[Editor's Note: Uni Watch bench coach emeritus Bryan Redemske checks in today to bring us up to date on the cycling scene. -- PL]

By Bryan Redemske

Hey, Lance Armstrong is back — you may have heard about that. His comeback with Team Astana started in January at the Tour Down Under in Australia and continued last week at the Tour of California.

Since he’s, well, Lance, both races enjoyed record crowds and heightened media exposure, which made some uni-related oddities a lot more noticeable.

Lance has always lived by his his own set of uni rules (he wore three different lids in his final Tour de France alone), but this comeback has taken things even further. In training, Lance wears full Livestrong kit, rather than the Astana kit worn by his teammates. And this is the team-issue Astana helmet … which Lance doesn’t wear. He’s worn a pair of Livestrong-branded lids so far — one with more yellow than the other. Note also the visor on that second one. That model (Giro Ionos) isn’t available — or even compatible — with a visor. More custom work, to be sure.

The weather was pretty brutal for the first few days in California, which brought out vests, jackets and everything short of snowmobile suits. Most riders went for a team-colored vest or jacket, but Lance did not. Not even close. He also opted for black Nike arm and knee warmers, rather than team-issue navy blue.

Lance’s bike was different from his teammates’, too. That’s been one of his hallmarks for a number of years — he’s always had three or four different paint jobs on hand. Astana’s Levi Leipheimer (who won the race) had a special paint job on his time trial bike as well. That’s a bear, by the way, on the frame — Leipheimer lives in California (though he’s actually from Montana).

Finally, there’s the yellow band on the left cuff of Astana’s jersey and shorts. It symbolizes the Livestrong band, which was present through all three years of Lance’s Discovery Channel sponsorship, and is now on the Astana kit this season (but not last season). But Lance’s bands actually say Livestrong. They didn’t in the Tour Down Under, however.

In non-Lance news:

• Check out the writing on the left leg of this Cervelo TestTeam rider. That says “Innovate, Sacrifice, Unite, Succeed.” The interesting part is the orientation — it’s right-side up to the wearer only.

• Team Columbia-High Road (formerly T-Mobile) wore two different styles of shorts. One was mostly white, one had more black. Neither helped take attention away from those stupid jersey abs.

• Rock Racing, the team that had nearly two dozen different kits last season (viewable — and available for purchase — here), is back. Rumors flew all winter about whether the team would even start the season. So the theme is “Rock’s Not Dead.” OK … but maybe there should have been more consideration toward word placement. Having “dead” scrawled across my junk wouldn’t be the first choice. Plus, the kit design in general kind of makes them look like clowns.

• Frank Schleck’s Luxemborg national champion jersey (center) is one of the few that look awesome with a team logo. Here’s the standard Saxo Bank (formerly CSC) kit. Combining a national champion’s colors with a team kit rarely works so well. We’re looking at you, Rock Racing. That’s U.S. national champion Tyler Hamilton at the front, by the way. The stars and stripes are in there somewhere.

Ah, the crack of the ball on the bat, the prick of the syringe on the butt cheek…: Paul here. My annual spring training roundup column is up now on Page 2. This column also includes the first working installment of the long-planned Uni Watch Glossary, which I’ll later make into a permanent page on this site.

Raffle Results: That’s right, you didn’t win again — unless your name is Steve Seager, that is.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Classic Old School Gear prexy Alain Nana-Sinkam was recently hired for a project by Kansas State: “Their Marketing and Promotions Director saw my ad on Uni Watch and e-mailed me mid-January about making jerseys for four players whose jersey numbers would be retired at the end of the season,” writes Alain. “There are two women (Priscilla Gary and Tammie Romstad) and two men ( Willie Murrell and Mitch Richmond). The jerseys we did were based on photos and other research and are meant to match what the players wore during their careers.” … The Arkansas baseball teams has unveiled four new uni designs, two of which are shown here and here (with thanks to Charlie Shields). … Good spot by Shawn Bleiler, who notes that the current Eastbay and Modell’s catalogs are using the same cover photo. … Soccer note from Patrick Runge, who writes: “Crystal Palace rolled out a series of choices for next year’s kit design. The fans were less than pleased, a local paper ran a mildly critical article, and now the team is boycotting the paper.” And now the fans have come up with their own design proposal. … Kenn Tomasch notes that the Houston Dynamo were wearing a black armband the other day, but he’s not sure who it was memorializing. … The Women’s Professional Soccer league should be out of business within, what, four months or so, right? So take a look at their uniforms (several of which feature skirts) while you can. … Oh, but wait, it turns out that the skirts won’t be worn in games because the league will fold before any games are played (thanks to Craig Justice for that clarification). … And there’s some further analysis of the WPS uniforms here and here. … The Marquette women’s hoops team wore collared, sleeved throwback tops (but not shorts) on Saturday, but only for warm-ups (with thanks to Blain Fowler). … If you normally pull your pant cuffs down over your heels, what do you do for footwear-free sliding drills? Pull your cuffs down over the heels of your socks (good find by Phil Johnson). … Uni number news from Yankees camp, where Brett Tomko is now wearing No. 28 and Melky Cabrera has No. 53 (with thanks to Stephen King). … Speaking of uni numbers, Jose Valentin is in Mets camp as a non-roster invitee and is wearing No. 99. I’m not positive about this, but I think that’s because 9 + 9 = 18, which was Valentin’s number back in his first stint with the Mets. That number is now worn by Jeremy Reed. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Not sure if I’ve ever seen a pennant design like the one shown here. … Lots of photos of Auburn’s new retro-styled baseball uniforms here (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … The best uniforms I’ve seen so far this year can be found in this comic (genius find by Larry Torrez). … “Looks like the Cubs may have switched back to traditional helmets,” says Bryan, who’s really back in force today. “Either that, or they don’t ship Cool-Flo helmets to Arizona. That seems unlikely, given the rest of the stuff that gets shipped.” … Thomas Miller, who’s the assistant minor league equipment manager for the Milwaukee Brewers and Nashville Sounds, sent along some pics of the team’s minor league complex, where they have framed jerseys of all the Brewers affiliates. … FNOB alert, of sorts (with thanks to Dan Cichalski). … Kenny Crookston snagged this for two bucks at a thrift store. “Not exactly uni-related,” he says, “except that I plan on wearing it to the Indians’ home opener on April 10th.” … You may have heard and/or seen that Rich Eisen ran a 40-yard “dash” while weaing a suit at the NFL combine the other day. What you might not have noticed (but Chris Flinn did) is that the old NFL logo appears at the very beginning of the video segment — which is particularly odd given that this footage is from the NFL Network. … Bosox minor leaguer Ryan Khoury wore a plain double-flapped helmet in last night’s spring training game against the Twins (screen grab courtesy of Nick Hanson). … Mirko Vucinic got caught on-camera making some extracurricular adjustments the other day (with thanks to Matt Beaudin). … Everything from here to the end of the Ticker is from Phil: In a shocking display of misplaced financial priorities, a Cincinnati elementary school is taking funds that were budgeted for buying basketball uniforms and using them to help a sick kid. … The Bobcats’ D-League affiliate will dangle the NBA carrot in front of its players’ noses on Saturday by having them wear Bobcats uniforms. … The Illinois hoops team has already announced that it won’t have NOBs next season. … Hey, wait, here’s one more WPS uniform. Oops, it’s actually the latest Oregon cheeleading outfits, coming soon to a Girls Gone Wild video near you.

Steeltown-Bound: By the time you read this, I’ll be on my way to Pittsburgh. Phil will be handling the site from now through next Monday (thanks, buddy). All e-mail sent to the usual Uni Watch address will be forwarded to him, or you can send him Ticker contributions directly.

Hope to see lots of you on Sunday, 1pm, at Max’s. Rob Ullman (who hails from Pittsburgh but now lives in Virginia) sent me a small batch of these Steeler Girl decals to distribute at the shindig. First come, first served, so it’ll pay to arrive early. Too bad this auction won’t end until after the party, but one of your Pittsburghers out there really ought to bid on it anyway.

I know almost nothing about cycling, but I know a good jersey when I see one, and there are tons of them showcased in this 2006 book, Cycling’s Golden Age, which I discovered while birthday-shopping for a cycling-obsessed friend. Here are some highlights:

• I was aware that cycling jerseys used to be made of wool, but it’s still something of a shock to see these garments, which seem so tactile, so substantial, compared to today’s super-sleek jerseys.

• Today’s cycling jerseys have pockets on the back, but the jerseys of yesteryear had the pockets on the front chest area. The visual effect was often less than flattering.

• This was the only brown jersey shown in the book. Nicely earthy, but it seems more like hiking gear than a cycling jersey, no?

• Some of the most impressive garments in the book are the champions’ jerseys, which are adorned with special stripes — sometimes horizontal, sometimes vertical.

• It must be a drag to be from Switzerland, because you’re constantly being mistaken for a medic.

• Check out the beautiful chain-stitching here and here.

• I love back collar buttons, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with a pointed back collar.

• Not sure what I like best here — the two-tone torso, the striping on the collar and sleeves, or the patch.

• Love the chest insignia here.

• This dude’s just training, not racing. But holy shit do I love his outfit.

• Last but definitely not least, the book also features a fair number of magnificent cycling posters, which I’ve gathered into this slideshow.

And so on. Great text, too, and the whole package feels well-conceived and lovingly designed. Highly recommended.

Memphis Update: Yesterday’s post about the Memphis/FedEx situation prompted a really thoughtful note from reader Caleb Borchers. It’s lengthy, but I think you’ll find it’s worth the time it takes to read it:

Let me say first, that I am with you on the issue of logo creep and public space. Before today, I’ve never disagreed when you have gone after teams or companies that clutter public entities with private capitalism. That said, I think some context would help with this Memphis situation.

I am not a [native] Memphian, but I have lived here for two years now, working on a Master’s degree. In my time in Memphis, I’ve learned a lot of things about the city. I’ve learned that the crime rate is horrific. I’ve seen the urban decay that is slowly crumbling society. I’ve also learned that the infant mortality rate is similar to that in many parts of the undeveloped world. Frankly, this city is in constant crisis mode. The result is a sort of shame or apathy about the city. People are not proud to live here, and many try to get out as quickly as possible. That lack of morale and the collapse of the city are reciprocal. The more people are ashamed of the city, the more they don’t help make it better, the more they are ashamed, the worse it gets, etc.

There are two bright points, two institutions that bring pride and dignity to the city. One is the Memphis Tigers. I’ve never lived somewhere that cares so much about college basketball. Watching them play in the Tournament is the one thing that makes Memphians proud to declare where they are from. The other institution is FedEx. This city needs FedEx as badly as Detroit needs the big three. And frankly, FedEx is more often than not a good company. They provide health benefits for part-time workers. Everyone starts at the same job and pay, and can work their way up the ladder in the company. Theoretically, even the CEO started with the company unloading packages at midnight. In a city that historically gave opportunity based on the color of your skin, that is a significant thing. Many people in Memphis eat, live, and provide for their families because of FedEx, and FedEx does not rape and pillage the community as some companies (cough, cough, Wal-Mart) are known to do. When someone criticizes the team or the company, in a real way they criticize the whole city. The connection is that tight.

All of this to say, when someone in the city had the idea to honor the company that keeps the city alive (”Memphis brought to you by FedEx” is not far from the truth), by doing something via the organization that brings this city the most pride, I think that calling them whores is not quite fair. I understand your ideological stance, and agree with it, but living here and seeing the context every day made it not sit well with me. The metaphor suggests that Memphis will do anything for money, and that FedEx is some pimp that abuses the city to make a profit. This is not the truth. I generally take every chance I can to take a shot at corporate America, but there are a few companies I respect for their genuine concern for the people that work for them, and FedEx is one of them.

Most of all, I hate to see a little more shame tossed on a city that already has plenty to go around. (Mitch Album had an excellent article on similar in issues in my home town of Detroit, “The Spirit of Detroit,” which I think describes a similar phenomenon there.) The jersey idea was poorly executed — I would have preferred something like a “Thank you FedEx, signed, Memphis” patch or something like that — but I don’t think the good people of this city deserve to be publicly shamed for a mistaken gesture of gratitude. A symbol of city pride and solidarity is now a reason to mock Memphis once again. The people here struggle enough day to day to keep their dignity without potshots from the media.

I really respect your work and what you do with the site. I don’t mean for this to sound as preachy as it may have come across. I just thought that a little context was important for the discussion.

That’s a really great piece of feedback. Thanks, man.

As I explained to Caleb when I wrote back to him, to me the question is not whether FedEx is a good company, or even whether they’re good for Memphis. My point is that the distinction between our civic institutions and our corporate entities should be akin to a church/state relationship. If you start honoring the company on things like basketball uniforms, you essentially start ceding your identity to theirs, which is a toxic road to go down, at least from my perspective.

Look, the relationship between a company and its home city is supposed to be a good one, it’s supposed to be a win-win. If the company goes above and beyond (and I don’t know enough about Memphis or FedEx to say whether that’s the case here, but let’s say it is), then give the CEO the key to the city or issue a mayoral proclamation or something. But once you start merging your civic identity with the company’s brand, you’ve taken the first step toward declaring your own civic subservience to the company, which is very, very bad news. If the company is secure in its own business model and is really a good corporate citizen, it shouldn’t have any problem with staying on its side of the civic/corporate line. And it shouldn’t need special recognition — like, say, FedEx Appreciation Night — as a reward for doing the right thing.

Steeltown Hoedown: I’m gonna be in Pittsburgh at the end of next week and would like to convene a Uni Watch party on either Friday the 27th or Saturday the 28th. Further details to follow in a few days, but you can definitely pencil it in for one of those two dates.

February Raffles, Round 3: I haven’t yet had a chance to see the new book Colors: Pro Football Uniforms of the Past and Present (my copy is in transit as we speak), but several people have told me that it’s very, very good. Now our friends at Helmet Hut, who consulted with author Jim Finks Jr. on the book’s content, have invited me to raffle off a copy to the Uni Watch readership.

To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by this Thursday, February 19th, at 10pm eastern. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner on Friday.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Anyone who loves striped socks as much as I do needs to know about this site. “They’re marketed as socks for the skateboard crowd, but they look like old-school striped basketball socks to me,” says Micah Roberts. “I’ve already picked up several pairs am currently pondering which ones to get next. My old solid-whites have been relegated to the drawer.” … Interesting story about the woman who designs the dresses for the ring-card girls at Madison Square Garden bouts here. … No mourning period for Omar Vizquel’s uni number (with thanks to Dan Cichalski). … Several readers have expressed surprise over this 1962 photo, which shows Duke wearing red trim. … Lebron James is considering a uni number change (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Buried deep in that same article, there’s this: “If James would switch [uni numbers], though, there’s a good chance it would happen in 2010. The NBA is likely to alter its uniforms in two years to make their construction more consistent for every team, making them easier to make and reproduce for fans who order them. That is already the case with warmups and practice attire now.” I’ve asked the NBA for more info on that and got this response: “Not for any of the reasons mentioned below, we are working with Adidas to combine their technologies with our uniforms for a more complete system. We have been researching for several years and continue to do so with no set timetable.” That’s some first-rate double-speak right there. … One good thing about economic downturn: Naming-rights deals are floundering. … Two great finds on Rob Walker’s excellent Murketing blog. First, check out these great Mexican thumb-wrestling masks. And on a more esoteric note, a photographer named Ofer Wolberger has come up with something really wonderful called the Maggie Project, which involves having a female model pose in various situations while wearing a somewhat disturbing mask — a uniform of sorts. It’s a brilliant project, because most of the photos are really gorgeous, but the mask recontextualizes them. View the full project here. … Alexander Julian, the man who ruined uniforms for a decade by starting the purple/teal trend, is the subject of a new exhibit at the Chapel Hill Museum. I suggest we all start picketing tomorrow (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Interesting to see Albert Pujols posing with Rick Ankiel’s bat (good spot by Aaron Steele). … How much do I love stripes? So much that on Sunday I picked up a vintage white sweater — something I’d never consider wearing under normal circumstances — just because it has these groovy stripes on the sleeves and shoulders. … More basketball players with long sleeves. That’s Fairfax High in L.A. (with thanks to Erkki Corpuz). … New 50th-anniversary logo for Navy’s stadium. Details here (with thanks to Kevin Whisman). … Yesterday I asked why the Harlem Globetrotters are wearing a memorial patch. My thanks to everyone who provided the answer. … In another follow-up item, yesterday I asked about Cristobal Huet’s thick black sleeve stripes. Josh Becvar couldn’t answer that one, but he did point out that the Huet’s mask in that photo is a new design. Here’s the old one. … Several spring training observations from Brendon Yarian: First, Anthony Reyes usually goes flat-brimmed but he’s either moving away from that or else it’s just impossible to go flat-brimmed with those BP caps (anyone know?). Also, if you look again at that last photo, you’ll see that Victor Martinez appears to be wearing earplugs or earphones. Also-also, Kelly Shoppach has changed from Wilson gear to Reebok (again with the wordmark!). … Mark McGinnis reports that the DC United had a press conference yesterday to announce that they’ll be working with Maryland’s Prince George’s County to build a stadium. The press conference featured what may be the first instance of CoNOB — county name on back. … Awesome Keds sneakers display materials available here. … And a totally awesome 1936 Keds catalog here. … Here’s something I hadn’t seen before: an old basketball backboard catalog. … Rocco Baldelli is still wearing his blue/gold Rays batting gloves. … I love hats and tend to get attached to them,” writes Andy Chalifour. “I never want throw them away once they’re no longer wearable, but something has to be done. So I recently had the idea to turn into refrigerator magnets. The first step is to cut the logo out of the hat. Next, find the magnets. I am sure you can buy them at a craft store but I had some lying around from and old note pad that used to be on the fridge but tore off. The key is to make sure the magnet is strong enough to hold the weight (thin ones usually aren’t strong enough). Then the last step is to hot-glue them to back of the patches. In five minutes they’re ready to put on the fridge. … Here’s a major find: a vintage RCA Victor basball uni, complete with super-cool sleeve patch. … Best douchebaggery story ever. … Purdue will finally wear those long-rumored new uniforms tonight. Photo gallery here and further info here. Am I the only one who thinks it’s stupid to unveil a new design at this point in the season? … This is pretty great: video coverage of the Nats holding racing presidents tryouts (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: A Seattle cycling team gives the sponsorship space on its uniforms to local nonprofits, and Tim Duncan liked those high-tech all-star uniforms. … “Uniform numbers in rugby correspond to specific positions (e.g., No. 1 is a prop, No. 9 is the halfback, etc.), so NOBs aren’t usually needed,” writes Hadyn Green. “In fact, I had never ever seen NOBs in rugby until this past weekend, when the Chiefs (based in Hamilton, New Zealand) played their opening match away in whites with NOBs. Interestingly, it seems only the starting 15 players got NOBs — the reserves just had numbers.” … In a related item, with more spring training games being televised, the Indians have added NOBs to their BP jerseys (with thanks to Tim Bennett).

By Phil Hecken

It’s that time of year again. The annual barrage of teams wearing pink in support of breast cancer research and funding, or in support of The American Cancer Society, with proceeds used for cancer research. The prevailing trend now though, is Think Pink, which seeks to raise breast cancer awareness.

Just Google “pink uniforms” and you’ll see page after page of stories on teams who dress themselves in the color pink to promote some form of cancer prevention, research, or other endeavor. Especially with the recent passing of Kay Yow, many of the “Think Pink” cancer prevention efforts are now moving to to raise awareness for the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund. Worthy causes, all. And in all seriousness, who would be against cancer funding and awareness raising? But, does every team (seemingly) have to don pink? Is the trend getting to be, if not counter-productive, certainly watering-down the whole ‘uniqueness’ of the cause? That’s debatable of course, but lets focus instead on the actual uniforms and the myriad and sundry accoutrements surrounding the pink phenomenon.

Of course, wearing pink as an accent color has been around since at least the 1990s, and of course Andre Agassi, the ‘rebel’ himself, was at the forefront. At the time, though, there was no ’cause’ associated with it. Other athletes in non-team sports are still quite fond of pink, including Paula Creamer, self-proclaimed “Pink Panther”, who not only wears pink outfits but is also the only professional golfer to stroke a pink ball.

Moving onto team sports, however, the sartorial splendor of pink-clad squads is debatable. Again, for the purpose of this exercise, we will not debate the rationale or cause behind the donning of the pink, but merely the performance and appearance of the uniform and accessories. Kind of a skewed take on the Uni Watch dictum of “Is it good or is it stupid?”. In this case, the qualifications are merely, “Is the uniform good or stupid just really pink?”.

It seems like women’s college hoop teams are the primary wearers of pink. Personally, I don’t mind this, although there are certainly different shades of pink to be worn (which is nice — I’d hate to think they were all just one shade). I’m definitely less fond of the lighter pink sported here (yet, with different lighting, it appears slightly darker) or here. The brighter, hotter and deeper pinks seem to jump out more (since they’re less akin to pastels), and when accented with black, stand out. Course, it could just be the lighting, but this looks less pink and more ’salmon’ to me. And don’t forget to match the sneakers to the uniforms.

Women’s basketball is far from the only sport which has jumped into the pink craze. Both men’s and women’s hockey have entered the fray. “Pink at the Rink” is the new battlecry, featuring pink ice, pink-accented unis, pink sticks, pink-accented gloves, and, of course, pink uniforms for both the ladies and the guys. Even the refs have gotten into the act. Not a big fan of the pink at the rink myself, although it looks much better when the socks are coordinated with the sweaters, and the pants are in a complementary color.

Both men’s and women’s soccer sport the pink uniforms (although the Sevilla player is wearing, I believe, a change kit, and certainly not anything related to breast cancer causes) as well. Palermo also sports pink, as do several women’s colleges, with the latter donning the pink for cause-related reasons. Of course, you gotta start ‘em young.

In other, somewhat “individual” sports such as the triathlon and cycling, pink can always be found. Other semi-team sports like gymnastics will also find the pink in small numbers. Not to be forgotten, USA Softball has also gone pink for a good cause.

OK, that’s enough of the uniforms, but what about the accessories? The NFL got into the act by having the refs don pink ribbons to support breast cancer awareness week in October. Nice touch. Not to be forgotten outdone, the AFL used a pink-accented ball. I’m not sure this is official, but the Cowboys seem to have dabbled in pink, and this is always a welcome Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. But will her boyfriend QB ever slip on a pair of these?

You already they manufacture pink golf balls, but you gotta put your balls on one of these, right? Of course, if you’re gonna play with pink balls, well then, shouldn’t you stroke them with pink clubs? And what better place to keep your clubs than in a pink bag? Of course, tennis players can also hit a pink ball too.

And what of those soccer players? Well, the pink clad ones can certainly kick a pink ball with their shiny pink boots. And the sport of boxing? Sure, why not use pink gloves.

Coaches and fans? Sure, dye your hair pink or put on some pink Chucks. May as well pile on the pink bodypaint for the cause, too.

But surely, surely, the greatest sport of all, which gives millions of dollars to multiple charities, supports many causes, and provides entertainment for millions, would never resort to a gimmick? Surely, baseball would never resort to the pinkification of sport, would it? I think you know the answer to that question. At least they haven’t introduced pink gloves…yet. But they’ll never make the uniforms pink, right? You never know — once you stop taking roids, nothing is out of the question.

Happy Valentine’s Day. Remember, think pink.

By Bryan Redemske

Cycling kits are typically not connected with adjectives like “classy” or “subtle.” Like other sports that depend heavily on sponsor subsidies, the goal in kit design is getting that sponsor name out there. You know, like this.

In that aspect, the Rock Racing team is not unique. Formed in 2007 by fashion designer Michael Ball of Rock & Republic, the boys in green fancy themselves as the rebels of the cycling world. Or, more specifically, they’ve created buzz by hiring ex-dopers who have served their suspensions and need a ride.

One of the longstanding traditions in cycling is creating a special kit for special events. Most grand tour leaders have been going all yellow, pink, or gold. The U.S. Postal/Discovery Channel teams wore special kits for Lance Armstrong’s last three tour wins in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

All of those situations imply a team needs a reason to wear a different kit. Not so for Rock Racing, which makes sure everything is extreme!!! Always. They don’t use a practical Saab for their team car. No, no, no. Escalade. As you saw above, this is the standard RR kit. That color is called “venom,” by the way, and it’s only the beginning. These guys change kits more often than the White Sox have changed team identities.

At the recent eight-stage Tour of Britain, the team wore three different kits — green, black, and blue (it’s called “London Rocks,” if you’re interested). And that’s not counting Tyler Hamilton’s new U.S. champion jersey, which also comes in white. At the same time, the rest of the team was at the Tour of Missouri. And yeah, they had a new kit, too.

The team wore two kits at the Tour of California earlier this year. Stage one was ridden with barbed wire (named “Crucifixion”), allegedly in protest of the commissaires’ decision to bar three Rock Racing riders (all ex-dopers) from starting. After that, it was back to venom.

At the Tour of Georgia a few weeks later, it was all venom until the last stage, when everything turned peachy.

Rock Racing also pulls out wardrobe switches for one day races: Harlem, Austin, Manhattan Beach, and the U.S. national championships, which shouldn’t be confused with Hamilton’s U.S. champion jersey. The official names for the Harlem, Austin, and Manhattan Beach jerseys are “Harlem Rocks,” “Austin Rocks,” and … yeah, you get the picture. The “Rocks” jerseys were worn in races sponsored by Rock Racing.

The Tour of Utah saw a new take on venom — road rash. The Tour of Qinghai Lake garb is here, and there are still four more kits yet to be seen. They’re all called “O.G.” Venom, road rash, black, and white.

That makes 17 different jerseys, not counting Hamilton’s championship jerseys. Kind of makes baseball teams with five jerseys seem perfectly reasonable, huh?

Note: I contacted a Rock Racing official with a few questions about the kits. Despite the best efforts of the team PR officer, an interview never took place. If that interview does happen, I’ll try to shed some light on the more interesting kits in the closet.

Uni Watch news ticker: The Nats look like a Walgreens kind of team when the W is isolated. … Utah State has its own NOB, and it’s not small. Thanks to Karl on the tip. … Here’s another Gene Upshaw sleeve, this time on Brian Dawkins of the Eagles. Bryan Duklewski with the quick camera phone work. … Matthew Lepke was at the Iowa-Indiana game on Saturday and sends this dispatch: “I attended the Iowa-Indiana football game this weekend and had a good laugh at some funny logo creeping my alma mater Iowa’s Tigerhawk has done. Just when you think the university has branded all it can, you’re surprised to learn that even a sherriff’s sidearm can show support for the Hawks. The man pictured has been the Iowa head football coach’s traveling police escort for many years, dating back to the Hayden Fy era. I’ve always found this interesting, since he is a Polk County (Des Moines) deputy and Iowa City is in Johnson County, but alas. I don’t even know what to say about the backup kicker’s shoes, seen behind the sherriff.” I don’t know either, but thanks for the report. … K.C. Kleiss says, “We may have beaten Michigan, but we still look like crap.” The “we” is Toledo, and K.C. is correct. … The Houston Aeros minor league hockey team has a 15th anniversary logo, seen here. Kinda cool, but could get busy if it’s too small or in the wrong spot. Thanks for the tip, T.J. … Jaymes Progar has a question, rugby fans: “I was watching a 6 Nations match between Ireland and Scotland from a while ago (it was an archived game on Setanta Broadband). I noticed that Ireland had something written just below the neckline in the middle of the jersey. It was low quality but on further inspection it appeared to be “Scotland 23-02-08″. Do you know, or do you know anyone that might know more about this? Maybe it was for an auction? Or is this something that is common in test rugby?” No idea. Somebody help the guy, huh? … Jason Hijuelos remembers reading an interview with New Orleans Hornets exec Chad Shinn, and there was a mention of an ABA New Orleans Buccanneers throwback. Could this be it? … Here’s another from K.C. — a fix for the WNBA? … Very cool eBay find here. Good catch by Prentice James. … I don’t know if I’ve seen this question before. Bill Krauss notices most NFL cheerleading squads wear the same white go-go boots. And he’s wondering if they all come from the same place. Someone should do some research or something. … It’s uni-related. I think. Thanks, Craig Justice. Thanks. … This looks cool, with thanks to Todd Bingman. … As mentioned in the comments … sometime in the past few days (or maybe I was imagining it, I don’t know), the Browns are headed back to 1957 for tonight’s game. It’s the last item here, and thank you, Laz Buda. … It’s cancer awareness month right now, if you didn’t know. (Personally, I’d prefer 12 months of cancer fighting instead of cancer awareness for one, but anyway …) As such, there are a lot of pink-tinged events going on. This is a shot of a high school game in Phoenix. The gloves were donated by Cutters, which also made a donation to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Thanks to Daniel Prokosch for the link.

By Bryan Redemske

As expected, the Tour of California unleashed a new wave of champions kits from various countries. Rather than detail every one, because even I don’t have the patience for that, I pulled a few of interest.

First there’s the unfortunate fall from grace of the last two U.S. road champions, George Hincapie and Levi Leipheimer. Both members of Discovery Channel last year, they looked like this and this. Since Hincapie is on High Road now (formerly T-Mobile) and Leipheimer is on Astana, they wear this and this now. Ouch.

David Zabriskie wore this last year with CSC as the U.S. time trial champion. Now he’s in this as a member of Slipstream-Chipotle. I can’t decide if it’s good or bad, or if he’s trying to look like Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.

And here’s Paolo Bettini, proving again that if you’re Italian, you can wear anything.

Black Plague: If you’re not a weekend comments reader — and I gotta say you’re missing a huge party — Oregon’s black System of Dress uniform was the hot topic. I’ve had my say (baaaaad), but I’m sure Paul will have something for us tomorrow. Of course, there’s always the possibility he’ll refuse to say anything at all, and that wouldn’t be a bad thing, either. Actually, that might be better.

Travel and Membership News: Paul here. I’m on the road today (so be nice to Bryan) but wanted to check in on a few things. First, as you can see at right, we’ve done our first vertical membership card design, based on the scarf worn by the Penn State mascot. I frankly didn’t know Penn State even had a mascot, or that he wears a scarf, or that the scarf is adorned with buttons, or that the messages on the buttons are always changing (here’s a larger view of the card, so you can see the specific buttons we were asked to reproduce). The buttons even have their own web site! This was all news to me — if anyone knows more about this phenomenon, feel free to share.

The vertical design, incidentally, was a source of intense deliberation and negotiation between Scott and myself. In the end, I decided going with the portrait orientation was the best way to do justice to the scarf concept (if we’d stuck with horizontal, the buttons would’ve been either too small to read or not as spread out as they are in real life). For now, we’re treating this as a one-time exception to our usual rule — a special design challege that required a special solution. So don’t all start asking for regular jersey-based designs to be vertically oriented.

Meanwhile: Looks like I’m gonna be in Seattle next month, and I’ll definitely convene a Uni Watch party while I’m there. Not sure of the exact dates yet, but it’ll probably be on the 12th, 13th, 17th, or 18th. (Actually, when it comes to Really Bad Ideas, holding a party in a bar on St. Paddy’s Day is probably right up there with shoving a lit M-80 up your ass, so strike the 17th from that list.) I’ll keep you posted as my plans firm up.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Today’s Ticker is a joint effort between Paul and Bryan. … Tremendous little video clip here about the Cardinals’ spring training laundry staff (with thanks to Elena Elms). … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Add Chris Brown to the list of MLBers who’ve worn mask attachments on their helmets. … In a vaguely related item, Brian Giles was running around in a Chargers helmet the other day — and look, it turns out that Giles is still mourning Sean Taylor. No word on whether he had an American flag decal. … Oregon’s continued use of green NOB on a green jersey is baffling. … Mets by the Numbers editor Jon Springer has conducted a great numbers-centric interview with longtime Mets beat reporter Marty Noble. Check it out here. … Mike Monaghan was recently checking out some old Sabres footage and came across a fight between Shjon Podein and Dane Jackson from March 29, 1996. “Podein actually ripped the nameplate off Jacksons jersey and ended up holding it in his hand,” he writes. … I don’t mind purple so much when it represents grape junk food (with thanks to Robert Purvis). … Broncos founder and former Reds exec Bob Howsam died last Tuesday. The last four paragraphs of this obit are of uni interest. … Scroll down to the “Blue Jersey?” section of this page for some Braves rumor-mongering. … UMich swimming caps: blue with gold wings or gold with blue wings (good find by Daniel Weimann). … Here’s a drop-shadow configuration you don’t often see: ten o’clock (with thanks to Marc Rabinowitz). … “I was in New Orleans for the NBA All-Star weekend,” writes Ben Kramer. “They had a little exhibit from the Hall of Fame. I paticularly loved the 1967 East All-Star jersey, based on ‘The City.’ I also think you’d like the old Celtics championship sweater.” … On the logo front — this one corporate — a good, quick read here on how Google got its iconic wordmark. … Here’s ManRam reporting for duty, still wearing his snood thinger from the World Series. Thanks to Mark Mihalik. … Luke Pellegra has checked in with a look at Tennessee’s new hats and batting helmets, the latter changing from black to orange. “If that isn’t just atrocious, I don’t know what is,” Luke writes. Also, the Vols will go from black hats to white. Kentrail Davis needs a tutor to get that bill rounded into shape. … David Arnott took in Friday’s Winthrop-Davidson basketball game, complete with refs in mismatched tops. … Pro wrestling alert: San Diego native Rey Mysterio Jr. had Chargers-style lightning bolts on his pants on Friday in his hometown. Good spot by Cory Lewis. … Tricia Polley notes the Cardinals will be wearing the letter “K” on their lids during Wednesday’s exhibition against St. Louis University in honor of the victims of the city council shooting in Kirkwood, Mo. … Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were spotted wearing throwbacks for some promo shots last week. Hope those shots are only waist-up — they’re both wearing the regular road pants. Good find by Mike Rich. … Pretty cool program from the 1940 College All-Americans vs. Green Bay Packers matchup up for auction here. And here’s a closer look, with thanks to Richard Canulli. … Numerous mentions about the Canadiens retiring Bob Gainey’s No. 23 on Saturday night. Gainey suited up — in the period-correct CCM jersey — and took a few turns around the ice during the ceremony. … Notre Dame honored its 1978 Final Four team on Sunday. Digger Phelps probably should have left the jersey wearing to the players, though. Speaking of the players, the members of the 1978 team wore their old jerseys, while team managers and support staff wore the No. 78 like Digger. That’d be Michael Alper on that find. … Les Holmlund found a couple of cool eBay auctions. The first is a team photo of the 1936-37 Philadelphia Ramblers hockey team, though a color version would be cooler. The second, however, is awesome.

By Bryan Redemske

The Giants won the Super Bowl, and all they’ll have to show for it — aside from the shiny trophy — is a jersey patch. Maybe. The Red Sox won the World Series in the fall. They may wear a cap patch or jersey patch for their first home series, but they won’t have any other overt, uni-borne tribute to their championship. Contrast that with cycling, where a national or world championship is worth a year of bragging rights, right on your chest.

Everybody knows about the Tour de France and the maillot jaune — the yellow jersey. But it’s far from the only jersey to be won over the course of the year. While all professional — and many amateur — stage races have leader’s jerseys, world championship and national championship jerseys are precious commodities.

The rainbow jersey, awarded to the UCI (cycling’s international governing body) world champion in a number of cycling disciplines, pretty much always looks like this. Depending upon the budget, some teams choose to outfit their rider in a full kit of stripes. But the rules attached to the jersey are arguably more important than the jersey itself:

A world champion must wear the jersey when competing in the same discipline, category and speciality for which the title was won. For example, the world road race champion would wear the garment while competing in stage races and one-day races, but would not be entitled to wear it during time trials. Similarly, on the track, the world individual pursuit champion would only wear the jersey when competing in other individual pursuit events. 

Also, after a rider’s year-long reign, he gets to keep the stripes:

After the end of a rider’s championship year, they are eligible to wear piping in the same rainbow pattern on the collar and cuffs of their jersey. They retain this right for the remainder of their career, and like the jersey it can only be worn in the same discipline and speciality in which the title was won. 

Additionally, if the world champion leads a stage race, he or she must wear that race’s leader’s jersey instead of the rainbow stripes. Also, failure to wear the stripes when required results in a fine. Damn.

Aside from the world champion, the pro peloton is also dotted with various national champions. The deal here is the same — wear your national championship gear for the event in which you won it. Here’s 2006 U.S. champion George Hincapie in his road race kit and time trial suit. When teammate Levi Leipheimer won the 2007 U.S. championship, he took over the stars and stripes and Hincapie went back to Discovery Channel’s black-and-blue kit. That’s Leipheimer on the left and Hincapie in the Tour of Missouri leader’s jersey.

This year, Leipheimer is riding for Astana, since Discovery Channel disbanded. His new kit leaves a little to be desired. I really hope that’s just a rough version. Hincapie, now riding for Team High Road (formerly T-Mobile), can wear the U.S. champion’s stripes on his cuffs and collar if he chooses.

And here’s what the rest of the world looks like. The plain-looking ones (no sponsors) are podium jerseys, awarded immediately after the championship race. Those with sponsors are the rider’s kit for the year. Those countries with multiple jerseys have a number of disciplines shown. “RR” is road race, while “CLM” is time trial and “U23″ is the under-23 competition. “CC” is cyclocross, but I haven’t the slightest idea what “ST” is.

Though most of that site is in German, it’s worth exploring a little further. Almost every pro team — on a number of levels — is represented, from 2000 to 2007. When the Tour of California gets underway on Feb. 17, we’ll get a look at some of the new versions of the national champions jerseys — including Leipheimer’s. Many stay similar year to year, but if there’s something particularly interesting, I’ll try to grab it. 

Next time you think somebody’s jersey patch is a little much, just remember it could look like this.

And now over to Paul for today’s Ticker…

Uni Watch News Ticker: It takes a good 10 or 15 minutes to digest, but there’s a fascinatingly detailed authentication analysis of a Babe Ruth jersey here (with thanks to Dave Grob). … Yikes (with “thanks” to Glenn Chamberlain). … Bryan Packer reports that the Utes have kicked Nike to the curb. … Yesterday’s comments included a link to an eBay auction for this amazing photo, which shows Larry Doby wearing the kind of wraparound helmet that I had to wear while running the bases in Little League. Incredible. When I showed the photo to Todd Radom, he responded with this, which shows Jimmie Foxx posing with the A.L. and N.L. batboys at the 1936 All-Star Game. … Some wise-ass says this made him think of Uni Watch. … The pink thing has really gotten out of hand. … Ohio University has taken the unusual step of changing its hockey uni in the middle of the season, going from this to this. “They just make me want to throw up when I see them out there on the ice,” says Patrick LaBute, who brought the situation to my attention. “The fact that the base color is gray is bad enough, followed by the ’shiny’ material you would find on a basketball team. Oh, and the ugly giant green stripe that’s WAY too big at the bottom. AND the different colored piping, black on the bottom stripes and sleeve stripes, and white on the numbers and crest??? (I was told this was a mistake by the team manager.)” Yeah, but Patrick, how do you really feel about them? … Scroll down to the sixth paragraph of this page for some interesting info on Marc-Andre Fleury’s switch from yellow goalie pads to white.

By Bryan Redemske

There’s a guy in my office who rattles off lineups and stats when you start talking about baseball teams from the 1950s and ’60s. There’s another guy who talks about the various stadiums teams played in. Me, of course, I think of uniforms. And not just uniforms, but the way they were styled in particular eras. While the first guy’s mental Rolodex is fluttering from stat to stat, I’m picturing Al Kaline (right). While the second guy talks about the the monuments at Yankee Stadium, I think about the Mick, and how totally awesome he looked in pinstripes.

At this point, both guys usually leave because I’m rubbing my fingers together, eyes closed, and mumbling, “Wool flannel … so pretty … so scratchy … so baggy… .” And so on.

All weirdness on my part aside, this is actually how I think of different eras in sports. Pre-WWII baseball? Longish sleeves soft-crowned hats. And then there’s the ’70s. It’s like a long, tight, polyester nightmare. Things toned down in the ’80s, but the Straw pops into my head every time. Lots of sock, still tight, still slightly garish. For the current era, it’s Manny. Sigh.

Take a minute and consider your own mental filing system. Is your old-school football reference point this guy? The sleeves shortened for Unitas’s era, then the pads got really big in the ’70s. The college kids thought it necessary to show off their abs during that same period, something that continued well through the ’80s and into the ’90s. And that’s how I think of college football through the era — a faceless, teamless guy in big pads with exposed abs.

Three hockey images come to mind: Original Six, expansion/Gretzky, Crosby.

Basketball? Short and tight to longer to ridiculous. And also, unfortunately, shiny. I now generalize the entire high school basketball-playing population because of nylon dazzle fabric.

As a cyclist, I’m forced to render that sport’s past in uniform-based context as well. Really old guys (pre-mid-’50s) all look like this, Eddy Merckx represents almost every rider through the ’70s, and then there’s the tragic ’80s and early ’90s. And then there’s this. He has a category to himself.

Research Projects: Paul here. Earlier this week I posted pics of Marquette’s untucked jerseys. But as someone on the Chris Creamer board pointed out the next day, De Paul also went untucked back around 1981, as seen here and here — I hadn’t been aware of that. Aside from the pajama-era White Sox, have there been any other untucked teams? Obviously, I’m not counting hockey or other sports where the jerseys are meant to be untucked — I’m talking about teams that showed off their shirttails in an otherwise tucked-in league.

Also: Yesterday’s comments included a link to this pink helmet, which is essentially a scarlet letter that has to be worn by the player who comes up on the short end of a scoring game during practice (full details about halfway down this page). So it’s sort of like the pink knapsack routine in baseball, except it’s more uni-based. Can anyone think of any other uni-based scarlet letters?

Raffle Reminder: You know the drill — $250 Distant Replays gift card. E-mail your entry here by 10 p.m. tonight. One e-mail per person. Winner announced on Monday.

Uni Watch News Ticker: “Two CBA teams, the Oklahoma Cavalry and Great Falls Explorers, have had their road uniforms disappear this season,” writes Chuck Miller. “In Oklahoma’s case, fired head coach Micheal Ray Richardson simply took the road unis until he was rehired a week later; in the Great Falls situation, the circumstances are unknown. Anyway, this caused both the Cavalry and Explorers, on the road, to wear the road uniforms of their host teams, as can be seen by these photos of Albany versus Oklahoma (Albany is in the yellow) and Albany hosting Great Falls (ditto).” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Great gallery of New Jersey high school hockey jerseys here. … We’ve all seen plenty of shots of Cleveland’s elfin mascot, Brownie. Until now, though, I hadn’t seen one where he had spikes on his stockings (with thanks to Brendon Yarian, who also passed along this shot of a Bears jersey with what appears to be an upside-down “3″). … As I mentioned in my ESPN column a few weeks ago, I don’t like uni memorials that include the deceased’s signature — seems a bit creepy. But Motherwall FC in Scotland apparently feels differently, as they’ve just tributed Phil O’Donnell by embroidering his autograph onto their jersey. Full details here (with thanks to Patrick O’Donnell). … Interesting note from Travis Edwards, who writes: “My boss and I were talking about football jerseys, and he had told me about some team (unsure who they were) who used to have footballs on the sides of their jerseys. They used to run the wing offense and when they would run, everyone would have their hands to their sides acting as though they had the ball. Now, was he jerking me around, or can you help me to identify who that team was?” … The Central Hockey League held their All-Star Game a few nights ago, and Scotty Hockey sent along a pic of both uniforms. … Hmmm, separated at birth? (Good find by Ronnie Poore.) … Good note from Steve Shanabruch, who writes: “Twins pitcher Pat Neshek has a blog, and he often has auctions for game-used items. The funny thing is, the winner isn’t the person who bids the most money, it’s the person who offers the best baseball cards (he’s a huge collector). Anyway, one of the recent auctions was for a luggage strap that he used for road games last season, inscribed with the last name ‘Dahmer.’ I figured he was using the name of a serial killer as his alias, but it turns out his alias was ‘Cy Dahmer,’ because if you say it fast, it sounds like ’side-armer,’ which is how he pitches.” … LeBron James has a new sneaker, and Vince has written his take on them. … Yesterday’s lead item regarding prototypes prompted Andrew Schimmel to send in n this shot from the Florida Panthers’ uni unveiling back in May of 1993. “Note that the red sweater has blue numbers with a yellow outline,” he writes. “The Panthers never used this color combo for the red sweater at any point. Also, the gloves have claws printed on them. I would tend to think they weren’t serious about actually using such gloves — I believe it was only for the unveiling ceremony.” A shame, because I think the claws look pretty cool! … Very unusual hoops jersey being worn by Fairfax High in L.A. Here’s another view, with a T-shirt underneath (with thanks to Hunter Franks). … We all know the Lakers wore short shorts a few weeks back. But until now, I didn’t know that there was an “I saw the short shorts” T-shirt, which you can have for your very own (nice find by Matt Shervin). … Latest reason to love Wisconsin. … “Formula 1’s Red Bull Racing unveiled their 2008 car on Wednesday,” reports Dane Drutis. “You can also see David Coulthard and Mark Webber wearing their new fire suits. I believe this is the first time F1 drivers have worn their car numbers on their driving gear. It’s somewhat odd that Coulthard will drive car No 9 but is wearing 09 — why the zero, I wonder? As for the stripe running from right shoulder to right ankle, you be the judge.” Personally, I dig the stripe, but I’m sure that’s no surprise to anyone here. … Latest installment of “Equipped with Joe Skiba” is up on the Giants’ home page, and it’s a really good one — enjoy. … Lots of crazy helmet decal action in this Shrine Game practice photo gallery (with thanks to Nick Noyes). … Latest example of handwritten uni numbers on socks: Denison Cabral of the Baltimore Blast (courtesy of Jen Muller). … Alarming news from Jere Smith, who writes: “I work for a children’s book publisher. One of the books slated to come out in ’09, for kindergartners, is about getting dressed for a baseball game. It shows your basic T-ball outfit, and each page shows a different piece of the uni. When it gets to the all-important ankle-ish area, they’ve put the poor girl in those white socks with the blue vertical stripe down the sides that end at the shoe line. The climactic scene shows the dad appearing, also in full identical uni, right down the fake stirrups.” … I’m going to be out off the grid again for most of today, so contact Bryan if you have any major site problems. I’ll be back on Monday.

[Editor's Note: Although intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek has moved on to greener pastures, he's still going to contribute occasional entries -- like today's, for example.]

By Vince Grzegorek

A few weeks ago, there was a mention in the Ticker of the Slipstream cycling team’s search for a new uniform for next season. They invited fans to submit designs, leading to over 600 entries, including some, er, interesting versions (Drew McKay’s favorite). The important thing here is that Slipstream is pretty famous for its use of argyle patterns, going so far as to call their fanbase the Argyle Armada, so almost all of the proposed versions included variations on this design motif.

All of which got me thinking: How often does argyle show up in uniforms? As Slipstream shows, it can look pretty sharp. I figured there had to be some great examples in other sports.

First, a word on the origins of the pattern itself. According to Wikipedia, “The argyle pattern is said to have been derived from the tartan of Clan Campbell, of Argyll in western Scotland.” It was basically a re-appropriation of the pattern that gave birth to argyle socks and, in turn, argyle sweaters, hats, vests, and the whole preppy wardrobe. The elite began to wear the style in their leisure activities, which included sitting around at their clubs, watching horses, and playing golf, marking the evolution of argyle from casual dress to (somewhat) active dress.

When it comes to uniforms, golf is a great place to start, since it that was the sport that brought argyle into the mainstream in America. According to legend, the president of Brooks Brothers saw golfers in Scotland wearing argyle socks and began selling them back on our side of the pond. Argyle socks went from fashionable links attire to a trendy and dressy hosiery option for the masses.

Of course, argyle is still a common sight in golf today (although not as common as it once was). It’s also made its mark in a variety of other sports — and not just in predictable country club pursuits like tennis and horse racing.

In fact, it seems that virtually every sport has dallied with argyle at one time or another. Given all the emphasis on handsome hosiery during the early period of baseball, for example, it’s no surprise that this 1874 Ontario team was sporting argyle hose.

Over on the soccer field, we’re all probably familiar with this example of argyle socks, thanks to a concerted effort by Boca Juniors to bring back classy. But would you guess that argyle socks also showed up in track and field? American sprinter DeAna Carson wore argyle socks while running the 200-meter dash at the Simplot Games in 2006, garnering my nomination for Best Dressed Female Athlete of the Year (the ESPY’s should include this, no?).

On the hardcourt, the most obvious example is the UNC basketball uniform, which in 2000 began featuring an argyle pattern running down the sides — a classic look. While looking for UNC photos, I stumbled upon this gallery — check out Shaw University’s uniforms! More argyle!

I couldn’t find a football example, but I’m betting there’s got to be one out there waiting to be found. I think there’s another database in our future. Post any suggestions in the comments section or e-mail them our way.

Unfinished Business: (Shivering) Working for Paul Lukas has been good. He is a nice man. Um. I never felt overworked. And every task he assigned me was worthwhile and rewarding. Yeah. The last year has felt like being imprisoned in research hell it went by in the blink of an eye. (Nervously looking over shoulder.)

Seriously, everything was great — Paul was a blast to work for on every project, I loved what I was doing, and whether he admits it or not, he had a lot to do with the progress I made over the last year that has now translated into a full-time writing job. Due to the new employment, the holidays, and an ill-timed and lengthy internet outage at my house, I never got a chance to say that. One other thing I never got to say was congrats to Bryan, who is obviously filling my massive size 10s quite well.

I’m not going anywhere, and as you can see I’ll still be contributing material, at least as much as I can. You guys have been too great and this has been too fun to just stop all together. So, consider me your Senior Assistant Editor (at least that’s the title I’m going to demand if Paul asks). In short, or, at this point, long — thank you for all the support and patience you’ve shown me over the past year.

Call for Research: I’m working on a piece about CFL uniforms and would welcome any suggestions on what to cover. Neither Paul nor I have much expertise in that domain, so any input would be appreciated. One specific question: Anyone know when and why the Canadian flag started showing up as a helmet decal? Pre/post 9/11? E-mail all contributions to me at vincegrzegorek [at] gmail [dot] com. Thanks.

And now over to Paul for the rest of today’s material….

Pennant Grace: Victory Pennants, one of the fine vendors hyped in yesterday’s ESPN column, is offering a 15% discount to readers of this site from now through next Friday, the 14th. When checking out, use the coupon code “UNIWATCH001.” Big thanks to company prexy Morris Levin for extending this benefit to Uni Watch readers.

Boston Reminder: Remember, Uni Watch party tonight, 8:30 p.m., at the Boston Beer Works.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out what Mississippi State’s football uniform used to look like (great find by Scott Turner). … The Mets and White Sox will be playing the Civil Rights game next March 29th. Let’s hope the uniforms are better than last time around. … Big package on goalie masks in yesteray’s USA Today. Look here, here, and here. … Tons of great old White Sox photos here (with thanks to Eriq Jaffe). … Excellent question from Jon Blake, who writes: “This article ranks Floyd Mayweather’s ‘five key fights.’ For his 1998 matchup with Genaro Hernandez, it says, ‘Mayweather, at 17-0, was challenging for his first world title (WBC super featherweight) and was so cocky that he wore a WBC championship patch on his trunks into the ring.’ My question is, who else has worn something commemorating an achievement yet to happen? My friend and I recalled Clemens wearing the ‘300 Wins’ patch against Boston when he got yanked in the 3rd, but who else has done something similar?” Please, let’s not have a jillion comments about “Buffalo Bills Super Bowl Champions” post-game T-shirts and the like — this question is about things worn during the game or match. Anyone..? … The Celtics and Sixers wore throwbacks last night. Note that Boston appeared to have matte jerseys and shiny shorts, just like back in the day. Plus there were retro shooting shirts (complete with retro Adidas logo) and championship patches on their warm-up jackets. … Double play from Frank Mercogliano, who writes: “Pocatello High School [in Idaho] is wearing new racer-back jerseys from Russell, so I snapped a picture of #4 on the bench, who has a horrible off-center number. Sorta like killing two birds with one stone. The JV game was funnier because one of the girls attempted to iron her shorts and burned a huge imprint of the iron on the back of her red shorts. It was priceless.” … The Royals will unveil their powder blue alternate jersey today.

Housekeeping Note: I’ll be off the grid for most of today and tomorrow. If you have any site-related issues (abusive comments, spam filter problems, etc.), please e-mail Bryan. Ticker contributions can still come to me.

Of the hundreds of posts here on Uni Watch, the ones I find most interesting deal with the unique tweaks and modifications athletes make to their equipment.

Todd Helton’s Mizuno-clad Nikes were a revelation, much like the first time I saw Nomar was wearing Reeboks in disguise. The Bill Buckner lucky batting glove thing caught everybody by surprise. I think what makes those things so interesting is that every athlete — pro or otherwise — does little things to their uniforms or equipment to make them their own. It’s just that most of them aren’t noticeable until you take a closer look.

With that in mind, I remembered something a guy at the local bike shop told me when I walked in with my Lance Armstrong model cycling shoes: “You know, those things are so uncomfortable, Lance actually had Shimano soles glued on.”

Brief cycling lesson for those not in the know: Shimano is a Japanese component giant — it makes all of the individual parts on most of the bikes in America. Shoes are one of the company’s specialties as well. Before Lance joined NikeWorld, he wore Shimano shoes for several years.

So what the guy was getting at was this: Lance has Nike uppers glued onto a Shimano sole, which is like gluing a Nike running upper to an Adidas sole. We’ve seen disguised shoes and equipment before, but Frankenstein-style gear is hard to come by.

Here’s what the bottom of the production Lance shoe looks like. The cloudy white area just to the right of the toe is an air vent. That will be important later.

According to this article (first item), Lance ordered custom soles for the 2005 tour — ones with more curve to them than the standard Nike sole. Provided with a good look at both, they’re clearly different. The standard sole is pretty much straight where it attaches to the upper, but the custom version curves up.

The article makes it sound like something Lance did for the 2005 tour, but evidence proves otherwise. He had similar soles — if not identical ones — in 2003, possibly earlier. The curve where the sole and upper meet is present here. For comparison’s sake, here’s the production version, featuring a pretty straight joint.

And what about the vent? Take a look at this one again. On the sole, just to the right of the black toe piece, are two slit-shaped vents. Here’s a similar shot from 2004. Vents are nothing new — many shoes have them. But Shimano soles generally only have one vent, and the Nike production vent is a completely different shape.

There’s one more thing, too. Note the cleat — white with blue tips. For mere mortals, Shimano only has two choices: black with yellow or black with red.

So what’s the deal with the white cleats? And exactly where did those soles come from? They don’t match up with any Shimanos I’ve found, and they’re definitely not standard Nike issue.

Perhaps more importantly, though — who else is doing this? Given the pickiness of athletes in every sport, Lance can’t be the only one, right? If you know of any other Frankenstein-style equipment out there, send info here.

And for what it’s worth, I think basic Lance production model fits fine. But it’s possible that Lance might have slightly higher standards than I do.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Paul here. Greetings from Austin, where a small but enthusiastic group showed up last night for a Uni Watch gathering. Unfortunately, I left my camera back at the hotel, so no pics. At some point in the evening, Devin Curry asked if I’d noticed that the Nebraska football team wears “Huskers” on their chinstraps. This was news to me, so he sent me photographic proof after he got home. … The Phillies will unveil their new alternate uniform (already leaked months ago) tomorrow at noon. … Very odd NOB format for the Tunisia volleyball team, which uses the player’s last name, then a space, then a period, and then first initial (additional view here, with thanks to Jeremy Brahm).

A few weeks ago I ran an entry about players who’ve worn their full names on their jerseys (or FNOB, short for “full name on back”). That post prompted so many contributions that I’ve decided to do a follow-up entry today.

The most interesting case study comes our way courtesy of Les Holmlund, who wrote in to tell me that the WHA’s Alberta Oilers — forerunners of today’s Edmonton Oilers — had the entire team wearing FNOB during their inaugural 1972-73 season. Now, that Oilers team was already uni-notable for a few other reasons. According to WHAUniforms.com (usually a pretty dependable resource), they began the season wearing “ALBERTA” on their backs and then switched to round-cornered nameplates with an unusual font. But there was nothing on the site about them wearing FNOB. Fortunately, Les came up with several photos to back up his point, as seen here, here, and here. So there you have it: The Alberta Oilers, who began by wearing PNOB (province name on back) and then switched to FNOB, almost certainly making them the most eccentrically nameplated team in sports history.

As for additional FNOB examples (aside from those already listed in my previous FNOB post), I’m only listing them if we have photos confirming them. I realize the list is still very incomplete, but here are the latest additions:

Football: Todd Johnson, Andra Davis (also shown here), Andre Davis, Dexter Reid, and Rob Moore.

Hockey: Ron Sutter (with the Flyers, too), Rich Sutter, Bobby Smith, Neal Broten (from his U. of Minnesota days), and Aaron Broten (ditto).

Soccer: Derek Young and Darren Young.

Finally, a few related categories that aren’t quite FNOB but still belong in this discussion:

• Several readers suggested coming up with a separate list for players who wear more than their first initial but less than FNOB, like Michael and Martellus Bennett. If anyone wants to contribute additional examples, I’m game.

• And here’s a unique situation, as explained by reader Roy Ellingsen: “Norwegian former hockey star Carl Oscar Bøe Andersen’s name was so long that he prefered to wear just his initials on the nameplate.”

Big thanks to all who’ve contributed — we’re building a nice little nameplate database here. And if anyone wants to start building a physical collection instead of a virtual one, look what’s up for sale on eBay.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Many readers wrote in last night to report that Virginia Tech’s Victor “Macho” Harris’s left-sleeve uni number was orange last night, while his right-sleeve number (and all his teammates’ sleeve numbers) was white. No photo yet. Anyone TiVo the game? … I’ve written before about umpires being forced to wear civvies after their uniforms got lost in transit. Now Richard Koh has come up with a video clip of Eric Gregg struggling to find adequately sized gear during just such a situation. Bill Murray’s doing the color commentary, too. … Minnesota’s women’s hockey team will wear a memorial helmet decal for the rest of this season in honor of equipment manager Bonnie Olein, who recently passed away. Details here (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Andy Head notes that the Saskatoon Blades wear uni numbers is a very unusual spot (plus they’ll be wearing one weird-ass jersey for Emergency Services Night next month). … Drew McKay reports that the Slipstream cycling team recently invited fans to submit designs for next year’s uniform. The team is apparently for its argyle motif, so most of the submissions were very argyle-centric (including this one, which is Drew’s favorite). You can see all 613 submissions here. … The Trenton Thunder have unveiled a 15th-season patch (as forwarded by Ted Kerwin). … Much better, even if the stirrups are backwards. … And you can see the stirrups’ laundry tag peaking out here. … When it comes to baggy pants, like father, like son. … Remember when Mike Timlin (who probably thinks the term “World Series” is a U.N. plot) wanted to wear the American flag patch on his cap full-time? He lost that battle, but he’s got a flag on his BP cap — closer view here (great catch by Bryan Redemske). … Steve Necaster reports that the Sabres will be wearing white at home for several games in November. … Further evidence here and here of the Rangers having apparently modified their hemlines to eliminate Reebok’s scooped shirttail. … The Mid-Atlantic Hockey League recently unveiled new uniforms for the Indiana Ice Miners (dark, white), Jamestown Vikings (dark, white), Mon Valley Thunder (dark, light), Valley Forge Freedom (dark, white), and Wooster Warriors (dark, white). “We all know the MAHL is minor league hockey, but I’ve seen roller hockey uniforms that look more professional,” says Zak McGinniss, who provided the links. … “At the Mellon Arena they have a High School Hall of Champions,” writes Doug Keklak. “It’s a hallway in the arena adorned with framed high school hockey jerseys, mostly from western PA schools but there are a few West Virginia schools included in the mix.” Doug’s taken photos of many of them, which you can see here. … The Devils’ new arena opened last night with a Bon Jovi concert, and Chris Flinn noticed something interesting in the men’s room: “Every single urinal had the Devils logo engraved into the metal.” I’m not sure which is more embarrassing — admitting that you attended a Bon Jovi concert or taking a photo in the bathroom, but either way let’s all salute Chris for his devotion to the Uni Watch cause.