Two Fridays ago I spent a few hours up at the NBA offices, where they showed me all the new gear for this season. Some of the new designs have already been unveiled, like the new Sixers uniforms, Portland’s “Rip City” alternates, etc. — I won’t go into those here. I’m also going to save some of the changes for my NBA season-preview column on ESPN, which will be running in about two weeks. But here’s a smattering of news to get you in the mood:

• The Cavs are once again doing one of those “CavFanatic” alternate uni designs. This time it’s the late-’80s design in 1970s colors. Dig the special tagging.

• By now you’ve seen Charlotte’s new pinstriped uni set. What you probably haven’t seen is that they’ll once again be doing a NASCAR version. Again, special tagging.

• Two uni-borne memorials for the Pistons: a jersey patch for Chuck Daly and that rear-collar “Mr. D” for Bill Davidson. As I mentioned in the Ticker last week, the Davidson memorial will be permanent.

• Speaking of memorials, the Pacers have added a patch for Mel Simon, although they haven’t yet worn it in their preseason games.

• Here’s a good look at the anniversary patches being worn by the Cavs and Kings.

• The Heat have made three changes to their shorts. First, the old format of having the NBA logo on the left leg and the team logo on the right leg has been reversed (that’s so the shorts match up with the jersey, where the NBA logo appears on the right-chest area). Second, the team logo on the red alternate shorts has been changed from the flaming ball to the flaming “MH.” And third, team logos have been added to the waistband on all three shorts designs.

• Last year the Nuggets wore green jerseys as an environmental-awareness thing. That initiative has been retired for this season, although a broader uni-based environmental program may be put in place for 2010-11.

• These are the new compression shorts and calf sleeves that many players will be wearing. So if you see any players looking like extras from Tron, now you know why.

• The rim design has been updated. In addition to the superficial changes, the new version has breakaway functionality on the sides as well as the front.

That should be enough to keep you busy for now. More NBA news coming soon-ish.

Never thought they’d actually play a game: I was out having dinner with friends last night so I missed Matt Holiday’s rock the UFL’s auspicious debut. Fortunately, Marcus Hall took a bunch of screen shots and Mike Sullivan actually created a new blog just to catalog all his UFL complaints, so you can get a sense of just how tragic the whole affair was. Man, Jim Fassel must have burned a lot of NFL bridges in order to have been reduced to this.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Hey, check it out, it’s Elvis playing football. The “E.P. Entp.” on the jersey stands for “Elvis Presley Enterprises,” natch (great find by Bruce Menard). … Last year, Mike Walker of the Jags wore No. 81 and a “Walker” NOB. This year, however, he switched to No. 11 and “Sims-Walker” (the hyphenated NOB reflecting a nod to his late father) — at least for the first three games of the season. But last week he was back to just “Walker” (good work by Jonathon Binet). … Not uni-related but still very cool: a directory of world license plate styles (great find by Jordan Guthmann). … Two good items from Michael Jaworski: (1) The local history museum in Stuart, Florida, is currently featuring a very good baseball exhibit, with a nice photo gallery. And (2) Florida is adding a women’s lacrosse team in February, but they’re already playing exhibition games. “I assume these are their actual game uniforms, but don’t know for sure,” says Michael. “They have SNOB, although I wish it was on the front, above the uniform number, like in basketball.” … I’ve seen lots of girls’ teams wearing candy-cane sock stripes, but never a boys’ team — until now. That’s a Pop Warner squad from Watertown, New York (with thanks to Dave Northrop). … The Florida Panthers came up with rock tour-style T-shirts for their preseason schedule (as noted by Scott Marcusky). … Update to an item from yesterday: Here’s a color version of what the Padres would have looked like if they’d become the Washington Stars. As you can see, the color scheme would have been red, white, and blue — not purple and gold, as reader Richard Craig had stated yesterday (big, big thanks to fellow SABR member Maxwell Kates). … “I got married a few weeks ago,” says Doug McConnell. “When my fiancé, now wife, couldn’t find any suitable cake toppers, I decided to use these little guys instead.” … “Here is the logo for the 2018 and 2022 Japan World Cup bids,” says Jeremy Brahm. “I don’t know why they needed Astroboy, but he is the ‘Special Ambassador.’” … Incidentally, I recently interviewed Jeremy for a Uni Watch Profiles segment, which will be running soon. … The end zones in Denver this weekend will feature alternating filled-in diamonds — nice.

One of the highlights of my recent trip to Pittsburgh was a visit to the Heinz History Center, which includes the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. I took a lot of photos here, so let’s get right to it (with apologies for the inevitable problems with glare and reflection when photographing things in glass cases):

• Here’s a great factory team uniform, circa 1955 (details here), along with a jacket from the same team, different year.

• And here’s a junior police team uniform, circa 1944, worn by a young player whose high school didn’t have a team.

• This is an autographed 1960 Dick Groat jersey, notable primarily for its tagging.

• Would you believe that a big league GM gave a player a raise in 1948 without the player even asking for it? It’s true, at least according to this letter.

• May favorite thing in the entire museum was this display, devoted to a local marble-shooting champion. Yeah, I know, marbles, but c’mon — look at that jersey and patch!

• If you’ve spent any time looking at Negro Leagues photos, you know it’s practically an iron-clad rule that one player was always wearing last year’s uniform, or another team’s uniform, or something out of step with the rest of the team.

• Here’s a really great story: In 1949, a local schoolgirl embroidered this shirt with the likenesses of Ralph Kiner, Wally Westlake, and Babe Ruth, and then sent it to Kiner and Westlake for them to autograph (the Babe had already died, alas). Kiner not only autographed it but sent it back with this cover letter. Dig that stationery!

• The football section included an entire wall of letterman jackets and sweaters. But my favorite jacket was this one. That chest patch is near-perfection.

• I really liked this display showing a ref’s jersey, whistles, score sheet, and flags.

• Another highlight: This Steelers cheerleaders display. Additional pics here.

• I was happy to see they had a small mention of L.C. Greenwood’s gold shoes.

• This was a local football team called the Oilers. I love that there’s an oil derrick in the background.

• And here’s an all-black football team, wearing a jersey style I’ve never seen before.

• You know those old-fashioned football nose guards? Here’s an early patent drawing.

• Apparently the Pittsburgh boxing community is still pissed off about the Louis/Conn fight (Conn was a local hero). I didn’t get any pics of the Conn memorabilia at the museum, but I did get a shot of this great robe and accompanying set of trunks. Not sure why a Pittsburgh fighter had “NY” on his trunks, but whatever — gorgeous.

• This is Chuck Cooper’s All-American uniform. Note the photo at lower-right — I didn’t realize the Celtics had once worn uni numbers on their shorts. And why doesn’t the shorts number match the jersey number?
• Several excellent old basketball uniforms here.

• I love the soccer jacket shown on the right. Here’s a close-up.

• And it won’t surprise anyone to hear that I also love this Pop Warner jacket, rendered in green and gold.

• Unusual artifact here. The United Black Front was a local activist organization, and you’ve gotta love an activist agenda that includes softball.

• The museum even features some swimming exhibits, including a tremendous Olympic time trails patch, a photo of the 1932 U.S. Olympic team, and a shot of some rather revealing swimwear.

• Finally, there’s this. I’ll let it speak for itself.

Phew! It’s worth noting, incidentally, that the Heinz facility also features a really great exhibit that documents the history of the Heinz company itself, including a photo of the Heinz baseball team, circa 1907 (note that they’re even using Heinz baseball bats), and a display showing the uniforms worn by female workers at the Heinz plant. Just goes to show that all roads lead back to uniforms.

And now a word from Vince Grzegorek: If I have one lasting legacy at Uni Watch, it probably won’t be writing about Brownie the Elf at every opportunity, or for being Paul’s first intern. No, it most likely will be for running the site’s annual NCAA tournament contest.

So let’s get this going. In the past I’ve come up with convoluted point systems and spent a lot of time scoring each entry by hand. But I’m much too busy for that this year, so screw that. Instead, we’re going to run a normal bracket challenge. To sign up, go to this site. Our group name is Uni Watch, our group ID is 68140, and our password is stirrups (all lowercase).

The top five winners will get to choose from the following prizes, all provided by Paul:

1. A free Uni Watch membership.

2. A free T-shirt from our friends at Pennant Race Gear.

3. An MLB logo wristwatch. (Full disclosure: Although it’s never been used, it appears to need a new battery. — PL)

4. A Bimbo Mexican soccer jersey, size large (contributed to the cause by reader Jeremy Deason — PL).

5. A copy of the new book Cubs by the Numbers.

Top winner gets his or her choice of prizes, second-place winner gets to choose from the remaining four prizes, and so on.

Hey, how about that economy?: Paul here again. As some of you are aware, changes are afoot at Distant Replays. Here’s a quick imaginary press conference about what this means from a Uni Watch perspective:

New enrollees in the membership program used to get a $10 Distant Replays gift code. Are you still offering that benefit?
No, effective immediately.

I ordered my membership card a few weeks ago but haven’t received it yet. I thought I was getting the $10 gift code. What happens to me?
There are 16 of you out there who fit this description (some of you have been waiting way too long for your cards, and I’m sorry about that — life has been hectic lately). Those 16 cards will mail out this week, and unfortunately they will not be accompanied by Distant Replays gift codes. If you feel gypped or baited-and-switched, get in touch and we’ll work something out.

I received my Distant Replays gift code with my membership two months ago but haven’t redeemed the $10 code yet. Will I still be able to redeem it when the company goes back online?
Good question. I’ve asked Andy and Rav about this, and so far they haven’t responded. I know them well enough to know they aren’t just blowing me off — I think they just have much bigger things to worry about at the moment. If I had to guess, my hunch would be that old gift codes will not be honored when DR resurfaces. But we’ll have to wait and see.

Sorry for the hassle. Feel free to be in touch if you have further questions about any of this.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Thrashers appear to have a 10th-anniversary logo slated for next season, and holy shit is it a stinker. … Negro Leagues shorts alert! That’s Prince Joe Henry, the Detroit Clowns player who often had some, uh, unique uniform stylings (but not always). Those pics were contributed by Jared Wheeler, who also sent along shots of an old Houston warm-up jacket from the Slama era, a 1940s Harvard hoops jersey, a Senators jersey with a Jerry Cosby tag (”Never seen his tag on a baseball uniform,” says Jared), a Willie Stargell cap (that’s the closest look I’ve ever gotten of the stars — note that only the one on the right appears to be properly oriented), and — the real prize — a sleeve patch from the 1944 minor league Orioles. Thing of beauty, no? … This is really cool (nice find by Charles Neiswender). … But this is just ridiculous (blame Mark Doescher). … Jordan Wiley has created an interesting project: He’s created an a listing of the best logo treatment for each letter of the alphabet. In other words, this is A, this is B, etc. I don’t agree with most of his choices, but that’s kinda beside the point, cuz it’s an interesting little project. I wish he’d put all his letter choices side by side in one big composite alphabet (get working on that pronto, Jordan!), but for now you can check out his breakdown here. … On Friday I mentioned that I’d been surprised to learn that the Milwaukee Braves had offered stock to the public. That prompted the following from Terry Paffenroth: “The stock was a huge issue when the team’s new ownership started making the plans to move the team out of Milwaukee, because they had buy up that remaining stock from people, most of whom who were not about to sell and lose the team. The plan that eventually took shape was that minority stockholders who would not sell were given a letter saying that their shares were being voided in exchange for a voucher for season tickets — in Atlanta. And just for the first season. Next time I see my grandparents, I’ll try and find their old stock certificate, along with the letter and voucher. They small stockholders and were given two tickets. The largest number I have come across was for six tickets.” … Kentucky wore black uniforms on Friday. … The Fresno Grizzlies have some new alt/promo jerseys (with thanks to William Paul Barrett). … Check out this square-formatted NOB (nice find by Robert Saietta). … Tequila sundrise over Blacksburg. … Brett Crane notes that Kevin Youkilis is wearing his #20 elbow guard in the WBC, even though his WBC uni number is 21. … Maybe we’ve covered this before and I’m just suffering from brain-lock, but what’s up with the ‘Pops’ patch? … Here’s the logo for the 2011 Pan-Am games (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Bob Ruffolo was inside the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday and took a bunch of photos. … The Rangers’ two-tone helmet lives on, at least for now, in a team commercial (screen grab courtesy of Josh Jarmon). … Lots of college basketball uni musings here. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that Arsenal’s Russian signee, Andrei Arshavin, has been wearing at least two different kinds of cleats, as seen here and here (that’s him in the background). … Soccer note from Joe DeLong, who writes: “I was watching Serie A soccer highlights on Sunday and saw that Filippo Inzaghi of AC Milan scored his 300th career goal and was immediately presented with a No. 300 jersey.” Details here. … Doug Keklak sent along this shot from the 1956 Johnstown High School yearbook. Weird to see that the whole team had uni numbers in the 70s and 80s — I realize those numbers were legal in h.s. hoops back then, but it’s still odd that they’d only use numbers in that range. … Luke Mohamed reports that Sidney Crosby, who normally wears a visor, was visor-free during part the first period of yesterday’s Pens game. … The 1898 Spalding Ice Hockey and Ice Polo Guide, which is believed to be the earliest hockey guidebook, is now accessible online — complete with ads. … Interesting 2005 story here about bunting — this kind, not this kind (nice find by Mike Ortman). … St. Paddy’s Week has officially arrived, as the Raptors wore green last night. … As promised, supercross racer Kevin Windham wore Saints-themed gear on Saturday (with thanks to Sean Clancy). … Don D. snapped this shot of an adult league hockey team called the Charlie Browns. “The uniform also has a shoulder patch with Snoopy biting through a hockey stick, à la the Sharks,” he adds. … Only in America, or so I’d assume (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Think this guy’s got enough swooshes?

I was out of town all weekend (hiking here and here, spending the night here, and eating this and this, among other consumables), so it may take me another day or two to catch up on all the Ticker submissions that piled up while I was away, but I think today’s main entry will make up for it, because some pure gold came my way on Friday, and I’m super-stoked to share it with you today.

First, last Wednesday I mentioned that Dave Parker had worn this mask and this mask. One of the comments that day was from Ricko, who said Parker had actually worn a third facemask, which he described as “a basic two-bar late ’60s style.” I was intrigued but got distracted by other things and had forgotten all about it by Friday, when Ricko sent me this. Is that totally the shit or what? Dude’s even got a four-point chinstrap rig!

And wait, it gets better. When I asked Ricko what publication the photo came from, and he said it was from something called Baseball Superstars 1979 and promptly sent me scans of the complete article — which included another photo I’d never seen before. Check this out.

Although the article doesn’t discuss it, here’s the story behind that photo: When Parker returned from his broken cheekbone, he wore the hockey mask for his first time at bat — a pinch-hitting appearance in which he was intentionally walked. I’ve known for years that he reached base but didn’t know there was a photo of it. Amazing stuff.

Also, if you look again at the photo, it appears that the forehead and possibly the right eye area of the mask may have been cut away, revealing what appears to be a Rip Hamilton-style mask underneath. That isn’t so apparent in the other hockey mask photo, however — maybe it’s just a trick of the light or something. In any case, all very interesting.

Meanwhile, the text of the article (which you can see here and here) includes a jewelry note regarding Parker that I’d forgotten about: He wore a necklace with a Star of David pendant, because “I’m David and I’m a star.”

As I was chuckling over that, Ricko sent me more Parker mask shots: this one (similar to the action shot I already had of that mask, but much better quality), this one (which I definitely remember seeing when I was a kid), this one (that’s Pete Rose Jr. in the Phils uni), and — the real prize — this one (from the intentional walk appearance).

Can you believe all this stuff? Let’s all just chip in now and buy Ricko a climate-controlled vault for his archives. As an added bonus, this Wednesday is the 30th anniversary of Parker wearing the hockey mask and the double-bar mask (in the first and second games of a doubleheader, respectively).

The Parker stuff would have been enough to make my (or, I’d think, anyone’s) day. But then I heard from a guy named Mike Steiner, who wanted to talk about the White Sox’s shorts. It’s a topic fairly near and dear to his heart, because — brace yourself — he owns a pair of them.

There’s soooooo much to love in that display — the drawstring, the triple snaps, the striped inner stitching, the chain-stitched “Gossage 38″ tag, that awesome dougout photo. And once I saw that Chicago Tribune article he’s got in there, I immediately tracked it down in the Trib’s archives. It has two photos I’d never seen before — look here and here. The article itself, which you can read here and here, includes some interesting details, including the fact that the Sox had wanted to wear the shorts earlier in the season but weren’t able to because, as Bill Veeck explained, “[W]e had to get the right pads under the socks to protect the knees.”

Steiner says the framed shorts display is the centerpiece of his extensive Chisox uniform collection, which is documented here. He’s got some great stuff, including beauties from 1946, 1967, 1970, and plenty more. Plus he’s also got an additional shorts photo I hadn’t previously seen (obviously part of this shoot, but you can’t have too many photos of this stuff).

All of which sent me into the weekend with a big smile on my face. Hope it puts a smile on yours, too.

Uni Watch News Ticker: I added this link to Friday’s entry in the middle of the day, so some of you may have missed it: If you want one of those Beanie Wells Heisman T-shirts, look here. … Here’s a sleeve patch I hadn’t seen before: New York City’s diamond jubilee, worn by the Mets on the dugout jackets in 1973 (big thanks to Paul Wiederecht). … Finally an action shot of shorts. That’s the Sacramento Solons, 1975 (big thanks to John Moist). … Also from John: interesting minor league shots of Pat Corrales, Shem Lollar, and a young Johnny Lemaster, plus a bunch of Pacific Coast League shots from 1975 (which is the year the PCL switched from flannels to double-knits). … Doug Mulliken reports that Kearney High near San Diego has worn this football uni at least since the 1960s. … The Chicago Athletic Association’s historian, Ron White, sent me a bunch of old materials showing the CAA’s logo (forerunner of the Cubs’ logo) in various settings. I’ve grouped it all into a slideshow here. … New addition to the list of smoking athletes: Jason Taylor (with thanks to Al Stone). … Interesting coincidence here (with thanks to Dave Bloomquist). … On Friday I asked why Carl Hubbell was referred to as “Ol’ Square Pants.” William Gornall responded with a few archival articles in which Hubbell is variously referred to as “the slim southpaw with the baggy pants, which tumbled halfway down his shinbone,” “colorless except for … his custom of wearing his uniform knickers long (claiming that he had no backside to hold them higher),” and “Old Long Pants.” But if you look at photos of Hubbell, his pants look pretty normal for his era. Odd. … Saw WALL-E the other day (really good, and not just because WALL-E collects bowling pins) and was intrigued by a trailer for a sappy-looking movie called The Perfect Game, which looks like it’s gonna feature some awesome Little League flannels. Check the trailer here. … Gary Majewski of the Reds wore stirrups on Friday. Screen shots (and Nicole Haase’s living room light fixture) here and here. … Lots to admire (or at least marvel at) in Vanderbilt’s 1956 football uniforms (thanks, Ricko). … Ronnie Belliard’s latest stunt: wearing mismatched batting gloves (good catch by David McGee). … Check out the Blues’ blue and gold skates (nice find by Jaymes Progar). … “My local team, the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA for the Astros), wore 1958 Corpus Christi Giants throwback unis on Friday to honor the ’58 Texas League championship team,” writes Nicholas Bean. “Awesome unis, and I’m proud to say that every single player on the roster is wearing high socks and stirrups.” There’s a gallery here. … Awesome old baseball sweaters here, here, and here, and check out this turtleneck (thanks, Milesofsparks). … This is hilarious (kudos to K.C. Kless). … The Yankees have added a memorial armband for Bobby Murcer. … Randyt Williams notes that Melvin Mora appears to have blacked out the Franklin logos on his batting gloves. … More great label shots from Tommy Turner: This one is from these basketball shorts; this one is from a 1970 Colts jersey; and this one’s from an Astros rainbow jersey. … The Raptors logo character usually has an R on his jersey, but Sean Doherty just noticed the logo on this page, which shows the character now wearing the team’s secondary logo. When did this switcheroo take place? … Tim Fiorvanti has put together a photo gallery of really great baseball paintings that are currently on display in NYC. … notes that Man U coach Sir Alex Ferguson is wearing his initials his top number. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: David DeJesus was wearing a black belt (instead of KC’s standard-issue blue) the other night. … Also from Saturday: Randy Johnson unveiled his own version of the Pedro Porthole over the weekend. … Still more from Saturday: You almost never see track and field athletes wearing glasses, but apparently Belgian heptathlete/high jumper Tia Hellebaut (additional pics here and here). … Double no-no for Paul LoDuca, who wore faux stirrups and white shoes on Sunday. … Wren Wanger sent along some pics of an Indians matchbox from 1992. … Gumball helmet collector/designer Bill Jones, who I profiled on ESPN several months back, has created stars/stripes versions of the A.L. and N.L. veterans caps. “The Angels and Brewers were TOUGH!” he says. … Larry Wiederecht has most of the All-Star Games from the 1980s on tape and has been doing some truly heroic video research for me. Many of his findings will be in my ESPN column tomorrow (a timeline of ASG uni aberrations), but a few are better suited for the Ticker: Check out this shot of John Stearns from the 1980 ASG. I hadn’t recalled that the Mets wore such huge uni numbers on their helmet brims at the time. This shot from the ’81 ASG shows the Braves’ Atlanta child murders ribbon decal on Bruce Benedict’s helmet. And here’s the real prize: In 1983, George Brett broke his left toe and wore a specially tailored Nike shoe on that foot to accommodate the bandage — even though he was wearing a non-Nike shoe on the other foot. Wow! … After all the speculation, UMich’s new football uniforms are shown here. Interesting to see that the road replica looks nothing like the authentic (which is a real stinker — woof!). … Stewart Small reports that Crystal Langhorne of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics had her NOB misspelled as “Langhorn” (missing the “e” on the end) during the first half of yesterday’s game against the Connecticut Sun. It was corrected in the second half.

Whenever there’s an NBA throwback game, I inevitably get a few e-mails from people complaining that they should have shortened the shorts for maximum retro effect. The Lakers must have been listening, because last night they took the court wearing short shorts, just like in the old days. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the courage of their convictions, because they switched back to full-length shorts in the second half.

So how did it look? Some people have already complained about the compression shorts that were peeking out from beneath many players’ trunks, but that didn’t bother me (especially since compression shorts are often visible on players wearing full-length shorts too). My gripe was that the jerseys were too billowy — they should’ve been tailored snugger, to match the shorts.

For the most part, though, I thought they looked great. Take a look at both teams in this shot — it’s no contest. Same goes here and here.

The key — as always, boys and girls — is the socks. The shorter shorts look dynamite as long as you’ve got some socks covering up some of that lower-body real estate, but this look is problematic.

Once the Lakers went back to the contemporary shorts in the second half (which I think they did just because everyone likes to do that idiotic MJ shorts tug), everything turned predictably sloppy-looking — the baggy look just doesn’t work, people. Memo to David Stern: Make everything two sizes smaller, go buy a Val-U-Pak pack of tube socks, and get back to me in 2008.

Membership Update: Speaking of the turning of the calendar, if you made a new year’s resolution back in January to join the Uni Watch membership program in 2007 (an unlikely scenario, since the membership program didn’t yet exist in January, but still…) — or if you’d just like to ring out the year on a high note — today’s your last chance.

Meanwhile, there’s a bunch of new designs up for your perusal in the membership card design gallery, including today’s showcase design, which is based, of course, on the back of an Ohio State helmet.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Zazzle is running a 20% sale on all apparel from now through January 7th, making this a good time to snag yourself a Uni Watch T-shirt. … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Bizarre (and bizarrely appealing) eBay item here. … More eBay stuff: some amazing old basketball unis, vintage sliding pants, an old Wilson baseball uni ad, and an incredible baseball uniform in Uni Watch colors. … Robert Gelles is a neckwear designer. He’s also a daily Uni Watch reader, which explains why his company is selling this (here’s a more detailed view), this (detail), and this (detail). … “This picture is from the 3A Texas High School football State Championship game,” writes Tory Humphries. “The orange team is the Celina Bobcats, and the word on their socks is ‘Bobcats.’ ” … I knew the Dodgers were wearing a 50th-anniversary patch next season, but I didn’t know what each element of the patch symbolized until Austin Chung sent me this. … Jim Burt always stretched his jersey as tight as possible. But Chris Flinn notes that in this shot, it almost looks like his nameplate has been stretched (or, more likely, they spaced out the lettering to match his stretch-spaced number). … According to the last paragraph of this item, Syracuse will have new football uniforms next season (so what else is new?). … Ever seen a hockey player wearing eye black? I never had, until Cullan Foote sent me this 1967 shot of Kent Douglas. … Several readers noted that Maryland’s punter was wearing a yarmulke during the Emerald Bowl. … If you skip to the halfway point of this video clip, you’ll see BYU kicker Mitch Payne peeling the “Y” logo off his helmet to give to a young fan at the conclusion of the Las Vegas Bowl (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … Ryan Perkins reports that the NFL Network ran a commercial with this image prior to Saturday’s Giants/Pats game. Too bad the Colts no longer wear white facemasks. … Totally bizarre gold shorts stripe being worn by one of the teams in the BJ League (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm, who also passed along some frightening pics from the Master League, the league for retired Japanese baseball players — look here, here, and here, ). … No sooner did I write about basketball players wearing sleeves than Evansville broke out their old sleeved jerseys on Saturday night. Details here. … “The 1988 A’s had a pitcher named Todd Burns,” writes John English. “He wore No. 54, and for some reason his uni numbers were different from everyone else’s on the club. The 4s were thicker and the 5s looked like upside-down 2s [as opposed to this]. This has bugged me for 20 years and while I don’t expect anyone else will know why this happened, it doesn’t hurt to ask.” … Bryan Widell reports that Manchester City captain Richard Dunne had problems with peeling numerals on Sunday. … Buried on this page is the following tidbit of Pittsburgh Pirates news: “The gold ‘P’ on the Pirates’ cap suddenly is taking the place of the angry, bearded pirate on just about all of the team’s printed matter.” Let’s hope this is the beginning of the end for the pirate logo, who’s always struck me as too cartoon-ish (good catch by Timothy Collins). … The Penguins’ goalies plan to wear old-school brown gear for tomorrow’s Winter Classic game. Details here (with thanks to Steve Laga). … And according to an item on this page, Penguins execs “are so pleased with the look of the retro-themed uniforms the club will wear in the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic on New Year’s Day that the Penguins will seek permission to make that design their alternate look [next season]” (as spotted by Mike Reilly). … Reprinted from Sunday’s comments: Several people have mentioned to me that Daryl Johnston was forced to wear a Packers helmet during the 1994 Pro Bowl, after his own helmet was stolen. But I’d never seen visual confirmation until Nolan Brett came up with this. I’m gonna see if my ESPN photo editor can get us a full-size version. … Good view here of Vince Young’s blue chinstrap cozy, which is team-branded. … And we close out the year with a communiqué from Miguel Durón, the winner of our last raffle. He chose an Earl Campbell-era Texas Longhorns helmet from Gridiron Memories as his prize. “Here’s a pic of my 18-month-old daughter rocking it,” he writes. “She looks much cuter with it on than I do.” That’s so damn adorable, I’m not even gonna say anything about the purple shirt. Everyone have a happy and healthy holiday, and remember, New Year’s Eve is for amateurs.

As many of you know, kickers and punters are exempt from shoe color rules, so it’s not unusual to see a punter wearing black cleats while the rest of the team is wearing white, or a kicker wearing one black shoe and one white. But Mike Comeau noticed two particularly interesting things about Falcons kicker Morten Andersen last night:

(1) He wears one Nike shoe and one Reebok. Not sure how common it is for someone to be wearing two different brands. (2) The shoe on his kicking (left) foot was black, just like the rest of the Falcons. It was his plant (right) foot that differed from the rest of his team. Usually it’s the kicking foot that is “out of uniform” because the kicker is more comfortable with a particular shoe.

That last bit is a genius observation. Why would Andersen need a special plant shoe? And why would it have to be white? And it’s not like this is his lucky left shoe that he’s been wearing for years, because he was wearing something else just last month. Weird.

Meanwhile, several readers report that Dallas Clark of the Colts was once again playing without the American flag decal on his helmet last night. No visual evidence yet, but here’s a shot of a flag-free Clark from last week. If Clark’s flagless status from last night can be confirmed, that means our streak of at least one NFL player being sans flag for every week of the season remains intact.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Bizarre story out of Tennessee, where a high school hoops team was cited for wearing illegal uniforms, resulting in 18 technical fouls being called. The resulting free throws were the deciding factor in the game. Details here. … More numbers on shorts: the Butler hoops team (with thanks to Mike Miller). … While researching something else, I came across this awesome Cardinals helmet prototype on the Helmet Hut web site. … Latest chapter in the NHL jersey debacle here. … When the Blackhawks introduced John McDonough as the team president, they gave him an honorary jersey. But David Soline notes that they didn’t use a lowercase “c.” … The Browns will be wearing their throwbacks this Sunday. … What’s the point of beach volleyball if you can’t wear a bikini? (With thanks to Jeremy Brahm.) … Todd Radom, Tom O’Grady, and I are all quoted in this article about the state of uniform design. … Jim Pericotti reports that the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, are wearing a Stanley Cup patch on the back of their jersey.

Buried amidst yesterday’s avalanche of Cowboys/Redskins comments was a small mention of the Belleville Bulls, an OHL (Major Junior) team that’s instituted an unusual quirk this year: They’re wearing uni numbers on their shorts.

This design element (which is also featured on the Bulls’ home uniform) raises an interesting question: Are uni numbers on pants ever a good idea?

In order to assess this query, we first need to look at the history of this phenomenon. Okay, then, one sport at a time:

Baseball: The first MLB team to wear pants-borne uni numbers was the 1975 Astros. By 1980 they’d taken the number off the pant leg, but the concept was revived in 1982 by the White Sox, who kept wearing the digitized pants even after switching to a different uni design — seven seasons in all. I’d like to think we can agree that these all fail the “Is it good or is it stupid?” test. Special Uni Watch bonus points to Floyd Bannister, who somehow managed to wear every one of these uniforms during his career.

Football: I’m aware of three NFL teams that have worn uni numbers on their pants: the 1982-89 Cowboys, the 1982-86 Colts (only at home), and the 1984-87 Packers. Not quite as bogus as the MLB examples, but still pointless, needless, a solution to a non-problem.

Hockey: The Belleville design is the first instance I’ve ever seen of uni numbers on breezers. There’s a certain appealing novelty to the look (just as there was, I’m sure, when the Astros and Cowboys introduced pants numbers to their respective sports), but it still feels like over-design to me.

Basketball: Lots of NBA teams have worn uni numbers on their shorts over the years. The current trend, though, is to go numeral-free, as the Bucks, Suns, and Sonics have all abandoned their shorts numbers in recent years. For some reason these all seem less objectionable than the examples from other sports. There’s something about the number on the shorts that resonates with a “Property of Athletic Dept.” sort of feel, which I kinda dig. Wish more NBA teams would go this route.

Soccer: As most of you know by now, my scope of soccer knowledge is very, very limited. But one thing I do know is that many (most?) teams wear uni numers on their shorts. Seems harmless enough, although I think I’d prefer to see it on the side, not on the front. I trust all you soccer fans out there will post some comments filling us in on the history and protocol for this uni element.

As for other sports, like rugby, volleyball, and the like, I hereby yield the floor to those of you who are better versed in those arcane disciplines. But I think our basic point is made: Uni numbers on pants are fairly rare, and for the most part that’s a good thing.

Austin Update: Thanks to all the Austin-ites who responded to yesterday’s query about possibly holding a Uni Watch gathering on the 27th (i.e., a week from tonight). The response was pretty sizable, so let’s definitely plan on getting together that evening.

I insist that we meet at a barbecue joint, and I’m partial to the ones that are outside of town (yes, I’m familiar with the area). I’d prefer Kreuz’s or Smitty’s in Lockhart, but they both close early, so that’s no good. Let’s make it 7:30 p.m. at the Salt Lick in Driftwood. Cool?

ITEM! Membership News: For those of you who’ve been waiting for us to lift the ban on NCAA-themed membership card designs, your patience has been rewarded: As of right now, NCAA designs are kosher. Actually, we already did one of them months ago — the Yale rugby design shown at right (which I liked so much when it was presented to us that I forgot all about the NCAA ban).

A few things to remember: The more obscure the school and/or sport, the more important it is for you to provide a rear-view photo. A backup design option is always a good idea, too. And the ban on purple-inclusive designs still stands. Aside from that, it’s open season — fire when ready.

And remember, discounted gift memberships are available for the holiday season. Full info on that is here. And non-gift membership ordering info is here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Steiner Sports is selling a game-worn Manny Delcarmen World Series cap, and it turns out he had lots of underbrim scribblings. … Remember Lawrence Tynes’s Umbro cleats? Joe Skiba reports that the NFL has instructed him to black out the logos. … Maybe the NFL should have a talk with Brandon Marshall, too, because the Reebok logo was missing from his sleeves last night. Wasn’t like that a few weeks ago. … Back to Joe Skiba: Remember how the “ny” logo on the Jints’ nose bumpers switched from red-outlined blue to blue-outlined red a few games ago? Skiba says he likes the latter design so much that he’s gonna stick with it. Jeez, why not just make the helmets solid red and be done with it. … Jere Smith notes that Rajon Rondo frequently wears his headband upside-down. … Cincinnati maven David Sonny (who recenty conducted an interview with the Bengals’ equipment manager — look for that to appear here soon) reports that new Reds skipper Dusty Baker has claimed his usual No. 12 from Edwin Encarnacion, who will now wear No. 28. … The Canadiens retired Larry Robinson’s number (which he never wore on his shorts) last night and trotted out all the usual trappings — the all-honoree warm-up, the chest patch, etc. Happily, Robinson wore a straight-hemmed CCM jersey for the occasion, instead of the shirttail-hemmed models being worn by the current Habs. … ¡Cuba si, capitalism double-si!: After losing in the final round of the Baseball World Cup, Cuban pitcher Pedro Lazo sold his jersey to a collector after a sotto voce negotiation in a darkened corner. … Before Lloyd Carr dressed like this, he dressed like this and this (nice find by Doug Mooney). … According to this message board post (sent my way by Andres Douzoglou), Arizona State uses tape stripes on belts as an award system, like helmet merit decals. I’ve never heard this before. Anyone know more about it?

Major typo in the English Premier League yesterday, as David Bentley of Blackburn played an entire match with “Betnley” on his back (plus it wasn’t exactly the most graceful arc). As Dan Winkler explains, “David Bentley is one of Blackburn’s best players. He’s been with them for a few years and, in fact, scored a hat trick against Man U a few years ago, so it’s not like he’s the soccer equivalent of a September call-up or was just acquired in a trade. That’s what makes this mistake especially odd.”

By coincidence, there’s another EPL typo of sorts unfolding these days. It involves West Ham’s John Paintsil. Reader Iain Landon explains:

When Paintsil signed with West Ham from the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv, all of his documentation, including his UK travel paperwork and work permit, had his name as ‘Pantsil’ — note the missing ‘i.’ According to English FA regulations, the name on his shirt has to match his registration, so John Paintsil has become John Pantsil. He only has a handful of appearances for West Ham so far this season, so I haven’t been able to find a photo, but the details of the story are verified here and here.

Meanwhile, back on our side of the pond:

• The Chargers’ season-long streak of having at least one player without an American flag decal was kept intact, as Chris Chambers was flag-free for the third week in a row. LaDainian Tomlinson, however, was flag-clad for the second consecutive week.

• Speaking of the Chargers, someone needs to tell Antonio Cromartie that men don’t look good in sheer hose.

• And speaking of hosiery, Dwight Smith had some serious sock layers going on.

• Charles Woodson, who’s been pushing the uni-related envelope all season, really outdid himself yesterday. Was he wearing tzitzit or what?

• I remain opposed to this look for the Giants, but there were a few interesting details. As Joe Skiba had promised, the “ny” nose bumper logo, which is usually blue outlined in red, was red outlined in blue. And yeah, okay, I can deal with red gloves, red shoelaces, and red undersleeves, but red spats? Enough already. (That player, incidentally, was Kawika Mitchell, and the screen grab comes courtesy of Randy Williams.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Where do college football uniforms go after they’ve been used? Often to Europe, as seen with this Mississippi State jersey being used by the London Olympians, and this Duke jersey worn by the Coventry Cassidy Jets (also note the personalized “MOM” memorial, all found by Stefan Schubert). … Tons of great historical baseball pics in the New York Public Library’s A.G. Spalding Collection (with thanks to John Ervin). … I’m trying to figure out how they’re going to screw this up. … Hannah Krug notes that the Princeton women’s hoops team has their logo in an interesting spot. “The worst part is that it doesn’t even look like a tiger,” she says. “I’m more reminded of a mole rat.” She also notes that Maryland’s jerseys have a normal back, but Marissa Coleman ties her up into a faux racer back. … The Kitchener Rangers wore special Remembrance Day jerseys on Sunday (with thanks to AJ Brandt). … And CFL teams wore poppy decals yesterday (with thanks to Tim Capper for the screen grab). … Not positive about this, but I think Miguel Cotto is the first fighter I’ve seen with a boxing glove depicted on his waistband (it’s on the back, too). … Cal wore really nice throwbacks (which are now being auctioned off) on Saturday. …Mild hilarity on Saturday night, as Trevor Fulkerson wrote to tell me that an Angels turn-ahead-the-clock jersey was up for auction on eBay. Exactly 21 minutes later, David Linder wrote to tell me that he was the winning (and, incredibly, only) bidder. … “I was browsing through a photo gallery of the 1930 World Cup and ran across this picture of the team from Bolivia,” writes Chuck Nolan Jr. “I assumed they were just wearing special shirts for the team portrait, but then I saw this photo , which would seem to confirm that they wore the shirts during the game.” … It’s amazing how Georgia’s black jersey (which I was fine with) really accentuated the black pants stripe, which up until now I’d barely even noticed. … Awesome socks being worn by Dorchester High in Boston (with thanks to Skott Daltonic). … Duke wore throwback jerseys and helmets on Saturday but ruined it by going monochromatic. … Sure didn’t take long for eye-black messages to go from this to this (that’s Mississippi State’s Eric Butler, as spotted by John Wilmoth). … Mark Graban found an interesting old pic of Donny Baseball with mismatched numerals on his helmet brim. Not only that, but look closer at it appears that the “3″ was applied over the “2.” … Jeremy Kaufman notes that Michigan State’s Mark Dell has “Focus” written on his wrist tape. … not a good idea. … The 49ers are already wearing a memorial helmet decal for Bill Walsh. Will they add another one tonight for former coach Dick Nolan, who died yesterday? … Fascinating note from Morris Levin, who writes: ” Topps just released its 2007 Update & Highlights set (it’s what used to be “Topps Traded”). Check out the cards for Francisco Rosario and Kyle Lohse. They must not have had game pics in Phillies jerseys because the uniforms are clearly airbrushed. Rosario is wearing his black Blue
Jays cleats, but more telling is the team wordmark on the front. The Topps art department placed a Phillies logo in there and neglected to remove the underline, which is part of the official logo but does not appear on the jerseys.”

Long-Overdue Thanks: About two months ago, after we changed web-hosting companies, I asked for volunteers to help fix all the non-ASCII characters that had gotten garbled during the server changeover. Six readers answered the call, which was great — and I failed to publicly acknowledge them until now, which is not so great. So for the record, I owe a big debt of gratitude to Chris Schoenthal, Chris Roberts, Mark McGinnis, Matt Edwards, Forrest Carpenter, and Kyle Joecken. Mea culpa for not thanking them until now.

I’m probably the first writer to cover the sports uniform beat on a regular basis — or even to conceive of uniforms as a legitimate sports beat to begin with — but that’s not to say uniform coverage didn’t exist prior to the advent of Uni Watch (indeed, I cited a key 1970s example just the other day). Reader Doug Mooney recently found a bunch of uni-related articles in the archives of the New York Times, and they clearly show that uniform coverage was alive and well in the 1950s. Here they are, listed chronologically:

• April 2nd, 1950: “Hollywood Sets New Baseball Fad; Players Wear Shorts, Rayon Shirts.” This article is about, of course, the Hollywood Stars, who wore shorts in 1950 (additional info here). Key quote, from one of the Stars’ players: “Let ’em razz us, they’ll all be wearing them in another year or so.” Uh, right. Full text available here and here.

• February 26th, 1956: “Cards Redesign Suits.” This short AP item is of particular interest, because it refers to the uniforms that the Cardinals unveiled in this photo. As you may recall, the road jersey shown in that shot — the one with the “St. L.” insignia — was never used, and the circumstances surrounding it have never been fully explained. I devoted a blog entry to that subject about a year ago.

• August 12th, 1956: “What’s a Man to Wear Afield?” The subheading of this article, which ran in the paper’s Sunday magazine section, reads, “If he is a member of the Cincinnati Redlegs, he wears a vest instead of a shirt and pants with built-in knee pads,” which gives you an idea of the subject at hand. To provide some context, this was the season when Cincy’s uniforms changed from this to this. Key quotes: “The Redlegs’ new uniforms are as spectacular, in terms of costume, as the rabbit ball was in terms of window-breakage when Babe Ruth single-handedly revised baseball” and “The pitchers, whose arms supposedly so exceptionally precious, of course, are expected to wear their [under]sleeves long, to avoid chills, vapors or other calamities.” Lots of other good details regarding fabrics, tailoring, performance features, and more. And here’s a tantalizing tidbit: At one point the article mentions that Branch Rickey “attempted to put the Pittsburgh team into shorts, like lady softball players.” I’d never heard about that one before. Anyone else? Essential reading, available here.

• February 24th, 1958: “Giants Favor New Slim Look for Men in Gray Flannel Suits.” This item — written by Gay Talese, no less! — is one of those filler stories that writers come up with on slow days during spring training. Of course, one man’s filler is another man’s front-page news, and this article does not disappoint. Key quote: “[Ray] Kolas, who works for Wilson Sporting Goods, twirls his tape measure around 600 players each season. He keeps a measurement chart report on each player that would do credit to Brooks Brothers. For instance, on his chart of the Detroit pitcher Jim Bunning, Kolas noted: ‘Taper shirt — has small hips (no seat).’ ” Several other gems too, all available here.

• February 1st, 1959: “Major League Fashion Note: New Flannel; Nylon-Wool Fabric Reduces Uniform Weight by Half.” We all know that the Pirates were the first team to switch to solid-polyester double-knits, in 1970. But when did synthetic fibers first start being incorporated into MLB uniforms? According to this article, it was in 1959, when most teams went from solid wool to a 60/40 wool/nylon blend. The article also includes loads of uni-related ephemera, including this classic: “Yogi Berra, Yankee catcher and a dude, tops the best-dressed players with eight pairs of pants. Relief pitchers and bullpen catchers are not hard on clothes, except pants seats.” Get the full scoop here and here.

I know that’s a lot of material to read. But trust me — these are all well worth your time.

Alpha-Numeric Update: On Monday I wrote about this unusual uniform number (details here). That led to this note from Bob Jaye, which ran in Tuesday’s Ticker:

In a college all-star game following the 1971 season (Senior Bowl, perhaps), the South team had two quarterbacks who’d both worn No. 7 during their stellar careers. So Florida’s John Reaves wore 7R and Auburn’s Pat Sullivan wore 7S, respectively. Unfortunately, I can’t find a photo.

Intriguing, right? I didn’t have time this week to go hunting for a photo. But Bob’s brother, Davis Jaye, did. He contacted the Senior Bowl, whose offices were only too happy to provide him with these pics of Sullivan and Reaves. Big thanks to both Jaye brothers for their stellar contributions to the historical record.

Roster Restoration Update: We’re still missing 17 names from the membership roster (in case you’ve missed it, about 90 names were wiped off the list by a software glitch, and I’ve been trying to get everything back to normal). So if you haven’t already done so, all enrolled members should PLEASE check the roster listing. If you don’t see your name there, e-mail me your name, membership uni number, membership level, and why you chose your number. If your name linked to a photo, please re-send it. And if you’d like to help speed up the process a bit more, pick out your card from the design gallery and send me its URL. Big thanks for everyone’s help.

Meanwhile, anyone recognize today’s showcase card? It’s from the Arena League’s Colorado Crush.

Uni Watch News Ticker: My article on bullpen buggy history, which was posted yesterday on ESPN, is here. … Big kerfuffle in Florida over the proposed new uniforms for workers at Miami-Dade International Airport. Full details, plus an amusingly worded reader poll, here (nice find by Jonah Bamel). … Bowling Green’s athletic director discusses why the school changed its helmet design this season here (with thanks to Tom Konecny). … If you’ve ever wanted to dress up Steve Spurrier, here’s your chance (with thanks to Ronnie Poore). … I did a blog entry on World Series press pins about a year ago, but now Zach Siron has found a bunch of them for sale on eBay. Some real beauties, too. Look here, here, here, here, here, and here. Plus Zach also found an All-Star Game press pin and Gabby Hartnett’s lifetime pass (”which were apparently given out to players who had retired with much acclaim, local sportswriters, or other similar stars,” says Zach). Great stuff. … Florida State will be wearing their black uniforms against Duke next weekend. … The Green Bay Press-Gazette just posted a small gallery of Packers photos from 1942. Of particular interest: The ref’s beret (note the separate stripe pattern on the sleeve cuff, too), the uniforms being worn by the Western Army All-Stars (they’re the ones with the stripes), and these totally cool dusters.

The big uni-related news in the NFL yesterday had nothing to do with the players. It was the pink ribbons being worn by most coaches, owners, and other sideline personnel (although a few coaches went ribbon-free, including one guy who obviously didn’t want a ribbon messing up his carefully manicured look). The officials got involved too, wearing pink wristbands (here’s a closer look) and ribbons, although the zebras’ ribbons didn’t have the litle NFL logo pin.

Speaking of which: Isn’t a little offensive to turn cancer into a branding opportunity? Like, why use that NFL logo pin in the first place? MLB does this with their Mothers Day and Fathers Day ribbons, too. Similarly, despite what this decal says, hockey doesn’t fight cancer — chemo and radiation do. Why not have a decal that says, “Find a Cure” or “Support Cancer Research,” instead of a message that’s essentially self-aggrandizing?

Meanwhile, in non-cancer developments:

• Can’t say I was in love with the Titans’ blue-on-blue look, but I didn’t hate it either. The more of it I saw, the more it started to grow on me. Hmmmmmmm.

• The Rams, on the other hand….

• As discussed in yesterday’s comments: Although it’s not a new thing for him, John Kasay was wearing a watch and his wedding band while kicking yesterday.

• The Falcons logo on Alge Crumpler’s left sleeve was facing the wrong way (it should look like this.

• No photo yet, but LaDainian Tomlinson’s American flag decal was still missing. (In a related item: The Bills will be wearing their throwbacks tonight, and I’m wondering if their helmets will be completely blank in the back, as they were last year).

Research Reminder: I’m still very much in the market for examples of typos and misspellings on uniforms. In particular, I’m having trouble finding a photo of Wayne Gretzky from his first game with the Rangers, when he wore “Gretkzy” on his back, but non-superstar typos are fine too. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Several readers have noted that Jimmy Rollins wears a Cool-Flo hemet when batting right-handed but a conventional lid when swinging from the left side. … Ryan Purdie notes that the TV numbers on Utah’s uniforms have been doing a slow fade. In 2005 they were on both the home and road unis; in 2006, still on the road set but not on the home design; and this year, they’re missing from both the home and road unis. … Mike Alper notes that the Blackhawks’ sleeve numbers seem to have been cut rather sloppily, without enough white space. Additional examples here, here, here, and here. … Marquette will have some rad throwback alternate jerseys this season (with thanks to Jon Aubry). … Reprinted from last Thursday’s comments but still worth a look: A surprisingly in-depth article devoted to Cole Hamels switching undershirts during Game 1 of the Phils/Rockies series. … Remember last week’s discussion of negative space? Markus Kamp found another good example in this Seahawks 12th man pin. … The National Federation of State High School Associations has enacted a bunch of new lacrosse uniform regulations (with thanks to Ryan Burns). … The Islanders’ Stanley Cup stripes were missing from Bill Guerin’s shoulder the other day (good spot by Tim Hudson). … Not truly uni-related, but there’s a spectacular slideshow devoted to photos of old Comiskey Park here — highly recommended (great find by Michael Gargano). … Check out the unsightly gap between Daniel Sedin’s right sock and pant cuff (as spotted by Daniel Sherman). … Marhsall’s basketball team has entered NikeWorld (that depressing news courtesy of Jake Keys). … “During Friday night’s Pens/Ducks game, the announcers were talking about these special pads that hang over the laces of the skates,” writes Nate Budziszewski. “They said most players don’t like to wear them because they’re embarrassed, so they wear a more cosmetic version that’s hidden under the laces.” … The NFL has enlisted Chelsea FC to help promote the upcoming Giants/Dolphins game in London. First visible evidence of this: Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora wearing Chelsea jerseys. … Jeff Tripodi found a 1987 SportsCenter highlight clip in which George Hendrick is referred to as “He With the Long Pants.” … Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera both wore red trunks for their super featherweight title bout Saturday night. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Illinois players are wearing “Team” on their nose bumpers — a staple of Ron Zook-coached teams. … Bugs and baseball? Nothing new about that. … Hey, speaking of Friday’s bug-a-thon, here’s some recommended movie viewing for Yankees fans and Joba Chamberlain: Them (1954), which features huge nuclear-irradiated ants, and Starship Troopers (1997), in which the military forces of Earth wage intergalactic war against giant alien bugs. Both offer comforting reassurance that humans really can overcome insects. … Auburn’s 1957 throwbacks didn’t do much for me, given that they left so much contemporary clutter on the jersey’s upper chest. … Kent State University wideout Derek McBryde’s right TV number has been backwards for the team’s past two home games (good catch by Brad Foster). … The Japan Basketball League has introduced a new mascot. And his name — I kid not — is Hoopy. This is so fucking great, I don’t even mind that he’s not wearing striped tube socks (big thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Our own Vince Grzegorek was quoted extensively in this article about the Indians’ uniform history, which ran in yesterday’s Cleveland Plain Dealer. The printed article included additional quotes from Vince, plus photos, so Ohio readers should fish their copies of the Sunday paper out of the recycling pile. … The striped belt phenomenon has trickled down all the way to high school (good spot by Jack Krabbe). … Susan Freeman attended the Stars’ home opener in Dallas on Friday and reports that “the new slimmer jerseys [kept getting] caught in the shorts, leaving half the numbers obscured” (but she didn’t mind so much cuz she got a pair of jersey beer cozies). The next day she checked out the traveling “Baseball as America” exhibit and took dozens of photos, which are available in a slideshow here. … Wisconsin’s women’s hockey team has won two national championships wearing this design, so Nicole Haase was surprised to attend a game on Saturday and see the team skating out looking like this, which is essentially the same design that the men’s team wears. “I asked a girl who was working the bench about the jerseys,” says Nicole, “and she said they were new and she thought they were permanent.” … During the preseason, the Lightning’s road jerseys had uni numbers on the front but the home jerseys didn’t. Now that the season has started, the numbers are appearing on the home set as well. According to a small item buried on this page (sent my way by Doug Mooney), “The team decided to make the change near the end of the preseason and sewed the numbers on after getting permission from the league.”

We’ve been so busy with team sports over the past month or so (stretch-run baseball, the start of the NFL and college football seasons, the relentless flood of new NHL designs) that I completely ignored the U.S. Open tennis tourney. And that’s a shame, because we happen to have a bona fide Open operative right here in our midst: Gabe Ganot, who’s been working as a ballboy — okay, ballperson — at the Open since 1999, giving him an ideal vantage point for uni-watching. That’s him in the photo shown above.

Gabe sent me a good rundown of observations a few weeks ago, which I’m finally getting around to sharing with the rest of you. Check it out:

Almost all players wear one outfit per tournament. But Federer this year had two — a “day” and “night” selection. The night attire featured the “Man in Black” look with a black headband, black shirt, shorts, socks and sneakers. This as opposed to the day outfit, with a blue shirt, white shorts, white sneakers, and a blue headband. People were wondering what he was going to do for the final, because it was scheduled to start in the late afternoon and it was still light out. I think he was quoted as saying since the lights would eventually be on, he would go with the Johnny Cash look. Note that his sneakers have the three Swiss flags commemorating his three U.S. Open wins the last three years (I think it also says something on the tongue). Roger also has the tendency to constantly brush imaginary hair from his forehead and adjust his headband.

Nadal, I’m pretty sure, has the worst OCD of anyone on the tour, and not just uni related. Before he serves, just about every point, he has the David Wright-esque habit of picking his wedgie. The other ballpersons and I wonder why he continues to wear the capris if he has to adjust his pants every point. He also adjusts his hair/headband with the same frequency. Other examples of his OCD include placing his drink on the same exact spot during every changeover, and sprinting out to the baseline for warm-ups.

You’d think that the folks at Lacoste would make Andy Roddick a nice-fitting shirt. Instead he has to constantly adjust it, nearly every point, to make the shoulders drape correctly (similar to the way most volleyball players do). This has been happening for several years now. He also has taken a liking to wearing his hat a little sideways, à la Pokey Reese or Mike Cameron. It’s not an accident — I’ve seen him take it off and be very particular about the way he puts it back on.

Its also interesting see how doubles teams dress. Sometimes, teams go all out and match every single part of their outfits, down to the sneakers, like the Bryan brothers. Other teams wear what they would normally wear if they were playing singles, while others come up with a completely different outfit, like Justin Gimelstob in his mixed doubles team with Ashely Harkleroad. Speaking of Gimelstob, he apparently sweats like there’s no tomorrow, so he tends to change shirts around five or six times a match. And speaking of sweating, some players are obsessed with the towel. Nadal, for instance, asks for it pretty frequently on a hot day, and Roddick can be the worst. This ballboy would like to see some sort of integrated towel technology, like certain wide receivers have.

The women have different issues than the men. For starters, many of them wear makeup and jewelry while on the court. I think Jelena Jenkovic even puts her watch on before playing.

It’s also been interesting to note the ball-holding technology for women over the last decade (insert sex joke here). When I first started being a ballboy, most women just asked for one ball to serve instead of two like the men (men have pockets, so they usually ask for two and put one in their pocket in case they fault on their first serve). Some women would ask for two and just shove one of them into the bottom of their underwear, and after a game I’d have to go pick up a slightly damp ball. Others went with the plastic ball holder (famous example: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario), which was essentially a belt that had a little plastic thingie that sat right on top of the butt. These days, the women have slightly longer undergarments, kind of like the compression shorts basketball players wear. These have pockets, so that makes my job a little easier.

When I first started, almost all women wore the simple tennis skirt and some sort of top. Then Serena hit the scene, and now we get horror stories, like look at Bethanie Mattek’s outfit from this year’s Open. She does something like this at every tournament. It also seems like the ladies have a contest to see who can wear the shortest skirt and the like.

It’s also kind of weird to see some players who aren’t sponsored and end up having different parts of their outfits from several manufacturers. I forget who, but someone this year had something like an Adidas shirt, Nike shorts, and Champion socks.

With regards to equipment, there’s nothing too crazy, but some funny stuff. For instance, instead of the traditional shock absorber that most players have on their racket, some players use an ordinary rubber band. Not sure why. No player I saw wore regular glasses, only a handful had sunglasses on (Arnaud Clement and Alexa Glatch come to mind), and a few went with the bright sunscreen on the nose. Also, while most players bring at least five or six rackets with them to the court, I noticed that Mark Knowles liked to just tape on a new grip instead of going with a new racket. Not sure the reasoning for that.

As for our Polo-brand ballperson uniforms, they’re a welcome change from the Fila garbage we had several years ago, which were in outlandish colors and make us look ridiculous (plus you try running around in 90-degree heat in a thick cotton polo that’s too large, shorts that are too tight, and sneakers that can literally blow up if you plant too hard). The new ones are a nice moisture-wicking material with a good form-fitting shape (we don’t have to tuck in anymore!). But we are essentially walking advertisements — in addition to the 6-inch Polo logo on the chest area, we have a full 12-inch logo on the back, making us look like real product whores. Additionally, with around five days to go in the tournament we were mandated to begin wearing Polo wristbands, which was odd, because they never told us to where on the arm to wear them, unlike everything else which is by the book. The only change the Polo unis have had over the years is that they change the color of the vertical striping on the shirt and and shorts (this year it was yellow; in the past it’s been red and white).

Big thanks to Gabe for all that info. Still want more? Vince (who provided several of the photos links above) notes that this tennis blog has lots of fashion coverage.

Research Reqeust Request: I’m working on a column devoted to uni-related typos. I’ve got all the classics covered (Angees, Torotno, Nayv, Nigger Ilsand, etc.), along with the assorted nameplate misspellings that have periodically been called out here on the blog. If you know of any others, old or now, that we haven’t discussed, please let me know. Thanks.

Fall Back (into bed): The annual moving of the clocks is still a month away, but Uni Watch likes to be ahead of the curve, so…. As those of you in the Eastern Time Zone are well aware, I usually get the day’s entry up by 9 a.m., which is an arbitrary deadline that I set back in the site’s early days. Well, not completely arbitrary — I was trying to (a) motivate myself and (b) get you folks used to the idea that you could depend on fresh content being ready for you at the start of each day.

After a year and a half of this, during which it’s now become routine for me to be eating my breakfast in front of the computer while frantically making last-minute changes to the Ticker, I’d like to reclaim a bit of breathing room for my mornings (and, by extension, for my late-night hours). So beginning next week, my new arbitrary self-imposed daily deadline will be 10:15 a.m. Among other things, this should make it much easier for me to catch up on the previous night’s comments, deal with Ticker contributions that come in overnight, and so on.

I know some of you eastern folks have grown accustomed to starting your day (read: goofing off at work) with Uni Watch, but I have faith in your abilities to find other productive uses for the 75-minute window that fate has just handed you. Just pretend I moved to Chicago or something, OK? OK.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of good stuff currently available on eBay, including this patch, this ad, this uniform, and this jersey. … Latest schools to go with the System of Dress: Maryland and Miami (with thanks to Jose Frontanes and Mike Alper, respectively). … Another new NHL mask: Marc Andre Fleury. … Good overview of the NFL captains’ patches — including a shout-out to Uni Watch — here. … Interesting article here about the Rochester Amerks new uniforms. Key quote, from team prexy Steve Donner: “RBK is integrating vertical striping into the jersey, and they wanted to do away with all horizontal striping. It wasn’t our suggestion to remove the stripes.” … Bizarre purple/green/yellow color scheme exhibited by Waukegan High in Illinois (with thanks to AJ Brandt). … Ouch. … Tons of old high school team photos, from a wide range of sports, here (with thanks to Brendon Yarian). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The LPGA has changed its logo from this to this, which strikes me as a major improvement. Details here. … Also from yesterday: The NHL and Reebok held a conference call on Tuesday to address the growing chorus of player complaints about the new uniforms (the latest of which can be found in the middle of this article). Details here. … Good article here about the Sharks’ goalie masks. … Still more All Blacks soap operatics (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The people at New Era are really, uh, outdoing themselves. … Dan Schulman, who’s doing ESPN Radio’s play-by-play for the Bosox/Angels series, mistakenly stated during last night’s game that Jason Varitek is the only current MLB captain to wear a “C.” Schulman forgot about Mike Sweeney.