Auction Action

As you may have noticed in the right sidebar, our friends at Grey Flannel Auctions are running another auction at the moment. Here are some of the more uni-notable items:

• Gotta love this John Wooden UCLA hoops jacket (additional photos and info in the full auction listing.

• This auction has an unusually good batch of old ABA items, including a bunch of late-’60s radio and TV guides, a New Jersey Americans ticket stub and program, and a nice batch of early-’70s stubs.

• You already knew that “The City” was the best NBA jersey design ever. What you might not have known is that the design was executed with spectacular chain-stitching (full listing).

• I didn’t know that the Nuggets had worn a green St. Paddy’s Day uni in the early 1980s (full listing).

• If you like championship bling, check out this set of Super Bowl I cufflinks (full listing) and this 1965 Packers pendant (full listing).

• More bling: a lapel pin from the first game at Forbes Field (full listing).

• I never knew that the Chargers wore such piddly-looking NOBs in 1967. According to the auction description, the lettering was screen-printed directly onto the jersey — i.e., no nameplate, no sewing. Interesting.

• As a varsity jacket fan, I’m totally digging this old Syracuse jacket. The gold feather-edging on the stripes really puts it over the top (full listing).

• I love the simplicity of this college all-star stadium blanket (full listing).

• I can never get enough of those old striped Princeton sleeves (full listing).

• Check this out: a set of 1920s football shoes with wooden cleats (full listing).

• I bet this is a gold mine: a set of old Baltimore Colts programs.

• Speaking of programs, look at this completely amazing Cardinals scorecard cover illo (full listing).

• I’m always intrigued by ushers’ uniforms. Here’s one from the Milwaukee Braves (full listing), plus an usher’s cap from the Orioles (full listing).

• Here’s something you rarely see: a 1976 National League All-Star pillbox BP cap (full listing).

• Man, those sleeve logos worn by the 1933 Dodgers sure were huge (full listing).

Want to see more? You can browse through the entire auction here.

Travel hint: City flags are often really interesting, and really under-recognized. Case in point: In about 10 days I’m going to be working on an ESPN story in the city whose flag is shown at right. Anyone know what city that is? (No fair raising your hand if you already live there — give everyone else a chance.) Answer, and Uni Watch party plans, forthcoming tomorrow.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Ducks have their own playoff logo (thanks, RyCo). ”¦ Liverpool is reportedly moving away from Adidas (with thanks to Patrick Runge). ”¦ Good story about Hank Aaron and his rookie jersey (with thanks to Brian Lorello). ”¦ The U.S. military is testing a new combat uniform for women (with thanks to Kenn Tomasch). ”¦ Meat alert: Mike Hersh sent me this completely awesome UK pork butchery chart. I’m not sure which I like better — that the very dead-looking head is helpfully labeled, “Head,” or the name of the cut just below it. ”¦ Continuing down the protein path, Mike also sent me this item about a London butcher shop that I need to visit, like, yesterday. Oink! ”¦ Most MLBers just write their uni number on the knob of their bats with a marker. But Scott Hauck notes that Jerry Sands has a much more official-looking designation on his bat. ”¦ Roger Faso spotted something interesting: McGwire and Canseco wearing sansabelt pants paired with button-front jerseys — a pairing that I don’t think any Oakland team ever wore. ”¦ Totally digging this baseball jersey from a fishing tackle company. Too bad it’s too big for me, or else I’d be all over it. ”¦ New gridiron design for Kansas State. “Can’t believe they didn’t go with purple turf,” says Jack Wilson. ”¦ Here’s a weird one: Kyle Mackie was at a Cal/ASU ballgame and spotted someone wearing an ASU cap with a backwards New Era logo. ”¦ Speaking of backwards, that’s how Paul Pierce was wearing his shooting shirt on Friday night (good spot by Matt Harris). ”¦ Reeeaally interesting article about how merit decals may influence performance (big thanks to Josh Neisler). ”¦ Here’s something you rarely see available for sale: a U.S. team handball jersey. ”¦ Mark Prusinski noticed something in this TCU photo. “The thing that struck me as odd was that the jock tag reads ‘M’ for medium,” he says. “I always thought that actual player jerseys were in numbered sizes.” Me too. Anyone..? ”¦ Dennis Healy has created a bunch of retro MLB wallpapers. ”¦ Matthew Hiett notes that ESPN misspelled Philips Arena on Friday night. ”¦ The Japanese National Table Tennis team has added a tsunami memorial strip on their chest. According to Jeremy Brahm, “Wasurenai 3.11” means “Cannot forget.” ”¦ Also from Jeremy: “Sumo wrestlers normally wear a kimono when they are not in a tournament or on the way there. But look at Hakuho — he has an Under Armour-patterned kimono. This just makes him look desperate for cash. I am sure that they are going to sell like one of these ever. Just dumb.” ”¦ Hadn’t seen these NHL baseball jerseys until Casey Gross pointed them out to me. ”¦ Chad Todd found a bunch of cool illos of 1970s MLBers. ”¦ This has probably come up before, but I can’t believe St. Cloud gets away with — or would want to get away with — using this logo. Honestly, what do these schools see in these derivative rip-off logos? Why not have something all your own, something you can be proud of for its own sake? I don’t get it. ”¦ O’s pitcher Jeremy Guthrie — a fairly environmentally aware athlete who bikes to work — got himself a green glove for Earth Day. Not sure if he’ll use it in a game, but he’s due to pitch this week against the Red Sox, so we’ll find out soon (with thanks to Samm McAlear). ”¦ No photo, but a good NHL observation from Charles Neiswender: “I’m Watching the Penguins/Lightning playoff game, and during a face-off they had a close-up of Alexei Kovalev’s skates.They show number 27, his long-time uniform number, even though he wears 72 now with Pens.” ”¦ Dan Cichalski came across a photo of Notre Dame and Nebraska going color vs. color in 1947. ”¦ Take a look at this graphic about the physics of short pitchers vs. tall pitchers. Interesting that they depicted the tall guy as being high-cuffed while the short guy is pajama-pantsed. ”¦ Anthony Congi has DIY’d himself an interesting MLB standings tracker. You can click through his step-by-step process by starting on the first thumbnail here. ”¦ Latest team to play military dress-up: UVA baseball (as noted by Kevin Zdancewicz). ”¦ In a related item, Ohio State football wore G.I. Joe helmets for their spring game. ”¦ You probably know that all American League teams wore a golden anniversary sleeve patch in 1951. But 1951 was also the 50th anniversary of the National Association, which I believe was an umbrella organization for all of the minor leagues (big thanks to Mike Hersh). ”¦ Why no, I don’t think Nike goes overboard on the logo creep, do you? Whatta bunch of douchebags (as noted by Dan Erhardt). ”¦ “I know it’s only spring football, but I a lot of Trojans wearing black socks for their spring scrimmage, compared to the white they’ve normally worn,” says Kyle Mackie. “Might just be a spring thing, or might be a sign of black socks on the Trojans come fall.” ”¦ Chicago-area high school softball kerfuffle, as several schools are trying to protect their new turf fields by banning metal spikes, which are specifically allowed by local league rules (with thanks to Mike McLaughlin). ”¦ It had been a while since I looked for stuff on Etsy — just kinda fell out of the habit — but I poked around over the weekend and found myself a swell softball jersey, a sharp-looking UCLA-striped football shirt, and a nice baseball undershirt. ”¦ Latest player to violate MLB’s ban on pant cuffs hooked over shoe heels: Frankie Rodriguez. … Rob Heubeck was watching Game 5 of the 1970 World Series and noticed that Merv Rettenmund and Brooksie both had blank batting helmets. ”¦ Here’s a different kind of logo rip-off. Keith Thibault spotted that while on vacation in St. Thomas. ”¦ Terry O’Donohue notes that Nick Swisher went high-cuffed yesterday. ”¦ More tsunami armbands, this time in the J-League (thanks, Jeremy). ”¦ “The 7 on Matt Ellis’s chest looks a bit off,” notes Ryan Mandel. “That’s because it’s the font used on the team’s old Buffaslug jerseys.” ”¦ A high school high-jumper in Pennsylvania was wearing some zebra-print socks the other day (with thanks to Jim Roddy).