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Uni Watch

Hadn’t They Ever Heard of Eye Black?

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Last Wednesday I Ticker-linked to the photo shown above, which appears to show an Auburn player wearing a visor of some sort on his helmet.

As it turns out, that’s exactly what he was wearing. The full scoop was recently provided by the War Eagle Reader, an Auburn-centric blog, which posted this 1973 sports comic about Auburn player David Langner (click to enlarge):

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The note at the bottom says, “He is currently creating interest with his sun-visor, which attaches to his helmet for punt and kickoff returns. (The accompanying illustration shows a visor-clad Langner thinking, “I vonder if dis makes me a visor person” — apparently a weak pun on “wiser.”)

The player in the photo at the top of the page is not Langner, however. It’s Mike Fuller. So the visor phenomenon apparently spread among several Auburn players. In fact, you can see two players wearing visors on the same play — and see one of the visors go flying off the player’s helmet — in this video clip:

Faaaascinating. I hadn’t been aware of this chapter in headwear history (or if I had been, I somehow forgot about it). Wonder why they stopped wearing the visors. Like, did they decide it wasn’t really adding any performance advantage, or did the NCAA crack down on it? And did any other schools ever try something similar?

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Research request: I’m working on an ESPN column for the BCS title game. It’s tricky, because Notre Dame’s and Alabama’s uniforms haven’t changed much over the years, so there aren’t many details to discuss. I think I’ve covered most of the major stuff, but I’d welcome any suggestions regarding past or present uni-related factoids that are worth discussing for these two teams. If you have ideas you’d like to share, send them here. Thanks.

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ESPN reminder: In case you missed it yesterday, my latest ESPN column is about the new MLB BP caps. One very small aspect of it — literally two sentences’ worth — was quickly seconded by Deadspin, Yahoo Sports, NBC Sports, CBS Sports, USA Today, the Sporting News, and Philly.com, among other outlets. Not bad for a non-issue that nobody cares about (or so a handful of you keep telling me). But hey, that’s the socialist media conspiracy for ya.

I have exactly zero interest in fighting this fight again today, especially on the cusp of a holiday weekend. If you want to argue about Native American imagery in sports, feel free to post a comment to my ESPN column (or on Deadspin, or Yahoo, etc.). But not here, not today. Thanks.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Northern Illinois has gotten new uniforms for the Credit Card Bowl. “I found it interesting that the jersey has ‘NIU’ on the front,” says NIU alum Josh Petty. “All of their jerseys in the past, going back to at least the Michael Turner NIU days, have always had ‘Huskies’ on the front. I don’t remember them ever wearing red pants or a red facemask, either.” There’s a video about the uniform here. … Good piece on the differing uni approaches taken by Oregon and K-State (from Jeff Barak). … Here’s another article on the Cal rebranding brouhaha (from James Ryan). … Yabba-dabba-do, look at this great Oilers jacket! (Great find by Bill Kellick.) … “The National World War II Museum in New Orleans is running an exhibit with the Football Hall of Fame that’ll look at pro football in the 1940s,” says David Robins. “It’ll be running during the Super Bowl, and looks interesting. The Museum had a similar exhibit on baseball several years ago.” … Good article on how the Feds investigate counterfeit jerseys (from Tommy Turner). … Stephen Drew will wear No. 7 with the Red Sox, just like his brother did (from Tom Mulgrew). … If you skip ahead to the 1:20 mark of this video, you can see some great 1985 footage of the Providence College hockey team wearing Cooperalls (from Dan Herr). … Kinda looks like the Eagles got their own font wrong in this photo, no? (From Alan Borock.) … What was the deal with the hashmarks at the Defense Contractor Bowl? Looks like they got them in the wrong spot, painted them over in green, and then repositioned them (screen shot by Geoff Poole). … Tim Forster was digging through a closet while visiting his parents over the holidays and found this Starting Lineup helmet collection from his childhood. “I’d forgotten that I modified the helmets with tiny number decals,” he says. “I think that was the start of my uniform obsession!” … New crest design for U.S. soccer (from Nicole Haase). … Good infographic showing the growth in the number of college bowl games. … The Hershey Bears are selling a pretty cool-looking 75th-anniversary puck (from Ben Gorbaty). ”¦ Amusing piece about colorful soccer footwear (from George Chilvers). ”¦ Weird sight last night in the Department Store Bowl, as a fold in Patrick Kurunwune’s jersey created an odd numerical illusion (screen shot by David Sonny). ”¦ That game was played in the Panthers’ stadium, as you could probably tell by the blacked-out Panthers logos on the field (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Happy birthday to longtime reader, expectant father, and all-around swell guy Jack Krabbe. Enjoy your day, buddy! ”¦ Chris Kite received a cool infographic-style poster that categorizes baseball team names. ”¦ And we conclude today with an endearingly bizarre animé-style Ichiro cartoon (submitted by Steve Mandich):

 
  
 
Comments (92)

    I recognize those tiny number decals on Mr. Forster’s Starting Lineup helmets. Those are jersey decals from Tudor Electric Football. I had sheets and sheets of those pesky little stickers which I used when customizing players for my own game set. If only I’d held on to my complete, 18 team set of hand-painted USFL figurines!

    A Chargers helmet with a yellow facemask and a white lightning bolt… never seen that before.

    I kinda wish I still had my Starting Lineup figures. I always wanted to paint on the missing outer stripes on the helmets, but never did.

    They must have paid MLB and NPB to use the uniforms in the anime. Pretty impressive to use actual plays from his career.

    I will be picking up that Hershey Bears hockey puck next time I drive by the Giant Center (when the gift shop is open, seeing as how I drive by there most days at 1030pm or 730am). I really like that puck.

    I thought the bowl infographic could have been a little better, but I thought it was decent. My biggest issue with it is the representation of the years between 1902 and 1916. The infographic makes you think the Rose Bowl was played in those years, when it wasn’t. And the Bacardi Bowl was played a few years (1907, 1909, 1911, 1912) the Rose Bowl wasn’t. The years there were 0 bowls should have been reflected on the graphic.

    I agree. Instead of just showing how many bowls there were each year (although I guess that was their goal, even if they messed up on the 0 bowl years in the 1910s) I’d like to see a large poster with the lineages of all the Bowls (i.e. Tangerine Bowl > Florida Citrus Bowl > CompUSA Citrus Bowl > > Capital One Bowl etc.)

    Especially now that the (Charlotte, NC) Meineke Car Care Bowl becomes the Belk Bowl, while the Texas Bowl in Houston becomes the Meineke Car Care Bowl. WTF? Now we can’t even be sure which bowl we’re talking about if they start flip-flopping sponsors!

    Shit… was just in Hershey for the PA State football championships… Had I known about that puck I surely would have stopped buy and picked one up. Oh well, I’ll just order online.

    Why black out the Panther logos? The Pointsettia bowl had the chargers end zone logo, albeit in red. I’ve never figured that out.

    Difference is the Poinsetta Bowl only had the name San Diego in the end zones without the official Chargers logo. You know how pure and clean the NCAA is so they cannot be associated with professional money-making organizations like the NFL. Oh, never mind.

    The Military Bowl didn’t just have incorrect hash marks, there was a solid line painted over towards the right hand side of the field (from the camera viewpoint).

    I wondered whether it was a lacrosse line or soccer or something until I saw this.

    If you read the article about kstate and oregon from the wichita eagle it mentions Michigan as a Nike supported school.

    Tickets cost at least $100. Parking is $40. One beer is $12. I’ve been racking my brain as to why ANYONE would want to buy a counterfeit jersey…..

    Why is “Intellectual Property” Infringment under the aegis of Homeland Security anyway? Isn’t Homeland Security’s purpose to make the US a safer place? Between those TSA jokers laughing at the nude scanner images at airports and these guys sniffing out the only affordable fan apparel there is, I question how this is making USA a safer place.

    Instead of preventing Al-Qaedas from attempting to blow up buildings or poisoning municipal water supplies, they are instead clamping down on people’s opportunity to buy a jersey that they can afford to show their support of their team.

    I can afford to spend $40 on a “unlicensed jersey” and actually be able to afford going to a game, or I can afford to spend $300 on “licensed apparel” and stay home. Your choice.

    If I spent $300 on a jersey, I’d want to keep it home and frame it anyway. To the game, I’d just as soon rather wear a cheap knock-off, knowing that the jackass behind me is probably just going to spill his beer on it anyway.

    Yeah, this.

    I just love the part at the end where they claim that it’s costing American jobs. Because, you know, the authentic jerseys are made here… oh… wait…

    A lot of these counterfeiting operations in China are run by organized crime rackets.

    You shouldn’t spend the money on a counterfeit because it’s a fraud. These guys usually state that these things are 100% authentic and as soon as you get it you realize the quality has a huge dropoff.

    These guys are criminals who are making a fast buck by stealing someone else’s property without their consent.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection monitors the importation of goods from overseas and always has. It was formerly a branch of the Treasury but after 9/11 it was incorporated into the Department of Homeland Security

    Home white with the RoboPen? or road black with gray shoulders and horizontal stripes? I didn’t care for the stripped jersey during the day, but it has grown on me later.

    I can’t find anywhere that does blank jerseys in the black/grey style, so I’m going with white.

    Ference is one of my favorite Bruins, the lady’s a huge Pens fan, and I don’t want to pay $160 for a replica B’s jersey, so this should satisfy all parties.

    Exactly. I think jerseys should be priced down. Does anybody know how much it costs the team to produce one jersey? I’m willing to bet it’s cheaper than $100.

    Don’t get me wrong, I understand what profit-making is.

    Depends on the situation and league, Brian, but when the IHL folded and Bauer was blowing out all their remaining merchandise, the sports retailer I was working for bought all of the IHL team hockey jerseys left over for $7.50 USD apiece. Hockey jerseys, from what I’ve been told, wholesale around $60-70.

    To make matters worse, they then turned around and sold them for $99 ON BLOWOUT SALE to consumers! As an employee, my cost was half of retail, so employees were still taking it hard and deep if we wanted a jersey.

    League license, player name, team logos, patches & labor all add to the cost. You can buy fitted blank wool baseball caps for $10 to $16 & blank baseball jerseys for $15 to $35 retail.

    It really bugged me when New Era added 3-D embroidering & the MLB patch on the back which they used an an excuse to charge another $1 each back in the day, as well as the polyester technology.

    $100? $40?

    You should become a Jags fan. I found tickets for $6 this season and parking around the $20’s for tailgating spots within view of the stadium. I am a Jags fan but I really don’t care which teams are playing, for me it’s more about getting together with friends, having a few beers and tailgating and getting into the stadium before the 2nd quarter. You could put me in KC with visiting Titans and I wouldn’t care. But that’s just me.

    I thought the Capital One Bowl was the “credit card bowl”? Man, this stuff is getting confusing. I’m Still Calling Them Citrus and Orange.

    I mentioned yesterday that I am a Braves fan, and that I don’t necessarily mind the Chief Nockahoma image. But I am really interested in hearing why/how this came back around. I haven’t known the Braves to use it, at all, during my entire run of fandom (starting in about ’90). I’m fine with them distancing themselves from it if that’s what they choose (and their actions seemed to lean that way for the better part of twenty years).

    Paul, I didn’t click through all your links in the ticker, so forgive me if one of them covered this. Do you have any plans on contacting the organization and trying to get the scoop on this? I would love to know why it was pulled out of the mothballs. It just seems like such a strange thing to do as the Native imagery becomes more and more taboo.

    Hope I’m not violating the policy you stated above – just wondering if you will investigate this any further.

    Just doing random internet searches for some of the teams on the Baseball Team Name Poster from above and came across this photo of John McGraw – now that’s a stylish ballplayer. link

    See above.

    And it appears as though they’re going to go retro for the 100th anniversary of US Soccer. I believe link has been on the USA’s shirts before (maybe on the famous 1950 kit?) but is being re-introduced for the centennial.

    link is supposedly on the inside of the collar. It’s just the current crest with a centennial ribbon below it.

    Bummer. I was reeeeaaaaally hoping that rising ball logo was disappearing for good. It always seemed far and away the cheesiest of all the national team crests. I much prefer the “Don’t Tread on Me” logos that have been used over the years, but I’m pretty sure that’s Nike’s creation for the USMNT, and not specifically by US Soccer.

    Am I the only one who thinks the Belk Bowl UC helmets looked awesome. I absolutely loved the design. Everything from the color to the graphics.

    Cincy needs to keep this look. Total upgrade

    link

    I think it could do without the checkerboard pattern – just make it a solid metallic red… but aside from that it does look pretty good.

    I thought the scratch marks looked dumb/pointless. Didn’t mind the colors too much, although from a distance the dark on dark muddled the logo.
    Hated their number font on their jerseys too.

    Lee

    said this before, but i have a hard time understanding teams that use *animal* mascots having those animals’ claw/talon/teeth marks on their OWN uniform…like, did the bearcat scratch its own head? did it get into a fight with another bearcat? WTF?

    the hat itself was just plain stupid…the clawmarks made it a total fail

    i disagree, i think the claw marks were awesome. maybe not for an everyday uniform. for a bowl special alternate, i have no prob with it

    i do think Cincy should keep the dark shade of red for the helmets. and integrate the claw marks into the actual uniform somewhere. for example, instead of TV numbers, have claw marks.

    Liked the two-tone checkerboard. The checkerboard with the traditional “C” mark would have been fine. The checkerboard with the claw marks would have been fine. The “C” mark and claw marks together made it too cluttered. Chose one and its a great look.

    I remember Notre Dame considering major changes to their uniforms in the 90s to become more relevant.

    I know they were going to add teal and make the leprechaun more menacing (and possibly put it on the helmet), but I can’t find anything online about it.

    That drawing of David Langner is one of the creepiest things I’ve ever seen. Let’s hope it’s due to the talent (or lack thereof) of the artist and that he didn’t really look like that! Yikes!!!

    Here’s a link I found that shows him on a playing card. Definitely not the most handsome man you’ll ever see but not quite as bad as the cartoon!

    link

    Reading the Times article on the Cal rebranding, I noticed that they mentioned Drake University’s attempt at rebranding.

    “D+”? Really? That just convinces me that marketers really do live in their own little alien world.

    does anyone on here ever get jerseys professionally framed? how much should a something like that cost?

    That Houston Oilers jacket is so cheesy that it’s great. The “H” made to look like goalposts… and the “O” made to look like a football, I think… it looks more like a LEMON!

    -Jet

    There appeared to be several goofs on the field at RFK. The 10-yard line and all the hashmarks between the 10 and 15 were greened out and redone as well as the 40-yard line (both on the right of the 50 as you were looking at it onscreen). It’s almost as though someone measured those yardlines at 5 1/2 yards from the previous solid line and didn’t catch it until later. The soccer lines were also greened out the same way. I didn’t notice any other marking errors as I was only watching the game on and off.

    Just FYI, that UC logo is not “Cal Rebranding”….it was the new logo for the University of California system, which encompasses 10 campuses.

    if it were just for Cal…the protests would’ve been 10x more intense.

    I agree with the comment above – counterfeit jersey sales are not a homeland security matter, or even a government matter.

    IMO the federal government has no business enforcing private trademark rights. Trademark is a private economic right, the right to brand your stuff and the right to exclude others from using your brand. Using the might of the federal government to protect the private economic rights of the big corporations is (IMO) wrong.

    There have been 100 stories on this blog over the years about brand bullies suing little guys out of existence. Getting the feds to do it on your behalf is exponentially worse. The next time you read a story about a university sending a nasty cease-and-desist letter to someone using their logo, imagine instead the cease-and-desist coming in the form of a Homeland Security swat team. That’s what’s going on here. And IMO its wrong.

    Trademark laws are federal laws. The USPTO which issues the marks is part of the federal government. A trademark is not a private economic right it is by definition public.

    By getting a government recognition of your mark you gain the right to protect your intellectual property from thieves. Why should some crooks in China get to profit off of something they didn’t create and that they don’t own? Because the importation of goods is illegal it immediately becomes a federal case since it involves international commerce.

    Agreed that you gain the right to protect your intellectual property, but how does it follow that you get the right to have the feds enforce your rights for you.

    Let me put it another way – if I own a bar and I paint a giant logo of an NFL team inside, without that team’s consent, that team can sue me. My issue is with the team getting the right to sic the feds on me.

    I’m not saying that crooks in China should have the right to profit from something they didn’t create. My problem is with the feds busting down doors to protect the NFL (or other trademark owners) in what ought to be a private dispute.

    You’re making a distinction that doesn’t exist. A lawsuit is not a private dispute–it’s a public request by the plaintiff for the government to apply the force of law against the defendant. If the feds can’t enforce trademarks, then federal trademarks are meaningless.

    It terms of the article that brought up this topic, it’s about US Customs trying to prevent the importation of illegal goods, which is one of its main responsibilities.

    seems similar to how big media companies (looking at the Mouse as maybe the biggest agressor) keep geeting the govt to extend copyrights and such.

    Watching the Independence Bowl – looks like the UL-Monroe quarterback has something strange going on with his nameplate:

    link

    The numbers are italicized, but the names don’t appear to be. Looks instead like they just sewed it on off-centered.

    That’s the first time (possibly) ever UL-Monroe has worn NOB, too; it was added for their first ever bowl appearance.

    I’m thinking of buying one of these caps ASAP… all this negative publicity will surely pressure ATL to scrap them… thus making them collector’s items.

    I don’t get how just the image Chief Nac-a-homa is more offensive than the whole Atlanta Braves identity that includes it. If them bringing it back on a BP cap is going cause such a brew-haha, then might it lead to more debate about the use of Native American imagery as a whole, and could this very well be the tipping point that leads to the Braves as well as Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians names eventually being changed?

    Same team which fans still do the “Tomahawk” chop are going to get “scalped” wearing these caps? Braves brand suicide. link

    “Brand suicide”, or the lead-in to an apology followed by a “new” new design which then leads to a 453% bump in BP cap sales which leads to many many more future inappropriate designs made public just for the sake of increasing sales on the “real” new designs that follow them?

    Brand Suicide? Unpopular BP hats aside, the Braves have been selling merch with the logo for years and they are doing fine as a brand.

    If you want to argue that using Native American Imagery is not right, then fine, if you want to call it racist (mind you its a laughing Native American) then I have a bone to pick with you. I will give you that the name that was eventually given to him, Chief Nockahoma, is fairly racist (though that was not the intention behind the nickname).

    link

    Virginia Tech’s turkey blob helmets in the Russell Athletic Bowl are pretty weak. Their VT logo is vastly superior.

    Tech is using the “Fighting Gobbler” on the helmet and the nested “V” and “T” at the point of the jersey collar. Both logos are being retired next week.

    link

    Add the Huffington Post to the list of those who are not enamored with the Braves’ batting practice caps. Also cites Paul and Uni Watch.

    link

    There was a time when Ray Perkins took over at Alabama that the uniform changed and they were wearing white helmets with nemerals on them.

    The Bear Bryant teams often wore White helmets from time to time, he phased it out toward the end of his tenure, and Ray Perkins brought it back.

    Tide vs USC in Los Angeles in 1969 or 1970 had Tide in White helmets, and during Ken Stabler era they wore white helmets often – I believe that Bryant would use the White helmets to contrast the opposition teams.

    There have even been shots posted on Uniwatch where Alabama skill players wore White helmets when the rest of the team wore Crinsom. Go figure ….

    Why the hell are you calling the Orange Bowl the Credit Card Bowl!?

    Isn’t the issue with the sponsor? So why are you putting the sponsor front and center?

    I thought you were talking about the CapitalOne Bowl (formerly the Citrus Bowl), but then I remembered that FSU is playing in the Orange Bowl. I had successfully forgotten the sponsor of the bowl (had to google it), and then you put it right back in my mind.

    If you have an issue with the sponsors stop defining the bowls that already have names (and had them through many sponsors and often before sponsor were even a part of the names) by their sponsors.

    It’s the Peach Bowl, it’s the Orange Bowl, etc. Stop reminding us who the sponsors are.

    With that you can make a joke with the Sponsor, but when it is the Orange Bowl (or a similar bowl) there is absolutely no need to describe it by whichever company happens to have the sponsorship rights at that point.

    It was without a sponsor for 54 games, it was the Fedex Orange Bowl for 21 games, and the Discover Orange Bowl for 2 games (this will be the 3rd). Given that history, why the hell would you call it the “credit card bowl?”.

    The Belk bowl was previously the Mienke Car Care Bowl and before that the Continental Tire Bowl, games like that are fair game, long-standing bowls with names are not, especially when you’re talking about the original big 4 (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton).

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