Here’s something I forgot to mention in last Friday’s NBA entry: Players in Saturday’s Suns/Warriors preseason game, which was played outdoors, had official permission to wear long undersleeves — an NBA first. It’s not yet clear if this will lead to sleeves being worn for indoor and/or regular season games, but it’s definitely something that’s being discussed. Personally, I have no problem with it. Hell, put some stripes or patterns on those sleeves and you might even end up with basketball uniforms that aren’t a total joke.

Or, more likely, you might make a bad situation worse. But hey, nothing ventured…

New ESPN column today — look here. Paul

Sponsor Shout-Out: As some of you may already have discovered, the folks at Pennant Race Gear (whose ad appears in the right-hand rail) are running an interesting contest-driven promotion — check it out.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New hoops uniforms for Alabama, UNLV, Miami Ohio, and Grand Canyon, plus Washington appears to have added a seriously ugly black alternate. … New throwback hockey jersey for the University of Denver. … So did Jerry Koosman give tax advice to Ron Darling or what? … According to our “White at Home in the NFL” page, the Raiders had never worn white at home until last week. But now Erin Haight has found a photo of Oakland wearing white at home in a 1967 preseason game. “I was not aware of that,” says jersey scholar Timmy Brulia. “I won’t add this to the white-at-home log, since it was a preseason game, but it’s interesting to note that at least one other AFL team, the Oilers, wore white at home for their preseason games in 1968 and 1969 at the Astrodome. To my knowledge — and I think I can say this with a pretty good degree of certainty — no AFL regular or postseason game ever featured a team wearing white at home.” … Great to see so many old baseball sweaters gathered in one place (thanks Kirsten). … Fun analysis of mascots here (with thanks to Jason Hillyer). … OK, so we all know NFL players now wear tights, and/or leg warmers, and/or socks sewn into the cuffs of their pants, and/or anything other than a standard pair of socks. But Reggie Wayne was really pushing it on Monday night. … Ricko, who knows I’m a Niners fan, sent me a bunch of interesting stuff from his files, including an SI item about the team’s equipment manager and some 1960s shots that show how the team was sometimes wearing silver pants with silver helmets and silver pants with gold helmets before finally settling on gold/gold in 1969. But wait, here’s a 1970s card that appears to show silver pants, although I don’t put much stock in a Topps card photo from that era. … Semi-decent view of the Browns’ 1999 “inaugural” patch here. … Man, the Devils wore some huge-ass helmet numbers in the late ’90s. Those screen shots come from this video clip (good find by Tomas Abrate). … The Canadiens’ centennial throwback schedule is up (with thanks to John Muir). … Ooh, check out Robert Marshall’s latest bobblehead video. … Fifteen-year timeline of photographic timeline of Presidents Cups here. … Good little article about Brad May getting his preferred uni number here (with thanks to Alyssa Miller). … Another new mask for Carey Price (with thanks to Casey B). … Hey, you know that amazing 1927 Tigers uniform? Here it is being worn in 1928 spring training, except for that one guy in the back row (amazing find by Bruce Menard). … The Blazers wore their Rip City jerseys last night, and Scott Little took a bunch of pics. “The game was at the Memorial Coliseum — a pretty cool old little arena,” he writes. “Steve Blake was wearing some shoes that I didn’t recognize, got a couple pics of those too.” … WVU will reportedly wear gold jerseys and white pants against Marshall this weekend (thanks, Kek). … Bizarre eBay find here. Never seen sleeves like that on a baseball jersey before. Judging by the patch placement and the straight hem, it was meant to be worn untucked, which makes me wonder if it was a women’s softball jersey. But the buttons are on the right, which is the men’s button format. Hmmmm. And man, that “Cadets” sleeve patch is the best! Great, great find (big thanks to Gabe Butler).

Something weird is going on with the Tigers (besides the fact that they’re flushing their postseason hopes down the crapper). It involves that little orange dot on the crown of their road batting helmets. Or at least it’s supposed to be there — but lately it’s been a little more complicated than that.

The most obvious problem child is Gary Sheffield, whose dot has been way off-center in recent days. Then there’s Curtis Granderson, whose dot is several inches too far forward. But at least Sheffield and Granderson have their dots — Placido Polanco’s orange dot is missing altogether.

It’s been a while since I’ve written about the helmet dots, so here’s a quick recap: Most MLB teams use them, and they’re actually included in MLB helmet decal kits. They sort of mimic the button on the top of a cap, but that doesn’t explain why the dots are sometimes used by teams that don’t have contrast-colored cap buttons. A spokesman from Rawlings, which makes all the MLB helmets, once told me that the little dots were a visual trademark of ABC Helmet (the company that originally made the helmets) and were continued by Rawlings in the interest of continuity, even though they don’t always match the caps. To my way of thinking, the dots are a silly anachronism at best, and they make no sense at all on a CoolFlo helmet, since the newfangled lids don’t are only loosely based on caps anyway.

None of which explains the situation with the Tigers. Is it some sort of superstitious good luck charm? Is it a way of sending signals that even Bill Belichick can’t steal? Is it a way to get people to stop talking about those other helmet dots? (I still get two or three questions a day about that — incredible.) If anyone knows the deal, please fill us in.

(Special thanks to Benjamin Bonnett and intern Vince Grzegorek, who brought the Tigers situation to my attention.)

MLB 2008 Update: I have a feeling this link isn’t gonna stay up for long, but for now you can see most of the 2008 MLB uni revisions — including, yes, the new Tampa design — here. Discuss.

Typography Update: Yesterday brought still more chest/sleeve typographic inconsistencies (the first two of which were contributed by Brendon Yarian):

• Check out the lower serif on the 2 worn by the mid-’80s Browns (home, road).

• Ohio State’s 4 in the mid-1970s had a lower serif on the chest but not on the sleeve (home, road).

• Dennis Jones noted in yesterday’s comments that the Cowboys have had chest/shoulder inconsistencies with a variety of numerals, including 2, 2 again, 3, 7, and 7 again.

• Yesterday I mentioned that the Jets had inconsistent 2s in the late ’60s, but the pseudonymous Graf Zeppelin pointed out in yesterday’s comments that they apparently had a similar problem 20 years later, as seen on the cover of their 1989 yearbook. That prompted a spectacularly informative follow-up comment from sj32:

The reason there are two different typefaces is because the jerseys were made by two different manufacturers. The jersey Shuler is wearing was made by Sand Knit while the “22″ jersey was made by Champion. In the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s, the number font on the jerseys was often determined by which company manufactured it. In that era, Sand Knit, Russell Athletic, and Champion were the primary suppliers (with King O’Shea, Southland Athletic, and Wilson supplying a couple of teams). A Champion jersey was usually identifiable by the slanted middle of the 2s and the curved 7s. Sand Knit and Russell used standard block fonts, but there were slight differences. Sand Knit produced the jerseys with the notched 5s used by Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, etc. The Russell jerseys were somewhat narrower than the Sand numbers, particularly on the sleeves.

Meanwhile, design director Scott M.X. Turner checked in with a few thoughts on the matter:

2s are the only digit where a bar — not a serif, but a bar — can shift dramatically, 45 and 90 degree angles. (7s can a bit — sometimes they’re rendered with a curve even when the number set is all straight lines.) I think that a 2’s middle bar is altered from jersey front/back to sleeve because a diagonal bar looks skinnier than a horizontal bar. Also, compressed number sets support a diagonal 2 better than a horizontal-bar 2, which tends to look squeezed when compressed. Me, I like compressed sets, but for the smaller TV numbers — either shoulder yoke or sleeve placement — it’s not as readable.

Why a team would have one variety on the home jersey and the other on its road jersey, that’s anybody’s guess. The easy default answer — that back in the day (meaning 1980 and prior, generally), the manufacturer just used whatever was lying around — works some of the time. But there have to be instances when a decision was made that one 2 looked better than another.

By the way, the very best example, of different number sets front and back is the late ’60s UCLA basketball jersey — the Lew Alcindor era. Front was a squat, boxy style, and the back was an elegant, narrow vertical style. Maybe they adopted this to make Alcindor look taller — I wouldn’t be surprised at all. Pretty sure that before Alcindor, the front style was also the back style.

Speaking of typography, a new documentary film about the typeface Helvetica (called, of course, Helvetica) is currently screening here in New York. I saw it two nights ago and loved it. No team I can think of has ever used Helvetica on its uniforms, which helps explain why the movie has no sports-related content, but there are several good interludes with graphic designer Michael Beirut, who I know has done some work for the Jets, plus plenty of detail-driven bits that should appeal to anyone who Gets It™. Recommended viewing.

Unusual Research Request: I’m looking for someone in the New York area who can read lips. Sports fan preferred; availability for watching lots of mid-October sports in the company of an ESPN reporter of my approximate height and build essential. If you know of anyone who fits the bill, please get in touch. Thanks.

Raffle Reminder: Today’s the last day to enter the raffle for the L.A. Kings jersey, the Washington Capitals T-shirt, and the bunch of MLB sleeve patches. To enter, send an e-mail to uniraffle at earthlink dot net by this 10 p.m. eastern tonight. I’ll announce the winners tomorrow. One e-mail per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch membership program by the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries.

Oh, and by the way: Last month I was saying that there’d be a real doozy of a raffle in September. This isn’t it — the doozy is yet to come. Just waiting for one last piece to fall into place.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Forgot to mention that my Financial Times article about the Lelands sports memorabilia auction house (research for which was documented here) was published on Saturday. The article is here, and there’s a sidebar here. … Several unusual wristbands in this shot (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Pat Ratliff notes that Devin Hester is up to his old double sock tricks. I forgot to mention that Giants equipment director Joe Skiba showed me something last Friday that may explain this phenomenon: Several of the Giants’ players have socks sewn into the bottom of their pants and then wear an additional pair of socks over that. That’s probably what Hester is doing. … As a big fan of green and gold, I have a soft spot for Norfolk State’s design. Go Spartans! (With thanks to Bruce Soltys.) … We’ve previously mentioned how MTSU uses huge nameplate lettering for short surnames, but you can’t fully appreciate the absurdity of it until you see this (with thanks to Chad Cate). … Brad Bierman just alerted me to a uni-related attraction I hadn’t previously been aware of: the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society Museum, which looks pretty cool. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Phillies used to have a raised helmet appliqué, just as the Cubs still do. … We’ve all seen baseball players who wear state or national flags on their gloves. But here’s something I haven’t seen before: Clay Buchholz wears the Texas state flag inside his glove (genius catch by Randy Williams). … Here’s a rare sight: a pitcher who wears No. 0. He’s even got it on his undershirt collar (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm).

Look closely at the photo shown above and you’ll notice something odd: The player (who happens to be Titans linebacker Ryan Fowler) has cut holes in the tips of his shoes, and his sock-covered big toes are poking out.

Football players are known for modifying their equipment, but I’d never heard of this one before. And it turns out that it’s actually quite common, at least according to a faaaaaaascinating article that ran in yesterday’s Nashville Tennessean (helpfully brought to my attention by reader Wade Harder), which explains that many players cut holes in their cleats — sometimes for performance-related reasons, sometimes to avoid damaged toenails. Here are some of the choicer bits:

It’s an NFL equipment oddity and something most fans would never notice. But in a locker room where players pay attention to every last uniform detail, at least a dozen Titans lace their cleats and then cut slits or even gaping holes over the big toes.

Some players believe it might make them better because it helps them feel lighter, faster, able to change direction more quickly. If nothing else, they at least feel more comfortable.

“I like tight shoes, and it kind of makes you feel like you’re out there with no shoes on at all,” said cornerback Kelly Herndon, who cut slits that make an X at the tips of both his cleats. “You want something light, and as tight as possible so you can move around better. If that means cutting them to make them tighter, that’s what you do.”

Linebacker Ryan Fowler has gone to the extreme. Both of his entire big toes hang out through man-made holes cut in his cleats.

Fowler said he’s not worried about someone stepping on his exposed toes. He’s more worried about moving around effectively. … “Also, a lot of times when you change directions and you stop, your toe hits the front of your shoe and toenails crack and you get an in-grown toenails. … It’s for comfort as well.”

[...]

Cornerback Eric King said he feels a little faster with the tight shoe, so he doesn’t mind breaking out the scalpel.

Cornerback Michael Waddell started experimenting after seeing some of his teammates perform shoe surgery. After he puts on two pair of socks and has his ankles taped, sometimes a little relief at the front end is nice, he said.

This probably qualifies as the coolest, most Getting It™ article of the year so far, so let’s give credit to Tennessean reporter Jim Wyatt, who wrote it (and to his editor, for not saying, “What the hell is this? An article about shoe surgery? We’re not running that!”). You can read the full article here.

And the Titans aren’t the only ones with one little piggy sticking out of their shoes. When the Tennessean article was briefly discussed in yesterday’s comments section, Mike from Queens pointed to this short item about Jets safety Kerry Rhodes, and a few other readers offered enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that cleat-cutting is a fairly standard practice.

Who knew? Not me. Do Reebok, Nike, and all the other shoe companies realize that the players are cutting up their footwear? How long before these companies start manufacturing cleats with pre-cut toe holes?

And it’s a shame that the late artist Don Martin Don Martin didn’t live long enough to be aware of this phenomenon. The guy was obsessed with toes (like, really obsessed), whether barefoot or shoe-clad. He would’ve had a field day with this.

August Raffle Announcement: With college football just around the corner, our good friends at Helmet Hut and Gridiron Memories have generously volunteered to raffle off one of their NCAA helmets — a selection that includes over 500 designs — to a lucky Uni Watch reader.

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 Thursday, August 23rd, at 10 p.m. eastern. I won’t actually be reading these e-mails, so don’t bother including any messages or questions. One entry per person, but anyone enrolled in the Uni Watch Membership Program by the time of the drawing will automatically get three bonus entries (i.e., members will get their names put in the hat three times even if they don’t send an e-mail entry, or four times if they do).

I’ll announce the winner a week from today.

Speaking of the membership program, I believe we’re now completely caught up on card designs (including the one shown at right, which is based on Belmont Park jockeys’ silks). If you’ve signed up and don’t see your card in the design gallery, and/or if you don’t see your name listed on the active roster, please let me know.

For the roughly four dozen of you who haven’t yet received your membership kits, you’ll be happy to hear that I plan to get your cards printed today. Figure another week for trimming, laminating and envelope-stuffing. Thanks for your patience.

Uni Watch News Ticker: If you click here and scroll up to the 12-minute mark, you’ll find a not-too-bad interview I recently did with the MLB Video guys (with thanks to Todd Krevanchi for reminding me to post the link). … Spectacular work by Richard Craig, who checks in with the following report: “At the beginning of last night’s Braves/Giants game, Jeff Francoeur’s name was misspelled on his jersey. He must have been clued in and switched jerseys later on, because suddenly his name was correct again. I know his name is easily misspelled, but wouldn’t you think he’d notice while suiting up?” … Major NBA hairstyling story here (with thanks to Vince, who also notes that there’s been some hair-related rookie hazing at Patriots camp). … A year ago I did an entry about the Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event in which the players wear flannel throwbacks. This year’s installment of the event just took place, and there’s a great photo gallery here. … More amateurs. … Todd Krevanchi notes that Shanna Zolman-Crossley was wearing a full-length Under Armour-ish undershirt the other day. … Matt Craig wonders why Darrell Royal had No. 20 on his jacket sleeve during the 1970 Cotton Bowl. Anyone..? … Decent breakdown of all the current and pending NHL uni changes here (with thanks to Kim Kolb). … Oliver Perez fell victim to the classic bubble gum prank last night (as captured by James Fleming). … Great contribution from Jared Wheeler, who writes: “The Houston Colt .45s had a minor league team named the .22s — check out the caps on John Hoffman and Dave Adlesh.”

Now that the first slate of NFL preseason games has been played, a few new developments have come to light (aside from those green dots on QBs’ helmets, which we’ve already discussed at length). Let’s take a look:

• At first glance, it appears that the Chiefs are wearing an AFL logo patch. But upon closer inspection, it turns out that the patch includes little “LH” initials at the bottom, in memory of Lamar Hunt. Personally, I’ve always loved the AFL logo and am happy to see it in just about any context, and I realize Hunt was a prime mover behind the AFL’s inception, but this still seems like an odd memorial choice, especially since it’s so hard to see the “L.H.” initials. Maybe if all the original AFL teams were wearing the patch..? Visually pleasing conceptually puzzling.

• Great to see the Browns wearing their old striped socks again, instead of what they were wearing last season. Additional views here and here, just cuz it looks so damn good.

• Nice catch by Chad Wilcox, who notes that many of the Redskins with non-Riddell helmets are wearing the team’s stylized “R” secondary logo (the one usually seen on Joe Gibbs’s cap) on their nose bumpers Here’s another view. I like. Meanwhile, we’d all seen the team’s 75th-anniversary patch before, but it’s worth noting that it looks plenty sharp on the field.

• Speaking of anniversary patches, the one being worn by the Steelers doesn’t look as good. And although this is still appearing on the Bengals’ home page, it’s not on their jerseys, at least for now.

• There’s something weird about opening your season — even your exhibition season — in your alternate jersey.

• I wish the Chargers’ pants bolts had a few more jags in them. Otherwise, I think their new design looks sharp.

• Subtlest change of the year: Motorola has outfitted the coaches with new headsets this year. The microphone bar is much thicker and clunkier-looking than last season — apparently so the Motorola wordmark can be printed on it as much as possible. Just in case anyone’s missing the point, the wordmark is also now appearing on both sides of the upper strap. (Note, incidentally, that while Joe Gibbs wears earphones on both ears, most other coaches only have an earpiece on the mic side.

That’s enough for now. Look for further developments in the Ticker as more games are played (like tonight’s Eagles/Ravens and Niners/Broncos tilts).

Charge It: The story behind this commercial and its inconsistent lightning bolt designs (compare this view of LaDanian Tomlinson, in which the upper-front point of his shoulder bolt is pointing forward, to this one, in which it’s pointing backward) continues to evolve. Last week I posted a note from Steve Due of AIS Uniforms — the company that made the unis — which didn’t fully explain the inconsistencies. Now I’ve received a dispatch from Due’s AIS colleague Bob Halfacre (who, as elephant-memoried readers may recall, had some very strong opinions a while back on the subject of nameplate initials), which I think finally closes the book on this story:

We made the bulk of the uniforms in a week with no help with patterns from the NFL. All we had was a replica-style jersey from Reebok. So the jersey itself isn’t perfect. … When the commercial was filmed, the Chargers sent Antonio Gates, Philip Rivers, and LaDanian Tomlinson with their actual tailored game jerseys. The shots of those three players are a mix of footage of those players in their actual uniforms along with footage of actors in the jerseys made by AIS, edited into what looks like continuous football action. I noticed the problem when I saw the commercial the first time also.

This shot is actually LT in his real jersey. Now that I have studied it a little more, I can see the problem. We put the bolts on backwards. If you look, the actual pictures of Gates and Tomlinson have the bolt with the first jag inside low and outside high. The AIS jerseys have the bolts the other way.

This explanation matches up with yesterday’s Chargers/Seahawks preseason game, where all of the Chargers’ shoulder bolts had the upper-front point facing forward (additional views here, here, and here). So there you have it: an all-too-rare case of someone taking responsibility and admitting his mistake. Thanks, Bob.

Membership News: We’re almost caught up on membership designs. Lots of good new stuff in the design gallery, including, as you can see at right, our first Bad News Bears treatment. Also newly added: a San Diego Chicken design. (I confess that I had never noticed the Chicken’s jersey logo until member Michael Rawson asked for it on his card.)

The next batch of designs, which Scott should have ready in a day or two, includes a really brilliant request that’s gonna look sooooooo cool — stay tuned. Meanwhile, new members are still welcome, so keep those orders coming.

Uni Watch News Ticker: No photo yet, but David Conley reports that Tiger Woods’s baby girl, Sam, “was actually wearing a red jumper with a large Nike swoosh on it when they showed her on TV yesterday after Tiger won the PGA.” And if you’ll excuse me for a second, I need to go throw up. … Okay, I’m back: The Celtics have announced that Scot Pollard and Eddie House will be wearing Nos. 66 and 50, respectively. Why? According to Friday’s Boston Herald: “‘Because all the other (expletive) numbers were taken here,’ Pollard said, looking around a conference room that had the numbers of Bill Russell (6), Tom Heinsohn (15), John Havlicek (17), Robert Parish (00), Larry Bird (33) and Kevin McHale (32) hanging on the wall.” (With thanks to Matt Englander.) … If you’re into modifying the uniforms on your video games (as discussed in detail here), you’ll want to check out the customization videos on this page (with thanks to Trev Ulmer). … Shorpy continues to be a great source of old uni photos, including this shot, captioned as follows: “Opening Day at Hilltop Park, April 4, 1908. New York Highlanders and Philadelphia Athletics” (as forwarded by Bob Andrews). … Brilliant catch by Peter Fahey who notes that Red Sox uniforms often have an upside-down 8 (the bigger opening should be on the bottom). … Elena Elms reports that the Durham Bulls will be wearing Livestrong jerseys, to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation, on August 19th. … While doing a bit of membership-related research, Scott Turner came across this photo, taken in 1984. “How come Dorsett’s got a big star on his chest?” he asks. Good question. Anyone..? … If you haven’t read Game of Shadows, some of its most damning evidence about Bonds concerns his uniform: “[Giants equipment mananager Mike] Murphy could document Bonds’s physical changes via the changes in his uniform size. Since joining the Giants, Bonds has gone from a size 42 to a size 52 jersey; from size 10 1/2 to size 13 cleats; and from a size 7 1/8 to size 7 1/4 cap, even though he had taken to shaving his head” (with thanks to Matt Schudel for forwarding that quote). … Bryan Redemske notes that Chris Duncan, like all the other Cardinals, wore red shoes on Friday but switched to black on Saturday. … Matt Algeo reports that the Russian national baseball team wore throwbacks the other day. “Who knew there was a Russian national baseball team, or that they were around long enough to wear throwbacks?” he writes. Details and additional pics here. … Not often that you see “Sr.” on a nameplate. The player in question is Nebraska wide receiver Chris Brooks, whose young son is Chris Brooks Jr. (nice find by Brian Hansen). … Small item about Rick Ankiel’s uni number history about halfway down this page (with thanks to Tom Chalifour). … Dave Gardner sent along a few hockey-related links I hadn’t seen before, including a discussion forum for vintage goalie masks and a gallery of Russian jerseys. … “Found a cool gallery of lacrosse photos from the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association, a semi-pro summer box lacrosse league in Canada,” writes Thomas Langan. “Looks like some of the jerseys get recycled, as evidenced by the tape over the name. Some nice retro-looking jerseys too.” … “This blog entry has two uni-related tidbits,” writes Kim Kolb. “One is about a United midfielder trading jerseys with Beckham, the other is about some guys trying to steal the Galaxy’s laundry, leading to a chase through the bowels of RFK Stadium.” … The Twins’ recent I-35W memorial decal provides a uni-related connection for this excellent story about how a new signage typeface is being used on American highways. … Soccer note from Jeremy Brahm, who reports that Montreal Impact goalie Matt Jordan was injured with a broken jaw a month ago but is now playing with a mask. … My worst nightmare recently came true down in Virginia, where the Richmond Braves had a purple jersey promotion (with “thanks” to David Rosenthal). … Latest MLB team to pull the totally bush move of wearing their BP jerseys for a regular-season game: the Mariners, who did it yesterday, apparently because it was so hot and muggy and they don’t have a Cool Base road jersey option. … Speaking of the M’s, many of them are wearing a custom-designed undershirt. Details here (with thanks to Jerry Gardner). … Amusing column here about the PGA’s no-shorts rule (good spot by Alan Kreit). … Eyebrow-raising note buried in Phil Mushnick’s Sunday New York Post column (as spotted by Seth Horowitz): “The University of Utah’s new basketball coach, Jim Boylen, could be the guy we’ve been looking for. At Boylen’s urging, black has been eliminated from the team’s uniforms. ‘Our [school] colors are red and white,’ he explained. ‘Black is not one of our colors.’” … The Texans are the latest team to publish their jersey schedule for the upcoming season (good find by Seth Harris). … No photo, but Morris Levin reports that Bruce Froemming is still wearing his All-Star Game cap. … “Adam Gaylord plays his college baseball at Stanford, but this summer he’s been playing for the Waterloo Bucks of the Northwoods League,” writes Matt Nelson. Sunday he sported these nice stirrups.”

Jerry Glanville has always been such a blowhard. The whole “Man in Black” thing, leaving a ticket for Elvis, driving a replica of James Dean’s car — a shtick as hackneyed and cornball as that has to be earned, and anyone with a head coaching record of 62-71 hasn’t earned jack.

But Glanville and his shtick are back this year, because he’s the new head coach at Portland State, which unveiled its new uniforms yesterday. And in the year’s 9473rd-biggest surprise (right after Lindsay Lohan’s latest rehab stint, and in front of Karl Rove’s refusal to answer a subpoena), the team’s previous green-based color scheme has given way to black. (As an aside, check out the kid on the left — he’s wearing NFL gloves, which means they’re made by Reebok. A rare chink in Nike’s promotional armor!)

It could’ve been worse. According to this release, Glanville originally presented his own uniform design (also black, I’m sure), but that one was discarded after Nike came up with their design. “When Nike presented their new look, I realized I may be in the wrong business designing uniforms,” said Glanville. Yeah, because you probably wouldn’t have come up with quotes like this one, from Nike creative director Todd Van Horne: “We (at Nike) huddled together and said ‘there’s energy here.’ We needed to bring that energy very visually to the field.” Don’t you love it when marketers talk like that? Yeah, Portland State has energy — unlike all those other football teams, which presumably have, like, no energy at all, right?

Such bullshit notwithstanding, the most interesting thing about the new design is the helmet, which features a center spear instead of flanking side logos. The most obvious corollary is probably the Redskins’ old feather design — not a bad pedigree. I kinda like it.

As for Glanville, I’ll say this much for him: If the Vikings or Ravens want to hire him, I’ll gladly contribute a letter of recommendation.

Membership News: Scott’s been busy with non-Uni Watch work (that boy needs to get his priorities straight), so the membership gallery hasn’t had any new designs for the past few days, but expect to see more designs added by the end of the week, including some real doozies. Meanwhile, I mailed out two dozen membership kits yesterday and should send out about 45 more today and tomorrow. And congrats to new member J.J. Carton, who last night became our 400th (!) enrollee.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Indiana is memorializing Terry Hoeppner with a helmet decal (with thanks to Mark Fightmaster). … I’ll be interviewed tonight at 10pm eastern on the Face Off Hockey Show, whose principal, Scott Wasilewski, sent along this photo of NASCAR drivers Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann wearing NAPA-branded Canadiens jerseys. … “UnderArmour has made a couple of changes to Texas Tech’s football jerseys for 2007,” writes Aaron Dickens. “The jersey numbers will be much thinner than last season and the UA logo will be black instead of white.” … Oh my. … You probably saw this spotlighted in my ESPN column from last week, but just in case: UniformViolation.com is pretty damn cool. … Everything leads back to Bill Buckner (good find by Jere Smith). … “The Harrisburg City Islanders of the United Soccer Leagues Second Division have what may be the most useless names I’ve seen on a team’s jersey — they’re in blue here,” writes Chuck Nolan Jr. ” Also, Harrisbuirg has worn pink jerseys and Cincinnati (from the same league) has worn pink socks.” Ewwww. … The St. Paul Saints have added a black armband to mark the I-35W bridge collapse. It’s interesting that minor league teams are usually more showy and “wacky” that MLB teams, but in this case the Saints’ response to the bridge tragedy is much more restrained than the Twins’ gesture. … Speaking of memorials, have you noticed that the umpires have been wearing “SC” sleeve patches? That’s in memory of former ump Shag Crawford (father of current ump Jerry Crawford), who recently passed away. … The Thai police department is punishing slipshod officers with a novel twist on the scarlet letter (nice find by Matt Brosseau). … AJ Connelly notes that Terrell Owens “has opted for something from Jimi Hendrix’s wardrobe! Something needs to be done about this before Reebok spots it and make it de riguer in the NFL on Sundays.” … Someone broke a record of some sort last night. It had nothing to do with uniforms, so if you have strong opinions about the record-breaker, please post them on a more appropriate forum, not here. Thanks.

New ESPN column today — here’s the link. Plus I also have a review of last night’s No Mas event on today’s Page 2 index page.

Meanwhile: Great little uniform-related episode in the 4th inning of Tuesday night’s Cubs/Rockies game, when Chicago pitcher Ted Lilly was due to bat but was momentarily AWOL, leading to some good uni-centric chatter from Cubbies announcers Bob Brenly and Len Kasper:

Brenly: Because Felix Pie [the previous batter] swung at the first pitch, Ted Lilly’s not ready to take his at-bat right here. Takin’ care of some business up the tunnel there, in the Cubs’ clubhouse. [Lilly emerges from the dugout and hustles up to the plate.] Now he’s gonna sprint up there.

Kasper: Y’know, I wonder if he changed his jersey, which I know Carlos Zambrano does. [Lilly fidgets with his uniform as he steps into the batter's box.] Kinda grabbin’ his top button there. We only know about Carlos because of the brawl against the Padres — he came out and didn’t have his belt buckled.

Brenly: We were probably fortunate the brawl didn’t happen, say, five minutes sooner. No telling what Carlos would’ve been wearing as he came out of the tunnel. Or not wearing. [Camera offers a close-up of Lilly's midsection.]

Kasper [chuckling]: Belt buckle’s fine. Does Ted normally wear batting gloves? [Yes. -- PL] For some reason he just looks different than I’m used to seeing him at the plate.

Brenly: I’m not so sure he has any undershirt on at this point. [Camera shows that Lilly, who'd been wearing a white undershirt in the top of the inning, now appears to be undershirt-free. He continues to fidget and fuss with his jersey.] Usually you can see the collar of the undershirt right there in the nape of the neck, but it doesn’t look like he has an undershirt on right now. May have been interrupted in mid-change. You know, it’s not unusual for starting pitcher, Len, to change undershirts three or four times in the course of a ballgame. You start to perspire out there on the mound, as hard as you’re working. The undershirt gets heavy and wet, restricts your movements a little bit. [Lilly grounds out and fidgets with his jersey one last time.]

Kasper: Well, Ted Lilly might go back and get dressed again.

This reminds me of Game 5 of the 1969 World Series, which featured a slight delay when Frank Robinson was due to bat (I’m fairly certain it was the 6th inning) but was nowhere to be found. He eventually popped out of the dugout while still tucking in his jersey, with his shirttail tag clearly visible. This game shows up on TV from time to time. Anyone got it on video?

(Special thanks to John Lanctot, who brought the Lilly sequence to my attention.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: The President isn’t the only one who gets free uni-related swag — Chief Justice John Roberts got an MSU hockey jersey during the team’s recent visit to DC, which I guess means he has to recuse himself from any college hockey-related cases that reach the Supreme Court (with thanks to Christopher Drouin). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Buddy Bell and the rest of the Royals coaching staff will wear No. 22 on Sunday, as a tribute to Negro Leagues stalwart Buck O’Neil. … Check out the gorgeous ribbed collar and cuffs in this shot of Ernie Banks. No wonder he wanted to play two! … I swear, is there something in the Shea Stadium water or what? From yesterday’s New York Times: “Several players wore orange T-shirts beneath their jerseys [Tuesday] night that featured a likeness of Bozo the Clown and the words, ‘Enough!’ on the front and ‘There ain’t a big top big enough for this circus’ on the back.” As I’ve said too many times before, why not just dress the team like clowns and get it over with already? … Brinke Guthrie notes that Roger Federer is wearing signature sneakers at Wimbledon. The four Swiss emblems represent Federer’s four staight Wimbledon titles. … I get my health insurance through these guys. As you can see, their web site is very plain-looking, as are all their mailings and other graphics. So I was surprised to see them running this ad on the subway yesterday. I mean, geez, does it remind you of anything? … Great article here about managers’ and coaches’ attire (with special get-well thanks to Tessa, who sent in this contribution from her hospital bed). … From yesterday’s comments: Bill Belichick appears to have initial-inscribed shorts. … Aqua Paradiso is an Italian mineral water with a winged-angel design motif. They also sponsor a volleyball team, whose players are forced to wear the wings in an unfortunate location (nice find by Jeremy Brahm). … Manny’s latest stunt (as reported by Jere): wristbands in honor of hs hairdresser (yes, the numbers don’t match, but the name does — maybe they couldn’t make a three-digit wristband). … Interesting, if somewhat outdated, find by Ethan Rowley: Some teams in the IWFL — that’s Independent Women’s Football League, dummy — have used old uniforms donated by NFL teams. And if you think NFL uniforms are too big to be worn by women, think again.

You probably know that the Devil Rays played a few “home” games in Orlando last week at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, which, despite having only 9000 seats, was no doubt an upgrade over Tropicana Field (and where, as you can see at right, Richard Petty threw out the first ball for one of the games). Reader Andrew Ranck attended one of the games and documented some interesting factoids regarding the 246th stadium to host an MLB game:

The field in front of the dugouts had logos commemorating the 10th anniversary of the complex (who knew). The on deck circles had MLB logos on them, and they seemed pretty worn. I’m guessing they may have been spring training holdovers, but they didn’t seem to get much use anyway.

Left field had a collection of pennants representing some of the Rays’ regular sponsors. Also the area beyond the left field fence was grassy, with families spread out on blankets and kids running around.

Center field was pretty bare, and the scoreboard gave little batter information. Besides the line score and the current count, we only saw the batter’s uniform number and batting average. Right field had a temporary Jumbotron, which only displayed the basic graphics from the player intros and whatnot. In the foreground of that last photo, you can see the soft drink race, which took place after the 4th inning.

The only beers for sale that I could find were 24-ounce cans (for $8.50!). The Anheiser-Busch products had Rays logos on them. This surprised me, because Disney is known for not selling that much in the way of A-B products, because Busch Gardens and Sea World are main competitors.

Thanks to Andrew for the first-hand report. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to give a similar account of the proceedings at the Trop, that might be amusing.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Big kudos and thanks to Trevor Williams of the Brainerd Dispatch, who attended the Uni Watch party in Minneapolis two Saturdays ago and then wrote this very nice article about it. … Lotsa stuff you might have missed over the weekend, beginning with Boise State’s new football jerseys, which were unveiled late on Friday. They’ll look like this, this, this, and this. Further details here. … Also from Friday: Roger Clemens warmed up for his minor league season debut wearing high cuffs and white-striped Adidas cleats but later switched shoes and pant styles. … Reprinted from Saturday’s comments: Friday’s blog entry about Chris Sampson being told to remove his hospital bracelet (in case you missed it, look here) should have included a reference to Rob Mackowiak, who hit two home runs while still wearing his hospital bracelet on the day his baby was born back in 2004 (full details here). … It was Armed Forces Night in Milwaukee on Saturday, with the Brewers and Twins wearing military-themed caps. … Interesting thread on the Chris Creamer boards regarding the Cincinnati Jungle Kats, an AF2 team with a pretty innovative helmet design. … More arena football news from Michael Alper, who notes that Kenny Higgins of the Nashville Kats (again with the stoopid spelling) is wearing red shoes, even though there’s virtually no red in the team’s uniform. … The Orioles are denying reports that they’ll put “Baltimore” on their road jerseys next year (as forwarded by Jason Reddish). … Antiques Roadshow recently had a nice little segment on this medal. Details here (with thanks to Jeremiah Conway). … Anyone know why a manufacturer would refer to this pant style as a “Clemson Cut”? Also, who knew there was a hidden interior stirrup in there? (Good find by Rick Subrizio.) … Grant Emerson notes that Angel Pagan’s helmet logo appliqué has been crooked lately. … Club Deportivo Chivas USA has a new jersey sponsor. Full details here (with thanks to Jeffrey Israel). … If you’re interested in Tennessee high school uniforms, tons of photos are available here (courtesy of Marc Walls). … Texans cornerback Jason Simmons came up with a novel way to sell his uniform number to new teammate Ahman Green. … Ronnie Poore noticed something interesting in this photo of the 1965 NFL draft: The little figurines on each desk are wearing stirrups, instead of football-style socks. Most NFL players did wear stirrups in those days, but they also wore shin-length white socks over them — odd that the figurines didn’t get that final finishing hosiery touch. … Good story here about this Texas company, which makes varsity/letterman jackets. Further background info here. (With thanks to Matt Mitchell.) … Follow-up report from Jen Muller, who recently provided the photo of Dane Richards with his name misspelled: “At a Red Bulls ‘meet the team’ event on Saturday, I had a chance to ask Richards if he knew his name was spelled incorrectly on his jersey. He said he had no idea until he saw it later on the internet. Maybe he’s a Uni Watch fan.” … Check out the socks on Dong Tam Long An of the Vietnamese soccer league, who’s been playing in the AFC Champions League this year (as spotted by Jeremy Brahm). … Can’t say I thought much of Cory Spinks’s trunks or glove colors during his fight against Jermain Taylor on Saturday night. Weirdest bit: When Spinks’s trunks started slipping down, his corner tried to secure them with tape around the waistband — never seen that maneuver before. Meanwhile, check out the fringe on Taylor’s trunks. … Former Knick John Starks is promoting a new line of basketball warm-up pants, which are supposedly easier to pull off in one motion. Details in the “Starks to NBA” section about two-thirds of the way down this page (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … Lots of great stripes on display in this rugby photo, taken by Rick Collins. … Odd logo/number format being worn by the Texas City Stings (good catch by Seth Harris). … A little birdie tells me that the U. of Texas hoops team will go to Nike’s tight-fit jerseys next season. … Matthew Lepke notes that as of yesterday, Ron Gardenhire was still wearing his Mother’s Day ribbon on his windbreaker. … Matt Meltzer and I both want to know what’s printed on Dice-K’s left undersleeve. … Seth Horowitz forwards the following, from yesterday’s NY Post: “Tom Nieto, the Mets’ catching instructor, now has a tilde over the ‘N’ in ‘ÑIETO’ on the back of his jersey. He didn’t have one in his previous two years with the Mets but had it switched this season so that it would be properly pronounced.” … Nike’s latest brainstorm: a new and “improved” design, featuring a black jersey, for the Miami baseball team. … Awesome stirrup display by Brian Garman of the UC Bearcats (with thanks to Buckeye Mike, who says he’s known Garman since they were both about five years old). … Uni Watch design director Scott M.X. Turner and I attended last night’s Yanks/Mets debacle. The shameful truth: I was cold, tired, and depressed by the game’s proceedings, so I left in the middle of the 8th inning. Let the record show that Scott stayed to the bitter end.

So here’s a little something: In last Friday’s ticker, I mentioned that Arizona State shortstop Andrew Romine had been wearing green sleeves (as shown at right) a few days earlier, while the rest of the team was wearing maroon. Probably a holdover from St. Paddy’s Day, I opined.

But then I got a note from ASU spokesguy and longtime Uni Watch supporter Randy Policar, to wit:

It has nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day. Since the beginning of the season, one member of the team has been assigned the green undershirt for each game. The player who is assigned it must wear it directly under the jersey, no exceptions. The meaning of the sleeves is known only to the student-athletes.

Hmmm, intriguing. I wrote back: “How is the assignment made each game? Like, does the last guy who wears the green get to pick the next guy, or is it a team vote, or what? Does the shirt get washed each time, or is it some kind of skank-o-rama contest?” That brought this response from Policar:

Before every series, the green undershirt appears in a player’s locker. No one is sure who assigns it, but the players think it is Coach [Pat] Murphy. Anyways, the player must wear the green shirt directly under their jersey for the entire series. The first series we wore our sleeveless road jerseys was in Auburn, and our CF Jarred Bogany was assigned the shirt. When he came out for infield/outfield, he had the green sleeves under his maroon undershirt. The players told him he had to switch it, so he played the entire game with green sleeves under the sleeveless jersey, just like Romine did on Wednesday.

I asked Murph who assigns the shirt, and his response was, “What green shirt?” (with a smile, I might add).

My road roommate, Steve Kirkman, handles the laundry on the road (with assistance from me, since folding game jerseys is actually quite thrilling for me), and we do wash the shirt, so it’s not collecting any flies.

Policar (who recently a very nice ASU St. Paddy’s Day cap to Uni Watch HQ) hinted to me that he knows a bit more about this than he’s letting on, but he’s keeping the details under wraps. So for now we’ve got a team ritual and a mystery, wrapped up in the world’s greatest color.

Can You Believe Ron Hodges Once Wore That Number?: Yesterday I asked if anyone knew more about exactly when Marc Sagmoen changed his uni number from 42 to 37 — was it immediately after MLB announced that 42 had been retired in honor of Jackie Robinson, or did he wear the number for a day or two before switching? Reader Jeff Backschies, who attended college with Sagmoen at Nebraska, sheds a bit more light on the subject: “Sagmoen and I had common friends in college, and both being Seattle kids in Nebraska, we kinda knew one another, so I followed his post-Husker career. I remember pretty clearly that he had worn 42 at least the day it was retired, after the announcement.” So even if Sagmoen switched numbers the very next day, it sounds like he wore 42 at least once in the number’s post-retirement era.

Meanwhile, the roster of players who’ll be wearing 42 next Sunday is filling up. In addition to the names that were originally reported (Griffey, Bonds, Cameron, Randolph, and the whole Dodgers team), the list now includes Coco Crisp, Dontrelle Willis, Gary Matthews Jr., Jimmy Rollins, Derrek Lee, Gary Sheffield, Josh Barfield (along with C.C. Sabathia on the bench), and Dmitri Young (an interesting choice).

One other Robinson-related note: When news of the whole 42 thing broke on Wednesday night, the AP put a bunch of old Jackie photos out on the wire. The weird thing is, Robbie’s uniform number isn’t visible in any of the photos they chose (one of which is a little undignified to boot).

Uni Watch News Ticker: The long-threatened crackdown on Barry Zito’s glove (first reported here) has finally come to pass. … Next NBA team to do the Noche Latina thing: the Spurs, who’ll be wearing the flags and jersey patch on Monday. Additional pics here (with thanks to Uni Watch intern Vince Grzegorek, who’s also found another athlete who wears cap pins: LPGAer Paula Creamer, who usually has a pin on the side of her brim). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments; Dice-K took the mound yesterday wearing an orange bracelet. But he was told to remove it, and it ended up in his pocket (great job on the screen grabs by Anthony Memme). Plus he had some odd-looking undersleeves, and that big belt buckle. … Todd Krevanchi notes that the Basketball Hall of Fame’s latest class of inductees were given honorary jerseys the other day. … Umpire Jim Wolf wore a ski cap again yesterday (with thanks to Uni Watch cold-weather umpire headwear specialist Mike Comeau, who has now documented this phenomenon for two days running). … Speaking of cold-weather attire, several of the Devil Rays were doing the convenience store stick-up thing last night (even while batting). … Good article here about Creighton University pitcher Pat Venditte, who wears a special glove because he pitches both left-handed and right-handed. … As some of you are aware, there’s a fun little controversy brewing regarding Frankie Rodriguez, who definitely appears to have something on his underbrim, a spot he happens to reach for quite a bit. To get the full story, start here, then go here, and then here. … The Coyotes retired Dale Hawerchuk’s number last night, and he got to wear that super-cool Jets jersey. … Pink?! Did he lose a bet or what?

(Photo: Andrew Mason/Denverbroncos.com)

In 1963, the writer George Plimpton (known to the younger ones among you as “that guy who keeps saying, ‘And a hot plate!’ during the spelling bee episode of The Simpsons) worked out with the Detroit Lions during their training camp. This experiment became the basis for his book Paper Lion, which was later made into a movie.

More than 40 years later, writer Stefan Fatsis (who covers sports for the Wall Street Journal, and also authored the definitive book about Scrabble, Word Freak) tried something similar: Last summer he worked out with the Denver Broncos as a placekicker in their minicamps and training camp. His book on the experience, tentatively entitled A Few Seconds of Panic, is slated to come out in the fall of 2008.

Stefan (who turns 44 this Sunday, continuing our recent birthday theme) is a longtime Uni Watch supporter, and I figured his little adventure might have entailed some interesting uni-related tidbits, so I gave him a call the other day to get the scoop.

Uni Watch: So how’d you decide on this particular concept for a book?

Stefan Fatsis: I needed something new to write about. It took two years to figure out what to do after Word Freak — I tried out a lot of ideas. And one day I was thinking, “It’s been 40 years since Paper Lion. I wonder (a) if the NFL will let me do it, and (b) if my editor and readers would be interested.”

UW: Did you have any placekicking experience? Like, did you do it in high school?

SF: No. I played soccer in high school, and as an adult. But I’d never learned how to kick a football. And I probably hadn’t actually kicked one since high school.

UW: And when you were coming up with this Paper Lion-esque idea, were you intending right from the start that you’d be a placekicker, or did you just think it’d be cool to work out with the team in any capacity?

SF: Y’know, I’m five-foot-eight, and when I started the book I weighed about 155 pounds, so placekicker was kind of the default. I actually thought about other sports, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that there was nothing else where an armchair weekend athlete, approaching middle age, with no college experience, could walk out on a field and not be completely humiliated. What else could I do, except maybe golf? Kicking was the one thing where I could be at least vaguely competent.

UW: So how did you set it up? Did you approach the NFL?

SF: Yes. They said, “If you can find a team to do it, go ahead.” It took me well over a year to find a team.

UW: How many teams did you approach?

SF: I initially approached the teams near where I live, which is Washington, DC. And I thought I had an agreement with one of them. But after the 2005 season, their plans changed, and that didn’t work out. So it was back to the drawing board.

UW: So then what?

SF: I used my contacts as a sports reporter. I called owners, GMs, and so on. And over the course of several months I finally got to Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Broncos. Most of the other people I’d contacted had said, “It’ll be a distraction, and it won’t help us win the Super Bowl.” But Bowlen’s response was, “That’s a pretty cool idea. Let me talk to Mike Shanahan and see if he’ll go for it.”

UW: And when was that?

SF: About a year ago — early last March. And then, about a month later, Shanahan gave his OK. So the plan was for me to come to the first minicamp in early June. And if it went well, I’d go to the next minicamp, and then training camp. And it went fine, and they invited me back for the whole summer — two minicamps plus the full camp.

UW: When you realized you’d be training with the Broncos, did you think to yourself, “Oh good, the thin air will help my distance”?

SF: In an ironic way, maybe. In reality, it doesn’t really help you much on 30-yard kicks.

UW: We’ll get to the uniform stuff in a sec, but here’s something I’ve been wondering: What did the “real kickers” think of you?

SF: Depends on which ones you mean.

UW: Well, what did Jason Elam think of you?

SF: Jason was great. He’s a terrific guy — he was helpful, he was funny, he was generous with his time.

UW: And of course he’s got the team made, so he can afford to be all of those things.

SF: Yeah, he’s a grown-up. But there were other kickers, too –

UW: Right, you’ve got guys who are actually fighting for a job. And here you are, sort of making light of the whole thing.

SF: Nobody really minded. Everybody was totally into the idea — they liked having me around, they thought it was funny. And some of the guys were incredibly generous with their time. There was one punter who didn’t make the team, and he’d routinely hang out with me for half an hour after practice, just working on technique to make me a better kicker.

UW: Were you coachable?

SF: Yeah, I was coachable. I first had the idea for the book in 2005, so I had spent a year with a personal trainer, getting into shape. I put on 10 to 15 pounds. I found a kicking coach who worked with me. So I went out there knowing some of the principles. I had a pretty good grounding in the basics of kicking. The problem is, as with any specialized skill — and kicking is one of the most specialized skills in all of sports — you need tens of thousands of repetitions to get the technique and muscle memory so that you don’t have to keep thinking how to do it. And I was thinking about how to do it the whole time. I’m not gonna tell you how well or poorly I did, because, well, you’ll have to read the book.

UW: Can you tell me your longest field goal?

SF: My longest was over 40.

UW: Really? That’s pretty good! What had your longest been when you went into camp?

SF: About the same. It’s hard to tell, because a lot of my practice was done on a baseball field. I think in the end — and the players would probably laugh if they heard me say this — I felt comfortable from inside 30, I felt OK between 30 and 35, and anything over 35 was a function of whether my groin was sore, or my hip flexor was killing me, or I had any confidence left. It was much more of a crapshoot.

UW: OK, now let’s talk uniforms and equipment. What kind of helmet did you have?

SF: Hold on, let me check…

UW: Do you actually have it right there?

SF: They sent me a helmet after I left, but it’s not my helmet. They ended up keeping and recycling the one I used, which I’m actually pissed off about. I’m gonna try to get it back.

UW: I assume it was a Riddell.

SF: Yeah. Basically, during my first day of minicamp, the very first thing they did was escort me into the equipment room. And the first guy I spent any serious time with was the Broncos’ equipment manager, Chris Valenti. He was great. Frankly, it was pretty simple — you have this image that the fitting process will be more complicated than it ended up being. Chris literally had a tape measure, and he measured my head. Then he went and got a plain helmet — no facemask, no decals, right out of the box — and had me try it on. And then it’s a question of fit. As you know, these helmets are fitted with air bladders. Chris would feel the snugness, and then he’d fill it up and check the fit.

UW: Cool.

SF: Then he gave me a tour of all the different helmets, and explained why the players avoid the Riddell Revolution –

UW: Yeah, that was my next question, whether you wore a Revolution.

SF: I tried on a Revolution. But I figured I was gonna take enough abuse as it was. And I was never gonna get hit, I hoped.

UW: So you didn’t wanna look extra-dorky.

SF: Yeah. And I’m already tiny — the last thing I needed was to have a helmet that looked like it was the size of the Goodyear blimp.

UW: Did they also measure you for everything else at that time — pads, pants, and so on?

SF: There are no pants in minicamp. As for the other things, the NFL equipment managers have done this so many times, they can just look at you and guess. They actually guessed too small on pants for me — they gave me 34, and I need 36, y’know, cuz I’ve got huge kicker legs.

UW: Of course. What about your facemask?

SF: I requested a single-bar, but they refused to give me one. I ended up with a Schutt RKOP — that stands for “reinforced kicker oral protection.” It’s a kicker’s facemask. Low drop, high visibility. I really wanted the single-bar, and they had a couple of them, but Chris was afraid that if I wore it, another kicker would want it. It was really disappointing — I was crushed. I begged. But he wouldn’t do it.

UW: What about shoulder pads?

SF: Again, he pretty much eyeballed me and asked if I wanted large or extra-large. And for the jersey, it’s pretty much one size for the lower-numbered players.

UW: What was your uniform number?

SF: I wore 9.

UW: And did you request that?

SF: I had a choice of 8 or 9. Everything else was taken.

UW: Did you check to see who had been the previous Bronco to wear No. 9?

SF: I did, and it was David Treadwell — another kicker. In fact, he’s the only Bronco ever to have worn No. 9.

UW: Well, except that lots of guys like you might have worn it in training camp.

SF: That’s true.

UW: Any interesting or surprising uniform- or equipment-related revelations?

SF: The socks. I never felt totally comfortable with the socks. In the NFL you have two choices: There’s a thick sock and a sort of sanitary sock, and there was nothing in between. A lot of kickers — and other players too, but especially kickers — will wear their own socks, to get their own comfortable fit. And then for games, many of the players — including me, because I dressed for preseason games –

UW: You did?

SF: Yes, they let me dress, and I got to get on the field during pregame warm-ups. But anyway, for games you’ll wear the shell that runs from the top of the shoe up to the calf, or higher, especially for wide receivers and defensive backs, who as you well know like to keep their pants up above their knees.

UW: So what did you end up wearing?

SF: I got used to wearing a thicker NFL-regulation base sock, which went all the way up to my knees.

UW: So basically a tube sock.

SF: Yeah. And then for games I would slip the shell on over that.

UW: Which is a sleeve, basically, or a leg-warmer.

SF: Right. You have the choice of actually getting the full sock with the team colors, but I chose to go with the base sock and the sleeve. Because y’know, I’m a kicker — sensitivity, what you’re used to, and so on, these are all sensitive issues. Jason [Elam] wore two pairs of socks, which I thought was interesting, because what you usually hear is that, as a kicker, you want to get your foot as close to ball as possible.

UW: So he’s actually building a barrier of sorts. Was that just about cushioning?

SF: I think it was just comfort. I think for most kickers, it’s what you’re used to. Jason’s been doing this since high school, so he does what makes him feel comfortable. During practice, when most guys had their practice shorts hanging down below their knees, because it’s cool, Jason’s shorts were above his knees, so he had no intrusion or impediment when he was kicking. But that was just him — the other kickers had the longer shorts. Jason was sort of the John Stockton of the kickers.

UW: Now, the Broncos wear white shoes, but kickers often wear black shoes anyway, even on white-shod teams. What did you do?

SF: Well, I had a Reebok contract.

UW [incredulous]: Really?

SF [laughing]: I did.

UW: You scored an endorsement contract just for the book?

SF: I did. They didn’t pay me anything, obviously, but they sent me kicking shoes, training shoes, and shower shoes.

UW: So did you go with white or black, for kicking?

SF: Oh, black. But the ones Reebok sent me were way too small, so I ended up using a pair of Adidas Copa Mundials, which have very thin leather and are great — a lot of NFL kickers had worn them for years. So for the purposes of the story and the book, I wanted to see what it was like to get a shoe deal, but I ended up telling the Reebok rep that just on the basis of comfort, I had to go back to the Adidas.

UW: So why did you choose black — because that’s what kickers wear?

SF: Actually, Jason wears white. But I’ve always had a problem with white shoes. When I see a World Cup soccer team wearing white shoes, I think they’re gonna lose — they’re just something psychological about it. It might have something to do with having grown up in the ’70s and Charley Finley and the A’s — the dawn of the garish white shoe. It just never sat well with me. It’s like there’s something imprinted on my brain that says, “Your footwear should be black.”

UW: Now, when you suited up for the preseason games, did you insert the thigh and knee pads into your pants?

SF: Oh, no. I was like everybody else on the team.

UW: Meaning, no pads.

SF: No pads. We’ve talked about that before [Stefan wrote a great article two winters ago about how more and more NFL players are going without pants pads. -- PL]. And the reality was, I wasn’t going to get hit.

UW: Right. But I was wondering if you wanted, y’know, the sort of gladiator feel of putting on the armor.

SF: Kickers don’t want armor — they go padless. I understand it with kickers. I don’t really understand it with other players. Like, is this pad the size of a coaster really going to be an impediment to your 250-pound frame? But because I wasn’t a “real” player, the pockets were still in my pants — they hadn’t been removed.

UW: Your pants had pockets?

SF: To insert the pads.

UW: Oh, the inner pockets.

SF: Right. And most players will have those removed, if they’re not wearing the pads. I didn’t feel I was in a position to ask for the pockets to be removed from my pants — particularly given that the Broncos didn’t practice much in pads.

UW: Did you wear the little Broncos logo sleeve over your belt buckle?

SF: Um… It was built in, yeah, so I did slide it over. Yes, my memory is that I did.

UW: What kind of shoulder pads did you have?

SF: I didn’t have completely tiny shoulder pads. Had I been a real player, I would have done what most kickers do — and what many other players do, frankly — which is to cut out the lower pad. There’s the larger top pad and then the smaller pad that goes against your shoulder, and they’ll usually cut that out. The equipment managers hate that, but they will doctor the pads to make them as small as possible.

UW: Any interesting quirks you noticed among other players? Like you’re sitting at your locker and you look across the room and you see someone doing something you’ve never seen before, like doctoring his equipment a certain way?

SF: Huh. Hmmmm, let me think about that for a second. Y’know, I’d have to go through all my notes. But off the top of my head, no.

UW: Now, obviously, for these preseason games you had a real jersey with a real nameplate.

SF: Yes.

UW: Had you ever worn a jersey with your name on it before?

SF: No.

UW: And, at the risk of bringing up a sensitive subject, you have a rather unusual last name.

SF: Yes.

UW: So while you were standing on the sidelines or whatever, did people call out your name?

SF: Usually fans yell out your number, but I did hear my name a few times, yeah.

UW: And were these derisive shouts, or shouts of encouragement?

SF: I think people figured out pretty quickly that I wasn’t, y’know — I mean, I wasn’t listed on the roster, so fans coming to training camp for the first week were like, “Who’s No. 9? Who’s that little guy? Why’s he out there? And he’s not very good — what’s going on?” And then word kind of filtered through the regulars that I was a writer and why I was there. And once they figured that out, I had a fan club, which was really cool. The regulars were totally on my side and would always shout encouragement, and I signed autographs — it was very cool.

UW: Anything else?

SF: You know, the thing that surprised me the most was how unobtrusive the uniform felt, particularly the shoulder pads. I mean, I hadn’t worn shoulder pads since I was 11 years old, but it didn’t feel as cumbersome as I thought it would.

UW: What about the helmet?

SF: That was harder to get used to. It weighs a lot, at least compared to what’s usually on your head, and you sweat. And if you haven’t spent your whole life doing it, it’s a weird sensation. But it does provide a degree of anonymity, which I found very comforting at times, believe me.

UW: Before this all happened, did you have strong feelings about the Broncos, either positively or negatively?

SF: No. They were just part of the pack. My strongest feelings about them, actually, were regarding the uniform.

UW: Well, that was my next question, since their uniform is among the more unusual ones.

SF: Yeah. I like them. I thought the old static “D” logo was kind of dull, and very dated. I remember the feeling when the new uniforms were introduced, like the team have been Nike’d, with the giant swooshes running up the sides of the uniform, but I feel like that’s been mitigated now that the league is all Reebok now.

UW: And of course you, as a kicker, you were never in a three-point stance.

SF: Right! So it didn’t feel quite as obvious anymore. And because of the way they’ve modified the uniforms, because they’re not Nike anymore, so I think you don’t get the sense that they’re just 11 giant swooshes running down the field.

UW: Wait, how have they modified them?

SF: Haven’t they? The stripes don’t feel as hook-y as they did.

UW: I don’t think they’ve changed at all. And I actually think it’s more insidious now that Reebok is the supplier, because they’re stuck manufacturing a design that’s basically a giant ad for their biggest rival.

SF: Are you sure? They didn’t change the design at all?

UW: I’m pretty sure, yeah.

SF: Hmmm, I was never really conscious of it. Maybe we’re just used to it now. But I guess it is kind of weird, now that you put it that way.

UW: Did you get any good stories from the equipment managers?

SF: What sorts of stories?

UW: I don’t know — just hanging around, watching them, talking with them. Like, did they have a sewing machine to do on-the-spot tailoring alterations?

SF: Oh, yeah, definitely. The equipment operation was truly amazing to me. Just the breadth of stuff available — it’s incredible.

UW: Like a single-bar facemask.

SF: Yeah, that they still had a few of those gathering dust at the top of a shelf. I mean, these guys are the ultimate service people. When you think about it, the diversity of equipment is so much greater in football than it is in basketball or baseball. Hockey’s probably the only sport that compares. But the equipment guys, their preparation level and how they cater to the players is just phenomenal. I mean, these dudes work just unbelievable hours. They’re the ones that are loading the trucks, unloading them. When you’re a player and you get to the stadium, everything’s waiting for you — your bag is unpacked, your helmet is hanging up, your pads, your jerseys, everything is perfect. These guys are the unsung heroes when it comes to taking care of the players.

======

Indeed they are — gotta get one of them for this interview series, instead of pantywaist journalists acting out their midlife crises on the gridiron…. Oops, just speaking hypothetically there, Stefan. Big thanks for the interview and the insights, and don’t stray too far from the phone — everyone knows placekickers don’t stay unemployed for long.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Meant to post this yesterday: Todd Krevanchi reports that the Lehigh Valley IronPigs have unveiled their new logo. Uniforms to follow, but the team name and logo are so good, I’m inclined to give them a free pass even if the uniforms suck. … Jason Norris was recently in Amsterdam, where he toured the Ajax museum (that’s the Amsterdam soccer team). “They had a case devoted to all of the ‘kits’ that Ajax has worn over the years,” he writes. “They’ve kept the basic red and white throughout their existence, only changing once from the candy striper look to the single vertical red stripe. And when it came time for them to put a sponsor’s logo on the jersey, I think they kept it clean and classy.” … Rare American uni update from Jeremy Brahm: “My home team, the Portland Trail Blazers, just announced that Kevin Pritchard would be their new GM. Here’s a photo of Pritchard getting a jersey with his name on it from Paul Allen, the owner. He is not going to wear this jersey ever, it just looks weird. Maybe they need to give him some office keys or something.” … Hall of Fame researcher and longtime Uni Watch pal Tom Shieber has come up with two additional pics of a cap with built-in flip-up sunglasses — look here and here. … Back in mid-February I linked to this Q&A page, in which it was revealed that Dodgers reliever Takashi Saito wears toe socks (for details, scroll down to the question asked by “bluebleeder1977,” midway down the page). Turns out Dice-K wears them, too — for more info, look at the third paragraph of this page (alertly spotted by Paul Beaulieu). … “I was at the Arizona vs. Arizona State baseball game Wednesday night and noticed that the shortstop for ASU was wearing green sleeves under his sleeveless grey road uniform,” writes Dan Pritchard. “None of the other ASU players had this undershirt. Very odd.” I’m pretty sure the green sleeves are a holdover from ASU’s St. Paddy’s Day game, but that still doesn’t explain why the shortstop was wearing them. … Teams in the NBA’s D-League will wear the uniforms of the NBA affiliate teams during a 13-day promo period. Details here. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: According to a small item on this page, “Andruw [Jones] took batting practice wearing a jersey with ‘Dos Cinco’ instead of his name above his No. 25″ last night. … Also from yesterday’s comments: Check out the “Captain” sock (or maybe it’s just a “Captain” armband being worn on the calf). … My deepest sympathies to all in the Granite State (especially Frank Marhefka, who brought this sad news to my attention).

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, which means MLB teams will be wearing green uniforms. Some minor league hockey and basketball teams will probably get into the act too, along with some college baseball teams, and green unis have already been on display this week in the NBA.

But anyone can throw on a green jersey or cap. It takes real commitment to do what the UHL’s Kalamazoo Wings have been doing for the past quarter-century: Every St. Paddy’s Day, they dye their ice green (additional views here and here, plus there’s a whole gallery here).

Clifford Zang, who first brought the hielo verde to my attention, says he thinks the Wings “might be the first team to have changed the color of their ice, although I couldn’t find any proof of that.” He also pointed me toward this excellent interview with the team’s GM, who explains how the promotion came about, how they color the ice, and how they’ve spun off some related ideas (like pink ice for Valentine’s Day).

But the Wings aren’t the only team who’ll have green ice this weekend. Reader Ian Borkowski, who lives in Oregon, checks in with the following report:

The Portland Winter Hawks and the Seattle Thunderbirds (both of the Western Hockey League) will be holding a joint Turn Back the Clock weekend on Friday in Seattle and then on Saturday in Portland. Seattle will wear green 1967-75 Totems sweaters (likely these) and Portland will wear white Buckaroos sweaters (likely these). But the Winter Hawks — my beloved Winter Hawks — are going to ruin it all by playing on green ice for the Saturday game.

Now, I’m not anti-Ireland or hatin’ on the Irish here — far from it. But if you stop for a moment and think about the Portland/Seattle rivalry, green has always been the color of the enemy — Seattle! Except for the Seattle Breakers in blue and orange, green has been a primary color for the skaters up north. Has Portland management forgotten that we used to play Kermit the Frog’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” when the T-Birds would step on the Memorial Coliseum ice?

My, my — who knew green could be so fraught? As it happens, green is my favorite color, but I’ll be spending tomorrow night with some friends at Spanish/Portuguese restaurant, where I expect the only thing green will be the olives.

Yet Another Raffle: I trust that most of you have entered our latest Distant Replays raffle, which is keyed to the NCAA tournament. But listen up, cuz I’ve got something special to give away in the meantime: a Tracy McGrady authentic NBA All-Star jersey, complete with tagging, the All-Star logo on the chest, the Rockets logo on the back, and so on.

Much like the NHL All-Star jersey I raffled off back in January, I’m gonna set this one up as a fund-raiser. Here’s the deal: $3 for one virtual raffle ticket, or two for $5, five for $10, a dozen for $20, or fifty for $50. PayPal your ticket purchases to me at paul_lukas at earthlink dot net. If you’re not PayPal-ish, you can send cash or a check to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217 (just e-mail me to let me know the $$$ is in the mail, and I’ll include you in the drawing even if the envelope doesn’t arrive by the deadline). Tickets will be sold until next Friday, March 23rd, at 5pm eastern. I’ll announce the winner on Monday the 26th.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Yet another team that will be wearing green this weekend: Arizona State’s baseball team, which will be donning green caps (here’s how they looked last year). Randy Policar, the school’s Assistant Sports Information Director, adds the following: “It looks like we’ll be wearing nine different jerseys this season, which may be an NCAA record. We have old-school cream homes, classic white homes, maroon BP tops, maroon alternate, old-school gray roads, sleeveless gray roads, a black alternate jersey, a gold alternate jersey, and we also will be doing a Negro League-style throwback jersey this year.” I’m not sure that’s really the sort of record a team should be shooting for, y’know? … Really good article here about all the zeroes and double-zeroes in college basketball. … This particular instance of logo creep makes perfect sense to me. … Reader Bryan Duklewski has turned up some pics of lovable Colts stalwart/drunk Art Donovan wearing a dark helmet (and a clear facemask) and wanted to know the story behind that. Said story is available here. … Jeremy Brahm reports that the Champ Car World Series is changing its logo from this to this — a nice improvement, I’d say. Further details here. … Stirrups alert: Mike Bacsik. … Nice little bit of propaganda about the new MLB caps here. … 2002 Olympic downhill champion Fritz Strobl ended his career yesterday by dressing up as Mozart for his final run at the World Cup finals. Could’ve been worse. … Casey Hannigan was checking some photos of former Vanderbilt point guard Mario Moore, who’s now playing in Slovenia, and found “the ugliest uniforms I think I have ever seen.” He makes a pretty strong case. … “Boston College’s Sean Marshall (No. 23) wore a T-shirt under his jersey for every game this season, and he did it again in the first half of Thursday’s game against Texas Tech,” writes David Conley. “But in the second half he came out with no undershirt for the first time all season and actually had a terrific half.”