Last Thursday I drove out to the Meadowlands to see Giants equipment director Joe Skiba, who wanted to show me a bunch of new gear and give me a tour of the team’s brand-new training facility. And lemme tell ya, he showed me some eye-opening stuff — almost none of which I’m allowed to share with you.

I know, nobody likes a tease, but Joe swore me to secrecy. Plus he bought me lunch. Plus-plus, no joke, he showed me this dumping ground near the training site and made lots of chatter about how “you could easily leave a body here and nobody would ever know.” Yikes — message received.

Here’s what I’ve been permitted to say:

• The red alternate jersey has been retired. The Giants will not be wearing any alternates or throwbacks in 2009 or 2010, but they have a doozy of a throwback slated for 2011 — which I can’t describe.

• Remember how some Giants players had a different jersey cut last season (no nameplate, lower placement of the NFL Equipment logo, etc.)? All Giants jerseys this season will feature that cut. One problem last year was that some players’ sleeve stripes looked sort of curvy instead of straight, but that has been addressed and should no longer be an issue.

• These new jerseys will be made of a new high-tech fabric. I usually roll my eyes at this kind of thing, but the new fabric really does look and feel different than the standard NFL material (or at least it does in person — I doubt you’ll be able to tell the difference on TV). Interestingly, the fabric is being made is Israel, which means the team’s game jerseys will carry “Made in Israel” tags — probably a first for an American pro sports team. And that’s all I can say about it for now.

• When the Giants wear blue jerseys on the road (in Dallas, say), Skiba plans to have them wear these pants (which are normally worn only with the white jersey), instead of these pants (which are normally worn with the blue jersey, whether at home or on the road). I like this idea.

• Skiba continues to tinker with the nose bumpers. Here’s what he has in mind for this season.

OK, I better stop there before Skeebs drives out and throttles me for giving too much away.

Fortunately, I have full clearance to show photos of the new training site, which is located maybe half a mile from Giants Stadium and looks pretty damn swank. Among the highlights:

• When the players enter the facility, this is the first thing they see. Too bad about the logo (a major turd in the punchbowl, no?), but that photo is a gem.

• There are also classic photos in the cafeteria and outside the film screening room (each of those photos represents one of the team’s championships; I didn’t have room to include the one for Super Bowl XLII).

• Speaking of the screening room, it’s basically a small theater. As you might expect, the seats are very wide. And hey, no cup holders!

• There’s a huge photo montage that was too big for me to capture. Skeebs was all excited to show me the last photo in the sequence, just to see if my head would explode.

• The “ny” logo is everywhere — on walls, on trash cans, even on this drainage plate.

• The new locker room is really nice. It’s shaped like a football, with a ring of honor along the top molding.

• The old practice bubble has been dismantled and replaced by a fancy new practice hangar. Interestingly, the goalposts are suspended from the ceiling by cables, so there’s no anchor post connected to the crossbar. Maybe that’s common for indoor practice fields, but I’d never seen it before and thought it was really neat.

That’s most of it. At one point we hopped in a high-tech vehicle and scooted back over to Giants Stadium, where Joe wanted to show me a few additional things. The best part: this impromptu photo gallery. Recognize anyone in those photos? According to Skeebs, this is Tom Coughlin and this is Jeff Feagles. And this? That’s a young Joe Skiba on the right, with his brother Ed (who works with Joe in the Giants’ equipment room) on the left. Look at those perfectly positioned pads and wristbands — no wonder they got into the equipment game.

Membership Update: Kudos to Jason Bernard, who requested one of the coolest membership card treatments we’ve had so far: the Steelers’ “golden triangle” design. That’s one of several new designs you can see in the membership card gallery. As always, you can make the membership scene by signing up here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Now that’s a tattoo (awesome find by Kirsten). … Decent article on MLB cap styles here (with thanks to Matt Shevin). … Brazilian soccer uni history broken down here (with thanks to Brett Fujisaki). … Doug McConnell was shopping for fetishwear innocently browsing at the mall and spotted these Phillies shirts being sold at Victoria’s Secret. “Is this specific to the Phillies or does Victoria’s Secret have an MLB-wide deal?” he asks. … New football uniforms for Baylor. … Some very nice vintage CFL video and photos (with thanks to Richard Musterer and Jim Vilk, respectively). … What’s worse than a soccer team with a Burger King-sponsored jersey? The underside of the jersey. Depressing details here (with thanks to Dave Tyrrell). … New jerseys for the Quad City Mallards of the IHL (with thanks to Matt Linder). … David Beckham wore short sleeves last night. “That’s notable because he NEVER wears short sleeves, no matter the weather,” notes Kenn Tomasch. “Don’t know if it was too hot, if the kit man didn’t bring a long sleeve shirt, or what.” … Colt Brennan of the Redskins is helping to provide uniforms for a Pop Warner team in Hawaii (with thanks to William P. Barrett). … God, I really hate those filled-in NOB letters. … Want to see just how far triple-A baseball is from the big leagues? The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are the Phillies’ top affiliate and dressed their players in tuxedo jerseys for last night’s game (with thanks to Ryan Harrington and Dan Stahl). … Very cool slideshow of Google logos here (nice find by Matt Carlson).

We all know there are several MLB teams that have inconsistent logo sets. The “D” on the Tigers’ cap is different from the one on their jersey, the Yankees have several different “NY” treatments, and so on.

But until a few days ago, I didn’t realize (or maybe had just forgotten) that the A’s also fall into this category. They have two different treatments of their stylized “A” (note the differences in the “feet” and the apostrophes, among other subtle distinctions). Oddly, both logo treatments show up on the team’s home page banner. Even odder, they use one version on their caps and the other on their helmets. So the A’s don’t just have an inconsistent logo program; they have an inconsistent headwear logo program.

I hadn’t thought about any of this until reader Mark Halling pointed out that Jason Giambi had recently been wearing the cap version of the logo on his helmet. “He’s been wearing it for at least the past two or three weeks,” Mark wrote to me. “And he’s clearly the only one on the team wearing it.”

So yesterday afternoon I forwarded Mark’s observation to A’s equipment manager Steve Vucinich. “You may have finally ‘gotten’ me,” he wrote back. “My entire staff was in my office when I read your e-mail. Nobody had any idea about this. A batboy retrieved Giambi’s helmet and then checked with everyone else’s. We just checked about 100 helmets. That’s the ONLY one!”

I asked Steve if he had any insights as to how this could have happened, but at that point he had to start preparing for last night’s game (I’ll fill you in if/when he follows up with me). And those preparations apparently included a quick decal switcheroo to Giambi’s lid, which suddenly had the helmet version of the logo for last night’s game (here’s a quick comparison). So once again, a Uni Watch reader’s observation has had a direct on-field effect.

Meanwhile, there was another notable aspect to last night’s A’s/Tigers game: With stirrup-meister Josh Outman having undergone surgery earlier in the day, Oakland’s other starting pitchers gave him a hosiery salute (although Trevor Cahill appears to have worn his stirrups backwards). And Adam Kennedy wore low-cut ’rups, although he also wore them the night before, so it might be more of a slump-buster thing than an Outman tribute. Big thanks to John Grow for those last two screen shots (and for pointing out that Adam Everett still has an orange-dotted i).

Uni Watch Stirrup Club, Round Two: Robert Marshall’s UW Stirrup Club experiment was such a success that he’s decided to do it again. This month’s offering: the classic Bosox design (which looks as good on deck as it does at the plate).

Robert will once again place the order for the whole club and then send out the individual stirrups to the club members (no small task, as you can see from last month’s shipment). But he’s changed the ordering procedures slightly this time around — for full details, look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Happy Canada Day to all our Canuckadian readers. Looking forward to seeing the Jays in their annual holiday duds. … Ronald Covert is so outraged at the mere thought of Brett Favre signing with Minnesota that he held a jersey bonfire. … I had previously shown this illustration of the new New Mexico football uniforms. But the actual jerseys are slightly different. Look at the size of that wordmark! Unusual number font, too (with thanks to Rob Montoya). … More about the Forbes Field exhibit at the Heinz History Center here (with thanks to Doug Keklak). … Too Much Information Dept.: Jeff Francoeur of the Braves has a set of lucky underwear. … Hey look, there’s gonna be a new sneaker. … How do you know when you’ve really lost touch with reality? When you give out a bobblehead of yourself (with thanks to John Muir). … Interesting book of silhouette designs here (thanks, Kirsten). … “Jason Varitek started Tuesday night’s Red Sox/Orioles game wearing his pants like he normally does, with the high cuffs,” writes Hilary Watkins. “After a rain delay of a little over an hour, he came to bat in the top of the sixth with his cuffs pulled down to his shoetops. Without the high cuffs he looked like a totally different person!” … Really interesting photos of an Iranian women’s softball league here (with thanks to Andrew Bradley). … Never noticed this before: Bo Jackson with a “Bo #1″ underbill inscription (with thanks to Mike Engle).

As you no doubt recall, I spent most of last Friday’s entry gushing of the hosiery stylings of A’s prospect Corey Wimberly. After a bit of phone tag, yesterday I finally caught up with Oakland equipment manager Steve Vucinich (that’s him in the background of this shot), who was happy to chat about Wimberly, among several other pressing issues.

Uni Watch: So I’m very curious about Corey Wimberly.

Steve Vucinich: He just came up to me at the start of spring training and said, “Do you have any stirrups?” And believe it or not, I always carry ’em with me, even on the road, just in case. And I carry two sizes — the four-inch [opening] and the seven-inch.

UW [laughing]: You are a man prepared! So when you said, “I just happen to have some right here,” was he surprised?

SV: Well, what he actually said was, “Can you get me something?,” as if he figured I wouldn’t have ’em. And I said, “I got ’em here, no problem.” So he was kinda surprised. He was probably expecting to wait a day or two.

UW: And did you have the yellow sanitaries as well?

SV: I always carry those too. A lot of guys still wear those underneath the thicker sock.

UW: Now, Wimberly’s a pretty young guy. By the time he was growing up and watching baseball, stirrups were already on the decline. Do you know why he chooses to wear them?

SV: You know, I’ve been meaning to ask him and haven’t had a chance. He’s gotten pretty good coverage on it — I was listening to a game broadcast in the car the other day and the announcers were talking about it on the air, and they wrote about it in the papers in the Bay Area, so he’s really getting noticed for it. Where’d you pick it up?

UW: One of my readers pointed him out to me.

SV: And he wears them real long, like Vida and Reggie and those guys. In the past few years, anyone who wears stirrups has pretty much worn the four- or six-inch.

UW: Is he the only guy in camp wearing them?

SV: Actually, Rajai Davis just asked for them too, but I haven’t seen him wear ’em yet.

UW: Did he do it because he liked Wimberly’s look?

SV: I don’t know. In spring training I’m not down in the dugout as much as I am during the regular season. And one of our rookie pitchers just asked for ’em too. The thing I love about stirrups is, last year we had a turn back the clock game — we went back to 1968, which was our sleeveless uniform, and I made everyone wear stirrups. And guys did not know how to wear ’em. “Is the big opening on the back or the front?” Honest to god. They had noooo clue.

UW: So did you have to give everyone a little tutorial?

SV: It didn’t take long.

UW: Do you like the look yourself?

SV: Sure, I grew up with that. But if you go back 100 years, they were all wearing the solid sock. We’re doing a throwback game in August — we’ll be the 1929 Philadelphia A’s against the White Sox, and we’ll be wearing solid-white socks, or maybe off-white, with stripes on ’em [presumably like this -- PL]. I’ve got Twin City Knitting making those for us right now. And I know we’re gonna take some hits because we’re not doing black shoes. I talked to Nike about that, and they said it would just be cost-prohibitive in this economic climate. Plus the guys would have to break ’em in for two or three days beforehand. And I said, “OK, but I know the Uni Watch blog’s gonna get on us for that.” And believe me that did enter into the conversation!

UW: I’ll cut you some slack on that one.

SV: Well, you like to get it right. We’re doing a turn back game in Seattle in May, and it’s gonna be the 1939 Oakland Oaks against the Seattle Rainiers. And this uniform is pretty neat — it’s got like a built-in green sleeve with some piping, and a patch, and “Oakland” across the chest in plain block two-color lettering, with a line underneath it. And the hats have the shorter rise in the front, the lower profile.

UW: When these throwback games come up and you make everyone wear the stirrups, do the players complain?

SV: You can get away with that for one day. They’ll be saying, “Hey, these pants aren’t as long as before.” That’s right, because I ordered ’em six inches shorter and you gotta live with it. But they get into it for that day — they really do.

UW: So now that you’ve got two or three players in camp wearing stirrups, did you have to go out and get more?

SV: I’ve got plenty in Oakland. Down here I just bring my road trunk, which normally has three pairs of the seven-inch and three pairs of the four-inch, so I may have to have some flown down from Oakland.

UW: Emergency stirrup shipment!

SV: Exactly.

UW: Now what about the kind with the stripes, which you guys used to wear? Maybe you should get some of those.

SV: You know, I was looking into that, and it looks like we stopped wearing those around 1970 or ’71, when guys were wearing their stirrups higher, so you didn’t really have the area that showed the stripe.

UW: You should show a striped pair to Wimberly, see if he wants to wear those.

SV: I don’t know if that’s part of our official uniform ensemble with MLB anymore. You know, the sample player they show getting dressed [he's referring to the uniform guide posted in each MLB clubhouse -- PL], he doesn’t have stripes.

UW: He doesn’t have any socks at all! His pants are down at his ankles! Anyway, is Wimberly gonna make the team?

SV: I think he’s ticketed for triple-A right now, because we’ve also got Rajai Davis, who does most of the same things and already has big league experience. But hey, Rajai might be donning the stirrups as well, so there you go.

And here’s a late-breaking item of related interest: According to this story, the Rangers wore stirrups yesterday against the Giants. Unfortunately, I can’t find a single photo or video clip from that game. Anyone..?

Burying the Lede: For those of you who care about that college basketball thingie that’s about to get underway, here are the special rear-jersey designs and sneakers that will be worn by Duke, Michigan State, Memphis (is that jersey embarrassing or what?), Gonzaga (wait, suddenly the Memphis design doesn’t look so bad), and Oregon (sorry, no sneaker photos available for them). Plus here’s the UConn sneaker design. Further details here.

And as long as I’m posting stuff for you sneaker-porn addicts, here are some snuff films of Nike’s Zoom LeBron VI Superman, the Zoom LeBron VI Hardwood Classic, and the Zoom LeBron James VI SVSM Saint Vincent Saint Mary’s (in Uni Watch colors, how quaint). I don’t know who this LeBron guy is, but he can’t design a sneaker for shit.

The Proctor Chronicles, Continued: Yesterday I linked to this photo of the Lakers wearing mismatched shades of purple. That prompted sporting goods scholar Terry Proctor to check in with an explanation:

Back when teams were responsible for actually buying their own uniforms, the Lakers’ duds were made by Galbraith and Tiernan of Inglewood, Calif. Galbraith and Tienan was a small cut-and-sew operation that made custom uniforms.

G&T bought their fabrics and braid trim from Yarrington Mills of Hatboro, Penna. The Lakers’ jerseys were made from Yarrington’s Stretch Nylon Eyelet Mesh, and their shorts were made from Yarrington’s #157 Medium-Weight Double-knit Stretch Nylon smooth-knit fabric.

Unfortunately the mesh was not as colorfast as the double-knit. It had a tendency to “bleed” after a few washings. I know this to be true because we used that Yarrington mesh for two sets of basketball uniforms back in the late 1970s. One set was white, the other was purple, and the school’s laundry person decided to wash both sets together. Big mistake! When she took them out of the dryer, one set was a light grape color while the formerly White uniforms had turned a lovely shade of lilac. The company did replace the uniforms- in double-knit.

So the Lakers’ garments were from two different fabrics.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Tim Thomas’s mask was damaged during last night’s Bruins/Blue Jackets game. When it became apparent that it couldn’t be repaired quickly, he wore teammate Manny Fernandez’s mask, which led to some rear-view uni number dissonance. … Hmmm, new ventilation system or wardrobe malfunction? (Screen grab courtesy of Bill Blevins.) … New uniforms for the Lotte Giants (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Ryan Villopoto had some good luck wishes written on his helmet at Saturday’s Daytona Supercross (with thanks to Sean Clancy). … Chris Canty, who recently signed with the Giants, has a fairly unique facemask design, so Greg Riffenburgh suggested that I ask Joe Skiba if he’s making any special arrangements. I did just that, to which Joe replied: “Dallas actually sent over their stock of facemasks.” Cowboys and Giants staffers cooperating and helping each other out? Scandalous! … Erkki Corpuz notes that the UCLA basketball cheerleaders have worn at least 11 different outfits this season. … Nice gallery of Iditarod photos here. … Having just typed that last item, I’m struck by how frighteningly close “Iditarod” is to “Idiot A-Rod,” which just goes to show that everything leads back to that guy. … Coupla weird things about this, which is from the 1999 NLCS: First, that’s the smallest superscript “c” I’ve ever seen on a McNOB. And what’s with the radial arching? I know the Braves occasionally used radial arching for call-ups during their vertically arched era, but this was the NLCS — he’d been on the team throughout September and in the NLDS. Couldn’t they have given him a proper nameplate at some point during that span? (Thanks to Vincent Vincenzo for the screen shot.) … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Here are some screen shots showing the Rangers’ two-tone batting helmet in MLB 09. … Nice story on the Mariners’ uniforms here. You’ll have to click on the “magnify” tab to get it at a legible size. … “Player exclusive shoes in soccer are extremely rare to non-existent,” says Greg Riffenbrugh. “The only real examples are Nike’s custom design for Ronaldinho and David Beckham’s exclusive colorway of the Adidas Predator (note the Beckham logo on the tongue). So I was surprised to see Fernando Torres of Liverpool wearing the Nike Total 90 Laser 2 in a new colorway in the Champions League game against Real Madrid on Tuesday. Is it a player exclusive? It’s possible, because it’s obviously in the Liverpool white and red and Torres is a relatively high-profile player. Or is it something he’s just previewing before it hits the mass market? That’s possible as well, because he and Wayne Rooney did similar with the original Total 90 Laser a few years ago. I’ll keep my eye out to see what happens.” … Jake Melbye was checking out Rangers camp yesterday and spotted country singer Charley Pride warming up in the bullpen. … New uniforms for Davidson. Very SoD-ish jerseys, but the shorts aren’t that billowy. … The stimulus logo is the subject of a good analysis here and a radio story here. … Jay Shive thinks he’s found the hockey equivalent of an underbrim inscription. That’s Flyers goalie Martin Biron, during last night’s game against the Sabres. Can’t make out the handwriting, unfortunately. … Great uni concept! Greg Cotharn’s nephew drew that. Several more of his and his sister’s designs are displayed here. … A German soccer player is in trouble for pantomiming an ad, or something like that (with thanks to Nicole Haase).

Looks like we’re gonna have to give an honorary Uni Watch membership to former MLB player Denny Hocking. While watching Friday night’s Twins/Angels game, he noticed something that almost everyone else missed, namely that Twinkies shortstop Adam Everett had a big typo on his jersey. According to this article, Hocking sent a text message to the visiting clubhouse attendants at Angel Stadium, who in turn notified Minnesota equipment manager Rod McCormick. He had a new jersey waiting for Everett as he came off the field after the 4th inning, so Everett played the rest of the game with a correctly spelled insignia.

Too bad Hocking was such a spoilsport. Wouldn’t it have been better if he’d kept quiet about the typo, just to see if anyone on the field would have noticed? Or would that have poor uni-watching etiquette for someone in his position (i.e., a former player with the ability to notify the proper authorities, as opposed to just a random observer)? And what if Everett had, say, hit a homer his first time up and superstitiously refused to change jerseys once the typo was discovered? Would McCormick have insisted that he change jerseys anyway, just for professionalism’s sake?

It’s worth noting, incidentally, that not all typos are created equal. In this case, the severity was magnified by the fact that the Twins use vertically arched lettering on their insignia, so the mis-sequenced letters disrupted the curvature of the arch, as you can clearly see here and here. All the more surprising, then, that nobody noticed the mistake before Hocking did.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Short article here about Habs coach Guy Carbonneau’s neckties (with thanks to Dan Smith). … Check this out: soccer stirrups! (Thanks to Ryan Yanoshak.) … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: What’s with all the cover-up tape in these photos? For the answer, look here. … Cool gallery of SMU helmets here. … Did you know U.S. soliders have had “uniform envy” regarding the Marine Corps? I didn’t, until Matt Locatelli sent me this. … The Hornets have a new court to go along with their new uniforms (with thanks to Mike Etheridge). … Non-sports logo news from Jon Springer, who reports that Giant Foods has gotten a brand makeover. … Chaz Noerenberg notes that Kyle Orton has been alternating between loose cuffs and tight cuffs during the preseason, and also points out that Kevin Jones had a new take on the double-socked look the other night. … Good article here about track athletes wearing jewelry. … Another uni-related treat from the SI archives: The 4/9/56 issue featured a bunch of uni illustrations for the coming season, as seen here, here, here, and here (with thanks to Jim Cooper). … “I was at the August 14th Mets/Nats game at Nationals Park,” writes John Muir. “Almost every hallway and open space has some sort of old-time DC baseball photo/painting/advert. I managed to grab a few shots on my way out after the game — they’re in this gallery.” … Also from John: Some ex-NHLers are circumventing the smoking bans at various arenas. … My annual college football season-preview column will run later this week on ESPN, but it will only cover Division I-A, so I’ll cover a few smaller schools here, including Idaho State. Last year they dressed like this and home and like this on the road. But now they’ve got new home jerseys, road jerseys, and pants. New helmets, too: That’s the old one on the right and the new one on the left (big thanks to Frank Mercogliano for all of this). … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Several Eagles linemen have reinforced horizontal ribbing on their shoulders, similar to what the Bears have had for several years now. … The Mets did the Hispanic thing on Friday night. … The Blue Jays’ black-jersey insignia usually looks like this (note the blue outline, which actually has a black border, but that blends into the surrounding jersey, so you can’t see it), but Jose Bautista’s insignia had a white outline on Saturday. Michael Priest and Hovan Patey both report that third base coach Nick Leyva has had similar problems this season. … Great collection of old hockey programs here (no need to click — they’ll start flashing automatically; with thanks to Mario Morgado). … Here’s something I’d never seen before: soccer positions listed on shorts (with thanks to Kel Hinkle). … Several readers have noted that Vikings RB Adrian Peterson changed his facemask from this to this on Saturday. For additional details, check out the discussion that ensued in last night’s comments (driven primarily by Matt Powers) here. … Jeff Ash has uploaded some really nice illustrations from this book, which he says taught him how to play baseball when he was a kid. You can see a slideshow of the illos here. … Informative video clip here on Oregon’s equipment room. … Several uni-related items in the new issue of GQ, including a short item on longtime Uni Watch faves No Mas, a “Please redesign the Ravens’ helmet” feature (look here, here, and here), and a stunningly inaccurate Cowboys illustration (with thanks to Matt Powers for the scans). … What the hell was going on with Bob Lily’s armpad? … Here’s a rare color view of the Chargers’ “San Diego All America City” helmet crest from the early ’60s. … The Giants never wore white shoes with their original “ny”-logo helmet. But Spider Lockhart apparently did a bit of footwear freelancing.

When the Packers play the Seahawks tomorrow, one observer will be watching the events with particularly keen interest. That’s Marge Switzer, the Pack’s seamstress. In this high-tech football era, Marge is almost too perfect to be true: a sweet, smiling lady bent over a sewing machine. She recently made time in her busy schedule to chat about her job.

Uni Watch: What exactly is your job title there?

Marge Switzer: I’m an independent contractor, not a team employee, but I’m considered the Packers’ seamstress.

UW: How and when did you start working for the Packers, and what were you doing before that?

MS: I owned a monogramming and embroidery company, called Threads. I started that in 1985 and closed it in 2001. Prior to that I was a professional seamstress, doing alterations for clothing stores. And I did some work for our local college here, St. Norbert’s, repairing their athletic apparel — football pants, jerseys, whatever. I was approached by the Packers’ equipment manager, Red Batty, to do some embroidery for them — primarily numbers, so clothing could be designated for a player.

UW: You mean as an internal identification system?

MS: Right. That would have been in 1996, when I still had Threads. And then closed Threads and came here full-time around 2001. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t balance the two. You can’t run a business and do this job. And I have to tell you, I love this job.

UW: Are you the only seamstress there, or are you part of a sewing department, or what?

MS: I have an associate named Penny who’s been with me since 1985. We’ve been friends, actually, since second grade. So she knows my style, she knows what I need, and so on. She does all my prep work — if a pattern needs to be cut out, or a hem taken out, that’s her responsibility.

UW: Do you have your own office near the locker room?

MS: The Packers provide us with a sewing room, our own space, across from the locker room.

UW: What sorts of things do you typically have to do to a jersey?

MS: Primarily mend it.

UW: What sorts of things need to be mended?

MS: Like if there’s a rip or tear, I take care of that after a game. Once the jerseys have been prepped for the game — in other words, the threads have been clipped around the tackle twill and so forth — if anything needs to be shortened, they’re shortened, because players come in all different heights.

UW: Have there been players who’ve liked to have certain details custom-tailored?

MS: Not really.

UW: Nobody has said, “I want my hem a certain way,” or “I want my sleeves like this”?

MS: No. And even if they did, the player has to go through the equipment manager.

UW: So the players don’t approach you directly.

MS: No. I rely on the equipment manager to give me guidance.

UW: It gets pretty cold in Green Bay. Do you sew those little pockets into the jersey, which we sometimes see?

MS: No, because they wear the little pouches.

UW: Yeah, but I’ve seen Brett Favre wearing the pockets sewn into the belly of his jersey on lots of occasions.

MS: Oh, you mean when it’s actually part of the jersey — yes, I’ve done that.

UW: When you’re working on something like that, are you thinking, “God, I just wish he’d wear the little pouch instead so I would have to do this”?

MS: No. Being a seamstress is just like any other job: You enjoy the challenge.

UW: For those pockets, do you have to line them with some sort of special thermal fabric?

MS: No, just fleece, like you’d buy at any fabric store.

UW: Any other cold-weather provisions that you’ve had to work on, like maybe on the interior lining or something like that?

MS: No, because the players layer, or at least I assume they do. Frankly, I don’t dress ’em, Paul, so I don’t know what they’ve got under there!

UW: Now some players, like linemen, are, shall we say, robust individuals.

MS: Yes.

UW: So a player like Gilbert Brown, when he was with the Packers, he’s obviously a very large man. Did you have to do anything special for his jersey?

MS: No. The equipment manager orders the proper size from the manufacturer.

UW: Obviously, sure, but you’ve never had to make any special custom alterations to allow for this or that?

MS: No.

UW: What about when we sometime see elastic in a sleeve cuff or at the hemline? Is that something you do, or does Reebok do it?

MS: If it’s in the sleeve, it comes that way from the manufacturer. But if it’s in the hem, that’s something I do.

UW: Speaking of sleeves, what do you think of how sleeves have essentially vanished over the past decade or so?

MS: I guess that’s just a reflection of what the players like.

UW: But that actually affected the team’s uniform design, because the Packers went from five sleeve stripes to three, because there wasn’t enough room on the linemen’s sleeves.

MS: That’s something I can’t really comment on, because we would have had Starter as our manufacturer, and then Nike, and now Reebok, so I’m not sure exactly when that happened.

UW: Actually, that brings up an interesting point regarding the different manufacturers. When the team switches suppliers, is there a substantive change that you can see and feel, or is it essentially the same garment with a different logo on the sleeve?

MS: I’ve never noticed a change. It’s the same garment.

UW: How beaten up or damaged does a jersey have to be before you or Red or whomever says, “Okay, this is beyond repair — we’ll just toss it out instead of fixing it.”

MS: We have never thrown away a jersey.

UW: Well, okay, but even if you don’t throw it away, how damaged does it have to be before it’s “retired”?

MS: That never happens.

UW: Really?!

MS: It will be retired at the end of the season. We will mend it, because that is the player’s personal jersey. The scuffs and dings mean something to them.

UW: So if a jersey had a big gash — not just a little nick, but a serious tear — that would just be stitched back up and put back into circulation?

MS: Absolutely.

UW: What about on game day — are you on hand for last-minute adjustments, and do you travel with the team for road games?

MS: I do not travel with the team, but I am here on game day for home games. Maybe a player would want his undershirt sleeve shortened a bit, or something like that, or a coach might need the hem repaired on his pant cuffs.

UW: Oh, so you work on the coaches’ apparel as well.

MS: Mm-hmm.

UW: And what about during the game — are you on hand to repair things during halftime?

MS: No. There’s always a back-up jersey they can switch to.

UW: So once the game starts, do you go home to watch it?

MS: I do.

UW: And while you’re watching the game, do you notice lots of little things that maybe the average fan would miss?

MS: I think the average fan misses about 90% of what I see.

UW: Can you give me an example?

MS: When you watch other teams, you can see where there’s a rip that wasn’t fixed, or where there are loose threads hanging out. You can tell when the jersey has been taped down to the pads — the jersey should fit, not be distorted.

UW: Do you ever spot something you could have done better and think, “Darn, if only I had…”? Not to imply that you make mistakes, of course.

MS: Well, we all make mistakes, and there have been times when I’m watching the game and I’ll go, “Uhhhhh [deep gasp of shock], we missed a thread there!” So I do see that sometimes, and the average person, I’m sure, wouldn’t have a clue.

UW: Do you think the players themselves care about these sorts of details?

MS: I think Green Bay, as an organization, has a tremendous amount of pride, and our players are fussy about their uniforms. I’ve never heard that a player complained about anything, but I think they expect that everything will look professional.

UW: Speaking of small details, I’m told that the uniform number on one of Brett Favre’s jerseys was slightly off-center earlier this season.

MS [softly]: Mm-hmm.

UW: So it came that way, from Reebok?

MS: It actually came that way, yes.

UW: Was it the front number or the back?

MS: I think it was the front.

UW: Was that something you noticed during the game?

MS: After the game, when the jersey came out of the laundry.

UW: So in that case, would that jersey be retired, because it was essentially defective?

MS: I think we probably would, yes.

UW: So that’s what happened?

MS: I brought it to the equipment manager’s attention, but I don’t actually know what happened to it after that.

UW: Does it ever bug you when you work to get Al Harris’s nameplate just right and then nobody can even see it because it’s covered up by his hair?

MS [laughing]: That doesn’t bother me at all! Because that’s just his look.

UW: But you could have “Smith” or “Jones” under there, instead of “Harris,” and nobody would know.

MS: I sure wouldn’t try it! That might be the day he had his hair pulled back.

UW: Al Harris is also one of the players who’ve been a little creative with their socks this year. Do you work on the hosiery, too?

MS: No, that’s not part of my job at all.

UW: I know some teams actually sew the socks into the cuffs of the pants — do you do that?

MS: I have heard about that, but I haven’t done that here.

UW: The Packers aren’t wearing those captaincy patches that most other NFL teams are wearing, so I guess that’s one job you didn’t have to do.

MS: Yes. Some teams have the same captains week after week, but the Packers select their captains before each game. The “C” patches did arrive in the sewing room at the start of the season, but then we were asked to return them to the equipment room.

UW: Speaking of patches, there was that one game where the team played in Dallas, and the Cowboys usually wear white at home, which means the Packers would have worn green, and I read that all the Lambeau Field anniversary patches on the green jerseys would have had to be removed for that game, and then restored for the next home game, because the patch can only be worn at home. But then the Cowboys ended up wearing blue throwback jerseys for that game, so the Packers wore white after all, and the patches didn’t have to be taken off and then put back on. So that saved you a lot of work too.

MS: Yes.

UW: So you — or maybe Penny — would have had to use a seam ripper to remove all those patches?

MS: Yes. And it would have been a joint effort, believe me.

UW: What sort of sewing machine do you use? Is it an industrial model, or is it pretty similar to what a home sewer would have?

MS: It’s just a basic sewing machine — not industrial.

UW: These fabrics you’re working with, they’re high-tech, high-performance textiles, which is obviously very different than normal apparel. Is that a challenge? Does the material react differently in your hands, or under the needle?

MS: No, it really doesn’t, as long as I use the right needle. In other words, you don’t use the same needle to mend a jersey that you would to hem a pair of jeans.

UW: But the fabric essentially behaves the same way?

MS: Absolutely.

UW: If you could change anything about football uniforms, what would it be?

MS: Hmmmm. If you had asked me that 10 years ago, I would have said get rid of the screened-on numbers. But now they’re tackle twill, which is so much better — it gives a sense of dimension, and they don’t crack or peel. It’s a much more professional look. Aside from that, I can’t think of anything.

UW: Any good stories to share, any anecdotes involving unusual situations or challenges?

MS: Unfortunately, I can’t take things out of here — it’s confidential. Mostly, I forget what goes on here. I can’t take stories home, I can’t take the risk that my husband will pass them on at his job. So I honest to God wish I had something I could tell you that would just be hilarious, but I can’t.

UW: Speaking of your husband, I assume he’s a big Packers fan?

MS: He is.

UW: So it must be exciting for him to have his wife working for the team.

MS: Well, it is. I mean, let’s look at the big picture, Paul: There are only so many teams in the NFL, and only so many people who sew for the NFL. That’s what makes it such a privilege.

======

Big thanks to Marge for her time and expertise, and to reader Jeff Ash, who’s Marge’s neighbor and lay the groundwork for this interview.

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the $100 NFLshop.com gift card (or to get three bonus entries by joining the Uni Watch membership program). To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (not to the usual Uni Watch address) by 10 p.m. eastern tonight. One e-mail per person, plus all membership enrollees will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner on Monday. And in a special bonus development, look for another raffle next week.

Speaking of membership, there are some new cards up in the design gallery, including today’s showcase design, which is based on the 1926-27 Ottawa Sentators. Also, I mailed out about a dozen membership kits yesterday, so watch your mailboxes.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of uni-related info in this PDF of Tony Romo’s locker (with thanks to Brian Thompson). … We all know about Pete Gray, Modecai Brown, Jim Abbott, and Tom Dempsey, but the latest news regarding Oscar Pistorius (the sprinter who wear prosthetics) led New York Times columnist George Vescey to recall the case of a disabled athlete I hadn’t previously been aware of: Bert Shepard, who lost a leg during World War II and later pitched one game for the Senators. Vescey’s column was accompanied by this photo, and I’ve been unable to find any others. If anyone has a shot of Shepard in action, I’d love to see it. … Odd coincidence spotted by birthday boy Marty Buccafusco, who first noticed an eBay auction for a Brett Favre Falcons jersey with what appears to be a slightly off-center nameplate and was then watching some 1999 NFL playoff footage and saw Favre exhibiting the same problem. Seems especially odd in light of the off-center number discussed above with Marge Switzer. … The latest installment of “Equipped with Joe Skiba” is available on the Giants’ home page. … FNOB alert from John English, who writes: “The ’83 Angels sported both Reggie Jackson and Ron Jackson at one point. Their solution? Reggie remained just ‘Jackson,’ while Ron wore his full name.” … We’ve discussed lots of occasions when umpires have been forced to wear makeshift gear because their luggage was lost. Turns out Michael James attended one such a game in 1991, and he just found some photos he took that afternoon. “The umps dressed in what appeared to be Brewers warm-up gear,” he says. … Nathan Evans says this reminds him of this. … While researching something else, I came across this shot of a less than full moon. … This week’s New Yorker includes this photo from a Rangers practice session. Forgive my ignorance here, but what is the purpose of having three separate uniform sets on the ice at one time?

The nice thing about co-owning an NBA team is that you can work out with the players whenever you want. And of course you’ll get an official team practice jersey to wear — hey, you’re a part owner, you can raid the pro shop for whatever gear you want. High-five! But wait, the practice jersey features the logo of the company that manufactured it, and you have a longstanding promotional arrangement with a rival company. That’s a slight dilemma, but everyone knows what a savvy businessman you are, so you’ll come up with a smart and elegant solution.

That was the situation facing Michael Jordan yesterday. And here was his smart and elegant solution: He slapped a piece of white tape over the Adidas logo on his chest, although I think it’s fair to say that this maneuver went straight into the “Not fooling anybody” file, especially since he didn’t bother covering up the Adidas stripe treatment (presumably because they ran out of white tape).

I don’t know if Jordan’s still contractually forbidden to wear non-Nike gear, or if the very idea of flashing a non-swoosh logo simply gives him a rash, but this little episode really highlights the continuing absurdity of how sportswear companies have become entangled with leagues and athletes. Did Jordan really think nobody would notice the piece of tape, or understand why it was there? Didn’t this actually draw more attention to the fact that he was wearing Adidas gear than if he hadn’t worn the tape to begin with? Couldn’t he have avoided this problem altogether if he’d just turned the shirt inside-out or worn a some other shirt? Oh, but then the Bobcats logo wouldn’t have been visible, so he wouldn’t have been promoting his team and its merch. What a mess — the whole situation reeks.

I’ll have more to say about logo creep tomorrow. Meanwhile, how much you wanna bet that some kid out there is gonna start wearing a piece of tape over the Adidas logo on his Bobcats jersey, just like his idol, MJ?

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the holiday raffle. For details, scroll down to the middle of Friday’s entry. As always, you can increase your odds of winning by joining the Uni Watch membership program. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow.

And hey, speaking of raffles: Are you excited about the Pro Bowl? Right, me neither. But the NFL is raffling off a free trip to its annual snooze-a-thon all-star game, and let’s face it, a free trip to Hawaii is a free trip to Hawaii, even if it does entail watching the world’s lamest football game. Plus the Pro Bowl is a uni watcher’s dream (assuming you dream about the really bad design), so it’s a win-win. To enter, look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Vikings’ solid-purple look will not be repeated (that good news brought our way by Chad Burma). … Weird sequence of events yesterday, beginning when Kenn Tomasch sent me a note reporting that Steve Young’s orange jersey didn’t have stripes in 1985 like the rest of the Bucs had. Upon further investigation I discovered several other anomalies, to wit: Young appears to have ghosted sleeve stripes here and here; some of Tampa’s linemen didn’t have sleeve stripes either; kicker Donald Igwebuike (one of my all-time favorite sports names) had stripes, but his sleeve connected to his jersey down around his belly; if you factor in the sleeves, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen another NFL jersey look as mesh-y as this. … Michael Vick may not be in the NFL anymore, but he’s leaving quite a trail in his wake. … Looks like a Georgia Southern player was wearing a one-sleeved undershirt the other day (with thanks to Bob Jaye). … The Rutgers football team’s equipment manager is retiring (with thanks to Bruce Soltys). … Greg Riffenburgh notes that Minnesota’s Anthony Herrera appeared to be violating the NFL’s “only one footwear trim color allowed” rule the other night. … If you can’t prevent a concussion, at least you can know if you’ve gotten one. … Todd Krevanchi notes that Houston is using different font sets for its front and back uni numbers, and you can see in the 2s here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Awesome old newsreel footage shot in the Red Wings and Rangers locker rooms here.

Okay, it’s official: The Bears have a serious problem with their helmet decals. It’s been brewing for a couple of seasons now, as the occasional player has shown up with a broken wishbone-C logo on his noggin. But last night it was practically a pandemic, as Alex Brown, Olin Kreutz, and Adrian Peterson all sported headwear malfunctions.

Giants equipment czar Joe Skiba has mentioned to me that helmet decals get more brittle in cold weather. But the NFL has been playing winter games for decades, and I don’t ever recall seeing a rash of decal destruction like the one currently being exhibited by da Bears. Decal guru Chris Willis, if you’re reading this (and I know you are), any idea what’s going on here?

Speaking of helmet decals, both teams were still wearing the “21″ memorial decal for Sean Taylor. No surprise that the ’Skins would continue to wear it for the rest of the season (they’re still wearing their “21″ jersey patch, too), but I raised an eyebrow upon seeing the Bears wearing it, since NFL deaths don’t usually get the league-wide memorial treatment for more than one week. In fact, none of the league’s three off-season deaths (Darrent Williams, Damien Nash, and Marquise Hill) resulted in league-wide remembrances. The last player to get memorialized by all 32 teams was, I believe, Pat Tillman in 2004, and that was only for one week.

Two other notes from this game:

• Mike Engle notes that Todd Collins was sporting double sock stripes.

• And Todd Davis points out that Mike Sellers appears to be the latest convert to the Schutt Ion helmet (here’s another view).

(Special thanks to John Okray for the screen grabs.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Giants equipment director Joe Skiba cryptically advises us that we keep an eye on Plaxico Burress’s nose bumper this Sunday. … Speaking of Skiba, he’s been featured in a series of video reports on the Giants’ web site. You can see the latest one, which is about tailoring footwear for specific field conditions, is available on the team’s home page. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Twin City Knitting is marketing a set of team-logo stirrups. Very nice, although I’d prefer to see a higher foot opening. … The Royals’ powder blue alt jersey doesn’t look as bad with the white pants as I had expected. Certainly no worse than any other solid-over-white MLB combo (although that isn’t saying much). … Speaking of the Royals, Steve Johnston reports that Alex Gordon is switching uniform numbers, going from 7 to 4. … Here’s something you don’t often see: Kari Lehtonen wearing a practice jersey that he had already autographed (with thanks to Jeff McRae). … Coupla excellent NOB finds by Jere Smith: First, check out Rudy Tomjanovich wearing “Rudy T.” And if you go to the 1:18 mark of this video clip, you’ll see several views of Elvin Hayes wearing “E” (complete with the world’s biggest quote marks), as seen here and here. … Great Uni Watch party last night in Boston — big crowd, really great people, and a reporter from the Globe was there to cover the event. Only problem is that I kept getting distracted by a TV screen that was featuring the Bruins/Habs game, which was a serious thing of uni beauty. Full party details coming next week. … It has come to my attention that communiqués sent to me via the “Contact” link at the top of the page haven’t been getting through lately. So if you want to get in touch, just e-mail me directly.

Back when I invited people to apply for the Uni Watch intern’s position, one of the finalists was David Sonny. Although he didn’t make the final cut, he had already set up an interview with Bengals equipment manager Rob Recker, which I encouraged him to go ahead with. He readily agreed. Here’s how their chat went down:

David Sonny: How did you get to the position of Cincinnati Bengals equipment manager?

Rob Recker: Well, I actually started off as a trainer for OSU. While there I began to intern with the Browns, but I left for the assistant trainer job with the Bengals in 1991 and continued in that role until 2000.”

DS: And then you made the jump to equipment manager?

RR: Well up until then Tom Gray was the equipment manager and I was a guy who would help anyone out that I could. So basically in 1999 you could have called me the assistant equipment manager. After 1999, Tom Gray retired and Mike Brown offered me the promotion from assistant trainer to equipment manager.

DS: And so you took the job.

RR: Well yeah, when the boss tells you he’d like to move you from one area to another, promote you, and make you the head of a department, you don’t say no. Let me just say this, Mike Brown is a very intelligent man. He sees a lot… he sees everything. He really made it nice here.

DS: Nice? How do you mean?

RR: Well, I took over the first year we moved into Paul Brown Stadium, and at that time many people had very negative views of the franchise, which often happens when you lose. Mike Brown changed all that. There was a time when you would hear players complain about not getting a lot from the team, like clothes, shoes, gloves. Now we get players coming in from other organizations that come in and are wide-eyed in amazement about everything they get for free. I mean, players are actually shocked that they get all of this [referring to the seemingly endless amount of merchandise, from hoodies to gloves and anything else that can be ordered]. If I need anything for this department, I just have to ask Mike Brown, he has never once said no to anything.

DS: So what do you feel your goal is?

RR: For players to get everything they need to perform on the field. I need to do what needs to be done for us to win, whether that means getting a player the shoes he requests, gloves, pads, whatever makes that player feel comfortable on and off the field.

DS: What are your thoughts on the new NFL logo?

RR: It is what it is. I like the old NFL logo, it has a sort of classic look to it, but things change. I like the new one too; it is going to be a ton of work for me switching over, though. It’s on everything [begins pulling out business cards, jerseys, nameplates, helmets, stationery, etc.]. I have to make sure that all of the old logos are replaced by next year so that we’re in compliance.”

DS: What about other logos, such as Reebok?

RR: A big part of my job is making sure that product is on the field. Like I said, it is what it is, don’t underestimate just how much money that company makes, and puts into the game. It is my job to make sure that it looks its best.

DS: I’ve noticed that on the fieldwear and fanwear, the Reebok logo seems more toned down than in the past…

RR: Yeah, the logos seemed to get out of hand a while back. But the NFL is very strict and there are now more restrictions on logo size and placement.

DS: So what about the helmets? I have seen the decals for sale to make your own and such…

RR: We no longer use decals on our helmets. That was one of the first things I changed when I was promoted in 2000. It got to a point where we were just wasting time; I would have three or four guys out there repairing helmet decals for two or three hours straight the Monday after a game. The paint holds up better and looks better, now I just have a guy look over all the helmets after a game and anything that is too scratched or damaged we just send away to have painted. The helmets are my favorite part of the uniform, they are important to me.

DS: And the uniforms…

RR: I like the new uniforms; I liked the old uniforms as well. It’s funny, I had just developed new patterns [different tailoring cuts for different positions -- one for linemen, one for wide receivers, and so on] for all of the old uniforms and then we made the switch. I don’t think people realize just how tough that is; the patterns didn’t transfer over at all, so I had to make a whole new set. The new uniforms were not designed for football players though. Designers came in and came up with something that could be marketed to fans, which makes it difficult. The stripes on the sleeves, for example — I still am not satisfied there, because each pattern ends up affecting the stripes in a different way, which you just can’t get right. Take Justin Smith — he came to me early on and we sat down to discuss what he wanted in a uniform cut. Justin is very specific, he doesn’t want loose material and doesn’t want sleeves, so I basically have to butcher every one of his uniforms to get it right, and look at the stripes [laughs], count them.

DS: So you do most of the alterations yourself?

RR: I wouldn’t say that I do most of them. I will hem a jersey if a player comes to me, but there are times when you get 10 to 15 guys coming to you wanting their jersey to be hemmed — then I’ll send them out. It’s a time thing.

DS: But you do the custom jobs yourself, correct?

RR: Yeah, I’ll sit down with a player and go over anything he wants done and I’ll make most of those alterations myself.

DS: And what about repairs?

RR: I’ll do most of those myself. If something is ripped, I’ll just whip out the sewing machine and take care of it. I can usually just add a small amount of fabric behind the tears and stitch it up, but there are times when it becomes more extensive. When that happens, we weigh whether it’s worth the time fixing it or if we’re better off just getting a new uniform.

DS: And if a player gets a tear on the field [during a game]?

RR: Oh, I’ll just grab my needle and thread and stitch it up right on the sidelines, I did that for Rudi [Johnson] a couple games ago.

DS: And if the tear it too extensive to repair on the field?

RR: Well, we have a backup jersey on hand. If something were to happen, though, it’s either fix the uniform, get a new one on him, or he has to come out of the game. It’s as simple as that.

DS: How do you keep the jerseys so tight to the pads?

RR: We run strips of double-sided tape across the pads and pat the jersey down. Some teams use Velcro, but I prefer tape. It really adheres and keeps the jersey from moving around.”

DS: So who are the players who really care how they look out there?

RR: Carson [Palmer], Chad [Johnson] and Rudi [Johnson]. They are my fashion designers.

DS: While we’e on the subject of Chad, where did he get the black and orange chinstraps?

RR: Not from me, that’s for sure. He went out and bought them himself.

DS: And…

RR: And the NFL called me complaining about it. He’s a grown man, I supply him with the correct chinstrap, and he chooses whether or not to wear it. Chad is a smart kid, he knows what he is doing… and he is going to do it anyway.

DS: What do you think about it?

RR: I really like the look; I think the whole team would look great with them. If I could do it I would have the whole team wearing them.

DS: Anything else interesting about Chad’s uniforms?

RR: Before one game a couple of years ago he comes to me and says ‘I want sleeves.’ He wanted, you know, baggier, looser sleeves. It was a fashion statement. I told him ‘Chad, they’re going to be grabbing all over you if you go out wearing sleeves.’ But he insisted, so I made up a jersey with sleeves for him.

DS: How did that work out for him?

RR: After the first few plays he came running to me on the sideline saying ‘Rob! Rob! They are grabbing all over the sleeves, I needs another jersey.’ I said, ‘No shit.’ That experiment lasted one drive.

DS: Anything else?

RR: Shoes, he has more shoes than he can ever possibly wear.

DS: Was there anything you tried during the uniform change that you still wish you could get right?

RR: Striped socks. Mike Brown and I both love simple striped socks. We tried really hard to get that to work, we were going for a similar sock stripe that the team used to wear. After some time we just decided that with the modern uniform the striped socks just looked out of place, especially with the Bengals’ stripes.

DS: One last thing before I go: facemasks.

RR: Oh yeah, we have tons of those, especially with all the new helmet styles and manufactures. For instance, look at the difference between the Revolution kicker’s facemask [left] and the standard kicker’s facemask [right]. The Revolution facemask attaches at the bottom, so it has a completely different look. It also has less eye protection and you could easily get your whole hand in there. Then look at Willie [Anderson]’s facemask — I’m surprised no one else wears it. It’s much lighter than most facemasks out there and provides great protection. It is the look, everyone is making a fashion statement these days, even with the facemask.

DS: Like L.T.?

RR [laughing]: Yeah, just like L.T. His facemask is a personal statement, just like a lot of these guys with shoes. It provides no more protection, but the look is what he wants.

=======

Speaking of the Bengals, David came up with an interesting story while doing research for the interview — look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Phillies finally unveiled their new alternate uni yesterday, and it looks pretty damn sharp. My only gripe: Since the design is based on this, why did they use this font on the back? … Quite a week for memorials, as decal maven Chris Willis reports that the Browns will be wearing a “BW” decal for Hall of Famer Bill Willis, who died earlier this week. … Fun factoid: If the Cowboys had worn their usual white at home last night (instead of their blue throwbacks), the Packers would have had to remove their Lambeau Field 50th-anniversary patches from their green jerseys, because the patch is only meant to be worn at Lambeau. And then they would have put the patches back after the game. But since the Cowboys wore blue, the Packers wore white and didn’t have to fuss with the patches. Details here. … As expected, both teams wore a “21″ decal — which turned out to be huge — in memory of Sean Taylor. … Speaking of Taylor, check out what someone did to a McFarlane figure of him (nice find by Timothy Fesmire). … Texas prison guards are getting new uniforms (rare non-sports contribution from Brinke Guthrie). … According to this article, next season NFL players will have the option of wearing a new high-tech helmet design. The good news is that it offers a very high degree of head protection; the bad news is that it looks like a cheap Halloween costume. … Yesterday I imagined what sort of horn-based helmet design would be worn by a football team called the Unicorns. I was kidding, but Mike Stegemoller actually found a European team with that name. Unfortunately, they have a boring helmet design (and even more unfortunately, they wear the McDonald’s logo on their thighs).

The science fiction-ization of NFL headwear continues. Yesterday it was LaDainian Tomlinson’s facemask; today it’s the gonzo helmet design worn by Brandon Jacobs, Amani Toomer, and several other Giants players during their game against the Jets on Saturday night.

I confess that I totally missed the boat on this one until yesterday afternoon, when ESPN.com photo czar Sean Hintz (the man who deserves the lion’s share of the credit for my Bill Buckner scoop last year) asked me about it. Apparently ESPN.com designer Matthew Walker had mentioned the helmets to Sean, and Sean in turn went and found the two photos I linked to above, which pretty much blew my mind. I mean, I’ve been saying for years that uniform design is showing more and more of a comic book superhero influence, and this is probably the best (or, if you prefer, worst) example yet of that trend.

Fortunately, Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba is a longtime friend of Uni Watch, so I e-mailed him and quickly got a reply. “That’s the Schutt Ion,” he wrote. “It’s a brand-new helmet that’s the next evolution of the DNA.” When I asked if any other Jints players were wearing it besides Jacobs and Toomer, he provided the following list: Shaun O’Hara, Grey Ruegamer, Guy Whimper, Jay Alford, Marcus Bell, and David Diehl.

You can see Diehl wearing the Ion here, in a photo from the Giants’ previous game against the Ravens. The weird thing is that Jacobs is also in that photo, and he’s not wearing the Ion there. Once I started looking at more photos, I found that Jacobs didn’t even wear the Ion for the entire Jets game — you can see him wearing a conventional helmet here and here. More intriguingly, I found no mention of the Ion on the Schutt web site.

So is the Ion (which, incidentally, appears to have a rather innovative facemask mounting system) just a developmental prototype? Are the players just trying it out for a few plays here and there? “Brandon was giving it a test drive,” said Skiba. “It’s in the testing phase, but it’s NOCSAE-approved for field use. We will wear it in the regular season.” So get set to see plenty more of the weirdest-looking helmet to appear on an NFL gridiron since the days of Willie Lanier.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Does anyone have a photo of the new Rutgers jerseys? I linked to a wire service photo a few weeks ago but now it’s gone blank. … Yesterday I asked about this photo, which brought the following response from Ray McCormick: “As I recall, the only instance of NHL teams having corporate sponsorship on their practice jerseys in the 1980s was that Molson Breweries had their name or logo on practice jerseys of all the Canadian-based teams. The only exception was the Quebec Nordiques, who were owned by then-rival brewery Carling-O’Keefe. I remember seeing these jerseys on nightly sportscasts, where footage of various Canadian teams practicing was shown on a regular basis. The pic of the Lemielin card is precisely what I recall seeing back in those days.” … “The USA Eagles, the US national rugby team, unveiled their World Cup uniforms [that's them on the left] on Sunday,” reports Eric Bangeman. “Made by Kooga, they’re actually a lot nicer than any of the other RWC uniforms seen so far. Here’s last year’s version for comparison.” … Think I harp too much on the encroachment of advertising? Look here. … Mike Brodsky, winner of last week’s Helmet Hut raffle, reports that he chose this as his prize. Congrats again. … Oh dear. … Detroit Free Press readers (now there’s a dwindling species) have chosen the Red Wings uni as their favorite local uniform. … Major thrill last night, as I got an e-mail out of the blue from one of the most storied of all NFL equipment managers, Frank Pupello (inventor of the Pupello pouch, don’tcha know). In-depth interview to follow soon-ishly.

LaDainian Tomlinson doesn’t play in preseason games. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t doing anything uni-notable — it just means most of us can’t see what he’s up to. Fortunately, reader Ryan Luz — who happens to be an assistant equipment manager at U. of San Diego — has been paying close attention, and he’s noticed a some interesting new developments regarding LT’s headwear:

Okay, so you know what LT’s normal facemask and visor look like — just the standard dark tint and a standard three-bar facemask, like this. Within the last week or two, however, he began wearing a new at training camp. This new visor was reflective and blue.

Then he did something I’ve never seen before — well, two things, actually. First, he wore this new facemask that’s like nothing I’ve seen before. Just very odd, very unique, something I’ve never seen in all of my football equipment managing days.

But the weirdest thing isn’t the facemask. If you look closely at this photo again, you’ll see he’s wearing TWO visors. It appears as though he’s wearing the new blue, reflective visor underneath the old standard tinted visor. This is another thing I’ve never seen before.

Since LT doesn’t play preseason games, it’s not yet clear if this is just some practice thing, or if he will use this configuration in games. Meanwhile, I’m currently scouring the internet trying to find what type of facemask that is, but neither Schutt nor Adams shows that mask on their sites, and I’m 90% sure it isn’t a Riddell, because they stick mostly with the traditional masks.

Some quick background: Wearing a tinted visor requires special permission from the NFL (in Tomlinson’s case, it’s because he has a light-sensitivity condition that can lead to migraines), but nobody is allowed to wear a colored or reflective visor. Ronnie Brown, for example, was fined for wearing this sunburst-patterned visor in 2005. So is Tomlinson’s dual-visor setup a way for him to hide the contraband visor behind the kosher one? Bizarre.

Tampa Struck by Lightning Crummy Uniforms Again: The Lightning unveiled their new jerseys over the weekend (there’s a slideshow here and a short video clip here). No question that the new chest logo is better than the old one, if only because it’s more legible, but it still looks like clip art. This isn’t so much an upgrade as a correction — it’s what the original design should have looked like in the first place. The rear view is neither wonderful nor objectionable — compared to the old version, it strikes me as a wash. The really weird thing, which nobody has yet adequately explained: The road jerseys have front uni numbers, but the home set doesn’t. Is this the NHL version of the Red Sox wearing player names on their road jerseys but not at home? Very strange. All in all: Still a dreadful-looking team, although marginally less dreadful than before.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the armpit “victory stripes” are included in the new design.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Can’t understand why I make such a fuss over corporate sponsorships? Look here. … Must be a real joker in the ESPN.com art department. As of about midnight eastern last night, the site’s front page looked like this. Take a closer look at the photo composite — credited as an “ESPN.com illustration” — and tell me what you see under the dog’s eye (good spot by Erik Kenerson). … As you may recall, about 10 days ago Jeff Francoeur began a game with his name misspelled on his back and then switched to a properly spelled jersey later in the game. David Sonny reports that similar situation unfolded yesterday in Cincinnati, where Ryan Jorgensen came to the plate in the 1st inning with his name misspelled as ‘Jorgenson.’ After hitting a grand slam, he returned to the game with his name spelled correctly. … Nice site here devoted to soccer footwear (with thanks to Brad Elliott). … Classic promo giveaway at last Thursday’s Tigers game: a cap with an attached wig, in honor of Magglio and his locks. … Interesting sponsorship-logo dispute unfolding in NASCAR. … MLB coaches may start wearing helmets next season. … Good vs. Stupid Alert: According to a small item buried in this blog entry, the Blues’ new uniforms will have “stripes on the front of the pants” (good find by Kyle Joecken). … This trend of teams wearing BP jerseys for actual games is getting way out of hand. … Two Bears observations from Chris Radford: “(1) Rex Grossman is buckling both chin straps this preseason. The first time ever (including college). (2) Devin Hester has switched to a Schutt/AHIR style helmet after wearing a Riddell his rookie year. Most likely due to the fact that University of Miami players wore Schutt/AHIR style helmuts in college and he finally felt comfortable to ask for that style of helmet.” … The Red Wings wore this throwback jersey back in 1993. But John Baranowski was looking at this photo and noticed that the top stripe appears to have been a lighter color. Anyone know more about this? … Some really cool Blackhawks patches here (as found by Mike Priest). … A little “Los” goes a long way. … Luke Larson was clicking through GoalieCards.com (which looks like a really great site) and came across this. Was it common for practice jerseys to have corporate sponsors back then? … Here’s a bit of Mariners news I hadn’t heard before, from Jon V. Buerstatte: “In 1992, when the new owners completed their purchase in mid-season, the M’s had an ‘opening day’ celebration. To mark the occasion, the M’s wore their usual white home uniforms, but with ‘Seattle’ on the jerseys instead of ‘Mariners.’ That had great significance at the time, because the team was constantly the subject of relocation rumors and the new ownership wanted to send a strong message that the team was the Seattle Mariners, not just the Mariners.” I’ve never seen these “Seattle”-ized home whites, and they’re not shown in either the Okkonen or Henderson guides. Buerstatte hasn’t been able to provide a photo yet, but he did come up with this article, which confirms his account. Anyone got a photo? … On Friday I mentioned that the Steelers used block lettering for their nameplates for the first game of the 1997, before switching to their rounded font. That prompted the following from Ryan Hemminger: “In a related tidbit, the Steelers also used black type for the names, instead of their customary gold, for their road jerseys during the entire 1997 season. I was excited to see them return to the gold names in 1998.” … My recent ESPN column about uniform prototypes included coverage of the black helmets that the Saints wore during the 1969 preseason. Now Tim Fesmire has found this poster — check out the Saints player at lower left. You can bid on that poster here. … In 1964, the Jets wore this helmet design, with a white logo decal instead of the more familiar green decal they began using the following year. I’d never seen any photos or video of the ’64 design until Saturday, when Jay Braiman sent a bunch of screen grabs from the new Jets Complete History DVD. “It’s no wonder they reversed the colors of the decal the following year,” says Jay. “Whether because of the film quality or otherwise, it’s barely visible. Unfortunately, no footage on the DVD of the 1963 jet-plane helmets.” You can see a slide show of Jay’s screen grabs here. … The Astros retired Jeff Bagwell’s number yesterday, and Nicholas Roznovsky got some good pics of the three jerseys Bagwell was presented with, his number inscribed in the infield dirt, and the great little jersey pin that all fans received. As for Bags himself, nice to see him dressing so formally for the occasion. … Speaking of retired numbers, great story here from my friend George Ferrandi, who grew up in Baltimore and attended the game when Brooks Robinson’s number was retired: “They gave out little ‘one size fits all’ jerseys for kids. Alas, I don’t have mine anymore, unless it’s buried in my mom’s attic. This was during my high fandom period, when I went to every home game and wore a hoodie covered with O’s buttons to middle school. (O yeah. “O” was also my rating on the coolness and popularity meter.) This was also the period when I personally took in a wounded Baltimore oriole and named it Brooks. I nursed it back to health but then tried to make it a pet — with tragic results. A traumatic story for another day.” … If you go to this page and scroll down the section headed “The Longest Name” (it begins two paragraphs from the bottom), you’ll find some excellent info about how the Rangers’ equipment manager handled the challenge of fitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s name on a jersey. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: a Bengals-themed corn maze. Details here. … The Wisconsin Historical Museum in Madison is currently running an exhibit called World Series Wisconsin, with special emphasis on the 1957 Milwaukee Braves (who won the World Series) and the 1982 Brewers (who won the A.L. pennant). Plenty of uniforms and other memorabilia. There’s a really good video clip about the exhibit here (with big thanks to Uni Watch organic farming priestess and Badger State booster Julie Lindemann). … Braves pitcher Jose Ascaino had some serious undershirt tag issues yesterday (screen grab provided by Jeff Scott, who says, “How could you not feel that on your neck? Wouldn’t it be a distraction?”). … Scott Turner and I were playing softball yesterday, and he mentioned how the Mets used to suit up at their hotel during spring training, take taxis to Al Lang Field, and then climb out of the cabs in full uniform. This was all news to me, so Scott provided this photo. How cool is that?! … Wisconsin isn’t the only school policing its school logo (with thanks to Andrew Flynn). … Not uni-related, but Brett Myers’s latest attempt at community building is too good not to mention. Priceless audio link (NSFW) here.