’90s.” Glenn also sent along a link to this Oilers fight song, which refers to Dan Pastorini as a “fancy-passin’ dago.” … It’s one thing to get a tattoo of your favorite team’s logo, but how about a logo plus pinstripes? Steve Samuels recently took that shot on a NYC subway. He also got this screen shot of Mike Modano in a post-game interview. “His undershirt has these little rubber dots all over it,” says Steve. “The reporter actually mentioned them and Mike said they help keep his elbow and shoulder pads from sliding around under the sweater.” … Sleeve patch news from Dave Abbuhl, who writes: “Dennis Lehman, Cleveland Indians VP, announced to a group of season ticket holders (I’m one and was there) that the Indians will wear a uniform patch this season in honor of deceased former player and broadcaster Herb Score.” … Awesome display of old cereal box designs here with thanks to Chad Todd). … Very nice flocked helmet on Duke Snider (with thanks to Cliff Corcoran). … The Rays have officially unveiled the alternate jersey that everyone already knew about. … According to this story, the sunburst on this jersey’s insignia is 40% larger than the one on the home and road jerseys, so maybe we should call it the supernova design. Or maybe we should just say, “Navy-on-navy is really horseshit idea” and leave it at that. … Here’s a really nice view of Indiana State’s Bird-era throwbacks (with thanks to Mike Williams). … Jack Bulger was watching the Georgia Tech game last night and noticed that Nick Foreman’s NOB lettering is smaller than that of his teammates. … “Soccer players are known for swapping jerseys after the game in a show of respect and sportsmanship,” says Greg Riffenburgh, “but I’ve never seen it done at halftime. Bet it gives the equipment managers a headache.” … You know how Terry Proctor is always talking about his old days working for Ruby’s Sporting Goods? Here’s a great old Rochester Amerks jersey with a Ruby’s label. … Lots of good stuff in today’s New York Times, including articles on the last Cardinals team to win an NFL championship, the 1948 championship game, which was played in a blizzard, and the Steagles, plus Tyler Kepner’s take on that crummy new Mets patch. … Speaking of which, would it have been so hard for the Mets to have done something like this? Those were designed by David Dolinsky. … Jeremy Brahm reports that the reigning fashion plate of the table tennis world, Naomi Yotsumoto, is at it again. Her theme for her outfits this year is “human emotions” — this one is pleasure, and this one is anger. … Also from Jeremy: If you’re afraid to bunt because you’re worried about your top hand getting hit by the pitch, Asics has come up with a hand guard. Might cut down on the element of surprise just slightly, though. … Still more from Jeremy: Under Armour has just reached an agreement to outfit Omiya Ardija — a soccer team in the J-League — with their uniforms. … Be seeing you, Number Six — RIP.
Last fall I ran a rundown of old uni-related New York Times articles, which made it clear that uniform coverage was alive and well decades before the advent of Uni Watch. Now Doug Mooney, who did the archival research for that piece, has come up with a bunch of additional old articles from a variety of newspaper sources. There’s some great stuff in this batch — here’s a chronological breakdown:
• October 18, 1931, The New York Times, John Kieran’s “Sports of the Times” column: This column is a hodgepodge of disparate items, the first of which is about the Army football team’s uniforms (the practice unis were heavier than the game-day attire, so the team would feel lighter and faster) and footwear. Details here.
• January 24, 1937, The New York Times, “First Basketball Game of 1892 to Be Reproduced at the Garden”: Could this have been the first throwback game? The story describes plans to celebrate basketball’s 45th anniversary by staging a re-enactment of the first game ever played. According to the article, “The players will be garbed just as they were first that first game — turtle-neck sweaters, handle-bar mustaches, shin guards and the like, while peach baskets will serve as the targets.” Full text here.
• July 30, 1943, The Sheboygan Press, “Sports Uniforms of Nylon Will Be Used After War”: Nylon was hard to come by during World War II, because most of it was reserved for making parachutes, tents, ropes, and other military provisions. In this article, the DuPont company, which developed nylon, forecasts that the material will become common in sports uniforms once the war is over — a prediction that turned out to be correct.
• December 14, 1946, The New York Times, “Expanding Demand Seen for Uniforms”: This article describes a speech given at the annual dinner of the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers (could someone please build me a time machine, so I can attend?), where an industry executive predicted that uniforms would gain great prominence in coming years. He was mostly talking about service uniforms, for repairmen and the like, not sports unis, but it’s still pretty interesting. Look here.
• August 30, 1959, The New York Times, Letter to the Editor: Hilarious letter from a recent immigrant who “[can't] help wondering why the umpires are forced to carry out their respective duties dressed in black suits that look heavy, uncomfortable and — pardon me — somewhat silly in the grueling heat of a three-hour game.” It would be another decade before umps stopped wearing neckties, and much longer before the letter-writer’s suggestion (”a lightweight, loose-weave shirt and summer slacks”) became the standard that we now see today. Full text of the letter is here.
• January 11, 1961, Ironwood Daily Globe, “Tigers Change Uniform Style”: We’ve discussed several times how the Cardinals’ birds-on-the-bat logo took a one-year hiatus in 1956. A similar situation unfolded in Detroit in 1960, when the Tigers replaced their old English “D” with a “Tigers” insignia. That experiment lasted only one year, and this article describes the move back to the “D” logo. Look here.
• July 30, 1972, The Odessa American, “Bellard Here to Charge Aggie Batteries”: This article is about Emory Ballard, then the new football coach at Texas A&M. Amidst lots of other Aggie chatter, there are two paragraphs devoted to the team’s new uniforms, including news that the team would be wearing white helmets, because “maroon is a hard color to duplicate.” Full text here.
• February 7, 1973, Sheboygan Press, “Football Uniforms Fashion Items”: Fun article about the latest in “modern” football attire. Key quote: “Striped kneesocks are big, and so are terrycloth wrist bands, originally intended to just soak up sweat.” Full amusing details here.
• February 5, 1974, Winnipeg Free Press, “Als Will Try Popular Colors”: Really interesting article about how the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes planned to switch their color scheme to red, white, and blue, because that’s what the city’s more popular teams — the Canadiens and Expos — were wearing. Kind of amazing to think that the Expos were more popular than, uh, anything. Also discussed in the article: the Als’ new logo (apparently this one). Full text here.
My continued thanks to Doug for all his great archival research.
Seattle Update: Next week’s Uni Watch gathering in Seattle will take place on Friday, March 14th, 7:30pm, at the Pyramid Alehouse. Looking forward to meeting lots of you there.
In other administrative news, you may have noticed that we have a new advertiser at the top of the page: Black Fives. In what I consider to be very classy move, Black Fives prexy Claude Johnson has configured the ad to link to the company’s home page, not to its merch page, so he’s looking to spread awareness, not just to sell stuff (although he’s certainly got plenty of stuff to sell). Claude’s Black Fives blog is a consistently good read, and I’ve been very impressed by my interactions with him. He’s documenting an important and overlooked chapter in sports history, and I hope more people will get hip to what he’s doing.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Brett Favre tribute-a-thon has spun so far out of control that I’m half-expecting the Packers to be wearing a memorial patch for him next season. … Fun rumination on NFL typography here … A Cleveland inventor has come up with a visor designed to keep your eyes focused on the rim, not on the ball. Details here, and the inventor’s site is here (thanks, Vince). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Is a Colts soap dispenser the one thing that’s really been missing from your life? Then the NFL Hardlines VI Trade Show is for you. Details here, and there’s a photo gallery of dubious products here. … Stirrups alert from Yankees camp: Ian Kennedy. … Speaking of the Yankees, they played a navy-vs.-navy game against the Twins yesterday, while the Rockies and Chisox went black vs. black. … If you don’t like mandatory helmets for baseball coaches, you might not like this either (with thanks to Ryan Connelly). … “I received an e-mail today telling me I could order a commemorative jersey for the 20th anniversary of the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA),” writes David Ballenger. “I don’t even know where to start with this horrid design. How long do you have to be riding directly behind someone to have the time to read a paragraph on the back?” … Good video here on the Canadiens’ equipment manager and arena staff. Only catch: It’s in French. Still, there’s some pretty cool visual footage (with thanks to Jean Gagnier). … align=”right” padding-left=”10px” FREE!: this and this. Naturally, I approve of all the green, although I kinda miss the silver. Additional details here and here. … This year’s MLB undershirt template from Nike will apparently look like this. … According to this page, “[Tiger] Woods donned a batting helmet and Braves jersey (tucked into shorts) and stepped into the batter’s box when [John] Smoltz threw three simulated innings at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.” No word on whether Woods insisted on a swoosh-emblazoned helmet. … Nick Waters took some photos of Georgetown’s new SOD uni (additional pics here). “Not sure if they’ll debut them on Saturday or at the Big East Tournament next week,” he writes. … Minna H. reports that the Minnesota high school state hockey tourney is underway, with plenty of interesting uni designs. There’s a full gallery here. … Yee-IKES (horrifying find by David Sonny). … Shorpy continues to delivery the goods. Note the lack of uni numbers and the ump’s backwards cap. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Yankees’ official retired numbers page shows Yogi Berra wearing a Mets cap (which of course pleases me no end).
Very uni-unusual day in college football on Saturday, with all sorts of anomalies running rampant on the gridiron. Let’s start with Notre Dame’s 1977 throwbacks. Personally, I prefer this green-and-gold combo better than the one they wore on Saturday. But oh, those sock stripes — you know I loved those, although it was distressing to see how many players left their socks at ankle-level.
A sampling of other uni observations from Saturday:
• Oregon went solid white, which looked kinda chalky. Better than their usual visual carnival, natch, but the green helmet was the one really good component of this uniform — here’s hoping they go back to it next week.
• Florida wore a memorial decal for walk-on defensive back Michael Guilford, who died in a motorcycle accident last week (and whose nickname was Sunshine).
• Florida State wore a red “BV” helmet decal in honor of team videographer and cancer victim Billy Vasini, who’s currently in hospice care.
• No photo, but Vince says Michigan State’s Peter Clifford “pulled an L.T. and wasn’t wearing an American flag decal on his helmet” (a handy coincidence, since the Chargers had a bye this week, so we all might’ve gone through missing-decal withdrawal if not for Clifford).
• Graham McCulloch says that Michigan’s Mario Manningham’s surname was direct-sewn onto his jersey, instead of being on separate nameplate. I couldn’t find a good rear-view shot of Manningham, although this photo suggests that the lettering may indeed have been direct-sewn. If so, it would mark a change from how Manningham’s name has been applied in the past.
Intern Update: In case you missed it last week, Vince will soon be moving on to greener pastures, so I’m in the market for a new intern. For further details, scroll down to the “Help Wanted” section of last Wednesday’s post.
For those of you who’ve already applied, hang tight. I can’t acknowledge everyone, but I’ll be getting in touch with a handful of finalists soon. And my sincere thanks to all applicants — it’s humbling to see how many people want to work on Uni Watch.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Iowa State’s official logo specs and identity standards are available for viewing in this PDF file (with thanks to Brian Castile). … Andrew Flynn was recently at the Packers Hall of Fame, where he snapped a shot of the team’s 1962 yearbook cover. Obviously, they tinted those facemasks in the photo (colored facemasks didn’t debut until over a decade later, with the 1974 Chargers), although it’s hard to fathom why they would’ve done that. … Always good to start ’em young (good find by Jay Kuperstein). … Mike Orr noticed a bunch of interesting South Carolina high school football quirks over the weekend: (1) Chester High uses some really big-ass rear helmet numbers. (2) One of the Chester players has a helmet number that doesn’t match his jersey. (3) Lugoff-Elgin uses the biggest TV numbers I’ve ever seen. (4) The Lugoff-Elgin QB is apparently a Sean Taylor fan. … Victory Pennants prexy Morris Levin just scored this excellent postcard showing the Phillies’ uniform history (here’s the other side). Interestingly, the player images on the front of card are also used on the Phils’ web site. … If Curt Schilling’s gonna insist on wearing a Cool Base jersey, could he at least stop saluting the crowd, so we wouldn’t have to look at that stupid underarm mesh insert? … Good article here on the NFL’s latest uniform cop. … Dave Madison says Kevin Youkilis had the Majestic wordmark — instead of just the Majestic logo — on the left sleeve of his road jersey during Games 4 and 5 of the ALCS, suggesting that he might have been wearing a replica jersey. I don’t see any wordmark here, here, here, or here, but it does look like he might have had a wordmark under the logo here. I’m trying to get that photo enlarged so we can get a better look. … I reported lat week that Wisconsin would be wearing this throwback outfit on December 3rd, but the auction for the unis is already underway (with thanks to Nicole Haase). … Mark Coale reports that the Hershey Bears wore 70th-anniversary sweaters on Saturday. A nice idea, except the crest looked like a glorified sleeve patch. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Adalius Thomas has been wearing one red glove and one blue. Additional views here and here. … I don’t care how many field goals you kick — this is still a really bad look. … The Devil Rays’ uni-unveiling event is gonna be a real, um, barn-burner (as noted by Morris Levin). … Dave Eskenazi, who’s contributed many Pacific northwestern baseball pics in the past, has now provided some gorgeous old hockey photos from that same region, as seen in these shots of the Portland Rosebuds, Seattle Metropolitans, Victoria Aristocrats, and Vancouver Millionaires. That’s Lester Patrick — “Yes, that Lester Patrick,” as Eskinazi puts it — here. … The Saskatchewan Roughriders wore throwbacks yesterday (with thanks to Garry Sum). … Two weeks ago I reported that the Wisconsin women’s hockey team was using this design. What I hadn’t noticed in that photo — but what Andy Seeger has now pointed out — is that the “C” and “A” designations are stacked under the uni numbers, which looks awful-and-a-half. … Matthew Lepke notes that Bryce Salvador is wearing Blues-branded boot protectors. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Broncos’ socks are supposed to have just a thin band of orange between the navy and white areas, but Brandon Marshall apparently wore navy leggings and white sanitaries with orange tape in between (additional pics here, here, and here, and the tape he uses is probably something like this). … And we conclude with a nice little video report on USC’s equipment staff (as provided by Ryan Whitacre):
By Vince Grzegorek
While tattoos were once the domain of sailors and ne’er do wells, you’re now likely to see a tattooed bride or altar boy. — Rachel Weingarten
The stigma of tattoos has been mellowed in the last ten to twenty years, especially in the world of sports. Everyone from swimmers to female boxers seem to have a little something inked somewhere on their bodies, and arms, legs, neck, hands, and even faces get decorated on a regular basis. Tattoos in certain places might still be taboo in mainstream society and might be a barrier to employment in certain sectors, but certainly that kind of corporate, buttoned-down mentality wouldn’t apply to our freewheeling athletes, would it?
Actually, it does, because many leagues consider tattoos to be part of the uniform. In fact, in many sports tattoos are covered in collective bargaining agreements, league committees, and official rulebooks. Take Major League Baseball, which, like the Marines, frowns upon “sleeve” tattoos. Justin Miller of the Florida Marlins (the same guy who has “I [heart] Billy Koch” tattooed on his rear end) has been told to wear long sleeves while pitching because his many tattoos could distract the batter. His response: “For me, my left arm shouldn’t even be counted as a distraction. It’s not part of my uniform, it’s part of me.”
Joel Zumaya and Felipe Lopez usually wear at least semi-long sleeves while playing, although it’s not clear whether they do so based on a higher directive from MLB to cover their arm tattoos (Zumaya, Lopez, Lopez again), or because they just enjoy that style.
As with most things in sports, sponsorship, advertising. and money come into the equation as well. Mike Juhasz of the Calgary Stampeders was told by his coach to cover his Nike swoosh tattoo since Nike was a competing sponsor of the league. One has to wonder if something similar would have to be done if this young man ever made it to the NBA. (Incidentally, LeBron James had to coverhistattoos while playing during high school.)
You wouldn’t think tattoos would be a huge deal in the world of auto racing, right? But Kimi Raikkonen took some heat for a tattoo of a little sun he got on his wrist. Nothing much came of it, but the media fixated on the topic, and Ferrari boss Jean Todt finally said that if a sponsor was that upset about the tattoo then they would just change sponsors.
Then there’s the strange world of temporary tattoo advertising, which has grown into the even stranger world of real tattoo advertising — and which, of course, got its start in sports. Bernard Hopkins collected an extra $100,000 paycheck for putting a GoldenPalace.com temporary tattoo on his back during his 2001 bout against Felix Trinidad, and soon the boxing world was up in arms about the prospect of fighters dancing around the squared circle like sweaty billboards. (Temporary tattoos in the ring were eventually banned since they could be a distraction to the judges and because the ink could come off and get in the opponent’s eye.)
Soon, the juggernaut of sports marketing jumped on board and a New York man planned to ambush the NBA with selected players wearing temporary tattoo advertisements during three selected games in 2001. After hearing about the plan, the NBA quickly put an end to the plans while threatening fines and suspensions. Rasheed Wallace also considered wearing a temporary tattoo for a candy company but eventually backed out because he “didn’t want to use his body as a billboard.” I’m sure it had nothing to do with David Stern at all. Really. The league maintains that players are not allowed to wear any stray corporate insignia on any parts of their bodies, which are considered part of the uniform.
One of the few places that temporary tattoo advertising has survived is in beach volleyball, where players can often be seen wearing multiple corporate logos while diving around in the sand. Having concentrated on, um, other aspects of women’s beach volleyball, it didn’t occur to me until lately that they were wearing temporary tattoos on their arms. Having not watched any men’s volleyball, I had to do a quick search just to make sure that they were taking part in the “Body For Sale” trend as well.
Tangential Bonus Material: Don’t forget, these are wonderful Father’s Day gifts… Bet you didn’t know that Sean Salisbury has/had a “No Fear” tattoo on his ankle (bottom of page)… Check out this article for all the legal ramifications of NBA players wearing temporary tattoo advertising… Many Japanese sports clubs forbid tattoos altogether because they are associated with gangsters, but they tend to let them slide if they are not visible to the other members… According to a very informal survey, the Harley-Davidson logo is the most popular trademark tattoo on the west coast. For more tidbits about logos and tattoos read this… Still interested in NBA players and temporary tattoo advertisements? Listen to this NPR interview from 2001… Sweet looking American flag tattoo on some player in the upcoming video game The Bigs… Here’s a transcript from an Outside the Lines episode where they discussed tattoo advertising… Gallery of athletes and their tattoos here… Another gallery of athletes and their tattoos here (6 and 10 are personal favorites).
You know about Jackie Robinson. You know about Satchel Paige. And after the last two weeks, you sure as hell know about Michael Richards. (In case you’ve been under a very large rock, the video clip that’s the source of that particular fuss is available here.) What you probably don’t know about — and what nothing can really prepare you for, so I won’t even try — is this.
That photo is the front side of a postcard, which Uni Watch auction consultant David Brown discovered for sale on eBay. According to the seller, it dates from somewhere between 1904 and 1918, and this appears to be borne out by the jerseys’ pointed collars and other details (although the catcher’s chest protector, with its large panels of padding, looks surprisingly modern).
Phony? Photoshop? Probably not. This 2003 article, part of which is quoted in the eBay listing, says there’s a Nigger Island in Maryland (it’s now technically known as Negro Island), and there used to be another one in Ontario. Such place names were once common, and many of them have endured. According to that same article, America still had at least 144 “Nigger”-identified places in 2003. The controversy surrounding one of them — a Kentucky road called Nigger Fork — is discussed in this 1995 article.
And there’s more. Nigger Island is also the setting for Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (no word on whether they had a baseball team), considered by many to be her finest mystery novel, although most recent editions have changed the reference to Indian Island. In fact, the book’s original UK title was Ten Little Niggers (some editions with this title can be seen here and here), after the nursery rhyme we know today as “Ten Little Indians.”
As for the uniforms, there’s an irony — or at least a few shades of complexity — in the sight of an all-white team wearing Nigger Island jerseys. Like, what was the team’s full name, the Nigger Island Caucasians? Did other white teams mock them for wearing “Nigger” on their chests? Or were they proud to wear a racist epithet? Did any of them grow up to play for the old minor league Atlanta Crackers? One thing’s for sure: None of them played for the Crackers’ Negro League counterparts, the paradoxically named Atlanta Black Crackers.
What a mess. I already knew baseball and dysfunctional race relations were both quintessentially American, but I hadn’t thought about them intersecting quite like this before today. And as reader Austin Gray points out, the best commentary may be contained within the photo itself, where one of the guys in the back row has “ISLAND” misspelled as “ILSAND.” A subtle bit of subversion, or a textbook case of stupid is as stupid does? You be the judge.
I trust everyone will keep today’s comments intelligent, rational, and on topic, right? Right.
Contest Update: Thanks and congrats to everyone who entered the Distant Replays $200 gift card quiz/raffle, from Don Norwood, who submitted his entry barely an hour after the quiz was posted last Thursday, to Edward Ra, who clicked “Send” about 90 seconds before last night’s 11pm deadline. (Those who submitted after the deadline — you know who you are — will be entered into the drawing for the wild card berth but will not be eligible for the scoring-based finalist spots.)
A small battalion of trained lemurs is scoring the entries at this very moment (I tried to get chimps but they were too expensive). We should be ready to announce the 11 finalists tomorrow, as long as I don’t run out of Lemur Chow™. Hang tight till then.
Uni Watch News Ticker: That same eBay postcard seller also has this gorgeous 1906 shot — full listing here. … Yesterday’s pics of Marko Jaric’s backwards jersey prompted this recollection from Adam Ross: “Ala Abdelnaby never played when he was with the Blazers in 1992, so it was kind of a big deal when coach Rick Adelman motioned for him to get off the bench one time late in a blowout — except when he took off his warm-up jacket there was nothing on underneath. This led to the strange scene of a topless Ala running into the locker room to retrieve his jersey. He never did get in that night.” … More advertising apparently in store for soccer jerseys. … You can just barely see Hunter Hillenmeyer’s latest torn “C” decal here. … The BC Lions’ orange postseason helmets are up for auction (with thanks to Sheldon Spencer). … All our recent chatter about NFL officials’ garb prompted this hard-line observation from Ben Matthias: “I think it should be noted that the NFL officials don’t follow any protocol on what other accessories can be worn with their uniforms. In the ACC, for example (and in many other D-1 conferences), all members of a crew must wear gloves or nobody does. Same with earmuffs, hand warmers, etc. The NFL is lax on that rule. I think it makes the officiating crew stand out more (in a bad way) when each guy wears different things.” That seems a bit harsh to me. If only one guy wants to wear gloves, let him. … “The secretary where I work brought her high school yearbook to work the other day and I thought I’d take a look at the sports uniforms,” writes Chris Lemley. “It turns out that she graduated from Michigan’s Iron Mountain High School, the alma mater of the pride of the Upper Peninsula, Tom Izzo and Steve Mariucci.” Take a look here and here. … Xavier will be wearing throwbacks tonight (with thanks to Andy Ingram). … Several readers have noted that Seahawks kicker Josh Brown had his earholes covered in Sunday night’s game. I’m assuming he did this for warmth, not to drown out the crowd noise (especially since his earholes have been unobstructed in other road games). … In other placekicker news, Jason Brown notes that Martin Gramatica was wearing his wedding band on Sunday, as you can just barely see here, here, and here.
A really good book has just been published: Matthew Algeo’s Last Team Standing, which chronicles an odd chapter in NFL history: the temporary merger of the Steelers and Eagles (thereby creating the “Steagles”), which took place in 1943 due to manpower shortages caused by World War II.
Although not a uniform book per se, the book features lots of great uni-centric moments. Here are some highlights:
Page 21: “Fed up with sloppy uniforms, [NFL commish Elmer Layden] ordered players to wear knee-high socks, a curious preoccupation with hosiery that persists in the league to this day. (College palyers are permitted to wear their socks at their ankles if they choose.) Another of Layden’s sartorial innovations: He ordered game officials to wear color-coded striped shirts. Referees wore black and white, umpires red and white, linesmen orange and white, and field judges green and white. One official ridiculed the dress code as a ‘circus on parade.’”
Page 33: “[In 1943] the owners also voted to make helmets mandatory for the first time. … Not that the leather helmets then in use afforded much protection. Concussions were a common injury. In 1939 the John T. Riddell Company had patented a new plastic helmet that was lighter and stronger than leather (and it didn’t get moldy when wet, either). But plastic was needed for the war effort, so players were stuck with the high-crowned leather headgear. … Facemasks were practically nonexistent. Ted Doyle may have been the only player in the league wearing one. ‘I had a cap put on my tooth and didn’t want to have to replace it, so I had them put a nose guard on my helmet,’ Doyle explained.”
Page 50: “Finally, there was the prickly issue of uniforms. Eagles owner Lex Thompson would not allow his players to wear anything other than the team’s usual colors of kelly green and white. [Steelers owners Bert] Bell and [Art] Rooney wanted the team to wear the Steelers’ black and gold jerseys, at least when it played in Pittsburgh. In the end, Thompson won out. The team would wear Eagles jerseys for every game. Bell and Rooney probably gave in because it would have been too costly to clean and maintain two sets of uniforms all season anyway.”
Page 123: “[Due to the war] it was almost impossible to get the uniforms cleaned, since laundry services were inundated with military business. After his first day at training camp, tackle Al Wistert handed his sweat-soaked jersey and pants to the Eagles’ trainer, Fred Schubach. ‘We can’t get laundry service,’ Schubach barked. ‘Wear that stuff a while!’ Wistert took his uniform back home to his wife Ellie, who cleaned it in the tub.”
Page 155: “[During a game against the Redskins] Steagles guard Rocco Canale broke through the Washington line and ripped [Sammy] Baugh’s burgundy No. 33 jersey of his back — twice. (The jerseys were made of tightly woven wool and did not tear easily.) Baugh played much of the first half in tatters, his left arm exposed to the shoulder and his white undershirt visible on his back.”
And of course the book also features plenty of excellent non-uni material. The only downer is that there are very few photos. But the ones that are included are really cool. Highly recommended.
Garden Party:These people are having fun. Wouldn’t you like to be more like them? And you could have been, if you’d attended yesterday’s BBQ at Uni Watch Gardens (i.e., my back yard). Among the highlights:
• Jon Springer, who runs the excellent Mets by the Numbers site, is the subject of the next Uni Watch Profiles interview, which should be published later this week.
• Here’s Superba Graphics prexy and Uni Watch logo designer Scott M.X. Turner and his wife, the lovely and talented Diane George.
• Mike from Queens has been posting lots of comments lately, but he tore himself away from the blog long enough to come out for the party. So did frequent contributor Marc Beck.
• This is Uni Watch librarian Carrie Klein, who did a better job of keeping her eye on the camera than I did.
• Last but not least, here’s a really crummy photo of the deeeeelicious smoked chicken I made, and what was left of it 10 seconds later.
It was great to see these folks, most of them for the first time. Thanks to all who attended.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Good catch by Anne Tynan, who notes that Colorado State’s Gartrell Johnson III had something written on his finger tape last Saturday. “My guess is that it’s a tribute to injured star running back Kyle Bell, for whom Johnson is filling in,” she writes. “No word on whether he has the roman numerals on his nameplate.” … Diacritical alert from Thomas Courtman, who sent along the Wikipedia entry for Brazilian footballer Kaká: “The nickname Kaká from his native Portuguese, is pronounced as it is spelled. The accent would signify that the stress is on the second syllable. In Italian, the language of his current club team, the phonetic equivalent is written as Kaká. However, the [name appearing on his shirt] is KAKA’ (with an apostrophe, rather than an accented ‘A’) for both his club in Milan and in the past for the Brazilian national team. In the World Cup 2006, the back of his shirt read KAKÃ.” I hereby beg everyone to please avoid all the obvious scatological jokes here. … More diacriticals, from the FIBA World Basketball Championship (courtesy of the ever-alert Jeremy Brahm): look here, here, here, and here. … More FIBA observations from Brahm: It looks like several of these players are wearing NBA socks; check out the crazy New Zealand outfits (with inconsistent shoe colors!); a Nigerian player had no name on his jersey in one game, and then his name magically appeared later on. … And still another Brahm catch: The Hamilton Tiger-Cats wore and auctioned off special white helmets yesterday (instead of their usual black), but that’s Canadian football, so nobody cares. … Mike Coles, of the Northern League’s Gary Southshore RailCats, was sporting some major pants rippage the other day (with thanks to Jeremy Bra– no, wait, this one’s from Mike Alper). … Not really uni-related, but close: U. of Florida had to call off a T-shirt promotion because the roman numerals on the shirt added up to 26, not 2006. Full details here (gold star for Shirl Kennedy).
By Phil Hecken with 13th Man, and UW Hockey Wing President, Teebz
SACRAMENTO GOLD MINERS: Sacramento joined the West Division for the 1993 season, and finished a respectable 6-12 as an “expansion” team. Quarterback David Archer, slotback Rod Harris and defensive tackle George Bethune all jumped from the WLAF to the CFL to give the Gold Miners a decent pool of talent to work with. The team was coached by Kay Stephenson, and Tom Huiskens occupied the General Manager’s chair. However, learning the Canadian game proved to be a little tougher than they had imagined, but their six wins was indicative of the improvements being made by the Gold Miners as the season progressed. Their jerseys were solid, but unspectacular.
The Posse actually started the 1994 campaign 2-0 with wins over the Sacramento Gold Miners and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. July 8, 1994 was a memorable day as the game between the Gold Miners and Posse marked the first time that two US-based teams played a regular-season CFL game. However, by mid-season, this team was suffering mightily. Sam Boyd Stadium was located a long way from downtown Las Vegas, and fans stopped making the trip once the Posse started losing. In a game against Winnipeg, a total of 2350 fans were in attendance, and most were fans of the Blue Bombers. Needless to say, the experiment in Las Vegas was failing miserably. Players complained about playing in ridiculous heat, and there was concern raised about player safety by the CFLPA. The Posse’s final home game was moved from Las Vegas to Edmonton – a sign that the CFL was done Vegas.
The Mad Dogs lost their first two games of the 1995 season before defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders by an 11-5 score at home for their first franchise victory. They ended up .500 for the season with a 9-9 record, but that wasn’t good enough for a playoff spot. The team was contracted at the end of the 1995 season as the CFL ended the US experiment.
Teamed up again with my doubles partner, Brinke Guthrie, who’s here to say a few words about this morning’s Wimbledon Gentleman’s Final. We both think Fed’s going to win, in straights, but I’m predicting a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 win, whereas Brinke feels it’s going to be The Fed: 4, 4 & 4. Here’s Brinke:
