Click to enlarge
What you see above is a cake that looks like someone threw up on it. But it’s actually a fiendishly clever baking concept. I’ll explain it in a minute, but first take another look at it — can you figure it out?
First, some background: As longtime readers may recall, Marty Hick likes to make jersey-themed birthday cakes for his wife, Holly. Here are the ones he made for her when she turned 32, 33, and 34 (for all the images in this entry, you can click to enlarge):
Marty hadn’t made Holly a jersey cake in several years (although he kept in practice by making a coupla cakes for his nephew’s sixth birthday). With her 37th birthday recently approaching, he decided it was time to bake another jersey. But which No. 37 would he enshrine in batter and frosting?
Marty ultimately decided that he would bake Holly a cake based on the jersey of former Raiders cornerback Lester Hayes. As most of you probably know, Hayes was famous for slathering himself with stickum (a practice that’s now banned, largely because of him). And if you look again at the photo at the top of the page, you’ll see that’s the effect that Marty was trying to create — a stickum-covered jersey. Genius! (Be honest: How many of you had figured this out before reading this paragraph?)
“I mixed a little maple syrup with icing to create the simulated stickum,” says Marty. “Knowing from the start that the cake was meant to be messy took away a good deal of the pressure I usually feel.” He used his young daughter, Clara Jane, to make the handprint at the bottom-right corner of the cake, which was supposed to represent where Hayes had smeared the stickum on himself. “The cake is small,” says Marty, “so her hand was the right size.” Unfortunately, he says, she “instinctively squeezed” the cake:
That’s why the stickum ended up pooling instead of smearing. Despite this one little glitch, I reallyreallyreally love this project. And at the risk of mixing my dessert metaphors, the cherry on top is the little label Marty added to the inner-collar area:
And what does Holly think of all this? “Of all the players whose jerseys I made for her, the only one she had heard of thus far is Payton,” says Marty. “That never really matters though. She really liked this one after I showed her pictures of Hayes covered in slop.”
Happy birthday to Holly, and congrats to Marty on another outstanding baking project. I miss you guys — hope to see you again soon.
Camo bullshit, continued: In case you missed it yesterday, here’s what the Mets’ new GI Joe jersey will look like.
Several people asked me yesterday if the Mets would be donating any of the camo jersey sales proceeds to a charity or foundation. Personally, I think that’s a bit of a red herring — even if they donated 100% of the sales revenue, that wouldn’t magically make the jersey acceptable, at least not to me. Still, it would be a nice gesture if they did that, so I emailed the team yesterday afternoon to ask them about it. The response from a spokesperson: “The Mets donate and will continue to donate to numerous Veterans charities.”
That’s a classic non-answer, so I followed up and said, “Yeah, but I was asking specifically about the revenue from the camouflage jersey sales. Any comment on that?” I received no further response.
Okaaaaaaay.
Meanwhile, Chris Creamer reported two new details yesterday:
• The Mets’ new jersey will be paired with a matching camouflage cap, which will have a blue “NY” logo.
• Two additional teams, both unnamed for now, will be unveiling “patriotic uniforms” (that’s Creamer’s term) next season — one GI Joe and one flag-desecration.
In other words, the stupid keeps coming — in waves, in oceans. It’s hard to stomach. It’s also disappointing to see Chris C. straightforwardly referring to the two upcoming designs as “patriotic uniforms,” as if it were that simple. Every time someone unquestioningly rubber-stamps that nonsense, it’s a little victory for the stupid, a little victory for the matrix.
Now, I want to address something that I know some of you are thinking about. I got several emails yesterday from readers (some belligerent, others just sort of sad and plaintive) who said they wish I could leave politics out of this type of coverage. There was also a long, thoughtful comment posted by longtime reader Kyle Beaudoin, who began by saying, “I long for the days when the most heated debates between contributors and readers (or reader vs. reader) centered around which ’90s NBA uniform was the worst/best and [were] not so politically charged.”
To all of you who’ve expressed these thoughts (and, I’m guessing, the many more of you who’ve thought them privately), I hear ya. In fact, there’s nothing I’d like more than to leave politics out of Uni Watch.
Unfortunately, however, lots of teams, leagues, and manufacturers keep introducing politics into their uniform programs. See, that’s the thing: Repeatedly wrapping oneself in the flag is an inherently political act; repeatedly celebrating the military to the near-exclusion of all other sectors of society is an inherently political act; commodifying representations of patriotism to sell merchandise is an inherently political act. When I critique these designs, I’m not introducing politics into the uni-verse. I’m just responding to the political messaging that the teams, leagues, and manufacturers are engaging in.
I realize that sounds a lot like “They started it!” But, well, they did start it. There’s a seemingly endless stream of this stuff, and it’s spreading to more and more sectors of the uni-verse. Maybe some of you think that’s a good thing; I happen to disagree. But either way, it represents a distinct point of view regarding the representation of patriotism. I can’t ignore that point of view any more than I can ignore the uniforms themselves.
If the teams and leagues stop foisting these political gestures upon us, I’ll be able to stop writing about them. Trust me, that would make me even happier than it would probably make you. Until then, though, I don’t have much choice but to keep responding to these developments as they occur.
Finally, a few people have interpreted my critiques of these uniforms to mean that I’m “anti-military” or even “anti-American.” I’m not going to dignify the latter assessment with any response, but as for the notion that I’m “anti-military”: No, I’m not. A government’s single most important responsibility is to protect its people, and that requires a military. To the past and present military members among the Uni Watch readership, let me make this clear: My gripe is not with you. It’s with the way your work is being represented in the sports world. I respect what you do, but I also know that not all soldiers are heroes, and not all heroes are soldiers.
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
The 49ers only have three regular season games left at Candlestick Park. Then it’s down the road to Santa Clara. If you don’t already have a Niners “Farewell Season” patch, you can get one here, but that’s nothing compared to these great promo bags that the Giants gave away when they left Candlestick in 1999.
(Believe it or not, I’ve only visited the Stick once — but that was enough. I can hardly wait until it’s blown up!)
Okay, here’s the rest of this week’s eBay haul:
• Speaking of the Giants, here’s a classic Starter jacket!
• Always liked the Brewers’ “ball in glove” logo, and here it is on a very nice-looking DeLong varsity-style jacket.
• Here’s a nice promo poster from 1985, produced by Marathon Oil for Pete Rose’s record-breaking 4,192nd hit.
• The Astrodome reportedly has a date with the wrecker’s ball, so get this 1960s Astrodome ashtray while you can.
• We have some more CFL poster action this week, with two Toronto Argonauts posters — look here and here. (These were sent in by a Uni Watch reader, but I lost his email, so thanks to, uh, someone!)
• Here’s a 1970s Packers helmet alarm clock, made by Bulova.
• Remember ordering teams from Tudor for NFL electric football? Ah, the thrill of opening up the box from the mail and seeing that bag marked with “Vikings D” or “Chiefs W.” (The “D” and “W” stood for “Dark” and “White.”)
• Now this is one mighty fine-looking 1970s Expos bobblehead!
Seen something on eBay or Etsy that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.
Today’s Ticker was compiled by intern Garrett McGrath. Thanks, Garrett!
Baseball News: There’s some speculation that the Braves’ move to a new stadium in 2017 may also trigger a team makeover (from Judy Adams). Fans have already started to get creative. … The Cubs announced their plans to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field, including throwback uniforms (from Tom Hamann). … New logo for the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (from Tyler Kepner). … New uniforms for the Japanese nation baseball team (from Jeremy Brahm). … The Inland Empire 66ers of the California League are having a logo release party tonight.
NFL News: No photo, but Matt Brown says, “the Vikings’ mascot appears to be wearing this year’s jersey and the old Reebok pants.” … While following Yahoo! GameChannel last night, Randy Allemann noticed the site uses the old Miami logo.
College Football News: Here is SB Nation on “The problem with Northwestern’s flag uniforms”. … “I have a friend who plays for Grove City College,” says Denis Repp. “Given the small-school nature of their budget, they get five years out of their uniforms before getting new ones. They’re due for that next year. They wear deep red and white — crimson, you might say. They’re currently wearing jerseys made by Nike, but my friend says there’s trouble with this, because Alabama has exclusive rights to ‘crimson’ with Nike. If he’s right, Grove City will have to either find a different supplier or a different color for next year’s uniforms. Alabama owns the color? Really?” … Rutgers will wear stars and stripes helmets on Saturday. … The South Florida Bulls are as well. … Calm down, Louisville fans! They are not wearing all-black uniforms anytime soon. … Wyoming will wear gold pants with white helmets and jerseys. … Brayden Ruthart sent in a gallery of West Texas A&M’s camo unis. … Here’s some video of Northern Illinois’s stars/stripes helmet (thanks, Phil). …Oooh, this could be good: Hawaii is wearing throwbacks this weekend. … When West Virginia players entered the stadium last weekend, the wore these beauties. “It was Mountaineer Day, with a ton of alumni on hand,” explains Coleman Mullins. … Throwbacks on tap this weekend for Western Carolina, to honor the 1983 I-AA national championship runner-up team (from David Pryor).
Hockey News: Back on the October 18th Mark Kaplowitz sent us in what was believed to be Lundqvist’s Stadium Series pads. A second set of pinstripe pads have surfaced. Makes sense considering the Rangers are playing two outdoor games at Yankee Stadium. … The AHL’s Rochester Americans will wear a sweater based off one of their first designs in an outdoor game (from Terry Proctor). … I’m going to the Coliseum tonight to watch the Islanders take on the Predators. The Isles went 0-4 and had zero points on their recent road trip, so I’m hoping to bring them a little luck. I’m also hoping to win the CHUCK-A-PUCK.
Basketball News: Western Kentucky debuted their new uniforms last night. … Check out the West Virginia Women’s Basketball vehicle (from Coleman Mullins).
Grab Bag: Here is a multi-sport wrap up of how War Veterans were honored this past weekend. … Salon wants us to stop thanking the troops (from Hugh McBride). … At the newly opened France A. Cordova Recreational Sports Center at Purdue University Kevin Tamosaitis documented how you can’t escape branding, even in the bathroom. … Here are some truly wonderful photos of the Massai cricket team (from Kirsten Hively).
Looks like a coding error in the college football portion of the ticker, on the Western Carolina item.
Thanks — fixed.
Typo Watch: In the second college football item, Grove City is referred to as Grave City. And in the last college football item, it looks like there’s a missing left angle bracket.
Fixed. Thanks.
One more: the Maasai cricket team (wow, those are some great photos) should be spelled that way, not *Massai.
Paul, would it be possible to drop the new video ads? Every time I visit the site, some commercial starts singing at me, and I have to scroll down the page looking for where I can mute it. It’s pretty irritating. It also means I can’t visit at work anymore. If they’re that lucrative, perhaps they could be disabled for members?
There shouldn’t be video ads. Can you tell me what you’re getting? If you can take a screen shot, even better.
They appear to have stopped. They were in the spaces between posts. Glad to hear it’s not something you’ve purposefully implemented.
I just got one too for the first time ever. Just above where the comments start.
Airwick? No thank you.
I got one of those yesterday and never could find the ad the audio was coming from. I refreshed the page and it went away. Glad to hear it wasn’t just me.
I’m getting it too — didn’t notice at first because I have my volume turned off and I’d scrolled past the video.
I had one come up, between the body of the blog and the comments, after I posted my first comment.
Been getting those ads at least for a few days – between the blog and comments when first thing when I go to your site. The ad videos automatically start; was wondering at first where the sound was coming from.
Cepacol was the last one. I’ll try to get a screen shot next time it happens.
Took a screenshot with a video ad and emailed it to you (Frank’s Red Hot ad I think). When went onto you site again for this comment the ad was Lysol.
OK, now *I* just got one. First time. Will talk to our ad server pronto.
Those Tudor Chiefs guys look like they could be original Texans players too!! That arrowhead blob could just as easily be Texan.
I had one Tudor game as a kid. it didn’t say what teams were included. Turns out it was Dallas and Washington! What could be more perfect for a little ‘Skins fan??
(I always loved it when an O-lineman would run into the side wall and get stuck. It looked liked he was leaning on the wall talking to his girlfriend–or so we used to surmise)
It’s a shame they don’t make those anymore… you think those Chiefs arrowheads are bad, imagine what the Jaguars or Seahawks would look like.
to the contrary actually,they Still make them!
link
Neat.
It seems weird that they don’t sell navy number sheets with so many of the not-named-but-obviously-NFL-teams they sell using it as a primary color.
I find it hard to believe that Alabama owns “Crimson” with Nike because the Harvard Crimson are also a Nike team: link
(Sorry. I hit send before completing post.)
More likely there is a particular shade (pantone color?) that is exclusive to Alabama.
That’s what I would think. Nike mixed a special “crimson” that it only uses for Alabama merchandise. I don’t think the University itself is telling anyone that they can’t use “their” crimson.
FWIW, as a long time ‘Bama fan, the Nike crimson seems to be lighter than what we used back in the 70s/80s when I believe Russell supplied most of our equipment.
Also, aren’t Oklahoma’s official colors crimson and cream, and they of course, are a Nike school.
Alabama can’t own the rights to crimson, as Oklahoma’s home jersey is the exact same shade that Bama’s are (Crimson).
I would think its the numbered crimson that is exclusive to Alabama and Oklahoma, when I was playing at a small D3 school they told us our maroon shade number its 608 I believe so if we bought items ourselves to wear it would match the schools maroon.
Assuming the accuracy of Wikipedia…The crimsons are all there, and they are evidently not all created equal.
link
Anyone know if the 66ers are rebranding entirely, or are they sticking with the 66ers name and tweaking their visuals?
If the latter, all they need to do is bring back the reflective silver cap bills and replace their jersey scripts with the cap logo emblem.
re: Branding in the bathrooms.
I don’t have a photo of it, but at least some of Georgia Tech’s bathrooms in the Success Center (building attached to the football stadium) have the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets logo on the soap dispensers and other fixtures, at least as far back as 2008…
ed
Decals on the soap dispensers and hand dryers, I can easily see. The Motion P logo stamped into the bowl of the sink? Whoever was in charge of design sure had an eye for detail.
I just want to chime in and say that I welcome the political aspect of Uni Watch. I understand the desire for some to devoid themselves of politics when it comes to uniform esthetics, but I agree with Paul that things like the camofication of unis are just too overtly political to let pass. Honoring those who have sacrificed their lives to protect this nation is unquestionably the right thing to do. Glorifying combat itself has historically lead nations and whole civilizations down a path to ruin. Paul is right to draw a line at camo uniforms, and those who disagree are right to do so as well. Challenging issues are best served discussed and debated.
I agree, and that Salon piece hit the nail on the head for me. Not to get into the merits of whether service people need or don’t need to have all this thanks given, but all this sports stuff doesn’t honor the people, they honor the military-industrial complex. Those who like to attack Paul and others for being unpatriotic or anti-military don’t see that it’s possible to respect the people involved and care for their well-being, but not respecting the bloated celebration of all things war.
I disagree. It is very important that we treat the business of turning jingoism into money as though it’s totally unconnected to politics. Hush now.
“… Salon wants us to stop thanking the troops (from Hugh McBride). …”
This is the piece what Phil P is talking about, and it’s terrific.
The problem is there’s never a time for any of this stuff to go away. When do you say, “that’s it, we’re no longer wearing pink for breast cancer.” It’s become part of the sporting landscape. Remember when politicians starting wearing little American flag lapel pins after 9/11? It’s been a dozen years–still wearing them. Ditto on helmet flag stickers. We’re also still singing “God Bless America” (usually paying no attention to the notes in the process) in the 7th inning. October is pink. Camo and flag desecration are now the de facto November uniform. They can’t go away, they can only get bigger. So you end up with Oregon’s pink helmets and Northwestern’s flag uniforms from this weekend. And a whole cavalcade of people wondering why you (or me or us) don’t just LOVE pink for the whole month. “What, you’re in favor of women having breast cancer?” We love breast cancer, hate the military, despise the flag (“What’s wrong with an entire uniform made of up of nothing but stars and stripes? COMMUNIST!”)
For god’s sake, can it just be about the uniforms again? Like with school colors or something like that? No, it can’t. September is going to have to have a cause. As is December. In 10 years, Oregon’s uniforms of today will look quaint.
Thus endeth Robert’s rant.
Well said. The Salon article was great. We’re being played for saps by the equipment manufacturers, Komen, the schools and everybody else, mostly for the bucks. Doubtless our other guardians of democracy in DC find it convenient as well. Nothing works better than peer pressure to enforce conformity.
I thought it was a reference to Casey Stengel, who also wore 37, and who famously told Marv Throneberry on his birthday, “We wuz gonna bake you a cake, but we thought you’d drop it.” It looks like a dropped cake to me.
Wow, those jersey birthday cakes are awesome. I might have to adopt the idea and make my girlfriend a Reggie Miller jersey for her next birthday, then spend several hours explaining why I have done this and who in the world Reggie Miller is. While I’m thinking of this, I should go bookmark the YouTube video of him singlehandedly beating the Knicks in that playoff game just so I have it ready….
Nike probably owns the rights to a specific shade called “Crimson,” which is exactly what they did at Michigan with their specific shade of “Maize.” When Michigan switched to Adidas, UM had to start using a slightly different shade, which then had to be trademarked by Adidas as “Sun.”
See: link
It bugs me how persistent this “Nike owns maize” myth is (and I’m about 98% certain it’s bullshit because every mention of this claim goes back to the article you linked).
First off, companies can’t own colors. There are certain cases, like Owens Corning trademarking a very specific use of pink, but that’s very rare, and based on established use. There’s no association between Nike and maize that would allow for ownership. Michigan *might* have a basis for “owning” maize, but I doubt it, and a quick search on the PTO website comes up with nothing. FWIW, Nike has trademarked “Varsity Maize” but that’s for the name, not the color itself.
Which is a very long way of saying that the “Alabama owns crimson” claim is also likely bullshit. I mean, Harvard is Crimson, and if Nike were to outbid Adidas for Texas A&M, you don’t think the Aggies are going to change colors, do you?
Maize is just an arrogant shade of yellow.
Maize is just an arrogant shade of yellow.
That right there should be on a T-shirt. I’m just not sure what color that T-shirt should be.
I would think Ohio State colors might work for that shirt.
That right there should be on a T-shirt. I’m just not sure what color that T-shirt should be.
Crimson.
Nike doesn’t own the literal color “maize,” but rather the Pantone shade they formerly used for Michigan. That’s the point. So, no, it’s not a “myth.”
How does Nike own the shade? Can you link to the relevant document?
Which is to say, that still sounds like a myth spread by people who don’t understand how IP works. Nike can’t own a specific PMS color. They can patent a process by which a certain color is produced. But there’s nothing stopping Adidas from using the same yellow and calling it “corn yellow” or “Michigan gold”.
Like I said before, there are cases like Cadbury and Owen Corning, but those examples work against the Nike-owning-maize myth.
I think something that many don’t consider is the potential that Adidas tried altering the color slightly so people may take more notice of the apparel sponsor change. In a very traditional looking uniform such as Michigan’s simply switching the logo would do nothing to drive business towards Adidas’ logoed apparel and might lose business to discounted Nike apparel.
Being and old guy (as well as a dumb guy) I knew exactly who’s 37 jersey that was–and got a good laugh. very clever!
Hayes’ teammate Fred Biletnkoff used his fair share of the sticky stuff too.
I recognized it instantly as well. As a Chargers fan that jersey brings back many unpleasant memories.
Yep, exactly, Hayes and the Raiders were one of the few teams that could slow Fouts and company down.
I got it too.
Also got it. Not *old* old, but old enough to remember that far back.
I think the US should take a page out of England’s book as it comes to military appreciation. One day with one patch on teams’ jerseys, a moment’s silence for the fallen and members of the service on the field before kick off. A tasteful way to honour the military and no ‘look at us because we care… but look at us’ crap
Yes, Simon, yes, yes.
Yesterday marked the 95th anniversary of the Armistice that ended the Great War— at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — and next year marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the great hinge event of modern times. My companion for the last three days has been Max Hastings’ “Catastrophe 1914,” which I recommend beyond-highly. Comprehensive, exciting, tightly argued when there’s an argument to be made. Hastings’ combination of powerful narrative and citations from the men and women who were there puts this book in a league if its own. If you’re interested in a wide-ranging socio-economic treatment of the causes and effects of the war, the champ is still Marc Ferro’s “The Great War.”
Speaking of political, I heard this story about the Coachella, CA “Arabs” on NPR yesterday …
link
“It’s also disappointing to see Chris C. straightforwardly referring to the two upcoming designs as “patriotic uniforms,” as if it were that simple. Every time someone unquestioningly rubber-stamps that nonsense, it’s a little victory for the stupid, a little victory for the matrix.”
My guess is that Chris views himself as a reporter and not an advocate in this case.
And, as someone who spent years in journalism, I understand that. The writers who refuse to use the name “Redskins” in their stories are crossing a line they shouldn’t cross. That’s the name of the team, and the reporter’s job is to cover the game, not insert his or her opinions on the appropriateness of the team’s nickname.
There’s room for people to opine on that issue — and more power to them — in the opinion columns that every news organization features. But beat reporters should stay clear. If they can’t, then they shouldn’t cover that game.
Yeah, but as a reporter, referring to these designs as “patriotic uniforms” is factually inaccurate.
You can call them “patriotically themed” or “patriotically promotional” or something along those lines. Even that is a bit much — a better description would simply be “stars and stripes” and “camouflage.” Either way, simply calling them “patriotic” is bad reporting.
I choose to see “patriotic uniforms” in quotes as implied sarcasm. Like air-quoting.
But he didn’t put them in quotes. *I* put them in quotes, because I was quoting him.
Which was first – Pinktober or GI Joevember? Did one lead to the other?
Pinktober.
One more reason for me not to like the pink all over the field. The Susan G Komen Foundation is just as much of a racket as the mafia. Hardly any of the money goes to actual research.
Looks like people saw how well “pink” did and capitalized on it in other areas
Sorry if this has been mentioned before (and no pics), but I noticed watching live Sunday that Danny Woodhead’s neck bumper on his Rawlings helmet came loose and was flapping around. I noticed yesterday during NFL highlights that Jay Cutler’s was doing the same thing. Product of the bumper being narrow and square instead of long and tapered like most?
It’s weird that the Atlanta Braves feel the need to build a new stadium. And in the suburbs. My wife and I were just there at the start of the 2013 season. It was a good stadium. It has its issues (parking and no MARTA access). But it’s in the city and still in good condition.
i suggest you read the link further down in the comments section where the Braves explain their reasons for the move. Turner Field is a nice stadium. The Braves rent from the city. For the past 17 years the team has ve offered to help pay to enhance the area around the stadium, even though the city owns the surrounding bare parking lots. The city, the transportation authority, and other businesses have not joined in. Eventually Turner Field will need over $150 million to replace worn out plumbing, seats, etc. Since the neighborhood continues to deteriorate, the team has decided not to sign another 20 year lease and instead move closer to the ticket-buyers. The new stadium will still have an Atlanta address, an is only ten miles up the road.
And “suburbs” is a misnomer. The new stadium location is already every bit as multicultural / non-homogenous as anywhere closer to downtown. The suburbs of Atlanta are another 10-20 miles further north.
I just found another article this afternoon. Yes, now it’s much clearer for me. Thanks. Yes, the city would have to pay the $150 million for the baseball stadium. And of course, they’ve already committed $200 million for the new dome for the Falcons.
Plus their new county will be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars which Atlanta isn’t able to fork over. And from what I’ve read, they won’t even have to put it to a public vote.
Its not quite as benign a move as you claim, at least from the Cobb County side of the equation:
link
That Expos bobblehead reminds me of Toronto’s crack smoking mayor.
he has or is getting his own bobblehead too
There’s a lot wrong with Rob Ford but the guy certainly owns his notoriety
link
With regards to the Astrodome, supposedly after the referendum to make it a convention center failed to pass, the city of Houston is tearing it down for redevelopment. How much money do you want to bet it’ll end up as a parking lot, like another link
I completely and 100% agree with Paul. To suggest someone is anti-American or anti-Patriotic is really laughable, considering he is critiquing the use of military themed camo versions of uniforms adults use to play a sport.
I do not understand why the sports landscape chooses to bring to notice all these different things. Pink bats. Blue wristbands. A military themed jersey. U.S. themed hats. Pink everything in October. Military everything in November. On and on and on.
If these leagues really want to do something, I can look past a July 4th baseball hat. I can look past pink penalty flags (provided no player wears pink). I can look past a lot of the little things like blue wristbands for prostate awareness or a military theme once a year. But all this crap is so in your face so often now, I actually could care less about whatever they are supporting and I think more and more people are sick of it. I just want to sit back and relax and watch a sporting event without feeling terrible I didn’t contribute to all these causes.
And that is what will become the problem. People will simply not give a damn after being beaten over the head for long.
Let’s step back for a minute and put all manner of political angle off to the side.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Pinktober, GIJoevember, their progeny and their ilk fail on a fundamental level that is universal across all manner of popular culture — oversaturation. Whether you consider these particular trends to be too much of a good thing or too much of a bad thing, they are just “too much.”
(Let that sink in as the strains of John Mellencamp singing “This is oouuurr country!” dance in your head…)
I agree on this. I’m getting a bit “over-caused” in general–it seems like a constant barrage of “would you like to give $____?” when checking out at the store. It even happened on the little credit card screen thing at the pet store on Saturday.
That, plus the phone calls, the t-shirts, the _______ cause 5K run, etc.
It almost seems like the “cause-industry” is now an entity in itself, a commodity. It’s overwhelming at times…
The braves are already saying that nothing is changing. They already made a spot in the FAQ in regards to new team name.
link
I wouldn’t be surprised if the tomahawk eventually goes away from the chest insignia. As a fan, I’ll hate it, but I can at least understand why they would do it. They made the alternate cream jerseys without it for a reason – to get fans used to the idea. They might go for a complete makeover once the new stadium opens, as they’ve had the current unis for 25+ years now.
I think the jersey looks much better without the tomahawk…or maybe with a tomahawk of contrasting color.
I’ve long said the black/navy blue tomahawk looks MUCH better than the red one.
Chris, I agree with your comment. And Joe is also correct – I’ve only seen a couple of media sources mention the possibility, without substaniation. The logo in the SI.com link hasn’t been used for decades. Any uniforn announcement wouldn’t come until early 2017.
I wish they’d go back to wearing ‘Braves’ on the road, like they did until the late 70’s.
those cakes have the perfect coloring
Kurt Angle’s wrestling gear is basically the american flag. Dont know if that counts for something
The Olympic gold medalist! Unrelated: His link.
i love how you say an Olympic gold medalist’s greatest moment is when he dowsed the alliance with milk haha
just kidding. i love when Jim Ross “the million dollar princess has just become the dairy queen!” greatest line ever
Haha you’re right. But I bet fans ask Angle about the milk truck incident more than they ask him about his Olympic experience!
The Attitude Era was the best. I really miss JR.
“Be honest: How many of you had figured this out before reading this paragraph?”
The first thing I thought after seeing the cake was “LESTER!”… I’m a Raiders fan, natch…
The fan create Atlanta “Burbs” logo is a little off, considering that their current location was once considered a suburb.
People who want politics out of their sports seem oblivious to the likelihood that without politics, sports as we know it would not exist.
How so?
I could probably write a whole book about it, but here’s the short(ish) and very incomplete version:
We don’t care about sports for the sake of sports. The reason we root for teams and players and invest ourselves emotionally in games is because sports don’t exist in a vacuum, but they’re very much part of the mass culture. Sports are how we talk about issues of the day, whether it’s labor or race or morality or nationalism. Sports have been used by governments to advance their agenda and by the disenfranchised to have their stories heard.
If sports were stripped of all cultural context, they would still exist, but they wouldn’t be sports as we know it.
Wow I actually agree with terriblehuman. Does this make me terrible or does it make him not terrible?
I’m not sure what you mean by “sports as we know it”. Are you talking about the rivalry between certain sports teams? The comments we make about sports in a professional setting? The 24/7 news coverage on sports nowadays?
There are varying degree of fans- from the purists to the pink-hats. When you start a statement with “the reason we root for teams and players…”, it leads to the conclusion that everybody follows a team for the one exact same reason.
Could you clarify your comment a bit?
I know different people have different reasons for and levels of engagement, but I feel pretty comfortable making a blanket statement. And I really mean it for everything. Think about why you or anyone else roots for a team and a player. Or rather, think about what rooting interests say about yourself.
Sometimes, it’s just school or civic pride. But when St. Louis Cardinals fans repeat the “best fans in baseball” thing, there’s subtext that’s unsaid but understood. Or if someone dislikes Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, they’re probably implicitly saying something about their values. Same with Duke hate – it’s not so much the team or the college we hate, but what we think Duke stands for that we hate, and that likely goes beyond the basketball.
Not sure if that really helps explain my thesis, but the point is, if sports were just about sports, then it would be like woodcarving or open heart surgery – we’d admire the craft and leave it at that. But we don’t.
(and it probably helps to look at the founding of modern organized sports, especially the professionalization of soccer and the Olympic movement)
Ah, thanks for clarifying. I can understand a bit where you are going with it but that is under the assumption that people follow the chatter around the sport itself. What I mean by that is engaging yourself in online message boards, reading sports news all day, following beat reporters’ twitter accounts, etc. By doing so, you’re not looking at it as just a game. It’s much more than that.
I grew up without cable (and without internet) so I’d find out about the Celtics in the morning newspaper the next day and that’d be all the information I have until the next game. Now that I’m older and have access to cable and internet, I follow one website for the team and check it once a day to look at stats and see who’s producing and who’s not. Then at 7pm, I watch the game and root for them. When the final whistle blows, it’s bedtime for me.
So when you ask me what my rooting interest say about myself, it’s that I like the Celtics, nothing more. Or should there be more to it?
There are people who admire the craft and leave it at that. And there are people who are so engrossed into the craft that it plays a huge role in their lives and their life activities revolve around the team. It is what you make of it.
Maybe I completely missed your point but I think the more you are involved in sports news, the more you see sports in today’s world.
I don’t think you missed anything – I mean, I don’t think my theory (if you can call it that) applies to everyone and it’s not meant to.
But in your case, I don’t think I’m wrong. I could probably make the case that your Boston fandom was one of the ways you connected to your community, and your continued fandom connects you to your childhood (I neglected to mention this, but sports are, in large parts, a big exercise in nostalgia, which explains the appeal of continuity and tradition, like this blog). You can see the converse of this in Washington-area black football fans who root for the Cowboys, partly because they weren’t as connected to the wealth and power of the region.
th, DC’s black Cowboys fandom isn’t about lack of connection with regional structures of wealth and power. It’s about the Redskins being an overtly white supremacist, racist organization longer than almost any major American institution except the KKK. Yes, the race thing neatly maps to the wealth/power thing, but isn’t the race thing the driver in this instance?
Yes and no – Black fans supporting out-of-town teams isn’t limited to Washington (I’m fairly certain that the Steelers have a disproportionate number of black fans nationally).
It’s more acute in DC, because the chosen team was the home team’s most hated rival and because it was a black majority city until recently.
Interesting hypothesis, but I’d need to see some sort of actual data to back up the assertion before we can speculate on its root causes.
Fair enough, Chance. The data for my hypothesis comes from two sources:
1. Anecdotal conversations with Washingtonians; and
2. The novels of George Pelecanos.
No danger of winning a Nobel Prize with that data set!
“… Here are some truly wonderful photos of the Massai cricket team (from Kirsten Hively)….”
Best unis of the century. So far.
How do they win any tests without moisture-wicking fabrics? No lighter, faster shoes? Mind-bottling, I tell ya.
Call me anti-‘Merican if you want, but I’d like to see the ‘Mercan flag removed from the NFL helmets. It seems superfluous.
It’s also a breach of flag etiquette. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find smearing the flag into the mud to be a patriotic thing to do, but that’s what the NFL does multiple times every week by having the flags on the helmets.
Plus, if you need the flag on the helmet to show that you’re patriotic, then it logically follows that your uniform, without the flag, is un-patriotic.
It’s quite shocking to see how permeating these pro military & hyper patriotic displays are in modern American sports. There’s also a disturbing trend that the audience is expected to “voluntarily participate” in these proceedings or face repercussions. It’s the one thing my European/Canadian friends/relatives notice right away and they’re all quite shocked by it.
It’s always been my opinion that public events like sporting events should remain neutral. And especially when the audience is “paying” to view the event.
Growing up in the 70’s/Vietnam era, the Military was never looked upon as this bastion of integrity, efficiency and brilliance. Rather people looked upon it skeptically as a quasi dysfunctional organization that was capricious, inefficient and somewhat idiotic. They were often highly criticized for having rather arbitrary decisions and practices.
I would imagine the military is probably somewhat better run that it was during the 1960’s-1980’s but I think the biggest change was superb public relations and propaganda since the Gulf War.
It’s hard to imagine now but M*A*S*H was a huge mainstream beloved t.v. show. I mean M*A*S*H was like apple pie. You couldn’t even come close to making a mainstream show like that today where you openly mocked and satirized the American military.
Anti-military mainstream satirical comedies like “Dr. Strangelove, Catch-22, M*A*S*H*, Stripes, The Last Detail, Kelly’s Heroes, Good Morning Vietnam, Private Benjamin, and 1941 couldn’t even be made now or their content would have to be changed.
Mainstream American Anti-War/Anti Military films was a big market during the 70’s-80’s. Films like “Slaughter House Five, Johnny Got His Gun, Heroes, The Boys in Company C, Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, Go Tell The Spartans, All Quiet On the Western Front (1979 remake), Apocalypse Now, Friendly Fire, Hair, The Big Red One, Some Kind of Hero, The Day After, Birdy, Platoon, Salvador, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, Born of the Fourth of July, Casualties of War, Jacknife, In Country, By Dawn’s Early Light, and Jacob’s Ladder.
It’s hard to imagine now but some of those were huge mainstream hits.
Those types of films quietly disappeared after the Gulf War. There were a few that trickled in like “Heaven and Earth,” “The War,” and “Canadian Bacon” but the era of anti-war films or more specifically Anti-American military films disappeared.
I think it changed in 2001, after 9/11. We now became a country with a conscience to be proud of what we–and in essence, our military–do, even if it’s wrong on some level. We got this whole “Police the World” mentality and now it’s un-American to not wear an American flag lapel pin, or you are a hater if you disagree with the current government, or you’re a horrible person if you’re against your High School football team wearing pink jerseys (the latter happened to me in High School).
Yeah, it’s messed up that now we have to support an alleged “good cause”, or else. When I don’t see how decking out your sports team in camo crap shows you support the military any more than a yellow ribbon around the tree in your front yard or actually flying an American flag. I don’t see how a pink football jersey helps stop Breast Cancer any more than donating money to those type of foundations behind the scenes.
But I guess we think differently than those who are in charge nowadays.
Off-topic, but the most amazing thing about M*A*S*H, in retrospect, is its treatment of alcohol. Not only does it routinely show surgeons drinking mere minutes before they go into the operating room, but alcohol is repeatedly used as a litmus test throughout the series: The cool characters drink, the uncool ones don’t.
To be clear: I like alcohol — and, more specifically, the culture of alcohol — very much. But no way would a TV show get away with that stuff now. And with good reason.
Hey! The Raj drinks on The Big Bang Theory!
I get your point. Interesting. Now I need to watch me some M*A*S*H!
Mad Men seems to do exactly that. Though perhaps it doesn’t count, since it’s depicting the same era as M*A*S*H.
Mad Men rubs our noses in it in a knowing way (“Look at these crazy people with their 18-martini lunches!”).
But M*A*S*H did it straightforwardly — no irony, no wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
One of the best scenes in Mad Men was when Betty was pregnant. She takes a huge gulp of wine, and the audience expects everyone else at the table to recoil in horror. But they keep on chatting like nothing happened.
But the gang at Sterling Cooper Price were selling ads, not performing surgery. I think they did address that once in an episode of M*A*S*H, though.
*But no way would a TV show get away with that stuff now.*
“Back in my day, we didn’t go around calling each other Chicanos, Mexican-Americans, Afro-Americans, we was all Americans. After that, if a guy was a jig or a spic, that was his problem.”
~Archie Bunker
Paul,
That was still during an era where alcohol consumption and abuse was kind of joked about. Do you remember guys like George Gobel and Foster Brooks whose entire act was being an alcoholic?? Unthinkable today. It’s even amazing people laughed about stuff like that. It wasn’t seen as a problem unless you started seeing imaginary creatures or you woke up in street unable to go to work. If you were a male and you were able to go to work everyday you were deemed not to have a problem.
M*A*S*H* was also based on the true recollections of Richard Hooker who was an Army doctor in the Korean War.
From personal experience my father drank every day of his life starting at 14-15 years old. The first time I can remember him not having a drink was when he was in the hospital with cancer. Hell, they released him because he only had a few months to live and he still drank wine and smoked Lucky Strikes until the day he died at 55 years old.
No one ever called him an alcoholic or thought he had a severe drinking problem even though he would drink for lunch and then after work at a bar and then bring home a 6 pack of beer and then drink 2 glasses of wine with his diner. He’d watch Walter Cronkite and then All in the Family or some other show and then pass out on the couch by 9:00 p.m.
I think they actually dealt with Hawkeye’s alcoholism in a later episode when he was unable to perform surgery because he was so hung over. It’s called “Fallen Idol.” Hawkeye sends Radar to Seoul to lose his virginity with a hooker and Radar never makes it and instead is wounded. Hawkeye feels extremely guilty about this and gets really drunk. Later on Hawkeye has to leave the O.R. andI Radar gets really angry and disappointed at Hawkeye because he really looks up to him. Then Hawkeye tells Radar to go to hell and to hell with Iowa and all his naiveté etc. There’s a reluctant reconciliation and Hawkeye gives Radar a Purple Heart and actually salutes him.
Didn’t they deal with Hawkeye’s drinking as a problem (both alcoholism and also a crutch for other problems) with some frequency during the latter seasons? Not just the one time with Radar?
Anyway, the normality of the drinking was consistently used to signal the abnormality of life in a military hospital camp near the front lines of combat. Far from straightforward, alcohol was at the heart of the show’s ironic standpoint.
To be fair, though, there have been anti-war/”war is hell” messages in popular culture post-9/11. ‘Hurt Locker’ and Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ enjoyed both critical and commercial success. Granted, it’s not the 60s or 70s so your point stands, but the protest movie/song hasn’t entirely disappeared.
And I have a feeling the “support the troops” thing is pervasive, partly to mask how badly we treat the troops who are serving, and how little we talk about real issues facing combat veterans like suicide, PTSD and employment.
No, no, no, “supporting the troops” is showing up at a closed memorial for a photo-op with a vet in a wheelchair… then voting against a new “GI Bill” and actual benefits for those “mooching war widows.” /s
^^^THIS^^^
Also trying to pass a farm bill that would kick 170,000 Vets out of the SNAP program.
But close the WWII Memorial (due to the shutdown)? THE HORROR!
terriblehuman,
Yeah, the pop culture message started to change during the mid 80’s with those pro U.S. military Rambo, Chuck Norris, MIA/Pow movies. In those movies they essentially go back and re-fight and win the Vietnam War for the U.S. Then you had “Top-Gun” which was basically a 2 hour Navy recruitment film. Then there was that horrible show “Major Dad” which was a very pro military t.v. show.
After the Gulf War they essentially stopped making those anti-war, anti U.S. military Vietnam films and reverted to the old standard villain, the Nazis. Those films had a “WAR is hell” position but the U.S. military is in the right. That’s basically the 1950’s motif although the 1990’s films invented the storyline that a U.S. War Aim in WW2 was to end the holocaust.
After 9/11 you can’t even critique or satirize the U.S. military. You couldn’t even make satirical shows like Sgt. Bilko or McCale’s Navy. They don’t even make satirical military comedies anymore.
That’s a bad-ass Queen is Dead t-shirt Holly is sporting with the Walter Peyton cake.
And how about that button down shirt her dad is wearing?
Are you the same Marty that made these cakes? They are terrific buddy.
Agreed – how cool are they?
Kind words appreciated.
Those are some beautiful cakes. Well done!
Thank from a near down bottom of a my heart.
Meant Thank you…
More than enough for each pair of the shoes.
Those WVU lettermans jackets are AMAZING! I love them and would love to know where to get something like that! Also, the argyle knee high basketball socks worn by the Virginia Tech player kick butt! I would LOVE to know where to get a pair of those as well! I have searched for a while to find a guy’s style of those.
Those aren’t jackets. Even better – they’re *letter sweaters*!
Thank you for pointing that out – made a mistake and that’s what I meant to say.
There is really only one team who can get away link.
Three days in a row a Lysol commercial has popped up on this site..annoying
Gotcha. Working to get it stopped.
Just one note regarding Paul’s piece on the whole “too political” criticism of Uni-Watch: “Foist” is a great word.
Phil is currently tweeting images of new “Native American Heritage” uniforms for NCAA basketball teams… which will “stand for the importance of bringing sport and physical activity to Native American and Aboriginal youth.” No mention of any financial support, auction or programs by these school, or Nike.
On the bright side, the first comment on Facebook says “Just another promo for Nike.” So, maybe we’re finally hitting critical mass on all of this?
Oops, link: link
Best sports quote of the week comes from Atlanta, where Braves exec Derek Schiller replied thusly to a question about what proportion of the new stadium cost will be borne by the public:
“Cobb County will be responsible for delineating the various buckets of dollars.”
Maybe the Braves can replace the tomahawk on their jersey with a bucket of dollars. A delineated bucket of dollars, that is.
When the new braves stadium opens, the Phillies will have the oldest stadium in the NL East – opening in 2004 (which will be the ‘newest oldest’ by far in any division in baseball).
Ironically, the Braves’ current stadium is already the ‘newest oldest’ stadium in any of the divisions.
Other ‘oldest’ stadiums by division
NL Central – Wrigley
NL West – Dodger Stadium
AL East – Fenway
AL Central – Kaufmann
AL West – Angel Stadium
Odd to consider Angels Stadium and Chavez Ravine (sorry, I’m an Angels fan) as the oldest parks outside of Wrigley and Fenway… All four are terrific baseball venues, by the way. If you haven’t been, go and enjoy.
About half way down on this gallery on Deadspin is a photo of the Viking’s mascot with this years jersey and last years pants.
link
Paul, I completely agree with your assessment of the flag desecration/camouflage/”patriot” uniforms.
NHL posting new “chrome” logos for the teams involved in stadium series games. Not bad…..
link
The #33 cake is?… Larry Bird at Indiana State? If not, I’m drawing a blank.
I was thinking Lew Alcindor / Kareem at UCLA.
I bet you’re right. The gold was throwing me off. Thanks Rob.
Yes, that’s what it is — Alcindor.
Paul, which horrible uniform trend adopted by your Mets over the past decade-plus do you hate more: the BFBS or the camo?
No contest: camo.
BFBS is just ugly; the camo trend is actually bad for society.
Just wait… BFBS turned into GFGS… Purple seems to me a logical progression.
I enjoy most those posts that are “political”. I enjoy the posts re: Skins Watch. I read all of them and often the stories linked to them. I hope they go away only when the reasons Paul posts them go away. Thank you for this website.
My beloved (oops) Toledo Rockets are going BFBS tonight. Their opponent, THE New York (Buffalo) are blue-white-black… So between two schools who are blue-gold and blue-white, we have three major black uni elements. Meh. No screen grab ability at the moment.
So let me get this straight. Louisville fans are upset about the possibility of their team wearing black? At least black is a team color. I don’t think link is.
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