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Uni Watch

In Which I Land on the DL

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So here’s the deal: On Wednesday afternoon I took a spill off of my bike and suffered what I thought was a sprained wrist and sprained elbow. Subsequent X-rays early Thursday morning revealed that I actually have a fractured wrist and fractured forearm. My arm’s in a cast and will stay that way for about six weeks. I won’t need surgery, and I’m told that the fractures will heal easily, so it’s not the end of the world. At the moment, though, it’s kind of a major hassle. Correction: Orthopedist now says I do need surgery. Fuuuuuuuck.

Maybe later on I’ll take time to reflect on the ironies of coming through the hurricane without a scratch, only to break my arm while doing something I normally do every day. But for now I’m too busy trying to figure out how to open a can of cat food (among other things) with one hand.

My biggest challenge is typing. I can still type with one hand (which is what I did for this text you’re reading right now), but it’s torturously slow, and I make tons of mistakes. Even if I got some voice-to-text software and/or hired someone to take dictation, that wouldn’t really help, because Uni Watch is more than just text — it’s links, it’s coding, it’s putting together all those before/after photo pairings, etc. Basically, if I can’t type, I can’t work.

I can position my injured arm so that my fingers are at the keyboard, but for now it hurts too much to use them (this is due to ligament damage in my hand and forearm). My hope is that this pain will subside in a few days and allow me to work. If not, I’m going to be sidelined for a while, both here and on ESPN.

But even if that happens, I want the site to stay active. That will require some work from me and from you. For my part, I plan to post at least some sort of minimal content each day, although sometimes it may be very minimal. As for you, here’s what you can do to help keep the site vibrant and relevant (and also make my life a little easier):

1) If you have a link or news item that you’d normally send to me as a Ticker submission, post it in the comments instead so everyone can discuss it. If it involves a photo that isn’t already on the web, sign up with Flickr or Photobucket so you can upload it and share the URL. Or tweet it and then share the tweet’s URL.

2) If you also want to send items to me because you want me to be aware of them, you can. But please understand that I probably won’t write back, and I probably won’t post your submission on the site either — I just don’t have the typing capacity for that at the moment (seriously, you don’t wanna know how long it took me to type today’s entry). For now, the best way to share things is via the comments.

3) There may be a few days when, despite my best efforts and intentions, the site will be closed. Thanks in advance for understanding.

4) For those of you who have my phone number (you know who you are): If you need to discuss anything with me, phone calls are much easier for me to deal with right now than e-mails.

5) I’m already knee-deep in “How to live without the use of one arm” tips, so please don’t send me any more. Thanks.

Okay, so that’s the new normal, at least for now. Meanwhile, a few other orders of business:

• Tomorrow’s party at Sheep Station is still on. I’ll be the guy with his arm in a sling.

• Phil and most of his contributors were already planning to take this weekend off, so I’m on weekend duty. Lousy timing, but I’ll have something for you. Just not sure how much.

• Before the bike accident, I wrote a piece about the burgeoning Brooklyn sports scene for ESPN New York. You can see that here.

• Longtime reader/contributor Trevor “Teebz” Alexander co-hosts a hockey-centric radio show in Winnipeg. I appeared on it as a guest last night. You can download the audio here.

• I have a small Ticker today — mostly stuff that was submitted on Wednesday morning (before I took what will now be known as the Fateful Ride). My apologies to those of you who submitted things later on Wednesday and/or on Thursday — I just couldn’t deal with that material.

And there we are. Wanna sign my cast?

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PermaRec update: A series of old postcards are the basis for an ongoing rephotography project, which you can read about in the latest entry on the Permanent Record Blog.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s the black jersey that Ball State will be wearing this weekend (from Kyle Shaner). … And here’s the very disappointing UCLA design for this weekend. … Good observation from Jesse Agler, who writes: “The Panthers will see The Redskins in throwbacks this week, they saw the Bears in throwbacks last week, and they saw the Falcons in throwbacks in Week 4. That means they will have gone up against a team wearing throwbacks in three of their first eight games.” … “I’ve purchased the on-field cap for both the 2010 and 2012 World Series, and it appears that they have changed their material for the World Series cap patch,” says Chris Schoenthal. “The 2010 patch appears to be felt that is sewn onto the cap, while the 2012 ‘patch’ is definitely plastic of some kind, and I’m not entirely sure how it’s attached. The plastic seems have more vibrant colors, including metallic highlights.” … Here’s what Army will be wearing against Navy (from Keenan Bailey). … Lots of absolutely sensational 1939 Pacific Coast League baseball photos here (big thanks to John Kimmerlein). … Kiki Vandeweghe can blow me. … Good article on weatherman attire (thanks, Kirsten). … As you may have noticed during last night’s Chargers/Chiefs game, the NFL has now transitioned from Pink Month to G.I. Joe Month. Sigh. … Some unusual QB uni numbers on tap for Maryland (from Douglas King).

 
  
 
Comments (224)

    I’m waiting to see how long before he starts selling ad space on his arm…Nike would look good…what about a red cross logo? That would be appropriate…

    If you’re the ex-Hemogoblin Kenny Ocker, you posted that at 3:59 a.m. PDT. That is devotion to Uni Watch.

    I actually own several of Dave’s geeky jersey designs (they are produced through RinkGear). All are really cool-looking and very high-quality. If you have a nerd in your life who also likes jerseys, I would highly recommend he or she checking them out. They go on sale for about a month and then are taken off the market, so they’re semi-limited in nature.

    Chris, how does the sizing run? I’d be particularly grateful if you are able to compare RinkGear to the old pre-RBK NHL jerseys.

    Sorry to hear about your wreck Paul! I say you go ahead and rewrite history. I’m picturing you on your bike in the middle of Hurricane Sandy’s wind carrying four orphans out of the flood when you had a traffic light swing through and knock you off your bike…

    Condolences on your mishap, Paul. A while back I broke my foot – my first, and so far, only bone fracture – and being in a non-weight bearing cast, it was no fun. You quickly find out who your friends are when you need to take a shower with one leg on the outside of the tub. But your situation seems far more inconvenient. Take care, pull in favors from your friends and family, and let us know if we can do anything to assist. Happy healing!

    I bet it was his left arm, did you know that 80% of all arms that are broken via biking accidents are the left arm? Apparently it has something to do with most people being right handed and gripping the bike as the fall and reaching the less dominant hand out to brave themselves…

    I conpletely made all of that up, but doesn’t that sound like one of those crazy facts that might be true?? Get well soon Paul ..

    It’s my right arm, which is good, since i’m left-handed. Oddly, though, i’ve always moused with my right hand, so the injury complicates my typing/computer situation.

    Nope…I’m lefty/lefty (with right settings…) the only thing I do right handed is a can opener…(lefty ones are too much money)

    Well, since Paul is a lefty, then Brad’s made-up theory would hold up — if more people are right-handed and they are more likely to break the left arm, then it would figure a lefty would be more likely to break the right arm!

    I’m on the middle of the fence about uniform ads in the NBA, but that Kiki Vandeweghe article almost sounds like he’s been reading this site for months and decided to play devils advocate. Especially the part about the it being a financial necessity to name stadiums and arenas, I was really waiting for like a “ha! gotcha!” moment at that point. I mean, I’m usually pretty open minded but he can’t actually believe all that stuff he wrote can he?

    I kinda see a silver lining in Vandeweghe’s argument and maybe we need to pull back and look more at the big picture. If our only opposition to UniAds is because of our “emotional attachment” of feeling like North American team sports shouldn’t have ads on them, then he’s just saying what really is the big deal? Just because long ago American sports got used to not having them, just as European sports like soccer embraced them and even our sport of Nascar has ads all over the race cars. Indeed if you see a Nascar racer without a bunch of ads, you think he must be under-funded.

    Really, what is the big deal? Sports are already inundated with sponsors — it’s only because we as American fans are so ingrained in the concept that “they shouldn’t be on the jerseys” that this is such an issue. If you really think about it, if there is a opportunity to “monetize” something by selling ads, and the only drawback is a perceived backlash by people who would be opposed to it, do we really think that they are not eventually going to do it, after weighing the pros and cons of how much money they can make vs. how much backlash they’ll face. Vandeweghe is just telling it like he sees it.

    Really regardless of my feelings on either issue, to fight this fight with the same zeal as is seen on the using Native American imagery issue is interesting. To say we’re offended because a sports team is using Native Americans, but then with the same zeal also say we’re opposed to advertising on basketball uniforms, kind of demeans the Native American issue, from a social justice standpoint.

    Struggling to find a picture, but Northwestern has two D lineman who are playing with big clubs/casts on their one hand.. Tyler Scott and one other player, I think. I guess I shouldn’t post an image because there would a lot of purple and I don’t want to do that to Paul.

    I know Fred Thomas wore a cast at one time while playing for the Saints. Basically, his left hand looked like a club, similar to what that Cardinals lineman had. Photos are proving to be elusive at the moment.

    Larry Wilson, from the Cardinals, making an interception with casts on both hands! Hardcore!

    Paul, I shattered my collarbone about 12 years ago. I never realized how debilitating it could be. Taking shower was very challenging. I could not even lift myself out of bed from the pain. Amazing what you think are no big deals and turning out to be big deals. Fans of this site will get by. Just take the time you need to heal

    I bike on the weekends and due to so much debris around, I was worried about doing so this weekend…get well soon Paul…your accident has made me decide to not risk it, even if the hurricane did not cause it.

    As a cyclist, I’ll ask the standard questions all cyclists ask after one wrecks: “Did you bend a rim? How’s the frame?”

    Paul, when someone said, “break a leg,” they didn’t mean for you to actually try to.

    All joking aside, I hope you have a speedy recovery.

    Sorry to hear about your arm, Paul. I’m on week 5 of 8 in a cast after dislocating my elbow, so I feel your pain. Glad to hear it wasn’t your dominant arm. I can only imagine how much of a pain in the ass that would be.

    Actually, Paul, with the Dragon software, you can call out the html codes/url addys and it will type them exactly. Dragon is really good.

    But, on the other hand, you probably need to rest and we don’t need to be big babies about you not being able to post 100% for awhile, so…..

    I guess, just keep it in mind if you need to use it for communicating with ESPN, catching up on important emails, etc.

    Paul,

    As a former skateboarder, I know how crappy it is to break limbs (I wasn’t very good). I really felt bad for you, but then I saw those beautiful Army jerseys and it made me feel better. Thanks for the ‘pick-me-up.”

    As a former skateboarder

    As I read this, I thought, “Holy shit, Mike Vallely reads Uni Watch?!” But if you weren’t very good, you mustn’t be link Mike V…

    I hereby declare November as Broken Arm Awareness Month and will spend the month wearing green.

    Paul – that sucks! They do heal quick; just take it as easy as you can. When you get your cast changed, you should have the cast-tech make it look like the UniWatch stirrup.

    Here’s my Halloween costume. “I am personally placing a hundred-dollar bounty on the head of Tim McCracken. He’s the head coach and chief punk on that Syracuse team.”

    link

    I’m still calling it Izumisano…

    link

    The city in the western prefecture of Osaka — currently called Izumisano — owes its creditors well over 100 billion yen (£775 million), the official said, adding the presence of nearby Kansai International Airport was partly to blame.

    Izumisano, which is known mainly for its towel-making industry and proximity to the airport, is looking for a sponsor prepared to stump up at least a billion yen.

    Paul,

    It always sucks when you get physically injured and are unable to get the things done that you want to get done. I had an injury over the summer that prevented me from working on a project I was heavily involved in and it sidelined me for weeks. So I can totally relate to your situation. Get well soon.

    As far as my situation, I had to separate myself from Uni Watch for a handful of reasons. One of those reasons is probably obvious to regular readers of the site, but another reason was reading, contributing, and commenting on Uni Watch was just taking up way too much of my time. It’s hard to give up something you love, but when your house is a pig sty because of it and you start to feel like a hoarder, you have to make adjustments. Giving up the level of Uni Watch participation I had before I disappeared has helped me improve my living conditions greatly. Now that things are a bit more manageable, I plan on being an active Uni Watcher once again, just not as intensely as I used to be. Hopefully you guys will welcome me back.

    Anyway, I’d like to share three new projects that I’ve just started:

    1) “American Football Fields”: This is a tumblr site dedicated to Google Maps aerial shots of football fields. Only one entry so far, but the first one is important: it shows Wesleyan University’s Corwin Stadium at Andrus Field, which is *the oldest continuously used football field in the world*. As you can see by the baseball diamond, it is also *the oldest continuously used baseball field in the world*.

    You can visit “American Football Fields” by going to this url:
    link

    2) “Baseball Diamonds Above & Beyond”: This is also a tumblr site and is the same concept as above but this one is with baseball fields. The first two posts are dedicated to this year’s World Series teams’ respective stadiums.

    You can visit “Baseball Diamonds Above & Beyond” by going to this url:
    link

    3) “Seals and Crests”: This is isn’t specifically sports related but for regular readers of Uni Watch it is pretty obvious why I would create a site like this. My obsession with flags, seals, and crests has been plastered all over this blog since 2009 so this tumblr site shouldn’t be a surprise to you guys. One of the first posts on Seals and Crests actually is sports related: it compares how closely the NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) seal/logo looks like the USFL Boston Breakers logo.

    You can visit “Seals and Crests” by going to this url:
    link

    Sorry I can’t provide any material assistance. Being a giant klutz, I’ve had well over a dozen broken bones so you have my sympathy, thoughts and prayers. And one piece of advice: consume lots of dairy. In my experience it really helps to speed healing of bone breaks. Doesn’t matter if it’s ice cream, yogurt, cheese – heck, your homemade irish cream might even do the trick.

    I noticed something a little odd about the Chiefs/Chargers game. Both teams helmet matched their pants, and both teams facemask colors matched their jersey color and majority sock color. It was a really odd unison.

    Really, really hoping for you that the pain stays away and doesn’t get too bad.
    Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help you out!

    Here’s the link for download, Kek.

    Paul gave a phenomenal interview last night, and I cannot say thank you enough to him. A number of listeners have already responded with feedback about how good Paul was on the show.

    Thanks again, Paul, and heal up fast! The DL is no place for a star! :o)

    Yeah Paul, really liked your spot.
    For whatever it’s worth, my biggest beef with the Avalanche is that their jerseys are maroon, white, and blue, but their equipment (helmets, gloves, and breezers) are all black. Holy crap, that’s a bad look. Always looked like a roller hockey team to me, as in “These are our jerseys…now everybody just go to Sports Authority and get black everything else so we’ll all match.” I liked the “mountain scape” hem line that they had going on pre-EDGE, but that’s gone too.
    //Sniff sniff tear, I miss the NHL.

    The Erie Seawolves, AA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, unveiled a new logo and new uniform set today. Having changed their secondary color from orange to red and updating a logo that was in desperate need.

    Old logo: link

    New logo/uniforms: link

    I’m not crazy about the uni set, looks a little haphazard to me – but the logo is a drastic improvement from the old one.

    Anybody else think that is some piss-poor radial arching on “ERIE”? I’m not sure how to make it better… maybe a word as short as Erie just shouldn’t be arched.

    the font choice for Erie bugs me more than the arching, doesn’t fit with the rest of the type, and Seawolves should be set on a path not warped using the Arc feature in illustrator.

    The “R” on the road seems narrower on the bottom than top, not to mention it’s cut in half. I don’t know how they’d fix that – ER | IE. They need another letter to balance it out, or maybe a graphic. They could make the second “E” really long, or maybe add some exclamation marks.
    Actually, if they spaced the letters more closely, they could break it after the first “E”: E|RIE.
    Also, “SEAWOLFS” would fit better on the home jersey, or maybe just “SEAWOLF.” But the Tuscan style lettering is cool.

    Crap. Sorry about your injury, Paul.

    I fractured an elbow in a bike mishap when I was a stay-at-home dad with my infant daughter. All you can do is go about your business slowly and deliberately. Be generous and patient with yourself…and breathe.

    I’m not really sure how it’s better… it’s the same thing but on black instead of white. They still have the helmet and shoulders matching, and thus failing to properly mimic the flag.

    Agreed – though apparently I’m the only person in the state of Maryland who sees Under Armour’s fail throughout the whole process. Everyone I know from MD is saying how sick they are.

    I’ve never been a fan of this uniform. I’m in the camp that the flag and shoulders are wrong as well.

    But I have to say, for whatever reason it looks better in black. (Black and white are different).

    The NOAA logo was instituted in 1970. The Boston Breakers originated in 1983. If theft is implied, it’s from the USFL side.

    I’ve seen the other two finalists for the NOAA logo. One was a stylistic ocean wave that resembled the yin-yang symbol. The other was a stylized hurricane symbol.

    “Paul Lukas and the Fateful Ride” is either a teen mystery novel by Donald Sobol, an obscure Robert Service poem, or a semi-psychedelic pop band that enjoyed a couple of regional hits in the late 60’s.

    Heal quickly, my friend.

    Also, you’re quoted extensively in the Houston Chronicle sports pages this morning…

    Two things:

    1) OUTSTANDING piece by Kiki Vandeweghe. Spot on analysis. I would love to see Vandeweghe beat the crap out of Lukas.

    2) The most important issue with a broken wrist is how it impacts masturbating. Was it your go to hand or your off hand?

    Thank you for exposing your level of intelligence to the rest of us. Please do the rest of us a favor and save your violent fantasies for the vacant lot between your ears.

    Actually Kevin, Joe Johnson is one of Paul’s favorite trolls, once in a while Paul will let one of his posts stand. If you know where this guy is coming from it’s always a nice break from the monotony. Once I read “Outstanding piece by Kiki…” I knew it was someone up to no good, then I took another look at the posters name and realized it was Joe using a different “middle name”.

    Indeed. This event wouldnt be complete without Joe weighing with a masturbation joke.

    I’ll say this, though: I could take Vandeweghe AND Joe with one arm tied behind my back. So to speak.

    I was going to give Johnson credit for counting to two, until I realized that he probably required help to do so.

    1. If Kiki fights the way he played defense Paul has nothing to worry about.
    2. No comment.

    Paul, howintheheck are you going to get your arm through the arm hole of you Official Nike lineman-cut personalized “The Lukster” #69 throwback Vikings jersey now??

    Wow – a major injury with an extended stay on the DL from a routine play. Paul, you are officially an honorary Washington Natinal. Heal up and take care of yourself!

    Paul,

    Love your stuff. Saw this in the Houston Chronicle today and immediately started looking for you … and ta-da. Always good to see traditional media look on the Web to get it (mostly) right.

    BTW, hope you saw the Jason Gay piece in the WSJ on the World Series uniforms last week.

    link

    Last night on a re-run of “Family Guy” the news anchor went to Asian Correspondent Trisha Takinawa…but they didn’t call her that, they accidentally called her Trisha Noc-A-Homa. The other anchor commented something like “that is just wrong in so many ways”. Very subtle yet it garnered a laugh and an explanation to my wife, had it not been for uniwatch it would have gone way over my head, the old “oh they mockedly got her asian name wrong since they’re long and hard to remember.” Well played.

    Interesting that some jerseys I was interested in when they had the “clearance sale” are listed – including the one I got.

    The football jerseys look great too, but the prices for those are too rich for my blood.

    They make most of their jerseys to order, so the “clearance sale” wasn’t about clearing out discontinued items but rather getting rid of their samples and pruning the limited floor stock from the brick-and-mortar in Seattle.

    “Would the uniform look better without it? Slightly.” – Kiki V.

    Slightly? Can’t agree with that.

    Sorry to hear about the injury, Paul!

    Here are some interesting socks in Italian soccer:

    Catania (Serie A): link

    Reggina (Serie B): link

    Both have the club’s full crest on each sock. Both have kits manufactured by Givova. Coincidence?

    I keep the can of cat food in place with one hand and use a fork to lift the pull tab. She only gets 1/3 or 1/4 of a 5.5oz can per meal; there’s also some dry food out there. Friskies, if you must know.

    Paul, because of the stroke I had years ago I’ve been one-armed for all of those years. I’ve learned to adapt. Get well soon. And how about a call to the bullpen for Phil or Ricko to fill in? We’re all with you buddy.

    sorry to hear, paul…get well…

    shared this last night (late), so thought i would re-post…we knew it was bound to happen…maybe this is the sign we’ve all been waiting for…the end of pink month in sports…?!?

    “Soccer fans riot in protest of team’s PINK jerseys…”

    link

    I trust the UW community is robust enough to keep things going until Paul is off the DL. I have no problem with shorter posts. Less often is more.

    From another who also has been a one-armed typist at times (my right wrist, and I’m right-handed), you’ll adjust, Paul. All the best from Wisconsin!

    Anyone else having trouble listening to the Teebz interview? Even using Paul’s fixed link, I only get about as far as the first question before the podcast resets itself to the beginning. (I’ve now heard about the cats sleeping thru the storm a good 5 or 6 times…)

    I download the .mp3 and listen to it locally. It’s like 30mb, sio it’s not huge by any means. Took about 5 seconds to download.

    Try that method, CWac. It played fine as an mp3 in both WinAmp and Windows Media Player for me.

    Narrowly dodged a broken wrist last year, but even the very bad sprain was an ordeal to go through. The ability to type (without major pain) came back in 3-4 days, so I hope your recovery is the same. I always get nervous seeing “day off, personal reasons”, so I’m bummed to hear this was the reason. It must have been some spill! Drink some milk, rest up, and we’ll see you back in action in no time. One of these days, I’ll be in the area for a Uni-Watch meeting. I’m missing it by a week! Cheers!

    Feel better!

    Yesterday on Deadspin, Drew Magary wrote (pretty spot on):

    “We need to do something about college uniforms because they’re changing so fast that I can no longer tell who the fuck is playing who. I’m all for matte helmets and all that crazy shit, but some of the uniforms have gotten so far away from recognizable colors and logos that somehow, the brand of the team gets lost in the shuffle. When I worked in advertising, agencies used to design style guides for a company and its logo. These style guides were always strict (some might say dickish) about making sure designers didn’t fuck with the company logo. It had to be a certain color, and size, and font. You couldn’t just take the McDonald’s arches and make them purple and add skyways to them. When that happens, it screws with a customer’s mindset. It has to stay consistent so that people know they’re getting the same horrible food they always get at McDonald’s. Fuck with the template enough and suddenly it’s not McDonald’s anymore. That’s what it’s like to watch Nebraska play wearing uniforms that look like the new Robocop costume.”

    link

    I have to say, I’m getting tired of (when glancing up to catch a highlight) having to look for the score graphic in the upper corner to figure out who the hell is playing. By the time I get it determined, the highlight usually is almost over.

    I hate to have to explain this to people at institutions of higher learning, but that runs 180 degrees to the concept of consistent branding through recognition.

    But, hey, the 17-year-old recruits like it (no wonder some of these kids enter programs thinking the world exists entirely to please them).

    My Halloween costume: Tampa-area sports fan!

    link

    ‘Noles, Rays, Bucs, and Lightning all represented. (Lightning long sleeve shirt, but since they’re locked out, the logos aren’t making an appearance)

    For fuck sake Paul, how in the hell did you manage to wreck?!

    Anyway, since everyone else has already added their “get well soon”, “sorry about your accident”, etc, etc.

    I’ll just say may your bones fuse back together in such a way as to grant you super journalist powers!

    Get better soon Paul! If you want to, I’ll pinch-blog for ya for a while. Got nothing else going on. Just send me any uni-notable news, and I’ll type it up for ya.

    I think it’s to say…

    “The NFL thanks God there’s an all-volunteer military so our players can stay home and, despite the limited intellect of some of them, make hundreds of thousands of dollars a month and call themselves ‘warriors’ while someone else does what they’d have no intention of volunteering to do themselves.”

    Not what they intend, but pretty clearly what they are actually saying here.

    You know which football players get to wear camo? The ones who enlist and serve their country in uniform. Contra Ricko, pretty much everyone in the NFL is smart enough to succeed in the profession of arms, and they’re all clearly physically gifted enough to serve. Thanks to the NFL’s reliance on socialism, pretty much everyone on the football field is a college graduate of service age and sound body. That’s not a football league; that’s the single greatest collection of potential American servicemen who aren’t yet in uniform. We don’t need camo gloves or special footballs; we just need a U.S. Army recruiter on the sidelines.

    Oh, I didn’t mean to say they couldn’t handle the service.

    Not sure there are too many other ways they could make enough to sniff at $10,000 a week in fines for uni violations, though.

    Hence the show of appreciation by wearing, y’know, camo gloves, et al.

    Oregon’s latest System of Dress… White Vapor. Rumor has it Oregon’s game for this week has been moved to the Planet Hoth.

    link

    Get well soon, Paul. Glad it wasn’t more damaging.

    And as a mere reader (check my history–I contribute nothing but my membership!) I hope others also think there’s something cosmically worthy of a chuckle in “implementing voice-recognition to work so us UniWatch readers can have bloggage” as an item on the to-do list, in the great scheme of things.

    When I broke my left (I’m right handed) wrist wayyy back in 1973 (I was 14), I had the experience of a lifetime – when I was at the local ER, and the doctor came to set it…it turns out this guy had JUST gotten back from Nam, and decided to yes, TOURNIQUET my upper arm to deaden it, instead of say, at the very least, giving me a local. Also gave me a very intimate knowledge of the terms, ‘ulna’ and ‘radius’….

    Least it got me out of gym class….

    Sorry to hear that. As an unqualified medical professional. I say you need a beer or six. Are you on prescriptions? Then even better. Drink up!

    need help!

    someone here in the comments section mentioned that they are an equipment manager for a college football team. i’m working on a DIY and i need some help! doesnt require much, just need pointed in the right direction. hit me up please:

    ryco40 at gmail dot com

    thanks!

    An assignment for my fellow UNIWATCHers:

    As some might now, baseball is not quite finished yet – the Japan Series is still going on – the Yomiyuri Giants have a 3-2 lead in the series of the Nippon Ham Fighters – the Giants-as-champions Trifecta is in play here, folks. I get to see the series (and all JPBL games) via my Roku streamer on the JustinTV app/site.

    The other morning, I was watching and noticed several Giants players having to do something that has been quite a little hot topic – the pouring of drink into a corporate sponsored cup! Here the devil seems to be a certain soft drink megalith from Atlanta. Plus – it only has happened at the Tokyo dome – for the games at NHF’s Yahoo! Dome, they were able to drink right out of the bottle. My problem: the quality of the stream is very poor, and Paul would LOVE to have some captures of this happening. If anybody out can oblige….

    Game time is about 6 am ET, by the way. The regular games start about 5 am ET, but like our WS, it starts later, and runs MUCH longer than regular games….good luck!

    Am I wrong in thinking Oklahoma State’s basketball jerseys and shorts are two different shades of orange? At least they look like it in these clips from last night’s game:

    link!

    My guess is that the shorts are carry-overs from last year, but since OSU joined Nike’s Sweatback Regime this year, the jerseys are new.

    Or, maybe it’s just a phenomena I’ve never noticed before this year.

    That sucks about the surgery, Paul. Feel better.

    Kiki Vandeweghe: Figures a European guy wouldn’t be against ads on uniforms. Once you put ads on there, they only get bigger, uglier & more tacky. Ads on uniforms = looks like total shit. Just, no. I don’t care if the most popular team in the world (Manchester United) puts ads on their uniforms: it looks like shit.

    We don’t needs ads on everything. No sane person ever said, “this skyline here would look much better with more billboards!” You know what would make my T-shirt look much better? If I taped an empty Butterfingers wrapper to it. Not.

    Um, Vandeweghe was born in Europe (Wiesbaden, Germany), but only because his dad, Ernie, was stationed there as an Air Force physician.

    Paul, was it your Scaphoid? I broke mine 4 years ago and had to get a screw put in so that it could heal properly and so I could avoid 4 months in a cast. Mine was also a result of a bike crash. (But I got smashed into by an asshole who wasn’t bright enough to properly drive a 1996 Pontiac Bonneville without hurting people.)

    I actually met a guy recovering from scaphoid surgery just yesterday. We invented an awkward scaphoid handshake to honor our surgeries.

    Anyhoo, best wishes for your scaphoid, or whatever it is that got busted!

    The first thing I thought about when I read about Maryland’s quarterback situation was the numbers. I am glad that 31 and 87 will be taking snaps. I love seeing odd looking position numbers in college football.

    Me too!

    I liked it when NFL receivers started wearing numbers in the teens again also. now it’s old hat.

    When Ted Hendricks was still playing in the early 80’s, it looked odd seeing a LB with the number 83, especially since all the DL were 90’s, and the rest of the LBs 50s.

    Wasn’t John Hadl the last NFL QB to have his number in the 20’s?

    I believe so, yes.
    Doug Flutie wore 22 in the USFL, then 22 and 20 in CFL (22 with BC Lions, 20 with Stampeders).

    You can still see some unusual numbers sometimes in high-school football, especially in eight-man where the numbers don’t matter. Coaches usually make sure linemen are wearing 50-79 but occasionally you might see a 55 at tailback or a 75 at receiver. Plenty of QBs in the 20s and up, too. It used to be a sort of tradition in Pleasanton, Kan., to have the starting QB wear 28.

    What year did the NFL start to really codify the uni numbers? Hendricks came into the league in 69, and I think the Colts gave him 83, as they were still thinking of him as a DL, but then realized he was WAY too light for the DL in the pros – hell he was light for LB as well! But in 1969, the 80’s were reserved for defensive linemen.

    According to the Green Bay Packers media guide (page 554), the NFL first instituted a number system in 1952, with an exception for “nationally known players”. The system was made more rigid in 1973. So that’s why you saw guys like Paul Hornung with weird uni numbers but never saw a QB in the 60s wearing something like Otto Graham’s #60.

    So how will it sound when we say content is a bit light at UW because the founder went in for a wrist job?

    If you don’t want to sign up for Flickr or Photobucket, use imgur. No signing up required and after about three clicks, your picture is uploaded with a url. It’s what reddit prefers its users use almost exclusively. I say this because the last thing I need is to sign up for more social media. Hope this helps!

    imgur.com

    Well the NYC Marathon has been canceled. I’m sure people have been carb-ing up in the last 20 minutes & will probably have to run around the block a few times.

    Yeah I agree with the decision. Can always have it another day.

    Wow, this is cheesy. Orbit the Mascot. Now he can rival with link on who’s the cheesiest green mascot in the American League.

    Ugh, a different uni set for Friday, Saturday AND Sunday?? 5 different uniforms, 3 different caps, huge serifed NOB. I don’t know if I like that the squatchee isn’t orange like the brim is.

    Saw the Astros new unis and the word I would use is “clean”. Nothing special about them, but they look good and aren’t disgusting. I like ’em.

    One word I wouldn’t use to describe the entire collection: modest. “Should we do an orange or navy top? Should we do a solid navy, a navy with orange brim, or a solid orange cap? Let’s do them ALL!!”

    Didn’t they do this in 2000 as well?

    Those navy tops are Spring Training galore.

    The jerseys are definitely a downgrade from their current set. Too many teams are giving up pinstripes for piping. The hats are a bit better. But overall this is a disappointment.

    Eh.. I REALLY didn’t like the coal, brick, sand, dark gray or the pinstripes. Nothing “Astros” about it at all. Very generic and too different for the sake of being different.

    Navy & orange is what the Astros should wear. The cap harkens back to a classic. The overall design isn’t bad but not as great as the 1965-70 set.

    I’d say they went from a D- to a B-. They lose a solid B for beveling.

    1) I’m glad the Marathon was canceled. Sucks for the people who geared up for it, but if I was still living in my old neighborhood downtown and didn’t have power, hot water, light on the streets at night, etc. right now, I think I would have spent my weekend throwing anything throwable at those competitors. Seriously, the marathon might well have ended in a riot, and a justifiable one at that.

    2) Not sorry about the Winter Classic. That’s one of my favorite events of the year, but I don’t mind the lost revenue for either side the least bit.

    3) Wow, the Astros suck. Bo Porter just promised a World Championship, which is just a clown move. And the local NBC station just whored out for an unfunny fake news report that interrupted the launch with “breaking news” that Astros aliens have invaded Houston or something. Now there are people in hazmat suits driving Escalades onto the field. I’d love to know what activities the people attending this in person have cut out from today in order to be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime spectacular.

    4) The jerseys are wildly boring, though the logo is clean and nice.

    I do like promoting the uniforms via MLB 13 graphics, even though Tottenham did that first.

    Disgusted that the rainbow guts softball top is going to be the Sunday jersey, and I am disappointed that they’re bringing in literally five uniforms.

    LITERALLY FIVE! I’m glad you cleared that up, I thought you meant that there were figuratively five uniforms.

    It sounded like Pink Floyd’s “On The Run”. Nothing we all haven’t heard 88 million times. Actually I kind of liked that there was no music during the uni & Orbit catwalk. Keeps the focus on the visual where it belongs. There is entirely too much music & noise in ballparks today.

    Not really digging the new font and headspoon. They should have just used the 60s design with or without the shooting star and no collar piping.

    The new “ASTROS” block font is too plain with no tie to any previously used.

    Don’t mind the Astros unis. But the whole unveiling event is way over the top, especially the mascot unveiling.. Do like the MLB 13 uniform montage. The orange top for Friday, the blue one for Sunday and the different hat at home Saturday.

    Astros’ new unis… just as bland and boring IMHO as when they were leaked. Here’s a poll where you, the Uni-Watch reader, can vote on which design you like best between that design, and the five that made it to the “final five” in Paul’s June 14 column:

    link

    so what you’re saying is they’re just the way everyone here likes their baseball unis.. if uniwatch readers had their way, they’d only had a white and grey set and that’s it

    Yellow ribbons have always been used to support troops. They were the ribbons that started the whole craze. So why does the NFL use a camo ribbon? Because camo is a lot more marketable and will surely be used to sell merchandise and make money in the name of a “good cause”.

    Also, if everyone wants to support the troops, why don’t Army, Navy, and Air Force athletics have much larger fan bases? I think we need to get the bandwagon going for those guys,especially if you are getting tired of the lack of character and integrity and me-me-me-ness of a lot of other players and schools. You won’t find a cadet who puts himself above his team. And the academies should be the only teams allowed to wear camo in their uniforms, kind of as an unwritten rule.

    Ok, I’m off my soapbox.

    Army Football has copyrighted the phrases “Go Army” and “Beat Navy”. I can say this with authority because I own a “Go Army Beat Navy” pin that has two big fat copyright circle Cs on it. Sign of the times, I suppose. Did anyone ever try to sell fake war bonds?

    Also, about your point: You’re entirely right. There’s something not quite right about regular Big East teams suiting up with “Integrity” on their backs for ingratiation’s sake.

    I should clarify, the logo’s nice… it’s only the jerseys I find bland and boring. It’s like they were determined not to do anything like the “tequila sunrise” jerseys of the late ’70s/early ’80s, and decided to go against anything that came even remotely to “snazzy”. In otherwords, they overcompensated.

    By switching from orange to red, the Erie SeaWolves will be the 8th red team(out of 12) in the Eastern League. Original.

    the beveling on the astros new unies is stupid. but hey, it’s barely going to be visible, and at least they went throwback. let’s be honest-they’re going to be one of the best looking teams in the league now. if only they had incorporated the “flying star,” or whatever it’s called…

    “let’s be honest-they’re going to be one of the best looking teams in the league now.”

    Yep. This will definitely put them in the top 25.

    wow. what a wasted opportunity for the Astros.

    The caps are nice, taken on their own, but the whole ensemble is a complete dud.

    Get well soon, Paul. If you can’t post every day, so be it.

    My feelings exactly. The caps are good and an improvement, but the uniforms are so generic. I’m so tired of teams using the piping on theit jerseys, especially when they have no history of such use (like the Reds did a few years ago). The uniforms would actually be better without it.

    Ditching the black has caused the Knicks’ center court to look more white than the Utah Legislature.

    Watching CFL – QB Drew Tate is wearing a non-throwing hand winter glove, a kangaroo pouch, and a dark visor.

    Rather interesting look.

    No. The lettering looks alot like the 60-62 Indians, and the 63 Orioles. And the original Houston roads.

    New Astros unis are a definite upgrade, and the “rainbow pits” on the navy blue ones are a pretty cool homage to the past!

    Hi Paul,
    Nice postcards. Did you get the one of (mostly) New York and PA I sent you? Feel free to use them. I have about 10 more I’ll be sending you.
    John

    Oh yeah, get well soon. I’ve done the same (5 years ago) and it’s frustrating waiting for the pieces to grow back together. Too bad we don’t have the Star Trek bone-healing device.
    John

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