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The Game

THE Game

By Phil Hecken

This post has been more than two months in the making. And it’s worth the wait. Unlike last weekend, when my guest author and I enjoyed a civilized discourse, today’s guest author likes to mix it up a bit. That’s right, it’s none other than Natty Bagger himself, Robert Marshall.

Now, friends, you know of Mr. Marshall’s obsession with B1G football (I mean, look at that ball, and poor, poor hapless Michigan — he doesn’t even have the sense to cover his nuts). Robert made all those.

You also know of Robert’s genius with bobbleheads (yeah, he made all those too)…even one of/for me (look, it moves) — and of course, you must know of the care and precision and love that goes into each and every bobble.

But did you ever wonder what happens to all that extra mold? And did you ever wonder where Mr. Marshall has been these past several months? ‘Twas a self-imposed hiatus that ends today as Michigan and Ohio State meet in The Game (with apologies to Conn). It began on Labor Day when Paul ran this column — and now — that genius infographic is finally ready for prime time.

Here’s Robert:

~~~

OSUMblues(sic)
by Robert Marshall

This is going to be a bit dryer then my usual writing, but do not be alarmed, my brain-pan is as dented as ever, but I want to be as succinct as possible. Has this not been a great college football season? Tons of great games, and conference champions will soon be crowned. No championship, not even a national title is more important to me then a Big Ten championship, and no game means more to me then the game against, as I should call them on this day, that team up north. Now I am not trying to say that the THE-scUM game is the best rivalry in the country, it is not, the best rivalry is the one you are a part of, but even those who are Big Ten detractors have to admit like most rivalry games, it is a helluva game every year no matter if the teams are #1 and #2 like they were in 2006 or not. So in that spirit I tried to make a sort of 3D infographic showing the history of the Big Ten through what would be important to any Ohio State or Michigan fan. The piece shows which the 13 teams (remember U of Chicago) won the conference, whether that team went on to win the Rose Bowl, and who won “the” game for every season. But there are a few extras as well, so let’s get down to it.

I wanted the piece to look like it was started in the 40’s, have a real retro feel, so I made my cherub sculpture to reflect that, and then I made my molds. Every time I would go to pour a bobble head, if I had a little extra plaster, I would pour some of cherubs for this project, which 4 years later is not completely finished, but close enough to show on this rivalry Saturday. Sometimes I would put bricks on them, or wrap them super tight just to give the figures some personality. As for the uniforms, again, I wanted it to have a 40’s feel, so I gave the two teams as much as a 40′ feel as possible. Michigan was easy, the home uniform has had few changes over the years except for colour shades, especially since the establishment of the winged helmet in 1938. The Buckeyes were trickier since I couldn’t use the Woody Hayes uniforms, but ultimately I decided more or less on a Bill Willis/Les Horvath era look. Obviously the team winning at home or on the road, effects which uniform the team is in. If the two teams did not play, the figures are in a green uniform to blend into the background. As with that other image, you can see here if the teams did not play, but still won the conference, despite being green, they still reflect the teams uniform, but without defeating each other, it is a shallow conference win, so again, they are allowed to recede into the background. You can also see in that image that if they tied like the 0-0 game in 1900, both uniforms are on the figure, if one team won the conference despite a tie, the team that won the conference’s uniform is shown because by virtue of the tie, they still accomplished their ultimate goal, and it also helps to show the conference winner with less confusion.

I needed to set the shelving so it would be sturdy, so it just made sense to group them in fours since there are four classes, and I started the timeline with cherubs depicting when the two teams first started (1879 & 1890) playing what would eventually morph into what we now think of as football in front of the lily white virginal roses. Next to that I show when all the Big Ten teams either established what we now call the Big Ten or joined it, and as you can see with the 1896 figure next to them the team that won the conference, in this case Wisconsin, gets a little nub above the heads of the game winner because that is ultimately more important then the one game. If the conference winner went to the Rose Bowl and won there is a red rose, a loss shows a pink rose.

Each player gets his “personality” from what happened in both the game and the season. Obviously the jersey number is the year, in this case 1933, and the score of the ball game with the winner listed first is on the base, this is from the 2006 1-2 match-up. If the player has a green base, they did not win the Big Ten, just “the” game. If the player has a blue base they were conference champions, outright or shared. If the base is gold a recognised national title was earned. In addition to the base, if a national title of some sort was earned, their heads are cocked upwards.

As for the Rose Bowl, if the team won the game, they are surrounded by red roses, if they lost pink roses. If the team was denied their spot in the Rose Bowl because of sanction, the old no repeat rule, or because they were in the national title game instead, they are given black mourning roses. If Ohio State beat Michigan and the Wolverines went on to play in the Rose anyway, then they stand on a bed of blue roses. If the opposite is true then Michigan stands on grey roses. White roses are used in addition to red and pink in 1901 and 1920 to show again each teams first Rose Bowl appearance. The final use of the roses is for stadium dedications–in 1922 for the Horseshoe, and 1927 for the Big House. You will notice that the roses do not wrap around the base, but the reason for this is after Michigan ruined the Ohio stadium dedication a horseshoe of yellow roses was painted in the stadium, and I believe they are still there today, they were when I was in school in the late 80’s.

I am sure by this time you have noticed that some of the faces are beat up, and there is of course a reason for that too. If the face has a scar, be it under blood or not, and I believe there are 22ish of these, the game directly effected if either team won the conference. if the player has one black eye, one of the teams was ranked in the top 5 at the time of the game, two black eyes and both teams were in the top 5. All of the figures have blue eyes unless they beat Notre Dame in a bowl game and ruined their end of the season, in this case you get green eyes. If the player is looking down the team either got a coach fired (Cooper) or lost (Bruce) a coach.

There are a couple of unique faces. One is for the 1950 “snow bowl” in Columbus when a freak snow storm hit. The buckeyes were given the choice of cancelling the game and going to Pasadena or playing it, and they chose to play, and Michigan won the game 9-3 without ever getting a first down earning the trip to Pasadena for themselves. The second unique face is on 2010, and I think we know why this is, last years vacated game, and you will notice that his head is pointed down, not only for the shame, but the loss of Tressel.

There are a few additions specifically of uni note. 1934 is wearing gold pants because of coach Schmidt’s famous “they put their pants on just like we do” line that started not only a 4 game winning streak that saw the Bucks outscore the Wolverines 112-0, but the now infamous gold pants issued to Ohio State players after victories. Next up, the winged helmet that Ohio State first wore in 1930, and Michigan adopted in 1938. I find it amusing that Michigan trademark was actually first worn years earlier by the Buckeyes, but there is similar payback in the other direction later, and you can see the silver and gold wings on the 1930 and 1938 helmets for the buckeyes and wolverines respectively. The final uniform acknowledgement is 1967 when Ohio first revealed their Buckeye leaf merit decals.

At the top of the piece is a row of white figures that are for future games. You will note that they are all cream coloured, and slightly green except the last one which is again lily white. The idea was that there are 150 figures for the first 150 meeting, and then the final figure was to be looking off into the future, but last years vacated game pretty much screwed that up.

I believe that sums everything up, but I will monitor the comments every so often today to answer any questions, except when the game is on, but before I wrap up there are a few things not on this “infographic”, but that is only because I have not figured out how to resolve them. The first of which is the colour barrier which Ohio state broke in 1929 with Dr. William M. Bell, and Michigan broke in 1932 with Willis Ward. I am thinking the resolution could be as easy a making the cherubs African-American, each team did win in their colour breaking year, but that seems a bit too easy.

I also want to include each teams Academic All Americans, 25 for Ohio and 17 for Michigan. You will notice that there is no inclusion of any individual players name, just the numbers for the years and the hope that you won in the year of your favourite or biggest players which in the case of Archie Griffin and Tommy Harmon is a fail. The “Griffin” image also shows Indiana LONE Big Ten title.

The final addition is the beginning of script Ohio, which was actually first performed by the Michigan band in 1932. While they did not do the moving script, it was in fact performed 4 years before The Best Damn Band In The Land performed it in 1936. I find it amusing that Michigan first performed the script and Ohio State first wore the wings, two images so iconic to the other schools. Again I have not figured out how to resolve this, what I want are small brass or metal instruments, preferably sousaphones obviously, but I would settle for any instrument really.

I have a second project that I have started working on as well. once again it will be in the old printer box style, but the compartments will be of different sizes, and you will see why. The box will house sections where “trophies” can be placed. While these are still in the sculpture state, and have not been poured, painted and attached to wood where applicable, you can see the beginning stages. Some of you will recognise some of them, and notice I have not made them all. You will also notice that there are some things in the lower right that I may also use. Not sure who will play for the squirrel and acorns, but the keg of beer will be for the Michigan State-Ohio State game since my brother graduated from MSU. In addition to the trophies, there are figures for all the Big Ten teams who you will be able to move around the box. I am open to any suggestions for how to handle games between teams who don’t play for an actual trophy. Obviously Buckeye games could have a nut as the trophy, but others are not as easy, so if anyone is aware of some interesting information about two schools that may be of use, I would indeed be interested.

On the way out, I am sure at least a few of you will be wondering if you can have or buy some of these cherubs so that you can have one for your favourite team, but these are not and will not be for sale. However, I am interested in trading for beat buttons from any team, maybe we can swap.

BEAT MICHIGAN!

~~~

Tremendous, tremendous stuff, Robert. Even though I’m *betting* on Michigan, I’ll be rooting for the scarlet & gray today.

~~~~~~~~~~

Stanford Glove Salute

Stanford’s Amateur Pacifist Costumes

We’re almost through with swooshie’s toy combat amateur pacifist costumes for this season (the Army/Navy game will feature both teams in surprisingly good-looking one-offs), but today Stanford takes on the Irish with their own pro combat uni. As you know, I hate the idea of one-offs, but some of them, based solely on how they look as a uniform (discounting such novel things like history, tradition and school colors) don’t look too bad. Unfortunately, Stanford ain’t one of ’em.

The helmet, which looks to be black or very dark gray with a red “S” at least comes in an attractive matte finish, and thick red stripe. Now, Stanford’s topper normally looks like this, even when they do their inane and trendy black for black’s sake uniforms. You think they may repurpose this new helmet for use with the BFBS togs down the line?

The rest of the “uniform” isn’t so hot. The jersey is a nice deep cardinal color (almost crimson/maroon), and the numbers appear to be gray outlined in white (or very light gray). That’s where the goodness ends. They’re sporting a monochrome cardinal uniform, with black socks, and a special number font — which reminds me a bit of the Texas Rangers font. NOB will be black (and unless there’s a lot of sunlight, probably unlikely at night), probably very hard to read, and the comp sleeves will match the pants stripes. Of course, in typical pro combat style, the pants stripes don’t terminate at the waist (God forbid), but end so another Stanford “S” can ride free on the hips.

Hey, if Superman ever needed a new costume, I got one for him. Seriously, though, I know that’s just a compression jersey, but…really? And of course, there are the gloves. Nike did a’ight this year with their toy combat unis, but this one seems almost like an afterthought. Not as bad as Georgia, but close. C+.

The only question now becomes whether adidas will up the ante, like they did in the Irish/Wolverines game, and provide Notre Dame with another one-off of their own, or a combination of the 9-10-11 uni, the new gold dome, or the Maryland-game one-off. Or maybe the Irish will actually look like the Irish. But that wouldn’t be any fun, would it? With so many other games (good games) today, this one might slip beneath your radar, but it’s an 8:00 pm (ET) start, and it’ll be on ABC.

~~~~~~~~~~

50 Years Ago This Week

50 Years Ago…This Weekend

Back again with Rick Pearson who is here to bring us his look at the featured ABC television college football matchup from 50 years ago. As always, Rick documented the game via his “kid cards”. Here’s Rick to tell us about it.

~~~

Nov. 25, 1961…Ohio State at Michigan

Wk 11 61 Kid Card

It’s Ohio State/Michigan Saturday! Believe it not, these actually were considered Rivalry Unis for the only game on TV today. … No one-game specials required to improve the situation by “adding something” or “recalling the past”. … The game didn’t need anything extra and–as the game program shows–remembering wasn’t a problem, either. … We talked about the Buckeye roads earlier this season, that the shoulder yoke striping was added, while the homes were pretty basic. … Those shoulder stripes harked back to an earlier road uni, btw; this one from 1955. … The exterior padding on the helmet changed as years progressed, first stopping part way down the back, then later extending the full length … Michigan? Hey, it’s Michigan. Maize and blue with winged helmets. … And, yes, the helmet numbers were maize. I got that wrong. … Still struck by how big the front looks without a modern facemask covering part of it. … Neither Maentz nor Perdue played pro football (I always guessed Perdue might have been a chicken heir, but never knew for sure). … Ohio State won big, 50-20.

~~~

Great job, as always, Rick. Now, let THE GAME begin…

~~~~~~~~~~

all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks

We have another new set of tweaks today.

If you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.

Remember, if possible, try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per tweak. You guys have been great at keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!

And so, lets begin:

~~~

We start with everyone’s favorite anonymous poster, The Hungry, Hungry Hipster, who has some tweaks for a tv station I’ve never seen…

Hi Phil,

I was looking at the NFL Network logo and I was curious what it would look like if some colors were swapped around. I thought it might look more balanced if the red panels in the football shape were moved from the bottom to the top and the blue panels from the top to the bottom.

I think the logo looks better this way, but I also made a tweak with alternating panels. I think I like this tweak the most. These aresmall adjustments but sometimes all it takes is a subtle change to make a big difference visually.

-HHH

~~~

Next up is Ben Miller, who has tweaked the Zips. Yes, you read that right. Question is, would Jim Vilk wear these?

Phil

The University of Akron Football team is well on its way to another 1 win season. Its been said look good, feel good; feel good, play good. They play on the field may not change but a least they will look good. Here is what I think the Akron Blue & Gold should be wearing.

Home

Road

Ben Miller

~~~

We close with Ruben Zendejas, who has an interesting concept…and a GREAT black & white photo for the colorizers to try their hand at:

Hey Phil,

I’m a big BYU fan and I love our classic uniforms, but i wouldn’t mind a one-off or a throwback now and then. I found this old photo from the 1920’s and thought it was interesting that they were using both shoulder yoke stripes and northwestern stripes. I made this as kind of a throw back uni. I also incorporated a couple different other logos from past eras in the gloves and helmet.

— Ruben

~~~

That’s it for today. Back with more tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~

Benchies Header

Benchies

by Rick Pearson

~~~

But it has a great snowball fight…

11-26-11 d-Marathon

And, here’s the full size.

~~~~~~~~~~

And that will do it for today — just about the greatest day in College Football there is — couple title games still up for grabs, tons of big games (aside from OSU/UM), like the Iron Bowl and the Civil War today…just a great day to enjoy the games. Oh, and UCLA will be wearing a new costume (all white) for their fantastic rivalry game against USC — in a game that used to be color vs. color — WTF?

Everyone have a fantastic Saturday.

~~~

“Paging Mr. Marshall ”“ we now need Globetrotters stirrups and Oswego hockey stirrups. Get to it.” — Jet

 
  
 
Comments (158)

    As cool as the whole bobblehead infographic thing is… the best part of today’s post is that black & white photo of BYU in the tweak section. I’m really curious about what colors were actually being used there.

    Also, GO BLUE!

    Yes, what are the colors in those old BYU uniforms? Blue, white, and _____ ?

    I like the yoke stripes, though the chevron shape is a bit visually disturbing.

    I doubt that BYU picture is from the 20’s. Has to be mid 30’s and later.

    Still an awesome picture.

    There was a post a few months ago that said/showed the jersey for BYU back then was Orange (from around 1947). I’ll have to dig through uni-watch again to find that. Love the throwback/modern look to the Cougars, Ruben.

    Rise and Shout!

    Found the post – April 26th 2011 – link

    “I was at my in-laws’ place over the weekend and saw a book about the history of BYU football,” says Eric Westover. “The first part was about when it was Brigham Young Academy, and there were some interesting photos. In this team portrait, some of the players appear to have their positions indicated on their uniforms. And in the 1940s, they added orange to their uniforms so ‘they could be seen easier.’ That didn’t last long.”

    link <– orange jerseys

    Agreed. I’ve never seen ESPN call OSU/UM “The Game” as much in years past as they did today…must be another attempt to market their “properties”

    Comrade, that there is just about the greatest thing ever. Blows away every bit of American folk art I can think of, and I love American folk art. About the only thing I can think of to compare is that one 15th century clock in Prague:

    link

    This needs to be in the Smothsonian someday! Which I say as a native Iowan and Minnesota alum, and therefore someone who absolutely loathes the Wolverines, Buckeyes, and their rivalry. Will this be available for viewing by pilgrims to your fair city?

    “Smithsonian.” Though I’m sure the Smothsonian would be happy to have this in its collection too.

    It continues to crack me up that the models for AmPac unis are buff skill players or buff CG mannequins. If they look stoopid on them, how dumb do they look on 312 pound linemen. Its like a fat guy wearing a Speedo at the beach.

    Wow! That bobblehead collection is outstanding. The details and research are phenomenal. Awesome.

    Sad that the Big Ten bent over backward to accommodate Ohio State a Michigan in the division alignment. Now we have ridiculous divisions, non-division opponents playing on the last weekend, and dumb annual cross-over “rivalries” that are mostly meaningless.

    The humorous thing that it has pretty much neutered the UM-OSU rivalry in the process. Hell, The Game isn’t even The Game in the Big Ten today. That would be Penn State-Wisconsin in Madison

    I fail to see how they neutered the rivalry. Yeah, tOSU kinda sucks this year, but what does that have to do with divisional alignments and rivalries?

    Besides that, football divisions have a long history of not making sense. Dallas isn’t exactly an eastern city, is it?

    What are they playing for today? Michigan has a shot to get an at-large BC$ bowl and Ohio State is playing to avoid a trip to the meineke car care bowl (if they play in a bowl at all)

    The Big Ten was set on putting UM & OSU in separate divisions so that they had the chance to meet in the CCG. Because of that, they couldn’t do the much more sensible “east-west” split. Instead they over-thought the process and made these crazy Legends and Leaders divisions, where Wisconsin doesn’t even play Iowa or nearby Northwestern every year.

    And of course we have to have Michigan and Ohio State every year, so they needed protected cross-rivalries. So now they have such riveting annual matchups like Indiana-Michigan State and Purdue-Iowa. Yawn.

    BUT WAIT! Michigan and Ohio State HAVE to play on the last weekend. They clearly made that known when both schools and fan bases threw a hissy fit when the idea of playing earlier was tossed around. So now you have two games between non-division teams on the final weekend. That is just stupid.

    So because you have these protected rivalries, you can only cycle through two teams per season in the other division. This causes teams to take longer to visit or host a non-division opponent that isn’t a protected crossover. The solution for this problem is apparently to just expand the conference schedule to 9 games in 2015. Who cares that some teams will have 5 home conference games and some will have 4? We have to make sure Michigan and Ohio State are taken care of

    Michigan & Ohio State usually played for a trip to the Rose Bowl. I don’t see why it was so preposterous for them to usually play for a trip to the CCG. The SEC is doing just fine this year with one division being stronger than the other.

    Indiana
    Michigan
    Michigan State
    Ohio State
    Penn State
    Purdue

    Illinois
    Iowa
    Minnesota
    Nebraska
    Northwestern
    Wisconsin

    5 against your division opponents, 3 against cycling non-division opponents

    Final weekend matchups:

    Illinois – Northwestern
    Indiana – Purdue
    Iowa – Nebraska
    Michigan – Ohio State
    Michigan State – Penn State
    Minnesota – Wisconsin

    I’ve been waiting to see this project unveiled for a long time… and what a magnificent piece it is! Great job, O stirruped one.

    Mr. Marshall, I admire the amount of work you’ve put in, and envy your dedication and ambition. That’s a ton of information to keep track of and put together, not to mention the work on the physical objects.

    Seeing that, it reminds me how much I appreciate the history of conferences like the Big Ten and the Ivy League. A Conference USA version just wouldn’t cut it.

    Excellent job Mr. Marshall. When are you making the Bucket Game version? haha.

    Speaking of, I’m about to head out to Manhattan for one last afternoon with my sister here in NYC and a “Northwestern bar” (Go ‘Cats, beat the Spartans) but unfortunately, I’ll only be able to watch the begining of the IU/PU game before we have to head to LaGuardia and hop on a flight back to Chicago.

    So don’t expect the Hoosier tracker to be updated until tonight, well after the Hoosiers defend the Rock and keep the Bucket.

    Great job Robert. I looked forward to this column for the past few weeks. A lot of history of both teams and even the winged helmet history.

    So many cool details in these.

    Go Buckeyes Beat Michigan.

    Ricko, You know how I love the kid cards. great job and some nice history there about my favorite Ohio State uniform. The era when they wore those away unis with shoulder yokes.

    Just a FYI to Ricko, the OSU’s red coloring on the center of their helmets was the result of the exterior padding extending which was due a change of helmet manufacturers. Rawlings produced the version that stopped midway down the back of the helmet while MacGregor produced the version that went all the way down the back of the helmet.
    Helmet Hut has a few of great articles about it here.
    link
    link
    link

    Thanks. Good to make that clear. I guess I did make it sound like an aesthetic decision, didn’t I.

    Should have said, “Apparently they changed suppliers” cuz I think the padding around the face might have been different, too.

    Somewhere I have clipping of an ad for that MacGregor helmet (from The Sporting News, I think) that offers a really great look at it…and I can’t find the dang thing.

    Interestingly, Ohio State played Duke in 1959. Duke had the padded helmets. Later on that season at least one Buckeye helmet had a strip of padding. Then in 1960 Ohio State team wore padding.

    Never mind the bobbleheads. Never mind the stirrups. By clicking on the Youtube link, I saw Mr. Marshall’s other videos, and in one of them the soundtrack is by the band FU MANCHU.

    Mr. Marshall has just proven himself to be cool beyond measure.

    -Jet (cranking “King of the Road”)

    that was nothing personal against indiana, just variety. if anything i spent the most time agonizing over how to do their uniform. ultimately i gave them a white jersey because you wear white at home in hoops, and clearly indiana doesn’t play football.

    thank you for the nice comments everyone. there was a lot more i wanted to talk about, but i didn’t want to write a book, it was long enough as is. not to mention i kept phil up late enough last night giving to him piece by piece because i was working all week.

    and the reason for the hiatus was exemplified in the comments today, i can ruin my day by just responding to numbskullery, which i refuse to day on my third favourite day of the year.

    so i bought 5 dozen eggs and a keg of schlitz for a keg n egger this morning, but i forgot to tell people. so i guess i have to get my cool hand luke on.

    okay, it is almost game time, i’ll check in later, but thanks again everyone. and to any scUM out there, good luck, i only hate you my brother for 3 hours, which starts now, so eat a sausage and cram it with walnuts.

    With rumors abounding that Urban Meyer will be the next Ohio State coach. I am hoping the Buckeyes get the traditional and better looking gray sleeves back.
    It has been said that Nike changed it because It was a result of nike going to the “new cut, tight uniform jersey.” The old strip is too wide to fit with the way the material pieces are stitched together in the current jersey.

    You mean Nike with all their ingenuity and being able to create all kinds of uniforms can not put the old gray sleeves back on?
    link

    I have a thread on an Ohio State board about this.
    link

    If SMU or Adidas can use a stripe pattern like that as well as others, why doesn’t nike do it?

    That sounds like BS to me. My memory tells me that they made the switch just to have the same stripe pattern on everything.

    Nike also does the Iowa Hawkeyes jerseys. The Steeler-clone stripes are just as wide as the old Buckeyes stripes, aren’t they?

    Thanks for reminding me of Iowa. My quote in my posts was made by a guy who had the excuse about the material.

    Nike does do Iowa’s jersey, but Iowa uses a different jersey cut than what Ohio State is using. I’m not sure how big of a deal that makes.

    Great article, Mr. Marshall!
    It was cool to see the Chicago bobblehead at the end(great uniform he was wearing!). It’s easy to forget that U of C was original Big Ten.

    Comrade Marshall is a certifiable character and an extraordinary talent with a gift for making things fun.

    We should all be so lucky.

    Swear to God, I don’t think that Nike, given totally free reign, will ever make extensive use of typical straight line stripes. I honestly believe they believe it would advance adidas’ branding…or at least subtract from the platform they’re advancing.

    They opt for more “organic” shapes, time after time after time.

    All you have to do is look at the totality of their efforts to see what’s obviously NOT there.

    I know. Thing is Nike could do it if they tried. I know sleeves are disappearing, but the gray sleeves looked better and had tradition. Going back to the late 1940’s.

    President? Why aim so low? That’d be a waste of talent. Moose is about the only person I would actually trust to rule well and wisely as emperor of the world. Man’s a modern-day Aurelius, is what it is.

    @Robert Marshall: the bobbleheads are great, all the little details of each uni are fantastic and this is a great labor of love. Regarding the breaking of the color barrier years, why not just color the bobbleheads to be black guys, yes it’s “easy” but what’s the alternative?, BFBS unis?, a black logo on the helmet/jersey, a half cauc/half AA figure?, maybe it could be the regular figure eating a B/W cookie? some other innocuous detail that might be overlooked unless you specifically point it out? I understand this is your project and yours alone but “too easy” is a cop-out in this case. Thanks for sharing this with us and I hope to see the finished product.

    On a side note, the NBA D-League had their opening night last night. The Dakota Wizards debuted new uniforms and a new color scheme, going from their old purple/black look to a new blue and yellow style- probably due to their change in NBA affiliation; they are now affiliated with the Warriors, not the Wizards/Kings.

    Also, the new franchise up in Canton, OH (the Canton Charge) debuted their new yellow uniforms last night at home. Look a bit similar to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, but no big deal.

    Wizards old jerseys- link

    Wizards new jerseys- link

    Canton new uni’s- link

    Cool. Foggy/rainy/misty at Northwestern for Michigan State.
    Today’s Gloom Game.
    So far, anyway.

    Musta been that kinda day a long time ago for a certain Notre Dame game.
    “Outlined against a gray November sky…”

    I know, I know, was an “October sky” (not to be confused with the movie about Homer Hickam and the Rocket Boys).

    And it was “blue-gray”, too…

    “The Four Horsemen” by Grantland Rice, New York Herald Tribune, 18 October 1924

    Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.

    Saw some of that on the Big Ten network.

    I know purple is frowned upon in this establishment, but I love Northwestern’s version of it.

    Saw this article. Don’t care about punters or hair (although it was a good cause)…What does interest me is the helmet. I am almost positive this is one of the mysterious Simpson Prototypes that Austin Collier was wearing during preseason. At first I suspected it was a Schutt, but their was no indention by the ear hole and it was too circular. I thought maybe Zenith because of the odd shaped back but their were no vent holes. Then I saw the mask was put on by a unique circular hook up. I would like to see the helmet and know more about it, but it has not really been seen up close. And is the Simpson Football helmet going to acutally happen or is it just forever a Colts prototype?

    link

    you know what the best part of the game is?

    michigan and THE look like…well, michigan and OSU

    That’s true.

    Thank goodness UCLA is going all-white today to remind us that a rivalry game should be about wearing something you’ve never worn in the TV era (when people other than those at the game actually saw the unis) to stay true the real mission of an athletic department: Marketing Your Supplier.

    Noticed some of the Wolverines have the block M above the NOB still and I swear I saw one of the Michigan players without the HUGE unnecessary flag patch on the left chest. Also, the helmet numbers are redundant.

    The Michigan helmet numerals are beyond redundant – they clutter the simplicity and uniqueness of the Wolverines’ winged helmet. OK for the “fauxback” game against Notre Dame, an abomination when worn full time.

    Too much, it almost speaks to some kind of desperation – what kind it is I can not discern ….

    There are complaints when a team doesn’t wear school colors. Understandable. Then there are complaints when a team DOES wear school colors. Why? Is there a middle ground?

    Absolutely outstanding, Robert! I could not have enjoyed today’s piece more. Bravo!

    Enjoy the big game.

    Grey Cup Weekend!

    link

    A funny story out of Vancouver for those of you who recognize the names Joe Kapp and Angelo Mosca

    link

    link

    Grey Cup is tomorrow – I did a preview here two years ago (Saskatchewan vs. Montreal, the 13th man game), I didn’t do one last year because it was a rematch, and this year I am SLAMMED at work so this post is as good as it gets.

    It’s B.C. versus Winnipeg, I’d love to see the Bombers come out in their Dieter-Brock era throwbacks but it probably won’t happen

    link

    The best reason to watch the game will be to get a look at the renovated BC Place stadium. Last time you saw it was at the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, since then they ripped it apart and put a new retractable roof on.

    link

    Finally: the Vanier Cup was last night, the McMaster Marauders beat the Laval Rouge et Or to win their first Vanier Cup. I didn’t even know the game was happening until it was over, so no preview. Here’s some pictures:

    link

    dang, mike — was sorta hopin’ you could reprise the fantastic coupe grey stuff you’ve done the past couple years

    and this…the toughest chicano(!) REALLY?

    how long ago was this? july 30, 1970

    wow

    Noticed that on that photo before. Looks like it’s there on his right arm and either gone or twisted way around back on his left.

    i think bo said it best when he lost to earl bruce in 1987 the week after he got fired but was still allowed to coach against michigan. “i always hate losing to ohio state, but i didn’t mind so much today.” ohip state brought shame to the conference, michigan righted a wrong by hiring a no nonsense smash-mouth coach, and braxton couldn’t hit an open receiver to save his life, most importantly in that last drive that would have won the game. it was heartbreaking, but congrats michigan on a nice win, and restoring some life back into the rivalry, after two straight 10 year periods of one or the other dominating, let’s hope we can have another 10 years war type situation. having said that, lose the helmet numbers, and if you come up lame against houston in the sugar bowl and embarrass us, and i will personally punch every wolveine i can get my hands on in the buck-sack.

    I agree. The helmet numbers just look awful, especially since they aren’t the same color as the wings (as noted by a fellow Uniwatcher last week).

    I thought that too when I first saw them, but I think they are a strange shade of gray. They may have a green tint to them though.

    I don’t think it’s gray. The contrast of the silver wings makes it pretty obvious that it’s not gray. I still think it’s an army green color.

    My first thoughts when seeing today’s Oregon unis were “Split Pea Soup” Green. No matter what the team may be calling them, they are disgusting looking. With White pants or Gold pants – maybe bearable, but the monochrome Split Pea Green look makes them unbearable.

    The Oregon Ducks’ uni carnival is amusing at times, innovative at others, and disgusting too often. What is most disturbing is that the “Civil War” game tends to intro unis that will be widely used later down the road. Let’s hope the Split Pea Greens aren’t being intro’ed today for wider use ….

    link
    All the photos I’ve found it just looks like the normal green uni. Watching on TV it looks completely different.

    it IS the normal uni

    all the green (except for the electric green they wore in week 5) in the stands looks like that…something’s fucked up with the tv broadcast

    are we all seeing it in HD? maybe that’s the problem

    I’ve been waiting to see this, since Paul first posted Robert’s project. It is amazing. I’m not a B1G fan, but I would agree that today’s game is one of the best each year. The project is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen (as it relates to the game and college football).

    The care and love that goes into a project like this shows.

    Robert: you’ve inspired me. I want to create my own molds to pour plaster. What’s the best way to get started (or even point me in the direction for more info…that would be very much appreciated).

    keith, i am more then happy to help, but a quick warning, mold making rubber is very very expensive. i use a company located in the old stockyards of chicago called eager plastics, and yes they ship. i use a product by smoothon, the last batch i bought was vytaflex, but that is not my usual choice, but it more or less acted like smoothon that i had used before. i can call the company to find out the product i used in the past(rpmarshallart @ gmail), and if you want i would be happy to give you tips on pouring etc, but it isn’t rocket science either.

    you can mold over anything you want, or you can make your own sculptures, if you do that you want to use a plastilla clay, or a like product, it never dries, and comes in various degrees of firmness.

    as for the plaster, i just use 20ish pound bags of usg molding plaster, or whatever i can find at the giant lot hardware store, it works just fine, you don’t need to use fancy and expensive art plasters. you will ned to find out the proper slurry to fit your needs, and learn how to work out bubbles etc, but agin, no rocket science here.

    for paints you can use enamel or acrylic, both work, and both help make your end sculptures stronger, and i do usually use a clear coat that has uv protectors etc, like golden’s msa varnish, but there re plenty of good ones.

    any more questions and i would be happy to help. the first time paul posted the bobble stuff i did a little how to if you want to start with that i am sure it can be found somehow, but that is more or less the run down. i taught a class on this to some kids at KCAI this summer, and they picked it up pretty quick so i am sure you can too.

    again, i would be happy to help anyone who wants to get into mold making, please feel free to contact me.

    I was just posting the link for the convenience of anyone who wanted to see it.

    And let me also echo everyone else’s sentiments about how awesome the whole project is. Wow!

    I am certainly inspired to think about various DIY projects I could easily see myself undertaking.

    Also, just to let you know, I received the Padres & Astros stirrups the other day. Thanks!

    To go further, it looks like the compression sleeves will have stripes judging from the photo. If so, will this be the first time in a long time (if not ever) that the Bruins have worn sleeve stripes? And what about that rumored USC version of link? Is that still on?

    Here’s the jersey UCLA will be wearing tonight:

    link

    I guess we’ll see what the white helmets look like tonight. My guess is we go away from the script UCLA since it’s on the jersey and pants, and use the “B” that our Baseball team uses.

    so…

    no ucla stripes (loops) on the ucla jerseys at all

    three stripes didn’t even TRY

    and the truncated pants stripe a la nike

    they can all go fuck themselves

    From the article headline:

    “adidas, UCLA to Debut New White Uniforms Tonight”

    I think putting adidas in the headline ahead of UCLA is the definition of logo creep.

    Alabama have great, classic uniforms. I know they’re plain, but they I think they’re underrated. Gotta dig the TV numbers on the helmets and the clean look of the numbers on the jersey.

    Having been privileged enough to see the rpm osu/um display in person I have to say it is one amazing piece of artwork. I owe you a beat button or three marshall.

    Owing to a variety of circumstances, I didn’t check in on the site today until about 20 mins. ago. WOW — what amazing content!

    Big congrats to RPM and L.I. Phil. Today’s entry was definitely a milestone in Uni Watch history.

    Here’s the jersey UCLA will be wearing tonight:

    link

    You know, there are lots of newfangled uni details that I don’t like, but I get why other people might like them. But the shortened pants striping? I don’t get that at all. Just looks like a mistake.

    I just can’t get into compression sleeves with stripes. It’s no doubt a creative solution, but I just think it’s ugly.

    Well, at least it’s not like they originated a certain style sleeve striping/loop or anything, and have been wearing it for, what, almost 60 years now.

    Yes, yes, I know, there was a period during the mesh/schimmel era when their whites had no striping or TVs, just numbers front and back. I didn’t just got off the boat.

    The only reason for the shortened pants striping is this: the Adidas pants have a mesh panel that wraps from both sides to the back, just above the seat. The only way you notice the mesh is if you’re close to the player.

    Why they can’t extend the stripes all the way (maybe by screening the stripes on the mesh) is beyond me. It would seem they’re trying to make this form of striping cool and trendy as opposed to going to the effort to make the stripe look more traditional.

    I, too, checked in late today. That’s some genius stuff there, Robert!

    Next up is Ben Miller, who has tweaked the Zips. Yes, you read that right. Question is, would Jim Vilk wear these?
    I sure would. Those are light years ahead of what the Zippers are wearing now.

    Everyone else involved in today’s post, take a bow. Excellent stuff all around, fellas.

    Oh, and what’s worse than Miami’s template?
    link
    Thanks for nothing, Old Dominion University.

    Tried this once and it disappeared, so if it shows up later, sorry for the repost…

    That is some genius work, Robert! Fantastic.

    Next up is Ben Miller, who has tweaked the Zips. Yes, you read that right. Question is, would Jim Vilk wear these?
    I sure would. That’s light years better than what the Zippers are wearing now.

    Everyone else involved in today’s post, take a bow. Excellent stuff all around, fellas.

    Oh, and what’s worse than Miami’s template?
    link
    A BFBS version of it. Thanks for nothing, Old Dominion University.

    Going out on a positive note, link

    ok, sweet…you got the &1 already

    should be an early night

    and i need it after the 4:00 am night last night

    That’s FCS. Still gotta find an FBS &1.

    As if the Ducks don’t have enough money rolling in…they have to have a sponsor for the mascot doing pushups?
    link

    wow…most pro combat unis look worse in their darkened nike photo studios

    stanford’s look worse than that

    this would be a close runner-up for the &1 if the irish didn’t look so damn good

    I don’t know, looks better to me than many of the Oregon combos. But compared to what they could/should be wearing, it’s pretty depressing.

    Yeah, I don’t think Stanford looks all that bad tonight. Obviously not as good as their standard uni, but not terrible.

    What’s up with the 12 inches of whitespace between the numbers and the back of the neck on the Irish? There’s enough space for a SFNOB (stacked full name on back).

    I don’t what’s with designers.

    Stripes on the compression sleeves could stand to be higher, too, more around the bicep and not so much like trim at the bottom of the sleeve.

    (Also, check out the UCLA players wearing white tights. With the truncated pants stripes it really looks like bicycle shorts, doesn’t it.)

    to those who have checked in later, and commented, i have been putting together the blue tree as i watch the games and pineapple is making some leftover soup, but thank you for the comments, it was a fun little project, and i am glad to see the work is appreciated.

    and as i have said above, to anyone who wants to get into mold making i would be more then happy to help point you in the right direction for materials, and will be happy to advise you. the whole process can be at time frustrating, but it is also very fun.

    it takes a pretty bad uniform to make me root notre dame, but go irish! well at least cover the number, bunyan and galley boy are killing me at the window.

    I think MSU also added gold touches to their midfield logo and the SEC logos.

    Were the numbers screened on as well? Perhaps Adidas could also use that gold color for UCLA and Notre Dame next season.

    Washington Capitals debuted (I think?) their old Winter Classic jerseys, reprised as an away-only alternate. Notice how the (normal) helmet decals result in a mish-mash of old and new.
    link
    Contrast this with, for example, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs have two distinct blue helmets, with a different maple leaf corresponding to the regular or 1967 alternate jersey. Then again, the Capitals are the only team with an explicitly “away only” alternate, so it must be nice not to double the helmet load (and make that much more traveling luggage) unnecessarily.

    The whole project is pretty unbelievable. The detail, the creativity, and the incredible amount of time taken to get to this point.

    Also, not a hint of bias at any point.

    Great job moose.

    The UCLA jersey tops for tonight are not made with the TechFit (A.K.A. super-stretchy) fabric. Helmet is a white shell with a navy/UCLA Gold/navy stripe that stops about 5/6-7/8 of the way down the back, kinda like Virginia Tech, but cleaner. Navy script “UCLA” on the lids, with a navy facemask and gold helmet numbers in that really cool font shadowed in navy.

    It looks like the Bruins players have more sense than tonight’s Stanford players when it comes to the compression shirts. Overall? The uniform is actually a lot sexier than I thought it would be, but those pant stripes are a fucking joke.

    The promo photo suggests that the jersey is constructed in the same way the Techfit jerseys are, presenting the same problem with putting UCLA stripes on them. As we’ve discussed on the board, Nike jerseys seem better able to handle the stripes, making next year’s Colts jerseys a candidate for an upgrade without needing a design change.

    UCLA’s unis look dumb.
    On them.
    Would be a GREAT look for Navy, though, should they ever depart from their traditional look full-time.
    Very “dress whites” inspired. Would a phenomenal Navy look.

    Navy, did, after all, wear this at one time…
    link

    Imagine Navy in that UCLA uni..but with non-truncated helmet and pants stripes and this logo on the helmets.
    (The “N” adjusted on the left side, of course)…
    link

    This Michigan alum LOVES Robert’s work on this project. Really amazing.

    I do take issue, however, with the 1973 figure. Ohio did not win the Big 10 championship on account of the tie. The title, in fact, was shared. Ohio won the trip to the Rose Bowl on the controversial vote of the AD’s, but both schools were Big 10 champions that season, and are noted as such by the Big 10.

    Thus, the figure should be split-colored, shouldn’t it?

    Go Blue.

    In response to Kevin Hastings

    You read my mind, that uni makes a pretty good alternate, for San Diego State.

    It’s the main problem I have with these pro combat uniforms. These teams become anonymous, specifically ucla amd Stanford tonight.

    lesse…

    USC is kicking the everlivingshit out of ucla, in their stormtrooper costumes…

    but ucla is playing for the pac-12 title next weekend and a shot at the rose…with a .500 record

    since they already clinched, this game is meaningless, so i don’t quite give ucla the complete grief they should be getting

    but with all these conference champeenship games and BCS bullshit (possible rematch for the BCS title? sure, why not)

    or we could have houston play LSU…since they’re both undefeated

    of course, georgia might have something to say about that, although i’d expect LSU to destroy them next weekend…and bama, who BARELY lost to LSU, yet is clearly the second best team in the country, sits home, out of the SEC title game, and probably has nothing more to do than await an invitation to new orleans for the BCS bowl

    this is really, REALLY…just a shit system we have gotten ourselves into, and it’s only going to get worse

    is it still too late to go back to the way it was?

    you take the title game to seriously, it is just a bowl that is supposed to try to pit the best two teams against each other rather then have them in separate games like it was before. i didn’t mind it that way, and i don’t mind it so much this way, but to say it will only be worse in the future is false. clearly the ncaa is moving away from controlling the big 5 bowls, and has chosen to concentrate on one thing 1v2. what does that mean, a return to the old bowl system with a plus one game. what will that get you? new years bowl games. so like i have told you and the other CorC’ers, rather then concentrate on why the system is half empty look at why it is 1/2 full.

    all of that being said, i don’t care who the national champion is, it seems we concern ourselves with that more and more every year as people won’t shut their complaint holes and just appreciate college football for what it is, a regional game. let alabama play lsu, who cares, it might be a great game and probablly does have the best teams. we will still have out conference champions and some great bowls like we do every year, that’s cool by me.

    The game isn’t totally meaningless, though. If UCLA loses to Oregon in the Pac-12 title game next week (a win would be approximately the biggest upset in college ball this year), the Bruins will be 6-7 and technically ineligible to play in a bowl. The Pac-12 will have to petition the NCAA to allow UCLA to claim one of its bowl slots, a petition which will probably be granted, but let’s say there’s an outside shot it won’t. Seems like incentive enough to not lose by 50 and get shut out by my crosstown rival.

    And seriously, UCLA-USC should be closer than this mess was no matter the circumstances for either team.

    And since that last comment didn’t end up where I wanted it…uh, yeah…that was a response to both Phil AND Robert…

    if that’s the game jim, fine. i don’t think they are the two best, but sure, why not. unless of course i want to see a good game, then okie state(if they win) is a better choice then houston to have a claim to jump bama. then again of all the bowls, the title game in many years, this being one of them, is up there with the sun bowl for my interest. houston has about the same chance as va-tech that’s for sure. best game is bama, fairest game is debatable.

    most importantly, of all those bama-lsu is the best uni match-up for sure.

    I love this OSU/Michigan bobblehead infobox. So much information in there, and in a beautiful format too. This belongs in a museum! The college football hall of fame would be perfect. Great work, sir.

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