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Uni Watch Profiles: Bethany Heck

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Shortly after Thanksgiving I received a note from a design student named Bethany Heck, who was about to graduate from Auburn. Here’s what she had to say:

Hello, Mr. Lukas! I recently completed a project about baseball minutiae, centered around a web site called the Eephus League. The site is starting to gather content, though I want it to be a community-driven place eventually, where other minutiae lovers can submit their findings easily. I created a lot of merch to be sold through the site, like posters, a minutiae handbook, a scorekeeping set, buttons and T-shirts, and a celebratory cigar set. Do you think this would be something people like yourself and your readers would be interested in?

As I quickly discovered, Bethany has her own web site (which basically functions as her portfolio), along with a blog devoted to letterpress type, which is one of her obsessions. All this and baseball minutiae too? An interview was clearly in order.

In the seven-ish weeks since then, Bethany has graduated from Auburn and her Eephus League project has gotten some attention from other media outlets. In fact, several of you have submitted the Eephus project as Ticker contributions over the last few weeks. In each case, I responded, “Way ahead of ya — stand by.”

There were two impediments to arranging an interview with Bethany: First, we had a hard time getting our schedules to match up during the holidays. Also, having been raised with good Southern manners, she kept insisting on calling me “Mr. Lukas,” which was sweet but way too formal. Once we got those issues straightened out, we finally got together for a good conversation. Here’s how it went:

Uni Watch: You just graduated from Auburn. Are you an Alabama native?

Bethany Heck: Yeah, I’m actually from Auburn.

UW: How would you describe yourself as a designer, in terms of your aesthetic or approach?

BH: I really gravitate toward vintage typography. I don’t know if it’s just a phase or if it’s something I’m gonna carry with me for the rest of my time. And I like type in general — if I can make something purely out of typographical layouts and elements, that’s where I like to be. I do illustration or photography if a project calls for it, but typography is my main focus.

UW: And you’re particularly into letterpress, right?

BH: Yes.

UW: How did that come about?

BH: My dad had a collection of a lot of random wood type, and I got really interested in it. Then I started buying my own wood type, and now it’s grown into this huge obsession, and I’ve even talked the university into buying letterpress equipment. So it’s grown into this thing at Auburn, which is great — everyone’s excited about it.

UW: How big is your wood type collection?

BH: I probably have 10 to 15 full alphabets now, plus other random assorted stuff.

UW: One thing I’ve noticed in your work, and also in our e-mail correspondence, is that you seem to be a very solid writer and that you’re as comfortable with the written word as you are with imagery. That’s a great combination for a designer, and it’s pretty uncommon.

BH: Writing makes me nervous, and I don’t necessarily feel confident about it. But I’ve gotten that comment before, so it’s something I should probably start feeling better about.

UW: You’re good at it, trust me.

BH: Thank you. I feel like that’s something that’s really valuable, being able to write your own copy. Especially if I’m going to focus on typography.

UW: Let’s talk about the Eephus League project. That was a class assignment, right?

BH: Yes. At Auburn, you ideally take just one design class for your last semester — it’s your senior project, and you devote your entire semester to that. For me, that was the Eephus League.

UW: What exactly was the assignment? Like, were you supposed to create a brand, or what?

BH: It’s pretty vague. Some people create companies, some people create museum exhibitions — it’s really loose. Most people tend to create a brand.

UW: And was the Eephus League something you dreamed up specifically for that assignment, or was it something you’d been thinking about doing anyway?

BH: I’d been thinking about it beforehand. I wanted to do a baseball project, but I needed to narrow it down, give it some direction. I couldn’t just say, “It’ll be about baseball.”

UW: So you decided it would be about baseball minutiae.

BH: Yes.

UW: And can you describe that a bit more? If someone asked you to explain what the Eephus League is, how would you respond?

BH: I would say that it’s a safe haven for all the random bits of baseball that kind of floats around the edges. I would consider the weirdly obsessive stat culture that’s developed around baseball to be a bit of minutiae; the stuff you do with the uniforms, that’s minutiae; weird historical documentation of things that random people have said; all the little things that have sprung up because of baseball. All of that is in the realm of the Eephus League.

UW: And it’s celebrating those things?

BH: Yes, definitely.

UW: Any serious baseball fan knows where the term “eephus” comes from. Did you choose that term right away, or did you consider other names?

BH: None of my other names were really any good.

UW: Hey now, we’ll be the judge of that. What were some of them?

BH: I don’t even want to say.

UW: Oh come on, people love knowing what was left on the cutting room floor.

BH: At first I was focusing on terms that had to do with numbers, like Full Count, and just awful, awful ideas. And I was nervous about choosing Eephus League, because some people don’t know what means, or how to pronounce it. So anytime someone encounters the name and they tell me they like it and they know what it means, I’m like, “Yes!”

UW: Have you found yourself having to explain it to a lot of people?

BH: Yes.

UW: Even baseball fans? I mean, I can see that a professor looking at your project might not necessarily be a baseball fan to begin with. But don’t baseball people know about the eephus pitch?

BH: My father, who’s a casual fan, wasn’t that familiar with it. There’s been a few other people who’ve kind of looked at the project and squinted and said, “Wait, isn’t that the name of a pitch or something?” And inside I’m going, “Yes!”

UW: Where did your obsession with baseball minutiae come from? Like, have you always been a baseball fan, or always been a minutiae fan, or both?

BH: I think it’s a little bit of both. I’m a collector, I’m a hoarder. I like little printed things, old stuff, I’m into old stuff”¦

UW: I have no idea what you’re talking about.

BH: Right, I’m sure. So the minutiae thing is something I’ve always been interested in. And I’ve always been a baseball fan. Right when I started the project, I went to the library and checked out the Ken Burns baseball documentary, and I was almost getting emotional as I watched it. I was thinking, “My god, I’d forgotten how much I love baseball! I’m so glad I’m working on this project!”

UW: Do you play baseball yourself?

BH: I played softball growing up. I got to the point where fast pitch started, but nobody else around here played that, so I had to become a soccer kid to fit in.

UW: Tell me some of your favorite baseball details — things that you’re particularly happy to write about and celebrate in the Eephus League.

BH: I really love scorekeeping. I love the layout of the scorecard, the graphic nature of the shape of the diamond and how it combines with numbers that you write onto it, and how certain gestures mean certain things. It’s really intricate, but it’s easy to understand. That was definitely a pleasure to dive into.

Also, the Library of Congress has a photo archive of ballplayers from the turn of the century, with no rights restrictions. I love the old uniforms, I love the players’ nicknames”¦

UW: Those are the images you used for those posters?

BH: Yes.

UW: About scorekeeping: Who taught you how to keep score? That’s often a formative moment in a fan’s life.

BH: I don’t have anyone in my family who does it habitually. But I remember going to Braves games as a kid and asking my dad where David Justice was, because he was my favorite player, and having the scoresheet in front of me and my dad explaining the basics. We probably only did it for about three innings and got bore with it, but it definitely stuck in my mind.

UW: And when you go to a game now, do you always keep socre?

BH: Yes.

UW: Do you save the scorecard afterward? Do you have a drawer stuffed with all of them?

BH: Unfortunately, no. Usually they get lost.

UW: Any other details about the game that you especially like?

BH: I’m really interested in all the sabermetric stuff. I like that there are people who will dig into those numbers. Like, wins over replacement, I don’t even understand all of that, but it’s really fascinating to me that someone’s come up with this really complex formula. And there’s all these arguments about which stats are good or bad, and nobody can ever come to an agreement over which ones are most useful.

UW: Do your friends and family share your passion for these types of details?

BH: No, they don’t, unfortunately.

UW: And do they look at you kinda funny?

BH: Yes, they do. But this project is less weird than some of my other fascinations, so they tolerate it.

UW: You mean like the wood type?

BH: Yes. I’ve basically taken over a wing of the house with drawers and chests full of wood type. And I have all these typewriters lying around that don’t have ribbons, and they don’t work, but they’re old and I like them, so I keep them.

UW: What about uniforms — do you have strong feelings about the types of things that come up on Uni Watch?

BH: Oh, definitely. I like it when you run the wire images, especially from the first part of the 20th century.

UW: So you like the old flannels.

BH: Yes, sir.

UW: Do you have feelings about the “right” or “wrong” ways to wear a uniform? Any protocols that you think are particularly important?

BH: Stirrups are a must. As a Braves fan, I wish they’d go back to the blue stirrups with the red stripes. And I don’t like pajama pants, I don’t like the baggy shirts or the untucking of shirts”¦

UW: So you’re a classicist.

BH: Yes, definitely.

UW: Tell me about the Eephus merchandise line you’ve created. The scorekeeping pencils are obvious enough, since you like to keep score. What about some of the other products?

BH: Well, there are the posters, which are based on those Library of Congress photographs. I really wanted to do something eye-catching like that, because the handbook I made is a little restrained. The posters were more like a plaything for me, and they ended up being one of my favorite parts of the project.

UW: How many pages is the handbook?

BH: It’s just short of 100 pages. [You can click through the entire thing here. — PL]

UW: You wrote all that text?

BH: Not all of it. I wrote more than half of it. They don’t really require you to write your own content for the senior design project. I tried to as much of it as I could, but a lot of it’s from Wikipedia.

UW: You also designed your own scorebook. Since you feel strongly about keeping score, I assume this is your vision of how the perfect scorebook should look..?

BH: Yeah. I know some purists will say it’s missing certain things that the big spiral-bound scorebooks have, but I wanted to make something that was less intimidating to someone who’d never done it before. So I kinda dumbed it down a little bit and rearranged the way it lays on a page. And I added little stickers to indicate whether it was a day or a night game, a win or a loss.

UW: Everyone loves stickers.

BH: I love stickers too.

UW: What about all the “canned goods”? Why put pencils and buttons in a can?

BH: There’s just something great about it — something feels special if it comes in metal. Normal packaging is perishable. You have to be extra-careful to make sure it doesn’t get destroyed. But a can is so substantial! I like cans.

UW: What’s with the catcher’s mitt?

BH: That was something I got as a kid, at a yard sale in Johnson City, Tennessee. I remember my mom wanting to get me a new one, and I always said, “No, I like the old one.” I’ve always held onto it.

UW: Wait, so is it part of your merchandise line, or what?

BH: The idea is that Eephus League could have a marketplace where people could re-sell things. But I’m not looking to sell that actual glove.

UW: The cigars are a particularly interesting touch, especially since people can no longer smoke in most ballparks. Are you a cigar fan?

BH: Being a Braves fan, I’d see Bobby Cox smoking a cigar in his postgame interview, and I always thought it was an iconic baseball thing: Your team wins, you light up a cigar to celebrate. I felt like that fit the whole mood of the project.

UW: Now that the project is done, what grade did you get?

BH: I got “A, Commended,” which means best in class.

UW: Really! Congratulations.

BH: Thank you.

UW: And now that that’s done, what’s your goal for the Eephus League?

BH: I think it has the potential to keep going with some of the merchandise, especially the scorebook. I’m looking into whether any of the high school leagues around here would be interested. I don’t know how much of this stuff would be practical to market, but I’d like to try.

UW: And what about the web site? You had mentioned to me earlier that you hoped it would become a place where minutiae-minded fans could congregate and become a little community. Is that still your goal?

BH: Yeah, definitely. My baseball knowledge is very small compared to other people’s so I designed the site so that it would be easy for other people to contribute photos and share their own quotes, experiences, and so on. To just build up the site with all this expertise from other fans.

UW: I assume Auburn is much more of a football place than a baseball place. Are you a football fan too?

BH: Oh yes, definitely.

UW: Can you imagine doing a similar project devoted to football minutiae?

BH: Yes, I’m hoping to do that.

UW: And now that you’ve graduated, what do you plan to do career-wise? Aside from the Eephus League world-domination scheme, I mean.

BH: Yes, that’s definitely number one. I’m hoping to go to grad school, and then I’m hoping to do work on my own and teach. My father’s a graphic design professor”¦

UW: At Auburn?

BH: Yes. Nepotism, yes!

UW: Did you take classes with him?

BH: Just one.

UW: Will you go to grad school at Auburn as well?

BH: They don’t have a graduate design program here anymore, unfortunately, so I’ve applied to schools in Austin, Baltimore, and New York. Maybe I can do the football project for my thesis.

UW: Anything to add?

BH: I really love baseball typography — the combination of the scripts with the mono-spaced block lettering. I feel like baseball has a really rich typographic history, and that’s one of the things that led me to do this project.

– – – – – – –

I think Bethany’s future looks bright. For now, though, she’s curious about trying to sell some of her Eephus products but doesn’t want to invest too heavily in mass-producing anything until she has a better idea of how big an audience there is for it. I figure Uni Watch readers would make a pretty good Eephus focus group, so if you think you might be interested in the posters, the pencils, the handbook, and so on — or if you’d just like to offer Bethany some feedback on the viability of selling this stuff — drop her a line. She’d love to hear from you.

+ + + + +

Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday I asked why Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati is wearing the Blue Jackets’ anniversary patch. A reader who prefers to remain anonymous provides the answer: “Moeller is now part of the Capital Hockey Conference which is made up of the 13 varsity programs in Columbus and Moeller. All of the members of the Capital Hockey Conference were given the Blue Jackets’ 10th-season patches to wear on their jerseys this season.” ”¦ The new Reebok retail catalog is leading to lots of chatter about next season’s NHL uniforms. ”¦ Two North Dakota hockey fans are using a uni-based strategy to protest the upcoming retirement of the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname (with thanks to Matt Hildebrand). ”¦ A new Grand Slam tournament, a new sneaker design for Roger Federer (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ New soccer kit for France (with thanks to Patrick Runge). ”¦ Cort McMurray recently visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he took some good photos. ”¦ Yesterday I mentioned that John Kuhn’s helmet didn’t have a neck bumper, which exposed some uneven trimming on this stripe tape, but I didn’t have a visual. Now I do, thanks to Brendan Slattery). ”¦ A designer in Iceland has created a rather eccentric blog devoted to mascot design (with thanks to Mike Ennis). ”¦ Holy moly, look at this completely amazing Philly Warriors logo patch. “Sweet as bear meat,” says Warren Humphrey, and who could disagree with that? ”¦ Pretty sure I’ve never seen this White Sox BP jersey before. Doesn’t show up in Bill Henderson’s guide, either (great find by Chris Falvey). ”¦ Something else I haven’t seen: this Angels cap logo. “I’ve seen it before,” says Thomas White, “but only on kids’ souvenir caps, never on a player.” … Here’s the latest EPL kit report from Michael Orr. ”¦ Also from Michael: Leaks of the Colorado Rapids kit — home and road. ”¦ The Canadiens and Flames primed the pump for the upcoming Heritage Classic game by wearing touques during warm-ups last night (with thanks to Alan Kreit). ”¦ Neglected to mention that Oregon has been wearing new hoops uniforms to go with the new arena (but fortunately Jamin Svendsen reminded me). ”¦ When we say that someone “really pulled the string on that one,” we’re usually talking about baseball — but not this time. Where’s the holding call? (Great screen shot by Jason Kerzer.) ”¦ Good news from Jim Wooley, who reports that the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes are honouring the 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs with some dynamite throwbacks. ”¦ Coupla color-vs.-color games in the NBA yesterday, including Bulls/Grizzlies and Kings/Hawks. ”¦ Excellent find over on the Chris Creamer board, where somebody noticed that some Dolphins in the 1993-95 range had the team’s logo script on their socks. … Not sports-related, but hours of hilarity with these absolutely amazing communist industrial-safety posters. No wonder the glorious revolution failed: Everyone was laughing too hard. Tough to pick a favorite, no? And look, there’s another batch here. Since my own workplace has been accident-free for all of about 17 minutes (cats + gravity = crash!), I may need to wallpaper the joint with some of these, and I strongly suggest that you do likewise, just to be safe (life-altering submission by my buddy Shane Arbogast).

 
  
 
Comments (146)

    wow…just wow

    tremendous stuff bethany

    great interview — the eephus project is definitely a winner four-sacker!

    Agreed. And oh my gosh what can we do to help get that shop up and running? Sure, the posters are some of the best I’ve seen in many years, but Bethany’s scorebook design is an absolute revelation. If anybody here knows anybody who works for Moleskine or Rhodia, please please hook them up with Bethany to get that scorebook into production!

    Thanks to both Lil Phil and RS Rogers for the kind words! I have a local printer who can reproduce the scorebooks exactly like the ones I sewed myself, it’s just a matter of ordering enough to bring the cost down to a reasonable range. I have to figure out some places who would be willing to sell the books and how much I want to sell them for. I mean, these things have stickers?! Who can turn that down?

    The posters are easier, and I know plenty of screen printers who can handle them.

    I really appreciate the interview and the response from the UW community, thank you all so much and please shoot me an email if you want to chat baseball!

    yeah…um…it’s

    LI Phil…not “lil” phil — the “LI” is for long island

    ~~~

    everyone loves stickers tho :) so all is forgiven

    I think you’ll be Lil Phil for some time now. . .

    Also, absolutely loved everything on the site, this interview. The only very nit-picky thing I had is I love boxes for the count on the score cards, and I didn’t notice that on those score cards. I would bite that bullet, though. Also can’t emphasize enough how much I love the cans for the scorecard pencils.

    Crackin’ up at this whole LI or Lil Phil discussion. Thank you.

    Enjoyed the interview Bethany, and love the Eephus League website.

    If you’ll send me an email that just says you’re interested in which poster(s), I’m taking note of the most popular ones and those will be the ones that get produced. Thank you for your interest! The warm up sweater poster is my favorite.

    I don’t even think I could pick a favorite, they’re all too good. I would love to have all of them for my basement.

    Also wanted to add that it’s absolutely criminal that the handbook isn’t being sold at a bookstore near you.

    Yeah I thought Lil’ Phil for a long time. If he lived out here, wouldn’t SFPhil be easier?

    Pretty sure I’ve never seen this White Sox BP jersey before. Doesn’t show up in Bill Henderson’s guide, either

    From the background in the photo, it appears it was taken during Spring Training in Sarasota. By the time they came north, the Sox were sporting red versions of this BP jersey, with similar sleeve striping, and the “SOX” script across the front (a navy one was added for road games).

    where somebody noticed that some Dolphins in the 1993-95 range had the team’s logo script on their socks.

    They weren’t the only team. IIRC, the Bengals did the same thing, as did at least a few other teams.

    I saw this photo on ebay recently too and found a second one from the seller:

    link

    A quick research, showed it’s of the Glens Falls White Sox AA-Minor League affiliate, from 1980-85.

    Boston’s page backs it up:

    link

    concealed78 and DJ:

    Thanks guys! I’m the Chris Falvey who submitted that, and I’m glad the mystery is now solved.

    I’m a huge White Sox geek, and I’d never seen that uni.

    Great read!!!

    Bethany,

    Being a designer myself I really enjoy your designs! I looked on your site and saw this, “I absolutely love the stirrups the Orioles wore in the throwback game against the Nationals on June 26th, 2010.”

    Shoot me an email…I have a few pairs of them from the game! I’ll send you a pair for further inspiration!

    -Joe

    Those work safety posters are great. My favorite is the guy with his head stuck between the railroad cars. How does that even happen?
    link

    Did anyone else think up some captions for them?
    link
    Remember kids, Uncle Joe says, “Leave the fan on or the fumes will get to you.”

    I think they show that communism didn’t fail because workers were laughing too hard, it failed because they were really, really bad at their jobs. I now give OSHA full credit for winning the Cold War. In the battle of man versus machines (and hammers and stacks of bricks and seemingly well-labeled glass bottles), the Soviets never stood a chance. We had OSHA to tell everyone to wear a helmet or to maybe stack the bricks on level ground or, hey, don’t reach into the giant machine to try to pull the sheet metal back out with your bare hands, the the Russkies didn’t, and so the American worker survived and triumphed.

    Loved the report on icethetics about the changes in NHL jerseys sweaters.
    On a semi-related note, can anyone tell me what that logo was supposed to be on the old Atlanta Thrashers third jersey?
    (I’m referencing this one: link)

    Thanks. I always thought it was ridiculous-looking*, but that was before I knew that the thrasher was actually the Georgia state bird, not just something the team brass thought sounded badass. :)

    *Okay, I still think they looked kind of ridiculous, but they’re not in rotation anymore, so the point’s moot, huh?

    Purportedly, “Thrashers” was a runner-up to “Flames” way back in ’72 as the nickname for Atlanta’s first NHL club. One wonders what the 1970s Thrashers would’ve looked like…

    At first glance I was a little disappointed with the new French national shirt, too plain, but after seeing the while kit I was plenty satisfied. The red socks look great with the solid white shorts and navy shirt. A classic look that will stand the test of time. Now let’s see if the FFF can field a decent team without the fear of a strike.

    I think they’re pretty nice (I tend to prefer Nike’s soccer uniforms over Adidas’ anyway), but the sleeves are kind of weird. Evidently you only get red on your sleeve if you roll it up, which you know only a few players will do. I kind of feel like it shouldn’t be called a “uniform” if what they’re wearing isn’t exactly, y’know, uniform!
    BTW, here’s another link for those of us who don’t speak French: link

    I think i like alot… I’m a red bulls fan and before henry was officially sent over I picked up the world cup jersey… spending so much time looking at the cat scratches makes me love this kit.

    Simply and classy/classic and if you were to see the team out there, youd most likely know who you were watching without being told… always a good thing

    I have a daughter about Bethany’s age. She’s smart, beautiful and I love her dearly. She’s an architecture major, so she’s into design, and I could see her getting into wood type. But she couldn’t give two hoots about baseball. I’m pretty sure Bethany’s my long lost other daughter. Great stuff. And congratulations getting Auburn interested in letterpresses. That had to be a real chore.

    Those industrial safety posters are clearly the ancestors of the gory, Drivers Ed films of yore. Just outstanding. My favorite is the guy wheeling a barrow and about to step on a fish.

    Driver’s Ed!

    We used to have something parked outside the school called “The Simulator.” A long trailer, with about 20 little dashboard/chair/steering wheel set ups. So they run the film at the front of the trailer, and you drive along to what you see, and the central computer tracks each desk’s reactions. Of course, we’d have guys where, when a kid shot out into traffic on his snow sled……they’d steer right for him and then hi-five in triumph.

    And of course, the pressure was really on when you got your temp license. no matter how quiet you tried to keep it, everyone knew everyones birthday, and you of course when on your birthday to get the temp. if you didnt come back the next date and immediately flash the yellow temp licese…everyone knew you flunked it and you got really dumped on.

    Bethany – your stuff is a grand slam! Those who share interest in block type might also like this recent link in a Denver weekly. Something about that fellow reminds me of a certain denizen of this site . . .

    Lots of great stuff on that link, especially Denver the fox! Since the artist isn’t from North America, I’ll give him a pass on having a Raiders’ mascot named Stingley. If he ever heard of link, though, it’s too soon.

    Mixed bag on the Rapids’ latest kits. While I’m always glad to see less red, BFBS isn’t the answer either. In about a decade they’ve gone from green and white to royal and black to claret with a microscopic touch of blue to black with touches of blue and claret. Who could keep up?

    The photos of the Rapids jerseys are pretty dark, but I don’t see any black there. Looks like the same old burgundy to me.

    Where does the UW community currently stand on this issue: wearing the jersey of your team to a game, but with the name and number of a former player who now plays for the opponent?

    I’m generally in favor only of wearing the jersey of a player no longer on the team if that player isn’t in the league, though this still doesn’t excuse the guy I saw wearing a Courtney Brown jersey to a Browns game.

    It’s certainly a personal preference, but as Jerry Seinfeld once noted, we’re rooting for laundry. When that player isn’t wearing your laundry anymore, it’s no longer appropriate to show support for him.

    I see no problem with it in most cases. You probably don’t wanna wear a James jersey in Cleveland this year, but generally speaking, it shouldn’t matter. You can’t really expect people to throw out a jersey just because a player gets traded or something.

    This is why I generally avoid wearing NOB jerseys. If you go number-only, you never have this problem.

    But where I actually stand on the question is this: Anyone who would give a perfect stranger a hard time for wearing that jersey is a jerk. We ought not let the opinions of jerks determine our own behavior. Ergo, wear the jersey with pride.

    I agree with all of that. He asked for our consensus opinion on the matter and I gave mine, but I’m not gonna give anyone a hard time beyond poking fun at a friend for doing it.

    I also get blank jerseys whenever possible, which means baseball, hockey, and soccer. Football and basketball jerseys don’t look right without a number on back, so I try to get historical players. For the Browns I’ve settled on Jim Brown. For the Cavs, I sold off my LeBron jerseys for $5 each and haven’t watched a pro basketball game this season (the fact that my current home is considered a Wizards market doesn’t help).

    At $300 a pop, I think most people wear them for the team on the front more than the player on the back. ie, they are not going to stop wearing it to games to support their team, just because the GM decided to trade the guy or whatever. Now I can understand people retiring james/Rothlisburger unis…

    That’s why I won’t buy a $300 jersey. Or a $100 jersey. Or a $50 knockoff. OK, I did buy a $50 Willie Stargell replica a while ago, but that’s an exception because he was my all-time favorite player. Other than that, if I can’t find a $20 t-shirt jersey or a clearance sale jersey, I don’t bother. Guys move around too much to invest in them.

    I used to wear my John Starks jersey to Knick games even after he was gone…he just happend to be my favorite player…..

    Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom selected as NHL All Star Captains. From the NHL.com press release:

    The NHL All-Star teams are now designated as Team Staal and Team Lidstrom. Team Staal will wear the previously unveiled white Reebok NHL All-Star jerseys, helmets and socks, with red trim throughout and red gloves and pants. Team Lidstrom will wear the dark blue jerseys with royal blue trim, navy blue helmets, gloves and pants and navy blue socks. The All-Star jerseys feature Reebok’s trademark Smoothfit numbering and lettering, created from a special process that provides lighter, stretch-based performance and the ability to include a unique design on the back numbers.

    Well, now that he’s a captain, I guess Nick has to show up for the ASG this year, right?

    RE: Dolphins socks w. logo—-maybe that was a function of the maker at the time, IE—I know I saw Bengals socks with the same treatment.

    Many years ago (’91?) I bought a pair of white Redskins game socks with the burgandy and gold stripe (worn with white jerseys) and it had the REDSKINS wordmark sewn as a patch in the burgandy stripe on the side of each sock, so I figured it was similar to the actual game sock, except made for the fans- or the players had the wordmark but I never noticed. It also had “NFL Pro Line” printed on the bottom of the foot, so I figured they had to be official to some degree.

    Actually, North Dakota isn’t going to retire the Fighting Sioux, they’re just going to move them gradually farther and farther west.

    not to beat a dead horse on those russian posters…but at least most of them are self-explanatory…sort of

    a couple…i just can’t quite imagine WTF the workers would be doing that might place them in such a situation

    case in point

    what profession, even 50 years ago, would you ever find a guy needing to stand on a wood box with a hatchet to cut what appear to be some kind of power lines, while another dude is holding them? and what wouldn’t be self-explanatory enough about that very action that you’d need a poster to inform said workers “don’t do this”?

    great stuff, those posters

    i can see comrade marshall repurposing some of them into stirrup posters

    Boy, I’d sure love to take a look at those posters. They sound like a real hoot.

    Alas:

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    The expressions on the two men with the pitchfork injury are hilarious, not to mention the improbability of stabbing someone in the calf while shoveling manure.

    link

    “Sergey, how did you even do that? I was standing in front of you!”

    “Oops, sorry Ivan.”

    See, that poster isn’t about safety. It’s a parable. The guy on the right, he’s just collapsed in existential despair because he’s realized the Sisyphean absurdity of modern life, and he’s clutching the wires in a last, desperate attempt to retain some shred of individual dignity in the face of a world he didn’t make. The man with the hatchet is roused to direct action by anger at the abuses of the bourgeoise, and he seeks to strike out against the tyranny of the ruling class. But he hasn’t coordinated his action with his local party committee, and so by striking at the mere symbols of his oppression, rather than at his oppressors directly, he risks cutting the wires that support his comrade. “Uncoordinated action against the forces of counterrevolution undermines the progress of the proletariat” is the message there.

    Either that, or the Soviets really didn’t understand electricity. Though to be fair, that exact methodology – a hatchet and some hard yanking – would explain the wiring in my old apartment in Chicago.

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    No symbolism in this one though. That’s just the Soviet version of Gilligan’s Island. The professor was about to attach a satellite dish made from palm fronds to the top of the hut so they could signal the Navy.

    I though the point of that one was that there’s a right way and a wrong way to cut the power after a dissident has been electrocuted.

    —Ricko

    Extraordinary work, Bethany.

    Original, inventive, imaginative, fully developed, true to the subject matter and equally true to the brand you created.

    Just a big ol’ home run any way you look at it.

    —Ricko

    quick note on the Angels hat – this was the earliest logo in the ’60s while playing in LA at Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium. The typeface remained the same following the move to Anaheim — “LA” became “CA”. Wikipedia has a note with this logo, and I found another player photo on Minor League Baseball’s website.

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    That Angels logo that’s shown in the ticker is slightly different than the ones you show. Similar, but different. The ticker’s picture looks old–maybe the 1950’s, so I assume that it’s an old minor league hat.

    I don’t believe the PCL Angels ever wore anything like that – they were known for the same interlocking block “LA” that the Dodgers now use.

    More likely that it’s a manufacturer variation.

    I think the differences between the ticker photo and the Wiki logo are simply a matter of translating a logo onto an actual stitched hat. Look at old Brooklyn Dodgers hats for what I mean – there are plenty of different variations but essentially the same logo.

    I don’t think the hat comes from the old PCL Angels as they never had a logo like that.
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    All this talk of baseball scoring brings up the question for which I have never gotten a proper answer- where in the world can I find a pencil sharpener that will do the “short sharpen?” Every time you buy a scorecard & pencil at the ballpark, the pencil has what I have dubbed the “short sharpen,” but when you have to resharpen it, normal sharpeners rip away half the pencil & you’re left with a graphite dagger. Am I the only one annoyed by this? Can anyone help?

    If you tilt the pencil slightly in the sharpener while applying constant pressure, you’ll cut a wider angle.

    While I do indeed have 38 pencil sharpeners within a few feet of where I’m sitting, I don’t think any of them do the short sharpen.

    What do golf venues use to sharpen golf scoring pencils?

    they come in the box that way (pre-sharpened) … and they’re pretty much given away (although some courses will recycle them) but i don’t think they actually ever resharpen them…i’ve never been given anything but a “short sharpen” pencil and they always look like they came “right out of the box”

    I just claw away at the wood with my fingernail until I get to the graphite, then rub the pencil back and forth on some paper until the tip is ready to reuse. But if I’m at a game with James, his eyeliner sharpener would be faster.

    Alternate solution: Score in pen. The great thing is that doing so will discipline you to trust your own instincts about hit/error calls. I score it as I see it, and then two minutes later when the official scorer finally reaches a decision, I don’t care, because I’ve already called that a hit or an error in my scorebook and it’s in pen and that’s the play I saw.

    On that note, everyone has their own scoring quirks. My biggest one is that I put a $ in to indicate an exceptional defensive play. Learned that from my dad, and it’s about the only element of scorekeeping that I do like him. He was one of your old-school scorers who just write the code for the play – F7, 2B, whatever – in the box, whereas I’m a much more representational scorer. I draw each runner’s path around the bases, and the arc of the ball on certain outs and hits, and whatnot.

    Yeah, it’s always best to score in pen. I’ve found that my judgments about hits and errors are usually a lot better than the official scorekeepers, especially at minor league ballgames.

    I also always score in pen. Am I also the only one that routinely keeps score when watching a game on TV?

    As heard on a Simpsons episode, “For those of you keeping score at home, that’s E3. And if you are keeping score at home, your loneliness saddens me.”

    I like the posters, Bethany. You could run very far with that idea, i.e., drawing your own sets of letters and scripts to better fit the hand-set aesthetic of the period in which the photos originated.

    Thank you, Andy. I’ve been needing an excuse to experiment with creating some new typefaces and that would be an excellent springboard.

    “New soccer kit for France”

    Love the socks and shorts – like with Scotland, red socks look so sharp with blue shirts and white shorts.

    Not too keen on the new France shirt though – looks a little too rugby-esque with the dark collar.

    Why would Scotland wear red? Aren’t their colors blue and white? Wouldn’t it be kind of like a team representing the state of Alabama (whose flag is white with a red saltire) wearing blue accents?

    Scotland currently wear dark blue shirts, white shorts, and red socks. The red socks are not a recent addition; they frequently (but not always) wear them as part of their primary kit. Current change kit is yellow with dark blue shorts.

    Yep, Scotland have almost always incorporated red into their kits as an accent – usually as part or all of the sock design.

    link

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    The red and the yellow that they use most likely represent the Lion Rampant/Royal Standard of Scotland (whereas the notional flag is the blue and white St Andrew’s Cross)…

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    My grandfather was on that 1951 Lethbridge Maple Leafs team. They did a nice 50th anniversary 10 years ago when the world Under 18 championship was held in Lethbridge. They gave them replica Team Canada Jersey’s that year however. I’m really hopping that they have special jersey’s that they give to the family again. I can’t wait to see those uni’s on the ice.

    Belated two cents: I give two spaces after a period. That’s how I learned it, and it made sense to me. A period is a “full stop,” and *should* have more significance than a comma or a semicolon, which, to me, read as “breath marks” or “list makers,” e.g.: this, that, and the other thing.
    Yesterday’s article mentioned how the post-period double-space was inspired by the manual typewriter. Well, that’s EXACTLY how the QWERTY layout was chosen. QWERTY is not fast or efficient at all; it is engineered to keep words’ letters far apart, preventing jams. Since the emergence of electric typewriters and computer keyboards, there is no use for QWERTY layouts, except that it has become habitual and traditional. (And no, I’m not a Dvorak typist, that’s a nagging New Year’s Resolution that always gets put off on my end.)

    But the QWERTY layout has no effect on the final product and thus is not subject to the style guides and rules of writing and word processing. I could also argue that the paper and pen are antiquated, there’s no use for them, etc. Doesn’t matter how you go about putting those two spaces after your period. It’s still incorrect unless you’re using mono-spaced type.

    “With their gold, black and white-striped palette, the late Mr. Blackwell perhaps would have described the shirts as resembling a zebra if descended upon by a swarm of bees.”

    not sure this has been answered yet but how many times can a nfl team wear throwbacks in a year? Just wondering if there was any chance of the bears/pack doing it this weekend?

    I think it’s once in the preseason, twice during the regular season, and, with special permission only, an extra time in the playoffs.
    This weekend, the Bears *could* go with either the standard or the throwback navy jersey. I’d predict the standard one, so they may have a helmet decal. This would put the Pack in white, by default. Then if the Packers were to go to the Super Bowl, I’d HAVE to wager that they’d wear green…

    They’d be the home team, so it would be the Packers’ call.

    I could see them wearing green, or pulling a 2005 Steelers and say that since they had to win out on the road to get that far, they’d continue to wear white.

    not to mention the steelers recent success in white (in the super bowl) and the jets (who would also have won 3 straight in white) in white…pack might want to stay in white and force their opponent to wear color

    but lets cross those pack vs. stillers/jets bridge when we come to it…they have to get by da bears first

    The Giants also won NFC Championship and Superbowl in white…..since every game for them was on the road they should have been in white the whole playoffs….. but they had to to go Dallas….

    (this was supposed to be an independent comment, not buried under the Soviet Poster discussion..so I apologize for the duplication…)

    Extraordinary work, Bethany.

    Original, inventive, imaginative, fully developed, true to the subject matter and equally true to the brand you created.

    Just a big ol’ home run any way you look at it.

    –Ricko

    The latest twist in Nike Toy Combat propaganda?

    “Baseball is a game, yes. It is also a business. But what is most truly is is disguised combat. For all its gentility, its almost leisurely pace, baseball is violence under wraps.”

    Nope. That there was Willie Mays, taken from the Eephus League site.

    By the way, fantastic work, Bethany.

    Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis this weekend.

    Colder than last year, and no rain likely (what a fluke that was).

    How time does fly.
    Do you suppose we should have a UW Deep Freeze First Anniversary Patch? Nah…proabably not. But maybe I’ll wear my Deep Freeze tee shirt (thanks again, Trax) while watching the NFL games.

    And, y’know, get all wistful.

    —Ricko

    I’ll be celebrating at the Wilson factory in Ada, where the temp is supposed to be in the mid-teens during the day, single digits at night. Deep freeze indeed….

    Living up to the TCs’ reputation…

    13 below overnight tomorrow night, I believe I heard.

    Could be a tad, um, bracing…playing softball in the Holy Angels dome Thursday at 8:30 a.m.

    —Ricko

    Ya know, I didn’t keep one of those t shirts for myself. I need to have another one made…, maybe with a patch as you say.

    The Illinois Fighting Illini basketball team will unveil new uniforms tonight from the Nike Hyper Elite product line. The uniform back features a custom University of Illinois pattern inspired by Illinois’ Assembly Hall, Foellinger Auditorium and the Urbana-Champaign campus I mark.

    Check it out!
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    My Aunt Christine had a slip cover for her easy chair that looked a lot like the whites.

    She was born in 1889, and wore her hair pulled so tight in a bun that I’m pretty she went without blinking for the entire 1950s.

    In other words, she’s the perfect inspiration for a trendy new hoops uni.
    (cough, cough)

    —Ricko

    I’m *finally* getting around to clicking on all the links in the main entry today — great stuff, by the way.

    I’m surprised nobody’s pointed this out yet (unless I just missed it), but the link to the handbook is wonky — http is doubled up so it’s coded as “httphttp…”

    Here’s the link.

    Pretty sure that the first picture of Richmond Webb is from 1990, 1991 or 1992, not 1993. In the background, it looks like a Patriots player on the sidelines. The Patriots switched over to the flying Elvis’ unis in 1993.

    Yet another great interview by Paul, er… Mr. Lukas. I think Bethany did a fantastic job. Baseball is the perfect sport for her project, what with all the attention to stats and numbers.

    I’m not much of a soccer fan but I liked the stylized rooster on those French kits. Could probably kick Cornelius’s ass!

    And finally, the Soviet industrial safety posters. I had quite a good laugh out of it, as if a Three Stooges short was put to print. Sort of a cousin to the WPA-stlye safety posters of the same era. link The artwork is really cool though.

    im sure only brinke and i are watching the oz open, but roddick is playing kunitsyn, and kunitsyn has a northwest striping pattern design on the sides of his shirt

    not the sleeves, but the abdomen…never seen that before

    Could be a very green Super Bowl – Jet/Packers?

    Once again (same as last year) – not one team wearing a spot of red in the conference finals.

    The best looking Super Bowl possibility – I would say probably Bears / Steelers? Steelers / Packers – too much yellow – Packers/Jets – too much green – and Bears/Jets – well I’m just not that crazy about the Jets white uni – green or white pants.

    Bethany – the reason I haven’t posted how jumpin flip cool your stuff is, is that you’ve made my mind race all day. I have several projects that I’m working on (hey rpm, you gonna get back with me??) that you just dumped a bowl full of mind jelly on. See, now you have me tossing rpm esque words around. Inspiring stuff. Love it.

    Mmm, mind jelly. Sorry to distract you from work, I’m flattered that you enjoyed it.

    Thank you to all who read the interview and left comments, DenverGregg, Patrick, Jim Vilk, Broadway Connie, Interlocking TC, Bodog, Aaron, Aflfan, Flip and any of the others I’ve forgotten. It means to world to get feedback from the UW community, there aren’t many local folks who are cut from the same cloth. Thanks again and I will be sure to pester Paul when some of the merch starts coming off the production line.

    I can confirm that golf pencils come pre-sharpened, and pre-shortened as well. I have never seen it any other way. Our starters and marshalls usually use a standard electric pencil sharpener to sharpen their pencils, but only a few times before the pencil gets too short to handle.

    I’ve been to Auburn, AL, and that’s true about the cloth. Fortunately, there’s more to the world than just what you see around you.

    re: Hockey Hall of Fame photos:

    “Honky the Christmas Goose” ????

    The H-word is an offensive, racist term. I’m terribly offended and I’m going to be calling upon the leaders of my race to mount a campaign to have the Commissioner of the Hockey Hall of Fame fired. Displaying and promoting racially divisive and offensive terms like the H-word is simply not acceptable in this day and age.

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