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Uni Watch

Where’s the Snarl and the Furrowed Brow?

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I love team logos based on happy, playful animals. The Bucks, the Chaparrals, the Orioles — they say, “This game is fun!,” which is so much cooler than “Fear the [whatever].”

So I was really pleased when reader Danny Garrison submitted this New Orleans Crawfish logo as part of my “Redesign the Hornets” contest on ESPN. The typography isn’t great, and the accompanying uniforms aren’t so hot, but that crawfish with his claw on his hip — love it!

Danny’s submission was one of about 70 entries I received. You can see all of them here. My favorites are showcased in today’s ESPN column — enjoy.

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

I have 31 bobbleheads, and counting, so I’m knowledgeable about them. Some bobbleheads look like the guy they’re supposed to; others, well, not so much. The A’s gave away this Rollie Fingers bobble last month, and they nailed it, right down to the requisite white Adidas cleats.

In non-bobble finds for this week:

• Willie Mays turned 81 two days ago, so here’s his signature on a 1962 Cubs program. Great display of caps on there.

• This 1960s NFL seat cushion was found at Tex Schramm’s estate sale. You think there was some good loot there?

• Here’s a 1960s metal plaque depicting the Cleveland Browns’ “Brownie” mascot.

• I like this 1960s Gale Sayers shot for two reasons: the very prominent “Wilson” in the front, and also how the helmet sticks out on the sides.

• This 1960s Baltimore Bullets decal looks to be in great condition.

• One more from the 1960s, for PL: this WNEW football Giants sticker. [Very nice, although it’s kinda odd to see the chinstrap protruding almost as far as the facemask. ”” PL]

• Nice set of NFL helmet goalpost kits from the 1970s.

• From reader Derek Hannen: You can practice good oral hygiene while showing your fine taste in NHL collectibles with these Hartford Whalers toothbrushes.

• From Mike Hersh: a 1970s Swedish hockey equipment catalog.

• From Raymie Humbert: a set of 16 NHL goalie pins.

• From Paul: Lots of great logos on these 1970s MLB bed sheets.

• Also from Paul: these vintage ceramic football bookends.

• And speaking of ceramics, check out these nuns playing baseball.

Seen something on eBay or Etsy that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here, and you can follow Brinke on Twitter and Facebook.

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Candela update! Another piece of the Candela Structures puzzle has fallen into place. As you may recall, last September Kirsten and I got to visit the “missing” structure, which has spent the past 45 years serving as a summer cabin for an upstate New York family. The family patriarch told us that his father (now deceased) had purchased the structure at an auction after the 1964-65 World’s Fair. He thought he still had the original auction flyer and promised to send it to us when he found it. How he’s finally found it (click to enlarge):

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At first I was puzzled by the Department of the Defense connection, since the World’s Fair had no connection to the Federal government. But this structure was used during the fair by the Coast Guard, which was part of the Defense Department at the time (it’s now under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security), so that makes sense.

I’m hoping to write an article about all this for an architecture or design magazine. More details soon-ish.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: There’s a debate taking place at NYU tonight on the question of whether college football should be banned. Two of the participants — Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissenger (who’s in favor of banning it) and broadcaster and former NFLer Tim Green (who’s against banning it) — had a sort of pre-debate on the radio yesterday, which I happened to hear. Provocative stuff. The archived audio is here. ”¦ Yesterday I Ticker-linked to this shot of Kobe Bryant in a black Lakers alternate uni. The full backstory has now been provided by Mina Mikhael, who writes: “The photo is from Slam magazine and the jersey is from the Nike Rewind series, back from when Nike had the NBA contract. Basically, Nike took old designs and remixed them with new colors. They made at least three or four different series for a lot of teams, and even extended the series to warm-ups and shorts. You can see some examples here, and there’s a short article about the series here.” … Last week I wrote an ESPN piece about a guy who had written fan letters to teams 20 years ago and was selling some of the things he’d gotten in response. That prompted John J. Woods to write a piece about the stuff he got from teams during his youth. ”¦ Benjamin Page notes that Vikings draftee Matt Kalil held up a No. 67 jersey at the draft, but now he’s wearing No. 75. ”¦ New home kit for Arsenal. ”¦ “Mizzou has bought a series of billboards all over SEC footprint states to advertise their impending move to the conference,” writes Lucas Ravenscraft. “The billboards feature a picture of a Mizzou football jersey with a shiny new SEC conference logo patch sewed on the upper-right-front corner. The weird thing is that the jersey is the 2011-12 version, and we all know Mizzou just launched a huge redesign, so these billboards depict a uniform that will never actually exist in competition.” ”¦ Whoa, check out the shoes that Notre Dame football will be wearing for the game against Navy in Ireland. “Awful,” says Warren Junium. ”¦ Late-breaking eBay item: You don’t often see a corduroy team jacket, but check out this Bruins beauty. ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Michael Waltrip wore a Junior Seau memorial on his No. 55 car over the weekend. ”¦ Need MLB, NFL, or NCAA team logo decals? Look here (from Timothy Tryjankowski). ”¦ “On April 28, my son Caleb and I attended Rutgers Day,” says Adam Herbst. “As part of the celebration, they had a number of students dressed as famous alumni, including one who was dressed as a participant in the first intercollegiate football game (which Rutgers won against Princeton).” ”¦ A chicken ran onto the pitch during yesterday’s Wigan/Blackburn EPL match. “Not just an ordinary chicken,” says Joe Hollomon. “A chicken sporting some sort of scarf or flag with the Blackburn logo.” … Here’s a weird one: a Philly Eagles bat and ball (from Joshua Newman). … Yesterday I Ticker-linked to a story about 7-Up’s branding history. That reminded Sean M. Conway that he’d recently seen these old Notre Dame 7-Up bottles at an antiques shop in Minnesota. “I didn’t end up getting them because there is no way my wife is going to let me spend $12 for a couple of empty pop bottles,” he says. Sounds like grounds for divorce to me. ”¦ Actor Daniel Dae Kim of Hawaii 5-0 threw out the first pitch in Philly last night, and you can probably guess what jersey number they gave him (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ One of Brandon Inge’s former teammates on the Tigers has noticed that Inge is no longer going high-cuffed (from Mike McLaughlin). ”¦ The Ravens have announced uni number assignments for their 2012 draftees (from David Cline). ”¦ New logo and kit for Oman (from Jeremy Brahm). ”¦ Who’s that in the red helmet? None other than Russian president Vladimir Putin (from R. Scott Rogers).

 
  
 
Comments (208)

    A little warning for those of us clicking the very bad idea link at work would be appreciated.

    I got a content control warning from the internal corporate firewall. Just saying, that’s all

    I agree with Greg. The landing page may be “safe” for you, but based on the restrictions and definitions for some corporate networks it may not. Hitting the landing page could be considered the same as looking at the main site content for some.

    Some kind of warning would have been appreciated.

    Paul – there’s not a nudie picture on the landing page, but it’s clearly a website for an escort service. I don’t understand the need to link to that. I work from home, so there’s no corporate web monitoring, but I’d be pissed if I had clicked on that link on a corporate computer.

    Paul, I know we normally think of NSFW as a visual thing, but this might actually get people in trouble with their employers because of the embedded metadata on the landing page. If someone’s company network identifies these tags (a lot do,) they may have to make a trip down to the bosses office to explain themselves.

    Reminds me when the ABA wanted to name a team the Baltimore Hustlers. (That’s the team that eventually became the Claws and never played a regular season game)

    Paul, how hard would it be just to post a NSFW? This way it would end this thread quickly…

    There’s nothing NSFW about it! Or at least I didn’t think so (didn’t know about metadata).

    I’ll make an adjustment now.

    Everyone chill, for fuck’s sake. It’s not like I linked to a nudie photo…..

    Thanks for making the adjustment Paul. Try putting yourself in the shoes of somebody who might fear being fired for clicking on that link thanks to overzealous IT and HR departments… easier to say “chill the fuck out” when you don’t have to worry about such things. You linked to an escort site… you see the issue, right? It’s not about the picture…

    It never occurred to me that it would be problematic.

    This is one of the many, many reasons I prefer not to work in an office, and why I probably will never do so ever again.

    This is one of the many, many reasons I prefer not to work in an office, and why I probably will never do so ever again.

    Amen, brother! Same here. I’ll opt for being homeless before I ever work in a corporate environment again.

    Paul — that really does need an NSFW tag. It’s not what’s on the page that causes the problem, it’s what’s behind it.

    Maybe you guys should be, like, working instead of web-surfing while you’re at work.

    Just a thought.

    *shrug*

    Worst reply possible. We get breaks, you know… its an office, not a slave camp.

    Lee

    “people going ballistic” – One reader expresses a concern about a link…Paul doesn’t think it is a problem and asks what the problem is….four readers respond with an answer. Yep, sounds like people going ballistic to me!

    Here’s a funny thing: The email that gets sent to me gets sent to, uh, ME. So maybe — just maybe — I’m a better judge of how people were responding than you are.

    I would have thought you would have just added “NSFW” to it rather than let them bully you into taking it down. That kinda had a air of a petulant “fine you all gonna complain about the link, I’ll show you, I’ll take it down and then no one will get to see it.”

    Depending on how bad it was, that is — if it was truly so horrible it shouldn’t have been posted in the first place, I’m sure you wouldn’t have posted it. I don’t how bad it is, I didn’t get to see it.

    Sure, it’s a legitimate gripe, people want to be able to visit your site at work, asking for a NSFW on links that could get them trouble isn’t too much to ask. But that didn’t mean you had take it down and make them the bad guys by being the ones that caused the rest of us to not to see the link.

    It’s no big deal, I’m sure I didn’t miss much (some link about an escort service, or something I gather from the comments.)

    Oh well, I guess if I want to get the unedited version I gotta get here right at 7:00 AM each morning.

    p.s. Most of this was in jest, but my obsessiveness is truly gonna have me wondering all day long what that link went to.

    Now I’m not sure about clicking on Catch of the Day. When I hover over the picture, the url that comes up in the lower left of my browser includes “Mirandas Kittens” haha. Can anyone verify this?

    A little tetchy, boss. I know you’re the one who gets the e-mail, but at least from the evidence on this page, most everybody was sub-ballistic. They were anxious, even scared. Of course, were I you, I’d be off the launch pad five times per morning, so this is said in the context of admiration for your capacity to suffer fools, not to mention slings and arrows.

    link

    1b & 4b. Example 2.

    Also – it gave me the opportunity to put “goddamn,” and “conspicuous,” together, which is just funny.

    Tim

    *”goddamn,” and “pious.”
    Looks like someone else needs an Edit button.

    The Blackburn chicken might have been their best player on the pitch yesterday.

    I’m wondering if it’s supposed to be a reflection of how Rovers played yesterday or a dig at the owners (Blackburn Rovers are owned by Venky’s, an Indian poultry company).

    The chicken with the Blackburn scarf might be a dig at the ownership. However, sending it on to the pitch makes sense, since Blackburn just relegated from the Premier League.

    Yeah, it was a protest against the team’s owners, Venkys, which is basically the Tyson Chicken of India. In addition to presiding over the relegation, some reports have them putting the team on the brink of bankruptcy.

    From stuff coming out, there’s apparently a lot for the cause of Blackburn’s relegation, from the owners to their advisors to the manager.

    “The family patriarch told us that his father (now deceased) has purchased the structure…”

    Awesome! Zombies can buy stuff!

    “… Who’s that in the red helmet? None other than Russian president Vladimir Putin (from R. Scott Rogers)…”

    Has there ever been a head of state more eager than Tovarich Volodya to be photographed in sporting gear? With or without a shirt? Amazing.

    Glad to see ticker reference to Wigan/Blackburn game yesterday. Primus Inter Pares UWatch colorizer George Chilvers is a Latic fiend, of course, and so Wigan’s defeat of the lowly Rovers ensures both non-relegation and a gratified Chilvers. These are good developments.

    Students of 20th Century non-fiction will recall Orwell’s classic “The Road to Wigan Pier” and almost everybody can sing along when John Lennon sings “… ten thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire…”

    everybody can sing along when John Lennon sings “… ten thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire…”

    ~~~

    4,000

    They had to count them all — but not Conn, who decided to go the guesstimate route instead.

    Has there ever been a head of state more eager than Tovarich Volodya to be photographed in sporting gear? With or without a shirt? Amazing.

    This is a phenomenon I distinctly don’t like about modern American politics. Prior to Ronald Reagan, presidents attending sporting events maintained a certain formality and dignity by wearing normal business suits. Even when throwing out the first pitch at a ballgame. Starting with a seemingly innocuous Cubs training jacket worn by the Gipper, our presidents have become less and less formal at such events, and have moved from the stands to the grass to standing on the mound and throwing a pitch in team gear and a ballcap. We’re really not that far away from having our own Putin doing bare-chested karate demonstrations in the Rose Garden. God help the first woman president getting photographed in a sports bra while jogging or working out or whatever. Politicians of both great parties, I beg of you: Have a little pride! Take off the tie if you must, but unless you’re on the golf course, keep the jacket and stay behind the bunting on the stadium wall. There will be time to wear your favorite jerseys or play team sports or trot out to the mount and throw a pitch after you retire.

    It’s funny, when I saw Caroline Kennedy throwing out the first pitch from the stands at the Fenway 100th celebration last month, I didn’t think “Wow, she’s traditionally throwing it from the first row like Howard Taft did,” but “boy, they couldn’t be bothered to go out to the mound.”

    Of course there were 43 Red Sox pitchers standing on the mound, so maybe there wasn’t room.

    Take off the tie if you must, but unless you’re on the golf course, keep the jacket and stay behind the bunting on the stadium wall. There will be time to wear your favorite jerseys or play team sports or trot out to the mount and throw a pitch after you retire.

    Oh, you’re just talking about current heads-of-state…not former presidents or other politicians and people in the political realm like Mrs. Kennedy Schlossberg. She was wearing a Red Sox sweatshirt instead of business attire, though.

    When Bill Clinton went out to the mound in an Orioles jacket and threw out the first pitch, it made him seem enegetic, etc. I’m sure (at least when they are campaigning) that it is considered heavily on whether to throw a first pitch from the stands or the mound, like every detail is, on the basis of how it “plays” to the voters.

    Oh, I know why they do it, though in my experience at lower levels of politics, it’s not really as cynically calculated as everyone thinks. If you could do whatever you wanted, and presidents basically can, wouldn’t you rather go on out to the mound and throw a real pitch home? It’s just more fun! And you’re at the ballpark, and the team is going to make a special presidential jacket for you anyway, so why not wear it? You don’t need a consultant calculating the effect on voter perception of candidate vitality to wind up out on the mound in a warmup jacket.

    I just wish they wouldn’t. The question should not be, “Would Reagan have gotten away with this?” but “Would Eisenhower have been willing to be photographed doing this?” Dignity is usually a function of restraint.

    I’m with Arr Scott here. In fact, consider how awesome it would be if, when throwing the first pitch from the stands, the President went full Taft and wore a top hat & tails.

    (Though whether Obama or Romney does it next year, Taft’s suit would obviously require some serious alterations.)

    If they want to do it, they should have to actually throw the first pitch of the game. That counts….to a batter. Put pressure on the grandstanding bastards.

    I’d wear the whole uniform. Spikes, sanis, stirrups, pants, jersey, flip-up shades, hat. The whole thing. I’d shake the catcher off. Then I’d spend the rest of the game sitting in the dugout, or perhaps the bullpen. Maybe I’d warm up the relief pitchers in late innings. None of this “one pitch and done” crap.

    Yep, me too! Except I would want the first pitch to be the real first pitch. I might even argue the call (assuming it wouldn’t be a strike). Really make a whole thing out of it.

    The “Mays” signature on that program was done by his wife….if it says “Willie Mays” he didn’t write it.

    Just for the info, the mark above the NFL logo on the Tex Schramm cushion is the trademark for Kimberly-Clark, makers of Kleenex. Must have been a promotion of some kind.

    New Orleans Crawfish (?) Hmmmmmm.

    Better than “Angels”. I kinda dig the idea of the mascot having claws. Too bad the old ABA Baltimore Claws folded without paying a game – that name may have worked. The use of crab/crawfish/lobster claws work on uniforms and charectar logos ….

    I still say we should go with Pelicans, or Knights.Owner Tom Benson bought the Pelicans name when he announced that he would buy and move a AA Team to New Orleans, and was “bumped” by the AAA Denver Bears moving here. Benson still owns the name, and the Pelicans name was connected to N.O.’s longtime participation in minor league baseball.

    “Knights” was my name that I sent in back in 1974 when they had the contest to name the NBA team that became the Jazz …. I think the one-syllable masculine name, te fact no other pro team is using Knights, and the “N” sound goes well with New Orleans.

    It’s not perfect, but works. Well.

    None of the names really jumped out to me. Hickories is probably the most creative of all but I’m personally not a fan of Andrew Jackson though. Corsairs is a nice one but we have plenty pirates around the sports world and it doesn’t really mesh that well with the New Orleans culture.

    Sinners is cool but would never catch on. Knights remind me too much of a NBA-DL team (Armor, D-Fenders, Sky Force) To be safe, they could do Pelicans or other sea animals.

    Best I can come up with is Levees but that’s not saying much. “Shore up the defense with some Levees!” I wouldn’t be too disappointed with Cajuns either.

    Surprised put up HICKORIES considering Jacksons’ record with Native Americans…just saying

    Which is why I’m not a big fan of it. The name Old Hickory refers to his bravery in battle I believe? So that’s what is good about it- the strong spirit but when you think about the name some more and make the connections to Andrew Jackson and who he is as a person, then nah, not such a bright idea anymore.

    The New Orleans Crawfish name makes me think of this:

    link

    Which is pretty much reason enough to adopt that nickname right here and now.

    New Orleans Crawfish is excellent. It’s got place-specific associations (Nature, Cuisine, Music) and that cute little guy at the top is wonderful.

    I was kind of digging the Hickories because the connections with the Battle of New Orleans, though I can see your point about Andrew Jackson’s record with Native Americans not going over well with people.

    As for most of the rest, with the purple and teal prominent in a lot of them, I was starting to get a bad flashback vibe of when a number of teams went that directions in the 1990s.

    Andrew Jackson was a sumbitch and a monster and there’s very little of the admirable about him, whether personal, military, or political. Our young republic barely survived his maniacal ego and lawless personal cesaerism. But “Hickories” is still a darn good team nickname. The historical legend is not the man, and having a little fun with a president’s nickname is not an endorsement of his platform or record.

    I mean, we accept “Spartans” as a team nickname for children, even though the actual Spartans of ancient Sparta were among the most purely evil civilizations in human history. And overrated! The Greeks who stood against the Persians at Thermopylae were about 97% not Spartans. If we really cared about virtue enough to justify protesting the “Hickories” nickname, we would already have required every school nicknamed the Spartans to change their name to Thebans or Hoplites.

    “… The Greeks who stood against the Persians at Thermopylae were about 97% not Spartans…”

    No, Scott, I’m sorry; that’s not true. The Spartans indeed constituted a minority of the Greeks at the onset of the battle, but they were certainly a huge fraction at the end. Perhaps you’re mistaking “hoplites.” The Spartan infantryman was called a hoplite. Perhaps you’re thinking of the Helots, the slave-servant untermenschen of the Spartan order.

    Your larger point — that the Spartan system was cruel, brutal, and proudly inartistic — cannot be denied.

    Nick, technically the Claws played 3 games – all preseason, and 2 of ’em against the Sixers. They even made it onto the cover of Sports Illustrated!
    link

    My brother and I were given pop bottles like those by our parents for Christmas years ago. He has both of those Notre Dame bottles (still full) somewhere, and I have the Ohio State Coke versions in my basement.

    Heads up on those decals. Patch Collection sells bootleg patches, not authentic. I ordered patches from there before and they are pretty clearly knock-offs. That place is based in Houston. We have a mutual acquaintance who confirmed it.

    Just a buyer beware, if you care about the authenticity of these sorts of things.

    Do the knockoff patches come without the hard plastic backing? If so, stock up before the Department of Homeland Security saves us from al-Qaeda by shutting ’em down!

    Interesting that the guy standing behind Putin in the last link is wearing a St. Louis Blues Jacket.

    Not sure what the Chaparral’s mascot is. But it’s NOT a chaparral. They are the main ingredient of tumbleweed.

    As for any NSFW links here at Uni-Watch? I’ve summarily fired myself. . ..

    It’s a roadrunner. From everyone’s favorite resource, wikipedia: “The roadrunner is also called a chaparral bird and a chaparral cock.”

    I have to wait until I get home to listen to that radio interview, but I’m eager to hear how Bissinger sounds. The last time I heard him was on a Pittsburgh radio station and he was bashing Big Ben. The radio interviewer(Mark Madden for yinz Pittsburghers) really brought out the….ummm, eccentric side of Bissinger. College football is my favorite sport, so I’ll be interested to hear his rationale to ban it.

    For a guy that spent time covering football (Bissinger), it strikes me as strange that he would be on the ban football side of the issue.

    Maybe it’s because he has covered football that he sees things most people don’t. I’m interested in listening to the discussion too…will have to try and finish early today so I can get it in.

    I heard him the other morning on my way to work. on XM 91. Seems like the guy just wants some publicity. And sadly he is getting it. Say something totally stupid and get noticed.

    He says college football was not meant to be the way it is now. So ban it. Without college football there are no other college sports. Maybe basketball. What is his take on college basketball?

    Just a thought, but if Buzz Bissenger ACTUALLY wants to get colleges to stop playing organized football, he might want to stay out of SEC country for a while. We probably wouldn’t take too kindly to him down here.

    Also, I had to laugh at the irony of seeing a “Nikestore.com” ad over on the sidebar, complete with snarling Tennessee Titan wearing, as the ad states, “the most advanced uniform in football history”.

    I don’t think he’d be very welcome in Big 10 country either.

    The only way you can even think about banning college football without causing riots and pissing off 1/3rd of the population is to immediately replace it with a massive minor league system.

    Of course, if you do that, you’re destroying a huge portion of college income and forcing either cutbacks or higher tuition and still not actually solving any safety concerns.

    Of course, if you do that, you’re destroying a huge portion of college income…

    According to Bissinger (and I can’t speak to how accurate his stats are — I’m just quoting him), studies show that 47% of BCS football programs lose money.

    I’ve heard similar statistics, though it seems like the number I saw was even lower than 47%. Then again, it may have been the number of colleges who actually have profitable athletic departments. THAT number is very low.

    It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that a few large high-profile programs take in the lion’s share of all the revenue, and the vast majority of football programs are left out in the cold, losing money.

    In the absense of meaningful revenue sharing, that’s kind of how sports (and business) works.

    I’ve heard similar stats on programs losing money. However, one way many of money-losing colleges may justify is that it brings the school into the public eye when most may not have heard, especially if it’s not a big public university.

    I’ve heard that stat as well.

    I’ve also heard the argument that the stat isn’t accurate because it doesn’t account for the money the university brings in from alumni who stay connected to the school because of football or major sports. Even if the program loses money on direct costs, most schools make it up on alumni donations to fundraising drives.

    I would be stunned beyond belief if more than a handful of college athletic programs put much money back into their school’s educational programs, beyond paying tuition for the players.

    AFAICT, most places plow any profits they may see from sports back into sporting facilities.

    I’ve lived in SEC country all my life, and have always been in favor of banning college athletics. So it can be done safely. (In general, the more fervent the booster, the fewer of your words they can understand without a dictionary anyway.)

    I’m with Buzz, except I don’t object to organized football. I say let schools continue whatever varsity sports they want. Just do so without offering athletic scholarships of any kind. If varsity football were operated on the same basis as, say, varsity ultimate, then basically all of the problems, from financial corruption to moral decadence to plantation-like labor exploitation, would disappear. College football did just fine a century ago, when there were no scholarships and students were in college to go to college.

    Let the NFL establish pro development leagues instead of exploiting our taxpayer-subsidized colleges to develop players without paying them a fair wage.

    Sigh… in a way, I agree with you. As someone who had no athletic ability whatsoever (despite my love of sports), it was hard to swallow having to pay for parts of my college education, while substantially… shall we say, “poorer students”, were given free rides (but then again, let’s be fair, I was envious of those smarter than me who got free rides also).

    Despite that, I am a die-hard college football fan, regardless of its troubles, and enjoy watching those great athletes represent my school. I just don’t think an NFL minor-league system would be all that much fun. Of course, I could be wrong.

    I do think the day is coming when some, if not all, college athletes will be paid some sort of stipend. I guess how right or wrong that is could be a whole ‘nother debate.

    “the most advanced uniform in football history”… I wonder how many marketing suits it took to come up with that tagline.

    You mean the CURRENT uniform is the most advanced in history? More so than uniforms from the 1940s, and more so than even the uniforms from the 2000s??? I MUST BUY!!!

    In my attic somewhere, I definitely have the ND 7-Up bottle on the left and maybe the one on the right. I also 7-Up bottles saluting Indiana State for making the ’79 NCAA finals with Bird and IU for its national championship in ’81. (Sadly, I have no 7-Up bottles for Purdue).

    I wonder if what those things are worth these days.

    Those 70’s bedsheets are great but what’s up with the blue White Sox logo? According to Creamer’s site the CWS was using the red cap/red pinstripe red logo combo around this time.

    The Rangers 1st season was ’72, right? The Phillies stopped using the wordmark shown on those sheets in ’69 (their last season at Connie Mack Stadium). And the Astros reversed their logo colors (blue elements to orange, orange elements to blue) for the ’71 season. But the item is still a beaut, and that’s matters more.

    My favorite thing about the auction flyer is the “suggested usage” section:

    Exhibit bldg, enclosure for pool, patio, florist shop, refreshment stand, summer cottage, information booth, sales office, etc.

    I love that it ended up as one of the suggested uses. And it’s kinda fun to imagine what your story would’ve been like if you’d located it, and it was a pool enclosure, or a florist shop. VERY cool!

    I love that too. I wonder if the “summer cottage” suggestion in the flyer actually triggered the purchase. Like, if that line hadn’t been included on the flyer, would the guy have bid on the structure? Unfortunately, he’s now deceased, so we’ll never know for sure.

    We were told “a few thousand dollars.” I suspect the cost of transporting it upstate was more than the purchase price.

    I love the aged condition of the flier. The stains and holes. The architect’s name scribbled at the bottom.

    Florist shop, indeed. That’s great!

    Non uni-related, but I found a good article that echos what Paul’s been saying about “market society” encroaching in our lives: link

    “chill the fuck out”…I would be so proud to be one of your sponsors telling potential customers that…

    Paul, this may be the single best thing you’ve ever posted in the comments section. I haven’t laughed so hard in a long, long time. Excellent!

    Yeah…progressives are so noble and concerned about protecting anyone from being “offended” by something (i.e. Redskins, Indians, cartoons of Mohammed, etc.) until something they do or say something that offends someone who doesn’t think like they do. Then, its just “chill the F out.” Nice.

    in recent memory:

    You wrote a sexually explicit comment linking to a pic of a high school kid

    You made a comparison of a football jersey to a colombian neck tie

    and now your posting links to escort services…

    in all 3 cases you saw nothing wrong, “changed” things after people expressed themselves (or went ballistic as you view it), you countered with you condescending attitude (which today was “which is why I don’t work in an office and hope I never will”….(some of us like our jobs we’ve earned and find solace in that)…showing you AGAIN think you’re better than everyone…so you “chill out, for fuck’s sake”…

    Yeah, if I were you I’d demand my money back. Or never have anything to do with such an offensive site ever again.

    For the record:

    – I see nothing wrong with the nickname Colombian Necktie, but the point of invoking it was to get people to use it, and people resisted using it, so I went in another direction.

    – I see nothing wrong with pointing out that the name New Orleans Angels is already being used by an escort service, nor do I see anything wrong with linking to a page with no sexually explicit content. But people said it could get them in trouble with their work (due to “embedded metadata,” a phenomenon to which I confess ignorance), so I took it down.

    – I see nothing wrong with making a joke about people masturbating to certain kinds of uni-related photos, although I shouldn’t have made the joke in connection with a photo of a 17-year-old. So I took it down.

    – I see nothing wrong with stating that I’m glad I don’t have to deal with office-related bullshit like IT and HR depts. If you like an office environment, that’s fine. I’m sure your boss will be very excited to know you’re spending time commenting on Uni Watch instead of visiting escort sites.

    Now let’s move on.

    I would love to not work in an office. Unfortunately, it seems I was not blessed enough to make a living off of a talent but rather be a hump in an office. Didn’t see the link or if escorts was mentioned; however, I’d like to think I’d have enough sense to be selective in what I click on at work. I am also aware that while I enjoy this site immensely, I may not agree with everything posted here and have the ability to choose between what I may like or what may put a bug up my ass.

    Well – as an anonymous internet commenter with no connection to the site, I’d like to second, Paul: Chill the fuck out!
    How many hands high is that horse anyway – jeez

    Re: the Hornets contest. Noted that a large number of those were re-use of either previously used New Orleans teams logos (Brass) or currently used logos (Jesters soccer, NBA “NOLA” logo, Voodoo).

    Looking at some of the names and designs (Gala? Partiers? Storks? Funk? Hickories?) pushes me more and more in the camp wanting to keep the name “Hornets”; keeping the fleur-de-bee as the primary, definitely removing the pinstripes from the unis and perhaps changing the color scheme.

    Oh, and Baltimore Claws example notwithstanding, crawfish are something easily caught that you EAT. I agree with Paul, there is no “fear the ____” factor there, but this isn’t minor league baseball where you can name the team “Biscuits”. This is the NBA and you better have a cool name and logo that will sell merch…..

    Come on, man, what do you expect – professionally graphic designed concepts with angry-killer mascots & perfect names? It’s an amateur contest for fun. There is no criteria & everybody’s skill level is different. The object is not “what design will make the most money”.

    And I agree with Paul – angry mascots piss the shit out of me – it’s nothing but pandering to young males.

    Nice cartoon character Danny… but the lettering violates Design 101 — that font should NEVER be rendered in ALL CAPS!

    -Jet

    Say what? I can only think of one NBA logo that’s anything but all caps — the 76ers.

    Or are you saying that *particular* font should never be done in all caps?

    I’m a nosy graphic artist with some unsolicited advice. The custom is to avoid All Caps when using a cursive or manuscript typeface. Capitalized words in gothic (sans serif) or roman (serif) fonts is ducky in the display part of the document, taboo in the fine print.
    All the best!

    not sure i could sit through an entire “debate” of buzz yelling at tim. but on the plus side neither side accepting each others numbers, so it will have that ging for it…

    buzz~43% of schools loose money, it’s a money trap.
    tim~not accurate, the books are cooked.
    buzz~how can i talk to this guy if he doesn’t listen to numbers
    —-
    tim~graduation rates are on the rise
    buzz~those numbers are inflated, the books are cooked.
    tim~oh, now we can be selective on statistics i guess.
    —–
    buzz~exploitive. schools make millions.
    what happened to nearly 1/2 loose? how can you be exploited if the other party isn’t getting anything out of it using your own stats.

    i am all about major college athletic reform, and without getting into specifics i realize there is a shit-ton wrong with the way things are done now. i do not have my head in the sand, i just don’t feel the baby should be thrown out with the bathwater. i just have a feeling this debate in full length might make me want to put a bucket on my head and run into a wall to stop the noise of neither side listening to the other rather then trying to find some common ground to reform a broken system.

    By the way, it’s not just Buzz vs. Tim in the debate. Joining Buzz will be none other than Malcolm Gladwell, with Jason Whitlock on Tim’s side. Should be fun….

    I also read in SI that some schools end up losing money if they go to a bowl game instead of staying at home. Don’t remember the details, but it was a couple of years ago.

    I’m in the middle. I lost interest in the NFL two years ago. Last year, my disinterest spread to college (I did watch the Army-Navy game and the Sun Bowl, though) and even my old favorite – the CFL. I don’t think I’d call for an outright ban (I’d rather get rid of boxing and MMA first). I *would* call for such stringent changes that a lot of die-hard fans might lose interest, but whatever.

    I’m with Robert…I don’t think I could sit through that debate. I’d be interested in reading excerpts of it, though.

    Jim, I’d venture a guess that most schools lose money by going to bowl games. Check out the book “Death to the BCS”, it’s an eye-opener in regards to the corrupt bowl system.

    Just yesterday I was reading that UConn lost over a million bucks a couple of years ago when they went to the Fiesta Bowl. And that’s a BCS, “big payout” bowl.

    Reform is greatly needed, but I’m with Robert, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

    This is the key: “corruption.” I kind of don’t get why political conservatives aren’t up in arms about this, since NCAA sports are dominated by government institutions. When a school loses money on a bowl appearance, in most cases that’s taxpayer money going down the toilet. And the other aspect here is the exploitation and abuse of athletes by school athletic programs. That is to say, government bureaucracies systematically screwing individual citizens.

    The core issue here is government sports bureaucrats conspiring in a cartel to waste taxpayer money and steal earnings from talented individuals. This is socialist sports – the Tea Party should be burning the NCAA in effigy!

    Paul – Back when you were here in St Louis, there was a guy wearing a Cardinals shirt with a logo you had never seen, and we all fondly called it the “F**K You Cardinal”. I found it on an old popcorn megaphone: link

    Now that is a nice looking pocket book. If I was a Cardinals fan, I think I would have to bid. :)

    “Now that is a nice looking pocket book.”

    For a second there I thought you were talking about a purse.

    There’s not a lot out there that I find offensive, but I’ve gotta say that I find the “New Orleans Hurricane” entry offensive. I have a feeling that was submitted by someone who doesn’t live in the Louisiana-Texas-Mississippi area. Hurricane Katrina was an out-and-out tragedy that killed a lot of people and permanently displaced many more. Imagine a New York team being called the “Towers” or “Exploding Planes” and, while it’s not that bad, it’s getting close.
    Calling a New Orleans team “Hurricane” is just tasteless and insensitive.

    I’m wish you on this. My buddies and I tossed around the idea of the “New Orleans ‘Canes” as in sugarcane– but there’s no way people wouldn’t think “Hurricanes”. And it’s just bad taste.

    I made a similar comment on the ESPN article, and got called “stupid” for my trouble. I guess that’s what I get for commenting on a site where the intelligence of the discourse is just a half-step above YouTube’s.
    Another (more thoughtful) commenter brought up the fact that Carolina and Miami have the Hurricanes, San Jose has the Earthquakes, and Chicago have the Fire. For what it’s worth, I’m not crazy about those names either.
    I just think Katrina was so devastating (and so recent) that naming a team “Hurricanes” is pretty damn insensitive.

    The only people offended by Katrina are people outside New Orleans. We’re over and done with it.

    The only thing that offends us is when the likes of ESPN come down here and pretend the wounds of Katrina are really, really important to us… and thus serve as a perfect metaphor for whatever NOLA sporting event they’re promoting.

    Can’t wait until next year’s Super Bowl! Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina, Katrina!

    As Peppermint Patty said to Marcie during infield practice, “How about you get out there and offend a few ground balls?”

    Not totally true. I live in New Orleans. We look forward to “hurricane parties”. When a storm approaches, our ancient power grid is the first thing to go. Fire up the grill, open the bourbon.

    New Orleanians often have a sick sense of humor.

    I had to evacuate for Gustav a few years back. One of the most stressful times in my life. Also, had the time of my life with all my friends… set up a camper in a CVS parking lot and partied like never before.

    well, ya know, the San Andreas Fault isn’t too far away from me. Maybe you’ve heard of it.

    And we have a soccer team down the road a spell called the San Jose Earthquakes.

    Quakes here are just as much bad news as hurricanes are in NO–and I’ve never heard anyone complain about the name.

    Different views, I suppose.

    It just depends on how you look at it, I mean the University of Miami is called the Hurricanes.

    “Imagine a New York team being called the “Towers” or “Exploding Planes” and, while it’s not that bad, it’s getting close.”

    Apples and oranges, methinks. A natural disaster is a natural disaster. And I say that with no disrespect to the good folks in New Orleans.

    What I find odd is the rather radical shift in how we (in the US) choose these type of mascot names. Apparently UMiami chose “hurricanes” link. Good and fierce imagery, I suppose. Even into the ’70s Chicago could (without irony) name a team after link.

    I’m actually making no value judgement on the “offensive-ness” of this; just find it a historical curiosity. And, of course, today fans in link, link, link, link, link, link, and even link (I’m sure I’m leaving out dozens more) don’t seem to mind an association with life-threatening disasters.

    There are a lot of stinkers in the Hornets redesigns, but the “Pelicans” design by Chris Giorgio is pretty damn wonderful. I’m one of, maybe, three Hornets fans in NYC, and have never bought a stitch of Nola gear because I’ve always hated our colors. But if they were wearing something like THAT, I’d be all over it.

    My personal favorite is Chris Giorgio’s link. Love the logos, and REALLY love that color scheme.

    Also love the abstract nature and color scheme of Chris Pirrone’s link. I don’t like the nickname, but the unis are pretty fly.

    What you said.

    That Pelicans design makes me glad I didn’t bother submitting my New Orleans Zydeco idea. Mr. Benson, go with the Pelicans!

    Yeah, I like Pelicans too. The logo is awfully close to the old Southern League baseball team’s. Not saying that’s bad thing–it’s endearing and fun–just pointing out the resemblance…

    link

    The “New Orleans Crescents” has the most personal appeal for me, but the New Orleans Pelicans were a Southern League baseball team of long standing, and it’s probably smartest to make the historical tie-in where you can. Either one would be a keeper.

    If only David Stern could MAKE the Jazz shape up and re-name themselves. Hell, if only he could outlaw singular/collective team names across the board.

    My post above jogged my curiosity about another issue. Please forgive the non-uni/nickname digression, but why is the NBA at peace with having no presence in cities like St. Louis, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and now Seattle, but can’t seem to restrain its enthusiasm for franchises in Sacramento, OKC, and other relatively jerkwater markets (no offense meant to the latter)?

    Well, the NBA doesn’t have complete control over the situation. No sports league does. They can’t just move teams around like chess pieces into markets they think are better.

    True. Obviously there’s something about the relevant markets that makes Sacramento and OKC attractive locations in a way that St. Louis and San Diego aren’t. I’m just not clear on what that something could be.

    Couldn’t the same thing be asked about the NFL? Teams in Jacksonville and Green Bay, but no team in Los Angeles?

    Good point. However, the Jaguars seem to be testing the waters for a move, and much of Green Bay’s stability comes from the fact that it’s effectively Milwaukee’s NFL team.

    And the absence of the NFL from Los Angeles is a gap that everyone keeps speculating about, and keeps looking for ways to fill: no one doubts that L.A. will eventually get a team as soon as a realistic, substantial ownership group arises that has the $$$ and negotiating skill to address the venue problem.

    By contrast, the NBA seems comfortable in most of the tiny markets its teams inhabit, and none of the larger cities I mentioned seem likely to get a team any time soon. This status quo just seemed odd and unstable to me.

    One piece of the puzzle – would you rather be the fourth major pro team in Pittsburgh or St. Louis, or the only pro team in Sacramento or OKC. Even if its a smaller market, there’s less competition for fan dollars and attention.

    I say this as a fan of most things Pittsburgh: I don’t think an NBA team would succeed there. Personally I’d like to see it, but I doubt that it would get the support.

    If someone with deep pockets and enough patience owned the team, it could succeed if it ever got really good. (Just like the Penguins, or the LeBron-era Cavaliers.) As Mike said, though, there’s no reason to be the number four team in Pittsburgh when you can be the only major league game in a growing market.

    Now this made me laugh out loud — calling cities “jerkwater markets,” then immediately disclaiming “no offense.” Sort of like someone saying “hey, you’re an asshole. No offense.”

    Beautiful, no? I was reared by Southern ladies, who always considered that you could say anything about anyone, long as you ended it with “bless his heart.” It’s like a rhetorical platinum card!

    No offense intended, none taken. There’s a lot to be said for stating your case bluntly, and then letting the chips fall. I (try to) live by this code.

    My personal favorite is “I’m just saying”. For example: “I’m not saying should lose some weight, I’m just saying you should lose some weight”.

    I wonder if Kalil was given 67 at the draft because that’s what big brother Ryan wears in Carolina. Sorta makes sense, but also odd since Matt didn’t wear 67 at USC, but Ryan did, so if they expected him to change to be like big bro now, seems kind of odd.

    My money’s on the Vikings fucking up and looking up the college info for the wrong Kalil brother.

    Paul, I’ve long been a member and reader of your site. Regarding the decision to have the “continue reading” function, I will say that I have one problem with it. I now am led directly to the comments page, and I have to see people bitching and moaning about every little thing and coming up with false analogies about racism that the 5th graders I used to teach might think were clever. So for that reason, I vote going back to the old system.

    -Mark

    What browser are you using? Because I use Firefox and it sends me to the part he covered up with the Continue Reading button.

    Also, I dislike the continue reading button solely because I am lazy and don’t want to click an extra button to read, however, it does make the home page more navigable, so it works for it’s purpose.

    What I mean is that it reveals the comments, whereas before you had to click on the comments section…my comment was more of a passive-aggressive statement about the obnoxiousness of commentors on a quality free site.

    I’d much prefer to see the “continue reading” thing work by revealing the hidden portion of the entry without reloading the page. Which is to say, the way it works on most of the web these days. Full-page reload is so early 2000s!

    Agreed – it is driving me nuts! So when I accidentally close the window after clicking on a “non-new window” link in the comments, I have to open back up, scroll, and click again! :/ Arg… hate it, hate it, hate it! I also might add – when catching up after missing a few days, you can fly through the main entries without all the extra clicking and backing out without the new continue reading BS… (in IE AND Firefox… maybe we have older versions).

    Brent becker, who has multiple designs in the hornets redesign, is a GREAT designer of marching band uniforms for stanbury uniforms. My school just purchased some uniforms designed by brent. Ever think of featuring marching band uniforms? Could get an interview from him.

    I thought his Dukes design
    link
    was one of the best. And I’m not just saying that because I like the Duquesne Dukes. It’s just a good-looking uniform.

    I voted for Chris Giorgio’s equally awesome Pelicans design. Long live happy mascots!

    I love the New Orleans Crawfish logo! Besides the “happy, playful animals” Paul listed, can anyone think of any others? The original Pittsburgh Penguin comes to mind with the scarf and happier disposition than the one that replaced it.

    Most iterations of the cartoon Baltimore Oriole seem happy. Except for this ‘angry bird’ from ’67:

    link

    Bit off topic but I downloaded the logo quiz app Paul mentioned the other day and I felt horrible about how many brands I knew with ease. Within minutes I had gone to level 8 which means answering correctly more than 200. I felt sorry for myself yet couldn’t stop thinking how cool would it be to have one for sports teams all over the world

    I love how pumped up all of those guys were getting, it’s cool to see American Football getting started up in places like India.

    I really think this thing is going to make it. And by “make it”, I mean “last longer than other overseas attempts we’ve seen”.

    Given the population of the country, and the apparent excitement for American Football, I think it just might work.

    I would not want to play hockey against Putin. I’m sure he can hold his own, but one “questionable” check and you’re breaking ice in Siberia.

    It’s too bad that we don’t have Phillips 66 gas stations in Pittsburgh, but thanks to YouTube we can see link. Looks like sleeveless jerseys have made their way to pee-wee football, although I was in high school over ten years ago and even then we had sleeveless football jerseys.

    This may seem out of the ordinary, but I need some one that is good w/ making logos on computers. I have some ideas for shirts for my high school baseball team but cant mock them up myself. Please reply if you can help.

    The mayor of okc was on the radio the other day and said he doubted the city could supoort two teams, especially during the same season (hoops and pucks).

    I find it truly fascinating that Nike is highlighting the Ireland Flag on shoes… on an American team. Who could be the only intended audience be here??? Soccer teams in Ireland? Are they serioulsy targeting soccer and rugby players in Ireland?

    I heard about that this morning too. And then read it here.
    What a goofy idea.

    How about the “New Orleans Beads.” Think of the possibilities.

    I had those very same MLB bed sheets as a kid…believe they were from 1972.

    It wouldn’t make sense to have a team in Denver or Boston or Cleveland or anywhere outside of Louisiana for that matter to be called the Cajuns. I was going to use Montreal Canadiens as a reference point but Vancouver has a minor league team of the same name, albeit the Anglofied Canadians.

    In Mizzou’s defense: that campaign started well before 4/14, and the previous home jerseys showed off their school colors better. Also, this way SEC fans will be aware that their colors are in fact Black, Gold and White, not black, yellow and gray, which is what they will see on the field.

    What has more distracting ads; A Russian Super League hockey jersey or Uni-watch pages?

    Seriously, why can’t Charlotte, New Orleans and Utah just do a brand-swap/restore? The fans in Charlotte want the Hornets name back. The fans in New Orleans want their own unique identity, which they had with the Jazz. I’ve always thought the “Utah Jazz” was the most absurd name. Let’em be the New Orleans Jazz again. And let Utah / Salt Lake City be the place that picks a new name from scratch.

    I don’t care how you do it, just change the names, or send the players to different cities or whatever.

    I still don’t like how OKC stole the Sonics franchise, but I think they were spot on to leave the Sonics name in Seattle so it could be used again one day.

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