Super Bowl Was Super-Uni-Riffic After All

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Yesterday I opined that Sunday night’s game “wasn’t exactly the most uni-notable Super Bowl.” But that comment is now in serious need of revision, because reader Ryan Dunsmore has spotted something we all missed — something that instantly catapults Super Bowl XLVI into the uni-verse’s most rarefied air.

Dunsmore’s find is shown in the screen shot above. Do you see what he saw?

Having trouble? Here, let me highlight it for you.

That’s Pats offensive guard Logan Mankins. As you can see there, the Flying Elvis decal on his helmet had a mustache — a very personal bit of customization for Mankins, who sports a similar mustache himself.

Allow me to anticipate some of the questions that may now be forming in your head:

Come on, couldn’t that just be a shadow, or even a Photoshop job?
I wondered that too, but the Elvis ’stache is plainly visible in this Getty photo. It’s the real deal, kids.

Did he also have the mustache on the other side of his helmet?
Good question. I’ve only been able to find one photo that shows his helmet from the other side, and it’s inconclusive . If anyone DVR’d the game, feel free to spend a few hours poring over the footage so we can get the full scoop.

Had he been wearing the mustache prior to the Super Bowl?
From what I can tell, no — but I can’t tell all that much. Offensive linemen tend not to be heavily photographed, so it’s hard to put together a game-by-game photo log on Mankins (much less to do so while focusing exclusively on the left side of his helmet). But he was definitely ’stache-free on Dec. 11 and back in the preseason. That isn’t saying much, but it’s a start.

Have you checked with the Pats?
Not yet, although I plan to make some calls later today. Frankly, I’m not optimistic — a team that just suffered a last-minute Super Bowl loss probably won’t look too kindly on inquiries regarding uniform minutiae. But I’ll try.

How the hell did this Ryan Dunsmore guy spot this anyway?
“I just noticed it,” he says. “I catch the strangest details in every game I watch, much to the chagrin of my family and friends. When its Uni Watch-worthy, I usually take a photo with my iPhone and it comes out poorly. But this time it came out really well.”

Nicely done, Ryan. Congrats on a sensational find — one that will go down in Super Bowl and Uni Watch history.

Meanwhile, what shall we call this little episode — Logan’s Fun? Mankins’ Manchu? The Flying Fu? The floor, dear readers, is open.

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

In honor of the Giants’ victory on Sunday, here’s a nice selection of terrific Giants outerwear — all from different suppliers! Here we have jackets from Pro Player, NFL Gameday by Turbo Sportswear, Apex, Nike, Starter, and a cheesy women’s sweatsuit from an unknown maker.

Not a Giants fan? Here are the rest of this week’s eBay finds:

• (Gasp).

• Hmmm, sure looks like Ted Williams on this New York Baseball Giants patch, eh?

• Man, this 1980s NFL calculator watch (“Your favorite team insignia here!”) is too cool.

• Deck out your fridge NHL-style with this set of 1970s NHL logo magnets!

• Toast your favorite team with this 1970s NFL “Wall Decor & Coaster Set,” though I don’t see where a wall has anything to do with them. Maybe you hang them up..?

• Converse apparently made Phil Esposito “Street Hockey Shoes” in the 1970s. Boy was I good at that game.

• Nothing says “sixth grade in the 1970s” quite like this NFL pencil pouch.

• And if you’re keeping your pencils in an NFL pouch, you may as well sharpen them with this Steelers helmet pencil sharpener.

• Nice lot of team issued NFL and MLB stickers here. And you can’t beat these 1970s MLB Big Signs, either.

Seen something on eBay or Etsy (or anywhere else) that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.

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Super Bowl Roundup: Got lots of submissions yesterday relating to readers’ Super Bowl parties, post-Super Bowl fallout, and so on, so we may as well put them all in one place:

• Alberto Sánchez threw a Super Bowl party in Mexico City. He liked Friday’s post about Nick Schiavo’s DIY gridiron, so he made some stencils and spray-painted some logos near his back-yard grill. “But what we’re really proud of is this,” he says. “We have a huge wall painting in a party room in the house, depicting some of the most famous Mexican film stars. We replaced some of the faces with Super Bowl-appropriate heads.”

• Steve Speicher DIY’d himself an Eli Manning jersey for the big game. “I picked up a new plain white tee and some red acrylic paint,” he says. “I spent some time getting the design down in Photoshop in order to make stencils, and then painted the shirt on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.”

• Dan Gustafson sent along an absolutely sensational infographic on Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks.

• Andy VanPelt saw these Eli and Tom paper cutout thingies on a co-worker’s desk yesterday. “They have stats printed on the back and have a penny taped to the bottom to keep them upright,” he says. “No idea where they’re from, though.”

• Alan Kreit reports that Brian Boyle of the Rangers is a Pats fan, but he apparently lost a Super Bowl bet.

• James Huening’s family made a football-shaped cake for the game. “My insistence on mixing in vanilla frosting with the chocolate fudge frosting to give it a more realistic pigskin color was perhaps a bit misguided, as we let the kids do the decorating,” he says. “Let’s just say they were not quite as interested in mimicking an NFL football as I was.

• Several readers pointed out that Danny Woodhead’s hair was sticking through his helmet vent. But only Aaron McHargue made the connection between Woodhead and Madonna, who also had some hair poking out where it didn’t belong.

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Membership update: A new batch of designs has been added to the membership card gallery (including Robert Wheeler’s gorgeous Lakers throwback design, shown at right). The printed/laminated versions of these cards should mail out by the end of the week.

As always, you can get your own membership card — and people who are already members can get stickers based on their card designs — here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: If you skip ahead to the 21:20 mark of this podcast, you’ll hear Steve Johnson of the Bills revealing that the team will be adding blue pants to the rotation next season (big thanks to Buddy Walker). ”¦ Also from Buddy: “Jarnell Stokes, who joined the Tennessee basketball team in January, has such large feet (size 20) that he has to wear a black pair of shoes while everyone else wears white. Also, the SEC logo beneath the collar has been missing from his jersey.” … The Braves have finally announced the alternate uniform we all knew about already. … While researching something else, I came across Wikipedia’s very interesting page on the rules and history of NFL television coverage. Lots of good info in there — recommended. … Always fun to look at those crazy Marquette basketball uniforms from years past. … New soccer kits for Canada (from Sean Kautzman). … Almost there, but I’m not celebrating until they make it official. … “Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, UCLA head gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field invited all fans to dress up like their favorite superhero,” says Erkki Corpuz. “The visiting team — Stanford — took her up on it.” … Remember when the Wizards misspelled Andray Blatche’s name last year? Here’s a clever fan who’s honored that jersey typo with the team’s new jersey (from William Yurasko). … People keep “discovering” that Giants punter/holder Steve Weatherford wears his wedding ring on the field, even though I wrote about it months ago (from Mark Kapolowitz). … Another college baseball team with very nice striped stirrups: Southeastern (from Stephen Davis). … Greg Riffenbugh has written an open wish-list letter to Nike’s NFL division. … Wow — doesn’t get much purdier than this (thanks, Moose). … Darren Rovell just got taken to the cleaners — literally (thanks, Brinke). … Here’s how those Iowa throwbacks looked on the court over the weekend (from Jim Goeke). … “My brother bought a toy Zamboni for my son as a birthday gift,” says Jimbo Huening. “He ordered it from the Frank J. Zamboni Co. Check out the packing tape they used to seal the box.” … All my life I’ve been waiting for a shop with this name, and I didn’t even realize it (thanks, Kirsten). … More chatter — mostly just meaningless speculation — about the Panthers’ uniforms (from Russell Bowman). ”¦ The Springfield Falcons gave away this bobblehead of Don Orsillo in a Falcons jersey the other night. “Before he was the play-by-play announcer for the Red Sox, he worked the p.a. at Falcons games,” explains Daniel Daponde. ”¦ Nike is now entering the realm of prosthetics (from Leo Thornton). ”¦ Here’s a weird one: a T-shirt featuring what appears to be test prints from the sleeves of a Bears jersey. Aaron McHargue found that at his local Goodwill for $3. ”¦ Hmmm, did Jeremy Lin of the Knicks drink a blue Slushie during a timeout? Or maybe it’s that blue Gatorade? (As noted by Mikhail, who didn’t give his last name.) ”¦ Blurry photo, but Kyle Mackie got a shot of someone wearing a backpack that’s shaped like a giant Cal baseball cap.