As the Cubbies and their fans sift through the rubble of yet another disappointment, reader Dave Lundborg has alerted me to something that may explain some of the team’s recent troubles.
Take a look at these photos from the 1984 National League playoffs between the Cubs and Padres. You’ll see that they all have one thing in common: a huge bulls-eye-ish patch on the Cubbies’ right sleeve. And what does that patch say, you ask? The answer can be found on this Mitchell and Ness throwback — it’s a 1984 division championship patch. And I’m embarrassed to say I wasn’t aware of it until Lundborg brought it to my attention (even though I distinctly remember watching that playoff series in my off-campus apartment during college).
The rub, of course, is that this patch was worn in 1984. In other words, the Cubbies were already patting themselves on the back even though they hadn’t really won anything yet. They even went to the trouble of creating two different versions of the patch — one with a blue ring for their home pinstripes and one with a white ring for their road blues (they didn’t wear grays that year). Jeez, talk about hubris — you’d think a team with this kind of history would know better than to engage in premature boasting. If they had advanced to the World Series, would they have swapped in a set of “1984 N.L. Champions” patches?
“I contend they lost to the Padres in large part due to that enormous patch,” says Lundborg (a reasonable analysis). “Is there another instance that you can recall where a team (in any sport) wore a division championship patch during that year’s playoffs?”
Excellent question. I can’t think of any comparable examples. Anyone..? Meanwhile, we can definitely add this little incident to the legend of the Cubbie curse.
Membership News: As I’ve said many times before, the ugliest uniform designs make the coolest membership cards. Case in point: Jeff Frank’s Oregon-themed card, shown at right — a doozy, no? The again, sometimes the most beautiful uni designs make the coolest membership cards, as in the case of Justin Sink’s inspired choice of the 1964-65 Philly 76ers motif. As always, these and all other card designs are displayed in the membership gallery.
As promised, a bunch of cards mailed out last Friday, and a bunch more should mail out tomorrow. Thanks for your patience.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Preseason NBA note from Tony Laurenzana, who writes: “My season ticket representative told me that the Pacers will be wearing retro uniforms for the upcoming preseason game this Wednesday against New Orleans. It will be at Pepsi Coliseum, where the team first played (1967-1974).” ”¦ Saturday’s a press passes for the MSU/Iowa game showed the Iowa helmet logo backwards. ”¦ The first few seconds of this video clip show Brian Westbrook getting his helmet inflated (with thanks to Maks Skuz). ”¦ Latest player to wear the Riddell Revolution Speed helmet: Danny Clark (thanks, Joe Skiba). ”¦ Check out the amazing uniform worn by Pahokee High in Florida. The socks, the pants, the jersey, the rear helmet logo (big thanks to Ronnie Poore). ”¦ The Wild have a really lame new mascot. Depressing details here (with thanks to Ben Kmetz). ”¦ All you sneakerhead types will want to check out this. ”¦ “Apparently Sony Pictures is afraid that college students aren’t watching Seinfeld anymore,” writes Ben Wideman. “They’ve launched the Seinfeld Campus Tour to get people excited about the show again. I visited the tour bus at the Rose Bowl on Saturday and was excited to see that the exhibit included David Putty’s famous Devils jersey from the ‘face painter’ episode” (and yes, we all know you can quote chapter and verse from that episode and many others, but please don’t, thanks). ”¦ The Maple Leafs unveiled their new alternate jersey yesterday. As expected, it’s a straight throwback job. ”¦ Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ‘secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game — so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.” ”¦ According to this message board post (sent my way by Steven James DeBlasi), the Jets “have announced that they ”¦ will unveil an away Titans uniform next season.” I have my doubts about that, at least in terms of a game uni, although a fashion replica isn’t such a stretch.
In regards to the back to back Jets games with Throwbacks…I love my Jets no matter what uni we wear, but I have a question:
Does/Has ANY other professional sports team wear their old ownerships uniforms?
The Titans were sold after the 62 season (correct me if I am wrong please)..and then became the Jets…and we have had a bevy of uni’s…(when will the 80’s futuristic Jet helmet/jerseys make an appereance as a throwback?)
Wouldn’t that allow for other teams (say Tennesse Titans) to break out old Oilers gear? Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?
I just find it odd that most other teams who have transferred ownership don’t do previous ownerships throwbacks….(and I do understand that Hartford owns everything whalers….so that’s automatically ruled out)
The TOR uni was almost the worst kept secret in hockey.
link
From that pic it looks like it’s not a RBK jersey, so we’ll be able to see jerseys flapping in the wind again as players skate. That tag at the bottom is not going to be there in the game unis is it? I REALLY hope not. Will be nice to see stripes at the bottom of TOR unis again though…
As for the Wild mascot….
A) Looks like he’s wearing a furry helmet
B) AWESOME that they actually gave him a mullet!
C) He’s wearing 18,001 as a number. Oh so stupid.
D) Give the poor guys some hockey socks! If you’re going to have him wear a jersey AND hockey pants, why not socks? Looks like he got dressed too fast and forgot to put on shin pads and socks.
E) The article says he’s a hybrid of a bunch of animals. WHAT? So they’re saying he’s some kind of offspring of a huge forest animal orgy? Gross…
Here’s more pics of ‘Nordy’…
link
For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
link
The Cubs didn’t have gray road uniforms in 1984. Their road uniforms were the solid blue jerseys, and solid white pants with a red/blue stripe down the side.
Both the Rangers and Twins have had “Turn Back the Clock” days wearing Senators jerseys. I think the Nats also did a Senators tribute, but that may have just been a Walter Johnson era hat.
[quote comment=”293703″]For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
link
Only problem with that site is that’s the guy who thinks teams didn’t wear helmets in the 30’s.
Riiiiiiiight.
[quote comment=”293701″]Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?[/quote]
I think they did that during warmups once.
[quote comment=”293702″]The TOR uni was almost the worst kept secret in hockey.
link
From that pic it looks like it’s not a RBK jersey, so we’ll be able to see jerseys flapping in the wind again as players skate. That tag at the bottom is not going to be there in the game unis is it? I REALLY hope not. Will be nice to see stripes at the bottom of TOR unis again though…
As for the Wild mascot….
A) Looks like he’s wearing a furry helmet
B) AWESOME that they actually gave him a mullet!
C) He’s wearing 18,001 as a number. Oh so stupid.
D) Give the poor guys some hockey socks! If you’re going to have him wear a jersey AND hockey pants, why not socks? Looks like he got dressed too fast and forgot to put on shin pads and socks.
E) The article says he’s a hybrid of a bunch of animals. WHAT? So they’re saying he’s some kind of offspring of a huge forest animal orgy? Gross…
Here’s more pics of ‘Nordy’…
link
Since Craig Leopold bought the Wild he has, among other things…
* Raised ticket prices.
* Begun charging the media for pre-game meal.
* Taken a 10-year lease on the honeymoon suite at a nearby hotel (so he can be close to his team when he’s in town) at an estimated cost of possibly $10 million.
* Failed to sign or deal Marion Gaborik.
* Given fans a nifty new mascot.
So far, I am not optimistic.
The video clip is Bryan Westbrook, not Michael
With regards to the championship patch. In 2003 the Red Sox Painted the field at Fenway with all the World Series Logo’s prior to game seven of the ALCS against the Yanks. They showed it multiple times on TV. Then Arron “Bleepin” Boone happened. Around Boston it was largely blamed on the grounds crew jinxing the team by painting the logo’s early.
From Yesterday:
re: George Preston Marshall.
On my drive home from the office was thinking it’s gotta be frustrating for the NFL. Baseball had some visionary proponents of integration (Branch Rickey and Bill Veeck being probably the most well-known). The NFL, though, had no such comparable individual or inviduals, but rather only an intracable, vocal, diehard racist in Marshall, who held to a stance so entrenched that it took the threat of government intervention to fully integrate the league.
Pretty tough to spin that.
–Ricko
They’ve tried, the stuff about integrating long before 1947. Nobody tells a story like NFL Films but they are pretty thin in that department for sure.
The NFL (I’m guessing) DID have ass stripes: link…
Striping on helmet of guy on ground to the right is different. Was that an “eligible/ineligible” thing or something?
Wow, like the WFL thing? Makes sense, since the QB/HB sees them running away and all.
Calling Tim Brule. Oh, Ti-immmm. Or someone from one of those “helmet” sites?
That shot is from Ebbets Field and it’s the Brooklyn Dodgers hosting the Chicago Cardinals. The game is October 19, 1941, as The Dodgers changed their look in 1943. The Dodgers would be wearing red and the Cardinals wore blue if there was a color clash on the road. The Dodgers did have red stripes on their helmets and rear stripes during this era.
Hope this helps!
Media should pay for their pre-game meal. Otherwise, there is the appearance that the home team is attempting to curry favor with them.
The Cubs got rid of their road greys after the 1981 season and did not wear them again until 1990. Their road uniform for that 1982-89 span (which included two division championships) was blue jerseys on white pants. Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.
Ahh yes, the ’84 NL playoffs.
Didn’t really matter who won…the Tigers would steamroll either team.
don’t know if this was ever posted before (apologies if it was)…check out these link…paul would prolly love one (or all of them)
“The rub, of course, is that this patch was worn in 1984. In other words, the Cubbies were already patting themselves on the back even though they hadn’t really won anything yet.”
Except for…the division title, which the patch acknowledged.
“If they had advanced to the World Series, would they have swapped in a set of “1984 N.L. Champions” patches?”
Considering that if they had advanced to the World Series, they would have then, by definition, actually been the 1984 NL Champions, I would imagine they would have been within their rights.
“I contend they lost to the Padres in large part due to that enormous patch,” says Lundborg (a reasonable analysis).
I would hope that both of your tongues were firmly in your cheeks there.
They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.
Not only were those Cubs “Softball” jerseys from the 80’s horrible, but how pathetic was that patch? It must have taken less than 1 minute to design. Plain lettering inside a couple of circles… brilliant!
Once again, Hockey teaches us true values:
“However, a traditional superstition that is prevalent among many of today’s NHL players is that no player should either touch or hoist the Wales Trophy (or the Western Conference’s trophy, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl) when they have won the conference playoffs as the Eastern Conference champions. Players feel that the Stanley Cup is the only true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that should be hoisted”
That’s why you don’t celebrate anything until you’ve won it…
[quote comment=”293712″]Media should pay for their pre-game meal. Otherwise, there is the appearance that the home team is attempting to curry favor with them.[/quote]
Because, God knows, I’d sell out my journalistic integrity for a hot dog.
In any case, the ship sailed a long time ago on free media pregame meals. I haven’t covered an NFL game in years, but they used to have really good pregame meals. I don’t recall anyone pulling any punches because of it. Some fat print bastards would get upset if the food wasn’t there on time or wasn’t good enough for them, but that’s how fat print bastards are.
[quote]
The Cubs got rid of their road greys after the 1981 season and did not wear them again until 1990.[/quote]
I don’t think they were grays, were they? I remember light blue with white pinstripes on the road. Yep, 1978-81, they were light blue with white pinstripes. The true road grays last saw the light in 1975.
I took link at Fan Fest 2008.
I’ll stop patting myself on the back now.
[quote comment=”293718″]That’s why you don’t celebrate anything until you’ve won it…[/quote]
Point was…they were celebrating something they actually HAD already won (and only that). They hadn’t won jack in 39 years, so the overexuberance could probably have been excused.
Was it an inspired design? No. But what was in 1984? Did you see the Padres’ uniforms that year?
[quote comment=”293709″]The video clip is Bryan Westbrook, not Michael[/quote]
Or Brian.
[quote comment=”293710″]With regards to the championship patch. In 2003 the Red Sox Painted the field at Fenway with all the World Series Logo’s prior to game seven of the ALCS against the Yanks. They showed it multiple times on TV. Then Arron “Bleepin” Boone happened. Around Boston it was largely blamed on the grounds crew jinxing the team by painting the logo’s early.[/quote]
I don’t remember anyone blaming the grounds crew. I think people thought it was just an awful thing to show on TV. I mean sure, it definitely jinxed them, but not many people made a big deal out of it. I think… scratch that… I know most people in Boston blamed it on Grady Little leaving Pedro in too long.
Not on the uniform, but how about link? They never learn, do they?
a few college teams have started getting a few Revolution speed helmets as well-saw an Oklahoma Sooner with one.
So be on the look out-I think Riddell is sending more out to be tested.
you know, the NHL out to get the terrible teams out of the US and put them back in Canada, Quebec, Winnipeg and including the Hartford Whalers.
[quote]They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.[/quote]
it could also be argued that due to the playoff format employed at the time, (in even years, nl east division champ hosted games 1 & 2, west 3-5), the cubs, despite their superior record, were deprived of their home field advantage (they were 51-30 at the confines)…thus, costing them the shot at the big dance
…or, more likely, it was the patch
[quote comment=”293719″][quote comment=”293712″]Media should pay for their pre-game meal. Otherwise, there is the appearance that the home team is attempting to curry favor with them.[/quote]
Because, God knows, I’d sell out my journalistic integrity for a hot dog.[/quote]
Exactly my point. A hot dog is cheap, so pay for it yourself and avoid even the possibility of impropriety. If I see a judge outside the courtroom, I can’t buy him a hot dog without risking action by the bar against both him and me.
Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game – so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.”
Josh, is the catalogue online in PDF form or is it a hardcopy?
[quote comment=”293726″][quote]They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.[/quote]
it could also be argued that due to the playoff format employed at the time, (in even years, nl east division champ hosted games 1 & 2, west 3-5), the cubs, despite their superior record, were deprived of their home field advantage (they were 51-30 at the confines)…thus, costing them the shot at the big dance
…or, more likely, it was the patch[/quote]
It also came out last year that if the Cubs would have made the World Series that year, they would have played their World Series games at Comiskey Park. Commisioner Ueberroth had the whole scheme in place, but obviously it was not needed. He wanted nothing to do with World Series games being played in the daytime.
[quote comment=”293724″]a few college teams have started getting a few Revolution speed helmets as well-saw an Oklahoma Sooner with one.
So be on the look out-I think Riddell is sending more out to be tested.[/quote]
Texas, for one, has many players wearing them!
[quote comment=”293717″]Not only were those Cubs “Softball” jerseys from the 80’s horrible, but how pathetic was that patch? It must have taken less than 1 minute to design. Plain lettering inside a couple of circles… brilliant![/quote]
Hmmm, you say this as though the Cubs were the only team to fall into the “80’s softball jersey” trap. As I recall, most teams went that route, with varying degrees of yuck. As for the patch, I agree it is devoid of serious design or style, but again I think it is simply a reflection of the time. Take a look at the 1976 National League Centennial patch sometime…while it is an improvement from the division patch being discussed, it was a reflection of 1970s logo design.I dare say, that the god-awful “wild card” caps the Brewers (cue; CC Sabathia) were wearing, some players even before the game was complete, should also go down as ugly and presumptuous. I would think those guys would have been a better target for Mr. Lukas since they contributed to his precious Mets being eliminated from the playoffs. Note to Paul: I like your blog, but I find your ridiculous comments about the Cubs and “curses” to be dissapointing and not reflective of what I have come to expect from your ESPN column or most of your posts on this blog. There are alot of Cubs fans out here, try not to bite the hand that feeds you, we read your thoughts even though your a Mets fan.
Back in ’84, there was no Wild Card in baseball. You won your division or you were home for the winter.
Is it a little too self-congratulatory? Perhaps, but not inappropriate. The Cubs did win the division.
Looking at that Wild picture, the kids in the purple and yellow gear. Am I the only person who immediately thought of the first Mighty Ducks movie? They have the kids dressed in those things before they get their (original green and yellow) Duck jerseys.
[quote comment=”293702″]
C) He’s wearing 18,001 as a number.[/quote]
He’s the representative of the Team of 18,000 so they gave him 18,001 in order not to remove anyone from the Team of 18,000. The Wild have used this slogan – Team of 18,000 – as a way of bringing the fans closer to the team.
The commercial shown last week with Andrew Brunette poked fun at the slogan because he couldn’t get his familiar #15. Check it out link.
[quote comment=”293703″]For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
link
I think the Vikings should go back to their origional unis, those look so good, and so much better than those new ugly ones, but then again you cant look good in purple unless you are Barney. They all cant look as good as the Chiefs in their home and road unis.
Also the 49ers should go to that retro they wore in 94, it looks so sharp.
[quote comment=”293701″]In regards to the back to back Jets games with Throwbacks…I love my Jets no matter what uni we wear, but I have a question:
Does/Has ANY other professional sports team wear their old ownerships uniforms?
The Titans were sold after the 62 season (correct me if I am wrong please)..and then became the Jets…and we have had a bevy of uni’s…(when will the 80’s futuristic Jet helmet/jerseys make an appereance as a throwback?)
Wouldn’t that allow for other teams (say Tennesse Titans) to break out old Oilers gear? Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?
I just find it odd that most other teams who have transferred ownership don’t do previous ownerships throwbacks….(and I do understand that Hartford owns everything whalers….so that’s automatically ruled out)[/quote]
The Brewers started wearing their retro alternates after Attanasio bought the team.
I think it’s more common than not – in these days of diminishing long-term ownership, virtualy all throwbacks of more than a decade are looking to an earlier owner’s tenure.
[quote comment=”293725″]you know, the NHL out to get the terrible teams out of the US and put them back in Canada, Quebec, Winnipeg and including the Hartford Whalers.[/quote]
Except that neither Winnipeg nor Quebec are NHL cities. And Hartford is in the same boat. There is absolutely no corporate sponsorship there.
If you put NHL teams back into those places, you displace the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, and the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL. All three of those franchises are extremely successful in their niche market.
There’s no easy answer, but the right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north. Contraction sucks, but so does loses hundreds of millions of dollars.
You know, combine teams like Toronto and Atlanta. Kovalchuk in the Big Smoke? He’d be huge there.
[quote comment=”293728″]Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game – so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.”
Josh, is the catalogue online in PDF form or is it a hardcopy?[/quote]
it was in PDF but i believe it has been taken off of the site
[quote comment=”293739″][quote comment=”293728″]Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game – so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.”
Josh, is the catalogue online in PDF form or is it a hardcopy?[/quote]
it was in PDF but i believe it has been taken off of the site[/quote]
its back on the niketeam.com site
[quote comment=”293721″][quote comment=”293718″]That’s why you don’t celebrate anything until you’ve won it…[/quote]
Point was…they were celebrating something they actually HAD already won (and only that). [/quote]
Actually, my point was to say that the only true championship is the finals….wether it is the stanley cup, world series, super bowl…etc.
The conference trophies aren’t even really recognized as a milestone with most franchises…
What if the Detroit Lions (if ever) won a Division title, and they wore NFC North Champ patches and then bounced in their first playoff game…its a futile accomplishment and goes to show how little a team will settle for.
[quote comment=”293703″]For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
link
I believe that Peter in comment #1 is referring more specifically to throwbacks to ownership changes that correspond to relocation – hence his referral to the defunct Oilers and Nordique.
Thoughts?
I posted this on my blog today, but I had never seen it before, so I thought I’d throw it out here. Paul, you may like this.
“I have never seen nor heard of a mascot for the California Golden Seals, but I have been holding on to this photo for some time. Apparently, the Seals commissioned Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to come up with link for the franchise. Yes, the same Charles Schulz who was responsible for link. I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have ever seen in terms of having someone design a mascot for an NHL team.”
[quote comment=”293736″][quote comment=”293703″]For one, Vikings’ throwbacks (ones with yellow-gold striped socks) went back to original ownership.
49ers with black drop shadow. Chargers powder blues. Rams light gold jerseys.
Many of them in the 1994 Throwback season…
link
I think the Vikings should go back to their origional unis, those look so good, and so much better than those new ugly ones, but then again you cant look good in purple unless you are Barney. They all cant look as good as the Chiefs in their home and road unis.
Also the 49ers should go to that retro they wore in 94, it looks so sharp.[/quote]
Let the bashing commence!
Yes, I do think that the older style, Fran Tarkenton era, Vikings unis were simple and clean.
However, I do like the new AP era unis as well.
I really like the yellow piping but wish that they had kept the grey facemasks that they wore during at least one pre-season game this year.
[quote comment=”293740″][quote comment=”293739″][quote comment=”293728″]Oh-so-tantalizing news from Josh Holman, who writes: “I was going through the 2009 Nike Fall Football Catalog and noticed there’s a new ’secret’ jersey called the Enforcer, which will make its debut during this years Army/Navy game – so secret that they don’t even show you a picture of it.”
Josh, is the catalogue online in PDF form or is it a hardcopy?[/quote]
it was in PDF but i believe it has been taken off of the site[/quote]
its back on the niketeam.com site[/quote]
Thanks, JP!!
[quote] you cant look good in purple unless you are Barney[/quote]
link
you owe me a new monitor
[quote comment=”293720″]I took link at Fan Fest 2008.
I’ll stop patting myself on the back now.[/quote]
This patch is the yet another curse on the cubs, and if you’ll notice they all begin with ‘B’
Billy Goat
Black Cat
Bartman
Big Ass Patch
[quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)
To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian
[quote comment=”293743″]I posted this on my blog today, but I had never seen it before, so I thought I’d throw it out here. Paul, you may like this.
“I have never seen nor heard of a mascot for the California Golden Seals, but I have been holding on to this photo for some time. Apparently, the Seals commissioned Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to come up with link for the franchise. Yes, the same Charles Schulz who was responsible for link. I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have ever seen in terms of having someone design a mascot for an NHL team.”[/quote]
Very Cool indeed Teebz, Shultz was a big time Hockey fan, so much so, that he had his own rink.
link
I still have a Christmas decoration of Snoopy and woodstock playing hockey in a bird bath, very cool for a ten yr old to get!
[quote comment=”293705″]Both the Rangers and Twins have had “Turn Back the Clock” days wearing Senators jerseys. I think the Nats also did a Senators tribute, but that may have just been a Walter Johnson era hat.[/quote]
The Brewers have worn Milwaukee Braves unis (against Atlanta, making it a Braves vs. Braves game). That was not just different ownership, but obviously a completely different franchise.
So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.
[quote comment=”293749″]To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian[/quote]
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers
Or even the Colorado Avalanche to break out that great Nordiques jersey?
I think they did that during warmups once.
In September 2002, the Avs played an exhibition game vs the Habs in Québec City. That was the first time the team came back to Québec City after they moved to Denver. At that time, only 3 Avs players (Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote) were member of the Nordiques in their last season (1995). For the exhibition game, they entered the ice dressed in their old Nordiques jersey while the rest of the team was wearing the full Colorado Avalanche uniform. link
The jereys were later given to guests in pre-game ceremonies. Forsberg, Sakic and Foote had their regular Avs jersey underneath their Nords jersey.
[quote comment=”293753″][quote comment=”293749″]To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian[/quote]
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers[/quote]
Being in Houston, it’s been well reported/documented/stated that the new ownership has severed all ties w/ previous ownership (Bud Adams) and intentionally does not associate or promote anything related to the Oilers, the colors etc. It would be sweet, but it ain’t happening anytime soon. FYI.
[quote comment=”293750″][quote comment=”293743″]I posted this on my blog today, but I had never seen it before, so I thought I’d throw it out here. Paul, you may like this.
“I have never seen nor heard of a mascot for the California Golden Seals, but I have been holding on to this photo for some time. Apparently, the Seals commissioned Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to come up with link for the franchise. Yes, the same Charles Schulz who was responsible for link. I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have ever seen in terms of having someone design a mascot for an NHL team.”[/quote]
Very Cool indeed Teebz, Shultz was a big time Hockey fan, so much so, that he had his own rink.
link
I still have a Christmas decoration of Snoopy and woodstock playing hockey in a bird bath, very cool for a ten yr old to get![/quote]
Sorry was not a bird bath
link|39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over
[quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?
[quote comment=”293713″] Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.[/quote]
I remember ’94 as the first season of the “Team Cuba” road unis, but I don’t remember them wearing the blue alts until 1998. I remember them wearing batting practice jerseys in a 1997 game as a slump-buster. The BP jersey was almost identical to the current blue alt, except that it was a mesh fabric and the chest patch was solid white behind the walking cub (like link rather than link.
Then the next season, the official blue alts debuted (or at least that’s the way I remember it).
would they be allowed to wear throwbacks?
I still haven’t seen the Dallas Stars wear the Old
North Stars / Cleveland Barons….
[quote comment=”293753″][quote comment=”293749″]To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian[/quote]
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers[/quote]
What? No mention of the WFL Houston Texans? Well, of course, they did become the Shreveport Steamers, so I suppose we’ll have to wait for the Steamers to do a throwback.
Oh, wait, that could be tough.
(Hey, Don Maynard played for the those kelly and light gold Texans, let’s not forget that. Only their home games, though.)
[quote comment=”293758″]Well, let’s do this logically.
[/quote]
Not as long as Gary Bettman’s still around.
[quote comment=”293719″][quote comment=”293712″]Media should pay for their pre-game meal. Otherwise, there is the appearance that the home team is attempting to curry favor with them.[/quote]
Because, God knows, I’d sell out my journalistic integrity for a hot dog.
In any case, the ship sailed a long time ago on free media pregame meals. I haven’t covered an NFL game in years, but they used to have really good pregame meals. I don’t recall anyone pulling any punches because of it. Some fat print bastards would get upset if the food wasn’t there on time or wasn’t good enough for them, but that’s how fat print bastards are.
[quote]
The Cubs got rid of their road greys after the 1981 season and did not wear them again until 1990.[/quote]
I don’t think they were grays, were they? I remember light blue with white pinstripes on the road. Yep, 1978-81, they were light blue with white pinstripes. The true road grays last saw the light in 1975.[/quote]
You are correct, sir. My bad. That was at a time when a lot of teams’ “road greys” were actually light blue (Phillies, Cardinals, Royals, Twins, et. al.).
[quote comment=”293743″]I posted this on my blog today, but I had never seen it before, so I thought I’d throw it out here. Paul, you may like this.
“I have never seen nor heard of a mascot for the California Golden Seals, but I have been holding on to this photo for some time. Apparently, the Seals commissioned Charles M. Schulz Creative Associates to come up with link for the franchise. Yes, the same Charles Schulz who was responsible for link. I think this is one of the coolest ideas I have ever seen in terms of having someone design a mascot for an NHL team.”[/quote]
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
link
[quote comment=”293759″][quote comment=”293713″] Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.[/quote]
I remember ’94 as the first season of the “Team Cuba” road unis, but I don’t remember them wearing the blue alts until 1998. I remember them wearing batting practice jerseys in a 1997 game as a slump-buster. The BP jersey was almost identical to the current blue alt, except that it was a mesh fabric and the chest patch was solid white behind the walking cub (like link rather than link.
Then the next season, the official blue alts debuted (or at least that’s the way I remember it).[/quote]
My memory (which does not always serve me perfectly) is that they debuted the blue alternates (in the same style as Cuba — good point) at home for the first time ever in May 1994, but lost that game and shelved them for a while. I think 1994 was the year when alternate colored jerseys really started to take traction. That was a great season until the players and owners blew it.
[quote comment=”293764″]
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
link
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second!
Re: the Titans’ road unis for next year. I would think there would be some more “original” AFL teams announcing throwbacks as 2009 will be the 50th season of the AFL. Note I didn’t say anniversary. Wasn’t there something a few weeks back that said Oakland was going with silver numbers on white for home next year? I hope Houston/Tennessee goes with the powder blue and cool number font. Denver hopefully doesn’t use the brown/baby poo yellow.
[quote comment=”293721″][quote comment=”293718″]That’s why you don’t celebrate anything until you’ve won it…[/quote]
Point was…they were celebrating something they actually HAD already won (and only that). They hadn’t won jack in 39 years, so the overexuberance could probably have been excused.
Was it an inspired design? No. But what was in 1984? Did you see the Padres’ uniforms that year?[/quote]
As Steve Garvey (who hit that incredible home run to win Game 4) said, he looked like the American flag when playing for the Dodgers and a taco when playing for the Padres. Yes, the Pads’ uniforms were awful, but better than their ’70s versions.
I lived in San Diego for four years while on active military duty and always wondered why they didn’t go with navy blue, gold, and scarlet, in honor of the colors of the Navy and Marine Corps, which so dominant the landscape of San Diego. They had great blue pinstripe uniforms in the 1990s and ditched them.
[quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Reasonable.
Get Bettman on the phone!
[quote comment=”293767″]Re: the Titans’ road unis for next year. I would think there would be some more “original” AFL teams announcing throwbacks as 2009 will be the 50th season of the AFL. Note I didn’t say anniversary. [quote]
Well, it would actually be the 50th anniversary. The first season was 1960, but the league was founded in 1959.
[quote]Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
well…i was just kinda hopin’ you’d give all the good preds to the icelanders :o)
Ugh. Is this better? [quote]Re: the Titans’ road unis for next year. I would think there would be some more “original” AFL teams announcing throwbacks as 2009 will be the 50th season of the AFL. Note I didn’t say anniversary. [/quote]
Well, it would actually be the 50th anniversary. The first season was 1960, but the league was founded in 1959.
[quote comment=”293771″][quote]Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
well…i was just kinda hopin’ you’d give all the good preds to the icelanders :o)[/quote]
Not until Charles Wang dies, sells the franchise, or turns it over to someone who knows the sport. ;o)
Actually, I almost left Nashville in there and went with combining the NYR and NYI due to Wang’s mismanagement of the team.
[quote comment=”293766″][quote comment=”293764″]
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
link
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second![/quote]
The Sparky the Seal character is really great. What an amazing talent Charles Shultz possessed.
I’ve always been kinda surprised that more sports teams don’t have comic book and/or comic strip artists create characters and logos for them. At the very least, they could have those characters available for marketing purposes.
Well, let’s do this logically…
Pretty good plan. The only thing I would disagree on is going back to the division names. It may be a great tradition but it’s confusing as hell to newcomers and the NHL needs to attract all the new fans it can get. As a kid in SC I was fascinated by hockey but couldn’t make heads or tails of what those weird names meant. Stick with geographically based names and I’ll join the cause! :-)
[quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
As sad as it is the NHL is all about $$$$, so merging teams wouldn’t work because owners wouldn’t share a team, or give a team up.
But if we’re living in a fantasy workd where money doens’t matter, and we actually do things so it’s good for the league, I believe some teams should be removed. I like re-naming the divisions with historical names, but let’s update them a bit. Realignment would be nice, it’s too much detail to getinto here, but I’ll do my own “If I were the Commish” at lunch when I have time.
[quote comment=”293775″]Well, let’s do this logically…
Pretty good plan. The only thing I would disagree on is going back to the division names. It may be a great tradition but it’s confusing as hell to newcomers and the NHL needs to attract all the new fans it can get. As a kid in SC I was fascinated by hockey but couldn’t make heads or tails of what those weird names meant. Stick with geographically based names and I’ll join the cause! :-)[/quote]
Except that the geographical names don’t always work out so great, either. (Dallas in the Pacific Division?)
Of course, the NHL is nowhere near as bad as the NFL. (Dallas in the NFC East, Baltimore in the AFC North, Indianapolis in the AFC South…)
[quote]In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida[/quote]
that third one wouldn’t be too much of a disruption ;)
[quote comment=”293702″]The TOR uni was almost the worst kept secret in hockey.
link
From that pic it looks like it’s not a RBK jersey, so we’ll be able to see jerseys flapping in the wind again as players skate. That tag at the bottom is not going to be there in the game unis is it? I REALLY hope not. Will be nice to see stripes at the bottom of TOR unis again though…
As for the Wild mascot….
A) Looks like he’s wearing a furry helmet
B) AWESOME that they actually gave him a mullet!
C) He’s wearing 18,001 as a number. Oh so stupid.
D) Give the poor guys some hockey socks! If you’re going to have him wear a jersey AND hockey pants, why not socks? Looks like he got dressed too fast and forgot to put on shin pads and socks.
E) The article says he’s a hybrid of a bunch of animals. WHAT? So they’re saying he’s some kind of offspring of a huge forest animal orgy? Gross…
Here’s more pics of ‘Nordy’…
link
its clearly an ugly edge cut you can see the flap in the back.
[quote comment=”293753″][quote comment=”293749″]To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian[/quote]
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers[/quote]
They should… but – Bud hates Houston and Houston hates Bud! He kept the name so we could never use it… And if he EVER has that team don an Oiler throwback, he risks bodily harm – so don’t look fo rthat kiind of love either… Several ex-Oilers won’t even let him put their jersey number/name in the rafters!
[quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish. No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.
Contraction looses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you loose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.
Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.
Oh, and another note- a poster mentioned up top hat the TML jerseys were not RBK edge. They are. Rounded hem, jock tag on the replica hanging there, NHL logo webbing thing at the neck. But this is further proof of what I’ve been saying since they came out- it’s not the Edge uniform, it’s the designers who determine the Uniform look.
What’s the betting this sells better then their normal ones this year?
I also want to say that link is friggin sweet.
And I finally learned the HTML!
[quote comment=”293730″][quote comment=”293726″][quote]They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.[/quote]
it could also be argued that due to the playoff format employed at the time, (in even years, nl east division champ hosted games 1 & 2, west 3-5), the cubs, despite their superior record, were deprived of their home field advantage (they were 51-30 at the confines)…thus, costing them the shot at the big dance
…or, more likely, it was the patch[/quote]
It also came out last year that if the Cubs would have made the World Series that year, they would have played their World Series games at Comiskey Park. Commisioner Ueberroth had the whole scheme in place, but obviously it was not needed. He wanted nothing to do with World Series games being played in the daytime.[/quote]
from everything I have ever head the games would have been at wrigely, but it would have been the last time they ever did it.
[quote comment=”293781″][quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish. No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.
Contraction looses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you loose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.
Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.
Oh, and another note- a poster mentioned up top hat the TML jerseys were not RBK edge. They are. Rounded hem, jock tag on the replica hanging there, NHL logo webbing thing at the neck. But this is further proof of what I’ve been saying since they came out- it’s not the Edge uniform, it’s the designers who determine the Uniform look.
What’s the betting this sells better then their normal ones this year?[/quote]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.
[quote comment=”293784″][quote comment=”293781″][quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish. No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.
Contraction looses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you loose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.
Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.
Oh, and another note- a poster mentioned up top hat the TML jerseys were not RBK edge. They are. Rounded hem, jock tag on the replica hanging there, NHL logo webbing thing at the neck. But this is further proof of what I’ve been saying since they came out- it’s not the Edge uniform, it’s the designers who determine the Uniform look.
What’s the betting this sells better then their normal ones this year?[/quote]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.[/quote]
Sorry, I meant Anaheim has won, not LA.
[quote comment=”293769″][quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Of the four divisions, the team with the lowest point total from the season before will be granted the merge potential. It is completely up to that team, and, if they decide not to merge, it goes to the next lowest point earner in that division.
In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida
*Each of those cities that lost their team will be short-listed for possible future expansion, but that option will not be available for 25 years. Obviously, this generation doesn’t want NHL hockey in those cities, so why push it?
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Reasonable.
Get Bettman on the phone![/quote]
I’m not sure bettman is smart enough to know how to use a phone.
RE: NHL:
Lets just critique their unis in order to determine whether a franchise stays or goes, shall we!
[quote]
Sorry, I meant Anaheim has won, not LA.[/quote]
Didn’t you hear? Anaheim is in LA…just ask Art Moreno!
[quote comment=”293784″]Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase[/quote]
Hey, waitaminute! HAD been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase…
link
[quote comment=”293778″][quote]In order not to disrupt players’ lives too much, I would propose the following mergers:
LA + Phoenix
St. Louis + Nashville
Toronto + Atlanta
Tampa Bay + Florida[/quote]
that third one wouldn’t be too much of a disruption ;)[/quote]
Not at all, actually. Both teams play in the East right now, and both are in the Eastern timezone. Players move all the time, but this is less of a team hopping conferences to a new style of play than it is simple realignment. The rougher West would be punishment on Kovalchuk.
[quote comment=”293765″][quote comment=”293759″][quote comment=”293713″] Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.[/quote]
I remember ’94 as the first season of the “Team Cuba” road unis, but I don’t remember them wearing the blue alts until 1998. I remember them wearing batting practice jerseys in a 1997 game as a slump-buster. The BP jersey was almost identical to the current blue alt, except that it was a mesh fabric and the chest patch was solid white behind the walking cub (like link rather than link.
Then the next season, the official blue alts debuted (or at least that’s the way I remember it).[/quote]
My memory (which does not always serve me perfectly) is that they debuted the blue alternates (in the same style as Cuba — good point) at home for the first time ever in May 1994, but lost that game and shelved them for a while. I think 1994 was the year when alternate colored jerseys really started to take traction. That was a great season until the players and owners blew it.[/quote]
More specifically, they wore the blue alt for the first time in New York against the Mets. I’ll try to find a pic — I know I’ve seen one.
[quote comment=”293774″][quote comment=”293766″][quote comment=”293764″]
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
link
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second![/quote]
The Sparky the Seal character is really great. What an amazing talent Charles Shultz possessed.
I’ve always been kinda surprised that more sports teams don’t have comic book and/or comic strip artists create characters and logos for them. At the very least, they could have those characters available for marketing purposes.[/quote]
I’ve got a link for Pittsburgh.
His name is Sparky, too….
[quote comment=”293783″][quote comment=”293730″][quote comment=”293726″][quote]They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.[/quote]
it could also be argued that due to the playoff format employed at the time, (in even years, nl east division champ hosted games 1 & 2, west 3-5), the cubs, despite their superior record, were deprived of their home field advantage (they were 51-30 at the confines)…thus, costing them the shot at the big dance
…or, more likely, it was the patch[/quote]
It also came out last year that if the Cubs would have made the World Series that year, they would have played their World Series games at Comiskey Park. Commisioner Ueberroth had the whole scheme in place, but obviously it was not needed. He wanted nothing to do with World Series games being played in the daytime.[/quote]
from everything I have ever head the games would have been at wrigely, but it would have been the last time they ever did it.[/quote]
Found it!
link
While searching for the 1994 Cubs alternate jersey, I found link. That’s Ryne Sandberg in 1981 playing for the Phillies’ Triple-A club against the Iowa Oaks (now the Iowa Cubs). Check out the gigantic number — and also the sleeve number.
While surfing, I came across link wearing numbered socks that arent the right number in a HS football game.
I also came across link who takes tons of link sports link including the Prom Rugby match where the womens rugby team wore link to raise money for…something.
[quote comment=”293773″][quote comment=”293771″][quote]Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
well…i was just kinda hopin’ you’d give all the good preds to the icelanders :o)[/quote]
Not until Charles Wang dies, sells the franchise, or turns it over to someone who knows the sport. ;o)
Actually, I almost left Nashville in there and went with combining the NYR and NYI due to Wang’s mismanagement of the team.[/quote]
Did you guys know that Wang actually had a tryout for goalie…that involved sumo wrestlers?!? His idea was to fill up the goal with the huge wrestler, thus creating a man-wall of defense. You can\’t make this stuff up. I\’m not sure if there are any pics available, but a search is in order.
Think stirrups socks weren’t a big addition to the color–and team identification–of baseball? Look at this photo, then hold your hand in front of your screen to cover Spahn and Sain from the knees down…and see how much this classic uniforms loses.
link
—Ricko
[quote comment=”293781″]
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish.[/quote]
Except they still don’t have the league-mandated minimum of season tickets sold to warrant revenue-sharing so the Predators will lose money again this season. Boston? They have a giant, hockey-mad market to draw from. And if you’re talking pre-season, Phoenix’s largest crowd thus far came in Winnipeg where they cheered for the Flames. What does that tell you?
[quote comment=”293781″]No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.[/quote]
So the move back to Colorado wasn’t a good one?
Atlanta, who has now had two cracks at an NHL team, is failing miserably yet again. Kansas City can’t sell out their brand-new arena for a Blues-Kings game, yet they “deserve” another franchise?
How many kids in Phoenix grab their skates and head out to the frozen pond on a Saturday afternoon in December? How many in Atlanta? How many in Nashville? How many in Miami?
These franchises are failing because hockey is irrelevant to everyone except the die-hards. No one followed the business model that Hicks made when he moved the North Stars to Dallas. Yet Dallas Stars hockey is huge in Texas. Why? Hicks spent the first four years aggressively marketing a team to the fans.
[quote comment=”293781″]Contraction loses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you lose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.[/quote]
So if a company closes a branch that’s losing boatloads of money, they lose money? How does that work? The NHL is gate-driven, and you think you’re going to lose fans when no one is showing up to watch these teams play as it is?
Gary Bettman claims the NHL is stable. The league’s finances are fine, but individual teams are hurting. 16 of the 30 teams are lining up for revenue-sharing. The once sold-out Joe Louis Arena couldn’t even sell out for the playoffs last season in the first round. When was the last time that Phoenix sold out the Jobing.com Arena? Anyone? How about Opening Night of the arena! Simply put: the economics of the Sunbelt franchises do not work for hockey, and what owner is willing to lose $20 million per season for a decade building a brand?[/quote]
[quote comment=”293781″]Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.[/quote]
Really? So when the Islanders and Oilers were dominating the 1980s, that hurt the NHL? Less teams = more talent to go around = better league. They had 21 teams, and the action was incredible.
The only thing that having more teams does is add to the owners’ pockets if the franchise is successful. Otherwise, it does nothing for the fans – you know, the people who pay to sit in the seats and watch the game. Once the “new team” honeymoon period wears off, the merchandise sales reports fall off the table too.
The business model that the NHL has works well if you’re in a northern climate. It does not and never will work in the Sunbelt.
[quote comment=”293752″]So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.[/quote]
They could mean IUPUI, I guess. That being Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis for the uninitiated.
Hey everyone, I need some assistance.
I’m looking for photos of the 1927 Detroit Tigers jerseys.
This was the one year they wore a tiger head logo on the front of their jerseys.
Here’s an illustration, but I’d really like to see some photos of it.
link
Thanks for any help.
OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following:
1) Gary Bettman – SEE YA! GONE!
2) Get rid of FLA and TB.
3) Move PHX back to WIN (use old logo)
4) Move CAR back to HAR (use old logo)
5) Give BUF, LA, VAN, ATL, MIN old logos. I know ATL flames are now CAL and MIN is DAL but I’m the boss.
6) Realign/Rename conference and divisions. We now have 28 teams.
7) Conferences go back to Wales and Campbell
8) 2 seven team divisions in each conference. Division names are Richard (MON DET TOR BOS CHI NYR OTT), Orr (HAR NJ NYI PIT PHI WAS BUF), Howe (ATL NAS CBJ MIN DAL WIN STL), Gretzky (LA SJ ANA VAN COL EDM CAL)
9) Richard and Orr would be in Wales Conference
10) Gretzky and Howe in Campbell Conference
NHL Layout would look like this:
link
Tried to give ANA another logo, but all their past ones suck.
That’s how I would re-align the league…
[quote comment=”293800″]Hey everyone, I need some assistance.
I’m looking for photos of the 1927 Detroit Tigers jerseys.
This was the one year they wore a tiger head logo on the front of their jerseys.
Here’s an illustration, but I’d really like to see some photos of it.
link
Thanks for any help.[/quote]
Here’s one, from the files of um…Uni Watch.
link
Looks like Dallas has joined in on the Hockey Mom craze… at least we are a link state!
[quote comment=”293803″]Looks like Dallas has joined in on the Hockey Mom craze… at least we are a link state![/quote]
Looks like Grossman has to get a new number…
link
I hope I didn’t just become the butt of an FAQ stream… sorry if that was old news, just saw the date on it! And have not been monitoring the comments lately…
[quote comment=”293803″]Looks like Dallas has joined in on the Hockey Mom craze… at least we are a link state![/quote]
Anyone notice how the criticism of Obama as the “celebrity candidate” has gone strangely silent?
Not espousing a political point of view, just—as an ad/pr guy—noting how “spin” can change depending on who’s got what going on for them.
[quote comment=”293760″]would they be allowed to wear throwbacks?
I still haven’t seen the Dallas Stars wear the Old
North Stars / Cleveland Barons….[/quote]
Dallas would have the rights to the North Stars but not the Barons.
The Cleveland Barons/Cali Golden Seals rights would actually go to San Jose.
The Seals/Barons merged with the North Stars in the 1970s. However, when the NHL expanded to San Jose in the early 90s, they effectively DIVERGED the franchises, basically splitting the North Stars roster in two, with half the team going to San Jose, then both teams got to pick in the expansion draft.
link
Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it
[quote comment=”293799″][quote comment=”293752″]So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.[/quote]
They could mean IUPUI, I guess. That being Indiana University, Purdue University at Indianapolis for the uninitiated.[/quote]
Nope, that isn’t what they meant.
[quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following:
1) Gary Bettman – SEE YA! GONE!
2) Get rid of FLA and TB.
3) Move PHX back to WIN (use old logo)
4) Move CAR back to HAR (use old logo)
5) Give BUF, LA, VAN, ATL, MIN old logos. I know ATL flames are now CAL and MIN is DAL but I’m the boss.
6) Realign/Rename conference and divisions. We now have 28 teams.
7) Conferences go back to Wales and Campbell
8) 2 seven team divisions in each conference. Division names are Richard (MON DET TOR BOS CHI NYR OTT), Orr (HAR NJ NYI PIT PHI WAS BUF), Howe (ATL NAS CBJ MIN DAL WIN STL), Gretzky (LA SJ ANA VAN COL EDM CAL)
9) Richard and Orr would be in Wales Conference
10) Gretzky and Howe in Campbell Conference
NHL Layout would look like this:
link
Tried to give ANA another logo, but all their past ones suck.
That’s how I would re-align the league…[/quote]
you aren’t going to have Boston in the Orr Division? Come on!
[quote comment=”293791″][quote comment=”293765″][quote comment=”293759″][quote comment=”293713″] Not until 1994 did they bring back blue jerseys (debuting for the first time as blue alternates), though they were different than the ones they wear today as a home and road alternate.[/quote]
I remember ’94 as the first season of the “Team Cuba” road unis, but I don’t remember them wearing the blue alts until 1998. I remember them wearing batting practice jerseys in a 1997 game as a slump-buster. The BP jersey was almost identical to the current blue alt, except that it was a mesh fabric and the chest patch was solid white behind the walking cub (like link rather than link.
Then the next season, the official blue alts debuted (or at least that’s the way I remember it).[/quote]
My memory (which does not always serve me perfectly) is that they debuted the blue alternates (in the same style as Cuba — good point) at home for the first time ever in May 1994, but lost that game and shelved them for a while. I think 1994 was the year when alternate colored jerseys really started to take traction. That was a great season until the players and owners blew it.[/quote]
More specifically, they wore the blue alt for the first time in New York against the Mets. I’ll try to find a pic — I know I’ve seen one.[/quote]
Sorry. Let me be more specific: Their home debut of the blue alternates was in May 1994, or maybe June 1994. Until then they had always worn white at home, or so I remember. (Haven’t consulted the uniform book to be sure.) They may have worn that blue alternate on the road that year too.
[quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)
[quote comment=”293774″][quote comment=”293766″][quote comment=”293764″]
Schultz was known as ‘Sparky’ to his friends and family
link
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second![/quote]
The Sparky the Seal character is really great. What an amazing talent Charles Shultz possessed.
I’ve always been kinda surprised that more sports teams don’t have comic book and/or comic strip artists create characters and logos for them. At the very least, they could have those characters available for marketing purposes.[/quote]
I know my alma mater, Butler, at one point had its mascot costume designed by Disney. One of the bigwigs at Disney was a Butler grad. I think it was one of only two or three that Disney did.
[quote comment=”293812″][quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)[/quote]
I’m the boss rememebr? I moved the city of winnipeg :)
Sorry about that, i was doing some logo moving and forgot to put it back where it belongs…
[quote comment=”293811″]Sorry. Let me be more specific: Their home debut of the blue alternates was in May 1994, or maybe June 1994. Until then they had always worn white at home, or so I remember. (Haven’t consulted the uniform book to be sure.) They may have worn that blue alternate on the road that year too.[/quote]
Eh, I can’t find a picture of either instance, anyway.
[quote comment=”293812″][quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)[/quote]
Well with Richard Howe and Orr’s team in same divison two had to get screwed, that’s just the way the cookie crumbles…
[quote comment=”293798″][quote comment=”293781″]
How many kids in Phoenix grab their skates and head out to the frozen pond on a Saturday afternoon in December? How many in Atlanta? How many in Nashville? How many in Miami?
[/quote]
Think that happens in Pittsburgh? Or Philly? Or Jersey? Or New York? I’m not saying that the southern teams don’t have problems- marketing, management, etc., but it just doesn’t have to do with their location- that’s the easy way out for people who are fans of norhtern teams and want the NHL to be the it used to be.
[quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading
[quote comment=”293798″][quote comment=”293781″]
Not to get into this too much on a Uniform blog, but All of those markets are growing. Nashville had a higher attendance then Boston this year, an original 6 team, growing their attendance by about a thousand a game, up to 15,000ish. Boston? 14,000 ish.[/quote]
Except they still don’t have the league-mandated minimum of season tickets sold to warrant revenue-sharing so the Predators will lose money again this season. Boston? They have a giant, hockey-mad market to draw from. And if you’re talking pre-season, Phoenix’s largest crowd thus far came in Winnipeg where they cheered for the Flames. What does that tell you?
[quote comment=”293781″]No generation will ever want a hockey team if it’s not there already. Putting teams in the south was not about instant gratification and tapping already existent hockey markets. It’s about growing new ones, a process that takes time. Even florida with their lousy teams has been building a fanbase and getting more and more people to come to games each year. As a Hockey fan from North Carolina (now in Upstate NY for college though) I can tell you that growth happens. Winning helps a lot, but the exposure to the game is what draws fans.[/quote]
So the move back to Colorado wasn’t a good one?
Atlanta, who has now had two cracks at an NHL team, is failing miserably yet again. Kansas City can’t sell out their brand-new arena for a Blues-Kings game, yet they “deserve” another franchise?
How many kids in Phoenix grab their skates and head out to the frozen pond on a Saturday afternoon in December? How many in Atlanta? How many in Nashville? How many in Miami?
These franchises are failing because hockey is irrelevant to everyone except the die-hards. No one followed the business model that Hicks made when he moved the North Stars to Dallas. Yet Dallas Stars hockey is huge in Texas. Why? Hicks spent the first four years aggressively marketing a team to the fans.
[quote comment=”293781″]Contraction loses the NHL revenue, fans and dignity. If the NHL wants to be taken seriously as a national league in the US, it has to be stable. Right now it is stable with 30 teams- you contract any and you lose whatever gains you may have made with the general populace in trying to grow the sport.[/quote]
So if a company closes a branch that’s losing boatloads of money, they lose money? How does that work? The NHL is gate-driven, and you think you’re going to lose fans when no one is showing up to watch these teams play as it is?
Gary Bettman claims the NHL is stable. The league’s finances are fine, but individual teams are hurting. 16 of the 30 teams are lining up for revenue-sharing. The once sold-out Joe Louis Arena couldn’t even sell out for the playoffs last season in the first round. When was the last time that Phoenix sold out the Jobing.com Arena? Anyone? How about Opening Night of the arena! Simply put: the economics of the Sunbelt franchises do not work for hockey, and what owner is willing to lose $20 million per season for a decade building a brand?[/quote]
[quote comment=”293781″]Fewer teams does nothing but hurt the NHL.[/quote]
Really? So when the Islanders and Oilers were dominating the 1980s, that hurt the NHL? Less teams = more talent to go around = better league. They had 21 teams, and the action was incredible.
The only thing that having more teams does is add to the owners’ pockets if the franchise is successful. Otherwise, it does nothing for the fans – you know, the people who pay to sit in the seats and watch the game. Once the “new team” honeymoon period wears off, the merchandise sales reports fall off the table too.
The business model that the NHL has works well if you’re in a northern climate. It does not and never will work in the Sunbelt.[/quote]
I think you just missed the main point. The point of the teams is to think long term, not short term where the market is now. Take Carolina as an example. Moved and had to curtain off the entire upper deck in Greensboro. Now, they play in front of about 16 thousand a game. compared to Canada, it’s not much, but in 10 years that’s the progress if you have a good team. There are 6 or 7 rinks there in the city and they’re all pretty busy. Add to that ball hockey rinks, and It’s really grown. Tampa is similar. Lots of youth hockey has been springing up.
Right now there are quite a few players in the NHL from California. Why are they there? They were inspired to learn the sport after being exposed to it by a team that had a certain Mr. Gretzky on it- in LA. Not a “hockey market” is it? But the sport grew because the team was there and was doing well.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your move back to Colorado thing from. Sure it turned out pretty well, and certain cities can get a second crack and be fine.
But you’re right on one point in there- the franchises failing because only the die hards care. True enough, because they’re loosing. Winning brings attention and bandwagon fans, who become diehards. Again, Carolina since I know it best. 2002 created a huge boom in popularity. They went to the final and people started paying attention. 2006 was even bigger.
And you don’t have to be grabbing your skates and heading out to the pond. Not a lot of places have frozen ponds and still have enough people to support a team. Pittsburgh and Phillie don’t have very many frozen ponds, would you call them bad fans (if yes, try saying that at a Flyers game. I’ll come by and shovel you up afterwards)
The Kids who are following these teams are the future fans. Youth hockey in all of those places is growing, and so is adult hockey. But the kids don’t have any buying power yet. They can beg their parents, but they can’t buy season tickets.
Sellouts: Every game of the playoffs was sold out last year. Every one. Actaully first time that’s happened. The Empty seats at Joe Lewis were corporate. GM, Ford… Companies that probably don’t have enough employees left in corporate to ask for the company tickets. The seats were sold, but the people who owned them didn’t come for whatever reason.
Gate Driven? yes. Loosing money? Some teams are right now, yes. But when you start a completely new business making a completely new product you have to build up a market and take losses for a while while you do that.
Or how about this: Do you buy a stock that grows slowly, say 10% a year, and sell it the next day? No, you hold onto it and let it develop. That’s exactly what NHL owners do. They invest money in something for years, and once it becomes profitable they sell it for a high enough price to Recoup their investments and make a Profit, which is what happened with the lightning this year. Sold to a new owner who’ll hold onto it now that it’s profitable. The Lightning started in what, 92? Sale happened this year soon after they became profitable, so for a pretty successful team the market building takes about 15-16 years. But it does happen, and that’s what a lot of people up north don’t get. The market for hockey here is not static. Teams in Canada weren’t playing in front of 18,000 person sold out crowds when they started, but they had the benefit of starting and creating the markets 100 years ago.
here’s the next patch they should wear (the cubs)
link
and thanks mike for the Cleveland Barons info, I didn’t know that they are SJ…so why won’t SJ wear them?
The TMQ on espn.com referred to the Falcon’s as the Typos in his column today, saying “Atlanta’s uniforms look to me like printer smudges.”
I’d link to it, but I’m really bad at that, and I’d assume everyone can find espn.com
Jeff, just wanna say that I’m loving the debate. Good on you, man. :o)
If it were up to me, all the teams would stay where they are and be successful. The game is just too good. But both Carolina and Tampa Bay have done something that attracts everyone – they won it all.
The others? Nowhere close. Florida should be able to attract some of the fans that Tampa Bay is generating, but they suck. And they have since they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. They are brutal. And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.
[quote comment=”293794″]While searching for the 1994 Cubs alternate jersey, I found link. That’s Ryne Sandberg in 1981 playing for the Phillies’ Triple-A club against the Iowa Oaks (now the Iowa Cubs). Check out the gigantic number — and also the sleeve number.[/quote]
Love the old American Association! I saw Sandburg in that 89ers gear at a game or two at Mile High. link too. link is especially good.
[quote comment=”293752″]So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.[/quote]
as mentioned above, it’s probably ooey-pooey.
Like most state universities, there are a number of branches across the state. IU has 8. When I was there, the slogan was “one university, eight front doors.”
[quote comment=”293824″][quote comment=”293752″]So the Seinfeld campus tour is going to Indiana University in… Indianapolis?
Strange. The four years I was there, I was led to believe I was in Bloomington.[/quote]
as mentioned above, it’s probably ooey-pooey.
Like most state universities, there are a number of branches across the state. IU has 8. When I was there, the slogan was “one university, eight front doors.”[/quote]
No, if you click on Indy when that map comes up, and then click again for details, it’s definitely Bloomington.
Why am I wasting my time on this? It was just a silly nitpick on my part.
Not a fan of the new Magic unis:
link
link
link
They need to “Ditch the Black”!
Oh, and BTW, here is the link to that Nike Football Catalogue that was discussed before:
link
[quote comment=”293818″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading[/quote]
This is what I got:
link
link
link
link
In this photo gallery of Texas/Colorado, pics 21 and 53 are the only good views of the Speed:
link;
Bonus: Redskins Schutt Ion on #45, Sellers:
link
link
Lots of pictures of athletes smoking in an exhibit at the NY Publc Library. Couple examples:
link
link
And here’s the web site, which has hundreds of old cigarette ads.
link
[quote comment=”293804″][quote comment=”293803″]Looks like Dallas has joined in on the Hockey Mom craze… at least we are a link state![/quote]
Looks like Grossman has to get a new number…
link
And link made me laugh.
[quote comment=”293814″][quote comment=”293812″][quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)[/quote]
I’m the boss rememebr? I moved the city of winnipeg :)
Sorry about that, i was doing some logo moving and forgot to put it back where it belongs…[/quote]
I assumed you put the Jets in Dryden as part of your plan to associate the divisions with great names from hockey’s past. :)
Agree 100% with renaming the conferences BTW – I have no idea why they abandoned the original names, except maybe as part of a plan to be more like the NBA in conferences and divisions.
[quote comment=”293831″][quote comment=”293804″][quote comment=”293803″]Looks like Dallas has joined in on the Hockey Mom craze… at least we are a link state![/quote]
Looks like Grossman has to get a new number…
link
And link made me laugh.[/quote]
if tebow is gonna tap anyone…it’s prolly not gonna be bristol
/just sayin
[quote comment=”293833″][quote comment=”293814″][quote comment=”293812″][quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)[/quote]
I’m the boss rememebr? I moved the city of winnipeg :)
Sorry about that, i was doing some logo moving and forgot to put it back where it belongs…[/quote]
I assumed you put the Jets in Dryden as part of your plan to associate the divisions with great names from hockey’s past. :)
Agree 100% with renaming the conferences BTW – I have no idea why they abandoned the original names, except maybe as part of a plan to be more like the NBA in conferences and divisions.[/quote]
Don’t make me move ’em back to PHX ;)
here is a site with retro sports tshirts and such, they have alot of cool old designs including sir saint (seen here)
link sorry here is the site
[quote comment=”293757″]Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over[/quote]
I just re-watched the movie a couple nights ago and noticed this too. But I saw them trying on red, white, and blue gear then found myself thinking, “Are they really gonna buy this gear then wear it with their green and gold jerseys?” And sure enough, they were. I thought it would be an error in filming in that they would eventually be wearing green gear, but it looked pretty accurate to me… but still tacky
[quote comment=”293839″][quote comment=”293757″]Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over[/quote]
I just re-watched the movie a couple nights ago and noticed this too. But I saw them trying on red, white, and blue gear then found myself thinking, “Are they really gonna buy this gear then wear it with their green and gold jerseys?” And sure enough, they were. I thought it would be an error in filming in that they would eventually be wearing green gear, but it looked pretty accurate to me… but still tacky[/quote]
Why……oh why….. would you ever watch that movie more than once?
[quote comment=”293840″][quote comment=”293839″][quote comment=”293757″]Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over[/quote]
I just re-watched the movie a couple nights ago and noticed this too. But I saw them trying on red, white, and blue gear then found myself thinking, “Are they really gonna buy this gear then wear it with their green and gold jerseys?” And sure enough, they were. I thought it would be an error in filming in that they would eventually be wearing green gear, but it looked pretty accurate to me… but still tacky[/quote]
Why……oh why….. would you ever watch that movie more than once?[/quote]
Are you kidding? I think I watched that movie five times just in the year it came out…of course, I was 8…
[quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt!
[quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.
Boy, there’s a lot of Phoenix Coyotes hate from the “Old NHL” crew, even though they are the most traditional looking of the new NHL teams. As for my opinion, I am not enough of an expert to really say what is good or bad about the NHL other than that I think the new teams should continue to stick it out where they are… prove to the fans that they are in it for the long haul.
[quote comment=”293843″][quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.[/quote]
Plus, take that Mitchell & Ness Sandberg Jersey that Paul posted as an example. They want $300 for that thing. It isn’t even accurate — the NOB is link. You can see in one of the photos from the Flickr gallery that it should be link.
[quote comment=”293845″][quote comment=”293843″][quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.[/quote]
Plus, take that Mitchell & Ness Sandberg Jersey that Paul posted as an example. They want $300 for that thing. It isn’t even accurate — the NOB is link. You can see in one of the photos from the Flickr gallery that it should be link.[/quote]
Nah, my dad’s golfing buddy runs an embroidery business, so what I’ll do is talk to him and have him do the back. I’d just get the replica front… then I could ask you guys for help on what the true design should be… use my resources, you know?
[quote comment=”293833″][quote comment=”293814″][quote comment=”293812″][quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following…[/quote]
You’d hear outrage from Boston fans if Boston wasn’t in the Orr Division. I mean, he’s revered as a god-like figure in Beantown. Same thing with the Howe Division and the Red Wings and/or Whalers.
And Winnipeg is apparently where Kenora is on that map! ;o)[/quote]
I’m the boss rememebr? I moved the city of winnipeg :)
Sorry about that, i was doing some logo moving and forgot to put it back where it belongs…[/quote]
I assumed you put the Jets in Dryden as part of your plan to associate the divisions with great names from hockey’s past. :)
Agree 100% with renaming the conferences BTW – I have no idea why they abandoned the original names, except maybe as part of a plan to be more like the NBA in conferences and divisions.[/quote]
because bettman couldn’t understand the names.
[quote comment=”293846″][quote comment=”293845″][quote comment=”293843″][quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.[/quote]
Plus, take that Mitchell & Ness Sandberg Jersey that Paul posted as an example. They want $300 for that thing. It isn’t even accurate — the NOB is link. You can see in one of the photos from the Flickr gallery that it should be link.[/quote]
Nah, my dad’s golfing buddy runs an embroidery business, so what I’ll do is talk to him and have him do the back. I’d just get the replica front… then I could ask you guys for help on what the true design should be… use my resources, you know?[/quote]
Sure, but the average schmuck who plunks down 3 bills ont that eyesore should still be given something that accurately resembles what was worn on the field of play.
And it’s not like we’re talking about trying to replicate something from the turn of the century where visual evidence is scarce.
[quote comment=”293844″]Boy, there’s a lot of Phoenix Coyotes hate from the “Old NHL” crew, even though they are the most traditional looking of the new NHL teams. As for my opinion, I am not enough of an expert to really say what is good or bad about the NHL other than that I think the new teams should continue to stick it out where they are… prove to the fans that they are in it for the long haul.[/quote]
I don’t know if it’s ‘hate’ but more wishing there was still a team in Winnipeg (in my case anyways). But you are right, their unis are nice, one of my favs in the league.
But i remember when they announced that the team was moving to PHX, first reaction was why would PHX need an ICE hockey team. Kinda like hearing the Jamacian Bobsled Team, just throws ya for a loop.
I think i might have watched a unique uni moment this past weekend. Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and Slippery Rock played football. I am having a crazy hard time finding photos… IUP had two logos on their helmet, the large hawk on the sides, and “IUP” across the lower back. Slippery Rock had “The Rock” on the front of their jerseys… it would be similar to Michigan having “Big Blue” across the front of their jerseys while playing Michigan State with the spartan on the side and the s on the back. sorry about no photos.
I rahter get 3 uniwatch memberships for that price!
$48 is WAY too much
So shoot me. I like these Reds unis. Liked ’em when they added the pins in ’58; liked ’em when they brought ’em back a decade or so ago (kinda blew it then, though, cuz didn’t wear vests or gray hats on the road).
link
[quote comment=”293844″]Boy, there’s a lot of Phoenix Coyotes hate from the “Old NHL” crew, even though they are the most traditional looking of the new NHL teams. As for my opinion, I am not enough of an expert to really say what is good or bad about the NHL other than that I think the new teams should continue to stick it out where they are… prove to the fans that they are in it for the long haul.[/quote]
Please… I am a life long Winnipeg Jets fan and absolutely despise the Desert Dogs – now having said that they have made a most impressive uni upgrade (their original jerseys sucked big time).
Anyway – Jim MI – I like your new NHL!
[quote comment=”293847″][quote comment=”293833″]
Agree 100% with renaming the conferences BTW – I have no idea why they abandoned the original names, except maybe as part of a plan to be more like the NBA in conferences and divisions.[/quote]
because bettman couldn’t understand the names.[/quote]
Even worse – he was dumbing down the sport in an attempt to sell it to a broader American audience. Apparently easier to understand bland regional names.
Selling out the sport for dollars. And not even Loonies.
[quote comment=”293822″]Jeff, just wanna say that I’m loving the debate. Good on you, man. :o)
If it were up to me, all the teams would stay where they are and be successful. The game is just too good. But both Carolina and Tampa Bay have done something that attracts everyone – they won it all.
The others? Nowhere close. Florida should be able to attract some of the fans that Tampa Bay is generating, but they suck. And they have since they went to the Stanley Cup Finals. They are brutal. And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
Hey, as a Carolina Fan I support them loosing! I’ll be very happy if they go down 12-0 the first game of the season (The hurricanes will be pissed after they prevented them from clinching the playoffs last game at home) But it is a good point. People don’t want to root for a looser, and I have argued in the past that if any team moves, it’s Florida. They’re not winning and they show little indication of starting. But their owner has made the front page of business magazines for how he’s been building up corporate and fan support there even with the crappy team.
BTW, I don’t support another team in Kansas City. Hamliton would be much better, but the Leafs would be pissed. It would make them have to try and win.
I think the NHL learned their lesson from the 90s and a ton of relocated franchises. Say what you will about Bettman, but he’s trying to give teams a chance to build and succeed where they are.
[quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
some of cooley’s:
(don’t worry, no nudity)
link
[quote comment=”293840″][quote comment=”293839″][quote comment=”293757″]Since the Mighty Ducks movie has been brought up I’ll take this as an opportunity for a minor rant, It always bothered me (even as a child I was 6 when the movie came out) that when the team went on the shopping spree at Hans’ store they came out with equipment in all sorts of differant colors but when the new Mighty Ducks jerseys were worn they all had matching equipment…ok rant over[/quote]
I just re-watched the movie a couple nights ago and noticed this too. But I saw them trying on red, white, and blue gear then found myself thinking, “Are they really gonna buy this gear then wear it with their green and gold jerseys?” And sure enough, they were. I thought it would be an error in filming in that they would eventually be wearing green gear, but it looked pretty accurate to me… but still tacky[/quote]
Why……oh why….. would you ever watch that movie more than once?[/quote]
Which reason do you want? Cuz all 3 are true
1. I was drinking when I watched it last and wanted a sober outlook on it, heh
2. It was one of my favorite movies growing up, and I hadn’t seen it in at least 8 years
3. It’s still a hockey movie!
[quote comment=”293845″][quote comment=”293843″][quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.[/quote]
Plus, take that Mitchell & Ness Sandberg Jersey that Paul posted as an example. They want $300 for that thing. It isn’t even accurate — the NOB is link. You can see in one of the photos from the Flickr gallery that it should be link.[/quote]
If you can get a Sutcliffe jersey, radially arched would be fine. As was the case with most mid-season acquisitions, lettering was not vertically arched due to convenience. Often, teams had post-season sets made so it would be corrected then.
[quote comment=”293716″]“The rub, of course, is that this patch was worn in 1984. In other words, the Cubbies were already patting themselves on the back even though they hadn’t really won anything yet.”
Except for…the division title, which the patch acknowledged.
“If they had advanced to the World Series, would they have swapped in a set of “1984 N.L. Champions” patches?”
Considering that if they had advanced to the World Series, they would have then, by definition, actually been the 1984 NL Champions, I would imagine they would have been within their rights.
“I contend they lost to the Padres in large part due to that enormous patch,” says Lundborg (a reasonable analysis).
I would hope that both of your tongues were firmly in your cheeks there.
They lost to the Padres, in large part, because Jim Frey was not a particularly good in-game manager, because Dennis Eckersley sucked and Leon Durham choked and because they couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead in Game 5 against the worst National League championship team of the decade. Not because of the freaking patch.[/quote]
Your last point is valid. Curses are nonsense. And you are correct, it was “their right”, but it is utterly bush league. It’s like celebrating your “six month” birthday, the job’s not done. The standard answer should be “nice but that’s not what we want”. Don’t know who came up with this but I’ll bet anything it didn’t come from the top. Can’t see Dallas Green saying “hey, let’s get some patches for our division title”
[quote comment=”293784″]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.[/quote]
In what bizarro universe do you live where the Kings have won a cup?
[quote comment=”293711″]From Yesterday:
re: George Preston Marshall.
On my drive home from the office was thinking it’s gotta be frustrating for the NFL. Baseball had some visionary proponents of integration (Branch Rickey and Bill Veeck being probably the most well-known). The NFL, though, had no such comparable individual or inviduals, but rather only an intracable, vocal, diehard racist in Marshall, who held to a stance so entrenched that it took the threat of government intervention to fully integrate the league.
Pretty tough to spin that.
–Ricko
They’ve tried, the stuff about integrating long before 1947. Nobody tells a story like NFL Films but they are pretty thin in that department for sure.
The NFL (I’m guessing) DID have ass stripes: link…
Striping on helmet of guy on ground to the right is different. Was that an “eligible/ineligible” thing or something?
Wow, like the WFL thing? Makes sense, since the QB/HB sees them running away and all.
Calling Tim Brule. Oh, Ti-immmm. Or someone from one of those “helmet” sites?
That shot is from Ebbets Field and it’s the Brooklyn Dodgers hosting the Chicago Cardinals. The game is October 19, 1941, as The Dodgers changed their look in 1943. The Dodgers would be wearing red and the Cardinals wore blue if there was a color clash on the road. The Dodgers did have red stripes on their helmets and rear stripes during this era.
Hope this helps![/quote]
Thanks Tim. My guess was Comiskey, but didn’t feel real good about the buildings in the background.
Just one more question, the team with the plain white helmet, Cardinals, no? Confused by you explanation of the alternated colors for the Cards, do you think that is actually blue?
The Cubs wore the patch in 1984 because they had not been in post-season play since 1945. Bush League or not, and it was a bit much at the time, celebrations were few and far between (Remember 1969’s black cat at Shea Stadium?).
No other team that I can think of has done this within the same season, several teams have the following season – including the Indians who wore the A.L. Champions patch in ’96.
In my local newspaper today was a picture of a high school soccer. The picture featured biggest front numbers on a soccer jersey I’ve ever seen.
link
[quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.
[quote comment=”293753″][quote comment=”293749″]To Ian;
yes, that was more my point….I should have made it more clear…
When the Houston Oilers moved, for their first 2 seasons they were the Tennesse Oilers…obviously they have the rights to that name and it is their history….after 10 years of being in the Market, I am more than sure they have succesfully rebraned them selves…so why not some love towards yesteryear and to say hay to their origins…
I could understand why the Wash. Nationals haven’t donned the Expos…but it is still one continious franchiese…
Thank you Ian[/quote]
When the Oilers left Houston, their history should have stayed, just like the Browns. Once the Oilers became the Titans it was time to give it back to Houston, instead of the Texans which is an homage to the Dallas Texans of the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Texans should be the Oilers[/quote]
Amen.
I think if a team has the same name for a long time and hasnt had a name change like the former Oilers they should not be allowed to change. True the name Oilers makes little sense in Tennesee, but that doesnt matter.
Just like how the Utah Jazz makes no sense, the name should stay. I never understood why sometimes the name goes with the team and other times the team is renamed.
[quote comment=”293860″][quote comment=”293784″]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.[/quote]
In what bizarro universe do you live where the Kings have won a cup?[/quote]
Maybe he meant Anaheim.
[quote comment=”293860″][quote comment=”293784″]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.[/quote]
In what bizarro universe do you live where the Kings have won a cup?[/quote]
I’m surprised I even have to bring this up.
How often have you ice skated outside in Dallas in December?
See, in places like Canada and Minnesota and Detroit and Denver and Boston and NYC and Philadelphia… it’s kind of the only sport you can play in the winter when the baseball diamonds and football fields are covered in drifts of snow.
I’m not blaming the warm weather for the poor turnouts to watch NHL hockey. I am blaming the NHL for not marketing the game properly in the southern climates.
Tom Hicks poured every last dime into marketing when he moved the North Stars to Texas. Not one other team has done the same amount of marketing as he did for the Stars. Oh, and the Stars were Stanley Cup winners soon after they moved. That helps. Big-time.
If you want to get people into a new sport, win it all right away, and then keep them coming back. It worked for Dallas, it worked for Carolina, and it worked for Tampa Bay.
[quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
You are right about the pre-1984 Cubs. But something happened that year. It was a great season and the fans were justifiably ecstatic. But since then, the myopic nature of the Cub fan has taken over. There have been MANY horrible seasons that have had no impact on the atmosphere (which is what typically happens). Some call it “die-hard”, yeah right. People went for the drunk in TV booth, singing songs, getting loaded in the bleachers, the glorified Triple-A ballpark. Why else you continue to go see a team that went 30 years without back-to-back .500 seasons?
Probably from the who gives a crap section because they really aren’t much of a team but Michigan’s new Adidas basketball unis are staying pretty much the same, not too sure how I feel about that weird back tag…
link!
link
[quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
Yet they still sell out, and they still play to capacity every game. And the talking heads on ESPN beat the 100-year curse to death every chance they get. They blab about the curses and Bartman and if Alou had caught the ball and the goat and… blah, blah, blah.
Until they win, they will always be the “Lovable Losers” due to their immense following.
[quote comment=”293868″][quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
You are right about the pre-1984 Cubs. But something happened that year. It was a great season and the fans were justifiably ecstatic.
But since then, the myopic nature of the Cub fan has taken over. There have been MANY horrible seasons that have had no impact on the atmosphere (which is what typically happens). Some call it “die-hard”, yeah right. People went for the drunk in TV booth, singing songs, getting loaded in the bleachers, the glorified Triple-A ballpark. Why else you continue to go see a team that went 30 years without back-to-back .500 seasons?[/quote]
Between 1985 and 2002, the Cubs had a grand total of 5 winning seasons, yet look at their attendance. They were well over 2 million almost every year. It really had nothing to do with the team playing well. It had to do with the ballpark, which everyone rediscovered in 1984.
[quote comment=”293862″]The Cubs wore the patch in 1984 because they had not been in post-season play since 1945. Bush League or not, and it was a bit much at the time, celebrations were few and far between (Remember 1969’s black cat at Shea Stadium?).
No other team that I can think of has done this within the same season, several teams have the following season – including the Indians who wore the A.L. Champions patch in ’96.[/quote]
I think the WHY they did it has been pretty well established. The discussion has centered on was it lame? In sports, generally good ideas are copied, so I’ll point to frequency of similar patches as to whether it was a good idea or not.
[quote comment=”293868″][quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
You are right about the pre-1984 Cubs. But something happened that year. It was a great season and the fans were justifiably ecstatic.
But since then, the myopic nature of the Cub fan has taken over. There have been MANY horrible seasons that have had no impact on the atmosphere (which is what typically happens). Some call it “die-hard”, yeah right. People went for the drunk in TV booth, singing songs, getting loaded in the bleachers, the glorified Triple-A ballpark. Why else you continue to go see a team that went 30 years without back-to-back .500 seasons?[/quote]
And those are the social butterfly douchebags I was referring to.
Look. Every team, no matter how crappy year after year is still going to have a certain amount of fans show up. The Cubs just happen to get a disproportianately large crowd becaue of the tourists who show up in addition to that base. But to say that Cubs fans “like a loser” is just not true. It’s a stereotype.
disproportionately
Paul what’s wrong with the mascot? What would you rather him look like? A man with a giant puck for a head?
[quote comment=”293873″][quote comment=”293868″][quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
You are right about the pre-1984 Cubs. But something happened that year. It was a great season and the fans were justifiably ecstatic.
But since then, the myopic nature of the Cub fan has taken over. There have been MANY horrible seasons that have had no impact on the atmosphere (which is what typically happens). Some call it “die-hard”, yeah right. People went for the drunk in TV booth, singing songs, getting loaded in the bleachers, the glorified Triple-A ballpark. Why else you continue to go see a team that went 30 years without back-to-back .500 seasons?[/quote]
And those are the social butterfly douchebags I was referring to.
Look. Every team, no matter how crappy year after year is still going to have a certain amount of fans show up. The Cubs just happen to get a disproportianately large crowd becaue of the tourists who show up in addition to that base. But to say that Cubs fans “like a loser” is just not true. It’s a stereotype.[/quote]
Agree 1000%, they have a lot of great fans. But those “social butterflies” are now the face of the Cub fan, like it or not. Without picking on any particualy franchise (but you/we know who you/we are) there are great fans in ML cities that don’t draw flies. You are labeled what you are and the Cubs are no exception. No one with the Tribune cares, just bigger stacks of cash to count.
[quote comment=”293876″][quote comment=”293873″][quote comment=”293868″][quote comment=”293864″][quote comment=”293822″]And no one, unless you’re a Cubs fan, likes a loser or supports a loser. Especially when you’re trying to build within a non-traditional market.[/quote]
You know, this notion that Cubs fans are happy with a loser is complete BS. Sure, there are (way too many) people who go to the park who couldn’t care less about the team’s fortunes because it’s a social event to them. And there may have been a time when it was considered a badge of honor to root, root, root for the steaming pile that took the field each and every day, but those days are gone for the actual fan.
The “lovable loser” act wore thin around 1980 or so. Just listen to link. Tht whole rant was him ripping the fans for not supporting the team.
Take a look at their historical link and you’ll see that there’s a pretty decent correlation between their relatively successful periods and large numbers showing up at the park.[/quote]
You are right about the pre-1984 Cubs. But something happened that year. It was a great season and the fans were justifiably ecstatic.
But since then, the myopic nature of the Cub fan has taken over. There have been MANY horrible seasons that have had no impact on the atmosphere (which is what typically happens). Some call it “die-hard”, yeah right. People went for the drunk in TV booth, singing songs, getting loaded in the bleachers, the glorified Triple-A ballpark. Why else you continue to go see a team that went 30 years without back-to-back .500 seasons?[/quote]
And those are the social butterfly douchebags I was referring to.
Look. Every team, no matter how crappy year after year is still going to have a certain amount of fans show up. The Cubs just happen to get a disproportianately large crowd becaue of the tourists who show up in addition to that base. But to say that Cubs fans “like a loser” is just not true. It’s a stereotype.[/quote]
Agree 1000%, they have a lot of great fans. But those “social butterflies” are now the face of the Cub fan, like it or not. Without picking on any particualy franchise (but you/we know who you/we are) there are great fans in ML cities that don’t draw flies. You are labeled what you are and the Cubs are no exception. No one with the Tribune cares, just bigger stacks of cash to count.[/quote]
Exactly.
[quote comment=”293875″]Paul what’s wrong with the mascot? What would you rather him look like? A man with a giant puck for a head?[/quote]
awwww….link
Re: Post #167
I read the column this afternoon and simply wanted to throw my 2 cents in before reading the other comments which covered the bases. Sorry.
One other note: Commemorative or celebration patches (non memorials)were not as frequent in the early ’80s as they are today, so they stood out. The Blue Jays (Toronto’s 150th Birthday Celebration), Orioles (30th Anniversary), Dodgers (LA Olympics), and Giants (All Star Game) wore commemorative patches during the ’84 regular season, the Cubs became the 5th team in the NLCS.
[quote comment=”293878″][quote comment=”293875″]Paul what’s wrong with the mascot? What would you rather him look like? A man with a giant puck for a head?[/quote]
awwww….link[/quote]
Is that photoshopped or does Mr. Met have at milk gotee?
[quote comment=”293867″][quote comment=”293860″][quote comment=”293784″]
I gotta say, as a Stars fan, I hate it when people blame the NHL’s problems on the warmer climate or southern teams. Being in the south doesn’t automatically mean a team will fail. Dallas has been a huge success with a great fan base, and Dallas, LA and Tampa Bay have all won Cups.
Chicago, on the other hand, has been terrible and mismanaged for years, losing its fanbase, as has the Islanders.
Having teams in warmer climates brings in fans to people who wouldn’t traditionally pay attention to hockey. I know in Dallas, at least, it has created a huge hockey explosion over the last 15 yrs.
The NHL has problems, but it doesn’t start and end with teams in warmer climates.[/quote]
In what bizarro universe do you live where the Kings have won a cup?[/quote]
I’m surprised I even have to bring this up.
How often have you ice skated outside in Dallas in December?
See, in places like Canada and Minnesota and Detroit and Denver and Boston and NYC and Philadelphia… it’s kind of the only sport you can play in the winter when the baseball diamonds and football fields are covered in drifts of snow.
I’m not blaming the warm weather for the poor turnouts to watch NHL hockey. I am blaming the NHL for not marketing the game properly in the southern climates.
Tom Hicks poured every last dime into marketing when he moved the North Stars to Texas. Not one other team has done the same amount of marketing as he did for the Stars. Oh, and the Stars were Stanley Cup winners soon after they moved. That helps. Big-time.
If you want to get people into a new sport, win it all right away, and then keep them coming back. It worked for Dallas, it worked for Carolina, and it worked for Tampa Bay.[/quote]
Teebz, I respect your view on hockey, and you clearly have alot of hockey knowledge, but I think you just made my point…a team’s market doesn’t have to be people who have played the sport, so the fact that you can’t skate outside (and by the way, we have these magical things called indoor arenas now), in the south (and by the way…have fun getting cold enough weather long enough to get a backyard rink in philly), doesn’t mean you can’t have a strong fan base. To say that hockey should stay in cold climates is, in my opinion, and will limit the sport.
And in Dallas, we did have steets, and when the Stars came to town, that’s where we played, and we didn’t care it wasn’t a frozen pond.
And by the way, I corrected the LA comment to Anaheim in the post directly afte my inital post.
[quote comment=\\\”293813\\\”][quote comment=\\\”293774\\\”][quote comment=\\\”293766\\\”][quote comment=\\\”293764\\\”]
Schultz was known as \\\’Sparky\\\’ to his friends and family
link
I was aware of his love for hockey (as you pointed out above, John), but I didn\\\’t know he was a Golden Seals fan. Growing up in Minnesota, hockey becomes like breathing, so I can see Schulz loving the game.
I just thought that mascot was cool in a similar fashion to the Sir Saint guy of the New Orleans Saints. This story gets cooler by the second![/quote]
The Sparky the Seal character is really great. What an amazing talent Charles Shultz possessed.
I\\\’ve always been kinda surprised that more sports teams don\\\’t have comic book and/or comic strip artists create characters and logos for them. At the very least, they could have those characters available for marketing purposes.[/quote]
I know my alma mater, Butler, at one point had its mascot costume designed by Disney. One of the bigwigs at Disney was a Butler grad. I think it was one of only two or three that Disney did.[/quote]
ASU\\\’s sparky was designed by a disgruntled Disney animator, supposedly sparky looks like walt
sparky:
link
[quote comment=”293801″]OK!
If I were NHL Commish for a day and it’s a fantasy world where anything goes I would do the following:
1) Gary Bettman – SEE YA! GONE!
2) Get rid of FLA and TB.
3) Move PHX back to WIN (use old logo)
4) Move CAR back to HAR (use old logo)
5) Give BUF, LA, VAN, ATL, MIN old logos. I know ATL flames are now CAL and MIN is DAL but I’m the boss.
6) Realign/Rename conference and divisions. We now have 28 teams.
7) Conferences go back to Wales and Campbell
8) 2 seven team divisions in each conference. Division names are Richard (MON DET TOR BOS CHI NYR OTT), Orr (HAR NJ NYI PIT PHI WAS BUF), Howe (ATL NAS CBJ MIN DAL WIN STL), Gretzky (LA SJ ANA VAN COL EDM CAL)
9) Richard and Orr would be in Wales Conference
10) Gretzky and Howe in Campbell Conference
NHL Layout would look like this:
link
Tried to give ANA another logo, but all their past ones suck.
That’s how I would re-align the league…[/quote]
I like the ideas about getting rid of Bettman, changing the names of the divisions and realignment.
But why is everybody wanting to get rid of the Tampa Bay Lightning?
Lets look at attendance:
2008 – 8th in the league and higher than the Rangers, Stars, Pens, Avs, and the Bruins. Let’s dump them too. Especially the Rangers and Bruins?
2007 – 3rd in the league and only the Habs and Red Wings were higher in total attendance.
2006 – 2nd in the league and the Habs were the only team higher in attendance.
The Lightning won a Stanley Cup and doing well at the box office. What more do you want?
You guys need to get another drum to beat.
[quote comment=”293848″][quote comment=”293846″][quote comment=”293845″][quote comment=”293843″][quote comment=”293842″][quote comment=”293838″]https://shop.retrosportapparel.com/pages/new_orleans_saints.html sorry here is the site[/quote]
I love classic throwback stuff, but who, in their right mind, would ever consider paying $48 for a t-shirt![/quote]
That may be quite possibly the most frustrating thing that comes with being a sports fan. Not knocking Uni Watch sponsors, because I’m sure that it takes a lot of effort to do it, but the Jersey Name Frames are over $100, and they’re nice. It gets to be a “how much do you REALLY like your team?” sort of dilemma. I plead “poor college student”, and I’ll get one later in life.[/quote]
Plus, take that Mitchell & Ness Sandberg Jersey that Paul posted as an example. They want $300 for that thing. It isn’t even accurate — the NOB is link. You can see in one of the photos from the Flickr gallery that it should be link.[/quote]
Nah, my dad’s golfing buddy runs an embroidery business, so what I’ll do is talk to him and have him do the back. I’d just get the replica front… then I could ask you guys for help on what the true design should be… use my resources, you know?[/quote]
Sure, but the average schmuck who plunks down 3 bills ont that eyesore should still be given something that accurately resembles what was worn on the field of play.
And it’s not like we’re talking about trying to replicate something from the turn of the century where visual evidence is scarce.[/quote]
I’ll give you that… but in return, I want three staples and some pocket lint.
Wow. I haven’t been to the sight in a few weeks. But I, Marty Met get threatened with a banning from Bryan because I like the Oregon uniforms but Jeff Frank get props from Paul. Go figure.
[quote comment=”293827″][quote comment=”293818″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading[/quote]
This is what I got:
link
link
link
link
In this photo gallery of Texas/Colorado, pics 21 and 53 are the only good views of the Speed:
link;
Bonus: Redskins Schutt Ion on #45, Sellers:
link
link
i was looking at the riddell catalog for next..got it from my coach and the speed is in there. I think he is going to get 5 or 6 for next year.
[quote comment=”293885″]Wow. I haven’t been to the sight in a few weeks. But I, Marty Met get threatened with a banning from Bryan because I like the Oregon uniforms but Jeff Frank get props from Paul. Go figure.[/quote]
welcome back marty!
how’re the devs lookin this season?
[quote comment=”293880″][quote comment=”293878″][quote comment=”293875″]Paul what’s wrong with the mascot? What would you rather him look like? A man with a giant puck for a head?[/quote]
awwww….link[/quote]
Is that photoshopped or does Mr. Met have at milk gotee?[/quote]
gotee?
and that’s not milk ;(
[quote comment=”293852″]So shoot me. I like these Reds unis. Liked ’em when they added the pins in ’58; liked ’em when they brought ’em back a decade or so ago (kinda blew it then, though, cuz didn’t wear vests or gray hats on the road).
link
As a Reds fan, I agree with you on both counts. When the Reds moved to the black-infused vest look, I was very disappointed.
[quote comment=”293885″]Wow. I haven’t been to the sight in a few weeks. But I, Marty Met get threatened with a banning from Bryan because I like the Oregon uniforms but Jeff Frank get props from Paul. Go figure.[/quote]
Nice to see that chip on your shoulder is still there!
[quote comment=”293758″][quote comment=”293748″][quote]right idea would be to take the failing teams in the south and merge the franchise with a poorly-performing franchise up north[/quote]
so teebz…who moves into the mausoleum? :o)[/quote]
Well, let’s do this logically.
Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida have been the worst performers of all the new teams/relocated teams. Those four teams can be removed*.
Smythe – anyone in the vicinity of the Rockies: LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Vancouver, Colorado, Edmonton, and Calgary.
Norris – central North American franchises: Dallas, Minnesota, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Columbus.
Adams – any teams in the northeast area: Toronto, Boston, Montreal, Buffalo, Ottawa, and Pittsburgh.
Patrick – any teams along the Atlantic coast south of Massachusetts: NYR, NYI, NJ, Philly, Washington, Carolina, and Tampa Bay.
Thoughts? Critiques?[/quote]
Logically? Columbus has failed more miserably than Atlanta or Florida with 0 playoff appearances. Nashville gives Detroit a good run every year.
We’re considered a bad market in Atlanta because we’re south of the mason dixon, even though the on ice product has been mediocre at best. Ridiculous.
Looks like the Puck Daddy blog caught wind on UniWatch (last line in the column). Or is this not new?
link
re: AFL 50th season in 2009.
Actually, I DO hope the Broncos revive the brown and gold…which WASN’T a mustard gold ala the early 70’s Pirates or the current Jets throwbacks, btw. That seems to have become a common misconception. It was Steeler gold, as were the ’61 & ’62 NY Titans. For Broncos NOT to revive them would be another of those rewritings of history cuz someone doesn’t like the reality of what was.
I think the Raiders should go back to the black and yellow-gold “Bears-like” look, too…but probably won’t as long as Al Davis is running the show (Silver & Black was his deal). And, while it won’t be the Bengals’ 50th, would be nice of they wore their originals, too. The Chargers would be fun to see in dark royal with dark navy shoulder bolts and slghtly metallic light gold. That uni in L.A. was a one-shot. And how ’bout the Bills in silver helmets and pants and white Northwestern-striped socks on the road, looking very much like the Lions (but royal instead of Honolulu blue)?
Hey, if they want the unis right, all they have to do is come to my home office and look through my files and stuff, including a small forest green metal box with all those 3×5 cards I made as a kid at the time. I’ll charge them only a reasonable, five-figure consulting fee, LOL. Of course, that assumes they care about getting them right.
Too bad my old laptop’s hard drive fried. I’d created new templates of the first four years of AFL. Had done the first year of WFL and all three years of USFL, too. Damn.
—Ricko
by all means
link link link back!!!
and ricko…
did you say this helmet never existed?
there IS a link embedded there…not sure why it’s not showing up
this helmet…
not authentic?
Apparently the Browns will be wearing their “number on the helmet” throwbacks on Monday night…
link
[quote comment=”293894″]by all means
link link link back!!!
and ricko…
did you say this helmet never existed?[/quote]
Which helmet? The orange one with the brown Bronco?
fine…i’ll post it thru flickr
this helmet
did the broncos ever wear this?
[quote comment=”293898″]fine…i’ll post it thru flickr
this helmet
did the broncos ever wear this?[/quote]
Nope. Horsey was royal blue, wore it in one, maybe two, preseason games. Have yet to see a color game photo proving it was brown. It would have made NO sense. They made a HUGE deal out of changing colors to orange and blue. Who would Horsey be brown? To “honor” one of the colors everyone hated? Hardly.
[quote comment=”293896″]Apparently the Browns will be wearing their “number on the helmet” throwbacks on Monday night…
link
thank god! i was SURE they were gonna break out the link
[quote comment=”293881″]
Teebz, I respect your view on hockey, and you clearly have alot of hockey knowledge, but I think you just made my point…a team’s market doesn’t have to be people who have played the sport, so the fact that you can’t skate outside (and by the way, we have these magical things called indoor arenas now), in the south (and by the way…have fun getting cold enough weather long enough to get a backyard rink in philly), doesn’t mean you can’t have a strong fan base. To say that hockey should stay in cold climates is, in my opinion, and will limit the sport.[/quote]
I am not saying it should stay in cold climates only. I fully support the expansion into the Sunbelt for the reason that you can’t grow the game by staying small. However, there are teams that are hemorrhaging red ink in the NHL, and if I’m the NYR or the Chicago Blackhawks or Philadelphia Flyers, why should I continually write checks to keep franchises like the Thrashers and Coyotes afloat? What I am saying is that the NHL’s business plan for marketing the game in the warm-weather climates has not worked. That’s the problem.
[quote comment=”293881″]And in Dallas, we did have steets, and when the Stars came to town, that’s where we played, and we didn’t care it wasn’t a frozen pond.[/quote]
But Dallas is the exception to the rule as I’ve pointed out throughout all my posts. The Stars never struggled at the gate, and won the Stanley Cup with an exciting team only a few years after arriving. Again, they won fans over by bringing a winning club to Dallas, and then Hicks’ marketing machine kept fans coming back.
Hicks did it the right way in a non-traditional market, and should be commended for his efforts.
[quote comment=”293891″]
Logically? Columbus has failed more miserably than Atlanta or Florida with 0 playoff appearances. Nashville gives Detroit a good run every year.
We’re considered a bad market in Atlanta because we’re south of the mason dixon, even though the on ice product has been mediocre at best. Ridiculous.[/quote]
So when Atlanta can’t even get 40% of their season-ticket holders to renew, you’re telling me the product on the ice is great, right?
It has nothing to do with how many times they’ve made the playoffs. Columbus doesn’t lose money like Atlanta and Florida and Nashville and Phoenix do. That’s why those four were selected. They can’t turn a profit, and haven’t in some time.
The bottom line is the only thing that matters in the equation. If you lose money year after year, you need to amputate at some point.
And if you call Atlanta’s 4-and-out playoff series experience “successful”… I have plenty of swampland in Florida you may want.
[quote comment=”293886″][quote comment=”293827″][quote comment=”293818″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading[/quote]
This is what I got:
link
link
link
link
In this photo gallery of Texas/Colorado, pics 21 and 53 are the only good views of the Speed:
link;
Bonus: Redskins Schutt Ion on #45, Sellers:
link
link
i was looking at the riddell catalog for next..got it from my coach and the speed is in there. I think he is going to get 5 or 6 for next year.[/quote]
Can you scan the pics and link them from say, Photobucket?
ok mr. pearson…
link
[quote comment=”293900″][quote comment=”293896″]Apparently the Browns will be wearing their “number on the helmet” throwbacks on Monday night…
link
thank god! i was SURE they were gonna break out the link[/quote]
Make those black instead of brown and you’d have almost exactly the USFL Oklahoma Outlaws. “At quarterback, number 12, Doug Williams.”
[quote comment=”293856″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
some of cooley’s:
(don’t worry, no nudity)
link
Great find of those pics, U2!!!Those should now be the default Speed pics, when anybody asks about it!
[quote comment=”293904″]ok mr. pearson…
link[/quote]
Jackie Robinson, UCLA
[quote comment=”293907″][quote comment=”293904″]ok mr. pearson…
link[/quote]
Jackie Robinson, UCLA[/quote]
too easy? ;)
[quote comment=”293903″][quote comment=”293886″][quote comment=”293827″][quote comment=”293818″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading[/quote]
This is what I got:
link
link
link
link
In this photo gallery of Texas/Colorado, pics 21 and 53 are the only good views of the Speed:
link;
Bonus: Redskins Schutt Ion on #45, Sellers:
link
link
i was looking at the riddell catalog for next..got it from my coach and the speed is in there. I think he is going to get 5 or 6 for next year.[/quote]
Can you scan the pics and link them from say, Photobucket?[/quote]
i’ll see what i can do.
the catalog is in his office
An interesting NOB and FNOB from 1982 Texas A&M media guide.
link
Dennis
[quote comment=”293903″][quote comment=”293886″][quote comment=”293827″][quote comment=”293818″][quote comment=”293808″]Is there a good pic of the revolution speed helmet? i think its been posted but im too lazy to look for it[/quote]
not sure if this is the speed helmet, but link on the revo…some good reading[/quote]
This is what I got:
link
link
link
link
In this photo gallery of Texas/Colorado, pics 21 and 53 are the only good views of the Speed:
link;
Bonus: Redskins Schutt Ion on #45, Sellers:
link
link
i was looking at the riddell catalog for next..got it from my coach and the speed is in there. I think he is going to get 5 or 6 for next year.[/quote]
Can you scan the pics and link them from say, Photobucket?[/quote]
Alright, thanks!
link
WOOOOOOOOOOOO
As dumb as it may be, I am so stoked that my membership Card was posted in the blog today….by far this is one of the top ten collest things ever in my life ever! Thank you Paul!
And the best pre-birthday gift I have ever recived (my birthday is 10/17!)