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Uni Watch

Just What the World’s Been Waiting For, Part 713

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“Innovative” move by Barcelona FC yesterday, which announced that Intel is partnering with the team as a jersey sponsor — except that Intel’s logo will go inside the jersey. “Intel inside,” get it? Naturally, the logo is being printed upside-down, so it will appear right-side-up when players flip up their shirts (as shown at right), as soccer players are prone to do after scoring a goal. No word on whether the annoying Intel mini-theme song will play each time a player does this.

“We did not want to put the players under any obligation to show the logo a specific number of times,” said Intel’s chief marketing officer, Debra Conrad, at yesterday’s press conference. “But we do know that such goal celebrations are a big part of the culture of the sport.” Yes, I’m sure they do.

This is the part where I’m supposed to get all outraged about corporate douchebaggery and such. And yeah, this move is pretty scummy. But I’m not so much outraged as disappointed, on two levels.

First, even though I don’t know much about soccer, I know that Barcelona refused for years to have a jersey sponsor. And then when they finally took one, it was UNICEF (which wasn’t really a sponsorship because I believe UNICEF didn’t have to pay the team anything for it). Now look at them — Qatar Airways on the chest and Intel on the inner belly. They’ve gone from being the most principled team to being the worst.

Also, this move is particularly disappointing because it encourages boorishly “Look at me!” behavior by the players. Don’t the players already do enough of that on their own? Do we really have to give them extra incentives to do more of it?

Soccer aficionados tell me this isn’t the first example of an inner-jersey logo. Back in 2009, Getafe — a Spanish La Liga team — had Burger King’s primary logo on the chest and the creepy King himself underneath. But that seemed like a novelty move, almost an absurdist move. The Barca/Intel thing feels more insidious. Douchebags.

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Too Good for the Ticker: We all know that the Golden State’s famous “The City” jerseys had an awesome cable car motif for the uni numbers. But here’s something I never knew: Another Bay Area team — the San Francisco Giants — used what appears to be a nearly identical cable car motif on their warm-up jackets in the early 1980s:

So many questions: Was anyone else aware of this? Does anyone have additional photos of the Giants wearing the cable car? Did the Giants wear it anyplace else? Did any other Bay Area teams wear it? What did the Warriors think of this? Who came up with that design to begin with?

(Update: Reader BSmile has just posted a comment link to another Giants card showing the cable car sleeve design, so this definitely wasn’t an isolated thing. And wait, now there’s yet another one — best view yet!)

Feels like a major find! Well, at least to me. Maybe the rest of you already knew about it….

(Big thanks to Roger Faso for bringing this one to my attention.)

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Calling All Designers: Steve Rosenbeck, who runs the uniform company Garb Athletics, is looking for a Photoshop designer to help him with some uni concepts. I’ll let him explain:

I am looking to hire someone to help me out with creating new uniform designs for my company. I have seen many very talented Photoshop designers on Uni Watch and was thinking they might be just what I’m looking for.

The job will be very part-time and won’t be anything too fancy. But for someone who already does this kind of thing as a hobby, it’s a chance to get paid for what you already like to do. Job requirements are really just good Photoshop skills and an interest in uniforms. I’ll ask applicants for a few practice designs to see how they can handle the work.

So there you go. I’ve done some writing work for Steve over the years and can confirm that he’s a stand-up guy and very reasonable to work with. If you’re interested in applying for this gig, contact Steve directly. Good luck.

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’Skins Watch: Several fashion houses have become embroiled in controversies this year for sending models down the runway wearing Indian headdresses, so you have to figure longtime couture kingpin Karl Lagerfeld knew exactly what he was doing — i.e., angling for cheap attention — when he pulled a headdress stunt te other day. Shameful (from Benton Payne).

Baseball News: Uni Watch sponsor Left Field Cards has come out with a new print. … Robinson Cano will wear No. 22 for the Mariners. … Anthony DiComo covers the Mets for MLB.com. He posted this uni-centric tweet shortly after the Bartolo Colon signing (from Tom Mulgrew).

NFL News: A little tough to see, but it looks like Eric Weddle was wearing a hand-warmer with the Chargers’ old, pre-2007 wordmark last night (screen shot by Zack Western). ”¦ This is pretty awesome: an article about the challenges of photographing football in the snow (thanks, Kirsten). … Someone has painted his Hummer to look like the Jags’ two-tone helmet. … Panthers will be wearing solid-black this Sunday. … Here’s a new round of NFL team logos reimagined as soccer logos (thanks, Phil). … Holy moly, look at this: three different styles of striped socks in one photo! That’s George Halas in the wishbone-C cap, circa 1935 (great find by Ryan Becerra). … Tom Brady was mixing Pat Patriot with Flying Elvis at his weeky press conference the other day (from Tom Mulgrew). … The Bills are going white-on-white this weekend. Booo — I prefer the blue pants. … And the Saints will wear white over gold. I like that look! ”¦ The 2007 NFC Championship Game was played in sub-zero temperatures, which probably explains this Packers helmet decal glitch (from Matt Barnett).

College Football News: Cincinnati will have a cherry red helmet for the Department Store Bowl. … Signal flags aboard the USS De Wert spelled out “Go Navy, Beat Army” the other day. … Missouri fans can vote for what the team will wear in the Telecom Bowl (from Patrick Sokolowski). … Arizona State is looking a bit over-patched for the We Don’t Even Have a Football Team But Somehow We’re Sponsoring This Bowl. … Two of the most noxious, soul-numbing presences in American “food” are joining forces, and there’s just gotta be a new bowl sponsorship in there somewhere, no? … Maryland may wear white in the Military-Industrial Complex Bowl. ”¦ Here’s some info on what Michigan State will be wearing in the Rose Bowl (thanks, Phil). ”¦ Washington going with my worst nightmare for the Fight Hunger Bowl. ”¦ “I wrote a blog post this week about the argument for making Auburn’s pants stripe match the rest of the uniform,” says Clint Richardson. “I included a poll to see what people thought, and I’m amazed at what they said.” ”¦ Fresno State will wear throwbacks in the Automotive Lubricants and Fluids Bowl (from Jared Buccola). … The U. of Arizona is cracking down on yet another high school using its logo, this time in Texas (from Joe Condon).

Hockey News: USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program will be wearing Star Wars jerseys on Jan. 18 (from Adam Fritzen). … “Ugly Christmas sweater” jerseys on tap for the San Francisco Bulls (ECHL) on Dec. 27 (thanks, Phil).

Soccer News: “Roma had issues with Kappa’s kits from last year, causing them to make their own kits this year,” says Mark Emge. “They just announced a new kit deal with Nike.”

NBA News: Menswear brand Joseph Abboud has extended its agreement to outfit NBA coaches (from Tommy Turner). ”¦ Hilton Armstrong, just called up from the D-League by Golden State, has become the first player in NBA history to wear No. 57. He chose the number in honor of his daughter’s birthday — May 7 (from Johnathon O’Halloran).

College Hoops News: If you go to the 1:21:30 mark of this video of Wednesday night’s Howard/UCF game, you’ll here the broadcasters spotting an NOB typo (Howard G Ausar Madison had “Maddison” on his back). And then one of the broadcasters says, “That’ll make Uni Watch.” Indeed! (Big thanks to Jesse Agler.)

Grab Bag: “Richard Childress Racing just announced the return of the No. 3 car to NASCAR’s top series and revealed the paint schemes they’ll be using for it,” says Ben Cox. “That’s a pretty big deal since the last driver to use it was the Dale Earnhardt Sr., who died in a wreck during the 2001 Daytona 500. It will be driven by Childress’s grandson, Austin Dillon (who grew up idolizing Earnhardt), and that’s no surprise, but people are upset about the design of the cars. Even though black is not a large part of the color palette of either Dow Chemical or Cheerios, there’s a lot of it on the new schemes, and it’s not just BFBS — the old black No. 3 car was iconic and they appear to be trying to cash in on that. Fans are upset about both the seeming unretirement of the number 3 (though no number has ever been permanently retired in the top tier of NASCAR) and the attempt to emulate Earnhardt’s signature look.” .. Brinke sent along two good collections of vintage McDonald’s packaging — look here and here. … Whoa, check out this gif of a U.S. Army helmet getting a camouflage treatment (from Benton Payne). … Two non-sports uni items from Tom Mulgrew: Muslim policewomen in Edmonton will be allowed to wear a hijab as part of their uniform, and new airline uniforms for Qantas. … “From DIY kits to costumes, tattoos to speedos, the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships had a little bit of everything,” says Sean Clancy. … Here’s what classic Renaissance art might look like if it had been sponsored by Nike (from Matthiew Mitchell). … Half-dollar news from Stephen Whalen, who writes: “On the campus of Notre Dame, the concession items at all athletic venues are priced in 50-cent increments, so the vendors only use half-dollars for change — no quarters or any other coins.”

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What Paul did last night: Back in the 1990s, pretty much every magazine or website I wrote for would invite me to their annual holiday party. This was fun for all the obvious reasons (free food, free booze, hitting on chicks, etc.), but also because it let me meet all the behind-the-scenes people at the various magazines — proofreaders, photo editors, copyeditors, and so on. Getting to know these people, even if only for a few hours on a December evening, made me feel more like part of the family, which is a nice way to feel when you spend most of your time working by yourself at home.

But around 2000 or so, as the media economy began tanking, most media operations stopped inviting freelancers to their holiday parties (and some of them stopped having holiday parties altogether) — dang.

So when I received a last-minute invitation yesterday to attend The Nation’s holiday party, I jumped at the chance, even though I’ve never written for them. But as I took the subway to Manhattan, I wondered what a Nation holiday party might be like and imagined the worst: vegan baked goods, organic dandelion wine, and so on. To my pleasant surprise, it was nothing like that — there were platters of ribs, sandwiches stuffed with meat, a platter of thick-sliced beef (sorry, didn’t get a photo of that), tables full of booze (including a separate martini station). This one chick was even running around in leather pants! (Yes, I asked her permission before taking that photo.)

Now I just have to get myself invited to The Weekly Standard’s party so I can compare and contrast.

 
  
 
Comments (141)

    It’s an ’81 Fleer. I’ve been through all of those cards lately as I write Split Season, the story of the 1981 season and strike for Thomas Dunne Books. (shameless plug).

    I posted something like this on the we aren’t going to post about the Redskins day. I am going to give it a shot today.

    My wife is Native American. She is of the belief that Native American’s have much more important things to be upset about than whether or not team names like the Redskins, Braves, and Indians are in use. She wishes that Indian leaders would focus their efforts on bringing attention to the grave poverty that is pervasive on Indian Reservations in this country. She is offended by how corporations have taken advantage of Indian tribes by placing casinos on nearly every reservation in America. The tragic problem of drug and alcohol abuse among Natives is another of her concerns. Many Native children are without parents due to their parents drug abuse. She believes that all of these and more should cause more outrage than the name of a football or baseball team. I agree with her. I see how the names are offensive and I won’t lose any sleep if the names are changed, but I believe the attention on the naming situation is undue in light of the concerns which I addressed above.

    While I sympathize entirely, this line of reasoning is nothing more than a nihilistic rejection of all action, change, and reform. Yes, the plight of actual Native Americans, particularly those who live in majority-Native communities both on and off reservations, is a “more important thing to worry about” than many other issues. But the truth is, event the worst-off Native American child who is an orphan to substance abuse and reservation poverty faces much, much less threat to life and health than the average chld in many other countries. So if we morally ought not concern ourselves with Indian nicknames, because the plight of Indian children is more important and must be addressed first, then it also follows that we morally ought not concern ourselves with Native American poverty, because the plight of children in Afghanistan and equatorial Africa is more important and must be addressed first.

    Name the things that you feel are more important than anything another person cares about, and I guarantee I can name many other problems that are, objectively, more important than anything on your list, to the point that if you are a decent person you will feel shame for not already caring more about them. Thus “more important things to worry about” is, logically, an argument against all action to address any problem. It is, therefore, a nihilistic justification for continuing the status quo and accepting injustice and human suffering everywhere. I know it doesn’t feel like this when one makes the argument – I’m prone to this kind of thinking myself! – but that is what the argument really amounts to, if we take it seriously as a logical proposition.

    Well put.

    To put it more simply: Just because we can’t cure cancer today doesn’t mean we can’t also be trying to cure the common cold. The two efforts are not mutually exclusive.

    Yeah, I tend to treat “more important things to worry about” as a logical fallacy, because you can say that about pretty much any issue that isn’t an actual dying child in your arms.

    Plus, given NFL’s place in today’s American culture, the ‘Skins logo and name are arguably the most visible and widespread Indian imagery in mass culture. And it happens to use a term that every dictionary defines as “offensive” and explained away with empty platitudes like “honor” and “bravery” that plays up the “noble savages” caricature that glosses over the real life issues that Gerry talks about. That is a problem.

    Sure, a name is just a name, except it’s not. The name is one of, and not apart from, the many symptoms of treating a group of living people as s historical footnote.

    In addition to what the others have said, I would argue that we can’t even begin to think about those issues you speak of until the problem of cultural representation is sorted out. The dehumanising effect of these representations (moreso than any vague notion of ‘offense’) is what is the problem. As it stands it is easier for people to see Native Americans as characatures of noble savagery than it is to recognise them as real people facing real issues. Until that trend is reversed, efforts to combat those issues will always fail to gain the legitimacy necessary to properly tackle them.

    Tough situation, all around. Seems like the last time a presidential candidate or politician gave two shits about Indian reservations was Bobby Kennedy in ’68. He visited them regularly and advocated for public awareness of the issue of poverty among Indians (and inner city residents). That issue has all but dried up from the American thought pattern.

    I agree, bigger “fish to fry” than worrying about the Redskins (alcohol abuse, gambling as a non-starter economic development industry, poor resources, terrible schools, atrocious housing… and on and on). You have to think that low self-worth is at the core of problem. At the same time, names like Redskins and caricatures of Indians don’t help with that self esteem issue, particularly for youth growing up (or for the parents who aren’t really raising their kids very well).

    Personally, I don’t see Redskins as “slang” anymore. Hasn’t been a derogatory term in this country in decades. It’s not overt like “wetbacks” or “slant eyes,” and so forth. However, I have only a small amount of Indian in my blood (1/8th or so), so I’m white as can be and it doesn’t directly impact my family.

    For those who are Indian and DO live in the culture, I imagine they’re just thankful for any attention to the subject matter in this country.

    So that’s Barcelona giving us all a real life definition of the proverbial “slippery slope”: from over a century with not shirt sponsor (though this was the case for all clubs until the 1970s), to donating money TO their shirt sponsor (UNICEF) from 2006 to 2011, to a 170m Euro deal with Qatar Sports Investments to wear Qatar Foundation on their shirts for two years before switching to the outright corporate sponsorship of Qatar Airways, to today’s announcement of the Intel deal. Give it a few more years and Barcelona’s kit will look like every European hockey uniform.

    Give it a few more years and Barcelona’s kit will look like every European hockey uniform.

    or worse, French Ligue 1 teams. But hey, Barça have to pay off their (reportedly) €330m debt and finance either a) renovation of Camp Mou or 2) build a new stadium. Every sponsorship deal counts

    FWIW, they’ll still have to abide by UEFA’s one-corporate-sponsor-per-jersey rule in Champions League, so there’s that.

    Still, you’re right about the slippery slope up to that point. I thought people were being cynical when they said the UNICEF sponsorship was just Barça’s way of priming itself to an eventual corporate sponsorship. Turns out I was wrong.

    But what should really bug people is that a club that still carries the UNICEF logo on the back of the jersey basically condones Qatar’s slave labor by participating in the Qatari government’s image laundering campaign.

    Slave labor? I’m pretty sure that unskilled laborers are paid in Qatar and other Gulf States. I will agree that the conditions they work in are far below the accepted standards of the US, Canada, and Europe, but isn’t that the case in the rest of the world? Where were your clothes made? I’d be willing to bet that some of your things were made in Bangladesh, India, or China. Have you seen how those people work?

    Couldn’t have said it any better myself.

    Though I often think that we should stop using the word “sponsor”. They’re just corporations purchasing advertising space; “sponsor” carries a connotation of some kind of connection or level of support. That’s not what’s going on with these soccer jerseys.

    In Japan’s J-League there was once a requirement (unofficial, perhaps) that jersey space sold to advertisers had to be local in nature, so, for example, Kyoto Purple Sange had the Kyocera (Kyoto Ceramics) logo on the front, and Nintendo on the back above the number: both local companies with their headquarters in the city. That feels more like “sponsorship” than this highest-bidder garbage where we see completely unrelated words and logos that have nothing to do with the team or its city overshadowing even the team crests. They’re no more “sponsors” than the companies adding their names to the college bowl games. They’re advertisers.

    Though I often think that we should stop using the word “sponsor”. They’re just corporations purchasing advertising space; “sponsor” carries a connotation of some kind of connection or level of support. That’s not what’s going on with these soccer jerseys.

    Yes, exactly. “Sponsor” also implies that the sponsored endeavor would not exist without the sponsor’s support — like, “This is made possible by our sponsor.” But jersey ads aren’t sponsorships; they’re just ads.

    So in the Baseball ticker, the word “sponsor” is used for Left Field Cards? Or is it just a corporation purchasing ad space, which then, why is it showing up in the ticker?

    I don’t know if Left Field Cards is incorporated. But it is absolutely true that this website would not exist without its advertisers. The site has no other revenue and gives its content away for free.

    I would prefer a system with no advertising, in which the readers sponsored the content by paying for it. What do you say, Robert? Ready to pay your fair share?

    My argument isn’t ads on the left and right. My argument is why does it show up in the ticker? Yes I can skip it just like ‘Skins Watch.

    As much as I like to poke fun at it, I do understand how this works to a certain level.

    I just don’t understand why it shows up in the actual content that is being provided (Baseball ticker), like being force fed an ad. Maybe I am alone on feeling like this. It’s like you are trying to boost sales of a product that advertises on your site, which isn’t necessarily wrong, but unlike you, or unlike my perception of you.

    Honest question: Would that be in the baseball section IF they didn’t advertise with uniwatch AND you knew about it?

    I sounds like you’re insinuating he only put it in the ticker because they are a sponsor. I don’t see how that’s relevant, he can put whatever he wants in the ticker. The important thing is he came out and said “this is from a sponsor”; he’s not trying to slide it by you as not being from a sponsor.

    If part of the sponsorship deal was Paul had to plug their stuff as a news item in the ticker without making it clear that they are a sponsor, that would be kind of shady, I’d think.

    Honest question: Would that be in the baseball section IF they didn’t advertise with uniwatch AND you knew about it?

    Totally! I’m not a fan of Left Field Cards because they’re a sponsor — they became a sponsor because I was already a fan of theirs! I wrote about them in this ESPN column in 2012:
    link

    Since then we’ve become friends and mutual fans.

    The J-League is a unique case because at least originally, most of the “sponsors” were actually investors and de facto owners of the clubs. Most clubs started as semi-pro corporate clubs – Gamba Osaka began life as Matsushita Electronics Corporation, which most westerners know as Panasonic, who still own the club and is displayed on the shirt.

    My understanding is that Nintendo and Kyocera are co-investors in Purple Sanga.

    I’m not a huge NASCAR fan or anything, but my immediate thought on seeing the #3 car designe was “why did they make it just like Earnhardt’s old car?”

    I think it better if they’s have changed teh font, etc.

    whatever.

    I could be wrong, but do the primary sponsors have a say (if not the final say) in the car’s appearance?
    Maybe Mrs. Earnhardt owns the ‘likeness’ rights of her late husband’s cars as well?

    I don’t think so, because Childress owned the car and the number, and Theresa owned the DEI cars, 1, 8, and 15 at the time. She retained the rights to those numbers and those drivers.

    But perhaps Dale, who I assume had control over use of his likeness also had partial…maybe shared with GM and/or RCR?…control/license over the paint schemes he ran too?
    Upon his death, Teresa got all of it (except of course the rental agreement for the NASCAR-held/RCR leased #3)?

    I agree with this. Change the font, don’t run a predominately black car, etc.

    I was reading ESPN comments yesterday and man, most folks are livid about the 3 coming back. I even had a Lukas moment, someone said “well they retire numbers in other sports, why not retire the 3?” and I thought…but why must we retire numbers in other sports…

    For some reason I thought Earnhardt racing had trademarked the “3”.

    Going through Tess (searching for “earnhardt” as the owner brings up a shit ton of trademarks, but most of them are for Jr. (including a trademark on “8”). Nothing I could see for “3”.

    (sorry, I don’t think you can link into individual trademarks, but searching “earnhardt” brings them up

    link

    from what i heard on Cleveland’s 92.3 the Fan, nobody owns the numbers and and they are rented from Nascar. Childress has been paying rent on the number since Dale’s passing 10+ years ago

    This is correct. The design of the number can be trademarked for merchandising reasons but NASCAR controls the actual number.

    I’ve been following NASCAR since the late 1950s. Back then they weren’t as strict with the numbers as they are today. For example, the late Glenn “Fireball” Roberts started out driving the Number 22 Ford. He was with the Blue Oval until the Big Three quit racing in late 1957 because of the ban on factory sponsorship cooked up by General Motors (but not followed by them). Roberts thus became a free agent and began driving other makes but kept his Number 22. In the early ’60s he drove Smokey Yunick’s Black & Old Gold Number 22 Pontiacs.

    When Lee Iacocca, then of Ford, decided that FoMoCo was going racing again Fireball returned in 1963 driving the “Passino Purple” (sorry Paul) Number 22 Ford Galaxie fastback 427-cid car for Holman & Moody.

    Tragically Fireball died from burns received when his car exploded during a crash at the 1964 World 600 at Charlotte. His death and the deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald at the ’64 Indy 500 led to the development of the fuel cell to help reduce the risk of fire.

    If any number should have been retired it should have been the Number 22 in memory of Fireball. At least the number is back on a Ford with Joey Logano behind the wheel. Whenever I see that Number 22 Ford I still think of Fireball. RIP Number 22.

    Pretty genius move by barça, especially if Intel is printed on replicas that fans will end up buying.

    More to the point, the “Ho! Ho! Ho!” sign makes it pretty overtly a Christmas party. Which would no doubt blow the mind of everyone at the Weekly Standard party were Paul to wrangle an invitation and share the photo.

    Good find on the LeMaster card — I’ll add that to the text.

    Meanwhile, these are essentially track jackets. Since when did MLB teams wear those?

    Would the full-zipper jackets worn by the Philadelphia MLB team starting in the mid/late 1970’s qualify as track jackets?
    Those things looked particularay bad in 1981:

    link

    Los Angeles had them too (Lasorda wore them all the time, so here’s somebody else wearing one in 1977):

    link

    ’81 Fleer Giants Cablecar track jacket add Al Hargesheimer card number 457. Someday, but probably not, I’ll figure out how to post pics here…

    The Warriors used the Giants’ interlocking “SF” logo in the 60s & 70s, so I guess it’s only fair that the Giants would repay the favour…

    That cable car icon isn’t new to me. I remember them on plenty of Giants baseball cards in the day. I’ll see if I can find my cards somewhere…

    How ’bout those ORANGE Giants jerseys with the unique script typeface? That’s the juice right there!

    Paul, I think you’re off the mark on the Austin Dillon comments – not shocking as i don’t think you follow the sport closely. Setting aside the fact that the Cheerios car uses pretty much the same colors as previous versions for previous drivers (the box is yellow and black, after all), I actually think that Childress went less far on going for the Earnhardt look on the Dow Cup car – a lot of more white and red side numbers are actually less like Earnhardt’s paint scheme than Dillon’s Nationwide car was in 2013 (well, at least the primary color scheme).

    Keeping in mind that the 3 was Childress’ number in cup before it was Earnhardt’s (he was a driver/owner early on and got his break when Talladega opened and the track was seen as too dangerous to race on by the Cup drivers, so Childress was among those who filled in and raced, earned some points with the France family, and slowly built up a race operation), there’s nothing overly inappropriate or particularly exploitative of Earnhardt, here, and arguably little more than an appropriate nod.

    Paul, I think you’re off the mark on the Austin Dillon comments

    You realize they were a reader/contributor’s comments, not mine, right?

    I’ve been following NASCAR since 1990, and I feel the need to add my position on this whole “issue.” I don’t think that fans should be as upset about the return of the #3. This is coming from a die hard Dale Sr. fan, the first race I ever watched was the 2nd Twin 125 at Daytona, and Dale Sr. won that, and I was a fan of him from my first race. I wore a Dale Sr. t-shirt under my tux at prom, and in my senior class picture. To this day, I still have a Dale Sr. shirt, and pieces from his cars in my collection.

    That said, I’m not upset about the number change, and here is why: The issue appears to be about Austin Dillon “tarnishing Dale Earnhardt’s legacy” which I would say is bull-fucking-shit. Did Bobby Hamilton tarnish Richard Petty’s legacy when he drove the #43 for the first time since Petty’s retirement? Did Geroge Selkirk, Bud Methany, Roy Weatherly, Eddie Brockman, Frank Colman, Allie Clark, or Cliff Mapes tarnish Babe Ruth’s legacy by wearing #3 for the Yankees? The answer to those questions is no. In fact, you could make a convincing argument that Dillon is trying to respect Earnhardt’s legacy. He has stated he will respect his legacy, and both Richard Childress and Dillon went to the Earnhardt family and discussed the issue in depth, and the Earnhardts gave them permission and thier blessing to use the #3

    One other thing that I’m going to throw out there just for the sake of completeness is that Dale Jr. has stated that he would most likely finish his career driving the 3 car. I think this might come sooner than most fans realize. Junior may see his contract with Hendrick Motorsports come to an end in the foreseeable future, and I have stated that I think RCR is better than Hendrick Motorsports. That combo may happen in the very near future, and I think Dillon may be keeping the #3 warm.

    Remember, it’s not so much what the Nation’s staffers like to eat, but what the Nation’s bag men like to eat/drink. Sounds like rich leftists enjoy the same things supposedly rich industrialists like Kramer’s fictional H.G. Pennypacker enjoys: a fine martini and a nice cut of meat.

    I am sure Ms. VandelHuevel knows which side her non-McRib station is sauced on!

    Remember, it’s not so much what the Nation’s staffers like to eat, but what the Nation’s bag men like to eat/drink.

    Um, were you privy to the invitation list? One of us actually attended that party (hint: not you) and can affirm that the vast majority of the attendees were Nation staffers.

    Irony: An article against corporations purchasing ad space on jersey’s (or under it) and to its immediate left and right…. advertisements.

    Yes, that’s a perfectly legitimate comparison, because this website makes revenue by selling tickets, selling broadcast rights, selling overpriced food/drink, charging for parking, etc., just like Barcelona FC does. So advertising is just as unnecessary on this website — a website that gives away its content for free — as it is on a Barcelona jersey.

    Yup.

    Great points. It was meant as a little tongue in cheek.

    And I do hate ads on a uniform, but if an owner and corporation is willing to do this, why do we judge so harshly? And maybe I need to start taking this more lightly as Paul makes great arguments, but it does kind of bug me. How many here, including Paul, would turn down probably millions of dollars to NOT put an ad somewhere on a uniform? Seriously. I am not criticizing what Paul has written and makes valid points from a fan viewpoint. But from a business perspective, if this ACTUALLY was an issue in your life for your job within a sporting franchise, and it is legal to do so within the confines of the rules within the sporting league, I would have a hard time saying no. Be honest. So would you.

    if an owner and corporation is willing to do this, why do we judge so harshly?

    Because (a) as has been argued here many times over the years, teams and their uniforms aren’t just business entitites, they’re civic entities, and civic assets shouldn’t just be sold to the highest bidder, and (b) the notion that everything in our culture can be reduced to its saleability is reductive and offensive.

    How many here, including Paul, would turn down probably millions of dollars to NOT put an ad somewhere on a uniform?

    So you’re saying that people are greedy fucks and that this makes any business practices acceptable? No. You are reducing life to nothing more than its monetary value. We’re better than that. Or at least we should be.

    I understand exactly the argument that both of you are saying here, and I agree with parts of both of them. I understand the whole ‘civic entity’ thing that Paul is saying, but I also agree that it is unrealistic to expect that a for-profit enterprise would not sell advertising if they are, under the rules of their sport, or existing laws or whatever, allowed to sell, simply becuase we’d prefer they’d not have ads on their unis.

    If sports franchises were truly civic entities then they should be run as non-profits, not selling $12 beers becasuse they can, or charge $50 for parking because they can or charging thousands of dollars for PSLs because they can. In a perfect world (from our fans standpoint) these teams would be true civic entities, with no sponsorship deals or overpriced concessions, and they would be run on a non-profit basis.

    The truth is (except for maybe the Green Bay Packers, I don’t know) these are for-profit enterprises that are owned by billionaires who are in the business of making money, and if they can make more money by raising concession prices, raising ticket prices, selling uniform advertising or moving their team to Baltimore or Indianapolis, they’ll do it. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong, it’s just how it is, right?

    I’m not saying it’s right, I’m not saying it’s wrong, it’s just how it is, right?

    Right — because everything a business does is self-justifying, because it’s just business. Yup.

    Nope.

    We’re allowed to critique and assess. In fact, that’s part of our role as an engaged citizenry. We have standards of decency, dignity, appropriateness. We express ourselves based on those standards. When I call out this bullshit as bullshit, that’s exactly what I’m doing. You can do it too.

    You don’t have to just throw up your hands and say, “Eh, whaddaya gonna do.”

    Not completely sure about the numbers here, but I wonder to what extent selling things (jersey ads, courtside ads, etc) allows teams to give us these nice things (sporting events).

    As Paul is fond of saying, “Just because you can sell something that doesn’t necessarily mean you should sell it.”

    That Uni-watch comment during the UCF game, I don’t know who the play-by-play is, but the color analyst for that game was Mark Wise. He mainly does Color on the Radio for the Florida Gators basketball games and occasionally he’ll do UCF and USF regional games for ESPN.

    We Don’t Even Have a Football Team But Somehow We’re Sponsoring This Bowl.

    If I were running a for-profit university, I’d do the same thing. It’s the best of both worlds – you can capitalize on the cash cow that is college football, without having to do stuff like build a stadium and comply with NCAA rules and Title IX, and get alumni to pay for stuff (especially when the alumni base has a high loan default rate).

    I’ve always loved the Twilight Zone irony of the Phoenix Cardinals playing for years and years at ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium, changing their name from Phoenix to Arizona to be more marketable in the process, finally getting its own facility, only to have that facility named University of Phoenix Stadium.

    Someone has painted his Hummer to look like the Jags’ two-tone helmet how the Jags should have treated their two-tone helmet, as opposed to the half-assed job they actually gave us.

    Fixed. (Assuming the strike HTML code works…)

    okay so the Peach Bowl became chickFilABowl and you wish to call it the chicken sandwich bowl.

    if next year i buy the rights to it, sponsor and officially name it the “PAUL LUKAS – UNI-WATCH.COM IS AWESOME BOWL”, what would you refer to it as in your chart?

    A – the ME bowl
    B- leave it alone and call it the “PAUL LUKAS – UNI-WATCH.COM IS AWESOME BOWL”
    C- other (please elaborate)

    thanks and keep up the great work!

    In 1977, Atlee Hammaker pitched for the Arlington Chargers, whose colors & jersey script were taken from the San Diego Chargers link

    Michigan State also makes change with half dollars at Spartan Stadium and the Breslin Center. I got a 1945 Walking Liberty half dollar as change a couple of years ago and kept it as a lucky charm.

    I want to bring up something about this 1956 Kansas City A’s highlight video that wasn’t mentioned when it was posted the other day
    link

    At the 5:00 mark, the mayor of Kansas City (a rather rotund fellow) throws out the first pitch on opening day… IN FULL UNIFORM!

    -Jet

    That was interesting to see a portly mayor, right out of central casting, in full uniform. Also got a kick out of behind the scenes look at “large and competent staff;” picture of Connie Mack that looks like it was painted by Norman Rockwell; plane travel on dangerous Constellations; and the horrible condition of the field prior to the hiring of George Toma.

    That rotund mayor, H. Roe Bartle, was an interesting guy. Lawyer, businessman, orator, philanthropist, long-time Boy Scout executive, he kind of fell into politics and ended up playing a big part in the Chiefs’ move to KC. (Legend has it that Lamar Hunt picked “Chiefs” for the team’s name because that was Bartle’s nickname.)

    His two biggest local legacies are the convention center in downtown KC, and a Boy Scout camp near Osceola, MO.

    I think any controversy around RCR bringing back it’s #3 is unfounded. Numbers in NASCAR are tied to the car owner not the driver, and most car owners link the car teams with similar number fonts, so you can’t object to seeing that familiar #3. NASCAR has never been in the business of retiring numbers. After Richard Petty (NASCAR’s other 7 time champion) retired in the early 90’s, NASCAR’s highest series had the light blue STP #43 for many years.

    As they have done in recent Decembers, Nike has started rolling out the 2014 NCAA gear for lacrosse powerhouse schools like Duke, Carolina, UVA, Syracuse.

    In recent years, they have started producing gear for schools like Villanova, Cornell, Penn State, Georgetown and Oregon who doesn’t even have a team that competes in the NCAA ranks.

    The Federation of International Lacrosse is hosting the 2014 World Championships in Denver this Summer. Nike is outfitting a handful of teams, most notably the US as well as the Iroquois nation.

    US:
    link

    Iroquois:
    link

    They have only unveiled practice gear, however today I found a nugget…

    Iroquois themed Nike Huarache 4 lacrosse cleats:

    link

    Game gear has not been leaked, although in the Fall, the US wore this in an intrasquad scrimmage:

    link

    Many of us can’t wait to see what Nike has in store for both teams…

    It’s really fascinating that the Iroquois nation competes as such in an international competition. Are there any other examples of this in other sports?

    Is this not the Iroquois kit?

    link

    At least this time around their squad won’t be denied entry into the host country.

    That’s a great looking uni. I really like the font and the use of yellow against the purple and black.

    “… Holy moly, look at this: three different styles of striped socks in one photo! That’s George Halas in the wishbone-C cap, circa 1935 (great find by Ryan Becerra). …”

    Took me a while to arrive this morning, but, wow! What a photograph! Thanks, Ryan.

    Those snow pictures and the photographers explanation are great. Three photos in particular – Foles throwing to Cooper, Stafford from behind, McCoy hurdling – might be three of the best football pictures I’ve ever seen. Great!

    A small bit presumptuous of Roma to put the Champions League patch on next season’s jerseys before they have even qualified, no?

    That said, considering Serie A’s history with match fixing, I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if that has already been decided by some shifty looking characters in the smoke-filled backroom of a Rome speakeasy.

    Ha! I didn’t catch the patch.

    So yeah, Serie A may be crooked, but Roma’s usually the one who’s left out of the Juve-Milan-Inter chicanery, so I guess that’s a nice change?

    That change kit is excellent, cream jerseys, diagonal sash and they used the old wolf’s head for the shield.

    They should start wearing them immediately.

    As far as the Huskies, at least Tui is making them wear school colors. Better than that BFBS shit they do. I can do without the chrome domes though.

    As per the Schutt Facebook page. Looks like both Pop Warner Super Bowl teams are the “Saints”. Different looks though.

    link

    ASU’s bowl game patches remind me of last weekend’s Pac-12 championship game, which featured a prolifically patched jersey worn by ASU’s QB (and captain):

    link

    link

    Was hoping they would be Gold and we’d get a Color v. Color match-up.

    That being said; use the regular crest, and wrap those sleeve stripes all the way around and I think the Penguins will have found a great new full-time look.

    oh and adjust that collar, some, don’t know how to fix that aspect but it would need to be adjusted.

    Probably the best of the Stadium Series jerseys so far, but still a bit disappointing, mainly because of the singular template being used, and the oddball quirks that just don’t look right to me.

    Say what you will about the all-black uni, you can’t accuse the Carolina Panthers social media folks of not having a sense of humor: link

    It looks like the Panthers took down the post from their link. It said something to the effect of “The Panthers will be wearing the Greatest Uniform in the NFL against the Jets” or something to that effect.

    I guess they *don’t* have a sense of humor, then.

    I remember the campaign for the McDLT… I was still a kid at the time, and even I saw that the overuse of styrofoam was getting out of hand!

    I attended apox 40 games at candlestick in 1980 and the appearance of the track jackets was jarring. as i recall they suddenly appeared in mid season, spicing up an otherwise miserable campaign.

    the zip ups had a particularly home made appearance (the giants script on front varied slightly in thickness from the uniform jersey word mark) . backs of the jackets contained last names and a few nicknames that only hardcore giants fans would recognize : “Shiek” (mike sadek), “Boo” (johnnie lemaster), “Ripper” (jack Clark), and “Hoover” (Darrell Evans) : he sucked up ground balls like a vacuum!

    The real capper was the cable car silhouette. Since moving west in 1958 , the giants had oddly never taken advantage of the city’s abundance of iconic landmarks in its marketing. So to suddenly see the a cable car climbing halfway to the stars on vida blue’s left sleeve was startling.

    But the jackets were short lived and were no longer around in 1981.

    So Darrell Evans had gotten away from “Howdy”?

    And didn’t Greg Minton have “Moon Man”?

    I sure would like to see Lukas take on the corporate douchebaggery of The Worldwide Leader. Don’t imagine that will be forthcoming anytime soon, however.

    And yes, Lukas, that makes you a hypocrite just like every other paid corporate whore you rag on. But go ahead, get up on your soapbox and rail against the horrible injustice of a team name. Your Mandela-like courage is an inspiration.

    The way I understand it, the corporate douchebaggery of a game is something Uni Watch covers because it can affect the uniforms. The corporate douchebaggery of a particular media outlet, not necessarily. Uni Watch is a uniform criticism site, not a media criticism site; it delves into media criticism if it affects uniforms. Does “the corporate douchebaggery of The Worldwide Leader” you have in mind have a specific impact on sports uniforms?

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