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Posts filed under 'Retired Numbers'
The Bucs had a big halftime tribute to Mike Alstott last night. As is frequently the case in the NFL, they didn’t officially retire his number, although they certainly made sure everyone knew what that number was. Anyway, amidst all the fuss and fiddledeedee, they apparently neglected a bit of quality control regarding Alstott’s nameplate.
Or did they? Reader Brandon Creeger posted this in last night’s comments: “The orange jersey is from his rookie year (1996). For his first two home games, his jersey was misspelled. [So the typo in the retired jersey] was intentional. It was the first jersey he ever wore in the NFL.” That story appears to be confirmed here. I’d never been aware of that typo.
In other uni-related news from the weekend:
• Pink uni elements to support breast cancer research are nothing new, but New Mexico State took things to a new extreme on Saturday, replacing their regular helmet decal with a pink ribbongloves too, although that seems like an afterthought compared to the helmets. (Thanks to Sam Wasson for the pics.)
• The Bears did their annual Tang-fest thing yesterday. Lots of additional pics here.
• The Rams wore white at home, presumably to force Dallas into wearing their bad luck blues.
• Speaking of the Cowboys: Most of the attention regarding Dallas QB fingers was focused on Romo’s wittle boo-boo pinky, but check out the tape on Brad Johnson’s fingers. Never seen that on a QB before. Anyone know what that might be for?
• And Matt Garza was wearing earplugs in the 1st inning last night — unusual for a home starter. He took them out for the rest of the game. (Screen grab courtesy of L.I. Phil.)
Raffle Reminder: I’m currently raffling of an Ernie Davis throwback Syracuse helmet from Helmet Hut, just like the ones used in The Express. For details, look here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I was looking through some old files and came across something I’d written back in 2000: a review of a basketball-themed cereal. I’d completely forgotten about this, but it holds up pretty well as quasi-Uni Watch material. … Lots of photos of Shea Stadium’s dismantling (plus an old article that I hadn’t seen until now) here (courtesy of Stan Olechowski), and there’s a video report here. … And wait, still more Shea demolition pics here. … John Muir notes that the “C” on Roberto Luongo’s mask has changed from blue to white, plus his backplate features a Luc Bourdon memorial decal, much like the ones the rest of the Canucks are wearing. … Great video clip here about the woman who sews the World Series patches on the Phillies’ jerseys. … The Coyotes’ alternate jersey has been leaked. … Some Washington Nats uni gossip here (with thanks to David McGee). … Interesting piece here about making hockey helmets more team-centric, much like in football (with thanks to K.C. Kless). … “You know you’re a Uni Watch addict when you notice a Pedro porthole on Seinfeld,” writes Chris Markham. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Great Rhode Island Reds patch here (good find by Ricko). … Lots going on in this Montclair High School football photo. The “44″ is for a teammate who died a few days ago; not sure if any of the other decals are also memorial-related, or if they’re merit decals; and note the SNOB (school name on back). … Jen Muller reports that Bobby Abreu did the ceremonial “first kick” at a Red Bulls game on Saturday and wore a Red Bulls jesey for the occasion. … Justin Jarvis of Boston College has an eagle logo shaved into his head (with thanks to Dan Snider). … Attention Teebz: The inside story behind the Islanders’ fisherman logo is here, courtesy of a blogger who used to be the team’s PR rep.
October 20th, 2008
The Nationals, like every other MLB team, participated in the Jackie Robinson 42fest on April 15th. In fact, they were one of the clubs that dressed the entire team in 42 that night.
But apparently that wasn’t enough for the Nats. Yesterday’s game against the Mets was billed as “Jackie Robinson Night.” They unveiled a 42 on the outfield wall, and 42 was worn during the game by Ray King, Lastings Milledge, and Willie Harris (all shown in that photo).
This raises a bunch of questions for me:
• Why wasn’t the 42 already on the wall? Like, it was already retired, right? I realize it’s a new stadium, but so what? The number was already supposed to be retired on an MLB-wide basis.
• Why did the Nats get to dress players in 42 again? Okay, so they were on the road last week, but so what? Is every road team from April 15th gonna get to do this? I disagree with people who say that the annual April 15th celebration cheapens the number, but I do think it got cheapened a bit last night. I realize some people will say, “Anything that raises awareness of Jackie Robinson is a good thing,” and I generally agree with that, but turning his memory into a way to add another promotion to your home schedule is totally bogus. The whole point of April 15th is that it’s a one-day thing — a tribute day, a special day. If we start to make every day special, the practical result is that no days are.
• Why was Ray King wearing white cleats in the preame ceremony? He switched to black for the game.
• While we’re at it, why is Ray King so fat?
It’s also interesting to see the design scheme the Nats chose for the 42 on the outfield wall. Many (most?) teams have chosen to depict it in the old Brooklyn Dodgers design scheme, or at least in blue (additional examples here, here, and here), although not every team has done this (additional examples here, here, and here). The Nats chose to use their own font with the numbers trimmed in blue and gray, which I find to be an unsatisfying middle ground. By trying to have it both ways, they ended up with neither.
Uni Watch News Ticker: “This site has a ton of photos from the Arizona Fall League (especially from 2002),” writes Steve Delaney. “One of the most interesting finds is this — that’s Jerry Hairston of the Orioles throwing and Alfonso Soriano of the (at the time) Yankees on the right. Looks like a Little League World Series game.” … UMKC is having a logo-redesign contest. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Best shot I’ve ever seen of Pete Maravich’s “Pistol” NOB. … A new book about goalie masks, called Saving Face, will be published this September by Wiley. The editor sent me some sample spreads, which you can see here. These pages are v-e-r-y preliminary — the text and layout will probably change significantly in the finished product — but they at least provide a sense of what the book will be like. … Jon Helf, who runs the awesome Fleer Sticker Project blog, checks in with another Pilots-related post: “Some of the late-’60s Fleer issues had different colors and styles from what the Pilots ultimately used in their intial season. You can see what I’m talking about here.” … Good article here about George Sherrill and his flat-brimmed cap. … Man, I wish I could’ve been in Seattle for this bowling alley auction. … Minnesota’s new football uniforms, unveiled yesterday, look like this, and holy shit do I hate that pants-striping treatment. No rear-view photo yet, but you can see that the stripe does a butt-cheek wraparound, which is bad news. Idiotic piping on the jersey, too. Piece o’. … And here’s the latest on Hawaii’s new uniforms. Not great, but I’m always in favor of more green, and their look has always been somewhat cartoon-ish, so it’s hard to get worked up one way or the other (with thanks to Jeff Osbun). … While searching for something else on YouTube, I came across the classic old Warner Bros. cartoon Dog Gone South, which I hadn’t seen in probably 20 years. I’d forgotten that at one point Belvedere finds himself wearing a Yankees jersey (yes, it’s in inaccurate, but hey, artistic license and all that). … “Great stirrups being worn by St. Helens High in Oregon,” writes Travis McGuire. “But what’s up with that mound?” … Attention, Jeremy Brahm: Steven Wyder spotted this on eBay. Can you offer any insights regarding its provenance? … Helmet logo problems last night for Kosuke Fukudome (with thanks to Cara Morefield). … “I was watching How I Met Your Mother from last Monday,” writes Mike Rich, “and noticed Ted (played by Josh Radner) wearing a bizarre T-shirt with a Cleveland Indians logo surrounded by a Cincinnati Reds logo. There was also a logo on his left sleeve, but they never showed a clear view.” … Several amazing new contributions from northwest baseball historian Dave Eskenazi: The first two are of the Vancouver Beavers, circa 1918. Nice, right? But the real prize is this shot of the 1938 Vancouver Maple Leafs. Man, is that totally gorgeous or what? “The players probably hated it, especially the veterans,” says Dave. … New member of the stirrups club: Matt Kemp. … The NHL’s great front-office coordination strikes again.
April 24th, 2008
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of how the Mets market themselves. But I had high hopes — okay, maybe naïve hopes — for yesterday. It was the old girl’s last coming-out dance, and the team had promised to make the Shea family a big part of the festivities. A few days ago, they announced that they’d be unveiling a logo — their term, not mine — in honor of William Shea during the pregame ceremonies.
Sigh. You can get a glimpse of the “logo,” if you want to call it that, above. That’s the only photo of it I could find, but you get the idea: It’s an NOB. Now, there’s nothing wrong with putting Shea’s name next to the retired numbers, and I’m very happy to hear that his name placard will be displayed at the new stadium next year. But why tell fans you’re gonna unveil a logo if it’s not a logo?
Also: At first I was annoyed to see that the “Shea” lettering had a black drop shadow. Shea died in 1991, long before the team adopted the accursed black trim, so why render his name that way? Then I noticed that the retired numbers now have black drop shadows as well — something they didn’t have last year. So now the occasion of honoring William Shea has become an excuse to debase the whole roster of retirees. Just another thing that other teams do right but the Mets do wrong.
Other things they did wrong yesterday: They wore their black accessories instead of blue; they borrowed Madame Tussad’s wax figure of David Wright, put it on the subway, and let it keep wearing a numberless jersey instead of a proper one; they didn’t let this guy throw out the first pitch; they didn’t exhume Lindsey Nelson’s corpse to do the play-by-play; and a key member of their bullpen missed most of the game because his route from the last road trip to Opening Day somehow went through Puerto Rico.
Oh, and they played like shit and lost. Sigh.
On a brighter note: Today’s my mom’s birthday, so I’ll be spending most of the day with the ’rents. Everyone behave while I’m gone. Mom, if you’re reading this (or, more likely, if Pop is reading it to you), have a great birthday morning — I’ll be there in a couple of hours.
Uni Watch News Ticker: “My wife just qualified for the paralympic swim team, which will be heading to Beijing this summer for the Paralympic Games,” writes Pat Kerley. “I guess nothing says you just made a swimming team like giving you a hockey jersey. These championships were in Minneapolis, so what makes this a little funnier is that they then wore their hockey jerseys to pregame introductions at a Twins game. I have more photos here.” … Nike has unveiled some Olympics gear. … Awesome ABA ref’s jersey for sale here (with thanks to Jason Dulin). … Yesterday I mentioned something about the Akeem-era Houston Cougars wearing different uni numbers at home than while on the road. That led to this note from Ken Singer: “It used to be a high school rule in New York that the home team wore even numbers and the visitors wore odd numbers. When my dad first started taking me to games in the late ’60s, I remember noticing that the visitors always had odd numbers. My number in JV basketball from 1975–77 was 14 at home and 15 away. These were leftover jerseys from the varsity team. But when I played varsity in 1978, my number was 14 for both home and road, so the rule changed in there somewhere.” … The Red Sox championship rings look like this. “You can’t see it in the photo, but one side displays the name and number of each player with the B logo flanked by trophies won during the current regime,” explains Brian Corbett. “For instance, Tek has two trophies and Beckett has just one.” … Still more confusion regarding the Rangers’ home and road caps, as Joe Poll provided this photo of two ushers during the team’s home opener. As you can see, one’s wearing a white T, and the other one has the red T.” … Several readers (and one of my ESPN editors) have complained about Orioles reliever George Sherill and his flat-brim cap. I don’t like the look either, but it’s hardly unique — just ask Chad Cordero. … Second entry on this Q&A page has some good info on the Royals’ powder blues (with thanks to Matt McLaughlin). … Remember this? Looks like we’ll be seeing more of it next week, which I count as good news. The 42 celebration is one of the few unqualified successes of Selig’s tenure. … More city-specific logo mashups, this time for Denver (by Denver Gregg) and Atlanta (by Mike Duchock). … Truly outstanding vintage track uni available here (nice find by Michael Kimmins). … Tyler Kepner points out that Leo Nuñez has “El CD” printed on his glove (plus he apparently wore two undershirts yesterday). Anyone know what that’s about? … Tyler also reports that the Yanks have new road dugout jackets with a “New York” insignia. I like. … Ben Nickerson notes that Jose Calderon of the Raptors threw out the first pitch for last Saturday’s Jays/Bosox game and wore a Blue Jays jersey with a ribbon of some sort. Anyone..? … Jersey-o-rama at Fenway yesterday, as various Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins were on hand for the ring and trophy ceremonies. And Billy Bucks threw out the first pitch — good for him. … Advance word from an anonymous source regarding the new Team Canada hockey jerseys that will be released later this month for the World Championships: “Basically, it’s a ‘vintage’-style jersey that looks like something you’d buy a four-year-old. The white jerseys have red shoulders, which would look nice if it was done traditionally, but it comes off looking cheap. Same Canada crest as usual on the front, but cheapo little crests NOT on the shoulders but the elbow-area. Bad striping (you’ll see). Oh, and like all Nike stuff, it’s got the swoosh on the upper right chest. Overall it’s plain, in a bad way. The red jerseys are a little better, but it’s like comparing a pound of crap to a spoonful. In the end, they both stink.” … Turns out the University of Wisconsin folks aren’t the only ones who like to sue people over uniform trademark infringement. … MLB footwear notes from Mark Mihalik: Yuniesky Betancourt wore silver cleats in yesterday’s game in Tampa, and Manny Ramirez wore these cleats for the pregame ceremonies but changed into these for the game (here’s another view).
April 9th, 2008
Got a note the other day from Brian Schulz:
Is it just me, or does the whole thing about giving someone a framed jersey just seem pretty ridiculous? I thought about it when you recently wrote about Gordie Howe getting the No. 17 jersey from the Wings. Now, I had my jersey retired from my high school and I thought that was a pretty cool deal, because I never had an old jersey of mine from back in the days. However, these pro guys must have jerseys and mementos piled up all over the place. Do they really need another jersey framed for them?
It’s a fair point, but I think these framed jerseys are at least as much for the fans as they are for the honoree. It’s all part of the spectacle. I bet some honorees — not all, or even most, but some — just trash the framed jerseys afterward, or give them away, because their trophy rooms are already stocked to the gills.
All of which brings us, in a roundabout way, to the case of one Joe Hilseberg. By now, most of you are probably familiar with Joe, who’s been an invaluable Uni Watch contributor for years now. And unlike most of us, he’s walked the walk: He used to work in the shop that does lettering and stitching for the Orioles and Ravens, and he later used that work experience to create some unique groomsmen’s vests for his wedding.
Anyway: In late March, Joe asked for my mailing address. He didn’t elaborate, I didn’t ask him for details, and I’d forgotten all about it by this past Monday, when a package arrived. I opened it and was surprised to find this.
Pretty nice, right? It’s fairly big (about 18 inches square), and the stitching is really nice. And unlike Gordie Howe, I don’t have a big trophy room filled with treasures from my legendary career, so I was genuinely stoked to get my framed “jersey.”
There was no note inside, no card, nothing like that. What had I done to deserve such a swell present? I quickly dashed off a thank-you note to Joe. Here’s what he wrote back:
You have just received the prototype Name Frame! This is my new business/product that I’m working on right now. I’m working on doing all of the legal stuff so I can start selling them. I searched far and wide and saw that nobody offered this product — very cool, authentically done, custom-stitched jersey art.
And that leads back to you. It has been the joy of your site that made me determined to figure out a way to get back to doing something I love. Talking about jerseys, lettering, and tackle twill all of the time has really fueled my desire to make this happen. Initially I had hoped to open my own custom-lettering shop (which may be possible down the road), but that market has already been tapped. I needed something different, something fun, something people would want. Then I got my Uni Watch membership card, and that’s when it hit me: Make a full-sized framed version!
I’m targeting high schools and universities that might want to give these as an award or unique keepsake. Or maybe parents who wants one for their letter-winning child. Legally, I can’t recreate all the MLB styles, but if this takes off I don’t think it’s going to be a hard sell to MLB to start licensing these. What kid wouldn’t want one of their favorite player? And then it’s on to the NFL, NHL, NBA… It could be huge.
NameFrame.net is up right now, but it’s in the VERY early stages of development. I plan on eventually having an interactive designer application and all that jazz.
So in short, thank you for keeping my mind on jerseys, lettering, and all of the intricacies that make athletics aesthetics so enjoyable for me!
Wow — thank you, Joe, for the kind words. Glad to have provided the inspiration for your new venture.
Incidentally, those who frequent the comments section may be aware that Joe usually weighs in on the side of nameplates, instead of direct-sewn lettering. So how come my Name Frame NOB is direct-sewn?
“Honest answer: They’re a bitch to find,” says Joe. “And if I cut them myself out of material, I have to pay $10 a plate to have the edges serged. Oh, plus I knew you don’t like them. But if someone wants one, I’ll do it!”
As if that weren’t enough, two other readers sent me uni-related treasures this week. First, remember the Mets pin-up girl that Rob Ullman created for me? He just sent me the actual artwork, all signed and everything.
The kicker came on Wednesday, when I went out for a bike ride and came back to find that the UPS guy had left me a package from Mitchell & Ness historian Jared Wheeler. I opened it up, and whoa — 11 pairs of striped stirrups, including two gorgeous woolen models (plus several of them featured a really cool label design). These were a gift from Jared and M&N prexy Peter Caporino, who recently told me how he’d compiled a big backlog of stirrups back when he was outfitting the models for Sports Illustrated’s all-time all-star team photo.
Seriously, am I a lucky fella or what? Big thanks to all these people who’ve showered me with uni-related goodness — you’re all aces.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Good assortment of Oregon jerseys, including a few prototypes, here (with thanks to that Joe Hilseberg guy). … Soccer question from Claude Reifsnyder, who writes: “In Wednesday’s Champions League match between Liverpool and Arsenal, Liverpool wore a black jersey. As I’m sure you know, all EPL teams are supposed to use the standard league font, so how did they get away with the adidas-stye font on the back of their jerseys?” … Awesome find by Jeremy Gooch, who came up with an old college photo of Jerry Rice wearing vertical sleeve stripes. … Further info on San Diego’s third base coach’s box at the very bottom of this page (with thanks to Brian Hilemon). … “Nothing makes a woman feel more petite than posing for a photo next to Boog Powell,” writes Elena Elms — unless it’s posing with the Nationals’ mascots. … What company’s logo is that? … Okay, it’s official: This whole Lego thing has gotten out of hand. Disturbing details here (blame John Latham). … Looks like the Magic will have new uniforms next season. … Did those Phillies throwbacks look totally hot or what? Lots of photos here. … Yet another Nationals player with an upside-down “I”: Paul Lo Duca (spotted, once again, by eagle-eyed Michael Zakrzewski). … Karl Anderson attended last night’s Wild/Flames game and, like all fans in attendance, received a fan-appreciation patch identical to the one that the Wild wore last night. … Let’s just be glad that Cecil Fielder never tried what Prince did yesterday. … Incidentally, you see Alfonso Soriano in that last photo? I don’t know who’s paying him to wear those eye-black stickers, but I have a feeling he’s gonna get a note from the league office pretty soon about them. … Not sure how much stock to put in this, but the rumor mills says that Iowa State’s new basketball uniforms will look like this. … The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream (yes, that’s what they’re called) just unveiled their new uni, which is about as boring as all the other WNBA unis. Details here (with thanks to David Kendrick). … Some great equipment switcheroos last night in Atlanta, as Justine DeCotis explains: “The Braves had Chris Resop, a RHP, on the mound and a left-handed batter, Adam LaRoche, was coming up for the Pirates. So, they went to the bullpen and got a Royce Ring, a LHP. But instead of taking out Resop, they took out the left fielder, Matt Diaz, and put Resop in left field. So Ring pitched to LaRoche and then they took him out and brought Resop back from left field to the mound and put Gregor Blanco into left. Resop pitched the rest of the inning. When Resop went to left, he took Diaz’s glove to wear and Diaz took Resop’s glove to the dugout. And then when Blanco came in to play the outfield he took Resop’s pitcher’s glove back out and gave it back to him.” As LI Phil is already beginning to post in a comment, the Mets did something similar during an extra-inning game around 1985ish, when they shuttled LHP Jesse Orosco and RHP Roger McDowell back and forth between the mound and the outfield depending on who was batting. … Cap question from Sean Deitrick, who writes: “What’s the deal with the Texas Rangers’ blue cap with the red “T,” which the team lists as its official road cap? I’ve e-mailed some of the beat writers for the team but haven’t gotten a response. The even appears is most video games produced since its original inception [and is also still listed as the road cap in the MLB Style Guide -- PL], but it’s never used in road games and I don’t think it’s appeared in a game since Esteban Loaiza was traded. … The Mets plan to unveil “a new Shea logo” (it’s not clear if this means a new Shea Stadium logo, or a William Shea logo) at next Tuesday’s home opener. It will be displayed alongside the team’s retired numbers. Details here. … Good all-purpose hockey goalie site here (with thanks to Thomas Harris). … Jack del Rio and his suit will be around for a long time. … More about that controversial new swimsuit here. … You rarely hear about tampered boxing gloves anymore, but here’s a brutal reminder. … The New York-Penn League wants your help in designing a new logo (with thanks to Matt Nelson). But before you enter, see today’s comment #22.
April 4th, 2008
Fascinating bit of info came up on the SABR listserv yesterday. Baseball Hall of Fame curator and Uni Watch pal Tom Shieber had asked a question about the exact dates when certain numbers had been retired, including the Pirates’ retirement of No. 1 for former manager Billy Meyer (who, as you can see, is listed here). That led to the following response from one of the list’s powerhouse researchers, Fr. John Hissrich:
I [too] have tried to track down information on Billy Meyer’s #1 with Pittsburgh — not only when it was retired, but WHY? Meyer had a just a few years as the Pirates manager and had a losing record, meaning that every Pirates manager for the last fifteen years is up for that honor [of number retirement].
In speaking with a woman who used to work for the Pirates, I was told that Meyer was widely remembered as “a nice guy,” but that hardly [merits] such a distinction. The best anyone has been able to suggest to me is that when the Pirates were first compiling a list of retired numbers, someone noticed that nobody had worn the number 1 since Meyer left. That probably had more to do with his successor, Fred Haney, simply taking a different number. In any event, Meyer’s name got on the list, and nobody has really seen any reason to try taking it off.
I don’t mean to pick on Pirates fans, who’ve endured a near-endless stream of indignities in recent years. But if Hissrich’s account is accurate, it means the Buccos have essentially retired a number due to a clerical error. That’s got to be a first.
And Hissrich was actually being kind when he said Meyer “had a losing record.” Meyer’s managerial record was 317-452, for a .412 winning percentage. That’s like going 67-95 over a 162-game season — and doing it over and over and over again. Not only that, but Meyer presided over one of the worst seasons in MLB history: the Pirates’ 1952 campaign, when the team went 42-112.
This raises the question of whether Meyer might be history’s least deserving number retiree (not counting owners and other dubious non-number-wearing sorts). It also makes you wonder why nobody else has questioned his retiree status until now.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The FedEx guy showed up at Uni Watch HQ yesterday afternoon and handed me an envelope. I wasn’t expecting anything, so I looked at the return address and was surprised to see “Joe Skiba, New York Football Giants.” Inside I found this — a few pieces of confetti from the aftermath of the Giants’ post-game celebration in Arizona. Is that cool or what? I have only one other artifact that compares: When the Mets won the NLCS to advance to the World Series in 2000, a sportswriter friend pocketed this champagne cork from the floor of their clubhouse and later gave it to me. Nice. … Speaking of the Mets, this looks pretty damn good to me. The Santana press conference also provided our first photographic view of the new Shea Stadium sleeve patch, as seen here, here, here, and here. … Nike has introduced a new soccer ball for FIFA-sponsored tournaments. Details here (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … The Russian army (the actual military, not the Red Army hockey team) has new uniforms (courtesy of Chris Bisbee). … Curt Schilling tells an interesting story about Sean Casey’s jersey here. … Lots of women’s hoops teams will be wearing pink for a 10-day span that begins this Friday. Details here. … Speaking of women’s hoops, Richard Musterer reports that Georgia Tech will be wearing 1979 throwbacks on February 29th. They’ll be modeled on this, and let’s hope that includes the socks. … “I just rented a great movie The Kingdom and noticed Jason Bateman’s character wearing an Orioles road cap for most of his scenes,” writes Jack Krabbe. “But in one scene the film must have been flopped, because the bird was facing the wrong way.” … Brian Flynn, who was quoted in yesterday’s entry about Punt, Pass & Kick, sent along some pics of the cap and pants (complete with Pepsi ad) that he wore during one of his Giants Stadium PP&K appearances. “I couldn’t find the jersey but I remember exactly what it looks like,” he writes. “It’s a regular replica jersey like you’d buy at Modells for your team (in my case, the Jets). But instead of numbers, it has the PP&K logo screened on the front and the team’s logo screened on the back.” … Incidentally, I didn’t realize that there was a PP&K-themed Charlie Brown special that apparently aired in 1994. Details and lots of still images (with some interesting uni details) here (big thanks to Corey Buck). … Nice little video clip here that finds Predators goalies Chris Mason and Dan Ellis discussing their mask designs (as forwarded by Wade D. Harder). … My former ESPN.com colleague Darren Rovell is now at CNBC, where he’s apparently getting ready to deliver a serious knob job to Phil Knight and Nike, in the form of a one-hour documentary set to air next Tuesday. A mercifully short promo clip is available here. … Jonathan Gault reports that England’s national soccer team unveiled their new away jersey in a friendly match with Switzerland on Tuesday. … Another late-’80s NFL jersey patch that I have no memory of: this one, which was worn by the Vikings in 1989. “The ‘40 for 60′ line stood for ‘40 men, 60 minutes,’ a saying by Joe Kapp,” explains Dan Sliwinski, who brought this one to my attention. … Scroll down to the “One Size Doesn’t Fit All” section of this page for some amusing details on how the Shaq trade created an instant headache for Phoenix’s equipment manager (with thanks to Alexander Benezra).
February 7th, 2008
Back in March I wrote an ESPN column about athletes wearing sunglasses. At the time I wasn’t aware of any football players who’d worn shades on the field, but readers provided several examples that I later listed in a follow-up item: Mark Clayton (who wore sunglasses with the Dolphins and the Packers), Derrick Mayes, and Vai Sikahema. The most intriguing tidbit, though, was that Raymond Berry of the Colts had worn a set of homemade sun goggles during the ’50s and ’60s. But although several people told me about Berry’s eyewear, none of them provided a photo, and my own research efforts came up empty. But now, thanks to reader Jason Taylor, we’ve got a photo — and more.
Let’s start with the photo itself, which is a doozy. Eat your heart out, LaDainian Tomlinson — your tinted visor’s got nothing on this!
But here’s the kicker: The actual goggles recently sold on eBay for about $155. According to the auction listing, “With no commercially available product to address or correct his vision and sun-sensitivity problems, Berry took the initiative to make his own. Utilizing Bausch & Lomb swim goggles as frames, he inserted heavy shaded lenses supported by trainer’s tape and a primitive headstrap.”
How did the Hall of Fame miss out on this?
The Issue That Just Won’t Die: In case you were too busy scarfing down leftovers to read Friday’s comments, it’s now clear that Dallas Clark’s American flag decal has been missing for quite some time — not just on Thanksgiving or the week before that, but all the way back to Week 8.
In an incredible stroke of luck, it turns out that bench coach Bryan Redemske actually knows Dallas Clark, because Bryan’s wife and Clark went to high school together. So we’ve got an inside line on this one — stay tuned.
Austin Reminder: Uni Watch gathering tomorrow night, 7:30 p.m., at the Salt Lick. BYOB (not to be confused with FNOB).
Uni Watch News Ticker: While researching something else, I noticed that you can see the brand on Tony Romo’s flak jacket right through his jersey. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Note the inconsistent 7s here. … Speaking of numbers and typography, remember a few months back when we discussed the differing treatments of the 5 on the sleeve and chest of the Packers’ jerseys? Adam Seabury was just at the Packers Hall of Fame, where he discovered yet another version of the 5. He also snapped great pics of jerseys, helmets (check out the odd facemask here), pants, socks (someone please break into that display and steal those for me, pronto), cheerleaders’ outfits, programs, and a lot more. There’s a slideshow of all his pics here. … Great historical slideshow here of the Turkey Day Game between Kirkwood and Webster Groves, a centurty-long St. Louis Thanksgiving tradition. Some of the older pics are amazing — worth clicking through. … “I was at the Oregon/UCLA game at the Rose Bowl on Saturday,” writes Ryan Whitacre, “and at least one member of the Oregon fan base was exhibiting some classy dress. We can only hope this will filter down to the athletes themselves.” … Virginia retired Tiki Barber’s number on Saturday. … “These pics are of a few old mining company baseball and basketball teams from the 1910-1930,” writes longtime Uni Watch pal Doug Kalemba. “According to my grandfather (who is 96!), each mine had its own team, many filled with ringers who got cushy jobs in return for playing. The competition between these teams was serious business, with games often ending in brawls (or worse). My grandfather was a catcher and played for a few different teams. He claims a lot of the players were good enough for the bigs but never caught a break.” … While researching something else, I came across this photo from the 1959 NFL title game. Take a look at Jim Patton (No. 20) — the “2″ on his helmet appears to be backwards. … Aaron Levine notes that in this fight between Stan Jonathan and Paul Stewart, Stewart has NNOB and really big uni numbers, while the rest of the Nords have NOBs. … Man, those Browns throwbacks looked my-t-fine (additional pics here, here, and here). But John Ryder notes that the “c” on Willie McGinest’s jersey was almost as big as the other letters on his nameplate, while the “c” on Brandon McDonald’s jersey was teeny-tiny. … Jeremy Brahm, ever alert to unusual uniforms in far-off parts of the world, notes that the Singapore Slingers of the National Basketball League of Australia have an interesting design for their shorts and rear jersey. … Has anyone else noticed that Sheldon Brown practically wears a towel on his chinstrap? … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Adrian Peterson is the latest Bear to have suffered a torn helmet decal.
November 26th, 2007
Well, that was fun while it lasted.
Last Tuesday I agonized over whether I should FedEx an American flag decal to Ladainian Tomlinson (for those who’ve been under a rock, his helmet has been flag-free all season). I never did send it, and now Tomlinson has made the matter moot, because he finally wore Old Glory in yesterday’s game against the Vikings, thereby ending the NFL season’s most entertaining uni-related storyline and bringing our weekly “Will he or won’t he?” game to a conclusion.
But a new game may be afoot. Several posts in yesterday’s comments section reported that Chargers wideout Chris Chambers was flag-free yesterday. No pics yet, but I’m looking. Not sure if Chambers wore a flag last week (which was his first game of the season), but it sounds like someone on the Chargers’ equipment staff is either asleep at the switch or else has a good sense of humor.
In other NFL notes from yesterday:
• Remember this? Something vaguely similar happened yesterday to Kansas City defensive lineman Tamba Hali, who delivered a big hit that sent part of his chinstrap sailing through the air. Not quite as cool as the flying number decal, but still something I’ve never seen before.
• Randy Moss’s numeral 8 was upside-down again.
• What do you get when you combine artificial turf, one team wearing solid black, and another team wearing solid black below the waist? Pretty much the ugliest game ever.
• The Eagles wore white at home last night to force the Cowboys into their “bad luck” blue jerseys. Didn’t quite work out the way they drew it up.
(Special thanks to Randy Williams and James Wortham for their Tomlinson screen grabs and to Blaine Williams for the Hali pics.)
Big Papi? No, Little Poppies!: With November 11th approaching, Canadian-born coaches and coaches of Canadian teams are starting to wear poppy pins on their lapels (for futher info on this phenomenon, look here). As it happens, I was in Toronto over the weekend for a wedding and saw lots of poppy-clad people all over the city. At one point I was talking about the poppies with one of my Canadian friends, and she mentioned something very Uni Watch-ish: The current poppy pins have a black center, but until a couple of years ago they had a green center.
That raised lots of questions: When exactly did the color change, and why? And who makes that decision? Like, is there an executive poppy committee somewhere in the governmental bureaucracy, or did the pin manufacturers just run out of green felt? Also, since real poppies have black centers, why was green ever used in the first place? What about the other British Commonwealth nations, which also wear poppies — do they go with the black or the green? My Canadian pals couldn’t answer any of these queries. Anyone..?
Other things I learned about the poppy pins: They tend not to stay on very long, because they have no backing clip; the lack of a clip also makes it fairly common for the wearer to get pricked; and apparently it’s customary to pick on the dorkiest kid in the class by covering him with as many poppies as possible.
I had hoped to buy a poppy pin myself (I was told to look for “the oldest, stooped-over-est old man you can find — he’ll probably be selling them”), but I didn’t come across a vendor during the course of my weekend. Dang.
Sock Summit: Longtime readers know I’m a huge fan of the pseudonymous sock savant known as Witesock (whose admirably obsessive web site is here, plus there’s a lengthy interview with him available here). So it was a big thrill for me, after years of false starts and missed connections, to finally meet the man himself over the weekend. I’m happy to report that he’s a peach of a guy. Over plates of chicken teriyaki and bibimbap (which he generously paid for), we spent the better part of two hours talking about socks, collecting, travel, socks, work, socks, and more socks. We probably could have kept going for a few hours more, but he had to get back to work.
Naturally, we compared socks: I was wearing my usual basic striped tube socks while Witesock had a twofer: black rugby hose over a pair of Miami Dolphins socks (to go with the jersey he’d worn for the occasion). “But doesn’t wearing two pairs of socks make your shoes a bit too snug?” I asked. To which he replied, “Oh, I usually buy my shoes half a size too big, to allow for that.” Now that’s dedication.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Interesting primitive facemask on display in this 1930 photo (with thanks to Kevin S. Whisman). … Speaking of primitive facemasks, look what Jared Wheeler found up for auction. … Interesting bit of uni lobbying on display here (as forwarded by Jacob Reed). … Ewww. … Now here’s a uniform category you don’t often see: Iranian women’s rugby. Details here (with thanks to Peter Chambers). … “Converse has resurrected its 1933 All-Star, which was the team shoe of the legendary Harlem Renaissance basketball team,” writes Steve Eschenbach. “They had to resort to eBay to get an original to work off of.” Details here. … Andy Enright, who says he works in the sporting goods biz, contributed a mother lode of insider info the other day: “Both the Schutt Ion and XP will not be offered in XL for 2008. Schutt does have the capability to make XL for NFL and college players when needed. Both helmets are fitting a little smaller than their counterparts, the DNA and Air Advantage. All Schutt large helmets are sized to fit 7 to 7-1/2, but I tried both helmets on today, size large, and both were a little tight, even though I wear a 7-3/8. The molds for these helmets cost about $200K each, so Schutt is waiting for public demand before moving forward on the XL size, probably late 2008 or 2009. Also, Eli Manning will wear the new helmet probably next year or later this year. They are having issues installing the radio earpiece. Schutt will also have a signature shoulder pad featuring Reggie Bush as well as Eli Manning, for use at the youth level. The individual pads will be in Saints and Giants team colors. Also, I’ve attached some pictures of LT’s new cleats to hit stores in April ’08, both the molded as well as the detachable. Didn’t take Nike long to replace Vick.” … Interesting logo creep placement here (as spotted by Jeremy Brahm). … Take a look at this (which was sent my way by David Soline). Did the Bulls really wear pink warmup jackets? … The Pacers debuted their yellow alts on Friday. … These high school football socks would be awesome if not for, y’know, obvious reasons (big thanks to Michael Orr, who also sent along a rare high school example of FNOB). … I’m sure his parents are proud. … The Islanders brought Al Arbour back to coach one last game on Saturday night — the 1500th of his career — which occasioned lots of uni-related news items: (1) The team wore white at home. (2) They wore a special jersey patch. (3) As Mike from Queens points out, the patch caused a logjam with the “A” and “C” designations. (4) Arbour’s “retired number” banner, which had been No. 739 (his number of coaching wins) was replaced with a new banner. (5). Since the Isles won, the new banner will reportedly be replaced with yet another banner — No. 740. … Good info on the UMich hockey uniforms here (courtesy of Craig Barker). … Florida went with solid blue on Saturday. … And Oregon realy outdid themselves. But here’s a confession: As a big yellow/green fan, I kinda liked what the Ducks were doing on Saturday. All the diamondplate nonsense still rankles, natch, but I thought this was one of their better mix-and-match combos. … Great article here about a guy who works in Riddell’s helmet-testing facility (with thanks to Matt Lindner). … NHL jersey update here (with thanks to K.C. Kless). … In happier hockey news, good update on the NHL Winter Classic here (as forwarded by Sean Leahy). … And the Rangers continue to look much better with their straight-hemmed jerseys. Kudos to whoever made the modification decision. … I used to think the Quad Cities Swing were the only team with unevenly sized numerals (well, unless you count this), but that was before Blair Hough pointed me toward this photo of two ringette players. … Doug Linder spotted UCLA’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute wearing some very unusual leg sleeves during a preseason game Friday night. Also, some of the UCLA cheerleaders suffered from Adidas logo creep, while others did not. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Nice ad in yesterday’s Boston Globe. … I’m going to be busy until at least mid-afternoon. Vince will be minding the store until then.
November 5th, 2007
Now that the first slate of NFL preseason games has been played, a few new developments have come to light (aside from those green dots on QBs’ helmets, which we’ve already discussed at length). Let’s take a look:
• At first glance, it appears that the Chiefs are wearing an AFL logo patch. But upon closer inspection, it turns out that the patch includes little “LH” initials at the bottom, in memory of Lamar Hunt. Personally, I’ve always loved the AFL logo and am happy to see it in just about any context, and I realize Hunt was a prime mover behind the AFL’s inception, but this still seems like an odd memorial choice, especially since it’s so hard to see the “L.H.” initials. Maybe if all the original AFL teams were wearing the patch..? Visually pleasing conceptually puzzling.
• Great to see the Browns wearing their old striped socks again, instead of what they were wearing last season. Additional views here and here, just cuz it looks so damn good.
• Nice catch by Chad Wilcox, who notes that many of the Redskins with non-Riddell helmets are wearing the team’s stylized “R” secondary logo (the one usually seen on Joe Gibbs’s cap) on their nose bumpers Here’s another view. I like. Meanwhile, we’d all seen the team’s 75th-anniversary patch before, but it’s worth noting that it looks plenty sharp on the field.
• Speaking of anniversary patches, the one being worn by the Steelers doesn’t look as good. And although this is still appearing on the Bengals’ home page, it’s not on their jerseys, at least for now.
• There’s something weird about opening your season — even your exhibition season — in your alternate jersey.
• I wish the Chargers’ pants bolts had a few more jags in them. Otherwise, I think their new design looks sharp.
• Subtlest change of the year: Motorola has outfitted the coaches with new headsets this year. The microphone bar is much thicker and clunkier-looking than last season — apparently so the Motorola wordmark can be printed on it as much as possible. Just in case anyone’s missing the point, the wordmark is also now appearing on both sides of the upper strap. (Note, incidentally, that while Joe Gibbs wears earphones on both ears, most other coaches only have an earpiece on the mic side.
That’s enough for now. Look for further developments in the Ticker as more games are played (like tonight’s Eagles/Ravens and Niners/Broncos tilts).
Charge It: The story behind this commercial and its inconsistent lightning bolt designs (compare this view of LaDanian Tomlinson, in which the upper-front point of his shoulder bolt is pointing forward, to this one, in which it’s pointing backward) continues to evolve. Last week I posted a note from Steve Due of AIS Uniforms — the company that made the unis — which didn’t fully explain the inconsistencies. Now I’ve received a dispatch from Due’s AIS colleague Bob Halfacre (who, as elephant-memoried readers may recall, had some very strong opinions a while back on the subject of nameplate initials), which I think finally closes the book on this story:
We made the bulk of the uniforms in a week with no help with patterns from the NFL. All we had was a replica-style jersey from Reebok. So the jersey itself isn’t perfect. … When the commercial was filmed, the Chargers sent Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers, and LaDanian Tomlinson with their actual tailored game jerseys. The shots of those three players are a mix of footage of those players in their actual uniforms along with footage of actors in the jerseys made by AIS, edited into what looks like continuous football action. I noticed the problem when I saw the commercial the first time also.
This shot is actually LT in his real jersey. Now that I have studied it a little more, I can see the problem. We put the bolts on backwards. If you look, the actual pictures of Gates and Tomlinson have the bolt with the first jag inside low and outside high. The AIS jerseys have the bolts the other way.
This explanation matches up with yesterday’s Chargers/Seahawks preseason game, where all of the Chargers’ shoulder bolts had the upper-front point facing forward (additional views here, here, and here). So there you have it: an all-too-rare case of someone taking responsibility and admitting his mistake. Thanks, Bob.
Membership News: We’re almost caught up on membership designs. Lots of good new stuff in the design gallery, including, as you can see at right, our first Bad News Bears treatment. Also newly added: a San Diego Chicken design. (I confess that I had never noticed the Chicken’s jersey logo until member Michael Rawson asked for it on his card.)
The next batch of designs, which Scott should have ready in a day or two, includes a really brilliant request that’s gonna look sooooooo cool — stay tuned. Meanwhile, new members are still welcome, so keep those orders coming.
Uni Watch News Ticker: No photo yet, but David Conley reports that Tiger Woods’s baby girl, Sam, “was actually wearing a red jumper with a large Nike swoosh on it when they showed her on TV yesterday after Tiger won the PGA.” And if you’ll excuse me for a second, I need to go throw up. … Okay, I’m back: The Celtics have announced that Scot Pollard and Eddie House will be wearing Nos. 66 and 50, respectively. Why? According to Friday’s Boston Herald: “‘Because all the other (expletive) numbers were taken here,’ Pollard said, looking around a conference room that had the numbers of Bill Russell (6), Tom Heinsohn (15), John Havlicek (17), Robert Parish (00), Larry Bird (33) and Kevin McHale (32) hanging on the wall.” (With thanks to Matt Englander.) … If you’re into modifying the uniforms on your video games (as discussed in detail here), you’ll want to check out the customization videos on this page (with thanks to Trev Ulmer). … Shorpy continues to be a great source of old uni photos, including this shot, captioned as follows: “Opening Day at Hilltop Park, April 4, 1908. New York Highlanders and Philadelphia Athletics” (as forwarded by Bob Andrews). … Brilliant catch by Peter Fahey who notes that Red Sox uniforms often have an upside-down 8 (the bigger opening should be on the bottom). … Elena Elms reports that the Durham Bulls will be wearing Livestrong jerseys, to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, on August 19th. … While doing a bit of membership-related research, Scott Turner came across this photo, taken in 1984. “How come Dorsett’s got a big star on his chest?” he asks. Good question. Anyone..? … If you haven’t read Game of Shadows, some of its most damning evidence about Bonds concerns his uniform: “[Giants equipment mananager Mike] Murphy could document Bonds’s physical changes via the changes in his uniform size. Since joining the Giants, Bonds has gone from a size 42 to a size 52 jersey; from size 10 1/2 to size 13 cleats; and from a size 7 1/8 to size 7 1/4 cap, even though he had taken to shaving his head” (with thanks to Matt Schudel for forwarding that quote). … Bryan Redemske notes that Chris Duncan, like all the other Cardinals, wore red shoes on Friday but switched to black on Saturday. … Matt Algeo reports that the Russian national baseball team wore throwbacks the other day. “Who knew there was a Russian national baseball team, or that they were around long enough to wear throwbacks?” he writes. Details and additional pics here. … Not often that you see “Sr.” on a nameplate. The player in question is Nebraska wide receiver Chris Brooks, whose young son is Chris Brooks Jr. (nice find by Brian Hansen). … Small item about Rick Ankiel’s uni number history about halfway down this page (with thanks to Tom Chalifour). … Dave Gardner sent along a few hockey-related links I hadn’t seen before, including a discussion forum for vintage goalie masks and a gallery of Russian jerseys. … “Found a cool gallery of lacrosse photos from the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association, a semi-pro summer box lacrosse league in Canada,” writes Thomas Langan. “Looks like some of the jerseys get recycled, as evidenced by the tape over the name. Some nice retro-looking jerseys too.” … “This blog entry has two uni-related tidbits,” writes Kim Kolb. “One is about a United midfielder trading jerseys with Beckham, the other is about some guys trying to steal the Galaxy’s laundry, leading to a chase through the bowels of RFK Stadium.” … The Twins’ recent I-35W memorial decal provides a uni-related connection for this excellent story about how a new signage typeface is being used on American highways. … Soccer note from Jeremy Brahm, who reports that Montreal Impact goalie Matt Jordan was injured with a broken jaw a month ago but is now playing with a mask. … My worst nightmare recently came true down in Virginia, where the Richmond Braves had a purple jersey promotion (with “thanks” to David Rosenthal). … Latest MLB team to pull the totally bush move of wearing their BP jerseys for a regular-season game: the Mariners, who did it yesterday, apparently because it was so hot and muggy and they don’t have a Cool Base road jersey option. … Speaking of the M’s, many of them are wearing a custom-designed undershirt. Details here (with thanks to Jerry Gardner). … Amusing column here about the PGA’s no-shorts rule (good spot by Alan Kreit). … Eyebrow-raising note buried in Phil Mushnick’s Sunday New York Post column (as spotted by Seth Horowitz): “The University of Utah’s new basketball coach, Jim Boylen, could be the guy we’ve been looking for. At Boylen’s urging, black has been eliminated from the team’s uniforms. ‘Our [school] colors are red and white,’ he explained. ‘Black is not one of our colors.’” … The Texans are the latest team to publish their jersey schedule for the upcoming season (good find by Seth Harris). … No photo, but Morris Levin reports that Bruce Froemming is still wearing his All-Star Game cap. … “Adam Gaylord plays his college baseball at Stanford, but this summer he’s been playing for the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods League,” writes Matt Nelson. Sunday he sported these nice stirrups.”
August 13th, 2007
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