Quick, who was the last boxer to score a knockdown against Muhammad Ali? Punch yourself in the nose 13 times in a row if you knew it was Chuck Wepner, the Bayonne Bleeder, who sent the Greatest to the canvas — more because he was stepping on Ali’s foot than because of the body shot he was landing — during the ninth round of their 1975 title bout. (Referee Tony Perez didn’t see the inadvertent trip and ruled it a knockdown. You can see it if you skip ahead to the 4:45 mark of the video shown above.) Although Ali lost three fights over the ensuing six-plus years — to Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes, and Trevor Berbick — he was never again knocked down, so Wepner has the distinction of being the last man to have the satisfaction of watching from a neutral corner while Ali took the count.
I had just turned 11 years old when that fight took place, and I remember it clearly. It was the first heavyweight title fight I’d ever seen (all the previous ones during my sports-aware lifetime had been shown on closed-circuit pay TV, but the Wepner fight was on regular broadcast television — ABC, I think). And even then, I remember thinking Wepner’s color-blocked trunks looked kinda weird (sorta like Maryland’s Labor Day costumes, right?). An early uni-watching moment.
Wepner got $100,000 for that bout — a pittance compared to Ali’s $1.5 million, but still the biggest purse of his career, and it gave him his first opportunity to take time off from work and train full-time for a fight. He set up camp in the Catskills, where he trained for eight weeks, often wearing this tremendous T-shirt. Now our friends at No Mas have duplicated that shirt, and it’s a beauty. Unlike the Naming Wrongs tees, I have nothing to do with this shirt and have no stake in its success. Just showcasing it because I like it. (And yes, $34 is a lot for a T-shirt, but this is an officially licensed tee, which means Wepner gets a cut.)
As you’re no doubt aware, Wepner was the inspiration for Rocky Balboa, which explains the title of The Real Rocky, a new film that airs tonight on ESPN. I’ll be watching, and not just because I remember Wepner’s trunks from 1975. The film’s director, Jeff Feuerzeig, is an old acquaintance of mine from the indie-rock/zine world. His résumé includes the superb documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, along with lots of commercials you’ve probably seen. Looking forward to it. Even if you’re not a boxing fan, I think you’ll find it worth your time.
She ain’t no human being: Several readers noted a major breach of protocol in yesterday’s splash photo, namely that the Union Jack being carried by Kellen Winslow was upside-down. In case you’re unfamiliar with the right and wrong ways to display the UK flag, you can help avoid an international incident by consulting this handy primer.
Flag etiquette notwithstanding, does anyone else think it was a little weird for the American players to come storming out of the tunnel waving the Union Jack? I’m trying to think of a comparable example on American soil. Like, if the EPL held a soccer match in, say, L.A., would the players strut around with Old Glory? Maybe it’s just part of the NFL’s insufferable rah-rah culture.
A uni eulogy: Last week I mentioned that Harvey Lipkin — the man who put the “Harv” in the legendary sporting goods company Harv-Al — had recently passed away. It occurred to me that our own resident sporting goods maven, Terry Proctor, might have known Harvey, so I asked Terry if he had any thoughts to share. Here’s what he sent back:
I knew Harvey very well. Got to meet him at the Dayton, Ohio, sports show in 1977. We at Ruby’s were the exclusive Rochester-area dealer for Harv-Al from the mid-1970s on. We put their uniforms on several teams in the Rochester area, including the University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Eisenhower College, and Hobart College, plus countless high school and amateur teams.
The original Harv-Al plant in Winnipeg made the sweaters and socks for the WHA’s Winnipeg Jets from 1972-73 until 1978-79. Harv-Al also made the jerseys for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
Harvey Lipkin was also a partner with Gene Fial in Ranger Athletic in Texas. Ranger made in-stock uniforms and officials’ clothing. Gene and Harvey also had Dalco Athletic Lettering, which supplies tackle twill, vinyl, and other materials to the athletic industry. Dalco’s VinFlex number font was used by the L.A./St. Louis Rams on their ram-horn jerseys right up until the team changed to their current style.
Harvey’s word was his bond. If you needed a set of uniforms in a hurry or you needed to copy a style from a different manufacturer, all you had to do was to call him directly and Harvey would always help you out. He was one of the good guys in the business. His one-on-one, please-the-customer style is something that is sorely lacking in today’s money-driven world of athletic garments. He will be missed. RIP, Harvey.
Bird droppings: Last week I noted that the Cardinals’ chest insignia had been sinking lower on the jersey in recent years. That got Bill Henderson (author, of course, of the invaluable MLB Game-Worn Jerseys of the Double-Knit Era) thinking. “I own a dozen or so game-worn Cardinals jerseys from the past 35 years,” he says, “so I decided I owed you an answer for the sake of Uni Watch scientific research.”
So Bill pulled out his jerseys and measured each one from top of the left shoulder seam to the top of the left bird’s head. Here’s how the jerseys measured up, by season:
1986: 3 ½”
1987: 3 ¾”
1989: 3 ¾”
1995: 4″
1996: 4 ½”
2000: 5-1/8″
2010: 6 ½”
Faaaaascinating. So judging by Bill’s measurements, the birds’ perch has been sinking ever lower for nearly a quarter-century now. “Maybe the droopy Cardinal is supposed to match the droopy pajama pants that most players wear these days,” says Bill.
Yeah, maybe. But that’s like saying, “The pants look like shit, so let’s make the jersey look like shit too.” Hey, all you guys at Majestic who are reading this: Kindly restore the birds to their proper height, pronto!
Meanwhile, as long as we’re talking about the Cards, here are some tidbits from last night’s World Series game:
• There’s been another wedding band sighting, this time involving Cardinals first base coach Dave McKay.
• Check out the old-school Rangers logo on the looseleaf binder behind Tony LaRussa.
• See how Mike Napoli’s surname on his chest protector collar is off-center? That’s because it originally had “#44,” which has now been blacked out. Why? Because Napoli doesn’t wear 44 — he wears 25. But he wore 44 when he was with the Angels last year. So this is his old chest protector from 2010. And in case you’re wondering, the Angels and Rangers do indeed use the exact same shade of red — Pantone 200.
(My thanks to Rob Holecko and Nolan Brett for the observations and screen shots.)
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
We’ve been on a roll the last few weeks here at Collector’s Corner, highlighting eBay items with the Browns’ elusive CB logo. Now, courtesy of reader Karl Newkirk, we’ve got another example. And it features meat! Go, Paul, go.
Meanwhile, with the baseball season heading down the home stretch, here are some items featuring the two World Series teams:
• Here’s a great 1970s Texas Rangers T-shirt sponsored by Kip’s Big Boy (Hot Fudge Cake, sigh) with the original hat logo and iron-on letters. Not quite as cool as the shirt I’m wearing in that 1972 photo shown above, but close.
• Check out the uni detail on this 1920s St. Louis baseball Cardinals art print.
• There are no words to describe how garish this is. Not even gonna try. Hit King, baby.
• Get outta here with this outrageously cool 1960s Knicks bobblehead.
• Are you a Packer Backer? If so, you’ll love this 1960s thermal cup with a different helmet look — not the usual profile.
• Interesting playing card motif on this 1950 49ers game program.
• Oooh, nice collection of 1970s MLB batting helmets. Look at those pointy front panels!
Seen something on eBay that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here, or tweet them here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Pitt has an equipment manager job opening. If that link takes you to a generic landing page instead of the job listing page, click on “Professional,” then click “Next Page,” and then search on “Equipment” (big thanks to Brad Susany). … New gray alts for Kentucky hoops. … Chris LaHaye was at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and noticed that all of the staffers had NOBs. … What was Jim Kelly doing wearing No. 10? “Photo is from 1994, according to the caption,” says Mark Mariglia. … Must not take much fabric to make a jersey for Rice’s 4’9″ running back (from Jeremy Kendrick). … The New York Times, like many newspapers, uses little helmet icons for its NFL game previews each Sunday. This past weekend, however, they hired illustrator Bob Eckstein to tweak each team’s helmet design. Unfortunately, his illos didn’t make it to the web, but I cut out the printed versions from my copy of Sunday’s paper and gathered them here. Some, obviously, are better than others. … Someone has been doing a really good art project involving phony historical markers along I-75. … Mike Hersh spotted some good stuff in the latest Heritage Auctions offering, including a rare view of the Reds’ 1936 jersey, an awesome USC letterman’s sweater, an old executioner-style leatherhead helmet/mask combo, and a simple but lovely 1949 Nebraska sideline sweater. … See anything unusual in this 1923 Army/Marines football shot? Click on the photo to see the larger version, and then look at the guy who’s falling down on his knees. MBNOB! That’s military branch name on back, natch (from Brad Tucker). … In a vaguely related item, the U.S. Marine Corps have been ordered to stop rolling up their sleeves (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ New court design for UGA (from Shaun Tunick). ”¦ Jody Shelley of the Flyers made his first appearance of the season last night and didn’t have a front-helmet uni number (screen shot by Scott Lederer). ”¦ Myles Brenner received the following e-mail from the U. of Washington yesterday: “The Huskies will be in their all-black uniforms for the game and we need every Dawg Fan sporting the black for Saturday’s game as well.” Woooonderful. ”¦ Remember how Xavier hoops was gonna wear Cincinnati Royals-inspired uniforms for a preseason scrimmage? That game took place over the weekend, and you can see lots of photos here (big thanks to Nick Pfeifer). ”¦ Mike Hersh just scored this catalog on eBay, and I for one am officially envious. ”¦ Here’s something we all missed a few weeks back: Ravens center Matt Birk was fined $5000 for refusing to wear an on-field microphone (good one from the Hungry Hungry Hipster). ”¦ I’ve been a proud member of the Center for Land Use Interpretation for the past 15 years or so. They do all sorts of clever projects, the latest of which is about the centers of the USA. It’s an excellent topic — one that I’ve written about myself. ”¦ The Wheeling Nailers opened their season by wearing 20th-anniversary jerseys. Instead of wearing their anniversary logo as a patch, they used it as their chest crest (from Yancy Yeater). ”¦ Jimmy Lonetti recently saw the SanFran-based band Girls and picked up this excellent patch at their merch table. “Now I just have to find an old blank Giants jersey to put it on,” he says. ”¦ Sometimes you see a story that’s so completely fucked up, so totally “Irony is its own reward,” you realize it was bound to happen. I love the guy’s brilliant rationale: “If I didn’t do it, someone else would.” A perfectly logical argument, as long as you’re more interested in expedience than in doing the right thing — just ask any war criminal, felon, corrupt public official, etc. ”¦ Unless you’ve been under a very large rock for the past two decades, you probably know that Pearl Jam’s original name was Mookie Blaylock. No surprise, then, that the new PJ documentary shows Jeff Ament wearing a Blaylock jersey (screen shot by Vincent Vincenzo). ”¦ I only took the briefest of glances at last night’s Ravens/Jags game, but my impression was that it was pink-free. True? ”¦ New hoops uniforms for Louisville. “Hope they wear those socks all year long,” says David Merrill, and of course I agree. ”¦ I really like these groovy little hockey figurines.
link on the hood on the Pete Rose car is, um, especially garish.
I saw that, and my jaw practically hit the desk.
That’s just… I can’t… GUH!
I choked on my vomit and died.
That photo was taken when Pete was asked what he thought of MLB’s gambling rules.
All I’m sayin’ is Ray Fosse better stay off the road.
Pretty sure that’s just the ‘backside’ of the flag. If you had a photo of the other side of Kellen Winslow holding the same flag, I anticipate it would be correct.
Like this: link
Or maybe it was really just a stab at the British.. limey bastards.
I think you arelink, sir.
I have no problem whatsoever with NFL players celebrating the patriotism of their host country. Other countries have beautiful flags, too.
i think it’s a nice gesture. kind of like a “thanks for hosting us” type thing. no problem with it.
Also, England is an Ally. NBD.
Nope, still wrong, even in Kyle’s link. Like the American flag, the Union Jack has the same up/down orientation on either side. Someone just attached that flag to the pole upside down. It’s just that it’s a lot link when Old Glory is link than when the link.
This is correct. When the flag pole is the point of reference the thick white bar on the Union Flag should be upper left, connected to the pole. The Stars and Stripes would never be put on a pole with the blue field away from the pole. Even though, if flown backward, it would look ‘correct’.
Yep. The trick is that it’s literally impossible to attach Old Glory with union on the wrong side, since flag manufacturers only put the grommets or the sleeve needed to attach to a pole on the hoist side. Same with the Union Jack, actually, but if you attach the Union Jack to the pole upside-down, it has the same effect as if you’d attached the fly, rather than the hoist, to the pole.
Agree – in fact, the picture in that link shown is actually just a reversed image of the original shot of Winslow running out of the tunnel.
Whether it’s a nice gesture or not, I don’t think Americans should be carrying the Union Jack. It’s for the same reason why we don’t bow to U.K. royalty. 220+ years ago, a bitter war was fought to separate ourselves from the crown. Even though we’re allies, there is still that history. Have any of the soccer teams (Man. U., etc.) ever carried our colors. I highly doubt it. I think it’s just more NFL bs, trying to make nice with Brits and take their money too.
I’m pretty sure the US *Military* carries the Canadian flag when the Blue Jays are in town… not to mention the playing of “Oh Canada” before NHL games.
Not a big deal.
Ben Fortney – you are correct, though sometimes that doesn’t go very well either.
link
Reversed image or not, rear view or not – it’s still upside down.
But to be honest, and between ourselves, I would suspect that most British wouldn’t know that either.
But I would :)
The only time in my memory that US flags have been on show at Premier League games is when Liverpool fans wanted Gillett and Hicks out of the club – but I’m afraid Old Glory wasn’t being reverenced :(
The flag-waving jingoistic strong-man soldier-sportsman thing isn’t something you get out of soccer, or British culture in general. No one would come out with a ProCombat SuperSoldier HomelandDefender-brand soccer jersey, for instance
“No one would come out with a ProCombat SuperSoldier HomelandDefender-brand soccer jersey, for instance”
Except possibly for this, which is widely ridiculed:
link
There is the same issue with the Maryland flag. The top corner next to the pole should be black.
link
Aww I thought I was smrt. I was wrong.
Just to be pedantic (isn’t that what we’re about around here), it’s only called the “Union Jack” when it’s on a boat. It’s the “Union Flag” elsewhere.
Man…nearly two decades in the books as a city planner/consultant and this is the first that I’ve heard of the Center for Land Use Interpretation. Not going to be my last visit, I can tell that for sure. Saaa-weeeet!
Words cannot express how freaking AWESOME those Xavier unis are! =D
Too bad the NCAA finds ’em too fun to pass the new uni-regulations…
I really like basketball uniforms with the vertical word, and my favorites are the Bethel High School uniforms worn by a teenaged Allen Iverson. As far as I know, contemporary rules ban anything but a horizontal orientation (in high schools, at least) but this is another meddlesome rule, like no yellow home uniforms. I wish there were more artistic freedom in uniform design.
Love em. Creative without looking like a toddler’s coloring book.
If those people copyright Occupy Wall Street, will they become the 1%?
Hence the massive irony…
But really, no. They wouldn’t make nearly enough money for that.
They would, however, still be flaming douchebags.
He may not get it anyway. If the PTO has a conscience they’ll say it’s already genericided.
I knew Harvey Lipkin less than Terry, but he was the one guy that really stood behind his company’s – and his own – name. He would work the floor in the company’s store every once in a while, and would love when someone came in with a team order for jerseys. I should know – he helped me with a jersey order once for a softball team.
The store is still running today, but I’m sure it feels a lot more empty without Harvey in it.
RIP, Mr. Lipkin. You made many people happy with your fine work.
I wonder if the Cards/bats on those jerseys are placed based on something like the armpit seam, or some other reference point other than the shoulder. ????
Or maybe they have just drooped like oh so many pant cuffs and waistbands nowadays.
Lowering the logo shrinks the batter’s optical strike zone, so there’s a method to the madness.
I don’t buy that argument (having heard it numerous times over the last couple days). From an umpire’s physical point of view, I’d be worried if the placement of a guy’s chest logo has anything to do with where balls and strikes are called.
Then again, I’ve never been an umpire.
There are optical clues, but the letters aren’t one of them (unless you’re talking little-boy ball.) The belt and the bend of the knees provide more of spatial guidance than anything else the batter has.
This would maybe be an issue if umpires called the rulebook strikezone. But they haven’t done that in about 50 years. Since the mid- to late-1960s, the de facto strike zone for most umpires stops at the belt buckle. Majestic could embroider the Cardinals script across the shoulders and it wouldn’t affect balls and strikes for St. Louis batters.
How long until we see baseball pants with a stripe parallel to but six inches lower than the belt?
Do you even know the upper limit of the strike zone?
I want Bob Eckstein’s version of the Broncos helmet to become permanent. :>
Ditto for Eckstein’s Browns design.
The Charlie Browns is apt. I don’t know if #79 for Seattle is related to Lucy Van Pelt, but he more or less took the ball from Phil Dawson on two field goal tries…both blocked…AUUUUGGGGHHHHH *splat*
Though unlike Lucy, Red Bryant eventually got in trouble for unsportsmanlike conduct. He got tossed after headbutting one of the receivers on the ground.
That Colts design was certainly appropriate. Superstition dictates that hanging a horseshoe upside-down causes the luck to drain out, and my Beloved Horsies have certainly lost it all.
I’m really shocked that after yesterday’s ticker item about the Cubs temporary switch from hard-wired phones to wireless, followed by last night’s bullpen phone fiasco in Arlington, there was no mention of the incident today!
Actually, I didn’t learn about last night’s phone fuck-up until about 30 mins. I had already posted this morning’s entry.
Well, the Cubs thing was about actual equipment. Last night’s Lost Call was just a coach mishearing instructions. But very telling quotes from Cardinals players after the game to the effect that nobody questioned the failure to get a righty up and warming because it’s La Russa’s job to think and their job just to follow instructions. It takes a special kind of bad leadership to get the people below oneself in an organization to have that attitude!
winning attitude in general? or world series attitude? bet the pirates and royals wouldn’t mind having a bit of that…
The Cubs thing was about trying to find a more modern way to call the bullpen so that communication would be clear and consistent. I think this is EXACTLY about the same thing! True, last night’s flub wasn’t a result of malfunctioning equipment, but it certainly did show that the system currently in place isn’t 100% effective!
In their infancy, the Texas Rangers were nothing to write home about, but you couldn’t blame their appealing uniforms. I wish they’d un-retire (from time to time) the hat on Brinke Guthrie’s pre-teen head. Their sartorial legacy far outstrips their on-field tradition.
Does being used in a TV show as a Toledo Mud Hens hat really count as a legacy?
Yeah when I saw Klinger wear that I went ‘that’s a Rangers hat, you dope!’
Aside from that, anyone on UW who wants to add me on Twitter, pls feel free.
@brinkeguthrie
When you’re a TV producer, it’s probably a lot easier to get a big league hat that sort of matches on short notice than a minor league one that’s almost the same.
Very few people would ever know better, and those people would be in Toledo, and would probably be much happier about the team getting publicity on national TV then they would be mad about the hat not being exactly right.
Yeah… I’m not blaming MASH or anything… but that’s about the only thing that jumps out at me about that particular Rangers hat.
British flag etiquette and British cuisine. What’s not to love?
The weather :(
dammit. now i want a cornish pasty :(
Paul and Bill, it’s great to see more eople noticing incorrect positioning of the stuff on jerseys these days. I’ve been paying attention to it with the numbers on the backs and thought I was the only person who was being driven nuts by it!
Someone with many more game-used jerseys than I have might want to do the same study with stuff on the backs, too. From what I’ve seen, the Giants get the front logo just right, but fail totally with the numbers on the backs, whereas the Cardinals have low-riding front logos but (AFAIK) don’t mess the backs up too much.
When the Cubs went back to number-only in 2005, the numbers were suddenly much lower than they should have been; probably 6″ or so. I’ll get a ruler and measure the jerseys I have tonight.
Traditionally, numbers on the backs started 4″ from the collar if the numbers were 8″ tall; somewhat lower if the numbers were smaller, so a better way of looking at it might be that the center of the number is 8″ from the top of the collar.
Maybe the reason I hate it so much is that it makes the link in particular look link.
Even the not-so-small guys (over 5’9″, say) link. The only way it looks good is if you’re a 6’5″ monster.
What’s funny is that while Majestic seems to have put the Cubs’ front logo in the right spot with their 1918 throwbacks earlier this year, they got the backs totally wrong. If link didn’t pull his shirt out a little so that it covers his belt, it would look even worse. If link, the number would almost be in his pants.
It doesn’t even look good on link.
Say what you want about the link. Unlike, say, the Diamondbacks, who look like link.
One thing that might be related is that Majestic seems to cut their jerseys bigger than Russell did. Try placing a size 46 Russell on top of a size 44 Majestic, laying them out flat, for example. When I did this, they fit over each other perfectly. So with the bagginess thing it might just be a case of a player or team ordering up certain sizes without knowing that the jerseys are going to be too big.
I suppose I need to apply for and get that Pitt EM job, then “accidentally” order all the football stuff with Pitt script!
FYI: “It is often stated that the Union Flag should only be described as the Union Jack when flown in the bows of a warship, but this is a relatively recent idea.”
Watching the last Tour de France I learned the difference between the Union Flag and the Union Jack, thought I would share. From: link
Paul, you were quoted in a topical uni related article in the Columbus Dispatch.
link
Nothing earth shattering. Just confirms what we all knew. Money + recruits = Uni-Madness
I do not understand why companies feel the need to create most alternate unis. When all teams histories had enough cool uniforms to replicate.
Looks like Ohio State has one more year to go for now.
Paul some guy was amazed to see a uniform columnist!!
One of the 2 or so comments from the Dispatch
JOEL WALLS (JDW81)
First, ESPN.com really has a “uniform columnist”? Wow. Second, while the department of athletics may be there for the “student-athletes” and “17-20 years olds”, I would contend that it’s the alumni and boosters who are funding it. As for “gimmicky” uniforms, a little goes a long, long way.
2011-10-25 10:24:48.0
ESPN should have noted that Paul was a “Uniform Columnist” in that piece on College Gameday a couple weeks ago. To just say “Page 2 columnist” (or whatever it said) kinda sold short his expertise in the field — at least in comparison to Joan Rivers and Kelly Osbourne, that is.
couple of thoughts on that wheeling nailers jersey we see in the ticker:
link
pointing out the obvious, the design was used in the “anybody really want kessel?” 2011 NHL all star game:
link
but the logo creep says it’s an SP apparel jersey, not a reebokkss jersey:
link
also, the nailers jersey is sans “number under the collar” and the shoulder numbers are different than the NHL version…
It’s also got a slightly different collar design.
Facinating about the Cards uni script dropping. This needs to get fixed. It pains the eyes to look at
…”Wepner gets a cut”. how many times have we heard that line.
What’s ironic about this phone fuck-up is that during a press conf before Game1 (?), someone asked LaRussa about what he thought of the phones. LaRussa jokingly wondered if the guy was from AT&T. If he was, I am sure he could get Tony a better phone than the crappy-ass one he used last night.
link
great uni’s here- and I remember almost ALL of these NFL QB flops.
Those striped crew socks are in the adidas team catalog, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see more than just Louisville wearing them, if they do indeed wear them for the season.
A Chuck Wepner story.
My Dad was quite a boxer back in the day. He loved boxing and used to go to a club in North Bergen, NJ (the empire?) to see fights about every week. I was not there this night but my brother was. Wepner used to be there all the time and my Dad always told me he did not like the way Wepner strutted around and treated some people.
On this night Wepner came with a lady friend my Dad happened to know and they were seated close by. My Dad said hi to the lady and Wepner got angry she was talking to him. He then said something to her and grabbed her elbow. My Dad told him to shut the *&&& up and take his hands off her. Wepner was kind of shocked that he was being spoken to like that and turned to my Dad and said “what did you say?”….so my Dad repeated it and Wepner and him started to face off. They both got in boxing stances and were about to go at it when they were separated. My Dad was pushed into the aisle and then walked to the back of the club and my brother said the entire place erupted in applause for him. He also said Wepner would have kicked the crap out of him if they weren’t separated.
Cool story.
I look forward to the show about Wepner. That Ali fight was in Richfield Coliseum near Cleveland, Ohio.
Paul, if you are looking for a great “middle” to visit, come to Poniatowski, Wis., west of Wausau along Wis. HWY 29. It is at 45 degrees north, 90 degrees west, and is the exact center of the northern half of the Western Hemisphere.
Heck with Paul, I’m going to have to visit Poniatowski, WI now, next time I’m in the Midwest! Thanks for the tip. (Says a guy who got married at a park on the 45th parallel because it seemed cool to be halfway between the equator and the pole.)
Hate to break it to you, but the 45th parallel north isn’t the halfway point between the equator and the north pole.
Then what is?
The world is not a perfect sphere. It bulges at the middle and is flatter at the top. Therefore the distance to change one degree near the north pole is greater than the distance to change one degree near the equator.
The 45th parallel north is actually closer to the equator than the north pole. The actual midway point is 45 deg 8.76 min of latitude.
Except the actual midway point is not a perfect latitudinal line around the planet, either, since just as the earth is not a perfect sphere, neither is it a perfectly even non-sphere. Bulges & dips depending on the presence of continental versus oceanic crusts and even the mineral composition at various points. The precise midpoint varies slightly along every line of longitude. So 45° is close enough in this case.
You’re gonna have to explain that one. If the Equator is 0º and the poles are at their respective 90º, why isn’t 45º halfway?
This is what I get for asking a question two hours after I opened the page.
Isn’t Rugby North Dakota the center?
link
Rugby is the midpoint of the North American continent, not the entire half-hemisphere.
“Unless you’ve been under a very large rock for the past two decades, you probably know that Pearl Jam’s original name was Mookie Blaylock.”
I do live under a rock, but I knew that.
However, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that there are quite a few regular readers who had no idea and/or did not care.
Eh, maybe. I’ve never liked PJ and don’t pay any attention to them, but I feel like the Blaylock/Ten connection has been talked about so much over the years that it’s achieved a sort of cultural osmosis/saturation/etc.
Could be wrong, though….
Maybe for those of us in our 30s and 40s, but the average 25-year-old? Probably not.
I could also be wrong.
Mid-30s, music fan, had no idea.
Well, I’m 30, and for me it was one of those “oh… yeah, I knew that” things.
29 year old and I totally knew that. However, I possess massive quantities of trivial knowledge and live in Washington state.
Blasphemy. I am crestfallen.
Is that what Ten refers to? I’ve been wondering about that since the album came out. I knew nothing about the connection.
Yup:
link
Going outside the lines a bit, Pearl Jam’s music is sort of meh to my ears but I’m inclined to support them on principle. Their gig posters and t-shirts blow my mind. They are one of the groups I like in spite of their music.
Is it therfore blasphemy to say “Pearl Jam? Who?”
I’m afraid I’ve never heard of them/it/him
Mid 30s, not a Pearl Jam fan, couldn’t actually name a song title off the top of my head… no freaking clue about the Blaylock connection.
Used to be a PJ fan, but haven’t liked any of there stuff in a long time.
Grew up in Oklahoma, and attended the University of Oklahoma, so of course, we all assumed everyone knew about the connection.
I suspect a lot of people have heard a PJ song and didn’t know that’s who it was.
This is neither here nor there, but their last album was actually very good.
I’ll have to give it a listen.
Anyone else notice that the piping on some of the Jags jersey tops was very visible (Scobee and Gabbert for sure) and on some you couldn’t see it at all because it was stretched so tight it ended up on their sides and under their arms? It really looked like they were wearing 3 or 4 different styles of tops. Looked stupid and amateurish. Too bad. Jacksonville was actually developing a decent look a few years back.
I noticed a few Jacksonville anomalies (sp?) last evening. The jerseys velcroed-to-the-pads was very evident on them, the captains C patch actually fell on top of the piping separating the piping in two (top and bottom) and looked like here was some NOB font differences.
Game video of Central Arkansas’ purple and gray field (starts at 8:30)…
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Isn’t as bad as I thought, but is kinda funny they way, on a long run, a CA players in mono purple sort of disappearing and reappearing depending on whether the background is purple or gray.
Isn’t critical, but is an interesting optical effect.
That’s a good reason I’d hate to be a fan of a school that went with a color field. Maybe it’s just me, but it’s just extremely annoying to watch a Boise game (and I assume UCA would be similar). If a team MUST have a team color for their field, they should seriously consider switching to their away unis full time. That would clear up a lot of visual problems.
It can’t be that bad… Boise’s been using it since 1986. If the fans hated it there’s no way it’d have lasted this long.
It’s their gimmick… their “thing”. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of their fans DON’T like it. But what are they gonna say? It’s too late now to turn back.
I just don’t like it, personally. But if the fans of these teams do… well, more power to them. I’m 99.99% sure my favorite team would never do it, so I’m good.
I can’t watch a Boise home game on TV. The UCA isn’t as bad, maybe because it’s broken up with the gray.
Wait, are you sure that’s Jody Shelley? Without a front helmet number, I just don’t know if that’s him or not.
A UK buddy of mine posted this on Facebook this morning.
UK goes BFBS on the football field this coming Saturday.
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Just hideous IMO.
That link helmet is a thing of beauty – click the 2nd pic to get a good look at the back.
Somewhere in my attic I have both the Expos and Braves helmets in that pic.
The Nationals’ catcher should wear a helmet like that with the M flipped. It would be a way to follow the current trend of catchers wearing the 1970s helmets and also pay tribute to the team’s past.
The MLB helmets in Collectors Corner are from circa ’78….not “the early 70s” as the seller guesses. They include a Brewers ball-in-glove logo. Love the Twins’ tri-color one.
The guy with the phony I-75 markers is named Norm Magnusson? Isn’t that the guy from the Fed-Ex Kinko’s commercial who the witness protection people want him to drive his business into the ground? “It’s Norm Magnusson!” — “There is no Norm Magnusson!”
The Ravens/Jags game was sans pink accessories. However both teams did still have the pink ribbon decal on their helmets.
There seemed to me to be a lot less pink overall this past weekend…
It’s working!
Paul, here is a little more about the Cubs wireless Bullpen phones:
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Quoting Alyson Footer
“Anyhoo, in 2006 at Wrigley Field, the Cubs replaced their old, traditional bullpen phones with Motorola wireless handsets. It was the first wireless communications system to be used in a Major League game. The new bullpen phones vibrated and produced a constant ring until it was answered or the caller ended the call. To speak, the manager or coach pressed the Push to Talk button.
Representatives from Major League Baseball and the Hall of Fame were in attendance to witness the first wireless call to the bullpen (yes, really. I can’t make this stuff up). It was just a matter of which manager – Garner or Cubs skipper Dusty Baker – would make that first call. Garner, never one to deflect the attention from himself, made sure he was the one going to Cooperstown, so to speak.
Just after the first pitch of the game was tossed, Garner grabbed the wireless handset and rung down to pitching coach Jim Hickey. The first words spoken during this momentous occasion?
“One small step for technology,” Hickey said. “One giant leap for Major League Baseball.””
Love that Shorpy football picture. How about Marines on the back of that. So cool.
When asked what do we notice. I was going to say the sleeve stripe.
And I always enjoy the collectors corner segment. Fun to see the old items.
I also noticed that the Jags and Ravens were pinkless. As long as we’re talking about it, the Redskins and Panthers were sans pink as well. They even seemed to try to get rid of the pink ribbon on the field.
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In the Shorpy old football picture, I notices something sticking out of some of the players pants (look about halfway down the thigh, on the back of the legs). I’ve never seen this before. Is it related to the interior padding?
“Myles Brenner received the following e-mail from the U. of Washington yesterday: “The Huskies will be in their all-black uniforms for the game and we need every Dawg Fan sporting the black for Saturday’s game as well.” Woooonderful.”
NO!!!!!!!!! Yes, I’m yelling. I’ve become (thanks to most of you)completely obsessed with uniforms. Huge sports fan for decades and now I’ve reduced most of my TV sports viewing (of almost any sport), to looking at the uniforms. The BFBS has got to be my biggest pet peeve. Hate it! Though I love everything about Uni-Watch. Great site, and the people aren’t too wrapped up in themselves to let all opinions in. No matter that they may not agree with each other. That’s refreshing.
Loved the Ali/Wepner video. It’s mesmerizing without any commentary.
I was 15 and I thought Wepner was a mistake, a joke. He looked like somebody’s dad, a guy right off the street. I sorta wanted him to win, I guess, the massive under dog, but knew it was impossible. I remember feeling sorta sorry for the great Ali, too; his skills so diminished that the neighborhood Joe was giving him a contest. Unreal.
Boxing sure was interesting in the ’70’s.
Good stuff today. I put those 1970’s MLB helmets on my ebay watchlist, wouldn’t mind owning them even if I don’t know where the hell I would display them! Buy a bigger house I guess.
Thanks Paul for pointing out the CLUI page, I’m gonna look it over. Right up my alley since I am a mapgeek and geocacher as well. Along those lines you should check out the Degree Confluence Project. link
Those phony I-75 historical markers are great too but obviously not on any stretch of I-75. I wonder where they actually placed them? Would love to see one in person. Very toynbee-ish.
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