Sunday Open Thread

On their way to their 5th straight victory, Cincinnati -who pulls off the all-black well – played another team who pulls off the all-black well, San Diego State.

Cheer Cincy

Where are the pink uniforms?

link also looked pretty damned awful, but I guess we’re used to that by know. They pretty much blended into the turf on my crappy hotel TV.

The link also looked pretty damned awful, but I guess we’re used to that by know. They pretty much blended into the turf on my crappy hotel TV.

i was just wondering, having noticed that it seems that every NCAA lineman wears the huge metal kneebraces, who requires the lineman to wear them? Is is a conference rule, team rule, or just personal choice?

thanks

I was really surprised at how good washingtons link looked link night. Especially the link.

Aslo, check out stafon johnsons link (and what looks like an unbuckled belt.)

[quote comment=”150046″]I just noticed in that pic I post of Cal v. Oregon that DeSean Jackson looks to have two jerseys on. What’s the deal with that?[/quote]
Probably a special teamer that needs to avoid a jersey number conflict. In NCAA football, there are plenty of duplicate numbers on the roster, but that doesn’t matter. You can’t have two of the same number on the field at one time, so by keeping two jerseys on the player, he can always have an appropriate number for special teams play and his preferred number for other plays.
Cal-Berkeley is really sensitive to that rule because they got burnt by it once.

link is how throwbacks are supposed to look. Even the logo creep doesn’t bug me, because the UW 1960 unis are the best thing they’ve ever worn. They look like a classier version of the Irish, not that thats hard.
Wish they wore them all the time instead of that purple mess.

[quote comment=”150057″][quote comment=”150046″]I just noticed in that pic I post of Cal v. Oregon that DeSean Jackson looks to have two jerseys on. What’s the deal with that?[/quote]
Probably a special teamer that needs to avoid a jersey number conflict. In NCAA football, there are plenty of duplicate numbers on the roster, but that doesn’t matter. You can’t have two of the same number on the field at one time, so by keeping two jerseys on the player, he can always have an appropriate number for special teams play and his preferred number for other plays.
Cal-Berkeley is really sensitive to that rule because they got burnt by it once.[/quote]
Oh, I know they did that with Jahvid Best earlier in the game, but in that case they put a temp #14 jersey over his real #4 jersey. Seems weird though that DeSean Jackson would play the entire game with two jerseys on. I guess if he needed to be on the “hands team” late in the game immediately after a score, he wouldn’t have time to really change.

Yesterday the White Sox all wore their socks high to honor Jim Thome’s 500th home run this year.

Don’t know if this was posted yesterday…

And I’m too lazy to look for photos :)

[quote comment=”150068″]My screen just blew up after looking at the Golden Shower/Gophers all yellow. I am a big fan of bad unis in baseball, see any 1970’s or 80’s unis, houston, atlanta,white sox, etc. but these are PAINFUL. Whoever came up with that cruel joke, damn you![/quote]
I kind of like that fact that college teams can wear pretty much whatever the hell they want, as opposed to the NFL. These complete trainwrecks (Minnesota, Wisconsin in all red, Syracuse) are fun to talk about.

[quote comment=”150069″][quote comment=”150068″]My screen just blew up after looking at the Golden Shower/Gophers all yellow. I am a big fan of bad unis in baseball, see any 1970’s or 80’s unis, houston, atlanta,white sox, etc. but these are PAINFUL. Whoever came up with that cruel joke, damn you![/quote]
I kind of like that fact that college teams can wear pretty much whatever the hell they want, as opposed to the NFL. These complete trainwrecks (Minnesota, Wisconsin in all red, Syracuse) are fun to talk about.[/quote]

I actually think these are legit third/alternate uniforms. A last year the Minnesota bookstore had a big sale in the fall and I bought a gold jersey. I planned and still do wear it in the student section when everyone else is wearing gold, but I never thought they were actual uniforms until last night.

Speaking of the double numberered rosters, anyone else find it funny that after Auburn kicked the game winner… #18 kicked it and was being mobbed by #18.

The Washington throwbacks were boring. And I know purple is hated here, but I really like the U-Dub jerseys. Purple and gold have been their colors forever, and they pull it off well.

Now i may agree with you on most of those, i cant stanf the Ravens, Oregon, or Bengals look, but when my Titans aren’t wearing those ridiculous ti-colored combo (white helmet with light blue jersey and dark blue pants) then I think they look f’n sweet. I hear too much about their unis in a bad way. They don’t have the boooorrring hard-block uni numbers liek every other frickin team in the NFL, and they aren’t boring. Ok i’m done ranting.

#32, Justin,

Y’know, I see a lot of people defending the Titans uniform, so I guess I am in the minority there…But we agree on the others…Plus, I knida like the Ravens uniform, so I guess that makes us even!

those Minnestoa jerseys looked pretty awesome and those LSU jerserys looked like someone quit halfway through making them

Titans: shoulders need work. Looks like a hockey jersey with the sleeves cut off. Would like to see a little more red to a) bring out the red in the helmet logo, b) call some attention to Tennessee, which has a lot of red in its state flag, and c) acknowledge the Houston Oilers history (and the powder blue doesn’t hurt either).
Ravens: one of the most underachieving uniforms in the league. A really cool number font and the best sleeve patch in the four major sports nearly get flushed down the crapper with the black leotard and/or body suit look they sport too often. They need some sock stripes in the worst way. Maybe some Vegas gold pants to bring out the number trim.
I refuse to bad-mouth the Titans and Ravens uniforms because they look great when compared to such monstrosities as the Bengals, Vikings, Cardinals, and Bills.

[quote comment=”150087″]Purple and gold have been their colors forever[/quote]

Except, you know, for that period if time when their jerseys weren’t purple and looked like the throwbacks they wore last night.

one number font i have always liked if link from the columbus cottonmouths minor league team. they have since gone away from these numbers though.

[quote comment=”150109″]one number font i have always liked if link from the columbus cottonmouths minor league team. they have since gone away from these numbers though.[/quote]
Wow, that’s definitely on the stupid side of the Good or Stupid TestTM, but for a minor league team, that stupid might be a good thing.

[quote comment=”150047″]i was just wondering, having noticed that it seems that every NCAA lineman wears the huge metal kneebraces, who requires the lineman to wear them? Is is a conference rule, team rule, or just personal choice?[/quote]
Team Policy typically

[quote comment=”150114″][quote comment=”150109″]one number font i have always liked if link from the columbus cottonmouths minor league team. they have since gone away from these numbers though.[/quote]
Wow, that’s definitely on the stupid side of the Good or Stupid TestTM, but for a minor league team, that stupid might be a good thing.[/quote]
How the hell did they do a 4? That would have to be a pretty bendy snake. But I guess if you can turn a snake into a link, anything’s possible.

[quote comment=”150119″]The Vikings’ throwbacks are making me miss the pre-monstrosity unis (pre-2006) even more than usual. Maybe they should wear throwbacks every week now.

I hope the Vikings ownership wakes up and decides to revert to the former design, and bring back the gray facemasks! This look would be great every week.[/quote]

I 100% agree — the Vikings throwbacks are a thing of beauty (even if Paul doesn’t like Purple :-).

If the Gophers ever dare to wear the gold jerseys again, at least wear the maroon pants with them. WAY too much gold/yellow last night.

Knowing how the Vikings ownership is, they’ll probably experiment with a new jersey look. An alternate if you will. I can see it now, solid yellow with purple lettering, and yellow stripes on the pants. I think that’ll beat U of Minn for the worst jerseys in the nation.

hah I just saw the tatum bell thing too. Hilarious.

If any Bears start some trash talk, he can just turn the other cheek.

But he’ll probably say something funny back to them anyway. He’s quite a cheeky guy.

Okay I’ll stop.

Whoa, Chuck Foreman looks like an African-American version of Zygi Wilf! Or I guess you could say Zygi Wilf looks like a Jewish/Polish version of Chuck Foreman!

As I’m watching the Vikes game, I periodically shed tears of sadness every time I’m reminded of the Vikes’ current unis, and I also cry every time Kelly Holcomb throws the ball.

[quote comment=”150125″][quote comment=”150124″][quote comment=”150119″]The Vikings’ throwbacks are making me miss the pre-monstrosity unis (pre-2006) even more than usual. Maybe they should wear throwbacks every week now.

I hope the Vikings ownership wakes up and decides to revert to the former design, and bring back the gray facemasks! This look would be great every week.[/quote]

I 100% agree — the Vikings throwbacks are a thing of beauty (even if Paul doesn’t like Purple :-).

If the Gophers ever dare to wear the gold jerseys again, at least wear the maroon pants with them. WAY too much gold/yellow last night.[/quote]
Then you end up with link look. I’d almost prefer to have the all gold. Maybe the all golds would look a little better outside in natural light. Maybe.[/quote]

I hope we never find out….

[quote comment=”150142″][quote comment=”150046″]I just noticed in that pic I post of Cal v. Oregon that DeSean Jackson looks to have two jerseys on. What’s the deal with that?[/quote]

I actually don’t think that’s what it was. Last week someone (maybe Paul) posted a pic of him with his jersey tucked into his belt. It appeared to me as I watched the game that he had a belt on tied around his stomach, and that the way the jersey was tucked into it, it caused the top of the jersey and the bottom to become misaligned.[/quote]
Looking at the link again, it almost looks like it could be a Cal basketball jersey. It doesn’t really look like a belt, though.

[quote comment=”150051″][quote comment=”150047″]i was just wondering, having noticed that it seems that every NCAA lineman wears the huge metal kneebraces, who requires the lineman to wear them? Is is a conference rule, team rule, or just personal choice?[/quote]

Most of the athletic trainers require the players to wear the braces. My school (Liberty University) has all of the linemen in knee braces and every player wears ankle braces.[/quote]

Agreed…I used to be part of my school’s Athletic Training program, and every lineman was required to wear knee braces. Training isn’t just about taking care of injuries, it’s a lot of prevention as well. Most of the guys getting down into a stance across the country on Saturdays have never had major knee problems, and the braces are there to keep it that way. Also, at my school, every player except the kickers is required to get their ankles taped before every practice and game and quite a few opt to wear ankle braces although those aren’t required.

Cards. Vikes. Falcons.
The commonality?

They all have that stupid excessive piping. It has to go.

[quote comment=”150157″]It seems Dolphins rookie fullback #45 Reagan Mauia has a distinct facemask – it only attaches near his eyes and has the ‘grate-like’ look Sinbad’s facemask had in ‘Necessary Roughness’. I’m trying to pull a photo, but if anyone has it please post.

Thanks,[/quote]
Its that same helmet a few of the Giants are wearing. I can’t remember the name, but it has been discussed quite a bit on this site. I think it is made by Schutt.

[quote comment=”150163″]The Schutt Ion, as modeled by link. Paul did an entry about a month ago.[/quote]
i like how even though the facemask connects only in one spot the screws to attach it by the jaw are still there.

[quote comment=”150084″]Speaking of the double numberered rosters, anyone else find it funny that after Auburn kicked the game winner… #18 kicked it and was being mobbed by #18.[/quote]

I noticed that too…hilarious!

Also, U Washington’s throwbacks were awesome, especially the number font. Anyone know what that font is called?

[quote comment=”150113″][quote comment=”150084″]Speaking of the double numberered rosters, anyone else find it funny that after Auburn kicked the game winner… #18 kicked it and was being mobbed by #18.[/quote]

Here’s a picture of link. Peculiar, but it’s what you get when you field so many freshman.[/quote]

What was cooler is that the kicker did the Gator chomp after he made it. awesome

[quote comment=”150177″]
I wish my team (the Eagles) had gone with a classic green look from the 60’s or early 70’s for their throwbacks.[/quote]

And I wish that the Eagles still wore classic Kelly green and silver as they did in the days of yore. [But, you see, I’m a geezer who remembers when at home they wore leather helmets and played in a baseball park.]

Seattle’s Seneca Wallace just received a pass from Seattle QB Matt Hassleback. Wallace, also a quarterback, was revealed to be green-dot free.

Was he wearing a separate helmet for this play? Did they remove the green dot from his regular helmet? Are they waiting until game action to add the green dot?

My guess is that Seneca has 2 helmets, a “green dot” with the wireless and another without the wireless.

[quote comment=”150182″]Seattle’s Seneca Wallace just received a pass from Seattle QB Matt Hassleback. Wallace, also a quarterback, was revealed to be green-dot free.

Was he wearing a separate helmet for this play? Did they remove the green dot from his regular helmet? Are they waiting until game action to add the green dot?[/quote]

The dots aren’t to denote quarterbacks. They’re on helmets that have radios (which quarterbacks wear). Since you can only have one player with a helmet radio on the field at a time, Wallace would have had a separate helmet for this play. He probably has one for quarterbacking (with a radio and dot) and one without. It would be against the league rules to scrape off the sticker from a helmet with a radio (and since this is Seattle, not New England… ;) ).

Paul, If you have quelled the urge to slit your wrists over the Mets, perhaps seeing that a black offering on this site will make you reconsider giving it all up.

Don’t think this has been posted yet (at least, the search tells me it hasn’t), but here’s the link. Looks pretty good, I think, and I really love the hurricane flags worked into the banner.

[quote comment=”150201″]Don’t think this has been posted yet (at least, the search tells me it hasn’t), but here’s the link. Looks pretty good, I think, and I really love the hurricane flags worked into the banner.[/quote]
It’s been discussed on previous days.
It’s a tasteful patch that’s well done, but if you think about it, it’s kind of funny that they use tropical storm flags (one square instead of two). Oh well. Artistic liberties, I guess. And a patch can only be so big without looking cluttered.

i was disgusted by the all gold u of m uni’s. BUT, i must give a major shout out to the vikings throwbacks. i realize that paul hates purple, but these are classic. for the life of me, i can’t understand why they changed. the vikes should at least use these as 3rd jerseys.
what do you think?

[quote comment=”150086″][quote comment=”150070″]Watching NFL pregame shows, are the NY Giants the only team who do not have “shiny” uniform pants? If so, does anyone know why?[/quote]
Uh, white isn’t exactly shiny…I don’t know where you’re going with this one.[/quote]

I think he’s saying that the link pants don’t have any sort of SHEEN to them like link link link. In a way he’s right about some link link SHINY.

[quote comment=”150147″][quote comment=”150088″]”This is how throwbacks are supposed to look.”

I only half-agree with you there, Justin….That is how ALL football uniforms should look — Simple and elegant and “manly.” Unlike the abominations of NCAA’s Oregon or the NFL’s Vikings, Falcons, Titans, and Bengals….[/quote]

I disagree completely. While the plain look can be pulled off well, when a whole league does it like your idea, it would turn out completely, boring, and bland. It’s not elegant when there is nothing to admire on the jersey. I enjoy the Bengal’s striped jerseys and helmet since they tie in greatly to their mascot. I’d buy their link if I wasn’t a college student.[/quote]

YUPP!!! You hit on the head. I like the mixture of traditional/simple uni’s and futuristic/modern uni’s. I ESPECIALLY LOVE IT when teams combine modern and old school together!

LONG LIVE THE OREGON DUCKS UNIFORM!!!!!

[quote comment=”150194″]Checking Washington’s Web site during the game last night, I learned that the Huskies wore navy pretty much before 1972. The excuse was that purple fabric was “generally unavailable.”

That seems like a lame excuse. Purple’s a wonderful color and looks awesome. I don’t recall a purple-clad team expressing difficulty finding fabric.

More likely, color reproduction in newspapers and magazines never could get purple down until rather recently. Back in the ’70s it was either too red or too blue.

That said, the Huskie uniforms last night looked pretty good.[/quote]
Color pictures in newspapers weren’t really that common until the 80s. I remember when SI still published quite a few B&W photos and I’m not that old – relatively.

But it does seem like an odd excuse. If the Vikings could get purple jerseys in the early 60s, why couldn’t UW?

[quote comment=”150149″][quote comment=”150051″][quote comment=”150047″]i was just wondering, having noticed that it seems that every NCAA lineman wears the huge metal kneebraces, who requires the lineman to wear them? Is is a conference rule, team rule, or just personal choice?[/quote]

Most of the athletic trainers require the players to wear the braces. My school (Liberty University) has all of the linemen in knee braces and every player wears ankle braces.[/quote]

Agreed…I used to be part of my school’s Athletic Training program, and every lineman was required to wear knee braces. Training isn’t just about taking care of injuries, it’s a lot of prevention as well. Most of the guys getting down into a stance across the country on Saturdays have never had major knee problems, and the braces are there to keep it that way. Also, at my school, every player except the kickers is required to get their ankles taped before every practice and game and quite a few opt to wear ankle braces although those aren’t required.[/quote]

I am also a part of my school’s athletic training program (Minnesota no less!) We outfit all offensive lineman with knee braces, most schools do the same thing. Every player either has their ankles taped or wears braces for practices or games. As far as the jerseys go, they looked really nice in the locker room before they went with the gold pants, and are nice looking jerseys just possibly with another pants color, such as white, or else add a stripe or something.

[quote comment=”150261″][quote comment=”150125″][quote comment=”150124″][quote comment=”150119″]The Vikings’ throwbacks are making me miss the pre-monstrosity unis (pre-2006) even more than usual. Maybe they should wear throwbacks every week now.

I hope the Vikings ownership wakes up and decides to revert to the former design, and bring back the gray facemasks! This look would be great every week.[/quote]

I 100% agree — the Vikings throwbacks are a thing of beauty (even if Paul doesn’t like Purple :-).

If the Gophers ever dare to wear the gold jerseys again, at least wear the maroon pants with them. WAY too much gold/yellow last night.[/quote]
Then you end up with link look. I’d almost prefer to have the all gold. Maybe the all golds would look a little better outside in natural light. Maybe.[/quote]
personally, I think that they would look good with maroon pants. and that Cal looks good with the gold/navy combo. as for the Vikings, I’m going to say the same thing I said about Iowa State: how they don’t keep that look is beyond me.[/quote]
The same could be said for the Niners, Bills and Chargers.

The Saints didn’t play today (thankfully, so at least they couldn’t lose again), but I did notice that David Patten, a receiver, wears #81. That number supposedly is retired for Doug Atkins, who played for the Saints the last three years of his career, the first three years of the New Orleans franchise. Seems somewhat odd, especially considering other numbers in the 80s are available.

But the Saints have always been odd; Atkins and Jim Taylor have their numbers retired, but Archie Manning and Sam Mills do not (though nobody on the Saints has worn 8 since Manning was traded away). Nobody is wearing Rickey Jackson’s 57, but I doubt the Saints will retire the number of a guy who link in child support.

[quote comment=”150208″]no, desean definately has his jersey tucked into his belt. a speed wide receiver like him would never wear two jerseys, guys wear as little clothing as possible just look at the skin tight spandex pants.[/quote]

I’m not with ya there… Look at that link again. Whatever is below the “tuck” line is not close to matching up with his game jersey.

Anyone know the MLB protocol for postseason jersey wearing?

[quote comment=”150280″]Anyone know the MLB protocol for postseason jersey wearing?[/quote]

You don’t get to wear one if you blow a 14 game lead.

SB

Oh, zing. It’s the 7th Marx Brother.

Yes, they must wear jerseys. But, can they pull out the fishnet jerseys? Or maybe just wrap themselves in saran wrap? Duct tape over the nipples? Alternates! Can they wear alternates!?

Anyone know the MLB protocol for postseason jersey wearing?

Same as regular season.

Or, the battered Mets have to wear black (and blue). I’ll be here all week. Goodnight everybody!

My wife took one look and said “Looks like they need a little more catchup with their mustard.”

[quote comment=”150296″]

Was looking at the Schutt site for info on the new Ion that the Giants have been wearing and Paul has mentioned, and noticed something I can’t recall seeing mentioned on here–the chinstrap is designed to be pulled through the mask with all four straps attaching below the ears.

In this photo of a link player, the helmet has been altered to allow the strap to button above the eyes (a “high-low” hookup). But if you look on the site, it’s clear that the facemasks specifically designed for the Ion have a space large enough to slip the link through.

It’s a Schutt helmet with a Riddell chinstrap, a strap that’s probably not designed to do what the Ion helmet wants it to do.[/quote]

Questions come to mind: if the helmet was altered after it left the factory, does that void any type of warranty? Were the snaps (buttons?) installed by the Giants and is that permitted by Schutt? I’m really not sure if they assume any type of liability for wearing the helmet in a different way from how it was manufactured.

Not sure if this has been posted…

PSU sues another school over link.

BTW…
link

[quote comment=”150272″][quote comment=”150208″]no, desean definately has his jersey tucked into his belt. a speed wide receiver like him would never wear two jerseys, guys wear as little clothing as possible just look at the skin tight spandex pants.[/quote]

I’m not with ya there… Look at that link again. Whatever is below the “tuck” line is not close to matching up with his game jersey.[/quote]

ok you convinced me, now that i look at it again, that its not tucked into his belt. but i play d3 college football and my team happens to have the same nike jerseys as cal and, trust me, there is no way you can stretch two of those jerseys over shoulder pads. before games there are sometimes two guys helping another guy get his jersey over his pads. i dont know whats going on but i can almost guarantee you hes only wearing one jersey.

So, there are 3 teams from the NL West still alive, and none of them are the Giants or Dodgers?

I guess I could look at it this way: the Mets would have been 4th in the NL West.

And so I take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. Auburn has revealed the ‘special uniform’ that was hinted at before the season. Auburn will be wearing link and road whites at home this Saturday to commemorate the ’57 national championship team. It’s not all that big of a deal considering the uniform has hardly changed in 50 years. But I like subtlety, because it link have been link…

I don’t know if anyone saw this, but last night at the Mets game, someone was holding a “lets go Nats” sign… can anyone find a picture of this?

[quote comment=”150107″][quote comment=”150106″][quote comment=”150087″]Purple and gold have been their colors forever[/quote]

Except, you know, for that period if time when their jerseys weren’t purple and looked like the throwbacks they wore last night.[/quote]
But that “navy” is known as Northwestern purple. Yes, quite odd. Maybe that’s as close as they could get to purple back in those days. (Remember how the Redskins got “Lombardi burgundy” uniforms with the yellow helmets and pants? Maybe we have an analogous situation here.)[/quote]

it’s NORTHWEST purple, as in, Pacific Northwest. UW is no more in the “Northwestern” region than Boston College is in the “New English” region.

i thought they looked great too, but link is the best uniform they’ve every worn.

[quote comment=”150337″]Tomlinson had the vader mask on today…anybody got a pic of that?[/quote]
Google had some…weird huh?

It’s the link he’s had link (except for that training camp mask which was a little different than this one.)

[quote comment=”150270″][quote comment=”150086″][quote comment=”150070″]Watching NFL pregame shows, are the NY Giants the only team who do not have “shiny” uniform pants? If so, does anyone know why?[/quote]
Uh, white isn’t exactly shiny…I don’t know where you’re going with this one.[/quote]

How about this then- does anyone know why the NY Giants’ grey uniform pants are not “shiny” like most other teams?[/quote]

It’s just the material. I’m guessing it was done to mimic the matte colors of the oldern days.

“But the Saints have always been odd; Atkins and Jim Taylor have their numbers retired, but Archie Manning and Sam Mills do not (though nobody on the Saints has worn 8 since Manning was traded away). Nobody is wearing Rickey Jackson’s 57, but I doubt the Saints will retire the number of a guy who owes over $150,000 in child support”

Archie’s 8 and jacksons 57 are retired, their names and numbers hang from banners in the dome (along with pete maravich’s #7). atkins and taylor i think are unofficially retired

mills should be up there, i dont know why he is nto

Sportscenter just showed a close of up LT’s helmet, and what do you know, no American Flag

[quote comment=”150371″]im a mets fan so i cant wait to here all of the yankees fans tomorrow. i remember 2004 wen the yankees choked to blow the 3 game lead. just 1 strike away[/quote]
At least we made the playoffs that year, and at least we don’t have a sh*tload of stupid alternate jerseys with an ungodly amount of black. I’ll take a four game losing streak over pissing away a seven game lead with seventeen left any day (not that the four game losing streak is a good thing, especially that one time in particular).
Clean up your act, Pond Scum. And welcome to Infamy’s History Book.

I, for the life of me, can not figure out why most people on this site like the most boring uniforms on the planet. I can see the merits of some of them, but honestly most of you get up in arms about something like the Syracuse all-orange get up when, the team name is…wait for it…THE ORANGE. Shit, I hope they wear orange socks next time, and take the S and stripe off their helmet so their heads look like oranges, then play in the Orange Bowl while their orange mascot runs around the field selling bags of oranges to their orange-clad fans. I don’t even really care about Syracuse but there is always a place in my heart to look different on the field. I’m just going to anxiously wait for the day when the Seahawks cut the BS and rock a Neon Green jersey a la the Orlando Thunder.

Look at the picture of Sonny closely and you can see that UW would repaint their helmets (after every game I would assume) just like ND (or at least like ND in the movie Rudy).

Notre Dame still paints their helmets before every game. The only change in the tradition is that they do it on Monday nights now, as opposed to Thursday or Friday. This is because they have separate practice and game helmets.

In a hockey-related matter, Reebok should be given some credit for actually getting the Blackhawk replica jersey right. For years, the “C” in the shoulder patch would be improperly rendered as sans serif. They got it right now. Now if only the Hawks would insist on it in their print/web versions…