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Posts filed under 'General'
I know how it is sometimes. You’re in a hurry, your ride’s waiting, perhaps it’s just minutes to tee time. You start grabbing clothes. Whatever gets in your way, you wear. Does it match? No idea. Better than golfing naked, especially if you get to golf in this outfit. Classy.
Anyway, Anthony Kim wants to make sure the stuff you grab on your way out the door isn’t his. He could have gone garish, but instead chose subtle. Well, compared to this, at least. — Bryan
September 20th, 2008
Thirteen years ago, The New York Times ran this obituary for an illustrator named Lon Keller, who among other things was credited with having designed the Yankees’ “top hat” logo in 1947.
I don’t recall if I read that obit; if I did, it obviously didn’t make much of an impression on me. And that’s a shame because it turns out that Lon Keller was a giant of American sports design, and not just because he created one of baseball’s most iconic logos. As the obit explains, “In 1938, Mr. Keller became chief illustrator for Spencer Marketing, a New York City company that designed programs for sporting events across the country. In more than three decades with Spencer, he created cover designs used for games at more than 300 colleges and universities.”
I didn’t know any of this until Mike Hersh (who I profiled last month) recently pointed me toward this site, where a ton of Keller’s work has been archived. And most of it is spectacular.
Keller illustrated just about everything: high school football, basketball (girls’ hoops, too), baseball; college football (including lots of work for the service academies) and, to a much lesser extent, basketball; pro football, baseball, boxing, and the ponies; and miscellaneous stuff like the Globetrotters, the Olympics, a teeny bit of hockey, and even roller derby.
Keller’s work has its limits. Due to the era he worked in (and, I suspect, Spencer Marketing’s client list), almost every single person depicted in his artwork — athletes, fans, cheerleaders, everyone — is white (here’s a rare exception from 1970, relatively late in his career). And this made me cringe on several different levels.
Graphically speaking, though, Keller was the total package. He could capture power and strength but also playfulness and whimsy. He could be a literalist and he could get more conceptual, and he had lots of clever ideas.
Much like Steve Dewing’s baseball photo site, the Keller archive is a huge time-sink that’s impossible to look at quickly or casually — once you start clicking, you’ve basically made a two-hour commitment, minimum. So my apologies in advance for everyone’s lowered productivity today.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the copy of Remember the AFL. Details here. I’ll announce the winner on Monday.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Interesting branding brouhaha over in the F1 world (with thanks to Ken Ocker). … Jeremy Brahm sent along the best view yet of Charlie Manuel’s facemask. He also sent along a shot of Julio Zuleta’s mask. … Jimmy Griffin notes that Phil Hughes is now wearing glasses. … The Astros never wore a pillbox cap, but you can still buy one (with thanks to James Poisso). … Gabriel Ganot worked as a ball boy at the U.S. Open earlier this month. “This year’s uniforms were rather neat,” he says. “The rumor was that instead of the navy blue theme that Polo had been giving us for the last three years, they were going to give us a black uniform (after all, this is New York). In the end, though, we got these (see also heree and here), which were actually pretty nice. The shirts and shorts were a lot thinner and had a lot more breathable fabric, which made life a little nicer in the summer sun. I’m waiting for the day when we get the hats and sunglasses that the Australian Open ball persons get to wear. It gets hot on court!” … All Western Hockey League players and officials will wear an “EC” helmet decal this season, in memory of Ed Chynoweth (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Yesterday’s Ticker item about Nicky Hayden’s motoGP helmet led Al Stone to point me toward the sport’s most “creative” helmet, as worn by Valentino Rossi. … Tyler Kepner reports that Juan Miranda, who wore No. 66 for the Bronx Bombers last night, is the first Yankee to wear that number since Jim Deshaies in 1984 (only one other Yank has ever worn it: Steve Balboni, in 1981-83), and that Humberto Sanchez, who made his MLB debut last night, is the first 77 in team history.. … Illinois will go NNOB this fall (with thanks to Andrew Joseph). … Cool old Ohio State hoops jersey with a crotch extension (with thanks to Nina Jablonski). … Latest System of Dress school: Michigan State. … Chris Cooley of the Redskins has posted more photos of his cock some info on the Ridell Revolution Speed helmet he’s been wearing. Details here (click on the photos for much larger versions). … Ethan Rowley thinks the guy about to receive the snap in this 1902 photo looks like Darth Vader. … New hoops uniforms on the way for Oklahoma State. … T.J. Leibowitz reports that former University of Colorado football coach and athletic director Eddie Crowder, who died last week, is being memorialized on the football team’s field and nose bumpers. … Speaking of nose bumpers, look what the high school team in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, is wearing (with thanks to Steve Hicks). … The Blues’ third jersey is described in detail, but not shown, here (thanks to Adam Chkautovich).
September 19th, 2008
Several readers alerted me to an interesting bit of logo-related chatter between Fox broadcasters Tom McCarthy (that’s him on the right, pantomiming “I’m with Stupid”) and Eric Karros (on the left) during Saturday’s Brewers/Phillies game. Here’s a transcript:
Tom McCarthy: The Milwaukee Brewers are trying to end the longest playoff drought in Major League Baseball. In fact, if you look longest droughts in sports, the Brewers, 26 years since their last postseason appearance. That’s when they went to the World Series in 1982. … And y’know, [current Brewers skipper] Ned Yost and [current bench coach] Ted Simmons were part of that team, wearing that logo right there, which is, to me, the best logo in baseball. That logo was designed by Tom Meindel, who was an art history major at the University of Wisconsin back in the day, just on a whim. He submitted it, they decided to keep it, and now they’ve reintroduced it to the Milwaukee community this year.
[McCarthy then narrates a bit of flashback footage from the 1982 World Series. Then they return to the game at hand.]
Eric Karros: I’m still marveling that you knew the history of the hat. I mean, what the heck were you doing? Were you just studying…
McCarthy: It’s my favorite logo in Major League Baseball.
Karros: Alright. Okay. I’ll go with that. So you don’t know the origin of all the other logos? I mean, I’m not gonna get a dissertation on…
McCarthy: I can give you the fact that, y’know, the Mets logo is blue because of the Dodgers and orange because of the Giants. That’s all I really know about that.
Karros: Awright, we gotta get off the hats, because this — I, I don’t know anything about the hats, and you’re just making me look bad.
McCarthy: Well, let me ask you, which logo do you like better?
Karros: I like that, the one on the right is good. I like the Brewer hat. [Of course, they’re BOTH Brewer hats, but clarity doesn’t appear to be Karros’s strongest suit. — PL]
McCarthy: It’s sharp!
Karros: Yeah, it is sharp. I don’t know if I’d necessarily wear it to the mall or anything, but…
McCarthy: Well, I have worn that logo to the mall.
[At this point McCarthy tells a story about a big hit that Ned Yost hit back in that 1982 season and explains how the Brewers pulled out the division title on the last day of the ’82 season]
Karros: Okay, I’m gonna ask this question: Did you research that, or…?
McCarthy: I did.
Karros: Okay, okay. ’Cause if you’da known that too, I’da gotten up right now, I’da taken off this headset and walked out. I was done.
McCarthy [chuckling]: I did not wake up this morning and it came to me. I did research it.
A few thoughts here:
• The Brewers do not have the longest current MLB postseason drought. The Nationals/Expos do. They last made the playoffs in 1981. I suspect the Fox producers are more to blame for this than the broadcasters.
• McCarthy got a lot of things right in his storytelling, but he got one thing seriously wrong: The Brewers didn’t reintroduce the ball-in-glove logo this year — they’ve been wearing those Sunday throwbacks since 2006, and the throwbacks were officially announced and unveiled in December of 2005.
• There’s something really sad about the way Karros essentially ridiculed McCarthy for, essentially, having some knowledge and supplementing that knowledge with a bit of research. In other words, McCarthy was behaving like a professional who takes his job seriously, plus he’s a fan of the game and has a favorite logo, and for some reason this meant Karros felt obliged to make fun of him (yo, Eric, maybe if you’d done a little homework before a game, you might be able to participate in these sorts of discussions). I find this depressingly emblematic of a disturbing tendancy in American life. Again and again in our civic discourse, our political discourse, our professional discourse, etc., expertise and knowledge and preparation are increasingly poo-pooed and derided.
I realize nobody likes a know-it-all, but McCarthy wasn’t coming off that way — he was just making conversation (if you could hear the audio, you’d see what I mean). I also realize America has a proud middlebrow/anti-intellectual tradition — a tradition I generally like, respect, and identify with on many levels — but it’s getting way out of hand these days, and Karros’s commentary captures it in a nutshell. If he can’t take his job seriously (and is going to razz someone who does), why is he even in the booth to begin with? Yeah, he was kinda-sorta kidding when he said he’d take off his headset and walk out of the booth, but he was also kinda-sorta indicating his inability — indeed, his refusal — to engage with a situation that would require him to flex his brain. It’s not just that he Doesn’t Get It™; it’s that he behaved like a lunkhead who’d rather bring the world down to his level than try to raise up his own level. That needs to stop. And not just in the broadcast booth.
Signal Flare: Yo, Chris Gale, if you’re out there, please get in touch. Thanks.
Membership Drive/Raffle Update: I’m happy to report that we’ve racked up well over 20 new membership orders since last Thursday (including one from Nate Kettlewell, who’s our 600th member), which means I’ll be putting those three College Vault books up for a raffle. Thanks for the great response, and I hope people will continue to enroll.
I’ll conduct that raffle next week, but this week I want to raffle off a copy of Remember the AFL, a gorgeous new volume that’s one of the best-looking football books I’ve ever seen. It runs nearly 450 pages and is loaded with great photos, well-researched text, and lots of trivia tidbits. Great production values, great material. A slideshow of some sample content from the book (including a new-to-me shot of the Broncos’ vertically striped socks) is available here.
To be eligible to win a copy of this excellent tome, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch address, please) by 10pm eastern this Friday. If you’ve enrolled in the membership program, you can send up to four separate e-mail entries; non-members are limited to one entry. I’ll announce the winner next week.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Two Fridays ago I went into the offices of MLB Video to be interviewed about all sorts of uni-related stuff. The first part of that interview (the rest, I’m told, is still being edited and produced) is available here. … The NFL wised up and removed those huge-ass Gene Upshaw memorial patches for yesterday’s games. Instead, everyone’s now wearing rear-helmet decals, which is how it should’ve been handled in the first place. The lone exception: The Raiders are still wearing the patch (plus they’re also wearing the decal), but the patch they’re now wearing is clearly smaller than the one everyone was wearing last week. … Following up on an earlier discussion, here’s a game-used jersey showing that Cesar Cedeno did not wear a tilde back in the 1970s after all (with thanks to Jared Wheeler). … Another follow-up: On Friday I asked about this sleeve logo, which I’d never seen before. Several readers (led by Trevor Botting and James Huening) identified it as the Wilson Staff golf logo (which has evolved a bit and now looks like this. Jimmy Wright even provided a photo of his Neil Smith jersey with the logo. The question now is why the hell would an NFL team have a golf logo on its jerseys? … Yet another follow-up from Friday: I mentioned that the Shea Stadium outfield wall was light-colored with black distance numbers (instead of dark with white numbers) for the first seven home games of 1967 and asked if anyone had a photo. Nicholas Schiavo came up with this shot from the 1968 Mets yearbook. It’s blurry, but those are definitely black numerals on the outfield fence. Nicely done, Nicholas! … That same yearbook also feaured this page. Note that the big photo in the center is flopped — the scoreboard should be in right-center, not left-center. … Check out this amazing old helmet/mask setup (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … I think we’ve run this photo before, but you’ve gotta love the multiple double-decker FNOB action (with thanks to Zane Tuck). … Another double-decker FNOB: Marques Johnson. … Awesome photo find here by Matt Beahan: “There’s a jersey with NNOB, one with standard NOB, Rudy Tomjanovich (#45) with his first name, not to mention at least 4 different styles of sock striping on the Sixers players alone! Never seen anything like that before.” … The problem with having a shirt sponsor is that it can go belly-up. As a result, West Ham had to cover up their sponsor logo for Saturday’s match against Albion. And since Albion is still in the process of negotiating a sponsorship deal, making this a sponsorship logo-free match — the first in over two decades for top-division EPL teams, says Les Motherby. … More EPL oddities from Les: “On Saturday, the referee decided that Hull City’s all-slate grey away kit was not dissimilar enough to Newcastle United’s black and white uniforms, so the Tiger’s wore Newcastle’s white adidas road shorts and socks.” … David Gardner says this new book is really good. … Maryland has new endzone art, based on the state flag. And although I can’t go into specifics, I can tell you that a similar motif will be appearing on a Maryland team’s uniform next year. … If you really love a brand, bleed for it (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … Here’s a shot of John and Yoko I’d never seen before, getting all Habsed out. … “We went over the typical NBA rookie photo shoot stuff a few weeks back, but I don’t think this came up,” says Clark Farrand. “What the hell is that?” Good question. Anyone..? … Check this out (courtesy of Brinke Guthrie): Tim Lincecum shines his own cleats! … Great mural here celebrating 150 years of Aussie-rules football. Click on various sections for more info (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy, several Japanese baseball notes: Yomiuri reliever Mark Croon has been testing a pink glove in practice; Alex Ramirez has been wearing striped wristbands; this page features a pictorial history of the Softbank/Nankai/Daiei Hawks uniforms; and the Rakuten Golden Eagles wore a special uniform, with a very odd vertical insignia, for their Fan Club days back in July. … Here’s something you don’t see every day: a football coach in a cast and on crutches. Details here. … Last week I mentioned that my Page 2 colleague Kurt Snibbe had created some logo tweaks for NFL helmets. Gumball helmet king Bill Jones liked these so much that he went ahead and created gumball decals based on Kurt’s designs. … Dig the tremendous sleeve patch on this old American Legion jersey (with thanks to Alan Hoffman). … Some really nice old CFL video footage here (with thanks to Richard Musterer). … If this fit me, I’d totally bid on it. Same goes for this. And this is fun (note how the text begins, “No time to lose, Mr. Manager of American Legion Post Teams…”). … Frank Klemm notes that Brett Favre’s captaincy patch was coming loose yesterday. … LSU running back Charles Scott wore his gloves in his belt loops on Saturday. Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do that while carrying the ball (good spot by Greg Riffenburgh, who also sent along this article about OSU merit decals). … Frank Gore had some very odd sock action going on yesterday. Also, compare his gloves and cleats in that photo, which was taken in the second half, to the gloves and cleats he was wearing in the first half. It’s not often that you’ll see a player pull off that kind of switcheroo. … By now you probably know that Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs tossed a no-hitter last night against the Astros. You might also know that the game was originally slated to be played in Houston but was relocated to Miller Park in Milwaukee due to Hurricane Ike. What you might not know is both teams wore gray pants, even though Houston was the designated home team (presumably because they’re heading off on a road trip afterward and probably didn’t want to pack an extra set of pants). Let that be a lesson to you, kids: If you wear gray for a home game, even at a neutral site, you’re asking for it. There’s another Cubs/’Stros game at Miller Park this afternoon. Ya think the ’Stros are having their white pants shipped up for that one? … Phil Hecken got a screen grab of Willie Parker’s ripped pants from last night. … RIP, DFW.
September 15th, 2008
Well. Umm … there’s this. Apparently Nike’s “our uniforms are lighter and therefore better” campaign has really taken off. The pants are so thin you can see through them. I guess that would make them lighter, huh?
But the see through pants, which can also be seen here (sorry — and thanks to Kate for the screen grab), are on the same guy in both shots — running back Daniel Herron. I think perhaps it’s time for some new pants, huh? That or maybe a nice pair of compression shorts next time. — Bryan
September 14th, 2008
Baseball’s “patriotic” lids reappeared this week to mark Sept. 11. Much like when they were worn the first time on (and near) July 4, there appears to be no set protocol whatsoever.
From Friday: Athletics, Angels, Mariners, Pirates, Padres, Dodgers, Royals (who played Cliff Lee’s Indians), Giants, Rangers.
Is it just that particular day? Is it the day after, too? What about the rest of the weekend? Well, probably not on these guys. At first, I thought it was a game-by-game thing. The Angels and Mariners are squaring off, both in stars and stripes. And the Giants and Padres are sans flag hats. Similarly, the Pirates are playing the Cardinals, both in special hats, while the D-Baacks and Reds are without.
But the A’s and Rangers are playing each other, too. A’s have regular lids. Rangers love god and country.
Funny how MLB can’t figure out what to do with these things after the intended day, but they had a pretty good idea how to use them to make a pile of money raise money for a veterans cause. –Bryan
September 13th, 2008
Uni Watch is taking a day off, in memory of Gene Upshaw in honor of Tom Brady’s ACL because I’m busy with a bunch of other stuff. So no content and no comments today. Back in the saddle tomorrow — see you then.
September 10th, 2008
Been over a month since our last Ricko installment, a gap that I’m sure has sent many of you into withdrawal (me, too). Without further ado:
• Check out all these white-shod N.L. all-stars from 1981. Also, note Dave Concepcion wearing red cleats — not quite as much a statement as white, but still a deviation from Cincy’s usual black footwear at the time. In this shot, from the same game, you can see Andre Dawson wearing white.
• Speaking of footwear, check out Dave Parker’s gold Brookses (interesting shin-lacing technique, too). “This shot is from ’81 also and, while not from the ASG in question, this photo got saved because it matched the shoes he wore when he made those two great throws,” says Ricko. “I know, cuz I watched that game like a hawk trying to figure out ‘What’s he wearing THIS year?’” Yes, back in the day, Ricko actually kept a running tally of the Cobra’s cleats. Unfuckingbelievable.
• “I actually have sketches (on 3 x 5 cards) of what I call ‘Innovators,’ mostly for football,” says Ricko. “First guys to tape shoes, first guys to wear white shoes, first to wear colored shoes, first to wear Saucony, adidas, puma, k-swiss… I actually did this well into adulthood. Drawn on vellum, then taped to black cards. Always thought they might look cool enlarged, that the effect would be interesting. I was right. Anyway, here are the ‘Tape’ and ‘White Shoes’ sketches for Namath. And from the ‘Colored Shoes,’ series, a NY guy like you should appreciate these.”
• “How many socks did the White Sox wear when the White Sox wore white socks?” asks Ricko. Answer: Lots, as seen in this slideshow.
• Joe Pepitone was famous for his hair-care habits, but early in his career he was close-shorn. Later on, he looked bushier. And is that a cigarette in his mouth?
• Saucony cleats used a three-stripe pattern several years before Adidas did. And look who used to wear them.
• “This photo interested me for two reasons,” says Ricko. “First, Lance Alworth, rookie year, ’62, wore No. 24. Also, Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson, one of the early tape guys, started spatting up his Sauconys that year (Alworth didn’t start spatting till ’63, when he changed to No. 19).
Interestingly enough, each of them had worn Sauconys the year before; Alworth at Arkansas, Williamson with Raiders. Will have to dig those photos out later. And here’s the Hammer again, also from ’62, but with more tape. Also note one of his teammates must have preferred his ‘Bears-style’ helmet from the two previous seasons (no gold stripe is first thing you notice).”
• “Here’s one of the most uni-oriented magazine covers I ever saw,” says Ricko. “And speaking of Don Maynard, that’s him in this 1960 shot, wearing his funky original Titans helmet. And here he is in the first year of the Jets, still wearing his funky Titans helmet, now repainted to lustrous white and kelly. The reason he has no helmet logo is likely because it was a preseason game, just like in this shot (although now the Jets had two stripes, not one).”
That’ll do for today. More Rickosity coming next week.
Support Our Enablers Sponsors: As you may have noticed, we have a new advertiser over in the right-hand rail, just above the Google panel: Classic Old School Gear, a custom-jersey operation that’s ideal if you’re looking to create a reproduction of, say your high school jersey. The company is run by reader Alain Nana-Sinkam, who’s a swell guy (and a card-carrying member, don’tcha know), so please check them out, ’K? ’K.
Uni Watch News Ticker: You already knew that the Vikings use a metallic finish for their helmets, but you might not have known that they also used metallic flake in their helmet decals (with thanks to Dan Smith). … This page has the following tidbit: “The next year [2004], a Royals employee went to the Dominican to scout some games or whatever. And in the middle of the day, he hears someone call his name. He turns around and it’s Jose Lima … WEARING A FULL ROYALS UNIFORM. Everything. Pants. Socks. The whole bit. During the offseason. In the middle of the day. In the Dominican Republic” (thanks, Vince). … The Magic’s new jerseys appear to have been leaked (with thanks to Rob Payne). … The Hiroshima Carp will wear 1977 throwbacks later this month to mark their final year at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (as reported by, of course, Jeremy Brahm). … Good article here on the guy who cleans the jerseys for the Jets and Giants (with thanks to Dane Drutis). … Check this out: The 1902 Oklahoma Sooners — with their coach wearing a Texas Longhorns sweater. That shot comes our way courtesy of Dan Bewley, who also sent this early article on football equipment (here’s the second page). … Travis Hafner, like most rehabbing MLBers, is wearing his big league helmet while down in the minors (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Big thanks to a reader who shall remain nameless, who was kind enough to send me a set of Phillies stirrups, complete with laundry tags and Liberty Bells. And in case you were wondering the Liberty Bells are embroidered, not printed. … Speaking of reader generosity, last month I mentioned that I became a 49ers fan because I pulled this football card out of a box of cereal when I was six years old but that the card had gotten lost along the way. Three different readers arranged to have the card sent to me — you guys are amazing, really. Thank you. … Lots of chatter that this may be the Sabers’ new third jersey. Not sure if it’s legit or not, but we’ll all find out soon enough. … Rezoning and rampant giveaways to developers here in NYC have taken a massive toll on the institution of the neighborhood tavern. But yesterday local DJ Mr. Fine Wine and I spent Monday afternoon drinking and shooting pool at this fine establishment, which is only a 25-minute bike ride from my apt. but had somehow eluded my bar radar over the past two decades. Just as perfect inside as it looks from the outside. … Good site devoted to retro soccer gear here (with thanks to Michael Doucette). … My recent coverage of high-positioned shin guards led Mike Engle to point out that Henry Rodriguez pioneered that style years ago. … The Packers wore white shoes in the preseason (just as they’ve done for years), but they broke out black shoes last night. First time they’ve gone black-shod since 1975. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: New center-ice designs for the Hurricanes and Habs. … Also from yesterday: Shorpy scores again. … Decal problems for the Huskies (with thanks to Casey Moses).
September 9th, 2008
Kentucky went monochrome on Saturday, while Norfolk State most definitely did not. I really don’t like the all-blue look there — it’s the definition of unitard.
But Norfolk State … now you’re on to something. I’m guessing it’ll be a pretty polarizing look. Me, I like it in a low-budget high school sort of way. It’s different than everybody else, but probably because they were dug out of the old storage closet or something. Unfortunately, monochrome still wins. — Bryan
September 7th, 2008
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