By Phil Hecken
As the Olympics move into their second and final week, we have a couple more looks at the uniforms worn in various disciplines. Today’s Olympic Correspondent is Mark Boothby, who takes a look at a sport that has been in the Olympics since before there was even a modern Olympics, tracing its roots back to the very first games. It’s a great piece, so sit back and enjoy as Mark tells you about…
The World’s Oldest Sport
By Mark Boothby
Arguably, wrestling is considered to be the world’s oldest competitive sport. Ancient drawings of wrestlers have been found in Egyptian caves that date as far back as 3000 BC. Some were found 200 miles from Baghdad, too.
This is hardly UniWatch breaking news, as these ancient grappling competitors did not wear any corporate, logo-creep-emblazoned uniforms. Yes, that’s right, they did not wear anything.
In its origins, wrestling competition began as a form of military exercise meant to practicing fighting without weapons. These contests came to an end when one of the contestants admitted defeat.
When the ancient Olympic Games began in 708 BC, the sport of wrestling was introduced and contested. In 1896, the modern Olympics began being held in Athens. Wrestling was held up as a focus of the Olympics because of its historical role in the ancient Games. The 1900 Olympics were the only exception, where wrestling was not part of the Games.
Thank goodness, at this point, they were competing while wearing clothing, thus the need for such a uni-centric entry.
Until 1904, the only style of wrestling competition was referred to as Greco-Roman. This style of wrestling was and continues to be a part of the Olympics. Greco-Roman wrestlers compete by grappling with their upper body and arms. Holds that grasp the legs are not permitted. It is contested with much of the same guidelines of the ancient competitors. Wrestlers may grasp, throw or lift their opponents, in a battle of strength, leverage, body positioning, footwork and technique. Contestants score by controlling an opponent, escaping the control of an opponent, or exposing an opponent’s back to the mat surface. The match can end at any time if one can force both of the other opponent’s shoulders to contact the mat surface for a few seconds. This is called a fall or a pin.
In the 1904 Games, Freestyle wrestling was added to the program. The 2004 Summer Games included the addition of women’s freestyle wrestling.
Freestyle wrestling has a different set of scoring criteria. In freestyle competition, competitors may use holds that can include the grasping of the legs and lower body. As its name insists, freestyle eliminates much of the limitations of Greco-Roman wrestling. A match can still end with a fall. Wresters can score by taking down an opponent, from a standing position. A wrestler can also score by exposing an opponent’s back to the mat surface.
Now, to the uni-information…
Yes, wrestlers now wear a form-fitting lycra uniform, called a singlet. They also wear specialized footwear that is made specifically for use on the padded wrestling mat surfaces. To spell out the rules and regs for wrestling uniforms, I went directly to the FILA website.
The International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles or Fédération Internationale des Luttes Associées (FILA) oversees wrestling internationally. On their site, they actually have a document that spells out the “Compulsory Standards for the Wrestler’s Singlet.” This includes lettering sizes, emblem locations, and (of course) the addition of advertising to the singlet. See the entire document here.
The singlet is a one-piece lycra uniform that is much like a tank top with straps over the shoulders and thigh-length shorts on the bottom. It must be made of soft, flexible fabric that allows movement. In competition, the rules require wrestlers to have two singlets. One must be dominantly red and the other must be dominantly blue. (NO BFBS!) Competitors are told which color they will wear in each match, in the opposite color of their opponent.
Here is 2012 US Olympic wrestler, Dremiel Byers, wearing the US singlet (blue) from the Beijing Games in 2008. Here is 2008 US Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo, wearing the red version. They sure had lots of piping on the sides and back, along with spots of gradient and (what looks almost like tiger stripes) on the hip.
International singlets may have the surname of the wrestler printed on the back, “”¦either horizontally or in half circle according to the number of letters. The height of the letters forming the surname shall measure between seven and ten centimetres.” It must also have the three-letter abbreviation of the country. On the front, the singlet can have the emblem of the wrestler’s national federation.
ASICS is the uniform sponsor of USA Wrestling, so the US (and many other countries) wear ASICS singlets in competition.
The 2012 London Olympic Games are no different, so again, ASICS designed the American team singlets. Due the legal ramifications of ASICS not being one of the “official Olympic sponsors” (like the swoosh-bags corporation), you will not be seeing a flashy release of the new team singlets. The IOC secret police apparently frown upon those “non-official” companies benefitting from Olympic promotion.
After running into dead ends with sources at ASICS, USA Wrestling, and United States Olympic Committee, I present the only (dare I say bootlegged) image of the 2012 US Wrestling Team singlet design for the London Games.
This is the US team’s blue singlet design, but it is safe to say that the red version will only vary in the primary body coloring, with the same stars and stripes imagery. I’m not so sure I like the stars on the strap, but I guess I’ll have to tune in and see how they look on a human. After hearing the fear that the IOC puts into these “other” companies, I am OK with the logo creep on the chest, for ASICS sake. If they produce the best product and are the official sponsor of the US team, I think they deserve to have their moment in the sun, in Nike/IOC/land, I mean London 2012.
Hopefully, many of you will take time to not only watch your favorite sports of the London Games, but some of you will take the time to understand wrestling and tune in to see this ancient sport in action.
The Greco-Roman competition is scheduled for August 5-7. Women’s Freestyle will be competing August 8-9. Men’s Freestyle will then take the mat on August 10-12.
Here is a link to all three US Team member bios.
Thanks Mark! Great stuff.
Click to enlarge — Photo Credit Stefan Chilvers
Monday Morning Football:
Our resident Brit, uni watcher, and colourizer extraordinaire George Chilvers has prepared for our edification a another review of the uniforms kits in the quarterfinals of the men’s soccer football at the Olympics. George also has an extremely talented son, Stefan Chilvers, who took the photo that appears above this section (make sure you click on it to appreciate it in its full beauty). It’s a technique called “a tilt-shift”, and it’s awesome. Here’s a second tilt-shift picture he also took. Make sure you compliment him in the comments down below.
Now, on to the old man’s review:
The Olympics football tournament is now reaching its climax, as the semi-finals on Tuesday will determine the medal contenders.
Saturday’s quarter-finals kicked off with me high up in the stands at Old Trafford in Manchester with Japan’s 3-0 win over Egypt. Although Egypt fought well Japan were technically the better side, and when Egypt went down to 10 men after a sending-off the game was effectively over. An injury late on when they had used all 3 substitutes meant “The Pharaohs” ended with 9 players. Japan stuck to their all dark blue kit with the narrow red stripe, while Egypt changed for the first time to an all white kit with the black side-panel. And of interest perhaps to our readers the game was refereed by Mark Geiger of the USA.
The second game at Wembley between Mexico and Senegal saw Senegal pull back a two goal lead by the Mexicans, but the latter added two more in extra time to win 4-2. Both teams kept their regular colours ”“ Mexico in the all dark-green with red shoulders, while Senegal had their all white with tricolour trim.
It’s 5 o’clock and we travel up to the North East to St James’ Park in Newcastle for favourites Brazil to play Honduras. The game wasn’t as one-sided as many may have thought, and Honduras twice shocked the Brazilians by taking the lead. Brazil however hit back with a penalty 2 minutes after the Hondurans had gone 2-1 up, and then scored a third with half-an-hour to go. The game ended 3-2. Honduras wore all white with blue trim, meaning we haven’t seen the stunning striped kit they wore in the opening game again, while Brazil had their highly recognisable yellow with green trim, blue shorts with the broad white stripe, but to avoid a clash with Honduras’ socks they again wore blue.
And so to the hopes of Britannia at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff as Team GB took on South Korea. Now I’m afraid I have to be typically Brit here and moan about how our team were never going to win anyway. They weren’t a good team and so it turned out. They managed to maintain a 1-1 draw with the Koreans with one penalty scored, and one missed. After a goal-less extra-time we went to a penalty shoot-out and a miss by Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge ended the home team’s hopes. I don’t know if you are aware but we (England/GB) have an appalling record in quarter-final penalty shoot-outs. GB again, and for the final time, wore the Union Flag dark-blue outfit, while South Korea had their white shirts with the twisted red and blue diagonal. It’s growing on me.
Education spot. I mentioned the Millennium Stadium and many people struggle to remember how “millennium” is spelt ”“ one N or two? There’s an easy way to remember ”“ the Latin “mille” means “thousand” and “annus” means “year”. So “millennium” with two Ns is “thousand years”. “Mille anus” with one N would mean something else completely!
The semi-finals on Tuesday see Japan take on Mexico at Wembley at 5pm British time, while at 7.45 your correspondent will be at Old Trafford to see Brazil and South Korea. It does actually mean though that I will have seen 12 of the 16 competing teams live. Not a bad haul ☺
Thanks (again) George! Bloody good reporting. And a helluva talented son. Has he ever tilt-shifted your colourizations?
More Olympics:
This section will feature updates, lesser news, and reader submissions from the XXXth Olympiad — keep the Olympic news coming in! (Usually in the order in which I receive them — think of it as an “Olympics Ticker”.)
More observations from Uni Watch faithful, and more…
* “I read Uni Watch every day, and after Teebz’s submission (last Thursday), I thought I’d send you an equipment breakdown, which is what my daughter and I look for in field hockey. She’s a goalie. And hey, Teebz is a goalie too, so I really thought he mention goalie equipment.” (Bob Sullivan)
* “How has nobody noticed that the US Men’s Beach Volleyball team of Dalhauser and Rodgers are sponsored, and therefore wearing, Loudmouth gear. Loudmouth, as you may remember, is the same company that sponsors John Daly in the atrocious color schemes. Thankfully, they kept the Volleyball uniforms to Red, White, and Blue. You can see the Loudmouth wordmark on Rodgers’ jersey.” (Nick Orban)
* What if other sports were photographed like beach volleyball? Yeah, um, let’s hope that never happens…
* “We went to put Anthony Davis, the kid out of Kentucky, in the game in the first half, but we couldn’t because he didn’t have his game jersey on. Apparently, he forgot it. It’s been a long time since I saw something like that.” (Marcus Solis)
* “I’m not in the market for headphones, but I have noticed Phelps’ ever-changing headphones throughout his swims and did a quick google search, one of the results was the NY Times article linked below. The third paragraph starts with a mention of how these headphones that so many swimmers are wearing are basically getting by the super strict advertising rules, so far at least, so I thought I’d share.” (Kyle Mackie)
* “USA Women’s Fencing Mask: I remember seeing the GB mask painted with the flag, but I just saw this on tv and thought I’d send UW a pic.” (Coleman Mullins)
* “Why doesn’t the United States flag have 50 stars? This is so wrong and so un-American. This is the logo that is on everything all over the USA athletes in front of the rest of the world and our flag is wrong. Why? Size? Laziness? I don’t want to hear either excuse. Can you please look into it? I know the US flag can be made or printed on items of clothes or pins very small with all 50 stars. I’ve seen it before. I refuse to buy any of the merchandise and I love alot of it. I also love your web site and following it on twitter and I know if anyone can figure this out it’s you guys.” (Craig Hallgren)
* “Olympic uniforms: From loose and heavy to tight and dimpled — a visual history of Olympic sprinting attire.” (Jonah Stutz)
* “As promised here’s more Olympic Posters from my collection: (1912, 1920, 1924, and 1928 — Sadly there are none from 1916 due to the Great War – those were to have taken place in Berlin). For 1924 and 1928 there were two official posters so I included both. Outstanding job as usual filling in for Mr. Lukas.” (Mike Colvin)
* “I noticed that Oscar Pistorius (Olympic hurdler for South Africa) was wearing Nike branded blades. Sorry for the bad quality photo, I couldn’t find any better photos.” (Cody Schwab) [Isn’t Pistorius just a runner? — PH] Here’s another shot of the swoosh on the fastest man on no legs.
* “There was a flag snafu yesterday at gymnastics. Kate Middleton was seated behind a UK flag that was hung upside down, which is usually a sign of distress or an affront to the throne.” (Brent Caruthers Archer)
Monday Morning Cardinal Watch…
Last night, the Cardinals, both of the St. Louis variety and the Arizona species, played games (in baseball and football, respectively). The baseball birds threwback to their powder blue days, sporting the uniforms of the 1982 World Series winning team. Didn’t look too bad, although most players decided to wear pajamas. Not a good look. It looked much better when guys like Skip Schumaker went with the gorgeous striped hose (although not stirruped) that made the Cards famous. Their opponents (and losers of the 1982 World Series) were the Milwaukee Brewers, who decided not to play along last evening with the throwbacks. However, on Saturday, both teams went with 1982 throwbacks, with some Cardinals and a couple Brewers wearing visible socks.
Now, I loves me some powder blue monochromes, and I wish at least one or two teams would bring the look back, but not if they wear pajama style pants. That just looks wrong, and slovenly. I don’t care if that’s the so-called *style* nowadays — it looks shitty. Just look how much better full sockage looks.
As far as the quality of the throwbacks, I didn’t see either game (although I caught a few seconds of the SNB game), but they looked like they nailed the unis pretty well. Now, if we could just get them to tailor and wear them properly…
On the pigskin side of the equation, the Arizona Cardinals hooked up in the Hall of Fame game with the New Orleans Saints. This was our first on-field looks at the new Nike unis.
Not bad right? Nike still can’t match the pants to the helmet, but maybe that’s done on purpose now. But wait — what’s that … thing around the Saints’ necks?
Is it fangs? Crazy diamonds? WTF?
No, it’s the horrible new contrasting collar of Nike’s new high-tech flywire design. Ugh! Count me as NOT a fan. It’s not even a good look on teams with solid color collars like the Cards. But it looks awful in contrasting collars.
But you know, I’ve seen that look before. I’m thinking…where oh where have I seen that look? Yup — the 1976-81 White Sox. Congratulations, Nike — you’ve just created as good a throwback as Majestic. Too bad it’s the WRONG SPORT.
Sorry boys and girls — but I was originally very psyched for Nike to take over the NFL uniform contract from Reebok. But I’m afraid to see what any team with a stupid contrasting collar is going to look like. Because if they all look as awful as the Saints, tis going to be a loooong season.
Jim Vilk’s Olympic Hoops 5 & 1
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…MoVi comes back with a 5 & 1 — this time he’s ranking the unis in a sport that has gotten ZERO attention from Uni Watch — Olympic Basketball. That’s about to change today. Here’s Jim:
Seventeen nations made the Olympic basketball tournament – seven of them sent both men and women. Their unis are similar enough that I won’t show you *every* detail, but I will open up the Honorable Mentions more than usual to give you a sample of each nation.
Honorable Mention to Brazil/Australia (women) – Turn that Arial font into Arial Bold and you’d really have something there.
And to France/Canada (women) – Porquoi les squigglies, La France?
As well as Tunisia/Argentina (men) – I don’t get the lime green on the shoulder, though.
And also Croatia/USA (women) – Croatia needs more cowbell checkerboard.
Let’s not forget Lithuania/France (men) -Looks better than an Eskimos/Alouettes game, eh?
And one more… Czech Rep./Croatia (women) – Even this half-Slovak likes those Czech unis.
5. Turkey/Croatia (women) – The two best adidas unis in this tournament.
4. Spain/Russia (men) – Look, kids…it’s Pau Gasol in a DIY Spud Webb jersey!
3. USA/Lithuania (men) – It looked like Superman vs. Slippery Rock, but the green and white was almost Kryptonite.
2.Russia/Great Britain (women) – The men’s teams faced each other, too, but not in a color vs. color matchup!
1. Argentina/Nigeria (men) – Phil and I like Nigeria’s simple unis, but only I like Argentina’s asymmetrical double blues.
And the bad one: Angola/China (women) – Typewriter font on red + backwards-F-looking sevens = BLEAH!
No Honorable Mentions next week…just the final 5&1 of the London games. Pip, pip, cheerio, y’all.
Good job Jim. I was afraid you might not rank every game and put it in the list. And the Angola uniforms are some of the BEST of the tourney — but not in that colorscheme. Give me the white “home” unis and I’m happy. There is always room for at least ONE team to wear Times New Roman. Red & black? Not so much. Luckily for us, Jim will be back next Monday with his wrap of the rest.
“Benchies” first appeared at U-W in 2008, and has been a Saturday & Sunday feature here for the past two years.
He’s baaaaaaaaaaack…
Click to enlarge
Uni Watch News Ticker: Notre Dame is switching to field turf, (Warren Junium says), and “The logic is specious at best.” … Lucas Ehrbar “Saw this new Maccabi Haifa kit today, apparently the most successful Israeli team. (Who knew?) Pretty straight forward: solid green, big white sleeve-cuffs.” … You’ve likely seen this by now, but Shannon Shark, who runs the nifty MetsPolice.com site, “I was pretty darn confident yesterday but multiple reports of this t-shirt in the window of the clubhouse store on 42nd” of the 2013 (Mets) All Star Game logo. … What the hell are the “Hatu Zzaj”? Well, they’re just the Utah Jazz in reverse (Thurl Bailey get the dubious honor), with thanks to Rex Henry. … Hmmm. Mitch Blomert says Auburn donned some interesting shorts at practice this week. “I did a little digging to see if this was a common thing, but I didn’t find much. I saw something similar in a practice video of Arizona State. Is this a new trend in practice gear, or just two schools geographically placed in some of the hottest parts of the country and trying to cool off in August? I honestly haven’t seen anything like them before; they almost look like team pants with the legs cut off.” And a slightly different take on this (from Benji Boyter ). … The “subject” line of the E-mail was “Nike Jeans?!” from Nick Orban – here was the body, “Are you freaking kidding me? Nike had the US Men’s archery team wear Orange warmup jackets (which also make zero sense) with jeans THAT HAVE THE MARK OF THE BEAST. Ridiculous.” As one who wears suits (or blazers and slacks) to work every day, I’ve often wondered how long it would take Nike or Rbk (for that matter) to make business-wear. Especially for NFL coaches who wish to wear classy suits — why do I see that day coming in the not too distant future? … Very sad news in the High School football uniform department from Stephen Grooms. In response to a “reply I have received regarding the national High School uniform rule that came down. Our tradition of stripes is about to come to an end.” That ruling states, in part that Basically, all home jerseys must be of a non-white color, and all away jerseys must be white; and, it will now be illegal to have any white between the shoulders and within the body of home (dark) jerseys, and any dark (non-white) between the shoulders and within the body of the away (white) jerseys — with the following exceptions, within certain specifications: numbers, school name, player name and/or school mascot; a side seam that is no more than 4 inches wide; and, on the shoulders, stripes that are no more than 1 inch in width and the total aggravgate width of all stripes cannot be more than 3 1/2 inches. … Clint Richardson reports, “New uniforms for Marshall. The collar is now kelly green all around. The jersey cut no longer has the mesh front and backs. Much cleaner look.” Here’s another look (thanks, Paul) … BFBS & matte helmets? Sure, why not. Josh Lassiter reports, “I usually like them but can understand they are a little frivolous. However Baylor has new BFBS unis this year. A recruit tweeted a pic and now I send it to you to post. Personally, I love em… And the recruit LOVED them!” … Dan Twohig has more on those Phillies ball girls: “I am loathe to suggest anything Phillies related but it’s about the ball girls so I guess that makes it ok. The Philly Post had the article with a picture. I thought the dress was interesting.” … My good buddy (and Packer-fan extraordinaire) Johnny Okray writes, “The Packers hosted their annual Family Night at Lambeau Field (Saturday night). It’s just a scrimmage between the team, but Lambeau is always sold out. It’s great for the kids. Anyways, someone needed a little adjusting before the game, and that is where team seamstress comes in. Can you really have enough shots of Marge Switzer sewing uniforms? Nope.” … John Muir wrote me with some “Non-ridiculous Rick DiPietro news.” Fearing “You’re probably thinking the subject line is in the same vein as the Nigerian prince scams, but I assure you it’s not. Last week DP hosted his youth goalie camp in Syosset AND was taken off IR. Since everyone involved thinks he’s going to backup Nabokov this season (which won’t happen), Ricky got new gear. Of all the goofy crap around the man, his gear has normally been artistically impressive. Like this latest set. The stripes aren’t exactly the Isles’ sock stripes, but it’s a classy look. See those blobs at the top of the pad over the thigh? His initials in Olde English. Old-school blocker, too. Solid look (that will never see the ice).” … This is a pretty cool infographic about the Wild’s signing of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, from Eli Swanson. Tag line reads, “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” … Nice update from Jim Polacek on new practice jerseys for Nebraska. Says Jim, “The shoulder stripes transition to black on the back of the jersey. Love the N on the sleeve! Need to bring that back to their normal look. It was there in 1983. Some of the players wore the new alternate jersey for Fan Day.” … Paul Watson notes, “Nike outfitted Arkansas with some new superhero outfits for this year. But what I, and I think you, missed about the new gear is that helmets appear to have a black fade in the back, kind of like the old “airbushed” San Diego State Helmets from a few years back. I’m providing a screen grab from a video of yesterday’s practice that shows three players’ helmets with black on the back.” … “Not a word to identify as Canadiens.” (George Chilvers). … More Notre Dame Ireland game items (from Warren Junium again): Ball and Travel Suit. … A look at Matt Kemp’s batting gloves and cleats, from Parker Ferguson, who adds, “Is this superman yellow or what. Very surprised he wore these and was allowed too, but he did hit a home run first time up…thoughts or insight???” … Jim Misudek notes Jason Heyward has opted for the knee-highs during BP, citing the heat. “Looks like a true ballplayer!” … Here’s a clear shot of Alex Smith with three full stripes on the sleeve (thanks, Brinke). … Brennan Keller is following one of the football players for KU and he leaked this picture on his Twitter page. Nice “look at me” gloves. … Dustin Kane writes, “Here is something I haven’t seen before on Alabama’s Freshman Cyrus Jones. On Photo’s 23 and 30 you can get a glimpse of this helmet which is something that just looks outrageous. It has a DNA Facemask but the Shell appears to be a Revospeed Rawlings sort of crossbreed and I can’t make heads or tails of it, any info on this?” … Maggie Daniel notes, “Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer tweeted a picture yesterday at FanFest of the NOB of Kuechly’s jersey being spelled “Kuechley”. Here is the link to the tweet/picture: includes a quick blurb at the bottom about the NOB incident. It says ‘Kuechly doesn’t have a traditional last name, so he’s used to it getting misspelled.’ It happened again Saturday. The back of the practice jersey, which he said he usually doesn’t wear, read ‘KUECHLEY.’ Why hasn’t he mentioned it to anyone? ‘It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t bother me too much.’ Kuechly was the 9th Overall pick in the NFL Draft this past year and one would think they would know how to spell his name.” … Awesome comic (which several readers tipped me wise to), entitled “The Argyle Sweater.” Here’s how it looks in the funny pages. … Chris Long writes, “Tonight (saturday 8/4) the Williamsport Crosscutters hosted the Connecticut Tigers in a New York Penn League game. The Cutters were having their blue out promotion with the jerseys being auctioned off to charity to prevent child abuse. However, this created a weird scenario with both teams wearing navy blue tops during the game. The main distinguishing factor was the pants as the cutters wore white with red socks (therefore the Crosscutters are in the field in this picture) and the Tigers wore their road grey pants.” … A reader named Chris (no last name given) shares this: UMASS is getting new jerseys for their debut into the FBS. … Brady Phelps writes, “I know you’re covering for Paul while he’s out. Thought you guys would appreciate this (The best Padres Jersey ever).” … Sean Gierke writes, “The Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City AAA affiliate) wore some funky jerseys for Organ Donation awareness (article link and blog link with a couple more photos). … Matt Ryan asks, “Is this a reebok jersey with a Nike swoosh?” … Jason Henke was watching the HOF game last night and “noticed Saints kicker John Kasay was missing the front Riddell logo on his helmet like the rest of his teammates. Looked odd.” … More from Brinke: Really cool item, but bidding ends Monday evening. … Aaaaaaannnddddd…a Happy Belated Birthday to Jenny Sweet.
Another short one for your Monday. Sorry, but there was a LOT to cover over the weekend. But hey, if you’re sick of long posts, the Olympics and me — there’s good news — Paul will be back tomorrow for a one-day appearance during his hiatus. I’ll be back on Wednesday, so I’ll catch you guys then.
“Alright, that’s enough out of you, Jeff.” — Mark Peterson
What about the Nike jersey on Matt Ryan makes you think it’s Reebok? Did I miss something?
it’s probably the NFL Equipment logo. He’s probably under the assumption that the NFL Equipment Logo is a Reebok only thing
We need to get the word out: the NFL Equipment logo still exists, on practice wear only (official NFL designation is Non-Gameday Apparel).
it’s been clarified on the site before, but not everyone is a daily visitor
Doesn’t matter if everyone is not a daily visitor the guy doing the ticker should be answering that question. We know (well enough of us know) that they are still using the NFL Equipment logo for practice gear and non-gameday apparel, yet that blurb gets posted as if its a thing that hasn’t been explained. Its not special or odd, and its going to keep on getting reported as if it is until it stops being put in the ticker.
It’s easy to fix, don’t put it in the ticker, or put a note about how it is not unusual. When someone sends an email about it or reporting an instance respond with an explanation and then don’t include it in the ticker.
you know what douglas?
i didn’t know…and i sure as FUCK didn’t have the time to figure that shit out at 2:00 am (or whenever i finished the ticker)
it took me three hours to compile that yesterday and i don’t do the ticker but a few weeks out of a full year, so cut me some slack
it was a legitimate question (i thought), and i’m sorry if i don’t have the countless hours you think i have to be doing this — in fact, im not sure how paul does it every day…but i have a full-time job besides *this* one and with the amount of submissions that came in, i didn’t have the time to check, double-check and re-check every one — it’s enough to try to correct spelling (where i see mistakes), grammar, upload about half the pictures (every link that’s flickr’ed requires ME to download/upload them), fix bad links when the submitter sends me a bad one, TRY to cut ticker submissons that are 200 words into 25 or less (where possible) etc., etc., etc.
sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but if you think just putting the ticker is easy, you’re sorely mistaken
That ruling states, in part that Basically, all home jerseys must be of a non-white color, and all away jerseys must be white; and, it will now be illegal to have any white between the shoulders and within the body of home (dark) jerseys, and any dark (non-white) between the shoulders and within the body of the away (white) jerseys – with the following exceptions, within certain specifications: numbers, school name, player name and/or school mascot; a side seam that is no more than 4 inches wide; and, on the shoulders, stripes that are no more than 1 inch in width and the total aggravgate width of all stripes cannot be more than 3 1/2 inches.
Really stupid rule is really stupid.
This is one of the stupidest things that the NFHS could do. They’ve done it in EVERY sport it seems. For high school soccer, now EVERY home team has to wear a white top and white socks. Shorts can be any color. On the top, there can be no other colors except on the number and the school name. There can be no colored piping or panels, whatsoever.
I really despise the NFHS for everything they’ve started doing.
This is despicable.
About 40 years ago, Calvin Trillin wrote a book called “American Fried”, an excellent exploration of regional food in the US (he wrote two sequels; they called “The Tummy Trilogy”).
Anyway, in the early 70’s, he predicted that regional food would eventually disappear, crowded out by fast food chains, and that America would be much the worse for it. And that has happened — a significant slice of our population thinks Popeye’s serves real creole cooking, and that those sad, mealy red slices in the bins at Subway are tomatoes. Sameness ensures both efficiency and mediocrity.
The same thing is happening to high school sports. Give us stripey shoulders. Give us enormous stripes, or narrow stripes, or no stripes at all! Give us teams with outlandish names and improbable mascots, the Shelby Russets and the American Fork Cavemen! No more endless Bobcats and Lions and Eagles! Let kids from the schools design the logos, even if they are awful.
Frank Lloyd Wright said the only American export worth anything was creative spirit. So why are we so intent on training our kids to be bland apparatchiks?
(I would like to think the rise in blood pressure created by that rant constitutes today’s aerobic exercise, but given that I bear an unsettling resemblance to Big Olive Garden, right down the the Harry Carray glasses, I think I need to find a treatmill, STAT!)
I am a high school football official. This rule isn’t new, but the enforcement of it is. It was written in 2007 and has been heavily promoted that all teams/schools MUST be in compliance by 2012. So this high school has known about it for 5 years. They’re only complaining now because they have to do something about it. The rule is intended to make the two teams clearly distinct on the field. Most high schools play at night on poorly lit fields. Officials can have a difficult time telling players apart in massive “piles of humanity.” You need to know if someone grabs a facemask which team they’re on. Would you give up 15 yards just to wear stripes because an official couldn’t tell that the guy’s teammate grabbed his facemask by mistake? This is meant to improve the quality of play and officiating, though I’m sure that will be lost on most.
Oh give me a fucking break. If someone ON THE FIELD can’t tell the difference between the teams because the team in white has fucking shoulder loops, then they shouldn’t be a fucking referee. There might almost maybe sorta be an argument against shoulder yokes – like the Cowboys throwbacks or the Titans, but to actually ban shoulder loops? Bullshit.
If they’re that concerned about telling the teams apart, then let’s just make every damn game mono-black vs mono-white. Wait, no, that would suck.
As I said before, stupid rule is stupid.
I find this impossible to believe.
It seems to me this is an example of a regulating entity needing to justify its existence by regulating something.
Put on the stripes and stand on the sideline. Then I’ll ask you again about what you do and don’t find hard to believe.
I’m a HS soccer referee and this isn’t a big deal to me.
I think it’s silly in that one team HAS to wear white. I do just fine telling blue and red apart on the field, even at the U-19 level.
In soccer/football we can even tell between blue and dark blue.
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In futbol how often do you find yourself looking at a picture like this on a poorly lit field? link
Here’s a better illustration. If this were American football on a poorly lit high school field and one of these guys grabbed another guy’s facemask pulling off his helmet, wouldn’t it be nice to know which guy it was? Would you as a coach give up 15 yards or a “free” first down on 4th down because an official got this call wrong because you just HAAAAAAADDDDD to wear stripes that were the same color as your opponent? link
And in American football you’re often making this call from 40 or 50 yards away.
In link, note the difference between the stripes at the end of the Brewers’ sleeves and the Cardinals’. Milwaukee’s are the correct width, while St. Louis’ are an example of poor attention to throwback detail.
I agree. In addition, the Cardinals’ socks show the same lack of attention.
The middle stripes should be thicker than the uppermost and lowermost ones. I sent Paul a pair of authentic stockings a year or so ago, but I guess Marshall, or whoever, either hasn’t seen them or ignores them.
I still think it’s weird to wear a road uni at home. The St Louis Post Dispatch surmised that the last time the Cardinals wore the away uni at home was the 1944 World Series, when they played the Browns and shared the same stadium. As Mike Shannon said about the blue uni on the radio broadcast last night, “They were ugly in 1982, and they’re ugly now.”
Right. Let’s hope teams don’t start getting the idea of wearing road uniforms at home… especially with gray being such a trendy color. :)
joe~
not sure what you are talking about. if you sent paul a pair of modern “authentic” stirrups, then you sent him the same pair that i have since i have mine made by the same people(tck) who currently make them for the cardinals. if you have an older pair, then yes it is possible there is variation since over the course of the last 70 years there have been many subtle changes to what they wear. sooo what i offer is identical to what the cardinals currently wear. are you saying they got them wrong for the throwback game? well since most guys wore ribbons at the time, i guess, but that is hardly tck’s fault, or their lazy, and you can hardly blame the team for making any subtle change to a stirrup that few are going to wear when something nearly identical is already in the clubhouse. and what is being ignored? as far as me seeing what you sent paul, he lives in brooklyn and i live in chicago, and the last thing we choose to talk about when we get a chance to chew the fat would be this. bottom line, i fail to see what your beef is.
Over the last several years the Cardinals have worn socks the striping of which not the same as it was in the years prior to the pajama-bottom era.
Look at pictures of the 1968 World Series to see what I mean.
I am sure you are accurately reproducing what they wear now, but their attire is not what it was regarding the thickness of the inside stripes, which was a distinctive feature of their uniforms since about 1930.
isn’t that exactly what i said? that there have been subtle changes to the design?
you still didn’t tell me what needs correcting, or what i am ignoring, or what in the hell you would want me to do about it. or what the cards should have done about it for the throwback game. all you are doing is stating the obvious.
Funny how the name of the website for UMass’s new unis is the “Maroon Musket” and they have to feature BFBS jerseys.
The Brewers wore the wrong cap versus STL on Saturday night. The proper cap had the yellow front panel paired with the powder blues. The cap they wore would be the same as the home cap in 1982 and what they wear during the Friday night turn back the clock promotions at Miller Park.
And it would have been nice to see the Brew Crew wear the period-correct white panel helmet as well:
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It would be nice if they always wore it. The current Brewers unis are tied with Arizona’s for my least-favorite.
I believe the back numbers were larger back in ’82. There seemed to be a lot of space on those throwbacks.
You could be right about the size of the #’s:
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My least favorite current uni is my least favorite team: The Nats.
The Nats would have been in the running, until they got rid of the beveled lettering. I actually like their look now.
Just a few observations about the Saints’ new Nike uniforms on display last night…
1. The gold pants are definitely a lighter shade this year…almost a cream color. (You can also see it in the numerals on their new black jerseys.);
2. The gold trim on the black numerals (on the white jerseys they wore last night) looks thinner…which makes the black numbers stand out more. I also think the front jersey numerals looked a tad smaller, while the shoulder numbers looks slightly larger.
3. The floor de lis on the jersey sleeves appear to have less gold trim or fill.
4. Not certain, but the helmets may have a different finish. I’ve not yet been out to watch the Saints practice but in the training camp photos that have been in the newspaper for the past week or so the helmet finish does not look as metallic as in the past.
I like the subtle changes…and even the flywire collar is growing on me.
As for the Cardinals, maybe the picture on my HD TV just got better, but I thought the red Cardinals’ jerseys looked slightly darker and crisper than last year’s.
Overall, think Nike has done a good job with the new Saints uniforms…although it is to be expected that there will always be certain isolated features that will bother some people, which is to be expected.
The Saints black collars look like shit. How many teams do this, solid out the flywire collar? I know the Bengals are one other.
I’m really hoping that after Nike gets done showcasing their flywire thing, the collars will go back to looking somewhat normal. It’s obvious that they can do it in whatever color they want – there’s no real reason for it to be white if the rest of the collar is black.
This is one instance where I blame the teams much more than I blame Nike.
Teams didn’t have to adopt the Nikelace disco-collar look. They could have kept their contrasting Nikelace collars, as the Texans did, opted out of the Nikelace program while adopting the rest of Nike’s “innovations, as the Patriots did, or just opted out of the whole thing altogether, as the Packers, Raiders and a couple other teams did.
Any team that takes the field in a disco collar does so not because it was required but because they either liked the look or got talked into it. Nike isn’t the guardian of a team’s visual legacy; the team is. They are ultimately responsible for saying to the supplier “We’re not here to showcase your brand, you’re here to showcase ours.” Shame the Saints didn’t feel that way.
It would suit me just fine if the Saints had no contrasting collar at all…just the same color as the jersey. I’ve always thought the thick contrasting collar detracted from the uniform. So, in that regard at least having the V part of the color in the same color as the jersey could be considered an improvement.
But I get everyone’s point. The new collar doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. I got over it by halftime…
I was about say “whatever that is on the Saints collar, it’s stupid”.
Jesus Christ…that’s FLEUR DE LIS…not floor de lis!!!
Man, I’m still not awake…
I was hoping you’d catch that epic mistake on your own ;)
You do live in Nola don’t you? And you also have a French name. No excuse!!! ;) /sarcasm
Hey, I just want to say how impressed I am with the way in which UW readers have taken on the collective task of following — and critiquing — Olympic uni developments. Lots of good writing and sharp observations, equalled by no other publication I’m aware of. Living out of a suitcase the last ten days, my mornings have been lifted by the cool stuff that’s been appearing here. Good ringleading, Phil.
Don’t open the door if you hear someone knocking, Connie. I think they’re on their way because you used the copyrighted word “r*ng”. Be careful. Be very very careful. ;)
1. I was the first person yesterday to mention the Kuechly practice jersey.
2. We’ve known about UMass (which is never supposed to be written in all caps) for a month now.
3. Those Nike collars look stupid.
1. i barely got to yesterday’s article — the ticker alone took about 3 hours…if you want credit for something, it’s better to send an email to the uniwatching email (this holds true for when paul is at the helm as well)
2. apologies on the spelling of UMASS — it was likely sent in by a reader that way and i just reproduced it in the ticker…it’s already enough to edit spelling, diction, grammar and caps (or lack thereof) for the ticker
3. agreed … the nike collars, especially the contrasting ones, look like shit
Those Nike collars look stupid.
Yes, they absolutely do. As I’ve said before, when they rolled out the new unis back in April, I believe it’s a Nike marketing ploy, calling attention to their “innovation” on purpose. It really ought to be possible to conceal that crap under a more normal-looking collar.
At the very least, we know they could match the color.
I think I said when they were unveiled, and I still believe it now, that the Nikelace is a brilliant marketing move designed to showcase a Nike jersey in those introduction videos at the start of every game and in every headshot on NFL.com, the team websites and every other site that reproduces stats.
Saints John Kasay’s not wearing a Riddell helmet, it’s a Rawlings Quantum helmet.
Carl Crawford was blousing his pants yesterday, maybe in an effort to break the Sox’ losing streak. A few players changed their at bat music as well.
Thanks, Phil, for the disco-era White Sox comparison to the Flywire collars. I will never be able to unsee that, which is not necessarily a bad thing (the unseeing, that is – the collars are a bad thing).
Alabama’s Jones is wearing a Schutt Vengeance helmet
And the replacement scab officials in the NFL are wearing the black slacks.
“Unprofessional, that’s what you are…”
““Why doesn’t the United States flag have 50 stars? This is so wrong and so un-American.”
It’s probably because the logo has to reduce down to a pretty small size and putting 50 stars on it would ruin the overall quality when printed on various forms of digital and print collateral. Overall, the US flag isn’t the simplest thing to reproduce, so you’ll see a lot USA styled designs reducing both stars and stripes to make it easier to digest.
I’m not sure what makes it un-American. They didn’t put a sicle and hammer in the blue field. People shouldn’t make something out of basically nothing.
At least they picked an American number of stars (13). And as a proud Massachusite who hates that we just let “anybody” in now (Like, to pick one at random, Kentucky) I’m kinda okay with it
made my day:
“And as a proud Massachusite who hates that we just let “anybody” in now (Like, to pick one at random, Kentucky) I’m kinda okay with it”
i don’t hate kentucky or anything, just a funny as hell statememnt!
Love the word “Massachusite”; my favorite demonym. Also, never worry about getting the number of stars right. Close is good enough. I’m always surprised at how well crosshatching, at a 45-degree angle, resembles the star field of the flag.
“…People shouldn’t make something out of basically nothing…”
I thought that what this site was about. Zing!
Did nobody else ever have a Civics class? Seriously, flag etiquette ain’t all that hard to wrap one’s head around. And a fundamental element of flag etiquette is that anything that looks like the American flag, is the American flag. So there’s nothing wrong or un-American about using a flag with fewer than 50 stars, or even fewer than 13 stripes. If you recognize it as representing the flag, then it’s a proper flag. (Bonus: If you’ve got an old flag in the attic with 48 or 46 or 37 or however many stars, it’s still a valid U.S. flag and you can fly it with pride.)
And a fundamental element of flag etiquette is that anything that looks like the American flag, is the American flag. So there’s nothing wrong or un-American about using a flag with fewer than 50 stars, or even fewer than 13 stripes. If you recognize it as representing the flag, then it’s a proper flag.
Ahh, you just gotta love a country which actually codifies “fuck it, it’s close enough” as an actual standard.
duuuude ….the little one has 13 stars …..it’s a reference to the Colonie …..and an intentional slap in the face to the host country.
at least in my fevered brain lol
It’s OK – we didn’t even notice.
And it’s similar to the USS Ranger Flag (one of the first flags of the United States Navy and was flown by Captain John Paul Jones on 7/4/1777). Jones sailed the Ranger to England where sank a couple of British warships. This version of the Stars and Stripes was also the first to receive a formal salute from a foreign power (by the French).
I found it curious that Usain Bolt stopped an interview cold so he could show respect for the US flag and National Anthem (Richards Ross’ win in the women’s 400m) yet he showed little respect for the Jamacian flag (which he wore like a caped superhero).
Ah! That would be when Jones attacked Whitehaven. Now to be fair, I have ancestors from Whitehaven – but it’s not exactly driving home a huge hit into the heart of colonialism.
Whitehaven is actually nowhere near civilisation, I’m sorry to say. Most Brits would not have a clue where it’s located.
But… it’s one saving grace is it’s rugby league team (now lower divisions) who have the excellent colours of white with a chocolate, royal blue and gold hoop. The town is more famous for that, I’m afraid, than Jones’ “raid”.
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Damn – “its one saving grace”. I loathe the sneeky apostrophe, and somehow it sneeked in when I wasn’t looking :(
don’t forget “its rugby team” too!
You turn your back for a second and they start breeding!
With all the hullabaloo about the U.S. flag facing the right or wrong way, having the right or wrong amount of stars, the U.S.A. might have been better of putting the letters U S A on their swim caps and other Olympic uniforms or maybe using an eagle, or some other logo instead of a flag as a logo to avoid most of the flag fracus.
Re: Auburn practice uniforms. Football players in shorts look like male hookers.
The football shorts that Auburn is wearing first became popular in the 1970s. The fad continued into the early 1980s. The first ones worn were actually cut-off football pants.
Some companies saw the marketing potential and began making them as a stock item in basic colors (White, Royal, Red, Gold, etc.) complete with the lace fly and would add any color braid that you wanted.
This style was huge in the deep south.
Those US archery/rifle jackets really seemed more brown than orange, to me at least, when I saw them on tv. Here’s a pic of Gold medalist Jamie Gray…
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My latest dispatch from the uni-advertising wars:
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Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation, Old Top? Still hanging around this crazyhouse!
I’m on blogcation, but I’m still on the clock at ESPN.
And as Phil noted in his closing graf today, tomorrow I’ll make a one-day reappearance here on the blog — in part to give Phil a breather and in part to announce a big ESPN project I’m working on.
Hey, where’s today’s installment of #NoUniAds? Phil, you’re slacking today.
you’re right jim, because the post wasn’t long enough as it is
i had to cut something out to fit in the 5 & 1…
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May your Raiders come out in white pants this season…
Ouch, that’s just not cool, Vilk. It’s bad enough the Panthers (my #2 team) have to wear that damn mono-white so often… if the Raiders go to white pants… ugh. No. Just… No!
I think I know all of Jeff’s kryptonite, Jim.
Monochrome white, gray face masks, blank helmets, common sense & rules, crewcuts & easy-listening soft rock.
I really shouldn’t even reply to you, but seriously, “easy-listening soft rock”? You can’t seriously hold *that* against me.
see “quote of the day”
“It had widely been expected that the NFL, MLB, and NHL would start taking at least tentative steps toward their own uniform advertising programs once the NBA plan was unveiled. But with Goodell and Selig both coming out against uni ads, the NBA may look more like a junior-level league.”
~~~
the nba is already a junior-level league — i’m thinking the NHL may have already supplanted them as the third major sport in the usa…if they follow through with the uni ads, it will drop BELOW soccer as a fifth sport, and certainly not a major one
I dunno… given that soccer already has uni-ads and no one giving a shit about it, I think the NBA can still maintain 4th place, even while being a bunch of greedy walking billboards.
No, the NHL is still 4th. They’ll *look* like 3rd if the NBA goes through with this, but they’re still 4th.
Don’t NFL teams wear ads on their training camp jerseys? So isn’t the NFL’s statement a little like having your spouse say, “Honey, I’m gonna cheat on you, but I promise, it will only be in the summertime”?
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Has the NBA ever been a trendsetter? Just because the NBA blares loud music while play is going on on the court doesn’t mean the NFL and MLB have felt the need to play songs while action is going on on their playing fields. Just because every team makes the NBA playoffs doesn’t mean the NFL and MLB have decided to follow suit.
“Don’t NFL teams wear ads on their training camp jerseys?”
~~~
you don’t see the difference between actual game play and training camp unis?
(insert allen iverson diatribe here)
another big distinction, but with the advent of 900 sports channels, even it is having the line blurred: for the most part, we never “see” (certainly not on teevee) scrimmages and training camp footage, so the ads have little to no effect (plus, we’re talkin about practice…not a game)…
the goal of #NoUniAds is to keep the jerseys PURE for the actual games — not really that much to ask…you wanna slap some sponsor patch on your practice jersey (not my preference, but i can tolerate it), be my guest
just KEEP THAT SHIT off the game uni during actual game play
“You’ve likely seen this by now, but Shannon Shark, who runs the nifty MetsPolice.com site, “was pretty darn confident Thursday but multiple reports of this t-shirt in the window of the clubhouse store on 42nd” of the I was pretty darn confident yesterday but multiple reports of this t-shirt in the window of the clubhouse store on 42nd” of the 2013 (Mets) All Star Game logo.”
Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the wording of this paragraph at all?
Yeah, that looks like a copy-and-paste error.
But it’s a nice logo, and I love that they’re showcasing Queens.
I love the logo, but the wording of this entry had my head spinning.
sorry — should be fixed now — it was more of a coding error that became a cut and paste error — i fixed the bad coding, but never corrected the quote
Great photography Stefan Chilvers!
I saw those pictures and immediately though I was looking at Subbuteo. I love the end result you get with tilt shift photography.
I thought the same thing, until I noticed the players had no bases under them.
For those who are wondering what we’re talking about:
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Thanks for the kind words, guys. I’ve passed them onto him.
It is a very interesting effect that I am told benefits from the correct high angle for the photo, to really make things look like models. Very effective.
We were lucky on Saturday to be high up in the top tier so could look down like the Gods on pitch below, and enable Stefan to take these pictures.
In contrast tomorrow for the semi-final we will be 9 rows from the front. Much closer to the action, but not really suitable for tilt-shift photography. And we’ll also get soaked if/when it rains :)
“for the semi-final we will be 9 rows from the front. Much closer to the action, but not really suitable for tilt-shift photography. And we’ll also get soaked if/when it rains :)”
~~~
oh man, that sucks…
We’ll survive. We’re Brits after all. What’s a little rain?
That tilt-shift effect is really cool. I tried it with a couple of photos I took at the Olympics simply from an iphone. This was my best effort. Not nearly as cool as the ones by Mr. Chilvers, but still, a great effect. Here was my best effort of Tunisia/Iceland in men’s handball:
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Here was the original:
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this is what the US wrestling team should wear:
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its true
Its DAMN true…
I’ve really taken a shine to the White Sox Sunday throwbacks. Somehow the design elements of the larger numbers, NNOB, sleeve patch, and white trim really work. My only complaint is that I associate the Sox with wearing black not red. Any experienced photoshoppers out there want to take a stab at showing what those unis would look like with black instead of red?
yea whats the deal with them wearing red?
seriously?
They wore those in the ’70s. Not sure why the decision was made to switch to red from blue.
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They switched to the disco collared shirts afterwards.
i was watching the video of AJ Pierzynski’s HR from yesterday bouncing off the kid, at 1st glance they look like the Phillies.
Wonderful coverage today, Mr. Chilvers. I’m jealous of all the games you’ve gotten to see in person!
And your son definitely has some skills behind the camera. Very nice photos!
Thank you.
Despite all the side issues about the Olympics as a once in a lifetime chance I just had to take the opportunity to see as much of my favourite sport in them.
Forgot to mention this yesterday, but the Badger football team released another “teaser” of their alternate uniform versus Nebraska this year:
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REALLY digging the old-school “W”. Sometime today they will reveal the whole thing.
Little help? About a month ago, there was a link up to an adjustable jersey hanger with plastic snap-ins to shorten or extend the hanger. I can’t find the link. Anybody? Thanks ahead of time.
here
you rock. thanks.
I wanted to point out while watching some indoor volleyball that every team sponsored by Asics is using the exact same template. The only variation of course is the team colors. I’ve seen the same gradient side panels and feathered shorts on the Bulgarian and Italian men’s teams and the Russian and South Korean women’s teams as well. I’m sure there are more but haven’t seen that many matches.
Are you sure about the Russians? The mens team is Mizuno and uses the same stupid beveled metallic numbers as the US teams – the US/Russia game the other day looked like a scrimmage, with Russia’s lighter blue shorts being the only real difference.
So did DiPietro get a new mask as well, or is he sticking with the helmet/cage combo he was rocking post-getting his ass handed to him by Brent Johnson?
DP doesn’t need a new mask, they just need to rent one for the two or three games he plays.
Aw snap, Tom! Well played.
How much longer is that waste on the Islanders books for anyway?
hey guys,
need a little help…
anyone know which day we had the nike press release on the olympics?
I’m looking to show a co-worker all the stuff nike released for the olympics but I cannot seem to find it.
or if you could provide a link, that’d be wonderful.
Thanks in advance!
Raise your hand if you like the link!
Ok, now that’s pretty damned funny!
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Terrific story on the Padres jersey.
PS- I would -swear- Harbaugh is still wearing a Reebok sweatshirt. You know, his boring plain BFBS sweatshirt. Colors for the team ARE RED AND GOLD, NO BLACK.
I will keep hunting for it. I saw a long range shot and there was something in middle of sleeve that looked like a wordmark.
New Maryland Football Helmets leak:
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Well, that’s goofy. If they’re going to ditch the split helmet and just put the flag on the side, then put the flag on the side, don’t morph the flag into a pennant or whatever the heck it is they’re trying to do there.
I do like it on a white helmet though…I’ll give them that.
oh ffs
not only are the NOT the oregon of the east (far from it), they’re quickly becoming the laughingstock of the east
It really is like a kid with a new set of finger paints, isn’t it?
Like. A lot. Here’s the rest: link
“Heritage and Innovation”… Really? Really?? Where is there a sliver of heritage in that POS?
I remember seeing that look somewhere before…takes me back to my childhood during the late 80s/early 90s:
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Oh man, you beat me to it. I dig the helmets though.
for some reason i was getting a SpeedRacer vibe from that helmet
Baseball theme for the latest Field Notes notebook seasonal edition:
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And here are the details of the Day Game edition:
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Wisconsin’s new alternate uniform:
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And the official video release. These are meant to be a tribute to the 1962 Badger team.
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And the reaction of some of the players after seeing the uniforms.
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Coach Bielema says the Badgers are the #1 brand of Adidas in the USA.
People in Ann Arbor and South Bend would beg to differ.
Man, I know when I think of Ron Vanderkelen and Pat Richter and Lou Holland and that great Rose Bowl game vs. USC the first thing I think of is red Wisconsin helmets.
Say what?
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Wow. I hope Wisconsin didn’t pay more than like, 20 bucks for that design. Seriously, its certainly not OVERdone, but damn.
Ill give them credit for showing a great deal of restraint. In this day and age of “LOOK AT US!” This is a nice, minimalistic breath of fresh air. But it still just seems to be missing something.
Ya some major designing skills used to create those Wiscosnson unis. Same for the Nebraska unis.
Who does Rovell work for now? I thought he went back to ESPN.
New helmets for University of Houston:
pic.twitter.com/8XsqemUf
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That link should work. They’re also wearing a patch to commemorate their final year in Robertson Stadium, which is being razed to make way for a new facility.
Re: Craig Hallgren comments. GO FUCK YOURSELF. O NOES!!!!!!!!!! YOU CAN’T THE STARS ON A FLAG PATCH!!!!!!!!!! IT’S A COMMIE CONSPIRACY BY THAT COMMIE SCUM OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO FUCK YOURSELF.
Let’s see, I’m betting your a white closeted bigot who listens and believes every fart and bleat uttered by El Blimpo is the TRUTH and you parade around bleating to anyone who has the misfortune to have to be within earshot how “We need to show those stinking sandniggers in Iran who’s boss and nuke the place and invade Cuba and string up that Castro commie and nuke North Korea.”
But here’s the thing; just like your buddy El Blimpo not only have you never served in the military, you never WOULD serve, because you think it’s beneath you.
Here’s another thing: NO ONE INTELLIGENT GIVES A FUCK because unlike bigoted morons like you we don’t believe the US flag has any spooky mystical powers which give us athletes super powers. It’s a scrap of cloth.
But thanks for being an ugly American.
Looks like someone had their bowl of douche flakes today.
You’re getting a smidge too worked up about this.
Have I missed something here?
oh dear…it seems the troll is being fed
please do not feed the troll
I thought, just for a while, that he wouldn’t be. But alas, as always, someone had to feed the troll!
I have an excuse – I’m English :)
Hey, it’s either an excuse or an advantage, you can’t have it both ways, George!
We’ve done yeoman’s work in talking among ourselves about the pajama-pants issue for a long time now. However, it doesn’t appear to have affected anything worth mentioning.
It’s not on the radar of a single MLB higher-up that I can tell, and if it is, who knows if they’d care? With the occasional honorable exception, the players are committed to looking horrible with a zeal that I can’t fathom. What’s more, peer pressure and the example of veterans tend to iron out even those rare exceptions.
In short, I can see no glimmer of hope that pajama pants will cease to be the norm in the short or medium term. Am I right in suspecting a complete dissociation between the sort of people who give a damn about the subject, and the sort of people with the power to act on the subject?
As Andy Dick put it, “When life gives you tumors, make tumor-ade.” If the players want to display their trouser cuffs, put some art there. A monogram, a number, a stripe. Before long, they’ll become tired of it and move on to some other leg styling. I thought I was a uni-wonk, but this is an issue I’ve lost very little sleep over.
Maybe that really is the most trenchant and useful response possible to the whole issue. Damn it. Just damn it. Might as well acquiesce … or give up baseball altogether.
So I leave for a few days and Adidas goes and decides all college football teams have to wear matching letter front unis? Great.
Evidently they believe it will be of great value when teams line up alphabetically by number.
Also, we must ask ourselves…
Do Wisconsin touchdowns count as 24, seeing a “W” is a four-point letter and “N” is only a one-point letter?
Makes you want play for Xavier, doesn’t it.
Not as hard to win when your touchdowns are worth 48 points.
Cyrus Jones (the Alabama player) is wearing the new Schutt Vengeance helmet. I think it is named that because they lost their lawsuit against Riddell and now they are going to make all of their helmets look just like Riddell helmets. Saw it at a trade show. All the same guts as a Ion 4D with but the shell looks like an Ion 4D, a Rawlings NRG Quantum, and a Riddell Speed had a filthy threesome and this was their spawn. I’m glad 11 helmet nerds will get that joke…
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The 3rd most talked about QB in NY wears one too:
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A couple of nights ago I saw on local news that the headphones Michael Phelps wears were from a local company who has no endorsement deal with him and was just pleasantly surprised when he started wearing them several years ago.
Anyone who thinks soccer is boring should be watching the US women playing Canada right now. Simply amazing.
4 goals in 10 minutes…
is that a lot?
You hush!
Also, I recall being introduced to soccer while being in Kindergarten, if that tells you the kind of skill level needed for the game. Couldn’t cut with real scissors at the time but could play soccer. What a world it was.
actually i watched the replay…the end of the second half, where the US *magically* got a penalty kick goal, then almost two full overtimes
alex morgan … my new brandi chastain
Phil, I’ve said it beofre and I’ll say it again. I’d have Alex Morgan’s babies.
Concealed78- don’t be such a hater. Did you ever learn to use scissors?
What an amazing game.
Canada can complain about the officiating (a lot of blown calls, two right in a row leading to the tying goal) but if they could defend corner kicks they’d be in the gold medal game right now.
Matt Kemp’s BG’s and cleats have what Nike deems “volt” its very prevalent in their Oregon Branding now and in a lot of the shoe and apparel lines. MLB might do a crackdown since its obviously not a team color. Also, Troy Tulowitki had the volt on his cleats this year as well.
“MLB might do a crackdown since its obviously not a team color.”
I doubt it, because the shoes are still mostly blue. MLB rules state that a player who plays for a X shoe team must wear spikes that are at least 51% “X” color. The Dodgers are a blue shoe team, so his shoes — while ugly as hell — shouldn’t violate team or league rules. That’s my guess, though, so I could be wrong.
Side note: because of throwback games, and the fact that most teams are black shoe teams, why can’t MLB mandate that all players/teams carry all-black (preferably low-top) spikes as backup shoes for throwback games and when they get traded? Yes, I’m aware that some throwbacks don’t call for black shoes, but a lot do.
Because that would clearly be against the CBA. “These aren’t in your uniform right now, and we can’t guarantee they will ever be, but you’re required to have a pair of black cleats wasting space and collecting dust in your locker.” Frankly, I’d rather that any traded player have seven days to get new color-matching equipment, with the old stuff being acceptable in the interim. I always thought it was kind of fun to see mismatched gear. Guy Hebert once played some games for the Rangers with all his Mighty Ducks gear. Looked a little ugly, but mostly funny. Besides, wouldn’t it make for a good picture in the Uni Watch files?
Did anyone else just get an NBA survey about jersey ads? Doesn’t look promising…
The questions/answers:
1. If a sponsors logo were placed on the front of an NBA jersey, where do you think it would appear? a)Below the player number b) Between the team’s name and player number. c) In the center above the team name. d) On the left shoulder
2. And, assuming logos were used on jerseys, how many sponsor logos do you think would appear on the front of an NBA jersey? Answers: 1, 2, 3, 4-5, 6-9, 10+
3. And what size(s) do you envision a sponsor’s logo would be on an NBA jersey? answers (in inches): 7×7, 6×6, 5×5, 4×4, 3×3, 2×2, 1×1
As a poli-sci minor once upon a time, I’m about to faint over that horribly biased survey. Watch the NBA stat heads proclaim that “survey results showed overwhelming support for one square-inch ad patches on the left shoulder.” Excuse me, numb nuts, but you didn’t even give us a qualifying question asking whether we want ads in the first place!
#NoUniAds
//Seriously, no fucking advertisements on game-day uniforms.
I didn’t fill it out for that specific reason. I was looking for the “nowhere” option to question 1 and when it wasn’t there, I decided that I couldn’t be a part of the inevitable spin of “X percent of respondents would like to see the NBA add a 2″ by 2″ ad on the left shoulder of our uniforms.”
That’s some horse shit right there. People these days have no goddamn ethics. I realize that on the grand scheme of “important life issues”, an advertisement on a sports jersey is pretty low on the list. But for fuck’s sakes…
Looks like UTEP is getting special orange unis for opening weekend against Oklahoma:
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I like the shoulders.
Covered in the comments yesterday. Otherwise you’d probably have a bunch of reactions.
Those new Saints collars? fuhgeddaboudit
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According to the Phillies Telecast during the Braves v. Phillies game tonight, the Braves will be going high socked on Mondays for the foreseeable future because they feel like it will be good luck since it helped them end their no wins on Monday streak last week.
I must say, as a Braves fan I am welcoming the look. They aren’t exactly stirrups but it is a nice improvement. Way better than the pajama pants look.
Rovell said on the radio he took.a month off between leaving cnbc and the 4 letter. Possibly because
A. Its summer
B. Dead sports season
C. Non compete
D. Newborn daughter
I dunno if this was mentioned anywhere else but why was St. Louis wearing a black armband this weekend?
it was an authentic throwback — in 1982, following the september 7th death of ken boyer, the cards wore a black armband for him
it wasn’t for anyone *today*
and if they didn’t have it for the first six months, why the throwback to that short period of time, you may ask? they had them for the 1982 world series against the brewers (who were properly in the junior circuit at the time)
It’s more fun having the cubs/cards as rivals then twins/white sox
That’s only because the Twins and White Sox don’t look as awesome as they did back in the 80s. The Brewers belong in the AL. Not the Astros.
Thanks, I figured it was a throwback armband even! Good job on those unis.
this velodrome racing has to be one of either the coolest…or stupidest…events at the olympics
i haven’t quite figured out which yet
The sprint is very tactical. If you want action on the track, try the team pursuit, or a keirin race.
The correct answer: Coolest.
No gears, no brakes. Awesome.
My city has a velodrome and the track crowd is VERY welcoming to outsiders. Come down with a helmet, shoes and pedals and they set you up.
no gears, and no breaks
sounds awesome aight
suicidal…but awesome
“No gears, no brakes. Awesome.”
You should go to the Lil’ 5
Braves skipper Fredi Gonzalez has some sort of logo on his socks for High Sock Monday.. couldn’t make it out, but its on the inside and outside of both socks, similar to where the bell is on the Phils’ leggins.
pic.twitter.com/GTqqDmes
Sorry for the bad link…
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Looks like the Phiten logo. Yes, that should be a violation, as there are NOT supposed to be any visible sock logos. And no, this isn’t the first time. Reference Cabrera, Miguel.
//Boo, hiss.
Stumbled across this, interesting how Howard Cosell handles the death of Chuck Hughes – defintiely a different era.
A couple of other interesting things
The Cleveland Browns placement of “Browns” in the end zone
The orangey red the Broncos wore in this era
The yellow helmets of the Washington Redskins
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“interesting how Howard Cosell handles the death of Chuck Hughes”
~~~
yeah, im surprised they didn’t actually show it
i didn’t *know* it at the time, but 40 years later, you can still hear the slight tinges of racism in howard’s descriptions…
also, who would have thought the washington team would have been more pc (for the day) than the kansas city team? anyone catch the fan in full headdress
/different times, different times
I think this has been mentioned in the past, if you look closely at the field of the Washington/KC game, there is both the Chiefs and the Redskins helmets in the middle of the field (fields were also truly messy back then)
The Chiefs did that every week…putting the opponents’ helmet at midfield along with the KC helmet. New Orleans and a couple of other teams put the opposing team’s name in one of the end zones, too. Every week.
Cosell was a lot of things, but he was not a racist.
no…and i didn’t say he was either
i said “racially tinged language” — that does not a racist make
it was also 40 years ago…not too far removed from a time when you could say “that nice colored fellow” and you weren’t a racist, but it would never be appropriate today
settle down, jim, settle down
do you remember this PSA?
Further to today’s lede, it mentioned that wrestlers have to have two singlets – one red and one blue.
Maybe its different at the Olympics, but at the lower levels reversible singlets are pretty common:
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thank you
Did anybody notice a radiating reflective material off the NFL logos when the lights hit the Cardinals’ collars?
Great to see wrestling getting a little love on here.. wish I saw this post sooner… if you guys love wrestling.. we’re trying to get a show about a college program made.. check out the concept trailer we created. link