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Posts filed under 'Uniforms in Movies/Advertising/Etc.'
Still don’t fully understand yesterday’s tech hiccup, but let’s hope it’s behind us. Sorry for any hassle.
Now then: I’m several weeks late with this, but Will Radie checked in a while back with some uni-related news regarding the MLB 08 video game. As most of you are aware, I’m not a gamer myself, but I know many of you are, so here’s Will’s report:
TakeTwo Interactive is starting to ramp up its coverage for their latest installment in the MLB 2K Baseball franchise. They’ve released a bunch of screenshots from the game, and there’s some decent uni-related stuff in there:
• You can see the different choices in undershirt sleeve length: full, below the elbow and above the elbow. You can also choose not to have any undershirt at all.
• Like Last year, the game includes the newer helmets and armbands.
• Also like last year, you can edit the players’ cleats with different colors as seen here.
• For minor league teams, the MiLB logo appears on the backs of helmets and jerseys.
• Some players have their baserunning gloves sticking out of their pockets.
• They’ve added the spike-cleaner mat to the back of the mound.
• And you can still put uni numbers on the armbands.
If the game follows the same pattern as last year, then all of this stuff will be editable for each player. That means if Juan Pierre should choose to ditch the stirrups, then you can go ingame and make the change as well.
As if anyone would want to take the stirrups off of anyone. Still, Will’s basic point is well taken.
Meanwhile, Mike Reilly reports that he’s played the game’s demo and noticed that the first and third base coaches aren’t depicted wearing helmets. Could Larry Bowa be moonlighting as a game designer?
Uni Watch News Ticker: Neil Flagg of SportsPosterWarehouse.com has given a shout-out to Uni Watch by sportlighting some posters featuring rare uniforms. … Check out the awesome “WS” collar embroidery and the hidden button placket in this 1919 White Sox shot (with thanks to Jim Kohan). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: This year’s green Red Sox jerseys for St. Paddy’s day will be trimmed with navy, instead of red trim used in years past. … If you look at the second photo in this gallery, you’ll see that the Nationals are flying a No. 10 banner, for Nats fans. “The problem is that the franchise has already retired No. 10 for both Andre Dawson and Rusty Staub,” notes Stuart Greenlee. … Kansas State wore a “VS” patch last night, a memorial tribute to Vanessa Stewart, mother of team member Clent Stewart, who died yesterday afternoon. Detail here (with thanks to Phil Hecken). … The fallout from that Yankee Stadium vendor’s uni just refuses to die. Latest installment: Todd Radom sent along this link about CBS/Yankees art director Lou Dorfsman. … Andrew Tanker, who works for the Orange Bowl, recently uncovered some old OB pics. “If you check out this picture, you’ll see how they had the letters on the front of the helmets (when did it switch to the sides?). This shot is from Georgia Tech and Tulsa from 1945 — I thought the shiny pants were interesting. And this one shows the refs wearing zip-up shirts — the one in the background is showing quite a bit of skin, in fact. Must’ve been hot. And here’s a 937 game where everyone is wearing dark jerseys, but the helmets are different colors. Again, the refs have the zip up shirts that are not quite zipped up. Very Miami look.” … The International Ice Hockey Federation is celebrating its 100th anniversary at the upcoming 2008 World Championship in Canada by having 15 of the 16 participating teams (all but Denmark) wear throwback jerseys for one game during the tourney. Each nation selected a poast design from what they considered to be an significant year (with thanks to Jeff Barak).
March 5th, 2008
Okay, so maybe the red-trimmed uniforms aren’t so bad after all.
Pretty good game, right? After it was over, I went out and did what any Giants fan would do: overturned some cars, lit some bonfires, that sort of thing. Then I started drunk-dialing random phone numbers in Boston and singing “We Are the Champions” at the top of my lungs to whoever answered the phone. Good times.
Not much of a Super Bowl from a uni-related standpoint, unless you count David Tyree catching that ball on his helmet, or maybe that weird-ass Bud Lite commercial with the dude in the ABA-ish hoops uni.
Aside from those junctures, the closest thing to a Uni Watch moment was the odd sight of Bill Belichick in a red sweatshirt, instead of his usual gray. Several Pats fans e-mailed me early in the game and said they felt this was a bad omen. Brent Anthonisen went further and noted that Belichick used to wear a red windbreaker when he was the Giants’ defensive coordinator (including their victories in Super Bowls XXI and XXV), to make it easier for the defensive captain to find him on the sidelines and read his signals. So the Giants are undefeated in the Super Bowl when Belichick wears red on the sidelines.
I don’t know any of the Giants’ players personally, but two of them have always struck me as particularly decent people — class acts who make me proud to be a Giants fan. One of them is Amani Toomer, a 12-year veteran who never showboats, always respects the uniform, and has expressed more awareness and thoughtfulness about the non-sports world than most contemporary athletes. The other is Jeff Feagles, the oldest active player in the league and now the oldest to have appeared in a Super Bowl — his first, after 21 seasons. Good for him.
One guy I do know personally is equipment director Joe Skiba, who gave me all kinds of access this past season, fed me lots of inside info, and taught me lots of stuff (not the least of which was that I didn’t know nearly as much about the uni world as I thought I did). Enjoy the victory, Skeebs — you da man and all that.
But I’m happiest of all for my father, Irwin Lukas, a lifelong Giants fan who turned 84 years old two weeks ago (he actually attended one of their games in the Polo Grounds, which is where they played up until 1955). It was a treat to watch the game with him yesterday, to shout alongside him when Plaxico caught that touchdown pass, and to hug him when Brady’s final pass fell incomplete. Hope you had as much fun as I did, Pop.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Reprinted from Friday’s comments: Hilarious uni-blooper moment in Thursday night’s Cavs/Sonics game, as Cleveland’s Donyell Marshall tried to enter the game wearing only an undershirt, not his jersey. Check out the video here. … Also from Friday, we can add a new member to the exclusive club of MLB players who’ve worn facemasks: Al Cowens. … Ask and Ye Shall Receive Dept.: Here’s a shot of Dick Allen with his “Wampum” NOB, courtesy of John Moist. In case you don’t know the story, Wampum was the name of Allen’s hometown high school, and he was in the class of ’60. … Great 1921 girls’ hockey team photo here (with thanks to Mike Kemezis). … Yikes (courtesy of Roy Ellingsen). … Tucker is a star. … “Pitchers and catchers report in a little more than 10 days,” says Nick Hanson. “So in the spirit of spring training, check out the simultaneous crotch grabbing going on behind Big Papi in this picture I took last year.” … Interesting note from Jim Mischler, who points out that according to the Basketball Hall of Fame’s page devoted to Mendy Rudolph, “Rudolph’s uniform number 5 has not been worn by another NBA official since his passing.” Didn’t realize the NBA had essentially retired his number. Have any other officials in other sports had their numbers taken out of circulation, either officially or unofficially? … Nicole Haase was at a hockey game in Madison recently and momentarily thought this guy might be me (no doubt because of the stripes). Of course, a careful observer would note that the gent in question is wearing his watch on his left hand, which means he’s right-handed, which means he’s not me. … Mario Fontana made these cakes for his Super Bowl party. … Awesome story here about the Ohio factory that makes the NFL’s footballs. … Kevin Brotzman has created a web site devoted to the Orioles’ uni numbers (modeled after the wonderful Mets by the Numbers site). Check it out here. … Final Super Bowl thought: Anyone who watched Tom Petty during halftime instead of switching over to Puppy Bowl IV on Animal Planet has some seriously misguided priorities.
February 4th, 2008
By Vince Grzegorek
About a week ago, I wrote a blog for my humble little alternative weekly in Cleveland about why no reasonable fan should care that LeBron’s new Nike kicks are inspired by the Bronx Bombers. Even after the flak Bron Bron caught for wearing a Yankees cap at Jacobs Progressive Field during the Indians’ divisional series against the Yankees, I didn’t think the new shoes, replete with pinstripes, would be such a big deal. At least, I didn’t think they should be.
Of course, as the days went by and news from the blogs reached those who write for our daily newspapers, and those who produce our local daily news shows, James’s new shoes became quite the story yesterday. Locally, the Plain Dealer dedicated almost a full page of the sports section to comments received about the footwear (check out the full list of the “eloquent” comments here). Nationally, the story got play on SportsCenter, and the boys at PTI debated whether LeBron has taken his love of all things pinstriped too far, ultimately declaring that the King should have reigned in that love a little bit. [Sounds like a slow news day to me. — PL]
My take: Ideally, we’d all like our hometown athletes to be beacons of our city in all regards. So it would be great if LeBron was a rep for the Indians, Browns, Lake Erie Monsters, and even the new Cleveland Gladiators. Hell, he should be out pimping the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Museum of Art too! Instead, LeBron parties with Jay-Z in Vegas, Tom Brady wears a Yankees hat, and Paul Pierce shows his support for the New York Giants.
Still, I think LeBron’s new shoe is nothing to get upset about. In fact, LeBron and Nike have made many shoes together. There’s an entire site dedicated to his shoes. And that’s where I found that Nike and LeBron have also made an OSU style shoe. As you can read here, that doesn’t mean James is heading off to OSU after this year to play for Thad Matta. It doesn’t mean he’s slighting his hometown Akron Zips in any way. In fact, Nike and LeBron made another shoe that has a map of Akron on the sole!
LeBron is at the point of his career where his role as a Nike-sponsored businessman is fast approaching or surpassing his role as basketball player. He’s made no secret of his desire to be a billionaire, and if he’s going to get there, Nike will play a big role in that, which means this is hardly the last set of sneakers they’ll collaborate on. Would I prefer that LeBron didn’t love the Yankees and instead made a shoe based on the Tribe? Sure. But the sad truth is that our athletes owe us nothing outside of the sports they play. I’m in no mood to watch the Cavs cross their fingers over some ping pong balls in the lottery, so I want LeBron here, no matter whose baseball cap or shoes he’s wearing.
Research Request: Paul here. Many, many people over the years have told me about the time the Patriots held a logo “election” during halftime of a game back around the late ’80s, when Pat Patriot was still the man. They supposedly had one guy dressed up as Pat, someone else dressed up as a proposed newfangled spokescharacter (not Flying Elvis), paraded them both around the field, and had the fans vote by applauding. Or maybe they had giant cardboard cutouts of the two logos, instead of live actors (I’ve heard the story told both ways). Either way, the new logo was booed off the field.
I’ve heard this story enough times to believe that it’s true. Only problem is that nobody has ever provided a photo of the losing logo. If anyone can provide any visuals on this, please get in touch. Thanks.
While we’re at it: Another prototype that I’ve often heard about but never seen is the new Chiefs helmet that a play-by-play man supposedly held up in front the camera during a game about 20 years ago. If you’ve got it, let’s see it!
Uni Watch News Ticker: Good article here about how the Chargers’ equipment manager tried to prepare for the cold weather in Foxboro (with thanks to Eric Stangel). … The Sean Taylor mourn-athon continues. … Check out the third “news” item at Thebrushback.com (good find by Mike Nachreiner). … A set of 1936 White Sox pants — plus the accompanying belt! — were just up for sale on eBay (with thanks to Jason Libes). … Check out the collar on the guy on the right in this shot. “Looks like Count Chocula,” opines Greg Riffenburgh. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Dallas Stars are wearing an “MM” decal on their helmets and backplates in memory of front office employee Matt McKee, who died of cancer last week. … Marc Rabinowitz was watching a replay of the 1996 NHL All-Star Game and noticed that John Vanbiesbrouck’s mask-mounted camera was actually painted to match his mask. … As many of you are already aware, the NBA All-Star Game uniforms will look like this and this. Definitely looks like one of those designs that can’t be properly assessed via an illustration — I’ll reserve judgment until I see some photographs Ah, screw it, let’s just beat the rush and start hating them now. … Meanwhile, the Chinese Basketball Association recently had its own all-star game (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … This just in: All players in the Pro Bowl will wear Sean Taylor’s No. 21, plus the competition committee will consider a proposal to have the entire league wear No. 21 next season, and the American flag will be redesigned to have 21 stars and 21 stripes. … Speaking of memorial gestures, I know everyone’s upset about Heath Ledger, but these brokeback moments are getting out of hand. … Awesome audio slideshow here about a 1952 game in which the Harlem Globetrotters suffered a rare loss — at the hands of a sleeve-clad Seattle Chieftains team (spectacular find by Sam Wasson). … Speaking of the Chieftains, we’ve all seen football jerseys with crotch extensions, but I’d never seen one on a basketball jersey until Warren Humphrey showed me this page — scroll down to the bottom for the horrible truth, then check out the rest of the pics for lots of sleeve-o-rama action. … Really interesting high schhool football helmet discovered by Jimmy Neilly. “The team is the Mount Diablo Red Devils,” he writes. “Two of the three prongs of a pitchfork are wrapped around the sides of the helmet, and then the middle prong is used as their helmet stripe.”
January 24th, 2008
For most of my life, I feel like color schemes have pretty much made sense. There are color combos I really like, like green/gold/maroon, and ones that I don’t like, like most pastel combinations. But whether I like them or not, I feel like most of the combinations I’ve seen over the past four decades have made a certain kind of intuitive sense.
Lately, though, I’ve been seeing color schemes that I simply don’t understand. Foremost among these is pale blue and brown, which I now see practically everywhere. Doesn’t work for me at all, but it’s obviously working for someone, because it’s becoming unavoidable.
I also don’t get the Seahawks’ combination of steel blue and neon snot. The latter hue makes no sense — it doesn’t match up with or complement, um, anything. It just sticks out out like a sort whatsis. And I say that as a guy who’s a lifelong fan of green.
So it was pretty horrifying to see lots of the Seahawks wearing green-trimmed footwear on Saturday. I mean, really, is this any way for an NFL player to look? Or this? The term “offensive line” has never been more literally accurate. Looks like some of the players even wore green shoelaces (as if Matt H.’s green-trimmed muff weren’t bad enough). Seriously, is there anyone who doesn’t think this looks way better?
Even worse, the fans seem to be embracing the radioactive jade shade. Fortunately, the ’Hawks will be playing in Green Bay next weekend, so we should see fans with a greater sense of decorum.
In other NFL news from the weekend:
• Matt Hasselbeck broke a thigh pad in the third quarter, which led to third-stringer Charlie Frye pulling down his pants and removing one of his own pads to give to Hasselbeck. Details in the middle of this page (with thanks to Nick Collecchi).
• I’ve written several times about the Giants’ curved nameplates, which match up with one of the rear jersey seams. But Mike Slesinski has spotted something new: Amani Toomer appeared to be wearing a completely different tailoring template yesterday, which (among other things) had the effect of pushing his nameplate much lower. Mike also thinks Toomer’s front tailoring pattern is new, and that his red triangle patch at the base of the collar is wider, although I’m not sure about either of those claims. Joe Skiba, fill us in!
• Did you see that new Mac commercial with the football referee? He’s clearly supposed to be an NFL ref, since he goes under the hood for a video review, but he’s not wearing NFL zebra stripes or NFL socks. More egregiously, his pants are cuffed WAY too low — lame. (Thanks to Randy Williams, John Okray, Chad Todd, and Phil Hecken for the screen grabs.)
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Portland Lumberjax are taking their name rather literally (with thanks to Travis Demers). … Mr. Horse Collar is changing uni numbers next season (with thanks to Patrick Nance). … Good catch by Jon McKay who noticed two officials wearing white hats during the Independence Bowl (apparently the umpire lost his black cap). … Friday’s entry about players wearing earplugs led to this from Andy Head: “Freddy Garcia, then pitching for the Mariners, pitched with earplugs in for much of the 2003 season because he had suffered perforated eardrums from flying on numerous team flights with a cold the previous season.” … Bit of a pad controversy for Rick Dipietro. … Bruce Menard sent along this awesome old St. Louis Cardinals team portrait. Dig those double-breasted jackets! … Check out the bizarre pants Washington State wore in the 1994 Alamo Bowl (additional pics here, courtesy of Jon V. Buerstatte). … At the 2:28 mark of this video clip, you’ll see something rare: Randy Moss with an “R. Moss” nameplate, which he apparently wore for one game in 2000 (good find by Nick Noyes). … You expect to see plenty of logo creep in a game called the Under Armour All-Star Game, but this is still a bit much (with thanks to Brandon Pratt). … Fun bit here about Les Miles’s hat (as forwarded by Minna H.). … The other day I asked if anyone knew the story behind Fresno State’s three different-colored merit decals. Anthony Johnson found the answer here). … Interesting FNOB find by Roy Ellingsen, who writes: “I’ve just returned to Norway after a quick visit to the Czech Republic. There, I saw that Sparta Prague’s leading points scorer, Petr Ton, wears ‘Ton Petr,’ as you can just about see here, right below the number. It’s common to use family name before given names in Eastern Europe. Petr Nedved, for example, wears ‘Nedved P.’” … Speaking of FNOB, Erik Little was watching some old Rams footage and spotted Ron Brown with the rare double-decker FNOB (road jersey too, but poor image quality). He also spotted this guy. “Not sure who that is,” he writes. “The only Rams LB with #59 that I can confirm is Bob Brudzinski. Not really a good shot, but the surname seems lowered to allow for a first name (à la Ron Brown’s jersey).” Can anyone shed more light on this one? … Stripe-o-rama yesterday, as Stoke City faced Newcastle in Round 3 of the FA Cup (with thanks to Morris Levin). … “Damaso Marte, who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates, is playing in the Dominican Winter League for the Tigres del Licey,” writes Jean Oliva. “He’s wearing No. 143, since his regular number (43) is retired by the team.” … Speaking of uni numbers, scroll down to the middle of this page for a history lesson in Cubs uni number protocol (good find by Jeremy Brahm). … “I was at the Bruins game on Sunday afternoon and noticed something I’d never seen before,” writes Jeffrey Israel. “People were getting their jerseys personalized as they waited in the middle of the Garden concourse.” … I had planned to bid on that Packers dickey, but the price got way out of hand — dang.
January 7th, 2008
Big uni-related story in the NFL yesterday was the range of Sean Taylor memorials. Here’s a quick rundown:
• The Redskins wore a “21″ jersey patch. The Redskins’ coaching staff and owner wore it, too.
• In addition, Clinton Portis wore a Taylor tribute T-shirt under his jersey (here’s another view).
• John Eubanks wore a Taylor do-rag. At first I thought this was one of the towels that fans were given, but now I think it was actually the sleeve from a Taylor jersey.
• All teams wore a “21″ helmet decal. This led to some pretty crowded rear-helmet groupings, especially for the Broncos (who already had their dual memorial for Darrent Williams and Damien Nash) and Browns (who added that “BW” decal this week in memory of Hall of Famer Bill Willis — not to be confused with the “BW” decal for Bill Walsh that the 49ers have been wearing all year).
• I was hoping we’d see some facemask stripes, like Taylor sometimes wore. Didn’t happen, but Antonio Pierce of the Giants did something similar: He taped Taylor’s uniform number onto his mask. This was the only personalized tribute to Taylor that I spotted. (Special thanks to Ryan Perkins for the screen grab.)
Meanwhile, in non-Taylor developments:
• Tommie Harris had “Psalms 91″ (which also happens to be his uniform number) written on his Breathe Right strip.
• The Jets took the unusual step of wearing their Titans throwbacks on the road in Miami.
• Joseph Addai was showing some serious skin in the 2nd quarter.
• No photo yet, but I saw for myself that Dallas Clark’s American flag decal was still missing — a particularly egregious omission when you consider that the equipment staff had to add the Sean Taylor decal to his helmet, so you’d think they would’ve noticed the missing flag. Bryan, whose wife went to high school with Clark, is still working on getting the full story on this one.
• Also no photo, but several readers reported that Braylon Edwards was wearing white shoes and going bare-calved, NCAA-style, early in the Browns/Cards game. Then he added brown socks but still had white shoes. He eventually switched to black shoes like the rest of the Browns.
Uni Watch Calendar Update: Several meet/greet opportunities coming up over the next week. Here’s the deal:
• December 6th: Marc Spears of the Boston Globe and I will be fielding questions from students in a media seminar class this Thursday at Boston University. I’ll be convening a Uni Watch party at 8:30 that evening at Boston Beer Works, which is right across from Fenway Park. Meanwhile, if anyone wants to attend the seminar class, which begins at 6:30, the professor has graciously agreed to accommodate a few extra people. If you’re interested, get in touch and I’ll let you know where to go.
• December 10th: The completely wonderful City Reliquary, of which I am a proud card-carrying member, will be holding its annual benefit gala at the Automotive High School Auditorium, and I’m one of the two featured speakers this year. I’ll be doing a Power Point presentation about Brooklyn Dodgers uniform history, but the real attraction is the other speaker: Lawrence Weschler, author of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder and Boggs. The evening will also feature a short documentary film, a live samba band, and — if you shell out a lot of extra $$$ — dinner at Bamonte’s, one of Brooklyn’s oldest and most storied red-sauce Italian restaurants. Full details here.
• Sometime in January: I’m going to be one of four presenters at the inaugural edition of a new speaking series called “Adult Education,” which is being curated by my longtime pal Carrie McLaren (editrix of the excellent consumer-culture magazine Stay Free), who describes the series as “sort of grownup show-and-tell,” complete with visual aids. The theme of this first installment will be “Micro-Genres”: Carrie, who’s mildly obsessed with chimps, will be talking about people who’ve tried to raise chimps as part of the family; longtime Uni Watch pal Liz Clayton will talk about painfully obvious fast-food restaurant conversions (she has an entire site devoted to this phenomenon); Jim Hanas will talk about “meta tourism” (i.e., photos of tourists taking photos); and I’ll be talking about the strange world of trade magazines (Elevator World, Hay and Forage Grower, American Funeral Director, Demolition, and so on, each of which is as obsessively subject-specific as Uni Watch is). The exact date is still TBA, but it’s definitely going to be on a Tuesday in January, and the venue will be Union Hall, which is conveniently located around the corner from Uni Watch HQ. Further details on this one as they become available.
Membership News: I’m happy to announce that we’ve now gone over 500 enrollees. But I can’t announce who the 500th member is because that was a gift membership and the gift-giver has asked that I keep the order secret until Christmas.
Speaking of which, remember, this Wednesday is the deadline for ordering a discounted gift membership for the holidays.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Lots of pics here from the upcoming hoops movie Semi-Pro (with thanks to Mike Nachreiner). … Bizarre uniform sighting here (courtesy of Eric Trager). … Looking for new and creative ways to lace up your cleats or sneakers? Look here (with thanks to Mike Blinn). … Roman numeral alert: Charlie Coley III of Charlotte (with thanks to intern emeritus Vince Grzegorek). … “Once upon a time, Marquette had a football team,” writes proud Badger State booster Nicole Haase. “Here’s a pretty cool collection of 1940s program covers.” … “Check out the difference in the helmet stripe thickness for the two players in green, who play for Mentor Lake Catholic High in Ohio,” writes Tim Snyder. “I figure it’s some kind of merit award, but they also use more conventional merit decals.” Anyone know more about this? … Paul Bridge reports that Utah Valley University, which will have D-1A status by 2009, has some new logos. Details here. … Very odd NOB typography being for Jonathan Zebina of Juventus (and, presumably for the rest of their players): The “Z” and the “E” look like a “2″ and a backwards “3.” It’s apparently so fraught with confusion that the “E” ended up being applied backwards for Saturday’s game against AC Milan (all this courtesy of Jeremy Brahm). … Mizzou’s Stryker Sulak had some sleeve patch problems on Saturday (with thanks to James Wortham for the screen grab). … Nice little recap of Lakers uniform history here (as forwarded by Matthew Wolfram). … Ryan Perkins notes that R.W. McQuarters of the Giants had some helmet decal issues yesterday. … Several readers noted that Wabash wore some ill-advised pants in Saturday’s D-III quarterfinal game. … Georgia will wear black in the Sugar Bowl. … Speaking of black, Texas A&M’s hoops team wore their black alts yesterday. … “The Barbarians, an invitation-only rugby club that plays a handful of matches per year, took on the newly-crowned world champions South Africa,” writes Eric Bangeman. In addition to wearing classic black-and-white uniforms, the Barbarians ask each player to wear the socks from his home club, which makes for some interesting hosiery contrasts.”
December 3rd, 2007
New ESPN column today — here’s the link.
Meanwhile: The people were encouraged to vote, they let their voices be heard, and then a bunch of higher-ups decided to hijack the results and impose their own solution.
But enough about the 2000 presidential election — instead let’s talk about Iowa State’s new football uniforms. As you may recall, the Cyclones made a big fuss about letting fans vote on the school’s new helmet. But when the new uniforms were unveiled yesterday, none of the white helmets made the cut. Instead, the team will be wearing a red-on-red helmet, which seems like a major mistake, especially since it just accentuates the home uniform’s similarity to USC’s design. The road uni is better, especially when executed with red pants (yes, I know they’re actually “cardinal” — whatever). All in all, not a bad makeover, but it could’ve been a lot better without the red-on-red helmet.
Meanwhile, why encourage people to vote on three white helmets if you’re not going to use any of those designs? That question somehow goes unaddressed in the FAQ that the school put out. But I was told a few days ago that the three choices that were put up for voting all turned out to be wildly unpopular. So maybe going in a different direction really does reflect the will of the people. But in a sports world where so many things seem predetermined and calculated, it’s too bad that Iowa State appeared to be setting up a mechanism to give people a voice and now appears to have moved the goalposts. At the very least, it seems like there were some serious miscalculations made along the way here.
Membership News: Lots of new designs now on display in the membership card gallery, with more to come in the next day or so. Comments encouraged, as always.
Uni Watch News Ticker: According to a small item on this page, Jose Reyes now has his own Nike-designed logo, “represented by his uniform number 7 interwoven with his initials and sports a crown on top.” Given Reyes’s recent level of play, maybe this would have been more appropriate. … Good interview here with the guy who runs EyeBlack.com. … Some examples of logo creep are worse than others (as spotted by Rob Montoya). … Lots of MLB division champion T-shirts available, regardless of who wins. … Bryan Redemske and I both want to know what’s printed on next to the CCM logo on the jersey shown in this photo from Bobby Hull’s number-retirement ceremony. … The Indians were technically the home team in the first game of yesterday’s Tribe/M’s doubleheader (they batted last, even though the twinbill was played in Seattle), but they wore road uniforms anyway. … As previously reported, the All Blacks didn’t wear black last weekend. Compounding the problem, they wore a uniform fairly similar to their opponents’ design, which was apparently rather confusing to the players, as noted in the last several paragraphs of this article (with thanks to Caleb Borchers). … Funny item on the Chris Creamer boards about Mississippi Attorney General candidate Al Hopkins, whose star icon appears to have been taken straight off a Cowboys helmet, plus his “Hopkins” wordmark is borrowed to boot.
September 27th, 2007
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.”
August 13th, 2007
I can’t imagine why anyone would want to watch something as completely irrelevant as the Hall of Fame game, which is pointless even by NFL exhibition standards. But it’s a good thing someone watched, because now we have our first real uni-related development of the football season. As I first mentioned in yesterday’s Ticker, several people who watched the game reported seeing a little green dot on the back of some of the quarterbacks’ helmets (here’s a larger view). Most people seemed to think it had something to do with the radio sets that the QB helmets are equipped with, and it turns out they were right — sort of.
ProFootballTalk.com reported yesterday that the green dot “to help officials confirm that only one player on offense is wearing a helmet with a radio receiver from the coaching staff. So, if a team plans to put two quarterbacks on the field at the same time [for a trick play], one of them must change helmets before entering the game.” (You can see the full report by searching for “green dot” on this page.)
But how does the dot end up on the helmet? Is it embedded into the plastic by the manufacturer, or is it just a decal applied by the team? If the latter, what’s to stop a team from beating the system by “forgetting” to slap on the decal? I posed that question to NFL spokesman Dan Masonson, who responded thusly: “It’s a decal. The team’s equipment manager puts the decal on. Officials will make random spot checks throughout game to make sure they are on proper helmets.”
I meant to ask Dan why green was chosen as the operative color, but I forgot. I didn’t want to bug him again, so instead I e-mailed Giants equipment manager Joe Skiba (soon to be the subject of the next Uni Watch video report, incidentally), who responded, “Why green? I guess they said, ‘Let’s give the equipment guys some of the ugliest decals to throw on a helmet.’ Personally, I like the idea of having defenders spot the green dot from the backside and hitting the QB.”
I kinda like the idea of color-coded decals. Maybe they could impose the same “only one on the field at a time” rule for the following decals:
Red = Only player allowed to make stupid TD celebration
Blue = Only player allowed to make stupid sack celebration
Gray = Only player allowed to make first down signal
Orange = Only player allowed to whine when flagged for a penalty
Brown = Only receiver allowed to lobby for pass interference call
Plaid = Only player allowed to have one chinstrap buckle unsnapped
And so on. Admit it, it’s a brilliant system. Mr. Goodell, I await your call to discuss the financial particulars.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Did you realize that pine tar rags have team logos on them? I didn’t until last night, when Matthew Lepke sent me this note: “The camera crew from Fox North caught the Indians using a Tampa Bay(!?!) pine tar rag in the on-deck circle tonight. Very strange. As the Twins’ announcers said, ‘No wonder they aren’t scoring many runs.’” … Pulitzer-worthy move by the Houston Chronicle, which is providing a very amusing tutorial on how readers can convert their David Carr jerseys into Matt Schaub jerseys. Of course, the best move might be not to spend $250 on a jersey to begin with, but maybe they’ll run that bit of advice next week. … “Fanbanta.com has been having a ‘Design a Kit’ contest to publicize the launch of their website and to possibly outfit a Scottish 3rd Division team they are sponsoring,” writes David Walker. “Most of the designs are, as it turns out, horrible. But interesting.” … Good site dedicated to 1978 World Cup uniforms here (good find by Denis Hurley). … Intersting shot here of UConn players being fitted for their football helmets without facemasks (kudos to Matt O’Brien). … We’ve all heard about how the “armor” worn by Barry Bonds and others allows hitters to lean over the plate with impunity. But according to this analysis Bonds’s armor may also aid the mechanics of his swing (thanks, Vince). … Speaking of Bonds, several people have mentioned to me that he had his fly unzipped while on deck about a week ago. I couldn’t find a good shot, but it’s plainly visible in this video clip. … And speaking of XYZ issues, remember that item last week about Kerwin Danley umpiring with his fly unzipped? Here’s the visual evidence (with thanks to Vince for poring over the game video). … Great find by Scott Turner, who stopped designing membership cards just long enough to find this great photo of early-’70s White Sox stirrups. … A week or so ago I briefly linked to a photo of the Redskins’ 75th-anniversary throwback jerseys, but then I had to take down the link. It must be kosher now, though, because the jersey is being shown on the NFL’s own site. Let’s hope the sock stripes match the sleeves. … Wyoming is apparently moving to a Broncos-style template. Full unveiling on Friday (with thanks to John Eisel). … Good rundown here on the history of the Cork jerseys in the Irish sports of hurling and football (as forwarded by Denis Hurley). … “A buddy of mine named Michael Carasik lived in Chicago during the early 1980s,” writes Morris Levin (whose Victory Pennants site sells some great throwback pennants, incidentally). “He was part of a group of Cubs fans who were active in the Jewish community. Ivan DeJesus played shortstop so they had T-shirts made up that read, ‘Jews for DeJesus.’” … Rick Porter reports that the Penguins and Sabres will wear throwback uniforms for their New Year’s Day game, which may be held outdoors. … Yesterday I linked to this commercial (and noted that the Chargers’ lightning bolt designs were inconsistent). That prompted a note from Steve Due of AIS Uniforms, which manufactured the unis for the commercial: “The Bears jerseys were cut on an older pattern that is baggy. The Chargers were a new-style jersey that we had to make patterns for and had three days to do everything. As is commonly the case, since Reebok, Nike, Under Armour and the rest aren’t manufacturers, but promotion-driven, they plan to have things ready for commercials and often can’t, so they have to rely on AIS/Sportsrobe to make them. Usually with the knowledge that a cast and huge crew are going to be shooting in a very short turnaround. Often with nothing to go on but some pictures.” None of which really explains why the lightning bolts were inconsistent — stay tuned. … Latest minor league team to wear pink jerseys: the Portland Beavers. … An Australian Rules Football team was recently fined for wearing the wrong uniform (cheers to Steven Russell). … After a few weeks of back and forths, it looks like the logo creep on NFL photographers’ vests is here to stay. … Speaking of logo creep, people who wonder why I get so worked up over corporate marketing logos should take a look at this. … Jeremy Brahm reports that skullcaps are becoming increasingly common in Japanese baseball, but the players wearing them seem to lose their caps and helmets with distressing regularity. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Steve Prudente reports that the announcers in last night’s Giants/Nats game mentioned that Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum keeps track of his strikeouts by writing tally marks under his brim. Gotta find a visual of that. … Also from last night: Jarrod Saltalamacchia wore a logo-free helmet for part of last night’s game (he later wore a proper one), and he’s switched from No. 23 to 25, but I’m only showing that because it’s fun to see his name on the back of a jersey. … The 49ers will wear throwback uniforms for their season-opening game on September 10th, in honor of Bill Walsh. … Soccer news from Nick Noyes, who writes: “Freddy Adu’s new club in Portugal, Benfica, will be sporting new kits this season, with the road variation featuring pink.” Further details here.
August 7th, 2007
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