As many of you know, kickers and punters are exempt from shoe color rules, so it’s not unusual to see a punter wearing black cleats while the rest of the team is wearing white, or a kicker wearing one black shoe and one white. But Mike Comeau noticed two particularly interesting things about Falcons kicker Morten Andersen last night:
(1) He wears one Nike shoe and one Reebok. Not sure how common it is for someone to be wearing two different brands. (2) The shoe on his kicking (left) foot was black, just like the rest of the Falcons. It was his plant (right) foot that differed from the rest of his team. Usually it’s the kicking foot that is “out of uniform” because the kicker is more comfortable with a particular shoe.
That last bit is a genius observation. Why would Andersen need a special plant shoe? And why would it have to be white? And it’s not like this is his lucky left shoe that he’s been wearing for years, because he was wearing something else just last month. Weird.
Meanwhile, several readers report that Dallas Clark of the Colts was once again playing without the American flag decal on his helmet last night. No visual evidence yet, but here’s a shot of a flag-free Clark from last week. If Clark’s flagless status from last night can be confirmed, that means our streak of at least one NFL player being sans flag for every week of the season remains intact.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Bizarre story out of Tennessee, where a high school hoops team was cited for wearing illegal uniforms, resulting in 18 technical fouls being called. The resulting free throws were the deciding factor in the game. Details here. … More numbers on shorts: the Butler hoops team (with thanks to Mike Miller). … While researching something else, I came across this awesome Cardinals helmet prototype on the Helmet Hut web site. … Latest chapter in the NHL jersey debacle here. … When the Blackhawks introduced John McDonough as the team president, they gave him an honorary jersey. But David Soline notes that they didn’t use a lowercase “c.” … The Browns will be wearing their throwbacks this Sunday. … What’s the point of beach volleyball if you can’t wear a bikini? (With thanks to Jeremy Brahm.) … Todd Radom, Tom O’Grady, and I are all quoted in this article about the state of uniform design. … Jim Pericotti reports that the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, are wearing a Stanley Cup patch on the back of their jersey.
Buried amidst yesterday’s avalanche of Cowboys/Redskins comments was a small mention of the Belleville Bulls, an OHL (Major Junior) team that’s instituted an unusual quirk this year: They’re wearing uni numbers on their shorts.
This design element (which is also featured on the Bulls’ home uniform) raises an interesting question: Are uni numbers on pants ever a good idea?
In order to assess this query, we first need to look at the history of this phenomenon. Okay, then, one sport at a time:
Baseball: The first MLB team to wear pants-borne uni numbers was the 1975 Astros. By 1980 they’d taken the number off the pant leg, but the concept was revived in 1982 by the White Sox, who kept wearing the digitized pants even after switching to a different uni design — seven seasons in all. I’d like to think we can agree that these all fail the “Is it good or is it stupid?” test. Special Uni Watch bonus points to Floyd Bannister, who somehow managed to wear every one of these uniforms during his career.
Football: I’m aware of three NFL teams that have worn uni numbers on their pants: the 1982-89 Cowboys, the 1982-86 Colts (only at home), and the 1984-87 Packers. Not quite as bogus as the MLB examples, but still pointless, needless, a solution to a non-problem.
Hockey: The Belleville design is the first instance I’ve ever seen of uni numbers on breezers. There’s a certain appealing novelty to the look (just as there was, I’m sure, when the Astros and Cowboys introduced pants numbers to their respective sports), but it still feels like over-design to me.
Basketball: Lots of NBA teams have worn uni numbers on their shorts over the years. The current trend, though, is to go numeral-free, as the Bucks, Suns, and Sonics have all abandoned their shorts numbers in recent years. For some reason these all seem less objectionable than the examples from other sports. There’s something about the number on the shorts that resonates with a “Property of Athletic Dept.” sort of feel, which I kinda dig. Wish more NBA teams would go this route.
Soccer: As most of you know by now, my scope of soccer knowledge is very, very limited. But one thing I do know is that many (most?) teams wear uni numers on their shorts. Seems harmless enough, although I think I’d prefer to see it on the side, not on the front. I trust all you soccer fans out there will post some comments filling us in on the history and protocol for this uni element.
As for other sports, like rugby, volleyball, and the like, I hereby yield the floor to those of you who are better versed in those arcane disciplines. But I think our basic point is made: Uni numbers on pants are fairly rare, and for the most part that’s a good thing.
Austin Update: Thanks to all the Austin-ites who responded to yesterday’s query about possibly holding a Uni Watch gathering on the 27th (i.e., a week from tonight). The response was pretty sizable, so let’s definitely plan on getting together that evening.
I insist that we meet at a barbecue joint, and I’m partial to the ones that are outside of town (yes, I’m familiar with the area). I’d prefer Kreuz’s or Smitty’s in Lockhart, but they both close early, so that’s no good. Let’s make it 7:30 p.m. at the Salt Lick in Driftwood. Cool?
ITEM! Membership News: For those of you who’ve been waiting for us to lift the ban on NCAA-themed membership card designs, your patience has been rewarded: As of right now, NCAA designs are kosher. Actually, we already did one of them months ago — the Yale rugby design shown at right (which I liked so much when it was presented to us that I forgot all about the NCAA ban).
A few things to remember: The more obscure the school and/or sport, the more important it is for you to provide a rear-view photo. A backup design option is always a good idea, too. And the ban on purple-inclusive designs still stands. Aside from that, it’s open season — fire when ready.
And remember, discounted gift memberships are available for the holiday season. Full info on that is here. And non-gift membership ordering info is here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Steiner Sports is selling a game-worn Manny Delcarmen World Series cap, and it turns out he had lots of underbrim scribblings. … Remember Lawrence Tynes’s Umbro cleats? Joe Skiba reports that the NFL has instructed him to black out the logos. … Maybe the NFL should have a talk with Brandon Marshall, too, because the Reebok logo was missing from his sleeves last night. Wasn’t like that a few weeks ago. … Back to Joe Skiba: Remember how the “ny” logo on the Jints’ nose bumpers switched from red-outlined blue to blue-outlined red a few games ago? Skiba says he likes the latter design so much that he’s gonna stick with it. Jeez, why not just make the helmets solid red and be done with it. … Jere Smith notes that Rajon Rondo frequently wears his headband upside-down. … Cincinnati maven David Sonny (who recenty conducted an interview with the Bengals’ equipment manager — look for that to appear here soon) reports that new Reds skipper Dusty Baker has claimed his usual No. 12 from Edwin Encarnacion, who will now wear No. 28. … The Canadiens retired Larry Robinson’s number (which he never wore on his shorts) last night and trotted out all the usual trappings — the all-honoree warm-up, the chest patch, etc. Happily, Robinson wore a straight-hemmed CCM jersey for the occasion, instead of the shirttail-hemmed models being worn by the current Habs. … ¡Cuba si, capitalism double-si!: After losing in the final round of the Baseball World Cup, Cuban pitcher Pedro Lazo sold his jersey to a collector after a sotto voce negotiation in a darkened corner. … Before Lloyd Carr dressed like this, he dressed like this and this (nice find by Doug Mooney). … According to this message board post (sent my way by Andres Douzoglou), Arizona State uses tape stripes on belts as an award system, like helmet merit decals. I’ve never heard this before. Anyone know more about it?
Major typo in the English Premier League yesterday, as David Bentley of Blackburn played an entire match with “Betnley” on his back (plus it wasn’t exactly the most graceful arc). As Dan Winkler explains, “David Bentley is one of Blackburn’s best players. He’s been with them for a few years and, in fact, scored a hat trick against Man U a few years ago, so it’s not like he’s the soccer equivalent of a September call-up or was just acquired in a trade. That’s what makes this mistake especially odd.”
By coincidence, there’s another EPL typo of sorts unfolding these days. It involves West Ham’s John Paintsil. Reader Iain Landon explains:
When Paintsil signed with West Ham from the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv, all of his documentation, including his UK travel paperwork and work permit, had his name as ‘Pantsil’ — note the missing ‘i.’ According to English FA regulations, the name on his shirt has to match his registration, so John Paintsil has become John Pantsil. He only has a handful of appearances for West Ham so far this season, so I haven’t been able to find a photo, but the details of the story are verified here and here.
Meanwhile, back on our side of the pond:
• The Chargers’ season-long streak of having at least one player without an American flag decal was kept intact, as Chris Chambers was flag-free for the third week in a row. LaDainian Tomlinson, however, was flag-clad for the second consecutive week.
• Speaking of the Chargers, someone needs to tell Antonio Cromartie that men don’t look good in sheer hose.
• And speaking of hosiery, Dwight Smith had some serious sock layers going on.
• Charles Woodson, who’s been pushing the uni-related envelope all season, really outdid himself yesterday. Was he wearing tzitzit or what?
• I remain opposed to this look for the Giants, but there were a few interesting details. As Joe Skiba had promised, the “ny” nose bumper logo, which is usually blue outlined in red, was red outlined in blue. And yeah, okay, I can deal with red gloves, red shoelaces, and red undersleeves, but red spats? Enough already. (That player, incidentally, was Kawika Mitchell, and the screen grab comes courtesy of Randy Williams.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: Where do college football uniforms go after they’ve been used? Often to Europe, as seen with this Mississippi State jersey being used by the London Olympians, and this Duke jersey worn by the Coventry Cassidy Jets (also note the personalized “MOM” memorial, all found by Stefan Schubert). … Tons of great historical baseball pics in the New York Public Library’s A.G. Spalding Collection (with thanks to John Ervin). … I’m trying to figure out how they’re going to screw this up. … Hannah Krug notes that the Princeton women’s hoops team has their logo in an interesting spot. “The worst part is that it doesn’t even look like a tiger,” she says. “I’m more reminded of a mole rat.” She also notes that Maryland’s jerseys have a normal back, but Marissa Coleman ties her up into a faux racer back. … The Kitchener Rangers wore special Remembrance Day jerseys on Sunday (with thanks to AJ Brandt). … And CFL teams wore poppy decals yesterday (with thanks to Tim Capper for the screen grab). … Not positive about this, but I think Miguel Cotto is the first fighter I’ve seen with a boxing glove depicted on his waistband (it’s on the back, too). … Cal wore really nice throwbacks (which are now being auctioned off) on Saturday. …Mild hilarity on Saturday night, as Trevor Fulkerson wrote to tell me that an Angels turn-ahead-the-clock jersey was up for auction on eBay. Exactly 21 minutes later, David Linder wrote to tell me that he was the winning (and, incredibly, only) bidder. … “I was browsing through a photo gallery of the 1930 World Cup and ran across this picture of the team from Bolivia,” writes Chuck Nolan Jr. “I assumed they were just wearing special shirts for the team portrait, but then I saw this photo , which would seem to confirm that they wore the shirts during the game.” … It’s amazing how Georgia’s black jersey (which I was fine with) really accentuated the black pants stripe, which up until now I’d barely even noticed. … Awesome socks being worn by Dorchester High in Boston (with thanks to Skott Daltonic). … Duke wore throwback jerseys and helmets on Saturday but ruined it by going monochromatic. … Sure didn’t take long for eye-black messages to go from this to this (that’s Mississippi State’s Eric Butler, as spotted by John Wilmoth). … Mark Graban found an interesting old pic of Donny Baseball with mismatched numerals on his helmet brim. Not only that, but look closer at it appears that the “3″ was applied over the “2.” … Jeremy Kaufman notes that Michigan State’s Mark Dell has “Focus” written on his wrist tape. … not a good idea. … The 49ers are already wearing a memorial helmet decal for Bill Walsh. Will they add another one tonight for former coach Dick Nolan, who died yesterday? … Fascinating note from Morris Levin, who writes: ” Topps just released its 2007 Update & Highlights set (it’s what used to be “Topps Traded”). Check out the cards for Francisco Rosario and Kyle Lohse. They must not have had game pics in Phillies jerseys because the uniforms are clearly airbrushed. Rosario is wearing his black Blue
Jays cleats, but more telling is the team wordmark on the front. The Topps art department placed a Phillies logo in there and neglected to remove the underline, which is part of the official logo but does not appear on the jerseys.”
Long-Overdue Thanks: About two months ago, after we changed web-hosting companies, I asked for volunteers to help fix all the non-ASCII characters that had gotten garbled during the server changeover. Six readers answered the call, which was great — and I failed to publicly acknowledge them until now, which is not so great. So for the record, I owe a big debt of gratitude to Chris Schoenthal, Chris Roberts, Mark McGinnis, Matt Edwards, Forrest Carpenter, and Kyle Joecken. Mea culpa for not thanking them until now.
A few weeks ago I ran an entry about players who’ve worn their full names on their jerseys (or FNOB, short for “full name on back”). That post prompted so many contributions that I’ve decided to do a follow-up entry today.
The most interesting case study comes our way courtesy of Les Holmlund, who wrote in to tell me that the WHA’s Alberta Oilers — forerunners of today’s Edmonton Oilers — had the entire team wearing FNOB during their inaugural 1972-73 season. Now, that Oilers team was already uni-notable for a few other reasons. According to WHAUniforms.com (usually a pretty dependable resource), they began the season wearing “ALBERTA” on their backs and then switched to round-cornered nameplates with an unusual font. But there was nothing on the site about them wearing FNOB. Fortunately, Les came up with several photos to back up his point, as seen here, here, and here. So there you have it: The Alberta Oilers, who began by wearing PNOB (province name on back) and then switched to FNOB, almost certainly making them the most eccentrically nameplated team in sports history.
As for additional FNOB examples (aside from those already listed in my previous FNOB post), I’m only listing them if we have photos confirming them. I realize the list is still very incomplete, but here are the latest additions:
Finally, a few related categories that aren’t quite FNOB but still belong in this discussion:
• Several readers suggested coming up with a separate list for players who wear more than their first initial but less than FNOB, like Michael and Martellus Bennett. If anyone wants to contribute additional examples, I’m game.
• And here’s a unique situation, as explained by reader Roy Ellingsen: “Norwegian former hockey star Carl Oscar Bøe Andersen’s name was so long that he prefered to wear just his initials on the nameplate.”
Big thanks to all who’ve contributed — we’re building a nice little nameplate database here. And if anyone wants to start building a physical collection instead of a virtual one, look what’s up for sale on eBay.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Many readers wrote in last night to report that Virginia Tech’s Victor “Macho” Harris’s left-sleeve uni number was orange last night, while his right-sleeve number (and all his teammates’ sleeve numbers) was white. No photo yet. Anyone TiVo the game? … I’ve written before about umpires being forced to wear civvies after their uniforms got lost in transit. Now Richard Koh has come up with a video clip of Eric Gregg struggling to find adequately sized gear during just such a situation. Bill Murray’s doing the color commentary, too. … Minnesota’s women’s hockey team will wear a memorial helmet decal for the rest of this season in honor of equipment manager Bonnie Olein, who recently passed away. Details here (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Andy Head notes that the Saskatoon Blades wear uni numbers is a very unusual spot (plus they’ll be wearing one weird-ass jersey for Emergency Services Night next month). … Drew McKay reports that the Slipstream cycling team recently invited fans to submit designs for next year’s uniform. The team is apparently for its argyle motif, so most of the submissions were very argyle-centric (including this one, which is Drew’s favorite). You can see all 613 submissions here. … The Trenton Thunder have unveiled a 15th-season patch (as forwarded by Ted Kerwin). … Much better, even if the stirrups are backwards. … And you can see the stirrups’ laundry tag peaking out here. … When it comes to baggy pants, like father, like son. … Remember when Mike Timlin (who probably thinks the term “World Series” is a U.N. plot) wanted to wear the American flag patch on his cap full-time? He lost that battle, but he’s got a flag on his BP cap — closer view here (great catch by Bryan Redemske). … Steve Necaster reports that the Sabres will be wearing white at home for several games in November. … Further evidence here and here of the Rangers having apparently modified their hemlines to eliminate Reebok’s scooped shirttail. … The Mid-Atlantic Hockey League recently unveiled new uniforms for the Indiana Ice Miners (dark, white), Jamestown Vikings (dark, white), Mon Valley Thunder (dark, light), Valley Forge Freedom (dark, white), and Wooster Warriors (dark, white). “We all know the MAHL is minor league hockey, but I’ve seen roller hockey uniforms that look more professional,” says Zak McGinniss, who provided the links. … “At the Mellon Arena they have a High School Hall of Champions,” writes Doug Keklak. “It’s a hallway in the arena adorned with framed high school hockey jerseys, mostly from western PA schools but there are a few West Virginia schools included in the mix.” Doug’s taken photos of many of them, which you can see here. … The Devils’ new arena opened last night with a Bon Jovi concert, and Chris Flinn noticed something interesting in the men’s room: “Every single urinal had the Devils logo engraved into the metal.” I’m not sure which is more embarrassing — admitting that you attended a Bon Jovi concert or taking a photo in the bathroom, but either way let’s all salute Chris for his devotion to the Uni Watch cause.
See that photo of Jason Taylor over there? It’s not really him — it’s an “8-metre, animatronic version of [him], the biggest animated human figure ever made,” at least according to the photo’s caption. That photo and this one (also of the “animatronic version”) began circulating on the AP wire on Monday, in advance of this weekend’s Giants/Dolphins game in London.
As you can see in the pics, the jersey features a patch — presumably the one that the two teams will be wearing on Sunday. But I couldn’t make out the wording underneath the NFL logo until Tuesday, when the New York Times ran a much larger version of one of the photos. That’s when I saw this.
I knew Bridgestone was sponsoring the game, but would the teams actually be wearing the company’s wordmark this Sunday? If so, it would mark the first appearance of uniform advertising in an NFL game. Temples pounding, palms sweating, I checked with Giants equipment director Joe Skiba, who reassured me that the teams would indeed be wearing a patch similar to the one shown in the photos but that it would not feature the Bridgestone logo.
After I got back down off the ledge, I wondered why games played overseas always seem to present these sorts of problems. Remember, the only time advertising has appeared in MLB uniforms was when regular-season games were played in Japan — first in 2000, when the Mets and Cubs wore AIU sleeve patches and am/pm helmet decals, and then again in 2004, when the Yankees and Devil Rays wore the Ricoh logo on their sleeves and helmets.
The answer, of course, is that most other parts of the world are much more comfortable with uniform advertising than we are here in North America. Hell, the ad patches used in the now-defunct NFL Europe make that Bridgestone patch look almost quaint by comparison (additional examples here, here, here, and here).
I suppose you could say there’s a “When in Rome…” factor at work here, but I think it should be the other way around. The whole point of playing these games overseas is to help promote our culture in foreign lands, right? So as long as we’re teaching them about football (or baseball, or whatever), why not teach them that ads have no place on a team uniform — even when it’s on an 8-metre animatronic figure.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Big congrats to longtime Uni Watch contributor Joe Hilseberg, who recently got married and, as promised, prepared uniform-style vests for himself and his groomsmen. “And on my honeymoon in Aruba,” he adds, “we rode a party bus one night and you have to see the sock action on this crazy woman who was the guide!” … On Monday I passed along a reader query about Kevin Youkilis possibly having the Majestic wordmark under his Majestic sleeve logo. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears that it was just a shadow. … There’s been a discussion of helmet memorial decals over on the Chris Creamer board, including a link to something I had completely forgotten about: the Pete Rozelle memorial worn in Super Bowl XXXI. … The Nationals have unveiled a new radio network logo (with thanks to Kyle Donnelly). … Minor league hockey note from Jeff Seals, who writes: “I went to the Las Vegas Wranglers’ home opener on Sunday night and they broke out their new home jerseys. The front features a poker chip design with the individual player’s number inside the chip. On the outside of the chip it says, ‘Las Vegas Wranglers.’ What’s different is that the left shoulder has big TV numbers, but the numbers are non-existent on the right arm. The back of the jersey has a black nameplate with white lettering.” … Blake Meyer, who runs the superb TwinsCards.com site, informs me that several of his contributors have banded together to create the very similar (and similarly excellent) VikingsCards.com, which features all sorts of old cards, old photos, and so on. Highly recommended. … WFAN radio clown Chris Russo, who’s already shown himself to have a single-digit IQ on umpteen occasions, further undermined his own credibility yesterday when he opined that Joe Giarardi might not be the right guy for the Yankees managerial job because “he’s one of those managers that worry about how the players wear their socks.” … Sure is weird to see Big Papi with a glove. … Speaking of gloves, Kaz Matsui was using at least two different ones during yesterday’s workouts, as seen here and here (with thanks to Bryan Redemske). … Kudos to the Missouri State High School Activities Association, which recently determined that “it is evident there is a problem with numerous schools wearing illegally-styled uniforms” and then prepared “[a]n extensive power point presentation” to help address the problem. Details here (with thanks to John Vernickas). … Good roundup of San Antonio-area high school football helmets available for download in this PDF file (courtesy of Blain Fowler). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Looks like some of the Rangers are having their rounded shirttails modified to straight horizontal hems. … Brian Schulz recently reminded me of a phenomenon I’d largely forgotten about: semi-pro football, a subculture comprising over 700 teams nationwide. Some of the uniforms and logos are simply copies from pro or college teams, but others are more original. You can access a bunch of semi-pro helmet designs here, and lots of additional semi-pro info is available here. … Those of you who think I engage in gratuitous Nike-bashing certainly won’t change your minds now (nice find by Jeff Farrell). … The Bears will be wearing their orange alternate jerseys this Sunday.
Very uni-unusual day in college football on Saturday, with all sorts of anomalies running rampant on the gridiron. Let’s start with Notre Dame’s 1977 throwbacks. Personally, I prefer this green-and-gold combo better than the one they wore on Saturday. But oh, those sock stripes — you know I loved those, although it was distressing to see how many players left their socks at ankle-level.
A sampling of other uni observations from Saturday:
• Oregon went solid white, which looked kinda chalky. Better than their usual visual carnival, natch, but the green helmet was the one really good component of this uniform — here’s hoping they go back to it next week.
• Florida wore a memorial decal for walk-on defensive back Michael Guilford, who died in a motorcycle accident last week (and whose nickname was Sunshine).
• Florida State wore a red “BV” helmet decal in honor of team videographer and cancer victim Billy Vasini, who’s currently in hospice care.
• No photo, but Vince says Michigan State’s Peter Clifford “pulled an L.T. and wasn’t wearing an American flag decal on his helmet” (a handy coincidence, since the Chargers had a bye this week, so we all might’ve gone through missing-decal withdrawal if not for Clifford).
• Graham McCulloch says that Michigan’s Mario Manningham’s surname was direct-sewn onto his jersey, instead of being on separate nameplate. I couldn’t find a good rear-view shot of Manningham, although this photo suggests that the lettering may indeed have been direct-sewn. If so, it would mark a change from how Manningham’s name has been applied in the past.
Intern Update: In case you missed it last week, Vince will soon be moving on to greener pastures, so I’m in the market for a new intern. For further details, scroll down to the “Help Wanted” section of last Wednesday’s post.
For those of you who’ve already applied, hang tight. I can’t acknowledge everyone, but I’ll be getting in touch with a handful of finalists soon. And my sincere thanks to all applicants — it’s humbling to see how many people want to work on Uni Watch.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Iowa State’s official logo specs and identity standards are available for viewing in this PDF file (with thanks to Brian Castile). … Andrew Flynn was recently at the Packers Hall of Fame, where he snapped a shot of the team’s 1962 yearbook cover. Obviously, they tinted those facemasks in the photo (colored facemasks didn’t debut until over a decade later, with the 1974 Chargers), although it’s hard to fathom why they would’ve done that. … Always good to start ’em young (good find by Jay Kuperstein). … Mike Orr noticed a bunch of interesting South Carolina high school football quirks over the weekend: (1) Chester High uses some really big-ass rear helmet numbers. (2) One of the Chester players has a helmet number that doesn’t match his jersey. (3) Lugoff-Elgin uses the biggest TV numbers I’ve ever seen. (4) The Lugoff-Elgin QB is apparently a Sean Taylor fan. … Victory Pennants prexy Morris Levin just scored this excellent postcard showing the Phillies’ uniform history (here’s the other side). Interestingly, the player images on the front of card are also used on the Phils’ web site. … If Curt Schilling’s gonna insist on wearing a Cool Base jersey, could he at least stop saluting the crowd, so we wouldn’t have to look at that stupid underarm mesh insert? … Good article here on the NFL’s latest uniform cop. … Dave Madison says Kevin Youkilis had the Majestic wordmark — instead of just the Majestic logo — on the left sleeve of his road jersey during Games 4 and 5 of the ALCS, suggesting that he might have been wearing a replica jersey. I don’t see any wordmark here, here, here, or here, but it does look like he might have had a wordmark under the logo here. I’m trying to get that photo enlarged so we can get a better look. … I reported lat week that Wisconsin would be wearing this throwback outfit on December 3rd, but the auction for the unis is already underway (with thanks to Nicole Haase). … Mark Coale reports that the Hershey Bears wore 70th-anniversary sweaters on Saturday. A nice idea, except the crest looked like a glorified sleeve patch. … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Adalius Thomas has been wearing one red glove and one blue. Additional views here and here. … I don’t care how many field goals you kick — this is still a really bad look. … The Devil Rays’ uni-unveiling event is gonna be a real, um, barn-burner (as noted by Morris Levin). … Dave Eskenazi, who’s contributed many Pacific northwestern baseball pics in the past, has now provided some gorgeous old hockey photos from that same region, as seen in these shots of the Portland Rosebuds, Seattle Metropolitans, Victoria Aristocrats, and Vancouver Millionaires. That’s Lester Patrick — “Yes, that Lester Patrick,” as Eskinazi puts it — here. … The Saskatchewan Roughriders wore throwbacks yesterday (with thanks to Garry Sum). … Two weeks ago I reported that the Wisconsin women’s hockey team was using this design. What I hadn’t noticed in that photo — but what Andy Seeger has now pointed out — is that the “C” and “A” designations are stacked under the uni numbers, which looks awful-and-a-half. … Matthew Lepke notes that Bryce Salvador is wearing Blues-branded boot protectors. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Broncos’ socks are supposed to have just a thin band of orange between the navy and white areas, but Brandon Marshall apparently wore navy leggings and white sanitaries with orange tape in between (additional pics here, here, and here, and the tape he uses is probably something like this). … And we conclude with a nice little video report on USC’s equipment staff (as provided by Ryan Whitacre):
The Patriots are setting all sorts of offensive records this season, but they may also be leading the league in unusual regulatory sanctions. First there was the video-spying incident. And now comes the news that two of the Pats — including Tom Brady — have been fined for not buckling their chinstraps.
Players have been going partially unsnapped for years now, of course (for further details on this and other aspects of chinstrap protocol, look here), a problem that the league has apparently made a concerted effort to eradicate this season. League officials say the issue is safety, not style, but I kinda think that’s just a smokescreen. After all, a few players still wear the old two-point strap, so wouldn’t this still offer more protection than the two-pointer? Methinks to NFL brain trust just doesn’t like seeing those straps flapping around out there.
The league is supposedly issuing chinstrap warnings before levying penalties, which means anyone fined for this infraction is a de facto serial offender. That’s hard to believe in Brady’s case, at least based on the photographic record. Do a Google image search on him and about 90% of the pics that come up show him fully buckled, with only the occasional exception. Sudden thought: Most of the players going unsnapped these days are black (including Ty Warren, the other Patriot who’s been fined). Could the league have singled out Brady simply to avoid charges of racism? Hmmmmm.
Speaking of Warren, he was fined for going unsnapped in the Pats’ game against the Bills on September 23rd. Must not have made a particularly big impression on him, because he was unsnapped again this past Sunday.
For more info on these and other uni infractions, visit our friends at UniformViolation.com.
Intern Position Available: I’m pretty much a self-sufficient guy. I work for myself, and by myself, at home. Delegating has never been my strong suit. When something needs to be done, I’d usually rather do it myself than explain the task to someone else.
About a year ago, however, I was lucky enough to encounter someone who helped bring me out of my shell — someone who showed me that I don’t always have to do everything myself, that it’s okay to trust others, and that I don’t need to maintain complete autonomy over every little thing. For the first time in ages, I allowed myself to surrender a bit of control. I don’t mind admitting that I was a bit nervous about it at first, but in the end it turned out to be an eye-opening experience.
And that’s how I started dating Jenny Strasburg. Lovely gal, but it didn’t work out. Too bad.
Oh, and around that same time I hired Vince Grzegorek to be the first Uni Watch intern. Pretty good hire, right? But after nearly a year of making my life easier and making Uni Watch a much better project than it would otherwise have been, he’s now getting ready to move onward and upward in the media world. So I’m gonna need a new assistant, starting roughly at the end of November.
Here’s the deal: I’m looking for someone who’s passionate about sports in general and uniforms in particular (duh), with a really good eye for detail (double-duh) and an affinity for historical minutiae. A big part of the job involves research, so please be adept at creative googling, willing to go to the library, and unafraid to pick up the phone and call a team’s media relations office. The right person will also be a good writer who wants to become even better, will have some interest (and maybe proficiency) in graphic design, and will be willing to commit substantial time and energy in return for no pay and meager non-cash benefits (how’s that for a great deal?). Ideally, this person will also have a bunch of wonderful qualities that I didn’t even realize I was looking for. Helpful but not essential: HTML literacy, Mac fluency, NYC-area residency.
Also: If you don’t have good writing or research skills but live in NYC and still want to help out, I’d be willing to sign someone on to assist with other tasks, like processing membership orders and basic site maintenance. I promise you’ll never have to make me coffee, primarily because I don’t drink coffee. I make no promises about asking you to run out for a 12-pack of Diet Coke, however.
Interested? Then e-mail me with a short explanation of why you’re the right person for the job. Please note that I don’t want to see your résumé, I don’t care how big your jersey collection is, and it makes no difference to me whether you’ve been reading Uni Watch since 1999 or just discovered it last week. I simply want to hear you tell me why you’re the right choice to be my right-hand man (or woman, as the case might be).
Finally, if you want to learn more about the job from the guy who currently holds it, feel free to e-mail Vince with any questions. He’ll be happy to give you the inside scoop, and he’ll keep your discussions confidential if you don’t want me to know about them.
Uni Watch News Ticker: USC’s John David Booty is trying to protect his broken middle finger with a glove. … While looking for a FNOB photo of Brent Sutter, Chesky Bevo came across this. What’s that symbol above the uni numbers? … Captaincy note from Giants equipment director Joe Skiba: “The NFL sent us blue [captain’s] patches for home and road jerseys, and some red ones for the red jerseys. But I called the league and got permission to use the red patches for the away uniforms. Are we the only team with two different-colored patches?” Not sure — anyone..? … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Daniel Sedin was showing some garter the other night. … Also from yesterday: As if NHL players haven’t been complaining enough about too much moisture ending up in their gloves and skates, there’s now talk of them using heated skate blades. No, really! And Wayne Gretzky’s a big fan. … Thank god we’re more than halfway through the month of October, which means all pink uniforms will soon be behind us. For now, though, Sharks goalie prospect Thomas Greiss is wearing a pink mask. Details about two-thirds of the way down this page (with thanks to Paul Locatelli). … Loads of NHL patches for sale here. … Longtime Uni Watch pal Kevin Walsh is showcasing some awesome terra cotta uniforms on about two-thirds of the way down this page on his awesome site, Forgotten NY. … Nick Maibroda reports that NASCAR driver Patrick Carpentier was given a Canadiens jersey with NASCAR-style numbering the other day. … You think maybe Indians pitcher Jenson Lewis’s parents have a lot of furniture from these guys? … Oregon has been practicing in white helmets this week, and the white lids (which appear to have green nose bumpers) may finally make their long-threatened game debut this weekend. Details here (with thanks to Dan Coleman). … Paul Locatelli notes that Joe Thornton’s helmet appears to have a old-style downward-sloping NHL logo, not the new version. … This year’s World Series cap patch will look like this. … Lots of great White Sox uni footage, from many different eras, in the second half of this video. … Bizarre and disturbing photo here (as spotted by Eric Distenfeld).
We’ve been so busy with team sports over the past month or so (stretch-run baseball, the start of the NFL and college football seasons, the relentless flood of new NHL designs) that I completely ignored the U.S. Open tennis tourney. And that’s a shame, because we happen to have a bona fide Open operative right here in our midst: Gabe Ganot, who’s been working as a ballboy — okay, ballperson — at the Open since 1999, giving him an ideal vantage point for uni-watching. That’s him in the photo shown above.
Gabe sent me a good rundown of observations a few weeks ago, which I’m finally getting around to sharing with the rest of you. Check it out:
Almost all players wear one outfit per tournament. But Federer this year had two — a “day” and “night” selection. The night attire featured the “Man in Black” look with a black headband, black shirt, shorts, socks and sneakers. This as opposed to the day outfit, with a blue shirt, white shorts, white sneakers, and a blue headband. People were wondering what he was going to do for the final, because it was scheduled to start in the late afternoon and it was still light out. I think he was quoted as saying since the lights would eventually be on, he would go with the Johnny Cash look. Note that his sneakers have the three Swiss flags commemorating his three U.S. Open wins the last three years (I think it also says something on the tongue). Roger also has the tendency to constantly brush imaginary hair from his forehead and adjust his headband.
Nadal, I’m pretty sure, has the worst OCD of anyone on the tour, and not just uni related. Before he serves, just about every point, he has the David Wright-esque habit of picking his wedgie. The other ballpersons and I wonder why he continues to wear the capris if he has to adjust his pants every point. He also adjusts his hair/headband with the same frequency. Other examples of his OCD include placing his drink on the same exact spot during every changeover, and sprinting out to the baseline for warm-ups.
You’d think that the folks at Lacoste would make Andy Roddick a nice-fitting shirt. Instead he has to constantly adjust it, nearly every point, to make the shoulders drape correctly (similar to the way most volleyball players do). This has been happening for several years now. He also has taken a liking to wearing his hat a little sideways, à la Pokey Reese or Mike Cameron. It’s not an accident — I’ve seen him take it off and be very particular about the way he puts it back on.
Its also interesting see how doubles teams dress. Sometimes, teams go all out and match every single part of their outfits, down to the sneakers, like the Bryan brothers. Other teams wear what they would normally wear if they were playing singles, while others come up with a completely different outfit, like Justin Gimelstob in his mixed doubles team with Ashely Harkleroad. Speaking of Gimelstob, he apparently sweats like there’s no tomorrow, so he tends to change shirts around five or six times a match. And speaking of sweating, some players are obsessed with the towel. Nadal, for instance, asks for it pretty frequently on a hot day, and Roddick can be the worst. This ballboy would like to see some sort of integrated towel technology, like certain wide receivers have.
The women have different issues than the men. For starters, many of them wear makeup and jewelry while on the court. I think Jelena Jenkovic even puts her watch on before playing.
It’s also been interesting to note the ball-holding technology for women over the last decade (insert sex joke here). When I first started being a ballboy, most women just asked for one ball to serve instead of two like the men (men have pockets, so they usually ask for two and put one in their pocket in case they fault on their first serve). Some women would ask for two and just shove one of them into the bottom of their underwear, and after a game I’d have to go pick up a slightly damp ball. Others went with the plastic ball holder (famous example: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario), which was essentially a belt that had a little plastic thingie that sat right on top of the butt. These days, the women have slightly longer undergarments, kind of like the compression shorts basketball players wear. These have pockets, so that makes my job a little easier.
When I first started, almost all women wore the simple tennis skirt and some sort of top. Then Serena hit the scene, and now we get horror stories, like look at Bethanie Mattek’s outfit from this year’s Open. She does something like this at every tournament. It also seems like the ladies have a contest to see who can wear the shortest skirt and the like.
It’s also kind of weird to see some players who aren’t sponsored and end up having different parts of their outfits from several manufacturers. I forget who, but someone this year had something like an Adidas shirt, Nike shorts, and Champion socks.
With regards to equipment, there’s nothing too crazy, but some funny stuff. For instance, instead of the traditional shock absorber that most players have on their racket, some players use an ordinary rubber band. Not sure why. No player I saw wore regular glasses, only a handful had sunglasses on (Arnaud Clement and Alexa Glatch come to mind), and a few went with the bright sunscreen on the nose. Also, while most players bring at least five or six rackets with them to the court, I noticed that Mark Knowles liked to just tape on a new grip instead of going with a new racket. Not sure the reasoning for that.
As for our Polo-brand ballperson uniforms, they’re a welcome change from the Fila garbage we had several years ago, which were in outlandish colors and make us look ridiculous (plus you try running around in 90-degree heat in a thick cotton polo that’s too large, shorts that are too tight, and sneakers that can literally blow up if you plant too hard). The new ones are a nice moisture-wicking material with a good form-fitting shape (we don’t have to tuck in anymore!). But we are essentially walking advertisements — in addition to the 6-inch Polo logo on the chest area, we have a full 12-inch logo on the back, making us look like real product whores. Additionally, with around five days to go in the tournament we were mandated to begin wearing Polo wristbands, which was odd, because they never told us to where on the arm to wear them, unlike everything else which is by the book. The only change the Polo unis have had over the years is that they change the color of the vertical striping on the shirt and and shorts (this year it was yellow; in the past it’s been red and white).
Big thanks to Gabe for all that info. Still want more? Vince (who provided several of the photos links above) notes that this tennis blog has lots of fashion coverage.
Research Reqeust Request: I’m working on a column devoted to uni-related typos. I’ve got all the classics covered (Angees, Torotno, Nayv, Nigger Ilsand, etc.), along with the assorted nameplate misspellings that have periodically been called out here on the blog. If you know of any others, old or now, that we haven’t discussed, please let me know. Thanks.
Fall Back (into bed): The annual moving of the clocks is still a month away, but Uni Watch likes to be ahead of the curve, so…. As those of you in the Eastern Time Zone are well aware, I usually get the day’s entry up by 9 a.m., which is an arbitrary deadline that I set back in the site’s early days. Well, not completely arbitrary — I was trying to (a) motivate myself and (b) get you folks used to the idea that you could depend on fresh content being ready for you at the start of each day.
After a year and a half of this, during which it’s now become routine for me to be eating my breakfast in front of the computer while frantically making last-minute changes to the Ticker, I’d like to reclaim a bit of breathing room for my mornings (and, by extension, for my late-night hours). So beginning next week, my new arbitrary self-imposed daily deadline will be 10:15 a.m. Among other things, this should make it much easier for me to catch up on the previous night’s comments, deal with Ticker contributions that come in overnight, and so on.
I know some of you eastern folks have grown accustomed to starting your day (read: goofing off at work) with Uni Watch, but I have faith in your abilities to find other productive uses for the 75-minute window that fate has just handed you. Just pretend I moved to Chicago or something, OK? OK.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of good stuff currently available on eBay, including this patch, this ad, this uniform, and this jersey. … Latest schools to go with the System of Dress: Maryland and Miami (with thanks to Jose Frontanes and Mike Alper, respectively). … Another new NHL mask: Marc Andre Fleury. … Good overview of the NFL captains’ patches — including a shout-out to Uni Watch — here. … Interesting article here about the Rochester Amerks new uniforms. Key quote, from team prexy Steve Donner: “RBK is integrating vertical striping into the jersey, and they wanted to do away with all horizontal striping. It wasn’t our suggestion to remove the stripes.” … Bizarre purple/green/yellow color scheme exhibited by Waukegan High in Illinois (with thanks to AJ Brandt). … Ouch. … Tons of old high school team photos, from a wide range of sports, here (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The LPGA has changed its logo from this to this, which strikes me as a major improvement. Details here. … Also from yesterday: The NHL and Reebok held a conference call on Tuesday to address the growing chorus of player complaints about the new uniforms (the latest of which can be found in the middle of this article). Details here. … Good article here about the Sharks’ goalie masks. … Still more All Blacks soap operatics (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The people at New Era are really, uh, outdoing themselves. … Dan Schulman, who’s doing ESPN Radio’s play-by-play for the Bosox/Angels series, mistakenly stated during last night’s game that Jason Varitek is the only current MLB captain to wear a “C.” Schulman forgot about Mike Sweeney.
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