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Posts filed under 'Olympics'
Yeah … Paul’s still gone. No, wait! He’s back today. But I might be back tomorrow anyway. You know, for fun.
I gotta say this picture took me aback when I first saw it. Not exactly something you see every day. That’s marathon swimmer Natalie du Toit of South Africa in the middle, which brings me to this: what’s the deal with South African athletes missing appendages? Oscar Pistorius, the sprinter who sued for the right to qualify for Beijing (but didn’t qualify), is from South Africa, too. What’s going on down there?
Joking aside, for now, you can see the Speedo LZR on all three swimmers. In cycling, aero equipment (helmets, special wheels, etc.) pays off more the longer you ride, obviously. I wonder if it’s the same for marathon swimming, when the LZR could mean minutes — lots of them — compared to .01 seconds in the pool.
Quick! Someone get some research going, pronto.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Dwight Howard is so anti-Nike, he won’t even wear practice gear. Or, he could be under contract with Adidas. Either one. As spotted by Rob Montoya in an ESPN video. Note also, he’s wearing Dr. Dre’s new Beat headphones. … Matt Powers was picking up his daughter at a friend’s house and snapped a shot of this photo on the mantle. “It turns out that the friend’s father was a running back at Princeton during the early 70’s (Letterwinner ‘73). What is even more cool, is that I’ve known him for some time and he has never once mentioned it!” … This trainwreck was in the comments last night. Credit to Glynn McGehee on this one. … Got a dispatch from Susan Freeman, who attended the first Texans preseason game. First, the old NFL logo won’t die, which is a good thing. Second, the NFL has completely whored itself out to Reebok, which we knew, but perhaps not to that extent. But wait, the new NFL logo is here, too. And, finally, socks in shambles near the end of the game. … Here’s an approximation (read: replica, at least) of what the new Adidas-tagged Michigan hockey jerseys will look like, with thanks to Craig Barker. … The Spanish synchronized swimming team is getting totally hosed. They can’t use their light-up suits. Boo! Thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who also sent this article about sexy table tennis unis. No, really. … Jonathan Sluss notes that Virginia Tech is going to have a white out for the home opener. That means the team is going white, too — with a mishmash of unis from the past. This shows that white helmet in original action — but note the different stripes on all the VT guys. … Possible new LA Kings alternate logo here. … Jeff Rinker picked up this postcard at Givens Hot Springs in Idaho while on a Boy Scouts campout. It’s the 1914 Murphy, Idaho, baseball team. … Sean McCall checked in with a couple of cool non-sports links — the first is a pile (in PDF form) of 1970s logos, while the second has a bunch of car badges. … How long have the Colts used this (scroll down) terrible helmet rendering for press conferences? Nick Church wants to know. … Also from Nick, there’s consternation over the rebranding of Western Kentucky University as, simply, WKU. Specifically, people are whacked out about how gigantic the center-court logo is. … Finally, happy birthday to my son, who turns 1 today.
August 20th, 2008
Paul’s still gone. This is still Bryan.
Because I sometimes read too fast — apparently in a hurry to get to the point — I miss important details in stories. For example, I didn’t bother to read the story announcing the Browns’ brown pants too closely. Because of that, I thought they’d be in all brown. Ummm … no. God, that would have been horrible.
But was the brown that bad? Well, it depends on what you’re looking for. Brady Quinn, shown above, was wearing brown tights and high whites. I’ve never seen brown tights before, but they obviously exist. Others went with lower whites and more brown showing. That didn’t look so good.
I was prepared for the worst. That had mostly to do with expecting a full turd suit, though. Had those pants included a stripe or two, though — that could have been pretty cool. Same with the socks. Nothing over the top, but just a little bit to break up the brown. And just remember the all brown that was in my head. It could have been worse.
Olympic Oddities: You know those lesser-known sports we talked about last week? Jeremy Brahm checked in with a number of uni-quirks. Italy used a momentary libero against Bulgaria — note the pullover top. Lots of teams will only have one contrasting-color jersey made, so in case of emergency — momentary or not — a pullover will do it. … Kazakhstan’s women’s handball team had name and number plates, front and back. … Team handball has an extra attacker when the goalie is pulled … and there’s a hole in the jersey. Why? … What do you get when you’re a trouble-maker in field hockey? Green triangle, of course. Yellow squares are like going to the penalty box, while a red circle means you’re gone for the rest of the game.
Playing Nice: I owe an apology to Marty Met for being short and not so nice yesterday. In an attempt to end a long-simmering argument before it started (and there was no indication of it starting), I basically told him to lock it up. Not very hospitable of me, and I apologize.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Australia’s A-League is trying to get fans fired up with team NOBs in this ad, courtesy of Jeremy Brahm. Yeah, that looks strange. … Chris Kaman, the American who rediscovered his German roots in time for the Olympics, is missing his swoosh. Good catch by Brian Skokowski. … Remember the ruckus when Penn State said to Nike, “Yes, we’ll take your money in exchange for swooshes for everybody.”? Jesse Weidaw points out the Nittany Lions found plenty of space for the Champion logo prior to the invasion. And one must assume there’s a C on each sleeve, right? … Eddie Royal spent most of Saturday’s Denver-Dallas preseason game with his belt unbuckled. Though, as Rachel Bicicchi points out, he still has his Broncos belt-buckle cover attached. … For those wondering why Australia wears green and gold, rather than the colors of their flag, go here. …The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins unveiled a new third jersey on Monday. Rob Ullman likes it: “Since it just says “PENGUINS” on the front, has the NHL Pens’ logo on the shoulders (as opposed to the far-inferior AHL version) and doesn’t say “Wilkes-Barre/Scranton” anywhere…it’s essentially just a second alternate jersey for the Pittsburgh Penguins (the first being the powder blue ‘67 throwbacks they wore at last year’s Winter Classic, which they’ll wear as alts this season). Anyway, I think I dig it.” Thanks also to Stan Capp. … Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes, on a rehab stay in Scranton, has been pitching with glasses. Good catch by Alan Borock. …Old news here, but the Lakewood (N.J.) Blueclaws were the Bruceclaws for one night in July. Bruuuuuce! Thanks to Neal for the link. … College hockey logo rankings here, though Dan Herr thinks it’s a hack job. … Lots of Olympic flair from the Italian women’s water polo coach here, with thanks to Kevin Soon.
August 19th, 2008
By Bryan Redemske
Every four years — well, every two, really — we hear multi-millionaires from the NBA and NHL saying how excited they are to wear their country’s colors in the Olympics. You know the speech — it’s the “I’m grateful for the opportunity to wear the flag on my shoulder and try to bring home a gold medal” one. You can insert the sport or country or medal of choice, but it rarely wavers.
And good for them for wanting to do that. What American — other than the completely loco ones — wouldn’t like to represent the Stars and Stripes at the Olympics? You know, pull on the ol’ navy and light blue and hit the track?
What? You thought American colors are red, white, and blue, like the flag? No no, sorry. Your colors are navy, light blue and red now, as detailed in the Nike Swift System of Dress. Deal with it. And the light blue arm-warmer things? Those make you faster because of aerodynamic fabric. Same for the shin-sleeves. And they’re good for swooshes, too. (Gigantic views here and here.)
So goes Nike’s recent chokehold on our national track and field identity — and on our Olympic identity as a whole. The basketball uniforms can be seen here, here, and here, each featuring impossible-to-read letters and numbers atop a graphic called “We The People.”
While this probably seems like another easy case of Nike-bashing, I think it’s more important to ask why Nike, and other companies (blue seems a bit dark, no?), are changing our national colors. England is blue, red, and white. Canada? Red and white. Australia? Green and yellow, sometimes with black. America? Well, that depends on which company makes the uniforms.
So, looking specifically at track and field (no time for team handball, sorry), what are America’s colors anyway? Better take a look:
1984: Made by Kappa, better known for soccer apparel. Mostly red.
1988: Mostly red again, also by Kappa (see side panel).
1992: Nike joins the party with a pretty tame design. Red, white, and blue — that’s us.
1996: Navy blue, that’s you. This design also featured circles on the side panels. You know, for … uh … something.
2000: Nike to USA — Hey, your flag doesn’t match our uniforms. We’ll make a new one for you if you like. The back panels were red, by the way. Nice.
2004: Welcome back, America. Your blue is still too dark, but at least it’s close to the flag.
2008: And … we’re back to the navy-and-light-blue thing. I’m sure you’ve noticed the track and field uniforms also feature the “We The People” graphic on the back.
Look for it to soon be permanently ratified upon our collective consciousness.
Raffle Results: Paul here. My bad for forgetting to announce that David Neuman and Troy Ragsdale are the winners of last week’s Yankee Stadium DVD raffle. Congrats to them, and my repeated thanks to James Craven for donating the DVDs.
Uni Watch News Ticker: CFL news from Dave Delisle, who reports that the Edmonton Eskimos have replaced their helmet logo with a 60th-anniversary mark, as you can see here. “I can’t recall a team replacing their primary logo with an anniversary logo in any sport,” he writes. “Usually those are placed separately on the uniform, like a shoulder patch. The Eskimos are doing this for the full season.” … The Minaya-ized Mr. Met T-shirt is now available in several colors and at a fair price. … Tour de France note from Matt Zegarski, who writes: “In recent years, many riders who wear a leader’s jersey have been wearing matching pants and helmet, but Team CSC-Saxo Bank have been bucking this trend, as seen in these photos of Frank Schleck and Carlos Sastre. I don’t know if it’s because team boss Bjarne Riis put the kibosh on it, or because of their clothing supplier, Craft. Either way, it’s a classic look.” … “I’m the art director of Gator Country magazine in Gainesville,” writes Jason Farmand. “For our football preview issue coming up, we commissioned an artist to paint Tim Tebow for the cover — in a way he’s never been seen before. I thought you’d like to see that.” … Turns out Spider-Man is a Mets fan (or at least he was back when Shea had the great metal exterior panels). Those screen grabs are from this hilarious video, sent my way by James Poisso, who says, “It’s amazing what you can find on YouTube!” … Astros catcher Humberto Quintero is switching to a hockey-style mask (with thanks to Ryan Patrick). … “Mr. Flat Brim himself, Joba Chamberlain, wore a curled brim on his Dunkin’ Donuts cap at a promotional appearance the other day,” notes Tyler Kepner. … MLS All-Star Game observations, courtesy of Kenn Tomasch: “For the first time since a sponsor logo started appearing on the front of the MLS All-Stars shirts in 2004, it was Pepsi and not Sierra Mist this time around. You can’t tell by that photo, but because Landon Donovan (who didn’t start, by the way) had dibs on the #10 shirt (for some reason, seniority, probably), Chicago’s Cuauhtemoc Blanco wore #70. No, that’s not the year of his birth (he was born in 1973), but the odd thing is that MLS’s number fonts are so craptacular this year that #70 looks a lot like #10 (and vice versa). All the 7s on all the shirts look like 1s. (Sorry, no good photo of that.) David Beckham, as always, wore long sleeves — not, as some speculate, because he wants to cover up his ample tattoos, but just because he prefers long sleeves, even when he plays in MLS’s summer heat (he’s never played in Phoenix, though). What’s funny is that West Ham’s Dean Ashton wore long sleeves in the first half but switched to short sleeves in the second half and scored in each jersey (still looking for a photo of that). Meanwhile, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, whose hometown is Vancouver, wore a Vancouver Whitecaps 1979 throwback jersey while announcing that he’s part of the ownership group looking to grab one of two MLS expansion teams for 2011.”
July 25th, 2008
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: Last night I worked a volunteer shift at the very wonderful City Reliquary, where the gift shop featured a book I hadn’t noticed before: Mark Rucker’s Brooklyn Dodgers, a pictorial history of my home borough’s most storied franchise. After flipping through the pages for a few minutes, it became apparent that this was a mandatory purchase. Here are some of the reasons why:
• This shot, taken in 1868, shows something I haven’t seen before: Look closely and you’ll see that the players are wearing little cuff clips on their trousers, much like what urban cyclists sometimes wear.
• Check out the neckties on display in this 1884 team portrait. And this page shows contrasting neckwear styles.
• Somehow the lace-up jersey style always looks better on guys with bushy moustaches, no?
• Wanna learn something amazing? Read the caption to this illustration.
• Excellent view here of the old style of wearing your fielding glove on your belt while batting.
• I would give anything for this sleeve style to come back into vogue.
• Here’s the best view I’ve ever seen of the Dodgers’ 1916 tattersall plaid design from 1916.
• Think this sleeve logo is big? How about two of them!
• Here’s the earliest photo I’ve ever seen of a player wearing a windbreaker under his jersey (or maybe just the earliest windbreaker photo I’ve ever seen, period).
• Spectacular view here of the white slacks that umps wore on Sundays and holidays in the early 1940s.
And as long as we’re talking about historical stuff: You know how old fruit crates used to have really amazing labels? Roger Faso has turned up an artist named Ben Sakoguchi, who creates baseball-themed paintings in the style of those old fruit designs. Check out Sakoguchi’s full web site here.
Membership Update: Big day yesterday, as we topped 100 memberships — check out the ever-expanding active roster here. My thanks again (and again and again) to all who’ve signed up. If you’ve been thinking about getting on board, full details are available here.
Regarding benefits: T-shirts for those who’ve signed up at Level Two or above have been ordered and should start arriving right about now. Membership cards, fridge magnets, and digital art CDs will begin shipping this weekend. By this time next week, I hope to be completely caught up on everything. Thanks again (and again and again) for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Wednesday’s note regarding the Diamonbacks’ uniform schedule led to this communiqué from a source with the Astros: “Now, the ’Stros are wearing the brick red jerseys almost exclusively on the road as opposed to the gray. The road brick red is the only Cool Base we have and the owner likes the red. There has been a trend as we get down the stretch in previous years that we would wear them for certain games that did not fit the usual alternate jersey schedule. Red was usually only worn on Sunday. However, last road trip the owner asked for red on the road. BUT, we played the DBs and they had wore their red jerseys on Sunday… making us switch to gray for one game. Luckily we don’t change helmets or caps or pants.” … Good catch by Willet Hossfeld, who notes that Tyler Clippard appears to have removed the button from the top of his cap. … My two cents regarding the disastrous London Olympics logo: It reminds me of this. … The minor league Elmira Jackals have unveiled new home and road unis (much to the disgust of Bryan Long, who quips, “How boring are these things?”). … Reprinted from Wednesday’s comments: Randy Moss was asked about his temporary practice jersey number (6) and had this to say: “Sometimes you can be able to go back and get your number and sometimes you can’t. They really told me 6 was the available number that they have back in the equipment room, so I said, ‘Just give me a number and I’ll make it.’ I guess there is a little buzz around right now with me and number 6. I don’t really care about a number, all I care about is suiting up and going out here and winning on Sundays.†His official roster/jersey number is still to be determined. … Meanwhile, Todd Krevanchi notes that Moss has been getting rather creative with his gloves. … Latest Japanese baseball weirdness contributed by Jeremy Brahm: Hichori Morimoto in stilts. … Good view here of Rafael Nadal’s personalized sneakers (as spotted by Brinke Guthrie). … Good little comedy video here, showing what the NHL’s “super-sleek” third jerseys might look like (nice find by Jeremy Brahm). … Follow-up to Vince’s tattoo entry yesterday: Ryan Howard has a huge brand on his arm. Full details here (with thanks to Michael Milici). … Very nice early uniform catalog (extremely similar to one that I already have, so I won’t be bidding on it) here, and some great vintage unis and accessories up for auction here, here, here, and here. … Meanwhile, here’s a vintage print ad and a uniform company uniform print ad that I bought. … All NASCAR cars will feature a memorial decal for Bill France this week (with thanks to Adam Denobriga). … Steve Robeson reports that the Caps are having a fire sale of old merch. … Photo of the day (courtesy of Jon Klevorn). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Orioles will wear Negro Leagues uniform on September 6th. Details here. … Yancy Yeater reports that the Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League will be wearing 1979 Cubs-inspired throwbacks tomorrow night. … It’s really small and hard to see, but it looks like Santa Clara had some killer basketball unis back in 1911 (taken from this article, which was forwarded by Tim Sheehan). … Today’s installment of the always-entertaining No Mas blog featured this shot of the first Hagler/Antuofermo, and you know damn well what part of the photo I immediately fixated on.
June 8th, 2007
By Vince Grzegorek
While tattoos were once the domain of sailors and ne’er do wells, you’re now likely to see a tattooed bride or altar boy. — Rachel Weingarten
The stigma of tattoos has been mellowed in the last ten to twenty years, especially in the world of sports. Everyone from swimmers to female boxers seem to have a little something inked somewhere on their bodies, and arms, legs, neck, hands, and even faces get decorated on a regular basis. Tattoos in certain places might still be taboo in mainstream society and might be a barrier to employment in certain sectors, but certainly that kind of corporate, buttoned-down mentality wouldn’t apply to our freewheeling athletes, would it?
Actually, it does, because many leagues consider tattoos to be part of the uniform. In fact, in many sports tattoos are covered in collective bargaining agreements, league committees, and official rulebooks. Take Major League Baseball, which, like the Marines, frowns upon “sleeve” tattoos. Justin Miller of the Florida Marlins (the same guy who has “I [heart] Billy Koch” tattooed on his rear end) has been told to wear long sleeves while pitching because his many tattoos could distract the batter. His response: “For me, my left arm shouldn’t even be counted as a distraction. It’s not part of my uniform, it’s part of me.”
Joel Zumaya and Felipe Lopez usually wear at least semi-long sleeves while playing, although it’s not clear whether they do so based on a higher directive from MLB to cover their arm tattoos (Zumaya, Lopez, Lopez again), or because they just enjoy that style.
As with most things in sports, sponsorship, advertising. and money come into the equation as well. Mike Juhasz of the Calgary Stampeders was told by his coach to cover his Nike swoosh tattoo since Nike was a competing sponsor of the league. One has to wonder if something similar would have to be done if this young man ever made it to the NBA. (Incidentally, LeBron James had to cover his tattoos while playing during high school.)
You wouldn’t think tattoos would be a huge deal in the world of auto racing, right? But Kimi Raikkonen took some heat for a tattoo of a little sun he got on his wrist. Nothing much came of it, but the media fixated on the topic, and Ferrari boss Jean Todt finally said that if a sponsor was that upset about the tattoo then they would just change sponsors.
Then there’s the strange world of temporary tattoo advertising, which has grown into the even stranger world of real tattoo advertising — and which, of course, got its start in sports. Bernard Hopkins collected an extra $100,000 paycheck for putting a GoldenPalace.com temporary tattoo on his back during his 2001 bout against Felix Trinidad, and soon the boxing world was up in arms about the prospect of fighters dancing around the squared circle like sweaty billboards. (Temporary tattoos in the ring were eventually banned since they could be a distraction to the judges and because the ink could come off and get in the opponent’s eye.)
Soon, the juggernaut of sports marketing jumped on board and a New York man planned to ambush the NBA with selected players wearing temporary tattoo advertisements during three selected games in 2001. After hearing about the plan, the NBA quickly put an end to the plans while threatening fines and suspensions. Rasheed Wallace also considered wearing a temporary tattoo for a candy company but eventually backed out because he “didn’t want to use his body as a billboard.” I’m sure it had nothing to do with David Stern at all. Really. The league maintains that players are not allowed to wear any stray corporate insignia on any parts of their bodies, which are considered part of the uniform.
One of the few places that temporary tattoo advertising has survived is in beach volleyball, where players can often be seen wearing multiple corporate logos while diving around in the sand. Having concentrated on, um, other aspects of women’s beach volleyball, it didn’t occur to me until lately that they were wearing temporary tattoos on their arms. Having not watched any men’s volleyball, I had to do a quick search just to make sure that they were taking part in the “Body For Sale” trend as well.
Tangential Bonus Material: Don’t forget, these are wonderful Father’s Day gifts… Bet you didn’t know that Sean Salisbury has/had a “No Fear” tattoo on his ankle (bottom of page)… Check out this article for all the legal ramifications of NBA players wearing temporary tattoo advertising… Many Japanese sports clubs forbid tattoos altogether because they are associated with gangsters, but they tend to let them slide if they are not visible to the other members… According to a very informal survey, the Harley-Davidson logo is the most popular trademark tattoo on the west coast. For more tidbits about logos and tattoos read this… Still interested in NBA players and temporary tattoo advertisements? Listen to this NPR interview from 2001… Sweet looking American flag tattoo on some player in the upcoming video game The Bigs… Here’s a transcript from an Outside the Lines episode where they discussed tattoo advertising… Gallery of athletes and their tattoos here… Another gallery of athletes and their tattoos here (6 and 10 are personal favorites).
June 7th, 2007
From time to time we’ve discussed uni-related issues of trademark infringement and protection. But policing your trademark in lawsuit-happy America is one thing — doing it in a far-off land, where any clown with a heat press can run off a few jillion cheap logo-emblazoned knockoffs of your design, is something else, as reader Eric Trager has discovered. Here’s his long-distance report from the Middle East:
I’ve been living in Cairo since August on an Islamic Civilizations Fulbright grant, which has given me a decent opportunity to travel around the Middle East a bit. It seems like almost anywhere I go, I find familiar-looking caps, none of which are ever official, and almost all of which contain completely incorrect colors. At the famous Khan al-Khalili market in Cairo, for example, I spotted this orange Yankees cap among other mostly Cairo-appropriate headgear. In Casablanca, I spotted this cap stand; you can make out a number of Yankees caps (there’s a proper navy one on the 60 dirham level, though the rest are completely off), along with a 49ers cap, a Florida Gators cap, and a Berkeley cap. [The one I find most amusing is the FBI cap. — PL] Although the Yankees are, unfortunately, the most prominent in terms of merchandise in the region, I happened to find this cap stand in Sana’a, Yemen, featuring Dodgers caps (again, wrong colors). Finding these things in Yemen was particularly surprising, given that most men there dress like this, i.e., sans baseball cap.
Though caps are the most prominent American sports gear I’ve come across in the region, I spotted kid in Jounieh, Lebanon, wearing a very decent Kobe Bryant jersey when I was there in 2004. It looks like it’s actually officially licensed, unlike this horrific Don Mattingly Yankees jacket I spotted in Rabat [Donnie Baseball never wore his stirrups like that! — PL] and this awful Rockies T-shirt I found at the Cairo tent market (although Uni Watch probably endorses the shirt’s use of red in place of purple, no matter how inaccurate).
Of course, the most common sports uniforms found in Middle Eastern markets are local soccer jerseys. I spotted these two brothers wearing al-Ahly jerseys in Cairo, and have purchased the jerseys of Maghreb Fez, Wydad (Casablanca), and the Moroccan national team as gifts for friends. Unfortunately, none of these are remotely authentic, though I was finally able to find an official al-Ahly jersey at the posh, Saudi-built mall in Cairo.
This is really just a small sampling of uni-relevant observations from my time in the region. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the hundreds of MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAA, and NHL T-shirts available in Hebrew in virtually any Israeli tourist area (similar to these online examples), though did happen to pick up this Mets yarmulke.
I’ll close with the most surprising uni-related find. Look closely at the religious insignia on the sports club t-shirt of the boy on the left in this photo — it was taken in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.
Pretty great stuff. The global, hegemonic reach of the baseball cap, even in cultures that wouldn’t know a baseball game if you plopped one down in their front yard, continues to amaze me.
And wait, there’s more: About a week after sending me that first note, Trager checked in with a nice little epilogue:
As I was packing up my things today to leave Egypt after a nine-month stint out here, I noticed that my Mets cap no longer fit. Fitted caps, as you might imagine, are extremely hard finds in Egypt, and all sorts of people — taxi drivers, camel merchants, children, restaurant owners, and tour guides — have asked me many times for some of my fitted caps right off my head, which I have always declined in the past. This time, however, rather than waste precious suitcase space on a Mets cap that didn’t fit, I went downstairs to find a kid to whom I could give it. He was very appreciative, and I think rather surprised. I might have just stumbled across a new mechanism for American public diplomacy.
Now we just have to get the kid to ditch the black.
Three Okay, TWO Blind Mice: Jamie Moyer’s stirrups occasioned lots of oh-so-adorable banter in the Mets’ broadcast booth last night. The chatter started after announcers approvingly noted that Moyer had busted it pretty hard while running out a ground ball. Here’s the transcript:
Gary Cohen: Not only is he running hard, but he’s running hard in stirrups.
Ron Darling: Yes.
Cohen: We’ve gotta get a shot of Moyer’s feet at some point. Nobody wears stirrups anymore! Maybe a couple of old coaches.
Darling: He wears ’em a little bit like you wore ’em, Keith.
Keith Hernandez: I’ll have to give ’em closer, uh, scrutiny. [Camera shows a close-up of Moyer’s stirrups.] Oh, I liked to wear ’em a little higher. That’s low. That’s minor league ugly.
Cohen: You didn’t have the Liberty Bell on your stirrups.
Hernandez: No. Those are the stirrups they gave you in the minor leagues.
Darling [struggling for something relevant to say]: Is that like coyote ugly? Minor league ugly.
Hernandez [ignoring Darling]: You had the wool uniforms in the minor leagues back in the early ’70s, and they were just itchy. And you were glad to have ’em, trust me, but I hated the stirrups. [As per usual during these hosiery discussions, the camera shows sacred Shea Stadium photo of Jerry Koosman celebrating the last out of the 1969 World Series.] See, that’s closer. I wore ’em a little bit higher than Kooz right there. [Camera now shows file photo of Hernandez’s favorite player.] Ah, there you go.
Cohen: There was a trend for a while there to show none of the top of the stirrup, right? Guys started adding extensions to the bottom so they rose that much higher.
Hernandez: Yes. I never liked that look. When we played for the Cardinals, we had those great socks with the stripes, like the Red Sox. You wanna show the stripes.
Cohen [who has clearly read either Ball Four or Uni Watch]: I guess it was Frank Robinson, wasn’t it, who first started wearing the high stirrups, that just showed white with a stripe on the side?
Darling [utterly lost but trying to sound engaged]: Yes.
Hernandez [also lost]: I think you may be right.
Cohen: Maybe it was someone else before that. I just…
Hernandez [now completely off on the wrong tack]: Was it with Cleveland? Remember those Cleveland uniforms, those red uniforms?
Cohen: Those were awful.
Darling [now barely treading water]: They were hideous!
Cohen: Of course, there were a lot of hideous uniforms in the ’70s. The Pirates…
Hernandez: The bumblebees!
Darling: How about Houston?
Hernandez: Ugh!
Cohen: How about the Padres?
Darling: That’s right, mustard and brown.
Cohen: Mustard and mud!
Hernandez: Contrary to Ron Darling, I love the A’s uniforms, love those swingin’ A’s unis.
[Inning mercifully ends.]
Uni Watch News Ticker: Plate umpires who wear the conventional-style mask always wear a cap, but umps who favor the hockey-style mask have always gone cap-free. Or at least that’s what I thought until seeing some footage from last night’s Rockies/Astros game, where plate ump Ed Hickox wore a cap under his hockey-style mask (you can see him holding his mask on the left side of this shot). … Tons of great uni- and equipment-related footages in this awesome WHA video (tremendous find by Tommy Gough). … Not quite uni-related, but still a worthwhile site. … Interesting query from Ryan Hickox, who writes: “This season, while watching Red Sox games, I’ve noticed a couple of narrow, dark objects behind the rubber on the mound, as seen here.” Anyone know what these are? … Newly minted Uni Watch member Michael Gargano recently bumped into a friend wearing a great Royals tee. … According to this article, Jake Peavy inscribes “BP” on his underbill, in tribute to his late grandfather, Blanche Peavy (good spot by David Conley). … Pretty cool stuff upcoming in Tampa. … That ridiculous London Olympics logo is already getting some very negative reviews (some really great quotes in that article, including a description of the logo as “a toileting monkey”), plus there’s now a petition drive to do away with it (with thanks to Morris Bird). … Now that’s a nameplate. Player in question is Washington State kicker Romeen Abdollmohammadi (as spotted by Michael Carman). … Some interesting factoids about the Diamondbacks’ uni protocol in the “In Case You Were Wondering” section of this page (good find by Doug Simpson). … Jacob Reed wonders what Eddie Stanky had written under his bill. … Photo of the day comes from Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek who noticed Tim Hudson finding a new use for the rosin bag. … Great article here about a Milwaukee memorabilia hound who specializes in collecting bats (with thanks to the Cream City’s finest, Nicole Haase). … Brian Willette notes that Northwestern softballer Darcy Sengewald has been wearing eye black shaped like little hearts and dollar signs. … Beau Lynott sent along a screen shot of Russell Martin’s torn pants from last night’s Dodgers/Padres game. “He was sliding repeatedly in steal attempts with one out in the 7th inning, then fell down rounding second on a base hit and was tagged out in a pickle. Matt Vasgersian on Channel 4 Padres said, ‘What’s with the re-stitch? Get the man some new pants!’” … Want your logo rendered in pasta? Comments section stalwart Minna H. recommends these guys. … The Indians wore blue jerseys at home last night, marking the first time they’d done that since 2001 (although, as Tim Bennett notes, there was a lot more red trim back in those days). … According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times, dreadlocked Giants defensive back R.W. McQuarters recently had his first haircut since his rookie season and is now wearing a helmet two sizes smaller as a result. … Arsenal has unveiled its new white kit.
June 6th, 2007
I had a houseguest over the weekend and barely touched my computer, so I’m a day late in covering the details of the weekend’s big uni-related story. With apologies to those for whom this is already old news, here’s the scoop:
During Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night, Ottawa’s Jason Spezza, who normally wears No. 19, had his jersey badly torn during a tussle with Anaheim’s Sammy Pahlsson (you can see part of the rip here). Both players were penalized for roughing, but Spezza immediately removed his torn jersey and scampered off to the locker room to get a new jersey while another Ottawa player sat in the penalty box in his stead.
Nothing so unusual there — it happens. The weird part was when Spezza returned a minute or two later: Instead of wearing a new No. 19 jersey or a repaired version of his original jersey, he was wearing No. 44. That number is usually worn by Patrick Eaves, who was a healthy scratch for the game. The penalty hadn’t yet expired, so Spezza took his place in the sin bin wearing Eaves’s jersey. When the penalty expired, Spezza skated onto the ice and played until the next whistle, at which point he skated to the bench and switched to a proper 19 jersey.
A few of the details are still fuzzy. Some reports said that Spezza’s original torn jersey was repaired while he was in the penalty box, and that he eventually put it back on; others said that the equipment staff eventually found a new 19 jersey for him to wear. And according to the fourth paragraph of this article (alertly forwarded by Brent Bollmeier), “[S]ince the Sens equipment staff quickly stapled Spezza’s name on the back of Eaves’ jersey, it would not have been illegal for him to go on the ice wearing a different number, in this case 44 rather than his own 19″ — an interesting factoid, except for the fact that the Sens staff didn’t staple Spezza’s name onto the 44 jersey. Anyone know more about that?
The announcers had plenty of fun with all this, which you can hear for yourself, because whole thing has already been immortalized in two short YouTube videos, available here and here.
Blowout Chatter: The Cubs had a rare laugher on Saturday, which gave announcers Len Kasper and Bob Brenly a chance to ignore the play-by-play proceedings and concentrate on more important matters, like uniforms. The discussion began when they noted that one of the Cubbies’ clubhouse managers was in uniform and serving as a batboy (apparently one of the team’s standard methods of trying to break a losing streak, something I guess the Cubs have had lots of opportunities to perfect over the years). That led Kasper to wax expansive about a recent chat he’d had with one of the other clubhouse guys:
Kasper: I had a great talk with Tim Hellmann, who works in the home clubhouse, and was talking about the jerseys and taking care of the uniforms and the new synthetic polyester-blend caps. He was telling me that most dirt and grass stains require hand-washing, to keep them nice and clean. And the pants get replaced much more often, for obvious reasons. If you’re wondering, the uniforms are made out of polyester, and they’re washed in warm water. Are you writing this down?
Brenly: No.
Kasper: See, I’ve been saving this story for a long time. Just felt like today was the day. [Camera shows Felix Pie in the Cubs dugout with a lot of dirt on his jersey.] Felix Pie’s uniform might require a bit of hand-washing. I asked Tim if they ever iron the uniforms — sometimes you see a bit of a wrinkle. I guess it’s rare that they have to iron. He said at one time the uniforms were washed in hot water and quickly packed — sometimes had to be touched up with an iron. So it does happen on occasion. Now, as a catcher, you probably went through more pairs of pants than any other position. Do you have any idea how many pairs of trousers you averaged in a big league season?
Brenly: Well, y’know, back in the day we were on a strict budget there in San Francisco. We used to patch our uniforms frequently. It wasn’t unusual to see a guy with three or four layers of patching, especially on your sliding knee, and for me that was my left knee. They just continued to patch ’em until they couldn’t patch them anymore, at which point they were put in a box and sent to the minor leagues for those guys to deal with. You don’t see a lot of patching going on nowadays — if a guy tears his pants or slides so many times that he gets a bare spot on the knee of his pants, they just get him a new pair.
(Special thanks to AJ Favorite for tipping me wise to this highly riveting bit of uni banter.)
Membership Update: Continued thanks to the very enthusiastic and generous folks who’ve signed up for a Uni Watch membership. Everyone who signed up through yesterday is now listed on the membership roster, where, in most cases, you can see the name/number style that everyone’s chosen for the backs of their cards (which, I think you’ll agree, looks pretty damn cool). Have fun checking out the roster — it’s worth reading it just to see why Mark Emge chose No. 12.
If you signed up prior to yesterday and don’t see your name on the roster, or if there’s an error in your roster listing, let me know and we’ll make things right. If you’re on the roster and want to send me a photo of yourself that can be linked to your name, go ahead and e-mail it to me (or, if you want to link to a photo that’s already no the web, just send me the URL). Also, if you’d rather have your name linked to your e-mail address, so other readers can get in touch with you, let me know and I’ll set up the link.
The actual laminated cards, along with other membership benefits, will start shipping out later this week. It’ll probably take me a few weeks before I get fully caught up — thanks in advance for your patience.
Meanwhile: Terry Mark, I have a question regarding your membership order and am having trouble e-mailing you — please shoot me a note.
Uni Watch News Ticker: An inside MLB source reports the following: “Next year MLB is getting new dugout gear. The jackets will be made of new fabric — think North Face material, but not the fleece kind. The half-zip pullovers will also be kinda weird — more windbreaker-like, but with zip-off sleeves. Also, looks like the negative feedback on this year’s BP gear is falling on deaf ears. The jerseys, at least, will be used again next year.” … Dynamite article here about the uniforms used in the Ernie Davis movie (with thanks to Mike Alper). … More minor league shenanigans, this time from the Frederick Keys, who wore NASCAR jerseys on Saturday night (as forwarded by Tim Phelps). … Succinct analysis by Morris Bird, who says, Let’s hope this logo evolves quickly.” Details here. … Peter Angelos briefly addresses the situation regarding the Orioles’ road jersey insignia in the middle of this interview (just do a search on “uniform”). … Kurt Hiester notes that Dustin Pedroia wears his shin guard unusually high while batting. … Good note from Scott Merzbach, who writes: ” When I was in Lynchburg, Virginia, last weekend for a minor league baseball game, I recalled that the last time I attended a Hillcats baseball game in 1999, the opponents had left their caps at home and were forced to wear generic hats when they took the field. I found a newspaper clip that confirmed my recollection: ‘The (Kinston) Indians were forced to play the game in all-blue adjustable hats they bought at High Peak Sportswear because their regular caps were accidentally left in Kinston.’ ” … Several readers noted that after Michael Barrett’s scuffle with Carlos Zambrano (which resulted in some nasty-looking stitches), he has switched from wearing a conventional mask to a hockey-style model. … Remember Manny Ramirez wearing Oakley Thumps? He was wearing them again last night (with thanks to Michael Milici). … I could do a whole column on Don Cherry’s suits, but for now I’ll just pass along Dustin Pomprowitz’s observation that Cherry was wearing little Canadian flag cufflinks last night.
June 5th, 2007
By Vince Grzegorek
Take a guess as to when inline skates were first developed. Go ahead. 1950s? 1920s? 1900s? 1850s?
Any takers on 1823? Because that is the correct answer. These skates were called the “Volito” and were used by ice skaters when there was no ice to be found. The unequal size of the wheels made this one of the more popular models because skaters could easily turn simply by shifting their weight from side to side.
This is just one of the many interesting equipment- and uniform-related tidbits found in the amazing “Sports: Breaking Records, Breaking Barriers” exhibit put together by the Smithsonian. Currently on display at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, the collection has toured the country for the past two years and has two stops left in Portland, Oregon, and Spokane, Washington, later this year (dates and locations available here.)
Other highlights include:
- Abercrombie and Fitch may be known today for trendy clothes and semi-pornographic advertising, but back in the day that wasn’t the case. Check out this badminton set they produced around the turn of the century The wooden frames tightened around the rackets to keep them from warping brings back fond memories of the racket my father gave me when I was younger.
- Here’s the towel that was literally thrown in by Max Schmeling’s handlers in the first round of his bout against Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium in 1938. It was thrown back out by the referee because it was against the rules for handlers to stop a fight by throwing in the towel.
- For her swim across the English Channel in 1926, Gertrude Ederle wore these watertight goggles she designed for the journey.
- For the 1988 Olympics, Brian Boitano wore these skates. Harlick (the manufacturer) added the American flags for good luck.
- Betsy Jochum wore this uniform for the South Bend Blue Sox in the All-American Girls Professional League. The Smithsonian notes, “According to the players’ manual, A Guide for All American Girls: How to Look Better, Feel Better, Be More Popular: ‘The smart looking teams invariably play smart ball and you can add to your own drawing power and crowd appeal by looking the part of a ball player on the field. Keep your shoes clean and shining. And see if you don’t feel better and play better ball.’ “
- If prototypes of the in-line skate were available in 1823, surely the roller skate was already perfected, right? Not really. It wasn’t until 1863 that James Plimpton patented a model that most closely resembles what we have come to know.
- It wasn’t any sort of marine species that inspired Owen Churchill to create his rubber swim fins around 1940, it was Tahitian swimmers he saw attaching woven leaves to their feet. Bet you thought it was a dolphin or something.
- The accent over the ‘e’ in Pelé in this New York Cosmos jersey looks more like an out of place, dangling apostrophe than anything else. It should be placed like this, or left off completely, like this (although, note Pelé includes the accent in his autograph.)
- Billie Jean King wore this outfit, which at the time was considered flashy, in her match against Bobby Riggs. Oh, how times have changed.
Loose Ends, Small Change: Some items I came across while searching through the National Archives online: FDR with his high school baseball team… FDR with his high school football team… Jim Thorpe in his Carlisle Indian School uniform… Finally, a wonderful old Louisville Slugger advertisement.
Distant Replays Gift Card and March Madness: The good folks over at Distant Replays have provided some more gift cards to give away, and just in time for the start of the NCAA Tournament. Since I’m the one who’ll be stuck grading these, we’re going to forego full bracket submissions, in the interests of preserving my sanity. Here’s how it’s going to work:
Pick one team from each region, and one additional team from any region as your wild card choice (five teams in all). You will receive points correlating to each team’s seed for each game that team wins. For example, a Number 1 seed will receive 1 point for each game it wins, a Number 5 seed will receive 5 points for each game it wins, a Number 12 seed will receive 12 points for each game it wins, and so on. Highest score wins. Given the number of entries I expect to receive, this seems to be the best way to avoid a tie. However, please provide your guess for total points scored by both teams combined in the championship game, just in case we do need a tiebreaker.
E-mail your list of five teams and guess for total points to uniraffle at earthlink dot net by 12:00 noon EST on Thursday, March 15th to be eligible. Obviously, no late entries will be allowed. One entry per person, please. 1st place: $200, 2nd place: $100, 3rd place: $50 in Distant Replays money. Winners should be announced on or around April 3rd. Good luck.
March 14th, 2007
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