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Putting On The Foil … Err, Tie

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This just in: Athletes and coaches are superstitious. You’ve no doubt read about pregame meals, routes to the ballpark, lucky socks, routines, etc. Pick an athlete in any sport or level, and he or she is probably a nut job to some degree. I, for example, always put the the right sock on first, but when wearing gloves (hockey or cycling or whatever), the left one goes on first. No, I don’t know why. I just always do it that way.

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock has a lucky tie, shown above. It’s not just any tie — the things that look like spots are actually the crest of his alma mater, McGill University in Montreal. He’s worn it a few times throughout the year, including Saturday night in game one of the Stanley Cup Finals. There’s a story here from McGill (complete with clowns of some sort in the background), along with more spottings here and here.

Special thanks to Mike Engle for passing this along, and therefore making my job much, much easier. Enjoy your Memorial Day, folks. — Bryan

 
  
 
Comments (40)

    guy carbonneau, coach of the montreal canadiens, had a lucky hermes tie he pulled out for certain games this season, including the game 7 win over boston. the tie went 3-0 until it finally lost a game in the series against philadelphia. he said he was planning on auctioning it off this summer for charity.

    link

    too lazy to find screen grabs or pictures but I believe the padresactually wore green helmets and undershirts with their camo jersey yesterday. I liked the overall look gimmicky or not.

    [quote comment=”272860″]too lazy to find screen grabs or pictures but I believe the padres actually wore green helmets and undershirts with their camo jersey yesterday. I liked the overall look gimmicky or not.[/quote]
    link ya link… looks like they wore green hats, but stayed with their standard blue helmets. Me, I was enjoying the more classic look of the link game. No gimmicks, just classic baseball unis (with a stirrup sighting as a bonus!)

    WVU Basketball coach Bob Huggins has a superstition where he will where the same suit to coach in as long as the team is winning. When the streak stops the suit changes.

    This is a random question, but I’m running out of places to turn to. Does anyone know where I can buy an undershirt that the pirates wear under their vests? Ya know, with the black sleeves and pirate logo on the side.
    I’ve searched the majestic site, mlbshop, ebay….no luck. Help!

    [quote comment=”272864″]This is a random question, but I’m running out of places to turn to. Does anyone know where I can buy an undershirt that the pirates wear under their vests? Ya know, with the black sleeves and pirate logo on the side.
    I’ve searched the majestic site, mlbshop, ebay….no luck. Help![/quote]

    Just get the patch, and sew it on to a black shirt.

    link

    [quote comment=”272865″][quote comment=”272864″]This is a random question, but I’m running out of places to turn to. Does anyone know where I can buy an undershirt that the pirates wear under their vests? Ya know, with the black sleeves and pirate logo on the side.
    I’ve searched the majestic site, mlbshop, ebay….no luck. Help![/quote]

    Just get the patch, and sew it on to a black shirt.

    link
    Seconded.
    That’s actually why inconsistencies happen. Because Majestic is the official manufacturer of on-field apparel, all Majestic undershirts sent to the clubs will be fully ready out of the box, according to official style guides. On the other hand, other undershirts (mostly Nike from my observations) come “blank,” and it becomes the equipment manager’s job to place the patch on the sleeve. Some undershirts accidentally come onto the field blank, and some patches don’t stick well to the fabric and either partially or completely fall off.
    Believe it or not, the last time the Reds had vests, nobody had a problem with wearing the Running Red Man (not Mr. Redlegs) except for the team’s Mr. Nike, Ken Griffey, Jr. He always had a blank left sleeve. So eventually, the undershirt arm patch was deleted from the official uniform.
    Unless you’re able to buy a game worn/used/issued Pirates undershirt, you probably won’t find what you’re looking for. But get the patch, have a black turtleneck ready, and call it a day.

    [quote comment=”272864″]This is a random question, but I’m running out of places to turn to. Does anyone know where I can buy an undershirt that the pirates wear under their vests? Ya know, with the black sleeves and pirate logo on the side.
    I’ve searched the majestic site, mlbshop, ebay….no luck. Help![/quote]

    Well, this isn’t the exact shirt, and I cannot find any short sleeve ones, but it’s a Nike shirt with the Pirate on the sleeve.

    link

    I believe that the offical shirt this year is a grey shirt with black sleeves though, made by Nike of course, so if you can find that one, that’s the shirt you want.

    My girlfriend has made fun of me as long as we’ve been together for insisting on putting my left sock/shoe/sleeve/pants leg on first. If my right shoe comes off, the left one must come off and then put back on first. The mere sight of seeing someone put on their right shoe first on TV or whatever sends chills down my spine. Yes I’m aware of the OCDness of it. But I just had to share that this post made my day. Almost as good as kid bashing.

    The NCAA Mens Lacrosse Final is this afternoon, but there’s much more uni fun to be found in link played yesterday, from the cage goggles to the tanktops to the logo creep to the fact that Northwestern wore white to spare Paul’s breakfast.

    So I was at that Padre game yesterday for all 18 innings. Not sure if this has been noted before, but I got the chance to see pitcher Bronson Arroyo pinch hit (he singled, naturally)and he was rocking the double earflaps. Sadly, no cornrows though . . .

    I like the huge numbers on the lax unis. Syracuse has an “AG” memorial sticker on the helmet.

    The officials have adjustable hats. One seems to have Paul Lukas-style soccer cleats. Except shined.

    STFU and quit trying to stir shit.

    [quote comment=”272857″]We went an entire three-day weekend without kid bashing? Unacceptable…[/quote]

    On a Uni note, who the hell designed the Cote d’Ivoire football kits? My son and I were watching them the other day and the poor guys look like giant link

    [quote comment=”272873″]STFU and quit trying to stir shit.

    [quote comment=”272857″]We went an entire three-day weekend without kid bashing? Unacceptable…[/quote]

    On a Uni note, who the hell designed the Cote d’Ivoire football kits? My son and I were watching them the other day and the poor guys look like giant link[/quote]
    #1) Somebody didn’t see a {sarcasm> tag.
    #2) Puma. Actually, that’s a really nice kit upon further review. That white splotch of a crest? That’s not just any white splotch. That would be a silhouette of Côte d’Ivoire itself. (What can I say? I have a thing for geographic elements, especially flags.) And unless it has changed since the World Cup 2006, look closely and you’ll see an elephant in the jersey.

    [quote comment=”272863″]WVU Basketball coach Bob Huggins has a superstition where he will where the same suit to coach in as long as the team is winning. When the streak stops the suit changes.[/quote]

    Good thing he doesn’t wear the same suit until a player graduates….

    I like the details. It’s just the colors that are making my head hurt. I like kits with the little touches such as the silhouette, but if you can’t get beyond the obnoxious colors, those special elements get lost.

    #2) Puma. Actually, that’s a really nice kit upon further review. That white splotch of a crest? That’s not just any white splotch. That would be a silhouette of Côte d’Ivoire itself. (What can I say? I have a thing for geographic elements, especially flags.) And unless it has changed since the World Cup 2006, look closely and you’ll see an elephant in the jersey.[/quote]

    [quote comment=”272875″][quote comment=”272863″]WVU Basketball coach Bob Huggins has a superstition where he will where the same suit to coach in as long as the team is winning. When the streak stops the suit changes.[/quote]

    Good thing he doesn’t wear the same suit until a player graduates….[/quote]
    tOSU’s Thad Matta always lets his daughter pick his tie, no matter how imperfectly it matches everything else.
    Georgetown’s John Thompson III only uses blue dry-erase ink to diagram plays.
    This could make a whole column if it hasn’t already been done.

    Nike does a lot of loud, obnoxious tennis designs..but they are always cool and discreet with Federer; notice the placket logo;

    link

    Look close on his shoes; usually have small logos counting the # of times he’s won that Slam.

    link

    Ooops! No French titles- no logo. Get to work, Rog.

    While I’m at it, since the French Open is on, let’s give it up for THE coolest tennis dude + logo ever.

    link

    [quote comment=”272880″]While I’m at it, since the French Open is on, let’s give it up for THE coolest tennis dude + logo ever.

    link

    link

    Actually, that’s a really nice kit upon further review. That white splotch of a crest? That’s not just any white splotch. That would be a silhouette of Côte d’Ivoire itself. (What can I say? I have a thing for geographic elements, especially flags.) And unless it has changed since the World Cup 2006, look closely and you’ll see an elephant in the jersey.[/quote][/quote]

    And it looks great on dark skin. My son has one … beautiful

    [quote comment=”272875″][quote comment=”272863″]WVU Basketball coach Bob Huggins has a superstition where he will where the same suit to coach in as long as the team is winning. When the streak stops the suit changes.[/quote]

    Good thing he doesn’t wear the same suit until a player graduates….[/quote]

    Excellent!!!!!!!!!

    The Ivory Coast jersey has changed. It no longer has the elephant on the front, but it is still a really nice kit.

    [quote comment=”272863″]WVU Basketball coach Bob Huggins has a superstition where he will where the same suit to coach in as long as the team is winning. When the streak stops the suit changes.[/quote]

    so…imo guess he goes through a shitload of suits then

    I’m using the holiday to clean out old newspapers and magazines, and came across link of Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard in Spring Training, clearly wearing outfielder Jeremy Reed’s glove while throwing in the bullpen.

    Happy Memorial Day, everybody. As we all know, holidays like this are occasions for patriotic displays at sporting events, like the Padres’ camouflage uniforms (worn on Sunday in an extra-innings marathon.)

    We also know these pages have been home to some simmering debates about the role of patriotic displays in sports. If I could find the pages and knew how links worked, I’d show them to you.

    Anyway, buzzword bingo for tomorrow’s column:

    Calls the camouflage jerseys simply ugly: 1 point.

    Draws distinction between patriotism and (support of) the military or “militarism”: 5 points.

    Objects that, in wearing such a tribute, the home team is appropriating patriotism for itself, unfairly implying that it’s more American than its opponents: 5 points.

    Makes a joke about how camouflage is for making people less visible and that that’s not helpful at a sporting event: 10 points.

    Worries about the feelings of foreign-born players who were forced to join in this “patriotic” exercise regardless of their own feelings about the military or the current war: 15 points.

    It looks like the goaltenders in the NCAA lacrosse championship were wearing sweatpants? What’s up with that?

    [quote comment=”272890″]It looks like the goaltenders in the NCAA lacrosse championship were wearing sweatpants? What’s up with that?[/quote]
    Those hard rubber balls shot at 90 mph hurt when they hit bare skin. Sweatpants soften the blow a little.

    [quote comment=”272874″][quote comment=”272873″]STFU and quit trying to stir shit.

    [quote comment=”272857″]We went an entire three-day weekend without kid bashing? Unacceptable…[/quote]

    On a Uni note, who the hell designed the Cote d’Ivoire football kits? My son and I were watching them the other day and the poor guys look like giant link[/quote]
    #1) Somebody didn’t see a {sarcasm> tag.
    #2) Puma. Actually, that’s a really nice kit upon further review. That white splotch of a crest? That’s not just any white splotch. That would be a silhouette of Côte d’Ivoire itself. (What can I say? I have a thing for geographic elements, especially flags.) And unless it has changed since the World Cup 2006, look closely and you’ll see an elephant in the jersey.[/quote]

    Sadly, the elephant appears to be gone:
    link

    But that old kit was an absolute classic. First rate:
    link

    History of the kit here:
    link

    The Padres did wear green undershirts and helmets yesterday. I watched all 6 hours of that miserable game (Reds fan).

    So I think we talked about how the Padres did not wear their camo sunday jerseys early in the year because the camo cool base material was not ready. The jerseys definitely looked like cool base jerseys yesterday, but they did not have those awful underarm gussets. Anyone else watch this game get a good look? Cool base or not?

    [quote comment=”272889″]Happy Memorial Day, everybody. As we all know, holidays like this are occasions for patriotic displays at sporting events, like the Padres’ camouflage uniforms (worn on Sunday in an extra-innings marathon.)

    We also know these pages have been home to some simmering debates about the role of patriotic displays in sports. If I could find the pages and knew how links worked, I’d show them to you.

    Anyway, buzzword bingo for tomorrow’s column:

    Calls the camouflage jerseys simply ugly: 1 point.

    Draws distinction between patriotism and (support of) the military or “militarism”: 5 points.

    Objects that, in wearing such a tribute, the home team is appropriating patriotism for itself, unfairly implying that it’s more American than its opponents: 5 points.

    Makes a joke about how camouflage is for making people less visible and that that’s not helpful at a sporting event: 10 points.

    Worries about the feelings of foreign-born players who were forced to join in this “patriotic” exercise regardless of their own feelings about the military or the current war: 15 points.[/quote]

    The Padres do this every sunday, it’s not a holiday thing. It is in support of the large military population in San Diego. The 4th of July will be a better occasion for this game because some teams who never wear camo jerseys (Reds and White Sox to name a few) will be sporting the camo.

    [quote]The 4th of July will be a better occasion for this game because some teams who never wear camo jerseys (Reds and White Sox to name a few) will be sporting the camo.[/quote]

    and why would that be?

    not to get off on a rant, but i know several members of the military…my dad, two uncles, grandfather and other assorted family members were all in the armed forces, and i support our troops 100%…that being said (and, btw…I LOVE THAT BUD COMMERCIAL WHERE EVERYONE IN THE AIRPORT CLAPS FOR THE SERVICEMEN & WOMEN COMING HOME…but i digress)…

    i don’t see the point of wearing the fatigues (other than the pods), ESPECIALLY on independence day…how about breaking out a little RW&B??? we’re not celebrating any great militaristic victory (in fact, in 1776, britain was pretty much about to kick our ass)…we’re celebrating our independence FROM colonial oppression, taxation w/o representation, etc…i’d much rather the fatigues be worn on armed forces day than on independence day, if they need be worn at all

    aight…i said ’nuff already

    peace yo

    Greg V.,

    Having been born there, I was familiar with SD’s military community. I hadn’t heard of camo every Sunday (or every home Sunday).

    I checked the Padres’ website. Their recap of the home game Sunday May 11 featured photos of the Padres in regular uniforms. So did the recap of Sunday, April 27. So it’s not EVERY Sunday. They did have camo April 6, though. And the point is certainly well-taken that they break it out more often than most (if not all.)

    Speaking of camo, Jason Varitek is wearing cameo catching gear. All of his gear, minus his glove is desert cameo. Once you get used to it it doesn’t look to bad. I think it helps that they are wearing their road grays. I have a feeling that it would look significantly worse over the home whites.

    I’m at the MAriners-Red Sox game and it appears that Jason Varitek is wearing camo catcher’s gear.

    Can someone grab a screen shot or just confirm what I’m seeing?

Comments are closed.