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Posts filed under 'Gloves'
The Patriots are setting all sorts of offensive records this season, but they may also be leading the league in unusual regulatory sanctions. First there was the video-spying incident. And now comes the news that two of the Pats — including Tom Brady — have been fined for not buckling their chinstraps.
Players have been going partially unsnapped for years now, of course (for further details on this and other aspects of chinstrap protocol, look here), a problem that the league has apparently made a concerted effort to eradicate this season. League officials say the issue is safety, not style, but I kinda think that’s just a smokescreen. After all, a few players still wear the old two-point strap, so wouldn’t this still offer more protection than the two-pointer? Methinks to NFL brain trust just doesn’t like seeing those straps flapping around out there.
The league is supposedly issuing chinstrap warnings before levying penalties, which means anyone fined for this infraction is a de facto serial offender. That’s hard to believe in Brady’s case, at least based on the photographic record. Do a Google image search on him and about 90% of the pics that come up show him fully buckled, with only the occasional exception. Sudden thought: Most of the players going unsnapped these days are black (including Ty Warren, the other Patriot who’s been fined). Could the league have singled out Brady simply to avoid charges of racism? Hmmmmm.
Speaking of Warren, he was fined for going unsnapped in the Pats’ game against the Bills on September 23rd. Must not have made a particularly big impression on him, because he was unsnapped again this past Sunday.
For more info on these and other uni infractions, visit our friends at UniformViolation.com.
Intern Position Available: I’m pretty much a self-sufficient guy. I work for myself, and by myself, at home. Delegating has never been my strong suit. When something needs to be done, I’d usually rather do it myself than explain the task to someone else.
About a year ago, however, I was lucky enough to encounter someone who helped bring me out of my shell — someone who showed me that I don’t always have to do everything myself, that it’s okay to trust others, and that I don’t need to maintain complete autonomy over every little thing. For the first time in ages, I allowed myself to surrender a bit of control. I don’t mind admitting that I was a bit nervous about it at first, but in the end it turned out to be an eye-opening experience.
And that’s how I started dating Jenny Strasburg. Lovely gal, but it didn’t work out. Too bad.
Oh, and around that same time I hired Vince Grzegorek to be the first Uni Watch intern. Pretty good hire, right? But after nearly a year of making my life easier and making Uni Watch a much better project than it would otherwise have been, he’s now getting ready to move onward and upward in the media world. So I’m gonna need a new assistant, starting roughly at the end of November.
Here’s the deal: I’m looking for someone who’s passionate about sports in general and uniforms in particular (duh), with a really good eye for detail (double-duh) and an affinity for historical minutiae. A big part of the job involves research, so please be adept at creative googling, willing to go to the library, and unafraid to pick up the phone and call a team’s media relations office. The right person will also be a good writer who wants to become even better, will have some interest (and maybe proficiency) in graphic design, and will be willing to commit substantial time and energy in return for no pay and meager non-cash benefits (how’s that for a great deal?). Ideally, this person will also have a bunch of wonderful qualities that I didn’t even realize I was looking for. Helpful but not essential: HTML literacy, Mac fluency, NYC-area residency.
Also: If you don’t have good writing or research skills but live in NYC and still want to help out, I’d be willing to sign someone on to assist with other tasks, like processing membership orders and basic site maintenance. I promise you’ll never have to make me coffee, primarily because I don’t drink coffee. I make no promises about asking you to run out for a 12-pack of Diet Coke, however.
Interested? Then e-mail me with a short explanation of why you’re the right person for the job. Please note that I don’t want to see your résumé, I don’t care how big your jersey collection is, and it makes no difference to me whether you’ve been reading Uni Watch since 1999 or just discovered it last week. I simply want to hear you tell me why you’re the right choice to be my right-hand man (or woman, as the case might be).
Finally, if you want to learn more about the job from the guy who currently holds it, feel free to e-mail Vince with any questions. He’ll be happy to give you the inside scoop, and he’ll keep your discussions confidential if you don’t want me to know about them.
Uni Watch News Ticker: USC’s John David Booty is trying to protect his broken middle finger with a glove. … While looking for a FNOB photo of Brent Sutter, Chesky Bevo came across this. What’s that symbol above the uni numbers? … Captaincy note from Giants equipment director Joe Skiba: “The NFL sent us blue [captain’s] patches for home and road jerseys, and some red ones for the red jerseys. But I called the league and got permission to use the red patches for the away uniforms. Are we the only team with two different-colored patches?” Not sure — anyone..? … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Daniel Sedin was showing some garter the other night. … Also from yesterday: As if NHL players haven’t been complaining enough about too much moisture ending up in their gloves and skates, there’s now talk of them using heated skate blades. No, really! And Wayne Gretzky’s a big fan. … Thank god we’re more than halfway through the month of October, which means all pink uniforms will soon be behind us. For now, though, Sharks goalie prospect Thomas Greiss is wearing a pink mask. Details about two-thirds of the way down this page (with thanks to Paul Locatelli). … Loads of NHL patches for sale here. … Longtime Uni Watch pal Kevin Walsh is showcasing some awesome terra cotta uniforms on about two-thirds of the way down this page on his awesome site, Forgotten NY. … Nick Maibroda reports that NASCAR driver Patrick Carpentier was given a Canadiens jersey with NASCAR-style numbering the other day. … You think maybe Indians pitcher Jenson Lewis’s parents have a lot of furniture from these guys? … Oregon has been practicing in white helmets this week, and the white lids (which appear to have green nose bumpers) may finally make their long-threatened game debut this weekend. Details here (with thanks to Dan Coleman). … Paul Locatelli notes that Joe Thornton’s helmet appears to have a old-style downward-sloping NHL logo, not the new version. … This year’s World Series cap patch will look like this. … Lots of great White Sox uni footage, from many different eras, in the second half of this video. … Bizarre and disturbing photo here (as spotted by Eric Distenfeld).
October 17th, 2007
The e-mails started arriving at Uni Watch HQ right after the end of Saturday’s Kentucky/LSU game. While the rest of the country was buzzing about Kentucky’s upset victory, Uni Watch readers were puzzling over something that had briefly appeared on their TV screens. Of the dozen or so readers who got in touch, Rob Kustal summed it up best:
With :02 left in regulation, before the big field goal missed by LSU, CBS showed vintage footage of Kentucky, circa 1950 or so. I didn’t even catch the specific story, because I was so distracted by what I thought I saw: I swear it was a player wearing a jersey number reading ‘1A.’ My friend thought he saw the same thing. It could’ve been a funky-looking 14, or maybe 17, but it certainly looked like 1A.
And that’s exactly what it was. What was this all about? The answer is buried on this page, devoted to Kentucky football history. The pertinent passage reads as follows:
During the course of his legendary career, Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was known as an innovator of introducing changes in the game of football. One change Bryant introduced during his tenure at Kentucky was the use of a unique number system to identify twins Harry and Larry Jones, who both lettered three years (1950-52) with the Wildcats. Harry wore 1A and Larry wore 1B. Harry led the Wildcats in all-purpose yardage in 1951 with 964 while Larry led UK in kickoff returns (21.1 avg) in 952.
Maybe someone should have said, “Yo, Bear, here’s an innovation for ya: If you want to tell them apart, howzabout giving them No. 1 and No. 2?” or something like that. In any event, this wasn’t the only time a team used numbers and letters in tandem. In 1952, LSU used an alpha-numberic system based on the players’ positions. And then there’s this YMCA basketball team, circa 1900, which Vince wrote about back in January.
But the Kentucky situation is unique because, as far as I can tell, it’s the only time that an alpha-numeric format — or any non-standard numbering format — was used for just a couple of players, instead of team-wide. A silly idea at the time, but great Uni Watch fodder half a century later.
(Special thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who provided the “1A” screen shot.)
Flap Follow-Up: Last Thursday’s entry on Earl Battey and his improvised earflap led to a nice shout-out from Blake Meyer, who runs the superb TwinsCards.com site. He put out the call among his people, one of whom, Pat Bones, came up with those two elusive Battey photos from the 1963 Twins yearbook. The pics aren’t great, but the flap is there if you’re looking for it. Big thanks to Blake, Pat, and the TwinsCards.com network for coming up with these.
Now let’s see if we can return the favor: Blake and his people want to know what’s up with this 1968 baseball card. It appears to have been taken at an all-star game, but the ’67 game was in Anaheim, so the A.L. players would have been wearing home whites and the N.L. would have worn road grays, instead of the other way around. Maybe it’s from the ’66 game..? Insights welcome.
Research Project: I’m trying to compile a list of uniform quirks and eccentricities that aren’t part of a team’s official uni specs but have nonetheless become part of the team’s established protocol. Examples would include the Cowboys’ Dymo Tape helmet nameplates (as seen at right) and jersey tie-downs, the Giants’ rounded nameplates, the Bears’ horizontal shoulder darts, the Steelers’ heavily ribbed socks, the Red Wings’ preseason use of straight nameplates, and so on. Care to contribute some additional examples? You know what to do.
Uni Watch News Ticker: We’ve often talked about city flags appearing on sleeve patches or serving as the basis of team color schemes. Now Scott Greene has found a page featuring dozens of city flags, most of which I’d never seen before. Did you know Detroit’s flag looked like this? Or that Long Beach’s looked like this? Fascinating stuff — highly recommended. … Speaking of flags, last week I asked if anyone had a shot of the American flag flanked by an Adidas flag during the singing of “God Bless America” at Yankee Stadium. Now Tim Walsh has provided this, which must surely rank among the most offensive examples of logo creep ever. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: David Carr’s penchant for wearing gloves has led to a new blog. … Susan N. Freeman found an amazing 1929 photo featuring these totally rad Texas Tech uniforms. … Nate Allen lost his shoe the other day (good spot by Greg Riffenburgh). … Last week I linked to a great Sports Business Journal article about the NFL cracking down on uniform violations, but you had to register for a free trial subscription in order to access the story. Now I’ve got a scan of the print version of the article — print quality isn’t top-notch, but it’s legible. Highly recommended reading. … Great catch by Dennis Gray, who noticed that Manny Fernandez’s lace-up collar didn’t have any laces the other night. He doesn’t always go lace-free, so it’s not clear if this was a matter of personal preference or just an oversight. … Dave Eskinazi sent along this old Spalding Tour photo. At first glance the most salient details are the classy chest insignia, the white belt, and the colored pants. But take a closer look at the detailing on the sleeve cuffs. “Never seen anything like it,” says Eskinazi, and neither have I. … “There is so much wrong with this photo, I don’t know where to begin,” writes Jordan Cutler. For the record, that’s Geo Soto playing for the triple-A Iowa Cubs. … In the “Oh. My. God.” department, the Wisconsin hoops team will honor their 1941 NCAA championship squad by wearing throwbacks on December 3rd, and I may just have to fly out to Madison for that one, because we’re talking about some serious striped-sock action (with thanks to Damion Beth and Karl G. Anderson). … Thomas Langan reports that the Hofstra lacrosse team honored former teammate Nick Colleluori, who recently died of lymphoma, by wearing lime green uniforms (the color of the lymphoma ribbon), all with No. 27 (Colleluori’s number), back on October 7th. … Has Dartmouth always had these weird helmet stripes? (As spotted by Zevi Lowenberg.) … Old Dominion will return to football competition in 2009, and their just-unveiled uniforms appear to be a total rehash of the current Miami design. Of course, Miami will have moved on to a new uni by 2009, so ODU is basically getting sloppy seconds here (with thanks to Charles Pritt). … Here’s something I don’t recall having seen before: Evander Holyfield had his surname on his shoes during Saturday night’s bout against Sultan Ibragimov. … No comment. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Western New Mexico has taken the very odd step of putting their helmet decal on the back of the helmet. … Reprinted from Saturday night’s comments: Lots of inconsistencies in Auburn’s nameplate typography (as noted by Kris McInnis). … Since the NFL fines players for having their jerseys untucked, can’t the NHL do something about Jaromir Jagr, who keeps wearing his jersey tucked in? Looks like crap. … Rutgers wore black pants on Saturday. Doesn’t look bad, but also doesn’t look like Rutgers. … The Jets’ Titans throwbacks looked nice, but oddly collegiate, no? (First person to comment, “That’s appropriate, since the Jets play like a college team” gets tossed from the site, so please be more creative than that.) … Major wardrobe malfunction yesterday in Chicago, where Adrian Peterson of the Vikings had his pants come down in the fourth quarter (nice work by Aaron Etshokin). … According to Dressed to the Nines, in 1974 the Red Sox wore an alternate uniform, featuring a multicolored cap and non-striped stirrups. Not sure I’d ever seen a photo of this design until Andy Given came up with this shot of El Tiante (which he found in this excellent gallery of Red Sox pics). … Not sure why, but the Chargers’ new powder-blue alts didn’t quite wow me. I think it’s because the blue panel on the pants creates a blue overload. … Meanwhile, guess whose American flag helmet decal was missing yet again. … Attention all fans of design (which pretty much means everyone reading this): This is National Design Week, which among other things means free admission at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum here in NYC. … Several readers think Santana Moss was wearing a collared shirt under his jersey yesterday. Personally, I’m dubious, but you can kinda see it here. If this sounds familiar, it’s because we went through a similar discussion regarding the Saints’ Will Smith last year. … Interesting volleyball hosiery here (with thanks to Steven Trujillo). … Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero was wearing a ski cap under his mask last night. … Brandon Bowker works at a book store where a copy of this title recently came through. “Check out those socks!” he says. Indeed. … Remember our recent examination of Todd Helton and his Mizuno-ized Nike cleats? Here’s a great close-up from last night’s Rockies/D-backs game. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Nice little video clip here about Martin Gerber’s new mask.
October 15th, 2007
So I was looking through the membership card gallery the other day, and I was suddenly struck by something I’d never noticed before: Most of the drop shadows and block shadows fall down and to the right — call it the five o’clock shadow.
As I started looking at photos, I realized that five o’clock shadows are standardized throughout most of the sports world. The primary exception among current teams is the New York Rangers, whose block shadows go down and to the left (a protocol that holds for all their jerseys). For everyone else, it’s down and to the right, down and to the right, ad infinitum.
I was curious about how this phenomenon became so entrenched. Was it because we read from left to right? Was it because the sun sets in the west, casting an eastward shadow? Was it a something designers consciously considered when coming up with uniform designs, or did they just reflexively go with the five o’clock format without even thinking about it?
I posed those questions to Todd Radom and Scott M.X. Turner, both of whom have designed a few uniforms in their day. Here’s an edited version of their responses:
Todd Radom: Agreed, drop shadows traditionally fall off to the bottom right, and I can only assume that this is a logical function of [our culture’s] left-to-right thing. Are there any drop shadows in the new Israeli baseball league that go from right to left? [I don’t think so. — PL]
My 2 cents: Bottom-right is the way to go. And the shadow should be connected to the top layer of lettering, as opposed to just being set off. Also, I think any drop shadow should be darker than the layer on top, so white drop shadows on a black background, for instance, make no sense at all.
The 49ers numbers achieve drop shadow perfection for my money.
Scott M.X. Turner: What Todd said, basically. The Rangers’ bottom-left look has become so iconic that it doesn’t strike me as odd (though it does feel counterintuitive when I do Rangers treatments for Uni Watch cardbacks).
I agree block shadow is a better idea than drop shadow. … I’m not as sold that the bottom layer needs to be darker, however — the St. Louis Browns stuck orange under brown back in the ’40s, and Cleveland did it in 1970 with red under navy [and let’s not forget this — PL]. I guess it depends on whether you’re trying to convey a shadow or a block. If it’s a shadow, then Todd’s right, should be darker; block, then most anything goes.
Unlike the well-documented histories of pinstripes, certain colors, and logos, I’m not sure there’s a way to know for sure why shadows came out lower-right. Just that most of us designers agree that’s the way it feels right. And nine times out of ten, the feel’s more important than the math.
Todd also pointed out what may be the oddest configuration of all: the one used by the late-1950s Washington Senators, whose block shadow ran up and to the right. I’m unaware of any other team having done this. But then again, until a week or so ago I hadn’t given much thought to this topic to begin with.
And that’s the thing — once you start thinking about a subject like this, all sorts of things start jumping out at you. With my “shadow radar” more finely tuned in recent days, I’ve suddenly noticed a few more left-leaning shadows. During my recent visit to Lelands, for example, I turned over this New Jersey Knights jersey and immediately fixated on the nameplate. And when preparing yesterday’s ESPN column about “one and done” designs, I was got a little rush of excitement when I saw the shadow configuration on Wisconsin’s one-day design from 1995.
My feeling is that while drop and block shadows often look good (especially on a membership card), they can also add unnecessary clutter to a design. And while I haven’t done a formal tally, my sense of things is that more teams are employing shadows these days than in the past, because they’re so easy to execute digitally. I’m fairly certain teams like the Mets, Dolphins, and 49ers, all of which added drop shadows within the past decade, wouldn’t have done so if it hadn’t been so easy for a designer to call everyone over to his computer and say, “Look, what if we just did this…” I’m not saying there’s no place for shadows, but most of them these days come with the distinct echo of “Because we can.”
Raffle Results: I’m happy to announce that the winner of the Helmet Hut raffle for a free college football helmet is Vertically Arched member Mike Brodsky. Mike, please get in touch with me pronto to claim your prize.
Thanks to all who entered. And I can absolutely promise, incidentally, that next month’s raffle is gonna be a mind-blower.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Creepy Nike product placement of the day — and one of the best ever — here (with mega-thanks to Chris Dominiak). … The Jets, who were originally known as the Titans, will be having a, uh, Titanic throwback game on October 14th. Lots good Titans info is available here (and be sure to check out the JetsTV video link, which features some fantastic Titans footage — special thanks to Mike from Queens for that link). … Cool-sounding exhibit of military uniforms currently on display in Delray Beach, Florida. Details here (with thanks to Jeff Fishman). … Speaking of military unis, check out this. … Yesterday Todd Radom e-mailed me an article about various lowlights in Phillies uniform history (it’s not web-accessible, alas), and one passage in particular caught my eye: “June 10, 1972. Trying to inject some life into a 19-29 club at the start of a homestand, gimmick-obsessed team vice president Bill Giles suggested that, since the Phillies had been playing better on the the road than at home, they ought to try their road uniforms at the Vet. Giles’ plan bombed. The Atlanta Braves’ 15-3 victory included Hank Aaron’s 649th home run, a grand slam.” The Braves were wearing the “feather” design on the road that year, so it wasn’t gray-vs.-gray, but still — two teams wearing road uniforms? I’d never heard about this before. Anyone else? … When not serving me cocktails, doing my laundry, and changing Tucker and Caitlin’s litterbox, Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek moonlights at a dental office. And who should come in for a root canal yesterday but a VP of Sales for Reebok. “He was dressed head to toe in Reebok stuff,” reports Vince. “Shorts, shoes, socks, and the logo was EXTREMELY prominent.” While he was in the chair, Vince slipped him some nitrous oxide and nabbed this Cleveland Browns cap from his briefcase. Then he put a Uni Watch temporary tattoo on his arm, etched a Nike swoosh onto one of his front teeth, and doubled his bill. All in a day’s work. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Major hosiery development Wednesday night, as Esteban Loaiza was wearing special stirrups with the A’s logo on the side. Best photo so far (provided by Roger Faso) is here — you can just barely make out the logo on Loaiza’s left ankle. Anyone got a better shot? I can’t do screen grabs from my backup computer (main machine’s still in the shop, grumble-grumble), but I’m told that there were some close-up views in the first inning. … Here’s a quote for the ages: “It was an interesting lesson to learn in how quickly a fire can happen.” To appreciate the full context, look here (with thanks to Peter Bliao). … The Trenton Thunder unveiled a new identity system yesterday. … And Cleveland State unveiled a new logo (as noted by Josh Yetmar). … Golf report from Dan Sherman, who writes: “At the first round of the FedEx cup, close to 50 golfers were wearing blue belts with silver buckles inscribed with ‘IFF,’ for ‘Ian and Friends Foundation.’” Details here. … I’d heard about the Denver Bears’ “strike zone uniforms” before, but I’d never seen them — until now (with thanks to George McClure). … Can someone please tell the Mariners to stop wearing their BP jerseys in actual games? They did it again last night. … Here’s one I hadn’t been aware of: As you know, the Steelers switched from block numbers to their current font in 1997. But for the first game of that season — and only the first game — they kept their old block lettering for the nameplates, before switching to their now-familiar rounded font in Week 2. … Tired of seeing your favorite team’s baseball cap rendered in all sorts of weird colors? You’re not the only one (good find by Dave Miller). … Latest MLBer to wear toe socks: Brendan Ryan of the Cardinals. This and several other uni-related tidbits can be found in the last four paragraphs of this article. Meanwhile, the second text section of this piece reports that Ryan has some unusual taste in eyewear. (Both items sent my way by Elena Elms, who I’m pretty sure has a crush on Ryan.) … Mike Lowell has been wearing a Jeff Bagwell-style padded batting glove lately. “It was made by using an old piece of catching equipment, an idea conceived by the Red Sox trainers,” says AJ Chalifour. … Got an e-mail last night from Jay Gordon, who’s the editor-in-chief of Uniforms magazine (!), which features lively columns like “The Uniforms Laboratory” and “Ask the Uniforms Guy” (who, for some inexplicable reason, isn’t me). Granted, none of the uniforms are sports-related, but it still looks pretty damn cool. … Jason Cruz notes that there sure seems to be a lot of stuff going on on Lauren Jackson’s shoes. Anyone know what the “153″ is for?
August 24th, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: My Wednesday evening got completely derailed when Tom O’Grady posted a really interesting find in last night’s comments section: this jersey, supposedly a game-worn Don Meredith model. I say “supposedly” because I was having a hard time coming to grips with that wraparound-styled collar. I mean, shit, look at that thing! I couldn’t decide if it reminded more of this or this.
But within half an hour Tom had found this photo of Meredith, which seemed to confirm the odd collar style. Further evidence came when I found this photo (which I know I’ve seen before, and probably even linked to, but I never noticed the collar). Turns out Dandy Don was indeed quite the dandy!
Note that these photos all show Meredith wearing the Cowboys’ “stars on the shoulders” jersey design, which the team wore from 1960 through 1963. The next step, I figured, was to look at other Cowboys photos from this era (there’s a slew of them available at this site). And that’s where things get seriously weird: Some players appear to have had collars that were very much like Meredith’s (here’s one more). For other players, the collar’s crossover/wraparound effect was less pronounced. And some players just had a fairly normal-looking collar — pretty similar to this, right? There was also one collar that was extra-severe, with the crossover seam running all the way down to the uniform number. (Naturally, none of these variations were incorporated into the throwback version of the early-’60s jersey.)
We’ve examined collar styles before, but never anything like this. It’s such an odd design for an athletic jersey — plus it creates some unfortunate pucker patterns. Can’t believe I never noticed it before. Anyone know of any other football teams that wore anything like this?
The wraparound collar appears to have bitten the dust when the Cowboys switched to their current jersey design in 1964. (As an aside: In 1964 and ’65, the sleeves had three stripes. The switch to two stripes didn’t come until ’66.)
Senatorial Protocol: The Senators unveiled their new uniforms last night (there’s a gallery here). I always thought the soldier’s eyes looked way too big, like he was possessed or hypnotized or something, so I vastly prefer the new rendition of him. Like everyone else, I love the shoulder patch. Can’t say I’m thrilled with the rear view (especially the sock stripes, which are patterned after the ones used at the All-Star Game) but at least it’s better than this. All in all: Could’ve been worse.
Last-Chance Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the free college football helmet from Helmet Hut. If you haven’t already entered, send an e-mail here. One entry per person, but all Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees get three bonus entries — and that includes anyone who signs up today, up to 10 p.m. eastern, which is the deadline for the raffle. I’ll announce the winner tomorrow.
And speaking of members, I’m now inclined to think there are three enrollees (not two, as I thought yesterday) who’ve inadvertently been left off the roster. So again, if you’ve signed up for membership, please check the roster and make sure you’re on it. If you’re not, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Although the best Nike product placement ever remains the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide, this comes close (thanks, Vince). … Someone has created a ingeniously simple photo blog devoted to pics of people wearing jerseys on the street. Looks like it only launched a few weeks ago, but it has the makings of potential brilliance (great find by Josh Berliner). … Speaking of brilliant, check out this composite of the Canucks’ logos. … Eric Wisthoff sent me this photo with no explanation. I noticed that the URL indicated it was from Chance Michaels’s site, so I asked him to fill us in: “It’s from Halloween 1994, the Packers beating the Bears at Solider Field in monsoon-like conditions. Ken Ruettgers was goofing around in the holiday spirit, having some fun with the rather plain Packers throwback helmets. I don’t know if he ever actually wore it on the field, or if the decals were taken off before the game started. I suspect that they were — can’t imagine that the NFL would have been too happy with such a modification.” … Can you believe Alonzo Mourning has his own signature golf glove? (Good find by Chris Flinn.) … You Can’t Make This Stuff Up Dept.: The Portland Beavers are letting fans vote to help choose the team’s new name (or to keep it as is, which is the only acceptable outcome), and one of the choices is the Portland Wet Sox. Really. Depressing details here. … I don’t usually like the look of Livestrong-style bracelets, but on Tuesday night I was given this one, and I may never take it off. It was part of this amazing event (look closely and you’ll see me in one of the photos). … Latest cancer-fighting color: teal, which will be worn by Callaway-sponsored golf pros next month to raise awareness of ovarian cancer. Details here (with thanks to Seth Horowitz). … Jeff Bethune checks in with a follow-up to last Friday’s shoe-cutting discussion: “Cubs announcer Bob Brenley suggested tonight that shoe cutting and alterations happen in baseball as well. After Benjie Molina was hit in the toe with a foul ball, and Brenley — a former catcher — said how painful that is, and that with the swelling of the big toe, you sometimes need to cut a hole in the toe of the shoe to give extra room to the swollen toe.” … Speaking of footwear, add Yadier Molina to the list of MLBers wearing modified sneakers with cleat plates (as noted by footwear fetishist specialist Mark Mihalik, who almost made me spit out my Diet Coke by sending me this). … I assume everyone knows that the Cubs use an embroidered felt logo appliqué on their batting helmets, rather than a decal (it has actual depth). That distinction apparently came up in last night’s Cubs game, as Adam Collins explains: “In Henry Blanco’s first at bat in the top of the 10th, the ‘C’ patch on the front of his helmet appeared to be wrinkled in the middle and the upper portion was falling off. Interestingly, Cubs TV play-by-play man Len Kasper actually acknowledged this. He said something along the lines of, ‘It looks like Blanco needs some glue for the sticker on his helmet.’ He then went on to clarify that ‘the “C” is not actually a sticker, well it is, but it is made up of stitches.’ The discussion moved on further as Cubs color man Bob Brenley gave some props to Cubs equipment managers by saying he was certain they would take care of the situation. As if the story weren’t already interesting enough, Blanco successfully laid down the suicide squeeze to put the Cubs up 4-2. Could Giants pitcher Patrick Misch have been too focused on Blanco’s patch flap?” … Don Zimmer will be back with the Devil Rays next season, and you know what that means.
Gratitude Dept.: Literally dozens of you answered my call for “one and done” examples for today’s ESPN column. I’m grateful to everyone who contributed ideas and leads, but especially to Dave Kendrick, Chad Stegemiller, Vince DeMarco, Matthew Campbell, Mark Mayall, Chance Michaels, Jon Eisen, John Eick, Adrian Brashier, Paul Pokaski, Nate Gruz, Todd Radom, Brian Carroll, Mark Lackinger, Jeffrey Israel, Todd Krevanchi, Frank Mercogliano, Mike Miller, Pedro Naranjo, Mark Divine, and of course Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek. Could I have written this column without you guys? Yeah. But would it be as good? Not even close. Thanks again.
August 23rd, 2007
Listen up, boys and girls, for today I bring you a bona fide scoop. It begins with a note I recieved yesterday from a source who checked in with the following: “Word I hear is that the NFL is going to go to Cs on the captains’ jerseys this year, NHL-style. They’re supposedly going to start during the regular season.”
This was news to me, so I checked with an NFL source, who passed along a press release I hadn’t previously seen, dated May 22nd of this year. According to the release, the league’s Player Advisory Council has been developing a “team captain leadership initiative” for this season, designed to “to support and recognize the importance of team leadership through the role of the captains.” Among the measures being considered: “captain identification on game uniforms.”
So are they going ahead with that plan? My NFL source initially indicated that the Cs were pretty much a done deal for this season. “Captains will wear a C on the right chest,” he told me. And what about teams that already have a patch in that spot? “The C will go above the patch.” (I didn’t think to ask about the Broncos, who present some unique challenges for letter placement.) But later in the day he told me that he’d asked a few more people and had now been informed that the Cs were just a “possibility,” although I got the strong sense that they’re, y’know, a strong possibility.
Captaincy designations aren’t so uncommon in the NCAA, but they’re rare in the pros. The last team to employ the C was the 1994 Patriots (here’s another shot), and the only other C-ified team I’m aware of is the 1983 Cowboys, who slapped the C on Danny White, Bob Breunig, Drew Pearson, and Ron Fellows.
Can’t say I’m in love with this idea. For starters, real estate on NFL jerseys is already in short supply, what with the disappearing sleeves, the massive NFL Equipment logo, the increasing use of chest wordmarks, and so on. Adding another element to the mix is gonna make for some seriously crowded jerseys.
And consider this: As we all learned last week, the Red Wings are moving their C and A designations to the other side of the jersey this season, because Reebok’s new tailoring template puts too many seams and fabric panels where the letters would normally appear (for further details, look here). Given that today’s football jerseys are a veritable crazy quilt of stretch panels and seams compared to hockey jerseys, I’m willing to bet right now that the NFL’s newfound embrace of the C — assuming it happens at all — won’t last long.
Research Project Update: A big pat on the back to everyone who responded to yesterday’s call for “one and done” uniforms (i.e., uniforms that were worn just once, or a handful of times, before being abandoned) — my ESPN column tomorrow will be stronger thanks to your efforts. I won’t have room to thank everyone by name within the column itself, but I’ll do so here on this site tomorrow.
Membership News: Very odd development on Monday, as two completely unrelated people both asked for Harlem Globetrotters treatments for their membership cards (you can see one of them at right). This tops the membership program’s previous coincidental oddity, which came a few weeks ago when three consecutive new enrollees asked for No. 17.
Meanwhile, if you’ve signed up for membership, have you checked to see if your name’s on the roster? Here’s why I ask: The current roster listing has 420 names, plus there are two members who’ve asked not to be listed (although their cards are shown in the design gallery), so that’s a total of 422 enrollees. There are 421 designs in the card gallery, plus there are three cards that haven’t yet been designed, so the full gallery would have 424 designs. That means there are two people who I somehow left off the roster. Are you one of them? Let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I meant to list this on Monday, but it fell through the cracks when my computer crashed over the weekend (and by now most of you probably know about it anyway, but just in case…): Iowa State is letting fans vote on a new helmet design for 2008. … Meanwhile, the Fresno Grizzlies are asking for fan input on redesigning the logo (with thanks to Aaron Wiens). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Blue Jays have added an “SP” memorial patch for former team CEO/chairman Sam Pollock. … The Mets will be wearing Los Mets jerseys this Friday, for Fiesta Latina. … Several people have asked why I haven’t mentioned anything about the Little League World Series. Answer: Because I think the LLWS is bad news. The level of media coverage, the hype, etc. — it’s unhealthy for the kids involved, and arguably even worse for any kid watching it. I’ve written plenty of times about Little League, Pop Warner, and the like, and will continue to do so, but I won’t be party to something like the LLWS. … Nice little piece here about the Brewers’ batting helmets. … Very good article here about players who don’t wear batting gloves. … Just imagine the potential uni-related ramifications of this. … Scotty Johnson reports that dirt late model driver Scott James, who’s from Cincinnati, has a Bengals-themed helmet (and note the “Ocho Tres,” because his car number is 83). … Good catch by Jason Taylor, who notes that Andruw Jones appears to have added an American flag decal to the back of his batting helmet. … Victory Pennants honcho Morris Levin totally kissed my butt wrote some really nice stuff about Uni Watch in his blog yesterday. … Here’s yet another photo of the “8″ on Fenway Park’s exterior wall, and in this shot you really can see that the numeral is upside-down (nice job by Matthew Knell). … Merchandise malfunction, as documented by Justine DeCotis: “I work in the team store of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Recently this hat came in with the correct PawSox logo on the front, but on the bill, where it’s supposed to say ‘Pawtucket Red Sox’ on one side and ‘Pawtucket, Rhode Island’ on the other, it says ‘Atlanta Braves.’” … Cardinals punter Scott Player is currently doing an excellent Hulk Hogan impersonation. “Add in his single-bar facemask and the fact his last name is on most prototype jerseys, and Scott’s my new favorite,” writes Eric D.
August 22nd, 2007
Last Tuesday morning I drove out to Seaford, Long Island, home of the sports memorabilia auction house Lelands (I’m writing a business story about them for the Financial Times). I’ve devoted several blog entries to Lelands’ auction offerings — you can see examples here and here — so I was all pumped up to see some of their stuff in person.
As it turned out, most of the best items for their next auction weren’t available, because they were out being photographed for the next catalog. But there was still plenty of good material on hand — much of it hockey-related — and Lelands prexy Mike Heffner was nice enough to let me photograph a bunch of it. Here are some highlights:
• Although technically not uni-related, the single most affecting thing I saw was this Puerto Rican winter league contract, which was signed by Josh Gibson.
• Here’s Elston Howard’s catcher’s mitt. Dig that torn label!
• I loved all the chain-stitching on this 1970 Phillies jersey (worn by Byron Browne). Check out the chest emblem, the front number, and the back number (which was starting to fray — here’s a closer view).
• There was very little NFL stuff on hand. The primary exceptions: these Bills helmets.
• When I first saw this, my initial thought was, “Cool, a 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey jersey.” Then I turned it over and learned that it was actually an early Nordiques design, from the franchise’s WHA days. (I was apparently so flabbergasted by this discovery that I neglected to snap a photo of the front side.)
• My love of green and gold found Shangri-la in this Chicago Cougars jersey. And here’s the home version. Note the front jersey numbers, similar to what the Sabres did last year and what the Islanders have just unveiled.
• Here’s another great WHA design, from the New Jersey Knights (worn by Harry Howell!).
• There was also a really cool set of WHA pennants (additional pics here, here, here, here, and here). I especially liked this one — like, is that logo an all-time classic or what? Let me go on record right here: I’d gladly pay an extra $10 per ticket to see hockey players smoking pipes while they played.
• Not quite WHA, but close: a pair of California Golden Seals jerseys, home and road.
• Here’s a minor league team I hadn’t been aware of: the Cincinnati Swords.
• My biggest nightmare was embodied in this Nordiques jersey. “I didn’t realize they had purple trim,” I said to Mike. “They didn’t,” he said. “But some of the blue turned purple in the laundry. Look, it happened on the back, too.” At this point I ran screaming from the room.
• My favorite item in the entire place: Tom Seaver’s toothpick, complete with an affadavit of authenticity.
Big, big thanks to Mike for his hospitality. And when my Lelands article is published (probably early next month), I’ll link to it here.
Research Project: Last week’s ESPN column about uniform prototypes led many readers to suggest a related topic: uniforms that made it onto the field (or court, or ice) but were worn only once. Classic examples would include the Phillies’ solid-maroon design shown at left (worn on May 19th, 1979, and then quietly abandoned after intensely negative fan reaction) and the Mavericks’ silver ensemble (October 28th, 2003). I agree that this is a good topic, and I’m going to write an ESPN column about it for later this week, as a follow-up to the prototypes column.
Before you flood me with additional examples, let me spell out what I’m not looking for. I don’t want throwbacks, commemoratives, MLB’s futuristic jerseys, special designs created for particular bowl games, or anything else that was only supposed to have been worn once in the first place. I’m also not interested in uni elements that are technically active today but rarely worn (I already devoted a column to that topic two winters ago).
What I want here are designs that were supposed to be full-fledged components of a team’s wardrobe but barely got out of the starting gate before being mothballed. Limiting the project to things that were worn only once would probably make for a very small list, so let’s expand the parameters to include things that were worn, say, up to three or four times. This would allow us to include the Orioles in solid orange (worn twice in 1971, according to this page from Bill Henderson’s CD, although I’d prefer to know the exact dates), the Twins’ Dairy Queen jerseys (worn on April 6th and 21st, 1997, according to reader Tim McCabe), the Mets’ white caps, which were worn just a handful of times in early 1997 (anyone know exactly how many, or when?), and the Phillies’ “bad luck” 1994 blue caps. But it would not include designs that were worn for an entire season before being abandoned, like the Lions’ blue pants (with gray socks!), which were worn for all of team’s 1998 road games.
One thing that should definitely be included: N.C. State’s unitards. As many of you know, I’m weak on college hoops — when exactly was this design worn, and how often? Also: What year was it that Jim Boeheim had Syracuse dress up in blue for one game, and does anyone have a photo of that?
Got more contributions? Let’s have ’em. And don’t delay — I’ll be delivering this column to my ESPN editors on Wednesday afternoon.
Membership News: About 40 membership kits went out in yesterday’s mail, and another dozen or so should be ready by the end of the week. Almost caught up! My continued thanks to everyone for your patience.
Incidentally, there’s an absolute doozy of a raffle coming up next month — one for which you’ll definitely want those three extra raffle entries that come with membership. Can’t tell you the details just yet, but a hint is lurking somewhere on this page.
And speaking of raffles, remember that entries are currently being accepted for the football helmet from Helmet Hut. The drawing is Thursday, 10 p.m., so e-mail your name to uniraffle at earthlink dot net by then. One entry per person, but membership enrollees automatically get three extra entries.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s entry prompted a couple of great follow-ups. First, as you’ll recall, yesterday’s post made prominent mention of Helen Robinson, the Red Sox’s switchboard operator who did double-duty as the team’s emergency seamstress. Jere Smith provided a photo of her. And second, the upside-down 8 on Fenway’s exterior facade can be seen in this photo, which was linked in yesterday’s comments by Rick Schoffelen (if you squint hard enough, you can see that the upper opening in the 8 is larger than the lower). … Several sources inform me that Reebok is poised to acquire Mitchell & Ness, with the deal slated to become public in about two weeks. … Latest example of NFL’s miraculous disappearing sleeves: the Ravens (here’s another shot). “What’s next, wife-beater tees?” asks Tim Walsh. … “Julio Franco reported to the Rome Braves, the Class A minor league affiliate for Atlanta, to finish out the month of August before being recalled to the big leagues in September when the rosters expand,” writes Jonathon Binet. “All of the Braves’ minor league teams where home whites identical to what the big league club wears. But it’s clear that Franco is wearing his Atlanta Braves jersey, and not a jersey issued by Rome. This photo gallery shows that Franco’s jersey has the MLB logo on the back collar, not the MiLB logo. Also, his jersey lacks the American flag patch that the other players are wearing. Finally, Franco’s jersey still has the Lew Burdette/Johnny Sain memorial patch that Atlanta is wearing this year, while none of the Rome players have such a patch.” … I love Tom Bachtell’s illustrations in The New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” section, but why the hell did he depict Barry Bonds wearing a double-earflapped helmet? … Great photo gallery here of the UCF staff applying decal’s to the football team’s helmet (with thanks to Kyle Mas). … Rugby news from Eric Bangeman, who writes: “England has unveiled their alternate World Cup uniforms. It looks like another bad Nike idea from the world of college football (think Florida and Va. Tech) has been transplanted across the Atlantic. Here’s a photo gallery. In this shot, you can see the different shades of red in the shorts; there’s at least 3 different shades of red in the uniform.” … No photos yet, but 20-year-old Tigers call-up Cameron Maybin wears braces. I can’t think of any other brace-faced MLBers — or NFLers, NHLers, or NBAers, for that matter. Anyone..? … Amusing gallery here of Evel Knievel uniforms (with thanks to Knievel-phile Steve Mandich, who also notes that the CBA team from Evel’s hometown of Butte, Montana, is called the Daredevils). … Todd Burus notes that Kevin Cash is back in the majors — and so is his front-facing helmet brim. … There’s been lots of chatter in the comments about the inconsistencies in how Mark DeRosa’s name has been styled on his jerseys, but I think Chris Andringa is the first to offer visual proof. Here’s DeRosa as DE ROSA at home, and here he is as DEROSA on the road. Andringa says he’s seen both typographic styles on both jerseys at various points, meaning DeRosa has worn four different jersey/name combos. … Ohio University has unveiled a line of “heritage logos” (details here), and their new uniforms are out too (with thanks to Tim Burke).
August 21st, 2007
Major developments in the batboy realm lately, as several readers have noted that Mets batboy Matt has recently started wearing stirrups. But Matt, whose full name is Matthew Harris, isn’t just any batboy — he is, to my knowledge, the only uniformed MLB employee who’s also a card-carrying Uni Watch member.
I e-mailed Matt to ask why he’d made the hosiery switch, and whether the stirrups were provided for him by the team or if he had to procure them himself. His response:
We have always had them, but no one uses them. I wore them once a while ago and we lost, so I banned myself from wearing them. Then [for last week’s series] against the Braves, I was like, ‘What the fuck, I’ll wear ’em.’ So I did. I always liked the look, probably why I am a Uni Watch fan. Some of the players commented on ’em, most like ’em, but I couldn’t see anyone on this team wearing them.
Matt wrote that last bit a day before Lastings Milledge broke out the blue stirrups on Saturday. Did Milledge get the idea from Matt? I wrote to ask him. His reply: “Well, before Friday night’s game, he saw me with them, and commented how he liked them and wanted a pair.” So there you go: Matt Harris, spreading the gospel.
And if you’re wondering (as I was) why a Mets batboy would choose a Pirates design motif for his membership card, Matt says, “I dunno, I just like the Pirates’ font, colors, and vests. I would have gone with Yankee pinstripes , but I wanted my name on it, so Pirates font it was.” Holy moly — a Mets batboy with a Yankee-themed card?! Talk about a narrow escape.
(Special thanks to Chris Flinn, who provided the photo of Matt walking across the infield.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: An interview with me will be airing today at 1pm and again at 1:30pm at Baseballchannel.tv. … Reprinted from Sunday night’s comments: Look what showed up on a children’s restaurant menu. … “Brendan ‘Boog’ Ryan was showing his stripes in Sunday’s Dodgers/Cardinals game,” writes Elena Elms. “With Anthony Reyes on the mound, it was a rare two-stirrup (or should I say four-stirrup?) day for St Louis.” … By now most of us have seen photos of the MLB uni regulations that are posted in every clubhouse. What you may not have seen are the corresponding NFL regs, which Mark Nussbaum recently photographed during a tour of Qwest Field (additional pics here, here, here, here, and here). That main poster is at least seven years old (I got a copy of it in 2000), and many of its main points obviously aren’t enforced very stringently — so much for the NFL’s much-vaunted “uniform police.” … Joe Torre used to wear a pinkie ring — but not while in uniform. Very amusing details here (with thanks to Richie Rich). … The new Syracuse helmets have inspired some interesting correspondence between the a fan and the team’s equipment manager (with thanks to Mike Alper). … Rugby news from Caleb Borchers, who writes: “Here’s a gallery of some Rugby World Cup warm-up games. One is Ireland vs. Scotland (both in brand new Canterbury jerseys) and the other is France vs. England (in their Nike nasties). Apparently random splotches of color on the calves is a common innovation of ugliness! I particularly don’t like Scotland’s dot matrix deal, which makes it look like they rolled around in white paint before the game. When you look at how good these teams looked just six moths ago, you can see how badly these companies and their templates have screwed things up.” … Awesome article here about Nike’s materials librarian, who sounds like someone I ought to interview (great find by Karen Peters). … World-class decal obsession from Eric Buzard, who writes: “While watching the Seahawks/Chargers game on Sunday night, I noticed how the American flag decal on the Chargers’ helmet is positioned so that it covers the end of the bolt. The exception is the Riddell Revolution helmet, which has a larger shell and more real estate to work with, so the flag doesn’t have to cover the bolt. You can see both styles here. What’s even more interesting is how the Rams have the fine-print warning label running portait-style [i.e., vertical], as opposed to landscape [i.e., horizontal], which is how most teams do it. The portrait-style allows the label to be placed on the one-inch raised area as found on a standard Riddell helmet. Not sure what the story is for Schutt helmets.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: David Carr was wearing gloves on both hands the other night (plus he appears to have cut his sleeves extra-short). Looks like he’s been doing it in practice, too. Too bad, since Carr used to play while wearing, depending on which report you choose to believe, either his wedding band or a piece of tape in place of his wedding band. Whatever it was, it looked like this, but I guess we won’t be seeing it anymore. … Latest uni-related superstition: Jermaine Dye is now hiking up his pants (nice find by Todd Usher). … “Having followed hockey for quite a while, I can’t remember seeing a goalie whose pattern for the pads and blocker used the team logo like this,” writes Matthew Lepke. “It’s not just a pattern based on the logo (we’ve seen that many times) — it is the logo.” … As previously reported/expected/etc., the Niners and Ravens have switched to black shoes. … The Niners also provided the first game-action view of their Bill Walsh memorial decal, although that photo is of interest primarily for other reasons. … Although it’s tough to see, the Dolphins have reduced the size of their drop shadow, going from this to this (with thanks to Al Muñiz for bringing me up to speed). … Prison team? Early mix of ballplayer and football ref? Nope — it’s Hall of Famer Dan Brouthers, who played in the late 1800s, when stripes were apparently very in (nice find by David Parker). … By the time most of you read this, I’ll be on Long Island, where I’m spending the day at Lelands auction house (writing a bizness story about them for the Financial Times). I expect to see — and, I hope, photograph — lots of cool uni-related stuff. Details to follow tomorrow.
August 14th, 2007
You probably know that the Devil Rays played a few “home” games in Orlando last week at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, which, despite having only 9000 seats, was no doubt an upgrade over Tropicana Field (and where, as you can see at right, Richard Petty threw out the first ball for one of the games). Reader Andrew Ranck attended one of the games and documented some interesting factoids regarding the 246th stadium to host an MLB game:
The field in front of the dugouts had logos commemorating the 10th anniversary of the complex (who knew). The on deck circles had MLB logos on them, and they seemed pretty worn. I’m guessing they may have been spring training holdovers, but they didn’t seem to get much use anyway.
Left field had a collection of pennants representing some of the Rays’ regular sponsors. Also the area beyond the left field fence was grassy, with families spread out on blankets and kids running around.
Center field was pretty bare, and the scoreboard gave little batter information. Besides the line score and the current count, we only saw the batter’s uniform number and batting average. Right field had a temporary Jumbotron, which only displayed the basic graphics from the player intros and whatnot. In the foreground of that last photo, you can see the soft drink race, which took place after the 4th inning.
The only beers for sale that I could find were 24-ounce cans (for $8.50!). The Anheiser-Busch products had Rays logos on them. This surprised me, because Disney is known for not selling that much in the way of A-B products, because Busch Gardens and Sea World are main competitors.
Thanks to Andrew for the first-hand report. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to give a similar account of the proceedings at the Trop, that might be amusing.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Big kudos and thanks to Trevor Williams of the Brainerd Dispatch, who attended the Uni Watch party in Minneapolis two Saturdays ago and then wrote this very nice article about it. … Lotsa stuff you might have missed over the weekend, beginning with Boise State’s new football jerseys, which were unveiled late on Friday. They’ll look like this, this, this, and this. Further details here. … Also from Friday: Roger Clemens warmed up for his minor league season debut wearing high cuffs and white-striped Adidas cleats but later switched shoes and pant styles. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Friday’s blog entry about Chris Sampson being told to remove his hospital bracelet (in case you missed it, look here) should have included a reference to Rob Mackowiak, who hit two home runs while still wearing his hospital bracelet on the day his baby was born back in 2004 (full details here). … It was Armed Forces Night in Milwaukee on Saturday, with the Brewers and Twins wearing military-themed caps. … Interesting thread on the Chris Creamer boards regarding the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, an AF2 team with a pretty innovative helmet design. … More arena football news from Michael Alper, who notes that Kenny Higgins of the Nashville Kats (again with the stoopid spelling) is wearing red shoes, even though there’s virtually no red in the team’s uniform. … The Orioles are denying reports that they’ll put “Baltimore” on their road jerseys next year (as forwarded by Jason Reddish). … Antiques Roadshow recently had a nice little segment on this medal. Details here (with thanks to Jeremiah Conway). … Anyone know why a manufacturer would refer to this pant style as a “Clemson Cut”? Also, who knew there was a hidden interior stirrup in there? (Good find by Rick Subrizio.) … Grant Emerson notes that Angel Pagan’s helmet logo appliqué has been crooked lately. … Club Deportivo Chivas USA has a new jersey sponsor. Full details here (with thanks to Jeffrey Israel). … If you’re interested in Tennessee high school uniforms, tons of photos are available here (courtesy of Marc Walls). … Texans cornerback Jason Simmons came up with a novel way to sell his uniform number to new teammate Ahman Green. … Ronnie Poore noticed something interesting in this photo of the 1965 NFL draft: The little figurines on each desk are wearing stirrups, instead of football-style socks. Most NFL players did wear stirrups in those days, but they also wore shin-length white socks over them — odd that the figurines didn’t get that final finishing hosiery touch. … Good story here about this Texas company, which makes varsity/letterman jackets. Further background info here. (With thanks to Matt Mitchell.) … Follow-up report from Jen Muller, who recently provided the photo of Dane Richards with his name misspelled: “At a Red Bulls ‘meet the team’ event on Saturday, I had a chance to ask Richards if he knew his name was spelled incorrectly on his jersey. He said he had no idea until he saw it later on the internet. Maybe he’s a Uni Watch fan.” … Check out the socks on Dong Tam Long An of the Vietnamese soccer league, who’s been playing in the AFC Champions League this year (as spotted by Jeremy Brahm). … Can’t say I thought much of Cory Spinks’s trunks or glove colors during his fight against Jermain Taylor on Saturday night. Weirdest bit: When Spinks’s trunks started slipping down, his corner tried to secure them with tape around the waistband — never seen that maneuver before. Meanwhile, check out the fringe on Taylor’s trunks. … Former Knick John Starks is promoting a new line of basketball warm-up pants, which are supposedly easier to pull off in one motion. Details in the “Starks to NBA” section about two-thirds of the way down this page (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … Lots of great stripes on display in this rugby photo, taken by Rick Collins. … Odd logo/number format being worn by the Texas City Stings (good catch by Seth Harris). … A little birdie tells me that the U. of Texas hoops team will go to Nike’s tight-fit jerseys next season. … Matthew Lepke notes that as of yesterday, Ron Gardenhire was still wearing his Mother’s Day ribbon on his windbreaker. … Matt Meltzer and I both want to know what’s printed on Dice-K’s left undersleeve. … Seth Horowitz forwards the following, from yesterday’s NY Post: “Tom Nieto, the Mets’ catching instructor, now has a tilde over the ‘N’ in ‘ÑIETO’ on the back of his jersey. He didn’t have one in his previous two years with the Mets but had it switched this season so that it would be properly pronounced.” … Nike’s latest brainstorm: a new and “improved” design, featuring a black jersey, for the Miami baseball team. … Awesome stirrup display by Brian Garman of the UC Bearcats (with thanks to Buckeye Mike, who says he’s known Garman since they were both about five years old). … Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner and I attended last night’s Yanks/Mets debacle. The shameful truth: I was cold, tired, and depressed by the game’s proceedings, so I left in the middle of the 8th inning. Let the record show that Scott stayed to the bitter end.
May 21st, 2007
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