Uni Watch

Uni Watch Art Portfolio: The Charles Noerenberg Files

2010-03-09T15:09:55Z

When someone sends me a batch of childhood uniform artwork, we’re usually talking about 15 or 20 drawings at most. But Charles Noerenberg recently uploaded 133 pages’ worth of illustrations, many with multiple illos per page, that he created between the ages of 10 and 16 (1994-2000), and it’s a really impressive batch of work. He gives the back-story like so:

I grew up a huge sports fan, mainly football and baseball, and I was always obsessed with the team uniforms and logos. I had a bunch of those Hutch football uniforms for several teams (that’s me on the right) and I’d go everywhere dressed up as a player (or a Ghostbuster, or Turtle…). The one thing that always frustrated me was the lack of availability of the NFL team socks, which were my favorite element of the uniform. My mom was actually nice enough to sew me some, for teams like the Cowboys and Packers, that were like leggings I’d wear over a white sock.

Anyway, my other passion growing up was drawing. I was always doing it, whether at home or on the go. I had a little drawing kit I’d take everywhere, which consisted of paper and a box of markers/colored pencils. I drew sports figures almost exclusively — my favorite players, uniforms, concepts — and I was a detail freak. I loved all the uniform nuances, like the NFL shield, brand logos, patches, etc. So as you’ll see, my art is full of logo creep.

I drew avidly up until high school, when, for whatever reason, the passion left me. Now I am graphic designer and my work is done on computer, but some day I’d like to get back to my roots.

I’m pretty excited to finally have these all up on the web. I included shots of a little project I that started as Thanksgiving-break busywork. It involved creating a turkey from a paper plate, and I decided to make my turkey dressed like Troy Aikman. From this, I went on to create several team plates, some I finished as turkeys and some I left as just the uniform (which I thought looked good as-is).

As a bookend, here’s a shot from a couple of years ago, when my Bears sock dream was finally realized thanks to eBay.

Well. The turkey/plate drawings are fun, but a lot of Charles’s other stuff is at least as noteworthy. Here are of the ones I found most interesting:

• I like these NFL logo studies. Here a finished color version.

• Interesting that no football team ever tried to wrap sleeve stripes around the back like this.

• Also interesting that the Chargers have never put lightning bolts up the sides of their jersey (and let’s hope it stays that way).

• I’m surprised by how much I like this White Sox concept.

• You know how the Pats’ 1990s jersey had those alternating bands of blue? Here’s how it would look if the Packers tried something similar.

• The art set includes some cartoon-ish pieces, all of them featuring the same stubble-faced character competing in various sports.

• Charles also created his own imaginary football team, the Las Vegas Saguaros, which played in the Cactus Dome and had rather USFL-esque uniforms. He envisioned a hockey version of them as well.

And so on. It’s a great body of work — I strongly recommend clicking through the entire set.

And speaking of childhood logo artwork: Reader Andrew Fladeboe has taken things a step further. I’ll let him explain:

My friend from college and I have created our own sports league with logos to match. Something we both did when we were kids. We sell the logos on a variety of shirts. It’s not really a profit-making venture but more of a hobby.

We both went to RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and were among the few avid sports fans there. I played for their club hockey team, the infamous Nads. I’m sure you’ve heard of our giant phallic mascot.

My friend who designed most of our T-shirt logos is a painter and fashion designer who has and pretty much only does sports-related art.

You can also see some of my own sports-related paintings on the right side of this page. And for good measure, here’s a cool photo of my dad’s high school football helmet.

Okay, so that sort of ventured beyond the realm of childhood logo art, but it’s still pretty cool. Thanks for sharing, Andrew.

Culinary Corner: When I watched the Oscars on Sunday, I was watching them at the home of a friend who was throwing an Oscars party. He had asked everyone to contribute some food, so I thought for a bit about what I should bring, even though I knew all along that I’d probably end up bringing my old stand-by, the hors d’oeuvre that’s won me raves for years, the one that makes everyone happy and makes me look like a genius.

Three words, people: Bacon. Wrapped. Dates.

It’s super-easy: Buy yourself a one-pound pack of bacon (the slices should be as straight as possible, without any kinks or curves) and a 10-ounce container of pitted dates. Before opening the bacon, slice the pack in half crosswise, so the slices are now half their original length. Then remove the bacon from the plastic, peel off a half-length bacon strip, and place it on a cutting board. Place a date at one end of the bacon strip, roll the strip to encircle the date, place the finished treat on a rimmed baking sheet, and repeat. It’s like making pigs in a blanket, except you’re making dates in a pig. Or something like that.

Continue along until you run out of dates and/or bacon (the two amounts should come out almost exactly even). Drizzle liberally with balsamic vinegar and then pop the baking sheet into a 400ish-degree oven for about 25 minutes. Serve with toothpicks so guests can skewer the treats without getting their fingers greasy.

I realize it would have been more useful if I’d told you about this before the Oscars. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there’s no bad time for bacon-wrapped dates. Serve them at your Final Four party, your St. Paddy’s Day party, your vernal equinox party, whatever. You’ll be glad you did, and your guests will be even gladder.

Giveaway Reminder: I’m giving away two classic old NFL LPs. Full details here.

House of Hearts Reminder: My continued thanks to those of you who’ve contributed to my House of Hearts Bonspiel sponsorship fund. If you can kick in a mere five bucks (or more, if you’re feeling generous), it’ll go to a worthy cause and help me earn my keep at the charity curling tournament where I’ll be competing later this month. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: A Phillies blog recently opined that a certain photo was “the greatest spring training photo ever,” and it’s hard to argue with them (major thanks to the pride eastern Pa., Amy Fritch). … Then again, I’m rather partial to this spring training photo (glassy-eyed, drooling thanks to Joe Plate). … Yesterday I mentioned that Auburn’s baseball team has six different caps. Now Benji Boyter informs me that Clemson has at least five, “plus I believe there is also a sixth cap, which is an orange hat with a purple brim, but I couldn’t find a pic anywhere and this may just be a figment of my imagination.” … Here’s a weird one: All the players on Rouen Baseball 76, a French team, wear 76 on the front of their jerseys, but they have their regular uni numbers on the back (interesting find by Jeremy Brahm). … Lance Berkman had to wear an NNOB scrub jersey on Friday, because his regular jersey was late or misplaced or something like that (with thanks to Brandon Hamburg). … Oklahoma’s baseball team wore northwestern-striped stirrups over the weekend (with thanks to Arin Mitchell). … The Brooklyn Cyclones have been holding a uni deisgn contest for local schoolchildren. Here are the finalists (with thanks to Terence Kearns). … Someone apparently had a cap very much like the current Rays cap years before the Rays were wearing that design. Can’t say I find this to be a particularly compelling mystery — could be a high school cap from Teton Prairie, or whatever, right? — but hey, knock yourselves out if you like (with thanks to Josh Coney). … If you’ve been dying to know the stories behind the Idaho Steelheads’ uni numbers, today’s your lucky day (with thanks to Mark Snider). … “I don’t know who this team was, but they wore a lot of stripes,” says Uni Watch Life magazine scholar Lance “Squiddie” Smith. “Those photos are from a set called ‘National Intercoll. Basketball.,’” dated March 1938. Some of the teams shown in the photos include Washburn, St. Ambrose, and Jordan so it must have been the 1938 NAIA Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament. There were a couple other good uniforms: Delta State (Mississippi) had their uni numbers in a delta (i.e., a triangle), and this team playing St. Ambrose had some great striped socks.” … Astros pitcher Bud Norris was busted yesterday for wearing a white glove on the mound (with thanks to Jason A. Chapman). … Ball State is still hassling a high school over appropriating its crummy logo (with thanks to Justin Howland). … No photo, but Advait Ramanan says Alex Ovechkin was wearing a Reebok undershirt with the NFL Equipment logo on it during an intermission in last night’s Caps/Stars game. … I’m getting lots more reports of MLB players wearing the new Gazoo helmets. At this point it mostly seems to be prospects with very high uni numbers — in other words, minor leaguers, which makes sense, because the S100 will be mandatory in the minors this year. Still trying to get more details from Rawlings — stay tuned. … Meanwhile, Matt Edwards says the new MLB 2010 video game includes an option to put a Gazoo on David Wright. … Here are the uniforms for the Kyoto Asto Dreams and the Hyogo Swing Smileys of the Girls Professional Baseball League in Japan, along with their mascot characters (courtesy of Jeremy Brahm, natch). … Steve K. was watching some old NFL footage and spotted Jets FB Dwayne Crutchfield wearing a non-standard NOB font. … John Muir reports that the logo for this year’s White House Easter Egg Roll features a jogging bunny (the cottontail sticking out through the shorts is a nice touch, no?).

New Gazoo Review

2010-03-08T13:38:26Z

Last week I wrote about new bats and batting gloves, and now it looks like we may have a new batting helmet too, at least judging by the new headgear Norris Hopper and Kevin Mench were wearing this past weekend.

I’ve sent e-mails to my contacts at Rawlings and hope to hear back from them soon, but here are a few thoughts to tide us over until then:

• I could be wrong, but I think this helmet looks a bit less bulbous than the S100, which is consistent with what Rawlings said at the end of last season, when they indicated that they’d try to make some adjustments to come up with something a little lighter and smaller.

• Hopper and Mench were not among the six players who wore the S100 last year (those were Ryan Dempster, David Wright, Carlos Guillen, Edgar Gonzalez, Micah Owings, and Shane Victorino), which means the new design already has some new potential converts. Impressive.

• As you can see, Hopper and Mench have both been wearing a double-flapped version of the new design. Righty and lefty versions are presumably still in the production pipeline.

• Mench’s helmet has a Rawlings wordmark above one side of the brim. I’m assuming that wouldn’t be there for a regular season game.

Further details on all of this as soon as I have them. Meanwhile, let me know if you’re aware of any other players wearing the new lids.

(Special thanks to eagle-eyed Aaron Clements and Brian Erni for spotting these helmets before I did.)

Research Project: I’m about to start working on an ESPN column about ticket stubs — stub design, stub rituals, stub lore, stub-o-rama. If you have any particularly nice-looking stubs, or if you have some good stories regarding ticket stubs, or anything else you want to communicate to me regarding ticket stubs, don’t be shy.

Giveaway Reminder: I’m giving away two classic old NFL LPs. Full details here.

Membership Reminder: The Membership Program is once again open for business. The orders from the past three days are being processed and many of them are already featured in the card gallery. If you want to get on board, there’s no time like the present.

Uni Watch News Ticker: More Wisconsin high school basketball tournament slideshows from Jeff Ash — one apiece for the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Interesting to see how some of the 1970s uniforms were clearly influenced by Marquette. Here’s another example. … Mike Hersh has found one of the greatest auction items ever — a Flying Fathers jersey! Read the item description for details. … Other auction finds from Mike: a very interesting Phillies jacket (note the shoulder inserts, high pocket placement, and unusual sleeve color) and an incredible-looking Red Sox program. … Soccer story from Tyler Ostergaard, who writes: “N. Korea and Venezuela played a friendly match Thursday night, but N. Korea lost their uniforms and had to borrow Venezuela’s away uniforms.” … The Pats will be wearing Grogan-era throwbacks as an alternate look next season. … The Seoul Heroes are now the Nexen Heroes, which of course means new uniforms (with thanks to Dan Kurtz and Jeremy Brahm). … Longtime Uni Watch favorite Mark Penxa is running a contest to give away five illustrations from his latest Stealing Signs art series. For contest details, look here. … Nick Johnson’s recent back injury (presumably the first of many maladies he’ll suffer this year) was the due to wearing the wrong cleats for batting practice. … That crazy Ozzie Guillen wore stirrups on Friday (as spotted by Larry Kurtze). … Latest evidence that we’d all be better off if an asteroid plowed right into the planet: Florida is considering selling ad space on their license plates (courtesy of Jesse Agler. … Actually, let’s just have the asteroid plow into Florida, that would be better. … New uniforms for the Green Bay Blizzard (with thanks to the Rev. Nørb). … Jonathon Binet asks, not unreasonably, why the Auburn baseball team needs six different cap designs. Yes, the second and sixth ones look similar, but the last one has white outlining on the logo and white airholes. Similarly, the first one is white with a navy brim, while the fifth one is gray, not white. … Tom Turner claims that Rocky Blier’s cleats in this shot are actually curling shoes. “They were imported from Canada to use on artifical turf,” he says. “The Univ. of South Carolina also used them (my friend was head manager).” Can anyone confirm or refute? … North Central College’s baseball media guide shows the team’s jerseys from the 1980s through today. Plus the team wears stirrups! (With thanks to Eric Bunnell.) … Good story from Mat Orefice, who plays in the hockey-rock band the Zambonis: “Our lead singer, Dave Schneider, also owns a chain of hip-hop clothing stores in Connecticut, and he recently created a Whalers T-shirt design that he placed in his store window. A few hours later a guy comes in to buy a few for himself and his daughter. Who, you ask? Former Whalers captain Kevin Dineen! Glad to see tons of Whalers gear hitting the streets. Of course, I’m still the only one with a Whalers drum kit!” … People sometimes say I have a uniform fetish. But some people have a real uniform fetish, and those people are apparently creating a brisk black market for Japan Airlines stewardess uniforms (big thanks to Robert Leavell). … Good follow-up story from Mike Edgerley, who writes: “A couple of years ago I sent you some links that explained Port St. Joe (FL) High School’s tradition of wearing striped socks when reaching the state Final Four. Today, however, Tampa Prep finally defeated Port St. Joe and their ‘cat in the hat’ socks for the first time in five tries in the state 2A Final Four. Here’s some excellent video, with plenty of socks action and commentary.” … The Erie Bayhawks of the D-League recently played a game wearing the uniforms of their parent club, the Cavs. But some players had authentic Cavs NOBs while others had bogus-looking nameplate. As Anthony LoPinto explains, “Danny Green and Darnell Jackson were recently sent to the D-League after playing in about 20 games each with the Cavs, so they had their official jerseys.” The other players apparently had knockoff replicas. … College football is along way away, but here’s something to file away: Iowa will wear throwbacks against Ball State in late September (with thanks to Joe Wagner. … Also, when did Riddell go to this logo? I don’t recall having seen it before. … On Friday I asked about the Republic of France’s very Jerry Dior-esque logo. Got a fantastic response from Frenchman Jérémy Crampon, as follows: “I don’t think that republic logo has been inspired by the MLB logo cuz here nobody watch baseball!!! BIG SIGH!!! (I must be one of the only French to watch during warm summer nights some baseball on tv! Thank god i got this european espn version that broadcast games !!!) Anyway i admit we can see a similarity between these two logos!! The French logo is in service since September 1999. It represents our flag color! Blue ,white, red. The white part is Marriane’s head! Marriane is a national symbol of France. And then under the Marriane head there is our moto! I didn’t find yet whom created it and what is the story of the logo! It’s just a official logo that we can see on official papers from governement! When we have to pay taxes or I don’t know!” Merci. … Ooooh, check out these display helmets that Brinke Guthrie found. Amazing, right? What were they for? Also, note that the Saints helmet is black! … Mikey Caldwell reports that NESN did a “Best and Worst Uniforms” segment on a recent Bruins pregame show and used NHLuniforms.com templates without attribution. … Everyone’s gonna like this: Andrew Fladeboe’s father has dozens of amazing sports-themed Matryoshka Dolls. Where’d he get them all? “My dad works in international law and specializes in nuclear nonproliferation. After the fall of the Soviet Union it was important to make sure all the missiles and nuclear material were accounted for (which is still an issue today), so we ended up moving to Moscow from 1994-97. We would go to these huge outdoor markets where you could buy anything, and he sort of befriended one of the guys who made these Matryoshka Dolls. He kept asking my dad to bring him Street & Smith magazines so he could keep track of uniform changes and get the numbers and names right. The artist was also very particular about flesh color and really liked doing the retro uniforms. They were between $10-$15 apiece.” … Dig this super-cool soap box derby pin. … Just don’t give me the slice with the swoosh (with thanks to Brian Shane). … Omir Santos is wearing those newfangled batting gloves I wrote about last week (with thanks to Brian Erni). … Good to see Jamie Moyer’s stirrups are already in mid-season form (with thanks to Matthew Borda). … Ross Yoshida notes that the 4 in Travis Outlaw’s uni number is the wrong font. … Zack Tanner notes that Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen is still using his old Thrashers catching glove. … Great item up for auction: a pair of Hollywood Stars shorts (excellent find by Al Arauz). … New Poseidon-themed mask for Evgeni Nabokov (screen shots courtesy of Sean Robbins). … The Maryland baseball team is wearing stirrups this season (that good news relayed by Matt Shevin). … The Caps finally got around to wearing that 35th-anniversary patch on Saturday night (photo by Cheryl Nichols). … Also, the Caps had a historical jersey display in the lobby for that game, and Ken Pilpel got a bunch of photos. … Jacob Pomrenke was watching some old footage on the MLB Network and noticed that Kevin Mitchell went NNOB in his first game with the Giants in 1987. … Also: Jacob’s wife, Tracy Greer, has developed a specialty of crocheting baby blankets for friends and family members in team colors, like these Phillies and Mizzou examples. … It’s hard to see, but Rangers goalie Alex Auld is still using his Stars backplate (as spotted by John Muir). … Jubilo Iwata of the J-League are honoring Masashi Nakayama, who had played with the team for 20 years, with a uni-themed seat (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: these NFL children’s pajamas, which he saw at the Kohl’s in Portland the other day. … Still more from Jeremy: Here are the uniforms from the Top League (that’s Japanese rugby) All-Star Game.

Virtue Rewarded: I watched the Oscars for the first time since 1998, mainly to see if Logorama would win. And it did! If you haven’t seen it yet, stop what you’re doing now and watch it here. And be sure to turn up the volume so your boss and co-workers can enjoy the finely crafted dialogue.

These Go To Eleven

2010-03-07T04:33:18Z

By Phil Hecken

It’s time to get down to brass tacks. We’ve spent the past two weekends looking at Round One and Round Two of the “NFL Design-A-Uniform” contest, brought to us by Classic Old School Gear and their prexy, Alain Nana Sinkam.

We considered all your comments and suggestions, and we thank you for them. We hemmed and hawed, almost coming to blows on several occasions, trying to narrow the selections down to what follows. But the usual suspects in conjunction with Alain have finally agreed upon the eleven.

Now, you’ll be asked to take a look at the jerseys one last time, and to cast your vote for the one. You can only vote once, so … choose wisely.

Here, then, are your eleven finalists:

1. John Baranowski: New England Patriots

2. Brandon Bowker: Philadelphia Eagles

3. Kevin Gaffney: Baltimore Ravens

4. “Hungry Hungry Hipster”: Arizona Cardinals

5. Bob Jones: Denver Broncos

6. Christopher Kane: Philadelphia Eagles

7. Anthony McGuire: New Orleans Saints

8. Brad McPelican: Seattle Seahawks

9. Chance Michaels: Green Bay Packers

10. Amos Miller: Detroit Lions

11. Adam Wood: New York Giants

Take a good look at each one (if you need additional reference or the contestant’s write up, please refer back to the links at the top of the page — Amos Miller’s full submission can be found at the end of this article). Then, directly below…cast your vote.

Special thanks, as always, go out to UW Pollster Justin Tolerable Homerism for his assistance with the poll.

To everyone who participated, we thank you and appreciate the supreme effort. To the remaining eleven: GOOD LUCK!

~~~

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From The Squiddie Files: Three words: GO GO SOX. That’s all the setup you need from Lance Smith as he brings us yet another wonderful trip through the Life archives. Go. Go. Sox. Here’s Lance:

~~~

The 1959 World Series between the Go-Go White Sox and the now Los Angeles Dodgers is notable for a number of reasons. It was the first World Series since 1948 when neither team was from New York. It was the first World Series to take place at least in part on the west coast. Game Five in Los Angeles had an official attendance of 92,706, a single game World Series record that is unlikely to be broken until Jerry Jones decides to get into baseball.

Let’s look at some photos.

The 1959 World Series also had three things beloved by UniWatch readers, Bill Veeck, Ted Kluszewski and those white World Series stirrups worn by Chicago.

Bill Veeck walks by the Comiskey Park scoreboard and signs programs.

In Game 1, ushers handed out roses to the ladies. A classic Veeckian ploy.

Casey Stengel was there and he talked with Al Lopez and Walter Alston

Big Klu, running out one of his two home runs in Game 1, passes Gil Hodges.
Games 3, 4 and 5 were held in The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Gene Autry, Burt Lancaster, Joe Dimaggio and Edward G. Robinson were all there. So was this woman.

White stirrups and no sleeves? Check. Big Klu in LA.

Take a look at this crowd photo. There are a significant number of fans who are wearing Dodgers caps. (There’s also someone wearing a Hollywood Stars cap and at least one Yankee fan.) In Chicago, the closest thing to fans wearing a White Sox cap were these. Under the California sun you need a hat, even if it’s like this.

Walter O’Malley helps set up the folding chairs for the VIPs. Is she wearing the first alternative color fashion cap?

It’s the Drysdale vs. Klu match-up in Game 3. Drysdale gave up 11 hits and only 1 run. Dick Donovan took the loss.

Billy Goodman is injured on a play and has to be taken off the field. Compare the batting helmet logo with the cap. Not bad.

Is there something wrong with Sandy Koufax’s belt loops? Koufax gave up one earned run, but lost Game 5 when three Sox pitchers blanked the Dodgers and the White Sox abandoned the white stirrups. (That’s Nellie Fox scoring the lone run.)

See #23? Who knew that Don Zimmer was ever so svelte? He came in as a PINCH RUNNER in game 5!

In the final in Game 6, the Sox wore their usual stirrups and lost the Series 4 games to 2. Didn’t stop Big Klu from getting his third home run of the series off Johnny Podres. (I’m guessing 98 is a bat boy.)

Lopez shakes Alston’s hand and we’re done.

OK. White Stirrup Recap.
Yes: Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 and Game 4.
No: Game 5 and Game 6

~~~

Thanks, as always, Squiddie. The fall classic may still be months away and the boys of summer have yet to toil, but the fact that they’re playing in Florida and Arizona now means spring is right around the corner. And I’d give my right leg to see an owner as colorful as Bill Veeck again.

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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: More baseball today, of course, as we inch closer to Opening Day (which should replace Presidents’ Day as a national holiday, by the way). This one may prove very difficult, and it’s brought to us from reader Steve Presser. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. Date, location and final score, please, and be sure to link to your answer. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!

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Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Since we’re running the NFL Contest today, we’ll skip the football tweaks for now; but if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

~~~

Kicking off today’s show is James Hayden, who has a blue look for the Washington Nationals:

Hey,

This time I’m switching sports in anticipation of spring, I give you “Blue Dominant” Washington Nationals (see attached)

Basically, prior to 1968, the American League team in DC – either the one that moved to Minnesota or their replacements who moved to Texas – had Navy Blue as their “primary color” – and pinstriped home unis at that! Only under Bob Short’s ownership were the colors changed to, primarily, Red.

The current National League team simply adopted modern versions of the 1971 Senators’ caps (which had in effect been an icon of the “Baseball in DC” movement) and Red dominant unis (albeit with different lettering fonts, etc.) to hearken back to DC’s “lost” franchise(s).

Having been a small child during the Short era and having read “Kiss it Goodbye” by Shelby Whitfield as a teen, I’ve always wondered exactly why any DC baseball fan would have any interest in remembering the short-lived Short-era.

So, long story, erm, short (and before I make another nauseating pun) – here’s what I think the Nat’s should be wearing as their Home Pinstripes and Blue Alternates.

The Home Pinstripes have, of course, Navy Pinstripes and a script “Nationals” logo with no number on the front (Ala’ the Yanks and Red Sox). I’ve shown a Navy cap with a Red brim with this uni.

The “Blues” are basically a navy version of the current Red Sunday/Alt, with a DC flag patch on one sleeve, and a Nats version of the old Senators patch on the other. Another Navy cap – w/Navy brim and Red “Pretzel W” outlined in White is shown with this (very similar to the former “road” cap, but a bit more colorful – i.e. closer to the cap they wore in the mid-60’s w/o the trim).

Have a better one!

James Hayden

~~~

Next up is Joseph Obermeier, who takes on the NHL’s Islanders with a neat twist:

Hi Phil,

Here’s an idea I had for tweaking the uniform of my once-beloved Islanders. I started with the road jersey (though white jerseys still say ‘home team’ to me) that the Islanders will go full time with next season. I love the retro look and laces, but continuing to use the old team logo just reminds me how long it has been since the days of the cups. I hashed together a new logo using pieces from the Islanders’ earlier attempts at redesign, and I don’t think it looks half bad. The old logo still has its place –- I’ve relegated it to the shoulders, where the Sabres wore theirs for many years. I’d love to ditch the orange altogether, and go with a color scheme like the Boston Breakers of the USFL, but that will have to wait for another day when I have more time.

Thanks.

Joe Obermaier

~~~

The penultimate of the tweaks today is Patrick Lange, who takes a new look at the new vest for the new look Twins:

This is my tweak for the Twins vest uniform. Their current “vest” just has the sleeves cut off of their primary. I think that vests look best with a logo on the chest rather than a team name across the front. I added the stripes to the sleeves and stirrups to give the uniform an old time feel and also removed the NOB.

Closing down the show is Mike Engle, who wasn’t 100% satisfied with this year’s Olympic duds for the hockey fellas, so…he fixed ‘em. Mike really puts his crayolas where his bouche is with these:

For your enjoyment, perusal, entertainment, or all of the above, I present to you uniform design overhauls for my two least favorite hockey jerseys from last Olympics. (Though, in this context, you can’t overhaul anything. Colors basically have to stay the same to match the flag, and tradition is paramount. So overhaul or tweak, whatever, here we go.)

Here’s a new white and blue set for Finland. The 2010 Olympic jerseys had too many line segments going in too many directions. Made no sense to me, and just came across as a blue blob. Sort of reminded me of Italy’s 2006 World Cup soccer jerseys. This is a good thing…for me to headbutt to the ground and refuse to apologize about it. Colors here are white, royal blue, and sky blue, with incidental red and gold on the coat of arms. Traditional socks and pants stripes, but the signature element is the sleeves. Does it evoke anything to you? Well it should. It’s the flag. I personally like my white jersey more than the blue jersey here, simply because of the flag factor. I actually couldn’t decide whether to make the blue jersey on a sky or royal base. I settled on sky because we don’t need another royal-based country.

And here’s a new set for Norway, with a red top (which I like a lot), and a white change (which I don’t quite like as much). Norway’s jerseys from last Olympics were just too plain. The designers really mailed those in, especially with the Rangers word mark. I, however, have something better. You see, Norway’s hockey team just isn’t that good, and their hockey is not at all memorable. Their curling pants, on the other hand, are unforgettable. I couldn’t resist throwing the diamond pattern onto the yoke and the sleeve stripes. I opted for quasi-Blackhawks hem stripes and sock stripes to slightly off-set the radical curling pattern with some conservative old-time hockey flavor. Finally, the new word mark. I messed with the N in NORGE, and had it go SW to NE; this way, the word mark mimics the shape of the country. If you don’t see it, don’t look so hard. Meaning that the captain’s C is now on the right shoulder above the word mark, just like how Svalbard is above mainland Norway. Colors are red, white, and royal, with a touch of gray found only in the curling diamond pattern.

After I overhauled the hockey uniforms for Norway and Finland, I realized my patriotic pride and silver medal buzz were clouding my judgment. My beloved Americans also need new uniforms. I don’t care that their navy may be too dark, but I DO stand by the fact that the USA in VAL across the front doesn’t make a hockey uniform. It makes a basketball jersey with long sleeves. The USA diagonal à la NYR is barely passable–it loses points because USA is only three letters long. It’s fine for the Squaw Valley throwbacks if they stay, but I didn’t want to recreate those.

Oh say can you see THESE hockey jerseys? In white and blue. Please, no red alternate. 204 years before we beat the Red Army, we had to beat the Red Coats. If the USA wears a red hockey jersey, I’m rooting for Canada.) In the end, I made the USA a real crest, which will be a nice and wide target to shoot the puck right into Ryan Miller’s chest for the easy save. The crest itself has two gold stars for Squaw Valley 1960 and Lake Placid 1980. Hopefully, in my lifetime, we can add another gold star. The shoulder stars are an element from the Lake Placid jerseys, carried over, and I made sure the socks have 13 stripes, just like the crest. Nothing else has any intentional symbolism, aside from “I like it and it’s my design, so here you go.” And just in case Nike decides to put a patriotic slogan on the jersey, I’ve relegated it to the inside of the neck. I strongly suggest “E Pluribus Unum.” It doesn’t get more appropriate for a hockey team: it’s Latin for, “Out of many, one.” It’s money.

~~~

That’s it for the tweak show today. Back with more next time.

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Ricko’s Trivia Question: Got a trivia question from the one and only Rick Pearson yesterday, which he thought might be good to pose to the board. So here goes (it’s a two-parter):

(1) What state can claim the most seasons with more than one MLB team?

(2) And also, at this point, the state with the current longest unbroken string of seasons with more than one team?

Interesting…and not as easy as you might think. Give it a shot.

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OSCAR OSCAR!

And finally, your 82nd Academy Awards Predictions:

Don’t know if any of you care, but I’m usually pretty spot-on when it comes to this sort of thing. See if you can’t take me down.

First one to nail all six (unless I get them all right) wins a free Uni Watch Membership on me.

If you already have a UW membership (and you know you should)…I’ll give you another prize. Take your best shot. Here’s my picks:

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz, Inglorious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo’Nique, Precious
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

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Okie dokie, kiddies. That’s all for this fine Sunday. Have yourselves a great day.

Oh Danny! Boy

2010-03-06T15:48:30Z

By Phil Hecken

As you all know, I get a LOT of “Uniform Tweaks” (or “concepts” or “revisions” or what have you) sent my way, and I try to post every single one. In order to remain impartial, I never comment on them, but rather, leave it to you readers to do so. Many are absolutely outstanding, others are very good, and some…well, some aren’t all that great. But everyone who sends something in deserves a look see and I do my best to make sure they get their “15 minutes” on Uni Watch.

But every once in a while, I get a set of concepts that are so good, or so unique, or so outstanding that they really deserve their own “main” article. This is one of those times. I recently received a set of baseball uniform concepts from reader Danny Finocchio that really just struck a chord with me.

Most readers don’t hesitate to add commentary with their concepts, and when they do, I post it, unedited, for you. Danny’s submission was a little different.

Danny simply said, “Hi, my name is Danny Finocchio. I’m a recent graphic design graduate from Easton, PA. I’m an avid Uni-Watcher, and follower of your blog. With baseball season almost upon us, I wanted to send you some Uni-Tweaks I’ve done for MLB uniforms from across all era’s of the game. I’ve done seventeen in all so far, but this type of thing could go on forever, so I’ll definitely have more to come. I won’t get into describing them all, but I will say all the designs are based off of my love for simple, clean, traditional baseball uniform design.”

Then I opened Danny’s attachment, and I was pretty blown away.

Intrigued, I asked if he’d elaborate a bit more, on each uniform and how he came up with such a design, and to tell me a bit more about himself. So, with that, I’m pleased to present to you Danny Finocchio, uniform designer:

~~~

Uni Watch: Graphic Design graduate? That’s awesome — How old are you, where are you from, and where did you go to school?

Danny Finocchio: I’m 25, and a native of Easton, PA. I’m a recent Graphic Design graduate from Kutztown University (of PA).

UW: How did you get into uniforms and uni watching?

DF: I was formally introduced to Uni-Watching by my cousin, Matt Weidner, a few years back, but I’ve been a uni-watcher since I was a young child. As kids, my cousins, brother, and I would constantly be drawing our favorite athletes (sneakers, superheroes & pro wrestlers) and try to re-create their likeness and uniforms as best as we could. I guess that’s where it all started.

UW: Any specific sports? I know what you sent me are baseball uniforms, but have you designed anything else?

DF: I’m interested in uniform design across all sports, but my main interests are with baseball and international football (soccer). My motivation for doing these MLB Uni-Tweaks was for fun, but it’s something I always wanted to explore.

UW: Well that’s great, because with Spring Training underway, many of us are excited for the upcoming season. Any favorite team?

DF: I’m a die-hard Yankees fan, and lover of traditional baseball uniforms, but I always thought to myself “Why not put Yankees in script across the chest?” … “Why not put names on the back of a Yankees uniform?” These were the questions I wanted to answer for myself, and see what they looked like. This whole series of uniform concepts spawned from those initial questions, and I just kept going with it.

UW: NOB’s on the Yankees unis? That’s heresy, isn’t it? Anyway, can you tell me about this set of uniforms you sent me? I’ve seen lots of templates readers send in, but yours is pretty unique. Did you create it yourself?

DF: Through a little online research I found a template I liked. Then, I recreated it so I could manipulate it better. I also recreated all the pinstripes, swashes, and most of the logos in vector art. Once I had the uniform set the way I liked, I brought it into Photoshop to give it a “classic” look by laying the template over a piece of yellowed paper. Then I added a fabric texture to give the impression that the uniforms had a subtle wool look to them.

UW: That’s fantastic Danny. Let’s take a look at what you’ve created, along with your thoughts on each uniform.

~~~

1959 Kansas City Athletics: I wanted to re-create a few teams that don’t exist anymore. With my generation this team, affectionately known as the Yankees’ Minor League System in their day, isn’t even on the radar. I started by re-creating the “KC” logo and used their original color palette.

1953 St. Louis Browns: This concept is a mesh of a few of their uniform designs throughout their existence. Again, I started by re-creating the interlocking “STL” logo, and went on from there.

circa 1903 New York Highlanders: They are the last of my defunct teams. I wanted to honor the Yankees’ history by bringing the Highlanders back with this clean, traditional, no-frills design.

1919 Chicago White Sox: I’ve always loved the interlocking “SOX” logo, and I wanted to use that all over the concept. And at the same time, I wanted to answer the age-old question, “Why don’t they actually wear white sox?”

1908 Chicago Cubs: I’ve always loved the fact that the Cubs used that sky blue hue on their road set. I really wanted to bring that back.

circa 1905 Pittsburgh Pirates: I love the Pirates’ uniforms from across all era’s of their existence. I especially love when they their wear their classic uniform set. I wanted to create my own version of that.

1950 Philadelphia Phillies: I’ve never liked the Phillies uniforms. I really don’t like the stars over the “i’s”. So, with these I wanted to take it down a notch.

1946 Boston Red Sox: I hate them just as much as the next Yankee fan, but I can’t deny their uniforms…they’re beautiful. I loved the road set they wore in 2009, and I wanted to create my own version of that. I also wanted to put “Red Sox” in script to see how that looked. I also added a WWII patch on the right sleeve.

1962 NY Metropolitans: Why haven’t the Mets ever used their full name on their jerseys? This set looks different from what they wore then, but it also looks as if it could’ve been their uniform. That’s what I like about this set.

1967 Minnesota Twins: This set is one of my favorites from the series. They have a lot more little details compared to the others, but still have a simple and classic feel to them. And the colors just work well together.

1966 Baltimore Orioles: Another of my personal favorites. I’ve always loved the script “Baltimore” and the bigger numbers they wore on the backs. I also added one of their old logos as a patch on the left sleeve.

1983 Cincinnati Reds: I’ve always thought the Reds have had nice uni’s and I wanted to make my own version.

2003 Florida Marlins: I’ve always liked the Marlins color palette and logo. So, I wanted to create my own version of their set. I kept the pinstripes, but used their primary logo on the road set. I also added their 10th anniversary patch on their right sleeve.

2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays: This set is a mesh of their new name, “Rays” and their old color palette. I chose to give then a classic feel over a contemporary feel. I also gave them pinstripes which look nice.

2010 Washington Nationals: Another of my favorites from the series. In this set I wanted to give them a feel of their predecessor, the Senators. I also added their logo patch on the right sleeve. I really love the way these turned out.

1937 NY Yankees: This is where it all started. I wanted to change the most iconic uniform in American sports. And I really like it. I also added a 1937 WS patch on the left sleeve and striped socks for the road set.

1929 NY Yankees: I created another version to explore using a block lettered “Yankees” on the road set.

~~~

Well, there we go. Awesome job on those Danny. While I personally would never add the NOB (even conceptually) to the Yankees, and I don’t wholeheartedly agree with a couple of the revisions, I believe this is an excellent example of “thinking out of the box” (which would explain why you have a degree in graphic design, and I don’t). I particularly enjoyed the “NY” on the Highlanders uniform, as that particular design was reminiscent of the Mets‘ 2009 “cream” uniform (and in which David Wright was beaned last season). Of course, that subsequently led to Wright’s donning a “Great Gazoo” helmet. So…my feelings are mixed on that particular graphic.

I really also enjoyed the socks you created for each uniform as well. Personally, I would have made them into stirrups with sanis, but that’s just me. Many of those would look really great on teams today, although, with the current low-pant style, we’d likely never see them.

Overall, though, just an outstanding job. Thanks for sharing those, and I look forward to seeing other creations from you in the future. What say you, Uni Watchers? Did Danny hit one out of the park?

~~~~~~~~~~

Add another mea culpa to the “NFL Uni Contest”. This time, it appears as though I omitted reader (and also former contest participant) Kevin Connolly from the show. It’s too late now to include him, as the finalists have been chosen, and will be given to the readers for a vote tomorrow. Doesn’t change the fact that I somehow missed his E-mail, out of the scores I received.

If Kevin’s tweak looks somewhat familiar, it should because he submitted it for a the “regular” uni tweaks back in December of 2009. And it was a really good one too.

Here’s his submission that he resubmitted to me just before the contest deadline, but somehow I missed. It was for the Patriots.

Back in December, here’s how Kevin described it:

Since the Patriots have been wearing their legacy uniforms, I have decided that I like more traditional Patriot look over the current uniform set. This was quite the revelation for me since I’m a big fan of contemporary uniform designs and pretty much love anything that Oregon does. I’ve attached my rendering of a concept uniform set which is a slight twist on the traditional shoulder stripes. At first, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like the look, but am pretty happy with the result. I’ve also included some player models displaying the uniform set. I’ll be interested to hear what people have to say.

Again, mea culpa, Kevin. I know that may not make you feel any better, but it was an honest eff-up on my part and I deeply apologize.

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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Back to a little baseball, now that the calendar is slowly edging toward that magical day that is “Opening Day” and all is right in the world again. Today’s scoreboard comes from none other than Lance Smith (aka “Squiddie”) and might be what we call a bit of foreshadowing. Ready? Guess The Game From the Scoreboard Date, location and final score, please, and be sure to link to your answer. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!

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Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Taking a look at all sports from here on out, so, if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

~~~

We begin today with Travis Knotts, who simply has a logo and helmet tweak for the Buffalo Bills:

Attached is my tweak to the Buffalo Bills primary logo and helmet. I wanted to make a logo that could satisfy the current logo’s detractors, while not being a drastic revamp. I’m not a Bills fan, but I think this concept is something Bills fans could take pride in. I mean, it even has a tail now!

- Travis

~~~

Next up is Joe Piperno, who has a whole mess of NFL changes:

I made 7 complete uniform change and added some alts
For the 49ers, i gave them the old uni with lighter colors and added a gold jersey

giants: added red to home. added blue to away and alt

patriots: I added red and made a red alt

bills: I found the 1961-64 unis and tweaked them. I also gave them a red alt and white streaking buffalo helmets

seahawks: Gave them white pants in the home and added a green throwback

Raiders: added silver to the home, added silver&black to the away and made a silver alt

Jaguars

Vikings: added yellow alt; Steelers:added yellow alt; Rams: added gold alt; Redskins: added yellow alt — set here

Packers: added yellow alt; Chargers: added yellow alt; Bucs: added pewter alt — set here

~~~

Our final tweak today comes from Logan Savage, who was admittedly late for the NFL jersey contest, but wanted to share his vision for the Saints:

Okay, so this is about 3 weeks late but I was surfing the web and came across a link to your blog and decided why not try my luck and send something in. Hopefully if this isn’t accepted as an entry, it is at least pleasing to the eye. The backstory is I had been wanting to use that font on a few other prototype I’ve made but it didn’t suit any of the teams so I finally thought of the Saints and it fit perfectly with the whole Mardi Gras thing and was an improvement on their old bland logotype. The uniform drew inspiration from a few college team unis, most notably Georgia Tech. I love the look of the college unis and thought the NFL could use an updated look since most real uniform updates haven’t been drastic over the years. Anyway, hopefully I’m given a chance although I completely understand since it is way overdue and I can’t wait until the next Design contest comes up. Thanks for your time.

~~~

That will do it for today’s tweaks. We’ll get to some of the other sports next time.

~~~~~~~~~~

And on that note, that’s all for today folks. Everyone have a great Saturday. Peace.

Hope They Served Beer Instead of Wine

2010-03-08T00:09:46Z

Here’s something I don’t often say: I wish I’d been in L.A. last night. That’s because Gallery 1988 had a reception for their new poster exhibit, called The Greatest Moments in Sports History, most of which looks to be completely amazing. Here are some highlights:

• There are two posters based on Dock Ellis’s acid-drenched no-hitter — here and here.

• Not sure what this is supposed to be about, but I love the uni-numbered bonnet and shower cap. (Update: Justin Rectenwald now informs us that larger, slower water polo teams are often referred to as whales, and smaller, faster ones are often called squid. So there you have it: The first water polo poster ever to appear on Uni Watch!)

• Two of the strongest posters in the show are based on low points in Mike Tyson’s career: his upset at the hands of Buster Douglas and the night he took a bite of Evander Holyfield’s ear.

• Love this illo of Ty Cobb. The peach refers to his nickname, natch, and the “Gas and Flame” notation refers to his military assignment.

• Poor Scott Norwood never gets a break.

• The title of this poster is “Calvinball.” Don’t get the reference? Look here.

• I like how this mascot gallery looks like a slightly beat-up LP cover from the 1960s.

• Lots to like in this Kirk Gibson poster. I particularly like how the incoming pitch and it’s speed lines evoke the Dodgers logo.

• Great title here: “Belly Itcher.” But how could you shout that at someone wearing such nice stirrups?

• Totally digging the fluid lines in this basketball image.

• I’m always happy to make a purple exception for Kurt Rambis.

• This Jesse Owens design is a high point of the exhibit. Ingeniously conceived, strikingly executed.

• In case you don’t recognize this guy, the name of the poster is “20,000″ — a Wilt Chamberlain reference, obviously. I love how the illustration styles mimics Victor Moscoso’s old psychedelic rock posters.

• Magnificent use of perspective and color blocking in this Four Horsemen image.

• Here’s an odd one. It’s called “Local Legend,” but I’m not sure who it’s supposed to be depicting. And whoever he is, why did he wear No. 03?

• Man, does this have “1950s college football program cover” written all over it or what?

The best part: Almost all of these poster designs are reasonably priced, at least by art gallery standards. You can see the price listings, and the rest of the images from the show, here.

(Special thanks to Josh Brotheim for letting me know about this one.)

Yet another earflap update: A month ago I went bananas over this photo of Jackie Hayes, dated 8/23/40. Somewhere along the line I got the notion that Hayes had created that headgear himself, although I’m embarrassed to say I don’t recall where I read that — bad recordkeeping on my part. Does anyone remember seeing anything along those lines?

Now Zac Neubauer has found something in the Popular Science archives — check it out. As you can see, it’s from the Nov. 1940 issue, and it’s definitely the same contraption Hayes was wearing. No mention of a manufacturer, though (or of Hayes, which seems odd). So maybe Hayes did come up with the design and then someone else put his idea into production a few months later, or else maybe it was already in production and Hayes had nothing to do with it. Hmmmmmm.

Either way, it’s interesting that the Ford Frick was trying to get all N.L. players to wear it. At present, I’m not aware of anyone other than Hayes having used it, but this storyline keeps yielding additional chapters, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more to learn here.

Membership Program RE-OPENED for Business!: I’m happy to report that we’ve finally caught up on all previously pending membership card orders (including Tavis Burns’s Tromsø Idrettslag treatment, shown at right). All card designs are now present and accounted for in the card gallery, and those of you haven’t yet received your cards in the mail should be getting them within the next week or so.

Now that we’re caught up and Scott is settled into his new Seattle digs, we’re ready to take new orders again. You can sign up in the usual place. Remember, no more PayPal — I now accept e-cash via Amazon Payments. It’s easy, and all spelled out on the sign-up page.

One change to the program: I’m no longer adding new sign-ups to the Membership Roster page. It’s gotten too big to manage, it mucks up our software (it’s been months since I’ve been able to add new names without the whole thing going kablooey), and our traffic stats indicate that nobody looks at it anyway. Think of the card gallery as a de facto roster page, OK? Thanks.

Vintage Vinyl Giveaway: To celebrate the return of the membership program, I’m going to give away two cool old NFL LPs that I picked up at a record fair last weekend. The first one is devoted to the Jets’ Super Bowl season (here’s the back cover) and the other features interviews with mid-1960s quarterbacks (back cover here). Both LPs have a bit of surface noise but generally play surprisingly well, with no skips or scratches — fun stuff.

I’m not going to impose any restrictions on this giveaway, but I will say this: If you don’t own a turntable and have no way to play these records, it’d be nice if you held off on entering this one. But that’s a suggestion, not a rule — the giveaway is open to everyone, and you can enter by sending a blank e-mail with your name in the subject line to this address by 10pm eastern next Wednesday, March 10th. One entry per person (remember, no more bonus entries for Membership Program enrollees). I’ll announce two winners on Thursday. The first winner will get his or her choice of the two LPs; the other winner will get the remaining LP. Cool? Cool.

House of Hearts Reminder: Big, big thanks to those of you who contributed yesterday to my House of Hearts Bonspiel sponsorship fund. One very generous reader donated $50, but you can make me plenty proud if you simply contribute five bucks. For those of you who don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, you can get the full scoop here.

Stirrup Club Reminder: Sunday is the deadline for getting in on the latest round of Uni Watch Stirrup Club hosiery from Robert Marshall. Full details here.

That’s it, I’m doubling our ad rates: In one of those completely arbitrary rankings that don’t amount to a hill of Cocoa Puffs, the folks at Mediaite have named the top 25 most influential sports writers. A fun exercise, but if you go to the third page of the article you’ll see that they’ll let just about anyone onto these lists, which really calls the whole integrity of the process into question, eh?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Peter Mueller, newly acquired by the Avs, warmed up in a blank jersey on Wednesday (with thanks to Steven Schapansky). … We now have Photo Day confirmation that the NOBs on the Twins’ new home pinstripes will be direct-sewn, not nameplated (as noted by Karl Anderson). … Notice anything unusual about this Carl Hubbell jacket? The ribbed trim at the collar and base isn’t just horizontally striped — it’s also vertically pinstriped! Never seen that before. Here’s the rear view (awesome find by Mike Hersh). … No image, but Ronald Marrero informs me that the new MLB2010 Road to the Show allows you to include stirrups for players you create. Maybe someone could provide a screen shot? … The good news is that Topps did a nice job of photoshopping Cliff Lee into a Mariners uniform for this year’s Opening Day card series. The bad news is that they didn’t erase the Phillies’ Harry Kalas patch (as noted by Bill Slowsky). … The Oregon Ducks are finally free from Disney (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … There are helmet buggies and then there are helmet Bugs. That’s a Barcelona Dragons treatment, in case you don’t recognize it (with thanks to Alex Acosta). … Okay, so we all know minor league hockey teams have ad patches on their jerseys. But the Bakersfield Condors have taken it a step further: They have Carl’s Jr. star logos in their uni numbers (with thanks to Mark Snider). … Whoa, check out the amazing striped jerseys worn by the Groton School football team (big thanks to Andrew Peterson). … Interesting news from Brian Schulz, who checks in with the following report from Austin, Minnesota: “About a month ago, when a new NAHL was approved for Austin, an article came out stating that the owner ‘[Austin] Bruins, as tribute to the Boston Bruins,’ but would let the city decide. Earlier this week it was announced that after over a thousand suggestions, the name Bruins just happened to be at the top of the list. Since then, people have been in quite the frenzy over the name and logo for the team.” … Now wait a minute — is it really possible that the Republic of France is the latest organization to rip off Jerry Dior’s MLB logo concept? I’d like to know more about that French logo. Anyone know its history? (As brought to my attention by Coachie Ballgames.) … Michael Princip’s excellent Seahawks-centric site, Greenglare, is now called Greenxoblue. … Barry Zito, my hero. … Nice video tour of the new ballpark in Eugene, Oregon, to be shared by the Ducks and Emeralds, here (with thanks to Scott Little). … Latest NHL team to wear camouflage warm-up jerseys: the Caps (with thanks to William Yurasko, who also says this video indicates that the Caps have no plans to add a third jersey, somewhere around the 18-minute mark). … Interesting Cubs-colored spikes for Kosuke Fukudome (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Here’s something you won’t often have a chance to own: a Houston Aeros business card (great find by Gabriel Manga). … Last but not least, sex columnist Dan Savage published a really funny baseball-related letter in this week’s column. Dig: “My ladyfriend generally requires more foreplay than I do, but on rare occasions we focus on me exclusively. Two nights ago, after three years together, we figured we’d give a high-school classic a try: I was going to get a handjob. I must’ve been temporarily transported back to my Little League days, because as she was contentedly pumping away, I asked if she could adjust her grip, saying, ‘Baby, could you choke up a little bit?’ With the sweetest, most eager-to-please look on her face, she said, ‘You mean, like, cry?’ I really think she would’ve done it, too, if I hadn’t laughed so hard I nearly fell off the bed.”

Glove Story

2010-03-05T13:39:18Z

What see there is a new batting glove that supposedly offers much more protection against being hit by a pitched ball. It’s from a new California company called XProTex (further details here). And if you’re using new batting gloves, you may as well use them to hold a new bat. As you can see, the lower handle is contoured like the handle on an axe, which supposedly generates a sweeter swing. Further details on that one are available here.

New ESPN column today — my annual look at spring training

The Proctor Files, Continued: As usual, sporting goods historian had something to say about each of the catalogs I featured in yesterday’s entry. Here’s his commentary:

Universal Bleachers: We didn’t sell for them. They were a “once-in-40-years” purchase and sold primarily through people who specialized in outfitting new gyms or renovations. We did sell Aalco Backboards from St. Louis and Nevco Scoreboards. I sold a high school in the Rochester area a Nevco football scoreboard in 1973 and it was used for football until 2006, when it was moved to their soccer field. It still works fine.

Snyders: This catalog looks awfully familiar. I can’t place the manufacturer but I can tell you it wasn’t Snyders — they appear to be just a dealer themselves. Several manufacturers used Dodge-Davis flannel products. Some would allow their dealers to private-label their catalog as well as only including the dealer’s label in the finished garments. As I’ve mentioned before, we had some companies that only included our label (Powers Mfg., Stall & Dean), some that included both the manufacturer and the dealer labels (Russell, King-O’Shea), and those that made a special combination label with the dealer’s name and their name (Sand-Knit, Spanjian). I’ll do some more research and try to figure out who Snyders’ actual manufacturer was.

Swingster: They were an in-stock company that made casual/coach’s wear, softball uniforms, and jackets. Their quality and prices were good but delivery was often spotty at peak times. Teams in our area wouldn’t order softball uniforms until March or April. By that time, dealers in the warm-weather states had often depleted Swingster’s inventory for a certain style or color, so we often had to change it with the team’s OK. Too bad you don’t have a Swingster catalog from around 1981 or 1982 — they made complete, color coordinated softball uniforms in four versions of “tequila sunrise” stripes (red, green, royal, and navy). They offered softball jerseys, softball pants, softball/coach’s shorts, coach’s shirts, and mesh-back caps with the tequila sunrise striping. I still have two of the coach’s shirts. I’ll try to get you photos.

By the way, that “coach” wearing the all-gold outfit looks like a reject from a tryout for the Village People. As dealers we complained to several companies about the models they used. Champion Products and Russell at first had their catalogs produced by agencies that used real New York-type runway models. The girls all resembled Twiggy and the guys were real Village People types. The poses and their props were hilarious, like using a piece of black tape for eye black, or a piece of wood to resemble the shaft of a hockey stick. Or having the hockey players wearing football shoulder pads and a pair of gym shorts to resemble hockey pants. After enough dealer complaints, Russell and Don Alleson Athletic hired real-life high school and college athletes to model their uniforms. Big improvement.

Hurry Hard!: As you may have noticed in the Ticker lately, I’ve been hunting (without success) for a vintage curling sweater. That’s because I’ll soon be heading back to Minnesota, where I’ll be participating in the House of Hearts Bonspiel at the Duluth Curling Club. I’ll be getting a full day-plus of personalized instruction from ace curler Tyler George and then competing in the ’spiel for the next few days after that.

The House of Hearts is an annual charity bonspiel that’s sort of like a pro-am, with world-class skips teamed with lesser players, including novices (that would be me). All proceeds go to benefit a Duluth medical-services operation, and I’m hoping to do my part by getting some pledges. No pledge is too small — seriously, just contribute $5 and you’ll make me very proud (although larger pledges are welcome, of course). To contribute, please go to Amazon Payments and either log in to your existing Amazon account or, if you don’t have one, create a new Amazon account. Once you’re logged in, click on “Personal” and then on “Send Money,” and send whatever amount you deem appropriate to plukas64 at gmail dot com. Put “For House of Hearts” in the memo line. Thanks.

I’ll be flying home from Duluth on March 21st, which is significant for two reasons: It’s the date of the next Brooklyn Beefsteak at the Bell House, and it’s also my birthday. This is what’s known as a very happy coincidence. I’ll be getting off the plane, making a quick stop at my apartment, and then heading right to the Bell House, where I’ll be celebrating with a big beefsteak birthday bash.

The last Brooklyn Beefsteak was a hoot (full coverage here), and I encourage all NYC-area readers to attend this time around. There will be two seatings: 2pm and 6pm (my party will be at the 6pm). I won’t be delivering any slideshow presentations this time, although I may reprise my onstage role handling visual aids for Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., who’ll be performing once again.

I’ll be spending most of the event at a table with my close friends (all of whom will have to listen to my boring stories about curling in Duluth and pretend to be interested because, hey, it’ll be my birthday), but of course I’ll be happy to say hi to any Uni Watch readers I see there.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Rangers have added a spring training memorial patch for front office employee Bobby Bragan. It’s not yet clear to me whether they’ll keep wearing it during the regular season. … Forget color on color — the Tigers and Florida Southern went gray on gray the other day. Looks like all the Florida Southern players wear stirrups, too, although many of them seem to do so rather grudgingly (with thanks to Ben Kelly). … Speaking of stirrups, check out Meiji University of Tokyo (with thanks to Randy Policar). … Two great eBay finds by Mike Hersh: First, scroll down through the entire listing to see the great illustrations on this hat box. But here’s the real prize: a salesman sample curling stone! … Sidney Crosby’s Olympic stick and gloves are missing. … Interesting little video about the graphic design of racing cars here (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Also from Lance: an absolutely amazing collection of vintage supermarket display photos. … Here’s another one of those photos of Aussie soccer players wearing three-digit uni numbers. … Michael Vick says he wants to play for the Panthers because he likes their uniforms, which is just one more strike against him (with thanks to Frank Cha). … Is this completely gorgeous or what? It’s from an amazing site devoted to letterhead design. Highly recommended clicking (big thanks to Craig Ward). … Here’s some nice 1965 footage of Virginia Tech playing William & Mary in the first game ever at Lane Stadium (nice find by Michael Kennedy). … Oneonta State’s lacrosse team is wearing some seriously striped jerseys. Additional pics here (with thanks to Tom Langan). … Matthew Algeo wonders if the Hoofddorp Pioniers — a Dutch baseball team — might be getting a call from the Phillies’ legal team. … Brett Crane notes that the Angels don’t seem to be wearing the new BP caps, which is particularly interesting because they never went for the last BP cap design (they stayed with this instead of going to the do-rag stretch panels). … NHL trade deadline news from John Muir, who writes: “According to the Washington Capitals, newly acquired Scott Walker will keep his #24 from Carolina.” … Disappointed to see that Lastings Milledge, who’d gone high-cuffed throughout his career up until now, was pajama-pantsed yesterday. … Here’s something I haven’t seen before: an old Wham-O Frisbee catalog (with thanks to Mike Hersh). … Uni Watch pastry chef Elena Elms reports that over 75 years’ worth of UNC-Chapel Hill yearbooks have been digitized, with lots of good uniform pics and other treatse lurking within. … Ohio State note from Ben Teaford, who writes: “On Senior Night, they gave out the traditional framed jerseys for the seniors. But for some reason they chose to use a jersey style the team hasn’t worn since this senior class was in their freshman year. Maybe they just had some laying around still. Odd choice.” … There’s a new site devoted to the evolution of MLB baseballs (with thanks to Matthew Felix). … Tons of amazing WHA-related stuff — photos, videos, factoids, you name it — at this fantastic site (major thanks to Alan Kreit). … Gumball helmet king Bill Jones has made a new set of helmets for the top three Olympic hockey teams. … Many World Cup-bound teams wore their new kits in a series of international friendly matches over the past couple of days. Michael Orr provides a good round-up here. … In other soccer news, Italy has unviled their new Puma kit (with thanks to Stephen Wong).

Uni Watch Library Update: Catalogs

2010-03-03T12:14:43Z

I’ve picked up several cool old catalogs in recent weeks, all worthy of a closer look. Here’s a rundown:

• Universal Bleacher Company, circa early 1960s: This is the first time I’ve come across a catalog for gymnasium bleachers — an appealingly specific niche. No date on this one, but the colors and awesome logo design have an early-’60s feel. I’m especially fond of the Poweroller and the extended “P” on this little mail-in card insert. Cool side-view diagram, too. Universal Bleacher also sold motorized basketball backstops, which were operated by a key — nice. (The full set of scans from this catalog is available here.)

• Snyders, 1961: Don’t judge this book by its relatively plain cover — lots of good stuff in here, including lots of excellent examples of three-color print design (additional examples here, here, and here). And hey, did you know that the “Pony” in “Pony League” stands for “Protect Our Nation’s Youth”? I didn’t, until I saw that page. Meanwhile, why did so many catalogs from this era offer long pants for softball players? If you’re wondering where the pajama insurrection started, look no further. Much better: several pages’ worth of jackets. And of course no survey of uniform catalogs would be complete without at least one scan of a hosiery page. (Full set of scans here.)

• Swingster, 1977: Best for last. The cover promises utter hilarity, which the interior content totally delivers. If you can look past all the puzzling fashion choices, unfortunate hairstyles, odd props (a picnic basket??), there’s actually some decent sportswear lurking within these pages, including some cool racing jackets and some interesting striped raglan sleeves. Love the page of color offerings, too. And look, the back cover looks like a Robert Marshall box-cover photo! (Full set of scans here.)

Good stuff, right? Expect a full analysis from Terry Proctor in the next day or two.

T-shirt discount: From now through next Monday, Zazzle is offering a $4 discount on all T-shirts, including those in the Uni Watch store. Just use the checkout code “4OFFPATTYTEE” and you’ll be good to go.

Stirrup Club Reminder: In case you missed it last week, Robert Marshall is currently taking orders for a new batch of primo stirrups. For details look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s yet another awesome curling sweater that’s too big for me, grumble-grumble. And another curling sweater pattern. … “I always thought all NBA teams had gone with elasticized waistbands by the 1980s, but several photos show Suns players with the old-style snap fastening up through the 1985-86 season,” writes Matt Beahan. “The following season they switched from knit uniforms (not sure of the manufacturer) to mesh unis made by Sand Knit, and went with elasticized waistbands (which they’d previously worn in the late ’70s before switching back to buttons in 1980-81). I always thought the buttons were a relic of the ’60s and ’70s. I’ve yet to find any other teams wearing this style in the mid-1980s — does anyone know of other examples?” … The good news is that hosiery phenom Corey Wimberly is still wearing stirrups; the bad news is that his ’rups were mismatched the other day. … Mike Pratt has started a new blog about player exclusive MLB gear. … Here’s something really cool: Larry Granillo has created a timeline of MLB stadiums and their names. … I’m calling it the YMCA. … Oh baby, is this totally the bomb or what? “I did not colorize that photo,” says Larry Bodnovich. “It was in color on the Oregon digital archives site.” … 125th-anniversary kit for Shrewsbury Town (with thanks to Peter Kurilecz). … Great slideshow of old program covers and ads from the Wisconsin state boys basketball tournament here (big thanks to Jeff Ash). … For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, the Blue Jackets wore St. Paddy’s Day warm-up jerseys last night — more than two weeks before March 17th (with thanks to John Muir). … You probably know that MLB teams wore a baseball centennial patch in 1939. But did you know there was more than one version of that patch? I didn’t, until Dave Grob sent me his latest article. … You may have noticed that one of the photos in Dave’s patch article showed a Philly A’s player fussing with his cap. That’s Skeeter Newsome, and he’s holding his protective liner in his right hand. … Kinda fitting that one of the Photo Day photographers at Blue Jays camp was wearing a Maple Leafs cap the other day. … Shin-Soo Choo, still double-flappin’. … See the “LW” on Troy Tulowitzki’s cap? It’s for his cousin, Lexy Winters, who recently died of skin cancer. According to the second graf of this story, he plans to maintain the cap inscription all season and maybe wear the initials on his eye black stickers to boot, although I suspect the MLB office will have something to say about all that. … The Brisbane Lions — that’s an Aussie rules football team — are facing a court battle over their logo (with thanks to Drew H. Douglas). … Jim Lonetti just won himself a very, very cool T-shirt. … Villanova and Ciny went color on color last night. … I interviewed a New Era exec earlier this week for an ESPN column that will be running tomorrow. One thing he told me was that he and the other New Era folks are just as attuned to things like gray underbrims and missing cap patches as we are. In particular, he mentioned that Joba Chamberlain was wearing a standard black-underbrimmed cap during the regular season but appeared to switch to a gray underbrim during the postseason, which led the New Era folks to speculate that he might be superstitious about having a separate cap to use when he’s working out of the bullpen instead of as a starter. … Also: The New Era people never say, “squatchee”; they just say, “button.”

But I Absolutely Refuse to Write About the Draft Caps

2010-03-02T13:36:25Z

As you may recall from the lead-up to the Super Bowl, the NFL is introducing a new logo system for the big game. Turns out they’re also revising a bunch of other logos and graphics. Let’s take a look:

• The new conference logos: The new letterforms are fine — an improvement, even — but the new treatment of the stars is a classic case of overthinking. Did anyone out there equate the number of stars with the number of divisions in each conference? Like, anyone? And now the AFC mark looks badly out of balance. Pfeh.

• The new offseason and preseason logos: I’m fine with the change in the shield shape. Seems like the two-line wordmarks (“Scouting Combine” and “Training Camp”) were easier to read in the old configuration, though.

• The new conference championship trophies: What a disaster. They’ve taken a pair of interesting trophy designs and turned them into a pair of junior-grade Lombardi Trophy clones. Boooo!

• The new playoff logos: Okay, so it’s not like the old designs were anything to get excited about. But these new marks are a total snooze-o-rama, no? Yes, I get it, the entire postseason is lead-up to the Lombardi Bowl, but you’d think they could come up with a bit more graphic originality here. Also: Why does each round of the playoff need to be branded anyway? Total overkill. Why not come up with logos for Week 1, Week 2, and so on while you’re at it? (You just know someone at the NFL offices is taking that suggestion very seriously.) Also-also: Note that the new logo set shows “Wildcard” as one word — let’s hope that’s just a typo and not their new style rule.

• The new standardized Super Bowl logo: After thinking long and hard about this, I plead indifference. On the one hand, it was kinda nice when each Super Bowl got its own logo design; on the other hand, most of those designs sucked. Imposing a standardized design program doesn’t have to be a bad thing, although it would be nice if the design motif they’re using didn’t have that annoying “WE’RE THE NFL AND WE’RE HUUUUUGE!” feel to it. On the other hand, I’m kind of amazed they’re going with a sans serif font — almost wussy by NFL standards. Whatever, the Super Bowl may be the biggest event on the planet, but the Lombardi Trophy is still nothing compared to the Stanley Cup, no matter how many Lombardi-esque logos the NFL comes up with, the end.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New soccer kit for Scotland. Additional info here (with thanks to Michael Orr and Patrick Runge). … Fausto Carmona was pitching with a white glove the other day. That wouldn’t fly during a game. … Mike Sweeney has been wearing those annoying Phiten socks, which really ought to be banned. … A.J. Pierzynski is still wearing that odd catching helmet that nobody else seems to wear. … Some touch-up paint work is going on in Orioles camp. … Could someone please buy this curling sweater knitting pattern and knit it for me, pronto? Thanks. … Ed Price reports that Blue Jays pitcher Kyle Drabek is wearing No. 4. He doesn’t have much shot at making the Opening Day roster, but if he made it he’d be the first single-digit pitcher since Josh Towers, and the lowest-numbered pitcher since David Wells wore No. 3 in 2005. Further info here. … Man vs. Food host Adam Richman continues to wear the Naming Wrongs T-shirt line. That photo is, of course, from Cleveland, where he recently took the Melt Challenge: a five-pound grilled cheese sandwich with 13 different cheeses). “The episode will air in June, but the folks at Melt posted some pictures on their Facebook page,” says Jason Tirotta, who forwarded that photo to me. … Color-on-color hoops alert. That’s from Saturday night’s Premier Basketball League game between the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry and the Maryland GreenHawks (with thanks to Chuck Miller). … There are lots of good reasons to wear green and gold, but Man U fans recently did so to protest the team’s ownership (with thanks to Andrew Maloney). … I’m not sure why anyone would want a Knicks-themed snowboard, but here it is anyway (with thanks to Jon Alviani). … Marc Swanson took a stab at colorizing one of the wire photos from yesterday’s post and did a great job. … Looks like the new MLB undershirts have heat zones, or something along those lines. … Do you look, sound, or act like Vince Lombardi? If so, there may be a role for you on Broadway (nice find by Nick Ruggeri). … Excellent slideshow of old White Sox program covers — set to the old “Go-Go White Sox” song — here (superb find by Lance “Squiddie” Smith). … Mitchell & Ness plans to start selling the 1970s Chisox leisure suit jersey soon (with thanks to Mike Hersh). … Slate ran a really good article yesterday about sign design (with thanks to Andrew Moeschberger). … Soccer tip from Chris Cruz, who writes: “The UK-based magazine/website When Saturday Comes has a very interesting regular feature that has a badge (club crest), shirt, and sticker of the week. A great site for checking out soccer fashion.” … The horror, the horror (blame the Rev. Nørb). … Amusing douchebag maneuver over at the D-League, which has banned all non-Adidas branding. This would but a lot more contemptible if anyone on the entire planet actually gave a shit about the D-League. … Some guy in Cleveland wants a new uni number.

There’s No Service Like Wire Service, Vol. 7

2010-03-01T14:03:15Z

The wire photo hits keep on coming. All of these come from an eBay seller that Mike Hersh pointed out to me, so special thanks to him for this batch.

• Here’s a major find: The party line is that the first throwback game was staged by the White Sox in 1990, but the Dodgers and Phillies apparently played a throwback game in spring training of 1976. Looks like they put real buttons along the edges of the faux bib. Fascinating!

• Here’s a rare shot of Sparky Anderson wearing the National League’s 1976 All-Star pillbox cap, which I believe was only worn during pregame warm-ups and for the team portrait, not during the All-Star Game itself.

• Love how the ref’s uni number looks so DIYish in this 1966 shot. And look at the armband in this 1959 photo — looks like a wrap-on bandage!

• Even in his Fordham Rams days, Vince Lombardi was a real piece of work.

• Joe Louis and Billy Conn, fighting on the same side for a change.

• Oh man, I totally love the cardigans being worn by Sonny Liston’s entourage (they’d be perfect for curling, no?). Also love the sight of a Catholic priest with an “I Like Sonny” button. (If you find Liston as compelling a character as I do, you’ll enjoy these additional Sonny shots I compiled.)

• Lots of interesting stuff in this Wrigley Field shot. Aside from the play itself, note the graffiti on the wall and the way the newspaper enhanced the confetti with Wite Out.

• When it came to the A’s white shoes, Charlie Finley practiced what he preached.

• Oh baby, how sweet is this 1948 NHL All-Star uni? The player is Doug Bentley.

• Here’s a rare press photo of MLB’s only full-time pinch-runner, Herb Washington.

• When MLB split into four divisions in 1969, the AP prepared this map graphic. Note how Chicago is right on the east/west border. Also, they got Atlanta wrong — the Braves were placed in the N.L. west.

• Love the Star of David on Jewish boxer Mike Rossman’s cornerman.

• Whatever you may think of Leon Spinks, this is a pretty amazing photograph.

• I’ll let the caption speak for this one.

• Two players forever linked by a trivia question: Willie Mays and the guy for whom he was traded. Every time I see that orange-lettered Giants jersey, I think to myself, “Y’know, that was a pretty good look.

• Here’s as good a look as you’re ever likely to see of the Red Wings’ war bond patch.

• And here’s an odd 1943 shot of two Cubs wearing mismatched undershirts (and maybe two different caps too?).

Research Query: Reader Adam Wyss interns for a D-League team and has asked me if anyone out there still makes old-style basketball shorts “with a belt and everything.” Personally, I have no idea, but if you know of a company that’s capable of making this style, get in toch with Adam pronto.

We have an argyle winner!: Back when the Norwegian curling pants first made news, I offered a free Uni Watch membership to the first reader who could provide proof of having purchased and worn a pair of the pants. It hadn’t occurred to me that a reader might have already owned a pair, but that’s the case with Mike Gocsik (he’s second from the left in that photo).

“The photo is from last summer,” he says. “My father-in-law, cousin, brother, and I were playing in a golf tournament for our local high school in Norwalk, Ohio. We bought the pants as kind of a joke, but they are pretty popular in small-town America. They’re actually pretty comfortable pants. We didn’t win the golf outing, but we did look the best and got a couple free rounds of beers.”

And now Mike has gotten a free Uni Watch membership to boot.

Speaking of the membership program, Scott is getting acclimated to his new Seattle digs and is making his way through the backlog of membership orders. I mailed out 16 membership kits late last week (including Bill Sodeman’s awesome Tampa Bay Rowdies card, shown at right), and we should get fully caught up within the next few days. Once we’ve cleaned out the backlog, we’ll re-open the membership program for new orders, hopefully this week. My thanks to all of you for your patience.

Uni Watch News Ticker: More uni-numerical news from Red Sox camp. … Here’s a weird shot: Straw wearing the old BP cap and Frenchy wearing the new one. … Interesting note from Jimi Jamm, who writes: “In the mid-’90s, during my radio career, I really got into wearing NFL and NHL jerseys, and it sort of became my calling card at radio and record conventions. It came to my attention that some record labels had given their promotion staff hockey jerseys bearing the company logo, so I asked my local rep if it was possible to get me one to go with my collection. Record labels, being only too happy to schmooze radio programmers, yielded me these two jerseys.” … Braves pitcher Kenshin Kawakami was going double-flapped the other day. … Is it just me, or has Rawlings’ chest protector brand patch gotten bigger this year? … Not sure I’d ever seen Garo Yepremian as a Lion — or with hair — before (nice find by Brian Mazmanian). … Reprinted from Friday’s comments: There’s a really wonderful animation about the history of Olympic pictograms here — well worth the four-minute time investment. Don’t miss. … Nike has done an interesting collaboration with half a dozen artists. For details look here and here (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Good pictorial survey of Olympic skeleton and skiing helmet artwork here (with thanks to Jon Alviani). … Big variety of stirrup styles shown in these softball photos (with thanks to Dustin Hall). … Even in Florida, there’s no escape from the Shea movement. That’s from last Thursday’s Mets Hot Stove show, which was broadcast live from a bar in Port St. Luice (big thanks to Brian Erni for the screen shot). … One of you officiating types should pick up this gorgeous old zebra jersey. Dig that chenille patch! … Got a note on Friday from Zachary Charles, subject line “omg yes.” When I clicked on the link he provided, the subject line made perfect sense. … Some guy on eBay is selling off a huge haul of uniforms and related memorabilia, and I strongly recommend clicking through his listings — lots of amazing-looking stuff. Check it out here (big thanks to Mike Hersh). … Stephen Sickles notes that the USA’s Olympic hockey jerseys have a patriotic inscription on the sleeve cuff. … According to this podcast, Pablo Sandoval of the Giants will be wearing prescription glasses on the field this year but will not hike up his pants to show the team’s new striped socks (with thanks to Tremaine Eto). … Kudos to the UCLA baseball team, which has joined the stirrup revolution (this excellent news courtesy of Ricky Darling). … Aaron Stilley has started a series in which he’ll be looking at the Royals’ annual Negro Leagues throwbacks. … New softball uniforms for LSU. Those are the white and purple versions, and here’s the gold (with thanks to Bryan J. Boltik). … Ben Fortney was poking around on Flickr and found this photo of Jeff Francoeur designing a jersey. “I suppose the non-rightfielders in the picture must be Majestic reps,” he says. “I really want to get my hands on that book Frenchy is flipping through.” … Last Monday I linked to this story about the Pistons’ ankle injuries possibly being due to a certain brand of swooshified shoe. Now that shoe has been banned from the team. … If you find a stray “k” floating around, it probably belonged to Sidney Crosby (as noted by Marcus Solis). … No photos, but Cam Norris reports that the Providence hoops team had some jerseys stolen prior to Saturday’s game against USF. “Many of their players had different numbers — Jamine Peterson, their star player, moved from 21 to 15, and Bilal Dixon was wearing 22. In all, about five or six players were affected and wearing different numbers for the game, and there were no names on the back of the jerseys.” … Kevin Mericle has created style sheet templates for four of the five 1995 NFL expansion finalists. “A few aspects I had to kinda guess on (like the Bombers’ road uniforms), but I think for the most part they are fairly accurate,” he says. … Kevin Wright got a screen shot of Paul Terbenche of the Houston Aeros wearing some interesting facial protection. … Mmmm, dig ths awesome old hockey-themed tobacco ad. “These Granger ads were all so amazing — the artwork was really top-notch,” says Bruce Menard. … One more from Bruce: a rare shot of Hack Wilson as a Phillie. “He played seven games for them in his last season, then retired at age 34,” says Bruce. … Our latest DIYer is Mike Lynch, who writes: “I was looking for a Team USA hockey shirt, but the only ones I could find were the official Ralph Lauren line at about $50 for a T-shirt. So I went to Wal-Mart, bought a $6 shirt, spent another $10 on ribbon, glue, and thread, and made this shirt. For the basic layout, I used the 1932 throwback that Team USA wore against Canada, and I added the star on the shoulders as a nod to the 1980 jersey. It took about six hours and it’s not perfect, but I’m happy with it as my first attempt. I’m already planning to do a second replica, probably a hoodie version of the complete 1980 jersey.” … Yesterday Phil linked to a great Fleer Sticker Project entry about a 1967 Coke promotion. FSP honcho Jon Helf has now done a follow-up entry on Coke’s related promotion from ’68. There’s some key info in there about Marvin Miller and the players’ association — recommended reading. … Jon also sent along this old Mets photo, which he says was for an ad for “Supima — the World’s finest cottons” — nice.

With Glowing Hearts

2010-02-28T05:51:16Z

By Phil Hecken

The 2010 Olympics from Vancouver, British Columbia, come to a close this evening, but there’s still some big excitement ahead today. Of course, I’m speaking of the Mens 50 km cross-country skiing, which will be held at 9:30 local time (12:30 ET). No, no…the big deal today, of course, is the much-awaited Gold Medal Hockey game between host Canada and the United States. For someone who absolutely loves the Winter Olympics, and who has been thoroughly entertained by these Games (if not by NBC’s coverage), this is the perfect topper to pretty much two perfect weeks.

Even if you’re not a hockey fan, if you’re an American (or a Canadian, but I needn’t remind them of this game), this is THE one to watch. We’ll awake Monday to return to our regularly scheduled programming, what with the NCAA tourney only weeks away, spring training in full swing, and the NFL draft and the NBA & NHL playoffs around the corner…sort of. But for one last day, winter reigns. The USA versus Canada begins at 3:15 ET (so, that’s 2:15 central, 1:15 mountain, and 12:15 pacific time). Grab a cold one, settle in, kick back, and enjoy some Olympic hockey — it doesn’t get any better than this.

In the first matchup between the US & Canada, which the Americans won 5-3 (this is a rematch) in the 2010 Olympics, the USA wore their “Squaw Valley throwbacks,” which were designed to replicate the gorgeous uniforms sported by the Americans during the 1960 Olympics, played in Squaw Valley, California, and at which, the United States performed their “first” miracle on ice.

In those games, the US defeated the Canadians, the Soviet Union, and took home the gold by defeating Czechslovakia in the final game. Had Slovakia defeated Canada on Friday evening, it would have set up an “almost” rematch of that 1960 game. As it is, this game is a rematch of the 2002 Winter Games, when Canada defeated the US on American soil.

Seeking payback for that defeat in 2002, the US hopes to repay the “home town defeat” and pull out the Gold today. One might think this game will be the most watched hockey game, bar none, this year. I know I’ll be watching. If you watch one game this year, this is the one to see.

~~~

But this Olympics has been outstanding in most, if not all aspects, despite early setbacks and terrible weather. And it’s worth our time, now, to take a quick look back and the splendor that has been this year’s Games.

No look back would be complete, however, without a tip of the cap to our Canadian neighbors and friends, who’ve really been outstanding keepers of the flame. And despite our friendly rivalry (you know I’m pulling for team USA in the hockey today), the Canadians have been fantastic hosts. Props to them.

And so, let’s take a look at the beauty of the past two weeks, as the uniforms and outfits and costumes are almost as important as the games themselves, right? Right. What follows are some AMAZING high-resolution photographs, beautifully capturing the games — and they’re worth clicking on, even if you’re not a fan.

~~~

The stage was set by the Opening Ceremonies, with a black and white-clad snowboarder, soaring through the rings. Sight and Sound were on full display, as the delegations poured in, tempered slightly by the Georgian team, who donned black armbands in memory of Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, who died in a horrifying crash during a luge training run barely eight hours earlier.

Despite the sadness surrounding that tragedy, the mood was decidedly upbeat, with the athletes and spectators participating and viewing the Canadian splendor. All were given glowing electric candles, which made for quite a visual as a barefooted k. d. lang performed, and a giant polar bear appeared during the performance of Landscape of a Dream: Hymn to the North. Finally, the evening closed on a somewhat rocky note, as there was a bit of difficulty erecting and lighting the ceremonial flame, but at long last, all was right in the Pacific Northwest.

~~~

What followed the next fifteen days was everything you’d expect from an Olympics, featuring the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, sometimes by the same person, as American Lindsey Vonn took home the gold in the in the women’s downhill (seen with her BBF, Julia Mancuso, who took silver), the bronze medal in the “super-G,” and suffered not one, but two devastating crashes in other disciplines.

The weather and the slopes often proved the winner in the 2010 Olympics, with number of spills and crashes taking out many an experienced skier. Not everyone lost to the mountain, however, as Sarah Schleper stayed upright and former burnout Bode Miller took home a gold, a silver, and a bronze.

~~~

Staying on the slopes, but moving on to some non-alpine events, the athletes soared in the aerials, twisted and turned in the halfpipe, (although I can’t say I was a fan of the blue paint in the pipe), and through the snowcross. X-Games mainstay and the man who put snowboarding on the map, Shaun White, brought home the expected gold in snowboard halfpipe.

Not to be upstaged by their more ‘earthly’ counterparts, the ski jumpers also soared in thrilling jumps, while the freestyle skiers reached new heights, and mogul men and women displayed all kinds of new tricks. But the result is always best celebrated when one is safely back on the ground. Of course, the best seats in the house are reserved for the ski jumping judges. For those who prefer to spend most of their time on the ground, nordic combined even yielded a medal for the first time EVER for the United States. But that’s not a sport for the faint-hearted…or those with endurance problems.

Not everything outdoors involves skis or snowboards, however. That doesn’t mean they are any less exciting. It takes some serious intestinal fortitude to participate in the luge, especially after that sick track had already claimed one life. The track may not have beaten every rider, but a few teams threw up a white flag after unfortunate runs. Still, the bobsleigh was it’s usual exciting self.

~~~

Not all events are outdoor, however, and the Olympic Bonspiel provided wonderful curling action. Host nation Canada almost pulled off the “double gold” but, more importantly, again raised the consciousness of thousands to the awesomeness of this unique sport.

Men and ladies, sometimes at the same time, thrilled audiences in the ice skating and ice dance. In the only discipline where participants wear individual costumes (or outfits) instead of uniforms, talent is almost as important as individuality.

Athletes on skates are not limted to “figure” skating. One of the most popular (if not exciting) events is short track skating, a crazy sport which sometimes features a dozen skaters at a time participating. Spills and disqualifications are frequent, and thanks to NBC, it always seemed like it was American Apolo Ohno versus the Koreans — but this wasn’t far from the truth, as Ohno set a record for the most medals won by a Winter Olympian in 2010. There’s also speed skating done on a much larger track with contestants kept in lanes. That doesn’t stop them from practicing as though it were a synchronized event.

~~~

Today, they close down the games, but they do it in style, with ice hockey taking center stage one last time. And with the Americans and Canadians fittingly playing for the gold medal, with a score to settle and bad blood brewing, it doesn’t get much better than this.

So, from this American, I say to Canada, “thank you” for being such outstanding hosts, and for providing the world with a fantastic two weeks of thrilling and fascinating entertainment. Canada may eke out the gold medal total (with the USA taking the overall total count), but there’s one last one up for grabs this afternoon. And now…GAME ON!

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Last week you may recall I posted a set of fantastic baseball cards (scroll down to “From The Taxman Collection“), from Jerry Adams. Within that section, Jerry asked, “My best recollection would be that we collected Coca-Cola bottle caps with player pictures in the liners — unless it was sending in cereal box tops or maybe even Kool-Aid packages. The back side of each photo referenced Dexter Press. Maybe our friends at the Fleer Sticker project would have a clue?”

Well, this week I received an E-mail from Jon Helf of the Fleer Sticker Project, which provided just the answer Jerry was looking for. Jon said:

I’ve spent the past few days researching the Coca-Cola promotion that Jerry Adams seemed to recall, and have just completed my post with a full run down of the Coke promotion and the cards if you’d like to take a look.

Phil – I don’t know if it was you or Jerry posing the question as to whether I could help confirm if these came from a Coke promotion, but I appreciate you guys thinking of me as a resource on something like this.

Thanks,
Jon

So there you have it. Whenever we have a question about cards, we know where to turn.

Thanks, Jon, for the quick response and the research!

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From The Squiddie Files: As winter starts to turn the corner to spring, ever so slowly for a good part of the nation, Lance Smith (“Squiddie”) prepares to warm all our hearts with a look at the 1939 Cincinnati Reds, spring training edition:

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In 1938 the Cincinnati Reds finished in 4th place, 6 games back of the Chicago Cubs. They seemed like an odd team to cover for spring training in 1939, but Life sent a photographer to Tampa to cover the team. The Reds would then go on to win the NL pennant with two pitchers winning 25 games or more. (Bucky Walter had 27 and Paul Derringer won 25.) The Life crystal ball wasn’t perfect as they’d lose to the Yankees in four. However in 1940 they’d win both the pennant and the World Series.

Let’s look at some photos:

It’s not spring training if you don’t get photos of players in unusual positions.

Spring training also means lots of running and working on the basics. (Note that some players have the ‘C’ on their caps and some do not.)

The swanky opulence of the Reds locker room.

The long and short of it. (Frenchy Bordagaray and Big Jim Weaver)

Hank Johnson works a high tech pitch location training device.

No C on cap, but the Centennial patch is in place.

It wouldn’t be spring training without a medicine ball.

You don’t see many pith helmets anymore. Powel Crosley, Jr. and Bill McKechnie review the troops.

Tampa, Florida was a little more rustic in 1939. Baseball at Plant Field.

Sweat a lot. Drink a little.

Bucky Walters watching batting practice.

The broad expanse of Ernie Lombardi’s chest offers a good chance to examine the lettering in Cincinnati.

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Thanks so much for that fantastic spread, Lance. Feels more like spring already, doesn’t it? Interesting to see the Reds sporting the Mcauliffe font, as the Yankees, Tigers and Angels (amongst others) also did back in the good olde days.

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Mick is a real two-sport star. Or so it seems…here’s Rick:

Save your nickels and dimes, boys and girls, and cobble together a trip to Florida for Spring Training. But be efficient; double up if you can. Watch Cardinals and Marlins in Jupiter, perhaps. Or Twins and Red Sox in Fort Myers. And, of course, bring your gear and squeeze in a little BP of your own.

And with that, here’s your Sunday Benchies. Enjoy!

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Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Taking a look at all sports from here on out, so, if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

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Starting off the show today is Rob Juba, who has some interesting concepts for the Giants, Bills, Browns, Redskins, Saints & Seahawks. It also looks like Rob has incorporated Ricko’s comp sleeve concepts into these:

Hello, big fan of the blog, thought I might contribute some traditional / throwback ideas for a few NFL teams. I am a big fan of the comp sleeve concept so I have incorporated that into all of these.

First, for my team, the Giants, added the Northwestern stripe to the home and revamped alternate unis and all pants, white pants for the alternate uni.

For the Bills, went with a combination of throwback helmet & striping, with more current darker blue, and added red alternate.

Browns, added the dog helmet logo, orange alternate jersey.

Redskins, throwback to the older burgundy & gold and helmet logo.

Saints, brought back the deeper “copper” gold, changed to black helmet, gold alternate jersey.

Seahawks, brought back the old blue & green for the unis, changed “Seahawk blue” to green but kept the navy in the new logo, added navy alternate with silver helmet and new logo with old blue & green.

I was just working with Paint so please forgive the crudeness of the drawings!

Thanks
Rob Juba

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And our second and final set of tweaks for today comes from Samuel Thornton, who has taken on the eastern divisions of both the NFC and the AFC. Sam’s written a book, but they’re worth a look-see:

Here’s a batch of Uni Tweaks I did. Tried to do just tweaks and not total redesigns, although I guess some of the tweaks might be somewhat major. Kinda made it a design exercise of sorts to tweak each team, even if I like their uniforms as is. For this first bunch, I did the NFC and AFC East teams.

NFC East:

Cowboys – I hate the Cowboys, but I actually like their home blue uniform. Of course, they try their best to never wear it. Stupid Cowboys. For the home, I didn’t do much, except put stripes on the socks, match the blues up so they’re all navy, and make the numbers silver. The away whites got so much going wrong for them so I tried to clean it up. Matched up the silvers and blues again and put stripes on the socks. I also altered the sleeve stripes by replacing the black outline with a silver one and filing in the white space with silver, then slapped the star on there to match the blue jerseys.

Eagles – I’m an Eagles fan and I think the uniforms they have now are pretty good. I would like to see a switch back to the Kelly green and silver with the full bird logo, but I didn’t go nuts redesigning this one. I think the winged helmets are one of the tops in the league, however, it kinda bugs me that the wing is white and so is the head logo, which wouldn’t look like any bald eagle I’ve ever seen. My old man always says he wants them to switch back to the white helmets with green wings, so I went for a modern version of that with a white facemask. Away whites are the same, except for the helmet. Home greens are the same except for the helmet and green socks instead of black.

Giants – Hardly touched the Giants home blues. Gave them a red collar and a small red stripe between the white and blue on the socks. I don’t like that they have the NY logo on both the helmet and the chest, as it’s redundant, plus I kinda like Giants word mark, so I put that on the chest instead. On the whites, I tried to make it look like they weren’t wearing some other team’s jersey instead of the one that was designed with their scheme in mind. So I outlined the numbers in blue and made the stripes on the sleeves match those on the pants. Also swapped the NY logo for Giants one, and put the little red stripe on the sock again.

Redskins – I like the Redskins uniforms, even if they’re maybe a little boring. To spice it up a bit, a put a feather on each shoulder, red on the aways, white on the homes. I think it looks pretty cool. You’ll have to excuse my inability to get the feathers to curve the right way in MS Paint, and just pretend like they don’t go over the nameplate. Thanks. I also made sure the homes had striped socks.

AFC East:

Bills – We all know the problems with the Bills’ uniforms so I won’t rehash it. I tried to simplify their design while allowing them to keep a little bit of the excess detail if they really want it. This is a team I’d really want to redesign from scratch, and this tweak is definitely the most extensive. First I got rid of the darker colors and just went with regular blue and red. I figure practically everybody would give them a white helmet and it’s kind of a layup, so I went a different route. Plus, I feel like there’s too many white helmets out there nowadays anyway AND I already added one to it with the Eagles tweak. So what I did was make the helmet blue, with a red leaping/charging buffalo, and a single thick white stripe down the center. I gave the away jersey a blue yoke with red trim between it and the torso, changed the numbers to red, and switched the inversed the red and blue on the socks. Also got rid of the side panels. The home jerseys have the same blue shoulders, with white trim and a red torso. The numbers are white and I got rid of the panels again. I went with blue pants instead of white because I thought it would look too much like one of those Firecracker Popsicles you get from the ice cream truck. To avoid to leotard effect, I gave them white socks with three blue stripes. And that takes care of them.

Dolphins – I think the ‘Phins have pretty good uniforms too, even though the colors are brighter than most teams. What bugs me though, is that the dolphin in the logo is wearing a different helmet than the team does. So I took that logo off the team’s helmet and made it match the mascot’s with the orange M on it. Other than that, I just put stripes that match the pants’ on both home and away.

Jets – The Jets obviously have a good classic uniform, so the tweaks were minor here too. I gave them the same socks for their away uniform as they wear for their home (green with two white stripes), and made sure the stripes on the shoulders didn’t get cut off. Like the Giants, I think having the same logo on the helmet and chest is redundant, so I put an old jet logo they used to wear on the helmet and left the current one on their chest. OK, I may have been looking for any excuse to use the jet one anyway, but still…

Patriots – I feel similarly about silver helmets as a do about white ones, only silver is more boring, so if I can eliminate one…cool. Oh, and the redundancy department called in again to tell me about the flying Elvis on the helmet and sleeves. So of course I had to bring back Pat Patriot (and I left Elvis on the sleeve if they really want that one so much). The red helmet is just like one they used to wear at my high school (Colonials, baby) with a large white center stripe flanked by thinner blue ones, and a white facemask. My theory is Pat wore a white hat, blue jacket, and white pants, so we’ll set the team up the same way at home. I changed the silver shoulder stripes to white trimmed with red, then applied the same pattern to the collar and the socks. And you know what? I actually like the red piping up the side, so I left it there. For the away set, I got rid of the silver with blue stripes trimmed in red which I also applied to the collar, and changed the blue piping to red. I also changed the middle stripe in the socks to red.

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now. When I get time, I hope to hit the other Divisions and send them in, too. I enjoy seeing everybody’s designs and hope everyone can enjoy mine as well. Later!

-Sam

Thank you Rob and Sam. Back next week with more tweaks, concepts and revisions.

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Our man on the street, fashion critic extraordinaire, Jim “I’m a big fan of the Cav’s retro orange gear” Vilk ~~mercifully~~ brings us his final set of uniform…er…outfit critiques for the 2010 Winter Olympic ice skating competition today. He’ll be looking at the ladies figure skaters today.

We may not agree with his selections, but it’s good to know he cares enough to send the very best. Here’s Jim:

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Ladies Figure Skating

SHORT PROGRAM

5. Elena Glebova, Estonia: On behalf of all those who have a green Seahawks jersey, thank you.

4. Kiira Korpi, Finland: Ditto.

Bronze: Tugba Karademir, Turkey: When it comes to the ladies I like sequins, but they’re not necessary to make the list. Nice pattern here.

Silver: Sarah Hecken, Germany: Phil’s namesake and former pairs skating partner has to go it alone these days after he left her for another on-ice pursuit.

Gold: Anna Jurkiewicz, Poland: Simply elegant.

“Don’t come near my podium with that”: Sarah Meier, Switzerland: Another one of those looks that belongs in Vegas.

FREE SKATE PROGRAM

5. Kiira Korpi, Finland: Reminded me of a starry winter night.

4. Laura Lepisto, Finland: Assymetrical shoulder straps may have cost her the podium. Otherwise, very nice.

Bronze: Cheltzie Lee, Australia: See Laura? That’s more like it.

Silver: Mirai Nagasu, USA: US ladies off the real podium for the first time in a while. Hope this makes up for it.

Gold: Kim Yu-Na, South Korea: From Bond girl, to “it” girl, to golden girl, to Uni Watch girl…all in three days time.

“Don’t come near my podium with that”: Alena Lenova, Russia: Just too much — and not enough — at the same time.

And a platinum medal to everyone who clicked on all the skating 5+1 links. Thanks.

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No, Jim — Thank you.

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Oopsie: I need to send out apologies to Amos Miller, who sent me an E-mail yesterday saying I had omitted his NFL Uniform Tweaks Contest submission — well, I searched and searched through two months worth of E-mail, and I couldn’t find it — but that’s not to say he didn’t send it in. So, in the spirit of fairness, I promised him I’d post his submission today, and his concept will be added to the other 69 already in the contest. Amos submitted his concept for the Detroit Lions.

The UW selection panel will give full weight to it, but if you guys would like to add your two cents in the comments, below, we’ll consider them when we finalize the results for next weekend’s poll.

Here, then, is Amos Miller’s submission for the NFL Design-A-Jersey contest.

Let him know what you think.

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That will put a bow on this final post of February, 2010. Hope you enjoyed the look back at the Olympics, and be SURE to watch the Gold Medal Game today — if you only watch one hockey game this year, this is the one to watch.

Have a wonderful Sunday. Peace.