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Posts filed under 'Cycling'
For years, if I’ve needed an old Astros photo, the first place I’ve looked has been Astros Daily, an excellent blog with loads of great images. What I hadn’t realized, however, until reader James Poisso recently pointed it out to me, is that the site includes a page of video links, which provide a priceless historical survey of what is arguably MLB’s most visually interesting franchise. There’s too much material to describe fully, but here are a few highlights:
- If, like myself, you’ve only seen Colt .45s uniforms in still photos, check out the very first video link on the page, which features lots of footage showing the Colts’ basic uni plus jackets, ushers’ uniforms, and related merch.
- You probably know that the Astrodome’s roof had to be painted when outfielders couldn’t pick up the ball against the original ceiling design (which in turn led to the development of Astroturf, because the facility’s original grass wilted and died when sunlight could no longer shine through the painted roof). One of the videos actually shows the roof being painted!
- As you might imagine, there’s plenty of footage showing the tequila sunrise design, including some good shots of the original bullseye version.
- According to Dressed to the Nines, the tequila sunrise jerseys were always paired with dark stirrups. But check out this shot of Larry Dierker — he’s definitely wearing orange hose, and they appear to be striped to boot.
And there’s a lot more. Recommended viewing.
Membership Announcement: Lots of you have asked if an additional column can be added to the membership roster, indicating the team and era that each card design was patterned after. I didn’t originally think we’d need to include that kind of info, since I figured the card designs would all be based on familiar uniform designs and that their sources would therefore be self-explanatory. But of course it hasn’t worked out that way — we’ve got throwback designs (the one shown above is a 1970 Indians treatment), minor league designs, soccer and cycling designs, etc. So yes, I now see it would be a nice idea to include this information, so everyone can see what a given card design was based on.
But here’s the thing: The roster chart is already pretty big and unwieldy — I don’t want to add another column to it. But if you go to the card design gallery and click on a given card design, you’ll get the Flickr page for that design — and you can add comments to that page. So I hereby invite all members to click on their own card designs and add an explanation for your design inspiration (turns out member Anthony Giaccone already did this several weeks ago). If all goes well, we’ll have all the team-based card pages annotated in short order.
You may have to register with Flickr in order to leave a comment. But it’s easy and free, and Flickr is a cool site that you really ought to be part of anyway, so it’s a win-win.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Scroll down to the end of this Q&A session with a Cardinals beat writer to see what the Redbirds think of the new BP caps (good find by Jordan Hirschfield). … Excellent catch by Avi Berliner, who spotted the following tidbit buried within this Wall Street Journal article: “Alex Marvez, president of the Pro Football Writers Association … winces at the new [NFL] rule requiring photographers to wear red vests with small Canon and Reebok logos. Mr. Marvez calls the idea of using working press members as advertising vehicles ‘really alarming.’ Neither company is paying a specific fee for the vests, but Canon Inc. is an official sponsor of the league (it pays a rights fee to be associated with the NFL) and Reebok International Ltd., owned by Adidas AG, is a league licensee (it makes merchandise with NFL logos, including jerseys, pants and photo vests).” … Always good to hear from Mike from Queens, who notes that USA Softball has some very odd batting helmets (additional views here and here). … Tour de France note from member Mike Edgerly, who writes: “Members of Team CSC are sporting black Live Strong-style wristbands that say ‘Harden the fuck up.’” Details toward the bottom of this page (and I swear, if today’s comments section devolves into a series erection jokes, I’m gonna pull the plug on the site, so don’t even think about it). … It’s well documented that Bob Feller will do anything for a buck, but this seems like a bit much. … “Could there be an uglier uni matchup?” asks Vince, referring to yesterday’s Brazil/Nicaragua contest at the Pan Am Games. … A reader who didn’t give his full name notes that Matt Holliday appeared to have one sleeve shorter than the other last night. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: With the Sharks and Ducks having added orange to their color schemes, Kris McInnis figures it’s time for every NHL team to go orange.
July 17th, 2007
Classic moment in Arlington on Saturday, as Brian Roberts’s cap briefly became the summer residence for a winged creature of some sort, occasioning mucho banter between Rangers broadasters Josh Lewin and Tom Grieve. Let’s listen in:
Josh Lewin: What’s he got on his hat? Butterfly?
Tom Grieve: Sure is.
JL: Wow. Now that’s gotta be good luck.
TG: That’s pretty good. That’s not a practical joke, either — that butterfly just landed there.
JL: Ol’ Butterfly-Head, Brian Roberts. [The butterfly beats its wings slightly, as if to acknowledge the broadcasters’ attention.]
TG: I wonder what’s on that hat, that lured the butterfly.
JL: Well, the oriole bird.
TG: Think that’s what it is?
JL: Sure. It’s mating season.
[Both men chuckle heartily, apparently amused by the thought of interspecies fornication.]
JL: We actually have a replay of the butterfly deciding that the hat of Brian Roberts is a good place to be. [Replay shows butterfly landing on Roberts’s left sleeve, then hovering near his head, and then finally alighting atop his cap.] Doink! Little does he know.
TG: We’ll see how long it stays there. [Desi Relaford strikes out. Roberts participates as the Orioles infield throws the ball around the horn, but the butterfly stays put.]
JL: I’m impressed by the staying power here, because Roberts is now moving around, he took that throw, threw the ball around the horn, and the butterfly is saying, “I’ve got the best seat in the house, I’m stayin’ right here.”
TG: You think he’s smiling because he knows it’s there?
JL: I can’t imagine he knows he’s got a butterfly on his head.
TG: Everybody else does! He’s the last one to know.
JL: You wanna go down and tell him?
TG: I just wanna see what happens when he runs off the field. I wanna see if it stays there.
JL: Maybe it’ll be like the old days when you’d leave your glove and the guy on the other team would come out and use it. So Relaford will be wearing the butterfly next. Think it’s a monarch butterfly?
TG: No.
JL: No? That would be black and orange, same as the Oriole.
TG [getting all lepidopterological on us]: Uhhhhhh, I don’t think that’s a monarch. Whatever it is, though, it’s happy on that hat.
JL: Probably eatin’ its way right through the hat.
TG: Maybe it’s not a butterfly, maybe it’s a moth.
JL: Could be a moth!
TG [getting a little carried away]: Maybe it’s Mothra. [Camera shows that the butterfly/moth is still there.] That’s great.
JL [remembering that there’s a baseball game taking place]: Kinda speaks to the fact that there’s not a lot going on when the Rangers are up at bat here.
TG: Bedard’s taken care of that — he’s struck out six of the last eight hitters. [Camera once again shows Roberts’s insect-clad cap.]
JL: The butterfly perseveres. La papillon. Or again, it could be a moth, and that’s a lot less romantic and all. Something just really poetic about a butterfly swooping down, but I do believe, upon further review, that’s just a really ugly moth. [Whatever it is, it suddenly flies away.] Ooooh, I jinxed it! I think I insulted him! Well, it was fun while it lasted. Got a good nine pitches out of that.
And one blog entry. Incidentally, I see that Grieve was wearing a sheriff’s badge at the beginning of the broadcast. Is that part of his regular shtick?
(Special thanks to Brad Holmes for bringing this episode to my attention.)
Tech Question: For sequences like the above, it’s fine for me to make screen grabs and transcribe the audio, but it would be even better if I could upload the appropriate video segment to YouTube, so you all could get the full effect. I don’t know how to capture just a portion of a video file, however (plus there are copyright issues, natch, but at the moment I’m more concerned with the technical logistics). If you know how to do this and are willing to explain it to me, please get in touch.
Membership Update: I mailed out two dozen more membership kits over the weekend and have once again caught up with Scott — if your card is shown in the card design gallery and linked on the active roster, then it’s either in your hands by now or on its way in the mail. If your card hasn’t yet been designed, it should be showing up in the gallery later this week.
In case you missed the announcement a few days ago, we’re now offering NBA designs. And remember, everyone who joins by the end of this month will have a special “Charter Member” seal added to their membership cards when they renew next year.
St. Loooooie Party Reminder: I’ll be hanging out tomorrow night at McGurks, so come on down and say hi. I expect to arrive around 8 p.m.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Full listing of Premier League kits here (with thanks to Michael Dove). … Yikes — Hank Aaron was a smoker! … Here are the new Rugby World Cup jerseys for Australia, Scotland, and Ireland. “Canterbury [the New Zealand company that manufactured these look-alikes] is the new Nike,” says Ross Lake. “Such a pity.” … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: The All-Star Game cap patches are really friggin’ big. … 7/7/07 brought lots of numerologically themed articles, including this, this, and this (with thanks to Brian Nelson and Harvey Lee). … Jon Eisen has come up with the uniform cameo of all time: Babe Ruth as a New York Giant. The story, as stated in the caption: “New York Yankees outfielder Babe Ruth, in a Giants uniform, with Giants manager John McGraw at an exhibition game with the Baltimore Orioles on October 3, 1923, at the Polo Grounds. Ruth played in the Giants outfield for the game, which was a benefit.” … Uniform numbers for the Islanders’ new players have been announced (with thanks to Matt Brosseau). … Twins backup backstop Mike Redmond took some stitches in his scalp on Friday, forcing Joe Mauer to play both ends of a doubleheader. Mauer really needed a rest on Saturday, so, according to this article, “About 17 hours after having his scalp knitted, Redmond stuck extra padding in his helmet, borrowed a skull cap from the White Sox, blacked out the Sox logo and caught nine innings while becoming the first Twin in memory to wear a do-rag” (nice find by Matt Nelson). … Good spot by Chris Allen, who notes that Reebok used essentially the same design templates for its NFL and NHL draft caps. … Sunday’s New York Times account of the Jose Padilla trial included this tidbit regarding the jury: “Several times now, the five women and seven men have shown up in color-coordinated outfits. One day, the men dressed in blue and the women in pink. On July 3, the first row wore red, the second white, and the third blue, leading bloggers to wonder whether they were worrisomely frivolous or unified — or so patriotic as to condemn all accused terrorists.” … Good Tour de France report from Michael Rich, who writes: “Normally the defending champ wears No. 1 the next year (or, if the defending champ is not racing, the honor of wearing No. 1 falls on another rider on the same team, or the best finisher from the previous year who is competing). This year, with no Floyd Landis and no Phonak team, the honor would normally fall on Oscar Pereiro (Caisse D’Epargne). However, with this last year’s result still being contested, the Versus commentators said that no one was given No. 1 this year. The highest number was given to Pereiro, but that was No. 11. Since teams area all given numbers in the same decade as the team leader, this means no one was given Nos. 1 through 9 (since there are nine riders per team, the numbers ending in zero are never given out).”
July 9th, 2007
We have a lot to cover today, boys and girls, beginning with the Capitals’ uniform unveiling, which took place on Friday evening. Although I couldn’t make it down for the event, Uni Watch was nonetheless in the house, in the person of DC-area reader Mike Forgy, a longtime Caps season ticket holder who was generously provided with media credentials by the Caps PR office (thanks, Nate). Mike took several dozen photos, which you can access here, and filed the following report:
One of the first things that struck me when I walked in was that the staff already had polo shirts with the new logo. Meanwhile, I saw that face painters, magicians, and one of the facility’s two rinks were made available to fans as a pre-unveiling treat. (The unveiling would take place on the other rink.) Merchandise stands were being set up, and jerseys could be pre-ordered for a September delivery date for a pretty reasonable price of $99. It would cost another $60 if you wanted it personalized. A huge screen was also installed in the second rink, so people could watch the unveiling and draft as they skated.
I made my down to and across the ice (not easy with dress shoes on) and took my place with the rest of the photographers and videographers. Most had their super powerful digital SLRs with huge lenses. I was armed with my regular camera, which is about as small as a cell phone, and the camera my friend Jennifer loaned me, a Canon A620, which had a lot more zoom than mine.
The Caps play-by-play announcer came out and introduced some of the great Caps from years past: Yvon Labre, Rod Langway, Mike Gartner, Kelly Miller, and Sylvain Cote, all of whom wore the jerseys from their respective eras. I am not sure, but it looked like Rod Langway had a souvenir shop jersey, although at that distance it was hard to tell. The alumni were then shuffled off the stage.
Finally a large curtain fell and the new uniforms were there for everyone to see. The home reds were worn by Captain Chris Clark and Defenseman Jeff Shultz, while the away whites were worn by Brian Pothier and Ben Clymer, who then took to the ice and skated around.
Soon we made our way to a media area (which, unfortunately, wasn’t very well lighted) to interview the players. I talked to Pothier, Clymer, and Shultz, and they all said the same things: They love the feel of the jersey, though the underarm area seemed a little tight. They all loved the tight socks (here’s a rear view) and the garter system that attached inside the pants. The old socks were the heavy cotton, which did not breathe so well. Most thought this would be the biggest difference maker during games, more so than the jerseys. All the players said they preferred the white jersey to the red one, but all made the caveat that white is just more classic.
When asked what kind of input they had, Ben Clymer said, “When I put it on about 30 minutes ago … that‘s my first input.” Even the Captain, Chris Clark, said he had not seen them before his arrival at the complex earlier in the evening.
While talking to Ben Clymer, I realized there was one thing I had completely forgotten about: helmets! I asked Ben if the color of the helmets would be red and white (for the respective jerseys) and he seemed shocked with the question, like maybe someone forgot about the helmets. At no point did anyone come out wearing one, nor were they alluded to. Ben informed me the red jerseys would get a blue helmet, and the white jerseys a white helmet.
The media kit provided a booklet on some of the features of the uniform and branding program (the eagle in the secondary logo must always face forward, for example) and some great pictures of Olie Kolzig, who is the only Caps player to wear all five uniforms.
The Caps made a killing that evening selling new merchandise to fans (myself included). One of the T-shirts they were selling featured numbers and letters that were printed to look sewn on, as if they actually had some raised stitching. What’s odd is that the number looks like the old jersey material — shouldn‘t it look more like this?
First and foremost, thanks to Mike for representing Uni Watch at the event — much appreciated. As for the full uniforms, I still don’t like the new logo (that p is just a disaster), but the whites are clearly better than the reds, and the full treatment (name/number, breezers, socks) is better than the jersey by itself. I’m still not wowed, but it would be fair to say that if my initial assessment was, say, a solid C, I’d now upgrade that to a B-minus.
As you may be aware, several other teams unveiled (or leaked) new uniforms over the weekend, including the Blue Jackets, Hawks, and Kings (and, depending on whether you trust images of dubious origin, maybe the Islanders and Hurricanes too). I’ll have more to say about these in a few days on ESPN.
Meanwhile, this was also a good weekend for MLB throwbacks, and Uni Watch was in the house again — sometimes in more ways than one. Let’s start with Saturday’s Dodgers/Rays game in Tampa, where L.A. dressed as the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers (a team that included current Devil Rays coach Don Zimmer) and the Rays became the old St. Petersburg Saints (complete with a totally cool flamingo sleeve patch). The big news here, which I didn’t even realize myself until yesterday, is that both teams’ uniforms were designed by Uni Watch’s own Scott M.X. Turner, who worked on the job for Ebbets Field Flannels. And as you can see in this shot they were indeed flannels, not just old graphics sewn onto polyester double-knits.
Designing the Dodgers’ duds wasn’t too hard (it’s not like there’s a shortage of old photos), but Scott says the St. Petersburg uniforms were trickier, because all he had to work with was a few photos from old newspaper clippings provided by the Rays (additional views here and here). “This is what companies like Ebbets Field, Mitchell & Ness, and AIS often have to dig through to recreate historic uniforms,” he says. “Sometimes we get crisp images or, rarely, actual garments. This wasn’t one of those times. In the end, though, I just did the designs. It was Jerry [Cohen, Ebbets Field’s owner/prexy] who single-handedly made the physical production happen, which was very, very hard, with hassles from all ends — MLB, the clubs, the various vendors, the shippers, customs, the whole thing.”
I hope to discuss all of this in an interview with Cohen in the near future, but for now we’ll make due with a note from Cohen that Scott passed along: “We pretty much made sure the teams would have to have stirrups (didn’t give ‘em a choice). Also, we know perfectly well that the Dodgers didn’t wear ‘Brooklyn’ in ‘55, but they wanted specifically to celebrate Brooklyn, so we did it that way.”
As it happens, reader Tim Burke was in the stands and snapped a lot of good pics, which you can see here.
A Uni Watch reader was also in attendance for Friday night’s Padres/Bosox game, which featured 1980s attire for both teams. As was well documented in the weekend comments sections, the Padres’ uni numbers weren’t quite right and the lettering Boston’s jersey insignia was too thin, among other problems, but whatever — we can still enjoy Tim Stoops’s slide show of the evening’s events.
Another thing that came up in the weekend comments: the question of how “BOSTON” should have broken across the Red Sox jersey plackets. Should it have been BOS TON or BO STON? This turns out to be something of a variable element in Bosox history, and reader Jere has just whipped up a treatise on the topic for his blog — recommended reading.
Finally, the Brewers and Royals wore Negro League unis on Friday night, and holy shit did they look awesome (additional pics here, here, here, and here). No Uni Watch readers were in attendance, at least not that I’m aware of, although Nicole Haase did provide a bunch of screen shots that provide better views of what the Royals were wearing. And if there’s one thing we learned, it’s that players can look equally lame-o in any era.
Membership Update: I mailed out about 60 membership kits on Saturday (would’ve been a few more except I botched a couple while trimming and laminating, so those will have to be redone), and Scott is busily working on the next batch. We hope to be caught up, or close to it, by the end of this week.
We now have 175 members, 143 of whose cards have been designed, and I don’t mind saying that I think it all looks pretty damn cool. Plus the card design process has taught me a lot about team colors, numeral typography, and so on, so it’s been, as Homer Simpson might say, an edumacational project, and those are always the best kind. Thanks again to all who’ve signed up.
Meanwhile I regret to report that laminating a Cheerio isn’t nearly as good an idea as I thought it would be.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Ever notice that after Bobby Richardson caught the last out of the 1962 World Series, he didn’t have his cap on? Some ace detective work by New York Times Yankees beat writer (and Uni Watch devotee) Tyler Kepner has turned up the bizarre explanation: The second base umpire asked if he could have Richardson’s cap just moments before Stretch McCovey hit the line drive that would end the Series, so Richardson gave it to him (look closely at the photo and you can see the ump carrying the cap). Full details here. … History was made Friday night in Seattle, as reliever Ryan Rowland-Smith — the first-ever MLBer with a hyphenated name — made his big league debut (with thanks to birthday boy Jeremy Brahm, who attended the game). … Always good to hear from Uni Watch baking consultant Elena Elms (she of the stirrup-frosted cookies), who writes: “The Raleigh News and Observer ran a small item in which Robert Woodard (6′2″ RHP, UNC-CH) explains why he wears high cuffs. I’ve seen most of his home starts in his four years here and never saw him wear them that way until about a month ago. The pale blue stockings give quite an colonial appearance to his uni, I think.” … Bob Weston reports that Cubs reliever Bobby Howry has “Phil. 4:13″ inscribed on his undervisor. … Hahahahahahahaha. … Cycling note from Michael Rich, who reports that Fabian Cancellara of Team CSC wore his No. 13s upside-down during the Tour de Suisse, as a way of avoiding any 13-related bad karma. … Garrett Hipple reports that Oregon State pinch-runner Braden Wells had a Virginia Tech logo decal (presumably another memorial in response to the shootings) on the back of his helmet in last night’s CWS game. … This is almost too good to be true. … Couple uni-related entries in this Q&A blog entry by Curtis Granderson (good spot by intern Vince Grzegorek).
June 25th, 2007
Before we get started with today’s entry: I ended up making an important addition to yesterday’s ESPN column at about noon eastern. If you read it prior to then and weren’t keeping track of yesterday morning’s comments, you may want to check it out again, because the mystery of Nomar’s pin (and Manny’s too!) has been solved.
Now then: Got a note the other day from longtime Uni Watch contributor Bryan Redemske, who’s noticed something really interesting:
Mark Buehrle has been wearing cycling arm-warmers under his jersey, instead of a long-sleeved undershirt — specifically, these. You can see the blacked-out Pearl Izumi logo on his left sleeve in this pic — mid-forearm, facing down. And the logo is in very plain sight here. A couple of my buddies have those arm-warmers, and the way they shine in the light is exactly the same.
Coupla thoughts here: First of all, I had no idea there was even such a thing as cycling arm-warmers. Second, this brings up the interesting issue of players using equipment intended for use in another sport. Leaving aside the issue of footwear (there’s a lot cross-sport action there), the first things that come to mind are football facemasks, which have been worn by several baseball players and at least one hockey player. And then there’s Dave Parker, who at various times wore a football facemask and a hockey goalie’s mask (although the latter was only for one plate appearance, which resulted in a walk).
There have also been lots of baseball players who’ve worn golf gloves, and football players who’ve worn batting gloves or scuba gloves. Plus I’m sure there are plenty of other cross-sport examples that I’m not thinking of — let’s have ‘em.
Attention Jeremy Brahm!: Got a rather frustrating note yesterday from Ben Wood, as follows:
If you’re ever back in the Twin Cities, you should check out the Ragstock Warehouse in Minneapolis’s downtown warehouse district. Their large selection of used clothes includes a nice collection of Japanese baseball jerseys (which I assume are from high schools or amateur leagues), most of which are under $10 [additional pics here, here, and here]. Some of them have those pinned-on squares of fabric holding the rear uniform number, and some even have all the lettering done up with black Magic Marker. Sorry I didn’t send these to you before your trip to Minneapolis, but the pics have been stuck on my girlfriend’s camera for some time.
Sigh. Now he tells me.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Good article here about tennis equipment sponsorships (with thanks to Dominic Litten). … Mike Milici — the guy who wrote the cap surgery instrux that many of you have found so useful — has posted a bunch of Phillies clubhouse photos on his blog. Among the revelations: Ryan Howard has an Astros jersey hanging in his locker. Further details here and here. … “Last season, Pelle Prestberg, a player for Frolunda HC in the Swedish Elite hockey league, wore No. 100, instead of his usual No. 10,” writes R. J. Pratt. “Based on my VERY rudimentary Swedish knowledge and use of online translators, it appears that he wore it during 2005-06 to ‘celebrate’ the 100th anniversary of Lofsberg Lila, one of Frolunda’s sponsors (as I’m sure you’re aware, European hockey teams have long been victims of extreme logo creep, to the point where the team logos are often secondary). But that’s not the worst. Check out this photo, which shows the team wearing shiny metallic gold helmets. Perhaps the scariest hockey outfit ever worn.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: All the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees are listed by uniform number here. … The Florida Marlins could become the Miami Marlins, according to this report. … The party line is the college football helmt merit decals originated with Ohio State in 1968. But according to this interview (kindly forwarded by Brian Hansen), Nebraska was doing it as early as 1956. To find the relevant portion of the interview, search on the word “Stauber” and read that paragraph. … Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien wore a Senators jersey (the “M” is presumably for mayor) during a pep rally yesterday (as spotted by Bryan Redemske). … Quasi-logo-related item from Kim Kolb, who writes, “Thought you’d might want to check this out. Who are they? They’re the supporters’ group for the Philadelphia MLS team. Never mind that Philadelphia does not (yet) have an MLS team. They’ve organized, come up with a pretty good name and logo, and even gotten some press. They’ve even got a road trip planned to head up to Giants Stadium to boo the New York Red Bulls, because what Philadelphia sports entity can exist without a little hate for NY? Anyway, they picked the yellow and blue (hoping that a soccer team would follow suit) to match the Philadelphia flag.” … Holy crap.
Holiday Schedule: We’ll have open threads for at least two of the next three days. I might have a new entry on Sunday or Monday — or I might not. Either way, the Uni Watch membership program should be ready to launch when we reconvene next week. Have a great Decoration Day weekend, and watch out for American flag patches falling off of MLB caps.
May 25th, 2007
By Vince Grzegorek
The Colts may have gone to Disney World after winning the Super Bowl, but a much more important trip waits for them around the corner: a trip to the White House.
In what has become a presidential tradition of welcoming championship teams to Washington, the Indianapolis Colts will eventually visit with President Bush to celebrate their victory (they have been officially invited, but no date has been set). And in a reciprocal tradition, the Colts will undoubtedly present the President with a gift of a commemorative jersey (it’s just poor form to show up to a dinner party empty-handed).
If you thought that Chad Johnson had cornered the market on jerseys with alternate names, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention to these White House ceremonies. President Bush has jerseys with a whopping six different name combinations, including the common “Bush,” the official “President Bush,” the simple “G.W. Bush,” the lengthy “President G.W. Bush”, the brilliantly brief “W,” and one funkified “The Prez.” Take into account the assorted numbers gracing these jerseys — based on, variously, Bush’s rank, his presidential ordinal, or the year — and you’ve got a man begging to be fined by the uniform police (or applauded by Uni Watch).
It’s no wonder that President Bush has amassed such a varied collection of personalized jerseys. In any given year, he can receive one jersey each from the winner of the four major sports, and countless other jerseys from one of the many NCAA Champions Days that are hosted at the White House. His jersey collection can grow by the minute at these events, with lines of teams waiting to present him with jerseys one after another.
So when did this tradition start? Good question. It’s one that I posed to the White House media office, which couldn’t find an answer. It’s one that I asked Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, who couldn’t find an answer. It’s one that I asked countless presidential libraries, and if you guessed that they didn’t know the answer, you would be right. What we do have is a lot of circumstantial evidence, which basically means that we don’t know when the tradition started, but we have a good guess.
And the evidence points to…(cue dramatic music and close-up) the Gipper! Championship team visits with the president weren’t uncommon before Reagan’s administration, but they were infrequent at best, and jerseys weren’t the gift of choice at the time. For example, Don Holloway of the Gerald Ford Library said that the Indiana University basketball team visited the White House after their championship in 1976 but presented a signed basketball, not a jersey. According to Dave Stanhope of the Jimmy Carter Library, the President received T-shirts, not jerseys, from the Georgia Tech football and Louisville basketball teams that visited the White House.
The jerseys that these pre-Reagan presidents did receive were on campaign stops and various appearances, not from championship teams. For example, Gerald Ford received a Villanova jersey from the school’s young republican club. And Meri-Jo Borzilleri (who told me she too couldn’t find the origins of the tradition) writes in this story, “Richard Nixon’s library records show jerseys from the Philadelphia Eagles and Division III college Gustavus Adolphus,” and “Lyndon Johnson’s library has a New York Knicks jersey.”
So, the transition from T-shirts and assorted gifts to jerseys, and from sometime occurrence to presidential sports tradition, seemed to happen with the beginning of Reagan’s administration. Sure, Reagan racked up the jersey count with many non-championship related events (Bowling Green, University of North Dakota, University of North Dakota different view, Texas, Capitals, and Eureka College [where Reagan himself played football]), but he also received jerseys from the championship Hurricanes, Lakers, and Twins. (Reagan also was presented with George Gipp’s sweater from Notre Dame in another full-circle sort of moment.) Searches of the speech archives of the American Presidency Project also show that Reagan was the first president to perennially invite championship teams to the White House.
So what happens to all of these jerseys? They make up a small percentage of the 1,000 or so gifts that the president receives every month, but they end up first in the White House Gift Office, and then in storage at the National Archives until the end of the administration, when they are shipped to another temporary storage until the presidential library is ready. Then they will be stored again (likely) or displayed (rarely) until some lowly intern comes calling for information on jerseys (just me).
Not the shirt off my back… Just as not all championship teams make it to the White House (the Buccaneers didn’t go after their Super Bowl), not all teams give the President a jersey. Most professional teams do, but college teams and other groups sometimes push the envelope with other sports-related swag. Check out some highlights below…
Ohio State Buckeyes helmet, Richard Petty #43 hat, “Surfboard One” from Pepperdine, USC Volleyball, Racing Helmet, Racing Suit from Tony Stewart, Soccer Ball (Pele and Nixon), Hockey Glove, Jackets, Basketballs (Meadowlark Lemon and Mrs. Ford), Lacrosse Sticks (has GWB43 on the head), More Jackets, More Jackets, Golf Head Covers, and even Speedos. Plus the Islanders once presented President Reagan with a goalie stick that was inscribed, “The Puck Stops Here.”
Sometimes the gifts can get out of hand, as you can see from this list of all the items Youngstown State gave President Clinton during their visit.
Tangential Bonus Material: President Grant was the first to welcome a professional team for a White House visit, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. President Arthur was the first to bring a Major League team for a visit, the Cleveland Forest Citys. The University of North Alabama football team visited President Clinton at the White House in 1996, marking the first time a NCAA Division II championship team had such an honor.
Vice Presidents sometimes get in on the jersey action, too.
President Clinton and his family received 186 jerseys during his administration, including: Women’s World Cup, Arkansas basketball, and University of North Dakota (awesome geometric design!)
Steve Rushin wrote a column (full text here) on visiting the National Archives and discovering all of the famous and forgotten sports memorabilia that is stored there, including President Lincoln’s handball, Billie Jean King’s rhinestone skirt she wore against Bobby Riggs, and Pele’s New York Cosmos jersey.
Finally, want to see what other jerseys President Bush has added to his collection?… Steelers, Marlins, Florida Men’s Basketball, Angels, Cal State Fullerton Baseball, Rice Baseball, UCLA Soccer, University of Maryland Women’s Basketball, Washington Volleyball, UConn Men’s Basketball, Spurs, LSU Football, Patriots (blue), Patriots (white), Miami Football, Syracuse Basketball, Pistons, Maryland Men’s Basketball, Air Force Football, Stanford Volleyball, New Jersey Devils, University of Minnesota-Duluth Women’s Hockey, UConn Women’s Basketball, Detroit Shock, University of Portland Women’s Soccer.
Sometimes he even signs them and sends them home with the team.
Uni Watch News Ticker (from Paul): Now that Dre Bly’s been traded, his biker shorts stylings will be moving to Denver. … Conditions have been so windy at the Tennis Channel Open that several players have resorted to wearing long sleeves (additional view here, with thanks to Ed McGrogan). … Majestic Athletic, which makes all the MLB uniforms, has been sold. … Speaking of Majestic, they’re marketing a line of throwback fleeces this year. … Keeper of the flame. … Et tu, Yogi? … You’ve got to be kidding me.
March 2nd, 2007
Yesterday’s ESPN column generated so much response that I’ve created an FAQ page for it. To see it, scroll down to the entry immediately after this one.
One comment that came up repeatedly — and occasionally comes up in other e-mail I receive — was that I’m a prime exemplar of “the media’s east-coast sports bias” (it’s particularly amusing when someone thinks this is why I don’t like Nike in general or Oregon’s football uniforms in particular). As I usually explain in such instances, hey, no bias here — my favorite state is Wisconsin, I rooted for the Kareem-led Lakers when I was a kid, and my favorite NFL team is the 49ers, for chrissakes.
There’s one area, however, where the charge is at least somewhat accurate: Since the major-level pro sports leagues and big-time collegiate sports all started in the east and midwest, I’m sometimes guilty of forgetting that there’s plenty of sports history — and, hence, uniform history — out west. It’s just that most of it was at the minor league level. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
That point was recently driven home to me when Bob Andrews tipped me wise to a site chronicling San Diego’s sports history. Can’t say I’d ever given much thought to that concept, or to the notion that San Diego even had a particularly deep sports history. But I’m gonna try to make amends by highlighting some of the better uni-related details from the site.
Let’s start with the city’s baseball history. Check out the creased pants in this shot (which supposedly dates from 1887, although I have my doubts about that), and the amazing front bibs in this one (of more believable 1887 vintage). You get a real feel for the mix of baseball and western-style architecture in this shot, and San Diego’s long history as a Naval port city is plenty evident in this one (taken aboard the U.S.S. Alert in 1918).
Of course, San Diego’s biggest baseball legacy is the Padres, who were Pacific Coast League team for over 30 years before the club’s current MLB incarnation. Check out these pics from 1936, 1948, 1949 (love that zipper), 1950, and 1957. Cool stadium shot here, too.
Turning to football, Russ High School sure liked that big “R” on its jersey, as seen in these great shots from 1902, 1903 (dig those crazy-ass socks on the dude at far left), and 1904. Meanwhile, check out the San Diego High player on the right in this 1921 shot: He’s got some some sort of tape wrapped around his thighs, his hip pads are tied together, and he’s got his keys hanging from his belt (which doesn’t match his teammate’s belt color). I sense the work of an overprotective mom.
Skipping forward several decades, it’s pretty obvious that those early Chargers uniforms were miles ahead of what the rest of the AFL was wearing. Can you even figure out who their plain-helmeted opponents are here? Incredibly enough, it’s the 1962 Oakland Raiders, hopelessly uni-outclassed. Similarly, who are the Chargers playing here? Answer: the 1963 Boston Patriots (who supposedly had Pat Patriot on their helmets, but I guess the AFL had some sloppy quality control).
There’s a lot more here, including boxing, soccer, cycling, tennis, golf, rowing, even surfing. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you San Diego — Uni Watch sports capital of the day!
Raffle Reminder: Lots of people had the day off yesterday for MLK Day, so you may have missed the announcement that we’re doing another Distant Replays raffle. For full details, scroll down to the “ITEM! January Raffle” section of yesterday’s entry.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s something I haven’t seen before: padded/quilted uni numbers — additional views here and here — as worn by the UK’s Farnham MH Knights (whose head coach, Steve Rains, provided the photos). … The minor league Cincinnati Cyclones, who are affiliated with the Canadiens, wore Canadiens-themed jerseys on Friday night. “I thought the front of the jerseys looked really nice,” says Kris Rose, who provided these photos. “The backs, however, were a bit of a train wreck. The stripes going around the jersey made the numbers REALLY hard to read when the team was playing. Some sort of outlining would have helped a lot.” … Latest racer-backed women’s hoops team: Colgate (with thanks to Stewart Small). … Duke’s David McClure had a nameplate typo on Sunday night (good catch by Matt Palombi).
January 16th, 2007
Last year I wrote an ESPN column about an odd NFL trend that was unfolding in Philadelphia: the unbuckled belt. And now I’ve noticed that the Eagles are the prime exemplars of a new midsection-based phenomenon: the exposed shirttail tag.
The Iggles aren’t the only ones with exposed tags, but they’re definitely the ones who’ve raised it to an art form. Once you start looking, you’ll find that the exposed tag is more the rule than the exception in Philly. It appears to know no demographic boundaries, being featured by offensive players and defensive, speedsters and bruisers, black players and white, at home and on the road. (If that’s not enough, you can see additional examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
Now, every NFL jersey has an NFL Equipment tag down by the hemline. The thing about the Eagles’ jerseys is that the tag appears to have been moved upward, or maybe the jersey has been cropped to have a shorter hemline — compare this to this.
The Philly tag, as I think we should now start calling it, is related to another trend I’ve noticed this season: the exposed midriff. All over the league, players are showing an alarming amount of abdominal skin. This is apparently due to many jerseys being seriously cropped, sometimes with elasticized hemlines that tend to ride up. It’s all a far cry from the days when players kept their jerseys from coming untucked by wearing snap-on crotch extensions (a photo of which has proven to be surprisingly elusive — anyone..?).
One last note: Speaking of exposed tags, take a close look at this photo (which was provided by reader Rob Montoya). That’s a Reebok logo on the Wyoming player’s hemline tag. But Wyoming is a New Balance school this year, as you can see by the “NB” logo on the player’s chest. Looks like Wyoming had some old Reebok jerseys laying around and just slapped New Balance logos on them when they switched manufacturer affiliations. Bogus!
Uni Watch News Ticker: Last week I noted the logo similarities between the Atlanta Thrashers and USA Rugby. Now Steve Seitz points out a similar separated-at-birth connection between the Red Wings and USA Cycling. … Hilarious logo creep alert from Cort McMurray, who writes: “My brothers are traveling through Asia. They snapped this photo outside of an apartment complex in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.” … I had to attend this food-writer shindig in Manhattan last night, so thankfully I didn’t see the Broncos wearing their blue-on-blues (which were making only their third regular-season appearance).
October 10th, 2006
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a new hosiery hero in our midst. That would be Brian Tallet of the Blue Jays, who on Tuesday night earned himself a lifetime Uni Watch exemption by wearing some picture-perfect stirrups. Here’s a closer look — note the bloused cuffs (which didn’t drape exactly right, but I blame that on the polyester, not on Tallet). Very, very nice.
Bill Blevins, who provided the screen-grabs, reports that Yankees TV announcers Michael Kay, Al Leiter, and Ken Singleton “spent over a minute talking about the fact that Tallet wore actual stirrups in the proper manner. The talk was entirely pro-stirrup, and I did not detect irony in their tone.” Apparently they also showed a quick video clip of Leiter wearing stirrups back in his Blue Jays days (although that couldn’t have been too exciting, since Leiter’s stirrups in those days were exceedingly uninspired). Unfortunately, the MLB.TV game video is from the Toronto broadcast, where the announcers didn’t even mention Tallet’s fine example.
Tallet’s an interesting case. In his minor league days, he sometimes wore stirrups and faux stirrups (nice cuff level, despite the bogus hose). I’ve been unable to find pics from his 2002 and 2003 cups of coffee with the Indians, he was definitely long-pantsed during his two Cleveland appearances in 2005. Then he caused a stir at the beginning of this season — his first with Toronto — by showing some stirrup, which upon closer inspection turned out to be of the faux variety. But as the season progressed, he shifted to full-fledged pajama mode, and as recently as two weeks ago he appeared to be a lost cause. Who’da thunk he’d end up with the season’s best sock stylings so far?
About yesterday’s post: As you may have seen, I ended up taking down yesterday’s interview with Joe Hilseberg, at his request. Many of you have asked why, but the specifics are private. All that matters is that Joe is a stand-up guy who had good reason to make the request, so I honored it. I want to make it clear that there was no pressure put on me by any outside parties, nor was this a case of a source coming back to me and saying, “Oh shit, I didn’t think you’d print that!” This was simply a friend of the site ending up in a tough spot through no fault of his own, so I helped him get out of it. End of story.
No, I can’t tell you more, and no, I can’t e-mail you a transcript of the interview, so please don’t ask. Let’s move on, shall we?
Uni Watch News Ticker: With Georgia Tech wearing throwbacks tonight, I’ll be appearing at 6pm eastern on the school’s flagship station, WQXI 790. I’m told we’ll be discussing the topic of throwbacks in general. … Check out this totally rulin’ 1959 Wilson advertising poster that I scored yesterday on eBay. I’ll post better photos of it when I get the actual item from the seller. … Big, big kudos to Andrew Shieh, who came up with a photo of last weekend’s Navy placekicker jersey typo. … Good catch by Jonathon Binet, who notes that the sleeve patches worn by many of the Nationals are curling and puckering. Additional views here, here, here, here, and here. … In yet another great catch, Dustin Ray has noticed that MLB umpires’ “EG” memorial patch for Eric Gregg is disappearing from many umps’ sleeves, often leaving behind a sticky residue. … Speaking of memorials, this obituary for longtime MLB exec Syd Thrift mentions that he’s the one who got underbills changed from green to gray (or so Thrift always claimed — some other sources dispute this). … On Monday I mentioned that many NFL players’ waistband towels now feature the Wilson wordmark (instead of the Wilson “W,” as had been the case for the past several years). That prompted the following note from a source at Wilson: “Good catch on the towels. We did change to the script Wilson logo this year, to match our current branding (I know…logo creep). If someone’s still wearing the ‘W,’ I assume it’s because the team had old inventory and is just using them up. Each team receives 528 towels per year and a lot of the northern teams seem to go through their allotment slower than southern and/or dome teams.” … While he was at it, the Wilson sourced added this: “If you look closely this year, you’ll see that NFL game balls have the team names stamped on them, below the NFL shield panel. In the past, the home team supplied the balls for both teams; this year, each team will supply their own footballs when they are on offense (similar to college).” … The Raptors have finally confirmed what everyone already knew: no more purple. … Here’s something you don’t often see anymore: the old ABC helmet logo, as worn on Sept. 9th by Ken Huckaby. … The Cardinals retired Bruce Sutter’s No. 42 on Monday night — an odd move, since 42 was already retired for Jackie Robinson. … In case you missed it in yesterday’s Comments section: With the Falcons having signed Morten Andersen Tuesday, lots of readers are wondering if the ageless kicker — who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2004 — will wear his old-school Dungard facemask. … Nice piece here making fun of the Vikings’ unis (with thanks to Jennifer Hayden). … Lots of negative reader reaction yesterday to the new U.S. cycling uniform, and it’s easy to see why. … Cork Gaines notes that there was some serious logo creep discussion in yesterday’s Doonesbury (where the item being discussed for adornment is a prosthetic leg). … Browns WR Josh Cribbs is inviting a fine by wearing an unapproved memorial tribute to a recently deceased teacher (thanks to Dave Sterling for the tip). … Webmaster John Ekdahl has added several new features to the Comments section, including the use of gravatars. For details on that, go to yesterday’s Comments and scroll down to Nos. 139 and 144.
September 21st, 2006
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