Reader Blair Thompson recently pointed me toward a page with over 100 sports photos, all from 1925 or earlier. At first I was just gonna Ticker-link to the page, but several of the photos are so extraordinary that I decided they deserved their own entry. Here we go:
• I love everything about this 1925 women’s polo shot. Seriously, that could almost be a fashion ad, no? And I love the jerseys, natch.
• Speaking of polo, have you ever heard of auto polo? I hadn’t. Looks like a failed concept.
• And if you can have car polo, why not motorcycle soccer? That’s from 1923. Note that the two guys at left appear to be wearing a consistent uniform.
• I’m not sure a hurling photo has ever appeared on Uni Watch before. Looks pretty much like the soccer or rugby uniforms of that era. If anyone out there is particularly knowledgeable about this game, care to tell us more about the uniforms?
• I’m pretty sure those are wooden cleats on the bottom of those shoes. Love the front stripe on the set in the center.
• So many uni-notable details in this early lacrosse shot: the leather helmet, the quilted pants, the textured nap on the (woolen?) jersey.
• Speaking of texture, we think of boxing trunks as being silky and shiny, so it’s almost startling to see a photo like this one.
• Here’s a very odd football shot. Looks like the padding was sewn onto the jersey. Never seen that before.
• Something else I’ve never seen: a baseball player using a turtleneck sweater instead of an undershirt. That’s Jack Calvo of the 1913 Senators.
• Not sure if this girls’ rifle team was wearing sweaters or jackets. Either way, that’d be a very cool item to have.
• Too bad speed skaters don’t dress like this anymore. That’s Jaap Eden, a three-time world champion in the 1890s.
• I readily admit that I have no idea what’s going on here. Is his left leg wrapped in tape or what?
• The caption for this 1918 shot reads, I swear, “Start of cripples’ one-legged race.” Yikes. Note the guy in the background who’s about the blow the starter’s whistle — he’s wearing a white broadcloth shirt and a bow tie, just like most other sports officials of his era.
Want more? The full page of 121 photos is here.
ESPN reminder: In case you missed it yesterday afternoon, my latest ESPN column, about athletes who wear their wedding bands on the field (or the court, or the ice), is available here. (And by interesting coincidence, today’s New York Times has an article about Ryan Fitzpatrick’s ring.)
Still talking about that damn project: I discussed Permanent Record on NPR’s Here and Now program yesterday. If the “Listen” link at the top of that page doesn’t work (it was a little wonky for me yesterday), you can go straight to the audio of the segment here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: We all knew Michigan State would be wearing camo for the Carrier Classic, but I missed the fact that they officically unveiled their design earlier this week. Click on the photo for a gigantic version. … A sportswriter has floated the idea that the Super Bowl loser should have to wear a full pink uniform the following October. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Some uni adjustments in store for the Padres. For details, scroll down toward the bottom of this page. ”¦ Pete Musacchio notes that some vector-branded jerseys are still being worn by the Sabres. … Here’s a good feature on the history of Minnesota goalie gear (from Eric Baukol). … Interesting article about the Sens’ uni numbers (from Jim Wooley). … Apparently some people think presidential candidate Rick Perry wears too much jewelry. … Arsenal is the latest soccer team to add a poppy (from Stephen Boyd). … Jason Hillyer found a seriously weird Reds shirt on clearance at Marhsall’s (but didn’t buy it). … An inside look at the Notre Dame football complex in this video clip (from Warren Junium). … Here’s another early shot of a winged helmet, this time being worn by an Ohio State player in 1931. You can sort of see them wearing the helmet in this 1931 footage (good find by Ryan Dowgin). … Wow — fairly amazing sneaker/branding infographic here (major thanks to Vin Barone). … “I was walking by Fenway Park the other day and realized that the 2 in Carlton Fisk’s retired 27 has fallen off the wall on Van Ness Street,” says Justine DeCotis. “Red Sox fans everywhere will be horrified to think that 7 was retired for J.D. Drew.” … Lots of great old SEC photos in this discussion thread (from Jeff McClendon). ”¦ New basketball uniforms for Wyoming. ”¦ Anyone know the story behind this Yankees jersey? (From Alan Tompas.) ”¦ Several readers noted that Washington hoops appears to have some purple-matching issues. When you think about it — and I’m not saying this just because I dislike purple — color-matching seems to be a bigger issue with this color than with any other. Think of the Lakers’ old jersey/shorts problems, the Vikings old jersey/helmet problems, etc. Weird. ”¦ Fans of Swindon Town petitioned the club to ensure they’ll wear their traditional kit for an upcoming match (from Robin Griffiths.)
I expect all the Premier League clubs will be wearing poppies in honor of Remembrance Day this weekend.
It’s actually on November 11 to mark the end of WWI, but there are no games that weekend; it’s an international break.
Wigan Athletic have a poppy shirt for this weekend
I’m a Gunners fan, but with the huge anniversary logo, the mark of the beast, and the Emirates text, that giant poppy just adds more clutter.
Fifa tell england not towear poppy on kit
link
That’s a shame really. I must say that the poppy is by far my favourite tribute. It highlights the tragedy of war, rather than dressing it in false notions of glory. Dress your team like army men and you make a mockery of all those who die in that same garb.
A poppy not only avoids such ridiculous pageantry, but it rightly celebrates the lives of the humans rather than their unfortunate office.
We have spent the last century ignoring the lessons that that poppy is supposed to represent. The proliferation of it around this time of year is a welcome thing and should be encouraged while the gloating parades of military and national “might” and “power” should be banned outright in all forms.
Hey Uni-watch:
Did you see the three KC Chiefs players wearing solid red socks on Monday Night Football? Clark Hunt was not happy with the non-traditional uniform. I thought they looked good. Any comments? Hunt noted that the league could fine the players as well.
Not that I speak for all of Uni Watch, but I don’t have a problem with the all-red in theory, but when it’s just 3 players it’s just an attention whore move. If the whole team does it, ok, fine, cool, whatever. 2 or 3 guys? Knock it off, idjits.
I thought it was visually jarring, especially with a color like red. The shoes looked good, but they needed some white in the middle to break it up.
I’m a proponent of full color socks, but I think the red shoes were overboard. I think all socks should be full color from top to bottom, plus any striping, of course. It would eliminate the personal preference aspect of low whites, high whites, proper whites and everything in between.
Honestly, how hard would it be to have NFL-approved white crew socks of standardized heights to wear over team color leggings?
In the past the NFL has never been shy about enforcing a certain look it wanted.
Actually, all of this got started when the NFL banned white tape to hold up players’ leggings…had to be clear tape. Then the NFL didn’t want to see knee skin above the leggings…but now it’s okay to wear pants that look like biking shorts. Have you ever noticed Frak Gore of the 49ers?
On the other hand, why can’t it be per team? Why is there any reason for the league to care about it?
I’m not a fan of seeing one player in solid white, another in solid blue and the other 9 guys at different lengths in between… that junk needs to stop. But what’s wrong with the Lions using solid blue while the Jets use solid white with stripes and the Raiders are 50/50 white/black, etc etc.
Make the team be consistent, yes, but don’t over-regulate for no reason.
That’s how it should be, Jeff. I just favor socks that don’t have white at the bottom, unless the whole sock is white, of course.
Realistically, though, the NFL-issued socks do have a white section at the bottom, except for a few throwback examples, like the Lions, Packers and Broncos. The problem is that some guys still like to wear multiple pairs (I don’t know how; those socks are intensely thick to begin with).
dammit THE
stop making sense…that’s the second time this week i agree with something 100% you said
in fact (and this may come as a shock to those who think im about old school fashion), i would rather see each team cultivate its own unique look, so long as it’s done teamwise…i don’t even mind if one team (and not one player, or several teams) even decided to skip the stirrup (well, they’re not stirrups anymore) and went with a low white look exclusively — would be kinda cool
but to have each player want his own “look at me” style — that’s what i hate…hell, i’d even be fine with one or two teams to go with a vikings-esque look (bumperstickers included) if the WHOLE TEAM looked the same…ya know…uniform
there’s no “i” in team, no matter how many zeroes there are on the check you cash every two weeks boys
Steeler safety Ryan Mundy tweeted this Monday night:
Im assuming some of these players in this game are cool with getting fined for their socks. #MNF
Joe M, from yesterday:
“For as long as I can remember, the Boston Bruins have played a matinee the day after Thanksgiving. Usually against an Original Six team, but not always.”
As late as 1990, the Bruins played at home on Thanksgiving night. (If that’s before you remember, that’s cool. I remember grabbing Thanksgiving dinner at the Wendy’s on Causeway Street.)
I barely remember when the North Station stop was outside and elevated, but then again I didn’t spend much time in Boston as a kid.
RE: Reds shirt
I was browsing 6pm the other day and came across a similar one with Mr. Met on the back.
link
How does one not buy that Reds shirt? Sure, you’d have to take up line dancing to have an excuse to wear it, but it’d be worth it.
Yesterday afternoon I was holding a New Orleans Saints helmet, signed by all its major players, that was recently acquired from the Saints for an upcoming charity auction and I wanted to share a few observations. The helmet had obviously been used in battle but the number written inside it did not not correspond to one on the present active roster so I assume it was a helmet that was used in preseason.
The helmet was painted a beautiful, metallic old gold on the outside, and was appropriately detailed, but I was struck by the sloppy overspray on the inside where you could actually see where masking tape had been applied in a not particularly neat fashion. But what really caught my attention was that the helmet was white on the inside.
Riddell helmets usually come in the color of the molded plastic used. An LSU helmet is yellow gold, inside and out; an Alabama helmet is crimson red, inside and out. I know that for an additional charge Riddell paints some helmets, usually metallic colors, such as old gold or silver, or sparkle colors such as blue (NY Giants) or red (Arkansas). But I thought that for painted helmets they used a molded plastic base color that was the same or similar to the color of the paint. But in this case Riddell apparently used a white helmet as the Saints’ base color.
Back in the day the molded plastic used in Riddell helmets was usually a cream color. The outside of the helmet was painted the team color (sometimes a stripe was painted on, too) and the inside was painted grey. But it was a very neat paint job along the edges between the inside and outside of the helmet. In this case there was sloppy overspray which struck me as odd, considering that the NFL is a professional league whose teams spend a lot of money to get cosmetic details correct.
The only conclusion I could come to is that perhaps this was a reconditioned helmet. I’m sure even NFL teams must re-use some helmet shells for multiple seasons after yearly reconditioning, including a new paintjob. Aside from the overspray the paintjob was great…including what looked like a nice clear top coat. I just didn’t expect to see such a sloppy job on the part of the helmet that fans usually don’t see. I would assume that the reconditioning was not a Riddell factory job but from a third party helmet reconditioning service.
I’m sorry I don’t have pictures of the inside of the helmet, but my camera began malfunctioning…probably the result of dropping it a few weeks ago.
“Start of cripples’ one-legged race.”
From 1918, there’s a strong possibility they are all World War One vets.
I’ll agree on a few of the racers, but at least two look way too old to have been recently discharged.
To my eye, only the 2nd from the left looks like he might be a bit older (in his 40s, perhaps?). 1st from the left is a somber chap, but not that old.
Of the 4.8 million men who served during WWI, about 2 million were volunteers. Also, the act authorizing the draft was amended in August 1918 to include men aged up to 45. So it’s quite conceivable that all of those men were wounded veterans.
That said, I didn’t find any explicit evidence that they were, in fact, veterans. But it seems like a reasonable possibility.
Re: Picture of football jersey w/ sewn-in padding.
Is that Alfred Hitchcock making one of his famous hidden cameos?
Hurling is actually played with a stick and so is a cross between field hockey, lacrosse and football – it’s Gaelic football that’s a cross between rugby and football.
Funnily enough I have this photo in my folder to colourise. He’s from Kilkenny, whose colours are black and amber.
Gaelic sports are played at club level, but the “big games” are between the Counties. You can read more about it at link
The counties use the same colours for Gaelic football too.
It was thought that the game of field hockey got its modern look from the game of hurling which was also popular in England. Hurling is played on a grass pitch, and players link through an H-shaped goal. Hurling has been deemed “the fastest game on earth”, something that hockey fans can relate to, and has regularly been compared to hockey in terms of how fast the games moves and flows from offence to defence. Hurling is an ancient Gaelic sport, and is played regularly in Ireland to this day.
I spoke of hurling in my link in Beijing.
Hurling (despite all of the mythology about it’s origins) is a modern game essentially. Actually, strictly speaking it could be argued that it’s slightly younger than hockey depending on what you consider a sport’s birth (organisation of standardised rules, clubs, competitions etc.). All of that stuff about its ancient Gaelic origins is mostly propoganda with the intention of starting a cultural war against the British. The fact is that the “ancient origins” of hockey and hurling are equally benign; the term “hurling” is used for a ton of different and varying games played throughout UK and Ireland before the 19th century.
Bunch of knowledgeable SOBs on this site.
George, do please get cracking on that curly-haired gent from Kilkenny.
Padday’s remark “… All of that stuff about its ancient Gaelic origins is mostly propoganda with the intention of starting a cultural war against the British…” is basically true. Like almost all other nationalist movements, the Fenians thought that to secure separation from Britain they had to establish the non-Britishness of Irish language, Irish literature, Irish whatever, as well as establish the antiquity and sophistication of the Irish nation before its doleful encounter with the rude Saxons. There were straight-faced “histories” showing that the ancient Celts helped build the Pyramids, that the Gaels invented the violin, and — my favorite — that Napoleon’s grandmother was Irish. As noted, hurling (or games like it) were popular for a long time throughout the British Isles. My only quibble is with Padday’s phrase “intention of starting a cultural war against the British.” It were the Brits that started the fight, after all.
Of course, I’m enough of a deracinated boyo that the word “hurling” makes me think of Wayne’s World before I think of sports.
Have started it, Connie. Take a few days though.
Keep being distracted by “Ice-hockeying women in bathing suits”. What a brilliant title :)
“It were the Brits that started the fight, after all.” True enough Connie although we didn’t help matters by holding up a post office in the name of independence either.
This is all pretty much first hand experience on my part. I’ve had enough trouble with the GAA over the years and it has pretty much always come down to politics. I love the sport but between all of the indignant nationalism, shamateurism and general Irishness of the organisation it has become desperately difficult to enjoy.
I hear ya.
Why are the Padres sticking with their current color scheme? They have easily the least distinctive “look” in baseball, which is strange for a team that has worn bold colors like orange and brown and has a logo of a freakin’ friar swinging a bat!
Are there some corporate/ownership shenanigans at play a la the Blue Jays?
The Padres have a depressing record for dumbing down their suits and insignias, one irritating cut at a time. Perhaps the unkindest cut was when they dropped the orange from their home uniform and adopted a sleeve patch that was merely a shrunk-down instance of the chest script. It looks like a team that simply does not want to try.
They had a unique khaki road suit everyone dumped on; they ought to have shot back, “We don’t like your uniforms, either!” Teams that look alike are not cool.
Padres, Rays, Rockies, recent Marlins….strike me as utterly generic baseball teams.
I agree with all 3 posters here
-Jet
As one person who hates seeing pink in football, I vote nay on the Super Bowl loser wearing pink for the first home game in October.
‘Cause, y’know, they don’t already sell pink jersey replicas.
If they implemented that rule, I’d actually root for the Steelers to make it to the Super Bowl again. Of course, I’d also root for them to lose again so I could see them dress in all pink one time.
And to think I always considered Dan Steinberg the most useless of the Post’s sportswriters…
Are those three players in the Jack Calvo photo all from the same ballclub? It’s interesting that each is wearing different socks.
Good catch on the socks, I was distracted by the size of the link! It’s enormous compared to the other two.
Some comments have already been made on this photo over at Shorpy: link
My guess is that it was taken very early in the ’13 season. The broad black armband on Germany Schaefer’s (he of the big noggin) jersey was sewn on in memory of Nats president/owner Tom Noyes, who died during the 1912 season. Schaefer is likely wearing his ’12 uniform.
Kinda remember Curt Ford wearing a heavy-knit turtleneck during the 1987 World Series in St. Louis. Almost looked like one of those giant foam bands you wear when you injure your neck.
What are you keds talking about? The Sawks have retired the numbah 7 fir Trot Nixon! He was such a dirtdawg, we all fakken loved him! #DudeGuyKid
Seriously, Boston loved and still loves Trot Nixon. To have JD Drew, the complete antithesis of everything Trot, not only inherit his position in right field, but to also inherit his number is downright sacrilege.
That sneaker/branding infographic is amazing! I know you aren’t into sneakers Paul so from a sneakerhead I’d like to personally thank you for including it in the ticker. I’d love to see more sneaker stuff on Uni Watch.
Things I learned from that infographic: I didn’t know adidas owned Reebok and I didn’t know Nike owned Hurley and Umbro. I also didn’t know that “Just Do It” was coined by a 4th grader. I’m sure I would have learned that eventually since I’m halfway through the excellent book “Swoosh: The Unauthorized Story of Nike and the Men Who Played There”. It doesn’t just talk about Nike; it also talks about adidas, Puma, Converse, and other brands. Highly recommended reading not only for sneakerheads but also for those interested in branding, marketing, business, fashion, design, and sports (especially track).
One odd omission in the infographic: it doesn’t mention that adidas founder Adolf “Adi” Dassler and Puma founder Rudolf Dassler were brothers. After a fight, Rudolf opened his own shoe factory in the same German town and called it Puma. The story of how the town was split in two is pretty interesting. It is talked about in detail in the “Swoosh” book.
“I didn’t know adidas owned Reebok”
~~~
seriously?
LOL seriously! I’ve been reading Uni Watch every day since 2009 and I don’t remember reading anything about adidas owning Reebok. I guess since the deal happened in 2005 it was already old news by the time I became a Uni Watch reader.
It’s been mentioned many a time. Especially with regards to footballs jerseys – the adidas college stretchy jerseys and the reebok NFL stretchy jerseys are the same design/cut.
We occasionally call Adidas or Reebok ‘Reedidas’ here.
It mentions that they were brothers and it mentions a soccer match in 2009 ending the family rivalry, although I don’t think it mentions the start of the rivalry.
I think ‘adibok’ is much more appropriate. Rolls off the tongue better and has the correct parent/subsidiary relationship in order.
It does mention a “brotherly feud that lasted 60 years” but it doesn’t explicitly say that the brothers involved in this feud were Adi and Rudolf. I guess we’re supposed to assume that since they have the same last name.
BTW, in that “Swoosh” book it says the original name of Puma was “Ruda”. Rudolf, probably to stick it to his bro, decided to name his own company after himself, just like Adi did with adidas: adidas is a combination of Adolf’s nickname “Adi” and an abbreviation of his last name Dassler, “Das”. Put them together and you get adidas.
Anyway, an ad agency recommended Rudolf change the name from Ruda to Puma, since a running cat is an appropriate name for athletic shoes.
As far as what started the brotherly rivalry, the “Swoosh” book says that is “a closely guarded family secret”.
Great SEC photos!
I like the pictures of the coaches…some of whom I used to see. Charlie McClendon (LSU) was one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet.
I think it was the year before Bear Bryant retired (and died a month later) that Alabama came to Tiger Stadium to play LSU. An old habit of mine since childhood was to check out the opposing team. At halftime I went down by the visitors’ locker room and remember seeing a craggy-face Bear Bryant standing all alone outside the door smoking a cigarette, deep in thought. It struck me how tired and worn out he looked and that perhaps he waasn’t going to be around much longer.
Pat Sullivan is also an interesting story in that he was almost hired as LSU’s head coach in the nineties.
Don’t forget the rare Auburn Orange jersey pic!
re: washington b-ball unis, my first thought was they need to budget for an iron for the shorts!
JD Drew?
Not hardly.
Trot Nixon, for folks under 30. Rick Burleson if you’re old, like me.
Oh, and Jerry Remy stole the #2 for his restaurant
Going back to that Notre Dame vid, if you pause at 7:21, you’ll see one of the guys wearing some kind of Florida Marlins/LA Dodgers crossover shirt. What’s up with that?
The Andy Pettite pic may have something to do with the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees’ farm team (AAA) at the time. I recall seeing those jerseys as a kid, though I may be wrong…
I have never seen that jersey with “New York” in the serif font. I recall that, for a long time, the Columbus Clippers’ road jersey said “Columbus” in the same sans-serif font that is on the Yankees’ road jersey.
link
The font looks like it matches what was worn by the 1993 Albany-Colonie Yankees (his minor league team in the 1993 season). link
Maybe this was just a team approved mock up of the MLB jersey taken for promotional purposes? That looks like it could be a minor league park in the background based only on how steep those box seats are. Reminds me of McCoy in Rhode Island.
My thought was A/C as well. I’ll side with the promo pic supposition.
The only reason Albany would duplicate their jersey with New York on it might have been for an anniversary or promotion perhaps. The photo you posted is spot on as far as matching the fonts of the jersey. Wish I had more photographs from this game as well. What makes this surprising is whenever a Yankee jersey has any kind of tweak even years ago it would have been big news.
Judging by the lack of anyone at all in the stands, I wonder if it’s not extended spring training or the Gulf Coast league? His minor league stats are here (link). Isn’t his time in the minors (91-94) before teams started doing promos like “wear our parent club’s jerseys night?” It’s safe to assume it wasn’t one of his rehab stints post-Y2K or the place would be packed. Maybe I’m way off base here, I should disclose I have little to no knowledge of the Yanks minor league system. I’m just speculating based on what I know of game worn jerseys and the minors in general.
My guess was also either Albany-Colonie or the Gulf Coast League (where Yankees farmhands link). Not sure if he looks 19 in the B&W pic, though.
I’m not saying promotional like a gimmick (organs on the outside night! Star Wars night!), but more like the baseball cards where minor league players are wearing major league uniforms. My thought was that there could have been extenuating circumstances and the Yankees might have given the OK for the A/C Yankees to throw together a quick version of the MLB jersey to get pictures of Andy in the Yankees uniform in “game action” even though it’s in an empty minor league park. After all, the early 90’s were still a hard time to walk into any store and buy an authentic baseball jersey just to take a picture in. It’s possible they just needed to put one together themselves.
Re: The sewn in padding for that football jersey. As a kid, I had a book called Strange but True Sports Stories or something like that. I think the book’s been mentioned here before. Anyway, one of the stories was a bout a legendary coach in his early years trying to get any advantage he could. One trick he used was to have brown football shaped padding sewn onto the rib area of every players’ jerseys. Obviously to confuse the defense as to who had the rock. But it was quickly outlawed. I guess exterior padding was enough of a thing that this idea could even be feasible.
I mentioned that story a month ago:
link
Strange but True Sports Stories
Loved that book… I can remember at least 2 volumes.
yup…
had the baseball one as a kid and i must have read through it 2 dozen or more times
favorite stories were on pete gray, eddie gaedel, and harvey haddix
Just a couple of interesting pictures seen on the web.
Packers jerseys lined up on a rack, waiting for alterations. Packers tweeted this yesterday. link
Check out the sweet jersey worn by the gent at upper right. His name is John Zussman, and he was a Milwaukee recreation supervisor from the ’30s to the ’70s. link
That story has a couple of links to some great old film footage of Zussman leading recreation classes. As I watched those, I found this great 21-minute film of Milwaukee youth baseball schools from the early ’50s. link
Look how short some of those Packers jerseys appear.
This came up yesterday in dicussion regarding Nike’s pants stripes that begin below the waist and I commented that some NFL players are wearing their jerseys shorter and untucked (which would partially cover up the missing portion of pants stripes if NFL teams adopt Nike’s truncated stripes next year).
Brett Favre wore his jeresy untucked in later years and I believe Aaron Rodgers might also.
With the Packers home and road jerseys mixed together like that, it’s very obvious how much the two styles are NOT just color opposites of each other.
As for untucked shirts in later years, I qualify (like many others, I’m sure) for that group as well.
You can clearly see that auto polo is america’s newest craze!
link
Thanks for including this … I was wondering in what ballpark the original image was taken.
Ebbets Field?
Shoulda been played at the Polo Grounds…
How can you mention mismatched purple uniforms without recognizing the greatest purple mismatch of them all?
link
Wasn’t that one intentional, though?
It wasn’t the first time. They ordered the two different colors and it was too late to replace them. The second time it was on purpose.
link
The second time was a throwback to the first time
These old photos are amazing. Just exquisite.
Regarding the coincidence on the ESPN and Times ring stories, when the Times’ Tom Jolly (Associate Managing Editor / Night News at The New York Times. NYT Sports Editor, 2003-11.) mentioned the story on Twitter last night, I tweeted him about it and he responded:
“That wld be quick reporting, given the voices! Fitzpatrick’s ring is no secret; his agreeing to talk abt it was rare.”
Just a coincidence. The Times isn’t in the business of stealing stories. Even if they were, Ben (who wrote that piece) was obviously working on it for more than 12 hours. I’m amused, not annoyed.
NFL.com is also running a story about it. No doubt probably jacked from the New York Times article, but potentially from you.
PowerPuff Girls, really Paul?
Don’t even be complaining about the PowerPuff Girls. It was a good cartoon in it’s time.
/The city of Townsville is under attack!
One of my favorite fictional hometowns was where Frank Merriwell lived (he was even before MY time)…
link
Anyway, ol’ Frank was from “Fardale”.
Always assumed their arch rivals must have been the snooty townies from “Neardale”.
And really, really hoped they were the “Fardale Airedales”.
Fine, it didn’t like that link…
link
The PowerPuff Girls are amazing. And that particular episode (linked in a certain blind link on this site, hint-hint) is an absolute tour-de-force — one of the single best cartoon episodes ever produced, period. Every bit as good as anything that ever came out of Warner Bros. (and I say that as a big fan of Jones, Freleng, Blanc, etc.).
Even better is the episode “Twisted Sister.” And I’ll go one further. Not just the equal of Warner Bros, but the equal of anything Bob Clampett did.
Eh, I still prefer “Manic Mojo.” One reason I love MojoJojo is that he’s the only cartoon villain (or maybe the only TV character, period) who gets saddled with banal problems like having to go back to his lair because he forgot his wallet, or having to wait to implement his evil plans because he has to do the dishes first. I kinda wish he’d gotten his own show.
I’m very much a PPG fan. Great cast of villains, in particular the disturbing Satan-by-way-of-Dennis-Rodman Him.
I also got a kick out of seeing Professor Utonium drive his car, a ’64 Studebaker Avanti (and a shout-out to a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU8vxuCyvjI”>Gattaca, perhaps?).
Fixed that link link, sorry.
Paul, how could you never have seen a turtleneck under a baseball jersey before and then use that particular picture? That exact picture has only been the header for the Colourize This series for, what, a year? :)
Really? Oopsie. It’s much smaller when Phil runs it!
proof that nobody reads the weekends…
KIDDING! don’t kill me phil!!! LMAO!
Yeah, that had me baffled too, referring to that photo as if it was being seen for the first time instead of the eleventy-eleventh time…
-Jet
“proof that nobody reads the weekends…”
~~~
well…proof that someone doesn’t read on the weekends…
that’s fine too…muahahahahaha
btw…here’s the first time that photo ran as the official “Colorize This!” graphic…if you scroll down, there is a link to the photo that started it all — and much bigger than the one in today’s lede
“Speaking of texture, we think of boxing trunks as being silky and shiny, so it’s almost startling to see a photo like this one.”
They were pretty common around the turn of the 19th century before trunks came into use.
“When you think about it – and I’m not saying this just because I dislike purple – color-matching seems to be a bigger issue with this color than with any other. Think of the Lakers’ old jersey/shorts problems, the Vikings old jersey/helmet problems, etc. Weird.”
This is absolutely true. When I worked at Taylor University, our athletics programs had a horrible time trying to get the teams to match. (We were purple and gold) With other colors, there’s usually a pretty wide variety of the hues you can get, but there’s not much leniency for Purple. The company has one or two hues, and you pick light or dark. Our actual university color (Pantone 518) wasn’t supported by ANYONE, and every program had to just accept whatever color the uniform supplier had. This led to our football, volleyball, basketball, and baseball teams all wearing different shades of purple. There’s just not one particular hue that all companies seem to agree on.
Now when you say your colors were purple and gold, exactly what do you mean by “gold”…? ;>)
Lets not go there today.
Actual Gold! For a long time in the 80’s-90’s it was yellow, but we changed to an actual gold tone to make our colors… y’know… make sense.
Here’s a link to the athletic site: link
Pantone 7502, to be specific.
Not sure if this was posted before, but Clark Ruhland, who I have seen submit things in here before, has put together a VaTech Uniform Builder on his website. Has pretty much every uniform set, including helmets, jerseys, pants, and socks, going back to 1983. Enjoy
link
Love that silhouette on the player with the sewn-in pads! Looks just like someone I would expect to be at a good football match back then. Add a pipe and you’ve got Sherlock Holmes.
I learned yesterday on ESPN radio 101 in St. Louis that the Cardinals will NOT be releasing a commemorative championship team-signed baseball this year.
Sounds like some guy who just became a free agent won’t put his name on the ball for the money they’re offering him. He’s been WAY underpaid for a long time around here, so I’m not going to pull the “douchbag” tag regarding his position.
Rovell mentioned that winnie the pujols wanted big money to do it.
Paul is there (or will there be) a list of past Catch of the Day entries or is it one time only deal. I did not save the link from yesterday and cannot find the site. I am a fool. Can anybody help me out?
First sentence should read: Paul is there (or will there be) a list of past Catch of the Day entries or is it one time only deal?
No archive, no list — sorry. You snooze, you lose!
Of course, if someone else wants to maintain a list, that’s up to him/her.
Dudam can you look in your browser history? Should be in there if you went to it yesterday. In IE hit “favorites” (upper left) History and Thursday.
Or…www.annyas.com/screenshots
I tried that but I am at work. They clear the history daily because our software is rubbish and somehow the cookies and temporary files mess with some of the web based programs. Got the link,though. Thanks for the tip
I tried that but I am at work. They clear the history daily because our software is rubbish and somehow the cookies and temporary files mess with some of the web based programs. Got the link,though. Thanks for the tip
The Swindon Town kit article mentions that part of the fan animosity towards the kit was over its sponsor being The People, a newspaper that uncovered corruption in the club decades ago. It’s interesting that the fans harbor animosity towards the whistle-blower; I think the paper did them a favor by uncovering the corruption even if it meant a relegation. Although I wonder if the “corruption” is a euphemism for cheating, which would explain the fans animosity.
With the O’s updating the cartoon bird, here’s a really in-depth look at the previous incarnations:
link
Wow. That’s REALLY good.
Fabulous.
I’ll say.
Has there ever been a discussion on Uni Watch or elsewhere on what the orange splotch on the cartoon bird’s hat is supposed to be? If he’s supposed to be wearing the same hat that the team wears, then the orange splotch would obviously represent the cartoon bird’s own head, which would obviously be wearing another hat with the cartoon bird’s head, etc etc etc to infinity. But since you can’t get that detailed with stitching it just looks like an orange splotch.
The oddest thing though is the cartoon bird logo, despite the many variations over the years, wasn’t adjusted for the white and orange panel caps. The cartoon bird is still wearing a black hat with an orange brim on the panel caps. It would’ve made more sense to alter the logo for both the white and orange panel caps: the cartoon bird wearing a white panel cap ON the white panel cap, and wearing an orange panel cap ON the orange panel cap.
I’m sure the question of recursive cap logos has come up. Ultimately, most mascot cap logos are either recursive – wearing a cap with themselves wearing a cap with themselves wearing a cap etc – or they wear a unique cap without themselves on it, which means that the mascot isn’t actually wearing his tea
[sorry, typing error] … Isn’t actually wearing his team’s cap. See the Toledo Mudhens. Usually, I find that the second kind of mascot cap logo just makes me wish I could have the same cap the mascot is wearing, rather than the cap with the mascot. So I prefer the recursive variety, even when as with the O’s the recursive logo on the cap within the image is implied.
Supposedly, they’re keeping the “O’s” hat as an alternate. It would be neat to see the cartoon bird wearing that logo on his hat.
Now theres a real timewaster. I could spend all day comparing those.
I was looking at the eyes, most of the eyes are little pupils on a white background, but then theres one incarnation of the eyes were the pupils are huge and theres just a little crescent of white.
Then the hat bill, nicely defined in some of those, others its just an thick orange line. Beak thickness is another one.
Nice site – my “work-day productivity” just went in the crapper.
After seeing the white-paneled Brooks Robinson hat (1/2 way down), I guess I’m goona have to stop bitching about the stitching on the current New Era version (i.e using black thread on the white panels)…
Ahhh, now THAT was satisfying!
-Jet
That ND athletics center is nuts. Is that just for football or do all other athletes get to use it? It made my school’s center look 3rd world.
I walked through the U of Texas campus earlier this year – the athletic facilities are beyond ridiculous. I can only imagine they’re better than 95% of the world’s national sports facilities.
Some of the Gug is football-specific (locker room, equipment room, meeting and film rooms, offices). The weight room and adjacent conditioning areas are used by all Notre Dame varsity athletes. The adjacent indoor turf field and 300 meter athletics track are also used by the Notre Dame lacrosse teams (for early-season matches when the weather is poor) and the track team.
The Gug is so nuts, that I’d go as far as to say that the ND student-athletes are living just as well as (if not better than) some A-list celebrities.
but does any ND student get to use it…
or is it just for the *athletes*???
Student-athletes only at the Gug. Across the street from the Gug is the Rolfs Sports Recreation Center, one of two student recreation centers:
link
I have heard that the padres uniform will look something like their AAA Tucson affiliate
link
Good.
I could live with that.
But I’d really like that in sand. Or brown and orange.
The artist in me likes garish uniforms; that’s why I adopted this team lo those many years ago. Somebody who admired the St. Louis Browns could really whip up some nice duds for the Padres.
Me too, Walter! I just wish this team would stop this maddening lurch towards uni mediocrity
-Jet
i like the one in the middle
Thanks to Empty Netters for posting this picture of Penguins goaltender J.-S. Aubin, circa 2000.
link
Dem’s some ugly goalie pads.
Except the design draws your eyes to them… exactly where you, as a shooter, don’t want to be focussing. I call that exceptional pad design.
Too bad Caron couldn’t stop a beach ball….
or Aubin. Wow… did I swap goalies there or what?!?
ALL goalie pads that are not BROWN LEATHER are UGLY. So says this goalie dinosaur.
-Jet
Seriously? Nobody linked to the catch of the day in the comments yesterday? Not one favorite opening scene? I am asking a favor of the Uni Watch public. I made a mistake and I repent. Can anybody post a link?
here you go
link
Thanks!
I’m hearing this is supposed to be a “leaked” Marlins uniform, but to me it screams Chris Creamer concept taken seriously: link
not legit
This IS a concept from Chris Creamer’s forum
Just FYI,
In an article in today’s Houston Chronicle in re: Jim Crane’s purchase of the Astros, they casually mention that officials expect Selig to discuss with Crane how much money he’s going to want to move the Astros to the A.L. Sounds like it’s pretty much a done deal.
link
So unless Crane decides to rebrand the Astros to go along with the switch, expect to see the brick red softball jerseys of the Astros against the all red softball jerseys of the Angels and Rangers on a regular basis as they’ll likely be in the AL West, making it a division where 3 out of the 5 teams have red as a base color.
Of course, that also (likely) means expanded playoffs and an interleague series all the freakin’ time. Ugh.
Official posters launched for the 2012 Olympics by the best of British artistic talent.
link
Oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dear! :(
I think the kindest of the reader comments was “utter bilge.” Remarkably, historically, comprehensively godawful.
But kinda fun to see such thorough badness. Matches the logo.
kinda makes one pine for the lisa simpson fellatio poster
The best one there is the blue paint swirled haphazardly across the canvas.
And Mama said I couldn’t be an artist! I guess it’s ’cause I ain’t a bloody Brit.
Hey uniwatch, In relation to your Hurling jersey picture, here is a look at all of the counties jerseys
link
Loved the auto polo photo. What a crazy sport! Is that a Malachy Crunch they are performing.
Can anyone tell where they were playing this “sport”? It looks like it could have been the Polo Grounds(ironically).
Here is a site that tries to answer the question.
link
The site claims it is Hilltop Park – home of the Yankees in the early 1900s.
Hey guys, I just wrote an article for Bleacher Report grading each team’s alternate sweater and determine who had the best in a mini-tournament. Knowing you guys are Uni-centrics, I really think you’ll like the way I think about these. Here’s the link to the article.
link
I’d like to know your opinion on this analysis, especially Paul and Phil. Thanks in advance!
One could say the NHL has the worst alternate jerseys of any major sport. The vast majority are either BFBS, lack imagination, or appear to have been designed by Beavis & Butthead.
In my opinion, the only quality alternates in no particular order belong to the Capitals, Flames, Pens, and Canucks. I would include the Kings if they brought back the purple and gold.
Sorry, forgot to mention that it’s NHL
I have NO idea what this photo is about, and I don’t THINK it’s sports related, but it’s got Paul Lukas written all over it:
link
I’m guessing Ladies Auxillary. But of what? Masonic group? Church body? Ethnic organization? Whatever it is, there’s a great story of mid-20th-century America in that photo.
All I know is it was posted on facebook by a group “Growing Up In Arlington Heights” (IL), where, fittingly enough, I grew up. No further details were given.
“I like big bugs and I cannot lie”
Sometimes your comments really tic me off.
Aww, don’t let ’em get under your skin.
I am glad to read the column today. I glanced at it this morning before work. I have to go through all of those fabulous sports pictures.
Thanks Paul and Blair.
Ryan, thanks for the Ohio State early 30’s winged helmet find. Lew Hinchman is one of Ohio State’s better players in that era. He gets little recognition.
No problem, I was surprised to come across it and thought it was notable.
No photo but the TB Lightening have a working Tesla Coil hanging from the ceiling of of the St. Pete Times Forum.
Photo: link
Love those b&w photos today. Chilvers, get to colorising that hurler post-haste!
I’m not much of a basketball fan but those Wyoming unis are a great upgrade! Why not in brown though?
Loved the COTD! I was a PPG fan back when it came out due to my then 3-year old niece. Gonna have that great theme song stuck in my head now…”Powerpuffs save the day!”
Colorado wearing black helmets tonight for the first time since 1998.
came out in gold helmets for warmups too!
wish they were matte…dammit
Agreed. The shinyness really looks bad. Could have done a better job matching the gold to the jerseys, too.
The last and only other time the Buffs wore black lids (1998 vs Baylor for Folsom Field’s 75th Anniversary: link
Photos for those who can’t watch
link
link
Mr. Jedi54 is going to be so happy.
link
Well, at least black is a school color.
They are lovely, but I’m out on the Buffs since they jumped to the Cali 12.
Ray Emery G of the Chicago Blackhawks is wearing an old Reebok Ree-box jersey tonight.
New mask + Ree-box = link
Anyone watching USC vs Colorado? Something is written (looks like a few sentences) under Barkley’s “C” captain patch. What’s that?
Sure you’re not just looking at the mesh on his jersey?
link
‘Cause I’m not seeing anything else in this photo.
that is a pixture from warmups…next time usc gets on the field, i’ll check again
love to prove mothervilker wrong, but i don’t recall seeing anything on that jersey all evening
ok…seen several views of the jersey, and it looks like there is something written, but i think it’s the fabric and how it’s just sticking to the pads…i think it’s just folds
whatever it is, it hasn’t hindered him from throwing six TDs (so far)
Vilk, that must have been a pregame pic. There is clearly some stuff written in what appears to be cursive under Barkley’s C right now – watch the rest of the game, you will see it
That would require having ESPN.
I’ll look for some newer pics in the meantime.
I don’t think that’s a pregame pic. Look at the background: it looks like that ledge that has “Colorado” written on it.
(link)
Just checked Daylife: it’s a wire photo from tonight. It’s probably just the mesh, as Jim said.
note to colorado
don’t try any more fuckin field goals
Looks like you guys are right. No photos online have anything, must be the mesh. Need to get my eyes checked out.