Purple Amnesty Day — or, as we like to call it here at Uni Watch, Purp Walk — is fast approaching, so I want to give you the full rundown on this year’s festivities.
For the uninitiated: One of Uni Watch’s defining precepts is that I hate purple, including purple uniforms. But on one day per year — usually May 17, which is the anniversary of the Uni Watch Blog’s founding — I drop my purple antipathy and grudgingly celebrate the world’s most accursed color. This usually involves changing the website’s color scheme from green to purple, running purple-themed content, accepting purple-themed Uni Watch membership card orders, and selling some sort of purple merchandise.
Last year I took things further by flying out to Denver, dressing from head to toe in purple, holding a purple-themed Uni Watch party, and sitting with Uni Watch readers in the Colorado Rockies’ purple row of seats,
It was fun to do a Purp Walk live event, so I’ve decided to do it again this year. Here’s what’s in store:
- I will be heading down to Greenville, N.C., on Tuesday, May 16, when the East Carolina University baseball team will be hosting Campbell at Clark-LeClair Stadium. ECU will wear their powder purple uniforms and I will throw out the first pitch while dressed in purple from head to toe. (Note that this and the rest of this year’s Purp Walk activities will be taking place on May 16, not the usual May 17.)
- Uni Watch readers who want to attend the game can purchase discounted tickets for sitting in ECU’s outfield “Jungle” seating area.
- The game starts at 6pm. Shortly before 8pm, I will leave the game and go to a nearby bar, Coco’s, to host a Uni Watch gathering. Readers watching the game can go with me, or they can stay until the end of the game and come to the bar later. It’s also fine if you want to skip the game entirely and just attend the party. The bar has promised to come up with some sort of purple drink special for us.
- ECU’s live purple-costumed mascot, PeeDee the Pirate, will visit us at the ballpark. I’m hoping he’ll come to the Coco’s gathering as well, although that’s not yet a certainty.
In addition, designer Bryan Molloy and I have once again collaborated on a Purp Walk T-shirt, and I don’t mind saying that it’s a doozy. Since ECU’s teams are called the Pirates, we decided to have a purple pirate making me walk the plank over a purple sea (infested by purple sharks!). Here’s a mock-up, along with a closer look at the design:
Fun, right? I’m really happy with it!
We’re offering two ordering windows for this shirt:
- If you plan on attending the Purp Walk festivities in Greenville and want to wear the shirt, or if you just want to receive the shirt in time for Purple Amnesty Day, you must order it here by the end of this week.
- If you want to wait until Purple Amnesty Day itself, we will also take orders on May 16.
If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to be in touch. Thanks!!
Any chance those Purp Walk t-shirts will be a 50/50 Hanes or Fruit of the Loom shirt? I purchase the Purple Amnesty Day shirt every year and the biggest disappointment has been the quality/size. The brand of t-shirt that’s used is often flimsy and ill-fitting.
Haven’t heard that complaint before. Not saying I don’t believe you; just saying I wasn’t aware of any issues/problems/etc.
Will see about other options. Stand by!
The Gildan t-shirts are my favorite and is an option.
Completely agreed. I nice brand-name t-shirt would be a welcome change from previous Purp Walk shirts.
agreed, my partner got a shirt and said something similar.
I’m glad someone brought this up. I mean to every year after I get my Purple Amnesty shirt. Please go with a better quality brand of shirt.
I’m going to agree. Please go with a better shirt for purple day this year. I’d go with fruit of the loom.
I know I’m late to the party, but PLEASE use a nicer shirt for amnesty day this year
Fantastic shirt! An instant classic. Speaking of which, one of my favorite Paul Lukas quotes: “People sometimes say I have ‘purplephobia.’ But as I always explain to such people, that’s not the case, because ‘phobia’ means fear. I don’t fear purple; I loathe purple. If anything, purple should fear me.”
Very cool that ECU is hosting and going along with this.
Travel goblins aside, I shall see you there!
Purple is unironically a cool color for a uniform. This sounds like a very fun event, but don’t get the hate for purple.
If anyone is selling a Purple Tequila Sunrise jersey, I would love to buy it from you. Hate I missed out in 2019 I believe it was.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Category “purple = death” nice one
I hope Purple Haze is at least one ECU player’s walk-up music.
Brilliant
No … that’s what is played on the PA when East Carolina’s football team runs out on the field.
Something bad and purple must have happened to Paul at one point in his life, otherwise I cannot see what is wrong about purple. Maybe he lost one of those infamous late night pingpong games to Prince? Questlove of The Roots once told us about how he was beaten at the table by The Purple One.
Are you sure about that? Nothing happened to me regarding purple and I dislike it as much as Paul does. Of course, now I see it everywhere I go where I currently reside. Easy to get repulsed by it now.
I love every element of this, except for the fact that I can’t make it to the game…
PAUL! IN MY HOMETOWN (also Joe West’s hometown!) Too bad I live in Minnesota now. There are cool purple theme stuff here (Prince/Vikings) so I hope you’ll make it over.
But, enjoy Greenville! Try some Eastern NC Bbq (I recall you’ve said you liked it), go to the Outer Banks if you’ve never been, and JH Rose High School have an interesting blue/green color combo that I’d like to get your opinion on.