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By Phil Hecken, on October 14th, 2018 
By Phil Hecken and the SMUW Crew
I don’t normally cover games that don’t take place on Saturday, but on Friday evening, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (who went BFBS) took the interesting step of placing a “Hurricane Warning” set of flags on their helmets. Now, a couple folks on the Twitter were like “TOO SOON,” and indeed, we should absolutely be mindful of the destruction recently caused by Hurricane Michael on the Florida Panhandle. The hurricane flags on the helmets actually looked a lot like the hurricane flags on the new Carolina Hurricanes sweater. Especially when rendered on the matte black hat the team wore. But hey, it turns out the Carolina team was totally cool with that.
It also reminded me that the Tulsa squad wasn’t even the first team to wear hurricane flags on their helmets. That honor belongs to the Miami Hurricanes, who wore this element in the 1960s and revised the look with a throwback in 2005.
It also got me to thinking… and I’m not sure why I never delved into this further before … how did the Tulsa squad get its name? They’re a landlocked (like, by a lot) city, and while it’s possible that a hurricane has stretched as far north as Tulsa, it’s not like the city is particularly affected by these weather phenomena (certainly not like the Carolinas or Miami, or, unfortunately, the panhandle). So a golden hurricane probably doesn’t refer to the water-borne variety of storm.
It turns out there are actually two explanations. First, a “golden hurricane” nickname applied to tornadoes during the Dust Bowl days. A tornado was full of dust and dirt, hence, a GOLDEN HURRICANE. But the second explanation is even more interesting. The story can be found here, which I’ve quoted below:
In 1922 — 15 years after Kendall College moved to Tulsa and two years after it was renamed the University of Tulsa — the Tulsa football team sought an official nickname. They had previously been known as the Kendallites, Presbyterians, Tigers, Tulsans, Orange and Black and the Yellow Jackets.
Then-head coach Howard Acher (1922-24) considered calling his team the Golden Tornadoes after someone remarked in practice that Tulsa was “roaring through opponents” on their way to an 8-1 record in 1922. However, Georgia Tech picked the Golden Tornadoes five years earlier, therefore Acher “evolved meteorologically” to a hurricane.
In early October, a few days prior to their 13-10 win at Texas A&M, Acher solicited a vote from his team on the name Golden Hurricane. It was approved and has remained in place since.
Ironically, Georgia Tech would later drop Golden Tornadoes and become the Yellow Jackets. Tulsa could’ve been the Golden Tornadoes after all, which make far more meteorological sense.
So there you have it. Technically the hurricane warning flags on the helmet don’t even apply to the team, but I thought they looked really cool. The more you know.
And with that, here’s TJ with your…
• • •
Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.
The action-meter was pegged pretty hard for Week 7, as there were plenty of throwbacks, GFGS and BFBS antics, and several Top 10 upsets throughout the college landscape. Shall we begin?
From Tuesday:
• App State looks fantastic in all-white (helmets are essentially flowerless versions of the Camellia Bowl helmets from a ways back), and even though the stripe thingy on the pants is a case of liked by some, damned by others, they have one of the more underrated uniforms in college football in my opinion.
From Thursday:
• Texas Tech wore sensational white throwbacks against TCU. Chalk me up as a fan!
From Friday:
• Tulsa’s all-black uniforms are laughable, although I do like warning decals on the helmets.
• Utah wore outstanding helmets against Arizona, and for good reason (from Tucson (dot) com: “Friday night marks the fifth-annual Ute Proud game, which honors people of the Ute tribe, who have lived in the west for centuries. The tribe owns 597,288 acres of trust land and 27,354 acres of fee land throughout Utah, Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. At halftime, members of the tribe will be honored and the Ute Pow Wow committee will perform a cultural demonstration on the Rice-Eccles Stadium field. The university is selling Ute Proud t-shirts, and all proceeds go to the Ute tribe’s scholarship and youth programs. Utah is celebrating its 125th season as a football program. Utah long ago received permission from the tribe to use Utes as a nickname.”
From Saturday:
• Illinois went GFGGS (Grey For Grey Ghost’s Sake) over the weekend, and wore the newest version of their Grey Ghost uniforms against Purdue. The design accommodates the Illini’s simplified uniform set for 2018.
• Ohio State hosted their “Pink out” game against Minnesota, and wore pink accessories, including pink ribbon decals on the back of the helmets (h/t to Andrew Lind).
• Pitt wore the white version of their rad throwbacks against Notre Dame.
• Tons of contrast in the San José State vs Army bout. Steve O’Dell sends this in: “Re: Army uniforms. They like to mix up real Army unit patches. Sometimes the seniors wear the patch related to the branch they’ve chosen. Sometimes there’s a theme based on coach’s team goals. So, today, they’re at San José, and they’re wearing Black Widow 7th Infantry Division patches, which is kind of weird. The 7th Infantry Division doesn’t even exist anymore. Used to be at Fort Ord, not far from San Francisco, but now it’s just a planning headquarters, 250 people located somewhere in Washington state.”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pull up anything apart from the uni reveal that Army posted on Twitter.
• Boston College wore throwbacks against Louisville. While not visually-groundbreaking by any means, it is a nice change-up.
• Alright, so this isn’t the *absolute* worst grey v. white game I’ve seen, but I’d still would rather do without.
• …You want to know the saddest part about the BFBS Iowa State unis? It’s not a bad uniform in a vacuum. If you applied this to a team that actually has black in their team colors, then it’s actually pretty nice. I’ll even go one step further in saying that if BFBS were an acceptable thing in the uni-verse (it’s not, but follow me for a second), then I would say that it’s actually one of the nicest-looking BFBS uniforms that I’ve ever seen. But again, I’d rather everyone and their mothers crack USC doppelganger jokes than see… THIS. Signed, a Lakers fan that knows this song all too well.
• In lighter (and brighter) news, Cal wore some fantastically-fun throwbacks against UCLA (also note the pink mouthguard in that first pic).
• Grey pants for Colorado State. I almost want to call this “The Grey Area Season”, but that can easily be said about any of the previous seasons since 2011.
• Ole Miss wore all-white again against Arkansas.
• And speaking of white, UNC wore all-white at home against Virginia Tech. *side-eyes Penn State wondering why they can’t do this when they have a “whiteout” game*
• Miami (OH) made well on their promise to wear the multi-ribbon helmets teased earlier in the week.
• Northern Illinois wore new pink BCA decals (h/t to Blaise D’Sylva). From NIU’s Twitter: “Today our decals will honor the mothers, sisters or grandmothers of players, staff, or administration who have been affected by breast cancer. Each player who has had someone in their family with breast cancer will have that name on their helmet”.
• And now for the (not so much this season, apparently) seldom FCS mention: Duquesne wore Pittsburgh Steelers decals on their helmets in their victory against Robert Morris (Duquesne is based in Pittsburgh). MASSIVE thanks to Rich Donahue for bringing this to my attention. Here’s another action shot, complements of Korch. Although, I am curious as to why they chose to wear it on the left side instead of the right.
• October 8th, 2018 had its highs, and it also had its lows. The latter being that George Taliaferro, who was the first African-American to be drafted in the NFL (Round 13 by the Chicago Bears) passed away on Monday at the age of 91. Given that he played his college ball at Indiana, the Hoosiers wore #44 decals (his jersey number at Indiana) on the left side of their helmets in their game against Iowa.
• Mizzou broke out the gold helmets again this season, this time against Alabama.
• Between the Ｗ Ｉ Ｄ Ｅ numbers and the highlighter bodysuits that look like something out of Sonic the Hedgehog (VOLUME WARNING, PLEASE turn your volume down to at least 40% before clicking), you literally could not miss Oregon on the field if you took out your own eyes, put blackout contact lenses on them, and them chucked them into the farthest black hole you could find.
That’ll do it for Week 7, and WOW, was it a lot to unpack! (in a good way, of course) There’s undoubtedly a number of things that I missed over the weekend, but nevertheless, a HUGE thank you to all that mention me or Phil in tweets every Saturday. This whole weekend, in all of its surprises and antics, is what college football is supposed to be: FUN. I’m exited for Week 8, which I will see you all for, well, next week. See you then!
• • •
Thanks, TJ! Make sure you give Terry a follow and tweet your uni news directly to him every Saturday!
 Joe Ringham’s 5 & 1
Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, and Catherine Ryan after him, Joe Ringham returns for 2018 to make his “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni matchups. Sometimes he’ll have some “honorable mentions” and sometimes there will be more than one “bad” game. You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.
Here’s Joe:
. . .
Good Sunday morning, everyone. As a fall chill hits the air here, let’s get right to the list for this seventh week of the season…
5) Toledo at Eastern Michigan — A little MACtion to start the list this week. Absolutely loved EMU’s green/green/white home look this week. You pair that up against the gold/white/navy of the Rockets and you have one fine-looking game in Ypsilanti.
4) New Mexico at Colorado State — For some reason, while checking scores in the afternoon, I had a feeling about this game. Glad I was right, because it looked awesome. Really liked the white/white/cherry of the Lobos pairing up against the green/green/gray home set worn by the Rams.
3) Missouri at Alabama — Something about a team wearing gold playing against a team wearing some form of red that makes for some really nice looking games. This would be an example of that. Loved how Mizzou’s gold/white/gold matched up against the simplistic awesomeness that is the home uniform of the Crimson Tide.
2) Michigan State at Penn State — I’ll be honest, I didn’t think this game would look this good, but was glad by the pleasant surprise. Penn State always looks good at home, but Sparty surprised me here by going green/white/green on the road, instead of going green/white/white. That change made for some nice contrast, and made this game look much better.
1) Iowa at Indiana — Came across this game while coming back from an outing earlier in the day, and I knew immediately this could be tops on the list for the week. You already know how much I love the Hawkeyes’ unis, but the clincher here is the simple crimson/crimson/white home set the Hoosiers went with. Made this game look, from a uniform standpoint, just ridiculously good.
And, finally…
+1) Houston at East Carolina — There are times when going mono-purple works. There are times, though, when it doesn’t. This is one of those times.
Enjoy your football Sunday, and let’s do this again next weekend.
• • •
Thanks Joe! You can follow Joe on the Twitter and let him know what you think of his choices or make a 5 & 1 suggestion of your own!
NCAA Uni Tracking
Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2017 trackers are back!
We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the B1G AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking a couple seasons ago. Ethan continues his dual role of tracking both the B1G and the SEC.
Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences:
+ + + + + + + + + +
Rex is up first today (ACC):
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ACC
More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.
• • •
And now, here’s Dennis with the PAC-12:
PAC-12
More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.
• • •
And here is Ethan, with the SEC:
SEC
And be sure to check out Ethan’s WVU Mountaineer Tracker.
Follow Ethan on Twitter here.
• • •
And here is Kyle with the Big XII:
Big XII
Follow Kyle on Twitter here.
• • •
And here’s Ethan with the B1G:
B1G
Welcome to the 2018 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-09 by Michael Princip, who retired after several seasons, whereupon the project was continued by Tim E. O’Brien. He, too, retired from the tracking, but the project has been ably kept up by the man who also tracks the Pac12, Dennis Bolt.
Here’s this week’s Uniform Combo for the Ducks (you can click to enlarge):
You can read about this uniform, and MUCH MORE, by checking out the Duck Tracker here!
Thanks Dennis!
And Now a Few Words from Paul
Hi there. In case you missed it over the past week, big savings are on tap for both of our Uni watch caps.
First, our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels are offering a site-wide 20% discount with the checkout code PLAY18. That effectively reduces the price of our solid-green Uni Watch classic cap from $49 to $39. Order yours here.
In addition, we’ve reduced the price of our flex-fit Uni Watch alternate cap from $29.99 to $24.99. You can order that one here.
And while we’re at it, don’t forget that we have a great new T-shirt, designed by Andrew Harrington, that mimics the look of a vintage woven clothing tag. That one, which is available in a wide range of colors and styles, can be ordered here.
Finally, in case you missed it on Friday, my annual Uni Watch NBA Season Preview is now available for your enjoyment. Check it out here.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Phil-osophizing.
Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
Baseball News: “The website The Old Motor recently posted this great photo of a Cadillac baseball team posing with a 1930 V16 car,” says Jonee Eisen. “It doesn’t seem like they know if the team was representing a dealership or the manufacturer. Cool unis.” More photos and info here. … Remember when A-Rod was almost traded from the Rangers to the Red Sawx? Well, he finally got to wear a Boston uni, albeit not in the way he probably envisioned. Here’s a good comment string on that (from Mike Chamernik). … Milwaukee is decorating fire hydrants in Brewers colors, just like they did for the Bucks (from Alex Hider). … Yesterday evening, Astros fans at Fenway were all in (great spot by Todd Radom). … I mean, they were really all in (from Christopher Newbury). I’d wear the second, not sure about the first.
NFL News: We saw the Carolina Panthers try several new uni combos during the pre-season, and today they’ll wear white jerseys over black pants against the ‘skins. … Reader Joseph Vincent has a gripe: “Drew Brees breaks the passing yardage record and the official commemorative ball has Brees in a different jersey than he wore in the game (black instead of white). While I can force myself to overlook this because I’d rather remember Brees in black on gold, the two images side by side are of different flywire collars and it sticks out soooo badly.”
College Football News: As most of you know, many years ago, almost before the Internet existed, Jim Vilk was my original “5 & 1” guy. So you gotta had it to this twitter user for giving Jim 5 & 1 props. Not so fast says Jimmer, “Not only is this guy like 5+ years behind the times, he doesn’t know I wouldn’t put Wisconsin’s all whites in the top spot.” … Both Ohio State’s official shop and Buckeye Corner have a hidden webpage headlined “Buckeye Black Pack,” which features a description of Ohio State’s black alternate jerseys (from Anderw Lind).
Hockey News: Looks like we have some new sweaters for the Minnesota State Men’s Hockey team (r/t’ed by Paul). … Bowling Green Men’s Hockey have vertically stacked numbers on their helmets (from Pat Dougherty. Pretty cool! … Here’s a bunch of stuff from major junior hockey on Friday night from Wade Heidt: A few special jerseys worn throughout major junior hockey Friday night: (1) Some Pinktober in the QMJHL, courtesy of the Sherbrooke Phoenix and the Quebec Remparts. The Remparts usually wear red uniforms. They went black with pink trim. Also note the ads on the boards at Videotron Centre in Quebec City were all in pink for the game; (2) In the WHL, the Kootenay Ice wore Wilderness Camo jerseys. Proceeds of auctioned jerseys to ICE Education Fund, which helps support funding their players’ post-secondary education; (3) In the OHL, the London Knights ditched their green or black jerseys in favour of blue on Friday night. These jerseys were to help promote Dream Lottery & Children’s Health Foundation (more here); (4) Also another note from the OHL. Noticed the Ottawa 67’s have cool new helmet decals this season. Before the helmet decal was “Ottawa” in writing. Now the decal features the logo and incorporates their famous barber pole design. … The NJ Devils “player of the game” award is this spiffy painted helmet from Switzerland (from Mike Engle). … These are the “Opening Night” jerseys the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers wore last night. They were auctioned off after the game and online on the Dash app (h/t Paul). … Yesterday evening, Every member of the Chicago Blackhawks wore a #2 Keith jersey for Duncan’s 1,000th NHL game. Said submitter Edward Burmila, “The effect of seeing them all at once is pretty strange.” … “I noticed that Jordan Staal’s nameplate wasn’t fully within the shoulder yoke on the Canes’ jerseys this year,” said Dan Burke. “In closer inspection, most, if not all, of the players have the same issue. Sorry for the poor quality photo.” … Good observation from MBD Chicago who says, “The Blackhawks red sweater collar makes it look like they’re wearing a collared shirt under an actual red sweater.”
NBA News: “I saw the ticker Item about the possible new OKC Thunder Logo. The Interlocking OK with the C looked very familiar to me,” says Mark Rybczyk. “I was in Oklahoma City a few years ago and the then Minor League OKC Redhawks used a similar logo on their hats.” … Dwyane Wade gave comedian Kevin Hart a toddler Heat jersey. Says submitter Mike Chamernik, “Hart is known for being small.” … The Atlanta Hawks are one of the few professional sports teams that participates in their city’s Pride Parade & Festival. Here’s a look at the special jersey the team created for the event. It’s the Hawks 50th year in Atlanta, hence the 50 on the back, and this is the fourth straight year they are participating in Pride.
Soccer News: Reader Keelan McWilliams writes, “I’d be interested in hearing your guys take on how football boots aren’t like other sports and the colors can be so different from the teams kit.” … Riverdale Soccer Club (a youth soccer program in the Bronx) has advertisements on their jerseys (from Alexander Ganias).
Grab Bag: From Jeremy Brahm: New look for the Russian Men’s SuperLeague Volleyball. … OK, this is pretty awesome: Big League Chew is putting a woman on its package for the first time ever (r’t’ed by Paul).
By Phil Hecken, on October 13th, 2018
By Phil Hecken, with Chance Michaels
You might say today’s post is a couple years in the making (check out the date of the above tweet).
With the Milwaukee Brewers having won the NL Central title this year, and home field throughout the NL playoffs, today is a nice day to delve into one of the inconsistencies of perhaps the greatest logo in all of professional sports (and in my opinion, the best logo in MLB for sure): Milwaukee’s famous “Ball in Glove,” which of course features the letters “M” and “B” as a part of the design.
But, thanks to my pal, avid Brewers fan, and Uni Watch stalwart, Chance Michaels notes the famous logo the Brew Crew are sporting today isn’t quite what it was when it was introduced.
Ready for a nice, deep dive into another athletic aesthetic? Of course you are!
Here’s Chance with…
• • •
It’s a Nice Day For a… White Webbing
By Chance Michaels
The Brewers’ classic “Ball in Glove” logo (BiG) has been getting a lot of exposure in recent years. This season in particular, as most of the postseason merchandise and graphics feature the old BiG. You may be forgiven for thinking at times that the True Blue Brew Crew has finally wised up and dropped their boring modern logo in favor of the retro look the fans seem to want.
As an old Brewers fan, I would welcome a return to their classic logo. So long as they actually use the classic logo. Until very recently everyone—the Brewers, Major League Baseball, the press, and manufacturers of assorted merchandise—have been using the wrong logo. Or at least an inaccurate one.
Most of us had that “Aha!” moment when we catch the visual trick and realize the glove design incorporates an “m” and “b”. Now there’s another thing I’d like you to look for whenever you come across the classic logo.
From the time of its introduction in 1978, the BiG was characterized by its blue letters outlined in athletic gold, with a white baseball in the center of the glove and white webbing between the two letters.
Photo credit: Chuck Solomon/Getty Images
This logo was retired after the 1993 season, and more or less disappeared for a decade, until the rise of throwback nostalgic merchandise. Sensing its commercial potential, the Brewers brought it back in a major way. If ever-so-slightly altered.
The white webbing had disappeared. The background shone through the gap, be it blue or gold or gray or something else.
Photo credit: MLBShop.com
I’m telling you, you’ll never not see that again. You’ll forever scan your eyes across Brewers merchandise looking to see if they’re using the right logo or the broken one.
So how did this happen? When did the logo go wrong?
In order to answer that question, we have to go back to the beginning of Major League Baseball Properties’ digital campaign, when the majors were changing over to digital files.
Let’s take a look at Major League Baseball’s digital style guide for 1993. This image is marked as having been last modified on October 1, 1992 (two days before the end of the season). The logo slick shows the Brewers’ primary mark along with the jacket script wordmark in black and white against a blue grid.
The non-repro blue lines making up the background grid are a shade that can’t be picked up by the cameras used to shoot the art. The grid is designed, therefore, to tell the user where the art ends and the background begins.
Now look closely in the upper-left corner of that primary logo.
You can clearly see the non-repro blue line peeking through the window between the thumb and first finger.
The webbing has been removed and the background shows through the hole. Anyone who copies and pastes this logo from the official MLB file, be it for a newspaper ad or a t-shirt, will find their Brewers logo has that transparent section.
I can’t stress enough how common this sort of error was at the time. This was, after all, the dawn of digital art. If you look closely at that 1992 image you can also see that the dot in Milwaukee’s lower-case “i” is also transparent, but that one was so obviously wrong it apparently never fooled anybody.
Now, that wasn’t the first time this particular mistake had been made. Even the league and team had goofed from time to time in the past, perhaps most notably on the 1982 ALCS program and 1984 Media Guide. But the mistake became formalized in the early 1990s, when MLB Properties organized those initial digital files. And when the retro merch boom hit in the early 2000s, those same digital files compounded, reproduced, and cemented the mistake.
Photo credit: Si Levin/Getty Images
When the Brewers brought the retro uniforms back as a regular alternate in 2006, they managed to get the logo right, not only on the caps, but also on the jersey sleeve patch.
Not so much on the undershirts, though.
That was the first time the webbing-less glove found its way to an official on-field uniform, but it wouldn’t be the last; in 2013 New Era introduced the “Diamond Era” batting practice caps. The Brewers’ Sunday alternate version had a gold front panel, like their 1980s caps. Paired with the transparent-webbing logo, unlike their 1980s caps.
Photo credit: MLBShop.com
So close.
In 2016, the Brewers introduced another throwback-themed alternate uniform, this one featuring the BiG in navy and athletic gold. And for whatever reason, this time New Era used the transparent webbing version.
Photo credit: Milwaukee Brewers
As did Majestic.
Photo credit: Milwaukee Brewers
This even carries over to the batting helmets they wear with this set.
I don’t know why they chose this version for the road alts, but they did. Which means, heavens help us, that this piece of merch is perfectly on-field accurate:
Photo credit: MLBShop.com
But all is not lost. About the time that blue road alt was introduced, MLB was working to correct its initial error. Design god and Friend of Uni Watch Todd Radom was engaged to update and fix the Cooperstown Collection files. We’ve already seen what Todd did to correct the inaccurate Brooklyn Dodgers cap logo, and he worked his magic on the Brew Crew’s BiG too.
By the 2017 season, vendors were cranking out merchandise featuring the original BiG, white webbing and all.
I snapped this picture in a Mitchell International Airport gift shop.
But old habits die hard, and digital files are forever, Nowadays, the old and new logos are used almost interchangeably, even on the diamond. This season, the Brewers doubled down on their recolored navy retro logo with their new “Prolight” rubberized-logo BP caps. The fitted versions use the transparent logo, and the flexfit Spring Training versions use the original white webbing.
Photo credit: MLBShop.com
It’s not at all uncommon to see both versions of this logo side-by-side. Even at Miller Park.
Photo credit: Milwaukee Brewers
If and when the Brewers do adopt the BiG full-time again, we need to hope they pick the right BiG. But if they do, it’ll be thanks to people like Todd Radom, and everyone at the club who may have noticed the issue and was in a position to do something about it.
Photo credit: Milwaukee Brewers
Because with apologies to Billy Idol:
It’s a nice day to start again
It’s a nice day for a white webbing
• • •
No apologies needed, Chance — we all love that line! Thanks for the great exploration of the greatest logo in MLB!
Kreindler’s Korner
I had the distinct pleasure of featuring the wonderful artwork of artist Graig Kriendler on two occasions over the summer and fall of 2017, and more recently, in August of 2018.
For those who don’t wish to click the links, Graig paints baseball heroes (and regular guys) from the past, and is an immense talent.
Occasionally, I will be featuring his work on Uni Watch.
Here’s today’s offering (click to enlarge):
• • •
Title: “Wax and Wane at Wrigley”
Subject: Wrigley Field, 1945
Medium: Oil on linen
Size: 24″ x 30″
Pictured is the scene outside of Wrigley Field early in the morning on October 10th – the seventh game of the 1945 World Series. Tickets for the 1:30 game had gone on sale at 8:30 AM, long after the crowd had gathered with the hopes of scoring tickets to the last game. With temperatures in the upper 40s, the Cubs took the field for the final contest of the series, hoping that the momentum from their dramatic win the previous Monday would carry them to their first title in almost 40 years. Returning from his 4-inning relief performance during Game 6, Hank Borowy was slated to start with less than 48 hours rest. After giving up three straight singles in the opening frame before recording an out however, manager Charlie Grimm pulled Hank, conceding that he had done all that he could for the Cubs that season. In replacing Borowy, Paul Derringer fared little better, giving up a bases-clearing double to catcher Paul Richards, bringing the Tiger run total to five in that first inning alone.
The Cubs would never catch up. Though Detroit’s Newhouser allowed ten hits and three runs, he would also strike out ten Chicago batters. Additionally, the Tigers would all but shut the door in the 7th and 8th innings, with a series of doubles and sacrifice flies, opening the last frame with a 9-3 lead. With two outs and one man on, Cubs second baseman Don Johnson would ground-out to the shortstop, forcing Roy Hughes at second, and ending the game, the 1945 blue ribbon classic, and the Cubs dynasty of that era.
• • •
Thanks, Graig! You can (and should!) follow Graig on Twitter.
MLB Playoff Uni Tracking
A few years back, reader Alex Rocklein tracked the MLB Playoffs by uniform — you guys may recall this. Here’s what his 2010 Uni Tracking looked like. Alex also tracked the playoffs for Uni Watch last season as well. Here’s how the 2016 World Series looked, and here’s how the 2017 Playoffs shook out.
We welcome Alex back this year, and he’ll be tracking the unis from the Wild Card games through the Big Dance. Here we go:
• • •
Wild Card & Divisional Series
• • •
Thanks, Alex.
And Now a Few Words from Paul
Hi there. In case you missed it over the past week, big savings are on tap for both of our Uni watch caps.
First, our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels are offering a site-wide 20% discount with the checkout code PLAY18. That effectively reduces the price of our solid-green Uni Watch classic cap from $49 to $39. Order yours here.
In addition, we’ve reduced the price of our flex-fit Uni Watch alternate cap from $29.99 to $24.99. You can order that one here.
And while we’re at it, don’t forget that we have a great new T-shirt, designed by Andrew Harrington, that mimics the look of a vintage woven clothing tag. That one, which is available in a wide range of colors and styles, can be ordered here.
Finally, in case you missed it on Friday, my annual Uni Watch NBA Season Preview is now available for your enjoyment. Check it out here.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Phil-osophizing.
The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson
Baseball News: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is holding a Twitter poll on readers’ favorite Brewers logo. There can be only one answer. The poll closes at noon today (from @BorchertField). … The folks at Chase Field are surrendering to the desert and installing artificial turf during the off season (from Tony Andela and Mike Chamernik).
NFL News: Iggles DE Michael Bennett had basically no uni sleeves during Thursday night’s beatdown of the Giants (from Aaron Pinto). … The Seahawks and Raiders are getting B-E-A-utiful throwback-style satin jackets for their London game (from Ignacio Salazar). … Despite Browns coach Hue Jackson and WR Rod Streater saying they’d like to keep wearing the team’s gorgeous color rush jerseys, the NFL’s strict rules will prevent them from breaking them out more than once again this season (thanks, Phil).
College/High School Football News: IU Police’s motorcycle division had custom helmets made in the style of the Hoosiers’ football helmets for homecoming weekend (from @Hoosier_Steve). … For the first time since 2003, Monmouth is wearing white helmets, along with a GFGS uni (from Greg Viscomi). … The following are all from Phil: New uni combo — yellow-white-yellow — for Mizzou in their game against Bama. … Orange-white-white for Florida against Vanderbilt. … Ole Miss is going all white against Arkansas. … Oregon will go full highlighter against Washington. … Illinois will wear their “grey ghost” unis and matte blue helmets during today’s game. … Tulsa went with new, black matte alternate helmets yesterday. … Here’s an article explaining why Memphis switched from a “white-out” to a “blue-out” for their game against UCF. … Lancaster (N.Y.) High has a Halloween-themed midfield logo (from Brian Koperski). … Brad Eenhuis was watching a Georgia high school football game and noticed this weird bump on one of the player’s helmets. Any ideas what this might be?
Hockey News: The ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers are wearing, uh, plumbing-inspired warm-up jerseys tonight. We just loooove the giant advertisement, too (from Mike Iles). … Oregon wore some pretty awesome gloves during their game against Washington (from Michael Sullivan).
NBA News: Yesterday gave us an apparent leak of the Knicks’ as-yet unrevealed City jerseys.
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Soccer News: Olympic sprinter turned soccer player Usain Bolt is wearing No. 95 for Australian club Central Coast Mariners — a reference to his world-record 9.58s in the 100 meter sprint. Bolt has worn a 9.58 uni number during charity matches before, but a triple-digit uni number was probably too much for his professional career (from Brad Serton, Jonathan Keller, Donald Wine II and Gabriel Hurl). … Colombian side Deportes Tolima have revealed their new, ad-inundated kits (from Lucan Denfield).
Grab Bag: John (who declined to give his last name) found this great tag on a jersey in a thrift store. Very nice. … Loras College athletics are finally getting a 21st century logo (thanks, Phil). … Germantown (Pa.) Academy has a new logo. … An NC State women’s volleyball player was wearing long pants during a game against Virginia (from Jim Vilk).
By Paul Lukas, on October 12th, 2018 
Click to enlarge
Last night’s loss to the Eagles was the latest evidence that the Giants really suck again this year. They’re not just bad — they’re boring (a pretty neat trick when you have playmakers like Beckham and Barkley), which is another way of saying they’ve become unwatchable. So this is a good time to mention something that’s been bugging me for a while now: As you can see above, the Jints’ chinstrap cups have these little liners with what appears to be a snakeskin pattern (that photo isn’t from last night, but it was the best close-up shot I could find). It doesn’t mesh well with the no-frills look of their uniform, and I find it really distracting. It would be nice if they’d change it, but I probably won’t be watching anymore to find out. Did I mention that they’ve become unwatchable?
As for last night, they wore their mono-white throwbacks — a good look, although it’d be better with the proper blue-topped socks instead of the solid-white Color Rash hose.
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Click to enlarge
Almost time for tip-off:The NBA season begins on Tuesday, which means it’s time for my annual Uni Watch NBA Season Preview. Check it out here.
As for the images shown above, I thought it would be nice to announce the season preview by featuring the five remaining advertising-free teams. But as I was gathering the five photos, I received word that one of those teams — I can’t tell you which one — will likely be announcing a jersey advertising patch in time for Opening Night. Sigh.
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Headwear bargain bonanza reminder: In case you missed it earlier this week, big savings are on tap for both of our Uni watch caps.
First, our friends at Ebbets Field Flannels are offering a site-wide 20% discount with the checkout code PLAY18. That effectively reduces the price of our solid-green Uni Watch classic cap from $49 to $39. Order yours here.
In addition, we’ve reduced the price of our flex-fit Uni Watch alternate cap from $29.99 to $24.99. You can order that one here.
And while we’re at it, don’t forget that we have a great new T-shirt, designed by Andrew Harrington, that mimics the look of a vintage woven clothing tag. That one is available here.
My thanks, as always, for your consideration of our merchandise.
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The Ticker
By Yianni Varonis
Baseball News: Here’s a fun video of Giants RF Hunter Pence and his wife cleaning out his locker and deciding what to keep and throw away now that the team’s season is over (from our own Brinke Guthrie). … Also from Brinke: Today’s Google Doodle is a salute to Roberto Clemente.
NFL News: Eagles K Jake Elliott wore a hunter-green suit before Thursday Night Football that featured photographs of his career on the blazer’s inside lining. … This article recounts the “ooh” and “aah” of the crowd the first time the Rams wore horned helmets. … The Chargers will go mono-navy this week (from Kristopher Sharpe). … A grocery store owner in Athens, Ala., will no longer sell products with the NFL logo, in response to players kneeling during the national anthem. … Paul Quirk was at Ford Field last week for the Lions game and took a picture of the stadium’s helmet display, which hasn’t updated the Titans or Jaguars helmets yet. … Giants OL Chad Wheeler had one of his jersey numerals peeling off last night (from @headshoes). … Mitchell & Ness has started selling a line of NFL jerseys that are split, Frankenjersey-style, between white and color (from Danny Quin).
College Football News: North Carolina will wear white on white on white against Virginia Tech, and Tech will give DB Chamarri Conner the honor of wearing No. 25 this week (from Andrew Cosentino). … Reader Kary Klismet has two items about Iowa: The school is honoring the 70th anniversary of its mascot, Herky the Hawk, with an exhibit at the university library, and these Iowa fans got to write messages on the inside panels of Iowa game balls after touring the factory that makes them. … West Virginia will wear mono-white this week. … Virginia’s equipment manager hinted that Cavaliers fans “might see something new for this weekend” and now we know that the team will wear an all-navy uniform (from our own Jamie Rathjen). … Potentially confusing uniform matchup as Duke will wear grey jerseys and navy pants versus Georgia Tech, which will wear white jerseys and navy pants. … From Phil: Northwestern will wear black helmets and pants with purple jerseys against Nebraska, and South Carolina will wear white helmets, black jerseys, and black pants against Texas A&M. … Houston will go red-white-red this week. … And Stony Brook will wear white-white-red. … This is unique: Players from St. John’s in Collegeville, Minn., wear their last names on the front of their helmets while also going NNOB (from Matt Lesser). … Riverhead High School on Long Island will retire the jersey number of former LB and Tech. Sgt. Dashan Briggs, who was killed in an airplane crash while serving in Iraq.
Hockey News: With the Penguins having unveiled their yellow alternate uni, here’s a look at the history of yellow uniforms in the NHL (from Phil). … The Canadiens honored the 25th-anniversary of their 1993 championship team while former players wore sweaters featuring a period-appropriate Stanley Cup patch (from Moe Khan). … Remarkable attention to detail as the Devils stamp their logo onto each of their arena’s toilets and urinals. … In Saskatchewan, Regina Pats G Max Paddock takes Pinktober really seriously.
NBA News: The Bulls announced that the logo of Calamos Investments, a Chicago-based global asset manager, will now appear on the United Center court apron. … Is this a new alternate logo for the Thunder? … Lonzo Ball agreed to the NBA’s request that he cover his tattoo depicting the logo of his family’s shoe company, Big Baller Brand. … Earlier this week we saw leaked images of the Lakers’ Magic Johnson-themed shorts. Now a photo of the jersey is circulating, although its legitimacy isn’t yet confirmed. … Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a little essay explanining why he’s selling off his memorabilia (from David Firestone). … After the Kings got slaughtered by the Jazz in a preseason game last night, the Kings’ Twitter account posted game highlights but censored the score bug (from Mike Chamernik).
College Hoops News: Dayton teased new uniforms (from Eric Farrell). … New uniforms for Arizona State (from Chad Smith). … Boise State will also sport a new look this season. … And Purdue has a new uniform template (from @KyleYourFriend).
Soccer News: Pretty crazy new kits for Spanish squad CF Zamora that remind me a lot of this guy. … Here’s an interesting interview with the founder of the company that makes cell-phone cases based on retro-kit designs.
Grab Bag: Runner Justin Gallegos became the first athlete with cerebral palsy to sign an endorsement contract with Nike. A powerful video of Gallegos receiving the news can be viewed in this article. … Here’s a good look at how the Beatles got their famous logo. … There’s a new book featuring record label logos (from Jeff Ash). … airBaltic has introduced new cabin-crew uniforms. … A GQ writer offers “A Fat Dude’s Guide for Fat Dudes at the Gym”, including what to wear. … This article details the items that passengers often steal from airplanes, including life vests and — according to one flight attendant — the wings off her uniform (WaPo link). … Employees of the Callaway County Ambulance District in Missouri will wear pink work shirts this month for breast cancer awareness. … Fashion retailer Marks & Spencer has caused controversy over its decision to sell hijabs to children in England as a part of its school uniform collection. … The Dallas News investigates “Who is really behind the logos on the political flyers in your mailbox?” … Here’s a rugby union game in New Zealand where you couldn’t tell the two teams apart (from @SkullyEqual).
By Paul Lukas, on October 11th, 2018 
Did you ever start noticing something that you’d never noticed before — something seemingly innocuous — and then all of a sudden you can’t stop noticing it?
That happened to me recently, and I want to go off-uni today to tell you about it, especially because it has raised some uncomfortable questions and issues.
Here’s the deal: A few months ago I started noticing a lot of empty packs of Newport cigarettes that had been left as litter on curbs, streets, and sidewalks. I’m not sure why they caught my eye — maybe it’s because Newport packs are green, which is my favorite color. Or maybe it’s because the Newport logo looks a bit like the Nike logo (although I’d really like to believe that that’s not the reason).
I should probably clarify here that when I refer to seeing “a lot” of littered Newport packs, I’m talking about an average of about one per day. Not so many people smoke cigarettes anymore (thankfully), and not so many people litter anymore either (ditto, although this project has made it depressingly clear that we still have a long way to go on that front). Still, while the littered cigarette packs that I saw were relatively few and far between, a disproportionate number of them appeared to be Newports.
And that seemed odd to me. If I’d mostly seen, say, Marlboro packs, that would have been unremarkable, because I know Marlboros are the top-selling cigarette brand, so I’d expect them to also be the most-littered brand. But instead I was mostly seeing Newports.
Or at least that was my general impression. But was it actually true? In an attempt to find out, I began documenting the situation by photographing every discarded pack of cigarettes that I came across. If I encountered a pack and didn’t have my phone with me, which sometimes happened, I took the pack with me and photographed it later.
There were days when I saw several discarded packs, and then there were multi-day stretches when I didn’t see any. When I started out, I’d sometimes see something that I thought was a cigarette pack but turned out to be a flattened coffee cup, or a box of cough drops, or a tire-smashed can of Red Bull. (Based on my observations, Red Bull drinkers seem to litter quite a bit, which reinforces all my worst stereotypes about them.) Over time, though, I got better at distinguishing the real thing from the false alarms, even from a pretty good distance. Not the most practical life skill to develop, but it was still kind of satisfying to know that I was improving at something, even if the something happened to be very esoteric.
I didn’t give myself a deadline or a goal at the outset of the project, but somewhere along the way I decided that I’d tally up the numbers once I got to 100 photos. I passed that point last week. As of today, I’m up to 125 photos, which you can see here. And how do the numbers play out? Let’s take a look:
– Newport: 77
– Marlboro (all varieties): 23
– Parliament: 7
– Everything else: 18
As I suspected, Newports are easily the most-littered brand I’ve encountered, with far more packs than all other brands combined. Now here’s the tricky part, the uncomfortable part, the part that makes me uneasy: For the past half-century or so, Newports have been marketed primarily to African-Americans. They are by far the most popular brand with black smokers. So does my little project say anything about black people and littering?
Let’s shift into virtual-FAQ mode here:
Would you consider this to be a scientific study?
Not even close. A hundred-ish packs is a really small sample size, and so is the area I’ve covered over the past few months. Moreover, just because I photographed 125 cigarette packs, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those packs came from 125 individual smokers. A couple of very litter-prone Newport smokers could conceivably have accounted for a disproportionate share of the Newport packs I encountered. It’s even theoretically possible (although not likely) that all 125 packs I photographed came from one extremely nicotine-addicted, brand-disloyal, and slobbish person.
Still, it’s worth noting that the high rate of Newport discards held true in my old neighborhood before I moved and in my new neighborhood after I moved. It was true in Manhattan and on Long Island. It was true in the late spring, the summer, and the early fall. So while this wasn’t a scientific study, the results did seem to be consistent within the admittedly limited parameters of my daily travels.
So are you accusing black people of being worse litterers than white people?
I’m not accusing anyone of anything. I simply observed something and am acknowledging one of the possible implications — which, like I said, is an uncomfortable thing to bring up. But there are lots of other possible implications: Maybe black smokers litter more than black non-smokers. Maybe white Newport smokers (they do exist, although I think they’re a small part of the brand’s market) litter more than black Newport smokers. Maybe white Newport smokers litter more than everyone else in New York, period.
My sense of things, although I can’t find any studies to back this up, is that poor people, of any race, tend to litter more (although this is sometimes due to lower levels of sanitation services in low-income neighborhoods), and African-Americans are disproportionately poor, so it wouldn’t necessarily surprise me to learn that they have a higher rate of littering. Then again, anyone who can afford to smoke in New York, where a pack of cigs now costs $13, probably isn’t poverty-stricken.
Basically, I see two dots here — the disproportionate number of discarded Newport packs and Newport’s disproportionately black consumer base — but I’m not saying those dots can necessarily be connected.
If you’re not saying that, then what are you saying?
I’m saying I’ve noticed something weird, and I’m acknowledging a possible explanation for it. I’m also acknowledging that there are lots of variables in play that make it hard to reach any real conclusions.
So if it’s all just a fuzzy question mark, why are you even telling us about this?
Because it’s interesting, and maybe we can learn something from it.
I’m sure many of you out there know much more than I do about statistics, data, demography, tobacco, and refuse. If any of you would care to weigh in, I’m all ears.
I’d also be interested in hearing whether Newports are the top-littered brand in other cities. So if you want to try to duplicate my photographic study in your burg, feel free.
Finally, I hope this would go without saying, but just in case: Anything involving race has the potential to be explosive. Let’s please keep the discussion civil. Thanks.
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Another NBA throwback: The Warriors revealed their new 1970s throwback yesterday. We pretty much knew this one was coming, thanks to an earlier video game leak. As if to underscore the fact that the team doesn’t really care about anything but the retail aspect, the entire “unveiling” yesterday consisted of a “Hey, this thing is now for sale” announcement. Classy.
If you can get past that nonsense, it’s a good uniform. I’ve always liked it, going back to the Rick Barry days, but until yesterday I hadn’t really noticed the number font. Look familiar? It’s the old Circus font used by the mid-1970s Astros (or at least a close variant). That was a Sand-Knit font, and sure enough, the Warriors’ jerseys with that font were also made by Sand-Knit. Interesting!
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Oh, for fuck’s sake: So here’s something new to be depressed about: Penalty boxes around the NHL have been festooned with Bud Light “Pit of Misery” ads (a reference to this ad campaign). That’s bad enough, but when an opposing player is called for a penalty in Boston, the Bruins actually say over the P.A., “To the pit of misery, dilly dilly.”
People, this is Idiocracy writ large. When the history of this era is written, it will talk about how we let advertising become the tail that wags the dog of our culture. And that history will no doubt have a big ad slapped across its cover. Sigh.
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T-shirt/cap reminder: In case you missed it earlier this week, we have a new T-shirt design, based on a classic woven apparel label (shown at right; click to enlarge). Thanks to some changes at Teespring, we’re offering this shirt in a much wider range of colors and styles than has been possible in the past. Full details here, or just go straight to the ordering page.
In addition, the price of our flex-fit alternate cap has been dropped from $29.99 to $24.99, and Ebbets Field Flannels is running a site-wide 20% sale on all their products, including our Uni Watch classic cap (use the checkout code PLAY18).
My thanks, as always, for your consideration of our merchandise.
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KRC update: The latest installment of Key Ring Chronicles is about what the writer refers to as his “janitor keys.” It’s a nice little story — check it out here.
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An important anniversary: It was 25 years ago today that I published the first issue of my zine Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption. It wasn’t the first creative project I’d undertaken — I’d done a few things that were good but not particularly original, and some others that were original but not particularly good — but it was the first one I was truly proud of, the first one that made me feel like I’d accomplished something.
And I really needed to feel that way at the time. I had recently gone through a break-up, was unhappy with many aspects of my life, was going through some serious bouts of self-loathing, and was a few months away from turning 30. I knew I had to change something, so I basically gave myself a self-help assignment to create something I could feel good about — something that could make me feel like I was justifying my existence on this mudball instead of just taking up space. I had been tinkering with the idea of a zine about obsessive details of consumer culture, so I brainstormed a bit, came up with the term “inconspicuous consumption” (a play on Thorstein Veblen’s term), and spent a few weeks writing the text.
When I was done, I had 36 pages’ worth of content. That first issue began with an ode to the Brannock Device and included an appreciation of the Green Bay Packers’ uniforms. Hey, from small beginnings, right? I wasn’t sure anyone would care about my little musings on assorted esoterica, and that was fine, because I didn’t create Beer Frame for other people; I created it for me, because it was something I needed to express, something I needed to create. That was enough.
Like most zines, Beer Frame was nothin’ fancy. I “printed” it — 550 copies for that first issue — on the office Xerox machine when nobody was looking, got some friends to help me collate it in return for pizza and beer, and stapled and folded it myself. But it ended up changing my life. Within a few weeks, I had a column in a local alt-weekly paper. Within two and a half years, I was able to quit my job and become a full-time writer. Soon after that I got a book deal, appeared a bunch of times on TV, and was headed off on the career that eventually led to Uni Watch. And since I finally felt good about what I was doing, my social life changed a lot too.
After 10 issues, I eventually stopped publishing Beer Frame in 2001 (by which time the circulation had grown to 5,000 copies — not bad for a zine). It had served its purpose and run its course, but it remains the pivotal project of my life, the one that changed everything and led to everything else, including Uni Watch. I know some of you Uni Watch readers were also Beer Frame readers — thanks for following my work for such an extended period. That’s pretty special.
So here’s to Beer Frame on its 25th birthday, and thanks for listening. Cheers!
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The Ticker
By Paul
’Skins Watch: The Cleveland Indians have donated $10,000 toward a statue for Louis Sockalexis in his home state of Maine. Sockalexis, a Native American, is often cited as the inspiration for the Indians’ name, although that myth has long been debunked (from our own Lloyd Alaban).
Baseball News: Good story on how the new minor league team in Amarillo, Texas, may be called the Sod Poodles (from Cort McMurray). … Not uni-related but still interesting: If the Brewers and Astros advance to the World Series, it would be a matchup of two teams that have switched leagues (from Mike Chamernik). … Weather Channel hurricane daredevil Jim Cantore wore a double-flapped Rawlings batting helmet while reporting from the Florida panhandle yesterday (thanks, Brinke). … The Syracuse Chiefs’ Brannock Device Night promotion, where I had the privilege and pleasure of throwing out the first pitch, has been nominated for best MiLB promotion of the year. Vote early and often! (From Kyle Fussner.) … Buffalo’s minor league ballpark is getting its sixth name — and its fifth sponsored advertised name — in 30 years.
NFL News: Bleacher Report’s latest “Gridiron Heights” cartoon makes fun of the Titans’ uniforms (from Tom Juettner). … Former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick wants to trademark his facial image. … “Pizza” Hut has updated the NFL team logo arrangement on its boxes. … Back in 1992, reader Joe Hernandez was looking for work and, on a whim, sent his résumé to NFL Films honcho Steve Sabol. To his surprise, Sabol responded with a handwritten postcard (here’s how it looked on the front). “I love how he worked in some NFL-related jargon (‘#1 draft choice — woo-hoo!’) and was gracious enough to tell me that my résumé was impressive (it wasn’t),” says Joe. “A classy guy.” … Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky is wearing a compression sleeve superstitiously, although he may change to a different color because the Bears are wearing their orange throwbacks this Sunday (from Mike Chamernik). … Hipsters: In 1986, the 49ers wore their 40th-anniversary logo as a hip patch, and the Seahawks did likewise with their 10th-anniversary patch the year before that (from Samuel Lam and Michael Rose).
College Football News: Here are this week’s uni combos for Colorado Virginia Tech, and North Texas (from Kary Klismet and Andrew Cosentino). … Rainbowtober will reach its apex this Saturday at Miami of Ohio, which will be wearing nine different helmet designs to support cancer awareness (from John Lee). … Small item buried on this page says Iowa State may go BFBS this weekend (from Kary Klismet). … Ohio State will reportedly wear black alternates on Nov. 3 (thanks, Phil).
Hockey News: The Predators didn’t win the Stanley Cup last season but nonetheless raised three banners to the rafters the other night, which led to a bit of mockery. … Speaking of the Preds, their stanchions now have LED lighting. They were previously yellow (from Matt Henry). … Here’s an interview with the guy who created the Flyers’ new mascot sensation, Gritty. Somewhat amazingly, this same guy used to wear the Phillie Phanatic costume years ago, when he was a Phils intern. … Speaking of Gritty, he appears on Flyers G Cal Pickard’s new mask (from John McMunn). … The WHL’s Calgary Hitmen unveiled three throwback designs based on previous junior/senior teams from Calgary’s past (from @HunterRidgeFarm). … New alternate uni for the Wheeling Nailers (from Matt Farrier).
NBA News: The Cavs have two blue alternate uniforms upcoming (thanks, Phil). … 76ers C Joel Embiid has signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour.
College Hoops News: This is interesting: GWU’s women’s team has left-aligned chest lettering. Not sure I’ve seen anything like that before (from Rob Montoya).
Soccer News: “Minnesota United has a promotional group ticket event this Saturday with St. Olaf College (Northfield, Minn.),” says Brent Kivell. “Anyone purchasing a ticket will also receive this co-branded scarf.” … Pinktober has spread to the Brazilian Football Federation’s soccer ball (from Josh Hinton). … Rangers Football Club has won a legal battle regarding the club’s “RFC” logo.
Grab Bag: Washington and Lee University will replace portraits depicting George Washington and Robert E. Lee in military uniforms with portraits showing them in civilian attire. … The logo for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has been unveiled. … A high school marching band in Kentucky was left without uniforms after its uni supplier went abruptly went bust. … A pair of high school girls’ volleyball teams went pink vs. pink the other day. … Speaking of Pinktober, universty police at Cal State San Marcos are wearing pink patches. … Good story on the origins of the ’47 Brand (from Tom Turner). … Ontario will allow Sikhs to ride motorcycles without helmets. … The apparel brand Diesel ripped off a punk band’s logo for a pair of very overpriced pants. … New uniforms for the New Mexico State marching band. … Australian auto race driver Tony D’Alberto is asking for help to recover a stolen helmet. … An Ohio school superintendent who was trying to cast an early-voting ballot was turned away from his polling place because he was wearing a shirt with his school logo and colors. The school district had an issue on the ballot and the superintendent’s shirt was apparently considered to be an impermissible form of electioneering. … Whoa, check out the uniforms and gear worn by the 1891 Bowdoin College tug of war team (from James Flippin). … Pinktober uniforms for U. of Michigan track and cross-country (from @run_100mi). … More ad creep: The iconic Sydney Opera House — one of the most famous works of architecture in the world — was turned into a billboard for a horse race (NYT link) earlier this week, igniting a huge controversy in Australia.
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I got my flu shot yesterday. You should get yours too, if you haven’t already done so. No excuses — it’s important for everyone’s health and safety, including your own! And it’s free at most pharmacies if you have health insurance. Do it. — Paul
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