Today is the 35th anniversary of a seminal sports event: the Rumble in the Jungle, which pitted George Foreman against Muhummad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire. And No Mas honcho Chris Isenberg is marking the occasion with some seriously gorgeous video animation.

Some quick background: Most of you probably think of No Mas as a T-shirt brand, but it’s actually a multi-faceted media project — a project that was born out of Isenberg’s fascination with Ali. That fascination eventually blossomed into Isenberg becoming an official Ali licensee (you can read more about the unusual route he took to that destination here), and he’s used that connection to commission three short animations to commemorate the Rumble anniversary.

The first one, called Zaire, is by watercolorist David Rathman and is sort of a gray-wash time capsule that juxtaposes iconic Rumble sound bites with Rathman’s spectacular brushwork. You can see additional stills here, or just watch the video below.

Next up: Round Zero by oil painter Jerome Lagarrigue. No Mas describe this one thusly: “Lagarrigue draws inspiration from Ali’s own zoological poetry (’I done wrassled with an alligator/Tussled with a whale’) in exploring Ali’s mental and spiritual transformation in the moments before the bell sounds round one.” OK, so that sounds a tad pretentious, but the imagery is magnificent, all the more so when you see it in motion. Check it out:

The third video is by pen-and-ink illustrator James Blagden, is a hoot. As you may know, James Brown was headlining an all-star soul concert in Zaire that was organized in conjunction with the Rumble (and was also the subject of a recent documentary). So with the Godfather of Soul and the Greatest of All Time having been in the same place at the same time, Blagden has imagined a fictitious showdown between the two of them, set to JB’s “Cold Blooded.” Dig:

Great stuff, three great takes on a seminal event, and three potent reminders that boxing is still the most aesthetically potent sport of them all. Chris is going to be making some of the original animation artwork available for sale, and there may be an exhibit at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville. You can keep track of all that news on the No Mas site.

I love these short films, and I certainly don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade here, but I do feel a reality check is in order regarding the Rumble. To wit: It was a bad fight, and a boring one. Forget all the When We Were Kings mythologizing and just watch the fight. If you do, one thing quickly becomes apparent: Foreman looks like an amateur. No balance, no leverage, no nothing. Watch how he often he has his palms awkwardly extended and open in front of him, like a two-bit street pug. He doesn’t even look like a credible slugger — more like a third-rate Tough Man contestant. Seriously, there are multiple points in the fight where it’s embarrassing to watch him. Meanwhile, Ali’s rope-a-dope tactics, while canny, make for a snooze of a bout. Even the eventual knockout is unsatisfying — more of a cumulative meltdown than major punch-and-drop.

And yet the legend of the Rumble has endured. Why? (1) Foreman had built up an aura of invincibility in his previous fights, so the result was seen as a huge upset. (2) This was the fight in which Ali reclaimed the heavyweight title, something that had only been done once before (by Floyd Patterson, don’tcha know). (3) Ali, as was his habit, used the buildup to the fight as a backdrop for addressing powerful themes of race and culture — particularly powerful in this case, since the fight was in Africa. (4) Fight fans love epic themes, even if they’re more rooted in myth than in fact, and this fight had lots of powerful thematic elements. (5) “Rumble in the Jungle” is a catchy slogan.

None of which makes the No Mas videos any less compelling. Like I said, I’m just trying to provide a nugget of reality amidst the mythmaking.

Finally, one interesting uni-related note from the Rumble: Referee Zack Clayton wore zebra stripes — not something you often see in the boxing ring.

Bonus Column: I’ll have a short piece on World Series rings up on ESPN today. I won’t be around to add the link when it goes live, but it should be at this URL (that link will give an error message until the piece goes live, probably around 12:30pm eastern).

College Hoops Home Stretch: I’m currently working on my annual college basketball season-preview column for ESPN. Compiling one of these columns for college sports is different than doing it for one of the pro leagues, because there’s no central database of all the new uniforms, no league PR office or single manufacturer to go over things with. Basically, it’s a free-for-all, so I just try to stay alert and keep track of all the new designs and patches as I become aware of them.

Here’s what I have so far: Alabama, Auburn, Cal, Cincinnati, Colorado State, Creighton, Georgia Tech, Grand Canyon, Iowa State, Kentucky (rumors of something Lebron-ish, but no confirmation yet), Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio U., Oregon (I think — not yet confirmed), Pacific (alternate uni for the Dec. 9 game against Cal), Pitt, San Diego State, South Carolina, UNC (1957 throwback), UNLV, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington (new black alt), Washington State, and WVU (black alt).

I’m sure there are others I’ve missed — not just new uniforms, but also patches, court designs, etc. — and that’s where you come in. If you know of any college hoops unveilings not listed above, or if you become aware of any over the next week or so, please speak up. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The single-bar facemask lives! That’s our old friend Scott Player, now plying his trade in the UFL (with thanks to Doug Keklak and Mike Rigby). … The 49ers are changing who gets to wear the green dot on defense (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Some great uniform shots in this video tribute to the late NHL ref Bill Chadwick (with thanks to Alan Kreit). … England’s new rugby kit is my favorite color, with a poppy thrown in for Armistice Day (with thanks to Michael Orr). … Striped stirrups sighting in yesterday’s “Family Circus” (big thanks to Vernona Elms). … Insert joke about one white hockey glove here (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Not uni-related, but if you wanna see something really beautiful — I mean really beautiful — click on the embedded video here (thanks, Kirsten). … You’ve heard of FNOB, but how about FNOF? That’s the Raja, of course, wearing a Chicago youth organization uni (great find by Paul Wiederecht). … Good article about early Red Wings mask history here (with thanks to Tim Shay). … New uniforms for the Jacksonville Suns. … For next year’s April Fool, maybe I’ll start a rumor that the Seahawks are gonna be wearing this (bizarre find by Matthew Weber). … New World Cup kit for Ivory Coast. I don’t like that diagonal shoulder treatment, but I love their new crest (with thanks to Coachie Ballgames). … Tremendous batch of old 1940s Washington Huskies photos here (big thanks to John Doodigian). … According to the fourth graf of this story, Avs goalie Craig Anderson once “lived in Sweden and inserted a double-s in the middle of his surname to to fit in. When he played for the Blackhawks, he had an incorrect [double-s] spelling on the name bar of his jersey until the NHL, as he says, ‘questioned the legality of it.’” I don’t like to post watermarked Getty photos (and I ask that none of you do so either), but you can see the single-s and double-s versions of Anders(s)on’s Blackhawks NOB if you go to Getty’s main page and search on “Craig Anderson 2003 Chicago” (with thanks to Paul Richard Cook). … I like socks as much as the next guy — probably more — but this is going overboard. … I’m heading to Cooperstown later today and will be there throughout the weekend (good place to be during the Series, right?). See you on Monday.

Bruce Menard recently informed me that the folks at Heritage Auction Galleries have a ton of good stuff in their current auction catalog. Here’s a sampling:

• According to the auction listing, Robin Roberts wore this throwback replica while throwing out the first pitch at the 1976 All-Star Game. I’ve never heard about this before. Anyone know more?

• Totally digging the typography on this 1929 World Series program cover. And dig that little bear!

• And speaking of World Series programs, here’s a doozy.

• Here’s a rarity: A Pro Bowl helmet from the days when the players wore conference-specific headgear.

• Love all the quote-marked nicknames in this poster.

• I’m always a sucker for these college all-star uniforms. Rare to see one that includes the pants and the helmet. And man, those “4″s!

• Oh man, check out these killer Giants programs. Interesting uni note: Check out the shin of the Jints player in the lower-right illo — looks like he has a pad under his sock.

• Oh, for the days when the Bears played a beer-sponsored team.

• When I was at the National in Cleveland a few months ago, one of the most drool-inducing items I saw was this Tulsa Oilers hockey jersey. Here it is, up for auction.

• Never seen anything like this Ottawa Senators jacket or this Blackhawks jacket.

• Also new to me: This amazing Red Wings cardigan, with a white version to boot. Looks like they have the American flag facing the wrong way on the left sleeve, though.

• Remember the barber pole design that the Blackhawks wore in the Winter Classic? Here’s the original. But I think I like this design even better.

• If you’ve been wondering what to get me for my half-birthday (coming up next Monday, don’tcha know), this jacket wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

• Worst hockey jersey ever? Eh, close enough.

• Best hockey program cover ever? Eh, close enough.

• Lots of great ticket stubs on offer, including tix from the 1971 World Series, the ’51 Series, the ’57 Series, the 1962 Mets home opener, and more.

• Gorgeous hockey officiating sweaters here and here

• Not sure what this has to do with sports, but it sure is purty.

Want to see more? You can download the auction catalog as a PDF here.

And look, there are still a few hairs I haven’t pulled out: My Earthlink e-mail finally appears to be behaving, so forget about the alternate address I’ve been using for the past few days and go back to my usual addresses. And please keep your fingers crossed.

About Time: Big congrats to Jerry Dior, who’s finally been recognized as the designer of the MLB logo. He’ll be honored on the field at Yankee Stadium today and at Shea on Friday. I’ve written about Jerry several times (to see those columns, look here and here) and have always been impressed by what a gentleman he is — a class act all the way. I’m glad he’s finally gotten the recognition he deserves.

Research Reminder: My thanks to everyone who contributed thoughts, anecdotes, and historical notes regarding football gloves yesterday. If you have anything to contribute that would help document the history and culture of this largely overlooked uni element, don’t be shy.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Hadn’t noticed until now that Wisconsin is using those rounded-corner nameplates. Good view of them in the next-to-last photo in this gallery (as spotted by Ben Simon). … According to the fourth graf of this story, the Predators’ new alt jersey includes “a dark checkerboard pattern that can only be seen at close range” (with thanks to Nick Church). … You may know that Chad Ochocinco wore gold shoes and gold gloves on Sunday, but did you know he also had two fingers taped together? Never seen a receiver do that before. Anyone have any insights? (As spotted by Bob Wilzbach.) … Lenny Dykstra, financial genius. … A freelance designer is suing NYU for allegedly stealing her logo design. … Now that’s a helmet (with thanks to David Cline). … New Irish national rugby kit (with thanks to Joe Alvernaz). … Colorado will be wearing 1937 throwbacks this weekend. Additional info here, and there’s a photo gallery here. … Dave Forbes notes that Jeff Garcia previously wore No. 7 with the Eagles but will have to take a different number in Philly this time around because Michael Vick is now wearing No. 7. … Corey Zoldan reports that the following note appeared in the U. of Maryland school paper: “The [baseball] team will be ditching its red and yellow jerseys in favor of pinstripes, because [coach] Bakich wants to be able to sell future recruits on the opportunity to ‘play in the Terrapin pinstripes.’” Uh, right. … What’s worse than an Argentine soccer team with Walmart-sponsored jerseys? An Argentine soccer team with Walmart-sponsored socks, which must surely qualify as a new low for civilization (with thanks to Dario Moretti, writing all the way from South America). … We’ve talked several times over the years about the ribbed seams found on some Bears’ linemen’s shoulder areas. Now Aaron Schlesinger notes that the Eagles appear to be doing something similar. … Hey look, it’s minor league hockey. And the refs are wearing those stupid orange sleeve stripes that debuted during last season’s all-star game. … Good article about Vanderbilt’s merit decals here (with thanks to Lee Wilds). … Last week’s New Yorker featured two cartoons — appearing on facing pages! — that were very Ticker-worthy.

Highest Recommendation: I have a good friend — let’s call him Jim — who I’ve known for over a decade. Jim is a trained engineer and an experienced manager who’s particularly strong on strategy, marketing, product development, and finance. I’ve never met Jim’s parents, but they sure must have raised him right, because Jim is — and I’m not exaggerating here — the nicest, most congenial, most stand-up guy I’ve ever known. Really. In other words, he’s as much of an asset in the clubhouse as his is on the field.

Jim is currently between jobs. I can say with absolute certainty that he’d be a major plus for any company. If you’d like to see his résumé and some position papers he’s written, please get in touch and I’ll send them to you. Thanks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ah, Opening Day — the tradition! The pageantry! The conference call I had to participate in from about 1:30 to 2:45, right in the middle of the Mets/Reds game! Good times, good times.

Pretty tame day uni-wise, but there were some interesting tidbits. Here’s a rundown:

• Weirdest sight of the day was in Houston, where the Cubs were wearing their blue jerseys. See how the walking cub in the jersey logo is on a blue background? Now compare that to Aramis Ramirez, whose chest logo had a white background. Reader Eric Pickett notes that the white-backed logo appears on the Cubbies’ replica jerseys, but the replicas have that clunkier Majestic logo-plus-wordmark, while Ramirez had the standard Majestic mark on his sleeve yesterday. Looks like they just put the wrong logo on his chest.

• I don’t think I’ve ever seen an erect nipple visible against a baseball jersey before. But I have a feeling we may be seeing more of them now that Cool Basees are becoming more common. The flimsier fabric will leave little to the imagination.

• The Rangers somehow thought Opening Day would be a good time to debut their new red alternate jerseys (thank you very much, Nolan Ryan). Even worse, Salty wore blue gear, although he later replaced the blue helmet with a red one. Also, note that he’s now wearing his brim facing forward — is that a new thing for him, or had I just not noticed before?

• I’m surprised the Yankees haven’t added an armband for Johnny Blanchard and/or Arthur Richman. Maybe they’ll do it for their home opener.

• Speaking of the Yanks, how lame is it for them and the Mets to be wearing their “Hey, we’ve got a new stadium!” cap patches on the road? The Yanks are even wearing their new stadium sleeve patch on their road grays, which is really pushing it.

• The A’s wore their usual solid-green road caps, but they wore their yellow-brimmed home batting helmets, and catcher Kurt Suzuki wore his home catcher’s helmet. Steve Vucinich, if you’re reading this, what’s the story?

• Speaking of the A’s, Brandon Davis notes that Oakland starter Dallas Braden cut a little notch in his undershirt collar and, just below that, wrote “209″ — the area code of his hometown, Stockton, California.

• Throwbacks on Opening Day — whoa. But it’s their final opener in the ’Dome, so why not? NNOB, too.

• Man, those new Nationals road uniforms look soooo weird when you see the front and back at the same time. Such a mismatch. They reallyreallyreally should have changed the uni number font.

• Good to see Ed Montague’s still wearing the short-brimmed ump cap when working the plate. Is he the last one who does this?

• Here’s Toronto’s new maple leaf patch, and you can sort of see the new Ted Rogers memorial patch here (these were both shown in last week’s ESPN column, but only on black backgrounds). Amazing how they can keep adding things that aren’t blue, no?

• I’m sure there’s a good explanation for this. I’m also sure I don’t want to know what it is.

• Nice to see Manny’s hair is in midseason form.

Finally, there’s this: Yesterday I mentioned that MLB’s “Opening Day” logo shouldn’t be used for night games (if at all). That prompted Dan Cichalski to create a collage of the 11 on-field logos used yesterday. Note the Minnesota logo at upper-right — never seen that one before.

One down, 161 to go.

Research Query: Take a look at the word “View-Master” in this photo. Do any of you designer folks know what font that is, and/or do you know of any similar font(s)? If so, please let me know. Thanks.

Special Holiday Offer: Alain Nana-Sinkham, who runs the Classic Old School Gear operation, is running a special offer for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. I’ll let him explain: “I’ve had some really great feedback from some kids’-size jerseys I’ve done, like this one for my son — I did my college jersey design in his and my size. So from now until May 15th, when a customer buys a jersey at the regular price (which can range from $99 to $189, depending on the materials and complexity), I will throw in a kids’ size jersey of the same design for $19.”

Good deal, right? Right. You know what to do.

And we will NOT be calling it paulslist: As several readers have recently reminded me, back in January I had floated the idea of starting a page of classified ads, and the response was generally positive. So let’s get that started already. Here’s how it’ll work:

• To place an ad, PayPal the proper amount to paul_lukas at earthlink dot net. If you’re not PayPal-ish, send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217.

• Ads will be posted no later than two weekdays after payment is received (and usually much sooner than that) and will be removed one week after they’re posted. If you want to renew for another week, just send another payment.

Did I leave anything out? If so, I’m sure you’ll let me know.

Uni Watch News Ticker: After a long winter hibernation, Steve Dewing’s awesome baseball photography site is once again adding new material. If you’re new to his site, kiss the rest of your day goodbye, because once you start clicking through his incredible images, it’s impossible to stop. … Jeff Spry sent along some great photos from 1976, when Santa got him a full Steelers uniform, which he immediately wore. “I found that old jersey a few years ago while cleaning out my parents’ basement,” he says. “My two boys have both loved wearing it.” … Oh. My. God. That’s Scott Davis, who plays for Potomac State College in West Virginia (with big thanks to the team’s assistant coach, Don Schafer). … Uni Watch pastry chef Elena Elms engaged in her annual ritual of bringing baseball-themed cookies to her office on Opening Day. “My co-workers seemed more interested in some basketball game, but they’ll eat any free food,” she says. … Jeremy Brahm sent along some pics from the Chinese basketball all-star game. The North is in red, the South in blue. That’s former NBAer Wang Zhizhi in that last photo, No. 14. … If you see Kim Jong Il in a White Sox cap, it’s because the team sent caps to 16 world leaders. Details in the middle of this page (with thanks to James Huening). … Wanna own some ice from the Spectrum? Now you can (with thanks to John Muir). … A Wall Street Journal reporter called me the other day because he’s doing a story on Twin City Knitting and wanted to pick my brain about stirrups and other athletic hosiery. Half an hour later, as we were concluding our conversation, he said, “And does your psychiatrist know about all this?” Cute. … Also, a Baltimore Sun reporter interviewed me at length yesterday regarding the upside-down apostrophe on the Orioles’ alternate cap, so I think that shit is about to hit a sizable fan. Or at least I hope so. … The Astros will wear a stadium 10th-anniversary cap patch tomorrow (with thanks to Ryan Patrick). … Yesterday I mentioned that Ty Lawson briefly changed numbers the other day. Now Chris Warfford has taken things a step further, noting that when Lawson changed back to his regular No. 5, his new jersey did not have the Final Four logo. … The Cardinals are hosting the MLB All-Star Game this year, so their season tickets make reference to past ASGs played in St. Looie. Check them out here (courtesy of Ben Traxel). … “Huge cycling uniform news from the Tour of Flanders on Sunday,” writes Robert Danneker. “The top ‘classics’ team in the world, Quick Step, was almost prohibited from starting the race by the UCI (international cycling body) because they were going to wear retro-style uniforms that had not been sanctioned by UCI. There was nothing illegal about the nature of the kit — it just hadn’t been submitted for UCI approval.” For further details, go to this page and search on the word “prohibited.” … Speaking of cycling, interesting article about retro-styled cycling attire, of a sort, here (with thanks to B. Mitchell). … Further to yesterday’s note about the new Majestic shop across the street from Fenway: All Bosox tees being sold at the Yawkey Way Store now have an annoying Majestic logo on the chest. … John Feeney attended the open house at the Fort Wayne TinCaps’ new stadium, Parkview Field, and took a bunch of photos. … Yesterday I asked if anyone knew the story behind the jersey in the background of this shot. My thanks to the many readers who pointed me toward this answer. … Here’s an odd one: a Dallas Cowboys team portrait taken at Dodger Stadium (with thanks to Joe DeAngelis). … Good find by Tris Wykes, who writes: “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this combination of a half-shield and a full shield cut-out to protect the jaw and mouth. That’s Philadelphia Phantom Lasse Kukkonen playing against the Norfolk Admirals last weekend.” … I think we may have mentioned this before, but just in case: Cross-sport promotion on the calendar in Baltimore, where the Orioles will be giving away a Ravens-colored cap on NFL draft day. If the Orioles make the playoffs, will the Ravens return the favor by wearing orange-trimmed uniforms in October? (With thanks to Steve Patterson.) … Fun radio story about the mud smeared on baseballs here (thanks, Kirsten).

NCAA Contest Results: Vince is tabulating them right now. Should have the list of winners tomorrow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1. A free Uni Watch membership.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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).

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.

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.

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?