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Posts filed under 'Merchandising'
By Bryan Redemske
The Phillies — those forward-thinking, tree-hugging Phillies — on Wednesday announced a “going green” initiative, starting with the purchase of 20 million kilowatt hours of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Certificates (RECs). The EPA says it’s the equivalent of planting 100,000 trees … but without actually planting the trees.
The club is going to be recycling now, and also getting rid of condiment packages and going with dispensers and such instead. And to that, I say, “hurrah.” Good for them. But how to celebrate this new era in Phillies history? Hmmm … how about a green hat? Perfect!
Of course, the New Era factory had to be fired up to make them, and they had to be shipped and everything. Eh, we’ll save the environment tomorrow.
Speaking of tomorrow (which is now today, since I wrote this last night), it’s May Day. In celebration of that, all Major League Baseball teams will install a Maypole in a prominent location. Obviously, the Yankees will put it in Monument Park, but teams are free to place it wherever they like. Also, look for hat patches, too.
Here’s a look at the rest of baseball’s celebrations for May:
May 2: It’s Negro Leagues Day — the league’s first game was played on this day in 1920. All teams will wear Kansas City Monarchs uniforms, except the Royals, who will be wearing their powder blue alts.
May 3: Bitch about Walter O’Malley day. The former Dodgers owner agreed to move the team to Los Angeles on this day in 1957. The Dodgers will wear “LA” caps to celebrate the successful move.
May 4: Ken Oberkfell was born on this day in 1956. The Braves will honor him by refusing to acknowledge Atlanta’s pre-1991 history.
May 5: The Astros will honor the 47th anniversary of Al Shepard’s first trip into space by wearing replica Mercury suits. They will also retire the number 47.
May 6: It’s Willie Mays’ 77th birthday! All players — on the Mets — will wear their caps and sunglasses like this.
May 7: All teams will have a moment of silence before the game — and wear a special sleeve patch — to mourn the victims of the Great Natchez Tornado, which killed 317 people … in 1840.
May 8: The Pirates will celebrate Bill Cowher’s 51st birthday by wearing black and yellow.
May 9: Sticking with the birthday bent, it’s Twinkie day in San Diego: Tony Gwynn turns 48! The Padres will wear their camouflage jerseys to mark the occasion.
May 10: Teams will wear pink for Mother’s Day, only to find out they got the date wrong. They’ll change the promotion to celebrate the first day of the Giro d’Italia, a three week cycling stage race. The teams’ jerseys are now based on the leader’s pink jersey.
May 11: Teams will continue to wear pink, since it’s actually Mother’s Day now. The Yankees will decline to participate on both days, because they’re a-holes.
May 12: To honor Yogi Berra’s 88th birthday, broadcasters all over baseball will say things that make no sense. Again, the Yankees will decline to participate.
May 13: Today is Barry Zito’s 30th birthday, so it’s stirrups and a high ERA for everybody!
May 14: All starting pitchers will go 9 innings — but lose — to observe Roy Halladay’s 31st birthday.
May 15: The Yankees will retire Nos. 56, 1, and 1941 to honor the start of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. The only numbers available for future players are 73, 94, and 97.
May 16: The No. 1 will be re-retired on what would have been Billy Martin’s 80th birthday. The Yankees will wear black ankle bands, since their sleeves are full of other patches.
May 17: The Padres will wear their camouflage jerseys in honor of the 1943 Dambuster Raids on German dams.
May 18: The Yankees, Orioles, Athletics, and Angels will all wear patches shaped like tinted prescription glasses for Reggie Jackson’s birthday.
May 19: The Blue Jays will celebrate Victoria Day by taking the day off, but having another ceremony later, like the Nationals on Jackie Robinson day.
May 20: It’s Hal Newhouser rubber jacket day in Detroit. To celebrate environmental consciousness, each jacket will be made from recycled tires taken off all current GM models.
May 21: Protective cup day in all parks, in an attempt to prevent future occurrences of … uh … this.
May 22: Mark Prior will undergo Tommy John surgery in honor of the 66th birthday of the surgery’s namesake. It was going to happen sooner or later — call it preventative maintenance.
May 23: The Padres will wear their camouflage jerseys in honor of Italy joining the Allies in World War I in 1915.
May 24: No activities planned. The Yankees decline to participate anyway.
May 25: It’s Star Wars Day across the majors in honor of the 31st anniversary of the film’s release.
May 26: Memorial Day — the Padres surprisingly don’t wear their camouflage jerseys, but the White Sox remember they have them and break them out for the first time.
May 27: It’s the 69th anniversary of the debut of Batman, prompting the Yankees to wear capes and little bat antennae.
May 28: Chleveland Honors Jhonny Peralta’s 26th birthday.
May 29: Today’s Red Sox game will be delivered in winks and nods in remembrance of Moe Berg, a former Sox catcher and U.S. spy.
May 30: The Cubs wear green hats in honor of grass, ivy, and the one-month anniversary of the Phillies’ green initiative.
May 31: Kenny Lofton, age 41 today, has his number retired by the Astros, Indians, Braves, White Sox, Giants, Pirates, Cubs, Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, and Rangers.
Here’s Vince with the ticker …
Uni Watch News Ticker: As Paul has noted before, even fans get in on the whole misspelled jersey thing (thanks to Dan Cichalski). … Many people have emailed to say that Bob Uecker claimed during the Brewers/Cubs broadcast that Chicago’s Reed Johnson is the last among the Cubs to wear “old style” stirrups. Many also claimed that this claim doesn’t appear to be true. These photos seem to indicate Uecker is right, though. … There’s apparently some groundswell to have the NCAA allow USC and UCLA to both wear their home uniforms for their annual game (thanks to Eric Borer). … The Durham Bulls wore pink jerseys to support breast cancer awareness (thanks Josh Edney). …A New York Rangers sweater given to Bruce Springsteen is part of a larger auction you can find here (thanks to Michael Jaworski). … Reader Andrew has created a site devoted to the uniform history of the Diamondbacks. … If you haven’t checked it out ready, this blog devoted to ugly baseball cards is certainly a great time waster (thanks John Muir). … Patrick Ryan says that Houston had to wear their grey road uni’s for the first time this season because Arizona chose to wear their red alts. … Think Luis Sanchez really wants everyone to know whose jacket that is? (Thanks John Muir).
May 1st, 2008
If they’d put this much effort into finding Jimmy Hoffa, they probably would’ve found D.B. Cooper while they were at it, along with Osama Bin Laden, the 18 missing minutes of Watergate tape, Paris Hilton’s virginity, all those ballpoint pens you misplaced over the past 20 years, Atlantis, and Waldo.
I’m referring, of course, to the tizzy that has gripped New York since it was revealed on Friday that a construction worker had tried to curse the Yankees last summer by entombing a Red Sox jersey in the concrete at the new Yankee Stadium. Once the jersey’s likely coordinates were determined, a jackhammer crew toiled for five hours on Saturday (imagine the union’s weekend rate — the Yankees really do spare no expense!) until the renegade jersey was located about two feet down, extracted, taken into custody, and displayed like a trophy. After the jersey was sent off to Guantánamo for interrogation, the Yanks announced that Kyle Farnsworth will be buried in its place held the year’s most surreal press conference.
The guy behind all of this is a Bronx construction worker named Gino Castignoli. As you can see, he looks like a real prize, although he comes off as a rather amusing character in this interview. And let’s give him credit for a good prank, no matter who you root for. But as some readers have already noted, Castignoli gets low marks for trying to pull his stunt with a replica jersey instead of an authentic — wrong number font, should be NNOB, etc. Yeah, an authentic is pricier, but you can’t expect to create a curse on the cheap. Am I right?
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to bury a blue Mets cap under Charlie Samuels’s house.
Uni Watch News Ticker: More 42er news here and here. … Sri Lankan cricket player Jerome Taylor was victimized by a pretty serious typo the other day. “With some of the Sri Lankan names being long and complicated you could forgive the suppliers for a misspelling,” says Stuart Capel, “but how could they make an error on something as simple as ‘Taylor’?” … Awesome T-shirt available here (with thanks to Chris LaHaye). … And check the out the amazing typography on this basketball jersey (great find by Alain Nana-Sinkam). … Interesting note from Charlie Usas, who writes: “I attended the Rangers/Devils playoff game in Newark on Friday night. Even as a Rangers fan, you can’t beat the deal on the tickets you can get there, and I wasn’t the only Blueshirt in attendance who felt that way (it looked like a neutral-site college game in the stands). Anyway, as we got off the train, there was a truck handing out blue pom-poms from rangers.com — I think the plan was to counteract the Devils’ white towels. Upon arrival, however, Rangers fans “in uniform” were searched for pom-poms, forced to surrender them, and then not allowed to take one of the white towels.” Bummer! Anyone know of any similar tales of fan discrimination? … That new Speedo swimsuit keeps generating more controversy (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … “You can just barely see Adidas’s ubiquitous three-stripe logo blazing a trail across Brandt Snedeker’s back writes Steven Wojtowicz. “So Adidas has chosen the hallowed turf of the Masters to unveil golf’s first rear-shirt logo.” … Georgia Tech relief pitcher Michael Hutts died suddenly on Friday, so all team members wore his uni number, 40, on their caps (with thanks to Mike Rich). … “I was watching part of the Colorado Avalanche 2001 Stanley Cup video and noticed these two sweaters hanging up behind Peter Forsberg,” writes John Muir. “The one on the right seems like it could be a Team Canada sweater, but the one on the left stumps me.” Anyone..? … What did Angel Hernandez have written on (or woven into) his headwrap the other night? … The Royals unveiled their powder blues over the weekend (additional views here, here, here, and here). I can’t really get worked up about them one way or the other. As solid-color alt jerseys go, they look fine, but that’s basically the definition of damning with faint praise. … Marshall’s spring practice game featured an amusing uni number snafu (with thanks to Matt O’Bryant). … More spring football news: Over at Boise State, most players wore practice jerseys but a few were wearing a new game jersey design, seen on the right here. According to this story, it’s a new Nike prototype. … And down in Florida, many of the players in the spring game wore their jerseys hiked up to their pads — a style that also caught on in the crowd. … “While the Sox and Yanks were in a rain delay on Saturday, I surfed around and saw the MSU/Iowa softball game,” says Randy Williams. “The shortstop for MSU was wearing this mask. She kept talking into her friggin’ glove, so I couldn’t get a better shot of it (AND I couldn’t steal any signs while she was talking to the pitcher).” … Robert Eden notes that the Reds’ coaches had some helmet-inconsistency problems over the weekend. Third base coach Mark Berry wore a solid-red helmet (as did the players), while his first base counterpart, Billy Hatcher, had a black brim. … Apropos of absolutely nothing, I had a blast eating at both White Mana and the similarly named White Manna on Saturday. The latter was so packed that there was a 20-minute wait just to order, even though there’s a McDonald’s right across the street, and if that doesn’t restore your faith in whatever it is you like to have faith in, nothing will.
April 14th, 2008
Got a note the other day from reader Matt Fedorka, who raised some interesting points. I’ll let him tell the story himself:
Last year my girlfriend bought me an authentic customized Boston Bruins jersey (pre-Reebok Edge format), with my name and No. 87 on the back. I got it and I was really excited, but I noticed that the “7″ was not the same kind they used on the ice last year. The “7″ on the ice had a serif on the bottom, while mine did not.
Since I’m a nitpicky jersey guy (and because my girlfriend dropped $300 on the jersey), I decided to investigate. I went onto the NHL store’s website and used the preview function to see if the 7 would look the same as the one on my jersey, and it did. So they’re basically selling something that’s different from what the players wear, even though they’re calling it authentic. I then called the NHL store’s customer service line, where a representative said he would try to give my number to the right person, but he said it might have to do with what the Bruins wanted to allow for numbers.
So THEN I went onto my NHL 2K5 hockey game, and all the teams had the correct font for there numbers — except for the Bruins, who still had no serif at the bottom of the 7.
Here’s another point: If you look at that photo I showed you before, which is from January of 2007, you can see that the Bruins were using a serifed 7 on the back but a sans serif 7 on the sleeve. They seemed to change the sleeve 7 that pic was taken, which is apparent in this pic taken in December of 2006. I dug back a little further in the history book and noticed that at one point in the late ’90s they were wearing a sans serif 7 on the back, just like the one on my personalized jersey.
This made me feel a little better (at least they wore the sans serif 7 at one time). And I’ve noticed that with the new jerseys this season, the Bruins are now using the correct numbers on their customized jerseys. But the fact remains that my girlfriend and I have been shafted by the NHL. She ordered me an “authentic on-ice jersey with authentic numbering,” yet it wasn’t authentic. What’s the deal?
Seems to me there are two issues here: First, there are the inconsistencies in the Bruins’ on-ice 7s, and then there’s the question of “authentic” product. (Some folks — including me — might also say there’s the question of why anyone would spend $300 on a polyester shirt, but I’ll leave that issue for another day.) I can pretty well guarantee that the NHL and the Bruins will not be thrilled about explaining any of this to me, so before I pester them, does anyone know more about any this?
Research Project: Last year, and maybe the year before, I was surprised to see a few MLB umpires wearing goatees. Unfortunately, I don’t recall who those umpires were, and I haven’t been able to figure it out on my own. Several umps have facial hair in their official head shots for MLB.com, but all of those umps appear to have gone clean-shaven on the field, at least based on the photo research I’ve done so far. Does anyone know which umps have worn beards on the job? Do we know who was the first ump to do this, and when?
While we’re at it: To my knowledge, the first bearded manager and GM of the modern era were, respectively, Davey Lopes (in 2000) and Steve Phillips (ditto). But that’s just based on my sometimes-faulty memory — can anyone confirm or revise?
Friendly Reminder: Live web chat, today, 1pm eastern, here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: On the subject of airbrushed baseball cards, check out the size of the jersey button here (good spot by Mike Miller). … The AHL’s Philadelphia Phantoms will induct Bobby Clarke into their Hall of Fame on Sunday, and will wear 1968-69 Flin Flon Bombers throwbacks (Clarke’s boyhood junior team). Details here and here (with thanks to Matthew Algeo). … Wednesday marked David Beckham’s 100th appeaerance for the English national team, and his jersey had “100th Cap” in gold letters” for the occasion. Yes, it’s hard to see, but note that the gold lettering is missing from Peter Crouch’s jersey (good spot by Jonathon Binet). … Also from Jonathon: According to a small item in the middle of this Q&A page (search on “Rob from Deltona”), the Jaguars will be making “a minor change to the stripes on [their] white pants, to match up better with the black letters on the jerseys.” … Although the NFL season is over, new installments of “Equipped with Joe Skiba” are still being produced. The latest episode, featuring punter Jeff Feagles, is really good, and it’s available here. In addition, Skiba says he just filmed an episode of the History’s Channel’s Modern Marvels, about helmet technology. It’s slated to air on June 6th. … Are you kidding me? That screen grab, I’m told, with a number on the front of Chien-ming Wang’s jersey, is from MLB 08 The Show (good spot by James Yeh, who adds, “Doesn’t give me much confidence in the rest of the game”). … While researching something else, I came across this photo of former Orioles catcher and all-time MLB unibrow king Andy Etchebarren (sorry about the crop job). Check out that double-striped undershirt collar — man, that looks so fucking hot! … Yankees roster news from Tyler Kepner: “When [Morgan] Ensberg learned he would make the team last week, he decided he could not continue wearing No. 21, which was last worn by Paul O’Neill. But reliever LaTroy Hawkins has snapped up 21, and he said he would wear it to honor Roberto Clemente, who died 10 days after Hawkins was born in 1972.” … Peter Snow has scanned some images from The Leafs: The First 50 Years, which chronicles the Maple Leafs from 1926-76. Some great stuff here, including a hockey version of the Greaet Gazoo helmet, a rare sighting of eye-black on the ice, and some seriously freaky all-star uniforms (or at least that’s what I assume they are). You can view the full set of scans here. … Personally, I don’t give a shit what people are buying at the NBA Store (in fact, I wish there was no such thing as the NBA Store), but if you do, you’ll want to see this. … Got a spare $8000 laying around? If so, you can own one of the ugliest jerseys of all time (as forwarded by Damon Hirschensohn). … Speaking of auctions, look at this lot and check out the sleeve numbers on the guy at bottom center. … New football uniforms for Utah — details here (with thanks to Ryan Purdie). … The recent LeBron James Vogue cover has inspired a very smart response from Claude Johnson. … “It finally stopped snowing here in Chicago long enough to get some high school baseball in,” writes Steve Johnston. “I was at a game on Wednesday and took these photos. That’s the head coach for St Francis High School in Wheaton, Illinois. I commented on the stirrups and he said he’s trying to bring some tradition back. About a third of the team is wearing the pants high enough so you can see the stripes.”
March 28th, 2008
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: The people were encouraged to vote, they let their voices be heard, and then a bunch of higher-ups decided to hijack the results and impose their own solution.
But enough about the 2000 presidential election — instead let’s talk about Iowa State’s new football uniforms. As you may recall, the Cyclones made a big fuss about letting fans vote on the school’s new helmet. But when the new uniforms were unveiled yesterday, none of the white helmets made the cut. Instead, the team will be wearing a red-on-red helmet, which seems like a major mistake, especially since it just accentuates the home uniform’s similarity to USC’s design. The road uni is better, especially when executed with red pants (yes, I know they’re actually “cardinal” — whatever). All in all, not a bad makeover, but it could’ve been a lot better without the red-on-red helmet.
Meanwhile, why encourage people to vote on three white helmets if you’re not going to use any of those designs? That question somehow goes unaddressed in the FAQ that the school put out. But I was told a few days ago that the three choices that were put up for voting all turned out to be wildly unpopular. So maybe going in a different direction really does reflect the will of the people. But in a sports world where so many things seem predetermined and calculated, it’s too bad that Iowa State appeared to be setting up a mechanism to give people a voice and now appears to have moved the goalposts. At the very least, it seems like there were some serious miscalculations made along the way here.
Membership News: Lots of new designs now on display in the membership card gallery, with more to come in the next day or so. Comments encouraged, as always.
Uni Watch News Ticker: According to a small item on this page, Jose Reyes now has his own Nike-designed logo, “represented by his uniform number 7 interwoven with his initials and sports a crown on top.” Given Reyes’s recent level of play, maybe this would have been more appropriate. … Good interview here with the guy who runs EyeBlack.com. … Some examples of logo creep are worse than others (as spotted by Rob Montoya). … Lots of MLB division champion T-shirts available, regardless of who wins. … Bryan Redemske and I both want to know what’s printed on next to the CCM logo on the jersey shown in this photo from Bobby Hull’s number-retirement ceremony. … The Indians were technically the home team in the first game of yesterday’s Tribe/M’s doubleheader (they batted last, even though the twinbill was played in Seattle), but they wore road uniforms anyway. … As previously reported, the All Blacks didn’t wear black last weekend. Compounding the problem, they wore a uniform fairly similar to their opponents’ design, which was apparently rather confusing to the players, as noted in the last several paragraphs of this article (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Funny item on the Chris Creamer boards about Mississippi Attorney General candidate Al Hopkins, whose star icon appears to have been taken straight off a Cowboys helmet, plus his “Hopkins” wordmark is borrowed to boot.
September 27th, 2007
Remember back in July when I wrote about the “futuristic” Royals/Mariners game from 1998, which led to all the similarly themed games in 1999? I’m happy to announce that one of the game-used Royals jerseys from that game is now in my possession. And within a week, one of you will have it in your possession.
I’ll get to the jersey in a minute. But first, that entry back in July led to a lot of interesting responses regarding that futuristic game, beginning with a missive from Mariners marketing VP Kevin Martinez, who’s a regular Uni Watch reader. He corrected one of my points (I had written that the umps wore their regular uniforms, but Martinez noted that they actually had metallic silver shirts) and then provided some backgound info:
It was Ken Griffey Jr.’s decision to wear the jerseys untucked and caps backward. Junior also spray-painted several teammates’ shoes and gloves silver. The uniforms, while certainly bold, got even more out of control when our players decided to cut the sleeves off the undershirts. The photo of Dan Wilson, who did not cut his sleeves, is a better representation of how the unis were supposed to look.
Our intent with the promotion was to simply to do something fun for one of our 81 home games and try something that had never been done. We drew over 42,000 for a game against the Royals — a fairly successful promotion. MLB took the idea and sold it to Century 21 the next season. We did not participate at home, only on the road. We did it once in ’98 and we were done with it.
Working in this game for 16 seasons now, it remains one the most memorable (and strangest) nights in my career. Watching the players in the clubhouse alter their jerseys and spray-paint shoes and gloves is something I will never forget … or repeat.
Reader Tim Conley offered some additional recollections:
I actually watched that game live. The M’s did wear their jerseys untucked for awhile, but [Royals manager] Tony Muser complained to the umpires and eventually got the umps to force Seattle to tuck in their jerseys. His reasoning was that an M batting with his jersey untucked was more easily hit by a pitch and could earn a cheap trip to first base.
But the most intriguing response came from my ESPN.com colleague (and massive Royals fan) Rob Neyer. Not only had he attended the game, but he’d bid on — and won — one of the Royals jerseys that were auctioned off after the game. “It’s just been hanging in my closet ever since,” he wrote, “and it’s so Godawful-ugly that I really don’t know why I still have it.” Then, in an incredibly magnanimous gesture, he offered to donate the jersey for me to raffle off, as long as I let him write a small accompanying essay. This is sort of like saying, “I’ll do this really nice thing for you, but only if you also let me do this other really nice thing.” So course I said yes. With no further ado, I hereby turn the floor over to Rob:
Ah, the summer of 1998. I was crazy in love, I wasn’t burdened with a job that occupied a great deal of my time, and, for perhaps the first time in my adult life, I was blessed with a small bit of discretionary income.
I was living in Seattle then. It was the 18th of July, and the Royals were in town. The Royals were my team. For that game, the Mariners came up with what they called “Turn Ahead to the Future” — 2027, supposedly — and the most visible feature would be “futuristic” uniforms. And I have to say, from my perch in the upper deck the Royals’ jerseys really didn’t look so bad. They were sleeveless, which I’ve always liked, and nicely complemented by coordinated undershirts. I don’t mind canary yellow when it’s accompanied by Royal blue. So you’ll understand why I bid $75 on Jose Rosado’s jersey.
Why Rosado? Because I didn’t figure I could afford Johnny Damon’s jersey, and because I didn’t know just how good Sal Fasano would someday become (yes, that’s a joke). Rosado, meanwhile, was only 23, and just one year earlier he’d been Kansas City’s lone All-Star. On a generally boring, veteran-laden team, Rosado was one of the few interesting players.
So I bid on Rosado’s jersey, as well as that of coach Frank White (a reminder of better seasons). Then I waited. A few weeks later, a notice arrived in the mail: I had won! A check was dispatched, and soon a package arrived.
OMFG. Trust me: As bad as those jerseys might look in the photos, when you’re holding one in your hands it looks much, much worse. Oh, there’s nothing terribly wrong with the basic design, especially if you’re not averse to bright yellow and Royal blue. But what I couldn’t see from my upper-deck perch was that all the emblems and numbers on the jerseys were ironed on, just like cheap T-shirts. I couldn’t see that the fabric was some beastly synthetic not designed for laying against one’s skin [that would be nylon Dazzle, more commonly found in the NBA — PL]. What I also didn’t know is that my $75 didn’t get me the Royal blue undershirt. And let me tell you, without the undershirt the jersey was not only unwearable, but practically unbearable, too.
Which I suppose is why it’s not been worn since the 18th of July, and instead rested on a hanger in various closets — Seattle, Boston, Seattle again, and finally Portland — for nearly a decade. If you enter the raffle, I wish you only the best of luck. But I have to say something I wish somebody’d said to me, way back in the summer of ’98: caveat victor.
Rob’s being a little too harsh there. For starters, while most of the graphics are indeed screen-printed (including, ugh, a replica-esque Majestic logo on the back), the numbers and “ROSADO” lettering are sewn, not screened. And hey, it doesn’t look so ba – okay, yes it does. But in a cool, “so bad it’s good” sort of way. It’s tagged as a size 44, but it fits bigger than that (it fit nicely on Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner, who’s a 48).
This fine garment — a one-of-a-kind artifact from one of baseball’s oddest chapters — is being raffled off as of right now. To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch address) by next Tuesday night, October, 2nd, at 10 p.m. eastern. One e-mail per person, please, but everyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries (and if ever there was a good reason to sign up, this raffle is it). I’ll announce the winner a week from today.
Big thanks to Rob for his generosity, and good luck to all raffle entrants. I hope you’re as jazzed about this as I am.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Japanese throwback jerseys are now available here (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … Lots of good non-wire-service pics of the Eagles’ throwbacks here. … Nice little gallery of Schutt Ion pics here. Not sure what school that is, but I’m sure lots of you folks do (with thanks to Matt Olson). … Iowa State will unveil its new uniforms today. A little birdie tells me that none of these helmets made the cut. … We’ve talked many times about how an American flag sleeve patch should always be positioned with the blue field facing forward. Some teams get this wrong, but you wouldn’t expect one of them to be the Air Force Academy women’s soccer team (with thanks to Frank Mercogliano). … The 49ers have signed Michael Lewis. Thing is, as David Robins notes, they already have another Michael Lewis (plus Keith Lewis), which should make for an interesting nameplate decision. Last time I can remember this happening was when the Mets had two Bobby Joneses a few years back. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Great Bruins goalie mask photo gallery here. Be sure to click through to the last image, which shows Gerry Cheevers wearing a Massachusetts Bicentennial patch. … Speaking of which, comments section stalwart Teebz has a great series of NHL patch roundups on his blog — look here, here, and here. … Decent NHL uni-history gallery here, including one of the best Cooperalls shots ever. … … Jere Smith reports that the Fenway 8 is back, and is now right-side up! … Did you know American Indians have a distinctive foot shape? Nike did (as jointly spotted by Vince and Minna H.).
September 26th, 2007
First and foremost: The site is finally back in business. Full archives, full comment functionality, full everything. For further details, look here. Many thanks for your patience during the hassles of the past week.
Meanwhile: The Mets wore their first responder caps last night, as has been their longstanding custom on September 11th. All other teams wore American flag cap patches (although, as usual, there were a few players whose caps were flag-free), and the Blue Jays went a step further by wearing the American flag on one side and the Canadian flag on the other.
And that leads us back, in a roundabout way, to something that first popped up on Monday, when I suggested it might have been inappropriate for LaDainian Tomlinson to run around waving the stars and stripes prior to Sunday’s Chargers/Bears game. I’ll have more to say about that later on in this post. But before I get to that, here’s an irony: You know how all NFL helmets have an American flag decal on the back? In the Chargers’ case it’s positioned near the back tip of the right bolt (which it sometimes overlaps). But it turns out that one Charger didn’t wear a flag decal on Sunday. Care to guess who it was? That’s right: LaDainian Tomlinson.
LT didn’t play during the preseason, but I did find this shot from a July 30th practice session — no flag, but also no NFL logo, so maybe they just hadn’t added all the little details so early in training camp. Tomlinson did wear the NFL logo on Sunday, however — but not the flag. He appears to have worn the flag throughout last season, as seen here, here, here, here, and here, so I assume this was just an oversight, not a conscious statement of any kind.
I’m not sure the same can be said, however, for Willie Parker of the Steelers, whose helmet has been flag-free since last season. Look at pics of Parker from last season or this season (that shot is from a preseason game) and you’ll see no flag. But if you look at pre-2006 photos, you’ll see that Parker used to be flag-clad (and that includes his appearance in Super Bowl XL).
This raises several questions, only some of which I can answer:
• Why did Parker stop wearing the flag? Not sure. I have a call in to the Steelers, but I have a feeling I won’t get a straight answer out of them because just about any answer is bound to stir up controversy.
• Even if he wants to stop wearing the flag, it’s part of the uniform, so shouldn’t he have to wear it? You’d think so, yeah. I’ve asked the NFL to clarify whether the flag decal is officially part of the uniform or if it’s a non-mandatory accessory. Will advise.
• Why do NFL helmets have flag decals to begin with? To my knowledge, the first appearance of flag decals in the NFL was in Super Bowl XXV, when the Giants and Bills wore them to show support for U.S. troops in the Gulf War. The flags were gone the following season but reappeared in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. The other major sports made post-9/11 flag gestures as well, but only for one season (or, in MLB’s case, the balance of the season that was already in progress). Only the NFL retained the flag on a full-time basis the following year, and they’ve kept it there ever since.
• Well, we’re still at war, so why not still wear the flag? There is indeed a tradition of sports teams wearing flags or flag-inspired imagery during wartime. This dates back at least to World War I, when baseball teams wore flag patches, flag-inspired shields, red/white/blue armbands, and even red/white/blue stockings.
That said, the flags that began appearing on uniforms in 2001 weren’t about war per se — they were to commemorate those who died on 9/11. (Remember, the Iraq War didn’t start until 2003.) That’s why most sports only kept them for one year. Some might argue that we’re still engaged in the “war on terror,” but that’s really more of a political term than a military one. While the threat it refers to is real, it’s a threat (and, hence, a “war”) that is likely to extend throughout our lifetimes and beyond. It renders the concept of wartime — and signifiers thereof, including flag decals — meaningless.
• Isn’t it wrong to wear a flag on a sports uniform anyway? Arguably, yes. According to the United States Code, Title 36, Chapter 10, §176(j): “No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.” The first sentence is vague, because it says the flag shouldn’t be used as a uniform, not on on a uniform. But the list of acceptable uni applications in the next sentence pointedly excludes sports. In any case, this isn’t binding law — it’s just official etiquette. And we’ve all seen how often that etiquette has been ignored.
Now then, about LT waving that flag during the pregame ceremonies: I want to make it clear that I love the American flag — always have, ever since I was a kid. Gorgeous piece of design, lovely symbolism. I had one displayed in my window for months after 9/11, I always have one displayed on Independence Day, and for years I had an old 48-star version that I used as a backdrop in a display case (I later sold it at a stoop sale because I thought someone else should get to enjoy it). My concern regarding Tomlinson’s antics was the context. Pregame introductions are pretty much designed to get the home crowd whipped up in an us-vs.-them frenzy. And if “us” is carrying an American flag, where does that leave “them”? By using the flag, I thought Tomlinson was essentially appropriating the concept of patriotism in a way that the visiting team — in this case, the Bears — couldn’t realistically hope to match or answer. The implicit message was, “Our team is representing America, which means the other team isn’t,” which crosses the line into poor sportsmanship and being a bad host. Or at least that’s how it felt to me. I would’ve preferred to see Tomlinson waving a Chargers flag, or a San Diego flag, or something that was more team-specific, instead of essentially taking home-field ownership of something that rightly belonged to both teams.
Finally, some of the comments about this issue back on Monday mentioned the playing of the national anthem before games. It may surprise you to learn that this ritual is a relatively recent phenomenon. I was surprised to learn this myself back in 2001, when I was researching an article about “God Bless America” being played at ballparks in the aftermath of 9/11. Here’s the pertinent section of the piece I wrote back then:
The tradition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” being played prior to every game may seem eternal, but keep in mind that the tune wasn’t even officially adopted as the national anthem until the 1930s. According to James Charlton’s The Baseball Chronology, the first instance of the song being played at a ballgame was on May 15th, 1862 — during the Civil War — at Union Grounds in Brooklyn. Over 50 years later, during World War I, a military band played the tune during the 7th-inning stretch of a 1918 World Series game. “From then on,” reports the Chronology, “the song [was] played at every World Series game, every season opener, and, whenever a band [was] present to play it.”
Playing the anthem didn’t become more the rule than the exception until World War II, when public-address systems — which were installed at stadiums in part for civil defense reasons during the war — became sufficiently widespread to enable recorded versions to be played. Even then, there were some holdouts — as recently as the mid-1960s, the Cubs only played the anthem on special holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, because team owner P.K. Wrigley felt that playing the song at each game effectively trivialized it. And Royals owner Ewing Kaufman cited a similar rationale in 1972, when he ordered that the anthem only be played “on Sundays and special occasions,” because it “was not receiving the respect it deserved.” Public reaction, however, was highly negative, and Kaufman quickly relented.
Six years after I wrote that, it’s hard not to see the growing parallel between the sports-related use of the anthem and the uni-related use of the flag, both of which have gone from the very occasional to the much more commonplace. Some may think this is a good thing; others may disagree. But the similarities are striking.
Flight of the Bumblebee Nine, Continued: Yesterday’s entry about the flying Alabama helmet numeral prompted some interesting follow-up contributions. For starters, Doug Simpson found another photo of the play in question. At first I didn’t see the airborne 9, but that’s because I wasn’t looking high enough — it’s right in front of the receiver’s left hand.
Then Wade Harder, who had brought the situation to my attention in the first place, checked in with some additional info: “I was able to watch a replay of the play. The decal flew off in a helicopter motion with a good amount of speed and landed about four yards away from Johnson. He was completely unaware of the mishap as he got off the ground and just trotted back to the huddle.”
Uni Watch News Ticker: This quiz was practically made for Uni Watch readers (with thanks to Allie Hinderstein). … I can’t find a good photo, but Vince has noted that USF is wearing a pair of memorial decals. Details here. … Another kicker who wears a wedding band: Rian Lindell. … Tim Sheehan got some nice pics of a vintage Portland Beavers jersey. … Attention Minna H. Your worst nightmare is here, here, and here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Nice survey of Maple Leafs uni history here. … Jeremy Brahm just informed me of something called the Golden Players Club, which is reserved for players who have 2,000 hits, 250 saves, or 200 wins in Japan. Members get a blazer (lots of additional pics on the four pages that begin here). … Intern Vince Grzegorek, increasingly flexing his journalistic muscles beyond the realm of the uni-centric, has a pair of Cleveland Scene sports blog entries here and here. … Douglas Brei and I would both like to know who the dark-uniformed team is in this photo. … Apparently PTI didn’t get the memo explaining that the new NFL logo isn’t supposed to be used until next year (with thanks to Jason Farmand). … Switzerland’s socks look like upside-down stirrups (thanks, Vince). … According to this video clip, wearing the visiting team’s cap to a ballgame can increase your chances of going home with a baseball (credit Vince yet again). … You’ve heard of throwback uniforms? Here in New York we had a throwback subway the other day. … Latest Bengals uni-related problem: Bryan Robinson’s sleeve stripes appeared to be peeling off on Monday night (good spot by Scott Yager). … Justin Tokarczyk notes that Andy Reid was wearing last year’s headset on Sunday. … Esteban Loaiza wore solid stockings for his Dodgers debut last week, but he must have asked the equipment manager for some stirrups, because that’s what he was wearing last night (good catch by Ros Yoshida). … Several readers have noted that the Cardinals’ coaching staff wears a logo that faces one way on the cap and the other way on the jacket.
September 12th, 2007
My NFL season-preview column is now up on ESPN — here’s the link.
Meanwhile, let’s talk about the new NFL logo. By now you’ve all seen the new version, which will go into effect next year (and has already inspired several parodies). Let’s examine the changes and some of the league’s stated reasons for them:
• The old typeface was dated. Yeah, it probably was. It’s always felt very 1970s to me, and the curlicue on the end of the L has generally struck me as more kitschy than elegant. A modest tweak would have been fine by me.
That said, the new type treatment is a disaster. Remember how the Cardinals’ Turn Ahead the Clock insignia featured robotic birds? That’s how this type feels to me — a clunky, robotic take on the previous version. And as a few jillion people have already noted, the old lettering matched the contours of the shield, but the new version doesn’t even try. C’mon, people — even Larry Johnson’s tattoo does a better job of matching type to its surrounding environment than this new logo does.
• The 25 stars were too many for licensees to reproduce on a patch. Then maybe you should have your licensees talk to the people who make American flag patches. Fifty stars, easy as pie. And here’s a thought: Maybe you’d have more room to depict the stars if you didn’t devote so much of the neckline patch to the word Equipment.
• Yeah, but the eight stars represent the eight divisions — the old 25 stars didn’t stand for anything. Oh, please. The NFL didn’t even go to the eight-division format until 2002, so it’s not exactly a time-honored institution. In this era of expansion and relocation and reconfiguration, the lifespan of a given league format is about 15 years. Does anyone really doubt that they’ll be tinkering with the division structure again before long? And what will they do then — change the league logo again? (As an aside, do the stars in the NFC and AFC logos “stand for anything”? Quick, redesign those with four stars each, one for each division, before someone notices!)
My favorite thing about the outgoing logo is how the football is positioned over the stars, partially obscuring some of them. It creates a sense of lots of stars, almost like a waving flag — very spangle-y, almost glittery, like fireworks. But the new football just sits in between the two quartets of stars, and you can almost feel the dull thud that resulted when they put it there. Again, it feels robotically club-footed compared to the previous version.
• The new football is more realistic, plus it evokes the Lombardi Trophy. Oh really? The actual Lombardi Trophy shows eight laces on the ball — same as on a real football. The ball in the old logo also has eight laces. But the new logo shows a ball with five laces, which means it’s not true to the trophy or to a real-life football. Minor point? Maybe, but it speaks to the heavy-handedness and lack of fine detail in this new design.
So let’s ask the standard Uni Watch question: Is it good or is it stupid? I think it’s clear where I’m coming down on that one.
And please, I don’t want to hear anyone saying how I’m resistant to chnage, how I hate anything new, blah-blah-blah. Like I said, I’ve never been in love with the old logo’s typography and definitely think it offers room for improvement. But this ain’t it.
OK? Good. Now get off my lawn.
O Canada: Anyone else getting exhausted by all these NHL unveilings? Just when you think you’ve caught up, they throw a few more at you. I’m tempted to call it Sisyphean (in part because it’s true, but mainly because I just like saying, “Sisyphean”).
Quickly, then: The Canadiens have gotten it right. My only two concerns: (1) The white jersey’s hemline stripes look a bit thinner than before. (2) As someone astutely noted in yesterday’s comments, the Habs created the illusion of a straight hemline by positioning the new jerseys on a flat surface, thereby hiding Reebok’s new shirttail-style hem, which continues to be the problematic. (Additional pics are here, and additional info is here.)
The Flames have gotten it wrong. Seriously, what the hell is this? And this? And while I’m generally in favor of flags on uniforms, the Alberta flag’s color scheme looks awful on the home jersey. What a mess. They did get one thing right, however: I think the rounded shirttail hem is better suited for stripes that are flush against the edge, instead of floating a few inches above the hemline.
Mail Call: Several people have mentioned to me that they’re no longer receiving e-mail notifications when a new ESPN column goes up, even though they’re on the mailing list. Of course, the blog itself functions as a notification system, since I always link to new ESPN columns from this site, but still, I want the mailing list to function properly. If you’re on the list and haven’t been getting notices lately (or if you’re not on the list but want to join), let me know and I’ll make sure you’re signed up.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Contrary to some rumors that were floating around last week, the 49ers will not be wearing their Montana-era throwbacks for the entire season. They’ll still wear them for their first game, as has been the plan all along, but that’s it. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Burger King is giving away mini-jerseys. … That Nike commercial featuring LaDainian Tomlinson running wild on the Bears’ defense wasn’t received very well in Chicago. … Kris McInnis sent along three excellent Auburn pics: this shot of the school’s infamous orange jersey, which was worn one time apiece in 1978 (against Georgia), ’79 (Miss. State), and ’80 (Georgia again); this shot of Shug Jordan in an Alabama Poly. Tech. practice jersey with painted on letters and numbers, taken two years before the school officially changed its name to Auburn; and this shot of a tearaway jersey from 1980, plus a rare glimpse of Auburn using merit decals. … According to this article in the Charlotte Business Journal, the Bobcats’ navy uniform will be worn 20 time this season (up from 12 in 2006-07) and will eventually become the team’s primary design, and the franchise emphasizes blue and reduces the role of orange. … You have got to be kidding me (blame Vince). … Ethan Rowley and his wife were recently at a Nebraska volleyball game, where Mrs. Ethan noted that many of the ’Huskers had their shorts tags sticking out. Upon going home and doing a bit of investigative work, Team Rowley discovered that this had happened before — several times, in fact. And other schools do it too! Could some volleyball-savvy reader please fill us in on this highly disturbing trend? … Speaking of volleyball, let’s go out on a high note: Cory Wright reports that the girls’ volleyball team at Sullivan Central High in Blountville, Tennessee, has been wearing some completely amazing socks.
September 5th, 2007
Listen up, boys and girls, for today I bring you a bona fide scoop. It begins with a note I recieved yesterday from a source who checked in with the following: “Word I hear is that the NFL is going to go to Cs on the captains’ jerseys this year, NHL-style. They’re supposedly going to start during the regular season.”
This was news to me, so I checked with an NFL source, who passed along a press release I hadn’t previously seen, dated May 22nd of this year. According to the release, the league’s Player Advisory Council has been developing a “team captain leadership initiative” for this season, designed to “to support and recognize the importance of team leadership through the role of the captains.” Among the measures being considered: “captain identification on game uniforms.”
So are they going ahead with that plan? My NFL source initially indicated that the Cs were pretty much a done deal for this season. “Captains will wear a C on the right chest,” he told me. And what about teams that already have a patch in that spot? “The C will go above the patch.” (I didn’t think to ask about the Broncos, who present some unique challenges for letter placement.) But later in the day he told me that he’d asked a few more people and had now been informed that the Cs were just a “possibility,” although I got the strong sense that they’re, y’know, a strong possibility.
Captaincy designations aren’t so uncommon in the NCAA, but they’re rare in the pros. The last team to employ the C was the 1994 Patriots (here’s another shot), and the only other C-ified team I’m aware of is the 1983 Cowboys, who slapped the C on Danny White, Bob Breunig, Drew Pearson, and Ron Fellows.
Can’t say I’m in love with this idea. For starters, real estate on NFL jerseys is already in short supply, what with the disappearing sleeves, the massive NFL Equipment logo, the increasing use of chest wordmarks, and so on. Adding another element to the mix is gonna make for some seriously crowded jerseys.
And consider this: As we all learned last week, the Red Wings are moving their C and A designations to the other side of the jersey this season, because Reebok’s new tailoring template puts too many seams and fabric panels where the letters would normally appear (for further details, look here). Given that today’s football jerseys are a veritable crazy quilt of stretch panels and seams compared to hockey jerseys, I’m willing to bet right now that the NFL’s newfound embrace of the C — assuming it happens at all — won’t last long.
Research Project Update: A big pat on the back to everyone who responded to yesterday’s call for “one and done” uniforms (i.e., uniforms that were worn just once, or a handful of times, before being abandoned) — my ESPN column tomorrow will be stronger thanks to your efforts. I won’t have room to thank everyone by name within the column itself, but I’ll do so here on this site tomorrow.
Membership News: Very odd development on Monday, as two completely unrelated people both asked for Harlem Globetrotters treatments for their membership cards (you can see one of them at right). This tops the membership program’s previous coincidental oddity, which came a few weeks ago when three consecutive new enrollees asked for No. 17.
Meanwhile, if you’ve signed up for membership, have you checked to see if your name’s on the roster? Here’s why I ask: The current roster listing has 420 names, plus there are two members who’ve asked not to be listed (although their cards are shown in the design gallery), so that’s a total of 422 enrollees. There are 421 designs in the card gallery, plus there are three cards that haven’t yet been designed, so the full gallery would have 424 designs. That means there are two people who I somehow left off the roster. Are you one of them? Let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I meant to list this on Monday, but it fell through the cracks when my computer crashed over the weekend (and by now most of you probably know about it anyway, but just in case…): Iowa State is letting fans vote on a new helmet design for 2008. … Meanwhile, the Fresno Grizzlies are asking for fan input on redesigning the logo (with thanks to Aaron Wiens). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Blue Jays have added an “SP” memorial patch for former team CEO/chairman Sam Pollock. … The Mets will be wearing Los Mets jerseys this Friday, for Fiesta Latina. … Several people have asked why I haven’t mentioned anything about the Little League World Series. Answer: Because I think the LLWS is bad news. The level of media coverage, the hype, etc. — it’s unhealthy for the kids involved, and arguably even worse for any kid watching it. I’ve written plenty of times about Little League, Pop Warner, and the like, and will continue to do so, but I won’t be party to something like the LLWS. … Nice little piece here about the Brewers’ batting helmets. … Very good article here about players who don’t wear batting gloves. … Just imagine the potential uni-related ramifications of this. … Scotty Johnson reports that dirt late model driver Scott James, who’s from Cincinnati, has a Bengals-themed helmet (and note the “Ocho Tres,” because his car number is 83). … Good catch by Jason Taylor, who notes that Andruw Jones appears to have added an American flag decal to the back of his batting helmet. … Victory Pennants honcho Morris Levin totally kissed my butt wrote some really nice stuff about Uni Watch in his blog yesterday. … Here’s yet another photo of the “8″ on Fenway Park’s exterior wall, and in this shot you really can see that the numeral is upside-down (nice job by Matthew Knell). … Merchandise malfunction, as documented by Justine DeCotis: “I work in the team store of the Pawtucket Red Sox. Recently this hat came in with the correct PawSox logo on the front, but on the bill, where it’s supposed to say ‘Pawtucket Red Sox’ on one side and ‘Pawtucket, Rhode Island’ on the other, it says ‘Atlanta Braves.’” … Cardinals punter Scott Player is currently doing an excellent Hulk Hogan impersonation. “Add in his single-bar facemask and the fact his last name is on most prototype jerseys, and Scott’s my new favorite,” writes Eric D.
August 22nd, 2007
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