[To proceed directly to the Mem- bership Roster page, click here; for the gallery of membership card designs, click here.]
I hear it again and again. “Thank god I found Uni Watch,” people tell me. “Until now, I thought I was the only one who looked at sports this way.”
As you’ve no doubt discovered by now, you’re not the only one. But if your friends still look at you a bit funny when you point out a player’s sleeve length, or the wife rolls her eyes when you wax rhapsodic about the pleasures of a well-tailored set of stirrups, salvation is finally at hand. Now you can show your solidarity with other uniform obsessives and proclaim your citizenship in the larger uni-related community — and help support Uni Watch in the process — by enrolling in the official Uni Watch membership program.
The heart of the program is the official Uni Watch membership card, which comes fully laminated and can be customized with your own name and number on the back, just like a uniform. You can either choose to go with Uni Watch colors (in which case you can opt to have your name lettering be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, below the number, or no name at all), or you can choose the design style of your favorite team. Most MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA teams are available, plus we can do some throwback designs, most NCAA designs, and you officiating types can opt for zebra stripes. We also consider special requests (that one was in honor of Roger Bannister) on a case-by-case basis. You can see a gallery of all the rear-card designs that we’ve created so far here.
One simple prohibition: In keeping with longstanding Uni Watch chromatic policy, we will not execute any design that includes even a tiny bit of purple. Yes, this rule is very arbitrary. And no, it is not negotiable.
Keep in mind that if you opt for a team-based treatment, your name must appear in the style used by that team. In other words, you can’t ask for a Phillies treatment with vertically arched lettering, or a Yankees treatment with any name at all. Teams that use nameplates (as opposed to direct-sewn lettering) will have a little nameplate outline visible on their cards.
As a bonus benefit, all enrollees will get three bonus entries in all Uni Watch raffles (which are otherwise limited to one entry per person).
So how do you join? Here’s the scoop:
PayPal $15 to plukas64 at gmail dot com (plus, if you’re feeling extra-generous, toss in a few extra bucks to cover PayPal’s transaction fee). If you’re not PayPal-ish, send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217.
Please be sure to include all of the following information (and if you can’t fit all of it in the PayPal message field, just send me a separate e-mail with all the details):
• Your shipping address.
• The name that you want to appear on the front of the card. Nicknames are fine, although really stupid or offensive ones will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Whatever you choose for the front of the card, that’s the name that you’ll be listed under on our membership roster listing.
• The uniform number that you want on the back of the card (don’t worry if someone else on the membership roster already has that number — duplicate numbers are allowed on the Uni Watch team). If possible, please provide a quick explanation for why you chose that number, so we can include that info on the membership roster.
• The name, if any, that you want to appear on the back of the card. Last names are preferable, but first names or nicknames will be considered and honored whenever possible (except for “He Hate Me,” which is off-limits).
• The design treatment you want for your name and number on the back of the card. If you’re choosing Uni Watch colors, indicate if you want the name to be vertically arched, radially arched, straight, subscript, or no name at all; if choosing a team-based design treatment, indicate home or road (or dark jersey or light), and also give a second design option, just in case we don’t have the typeface for your first team choice.
• If you’d like your name on the membership roster to link to a photo of yourself, so other members can see what you look like, please e-mail me a photo separately.
• If for any reason you want to become a member but prefer not to be listed on the membership roster, that’s fine — just say so.
Thanks for signing up!
