Word came down last week that the Milwaukee Bucks’ new arena, set to open next month, will be named after an annoyingly spelled financial services company. That was disappointing, but now a new, more alarming wrinkle has emerged.
As The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported yesterday, the Wisconsin state legislature voted last year to give Fiserv — that’s the company that bought the naming rights — up to $12.5 million to keep its headquarters in the state. Or to put it another way, Wisconsin taxpayers, who already subsidized the arena’s construction via a quarter of a billion dollars in public financing, are now on the hook for subsidizing the naming rights to boot. That’s a pretty neat trick.
One might reasonably point out that if doing business in Wisconsin was so financially arduous for Fiserv that they essentially needed a bribe in order to stay there, it’s a bit surprising that they just happen to have enough spare change in their pockets to ink a 25-year naming rights deal, no? Hmmmm.
This is similar to the situation nearly a decade ago, when Citi bought the naming rights to the Mets’ new ballpark just as the company was being bailed out by the federal government as part of the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. That led to people here in New York saying things like, “They should call the stadium Bailout Park!” and “They should call it Taxpayer Stadium!” and “They should call it Debits Field!” (that was always my favorite), which in turn led the Rev. Vince Anderson to say, “Eh, fuck it — I’m calling it Shea,” which in turn led to his catch-phrase being turned into a T-shirt, which in turn led to Naming Wrongs.
But I digress. Look, the corporate interests here are doing what corporate interests always do — privatizing the profits, socializing the expenses — but this is a particularly scummy example of it. With that in mind, we should come up with our own name for the Bucks’ arena, a name that isn’t tainted by this nonsense. If we come up with something good enough, maybe I’ll even do a new Naming Wrongs T-shirt for it. Feel free to post your suggestions in today’s comments.
ITEM! Lakers update: Everyone, myself included, thought the Lakers were going to unveil their new uniforms yesterday. But as the day moved along, there was nary a uni-centric peep coming out of L.A., and then the team’s retail shop tweeted the news that the jerseys would be available today at 1pm Eastern, and then the team’s Facebook page announced that the new look will be introduced via a video today at noon Eastern.
But here’s the thing: When viewed on desktop, the Facebook announcement’s preview image just shows the Lakers’ logo. But when viewed on mobile, the preview image shows the team’s new yellow jersey, which confirms the retail leak we had previously seen last week:
So that pretty well eliminates whatever modicum of suspense was still remaining. Oh, and speaking of retail leaks, there was another one yesterday. So this is a lot of buildup for what is likely to be very little payoff. But whatever — I’ll have an assessment over at ESPN in the early afternoon.
ITEM! Alternate cap now available: I’m happy to report that the Uni Watch alternate cap (shown at right; click to enlarge) is now available for ordering.
This cap was built for us from scratch by the good folks at Golden Sombrero (run by Bart Silberman, honcho of the fondly remembered nostalgia brand Moonlight Graham). Here are the details:
• The cap features Bryan Molloy’s awesome winged stirrup design on the front and the Uni Watch script on the back.
• No maker’s mark, of course.
• The cap has a flex-fit design and is available in two sizes: S/M (roughly equivalent to fitted sizes 6-5/8 through 7) and M/L (roughly equivalent to 7 through 7-1/2). Unfortunately, we do not have XXL at this time.
• The price is $29.99.
• Here’s a really cool detail that Golden Sombrero suggested: custom Uni Watch inner seam taping. Check this out (click to enlarge):
I think that covers it! Again, the cap is available for purchase here.
Meanwhile, a few sizes of our Uni Watch classic cap are still available at Ebbets Field Flannels (with a $10 price break currently in effect), plus we have plenty of inventory on the adjustable version. The sold-out sizes should be back in stock around the end of August.
ITEM! Amazing Brannock find: People who know of my fondness for the Brannock Device often assume that I have a large collection of them. I always tell them, “Nah, I just have one — that’s enough for me.”
But I had to rethink that position two days ago, when longtime Uni Watch reader Ben Traxel emailed me to say that he was at an antiques mall in Illinois and had come across something he thought might interest me (click to enlarge):
How amazing is that?! Note the sock size gauge in the center with the distinct pointer design — I’ve never seen that before! The two Brannocks are both stamped “U.S.A.F.,” so this was apparently used by the Air Force.
Ben even shot a little video of the item:
I’m currently in “get rid of stuff” mode, not “accumulate more stuff” mode, but I had to make an exception for this spectacular find. Ben purchased the item for me, and he’ll send it to my new address after I move in a few weeks. It’ll make a nice housewarming present to myself. As longtime reader/pal Jeff Ash commented when I posted a few photos on Facebook yesterday, this is peak Brannock!
Ben, I can’t thank you enough for thinking of me — greatly appreciated.
Click to enlarge
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
Astros fans, jump all over this: How about a fantastic-looking retro (1975) tequila sunrise warmup jacket! The seller notes he/she is selling it for a friend: “Joe Niekro (Astros pitcher) gave warmup jackets to my friend’s family.” Here’s one more — Astros manager Bill Virdon (1975-1982) posed for this photo wearing the full tequila sunrise look, which also debuted in 1975. Wonder what he was thinking? “In my day, we used to wear white or grey.”
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• Nice artwork on this classic 1981 Chuck Ren-created Cincinnati Bengals poster. That would be quarterback Ken Anderson, wide receiver Cris Collinsworth (yes kids, the announcer played some ball), and running back Archie Griffin.
• Check out this pair of 1970s Chicago Blackhawks bumper stickers. I particularly like that bottom one with the black-and-white player launching a slapshot. Here’s one more sticker for the Blackhawks — this one’s colors are a bit different, and the name is spelled “Black Hawks.”
• The Dallas Doomsday Defense led by Bob Lilly and Cliff Harris is closing in on the ball-carrier on the cover of this 1970s football board game from Sports Illustrated, titled “Paydirt!” Never seen this one before, but it looks quite similar to the other SI game I had back then.
• This bumper sticker reads, “If God’s Not A Broncos Fan, Why Are Sunsets Orange?”
• In the 1970s, Falcons player Don Hansen knew he had made it when his profile ended up on a Burger King ice milk cup. Ice milk? At a BK? “A Whopper and … an ice milk, please.”
• Ever seen this logo before? This one is for the 1970s World Football League team, the Chicago Fire. Very unique, I’d say.
• Here’s a 1970s L.A. Lakers gear bag done up in grey, red, and white. Wait, what?
• This one takes me back. I’d order Tudor NFL Electric Football teams from their Brooklyn HQ (176 Johnson Street) and they’d ship team sets like this. You get the Chiefs, Raiders, and Seahawks in this set, along with dark and white numbers. (The dark numbers were always easy to apply, but the white numbers sometimes had a tendency to get kind of powdery and thus rub off easily. A 77 would end up as a 7_.)
• Look at this cover of SI from January of 1964. It features commish Pete Rozelle and a nice selection of period NFL helmets. The Bears helmet uses that white facemask that shows up in a lot of their photos of that era. That must be the Washington helmet top right, too.
• You tend to see a bit of facemask inconsistency in these 1970s NFL helmet plaques we feature here from time to time. In this case, notice the Cowboys facemask — the top bar is longer than the bottom, and they both appear to be angled upwards just a touch.
• One more for the Cowboys, this nice-looking 1970s serving tray.
• In this package of 1970s “Twinsignias,” you got an embroidered patch (in this case, the MLB Giants) along with the matching decal. “An emblem to wear and a decal to show.”
Seen an item on eBay that would be good for Collector’s Corner? Send any submissions here.
Uni Watch Hit Parade: My friend Bela recently turned me on to the self-titled 2017 EP by the Australian indie band the Stroppies (that’s them at right; click to enlarge). It sounds a lot like the best stuff from Flying Nun, the great New Zealand indie label that I fell in love with back in the 1980s and ’90s. I hear echoes of the Clean, the Great Unwashed, Bailter Space, the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience, and more. (Yes, I realize most of you have never heard of those old New Zealand bands, but they were all awesome and, for me, life-changing. I actually traveled to NZ twice in the 1990s, mainly to see bands that I would never have had a chance to see otherwise.)
Anyway: Even if you have no idea what I’m talking about, The Stroppies is an excellent little recording, full of shimmering pop hooks, infectious sing-along harmonies, and an understated intelligence. Only seven songs, but they’re all keepers. Don’t miss.
Click to enlarge
Nice color scheme: On Sunday I went over to my friend Nicole’s house for dinner. I’ve known her for a million years and have been to her house countless times. But somehow I never noticed until now that the tiles in her front-door vestibule have a very attractive and familiar-looking color scheme.
For the record, Nicole is not a sports fan and does not read Uni Watch. But I’ve nonetheless decided that her vestibule will henceforth be known as the Official Uni Watch Vestibule.
Even more cool stuff for sale: I’ve continued to add more photos of stuff that I’m trying to sell before I move in late August. You can see everything that’s currently available in this Flickr set, and I’ll continue to add a few more each day. I’m also removing items as they sell.
Please click on the thumbnails to see larger versions and, more importantly, to read the descriptions of the items, which among other things indicate whether the item is something I’m willing to ship or if I’m only offering in-person pickup. (You can see even larger versions of each photo by clicking the download icon and choosing “View all sizes” from the resulting popup menu.)
If you’re interested in any of this stuff, please get in touch and make me an offer. I’ll continue to add more items to this photo set each day, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening.
The Ticker
By Alex Hider
Baseball News: Phillies CF Odubel Herrera hit a foul ball so hard yesterday that he broke a seat at Fenway Park (from Blake Fox). … The Astros and Mariners will wear 1979 throwbacks on Aug. 10 (from Ignacio Salazar). … Winners of the Iowa high school baseball tournament get championship caps. Any other states give out caps for high school championships? (From Kary Klismet.) … I’m sure this has been ticked before, but Hard Rock Casino has Elton John’s sequined Dodgers jersey on display (from Andy Rivkin).
Pro Football News: The Rams have changed their practice jerseys from the royal they wore last year to navy. Weird, since their game jerseys are going in the opposite direction (from Chris Cruz). … With the Jets set to change their uniforms in 2019, here’s a review of Gang Green’s looks over the years (from Phil). … Speaking of the Jets, David Peltz found this Jets-inspired New York City Carpenters Union No. 157 sticker. … One of the Bengals’ practice fields isn’t quite big enough to be a full field, so they skip the 20-yard line. They skip the 20 instead of the 50 to allow at least one side of the field to have complete yard markers. … The friends and family of Bengals DE (and native Cincinnatian) Sam Hubbard have set a team pro shop record for the largest custom jersey order. … Last week, Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill had “Tannehill 2.0” on his knee brace. Just to make sure people didn’t read too much into it, he changed the label to read “Tannehill 27.3” (from Preston Feiler). … Johnny Garfield found this photo of a bunch of old Dungard facemasks before they were dipped in vinyl paint. … Looks like the Montreal Alouettes will begin using their third logo of the year, their ’70s throwback logo, starting this Friday (from Moe Khan).
College Football News: Just like the jersey sleeves, Indiana’s football pants will also have a sublimated candy stripe pattern (from Ryan Cotter). … An Ohio State QB had an unusual biker-shorts-over-tights look at Buckeye training camp (from Mike Raymer). … Per this Reddit thread, the 1962 Mizzou football team played all 10 of its games in stadiums called “Memorial Stadium.” … Has anyone seen this Vanderbilt logo before? It’s painted on a chair given to Benji King’s father when he completed a medical internship in 1972. … A Dallas-area auction house recently came into possession of a game-worn Billy Cannon LSU jersey that was used as a “dust rag to a pajama top” for years (from Richard Green).
Hockey News: The Hurricanes have released their third jersey schedule for the upcoming season (from William Wells). … Listicle: The worst alternate jerseys in NHL history (from Phil). … The 1984-85 Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks took their team photo in a gymnasium, but they still wore their full uniform — including skates and Cooperalls (from Wade Heidt). … Ohio University hockey has another uniform concept based on the school’s baseball uniforms.
Basketball News: Puma has signed a league-wide footwear deal with the WNBA (from Phil). … The Pacers Photoshopped some of their former players into the team’s new uniforms. … Kentucky will wear three new uniforms during their preseason trip to the Bahamas (from Josh Hinton and Martin Ballou).
Soccer News: Lots of stuff from soccer fanatic Josh Hinton: Barcelona is on the verge of selling the naming rights to its stadium, Camp Nou. The 2018-19 official game ball for the Champions League has leaked. Finally, new home jerseys for Greek club Olympiacos. … Forest Green Rovers of England’s League 2 is the first carbon-neutral soccer team, according to the UN. … New uniforms for the Auburn women (from Clint Richardson). … All uni ads are bad, but this piece explains why the rising number of teams with ads for gambling services is particularly disturbing (from our own Jamie Rathjen). … Swedish women’s team Linköping FC has maybe a few too many jersey ads.
Grab Bag: Anyone remember the 1980s animated series Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling? Here’s a gallery of some of the original development sketches from the series (from Jeff Stark). … The subway station near the stadiums in Philadelphia is going from one corporate-advertised name to another (from Bernie). … Mozilla is redesigning the Firefox logo and wants users to pick between two design systems (from Brinke). … Volleyball captains usually wear a line under the uni number. But in the 1984 LA Olympics, Japan’s Yumi Egami had her captaincy line off to the side (from Jeremy Brahm). … Clint Richardson has some wild concepts for all Auburn sports over on the Auburn Uniform Database. … The Powerhouse Museum in Australia has the largest collection of Speedos in the world. But in 2012, some of the swimsuits started oozing. Yes, oozing (from Anthony Nuccio). … A Japanese company is selling ad space on the armpits of models.
Today is the last day of July, which means tomorrow I begin my annual August break from this website. But the site will continue operating without me — Phil will be running the show on weekdays, webmaster John Ekdahl will be handling the weekends, and the Ticker Brigade will be doing their thing as per usual.
As for me, I’ll still be on the clock over at ESPN (among other things, I’ll be working on my annual college football and NFL season preview columns), plus I’ll be packing for my late-August move and helping to coordinate my mom’s care as she recovers from her recent hospitalization. In short, it’ll be a busy month for me, even though I won’t be here on the blog every day.
I’ll make cameo appearances now and then to let you know when I have a new ESPN piece, or to announce this or that, or to cover for one of the Ticker-ers (case in point: I’ll be doing tomorrow’s Ticker, because I gave Alex the day off for his birthday). For the most part, though, I plan to minimize my presence on the site and get out of Phil’s way so he can run the show however he wants.
I’ll be back in September. By that time, Uni Watch HQ will have a new address! Have a great August, and I’ll see you in a month. — Paul
“The Goodland Arena”
Milwaukee (area code 414) has already coined a new name for the arena.
The four-one-forum
That’s the best one yet! The current name sucks, I mean at least it rolls off the tongue and sounds pretty good like Ford Field and others, but it still sucks.
Co-sign — I might actually refer to that nickname in day-to-day talk anyway.
Gonna miss your posts, Paul, but you deserve a break!
Also, what struck me as odd was that in The Guardian’s gambling ad article (soccer ticker), they use four current Premier League sides (one that just promoted from the EFL Championship) and two EFL Championship sides, when they simply could have used all six Premier League sides (Bournemouth, Burnley, and Crystal Palace also all have gambling add) or all EFL Championship sides.
Do you mean the picture they used with the story?
If it was all one league or all the other the picture wouldn’t be doing its job because it wouldn’t be clear to the reader clicking on it that the story was about both leagues.
Yeah, it was the picture. And I understand what they were doing, but I thought it was interesting that they picked from both of the top two tiers, but none of the third or fourth.
Looks like Charlton and Sunderland are the only two gambling-ad teams in the third and fourth tiers, so that’s probably why.
They could have included Scotland, though, and of course didn’t.
You’re a stickler for “advertiser” versus “sponsor”, but when you don’t like a payment you’ll call it a “bribe” even when it’s not hidden or illegal?
Actually, I said “essentially a bribe” (emphasis added here), because that’s the practical effect.
Think harder.
If it’s not illegal or secret, what makes it essentially a bribe versus just advertising?
Neil, honestly, you are so far off-base here, you’re not even in the same time zone.
Today’s my last day on the site for a month, and I’m not going to waste it arguing with you over this non-issue, so let’s please move on. Have a good one and I’ll see you in September.
Oops. Didn’t mean to type advertising. Question still stands. Is any business incentive from a government essentially a bribe?
I’ll answer this for you Paul.
It amounts to a bribe, or maybe better yet a ransom payment, because the business hold the goverment / local taxpayers hostage by saying they’ll move, and take their jobs and the taxes they do pay with them, UNLESS you fork over some money or tax breaks to keep them here.
Now, living in NJ where taxes are so absurd I can sort of understand a company moving to seek a better business climate. But what many of these companies are doing are playing states/cities/communities against each other. Ultimately they have to locate somewhere, as much as a particular locale may want to have a big job creator in its jurisdiction, there is something wrong the public bending over backward to attract business, when in fact, businesses should be the ones competing with each other to be in the best markets.
Yes, by definition. Even the most corrupt governments – and my home state of Wisconsin’s is remarkably corrupt – don’t hand money to businesses for fun. It’s always a quid pro quo. In this case, Fiserv went to the state government and threatened to relocate a number of its jobs out of Wisconsin. The state then paid Fiserv some money on the promise that it would keep those jobs in Wisconsin for a period of time. If “bribe” bothers anyone, they could instead call it “extortion,” which is a slightly more accurate term. But “bribe” does not necessarily imply criminal activity – we don’t think of calling the DA when a friend reports having bribed their child to do something with a new video game. Whereas “extort” strongly implies criminal conduct. Which the case in question is not, even if one believes it ought to be. So “bribe” is probably the better word in this instance.
Fiserved or Fistserved Arena
link
Enjoy your vacation, Paul!
“Im Still Calling it the MECCA”
BRILLIANT!!
I agree with that or the commenter below, the Deer Blind.
As a Milwaukeean this whole situation is gross. Our city and and state could use that money so much better.
Da Deer Shack
or
Deer Camp
Are the lakers doing all their uniforms? Because if so, there’s still buildup for the purple, and maybe white, isn’t there?
Not sure, but fair point.
I’m curious about the colours (sorry can’t type the US spelling). The purple seems to be more blue in the leaked photos.
Clearly the nickname for the new Milwaukee arena should be a play on the team name, which refers to both deer and money.
Something like…
Runningoutof Bucks Arena
Giveabillionaireyour Bucks Arena
Spareafew Bucks Arena
or even just Corporate Bucks Arena?
Hahahaha…Corporate Bucks Arena! Love it!
Re: the Blackhawks bumper stickers in today’s Collectors Corner – the red one could possibly be from the 70s (name parsing issue aside), the black one clearly has a copyright date of 1991. Even without the date, the UPC code and NHL Official Licensed Product roundel are dead giveaways that this one was not from the 70s.
Makes me wonder if the seller is oblivious (i.e. someone who recently came into possession of these stickers, doesn’t have much interest in them, and is just trying to unload them) or just plain clueless (i.e. someone who actually does care but just isn’t paying attention to the details).
I have some disappointment over the Montreal Alouettes throwback to their 1974-81, 1986 logo. Disappointed this rendition is one colour. Would have been better more true to the original with the blue forming the top portion of the “A”:
link
The Mothership is right now doing a bit on Greeny’s Top 5 Throwback Jerseys in response to the Rams throwback news. Oilers were #1, too bad it’ll be a long time ’til we see that beaut again.
Yet another reason the Titans should have stuck with their white helmets (or gone to columbia blue).
” The Dallas Doomsday Defense is closing in on Larry Brown on the cover of this 1970s football board game titled “Paydirt!”
Actually that is Charlie Harraway, not Larry Brown.
pine green shirt….red font: Fuck-u$ Arena
So everyone gets their feet measured when they enter your house-warming party.
I agree selling naming rights to whatever company is absurd. But maybe if the company was more relevant to the area it wouldn’t be so bad. In this case due to the fact of the Team name and location something like Field & Stream Arena. Or just go with Antler Arena. Let’s see what others say and I look forward to your return Paul.
“I’m Calling It Socialism.”
Advantage: It’s the most literally true thing that can be said about the situation.
Disadvantage: It would be very difficult to make clear exactly what the shirt refers to.
That missing 20 yard line (Bengals practice field) is mind-bending.
“One of the Bengals’ practice fields isn’t quite big enough to be a full field, so they skip the 20-yard line.”
They should have skipped the goal line since the Bengals rarely get there. (Rimshot)
One of the things I like about soccer is that, while I can’t speak for the entire world, in Europe you don’t usually see club stadiums built with substantial public funds. Certainly stadiums last much longer than the 30 years the Bucks’ arena did (though they may be renovated and not really resemble earlier incarnations).
Conversely, in many places, the stadiums are owned by the city/town/etc, so it cuts into a teams revenue stream. Look how owning it’s own stadium has helped Juventus in the last few years.
A good alternative name that came up the day of the renaming was The Forum on Fourth. All the Bucks arenas have been on Fourth Street downtown each new one just north of the previous one. At least that’s what I’M CALLING IT.
That facemask on the cowboy plaque looks strange because the mask came free of the backing. You see that a lot on these old plaques.
“…her vestibule will henceforth be known as the Official Uni Watch Vestibule.”
More Corporate Names!!!
I’m still calling it the front door!!!
…actually, I am still calling it a vestibule…or hallway…
Fraudley Center.
Have a great vacation (and good luck packing!), Paul. Enjoy this on your way out: link
In case this hasn’t been featured here:
link
Whoops; I see it now, from 25 July. My bad.
I amazes me just how many news articles (like the Jets one linked above) don’t include (some or all of) the actual graphics they are talking about. I feel like we’re seeing more and more of this recently.
*It amazes me…
It shouldn’t…not that traditional journalism exists anymore.
Any can call themselves a “journalist” by having access to a press release via social media…the bait was put out there and it was taken.
Just like in my profession (Broadcast television / video production), everyone who thinks they have a youtube account or access to any type of editing software thinks they are an “editor” / “preditor”. They are not.
Professionals are dying at the hands of amateurs for the cost of revenue.
Re: Milwaukee New Arena name-
“I’m calling it The Barrel!” (It reminds me of a barrel, or at least a part of one.)
Perfect!
FEAR THE DEER Forum
Enjoy the month off Paul!
A Few Thoughts
The Official Uni Watch Vestibule looks good
I’m Calling it the Bradley Center
Or at least do a company more Milwaukee.
Enjoy your month off, Paul — and thanks for leaving that Stroppies record as a parting gift. On my second listen already!
It’s really nice, right? I can’t stop playing it!
pass the Bucks arena
Looking through the character art from “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” reminded me that Nikolai Volkoff (real name Josip Nikolai Peruzović) passed away yesterday at the age of 70.
link
Texas has given away championship caps for the state football champions for the last few years.
See below:
link
link
Cool! Nice find!
Hey Paul, the alternative stretch-fit caps look great! You mention above that M/L are roughly equivalent to 7 through 7-1/2. Order page lists M/L as 7 through 7-3/8. Sorry to zero in on this detail, but is there a clearer final say on size? I’m in the 7-1/2 inch camp and would hate to see the cap go un-used if ends up being tight. Maybe the adjustable Ebbets cap is sure-bet solution… Have a great break and move.
It’s right in between. Kinda depends on whether you’ve just had a haircut!
Got it. In which case I’d probably want to wear a hat!
Taxpayer Bucks Arena
IIRC(if I’m mistaken, please correct), an American Indian tribe was willing to pay the taxpayer-funded portion of the construction cost (and would have foregone naming rights) in exchange for a casino or additional gaming rights.
I wonder why the WI state government didn’t support this tax-dollar saving proposal.
I’m more interested in how the Lakers shorts will look. The jersey leaks have made it clear enough but that’s just half the uniform.
The MECCA
Milwaukee Engages in Corporate Cronyism Arena
I think you all spend way too much time stressing over stadium funding and names. The world’s got way bigger problems than a publicly funded basketball arena with a corporate name.
The world does indeed have many problems, including but not limited to publicly funded sports venues with corporate names.
Here’s a simple proposition: I’ll decide what is or isn’t relevant on my website, and you can do the same for your website (if you have one). Deal?
Bigger problems, huh? Next time you’re cursing at fellow drivers in a traffic jam, or talking about someone behind their back… remind yourself of the world’s “bigger” problems. Unless of course your perspective is fool proof.
Northwestern played a game at Wrigley Field a few years ago which was missing an end zone. Teams had to use the same end of the field to kick field goals, extra point etc.
Actually this is incorrect. They played a game where the end zone was too close to the right field wall, so when there was a change in possession they switched so both offenses went in the same direction towards the 3rd base dugout. Of course they would need both end zones, in case the defense intercepts a pass or recovers a fumble and runs it back for a TD. They still had a goal post in the compromised end zone, but not sure why except maybe for symmetry. Northwestern returns there for a game in 2020. A similar set up was done at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) for the Cactus Bowl from 2000-2005, and again now while Sun Devil Stadium goes through renovation.
Here’s the link to an article about NW and Wrigley:
link
Gale Sayers wore that white facemask style a lot.
link
link
link
Paul-
Re: great New Zeland bands. Currently really enjoying the Beths. They have a re-released ep and a full length coming up in August. Check ’em out, I’ll be checking out the Stoppies.
Take ‘er easy during your August Uni Watch leave.
-Jimmy
It’s nice to hear the name Ben Traxel (a fellow Missourian). Had the pleasure of meeting him at the St. Louis Uni Watch gathering back in 2011.
I miss the days of the Traxels, the JTHs, the Rickos, the RPMs, and yes… even the The Jeff’s
Seconded
Marty man, yes, that old group of fellas was fun. Dang, seven years ago? Hopefully we can schedule another UW gathering that is accessible to us mid continenters sooner than later. Would be great to see everyone. Sho-me-staters get it.
Paul,
Good luck with the move. I had a blast when you let my wife and I stop by uni watch HQ a few years ago. Still my top memory from my 2013 trip to NY. I also have the same M&M lights that I hang on my Christmas tree every year. Enjoy your month off from the site!
I loved that Paydirt game. That’s the one I had growing up, and, while I haven’t played it in a while, seeing that photo brought back some good memories of creating a league with friends and playing a full season when we were in high school. I hope you have a great month Paul.
I’m calling the new arena “Buck It!”
I’m guessing there must be multiple Elton John Dodgers costumes around as I saw this guy in concert a few years ago and he proclaimed he had a Dodgers costume also.
link
Have a great and relaxing vacation Paul!
Lebron Arena.
Why: Because the entirety of life rotates around LeBron these days, given the amount of airtime on sports talk shows constantly talking about him.
What is the other retail leak after the Lakers? The Instagram link won’t open for me.
I forgot about your love of Flying Nun, Paul. Are you familiar with Phantom Forth? They were a darkwave/goth act that seems kind of obscure even by Flying Nun standards, but Dark Entries rereleased their one EP a year ago and now I’m pretty obsessed, especially with this track:
link
Know the name but not the music. Will listen to the link you sent!
Update: Not my kinda thing, sorry.
I really hope that the City of Tampa tells the Rays to take the team elsewhere. They pitched an estimated $892M stadium and originally offered to chip in $150M. That is ridculous.
Unfortunately, we as a society value our sports to a point where some city will bend over and pay for a new stadium.
The Rays should really contribute about half of the cost. I’m not sure that chipping in so little would go over too well around here.
What else is great about that 1984-85 Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks team photo?
Goalies with NON-COLORED leather Cooper leg pads and gloves, THAT’S WHAT!!!
-Jet
Paul, looks like the Stroppies have released some new stuff since their EP – a mini-EP (I guess you can call it that) of two songs called 7″.
Yes, I know, but the seven-song EP is their biggest chunk of work and seemed like the best introduction.
What else is great about that 1984-85 Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Ooks team picture?
Goalies with NON-COLORED leather Cooper leg pads and gloves, THAT’S WHAT!!!
-Jet
Not strictly uni-related, but this was a pretty funny wedding day prank by an LSU-fan bride…
link
Was in the Ticker several days ago.
Ooops, sorry. I was on vacation last week. I must’ve skimmed through a ticker too fast while catching up.
re: Milwaukee’s new basketball arena
I’m calling it The Big O-rena
I just saw the Lakers’ new uniforms and while the Icon (yellow) and Association (white) unis look awesome, the purple Statement one somehow ended up with black side panels. Strange.
Could have been a great uniform – but they screwed up the purple jersey.
The cynic in me predicts a new purple Lakers uniform (no black panel, and consistent with the white and gold as we now see) just in time for Christmas, because Nike thinks there are enough suckers to make it work. Meanwhile, even though white is an extremely minor Lakers jersey color, the gold shorts have absolutely no white in the piping, and that feels like a mistake because it’s supposed to evoke Showtime. Such a missed opportunity, I question whether it’s an upgrade at all. Kind of like taking the SAT again but only gaining 10 points. Meh.
Considering it’s in Milwaukee and kind of looks like a beer barrel, I think we should call the Bucks new arena “The Keg.” Also, who the hell thought “Fiserv” was a good name for a company, let alone an arena.
Just ordered the hat. Will just miss getting it in time for trip to Fenway.
Have a great break Paul
Speaking of Kiwi bands, my fave raves back in the day were the Straitjacket Fits. A gorgeous, lush sound; very poppy! Shayne Carter was the Lennon to Andrew Brough’s McCartney.
Big fan. Also love his previous band, the Doublehappys!
Have a great break, Paul! We’ll try to play nice while you’re gone. Now excuse me while I look for all those purple ticker submissions I’ve been saving…
Bucks area name:
‘The lodge’ or ‘The blind’
Fits the state and the look, and the mascot. Cammo anyone?
* arena
Damn you fat thumb…
I floated this one the other day at a family get-together. It was appreciated by both the left leaning and the right leaning in the family.
The Trump.
You know, for the comb-over look to the whole building and it’s architectural design.
I am split with you on the Milwaukee basketball arena. First, I do not agree with taxpayers subsidizing stadiums and arenas because studies have shown that there is little return on those investments. The money spent on sports would have generally been spent on other sources of entertainment, so those dollars are largely not incremental to the community. As such, there is little justification for subsidizing sports teams. (And I am not anti-sports, though I MUCH prefer college to pro; if I were I would not read this blog!)
Where I differ is on providing benefits to corporations to come to or stay in an area. Those companies do clearly bring economic benefit to the community through the business itself and taxes it pays as well as the taxes its employees pay and the economic activity they generate. When you consider that there are 50 states, that effectively creates a free market for company locations and tax credits is simply reflective of that. To the degree that those benefits lower the average tax collected by government and, by definition, return to, or allow that money to stay with, taxpayers, I generally support these efforts. Fiserv has a significant presence in North Atlanta and I am sure Georgia would have been very happy to add another big corporate headquarters to our area. But Wisconsin stepped up and realized that they were in a competitive market. That competitive mechanism, whether for businesses or for individual tax rates serves as a pressure to keep tax collections down.
This may be “inside baseball” for someone in the financial services industry, but I always thought Citi Field was a missed marketing opportunity for the Treasury Department. In 2009 when the park opened, right in the midst of the financial crisis, they should have put the Treasury logo on the tarpaulin. Then every time it rained, when they rolled out the TARP at Citi, you’d see the Treasury logo.
Uh, no. Federal agencies do not need “marketing opportunities.” This is public service, not corporate branding.
The Lakers just had to go and ruin their purple uniforms with BFBS side panels…. Ugh…. That said, the yellow and white unis look great!
Paul: I hate corporate named stadiums, let’s come up with a new name for the Milwaukee arena, I’ll make a t-shirt and profit from it myself. LOL!!!!
Paul,
I love ya, I love your site. But at the end of the day, we are all just trying to make a buck. That’s why you sell your hypothetical t-shirts (what does espn think about that btw), and why you sell ads on your webpage. Who am I to question if you need this income in addition to what you get espn? Business means trying to get trying to get every penny possible and sometimes that means bad things like corporate named arenas. Please for the love of god just let it go because it aint going away. Which you should be glad about because that’s more t-shirt profits for you. You may be leaving for vacation but I hope you read this.
‘Look, the corporate interests here are doing what corporate interests always do — privatizing the profits, socializing the expenses — but this is a particularly scummy example of it.’
And there isn’t anything you can do about it. Except not give Fiserv your money or attend events at the Fiserv Forum. (how many of you are willing to do that?) See, that’s making a difference.
I guess I won’t be working on White Sox piece with Phil after all lol.
My guess is PL has fallin on hard times – I pray for him
Arizona high school football champions are given hats aswell.