[Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest entry from John O’Leary, who proudly wears the Whalers neckties shown above. (If you’re reading this on a mobile device or are having difficulty seeing the slideshow, click here.) Enjoy. ”” PL]
By John O’Leary
I have been a Whalers fan since I was born. My uncle had season tickets from the beginnings of the New England Whalers up through the team’s last season in Hartford in 1997. I vividly remember sitting in section 119 for all the classic games against the Bruins and the home playoff victories over Montreal.
Over the years I’ve assembled a collection of rare and unique New England and Hartford Whalers neckties. I acquired them at estate sales and on eBay. I don’t know when or why they were made, however. I’ve asked the people who sold me the ties, I’ve asked around with various Whalers contacts, and I even got in touch with Rivetz of Boston (the manufacturer of one of the ties), but nobody knows the backstory.
I wear the ties everywhere. Birthday parties, holiday events, networking receptions, etc. Living in Connecticut, I get stopped and asked about them a lot, especially by former season ticket holders or any fan of the Whale. I am also down in New York and up in Boston frequently to visit friends, and I get stopped by Bruins fans, Rangers fans, Islanders fans, and transplanted Whalers fans and asked about the ties. They’re great conversation starters and I wear them proudly.
I have also worn the ties overseas. I was fortunate enough to go abroad as part of my graduate studies at the University of Hartford, so I wore the ties in Prague, Singapore, Thailand, London, and Dubai. I wore one of the ties to a Tottenham-Hotspur vs. Everton football match last January in London and was asked about it during halftime. I wore the tie at Jagr’s sports bar in Prague and got into a heated debate with the bartender (and several patrons) about the Ron Francis trade from Hartford to Pittsburgh. I wore one of the ties in front of the Merlion in Singapore and was asked stopped and asked about it by an American businessman from who was eating his lunch. I also wore it when I toured the Relaxing Buddah in Bangkok, and again while my wife and I were in Dubai at the Burj-Al-Arab (the world’s only seven star hotel) for dinner.
So I love the ties, but I don’t know their origins. Were they given only to players, management, or boosters? Were they for a special event? I am still searching for answers. Maybe some Uni Watch readers will know.
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
Thanksgiving’s just two days off, so we can begin giving thanks for football right now! Now if I’m not mistaken, Jerrah rolled out the (in)famous double star jersey for the 1994 Thanksgiving Day game, and I don’t think anyone knew about them beforehand. Gorgeous, and one of the dumber things I’ve ever done was sell my Aikman 8 home double-star on eBay. So check out this Emmitt Smith version in all its NFL 75th-anniversary glory.
Here are some more things to be thankful for:
• We’ve got a 1970s KC Chiefs helmet plaque with the de rigueur white facemask.
• Here’s a nice set of framed 1970s NFL patches.
• Got Jazz? You will with this vintage original New Orleans Jazz T-shirt.
• This 1970s New York Football Giants cardboard helmet sign would look great in Uni Watch HQ. Or maybe this 1970s Dave Boss poster!
• I don’t think I’ve seen an electric football brand besides Tudor, but here’s a vintage 1969 NFL game from Marx (the same folks who brought you like every cool spaceship toy ever in the 1960s).
• This is a terrific SF Giants Majestic jacket. It’s from about 2000 or so. The reason I bring this one up is that it has a unique kinda rubberized surface to the material. I had one of these, and I loved it! So one day I hung it on one of those fancy Aeron mesh chairs and sat down in it. Somehow my leaning back on it repeatedly shredded the thing. When I got up at the end of the day, it looked like I had fed it to the wolves!
• Speaking of the Giants, this 1981 bendable figure doesn’t quite resemble “Stretch McCovey,” but he can still stretch!
Seen something on eBay or Etsy that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here, and you can follow Brinke on Twitter and Facebook.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here are the special Ohio State uniforms we already knew about for the game against Michigan. ”¦ “I found my old Tudor Electric Football game at my parents’ place,” says Art Savokinas. “I’d forgotten that I put a Steelers decal on the field to personalize this game. I guess that Uni Watch mentality started in my youth.” … Here’s a close-up shot that clearly shows that the Cardinals’ new jersey insignia is still chain-stitched. That photo is linked from Birdbats blogger Jeff Scott’s report on the new unis. … Most soccer teams that wear poppies for Remembrance Day use screened-on poppy graphics. But at least one club, Everton, used direct-embroidered chain-stitched poppies — nice! (From Trevor Kraycik.) … WFAN radio yakker Mike Francesa delivered a blustery rant about the Steelers’ bumblebee thorwbacks yesterday, calling them “the worst uniforms in history” and generally making it pretty clear that he didn’t realize they’d already been worn a few weeks ago. … The St. John’s IceCaps went G.I. Joe the other day (from Chris Hernandez). … You know how soccer jerseys usually have a mini version of the league’s logo at the base of the uni numbers? The U. of Florida women’s soccer team does something similar, only they use the school’s gator head logo (nice spot by Kevin Wright). ”¦ If you don’t already know the story of the Adidas/Puma family feud, this article isn’t a bad place to start (from Christopher Falvey). … Pretty cool Hires Root Beer 1939 football booklet (from Don Montgomery). ”¦ Quick, what design do you think the Maryland goalie uses for his pads and blocker? Yup, exactly. Pretty cool (from Adam Heili).
There’s lowercase text on the Raiders patch in the collector’s corner… I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that.
At least Ohio State will still look like Ohio State… though that uniform could really use shinier silver pants to go with the helmet.
I remember the Whalers neckties being sold at the Whalers gift shop in the civic center. Despite my (IMHO) large collection of Whalers stuff, I don’t recall seeing the 91 Club tie before. I do have some 91 club items, that was what the booster club called themselves during the period when the Hartford Civic Center was being rebuilt in the late 70’s following the blizzard and roof falling in. The Whale played in Springfield MA during that time. While out of state it’s maybe 30 miles as opposed to New Haven which is closer to 60.
It’s about 40 miles. I live in between Hartford and New Haven, so I sorta know.
And I shed a tear at those Whalers ties. Absolutely beautiful. I’m sad that I missed out on those.
Obviously the 91 Club, because the major highway to go from Hartford to Springfield is I-91.
Vivid Vignette of the Week:
“… I wore the tie at Jagr’s sports bar in Prague and got into a heated debate with the bartender (and several patrons) about the Ron Francis trade from Hartford to Pittsburgh…”
It’s hard to believe the Whalers have been gone for only 15 years. It seems like it’s been decades.
On the other hand, it’s equally hard to believe that the Colts have been in Indianapolis for close to 30 years. It feels like those moving vans pulled out of Baltimore just a couple of months ago.
Brass Bonanza should play over the slideshow. My favorite Whalers uni memory is from ’83, when a friend and I were at the Bruins-Flyers game in the afternoon, saw that the Penguins were in Hartford that night, and drove down, thus seeing both Cooperalls-wearing teams the same day.
Re: Terp-Goalie
Who the hell shells out that kind of dough for a custom job to play Club hockey in the ACCHL? I can’t wait for that school to get trounced by big 10 hockey.
Are you FREAKIN’ kidding me? There are lots of beer league guys who use composite sticks and wear $600 skates. Are you going to hope that some NHL or AHL team beats the snot out of them too?
What the goalie chooses to wear is his choice. He’s not sponsored or anything. Wishing ill upon Matt Mitchell because he has Maryland-inspired pads is beyond sick.
As link, “I was getting ready to order my likely final set of pads for my college career and I just kind of thought, hey, why not go all out on them. Then I just kind of realized that if you turn our flag sideways it split perfectly on a set of pads, and I was set.”
By the way, Mitchell graduated in 2011 after leading Maryland to an 18-5-0 record and second-place in the ACCHL playoffs. This story has long since passed, but your ill will towards Mitchell and his team is completely abhorrent.
Whoa, easy now. I don’t think Peter wishes ill will on the physical stability of our young Mitchell. He is probably hoping that his favorite team (Penn State? Ohio?)scores one more point than does Maryland, if and/or when they join Big Ten hockey.
One more point would not constitute “trounced”. Trounced indicates an embarrassing score, and that’s a pretty horrible thing to wish on a team that is just joining the Big-10.
Alos, the guy graduated in 2011. No one will see his pads in the Big-10 unless he sells them. Critique the guy’s pads all you want, but don’t encourage the embarrassment another team. That’s nothing but poor sportsmanship.
“embarrassment of another team”
If I wasn’t pretending to take notes in this meeting, I’d be more careful about my typing! UW > Powerpoint presentation! :o)
I’m with Teebz on this one.
People spend money on all sorts of pointless and ridiculous things — sports cars, Dyson vacuums, doomed campaigns for the Presidency — and no one pays much attention. A kid who appears to be a decent guy and a pretty good hockey player wants to celebrate his amateur sports career by doing something clever and interesting, that may have cost him a couple of extra dollars, and it’s OK to hurl brickbats?
Maryland doesn’t have varsity division 1 ice hockey. I realize your point was about spending lots of money on playing club hockey, but to your last comment, they probably won’t be playing Big Ten opponents. This year, the B1G has six team conference… Penn State was in the Big Ten for 18 years while playing club hockey.
link
I think Maryland will use their upcoming B1G money to reinstate recently-dropped sports long before they add a sport they’ve never sponsored as a varsity team, such as hockey.
I just really miss the old ‘flag M’. This photo predates any and all the garishness you’ve seen from the terps….assuming this is from 2010, if Mitchell graduated (with me) in 2011, this was one of th early adoptions into wearing the flag somewhere other than around your neck, as a cape. Soon after, the pattern was on shorts, sunglasses, and yes, football uniforms.
The Maryland you see now is a long distance from the teams I supported on campus 07-11, and they are ready for a new challenge in the big 10. I REALLY hope terps hockey is a part of it all.
Ohio State costumes are ghastly.
OSU is one of the few programs that shouldn’t have to resort to this to attract recruits and sell merchandise.
We could all learn something from Alabama and Texas.
Not a huge fan of the thick black sleeve stripes. I think gray would have been a better choice. Not as bad as some other teams, but not as good as past years either.
I like them. I wish they would have gray on the sleeves. I wish they would bring back the classic gray sleeve stripes.
I wonder if a silver face mask would look better. Or maybe try red. I do not have those photoshop skills to change the color of the face mask. I do like the helmet and numbers. I think it will look sharp on Saturday.
Eh, OSU has altered their uni’s over the years to the point where they can pull off something like this and not threaten any kind of tradition.
Right after my father died, in 1979, a teacher gave me 2 tickets to see the Sabres play Gordie Howe’s Cooperall-clad Whalers, at Memorial Aud.
I took a girl. When the Whalers took the ice, she said, very loudly, “Ooooh! What pretty costumes!” This did not go over well in Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium. I never asked her out again.
The funny thing is that these days, what else can you call what lots of teams in lots of sports are wearing? They aren’t uniforms; they’re costumes.
“The funny thing is that these days, what else can you call what lots of teams in lots of sports are wearing? They aren’t uniforms; they’re costumes.”
That.
if any team/fan base needs something like this to get up for a rivalry game they are pathetic. if ohio state needs this to get up for michigan, they are the same X100. this is 4 times in 5 years that the tail has wagged the dog and convinced the powers that be that this is a good idea, so once again instead of watching an ohio state michigan game, i will be watching some sort of a comic book that takes away my connection.
i can’t even debate if these or any of their other uni’s they have bounced out for these games are good or bad because it is just plain stupid before i can get to the point where i can debate the elements. if they want to change their look permanently i will engage in what could/would work or not, but this one and done, especially for the michigan game is a trend i can’t wait to see end.
I would never think of not watching Ohio State play because of the uniforms they wear. Never ever. Especially the Michigan game.
re: Steelers Bumblebees: 1) Francesa was probably asleep when they were worn earlier; 2) A bit surprised that Peter King didn’t comment on them as he usually does.
He recorded his dislike of the Bumblebees the first time.
That Marx football game is something you would open on Christmas morning and say, “Wow! This aweso… What the f%@#k is this??”
Most of Louis Marx’ toy-making philosophy was “copy what’s popular, but make it a lot cheaper”. This game is a prime example.
I imagine a short, bald stocky guy, in suspenders and a cuffed pinstripe pants, chewing on a three-day old stogie, bellowing to his secretary, “Margaret! Take a memo!” This image has made my day.
Some of us grew up on nothing but this type of consumer goods: Big Murph jeans instead of Levis; Buddy sneakers instead of Keds or Converse (Buddy: the only sneaker manufactured in Poland); Hoover Bricks instead of Lincoln Logs (I made that one up, but Buddy Sneakers are all too real).
The only thing that really gets me about the Ohio State uniforms is that there will be no Buckeye leaves on the helmet. I think for the Michigan game, all the Buckeyes earned should be on display, especially for this year when it is for sure the last game of the year. A Ohio State-Michigan game with the silver bullets full of Buckeyes is a great site. No Buckeyes on the helmet defeats the whole purpose. I hope Nike only uses these special jerseys for another game in the future. These jerseys would have looked great against Nebraska at night.
yeah, no buckeyes was a horrible decision.
That was my first thought as well. I’m still holding out hope that they will put the leaves onto the new helmets, although it would surely look atrocious on the chrome.
Typo – thought you’d want to know, Paul.
“Quick, what design do you think the Maryland goalie uses for his pads and blacker?” Should be “blocker”
Thanks. Now fixed.
“That Marx football game”
I read that as “marx brothers foootball game” and thought about the football scene in Horsefeathers.
Hey diddle diddle the cat and the fiddle, this time I think we go through the middle
I loved Horsefeathers.
Thanks boys. Loved Horsefeathers. Off to YouTube I go!
John, I’m a Southern boy that’s never even been to a hockey game, and I’d wear those ties. The Whalers had one of the all-time greatest sports logos, IMO. Very cool.
I know nowadays it’s possible to buy ties with sports logos. Or at least, it is around here. Is it not as common in other parts of the country? I know a Massachusetts-based company, Vineyard Vines, actually makes college logo ties. Not sure about professional logos.
I have a tie with Patriots logos on it from around 1992-93.
Yeah they do…
link
and they once made a Whale tie.
link
Stackpole Moore Tryon sold Whalers ties in the late 70’s I believe. They have a vintage newspaper advertisement about the ties in the store. Perhaps some of your ties were originally from them. Stackpole’s has been in business for over 100 years and is still across the street from the XL Center in Hartford.
Here is a little report from across the pond:
link
SO happy that they called it a retro uniform and not a throwback, because let’s face it: it’s too inaccurate to be called a throwback. The link, the link, the link and link cleats… Good on The Guardian.
“A football fan who had a Paris Saint-Germain replica shirt printed with the name of Osama bin Laden on the back found himself in court on Friday, charged with defending terrorism.”
Amazingly, i think ive seen more tasteless things on soccer kits.
(Usually involving something like Hillsborough or the Munich air disaster)
That just seems wrong… since when is “being an asshole” an actual crime? Heck, how does a DGNOB (dead guy’s name on back) even count as defending anything?
“since when is “being an asshole” an actual crime?”
~~~
all that’s keeping you from jail these days???
/kidding, slightly
I often find myself amazed at what constitutes a crime in European democracies we might think have the same First Amendment-esque protections as we do. Can’t remember the details, but wasn’t a UK college student actually JAILED for posting an offensive tweet about a Bolton player?
Guess I should have said “as those in the US do”. There are, after all, Uni Watchers around the globe!
Could we not glaze over the fact that the nike promo pics for the Ohio State uniforms clearly show white numbers with silver outlines yet the actual jersey clearly has silver numbers with grey outlines. Have they ever been that off with their promo pics (well at least for the pro combat promo pics). I point this out because the white numbers with silver outlines looked amazing, the opposite not so much.
And man that helmet would look great it the stripe was a decent size, that silver finish looks fantastic
Maryland is joining the B1G, and all of a sudden ESPN is using a “M” logo for Terps stories.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen Maryland use a “M” logo (its a new M logo too, I cant find it on google yet). Usually ESPN uses the Turtle for Maryland news/highlights.
Is there a conspiracy that every B1G school has to have a “letter” as their logo? Hmm… Just kidding, but it is kind of odd. Maybe they are simply rebranding for the new conference.
That’s new this year. Matches the word script/logo on the basketball floor:
link
yes, thats it. good call
link
here it is
They’ve been using that logo this entire season, I forget if they started using it in the Spring or if it started over the summer but it definitely predates the move to the B1G. Heck it was introduced with the new uniforms last year as part of their new identity, it just took a while to phase out the old logo for the new one everywhere else.
They had an M logo on their helmets a decade or so ago, did they not?
lamont jordan is the earliest i can go back with maryland football
Ohio State Special Uniforms-
Is it me or do the promo shots of the football jerseys have White lettering with Grey outlines and the twitter pics or whatever have Grey numbers with White oulines. Who do you think made the change? Or does Nike do those promos once and at the first presentation to Ohio State months back and since then the school has changed the design? Thoughts?
It’s just photoshop and lighting issues. The outline seems to be light gray, while the numbers are reflective metallic silver. If the numbers are being illuminated, they look nearly white, with the gray outline. If they aren’t, then they take on a darker shade while the gray outline seems more white-ish.
It’s sorta like this: link
This appears to be true. The whole number treatment is metallic, with the outline being gray and the number itself being white(ish): link
Francesa has absolutely ranted on those Steelers jerseys before. I’m pretty sure he’s also done the same about the Jets’ Titans throwback, the Denver brown jersey, and a few others over the years.
“… Pretty cool Hires Root Beer 1939 football booklet (from Don Montgomery) …”
A little masterpiece.
A. Is the purpose of the “R-J” between “Hires” and “Root Beer” and the “R-J” on the player’s jersey to call attention to the fact that the product is made from Root Juices? I do hope so.
B. Are there root beers sold today that (truthfully) state their root-juice sources? I’m figuring, Paul, that if there is indeed such a product, it would be sold in Brooklyn.
The internet revealeth. R-J stands for Real root Juices. On some signs the R beginning Real and the J beginning Juices are underlined.
49ers Aldon Smith rocking the naked-calf college look last night…expect a fine from the fashion police, but putting up almost 5 sacks makes it worth it!
5.5 to be exact!!
Haha….badass notheless.
Looked at some pics of the game from 49ers.com and it looks like Aldon was at least trying to circumvent the uni police by wearing his white sanitary socks up high (maybe so they wouldn’t notice the bare brown skin just above and below his knees) but I doubt they won’t notice it because of his performance in the game LOL
I really don’t understand the objections to the Steelers’ throwbacks. They look a lot better to me than some of the current standard uniforms. If it was up to me, the Vikings would go back to their Tommy Kramer era uni’s, the Patriots would wear the Pat Patriot gear rather than the Flying Elvis, and the Falcons would wear the Bartowski era red helmets and a regular jersey without that weird panels and piping. I’m also not a big fan of the Lions’ current set. Same goes for the Cardinals.
Those, to me, are a lot worse than wearing some stripes.
Oh, come on. I probably love the Steelers’ throwbacks as much as anyone, but I can certainly understand why some folks might not agree. Equating this bumblebee design with Kramer-era Vikings or Pat Patriot-era Pats seems like a stretch, no?
I’ll grant you that. I also think a lot of the criticism that the Steelers’ throwbacks are getting is hyperbolic. I suppose that was my point, however inarticulately stated.
Well, one thing those uniforms (Pat the Patriot, etc.) were worn for a long time and people have a nostalgia for them. To bring up such an absurd (by what we think of football uniform standards today) design that was worn briefly some 80 years ago isn’t the same as uniforms that people remember cheering on for years. I’m sure if the Steelers had worn them from 1933 through 1961 or something, the reception to them would have been entirely different. We look at them now as kind of a circus side show thing — which is how the people of 1933 probably would have looked at nowadays Lions & Cardinals getups.
I guess I’m on the other end of the spectrum. I tend to think of the Steelers’ throwback as more of a classic design in that it is reminiscent of rugby/soccer designs, whereas I’d categorize some of the “cool” designs of today — I’m looking at you, Oregon — as absurd.
I’m also a proud owner of two out of the three ties shown today. I have the Pucky tie and the 91 Club tie. The Pucky tie has a tag that says it was made by Rivetz of Boston and also has a tag that says “Made Expressly For Hartford Whalers”, not New England Whalers. Oddly enough, there is also a third tag, tucked inside the small point/end of the tie that informs you of the original price: $12.50! John, do any of your ties have this hidden “price” tag?
My 91 Club tie has no tags on it, but since we’re talking about ties today, I need to bring up my Indianapolis Colts tie from 1990. It has a painterly graphic of Colts players on the front, the most famous being Eric Dickerson. Dickerson appears with his trademark Rec Spec goggles and neck roll, but oddly enough he doesn’t have his Deion facemask. The artist gave him that “all purpose” mask with the single vertical bar and two horizontal bars that absolutely nobody at any level of football wears anymore. These facemasks were so utilitarian and suitable for any position that my entire Pop Warner team was assigned this mask.
Anyway, without getting further sidetracked, this Colts tie is made by Ralph Marlin. I did an Ebay search for “Ralph Marlin tie 1990” and a ton of these NFL ties came up, ranging in price from 99 cents to over 30 dollars. Interestingly, if a quarterback was really famous, he doesn’t appear on the tie. Seems like the company chose a generic number 10 to replace guys like Elway, Marino, and Cunningham, but lesser known guys like Majkowski on the Packers have their normal number. I just checked the 49ers tie though and oddly enough Montana is there with his number 16! Maybe this was due to a Quarterback Club licensing thing???
Oddly enough, I typed the phrase “oddly enough” a total of three times in the above comment, LOL!!!!
I thought the Steelers throwbacks looked much better in photos or when the players were standing still.
Maybe my TV sucks (its a reasonably new LCD) but when the players were moving everything except the helmets and the stupid side panels were a messy blur. We joke at UW about certain games being unwatchable but at least at my house the Sunday night game was actually hard to watch.
Reminded me of these jerseys:
link
which actually made my TV buzz when the players were moving.
As a Mets fan with vivid memories of the mid-80’s NL East rivalry, I find it hard to say anything nice about the Cardinals; but holy hell that chain-stitching is gorgeous!
A while back a UWer had posted pics about the devolution of detail on StL jerseys, wonder if someone in power got wind.
Looking a little closer at the Cardinals’ new third jerseys, I kind of wish the “Louis” was positioned a little bit higher. I’m sure it’s level with the “St.” but because of the angle of the bat, it feels more spacious on that side, like the blogger alluded to regarding the designs someone sent him a few years back. Also, might have been kind of cool for the top of the L to loop over the bat the same way the S does.
It may be true of most football helmets, I guess, but the first thing I thought of when I saw the Buckeyes’ helmet was “Christmas ornament”. Something about pairing the matte-ish silver with the super-shiny red just gave me some yuletide feelings…
Also – when asked what I thought the Terps would use as their blocker and pads, my mind immediately went to the turtle shell pattern they had used for the shell-met last year. That may be a good look as well.
After the Whalers moved, the Boston Science Museum got a huge drum full of Whalers shoelaces that they sold in their shop that had random stuff for kids to use in art projects. I bought a whole bunch of them to give out to sad Whaler fans.
I remember placing a Vikings sticker on my old electric football game. I believe it was a sticker bought through a Tudor catalog of some sort for the purpose of board personalization. However, I remember this sticker immediately screwing up my electric football games. The sticker, being raised ever so slightly, would catch the prongs on the bottom of the players’ bases, either stopping them or sending them in crazy directions. It was terrible!
Regarding the Dallas double-star jerseys, your link features a jersey they wore against Detroit in Week 3, NOT the jerseys they wore against Green Bay on Thanksgiving that year. Both had stars on the shoulders, but otherwise were totally different.
correct.
the one worn against detroit was a somewhat innacurate attempt (numeral font was all wrong, they still wore their normal silver helmets with it, etc.) at the early 1960’s cowboys uniform that had plain (unbordered) double-stars on the shoulders and white pants. The one worn on thanksgiving and i believe all throughout the playoffs (lost to the Niners in the NFCCG in them) were i believe specially designed to commemorate the back-to-back super bowl wins of 1992/1993, though obviously they were inspired by the 1960-63 uniform, the main difference being the shoulder stars and numerals having white and blue bordering (like the helmet star logo) and they were worn with silver pants…on a side note, this latter double-star uniform design IIRC might have actually been foreshadowed/previewed in the movie “Little Giants” where the pop warner cowboys team (coached by Al Bundy lol) had the same design double-star jerseys (but worn with solid navy pants)…i think that film came out in spring 1994, so the NFL Cowboys might have had the bordered, double-star design planned even before the ’94 season started…a good uni investigation to undertake perhaps
upon further research, “Little Giants” came out on October 14, 1994…still, the movie was filmed earlier that year so its safe to say that bordered, double-star jersey design was already in the works…and the movie still came out before the jason garrett thanksgiving ’94 game so it still counts as a “preview” of what the actual cowboys were planning…any dallas fans remember any chatter on newspapers, etc. from oct/nov ’94 about those jerseys?
Thanksgiving 1994:
link
Seems like Mitchell and Ness (ugh) can’t get it right either. The “Cowboys Star” patch wasn’t centered. It was on the right side of the jersey. I’m still trying to find a game where they wore the dark version of it (today’s e-bay link) to see if it’s real. I know of a couple of sellers that are auctioning un-authentic jerseys.
….CORRECTION.
They didn’t have it centered in 94. In 95 however…centered.
…correction 2. Disregard. Found a 94 with it ‘centered’. What’s with the placement???
per gridiron uniforms website, the ones worn on thanksgiving (when the modern “double-star” uniforms debuted) had the cowboys star patch on the upper right portion of the chest area…then eventually in subsequent games they were worn (i.e. by the ’94 playoffs someone at APEX or the Cowboys decided it would look better centered underneath the collar below the NFL logo shield)
link
only the white double star jersey was worn in ’94 and only the blue double-star jersey was worn in 1995 (it displaced the rarely worn navy blue dark jersey for that lone season unti a new navy jersey was designed by Nike in 1996)
link
link
Ok, what I CAN’T find is the dark Double-Star jersey in the 1994 season. Did they where the dark version in 1994? If not, there shouldn’t be a 75th patch on that jersey.
No dark version in 1994. M&N are pretty sloppy. They screwed up a Dorsett road jersey, and when I pointed out the inaccuracy, they refused to fix it.
Yeah. I appreciate the attempt by them restoring jerseys but they still don’t get some right. Example: Miami Dolphins (Mark Duper/Clayton/Marino) early 80s jerseys had screen printed numbers, not patched. I dont know if its the company or third party retailers selling stuff using their little patch, which is also annoying.
*wear**
Jay Horwitz, Matt Harvey, Jeff Wilpon at a soup kitchen wearing gear that says “Team Mets.” I’ve never seen that before.
link
I also wonder how many orphans Jeff Wilpon will have to murder and eat to atone for this altruism.
Since the Miami Hurricanes are self-imposing a bowl-ban on themselves and Ohio State is undefeated and also unable to play in a bowl game, and this is the tenth anniversary of them playing in the Fiesta Bowl for the National Championship, I think Miami should invite Ohio State to come play an exhibition game on January 3, so the current players who are being penalized for things that people before them did, could get the experience of playing in a bowl game. They could make the proceeds (at least partially) go to some cause they want to pretend to support in order to get some good publicity.
There is even a baseball stadium on the site of the old Orange Bowl that I am sure has a few empty seats and could probably fit a temporary football field (but maybe not, I don’t know) I hear the owners of that stadium like to make money.
Hey, neat idea Rob.
How did college football survive over 100 plus years without all this stupid expansion and conference jumping?
Uh… selective memory?
SWC, Penn State to Big10, 5/12 Pac 12 teams joined from 1962-1978, Michigan state to the Big9 to make it the Big 10 in 1950, Ark and SC joining the SEC in 1991, the ACC founding in 1953 and having new schools join every few years since 1978, the Big East being founded in 1979 and having new schools join every few years.
This isn’t unprecedented, it’s *VERY* precedented. This is an era like the early 50s and the late 70s. This too shall pass, LarryB.
I for one know college football history. I also know most teams played in conferences along geographic lines. The Big Ten adding Rutgers and Maryland?
Nebraska played Oklahoma for ages.
RE: Maryland goaltender – He’s got the staggered flag look right! U of MD needs his help to get the football jerseys right!
Another fine piece of art from Brian’s goaltending equipment. I’ve seen that in Brian’s custom portfolio, but they look so much more bad-ass in action!
I bought 2 different Hanshin Tigers ties about 2 years ago at the thrift store. I have no reason to ever wear a tie but they were so unique that I couldn’t pass them up.
Watching the Montana State/Montana replay tonight – and it was a nice looking game. Montana wearing their Maroon and black pants ( I think I would prefer silver pants) and their TCU black TV patch with silver numbers. Montana State with their white jerseys with the “Sports Bra” stripe on the chest (at least they don’t look like SHSU with the jock strap pants) and their gold pants. Some things could be changed, but overall it is a nice looking game. Love the Silver helmet with Maroon Griz in script for the team from Missoula!
Oh, and for massive last name on back – Montana’s QB has the last name of Smithwick-Hahn. It is in the realm of Roethlisberger or Fuamatu-ma’afala for maximum back placard space!
Terrific story on Adidas/Puma. I remember in HS my dad went to Germany and brought back some avail in Germany only Adidas stuff—no Puma for me. The guys REALLY wanted to know where it all came from.
All that remains of that haul is a small plastic pair of soccer shoes that were on a keyring..