Posts filed under 'Customization/Modification'
I was out of town all weekend (hiking here and here, spending the night here, and eating this and this, among other consumables), so it may take me another day or two to catch up on all the Ticker submissions that piled up while I was away, but I think today’s main entry will make up for it, because some pure gold came my way on Friday, and I’m super-stoked to share it with you today.
First, last Wednesday I mentioned that Dave Parker had worn this mask and this mask. One of the comments that day was from Ricko, who said Parker had actually worn a third facemask, which he described as “a basic two-bar late ’60s style.” I was intrigued but got distracted by other things and had forgotten all about it by Friday, when Ricko sent me this. Is that totally the shit or what? Dude’s even got a four-point chinstrap rig!
And wait, it gets better. When I asked Ricko what publication the photo came from, and he said it was from something called Baseball Superstars 1979 and promptly sent me scans of the complete article — which included another photo I’d never seen before. Check this out.
Although the article doesn’t discuss it, here’s the story behind that photo: When Parker returned from his broken cheekbone, he wore the hockey mask for his first time at bat — a pinch-hitting appearance in which he was intentionally walked. I’ve known for years that he reached base but didn’t know there was a photo of it. Amazing stuff.
Also, if you look again at the photo, it appears that the forehead and possibly the right eye area of the mask may have been cut away, revealing what appears to be a Rip Hamilton-style mask underneath. That isn’t so apparent in the other hockey mask photo, however — maybe it’s just a trick of the light or something. In any case, all very interesting.
Meanwhile, the text of the article (which you can see here and here) includes a jewelry note regarding Parker that I’d forgotten about: He wore a necklace with a Star of David pendant, because “I’m David and I’m a star.”
As I was chuckling over that, Ricko sent me more Parker mask shots: this one (similar to the action shot I already had of that mask, but much better quality), this one (which I definitely remember seeing when I was a kid), this one (that’s Pete Rose Jr. in the Phils uni), and — the real prize — this one (from the intentional walk appearance).
Can you believe all this stuff? Let’s all just chip in now and buy Ricko a climate-controlled vault for his archives. As an added bonus, this Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of Parker wearing the hockey mask and the double-bar mask (in the first and second games of a doubleheader, respectively).
The Parker stuff would have been enough to make my (or, I’d think, anyone’s) day. But then I heard from a guy named Mike Steiner, who wanted to talk about the White Sox’s shorts. It’s a topic fairly near and dear to his heart, because — brace yourself — he owns a pair of them.
There’s soooooo much to love in that display — the drawstring, the triple snaps, the striped inner stitching, the chain-stitched “Gossage 38″ tag, that awesome dougout photo. And once I saw that Chicago Tribune article he’s got in there, I immediately tracked it down in the Trib’s archives. It has two photos I’d never seen before — look here and here. The article itself, which you can read here and here, includes some interesting details, including the fact that the Sox had wanted to wear the shorts earlier in the season but weren’t able to because, as Bill Veeck explained, “[W]e had to get the right pads under the socks to protect the knees.”
Steiner says the framed shorts display is the centerpiece of his extensive Chisox uniform collection, which is documented here. He’s got some great stuff, including beauties from 1946, 1967, 1970, and plenty more. Plus he’s also got an additional shorts photo I hadn’t previously seen (obviously part of this shoot, but you can’t have too many photos of this stuff).
All of which sent me into the weekend with a big smile on my face. Hope it puts a smile on yours, too.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I added this link to Friday’s entry in the middle of the day, so some of you may have missed it: If you want one of those Beanie Wells Heisman T-shirts, look here. … Here’s a sleeve patch I hadn’t seen before: New York City’s diamond jubilee, worn by the Mets on the dugout jackets in 1973 (big thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Finally an action shot of shorts. That’s the Sacramento Solons, 1975 (big thanks to John Moist). … Also from John: interesting minor league shots of Pat Corrales, Shem Lollar, and a young Johnny Lemaster, plus a bunch of Pacific Coast League shots from 1975 (which is the year the PCL switched from flannels to double-knits). … Doug Mulliken reports that Kearney High near San Diego has worn this football uni at least since the 1960s. … The Chicago Athletic Association’s historian, Ron White, sent me a bunch of old materials showing the CAA’s logo (forerunner of the Cubs’ logo) in various settings. I’ve grouped it all into a slideshow here. … New addition to the list of smoking athletes: Jason Taylor (with thanks to Al Stone). … Interesting coincidence here (with thanks to Dave Bloomquist). … On Friday I asked why Carl Hubbell was referred to as “Ol’ Square Pants.” William Gornall responded with a few archival articles in which Hubbell is variously referred to as “the slim southpaw with the baggy pants, which tumbled halfway down his shinbone,” “colorless except for … his custom of wearing his uniform knickers long (claiming that he had no backside to hold them higher),” and “Old Long Pants.” But if you look at photos of Hubbell, his pants look pretty normal for his era. Odd. … Saw WALL-E the other day (really good, and not just because WALL-E collects bowling pins) and was intrigued by a trailer for a sappy-looking movie called The Perfect Game, which looks like it’s gonna feature some awesome Little League flannels. Check the trailer here. … Gary Majewski of the Reds wore stirrups on Friday. Screen shots (and Nicole Haase’s living room light fixture) here and here. … Lots to admire (or at least marvel at) in Vanderbilt’s 1956 football uniforms (thanks, Ricko). … Ronnie Belliard’s latest stunt: wearing mismatched batting gloves (good catch by David McGee). … Check out the Blues’ blue and gold skates (nice find by Jaymes Progar). … “My local team, the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA for the Astros), wore 1958 Corpus Christi Giants throwback unis on Friday to honor the ’58 Texas League championship team,” writes Nicholas Bean. “Awesome unis, and I’m proud to say that every single player on the roster is wearing high socks and stirrups.” There’s a gallery here. … Awesome old baseball sweaters here, here, and here, and check out this turtleneck (thanks, Milesofsparks). … This is hilarious (kudos to K.C. Kless). … The Yankees have added a memorial armband for Bobby Murcer. … Randyt Williams notes that Melvin Mora appears to have blacked out the Franklin logos on his batting gloves. … More great label shots from Tommy Turner: This one is from these basketball shorts; this one is from a 1970 Colts jersey; and this one’s from an Astros rainbow jersey. … The Raptors logo character usually has an R on his jersey, but Sean Doherty just noticed the logo on this page, which shows the character now wearing the team’s secondary logo. When did this switcheroo take place? … Tim Fiorvanti has put together a photo gallery of really great baseball paintings that are currently on display in NYC. … notes that Man U coach Sir Alex Ferguson is wearing his initials his top number. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: David DeJesus was wearing a black belt (instead of KC’s standard-issue blue) the other night. … Also from Saturday: Randy Johnson unveiled his own version of the Pedro Porthole over the weekend. … Still more from Saturday: You almost never see track and field athletes wearing glasses, but apparently Belgian heptathlete/high jumper Tia Hellebaut (additional pics here and here). … Double no-no for Paul LoDuca, who wore faux stirrups and white shoes on Sunday. … Wren Wanger sent along some pics of an Indians matchbox from 1992. … Gumball helmet collector/designer Bill Jones, who I profiled on ESPN several months back, has created stars/stripes versions of the A.L. and N.L. veterans caps. “The Angels and Brewers were TOUGH!” he says. … Larry Wiederecht has most of the All-Star Games from the 1980s on tape and has been doing some truly heroic video research for me. Many of his findings will be in my ESPN column tomorrow (a timeline of ASG uni aberrations), but a few are better suited for the Ticker: Check out this shot of John Stearns from the 1980 ASG. I hadn’t recalled that the Mets wore such huge uni numbers on their helmet brims at the time. This shot from the ’81 ASG shows the Braves’ Atlanta child murders ribbon decal on Bruce Benedict’s helmet. And here’s the real prize: In 1983, George Brett broke his left toe and wore a specially tailored Nike shoe on that foot to accommodate the bandage — even though he was wearing a non-Nike shoe on the other foot. Wow! … After all the speculation, UMich’s new football uniforms are shown here. Interesting to see that the road replica looks nothing like the authentic (which is a real stinker — woof!). … Stewart Small reports that Crystal Langhorne of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics had her NOB misspelled as “Langhorn” (missing the “e” on the end) during the first half of yesterday’s game against the Connecticut Sun. It was corrected in the second half.
July 14th, 2008
A while back I got a note from Tom Jacobsen, who collects game-used Denver Broncos gear and said a lot of his jerseys included special modifications that had been made by the players and/or equipment staff. It isn’t football season, but there’s never a bad time for good uni-mod photos, so here’s a sampling of Tom’s stuff, in his own words:
• “This John Elway jersey (worn 1983-86, cold-weather games only) has a sewn-in hand warmer. But they didn’t just add the pocket — a rectangle was cut out of the jersey front by the Broncos equipment staff and then this pre-fab hand warmer, made from some sort of insulated material, was sewn in from the inside, and it is warm!”
• “Ed McCaffrey made major modifications to his uniforms to give him more speed. For this 1995 jersey, he basically cut it to the length of a half shirt and then would tape it to his body to cut down on wind drag.”
• “A friend of mine has a pair of Eddie Mac’s cleats, and he actually wore them a size small and then cut a hole for the big toe because he thought they made him go faster. My friend also has these McCaffrey pants. ‘I love how he cut out almost all of the heavy, thick elastic band,’ he says. ‘He left just a few strips here and there. And you know, they actually do weigh 15 ounces less than a comparable pair of pants I had — maybe that DOES make him faster!’”
• “Dennis Smith wore vastly oversized shoulder pads. In order to fit them under his jersey, he had spandex inserts sewn under each arm, as seen in this 1994 jersey.”
• “This 1982-83 Billy Bryan jersey was a forerunner of the modern-day lineman’s style. He had the sleeves completely taken off then sewn back on at more of downward angle (similar to this 1996 Tommy Nalen model, but Tommy’s was manufactured that way to start with). He also had the sides taken in and a stretch panel added to both sides for a tighter fit.”
• “Remember how Bill Romanowski would add laces to his jerseys, to make them tighter? You can see where they added the eyelets here. Romo also had darts added to his shoulders. And note the adjustable crotch piece — ouch!”
It’s not clear if Romo also had a little inside pouch for stashing his, uh, vitamins, but I’m sure Tom would’ve mentioned that if it had been there. Big thanks to him for sharing his collection with us.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Japanese Olympic swimmers will be allowed to wear the LZR swimsuit (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Rare sight here: Goose Gossage batting in pinstripes. This was during the 1981 World Series, when the DH was used in the World Series in alternating years, instead of depending on the home team’s rules. “I wonder if that was the only time he batted in home pinstripes,” says Eric Stengel. … Tim Stoops reports that his dad is volunteering as a marshal at the U.S. Open this weekend. Here’s a slideshow of the gear he’ll be wearing. … Fun “Twins by the Numbers” breakdown here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … “I believe this is Alabama celebrating an Orange Bowl victory in 1953,” writes Travis Cuomo. “What really stuck out to me was the ‘MGR’ shirt the manager was wearing. Can’t remember ever seeing anything like that before.” Looks like they’re endorsing Coca-Cola, too. … Curt Schilling attended Game 2 of the NBA Finals and wore a Celtics jersey for the occasion (while his daughter apparently took dictation for his blog). … This page has short videos showing each of the national uniforms in the Euro 2008 tournament (with thanks to Greg DiLeo). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: According to the fifth-to-last entry on this Q&A page, the NFL is planning some sort of uni-based commemoration of the AFL’s 50th anniversary in 2009. … Also from yesterday: New 49ers unis in 2010. … I might have shown these before, but just in case: The excellent Fleer Sticker Project site has some awesome old NFL posters on display here and here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: L.I. Phil notes that Todd Helton’s footwear has been alternating between Adidas and Nike lately. He used to wear fake Mizunos, as explained here. … Did you know the Giants were conducting spring training in Arizona while the team was still based in New York? I didn’t, until Kenn Tomasch sent me this and this. Both shots are from 1947. … Went out to catch Kung Fu Panda last night (pretty damn good) and saw the trailer for The Express, which looks like it has major uniform potential. … Ben Nickerson spent a good portion of last night obsessing over Kevin Garnett’s sneakers. “He’s got ‘The Finals’ and the championship trophy depicted on the inner,” he notes, and the outer is marked to denote Game 1, Game 2, Game 7 (if necessary), etc. Plus there’s a little red “KP 34″ notation on the back, which is a Kirby Puckett memorial (we can add this to the very short list of cross-sport memorial gestures). Further details here.
June 11th, 2008
Back in the late ’90s, it was common for MLB players to salute their injured teammates with handwritten uni-number cap inscriptions (and occasionally non-teammates, too — lots of Venezuelan players added a little “14″ to their caps when Andres Galarraga was being treated for cancer). But like so many things that start out small and harmless, this one quickly got out of control, and the MLB office soon banned it.
But Manny Ramirez has never been accused of caring what the suits in the commissioner’s office think. With teammate David Ortiz out for at least a month with a wrist injury, Manny has revived the tradition of the hand-inscribed headwear salute. But in classic Manny fashion, he’s taken it a step further: Instead of putting Ortiz’s number on his cap, he’s put it on his batting helmet. Actually, he may have it on his cap too, and maybe even on his tam/snood thingie, but I haven’t gotten good looks at those. (Anyone..?) Meanwhile, let’s hear it for the Sharpie that was tough enough to penetrate all the gunked-up pine tar on Manny’s lid.
And that’s not all: Manny usually wears a “24″ sweatband on each arm, but on Tuesday night he had Ortiz’s “34″ on his right arm. Last night the “34″ had moved to the left side. This isn’t the first time Manny’s worn Papi’s armbands — they’ve periodically swapped and worn each other’s numbers on their arms — but I’m pretty sure this is the first time he’s done it as an injury shout-out.
I’ll be off the grid for most of this afternoon and this evening. Looking forward to seeing some you in Camden.
(Special thanks to reader Randy Williams for bringing Manny’s latest antics to my attention.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: More helmet-insert info, this time from Richard Stover: “I spoke with Bob Montgomery about the insert last season at Fenway Park. He seemed proud to be the last not to wear a helmet, yet puzzled that anyone would be interested in the details of such trivia. Then he added, ‘It’s in the Hall of Fame.’ ” … Meanwhile, here’s a somewhat misguided assessment of a modern helmet insert (courtesy of Brandon Davis). … Steve Dewing ran this on his excellent baseball photo site yesterday. A close-up of the glove reveals that it had been marked as “A genuine Steve Hamilton model.” … Jared Wheeler sent along this gorgeous team portrait of the 1946 Phillies. “This stirrups style was used for one season before they went to a white/red/white scheme. Also interesting is how the braid around the neck abruptly stops at the start of the button placket. I also found this shot of the 1949 Phillies wearing the white/red/white stirrups. Dressed to the Nines has them as solid royal, but this looks like a spring training shot, so it’s possible they could be wearing the 1948 stirrups. I will have to get some verification on that. Also, see how the braid around the neck differs from the 1946 version. Finally, here’s a picture of the PHIL-harmaniacs, who seem to have been Philadelphia’s version of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ Sym-Phony.” … “Saw an article today on the new underwear that Asics has made for the Japanese men’s national volleyball team,” writes Jeremy Brahm. “I wish this was a joke.” … “The London Wasps (who have my favorite rugby socks) have an interesting NOB practice,” writes Caleb Borchers. “All of the starters, numbered 1 through 15, have their NOB, but the reserves, beginning with No. 16, only have ‘Wasps.’” … Footwear note from Greg Riffenburgh, who writes: “On Monday you showed Cristiano Ronaldo’s cleats in the Champion’s League final. The reason they didn’t have a lace cover is here, and a link to an article and video about the specific shoes is here.” … Fraud alert in Pittsburgh (with thanks to Tom Konecny). … Not uni-related, but this is high-freakin’-larious. … A small setback for logo creep (good find by Rob B.). … Erkki Corpuz notes that Bob McAdoo’s jersey doesn’t match the ones worn by his teammates in this team portrait. … Ryan Connelly was looking at aerial pics of PNC Park on Google Maps and MSN Maps and found that the field appears to have McDonald’s logo tarps on the mound and over home plate. … Interesting video clip here about the special baseballs being used as Junior Griffey approaches his 600th home run (with thanks to Brad Smith). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Pedro Martinez wore David Wright’s batting gloves (note the “5,” and compare to this) on Tuesday night. … Bit commentary here about Leeann Rimes wearing — well, see for yourself (with thanks to Scott Sargent). … Saw this 1962 photo in the paper yesterday. When did NBA refs stop wearing stripes? Also, at the risk of exposing my NBA ignorance, what are the numerical notations along the edge of the court? … Fascinating NOB factoid here — check out the last sentence (good spot by Nick Hanson). … The last bullet point on this page contains a really interesting tidbit about the Giants’ Super Bowl ring design, plus it confirms something I’ve always maintained about their road uniforms (with thanks to Robert Tusso). … “This site has a collection of photos from this year’s Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association’s National Championships,” writes Doug Steffenson. “The photos show the trend for college sailing teams to use ‘pinnies’ as team uniforms during regattas. They are, in essence, a cover over a sailor’s life jacket and reflect the school’s colors and graphic identity. It’s a long way from what many probably consider standard sailing attire.” … This has gotten seriously out of hand (with thanks to John Okray). … Fun comparison of Shea and Yankee Stadiums here (as forwarded by Paul Wiederecht). … Interesting question from Greg Gorham, who writes: “I recently saw an Arkansas Travelers [Texas League] game and noticed the Travs’ road unis said ‘North Little Rock’ across the chest. Considering they do play in Little Rock, I guess it makes sense, but I thought it was really weird, since they’re the Arkansas Travelers. Do you know of any other instances, in baseball or otherwise, where teams would have a different city/state name on their jerseys than what their official name is?” Good question. Anyone..? … Good catch by Matt Rothenberg, who notes that the Red Wings’ championship caps have a depiction of the Stanley Cup on the underbill. … “It had slipped my mind completely that Deacon Jones even played for the Chargers, let alone that he had ‘Deacon’ on his nameplate rather than ‘Jones,’ ” writes Doug Keklak. Actually, Jim Wooley notes that he also wore “D. Jones” during his Chargers tenure. Anyone know which came first? … One of the banner ad slots at the top of the page is about to open up. Interested in becoming a Uni Watch advertiser? Get in touch.
June 5th, 2008
On Sunday night I spent a few minutes going through the comments that had been posted on the site that day. One of them, posted by Benjamin Bonnet, caught my eye: “Santana is throwing so hard today, the blue piping on his right sleeve is falling apart!”
I had listened to Sunday’s Mets/Dbacks game on the radio but hadn’t seen any of it on TV, so I hadn’t been aware of any issues with Johan Santana’s sleeve. So I went online and found this. As you can see, sure enough, it looks like a bit of the blue piping on his left sleeve was coming loose.
And that might have been the end of it. Fortunately, however, reader Dan Cichalski was paying closer attention. He noticed that there was a lot more going on here than just some loose piping, and it involved both of Santana’s sleeves. Check out this screen grab that he sent me, along with these close-ups of Johan’s left and right sleeves.
That’s a new one on me — never seen anything like it. Almost looks like a backwards S, or maybe some spangles, right? Or maybe talons. Very strange.
My first thought was, “Has this been going on since the start of the season?” So I started looking at Sanatana pics from last month. The piping here looks normal enough, but this one looks like it might have some extra stitching — not as much as he had on Sunday, though — or it might just be the spot where the two ends of the piping meet and overlap.
My next thought was that I had to talk to Russ Gompers, the Mets’ stitching and embroidery guy. When a player requires some custom work (like the little stretch panels sewn into Pedro Martinez’s sleeves), he’s the guy who does it. He’s always kinda surprised and amused when I notice these little details, so I called him up and figured we’d have an entertaining and illuminating chat. Here’s how it went:
Paul: Russ, it’s Paul Lukas from Uni Watch.
Russ: Hey, Paul! How ya doing?
Paul [all smug and chummy]: Fine, fine. And I bet you can guess why I’m calling.
Russ [a bit puzzled-sounding]: Uh, actually, Paul, no I can’t.
Paul [still all wink-wink, nudge-nudge]: Well, I was watching the game yesterday, and I noticed something veeeeery interesting on Sanatana’s sleeves. And I figured you might be able to tell me about it.
Russ: Really? I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Paul [spell finally broken]: Seriously?! Well let me show you these photos I’ve got.
So I e-mailed the screen grabs to Russ and then called him back a few minutes later.
“That’s some weird shit there,” he said, as he studied the pics. “Wow. I was watching the game, too, but I didn’t see that. What the fuck? It looks like a backward S. I know nothing about that, Paul, but I will check it out with Charlie [Samuels, the team’s equipment manager] and get back to you.”
The only thing cooler than going over uni details with Russ Gompers is stumping Russ Gompers. Stay tuned for more info on this one.
O’s in Orange, Revisisted: As you’ll recall, I recently ran an item about the Orioles’ orange uniforms. I thought they’d been worn twice in 1971 (based on info from Bill Henderson and “Dressed to the Nines”), but Steve Dewing’s photo site suggested they’d also been worn in April of 1972. (If you missed that entry, catch up on it here.) By the end of the day, several people had posted comments quoting archival articles that seemed to confirm that the uniforms had indeed been worn in 1972 as well as ’71.
A couple of things have happened since then:
• First, Bill Henderson — whose awesome CD was my main source for the “only in ’71″ claim — checked in with a very thoughtful, articulate post in the comments section. He posted it several days after the fact, so you probably missed it — check it out here. (A lot of researchers would have gotten all defensive or uppity if their work was called into question, so Bill’s graciousness here earns him major bonus points in my book.)
• Mike Kingery (no, not that Mike Kingery) sent along this page. If you scroll down to the bottom, broadcaster/collector Ted Patterson is quoted saying that the orange uniforms may have been worn as many as 10 times.
• Charlie Frank forwarded a bunch of archival articles relating to the orange garb. Here they are, in sequence: 9/17/71 (orange uniforms, “every bit as colorful as the green and gold of the Oakland Athletics,” make their debut); 9/26/71 (the Orioles plan to “bedazzle the Oakland Athletics in the playoffs” with the orange duds [of course, that plan never came to fruition]); 10/3/71 (orange uniforms were hanging in the O’s lockers during the playoffs but were never used in the post-season); 4/18/72 (brief reference to the O’s “wearing their pumpkin orange uniforms” — confirmed for 1972 use!); 5/23/72 (”The Orioles performed in their orange uniforms. ‘We wear them in about one game per series,’ said manager Earl Weaver, ‘and the more we wear them, the less I like them,’” which would seem to lend credence to the fact that the design may have been worn around 10 times).
• My own research turned up a few items from the Sporting News archives, including this item from 5/13/72 (note the first full graf in the right-hand column) and this one from two years later — 5/3/75 — by which time the solid-orange look was already being viewed as a “What were they thinking?” misstep.
Thanks to all who helped sort this one out.
Site News: As you may have noticed, the site is loading much faster now — no more sluggishness. The only down side is that we had to eliminate the little quick-link tags (”Bold,” “Italic,” “Link,” etc.) from the commenting function. For some reason those tags were slowing down the site’s performance — not sure why. John’s working to come up with a replacement plug-in, but for now you’ll have to use standard HTML coding if you want your comment text to be bold, ital, or whatever. If you want to add a link to a photo or web page but don’t know how to do the coding, just put the URL on a separate line, all by itself. OK? OK.
Uni Watch News Ticker: While looking through the Sporting News archives for info on the orange O’s uniforms, I came across a few cool things. First, check out this letter to the editor (from 9/1/73), from a fan who apparently wasn’t too fond of this look. Totally dig that “Voice of the Fan” illo, too. And then, from 3/8/75, imagine the double-take I did when I saw this ad. These and other treasures await anyone who signs up for a free membership at Paper of Record, which has searchable archives of the entire Sporting News database. … “The IIHF World Hockey Championships are going on right now in Halifax and Quebec City,” writes Kris Fulton. “It’s the 100-year anniversary of the tournament and the first time it’s ever been held in Canada, and Nike has been stepping up with some amazing throwback jerseys.” Lots of photos here. … Interesting note from Jeff Fishman, who writes: “With the rain out of the Mets/Pirates game on April 28th, the team will face a predicament regarding their scheduled ceremonies for counting down the games remaining at Shea. The original plan had someone associated with the number to be honored (for example, Tom Seaver will presumably take down the 41, and so on). But the April 28th game has been rescheduled for August 11th, so I was wondering if the team will now have everyone switch their appointed ceremony by one game later (a potential travel nightmare, especially for those honored at the last game at the end of a homestand), or just stick to the original schedule.” Good question, especially since there will no doubt be more rainouts to come. Anyone know how other final-season stadiums with similar ceremonies handled this? … Following up on yesterday’s main entry, Todd Radom checked in with the following explanation of the W used by the Nationals vs. the one that had been used by the Senators: “For the Senators, ignore the retail Cooperstown caps in every respect. See attached for some relevant images, including a couple of game-used examples from a reliable auction house. The Senators had a lighter red and a slightly lighter blue outline, but the Senators and Nats had same angle to the W. Today’s W is of course more puffy and dimensional, and the vintage versions were often inconsistent, but the photos tell the story.” That last bit is the key — we often fall into the trap of thinking logos have always been super-standardized, when in fact they often varied widely. So trying to match a “true” Senators logo is ultimately an exercise in futility. I still think the Rangers shouldn’t have used black-underbilled Nats caps, though. … Wren Wagner noticed something else about that throwback game: Back in the late ’60s, the Oakland’s pants piping was green-gold-green (at least in that photo), but on the throwback pants it was gold-green-gold. … Extremely entertaining article here about the “uniforms” — i.e., specially modified suits — worn by New York police detectives. Great accompanying video embedded in the article page, too — highly recommended. … “I went to the U.S. women’s soccer match vs. Australia last Saturday in Birmingham, and noticed that Natasha Kai was wearing one red Nike Mercurial Vapor IV and one orange one,” writes Craig Justice. “Also to help the orange one match, she has been wearing a bright orange headband during recent matches. I think she’s been doing it for a while.” … New uniform, of sorts, for Cesc Fabregas. “Hard to tell for sure, but it looks like the actual EPL font on the back, including logo inside the numeral,” notes Matt Brukman. … “Oscar De La Hoya is a part owner of the Houston Dynamo, and on Saturday he had a Dynamo logo on his trunks, ” writes John Romero. “The funny thing is, the fight took place on the home pitch of the LA Galaxy.” … “I cover the Manchester Wolves AF2 team in New Hampshire,” writes Ian M. Clark. “On Sunday against Daytona Beach, the Wolves wore jerseys designed by patients in the pediatric unit of Elliot Hospital in Manchester. It’s hard to see in the pic, but the jerseys have some flowers and a sun on the front. In addition to the orange/dark blue shoulders with alternating colored numbers, they also had green stripes down the side. Manchester normally wears blue jerseys at home.” … The Reds really overdid that NOB lettering back in the day, no? That shot comes courtesy of Kenn Tomasch, who says it dates back to 1988 or ’89. … Got a note from one Andy Thoele, who has a pretty entertaining site devoted to souvenir batting helmets — worth checking out. … Awesome discovery by Ed Hahn, who writes: “I was watching a DVD of the 1980 Carl Sagan science series Cosmos (yeah, nerdy). Guess what appears for a few frames in Episode VIII, ‘Travels in Space and Time,’ about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity? Even weirder, this particular scene was filmed in Vinci, Italy, in Tuscany.” … Remember that guy who tried to force his kid to wear a Packers jersey? Maybe he should adopt this kid. … Speaking of kids, Dave Sterling found some short video clips of Japanese Little Leaguers. Good to see they’re teaching good hosiery protocols over there.
May 6th, 2008
I generally don’t like the term mashup, which has become so ridiculously overused that it’s been rendered almost meaningless. But it occurred to me the other day when I received the following note from Michael Princip:
I love clear shell-type football helmets, the Seattle Seahawks, and Joe Washington’s style (running and uniform). So what did I do about it? I developed the Joe Washington tribute Seahawks clear-shell helmet. The notion of this project was so eccentric, I had to see it through to fruition.
For those who aren’t aware of the uniqueness of a Macgregor/Kelley clear-shell helmet: All of the decals, as well as the paint, were applied from the inside (note the rivets on top of the decal). These helmets were truly unique because logo and paint were permanently protected by the outside surface of the clear plastic shell.
For this custom project, I got the clear-shell helmet through a Yahoo helmet collectors group, where I sent out an e-mail request. I got one reply from someone who had two shells, which he sold me. Only thing is, one shell had paint still applied on both sides, and the other had paint recently removed, leaving cloudiness from the paint remover. So I had to put a lot of work into sanding/polishing and taking the cloudiness out of that shell. Never really got it crystal clear, just good enough.
I developed the Seahawks logo decal using clear waterslide paper (think model kit decals). White paint was applied on the back (non-adhesive) side of the decals, to fill out and solidify the colors. Also, I used clear acrylic paint for added strength on the very delicate waterslide paper. I then applied the silver paint from the inside of the shell and finished with a nice gray flexible primer.
Other notable players who wore clear-shell helmets: Billy Sims, Roger Staubach, Charlie Waters, Archie Manning, and various Steelers players back in the 1970s. One of the most interesting clear shell helmets I’ve ever seen would have to be John Simmons’s Bengals helmet.
Thanks, Michael, for the excellent primer on clear-shell helmets, and kudos on your cool art project. At the risk of opening a Pandora’s Box of major silliness, are there other good uni mashups (for lack of a better term) waiting to happen? I’ll set one basic rule: Keep all the elements within a given sport, as Michael did (i.e., don’t propose a Brett Favre Dodgers jersey with a fight strap). Or if you insist on mixing sports, keep them all within a given city, as Roger Faso has done with his all-purpose Oakland sports logo (see comment No. 7 for details). OK? Let’s hear — or, better yet, see — whatcha got.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Faaaascinating article here about Japanese school uniforms (courtesy of, of course, Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: The Seibu Lions will wear this design for their Japanese interleague games this season. The wording on the back of the jersey reads, “No Limit 2008, Aim for the Championship Again.” … Check out this video clip of Roger Goodell, and note the difference between the NFL logos in the background and the one on his microphone (good catch by Brian Corbett). … More on the Twins’ base coaches wearing the 1970s helmets: First read this, then read the first graf of this, and then the third graf of this (great work by Karl G. Anderson). … Last Friday I asked why the Rangers never wear their official road cap. Got the following response from someone connected to the team (who prefers to remain nameless): “We haven’t worn that cap since I started working for the team in 2003. I’m not sure who effectively eliminated it, but we keep no inventory of them.” Wow, you mean the team couldn’t wear the official road cap even if they wanted to, because there’s literally no such cap kept on hand? “Correct, which is why I would assume someone decided that we would stop wearing them, since we stopped ordering them from New Era. Definitely agree that it’s weird MLB still lists it as the official road cap. Also note that the Rangers used to have a black-billed alternate cap with a white T, which we also no longer wear, not sure if that cap is still official also [it is — PL].” This same source also weighed in on the Rangers’ seemingly endless red-vs.-blue debate: “Most people involved in the organization preferred the red, but owner Tom Hicks doesn’t like red, so he encouraged the switch to blue. Some fans think that switch has cursed the team, since we haven’t been to the playoffs since the switch! Personally, I preferred the red, but switching back would look awkward now that the Angels wear very similar jerseys to the old reds.” … Excellent overview of the Brewers’ racing sausages here (with thanks to Dana “It’s Just Business” Prey). … My friend Steve Heller has an interesting piece here about political campaign typography (thanks, Kirsten). … Bruce Menard found this great shot of Casey Stengel during the 1955 Goodwill Tour of Japan. Dig that patch! … Speaking of patches, several French athletes want to wear a protest patch at the Olympics (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … The Titans have unveiled a really weak 10th-season logo, which will be worn as a jersey patch next season. Details here. … Several people told me that John Danks wore his undershirt backwards last Thursday, but David Chisholm is the only one who came up with a good screen shot. … We’ve all seen the 1976 pillbox caps that several National League teams wore. But Aaron Steele found something I hadn’t noticed before: Ted Simmons wearing one of the pillbox caps under his catcher’s mask. … Good article here about attire at the Masters (with thanks to Mark Coale). … Next year’s NHL All-Star Game logo looks like this. … Tyson Moll reports that Cyprus High in Magna, Utah, wear some awesome striped stirrups. … Interesting photo here of BYU’s 1951 NIT championship team during a preseason tour of Brazil. Dig those “Mormons” warm-ups! Additional info in this PDF file (with thanks to Spencer Hall). … Toronto native Chris Creamer notes that the Blue Jays’ retro helmets use a uni number font that’s never been part of the team’s design scheme. And although it doesn’t really look that way in the photo, he says the left portion of the helmet’s MLB logo decal is graphite, not red. … Speaking of Chris, someone over on his board noted that the Texans are starting to make more frequent use of the “HT” logo seen at the bottom of this page. I had literally never seen that logo before. … Bobby Cox has been managing the Braves forever, but don’t tell that to Fox (good catch by Zack Bennett). … Lots of 1983 Phillies commercials compiled in this YouTube video (nice find by Morris Levin). … Richard Giron noticed another example of co-branded boxing gloves during Saturday’s Felix Sturm/Jamie Pittman bout. “Paffen Sport makes its own gloves in Germany,” he writes. “But their logo is partially covering a pair of Grant Gloves. It doesn’t happen anywhere else except in Germany and England. Lonsdale, Paffen Sport, Top Ten, and Adidas slap their logos on top of existing brands such as Reyes, Everlast, or Grant.” … The Johns Hopkins lacrosse teams wore 1980s throwbacks on Saturday (with thanks to Michael Brand). … Amidst all the other birthday presents I recently received, I’ve shamefully neglected to mention that Scott Turner and Diane George generously gave me a gorgeous old hooded varsity volleyball jacket, with a chenille volleyball on one sleeve, a uni number on the other sleeve, and nice “Army” lettering on the back. This jacket kept me toasty yesterday morning as I shopped through a cold, blustery flea market, where I found, among other treasures, this TruByte sample kit, filled with artificial teeth and super-cool labels. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Good article here about the Jazz’s uni numbers. … Also from Sunday: Brinke Guthrie noted that Barry Zito was having some undershirt tag issues, which led Nicole Haase to respond, “I was at the game and you could see the tag from the seats. And when they showed replays and close-ups on the video screen at Miller Park — ARG! I pointed it out to my boyfriend, who just looked at me.” … The Altoona Curve wore very old-school throwbacks for last Thursday’s home opener. Additional views here, here, here, and here, plus there’s a dozen pages of photo galleries here (with thanks to Timothy Welsh). … Curiouser and curiouser: The front uni numbers on the Twins’ navy jerseys, which unexpectedly switched from white to red last week, were white again yesterday. But I’m not sure if the NOB lettering, which had gone from white outlined in red to just white, has also changed back. Take a look here and here — red outline or pure white? Depending on how I squint, I can see it either way. Did any actually, y’know, watch the game, instead of just scavenge through photos on the web? Anyway, the obvious solution, of course, would be for them to stop wearing to stupid-ass navy jerseys in the first place. … Cubs’ blue alts made their first appearance since 2006 yesterday. … Uniform? What uniform? Boy, that camouflage uni is so effective I can barely see it. … Awesome 1957 article about football uniforms and equipment here. … Lots of good info about the Indians’ jersey options here (with thanks to Michael Burnett). … Accoding to this story, the Rams wanted to wear 1999 throwbacks this fall but were turned down by the league because they didn’t start the paperwork early enough. They’re also planning to wear a memorial patch for Georgia Frontiere (with thanks to Mike Engle).
April 7th, 2008
When the Packers play the Seahawks tomorrow, one observer will be watching the events with particularly keen interest. That’s Marge Switzer, the Pack’s seamstress. In this high-tech football era, Marge is almost too perfect to be true: a sweet, smiling lady bent over a sewing machine. She recently made time in her busy schedule to chat about her job.
Uni Watch: What exactly is your job title there?
Marge Switzer: I’m an independent contractor, not a team employee, but I’m considered the Packers’ seamstress.
UW: How and when did you start working for the Packers, and what were you doing before that?
MS: I owned a monogramming and embroidery company, called Threads. I started that in 1985 and closed it in 2001. Prior to that I was a professional seamstress, doing alterations for clothing stores. And I did some work for our local college here, St. Norbert’s, repairing their athletic apparel — football pants, jerseys, whatever. I was approached by the Packers’ equipment manager, Red Batty, to do some embroidery for them — primarily numbers, so clothing could be designated for a player.
UW: You mean as an internal identification system?
MS: Right. That would have been in 1996, when I still had Threads. And then closed Threads and came here full-time around 2001. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t balance the two. You can’t run a business and do this job. And I have to tell you, I love this job.
UW: Are you the only seamstress there, or are you part of a sewing department, or what?
MS: I have an associate named Penny who’s been with me since 1985. We’ve been friends, actually, since second grade. So she knows my style, she knows what I need, and so on. She does all my prep work — if a pattern needs to be cut out, or a hem taken out, that’s her responsibility.
UW: Do you have your own office near the locker room?
MS: The Packers provide us with a sewing room, our own space, across from the locker room.
UW: What sorts of things do you typically have to do to a jersey?
MS: Primarily mend it.
UW: What sorts of things need to be mended?
MS: Like if there’s a rip or tear, I take care of that after a game. Once the jerseys have been prepped for the game — in other words, the threads have been clipped around the tackle twill and so forth — if anything needs to be shortened, they’re shortened, because players come in all different heights.
UW: Have there been players who’ve liked to have certain details custom-tailored?
MS: Not really.
UW: Nobody has said, “I want my hem a certain way,” or “I want my sleeves like this”?
MS: No. And even if they did, the player has to go through the equipment manager.
UW: So the players don’t approach you directly.
MS: No. I rely on the equipment manager to give me guidance.
UW: It gets pretty cold in Green Bay. Do you sew those little pockets into the jersey, which we sometimes see?
MS: No, because they wear the little pouches.
UW: Yeah, but I’ve seen Brett Favre wearing the pockets sewn into the belly of his jersey on lots of occasions.
MS: Oh, you mean when it’s actually part of the jersey — yes, I’ve done that.
UW: When you’re working on something like that, are you thinking, “God, I just wish he’d wear the little pouch instead so I would have to do this”?
MS: No. Being a seamstress is just like any other job: You enjoy the challenge.
UW: For those pockets, do you have to line them with some sort of special thermal fabric?
MS: No, just fleece, like you’d buy at any fabric store.
UW: Any other cold-weather provisions that you’ve had to work on, like maybe on the interior lining or something like that?
MS: No, because the players layer, or at least I assume they do. Frankly, I don’t dress ’em, Paul, so I don’t know what they’ve got under there!
UW: Now some players, like linemen, are, shall we say, robust individuals.
MS: Yes.
UW: So a player like Gilbert Brown, when he was with the Packers, he’s obviously a very large man. Did you have to do anything special for his jersey?
MS: No. The equipment manager orders the proper size from the manufacturer.
UW: Obviously, sure, but you’ve never had to make any special custom alterations to allow for this or that?
MS: No.
UW: What about when we sometime see elastic in a sleeve cuff or at the hemline? Is that something you do, or does Reebok do it?
MS: If it’s in the sleeve, it comes that way from the manufacturer. But if it’s in the hem, that’s something I do.
UW: Speaking of sleeves, what do you think of how sleeves have essentially vanished over the past decade or so?
MS: I guess that’s just a reflection of what the players like.
UW: But that actually affected the team’s uniform design, because the Packers went from five sleeve stripes to three, because there wasn’t enough room on the linemen’s sleeves.
MS: That’s something I can’t really comment on, because we would have had Starter as our manufacturer, and then Nike, and now Reebok, so I’m not sure exactly when that happened.
UW: Actually, that brings up an interesting point regarding the different manufacturers. When the team switches suppliers, is there a substantive change that you can see and feel, or is it essentially the same garment with a different logo on the sleeve?
MS: I’ve never noticed a change. It’s the same garment.
UW: How beaten up or damaged does a jersey have to be before you or Red or whomever says, “Okay, this is beyond repair — we’ll just toss it out instead of fixing it.”
MS: We have never thrown away a jersey.
UW: Well, okay, but even if you don’t throw it away, how damaged does it have to be before it’s “retired”?
MS: That never happens.
UW: Really?!
MS: It will be retired at the end of the season. We will mend it, because that is the player’s personal jersey. The scuffs and dings mean something to them.
UW: So if a jersey had a big gash — not just a little nick, but a serious tear — that would just be stitched back up and put back into circulation?
MS: Absolutely.
UW: What about on game day — are you on hand for last-minute adjustments, and do you travel with the team for road games?
MS: I do not travel with the team, but I am here on game day for home games. Maybe a player would want his undershirt sleeve shortened a bit, or something like that, or a coach might need the hem repaired on his pant cuffs.
UW: Oh, so you work on the coaches’ apparel as well.
MS: Mm-hmm.
UW: And what about during the game — are you on hand to repair things during halftime?
MS: No. There’s always a back-up jersey they can switch to.
UW: So once the game starts, do you go home to watch it?
MS: I do.
UW: And while you’re watching the game, do you notice lots of little things that maybe the average fan would miss?
MS: I think the average fan misses about 90% of what I see.
UW: Can you give me an example?
MS: When you watch other teams, you can see where there’s a rip that wasn’t fixed, or where there are loose threads hanging out. You can tell when the jersey has been taped down to the pads — the jersey should fit, not be distorted.
UW: Do you ever spot something you could have done better and think, “Darn, if only I had…”? Not to imply that you make mistakes, of course.
MS: Well, we all make mistakes, and there have been times when I’m watching the game and I’ll go, “Uhhhhh [deep gasp of shock], we missed a thread there!” So I do see that sometimes, and the average person, I’m sure, wouldn’t have a clue.
UW: Do you think the players themselves care about these sorts of details?
MS: I think Green Bay, as an organization, has a tremendous amount of pride, and our players are fussy about their uniforms. I’ve never heard that a player complained about anything, but I think they expect that everything will look professional.
UW: Speaking of small details, I’m told that the uniform number on one of Brett Favre’s jerseys was slightly off-center earlier this season.
MS [softly]: Mm-hmm.
UW: So it came that way, from Reebok?
MS: It actually came that way, yes.
UW: Was it the front number or the back?
MS: I think it was the front.
UW: Was that something you noticed during the game?
MS: After the game, when the jersey came out of the laundry.
UW: So in that case, would that jersey be retired, because it was essentially defective?
MS: I think we probably would, yes.
UW: So that’s what happened?
MS: I brought it to the equipment manager’s attention, but I don’t actually know what happened to it after that.
UW: Does it ever bug you when you work to get Al Harris’s nameplate just right and then nobody can even see it because it’s covered up by his hair?
MS [laughing]: That doesn’t bother me at all! Because that’s just his look.
UW: But you could have “Smith” or “Jones” under there, instead of “Harris,” and nobody would know.
MS: I sure wouldn’t try it! That might be the day he had his hair pulled back.
UW: Al Harris is also one of the players who’ve been a little creative with their socks this year. Do you work on the hosiery, too?
MS: No, that’s not part of my job at all.
UW: I know some teams actually sew the socks into the cuffs of the pants — do you do that?
MS: I have heard about that, but I haven’t done that here.
UW: The Packers aren’t wearing those captaincy patches that most other NFL teams are wearing, so I guess that’s one job you didn’t have to do.
MS: Yes. Some teams have the same captains week after week, but the Packers select their captains before each game. The “C” patches did arrive in the sewing room at the start of the season, but then we were asked to return them to the equipment room.
UW: Speaking of patches, there was that one game where the team played in Dallas, and the Cowboys usually wear white at home, which means the Packers would have worn green, and I read that all the Lambeau Field anniversary patches on the green jerseys would have had to be removed for that game, and then restored for the next home game, because the patch can only be worn at home. But then the Cowboys ended up wearing blue throwback jerseys for that game, so the Packers wore white after all, and the patches didn’t have to be taken off and then put back on. So that saved you a lot of work too.
MS: Yes.
UW: So you — or maybe Penny — would have had to use a seam ripper to remove all those patches?
MS: Yes. And it would have been a joint effort, believe me.
UW: What sort of sewing machine do you use? Is it an industrial model, or is it pretty similar to what a home sewer would have?
MS: It’s just a basic sewing machine — not industrial.
UW: These fabrics you’re working with, they’re high-tech, high-performance textiles, which is obviously very different than normal apparel. Is that a challenge? Does the material react differently in your hands, or under the needle?
MS: No, it really doesn’t, as long as I use the right needle. In other words, you don’t use the same needle to mend a jersey that you would to hem a pair of jeans.
UW: But the fabric essentially behaves the same way?
MS: Absolutely.
UW: If you could change anything about football uniforms, what would it be?
MS: Hmmmm. If you had asked me that 10 years ago, I would have said get rid of the screened-on numbers. But now they’re tackle twill, which is so much better — it gives a sense of dimension, and they don’t crack or peel. It’s a much more professional look. Aside from that, I can’t think of anything.
UW: Any good stories to share, any anecdotes involving unusual situations or challenges?
MS: Unfortunately, I can’t take things out of here — it’s confidential. Mostly, I forget what goes on here. I can’t take stories home, I can’t take the risk that my husband will pass them on at his job. So I honest to God wish I had something I could tell you that would just be hilarious, but I can’t.
UW: Speaking of your husband, I assume he’s a big Packers fan?
MS: He is.
UW: So it must be exciting for him to have his wife working for the team.
MS: Well, it is. I mean, let’s look at the big picture, Paul: There are only so many teams in the NFL, and only so many people who sew for the NFL. That’s what makes it such a privilege.
======
Big thanks to Marge for her time and expertise, and to reader Jeff Ash, who’s Marge’s neighbor and lay the groundwork for this interview.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the $100 NFLshop.com gift card (or to get three bonus entries by joining the Uni Watch membership program). To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (not to the usual Uni Watch address) by 10 p.m. eastern tonight. One e-mail per person, plus all membership enrollees will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner on Monday. And in a special bonus development, look for another raffle next week.
Speaking of membership, there are some new cards up in the design gallery, including today’s showcase design, which is based on the 1926-27 Ottawa Sentators. Also, I mailed out about a dozen membership kits yesterday, so watch your mailboxes.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of uni-related info in this PDF of Tony Romo’s locker (with thanks to Brian Thompson). … We all know about Pete Gray, Modecai Brown, Jim Abbott, and Tom Dempsey, but the latest news regarding Oscar Pistorius (the sprinter who wear prosthetics) led New York Times columnist George Vescey to recall the case of a disabled athlete I hadn’t previously been aware of: Bert Shepard, who lost a leg during World War II and later pitched one game for the Senators. Vescey’s column was accompanied by this photo, and I’ve been unable to find any others. If anyone has a shot of Shepard in action, I’d love to see it. … Odd coincidence spotted by birthday boy Marty Buccafusco, who first noticed an eBay auction for a Brett Favre Falcons jersey with what appears to be a slightly off-center nameplate and was then watching some 1999 NFL playoff footage and saw Favre exhibiting the same problem. Seems especially odd in light of the off-center number discussed above with Marge Switzer. … The latest installment of “Equipped with Joe Skiba” is available on the Giants’ home page. … FNOB alert from John English, who writes: “The ’83 Angels sported both Reggie Jackson and Ron Jackson at one point. Their solution? Reggie remained just ‘Jackson,’ while Ron wore his full name.” … We’ve discussed lots of occasions when umpires have been forced to wear makeshift gear because their luggage was lost. Turns out Michael James attended one such a game in 1991, and he just found some photos he took that afternoon. “The umps dressed in what appeared to be Brewers warm-up gear,” he says. … Nathan Evans says this reminds him of this. … While researching something else, I came across this shot of a less than full moon. … This week’s New Yorker includes this photo from a Rangers practice session. Forgive my ignorance here, but what is the purpose of having three separate uniform sets on the ice at one time?
January 11th, 2008
Big uni-related story in the NFL yesterday was the range of Sean Taylor memorials. Here’s a quick rundown:
• The Redskins wore a “21″ jersey patch. The Redskins’ coaching staff and owner wore it, too.
• In addition, Clinton Portis wore a Taylor tribute T-shirt under his jersey (here’s another view).
• John Eubanks wore a Taylor do-rag. At first I thought this was one of the towels that fans were given, but now I think it was actually the sleeve from a Taylor jersey.
• All teams wore a “21″ helmet decal. This led to some pretty crowded rear-helmet groupings, especially for the Broncos (who already had their dual memorial for Darrent Williams and Damien Nash) and Browns (who added that “BW” decal this week in memory of Hall of Famer Bill Willis — not to be confused with the “BW” decal for Bill Walsh that the 49ers have been wearing all year).
• I was hoping we’d see some facemask stripes, like Taylor sometimes wore. Didn’t happen, but Antonio Pierce of the Giants did something similar: He taped Taylor’s uniform number onto his mask. This was the only personalized tribute to Taylor that I spotted. (Special thanks to Ryan Perkins for the screen grab.)
Meanwhile, in non-Taylor developments:
• Tommie Harris had “Psalms 91″ (which also happens to be his uniform number) written on his Breathe Right strip.
• The Jets took the unusual step of wearing their Titans throwbacks on the road in Miami.
• Joseph Addai was showing some serious skin in the 2nd quarter.
• No photo yet, but I saw for myself that Dallas Clark’s American flag decal was still missing — a particularly egregious omission when you consider that the equipment staff had to add the Sean Taylor decal to his helmet, so you’d think they would’ve noticed the missing flag. Bryan, whose wife went to high school with Clark, is still working on getting the full story on this one.
• Also no photo, but several readers reported that Braylon Edwards was wearing white shoes and going bare-calved, NCAA-style, early in the Browns/Cards game. Then he added brown socks but still had white shoes. He eventually switched to black shoes like the rest of the Browns.
Uni Watch Calendar Update: Several meet/greet opportunities coming up over the next week. Here’s the deal:
• December 6th: Marc Spears of the Boston Globe and I will be fielding questions from students in a media seminar class this Thursday at Boston University. I’ll be convening a Uni Watch party at 8:30 that evening at Boston Beer Works, which is right across from Fenway Park. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to attend the seminar class, which begins at 6:30, the professor has graciously agreed to accommodate a few extra people. If you’re interested, get in touch and I’ll let you know where to go.
• December 10th: The completely wonderful City Reliquary, of which I am a proud card-carrying member, will be holding its annual benefit gala at the Automotive High School Auditorium, and I’m one of the two featured speakers this year. I’ll be doing a Power Point presentation about Brooklyn Dodgers uniform history, but the real attraction is the other speaker: Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder and Boggs. The evening will also feature a short documentary film, a live samba band, and — if you shell out a lot of extra $$$ — dinner at Bamonte’s, one of Brooklyn’s oldest and most storied red-sauce Italian restaurants. Full details here.
• Sometime in January: I’m going to be one of four presenters at the inaugural edition of a new speaking series called “Adult Education,” which is being curated by my longtime pal Carrie McLaren (editrix of the excellent consumer-culture magazine Stay Free), who describes the series as “sort of grownup show-and-tell,” complete with visual aids. The theme of this first installment will be “Micro-Genres”: Carrie, who’s mildly obsessed with chimps, will be talking about people who’ve tried to raise chimps as part of the family; longtime Uni Watch pal Liz Clayton will talk about painfully obvious fast-food restaurant conversions (she has an entire site devoted to this phenomenon); Jim Hanas will talk about “meta tourism” (i.e., photos of tourists taking photos); and I’ll be talking about the strange world of trade magazines (Elevator World, Hay and Forage Grower, American Funeral Director, Demolition, and so on, each of which is as obsessively subject-specific as Uni Watch is). The exact date is still TBA, but it’s definitely going to be on a Tuesday in January, and the venue will be Union Hall, which is conveniently located around the corner from Uni Watch HQ. Further details on this one as they become available.
Membership News: I’m happy to announce that we’ve now gone over 500 enrollees. But I can’t announce who the 500th member is because that was a gift membership and the gift-giver has asked that I keep the order secret until Christmas.
Speaking of which, remember, this Wednesday is the deadline for ordering a discounted gift membership for the holidays.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of pics here from the upcoming hoops movie Semi-Pro (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Bizarre uniform sighting here (courtesy of Eric Trager). … Looking for new and creative ways to lace up your cleats or sneakers? Look here (with thanks to Mike Blinn). … Roman numeral alert: Charlie Coley III of Charlotte (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … “Once upon a time, Marquette had a football team,” writes proud Badger State booster Nicole Haase. “Here’s a pretty cool collection of 1940s program covers.” … “Check out the difference in the helmet stripe thickness for the two players in green, who play for Mentor Lake Catholic High in Ohio,” writes Tim Snyder. “I figure it’s some kind of merit award, but they also use more conventional merit decals.” Anyone know more about this? … Paul Bridge reports that Utah Valley University, which will have D-1A status by 2009, has some new logos. Details here. … Very odd NOB typography being for Jonathan Zebina of Juventus (and, presumably for the rest of their players): The “Z” and the “E” look like a “2″ and a backwards “3.” It’s apparently so fraught with confusion that the “E” ended up being applied backwards for Saturday’s game against AC Milan (all this courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … Mizzou’s Stryker Sulak had some sleeve patch problems on Saturday (with thanks to James Wortham for the screen grab). … Nice little recap of Lakers uniform history here (as forwarded by Matthew Wolfram). … Ryan Perkins notes that R.W. McQuarters of the Giants had some helmet decal issues yesterday. … Several readers noted that Wabash wore some ill-advised pants in Saturday’s D-III quarterfinal game. … Georgia will wear black in the Sugar Bowl. … Speaking of black, Texas A&M’s hoops team wore their black alts yesterday. … “The Barbarians, an invitation-only rugby club that plays a handful of matches per year, took on the newly-crowned world champions South Africa,” writes Eric Bangeman. In addition to wearing classic black-and-white uniforms, the Barbarians ask each player to wear the socks from his home club, which makes for some interesting hosiery contrasts.”
December 3rd, 2007
Back when I invited people to apply for the Uni Watch intern’s position, one of the finalists was David Sonny. Although he didn’t make the final cut, he had already set up an interview with Bengals equipment manager Rob Recker, which I encouraged him to go ahead with. He readily agreed. Here’s how their chat went down:
David Sonny: How did you get to the position of Cincinnati Bengals equipment manager?
Rob Recker: Well, I actually started off as a trainer for OSU. While there I began to intern with the Browns, but I left for the assistant trainer job with the Bengals in 1991 and continued in that role until 2000.”
DS: And then you made the jump to equipment manager?
RR: Well up until then Tom Gray was the equipment manager and I was a guy who would help anyone out that I could. So basically in 1999 you could have called me the assistant equipment manager. After 1999, Tom Gray retired and Mike Brown offered me the promotion from assistant trainer to equipment manager.
DS: And so you took the job.
RR: Well yeah, when the boss tells you he’d like to move you from one area to another, promote you, and make you the head of a department, you don’t say no. Let me just say this, Mike Brown is a very intelligent man. He sees a lot… he sees everything. He really made it nice here.
DS: Nice? How do you mean?
RR: Well, I took over the first year we moved into Paul Brown Stadium, and at that time many people had very negative views of the franchise, which often happens when you lose. Mike Brown changed all that. There was a time when you would hear players complain about not getting a lot from the team, like clothes, shoes, gloves. Now we get players coming in from other organizations that come in and are wide-eyed in amazement about everything they get for free. I mean, players are actually shocked that they get all of this [referring to the seemingly endless amount of merchandise, from hoodies to gloves and anything else that can be ordered]. If I need anything for this department, I just have to ask Mike Brown, he has never once said no to anything.
DS: So what do you feel your goal is?
RR: For players to get everything they need to perform on the field. I need to do what needs to be done for us to win, whether that means getting a player the shoes he requests, gloves, pads, whatever makes that player feel comfortable on and off the field.
DS: What are your thoughts on the new NFL logo?
RR: It is what it is. I like the old NFL logo, it has a sort of classic look to it, but things change. I like the new one too; it is going to be a ton of work for me switching over, though. It’s on everything [begins pulling out business cards, jerseys, nameplates, helmets, stationery, etc.]. I have to make sure that all of the old logos are replaced by next year so that we’re in compliance.”
DS: What about other logos, such as Reebok?
RR: A big part of my job is making sure that product is on the field. Like I said, it is what it is, don’t underestimate just how much money that company makes, and puts into the game. It is my job to make sure that it looks its best.
DS: I’ve noticed that on the fieldwear and fanwear, the Reebok logo seems more toned down than in the past…
RR: Yeah, the logos seemed to get out of hand a while back. But the NFL is very strict and there are now more restrictions on logo size and placement.
DS: So what about the helmets? I have seen the decals for sale to make your own and such…
RR: We no longer use decals on our helmets. That was one of the first things I changed when I was promoted in 2000. It got to a point where we were just wasting time; I would have three or four guys out there repairing helmet decals for two or three hours straight the Monday after a game. The paint holds up better and looks better, now I just have a guy look over all the helmets after a game and anything that is too scratched or damaged we just send away to have painted. The h | 
