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There’s No Service Like Wire Service, Vol. 24

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I’ve somehow let an entire month of 2011 go by without running a single wire photo entry, so it’s time to do something about that. Most of these were submitted by Mike Hersh, plus a few came from Bill Kellick. Dig:

• You probably know Hack Wilson holds the single-season RBI record. But he also appears to have led the league in personalized wagons.

• Here’s one of the more unusual baseball uniforms I’ve ever seen. Such an odd mix of block type and script. It’s from the 1920s, but unfortunately no further details were provided.

• Not many football fans realize that facemasks were extremely controversial when first introduced, in part because it was thought that an upward blow on the mask could push the back edge of the helmet into the player’s neck or spinal cord — and that’s how the neck bumper was developed. You can see that evolution playing out in this 1961 photo and caption.

• We’ve all seen giant knuckleball mitts before. The interesting thing about that photo, however, is the caption, which sort of suggests that this may have been the first knuckleball mitt ever made specifically for that purpose.

Four eyes on the ice! Really nice typography on the USA insignia, too — I don’t think I’ve seen that before.

• Coupla interesting things about this 1947 Reds shot. First, the big felt logo on the back of that jacket looks completely awesome. And I love how the caption refers to the equipment guy, who must be about 50 years old, as a “clubhouse boy.”

• Here’s something you won’t often see: Warren Spahn as a Tulsa Oiler. Looks like the uni number had the opposite color scheme from the script.

• Anyone know why the Snake would’ve had a smiley face on his helmet? (Answers that include the term “green dot” will immediately be disqualified.) I showed this photo to Ricko, who said, “In the NFL Network’s recent show on the top 10 left-handed QBs, there was sideline footage of Stabler with a huge smiley decal on the back of his helmet. So evidently he wore both at one time or another.” Weird.

• Speaking of the Raiders, Skip Thomas is lurking in the background of this photo with no helmet decal. But it was a preseason game, so we’ll cut him some slack.

• I assume these were practice jerseys. Gotta love the little rocket icons on the shoulders.

• Hmmm, might be time for a new jersey.

• What’s going on here? According to the caption: “Democratic and Republican members of the House of Representatives met on the baseball field today for the annual contest for the championship of the capital.” Love that elephant on the GOP jersey, but how come the Dems didn’t get to wear a donkey?

•  In light of the weather many of us have been facing lately, this shot seems like a good one to go out on.

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And hey, speaking of the weather, check out this shot of Wrigley last night. Brinke sent that in — nice one.

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But where’s the Anna Benson advice column?: Are you married to a professional athlete? Is your professional athlete spouse male? Or, alternately, are you a lesbian and you live in Iowa, Vermont, or the handful of other states that treat you and your professional athlete spouse like human beings instead of second-class citizens? Then you may want to read — hell, you may already be reading — Professional Sports Wives magazine.

PSW has been around since 2004 (although I didn’t learn about it until I saw this very entertaining post yesterday on Can’t Stop the Bleeding), which is long enough to have built up what appears to be an impressive back catalog of you’ve-gotta-see-it-to-disbelieve-it material. “Husbands Who Won’t Lead; Wives Who Won’t Follow”? Sure, got that right here. “MLB’s Weddings to Remember”? Why not. Paul Byrd’s wife spells her name “Kym”? Duh, what did you expect. Ads promising to help you stop spending all of your man’s millions so he won’t smack you around? But of course. Carlos Beltran playing right field? Well, sort of.

As a longtime collector of trade magazines (my library includes copies of Elevator World, American Funeral Director, Hay & Forage Grower, American Jails, Religious Conference Manager, and many more), I’m more than a little fascinated by Professional Sports Wives, which manages to take the most endearingly awful things about trade mags (bad design, bad grammar, super-specific niche content, the tortured self-delusion of relevance, etc.) and combine them with the most annoying awful things about women’s mags (squishy subject matter + “You go, girl!” attitude + millionaires = Oprah on steroids). It’s pretty much a perfect confection of, oh, two-thirds of the things that are wrong with American culture at the moment, and as such it’s irresistible. I hate to trot out so shopworn a cliché as “If it didn’t already exist, we would’ve had to invent it,” but the phrase does seem made for situations like this one.

The only problem is that you can’t subscribe unless you’re the wife of an athlete. That hardly seems fair. So hey, all you female Uni Watch readers out there — there must be, what, six or seven of you, right? — could one of you kindly marry David Wright so you can subscribe to PSW and then slide the issues in my general direction? (While you’re at it, tell him to cut down on the goddamn strikeouts already.) His paychecks will probably start bouncing soon, what with the latest Wilponian brouhaha, so be sure to put the subscription on your credit card, not his. My obsession with this magazine will probably run its course in a year or two, so you can divorce him after that. ’Kay? Thanks.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday I mentioned that the Wilson football factory in Ohio will repair an old ball for $15. If you’re looking to take them up on that offer, full details are available here. ”¦ I love this old hockey equipment retail display sign, even if it shows the Red Wings wearing blue pants. ”¦ Some Steelers showed up in Dallas wearing Michigan State jerseys as a tribute to Flozell Adams, who’s making his first appearance in the big game. “This is similar to what they did in Super Bowl XL for Jerome Bettis,” notes Doug Keklak. ”¦ The Atlantic Junior Hockey League is having the zebras in its all-star game wear tuxedo jerseys. ”¦ There are some rumors about Arizona State football going BFBS (with thanks to Eric Nuhfer). ”¦ New baseball uniforms for Oklahoma (with thanks to Scott Kingsolver). ”¦ Did you know they’re planning a new football stadium in L.A.? Here’s its new logo. ”¦ New Chelsea acquisition Fernando Torres will wear No. 9 (as noted by Kenny Loo). ”¦ As you may have seen in yesterday’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback installment, Gregg Easterbrook couldn’t get the Packers to tell him what kind of helmet Aaron Rodgers wears. Can’t imagine why they’d want to keep this secret, but whatever — as I quickly explained in a note to Gregg (and as many of you can probably tell without any help), it’s a Schutt Air XP Elite. ”¦ Here are Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez with their new jerseys and uni numbers. ”¦ New third jersey for the Philadelphia Union (with thanks to Enrico Campitelli Jr.). ”¦ Fantastic new throwbacks for Golden State. Click ahead to the third photo in the slideshow to get the full scoop on the excellent Franklin Mieuli memorial patch. ”¦ And while we’re at it, here are the throwbacks that’ll be worn later this month by the Kings, Celtics, Knicks, and Bucks. ”¦ Some interesting quips from Chipper Jones yesterday regarding cleats, pants, and socks. Check out the last five grafs here (big thanks to Michael Rich). ”¦ Like many urban newspapers, the St. Petersburg Times is helping to dig its own grave by publishing a small, free, light-news daily edition designed to appeal to short-attention-span 20somethings who can’t be bothered to read a real newspaper. Their version of this is called tbt* (yes, complete with the embarrassing asterisk). After my review of the Lightning’s uniforms appeared here on Uni Watch yesterday, one of tbt*’s editors sent me a note and asked if he could reprint the entry in his wonderful publication — for zero compensation, natch. Think about that: He could have interviewed me, gotten me to say most of the same things I’d written, and then whipped up a little story. Would’ve taken him an hour, max. Instead, he tried to get something for nothing — douchebag. Well, maybe he was just too busy. But when his number inevitably comes up in one of the paper’s upcoming rounds of layoffs, he’ll have plenty of time to think about his role in helping to devalue journalism. ”¦ Here’s the logo for this year’s MLS All-Star Game (with thanks to Matt Harris). ”¦ New soccer kit for Brazil. ”¦ Our friends at Stewart & Strauss are running a varsity jacket clearance sale. ”¦ Really interesting news/info about the little starburst logo in the Rays’ outfield, and about logos in MLB outfields in general, here. ”¦ Pacific Northwest photo archivist David Eskenazi recently started a weekly web feature called the “Wayback Machine,” in which he uses his photo collection to examine the history of Seattle-area sports. As you’d expect, most of the entries feature killer uni photos. Additional entries here. ”¦ If you missed the Bears/Packers conference championship game, now you can relive the experience with a genuine Soldier Field hot dog — complete with receipt! (Great find by Omar Sofradzija.) ”¦ Interesting video on the design process for the 2016 Olympics logo, including several looks at designs and fonts that didn’t make the cut. ”¦ Texas Tech hoops wears TNOB, and the spacing between “Red” and “Raiders” tends to be pretty tight. But that space appears to have disappeared completely on Brad Reese’s jersey (screen shot by Keith Pflumm). ”¦ New logo for the Ryder Cup. ”¦ Good story about the Predators’ equipment staff (with thanks to Lee Wilds). ”¦ Oh great, now camo-trimmed “military appreciation” uniforms are spreading to college basketball, at least at Texas A&M (as noted by Brandon Hamburg). … Attention Packers fans: Tiki Barber produced a video report yesterday in which he claimed that the Packers’ “G” logo stands for “greatness” — something I’d never heard before. Wikipedia agrees, but they provide no source citation, and I can’t find any other mention of it aside from rote repetitions of the Wikipedia language. Can anyone confirm or refute? ”¦ Dustin Potter is running two noteworthy eBay auctions. One is for a bunch of old Phillies programs, and the other is for a pretty cool 1950 National League schedule.

 
  
 
Comments (176)

    That congressional baseball uni elephant looks like it was done by the same crew that did the Broncos’ infamous first horsey. Was it just poor draftsmanship or were hallucinogens involved too?

    Do you know if Pro Sports Wives magazine’s circulation is limited by the recentness or location of the athletes’ pro careers? I know a guy who was an MLBer in the mid-nineties (and played in Japan since) who recently married. They might be accommodating in your magazine search.

    Paul,

    Evidence that the tbt* (note use of obnoxious asterisk) is that many ex-St. Pete times subscribers now read that rag during the week and only get the “real” paper on weekends. If you look for ‘serious’ news you have to look past the flashy front pages that tout things like the latest Facebook fad or stuff that belongs in “News of the Weird”. No wonder nobody can tell me what is going on in Egypt right now…

    What’s an Egypt??

    Best part is that the guy obviously reads the blog, and now was just called out on it. Bazinga.

    Isn’t it a little presumptuous of the House baseball teams to be wearing Senators caps?

    So those Knicks throwbacks are supposed to honour the 1969-70 team? Nice try, but the Knicks didn’t start wearing that logo on the shorts until 1991, and it only lasted 1 season – they changed the logo the following season.

    Then again, that lack of attention to detail is something I’ve come to expect from the NBA over the years.

    I wonder why so many Bengals fans are going to Farmers Field to see the Browns and Packers play?

    I knew they’d gotten the sponsorship already and I suppose that’s good business sense, but setting up your website before you even have all the land purchased? And if it’s a privately financed stadium, you can’t just claim eminent domain and force the owners to sell.

    Paul,

    Given that I expect you have had meet-ups with the sizable comics creator community in Brooklyn, I hope you had an issue or two of Comics Retailer magazine, which was trade mag for Comic Book Store owners (yes, like the guy on the simpsons).

    Paul, copies of American Jails, as well as a few other similar magazines, make their way across my path quite often. Would you like for me to snag some for you?

    Not a problem. Once I get a few different titles in hand I will let you know. Do you want just one example of each or do you want as many issues as I can find?
    I work in law enforcement. Never a dull moment.

    Clarifying a late entry on the Chicago Bears 1971 wear.

    Yes, the Bears did wear block numbers on the white jerseys and the navy jerseys had no sleeve stripes in 71. These were the mesh jerseys. BUT, the Bears DID wear the normal rounded numbered white jerseys and sleeve striped navy jerseys late in the 71 season.

    This also happened in 1972 and 1973. This was an issue not just for the Bears, but for a lot of other teams (Vikings purple, 69 Eagles, 68 Lions blues, 69 Redskins white among others) during the durene/mesh phase-in period of 1968-1973.

    Awesome that the Kings are going to wear Rochester Royals throwbacks. Is there a link saying which day they will be wearing them?

    “Ads promising to help you stop spending all of your man’s millions so he won’t smack you around?”

    Paul, gotta address you on this one. I have no skin in this game, other than each day I work with organizations who help folks understand the subtle and not-so subtle examples of racism in our society.

    So, here goes:

    What about this particular ad makes you think it communicates that somebody is going to get “smacked around?”

    I don’t get that at all. I do get your attempt at humor. I do also realize that some pro athletes certainly exhibit this behavior.

    That said, is it because the man in the photos is black and looks exasperated?

    If I’m the lawyer, McGlothen, who wrote/placed this ad, I’m not real keen on your interpretation. Just sayin’ …

    PS, I do identify with your scathing critique of the tbt* and the 20-somethings with short attention spans who can’t be bothered to read newspapers. I’ve taught a few of those over the years.

    You’re overreaching. I didn’t profile anyone. But you sure did.

    The idea that anyone married to a gazillionaire would need budgetary advice is pretty funny (at least to me). This ad, irrespective of race, draws on all the outdated gender stereotypes of the overspending wife, the stern husband who flips out when he sees the bills, etc. You’ve seen it in a million sitcoms. I just took those outdated stereotypes to their logical “Pow, right in the kisser!” conclusion.

    Is domestic violence funny? Not even a little bit. Is Professional Sports Wives funny? Off the charts.

    And if the lawyer who placed the ad doesn’t care for my “interpretation,” as you put it, that’s a nice bonus. I’m certainly not here to please him.

    The idea that anyone married to a gazillionaire would need budgetary advice is pretty funny (at least to me).

    Too right, but then again it’s also a true truism that the quickest way to go bankrupt is to win the lottery. (Though an even better truism is the old joke about the farmer who wins the lottery and, when asked what he plans to do, says, “Keep farming until the money runs out.”) Suddenly coming into money often causes people acute financial stress.

    I always held the other stereotype when it came to athletes and their spouses. I always had the image of the athlete husband spending recklessly and the frustrated wife doing what she could to keep them afloat, like the way Mickey Rivers was portrayed in “The Bronx is Burning.”

    Either way, I didn’t see Paul’s comment as out of line, the same way we understand the meaning behind “bang, zoom, straight to the moon” in context but don’t see it as being in bad taste even today. It was a satirical comment and satire is based on breaking of taboos. He wasn’t making light of spousal abuse, he was making fun of the lawyer for what he saw as profiteering on the image.

    Good point.

    Waste a little time and read the ad. That silly publication may appear to target pro athletes and their wives. But in reality, it’s targeting the same segment of society that loves NBA Wives, Cribs, and aspires to “the good life” that’s simply not likely to be realistically within reach.

    PS, Popular satire from back in the day like “Pow, right in the kisser” should most certainly be seen as something in bad taste today. It’s time, folks. That shit is not funny.

    I’m wondering can “satire is based on breaking taboos” be akin to “we’re conditioning society not to even notice”?

    My opinion is yes when it comes to domestic violence.

    I’ll go put on my wifebeater now. Ha, ha, that’s real funny.

    That silly publication may appear to target pro athletes and their wives. But in reality, it’s targeting the same segment of society that loves NBA Wives, Cribs, and aspires to “the good life” that’s simply not likely to be realistically within reach.

    What you’re saying is that they’re peddling an upper-class fantasy to the masses. And that would be true if the magazine were available to the masses. But it isn’t — a subscription costs $150. Even if you wanted to spend that much, they’ll only sell it to you if you’re genuine athlete’s wife.

    Yes, I’m sure there are ways to fool them. But that’s the not the point; the point is that this is a highly targeted niche publication that has zero similarity to NBA Wives, Cribs, and the like.

    Wow, did I miss it or nobody until now mention that the Caps wore their Winter Classic unis aGAINst the Habs (in red) last night at the Verizon Center, complete with red helmets?

    Interesting. Dino Ciccarelli’s jersey appears to be missing the blue and red trim on the cuffs.

    Nope, surprisingly it got missed in the ticker.

    Here’s a nice vid of Ovie being Ovie, dumping PK Subban and goading him into taking a penalty: link

    Can you imagine today’s politicians taking a break from taking themselves so fucking seriously, and getting together like real people to play a baseball game?

    Yeah, me neither. link is as close as they get anymore.

    I know of only two instances of FNOB on a baseball jersey. One is Ron Jackson of the Angels:
    link

    The other is Congressman Ron Paul, from a Congressional softball game years ago:
    link

    The reps from the Houston area should make a point of wearing the tequila sunrise jerseys every year.

    Paul, if you’ll count “OnlyFN-OB”, Vida Blue used to have “VIDA” on his jerseys.

    Ichiro Suzuki too, come to think of it. And there have been many Japanese players whose “registered names” have been their given names, whether to make themselves stand out (Ichiro, the similarly-named Saburo of Chiba, young phenom Yusei Kikuchi), plus quite a few westerners who chose to go by their given names rather than their surnames (sometimes because one might be easier to pronounce than the other). The box scores and jersey NOBs will have the “registered name” no matter what it might be — link!

    Unless you’re kidding with the whole “get off my lawn!” business, I thought those light, free, daily editions of the paper were meant to appeal to commuters would rather be distracted by a piece of paper than sit idly in their bus seat? I always assumed that’s why I only see them near bus terminals and subway stops.

    That sure is one stupid name, though.

    Not for commuters. For *young* commuters. Look at the ads, look at the content. It’s for 20somethings who don’t (or won’t) read a real newspaper. A last-gasp attempt to provide a way for advertisers to reach a market that doesn’t want to read. In 10 years it’ll be remembered as one of the final, sad acts of a sinking industry.

    Okay, I’ll buy that. Those things are always rather… I don’t know, depressing seems like a strong word. Pathetic? That’s better. I do like it when they have crossword puzzles, though!

    Ahh yes, all of us 20somethings hate reading real newspapers. I for one immediatley grab the publication with the brightest colors…

    …If the industry’s sinking it’s not for lack of interest, it’s for the different ways we get our information. Between droids, kindles, ipads and iphones the medium is useless to most.

    Please don’t make inferences on all of us based on what MTV is telling you about some of us.

    It’s not an inference. Or at least it’s not MY inference. These freebie light-news dailies were indeed created specifically to appeal to short-attention-span 20somethings who won’t read a real newspaper, and the newspaper execs have said as much.

    In that case, I apologize for directing my rant towards you.

    I think their correspondence with you speaks to the legitimacy of the publication. Maybe the opinions of a free newspaper’s execs on my generation should be taken with a grain of salt…

    You’re missing the point. The freebie is spin-off product put out by the St. Petersburg Times, which is a highly respected, Pulitzer-winning paper. It’s THEIR execs who think you’d rather read a lightweight freebie.

    The point was mine, so I don’t think I’m missing it…

    I’ve been incorrect in where this idea is coming from but my original issue still remains. The paper is directed toward 20somethings under the assumption that we wouldn’t prefer a better product (or newspapers at all).

    My point is that we would.

    yet, paul didn’t say “all” 20somethings, you actually added that word. maybe you should go back and read it? doesn’t matter what technology you use to do so…

    I did read what he said, the qualifier was used for commuters, not 20somethings. The statement wasn’t that the paper was intended for ‘some’ 20somethings, it was that the paper was intended for ‘some’ commuters… namely the 20 somethings.

    Was I incorrect to think that he was referring to the entire age group as “a market that doesn’t want to read” or should I have presumed he was referring to a portion of that group?

    “the St. Petersburg Times is helping to dig its own grave by publishing a small, free, light-news daily edition designed to appeal to short-attention-span 20somethings who can’t be bothered to read a real newspaper”

    ~~~

    you know i love ya ryco…but i think jj has ya there

    …and I’m really not intending to argue with you or Paul. It’s just aggravating because many like to jump to the conclusion that, as a generation, we’re a group of dimwits. I’d venture a guess that we’re no less involved as 20somethings than any other generation before us.

    I like to think we’re an extremely invested group who simply get our news from another medium.

    *exhale*

    Man Phil, the weekends are much more laid back

    I just read the publication online. Why waste the paper? Once I actually start having to commute I’ll probably splurge for an iPad so I can read it like a regular newspaper on whatever light rail system my city has.

    Exactly my point. This is the mentality of most people my age.

    I just get aggravated because people like to assume my generation is not well read.

    Free print media is filled with ads because its just that, free. Bills must be paid. The fact that they’re simple fluff pieces bookended by ads isn’t a reflection of its readers. Yes, these papers are targeting my generation but that doesn’t mean we’re biting…

    Re knuckleball catcher’s mitt: IIRC it was made for Gus Triandos to catch Wilhelm. Seems like I read that in an O’s program some years ago, written by DC/Balt baseball expert, memorabilia collector and radio man Phil Wood.

    Paul, someone needs to send your rant about tbt* to every newspaper editor in the nation. I’ve already emailed it to my (dwindling) contacts in the industry. The problem isn’t creating free secondary publications; there are plenty of viable media business models that don’t rely on user payment as a revenue source. The problem is the laziness you identify – it would have taken only minutes more effort to have written a story around an interview with you than it would have taken to seek reprint permission and typeset your work. The approach that editor took is just unconscionable, but it’s characteristic of a generation of editorial leadership at the country’s big dailies (and electronic media outlets).

    The funny thing is that the despite wailing about the collapse of the print media, most of the country’s smaller papers, particularly suburban dailies and weeklies, remain profitable. The problem is not collapsing demand, it’s bad business and editorial management at the top of the industry. Big papers have adopted business models patently unsuited to the industry, and editors have chosen to give readers exactly the opposite of what readers want from a print source. And then they wonder why they’re losing money and readership every day.

    Echoing what Scott said, I have many times expressed by intense belief in the concept of a free press.

    And my equally intense dissatisfaction with many(most?) of the people/organizations practicing it thesedays.

    Scrambling for photos of Charlie Sheen walking to court is far less critical than discussing why health care is beyond the reach of millions in the richest nation on earth.

    But it’s easier to stalk Sheen, and enough people watch to make airing his shenanigans profitable, so that’s good enough.

    Freakin’ shame.

    Hard to sell people on the concept of personal responsibilty when the media that bombards us has none.

    —Ricko

    Ricko, the thing is that the Sheen-photo-chasing print media isn’t actually more profitable than the real-journalism media. The elements of the print media that are succeeding right now are precisely those that offer the highest portion of hard news with the most direct impact for readers. So as the Washington Posts of the world focus ever more on providing “analysis” and “editorial voice” – which just means snarky attitude and celebrity gossip, or news presented as a form of celebrity gossip – they’re losing readership and bleeding money. Meanwhile, suburban papers are still sending reporters to county council meetings and filing just-the-facts stories on the school superintendent and previewing planned roadwork or new construction permits, and they’re making money and growing distribution.

    If someone wants to know what Charlie Sheen is up to, he’s never going to reach for a product made of ink on wood pulp first. He’ll turn on his TV, or go to the internet, or listen to the radio, or scan the covers in the grocery checkout line, in that order. But if he wants to know what his local government is doing about property assessments or trash collection, or what’s going to replace the old Circuit City that’s been vacant for two years, or what those sirens were last night, he’s going to reach for a newspaper. Only, these days he knows that the big daily paper with the name of his metro area on the masthead won’t tell him any of those things.

    Oh, I get that. And my commnent truly was out place. It should have been more specific, addressing this lastest invention of an “ipaper”(?), which is what you were talking about. Instead, I rocketed off about what seems to have become more and more people’s defintion of what media is all about thesedays, both print and electronic. Both by the providers and the end users.

    Clearly, I need to get back to my Tangendental Medication.

    —Ricko

    Ricko, I actually meant that as agreement with you. You’re right about how much of the newsmedia behaves; I’m just saying that the notion that chasing Sheen equals readership and profits is a myth, and it helps explain why, despite all the Sheen-chasing the media does, the papers that do it don’t find their fortunes revived.

    Obviously, the only thing that can save Old Media is more coverage of uni design.

    Gotta give a BIG fail to Nike on the new Brasil kits.

    NO blue change strip?! WTH!?

    That is an iconic look for Brasil; how you could ditch the blue is beyond this long time footy fan.

    “Farmers Field” is but one of two competing proposals for a football stadium in LA. Here is a link to the other proposal: link

    The arguments, in a nutshell:

    Farmers Field: We are in the part of town where all the other sports and entertainment stuff is. You are in the boonies.

    LA Stadium: Umm, where exactly are 70,000 football fans going to park near your stadium?

    Seth, I hope you’er on the Farmers Field side; that site for the suburban stadium is shockingly ingorant and prejudiced when they discuss how to get to their stadium. All the references to numbers of minutes presuppose that the fan is arriving by car, and the directions to the stadium dno’t even include any non-automobile possibilities.

    Cities like Los Angeles have turned anyone without an automobile — which includes the visually-impaired, epileptics, the elderly with decreased reaction time, etc., etc. — into virtual invalids with their automobile-centric policies.

    Remind me to root for New York and San Francisco teams — cities that don’t treat non-drivers like they’re second class — whenever they play against LA if that stadium gets the nod.

    New York (or should I say New Jersey) until 2 years ago offered no reasonable way to get to Giants Stadium without a car.

    Also, the death of the West Side Stadium came with the fact that nobody would be able to tailgate any more, among a variety of other factors.

    Also, good luck getting to the Nassau Coliseum without a car.

    I’m a New Yorker, but I’m not about to claim that they have made it easy for people to get to sporting events.

    I am not on either side. I live in NY. I was just adding information and pointing out the two arguments. You will note that I said the other stadium is “in the boonies.”

    Good points, A.J.; I’m a baseball person and associate Shea and Yankee Stadiums with the subways; many fond memories of arriving late to Shea but still being able to see some action from that platform outside the 7-train exit.

    The stadiums in NY (and SF) could certainly have better access but I was thinking of the cities in general. You would never presuppose that everyone has a car, and you wouldn’t say that something’s 20 minutes away without specifying if that’s on foot or by subway or whatever. It would be very disappointing if, in this supposedly enlightened and liberal age, the new LA stadium were to treat fans without access to cars so badly.

    Chipper says is switching back to low-tops, “pulled-up pants”, and navy socks supplied by Mizuno. Says he hates guys who wear high-tops with sock showing. As much as I like stirrups, I agree with him.

    link

    Wish he’s wear striped stirrups, but I guess you can’t have everything.

    Just a guess on why the Packers won’t “officially release” that Rodgers is wearing a Schutt Air XP Elite – could Aaron have an endorsement deal with Riddell but didn’t like the feel of larger shell helmets like Riddell’s Revolution and Revo Speed?

    I know that Snake Stabler switched from Riddell helmets to Wilson helmets for his last years with the Raiders (starting with their Super Bowl winning year) was that Wilson paid him to wear their helmet.

    Aaron Rodgers is indeed wearing a link.

    There is some question as to whether he’s wearing an off-the-shelf version or a specially modified one. When it made its debut against the Giants, there were vague reports that it is “specially modified with extra padding to reduce the risk of sustaining another concussion”. Does that mean the model of helmet in general, or was his particular helmet customized?

    Then again, the Packers could just be wary of appearing to officially endorse an “anti-concussion” helmet (if such a gruffalo exists) before more data is in.

    The more I read Easterbrook’s column, the more outraged I get.

    Not because the Packers aren’t talking, but because Easterbrook seems to have bought into the notion that there’s a magic-wand preventative for chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

    Rodgers has been worn his new helmet in five games, hardly enough time to proclaim it a success. If it’s really all about the kids, then why should any team be seen to endorse a safety product that they’ve only begun to test?

    In my time as a writer and editor, I’ve been called a lot of names, from “communist” to “chest-thumping jingoist,” but the only one that ever caused me to take real offense was when a sports piece I wrote for a non-bylined publication caused a number of readers to speculate that Easterbrook wrote it.

    Replacing the throwback logo with the “Subway Token” secondary logo…then the Knicks would finally look like they ought to.

    How about a Professional Sports Mistresses magazine?

    For one thing, a MUCH bigger pool to draw from.
    Y’know, subscription-wise, that is.
    (eyeroll)

    —Ricko

    I wonder how many people understood why Susan Sarandon’s esoteric baseball fanatic groupie in BULL DURHAM was named “Annie.”

    —Ricko

    Amazing. I googled “Baseball Annie” and found tripe such as “has it origins in the film BULL DURHAM.”

    Horse manure.

    Oh, please, what it is with Internet sources thinking their generation invented everything, or that the first time they heard something was the first time it EVER was heard?

    I learned what a “Baseball Annie” was in probably 1960 or so, and I’d wager the moniker has been around a whole lot longer than that, because it was a generally accepted nickname when I first learned of it. It was like “banjo hitter” or “Texas Leaguer” or something, just part of baseball lingo.

    It’s a whole helluva lot older term than “groupie”, that’s for damn sure.

    —Ricko

    Doubt that anyone watches but on Tosh.0 last night, he went to a Anaheim Ducks game and they had given him a jersey with his name on back and the number “.0”

    Pretty neat, no screenshot cause I didn’t think anyone would care/ didn’t think Paul would put it up

    Three Dot Journalism (RIP Herb Caen)… Sooner diamond duds a pleasant surprise to these wizened peepers… Gotta love those Warrior throwbacks. While you’re at it, bring back the entire early ’70s, please, Babylon-by-Bay’s finest hour… New Ryder Cup logo interestingly not bad… Don’t get me started on Farmer Field hallucination. Juxti of Hollywood-opening-night searchlights with the word “Farmer?” C’mon… When does e-bay vend one of those Hack Wilson wagons?… Note to self: gotta renew subscrip to American Jail… I’ll be seein’ ya… Or not.

    I’m liking the news feed, Connie. Wondering if I need to learn how to speak Variety for some of it, but good info all around.

    Thanks, jd and K. You don’t have to speak Variety, I hope. It probably helps to be ancient enough to have experienced guys like Walter Winchell and Earl Wilson and Dick Young and (yes!) Ed Sullivan in his “Toast of the Town” columns in the NY Daily News. But I bet it won’t be hard for the young ‘uns to conjure: older guy, fedora, chewing on a stogie, banging away on the old Smith-Corona, with a bottle of Canadian Club in the top left drawer in case of an attack of writer’s block or scruples.

    I don’t want to THINK like those guys (Dick Young was a racist boor, and Sullivan a genial booster of anything near Broadway), but I do like to play around with the genre and voice. The master, imo, was the estimable Herb Caen of the SF Chronicle.

    I’ll keep up the shtick if one of the venerable elders around thinks it’s worth a shot.

    Looks like you can purchase some back issues of prosportswives here: link

    Doesn’t look like you need to be an actual wife to pony up the cash for the back issue.

    I really want that Cincinnati Reds Jacket. I wonder if it has the old blue trim (that needs to be re-introduced into their current set)?

    I got $100 saying the body of that jacket WAS navy blue, as were the cap crowns and the background behind the red and white wisbone “C” logo on the home unis and the back of the jackets.

    Reds didn’t go to a uni entirely without navy in the WWII and post-WWII era until 1956, when the first vested set came around. Yes, there are photos of that uni with the navy cap (including an SI cover of Roy McMillan) but they’re from 1956 spring training.

    —Ricko

    But where’s the Anna Benson advice column?: Are you married to a professional athlete? Is your professional athlete spouse male? Or, alternately, are you a lesbian and you live in Iowa, Vermont, or the handful of other states that treat you and your professional athlete spouse like human beings instead of second-class citizens? Then you may want to read – hell, you may already be reading – Professional Sports Wives magazine.

    Proud to live in Iowa : )

    Hard to refute a negative, but the notion that the Packers’ “G” was intended to stand for “greatness” is highly doubtful.

    Thanks, Wikipedia, for giving an anonymous Internet user’s random postings the sheen of authority.

    Also, the Twins “TC” logo was intended to stand for “True Champions.” It’s true – Wikipedia says so. Or it will as soon as I can remember my login and password.

    I’m trying to imagine Max McGee, Paul Hornung and Fuzzy Thurston trying to keep a straight face if Lombardi had stood up on the locker room at told the Packers he was adding a “G” to the helmet to stand for “Greatness.”

    I mean, this is the team that, when Lombardi got pissed at them, said they were going back to basics, held up a football and offered, “THIS…is a football”, McGee, from the back of room, said, “Slow down, Coach, you’re goin’ too fast.”

    (That story’s true, btw. McGee’s son played Little League as the same complex as my son. I talked to him often as we stood behind the backstop…and one day I asked him about it).

    —Ricko

    This really does seem to be a case of people trusting Wikipedia despite a lack of sourcing. Check out the bottom of this recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch piece:
    link

    The giveaway is the UGA/Grambling mention, which suggests that he simply cribbed from this graf in the Wikipedia entry:

    The oval “G” logo was created in 1961 by Packers equipment manager George “Dad” Braisher. The team actually used a number of different logos prior to 1961, but the “G” is the only logo that has ever appeared on the helmet.[36] Although the Packers have granted limited permission to other organizations to utilize a similar logo, notably the University of Georgia and Grambling State University, the Packers hold the trademark for it.[37] Adopted in 1964, the Georgia “G”, though different in design and color, was similar to the Packers’ “G”. Then-Georgia head coach Vince Dooley thought it best to clear the use of Georgia’s new emblem with the Packers.

    Now, the UGA/Grambling thing is accurate. I’ve had a mention of that in the Uni Watch FAQ for years, complete with this link:
    link

    I’ll also be mentioning the UGA/Grambling connection in my ESPN column tomorrow. But not the “Greatness” thing — that doesn’t pass the smell test.

    I think Wikipedia is great. But one reason it’s useful is that most of its claims are sourced. This cries out for one of those “Citation Needed” tags.

    Adopted in 1964, the Georgia “G”, though different in design and color, was similar to the Packers’ “G”. Then-Georgia head coach Vince Dooley thought it best to clear the use of Georgia’s new emblem with the Packers.

    Was that corroborated with link, that an assistant coach’s wife designed the black-on-white oval G? I’ve never quite bought that story, even though some early photos of the Packer oval G look more football-shaped, i.e. with pointier ends.

    During link we thought the “G” stood for “Get” as in “Get After Their Asses.”

    great read today, provoking.

    is it posible the whole greatness thing is a fred G. sanfordism. you know, the g changed every time… “my name is fred g sanford and the g is for greatness”. maybe braisher quipped as people saw if for the first time, the g is for greatness, and everyone laughs.

    A Wisconsinite once told me that the shape of the Packer “G” is synonymous with the meat packing plant for which the Packer name is from. If you rotate the “G” 90 degrees counter clockwise, the green is a silhouetted meat hook. Can anyone confirm this?

    That’s some really cool info. It’s nice to hear (read) what some insiders know, and what the general public never will. Thanks Ricko!

    Thanks, Wikipedia, for giving an anonymous Internet user’s random postings the sheen of authority.

    ~~~

    better than the authority of sheen

    Don’t get it twisted Tiki, although the Packers of the Lombardi and Lambeau years were great the “G” has always stood for Green Bay.

    Sorry Paul, didn’t read your whole rant on the daily newspaper before class because my attention span couldn’t handle it. Seriously though, why read the paper when you can find the same quality of journalism online and for free?

    I was on Yahoo, and one of the headlines was the Super Bowl prediction from Madden 11. I noticed that the Super Bowl patch is on the wrong side. Is there some kind of copyright to that or did EA just get it wrong? Take a look: link
    I know you can’t really see it, but if you look at the Packers player you can see.

    In that Packers “G for Greatness” video did anybody else notice the odd collar cut on Donald Lee (#86)? It doesn’t connect in the center, so the NFL Equipment patch is put directly onto the chest. Weird.

    I don’t know. As a 20-something, I think that there is a fair trade between being “well-read” and “connected”

    The problem with newspapers is that they deliver yesterday’s news. My phone can deliver RSS feeds of short, quick news updates that can link to articles that are more in depth than anything you will find in a newspaper. I think that is where the news sector is heading: Short and to the point or extraordinarily in depth. Media like newspapers provide neither.

    As for the editor who tried to “steal” your Lightning article, how is that any different than websites who reprint or summarize your articles on a blog and link back to this site? He could have interviewed you, but like you said…he would have gotten the same info. Why go through that hoop? He asked you if he could use what you wrote and he probably would have given you your fair due.

    At this point in time, even the news on the 10 o’clock news is already somewhat stale.

    I would love to meet the schmucks that are bidding on that Solider Field hot dog.

    Hey hand me a ziplock, I may have to take a dump in Cowboy Stadium on Sunday (opening bid – $9.99)

    On Sportscenter just now (yes, I’m snowed in and not at work) they showed a brief clip of the new Lightning uni’s and said they were going back to their “traditional colors”. Wow.

    Holy sheep shit!
    Thanks for that.
    I had no idea that the cutest logo in the history of sports is sandwiched between that and the angrier buck they have now.

    oh…is that where it came from?

    what ever happened to boondocks? that was a pretty good strip…everything my paper has tried to replace it with has sucked

    did mcgruder just get sick of it (kinda like bill watterson did with calvin)?

    That buck twirling the ball is super cute. I don’t know about the Boondocks bit.

    “really?”
    Seriously?

    Regarding the Golden State Warriors’ link uniforms:

    Love that Helvetica font! I know it was used some other time, back in the Joe Barry Carroll era.

    link (1982-83 season)

    That sounds about normal for a high school in a wealthy town in Texas. I worked for an arena team that played in an arena that was part of a $50M complex in Cypress.

    My mistake. I double checked and it cost $72M, although it’s an arena, football stadium, and theater/auditorium, not just a stadium.

    link

    The Farmers Field digital renderings are quite brilliant. I mean that would ve an easily recognizable stadium for sure. It said that it would be ready for occupancy in 2015 so if a team cane early they’d have to play in the Rose Bowl or LA Coliseum in the short term.

    Interesting that the Brazil away kit was green. As long as I’ve been a soccer fan their away kits have been blue.

    I like the Philadelphia Union 3rd kit but that “Beembo” logo just looks ridiculous. Can someone please inform them that Bimbo means something different in English.

    Does the Philly Union have cheerleaders? Please tell me they won’t have to wear that logo.

    No, since it describes the team and not the players collectively, the singular is proper in that context.

    Yet another reason why singular nicknames blow.

    Tonight, the Bulls are traveling to Los Angeles to play the Clippers.

    Tomorrow, the Heat is traveling to Orlando to play the Magic.

    Stupid.

    Flashed back to a British sketch where they said “The crowd are going wild.” That’s what confused me temporarily.

    The Brazil away kit is Blue, it may be a different shade of blue than usual, but it certainly isn’t green.

    I think that color blue looks better than their typical blue one. However the blue shorts on the home kit need to keep the typical blue. Yellow and the new blue actually blend together better (its basically the old blue but with a little bit of yellow added in), which is fine for the blue kit, but there needs to be that stark contrast between the Yellow jersey and Blue shorts with the home kit.

    Seattle Mariners announce that they will add a teal green jersey for next season due to positive feedback from the players, no teal bill on the caps though-
    link
    Nice that something else positive came from that season other than Ichiro! (as always) and the King’s first Cy Young. Now if only the Seahawks would announce an improved rave green jersey this offseason would be complete.

    New Oakland A’s alternate unis being worn by Kurt Suzuki and Coco Crisp
    link
    link

    A’s are doing commercial shoots and notice that the caps they are wearing still have the grey underbrim
    link
    link
    link

    Letter from Yankees VP to Mickey Mantle about the 50th anniversary of Yankee Stadium, and his supposed response. Not sure to believe if this is his real response or not.

    link

    And people got upset when Bouton told the stories about Mickey leading the Yankee team up on the roof of the Shoreham Hotel in Washington to do some beaver shooting…..

    Had to have been in the middle of Mickey’s real drinking period thee in the 70’s…

    For the Packers “G” standing for Greatness, I did some searching and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t taken verbatim from the Wiki entry.

    And the entry about the G standing for Greatness has been taken out (although someone has suggested that it should be put back in, referencing a page that has the same wording that the Wiki page had).

    This seems like a scenario where the answer can only be confirmed by the organization. I remember hearing this but I can’t be sure if I read it on Wikipedia or if I heard it elsewhere.

    I did find out that one of the chapters in “The Lombardi Legacy: Thirty People Who Were Touched By Greatness” is titled:

    Gerald “Dad” Braisher. Whenever you see the Green Bay Packer logo, the “G” on the helmet, you’re looking at Dad.

    The answer may be found there.

    here’s the link:
    link

    The most damning thing about the wiki page is the fact that the entry called him George Braisher, as opposed to Gerald Braisher, which was his real name. You can tell which claims simply copied from wiki if they call the equipment manager who came up with the logo George.

    It would make sense that it would stand for something other than Green Bay, as they had the ‘GB’ logo that was used prior to and after the adoption of the ‘G’ logo. Of course that logo was fairly skinny and may have been unused because it would not have been visible from a distance.

    In my mind it stands for Greatness as it and the Green Bay Packers are synomonous. Go Pack! Go!

    This level of hoop-jumping shouldn’t be necessary. If it stood for something other than Green Bay, passionate Packers fans (including the ones who read this site) would know about it. And nobody I’ve asked knows anything about it.

    So Tiki Barber taped (and Yahoo published) a segment based solely on something he found on Wikipedia. What an idiot. Now watch it go viral…..

    I didn’t watch the video before I started my quest, but I just finished and noticed he called the Equipment Manager George Braisher. So he can’t even be validated if it ever comes out that the ‘G’ does in fact stand for greatness, as he got the man’s name wrong.

    Interesting story about Mark Messier promoting an advanced hockey helmet: link

    Seems the M11 hasn’t made inroads into the NHL just yet, though, but at least one player’s trying it out.

    After seeing that somebody posted the Union third kit, it dawned on me that no one had mentioned anything about DC United’s. Here are pictures from the unveiling a few days back
    link

    I would be somewhat surprised if A&M wore camo trimmed uniforms that looked just like the ones in the photo in the ticker. Those look like they are based on last years template.

    Actually I posted a link either yesterday or the day before of DC United’s 3rd kit.

    Not to rehash an old subject, but on ESPN earlier today I saw video of a bunch of Pittsburgh Steelers players repeating the chorus of a rap song that had the lyrics “black & yellow” in reference to their uni colors. I guess that the Steelers players agree with me and the others who think that “black & athletic gold” just doesn’t sound right because the Steelers colors are “black & yellow”.

    well…of course

    everyone knows the lyrics to rap are always correct and should be taken as gospel

    the steelers wear, and have worn, “athletic gold” for decades — you can call it yellow, and you’re not *incorrect* — but neither is anyone who refers to those colors as black and gold

    nice job, meat!

    just go a tad softer on the saturation and you’re golden

    looks better in blue, btw

    I just thought that it was funny and quite timely after the yellow v athletic gold argument that happened on the boards. I was like “I hope some uniwatchers are watching this right now” while chuckling at the obsurdity of grown men arguing over a uniform colors name.

    I don’t want to see the Knicks wearing that uniform as an alternate; I want to see them wearing it as their regular uniform. That’s the team that I loved.

    I’m a Blazer fan so I’m watching them v the Nuggets right now but I’ll humor you nonetheless. Unfortunately it’s on a commercial and I’ll have to miss part of my Blazer game. Ok back from commercial. They’re wearing hideous yellow unis that looked like Ronald McDonald designed them. Ok I’ll admit that shade of yellow is kinda darker. Athletic gold…nah, still yellow in my book.

    I always thought of them as sky blue but powder blue would be fine I suppose. Or if you’re a traditionalist who prefers things like athletic gold it could be Columbia blue. They were gold when they were in the Dikembe era with Navy, Gold and Red. I hope you know I’m just giving you a hard time:)

    Tuned into Mexican futbol tonight (America vs. San Luis) and one of the America players was wearing number 134 (!) Wassup with that?

    (Sorry, no DVR so no screen grab)

    NFL Network is showing SB XXXI, which I believe was the last game the Packers played in their previous uniforms. Though most of the Defensive Linemen (Reggie White for example) were already sporting the new design (I imagine because of the lack of sleeve space).

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