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Posts filed under 'High School Sports'
By Phil Hecken
You guys will recall several weeks ago I ran a “Design-A-Cap” contest, for Coach Jerome Nemanich and his Sartell Sabres, and the results were outstanding. Reader Marc Walls saw the original contest, and thought our fantastic readers could do the “Design-A-Cap” one better — to wit: Design A Whole Uniform!
Here’s Marc’s original e-mail to me explaining his idea:
Love the work you’ve been doing on the website. I really enjoyed the design a cap idea for today’s column. I saw that you had proposed a design a uni option. I think that’s a great idea, and if you’re interested I’d like to offer the school I coach to be the team you choose.
I am one of the baseball coach’s at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. We are looking to undergo a complete redesign, including possibly a new logo.
Here’s the catch, which I think will make it fun for uniwatchers. Our colors are purple and gold! I’ve tried with no hope to come up with uniform designs that use the purple in a way that isn’t awful, and I could really use everyone’s creativity. Our current hat is solid purple with the Chicago Cubs “C” in gold.
Intrigued, but semi-swamped with weekend entries, I did respond to Marc, who then got back to me with more of the guts of the idea, as well as a few pictures from which to base the uniform redesigns:
Our high school is planning to undergo a complete redesign of our uniforms over the next year. I’m going to make some requests, and attach some pictures to show what the team has had in years’ past.
The school has been using the same hat design for the last 20 years, the Chicago Cubs “c” logo in yellow on a white outline. The hat is solid purple. We are probably going to keep that logo, but are looking to add a few alternate logos. I’m hoping the savvy guys at UW can create some great logos for us to use. Here’s what we’re looking for:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
If we decide to use any of these designs in the future, we will definitely work out some kind of payment for all of your hard work.
* The parameters: colors are purple and gold, which I know is hard enough, without including the black.
Marc included four photographs to emphasize his points above:
“Purplemesh” … “Purplemesh 2″ … “Grays” … and “Yellowmesh”.
I got one last e-mail from Marc this week, with one or two points he wants to stress:
While we are looking for uniform ideas, we would also really appreciate any logo redesigns and cap designs. That’s almost as important as the uniform designs. And like I said, we will gladly contribute some goodies to everyone who works so hard on those mock-ups.
Well there you guys have it. Another reader has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging you to come up with not just a new cap and logo redesign, but a whole uniform redesign as well. I’m not sure what “goodies” Marc will be able to provide to the contest winner(s), but we’ll worry about that when we get there.
So, anyone who is interested, the “rules” are basically the same as the “Design-A-Cap” contest: Take Marc’s ideas and put them into cyber-reality. Just remember the “guidelines”:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
*The parameters: colors are purple and gold.
As with the Design-A-Cap contest, I would ask that when you have your design(s) ready, please send them to me and put as your “SUBJECT” line: Design A Uniform Contest. You can also E-mail me at that address if you have any questions. I won’t set a hard and fast deadline, but I’d expect the contest to be open for at least two weeks — so try to have your submissions to me by the weekend of November 14-15.
If you don’t have any “blank” templates, a few designs can be found here, here, here, and here, or you can simply google “baseball uniform builder”, which will provide ample ways to customize a baseball uniform. There are probably a bunch of other blank uni templates out there too.
OK? OK. Don’t disappoint us Uni Watchers! After seeing those Sartell Sabres Cap designs, I know how great your entire uniforms, caps and logo designs will be.
~~~~~~~~~~ Well, folks, in case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch Prexy and ESPN Page 2 columnist Paul Lukas had a great piece on World Series Rings. Paul didn’t get to upload the column to the main article yesterday, since by the time it was released, he was on his way to Cooperstown. I hope there’s some stuff for him to do up there. Check it out if you didn’t get to read it yesterday — really great, and timely article.
~~~~~~~~~~ Dipping into the E-mail bag again, got one this week from Dave Magruder, who has done some fascinating research regarding NFL alternate and throwback uniforms, and the frequency with which they have been worn. Obviously, with the “Legacy” uniforms, and the tremendous number of alternates out there (as well as several teams throwing back this year), Dave wondered which teams were the least guilty of this. Here’s what he found:
~~~“Last night as I was thinking about the widespread use of throwback and alternate uniforms in the NFL recently. It made me wonder: How many teams have NOT redesigned their uniforms, or worn alternate/throwback uniforms since 1995? In other words, how many teams have retained the exact same look and uniform set for every game?
“(Obviously, I thought 1995 was a good starting point since it is still recent history, and most NFL teams wore throwbacks to celebrate the league’s 75th Anniversary in 1994).
“You may be surprised by the answer. From 1995-2009 there is not a single team that has retained the same uniform set for literally every game. All 32 teams in the league have either redesigned their uniforms, worn alternates, or worn throwbacks at some point since 1995. There were four teams that came close to retaining the same look throughout this period, though. I have outlined them below:”
Packers: Green Bay has diverted from their traditional uniform set only twice since 1995. This occurred in 2001 and 2003 when they wore throwbacks as mandated by the league for Thanksgiving Day games.
Colts: Indianapolis donned league-mandated Thanksgiving throwback uniforms in 2004. (Note: Colts have also changed their look in a couple minor ways. The team wore blue pants for several games in 1995–no longer a part of the team’s wardrobe– and permanently switched from a blue to a gray facemask).
Chiefs: Kansas City sported the same uniform until this year’s AFL Legacy celebration.
Raiders: Like the Chiefs, Oakland’s steak of uniform consistency was broken by league-mandated AFL Legacy celebration.
“As you can see, these teams were mostly eliminated for use of throwbacks that were mandated by the league, instead of issued by the team itself. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find that there is literally not a single team in the NFL that has survived the alternate/throwback/redesign craze.
“Thought this may interest readers. Thanks for all your hard work on this blog.”
~~~Thanks Dave! That’s very interesting. Only four teams (and even they are not immune) seem to have escaped the alternate/throwback craze. Not surprisingly, those four also ranked very highly on our recent home and road uniform surveys (results of the road poll here). Obviously, when you have a uniform that works, you don’t mess with it. Wish a few other teams would take a page from their books. Great stuff there.
~~~~~~~~~~ Teepee for your bunghole? Oh…wait — that’s Cornholio, not cornhole. Good thing Milwaukee’s finest David Frost (”Frosty”) has some schweet cornhole game boards he’s designed. I’ll let Frosty explain:
Very sexy…not trying to be a whore or anything, but I gotta tell ya – I got done with them last Thursday, took them to my kids’ baseball tourney in Charleston this past weekend…the compliments and inquiries – wow! There’s Packer fans everywhere!
So what exactly did Frosty design? Check ‘em out: here, here and here.
I’m guessing those are supposed to be Packers boards? Probably no significance to the numbers either.
Thanks Frosty!
~~~~~~~~~~ Cleaning out the cupboards today, I wanted to feature a Mets Uniform Redesign (is it me, or do we seem to have a lot of folks clamoring for the Mets to redo their unis? Don’t worry, we won’t be having any “Fixin’ the Mets” full entries this year — that’s what Spring is for, no?.) Anyway, reader Laurence Holland missed the last batch of uni-tweaks, but wanted to send along his Mets redesign concept, so without further ado, here’s Larry:
Hi Phil,
I know the moment may have passed, but with all the buzz about a possible Mets redesign for 2010, I thought I’d pass along my two-cent contribution. I first mocked up a cream-and-pinstripes combo over the summer, when the Mets rocked the oversized-NY throwbacks, so I was very happy to see that it might come to pass. I also tweaked the rest of their uniforms, the idea being to make them simple, classy, traditional, and black-less.
A couple of notes: the racing stripe on the away grays is supposed to be a little more subtle than the original ’80s version, though my ham-handed photoshop skills couldn’t really convey it. And the all-blue alternate with the blue-and-white trucker-style cap isn’t my favorite, but it’s the best I could come up with. Consider it a concession to merchandising reality.
Anyway, please do with this what you will. From my lips to Jeff Wilpon’s ears, eh?
Thanks Laurence. Next up is Bill Jones, who also missed the last “uni tweaks” but had a “Rays” tweak he wanted to share. Here’s Bill:
Hey Phil,
I love the uni tweaks! I know I’m late, but I did this almost 2 years ago had some trouble finding the MS paint file. I thought it was pretty good though, so I wanted to send it to you.
PL has mentioned that he liked the TB Devil Rays unis that featured green as a primary color. I too liked this design, and although I don’t completely hate it, I think the newer Rays unis are too sterile and flat out boring. I did, however, like the introduction of light blue, so I combined that with the deep green. I think it’s a handsome combination, one that is original and nicely captures the tropical feel without the use of aqua/teal (Does the world need more aqua? I think not!)
A couple notes…
For the logo, I kept the actual Ray that the team currently features as a sleeve patch. I also took the liberty of changing the team’s name to the St. Petersburg Rays (maybe it’s just me, but I think calling teams “Tampa Bay” is lame…the cities are Tampa and St. Pete, “Tampa Bay” is the body of water between them, and the Rays play in St. Pete). Besides, how can you argue with that two-tone interlocking S-P (for the hat), and the sweet “St. Pete” sleeve patch? I like the idea of calling the team the “St. Pete Rays”. Also, for that jersey, you may be thinking “what is going on with that that neck trim?” Well, think of the early 90’s Royals jerseys…
I’m proud of this one … and I never got around to it, but I totally envisioned a powder blue road uni (with the dark green hat…it would be killer!). Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!
–Bill Jones (not the gumball helmet guy)
Good stuff Bill. Thanks again to all who have sent me their uni concepts. I expect some time in the near future to begin running your Football Uni Tweaks, so if you’ve sent me something, it’s-a-comin’ — and if you want to send me some NFL tweaks, drop me a line.
~~~~~~~~~~ Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, another “apropos” scoreboard today. Shouldn’t pose any difficulty at all. But we’re winding down the major league baseball season so today’s game should reflect the timeliness of the year, no? Of course it should. Most of you, if you’ve been paying attention to events on the national stage, should be able to “name the game” (although, probably not the date) just from site. The rest of you may need to hit Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet. You gotta hit them anyway, in order to provide the link to the game. So, here we go: Guess The Game From The Scoreboard.
~~~~~~~~~~ The boys are back for a little football today, (could Mick possibly wear more sweatbands, btw?), and Mick is about to make the acquaintance of one of Mike’s relatives. The things you learn about your friends when you meet a member of their family. So…enjoy the beginnings of a serial benchies:
Meet Mongo
More Mongo
~~~~~~~~~~That’ll do it for today. Hope you guys, especially all you designers (and wanna-be designers) out there really go to bat, no pun intended, for the Wildcats and Coach Marc Walls. If the ‘design a cap’ nominees were any indication of the incredible talent in UW-land, then I’m sure we’ll get some amazing entries for the full-blown “Design A Uniform” contest. Remember, send me your submissions to me, or email me if you have any questions about the contest. Take the last train to Clarksville — I’ll be waiting at the station.
Game 3 of the Fall Classic and lots of college football today — and surely there’ll be some interesting uni-matchups for Jim to choose from. Don’t forget to post some of your suggestions in the comments. There will be at least ONE color-on-color matchup (and maybe more) — with those colors to be black and orange. How fitting.
Hey — how does a monster score a touchdown?
Easy, he crosses the ghoul line.
Have a safe and Happy Hallowe’en everyone.
October 31st, 2009
Two days ago I Ticker-linked to this photo of a Wisconsin high school football player and asked, “Is this where football sock design is headed?”
I got a much more thorough answer than I’d anticipated from reader Jeff Bahry, who informed me that the socks are actually leg sleeves with elastic stirrup loops. “The fabric is comparable to higher-end polyester — not cotton,” he wrote. “They also feature a silicon band to
prevent slipping.”
The company behind this is a Wisconsin operation called Dye Sport, which specializes in sublimated graphics. If you click on “Team Sports” and then start poking around from there, you can get an idea of what they’re about — basically, if you have really bad taste some innovative design ideas, they’ll indulge you as far as you want to go.
The socks aren’t mentioned on the Dye Sport site, however, so I gave them a call and found myself talking to company founder Scott Yeomans. Here’s how our chat went down:
Uni Watch: So what’s the story with these socks? I’ve never seen anything like them.
Scott Yeomans: We developed that about four years ago. We test-marketed it on one Wisconsin high school — Lancaster — to see how it performed, how the kids liked it, blah-blah-blah. And they ended up winning the state championship in it. And from there, things really started exploding. And actually, the Lancaster coach told us they didn’t have any kids cramping up with calf cramps that season. Is it the socks, is it that the kids were in better condition or better hydrated? I can’t say it’s definitely the socks…
UW: What was the design that you did for them?
SY: I’m trying to remember. I remember how we were watching the state tournament on TV and the commentators and the camera kept focusing on the socks. “Look at those socks!” I think we had a gradient — white down at the shoe and fading up to royal blue — with an arrow design.
UW: And how many teams are wearing the socks now?
SY: Last year we had 30 teams here in Wisconsin. This year it’s close to 50, plus we have a team in Michigan wearing them. And we have a dealer now in Arizona — I just shipped him 70 pairs for a youth soccer team. And we have our own boys’ and girls’ soccer teams wearing them here in town — they’re just lovin’ ’em. So we’re gonna expand more into soccer, girls’ softball. And getting back to football, last year we had six Wisconsin teams wearing our socks in the state tournament, and two of them won their divisions, so we’re getting a lot of good exposure.
UW: Since these socks are open at the bottom, does the player wear an ankle sock under it or what?
SY: Some of ’em wear a full-length sock underneath; some of ’em wear a little ankle or no-show sock. It’s personal preference. But you have that stirrup strap to pull it down into the shoe, so it looks like a full sock.
UW: Why’d you choose to make it that way, instead of making a traditional sock with a toe?
SY: It’s less bulky, and it lasts longer. If a sock develops a tear or wears out, it’s usually in the toe.
UW: And again, just to make sure I understand, you developed this product yourself, and you offer it exclusively?
SY: Yes.
UW: Has there been any negative feedback from people who think these designs are too radical or whatever?
SY: No. You have your old-school coaches, but you have more and more younger coaches, and they seem to like the socks a little more cutting-edge.
UW: And, of course, you can offer this product in a conservative design too — it doesn’t make any difference to you.
SY: Right. If they just want a solid red sock, that’s fine. Most of them, though, they’ll put the helmet logo on the side, or the school logo.
=========
So there you have it, the beginning of the end for football hosiery as we know it, all thanks to my favorite state, which I will henceforth refer to as Hades, the end.
And speaking of sock-related follow-up items: Back on Monday I asked about the sock logo that Maurice Stovall has been wearing. Turns out it’s the logo for a brand of compression gear I’d never heard of before: Sweat It Out. The bad news is that I just played into their hands by giving them free publicity; the good news, I hope, is that some of the NFL’s uni police guys read this site and will now start cracking down on this pernicious logo creep.
Gazoo Boo-Boos Up the Wazoo: I really messed up the part of yesterday’s ESPN column that pertained to the new S100 batting helmet. As originally published around noontime, the column stated that only three players had worn the helmet in a game: David Wright, Ryan Dempster, and Shane Victorino. But then, shortly after the column went live, Guy Serumgard informed me that Carlos Guillen wore the S100 on Sept. 3rd (apparently this was even noted at some point in the comments section on this site, but I either didn’t notice or didn’t remember), so we added a little “Update” graf to that section of the column. That was shortly before 2pm.
Then I went out and didn’t get back to a computer until about 9pm, at which point I found several e-mails from people telling me that Edgar Gonzalez had also worn the S100. Too late to add another update to the column — I’ll just run a correction in my next ESPN piece.
Not sure how I missed the boat so badly on this — I thought I’d been keeping track of the S100 situation. Interestingly, when I interviewed Rawlings exec Mike Thompson for yesterday’s column, the very first question I asked him was, “Just to make sure I have my facts straight, to my knowledge only Dempster, Wright, and Victorino have worn the new helmet — is that right?” He replied, “Yes.” Of course, it’s not his job to keep track of that — it’s mine — so that doesn’t absolve me. If anything, it’s another reminder that I need to do my own homework and not depend on others to confirm things for me.
Anyway: Let the record show that five MLBers have worn the S100 — unless you know of any others who’ve done so.
Research Query: Got a note yesterday from Matt DeLeon, who poses a very good question: “I was wondering if you knew the history of the ‘Property of’ T-shirts. Were there shirts that were actually the ‘property of’ certain teams? I would assume so, although a T-shirt would seem to be something worth giving away after a few uses. How far back do these shirts go, and what’s the history behind them?”
Excellent question! Anyone out there know anything about this? If so, give me a shout.
“Turntable? What’s a turntable?”: I’ve put a few more old indie-rock 45s up for auction on eBay, and I’ll continue to add more over the next couple of weeks. You can keep track of everything I’m selling here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: LSU will be wearing purple jerseys this Saturday against Mississippi State. “This is unusual because they generally only wear purple at home for non-conference opponents — this is a conference game on the road,” notes Ben Melancon. … New mask for Yann Danis. … The Swedish military has some uni issues (with thanks to Chad Todd). … Is it OK to wear ONOB is the jersey is given to you by the team? (Nice find by John Brooks.) … There’s a resurgence in sales of Expos gear, and it’s coming from an unlikely source (with thanks to Graham Bakay). … Jon Canella notes that Pedro Feliz always has a line of dirt on the back of his road jersey. “I’ve been noticing it since the end of May,” he says. “Superstitious? Not a good enough stain remover by the clubhouse attendant?” And before you propose any theories of your own, remember it only happens on Feliz’s road jersey. Weird. … A few months ago I got some e-mails from a Milwaukee marketing exec who wanted to redesign the Packers’ logo. I didn’t post his designs, because (a) I didn’t think they were very good, and (b) the Packers obviously aren’t going to change their mark. But I guess it was a slow news day at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal.
September 25th, 2009
At the recent Uni Watch gathering in Pittsburgh, George Fetkovich was kind enough to give me this book, which has a bunch of great photos. Let’s take a look:
• Remember my column about the pinned-on uni number panels in the 1934 MLB All-Star Game? Looks like the Pitt football team was doing something similar in 1908.
• Y.A. Tittle could have used this chest mark as his personal logo. No idea what it stands for, but I like it.
• Speaking of cool chest logos, look at this! Unfortunately, there’s no explanation of what the caption refers to as “their unusual jerseys.”
• Anyone wanna colorize this? I’m thinking royal with navy trim for the jerseys, and something mustard-ish for the shorts.
• Hey, fellas, why are you wearing bras? Never seen that pattern on a hoops jersey before.
• Never seen this one either. I really like it, though.
• Here’s an interesting football team portrait. Not sure why some players have the “A” jerseys and some just have stripes. Maybe one or the other was a practice jersey design..?
• There’s surprisingly little Pirates content in the book, but I was particularly fond of two shots: This one shows the awesome “P P” collar monogramming that I love so much, and this one shows another one of those heavy-knit baseball sweaters that I wish would make a comeback.
• Very odd football padding on this guy. Almost looks like he’s got tumorous growths coming out of his elbows and shoulders, no?
• Rough image quality, but I’m intrigued by this 1906 youth baseball shot. Note the “NE” script, for “New Eagle.”
• There’s no shortage of teams that have worn their team name or city name on their placket over the years (in fact, Phil devoted an entire entry to this phenomenon back in December). But until now, I’d never seen a team wear the first initial of its city along with its team name. Note that the little period in between the first two letters on each jersey — amazing.
• Sashes are so damn cool (especially when paired with striped socks).
• Although the caption simply refers to this as a “bowling” photo, the telltale small balls mean that these lanes are configured for either duckpins (which is found primarily in Baltimore and a little bit in New England) or candlepins (upper New England). I wasn’t aware of either game ever having a foothold in western Penna. — can anyone tell me more?
If you like what you see here, you can click through the entire book here. Thanks again, George.
Special opportunity for UW readers: As I mentioned a week or so ago, there’s a sports blog panel/conference thingie coming up in June, and the organizers are now offering a 20% discount for Uni Watch readers. To take advantage of this deal, enter the code “uniwatch” when checking out on the ticket ordering page.
About that No Mas event with David Wright tonight: Basically, everyone who e-mailed yesterday is in. The event is at 8:30 tonight at 21 Mercer St. in Manhattan. Enjoy, and someone be sure to ask David Wright why he goes high-cuffed for day games.
Raffle Results: You were totally convinced that you were gonna win this time. And you were right — if your name is Curtis Pidhorney.
In case you were wondering: Yes, the Uni Watch Classifieds are still an ongoing concern. Later today we’ll add a permanent link to them They now have their own perma-link on the home page, and later today I’ll be adding a few more listings. I realize this project has been slow to develop, but we’re getting there — thank for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: For those who missed it yesterday: The “I’m Calling It Shea” T-shirts are now available (here’s what the blue version looks like). And you can get a 10% discount if you use the checkout code “uniwatch” … Not sure, but I think this is Rob Ullman’s first NBA-themed treatment. … Jim Ransdell’s Sports Design Blog continues to impress. His latest winner: a post featuring lots of great circa-’74 basketball graphics. … Decent article on kinesio tape here. … Nice article here about how the Shea family is coping with the demise of Shea Stadium. … Current issue of ESPN Mag has this shot of Michael Crabtree, in which he’s wearing socks with the old NFL logo (current logo is on the cleats, though). There’s also this shot, which finds Crabtree wearing old-logo wristbands (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … Did you know frequent Ticker contributor Tris Wykes used to work for the Tampa Bay Bucs? I didn’t, until he sent me this note yesterday: “Back in 1993, while serving as an equipment assistant for the Buccaneers, we played a preseason game at Miami and I snapped this picture of my boss, Frank Pupello, and his Fins counterpart, who I believe was named Bobby Monica. We were told the aqua Dolphins helmet prototype you see on the shelf was going to be the team’s regular helmet for 1994. Apparently, that plan was scrapped.” … Don’t eat any yellow snow ice. Details here (with thanks to Brian Castile). … Angel Cabrera wears a special glove on his cigarette hand (with thanks to John Muir). … Ryan Howard, on the other hand, smokes bare-handed. … Tony Kellogg found some old football pics at an antique shop — he says they’re from the 1930s, but I think they’re earlier than that — that show the officials wearing white, which was common in the pre-zebra era. … Now the NHL postseason is starting, it’s time to grow a playoff beard (with thanks to James Huening). … Check out the “B” on Wes Unseld’s socks (with thanks to Dave Holland). … Steve Cook did some quick Photoshopping to show how the new Bosox alt cap logo would look with a white outline. Much better, sez I. … Who’da tunk Leo Sayer, of all people, had such good taste in hockey jerseys? (With thanks to Scott Stone.) … No photo, but I’m told that the Mariners have had an Ichiro jersey hanging in the dugout, which is odd for two reasons: (1) I thought Ichiro’s teammates hated him, and (2) since when is going on the DL cause for a hanging-jersey tribute? … Joan Jett, rocker ballplayer. Chris Falvey saw that photo on the wall of a New Orleans eatery. Not sure of the backstory. … Bryan Justman just finished his latest DIY project, a Guy LaFleur Nordiques jersey. … Lids for Yids (with thanks to Trevor Williams). … Teebz is running his annual NHL playoff pool over on his blog. Details here. … Who’s going to wear 42 tomorrow? Apparently everyone. … ANaGELS? … Oh dear (blame Dan O’Connor). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Michigan’s spring football game featured a QB wearing red uni numbers, presumably in place of a red no-contact jersey. … Pretty great uni-related Bruins commercial here (with thanks to Michael Blinn). … The Orioles debuted their new “Baltimore” road uniforms last night. Or is it “Balttimore”? And here’s a great spot by Tom Hedrick: Brian Roberts began the game with the wrong script on his right sleeve. Someone must have noticed, because it had been fixed by his second at-bat. … No photo, but here’s something I’d never seen before: At several points during last night’s Mets/Padres game, cameras caught San Diego outfielder Jody Gerut consulting a little crib sheet that he kept in his back pocket. Presumably had info on outfield positioning. … Also, in that same game, Mets batboy and Uni Watch membership enrollee Matt Harris christened the new Shea by wearing stirrups. Nicely done, Matt, but I also saw you untucking your jersey while you were still in the dugout after the last out was made. Save that until you’re back in the clubhouse! … Speaking of Shea’s inaugural game, a cat showed up on the field. John Okray got a video grab. … See that guy in the front row? That’s New York Governor David Paterson. He’s legally blind — and yet, as pointed out in last night’s comments, even he knew which Mets cap to wear last night, unlike the Mets themselves. … Last night I got an e-mail from one of my ESPN editors, Thomas Neumann, with the subject line “I’m assuming alcohol was involved.” The e-mail contained this link. … Pirates had their home opener yesterday and used the occasion to memorialize those three Pittsburgh police officers who were murdered by a gun-toting nut 10 days ago. The Bucs and ’Stros both wore Pittsburgh police caps during pregame ceremonies, and the Pirates kept wearing them during the game. They also added a “PBP” patch (for Pittsburgh Bureau of Police). … Speaking of the Pirates, I think someone mentioned this over the weekend, but it’s interesting that their collar piping extends all the way down the inner edge of the jersey. … Good spot by Brian Hunsicker, who notes that the “N” on the front of Wilfredo Ledezma’s jersey was upside-down yesterday. … Dave Gilmore hosts a weekly podcast on BaltimoreSportsReport.com, and this week his guest was Kevin Brotzman of Oriolesnumbers.com. “We talked about Uni Watch, Mets by the Numbers, a whole bunch of stuff,” says Dave. Check it out here.
April 14th, 2009
There was some chatter in the comments yesterday about the Pittsburgh Maulers, who played in the USFL back in 1984. By happy coincidence, reader Jeff Warner has an interesting story about the Maulers’ uniforms:
When the Maulers came into existence, they were looking for a practice facility that had space for a couple of offices, and my school district had an old junior high school with a decent football field, not too far from downtown Pittsburgh. The agreement worked well for the one year that the team was in existence, but when the team disbanded, they basically left most of the equipment to the school district as part of payment.
It was a convenient coincidence that Baldwin High School wore purple and white while the Maulers were, of course, purple, gray, orange, and white. Thus, we gladly took in the unis and made them our own. For several years — roughly 1985-88 — we had uniforms with the orange highlights, despite not having orange as a school color. The pants and helmets lasted the longest, the jerseys not as long. I’ll have to look to see if I can find some old pics in a yearbook at home and scan and send a couple to you.
The team was pretty bad while wearing these uniforms — kind of like the Maulers. When we won a game midseason in 1988 (my freshman year), it was the first win in something like 27 games, if I remember correctly.
I like this idea of using uniforms as a unit of barter or payment. Hell, in the current economic climate, even a shitty purple jersey is probably worth more than a $100 bill. All you jersey collectors, your moment of triumph has finally come!
It’s gotta be better than buy Citicorp stock: Our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels are looking for investors. Interested in getting in on the ground floor, or the field level, or whatever? Contact EFF prexy Jerry Cohen here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Monster find by Paul Wiederecht, who found a site loaded with old AFL program covers, many of which are pure gold. Take some time to click through each year’s offerings — tremendous stuff. … A Cubs exec wants more night games at Wrigley. … Mattew Algeo’s living in Rome these days and has noticed something interesting: “Professional street hockey seems to be quite popular here. It’s played in gyms, with a ball (not a puck), field hockey-like sticks, and four-wheel (not in-line) roller skates. The uniforms are the usual ad-covered monstrosities found throughout Europe, but the goalie pads sometimes feature some pretty cool designs.” … Another Lions leak, and I can confirm that it’s accurate. Helmet and pants are still silver (they look a little bleached in that scan). Is that number typeface a huge mistake or what? … This story about Sidney Crosby’s visor refuses to die. Look, we all know that if you challenge a guy to a fight and he responds by removing his visor, that’s code for “How about a blowjob after the game?” and “You bet, but only if I can wear your sweat-soaked jersey while we’re doing it!,” so let’s just move on already. … Turns out Kansas City isn’t the only city that’s all worked up about the AFL throwback uniforms (with thanks to Steve Harbula). … The Flyers will be wearing orange at home throughout the postseason and next season (with thanks to Kieran Kelly). … Brazilian soccer coach Roberto Fernandes punishes players who don’t hustle by making them wear a pink dress (as reported by Mark Kaplowitz). … An Oakland writer has some interesting thoughts about the Raiders’ AFL throwbacks (with thanks to Michael Gawley). … Hey, remember af2? Right, me neither, but one of their teams has new uniforms (with thanks to Dan Bewley). … Michael Cline Jr. notes that the Sabres wore their throwback-logo helmets with their non-throwback jerseys last night, which isn’t how it usually works. … Speaking of the NHL, my Page 2 colleague Thomas Neumann and I attended last night’s Isles/Wild game, where the pregame festivities featured Darryl Strawberry, of all people, wearing an Islanders jersey to accept a check to his charitable foundation. Just about died when I saw that. Unfortunately, I was sitting at the other end of the rink and couldn’t get a good photo, but I’m hoping something will turn up on the wires. … Doug Keklak sent along a shot of a high school softball pitcher wearing what appears to be a team-insignia headband, plus some cool old shots of then-Civic Arena. … Also from Kek: “While reading this book, I came across this story. I have an email out to [the author] to see if there’s photographic proof of this, but he’s in Egypt for the next two weeks, so I won’t hear back from him right away.” … Little Boy Blue? Nah, it’s just Boise State’s softball team (with thanks to Cory Dowling). … Here’s a rare photo of the Broncos’ brown-logo helmet from 1962. The brown decal was only used for part of that season, because team officials decided it didn’t stand out enough on the orange background, so they changed the decal to white (with thanks to Tom Jacobson). … The Jets’ 50th-anniversary logo has been unveiled. I’m not usually one to call for more drop shadows or additional colors, but this feels a little flat, no? …
March 26th, 2009
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Pittsburgh was a visit to the Heinz History Center, which includes the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. I took a lot of photos here, so let’s get right to it (with apologies for the inevitable problems with glare and reflection when photographing things in glass cases):
• Here’s a great factory team uniform, circa 1955 (details here), along with a jacket from the same team, different year.
• And here’s a junior police team uniform, circa 1944, worn by a young player whose high school didn’t have a team.
• This is an autographed 1960 Dick Groat jersey, notable primarily for its tagging.
• Would you believe that a big league GM gave a player a raise in 1948 without the player even asking for it? It’s true, at least according to this letter.
• May favorite thing in the entire museum was this display, devoted to a local marble-shooting champion. Yeah, I know, marbles, but c’mon — look at that jersey and patch!
• If you’ve spent any time looking at Negro Leagues photos, you know it’s practically an iron-clad rule that one player was always wearing last year’s uniform, or another team’s uniform, or something out of step with the rest of the team.
• Here’s a really great story: In 1949, a local schoolgirl embroidered this shirt with the likenesses of Ralph Kiner, Wally Westlake, and Babe Ruth, and then sent it to Kiner and Westlake for them to autograph (the Babe had already died, alas). Kiner not only autographed it but sent it back with this cover letter. Dig that stationery!
• The football section included an entire wall of letterman jackets and sweaters. But my favorite jacket was this one. That chest patch is near-perfection.
• I really liked this display showing a ref’s jersey, whistles, score sheet, and flags.
• Another highlight: This Steelers cheerleaders display. Additional pics here.
• I was happy to see they had a small mention of L.C. Greenwood’s gold shoes.
• This was a local football team called the Oilers. I love that there’s an oil derrick in the background.
• And here’s an all-black football team, wearing a jersey style I’ve never seen before.
• You know those old-fashioned football nose guards? Here’s an early patent drawing.
• Apparently the Pittsburgh boxing community is still pissed off about the Louis/Conn fight (Conn was a local hero). I didn’t get any pics of the Conn memorabilia at the museum, but I did get a shot of this great robe and accompanying set of trunks. Not sure why a Pittsburgh fighter had “NY” on his trunks, but whatever — gorgeous.
• This is Chuck Cooper’s All-American uniform. Note the photo at lower-right — I didn’t realize the Celtics had once worn uni numbers on their shorts. And why doesn’t the shorts number match the jersey number?
• Several excellent old basketball uniforms here.
• I love the soccer jacket shown on the right. Here’s a close-up.
• And it won’t surprise anyone to hear that I also love this Pop Warner jacket, rendered in green and gold.
• Unusual artifact here. The United Black Front was a local activist organization, and you’ve gotta love an activist agenda that includes softball.
• The museum even features some swimming exhibits, including a tremendous Olympic time trails patch, a photo of the 1932 U.S. Olympic team, and a shot of some rather revealing swimwear.
• Finally, there’s this. I’ll let it speak for itself.
Phew! It’s worth noting, incidentally, that the Heinz facility also features a really great exhibit that documents the history of the Heinz company itself, including a photo of the Heinz baseball team, circa 1907 (note that they’re even using Heinz baseball bats), and a display showing the uniforms worn by female workers at the Heinz plant. Just goes to show that all roads lead back to uniforms.
And now a word from Vince Grzegorek: If I have one lasting legacy at Uni Watch, it probably won’t be writing about Brownie the Elf at every opportunity, or for being Paul’s first intern. No, it most likely will be for running the site’s annual NCAA tournament contest.
So let’s get this going. In the past I’ve come up with convoluted point systems and spent a lot of time scoring each entry by hand. But I’m much too busy for that this year, so screw that. Instead, we’re going to run a normal bracket challenge. To sign up, go to this site. Our group name is Uni Watch, our group ID is 68140, and our password is stirrups (all lowercase).
The top five winners will get to choose from the following prizes, all provided by Paul:
1. A free Uni Watch membership.
2. A free T-shirt from our friends at Pennant Race Gear.
3. An MLB logo wristwatch. (Full disclosure: Although it’s never been used, it appears to need a new battery. — PL)
4. A Bimbo Mexican soccer jersey, size large (contributed to the cause by reader Jeremy Deason — PL).
5. A copy of the new book Cubs by the Numbers.
Top winner gets his or her choice of prizes, second-place winner gets to choose from the remaining four prizes, and so on.
Hey, how about that economy?: Paul here again. As some of you are aware, changes are afoot at Distant Replays. Here’s a quick imaginary press conference about what this means from a Uni Watch perspective:
New enrollees in the membership program used to get a $10 Distant Replays gift code. Are you still offering that benefit?
No, effective immediately.
I ordered my membership card a few weeks ago but haven’t received it yet. I thought I was getting the $10 gift code. What happens to me?
There are 16 of you out there who fit this description (some of you have been waiting way too long for your cards, and I’m sorry about that — life has been hectic lately). Those 16 cards will mail out this week, and unfortunately they will not be accompanied by Distant Replays gift codes. If you feel gypped or baited-and-switched, get in touch and we’ll work something out.
I received my Distant Replays gift code with my membership two months ago but haven’t redeemed the $10 code yet. Will I still be able to redeem it when the company goes back online?
Good question. I’ve asked Andy and Rav about this, and so far they haven’t responded. I know them well enough to know they aren’t just blowing me off — I think they just have much bigger things to worry about at the moment. If I had to guess, my hunch would be that old gift codes will not be honored when DR resurfaces. But we’ll have to wait and see.
Sorry for the hassle. Feel free to be in touch if you have further questions about any of this.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Thrashers appear to have a 10th-anniversary logo slated for next season, and holy shit is it a stinker. … Negro Leagues shorts alert! That’s Prince Joe Henry, the Detroit Clowns player who often had some, uh, unique uniform stylings (but not always). Those pics were contributed by Jared Wheeler, who also sent along shots of an old Houston warm-up jacket from the Slama era, a 1940s Harvard hoops jersey, a Senators jersey with a Jerry Cosby tag (”Never seen his tag on a baseball uniform,” says Jared), a Willie Stargell cap (that’s the closest look I’ve ever gotten of the stars — note that only the one on the right appears to be properly oriented), and — the real prize — a sleeve patch from the 1944 minor league Orioles. Thing of beauty, no? … This is really cool (nice find by Charles Neiswender). … But this is just ridiculous (blame Mark Doescher). … Jordan Wiley has created an interesting project: He’s created an a listing of the best logo treatment for each letter of the alphabet. In other words, this is A, this is B, etc. I don’t agree with most of his choices, but that’s kinda beside the point, cuz it’s an interesting little project. I wish he’d put all his letter choices side by side in one big composite alphabet (get working on that pronto, Jordan!), but for now you can check out his breakdown here. … On Friday I mentioned that I’d been surprised to learn that the Milwaukee Braves had offered stock to the public. That prompted the following from Terry Paffenroth: “The stock was a huge issue when the team’s new ownership started making the plans to move the team out of Milwaukee, because they had buy up that remaining stock from people, most of whom who were not about to sell and lose the team. The plan that eventually took shape was that minority stockholders who would not sell were given a letter saying that their shares were being voided in exchange for a voucher for season tickets — in Atlanta. And just for the first season. Next time I see my grandparents, I’ll try and find their old stock certificate, along with the letter and voucher. They small stockholders and were given two tickets. The largest number I have come across was for six tickets.” … Kentucky wore black uniforms on Friday. … The Fresno Grizzlies have some new alt/promo jerseys (with thanks to William Paul Barrett). … Check out this square-formatted NOB (nice find by Robert Saietta). … Tequila sundrise over Blacksburg. … Brett Crane notes that Kevin Youkilis is wearing his #20 elbow guard in the WBC, even though his WBC uni number is 21. … Maybe we’ve covered this before and I’m just suffering from brain-lock, but what’s up with the ‘Pops’ patch? … Here’s the logo for the 2011 Pan-Am games (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Bob Ruffolo was inside the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday and took a bunch of photos. … The Rangers’ two-tone helmet lives on, at least for now, in a team commercial (screen grab courtesy of Josh Jarmon). … Lots of college basketball uni musings here. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that Arsenal’s Russian signee, Andrei Arshavin, has been wearing at least two different kinds of cleats, as seen here and here (that’s him in the background). … Soccer note from Joe DeLong, who writes: “I was watching Serie A soccer highlights on Sunday and saw that Filippo Inzaghi of AC Milan scored his 300th career goal and was immediately presented with a No. 300 jersey.” Details here. … Doug Keklak sent along this shot from the 1956 Johnstown High School yearbook. Weird to see that the whole team had uni numbers in the 70s and 80s — I realize those numbers were legal in h.s. hoops back then, but it’s still odd that they’d only use numbers in that range. … Luke Mohamed reports that Sidney Crosby, who normally wears a visor, was visor-free during part the first period of yesterday’s Pens game. … The 1898 Spalding Ice Hockey and Ice Polo Guide, which is believed to be the earliest hockey guidebook, is now accessible online — complete with ads. … Interesting 2005 story here about bunting — this kind, not this kind (nice find by Mike Ortman). … St. Paddy’s Week has officially arrived, as the Raptors wore green last night. … As promised, supercross racer Kevin Windham wore Saints-themed gear on Saturday (with thanks to Sean Clancy). … Don D. snapped this shot of an adult league hockey team called the Charlie Browns. “The uniform also has a shoulder patch with Snoopy biting through a hockey stick, à la the Sharks,” he adds. … Only in America, or so I’d assume (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Think this guy’s got enough swooshes?
March 16th, 2009
Let’s say you’re a high school basketball team and you show up for tournament game at a neutral site. Just one problem: You’ve brought along your home whites, but it turns out you’re actually the designated road team, so your opponent is dressed in white as well. You can’t borrow a set of road or practice uniforms from your opponent, because you’re at a neutral site — they don’t have access to any of their other gear. What to do?
That was the dilemma facing Terry Sanford High, a North Carolina school, on Saturday. They decided to borrow road uniforms from a nearby school, J.H. Rose High, which was just a few miles away. The weird thing is, they borrowed Rose’s jerseys but kept their white shorts, creating a very odd mismatched uniform set. It made for a really odd-looking game. (There’s a ton of additional photos here.)
According to this story, three of the Sanford players managed to get jerseys with their usual uni numbers; the rest were wearing new numbers. Good thing the borrowed jerseys were NNOB, or things would’ve been even more confusing at the scorer’s table.
I’m intrigued by the borrowed Rose jerseys, because Carolina blue and kelly green isn’t a color combo you see very often. I’m a big fan of each color individually, but I don’t think I like them together. What do you folks think?
(Thanks to Gerry Dincher for bringing this story to my attention.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Check out this gorgeous 1958 photo of Pele. The sash says that Santos, his team in Brazil, was the 1958 Sao Paulo State Champion (great find by Jeremy Brahm). … Eagle-eyed Mike Page notes that Terrell Owens was holding a Tagliabue-signed football during his press conference the other day. “Then again, the Bills’ greatest successes came with that type of ball, so maybe that’s all they keep around,” he says. … Stephen Jennings saw a Little League game over the weekend in which several players were wearing gold stirrups over black sanitaries. … Although the Rangers have scrapped their two-tone batting helmet, I’m told that it appears in the MLB 09 The Show video game. Can anyone get some screen shots? … Absolutely spectacular old basketball uniform available here. … Yesterday I mentioned that I was unfamiliar with the term “basketball target socks,” as seen at bottom-right here. Terry Proctor quickly filled me in (and took me to task): “Paulie, you disappoint me. Back in the heyday of basketball, when teams ran real pattern offenses they would have the ’star’ wear the shortie stirrups with the thought that they would be easier for his teammates to spot on the floor. He was the ‘target.’ Hence the name.” Interesting concept, but it also seems like borderline cheating — it’s basically having one guy dress differently than the rest of the team, which goes against the whole point of a uniform. … Always fun to see a rare shot of the Phillies’ alternate blue helmets (with thanks to Mike Engle). … The Detroit News recently held a contest to design a new logo for the Detroit Lions. Here’s a gallery of submissions, and this is what they chose as the winner, although I much prefer this one (with thanks to Craig Barker). … Tyree Evans of Kent State wore argyle socks against Akron on Sunday (good spot by Nicholas Popczun). … The U. of Minnesota’s hockey equipment manager is retiring (with thanks to Steve Christopher). … Here’s a really good shot showing how the Lakers’ shorts and jerseys didn’t match (with thanks to Alex Putelo). … Interesting batch of Russian hockey cards here (with thanks to Jerime Wargo). … It’s tough to see, but Michigan State appears to have a sublimated rear-jersey pattern, much like Duke. And three more schools will get a similar treatment for the NCAA tourney. Details here. … Whatever that little sticker is on Johan Santana’s brim, Phil notes that it was there at least as early as March 1st, and as recently as yesterday. … “The New Zealand Warriors rugby league team (note it’s a different sport than rugby) will be wearing a memorial patch for a fallen teammate this season,” reports Hadyn Green. … The 8th Annual New England Game-Worn Hockey Jerseys Expo will take place in Marlborough, Mass., on March 21st (with thanks to Mike Hersh). … Kudos to Brenham High School in Texas, whose high-cuffed baseball team wears northewestern-striped green socks (all photos courtesy of Yvonne Tomlinson). … John Philips transcribed a key juncture from NBC’s broadcast of the 1972 Opening Day game between the Mets and Padres. During the top of the 3rd, color analyst Sandy Koufax had this to say about the Mets’ change from flannels to polyester: “This year I think the Mets have new uniforms also. Teams like the Pirates, you can see that they’re new. They’re the double-knits. But the Mets got, not a different-appearing uniform, but evidently a different-feeling uniform. They’ve gone to the double-knit uniforms and all of the players have said that it’s the best feeling uniform they’ve ever worn. And I think that the new freedom of the double-knit has to make the players feel a lot better.” A second later, play-by-play man Jim Simpson noted that the Mets were wearing a memorial armband for Gil Hodges. … Not sure I see the point of the small caps here. Shouldn’t it be all caps, with proper spaces between all three elements? (Photo taken by Ed Ra.) … Here’s another school that uses a north/south center-ice logo: Oswego State (with thanks to Fab Panelli). … John Okray notes that Karim Garcia, who’s playing for Mexico in the WBC, is wearing a bracelet — or maybe a series of bracelets — on his right wrist. “The announcers talked about it a little bit, calling it a ’superstitious thing.’” Anyone know if this is a new thing for Garcia, or if he’s been doing it during his recent stints playing in Japan and Korea? … No matter how many times I see this, it still looks ridiculous. … Brian Hughes reports that General Mills is apparently running a throwback cereal box campaign. … This chart appears on page 14 of the current issue of Newsweek. Guess they didn’t get the memo about the new NFL logo (with thanks to Nick Ruggeri).
March 10th, 2009
Lots of folks have been sending in additional examples of basketball teams wearing untucked jerseys. The best story comes from reader Todd Tompkins, who recently checked in with the following:
This is a picture of my high school basketball team from 1991 at Washington Union High in Fresno. Our coach was so pissed off at us during my freshman year because we kept un-tucking our jerseys when we would get into games. He got tired of yelling at us, I guess, because the next year we wore these. We hated them! We thought they were girls’ uniforms.
We were the only team we saw in California to have these. If I remember correctly, they were micro-mesh and made by Wilson. They only lasted two seasons.
Ah, but if Todd had gone to high school 10 years earlier, he might have seen these uniforms, which were worn by Simi Valley High School (about three and a half hours from Fresno) in the early 1980s. Those shots were sent in by Simi Valley alum Dwayne Archuleta.
As for additional examples:
• If you watch this video clip (contributed by Dwayne Archuleta), you’ll see (a) a really nasty collision that they show over and over and over, and (b) UTEP wearing untucked jerseys. Interestingly, the hemline stripes almost look like a striped waistband on the shorts when viewed from the front, but their true nature becomes easier to see from the side.
• As we’ve seen before, many girls’ and women’s teams went untucked in the late 1970s and early ’80s. For example, Brad Eenhuis notes that the Iowa women’s team went untucked and sleeved in the late ’70s too (as did their opponent in that photo). And they were still untucked in the late 1980s.
• And on the girls’ high school level, Doug Keklak found lots of examples from Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. “My brother and I went to the public school (Greater Johnstown), and he recalls a lot of teams in our area using this style in the girls’ game,” says Doug. “Greater Johnstown used them when he was in school (Class of ’87).”
Thanks to all the contributors. I’ll keep running untucked updates as circumstances warrant.
Pittsburgh Party Update: Schedule change for the Pittsburgh get-together. It will now take place on Sunday, March 1st, at 1pm. As for the venue, a very large computer is even now preparing a sophisticated algorithm to help determine the optimal site, but at the moment the front-runners are Max’s, Sarney’s, and Pollock’s. Stay tuned.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the Colors raffle. Details here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Major find here: More than 30 years before the green dot, there was the yellow dot. “That’s a screen grab from the 1976 ’Skins highlight film,” says Larry Wiederecht. “Knowing George Allen, he probably handed them out as motivation to beat Dallas that day.” Either that or it was a play on Gerry Ford’s “WIN” buttons, which were in vogue around that time. … Super-cool old Plexiglas faceguard was auctioned off yesterday (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Michael Orr spotted these socks at a high school basketball state playoff game between R.B. Stall High (North Charleston) and Dreher High (Columbia, SC). … Remember the proposed new Eagle County logo from yesterday? Doug Brei notes that it looks familiar. … Hmmmm, this is interesting. That less-offensive Citi Field logo was supposedly only going to be used on merch sold at Citi Field, but hey, maybe MLB.com has a server tucked away on the press level or something. And no, I don’t think this means they’re changing the sleeve patch on the jerseys (with thanks to Brian Erni). … Would you shave off all your hair and wear an ad tattoo on your scalp, just for a plane ticket to New Zealand? These people did. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Loads of cool old Orioles spring training pics here. … Sigh. … More old-school NYC letterboxes here (with thanks to Ken Clark, although I really should have known about that page, since I’m a big fan of the Forgotten NY site and its editor, Kevin Walsh, who’s a longtime Uni Watch fan). … Did you know stop signs used to be yellow? I didn’t (but I do now, thanks to Don Montgomery). … Here’s a good view of the Joe Robbie memorial band and 25th-anniversary patch that the Dolphins wore in 1990 (with thanks to Alan Borock). … Also from Alan: Good view of NC State’s front helmet decals, circa mid-1980s. … Serious sock stripes on display here (with thanks to Thomas Turner). … “Beleaguered Habs goalie Casey Price is switching his leg pads back to white from the red he has worn since the All-Star Game,” reports Casey Barcomb. “Since donning the red pillows, he has allowed 32 goals in eight games for a 4.00 GAA. In the season prior to switching to the red pads, his GAA was 2.35.” … Very nice Brad Van Pelt photo gallery here. “Aside from being the rare linebacker who got to keep his No. 10 (as mentioned in this obit), I think he was the only Giant to have gone through all five of the ’70s-’80s uniform incarnations,” notes Fran Fried. … Some British railroad uniforms had to be returned to the manufacturer because they were too revealing. No photo, alas (with thanks to Brendan Tarpey). … Jonee Eisen has scanned a bunch of pages from a 1975 New England Whalers program. “I love the wacky illustrations, especially the weird one on the coaches’ page — what the hell is that about?” he writes. “Also, it’s great that the ‘tough guys’ are celebrated, complete with fight photos. There are also a couple photos showing Toronto Toros players, who appear to have TNOS (team name on sleeves), as well as a center stripe on the helmet.” There’s more, too — for the full slideshow, look here. … I don’t really care about this sort of stuff, but I know many of you do. … Took a while, but Justine DeCotis finally came up with a photo of Milica Paligoric, the Iona player who was wearing eye black a few weeks ago. … I’m fairly certain this is a first: A Phoenix-area high school basketball team had to borrow another school’s uniforms due to a mercury spill (special Uni Watch hazmat suit now on its way to Jason Molina). … See what happens when there are too many “Think Pink” banners in the arena? (That’s Phil’s wisecrack, just for the record.) … The Chicago Wolves (AHL) wore their home whites with the wolf’s head on the front last night — except for goalie Ondrej Pavelec, who wore the team’s maroon-shouldered alternate with “Wolves” across the chest. “Apparently there was some kind of laundry problem when the team came back from their road trip, or at least that’s what the announcers said,” reports Jonathan Cain. “The back-up goalie wore the alternate too.” … The Australian Football League’s Melbourne Demons will wear a special Red Cross relief pitch on Saturday, complete with a phone number, to help victims of the recent brush fires (with thanks to Drew Douglas). … Remember my post a few months ago about the Phillips 66ers and their penchant for double-numbered players? Erik Morris found a non-double-number example. … If you scroll down to the “Fool’s Swag” section near the bottom of this page, you’ll find an interesting story about NFL players keeping their helmets (good find by Brinke Guthrie). … The 10th photo in this gallery shows Iowa State hoops player Craig Brackins wearing one knee-high sock and one shorter sock in last night’s game against Kansas (with thanks to Shane Baker). … Yesterday’s Ticker included an item about Paul Bielewicz and his attempts to document the uniforms worn by the 1932 Rochester Red Wings (he now thinks they looked like one of these). If you can help him with this, or with any other Red Wings-related research, contact him here.
February 19th, 2009
Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally a big time for a sport that doesn’t get much coverage here at Uni Watch: high school football. And readers spotted some interesting details on a several teams over the weekend. Here’s a rundown:
• Cardinal Ritter Prep (St. Louis, Missouri): When viewed from this angle, Cardinal Ritter has plain white helmets. But if you look from the side or front, you’ll see lots of pieces of colored tape (additional views here, here, here, and here), each of which represents a defeated opponent. It makes a plain uni look festive.
• Thousand Oaks High (Thousand Oaks, California): At first glance, it appears that Thousand Oaks is wearing a standard Michigan-style winged helmet design — green graphics on a white shell. But at least five members of the defense are wearing white graphics on a green shell: Nos. 46, 33, 48, 44, and 90. Anyone know what that’s about?
• Centerville High (Centerville, Ohio): The Elks, as the Centerville team is called, have horns — sort of. At the beginning of the season, the crowns of their helmets were plain black; by the second week, those yellow tape stripes had begun to appear, and they’ve increased with each passing week. According to a comment posted on Saturday, they’re “hitter stripes,” given out for big plays — which is kinda odd given that Centerville also uses conventional merit decals.
• Dunbar High (Washington, DC): Did you know Under Armour made helmets? I didn’t, until I saw this. Man, think they’ve got a big enough maker’s mark?
(Big thanks to readers Dan Loney, JT, Seth Engelbrecht, Bob Jordan, and Jason Walker for their observations and contributions.)
Uni Watch News Ticker, Thanksgiving Leftovers Edition: Last week I noted that LSU wore a jersey patch on November 22nd to mark the 50th anniversary of their 1958 championship team. But Derek Ponamsky notes that the patch had a bad design flaw: It depicts a helmet with a neck bumper, something that didn’t exist in 1958. … Reprinted from Wednesday’s comments: Indians farmhand Wes Hodges, currently playing in the Arizona Fall League, has some serious underbill action on his helmet. … Jing Xu notes that the Hawaii women’s soccer team appears to have a No. 0 and and a No. 00. … Latest Rob Ullman pin-up commissions for Uni Watch readers can be seen here, here, here, and here (as commissioned by Tony Worden, Jason Miller, Gregg Thomas, and Bob Halfacre, respectively). … Saw this movie over the weekend and heartily recommend it to all NYC-area readers. Lots of good uni-related bits, including a tight end wearing No. 91, game officials wearing colored armbands to identify the back judge from the umpire from the head linesman, and several unfastened chinstraps. There’s some decent game footage here. … Got a spare $35K lying around? If so, send it to me look what you can buy (with thanks to Sam Forster). … Latest Pacific northwest baseball gem unearthed by Dave Eskenazi: this Aberdeen Black Cats player, circa 1915-20. Love the ribbing on the undersleeve cuffs. … Lots to like in this 1942 Packers/Steelers photo, most notably the ref’s attire (big thanks to Jeff Ash). … When you think of Bobby Orr, you think of uni No. 4. But the Oshawa Generals just retired Orr’s No. 2, which he wore while playing for them from 1962-66 (with thanks to Matthew Bessette). … The Lightning’s long-rumored really embarrassing third jersey is now a reality. Slideshow of additional pics here. … Back in 1994, when all NFL teams were wearing throwbacks, the Packers played the Bears on Halloween, and Green Bay’s Ken Reuttgers got into the spirit of the day (with thanks to Gary Streeting). … Interesting note from Forrest Carpenter, who writes: “There’s a game available for the iPhone called ‘ESPN Cameraman.’ It’s essentially one of those barroom electronic ‘compare the two photos’ games. I’ve noticed that, in most of the pictures on this version, the differences are uniform-related [additional examples here], so I think they’re missing out on some niche-marketing by not setting up a deal with you.” … Good view here of Oregon’s Hawaiian-trimmed uniform from the Maui Invitational. … Tyler Hull reports that Cristobal Huet has changed his pads from this to this (”which make him look like he’s sponsored by McDonald’s,” he adds). … Had my mind blown just a little bit when Art Savokinas sent me this ad — never seen text-imprinted faux stirrups before. Art, who coached Little League in the 1990s, says he actually dressed his team in these around 1995 or so. “I thought it might be easier for the parents. Plus, we always had that kid with the wrong size [sanitary] socks or the kid who would wear black [sanitaries]. As far as what was on the socks, I believe we had the league name ‘Pittston Twp.’ The league only used them for a year or two and then the solid-color socks started to become popular. The kids liked them, since they were new and different.” … Great spot by Bill Banzer, who notes that the Sabres’ alt uniform includes a right-facing buffalo helmet decal — “the first time in franchise history they’ve used a right-facing buffalo on that logo,” says Bill. … If you watch these video highlights the 1985 USC/Notre Dame game (sent my way by Olivier Soweif), you’ll see that the Irish wore navy jerseys in the first half and green in the second half. Aside from lost-luggage situations and other logistical mishaps (like the Vikings famous mid-game jersey switcheroo back in the 1960s), are there any other examples of a team that intentionally wore two different uniforms in a game? … Several bowl games will be celebrating their 75th anniversaries in January, as seen in these logos for the Orange, Sugar, and Sun Bowls. … Really interesting find over on the Chris Creamer board, where someone posted a photo of this bedspread. We’ve all seen the prototype Browns logo before, but check out that helmet in the middle — that is, apparently, a placeholder logo for the Falcons, who were just entering the league. … “The Bobcats chose to wear blue at home on Saturday night against the Celtics, forcing the road team to wear white,” writes David Arnott. “However, Charlotte still wore their usual white home shoes, and Boston wore their usual road black shoes.” … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Joe Namath with personalized hip pads. … Also from Saturday: According to this item, “UAB’s trip to Madison Square Garden didn’t turn out exactly as the Blazers had hoped. In addition to losing both games, UAB had its uniforms stolen from in front of the team hotel Thursday. Last season’s uniforms had to be express-mailed Friday morning and arrived just hours before the game against Boston College.” … Unusual college football sights from the weekend: Missouri in gold, Louisiana Tech in red, and Southern in light blue (details here). … Hey, speaking of the annual Mizzou/Kansas game (also known as the Border War), this year’s game was notable because Kansas wore their usual white socks. As Jim Wagner points out, they usually wear red socks when playing against Missouri on the road, as seen in these pics from 2006 and 2004. The reason for the red hose can be found on this Wiki page about the brutal Missouri/Kansas fighting during the Civil War, which includes the following passage: “Well-known jayhawkers included James H. Lane … [whose] band of militants wore red gaiters [as seen in the center of this painting -- PL], earning them the nickname ‘Redlegs’ or ‘Redleggers.’” Anyone know why Kansas didn’t wear the red hose this year? …Check out the logo of this California painting company. “No word on whether or not Chipper Jones will paint the trim on your house if you book them before Spring Training,” says Jim McCue. … Paul Wiederecht found this shot of Mets minor leaguers from last season’s spring training. Note the unusual nameplate shape — sort of trapezoidal. … Color-on-color alert: Dayton vs. Marquette on Saturday (with thanks to Matt Shevin). … Erkki Corpuz notes that UCLA’s Nikola Dragovic now has an accent on his NOB (plus the FSN broadcast team has some rather primitive methods of keeping their wires in place). … This is the Italian fencing team. Anyone know what logo that is on their socks? … Surprised we haven’t noticed this before: The NFL.com favicon (the little thumbnail icon that appears next to the URL on the address bar) shows the old NFL logo (good spot by Chris Flinn). … Latest victims of NFL helmet decal snafus: Antonio Pierce and Robert Mathis (with thanks to Ryan Perkins and Chris Salove, respectively). … The Redskins inducted Sean Taylor into their Ring of Honor yesterday and wore memorial patches for the occasion. Coaches, too. … Good story/interview with the Bruins equipment manager here (with thanks to Tris Wykes). … Never seen a varsity sweater with a collar quite like this one. … Not-quite-uni-related but still fascinatingly detail-oriented item from last night’s comments: Most wristwatches shown in print ads are set to the same time. Here’s why. … Kurt Crowley reports that Oklahoma’s Tony Crocker was wearing long undersleeves at the preseason NIT the other day. … Did everyone notice that I managed to get through the entire Thanksgiving holiday without linking to — or, until now, even referring to — the Sarah Palin turkey-slaughter video?
December 1st, 2008
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