By now I’m sure most of you have seen Phil’s recent Saturday post in which he invited readers to help create a baseball uni design for a Tennessee high school. What you probably haven’t seen, however, is a comment that reader Scott Misner posted very late that night (I didn’t see it myself until Monday). It goes like this:
Hey, just want to throw out a notion here about these design-a-uni contests. It’s all fun and games to pull this kind of thing together. But people get paid thousands of dollars to do logo design and/or uniform design.
Okay, so those designers at Nike, Reebok, and the NBA often show their limited skill sets. But doing spec contest work for “goodies” devalues the design profession.
Sure, a bunch [of readers] are going to submit their designs — caring less [about] whether they get any real return value. That’s cool. Your choice. But realize it devalues the profession. And the next time a business “doesn’t get it” when you work to articulate the value of graphic design, realize you perpetuated that lack of appreciation for an art form.
Lastly, I hope you allocate that same amount of resources to your local Boys & Girls Club, YWCA, or other nonprofit programs with this type of need.
I assume Scott is a professional designer, although I don’t know that for sure (he didn’t write back when I e-mailed him to ask for some background context). In any case, his comment raises some very interesting questions. What does “devaluing” mean, especially in the age of Wal-Mart and the internet? If something can be easily devalued, does that mean it was overvalued? Is there anything wrong with doing creative work on spec? What is a fair price for design (or for any skilled work)?
I confess that I approach these questions with a certain bias, which I’ll explain like so: From 1987-1993, I edited graphic design books, and I often had to read design magazines as part of my job. Desktop publishing software was just coming into vogue at the time, and the design mags were full of articles that basically said, “These laypeople, they have no idea how typefaces work!” and “We can’t let just anyone design a pamphlet — they don’t know what they’re doing!”
Of course, many people using early desktop publishing programs didn’t know what they were doing. But it was pretty obvious that the people writing those design articles 20 years ago weren’t concerned about preserving the state of typography, or whatever — they were concerned about laypeople (that’s really the term they used) suddenly having access to the tools of the design trade. Their exclusive club was about to get a lot less exclusive. Aside from the economic implications of this, many designers at the time were clearly offended by the prospect of the rabble being able to choose their own fonts.
Over the subsequent years, I’ve noticed that designers frequently fall back on this sense of self-importance. (As an example, check out this book review I wrote in 2002.) And while I could be wrong, I sense a similar whiff of elitism coming from Scott’s post. He’s basically saying, “Don’t try this at home — leave it to the professionals.” That’s a good argument when you’re referring to, say, medicine or law. But there are good reasons not to let laypeople practice those professions — that’s why you need a license to engage in them. Maybe Scott thinks designers should have to be licensed too.
Personally, though, I disagree. I think good things often happen when beginners and enthusiastic amateurs mess around with the ideas in their heads — that’s how we got zines, punk rock, outsider art, etc. And if they choose to give those ideas away at below market rate, it doesn’t mean they’re not “get[ting] any real return value” from their work — sometimes value comes from a sense of fun, satisfaction, and accomplishment, and that’s every bit as valid as the value in a $3,000 fee.
Fact is, computers and the internet have changed the rules for creative professionals. Blogs let anyone be a published writer, YouTube lets anyone be a filmmaker, and, yes, design software lets anyone be a designer. But if someone starts a blog about uni design, does that “devalue” my work? Personally, I just see it as competition, which is something no professional should resent or be afraid of — it’s part of the creative environment. Now, granted, my work is available for free, so there’s no way for a blogger to undercut me in terms of price (at least not until I put this site behind a pay wall, which is something I hope I never have to do). But I’d like to think that my work is good enough to hold its own in the marketplace. And if it’s not, well, tough shit on me. My career isn’t an entitlement, and neither is any designer’s.
Scott’s most intriguing point comes toward the end: “[T]he next time a business ‘doesn’t get it’ when you work to articulate the value of graphic design, realize you perpetuated that lack of appreciation for an art form.” Again, this sounds fairly elitist (and note how he’s now elevated design from “profession” to “art form”), but Scott’s implicit point — i.e., giving away the store for free ultimately contributes to design illiteracy — rings true. It’s similar to my obsession with the apostrophe catastrophe, a punctuation problem rooted in “laypeople’s” use of word-processing software. In short: If you don’t have professional gatekeepers upholding some level of standards, those standards will go down the crapper.
I could go on, but I’ve rambled enough here. What do you think about these issue? Discuss. And Scott, if you’re reading this, thanks for raising these issues — excellent food for thought.
November Raffle: A guy named Jeremy Yingling recently started a design operation called Infojocks, which comes up with interesting graphic approaches to sports statistics. He’s recently begun selling three new posters, and I have one of each to raffle off. First-place winner will get his or her choice from the three poster designs; second person gets choice of the remaining two; third person gets the third poster.
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the NEW raffle address (note that this isn’t the old raffle address or the regular Uni Watch e-mail address) by 10pm next Monday, November 9th. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winners next Tuesday.
iPod? What’s an iPod?: I’ve put one last batch of vintage indie singles up on eBay. Coming soon: a few select LPs. Stay tuned.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Mark Messier wore an Edmonton Oil Kings jacket to the World Series. Plus he appears to have become a conehead (with thanks to Chris Gundry). … I think we’ve seen some of these before, but check out these great ski jumps erected in stadiums (with thanks to Ben Traxel). … Interesting logo query from Susan Freeman, who writes: “A recent issue of SI had a photo of Jonathan Toews that showed him sitting at his locker. The Blackhawks lockers have a black-and-white rendition of Tommy Hawk, and the B&W logo really makes the facial features stand out, to a point where the war paint looks like letters. Is this a hidden signature from when the logo was redesigned in 1964? Or does it somehow say Tommy Hawk?” I’d never heard this interpretation before. Anyone..? … Yesterday I linked to this varsity jacket operation. Now the man who told me about that company, Steven Tatar, has provided a bunch of photos of the factory itself — great stuff. … Lots of great old Idaho/BSU rivalry photos in this slideshow (with thanks to Chris Salove). … When the System of Dress was introduced a few years back, remember how the Nike models were shown wearing striped and patterned undersleeves? Ohio State’s David Lighty appeared to be wearing one of those undershirts at a recent practice (good spot by Nick Houser). … Chad Cate notes that Marshall has a running back named Darius Marshall, which creates an unusual SNOB situation. … What’s that tat? Look! Lots of additional pics here. … Seattle forward Nate Jaqua had to wear a plain blood jersey after being kicked in the head and subsequently bleeding on his jersey a few nights ago (with thanks to Matt Beaudin). … Next time anyone says I complain too much about corporate sponsorships, I’m just gonna point them here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie, who no doubt will miss Texas Stadium — that’s him in November of 1971, shortly after the place opened). … Georgia Tech usually wears white at home — but maybe not this Saturday. … Dozens of great 1940s Washington Huskies photos here (big thanks to Phil Amaya). … Here’s the Babe in a different kind of uniform (great find by Alyssa Miller).
[Editor's Note: Today we have an excellent guest entry by Ryan Connelly, who tells the tale of a DIY project gone horribly awry. -- PL]
By Ryan Connelly
My buddies and I started an ice hockey team and named it the Invaders. Just a low-C, high-B level team that plays other local adult/beer league teams. So of course this gave me the opportunity to design a uniform.
I was playing in a tournament in Mississauga, Ontario, when I saw one of the players wearing this jersey and immediately fell in love with it, for obvious reasons. When I found the blank jersey online, I thought it was black/yellow, but when I got it in the mail I was surprised to find it was brown/yellow.
Before I go on, I should explain that I’m color-deficient, so one of the things you’ll notice is the jersey and socks being brown/yellow and the logo being black/yellow. It just adds to the “charm” of the uniform, trust me. But really, it kind of works out nicely with our black pants, gloves, and skates.
Next step — my favorite step — design a logo or two in AutoCAD. We decided on a “space invaders” theme. Here’s the game play that most of us remember, and I found this helpful image online too.
Then I started to goof around in AutoCAD. I traced the game’s wordmark, teamed it up with an invader guy, and resized the wordmark. Then I prettied it up a bit and put a spaceship-like boarder around it, to create the finished logo.
The next task: uni numbers. I played the game online for a bit until I could get to the “High Scores” screen at the end of the game because I knew it would rank at least 10 names. That way I would have every numeral to work with.
With the logos and numbers now designed, it was time to create physical versions of them for the jerseys. I printed four or five copies of the logo outline on a plotter to scale. Then I
cut out the spaceship-like border, invader (body, arms, antennae separate), and each letter, pasted all of that onto cheap yellow construction paper you can buy anywhere, traced each element, and then cut again. Now I had logo templates to trace onto fabric.
As for the numbers: For this step I printed all the numbers to scale then cut. I wanted to use two-tone numbers (yellow with a black border), so this had to be done in two steps. The first set of cut-outs was the black outline of the number; when cut, it was obvious which number was which. But the second set was the yellow inner part of the number, and they were just basically blocks. so I assigned a letter to each shape.
Take the number 8 for example: The number 8 uses blocks “i” and “H” to make up the yellow parts. The yellow “i” block is also used in the numbers 6, 9, and 0, so no sense cutting out nine different stencils. I just cut one block and reused it for tracing. I also printed out a smaller version of the stencils and used them as a key when putting together the fabric.
I used a template guide to line up all the yellow invaders with the black outline and glued. I followed basically the same steps for the letters. After gluing. I later stitched. When the logos were done, I followed basically the same steps for the numbers.
Now it was time to put everything onto the jerseys. I lined and centered the stitched-up logos and numbers on the jerseys, then glued them onto the jerseys, and then stitched. The front looked like this, and you can see a bunch of the backs here.
The first five were finished and look great! Then I washed one of them and … DISASTER.
I had used a heavy twill-like fabric called duck cloth — the same kind of cloth used for bean bags in games like cornhole. And to hold the numbers, logos, and letters in place (both to themselves and to the jersey), I’d used a glue that, unbeknownst to me, pretty much dissolves when washed. As the glue wore off in the wash, the stitching cut right through the material.
What a mess. And we had a game coming up real soon! So after all that time, money, and energy, I gave in. I sent the logo and the jerseys out to a local screen-printing business, picked out some old-school block numbers, and ta-da. Here’s a close-up of the front, and here’s how they looked from the back.
I think the block numbers add a certain charm to the whole jersey. Also, I’ve told the team that I’m going to make logos the correct way over the winter. It really wont take much to place the sewn logos over top of the screened logos.
This project was started around mid-April and finished up in mid-July. Looking back, I can be 110% honest when I say that I was NEVER mad when the material got destroyed in the wash. A touch let down, but never pissed off at all. Also, I had an absolute blast working on this project from start to finish! Working on the logo, finding the materials, working with the team. Nothing was ever a burden on this project, and I loved every minute of it.
Last but certainly not least, I got this completely awesome DIY of my DIY by the great artist himself, Mr. Robert Marshall. You can see it bobbling [along with some trenchant Uni Watch commentary and a perfect example of the conflicting urges to create and destroy -- PL] here.
And speaking of DIY: Paul here. Wouldn’t you like to own one of these sweaters? You can, if you have a knitting machine, because Rick Fleck recently mailed me this officially licensed 1990 knitting guide, which provides sweater patterns for all 14 NFC teams at the time. I’ve scanned the entire guide and put the page scans here. I know exactly zero about intarsia knitting, but I would love it if someone could make a sweater based on one of these patterns.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say most of you reading this probably don’t know how to knit. But maybe your significant other does, hmmm? Get crackin’, guys.
College Hoops Reminder: I’m continuing to work on my college hoops season-preview column for ESPN. So if you know of teams with new uniforms, new patches, new court designs, etc., let’s have ’em. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Really interesting article about a new skate sharpening method here. … Dozens of tremendous old Iowa football pics available in this gallery (with thanks to Rob Leavell). … Rob Nanovic notes that Maine’s football team is wearing Adidas jerseys and Nike pants. … Hmmm, White Sox hockey jerseys — interesting (with thanks to Zach Nesler). … Fascinating info from George Tvardy, who writes: “Very interesting story that has been on the sports shows here in Knoxville: Although Adidas is Tennessee’s supplier, the black alternates worn Saturday night were not actually Adidas jerseys. Story is that Mike Hamilton, UT athletic director, only agreed to the wearing of the black jerseys late Friday afternoon and UT then got a local printer to make the alternate jerseys. Since UT has the Adidas contract, they had to put Adidas logos on these jerseys so that they would not be in violation of their contract.” … Stop what you’re doing and read this absolutely essential article about flannel jersey fabric. Highly recommended reading (great find by Dave Grob). … Brian Brown has made himself a coffee table based on the old Mecca Arena court design. … Oopsie. … Latest reason to hate jersey sponsorships: If two soccer teams show up wearing the same sponsor, one of them has to change (with thanks to Terence Kearns). … Paul Wiederecht sent along a great SI spread from the 1963 Army/Navy game, with Navy wearing SOB (slogan on back). The story behind the slogan is explained here. … Speaking of old SI material, Ricko pointed me toward this great 1954 item about heavyweight sweaters. Here’s the second page of the spread, and a close-up of the short text. … The London Daily Telegraph is the latest media outlet to publish a rundown of history’s worst uniforms, except their survey consists primarily of soccer and rugby kits (with thanks to Craig Ackers). … Totally awesome vintage Chinese Taipei warm-up jacket available here. … Late-breaking Halloween submission from Mike Miller, who got a photo of a friend dressed up as Dave Dravecky. … Even better, Joe Rosenbaum dressed up as Billy Ripken. … Cleveland textiles maven Steven Tatar tipped me wise to this letterman jacket operation. “They’re the real deal,” he says. “Leather sleeves, melton wool bodies, chenille hooked tip-on letters, and chain-stitching to boot.” … A French soccer player wore the wrong jersey the other day (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Anyone know why the Coyotes wore white at home last night? … Mark Windle notes that Coy Wire appears to be missing some jersey piping. Yes, the nameplate could be covering up some of it, but not all of it. Hmmmm. … Steve Garvey + Dwight Gooden + and Super Dave + a blindfold = a really cheesy old video clip (big thanks to Steve Mandich). … Aaron Stilley has been doing some Negro Leagues research and came across an interesting item in the Chicago Defender. “I can’t tell if there was something specifically humorous about the Chicago American Giants numbers on backs, or if it was just strange that they had numbers at all,” he writes. “Would numbers on backs have been a unique sight in 1938?” I don’t think so, but I know very little about Negro Leagues uni history. Anyone..? … Kobe appears to have put on just a bit of weight (with thanks to Dwayne White).
Spent the weekend in Cooperstown, where my old college buddy Jeff Katz is now the deputy mayor. Just a short trip — drove up on Friday, drove back on Sunday — and most of it went by in a blur, which may say something about the amount of Halloween candy I ate (I think my sugar rush is just now subsiding).
Highlight of the weekend was a behind-the-scenes tour at the Hall of Fame, conducted by senior curator and longtime Uni Watch ally Tom Shieber. I’ll have more to say about that later on, but here’s a little taste, in the form of a fairly remarkable coincidence: As you may recall, back on Friday I ran these pics of Rogers Hornsby wearing a Chicago Youth League uni with FNOF. So imagine my surprise when Shieber took us into the Hall’s art storage area (basically a massive collection of artwork pertaining to baseball — some of it good, much of it hilariously bad) and I saw the painting shown above, which shows the Raja wearing something very similar to the uni he was wearing in those photos.
Didn’t watch a single minute of football all weekend, so no Monday Morning Uni Watch today — sorry, gang.
Our way of celebrating the internet’s 40th birthday: The site has crashed for the past two nights, both times at 1am eastern. Johnny Ek has been gloating about the Yankees’ impending Series victory burning up the phone lines with our web host to determine the problem, and the short version is that it appears to have something to do with the commenting function. So as a precaution, we’re going to shut down the comments tonight at about 11pm eastern. That’s just a Band-Aid fix, of course, but we’ll shoot for a more permanent solution in the days to come. Thanks for your patience.
In case you missed it: I had a short column about World Series rings posted on ESPN on Friday afternoon. You can check it out here.
Sponsor Shout-Out: As you may have noticed, our old friends at Distant Replays have rejoined the ranks of Uni Watch advertisers. It’s a slightly different operation than it was before, but DR founder Andy Hyman is still on board (plus he’s now blogging), and it’s great to be working with him again. Welcome back, Andy.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Great article on former college football powers, with some wonderful old photos, here (with thanks to Mike Prospero). … Very unusual NOB here — a nickname in quotes plus a surname with a tilde (great find by Shane Bua). … The Alaska Aces went with a Halloween uni on Saturday (with thanks to Reggie Kennedy). … Check out the very odd helmets worn by Denmark at the B-Group European Championships (interesting find by Stefan Schubert). … Surprisingly accurate-ish Dolphins uniforms shown a little more than halfway through this South Park clip (with thanks to Jacob Reed). … Here’s a weird one: a Mizzou jacket with a Marlins-esque insignia (with thanks to Ben Traxel). … Interview with the guy who designed the World Cup trophy here (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: a great site devoted to 1800s soccer uniforms and a wonderful 1906 Austrialian football illustration. … Not sure why some Lakers players were still wearing the Opening Night championship patch for Friday’s game against the Mavs. It was only a couple of players (I think just Artest and Odom); everyone else was patch-free. Trying to find out what’s up. … Joey Rubino notes that Alex Goligoski went without his collar laces on Friday. … In a related item, Brooks Simpson points out that Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask used to wear collar laces but more recently has gone without them. Same goes for his white jersey. … Many readers noted that Michigan linebacker Kevin Leach’s nameplate was missing on Saturday, plus he was wearing No. 10 instead of his usual 52. … Indiana TE Max Dedmond had a decal glitch on Saturday (screen shot courtesy of David Teigland). … More coverage of Carey Price’s mask design here (with thanks to Stephen Sickles). … Back in March, I published this ESPN column about DIY jerseys. One of the featured DIYers was Aaron Stilley, who had made himself a KC Scouts jersey. Now he’s made a mini-Rangers jersey for his son. “I based the design largely on this jersey, which looks pretty much like what NHLuniforms.com lists as the team’s 1928-1941,” says Aaron. “One detail I didn’t attempt was the white collar.” … “Ryan Swope is a WR for Texas A&M,” writes Glenn Stern. “He normally wears No. 25, but he also plays special teams, and there’s a defensive back, Jordan Pugh, who is also No. 25. So on special teams, Swope puts on a different-numbered jersey with NNOB. I also think it has a special zipper on the side so they can get it on and off. In that last photo, note his No. 25 helmet and his ‘Swope’ nameplate showing through the NNOB jersey.” … Warren Humphrey sent along two awesome Reds photos: This one shows equipment manager Bernie Stowe putting uniforms in the Cincy locks, circa 1969, and this one shows an unidentified seamstress working on the 1972 Big Red Machine uniforms. … Man, I gotta travel to Greece, at least judging from this butcher’s market photo recently taken by my friend Anne Gant. … Things that happen roughly every two months: I eat a salad, the Rams win a game, and some newspaper publishes an article about how the local team’s uniforms are laundered (with thanks to Michael Becker). … Notable Halloween costumes: Nathan Haas saw someone dressed as David Wright (complete with Gazoo helmet and sadly appropriate NOB), and Eric Bennett played softball dressed as Oscar Gamble. … Hmmm, maybe this color-on-color thing isn’t such a great idea after all. … Two eBay finds I haven’t seen before: a 1984 Olympics staff uniform and a vintage roller derby uni (for only 20 grand!). … Cole Jones has completed his decade-by-decade survey of the North Stars’ and Stars’ uniform history. It starts here and then you can follow the links for the subsequent entries.
Today is the 35th anniversary of a seminal sports event: the Rumble in the Jungle, which pitted George Foreman against Muhummad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. And No Mas honcho is marking the occasion with some serious gorgeous video animation.
Some quick background: Most of you probably think of No Mas as a T-shirt brand, but it’s actually a multi-faceted media project — a project that was born out of Isenberg’s fascination with Ali. That fascination eventually blossomed into Isenberg becoming an official Ali licensee (you can read more about the unusual route he took to that destination here), and he’s used that connection to commission three short animations to commemorate the Rumble anniversary.
The first one, called Zaire, is by watercolorist David Rathman and is sort of a gray-wash time capsule that juxtaposes iconic Rumble sound bites with Rathman’s spectacular brushwork. You can see additional stills here, or just watch the video below.
Next up: Round Zero by oil painter Jerome Lagarrigue. No Mas describe this one thusly: “Lagarrigue draws inspiration from Ali’s own zoological poetry (’I done wrassled with an alligator/Tussled with a whale’) in exploring Ali’s mental and spiritual transformation in the moments before the bell sounds round one.” OK, so that sounds a tad pretentious, but the imagery is magnificent, all the more so when you see it in motion. Check it out:
The third video is by pen-and-ink illustrator James Blagden, is a hoot. As you may know, James Brown was headlining an all-star soul concert in Zaire that was organized in conjunction with the Rumble (and was also the subject of a recent documentary). So with the Godfather of Soul and the Greatest of All Time having been in the same place at the same time, Blagden has imagined a fictitious showdown between the two of them, set to JB’s “Cold Blooded.” Dig:
Great stuff, three great takes on a seminal event, and three potent reminders that boxing is still the most aesthetically potent sport of them all. Chris is going to be making some of the original animation artwork available for sale, and there may be an exhibit at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. You can keep track of all that news on the No Mas site.
I love these short films, and I certainly don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but I do feel a reality check is in order regarding the Rumble. To wit: It was a bad fight, and a boring one. Forget all the When We Were Kings mythologizing and just watch the fight. If you do, one thing quickly becomes apparent: Foreman looks like an amateur. No balance, no leverage, no nothing. Watch how he often he has his palms awkwardly extended and open in front of him, like a two-bit street pug. He doesn’t even look like a credible slugger — more like a third-rate Tough Man contestant. Seriously, there are multiple points in the fight where it’s embarrassing to watch him. Meanwhile, Ali’s rope-a-dope tactics, while canny, make for a snooze of a bout. Even the eventual knockout is unsatisfying — more of a cumulative meltdown than major punch-and-drop.
And yet the legend of the Rumble has endured. Why? (1) Foreman had built up an aura of invincibility in his previous fights, so the result was seen as a huge upset. (2) This was the fight in which Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title, something that had only been done once before (by Floyd Patterson, don’tcha know). (3) Ali, as was his habit, used the buildup to the fight as a backdrop for addressing powerful themes of race and culture — particularly powerful in this case, since the fight was in Africa. (4) Fight fans love epic themes, even if they’re more rooted in myth than in fact, and this fight had lots of powerful thematic elements. (5) “Rumble in the Jungle” is a catchy slogan.
None of which makes the No Mas videos any less compelling. Like I said, I’m just trying to provide a nugget of reality amidst the mythmaking.
Finally, one interesting uni-related note from the Rumble: Referee Zack Clayton wore zebra stripes — not something you often see in the boxing ring.
Bonus Column: I’ll have a short piece on World Series rings up on ESPN today. I won’t be around to add the link when it goes live, but it should be at this URL (that link will give an error message until the piece goes live, probably around 12:30pm eastern).
College Hoops Home Stretch: I’m currently working on my annual college basketball season-preview column for ESPN. Compiling one of these columns for college sports is different than doing it for one of the pro leagues, because there’s no central database of all the new uniforms, no league PR office or single manufacturer to go over things with. Basically, it’s a free-for-all, so I just try to stay alert and keep track of all the new designs and patches as I become aware of them.
Here’s what I have so far: Alabama, Auburn, Cal, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Creighton, Georgia Tech, Grand Canyon, Iowa State, Kentucky (rumors of something Lebron-ish, but no confirmation yet), Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio U., Oregon (I think — not yet confirmed), Pacific (alternate uni for the Dec. 9 game against Cal), Pitt, San Diego State, South Carolina, UNC (1957 throwback), UNLV, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington (new black alt), Washington State, and WVU (black alt).
I’m sure there are others I’ve missed — not just new uniforms, but also patches, court designs, etc. — and that’s where you come in. If you know of any college hoops unveilings not listed above, or if you become aware of any over the next week or so, please speak up. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The single-bar facemask lives! That’s our old friend Scott Player, now plying his trade in the UFL (with thanks to Doug Keklak and Mike Rigby). … The 49ers are changing who gets to wear the green dot on defense (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Some great uniform shots in this video tribute to the late NHL ref Bill Chadwick (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … England’s new rugby kit is my favorite color, with a poppy thrown in for Armistice Day (with thanks to Michael Orr). … Striped stirrups sighting in yesterday’s “Family Circus” (big thanks to Vernona Elms). … Insert joke about one white hockey glove here (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Not uni-related, but if you wanna see something really beautiful — I mean really beautiful — click on the embedded video here (thanks, Kirsten). … You’ve heard of FNOB, but how about FNOF? That’s the Raja, of course, wearing a Chicago youth organization uni (great find by Paul Wiederecht). … Good article about early Red Wings mask history here (with thanks to Tim Shay). … New uniforms for the Jacksonville Suns. … For next year’s April Fool, maybe I’ll start a rumor that the Seahawks are gonna be wearing this (bizarre find by Matthew Weber). … New World Cup kit for Ivory Coast. I don’t like that diagonal shoulder treatment, but I love their new crest (with thanks to Coachie Ballgames). … Tremendous batch of old 1940s Washington Huskies photos here (big thanks to John Doodigian). … According to the fourth graf of this story, Avs goalie Craig Anderson once “lived in Sweden and inserted a double-s in the middle of his surname to to fit in. When he played for the Blackhawks, he had an incorrect [double-s] spelling on the name bar of his jersey until the NHL, as he says, ‘questioned the legality of it.’” I don’t like to post watermarked Getty photos (and I ask that none of you do so either), but you can see the single-s and double-s versions of Anders(s)on’s Blackhawks NOB if you go to Getty’s main page and search on “Craig Anderson 2003 Chicago” (with thanks to Paul Richard Cook). … I like socks as much as the next guy — probably more — but this is going overboard. … I’m heading to Cooperstown later today and will be there throughout the weekend (good place to be during the Series, right?). See you on Monday.
Fairly quiet day in the NFL yesterday: Got our first looks at the Chargers’ and Jets’ road throwbacks (both really nice, right?), and this year’s London game featured a new patch. Aside from that, nothing major, unless you maybe count Larry Fitzgerald’s silver cleats. I might’ve missed a few things, though — I admit I wasn’t at my sharpest after getting back from Louisiana on almost zero sleep. More on that trip soon.
As for today, my annual NBA season-preview column t is up on ESPN.
In case you missed it: Phil and his support crew were really dealing over the weekend. In particular, yesterday’s entry, featuring some stellar research by Ricko, is one for the ages. If you didn’t see this material, do yourself a favor and scroll down to take a look.
Uni Watch Stirrup Club Update: Comrade Robert Marshall is back with another dispatch from the front lines of the hosiery wars. Let us turn a kind ear to his report:
Comrades, it is once again time for a call to arms. This will be the last order until the new year, and it contains two parts, the second of which seeks to unite a heretofore neglected moiety of the striped Revolution:
1) With the holidays coming up, the party has seen fit to choose two sets of stirrups you could wear to your various office parties, family functions, and services. First, for you secular types, we have the Oakland Oaks. Match these with a red sani and you will be the bell of any Christmas ball. The second stirrup was worn by the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers (note the one colored-in sock at far-left), the Homestead Grays, and others. This stirrup just so happens to match the colors of Hanukkah, for those who observe the Festival of Lights, plus it also mimics the liturgical colors of the church — blue on Christmas Eve, white Christmas Day.
2) Now, on to the new business of the Revolution: right proper football hosiery. The socks will be white on the bottom and you have lots of choices for the color/stripe pattern on top. In fact, I’ve worked with Twin City Knitting to develop some new stripe patterns. Those pour bastards at TCK never saw us coming but are nonetheless doing excellent work for the Revolution.
Of course, the most excellent work of all is being done by comrade Robert himself. To join the hosiery wars (and avoid being blacklisted for counter-Revolutionary behavior), place your orders here.
Beefsteak Update: It’s now confirmed that I’ll be doing a live presentation at the Brooklyn Beefsteak, which is slated for November 8th at the Bell House. Plus there will be additional entertainment from the mighty Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Company (whose set list will no doubt feature their classic “Hey Mister, Is That Your Cow?”). Tickets are available here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hey look, more vertically striped socks! (Odd find by Chad Todd.) … “We just re-did my son’s room by painting a couple dozen transportation-related patent sketches on the walls — jeeps, trains, space shuttle, hot air balloon, zamboni, etc.,” says David Tybor. “The helmet cart looks the best.” … Good list of soccer teams broken down by uni manufacturer here (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Bizarre Don Cherry-inspired hockey jerseys on display in this video clip. Additional info here and here. … Latest NHL team to project completely annoying ads on the boards during the TV broadcast: the Blackhawks, as seen here and here (as reported by Chaz Noerenberg). … FNOB alert, from the 1984 USFL championship game (nice screen shot by Dan Lee). … New hoops uni for Creighton (with thanks to Matt Hays). … Check out this gorgeous footage from the 1948 Rose Bowl (big thanks to Tom Wilcox). … Rare view of the Giants’ old “World’s Champions” uniforms here (with thanks to Kevin Walsh). … According to this article, the Panthers will debut their third jersey on November 23rd, and the Avs will wear theirs for an as-yet-unspecified game in November (with thanks to John Muir). … Also from John: Whalers gear is back among us. … Lots of shots of the New Warrior USA Lacrosse uniforms here (with thanks to Nathan Haas). … Raheem Brock of the Colts supposedly wore this at practice the other day (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Good rundown of the backstories behind the original AFL uni designs here (with thanks to Eric Juergens). … Good article on the Fudd caps here (thanks, Vince). … Also from Vince: arguably the coolest vintage Cleveland uniform photo ever. … Here’s a good photo gallery of all the FIFA World Cup soccer balls since 1970 (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Andrew McNeel points out that if Baylor’s going to do the “gold-out” thing, they really need to settle on one shade of gold for their jersey, pants, helmet, end zone, and fans. … Gophers WR Troy Stoudermire had some helmet decal issues on Saturday (screen shot courtesy of Jesse Larson). … Interesting hockey/CFL crossover story here (with thanks to Will Leslie). … Good survey of Minnesota Wild jersey history here (with thanks to Chris Hodge). … What is this? It’s a pie chart that shows the relative ratio of colors in all the world’s national flags. The individual flag pie charts are here — mouse over any of the pie charts to see which country it represents, and click on the chart to see the actual flag. And as this guy points out, the international flag scene is gratifyingly devoid of purple (great find, Kirsten). … Non-sports uni revelation from my weekend trip to Louisiana: I flew on Northwest and was stunned to see one stewardess on my outbound flight wearing blue jeans and a Northwest T-shirt. I figured maybe her uniform had gotten lost or stained or something, but there was another jeans-clad crew member on my return flight yesterday. I mean, I wear jeans and a tee most days myself, but come on — how am I supposed to respect the authority of someone telling me to bring my seatback forward when she’s wearing that? … I didn’t know Everlast used to make baseball uniforms until I saw this.
This is O’Connor’s, my longtime local watering hole. It looks slightly different now — a new sign and awning, a new front door — but this is how it looked around the time I first encountered it, and how it will always look to me.
My first visit to O’Connor’s was in the fall of 1990. My previous local hangout had been sold and ruined, so my girlfriend and I were searching for a new bar to call home. We wandered into O’Connor’s on a Saturday afternoon and found an elderly gentleman tending bar. He wore a weathered cardigan, spoke in a heavy Irish accent that sounded like music, and introduced himself as Charlie.
Charlie treated us like family almost from the start, telling us stories and inviting us to tell some of our own. He also apologized several times because a few of the bar’s ceiling tiles were broken, which I found very touching — sort of an “I’m sorry the place is a mess” gesture, as if we might be offended by something like that. By the end of the afternoon, we knew we’d found our new tavern. When we got ready to head home, Charlie gestured toward the front door and said, “Remember now, that door is always open for you.”
Over the next 17 years, Charlie Campbell became a good friend. We’d talk about eating, cooking, Ireland, Brooklyn, sports, family, music, and the very interesting life he’d led. He eventually stopped apologizing for the ceiling tiles, which never did get fixed until about 2006, when the bar was sold and the new owner fixed up a few things.
Most of these discussions took place during Charlie’s regular weekend shift, when he’d make dozens of Bloody Marys for the devoted regulars who’d come to love him as much as I did. And he earned every bit of that love — working well into his 70s and beyond, Charlie was always chipper and never pulled the grouchy-old-man routine with the bar’s generally young-ish clientelle. In fact, he especially loved it when young customers came in for the first time, and he always left them with that same send-off about the door always being open.
Charlie kept working under the new ownership, but about two years ago he stopped showing up for his weekend shift. He was sick, I was told, but he’d come back when he was better. Unfortunately, that day never came. He passed away last week, about a month shy of his 82nd birthday. I’ll be attending his wake this afternoon, and I’m closing down the site today in his memory.
Here’s to you, Charlie — there’s another door that’s open for you now.
Check out where the “G” marker was painted in this old NFL shot! That’s a screen grab from some amazing old Sammy Baugh color footage that Larry Bodnovich found on YouTube. It’s broken up into three parts (look here, here, and here), and Larry made a ton of screen shots.
Larry has also made screen shots from Showtime’s AFL series. He’s broken them down by Episode 1 and Episode 2. And in yet another public service, Larry’s also compiled screen shots from the old Bob Hope/Look All-America TV specials. He’s broken these down by year: 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, and 1976. Please join me in giving Larry a standing O for all this fantastic work.
In case you missed it yesterday, my annual NHL season-preview column on ESPN is here, and I have another ESPN column today, this time devoted to goalie pads, blockers, and gloves — here’s the link. I regret to inform you that there will be no ESPN column tomorrow.
Research project: It’s hard to see in this photo, but Jon Fox says the red line at Boston University’s Agganis Arena has little white paw prints (because the team is called the Terrriers, natch). And as you may have noticed, I mentioned two NHL red line designs in yesterday’s ESPN column, and now I’m thinking this could be a whole new field of study. Blue lines are always solid blue, but red lines often have distinct designs. Let’s try to collect as many of these as we can, shall we? Send your contributions — NHL, minor league, college, whatever — here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Nike is the latest company to resign from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce due to the Chamber’s neanderthal stance on climate change. … And hey, speaking of Nike and neanderthals. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Never knew Diego Segui just went with his first name while with the A’s. … How many consecutive years have the Cubs failed to win a title? This many (with thanks to Brian Willette). … Want to knit your own team scarf? Okay, so you probably don’t, but here’s how to do it anyway (thanks, Kirsten). … Also from Kirsten: Think all you typeface geeks can tell Arial from Helvetica? Here’s a quiz where you can put that to the test. … Interesting NOB situation on the horizon at Baylor (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Mike McAllister has started a new blog devoted to the finer points of golf attire. … Josh Reddick went bespectacled last night (with thanks to Andy Chalifour). … What’s the story behind this NOB? The guy’s name is apparently Mister M-Cotton, at least if you believe this page, but I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that one. Still, check out the pop-up “Select a Player” roster listing on the right — it appears to be true! (As submitted by John Boris.) … Man, those pink captaincy patches are gonna look like total shite. … Here’s an interesting little tidbit: Flickr is owned by Yahoo, and you may have noticed about a week ago that the Flickr logo was suddenly saddled with a bit of Yahoo logo creep — highly annoying. So annoying, in fact, that someone quickly developed a script that restores the Flickr logo to its Yahoo-free state. The script, which is designed for Firefox, works like a charm. To install it, first install Greasemonkey, then restart Firefox, and then install the script. Now if someone could just develop something similar to for all the logo creep in the sports world. … Todd Richard wants the Mets to bring back Bobby Valentine and has come up with a logo for the cause. Naturally, I can’t abide the black drop shadow, but the basic concept is a good one. … As if next Monday’s Vikes/Pack game didn’t have enough drama, it now appears that the Vikings will be wearing throwbacks (with thanks to Damian Diaz). … Hey, look who else is wearing pink (as reported by a lovestruck Morris Levin). … New mask for Kari Lehtonen (with thanks to Tyler Hull). … In addition, Teebz described some new masks in yesterday’s comments. Sorry I wasn’t able to get these into yesterday’s ESPN column — didn’t know about them until it was too late. … Good article here about the guy who designed the Canucks’ orginal stick-in-rink logo (”although it doesn’t mention that he used green and blue to symbolize trees and water,” adds Jim Wilkie). … Hmmm, what do you suppose Leland Irving is looking at?
I believe this is the first time I’ve seen an NOB with a hyphen and roman numerals. What’s it all about? Reader Jeff Nephew explains: “That’s Eric Louis-Seize, a forward from Quebec, who recently joined the Truro Bearcats of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MJAHL). ‘Louis-Seize’ translates literally to ‘Louis the 16th,’ which explains his unusual nameplate. This is in contrast to last year, when he played with Halifax of the QMJHL and had his name fully spelled out.” (Both photos taken by Richard Lafortune.)
New ESPN column today — the annual NHL season preview, which will cover uniforms and goalie masks (link coming soon). And then I’ll have another ESPN column tomorrow, devoted exclusively to goalie pads, blockers, and the like. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go collapse.
Sure, a new raffle, why the hell not?: Our friends at SportsCrack are once again making a free T-shirt available to one lucky reader — winner’s choice (although I can tell you they’re particularly pleased with this one).
To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the NEW raffle address (note that this isn’t the old raffle address or the regular Uni Watch e-mail address) by 10pm next Monday, October 5th. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday. … Sorry, raffle canceled.
Uni Watch News Ticker:FNOB alert. That’s Mick Williams, who plays for Pitt. The funny thing is, Mick is just his nickname — his real first name is Ernest. Interestingly, the other two Williamses on the Pitt roster are Greg and Manny — no photos of them, but does anyone know if Greg has FNOB or just a first initial? (All this courtesy of Denis Kirstein.) … Hate to admit it, but Abercrombie & Fitch actually has some decent tees (with thanks to Matthew Gahm). … Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but have you ever noticed that the two design icons most frequently found on the back of a car — the Jesus fish and the yellow ribbon — are basically the exact same thing? … Two Houston football players misplaced their helmets after last weekend’s game (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Matt also claims that he heard a broadcaster saying that the UTEP Miners’ short, spiky helmet stripe is supposed to represent the business end of a rock hammer. Never heard that before. Can anyone confirm? … Good observation by Joseph de la Riva, who notes that the Cowboys’ old field at Texas Stadium had royal blue trim, but their new field has navy blue trim. … “Worst Uni Ever” articles are a penny a dozen, but this one has a small saving grace: a Sox in shorts photo I’d never seen before (with thanks to Keith Dow). … Not uni-related, but the prediction of the year — or maybe of all time — took place during Sunday’s Mariners/Jays game. Listen to the two audio clips here (as forwarded by my ESPN colleague Dave Schoenfield). … Then again, I’ve been predicting Daniel Murphy double-play grounders for months, so what’s the big deal? … Good tip from James Huening: “If you go here, you can hear some discussion with Bears linebacker Nick Roach about swapping out the helmet radio receivers (he was playing the strong side position at the start of Sunday’s game but moved to the middle when Hunter Hillenmeyer had to leave the game). Unfortunately, there’s no timer on the progress bar, but it’s about 20% of the way through the interview. If you drag the progress icon to the point right under the letter ‘h’ in the words ‘the future,’ you can go directly to that point in the conversation.” … You know, it’s not like I ever thought Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, or Ghandi worked in the NFL offices. But when you read some of the quotes in a story like this one, the league comes off sounding disturbingly like the tobacco industry, at least in terms of its ability to lie about the health effects of its product. … Eleven new screen shots have been added to our AFL Full Color set. Among the highlights: a Texans logo with a spur (never seen that before) and Babe Parilli with FNOB (major thanks to Mako Mameli). … If you skip ahead to the 12:10 mark of this video, you’ll find a report on the Nets’ practice jersey ads (with thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Tons of great goalie mask photos available here (big thanks to Jeff Brand). … I love socks, uniforms, and the color green, so you think I’d be all over a vintage baseball uni for a team called the Green Sox. But not at this price. … Matt Harris notes that Hideki Matsui’s bat logo appears to have a Godzilla tail motif. … Slideshow of Nebraska football uniform evolution here (with thanks to Eric Brown). … Tyler Hull was watching the Champions League match between Arsenal and Olympiakos and saw that Olympiakos players were wearing two different type of socks.
