The great thing about Monday Night Football is, uh… wait, it’ll come to me. Oh! The great thing about Monday Night Football is that it allows the entire country to see what local fans have been seeing all along. Case in point: Until last night, I didn’t realize that Packers coach Mike McCarthy liked to keep a Sharpie hanging from the back of his cap. But I sure know it now, because eight or nine readers sent me screen grabs of it.

Had McCarthy been doing this all along and we just hadn’t noticed? I did some quick research and discovered that the answer is yes, yes, a thousand times yes, as you can see to varying degrees in these photos. But in those shots, he appears to have clipped the pen to the adjusta-strap, while last night it looked like he had a little bonus pen-holder loop custom-sewn onto the cap. How functionally specific is that?!

All of which raises several points of concern:

• Who sewed the little loop onto the cap — Reebok? The Packers’ team seamstress? The backup QB?

• Why the hell would anyone wear a pen in his cap anyway? Seems like an awkward arrangement at best, sort of like Belichick keeping the red challenge flag in his sock. Someone might want to inform these coaches of a new invention called pockets.

• Is more than one coach at a time allowed to wear a pen in his cap? Is the pen-equipped cap marked with a special green decal?

Meanwhile, note that McCarthy wore a blue Sharpie and a red Sharpie last night, but never a pink Sharpie. Why does Mike McCarthy hate breast cancer research?

(Thanks to everyone who contributed screen shots, esp. Steve Beard, Michael Kinney, and Bill Blevins.)

Little records with big holes, continued: I’ve put a bunch more indie 45s up for sale on eBay, and I’ll be adding a coupla more later in the week. Bid early and often, etc.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Hershey Bears wore Calder Cup champions jerseys on Sunday, which seems a little in-your-face, no? (As spotted by Denis Kirstein.) … Really interesting 1913 football team portrait here. The shoulder pads appear to be sewn into the jerseys! Never seen that before (with thanks to John Weghorst, who also pointed me toward this awesome shot of the 1919 Potomac Boat Club and maybe the coolest lifeguard photo ever). … Hey, check out this odd shot of Nicky Fotiu, wearing what appears to be a hybrid of the Rangers’ mid-’70s pants and socks and their standard jersey. “My guess it’s one of those 1976 pre-season ‘don’t want to show the folks the new unis yet’ games,” says Joe DeAngelis. … If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll see that this term’s Supreme Court docket includes a case with interesting sports merchandising implications (big thanks to Jeff Fishman). … The FAMU Rattlers go with TNOB (with thanks to Shaun Tunick). … Tim Burke notes that Ohio University went NNOB on Saturday — weird, since they had NOBs the week before. … Check this out: the Korean flag, made out of sushi. Additional food-based national flags here (nice find by Kirsten). … Today’s Twins/Tigers game has its own logo. … OK, so you’ve seen all the Snickers ads with the cutesy phrases in the Snickers design motif. The point, of course, is that the Snickers logo is instantly identifiable, no matter what the letters are. All of which is particularly interesting in light of this analgesic product. … Think things can’t get any worse for the Rams? You’re right! Wait, no, you’re wrong. … The Dolphins’ orange jerseys are being revived (with thanks to Ted Hill). … Very cool shot of the NLDS logo being applied to the grass in Philly (big thanks to Nicole Haase). … Yet another weird college football NOB. “That’s T-Bob Hebert, LSU’s starting center,” explains Derek Ponamsky. “His dad is Bobby Hebert, who played in the NFL. There are no other Heberts on LSU’s roster, which makes this NOB even better.” Um, yes, “better,” okay. … The Cavs shot a bunch of media pics yesterday, providing the first look at their 40th-anniversary patch. I’ll have more to say about this and other NBA news later this week. … Whoa, guess I won’t be writing for Gourmet again. … Speaking of the fast-changing media world, bloggers are now being required to reveal any connections with stealth advertisers or freebie providers, so I’d like to go on record here and disclose that I’ve been on the Nike payroll all along and am actually the guy who designed all of Oregon’s recent uniforms. What can I say, uni news was slow and I need to spice things up. The only problem now is, what do I do with all these Air Jordans they gave me?

Uni Watch’s Highest Rating: If you’re a Tony Millionaire fan (and if you’re not, you really need to do something about that), his new monograph is absolutely essential. It features tons of beautiful drawings from all phases of his career, tragi-comic background stories, and magnificent production values all the way through. An absolute bargain at Amazon’s discounted price of $26, with free shipping. Don’t miss.

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 only caught the last few minutes of the Hall of Fame Game last night. Fortunately, thanks to the magic of internet photo galleries, I can bring you the uni-related highlights anyway:

• In recent weeks, it had looked like the Bills were gonna go with this pants stripe pattern. But they ended up going with this instead.

• The Titans’ much-discussed Steve McNair memorial decal is innocuous enough. And Tennessee’s coaching staff wore memorial collar pins.

• Take another look at that helmet photo. Notice anything? No NFL logo! In fact, the NFL shield was absent from both teams’ helmets. That’s nothing new for the Bills, whose throwback helmets have been shield-free for years now. It’ll be interesting to see if the Titans — and/or other teams partaking in the AFL throwback series — continue to eschew the league logo.

• Now go back to that Jeff Fisher shot. See how the logo on his shirt is all faded? That’s not a glitch — both coaching staff wore shirts with “distressed” emblems. I hate that faux-vintage approach (if you want a beat-up old Bills shirt, spend some time in thrift stores like I do), but I do find it interesting that they’d use that look for the coaches — a much more casual look than the usual coaching attire.

• The officials looked so damn great. A few people in last night’s comments were griping about the socks or the uni numbers not being fully accurate, but AFL officials had a wide range of looks over the years — they didn’t have just one standardized number font, e.g. I’m perfectly fine with how they’ve handled this.

• The red gloves that were worn by members of both teams reeeaaaally don’t belong in a throwback game.

• Bills owner Ralph Wilson wore his Hall of Fame blazer. But hey, Ralph, we gotta talk about those sneakers.

I’m sure there was a whole lot more that I missed, but I was busy catching the world debut of the Pedestrians. More on that later. For now, enjoy the onset of football season try not to melt today.

Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling off 10 free copies of Bill Henderson’s amazing MLB jersey guide. To enter, send an e-mail to the raffle address by 7pm tomorrow. One entry per person, except for Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees, who can send four separate entries. I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday.

Research Project: We’ve all long lamented the fact that there’s no online database for NBA uniform history. Now reader Chuck Myron wants to do something about that. He’s willing to do the archival research, but he’ll need help creating the illustration templates and the web site itself. If you’re interested in helping him out, contact him here. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Some guy on eBay is selling some really great baseball-themed Cuban pin-up posters. I just bought this one, and there are additional examples here, here, here, here, and here. … Bizarre coincidence: In last week’s ESPN column, I mentioned that I’d met a collector named Michael Ono, who’s been collecting USC alum autographs. Got a note from him on Friday, thanking me for including him in the column, with a twist: Turns out that he’s been the creative services manager for the A’s for nearly a decade (”I thought I was the only one who knew about the various discrepancies in our logo,” he says) and even designed their 40th-anniversary patch last year. So when I interviewed him at the convention, I was talking to a professional logo guy and didn’t even realize it. Small world and all that. … Red Sox third base coach DeMarlo Hale appears to be wearing the same flapless Wilson helmet design worn by A.J. Pierzynski (good spot by Andy Chalifour). … New logo for GW hoops (with thanks to Dan Franko). … Whoa, check this out: a black Ohio State hoops uni. The design was never worn on the court (thankfully), but it’s still interesting (with thanks to Dylan Glickman). … Small change for Iowa football, where the chest wordmark has been replaced by a collar logo (with thanks to Matthew Nelson). … The Raiders have posted a bunch of archival photos, many of them spectacular, on their web site. Check out image No. 9 and you’ll see them playing against a decal-less Broncos team. Preseaon, perhaps? (Major thanks to Mako Mameli.) … Didn’t know AT&T Park had a Giants uni display until Brinke Guthrie sent me these pics. … I might actually watch soccer if it was played by kangaroos. That’s the logo for the bidding for the 2018-2022 World Cups in Australia (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Those Adidas college football practice jerseys, first seen on Tennessee, are also being worn by other schools, including Notre Dame, Kansas, and Indiana. … New football uniforms Louisville. In addition to the new striping, Louis Samuels notes that the QBs already have hand-warmer pockets — odd for August, no? … And according to the very last sentence on this page, Pitt will be unveiling new Nike uniforms today (with thanks to CJ Giannuzzi). … Here’s a NickNOB. That’s Yuji Nakazawa of the Yokohama F Marinos in the J-League (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Matthew Hiett notes that Braves first base coach Glenn Hubbard still has the 4ALS decal on his helmet. … Lots of good shots of Babe Ruth as a pitcher here (with thanks to Chad Todd). … Scott Little sent a bunch of scans from a Tokyo Giants mag. Among the highlights: a guide to the uniforms worn by the stadium staff at the ballpark and some sort of “design the uni contest” (look here, here, and here). … Also from Scott: Maybe the best “Official [whatever] of the [league]” sponsorship ever and some killer furniture. … Ricko sent me scans of a ticket brochure from the old Minnesota Buckskins of World Team Tennis. “I was league PR director and a minority owner in the Buckskins,” he explains. “I didn’t do the paintings, but I did design the unis and the logo (well, drew the intentionally unisex character and my dad did the lettering, by hand). Note that the women are shown wearing two different colors — brown was to be the road uni. Men’s road would have flip-flopped the brown and gold on the uni shown. All moot, though, cuz the majority owner didn’t wanna pop for the custom unis.” … Super-cool interactive map on old Indiana basketball gyms here (great find by Ben Traxel). … Dr. John C. Barnes notes that UNLV appears to have changed their black helmet stripe to a red stripe. … Mark Teixeira was missing the 2 on his helmet last night (as spotted by Mike Lafferty). … “This watch ad ran in various football game programs, including those at Dartmouth, in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” says Tris Wykes. “It ran with the image reversed year after year, and they failed to correct it. That’s Columbia at Harvard, in case you’re wondering. Interesting that the helmet logos weren’t airbrushed out.” … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Chris Cooley’s latest blog entry is all about uniform fines. … Check out this completely amazing vintage SF Giants apron! It’s available for sale here. … The Cowboys have been engaging in some haircut-based rookie hazing. … The long-rumored new Arizona State jerseys look like this. … Ladies and gentlemen, your new Philadelphia 76ers. … Someone on the Chris Creamer board showed a small scan showing that Broncos-style vertically striped socks were briefly featured in the Wilson catalog.

Time for another bunch of vintage NFL screen shots from reader Steve K., who continues to document unusual uni-related items from the 1970s (if you’ve missed the previous entries featuring his work, they’re here and here). Here we go:

• If you think John Hadl’s NOB looked off-center in this shot (which was featured in one of Steve’s earlier reports), check him out here — yikes.

• Oilers DB Willie Germany wore some white tape stripes on his thighs.

• Note the small type on Emery Moorehead’s NOB, circa 1977. “Only a few Giants had this font that season, including Moorehead and OL Jim Pietrzak,” says Steve. “From 1977-80, the Giants had numerous inconsistencies in their NOB fonts which, I’ll document another time.”

• Alfred Jenkins’s NOB type wasn’t small — it was missing altogether in this 1977 shot.

• Speaking of missing uni elements, here’s Rick Upchurch wearing a blank helmet in 1975 — shocking! But he had a logo-clad helmet in the second half of the same game.

• Meanwhile, here’s Upchurch’s teammate Billy Van Heusen with no space between the two part of his surname.

• On the other end of the spectrum, check out James McAlister’s NOB with a wide space. This appears to have been Philly’s standard style in 1975.

• Speaking of the Eagles, check out the livery on this helicopter — interesting mix of the helmet wing and an eagle’s head.

• Steve has documented several instances of the mid-’70s Chargers NOBs with the first initial coming after the surname, and here’s another one. “That’s little-known OL Booker Brown,” says Steve. “Oddly, there was no other Charger with the surname Brown on the team in 1975.”

• “We all know that the NFL changed the end zone markers from from flags to orange pylons beginning in 1974,” says Steve. “But the Broncos appear to have used striped pylons for this 1975 game against the Eagles.”

• We’ve had plenty of discussion about the inconsistencies in the Dolphins’ numerals over the years, but here’s a particularly glaring example: Check out the TV numbers in this shot.

• 1970s coaching attire was always good for a laugh (especially when the coach in question was Bum Phillips). And even if the coach was dressed conservatively, there was usually someone on the field to remind you which decade you were in.

That’s enough for now. More stuff coming from Steve soon.

Friendly Reminder: If you’ve been uni-tracking a team for Phil, he wants to hear from you asap. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New sleeve patches for Navy. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Althouse and Kevin Whisman, respectively. … Mike Hersh picked up some cool stuff at the National in Cleveland last week, including this awesome 1939 Eagles photo and a great view of some killer Michigan logo socks. … John Moist was vacationing in Philly and spotted a waiter wearing faux stirrups at the Old City Tavern. “They are required to wear white socks,” he says. “I told him about Uni Watch and that this photo may appear. Sorry, didn’t get his name. Also, another waiter had swoosh socks. I did not take his photo.” … Big news from Jeff Ash, who writes: “I am working on a Packers photo history book that may be of interest to uni enthusiasts. Titletown’s Team won’t be out until November, but it will have more of the old Packers photos I’ve posted at the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s web site over the last couple of years. We also will be putting some of that material online.” … I don’t like Nike, but I might make an exception in this case (big thanks to Chad Todd). … Here’s a patch I’d never seen before, because it was never worn on the ice. The Flyers wore it for promo photos after their 1975 Stanley Cup championship. Here’s one more view (nice find by Paul Richard Cook). … Here’s an article about which UK soccer team has the most sponsor patches (with thanks to Craig Sallinger). … Michael Chamberlain is the track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. “In our first race this Saturday, the #2 horse is named Uni. 6-1 odds on the morning line, and I will certainly plan on picking him in my tip sheet and will probably put a couple of bucks on him also to honor the Uni Watch site.” Thanks, Michael! … Small item buried within this guide to NYC museums: “On the second floor of the American Wing [at the Met], there’s an open storage area where art is displayed in glass cases while galleries undergo renovations. There you can admire a fraction of the museum’s thousands of rare baseball cards, donated by electrician Jefferson R. Burdick. (The rest, including a 1909 Honus Wagner valued at more than $2 million, are stored in the archives.) Until 1993, the cards were available for viewing by appointment only: It’s rumored that practice stopped because fanatic card collectors would pocket the valuable ones” (big thanks to Laura Forde). … Coupla good finds on the Chris Creamer board, including a new 50th-anniversary logo for the Lakers, an upcoming white-out for FSU, and new cleats for Matt Hasselbeck. Didn’t he get in trouble a few years back for wearing white shoelaces with black shoes? … NOBs have been restored at Iowa State, which had been NNOB for the past two seasons (with thanks to Chris Andringa). … According to Dressed to the Nines, “In 1895, a number of ballplayers, including future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett, experimented with baseball caps that had green-tinted, transparent bills. The idea was to allow the fielder a better range of view while protecting him from the glare of the sun, but apparently the see-through bills never caught on.” I knew about that. But I didn’t know that a variation on that concept was still being sold in the Sears catalog in 1923 (nice find by David Neuman). … Apparently nobody has told the folks at AFLAC (or at FSN Rocky Mountain) that the Orioles no longer have “Orioles” on their road jersey (with thanks to Matt Hiett). … Tim Burke notes that Rays catcher Michel Hernandez was missing his manta ray sleeve patch last night. … “Does he tear EVERYthing?” asks Brinke Guthrie. … Entertaining survey of high school team logos here (with thanks to Kurt Esposito). … The Titans will wear a Steve McNair memorial decal this season. … Vicente Padilla was sporting the Pedro Padilla Porthole last night (as spotted by Jay Shive). … Paul Getz II notes that the Phillies have stopped wearing their World Series championship sleeve patch. … Can someone please order one of these for Luis Castillo? … There’s a blog devoted to the Arizona Wildcats equipment staff (with thanks to Eric Sing). … Speaking of the Mets, had a great time at Shea yesterday with Phil. Two uni-notable items: (1) Cards catcher Jason LaRue wore navy shinguards with a red chest protector, and (2) Bobby Parnell had been with the Mets all season long without coming up to bat, until the bottom of the 8th yesterday. He promptly got a base hit, at which point they showed him on the jumbotron, which is when I saw that he had his own batting helmet. Just think how many times that helmet has been packed, unpacked, put in the helmet rack, put back in the helmet bag, taken on the road, etc., all season long, just waiting for its chance to finally be used in a game. I take a lot of shots at Charlie Samuels, but I give him credit for having a helmet for every player, even the ones who might never get a turn at bat.

New ESPN column today — look here.

Meanwhile … I recently got a note from reader Steve K., as follows:

A friend of mine was moving and his wife made him give up his boxes of old videos. Of course he kept all the Japanese porn for himself, but he knew I was a sports fan and offered me the rest. Most of them are ‘This Week in the NFL’ and ‘Game of the Week’ episodes and a bunch of other NFL Films stuff, spanning from 1971 to about 1979. Should make for a lot of interesting screen grabs!

To call the resulting screen shots “interesting” is to severely understate the point, because Steve (who, as you’ll see in a minute, has a very good eye) has come up with a body of material that’s every bit as compelling as Ricko’s contributions. In fact, if he keeps it up, I may have to inaugurate a new “Steve K. Files” series. For now, though, here’s what we’ve got:

• “This is from 1971, Week 1, Jets at Colts,” writes Steve. “Norm Bulaich had a big game, but the more interesting part of this is that he wore an NOB jersey during parts of the game but went NNOB during other parts. The NNOB jersey appears to be an old-school pre-1970 NFL jersey with the larger numbers, because it doesn’t even allow room for a nameplate.”

• “Check out how big the nameplate font was in these shots of the Bills and Jets (1972, Week 1) and the Jets again (1973, Week 2),” notes Steve. “I believe the Jets, Bills, and Patriots, all from the AFC East, used this ultra-large font at various times during the 1971 through 1974 seasons. The Jets seemed to use it inconsistently, as some players had more normal-sized fonts than others. By 1975, this font was gone for good, although I sort of like it.”

• “In Week 1 of the 1971 season, the 49ers wore white jerseys with plain white sleeves — no stripes, no TV numbers! This was NOT their customary road jersey. Except for the Bengals (who didn’t add TV numbers until their 1981 makeover), I can’t remember another instance in the 1970s when an NFL team did not have TV numbers.”

• “Check out the letter spacing on those Browns NOBs” [and the official's picture-perfect stirrups -- PL].

• “Look at the wild rain jackets the Giants are wearing on the sidelines! That’s from 1971, Week 1.”

• “It’s a little hard to see, but here’s an FNOB being worn by the Bucs’ Maulty Moore in 1976. They also had a Manfred Moore.”

• “Here’s another FNOB: Joe Owens, from the 1973 Saints. Oddly, there were no other players named Owens on the Saints that year.”

• “A lot of the 1973 Colts had NOBs that were literally abutting the numbers, plus Doughty’s NOB looks like it may be a bit off-center.”

• “Speaking of off-center NOBs, look at Craig Morton.”

• Check out Mike Williams from the 1975 Chargers — his first name initial comes after his surname. I think I’ve only seen that one other time in the NFL (Browns during the 1981 preseason).” [This is an absolute stunner for me. Never would've believed it if Steve hadn't provided visual evidence. -- PL]

• “When the Rams played their final game in the L.A. Coliseum in 1979, one end zone said ‘Good Bye,’ the other ‘Good Luck.’”

• “Here’s Lions head coach Don McCafferty in swanky 1973 duds, including a zip collar.”

• “Halftime show at New Orleans’ Tulane Stadium in 1973. Dog was NNOB, but at
least he had stripes on his sleeves. Is that T-shirt logo big enough?”

• “I hadn’t realized Archie Manning wore a single-bar facemask.”

• “Here’s Saints coach John North from 1973, with the Sir Saint logo on his jacket.”

Amazing stuff, no? Big thanks to Steve for all this great material.

The Oracle Checks In: When I linked yesterday to this vintage basketball warm-up top and mentioned its snap-on nameplate, I was pretty sure I’d be getting a follow-up note from Rochester sporting goods maven Terry Proctor (that’s him at left). Sure enough, he sent me a note yesterday afternoon, as follows:

That photo of the Wilson warm-up jacket brings back many memories of that style. Wilson used the smaller “gripper” snaps, which made sewing the name onto the separate piece of tackle twill much easier. The only company we used that also used the gripper snaps was Russell. Powers, SandKnit and Spanjian all used the larger jacket-type “dome” snaps, which made sewing the letters on very difficult, because the foot of the sewing machine had trouble fitting around the dome. We eventually had the tags attached only at the top, for easier sewing. By the 1970s we changed from snaps to Velcro, which made the whole process a breeze.

Also: In the 1970s, the Coane Mfg. Co. of Philadelphia, which made a full line of quality uniforms (they did the Philadelphia Warriors and the early years of the 76ers) came up with a fleece tag that we sewed directly onto the jersey or jacket. Then you applied individual die-cut letters made out of the hook-sided velcro material. These letters would not fall off during play and were very easy to change if you had a new player. We used them mostly on basketball and baseball uniforms. They didn’t work out for football but they were a great idea in their day.

Terry has loads of stories like these. You might even get to read some of them if I ever get off my lazy ass and transcribe the phone interview I did with him last month. Soon, soon….

Uni Watch News Ticker: Indiana State wore powder blue throwbacks the other night. Note that the “I” is actually the shape of Indiana (with thanks to Dave Reding). … The trend of giving a personalized jersey to a newly hired coach, even though coaches don’t wear jerseys, has spread to soccer (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Amazing series of old NFL posters available here. … Trey Phillips notes that Saints receiver Lance Moore often wore one eye black sticker over the past season (but not always). … Matt Englander has brought another sports-themed illustrator to my attention: Paul Schoeneck. … Great time-lapse video showing the Winter Classic rink being set up at Wrigley Field here (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … Faaaaaascinating rugby observation from Caleb Borchers who notes that the Harlequins, a club in London, wear their first and last initials on their shorts. But if there are two players with the same initials, they use the first initial and the first two letters of the players’ surnames, as in the case of Nick Evans and Nick Easter. … Vintage Riverfront Stadium groundskeeper’s uniform available here. … You know how boxers always do those cheesy stare-downs at press conferences and weigh-ins? Here’s the lamest one yet. That’s WBA flyweight champ Takefumi Sakata with the gauze mask. “On his blog, he says it is just to protect from catching a cold,” says Jeremy Brahm. “I know from personal experience that the Japanese will wear their masks while going to work, riding the bus or train, etc. I wore one over a weekend and couldn’t stand it.” … Matt Powers recently took his family down to Fordham, where his sister works in the Athletic Dept. After watching Colgate and Norfolk State play a color-on-color women’s hoops game at beautiful Rose Hill Gymnasium, they walked around the campus and saw some old framed football programs (here’s another) and this memorial to the Seven Blocks of Granite. … For a few months now there have been all these rumors about the Mets possibly going to a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. As I’ve explained to everyone who’s asked me about it, there’s no truth to this rumor — they may add some dark-gray fashion/replica merch to sell to suckers (just like every other team is doing), but the on-field attire has no significant changes for next season. Then, two days ago, I got a note from a reader who I won’t embarrass by printing his name here, breathlessly telling me that he’d just taken these photos of a dark-gray Mets jersey at a local Sports Authority outlet. I told him it was just a fashion jersey, to which he replied, “But it sells for the same $80 as the other jerseys!” After I explained to him that fashion jerseys sell for $80 and authentics sell for a shitload more, he went away, but he apparently gave the same spiel to several bloggers who pounced on the “story” (including this clown at The Daily News, who really should know better), which in turn led even more readers to write to me. So I’ll say it one more time: Contrary to what a few people apparently think, the Mets are NOT adding a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. And that’s the last time I’ll be addressing that rumor (unless it, y’know, turns out to be true or something).

Holiday Schedule: Phil will have an entry tomorrow, I’ll be back on Friday, and then Phil handle the weekend, as usual. My thanks to everyone who helped make 2008 a very good year for Uni Watch, and remember not to make any New Year’s resolutions you can’t keep.

I have a new ESPN feature today, but it’s not uni-related, so we’ll continue here as usual.

So: I generally like Jerry Manuel. He cuffs his pants high, he’s clearly very smart, and he appears to be comfortable with who he is (a stark contrast to Willie Randolph, who always sounded defensive). I hope the Mets bring him back next season, no matter how the rest of this week plays out.

But there’s one aspect to his game — an aspect that’s a crucial part of any manager’s visual repertoire — that’s really been bugging me: I hate the way he changes pitchers.

When Manuel wants to bring in a fresh arm, he hops out of the dugout, starts jogging, and quickly signals to the bullpen by raising his hand and waving it, like he’s hailing a cab or something. When pointing to the ’pen, he waggles his finger around, sort of like an umpire signaling a home run. All the while, he’s still jogging, which he continues to do until he reaches the mound.

Here’s what I don’t like about it:

• Manuel’s too jumpy to leave the dugout. In this shot, you can see that he’s already gone into his trot before the batter (who had walked) has reached first base! Similarly, when Jon Neisse gave up that salami to Jason Marquis on Monday night, Manuel had left the dugout and already signaled to the ’pen before Marquis had reached home plate. Dude, show a little patience and let the batter finish doing his thing before you start doing your thing. Maybe Manuel thinks his quick dash looks decisive, but to me it just makes him look like an overprotective parent scurrying out to rescue a vulnerable child. Which leads us to…

• Once he’s on his way to the mound, he signals to the ’pen way too quickly. He always does it before reaching the baseline chalk (which seems like bad form), and often well before the next hitter has been announced (which is bad strategy). Look, in this shot he’s still on the warning track in front of the dugout — he hasn’t even reached the foul territory grass yet! Leaving aside the question of why anyone would be a big hurry to call for anyone in the Mets ’pen, the whole thing feels too rushed, too premature. Is he afraid that the pitcher or catcher will talk him out of it if he doesn’t make the call before he reaches the mound?

• I hate the little finger-wave signal. It looks bad enough on its own (always makes me think of this or this), but it looks extra-bad when combined with the rush out of the dugout. When my team’s just given up a big hit, the last thing I want to see is the skipper looking panicky. That’s how I always feel when I see Manuel scampering out there and waving his hand — almost seems like he’s waving a white flag instead of just his index finger. What’s wrong with a nice, slow walk to the mound? At a moment like this, I want calm, steady leadership, not a frenzied “Oh my god, the ship is sinking, get me a reliever right away, HEEELLLLLLPP!!!” Looks like amateur hour out there.

Manuel’s particular approach notwithstanding, the act of a manager signaling for a new pitcher is one of those great little visual protocols that are unique to baseball. There’s the overhand method (raise arm about three-quarters and decisively point), the underhand method (half-extend arm at hip level and cock wrist repeatedly), and, my favorite, the crossover method (extend one arm and tap inner forearm with fingers of opposite hand). Next time you’re practicing these moves in the mirror — we all know you do it, just like we know you practice football ref signals, so don’t bother denying it — try Manuel’s delivery and see how it compares. I think you’ll agree that it’s unworthy of serious consideration. Does anyone know if he used to do it this way back when he managed the Chisox?

One other Manuel-related protocol worth mentioning: Soon after he took over for Randolph, Mets pitchers who were being removed from a game got in the habit of waiting on the mound for the new pitcher to arrive before departing for the dugout. The idea was to show solidarity with the next guy and metaphorically hand off the baton to him (or maybe just to say, “If my ERA goes up because you let these runners score, you’re totally paying for my next batch of HGH”). I liked this approach, which I believe was much more common in the 1970s and ’80s, but now the Mets appear to have stopped doing it. Too bad.

Juicy Oregon Scoop Hoax Tease: So two nights ago I got a note from someone named Alex. Mr. Alex said he had some news relating to this recent Ticker item about Nike breaking out a new look for Oregon at some point this season. Here’s what Mr. Alex wrote:

I just graduated from Oregon. During my final class this summer, we had a group project. One of my group members told me about his uncle, who is personal friends with Phil Knight. During dinner one night, Phil told my friend’s uncle and his dad about the Oregon uniforms. They are going to be a solid, one-piece uniform (unitard) with a very space/tech edge. “Very strange-looking” was my friend’s description. And apparently they will be worn at homecoming versus UCLA [which is on October 11th].

Whether it will be all-black, including helmets, as someone mentioned in the comments following that article you posted to, I am not sure. But my friend said that is solid inside information from his uncle.

Hahahahahahahaha. My compliments to Mr. Alex for being able to type that last sentence without, like, rupturing a kidney from laughing so hard. An inside tip from a reader’s friend’s uncle’s close personal friend Phil Knight isn’t quite as good as this, but it’s getting there.

Naturally, I was suspicious, especially since it seems fishy that Phil Knight would have friends over for dinner without inviting me, am I right? So I went ahead and did some checking on Mr. Alex (who has a last name but asked me not to use it), and it appears that he is indeed a recent Oregon grad, so that part of his story checks out. Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t pulling my leg, or that the story, even if Mr. Alex is on the square, hasn’t morphed a bit on its way from Phil Knight to the uncle to the friend to Mr. Alex.

But here’s the thing: I’ve predicted for a while now that the advent of a football unitard was only a matter of time, what with the skintight jerseys and the ever-widening superhero design trope. Frankly, I think it makes a lot of sense, at least from a practical standpoint, although it will no doubt look uglier than a festering sore. And if such a one-piece uniform were to debut, who better to showcase it than the Ducks? As completely unconfirmed and unsubstantiated rumors from semi-anonymous readers’ friends’ uncles’ close personal friend Phil Knight go, this one sounds pretty plausible.

If any of you Nike people reading this would like to confirm or deny, I won’t use your name either.

(The added tragedy of all this, of course, is that even if this unsubstantiated rumor turns out to be true, I won’t be able to see the uniforms, because I’ll be on tour with the Forewords on October 11th. Phil Knight’s gonna have to cook me a really good dinner to make up for this one.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: The audio is NSFW, but get a set of headphones or something so you can hear George Brett talking about a very special kind of uniform disaster. … Patrick Ryan notes that Prince Fielder appears to be wearing official Brewers boxers. … New mask designs for Martin Gerber (additional info here) and Patrick Lalime (all pics poached from the Chris Creamer board). … Cute. Details here (with thanks to Matt Bachovchin). … For those who are wondering, Joe Skiba says he’s not sure yet if the Giants will wear a memorial patch or decal for Dick Lynch, but they’ve got a bye this week, so they’ll certainly have enough time to come up with something nice by their next game. … Great old movie poster here (with thanks to Ronnie Poore). … Mike Verna reports that These guys have moved from Tucson to Reno and are now these guys. … Once upon a time, nobody was required to wear white (with thanks to Tim Powers). … The Canadiens have unveiled their centennial initiative, which among other things will feature six different throwback jerseys. There’s a photo gallery here, and an additional gallery here that shows what the 2009 All-Star Game jerseys will look like as well. … Turns out we all missed a great little detail Colorado/CSU game back on August 31st (but fortunately Johnathan Valdez didn’t): Colorado was wearing a helmet decal showing the American and Colorado flag (here’s another view). Not clear whether CSU was wearing it too. … Pretty funny uni-related Minnesota Wild commercial here (even if it’s a total stylistic rip-off of the “This is SportsCenter” campaign, but I won’t blame Jeff Barak for that). … Check out the Sabres’ new ice: no center slug! (Thanks to Mark Kluczynski.) … Still more about Saints punter Steve Weatherford and his wedding band and wristwatch: According to the “Watch Your Jewelry” item in the middle of this page, Weatherford wasn’t wearing the bling during pregame warm-ups, so he apparently puts it on specifically for the game (with thanks to Rachel Bicicchi). … Several cool old high school football pics from Nick Zajicek: Faux stirrups don’t look any better on the gridiron than they do on the diamond; nice helmet logo here; and this is the team from Brownwood, Texas — the stars on the shoulders represent the school’s number of state championships. … Mike Menner was at last night’s Twins/Chisox game and was given a 2009 schedule (apparently next year’s MLB schedule was announced last week, which seems much earlier than usual, no?). As you can see, it does say “Early Schedule,” so maybe it’s preliminary or something. Anyway: “The schedule features a logo for the last year in the Metrdome and a graphic that could be new formal signage for the new ballpark, Target Field.” I’m not supposed to tell you this, or even know about it, but since they’re already pimping it on that schedule I will happily confirm that the Metrodome logo will be worn as a home sleeve patch next season. … Hey, speaking of schedules: The MLB schedule is all done by computer these days. But it used to be done by hand by Henry and Holly Stephenson, a husband-and-wife couple whose daughter Katie happens to be a good friend of my Forewords bandmate Liz Clayton (not quite as good as knowing about the new Oregon uniforms via a reader’s friend’s uncle, but whaddaya gonna do). Upon being introduced to Katie during one of Liz’s social events in 2004 and being told what her parents did for a living, I peppered her with questions about the schedule-making process, her parents’ methodology, etc. She basically ended the conversation by saying, “Everyone thinks it’s really complicated, but it’s not. They do most of it just by sitting down with a bunch of index cards while watching MacGyver.” This was right when the Stephensons were in the process of losing the schedule contract, so I asked Katie for their phone number, because I was certain I could save their gig if I wrote a heart-tugging piece about this adorable couple slavishly working over the MLB schedule (I figured I’d probably leave out the MacGyver part). Unfortunately, they didn’t want to be interviewed, so that was the end of that. A pity…. Collateral Gammage and I will be attending tonight’s Mets/Cubs game, where I’ll probably get to see Jerry Manuel doing the “Oh, waiter, another basket of bread sticks, please!” routine way too many times. Weather’s supposed to be iffy, so please do an anti-rain dance for us. Thanks.

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).

An early Uni Watch moment for me came in 1975 or so, when I was watching an NBC Saturday Game of the Week broadcast. Red Sox backup catcher Bob Montgomery was hitting, and one of the announcers (probably Joe Garagiola, but I don’t recall) mentioned that Monty was the last remaining player not to wear a batting helmet. Instead, he wore a plastic insert under his cap, as was his grandfather-claused right as a player already in the bigs when batting helmets became mandatory in 1971.

Montgomery, who retired after the ’79 season, has since become famous (well, at least on this site) as the last non-helmeted hitter. Two related issues have always bugged me, though: First, were there any other grandfathered players who wore the insert in the early 1970s? And more to the point, just what did these inserts look like? I’d never seen one.

Thanks to reader Brandon Davis, we now have our answer to the second question. He found this eBay auction for an insert that was purportedly used by the Cleveland Indians. As you can see, it’s open on top, which surprised me a little — flimsy protection is one thing, but flimsy partial protection is pushing it.

Not sure what’s up with that tape-wrapped section. Was it meant to repair a break in the front-top section, or was that section supposed to be broken/unattached/etc., to make the insert adjustable and one-size-fits-all? An inside view is inconclusive. Anyone know more about these doohickeys?

Inserts are apparently still in use, or they were until very recently. Last November, when MLB announced that base coaches would have to wear helmets in 2008, Larry Bowa said, “I prefer to wear an insert.” According to this story, Bowa “wore a cap lined on the inside with thin plastic” for the Dodgers’ spring training opener back in February. So does Bowa have his own personal insert that he takes with him from team to team? Or is someone still making these things?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Good game-used jersey site here (with thanks to Mike Verna). … Yowza! … Big Brown jockey Kent Desormeaux wore a Mets jersey — complete with NOB — to throw out the first pitch at Shea Stadium on Sunday night. The uni number matched the number he wore in the Kentucky Derby. … Amusing collection of Oriole Bird mascot video footage here (with thanks to Bryan Long). … Bizarre eBay find here (big thanks to our own Scott M.X. Turner). … Did you know that the player sliding into home plate on this baseball card is actually Willie Mays, not Hank Aaron? I didn’t, until James Yeh pointed me toward this really good rundown of error-laden baseball cards. … “The University of New Orleans baseball team had an interesting uniform this weekend in their Baton Rouge regional,” writes Chad Thompson. “On Friday night, their jerseys said ‘N’awlins,’ and then on Saturday they wore ‘NOLA,’ and on Sunday it was ‘Privateers.’ ” … “Thought you might be interested in these throwback uniforms worn last Saturday by the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox in Marysville, California,” writes John Saiz. “They’re modeled after the Hub City (also Yuba-Sutter) Merchants, who were the first baseball club to travel by airplane. Of added interest, they were playing the Redding Colt .45’s, who were wearing their home whites (the Gold Sox play only two of their 46 games on the road, so they switch between their whites, grays, and BP jerseys every homestand).” … It’s horribly written, and even more horribly narrated, but this video critique of softball uniforms is largely on the money (with thanks to Randy Swanson). … Decent story here about NHL playoff beards (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … Someone has decided that Alfonso Soriano has MLB’s tightest pants (courtesy of Kevin Walsh). … Creative NOB use here (with thanks to Doug Keklak). … RIP, Bo.

Okay, so maybe the red-trimmed uniforms aren’t so bad after all.

Pretty good game, right? After it was over, I went out and did what any Giants fan would do: overturned some cars, lit some bonfires, that sort of thing. Then I started drunk-dialing random phone numbers in Boston and singing “We Are the Champions” at the top of my lungs to whoever answered the phone. Good times.

Not much of a Super Bowl from a uni-related standpoint, unless you count David Tyree catching that ball on his helmet, or maybe that weird-ass Bud Lite commercial with the dude in the ABA-ish hoops uni.

Aside from those junctures, the closest thing to a Uni Watch moment was the odd sight of Bill Belichick in a red sweatshirt, instead of his usual gray. Several Pats fans e-mailed me early in the game and said they felt this was a bad omen. Brent Anthonisen went further and noted that Belichick used to wear a red windbreaker when he was the Giants’ defensive coordinator (including their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV), to make it easier for the defensive captain to find him on the sidelines and read his signals. So the Giants are undefeated in the Super Bowl when Belichick wears red on the sidelines.

I don’t know any of the Giants’ players personally, but two of them have always struck me as particularly decent people — class acts who make me proud to be a Giants fan. One of them is Amani Toomer, a 12-year veteran who never showboats, always respects the uniform, and has expressed more awareness and thoughtfulness about the non-sports world than most contemporary athletes. The other is Jeff Feagles, the oldest active player in the league and now the oldest to have appeared in a Super Bowl — his first, after 21 seasons. Good for him.

One guy I do know personally is equipment director Joe Skiba, who gave me all kinds of access this past season, fed me lots of inside info, and taught me lots of stuff (not the least of which was that I didn’t know nearly as much about the uni world as I thought I did). Enjoy the victory, Skeebs — you da man and all that.

But I’m happiest of all for my father, Irwin Lukas, a lifelong Giants fan who turned 84 years old two weeks ago (he actually attended one of their games in the Polo Grounds, which is where they played up until 1955). It was a treat to watch the game with him yesterday, to shout alongside him when Plaxico caught that touchdown pass, and to hug him when Brady’s final pass fell incomplete. Hope you had as much fun as I did, Pop.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Hilarious uni-blooper moment in Thursday night’s Cavs/Sonics game, as Cleveland’s Donyell Marshall tried to enter the game wearing only an undershirt, not his jersey. Check out the video here. … Also from Friday, we can add a new member to the exclusive club of MLB players who’ve worn facemasks: Al Cowens. … Ask and Ye Shall Receive Dept.: Here’s a shot of Dick Allen with his “Wampum” NOB, courtesy of John Moist. In case you don’t know the story, Wampum was the name of Allen’s hometown high school, and he was in the class of ’60. … Great 1921 girls’ hockey team photo here (with thanks to Mike Kemezis). … Yikes (courtesy of Roy Ellingsen). … Tucker is a star. … “Pitchers and catchers report in a little more than 10 days,” says Nick Hanson. “So in the spirit of spring training, check out the simultaneous crotch grabbing going on behind Big Papi in this picture I took last year.” … Interesting note from Jim Mischler, who points out that according to the Basketball Hall of Fame’s page devoted to Mendy Rudolph, “Rudolph’s uniform number 5 has not been worn by another NBA official since his passing.” Didn’t realize the NBA had essentially retired his number. Have any other officials in other sports had their numbers taken out of circulation, either officially or unofficially? … Nicole Haase was at a hockey game in Madison recently and momentarily thought this guy might be me (no doubt because of the stripes). Of course, a careful observer would note that the gent in question is wearing his watch on his left hand, which means he’s right-handed, which means he’s not me. … Mario Fontana made these cakes for his Super Bowl party. … Awesome story here about the Ohio factory that makes the NFL’s footballs. … Kevin Brotzman has created a web site devoted to the Orioles’ uni numbers (modeled after the wonderful Mets by the Numbers site). Check it out here. … Final Super Bowl thought: Anyone who watched Tom Petty during halftime instead of switching over to Puppy Bowl IV on Animal Planet has some seriously misguided priorities.

New ESPN column today — here’s the link.

Meanwhile: While the rest of the baseball world focused on the hot stove league, the real story was on the uniform scene, where MLB exec Bob Watson announced “the Francona Rule,” which according to Watson means, “You can only wear your uniform top or jacket.” In a truly inspired elaboration that will go down as the uni-related quote of the year, Watson added, “You can’t wear your nightshirt, or whatever it is. You can wear it before games, or after games, but not during games. You have to have your uniform top at all times.”

Watson’s commentary on sleepwear notwithstanding, this means no more sweatshirt for Francona (among others), no more smock for John Gibbons, and I think Buck Showalter just cancelled his latest comeback plans.

There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about this story and the history surrounding it. I can’t clear up all of that confusion, but I can help with some of it, FAQ-style:

Didn’t MLB and Francona butt heads over this issue a few months ago?
Yes, back in August.

So if they were already enforcing the rule then, why did they have to enact a new rule now?
Good question.

Doesn’t the rulebook already require the manager to wear a uniform, at least if he leaves the dugout and goes onto the field of play?
No. Rule 3.15 states: “No person shall be allowed on the playing field during a game except players and coaches in uniform, managers, news photographers authorized by the home team, umpires, officers of the law in uniform and watchmen or other employees of the home club.” Note that the “in uniform” stipulation is applied to coaches but not to managers.

On the other hand, I recently came across this page, which tells the story of how two beat reporters — George Lederer and Phli Collier — managed a Dodgers intrasquad game during spring training in 1964. Lederer actually donned a Dodgers uniform, but Collier skippered in civvies (you can see them both here). As the account of the game then explains:

Collier, dressed in street clothes … broke the rules when he charged onto the field to argue an umpire’s decision at second base. At this stage of the game, with the score still 1-1, Lederer was sharp enough to remind the umpires that Collier had no right to be on the field.

So this suggests that non-uniformed managers were understood to be barred from the field of play at least as early as 1964, even if the rulebook doesn’t specify this. Why? In going back over my research files, I found a 2005 listserv post by Frank Vaccaro of the Society for American Baseball Research that may shed some light on the subject:

Nearly all non-playing managers before 1900 wore civilian clothes. … [T]here was a [National League] rule in place from 1879 to 1891 preventing non-playing managers from appearing on the field. This was referred to as the “Harry Wright rule.” After he won the championship in 1878 — his sixth in seven years — this rule passed, I suppose, to give other teams a chance. Wright used to stand on the sidelines shouting orders to his players: “WAIT” to take pitches and “FACING” to hit to the opposite field, as well as the names of players who should catch flies, etc. Other teams were in a panic.

So the “Terry Francona rule” is apparently the latest version of the 128-year-old “Harry Wright rule.” I have a feeling Bob Watson doesn’t know this.

Why do managers wear uniforms anyway?
In baseball’s early days, many managers were also active players, and player/managers persisted longer than most people realize. There were three three of them as recently as the 1970s (Frank Robinson, Don Kessenger, and Joe Torre), and one in the 1980s (Pete Rose).

But Connie Mack wore a suit while managing, didn’t he?
Yes. Mack’s a bit of a red herring, though — he owned the A’s, so he wore a suit in large part because he saw himself as a businessman/executive type and dressed accordingly. For a broader analysis, let’s turn once again to Frank Vacarro’s 2005 SABR listserv post:

[T]he interesting question is “How did baseball managers evolve to become the only team leaders in sports with the tradition of wearing the team uniform?” The answer is four-fold. Nearly all managers in the 1890s were playing managers, but a 1900-1920 manager could manage in civilian clothes if:

1) He embraced the style created by the [Harry Wright rule].

2) He wanted to exude the authority of a magnate.

3) He did not want to play or to appear as a base coach.

4) He had never played baseball professionally.

By 1940 these reasons became archaic. The 1880s NL style was forgotten; managers “like magnates” did poorly; teams carried enough coaches (and players — roster sizes grew) to do all delegatable tasks; and all managers had at least some professional playing experience. Offsetting these [factors] were the layout of the grass and the diamond and the fact that a manager could participate, on any corner of the field, in pre-game activities that were low on effort but high on skill, such as hitting grounders or fungos, bullpen catching, or even pitching BP. All these contrast sharply with activities high on athleticism that characterize pre-game practice in the other sports. It’s sometimes said, rightly or wrongly, that baseball is more a game than a sport.

For good measure, Vacarro provided a list of 20th-century managers who skippered in civvies (an asterisk indicates that the manager was known to don a uniform on occasion):

• Bob Allen, Reds, 1900

• Connie Mack, A’s, 1901-1950

• Horace Fogel, Giants, 1902

• Tom Loftus, Senators, 1902-1903

• Bill Armour, Indians, 1902-1904; Tigers, 1905-1906

• Frank Selee, Cubs, 1902-1905

• Ed Barrow, Tigers, 1903-1904; Red Sox, 1918-1920

• John McClosky, Cardinals, 1906-1908*

• Hank O’Day, Reds, 1912; Cubs, 1914

• George Stallings, Braves, 1913-1920

• Hugo Bezdek, Pirates, 1917-1919

• Clark Griffith, Nationals, 1917-1920*

• Branch Rickey, Cardinals, 1919-1925*

• John McGraw, Giants, 1921-1932* (although he usually wore a uniform prior to 1921)

• Wilbert Robinson, Dodgers 1928-1931*

• Burt Shotton, Dodgers, 1947-1950* (additional pics here, here, here, and here, plus here’s one of his game-worn dugout jackets)

It’s not clear how many of these skippers, if any, went onto the field of play during a game, but this photo shows Hank O’Day wearing spikes with his suit while managing the Cubs, suggesting that he went onto the field at some point.

But MLB doesn’t want Francona wearing a pullover even in the dugout. So when did not wearing a full uniform go from being rare to being banned?
I haven’t figured that part out yet.

Couldn’t MLB have avoided this whole mess with Francona if they hadn’t created so many different kinds of officially licensed outerwear for him and other managers to try on?
Gee, what do you think?

Membership Update: Remember, today is the last day for ordering a gift membership at discounted holiday rates.

Today’s showcase card is based on the “shineboy,” the shirt worn by Alpha Phi Omega members when they run the Texas flag onto the field before Texas Longhorns football games.

Beantown Reminder: Uni Watch party tomorrow, 8:30 p.m., at Boston Beer Works. The gathering got a little preview write-up in today’s Boston Herald, plus Randy Moss is gonna stop by and explain why he keeps wearing those upside-down 8s, so come by and join us.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Wisconsin wore their long-awaited throwbacks on Monday night, and man did they look sweet, although it turns out that the beat writer for Madison’s Capital Times totally Doesn’t Get It™ (with thanks to Nicole Haase). … Expect to see lots of NBA throwbacks beginning this Friday. Details here. … Duke guard DeMarcus Nelson is wearing some interesting kicks. Details here (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … Awesome female Black Fives photo and info here. … Spectacular discovery by Jared Wheeler, who found a shot of Magic Johnson from the 1980 NBA All-Star Game with two initials on his NOB! … Jeff Meyers, who works for the independent Ft. Worth Cats, informs me that the team has a cat eyes alternate jersey. Look closely and you’ll see that the pupils actually spell out “F” and “W.”