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POTUS Sure Has a Sweet Jersey Collection

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By Vince Grzegorek

The Colts may have gone to Disney World after winning the Super Bowl, but a much more important trip waits for them around the corner: a trip to the White House.

In what has become a presidential tradition of welcoming championship teams to Washington, the Indianapolis Colts will eventually visit with President Bush to celebrate their victory (they have been officially invited, but no date has been set). And in a reciprocal tradition, the Colts will undoubtedly present the President with a gift of a commemorative jersey (it’s just poor form to show up to a dinner party empty-handed).

If you thought that Chad Johnson had cornered the market on jerseys with alternate names, then you obviously haven’t been paying attention to these White House ceremonies. President Bush has jerseys with a whopping six different name combinations, including the common “Bush,” the official “President Bush,” the simple “G.W. Bush,” the lengthy “President G.W. Bush”, the brilliantly brief “W,” and one funkified “The Prez.” Take into account the assorted numbers gracing these jerseys — based on, variously, Bush’s rank, his presidential ordinal, or the year — and you’ve got a man begging to be fined by the uniform police (or applauded by Uni Watch).

It’s no wonder that President Bush has amassed such a varied collection of personalized jerseys. In any given year, he can receive one jersey each from the winner of the four major sports, and countless other jerseys from one of the many NCAA Champions Days that are hosted at the White House. His jersey collection can grow by the minute at these events, with lines of teams waiting to present him with jerseys one after another.

So when did this tradition start? Good question. It’s one that I posed to the White House media office, which couldn’t find an answer. It’s one that I asked Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the Baseball Hall of Fame, who couldn’t find an answer. It’s one that I asked countless presidential libraries, and if you guessed that they didn’t know the answer, you would be right. What we do have is a lot of circumstantial evidence, which basically means that we don’t know when the tradition started, but we have a good guess.

And the evidence points to…(cue dramatic music and close-up) the Gipper! Championship team visits with the president weren’t uncommon before Reagan’s administration, but they were infrequent at best, and jerseys weren’t the gift of choice at the time. For example, Don Holloway of the Gerald Ford Library said that the Indiana University basketball team visited the White House after their championship in 1976 but presented a signed basketball, not a jersey. According to Dave Stanhope of the Jimmy Carter Library, the President received T-shirts, not jerseys, from the Georgia Tech football and Louisville basketball teams that visited the White House.

The jerseys that these pre-Reagan presidents did receive were on campaign stops and various appearances, not from championship teams. For example, Gerald Ford received a Villanova jersey from the school’s young republican club. And Meri-Jo Borzilleri (who told me she too couldn’t find the origins of the tradition) writes in this story, “Richard Nixon’s library records show jerseys from the Philadelphia Eagles and Division III college Gustavus Adolphus,” and “Lyndon Johnson’s library has a New York Knicks jersey.”

So, the transition from T-shirts and assorted gifts to jerseys, and from sometime occurrence to presidential sports tradition, seemed to happen with the beginning of Reagan’s administration. Sure, Reagan racked up the jersey count with many non-championship related events (Bowling Green, University of North Dakota, University of North Dakota different view, Texas, Capitals, and Eureka College [where Reagan himself played football]), but he also received jerseys from the championship Hurricanes, Lakers, and Twins. (Reagan also was presented with George Gipp’s sweater from Notre Dame in another full-circle sort of moment.) Searches of the speech archives of the American Presidency Project also show that Reagan was the first president to perennially invite championship teams to the White House.

So what happens to all of these jerseys? They make up a small percentage of the 1,000 or so gifts that the president receives every month, but they end up first in the White House Gift Office, and then in storage at the National Archives until the end of the administration, when they are shipped to another temporary storage until the presidential library is ready. Then they will be stored again (likely) or displayed (rarely) until some lowly intern comes calling for information on jerseys (just me).

Not the shirt off my back… Just as not all championship teams make it to the White House (the Buccaneers didn’t go after their Super Bowl), not all teams give the President a jersey. Most professional teams do, but college teams and other groups sometimes push the envelope with other sports-related swag. Check out some highlights below…

Ohio State Buckeyes helmet, Richard Petty #43 hat, “Surfboard One” from Pepperdine, USC Volleyball, Racing Helmet, Racing Suit from Tony Stewart, Soccer Ball (Pele and Nixon), Hockey Glove, Jackets, Basketballs (Meadowlark Lemon and Mrs. Ford), Lacrosse Sticks (has GWB43 on the head), More Jackets, More Jackets, Golf Head Covers, and even Speedos. Plus the Islanders once presented President Reagan with a goalie stick that was inscribed, “The Puck Stops Here.”

Sometimes the gifts can get out of hand, as you can see from this list of all the items Youngstown State gave President Clinton during their visit.

Tangential Bonus Material: President Grant was the first to welcome a professional team for a White House visit, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. President Arthur was the first to bring a Major League team for a visit, the Cleveland Forest Citys. The University of North Alabama football team visited President Clinton at the White House in 1996, marking the first time a NCAA Division II championship team had such an honor.

Vice Presidents sometimes get in on the jersey action, too.

President Clinton and his family received 186 jerseys during his administration, including: Women’s World Cup, Arkansas basketball, and University of North Dakota (awesome geometric design!)

Steve Rushin wrote a column (full text here) on visiting the National Archives and discovering all of the famous and forgotten sports memorabilia that is stored there, including President Lincoln’s handball, Billie Jean King’s rhinestone skirt she wore against Bobby Riggs, and Pele’s New York Cosmos jersey.

Finally, want to see what other jerseys President Bush has added to his collection?… Steelers, Marlins, Florida Men’s Basketball, Angels, Cal State Fullerton Baseball, Rice Baseball, UCLA Soccer, University of Maryland Women’s Basketball, Washington Volleyball, UConn Men’s Basketball, Spurs, LSU Football, Patriots (blue), Patriots (white), Miami Football, Syracuse Basketball, Pistons, Maryland Men’s Basketball, Air Force Football, Stanford Volleyball, New Jersey Devils, University of Minnesota-Duluth Women’s Hockey, UConn Women’s Basketball, Detroit Shock, University of Portland Women’s Soccer.

Sometimes he even signs them and sends them home with the team.

Uni Watch News Ticker (from Paul): Now that Dre Bly’s been traded, his biker shorts stylings will be moving to Denver. … Conditions have been so windy at the Tennis Channel Open that several players have resorted to wearing long sleeves (additional view here, with thanks to Ed McGrogan). … Majestic Athletic, which makes all the MLB uniforms, has been sold. … Speaking of Majestic, they’re marketing a line of throwback fleeces this year. … Keeper of the flame. … Et tu, Yogi? … You’ve got to be kidding me.

 
  
 
Comments (136)

    “…but he also received jerseys from the championship Hurricanes, Lakers, Twins, and Capitals.”

    The Capitals never won the Stanley Cup, therefore cannot be considered a championship team.

    Since the NFL is trying to copyright “The Big Game”, maybe those of us on Long Island should copyright our abbrevaition: LI. Then, in ten (make that X) years, we can sue the S*p*r B*wl and collect sorely needed revenue to offset our taxes.

    The LI community of Central Islip can do the same 60 (LX) years hence and Michigan in 960 (DCCCLX) years from now.

    Glad to see Jamie Moyer keeping the Liberty Bell stirrups going strong. And since he’s signed for two seasons, we’ll at least get to see them next season as well.

    Vince-great column today. Let Paul have every Friday off.
    I find it impeachable that a president’s staff wouldn’t want to have all the jerseys displayed.

    Thanks for the comment about the Caps, Mark. Way to rub it in.

    One of my pet peeves about sports is how the sports media and companies try to push nicknames and their own trademarks onto the public.
    Example: ESPN using terms like “Judgement Week” for college basketball and “Showdown Saturday” for college football. In the story about the “Big Game” trademark, it mentions how “Iron Bowl” and “Red River Rivalry” were trademarked. Iron Bowl is a common term I’ve heard, but from my perspective, “Red River Rivalry” is a new term created by ABC Sports and the game sponsors. Any Texas or Oklahoma student or alum I know calls it “Texas-OU”. But, as the sponsors say, where’s the marketability in that??

    I know that it’s just a small liberal arts college of 10,000 students in a city of 95,000 at the head of Lake Superior, but considering it gave the professional sporting world Brett Hull, 3 or so members of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, a couple of NCAA womens hockey championships, a few NCAA mens Frozen Four appearances…can’t you give the University of Minnesota, DULUTH a little love? LOL.

    Plus, it’s my alma mater. (As you can tell by the run-on sentence, I did not major in English literature.)

    anybody else lose their cool iris preview in Firefox today? working for me on other sites. not here. what’s up with that?

    Great article Vince terrific reading and those pics were outstanding! Thanks for that.

    Big Game my arse, the NFL stinks.

    is the “big game” story the last one? its blocked by the proxy here at work.. I was going crazy trying to figure out where that came from.

    Marc M beat me to it, the Caps have yet to win the cup. In fact they made the finals in 1998 but never in the 80’s when Reagan was in office. Interesting.

    [quote comment=”58026″]anybody else lose their cool iris preview in Firefox today? working for me on other sites. not here. what’s up with that?[/quote]

    I’ve had that problem before (not just on this site). If you turn Cool Iris off and on and reload the page it usually comes back. It doesn’t seem to work when the link’s text is broken because of a line break (like the Women’s World Cup link in the third Tangential Bonus Material paragraph), though.

    Great article Vince.

    Was it just me, or did every link open a new window? Previously, all links would open in the already open window, so only one window would be open for all images. I was swimming in windows trying to see all the presidential images. Just thought I would mention it so it can be corrected.

    [quote comment=”58034″]Great article Vince.

    Was it just me, or did every link open a new window? Previously, all links would open in the already open window, so only one window would be open for all images. I was swimming in windows trying to see all the presidential images. Just thought I would mention it so it can be corrected.[/quote]

    That has to do with the differences in the way Paul and I put the articles together and the coding. This piece was 1/2 done by the time I realized what I was doing “wrong”, but next time it’ll be fixed.

    Since it seems to have been an early example of the obligatory POTUS visit I have to offer this FABULOUS picture from the IU ’76 team’s visit to the White House (courtesy NCAA photos as you can see.)

    Quinn Buckner in the Oval Office

    BTW, It is “Indiana University” not the “University of Indiana”. The latter is fingernails on a chalkboard.

    Re: the NFL trying to copyright “the Big Game” –

    What’s the point? Don’t they want people to buy TVs for the Super Bowl? Is NFL starting a chain of consumer electronic stores that I’m not aware of?

    Sweet, Vince has his own colored box! I never noticed before.

    I didn’t know VF owned all of those different companies. I never had heard of them, but I recently noticed they had a bunch of new baseball stuff on Eastbay. I guess they took over the license from Lee. Also, Eastbay took down those new Nike undershirts with the two tone sleeves. I guess they rolled them out too early.

    i actually prefer they open in seperate windows, so i say good mistake vince!
    to each his/her own i suppose

    Sorry if this has been posted previously. With Texas beating A&M the other night, KU clinched at least a share of the Big XII title. This is number 50 for KU and are recognizing it with a nice, simple, effective link

    Does anyone know if any of the NBA teams will be wearing special St. Patrick’s Day uniforms again this year, like the Knicks, Celtics, and Bulls last year? I really like when MLB teams do it and I wish more NBA teams would. Thanks.

    Woohoo. A trademark dispute.

    THE BIG GAME is trademark application/serial number 78804122. (So what?)

    The issue here seems to be: Could NFL Properties possibly stop Cal and Stanford from using that mark? The answer lies in the application itself. The NFL has a lengthy list of goods or services “relating to football” (which is repeated a few times).

    Funny, if the NFL were truly interested in protecting its own interests, wouldn’t the mark be “relating to professional football”?

    …radio announcer…on a commercial around Super Bowl time…..

    “…don’t forget football fans….this is your chance to win tickets to….well…you know….that thing the football teams do after all but two teams are eliminated after the playoffs…you know….with the eight hour pre-game show…so call in now….”

    Maybe the NFL should spend more time figuring a way to keep most of the Bengals out of jail instead of trying to copyright stupid phrases.

    The broadcast team on Bloomberg radio had a brief conversation during the NYI/STL game last night about how Ryan Smyth can keep using a lot of his old equipment because the have matching color schemes.

    Check out link, very reminiscent of link. He won’t get to wear it in a game though, of course, since he’s a pitcher.

    More from the Brewers… The side panel doesnt go well with the piping on their pants, and the M logo on their new BP caps seems smaller than on their Game caps. link Compare with the link above to Ned Yost. I still have to say that last years BP Cap logo design was MUCH better.

    Did anyone else notice that the Gator basketball team who won the title in 2006 gave the President a jersey from the 2004-2005 season??? Any clue as to why?

    … link …

    I think Yogi WANTS to show some stirrups, it’s just that they couldn’t find a pair short enough. At best, Yogi was (ahem . . .) 5’8″ during his playing days. How many inches do you think gravity and age have robbed him of? They’d have needed one of link link old uni pants (and he never played for the Yanks!!!)

    [quote comment=”58050″]More from the Brewers… The side panel doesnt go well with the piping on their pants…[/quote]

    Well according to our color expert from the other day (P.K. link), vegas gold is one of the hardest colors to match.

    Just saw this in USA Today.com. Those Japansese know good socks. Especially the coach!

    I agree with you Ben. I loved last years BP hats when the Wisconsin image was behind the “M”. The Astros still have their state on their BP hats…why can’t we?

    [quote comment=”58025″]I know that it’s just a small liberal arts college of 10,000 students in a city of 95,000 at the head of Lake Superior, but considering it gave the professional sporting world Brett Hull, 3 or so members of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team, a couple of NCAA womens hockey championships, a few NCAA mens Frozen Four appearances…can’t you give the University of Minnesota, DULUTH a little love? LOL.

    Plus, it’s my alma mater. (As you can tell by the run-on sentence, I did not major in English literature.)[/quote]

    Nice to see another UMD alum in here. Ever run into Hull in Duluth (if you still visit/live there)? I used to see him every year during Grandma’s Marathon weekend. Recently, I missed a chance to get a Hull UMD throwback jersey on eBay…hope I see them on there again.

    [quote comment=”58040″]Sorry if this has been posted previously.

    With Texas beating A&M the other night, KU clinched at least a share of the Big XII title. This is number 50 for KU and are recognizing it with a nice, simple, effective link[/quote]

    Congrats to the Jayhawks, a very classy and tradition-filled program, but that logo looks like it didn’t take much thought. A “50” on a basic outlined basketball? I could’ve drawn that.

    The mere idea of that ignorant sot having a 43 jersey from the Steelers with his name on it is wrong on about 77 different levels. Troy should’ve made them pick some other number. :)

    Very nice article today Vince.

    Did Kareem pull his khaki pants out of the hamper? Geeze. Everyone else in the picture has nice wrinkle free pants except for Kareem.

    link

    A young David Stern looms in the background also.

    From the “For What It’s Worth” department…

    Prior to starting his political career, President Clinton taught at the University of Arkansas. So despite being a Georgetown alum, he had every right to wear that Razorback jersey.

    Presidents aren’t the only leaders to get uni-related swag… when Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis in 1989, link (That, also obviously, hasn’t worked…)

    Former St. Louis pitcher Jeff Suppan had planned to give the current Bishop of Rome a Cardinals’ jersey with “Benedict 16” on the back… but the airline lost “Soup’s” luggage, alas! Oh, well…

    The WH Ceremonies are odd because they never seem to be in the same place twice, execpt recently they ahve been in the East Room. When Texas came after they won the National Championship, they were ont he South Lawn; Patriots, Rose Garden (Twice); Steelers, East Room; Hurricanes, East Room; Heat, East Room. When the NCAA teams invade, they are spread out amongst the East Room and the State Dining Room, sometimes on opposite walls in order to facilitate space. This also allows the President to walk over, do his gip and grin, get his jersey and then walk over to the next group, all ready to go. He can bang out four or five teams in no time.

    I ordered a Pirates throwback fleece, but did not see it on that website.

    [quote comment=”58064″]The WH Ceremonies are odd because they never seem to be in the same place twice[/quote]

    The only thing that seems to remain consistent in terms of the venue is that the Olympic teams are greeted on the South Lawn, a tradition started by Gerald Ford. Obviously, this is to facilitate the large number of people attending.

    Anyone else notice that the link to the “G.W. Bush” uniform picture spells “Bush” as “Busch”? I just thought that was kinda funny.

    [quote comment=”58044″]The broadcast team on Bloomberg radio had a brief conversation during the NYI/STL game last night about how Ryan Smyth can keep using a lot of his old equipment because the have matching color schemes.[/quote]

    For the most part, yes. He’s going to have to do something about those linkthough.

    Come to think of it, they’re OLD Oilers’ blue, and he linkhave them before. I wonder if he planned to come out with a little link during linkretirement ceremony. The one he missed because he was traded that day. Ouch.

    Gretz was his hero growing up, after all.

    Did anyone else notice that in the women’s Duluth jersey shot a young Carmelo Anthony is in the backround wearing his Jordan headband??? That’s a pretty classy way to show up to the White House

    [quote comment=”58044″]The broadcast team on Bloomberg radio had a brief conversation during the NYI/STL game last night about how Ryan Smyth can keep using a lot of his old equipment because the have matching color schemes.[/quote]

    The broadcast team there is blind. His blue skates stuck out like a sore thumb last night, and the link is far darker than the link.

    Besides, the Isles don’t care what equipment Smyth wears underneath. They issue him new jerseys, socks, helmets, pants and gloves anyway.

    Now, I don’t have a picture of it, but last night, Letterman wore the most nauseating purple tie, I wanted to hurl.
    ZG

    majestic is virtually in my back yard…
    i played HS sports against one of the capobianco’s. it may actually be the one who is currently president, depending on his age…

    their outlet store is unreal… the bargains you can get there are outrageous!

    [quote comment=”58068″]Did anyone else notice that in the women’s Duluth jersey shot a young Carmelo Anthony is in the backround wearing his Jordan headband??? That’s a pretty classy way to show up to the White House[/quote]

    Considering that he had already declared for the draft at that point he apparently had decided that the dress code for the rest of the team no longer applied.
    classic

    Smyth has emulated Gretzky’s style for a while now. Take a look at his haircut, holders, and the extended cuff on his gloves. He has even been known to wrap a small strip of shiny material around the bottom of his composite stick to give it that old school link He didn’t have it against St. Louis last night, but he was using a new Warrior shaft. I’m not sure if he is giving his shafts this treatment, or if Warrior is adding it for him.

    [quote comment=”58067″][quote comment=”58044″]The broadcast team on Bloomberg radio had a brief conversation during the NYI/STL game last night about how Ryan Smyth can keep using a lot of his old equipment because the have matching color schemes.[/quote]

    For the most part, yes. He’s going to have to do something about those linkthough.

    Come to think of it, they’re OLD Oilers’ blue, and he linkhave them before.

    I wonder if he planned to come out with a little link during linkretirement ceremony. The one he missed because he was traded that day. Ouch.

    Gretz was his hero growing up, after all.[/quote]
    I think you are spot on about him wearing those blade holders for Messier’s night as the team wore the throwbacks during the actual game. Anyone have an idea what kind of skates Smyth is wearing?

    [quote comment=”58076″]
    I think you are spot on about him wearing those blade holders for Messier’s night as the team wore the throwbacks during the actual game. Anyone have an idea what kind of skates Smyth is wearing?[/quote]

    They look like a pair of Bauer Vapor skates, but I can’t find product info on that design anywhere.

    They look like a pair of Bauer Vapor skates, but I can’t find product info on that design anywhere.[/quote]

    They’re actually a pair of link

    I just witness a HORRIBLE instance of logo creep… I was watching a bit of the Tennessee-South Carolina women’s game on FSN and they showed Lady Vols cheerleaders leading fans in a simple “Orange” and “White” cheer… But the orange card the cheerleader was holding up had a big Adidas logo taking up about a 1/4 of the card…

    Great read, but, as was mentioned earlier, please change “University of Indiana” to “Indiana University.” As an grad, there is not much that is more annoying than having an incorrect reference to your school.

    Honestly, this might be the best video I have seen in a long, long time.

    For all those who are torn between spring training and hockey playoffs, I present to you link.

    Ok, so there might only be a few of us who appreciate this video. Let it load, though. It is way funnier than letting it buffer every 15 seconds.

    [quote comment=”58081″]They look like a pair of Bauer Vapor skates, but I can’t find product info on that design anywhere.[/quote]

    They’re actually a pair of link[/quote]

    Good call on the Reebok skates. I never even noticed the Reebok logo that is so well-hidden on the black part of the boot. Paul, I am at your mercy on that oversight.

    Anyway, the skate is the link.

    [quote comment=”58080″]Why the F is Adam Laroche wearing “96”[/quote]

    they said on espn that he forgot his jersey, so they gave him a spare, without a name either. he apparently got ‘ribbed’ by his former bravo teamates. he also forgot his sunglasses, and when he went to play golf with smoltz he was wearing jeans which the course didn’t allow, and forgot one of his clubs…

    talk about a bad day….

    [quote comment=”58091″]
    Anyway, the skate is the link.[/quote]

    As a follow-up on that Reebok page, they have spelled Nikolai Antropov’s name wrong on the right-hand side of the page.

    In the goalie section, they have Marc-Andre Fleury listed with an accent on the right, yet his name appears with no accents on the player list.

    Great work, Reebok! Does this count as Uniformity Watch? :o)

    [quote comment=”58093″][quote comment=”58091″]
    Anyway, the skate is the link.[/quote]

    As a follow-up on that Reebok page, they have spelled Nikolai Antropov’s name wrong on the right-hand side of the page.

    In the goalie section, they have Marc-Andre Fleury listed with an accent on the right, yet his name appears with no accents on the player list.

    Great work, Reebok! Does this count as Uniformity Watch? :o)[/quote]

    Stop perusing the site NOW! It’s full of spelling errrors. You’re just gonna drive yourself crazy!

    Two others beat me to it, but I felt my blood pressure rise instantly when I read “University of Indiana”. Paul, I know the error was innocent, but it was extremely irritating nonetheless.

    On the “throwback” fleece, can it really be called a throwback since they’re not a re-creation of a classic design?

    Sorry, Paul, I just realized you didn’t write today’s post and didn’t screw up the Indiana University reference.

    Vince — tsk, tsk!

    Aside from providing an extra layer of head protection, is there anything special that the Pro Cap does to prevent concussions? Wouldn’t a bigger helmet with another layer of cushioning do the same thing? It would still look funny, but at least the Pro Cap wouldn’t go flying every time a big hit is administered.

    [quote comment=”58094″][quote comment=”58093″][quote comment=”58091″]
    Anyway, the skate is the link.[/quote]

    As a follow-up on that Reebok page, they have spelled Nikolai Antropov’s name wrong on the right-hand side of the page.

    In the goalie section, they have Marc-Andre Fleury listed with an accent on the right, yet his name appears with no accents on the player list.

    Great work, Reebok! Does this count as Uniformity Watch? :o)[/quote]

    Stop perusing the site NOW! It’s full of spelling errrors. You’re just gonna drive yourself crazy![/quote]

    I agree, Bill. The problem is that they’ve hired these men to endorse their products, but don’t have the common courtesy to check the Internet for how to spell their names, let alone checking the signed contract.

    If I were the player, I’d be phoning my agent to make corrections post-haste!

    I HATE it when people say, The University of West Virginia rather than West Virginia University….apparently WVU isn’t a very good tipoff…..

    Though I am an opponent of NFL teams wearing pants that are any color aside from white, gray, silver or yellow, I will concede that the Chiefs’ red pants from the Willie Lanier era looked pretty good.

    link

    In today’s shiny biker’s shorts, the same pants look terrible.

    [quote comment=”58041″]Does anyone know if any of the NBA teams will be wearing special St. Patrick’s Day uniforms again this year, like the Knicks, Celtics, and Bulls last year? I really like when MLB teams do it and I wish more NBA teams would. Thanks.[/quote]

    I can tell you the Celtics are wearing them… I have one of the jerseys (before the black band was added), I’ll try to get a pic of it up

    It’s just like they wore last season with the gold accents, only it has the “RED” patch on the jersey as well. I assume the stripe will also be added.

    Not uniform related, but in the tradition of Reagan welcoming championship teams, the New York Islanders did not get an invitation until they had won their fourth straight Stanley Cup in 1983. They won that fourth cup on May 17, and just a week later on May 24 they were at the White House. Goalie Bill Smith gave Reagan a goalie stick inscribed “The Puck Stops Here”.

    link

    [quote comment=”58068″]Did anyone else notice that in the women’s Duluth jersey shot a young Carmelo Anthony is in the backround wearing his Jordan headband??? That’s a pretty classy way to show up to the White House[/quote]

    Awesome. It’s also pretty cool that one of the members of the Northwest LAX team decided to come in flip-flops. link
    (Front row, yellow top.)

    Regarding the “Big Game” issue, my understanding is that the purpose of trademark law is to prevent consumer confusion – for example, you buy a shirt (or notebook) with “Nike” on it, and you know that it comes from Phil Knight’s company (whatever positive or negative connotations that may have). How is the NFL’s attempt to trademark “the Big Game” even roughly analogous? It just seems like a naked money grab that makes a total mockery of the law (said, of course, by someone who isn’t a trademark expert).

    [quote comment=”58088″]Honestly, this might be the best video I have seen in a long, long time.

    For all those who are torn between spring training and hockey playoffs, I present to you link.

    Ok, so there might only be a few of us who appreciate this video. Let it load, though. It is way funnier than letting it buffer every 15 seconds.[/quote]

    Teebz, that is superb. I love the riff on the stereotypes of Canadians, and the main actor is a hoot! Of course, he would never be allowed to wear his hockey gear on the baseball field, but who cares?

    Thanks for sharing that.

    [quote comment=”58061″]The mere idea of that ignorant sot having a 43 jersey from the Steelers with his name on it is wrong on about 77 different levels. Troy should’ve made them pick some other number. :)[/quote]

    I agree, Kel. There is only one #43 for the Steelers, and it ain’t el jeffe. Travesty!

    [quote comment=”58106″][quote comment=”58088″]Honestly, this might be the best video I have seen in a long, long time.

    For all those who are torn between spring training and hockey playoffs, I present to you link.

    Ok, so there might only be a few of us who appreciate this video. Let it load, though. It is way funnier than letting it buffer every 15 seconds.[/quote]

    Teebz, that is superb. I love the riff on the stereotypes of Canadians, and the main actor is a hoot! Of course, he would never be allowed to wear his hockey gear on the baseball field, but who cares?

    Thanks for sharing that.[/quote]

    I’ll defer to Teebz on this but do we have anyway of knowing if the Nicholas Vachon who portrays “Clark” is the same link who played college hockey at Boston University and is better know as the son of former Canadiens and Kings goaltender link?

    [quote comment=”58101″]Does anyone know if any of the NBA teams will be wearing special St. Patrick’s Day uniforms again this year, like the Knicks, Celtics, and Bulls last year?[/quote]

    Same teams as last year, with the same uniforms.

    [quote comment=”58037″]Re: the NFL trying to copyright “the Big Game” –

    What’s the point? Don’t they want people to buy TVs for the Super Bowl? Is NFL starting a chain of consumer electronic stores that I’m not aware of?[/quote]

    The Big Game suit is targeting businesses who profit during the Super Bowl by using the term – I doubt the intentions have anything to do with Cal.

    Since I’ve followed sports I’ve thought that calling the annual game between the university of Cal & Stanford “The Big Game” is as stupid as it gets. How big can it be if it’s for bragging rights only? Who considers it a big game outside of the Bay Area? On the day it is played has it ever been the big game of the day? It would be better if all parties ceased using such generic terms for marketing purposes. At least the “Civil War” of Oregon vs. Oregon State is somewhat unique.

    I may be misunderstanding the wording of today’s post, but the Bowling Green jersey Reagan has in the pic is from the 1984 Championship team. I would bet similar things for the UND sweater, too, since they won 3 NCAA hockey titles in the 80s.

    link

    [quote comment=”58088″]Honestly, this might be the best video I have seen in a long, long time.

    For all those who are torn between spring training and hockey playoffs, I present to you link.

    Ok, so there might only be a few of us who appreciate this video. Let it load, though. It is way funnier than letting it buffer every 15 seconds.[/quote]

    As someone whose love for hockey is eclipsed only by her adoration for baseball, I can safely say that this is the best thing I have ever seen. The best thing I have ever seen or heard, as the exaggerated Canadian accent was great, too.

    Last night, I was watching the Penguins broadcast, and on Fleury’s save against Nylander, Bob Errey noticed the poke check on the replay. I am not entirely sure that I have ever heard anything cuter than a Canadian exitedly repeating “poke check, did you see the poke check?” I still giggle today thinking about it.

    nice name Andrew ;)
    But yeah I noticed that too, Carmelo is too good to dress up haha. He just came off winnin the NCAA and goin to the NBA, so he obviously didnt care, plus hes gotta rock his sponsor;)

    [quote comment=”58099″]I HATE it when people say, The University of West Virginia rather than West Virginia University….apparently WVU isn’t a very good tipoff…..[/quote]
    The standard penalty is a couch burning… with the offender still in it.

    [quote comment=”58110″]
    I’ll defer to Teebz on this but do we have anyway of knowing if the Nicholas Vachon who portrays “Clark” is the same link who played college hockey at Boston University and is better know as the son of former Canadiens and Kings goaltender link?[/quote]

    Nicholas Vachon was a former minor-pro player who did a couple of short stints with the LA Kings and NY Islanders.

    He has been in a couple of Hollywood movies as an extra, the most notable being S.W.A.T.

    He is the son of Rogie, and his bio for the LA Junior Kings is link.

    Great job, Terriers!

    [quote comment=”58116″]
    Last night, I was watching the Penguins broadcast, and on Fleury’s save against Nylander, Bob Errey noticed the poke check on the replay. I am not entirely sure that I have ever heard anything cuter than a Canadian exitedly repeating “poke check, did you see the poke check?” I still giggle today thinking about it.[/quote]

    I’m a huge fan of the poke check, being a defenseman. I should find different phrases involving the poke check and record them for you, Tessa. :o)

    [quote comment=”58105″]Awesome. It’s also pretty cool that one of the members of the Northwest LAX team decided to come in flip-flops. link
    (Front row, yellow top.)

    Regarding the “Big Game” issue, my understanding is that the purpose of trademark law is to prevent consumer confusion – for example, you buy a shirt (or notebook) with “Nike” on it, and you know that it comes from Phil Knight’s company (whatever positive or negative connotations that may have). How is the NFL’s attempt to trademark “the Big Game” even roughly analogous? It just seems like a naked money grab that makes a total mockery of the law (said, of course, by someone who isn’t a trademark expert).[/quote]

    It’s not a total mockery of the law. It’s stretching, though. (I’ll try to keep it short and not bore you.) TM law is meant to protect anything that marks goods or services to its source.

    “Nike,” “McDonalds,” “Kodak,” and “Post-It” are all marks that have meaning because they represent goods or services.

    So if the “Super Bowl” is stamped as a mark coming from the NFL and people use “The Big Game” to circumvent that, the NFL is claiming it can use “The Big Game” as representing its own goods or services.

    The one issue I have: does the NFL really use it? I’ll pour over the NFL’s TM application this weekend and issue a Monday report. If you’re curious about TM law, click on my name to go to my website, since it’s what I practice.

    [quote comment=”58069″]I wonder where the info about the “throwback” Fleeces came from? ;)[/quote]

    Now, now…don’t be a credit hog ;)

    [quote comment=”58086″]http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2445107&cp=1452363.1452861

    The Pirates throwback fleece…..[/quote]

    My retinas are now burnt…thank you very much

    [quote comment=”58124″]Check out the pants on Matt Murton here:

    link

    Just cringe inducing, isn’t it?[/quote]

    Ugh. Double-ugh. Like all fads, this will eventually pass. I don’t know how much longer I can stand to wait, however.

    [quote comment=”58122″][quote comment=”58116″]
    Last night, I was watching the Penguins broadcast, and on Fleury’s save against Nylander, Bob Errey noticed the poke check on the replay. I am not entirely sure that I have ever heard anything cuter than a Canadian exitedly repeating “poke check, did you see the poke check?” I still giggle today thinking about it.[/quote]

    I’m a huge fan of the poke check, being a defenseman. I should find different phrases involving the poke check and record them for you, Tessa. :o)[/quote]

    Ha! It could be like a recorded phrasebook for travelers!

    If you are going to Spain: “Dónde está Juan?” “Juan está en la biblioteca.”

    If you are going to Canada: “Where is John?” “John is practising his poke check!”

    Of course, that should have been “¿Dónde está Juan?”

    In case you were wondering, “perfectionist” in Spanish is “detallista.”

    [quote comment=”58126″]I’m coming to Anthony if I ever need to trademark a slogan before the NFL does. :o)[/quote]

    *bows*

    Merci.

    You know, it was really weird to see Forsberg in the Preds’ locker room in the Sports Illustrated gallery:

    link

    [quote comment=”58133″]Of course, that should have been “¿Dónde está Juan?”

    In case you were wondering, “perfectionist” in Spanish is “detallista.”[/quote]

    But the codes to create the special non-English characters sometimes are just a pain.

    [quote comment=”58099″]I HATE it when people say, The University of West Virginia rather than West Virginia University….apparently WVU isn’t a very good tipoff…..[/quote]

    Just to play devil’s advocate, there are schools whose abreviation doesn’t match up. Colorado is known as link, but the name of the school is University of Colorado.

    [quote comment=”58131″]
    If you are going to Canada: “Where is John?” “John is practising his poke check!”[/quote]

    Hey, nice pokecheck*, eh! Beauty pokecheck!

    Oh, you missed the pokecheck, you hoser!

    Got him with the pokecheck!

    It’s quite a wonderful word.

    *In the Canadian vernacular, “pokecheck” is a compound word.

    I am laughing my butt off as I write this.

    [quote comment=”58138″][quote comment=”58131″]
    If you are going to Canada: “Where is John?” “John is practising his poke check!”[/quote]

    *In the Canadian vernacular, “pokecheck” is a compound word.

    I am laughing my butt off as I write this.

    [/quote]

    There goes my career in Canadian recorded phrasebook writing! Is phrasebook even a compound word? How do Canadians feel about that one?

    I have also laughed my butt off. Although, being of Irish descent, I didn’t have much of one to begin with…

    [quote comment=”58139″]
    There goes my career in Canadian recorded phrasebook writing! Is phrasebook even a compound word? How do Canadians feel about that one?
    [/quote]

    I think we’re good with that one.

    I’ll run down the common misconceptions.

    Chesterfield = sofa.
    Toque = woollen hat.
    “About” is not “a boot”.
    “Route” rhymes with root, not doubt.
    “Roof” rhymes with “goof”, and does not sound like “rough”.
    We earn “paycheques” and have “chequing” accounts at banks, not paychecks and checking accounts. Although, being a hockey player, I’m sure I’ve handed out a few checks. :o)

    There are probably more, but us Canadians have some peculiar words, eh?

    [quote comment=”58118″][quote comment=”58099″]I HATE it when people say, The University of West Virginia rather than West Virginia University….apparently WVU isn’t a very good tipoff…..[/quote]
    The standard penalty is a couch burning… with the offender still in it.[/quote]
    Of course it leaves a big burnt mark in the front yard when you do.

    I’ve never posted a photo…lets see if this works. But does the catcher, who is in front of the rest, have a forward facing link…or does it not have a bill.

    I still can’t get over the fact that they changed the Cubs link. Hopefully they go back to red for regular season…and I despise the Cubs. Either make both C’s red or both white, not one of each.

    [quote comment=”58143″]I’ve never posted a photo…lets see if this works. But does the catcher, who is in front of the rest, have a forward facing link…or does it not have a bill.[/quote]

    I’d be willing to bet that he’s part of the small but growing contingent of front-facing helmet wearers.

    [quote comment=”58141″][quote comment=”58139″]
    There goes my career in Canadian recorded phrasebook writing! Is phrasebook even a compound word? How do Canadians feel about that one?
    [/quote]

    I think we’re good with that one.

    I’ll run down the common misconceptions.

    Chesterfield = sofa.
    Toque = woollen hat.
    “About” is not “a boot”.
    “Route” rhymes with root, not doubt.
    “Roof” rhymes with “goof”, and does not sound like “rough”.
    We earn “paycheques” and have “chequing” accounts at banks, not paychecks and checking accounts. Although, being a hockey player, I’m sure I’ve handed out a few checks. :o)

    There are probably more, but us Canadians have some peculiar words, eh?[/quote]

    Macaroni & cheese = “Kraft Dinner”

    (And we worldly types know it’s more like “a boat” than “a boot.”)

    one more thing about the stupid “the big game” thing. the deal on the red river rivalry, WTF? it’s called the red river shootout, duh. and I hate texas (football that is)

    The Red Wings are playing the Blackhawks at home, in Detroit, with the Blackhawks in their black sweaters and the Wings in their whites.

    The Blackhawks’ blacks are alternates, correct? But I thought they only wore those at home games?

    Little uni-related mishap tonight during pregame warmups of the Wings-Blackhawks game, I guess. They were just talking about it in between periods. Didn’t catch the player, but one of the Red Wings went out for warmups with his away (red) helmet on instead of his home (white). Whoops.

    Anybody else catch it?

    Along the lines of the “Big Game” thing: The KU-Missouri games have been known (for as long as I know, which is only about 10 years or so) as the Border War. However due to wanting to be PC, they renamed it the Border Showdown which doesn’t do the rivalry justice. Kansas and Missouri have a history of hatred that goes back to the whole Slave State – Free State thing so war was appropriate. They also have a Border War trophy that gets handed out each year to the school who wins. They having a scoring system that awards different levels of points to the winning team across all sports. So for example, the football team taht wins would get like 10 points, 5 points awarded to the winner of each of the basketball games etc… Any other schools do this?

    On a uni tidbit, when KU-MU play in football, I read somewhere that when KU travels to Missouri, they always wear their red socks. I’m not originally from the area so I’m not sure the exact history.

    [quote comment=”58153″]The Red Wings are playing the Blackhawks at home, in Detroit, with the Blackhawks in their black sweaters and the Wings in their whites.

    The Blackhawks’ blacks are alternates, correct? But I thought they only wore those at home games?[/quote]

    Original Six matchups see the two teams wear their “throwback” alternate jerseys. The Red Wings don’t have one. The Blackhawks have the choice of wearing their alternate or their dark jerseys because the Red Wings don’t have an alternate dark jersey.

    Nuggets are wearing the white/orange/blue home ABA Denver Rockets throwbacks tonight against the.. uh.. Rockets.

    Confused? You should be.

    [quote comment=”58115″]I may be misunderstanding the wording of today’s post, but the Bowling Green jersey Reagan has in the pic is from the 1984 Championship team. I would bet similar things for the UND sweater, too, since they won 3 NCAA hockey titles in the 80s.

    link[/quote]

    1. Sorry to all about the “University of Indiana” mistake.

    2. The Bowling Green jersey was presented link, not at the White House, and even though the school won a championship at hockey, it looks as though it’s a link that is he receiving, right?

    3. Reagan received the UND jersey link, and UND won the championship in 1982 (and again in 1987, after his visit), so I doubt the jersey was specifically a ‘championship’ jersey.

    Hope that clears things up.

    tessa and Teebz, thanks for the amusing back and forth aboooot the Canadian hockey goalie playing baseball, toques, cheques vs. checks, etc.

    Teebz, how about you drop more of those video on a regular basis?

    tessa, good to see ya again.

    I want more games where both teams are wearing their colors.

    Vince, great column. I had no idea that Clinton had received over 100 jerseys!

    The Red Sox have put names on jerseys where they don’t belong when presenting them to people. I think it was in this column where there was a photo of them giving some to race car drivers, and they were home jerseys with names.

    Allison, what’s even more bizarre in your link are those socks Soriano has on! The bottom half of the foot is white!

    And you guys think it’s cool to see people (Northwestern women’s lacrosse) showing up at the White House in bare feet and flip-flops? Not me. They should show some respect for the office and dress a little better.

    two things
    Yes Ku always wears red socks at MU because back in teh cival war days Kansas was Bleeding Kansas because of the attacks the Jayhawkers endured from the neighboring bushwhackers.

    2. Isu and iowa compete every hear for the Hy Vee Cy-Hawk something or other which is a competition with all sporting events having a different value.

    3. Hockey goalie…amazing

    4. Indiana people…get over yourselves

    5. KU 50 championship logo is amazing, KU has some of the best marketing people in the country. They know tradition sells, and they thrive on that image.

    6. Paul, I go to Iowa State, and i stopped him at our last home game.. I told him that we need to change our logo because UniWatch says so, and that we need to do multiple throwbacks for what i called decades nights. (one for 60s, 70s etc.) And i also told him i hate the Nike World jersey that every college team has. He was surprisingly responsive to my comments…i should run ISU’s marketing.

    [quote comment=”58151″]Look at this auction on Ebay.

    Who would buy this?

    What would you do with it????

    link

    A friend sent me a link to this ebay item when it was first listed. I will confess to having been interested in bidding, simply because of the uniqueness. Sadly, bidding has gone higher than I am willing to pay for a souvenir bowl game jock.

    [quote comment=”58061″]The mere idea of that ignorant sot having a 43 jersey from the Steelers with his name on it is wrong on about 77 different levels. Troy should’ve made them pick some other number. :)[/quote]

    THey did that because he is teh 43rd president, seems liek a few teams did the same. However i do agree that W is the worst ever

    [quote comment=”58144″]I still can’t get over the fact that they changed the Cubs link. Hopefully they go back to red for regular season…and I despise the Cubs. Either make both C’s red or both white, not one of each.[/quote]
    Don’t have a cow…that’s just their batting practice hats. Look at the red patch above the ear.

    [quote comment=”58115″]I may be misunderstanding the wording of today’s post, but the Bowling Green jersey Reagan has in the pic is from the 1984 Championship team. I would bet similar things for the UND sweater, too, since they won 3 NCAA hockey titles in the 80s.

    link[/quote]

    The Jersey Reagan is holding up is a football jersey, which was presented to him during a campaign stop he made on campus leading up to the election.

    With Majestic’s sale, does anyone see officially licensed Wrangler MLB jeans? Or officially licensed Eastpak backpacks?

    On the subject of Clinton and Capitals sweaters…I remember he made a bet in 1998 with Jean Chetrien of Canada over the Sens-Caps series. The loser had to don the opposing teams’ sweater- here is a link and a picture of the exchange.

    link

    Wait…
    link

    Did no one see this?

    Also, with this and previous talk of Presidents and Uni i don’t remember a single reference to link

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