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Uni Watch Profiles: Fred Storms

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Fred Storm.JPG

Back in late May, I Ticker-mentioned that reader Jameson Adams had paid a leatherworking company to turn an old baseball glove into a wallet. The company that did that work is called Little Freddie’s, and it’s run by a guy named Fred Storms. I was curious about the story behind this enterprise, so I asked Fred to do an email interview, the results of which you can read below:

Uni Watch: Tell me a bit about yourself. How old are you, where do you live, and what do you do for a living (when you’re not doing Little Freddie’s)?

Fred Storms: I’m 52 years old and reside in Newport News, Virginia. I currently work as a Soft Goods Research and Development Supervisor for a shooting/tactical gear company. I grew up in Brewster, New York, and spent young days playing sports, especially baseball, with my Dad. He was a Dodgers fan and I was a Yankees fan (1977-1978 was an interesting baseball time for us).

UW: What’s your background in leatherworking? How did you get started in it?

FS: I spent 24 years in the United States Air Force, working as a Survival Equipment Specialist (parachute rigger). This is where I learned to sew. My first job out of the Air Force was working for a private contractor in Washington, DC, where we worked on all the dignitary jets at Andrews Air Force Base. I did a lot of leather work there, including work on Air Force One. There are some seasoned veterans there willing to share their secrets, and they showed me how to sew leather. This is where I first enhanced my skills, and the rest has been trial, error, and experimentation.

UW: How and when did you get the idea of making leather goods out of old baseball gloves, and how and when did you then turn that idea into a business?

FS: A guy at work asked me one day if I could make a cell phone case from an old leather glove, and I did it. So I started making Blackberry cases and even figured out how to use a magnet to turn the phone to hibernate mode when inserted into the case. From there it was iPhone cases, magnetic wallets, credit card wallets, etc. We worked together for a while but he was relocated and I just continued to grow the business. I started selling on eBay and it went very well, so I decided to do my own website and that’s where I’m at currently.

UW: How many items (wallets, money clips, etc.) have you made over the years?

FS: About 250 to 300.

UW: Do people usually send you a specific glove that they want you to use, or do you have a supply of vintage gloves that you use, or what?

FS: I have a supply of vintage gloves that I can use, or people can send specific gloves to me. Recently a customer sent me a Dale Murphy signature glove to make a wallet [that was Uni Watch reader Jameson Adams ”” PL]. From what I heard, he tweeted Dale Murphy about his wallet and got a positive response. Another reader sent a Brooks Robinson glove.

UW: What are some of the most unusual customer requests you’ve gotten?

FS: Nothing really unusual, but I have made some pocket pistol holsters.

UW: Any other interesting stories or anecdotes relating to Little Freddie’s?

FS: I made over 20 wallets for a fan group of a high-profile jam band. Each wallet had the band patch and all were different.

UW: How long does it take you to make a Little Freddie’s item?

FS: All are different, but I can usually make eight to ten over a weekend, depending on complexity.

UW: Many of us think of a baseball glove as a very sentimental, almost sacred object. Is it emotionally difficult to cut one of them apart?

FS: I always ask myself that same question. But I look at some of the gloves that I get and they are in horrible shape. I breathe new life into them. I clean, condition, oil, and polish every glove item before I send it out. After the wallet is complete it now a new object, just as sacred as the glove had been.

UW: Are there any differences in the leather used by different glove companies? In other words, is a Rawlings glove different to work with than, say, a Wilson glove?

FS: I’ve found it’s not a company thing but a time thing. Older gloves have better leather. Leather gloves from 1960s and older are the best to work with. Best color, best leather.

UW: Do you make items from other types of leather, or only from baseball gloves?

FS: I have made some items from leather footballs. I haven’t tried any other type of leather but have been asked about boxing gloves and hockey gloves.

UW: How would you like to grow the business in the future? Any special plans?

FS: I’m trying to grow it little by little. I’m hoping this interview will get me some exposure and new customers. The next big initiative is updating the website and doing more marketing. I’m hoping to grow it enough to use it as my retirement income.

———

Very cool. Fred sent me a few sample items, and I have to say they’ve very, very nice. A good project, run by a good guy — I hope some of you will check out his services.

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Just give me all your money already: Here are some ways you can subsidize my summer vacation and underwrite my cat food budget support Uni Watch:

• If you’ve been thinking about signing up for a membership card, now is a good time, because we have just a few open slots on the current batch of card designs, which means the next few people who sign up won’t have to wait long at all to receive their cards. As always, you can sign up here.

• Uni Watch T-shirts and related items, including the fairly popular shirt shown at right, are available in the Uni Watch shop on Zazzle.

• In a perfect world, you’d be able to buy these T-shirts in the Uni Watch shop as well. Alas, this is a very imperfect world. Still, one can dream of a more perfect world, can’t one? Of course one can.

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Research Query: Reader Joe Race is working on a guest-written Uni Watch entry about unusual nuances, quirks, imperfections, and obstructions at MLB ballparks, such as the ladder on the Green Monster. In Joe’s words:

Most sports require uniform dimensions for their playing surfaces. Baseball, however, allows for a certain type of design and expression at the outer end of each playing field, allowing for hills with flagpoles, overhangs from upper decks, and other curious designs that we notice and remember. If you know of some MLB ballpark quirks, please submit them directly to me.

If this project goes well, Joe will expand it to include old ballparks and the minor leagues.

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’Skins Watch: Eni Faleomavaega, the Congressional delegate from American Samoa, spoke out against the ’Skins name yesterday morning on the floor of the House of Representatives. You can see video of his speech, which runs a little over four minutes, here.

(My thanks to Jason M. for bringing Faleomavaega’s speech to my attention.)

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PermaRec update: Two letters that were mailed from Italy during World War II and have just now reached their intended recipient are the subject of the latest entry on the Permanent Record Blog.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Louisiana Tech has changed the “T” on its football helmet from white to red. In addition, the Bulldogs will be making an announcement today about an alternate helmet that they’ll be wearing for their Sept. 28 game against Army … Alt jersey news for the Sabres and Wild, along with some other NHL uni tidbits, here (from Mike McBride). … Rather glaring mistake on Florida State’s ACC championship rings. ”¦ Check out this poster showing over 100 different sneakers (big thanks to Ryan Connelly). … Love this old Tigers placemat. I’m not familiar with that logo showing the cartoon tiger with the bat in his mouth, but Dan Kennedy says it was commonly seen on Tigers TV broadcasts back in the day. … Here’s what Tiger Woods will be wearing at the British Open (thanks, Phil). … Also from Phil: Players in the MLS All-Star Game, to be played in Kansas City on July 31, will wear “Don’t Cross the Line” patches, to promote the league’s commitment to diversity and opposition to discrimination, which is a fancy way of saying they’d appreciate it if soccer players and fans would please not behave like flaming racists. ”¦ As you’ve probably heard, Manny Ramirez is now playing in the minors. What you might not have heard is that he happens to be on a team that has a mandatory stirrups policy — but not, unfortunately, a “no baggy jerseys” policy (from James Poisso). … Andrea Bargnani, newly acquired by the Knicks, will wear No. 77 (from Robert Silverman). … Here’s a really great photo of Chris Wondolowski — the soccer player who was victimized by Tuesday night’s NOB typo — sharing a postgame laugh with USA Soccer’s embarrassed equipment director, Jesse Bignami (from Jason M). … Meanwhile, Wondo’s misspelled jersey has been acquired by comedian Drew Carey in return for two charitable donations. Wondo got to choose the charities, and one of his choices was the N7 Fund, which supports sports in Native American and Aboriginal communities. Why did he choose that? Because Wondo is Native American himself. Wonder what he thinks of the ’Skins name. ”¦ Nigerian soccer player Obafemi Martins has upholstered his dining room chairs with his own jerseys (from Bill Radocy). ”¦ The Heartland Conference (D3) is holding a football helmet bracket vote (from Jonathan Mayer). ”¦ “Ads for Army football have started popping up on MetroNorth trains,” says Christian Eidt. “Note the jersey and the helmet do not share the same uni number.” ”¦ Here’s a soccer quiz where you have to guess the year/season of each photo, so you basically have to go by the uniforms (from Sean Walsh). ”¦ New football helmet decal for the New Mexico Military Institute (from Jordan Marquez). ”¦ A reader who didn’t give his real name asks an intriguing question: “Has the average uniform number on Major League Baseball teams shot way up in recent years?” In other words, are more players wearing higher numbers? Anyone want to crunch the data? ”¦ Most photos of Braves farmhand Connor Lien show him wearing one batting glove. But he went bare-handed last night (from Adam Heinsfurther). ”¦ Here is the proposed uni for the Bluegrass Warhorses, an indoor football team based in Lexington, Kentucky. “The team was apparently formed in May and has been having tryouts recently,” says Josh Claywell. “They are the first indoor team in Lexington since the Kentucky Horseman folded in 2009.” ”¦ An illustrator named Steve Welsh is doing a series of 26 soccer-centric illos, each pertaining to a different letter of the alphabet. The results are spectacular — don’t miss (big thanks to Trevor Williams). ”¦ Matt Garza’s gray jersey and gray pants again looked mismatched on Monday night. That’s the second time in a row this has happened, although it was once again more apparent on TV than in wire photos. I’ll try to find out what’s up (screen shot by JD Vercett). ”¦ Why I love Uni Watch: I woke up this morning to find the following email from Matt Moschella, which had come in while I was asleep: “Withrow from the Dodgers is wearing #36’s helmet in the 12th. Can’t grab a screenshot because I’m three deep at a bar. Hopefully someone else can, but I know its 2am on the east coast.” So I went to the game video, and sure enough, Chris Withrow, who’s No. 44, was wearing Matt Magill’s helmet. Thanks for the tip, Matt! ”¦ And we conclude with something pretty awesome: an animated history of typography. Dig (courtesy of Gretchen Mittelstaedt; if you don’t see the video embedded below, click here):

 
  
 
Comments (96)

    This may have been mentioned the other day, but I think the difference in the shades of gray between jersey and pants is a result of the CoolBase jerseys changing color due to sweat, while the double-knit pants do not. I’m seeing it on a lot of players, especially pitchers and catchers, this summer.

    At least one player on the Royals last night had the mismatching grey effect too. I also assumed it had to do with the difference between the Cool Base jersey top and the double-knit pants.

    Pretty sure the Round Rock Express, the team for which Manny Ramirez is playing, do not have a mandatory stirrup policy when the players are wearing regular uniforms. The stirrup policy, in all likelihood, applies when the players are wearing the turn-back-the-clock uniforms for the Austin Senators.

    Yeah it was just for a throwback game. Ive been to plenty of express games and they dont require stirrups. My mom was even at the game last night and i have a pic of manny sans stirrups.

    love the idea of repurposing an old glove. great interview.

    on an unrelated note, the bargnani link directs us to the samoan delegate’s video.

    RE: Garza’s mismatched pants…Can’t tell from the screen grab if those are Majestic Cubs pants or not, but in this pic, it appears his road pants do not have the Cubs logo patch on the hip:

    link

    EXCELLENT catch — that definitely explains it. Not official Cubbie pants!

    I’ll contact the Cubs today and try to get an explanation.

    That is an interesting catch. I was watching that Cubs-Sox game on Monday night and it seemed to me like all of the Cubs had a grey discrepancy between their pants and jerseys, not just Garza…maybe that was just my imagination running wild.

    If I recall correctly, that Tigers logo played a part at the end of every broadcast in animated form. The tiger would chew up the bat if Detroit won, but if the Tigers lost then it would have an ice pack or hot water bag on its head, along with some bandages I think.

    Yes that logo was devised and used during the mid-80s by WDIV-TV, the local NBC affiliate that aired Tiger games locally in Detroit, to open and close their game broadcasts. Here is the clip they played after the Tigers lost a game: link

    And here’s the clip they used following a win: link

    Good lord, I remember that Tigers placemat! I also remember picking up pocket schedules at Big Boy for many years.

    Of course, we never really referred to the restaurants as “Elias Brothers” in common use; they were always “Big Boy” (or, affecting a particular Michigan quirk, “Big Boy’s”).

    As for the Tigers logo, have some animation:
    link
    link

    These were used by our NBC affiliate, WDIV channel 4, during the 1980s and up through 1993; the animations were retired when the Tigers introduced the tiger-in-D logo in 1994.

    Ha ha you beat me to posting these, sorry Rob! I remember feeling that they shouldn’t have aired the “losing” clip, it was a little too wussy, even though the Tiger showed a little spark at the very end!

    Heartland Conference is actually D3. I was a recent grad and football player for one of the schools in Indiana, and I must say, a lot has changed in a few years in the HCAC (Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference)

    Probably been posted before, but in connection with that helmet bracket vote here’s a link to THE source for football helmet designs:
    link

    So Manny is “being Manny” with the Round Rock Express, but the jersey he’s wearing in that Twitter photo says neither “Round Rock” nor “Express” across the chest . . .What gives?

    Paul, without knowning any inside info on the announcement coming from Louisiana Tech, I am willing to bet that it is a White helmet for their game with Army…unless Nike gives them some hlaf red/half white helmet w/ the State-T covering one whole side…

    Re: the higher numbers: I had noticed the Red Sox always seemed to be a team that would assign high numbers to recent callups or young players who just made the team (Jacoby Ellsbury starting with #46 before taking #2; Tazawa, Middlebrooks, Nava all wearing numbers in the 60-range before changing to lower numbers; and Clay Buchholz had #61 before switching to #11).

    Of course the Yankees have this going on, too, with Phil Hughes wearing #65 and Joba in #62.

    Of course the Yankees’ situation is kind of forced by the fact that numbers 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 23, 32, 37, 44 and 49 are retired.
    Of course at some point they’ll add 2, 6, 20(?), 21(?), 42, 46, and 51 to that mix and the first team to add numbers to the backs of their jerseys might be the first team (in the US) to go triple-digits!

    Why not decimal points? For instance, no Yankee will want to wear 13 for a while, but 1.3 could work.

    I think I’m the only person who prefers the Maple Leafs system of “Honouring” numbers (only two numbers, 5 and 6 are retired because of the tragedies associated with them) instead of retiring them so you don’t have a bunch of guys wearing training camp numbers. The Bruins, for example, only have two single digit numbers left, 1 and 6.

    Rather, it’s a great argument for restraint in retiring numbers. Storied Yankees past blah blah blah, but the truth is they’re not all Babe Ruth. And there’s something to be said for the continuity of a past great’s number still in play, especially if the team can be judicious in assigning it.

    In his book Ball Four, Jim Bouton recounts being given #56 at his first Spring Training with the Yankees. It was an indication that he wasn’t expected to make the team, and when he did they offered him a lower number. He chose to stay with 56 as a challenge to himself.

    FlipFlopFlyin did a graph on how long it would be before all two digit yankees numbers were retired. Can’t link to it because FFF is blocked on my machine here at work.

    Anyone else getting the center justified comments section today? I’m on IE9.

    A lot of the older MLB teams do have a lot of numbers retired. The Pirates have numbers 1, 4, 8, 9, 11, 20, 21, 33, 40, and 42 retired (although 42 would still be in active circulation if not for the Jackie Robinson retirement–unlike the Yankees and Cardinals, the Pirates never had someone of note wear the number). All of those numbers are retired for Hall of Famers except for 1 (for Billy Meyer) and 40 (for Danny Murtaugh), both of whom were managers. Having 1 retired for Meyer makes absolutely no sense, at least Murtaugh spent the better part of 20 seasons managing the Pirates and won two World Series championships at the helm.

    Of the players whose numbers were retired, you could make a case for unretiring all of them except for 21. Honus Wagner (33) and Pie Traynor (20) played before uniform numbers were a regular part of the uniform, and the numbers that are retired for them came as part of coaching the team. It took the team nearly 70 years before retiring Paul Waner’s number 11, even though he had been in the Hall of Fame since 1952. Even though Maz is well-known for the 1960 World Series walk-off home run, he was more of a defensive specialist during his career, and was a bench player near the end of his career. Willie Stargell (8) was a complimentary player that wasn’t the real team leader until the later part of his career, and even then he wasn’t the best player. (Dave Parker was.) Although Ralph Kiner (4) was a prolific hitter for his time, his relatively short time in Pittsburgh plus the home run hitters that came in the following 20 years make his statistics look small in comparison.

    That leaves Roberto Clemente. He’s the only one that makes any sense in Pittsburgh to have his number retired. Only Wagner has as much importance to the team as Clemente does, and he played before uniform numbers were used.

    Agree about #1 being put back into service, Billy Meyer didn’t deserve to have his number retired. Danny Murtaugh has a strong managerial case for Cooperstown, so his #40 should be set aside for retirement.

    In terms of the rest, those were great players who easily met the criteria for having a number retired by a sports organization. Maz is still the all time leader in double plays turned by his position, and hit possibly the most famous HR ever. Both Kiner and Stargell were among the most feared sluggers for their eras, and Waner is part of the exclusive 3000 hit club. Traynor was regarded as among the best 3B of his era, so like Wagner, it’s fitting a number was retired.

    I also hate “symbolic” number retirement, such as how the Celtics have retired 1 and 2 for Walter Brown and Red Auerbach. If you didn’t wear it, it shouldn’t be retired in your name.

    Hey, Paul, I didn’t send you the info on Round Rock’s stirrup and no baggy jersey policy. :) Thanks for the credit, though.

    Oh…I did quote something that @UniformCritic posted on Twitter yesterday showing Manny wearing stirrups and pointed it out to Phil. That’s where this came from.

    Of note, the RR Express is also wearing Austin Senators uniforms in that image of Manny. Here is an additional image of the unis: link

    Good luck to Fred and his busines – Great interview!

    I must say though, for me, it would be nearly impossible to cut up my glove that my late father bought for me over 30 years ago. The father-son bond wrapped up in that piece of leather, between games of catch and watching my dad oil up that glove for me, means that I just couldn’t bear to see it cut up.

    I’ve been thinking about it. When the old Robin Yount model glove I was given as a teenager finally gives out, I’ll probably put it on a shelf somewhere. But there’s a part of me that really likes the idea of honoring the memories by carrying around a piece of it wherever I go.

    I just wanted to thank everyone for their kind wishes and Paul for doing this piece about the business. I just wanted to add one thing, it is hard for me to cut up some gloves, BUT if you could see the condition of some of the gloves I have received, I’m breathing new life into them, they are alive again. I have been using the same glove since 1984, a Dale Murphy Rawlings, don’t know if I could do it. But I did find a Hank Aaron glove, the model I used as a kid and made a wallet. If anyone is ever interested, I can usually find the model you have currently, it is your glove made into something you can carry everyday with you and you save your heritage at home. Thanks again Paul!

    Here’s a little more background about the Detroit Tigers cartoon tiger with the bat in his mouth from back in the day. Basically, after each Tigers game broadcast on local WDIV Detroit, they’d run an outro with the cartoon tiger.

    If they won, you’d see this — link

    If they lost, you’d see this — link

    It became a visual icon locally. It was a way of bringing their logo, at the time, to life and giving it some personality. The idea blurred the lines between mascot and logo, which was kinda fun and clever for the times. It was funny, even when the game was over, you could never turn it off the TV until you officially saw the outro. It kinda became part of the game. And as a kid then, you could never go wrong with cartoons, right?

    Is it me, or have the Mets been wearing the blue jerseys, especially on the road, a lot lately?

    The same thing has happened recently with the Buccos black alt. They wore it on the road and at home almost every game recently during their winning streak. Then they hit their 4 game skid and wore their home whites last night and won. I’m guessing both the Pirates and Mets are claiming good mojo for their uni-attire.

    That reminds me, the Mets play the Buccos at home this weekend. Will it be an all-out, 3 game alt-on-alt action weekend? Hope not

    So what are people’s favorite fonts? I have a thing for Didot, I want to use it in my resume, looks classier than Times New Roman. Conveys intelligence and high class to me.

    Lucid: Popular in the late ’50s and early ’60s, it resembled a hand-drawn Akzidenz Grotesk. Pairs well with Century Schoolbook.

    I’m a huge fan of old style romans abd mid-20th century sans, but all in all I’d probably have to say modern block-serif fonts like Rockwell are my actual favorites.

    I take that back – Hensler by Letterhead Fonts is my favorite font.

    If this has been covered and I missed it i’m sorry, but is it me or are the Yankees pinstripes much wider this year? I’ve been watching the series with the Royals this week and the pinstripes just look huge.

    Is anybody else having trouble accessing the mobile site on their iPhone? When I am on the main page and I click on today’s link, it briefly flashes up but then it all goes away except for the “You might like” links that are usually at the bottom.

    Yes. I had the same problem this morning. I thought it might have cleared up, but the same thing happened when I tried to access the site on my iPhone this evening.

    All teams should require stirrups, just as they all require caps! It would be such a simple solution.

    Furhtermore, socks — and especially stirrups — make the baseball uniform a baseball uniform. Baggy shirts or pants don’t look bad at all when paired with stirrups. It’s only when the pants have no elastic and come down to touch the shoe that baggy shirts and pants look bad. (Of course, in that case, even tight-fitting shirts and pants look bad.)

    Louisiana Tech will wear a red helmet with white face mask and stripe for the Heart of Dallas Classic against Army, with a Stasr & Stripes State-T decal. Picture coming soon.

    Make that Stars & Stripes. The “T” is a blue field with stars, and the State has red and white stripes.

    In last night’s Rockies coverage there was an interview with Vinny Castilla about players from south of the border. He was wearing a t-shirt that said link.

    OK, that’s it. The Jeff wins. “Retire 21” persuades me that no numbers should be retired, by anyone, ever.

    Look, as blessed as I feel to be alive during my actual lifetime, and not in any of the previous millennia of human history, when life for most people was a few years of physical misery spent amid fetid squalor and endless backbreaking labor, I do actually regret not being just a few years older so as to have seen Clemente play. Of all the players I’ve never seen, he’s the one I’d most like to have. And he’s one of the handful of truly great heroes in the game’s history, and an exemplary sportsman, and a genuine humanitarian. All of that is true, and it is still wrong to retire his number MLB-wide. Or even to consider doing so.

    But it’s probably inevitable that “retire 21” would become a campaign, and likely others in the future too, once you take the step of “retiring” 42. (I put that in scare quotes, since a number that is regularly worn by every player is not, in fact, retired.) So, instead of retire 21, I say, unretire 42. And all the rest of the numbers, for every team.

    As to the stirrups..I love them and wish all would wear them, correctly of course…but?. I think the problem I’m having with some now is not the stirrup per say, but the look of them with the new baseball cleats that are used now. they pretty much all looked great with the old school black baseball spikes of the 60’s ..but with the newer HIGHER cut ankle type of shoe some wear now?.. with multi-colors on the shoe…it just doesn’t look as good to me.

    Heard you saying “flag-desecration” as soon as i saw the image. At least it isn’t anything Nike-fied…

    James P. commented on it (with pics) a few comments up.

    This F-D stuff will never go away. Ugh.

    “Ads for Army football have started popping up on MetroNorth trains,” says Christian Eidt. “Note the jersey and the helmet do not share the same uni number.”

    All Army helmets have the same No. 12 on the back to represent and honor the Corps of Cadets, or the 12th Man, at West Point. The No. 12 is not worn on uniforms by the team as it signifies the team’s connection and support with the Corps. Do some research, that’s embarrassing.

    Please get your facts straight: I have never issued a “demand” for anyone to change anything. I have tried to persuade hearts and minds by making persuasive arguments.

    As for the German team: Yeah, that’s pretty inappropriate.

    *apologies…DEMAND was poor choice…

    I am interested in your take on the worldwide view of this because in Europe, using INDIANS as logos are frequent, (on par with us using vikings from Scandinavia). I could provide several more examples (not hard to find).

    link

    Growing up in the Hudson Valley, many schools are named “Indians” as many, MANY towns and cities are named after native names. We had native culture education classes, so I am a little taken back by the attitude towards the stand this site puts forth towards native team imagery.

    Did anyone mention the picture on the front of ESPN.com currently? It features Johnny Callison for his walkoff homer in the ASG but he’s sporting his Phillies uniform, with a Mets batting helmet.

    AS Roma, which the MLS All-Star Team will be playing later this month, just revealed their new unis for this year. Because they were out of contract with a uniform manufacturer the club decided to do it themselves. This means no makers marks and no sponsor on the front of the jersey. They did an amazing job the kits look amazing.
    link

    By the way what is on the front of the jersey is a charitable organization not a jersey sponsor.

    Wow. Is there any logo that beats the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. So crazy cool. And the SPQR?! Talk about durability of a good look.

    At the 0:58 mark of Congressman Faleomavaega’s statement about the Washington Redskins, he repeats a well-worn axiom that “the origin of the term ‘redskin’ is commonly attributed to the historical practice of trading . . . Native American Indian scalps and body parts as bounties and trophies.” This presumption originates with Native American scholar and activist Suzan Shown Harjo, who has asserted it numerous times, as recently as in link. In Harjo’s construction of the term, “red” referred to the bloody scalp or body part taken as a trophy.

    The problem with this is that none of the historical documents that Faleomavega or Harjo cite to in support of their conclusion mention the term “redskin” or any variation thereof. At least one commentator has referred to this proposed origin of the term as “link.”

    That such atrocities involving the killing and mutilating of Native Americans occurred is well-documented and an appalling part of this country’s history. But there are plenty of well-supported reasons to oppose the use of “Redskins” as a name for sports teams. An appeal to historically inaccurate, shock-value emotionalism is not one of them.

    No More Biker Shorts! Yessssss! Collective sigh of relief heard from uni watchers around the world.
    link

    I hope the Patriots have another jersey swap soon…. I just traded my Hernandez jersey for a Dennard…

    Oy.

    “I really wanted to keep the jersey, but in the end it turns out the price is right.”

    Zing!!! Everyone’s a comedian!!!

    Thee best player in major league baseball HISTORY to wear the uniform number 2 is back.!.(RBI in his first game back as well as a “W” for the team he represents).
    There are only a few athletes that a sports fan (and uni # fan) can say “yup, that is their number for that sport”
    ie. Jeter 2 MLB – Gretzky 99 NHL – Jordan 23 NBA – Lemieux – 66 NHL.
    I don’t know which number “magic” had or even “shaq”, for that matter not even “Orr”.. maybe those players were not in the same category as to put a staple for a casual sports fan as I am,, hmmm.
    But Jeter has been around for a while as well as Gretzky, Lemieux and Jordan. Were they not roughly the same era as Shaq etc….?

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