Thanks to Phil’s recent “Worst Uni Ever” poll, you’ve seen plenty of Colorado Caribous photos lately. But most of you probably haven’t seen this one.

That shot, along with a bunch more (click on the thumbnails for larger versions), come from this site devoted to NASL jerseys, which reader Rob Bryant just brought to my attention.

In a nutshell: The site is so awesome that I might just have to become a soccer fan after all. A very small selection of the highlights (click on little pics to see big pics):

• Totally digging the chest logo used by the Montreal Olympique.

• Stripe-o-rama! That’s the Rochester Lancers, 1971. Interesting to see that they used a different font for the rear uni number.

• Love how the San Francisco Quakes used the cross stroke on the Q to form a fault line — or, better yet, to fracture a soccer ball. (As an aside, did you know there was an indoor soccer team called the San Francisco Fog? How awesome is that jersey?!)

• Sort of quaint how Minnesota teams are always named after the state, not after a particular city, as in the Minnesota Strikers. Not such a bad thing when it results in the state outline being depicted on the jersey, though.

• Check out the silver chain-stitching on this Las Vegas Quicksilvers jersey (which also has one of history’s clunkiest, most awkward NOBs).

• Uni typography doesn’t get much more quintessentially ’70s than this Edmonton Drillers design. Only problem is that the jersey is actually from 1982. Interestingly, the 1970s-esque design replaced something that was much more ’80s-ish.

• Very odd insignia for the 1980 Houston Hurricane. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a team intentionally obscure part of the type like that. But it’s probably better than this.

• The Adidas logo really ruined the elemental simplicity of this 1979 California Surf design. Looks better in this overexposed photo, since you almost can’t see the logo creep. (And speaking of the Surf, check out this shot from a game played at Vets Stadium, complete with all the MLB logos in the background. Ah, the indignities of being a minor sports league.)

• My vote for best NASL sleeves goes to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, for obvious reasons. Mmmm, tasty.

• Then again, the Toronto Blizzard had some pretty cool sleeves too.

• What happens you’re your team uses really huge-ass NOB lettering (and, as an aside a sews the apotrophe on backwards)? You run the risk of ending up with a DDNHOB (double-decker hyphenated NOB, duh)! Those jerseys are from the Hartford Bicentennials (now there’s a team name with a short shelf life), who had a very cool chest logo.

• Do you get the feeling that maybe the Detroit Cougars didn’t originally plan on using NOBs?

• On the other hand, the New York Cosmos left plenty of NOB room but didn’t know how to use it.

• So much to like in this photo of the Chicago Sting vs. the Dallas Tornado.

• Now that’s a weird number font. If you scroll through this page, you’ll see that the Clippers used all sorts of weird number treatments in their brief two-season existence.

• Starred socks! As worn by the Houston Stars, natch.

• Okay, I don’t mean to harp on the NOBs, but come on. Joe Hilseberg, where were you when this league needed you?

• I hate logo creep but love ticking stripes. So what do I make of this? Hmmm, that’s a tricky one. The team in question, by the way, is the 1980 Memphis Rogues, although they weren’t the only team using that design element.

• Interesting to see that the Philly Fury used a contrasting placket. Looked pretty good!

• Does this 1967 St. Looie Stars jersey totally look like a thrift store special or what? Yes, I’ll buy it for $6, sold!

And look, the site even has a page devoted to NASL cheerleaders. Would you believe the KC Spurs called their cheering corps the InSPURettes? And the Tampa Bay Rowdies called theirs — wait for it — the Wowdies.

And just to bring everything full circle, reader Raifie Bass has a real prize in his collection: a Colorado Caribous satin jacket!

That settles it, from now on Uni Watch will cover soccer exclusively, the end.

Research Query: Two years ago I wrote an ESPN column in which surveyed the Cowboys’ assorted uniform quirks, past and present. The following summer, I wrote similar columns about the Cubs and White Sox.

Those columns were really fun to write, and popular besides. I’d like to do more of them, but I’ve had a hard time identifying other teams that would benefit from the same treatment. Maybe the St. Looey Cardinals..?

Can you think of other teams that would fit the bill here? Remember, the operative concept here is NOT “Let’s look at this team’s entire uni history”; the idea is to find teams that have had interesting uni histories, replete with quirks and underappreciated nuances. If you go back and read those three previous columns, you’ll see that the Cowboys, Cubs, and Chisox fit this description exceedingly well. If you think any other teams qualify, don’t be shy about telling me. Oh, and please don’t bother suggesting Oregon’s football team, thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New Aussie football kit for Port Adelaide (designed by a seven-year-old girl — no, really, read the sixth graf) and West Coast (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Check out this bizarre baseball jersey patch. That’s the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz, circa 1940s. … Phil found some interesting shots of Teddy Ballgame wearing cut-off windbreaker sleeves and an undershirt. Here’s another. … Apparently Kareem didn’t get the memo about which shoes and socks to wear to the photo shoot (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Danny Millan has started a new Brooklyn-centric clothing line. I appreciate the sentiments, although I hope the Brooklyn Nets never actually come to pass. … Remember these football gloves? Here’s the next evolutionary step (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Ever wonder why David Vyborny used to use solid-black sticks? Right, me neither, but Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline had this to say during a recent online chat: “David Vyborny was so peeved that he didn’t get a stick deal that he used to spray paint his sticks black to keep from advertising the manufacturer. Vyborny was an interesting dude” (with thanks to Kellen Dargle). … Scandalous news out of New Jersey, where a little birdie informs me that the Devils’ throwbacks, slated to be worn on March 17th, will be lame-o fauxbacks. According to my source, they’re just using the current jersey template with green replacing the black. Also, they’re using the modern red and a darker green. Pfeh. … What team is this? Details here. … Troy Polamalu’s little embroidered cross is suddenly everywhere. Word I hear from league sources is that they’re okay with it because it’s covered by his hair, sort of like if he had a message on a T-shirt under his jersey — out of sight, out of mind — but I suspect the real story is that they don’t want to wade into the thorny thicket of religious expression. … Lots of Mets fans sent me this item about the new cream-base pinstripes, which will be officially introduced in a few weeks. The item implies that the cream pins won’t have the black drop shadow — I hope that’s true, but it does not jibe with the information I have. … Yesterday’s Portland Beavers entry inspired Craig Rockhold to send over a bunch of pics from that PCL exhibit at the San Francisco airport. … In a move that’s waaaaay overboard for a high school, Under Armour is sponsoring River Hill High in Maryland and has provided them with a different uniform for every game this season (with thanks to Jonathan Blake). … Pete Woychick recently rediscovered these two high school hoops warm-up tops in his parents’ attic. Super-offensive logo icon on one of them, but nice pieces nonetheless. Odd to see St. Joe’s abbreviated as “St. Jo’s,” no? … Throwbacks will be in the mix this season for Loyola Marymount. No images yet, but the game dates are listed in the middle of this page. … 1957 A.L. Red Book, in what looks to be tip-top condition, available here (thanks, Teebz). … Back to Uni Watch’s new favorite sport: Coachie Ballgames has done an analysis of World Cup uniforms and concluded that it’s all about the collars.

A few days ago I reported on some inconsistencies in Michigan’s NOBs. Now reader Michael Kinney, after watching last night’s West Virginny/Colorado tilt, has spotted some similar issues with the Mountaineers. Let’s take a look at the problematic players:

• Julian Miller: There’s another Miller on the roster — Pat — so it makes sense that Julian would have a first initial. But why does he have his first two letters, instead of just one?

• Geno Smith: WVA has three Smiths — Geno, Lawrence, and Eain. What’s not clear is (a) why Geno’s NOB starts with “Eu,” or (b) why the second letter is a small cap.

• J.T. Thomas: There is only one Thomas on the roster — so why does his nameplate look like this? And does it count as FNOB if his first name consists of initials?

I don’t know what’s wrong with these teams. Then again, gratuitous use of first initials isn’t limited to the gridiron.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Non-uni quiz: What do you think this is a collection of? Answer at the bottom of the Ticker. … Did Bronson Arroyo have pine tar on his cap the other day? … Speaking of Reds pitchers’ headwear, the elite fraternity of MLB players who’ve worn the S100 helmet increased by 20% yesterday, as Micah Owings went full Gazoo during a 3rd inning at-bat. Details here (with thanks to C. Trent Rosencrans). … New basketball uniforms for for Iowa State and Colorado State (with thanks to Kyle Adema and Alex Lind, respectively). … If you watch this NHL clip, you’ll see that the Swedish goalie’s NOB is covered with tape (as spotted by Denis Kirstein). … Just when you thought there was nothing left to bet on, a casino is giving odds on whether a punt hits the Cowboys scoreboard this season. … Hey, check it out, the Bengals have a helmet cart. “It’s apparently only used to bring Who Dey the mascot onto the field,” says Dan O’Connor. “Injured players are carted off on regular carts.” … Lots of awesome vintage baseball-themed snapshots available in this slideshow. … Daniel Wolf notes that Francisco Cervelli is the latest Yankees catcher to bat bare-handed. … The Cleveland Browns photo archives apparently features some unusual material (nice one, Vince). … Here’s an interesting video on how to recondition a helmet (with thanks to Ryan Perkins). … “I’m Ted fucking Williams!” That 1974 photo was taken at Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It’s from a great photo archive devoted to a North Carolina photographer named Hugh Morton, who Chris Warfford recently brought to my attention. The archive’s sports-oriented shots, many of them outstanding, are here. … “You seen this fighter Abner Mares?” asks John Darnielle. “His ring-entrance garb is seriously goth’d out in an actual menacing sort of way to my eyes. White bandanna with a skullprint on it wrapped over the low half of his face, bandit-style — awesome. And the robe he shed after entering was white. Real angel-of-death schtick.” … Alexander Giobbi made himself a DIY jersey for his dodgeball team. “Let me tell you,” he says, “it is hard to draw or write on a T-shirt, especially when it’s wrinkled.” … I’m still calling it a freakin’ football field. … Oooh, check out this basketball-themed bowl of pasta (big thanks to my pal Friederike Paetzold). … “Joe Beimel wore this robe during the Rockies’ post-game celebration,” says John Romero. “Crappy pic, but you get the idea.” … Has it ever occurred to you that hockey pants are kinda like lederhosen? Right, me neither, but look! Wow (big thanks to Brian Schick). … Here’s an interesting way the Mets could boost their power totals without changing the outfield fence. Details here. … The Seahawks’ neon-snot jerseys continue to wreak havoc, this time in Indy, where the Colts have been prepping for Sunday’s game against Seattle by watching last week’s game film (with thanks to Gary Moore). … The Avs retired Joe Sakic’s number last night. They did the usual thing where everyone wore “Sakic 19″ jerseys during pregame warm-ups, except the jerseys also had the players’ own NOBs, in addition to Sakic’s — has that been done before? Also, the pregame Sakic jerseys had a patch on the left side, but the game jerseys had the same patch on the right side. Closer look at the patch here. … The Flames opened the season in their new alts. Note the straight hem — no Edge scoop-hem! … Quiz answer: It’s a collection of dryer lint (which is surprising), displayed as part of an exhibit at the Philadelphia Airport (which is fucking incredible!).

I believe this is the first time I’ve seen an NOB with a hyphen and roman numerals. What’s it all about? Reader Jeff Nephew explains: “That’s Eric Louis-Seize, a forward from Quebec, who recently joined the Truro Bearcats of the Maritime Junior A Hockey League (MJAHL). ‘Louis-Seize’ translates literally to ‘Louis the 16th,’ which explains his unusual nameplate. This is in contrast to last year, when he played with Halifax of the QMJHL and had his name fully spelled out.” (Both photos taken by Richard Lafortune.)

New ESPN column today — the annual NHL season preview, which will cover uniforms and goalie masks (link coming soon). And then I’ll have another ESPN column tomorrow, devoted exclusively to goalie pads, blockers, and the like. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go collapse.

Sure, a new raffle, why the hell not?: Our friends at SportsCrack are once again making a free T-shirt available to one lucky reader — winner’s choice (although I can tell you they’re particularly pleased with this one).

To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the NEW raffle address (note that this isn’t the old raffle address or the regular Uni Watch e-mail address) by 10pm next Monday, October 5th. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program at the time of the drawing can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday. … Sorry, raffle canceled.

Uni Watch News Ticker: FNOB alert. That’s Mick Williams, who plays for Pitt. The funny thing is, Mick is just his nickname — his real first name is Ernest. Interestingly, the other two Williamses on the Pitt roster are Greg and Manny — no photos of them, but does anyone know if Greg has FNOB or just a first initial? (All this courtesy of Denis Kirstein.) … Hate to admit it, but Abercrombie & Fitch actually has some decent tees (with thanks to Matthew Gahm). … Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but have you ever noticed that the two design icons most frequently found on the back of a car — the Jesus fish and the yellow ribbon — are basically the exact same thing? … Two Houston football players misplaced their helmets after last weekend’s game (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Matt also claims that he heard a broadcaster saying that the UTEP Miners’ short, spiky helmet stripe is supposed to represent the business end of a rock hammer. Never heard that before. Can anyone confirm? … Good observation by Joseph de la Riva, who notes that the Cowboys’ old field at Texas Stadium had royal blue trim, but their new field has navy blue trim. … “Worst Uni Ever” articles are a penny a dozen, but this one has a small saving grace: a Sox in shorts photo I’d never seen before (with thanks to Keith Dow). … Not uni-related, but the prediction of the year — or maybe of all time — took place during Sunday’s Mariners/Jays game. Listen to the two audio clips here (as forwarded by my ESPN colleague Dave Schoenfield). … Then again, I’ve been predicting Daniel Murphy double-play grounders for months, so what’s the big deal? … Good tip from James Huening: “If you go here, you can hear some discussion with Bears linebacker Nick Roach about swapping out the helmet radio receivers (he was playing the strong side position at the start of Sunday’s game but moved to the middle when Hunter Hillenmeyer had to leave the game). Unfortunately, there’s no timer on the progress bar, but it’s about 20% of the way through the interview. If you drag the progress icon to the point right under the letter ‘h’ in the words ‘the future,’ you can go directly to that point in the conversation.” … You know, it’s not like I ever thought Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, or Ghandi worked in the NFL offices. But when you read some of the quotes in a story like this one, the league comes off sounding disturbingly like the tobacco industry, at least in terms of its ability to lie about the health effects of its product. … Eleven new screen shots have been added to our AFL Full Color set. Among the highlights: a Texans logo with a spur (never seen that before) and Babe Parilli with FNOB (major thanks to Mako Mameli). … If you skip ahead to the 12:10 mark of this video, you’ll find a report on the Nets’ practice jersey ads (with thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Tons of great goalie mask photos available here (big thanks to Jeff Brand). … I love socks, uniforms, and the color green, so you think I’d be all over a vintage baseball uni for a team called the Green Sox. But not at this price. … Matt Harris notes that Hideki Matsui’s bat logo appears to have a Godzilla tail motif. … Slideshow of Nebraska football uniform evolution here (with thanks to Eric Brown). … Tyler Hull was watching the Champions League match between Arsenal and Olympiakos and saw that Olympiakos players were wearing two different type of socks.

Got a note the other day from reader Aaron Rich, who’s identified a troubling lack of NOB consistency in Ann Arbor. I’ll let him explain:

As you might know, Michigan football has a freshman QB, Tate Forcier. He’s the younger brother of Jason Forcier, who was once a third-string QB on the team (about five years ago or so) and then transferred to Stanford. When Tate started practicing in the spring, there was a thought that Jason would transfer back to Michigan and both brothers would be on the team at the same time. This never happened, but Tate still wears a ‘T. Forcier’ nameplate, as if Jason were on the team.

Meanwhile, we have Kevin Grady at FB and his brother Kelvin Grady at WR (who had been on the basketball team last year and then moved to football this summer). They’re both K. Grady — in fact, they’re both Ke. Grady — but they both wear just ‘Grady,’ even though they’re sometimes on the field at the same time. I sorta wish they did FNOB, which I love, or else ‘Kel. Grady’ and ‘Kev. Grady,’ but alas, they just wear their surname.

Finally, we have Stevie Brown at LB and Carlos Brown at RB. Carlos’s NOB is just ‘Brown,’ while Stevie wears ‘S. Brown’ — weird.

I’m surprised this would happen at Michigan, where they take the home uniforms so seriously.

I think we can all agree that if the Wolverines can’t maintain a consistent NOB protocol, they should be demoted to D-II (or else forced to go NNOB). Big thanks to Aaron for his eagle eye and helpful background info.

Follow-Up Roundup: In case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch has a new e-mail address: uniwatching at gmail dot com. Please update everything that needs to be updated. Thanks.

Also, if you read yesterday’s blog entry prior to 1pm, you may have missed the link to some NFL uni news I posted yesterday on Page 2. Go here and scroll down to the lower-left corner.

Note for Discerning NYCers: Scott M.X. Turner’s band, RebelMart, is playing this Friday night at Freddy’s. Be a smart lad and show up, won’tcha?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Speaking of NOBs, I’ve been waiting for someone to provide a good screen shot of Pierre Garçon’s nameplate, complete with the cedilla, and Andrew Enright is the one who came through. It’s tough to be sure, but it looks to me like they took a regular “C,” positioned it at a slight superscript, and then sewed on an extra loop of fabric to form the cedilla. Major props to the Indy equipment staff for going the extra mile. … That noise you just heard was half the readership saying, “So maybe now they can sew some extra fabric on the shoulders to complete the truncated loops already?!” … Contribution of the day goes to Art Florio, who spotted this pair at Sunday’s Jets/Titans game. … Oooh, check out this awesome old Rawlings ad (with thanks to Jim Ransdell). … I don’t have Showtime, so I’ve been wondering what that AFL Full Color show looks like. Fortunately, Mako Mameli was nice enough to make a bunch of screen grabs. … Best minute and a half you’ll spend today: this short video showing the 11 worst helmets in Maple Leafs history. Don’t miss (big, big thanks to Jeff Barak). … Awesome Venn diagram here (with thanks to David Brown). … Third-to-last graf on this page includes some Nuggets uni number news (with thanks to Ryan Hess). … Late-breaking NFL uni change that we all missed: The Jags’ road captaincy patches are now teal (same as on the home jerseys). Last year they were black (good catch by Jonathon Binet). … Very cool home movie footage of the 1957 Michigan/Indiana game here (nice find by Ethan Crooks). … Good analysis on the difference between Umbro on-fields vs. retail authentics here (with thanks to Nolan Reagan). … The Blue Jackets will apparently have a new alternate jersey next year (thanks, Teebz). … Arkansas wears this road jersey these days, but Rudell Crim wore this design. “The Hogs wore both styles last year,” notes Lance Perrin. … An FNOB jersey I’d never seen before is available here (with thanks to Nick Hanson). … You know autumn has arrived when we have our first Mr. Met-O-Lantern sighting of the season (with thanks to Terence Kearns). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Holy shit. That’s Florida, wearing the Confederate flag against Penn State in the 1962 Gator Bowl. Thoroughly depressing details here (screen shot courtesy of Larry Bodnovich). … Plan B Branding, which has done lots of uni design work over the years, has a blog called the Clink Room, where they discuss ideas, share concepts and failed experiments, and so on. Now they’ve unveiled a piece of Clink Room merch: a stupid-expensive cap. … Awesome-looking Campbell’s Kids baseball catalog here. … Speaking of catalogs, there are some killer uni catalogs up on eBay at the moment. Even if you don’t want to own them, the graphics shown on the auction pages are pure gold. Dig: Spalding 1913, Reach 1913, Spalding 1916, Rawlings 1929, Spalding 1939, Wilson 1940 (whoa, check out that color center spread!), Spalding 1961, Rawlings 1963, and Louisville Slugger 1972. … No more stadium patch for the Cowboys, so that was apparently just a one-game thing (as noted by Brinke Guthrie). … Nice look at the Pistons’ “Mr. D.” memorial tribute to Bill Davidson here. That will be a permanent memorial, by the way — the first such gesture in NBA history (with thanks to Jeff Cohen). … The 2010 Mets uni info buried in the middle of this report is accurate. The related but slightly different report that ran in yesterday’s N.Y. Post is NOT accurate.

Relatively quiet day in the NFL yesterday, but there were still a few noteworthy items. To wit:

• Joe Skiba had promised me that the Giants would wear their road gray pants if forced to wear their blue jerseys on the road this year, and sure enough, that’s what they did last night. Personally, I like it.

• Brandon Jacobs’s left-shoulder Reebok logo was sort of ghosted last night. The entire Giants team wore those sotto voce logos in the first preseason game last month, but since then the logos have been white. Not sure that’s all about — I’ll ask Skeebs, but he probably won’t tell me (at least not on the record), because anything involving Reebok is super-touchy.

• It’s official: The Giants’ new jerseys, with their fancy high-tech fabric, are a disaster. (For details on the fabric, look here.) I don’t know if they’re too stretchy or what, but there were all sorts of situations like this and this. Those two shots are both of Jacobs, but I noticed similar problems with other players. A bad scene. (Screen shots courtesy of Phil — thanks, buddy.)

• Meanwhile, the Cowboys unexpectedly (to me, at least) wore a stadium patch, based on this logo. Not sure if they’ll be wearing it at home all season or if it was just a one-game thing — will investigate.

• Those Falcons throwbacks were the bomb, no? Additional images here and here.

• NFL nameplates usually run the full shoulder-to-shoulder wingspan, even for short surnames. But not in San Francisco, where the Niners are using short nameplates for short names.

• Speaking of the Niners, here’s a small detail I’ve been meaning to mention: For the past several years, the Reebok logo on their pants has been black, but now it’s white — much nicer.

• Anyone know what that logo is on Maurice Stovall’s sock?

• Chris Johnson had his belt unbuckled.

• Stupidest move of the day: Many of the coaches were wearing polo shirts with their division noted along the sleeve or shoulder (on the left side for NFC coaches, on the right for AFC coaches). Because hey, nothing says cool like “NFC West” or “AFC West,” right? What a load of crap.

• Even weirder: Jim Zorn’s shirt wasn’t division-specific — it was conference-specific.

• And speaking of coaches, Brad Childress was wearing this rinky-dink headset instead of the usual Motorola rig. Anyone know what that was about?

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day for the SoccerPro.com raffle. Details here.

Just Sayin’: Awesome work by Phil over the weekend. In case you missed it, he’s running a cap design contest, plus he and Ricko have proposed an innovative solution to the NFL’s sleeve problem. Great stuff.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Buried on this page is the news that the Browns are going with the chocolate pants on the road all season. Interestingly, the lack of a stripe is cited as a comfort issue (with thanks to Charles Ryals). … New hoops uniforms for Nebraska (with thanks to David McGee). … New mask for Steve Mason (with thanks to Matt Lesser). … Also from Matt: Former Penguins goalie Mathieu Garon is now with Columbus, but he’s still wearing his Pens mask, at least for now. New design presumably forthcoming. … More new NHL masks, this time for Vesa Toskala and Chris Mason (courtesy of Matthew Gahm). … Good observation from Ben Beattie, who writes: “Georgia Tech’s Demaryius Thomas is using a ‘B’ first initial. According to his profile on the GT athletic site, his nickname is Bay-Bay, though he could be doing some sort of dedication to his father, who is named Bobby. Last year he had no initial.” … Got a spare five grand laying around? You can buy yourself over 50 old jerseys. … Other good eBay stuff: a tennis jacket, bowling sweater, basketball warm-up shirt (additional hoops warm-ups here, here, and here), track and field jacket, and baseball jersey (here’s one more). … Wait, here’s one more basketball warm-up. Look at that chest logo! … New hoops uni for Cincinnati. Here’s the rear view. … Those were some weird-ass trunks that Floyd Mayweather wore on Saturday night — fuzzy on the sides and dimpled in the front. … New AHL uniforms for the Texas Stars, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, and Abbortsford Heat (with thanks to Kevin Wright). … Now that’s a geeky look for tossing out a first pitch. “I think it was a game-used Bob Gibson jersey,” says Elena Elms. … Steve Johnston was at Comiskey on Saturday night and spotted this kid with a converted Joe Crede tee. “His sister did the same thing with her Nick Swisher T-shirt but she taped over the whole thing to turn it into a #15 Gordon Beckham tee, but I didn’t get a photo of that one,” says Steve. … Oh man, check out all these awesome NFL lunchboxes! … Steve Mandich has posted more pocket schedules from the Seahawks and Mariners, plus he’s begun compiling paperback book cover designs from a seminal category I’d forgotten all about: Bill Gutman’s sports biographies. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: According to this interview with Jeffrey Loria, the Marlins will have new uniforms and colors for their new stadium in 2012.

[Editor's Note: Today we have a guest entry from Matt King -- that's him at right -- who's tackling a thorny issue head-on. -- PL]

By Matt King

My wife and I met Paul at the Uni Watch gathering on July 30th. I wore my 1987 Indians authentic jersey to the event, and she wore my 2000 Browns authentic. These are the only two authentic shirts I own, as I am not a collector.

When Paul began photographing everyone at the party, he photographed us from the front and then asked us to turn around. I hesitated for a moment, as thoughts of this article rushed through my head (see the fifth item under “Honorable Mention”). But we went ahead with it anyway and let Paul take the rear-view photo. Then, the very next day, this article ran (see item No. 1), and I knew I had to prevent that photo from gracing this site.

Yes, it’s true: My authentics have my name on the back (let’s call it ONOB, for own name on back). I know that’s a no-no for many people, and I didn’t want to get crucified in the comments section, so I asked Paul to refrain from linking to that rear-view photo when he wrote about the Cleveland party. You’re not going to see the photo running with this article, either — I don’t want to be the poster child for ONOB. But I do want to give my reasons for it.

The 1987 Indians jersey that I wore is not a throwback — it’s an original, which was not an easy item to acquire such an item back in the late 1980s (sometimes the Indians would make game-used equipment and uniforms available at their team shop on Euclid Avenue, but new authentic items were not readily available). Back around that time, however, a few friends and I were lucky enough to sell programs at Cleveland Stadium, and we learned that the Indians’ outfitter was a place called Cleveland Sporting Goods in Parma. We went there one day, only to find one jersey available, three sizes too small and at an outrageous cost of $75. Of course, I bought it anyway.

Since they did the lettering for the team, they asked what name and number I would like. Here’s the Indians’ 1987 roster — whose name and number would you take? So I chose my name and my high school football number, 61. I figured nobody would ever wear a number that high in a real game, so it became a running joke between my buddies and me that I was the first player cut during spring training but that the team let me keep my jersey.

The point is this: Prior to the widespread availability of mass-produced authentic sportswear, no rules had been established for this kind of thing. So I propose the following grandfather clause: Any authentic item purchased before January 1, 2000 is exempt from debate by either side of the ONOB argument. My Browns jersey — the one my wife wore to the Uni Watch party — fails this test by a few months, but it is 51 because of many cold days in the real Dawg Pound watching Eddie Johnson.

There’s another point to consider here: Even if we never get to wear a real uniform with our name on the back, we can still be loyal fans, and fans can be as important as players. The loyal fan never had the athletic ability to earn the ONOB jersey, but he can earn the right to wear the uniform through years of supporting that very same uniform. In the grand scheme of things, a loyal fan of, say, the Kansas City Royals is more important to the team’s well- being than some guy who got a September cup of coffee in 1990. If that fan wants his name on the shirt, I say he deserves it.

My own sons, although heavily involved in athletics, are not big fans of pro sports. But if they were, maybe at some point they’d want the $300 Indians jersey. Now, there’s no way we’re buying that shirt for them, but if they wanted to earn and save toward that goal, we wouldn’t stop them. What if they thought ONOB was only for the “doofus” crowd — what would their other options be? Here’s what’s been most widely available over the past few seasons: CC Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Casey Blake, and Travis Hafner. Four of those guys are gone and the other three aren’t exactly tearing up the league. Is a Sabathia jersey retro-cool yet? I think not. That’s a lot of lawn cutting and Little League umpiring for something that’s only going to remind you of a player who’s no longer on your team. $300 is a lot to spend on a temporary tattoo.

But your own name doesn’t sign a free agent contract with another team. Your own name doesn’t get traded. Your own name doesn’t get farmed out. Your own name doesn’t instruct your agent to not return phone calls from the Cleveland Indians (I’m looking at you, Brett Butler). The ONOB shirt never was on the team, so the ONOB shirt can never leave the team.

I have no desire to become the champion of the ONOB cause, but I do hope I’ve helped explain why ONOB shouldn’t be viewed as the mark of the beast. And for the record, I have never, ever once referred to a Cleveland sports team as “we,” but that’s a whole different essay.

Coupla Reminders: I’m currently raffling off a jacket from SoccerPro.com. Details here. (And as an aside, the SoccerPro folks are also selling a limited-edition tee for the Homeless World Cup.)

I’m also trying to help a good friend with his job hunt. In case you missed that on Wednesday, look here.

Who are those masked men?: I’m trying to keep track of new NHL goalie masks. I currently have Varlamov, Price, Lundqvist, Emery, Leclaire, Khabibulin, Anderson, and Rinne (those last two are new; the others have been Ticker-linked over the past few weeks), but I’m sure there are others. If you know of more — with photos, natch — send ’em this-a-way. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Suns are the latest NBA team to add ads to their practice jerseys. Further details here (with thanks to Brooks Simpson). … Oh wait, the Mavericks are doing it too (courtesy of Mitch Goodman). … Check out this A. J. Foyt/Gilmore Racing pit crew shirt that Jeff Barak recently picked up on eBay. “It’s a lighter weight, with snaps instead of buttons with that ‘western’ shirt cut,” he writes. “It might be a bit hard to see the details with the two patches on the front, but it looks like this shirt would be more at home at a square dance than pit road. The two sponsor patches on the front are so minimal as be almost ineffective, but the real treat of this shirt is on the back, with the ‘Valvoline’ and ‘Gilmore’ names chain-stitched, giving this more of a bowling shirt feel.” … “I recently attended Continental Indoor Football League game here in Chicago,” writes Chris Rhode. “The Chicago Slaughter were playing a team from Wheeling, West Virginia, and the Wheeling team apparently did not have enough uniforms for their team, which explains why you see three different uni styles in this photo Also note the electrical-taped ‘1′ on the player on the right. But they forgot to tape the other side.” . … Here’s another great shot of the Bills’ old two-man mascot (with thanks to Bill Kellick). … Good to see the Red Wings are doing their usual straight block-letter NOBs for preseason games. They do this every year; the vertically arched NOBs will return when the regular season starts. … Dunta Robinson got hit with a footwear fine, but not by the league — by his own team. … The Preds third jersey has finally been modeled by someone other than Taylor Swift. … The Mavs will unveil an alternate jersey on Monday. … And the Sixers will have an unveiling on Wednesday. … New basketball uniforms for Iowa State (with thanks to Corey Munson). … Steve Mandich has posted his pocket schedule collections for the Huskies and the Sonics.

Time for another bunch of vintage NFL screen shots from reader Steve K., who continues to document unusual uni-related items from the 1970s (if you’ve missed the previous entries featuring his work, they’re here and here). Here we go:

• If you think John Hadl’s NOB looked off-center in this shot (which was featured in one of Steve’s earlier reports), check him out here — yikes.

• Oilers DB Willie Germany wore some white tape stripes on his thighs.

• Note the small type on Emery Moorehead’s NOB, circa 1977. “Only a few Giants had this font that season, including Moorehead and OL Jim Pietrzak,” says Steve. “From 1977-80, the Giants had numerous inconsistencies in their NOB fonts which, I’ll document another time.”

• Alfred Jenkins’s NOB type wasn’t small — it was missing altogether in this 1977 shot.

• Speaking of missing uni elements, here’s Rick Upchurch wearing a blank helmet in 1975 — shocking! But he had a logo-clad helmet in the second half of the same game.

• Meanwhile, here’s Upchurch’s teammate Billy Van Heusen with no space between the two part of his surname.

• On the other end of the spectrum, check out James McAlister’s NOB with a wide space. This appears to have been Philly’s standard style in 1975.

• Speaking of the Eagles, check out the livery on this helicopter — interesting mix of the helmet wing and an eagle’s head.

• Steve has documented several instances of the mid-’70s Chargers NOBs with the first initial coming after the surname, and here’s another one. “That’s little-known OL Booker Brown,” says Steve. “Oddly, there was no other Charger with the surname Brown on the team in 1975.”

• “We all know that the NFL changed the end zone markers from from flags to orange pylons beginning in 1974,” says Steve. “But the Broncos appear to have used striped pylons for this 1975 game against the Eagles.”

• We’ve had plenty of discussion about the inconsistencies in the Dolphins’ numerals over the years, but here’s a particularly glaring example: Check out the TV numbers in this shot.

• 1970s coaching attire was always good for a laugh (especially when the coach in question was Bum Phillips). And even if the coach was dressed conservatively, there was usually someone on the field to remind you which decade you were in.

That’s enough for now. More stuff coming from Steve soon.

Friendly Reminder: If you’ve been uni-tracking a team for Phil, he wants to hear from you asap. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New sleeve patches for Navy. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Althouse and Kevin Whisman, respectively. … Mike Hersh picked up some cool stuff at the National in Cleveland last week, including this awesome 1939 Eagles photo and a great view of some killer Michigan logo socks. … John Moist was vacationing in Philly and spotted a waiter wearing faux stirrups at the Old City Tavern. “They are required to wear white socks,” he says. “I told him about Uni Watch and that this photo may appear. Sorry, didn’t get his name. Also, another waiter had swoosh socks. I did not take his photo.” … Big news from Jeff Ash, who writes: “I am working on a Packers photo history book that may be of interest to uni enthusiasts. Titletown’s Team won’t be out until November, but it will have more of the old Packers photos I’ve posted at the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s web site over the last couple of years. We also will be putting some of that material online.” … I don’t like Nike, but I might make an exception in this case (big thanks to Chad Todd). … Here’s a patch I’d never seen before, because it was never worn on the ice. The Flyers wore it for promo photos after their 1975 Stanley Cup championship. Here’s one more view (nice find by Paul Richard Cook). … Here’s an article about which UK soccer team has the most sponsor patches (with thanks to Craig Sallinger). … Michael Chamberlain is the track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. “In our first race this Saturday, the #2 horse is named Uni. 6-1 odds on the morning line, and I will certainly plan on picking him in my tip sheet and will probably put a couple of bucks on him also to honor the Uni Watch site.” Thanks, Michael! … Small item buried within this guide to NYC museums: “On the second floor of the American Wing [at the Met], there’s an open storage area where art is displayed in glass cases while galleries undergo renovations. There you can admire a fraction of the museum’s thousands of rare baseball cards, donated by electrician Jefferson R. Burdick. (The rest, including a 1909 Honus Wagner valued at more than $2 million, are stored in the archives.) Until 1993, the cards were available for viewing by appointment only: It’s rumored that practice stopped because fanatic card collectors would pocket the valuable ones” (big thanks to Laura Forde). … Coupla good finds on the Chris Creamer board, including a new 50th-anniversary logo for the Lakers, an upcoming white-out for FSU, and new cleats for Matt Hasselbeck. Didn’t he get in trouble a few years back for wearing white shoelaces with black shoes? … NOBs have been restored at Iowa State, which had been NNOB for the past two seasons (with thanks to Chris Andringa). … According to Dressed to the Nines, “In 1895, a number of ballplayers, including future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett, experimented with baseball caps that had green-tinted, transparent bills. The idea was to allow the fielder a better range of view while protecting him from the glare of the sun, but apparently the see-through bills never caught on.” I knew about that. But I didn’t know that a variation on that concept was still being sold in the Sears catalog in 1923 (nice find by David Neuman). … Apparently nobody has told the folks at AFLAC (or at FSN Rocky Mountain) that the Orioles no longer have “Orioles” on their road jersey (with thanks to Matt Hiett). … Tim Burke notes that Rays catcher Michel Hernandez was missing his manta ray sleeve patch last night. … “Does he tear EVERYthing?” asks Brinke Guthrie. … Entertaining survey of high school team logos here (with thanks to Kurt Esposito). … The Titans will wear a Steve McNair memorial decal this season. … Vicente Padilla was sporting the Pedro Padilla Porthole last night (as spotted by Jay Shive). … Paul Getz II notes that the Phillies have stopped wearing their World Series championship sleeve patch. … Can someone please order one of these for Luis Castillo? … There’s a blog devoted to the Arizona Wildcats equipment staff (with thanks to Eric Sing). … Speaking of the Mets, had a great time at Shea yesterday with Phil. Two uni-notable items: (1) Cards catcher Jason LaRue wore navy shinguards with a red chest protector, and (2) Bobby Parnell had been with the Mets all season long without coming up to bat, until the bottom of the 8th yesterday. He promptly got a base hit, at which point they showed him on the jumbotron, which is when I saw that he had his own batting helmet. Just think how many times that helmet has been packed, unpacked, put in the helmet rack, put back in the helmet bag, taken on the road, etc., all season long, just waiting for its chance to finally be used in a game. I take a lot of shots at Charlie Samuels, but I give him credit for having a helmet for every player, even the ones who might never get a turn at bat.

We all have our niche obsessions, and Noel Basnight has one that’s really, really specific, even by Uni Watch standards. I’ll let him explain:

I have my own opinions about uniforms from all sports, but there was something about pro football jerseys that caught my eye back in my heavy ball-watching days: last names that contained only three letters.

I don’t know if it was how diminutive they seemed, how infrequently they appeared on the screen, or just their sound. Ker, Ard, Kab, Nix, Jax. Terrific!

So the Three-Letter Name team was born. As with any elite organization, there are ground rules for membership. These were established by me and are fluid enough to be broken at my whim:

• Member surnames cannot exceed three letters (gotta be pretty strict with that one).

• Player has to have appeared in a pro football uniform that actually had his name on its back. I believe this became mandatory in the NFL starting in 1970, following the merger, and the AFL used NOBs from the league’s inception. So, if a player retired before these benchmarks, too bad.

• Player has to have played at least three full seasons. Arbitrary but works for me.

• Player has to have been retired at least three full seasons.

These rules were devised in an attempt to give the roster some air of exclusivity while still allowing for enough participants to sustain the team’s existence. For example: There were several players surnamed “Lee.” Establishing the above-state membership criteria whittled the pool down to a more manageable number.

Although I didn’t realize it until Basnight got in touch with me, I’ve always been a little intrigued by three-letter NOBs, too. Back in the day, there was something about Billy Ard’s jersey that always seemed inexplicably fascinating, for example. I’ve never had a similar feeling about short NOBs in other sports, maybe because NFL nameplates usually stretch the full length from shoulder to shoulder, even if the NOB is really short (well, usually), which just accentuates the shortness of the name.

Working within his above-stated parameters, Basnight has come up with the following roster of charter team members: Billy Ard, John Alt, Bryan Cox, Fred Cox, Tom Day, Bob Dee, Ernest Dye, Tim Fox, William Gay (not to be confused with this William Gay), Ray Guy, Jack Ham, Garth Jax, Billy Joe, Vyto Kab, Clarence Kay, Crawford Ker, Wade Key, Ernie Koy, Amp Lee, Jacky Lee, Charley Leo, Mark May, Ray May, Ron Mix, Kent Nix, Blaine Nye, Jimmy Orr, Bobby Ply, Johnnie Poe, Darrol Ray, Terry Ray, Don Shy, Les Shy, Mel Tom, and Charles Way.

As you can see, rear-view photos of these players are relatively rare and often of less-than-stellar quality. If you find pics of any of them (game pics, please, not just a photo of a disembodied jersey), you know what to do. Thanks.

Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling off a free T-shirt from SportsCrack. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Wade Boggs wants his number to be retired. … With Matt Holliday no longer on the A’s roster, Nomar is reclaiming No. 5. … Cole Jones has posted the latest entry in his North Stars uni-history project. … Reggie Granados found a web site devoted to Phillies fans with personalized jerseys and also reports that the Jonas Brothers were presented with 76ers jerseys last week. … While researching something else I found some pics of Redskins lineman Mark May wearing an unusual face-protection rig (here’s another view). Anyone know more about this? … Luke Pellegra sends this passage from a Tennessee football site (I’m printing the excerpt because the site requires registration): “[T]here will be some changes in the [Vols'] road uniform, as Tennessee is expected to wear orange pants on the road like they did a year ago at UCLA. Now, it’s not clear whether or not they will wear them at Alabama, because it has been thought that Tennessee will wear orange jerseys this year on the road in Tuscaloosa.” … Graham Henry, head coach of the All Blacks, appears to be wearing Adidas eyeglasses. ” What’s next,” asks Caleb Borchers, “logos on wedding rings? Dentures?” … Add Curt Schilling to the underbill inscription club. … Here’s a new one: David Cone appears to have worn real stirrups over faux stirrups. … Remember the fuss over Marcin Gortat’s tattoo? Here’s the inevitable fallout (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … New gridiron surface for Kansas. … Assuming the UFL ever actually gets off the ground, their uniform outfitter will be GameWear. Never heard of them? Me neither, but here they are. … I had passed this along to Phil, since it was a follow-up on something from last weekend, but then it showed up in yesterday’s comments, so here it is: The Indians wearing navy tops and red pants. Now we just need to find a color version. … Good spot by Matt Edwards, who noticed Troy Tulowitzki wearing a camo-bodied undershirt last night. … And so it has come to this: a soccer team sponsored by a soccer video game (meta-thanks to Alan Borock). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Yesterday I posted this photo of Bret Saberhagen with his sleeve cuffs rolled up. That prompted Larry Wiederecht to note that the rolled-sleeve look was common in KC in the 1980s, as seen in these pics of Bo, the Bull, Mark Gubicza, and Frank White. … Awesome find by Louis Griffel, who came up with this rare “Tony C” shot of Tony Conigliaro. … Remember Brian Harkless, who entered the KFC T-shirt contest (his design was No. 6)? He won second place, entitling him to free KFC for a year. The first place winner, of course, got free KFC for a month. … No. 99, No. 1, same difference (good catch by Blain Fowler). … The Giants unveiled their Sue Burns memorial patch last night.

Got a note the other day from reader Patrick Ryan. “I know you like the old Milwaukee Bucks logo,” he wrote. “But have you ever seen this?”

I most certainly had not. And my initial instinct was that it was that it might be a joke, because c’mon, a team called the Does? That’s just setting yourself up for boatload of “Doesn’t”-oriented wisecracks.

But as I quickly learned, the Does were a very real team that played in the short-lived Women’s Professional Basketball League, which existed from the fall of 1978 through the spring of 1981. I was in high school during that period, so you’d think I’d remember the WBL, but I don’t (I think it’s safe to say they weren’t marketed as aggressively as the WNBA). Lots of other people do, though: There’s a WBL Memories site, lots of information at Hoopedia (which is hosted by NBA.com), and even a book (much of which you can click through at Google Books).

So what about their uniforms? Here’s a rough summary of what I’ve discovered:

• Almost all the teams went untucked (a very conscious choice, as clearly shown in their promotional materials). At least one team, the New Jersey Gems, used the lower portion of the jersey for the team name. Other teams used contrast-piped hemlines, and still others left the lower-jersey area plain. At least one team, the Houston Angels, appears to have been afflicted with an inadvertent team-wide case of Philly tag.

• One team that did not go untucked (but maybe should have): the Iowa Cornets.

• The most interesting uniform was worn by the Chicago Hustle, whose jerseys had these cutaway semi-sleeves and johnny collars. According to that book I mentioned earlier, these uniforms were not popular with the players. (The rest of that page has more info about the league’s uniforms — recommended reading.)

• The aforementioned Does had these contrasting V panels sewn into the lower side areas (not sure what’s going on with the New York player in the center of that photo — almost looks like she’s wearing a zippered sweatshirt).

• The New England Gulls used a baseball-style script insignia.

• Some teams went NNOB, others had NOBs. The Philadelphia Fox (yes, that was really their name) highlight the player names with horizontal rules, and at least one team the Does, used nameplates — unusual for a basketball uniform.

• The San Francisco Pioneers had really nice warm-up outfits, which included little Golden Gate Bridge logos on the pant legs.

• The refs’ uniforms apparently changed during the life of the league — sometimes they’re wearing plain gray, other times zebra stripes (note the WBL chest logo).

• The league had its own ball, courtesy of Wilson.

If you want to see more, I strongly recommend poking around this site — lots of good info and additional photos.

As for the Does logo, which got me started on this little venture, their logo made some of the players uneasy. But look — it’s now become a high-priced collector’s item.

Bonus May Raffle: Our friends at SportsCrack.com have invited me to raffle off one of their shirts — winner’s choice. To enter, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to the raffle address (not to the usual Uni Watch e-mail address, please) by this next Monday, June 1st, at 7pm eastern. One entry per person, except for Uni Watch membership program enrollees, who can send four entries. I’ll announce the winner next Tuesday.

Chat-a-tat-tat: I’ll be doing a live web chat today at 1pm eastern on ESPN.com. Here’s the link, but do us both a favor and don’t start submitting questions now, because I’m going to give preference to questions submitted during the chat. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Hmmmm, who do you suppose made the jerseys for Michael Irvin’s new 4th and Long show? (With thanks to Brendon Yarian.) … “Superfund”? Explanation here (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Sierra Leone’s new soccer jersey is, in Donald Wine’s words, “epic.” … Nate Boulton and his family spent the holiday weekend at a Michigan fishing cabin, where they found this jigsaw puzzle. … “We put it together and determined that each team should have to go back to its 1995 helmet design,” he says. … Joshua Edney notes that Jermaine Dye has his initials on his batting gloves. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Alarming news out of Pittsburgh, where Nyjer Morgan abandoned his high cuffs for a game, as a slump-busting maneuver. … Here’s a good view of the shamrock decal that Joe Mullen used to wear (courtesy of Kek). Hey, Teebz, how long did he wear this for? … The NBA is concerned about counterfeiting. … They Might Be Giants are sponsoring a Little League game (with thanks to James Huening). … Here’s something new: Braille jerseys (with thanks to Bryan Collings). … You know how the dolphin on the Dolphins’ logo wears a helmet? How would other NFL logo animals look if they were helmeted? Here’s how one guy envisions it (with thanks to Scott Marcusky). … What do you get when you mix the smell of watermelon with the smell of a sweatband? I don’t know, but we may soon find out. … Yesterday I wrote that Juan Pierre wore a blue cap under his batting helmet on Monday, rather than the red cap he wore in the field. But as pointed out in yesterday’s comments, he actually did red the red cap for his first at-bat before switching to blue. … Several readers have sent along these photos of James Worthy wearing mismatched shades of purple. … Lengthy uniform discussion on SNY during last night’s Mets/Nats game. Mostly boilerplate stuff, but at one point Ron Darling said (I’m paraphrasing here), “One year during the 1980s, for some reason our uniforms were really tight. And the most important piece of equipment in the clubhouse that season was this big garbage can, which we used to stretch out our uniforms.” … From that same game: Maybe this has been going on for a while and I just never noticed, but I was surprised to see plate ump Dan Iassogna wearing a mock turtleneck with the MLB logo on the side. Probably the most casual shirt I’ve ever seen an ump wear. … Good NBA gossip from Justin Kerr, who writes: “I was talking to a local sporting goods store manager and asking where his Sixers merchandise was. He mentioned all he had was some black road jerseys with Elton Brand on them and that he originally thought he’d have to wait until next year for them to sell given Brand’s injury. But then he said, ‘Now, that ain’t gonna happen ’cause they’re getting new uniforms. They’re ditching the black.’ Not sure if that means just the black jersey or what, but the NBAstore.com site seems to back this up to some degree. Every team’s draft cap is available for purchase — except the Philadelphia 76ers.” … The Twins insignia being installed at the team’s new stadium doesn’t quite match their current logo, suggesting that some rebranding is in the works. Further details here (with thanks to Owen Kinsky). … Gorgeous old baseball jersey available, pretty cheap, here. … Other eBay finds: a really nice full baseball uni set and an awesome police department baseball team uni.

Okay, so the Pittsburgh party report will have to wait, because something really interesting happened late on Monday night (too late for me to write about it in time for yesterday). I promise we’ll get to all the Pittsburgh stuff tomorrow, but today I want to deal with this scene that went down in Texas two nights ago.

Here’s the deal: We all know college and high school coaches, across all sports, sometimes like to “punish” their players and/or emphasize team unity by going NNOB (Illinois hoops coach Bruce Weber has already announced his intention to keep the team NNOB next season). Back in 2000, Colorado football coach Gary Barnett went further, removing the team logo from the players’ helmets after an 0-4 start.

All of which is easy enough when it’s just a matter of peeling off a helmet decal or tearing off a nameplate. But what do you do if you want to go NNOB in the middle of the season and your NOB lettering is direct-sewn?

The answer was on display in Monday night’s Baylor/Texas basketball game, as the Bears — who normally have gold NOBs — wore blank green nameplate strips that covered up their NOBs (you can see several additional photos here).

The move was initiated by coach Scott Drew after the team lost eight out of nine during a one-month stretch that ended last Tuesday. Their first NNOB game was apparently a home game on Saturday against Colorado, although I can’t tell if they used blank white nameplates or had new NNOB jerseys produced for the occasion (here’s another inconclusive view). In any case, they won that game, but they lost the game against the Longhorns, so they’re now 1-1 in their NNOB phase. Their next game is Saturday afternoon, at home, so let’s see if we can get a better view of those white jerseys.

Personally, I think the cover-up nameplates look like shit. But it’s worth noting that eight of the team’s 14 players have surnames of five letters or fewer, so at least most of the green strips are mercifully small.

(Big thanks to Glenn Stern, Glenn Chavez, and Peter Mastrella for tipping me wise to this one.)

On a serious note…: As you may be aware, the newspaper industry is in even worse condition than the rest of the economy. That situation dealt a body blow to the Uni Watch family yesterday, as bench coach emeritus Bryan Redemske was a casualty of the latest staff reduction at the Omaha World-Herald.

Bryan’s a talented writer and editor, plus he has a teaching degree (along with an 18-month-old son and a mortgage, if you get my drift). He’s also a totally stand-up guy, a kick-ass cyclist, and my friend. I’m pretty sure he’ll land on his feet, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t welcome a helping hand along the way. If you have any work opportunities for him or want to see his résumé, please give him a holler. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The glossary of uni-centric terms that first appeared in my most recent ESPN column now has its own page here on this site (go ahead and bookmark it, because at the moment there’s nothing else linking to it). I’ve added a few additional terms to it and will continue to add to it as new terms present themselves. … I’ve also recently updated the FAQ page, which was badly out of date. … Here’s the awesome 1974 NHL bedsheet I recently won on eBay. Nice of them to render the Kings’ logo in blue instead of purple, just for me. … Small gallery of soccer NOB typos, several of which we’ve covered before, here (with thanks to Denis Hurley). … In honor of the Steelers’ sixth Super Bowl championship, Heinz has come out with a commemorative ketchup six-pack. Interesting that they designated each championship by its regular-season calendar year, rather than by its Super Bowl number, which I’m guessing is because they didn’t want to pay the added licensing fee. If you’re dying to spend $35 plus shipping on six bottles of ketchup, you can do so here until the beginning of the next NFL season (big thanks to Pittsburgh’s own Jennifer Baron). … Also from Jennifer: The economic stimulus package apparently includes funds targeted to help preserve Tiger Stadium. … In a related item, did you know that the economic recovery effort now has its own logo? The stars on the white field symbolize, of course, the NFL, while the green sprout represents legalized marijuana and the gears stand for the triumph of mechanized socialism, wheee! I’m not quite sure how anyone could design a logo for a $787 billion program and neglect to include a dollar sign, but maybe that symbolizes the fact that we’re all broke. Say what you want, but it’s a shitload better than this. … There’s someone on Flickr who reeaallly likes Umbro. He’s got an excellent logo gallery and a ton of jersey photos (with thanks to Jeremy Gooch). … And the same guy has an Umbro blog (with thanks to Timothy O’Malley). … Interesting article here about the merchandising of basketball jerseys in general, and Purdue’s in particular (with thanks to Tyson Vaughn). … Yesterday I linked to two photos of Mike Williams and his unusual NOB. Here’s the other Williams from that squad, Clarence. So now we have three examples of the late-’70s Chargers using the “Name, Initial” format: the two Williamses and Gary “Big Hands” Johnson. I’ve gotta say, I had no idea they were doing this until these images recently surfaced (with thanks to Eric Stangel for the Clarence Williams shot). … Here’s something I hadn’t seen before: a prep school hockey player with a Windows logo jersey. “I’m guessing this is for a traveling team,” says Nick Houser, “because his high school colors are blue and silver and their mascot is the Patriots.” … Also from Nick: According to this page, the Blue Jackets have been wearing green St. Patty’s Day practice jerseys with “shamrock patches and Irish-themed nameplates.” I don’t even want to ask what that last part means. … Jon McCue notes that Seton Hall’s baseball team uses white type on a grey jersey — unusual. … Yesterday I linked to some pics from the Gaelic Athletic Association’s museum in Ireland, which prompted John Moist to remember that he’d taken a bunch of his own photos while visiting there last year. He got some really good jersey photos, which I’ve grouped into this short slideshow. … Great stirrups, even if they’re backwards. That’s Dodgers prospect Ivan DeJesus, who, unfortunately, is done for the year (with thanks to Dylan Horowitz). … Really nice old Montana stadium blanket here. … What’s that on the left sleeve of the Canadian WBC team? It’s an ad patch for Canadian hardware chain — and it’s bigger than their WBC logo patch. … Lots of great old Hershey Bears photos available if you click through the pages of this book (with thanks to Jerry Wolper). … You probably know that the Indians wore these jerseys in 1921. Interestingly, most of the Tribe players in this team portrait had their arms folded, obscuring the word “Champions” (good find by Kenny Crookston). … After Johnny “Red” Kerr and Norm Van Lier both died last Thursday, the Bulls added a black shoulder band. But now they’ve ditched the black band and replaced it with a patch, which I think we can all agree looks pretty nice. … Cliff Rancho pointed me toward this baseball card. Note the stats on the back — “B.H.” presumably stands for base hits, but what does “P.C.” stand for? Oh, and that same blog has some great old Kingdome program scans. … Jesse Gavin checked in with some observations from the Iowa High School Girls’ State Basketball Tourney, including one team wearing white-on-white type, a game featuring two teams with black sneakers and black socks (boy does that look like crap), a girls’ team called the Norsemen, and a pep band with killer socks. … Remember the Party Posse episode of The Simpsons? That’s the first thing I thought of when Dan Baer showed me this. … The Lakers did the Los Lakers thing last night against Memphis. … The Sixers are returning to the Spectrum for one last game, complete with a throwback court design (with thanks to Michael Lipinski).