I recently mentioned that there’s a ton of good NFL material now available on Hulu. Turns out reader Mako Mameli has busily been making screen shots from the Hulu footage for a few months now. This is the first installment in what I hope will be a running series of his captures.
• These two 49ers shots, both from a 1974 game against the Rams, both show players wearing two different number fonts.
• Looks like the Rams had some number font issues in 1974 as well, at least involving the numeral 5.
• So much going on here. For starters, I hadn’t been aware that the Lions used history’s biggest Dymo labels in 1991. The “60” decal is for Mike Utley, who’d been paralyzed earlier that season. And the “JRT” patch is for former GM John Russell Thomas, who’d died earlier that year. (Meanwhile, here’s another example of the huge Dymo labels.)
• Steve Grogan had the longest neck I’ve ever seen on an NFL player, so it makes sense that he also had the thickest neck cuff. Also: Look how high those helmet numbers are!
• Best view ever of Jim Burt’s corset-style jersey.
• Here’s a good shot of the Giants’ Spider Lockhart memorial patch, worn in Super Bowl XXI.
• The Lockhart patch is also visible in this shot from the NFC Championship Game, but what’s that “38” decal? Anyone..? (Update: Craig Greenwood has just posted a comment indicating that the “38” is for John Tuggle, who died in 1985 from cancer.)
• Two other memorials I’m unsure of: this Dolphins decal from 1983 and this one from ’84. Little help? (Update: From Kevin Gallo: “The Dolphins’ #50 memorial decal from 1983 was for linebacker Larry Gordon. I think he died of a heart attack in the off-season. The #20 memorial decal from 1984 was for running back David Overstreet. I think he died in a car accident in the off-season.”)
• McNOBS often have either a lowercase “c” or a space, but it’s rare that they have both.
• Speaking of McNOBS, here are two different approaches taken by the same team in the same frame. That shot’s from 1993. (And yes, I know the Ravens did basically the same thing more recently.)
• Two different Riddell logos shown in these two 1975 Rams shots.
• If windbreaker undersleeves look bad on a baseball player, they look even worse in the NFL. That’s Jeff Gossett, from 1992.
• Speaking of windbreakers, the Chargers had some with NOBs back in ’92.
• And speaking of the ’92 Chargers, I’d forgotten that they had an odd approach to captaincy designations. Actually, I guess it’s a straightforward approach, but it still looks odd.
• During a 1992 Cowboys/Raiders game, some Dallas players were wearing memorial decals and some weren’t. (Here’s a closer look at those decals, from a different game that year. Can’t say I recall who those were for either.)
• Not sure who this Oilers player is, but it looks like he was wearing a set of those “Say No to Drugs” wristbands.
• There are facemasks, and then there are facemasks. I believe that’s Harry Swayne, of the 1994 Chargers.
• The 2000 Ravens had Jermaine and Jamal Lewis.
• Anyone else think the 1993 Chiefs’ QB jersey pockets were positioned a trifle high?
Sensational stuff. And as if that weren’t enough, Mako also recently came up with some great wire service photos. Dig:
• You probably know that track and field stars like Bob Hayes and Renaldo Nehemiah played in the NFL, but I didn’t know the Eagles had signed a sprinter way back in 1962. Love the No. 09.2 jersey.
• Very odd shot here — read the caption for the full story. Mmmm, and look at that tasty raised NOB lettering.
Major thanks, Mako, and keep ’em coming.
Major Giveaway Announcement
Most of you are probably familiar with Maple Leaf Productions, if not by name then by sight. They’re the company that produces all sorts of products centered around historical uniform imagery — posters, clocks, fridge magnets, etc. Sometime in the next few weeks I’ll be posting a big interview with Maple Leaf founder Scott Sillcox, which will tell the very interesting story behind his company.
But while you’re waiting for that, Scott is currently in the process of selling off the original watercolor illustrations featured on his products — about 1500 individual paintings from over 100 teams in the NFL, NHL, MLB, CFL, and NCAA. Each painting is signed, and many of them have little handwritten notes that provide insights into the production process. It’s a unique archive of uniform artwork — and Scott has generously offered to give away one painting to a lucky Uni Watch reader.
And it gets better: The winner will have the choice of having the illustration delivered (a) unframed, (b) housed in a plain black frame, or (c) framed alongside a miniature print of the team’s uni history. Totally up to you.
The winner will be able to choose any illustration listed on this site, with two caveats:
• The images shown in the Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky sections are off-limits.
• All of these paintings are one of a kind, which means an image that’s available today might not be available tomorrow. So everything is subject to availability at the time of the giveaway drawing.
I usually roll my eyes when someone says, “I’m really excited” about this or that, but I really am excited about this giveaway — hope you are too.
To enter, send an e-mail with your shipping address, your first illustration choice, and your second choice (in case the first choice is sold between now and the time of the drawing) to the giveaway address by next Monday, Oct. 4, at 7pm eastern. One entry per person. I’ll announce the winner on Tuesday the 5th.
Flippity-flop update: Remember my recent ESPN feature about the Gator Flop? My one major frustration about that piece was that I was unable to track down former Miami QB John Hornibrook, who scored the uncontested touchdown on the infamous flop play.
But we included a little “Help us find John Hornibook” note with the story when it was published, and one person who responded was one of Hornibrook’s former housemates. He was able to piece together enough of a trail for me to connect with Hornibrook this past weekend. I’ve written a follow-up piece, which you can read here.
Whistling Irishman update: Jerry Wolper has found another photo of Danny Murtaugh’s cover-up patch. That shot was taken on 9/9/73 in Philadelphia — two days after Murtaugh took over the Pirates’ managerial reins, and one day before the team headed to Chicago, where this photo was taken. It’s now clear, as I suggested yesterday, that they simply didn’t have time to get Murtaugh a proper road jersey with a proper patch in the middle of a road trip. Mystery officially solved!
Uni Watch News Ticker: Those Bears throwbacks were nice enough, but did you catch the subtle little detail? They took the George Halas memorial initials off of the left sleeve (in order to keep the jersey “pure” or something, I guess) and put them on the back of the helmet instead. ”¦ Coupla things regarding those Iowa throwbacks from Saturday: First, just in case you didn’t realize the design was a shout-out to the school’s 1959 Rose Bowl squad, they put a little note on the neck bumper. Also, many players had “Evy” on their nose bumpers a reference to ’59 coach Forest Evashevski. Others had the names of ’59 players who wore the same uni number (all photos by Dylan Buell). ”¦ All you marching band devotees will want to check out this vintage item. ”¦ Here’s a good story about the guy who designed Mathieu Garon’s mask (with thanks to John Muir). ”¦ Buried within this Bucks Media Day video is the revelation that the team will be wearing 1971 throwbacks in February (as noted by Nicholas Honeck). ”¦ Should be interesting to see how many teams wear memorial decals for George Blanda. The Raiders for sure, but maybe the Bears and Titans too..? There’s a decent slideshow of images from his career here. ”¦ Here’s the latest one of those “greatest player by uni number” rundowns, this time for the NHL (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ Soccer note from Greg Riffenburgh, who writes: “Manchester United’s Nani (No. 17) has been intentionally wearing his socks backwards, with the taper in the front. I don’t know for certain, but I doubt that he’s wearing the entire sock backwards. I’ll bet he cut off the foot and is simply wearing another or no sock under his shoes and holding the black ones in place with his taped ankle.” ”¦ Nice new book being published on the history of the Tottenham Hotspur kits (with thanks to Stephen Wong). … Get this: MLB now has its own team-branded champagne (as noted by Kurt Esposito).
And if it doesn’t work out, she can just work for Nike or Reebok: Let’s say you’re running for political office. Let’s further say that you lose the primary for your party’s nomination, but you’re not the type who takes no for an answer, so you decide to run a write-in campaign. The thing is, you have a tricky last name and people might misspell it when writing it in, which could cause problems. So you need a good PR push to remind people to write in your name correctly. And you do this, of course, with an illegible typeface.
The obvious conclusion: Your campaign is being run by a uniform designer.
“remind people to write in your name correctly. And you do this, of course, with an illegible typeface.”
well, she has the klingon vote locked up
Murkowski is not “tricky” compared to many Polish-Slavic names out there…pretty straight forward IMHO (but the font does suck)
Also, Sen. Murkowski and her father, who was a governor and senator from Alaska, have been in politics for at least 30 years. The name is rather well-known to Alaskans.
But the point is well taken — why take a chance with making the name hard to read (even if the Alaska Sec. of State has stated that a vote for “Lisa M” would be counted in her favor)?
Almost certainly not. Can’t speak to Alaska law, but in most states, the standard is either that the last name must be correctly spelled, or the intent of the voter must be apparent by some standard of reasonable assumability. First name, last initial satisfies neither standard – no reasonable person could be sure that a stranger’s ballot reading “Lisa M” didn’t refer to any given Lisa M – Murtaugh, McCoy, Morrow, Michailovich – in the state. In most states, however, a write-in vote for simply “Morcowsky” would count for Murkowski.
But yeah, that’s a really poor bit of design. Unless, of course, we’re all reading the story wrong and this is actually a new UFL team named the Murkowski Senators, in which case job well done. And since 2008 showed us that the candidate with the best logo design wins (McCain and Obama were each the design cream of their party crops, and Obama’s logo was better designed than McCain’s), I’m willing to call the Alaska Senate election right now: Murkowski ain’t gonna win. Since her actually-earned-a-place-on-the-ballot-by-you-know-getting-people-to-vote-for-them opponents have equally drab campaign logos, it’ll be a close race that goes down to a recount.
“I’m willing to call the Alaska Senate election right now: Murkowski ain’t gonna win.”
well…she could still get haase’s libertarian line, which would really throw a monkey wrench into the works
but she-who-must-not-be-named may have actually given the whole thing to mcadams…which, in a year when the senate could flip, may be the lynchpin of the whole thing
the last frontier is now a hugely important state in terms of balance of power
Awful font choice. What is that? Klingon?
“Murcowsky?”…you’re really stretching it…I am sure more people spell “Lukas” wrong than Murkowski…my last name is tougher than both those and is rarely mis-spelled.
To quote myself from last Thursday’s discussion on misspelled last names:
“My last name is Duroncelet (French), but it’s been slaughtered to the point where only death can bring it back to life. It’s been pronounced Jeroncelet, Durrcolet, Durancelet, Duroncelot, Duroncolot, Sir Lancelot =( I mean, is it really that hard? That’s what she…… *ahem* Sorry, that’s overdone.
O.K., I think my comment got jacked up for being so long. Either that, or it requires moderation.
My name is “Rogers” and people misspell it about a quarter of the time. With Murkowski, she’ll be in a 3-way race where she’ll need to win at least 35 percent of the vote to win. Alaska has a likely midterm electorate of about 220,000, so Murkowski will need at least 77,000 votes. Let’s say that 90% of Alaskans can spell “Murkowski” correctly. In that case, she risks losing 10% of her votes as spoiled ballots; of 77,000 votes, she’d drop to 69,300, or down to 31.5% of the vote in a 3-way race, and no matter how her opponents split the other 65%, Murkowski would lose.
That means that in order to be confident of victory, Murkowski needs either to push the percentage of write-in voters who can spell her name correctly to within a point or two of 100%, or she needs to win 40% of the overall vote. In neither case is her choice of horror-movie typeface helpful.
like i said above, tho, scott
if she ends up with the libertarian line (a distinct possibility)…she won’t necessarily need the write-in
I’m Alaskan, so let me clear a couple things up…
It’s too late for her to get on the Libertarian ticket, the deadline passed about two weeks ago. She’s all in on the write in candidacy though…she’s still got a lot of support here in Alaska. However, the most likely scenario is her actually splitting the vote with McAdams, because that’s, not to get too political, the “sane” vote. And then, embarrassingly for our state (haven’t we had enough?) Miller will win…
Div. of Elections still hasn’t set the final standard on what will count and what won’t…”Lisa M” perhaps will still count. In fact, some troublemakers have encouraged other “Lisa M’s” to announce a write in campaign to negate the possibility of that counting.
thanks for that mitch,
i thought, and i could very likely be wrong (wouldn’t be the first time) that haase, despite his protestations to the contrary, might be “amenable” (read: how much will it cost?) to giving up the line
such machinations here in new york wouldn’t surprise me, but i don’t know how you guys do things in alaska
It’s not a very good Klingon name though. Perhaps she should shorten it to something like Lis Murk. That sounds more appropriate for the font.
Good lord. Where are Murkowski’s teeth?
The 38 on the Giants helmet is for John Tuggle. He died in 1985 from cancer. He was 1983’s Mr. Irrelevant.
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This links to the John Tuggle story
Looks like regular champagne with a Phillies sticker over the original label.
I think it’s ‘Jamal’ Lewis, rather than ‘Jamaal.’ If I remember correctly, many of the quarterback pocket jerseys had the left hand pocket up by the pectoral like that, while the pocket for the right hand was lower, around the belly. Could never figure out why they didn’t connect them like a hoodie pocket.
Did anyone see the hats the Phillies were given for clinching last night?? Major disappointment as they were black with a white strip across the front displaying the year which looks like a strip of masking tape.
I thought the same thing about the hats this morning watching the highlights. I did like the snowboard goggles that some of the players (Rollins, Howard,) were wearing. link
Tell the good people of Texas and Minnesota about the same cap.
Oh, and BTW, that wasn’t a custom champagne the Phillies spritzed around. That’s just some bubbly they slapped decals on. Though back in ’97, there was a custom made champagne MLB did license when the Marlins won. Not so good for the Indians, though.
I KNEW I had seen MLB champagne before, and that it’s been around now for at least 25 years, and here is where I saw it:
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The Lions player on the right side is probably not missing a number. The right side of the blue helmet stripe is not visible either, meaning his second number is out of view.
Duh. You’re right. Will fix.
The Dolphins #50 memorial decal from 1983 was for linebacker Larry Gordon. I think he died of a heart attack in the off-season. The #20 memorial decal from 1984 was for running back David Overstreet. I think he died in a car accident in the off-season.
Dolphins wore helmet stickers for Larry Gordon and David Overstreet in 1983 and 1984.
They also wore one for Rusty Chambers in 1982.
The Cowboys wearing the decals played college at Miami, so it makes me think that those memorial decals were players from their college days. I can’t recall who they may have been.
Could #98 have been the number that Jerome Brown wore at U of Miami? I know he was #99 with the Eagles, and he died in 1992.
The “44” on Russell Maryland’s helmet was for UM teammate Shane Curry who was shot in Cincinnati a year or so after being drafted by the Colts. He wore 44 at UM. The 98 is indeed for Jerome Brown who wore the 98 at UM. He (and a cousin I believe) were killed in a car crash during the offseason. These patches were only worn by the former ‘Canes on the Dallas roster. Steve Walsh, Maryland, Darrin Smith, Micheal Irvin, and a few others were all on Jimmy Johnson’s rosters during the early part of his tenure in Dallas.
I have inside info on this since I graduated from UM in 1994.
DE Jimmie Jones and TE Alfredo Roberts were there as well. Darrin Smith and Kevin Williams showed up the following year, I think. Steve Walsh had already moved on to New Orleans by 1992. My bad.
Emmitt Smith also wore those decals that year. He wore them in his support of those players from the state of Florida.
Great addition to the Flop piece, Paul. I had a feeling the post-game “flop” into the Orange Bowl pool was a pretty big deal and may have led to some sour feelings.
“And then after the game, the Florida players jumped into the dolphin pool at the end of the Orange Bowl, like they’d won the national championship or something. I think that bothered me more than the lying down thing. It really bothered a lot of our players.”
“- Anyone else think the 1993 Chiefs’ QB jersey pockets were positioned a trifle high?”
I remember as a Browns fan watching Bernie Kosar in those cold weather games and he had the sewn in jersey pockets. The left side pocket was above the right side rather than a muff style straight across pocket.
Not sure if you guys remember them, but I think the windbreaker that Jeff Gossett was wearing in that photo wasn’t so much a windbreaker as it was this rubberized workout pullover that used to be available through the old NFL Shop mail catalogs.
I can’t remember what the NFL called it, but it was a loose-fitting pullover thing that had this thin, almost rubber-like textured coating over the sleeves and most of the torso. I remember it because I was playing high school football at the time and a few guys on our team bought them.
The two different fonts for the numeral “5” that the Rams show were both stock-issue from SandKnit, the jersey’s manufacturer. The font on the left is SK’s “updated” treatment of the “5.” The number in the photo on the right is the “old” version of the “5.” Both of those jerseys had factory-applied tackle twill. The Rams switched to heat-applied vinyl numbers made by Dalco Athletic Lettering sometime in the late 1970s. Dalco’s font, as used by the Rams is often mistaken for Stahls Varsity Block but there are some differences. Dalco’s four-inch “2” has no serif on the bottom bar and Dalco’s “1” has the top point at a 45-degree angle while Stahls in version the area is rounded out.
This is just an educated guess, but I’d say the Niners font for #35 and #14 could be dealer-applied. The #44 definitely looks like Wilson’s standard full block style. The different fonts harken back to the days when teams actually bought their own uniforms and would just fill in when needed. There wasn’t the concern of every “t” being crossed and so on in those days. As long as the colors matched who cared about “fonts.” Hell, most equipment guys still don’t know what a font is. How did things get so crazy?
Holy crap. I don’t have time to look at the rest of the entry today (nor do I have much of value to contribute,) but can I just drool over the contest a bit?
I want all of the hockey jersey paintings, especially the ones from the 1970s. These watercolors are incredible.
Amen to that. Those watercolors are just beautiful!
Another interesting find in the Hulu NFL programming was from the Detroit Lions 1964 season highlights. The Lions wore a dark blue jersey in their second game of the season at the L.A. Coliseum against the Rams (a night game with not so great lighting is one guess) than the traditional Honolulu Blue worn for home games at Tiger Stadium. Also, plenty of coverage of the famous game at Minnesota that season when both teams played the 1st quarter in white jerseys. Sorry, no screen shots.
Brad,
Caught the Rams game and indeed, the Lions wore quite a dark blue jersey for that game in LA. The silver trim is also practically a steel gray. Note that the socks were the normal honolulu shade.
The L.A. game starts at the 1:47 mark of the 1964 film.
timmy b, I know you are one of the “authorities” on NFL jersey history, really like your research including “White at Home in the NFL” which I like to match up to the old NFL programming from the 1960’s and early 70’s such as the Colts wearing blue at home for the extra game in ’64 against the Cardinals, and white at home the rest of the season. I knew you would be one to appreciate the Lions game at L.A. in 1964, and of course the game at Minnesota with both teams in white jerseys in the 1st quarter. Glad you saw it.
“Not sure who this Oilers player is, but it looks like he was wearing a set of those “Say No to Drugs” wristbands.”
I believe it is Earnest Givens
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George Halas has been dead since 1983, so why are the Bears still wearing the GSH memorial initials anyway? I’ve never seen another team wear a memorial patch/band for more than one season.
agreed
the browns still have the al lerner patch too…who i guess they feel compares to papa bear and is worthy of the same treatment
really…both should be gone; one year memorial? fine…lifetime memorial? not so much
think the yankees will keep a steinbrenner patch on there next year?
Dammit Phil, we’re not supposed to agree on things like this, stop it.
I think the only person who believes the “AL” patch should still be on the Browns jersey is Randy Lerner, his son and current owner. Al Lerner isn’t exactly a hallowed name in Cleveland Browns lore. Put him in the ring of honor if you must, but the patch really needs to go.
Isn’t the Lamar Hunt patch supposed to be a permanent addition to the Chiefs’ uniforms?
you could say the same of your Islanders wearing the 4 stripes for the memories of when it was a real franchise…
(note, I am aware the stripes will no longer be on the shoulder, however they were incorporated onto the stick on the crest for this year)
You know, I’m going to disagree on this, Phil. I’ve come to view the GSH as a design element of the uniform. Also, historically, I think it’s a nice homage to one of the (if not THE most important) founding fathers of the NFL.
Plus, it’s not really a patch, is it? It seems to be an integral part of the design.
don’t the browns still have the AL patch on their sleeves?
Do we need JRW in Morse code on the Green Monster in Boston?
I’m fine with George Halas’ initials permanently on the Bears sleeve. He was pretty much the father of pro football and deserves some recoginition for that.
Which he has, both as a member of the Hall of Fame and in having the NFC Championship trophy named after him.
The GHS on the jersey doesn’t need to exist.
Agreed. The GSH on the Bears jerseys is more annoying than the Bills and Titans uniforms combined.
WOW! That’s saying something!!
I agree!
I don’t like the GSH initials on the Bears jerseys anyway, so I count this as a plus. Those throwbacks looked pretty amazing to me.
I mean, TRY and JRY?
The Maple Leaf Productions site has the 1968 Broncos with an Orange helmet with a ‘D’ Bronco logo. Did this actually exist?
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I think that’s just a mistake. I’d guess that Ricko’s blue pony is more likely to have existed than that orange helmet with the D is. They wore orange with the dead white horse in ’66, blue with no logo in ’67 and the blue with the D in ’68.
It appears that they aren’t entirely accurate for a few teams. For example they have the 1963 Raiders with gold numbers, which as we know now was a football card error and not something ever worn.
Heck… on Denver’s page, they also have the 1998 uniform shown with the wrong set of white pants. Blue side panel on the jersey, orange on the pants – Denver never wore that either.
Scott Sillcox of Maple Leaf Productions here. Very kind of Paul Lukas to say some nice things about me and Maple Leaf. It’s fun reading the comments and receiving emails from such detail-oriented readers — thanks for all input! I just wanted to add a bit of info about the paintings and “errors” — this is in the spirit of sharing info and I hope this doesn’t come across as defensive because that is not my intent! Any time you undertake a project like this you know going into it you are going to have errors — it simply can’t be helped as I’m sure the wonderful Marc Okkonen of Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century/Dressed to the Nines fame would attest.
With respect to the original paintings that are now being put up for sale at heritagesportsart.com, in many cases (but certainly not all) we knew about the error immediately after the artist painted the painting but didn’t want the artist to scrap the entire painting so we fixed the error electronically “after the fact”. This includes instances where the artist may have painted the painting using a certain color that we needed to color-correct electronically (i.e. maybe the red was too light and needed to be darkened to a crimson). In other cases we learned about the error a year or two later, and corrected it electronically after the fact.
That’s the danger is showing the original art online — it doesn’t come with an explanation and therefore people will naturally tend to expect that each painting is “accurate”. As much as I would like to offer an online explanation for each instance that a painting was electronically corrected, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. So what we are doing is when someone buys a piece of art that has an “error” that was corrected electronically, the accompanying letter from me will tell them the story of the “error”. I actually think this history adds to the value of the original piece of art, a bit like buying a trading card with an error that was later corrected in a re-print, but it’s a hard story to properly convey to a group of people as wonderfully detailed as Uni Watch readers!
All that having been said, any feedback is welcome feedback. Thanks uniwatchers!
The JB and SC decals on some ’92 Cowboys’ helmets were for Jerome Brown and Shane Curry, two former Miami Hurricanes who died in the offseason. There were a few ex-Canes on the Cowboys roster at the time, and only they wore the decals (The UM team wore them in 92 also).
Not sure what to make of this. She probably will never even play much on the Varsity team…but let’s see she does, and somehow gets as far as college…
What accomodations would have to made…uni wise?
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Pro Combats every four games?
There was a female wide receiver/kicker on our high school team for a year (she even caught a TD pass in a JV game), And she didn’t have any specific uniform modifications I was aware of, though there are companies who specifically manufacture female football shoulder pads.
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I am more interested in what happened to #17’s helmet stripe in the gallery for that game.
Here is that gallery
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There was a girl in my high school that also tried out for the team. The New York Times came down to our practice and interviewed a bunch of us. They made a big deal out of it because a law had just been passed allowing girls to tryout for boys teams. She did “make” the team, which didn’t really mean much since there was a no-cut policy.
She never got into a game and got bored with it afterwards. Everyone kind of forgot about it. What’s funny is that it says that in 8th grade she used to play touch football with the boys…but she was in my 8th grade class, we played everyday and not once did she ever play with us…. but it was in THE NEW YORK TIMES, so I guess we all just “misremembered”
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I dont recall her getting any different equipment…but she was never really going to play…
No, we’ll never see girls or women compete for real on a football field. The physical disadvantages will always prevent that from happening. Same thing in baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, etc.
We’re all equal, but not the same.
I can see girls ( excuse me Women ) maybe playing baseball. There are a few girls that can bring the heat from the mound.
There are probably hundreds if not maybe thousands of female tennis players that can beat male tennis players.
But I can not see it happening in football…
The difference is simple: contact.
Women will never be allowed to compete against men in contact sports. Motorsports, tennis, golf, track & field, and I agree, even baseball is a possibility, but you won’t see it in big time wrestling, football, basketball, etc. And even though Candace Parker may be better than some NBA players, we as a society wouldn’t allow a woman to be in a position to play a rough physical game against men.
“Candace Parker may be better than some NBA players.”
right
and jim vilk has taste in uniforms
“Steve Grogan had the longest neck I’ve ever seen on an NFL player…”
I think ex-Niner Merton Hanks would give Grogan a run for his money for the longest neck in the NFL. He always reminded me of that Mek-a-Neck guy from the He-Man cartoons.
Harvey Williams (Raiders, and maybe the Chiefs) was long-necked, too.
Not sure if we discussed this but SI with their greatest hockey players by number…
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Haven’t looked in detail but isn’t there an error on the very first page? Didn’t Marty Biron wear 00 in Buffalo for a while?
Does Nani just wear the most intentionally bright boots possible, or did he switch affiliation?
In the pic on the Ticker, he’s wearing Adidas F50s, but last year season he had those uber-trendy pink and purple Nike Vapors.
erm, last season. “year season”? They came out in the spring of this year.
On those Heritage plaques, why is the 2003 Marlins script in gold instead of silver?
For the World Series win maybe?
Hi Dwayne!
I just left a bit of an explanation above (see the Broncos comments/threads from “The Jeff” above) and don’t want to take up too much space. The 2003 Marlins is a classic case where the artist who did the painting made a mistake, but it was a mistake that we could easily correct electronically rather than spend another 10-12 hours doing another painting. So good pickup on your part – the 2003 script was silver not gold, but the original artwork shows gold. As I mentioned above, I actually think things like this add to the fun of owning an original painting, and when someone buys the 2003 Marlins art, my accompanying letter will tell them the gold/silver tale.
That is great, thank you for the explanation!
When I win the contest, I’m picking that one. lol
ESPN.com’s Page 2 feature ‘Tuesday Morning Quarterback’ comments: “It would be fun to see the Dolphins in uranium orange play the Seahawks in their kryptonite-green unis.”
Uh…
Almost said, “No, even I wouldn’t want to see that,” but with Seattle’s navy pants, I think there would be enough contrast. Make it so!
That being said, I’d rather see this:
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and the game played on Eastern Washington’s red turf field..
Oooo, hadn’t thought of that!
Speaking of TMQ, I skimmed it today (can’t read the whole thing, ’cause really, life’s just too short) and noticed that our own Mike Engle is mentioned. Scroll down to “Christmas Creep” and you’ll get to read his contribution.
No, it wouldn’t. My head would explode.
Has anyone seen what the new Anaheim Ducks alt. jerseys look like?
On the picture of the Iowa throwback helmets, you mention the Rose Bowl bumper. But it looks like the helmet stripe on those EVO helmets dont actually stick on the helmet completely. there are gaps on the bottom by the bumper and the up near the ridge on the back of the helmet.
Hey Jim Vilk- early suggestion for a 5&1 pick on Saturday -SMU vs. Rice- SMU’s white helmet & sleeve stripes against Rice’s Old English lettering on the helmet and jersey.
pics from last year’s game link
Maybe Stanford can wear their black on the road & Oregon can go with yellow at home – that would be a lock for the 1.
SMU: I’m not an expert on the history of SMU uniforms, but the blue jersey with the much larger “SMU” seems to complement the helmet better than the red jersey.
Rice: Should put the “R” on either the jersey and pants, and return the sharp Owl wings on the helmet.
Stanford: Lose the Bama/Oklahoma style double red striping on the pants. Instead, return to the single red stripe, and restore the red pants with the single white stripe.
Oregon: Prefer the regular yellow helmet, and should lose the black/carbon in the uniforms.
“SMU: I’m not an expert on the history of SMU uniforms, but the blue jersey with the much larger ‘SMU’ seems to complement the helmet better than the red jersey.”
You got that right. I think the last time SMU wore red jerseys was when Don Meredith was there…which would be the late ’50s.
Say “SMU” and the first thing I think of is the Craig James/Eric Dickerson tandem…in white helmets and pants with royal jerseys.
Next would be the Jerry Levias/Chuck Hixson era…Red helmets with white galloping mustang, royal jerseys, silver pants. Odd, but unique.
—Ricko
Say SMU and I think of Craig James in the mesh jerseys cut off at the midriff.
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That’s on my short list, after looking at the schedule. Got about 9 or 10 candidates, so I’ll be keeping my eye on them. Thanks.
As for Stanford, I’m hoping that was a one-time thing, but you never know…
Gusto, I kind of agree with the blue jersey for SMU, but it reminds me of when they got the “death penalty.” Therefore, I can understand the choice of red.
Good point about SMU, I think the jerseys may have changed when June Jones arrived. I do recall the Mustangs alternating between blue and red jerseys after the death penalty was issued, and they wore blue jerseys in the 1970s when the Ponies were wearing the same red helmet as Calgary in CFL does now with the same logo.
I seem to remember a great SMU slogan.
“Polo, Porsche, and Probation. Nowhere but SMU.”
Yesterdays top picture reminded me of something that I had been working on and I thought I’d share: After my monochrome blue Auburn pick was posted last week, I got a request to do a updated remake (that sounds redundant…) of the infamous orange jersey and the play around even to the point of coming up with a mono-orange deal. It’s been well documented on here that I detest the orange jersey for it’s out of context link. There’s reason it’s only been worn thrice, after all. So while I would rather this thing never see the light of day again, I went ahead and made, what I feel, the only way and Auburn orange jersey would look tolerable… and
(Oops, wrong click. Cont.:) …it link.
Was yesterday’s game the first time since Halas’ death the Bears played a game without his initials on their jersey? Didn’t know if the previous Bears jerseys had the GSH too.
No. The throwbacks they wore in link and linkdidn’t have the initials, either.
And here’s a view of link of that jersey.
Not sure if posted already, but the 1992 Cowboys stickers were for a couple of Miami Hurricanes who had either dies, or were ill, can’t remember. Russell Maryland, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith (presumably in support of his friend Irvin) wore them. They are the exact same stickers the Hurricanes wore during that season.
Nice touch by the Bears last night with their throwbacks…they blocked out “Riddell” on the nose bumpers and backs of helmets and left it blank. I didn’t think Riddell would approve of such a thing.
I think the Bills do the same with their throwbacks.
May I just say I am sincerely proud that none of the Twins wore either Francisco Liriano’s or Alexi Casilla’s jersey for the rest of the game to honor their fallen teammates the other night when they both got, um…”food poisoning” after eating in the same restaurant.
I’m sure the shock and grief were severe over such a trauma, but Twins players restrained themselves (that’s a zing at the college player who wore his teammate’s jersey after the guy got hurt in the first half Saturday…not at the memorial decals being discussed here today).
—Ricko
What a shame.. sometimes I don’t like it that death is a part of our lives.. George was really a fine person and a hell of football player. 26 years of career, retired at the age of 49.. a true important figure in all of football’s history. Wonderful that this blog is so up to date.. keep up with the terrific work. Ciao.
Sophomoric thought of the day: Starting pitchers for the second game of tomorrow’s Mets/Brewers doubleheader will be R.A. Dickey and Dave Bush.
so what’s thursday’s headline?
Whatever it is, it won’t be as good as this one:
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i still miss the days when randy johnson played
so many wonderful heds
Some days the jokes write themselves
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Watching 10th Inning of Burns’ Baseball tonight and seeing highlights from the ’98 home run chase, I’d forgotten just how tacky those Diamondback road caps with the teal (?) brim were.
I’m watching too, and I noticed something unusual — serendipitous when one of the first items today is differing number fonts for the 49ers.
When they started talking about the mid-’90s Yankees teams, and they mentioned Mariano Rivera, there was a very brief shot of what looked like him pitching in the bullpen, and you could see the number on his back as his body turned.
Was I imagining it, or was the number 4 in a plain block font, not the regular full-block that the Yankees always use? And the 2 seemed normal.
Did anyone else catch this? Paul? Phil?
I have an Angels spring training jersey with the same problem. You’d think that if one team never let that happen, it would be the Yankees.
Oakland A’s outfielder Rajai Davis pulled up his pants all the way up to his knees, revealing the yellow part of his socks under the stirrups. Pretty cool sight.
Lakers were wearing a new jersey material similar to the design of adidas world cup jerseys.
I noticed the L.A. Lakers were wearing a new jersey material similar to the design of adidas world cup jerseys.
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