As you can see above, there’s a sizable squatchee gap in this year’s World Series. The Mets’ orange cap squatchee is mirrored by a matching squatchee on their batting helmet, while the Royals’ white cap squatchee does not have a counterpart on the team’s helmet. Advantage: Mets.
That’s one of 10 uni-related items regarding the Mets and/or Royals that I’ve compiled for my Uni Watch World Series Preview, which is up now on ESPN — check it out here. (Meanwhile, in case you missed it yesterday, I came up with a rather unique World Series storyline that I’m pretty sure you won’t find anywhere else.)
As for tonight’s game: Matt Fratboy is pitching for the Mets, and most observers have assumed that means they’ll probably be wearing their blue alts (sigh). That seemed to be confirmed when the players wore the blue alts for yesterday’s Media Day activities. There was some hope that they might wear grey when this tweet was posted late last night, but then a source confirmed for me that the staff in the visiting clubhouse has laid out the Mets’ blue alts, so expect those to be worn tonight.
It’s much simpler for the Royals, who will obviously wear white.
On a personal note: The Mets’ last World Series game before tonight — Game 5 against the Yanks in 2000 — was exactly 15 years ago yesterday. I was there at Shea that night. I still haven’t seen the final out settle into Bernie Williams’s glove, because I looked away before he caught it and have never watched a replay. Been waiting 15 years and a day for my team to make it back to the big stage, and here they finally are. I’m all giddy like a kid, which is exactly how the World Series is supposed to make us feel.
Phil will be joining me to watch the game tonight. He’s predicting Mets in five, I say they’ll get it done in six. Can’t wait for the first pitch — let’s go Mets!
G.I. Joke, continued: The NBA season tips off tonight, and the Heat waited until midnight last night to officially unveil all the alternates that we’d already seen via various leaks. There’s the inaugural-season throwback, the “Legacy” design (basically an alt with a bourgeois name), and the “El Team-o” design.
And then there’s the real treat: the military tribute uni, which they’re calling “Home Strong,” We’ve known for months that it would look something like this, and the final product did not disappoint. Design-wise, it’s basically a bulletin board with lots of “patriotic” flair pinned to it, because hey, why not? Full details on this page, which helpfully explains that this uni is “a total homage to our military heroes” (as opposed to, you know, a partial homage). And yeah, you can tell it’s a total homage by the way its accompanying merch line is being sold with images like these. If that doesn’t say generic millenial lifestyle marketing “dignified salute to the military,” I don’t know what does. (No, really, I don’t know what does, because I’ve yet to see a uniform that fits that description.) Remember, kids, not all soldiers are heroes and not all heroes are soldiers, but pretty much all G.I. Joke uniforms are an embarrassment.
Further info on all of the Heat’s unis, and the dates when they’ll be worn, can be found here. It’s actually a pretty cool interactive page, but try not to laugh too hard at the hype-speak, which is comic relief without the relief.
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
The World Series begins tonight (it’s an odd-numbered year, so my SF Giants are sitting this one out), and in honor of that event, and specifically for Paul and Phil, we present this Mets jacket from the 1970s. While we’re at it, here’s another rather cheap-looking uncomfortable Mets giveway jacket in all-white; looks like something a HazMat team would wear. [As you can imagine, Phil and I are very, uh, honored by this. ”” PL]
Good luck to both teams, and now on with our Fall Classic edition of Collector’s corner:
• Didn’t know IHOP ever did baseball, but here’s a 1970s KC Royals milk glass.
• We also have a 1980s Royals Goooo for the Action thermal cup. Notice how the “Kansas City Royals” script along the bottom is styled without any spaces.
• Here’s a very nice 1970s Mets school lunch bag/duffel bag.
• This is a vaguely creepy-looking 1970s George Brett bobblehead lamp. Or something.
• Let’s flash back to the 1969 Fall Classic with this Amazin’ game program, complete with great Willard Mullin cover art.
• Speaking of great cover artwork, gotta like this1970s Royals publication called “Grand Slam.” Look at all those stirrups! Plus they got the A’s white shoes and Chisox’s non-stirrup socks right.
Take a look at this “Extremely Rare” 1960s Lady Met pin! [In all my years of Mets fandom, I’ve never seen this one, so it must truly be rare! ”” PL]
• Here’s a 1960s “Courtesy is Contagious” Mets pin. I think ushers and vendors wore this.
• Hmmm, why do I think Jerry Seinfeld would love this? Here’s a vintage 1980s Mets pinstriped sweater. Would look great paired with orange and blue Nikes.
Follow Brinke on Twitter: @brinkeguthrie
’47 Brand discount: Longtime Uni Watch pal Jared Wheeler, who works as a researcher and historian for ’47 Brand, has hooked us up with a special deal: From now through Sunday, Uni Watch readers can shop at the company’s online store and get the 40% friends/family discount by using the code JWCUP40 at checkout. Thanks, Jared!
Friendly reminder: Uni Watch party next Saturday, Nov. 7, at Sheep Station in Brooklyn. Hope to see lots of you there.
Birthday boy: Big birthday wishes to our own Scott M.X. Turner, who designed most of the Uni Watch graphics and also does the designs for each and every Uni Watch membership card. Have a great day, Scott — hope you get everything you wish for when you blow out the candles.
Some thoughts about Boar’s Head: In yesterday’s “What Paul did last night yesterday” section, I described a field trip my friends and I had taken to a deli in the Bronx and mentioned, “Most of the provisions were just Boar’s Head (pfeh), but they were piled on an excellent semolina-style seeded bread.” That prompted several people to post assorted variations of (I’m paraphrasing here), “What’s wrong with Boar’s Head?”
So: Boar’s Head isn’t bad for what it is. But what it is is a mass-produced and -processed factory product. Mass-produced and -processed factory products are excellent solutions to certain problems (most of what’s sold in hardware stores, much of what’s sold in drug stores, etc.), but they’re not so great when we’re dealing with food, and they’re especially poor when we’re dealing with meat.
A real delicatessen roasts its own beef, turkey, and ham, smokes and steams its own pastrami, corns its own corned beef, brines its own tongue, and so on. If it doesn’t have the facilities to do all of that, it gets its provisions from a local supplier that does. It also gets its cheese from a local cheesemonger, and so on.
If you’re just taking delivery of the same shrinkwrapped factory meats that every other “deli” in America is selling, then you’re not actually a deli (and neither are all those other “delis”). You’re just another sandwich shop. What’s the point of selling the exact same thing everyone else sells? Defeats the whole point of delicatessen culture, which is supposed to be about the intersection of the local culture and the proprietor’s sensibility.
Now, as factory meats go, Boar’s Head isn’t so awful, plus they have really nice-looking delivery trucks and at one time they had pretty funny commercials. The excellent writer Bryan Curtis (who was briefly my editor during Uni Watch’s short stopover at Slate in 2003 and ’04) has written a good piece that nicely captures Boar’s Head’s appeal and its limitations.
So no, I don’t hate Boar’s Head. But yeah, I expect a little better than that when I schlep all the way to the Bronx to check out a highly touted deli and find out that’s what they’re serving. I mean, I could’ve walked to my corner bodega for that.
The Ticker
By Mike Chamernik
Baseball News: Despite Mets 2B Daniel Murphy’s postseason heroics, fans are not buying Murphy jerseys and T-shirts. Murphy is a free agent at the end of the year and is considered unlikely to return to the team, so merch-purchasers are hedging their bets (from Phil). … A Kansas City-area teacher draws World Series preview art on his whiteboard. … Reader Chuck spotted a house that had Mets fever in Westchester County, NY. … A strained calf muscle will keep Mets reliever Carlos Torres, and Vinci Pro gloves, out of the World Series (from Tommy Turner). … Todd Radom designed the Southern League’s new logo. … This piece examines why managers wear uniforms and why baseball games start five minutes after the hour or half-hour (from Phil). ”¦ Matthew Prigge was at an antique sale and found someone’s renderings for new Brewers logos — look here and here. “Perhaps these were intended for the 1977 logo design contest that resulted in the glove/ball ‘mb’ logo,” he says.
NFL News: The Rams will wear throwbacks this Sunday, and again in December (from Mike Dean). … Throwbacks also on tap this weekend for the Steelers (thanks, Phil). ”¦ NBC has a rotating graphic of the teams’ uniform combos and logo sets during studio shows ”” look to the far left of this screen shot (from Yancy Yeater). ”¦ Colts RB Joe Washington had just a bit of a jersey malfunction in a 1978 game (from Matt Barnett).
College Football News: Oklahoma will wear all cream at Kansas on Saturday (from Phil). … Utah DB Tevin Carter said that college football uniforms are a recruiting tool. “That’s why schools every year have different uniforms,” he said. “They use it for recruiting. Kids are coming out of high school and want to look nice, flashy. It’s not about how you play any more, it’s more about how you look” (from Phil). … Texas State wore new jerseys this weekend. “Notice the nameplate is sitting extremely low due to the patch of the state of Texas there,” says Zach Williams. … Adidas is continuing the BFBS trend in college football (from Phil). … A fan at a recent Georgia game turned his business casual Dockers into a pair of Silver Britches. Very nice! (Thanks, @BrettSBaker.) ”¦ Yahoo columnist Pat Forde’s latest “Forde Yard Dash” column including the following: “[Maryland’s 1961 throwbacks, worn last weekend, were] an even worse idea than the Terps’ awful normal uniforms. Because in 1961, Maryland was an all-white team that would not recruit African-Americans. The first black Terrapin on scholarship did not arrive until 1962, when Darryl Hill came in as a transfer from Navy. He first took the field in ’63. The Dash was informed that several black former Terps were upset by the decision to wear a uniform celebrating the school’s segregated past. Maryland might want to keep its history books handy the next time it gets a throwback idea” (from David Cline).
Hockey News: The Maple Leafs had purple boards and helmet decals for cancer awareness last night. … Can’t tell the players without a scorecard — or a set of NOBs: The Blue Jackets now have names on their practice uniforms so head coach John Tortorella, who was hired last week, can identify the players. … A Mighty Ducks podcast interviewed the costume designer for the D3 film (from Anthony Nuccio). … The Islanders’ new black third jersey is a hit. … Rick Cuzzetto found a few NHL items on Imgur. A Habs fan really dislikes the Maple Leafs; someone thinks Oilers rookie Connor McDavid is the second coming; and someone found a Sabres jersey with a star-spangled number and NOB. … New jerseys for the Dartmouth women’s team (from Tris Wykes). ”¦ The Sharks’ mascot wore the team’s throwback uni for a meet/greet event (from @poser47).
Soccer News: Marine Harvest, a British Columbia commercial fish farm that is allegedly harming the region’s wild salmon population, sponsors a Vancouver-area U-15 girls soccer league. Not surprisingly, players are prohibited from speaking out against the sponsor (from Mike Styczen). … Kyle Burkholder tracked what every MLS team wore this year. ”¦ Cristiano Ronaldo’s crazy new shoes are supposedly inspired by his volcanic homeland of Madeira (from Trevor Williams).
Basketball News: The Utah Jazz’s arena has a new name (from Marc Mayntz). … Coaches will wear lapel pins in memory of Flip Saunders, the T-Wolves coach and GM who died this weekend. … Russell Westbrook dressed up as teammate Steven Adams for Halloween. Also, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle went as Jim Carrey for the holiday. … The Suns have at least a portion of their uniform schedule laid out (from Griffin Smith). … Stance socks have added a little more life to NBA uniforms (from Phil). … A Nike exec hinted to NBA owners that “Back to the Future”-style self-lacing shoes, along with body monitors and sensors that control body temperature, are on the horizon (from Phil). … Fordham has this pattern on the back of its jerseys (from Pat Costello). ”¦ New uniforms for Fresno State.
Grab Bag: “NASCAR has roof cameras for television purposes in race cars,” says David Firestone. “To keep things fair, and help make installation easier, those drivers who don’t have cameras have camera pucks.” … Will Scheibler poked around the Explore Chicago Collections site and found some old photos of a Spalding women’s basketball team and a Spalding indoor baseball team. He also found pictures of a baseball player in a great script jersey and a ballplayer in a nice button-down coat. ”¦ Rugby note from Graham Clayton, who writes: “Here is a photo of the scoreboard at Henson Park, the home ground of the Newtown Jets of the National Rugby League competition. It was taken on the March 28, 1982, when Newtown and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs became the first and still the only teams to play a 0-0 scoreless draw in the 117-year history of the competition.”
are the Heat paying homage to Iron Man?
The star spangled eichel sabres jersey is a knockoff jersey from one of those cheap jersey websites, a friend showed me it a couple of weeks ago. It’s crazy that someone is passing it off as authentic!
Did Joe Washington wear any other number than 20 with the Colts?
Hard to imagine that jersey started out with a “20” on it. Even the sleeve number looks wrong.
Both look like 7s to me, but I don’t know the history there.
Here is our answer. First play of this video.
link
Still don’t know why he is wearing #27 though. All rosters list him as #20 during his Colts tenure.
the ‘Nike exec’ is Mark Parker, he’s the reason Nike is what it is and has an impressive 30 year design history. he’s not just some corporate exec. shoes like the original Pegasus, Visible Air technology in Air Max and Nike+
( he is obv the helm of a large company and everything that entails, but he has a solid knowledge of how to design products properly not just how to make money )
[Maryland’s 1961 throwbacks, worn last weekend, were] an even worse idea than the Terps’ awful normal uniforms.
Sigh. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Anyway, did you notice the houndstooth pattern on the Texas State numerals is made from little maps of Texas? I wouldn’t have mentioned it if the negative space between the maps didn’t look like a reversed outline of Texas. Fascinating! I’ll bet that won’t work with an outline of Michigan.
Just another case of people being offended because they want to be offended. According to this: link 1961 was the only year they’d ever beaten Penn State, which seems like a perfectly logical reason to wear the uniform. They weren’t celebrating segregation.
The uniforms looked like crap, but that’s beside the point.
Agreed. People looking for reasons to be upset.
Re the ticker item concerning Maryland’s decision to wear 1961 throwback uniforms, hey!, context is helpful: (1) Maryland’s historical futility against Penn State is the stuff of legend, they played annually for 30+ years during which time Maryland won but a single game, in … wait for it … 1961; and (2) while it’s true that Maryland didn’t have a black player on its roster until a couple of seasons after that, it’s equally true (yet unmentioned) that said player was also the FIRST black player on the roster of a major state university south of the Mason-Dixon Line.
And anyway, “this reporter has been informed” – is hearsay what passes for journalism these days?
And anyway, “this reporter has been informed” — is hearsay what passes for journalism these days?
Anonymous sources are not ideal but are a longstanding integral part of journalism. I used one myself today, regarding the Royals’ visiting clubhouse. Did you have a problem with that one as well, or do you only have problems with anonymously sourced reporting that conflicts with your worldview?
Try sticking to the merits of your argument instead of impugning the professionalism of someone who’s doing his job in a completely routine way.
It seems to me that reporting “someone told me someone else’s feelings were hurt,” by itself and w/no apparent effort at independent confirmation, is the stuff of tabloid journalism. Obviously I don’t know this for a fact, but I presume your anonymous source furnished you with information he/she had first-hand knowledge of, or at least was in a position where said knowledge reasonably could be inferred. If so, apples and oranges.
I haven’t the foggiest what you mean by “conflicting with my worldview.”
It seems to me that reporting “someone told me someone else’s feelings were hurt,” by itself and w/no apparent effort at independent confirmation, is the stuff of tabloid journalism.
You are assuming, with no reason except your apparent bias against the narrative, that his source was not trustworthy, not in a position to know, etc. You’re also assuming that his editor didn’t question him on the source (which is unlikely).
I appreciate that you grant me the benefit of certain doubts regarding my source (thank you). It’s interesting that you leap to very different conclusions regarding Forde’s source.
You’ll note that in the item immediately above the Maryland one, the columnist described his investigative efforts in painstaking detail, while in his blurb about the Maryland uniforms he says merely “someone told me that yet someone else said they were offended by them” (or in this case, several someone elses). From which vaguely-reported information he then proceeded to draw a pretty damning (and, as the context furnished by me and other commenters downthread furnished, largely unwarranted) conclusion. Hence my skepticism, not whatever reasons you may impute to it.
Point taken that his editor probably questioned him regarding the reliability of his source for the item. All that means, though, is that columnist & editor were sloppy in taking the specious conclusion they drew from it to print.
As for my take on the blurb being “interesting,” again, I have no idea what that means, except to say it reads as vaguely perjorative.
Point taken that his editor probably questioned him regarding the reliability of his source for the item. All that means, though, is that columnist & editor were sloppy in taking the specious conclusion they drew from it to print.
Again, you have no idea if they were “sloppy” — you’re simply leaping to that conclusion. For all you (or I) know, the source is well-placed and dependable.
The fact that the columnist is capable of what you yourself call painstaking investigative work suggests that he doesn’t act recklessly.
At this point we’re repeating ourselves: You’re casting baseless aspersions and I’m pointing it out. Both tropes are tiresome — let’s move on. Thanks.
so would honoring Negro Leagues in MLB be considered similar since it represents a time when blacks weren’t allowed to play in the majors? When does it stop?
Someone may want to check on the Terps’ uni history. Frequent uni changes weren’t common back then, and from what little I’ve been able to piece together in a brief Google search (which gets overloaded with the modern uni messes regardless of what year I put in), it seems like they may have been wearing the same design in 1963 as in 1961.
If it’s true that the uniforms were the same when Maryland integrated its team, it doesn’t change that the throwbacks were specifically advertised as 1961 throwbacks, but it could at least add something to the narrative.
link
I haven’t been able to find anything for the rest of the uniform, but they did have a different helmet (same stripe pattern, but a silly looking turtle logo instead of numbers)
Well, the numbers went back on the sides in 1966… don’t know what that means for the rest of the uniform, though.
After doing a little research, it appears the 1962 uniform was identical to the 1961 uniform (in 1963, the team used a cartoon turtle on the sides of the helmet and moved the numbers to flank the center stripe).
Next year they should wear the same uniform and call it a 1962 “Tribute to the First Black Terrapin on Scholarship” throwback and reverse their PR fortunes.
Or people could stop making something out of nothing.
Just to clarify “something out of nothing” in this context, I’m not saying that segregation was nothing. Rather, I think one needs to look at the intent and the context of the action before accusing it of being racially motivated or labeling it a social faux pax.
Ten minutes of research would have uncovered the 1961 win against Penn State and its significance, and that should have been that. It was obviously not intended in any way to support segregation.
Thank you, Jared! I’ve been meaning to get a Colt .45s cap for a while now. Mission complete.
A little FYI concerning an item in today’s Collector’s Corner…
Brinke has it listed as “a 1970s KC Royals milk glass.” While you’re able to drink whatever you wish from this mug, it’s not necessarily a “milk glass.” I believe the listing is referring to the fact that the mug is made of “Milk Glass,” a name given to items fashioned from opaque white glass with (obviously) a milky appearance.
link
Royals Uniforms > Mets Uniforms. This coming from an A’s fan. The Royals are just a clean, classic look and they have the powder blue advantage.
I agree. The Mets have too many unnecessary outlines (silver? why?) and a stupid camo uniform.
I do with the Royals incorporated more golf from the crown on the KC logo. Maybe that will come next season with a WS win
Agreed. Tho I love the Mets’ combo of royal and orange, the Royals have a much better overall look (this coming from an Indians’ fan!). Plus, blue pinstripes give me the heebie-jeebies.
Tribe fan here.I think the Mets home pins and road grays are iconic but I dislike the blues. Someone on this site called them “cartoonish” last week and I agree with him/her. I hate the blue hat with the orange brim. KC looks good. Clean and simple. Just my two cents. This should be a great World Series!
The Mets are a good-looking team, but they’re not quite top-10 in MLB. The Royals are easily top-10, maybe the most “sleeper” great uniform set in baseball at the moment. Even KC’s alts are terrific.
I know that deserve’s got nothing to do with it, but if it did, the Royals will win in five.
The Mets’ regular uniforms? Easily top-10 in my book. I was a fan of permanently ditching pinstripes for link, but after so many years of black muddying up the jerseys I get a palpable thrill seeing link take the field.
Bright, dynamic colors, well-balanced. Orange and blue look especially good against the link.
You add alternate uniforms and the Mets get demoted. But strictly on the primaries, I’d be hard-pressed to find flaws with their design.
Yeah, well, the Mets are wearing their alts in the postseason, so those uniforms have to be factored in. I’m 100% with you: The Mets should have ditched the pins for the piping, tradition be damned. But the home pins are terrific – I think the Mets home pins are a better-looking uniform than the Yankees at home – and the road grays, while not outstanding, are serviceable and basically without flaws. But then the alts. Which aren’t terrible, but they’re not better than a gentleman’s C, and the Mets do wear them, so you’ve gotta score the whole set.
And I am likewise factoring KC’s alts into their uni-grade, even though we’re likely to see much less of them, possibly none at all, during the World Series. The Royals have some of the best alt uni elements in all of baseball at the moment.
The Mets have good uniforms. The Royals have great uniforms. If both teams ditched their alts, it would be a much closer call between two all-time greats, but the alts exist and at least for the Mets we’re gonna see ’em.
It’s a good thing uniforms don’t win you games, because all my favorite teams have been loud and garish.
I appreciate what the Mets are trying in terms of the gray. White lettering on a colored jersey with grey pants has a certain inelegance to it. It’s true that the root of that problem is the colored jersey, but if you’re going to have a colored jersey, I think the Mets are doing it the right way by using grey as an accent with their road garments and keeping white as the accent for their home garments. I also think that matching the coloration of the monogram to the jersey lettering on those jerseys is a good design choice, even though it overcomplicates things.
In short, the Mets could look better if they simplified their options, but they look better than almost every team that wears colored jerseys because they went the extra mile to make sure the elements all coordinate.
Walking around Manhattan on Saturday I was shocked at the lack of Mets gear being worn.
Saw 2 guys in nice Royals satin jackets, a whole bunch of Yankee gear (mostly on locals, not on tourists) and just a single Mets jacket, possibly on a tourist.
So disappointed in you people.
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Team “gear” (which is not “gear,” by the way — it’s just clothing) is not an barometer of ANYTHING except who’s stupid enough to spend money on overpriced polyester shirts. And even then, that only refers to a particular demographic, since there are plenty of fans who are too poor, old, or smart to waste money on such crap. Plenty of very passionate fans, including me, don’t “gear” up.
Jeez.
I was hoping to see some hats, some T shirts, shit like that. Not the ridiculous overpriced crap some folks buy and I didn’t say I was looking for that.
Not a Mets hat to be seen.
And what exactly is wrong with that? Who cares?
One more time: You’d be hard-pressed to find a bigger Mets fan than me, but I don’t wear any Mets
gearclothing. Does that make me a bad fan? Of course not.No one is saying you’re a bad fan, Paul.
On an island of over 1.5 million people I thought I’d see some Mets shirts/hats and was surprised not to.
On an island of over 1.5 million people I thought I’d see some Mets shirts/hats and was surprised not to.
Actually, that’s NOT what you said. You didn’t say you were “surprised”; you said you were “disappointed.” And I’m still waiting to hear an explanation of what’s so disappointing about a fan not wasting money on team merch.
“Walking around Manhattan on Saturday I was shocked at the lack of Mets gear being worn.”
~~~
You say this like it’s a BAD thing.
Jesus fucking christ. Just because NYers don’t go all gaga and
wastespend money on “gear” 1) doesn’t make them any less fans (although, in NY, you’re just as likely to find one who is I- not a fan; b- a fan of another team; 3- not a sports fan period) and 2) actually speaks to the fact that our lives don’t revolve around the team.Will it be awesome if the Mets win the World Series? Of course, I’d love that. But the sun will come up tomorrow either way.
It’s just fucking sports, people…not an entire way of life.
It’s just fucking sports, people…not an entire way of life.
…and you call yourself a fan. Pfft.
i was in NYC two weeks ago when the mets were playing
every hat in Manhatten was royal blue
i think it stands out because of all the yankee gear one sees..it the lack of Mets gear is a stark contrast
Not “gear”; just clothing.
in the words of Flynn Rider “semantics”
I haven’t seen it, not that it hasn’t been said, but is this the first World Series between expansion era teams?
Yes.
Since at least the mid-1990s, if you see a Yankees cap on a person’s head, you can be reasonably sure that person is a human being who likes to wear ballcaps. If you see a Mets cap on a person’s head, you can be reasonably sure that person is a Mets fan. I was in Europe in the months before our invasion of Iraq, and I saw crowds of hundreds of thousands of angry young Europeans chanting anti-American slogans and vandalizing property around U.S. Embassies, and yet the plurality of the protesters were wearing Yankees caps. Not because young Europeans are all big fans of Yankees baseball! A Yankees cap is a global fashion accessory, and has been for a generation, and even in America it’s largely divorced from any actual connection to the team.
…but NYers do “go all gaga and waste spend money on ‘gear'”. I don’t think you can separate NYC from the rest of America, they but professional sports apparel just like the rest of the country, maybe even more (I can’t find any articles on sales per city).
They apparently just don’t buy Mets apparel.
I think you have to go to Queens or NJ to see more Mets fans. I am not sure where exactly the split is.
What you’re forgetting is that the Mets aren’t the only game in town.
We have three hockey teams (all of which are currently playing), two football teams (ditto), two basketball teams (their seasons start tonight), and another MLB team. One team rarely dominates the city, even when it’s playing for a championship.
an oversaturated professional sports market is a poor excuse for there being no Mets Fever in NYC.
you can’t say NYers don’t buy pro sports apparel, because they do. They just aren’t wearing Mets gear…while the Mets are playing for their first championship since the 80’s.
an oversaturated professional sports market is a poor excuse for there being no Mets Fever in NYC.
You equate wearing of overpriced merch with team “fever.” That equation is badly flawed on multiple levels.
Nobody in NYC (or anywhere else) needs “an excuse” not to wear overpriced team merch. Honestly, if that’s your barometer of fandom, I feel sorry for you.
“an oversaturated professional sports market is a poor excuse for there being no Mets Fever in NYC.
you can’t say NYers don’t buy pro sports apparel, because they do. They just aren’t wearing Mets gear…while the Mets are playing for their first championship since the 80’s.”
~~~
Who says there is “no Mets Fever in NYC”? You?
Once again — wearing “gear” (or rather, not wearing it) does NOT a bad fan base make. Unless you believe all the bullshit Nike, adidas, New Era, Majestic, UA, et. al. would have you believe.
I’m not wearing (granted, I’m at the office, but even if I weren’t) ONE OUNCE of “Mets” apparel, so does this make me a bad fan? Or anyone who isn’t “visibly” (whatever the fuck that means) supporting the Mets is therefore a bad fan?
C’mon man.
And Paul’s absolutely right about the fact that there are [basically — I don’t really include the Devils, but there are Devils fans here, even on Lawn Guyland] eight other professional franchises here.
I know we’re not Alabama, where basically every Alabamian (Alabamite? Alabammer?) is either a Tide or Auburn fan, even if they never stepped foot on either campus — but that doesn’t mean fans here aren’t just as passionate. We just choose to root for our teams by (literally) wearing our emotions.
We’re pumped for the Mets. Don’t worry if not everyone is in orange and blue. We bleed it inside.
I know we’re not Alabama, where basically every Alabamian (Alabamite? Alabammer?) is either a Tide or Auburn fan
Alabaman. Fun fact: Among American state demonyms, the exceptions to the “ends with an -AN” rule are
Mainer
Wisconsinite
Connecticuter
Marylander
New Hampshirite
New Yorker
Rhode Islander
Vermonter
Wyomingite
Nothing is more fluid than a demonym, but I’ve always used “Massachusite”, “Connecticutian” (rhymes with electrocution), and “Maniard” (rhymes with Spaniard).
You just wanted to say “demonym”! (And I don’t blame you, it’s a great word.)
Michigander.
It seems I can’t reply to Paul’s 2:16 pm post, so I’ll reply here with the following:
I’ve been in nearly every major league city in this country and I’ve never seen fewer logos for a team in the ultimate playoff series than I did in NYC this weekend. Like I said, I saw Yankees gear, I saw NY Football Giants hats, I saw ManU shirts (the expensive kind), and I saw quite a bit of Knicks shirts and hats (but no Nets or Islanders or Jets or Rangers stuff).
I guess NYC is just too cool to show their allegiance to the local team during their sudden surge to the top of the standings.
I think Manhattan is mainly a Yankees borough.
“I’ve been in nearly every major league city in this country and I’ve never seen fewer logos for a team in the ultimate playoff series than I did in NYC this weekend.”
~~~
To which I say, “So what”?
Do you only equate fandom with merchandise (and the wearing thereof)?
If ever there were a validation of my contention that the world would be better off if team jerseys/caps/etc. had never been made available at retail, this thread is it. It’s the uni-verse version of Idiocracy.
Replying to Phil’s 3:00 post, yeah, in a way I do equate a town’s pride in a team to seeing the merchandise out there. You go to Montreal you see Canadians gear year-round, and you still see Expos gear. Boston goes without saying, you see those B’s all over New England and all over the world. Even in LA you see Dodger and Laker logos, and Angels gear all over Orange County. Yankee hats are the same, every other delivery guy, construction worker and fireman has a Yankee logo on them.
But no sign of the Mets.
Can we at least get some “I’m still Calling it Avery Fisher Hall” shirts?
Replying to Phil’s 3:00 post, yeah, in a way I do equate a town’s pride in a team to seeing the merchandise out there.
I genuinely, truly feel sorry for you. That is a terribly sad lens thru which to view the world. Says so many toxic things about our culture, too.
Good thing the Series is about to start, because I’m seriously depressed by this.
You’re overstating this by a magnitude of a thousand, Paul. I commented that the rank and file NYer is not overtly supporting the local team who has made the World Series for the first time in 14 years. You turned it into an “overpriced merchandise” discussion which I never mentioned, suggested, or otherwise considered. YOU’RE the one who equates “gear” with $200 jersey”, not me.
No need to feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for the New Yorkers who don’t seem to be anticipating a great experience.
I have no doubt that Citibank will be sold out for every game played there in the coming weeks, but in comparison, if the Yankees were in the WS, Manhattan would be flooded with Yankees logos. It is no secret that the Mets play second fiddle to the Yankees, but I would also think that there would be a ton of Mets apparel on the streets right now. When the Nationals were in the playoffs, there were Nats caps all over DC. When the Phillies made their run in 2008, the Phillies logo was everywhere in Philly.
If Lose Rem says he is surprised at the lack of Mets apparel he saw, I would have to say I agree. I would expect it to be everywhere in the city right now.
If Lose Rem says he is surprised at the lack of Mets apparel he saw, I would have to say I agree.
It is, frankly, heartbreaking to hear Uni Watch readers — readers who care enough to participate in the comments — equating merch sales with, well, *anything.*
Merch sales are not a barometer of anything aside from merch sales. They say nothing about any person/city other than the person’s willingness to spend money on a mass-produced item and the person’s access to said money (or credit). Has ZERO bearing on “pride,” passion, or anything else. If people want to buy this stuff, that’s their prerogative; ditto if they don’t want to. It’s beyond depressing to hear Uni Watch readers judging a city and its residents for their choice to NOT buy the same mass-produced crap that everyone else is wearing.
Idiocracy lives.
” I feel sorry for the New Yorkers who don’t seem to be anticipating a great experience.”
~~~
And that’s why you’re not a New Yorker.
Maybe it’s just “us” but we can really, honestly and truly, anticipate a great experience without wearing costumes*
.
.
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*except for a few of those parades.
People seem to like to get all costumed out for things other than our sporting teams.
I feel sorry for the New Yorkers who don’t seem to be anticipating a great experience.
We are. We just aren’t confusing “anticipating a great experience” with “spending money”.
And FWIW, I stopped into a Mets team store to pick up a WS-bepatched cap for a friend’s birthday party tonight, and the cash register line snaked all around the shop and out the door. So if anecdotal evidence is now meaningful, there’s that.
I grew up in NYC. I moved to Chicago three years ago.
I think I (kinda) understand what Lose Rem is trying to say. As a New Yorker, we don’t necessarily wear our jerseys our ball caps during work days (or afterwork for that matter). It doesn’t mean we aren’t passionate fans of our local teams.
On the other hand, living in Chicago, you’ll see hundreds of people — male and female — wearing Blackhawks jerseys and gear to work during the playoffs. Just last week during the NLCS, hundreds of people downtown wearing Cubs gear.
In fact, my wife loves guessing who the Bears or Cubs are playing by seeing tourists wearing the opposing teams jerseys and ball caps throughout the city.
In New York City, it’s not on the level that it is here in the Midwest.
Like I said, I can (kinda) see his POV. But I agree with Phil and Paul, it doesn’t mean that New Yorkers are less passionate about their home teams.
Let’s go Royals!
Maybe, just maybe, The “McJesus” Oilers jersey isn’t a compliment. The Facebook page STABNEY CUP pretty much satires all of the NHL. I won’t repeat what it actually calls him but it isn’t a compliment. All in cartoon form too.
If my favorite Met hadn’t changed his number (and broken his arm), there could have been another 0 in the World Series.
link
Did Rey Ordonez ever say why he switched to 10?
His actual quote: He was “tired of being a nothing.”
Given his stellar fielding percentage, he could have turned it around and said “Nobody’s perfect, but I’m almost Nobody.”
Another what-if scenario: 1985 was the first year the LCS went to best-of-seven. The Blue Jays had a 3-1 lead…had MLB left well enough alone, Toronto and #0 Al Oliver would have been in the Series against the Cardinals.
“It’s not about how you play any more, it’s more about how you look”
Hayden Fry said the same thing- back in 1978 when he changed Iowa’s uniforms and modified them after the Steelers, stating “we may not play good, but we will look good” It must have worked because within a few years Iowa was in the Rose Bowl after enduring 20+ losing seasons.
Vivint Smart Home Arena for the Jazz has gotta take the cake as the most ludicrous corporate stadium naming in pro sports.
Jobing.com Arena is my nomination for worst arena name ever.
At least it doesn’t have that name anymore, being renamed Gila River Arena.
Still better than Sleep Train Arena and Smoothie King Center.
The girl’s soccer team that had a player objecting to their sponsor has been suspended due to “privacy” concerns, and NHLer Willie Mitchell has offered to sponsor the team. Sponsorship is sadly often necessary but this has been handled extremely poorly by both the sponsor and team. Saying if you don’t like our sponsor find another team is despicable. The point of youth sports is to encourage children to participate in physical activities and learn things like sportsmanship not be a billboard.
Despite Mets 2B Daniel Murphy’s postseason heroics, fans are not buying Murphy jerseys and T-shirts. Murphy is a free agent at the end of the year and is considered unlikely to return to the team, so merch-purchasers are hedging their bets
Somehow I don’t think that’s link….
Unfortunately, I doubt that’s put much of a dent, if any, in Murphy merch sales.
I can vouch for two kid-size Wright jerseys running around Brooklyn that would otherwise have been Murphy. But I’ll freely admit that Park Slope is its own animal sometimes.
Matthew Prigge was at an antique sale and found someone’s renderings for new Brewers logos – look here and here. “Perhaps these were intended for the 1977 logo design contest that resulted in the glove/ball ‘mb’ logo,” he says.
Wow, Matthew – those are brilliant! What an amazing find.
They certainly look like they could have come from the era. Would have loved for them to move in that direction.
Thanks, Jared….and Paul!
Perhaps a silly question, but does the squatchee serve any functional purpose on the modern caps? I see that David Price removes his, so I’m assuming they don’t.
Might have been functional at one point, but not anymore. Just ornamental.
I think it does actually provide some structural support. If you pull the squatchee off, there is actually a small hole on the top of the cap. Over time, that could become a point where the hat starts to break apart.
Yeah, but that’s because you just put a hole in the cap. Not because it was a load-bearing squatchee.
“Load-bearing squatchee” is definitely my favorite term of the
dayweekmonth.Load-bearing squatchee was the name of my band in college
(not really)
Paul, I think the problem with your deli trip is not that they were using Boar’s Head, it’s that they labeled themselves wrong. Your last sentence was “…I could’ve walked to my corner bodega for that.”
What you call a bodega in NYC, is called a deli (nearly) everywhere else. So you were expecting a deli and all that you got was a good bodega.
I’ve had a lot of ’47 hats over the years. They fit well and I like their minimalism, but I noticed that they all have the ’47 brand logo embroidered on the side. That’s a non-starter for me.
Does anyone know if they still make a line of hats without the logo on the side?
I know what you mean.
What I do is take a colored Sharpie marker and carefully color the ’47 brand logo the same color as the hat. Do it once, let it dry and then usually a second time and you really can’t tell that it’s on it. (I also do the same thing to the embroidery on the back too as I like my caps to look like old-school ones from the ’70s)
Seam-ripper for me.
Thank you to Jared Wheeler for the code on ’47 — just saved over $60 on my order.
Cheers!
-ant
Ditto that! Thank you, Jared.
Leaving all other issues aside, I really like the Heat alts because of the dark shorts/light jersey combo. For the same reason, the Wizards’ old gold and black alts held a lot of appeal for me. I wish that the Heat did not diminish the look with the side panels, but in today’s NBA, I’ll take it.
Stop saying “Matt Fratboy” — do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds?
Do you even realize how ridiculous he IS?
I see no reason to stop. He’ll always be Matt Fratboy to me.
I agree. “Frat Harvey” is a much better name.
Love that.
Is that Jason Hanky’s?
Re: 47 brand online shop, only five MLS clubs? Boo hiss! ;)
Speaking of great cover artwork, gotta like this1970s Royals publication called “Grand Slam.” Look at all those stirrups! Plus they got the A’s white shoes and Chisox’s non-stirrup socks right.
Although they paired the Indians’ “blood clot” jerseys (link) with the Brewers’ pinstripes (link).
In the Islanders article, this section struck me:
The new jersey works off of the very successful “Stadium Series” jersey with the “NY” logo that the Islanders wore for the outdoor game at Yankee Stadium two seasons ago and subsequently became a third jersey last season. The jersey also features four white stripes on the sleeves to commemorate the team’s four Stanley Cup titles.
What the Islanders did was mix the traditions of their 43-year run on Long Island with a little something new for a new era in Brooklyn.
“It was taking their best-selling jersey, taking the tradition of the stripes, taking the stick, taking the orange and blue in the collar and on the inseam and then just putting Brooklyn on the bottom,” said Mangione. “There’s a little bit of everything.”
It’s a little awkward, but is he saying that the goofy Stadium Series jersey is or has been for any period of time the Islanders’ best-seller? Wow.
Like most teams, the uniform they started out with happens to be their best.
It’s the first change from the original* that wasn’t a total embarrassment, so people enjoyed “new”
*the shades, contrasts and colours of numerals have changed, but DIFFERENT = fish sticks, fish sticks with original logo, Pylons and Wang’s son’s Uni generator BFBS garbage. Stadium Series was… OK, not bad.
Sadly, the black one is a precursor to saying buh’bye to, as walter put it, their best.
SB
Looks like the NY Daily News picked up your meat rivalry.
link
I appreciated the note on “true Deli meat” vs “boars head meat”
It seems the Mets displeased the baseball gods by wearing the blues instead of the greys.
I really don’t get the concern over Maryland using pre-integration throwbacks. I haven’t seen them, but by that logic we shouldn’t have any throwbacks from MLB prior to the 1947 season, right?
Is there some relation between this particular uniform and segregation?