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Posts filed under 'Typography'
As if the Longhorns didn’t have enough problems on the court lately, last night they became the latest college hoops team to wear one Nike’s sublimated rear-jersey designs. If you can’t quite see the details of the design there, that’s okay — Nike helpfully did a media blitz earlier in the day, so these photos were bouncing around all over the web. (Note that the text at the top of the page says Nike is claiming that this uniform is “70 percent lighter” than other uniforms. Now think about that. Seventy percent is, like, a lot. And you know the previous uni was billed as being 30 or 40 percent lighter than its predecessor. I’m assuming we’re now down to a uniform that weighs about half a gram.)
Although the sublimated design is going to get all the attention, this uniform has other details worth mentioning, especially the new insignia font. Not bad on its own terms, but it totally doesn’t work with the block uni numbers. Compare the team’s standard SoD uni and it’s clear which lettering/numbering pairing looks better. They should either go back to block lettering or else change the number font to match the insignia.
Also, see those dots on the sides of the shorts? Someone on the Chris Creamer board who had courtside seats for the game says the dots are actually little holes that “show the color of the spandex underneath.” I guess that’s how you make a uniform that’s 70 percent lighter — shoot it full of holes.
Who’s got the ball?: Giants equipment manager and all-around swell guy Joe Skiba recently sent me two boxes of game-used NFL “Duke” footballs. Each one is stamped with “Giants” and most of them also have a handwritten official’s mark.
Joe sent me a dozen of these balls. I’m keeping one for myself and giving one to Phil, which leaves 10 balls to give away to the rest of you. To be eligible to win one of them, send a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to this address by this Friday, February 12th, 7pm eastern. Only one entry per person (remember, Uni Watch Membership Program enrollees are no longer eligible for bonus entries). I’ll announce the 10 winners next Monday.
Big thanks to Skeebs for generously providing the Dukes!
Attention DIYers: Stephen Andon is a doctoral student in the Communication Dept. at Florida State, and he’d like your help with his dissertation. Here, I’ll let him explain:
I’m writing a dissertation on sports memorabilia in all of its many forms — from game-worn stuff to packaged dirt. Seeing as much of that is out of my price range, the DIY movement has always been intriguing to me. As a result, one chapter of my dissertation will be dedicated to sports fans making/creating their own stuff. I’m interested in e-mailing and/or talking with anybody who’s willing to share their thoughts.
Steve interviewed me yesterday, and I can attest that he’s a sharp fella, so I encourage all you DIYers — or even anyone who just has thoughts to share about the DIY phenomenon, positive or negative — to make contact with him. You can e-mail him here.
By the way, Stephen, your membership card is mailing out today.
Speaking of which: A handful of other cards are mailing out today (including Dave Krakowski’s vintage Packers helmet treatment, shown at right), but about two dozen of you have been awaiting your cards for several weeks now — and I’m sorry to say you’ll have to wait a bit longer. As I mentioned on the site last week, Scott Turner is in the process of moving to Seattle — he’s going by car and left Brooklyn three days ago. In the run-up to his departure, he wasn’t able to finish all the card designs in the hopper, and it’ll probably be another week or two before he gets settled enough to catch up with everything. He and I both apologize for the delay and thank you in advance for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Let’s begin with some follow-ups from yesterday. (1) I mentioned that it might be fun to see a colorized version of this photo. Larry Bodnovich took me up on it. So did Steven Wojtowicz, who added a bit of commentary. (2) I asked what the patch on Willie’s jacket was for, and Paul Wiederecht promptly informed me that it was for the 75th anniversary of NYC’s incorporation. “The mets were the only NYC team to wear it, and only on heir jackets,” says Paul. “It shows up mostly in photos from Willie Mays Night and the ’73 Series.” (3) I also asked about the right-sleeve patch that the Red Wings were wearing in this shot (not the V — the other sleeve). Teebz quickly identified it as a war bonds patch. … Super Bowl stat I hadn’t heard until yesterday: The NFC has now won the coin toss 13 straight times! … Here’s something you don’t often see: Dave Stewart as a Phillie (good find by Andy Chalifour). … Sharp observation by Logan Light, who writes: “I know we’ve seen a lot of NBA players do different things with their mouthguards — stick them in their socks, behind their ears, in their headband. But Rajon Rondo spits his mouthguard into his jersey. It stays there because the jersey is tucked in. Then he reaches in and pulls it out when he needs it next (sorry, the angle’s a bit off on that shot). Odd.” … The White Sox are un-retiring Luis Aparacio’s number for newly acquired Omar Vizquel (with thanks to my longtime Chicago buddy Tim Adams). … On man, some tremendous stuff available in this 1938 NHL scrapbook. Be sure to click on the photo and then click through all the other images — amazing stuff (awesome find by Mike Hersh). … A Virginia newspaper accidentally reversed the Super Bowl score in yesterday’s editions. … Here’s a fun little item about Joe McCarthy’s sleeves (with thanks to Mark Sullivan). … Cool article + video on the loading of the Indians’ spring equipment truck here (with thanks to Eric Bunnell). … And here’s a similar article about the White Sox. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Check out these awesome Bears sweatshirts. … Penn State wore throwbacks the other night. For photos, go here and click on the Feb. 6 game. Note that there was no maker’s mark on the shorts. … Douchebaggery alert: Saints LB Scott Fujita kept a Super Bowl diary, in which he revealed that Nike dropped him for spatting over his swoosh (with thanks to Brad Denny). … An Orix Buffaloes player recently committed suicide, and players wore black ribbons at his memorial service. “No word on whether they’ll wear them in the regular season,” says Jeremy Brahm. … Here’s a weird one: a Super Bowl patch album. Of course, the early Super Bowls didn’t feature any jersey patches — and if you look at the photos, you’ll see that the patches from more recent seasons aren’t the same ones that were worn in the games. Were these patches created specifically for this album or what? … Is this a new Minnesota police badge? Nope — it’s the logo of a new soccer team (with thanks to Nathan Haas). … I’m spending today with my Mom, so Phil is minding the store — treat him right. I’ll see you tomorrow.
February 9th, 2010
Thanks to Phil’s recent “Worst Uni Ever” poll, you’ve seen plenty of Colorado Caribous photos lately. But most of you probably haven’t seen this one.
That shot, along with a bunch more (click on the thumbnails for larger versions), come from this site devoted to NASL jerseys, which reader Rob Bryant just brought to my attention.
In a nutshell: The site is so awesome that I might just have to become a soccer fan after all. A very small selection of the highlights (click on little pics to see big pics):
• Totally digging the chest logo used by the Montreal Olympique.
• Stripe-o-rama! That’s the Rochester Lancers, 1971. Interesting to see that they used a different font for the rear uni number.
• Love how the San Francisco Quakes used the cross stroke on the Q to form a fault line — or, better yet, to fracture a soccer ball. (As an aside, did you know there was an indoor soccer team called the San Francisco Fog? How awesome is that jersey?!)
• Sort of quaint how Minnesota teams are always named after the state, not after a particular city, as in the Minnesota Strikers. Not such a bad thing when it results in the state outline being depicted on the jersey, though.
• Check out the silver chain-stitching on this Las Vegas Quicksilvers jersey (which also has one of history’s clunkiest, most awkward NOBs).
• Uni typography doesn’t get much more quintessentially ’70s than this Edmonton Drillers design. Only problem is that the jersey is actually from 1982. Interestingly, the 1970s-esque design replaced something that was much more ’80s-ish.
• Very odd insignia for the 1980 Houston Hurricane. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a team intentionally obscure part of the type like that. But it’s probably better than this.
• The Adidas logo really ruined the elemental simplicity of this 1979 California Surf design. Looks better in this overexposed photo, since you almost can’t see the logo creep. (And speaking of the Surf, check out this shot from a game played at Vets Stadium, complete with all the MLB logos in the background. Ah, the indignities of being a minor sports league.)
• My vote for best NASL sleeves goes to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, for obvious reasons. Mmmm, tasty.
• Then again, the Toronto Blizzard had some pretty cool sleeves too.
• What happens you’re your team uses really huge-ass NOB lettering (and, as an aside a sews the apotrophe on backwards)? You run the risk of ending up with a DDNHOB (double-decker hyphenated NOB, duh)! Those jerseys are from the Hartford Bicentennials (now there’s a team name with a short shelf life), who had a very cool chest logo.
• Do you get the feeling that maybe the Detroit Cougars didn’t originally plan on using NOBs?
• On the other hand, the New York Cosmos left plenty of NOB room but didn’t know how to use it.
• So much to like in this photo of the Chicago Sting vs. the Dallas Tornado.
• Now that’s a weird number font. If you scroll through this page, you’ll see that the Clippers used all sorts of weird number treatments in their brief two-season existence.
• Starred socks! As worn by the Houston Stars, natch.
• Okay, I don’t mean to harp on the NOBs, but come on. Joe Hilseberg, where were you when this league needed you?
• I hate logo creep but love ticking stripes. So what do I make of this? Hmmm, that’s a tricky one. The team in question, by the way, is the 1980 Memphis Rogues, although they weren’t the only team using that design element.
• Interesting to see that the Philly Fury used a contrasting placket. Looked pretty good!
• Does this 1967 St. Looie Stars jersey totally look like a thrift store special or what? Yes, I’ll buy it for $6, sold!
And look, the site even has a page devoted to NASL cheerleaders. Would you believe the KC Spurs called their cheering corps the InSPURettes? And the Tampa Bay Rowdies called theirs — wait for it — the Wowdies.
And just to bring everything full circle, reader Raifie Bass has a real prize in his collection: a Colorado Caribous satin jacket!
That settles it, from now on Uni Watch will cover soccer exclusively, the end.
Research Query: Two years ago I wrote an ESPN column in which surveyed the Cowboys’ assorted uniform quirks, past and present. The following summer, I wrote similar columns about the Cubs and White Sox.
Those columns were really fun to write, and popular besides. I’d like to do more of them, but I’ve had a hard time identifying other teams that would benefit from the same treatment. Maybe the St. Looey Cardinals..?
Can you think of other teams that would fit the bill here? Remember, the operative concept here is NOT “Let’s look at this team’s entire uni history”; the idea is to find teams that have had interesting uni histories, replete with quirks and underappreciated nuances. If you go back and read those three previous columns, you’ll see that the Cowboys, Cubs, and Chisox fit this description exceedingly well. If you think any other teams qualify, don’t be shy about telling me. Oh, and please don’t bother suggesting Oregon’s football team, thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: New Aussie football kit for Port Adelaide (designed by a seven-year-old girl — no, really, read the sixth graf) and West Coast (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Check out this bizarre baseball jersey patch. That’s the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz, circa 1940s. … Phil found some interesting shots of Teddy Ballgame wearing cut-off windbreaker sleeves and an undershirt. Here’s another. … Apparently Kareem didn’t get the memo about which shoes and socks to wear to the photo shoot (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Danny Millan has started a new Brooklyn-centric clothing line. I appreciate the sentiments, although I hope the Brooklyn Nets never actually come to pass. … Remember these football gloves? Here’s the next evolutionary step (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Ever wonder why David Vyborny used to use solid-black sticks? Right, me neither, but Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline had this to say during a recent online chat: “David Vyborny was so peeved that he didn’t get a stick deal that he used to spray paint his sticks black to keep from advertising the manufacturer. Vyborny was an interesting dude” (with thanks to Kellen Dargle). … Scandalous news out of New Jersey, where a little birdie informs me that the Devils’ throwbacks, slated to be worn on March 17th, will be lame-o fauxbacks. According to my source, they’re just using the current jersey template with green replacing the black. Also, they’re using the modern red and a darker green. Pfeh. … What team is this? Details here. … Troy Polamalu’s little embroidered cross is suddenly everywhere. Word I hear from league sources is that they’re okay with it because it’s covered by his hair, sort of like if he had a message on a T-shirt under his jersey — out of sight, out of mind — but I suspect the real story is that they don’t want to wade into the thorny thicket of religious expression. … Lots of Mets fans sent me this item about the new cream-base pinstripes, which will be officially introduced in a few weeks. The item implies that the cream pins won’t have the black drop shadow — I hope that’s true, but it does not jibe with the information I have. … Yesterday’s Portland Beavers entry inspired Craig Rockhold to send over a bunch of pics from that PCL exhibit at the San Francisco airport. … In a move that’s waaaaay overboard for a high school, Under Armour is sponsoring River Hill High in Maryland and has provided them with a different uniform for every game this season (with thanks to Jonathan Blake). … Pete Woychick recently rediscovered these two high school hoops warm-up tops in his parents’ attic. Super-offensive logo icon on one of them, but nice pieces nonetheless. Odd to see St. Joe’s abbreviated as “St. Jo’s,” no? … Throwbacks will be in the mix this season for Loyola Marymount. No images yet, but the game dates are listed in the middle of this page. … 1957 A.L. Red Book, in what looks to be tip-top condition, available here (thanks, Teebz). … Back to Uni Watch’s new favorite sport: Coachie Ballgames has done an analysis of World Cup uniforms and concluded that it’s all about the collars.
November 19th, 2009
Time for another bunch of vintage NFL screen shots from reader Steve K., who continues to document unusual uni-related items from the 1970s (if you’ve missed the previous entries featuring his work, they’re here and here). Here we go:
• If you think John Hadl’s NOB looked off-center in this shot (which was featured in one of Steve’s earlier reports), check him out here — yikes.
• Oilers DB Willie Germany wore some white tape stripes on his thighs.
• Note the small type on Emery Moorehead’s NOB, circa 1977. “Only a few Giants had this font that season, including Moorehead and OL Jim Pietrzak,” says Steve. “From 1977-80, the Giants had numerous inconsistencies in their NOB fonts which, I’ll document another time.”
• Alfred Jenkins’s NOB type wasn’t small — it was missing altogether in this 1977 shot.
• Speaking of missing uni elements, here’s Rick Upchurch wearing a blank helmet in 1975 — shocking! But he had a logo-clad helmet in the second half of the same game.
• Meanwhile, here’s Upchurch’s teammate Billy Van Heusen with no space between the two part of his surname.
• On the other end of the spectrum, check out James McAlister’s NOB with a wide space. This appears to have been Philly’s standard style in 1975.
• Speaking of the Eagles, check out the livery on this helicopter — interesting mix of the helmet wing and an eagle’s head.
• Steve has documented several instances of the mid-’70s Chargers NOBs with the first initial coming after the surname, and here’s another one. “That’s little-known OL Booker Brown,” says Steve. “Oddly, there was no other Charger with the surname Brown on the team in 1975.”
• “We all know that the NFL changed the end zone markers from from flags to orange pylons beginning in 1974,” says Steve. “But the Broncos appear to have used striped pylons for this 1975 game against the Eagles.”
• We’ve had plenty of discussion about the inconsistencies in the Dolphins’ numerals over the years, but here’s a particularly glaring example: Check out the TV numbers in this shot.
• 1970s coaching attire was always good for a laugh (especially when the coach in question was Bum Phillips). And even if the coach was dressed conservatively, there was usually someone on the field to remind you which decade you were in.
That’s enough for now. More stuff coming from Steve soon.
Friendly Reminder: If you’ve been uni-tracking a team for Phil, he wants to hear from you asap. Full details here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: New sleeve patches for Navy. Further details here (with thanks to Mike Althouse and Kevin Whisman, respectively. … Mike Hersh picked up some cool stuff at the National in Cleveland last week, including this awesome 1939 Eagles photo and a great view of some killer Michigan logo socks. … John Moist was vacationing in Philly and spotted a waiter wearing faux stirrups at the Old City Tavern. “They are required to wear white socks,” he says. “I told him about Uni Watch and that this photo may appear. Sorry, didn’t get his name. Also, another waiter had swoosh socks. I did not take his photo.” … Big news from Jeff Ash, who writes: “I am working on a Packers photo history book that may be of interest to uni enthusiasts. Titletown’s Team won’t be out until November, but it will have more of the old Packers photos I’ve posted at the Green Bay Press-Gazette’s web site over the last couple of years. We also will be putting some of that material online.” … I don’t like Nike, but I might make an exception in this case (big thanks to Chad Todd). … Here’s a patch I’d never seen before, because it was never worn on the ice. The Flyers wore it for promo photos after their 1975 Stanley Cup championship. Here’s one more view (nice find by Paul Richard Cook). … Here’s an article about which UK soccer team has the most sponsor patches (with thanks to Craig Sallinger). … Michael Chamberlain is the track announcer at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston. “In our first race this Saturday, the #2 horse is named Uni. 6-1 odds on the morning line, and I will certainly plan on picking him in my tip sheet and will probably put a couple of bucks on him also to honor the Uni Watch site.” Thanks, Michael! … Small item buried within this guide to NYC museums: “On the second floor of the American Wing [at the Met], there’s an open storage area where art is displayed in glass cases while galleries undergo renovations. There you can admire a fraction of the museum’s thousands of rare baseball cards, donated by electrician Jefferson R. Burdick. (The rest, including a 1909 Honus Wagner valued at more than $2 million, are stored in the archives.) Until 1993, the cards were available for viewing by appointment only: It’s rumored that practice stopped because fanatic card collectors would pocket the valuable ones” (big thanks to Laura Forde). … Coupla good finds on the Chris Creamer board, including a new 50th-anniversary logo for the Lakers, an upcoming white-out for FSU, and new cleats for Matt Hasselbeck. Didn’t he get in trouble a few years back for wearing white shoelaces with black shoes? … NOBs have been restored at Iowa State, which had been NNOB for the past two seasons (with thanks to Chris Andringa). … According to Dressed to the Nines, “In 1895, a number of ballplayers, including future Hall of Fame outfielder Jesse Burkett, experimented with baseball caps that had green-tinted, transparent bills. The idea was to allow the fielder a better range of view while protecting him from the glare of the sun, but apparently the see-through bills never caught on.” I knew about that. But I didn’t know that a variation on that concept was still being sold in the Sears catalog in 1923 (nice find by David Neuman). … Apparently nobody has told the folks at AFLAC (or at FSN Rocky Mountain) that the Orioles no longer have “Orioles” on their road jersey (with thanks to Matt Hiett). … Tim Burke notes that Rays catcher Michel Hernandez was missing his manta ray sleeve patch last night. … “Does he tear EVERYthing?” asks Brinke Guthrie. … Entertaining survey of high school team logos here (with thanks to Kurt Esposito). … The Titans will wear a Steve McNair memorial decal this season. … Vicente Padilla was sporting the Pedro Padilla Porthole last night (as spotted by Jay Shive). … Paul Getz II notes that the Phillies have stopped wearing their World Series championship sleeve patch. … Can someone please order one of these for Luis Castillo? … There’s a blog devoted to the Arizona Wildcats equipment staff (with thanks to Eric Sing). … Speaking of the Mets, had a great time at Shea yesterday with Phil. Two uni-notable items: (1) Cards catcher Jason LaRue wore navy shinguards with a red chest protector, and (2) Bobby Parnell had been with the Mets all season long without coming up to bat, until the bottom of the 8th yesterday. He promptly got a base hit, at which point they showed him on the jumbotron, which is when I saw that he had his own batting helmet. Just think how many times that helmet has been packed, unpacked, put in the helmet rack, put back in the helmet bag, taken on the road, etc., all season long, just waiting for its chance to finally be used in a game. I take a lot of shots at Charlie Samuels, but I give him credit for having a helmet for every player, even the ones who might never get a turn at bat.
August 6th, 2009
Phil already covered the Civil Rights Game in yesterday’s post (if you missed it, scroll down for his analysis), but there are a few additional details I want to go over today. To wit:
• They kinda botched the Reds’ NOB font, along with the number-to-letter size ratio. More to the point, though, isn’t it bizarre that the Reds used an “uphill” arch for their subscript NOBs back in the day? The subscript format is weird enough on its own, but it would’ve looked so much better with an inverted, “downhill” arch (like the word “Carolina” here). Anyone with decent Photoshop skills want to show us how that might have looked?
• We’re so used to seeing the Reds using the wishbone C logo that I’d kinda forgotten all about the rounded C version, which they used from 1961 through ’66.
• Phil mentioned D.J. Carrasco’s stirrups, but reader Steve Johnston let me know that Carrasco’s hose prompted the following exchange between Chisox broadcasters Steve Stone and Ken Harrelson:
Steve Stone: He’s got some high socks.
Ken Harrelson: I tell ya, if I were a pitcher today, there’s no way in the world I’d be wearin’ those loooong pants, all the way down. I’d be wearin’ socks like that.
Stone: I’d be wearing as much white…
Harrelson: Exactly!
Stone: … as I possibly could and try to get the baseball to come out of some aspect of whiteness.
Harrelson: No question about it. I would be wearin’ those things up to my behind. [Both men chuckle.]
Stone: High leg kick, anything you can do to add a little deception.
Harrleson: Big high white socks and a psychedelic-colored glove. Got get ’em, kid!
Stone: Hey, if they let you do it, do it.
Two thoughts here: First, this reminds me of the 1967 controversy over the Washington Senators’ white cap and socks, which I described three summers ago. And second, I’m all in favor of anything that gets players to wear more stirrups, but wouldn’t a white pant leg pulled all the way down to the shoetops achieve the same effect that Stone and Harrelson are advocating?
• Kinda looked like the “SOX” lettering on some of the Chicago caps was applied as a patch, not as direct-embroidered letters. You can sort of see what I’m talking about here and here. I know, I know, most of you are thinking that’s just a blur effect from the video, but I swear I saw it on several of the caps (but not on all of them).
• Speaking of the Chisox caps, here’s something I hadn’t realized: Back in the day, their cap logo had lots of breaks in the lettering (look at that X!). This isn’t shown in their official throwback cap, what a surprise. Wasn’t done for the Civil Rights Game caps either.
• Oh, and one other thing they botched: wrong TV number font.
But hey, it’s certainly a lot better than what they wore for the past two Civil Rights Games.
Research Request: If anyone has any decent game shots of this Kings uni, please get in touch. Thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Back in college, I played in a touch football league whose championship game was called the Soup Bowl. We’ve all seen those sorts of joke game names — the Salad Bowl, the Toilet Bowl, etc. But apparently there really was a game called the Spaghetti Bowl, which was played between Army and Air Force personnel stationed in Italy in 1945. Use the navigation tabs at the upper-left corner of that page to learn more. … Nice shot here of yellow Rams jerseys and plexiglass faceguards (with thanks to John Muir). … Steve Dewing notes that Dick Allen apparently had scar tissue on his eyebrows. … And so it goes. … Steve May says the vintage goalie mask discussion threads and photos on this site are amazing, and a quick perusal indicates that he’s right. Highly recommended. … Schutt has come out with a head-cooling helmet, which should put a major dent in cabbage leaf sales (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Interesting post on old football cards here (with thanks to Mike Thomas). … Not sure if this has just been added or if it’s been there all along, but one of the Shea parking lots is now marked with the spots where the original Shea’s home plate, pitching rubber, and bases had been. … What’s that on T.O.’s cap? Guess (with thanks to Mike Engle). … Looking for a good pair of striped stirrups? Quick, buy these (with thanks to Dustin Bornman). … SportsCenter typo on Friday night, as they misspelled the name of my favorite city (as spotted by Jason Heminger). … The BC Lions have unveiled some 1960s throwbacks (with thanks Richard Musterer). … I’ve previously shown the logos that the NBA will be using for its preseason games in Monterrey and Beijing. They’ve also got one for Taipei (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Interesting survey of Japanese professional badges. … Still more from Jeremy: Here is the logo and ball for the 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup. … Check out these batting gloves used to belong to Howie Kendrick of the Angels. Never seen that padding on the palm and index finger before (with thanks to Brett Crane). … Here’s how the W on the Dexter Fowler’s NOB is supposed to look. Now compare that to the W on his vest jersey — looks like they used an upside-down M (great catch by Todd Davis). … Great shot of the 1935 Green Lake women’s hoops team, as seen on the wall of Red Mill Burgers in Seattle by Jeremy Brahm. … A blogger is taking a comprehensive look at the Stars/North Stars uniforms. It starts here and continues here (with thanks to Nicole James). … Great uni cameo shot from Steve Dewing’s site: Boog Powell as a Dodger. … I really ought to know this, but what’s the deal with the shorts patches in this shot? … I bid on this but didn’t win it — dang. … UFC fighter Diego Sanchez has been wearing the Sacramento Kings logo on his shorts (with thanks to the Chris Creamer forum). … Those light-blue Father’s Day ribbons looked particularly odd on the Padres’ camo jerseys. … The Phillies wore theirs to the left of their memorial chest patch, while the Angels wore it to the right of theirs. … And look, Bobby Cox had one on his dugout jacket. … Josh Willingham wore “JON” on his armbands yesterday, which I assume was a memorial gesture for his brother. … Things apparently got a little freaky-deeky at Shea yesterday. … Bob Feller will turn 91 this fall, but that didn’t keep him from pitching yesterday at the Hall of Fame Classic yesterday in Cooperstown. Further details here. … Another player wearing those annoying Phiten-branded socks: Jorge de la Rosa. … OK, we all know Prince Fielder likes a baggy jersey, but come on — that’s a tent! And look how low his Cool Base armpit vent is extending. … I’ve finally figured out why I don’t like this year’s Orioles cap logo. The old version included a few touches of gold, while the new version doesn’t. I realize that fewer colors makes for easier printing, but c’mon, a gray beak? Looks so drab. Also, the word “oriole” derives from the word “golden”! Rich Frank, if you’re reading this, I expect to see the gold tones restored forthwith! … A Seattle couple renewed their wedding vows at Safeco yesterday, and chose some rather odd attire for the occasion. … Wladimir Klitschko has been wearing the Hugo Boss logo on the front and back of his waistband for years now, but he wore “fit & geimpft” for Saturday’s bout against Ruslan Chagaev. According to this story, that’s German for “fit and vaccinated,” apparently a reference to Chagaev having recently tested positive for hepatitis. … Tiger Woods faced an oh-so-vexing decision yesterday (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … Good catch by Matthew Hiett, who writes: “During Sunday night’s Dodgers/Angels game, ESPN showed this graphic for the Freeway Series. But the picture for Anaheim is actually Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World in Orlando, not Disneyland in California.” … Clayton Kershaw had an interesting variation on the Pedro porthole last night: Instead of his second button being unfastened, he had trouble with his third button. Greg Riffenburgh has already dubbed this the Kershaw crevice. … Speaking of Kershaw, here’s a great catch by Kevin Gee: If you look at the MLB logo on the back of Kershaw’s jersey, you can see there’s some extra stitching around it. Turns out all the Dodgers have this extra stitching. Gee speculates it’s because the Dodgers have moved their player tagging from the shirttail/jock tag area to the inner collar, probably due to the flimsiness of the Cool Base material. … If you’ve been dying to own a 1986 game-worn Phillies St. Paddy’s Day uniform, today’s your lucky day (with thanks to Adam Brodsky). … Interesting stories about CWS footwear and throwbacks (with thanks to David McGee). … “My girlfriend Bonnie and I had a few rainy days this weekend and filled them by making DIY Blazers uniforms — ’88 Drexler for me and a ’77 Walton for her,” writes Ryan Hossner. “Took around 12 hours with all of the stenciling and painting.” Full step-by-step slideshow here.
June 22nd, 2009
As we all know, NFL uniform changes are usually in the pipeline for a year or so before they’re unveiled. And it’s been less than seven months since the Lions fired Matt Millen, so he probably had a hand in the uniform redesign that the team unveiled yesterday. And that’s about the only possible explanation for how they botched such a golden opportunity to get this team back on the right aesthetic track.
Okay, one at a time:
• The color scheme: There are about three people in the entire country who like all the black trim on the Lions’ uniforms. Whatever else they were going to do, they had to ditch the black — that was job one. But they didn’t do it. I mean, come on, this team is still gonna wear black undersleeves and a black facemask? What a joke. Is it good or is it stupid? So stupid that most of the other changes barely matter.
• The new logo: This is one time when I don’t mind an animal logo looking a little meaner. Hell, lions are supposed to be ferocious, right? Yeah, the whole flowing-mane thing is silly, and the black outline is a major disappointment, but this doesn’t look any worse on the helmet than the last logo did. Not as good as it could have been, but not nearly as stupid as it could have been either.
• The new wordmark: You’re joking, right? You’re gonna use that in the NFC North, the heart of Midwest? They’re gonna laugh that shit right off the field. And why would you outline your logo in black but leave your wordmark without a black outline? I mean, I’m glad you didn’t add the outlining to the letters, but it seems a tad inconsistent, no? Stupid.
• The new helmet: As noted above, Bubbles looks fine. And much as I hate to admit it, the old color-white-color stripe pattern that so many teams have used for so long is finally starting to look a bit clunky, so the new stripe pattern, with thinner stripes (similar to the striping change the 49ers made over a decade ago), makes sense. Too bad two of those stripes have to be black, but whaddaya gonna do. Good.
• The new jersey collar and chest wordmark: It’s difficult to express how much I hated this design from the sternum up. This, while far from perfect, is an improvement. The black-silver-black collar is much better than black-blue-black (although getting rid of the black would be even better), and the the silver wordmark is soooooo much better than the black one. I don’t even mind the wordmark’s silly swoops and curves so much in this context, because it’s so small and the embroidery process smooths out some of the design’s excesses. Good.
• The new uni numbers: A complete disaster. You’re going to wear cutie-pie swoops and open-faced 4s (or both at the same time) in the Black and Blue Division? Look, the Bears can wear their thin, elongated numerals ’cause they’ve had ’em for decades, but otherwise this is a block-typeface division. And even if the Lions were a west coast or Sun Belt team with a sleek, streamlined image, this typeface still reeks of digital gimmickry for gimmickry’s sake. Seriously stupid.
• The new sleeve stripes: The old striping pattern has been revised, but whatever. The real story is that sleeve stripes on football jerseys — especially super-wide ones like the Lions use — don’t really work anymore because sleeves barely exist anymore, so this would’ve been a good time to narrow the stripes or scrap them altogether. Another missed opportunity. Stupid.
• The new pants striping: Again, they’ve copied the Niners, going from the old-style color-white-color (with annoying black outlining) to what is essentially a vertical Northwestern stripe. Not bad, but if they wanted to take ideas from the Niners, shouldn’t they have done it back when Mariucci was coaching for them? Anyway, the black outlining on the old design was so distracting that the design counts as addition by subtraction. Let’s call it good.
The new socks: For once, I don’t mind the black here, because this is as close as we’re gonna get to striped NFL socks these days. Not bad, right? Good.
All in all, it could’ve been a little bit worse, but it also could’ve been so, so much better. Next time, gang, ditch the black.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Big shout-out to bench coach emeritus Bryan Redemske, who was involved in a 30-mph cycling crash on Sunday and ended up in the hospital with stitches in his eyebrow. Rest up and feel better soon, Bry (and remember, girls love cool scars). … Nice little DIY patch project by Kimberly Kane, who made a bunch of Harry Kalas memorial patches for herself and her friends to wear at last Saturday’s game. “I used black and white fabric from Wal-Mart, and Heat N’ Bond adhesive iron-on paper,” she says. “I printed the letters and stenciled them onto the white fabric, then used the adhesive paper to iron them onto the black fabric (a technique picked up in my sorority days). I sewed my patch and my boyfriend’s patch onto our jerseys, but I only put a few stitches in them so we could remove them for washing. Everyone else pinned theirs on.” … Was Orestes Destrade wearing two jerseys in this shot? (With thanks to Mike Engle, who also provided a good shot of Benito Santiago’s No. 09 jersey.) … Why would Zigmund Palffy be wearing blue gloves with a green (and very ad-saturated) uniform? “I thought maybe he was wearing his old gloves from an NHL stop,” says Bryan Heaton. “But he wore black gloves with the Penguins and the Kings, and these blue gloves don’t match the ones he wore with the Islanders.” … There’s soooooo much to say about this, I barely know where to begin (find of the year by Randy Williams). … Hey look, even the Pope gets free jerseys. But he’s Benedict XVI, so why does the jersey have No. 10? “For the 2010 World Volleyball Championships, to be hosted by Italy,” says Jeremy Brahm. Further details here. … Jeremy also sent along a bunch of interesting pics from the FIVB Women’s World Championships qualifying matches. Among the highlights: Bermuda wore CNOB (so did the men’s team), the British Virgin Islands wore abbreviated CNOB, and St. Lucia had subscript (and vertically arched) CNOB. … And still more from Jeremy: a Hankyu Braves coach whose NOB includes a macron. “They were the first Japanese team to use them,” says Jeremy. … Anyone know if there’s video of this inside-the-park grand slam? … Still more from Jeremy: Check out this amazing Hanshin Tigers photo, circa 1942. He’s wearing a military hat! … Ah, those Yankees, always helping out the community. … “I just sell it. What they do with it is up to them.” What is being referred to in that quote? Octopi, of course. Highly recommended reading (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). … Small item buried in the middle of this page: “[Cleveland] first-base coach Luis Rivera was running out of storage space in the second inning Saturday. While the Indians were sending 17 men to the plate [against the Yankees], Rivera was collecting elbow pads, shin guards and batting gloves from the players when they reached first. ‘I was wearing two elbow protectors and a shin guard,’ said Rivera. ‘I had so many batting gloves, I was sticking them in the back of my pants. I finally had to call the bat boy out to come and get everything’” (thanks, Vince). … More Tequila Blue Curacao Sunrise action. That’s the Preston High School Indians wearing the striped sensations on Saturday against the Pocatello High School Indians. “Both PHS Indians — a scorekeeper’s nightmare,” says Frank Mercogliano. … Alex Warner notes that the Nats have just called up Jordan Zimmermann, presumably making them the first team to have a Zimmerman and a Zimmermann on the roster simultaneously. … Frank Hanney’s blog has a recap of a nice little 1971 SI item about the Phillies’ usherettes. … Here’s something I didn’t know: Louisville Slugger bats made out of maple are marked with an “M” (and yes, this year’s bats also have LS’s 125th-anniversary logo, but we’ve already covered that; photo courtesy of Nicholas Schiavo). … Eeeeyikes! (Blame Tim Donovan.) … The old MECCA floor/court design now has a new home (with thanks to Jeff Ash, who used the MECCA design for his Uni Watch membership card) … Could the hockey uniform’s baggy jerseys and lack of exposed skin be hiding a doping problem in the NHL? This guy thinks so (with thanks to John Muir). … As we all know, back in 1981 the White Sox invited fans to submit a bunch of uni design concepts, some of which were made into prototypes and modeled at Comiskey. But what I didn’t know, until Chris Diserio told me, was that this got a bit of SI coverage back in the 6/8/81 issue. The text starts here and continues here and here. Illustrations here and — wait for it — here. … Next guy who designs a single-city logo mash-up has to get inked onto their body as a tattoo, or else you’re a total pussy. That photo comes from this page (with thanks to Mark Kaplowitz). … Great suggestion from Scott Taylor, who says the proper headline for the Nats jersey-typo story should have been “Oh No: No O!” … Could the Mets possibly get any more clueless? … Good spot by Tim Donovan, who writes: “I was watching a video of the final minutes of the Blackhawks/Red Wings playoff series in 1992 and they showed a shot of center Kevin Miller shaking the hands of the Blackhawks’ players and he was wearing an Osgood-style mask, complete with the neck guard.” … The NFL and Reebok conducted a big AFL throwback photo shoot last week. Here’s a small taste (not exactly a major revelation, since we’ve seen the Jets’ and Bills’ throwbacks on the field before), with dozens more photos to follow shortly. … Some pretty cool new stuff from Ebbets Field Flannels, including a Philadelaphia Hebrews jersey, and a New York Gothams jersey. … Yankee Stadium, a perfect place for a picnic (with thanks to Alan Tompas). … Majestic has officially apologized for (but not really explained) the Nats jersey snafu. … There’s a movement afoot to make UK cops wear uniform numbers (with thanks to Chris Falvey). … Larry Bodnovich made some When It Was a Game screen grabs of the 1942 Cubs. Man, is that a thing of beauty or what? … Texas Tech wore very cool throwbacks over the weekend (with thanks to Robert Snyder). … Check this out: Pirates third base coach Tony Beasley is wearing a Stargell Star! That screen grab came from Chad Morris, but Ryan Connelly sent a nearly identical shot and adds, “This is the first season since the Pirates changed their number font that the helmet number font matches the jersey numbers. The helmets used to have just basic block numbers, like this. … Today’s Wall Street Journal has a great article about stirrups in general and Twin City Knitting in particular. Check it out here. … Ethan Ganot notes that the Milwaukee Admirals wear some very odd two-tone socks. … Pretty cool how Simeon Varlamov’s mask features the Hershey Bears logo on one side and the Caps logo on the other (as pointed out by Al Stone). … Several people have sent me these Madden screen grabs, which suggest that the Dolphins are modifying and enlarging their helmet logo. To the best of my knowledge, however, that change is not happening on the field.
April 21st, 2009
By Phil Hecken, with Mike Styczen
A couple of weeks ago, in the comments, reader “Mike2″ (Mike Styczen) mentioned “TESS,” which is an acronym for “Trademark Electronic Search Service.” Not quite certain what, exactly, this was, I asked him to elaborate more fully. What transpired after that has led to this article, which will hopefully allow you to more fully explore the myriad logos and trademarks (some of which have never even been used) for our favorite sports teams. What follows, then, is a look at “TESS” and some of the more unique logos and trademarked images that Mike uncovered using the TESS service. First, let’s get to meet Mike and then he’ll guide us through this TESS mess.
Phil Hecken: What do you do that you’re familiar with the trademarks databases?
Mike Styczen: I’m a commercial lawyer in Calgary. I don’t do trademark or patent work directly (I’ve never registered or litigated one) but in the course of my work I have to sometimes verify that they’ve been properly registered, assigned, mortgaged, that sort of thing, which requires some work in the databases. It didn’t take long before I realized how much raw information was in there.
PH: How long have you been a fan of uniforms?
MS: Unlike a lot of UniWatchers, I wasn’t fascinated with uniforms growing up. I first got interested in uniforms around the time of the NHL’s anniversary season when a bunch of teams did throwbacks and I started to realize that there were a lot of interesting designs out there. I remember seeing Marc Okkonen’s book at my local bookstore for about five bucks in the clearance and for some reason I didn’t pick it up for some reason, I sure regret that now.
PH: So, what led you to Uni Watch?
MS: I was reading up on some throwback uniforms and ended up finding one of the original Village Voice columns and I was hooked. I’ve been a regular reader ever since then. One of the proudest moments of my life so far was when Paul referred to one of my wisecracks as “brilliant” and “trenchant” in an ESPN.com column.
PH: I assume you own some unis, then?
MS: I’ve got a few replicas, nothing authentic — Gretzky Oilers, Sittler Leafs, Hawerchuk Jets (I used have tickets when I lived in Winnipeg), and somewhere, an old rainbow guts Astros. Plus a Flames jersey I wear to games and to the Red Mile.
PH: Anything else you want to let us know?
MS: I’m also an avid road racer (mostly marathons and halfs), I have a pretty big collection of race shirts that could be considered uniforms.
PH: Got any favorite uniforms?
MS: My favourite uniform the original powder blue pullover Blue Jays, just because that’s what I grew up watching. In the NHL, I love the simplicity of the original six jerseys, without all the extraneous piping, patches, boxes, stripes, and junk.
PH: Awesome. OK, thanks Mike.
So now, without further ado, I now turn the piece over to Mike, who’ll take you through the procedure.
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Phase the First: The Maiden
An overlooked source of information on sports logos and names (and, for that matter, logos and names of products and companies) is the TESS database.
TESS is the Trademark Electronic Search Service and is maintained by the United States Patent and Trademark office. I don’t know how to describe it other than as an absolute treasure trove of trademarks filed in the United States.
The simple search interface provided is remarkably powerful — you can word search the by trademark, owner, or all fields. You’ll get a list of trademarks to look at — many of them are just trademarked photos of trademark used on samples.
The biggest problem with TESS is that it’s structured as a database, behind a firewall, so you can’t Google it directly and you can’t (as far as I can tell) link to individual pages or drawings. I’d love to have written this entry with links directly into TESS but I couldn’t make it happen. Instead, you get photos and drawings I found on TESS hosted on Flickr.
The Canadian version of TESS is the imaginatively named Canadian Trade-marks Database, hosted by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. This database still bugs me because the word “trademark” doesn’t have a dash in the middle, but the database does. Searching is similar to TESS, the focus is (obviously) on trademarks registered in Canada, and the deeper TDR information contained on TESS isn’t available on-line in Canada.
TESS is huge — I just scratched the surface to find some odd and interesting designs to write about. I apologize for not having anything from the NBA or NCAA, I just don’t know enough about either of those to recognize interesting things if I see them.
NHL
Everyone knows the NHL’s current logo, and the old logo, but here’s a logo that also floated around in the 1990’s — I don’t recall them ever officially adopting it, but it showed up on merchandise from time to time. And another oddball logo — the application says it was for “electronic transmission of news, data, graphics and audio from a central server via modem to computer terminals”. My guess is that someone thought it looked pretty cool and high-tech at the time. Here’s some more NHL logos you probably never knew existed:
St. Louis Blues
Boston Bruins
Washington Capitals
Los Angeles Kings -– I know everyone has seen this goofball, but I can’t believe he got his own trademark.
The first, unused logo of the Ottawa Senators
Here’s an odd Pittsburgh Penguins logo. I’d love to know the story behind this one. This logo isn’t an unfamiliar logo, its now part of the the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins logo. But what’s interesting is that the Pittsburgh Penguins registered this logo in 1989, ten years before the WBS Penguins were founded. Perhaps the Pittsburgh Penguins were considering it for themselves, registered it, then put it on the shelf and then brought it out ten years later for their minor league affiliate?
NFL
The NFL referee’s shirts are trademarked — both the long sleeve and short sleeve versions.
No logos or pictures available, the names trademarked by the Houston Texans included: the Stallions, Wildcatters, Stormcats, Bobcats, Wildcats, Challengers, Apollos, Texians, Toros, Wranglers, Roughriders, Roustabouts, Colt 45s, Roughnecks, Energy, and Hurricanes.
The Baltimore Ravens’ infamous stolen logo, and an odd one of a raven on a goalpost.
While we’re on the topic of Baltimore football, another infamous logo.
Buffalo Bills
Chicago Bears
Tom Landry’s hat
Remember the New Englands Patriot superhero mascot? Well, it turns out his name was Superpatriot.
MLB
This is a cool one – we all know the San Francisco Giants threatened to move through the 70s (to Toronto), 80s (to San Jose and Santa Clara) and 90s (to Tampa), but did you know that in the 1980s they actually trademarked a script logo, a cap logo and a different cap logo for San Jose?
The Baltimore Orioles own this St. Louis Browns logo. And their alternate cap logo is trademarked, upside down apostrophe and all.
Chicago White Sox have two unusual logos here and here. Not surprisingly, given that the White Sox have had so many logos and designs in their history, there are probably just as many White Sox logos in TESS as the other 29 teams combined.
I don’t know much about the Tampa Rays, but for some reason they’ve trademarked the phrases 9=8 and ‘09>’08.
Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays
Atlanta Braves
Milwaukee Brewers — also trademarks for Bratwurst, Polish, Italian, and Hot Dog. I couldn’t find Chorizo.
This one took me a minute to process – its obviously Chief Wahoo, but backwards. I found it kind of disturbing actually, being so familiar but wrong at the same time.
I thought this one was interesting – the Yankees have trademarked the image of their facade, both with and without flags on top.
And finally, doesn’t Youppi just look sad in his trademark application. It’s like he knows what’s coming.
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Well there you have it. Thanks Mike. So, go forth young Uni Watchers and explore your favorite team’s trademarks and logos. See what you can find. If you find something you really like, or is really unique, or just plain bizarre, be sure to post it here.
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On Friday, I linked to this photo of the Boston team playing the New York team, and is dated October 8, 1904. (That photo, by the way comes from the Library of Congress, a tremendous resource.) The location is the Huntington Avenue Grounds, which, if you could look at it schematically, would look like this. When I first looked at the date, I figured it had to be some kind of post season game, but then I remembered in 1904 there was no world series. So, I looked up the year in baseball for 1904 and found out they were still playing regular season games as late as October 7 (and possibly later). So, that photo had to be the New York Highlanders playing the Boston Americans. Further research indicates that the game in question was not even the pennant clinching game, which the Boston squad won on a wild pitch from Jack Chesbro (which was played in New York). Interesting. I had always thought the regular season in baseball, even at the turn of the 20th century, ended on or about October 1.
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Also on Friday, poster “War Damn Eagle” had hoped to see what the Nationals, who had worn their idiotic patriotic red white and blue uniforms, which were not well-received due to the red socks, sleeves and helmets, would look like with blue accoutrements. I have very little ability when it comes to matters such as this, but I tried a couple mockups to see how they’d look. The blue looks MUCH better, right?
I had asked my artist-in-residence, Pretty Boy Paulie, if he could assist with a “good” version of these, but unfortunately he was unavailable. If anyone has photoshop skills, could you post a clean version of what those mockups would look like, so we can start our write-in campaign to have the Nats wear blue socks, sleeves and helmets with their alts. Thanks!
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Meet The Mess Mets: Well, it’s one step backward, one step forward for the Amazin’s this season. Friday night was a step backward when they broke out the godawful black jerseys — which also means they wore the black lids, which is the worst possible of their myriad combinations. Prior to Friday night, their other home games had been the other horrid combination of black and blue caps, black sleeves, and black socks. Which meant they were forced to wear baseball’s worst batting helmet (since the Texas Texases decided to ditch their ultimate mockery of the baseball gods). Well, on Saturday, the Mets finally took one step closer to getting it right — returning to the blue caps, socks & sleeves with their snow whites. A much better look. Here’s hoping they take the final step today, and return to the pinstripes and blue caps, which is their best combination and actual official home uniform. Really, would that be asking too much?
So, that got me to thinking, about all those home uniforms and the ridiculous and unnecessary use of black for black’s sake. For years, from their inception, the Mets really had only one gorgeous home uniform. They won a world series wearing that one. Somewhere along the way, 1983 to be precise, they decided to “jazz” it up by adding superfluous and unnecessary blue and orange piping. The did manage to win a world series in that one as well. By 1993 they had returned to their senses and removed the piping (but added a ridiculous tail for two seasons). The tail was gone after two years, but by then the “black for black’s sake” craze and the need to have several “alternate” uniforms had taken hold in baseball and the Mets added black to their uniforms in 1998, first only on their cap. (And in 1997 they introduced their “snow whites” to supplement the pinstripes). By 1999, all bets were off as the Mets added the black alternate jersey (both home and road) and a black cap. It’s been that way ever since.
I won’t even go there on the use of the black, since it doesn’t deserve to be worn on the diamond by the Mets (since it is not and never has been, one of their official colors). But their home combinations aside from the choice of black are four: (1) the worst of the four: black & blue caps, black sleeves & socks, and snow whites; (2) next worst, black & blue caps, black sleeves & socks, and pinstripes; (3) next best, blue caps, sleeves & socks, and snow whites, and (4) finally, the best, blue caps, sleeves & socks, and pinstripes. We won’t even discuss this shit. Batting practice and softball jerseys don’t belong in game play. I know, I know, begging for the mets to ditch the black cannot be repeated enough is pointless, but it still sucks, and I hate it.
One argument for the black on these boards I have heard, and one which I’d almost be leaning towards, is to keep the black drop shadow. Some seem to think it makes the wordmark “pop”. What do you think? Here’s the “Mets” wordmark without the black dropshadow. And, here is the wordmark with the black dropshadow. And here they both are, side by side. I’d have to say, if the Mets were willing to eliminate the black caps, sleeves and socks, but keep only the dropshadow, I think they’d have one of the sharpest uniforms in the bigs. But until such time, I will hate their multiple combos and uniform transgressions. OK … I’m done with this now.
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This and That: Speaking of black for black’s sake, Teebz attended the World Deaf Hockey Championships in Winnipeg, and reports that Team Canada broke out these really awful black uniforms — young fans in town from Raleigh were understandably upset when they saw their home NHL club’s BFBS idea stolen … The Indians just scored … Todd Krvanchi was watching the Jordan Classic, and noted that Mason Plumlee on the white team with jersey #24 on the front and #42 on the back. In addition, Jimmy Dykes spoke with Marcus Jordan, (Michael’s son), who is going to Central Florida next year. Todd says Dykes asked Jordan “If he’d ever worn any gear in his lifetime other than Nike/Jordan brand. Marcus’ response? Never. In fact, UCF is an adidas school and have agreed to allow marcus to wear Jordan brand and not adidas in college.” Interesting. Thanks, Todd … Nightlife, hookers and drugs? For an NBA baller in Atlanta? Not for the Heat, who’d like to escape Atlanta without getting shot, arrested or killed with a win … Outta Heeeerrreee … Aston Villa had to wear their change kit against West Ham yesterday, but some of the kits were sans adverts. According to reader Seven, “in today’s English Premier league game between Aston Villa & West Ham has decided that West Ham’s change strips are too close to Aston Villa’s home strip. Villa will apparently wear plain white training tops that will be completely blank except for their numbers on the back. The kit man is printing the numbers right now.” (reprinted from yesterday’s comments) … Spring football means it’s time to show off your new eyeblack — Godboy Tebow approves … The Mariners held a military appreciation thingy yesterday — so what kind of unis did they break out to honor the men and women in uniform? Yup — somehow that’s more appropriate than the Nats and Pods, isn’t it … The Indians just scored again — *sigh* … The NBA announces a new playoff promotion for families buying 5 or more tickets: free mushroom pizza … y’know…that CBJ uni isn’t all that bad (check out the dude with the “playoff beard” in the front row) … worst wager on the PGA tour: “Dude, I’ll bet you fifty bucks you can’t hit the light house” … second worst: taking it … Puma stripes: good, 3 stripes: bad … Cleveland just scored again … Further proof the Mets can’t do anything right: Opening Day? — c’mon guys … Here’s one for Powers … who knew Mike Schmidt could cry? … Cleveland just scored again … As reported in last night’s comments, it’s hard to see here, but the Twins wore their ‘82 throwbacks last night, and Delmon Young was missing the number on front of his uni (should appear like so) — I got some bad screen grabs here and here (you get the idea) … I want Vince Vaughn’s life. And finally, reprinted from last night’s comments (from James Huening): “Holeeee shit! Check out Ryan Dempster doing the Shoot-the-Puck contest at the second intermission of the Hawks-Flames game.”
Enjoy your Sunday. Did the Indians just score again?
April 19th, 2009
New ESPN column today — look here.
Meanwhile … I recently got a note from reader Steve K., as follows:
A friend of mine was moving and his wife made him give up his boxes of old videos. Of course he kept all the Japanese porn for himself, but he knew I was a sports fan and offered me the rest. Most of them are ‘This Week in the NFL’ and ‘Game of the Week’ episodes and a bunch of other NFL Films stuff, spanning from 1971 to about 1979. Should make for a lot of interesting screen grabs!
To call the resulting screen shots “interesting” is to severely understate the point, because Steve (who, as you’ll see in a minute, has a very good eye) has come up with a body of material that’s every bit as compelling as Ricko’s contributions. In fact, if he keeps it up, I may have to inaugurate a new “Steve K. Files” series. For now, though, here’s what we’ve got:
• “This is from 1971, Week 1, Jets at Colts,” writes Steve. “Norm Bulaich had a big game, but the more interesting part of this is that he wore an NOB jersey during parts of the game but went NNOB during other parts. The NNOB jersey appears to be an old-school pre-1970 NFL jersey with the larger numbers, because it doesn’t even allow room for a nameplate.”
• “Check out how big the nameplate font was in these shots of the Bills and Jets (1972, Week 1) and the Jets again (1973, Week 2),” notes Steve. “I believe the Jets, Bills, and Patriots, all from the AFC East, used this ultra-large font at various times during the 1971 through 1974 seasons. The Jets seemed to use it inconsistently, as some players had more normal-sized fonts than others. By 1975, this font was gone for good, although I sort of like it.”
• “In Week 1 of the 1971 season, the 49ers wore white jerseys with plain white sleeves — no stripes, no TV numbers! This was NOT their customary road jersey. Except for the Bengals (who didn’t add TV numbers until their 1981 makeover), I can’t remember another instance in the 1970s when an NFL team did not have TV numbers.”
• “Check out the letter spacing on those Browns NOBs” [and the official's picture-perfect stirrups -- PL].
• “Look at the wild rain jackets the Giants are wearing on the sidelines! That’s from 1971, Week 1.”
• “It’s a little hard to see, but here’s an FNOB being worn by the Bucs’ Maulty Moore in 1976. They also had a Manfred Moore.”
• “Here’s another FNOB: Joe Owens, from the 1973 Saints. Oddly, there were no other players named Owens on the Saints that year.”
• “A lot of the 1973 Colts had NOBs that were literally abutting the numbers, plus Doughty’s NOB looks like it may be a bit off-center.”
• “Speaking of off-center NOBs, look at Craig Morton.”
• Check out Mike Williams from the 1975 Chargers — his first name initial comes after his surname. I think I’ve only seen that one other time in the NFL (Browns during the 1981 preseason).” [This is an absolute stunner for me. Never would've believed it if Steve hadn't provided visual evidence. -- PL]
• “When the Rams played their final game in the L.A. Coliseum in 1979, one end zone said ‘Good Bye,’ the other ‘Good Luck.’”
• “Here’s Lions head coach Don McCafferty in swanky 1973 duds, including a zip collar.”
• “Halftime show at New Orleans’ Tulane Stadium in 1973. Dog was NNOB, but at
least he had stripes on his sleeves. Is that T-shirt logo big enough?”
• “I hadn’t realized Archie Manning wore a single-bar facemask.”
• “Here’s Saints coach John North from 1973, with the Sir Saint logo on his jacket.”
Amazing stuff, no? Big thanks to Steve for all this great material.
The Oracle Checks In: When I linked yesterday to this vintage basketball warm-up top and mentioned its snap-on nameplate, I was pretty sure I’d be getting a follow-up note from Rochester sporting goods maven Terry Proctor (that’s him at left). Sure enough, he sent me a note yesterday afternoon, as follows:
That photo of the Wilson warm-up jacket brings back many memories of that style. Wilson used the smaller “gripper” snaps, which made sewing the name onto the separate piece of tackle twill much easier. The only company we used that also used the gripper snaps was Russell. Powers, SandKnit and Spanjian all used the larger jacket-type “dome” snaps, which made sewing the letters on very difficult, because the foot of the sewing machine had trouble fitting around the dome. We eventually had the tags attached only at the top, for easier sewing. By the 1970s we changed from snaps to Velcro, which made the whole process a breeze.
Also: In the 1970s, the Coane Mfg. Co. of Philadelphia, which made a full line of quality uniforms (they did the Philadelphia Warriors and the early years of the 76ers) came up with a fleece tag that we sewed directly onto the jersey or jacket. Then you applied individual die-cut letters made out of the hook-sided velcro material. These letters would not fall off during play and were very easy to change if you had a new player. We used them mostly on basketball and baseball uniforms. They didn’t work out for football but they were a great idea in their day.
Terry has loads of stories like these. You might even get to read some of them if I ever get off my lazy ass and transcribe the phone interview I did with him last month. Soon, soon….
Uni Watch News Ticker: Indiana State wore powder blue throwbacks the other night. Note that the “I” is actually the shape of Indiana (with thanks to Dave Reding). … The trend of giving a personalized jersey to a newly hired coach, even though coaches don’t wear jerseys, has spread to soccer (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Amazing series of old NFL posters available here. … Trey Phillips notes that Saints receiver Lance Moore often wore one eye black sticker over the past season (but not always). … Matt Englander has brought another sports-themed illustrator to my attention: Paul Schoeneck. … Great time-lapse video showing the Winter Classic rink being set up at Wrigley Field here (with thanks to Greg Riffenburgh). … Faaaaaascinating rugby observation from Caleb Borchers who notes that the Harlequins, a club in London, wear their first and last initials on their shorts. But if there are two players with the same initials, they use the first initial and the first two letters of the players’ surnames, as in the case of Nick Evans and Nick Easter. … Vintage Riverfront Stadium groundskeeper’s uniform available here. … You know how boxers always do those cheesy stare-downs at press conferences and weigh-ins? Here’s the lamest one yet. That’s WBA flyweight champ Takefumi Sakata with the gauze mask. “On his blog, he says it is just to protect from catching a cold,” says Jeremy Brahm. “I know from personal experience that the Japanese will wear their masks while going to work, riding the bus or train, etc. I wore one over a weekend and couldn’t stand it.” … Matt Powers recently took his family down to Fordham, where his sister works in the Athletic Dept. After watching Colgate and Norfolk State play a color-on-color women’s hoops game at beautiful Rose Hill Gymnasium, they walked around the campus and saw some old framed football programs (here’s another) and this memorial to the Seven Blocks of Granite. … For a few months now there have been all these rumors about the Mets possibly going to a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. As I’ve explained to everyone who’s asked me about it, there’s no truth to this rumor — they may add some dark-gray fashion/replica merch to sell to suckers (just like every other team is doing), but the on-field attire has no significant changes for next season. Then, two days ago, I got a note from a reader who I won’t embarrass by printing his name here, breathlessly telling me that he’d just taken these photos of a dark-gray Mets jersey at a local Sports Authority outlet. I told him it was just a fashion jersey, to which he replied, “But it sells for the same $80 as the other jerseys!” After I explained to him that fashion jerseys sell for $80 and authentics sell for a shitload more, he went away, but he apparently gave the same spiel to several bloggers who pounced on the “story” (including this clown at The Daily News, who really should know better), which in turn led even more readers to write to me. So I’ll say it one more time: Contrary to what a few people apparently think, the Mets are NOT adding a dark-gray alternate jersey next season. And that’s the last time I’ll be addressing that rumor (unless it, y’know, turns out to be true or something).
Holiday Schedule: Phil will have an entry tomorrow, I’ll be back on Friday, and then Phil handle the weekend, as usual. My thanks to everyone who helped make 2008 a very good year for Uni Watch, and remember not to make any New Year’s resolutions you can’t keep.
December 31st, 2008
OK, so the Red Sox unveiled their new road and alternate uniforms yesterday, and boy howdy, the whole sports world would rather talk about CC Sabathia is all atwitter! Let’s take a look, element by element:
• The new road jersey: Love the hanging socks sleeve patch (which I’m told was a very recent development that was added to the design just a few weeks ago), but man, that one-color lettering is sooooo drab. C’mon, gimme some red outlining or at least some red sleeve piping or something. Sox ownership reportedly got the idea for this design after a throwback game in 2007 when they wore early-’80s uniforms, but those were drab too. And what’s with the lettering? According to one report, “The lettering on all uniforms and logos will have the appearance of hand-cut felt, meant to look more traditional,” but I think the one-color road lettering looks more clown-ish — kinda rinky-dink, almost like a cheap minor league knockoff of the traditional two-color Sox lettering. Likewise, the one-color rear type is so plain compared to the version it’s replacing. A minor downgrade, I say. Meanwhile, two questions remain: (1) What undershirt color will be worn with the road grays — red or navy? The MLB Style Guide suggests that it will be red (note the collar), but undershirt specs can change, so this question will linger until next spring. And (2) Are the Sox really going with direct-sewn NOBs (instead of their usual nameplates), or did they just use some hastily heat-pressed NOBs for the unveiling?
• The new road alternate jersey: Some teams just shouldn’t have alt jerseys, and the Sox are one of them. That said, if they have to have one, this is a whole lot better than this. Again, the jersey shown at the unveiling had direct-applied NOB lettering, but it’s not clear if that will be the case on the gamers.
• The new home alternate jersey: How do you make the American League’s worst jersey even worse? Remove the placket and sleeve piping, so it looks even redder than before. Still can’t believe such a smart franchise can wear such a stupid jersey.
• The new alternate cap: As a fashion cap, I love it. As a game cap, I think I like it, but I’m gonna need to see it on the field first. Just wish the logo didn’t look so much like a patch, but maybe it’s just the lighting or something.
• The new primary logo: The hanging socks are now the team’s primary mark, with the baseball/bullseye logo relegated to secondary status. Plus they’ve made subtle changes to the latter mark — compare old (on the left) to new (on the right). But whatever, how will this even matter, aside from the icon that shows up in SportsCenter reports and a new set of stationery for everyone in the Bosox offices?
All in all: This was a good-looking team; it’s still a good-looking team, although maybe not quite as good on the road. Were any of these changes necessary? Nope, not a one. Is it good or is it stupid? A fair share of both.
‘Where’s Waldo?’ Update: When I went ballistic a few days ago regarding the idiotic Reebok promotion that’s being foisted upon the NHL Winter Classic, the prevailing sentiment in the comments section was, “Calm down, Paul, it’s not such a big deal. Unless it dictates the TV coverage of the game, that is.” And most people seemed to think that wouldn’t happen.
Now reader Peter Kaszczak has shed some light on that situation. He sent a note to Reebok, asking why Canadian residents weren’t eligible to enter the Winter Classic contest. Here’s what he got back:
Thank you for your question. The Reebok Lost Logo Challenge is a watch & win promotion, which was created in conjunction with NBC and the NHL. Through its design, the promotion relies heavily on NBC to prompt viewer participation and provide pertinent contest announcements. Since the NBC broadcast of the NHL Winter Classic is only available to U.S. viewers, it would be disservice to open it up to TV viewers outside of the U.S. who would not hear the pertinent broadcast announcements for this contest.
Regards,
Reebok Corporate Communications
I rest my case.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s another sleeved hoops jersey. That’s Jim Roberts of Sewanee grabbing one of his NCAA-record 53 rebounds on February 24th, 1958 (with thanks to Scott Musa). … And still more basketball sleeves: Mississippi Vocational College (now Mississippi Valley State) in 1959 (love the uni numbers on the sleeves) and 1966 (sock stripes!). Awesome stripes on the school’s 1959 football squad too (all this courtesy of Larz Roberts). … “Cyclist Alberto Contador has custom Sidi shoes, and they’re utterly rad,” says Sean Clancy. “Contador, a Spaniard who rides for the Astana team, is only the fifth cyclist to win the three grand tours — the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. These victories are noted on his shoes — yellow for the Tour, pink for the Giro and gold for the Vuelta. The colors match the color of the leader’s jersey in each race.” … Here’s another one of those high-positioned Dungard facemasks (with thanks to Richard Stover). … Adidas has unveiled a new soccer ball for the UEFA Under 21 EURO 2009 tourney (thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Several good archival finds by Doug Mooney, beginning with this amazing 1951 Popular Mechanics article on the design of marching band formations — highly recommended. Also worthwhile: this 1950 Baseball Digest handbook excerpt, which suggests that the debate over pant length was raging a lot earlier than we thought (see the indented graf just prior to section 1.16); a 1950 Popular Science item on some bizarre apron-like football pads; a 1967 Baseball Digest item on sock height (which I think actually means pant cuff height); a 1990 article on uniform numbers; an interesting definition of a third-string catcher; and a mention of Minnie Minoso showering in uniform for good luck. … “As I prepared my officially sponsored lunch of the NFL, I noticed the logo on the top of the can,” writes Jonathan Eskridge. “It makes me a little concerned about the actual canning date, but I think I’ll be OK.” … New sneakers for Kobe Bryant. … Dave Eskenazi has come up with a great Toronto Maple Leafs photo. No, not those Toronto Maple Leafs — these Toronto Maple Leafs. The photo’s from 1902, when the Leafs won the International League pennant. … Awesome video clip here on the Broncos’ vertically striped socks and the Steelers’ golden triangle jerseys. Stick it out through the whole clip — lots of good action bits, plus a scary jockstrap — or, rather, “jockey strap” — story (big thanks to Andrew Dixon). … My ESPN.com colleague Eric Neel tipped me wise to this amazing-looking book, which has dynamite graphics. Check out some excerpts here and click through the page gallery here. … “I’ve never seen a hockey player wearing a wristband,” says Kevin Zdancewicz. Me neither. … RIP, Bettie.
December 12th, 2008
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