[Editor’s Note: Paul is on his annual August break from site (although he’s still on the clock over at ESPN and may be popping up here occasionally), and Phil is off this week. Today’s content was written and coordinated by assistant editor Mike Chamernik. Paul will return to take over the site this Friday, Sept. 1.]
By Mike Chamernik
Color Rush has spread to college football. Yesterday it was revealed that Michigan and Florida will wear monochrome uniforms for their season opener at Dallas’s AT&T Stadium on Saturday.
Michigan says that its uniform commemorates the 150-year anniversary of adopting maize and blue as school colors. The Wolverines have worn maize jerseys with blue numbers once before, way back in 1928 for a game against Navy. This will be the sixth time since 2011 that Michigan has worn an alternate uniform, including mono-blue, and the first time the uniform was produced by Jordan Brand (ugh).
Florida is going with a “flooded” blue uniform, in Nike lingo, which includes blue gloves, cleats, socks, and wristbands. The Gators have worn mono-blue dozens of times over the last decade, but each time they wore contrasting orange and white accessories.
More photos of the uniforms can be seen here.
Bucks Return to Their First Home: The Bucks are celebrating their 50th season this year with a new throwback uniform and a regular season game at the MECCA Arena, which still stands across the street from their current home, the Bradley Center. This morning, the Bucks will unveil the uniform, which is officially designated the “Classic Edition” in new NBA-Speak, and announce the date and opponent for the game.
Most known for its colorful and imaginative court, the Bucks played at the MECCA from their inaugural season in 1968 up through 1988. It currently serves as the home for UW-Milwaukee basketball, so while it is certainly a smaller venue at only 11,000 seats, it shouldn’t have to be modernized that much for an NBA game.
This is not the first time that a team has reopened a former home for a ceremonial regular season game. Thirteen years after they moved out and months before the arena’s closing, the 76ers held a game at the Spectrum in March 2009. The Lakers did something similar with the Fabulous Forum that same year, but in the preseason. Can anyone else think of any regular season examples from any of the four major sports?
Click to enlarge
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
I wish the Cowboys would bring back this logo (and fix the color scheme, but that’s another rant). As I recall, it was still in use when I moved to Dallas in 1971, five years after the game featured on this ticket stub. A reserved seat at the Cotton Bowl was just six dollars, and you’d be right around the 30-yard line or so! I bet the seats at JerrahWorld are a bit more expensive
Now for the rest of the week:
• One more Cowboys item: McFarlane really nailed this pose of QB Roger Staubach complete with the bicentennial red stripe. Two quibbles: Roger was wearing white Adidas that fall, and the company didn’t quite get the star logo on the box. Minor quibbles, though — a great likeness.
• The great Jerry West, he of the NBA logo, seems to have held a basketball camp back in the day, and he called it Camp Wahoo. Guess the Cleveland Indians were okay with it.
• Here we have a nice-looking pair of Chicago White Sox, er, socks. Sponsored by your friends at Clorox, they’re 16-17″ in length with navy stripes and that modern batter logo they used.
• The cover of this 1969 Bengals press guide touted that fancy new stadium that was going up in Bengal Land down on the river in another season.
• Boston Bruins fans will wanna wax up their skates with a can of Phil Esposito hockey boot wax.
• If you were a member of the NFL Super Pro Club, I guess you got one of these Frisbees.
• Here’s a 1970s 49ers helmet plaque from Sears. In fine shape except for a little spot right by the back of the helmet.
• Now, this auction is just for the box, which contained a 1960s Wilson NFL uniform set. Ninety dollars is a bit steep for an empty box, but you can’t deny that the artwork is terrific: John Brodie, Bob Griese, and Gale Sayers!
• Now look how jaunty this Pittsburgh Pirate looks on this 1970s belt buckle.
• Staying in the Steel City, this 1970s Steelers serving tray appears to be in excellent shape.
• Far OUT, dude! Check out this 1970s Peter Max–style football scarf on Etsy, from reader Jon Solomonson, who added “I’ll just have to imagine my own team’s players on this generic scarf.”
Follow Brinke on Twitter.
Help Wanted: Paul here. Would you like to work long hours for low pay? Have you always fantasized about having one of the internet’s most persnickety readerships pointing out your every misspelling and grammatical error? Does typing three periods in a row, many times per day, sound like your idea of fun?
If this sounds like you, then I may have just what you’re looking for. Due to some reshuffling of responsibilities around here, I’m currently in the market for a new Ticker intern. Here are the basics:
1. The job will require you to be on Ticker duty at least one weekday per week (and possibly two, if things work out), roughly from 8am to 9:30pm Eastern. You’d be assigned to the same weekday(s) each week. Being “on Ticker duty” means (a) monitoring all the email sent to the Uni Watch email account and all the mentions on the Uni Watch Twitter account; (b) compiling all of that content into the Ticker that will run on the following day, and having it ready and waiting for me when I wake up in the morning; and (c) evaluating which emails and/or tweets, if any, need to be forwarded to me (which is arguably the most important part of the job). You don’t have to be glued to your computer all day long, but you do need to check those email and Twitter accounts at least every 90 minutes or so, just in case there’s breaking news or something that needs immediate attention.
2. Once you get settled into Tickering, there will also be the opportunity (and occasionally the need) for you to write non-Ticker content.
3. The gig comes with a small stipend that is completely insufficient to cover the work involved, which should be an excellent introduction to the financial realities that await you in the larger world of journalism.
4. All of the following are required:
• A detail-oriented mindset.
• A knack for critical thinking.
• Excellent writing and grammar skills.
• Excellent organizational and multi-tasking skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• A strong working knowledge of Uni Watch.
• A strong working knowledge of pro and college sports.
• A strong sense of responsibility.
• Some experience with HTML.
5. Any of the following, while not necessarily required, would be a big plus:
• Some experience and/or education in journalism.
• A decent working knowledge of AP style.
• Some knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, graphic design.
• Some experience with WordPress.
• A dry sense of humor.
• A college major that is not sports marketing.
6. Although most of the people who’ve filled this position in the recent past have been young people looking to jump-start their media careers, I’d also be happy to work with someone older. There’s no minimum or maximum age.
7. You may have noticed, or at least intuited, that the Uni Watch team is currently comprised exclusively of straight white males. In a perfect world, I would prefer to have a more diverse roster. That’s not to say I’ll pick a less-qualified candidate just for the sake of diversity, but if you think you have the chops and you fall outside of our current narrow demographic range, I’m definitely encouraging you to apply.
Still interested? If so, drop me a line. Your email should include (a) a few paragraphs explaining who you are and why you’re the right person for the job; (b) some suggestions for how Uni Watch could be improved (other than by hiring you); (c) links to two pieces of published writing you’ve done; (d) which weekday you’d prefer for Ticker duty, if you have such a preference; and (e) something else — surprise me.
I apologize in advance for not being able to respond to each applicant personally. Please don’t follow up with additional emails asking if I received your first note — if you’re in the running, you’ll definitely be hearing from me. Thanks!
Naming Wrongs update: Paul here (again). Hockey season is fast approaching, so we have a bunch of new shirts for arenas that have been saddled with stupid corporate names. One at a time:
The Kiel Center: We have a standard typographic treatment, available in blue with gold lettering, blue with gold/white lettering, white, and grey, and there’s also an arched treatment (“Which I did just … because,” says designer Scott M. X. Turner), also available in blue with gold lettering, blue with gold/white lettering, white, and grey (for all photos, click to enlarge):
The Ice Palace: This one’s available in blue, black, and grey:
The Pond: Only two versions of this one — eggplant and grey:
Civic Center: In case you missed it on Friday, we also have this treat for Whalers fans, available in green, navy, white, and grey:
And as long as we’re talking NHL arenas, remember that we also have shirts for the Forum (in English and in French!), Boston Garden, and the Igloo, among many others.
All of these designs are now available in the Naming Wrongs shop. They’re also cross-listed in the Uni Watch shop, where card-carrying members can get 15% off. (If you’re a member and need the discount code, send me a note and I’ll hook you up.) My thanks, as always, for your consideration.
One last word from Paul: Big thanks to everyone who left kind comments on yesterday’s post about Tucker. It’s been a difficult time, and I truly appreciate the support.
The Ticker
By Mike Chamernik
Baseball News: This week’s Rangers-Astros series will be relocated to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., due to Hurricane Harvey. … Lady Gaga wore a personalized Cubs jersey when she performed at Wrigley Field this past weekend. … The Rochester Red Wings will wear photo collage jerseys for Fan Appreciation Day next Monday (from Phil). … The Nationals will give out Bryce Harper Starting Lineup figurines before today’s game (from Robert Hayes).
NFL News: Hurricane Harvey has forced Thursday’s Cowboys-Texans game to be moved from Houston to Dallas. … Fox has introduced a minimalist score bug. … Seahawks players talked about trying the new Vicis helmet, which is designed to better protect against head injuries (from Brinke). … In the early 1970s, prolific DC Comics artist Jack Kirby was commisioned to create a series of NFL-themed characters (from @colbydlong).
College Football News: Syracuse will wear an orange “Mac” memorial patch for Dick MacPherson, who coached at the school during the 1980s. He died earlier this month (from @PhillyPartTwo). … Duquesne will have black and gold “DR” decals this season in memory of Steelers chairman Dan Rooney. He attended the school and helped fund the football program. … Fisher (Ill.) High School places its logo, an aggressive bunny, on the front of its helmets, rather than on the sides (from Craig Choate).
Hockey News: The Flyers will retire Eric Lindros’s No. 88 on January 18. … The Rangers will retire No. 19 in honor of Jean Ratelle, a center during the 1960s and 1970s, on February 25. … The Bruins’ Charlie McAvoy used tape to improvise his sock stripes for the NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
Basketball News: Take a look at some of the logo concepts the Suns had in the works back during their 1992 redesign (from Patrick Thomas). … The Cavaliers have a logo for a tryout for their G-League team, the Canton Charge. … New home uniform for Bradley’s men’s team. Also, the women’s team has a new black uni (from Joe Ringham).
Grab Bag: New gray unis for Georgetown men’s soccer (from @BoyGeniusLA). … Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., both members of Roush Fenway Racing, will have throwback paint schemes for this weekend’s NASCAR race. … New cross country uniforms for Ole Miss (from Gregg Elkin). … If you like curling, then you’ll enjoy an old ad for a home curling rink, and this artistic print of the 1st Scotch Curling Cup in 1959 (from Will Scheibler). … New logo for Alvernia University. … Amazon officially acquired Whole Foods yesterday, so some of grocery chain’s butchers formed Amazon logos out of ground beef.
Our thoughts today are with the people of Houston and the surrounding area affected by Hurricane Harvey. Here’s hoping they’re safe, and that they see some relief soon.
The t-shirt may still call it the Kiel Center, but I’m still calling it the Kiel Auditorium.
It was the cozy home of the St. Louis Hawks (before my time) and Saint Louis University Billikens basketball before it was razed and rebuilt as the Kiel Center.
To that point, I know folks who call the front of the building the Kiel Opera House, though it was renamed Peabody Opera House a while back.
(On further searching, Kiel Auditorium and Opera House was originally Municipal Auditorium for its first 9 years; renamed in 1943 for Mayor Henry Kiel. I’m still calling it Kiel Auditorium.)
Also, is there going to be an “I Miss The Arena” version of the Blues? That place was old and decrepit and completely wonderful to watch hockey.
The Checkerdome?
It was the Arena for almost 50 years before it was redubbed the Checkerdome in the Purina days.
It was only the Checkerdome for 7 years before it reverted to the Arena.
What a great old dumpy barn it was. Sigh.
During the time of the Checkerdome, there were some tough business times for the hockey team. Here is an applicable t-shirt graphic to the times: “I almost called them the Saskatchewan Blues”.
Maybe if there was an “I still call it The Summit” shirt the good people of Houston could use that building for a shelter… link
I’ve been wanting an “I Still Call It The Summit” shirt since Naming Wrongs shirts started. Because I grew up in Houston, and I do.
“Florida is going with a “flooded” blue uniform”
Given what’s going on with flooding in Texas and this game is being played in Texas (albeit four hours north of the flooding), it’s pretty tone deaf (but not surprising) of Nike to refer to one of the participants’ uniforms as “flooded.” Awesome job, as usual, by the Nike folks.
I was thinking something similar.
I know that they have been planning these uni’s for a while now, and have probably had that term associated with them for a long time, at least internally, but they could have dropped it, or changed it.
It looks like the jersey is the normal blue one, it’s just the pants and accessories that are different; big bunch of nothing.
As a Patriots fan, my favorite Fox score bug will always be the one used up until last season’s Super Bowl, solely because of the iconic 28-3, 28-34 apparel.
I’m firmly against the change. I have a 32″ screen in my bedroom, and I was squinting to read the type. A change in font and/or font size/weight would do wonders.
Not a regular season game, but the Dodgers and Red Sox played an exhibition game at the LA Coliseum in 2008 in recognition of the the 50th anniversary of the team moving to LA. More than 100,000 fans were in attendance.
link
I was at the game where the White Sox gave away those socks. They gave ’em away on August 1, 1982 against Boston. My primary memory (aside from the commercials for the giveaway that featured White Sox players getting all tongue-twisted by “Clorox Tube Sox when the White Sox play the Red Sox”) was Ron LeFlore getting hit on the head by a fly ball, allowing catcher Gary Allenson to come around on a 4-base error. 42-year-old Carl Yastrzemski played center field(!) for the Red Sox that day.
link
The answer as to why there is an arched version of the “I still call it The Kiel Center” shirt is, of course, because of the Gateway Arch. This is at least as accurate as jalf of the justifications for certain uni elements that get put in place because someone thinks they look good and then a “historical” reason for the element gets created after the fact.
*half
You may have already seen this, but JJ Watt set up a fund for flood victims. He’s raised over $1 million so far. If you haven’t donated anything yet and have the means, anything will help.
link
What about “I Still Call it the Civic Center” for Baltimore? Everyone around here still does. The Whalers colors just don’t work for it. Orange and red would be appropriate for its main tenant now, the Blast.
Joe,
You don’t call it the Royal Farms Arena? HAHA. I agree and I think there should be orange, black, and blue versions of the Civic Center tee shirt to commemorate the Clippers and Bullets.
If it were safe to wear black and gold you could do it for the Skipjacks too! They did go to red/white/blue towards the end though.
Speaking of the MECCA… thoughts on an “I miss the MECCA” shirt?
But…isn’t it still there?
So is RFK Stadium. It’s not whether the venue still exists, it’s whether your team still plays there.
An “I miss the MECCA” shirt in Bucks colors could make sense.
You could probably do both that and “I still call it the MECCA”, since it’s currently known as UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, and had a corporate name before that. It hasn’t officially been the MECCA (or, officially “MECCA Arena,” though I only heard people call it the MECCA) since the mid-1990s.
The Washington Bullets played a few regular-season games in their former Baltimore arena; and the Wizards have recently played preseason games there. Also, the Nets have played preseason games at the Nassau Coliseum.
After using the curling rink, you could cook dinner in the pre-George Foreman grill.
Just don’t sit in the women’s swivel rocker. Men gotta sit in the men’s chair! That’s why we added the extra row of buttons.
Same catalogue…Team-crested sweaters. Well, they kind of look like the team crests. I really don’t like how they cover up the upper right of the Montreal logo.
Also, they were set up to only sell Toronto, Boston and Montreal. They added Vancouver and they get their own set of item numbers.
link
Leafs and Habs sweaters in the Eaton Christmas catalogue are the basis of one of the most famous Canadian stories of all time, The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier
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The story was later immortalized on the $5 bill
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Scorebugs should use the team’s current shirt color as the background color. That way you know which team is which. Not necessary for baseball because it usually shows the top or bottom of the inning so you know who’s batting. Matching the color to the jersey for football would not be necessary if there was an indicator for who has the ball.
The team with the ball is indicated by a yellow line under that team’s score. It’s mixed among the time outs remaining hashes; poor visual design IMHO.
Regarding the Camp Wahoo Basketball- Gene Corrigan who later became UVA AD amongst other jobs, started Camp Wahoo in the late ’50’s. West and other NBA players would come to the two week camp and lend their skills.
Not a pro sport, but Ohio State men’s basketball played a game at St. John Arena in 2004 and another in 2008, after moving to their new arena in 1998.
Not regular season, but the Pacers played a preseason game at the state fairgrounds as an ABA throwback. They pulled out some old ABA jerseys, had Slick Leonard coach a quarter. The rumor at the time was that they wanted to use an ABA ball as well, but David Stern said no, but I can’t find any evidence for that now.
Michigan State played a game a Jenison Fieldhouse a couple of years ago. It is currently used for volleyball, indoor track, etc. Basketball capacity is slightly less than the 10K (Fire Marshall number)from back in the day.
Welcome Back Paul. Had to be your craziest month ever, considering all the NBA shenanigans. You’re probably ready for a REAL month hiatus.
Is there going to be a Naming Wrongs design for the Georgia Dome now that the new monstrosity is open*? (Maybe in Atlanta United colors in addition to Falcons?)
I want to save on shipping by ordering my “I’m Calling It The Ted” and “I’m Calling It The Dome” shirts together :)
*-I mean open figuratively, of course, as the retractable roof literally can’t open.
First, condolences for the passing of Paul’s cat.
RE: The Ponda Center shirts. What about the original name, Anaheim Arena, before it was named for a Nestle brand of allegedly artesial water (Arrowhead Water)? Also, what about the shirts in the Duck’s current orange/black?
Thanks!
You have my sympathy on the passing of Tucker. Pets are wonderful companions and the last thing Tucker would want is for you to be lonely.
I’m having an issue with the site on Firefox (I write this to you on Safari) to the effect of a window reading “www.uni-watch.com uses an invalid security certificate” and “Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN”
Yeah, I got this message when I tried to open the site in Microsoft Edge: “This site is not secure. This might mean that someone’s trying to fool you or steal any info you send to the server. You should close this site immediately. The hostname in the website’s security certificate differs from the website you are trying to visit. Error Code: DLG_FLAGS_SEC_CERT_CN_INVALID”
Google Chrome didn’t give me any trouble, though.
Also having this issue on opera mobile browser. When I click proceed anyway it loads the full site rather than the mobile view I’m used to seeing.
Complete non sequitur: Have any other readers gotten an “insecure connection” message when trying to access this site using Firefox? I’ve been receving the following for the past two days:
link uses an invalid security certificate. The certificate is only valid for uni-watch.com Error code: SSL_ERROR_BAD_CERT_DOMAIN
I created an exception for the site so that I could post here. Apologies if in error.
I’ve been getting the same thing at my home pc the past couple days.
Regarding the Macfarlane Roger Staubach statue they also got the jersey incorrect. Roger only wore one blue stripe on his jersey in 1976, 1974 was the last time he wore the two blue stripes. In 1977 he went back to the two blue stripes but still trimmed the white part off the sleeves
AT&T stadium isn’t in Dallas. It’s in Arlington.
link
Have we reached peak “unveil” yet? Because this photo appears to have been taken at a glow-in-the-dark indoor miniputt with a leaking steam pipe.
I guess I’m naïve in thinking that the purpose of the uniform reveal is to show us the uniform. My bad.
I also am having issues with the security certificate…on Safari and on I.E.
Also, Xcel Energy Center is on the former site of the St. Paul Civic Center. That was the home of the Fighting Saints of the WHA.
I’m still calling it the ACC. :)
Air Canada Centre to be renamed for a bank.
Since we can’t edit…
20 year/$800 million deal with Scotiabank.
Looks like Charlie McAvoy of the Bruins has a Reebok symbol on his socks, which are probably from last year’s 3rd set seeing as the league is switching to Adidas link
A majority of NASCAR teams will be using throwback paint schemes this weekend. The Darlington race has become a throwback weekend for a couple of years now. JAyski has a page dedicated to all of them.
link
The fifth-third one bugs me. Almost all the sponsors swallowed their pride and changed their logos to the original colors, but fifth-third seemingly refused…the car should be white, gray, black, and florescent orange, not green, blue, and white.
Houston here…thanks for the positive vibes. My house and the others around me came thru it fine but the destruction and misery here is monumental.
On a happier note:
“… A college major that is not sports marketing….” That made me laugh.
And finally for Paul. My heart goes out to you on the loss of your friend. We had to say goodbye to our cat about two months ago for similar reasons. I’m still ‘seeing’ her out of the corner of my eye from time to time and have to look twice. Sigh.
I’m having issues loading the mobile version of the site. It just takes me straight to the desktop. I know I’m stupid so I’m wondering if it’s just me
During the time of the Checkerdome, there were some tough business times for the hockey team. Here is an applicable t-shirt graphic to the times: “I almost called them the Saskatchewan Blues”.
It wasn’t for a game. But the Packers have had training camp practices at old City Stadium, which is still behind and used by Green Bay East HS. (Lambeau’s alma mater)