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Posts filed under 'Umps/Refs'
In recent years, home plate umpires’ masks have been soild black — the padding, the bars, the stripes, everything.
Lately, though, I’ve noticed a change: Some umps’ masks have silver bars, and other have tan padding — sometimes just on top (although I think the upper padding is actually being covered by a plastic visor insert there, so it’s hard to be sure), sometimes just the inner padding, sometimes all over). It’s a small thing, but it’s really jumped out at me during some centerfield camera shots — the ump’s head is suddenly much more visually prominent.
If you google “umpire’s mask,” most of these design options show up, as seen here, here, here, here, and here. But none of those have the colored bars. (Of course, several umps prefer the hockey-style mask, but that’s a whole different discussion.)
I know several of you out there are umpires. Care to enlighten us regarding this development? Have colored bars and padding been available on the sub-MLB level for a while now? Did color-accessorized masks actually surface in MLB prior to now and I just hadn’t noticed?
Request for Technical Assistance: I’ve been using iShowU to make video captures (works great!) but have been having trouble transferring the resulting video clips to YouTube. The initial upload goes fine, but then, after the video is processed, I usually get a “Failed” message (except for two instance when the processing was successful, but I’ve been unable to duplicate those results). Same thing happens with Google Video. I think it has to do with the compression, but I’ve tried several different formats (Apple Intermediate Codec, Sorensen Video 3, Jpeg 2000, etc.) — no dice. If anyone knows more about this and wants to give me some free advice, I’m all ears.
May Raffle: It isn’t football season, but that hasn’t stopped our friends at Helmet Hut from generously offering up an giveaway item from their vast inventory. The lucky raffle winner will get to choose any non-autographed helmet from Gridiron Memories (Helmet Hut’s retail arm) — NFL, NCAA, WFL, whatever.
To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle [at] earthlink [dot] net (please note that this is not the usual Uni Watch e-mail address) by next Tuesday, May 13th, at 10pm. Nobody will be reading the text of these e-mails, so bother to include anything other than your name. Only one entry per person, and please don’t try double-entering from multiple e-mail addresses or anything like that — there’s nothing lamer than cheating on a free raffle, and we’ll probably figure it out anyway. I’m no longer using raffles as a way to build memberships, so no more bonus entries for membership program enrollees.
I’ll announce the winner next Wednesday.
Speaking of the membership program, today’s spotlight member is Conor Clougherty, who hopes to become an NFL ref one day. Sharp-memoried readers may recall that I interviewed Conor last year about officiating attire. For those who missed it, that entry is available here.
You can see other new card designs, as always, in the membership card design gallery. Also, as I promised/threatened a week or two ago, I’ve updated the membership roster — no more “Membership Level” column, and charter members now have their names shown in bold (if I missed anyone, please let me know).
Uni Watch News Ticker: Intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek stopped by Uni Watch HQ last night — our first face-to-face meeting after a year and a half of me exploiting him working together. Scott M.X. Turner showed up too, although he pulled the cold shoulder routine when Vince failed to guess the exact fiber content of his jacket. … Great story here about a jersey worn by two future Hall of Famers (with thanks to Joey Morris). … “I saw this the other day on my way to work,” writes Eric Westover. “I didn’t know Nike made trucks.” … Here’s an updated listing of special MLB jersey dates (some of which, as you can see, have already happened), courtesy of our friends at Jersey-Joe.com (who are selling many of the special jerseys here)… You might know that author Tom Wolfe is partial to white suits, but I didn’t know that he also favors vertically striped socks until I got this shot from Craig Freeman. … Awesome gallery of old Federal League hockey logos here (with thanks to Andy Head). … The Blackhawks recently announced a new radio deal, which led — of course — to a jersey photo op. … Greg Riffenburgh notes that there’s an odd sleeve seam (or extension..?) on Willie McGinest’s jersey. … Here’s something I haven’t seen before: Kenji Johjima appears to be wearing a Mariners logo on the brim of his catcher’s helmet (with thanks to Andrew Thomason). … Chris Glover reports that Brian Barton of the Cardinals gave the first baseman a whuppin’ had to change belts while running the bases last night. … “The Nippon Ham Fighters are going to wear special uniforms in July for the ‘We Love Hokkaido Series,’” reports Jeremy Brahm. … According to the “Miscellaneous Items of Interest” listing at the bottom of this page, Randy Johnson wore No. 34 for part of the 1993 season. I’d never seen a photo of that until Doug Kyed sent me this.
May 8th, 2008
Last fall I ran a rundown of old uni-related New York Times articles, which made it clear that uniform coverage was alive and well decades before the advent of Uni Watch. Now Doug Mooney, who did the archival research for that piece, has come up with a bunch of additional old articles from a variety of newspaper sources. There’s some great stuff in this batch — here’s a chronological breakdown:
• October 18, 1931, The New York Times, John Kieran’s “Sports of the Times” column: This column is a hodgepodge of disparate items, the first of which is about the Army football team’s uniforms (the practice unis were heavier than the game-day attire, so the team would feel lighter and faster) and footwear. Details here.
• January 24, 1937, The New York Times, “First Basketball Game of 1892 to Be Reproduced at the Garden”: Could this have been the first throwback game? The story describes plans to celebrate basketball’s 45th anniversary by staging a re-enactment of the first game ever played. According to the article, “The players will be garbed just as they were first that first game — turtle-neck sweaters, handle-bar mustaches, shin guards and the like, while peach baskets will serve as the targets.” Full text here.
• July 30, 1943, The Sheboygan Press, “Sports Uniforms of Nylon Will Be Used After War”: Nylon was hard to come by during World War II, because most of it was reserved for making parachutes, tents, ropes, and other military provisions. In this article, the DuPont company, which developed nylon, forecasts that the material will become common in sports uniforms once the war is over — a prediction that turned out to be correct.
• December 14, 1946, The New York Times, “Expanding Demand Seen for Uniforms”: This article describes a speech given at the annual dinner of the National Association of Uniform Manufacturers (could someone please build me a time machine, so I can attend?), where an industry executive predicted that uniforms would gain great prominence in coming years. He was mostly talking about service uniforms, for repairmen and the like, not sports unis, but it’s still pretty interesting. Look here.
• August 30, 1959, The New York Times, Letter to the Editor: Hilarious letter from a recent immigrant who “[can’t] help wondering why the umpires are forced to carry out their respective duties dressed in black suits that look heavy, uncomfortable and — pardon me — somewhat silly in the grueling heat of a three-hour game.” It would be another decade before umps stopped wearing neckties, and much longer before the letter-writer’s suggestion (”a lightweight, loose-weave shirt and summer slacks”) became the standard that we now see today. Full text of the letter is here.
• January 11, 1961, Ironwood Daily Globe, “Tigers Change Uniform Style”: We’ve discussed several times how the Cardinals’ birds-on-the-bat logo took a one-year hiatus in 1956. A similar situation unfolded in Detroit in 1960, when the Tigers replaced their old English “D” with a “Tigers” insignia. That experiment lasted only one year, and this article describes the move back to the “D” logo. Look here.
• July 30, 1972, The Odessa American, “Bellard Here to Charge Aggie Batteries”: This article is about Emory Ballard, then the new football coach at Texas A&M. Amidst lots of other Aggie chatter, there are two paragraphs devoted to the team’s new uniforms, including news that the team would be wearing white helmets, because “maroon is a hard color to duplicate.” Full text here.
• February 7, 1973, Sheboygan Press, “Football Uniforms Fashion Items”: Fun article about the latest in “modern” football attire. Key quote: “Striped kneesocks are big, and so are terrycloth wrist bands, originally intended to just soak up sweat.” Full amusing details here.
• February 5, 1974, Winnipeg Free Press, “Als Will Try Popular Colors”: Really interesting article about how the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes planned to switch their color scheme to red, white, and blue, because that’s what the city’s more popular teams — the Canadiens and Expos — were wearing. Kind of amazing to think that the Expos were more popular than, uh, anything. Also discussed in the article: the Als’ new logo (apparently this one). Full text here.
My continued thanks to Doug for all his great archival research.
Seattle Update: Next week’s Uni Watch gathering in Seattle will take place on Friday, March 14th, 7:30pm, at the Pyramid Alehouse. Looking forward to meeting lots of you there.
In other administrative news, you may have noticed that we have a new advertiser at the top of the page: Black Fives. In what I consider to be very classy move, Black Fives prexy Claude Johnson has configured the ad to link to the company’s home page, not to its merch page, so he’s looking to spread awareness, not just to sell stuff (although he’s certainly got plenty of stuff to sell). Claude’s Black Fives blog is a consistently good read, and I’ve been very impressed by my interactions with him. He’s documenting an important and overlooked chapter in sports history, and I hope more people will get hip to what he’s doing.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Brett Favre tribute-a-thon has spun so far out of control that I’m half-expecting the Packers to be wearing a memorial patch for him next season. … Fun rumination on NFL typography here … A Cleveland inventor has come up with a visor designed to keep your eyes focused on the rim, not on the ball. Details here, and the inventor’s site is here (thanks, Vince). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Is a Colts soap dispenser the one thing that’s really been missing from your life? Then the NFL Hardlines VI Trade Show is for you. Details here, and there’s a photo gallery of dubious products here. … Stirrups alert from Yankees camp: Ian Kennedy. … Speaking of the Yankees, they played a navy-vs.-navy game against the Twins yesterday, while the Rockies and Chisox went black vs. black. … If you don’t like mandatory helmets for baseball coaches, you might not like this either (with thanks to Ryan Connelly). … “I received an e-mail today telling me I could order a commemorative jersey for the 20th anniversary of the Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure (GOBA),” writes David Ballenger. “I don’t even know where to start with this horrid design. How long do you have to be riding directly behind someone to have the time to read a paragraph on the back?” … Good video here on the Canadiens’ equipment manager and arena staff. Only catch: It’s in French. Still, there’s some pretty cool visual footage (with thanks to Jean Gagnier). … align=”right” padding-left=”10px” FREE!: this and this. Naturally, I approve of all the green, although I kinda miss the silver. Additional details here and here. … This year’s MLB undershirt template from Nike will apparently look like this. … According to this page, “[Tiger] Woods donned a batting helmet and Braves jersey (tucked into shorts) and stepped into the batter’s box when [John] Smoltz threw three simulated innings at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.” No word on whether Woods insisted on a swoosh-emblazoned helmet. … Nick Waters took some photos of Georgetown’s new SOD uni (additional pics here). “Not sure if they’ll debut them on Saturday or at the Big East Tournament next week,” he writes. … Minna H. reports that the Minnesota high school state hockey tourney is underway, with plenty of interesting uni designs. There’s a full gallery here. … Yee-IKES (horrifying find by David Sonny). … Shorpy continues to delivery the goods. Note the lack of uni numbers and the ump’s backwards cap. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: The Yankees’ official retired numbers page shows Yogi Berra wearing a Mets cap (which of course pleases me no end).
March 6th, 2008
Ah, the pleasures of a snow game, full of scenes like this and this. Is there anything better? Not in my book. Not even Seattle’s neon green gloves could ruin this one for me. Now let’s hope for more of the same this Sunday (current forecast for Green Bay: snow flurries and a high of 11 degrees).
Meanwhile, some notes from the weekend’s NFL action:
• Kudos to the Green Bay officiating crew for having the pride, fortitude, and good taste to wear traditional white knickers despite the snowy conditions.
• For the first time this season, captaincy patches appeared on the Pack’s jerseys. As I understand it, this is because they’ve settled upon a set group of captains for the postseason (instead of changing captains each game, as they’d done during the regular season).
• I missed the play where Cullen Jenkins almost sacked Matt Hasselbeck but ended up yanking off the QB’s belt — or, depending on who’s telling the story, his hand-warmer pouch — so I can’t comment on what it was that Jenkins ended up with. He definitely got a handful of something, as you can see here and here.
• Most of the Packers wear the NFL Equipment logo on their collar trim. But as several readers have noticed, a few Green Bay players wear their collars tucked into their pads, so they wear the logo lower, down near their uni numbers.
• As a gazillion readers pointed out, the Jags’ pairing of black socks with black pants looked distressingly similar to the officials’ black slacks.
• Over in Indy, Dallas Clark was once again flag-free.
• Not positive about this, but the Giants may be the first team to have played two road playoff games wearing their home jersey (and they won both times!).
• Greg Ellis had only one faded sleeve stripe, instead of two, plus his jersey appeared to be covered in mold spores (thanks to Scott Yager for the latter photo).
• Amani Toomer once again wore his new-look jersey, with the lower nameplate and lack of side panel (sorry, no good pics). Antonio Pierce and Justin Tuck wore similar jerseys, meaning that all three basic cuts — skill position, linebacker, and lineman — were rendered in the new pattern. I hope to have more info on all of this in the next couple of days.
• Cory Webster of the Giants was wearing what appeared to be a makeshift black armband, but Joe Skiba tells me it was just a shoulder harness.
As we head into the home stretch, all four remaining playoff teams are pretty easy on the eyes, so we should have a pretty decent-looking Stupor Bowl. Be thankful for small favors and all that.
Research Question: If anyone reading this has ever participated in the Punt, Pass & Kick competition, please get in touch.
Raffle Results: The winner of the $100 NFLshop.com gift card is Eric Sing. As for the rest of you, don’t fret — I’ll be announcing a new raffle tomorrow.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Nice site here devoted to game-used Twins jerseys (with thanks to Blake Meyer). … It’s bad enough that Jacobs Field has been renamed Progressive Field. But did they have to enshrine it on a jersey? … Decent view here of UNC’s numbered stirrups from the 1960s (courtesy of Wes Cherry). … Mario Morgado sent along this shot of John Lennon. Anyone know what jersey that is? … Check out this note from Chris Bisbee: “Just came home from being an extra for the new Jim Carrey movie, called Yes Man (not sure what the release date is). The scenes shot today were at the L.A. Coliseum and were crowd scenes for his character attending a Nebraska football game. When the movie comes out, stand by for uniform chaos! We weren’t allowed to take any pictures, but the guys dressed in Husker uniforms were shameful. Wrong shoes, no nose bumper, no American flag decal (or any decals on back of helmet), no ankle or knee braces (just ankle-high white socks), and mostly just wrong-looking. On the bonus side, the cheerleaders were awesome. Authentic unis, and I heard they were the squad from Azusa Pacific University.” … The minor league Clinton Lumberkings have updated their King Louis logo character from this to this. Bill Jones notes that the new version is basically just a pumped-up version of the old. “Hmmm — bigger, stronger, after 14 years in the league. Could it be that his name is in the Mitchell Report?” … The Milwaukee Admirals wore Brewers throwback-style jerseys the other day. Additional pics and info here. … Mike Stargell notes that Georgetown University and Georgetown Prep have nearly identical uniforms. … On Saturday, I ran this. And then on Sunday, Bradley Hamner sent me this. … Best striped socks ever (great find by Nicole Haase). … Remember when Andy Moog wore this mask? That’s the apparent inspiration for Alex Auld’s new mask (with thanks to Jeffrey Israel). … Collin Johnson (that’s him in the striped socks) attends Desert Christian High in Tucson, but he grew up in Indiana, so he recently convinced his teammates to get new Indiana-style striped warmup pants.
January 14th, 2008
For most of my life, I feel like color schemes have pretty much made sense. There are color combos I really like, like green/gold/maroon, and ones that I don’t like, like most pastel combinations. But whether I like them or not, I feel like most of the combinations I’ve seen over the past four decades have made a certain kind of intuitive sense.
Lately, though, I’ve been seeing color schemes that I simply don’t understand. Foremost among these is pale blue and brown, which I now see practically everywhere. Doesn’t work for me at all, but it’s obviously working for someone, because it’s becoming unavoidable.
I also don’t get the Seahawks’ combination of steel blue and neon snot. The latter hue makes no sense — it doesn’t match up with or complement, um, anything. It just sticks out out like a sort whatsis. And I say that as a guy who’s a lifelong fan of green.
So it was pretty horrifying to see lots of the Seahawks wearing green-trimmed footwear on Saturday. I mean, really, is this any way for an NFL player to look? Or this? The term “offensive line” has never been more literally accurate. Looks like some of the players even wore green shoelaces (as if Matt H.’s green-trimmed muff weren’t bad enough). Seriously, is there anyone who doesn’t think this looks way better?
Even worse, the fans seem to be embracing the radioactive jade shade. Fortunately, the ’Hawks will be playing in Green Bay next weekend, so we should see fans with a greater sense of decorum.
In other NFL news from the weekend:
• Matt Hasselbeck broke a thigh pad in the third quarter, which led to third-stringer Charlie Frye pulling down his pants and removing one of his own pads to give to Hasselbeck. Details in the middle of this page (with thanks to Nick Collecchi).
• I’ve written several times about the Giants’ curved nameplates, which match up with one of the rear jersey seams. But Mike Slesinski has spotted something new: Amani Toomer appeared to be wearing a completely different tailoring template yesterday, which (among other things) had the effect of pushing his nameplate much lower. Mike also thinks Toomer’s front tailoring pattern is new, and that his red triangle patch at the base of the collar is wider, although I’m not sure about either of those claims. Joe Skiba, fill us in!
• Did you see that new Mac commercial with the football referee? He’s clearly supposed to be an NFL ref, since he goes under the hood for a video review, but he’s not wearing NFL zebra stripes or NFL socks. More egregiously, his pants are cuffed WAY too low — lame. (Thanks to Randy Williams, John Okray, Chad Todd, and Phil Hecken for the screen grabs.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Portland Lumberjax are taking their name rather literally (with thanks to Travis Demers). … Mr. Horse Collar is changing uni numbers next season (with thanks to Patrick Nance). … Good catch by Jon McKay who noticed two officials wearing white hats during the Independence Bowl (apparently the umpire lost his black cap). … Friday’s entry about players wearing earplugs led to this from Andy Head: “Freddy Garcia, then pitching for the Mariners, pitched with earplugs in for much of the 2003 season because he had suffered perforated eardrums from flying on numerous team flights with a cold the previous season.” … Bit of a pad controversy for Rick Dipietro. … Bruce Menard sent along this awesome old St. Louis Cardinals team portrait. Dig those double-breasted jackets! … Check out the bizarre pants Washington State wore in the 1994 Alamo Bowl (additional pics here, courtesy of Jon V. Buerstatte). … At the 2:28 mark of this video clip, you’ll see something rare: Randy Moss with an “R. Moss” nameplate, which he apparently wore for one game in 2000 (good find by Nick Noyes). … You expect to see plenty of logo creep in a game called the Under Armour All-Star Game, but this is still a bit much (with thanks to Brandon Pratt). … Fun bit here about Les Miles’s hat (as forwarded by Minna H.). … The other day I asked if anyone knew the story behind Fresno State’s three different-colored merit decals. Anthony Johnson found the answer here). … Interesting FNOB find by Roy Ellingsen, who writes: “I’ve just returned to Norway after a quick visit to the Czech Republic. There, I saw that Sparta Prague’s leading points scorer, Petr Ton, wears ‘Ton Petr,’ as you can just about see here, right below the number. It’s common to use family name before given names in Eastern Europe. Petr Nedved, for example, wears ‘Nedved P.’” … Speaking of FNOB, Erik Little was watching some old Rams footage and spotted Ron Brown with the rare double-decker FNOB (road jersey too, but poor image quality). He also spotted this guy. “Not sure who that is,” he writes. “The only Rams LB with #59 that I can confirm is Bob Brudzinski. Not really a good shot, but the surname seems lowered to allow for a first name (à la Ron Brown’s jersey).” Can anyone shed more light on this one? … Stripe-o-rama yesterday, as Stoke City faced Newcastle in Round 3 of the FA Cup (with thanks to Morris Levin). … “Damaso Marte, who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Tigres del Licey,” writes Jean Oliva. “He’s wearing No. 143, since his regular number (43) is retired by the team.” … Speaking of uni numbers, scroll down to the middle of this page for a history lesson in Cubs uni number protocol (good find by Jeremy Brahm). … “I was at the Bruins game on Sunday afternoon and noticed something I’d never seen before,” writes Jeffrey Israel. “People were getting their jerseys personalized as they waited in the middle of the Garden concourse.” … I had planned to bid on that Packers dickey, but the price got way out of hand — dang.
January 7th, 2008
New ESPN column now up. This is the one about uni-related memorials — big thanks to all who contributed info.
Meanwhile: Got a great note the other day from reader Kenn Tomasch, who’d gotten a bunch of interesting screen grabs while watching a replay of the 1969 Rose Bowl. Here’s his report:
The officials didn’t wear uniform numbers or their position abbreviations. Instead, they had big “Rose Bowl” patches — I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that before or since. Also, the head linesman and line judge wore armbands, like NHL referees — the line judge’s were green (you can see them in that last photo) and the linesman’s were red.
Ohio State fullback Jim Otis’s jersey had sleeve stripes and NOB while his teammates did not. The announcers mentioned that Ohio State had elected to go with the “mesh” (tearaway) jerseys “because of the warm weather,” so Otis must have decided not to wear the flimsy mesh jersey. Also interesting that OSU had names on the backs of their jerseys for the 1968 season, when even NFL teams didn’t yet (although AFL teams did, obviously).
How flimsy were OSU’s mesh jerseys? This flimsy [also note the player wearing the padded helmet, à la Willie Lanier — PL]. When Ray Gillian’s jersey tore in the fourth quarter, and he was sent off to get a new one. The torn one came right off, revealing how little padding college players wore in 1969.
Awesome stuff. I’m especially intrigued by the officials’ armbands and the Lanier-style helmet. If anyone know more about either of these, please speak up.
Uni Watch News Ticker: As promised, here’s a full-size photo of Moose Johnston wearing a Packers helmet in the 1994 Pro Bowl after his Cowboys helmet was stolen. Thing is, it doesn’t really look that weird, because the Pro Bowl is such a crazy quilt of helmets anyway. … Scott Turner came up with some interesting baseball cards while doing some historical research: “First, I never knew that the Swingin’ A’s wore gold pants with their gold jersey. Second, Bernie Carbo was clearly told ‘Don’t worry, we’ll crop above the waist.’ And note the cartoon on the back of Pedro Borbon’s card. My, how times have changed.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Good article here on UGA’s helmet decals. … This game-used Roger Pavlik cap has the best underbrim inscription ever (great find by Jason Taylor). … We’ve all seen teams that wear the school name on the back. But Zevi Lowenberg notes that Northeastern simply wears a big “N” (bigger/better photos welcome, if anyone’s got ’em). … Great video clip here of Ryan Zimmerman catching a ball in his jersey. … Hmmm, life imitates art?
January 3rd, 2008
Athletics aesthetics doesn’t get much better-looking, or more fun, than yesterday’s NHL Winter Classic. The Penguins looked totally friggin’ awesome; the Sabres looked totally friggin’ awesome. You had just enough snow to be beautiful but not enough to ruin the game, you had hockey players wearing eye black, you had officials wearing those not-quite-ski-mask thingies, you had Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller wearing a Sabres sock turned into a toque (apparently by these guys), you had Sergei Gonchar wearing a little towel on the back of his right glove so he could wipe the snow off his visor (kudos to Sean Doherty for catching that one), and you had lots of people smiling (that’s Buffalo’s backup goalie, Joceclyn Thibault). Hell, you even had the gorgeous panorama of Buffalo, and let’s face it, how often are you gonna hear those words in the same sentence?
In short, the whole thing was a hoot. Okay, so the goalies didn’t wear plain brown pads after all, which was a mild letdown, but that’s the only bad thing I have to say about this event. Kudos to all involved, and let’s do it again as soon as possible.
Incidentally, we’ve now had hockey in the snow, football in the snow, and baseball in the snow all within the past nine months. All we need now is a snowy NBA game (which, at the very least, would probably lead to some high-sock action), an idea I offer to David Stern at no extra charge.
Latest Reason to Take the Gas Pipe: I have a friend who recently got a management job with Nike, and she’s been working at the big NikeTown store in Manhattan. She tells me that the sales associates who work the floor (there are about 50 of them) have an interesting ritual before the store opens each morning: They gather around and put their hands together in the center of the bunch, like a football team before a game. Then they chant — and I’m not making this up — “Just do it! Just do it! Just do it! SWOOSH!!” And they raise their arms while saying that last word.
And people wonder why we’re getting our asses kicked in the global economy.
Uni Watch News Ticker: This page has a great video clip of the Lakers talking about their short shorts prior to Sunday night’s game (big thanks to Ty Nowell). … And according to this story, the Lakers had to get the shorts made by a local supplier, because — get this — Adidas “did not have a physical pattern for them.” Good thing Adidas is, y’know, a big-time apparel manufacturer. … Just when you thought you’d seen everything: plaid basketball shorts. The team is the Buchan Bakers, a barnstorming squad from the 1950s. Details here (with thanks to, uh, someone whose e-mail I accidentally deleted — whoever you are, please get in touch so I can give you proper credit). … I love the Packers’ uniforms, but this is a bit much. … Too much information. … Matt Benz notes that one of the refs in Saturday’s Oilers/Wild game had thin white stripes on his pants. “He had no number on back of his jersey either,” writes Matt, “he must have had his bag misplaced by the airlines.” … Michael Romero notes that Chad Henne’s Capital One Bowl patch was coming loose yesterday (plus he sent along a screen grab of New Year’s Day’s best bowl uni). … Michael Rich notes that Fresno State appears to have merit decals in three different colors. Anyone know what their system is all about? … According to this page, Kentucky will have new football uniforms next season (with thanks to Derrick Jewell). … Interesting soccer note from Jeremy Brahm, who writes: ” Normally when a soccer team wins a cup or championship, they will have the trophy ceremony right after the match and the players will still be in uniform to accept their trophy or medal. But the Kashima Antlers did something a little odd on New Year’s Day, when they won the Emperor’s Cup in Japan. During the match, which they won, the Antlers wore their road grays; but for the trophy awarding, they wore their home uniform on top of their road shorts.” … Enough already with all the patches. … Uni Watch mascots Tucker and Caitlin’s new year’s resolution: more snuggling!
January 2nd, 2008
Several readers have been clamoring for updated info regarding the NFL officials’ cold-weather slacks, and I think I’ve finally got some — no thanks to the NFL, I might add.
First, a quick recap: As you may recall, the officials inexplicably wore the slacks for the Cowboys/Lions game back on December 9th — an odd choice, given that the game was played indoors. Same goes for last Monday’s Chargers/Broncos game which was a decidedly non-chilly 62 degrees at kickoff. What gives?
I’ve been trying to get an answer to that question from Mike Pereira, the NFL’s Vice President of Officiating. That’s him in the purple polo, which should give you an idea of where this is going. Turns out ol’ Mike is, shall we say, a tough man to pin down. I’ve been leaving messages with his office for weeks now — the most recent one was yesterday — but he hasn’t bothered to call me back.
Fortunately, reader Austin Henley checked in yesterday with some news that sheds a bit more like on the subject:
On the December 12th edition of Total Access on the NFL Network [which I don’t have — PL], Mike Pereira was on for his weekly “Official Review” segment. … He said a couple of things that I thought were interesting:
First: He gave the referees the option to wear the long pants and shirts at their discretion once the calendar flipped to December, meaning that referee Gerry Austin made the decision for the crew to go with the slacks and short sleeves [for the game in Detroit].
Second: He said that although he had given them the go-ahead to wear what they wanted, he did not like the short sleeves with long pants. He didn’t say Austin was reprimanded, but he said that you should not expect that look to reappear. He did say he really liked the long pants and long-sleeve shirts, which shouldn’t be surprising, since he played a part in their design.
John Parry, not Austin, was the referee for Monday’s game in San Diego, but it seems that more and more refs are taking advantage of Pereira’s late-season lenience.
Interestingly, the first time I called Pereira’s office and told his secretary that I wanted to ask him about the slacks worn in the Detroit game, she said, “Oh yes, I know there was some concern about the slacks being worn with the short sleeves,” essentially repeating what Pereira himself apparently said in his TV spot. Can’t say I understand the fuss, because I think the slacks look pretty much the same — i.e., like crap — no matter which jersey they’re paired with.
And that’s why I don’t like this “up to their discretion” business one little bit. When I discussed the slacks about a year ago with NFL officiating exec Larry Upson (who was much more accessible than Pereira but, unfortunately, is no longer with the league), he said, “They have to ask before they can wear ’em, just so we don’t have guys going around willy-nilly wearing them.” Wish they’d stuck to that protocol, because it’s starting to look like the officials prefer the slacks. If so, that’s a tragedy in the making, because NFL officials are more or less the last humans on the planet who know how to cuffs their knickers just right — mid-upper shin, just a bit of blousing — and are also among the rapidly dwindling ranks of the striped hosiery set. The slacks’ increasing prevalence is akin to the advent of pajama pants in baseball — and just as odious.
And if any officials out there think the slacks are more comfortable than the knickers, or less of a hassle, I frankly don’t care. Think of the proud heritage of high-cuffed football officials. Think of all the sock mills that depend on you to show off their striped hose. Think of how the slacks make you look like a cross between a bellhop and a sales clerk at Foot Locker.
You’ve chosen a special role for yourself. Now dress the part.
Uni Watch News Ticker: 49ers lineman Larry Allen is apparently quite a jersey collector (with thanks to Al Cummings). … Yesterday I mentioned that one of the officials in Wednesday night’s Blues/Red Wings game lost his luggage and had to wear borrowed equipment. Turns out Teebz knows the official in question and provided the full story in yesterday’s comments. Check it out here. … Lots of new soccer kits on display here (with thanks to Chris Cruz). … Amazing old Iowa football jersey up for auction here. … Seton Hall wore silver-gray uniforms last night. … Several readers have pointed out that Bill Simmons’s current column includes a link to this video clip from the 1984 NBA Old-Timers Game, which features loads of FNOB action (plus lots of disturbing shots of fat old guys squeezed in snug-fitting jerseys). … Japan’s two basketball leagues have unveiled their all-star uniforms. The BJ League will look like this and this (hmmm, wonder where they got their design inspiration?), and the JBL will wear this and this (as forwarded by Jeremy Brahm). … Cricket fan Jordan Owen reports that Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist wore pink gloves and a black armband the other day, for reasons explained in the third paragraph of this story.
Holiday Schedule: Unless something really momentous happens over the weekend, we’ll just have open chatter from tomorrow through New Year’s Day, then back to regular content next Wednesday.
December 28th, 2007
I don’t know if it was the lighting at Ford Field, the Lions’ awful black alternate jerseys, or the contrast between Detroit’s true silver pants and Dallas’s blue-tinted silver, but the Cowboys’ pants looked absolutely putrid yesterday. Seriously, did you watch that game, or see the highlights? Every time I caught a glimpse of that game on the TV screen, the Cowboys looked like this. Bizarre.
But not quite as bizarre as the sight of the officials wearing their cold-weather slacks for an indoor game. I’ve gotta believe this was a case of one official misplacing his regular pants and the whole crew therefore having to go with the Foot Locker look, but I’ll put in a call to the NFL today to get the scoop.
In other NFL news from yesterday:
• Some teams were still wearing the Sean Taylor memorial decal, others weren’t. There were even variations within individual teams: Most of the Chargers didn’t wear the decal, but a few of them did, including LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie. Oh, and this guy was still memorializing Taylor too.
• One team that didn’t wear the memorial decal — or any other rear-helmet adornment — was the Bills. They were wearing their gorgeous throwbacks, which always feature completely blank rear helmets — no flag, no league logo, no nothing (a phenomenon I first identified early last season). I’m told WR Roscoe Parrish wore the Sean Taylor decal, however. Couldn’t find a photo of that, but I did find a shot of his Taylor-ized eye black.
• It’s hard to see, but the “Riddell” logo on Plaxico Burress’s helmet was raised, just like the the “ny” on the team’s non-Riddell helmets.
• More lower-leg shenanigans from Al Harris.
• And in our weekly Flag Watch feature, Dallas Clark’s flag decal was still missing. No photo yet.
Friendly Reminder: I’ll be presenting a historical survey of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ uniforms tonight at Automotive High School’s gorgeous auditorium (which is located here), as part of the City Reliquary’s annual fund-raising gala. I can honestly say that I think anyone reading this would learn a few things from the presentation — I learned quite a bit myself while researching it. For $30, you get to see me, author extraordinaire Lawrence Weschler, live performances from Los Bomberos de Brooklyn and a live drum corps, and excerpts from a documentary film about a very specific Brooklyn subculture (I’ll let that part be a surprise), plus you’ll be supporting an extremely worthy cause that’s very dear to me. I hope some of you NYCers will show up. The event starts at 7 p.m., and I’m told that my segment will begin a little after 8 p.m.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The AHL’s All-Star Game jerseys will look like this (with thanks to Eric Hawkins). … Last Monday I mentioned that Braylon Edwards was playing bare-legged at the beginning of the Browns/Cards game, but I didn’t have a photo. Now, thanks to Jeffrey Nye, I do. … Interesting note from Andrew MacNamee, who writes: “When I first saw the Phillies’ new alternates, I knew they reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until a couple days ago. I remembered that they appeared on a couple baseball cards I had — namely, Mariano Duncan’s and Bob Ayrault’s 1993 Topps cards. Notable differences between these and the new alternates: The ‘P’ on the cap is in the Whiz Kids-era font, as opposed to the current ‘P’ on the new caps; the stars on the chest insignia are red, not blue; and no Cool Base jersey. According to a team source I e-mailed, this was a one-time uniform used for a throwback promotion against the Reds in 1992.” … “Mark Dodge, a linebacker for Texas A&M, wore his mother’s family name for his NOB during the A&M/Texas game,” writes Dustin Qualls. “He had to get special permission from the NCAA to do this. He was honoring his grandmother and aunt, who had both recently passed away. So his nameplate had ‘Thomas’ on it instead of ‘Dodge.’ I can’t find a picture, but here’s a story about it.” … Tons of great old stadium photos here (with thanks to Dave Soline). … Mike Lindsey notes that Bears punter Brad Maynard was wearing his chinstrap under his jaw on Thursday night. … The Reds will memorialize Joe Nuxhall with a sleeve patch next season. … Great find by Brian Castile, who writes: “Back in 1977, when Iowa State and the University of Iowa played football for the first time in 43 years, ISU wore ‘BEAT IOWA’ on the front of their jerseys, as you can see in this video clip. Unfortunately they lost the game. Later in the year, ISU played North Carolina State in the Peach Bowl and they altered the letters on the jerseys to read ‘PEACH BOWL.’ Again, they lost the game.” … The single-A Yakima Bears have unveiled a new identity system. I’m particularly fond of this. Full slideshow here (with thanks to Travis McGuire). … Further ursine-themed minor league action in Fresno, where the Grizzlies have released an updated design scheme. Details here. … We’ve all seen late-career photos of Yaz wearing an enlarged earhole, but I’d never seen the hole hollowed out to the extent seen here and here until Nicholas Bean sent me those two photos the other day. … Some seriously busy youth league unis being worn by the Staten Island Hurricanes — five kids, five different sock styles, plus check out the facemaks stripes on No. 6. And that’s not counting their other pants design (as found by Jeff Cooperman). … Lots of NBA throwback action over the weekend, as seen here, here, here, and here. … Speaking of which, good breakdown of the distinctions between the Lakers’ past and current uniforms here (with thanks to Ty Nowell). … Aaron Bolerjack reports that Man U will wear special non-sponsored uniforms on February 10th, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash disaster. … By now most of you know that the libero on a volleyball team wears a different-colored jersey. But Jeremy Brahm notes that the liberos in Italy also have different sponsors. The most extreme example is the Pallavolo Modena team, whose libero is sponsored by Marvel Comics (additional pics here). … Jeremy also sent along this article about Sadaharu Oh, in which the Japanese slugger opines, “They (Japanese players) like to wear their pants too long like American players, where you can’t even see their shoes. I don’t like that. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but the old Cincinnati Reds uniforms would be nice.” … Jonas Feit notes that the official in this shot is wearing only one glove, which I guess means he’s a fan of either Michael Jackson or Jay Gibbons. … Jared Blank notes that Fred Jones of the Knicks recently had an NOB glitch. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Monta Ellis appears to have tape on the soles of his sneakers. … Alex Auld made his Bruins debut Saturday night but was still wearing his Coyotes gear. … Good treatment of the situation regarding visors in the NHL here (with thanks to Karl Anderson). … Missouri is hinting that they may wear solid gold in the Cotton Bowl (as reported by Drew Wagner). … According to this listing of unusual MLB conract clauses, Dice-K is contractually guaranteed to wear No. 18 — which, as some of you may know, is considered a prestige number of pitchers in Japan (nice find by Scott Weicksel). … Anyone else think it was a bit odd that Floyd Mayweather’s operative color on Saturday night was gray?
December 10th, 2007
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