Yesterday Phil gave some fairly extensive coverage to Louisville’s crazy new baseball uniform, which he described as “the worst baseball uni of all time.” There’s no question that the uniform is pretty far out there, but I don’t share Phil’s disdain for it. Sure, the red pants and white belt are ridiculous, but they’re an entertaining kind of ridiculous that pairs well with the rainbow jersey. I was actually looking forward to seeing this one on the field, which was supposedly going to happen over this past weekend.
Unfortunately, they sold the concept short. As you can see in the photos on this page, Louisville wore the new jerseys for yesterday’s NCAA super regional game against Vanderbilt but went with conventional white pants. So instead of wearing something entertainingly ridiculous, they were just another team wear a tequila sunrise-esque jersey, which is quickly becoming rote. I hope they eventually wear the whole magilla during the College World Series.
Interestingly, Phil compared the Louisville design to the famously awful 1980 Tucson Toros uni. In an odd confluence of events, that design was revived as a throwback on Saturday by the Tucson Padres (San Diego’s triple-A team). But just like Louisville, the Tucson folks didn’t have the courage of their convictions. As you can see in those pics, they went with white pants instead of orange, and even the jerseys were toned down from their original 1980 crazy quilt. As reader Cork Gaines put it, “Instead of remaking an all-time classic bad uniform, they just made a new ugly uniform that’s a lot more boring.” Yup.
The lesson here is clear: If you’re gonna push the envelope, push it all the way, or else don’t bother.
Uni Watch News Ticker: I’ve been so busy with other stuff that I neglected to mark an important anniversary: Two weeks ago today, May 26, was the 14th anniversary of the very first Uni Watch column being published in the Village Voice. If you had told me back then that this project would still be going strong in 2013, I would have laughed. My thanks to everyone who’s contributed to its longevity. ”¦ A custom facemask operation called BadAss Masks tweeted these Arizona logo facemask photos last night. Everyone went nuts, but let’s be clear: These are just for display, they did not originate with the team, and there’s no reason to believe they’ll be worn on the field — at least not yet. … Some interesting college baseball notes from the weekend, as North Carolina and South Carolina both wore “Carolina” (Phil mentioned this yesterday, but I’m reposting here for just in case), and single-digit pitchers were on the mound for UCLA and Cal State Fullerton (all this from John Furstenthal). … No need for the government to spy on us when Adidas is already on the job, as Justin Funderburk explains: “I was in an Adidas outlet in Gaffney, South Carolina on Friday. While at the checkout, I had to wait a few minutes while the manager read a memo to his employees. To sum it up: Adidas retail workers’ social media pages are followed to make sure they never say anything negative about professional players or teams with Adidas contracts. The specific names mentioned were Derrick Rose, Robert Griffin III, and Dwight Howard.” … The National Museum of the American Indian recently sent out a questionnaire about Indian stereotypes, including the use of Indian imagery in sports (from R. Scott Rogers). … Meanwhile, the latest sportswriter calling on the ’Skins to change their name is New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick. … David Firestone has done some good work providing close-up views of the Senators’ old block numerals. … Forget color on color — how about tequila sunrise vs. tequila sunrise! The guy in the cage is from New Castle High School in Indiana; not sure what the other team is (from Joe Kuras). … New basketball court design for UConn. … New kit for PSV Eindhoven (from Lucas Ehrbar). … This is pretty cool: a look at a Google style guide (from Ben Fortney). … The Hungry Hungry Hipster has put together a set of several hundred ugly hockey jerseys. You’ve probably seen some of them before, but the depth and breadth is impressive. … Also from HHH: How to make a guitar out of hockey sticks. ”¦ The Ravens have released the design for their Super Bowl rings. … The tequila sunrise concept — in the original Astros colors! — has spread to Japan. That’s the Rakuten Golden Eagles (from Thomas F. Erichsen). … Also from Thomas: an amusing piece about the current state of cycling apparel. … The Mets have drafted Lee Mazzilli’s son, LJ Mazzilli, who at the very least has some nice stirrup stylings. … Whoa, dig the totally boss letterman sweater being worn in this photo. That’s Cleveland High School in Seattle, circa 1950. The “Collins” on the football refers to Collins Fieldhouse, where they played (from Norm Johnson). … This has bugged me for years: Since 2005, Wise Cheez Doodles have been “The Official Cheez Doodle of the Mets.” The thing is, “Cheez Doodles” is a Wise-trademarked term — there are no other Cheez Doodles but Wise Cheez Doodles. So being “the Official Cheez Doodles of the Mets” (or of anything else) doesn’t really mean anything. Grrrrrr. ”¦ David Hamen notes that the Columbus Clippers’ road uniforms have mismatched shades of gray. ”¦ “My wife and I have a seven-month-old (our first) and are starting to accumulate lots of toys,” says Jason Sampson. “I don’t like toys everywhere, so we saved a bunch of the diaper boxes and have one in each room of the house with toys in them. At my work, I designed and printed a baseball-themed wrap for the boxes, so now they don’t look like dumb diaper boxes.” Very cool! … This is weird: Marc Malfara was watching some 1984 Tigers spring training footage and saw a catcher with TNOB. … I think we’ve probably noted this before, but just in case: John Lowenstein of the Orioles was missing the dot on his “i” during the 1983 World Series (from Daniel Merz). … Several MLBers who don’t usually wear stirrups were suddenly wearing them on Saturday, including John Buck, Daniel Murphy, and, most notably Chris Archer (from Michael Romero and Kevin Kleinhans). … Key quote in this profile of Indians pitcher Justin Masterson: “Put on uniform: Regular socks, sliders (padded sliding shorts), Adidas shirt underneath. I’m sponsored by Adidas, so I wear their gear” (from Avi Miller). … It’s official: A bridesmaid’s dress is no longer a uniform. … Indy car driver Scott Dixon wears his wedding band while driving (from David Firestone). … Robert Griffin III is wearing a new kind of knee brace (from Tommy Turner). … Indiana baseball coach Tracy Smith’s undershirt chest logo was visible through his jersey yesterday (screen shot by Gabe Ortiz). … Former Penn State football player Graham Zug’s rehearsal dinner cake had a jersey-and-helmet theme — complete with logo creep (from Chris Flinn). … Not sure I’ve seen this before: Cubs pitcher Edwin Jackson was apparently wearing a skullcap or do-rag under his cap yesterday, resulting in double MLB logos (from Derek Hempel). … A Swedish railroad company issued a dress code that prohibited male employees from wearing shorts, so several of them are wearing skirts instead. … Check out the uniforms for the USS Saratoga baseball team, circa 1958. They were visiting Barcelona at the time. If you want to honor the military, why not wear something like this — a baseball uni worn by actual U.S. Navy servicemen — as a throwback? Oh right, no camo, so the whole thing doesn’t work, silly me. … Check this out: The chest insignia on the Louisiana-Lafayette softball jersey reads, “Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns.” Can’t recall seeing a city/state used with a possessive construction on a jersey before. And yes, the apostrophe is a chili pepper, but that’s secondary — I’m more interested in the possessive format (from Michael Kinney). ”¦ Here’s a sensational infographic on the evolution of airplane logos (thanks, Phil). … Giving credit where it’s due: Nike has come out with a new sportswear line that will benefit the LGBT Sports Coaltion. Good for them (Phil yet again). … I’ll be busy spending today visiting my Mom, who recently took a tumble and is still recovering (Ma, next time take the elevator, not the stairs!). Everyone play nice while I’m out, okay? Okay.
The picture that Adam Schefter tweeted of the Ravens rings was just a picture of the mock-up, not the actual ring itself (that’s why it looks like a middle school art project). You can see a 360 degree view of the actual ring on the Ravens website: link
Just thought that you may want to show the true ring with every part shown, including the inside engraving and the sides.
Cool — I’ve swapped in that link.
Cool! I just thought it gave a better look at it.
In addition to the “survey” in the fundraising letter, the National Museum of the American Indian also sent a set of famous-Indians bookmarks. Which were maroon and gold, naturally:
link
The link is probably a jersey that made its way to the minor leagues, where putting “TIGERS” on a nameplate would make the back look right without having to fix the player’s name every time a player or jersey moved to a new team.
I’m not aware of minor league teams having used TNOB. Are you? If they were really worried about not changing the jerseys in response to roster changes, they could just go NNOB.
Most teams didn’t bother, but I’m pretty sure I remember seeing Phillies TNOBs. Maybe the Expos, as well.
The Expos did. I saw the Jamestown Expos play against both Batavia and Elmira and the TNOB was “EXPOS.”
In some cases, they put a nameplate right over the stitched name. True story: A few years ago, I saw a standard auction on Ebay for a Detroit road pullover with TIGERS TNOB nameplate and #20 on back. It was the only pic in the auction. Asked the seller what was under the nameplate, and he said “JOHNSON.” But then seller yanked the auction almost as fast as I could request to buy it. He never replied to my dozen or so emails.
MLB teams that had their NOB directly-applied to the jerseys would put the TNOB when the reprocessed hand-me-down uniforms were sent to the minors. The Houston Astros had their AAA Memphis Blues of the Internayional League wear Houston’s old road uniforms with “MEMPHIS” for TNOB.
That makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Terry.
So therefore, the word “HOUSTON” was on the front, and “MEMPHIS” was on the back?
I visited Lakeland for Tigers Spring Training 1987. All players on the minor league complex fields had “TIGERS” TNOB nameplates. I have several pics, but all are film and not digital.
The National Museum of the American Indian recently sent out a questionnaire about Indian stereotypes, including the use of Indian imagery in sports.
Yeah, that isn’t biased at all.
Yeah, how dare the Museum of American Indian conduct a survey about American Indians?! Why, that’s almost as outrageous as someone posting his own views on his own website (but not quite).
My point, Paul, is that there isn’t an option for anyone who doesn’t have a problem with the current status-quo. There is no “things are fine the way they are” answer. It’s either “harmful”, “fine, if respectful” (good luck defining exactly what “respectful” means) or “I don’t know”.
Wait, so you’re looking for an option “Fine, even if DISrespectful?”
Look, first this isn’t a public opinion survey. But even if it were, public opinion surveys don’t need to have perfectly defined terms to produce valid measurements of public opinion. Sometimes it’s useful to establish just what the vaguely understood terms like “respectful” are.
Yeah, I suppose I am. There is a difference between the view that “Cleveland Indians” is perfectly fine and the view that “Cleveland Indians” is only acceptable if they don’t use Chief Wahoo.
If you’re going to ask people how they feel about a controversial issue, then you need to allow them to give an honest answer.
If you’re going to ask people how they feel about a controversial issue, then you need to allow them to give an honest answer.
“Controversial issue”? Please. Everyone knows it’s a non-issue that’s been cooked up by the media…
But The, both the Redskins and the Indians actively claim that their names and imagery ARE respectful! So the “fine even if disrespectful” option would not offer useful data on opinions about Indian sports imagery, since “my Indian-named team is actually respectful and the PC thought police just don’t get it” defines the far side of the pro-Redskins opinion spectrum. Rather, that option would just be an inefficient proxy for a survey question of “Are you kind of an antisocial jerk?” Which is a perfectly valid thing to survey, but it’s beside the point here. (BTW, not calling you a sociopathic jerk, The. If anything, I’m the one in danger on that survey!)
In short, “Fine, if respectful” would be a reasonable phrasing for a binary choice on a public opinion survey. Which this is not.
For real. How better to support or refute the claim that “Native Americans don’t care about Native American imagery in sports”?
Aside: Isn’t NMAI great? has to be one of the most, if not the most, visitor-friendly museums in the country.
Where is the Museum of The American Indian? Is it n Washington, DC? I know bout 20-25 years ago there was a pretty extensive and long-established American Indian Museum in NYC that closed due to attendance problems and safety problems – I remember reading the NYT article lamenting its passing. Very little info about it on the net – I searched awhile back. I’m Curious ….
Yeah, the NMAI is in Washington, on the National Mall just at the foot of Capitol Hill. Part of the Smithsonian complex of museums. Beautiful building inside and out, best cafe of all the museums on or near the Mall, great gift shop. Shabby collection and exhibits, though. But it’s been improving significantly in recent years. If you’re in DC for only a day and can see only maybe 3-4 museums, NMAI would be on the shortlist, even if just to stop for lunch.
There’s also a branch at the Custom House at Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan. link If I recall correctly, part of the agreement to merge the old Museum of the American Indian collection into the new Smithsonian Nation Museum of the American Indian around 1990 was that part of the collection remain in New York. Previously, Museum of the American Indian was located uptown at Audubon Terrace in Washington Heights. I don’t know if it closed because of attendance and safety, but they were looking to move. When it looked as though the museum’s collection was going to end up entirely in DC, there was a big fight to keep the museum in New York, resulting in the compromise putting a small branch of the museum in the Custom House.
Note: It’s not an actual opinion survey. It’s a fundraising letter. Which changes the importance and meaning of the inclusion of the question quite a bit versus if you think of it as an actual public opinion survey.
But even assuming it had been an actual public opinion survey, the use of the word “Bias” is dead wrong. Having a potential interest in the outcome of a survey is not bias. Biasing the research is bias. It’s not the identity of the surveyor or the his hope to find a certain outcome that makes for bias; it’s fudging the process in some way to artificially achieve the preferred result. Republican and Democratic affiliated pollsters often produce reliable and valid surveys, for example. It would not be “bias” for the NMAI to conduct a survey on the question.
The Graham Zug link does not work.
Thanks. Fixed.
regarding Adidas store employees not badmouthing Adidas athletes, on one hand I think it’s silly that they have to go out of the way for even low-level employees to protect the brand and star players. But at the same time, I find the concept of spouting opinions on social media to be ridiculous and narcissistc. I mean, how many of us really have any opinions of any real value or insight. Why do other people need to know if you hate RGIII or whatever? We’re all just noise out there, including this comment I am writing at the moment.
We’re all just noise out there, including this comment I am writing at the moment.
On the one hand, I agree with you. I think we all forget that social media and blogs are all publishing platforms, and we’re all trees falling in the forest thinking someone hears us and gives a shit.
On the other hand, while social media channels are open and public, they are a collection of many, many tiny communities, like the Uni Watch comment section, and when some random nobody starts talking smack about Dwight Howard (because it’s so easy), the world may not care, but that random nobody’s community does.
Its a scary thing to hear, I mean how do the employees know what is acceptable? I mean say they happen to be a ‘Skins fan and they are genuinely upset with the way RG3 played, could they face possible discipline simply by voicing their dissatisfaction of his play in that game?
A company policy shouldn’t discourage free speech from a fan, at such a low level. Now if they are attacking their character I could understand a company wanting to limit that, and I would assume they wouldn’t discipline employees for all negative speech (for instance normal fan frustrations when your QB blows a game).
Paul, pretty sure the ticker link for the logo-creeped rehearsal dinner cake is incorrect.
Fixed.
Seeing that piece on the ’56-58 Nats uni numbers makes me think of Damn Yankees and wonder what happened to link used on stage and in the movie.
Note that the uni numbers on the jerseys in the movie clip, while also 3D, aren’t in the same font as the ones in David Firestone’s possession.
Since when do birds (Louisville Cardinals specifically) have teeth?
Inbreeding?
Tokyo(now Hokkaido) Nippon-Ham Fighters wore Astros inspired sunrise uniforms from 1982-1992. link Scroll to bottom for pics. FYI Yu Darvish pitched for the Fighters.
It sort of made sense, since orange and red were Nippon-Ham’s brand colors.
80s Japanese baseball uniforms were more often than not, knockoffs or bastardized versions of MLB uniforms. For better or worse, the uniforms have gotten more unique in the 21st Century (with the notable exception of the Yomiuri GIants).
The Rakuten Eagles uniforms were from last year.
If you go down about half way on that site, you’ll see either the most awful or the most brilliant batting helmet in the history of batting helmets.
I lean toward “brilliant.”
If it’s the one I think you’re referring to, I think the Orioles should give something similar a shot.
The Fukuoka Daiei(currently Softbank) Hawks had designer Issey Miyake create uniforms back in 1989. The “duck” or “Gatchaman”(’70s Japanese TV Anime) helmet design, as the Japanese like to call them, are sold as retro caps. link
“Magilla” is a gorilla.
A “Megillah” is a long detailed account (coming from the Hebrew word for certain historical stories), as in “You don’t need to tell me the whole megillah.”
And yes, every synagogue has seen some wag dress up as “Megillah Gorilla” on the holiday of Purim.
Purim ranks right up there on the Top Ten list of holidays. The other nine upon request.
Connie, Hereby requesting the rest of the list…
Seconded.
Anxiously awaiting, mainly ’cause I’m interested in whether Arbor Day cracks the top 5, or if it’s merely top 10.
Arbor Day is top 10, right?
What’s Arbor Day?
link
“Purim ranks right up there on the Top Ten list of holidays.”
~~~
Exactly! Just ask Dov Hikind…
Can we talk about Jurgen Klinsmann’s outfits?
He previously wore this awesome retro sweater:
link
But in the heat and humidity of Jamaica, he went with this party shirt:
link
I kinda like this.
“… Can we talk about Jurgen Klinsmann’s outfits?…”
Only all day. This guy looks like a male model, of course — minus any touch of that sleepy-eyed heroin-chic thing — and he definitely cares about the wardrobe. As the discerning TH says, that retro sweater is awesome in itself. On Herr Coach it’s stratospheric. Imagine Bruce Arena in that sweater.
But, as the discerning TH (henceforth DTH) also, well, discerns, a game in the tropics in June does not call for a sweater, however handsome. Indeed, as DTH observes, a hot event in Jamaica summons a certain festive flavor, a certain sartorial je-ne-sais-whatever. And Jurgen (Forget the Umlaut) Klinsmann certainly knows how to rock that star-spangled pocket.
But enough of Das Maennliche Supermodel. The players were lucky to win the game wearing those second-rate duds. Why the team just doesn’t stick with the all-blue or all-white shield-on-the-front uni is beyond me. Those little white sleeveies just don’t cut it.
I refer to the navy/white sleeve tops as “Santorums”, because when they came out, Rick Santorum mania was sweeping the nation and he’d adopted the blue sweater vest as his signature look. And also because they look like shit.
As for Herr Coach, his best look is still the business casual ensemble with the rolled shirtsleeve from the 2006 World Cup.
When Nike unveiled them last year, they described them as being influenced by varsity letter jackets.
The boradcasters on “BeIN” TV or whatever channel it was that showed the game Friday definitely made a few cracks about “Herr Coach’s” casual wardrobe.
Mississippi State wasn’t wearing their new jersey last night in their game against Virginia because it apparently didn’t have an SEC logo. The announcers didn’t make it clear but I assume that’s an NCAA rule. They wore the jerseys during pre-game but for the game switched to their maroon tops, which caused dark color vs. dark color in the game since Virginia was wearing blue tops.
link
You gotta be kidding me. The jerseys have to have the CONFERENCE logo patch. What BS. Unbelievable.
Did I miss something late last week or over the weekend? Entirely possible, I’m ashamed to say. But for the record, our Glorious Leader for Life had some bylines to some nifty stuff in yesterday’s edition of The New York Times Magazine. One of them was a unnervingly large photograph of that shoe-size measuring device pictured on his upper-arm tattoo. As I recall.
And, besides, today is the 14th Anniversary-Plus-Two-Weeks of Uni Watch, and none of us churls have deigned to give it mention. PLUS the guy’s mom fell down the stairs, fer kreissake. The least you can do is buy one of the knish shirts, or maybe that other shirt emblazoned with the desire of all good carnivores.
Thanks for the props, Conn. Yes, I had two very short items in yesterday’s NYT Mag. Didn’t bother to mention it here on the site because they’re so tiny, but it’s nice to know that you noticed!
“Play like a raven?” Caw-Caw
My wiffleball team went with a version of Tequila Sunrise. We wanted that kind of 70’s-80’s ugly, without a straight ripoff of the 1975 Astros. I think we got it. We broadened the stripes and put them on a diagonal.
link
More power to Louisville. If you’ve committed yourself to looking like ass, you may as well go all the way.
Can you show the front, please?
I hate you NBA:
link
Well, congratulations, NHL. You’ve now moved up to number 3.
You mean the NHL that has advertising on every inch of the boards and all over the ice?
Seriously: link
Good point. Pretty soon the only way to watch a sport without ads on the playing field is going to be by playing video games… and only the older versions, since all of the new ones will include the ads in order to be “realistic”.
It’s weird watching NHL footage from 20 years ago. It almost feels stark because there’s *nothing* on the ice except for the circles and the lines, and the sideboard ads are relatively spaced out and on white backgrounds.
Unless I’m horribly mistaken, NFL is the only league to resist on-field (or bench area) advertising, and the seats are far enough away from the field that you don’t have the scrolling ad boards like you see in soccer. Though I’m thinking it’s only a matter of time before we see those faux-3D ads like you see in rugby.
If you are watching on TV, it is no longer just the boards and the ice. MSG Network now superimposes ads on the end glass.
terriblehuman, I would suggest maybe 40 years ago, when there were NO sideboard advertising as well as no helmets. Yes, we need to go back to the days when hockey was played without helmets. (Talk about a difference just between the 70’s and 80’s, when helmets were required and ads started appearing on the sideboards.) And go figure, they’re talking about mandating visors on new players starting next season.
But I do have to agree with Rob. This is a good alternative to uni ads, which are still inevitable.
“Pretty soon the only way to watch a sport without ads on the playing field is going to be by playing video games”
~~~
Isn’t that what you do anyway?
If it really is an alternative to the uni ads, this would be the slightly more palatable option.
Re: terriblehuman
just wait till the NFL mandates BOTH teams occupy the nearside sideline (from the TV cam POV) so the farside sideline can be used for soccer-type placard/scrolling LED ads…
Wouldn’t that mean extending the field to more like 140 yards between endzones to accommodate the small armies that make up gridiron teams?
Are those Louisville baseball pants corduroy?? At least they’re not bellbottoms.
LMAO at that Miss State ADIDAS ad about “Stark Vegas”
Is the Water Tower supposed to be the MGM Grand? The only thing Vegas and Starkville have in common are the lack of trees.
is*
The whole “Stark Vegas” thing is a tongue-in-cheek joke involving both Miss. State/Starkville partisans and everybody in the SEC + that have to go up there to play them. The town where the university is has NOTHING really there. You are on a two-lane highway and then, suddenly, you are I Starkville. It is the smallest town with a big university that you could possibly imagine. Any SEC fan discussing following their team on the road to play Miss. State says they are spending the time in “Stark Vegas”. The Miss. State people go along with the joke – no hard feelings. I think they finally got a Taco Bell this year, or maybe last year( almost not exaggerating!).
That’s it. That’s all it is.
A new professional field hockey league debuted yesterday in Philadelphia. The Harrow Cup yielded eight team names and eight uniforms based on the stick design of some of the Harrow line of hockey sticks.
The Mambas won the league title with some truly outrageous kits. Kind of like Barcelona, the Arizona Diamondbacks TATC, and VFL Bochum wrapped up into one.
link
And theoretically, these uniforms are illegal under FIH rules, which dictate that the uniform has to be a solid color (Argentina’s white and blue stripes notwithstanding).
This is the perfect league for hack logo designers to submit their work. Hey, wannabee uni and logo designers, have at it.
Louisville’s horrible FauxAstros disaster is another college athletic program’s cry for attention. Just as Maryland garnered nationwide attention for their horrible state flag UnderArmour inspired uniforms, the Louisvville Cardinals decision to go “fugly”is a look at our sports program—we are different!!!!
The worst part of the Louisville Cardinals baseball uni blunder is that they have a nice cardinal logo that looks great on a cap:
link
Adidas had to look no further than to arguably baseball’s best jersey, the St. Louis Cardinals and borrow small elements from that identity to rebrand their ballclub.
Another clear example of athletic programs thinking they understand sports branding and team identity.
FAIL.
Are those Adidas jerseys available anywhere? They are wild!
Except Louisville is actually pretty good at baseball this year, which can rarely, if ever, be said about Maryland football.
Is it intentionally ugly in a hipster trying to be ironic way? Or do they really not recognize how fugly the uniforms are?
I pray that it’s the latter.
Found this fun graphic of the evolution of the Superman Chest insignia from Action comics #1 through today.
link
Thanks Meghan- Top 10 items I’ve ever seen posted on the UniWatch blog. I wish they would (could have the rights) to create a poster of this? Might have to make my own knockoff.
I’d love to see a Batman version, instead of link conflating costume logos and masthead logos together.
I hope they licensed the use of the swoosh on the cake. Oh well, they’re probably in the clear, I’m sure the evidence was eaten.
Happy anniversary. Been a loyal reader since then. Thank you.
It’s amazing how those stripes turn a complete dud of a uniform into something that’s link.
Yep, details make the design.
Absolutely!
-Jet
That’s a damn fine look.
re: Nike’s LGBT Sports Coaltion line:
I believe Jason Collins debuted the #BETRUE t-shirt at the Boston Pride parade. Is this the first time a sports apparel line was introduced at a civic parade? #meaninglessfirsts
For all its sartorial and labor-related messes though, Nike has often been on the side of good. The “If You Let Me Play” ad was groundbreaking when it came out in 1995 (even if it had the unfortunate side effect of spawning imitation ads), and its female-focused campaigns, like Serena Williams’ “My Big Butt” ad speaks to women way better than most other brands do.
Never mind the chili pepper or the possessive…what’s with the lower case “i’s” being smaller than the other lower case letters?!
-Jet
“I’m sponsored by Adidas so I wear their gear.”
What on earth compelled him to include that detail in his recounting of a typical day?
Probably because he felt like he had an opportunity to pub his apparel company in the interview.
But why would he do that?
to let everyone know that he gets the ugly-ass shirts you see him wearing in postgame interviews for free and that he doesn’t actually pay for them?
i thought everyone had to wear the nike undershirt?
Awesome. Happy Anniversary, (I’ve been following for 7 years).
RE: Columbus Clippers pants – Many MiLB teams wear their MLB affiliate pants. That’s probably what happened in this situation. Majestic MLB Indians pants being worn with whatever company the Clippers use to provide their jerseys.
Another random thing – Last night the Reds had Shin Soo Choo leading off, Derrick Robinson batting second, and the starting pitcher was Bronson Arroyo – all of whom wear double ear-flapped helmets.
When was the last time three hitters in the same lineup wore double ear-flaps, much less hitters that came up back-to-back-to-back in the lineup (9,1,2 when the lineup turns over)
Here’s an example with their home uniforms. Rawlings jersey with Majestic pants. (Check out Photo #9 in this gallery)
link
I was in Tennessee last week and went to a Smokies game. The Mariners’ minor league affiliate, the Jackson Generals, had the same problem: link
Jackson’s uniform tops appeared to be a different material than their pants, which I assumed lead to the difference. They also appeared to have screen-printed logos and numbers, though I didn’t get close enough to tell.
Additionally, it seems odd to me that, while their affiliation is with the Mariners (and the Cubs before that) – the Generals’ uniform set is based entirely off of the Yankees’.
That is even worse, since both pants and jerseys are Rawlings.
Obviously, the Generals aren’t wearing MLB pants – Majestic has been the exclusive MLB uni supplier since 2005, and the Mariners used Russell Athletic from 1992 until 2005.
I think it’s fairly common in the minor leagues that the gray jerseys and pants and even the white jerseys and pants don’t quite match.
It’s possible he was a race car driver or a snowboarder in his past life.
Bah, that was supposed to be in response to link.
The fact that Cheez Doodles are called the “Official Cheez Doodle of the Mets” reminds me that David Letterman informed the world that Lady Gaga had won the Grammy for “Best Gaga”.
Is it just me or do these maroon Mississippi St. softball tops look like they were bought off the clearance rack at Wal-Mart? Apparently Adidas spent all the school’s money on that new one, because this one I’m looking at seems cheap as hell.
Paul,
Congrats on the 14th Anniversary of UW! I remember every single column, I was a Voice subscriber living in New Orleans for years. Got addicted to it first reading in College Library.
Two questions – First, was it you that wrote the New Jersey hockey history explaining the history/origin of the “Devils” nickname, along with the Ketchup & Pickle (Red & Green) color tradition. It was a pretty extensive article.
Second Will the Mets’ “Uniform Carnival” ever come to a sensible end?
Congrats Again, Nick V.
was it you that wrote the New Jersey hockey history explaining the history/origin of the “Devils” nickname, along with the Ketchup & Pickle (Red & Green) color tradition.
Nope. Not me.
I’m shocked that it took so long for link to finally catch on.
We got married in 1998 and my wife took essentially the same approach with her bridesmaids. Everybody wore the same color but they all chose whatever style of dress they liked best.
I think we’ve finally reached the point where football facemasks will actually evolve… You can’t put any more bars on those things!
Those masks look cool but are HEAVY, and reduce visibility. I wonder what facemasks will look like in 20 years?
My guess is a new & better version of this will make a return:
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Not Uni, but a big story- BREAKING: Ed Werder reports Patriots to sign QB Tim Tebow and expect him to be in minicamp tomorrow.
Right now NFL Network 1967 NFL Championship: Cowboys at Packers. Serifs ahoy! Love’em!
..except the shoulder numbers, I’ve always wondered why though.
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There are two schools named the University of Louisiana; UL-Lafayette and UL-Monroe, and it’s my understanding neither school could refer to its athletic teams as Louisiana. UL-Lafayette got around this by using the apostrophe.
In this article you used the incorrect logo for the University of Louisville Cardinals. The logo you used was going to be the Cardinal bird head when the logo was revamped a few years back, but it was edited to remove the long black swoop across the back of the bird head.
This URL is the proper version.
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