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Uni Watch

A League of His Own

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The uniform images you see above are part of a childhood project undertaken years ago by Alex Lyons. I know some of you don’t care about these childhood uni drawings as much as I tend to, but I think everyone will appreciate the story behind Alex’s project. I’ll let him describe it in his own words:

I grew up in foster care and group homes. One of the group homes I lived at had a staff member who’d punish misbehaving kids by sitting us down on a chair for the rest of his shift and feeding us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because “the state says I have to feed you” (I still hate PB&J to this day). One of the things he would let us do was draw. Not being an athlete like the other group home kids, I started to create fake basketball teams, which I formed into a league called the USBL.

This USBL was like a minor league NBA and was filled with my own created star players (those head shots were cut out from Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section): Casey Hokey, named after the Ninja Turtle character; Joe Who, a three-point bomber who “came from nowhere”; and Chris “Little Kemp” Madden (which shows the age of the league). There were also old NBAers like Muggsy Bogues, Manute Bol, and Scott Skiles.

I also wrote a monthly magazine called USBL Action, which was filled with stories of corporate team buyouts (the Houston franchise was bought by Warner Bros. to become the “Coyotes,” named after Wile E.), expansion/contraction (one team was banished to “Arctic Bay Canada,” the northernmost city I could find on a map, because of how bad the team was), player interviews (that female player, Jill Anderson, was based on staff member in our group home), and even apparel licensing. I developed a brand called Trenchwave to supply the league’s uniforms because I didn’t feel this minor league team should have a big name attached to it. An article from the magazine included the following line: “We should not be caught up in big name companies like Nike, Addias, or Fila. If this league fails, it will be because of us, not some shoe company.”

When I finally got access to the internet, I found out there was already a league called the USBL, so I wrote an article about the real USBL suing my USBL [continued here]. I called my league the USBA after that.

Even though it was a make-believe league, it was a great opportunity to channel my childhood creativity. Living in a group home, it was very therapeutic and comforting to transport myself into a league where I made the rules, identity, backstory, and future. These days I’m the creative director for a small creative studio, and I see the USBL as part of the early groundwork I had to practice for my career years before I even touched a computer.

How awesome is that?! What a great project — so much imagination, so many creative little details. Alex also sent along some additional USBL drawings and notes, which you can see below (or just click here):


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Uni Watch News Ticker: Today is Jackie Day, which means all MLB uniformed personnel will wear No. 42. Teams that aren’t playing today will be 42-clad tomorrow. … New football uniforms for UNC, Ole Miss, and UCLA road. Phil Provided full coverage on these in yesterday’s entry. … Speaking of UNC, here’s a photo gallery of their uni history. … On Friday I mentioned that Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, and Dustin Johnson all wore the same shirt for the first day of the Masters. Turned out they kept wearing matching shirts for the entire tournament. … Further controversy over the name “Redskins,” this time involving a Pennsylvania high school (from Adam Brodsky). … Yup, having the NRA sponsor a NASCAR race was a great idea. ”¦ The Pirates debuted their early-’70s throwbacks yesterday. ”¦ Reprinted from Friday’s comments: The Bruins went G.I. Joe for pregame warm-ups on Thursday night (thanks, Teebz). … The main gripe I’m hearing about the new UConn logo, from students and alums alike, is that the version of Jonathan the Husky was all-white, while the new one is two-tone, which makes him look like all the other husky logos out there. But Doug Brei says huskies aren’t all-white to begin with, and that the old logo actually depicted a Samoyed, not a husky. … Life-size bobbleheads of various Detroit athletes have been positioned all over the city. Additional info here (from Jim Polacek). … Ohio State softball is wearing striped white stirrups with red sannies (from Kyle Snoke). ”¦ The North American Association of Uniform Manufacturers & Distributors has announced the winners of its Best Dressed Public Safety Awards program (from Brady Graham). … Lots of promotional jerseys on tap this season for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs(from Gary Mattox). … For reasons that are unclear, Nike is terminating the accounts of several Philly-area retailers (from Kurt Esposito). … If you like the Brewers’ ball-in-glove logo, you’ll probably like this Pepsi 12-pack rendering of it (big thanks to Paul French). … A few players on the Cincinnati baseball team are wearing very nice striped stirrups (from Tim Root). … Potentially major news out of Texas A&M, where Johnny Football was wearing a shirt with what appears to be a non-beveled aTm logo (good spot by my ESPN editor Dave Wilson). … Jared Peterson found some uni-notable photos in the Syracuse archives. Here’s a the women’s hoops team playing against a Penn State squad that was wearing untucked jerseys with SNOB, for example. And dig this: field hockey stirrups! And here’s an awesome shot of football in the snow. … An old St. Louis Browns uniform has been chosen as one of the 250 artifacts to be featured in the Missouri History Museum’s exhibit celebrating the 250th birthday of St. Louis (from Blain Fowler). … David Traub has made some patch and NOB observations regarding the Las Vegas 51s. … Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles will be wearing green for 18 home games this summer. “The reason for the green is that about 70% of the Tohuko region is forest, and that’s where the golden eagle lives,” explains Jeremy Brahm. … Here’s a video of UCLA football coach Jim Mora explaining why the team’s UCLA striping now looks like shite (from Jonathan Amaya). … The Clippers and Hornets went color-on-color on Friday night. … It’s a little hard to see, but Denard Span suffered a torn pant leg on Friday (screen shot by Max Weintraub). … “You may know that medicinal marijuana is legal in Washington State,” says Matthew Eng. “One of the dispensaries (or cooperatives) in Seattle uses a Sonics-inspired logo.” … We’ve noted in past years that David Price often goes without a squatchee on his cap. A reader who prefers to remain nameless notes that that’s still the case this year. … Good spot by Matt Weisenfluh, who notes that Warriors third-string center Andris Biedrins now has diacritical marks on his NOB. He used to not have them. … Michigan didn’t use the repurposed Oregon State orange jerseys for its spring game after all. Instead, they got right proper orange Michigan jerseys. Also, some players had shiny helmets and some had matte. Also-also, as you can see in that last photo, they wore small number decals on the back of the helmet, which means the TV numbers on the helmets probably won’t be used this season (all this from Christopher Hall). … Tyler Kepner attended Friday night’s Nats/Braves game in DC. “As we were leaving the park after the Braves’ 10-inning victory, a Braves fan teased a Nats fan about the Nats’ logo: ‘Nice Walgreen’s hat!’ The Nats fan was like, ‘Dude, Walgreen’s? That’s the best you can do?’ Pretty funny.” … Dodgers fans sitting in high-visibility seats at a Diamondbacks game at Chase field were told to stop wearing Dodgers gear by D-backs owner Ken Kendrick. Douchebag. ”¦ Auburn baseball wore G.I. Joe caps that other night (from Clint Richardson). ”¦ We’ve all seen pitchers wear jackets while running the bases. But I’m not sure I’ve seen a pitcher wearing a sweatshirt. That’s Alfredo Simon of the Reds, after getting his first MLB hit on Saturday (from Jason Christie). ”¦ Marshall QB Rakeem Cato wore a camera on his helmet during Thursday’s practice (from Brice Wallace). ”¦ Real Sociedad wore jerseys with fans’ faces in the uni numbers on Sunday (from Mark Coale). ”¦ Also from Mark: “Everton and QPR wore armbands for the anniversary of Hillsborough on Saturday and had a minute of silence (for the 96, not for Margaret Thatcher). It looked like Everton used black tape to make their armbands.” ”¦ New jerseys for the New York Times softball team (from Reuven Szleifer). ”¦ Eric Yarolimek noticed that Jason Kidd had something — maybe a mic clip? — on his jersey collar the other day. ”¦ Chris Young of the A’s, who was wearing stirrups with white sannies last week, is now wearing right proper gold sannies (from Rich Paloma). ”¦ Three Dayton football players are test-driving a new, supposedly safer helmet designed by former auto racer Bill Simpson (from Liberty Bowman). ”¦ Greg Trandel was reading this article and noticed a reference to college hoops players wearing football shoulder pads during practice, so he went looking and found this. That come at about the 5:20 mark of this video. ”¦ During last night’s Yanks/O’s game, ESPN’s broadcasting crew told a story about Buck Showalter, who had a big hand in designing the Diamondbacks’ inaugural uniforms in the late 1990s. According to the story, Showalter went to lots of paint stores looking for just the right shade of purple but couldn’t find what he wanted. Then, while attending an LSU football game, he liked what he saw in the LSU locker room, so he asked for — and received — a chunk of the carpet. And that’s what the Diamondbacks’ shade of purple was based on, at least if you choose to believe the story. ”¦ Speaking of Showalter, he appears to be the only Oriole who’s wearing the Earl Weaver memorial patch on his jacket (from Mike Mongada). ”¦ The Cardinals wore their new retro alts for the first time on Saturday. And at least five different Cardinals went high-cuffed yesterday (from Kevin Eckhoff). ”¦ North American hockey legends and Russian hockey legends faced off in New Jersey on Saturday in a benefit game for Hurricane Sandy relieft. Kevin Clark got a few shots of the uniforms (taken through the plexiglass, which explains the blurriness). ”¦ Sensational patches on this vintage varsity hockey jacket. ”¦ Pitcher Yohei Kagiya of the Nippon Ham Fighters used a purple glove on Saturday (Jeremy Brahm again). ”¦ Blue Jays pitcher Casey Janssen warmed up in the wrong jersey the other day, but he got things straightened out in time for his eventual appearance in the game. … Matt Kemp, who’s usually a pajamist, went high-cuffed last night (screen shot by Stetson Pevear). ”¦ Nebraska baseball wore G.I. Joe caps on Friday and G.I. Joe jerseys on Sunday (from Mike Vamosi). ”¦ Several readers sent in this story about a Mississippi State football stadium-themed groom’s cake. ”¦ New 25th-season logo for the Magic, who’ll also wear 1989-90 throwbacks next season (from Mike McLaughlin).

 
  
 
Comments (158)

    Seems to me that the Hornets wearing yellow at home doesn’t make a game color-on-color any more than when the Lakers do.

    I don’t think the Hornets have actually worn the yellow alts on the road this year – they seem to have designated them as de facto home unis. I’d have to check, but I think a lot of the other teams with yellow alts have mostly worn them as home unis this year too.

    Personally, I love teams wearing yellow at home. Brings us one step closer to the glory days of the early 80s, when a third of the league wore non-white home unis.

    A third of the league wore non-white at home in the early 80s? Please elaborate. I got the Lakers, Warriors, and well, that’s all I know of.

    Well, a third may be a slight exaggeration, but the Pacers, Warriors, and Lakers wore yellow unis, the Cavs used both yellow and a metallic gold and the Spurs and Pistons wore silver (which turned dark grey as soon as they got sweaty).

    Not sure why the link to Chris Creamer’s new uni-tracking feature was presented as “here’s how the Mets are doing” when he’s now doing that for all 30 teams.

    Here’s a rather disappointing development: They haven’t changed the “roster” sections of the MLB team websites to say that every player is #42, like they usually do on this day.

    the “L” on the cardinals alternate jersey could easily be looped over the top of the bat.

    It can’t actually, i had a lot of time behind the scenes with the Cardinals go-to designer, and making the L that tall is awkward…I’ve seen where the word Louis is higher up and on a different line from St. , but it looks awkward. i even think it looks awkward on the ’32 jersey, but it doesn’t look nearly as bad as the new one would (if it had the L that tall), because the S is a lot higher up in the ’32 jersey, the S in the new Alternates is hanging a lot further down. something to think about though indeed, i might bring it up and see where it goes.

    Is that even legal for a pitcher to wear a hoodie while running the bases? I thought there was an instance last season where a pitcher tried that and the umpire forced him to change into a jacket. Maybe the rules changed during the off-season to give pitchers more flexibility in what they wear on the basepaths?

    I think the hoodie was officially recognized as a legal alternative to a jacket a couple of years ago. Simon actually came up to bat wearing the hoodie–having batted only 4 time in his career up to then, he was a little slow to realize he had to take it off before swinging.

    Check out my article in The Daily Campus, UConn’s student paper, criticizing Nike and UConn for changing the logo without consulting with the UConn commmunity: link

    Good luck. See the various rants over the weekend re: UNC.

    And while I like the new UCons husky logo (and believe it to be far superior to the previous mutt), I can appreciate the dissension since Nike basically bastardized the Purdue Boilermaker Special to fit their criteria of “easy to embroider.”

    It’s hard to “consult the community” when doing design work. However, the powers that be could most certainly hire someone with local flavor (and a thorough understanding of the brand) to redesign/refresh the identity. Nike should really consider outsourcing to local designers, rather than their stock group in NYC and Oregon.

    That article is a good read and makes a lot of sense… if you’re one of the people who doesn’t like the new logo, feel under-represented, etc. From the designers’ point of view, it’s a very slippery slope to “consult the community” and let the people vote on every change to be potentially made. It undermines the work that goes into projects like these, the role of the designers in the process, and maybe even the entire profession of design.

    Obviously, the designers should be taking a long look at what the people appreciate about their brands before attempting to improve them, and they do, but the overarching “brand strategy” of the companies they work for almost always dictate what the final product looks like, to a certain degree. Design can only be as strong as the person making the decisions.

    As a Husky owner (but not a UCONN fan) for over 20 years I’ve always thought the previous white “Husky” looked more like a Samoyed to me. This new Johnathan looks a lot more like a Husky and I give them bonus points for including the light blue in the eyes. I kind of wish they went heterochromia or parti-eyed to see how many people complained it looked “fake” but still a great touch.
    The only thing I question is the red outline. It looks like red will be back as a school color for everybody again based on this. So will they continue to have an identity crisis with colors or will they be blue-red, blue-grey, or blue-red-grey across the board now?

    This is the best Uniwatch story, ever. I especially like that one of the coaches is named Bill Sonic. I want to know that guy’s backstory (I see him as a Tommy Heinsohn type, a tough but garrulous ex-ballplayer from the Old School).

    Alex, you made my day.

    Chris Carter is no longer with the A’s. I believe that’s Chris Young in the yellow sannies.

    Also, I don’t think those are orange Michigan jerseys. Note the sleeve stripe. Michigan doesn’t have stripes like that, but Oregon State does.

    You beat me to it. Either they stripped the Oregon State jersey and sewed everything on, or that’s the best Adidas could do given the timeline they were given. But that’s not an orange UM jersey.

    obviously, adidas wasn’t about to have michigan qb’s playing the spring game in nike wear…

    link

    so, i can imagine nike was likely throwing a fit having their logo torn off and replaced by an adidas logo…

    link

    i’d guess adidas did whip something up at the last minute, based upon those orange beaver jerseys…

    Maybe it’s not all that notable but did anyone catch Angel Cabrera’s post-round interview during CBS’ Masters coverage on Saturday? He was with an interpreter who was wearing an ESPN polo, which is fine by itself–ESPN was also broadcasting the Saturday action (in 3D)–but I was surprised that CBS didn’t make him cover it up or anything during their interview. Maybe less uni-notable than it’s notable for being a network “breach of security.”

    I was out to lunch so I wasn’t able to get a clear screen cap or anything.

    On Saturday they introduced him as “ESPN’s John Sutcliffe” who will be interpreting for Cabrera, but on Sunday they didn’t introduce him, although both times was on CBS.

    “Yup, having the NRA sponsor a NASCAR race was a great idea.”

    Let’s be serious here… do you really think the name on the race would have made this guy any difference? There was some sort of an argument, and a guy shot himself. The NRA sponsoring the race had NOTHING to do with this.

    Obviously this guy had some sort of mental instability. And again, guns get blamed for a problem of mental illness.

    A guy went on a rampage last week and cut a bunch of people with X-Acto knives. Are we going to blame the knives, or the fact that he was obviously unbalanced?

    If you removed all guns from this country, do you know what you wouldn’t remove? Violent crimes and mass murders. They happened long before guns, and because of the nature of people, they will always happen. What need to eb addressed is how we deal with people with potentially dangerous mental illness.

    Back to the subject at hand… Quit it with your stupid inference that the NRA sponsoring a race contributed to a man taking his own life. That idea is just unfounded and dumb.

    PS: When the NRA sponsored a race at Atlanta last season, there was no outrage, and no one was shot.

    Classic straw man argument. Nobody said the sponsorship made him kill himself, and nobody blamed guns for mental illness. But it sure doesn’t look good, does it? Especially at this moment in our national debate over this issue. And that’s why it was a stupid idea.

    If not to tie the race sponsorship, which was surprisingly down-played before and during the race, to this senseless and illegal act (TMS is a gun-free zone, bringing a firearm into the track is criminal) then why mention it in the Ticker…to point out some irony?
    Let’s try to remember that a man is dead and that his family, and thankfully no one else, is hurting. This is a sad situation deserving of a little empathy.

    The race sponsor being downplayed isn’t a new thing… I’ve noticed this a lot in recent years, especially with ESPN broadcasts. If the race was the Subway 400 at Phoenix, but Subway wasn’t buying advertising time, ESPN would promote the race that week as the Phoenix 400, or NASCAR at Phoenix. And the broadcast would be “NASCAR on ESPN presented by GoDaddy.com” with very little mention of the race’s actual sponsor. Which would make me want to spend my money on TV time, rather than race sponsorship.

    To point out that it’s not the best idea to name an event after a trade association that’s a political lightning rod?

    There are apparently a number of different sponsorship levels for sponsoring a NASCAR race. The NRA simply chose to sponsor the race and not go with the premium package which includes saying the race name x amount of times per hour, creating a logo, ads during the race, etc. All they got was the name and NRA 500 mentioned once an hour on TV, etc.

    As for the NRA sponsoring a race? I really don’t have much of a problem with that. It’s the Texas race, it’s NASCAR, its on the Fox channel, there isn’t a better fit during the season for it (not that the NRA HAS to sponsor a race, but if they want, that’s the one.) Disappointing that someone committed suicide during the NRA race, it’s obviously a black eye for NASCAR.

    Adam:
    You’re right; I’ve noticed that with pole qualifying. While it’s sponsored by Brewery “C”, it’s barely mentioned as being sponsored at all like it was when Brewery “B” was involved.
    It seems the the NRA declined to buy the ‘premium’ ad package from the broadcast network for the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway, which explains the lack of screen time for logo graphics and numerous on-air sponsor mentions.

    First — and more importantly — here’s to hoping the Pirates keep the mustard and black. Love it.)

    If one dislikes guns, and those who make them, just say so.

    If one has no problem with guns, or those who make them, but just wants to make an observation about the unfortunate timing for a race sponsor, just say so.

    That said, the original inference seemed quite clear – at least to this reader.

    [Sigh] Yes. I am aware of the difference between implying (sending) and inferring (receiving). I do attribute the inference to “this reader”.

    Disappointing response.

    The NRA sponsoring the race had NOTHING to do with this…

    That’s an incredibly relevant point to make if you’re arguing against a straw man.

    Obviously, there’s no connection between the sponsorship and a freak incident. It’s almost purely about the optics and not about policy. But sponsorship *is* about optics, and this juxtaposition is one that brings negative attention to both interested parties.

    Well, no. Because controls on alcoholic beverage sales and consumption aren’t a politically contentious issue. The National Beer Wholesalers Association hasn’t recently been in the news, and pushing hard to reduce restrictions on alcohol or suppressing research on the effects of alcohol.

    Plus, it’s one thing for a corporation to sponsor an event, but whole another for a trade association/lobbyist group to do so.

    But yes, and when, say, a St. Louis Cardinals player dies while driving drunk, it looks super awkward for the club and Anheuser-Busch.

    “Because controls on alcoholic beverage sales and consumption aren’t a politically contentious issue.”

    ‘terriblehuman’ must not be from Pennsylvania.

    You know what I mean – there is no national debate, divided along partisan lines, about whether we should have restrictions on alcohol sales.

    In other words, while the events themselves are coincidental, they are related in the worst possible way. No one stated any different.

    I like how Paul is so quick to pull out the “classic straw-man argument” comment.

    Paul’s a smart guy. His wording in the ticker link wasn’t an accident. He worded it in a way that it was bound to draw comments, but not in a way that directly said “I’m anti gun, and the NRA is bat shit crazy”.

    Look, I’m not necessarily “pro-gun”, but I don’t have a problem with the NRA sponsoring a race. Furthermore, the fact that the NRA was the main sponsor has nothing to do with the fact that a guy shot himself at the race. To think otherwise is goofy.

    Nobody’s making such a claim. Which makes it a classic straw-man argument.

    But sponsorship, as noted before, is about optics, and these optics are pretty unfortunate for all involved.

    I’ve never fired a gun in my life, not even a BB gun. Maybe I’m not a fair observer, but the it’s hard for me to understand why any comments about guns elicit such vociferous responses.

    Take Paul’s NASCAR comment, and tweak it a little: “Trusting Cort’s mother to change the oil in her car was a terrific idea.” I might feel a tiny bit protective of Mom, but it’s a valid point. I might not like that other people are talking about her, but it’s not going to prompt a thousand word screed. It’s not that big a deal.

    I guess gun lovers love guns more than I love my mother.

    why doesn’t anyone really address the real problem…the security lapse that allowed this to happen…the venue and security company should be examined and not the sponsors…the sponsors are not responsible for security, policy & procedures and overall safety.

    I thought the Pirates’ new alts looked great yesterday, but I have to say that it was very disappointing to see them use their standard helmet, instead of going with a gold lid/black brim helmet. The all-black lids just didn’t look right.

    Matt, the Bucs actually did wear the black batting helmet during the 1970 season when these sharp uniforms debuted. In 1971-75, this uniform set(including the hat) was worn with the gold/batting helmet as you described.

    The Pirates have always been loath to make up extra helmets. In this case, it makes the helmets accurate for at least 1970 after July 16, when they continued to wear their old black helmets with the new unis. I don’t remember exactly when they switched to gold.

    Not a fan of them at all. But not a surprise there. I’d rather see them get away from throwbacks and go with the regular white top or the black alts. But I shudder to think of what I’ll have to be watching next year after they change the look.

    Interesting that the Reds pitcher is wearing a sweatshirt…that happens a lot in girls high school softball. I’ve never seen it anywhere else.

    I applaud Bucs catcher Michael McHenry for going link, but I curse him for ignoring the greatest stirrups in the history of link.

    Two beautiful throwbacks for MLB. Always loved Pittsburgh’s, but man, that St.Louis one is all kinds of gorgeous.

    a little background on the QPR/Everton ticker item:

    Thatcher was incredibly unpopular with soccer fans, traditionally a working class sport, especially in northern England, where mining and manufacturing were adversely affected by Conservative Party policies, and where there is a higher concentration of clubs.

    Thatcher and the Tories also used soccer fans as scapegoats for the ills of society (though not without *some* justification). They were complicit in the misinformation and the coverups following the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy, putting the blame on the fans, and not the criminally poor crowd management, crumbling stadium and indifferent police reaction for the death of 96 fans.

    A couple of Premier League club owners have asked for minutes of silence for Thatcher, but I don’t think anyone went through with it, since it’s not going to be honored, and families of Hillsborough victims have spoken out against doing so.

    Our Chairman, Dave Whelan, called for a minute’s silence on Saturday at Wembley.

    Now – he has been good to us – but this would have been one huge monumentally bad idea. Wigan is traditionally a mining area, and that woman (I can’t even type her name) closed down the mining industry. A minute’s silence, even from Whelan’s own fans, would just not have happened.

    She hated football, and treated football fans as one of the “enemies within”. She tried to enforce a membership card scheme which would have meant the end of casual “I fancy going to a game today”, and as said above protected the police in their lies about Hillsbrough, just because the dead were football fans.

    I won’t go so far as to openly celebrate anyone’s death – but I certainly will not be watching the funeral.

    Instead I’ll remember the 96 people who went to a football match 24 years ago, hoping to see their team win, and never came home.

    RIP JFT96.

    It’s amazing how easily people forget. Thatcher was prepared to abandon Liverpool, in what her advisors called “managed decline.” She waited until the UK had stockpiled a healthy reserve of coal before she destroyed the miners’ unions. She governed with open contempt for the majority of her constituency. So asking miners and people from the north to honor her with a moment of silence is a little like demanding that everyone in New Orleans send G.W. Bush a congratulatory card on the birth of his grandchild.

    “You may know that medicinal marijuana is legal in Washington State,”

    Yes, but all marijuana is now legal for those 21 and over.

    can’t wait for pot to be legal nationwide (for the obvious reason) but also so that industry can start sponsoring sports…

    “st. louis blues hockey, sponsored by budd…remember, if you’ve got the blues, don’t drink ‘cuz alcohol’s a depressant, fire up a budd, instead!”

    “miami heat basketball, sponsored by budd…if the heat’s gettin’ to ya, chill out with a budd!”

    “buffalo bills football, sponsored by budd…bills gettin’ ya down…kick back, instead, and enjoy a budd!”

    “milwaukee brewers baseball, sponsored by budd…it beats the hell outta drinking…so why not spark a budd, today!”

    A couple of the quotes from the “Redskins” article are predictable yet still cringe inducing, i.e. “most people don’t find it offensive” and “it’s not meant to be disrespectful”.

    New football unis for UNC are beyond awful. Navy blue is fine and it’s all over Franklin Street along with Carolina blue, but Carolina has no business wearing black anywhere.

    The new UCLA uniform is nice, but why is it necessary? The road uniform was great.

    Seriously. They somehow sucked out whatever life was in the old uniforms.
    And black numbers on their blue & whites? Come on.

    Congratulations on rebranding UNC as the Tennessee Titans.

    At least the Titans wear navy blue, and the thick bar on the helmet is ugly in any color.

    Yeah, but the Panthers design scheme is built around black, silver and teal, three colors that kinda match.

    Carolina blue and matte black don’t exactly complement each other.

    That’s just not fair to the Titans. While they probably wear more navy than they should, they definitely look better than UNC now.

    Am I going color blind, or does the coloring on the Kidd’s jersey look extremely red, white, and blue to anyone else?

    link

    I would assume that Showalter has the Earl Weaver patch on his jacket because he never takes his jacket off during games, and therefore this is the only way he can display the patch on the field/in the dugout.

    So maybe Nationals fans look funny in their Walgreens hats, but why do Braves fans show up wearing weird, off-color Alabama hats?

    Look again.

    I’m a UGA fan/alum and even I can tell the difference between the Braves “A” and the Bama “A”. The Bama “A” doesn’t come to a point at the top.

    Understood.

    But white fur coupled with the fact that it is long-haired would suggest a Samoyed, not a Husky.

    I wish they’d gone with a Siberian husky so they could use the purple tongue as a justification for a purple alternate.

    /trolling

    An actual white husky that stays white and not covered in mud and dirt? You’re doing it wrong…
    Actually I didn’t see these comments before I posted a reply to an earlier one saying the same thing. As a Husky owner for over 20+ years that previous white one reminded me more of a Samoyed. This one looks a lot more like a Husky.

    the white ole miss uniforms looks sweet. im glad they took out the red. i’m not a fan of the blue pants with “ole miss” written on the side

    As much as I like those Cardinals retro’s and the (temporary?) decision to wear red caps on the road, I’m not a fan of the alt caps the wore yesterday:

    link

    You can’t really use anything from the Michigan football Spring Game to gauge what will happen with uniforms next season. Spring practice gear is always a mish-mash of things from the previous season. The helmets are always sent out for reconditioning immediately after the Spring Game is over, and the new gear for next year hasn’t arrived yet. It’s all just a continuation of the previous season, gear-wise.

    All this stuff is all the more noticeable now that we’re doing all sorts of goofy stuff with matte helmets and throwbacks (er, “Legacy Uniforms”), but that’s a gripe for another day.

    For a field hockey parent, the girl wearing stirrups may be one of the less intriguing things about that picture. More intriguing is why she’s not wearing shin guards like the other players are. Or whether any of the players are wearing protective mouthguards, which in that era typically would’ve been affixed by a lead tucked through a buttonhole in the shirt. That said, at that point in time the rules prohibited raised sticks, so perhaps mouthguards, though in use back then, were not mandatory as they are today.

    Snooping around the Syracuse FH website I was able to determine that the opponent was SUC Buffalo (now Buffalo State), which dates the picture from 1972-77 (the teams played 5 times in that span). Which may well make the Syracuse player competing for the ball (#11) an early user of Nike shoes, given that its trademark Swoosh design only debuted in Spring, 1972.

    Oh, and the hairstyles on those girls are priceless. The pigtails in particular.

    Here we go with everyone wearing number 42 again. I hope a manager tries an illegal substitution or some other batting order shenanigans to expose how stupid this is.

    Sure honor Robinson, but let’s do it in a way that doesn’t make a mockery of players wearing different numbers.

    Manager to umpire: “Hey, blue, I’m going to do a double-switch. 42 is gonna replace 42 on the mound and he’s going to bat fifth, and 42 is going into right field, and he’ll bat ninth. Got it?”

    Baseball had NO uniform numbers for decades, and somehow everyone got along just fine.

    Having everyone wear 42 for a day is fun, thought-provoking, and harmless. It’s probably the single best thing to happen to the game on Bud Selig’s watch.

    I must say that I agree with Rob and Wheels. I remember several years ago that just one player per team wore 42; that made it special. Now, every Jackie Robinson Day becomes a recurring practice of ritualistic sameness.

    Well why did they even need to add numbers then? Because they thought it was an improvement? Either they’re necessary or not. If they’re not necessary then get rid of them all together.

    Actually, uni numbers *aren’t* necessary in baseball. But they’re handy. And fun. And harmless. Going without them for a day isn’t the end of the world. The Yankees and Red Sox proved that last year, when they played a game with numberless throwback uniforms. World kept on spinning, didn’t it?

    Everyone wearing 42 for a day is fine, too. And that’s not an opinion — it’s an empirical fact, because we’ve been doing it for five or six years now and it hasn’t been a problem.

    They should just pick one guy on each team to wear 42 for the day, and make it a big deal to be chosen for that honor. Base it on citizenship, sportsmanship, etc.

    I think I agree with Rob. Having everyone wear 42 seems kinda dumb. There’s gotta be a better way to honor Robinson that isn’t so confusing. Why not have a red 42 on the front of the jersey, but keep the player’s normal number on the back?

    How is it confusing? When was the last time you (or anyone else) relied on a uniform number to ID a baseball player?

    Yeah, because we all recognize every player’s face, right? Sure, if I’m watching a game, I’m not necessarily relying on jersey numbers… I’m relying on either the PA announcer or on the on-screen graphics of the TV broadcast. What do you think the people responsible for those graphics are looking at?

    I’m an Astros fan. The face of our franchise is Jose Altuve.

    I haven’t recognized a baseball player for two years.

    We’re not saying it’s necessarily going to be absolutely confusing — the on screen graphics for the at home viewers identify everyone fine and I’m sure the players, managers and umpires know the players. But it certainly could be confusing for the fan in the stands who doesn’t realize there has been a defensive replacement made in centerfield — the same kind of confusion that I’m sure could have led to the adoption of numbers in the first place many years ago.

    Sure it’s a small percentage of the time that actual confusion results. But why do something that could potentially add any confusion, no matter how small?

    Actually, uni numbers *aren’t* necessary in baseball. But they’re handy. And fun. And harmless. Going without them for a day isn’t the end of the world.

    Fine they’re not necessary, but they are handy, fun, and harmless. So let’s celebrate Robinson in a way that doesn’t require us to go without something that is handy, fun, and harmless that we use in every other game.

    Any argument for why baseball uses numbers in the other 161 games would be an argument for why we shouldn’t not have them on April 15th.

    They went without helmets for many years, but for safety reasons they are required now. Maybe for the next 1910 throwback batters should not wear helmets, after all they aren’t necessary, you certainly can play without them.

    But that’s apples and oranges, I can hear you say, because that’s for safety reasons. But by that logic why should that be different? The rules say players wear numbers now, and the rules say players wear helmets now. So it’s okay to have a one-day throwback with no numbers, but not with no helmets.

    I don’t disagree that it could be confusing. But any confusion that arises from everyone wearing 42 is, I think, kind of the point.

    For one day, every baseball player loses his identity and it’s all about Jackie Robinson. As much as I hate the corporatespeak “disruptive”, that’s exactly what it is – it’s a positively disruptive way to remember Jackie Robinson.

    That’s right.

    I like the “I am Spartacus!” aspect of it. Maybe it’s a little heavy handed, but it’s also a reminder that what Jackie Robinson did transcended the sport.

    It’s one game. In April. Honestly, I can’t imagine anybody loving baseball so completely that they need to be acutely aware of every player on the field. In one game. In April.

    serious question, why does Jackie get all the recognition and gets celebrated but Kenny Washington and Woody Strode don’t??

    Timing. In 1946- 47, baseball was the National Pastime. Pre-1958, pro football was just another niche sport.

    Arnold Rampersand does address this in his biography of Jackie Robinson, if I remember right.

    I went to the Sky Blue FC v Western New York Flash women’s soccer game last night. The Sky Blue shorts had a white horizontal stripe on the back of the shorts which had the effect of making it look like the players were wearing skirts as they ran.

    link

    Now known as the National Woman’s Soccer League. They have a partnership with the USWNT, Canadian National Team and Mexico’s National Team where the teams are allocated players from the national sides and they are paid by the national teams. The rest of players are paid by the teams. They had 2100 show up for the game last night at Rutgers, so not a rousing opening night.

    2 different mentions of purple in the ticker, new Vikes unis on deck, and an amnesty during last week’s Seattle party… could UW’s “thin plum line” be breaking?

    If the Tar Heels really must look just like the Panthers then maybe the Panthers can assume the Tar Heels old look.

    Here’s hoping…

    Not sure what the “news” regarding aTm and a non-beveled logo on the shirt refers to. Most of the merchandise they sell does NOT have the bevel on it. And I live in Houston, so I see plenty.

    Alex – wow! Apparently spent a lot of time in time-out. But I absolutely love it. And kudos on Lyontamers – I can see how your upbringing has directed your life. Keep “paying it forward”… hands and feet!

    “which makes him look like all the other husky logos out there” (link) – that Bloomsburg “husky” looks like a Malamute: link

    Love the Tequila Sunrise jerseys for the Iron Pigs. Will there be a giveaway as well, I wonder?

    BTW, the Carolina spring game was played in the 2012 unis (white helmets instead of blue). I figure it’s the last we’ll see of the classic look: link

    It looks great, though both it’s a tad bit confusing with both teams wearing white pants and the blue being so light.

    Oh, and BFBS aside, the matte finish on the new blue helmet is all kinds of awful: link

    Plus, do they intend to match blue tops with black pants (player to the right)?

    Your little ad cycle on the upper left just posted an ad for the Brooklyn Half marathon by the NYRRA…timely I must say…

    Very cool story about Alex. I love how he named a team the Indiana Hurricanes – I might have to steal that for a fantasy team name. A great precursor to the Flint Tropics

    So…memorial patches, ribbons or just arm bands…how soon before all sports will be wearing something?

    (And I don’t want to hear too soon…because you all know damn well that someone in some graphic design department already is working on something…)

    Sadly as a Uni Watcher that was one of my first thoughts — wonder what kind of patch the Red Sox are going to break out to jump on the memorial bandwagon of this tragedy.

    The saddest part of the UCLA uni situation is that Coach Mora admits that the loss of the full UCLA stripes is due to Adidas’ design. Schools need to stand firm in keeping their uni traditions strong and demand that the suppliers comply with the schools’ own design, not the other way around.

    I find it disturbing and sad that MLB & USA need to ackowledge that a great ball player is black. What the fuck is the difference if he is black or whatever, seriously! Sad. Thumbs down MLB & USA.

    Bronson Arroyo is still wearing a cool flo helmet, and his teammate Shin Soo Choo is wearing an even older model.

    I’d like to echo the sentiments about today’s lede. Alex, incredible story, and impeccable creativity. Thank you for sharing.

    Props to the Warriors for getting both diacritical marks on link correct.

    Is this the first time a major American sports team has correctly inserted a diacritical mark that comes below a letter? Very few of the major European languages have such marks; I wonder if this is the very first.

    For you language buffs who are wondering how to say and type these letters:

    * The Å¡ (s with a haček on it) is like English “sh”. Many languages in Eastern Europe use it; you’ve probably seen č, Å¡, and ž before (they sound like English ch, sh, and zh), and there are a few others, such as the Å™ in “Antonin DvoÅ™ak”. If you have the extended keyboard for the Mac, you can type a haček easily by typing option+v and then the letter that goes under it.

    * The ņ — I just figured this out now — can be typed on the extended Mac keyboard by typing an ordinary French-style çedilla (option+c) and then typing an n. The cedilla will automatically turn into a comma; try it! It sounds just like the more familiar Spanish ñ. This letter is really rare and is (I think) unique to Latvian, though letters with dots underneath are found in romanization of some languages in India.

    So the guy’s name is said like bi-e-driñsh.

    I myself learned how to pronounce some of those exotic letters as a hockey fan enjoying the Eastern European invasion of the ’90s. Hopefully a new generation of fans will become familiar with even more interesting and exotic letters!

    Did anyone else notice that no MLB teams wore alternate jerseys yesterday? Doesn’t happen too many times during the year (if at all)- I wish it would happen much more often! By the way, love everyone wearing 42!

    I wish some teams had. The Braves and Padres looked great in their throwbacks a few years ago, and so did the Phillies with their home alts.

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