New UW Contest: To Design and Paint…An Ambulance

By Phil Hecken

I’m pleased to announce today what may be the most ambitious (and certainly the craziest) design contest ever hosted by Uni Watch. It’s actually a two-part contest, and there will be prizes. Allow me to explain.

About a week ago, I was approached by reader Daniel Secord, who proposed the following pitch to Paul and me:

Hello Paul and Phil,

I just purchased this ambulance from the hospital that I work. My plan is to paint it like a giant Lions football helmet and take it tailgating. But that got me thinking, maybe the many people at uni-watch might enjoy this as an odd design competition. I cannot guarantee I will follow through with doing the winning design, but I will buy the winner a membership or the next months uni-watch t-shirt. I should have the ambulance in the next week or so and can get additional images for you then, but I just wanted to bounce the idea off of you two. It seems like my duty as a uni-watcher to get this thing done right and that means getting help from the uni-watch nation.

Thanks for being my daily morning read,

Dan S.

Dan included the following photo (for this and all photos, click to enlarge):

Whoa. A little raw for an idea, but worth pursuing. Paul gave me the thumbs up and we were off.

After a few quick back and forths, Dan set out the parameters with me:

Hey Phil,

I guess I should start with a background on this ambulance. I work at a hospital in Michigan as a sonographer. It was about last month that I saw an email about the hospital auctioning of a couple of ambulances. I threw my name in the hat with an extremely low offer. I guess nobody in their right mind would want a used ambulance because 2 weeks later I was the owner of a 2003 Ford E450 ambulance.

The background on my friends and I is that about 5 years ago we bought a blue stock pot. Before each Lions game we would take turns cooking chili in the stock pot. We called the the chili the NNCC (Nfc North Champion Chili.) As the years have gone on we have spread a bit apart across Michigan, now as a group we go to one home game a year and one Lions away game a year to tailgate. This ambulance will hopefully be a way to keep doing this for another 5+ years. Now back to the design stuff…

I see this ambulance as being designed/decorated 2 times. This year, because the season is already started I plan on keeping the ambulance white. With that I will be doing my best to cover some of the cosmetic issues with vinyl decals or other simple touch-ups that don’t involve a whole lot of vehicle coverage. (A coworker of mine owns a printing company and can make most things happen.) So if people wanted to design with that in mind, that would be awesome. This is kind of like the covering of an old tattoo or designing on a dime design.

The second design is going to be up to the designers imagination. This one is an all out, do whatever you can think of design competition… I could paint the vehicle, but most likely this will involve a full vehicle wrap which can be pricey, but if done right it could be totally worth it.

I would like to break designs into these two categories and would give a membership or next months t-shirt to the winners of both.

P.S.
One of the things I am struggling to come up with is a sweet name for this vehicle. I know there are many punny things that can combine tailgating (booze, football, grilling, friends, etc…) and the healthcare field (blood, lifesaving, shots, doctors offices, etc…) so if that was featured on the ambulance someplace it would be awesome!

OK then — so let’s review the two parts to the contest:

Part I: Design some decals that can be affixed to the Ambulance. Don’t worry about the size or shape — those will be handled by the printer — but something that can be used to simply cover up dings or scratches on the vehicle.

Part II: (The fun part) — Designs for the vehicle itself. Here’s where your imagination comes in. I’ll post 4 photos below of the ambulance — you don’t necessarily need to design ON the ambulance graphic (although that could be awesome), but do use it as a guide if you wanted to design something based on the shape/details (you can also find blank templates on the internet — but be sure if you use one of those that it conforms roughly to the shape of Dan’s ambulance). And if you simply google “Ambulance Design”, you’ll see that these designs can get pretty intricate. Of course, you could simply print the ambulance photo, and break out the crayons (coughJimVilkcough or Tom Bierbaum), and then scan your drawing and send it back. But it’s fairly open-ended, so use your imagination! Remember, Dan mentioned me might want to use a “full vehicle wrap” but could also end up painting the vehicle.

OK — here are photos of Dan’s Ambulance — please either use these or use these as guides for your designs:

While Dan didn’t exactly specify this design needs to be Detroit Lions (his original thought was to “paint it like a giant Lions football helmet and take it tailgating”) — he will be taking it to Detroit Lions games, so keep that in mind when you submit your designs. Because there are prizes at stake, all designs will be considered but we will NOT have fan voting — a small panel (with Dan as the final arbiter) will pick the winning entries (for the decals and the full ambulance).

Rules & Schedule:

You may submit as many designs as you’d like and you can design all four sides (front, back, left, right). The designs can be done in whatever format (right “on” the ambulance photos, on a template, hand colored, etc.) you feel works best. You can submit for the decals and the main contest as well. All designs will be considered and all will be shown on Uni Watch. Winner(s) will be chosen by a Uni Watch panel.

Deadline for the contest is October 29. You can submit your designs to me: Phil.Hecken@gmail.com. Please use “Ambulance Design Contest” in the subject line.

If you have questions about the contest, e-mail me or post your questions/concerns in the comments below.

OK? OK! I think this can be a REALLY fun contest and I’m looking forward to seeing what you designers can come up with for this one — don’t be afraid to think out of the box and really use your imaginations.

Oh — and don’t forget about Dan’s PostScript — he also looking for a “name” for the Ambulance (punny or otherwise) — so feel free to throw out your suggestions for that in the comments below as well.

Classic Ballpark Scoreboards

I’m pleased to continue with a favorite weekend feature here at Uni Watch, “Classic Ballpark Scoreboards,” which are created by Gary Chanko. You probably know Gary best for his wonderful colorizations, but he has been a solid contributor for many years, and this is his new project. This segment will appear every Saturday on Uni Watch.

Here’s Gary (click on image to enlarge):

. . . . . . . . . .

Classic Ballpark Scoreboards – Series II
by Gary Chanko

In this edition Classic Football Scoreboards travels to western New York and the shores of Lake Erie.

War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo)

Universally known by hometown fans as The Rockpile. Other former names: Roesch Memorial Stadium (1937), Grover Cleveland Stadium (1937”“1938), Civic Stadium (1938”“1960)

Former Home of: Buffalo Indians/Chiefs (AFL) (1940”“1941), Buffalo Bills (AAFC) (1946”“1949), Buffalo Bills (AFL/NFL) (1960”“1972), Buffalo Bisons (Baseball Minor Leagues) (1961”“1970, 1979”“1987)
Opened: 1937
Final pro football game: December 10, 1972, a tie: Bills 21-Lions 21.
Demolished: 1988. While none of the seating remains, two of the stadium entrances were left in place. High school athletic fields now occupy the space of the old Rockpile.

The stadium was constructed in the late 1930s as one of over 2,300 stadiums (and related facilities) funded under the Federal government’s WPA program. When the stadium opened for business, Buffalo was without a pro football franchise. So during its initial years Civic Stadium was used primarily for a variety of community civic functions.

After World War II the stadium was home to the AAFC Bills for several years. But after the merger of the AAFC and NFL in 1950 Buffalo again was without a pro football team. During decade of the 1950s Civic Stadium became a venue for stock car racing.

Pro football finally returned to Civic Stadium in 1960 (now renamed War Memorial Stadium and expanded to 46,500 capacity) with the birth of the AFL. For the next thirteen seasons the Bills called the Rockpile home before making a needed move to a larger capacity facility.

Also joining the Bills in 1960 was the other main stadium tenant, the baseball Bison’s, who played there from 1961 thru the 1987 season.

The old football scoreboard was replaced in 1984 with new baseball configuration and relocated to the left field bleachers.

For a short visual history of the Rockpile watch this clip.

Lastly, the scoreboard illustration captures the final minutes of the AFL Championship played on December 26, 1964. The Bills defeated the San Diego Chargers 20-7 to win their first championship.

A Few Things to Know

• Several NFL games were played in the Rockpile from 1938 to 1958:

* Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Philadelphia Eagles (9/16/38)
* Chicago Cardinals vs. Green Bay Packers (9/28/38)
* Chicago Cardinals vs. Detroit Lions (9/15/40)
* Chicago Cardinals vs. Cleveland Rams (9/13/42)
* Philadelphia Eagles vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (9/27/42)
* Chicago Cardinals vs. Detroit Lions (10/17/43)
* Chicago Cardinals vs. New York Giants (9/28/58)

• The Beach Boys concert tour in 1984 included a stop at the Rockpile (June 2)

• The Rockpile was the location for most of the filming for the baseball classic film The Natural.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If anyone is interested in purchasing a digital copy of these posters, Gary is working on an online purchase option. In the interim you can contact him directly at Classicscoreboards@gmail.com.

Too Good…

for the Ticker

I received an e-mail from Gurpreet Singh, who has provided some neat infographics that were featured on Uni Watch before. This is a bit of a follow-up to that. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Here’s Gurpreet:

. . .

Hi Phil,

I hope you are well.

With rugby fever sweeping the world, we have created something interesting for our rugby fans.

Similar to our last project, which was covered on Uni Watch , we have created logos of Rugby Union Teams, if they were to play as American Franchises.

And an infographic showing the use of technology in Rugby and what we might see happening in next world cup.

Would you like to have a look and share with your readers.

Thanks,

Gurpreet Singh

Gurpreet followed that up with this:

Hi Phil,

Please find attached the futuristic rugby images, let me know if they are good or I can get you even higher resolution depending on the size you want to use on website.

Should I send you the Americanised logos as well, which you or Paul can share as a separate piece.

We have included this all, and you might like the effect of energy drinks as well.

Thanks,

Gurpreet Singh

And here are those images (click to enlarge):

Finally, Gurpreet sent the “Americanised” logos:

Thanks, Gurpreet! Great stuff.

OK. Now, onto the ticker…

Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: Here is a shot of the New York Mets’ Frank Howard from 1994 with the then-current underscore wordmark on his batting-practice jersey, but with the traditional wordmark on his turtleneck undershirt (nice spot by Ferdinand Cesarano). … Interesting: During the Cubs playoff run, the NOB letter R’s and A’s are in high demand in Wrigleyville. … Yesterday’s best dressed Royals fan was Evan Bryant, of Platte City, who took a sewing class so he could make this suit (thanks Paul). … What. The. Fuck. — Interestingly, fashion guru/trendsetter/tweeter Darren Rovell thought it was a “Tremendous hat, think this will sell well for a lot of teams”. Of course he does (h/t to Joshua Brisco). And of course, he had a dig at my reply. … During last night’s Mets/Dodgers game, Yo Cespedes’ fluorescent arm sleeve diappeared (due to the greenscreen) in a very odd technological glitch (grab by Kevin Jones). It also became “invisible” and blended into the “At Bat” graphic (nice grab by Travis Chell).

NFL News: Inspired by yesterday’s UW lede and Paul’s subsequent “Friday Flashback” column on ESPN, Scott Davis writes, “I picked this up at the Patriots Pro Shop when they were having a tent sale. Fits like a prom dress. Couldn’t resist grabbing it.” … Reader Jae Sung has created an article entitled: “Logo Bowl: Best NFL Logos Based On Design”. It covers 1) The best designed NFL logos from each division; 2 Play-by-play of why the design wins; and 3)Top 2 contenders for a hypothetical NFL Logo Super Bowl. … Because the NFL’s uniform police have nothing better to do, they’ve fined Matthew Stafford for wearing blue shoes (thanks, Brinke). … “I saw on the site last week some NFL skulls that were purchased in Mexico,” writes Bob Frigiano, who adds, “Attached is lucha libre masks for NFL teams. I’m the Cowboy fan and my buddy is the Eagles fan. They had these in all the little shops with a lot of teams.”

College Football News: There are uni screwups, and then there are possible uni screwups. That comes from Brett Schetzsle, who points out that the “2” on Gopher uni looks to be upside-down. I’d agree, but if you look at the TV numbers, UM is using such a shitty number font it’s really impossible to tell. Even when the “2” is ‘correct’, it’s a bad font. … Good spot by Blane who notes, “Depending on what helmet Tennessee players wear depends on the size of the T.” … Mizzou will be sporting black/black/gold today (h/t Damian). … Louisiana Tech will be going white/white/white today against UT San Antonio (from Ryan Walters). … The Wisconsin Badgers and Under Armour — perfect together (thanks, Brinke). … Here’s a Great photo from @The_Corner_News showing San Jose State’s RB Tyler Ervin’s nameplate falling off Saturday in Auburn (from Clint Richardson)…. The SDSU Jackrabbits will be wearing military appreciation unis this Saturday (h/t Andrew Holtan). … Here’s a look at the black helmet THE Ohio State University will wear against Penn State next Saturday (h/t Tyler Richardson). Here’s more. … Pinktober will strike Northern Illinois University today against Ball State (h/t NIU Football). … The ULM Warhawks have updated the memorial sticker on their helmets to include the initials of back-up quarterback Daniel Fitzwater, who died suddenly last Saturday (from Michael Cossey).

NBA News: “I recently was directed to a video of an NBA/ABA All-Star Game from 1972,” writes Kenn Tomasch. “TVS televised it, and as you can see in the attached, Don Criqui had a blazer with the TVS logo on it. But that wasn’t going to fly for ‘Hot Rod’ Hundley, who had the patch applied to his (what I can only assume – it’s black and white – was a very ‘mod’) shirt.” … According to this article, the Philadelphia Seventy Sixers continue to distance themselves from Wells Fargo Center (from Daniel Ulrich).

Hockey News: The Brooklyn Historical Society has an exhibit on the Brooklyn Americans, inspired by the Islanders move to Brooklyn (pointed out by a couple readers, including Mark Rivlin and Jeff Barak). With yesterday being the first Islanders game at the Barclays Center, Jeff posted a history of the Brooklyn Americans, complete with several of their old jersey styles. Here’s more on the exhibit from yesterday’s New York Times (Thanks, Paul). Looks like a great exhibit (I know Paul is planning on attending, and I’d love to as well). … Check out this photo of Chuck D and the Beastie Boys. Says submitter Ed Westfield, “Chuck is wearing an interesting khaki (brown?, army green?) NY Isles cap. First time seeing that layout with just the block “NY” and the Long Island map (without the circle or “Islanders” wordmark).” … In a surprise to absolutely no one, the Colorado Avalanche thirds have been released. Submitter Mike Engle adds, “Seem more streamlined font as what will be used at the Stadium Series, so if this is the start of a refresh of their look, I’m ok with that, but TOTAL WHIFF on not using a VAL [vertically arched lettering — PH] when the primaries do and when the curvy white shoulder yoke is setting up a VAL perfectly.” Here’s here’s another look. And still more. … Last evening, the New Jersey Devils new helmet decals and numbers for the 2015-16 campaign (from Ryan Walters). Also from Ryan, the Lake Erie Monsters have new jerseys for Friday home games. … Holy Cross hockey have new sweaters (via Zach Levy). Here’s a little bit more on that. … Last night, Union wore ’91/’92 throwbacks in honor of their 25th anniversary in D-1 hockey (from Brian Klejsmyt. … Looks like the New York Islanders got a new logo. Wait, no they didn’t (h/t Mark Struppa). … We know that the MLB playoff logos aren’t sewn to the caps or uniforms, and now we know they are simply affixed to the Umpires’ shirts as well (nice grab by BostonFan137).

College Hoops News: The Troy women’s basketball team has a LOT unis for their 2015-16 campaign (from Ben Whitehead). … GFGS hits ladies hoops in the form of the Minnesota Gophers, who revealed new “anthracite” road uniforms yesterday (via Minnesota Women’s Basketball). … Here’s a look at the Toledo Rockets hoops unis (via Brock Urbaniak). … Ugh — it had to happen (or did it?) sooner or later — the University of North Carolina Tar Heels now will have a Black For Black Sake uniform (thanks, Paul). Here’s a closer look at those (h/t Brandon Batten). And here is a photo gallery with more looks at the BFBS unis (thanks to James Gilbert). They’ll wear them December 19th vs. UCLA in a game in Brooklyn (no word on whether that will be the only time they’re worn). … Here’s a look at the Wisconsin Badgers Under Armour hoops unis (h/t Sconnie Sports Talk).

Grab Bag: Check out this old photo of Indy 500 drivers playing basketball (from Sam Chandler). He adds “I love the Indy 500 and the history of the drivers there, especially stuff that shows the lighter side. These were brave, talented men that often seemed larger than life, and here they are getting ready for a pick-up basketball game.” … The subject line of Sean Clancy’s email read “A hawk on the podium!!!” It did not disappoint. He adds, “Just holding a hawk on the podium at the Abu Dhabi Tour (and I really wish the Astana rider would wear a proper cycling cap instead of a baseball cap. Jeez).” … Mike Chamernik says, “No idea if this is newsy, but here’s a site that will put any text into any type of specialized font you want.”

And that’s all for today folks — big thanks to Dan for the contest — I really hope you designers (and non-designers alike) will participate; I think this could be a REALLY fun one, and clearly the UW readership has the talent to make this one special. Thanks also to Gary for the scoreboards and Gurpreet for his projects! And of course, thanks to all who tweeted and e-mailed for the ticker. Lots of College Football on the docket today, and I’ll be back with the full SMUW crew tomorrow, so make sure you check back then!

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“‘Requiring a connection’ is just sports fan snobbery at its worst. I went to high school in Ohio with a guy who was the world’s biggest Seattle Mariners and Seahawks fan. He’d never been to Seattle or even west of the Mississippi. Just saw the early Mariner trident logo and liked it. Who wants to tell him he’s not a fan?”

–J. Clayton Davis