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A Picture Worth a Few Hundred Words

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Sometimes you come across an old photo that’s so mind-blowing, and is packed with so much uni-related goodness, that it merits its own blog entry all by itself.

That’s the case with this 1980s shot of former Flyers great Bobby Clarke and Soviet goaltending legend Vladislav Tretiak hanging out at some sort of alumni/old-timer’s event, which was posted on Twitter yesterday on the @FlyersAlumni and brought to my attention by one of my followers, @BeeTEE15. How cool is this photo? Let us count the ways:

• Clarke is wearing a Flyers Alumni uniform. That design — black with orange trim — has never been used by the Flyers. It’s not bad, right? If you look closely you can see part of the word “Alumni” peeking out from behind Clarke’s right glove. Here’s how it looks unobstructed.

• Tretiak has his full name on his jersey!

• Above Tretiak’s name are the initials “E.G.B” — but there’s no period after the third letter (or maybe it’s just hidden behind a fold of the fabric).

• I grew up watching Tretiak in various Olympics and NHL/Russia series, but it never occurred to me until now that it was a bit odd for him, as a goalie, to wear No. 20.

• There’s something odd about a Pepsi ad patch on a Soviet player’s jersey, no? Capitalist imperialism!

• There’s a lot of activity on Tretiak’s sleeves. “Sher-Wood” is obvious enough, but I don’t recognize any of the other markings. Anyone..?

• Note the unusual wraparound inner-knee padding on Tretiak’s leg guards.

• Tretiak appears to be wearing a wedding band — on his right hand. (Update: Several commenters have now informed me that in many countries, including Russia, it’s common to wear the wedding ring on the right hand.)

• See that jacket in hanging in the background? I’m a sucker for any garment with a quilted green lining. (Okay, I don’t expect anyone besides me to care about that.)

That’s a lot of mileage from one photo! Did I miss any details?

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Portrait of the artist as a young Cowboys fan: Who was that posing at Texas Stadium exactly 47 years ago yesterday? None other than our own Collector’s Corner columnist, Brinke Guthrie, who was getting ready to take in the 1972 NFC Championship Game (Cowboys 14, 49ers 3, grrrr).

Much like the Clarke/Tretiak photo, this shot has a lot going on. There’s something really perfect about it — the various shades of blue, the three-quarter-length sleeves, the triple-pronged belt buckle, the bowl cut, the NFL logo perched above Brinke’s head. And look, Brinke’s jersey number sequences perfectly with the seat numbers in his row! Love it.

And as long as we’re talking about Brinke, he wrote the next two sections of today’s post. So without further ado…

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Pro Tennis Roundup
By Brinke Guthrie

The turning of the calendar is always a busy time for pro tennis, where players tend to switch their apparel endorsement contracts at the start of a new year. Here’s a rundown of some of the latest activity:

• Tomas Berdych (ex-Adidas) and Francisco Lopez (ex-Ellesse) are now with the Italian clothing line Hydrogen, famous for its skull logo.

• Fabio Fognini has moved from Hydrogen to Emporio Armani (to my knowledge, the brand’s first foray into tennis).

• British No. 1 player Johanna Konta (ex-Asics) is now with Ellesse, but still wearing Asics shoes.

• Monica Puig (ex-Ellesse, but previously wore Asics shoes) is now head-to-toe with Yonex. She also uses a Yonex racquet.

• Under Armour has dumped any pretensions of a specific tennis line (they never had one) after five years with Andy Murray. His badly mismanaged deal ended Dec. 31. To start the year, he’s still wearing UA clothes but now Nike shoes rather than UA, which were never made available to the public since they were actually reverse-engineered Adidas Barricades that he used to wear. Great work by UA — sign a top-10 guy but never sell his shoes!

• Roger Federer is still wearing Nike shoes even though he has no deal (at least that anyone knows about) and his “RF” logo still being used by Nike at retail. But one fan in Australia says they saw a Uniqlo T-shirt with the “RF” on the front. No photo, though.

• This last item isn’t about endorsement deals but is still worth noting: Caroline Wozniacki’s Australian Open apparel will be made from recycled plastic waste.

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Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie

And we’re off with the first Collector’s Corner of 2019. First off, how about this cover of a 1975 Phillies game program. Nice-looking artwork, looks to be Schmidt, Tug, and Luzinski, among others. What caught my eye was the ad at the bottom: The AMC Pacer was the official car of the Philadelphia Phillies, and some bright art director said “Hey! Let’s use the team logo for the ‘P’ in ‘Pacer’!” You can bet he got some free box seats out of that idea!

Now for the rest of this week’s picks:

• Let me state for the record that those yellow ABC Sports blazers from the 1970s were totally cool. And nobody wore that blazer better than the effortlessly cool sports announcer Chris Schenkel. Lock your hair down with hairspray and pair the blazer with some tinted Ray-Bans and a turtleneck for that classic 1970s “You are looking live…” sports announcer look! Anyway, here is Mr. Schenkel narrating the NBA record album 25 Action Years You get “exciting play-by-play action, stories and interviews.” (Turntable not included!)

• This lot of 1970s NFL stickers includes of pair of New York Giants items with the “disco” NY logo. (Along with the Atlanta Flames and Cincinnati Stingers, that’s my favorite defunct logo.)

• Okay, here’s another defunct logo worthy of “best in class” consideration: You could make a strong argument that the 1970s San Diego Clippers logo as shown on these pennants is much cooler than what the franchise has now.

• More nice 1970s artwork on these 1974-75 Sixers skeds! This lot of pro basketball schedules also includes the New Orleans Jazz and Baltimore Bullets.

• This 1960s Detroit Lions bobblehead is in mint condition, in the original box.

• If you’re going to knock off the Steelers logo for a DIY sticker, be smart enough not to include the city name. Or if you must include it, at least spell it correctly!

• The ticket stub from the 1969 MLB All-Star Game included a representation of RFK Stadium, where the game was held. And look at the price- $12 bucks for a lower-level box seat! (That was a big week — the first moon landing was just a few days prior.)

• Here’s a 1960s Cincinnati Bengals Pendleton stadium blanket, for those chilly fall Sundays at Nippert Stadium.

• The Cowboys helmet is well represented on this 1960s Acrometal copper plaque.

We’ll resume our usual Tuesday schedule next week. See you then!

Seen an item on eBay that would be good for Collector’s Corner? Send any submissions here.

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The Ticker
By Paul

Baseball News: A big stash of sports memorabilia, including 40 autographed Twins jerseys, was stolen from a Minnesota collector’s home last month. … Good article on lots of new MiLB secondary logos. … Interesting new cap for the Miami Hurricanes (from Adam Apatoff) … @MYantz made an infographic honoring every jersey Edgar Martinez wore during his MLB career.

Football News: Here’s a graphic showing a week-by-week look at what the Titans wore during the first season of their new uniform set (from @titansuni). … Did you know Clemson once had a tiger-striped collar? “Those need to be worn as throwbacks next year,” says Darren Stoltzfus.

Hockey News: Star Wars jerseys for the Hershey Bears. … Pink in the Rink upcoming for the U. of Arizona. … Penguins C Evgeni Malkin wrote a message on his skates last night in support of building explosion victims in his native Magnitogorsk. Here’s a close-up (from Jerry Wolper).

Basketball News: Jarnell Stokes, newly signed by the Grizzlies, will wear No. 2. … Pretty cool cartoon mascot cap for Northwestern. … Tulane F Kevin Zhang wore mismatched shoe colors last night. … It’s one thing to roll the waistband on your shorts. It’s another to leave the inner tag flapping in the breeze, as was the case last night with Iowa State G Tyrese Haliburton (from Kary Klismet).

Grab Bag: Buried within this article is the following: “Another big event at American [Airlines] slated for the very end of 2019 will be the rollout of new uniforms for frontline employees from Lands’ End. They will replace uniforms from supplier Twin Hill that are alleged to have caused symptomatic reactions among thousands of AA frontline employees.” … Ohio State is considering legal action against a weight-loss company that’s been using a trademarked OSU logo. … In a related item, the band Nirvana — or what’s left of it as a legal entity — has sued the clothing brand Marc Jacobs over alleged misuse of the band’s copyrighted “smiley face” design. … Reader Kevin Moore has a pretty cool display for his ticket stubs. … Here’s a podcast featuring a Nike rep talking about the company’s uniform design process. “There’s some Nikespeak, but also some more down-to-earth stuff,” says Dale Alison. … New combat uniform in the works for the U.S. Air Force. … The West Virginia city of Moundsville is trying to decide upon a new city logo. … Penn State is trying to trademark the term “Happy Valley” (from William Yurasko). … New uniforms for the Chennai Spartans, a team in the new Pro Volleyball League in India.

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Please join me in wishing the happiest of birthdays to the guy who steers the Uni Watch ship on the weekends — as well as a great friend and a great guy — deputy editor Phil Hecken, who’s turning 39 yet again (he’s really good at it by this point). Have a great day, buddy! Here’s hoping you get everything you wish for when you blow out the candles. — Paul

 
  
 
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Comments (73)

    That black Flyers Alumni sweater is 1000 times better than the other black sweater they wore a few years later.

    Russian hockey teams wore their numbers 1-22, with goalies getting 1 and 20.
    Eastern Orthodox Religion puts the wedding ring on the right hand.

    Eddie Balfour also wore No. 20 for the Stars, Blackhawks and other teams in tribute to Tretiak.

    I believe Miami baseball has used that M consistently over the years. Not sure about non-baseball uses.

    Pepsi was 1st in the Soviet Union (beating Coke in 70s) and was very popular.

    It’s not surprising to see it at all as a sponsor.

    I used to have a T-shirt from St. Thomas that said U.S.V.I on it. No period at the end. Is that some kind of convention we don’t typically use in the U.S.A?

    Soviet Union and Pepsi have history dating back nearly 50 years (already? Woof). To the point where Pepsi had the 6th largest Armada in the world at one point, taking Cola award to a new level. That would explain the Pepsi ad. I can’t speak to the accuracy of the author on other things, but the link below should provide some further information. It lines up with everything I’ve previously read.

    link

    In regards to Tretiak’s #20, there used to only be twenty players on a hockey team. My guess this was similar to how in North America the #1 and #30 were given to the goalies and everyone else was inbetween. Possibly the #1 and #20 were given to goalies in the Soviet Union and (usually) everyone else was inbetween. I say usually because I know Sergei Makarov was #24. This has just always been my hypothesis though, have never found hard evidence.

    It looks like Miami’s baseball team uses that logo exclusively.

    Similar to the Hurricanes M logo, my alma mater Bucknell had an olde English B that was only used by the baseball team. I always wanted one of their fitted caps when I attended but could never find them anywhere for purchase.
    link

    UCONN baseball has a “Hooked C” which is exclusive to the baseball team as well. I like the look, def vintage looking.

    Look lower right of the NFL logo on the Texas Stadium photo. Looks like an unfinished suite or some sort of unfinished space. Stadium opened Oct 24, 1971. Very interesting that a 2.5 month old stadium wouldn’t potentially be “complete” back then. Awesome photo!

    Texas Stadium was the first ballpark in any sport to feature luxury suites. IIRC, the suite holders could decorate their interiors any way they wanted. I remember seeing a TV piece on the decor in several of the suites – some of them were quite elaborate. It might be that this suite was going to incorporate some special material, or hadn’t been sold yet.

    The Pepsi-Soviet connection has been covered; Russians typically wear their wedding rings on their right hands. Same in most Orthodox countries of Eastern Europe. There are also a few spots in Western Europe where the right/left ring thing has taken on significance in the historical Catholic/Protestant divide.

    “Moundsville is trying to decide upon a new city logo. ”

    Not a single coconut in any of them??
    I don’t get it.

    Happy Birthday Phil!

    If the Flyers are going to have a black alternate uniform, that should be it!

    FYI, on the espn homepage now (scroll down a bit) there is a cover graphic for an NFL playoff article, in the image there is a picture of Goff in the Rams white jersey, with the navy elements photoshopped royal blue, and the navy helmet also appears to be slightly altered to more of a dark royal blue than actual navy.
    Interesting that they did this.

    That “M” is the traditional Miami baseball cap logo. They’re just incorporating it differently (recolored, different style cap, etc.).

    link

    Being a Philly sports fan, I’m loving today’s post. I always thought the flyers should’ve used that design instead of what they ended up doing.

    Also I much prefer that general 80s, 90s design the flyers used over the throwbacks they wear now.

    The Tretiak Jersey looks to be from his goalie camp. He ran camps for a number of years throughout Canada and the USA. The logo above sher-wood might be their goalie equipment line from that era.

    That’s what I was thinking, and I’m guessing it was from a camp that was held in French-speaking Canada. “Goaltender School” translates to “Ecole de Gardien de But” in French–abbreviated EGB. As such, it might be more a jersey with his eponymous school’s name on it rather than his name per se.

    I remember some years ago there was an article in Inside Hockey magazine (a monthly from the publisher of The Hockey News) tan some similar photos to the Tretiak/Clarke photo. They went along with a story where one of the writers (Steve Dryden, I think) went to Flyers Fantasy Camp. Tretiak was at the same rink doing his hockey school. Tretiak came over between sessions of his school, and played a period for the Flyers. The gist of the article was that the writer played with Ed Snider and never scored on him, but did put one by Tretiak. Like many others, I loved those Flyers Alumni sweaters.

    That Edgar Martinez tribute is very nice, but if it were me, no way would I put out a graphic showing someone with a Hall of Fame plaque before the vote is confirmed. I’d feel I was jinxing him.

    I completely understand but since this is Edgar’s last chance for being voted in, I’m taking a chance. I do understand the jinxing concept though, especially in baseball. Let’s hope I didn’t screw it up for him.

    Those pads that Tretiak was wearing were some custom beauties made by Bayard hockey. A custom gear brand in the day that outfitted Tretiak for a few years at all his camps. You can see the logo on his left sleeve too. There’s a radical picture of Tretiak and a teenage Marty Brodeur both wearing some Bayard gear.

    Michigan wearing all-white against Notre Dame this outdoors this weekend. Pretty much the same thing the football team wore in September.

    link

    The lowest logo on Tretiak’s left arm looks to be the shield logo of Bayard, the equipment brand he endorsed at the time. You can see the logo on the top of the pad.

    Also notable is this is the era where coloured pads were just coming in, but sometimes were mixed with natural leather as well as you see on the knee rolls. I always liked the look of these transitional pads.

    A great question is why is #23 on Brinke’s Cowboys jersey? #23 was used by two relatively obscure players during that time. Mike Montgomery and Margene Adkins. Since custom orders were not really an option, I posit that someone at the Sears catalog just liked that number and thought it looked good. It does look good. It’s a classic photo.

    Got that #23 at Sanger-Harris department store- I originally had #30 which I liked cause it was Dan Reeves- I’m not sure why I ended up with #23, but yes Margene was on the team!

    I think that is a good move though, that is the Bears look, and the Texans are already copying it, no need for another navy/navy/white team. Wasn’t a fan of their switch to navy helmets to begin with, so it was good to see they went with navy/navy/columbia combo the most at home. Ideally they make columbia their only pant color, jersey design aside the navy/navy/columbia and navy/white/columbia combos look good and are unique enough that when you see it you’ll know it is Tennessee.

    Happy birthday, Phil! I hope it’s a great day. I am confident I speak for everyone here (except for maybe the trolls, jerks, and BFBS fans) when I say that I can’t imagine Uni Watch without your contributions. You help make our shared obsession with athletic aesthetics all the more enjoyable to indulge.

    “And if we freeze on frame 138, we distinctly see a puff of blue hair coming from the grassy knoll.”

    (This is how I feel sometimes with these pictures on this site)

    Thanks for posting the Titans week by week uniforms! I can look at those beauties all day especially the double blues. Best upgrade in the NFL.

    Everyone knows ABC had those iconic yellow blazers back in the 70s. However few people know NBC attempted to do the same thing in the late 70s, with red blazers. This was around the time they changed the logo from the peacock to the red and blue N. It was a good try but like most things in the Fred Silverman NBC era, just didn’t work.

    Titans never once went navy over white which to me seems like it would be the best look they have. White jerseys 9 times.

    I agreee navy over white would be good, I was actually shocked they only went mini navy twice. When the change was announced I figured they wear all navy for dark jersey situations. What I think would be the best look is white jersey/white pants/navy socks, my favorite look is whit on white with socks proving some kind of contrast, even stripes.

    It’s different enough to keep the copyright lawyers at bay but d*mn if the new Erie Sea Wolves (MiLB) logo isn’t evocative of the Phoenix Coyotes.

    So Brinke attended the ’72 NFC championship game…a game during which Ken Willard (whose football card Paul got in a cereal box, causing him to become a 49er fan)…:

    link

    …wore a NNOB jersey…

    link

    …as reported in a weekend Ticker submission compiled by Phil (Happy Birthday!):

    link

    WHEW!

    That’s like some six degrees of Kevin Bacon shit right there! Good work (and thanks) Chris!

    When you hit your 20th 39th birthday are you going to have a commemorative logo?

    Happy Birthday, Phil!

    The other players on the Phillies program are Steve Carlton, Jim Lonborg, Dave Cash, Larry Bowa and (I suspect) Willie Montanez

    Minor correction- that schedule in the Collector’s Corner was of the Washington Bullets. They had left Baltimore by then.

    Pittsburg was the correct spelling for a period of time, before being officially changed to Pittsburgh

    Still odd that they would include in the logo

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