Yesterday I wrote about the Pacers’ new ad patch with a QR code, which was scheduled to make its on-court debut last night. As it turned out, that wasn’t the only new addition to their jerseys: They also added a No. 30 memorial patch for the late George McGinnis.
The odd thing about this is the timing. McGinnis died on Dec. 14 (I did a post about his amazing high school hoops uniform the next day); the Pacers played 10 games between then and last night’s game, four of which were at home. Why the long wait? It’s almost like they said to themselves, “Well, as long as we’re sewing those new ad patches onto the jerseys, we might as well do something for McGinnis, too.”
As far as I can tell, the Pacers didn’t even announce the addition of the McGinnis memorial on their social media feeds until last night’s game was already in progress.
Strange.
Important update: Reader Mackin Bannon has pointed out something I missed, namely that the Pacers added a black memorial band for McGinnis — but without the “30” — on Dec. 18, and have been wearing it since then:
If anything, this only increases the oddness factor. If you wanted to include McGinnis’s number, why not include it right from the start? Why wear the plain black band for a bunch of games and then add the “30”?
Again: Strange.
Very strange indeed and I think you are right about the delay of the ribbon because of the ad deal being finalized and the ad being added to the jerseys. As I said before, the QR code ad will be the new ad norm pretty soon, also in other sports. But basketball is ideal for this kind of placement: while a player is taking a FT, stands still during a review by the referees or is waiting to get into the game at the sideline the TV watcher can scan the code with a phone from the TV screen.
The whole thing leaves me with one word:
Gross.
-C.
Are ads preventing teams from adding memorial patches? I found it odd that the Suns did not put anything on their jerseys for Walter Davis, who is the franchise all time leading scorer and has his number retired. If anyone is deserving of a memorial, he surely should qualify.
A full patch is out of the question now with the swoosh and the ad crowding the top half of the jersey, but a ribbon with his number for Davis is the least the Suns should have worn. Or it should have been a smaller black roundel like the Russell tribute.
As you yourself point out, a full patch is *not* out of the question, because every team wore one last year for Bill Russell.
Yes, but I feel it looked very crowded last season. Would have been nice if either Nike or the team ad would have said: we make room for a Russell memorial patch. The nike swoosh is also on the shorts and the jock tag of the jersey. Same with Indy and the Suns: it would have been classy from Nike or the ad company to graciously step aside for a full memorial patch for a few games. The ribbon is practical in that sense as it can be combined with the swoosh and the ad.