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Posts filed under 'Logo Creep'
All season long, Vikes coach Brad Childress has worn a special non-branded headset due to his hearing impairment, but the clowns at Motorola finally decided to impose their logo and wordmark on his rig yesterday. Pretty standard corporate douchebaggery, but I’m surprised it took them this long to get around to it.
That was my favorite uni-related observation from yesterday’s NFL action, which Ricko and I watched at a pair of bars in Minnesota. In other news:
• Brett Favre appeared to have purple tape over his earholes, plus he was wearing purple earplugs, presumably to block out the Superdome noise.
• Garrett Hartley is another kicker who wears his wedding band on the field — but not on his ring finger.
• Lance Moore wore eye black on only one side, which is apparently something he’s been doing for a while.
• Several Vikings players appeared to have their jerseys tied down to their pads at the base of the collar, Cowboys-style.
• Pierre Thomas has a uni-numbered mouthguard.
• Kinda weird that there was a guy in a Miami Hurricanes jersey lurking in the background during the AFC trophy presentation. “The logical explanation is that it was a tribute to Reggie Wayne, who wears No. 87 for the Colts and also wore that number at the U,” offers Sam Blum. “Plus the Super Bowl is in Miami this year. I would imagine that Reebok must have been irate over swoosh’s presence.”
Finally, it’s worth noting that CBS’s Sunday Morning program did a little preview of the Saints/Vikes game yesterday, accompanied by this pathetic graphic. Maybe they’ll figure out what the Saints’ helmet actually looks like in time for the Super Bowl.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to head to the airport and, weather permitting, fly home.
(Thanks to everyone who contributed observations and screen shots, including Marc Malfara, Rick Friedel, Michael Kinney, Aaron McHargue, Dylan Moran, and Drew Nolan, and extra-special thanks to everyone who helped make this past weekend in the Twin Cities such a gas — you guys are all the best.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Bizarre news from Marcus Cooper, who writes: “The Lake Erie Monsters, who are an Avalanche affiliate, just announced a promotional bobblehead night for…. Shaquille O’Neal?! I played the video on that page and gasped when I saw the Avalanche logo, #33 on the sweater, and O’Neal’s head instead of Patrick Roy’s.” … Speaking of unusual minor league hockey promotions, here’s a first, I think: a hockey team wearing Girl Scouts-inspired jerseys (with thanks to Kevin Joseph). … Here’s a story I hadn’t heard before: In 1966, the Ford Motor Company commissioned Paul Rand to create a new logo, but it was never used (with thanks to Michael Paez). … Coupla nice finds by Alex Putelo: the Illinois hoops team wearing verynice northwestern-striped socks, and Bobby Hull with a makeshift facemask. … Good info and photos about the new Red Bull Arena in New Jersey here. “One interesting note is that season ticket holders will not have physical tickets but electronic ID cards that they swipe to gain entry into the arena,” says Michael Berluti. … Check out this old Cubs spring training photo — with a mascot in a cub suit! Never seen that before (nice find by Joe Coney). … Joe Drennan notes that the Bauer logo on Tuukka Rask’s mask is oddly off-center. … More new J-League soccer uniforms from Jeremy Brahm, this time for the Shimizu S-Pulse, Mito Hollyhock, Cerezo Osaka, Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Hiroshima Sanfrecce. … Will Rickenback attended the Orioles’ Fan Fest and took a bunch of photos of the game-used gear that was available. “They had hundreds of jerseys, bats, hats, pants, helmets, even banners from around the stadium,” he writes. “One of the helmets was huge, had two flaps and hard Styrofoam on the inside — seems like a predecessor to those new helmets. Also got lots of pics of the pants from the September throwback game from Ebbets Field Flannels.” … “This is a story from our local paper about a bank robbery,” writes Robert Tusso. “In the security camera still-frame, it’s easy to recognize the late-’90s Angels cap. But the impressive thing is that the police either went through the trouble to properly identify it as an ‘Anaheim’ Angels cap (from the five-year era between ‘California’ and ‘LA of Anaheim’) or else there’s a detective that knows his baseball uniforms. Or maybe they just happened to call it ‘Anaheim’ serendipitously.” … New jersey for St. Helens rugby (with thanks to Craig Ackers). … Dylan Buell reports that a recent Indiana/Ball State women’s tennis match found the two teams wearing virtually identical Adidas uniforms. “The only way to tell the difference was by looking for the IU logo on the left shoulder,” he says. … The Dodgers will be playing some spring games in Taiwan, and Jeremy Brahm rightly points out that this will probably mean a new logo and/or patch. … Duke wore a Haiti relief patch on Saturday night (with thanks to Mike Lafferty). … “Matt Zaba, the Rangers’ backup goalie, does a shuttle from the minors to the big club every two weeks or so,” writes Alan Kreit. “On Saturday night he saw his first NHL action, but his helmet had No. 30 (his minor league number — he’s wearing 31 for the Rangers) and the logo of the Hartford Wolfpack.” … Several nice finds by Brinke Guthrie, including a Cincinnati Swords jersey, a 1969 NFL game program with a cool multi-helmet photo, and a page showing dozens of super-cool-looking old sports books for kids … New rugby jersey for the Qantas Wallabies (with thanks to Drew Douglas). … Paul Wiederecht found these 1980 spring training shots of Billy Martin. Note that he’s wearing black shoes! … Paul Deaver is looking to sell his entire set of 42 NFL pencils for $25. If you’re interested, or if you have any questions about the set, contact him here.
January 25th, 2010
Have there ever been a worse helmet design match-up than last night’s Fiesta Bowl? Woof. Fortunately, the game featured a few uni-notable aspects:
• Boise State wore orange pants for the first time since the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Although the pants had way too many gewgaws, I thought the basic white-over-orange look was really nice.
• Boise State also became the latest team to don riflery gloves.
• Speaking of gloves, I didn’t watch the halftime show, but Geoff Poole did: “The TCU band’s drum major was wearing what looked like the TCU riflery gloves. Holy crap. That’s going one step too far, if you ask me.” No photo, alas.
• A few Boise players pulled the old Nike stunt of wearing mismatched undersleeve colors. Most of them, however, went the more conventional route.
• At one point both of TCU’s No. 47s were on the screen at the same time — and Fox put up the graphic for the wrong one
• Speaking of Fox miscues, Jeron Johnson’s academic major was the subject of a rather unfortunate typo.
• It’s tough to see in this screen shot, but the folks at Nike couldn’t have been happy to see a TCU player sporting some Under Armour logo creep.
• No photos, but Zack Hickman sent me this footwear note during the game: “Both teams are wearing new cleats. Most skill position players appear to be wearing the new Nike Vapors that I was actually able to see during a focus group I was a part of. The way to tell the difference between the current 4.2 Vapors and the new Vapors is the large swoosh on the toe. Another thing: I may be mistaken, but the BSU offensive line appears to be wearing Nike Hyperdunk cleats. Basketball shoes as cleats?!” If someone more footwear-obsessed than I would like to provide some visual documentation of all this, I’ll be happy to run it tomorrow.
But the biggest surprise of the night for me was that I got quite a few e-mails that basically said, “What the hell is TCU wearing?” I guess a lot of casual fans had remained blissfully unaware of the riflery program until now. Lucky them.
(Big thanks to Chris Salove, Sam Forster, and Clark Ruhland for their screen shots.)
Signal Flare: Attention Chance Michaels, Paul Radetsky, Zach Davis
, and
Steve Prestegard. Reader Nicole Haase would like a word with you for a project she’s working on. You can contact her here.
Research Query: Eric B. is trying to make a DIY Bronco Nagurski jersey, based on his U. of Minnesota days. “I’d love to see one of his jerseys in color,” says Eric. “Rumor is that his frat, Sigma Chi, has one of his jerseys framed. Do you have any Sigma Chi readers who could take a photo and e-mail it to me?” If you can help Eric out, e-mail him here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Georgia Tech has decided that the Orange Bowl is a great time to unveil a new jersey. Brilliant! Details here (with thanks to Bobby Sanmiguel, who says he hears there will be new pants as well). … Brandon Flowers needs to buckle up. … The old Tiger Stadium scoreboard has been moved to Wayne State (with thanks to Tom Konecny). … Aarron Stilley made these DIY pennants and gave them away as Xmas presents last month. … Cycling news from Sean Clancy, who reports that team Sky has unveiled its inaugural kit and Quick Step has a new design. He also sent along these gorgeous cycling illustrations. … Remember the old Cincy Royals logo? When Chris Chaussee got married seven years ago, he and his true love used this logo, which they put on guitar picks as party favors. … Yesterday afternoon I was at Foley’s on West 33rd, where they had an odd photo showing Seaver and Gentry in various states of undress. … Wichita State wore MTXE-era throwbacks on Sunday (with thanks to Ryan Atkinson). … Ray Emery has a new homage-driven mask design (with thanks to Matt Pesotski). … Check out this shot, sent me way by J. Sebastian Smelko. The jersey was worn by Thornton Fractional North (that’s an Illinois high school) for their rivalry game against Thornton Fractional South around 1967. Love the “Beat South” yoke. Makes me wonder how many other teams have worn special messages for their rivalry games over the years (and I don’t mean special messages concocted by Nike’s marketing team). One that comes immediately to mind is the Jolly Roger that Navy wore for the 1962 Army/Navy game. Got any others? … An item toward the end of this page indicates that Kent State football is switching to Nike (with thanks to Jody Michael). … Bizarre contribution of the day: Dave Sizer was driving through our nation’s midsection last week and spotted the Majestic logo being used by an oil-change shop. Hey, all you Majestic people reading this, give me some good inside dirt and I’ll tell you where the shop is located.
January 5th, 2010
Relatively quiet day in the NFL yesterday, but there were still a few noteworthy items. To wit:
• Joe Skiba had promised me that the Giants would wear their road gray pants if forced to wear their blue jerseys on the road this year, and sure enough, that’s what they did last night. Personally, I like it.
• Brandon Jacobs’s left-shoulder Reebok logo was sort of ghosted last night. The entire Giants team wore those sotto voce logos in the first preseason game last month, but since then the logos have been white. Not sure that’s all about — I’ll ask Skeebs, but he probably won’t tell me (at least not on the record), because anything involving Reebok is super-touchy.
• It’s official: The Giants’ new jerseys, with their fancy high-tech fabric, are a disaster. (For details on the fabric, look here.) I don’t know if they’re too stretchy or what, but there were all sorts of situations like this and this. Those two shots are both of Jacobs, but I noticed similar problems with other players. A bad scene. (Screen shots courtesy of Phil — thanks, buddy.)
• Meanwhile, the Cowboys unexpectedly (to me, at least) wore a stadium patch, based on this logo. Not sure if they’ll be wearing it at home all season or if it was just a one-game thing — will investigate.
• Those Falcons throwbacks were the bomb, no? Additional images here and here.
• NFL nameplates usually run the full shoulder-to-shoulder wingspan, even for short surnames. But not in San Francisco, where the Niners are using short nameplates for short names.
• Speaking of the Niners, here’s a small detail I’ve been meaning to mention: For the past several years, the Reebok logo on their pants has been black, but now it’s white — much nicer.
• Anyone know what that logo is on Maurice Stovall’s sock?
• Chris Johnson had his belt unbuckled.
• Stupidest move of the day: Many of the coaches were wearing polo shirts with their division noted along the sleeve or shoulder (on the left side for NFC coaches, on the right for AFC coaches). Because hey, nothing says cool like “NFC West” or “AFC West,” right? What a load of crap.
• Even weirder: Jim Zorn’s shirt wasn’t division-specific — it was conference-specific.
• And speaking of coaches, Brad Childress was wearing this rinky-dink headset instead of the usual Motorola rig. Anyone know what that was about?
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the SoccerPro.com raffle. Details here.
Just Sayin’: Awesome work by Phil over the weekend. In case you missed it, he’s running a cap design contest, plus he and Ricko have proposed an innovative solution to the NFL’s sleeve problem. Great stuff.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Buried on this page is the news that the Browns are going with the chocolate pants on the road all season. Interestingly, the lack of a stripe is cited as a comfort issue (with thanks to Charles Ryals). … New hoops uniforms for Nebraska (with thanks to David McGee). … New mask for Steve Mason (with thanks to Matt Lesser). … Also from Matt: Former Penguins goalie Mathieu Garon is now with Columbus, but he’s still wearing his Pens mask, at least for now. New design presumably forthcoming. … More new NHL masks, this time for Vesa Toskala and Chris Mason (courtesy of Matthew Gahm). … Good observation from Ben Beattie, who writes: “Georgia Tech’s Demaryius Thomas is using a ‘B’ first initial. According to his profile on the GT athletic site, his nickname is Bay-Bay, though he could be doing some sort of dedication to his father, who is named Bobby. Last year he had no initial.” … Got a spare five grand laying around? You can buy yourself over 50 old jerseys. … Other good eBay stuff: a tennis jacket, bowling sweater, basketball warm-up shirt (additional hoops warm-ups here, here, and here), track and field jacket, and baseball jersey (here’s one more). … Wait, here’s one more basketball warm-up. Look at that chest logo! … New hoops uni for Cincinnati. Here’s the rear view. … Those were some weird-ass trunks that Floyd Mayweather wore on Saturday night — fuzzy on the sides and dimpled in the front. … New AHL uniforms for the Texas Stars, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Abbortsford Heat (with thanks to Kevin Wright). … Now that’s a geeky look for tossing out a first pitch. “I think it was a game-used Bob Gibson jersey,” says Elena Elms. … Steve Johnston was at Comiskey on Saturday night and spotted this kid with a converted Joe Crede tee. “His sister did the same thing with her Nick Swisher T-shirt but she taped over the whole thing to turn it into a #15 Gordon Beckham tee, but I didn’t get a photo of that one,” says Steve. … Oh man, check out all these awesome NFL lunchboxes! … Steve Mandich has posted more pocket schedules from the Seahawks and Mariners, plus he’s begun compiling paperback book cover designs from a seminal category I’d forgotten all about: Bill Gutman’s sports biographies. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: According to this interview with Jeffrey Loria, the Marlins will have new uniforms and colors for their new stadium in 2012.
September 21st, 2009
I only caught the last few minutes of the Hall of Fame Game last night. Fortunately, thanks to the magic of internet photo galleries, I can bring you the uni-related highlights anyway:
• In recent weeks, it had looked like the Bills were gonna go with this pants stripe pattern. But they ended up going with this instead.
• The Titans’ much-discussed Steve McNair memorial decal is innocuous enough. And Tennessee’s coaching staff wore memorial collar pins.
• Take another look at that helmet photo. Notice anything? No NFL logo! In fact, the NFL shield was absent from both teams’ helmets. That’s nothing new for the Bills, whose throwback helmets have been shield-free for years now. It’ll be interesting to see if the Titans — and/or other teams partaking in the AFL throwback series — continue to eschew the league logo.
• Now go back to that Jeff Fisher shot. See how the logo on his shirt is all faded? That’s not a glitch — both coaching staff wore shirts with “distressed” emblems. I hate that faux-vintage approach (if you want a beat-up old Bills shirt, spend some time in thrift stores like I do), but I do find it interesting that they’d use that look for the coaches — a much more casual look than the usual coaching attire.
• The officials looked so damn great. A few people in last night’s comments were griping about the socks or the uni numbers not being fully accurate, but AFL officials had a wide range of looks over the years — they didn’t have just one standardized number font, e.g. I’m perfectly fine with how they’ve handled this.
• The red gloves that were worn by members of both teams reeeaaaally don’t belong in a throwback game.
• Bills owner Ralph Wilson wore his Hall of Fame blazer. But hey, Ralph, we gotta talk about those sneakers.
I’m sure there was a whole lot more that I missed, but I was busy catching the world debut of the Pedestrians. More on that later. For now, enjoy the onset of football season try not to melt today.
Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling off 10 free copies of Bill Henderson’s amazing MLB jersey guide. To enter, send an e-mail to the raffle address by 7pm tomorrow. One entry per person, except for Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees, who can send four separate entries. I’ll announce the winners on Wednesday.
Research Project: We’ve all long lamented the fact that there’s no online database for NBA uniform history. Now reader Chuck Myron wants to do something about that. He’s willing to do the archival research, but he’ll need help creating the illustration templates and the web site itself. If you’re interested in helping him out, contact him here. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Some guy on eBay is selling some really great baseball-themed Cuban pin-up posters. I just bought this one, and there are additional examples here, here, here, here, and here. … Bizarre coincidence: In last week’s ESPN column, I mentioned that I’d met a collector named Michael Ono, who’s been collecting USC alum autographs. Got a note from him on Friday, thanking me for including him in the column, with a twist: Turns out that he’s been the creative services manager for the A’s for nearly a decade (“I thought I was the only one who knew about the various discrepancies in our logo,” he says) and even designed their 40th-anniversary patch last year. So when I interviewed him at the convention, I was talking to a professional logo guy and didn’t even realize it. Small world and all that. … Red Sox third base coach DeMarlo Hale appears to be wearing the same flapless Wilson helmet design worn by A.J. Pierzynski (good spot by Andy Chalifour). … New logo for GW hoops (with thanks to Dan Franko). … Whoa, check this out: a black Ohio State hoops uni. The design was never worn on the court (thankfully), but it’s still interesting (with thanks to Dylan Glickman). … Small change for Iowa football, where the chest wordmark has been replaced by a collar logo (with thanks to Matthew Nelson). … The Raiders have posted a bunch of archival photos, many of them spectacular, on their web site. Check out image No. 9 and you’ll see them playing against a decal-less Broncos team. Preseaon, perhaps? (Major thanks to Mako Mameli.) … Didn’t know AT&T Park had a Giants uni display until Brinke Guthrie sent me these pics. … I might actually watch soccer if it was played by kangaroos. That’s the logo for the bidding for the 2018-2022 World Cups in Australia (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Those Adidas college football practice jerseys, first seen on Tennessee, are also being worn by other schools, including Notre Dame, Kansas, and Indiana. … New football uniforms Louisville. In addition to the new striping, Louis Samuels notes that the QBs already have hand-warmer pockets — odd for August, no? … And according to the very last sentence on this page, Pitt will be unveiling new Nike uniforms today (with thanks to CJ Giannuzzi). … Here’s a NickNOB. That’s Yuji Nakazawa of the Yokohama F Marinos in the J-League (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Matthew Hiett notes that Braves first base coach Glenn Hubbard still has the 4ALS decal on his helmet. … Lots of good shots of Babe Ruth as a pitcher here (with thanks to Chad Todd). … Scott Little sent a bunch of scans from a Tokyo Giants mag. Among the highlights: a guide to the uniforms worn by the stadium staff at the ballpark and some sort of “design the uni contest” (look here, here, and here). … Also from Scott: Maybe the best “Official [whatever] of the [league]” sponsorship ever and some killer furniture. … Ricko sent me scans of a ticket brochure from the old Minnesota Buckskins of World Team Tennis. “I was league PR director and a minority owner in the Buckskins,” he explains. “I didn’t do the paintings, but I did design the unis and the logo (well, drew the intentionally unisex character and my dad did the lettering, by hand). Note that the women are shown wearing two different colors — brown was to be the road uni. Men’s road would have flip-flopped the brown and gold on the uni shown. All moot, though, cuz the majority owner didn’t wanna pop for the custom unis.” … Super-cool interactive map on old Indiana basketball gyms here (great find by Ben Traxel). … Dr. John C. Barnes notes that UNLV appears to have changed their black helmet stripe to a red stripe. … Mark Teixeira was missing the 2 on his helmet last night (as spotted by Mike Lafferty). … “This watch ad ran in various football game programs, including those at Dartmouth, in the late ’70s and early ’80s,” says Tris Wykes. “It ran with the image reversed year after year, and they failed to correct it. That’s Columbia at Harvard, in case you’re wondering. Interesting that the helmet logos weren’t airbrushed out.” … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Chris Cooley’s latest blog entry is all about uniform fines. … Check out this completely amazing vintage SF Giants apron! It’s available for sale here. … The Cowboys have been engaging in some haircut-based rookie hazing. … The long-rumored new Arizona State jerseys look like this. … Ladies and gentlemen, your new Philadelphia 76ers. … Someone on the Chris Creamer board showed a small scan showing that Broncos-style vertically striped socks were briefly featured in the Wilson catalog.
August 10th, 2009
Two interesting moments during last night’s Yanks/Braves game in Atlanta.
One of them came during the top of the 9th, when Mariano Rivera got a rare turn at bat — only the second regular-season plate appearance of his career, and only the fifth overall. So this was a very unusual chance to see him in a batting helmet.
But hey, what’s with the “91″? It was on the back of the helmet, too — apparently Rivera had to use Alfredo Aceves’s helmet. Granted, closers don’t bat very often, but are you really telling me that the spare-no-expense Yankees couldn’t be bothered to have a helmet for a Hall of Famer? Next you’re gonna tell me that Derek Jeter’s range isn’t what it used to be. (For the record, Rivera flied out, stranding three runners. Clutch performer my ass.)
The more interesting tidbit occurred in the bottom of the 8th, when Brian Bruney came in to pitch. Turns out he didn’t have the Yankee Stadium patch on the back of his cap. No biggie there — as we’ve previously noted, Jeter and Robinson Cano have also gone patch-free lately. But they’ve at least had the MLB logo on his cap, while Bruney did not have it last night.
I did a little checking and discovered that Bruney’s cap was also plain-backed during his two previous appearances, on June 19th and June 16th. His last appearance before that was on May 19th (he spent several weeks on the DL), and in that game he had the stadium patch. So his no-frills cap appears to be something he’s worn only during his latest stretch of activity.
Here’s the thing: Where can you even find an authentic Yankees cap without either the stadium patch of the MLB logo? Bruney might just have a collector’s item.
(Thanks to everyone who sent submitted info and screen shots, including Doug Keklak, Terrence O’Donohue, Jesse Ghiorzi, Chris Merce, Brian Harvey, and of course Phil.)
Raffle/Redemske Reminder: I’m currently raffling off four pairs of Wilco tickets and taking up a collection to help out former Uni Watch bench coach Bryan Redemske, who broke his back in a cycling accident last week. Full details on both of these projects here.
Last Chance to See That Thing You Never Cared About Anyway: This is the last weekend that the Candela Structures exhibit will be up at the City Reliquary. Also, I’m giving a private showing of the exhibit to a couple of people at noon tomorrow. If anyone wants to get in on that, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Brooklyn Cyclones became the Baracklyn Cyclones two nights ago. Photo gallery here. … Brian Schulz reports that former Vikings player Randall McDaniel had some interesting things to say during a radio interview yesterday: “He said he was going to give Canton his shoulder pads, which he was issued on day one as a Viking and wore his entire career. They also asked for his practice jersey, because he had only used ONE practice jersey his entire career as well. He said it was so patched and stitched up that it barely resembled a jersey any longer, and that the only way you knew it was purple was because the end that tucked into his pants was still a brighter purple, while the other parts of the jersey was a mismatch of lavender and white stitching. He went on to say that it’s currently hanging in his home and that he told Canton no, they couldn’t have it.” … Pawtucket and Durham recently held a Negro Leagues night, and Peter Romano took a bunch of photos. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The 76ers didn’t quite revive their old logo exactly intact — they slightly altered the 6. … A few days ago I mentioned the Spaghetti Bowl. Turns out there’s a bunch of photos of it in the Life archives (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Interesting ESPN branding/style guide here (good find by Alan Borock). … Amazing old jersey available here (with thanks to Kevin Marks). … NOBs are being restored to Utah’s basketball uni. … According to this story, UNC “will wear throwback uniforms in a number of games that honor a championship team from the past” for the upcoming season (with thanks to Chris Warfford). … Mike Hersh reports that the College Vault folks have branched out into horse racing, as well as non-sports topics. … You know how Phil and several other readers are tracking various teams’ records by uniform? The Mets are doing that too (with thanks to Greg Michelena, who took that shot prior to last night’s game at Shea). … Georgia Tech’s hoops team will wear throwbacks through the 2009-10 season to honor the anniversaries of the 1960, 1985, and 1990 teams. According to this item, the team’s home whites will resemble the 1960 uni, and the road golds will be patterned after the 1985 and 1990 designs (with thanks to Glynn McGehee).
June 25th, 2009
I’d be the first to agree that I’m in no position to criticize anyone for having a tattoo of a brand, although I think the Brannock Device tat on my right arm is a lot cooler than Marcin Gortat’s Nike/Jordan calf tat, shown above. And as a bonus, I’ll never have to worry about a rival foot-measuring company telling me to cover up my tat, which is what Reebok has told Gortat to do. Much like the Nike/Adidas tennis spat a few years back, the tattoo situation highlights the real problem when you mix sports and sponsorships: Everyone ends up behaving like children.
You can expect to see a lot more of these conflicts as advertising encroaches on uniforms. If Player X has an endorsement deal with American Express and then his team starts wearing a MasterCard sleeve patch, how do you think that’s gonna play out? Just one more reason to keep ads off of uniforms.
And hey, speaking of ads on unis, Scoop Jackson and I debated the merits of that very topic yesterday on ESPN. Most of my arguments will be familiar to those of you who read the blog regularly, but it’s still an interesting dialogue.
And speaking of ESPN, I’ll have a new column up today — look here. — Paul
A few other items of note: Want to catch you up on a few things:
• Kirsten and I will be appearing on the radio this morning at 10:40am (not at 11:40am, which is what I had written in a previous update). We’ll be talking Candela, Uni Watch, and “I’m Calling It Shea.” You can stream the live audio here, and the segment should be archived on that page later in the day.
• As you may have noticed, we have a new sponsor in the right-hand rail: Cooperstown Collection caps from Dugout Memories. Glenn Gough, the president of Dugout Memories, is one of the nicest, most gracious people I’ve ever dealt with — please take a look at his site, and continue to support all our advertisers.
• Speaking of our sponsors, Sports Propaganda artist Chris Speakman has come up with some great new screen prints, featuring Jimmy Rollins, Chipper Jones, Ichiro, and the Cubbies. Full details here.
• Although this could change, for now I’ve decided that the Uni Watch party in Baltimore next week is still on. So we’re still good to go for next Wednesday, June 17th, 7pm, at the Hillendale Bowling Center.
• And my continued thanks to all of you who’ve said such nice things about Monday’s entry and who’ve expressed support during a very stressful period. You’re all aces.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Sharp eye by Cameron Norris, who noticed that the 1995 “World Champions” sign at Turner Field has an upside-down N. “One of those things where it really sticks out once you notice it,” he says. … Jim Mellett has provided 10 more scans from The Professionals, which I’ve added to this gallery. I’ll keep adding more images as he sends them to me. … Stirrup Nation Update: Yancy Yeater, who works for the minor league Washington Wild Things, reports that three of the team’s players have been looking my-t-fine lately. … Have you seen this year’s All-Star Game BP jerseys? I can live with the A.L. design, but check out the N.L. version — woof! Who had the bright idea of putting that powder blue trim on the collar? Gonna be one ugly home run derby this year (with thanks to Christopher Leopardi). … This is so weird, on several different levels (good find by Adam Brodsky). … I’ve previously reported that Robbie Cano’s cap hasn’t had the Yankee Stadium logo on the back, and now Erik Montgelas reports that Derek Jeter’s cap was logo-free last night as well. Sorry, no photo. … Think Salty has a long surname (14 letters)? The Bosox chose this guy (15 letters) in the MLB draft, and the Braves picked this guy (18 letters, plus the hyphen). … Check out the dotted i on Adam Everett’s road jersey. Jay Winkler says it’s been missing the top navy layer of fabric for several weeks now.
June 11th, 2009
Remember that April Fool’s joke I pulled exactly two months ago? Maybe it wasn’t a joke after all. Or maybe it gave somebody some ideas.
That’s the question floating around the web at the moment, because a Madden video preview released on Friday shows the Seahawks wearing the same neon green jersey design that we had whipped up for the April hoax. I got a ton of e-mails about this over the weekend, and it’s also attracting attention in the blogosphere.
So is it real? Personally, I don’t think so. I’m not aware of this design being in the works for on-field use, plus unusual alternate jerseys have shown up in Madden before, plus-plus this particular design has already been for sale as a fashion jersey, so it wouldn’t be such a leap for them to plug it into Madden. Still, I’ll try to contact the Seahawks today and see if they’ll comment on this, just in case.
As dire as a green Seahawks jersey would be, something potentially worse is unfolding in a league most of us don’t pay much attention to: The Arizona Replublic is reporting that the Phoenix Mercury — that’s a WNBA team — has inked a seven-figure sponsorship deal with an identity-theft security company (which I won’t name, cuz why should I give them free publicity unless they give me a seven-figure sponsorship deal?). The crux of the deal is that “Phoenix” and “Mercury” will no longer appear on the team’s jerseys. Instead, the jerseys will carry the name of the corporate sponsor, much like a European soccer team. All of this will supposedly be announced today at 1pm. Other WNBA are reportedly pursuing similar deals.
I realize this move probably says more about the WNBA’s desperate financial straits than anything else. I also realize the WNBA isn’t exactly a trend-setter that sets the bar for other pro leagues. Still, it’s disturbing to see professional basketball team — one backed by the NBA’s muscle, at that — going this route. It would be one thing if they were just wearing ad patches, but the full jersey-sponsorship routine? Feels like a small but telling breach in the wall between North American sports uniforms and advertising.
I’d call for a boycott, except nobody reading this attends WNBA games anyway.
Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the SportsCrack.com T-shirt raffle. Details here.
Gross Research Request: John Maine and Brad Penny have both vomited in between innings within the past week, and now I’m trying to compile a list of athletes who’ve tossed their cookies during a game. I’ve already got Donovan McNabb, Cade McNown, Jahvid Best, Pete Sampras, David Beckham, Larry Holmes, Dorenzo Hudson, Tom Gordon, Jay Buhner, Ray Oyler, and Glenn Hall (pregame, but close enough). If you know of other examples to add to the list, please get in touch. Thanks, and apologies to anyone skeeved out by this topic.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s one of the greatest panoramic team portraits I’ve ever seen. That’s the 1909 Browns — not sure which I like better, the caps or the sweaters (courtesy of Bruce Menard). … Josh Hamilton has an interesting way of personalizing his batting gloves (with thanks to Nick Hanson). … Two good shots from the NASA archives: First, German-turned-American rocketry whiz Dr. Verner von Braun visits the Huntsville Boys Club, and here’s a shot of the 1943 Glenn Research Center team (with thanks to Zac Neubauer). … Former Lions player Terry Barr died last week, and Matthew Earle notes that his uni number often appeared to be off-center. … Umpiring note from Brian Profitt, who writes: “I recently attended a PCL game in Las Vegas and noticed a chest protector-shaped patch, with ‘CC’ in the middle, on the umpires’ left sleeves. I’ve been to numerous games this year and this is the first time I’ve noticed this.” Anyone know the story behind this? … The Mets traded Ramon Castro over the weekend, just as Ed Hoyt had noticed something interesting about his catching gear: “Older photos show him wearing his name and number on the collar of his chest protector. But in this more recent photo, taken on May 27th, his collar reads, ‘BMNM 11.’ He apparently has worn this before, as seen in this shot from when Willie Randolph was still managing the team. The only meaning behind that abbreviation that we at the Crane Pool Forum [a Mets discussion site] were able to find were (1) Bimini Capital Management, which trades under BMNM, and (2) ‘Barcollo ma non mollo,’ which translated from the Italian I think means ‘I stagger, but I don’t give up.’” I have a hunch that neither of those is the right answer. … Pretty wild Canucks sweater here (with thanks to Greg Buchanan). … Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad discusses his pants and socks here (with thanks to Nathan Eberhardt. … Noel Basnight sent along some really cool cartoons devoted to specific ballparts, including Metropolitan Stadium, County Stadium, and Shea. … Frank Albanese was watching the 1980 NLCS and noticed that Joe Morgan appeared to have a C instead of a G on his NOB. … Cool Wisconsin throwback helmet decal set here (as spotted by Nicole Haase). … Jason Dulin found this Pirates jersey at a thrift shop for $5. The tagging suggests that it’s the real deal, as does the ghost of the now-removed nameplate, suggesting the jersey had been recycled in Pittburgh’s minor league system. … Why bother having striped socks if you’re gonna wear the socks so low? That’s the Chicago Machine lacrosse team (with thanks to Steve Johnston). … Tim Graham says this is what he wore to Friday’s night’s Orioles game. … Possibly the most nauseating instance of stirrups ever can be found three seconds into this video clip (no thanks to Johnny Garfield). … Good hockey jersey site here. … As several readers have pointed out, the Magic will probably scrap their anniversary patch to make room for the O’Brien Trophy patch in the NBA Finals, just as the Lakers did last year. … Boise State will unveil new football uniforms today. …
June 1st, 2009
Tired of those unsightly Reebok logos on NHL jerseys? So is Michael Jordan! In fact, we could probably eliminate the Reebok mark from the NHL altogether if we just cloned a few hundred Jordans and used them to replace all the players currently on NHL rosters, because MJ ain’t wearin’ no vector.
What’s the deal? According to this column (helpfully sent my way by reader Rachel Bicicchi), Jordan happily donned a Blackhawks jersey at Friday’s ’Hawks/Wings game, “but only after team officials sewed a red patch over the maker’s company logo.”
This isn’t the first time Jordan has engaged in some impromptu uniform modification in order to please the Masters of Swoosh, and I think it’s safe to say it won’t be the last.
Enjoy your Decoration Day, don’t forget the sunscreen, etc., etc. — Paul
May 25th, 2009
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