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Paul here, pinch-hitting for Phil, who has the weekend off. Had we seen the new Pro Bowl jerseys yet? I hadn’t, until a reader pointed out that they’re now available for sale. Nice to see they’ll be going color vs. color. Too bad about the neon trim, though. No sign yet of the pants, so a Thursday-style mono vs. mono pairing is possible (and, let’s face it, likely). The game will be played on Sunday, Jan. 29.
For those who’d like to refresh their memories, I did a pretty comprehensive survey of Pro Bowl uniform history for ESPN last year.
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Sweeping Beauty: Wow — now that’s a jersey! Or, rather, a curling sweater. Reader Will Scheibler took that photo yesterday at the Fort William Curling Club in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary. Holy moly, is it too late to ask Santa to get me that, in my size?
That’s it for today. The comments are open, so feel free to talk among yourselves. Tomorrow I’ll have the winners of our year-end raffle.
Happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating tonight. Enjoy a happy and healthy holiday. Peace. ”” Paul
Wow. Those are really… plain.
Also, wasn’t aware they were going back to AFC/NFC again. The last couple have been used the goofy fantasy team format with retired player-captains.
I actually like those for some reason. AFC/NFC and color vs color are a plus. Unfortunately, I think you will be right about the mono look with these, although I could see them use a darker shade of red and blue (like the numbers) for the pants.
Never thought I would say this about pro bowl jerseys- I think they look to bland. Some old school sleeve striping would be cool. I wonder if the pants will be striped
You can’t buy those curling sweaters, you have to earn them. Provincial (or, in this case, regional – N. Ontario gets a rep at the national curling championship) champions..
The only time I have seen that crest for sale (but on a much smaller scale as a small patch) on Ebay I had to jump on it.
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The curling sweater is from back to back Canadian women’s curling champion (1988 & 1989) and World Champion (1989) curler Heather Houston:
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Unlike the men, the Canadian women having Northern Ontario getting their own separate team at the national curling champions is a recent thing. Northern Ontario competed for the first time in 2015 (bottom of these articles)
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This may be an odd question, by why are there gendered curling teams? It doesn’t seem like a sport where it would matter. (I guess the same applies to billiards, darts, etc.)
They also have curling teams that are 2 men and 2 women, it’s called “mixed curling”. There’s even a world championship for them. General not nearly as popular as the men’s or women’s curling though.
Sadly the days of the classic curling sweater seemed to be dying. Back in the day the teams would wear the sweaters while the were playing, now you see them in track jackets heavily laden with advertising. I guess it’s all about the buck. Generally you only see them in their sweaters during the medal/trophy presentations, if at all. You don’t make a ton of money as a professional curler so the adevertising helps a lot.
We have reached a new uni-low when red and blue jerseys that have neon yellow (or gosh, is that “volt”) are considered bland.
At least it’s just the pro bowl so only 3 to 4 thousand degenerate gamblers will be exposed to their hideousness.
Serious question: Why are gamblers so often referred to as “degenerate gamblers”? I first noticed this years ago during ‘The Sopranos,’ when Tony routinely referred to people as “degenerate gamblers.”
Some gamblers do fit the description, of course. But lots of other unsavory people could also accurately be described as “degenerate,” yet the term isn’t often applied to them — only to gamblers.
To be clear: I find gambling culture seriously off-putting (esp. as it pertains to sports), so I’m not trying to defend it. I’m just curious about the choice of language.
“Degenerate gamblers” would be the ones who feel the need to get a bet down on anything. Anyone who’d bet at all seriously on a game like the Pro Bowl certainly qualifies.
Exactly what burghfan wrote is precisely why i used the term “degenerate”. One thing to gamble on something you sincerely feel strong about or believe you have researched, but gamblers who get down on ANYTHING are degenerate in my eyes.
#ProbablyASickness
My experience is that a degenerate gambler is someone who is addicted to gambling. The type of person who will bet on almost anything. A degenerate, much like an alcoholic or a drug addict, will sometimes lose their job, family, home, etc. It’s actually very sad to see a true degenerate. Unless they get help there’s no hope.
Right. But I don’t usually hear the term “degenerate drinker” or “degenerate drug user.”
In short, you have defined the term, but you have not answered my question, which I will repeat: Why does the descriptor “degenerate” tend to be applied to those who engage in gambling and not to other frowned-upon behaviors?
You’re all a bunch of degenerate uniform enthusiasts.
The same reason “brandish” is only used with handguns.
Similarly- last week of baseball season: “team a” has staved off elimination. Has anything else ever been staved off?
My fiancée says she’s heard of plenty of swords being brandished and several instances of hunger being staved off.
Love discussions like this – one of the many reason why Uni Watch is one of the best sites on the ol’ Intertubes (and is also one of the rare exceptions to the almost universally excellent advice to NEVER READ THE COMMENTS).
As noted by BurghFan & Jerry, “degenerate” is typically applied to gamblers who will (or who feel compelled to) put a bet on the most ridiculous “competitions” — such as which bird will fly away first from the wire, which raindrop will reach the bottom of the window first, which team will will the Pro Bowl.
One possibility why “degenerate” is applied to gamblers & not drinkers/drug users is that drinkers already have a popular term (alcoholic) to differentiate the “problem” drinker from the social/under control drinker, as do drug users (addicts vs. casual/recreational users). Adding “degenerate” in front of gamblers points out which types of gambling behavior are unacceptable to the user of the word, and also allows for the fact that some forms of gambling (those that don’t get the “degenerate” label) are acceptable, at least to the speaker.
The use of “degenerate” instead of “compulsive” or “addicted” also suggests that, unlike how society has evolved considerably in understanding that compulsive use of alcohol & other drugs is actually a disease & not merely a character flaw, we’ve yet to arrive at that point with gambling (and, for that matter, with other behavioral compulsions such as sex addiction).
The other thought is that we’re a nation of people who use words without thinking much about what they mean, and since the popular guy on the teevee said “degenerate gambler” we do, too …
Hugh makes the important point – there are already terms for “degenerate” drinkers and drug users. If you want to say that “degenerate gambler” is to “compulsive gambler” as “junkie” is to “drug addict” or “drunk” is to “alcoholic”, I’ll be happy to consider it.
Timely discussion as I got my first and (hopefully) last taste of Las Vegas last weekend as I attended the Vegas Bowl*. I was wearing my Houston alum hoodie and hat most of the time leading up to the game and was hit up by strangers over and over wanting to know if I thought Houston would ‘cover’, did I think the game would go ‘over or under’, etc. It happened on the Strip, in my hotel lobby, in a steakhouse and even at Hoover Dam! I of course knew that Vegas was built on gambling but having random folks ask about betting the game was kind of eye-opening. So maybe my definition of degenerate gambler would be “One who asks for gambling advice from strangers based on the thinnest of evidence that said stranger might know something they themselves don’t”
*= what does it say about bowl sponsorships that six days removed from a game I attended and had high interest in I can’t recall if there was a title sponsor much less who it might have been?
BTW…that curing sweater is just awesome!
I remember when all star uniforms in various leagues used to have stars on them. Newer versions do not seem too. That is a pity.
My favourite Pro Bowl uniform is from the early 1990s. Regular looking football uniforms that were blue and red. League colours that are not the trendy flavour of the year bright colours. Stars present on the uniform.
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For those who’d like to refresh their memories, I did a pretty comprehensive survey of Pro Bowl uniforms for ESPN last year:
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Wonder if that’s pronounced like the Texas city or the Manhattan street? hmmm.
I find it difficult to believe that anyone still watches the Pro Bowl. The whole thing seems to be an utter waste of time, effort and resources.
Indeed:
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I’m in the small majority that likes the pro bowl. Yes I understand it’s not a “real” game and merely an exhibition usually played at 3/4 speed. That said seeing the NFL’s best players in the game compete is fun. It’s usually high scoring and it seems like the players enjoy themselves. When the game was played after the SB I always thought of it as one more Sunday of football. One more Sunday with beer & wings until September rolled around. I should also note that the ratings are usually decent so I’m not the only one watching.
Pro Bowl: Even with the neon outline, what is the readability for those digits from a distance?
Mitigating factor: It’s the Pro Bowl. If it were in a game that mattered, where things might turn on officials reading the correct number, it would be worse.
If it were in a game that mattered, where things might turn on officials reading the correct number
Number legibility is really not that big of a deal for the purpose of playing the game. If the refs call holding, then they called holding, regardless of whether they give an accurate number. A 5 yard rush is a 5 yard rush, regardless of which back made the carry. Maybe the wrong player might get ejected in a fight situation or something, but this is the NFL where that shouldn’t be happening in the first place. These are supposed to be professionals. (Half the time they miss the initial cause and flag the retaliation anyway, so the accuracy in those situations is already a bit iffy.)
Sure, hard to read numbers make for worse commentary and less accurate LIVE stats… but those aren’t vital for playing the game in the moment. Someone can always go back and watch the game again to make sure the stats are accurately recorded.
Numbering — and therefore number legibility — is actually more important in football than in any of the other major sports, because players can only have certain numbers depending on whether they’re eligible and ineligible receivers.
Of course, that isn’t likely to come into play in a Pro Bowl. But still.
… but only because the Patriots usually advance beyond the point that would make Belichick the AFC coach…
Fair point, but eligibility is actually determined by the formation not the number, which is why lineman can and do report as eligible all the time.
In the grand scheme of things, I don’t think it’d make much of a difference. Offensive lineman aren’t exactly known for their catching skills.
Note that the NCAA doesn’t have the same number rules as the NFL. It’s “Strongly Recommended” that offensive line players wear 50-79, but not actually required.
eligibility is actually determined by the formation not the number, which is why lineman can and do report as eligible all the time.
Yeah, but why do they have to report? Because they’re wearing an ineligible number!
Plus you have “ineligible receiver downfield” penalties.
No other major sport where numbers matter to this degree. Baseball and hockey could easily be played without any numbers; ditto basketball, if the scorer was good at keeping track of fouls by player, instead of by number.
But football? Numbers matter. A lot.
Spoken like someone who’s never officiated anything.
Paul is correct here, and let’s not forget that, simply put, for defensive purposes (and offensive blocking schemes as well), players need to be able to quickly identify opposing team’s players. If you’re the shut-down corner on your defense, you are probably going to be assigned on many plays to cover the opponent’s #1 WR. Without easy-to-read numbers, it would be very hard to discern who’s who in a game where everybody is wearing a helmet.
Football would be a total Charlie Foxtrot if players didn’t wear numbers.
The plain Pro Bowl uniforms aren’t too bad for the return to the conference format. Maybe in the coming years, as the change takes hold, we’ll see the stars–and stripes–come back to the uniforms. Color-on-color isn’t so bad for this game, but maybe the conferences can take turns wearing white; I seem to remember that one conference always wore white.
Those NFC jerseys make me long for the old L.A. Rams look.
Hard to believe that not a single NFL team uses the royal/yellow combo, it always looks great.
Those Pro Bowl jerseys look okay, I guess. But I don’t prefer dark numbers on a dark jersey, even with the bright-colored outline. Would look better with solid white (or maybe solid yellow) numbers in my opinion.
I don’t know much about curling even though I do watch it in the Olympics. With that said, that curling sweater is the coolest sweater I have ever seen, better than any varsity letterman jacket I have seen too. That would be cool to see Paul, Phil and the gang wear Uni Watch versions like those next season. Happy Holiday’s everybody!
Better yet, Uni Watch designed curling sweaters/t-shirts.
buy each month’s uni-watch curling sweater and get the year-end sweater with proof of purchases!
Looks like Tom Savage is wearing his wedding ring on the field tonight. No photo but I found this:
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Appologies if this is already known.