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Reader John Adomaitis was going through some old childhood stuff and came up with the absolutely astonishing photo you see above. “Art Baumgarten’s Major League All-Stars were an exhibition basketball team made up of MLB players,” John explains. “I believe the game I attended was from either the winter of 1967 or ’68 and was played at Marist High School in Bayonne, New Jersey. It was a charity game and I think they played against some local folks. As you can see in the photo, the team included Al Jackson (Mets), Dennis Ribant (Tigers) Ed Kranepool (Mets), Al Downing, Jim Bouton, Joe Torre, and Johnny Lewis (Mets). Also playing was Dick McAuliffe (Tigers) and John Orsino (Senators), who were not in the photo but I know were there because they autographed the back of the photo.”
So many great details — the sleeved jerseys (which, judging by the drape, were made of Durene), the confetti of stars on the shoulder yokes, the belted satin shorts, the striped socks, the high-top Chucks, and of course the NOFs. It’s a visual feast!
Also interesting to see Bouton and Torre standing next to each other. In 1969, Bouton would famously write the following in his seminal book Ball Four:
Jim Pagliaroni joined the club tonight and is going to be a welcome addition. He was describing a girl that one of the ballplayers had been out with and said, “It’s hard to say exactly what she looked like. She was kind of a Joe Torre with tits.” This joke can only be explained with a picture of Joe Torre. But I’m not sure any exist. He dissolves camera lenses.
After John sent me the photo scan, I shared it with a bunch of my “go to” baseball historian contacts. None had ever seen this photo, or even heard of Art Baumgarten’s All-Stars. Amazing stuff. Looks like it’d make good colorization fodder as well, eh?
While we’re at it, John also found a 2001 bank calendar from Bayonne with some killer photos of old teams from the area. Very nice.
Dolphins contest reminder: Remember, I’m running an ESPN contest to redesign the Dolphins.
PermaRec update: Some old WWI military medals, shown at right, are the focus of the latest entry on the Permanent Record Blog.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Plenty of photos from the NBA All-Star Game here. … Other notes from All-Star weekend: Nick Cannon wore some pretty bizarre-o shoes during the Celebrity Game on Friday; players in the Rising Stars game wore truly ridiculous shoes and socks; and here’s how the ASG warm-ups listed the players’ awards and accomplishments. ”¦ . … On Friday, the Braves team store at the CNN Center in Atlanta had a rack of Indian head T-shirts in the window (photo by Matt Ryburn). … Lots of photos from the Indians’ recent Tribefest event here (from Rocky Lum). … Really interesting story and video about the former ASU seamstress who helped create the Sparky costume (from Kenn Tomasch). … See that little sticker on the brim of Sergio Garcia’s cap? It has the name of a wounded veteran. That’s from Operation Game On, which helps rehabilitate wounded veterans through the game of golf. Garcia is one of several TaylorMade tour players who wore the stickers at the Northern Trust Open. … New Friday-night throwbacks for SDSU baseball. They’ll be paired with matching black pants. “These date back to the days when Tony Gwynn [who’s now the coach] patrolled the outfield here,” says Sonny Sanfilippo. … The U. of Memphis is celebrating its 100th year of baseball with striped stirrups (from Travis Chell). … Taxis in Washington may soon be red (from Tom Mulgrew). … Remember that one game in 1990 when someone stole Michael Jordan’s jersey and he had to wear an NNOB No. 12 jersey? Lots of photos from that game here (from Jude Seymour). ”¦ “I’m a seminarian at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio,” says Jack Kelly. “We just ordered new uniforms for a basketball tournament. We placed Pope Benedict XVI’s coat of arms on the shorts in the design process. Obviously, last Monday brought the news that he would no longer be the Pope at the end of the month, so it looks like we’lll be ordering new shorts for next year’s tournament.” ”¦ This is pretty awesome: You can now sort MLB players’ career WAR by uni number (big thanks to Nicole Haase). ”¦ An Ohio State fan was pulled over by cops in Tennessee who mistook the buckeye pride bumper sticker for a marijuana symbol. This is fucked up on multiple levels — even if it had been a pot symbol, so what? There’s nothing illegal about having that symbol on your car (from Chris Flinn). ”¦ That big ESPN feature story about Michael Jordan begins like so: “Five weeks before his 50th birthday, Michael Jordan sits behind his desk, overlooking a parking garage in downtown Charlotte. The cell phone in front of him buzzes with potential trades and league proposals about placing ads on jerseys” (emphasis mine; thanks, Brinke). … When did the Orioles wear their home cap on the road? (As noted by Eric Trager.) … The Yomiuri Giants will wear this alternate jersey for nine games this season. The patch represents the Central League trophy (from Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: You can now buy socks featuring photos of past NBA greats. … Very interesting design note from a government operative who prefers to remain anonymous: “As one of his first official actions as Secretary of State, John Kerry has decreed that all diplomatic correspondence be in 12-point Times New Roman — down from the old 14-point. Since many diplomatic cables are, by rule, limited to a single page, the smaller font will make it possible for diplomats to include more information in cables.” … The Stockton Thunder (ECHL) wore G.I. Joe jerseys on Friday and Saturday (from Rich Paloma). … A UK soccer team has been told that its logo is “invalid,” because it poaches from a now-defunct coat of arms (from George Chilvers). … Congrats to longtime Uni Watch favorite/pal Rob Ullman, who just had one of his hockey comic strips published by Yahoo Sports. … I mentioned last week that the Cooperstown High School will no longer be calling its teams the Redskins. Now the Oneida Indian Nation is responding to that move by offering to help pay for new uniforms (from Matt DeMazza). … Jeffrey Moulden is in the process of framing these Browns pants and socks combos for his basement. “I’m trying to get every combo since 1999!” he says. … Interesting piece about MLB merch made for women (from Marc Bauche). … Still no team name for Ottawa’s new CFL franchise (from Sheldon Spencer). … I checked in yesterday at my favorite vintage shop and saw two interesting varsity jackets. First, look at the odd patch on this one. Never seen that image of the player running away like that. And then there’s this one with a really nice bear on the front. ”¦ Kansas women’s hoops players wore warm-up T-shirts honoring fans and family members who were affected by cancer (from Adam Jackson). ”¦ Several photos in this discussion thread show early-’70s MLB caps with logo patches instead of embroidered logos. ”¦ Notre Dame hockey is getting bright gold helmets to match the football team’s helmets. Here they are on the players; further info here (from Warren Junium). ”¦ Also from Warren: New matte black lacrosse helmets for Oregon State. ”¦ You can now vote on — get this — the logo for President Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel (from Eric Trager). ”¦ I was considering bidding on this awesome jockstrap display until the price got out of hand. ”¦ Here’s a twofer: The 4/11/66 edition of the Pittsburgh Press had articles about the Red Wings using blue ice and new uniforms for WVU football (from Jerry Wolper). ”¦ White stirrups with Northwestern stripes for Texas baseball. Here they are on the players (from Nick Sapia). ”¦ New soccer kits for Ventforet Kofu of the J-League (from Jeremy Brahm). … Aussie football news from Leo Strawn, who reports that the St. Kilda Saints are holding a design competition for their 2014 preseason jumper. ”¦ The rest of today’s items are from Jay Sullivan: New checkerboard-patterned lacrosse helmet for Bowling Green. ”¦ The Pens’ equipment manager save and annotates old skate blades. ”¦ New lacrosse gear for Marquette. … Here’s the floor design for the Mountain West hoops tourney. ”¦ RIP, Shadow. Leader of the pack, indeed.
I don’t think that’s an Orioles road uniform. The coloring looks more white than gray.
If you look at the script on the front, it appears to be an “S” not an “E”, so it had to say Orioles on the jersey, which is what it says on the home set.
Agreed. It’s clearly a home uni.
Yup, it was from the September 25 home game against Toronto – link
Bundy’s only other appearance for the O’s was in Boston against the Red Sox when he was wearing the road cap – link
Two typos:
– the Rob Ullman link is wonky;
– St. Kilda rather than St. Kida.
Ullman link now fixed, thanks. Where did I write St. Kida?
That was my mistake. You had it right.
The caption on the photo says “Art Baumgarten”, but the Uni Watch text says “Al”.
Now fixed, thanks.
Didn’t some minor league hockey team use a blue rink a few years ago? In theory, the puck is more visible on the blue, right?
To clarify, the ice back then wasn’t a deep blue, but a pale blue. The Montréal Forum also went to a blue-tinted ice at the beginning of color telecasting.
It wasn’t as pale as you think. The 1966 Stanley Cup Final was the first to be televised in color. The change was brought about thanks to NBC wanting to broadcast the Final between the Red Wings and Canadiens. The fear was that white ice would be too white, causing the puck and players to disappear against the white background (much like an iris setting on old cameras). A darker background would allow for better viewing.
link. Check out the color of the Detroit Olympia’s ice. It’s rather sky-blue.
“Pale” may or may not have been the best choice of words.I was thinking of a photo of the Forum from its commemorative coffee table book. The ice was blue, precisely for the reasons you suggest. As I recall, it was blue enough so as to be noticeable, and so as not to cause blinding light on a 60s color TV; but light enough so as not to interfere with the darker blue markings on the ice.
It appears, however, that they may have link by the time the Stanley Cup Final finished. Or may have just said “screw the blue ice” in terms of putting new ice in around other events.
Loved thosed ASG warm-ups. A little customization goes a long way to make uniforms interesting. The little patches were pretty detailed. They could have stopped at a star with number of ASG appearances, but put special awards like scoring champion, league and ASG MVP. Looks like the patches were sewn onto a plate (which has a partial star cut from the bottom right corner), then onto warm-up.
Two interesting things about the NBA All-Star game last night:
They had Adidas logos on the uniforms, even though NBA doesn’t permit them on regular team uniforms.
I liked the military-style awards insignia on the warm-ups. Kobe looked like General Patton out there with his 15 All-Stars, 1 Scoring title, 1 MVP, 5 NBA Championships, 4 All-Star MVPs, 1 Slam Dunk Champion.
link
This is at least the third (maybe fourth?) consecutive year that the ASG jerseys have had the Adidas logo.
I didn’t mean the Adidas logo was new, just pointing it out. But, Paul, did you like the awards on the players warm-ups chest? I thought those were neat-o!
Yeah, that was fine.
They also feature Adidas’s three-stripe logo, an element that the NBA usually confines to the teams’ warmups, shooting shirts, and practice gear.
Kobe’s bling did not fit on the plate…the ASG appearances patch is lightly off the edge.
plus he had 2 scoring titles & 2 Finals MVPs, but only one patch for each of those
So glad the throwback craze is permeating the college baseball ranks, with many teams wearing ‘rups as part of their regular uni set. Now…if they’d ditch the aluminum bats, we’d have something really special.
Also yesterday 2/17, Auburn Women’s Basketball wore pink uniforms against arch rival Alabama in all their horrific glory.
link
Yeah, there’s a lot of pink going on this month. I’ve mostly stopped Tickerizing it, because it’s sort of become rote. (Not at all opposed to you posting it here in the comments, though.)
More Pink, yesterday’s Marquette Women (pink) vs. Notre Dame (White w pink trim) link
The new floor for the Mountain West tournament at Thomas and Mack is the same floor that was used in Denver for last years Womens Final Four.
link
Picturess from yesterday’s college hockey double header at Chicago’s Soldier’s Field
link
Try that again
link
Shite.
Here ya go
“This is pretty awesome: You can now sort MLB players’ career WAR by uni number”
This is great, but one little detail away from being really REALLY great: when you sort by number, it gives you the player’s career WAR, not the WAR they earned when they wore that number. For example, Ivan Rodriguez leads the pack for #77, but he only wore that number with Houston in ’09, a partial season in which he put up .4 WAR.
Agreed
I hope you noticed that in the link I posted about the club badge, that the phrase used is “unlawful”. Because there is a difference between “unlawful” and “illegal”.
“Unlawful” means acting in such a way as to contravene laws, both written and moral.
“Illegal” is a sick big bird.
Thank you.
“Illegal” is a sick big bird.
Ugh. That sentence was bad, and you should feel bad.
I feel totally embarrassed and ashamed.
But I’ll get over it :)
I was happy to note, however, that someone who is a Garter of Something has designed a coat of arms for the Kate Middleton clan.
Of course Connie.
You’ve got to have some control of these things or you’ll get people setting up companies, designing spurious coats of arms for families (when in English heraldry families don’t hold arms only individuals), and then trying to sell unsuspecting colonials, erm, people from other countries, various bits of tat emblazoned with these arms at inflated rates along with a non-historical story of the origin of the name.
These things must never happen!
WVU wore gold on the road in 66? Nice.
Nick Cannon’s shoes are from fashion designer Jeremy Scott, who works regularly with Adidas.
link
Does anyone know why the guy who leads a paid baseball team is a manager, while the leader of any other sports team is a coach?
Football (soccer) has, and always has had, “managers” – although the word “coach” is coming in more
In Britain I mean
Doesn’t the manager in your football also fulfill many of the duties of one of our “general managers?” Like having the final say on which players to sign, loan, release, etc.?
Traditionally, the baseball manager was one of the players — almost like a captain. That’s a big part of why baseball managers wear uniforms, because they were usually on the field anyway, at least back in the day. That’s still allowed, although there hasn’t been a playing manager in decades. In my lifetime, there have been handful of them: Joe Torre (Mets), Don Kessinger (Chisox), Frank Robinson (Indians), and Pete Rose (Reds).
Interestingly, high school and college baseball skippers are more often called coaches, not managers.
link
In celebration of the NHL lockout ending, I’ve decided to Nike-fy the whole league. First up is the Blackhawks, the changes to which are very limited because you don’t fix what isn’t broken.
Kevin W.
On a blog with never a shortage of ridiculously stupid posts and ugly team uniform and logo submissions, a glimmer of home appears… so refreshing and so insightful.
Thank you for providing a sliver of hope of sports brandsanity.
I read “Ball Four” maybe 35 years ago, and the one part I always remembered was the “Joe Torre with tits” line.
That’s roughly when I first read it, too. I was 12 years old. Let’s say it was a bit of an eye-opener.
It opened up my vocabulary – quite a bit! Ya gotta love how everybody – especially Bouton with his 56 – has their baseball uni number.
Of course being a New York based team, it is all Yankees and Mets, except of course, Brooklyn native Torre. I thought he melted camera lenses?
And did not even notice – 2 24’s, and 2 15’s!
Cooperstown needs to open the Joe Schultz Memorial Wing, to honor the best all time swearers in MLB history. With the initial ‘honorees’ being Ted F***ing Williams, Weaver and Tommy Lasorda.
The new lacrosse gear for Marqutete shouldn’t really be news. It’s Marquette’s first season playing lacrosse, so it would obviously be new.
A very Promising program too, considering the talent that they are recruiting.
Re: the Red Wings blue ice link – the article states that the game was actually at Chicago Stadium, so it was the Black Hawks who were responsible (at the network’s request; the article doesn’t mention which network, though).
As stated above, NBC drove the push for the blue ice. They thought the white-on-white would cause some major problems for TV viewers, and wanted the teams in the 1966 playoffs to tint their ice in a soft blue to help the puck and players battle possible oversaturation of the white color through the cameras.
I’ve heard hockey commentators recently (jeff marek of sportsnet to name one) again suggesting a tinted ice to help casual viewers follow the puck.
Since joining Sportsnet in Canada, I find Marek losing credibility in terms of his hockey ideas.
Tinted ice doesn’t help one follow the puck at all. If that’s the case, the FoxTrax puck would still be in use.
Working with doug maclean and marty mcsorley cant help.
Interesting about the Notre Dame hockey helmets. I recall back in 2005 or 2006 they switched from navy helmets to the a gold finish that mimicked the football helmets, i thought i had read that it was done using the same process as the football team. I stopped following college hockey for a few years until this season and i was disappointed to see notre dame with reebok helmets with a less lustrous gold direct-from-the-mold finish. I’m glad they’ve gone back. It looks sharp!
The story was that when Jeff Jackson took over in 05, he had the helmets painted metallic gold, by taking them to an auto body shop. It wasn’t like football at the time, when the student-managers lacquered the game helmets before each game.
Last year, when several of the Adidas-sponsored collegiate hockey teams (ND, Michigan, Wisconsin) switched to Adidas-owned Reebok (perhaps for the cachet of wearing NHL-quality uniforms by the NHL sponsor), Notre Dame went to Reebok helmets that did not have a metallic finish.
A while ago, there was a blurb from HydroGraphics where they said that they were “working on” using their process for hockey helmets. Now we can say that the football and hockey helmets are colored and maintained with the same process (a one-time-applied, standardized color, with a clear coating that is maintained by cleaning and polishing).
Not mentioned in the ticker blurb, but in the letter sent by the Oneida to Cooperstown they mention starting a fund with other tribes to pay for schools changing their mascots.
1) great idea would nullify one of the arguments to keep them, and eliminate what is a major concern for schools 2) some definitive proof that tribes do indeed take issue, despite what that oft quoted SI poll says.
If the Senecas are involved also, I have contributed greatly to that fund personally over the years. :)
I like that move by the Oneida tribe. And a very well-worded letter, at that (Even if they misspelled “that” the same way I do on occasion).
The Oneida-Cooperstown news made my day. One important gesture leads to another. The letter was exceptionally well-written.
(I didn’t see any misspellings of “that”. Where?)
I could have sworn when I read it, there was an instance where they mistyped it as “taht” which I’m guilty of when typing in haste. Either I saw it wrong or they corrected it.
R.I.P. Dr. Jerry Buss. I’m sure a memorial band, patch, etc is coming…
Meanwhile, I have Uni Watch to thank for for latest obsession/collection/time-waster:
link
I just can’t throw them out now.
Funny you should mention that. I’m actually writing a feature about bread tags vs. twist-ties for Business Week. Interesting to learn the economics of an industry whose products cost a fraction of a penny to produce.
Can’t even believe how stupid those cops were in Tennessee. Y’ALL GOT SOME DRUGGIE STICKERS ON YER CAR.
Wow.
From that article:
Shit, doesn’t everyone know that?
So, one cop that called it in and two vehicles full of cops in a college football centric state like Tennessee can’t recognize a logo from a major college program? Turn in your man cards, all of you.
If that’s the only five choices for the Ottawa CFL team, I really hope they go with Voyageurs.
I was really attracted to that item…
“…OTTAWA – Ottawa’s CFL team won’t have a name anytime soon. And when we hear what it is, it will come with a logo … and a brand.
While Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group rolled out five names for focus groups a week ago — Voyageurs, RedBlacks, Rush, Nationals and Raftsmen — there is no urgency to roll one out. They want to get this right.
‘Are we talking weeks? No,’ OSEG’s Jeff Hunt said Wednesday. ‘Maybe months. The next time I’m going to speak about or mention the name is when we unveil it. It’s still a work in progress. We’ve had the focus group, we’ve had discussions. Now we need to go away, hibernate and re-emerge out of the cave with a complete identity, a total branding package.'”
I like that “re-emerge out of the cave” business. Of the five names mentioned, have to agree with Will that Voyageurs is the only acceptable possibility.
Canal Skaters. Parliamentarians. Lauriers. Beavers.
It almost wouldn’t matter how many finalists there are, or what the other names are. On a list of possible team names that includes Voyageurs, Voyageurs is the winner. Still a crying shame that the Wild didn’t go with that when they entered the NHL.
RedBlacks.
I really liked the concept behind the warm ups that the NBA used last night. Does anyone know where I could find pictures of all of the players warm ups and not just the two shown in the article?
I know it’s not sports related, but it is “sports” related and logo to boot.
New Orleans was announced as the site of WrestleMania 30, and they’ve unveiled the logo. It’s got the Fleur-de-lis, the purple and yellow of Mardi Gras (but no green?) and it’s overall not a bad logo.
link
Speaking of “sports” related, the #30 and the color green, Swan Racing will be running a Sandy Hook Support Fund-themed Toyota in Sunday’s Daytona 500:
link
The Oregon State Lax helmets are made by Cascade, which is just now offering them as an option.
Warrior has offered them for over a year now.
Dowling College wore them last year and won a National Championship in them.
BTW, the Bowling Green Checkerboard decals can be customized and ordered online by companies like Decal Guys and Headwrapz!
The checkerboard decals on the BG, were the Mohawk, crown, and back panels offerings.
Regarding combo 4 on Jeffrey Moulden’s Browns pant extravaganza: I don’t recall them ever wearing this combo since returning to the league. Those brown socks with the stripes that match the current jersey were only worn with the throwback uniform, which featured the classic thin brown stripe flanked by two thin orange stripes on the pants. The pants in combo 4 with the orange stripe flanked by the two brown stripes were only worn with solid brown socks or the white socks with the stripes, I believe.
You are correct. The thin strip is only pant I am missing, and the other combo you mentioned is true as well. However I wanted to get all 4 of the types of socks in the frame and had to make an exception.
RE: Jeffrey Moulden is in the process of framing these Browns pants and socks combos for his basement. “I’m trying to get every combo since 1999!” he says
Hey Jeff…where do you get the pants?
I have a hard time finding official team football pants.
As a Texas Tech student, I’ll admit those ‘horns ‘rups are sharp. But as a sidenote, TTU knows that stirrups are one word…stir ups? Must be Amateur Hour on the UTBaseball twitter.
You wouldn’t believe how many people make that same mistake when emailing me about stirrups. Maybe it’s because stirrups are paired with high-cuffed pants — you know, “up.” Or because you pull them up on you leg. Or something….
Ha that’s surprising but I could certainly understand the “up” confusion for someone who hasn’t been familiarized with stirrups(thanks dad), especially seeing the word in writing(thanks uni-watch). I was thinking it may have been a “new” or “mixing-it-up” kind of thing….you know stir up…stirring it up with stirrups. Eh.
I was just flipping through a Dick’s Sporting Goods catalogue the other day and was thinking how sad it was that not a single image of a baseball player had them wearing high-cuffs, let alone stirrups. Not a pair of those to be found. So sad.
Those stirrups would look much better if they were paired with some contrasting sanitaries…not a fan of the (off?)white over white look.
Agreed. Orange sanis would be an improvement to an already good looking lower leg in my opinion.
Seconded. Just imagine how awesome these would look with burnt orange sanis…which we already know they have.
So will the Dolphins ONLY be redesigning the logo? The uniform itself with remain the same?
I had sent a note to Jim Bouton about today’s splash photo. Didn’t hear back from him in time for today’s entry, but just now heard back. Here’s what he had to say:
“We were undefeated against high school faculties. We would double-team the gym teacher and let the biology teacher go free. In the 4th quarter I would run around in a gorilla mask. Did you know that you could kiss a nun while wearing a gorilla mask?”
He is still very funny!
That’s hilarious. Bouton is quite a character. He was my mom’s first boyfriend in high school. Her dad, my grandfather, was a Little League umpire in Ridgewood NJ for many many years, and always said that Bouton was not only his favorite ballplayer as a kid, but was clearly THE outstanding ballplayer in town at every level. My grandfather said he could tell when he was 10 that Bouton would be a big league player.
Interesting to see the SDSU “throwbacks” for Friday nights. One obvious observation, of course, is that the lettering is completely different than the old ones (you can see that in the black& white photo of Tony which was linked). I would point out that those “old” UNOs were used regularly throughout the 1980’s…. Long after Tony left. When I played against them into the early 90’s, they were still in use.
Vandy and Tennessee women played perhaps the first ever pink-on-pink game on Sunday.
link
Is it a 2? Is it a 3? It keeps changing on me!!!!!
link
“It’s hard to say exactly what she looked like. She was kind of a Joe Torre with tits.”
link
I think I pulled something when I was picking up my lung after laughing the heartiest and highest-pitched of laughs.
Terry, if you haven’t read Ball Four, there’s no time like the present.
Why is the Bowling Green Lax helmet black?
Look closely at the socks on the basketball-playing baseball players. Are they stirrups? Or just socks with a faux-stirrup design?
Not stirrups. The curved cut-out shape that you’re seeing is actually the tongue of the sneaker.
WVU @ K-State. This game looks horrible, WVU in black with some stupid nonsensical slashes down the shorts, and K-State in their gray actually looking better than the opponent. Time for a WVU basketball tweak.
Just got word about my UConn student newspaper article on Native American nicknames.
First, due to a mixup between me, the editor, and another writer, the article will focus just on the Redskins nickname, not Native American nicknames in general.
Second, it will run this Friday as part of our weekly “Blue vs. White” segment. This means that two columnists will take opposite stances on an issue. So, I will be arguing in favor of doing away with the Redskins nickname, and another columnist will argue in favor of retaining it. We will counter eachother’s points. I’ll email Paul the links Thursday night when they go up hopefully. There will be a poll too!
Have got them from the Browns. Equipment sales during traing camp.