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.
The big uni-related news in the NFL yesterday had nothing to do with the players. It was the pink ribbons being worn by most coaches, owners, and other sideline personnel (although a few coaches went ribbon-free, including one guy who obviously didn’t want a ribbon messing up his carefully manicured look). The officials got involved too, wearing pink wristbands (here’s a closer look) and ribbons, although the zebras’ ribbons didn’t have the litle NFL logo pin.
Speaking of which: Isn’t a little offensive to turn cancer into a branding opportunity? Like, why use that NFL logo pin in the first place? MLB does this with their Mothers Day and Fathers Day ribbons, too. Similarly, despite what this decal says, hockey doesn’t fight cancer — chemo and radiation do. Why not have a decal that says, “Find a Cure” or “Support Cancer Research,” instead of a message that’s essentially self-aggrandizing?
Meanwhile, in non-cancer developments:
• Can’t say I was in love with the Titans’ blue-on-blue look, but I didn’t hate it either. The more of it I saw, the more it started to grow on me. Hmmmmmmm.
• As discussed in yesterday’s comments: Although it’s not a new thing for him, John Kasay was wearing a watch and his wedding band while kicking yesterday.
• The Falcons logo on Alge Crumpler’s left sleeve was facing the wrong way (it should look like this.
• No photo yet, but LaDainian Tomlinson’s American flag decal was still missing. (In a related item: The Bills will be wearing their throwbacks tonight, and I’m wondering if their helmets will be completely blank in the back, as they were last year).
Research Reminder: I’m still very much in the market for examples of typos and misspellings on uniforms. In particular, I’m having trouble finding a photo of Wayne Gretzky from his first game with the Rangers, when he wore “Gretkzy” on his back, but non-superstar typos are fine too. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers have noted that Jimmy Rollins wears a Cool-Flo hemet when batting right-handed but a conventional lid when swinging from the left side. … Ryan Purdie notes that the TV numbers on Utah’s uniforms have been doing a slow fade. In 2005 they were on both the home and road unis; in 2006, still on the road set but not on the home design; and this year, they’re missing from both the homeandroad unis. … Mike Alper notes that the Blackhawks’ sleeve numbers seem to have been cut rather sloppily, without enough white space. Additional examples here, here, here, and here. … Marquette will have some rad throwback alternate jerseys this season (with thanks to Jon Aubry). … Reprinted from last Thursday’s comments but still worth a look: A surprisingly in-depth article devoted to Cole Hamels switching undershirts during Game 1 of the Phils/Rockies series. … Remember last week’s discussion of negative space? Markus Kamp found another good example in this Seahawks 12th man pin. … The National Federation of State High School Associations has enacted a bunch of new lacrosse uniform regulations (with thanks to Ryan Burns). … The Islanders’ Stanley Cup stripes were missing from Bill Guerin’s shoulder the other day (good spot by Tim Hudson). … Not truly uni-related, but there’s a spectacular slideshow devoted to photos of old Comiskey Park here — highly recommended (great find by Michael Gargano). … Check out the unsightly gap between Daniel Sedin’s right sock and pant cuff (as spotted by Daniel Sherman). … Marhsall’s basketball team has entered NikeWorld (that depressing news courtesy of Jake Keys). … “During Friday night’s Pens/Ducks game, the announcers were talking about these special pads that hang over the laces of the skates,” writes Nate Budziszewski. “They said most players don’t like to wear them because they’re embarrassed, so they wear a more cosmetic version that’s hidden under the laces.” … The NFL has enlisted Chelsea FC to help promote the upcoming Giants/Dolphins game in London. First visible evidence of this: Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora wearing Chelsea jerseys. … Jeff Tripodi found a 1987 SportsCenter highlight clip in which George Hendrick is referred to as “He With the Long Pants.” … Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera both wore red trunks for their super featherweight title bout Saturday night. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Illinois players are wearing “Team” on their nose bumpers — a staple of Ron Zook-coached teams. … Bugs and baseball? Nothing new about that. … Hey, speaking of Friday’s bug-a-thon, here’s some recommended movie viewing for Yankees fans and Joba Chamberlain: Them (1954), which features huge nuclear-irradiated ants, and Starship Troopers (1997), in which the military forces of Earth wage intergalactic war against giant alien bugs. Both offer comforting reassurance that humans really can overcome insects. … Auburn’s 1957 throwbacks didn’t do much for me, given that they left so much contemporary clutter on the jersey’s upper chest. … Kent State University wideout Derek McBryde’s right TV number has been backwards for the team’s past two home games (good catch by Brad Foster). … The Japan Basketball League has introduced a new mascot. And his name — I kid not — is Hoopy. This is so fucking great, I don’t even mind that he’s not wearing striped tube socks (big thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Our own Vince Grzegorek was quoted extensively in this article about the Indians’ uniform history, which ran in yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. The printed article included additional quotes from Vince, plus photos, so Ohio readers should fish their copies of the Sunday paper out of the recycling pile. … The striped belt phenomenon has trickled down all the way to high school (good spot by Jack Krabbe). … Susan Freeman attended the Stars’ home opener in Dallas on Friday and reports that “the new slimmer jerseys [kept getting] caught in the shorts, leaving half the numbers obscured” (but she didn’t mind so much cuz she got a pair of jersey beer cozies). The next day she checked out the traveling “Baseball as America” exhibit and took dozens of photos, which are available in a slideshow here. … Wisconsin’s women’s hockey team has won two national championships wearing this design, so Nicole Haase was surprised to attend a game on Saturday and see the team skating out looking like this, which is essentially the same design that the men’s team wears. “I asked a girl who was working the bench about the jerseys,” says Nicole, “and she said they were new and she thought they were permanent.” … During the preseason, the Lightning’s road jerseys had uni numbers on the front but the home jerseys didn’t. Now that the season has started, the numbers are appearing on the home set as well. According to a small item buried on this page (sent my way by Doug Mooney), “The team decided to make the change near the end of the preseason and sewed the numbers on after getting permission from the league.”
Now that the first slate of NFL preseason games has been played, a few new developments have come to light (aside from those green dots on QBs’ helmets, which we’ve already discussed at length). Let’s take a look:
• At first glance, it appears that the Chiefs are wearing an AFL logo patch. But upon closer inspection, it turns out that the patch includes little “LH” initials at the bottom, in memory of Lamar Hunt. Personally, I’ve always loved the AFL logo and am happy to see it in just about any context, and I realize Hunt was a prime mover behind the AFL’s inception, but this still seems like an odd memorial choice, especially since it’s so hard to see the “L.H.” initials. Maybe if all the original AFL teams were wearing the patch..? Visually pleasing conceptually puzzling.
• Great to see the Browns wearing their old striped socks again, instead of what they were wearing last season. Additional views here and here, just cuz it looks so damn good.
• Nice catch by Chad Wilcox, who notes that many of the Redskins with non-Riddell helmets are wearing the team’s stylized “R” secondary logo (the one usually seen on Joe Gibbs’s cap) on their nose bumpers Here’s another view. I like. Meanwhile, we’d all seen the team’s 75th-anniversary patch before, but it’s worth noting that it looks plenty sharp on the field.
• Speaking of anniversary patches, the one being worn by the Steelers doesn’t look as good. And although this is still appearing on the Bengals’ home page, it’s not on their jerseys, at least for now.
• There’s something weird about opening your season — even your exhibition season — in your alternate jersey.
• I wish the Chargers’ pants bolts had a few more jags in them. Otherwise, I think their new design looks sharp.
That’s enough for now. Look for further developments in the Ticker as more games are played (like tonight’s Eagles/Ravens and Niners/Broncos tilts).
Charge It: The story behind this commercial and its inconsistent lightning bolt designs (compare this view of LaDanian Tomlinson, in which the upper-front point of his shoulder bolt is pointing forward, to this one, in which it’s pointing backward) continues to evolve. Last week I posted a note from Steve Due of AIS Uniforms — the company that made the unis — which didn’t fully explain the inconsistencies. Now I’ve received a dispatch from Due’s AIS colleague Bob Halfacre (who, as elephant-memoried readers may recall, had some very strong opinions a while back on the subject of nameplate initials), which I think finally closes the book on this story:
We made the bulk of the uniforms in a week with no help with patterns from the NFL. All we had was a replica-style jersey from Reebok. So the jersey itself isn’t perfect. … When the commercial was filmed, the Chargers sent Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers, and LaDanian Tomlinson with their actual tailored game jerseys. The shots of those three players are a mix of footage of those players in their actual uniforms along with footage of actors in the jerseys made by AIS, edited into what looks like continuous football action. I noticed the problem when I saw the commercial the first time also.
This shot is actually LT in his real jersey. Now that I have studied it a little more, I can see the problem. We put the bolts on backwards. If you look, the actual pictures of Gates and Tomlinson have the bolt with the first jag inside low and outside high. The AIS jerseys have the bolts the other way.
This explanation matches up with yesterday’s Chargers/Seahawks preseason game, where all of the Chargers’ shoulder bolts had the upper-front point facing forward (additional views here, here, and here). So there you have it: an all-too-rare case of someone taking responsibility and admitting his mistake. Thanks, Bob.
Membership News: We’re almost caught up on membership designs. Lots of good new stuff in the design gallery, including, as you can see at right, our first Bad News Bears treatment. Also newly added: a San Diego Chicken design. (I confess that I had never noticed the Chicken’s jersey logo until member Michael Rawson asked for it on his card.)
The next batch of designs, which Scott should have ready in a day or two, includes a really brilliant request that’s gonna look sooooooo cool — stay tuned. Meanwhile, new members are still welcome, so keep those orders coming.
Uni Watch News Ticker: No photo yet, but David Conley reports that Tiger Woods’s baby girl, Sam, “was actually wearing a red jumper with a large Nike swoosh on it when they showed her on TV yesterday after Tiger won the PGA.” And if you’ll excuse me for a second, I need to go throw up. … Okay, I’m back: The Celtics have announced that Scot Pollard and Eddie House will be wearing Nos. 66 and 50, respectively. Why? According to Friday’s Boston Herald: “‘Because all the other (expletive) numbers were taken here,’ Pollard said, looking around a conference room that had the numbers of Bill Russell (6), Tom Heinsohn (15), John Havlicek (17), Robert Parish (00), Larry Bird (33) and Kevin McHale (32) hanging on the wall.” (With thanks to Matt Englander.) … If you’re into modifying the uniforms on your video games (as discussed in detail here), you’ll want to check out the customization videos on this page (with thanks to Trev Ulmer). … Shorpy continues to be a great source of old uni photos, including this shot, captioned as follows: “Opening Day at Hilltop Park, April 4, 1908. New York Highlanders and Philadelphia Athletics” (as forwarded by Bob Andrews). … Brilliant catch by Peter Fahey who notes that Red Sox uniforms often have an upside-down 8 (the bigger opening should be on the bottom). … Elena Elms reports that the Durham Bulls will be wearing Livestrong jerseys, to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, on August 19th. … While doing a bit of membership-related research, Scott Turner came across this photo, taken in 1984. “How come Dorsett’s got a big star on his chest?” he asks. Good question. Anyone..? … If you haven’t read Game of Shadows, some of its most damning evidence about Bonds concerns his uniform: “[Giants equipment mananager Mike] Murphy could document Bonds’s physical changes via the changes in his uniform size. Since joining the Giants, Bonds has gone from a size 42 to a size 52 jersey; from size 10 1/2 to size 13 cleats; and from a size 7 1/8 to size 7 1/4 cap, even though he had taken to shaving his head” (with thanks to Matt Schudel for forwarding that quote). … Bryan Redemske notes that Chris Duncan, like all the other Cardinals, wore red shoes on Friday but switched to black on Saturday. … Matt Algeo reports that the Russian national baseball team wore throwbacks the other day. “Who knew there was a Russian national baseball team, or that they were around long enough to wear throwbacks?” he writes. Details and additional pics here. … Not often that you see “Sr.” on a nameplate. The player in question is Nebraska wide receiver Chris Brooks, whose young son is Chris Brooks Jr. (nice find by Brian Hansen). … Small item about Rick Ankiel’s uni number history about halfway down this page (with thanks to Tom Chalifour). … Dave Gardner sent along a few hockey-related links I hadn’t seen before, including a discussion forum for vintage goalie masks and a gallery of Russian jerseys. … “Found a cool gallery of lacrosse photos from the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association, a semi-pro summer box lacrosse league in Canada,” writes Thomas Langan. “Looks like some of the jerseys get recycled, as evidenced by the tape over the name. Some nice retro-looking jerseys too.” … “This blog entry has two uni-related tidbits,” writes Kim Kolb. “One is about a United midfielder trading jerseys with Beckham, the other is about some guys trying to steal the Galaxy’s laundry, leading to a chase through the bowels of RFK Stadium.” … The Twins’ recent I-35W memorial decal provides a uni-related connection for this excellent story about how a new signage typeface is being used on American highways. … Soccer note from Jeremy Brahm, who reports that Montreal Impact goalie Matt Jordan was injured with a broken jaw a month ago but is now playing with a mask. … My worst nightmare recently came true down in Virginia, where the Richmond Braves had a purple jersey promotion (with “thanks” to David Rosenthal). … Latest MLB team to pull the totally bush move of wearing their BP jerseys for a regular-season game: the Mariners, who did it yesterday, apparently because it was so hot and muggy and they don’t have a Cool Base road jersey option. … Speaking of the M’s, many of them are wearing a custom-designed undershirt. Details here (with thanks to Jerry Gardner). … Amusing column here about the PGA’s no-shorts rule (good spot by Alan Kreit). … Eyebrow-raising note buried in Phil Mushnick’s Sunday New York Post column (as spotted by Seth Horowitz): “The University of Utah’s new basketball coach, Jim Boylen, could be the guy we’ve been looking for. At Boylen’s urging, black has been eliminated from the team’s uniforms. ‘Our [school] colors are red and white,’ he explained. ‘Black is not one of our colors.’” … The Texans are the latest team to publish their jersey schedule for the upcoming season (good find by Seth Harris). … No photo, but Morris Levin reports that Bruce Froemming is still wearing his All-Star Game cap. … “Adam Gaylord plays his college baseball at Stanford, but this summer he’s been playing for the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods League,” writes Matt Nelson. Sunday he sported these nice stirrups.”
Got two interesting notes over the weekend, both of which call for reader input. The first came from Ryan Burns, as follows:
I’m going to be president of my local lacrosse officials’ association next year. One of the common complaints is about our uniform. The uniform is black shoes, white socks with black tops (the width of black part varies widely, which drives me nuts), white shorts, black belt, black hat with white piping, and a shirt.
The shirt is supposed to have black and white stripes, black collar and cuffs, ¼-zip, pocket, and, for our high school, no patches. The reason for no patches is that for college games you’re supposed to have an American flag above the pocket, a sleeve patch, and a number on the back (that’s a whole other story) and the feeling is that if you have any patches in a high school game and your partner does not, then you would be showing him up. Here’s an example of proper dress, but you can see black snaps on the back (for a number) and sleeve (for a patch). And here’s me. My numbers and sleeve patch attach by Velcro, but my flag patches are sewn on, so I wear them even though I’m not supposed to.
Some people complain about the high socks, some complain about black hats (heat), some complain about white shorts (get dirty easily), some complain about patch restrictions and having to separate shirts (both long and short sleeve) for high school and college games. I’m thinking we should have the black and white spiral instead of vertical stripes and have advertisements all over, or else button-down shirts with bow ties. But short of that do you have any ideas on how we could improve our uniforms?
First and foremost, Ryan: Don’t change those socks. Love the color block look.
I’m kinda fascinated by the whole snap-on number and patch thing — didn’t realize such a thing existed. And I’m always amazed by the ongoing cross-sport ubiquity of zebra stripes (the origins of which are discussed here).
As for the rest, what say ye, Uni Watchers? Any suggestions for our lacrosse officiating brethren?
But wait, before you deal with that, check out the note I got from Brent Marcus, who contributed the following:
Don’t know if you’re familiar with the show “Ninja Warrior” (airs daily on G4 TV). Massive, ridiculously difficult obstacle course. Competitions are filmed in Japan and the contestants are incredible amateur athletes.
Anyway, here’s the relevance to Uni Watch: Some of the best athletes show up dressed in their everyday work garb. For example, there’s a gas station manager who shows up in his gas station manager’s uniform [you can see him in this video clip]. His choice of khakis and polo shirt has no obvious impact on his performance. … You’d think these athletes would wear [performance clothing that would] allow the greatest flexibility, range of movement, etc. But they don’t. They wear corporate clothing and street attire, to no ill effect.
I’m sure this is just one example of non-uniform athletics, but to be honest, I couldn’t think of many others. I thought an overview of sports where there are no uniforms at all might make an interesting topic. I’m sure there must be several other examples. Historically, there are plenty — before we entered an age of Lycra and breathable mesh.
Interesting topic. Not sure it has legs, but I’m willing to open the floor to discussion. Your thoughts..?
Membership Update: The first batch of Uni Watch membership cards and fridge magnets went out in Saturday’s mail, so members should watch their mailboxes. Unfortunately, my printer chose Friday to go on the fritz, so I wasn’t able to enclose a cover letter with each card/magnet shipment, as I’d originally intended to do. If I’d been able to enclose such a letter, it probably would’ve looked something like this.
If your uniform number isn’t yet clickable on the membership roster, it means your card hasn’t been designed yet. We’ll get started on the second batch during the next week.
Incidentally, it has been suggested that we offer referee zebra stripes as the design option for the back of the card — an excellent idea that we have enthusiastically embraced. So if you’re a ref and want your card to be designed accordingly, speak up and we’ll be happy to accommodate you.
My continued thanks to all enrollees. If you’d like to get on board, full sign-up details are available here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Stop whatever you’re doing and take two minutes to watch this completely amazing video about the guy who’s in charge of the jockeys’ silks at Belmont Park (with a lifetime’s worth of thanks to Tim McLaugh). … Nice eBay find here, courtesy of Todd Krevanchi. … More eBay-ism from Mike Engle, who notes that this guy appears to have every conceivable patch for sale. …Patrick Ryan reports that the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay has a new logo (which kinda looks like a Rorschach splotch to me). Details here. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: The Blue Jackets will unveil their new uniforms on June 22nd. …Murvin English notes that the Majestic web site includes a section devoted to National Pro Fastpitch softball uniforms — home, road, and alternate. … Fun little piece here about history’s worst Bay Area uniforms (with thanks to Brian Catlett). … Not uni-related, but reader Christopher Falvey has created a baseball-related project that’s really, really cool. Check it out here. … Rather bizarre volleyball socks here (as spotted by Scot Williams). … Odd situation in the recent college baseball super regional series between North Carolina and South Carolina, both of which wore “Carolina” across their chests (good observation by Alex Benezra). … Reds equipment manager Rick Stowe put some pretty big expectations on rookie pitcher Homer Bailey when assigning him uni No. 34. For details, scroll down to the “Numerology” item at the bottom of this page (nice find by Steven Huelskamp). … In a break with tradition, Notre Dame has announced that they’ll be wearing their very beautiful green jerseys (which in the past have been worn without any advance notification, as a surprise) against USC on October 20th. … You know those clubs that play “base ball” according to the old rules, with period uniforms, etc.? Turns out there’s something similar for golf. You can’t even use a tee. Full details here. … Interesting thread on the Chris Creamer board about team-based lottery tickets in Missouri. … Bizarre multi-tone unis — colored in front, white in back — being worn by the Harlingen South Hawks in the Texas 5A state baseball championship tourney. “Pretty much the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” says Nick Zajicek. … “The NHL can’t catch a break,” writes RJ Charles. “They struck a deal with Sling Media (makers of Sling Box) for a video clip sharing deal, but Sling Media didn’t use the current NHL logo on their web site when announcing the deal.” … Single-digit pitcher, of sorts, in Friday’s Marlins/Rays game. Tampa was getting blown out, so in the bottom of the 8th they put infielder Josh Wilson on the mound. …Kevin Kelsey notes that the Women’s College World Series sleeve patch was inconsistently applied by both Arizona and Tennessee, with some players wearing it on the right sleeve and some on the left, as seen here, here, and here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Big memorabilia sale at Lambeau yesterday, including — get this — a shitload of Packers nameplates (here’s another shot, and dig the tat on that dude’s arm!). … Matt Ryburn was at Saturday’s Dodgers/Jays game and got good pics of rookie Tony Abreu inviting a fine (and, more importantly, looking like total crap) by wearing his pants under his heels.
Got two really interesting communiqués involving minor league baseball yesterday. The first came from Benjamin Guest, who checked in with the following:
The Birmingham Barons, AA affiliate of the ChiSox, used to play at Rickwood Field, the oldest ballpark in the country. Back in the late ’80s, they moved out to a park in the suburbs of Hoover that has even less charm than the big league club’s new Comiskey, and Rickwood was slated for demolition. But the city of Birmingham didn’t have enough money to knock it over, so it’s still there. Once a year, the Barons hop in a time machine, go back to Rickwood, and throw on some awesome uniforms, (flannel a couple years back — dudes were bitching).
On Wednesday, they went back to the 1964 season, when the team was a KC A’s affiliate. The Barons wore the ’64 team’s road golds at home [here's another shot], while the visiting Jacksonville Suns wore their home 1967 whites (Nolan Ryan was on that team). It looked pretty cool, if you can get past the Barons’ black helmets.
Man, I love that — not just throwback unis, but a throwback stadium! And speaking of stadia, that brings us to the other note I received yesterday, this one from Alan Duke, who wrote thusly:
About a month ago, I drove down to San Jose to check out Municipal Stadium and see the San Jose Giants play the Modesto Nuts. Misjudging traffic, I get there a little early and walked around the ballpark, where I noticed that most every sign had been painted by hand. In addition to the standard “Thanks for coming” and advertising signage, they have an extensive series of murals featuring the current logos from all the minor league clubs, as well as a comprehensive “history of baseball” timeline for the San Jose region. I particularly like the hand-painted team pennants (notice the painted tacks “attaching” them to wall). Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a credit for the artist or team of artists. Highly recommended to check out when in the Bay Area!
Gorgeous stuff. Alan took nearly three dozen of these photos, which I’ve assembled into a slide show that you can see here.
Membership Update: Über-thanks to all who made the first day of the official Uni Watch membership program such a smashing success. Scott Turner is busily preparing the first batch of membership cards, and I’ll start adding all of you to the membership roster shortly (it’s gonna take a few days, but don’t worry, it’ll happen). I truly appreciate the support, as well as all the kind words that many of you included in your membership orders — thanks again.
And one small update: If you go to the Membership page, you’ll see that I’ve added sneak peeks of the artwork from each of the three style guides available at Level Three.
Uni Watch News Ticker: “Thought you might find this old Washington Huskies photo interesting,” writes Patrick Woody. “It was, of all places, hanging by the bathrooms in a Seattle grocery store near the University. We were on vacation there during Memorial Day weekend.” … The Cool Base thing just does not look good (great screen grab by Tim Bennett). … Seth Horowitz notes that the Duke lacrosse player in this photo has a little “MP” notation on his helmet, an apparent shout-out to former coach Mike Pressler. … First, as I reported yesterday, Dan Ortmeier’s left-sleeve patch was missing; then, last night, as Chris Shastid points out, the Giants’ right-sleeve All-Star Game patch was missing from Fred Lewis’s jersey (and Ortmeier’s patch was still MIA). … Former MLBer Tom Brookens, now managing in the Tigers’ minor league system, is setting a fine hosiery example for the young ’uns (with thanks to Luke Larson). … Interesting note from Doug Steffenson, who writes: “Those of us who follow sailing have been following our ‘Super Bowl’ over the past few months, as the America’s Cup races have been taking place in Valencia, Spain. The Italian team Lunna Rossa is sponsored and outfitted by the design house Prada. Does a pricey designer mean better team uniforms? I’ll leave that up to the experts like yourself. Other teams, like the U.S. entry BMW Oracle, have crew names and numbers on the back of their racing unis.” I happen to have sailed quite a bit while growing up (my hometown was right on the Great South Bay, don’tcha know), and I can assure you that nobody dressed me up in Prada or slapped a uni number on my back. Can’t these clowns sail in cut-offs and sneakers, like everybody else? … One of the Baltimore Sun’s sports columnists devoted his entire column today to the debate over the Orioles’ road jersey insignia. But as Matt French notes, “The writer is one smug son of a bitch, talking about the trivialities of ‘baseball laundry.’ ”
With all these crazy cold-weather games that have been going on, I’ve found myself wondering, “Who the hell would go to a ballgame under these conditions?” I mean, I can sort of understand if it’s Opening Day, but who would bother to show up at the ballpark for a game when the temperature’s below freezing?
Matthew Lepke, that’s who. He attended Saturday’s Twins/Chisox game in Chicago, where the game-time temp was 31 degrees. Despite the frigid conditions, he managed to take some great photos — mainly of the players dealing with the frigid conditions. Here’s his report:
Nick Punto wore a stocking cap/toque under his game cap. I wonder how many cap sizes he had to go up to pull this off. At first Torii Hunter wore a balaclava, but later on he just slapped his stocking cap over his game cap (I never knew how cool I was as a kid sledding back home in Iowa with this look until I saw Torii do it). First base coach Jerry White went with the hoodie-under-jersey look the whole day. I can’t blame him — I had four layers on and was still cold.
I know I speak for everyone when I thank Matthew for being foolhardy intrepid enough to brave the elements on our behalf. Next time we’ll have the Uni Watch St. Bernard at the ready to bring him a nip of hooch during the 7th inning stretch.
There was also plenty of cold-weather headgear on display yesterday in Pittsburgh, as you can see in these pics of Yadier Molina, Adam LaRoche (here’s another shot), and Jack Wilson. And in case you were wondering, yes, all those knitted hats are fully MLB logo-fied.
But wait, this just in: It turns out that Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek himself was in attendance at Friday’s game in Cleveland. He’s now thawed out enough to deliver the following dispatch:
Dressing for the Indians’ 2007 opener was like dressing for a Browns game. My strategy at staying warm included three to four shirts, double-layer socks, hat, gloves, jacket, and sweatpants under the jeans. Even then, the snow delays eventually wore away my defenses and I yearned for some little heat packs to put in my gloves.
When Cleveland decided not to cancel the game before it even started, I was pumped. This is our weather. Snow, cold, and wind. Lake Erie was going to be our Monster this day. Seattle was playing in our elements, and no amount of face-warmers or long-sleeve shirts could prepare them for what they were about to endure. Then a snow delay. Then a snow delay. And by the time Paul Byrd was working on a no-hitter in the 4th inning and he was walking guys left and right and shaking off pitches, I knew that the lack of hits was as much a testament to the weather as to Byrd’s arsenal, if not more. Santana may have the change-up, Dice-K may have the gyro Ball, but Byrd had the unhittable Lake Effect Flurry Ball, if just for one day. Too bad he won’t be able to throw it in Milwaukee.
Incidentally, speaking of cold weather, there were lots of comments yesterday about a new line of MLB parkas with a very, uh, subtle logo. Love to have been present at the design meeting where that was approved.
Let the Chatter Begin: Because of relaxed pace of play, baseball offers more opportunities for uni-related banter among broadcasters than any other sport. Reader Blaine Williams alerted me to just such an exchange that took place between Reds announcers George Grande and Chris Welsh during Sunday’s Reds/Pirates game. We pick up the discussion just as Adam Dunn has taken a borderline called third strike that appeared to be low…
Welsh: The only way Adam Dunn’s going to get that low strike called consistently a ball is to hike those pants of his up around the knee, and I don’t think it’s worth the loss of style points for him.
Grande: Ain’t gonna happen. Fashion statement. In this day and age. Remember when you played? You had to wear the stirrup socks for the Reds. You got fined if you didn’t.
Welsh: That’s right. Your uniform came with an inseam about 25 inches long, and you had no other choice but to hike those babies up. You were showin’ legs whether you had calves or not.
A few thought spring to mind here: (1) Hiking up one’s pants constitutes a loss of style points? (2) Even if the preceding sentiment were true, Dunn would rather strike out than go high-cuffed? (3) “Whether you had calves or not”?
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Twins, as promised, have removed their memorial black armband for broadcaster Herb Carneal and replaced it with a sleeve patch, which features a microphone and the word “Herb”. … Iowa State’s football team is switching to gold pants for the 2007 season. In addition, the school expects to have a completely new uniform (including gold pants) for 2008, and is inviting fans to send in their design ideas. Full details, including a link to video of the press conference where this was all announced, here. … Back in February, I mentioned that Dominican University’s teams are called the Penguins, because Dominican is a Catholic school that used to be run by nuns. Now Brandon Davis, who’s the school’s sports info director, has sent along some photos of the school’s lacrosse team. “Coach Ned Webster and I came up with the ‘look of a Penguin’ for our team’s uniforms,” he writes. “The unis are black with white chests, like a penguin. The helmets are black and the chin is white to blend in with the chest. Unfortunately, the referee today said that regulations on lacrosse unis are probably changing next year — jerseys will have to be full blocks of color, which means that the penguin design would become illegal. We’ll see how that plays out.” … Davis also provided a photo of a softball team with a very unusual sock design. Logo creep issues notwithstanding, that’s one weird pattern — anyone ever seen this before? … Brian Roberts is about the last guy I’d expect to be wearing white shoes. … Reader Jeff Barak has found two hockey videos full of cool uni- and equipment-related stuff. The first one, an hour-long fan’s history of the Winnipeg Jets, is available here, and is essential viewing. It includes a short music video for a song called “Dale Hawerchuk,” by a French-Canadian band called the Dale Hawerchuks, which is available by itself below:
I’ll be off the grid today (yet another birthday — this time my Mom’s), so talk amongst yourselves. Back tomorrow.
Last Friday I asked about unusual instances of athletes wearing sunglasses. The very next day — the very next day! — the sunglass gods dumped something into my lap: Yankees pitcher Kei Igawa took the mound wearing shades. According to this article (generously brought to my attention by reader Tessa Trego), Igawa isn’t used to pitching in daylight because he played almost exclusively in domed stadiums in Japan. The sun’s glare had caused problems for him during his previous spring training start, so he opted for the sunglasses this time around.
Igawa isn’t the first pitcher to wear dark glasses, but he’s definitely the first I’ve seen wearing super-dark contemporary shades, which makes for an odd sight, sort of like there’s a blind man pitching. Interestingly, as Jeremy Brahm notes, Igawa’s countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka has been wearing those tinted contact lenses that cut down on UV glare, so maybe he’s having similar problems making the adjustment to daylight baseball.
Incidentally, big thanks for the excellent sunglasses-related factoids that many of you have sent in over the past few days — you people rock and all that. I’ll be incorporating many of your contributions into my next ESPN column (which would normally run this Thursday, but it’s been bumped to next Monday or Tuesday because of all the NCAA tourney coverage), which will feature an in-depth look at the intersection of sunglasses and athletics.
Uni Watch News Ticker: It’s nice that the Phillies held a memorial service for John Vukovich on Friday. But it seems a little odd that they put a black armband on his jersey — it’s like he’s saluting himself. … Good catch by Bryan Redemske, who notes that Louisville’s Terrence Williams had “Money Time” written on his sneaker Friday night. … Fawning article here about N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe’s suits. … Barry Bonds wore a DC United jersey while warming up on Saturday. … Latest member of the do-rag club: Nook Logan. … Phony pit stain; real pit stain. … Two oddities from Saturday’s Klitschko/Austin heavyweight tilt: (1) The canvas was white, and (2) the ropes included ads for Klitschko’s web site, which made the proceedings seem kinda biased. … Good rundown of Minnesota high school hockey tournament jerseys here. … The Manitoba Moose had Military Tribute Night on Saturday. Note the camouflage tape on the shins — an impressive touch. Lots of additional pics at the bottom of this page. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Good view here of the Hofstra lacrosse team’s memorial patch for Nick Colleluori. … Sure, this is fine, but I liked it better when he did this. … The Delaware State Lady Hornets have some pretty wild uniforms (with thanks to Matthew Wolfram). … Heartwarming sight yesterday, as Jose Cruz Jr. was wearing perfect — I mean perfect — stirrups. … And speaking of stirrups, Jeff Ash notes that Wisconsin girls hoops state champs Milwaukee Vincent has been wearing faux stirrup socks.
• As noted in our weekend comments, only the defending champions got to wear home uniforms for each of the skills competition: the San Antonio team in the Shooting Stars competition; Dwyane Wade in the Skills Challenge; Dirk Nowitzki in the Three-Point Shootout; and Nate Robinson in the Slam Dunk.
• Putting the conference names on the headbands is one thing. But putting them on the socks is a bit much, no?
• I hate that little triangular patch of fabric that keeps showing up at the base of the collar on so many jersey designs these days. Utterly pointless. A classic example of failing the “Is it good or is it stupid?” test.
• The two-tone rear design didn’t look so bad when the dominant tone was white, but it bothered me a lot more when the dominant tone was dark.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Great piece here about how former A’s feel about the team’s white cleats. … Charles Sliter came across this cool photo of the 1907 English Lacrosse League champions, Old Hulmeians from Manchester. … Very condensed history of the UK soccer jersey here (with thanks to Mike Munch). … “Here is a great resource for looking up old football uniforms,” writes Jeff Barak. “The great thing is, you can look at all the teams from a set or scroll down to the list of teams and look at just cards from a particular team. My favorite is the 1951 Bowman set, since each card has a classic logo on it.” … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: I didn’t know that when Eric Davis made his MLB debut with the Reds, he didn’t have a uni number for his first plate appearance. … UCLA and Arizona went color-vs.-color on Saturday. … It’s not often that you see a manager doing the inside-out pocket thing, but check out new Nats skipper Manny Acta. … Ramon Castro appears to have changed equipment sponsors, from Louisville/TPX to Rawlings. … Interesting volleyball typeface here (as spotted by Jeremy Brahm, who also points out the odd slogan on this jersey, although I’m more interested in the collar design). … We should have another Distant Replays gift card to raffle off later this week — stay tuned.
