Posts filed under 'Pants'
Big news item yesterday, in case you missed it, is that Seahawks kicker Josh Brown marked himself as a big wuss and an even bigger idiot by announcing that he’ll be wearing heated pants for Saturday’s playoff game against the Packers in Green Bay, thereby dishonoring the spirit of the Ice Bowl, the 1982 AFC Championship Game, and Bud Grant’s “No heaters on the sideline” rule (and, more importantly, depriving us of our God-given right to watch a grown man shiver in the cold while we sit in our nice cozy homes, which is what playoff football is all about).
As you might imagine, this story was like chum in the water for assorted media sharks. In Green Bay, the Press-Gazette immediately posted this photo, with the following caption: “Seahawks kicker Josh Brown, who plans to wear heated warmup pants in Saturday’s NFC playoff game at Lambeau Field, isn’t trying to stay warm in this picture. He’s being hugged by teammate Grant Wistrom after kicking a game-winning field goal against Detroit in September 2006. Of course, that game was played inside, at Ford Field.” And in Seattle, the blog Seattlest compared Josh Brown to James Brown, the latter of whom, of course, had a big hit in 1971 with “Hot Pants.”
The hunch here is that Brown isn’t the first NFL player to resort to heated pants — he’s just the first one stupid enough to admit it. I hereby predict that his ill-advised revelation will lead to the following actions:
• More cheeseheads than usual will show up at Lambeau wearing shorts.
• The aforementioned James Brown tune will be played over the Lambeau sound system at every opportunity.
• At least one tailgater will burn Brown in effigy, accompanied by a little sign that reads, “Hey, Josh, hot enough for ya?”
Incidentally, while googling “hot pants” in search of a photo to run with today’s entry, I was intrigued to come across this, which linked back to this. Who knew?! Certainly not me.
Raffle Reminder: Remember, I’m currently raffling off a $100 NFLshop.com gift card. To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net (not to the usual Uni Watch address) by this Friday at 10 p.m. eastern. One e-mail per person, plus anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries. I’ll announce the winner on Monday.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Liberty started the basketball season with new uniforms (home, road) but has now taken the unusual step of making a mid-season switch — to NikeWorld, unfortunately (here’s a rear and side view). Jonathan Carone, provided all of these pics, notes that while most of the NOBs were direct-sewn, Alex McLean had a nameplate when the new design debuted on Tuesday night. “I can only assume that the original was messed up,” he writes. Also, one of the reserves was stuck wearing one of the old jerseys, although he had the new shorts. … Michael Seabaugh notes that Ohio State had a bad omen before Monday night’s BCS game had even started. … Yesterday I asked if anyone knew about Arizona State wearing gold uniforms against Arizona in 1989. ASU media relations rep Randy Policar promptly responded with this, this, and this. “We actually wore them twice,” he writes. “Once against Arizona in 1989 and once against USC in 1990. We got beaten badly both times, and they have never been worn again.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: A set of one of history’s greatest stirrup designs is available on eBay. … Eagle-eyed catch by Nicole Haase, who noticed a TV graphic that showed UConn with a Longhorns logo. … Newest Uni Watch reader: Rob Klingenberger’s mascot, Katana, who apparently finds the site rather fascinating.
January 10th, 2008
SI.com’s photo galleries are usually pretty good, but their current “Greatest College Football Players by Number” rundown offers a particularly rich lode of uni-related details. Here’s a rundown (several of which were also spotted by various readers over the past few days):
• I had completely forgotten about Texas A&M’s shoulder stripes.
• Was there a particular reason Oklahoma State was wearing a huge shoulder flag?
• I don’t think I’ve ever seen such small or high-positioned uni numbers as Iowa was wearing in the late 1930s. Also, note how the knee pads appear to be poking out below the pant cuffs.
• I’ve mentioned Ohio State’s big-ass TV numbers before, it’s always worth another look, just for the “Holy shit!” factor.
• Love this shot of Doak Walker wearing an all-star uni.
• Think monochromatic uniforms are a modern phenomenon? Then check out this old shot of Syracuse wearing solid orange. Plus note that the helmet stripes don’t match, and dig Jim Brown’s Lucite facemask.
• What’s the deal with Dick Butkus’s helmet stars? Were these early merit decals?
• I had no idea that Nebraska had worn this number typeface in the early ’60s.
• Check out Greg Roberts’s helmet — looks like a cross between the Willie Lanier style and the ProCap. Anyone know more?
• I love how football photos from the 1920s always seem to feature lots of little patches and rivets on the pants, like in this shot of Bronko Nagurski.
• Look at this shot of Buck Buchanan. Looks like he’s got “Bell” written on his elbow pad. At first I thought maybe this was a makeshift memorial for former commish Bert Bell, but he died in 1959, when Buchanan was still in college. Can anyone shed any light on this?
• Dig the stripes on Jim Seymour’s shoes — pretty cool. Also, it’s tough to say for sure, but it looks like the official may be wearing two-tone (i.e., non-striped) socks.
Too bad the gallery stops at uni No. 99 — they could easily have included an entry for Chuck Kinder, who wore No. 100 for WVU in 1963, to mark the 100th anniversary of West Virginia’s statehood.
We Can’t Make This Stuff Up: My ESPN.com colleague Patrick Hruby is looking to get his hands on a giant ear costume (something like this) as soon as possible. If anyone has any idea where to find such an item, please let me know, post-haste.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s item about the guy with the Patriots logo tattooed on his head led Jon Smith to send along this photo, taken in 2006. That’s Jon on the left, posing with what he describes as “the ultimate Chargers fan.” He says there’s a matching bolt on the other side of the guy’s head. Wonder how he felt when the team changed its bolt design last spring. … According to this item UGA’s black jerseys have helped the school’s recruiting efforts (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … Did you know that American-style football is played in Italy? I didn’t, until Travis McGuire sent me this photo from the Italian Super bowl. Not sure what the temperature was, but dig that ref in shorts! … Fun NOB find by Caleb Borchers, who notes that Richard Wigglesworth (of the Sale Sharks rugby club in Manchester) wears “W’Worth.” … Dude, you forgot your mouthguard (as spotted by Glenn Chamberlain). … Several Canadiens and Black Hawks old-timers were honored before last night’s Habs/Hawks game. Happily, the oldsters got to wear CCM jerseys, not newfangled Reebok models. … Maryland wore yellow alts last night (thanks to Bryan Duklewski for the screen grab). … Remember yesterday’s Ticker item about basketball gloves? Turns out that idea was first floated (and presumably sank) way back in 1991, as you can see toward the bottom of this page (great find by Matt Shevin). … Just as I was about to post today’s entry, this query came in from Matt Weber: “Recently a friend told me that Arizona State’s football team wore gold jerseys for one game vs. University of Arizona, a game that they lost. I believe it was in 1989. However I can’t find any pics of these jerseys. My friend said that since ASU lost that game, they would never wear gold jerseys again.” Can anyone confirm and/or provide more info? … Every now and then it’s good to remind people that I don’t just write about uniforms.
January 9th, 2008
Several readers have been clamoring for updated info regarding the NFL officials’ cold-weather slacks, and I think I’ve finally got some — no thanks to the NFL, I might add.
First, a quick recap: As you may recall, the officials inexplicably wore the slacks for the Cowboys/Lions game back on December 9th — an odd choice, given that the game was played indoors. Same goes for last Monday’s Chargers/Broncos game which was a decidedly non-chilly 62 degrees at kickoff. What gives?
I’ve been trying to get an answer to that question from Mike Pereira, the NFL’s Vice President of Officiating. That’s him in the purple polo, which should give you an idea of where this is going. Turns out ol’ Mike is, shall we say, a tough man to pin down. I’ve been leaving messages with his office for weeks now — the most recent one was yesterday — but he hasn’t bothered to call me back.
Fortunately, reader Austin Henley checked in yesterday with some news that sheds a bit more like on the subject:
On the December 12th edition of Total Access on the NFL Network [which I don’t have — PL], Mike Pereira was on for his weekly “Official Review” segment. … He said a couple of things that I thought were interesting:
First: He gave the referees the option to wear the long pants and shirts at their discretion once the calendar flipped to December, meaning that referee Gerry Austin made the decision for the crew to go with the slacks and short sleeves [for the game in Detroit].
Second: He said that although he had given them the go-ahead to wear what they wanted, he did not like the short sleeves with long pants. He didn’t say Austin was reprimanded, but he said that you should not expect that look to reappear. He did say he really liked the long pants and long-sleeve shirts, which shouldn’t be surprising, since he played a part in their design.
John Parry, not Austin, was the referee for Monday’s game in San Diego, but it seems that more and more refs are taking advantage of Pereira’s late-season lenience.
Interestingly, the first time I called Pereira’s office and told his secretary that I wanted to ask him about the slacks worn in the Detroit game, she said, “Oh yes, I know there was some concern about the slacks being worn with the short sleeves,” essentially repeating what Pereira himself apparently said in his TV spot. Can’t say I understand the fuss, because I think the slacks look pretty much the same — i.e., like crap — no matter which jersey they’re paired with.
And that’s why I don’t like this “up to their discretion” business one little bit. When I discussed the slacks about a year ago with NFL officiating exec Larry Upson (who was much more accessible than Pereira but, unfortunately, is no longer with the league), he said, “They have to ask before they can wear ’em, just so we don’t have guys going around willy-nilly wearing them.” Wish they’d stuck to that protocol, because it’s starting to look like the officials prefer the slacks. If so, that’s a tragedy in the making, because NFL officials are more or less the last humans on the planet who know how to cuffs their knickers just right — mid-upper shin, just a bit of blousing — and are also among the rapidly dwindling ranks of the striped hosiery set. The slacks’ increasing prevalence is akin to the advent of pajama pants in baseball — and just as odious.
And if any officials out there think the slacks are more comfortable than the knickers, or less of a hassle, I frankly don’t care. Think of the proud heritage of high-cuffed football officials. Think of all the sock mills that depend on you to show off their striped hose. Think of how the slacks make you look like a cross between a bellhop and a sales clerk at Foot Locker.
You’ve chosen a special role for yourself. Now dress the part.
Uni Watch News Ticker: 49ers lineman Larry Allen is apparently quite a jersey collector (with thanks to Al Cummings). … Yesterday I mentioned that one of the officials in Wednesday night’s Blues/Red Wings game lost his luggage and had to wear borrowed equipment. Turns out Teebz knows the official in question and provided the full story in yesterday’s comments. Check it out here. … Lots of new soccer kits on display here (with thanks to Chris Cruz). … Amazing old Iowa football jersey up for auction here. … Seton Hall wore silver-gray uniforms last night. … Several readers have pointed out that Bill Simmons’s current column includes a link to this video clip from the 1984 NBA Old-Timers Game, which features loads of FNOB action (plus lots of disturbing shots of fat old guys squeezed in snug-fitting jerseys). … Japan’s two basketball leagues have unveiled their all-star uniforms. The BJ League will look like this and this (hmmm, wonder where they got their design inspiration?), and the JBL will wear this and this (as forwarded by Jeremy Brahm). … Cricket fan Jordan Owen reports that Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist wore pink gloves and a black armband the other day, for reasons explained in the third paragraph of this story.
Holiday Schedule: Unless something really momentous happens over the weekend, we’ll just have open chatter from tomorrow through New Year’s Day, then back to regular content next Wednesday.
December 28th, 2007
I don’t know if it was the lighting at Ford Field, the Lions’ awful black alternate jerseys, or the contrast between Detroit’s true silver pants and Dallas’s blue-tinted silver, but the Cowboys’ pants looked absolutely putrid yesterday. Seriously, did you watch that game, or see the highlights? Every time I caught a glimpse of that game on the TV screen, the Cowboys looked like this. Bizarre.
But not quite as bizarre as the sight of the officials wearing their cold-weather slacks for an indoor game. I’ve gotta believe this was a case of one official misplacing his regular pants and the whole crew therefore having to go with the Foot Locker look, but I’ll put in a call to the NFL today to get the scoop.
In other NFL news from yesterday:
• Some teams were still wearing the Sean Taylor memorial decal, others weren’t. There were even variations within individual teams: Most of the Chargers didn’t wear the decal, but a few of them did, including LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie. Oh, and this guy was still memorializing Taylor too.
• One team that didn’t wear the memorial decal — or any other rear-helmet adornment — was the Bills. They were wearing their gorgeous throwbacks, which always feature completely blank rear helmets — no flag, no league logo, no nothing (a phenomenon I first identified early last season). I’m told WR Roscoe Parrish wore the Sean Taylor decal, however. Couldn’t find a photo of that, but I did find a shot of his Taylor-ized eye black.
• It’s hard to see, but the “Riddell” logo on Plaxico Burress’s helmet was raised, just like the the “ny” on the team’s non-Riddell helmets.
• More lower-leg shenanigans from Al Harris.
• And in our weekly Flag Watch feature, Dallas Clark’s flag decal was still missing. No photo yet.
Friendly Reminder: I’ll be presenting a historical survey of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ uniforms tonight at Automotive High School’s gorgeous auditorium (which is located here), as part of the City Reliquary’s annual fund-raising gala. I can honestly say that I think anyone reading this would learn a few things from the presentation — I learned quite a bit myself while researching it. For $30, you get to see me, author extraordinaire Lawrence Weschler, live performances from Los Bomberos de Brooklyn and a live drum corps, and excerpts from a documentary film about a very specific Brooklyn subculture (I’ll let that part be a surprise), plus you’ll be supporting an extremely worthy cause that’s very dear to me. I hope some of you NYCers will show up. The event starts at 7 p.m., and I’m told that my segment will begin a little after 8 p.m.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The AHL’s All-Star Game jerseys will look like this (with thanks to Eric Hawkins). … Last Monday I mentioned that Braylon Edwards was playing bare-legged at the beginning of the Browns/Cards game, but I didn’t have a photo. Now, thanks to Jeffrey Nye, I do. … Interesting note from Andrew MacNamee, who writes: “When I first saw the Phillies’ new alternates, I knew they reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until a couple days ago. I remembered that they appeared on a couple baseball cards I had — namely, Mariano Duncan’s and Bob Ayrault’s 1993 Topps cards. Notable differences between these and the new alternates: The ‘P’ on the cap is in the Whiz Kids-era font, as opposed to the current ‘P’ on the new caps; the stars on the chest insignia are red, not blue; and no Cool Base jersey. According to a team source I e-mailed, this was a one-time uniform used for a throwback promotion against the Reds in 1992.” … “Mark Dodge, a linebacker for Texas A&M, wore his mother’s family name for his NOB during the A&M/Texas game,” writes Dustin Qualls. “He had to get special permission from the NCAA to do this. He was honoring his grandmother and aunt, who had both recently passed away. So his nameplate had ‘Thomas’ on it instead of ‘Dodge.’ I can’t find a picture, but here’s a story about it.” … Tons of great old stadium photos here (with thanks to Dave Soline). … Mike Lindsey notes that Bears punter Brad Maynard was wearing his chinstrap under his jaw on Thursday night. … The Reds will memorialize Joe Nuxhall with a sleeve patch next season. … Great find by Brian Castile, who writes: “Back in 1977, when Iowa State and the University of Iowa played football for the first time in 43 years, ISU wore ‘BEAT IOWA’ on the front of their jerseys, as you can see in this video clip. Unfortunately they lost the game. Later in the year, ISU played North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl and they altered the letters on the jerseys to read ‘PEACH BOWL.’ Again, they lost the game.” … The single-A Yakima Bears have unveiled a new identity system. I’m particularly fond of this. Full slideshow here (with thanks to Travis McGuire). … Further ursine-themed minor league action in Fresno, where the Grizzlies have released an updated design scheme. Details here. … We’ve all seen late-career photos of Yaz wearing an enlarged earhole, but I’d never seen the hole hollowed out to the extent seen here and here until Nicholas Bean sent me those two photos the other day. … Some seriously busy youth league unis being worn by the Staten Island Hurricanes — five kids, five different sock styles, plus check out the facemaks stripes on No. 6. And that’s not counting their other pants design (as found by Jeff Cooperman). … Lots of NBA throwback action over the weekend, as seen here, here, here, and here. … Speaking of which, good breakdown of the distinctions between the Lakers’ past and current uniforms here (with thanks to Ty Nowell). … Aaron Bolerjack reports that Man U will wear special non-sponsored uniforms on February 10th, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash disaster. … By now most of you know that the libero on a volleyball team wears a different-colored jersey. But Jeremy Brahm notes that the liberos in Italy also have different sponsors. The most extreme example is the Pallavolo Modena team, whose libero is sponsored by Marvel Comics (additional pics here). … Jeremy also sent along this article about Sadaharu Oh, in which the Japanese slugger opines, “They (Japanese players) like to wear their pants too long like American players, where you can’t even see their shoes. I don’t like that. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but the old Cincinnati Reds uniforms would be nice.” … Jonas Feit notes that the official in this shot is wearing only one glove, which I guess means he’s a fan of either Michael Jackson or Jay Gibbons. … Jared Blank notes that Fred Jones of the Knicks recently had an NOB glitch. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Monta Ellis appears to have tape on the soles of his sneakers. … Alex Auld made his Bruins debut Saturday night but was still wearing his Coyotes gear. … Good treatment of the situation regarding visors in the NHL here (with thanks to Karl Anderson). … Missouri is hinting that they may wear solid gold in the Cotton Bowl (as reported by Drew Wagner). … According to this listing of unusual MLB conract clauses, Dice-K is contractually guaranteed to wear No. 18 — which, as some of you may know, is considered a prestige number of pitchers in Japan (nice find by Scott Weicksel). … Anyone else think it was a bit odd that Floyd Mayweather’s operative color on Saturday night was gray?
December 10th, 2007
Big uni-related story in the NFL yesterday was the range of Sean Taylor memorials. Here’s a quick rundown:
• The Redskins wore a “21″ jersey patch. The Redskins’ coaching staff and owner wore it, too.
• In addition, Clinton Portis wore a Taylor tribute T-shirt under his jersey (here’s another view).
• John Eubanks wore a Taylor do-rag. At first I thought this was one of the towels that fans were given, but now I think it was actually the sleeve from a Taylor jersey.
• All teams wore a “21″ helmet decal. This led to some pretty crowded rear-helmet groupings, especially for the Broncos (who already had their dual memorial for Darrent Williams and Damien Nash) and Browns (who added that “BW” decal this week in memory of Hall of Famer Bill Willis — not to be confused with the “BW” decal for Bill Walsh that the 49ers have been wearing all year).
• I was hoping we’d see some facemask stripes, like Taylor sometimes wore. Didn’t happen, but Antonio Pierce of the Giants did something similar: He taped Taylor’s uniform number onto his mask. This was the only personalized tribute to Taylor that I spotted. (Special thanks to Ryan Perkins for the screen grab.)
Meanwhile, in non-Taylor developments:
• Tommie Harris had “Psalms 91″ (which also happens to be his uniform number) written on his Breathe Right strip.
• The Jets took the unusual step of wearing their Titans throwbacks on the road in Miami.
• Joseph Addai was showing some serious skin in the 2nd quarter.
• No photo yet, but I saw for myself that Dallas Clark’s American flag decal was still missing — a particularly egregious omission when you consider that the equipment staff had to add the Sean Taylor decal to his helmet, so you’d think they would’ve noticed the missing flag. Bryan, whose wife went to high school with Clark, is still working on getting the full story on this one.
• Also no photo, but several readers reported that Braylon Edwards was wearing white shoes and going bare-calved, NCAA-style, early in the Browns/Cards game. Then he added brown socks but still had white shoes. He eventually switched to black shoes like the rest of the Browns.
Uni Watch Calendar Update: Several meet/greet opportunities coming up over the next week. Here’s the deal:
• December 6th: Marc Spears of the Boston Globe and I will be fielding questions from students in a media seminar class this Thursday at Boston University. I’ll be convening a Uni Watch party at 8:30 that evening at Boston Beer Works, which is right across from Fenway Park. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to attend the seminar class, which begins at 6:30, the professor has graciously agreed to accommodate a few extra people. If you’re interested, get in touch and I’ll let you know where to go.
• December 10th: The completely wonderful City Reliquary, of which I am a proud card-carrying member, will be holding its annual benefit gala at the Automotive High School Auditorium, and I’m one of the two featured speakers this year. I’ll be doing a Power Point presentation about Brooklyn Dodgers uniform history, but the real attraction is the other speaker: Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder and Boggs. The evening will also feature a short documentary film, a live samba band, and — if you shell out a lot of extra $$$ — dinner at Bamonte’s, one of Brooklyn’s oldest and most storied red-sauce Italian restaurants. Full details here.
• Sometime in January: I’m going to be one of four presenters at the inaugural edition of a new speaking series called “Adult Education,” which is being curated by my longtime pal Carrie McLaren (editrix of the excellent consumer-culture magazine Stay Free), who describes the series as “sort of grownup show-and-tell,” complete with visual aids. The theme of this first installment will be “Micro-Genres”: Carrie, who’s mildly obsessed with chimps, will be talking about people who’ve tried to raise chimps as part of the family; longtime Uni Watch pal Liz Clayton will talk about painfully obvious fast-food restaurant conversions (she has an entire site devoted to this phenomenon); Jim Hanas will talk about “meta tourism” (i.e., photos of tourists taking photos); and I’ll be talking about the strange world of trade magazines (Elevator World, Hay and Forage Grower, American Funeral Director, Demolition, and so on, each of which is as obsessively subject-specific as Uni Watch is). The exact date is still TBA, but it’s definitely going to be on a Tuesday in January, and the venue will be Union Hall, which is conveniently located around the corner from Uni Watch HQ. Further details on this one as they become available.
Membership News: I’m happy to announce that we’ve now gone over 500 enrollees. But I can’t announce who the 500th member is because that was a gift membership and the gift-giver has asked that I keep the order secret until Christmas.
Speaking of which, remember, this Wednesday is the deadline for ordering a discounted gift membership for the holidays.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of pics here from the upcoming hoops movie Semi-Pro (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Bizarre uniform sighting here (courtesy of Eric Trager). … Looking for new and creative ways to lace up your cleats or sneakers? Look here (with thanks to Mike Blinn). … Roman numeral alert: Charlie Coley III of Charlotte (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … “Once upon a time, Marquette had a football team,” writes proud Badger State booster Nicole Haase. “Here’s a pretty cool collection of 1940s program covers.” … “Check out the difference in the helmet stripe thickness for the two players in green, who play for Mentor Lake Catholic High in Ohio,” writes Tim Snyder. “I figure it’s some kind of merit award, but they also use more conventional merit decals.” Anyone know more about this? … Paul Bridge reports that Utah Valley University, which will have D-1A status by 2009, has some new logos. Details here. … Very odd NOB typography being for Jonathan Zebina of Juventus (and, presumably for the rest of their players): The “Z” and the “E” look like a “2″ and a backwards “3.” It’s apparently so fraught with confusion that the “E” ended up being applied backwards for Saturday’s game against AC Milan (all this courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … Mizzou’s Stryker Sulak had some sleeve patch problems on Saturday (with thanks to James Wortham for the screen grab). … Nice little recap of Lakers uniform history here (as forwarded by Matthew Wolfram). … Ryan Perkins notes that R.W. McQuarters of the Giants had some helmet decal issues yesterday. … Several readers noted that Wabash wore some ill-advised pants in Saturday’s D-III quarterfinal game. … Georgia will wear black in the Sugar Bowl. … Speaking of black, Texas A&M’s hoops team wore their black alts yesterday. … “The Barbarians, an invitation-only rugby club that plays a handful of matches per year, took on the newly-crowned world champions South Africa,” writes Eric Bangeman. In addition to wearing classic black-and-white uniforms, the Barbarians ask each player to wear the socks from his home club, which makes for some interesting hosiery contrasts.”
December 3rd, 2007
Last month I wrote about all the great uni-related photos in Sports Illustrated’s The Football Book. Now I’ve gotten myself a copy of The Baseball Book, which has a slightly smaller but still significant trove of uni details. Let’s take a look:
• Here’s a 1950s shot of Nellie Fox. Note that the Sox insignia is a patch, not embroidered. Never noticed that before.
• Another Chisox shot, this one showing Luis Aparacio during the 1959 World Series, when the White Sox actually wore white socks.
• Next time we debate the pros and cons of base coaches wearing helmets, think about this photo. Can you believe how close to home plate those shutterbugs were allowed to get?
• This is an 1896 shot of the New York Giants, and I absolutely must have one of those sweaters.
• Couple of interesting things here, beginning with the Cards’ heavily ribbed stirrups. Also, look closely Bob Bowman’s (No. 26) right toe. Looks like he’s got a little metal plate and strip of leather there to keep the tip of his shoe from wearing through. And that leads us to…
• …this shot of Satchel Paige’s cleats, with a great view of precisely the same toe accessory.
• Amazing old Boston Braves jacket here.
• Decent view here of the yellow batting helmets that the A’s wore in 1967 (when they were still in Kansas City).
• Best uni-related prank ever. According to the caption, the player on the ground was actually an actor named Lou Archer, “who appeared in Babe Comes Home, Ruth’s second Hollywood feature.”
Loads of other great photography here — recommended.
Membership News: Got a brilliant card design request the other day from Robert Eden. He originally joined up back when the membership program was first announced, choosing the basic Uni Watch colors. But once he heard we were now accepting NCAA-themed design requests, he put in an order for an additional card (which anyone can get for $15, by the way) patterned after a Nebraska Cornhuskers tearaway jersey. As I think you’ll agree, Scott executed the concept quite nicely.
Meanwhile, Nina has finished adding all the Charter Membership code to the membership roster. If you’re a Charter Member, your number on the roster should be shown in bold. If we somehow missed anyone, let me know.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday’s post about uni numbers on pants prompted a response from Aaron Stilley, who pointed out a baseball example I’d forgotten about: the Kansas City Monarchs (additional views here, here, here, and here). “I agree it’s usually a bad idea, but for some reason I actually think it looked nice on the Monarchs’ unis,” writes Aaron, and I’m inclined to agree. … By now I think most of you are aware of the Minnesota high school hockey jerseys that are on display at the Xcel Center. But what you might not know — and what I didn’t know myself until Jeff Barak forwarded me some pics — is that the display also includes an incredible 1940s Coast Guard team jersey with a gorgeous chenille crest. Further info here. … The woman who designed the Lambeau Field 50th-anniversary patch is profiled here. … Alejandro Marci reports that Argentina has new soccer uniforms. “The jersey has a hidden drawing on the front,” he writes, “inspired by a traditional Buenos Aires decorative painting art form called Fileteado, which is most commonly used to decorate buses. That technique is also in a small patch located on the back of the neck. There’s also an awful colored field in the back, as a background for the numbers. Apparently it’s some new FIFA regulation for NTs.” … “As you know, the Giants typically apply each player’s last name to his batting helmet in large white letters,” writes Jason Taylor. “Until August, it appeared that Barry Bonds was no different. But I just noticed that his last name appeared in two other styles on the back of his helmet within about a week’s time. I’m guessing that it had something to do with him donating his 755 and 756 helmets to the Hall of Fame.” … Genius find by Jere Smith, who’s turned up a video clip from the 1988 NBA Legends Game, in which every single player wore FNOB — and in a totally weird format to boot. Details and full video clip here. … Several readers have noticed a subtle change made by the Bruins, but Paul Pokaski sums it up best: “The Bruins started the season with double-outlined lettering on their nameplates. This style was worn as recently as October 22 on the road against the Canadiens. Recently, however, the Bruins have been using single-outlined names on their road whites. They wore this style November 3 at Ottawa, and in their most recent game, at Toronto.” Very odd to see a team make this sort of change in the middle of a season. … You’ve gotta be kidding me. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Lots of good uni-related soccer Q&A action here. … And The London Times’s picks for the top 50 soccer kits of all time here (with thanks to Iain Landon).
Holiday Schedule: We’ll have open chatter tomorrow. Maybe Friday too, or maybe I’ll put up some real content — not sure yet. And our usual open chatter for the weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, and remember, white meat’s for suckers — dark meat’s where it’s at.
November 21st, 2007
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?
November 20th, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: For months now people have been telling me to pick up a copy of The Football Book, part of a series of coffee table books produced by Sports Illustrated. Last week I finally got around to getting a copy, and sure enough, it’s loaded with great uni-related photos. The only problem is that the book is too big to fit in my scanner, so I had to take photos of the pages. Here’s a sampling:
• As you’d expect, there are lots of great helmet photos. Among the highlights: two Lucite facemasks visible in the same frame; a seriously battered helmet; and a good historical survey of gridiron headwear.
• The book features two spectacular footwear close-ups, beginning with one of the most famous shoes in NFL history: Tom Dempsey’s special kicking shoe, which he used to boot his record-setting 63-yard field goal in 1970. Less celebrated but still fascinating is Doak Walker’s kicking shoe, which included a zipper as well as laces, because he played both ways and had to be able to switch footwear quickly. I love that heavily taped zipper tab.
• Before there were electric heaters on the sideline, some players kept warm by wearing burlap sacks, or by indulging their pyromaniacal tendencies.
• Note the handwritten rear-helmet uni numbers worn by the Browns players.
• Speaking of the Browns, check out the team-colored goalpost, shown here in the aftermath of the 1964 championship game.
• Two photos of officials caught my eye. Note how the two zebras in this shot have slightly different stripe widths and sleeve cuff patterns. Meanwhile, anyone know who this memorial armband was honoring?
• Good view here of how Jim Burt had his jersey custom-tied for maximum tightness.
• Before there were Super Bowl rings, there were other championship trinkets.
• And before footballs themselves were manufactured to standard specs, officials kept a special ball caliper on hand to make sure game balls were the proper size and shape.
• Gorgeous gallery of WWII-era game programs here.
• What’s up with the grommets — or are they snaps? — on the pants?
• Why would a player wear his uni number on his spat job?
• And finally, this isn’t uni-related, but it brings up something I’ve always wondered about: When I was a kid, every team huddled up in a circle — except for the Chiefs, who set up like this, with the quarterback facing the rest of the offense. I remember being fascinated by this protocol when I was little, and then they stopped doing it and I forgot all about it until I saw this photo in the book. Anyone know more about this? Was it a Len Dawson thing or a Hank Stram thing? If the latter, did the Saints use the same huddle format when Stram coached them?
And so on — plenty more where all of that came from. Highly recommended.
Tomlinson Update: Sure enough, as several people noted in yesterday’s comments, Ladainian Tomlinson’s flag decal was missing yet again on Sunday. Dude’s been in violation of a league uniform guideline for nearly half a season now! Is it really possible that nobody else has noticed? Or is he making some kind of statement? Seems unlikely, given his antics during the Chargers’ home opener, but LT is clearly a complex character, so who knows what’s running through his head.
I talked about this with Giants equipment director Joe Skiba when I was out at Giants Stadium two Fridays ago. He gave me a flag decal and suggested that I FedEx it to Tomlinson along with a short, well-worded note (maybe just “Are we missing something?”). It’s a tempting thought — but what if he slapped the decal on his helmet? Then the game would be over. I’ve come to enjoy the weekly “Will he or won’t he?” anticipation surrounding LT’s flag. Why ruin it?
Then again, I love the FedEx idea — I’m torn. And so I turn, my brothers and sisters, to you: Should I sit on my hands and let the weekly game play out, or should I send the flag decal to LT? And if the latter, what sort of note should I include? Cast your vote by sending an e-mail to unipoll at earthlink dot net (not the usual Uni Watch address) and I’ll take the readership’s wishes under advisement.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Not sure how I missed this, since I was watching the Giants/Dolphins game, but Brandon Jacobs’s jersey patch apparently fell off at some point in the second half (with thanks to Eric Stangel, who says he first saw this mentioned on GameUsedForum.com). … Remember back in the late ’80s, when several NBA teams used socks with the team name knit into the hose? Rob Montoya notes that several Albuquerque high school football teams are using that sock style, including Eldorado High and Cibola High. In addition, Highland High’s socks have stripes, vertical lettering, and a team logo. Albuquerque: the unlikely athletic sock capital of America! … Speaking of sock adornment, check out this photo (forwarded by Russ Yurk), which was taken during Cardinals training camp in 1981. What’s with the number-stenciled socks? Anyone ever seen that before? … “South Africa, the recent Rugby World Cup champions, unveiled their 2008 strips this past weekend,” writes Dominic Litten. “It’s quite different from the jerseys they wore in the World Cup. Another interesting quirk about South African rugby is the awesome suit jacket worn by the head coaches (who, by the way, aren’t on the sidelines during games).” … “Dress to the Nines” curator Tom Shieber checks in with the following observation: “Is this a first? The Rockies wore different uniforms in each game of their four-game World Series loss to the Red Sox. Game One: black vest with gray pinstripe pants. Game Two: gray pinstripe jersey and pants. Game Three: black vest (same as Game One) with white pinstripe pants. Game Four: white pinstripe jersey and pants. Maybe they figured they’d keep switching uniforms until they won. Didn’t seem to work.” … Nice find by Jeff Barak: a web page that lists every NHL player to have worn a given uni number. … Neil Berger was looking through some old photos and found some shots of a Bucks uni-history gallery that he took a few years back at the Bradley Center. Additional pics here, here, and here. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Before an NFL game, the game footballs are inspected by the referee, who puts a mark or stamp on them to ensure that there’s no switcheroo. You can see those marks on the tip of the balls used in Sunday’s Niners/Saints game. … The Hershey Bears wore pink breast cancer awareness jerseys during pregame warm-ups on Sunday. … The concept of naming rights has gotten seriously out of hand. … While researching something else I came across a photo of Lance Rentzel wearing a really crude-looking facemask, similar to the cheapo-looking one that Gale Sayers used to wear. … Michael Rich was at the Georgia Tech/Clemson game a few weeks ago and spotted a fan wearing a custom Tech jersey. … Interesting interlocking “X” and “V” being used by the Charlotte Checkers for their anniversary patch (with thanks to Kyle Ostendorf). … Any article that includes the quotes “People would make fun of us and stuff” and “Like if we travel around, people are going to give us a lot of crap” has got to be worth your while — and it is (nice find by Todd Davis). … More lower-leg shenanigans for the Packers secondary last night, as seen here, here, and here.
October 30th, 2007
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