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Posts filed under 'Purple = Death'
You may have noticed that last Thursday’s ESPN column included a brief mention of John Maxymuk’s Uniform Numbers of the NFL: All-Time Rosters, Facts and Figures (which came out about a year and a half ago, but I just became aware of it last month). It’s a great book, stuffed to the gills with uni-numerical arcana. Among the tidbits:
• Zero and double-zero been worn more often than you might think — 21 different players have worn them.
• The All America Football Conference (the rival league where the 49ers and Browns first played, before they were folded into the NFL) had its own uni numbering system. Centers wore 20s, guards wore 30s, tackles wore 40s, ends wore 50s, quarterbacks wore 60s, fullbacks wore 70s, halfbacks wore 80s and 90s, and numbers below 20 weren’t used at all. When the Niners and Browns entered the NFL, they had to redo their numbering schemes, which explains Marion Motley’s radically different uni numbers here and here.
• Mike Michalske wore nine different numbers during his time with the Packers: 19, 24, 28, 30, 31, 33, 36, 40, and 63.
• When John Madden coached the Raiders, he personally assigned uni numbers to his players, because “I’ve always felt you can put a number on a person that tells about that person.”
• Paul Brown only coached one pro player with a single-digit uni number: Monk Williams, who wore No. 6 for two games in 1968. Even after Brown had left the Browns, no Cleveland player wore a single-digit number until 1977.
• Karl Mecklenburg of the Broncos wore No. 77 throughout his 12-year career — except on Nov. 22nd, 1992, when he wore 97.
Like all sports books, this one may need frequent updating. When the book was published in early 2005, for example, Joe Nedney was one of five different players who’d managed to wear the same number with six different teams (No. 6, which he’d worn with the Panthers, Cards, Titans, Dolphins, Broncos, and Raiders). Since then, he’s broken the record by wearing it for a seventh team, the Niners.
Still, such minor bits of obsolescence put only the teeniest dent in the book’s excellence. Highly recommended.
Bumper Scar: Interesting note from longtime Uni Watch supporter and Helmet Hut impresario Curtis Worrell:
Over the years Riddell has slowly been forced to eliminate their brand from the outside of the helmet. First they lost the black “R” that used to appear on the right side rear, then they lost using both the front and back bumpers at the same time [the rear bumper now usually carries the team name, and now I've been told by an inside source that they cannot use the rear bumper at all -- they're stuck with the tiny front bumper. From the games I have seen, it sure looks like the truth.
The NFL really clamps down on this stuff, while licensing fees go up. It's amazing what they make the equipment managers do -- if a player uses a different brand shoulder pad, they must cover the brand name, in case the jersey gets pulled down over the pad (which of course does happen frequently). You should do a story on what the NFL makes these teams and equipment providers do -- I'd shoot myself! We [at Helmet Hut] have been in many locker rooms talking with the guys, and they want to pull their hair out. Actually, many of them have no hair anyways.
As you might imagine, I don’t have much sympathy for Riddell just because they can’t plaster their brand name all over the helmet (especially since they still get to brand the chinstrap). But I’m intrigued by the idea of asking an equipment manager about all this stuff. Stay tuned.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Unprecedented MLB moves last night in commemoration of 9/11: As usual, the Mets wore first responder caps, but so did their Monday-night opponents, the Marlins, marking the first time that the caps have been worn by a team other than the Amazins. Meanwhile, all other MLB teams wore American flag cap patches (umpires, too), which I believe is the first time since 2001 that such patches have been worn on a day other than Opening Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, or Labor Day. Some of the patches looked like they’d been applied a bit haphazardly, but apparently there were no debacles like this … Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, the Pirates debuted their memorial patch for Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O’Connor, who died last weekend. … Surprising development last night in Washington, where the Redskins wore black cleats (and also became the seventh Week 1 team to wear white at home). … Nick McAlister notes that Chester Taylor appeared to have something written on his uni numbers. I didn’t actually see the game — did anyone else get a good look at this? … Yesterday’s Comments section included a short discussion about the special commemorative balls that were used for the games in Cleveland and Arizona. That prompted a note from a source at Wilson, who writes: “Just a little info: Teams are allowed to create a ball for any special event, as long as the NFL approves. The logo must go on the valve panel for any of these events, unless it is an NFL-sponsored event (the Super Bowl, e.g.). We’ll do special footballs for the Thanksgiving Day games, the AFC and NFC Championships, and of course the Super Bowl.” … Latest diacritical discoveries by Jeremy Brahm here and here. … Got my first sheet of Uni Watch postage stamps yesterday, and holy shit do they look cool. … Was Ohio State DE Jay Richardson wearing a QB’s play-calling wristband on his belt last Saturday? (Good catch by John Boerger.) … When Hamas captured power in the Palestinian elections last winter, I noticed that party loyalists were wearing official Hamas baseball caps (additional photos here, here, here, here, and here). Eight months later, NPR’s All Things Considered show ran a commentary about the baseball caps yesterday. The audio file is available here. … Speaking of caps: Got a great note yesterday from reader Rob Tate, as follows: “After Wilfredo Ledezma was pulled in the 5th inning of Friday’s Tigers/Twins game, they kept showing shots of him in the dugout. He started playing his cap, folding it like a rally cap, then messing up the brim, and then in the next shot he’d torn the brim off the cap and was working on de-threading the cap by chewing on it. Tigers announcers Mario Impemba and Rod Allen had commentary on it.” Alas, the MLB.TV game video is from the Twins’ broadcast, not the Tigers’, and the Minnesota folks didn’t show Ledezma’s antics. Anyone else catch this? … The horror, the horror.
September 12th, 2006
Last month we discussed several ballplayers whose caps have had a tendency to fall off, including Mike MacDougal, Jim Bouton, and John Pacella. (For those who missed it, the full treatment is here.) But those were all pitchers — it’s much rarer to find a position player with cap-retention problems. In fact, I’m not sure I’d ever heard of one until Shawn Green came along.
Green has played in four games since being acquired by the Mets last week, and he’s lost his cap at least once in each of them. It usually happens when he’s tracking a fly ball, but yesterday it happened as he chased a double into the corner.
Normally you wouldn’t see something like this being covered by the beat writers. But thanks to Sunday’s Mets game being rained out, the local scribes were poking around for something — anything — to write about for Monday’s editions. And so it came to pass that Monday’s Daily News actually contained a small item about Green and his cap. Here’s the relevant passage:
It seems every time Shawn Green makes a play in right field, his cap flies off and lands some 20 feet behind him. He swears it’s not intentional. “I’ve got a good answer,” he said. “I have to wait until it shrinks up on me to fit my head.”
Green pointed to the blue cap in his locker. “That one fits but I have to wait until we wear that color of uniform,” he said. “I’m lucky I’ve got Carlos (Beltran in center field) to pick them up for me.”
It’s hard to know what to make of this — like, if his cap doesn’t fit, can’t he just ask for another one? In any case, Green’s being too kind to Beltran here, since he’s usually picked up his cap himself.
This is the part where I mention that since Green is MLB’s most prominent Jewish player, maybe he should just wear this. But you all saw that one coming.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hot tip from the purple battlefield: It has come to my attention that a certain purple-clad team will be going purple-free next season. Can’t share any details just yet, but look for more news in this Thursday’s ESPN column. … Interesting post-game moment after Friday’s Bears/Cardinals preseason contest, as documented by Mike Murray: “Matt Leinart and Brian Urlacher were chatting on the field after the game. Leinart must have asked Urlacher for his jersey, because Urlacher started to take it off while they were talking. The jersey got stuck on his shoulder pads, so Leinart reached over and helped him remove it. Then they stood and chatted some more while Leinart had Urlacher’s jersey slung over his shoulder. Apparently Urlacher didn’t want Leinart’s jersey in return.” … Jersey swapping is also big in MLB, but it goes on behind the scenes. … By now we all know about MLB’s Cool Base jerseys (if you need a refresher course, look here), and now reader Jordan Sidwell has noticed the Cool Base’s natural counterpart showing up on MLB.com: the Therma Base fleece, which we’ll presumably start seeing when the weather gets colder. Like virtually everything else being produced nowadays, it features some seriously unnecessary piping. … Speaking of which, could something please be done about this? … Remember our recent discussion of umlauts and tildes and such? It took a while, but Jeremy Brahm has finally turned up some cedillas, as seen here (a Portuguese volleyball player, from 2003) and here (Portuguese soccer player Sergio Conceiçao, playing for Standard Liege in Belgium).
August 29th, 2006
Wouldn’t it be great if you could just show up in a city far from home, announce your presence, and have a bunch of cool strangers come out of the woodwork to play with you? That’s what happened to me in Milwaukee on Thursday night, as about a dozen Uni Watchers joined me for drinks and good times at the very wonderful Art Altenburg’s Concertina Bar (where, yes, there was a live polka band, along with lots of polka-themed signage and promotional props). Seriously, how lucky can a fella get? Like I always say, Uni Watch readers are the coolest, and no writer could ever hope to have a better or nicer readership. Here’s to everyone who came down.
Among the highlights:
• Here’s Dave Mann, wearing the Manitoba Moose jersey that he designed himself (along with the rare chest patch that never went into full production because, as he explained, “it had too many colors”). Mann also delivered a blistering critique of the Milwaukee Bucks’ new logo, which we’ll get to in a sec.
• Wisconsin punk diety and longtime Uni Watch contributor the Rev. Nørb came down from Green Bay — and brought along a slew of purple jerseys, just to fuck with me (he was actually wearing them all when he arrived). For good measure, Nørb also brought me a purple pen, a purple floor tile, and a scrap of purple carpeting (the latter two left over from a recent home “improvement” project), all of which were, of course, confiscated by airport security just prior to my flight back to New York.
• This is Mitch Teich, who came down to interview me for WUWM’s “Lake Effect” radio show. Not sure yet when the interview will run, but probably around the middle of next month — details to follow.
• At left is Nicole Haase, who runs the Cute Sports blog (and who generously served as the local coordinator for this shindig); at right, Tim Adams, who came up from Chicago and joined me for pre-gathering frozen custard at Kopp’s (best ice cream in America, don’tcha know) and some kickass ribs at Speed Queen BBQ.
• Tavern owner and national treasure Art Altenburg got plenty of attention from the ladies, including Stephanie West (here’s another shot) and Mary the Birthday Girl (who also had fun with her newly purchased Concertina Bar T-shirt — complete with accordian straps).
• When our beer-to-protein balance threatened to go haywire, Uni Watch readers turned to pickled eggs — or at least Eric Graves, Gwen Graves, and Tim Langenohl did. The rest of us kept our distance.
• A few more random shots: A.J. Zydzik and Stephanie West; A.J. and me; Nørb and Tim Adams; Nørb, Tim, and me; the Concertina Bar’s highly sophisticated Lost and Found department; and the rare Concertina Bar sign that doesn’t mention polka.
So that was Thursday night. On Friday morning, I was supposed to have breakfast with Bucks vice president John Steinmiller, but it turned out that he wasn’t able to make it. This was tragic on several levels, not the least of which was that I wasn’t able to present Steinmiller with Dave Mann’s deconstruction of the team’s new logo. But I can still present it here (and hopefully I can also arrange for Steinmiller to take a look at this blog entry), so here it is, in Mann’s own words:
What follows is a nutshell synopsis of the major problems with the Bucks new primary logo. These are by no means all the errors in their entirety — some are only visible at huge sizes, such as when printed on the team van (yes, I stalked the promo van) — but this covers the more egregious ones.
Note #1 — The vertical yellow line would appear to divide the (symmetrical) image in half, yes? The line is evenly spaced between the antlers at the top and cuts the apex of the bottom of the red triangle dead-center. Great. Or is it? Look closely at the white shapes that make up the nose and mouth. They are WAY off-center to the right. To be fair, this problem appears to have been present even prior to the change. Still odd.
Note #2 — This is meant to illustrate the glaring difference in silver stroke (industry term for outline) width. It’s nearly twice as wide on the right as on the left. Closer inspection reveals varying stroke width EVERYWHERE. Look at the difference between the stroke width on the deer’s right cheek vs. left — yikes! The stroke around the antlers is thinner than everywhere else. This is NOT a subjective issue. Illustrators use varying line weight for different reasons all the time. But it almost never appears in sports logo design, NEVER appears in symmetrical artwork, and also NEVER appears in differing weights around the very outside of the shape. Outlines in that manner are meant to separate and contain the artwork from distractions around it. While there is a 1% chance the inner linework is intentionally varied, there is NO chance the outer, containment outline should be of different thicknesses.
Note #3 — This is meant to illustrate that the triangle also appears to not be centered. On the right, the triangle/shoulder intersection comes to a point; on the left, there’s an obvious gap.
I never expect any of these issues to be addressed. After all, who’s gonna notice? But what I expect — nay, insist! — on getting corrected is this.
The top example is exactly how the team’s full wordmark appears on the baseline of the Cousin’s Center [the team's practice facility]; the lower example is what it SHOULD look like. There are lots of missing bevels, which I’ve highlighted in blue. Once you’ve seen it, I hope it’s as obvious to you as it is to me. It’s like a car wreck — I can’t turn away. If they paint the Bradley Center game floor like that, I’ll honestly never be able to attend a game again.
The rest of my Wisconsin trip wasn’t particularly uniform-oriented (unless you count the rad outfits worn during the Porch Honkees photo shoot I sat in on [NSFW: check out their cool new hit, with me cheering in the background, here]), although I did see a nice old high school baseball uni in a vintage shop. Overpriced, though, so I passed.
(A big pickled egg jar full of thanks to Tim Adams and A.J. Zydzik for their photographic contributions, and to Todd Krevanchi for so ably filling in for me on Friday.)
Speaking of Uni Watch gatherings…: Looks like there’s room for another couple of bodies at the Uni Watch bbq party, slated for this Sunday in Brooklyn, New York. If you’re interested, send a note to unibbq at earthlink dot net. I’ll get back to you regarding address, time, etc.
Uni Watch News Ticker: In case you missed it in the Comments section a few days ago, Troy Polamalu was wearing some gonzo socks in practice the other day. … Twins news from an anonymous source in Minnesota: “I work at a Minnesota Twins Pro Shop. We are owned and operated by the Twins, so we get a bunch of game-used jerseys and stuff in. With the trade-deadline trade of Kyle Lohse, we received a few of his game-used jerseys. One of them was that new style of all-mesh with the vents under the arms [i.e., the Cool Base model]. I was asking my boss about it, and he said they’re planning on switching to those jerseys for all of their different styles for next season. He said the players really liked them so they’re making the switch.” … Good catch by Chris Rosa, who notes that the MLB logo on Carlos Delgado’s batting gloves appears to be teal and black — “clearly a holdover from his Marlins days,” says Rosa. … I actually liked Cuba’s red pants during the World Baseball Classic, but check out the faux white stirrups they’re now being paired with during the Pre-Olympic Baseball tourney — ugh. … Looks like Ryan Shealy has something written on his underbill. … Brad Hennessey appears to be the latest pitcher to be wearing a glove that looks impermissibly pale. … Looks like Fred Smoot was wearing no whites with his purple socks the other day. … Our recent discussion of players wearing stick pins prompted a note from Chris Marcinko, who points out that Joey Cora used to wear pins in his cap but was then told to cease and desist by the league office (scroll about two-thirds of the way down that page for the appropriate segment). … Nike’s asymmetrical-sleeve concept has now spread to the high school level (with thanks to Nick Zajicek). … Stunning NFL development on Saturday night, as the Rams went white-on-white. … A recent New York Times article about a 42-year-old U.S. Open ball “boy” includes a tidbit I’d never heard about before: During a 1990 doubles match, a frustrated Ilie Nastase was playing so poorly that he asked the ball boy to find a tennis skirt for him to play in — and the ball boy found one for him. Can’t find a photo yet, though. … Speaking of the U.S. Open ball boys, they’re wearing some nasty jerseys. … Good catch in yesterday’s Comments section by Ryan Real, who notes that Ben Roethlisberger’s wristbands appeared to have a blacked-out logo on Friday night. Turns out it’s made by Neumann, which isn’t an approved NFL licensee (read: isn’t Reebok). … After several Seattle players wore those neon green gloves in the Super Bowl, it’s not surprising that we’re now seeing stuff like this. … Soccer note from Jeremy Brahm: “I was watching Gol (a weekly highlights show on soccer leagues from around the world) on GolTV tonight and saw a game from Portugal between Sporting Club de Portugal (Sporting) and Boavista FC. Boavista traditionally wears a checkered shirt, and Sporting wears white and green stripes — but for this game, both teams wore their white uniforms to start the game. The referee made Sporting change colors for the second half.”
August 28th, 2006
Ever wish you could play ball in a vintage uniform? A bunch of college and high school players will get to do that today at the Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual event event staged to benefit charity, with the players dressing in period garb.
There seems to be a bit of confusion regarding the unis’ authenticity. This article refers to one player wearing “[Robin] Roberts’ woolens,” implying that the guy is wearing an authentic uni that Roberts actually wore. The article then adds: “The keeper of the flame, or uniform at least, is 70-year-old Dave Leibovitz, who owns Royal White Laundry in Somerville. … [He] keeps a sharp eye on all the duds, delicately placing each uniform in its rightful storage spot.” Again, this suggests that the unis are vintage authentics. But they’re actually throwback repros, as you can tell from all the bogus patches. The good news is that they’re clearly made from natural fibers (unlike the wretched polyester used in MLB throwback games), so they drape right. You can see additional photos from past games here and here.
One amusing detail: Kids today are so stirrup-clueless that some of them have worn sanitaries that are dangerously low.
Pin-Up Follow-Up: Yesterday’s entry on World Series press pins prompted an interesting response from graphic designer and longtime Uni Watch correspondent Ross Yoshida, who used to work for the Dodgers. He writes:
Cool feature on press pins. I didn’t know much about them myself until 2004, when I was asked to design one for the Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Dodgers were eliminated in the Division Series by the Cards that year, so I think only a few production samples exist. One of the directives I was given was to make the design non-year-specific, in case a large run was produced and the team failed to make the Series. Because of this, there is still a slim chance that the design could resurface if and when the Dodgers make it to the World Series again.
Underbill Update: Got a really interesting note yesterday from Everett Duke. Check it out: “One of my professors made note of how popular it is to write on the underbrims of hats these days. He instituted a rule that on test days, we could wear no hats or must turn them backwards, since they could be used to aid in cheating.” How long can it be before Prof Daddy-O bans inside-out pocket flappage too?
Meanwhile, back on the diamond, reader Karl Anderson checks in with the following: “Matt Garza, the Twins’ new call-up from the minor leagues, has something written under the bill of his cap. Before each start he stands behind the mound and reads something on his bill. No pictures yet.”
War on Purple Gains Ground: As you probably know by now, the Raptors will have new, purple-free unis this season. This came up in an interview that a blogger named Lil Dice recently conducted with newly acquired Raptor Kris Humphries. Here’s the key portion of the interview:
Lil Dice [pointing to Humphries' Raptors T-shirt]: You excited to be playing with the Raptors?
Kris Humphries: Yes.
LD: Have you seen the new uniforms?
KH: They have new uniforms?
LD: Yep. They look pretty sharp and much cooler than the Wolves uniforms [Humphries is from Minnesota].
KH: Do they still have purple in them?
LD: It doesn’t look like it.
KH [in a tone of exasperation and with some hand gesturing]: You can’t do anything with purple…
This Humphries fella, he sounds like a smart guy.
(Special purple-free thanks to Anfernee Lam for the tip on this one.)
“Now pinch-hitting…”: By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on my way to Wisconsin (remember, Uni Watch meet-and-greet tonight, 7pm, at the completely wonderful Art Altenburg’s Concertina Bar), and I’m going to be busy with other stuff on Friday. So tomorrow’s entry will be handled by longtime Uni Watch contributor Todd Krevanchi, co-founder and administrator of the NikeTalk message board, and a swell guy besides. Everyone treat him nice, OK? OK.
August 24th, 2006
I don’t usually post on the weekend, but I’m gonna make an exception today, because last night there were two separate instances of broadcasters discussing a topic that we just covered here on the blog a few days ago: colored baseball gloves.
The first example came during the Mets/Rockies game (which I attended with my pal Tim, as you can see in this shot, taken in the 6th inning by one of those roving “fan photo” people who now patrol most MLB stadia), where Mets announcers Ron Darling, Gary Cohen, and Keith Hernandez took a keen interest in Jose Mesa’s purple glove:
Darling: Jose Mesa comes on for the Colorado Rockies. An interesting glove color there he chose…
Cohen [sounding very much like someone who read Wednesday's Uni Watch post]: He used to wear, when he was with the Phillies — as Tucker grounds one down to Helton for the first out — when he was with the Phillies, he wore a red one at home and a blue one on the road, so he’s just, y’know, matching the color scheme.
Darling: You gotta be, you better be really good to have a purple glove. Tell you that right now.
Hernandez [not wanting to be left out but having nothing useful to contribute]: Like a Monet or, uh… [uncomfortable pause] or a nice pastel color or something.
Cohen [displaying a surprising knowledge of art history]: You were looking for water lilies?
Hernandez [eager to show his own art knowledge]: Alright, Manet. [Discussion mercifully ends.]
Meanwhile, out in Minneapolis, Twins announcers Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven were taking notice of David Riske’s glove:
Bremer: Riske with that almost white glove. I’ve never seen a glove like that used, particularly on the mound.
Blyleven: And it must not affect the hitters, or I’m sure someone would have said something by now, that that is, you know, too much like a baseball, that type color.
Bremer: Kyle Lohse [who used to pitch for the Twins] had a light brown glove, but this thing is almost gray, a light gray.
Actually, as we discussed a few days ago, Rulebook section 1.15(a) specifically prohibits pitchers from wearing white or gray gloves, so it’s surprising that Riske’s being allowed to wear one, regardless of whether anyone’s complained. (Special thanks to Ken Tobler for the Riske tip.)
Meanwhile, two quick non-baseball notes: The Browns wore non-striped socks with their white jerseys yesterday — a bad sign. And Evander Holyfield, who’s worn purple gloves and/or trunks for most of the past decade, did it again in his comeback bout last night. Sad, very sad.
Okay, that’s it — see you on Monday.
August 19th, 2006
As of this writing, there have been a whopping 170 comments in response to yesterday’s post (and only a few of them were people double-commenting to apologize for their typos), so you might have missed No. 162, in which a pseudonymous reader reported thusly: “Bottom of the 1st in the Giants/Padres game tonight and the Giants’ announcers (Jon Miller and FP Santangelo) just spent a few minutes discussing Matt Morris’s glove. Apparently Morris usually pitches with a black glove, but tonight [i.e., last night] he is sporting a brown model. Santangelo reported that he discussed it with Morris pregame, and Morris said he is 1-1 with the brown glove and wants to get it over .500 (the black glove is 7-9).”
Colored gloves have been in the news lately, mainly because of Bobby Abreu, who retained his Phillies-colored glove — red with blue stitching — even after joining the Yankees. Naturally, the official Uni Watch position is that colored gloves are an affront, and that everyone should stick with basic brown. You wanna wear some other color? Fine, just make sure your glove is made out of plastic, or vinyl, polysomethingorother. But if you want to wear real leather, stick to the natural tones — that steer didn’t moo and graze and get herded down to the slaughterhouse just to suffer the indignity of having his skin dyed blue (or red, or whatever).
Alas, baseball’s rulebook is disappointingly lax on this point. The only restriction is set out in rule 1.15(a): “The pitcher’s glove may not be white, gray, nor, in the judgment of an umpire, distracting in any manner.” The “distracting” qualifier has generally been interpreted to mean that the pitcher’s glove must be solid-colored, not two-tone, and has occasionally resulted in pitchers having to switch gloves at the outset of a game.
At least two current pitchers like to color-coordinate their gloves. The first is our friend Pedro Martinez, who frequently wore blue witih the Dodgers (faux stirrups alert!), blue again with the Expos (the red stitching is the sort of thing that can get a glove banned under the “distracting” rule; also, note Pedro’s then-trademark slit sleeves, now banned), and red — or at least red-ish — with the Red Sox. Now that he’s with the Mets, he often wears blue.
But Pedro (who has routinely swapped in a black glove for the colored models) has nothing on Jose Mesa, whose glovely colors date back to his days with Cleveland, where he wore red at home and blue on the road. He then wore blue with the Mariners, black with the Giants, red at home with the Phillies (and blue on the road), and black with the Pirates (too bad he’s a pitcher, or he could’ve worn this). All of this, however, was just a warmup for the horror he unveiled upon joining the Rockies.
Call for Questions: After the recent debut of the Uni Watch Profiles series (the next installment of which will feature Jon Springer, the man behind the amazing Mets by the Numbers site), several readers wrote in to request that I include myself on the list of future interviewees. I like this idea, so I’ve drafted longtime Uni Watch contributor and correspondent Todd Krevanchi to pepper me with questions. In addition to coming up with his own queries for me, he’ll also ask questions on your behalf. So if there’s anything you want to know about me, or about Uni Watch (aside from the questions already addressed on our FAQ page), e-mail them directly to Todd (that way I won’t see the questions in advance), and he’ll include the best ones in our interview. Remember, there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers — and hopefully I’ll manage to avoid any of those — so feel free to ask whatever’s on your mind.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s an old uniform catalog I won’t be bidding on. … Who says you can’t have eyes in the back of your head? (With thanks to Jeremy Brahm.) … For the second consecutive year, the Bengals have posted their game-by-game uniform schedule on their web site, a move that other teams would be wise to follow. Of course, the real problem is that the Bengals look like crap no matter which uni they wear.
August 16th, 2006
With our first full weekend of NFL preseason action now in the books, a few quick observations are in order. To wit:
• Several dozen readers wrote in to express alarm over the sight of the Colts wearing solid-top socks on Thursday night — a serious downgrade from the striped socks they’ve been wearing for the past couple of seasons. Recent Uni Watch Profiles subject Witesock has the depressing explanation: “Pine Sports (the Colts’ sock supplier) told me earlier this summer that the Colts did not renew their striped sock order. The NFL is still moving backwards in terms of sock design.” Indeed.
• Many readers also pointed with dismay toward the Browns, who wore solid-topped hose, instead of striped, in their first preseason game. Here’s the deal on that: The Browns used to have two different kinds of striped socks — this design, which was meant to be worn with the dark jerseys (note how the sock stripes match the sleeve stripes), and this design, which went with the white jerseys (again, note the sleeve/calf parallelism). Their current uni set still includes that second sock design, but not the other one. The solid-top format is now their official dark-jersey sock. Too bad.
• Several teams have switched to black cleats, including the Cards, Browns, and Bills (the big surprise of the group). Kudos to all.
• I hadn’t realized the Saints would be wearing a Louisiana-shaped jersey patch this season (here’s a closer look). It’s similar to the patch they used to wear on their sleeves and hips (both of which are now emblazoned with the fleur de lis.
• Other teams with new jersey patches: the 49ers, Cards, and Browns (kinda big, no?).
• The Bengals still can’t get that white side panel to look consistent (well, unless “consistently awful” counts). On some players, it stops at the underarm; for others, it extends up toward the nameplate.
• The most subtle uni revision of the season: The Titans now have a belt-buckle sleeve, which means there are now three teams wearing this utterly useless accessory (the other two being, of course, the Jets and Broncos). The kicker is that the Titans actually have three different belt sleeves, depending on which pants they wear.
• A few visor-clad players appear to be wearing the Oakley “O” logo on their visor tabs. In the past, this logo has only appeared on the tabs of NCAA players, because Oakley hasn’t been an official NFL licensee (so NFL visor tabs have typically been clear, black, or team-branded). Not sure if the “O” — which I’ve only spotted on a few NFL visors so far this preseason, not all of them — reflects a new branding arrangement between the league and Oakley or just a typical case of preseason regulatory laxity. I’m looking into it.
• In another logo creep development, reader Brooks Reuter writes: “It appears that Adidas is up to the same tricks that have gotten them in trouble in tennis. These gloves are obviously Adidas gloves, with the three stripes all the way around the palm. But as I’m sure you know, only the Reebok logo is allowed to be visible on NFL gloves. This could get interesting, as I cannot see the NFL allowing this design to play during the regular season.”
• Still as gorgeous as ever (despite the sack); still as hideous as ever.
Of course, all of this is just a warmup for the real “treat”: tonight’s game in Minnesota, which will mark the on-field debut of those horrific new Vikings uniforms. Can’t wait.
Memphis Musings: As we all know by now, the St. Louis Cardinals require all players in their minor league system to wear their pants hiked up high. So imagine my surprise when I attended a Memphis Redbirds game on Friday night and saw the pitcher — and only the pitcher — sporting the pajama-pants look. The explanation: The pitcher was St. Looie starter Mark Mulder, who was making a triple-A rehab start and was apparently exempt from the pant protocol. Would’ve been a lot cooler if Mulder had just gone along with the program, instead of big-leaguing it like a prima donna.
In other Memphis news, the Redbirds batboys were wearing facemasks. But the real story was Uni Watch reader Luke Pellagra, who turned out to be a very interesting case study in uniformity. I saw Pellagra on three consecutive days during my stay in Memphis, and on all three occasions he was wearing the same basic attire: a Cardinals baseball cap, a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt (complete with logo creep), a long-sleeve T-shirt under that, and a white T-shirt under that. The Polo shirt was always either red (in which case the long-sleeve tee was navy) or navy (in which case the long-sleeve tee was red). The cap color always matched the color of the long-sleeve shirt.
And you all thought Witesock was weird. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that the thought of a Uni Watch reader accumulating a dresser drawer full of Ralph Lauren Polo shirts is waaaaaaaaay more disturbing than any hosiery fixation could ever be (although there’s no truth to the rumor that Pellagra is the guy featured in this article [with thanks to Paul Burclaff for the link]).
Incidentally, the temperature in Memphis was just shy of 100 degrees on two of these days, and the humidity was in the 90s on the third day. So the whole city was basically a sauna, and this dude’s wearing three shirts. “It’s just what I’ve gotten used to,” said Pellagra when I asked him about it. “If I don’t wear three shirts, I feel, uh…”
Naked?
“Yeah.”
Right. Sartorial quirks notwithstanding, Pellagra’s a super-nice guy, and it was great to meet him during my stay in Memphis. He’s about to begin his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee, where he’s studying sports administration, in hopes of becoming an agent, … la Drew Rosenhaus. We should all root for him to succeed, if only because his Polo-driven look would certainly be an improvement over Rosenhaus’s purple tie.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Plenty of throwback action over the weekend, as the Mets and Nationals donned Negro Leagues unis on Friday night (here’s another view) and the Pirates and Cards did likewise on Saturday night. … More super-cool Japanese high school stirrups courtesy of Jeremy Brahm here,
here, here, and here. … Anguished logo creep confession from University of Alabama media relations rep Jeff Dunnavant, who writes: “I’m ashamed to say I’m partly responsible this mock-up of our 2006 women’s soccer media guide cover. You’ll have no problem whatsoever determining which athletics company sponsors Alabama soccer, as the company’s logo appears an amazing 36 times in the photo. Please don’t excommunicate me!” Too late, Jeff — your reservation in uni purgatory is now confirmed. … Interesting note from Jeremy Ellermeier: “Every day durning fall camp, the Nebraska coaches give out a yellow jersey to the top performer on offense, defense, and special teams. Interestingly, when Clayton Seivers recived the yellow jersey, he apparently got some yellow socks to go with it.” … Eric Ritschdorff notes that “Robinson Cano had a problem keeping his shirt tucked in during his at-bat in the top of the 7th on August 10th against the White Sox. It looked as though the ump made a point to tell him to tuck it in. He did, but it was partly hanging out on his right hip side.” … Good tip from Michael Lindsay, who recently came across a cool exhibit at the Salt Lake City Library, called Diamonds in the Rough, described as “a popular interactive exhibit that reveals the colorful 100-year history of Japanese-American baseball through memorabilia, photos and artifacts. … The exhibit’s visit to Utah is sponsored by the motion picture The American Pastime, which tells the story of Japanese Americans herded into the Topaz internment camp during WWII, where they turned to baseball as a way to deal with their plight.” Lindsay took a few photos with his camera phone, which you can see here, here, and here. … Another pink link: The Portland Beavers held a “Strike Out Breast Cancer” promotion yesterday, featuring this jersey design (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm. … Remember last month when Bosox starter Kyle Snyder pitched an entire inning with his undershirt tag sticking out? On Friday it was Wilfredo Ledezma who had the tag showing, which generally made him look ridiculous during the entire 7th inning (good catch by Tom Kot). … How the hell did purple find its way back into the Devil Rays’ color scheme? … Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks — one of only three current Tampa players to have worn the team’s old creamsicle unis back in the day — is campaigning for the team to revive the orange attire this season as a Thanksgiving Day throwback (with thanks to Mike Edgerley). … In a stunning development that may cause the Earth to wobble clear off its axis, Buck Showalter has worn a uniform jersey — instead of his usual windbreaker — for three consecutive games! Sorry, no photos (presumably because conventional cameras aren’t equipped to record paranormal phenomena), but the tip comes straight from a source in the Rangers’ dugout. … Logo Creep Alert: Check out Fidel Castro’s convalescence outfit. Some socialist he’s turning out to be!
August 14th, 2006
With the French Open finished and Wimbledon now just a few weeks away, the big news is that the tourney’s ballboys and ballgirls — who’ve previously worn green with unfortunate purple trim — will be getting a makeover when the tournament starts later this month. The full story came in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, whose content isn’t available online, so here are the pertinent bits:
For the past 30 years, the rule for on-court officials, including umpires, ballboys, and ballgirls, has been to wear green, to blend in with the finely trimmed grass courts of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. … [But this year they'll] sport Polo Ralph Lauren shorts, skirts, pants, and blazers in navy blue, with Wimbledon’s logo on the shirt sleeve and Polo’s pony on a breast pocket or shirt front. …
Wimbledon’s fashion awakening has been years in the making. Tournament organizers say they realized some time ago that the green-polyester blazers and beige pants for on-court officials were seriously behind the times [and let's not forget the purple ties]. The outfits were manufactured by Britain’s Wood Harris Ltd., a maker of uniforms for security guards and catering companies. …
Polo says its inspiration was Wimbledon attire from the 1930s and 1940s, when players wore white pants and jackets on court. Polo’s original idea was to dress linesmen [who in the past have also worn green] in white shirts. But Wimbledon officials vetoed it, fearing white shirts on a sunny day would distract players. Instead, linesmen will wear a blue-and-white pinstripe dress shirt with a white collar.
The best quote comes from Wimbledon marketing director Rob McCowen, who insisted that the deal had nothing to do with money and then said (apparently with a straight face) that his favorite thing about Polo is, “They don’t have big brand logos all over their shirts.”
Uh, right. McCowen might want to look at those drawings one more time. If he looks closely, in fact, he’ll see that Polo has actually annexed a bit of sartorial territory from him: The ballboys’ and ballgirls’ wristbands, which used to have the Wimbledon logo, are now slated to carry the Polo mark.
One thing Uni Watch hasn’t been able to confirm: net judge attire, either for this year or in the past. This photo suggests that net judges may have worn the same green jackets as everyone else, or maybe it was a darker jacket — tough to say for sure, considering how much colors can vary on the web. Anyone know more about this?
Meanwhile, moving from the court to the courtroom, it turns out that Adidas-sponsored players will be allowed to wear the company’s three-stripe design at Wimbledon, and it’s a fair bet that Nike and other companies will answer by increasing the size of the logo patches on their own sponsored players.
June 13th, 2006
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