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Fondly Remembering The Sears ‘Wishbook’

By Phil Hecken, with Jimmy Parker

I have a very special holiday post for you today, and it’s by the one and only Jimmy Parker, who you may also know from Twitter as @BeautyOfAGame (if you don’t follow him, you should!). I’ve featured Jimmy on Uni Watch before, who has penned some fantastic articles on photographer Neil Leifer, explored the art and artistry of Jack Davis, penned a review of the Baseball As Art exhibit, and lastly, examined the craftwork of Tim Carroll.

Jimmy is back today with a wonderful look at something many of us remember fondly: the Sears Christmas “Wishbook.” In the spirit of the holiday season, please join me in welcoming Jimmy back as he reminisces about the…

• • •

The Sears Christmas Wishbook
By Jimmy Parker

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go. And the Christmas season always makes me think of the Sears Christmas Wishbook. If you can imagine a world without the internet, a world without 24-hour sports news and a world without at least 3 sporting goods stores in every shopping mall, then perhaps you can begin to understand the importance of the Sears Wishbook to young sports fans of its day.

Although Sears began issuing a Christmas catalog in 1933, it wasn’t until 1968 that it was renamed The Wish Book. The move made official the terminology already used by millions of Americans who viewed the Sears catalog as that days equivalent to Amazon.

Millions of Americans just like my grandparents. My grandparents lived in a small town in South Carolina where the nearest shopping mall was over an hour away. Not that they would have gone if it were any closer. No, my grandparents were ardent supporters of Sears. In those days, a lot of small towns like theirs had a Sears Catalog Store, which was a small store that had a few everyday items and a small variety of larger items for display, but mostly existed as a place for customers to order items from the catalog.

So as a child, every year on Thanksgiving Day, right after dinner was done and my uncles were all falling asleep to whatever NFL teams were playing, I had the pleasure of opening the Sears Wishbook and preparing my list for Santa. With the fervor of my fictional ancestor Ralphie Parker from A Christmas Story, I’d pour over the catalog debating which items were list worthy. At the height of its popularity, the catalog could easily top 600 pages, with over 250 pages of toys, so the debate was not taken lightly. As I look back now, through the twinkling lights of so many Christmases, I realize that those post-turkey jaunts through the Wishbook gave me perhaps my first glimpses of appreciation for sports logos and branding. In other words, I can make a direct connection between the Sears Christmas Wishbook and why I’m writing an article for a site named Uni Watch.

Prior to the 1960s, sports apparel is virtually nonexistent in the yearly catalogs. The sole items of interest to baseball and football fans during these years were usually the equipment used to actually play the games. Full color pages of football uniform sets sit alongside black and white pages of baseball bats, balls and gloves. These pages often fell between everything from fishing reels to badminton and croquet sets. It’s interesting to note that football uniforms of that day were described as being just like “favorite college and pro stars” wear, a subtle reminder that this was a time when the collegiate game was as popular as the professional game.

One brief exception to the lack of logo apparel is this youth’s pajama set, from the 1958 Wishbook, featuring “Woven All American emblem plus 6 woven professional team emblems on chest”. It’s difficult to make out the logos but the pajama set is an indication of things to come, as children’s wear will play a pivotal role in the next couple of decades.

In many ways the 1960s were a decade of profound change and the Wishbook is no exception. While we don’t see the explosion of officially licensed apparel still to come, the decade is notable for a few reasons. The first is that youth football uniforms begin to be accompanied by copy promoting “Pro styling” and “that real Pro-Look”, as the heated battle between the NFL and the AFL causes the professional game to begin overtaking the college game in terms of popularity on a national level.

It’s also during the ’60s that we begin to see licensed electric football games, so that rather than generic players, sets come with team logos adorning the field and players in various team colors. The 1969 Wishbook even offers a “Super Bowl Electric Football” game featuring Jets and Colts players, hoping to cash in on that years Joe Namath-guaranteed championship. 1969 also gives us our first taste of licensed apparel – youth NFL sweatshirts that come with a 24” x 36” illustrated action poster.

The decade of the 1970s has been called the “Me” decade but anyone looking at the Sears Christmas Wishbook would likely refer to it as the NFL decade. During the ‘70s the total amount of licensed apparel and accessories for all major sports seemingly grew year over year. But while other sports only appeared to be dipping their toes into the waters of licensing, the National Football League did a cannonball into the deep end, putting their team’s logos, players and colors on a staggering array of items.

The ’70s began much like the ’60s ended, with youth football uniforms, electric games and a slightly increased offering of NFL licensed items, primarily aimed at the youth market. Included in these items were NFL zippered hoodies, sweatshirts and two items destined to become hallmarks of Wishbooks for the next two decades – pajamas and jackets with matching knitted caps.

The rest of the ‘70s saw occasional licensed offerings from other sports, including MLB logo gloves (1971) and clocks (1977), NHL sweatshirts and caps (1971), NBA carry-alls (1975) and collegiate carry-alls (1977) alongside their NFL counterparts. However, most often these items were only offered in select teams, not the full complement of league teams.

While other leagues slowly explored the benefits of licensing, the NFL took the exact opposite approach, putting their logo on just about anything. The league continually experimented to find out just how big America’s appetite for football merchandise was.

By the end of the decade NFL team logos could be had on everything from trash cans, bedding, and lunch boxes to shoes [1979 WB NFL Shoes]. In 1979 the league debuted officially licensed action figures, no doubt hoping to capitalize on the popularity of action figures caused by the first Star Wars movie. While the Wishbook only names teams, not individual players, it’s apparent through the numbering on the jerseys that star players were represented. Perhaps the boldest move by the league was the 1979 debut of the NFL bike. Adorned in official team logos and colors, the bike was similar in style to motocross bicycles of the time, as BMX racing was beginning a wave of popularity that would peak in the mid 1980s.

In the 1980s the theme of NFL domination of page count in the Wishbook continued. Although other leagues stepped up their presence, MLB, NBA and NHL teams still trailed the NFL in terms of their licensed merchandise offerings. The ‘80s even saw soccer make an appearance as the North American Soccer League offered team bags and ball in 1982. But football remained the top draw for Sears customers.

This is not to say that the decade was without change. Perhaps the biggest was that logo merchandise was no longer solely aimed at youth. Although children and teens were still the primary target, with pajamas, jackets and sweatshirts anchoring the product line, team logos could now be seen on an increasing amount of clothing for adults. To help sell NFL merchandise to adults Sears enlisted the help of San Francisco 49ers QB Joe Montana, modeling branded sportswear in the 1982 Wishbook. In the 1986 catalog, Chicago Bears RB Walter Payton is shown modeling an NFL sweater, replicating the look made famous that year by his head coach Mike Ditka.

Another change during the 1980s was the rise in popularity of sports trading cards. As the mania around baseball and football cards grew, Sears was quick to capitalize and each year saw a greater offering of cards and related memorabilia. Initially confined to “card collecting sets”, usually featuring a handful of out-of-print cards, some plastic card pages plus 3-ring binder, and a crude price guide, by the end of the decade cards would take up a couple of pages and have their own header.

The decade also saw the beginnings of branded tie-ins, with team logos appearing on merchandise from other name brands. Examples of this include NBA Converse high tops (1989) and NFL sweatsuits featuring the popular “Peanuts” character Snoopy (1988). [1988 WB NFL Peanuts] A personal favorite is the 1989 introduction of NFL pajamas featuring team mascot caricatures by legendary artist Jack Davis, of MAD Magazine fame.

The Wishbook continued largely along these lines into the 1990s. Sadly, in the mid-90s, as consumer shopping habits changed and online buying was first beginning its attack on traditional forms of sales, Sears discontinued the Christmas Wishbook. Various attempts at replicating it, both digital and physical, have been made over the years but none of them have seemed to grab the magic of those wonderful catalogs of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. While the story of those Wishbooks is a study in the rise of the NFL as America’s most popular sport, it begs the question; was the merchandise a response to the growing popularity, or was the popularity a response to all that great merchandise?

• • •

Great stuff, Jimmy — thanks for the trip down memory lane! I know Brinke was a YUGE fan of the Wishbook (note one of the graphics even includes the phrase “Collectors Corner — I’m not sure if that’s a subtle tip of the cap or purely coincidental) — and I know many more of you used to be. If so, what was the greatest gift you ever received from the “Wishbook”? No question, mine were these NFL sheets which I’m sure my parents got from the 1977 Wishbook. But there were, as Jimmy notes, literally hundreds of different products. Love to know what everyone’s favorite was!

Guess The Game…

from the scoreboard

The game has returned!

Today’s scoreboard comes from reader Jack Straw.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Today’s scoreboard probably isn’t too difficult, but it may give you a little trouble.

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date & location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

If you guys like this, please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

LAST DAY for the Teespring sale: Paul here. Today is the final day for Teespring’s site-wide sale. If you order by midnight Eastern tonight, you can get 10% off of anything in the Uni Watch Shop (which includes T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, pins, cufflinks, and stickers) and the Naming Wrongs Shop by using the checkout code BL1ZZARD.

If you use this checkout code, you’ll get the discount but Uni Watch will still get its full profit on each item — the discount will come out of Teespring’s end — so it’s a win-win. My thanks, as always, for your consideration of our products.


The Circle Game

Last Sunday, in my writeup of the Army/Navy game, I included a link to a Twitter thread that, very mistakenly it turns out, interpreted a hand gesture made by some Naval Midshipmen while standing in the background during an ESPN broadcast segment during the Dec. 14 game, as a “White Power” symbol. I noted I hadn’t seen this, and called the incident “ugly” without any further investigation. I apologize as many in the comments pointed out this was NOT a racist incident, but merely something called “The Circle Game.” I’d never heard of this game before, and it turns out if one flashes the “okay” symbol below another’s waist, if someone else looks at the symbol, the person making it can punch the other person.

Both Academies investigated the incident, and by yesterday, their conclusions were clear:

“We investigated this matter thoroughly,” Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams, 60th superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, said according to a news release. “Last Saturday we had reason to believe these actions were an innocent game and not linked to extremism, but we must take allegations such as these very seriously. We are disappointed by the immature behavior of the cadets.”

The Naval Academy also determined that the men were not flashing “white power” symbol, CBS News reported. This symbol has been adopted by white supremacists because the shape forms the letters “w” and “p,” according to CBS News. Video of the symbol being flashed went viral during the weekend of the game.

According to Navy Times,

Once purely innocuous, the “OK” gesture in recent years became the target of an internet hoax that claimed it telegraphed “white power,” the investigator wrote.

“In light of this hoax, several prominent members of ‘white power’ and ‘white supremacy’ groups began making the gesture in public, thereby appropriating the gesture as a symbol of their movements,” the investigation states.

In addition, that article states,

“There is no evidence that either midshipman intended to convey any type of message through the hand gesture,” the report states. “The evidence indicates they intended to play a sophomoric game.”

“We are confident the hand gestures used were not intended to be racist in any way,” Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck said in a prepared statement. “However, we are disappointed by the immature behavior of the two Fourth Class Midshipmen, and their actions will be appropriately addressed.”

I want to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my including the Twitter thread in last weekend’s article, and for not taking better care in reporting the incident. I’m extremely pleased both Academies investigated this and have found there was no ill-intent on the part of their cadets. There is no place for racism in the armed forces, and I laud them for completing a thorough investigation.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday added, “To be clear, the Navy does not tolerate racism in any form. And while the investigation determined there was no racist intent behind these actions, our behavior must be professional at all times and not give cause for others to question our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. We must be standard-bearers. We must be above reproach. That is what sets us apart as a fighting force.”

Good for Army. Good for Navy.

Again, I apologize for simply “throwing out” the reports of the incident without further investigating. Had I known or heard of “the circle game” before, I certainly would have pointed it out, and that’s my fault. I should have simply reported it rather than labeling the incident “ugly” or ignored it altogether.

The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: George Noriega noticed that these four Leaf Trinity Steven Matz 2015 baseball cards claim to feature a piece of an authentic, game-worn jersey, but the patch in the top left jersey is unrecognizable to anything the Mets wore in 2014 or 2015. Furthermore, the top right and bottom left cuts are clearly from replica jerseys. George writes: “The authentics have a zigzag pattern on the pinstripes, and in 2015 the names/numbers would have been embroidered stacked (Majestic went to kiss cut embroidery in 2016); the replicas have a single tackle twill layer, where the embroidering on the blue layer is simulated but it’s actually only a single piece, which is the swatch used in the cards.” … Speaking of fuckups involving the Mets, it appears the Mets sent out holiday cards featuring a polar bear wearing a cap with the Yankees logo on it (from @metspolice). … With P Tyler Clippard joining the Twins, and thus wearing “TC” on his cap, David Hallstrom asks how many MLB players will wear their initials on their caps in 2020? … Brewers IF Eric Sogard will wear No. 7 this year (from @NotSamardzija).

College/High School Football News: The following are all from @CFBowlWatch: Arizona State will wear their grey jerseys during the Sun Bowl. And is that patch in the running for the worst Bowl patch ever? … UCF’s Gasparilla Bowl helmets have been revealed. It appears the flag of Florida is sublimated in the decal on one side, but I can’t figure out what the design is on the other. UCF will also wear grey jerseys during the game. … San Diego State is going with black helmets and black jerseys in the New Mexico Bowl, both with red Aztec designs. … Here’s our first look at the Gator Bowl patch on Indiana’s jerseys, the Independence Bowl patch on Louisiana Tech’s jerseys and the application process for the Military Bowl patches on Temple’s jerseys. … Arkansas State is going red-black-black in the Camellia Bowl (from Chase Becvar). … Also posted in the hockey section: ESPN has ranked the hockey sweaters of college football teams headed to Bowl games (from multiple readers). … Texarkana (Tx.) Pleasant Grove had a MPOB — motivational phrase on back — during Texas Class 4A Division 2 championship. Is this the first time an ampersand has appeared on a nameplate? (from Prentice C. James). [Maybe — I can think of at least one, but it’s not on a nameplate: Jeremy Jeffress’ (Bread emoji) “&” (Butter emoji) from this year’s Players Weekend. Any others direct-sewn on a jersey or namplate? — PH] … LSU QB Joe Burrow’s hometown of Athens, Oh., will name its stadium after him (from Timmy Donahue). … @Pappy_Hour says that these checkerboard socks and undershirts in the Stagg Bowl are an awful look. But me? I love it.

Hockey News: The Washingtonian has a fun little quiz — NHL player or Trump/Russia/Ukraine scandal participant? (from John Muir). … Also posted in the NBA section: Celtics F Jayson Tatum wore blue sneakers as a nod to the St. Louis Blues during a game in Dallas. As a Celtics and a Bruins fan, I am conflicted — and that’s probably also why he didn’t wear them at the Garden (from Ed Bauza and Matt Newberry). … This obituary for the late Bruins legend Bronco Horvath features an image of Horvath wearing a helmet in 1958 with a special strap for jaw protection (from Jerry Wolper). … The Swiss national team’s sweaters are so ad-covered that the captains’ letters are in the center of the chest (from Wade Heidt). … The Syracuse Crunch’s home arena has a new corporatized name (from Shane Bua). … Cross-posted from the CFB section: ESPN has ranked the hockey sweaters of college football teams headed to Bowl games (from multiple readers). … The BCHL’s Coquitlam Express debuted new alternate jerseys on Wednesday (from Wade Heidt). … The Muskegan Lumberjacks of the USHL will wear these beauties on Dec. 28 for their Lumberjack Night (from Andrew Timmerman).

NBA News: All three Antetokounmpo brothers swapped jerseys after Thursday night’s Bucks/Lakers game (from many readers). … Cross-posted from the hockey section: Celtics F Jayson Tatum wore blue sneakers as a nod to the St. Louis Blues during a game in Dallas. As a Celtics and a Bruins fan, I am conflicted — and that’s probably also why he didn’t wear them at the Garden (from Ed Bauza and Matt Newberry). … The Perth Wildcats of the Australian National Basketball League had a small team meeting where legend Mike Ellis gave injured player Wani Swaka Lo Buluk his jersey before his first game as a Wildcat (from Richard Meloy).

College/High School Hoops News: Marquette wore their GFGS alternates last night (from Timmy Donahue). … Villanova men will wear throwbacks for their alumni game tonight. Don’t know why Villanova isn’t always wearing those (from John B. Lewis). … Rockwood (Tn.) High has some nice candy striped warm-up pants and Marquette-style side panel stripes (from Paul Kamikawa).

Soccer News: When Dutch team Ajax switched to Adidas kits in 2000, the fanbase was irate with the Adidas shoulder stripes on the kits. So Adidas removed them until 2008 for domestic kits, but not for European competition (thanks, Jamie). … Juventus will have NOBs in Arabic and a calligraphic design in their uni numbers for their match against Lazio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (from Josh Hinton). … Also from Josh: New England Revolution have given new signing Adam Buksa No. 9. … The referee in a 2. Bundesliga match between Nürnberg and Dresden made Nürnberg change their kits to prevent a clash with Dresden’s away kits. Their replacement kits, however, caused a clash with Dresden’s keeper kit, so Dresden hastily modified a midfielder’s shirt for their keeper to wear. Here’s how the match looked — Nürnberg is in their GFGS third kit (from @KohlenSchaufler and Ed Żelaski).

Grab Bag: Ohio State fencers — and, I surmise, all athletes — get these nice custom luggage tags. Fancy. … Trevor Williams gives his third-grade class sports pennants every Christmas.

Coming Tomorrow: A Very Merry Vilkmas. You won’t want to miss this one!

 
  
 
Comments (42)

    CBS News is not entirely accurate in its reporting that the OK sign has been adopted by white supremacists. Sure, maybe one or two white supremacists have used it. But even the ADL, which has a far more accurate and comprehensive description on its website,states that the vast majority of the uses of the gesture are for indicating “OK,” or, as in this case, playing the circle game. Just because the Twitter mob says something is true doesn’t make it so.

    I always think of Mr. Hollands Opus, where the deaf son flashes the OK sign at him with his palm down and his wife tells him it means Asshole in Sign Language.

    Normally, in ASL, to make the “Ok” sign mean A-hole, one would have to put the middle, ring, and pinky fingers together (i.e., no gaps between the fingers). Imagine, extending one’s hand to shake another hand, but then touch the tip of the pointer and thumb together. That is the A-hole sign in ASL vs an “okay” sign.

    I don’t recall exactly how the actor portrayed the sign in Mr. Hollands Opus, but an accurate sign has the three fingers together. Novices simply sign it with an “okay” symbol.

    Thanks for your comment. When I initially saw the screencap posted last week, I thought the serviceman was either playing the circle game or was trying to get “visual profanity” on the air.

    Hear, hear! I’m very glad to see this was addressed today, and props to Phil for reporting it thoroughly.

    I’m sure all those wackos on Twitter who immediately branded the entire US military as racist over this “incident” will all post similar mea culpas. (Yeah right!)

    Look up the symbol on Wikipedia. The negative connotation/connection of it is a little over 2 YEARS OLD.

    In 2017, users on the message-board site 4chan aimed to convince the media that the OK gesture was being used as a white power movement symbol. According to The Boston Globe, users on 4chan’s /pol/ (“Politically Incorrect”) board were instructed in February 2017 to “flood Twitter and other social media websites…claiming that the OK hand sign is a symbol of white supremacy,” as part of a campaign dubbed “Operation O-KKK”.

    As reiterated in the response today, the purpose of the Circle Game is to get someone to look at it and then punch them in the arm (or somewhere) for doing so.

    If that was the circle game, behind the head of someone on TV in a row of people with the hands visible by only the camera and the circle presenter looking at the camera, not to see if someone was looking at his hand, Who was the person in danger of being punched for looking at the hand?

    Yes, quite a game there.

    1943 Rosw Bowl, Georgia 9, UCLA 0. First game back in Pasadena after playing thr previous years game in Durham, NC.

    That’s it! Here’s a link from the game and pre-game from the University of Georgia Library, and here’s link Charley Trippi, number 62 in your program, just turned 98 last Saturday. #hbtd

    UCF has an Orlando flag sublimated on the other. That fountain is the symbol of the city in Lake Eola.

    Villanova men will wear throwbacks for their alumni game tonight. Don’t know why Villanova isn’t always wearing those

    Maybe they’re similar to Michigan’s white uniforms?

    link

    Those Matz cards don’t claim to be game used. They are “player worn”, which is VERY different. Could have been worn at some event, like a grocery store auto session, or some TV interview. Or he could have worn the jersey while signing the cards.

    Card manufacturers take care with the words they use to describe the relics embedded. Topps standard disclaimer is “relics on this card are not from any specific game, event or season”. Later, in Topps higher releases, they will include MLB authentication stickers on some relics to verify where the jersey cam from. Collectors prefer game worn, obviously.

    Leaf can be shady AF and their CEO is doing them no service on Twitter, but technically, they are in the right on these four. They do not claim to be game used, so Leaf may have supplied the jersey for Matz to wear. It’s kind of flags flown over the WH. They run them up the pole for 10 seconds then back down. “Flown” – sure. But really?

    One of my best Christmas memories was When I got my NY Giants jacket and beanie hat when I was 10 (Christmas 1974). I loved that jacket and wore it proudly for three years until I outgrew it. Thanks for the memories!

    As far as the circle game, I would suggest looking up the incident that occurred this summer between African American reporter Doug Granville and a Cubs fan. The fan was banned from Wrigley Field for life and there was a lot of reporting on the history of this symbol.

    The whole point of the “WP” hand signal is that you can’t tell what it is for. Part of its “invention” was to troll people into worrying about it as a racist symbol (but some racist movements have wholeheartedly adopted it). If college students had legitimately been making a “WP” symbol on TV, it would have been to exploit this ambiguity as a prank or a troll, not as a political statement. But if you think about it, intentionally making people unsure and uncomfortable about racist symbols is inherently racist even if the person isn’t expressing solidarity with a racist movement. Maybe you should have made the ambiguity clear, but I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself for reporting it. (because of the ambiguous nature we can’t be sure what happened here either, and the military legitimately has a problem with white nationalist recruits, but innocent unless proven guilty).

    Love reading about the Sears Catalogue and seeing some of the old merch. Of course, if you lived in Canada, you were able to get CFL merch too:

    link

    link

    Sears as a business has suffered in recent years. We no longer have Sears at all in Canada. Shuttering 2 years ago, after 65 years.

    link

    Some additional detail about the hockey Ticker items I submitted.

    -The Swiss uniform was worn during a pre-tournament game this past week in Brno, Czech Republic, leading up to the 2020 World Junior Hockey Championships. These ad-laden uniforms are likely just for pre-tournament as the usual Swiss national team uniform for games when it counts looks different and has less ads.

    -The new alternate uniform for the Coquitlam Express features a return of their original primary logo as the shoulder patch, done up in the current team colours. The Express debuted the yellow jerseys at home. Visiting Prince George Spruce Kings wore their blue jerseys. Giving us the old-school feel of the yellow uniform at home as the light colour rather than white. A look at in game action:

    link

    Another John beat me to the Guess the Game answer, but here is an article from UGA Today about UGA’s trip to the Rose Bowl year including an amazing 3 minute color film that should not be missed:

    link

    I still have a picture in front of the Christmas tree of myself, probably 10 so 1967, wearing my “Pro-look” football uniform with helmet and shoulder pads. It was blue and white like my favorite team the Rams. I remembered it as a Rams uniform, and was surprised a few years ago finding this picture and realizing it was just a blue and white uniform.

    With regard to the luggage tag on the Ohio State bag —

    I attend the U of Minnesota, and all Gopher student athletes get both a bag and the name tag. The general student population somewhat jokingly refers to the athletes as “bags and tags” since anybody can purchase the bag at the bookstore, and members of the (very large) band get the tags, but it’s only the athletes who get both the officially licensed bag and the tag.

    I had forgotten the circle game until right now. I might have to reintroduce it.

    I also remover the game you had to forget you were playing leading to people randomly announcing “I’m out of the game.”

    It takes a big man to apologize to the masses like this. I tip my cap to you sir.

    Also when does the Let’s Go Bowling recap’s start? One of my favourite articles of the year.

    Unfortunately, I won’t be doing the Let’s Go Bowling stuff this year (sorry). Had too much going on the past couple weeks with grad school — it takes me HOURS to find photos of all the unis, and I just didn’t have have the time :(. Because some of the “lesser” (I mean that only in terms of coverage) teams’ photos are very difficult to find, it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend a full hour trying to track down the unis worn by just ONE or two teams. That whole project used to take me about 3 full weeks to complete, and I basically lost more than a week and a half due to finals. Hopefully next year it will return. Thanks for the kind words tho!

    I recall Christmas 1978 or 79 when I received a set of Minnesota Vikings pajamas, most likely from the Sears catalog. You know, the horribly itchy polyester ones.

    Re: The Circle Game: Thanks for the classy update and mea culpa. The twitter mob is rancid and fake.

    With P Tyler Clippard joining the Twins, and thus wearing “TC” on his cap, David Hallstrom asks how many MLB players will wear their initials on their caps in 2020?

    I have sometimes considered wearing a San Diego Padre cap for the initials, but as a Met fan it makes no sense.

    The thing about the Circle Game/OK symbol excuse, is that it’s part of the whole troll by the original 4chan thread, i.e., they post a thread saying “let’s troll everyone by saying the OK symbol means white power,” then a bunch of white supremacists (who of course aren’t actually WS), like Roger Simon, the Proud Boys, Milo what’s his name, Steven Miller, go around flashing it, getting others to do the same, THEN, when people start calling it out, claim it was all a joke, and the SWJs have been totally pwned, yet the WS will keep flashing it, and laughing about it, and any time anyone calls it out, the original thread will be referenced.

    Whether the cadets or middies are WS or not, i have no idea, but don’t be stupid and think that when actual WSs flash the OK symbol, they don’t know exactly what they are doing.

    You just showed more integrity and journalistic ethics than most of the mainstream media combined. Well done, sirs.

    No kidding. Juan Williams was given a chance last night to apologize to the young man he defamed and declined. Hate never takes a holiday.

    Yes, the circle game exists and I remember losing a few times as a kid, lol.

    However, the three finger & circle hand gesture can’t be so easily dismissed every single time as just the circle game. It has been, and continues to be used by a faction of the right for two purposes. One, to show support for Trump because it’s how he talks sometimes, enough to become a thing like that.

    And two, it’s become a meme among the right PRECISELY for the purposes of triggering a reaction out of anyone else, goading them into saying “you made the gesture, you’re a white supremacist!”

    They use it because there is plausible deniability like “but we were just playing the circle game.”

    This thread is a great explainer here for it: link

    So regardless of those cadets’ true intentions, or the subsequent investigation, there is more context to the whole situation with the hand gesture.

    I was angry and disappointed when I saw the gesture on ESPN. Not because of any racist connotation, but because a cadet was immature enough to try to sneak that into a TV shot in full uniform. With another cadet mugging for the camera over the reporter’s shoulder. Yes, they’re college age. But they’re supposed to be better than this. Something I’m sure was pointed out to them when they got back to campus.

    It’s quite a relief to know that our future generals and admirals are just regular dipshits and not racist diptshits.

Comments are closed.