Yesterday was my last day in San Diego before flying home (I took a red-eye and should be getting back to Uni Watch HQ just about the time this post goes live). I’ve already told you about the Padres’ unveiling and the Uni Watch party, so today I’m going to tell you about a few other places I visited while I was in town.
Turf Supper Club
Lots of people told me I needed to check out the Turf Supper Club, so I met up there on Saturday with Uni Watch reader Tim Nash before heading to the Padres’ unveiling event.
Why did so many people recommend this place to me? For starters, it has the kind of look I really dig:
The interior has a similar 1950s vibe. Even better, if you order a steak, you get to cook it yourself! Sure, there’s a certain Tom Sawyer aspect to that, and I realize it might not appeal to everyone (“If I wanted to cook for myself, I could stay home!”), but I get a kick out of it. So when you order a steak, they bring it to you raw, along with a hunk of garlic bread:
Then you bring the meat and bread over to this little grill island in the center of the dining room, where you can cook it just the way you like it:
Good meat, too! A great place, and I really enjoyed hanging out with Tim, who’s a local attorney (and who also insisted on treating me — thanks, buddy!):
Seaside Seafood
Several people also recommended that I eat at Mitch’s Seafood, a dockside joint with super-fresh seafaring fare. I had lunch there on Sunday with longtime reader/pal Richard Craig, who’s a journalism professor at San José State but is originally from San Diego and came down for our Sunday party.
The food was mostly excellent. I say “mostly” only because I insisted on trying the crabmeat poutine — an intriguing idea that didn’t really work for me. But everything else was superb, and you can’t beat the view. From left: crab cakes, the poutine, and two tacos — one octopus and one shrimp:
That was already way too much food, but I insisted on getting grilled oysters as well:
Afterward, Richard took me on a quick tour of Point Loma, where I was wowed (as I always am) by the linear gravestone patterns at a military cemetery:
After that, we went over to the Brandiose studios. I’ll have more to say about that visit in a separate entry.
The Zoo
I spent most of yesterday with SportsLogos.net’s Chris Creamer and his excellent family (that’s them above), as we all paid a visit to the San Diego Zoo. Since the Creamers are Canadian, they wear poppies on Nov. 11 for Remembrance Day. They were nice enough to bring an extra one for me, so I wore one as well.
I’ve become a bit more conflicted about zoos as I’ve gotten older. While I love seeing animals, it often pains me to see them cooped up. But the San Diego Zoo has an excellent reputation, and all the animals we saw looked healthy and happy. A really nice day.
I took hundreds of photos (including a ridiculous number of shots of a particular golden bird in the aviary, which was my favorite spot in the zoo) but managed to pare them down to a few dozen while waiting at the gate for my flight home. You can see them here.
(Big ups to reader and all-around swell guy Mike Ortman for arranging a complimentary zoo pass for me. Thank you!)
In-N-Out Burger
While this was my first visit to San Diego, I’ve been to southern California plenty of times before. But somehow I had never been to an In-N-Out Burger — an oversight I rectified yesterday.
It’s a perfectly fine fast food burger, and the toasted bun is excellent. Overall, though, I don’t understand the fuss. I think the exact thing about the Shake Shack back in NYC — their much-lauded Shackburger is fine for what it is, but what it is is a fast food burger with a flat, two-dimensional patty (as opposed to a real burger that you’d get at a diner, pub, or coffee shop). Also: In-N-Out’s fries were so-so and cold. Maybe they were just having an off day, but I remain unconverted.
The Aero Club
Reader Graham Block suggested that I check out this bar, which was my final stop yesterday before heading the airport, and hot damn did it deliver. Dig this:
Inside, there’s an insane amount of whiskey available. I’m not really a whiskey guy myself, but it still makes for a very pleasing backdrop:
Uni Watch on the Air
Aside from being out and about in San Diego, I also appeared yesterday morning on a local sports radio show. We discussed the Padres, stirrups, and a bunch of other stuff. You can hear the segment starting at the 23:00 mark of this link.
———
And that’s a wrap. To all you San Diego folks: I know I just scratched the surface of your city and that there’s a lot more to see and do. But I really enjoyed my visit, and I especially enjoyed all the people I met — fine folks, one and all. Thanks for your hospitality. I’ll definitely be back!
And to everyone who contributed to my travel fund and made this excursion possible: Thanks so much! It was a very productive trip — not just for the Padres unveiling, but also for laying the groundwork for some future stories. Thanks again.
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
Follow @brinkeguthrie
File this under “First time ever on Collector’s Corner”; a 1970s 23″ inflatable Stanley Cup. Or “Replique Gonflable,” if you prefer. This one is from 1975 by NHL Creative Services, and made by Trans Converters Ltd. of Montreal. So while the players on the Cup-winning team got the real thing, hockey fans could display this La Coupe Stanley proudly. (Reminder: Not to Be Used as a Life Saver!)
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• On the heels of the big San Diego Padres uni reveal this past Saturday, Collector’s Corner is happy to offer this 1970s Padres satin jacket made by Wilson. The size 44 jacket has player #52 written on the collar. Looks just like the one Randy Jones was wearing when he met Paul on Saurday night!
• Coors was the sponsor for this 1970s NHL Colorado Rockies ski cap. What a great logo they had.
• You would have needed this 1970s San Francisco Giants megaphone in the foggy, drafty, and cavernous Candlestick Park.
• An encore Giants item here: Were they knocking off the Godfather of Soul with this 1970s “I Feel Good” button?
• This 1970s Philadelphia 76ers button proclaims “We’ve Got This Place Jumpin’ Again!” The price tag on the back said $3.00 back then; the seller wants 10 times that amount now!
• Straight from the NFL Sears Shop, this 1970s L.A. Rams jacket.
• This Green Bay Packers mug of undetermined vintage is a rare instance of NFL merch depicting a helmet facing to the left.
• Another one for the Pack: This 1970s sweatshirt was most certainly a Sears item.
• Get a complete set of 1970s NFL Dairy Queen helmets right here.
• This 1969 Campbell Kids Baseball Premium Catalog has “Uni Watch Feature Story” written all over it!
Got an item to include on Collector’s Corner? DM your submissions to us on the Uni Watch Facebook page.
Membership update: Like I always say, the worst uniforms often make the best membership cards, and that definitely applies to Joshua Levy’s new Cavs-themed card, shown at right.
Joshua’s card is one of seven new designs that have been added to the membership card gallery. I should the printed/laminated versions of these cards in the mail by this time next week.
Speaking of which: We have a new printer! Reader Bob Sullivan, who runs a small press devoted to reproductions of old books, documents, and stationery, has stepped up to become our new membership card print shop. (As you may recall, our old one recently went out of business.) I’m excited to be working with him — another great example of our wonderful comm-uni-ty.
Ordering a membership card is a good way to support Uni Watch (which, frankly, could use your support these days). And remember, a Uni Watch membership card entitles you to a 15% discount on any of the merchandise in our Teespring shop and our Naming Wrongs shop. (If you’re an existing member and would like to have the discount code, email me and I’ll hook you up.) As always, you can sign up for your own custom-designed card here, you can see all the cards we’ve designed so far here (more than 2,300 of them!), and you can see how we produce the cards here.
Click to enlarge
Uni Watch hoops gear reminder: In case you missed it on Sunday, we’re now taking pre-orders on Uni Watch basketball jerseys. You can choose your own number and NOB, and you don’t have to have the winged stirrup on the shoulder if you don’t want it there.
We also have matching shorts:
The ABA-style basketball-themed inner pockets are a nice touch, right? I can’t take credit for that detail, though — that was Adelph Wear honcho Nathan Haas’s idea. He’s my partner/collaborator on this project, just as he was with our recent cycling jerseys.
We’re taking pre-orders on these through next Wednesday, Nov. 20, for Christmas delivery. It’s possible that we’ll offer these again in 2020, but for now it’s a holiday offering, so move fast if you want to get in on it! Full details here.
Bucs-redesign contest reminder: My latest Uni Watch design contest, conducted in conjunction with InsideHook, is to redesign the Tampa Bay Bucs. The deadline is this Friday. Full details here.
Gift Guide reminder: I’m currently working on my annual Uni Watch Holiday Gift Guide, which will be running on InsideHook. If you know of any interesting or unusual uni/logo-related items — or if you produce such an item yourself — please get in touch.
As usual, no need to tell me about the standard caps and jerseys that everyone already knows about. I’m looking for things a bit more unique. Can do? Thanks!
The Ticker
By Alex Hider
Baseball News: The only Padres jerseys Paul didn’t get to see at Saturday night’s unveiling were the team’s new camouflage alternates, which have now been revealed (thanks to all who shared). … The Cardinals are using their subtly redesigned cap logo on the banner of their team website, but the old logo is still showing up in some site ads (from Josh Huffines). … Here’s a set of new jersey concepts for the White Sox (from Dylan Bercu). … Nice move yesterday by BaseballReference.com, which added poppy icons to the pages of players who served in the military (from Kary Klismet).
NFL News: We’ve noted this before, but in case you didn’t see: One of the 49ers’ sideline officials has been wearing a Super Bowl 50 patch on his vest. Of course, Super Bowl 50 was played at the Niners’ stadium (from @teamhungy).
College Football News: Check out this early facemask worn by Nile Kinnick in 1937 (from @HawksChronicles). …Staying in Iowa: This is a few weeks old at this point, but ESPN ran a piece during College Gameday about the history of the Cy-Hawk Trophy, the trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Iowa State/Iowa football game (from Kary Klismet). … Speaking of trophies, here’s an interesting breakdown of the more than 200 traveling rivalry trophies in college football (from James Gilbert). … Virginia Tech has hung a “Lunch Pail” banner in honor of longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster following the Hokies game on Saturday (from Andrew Cosentino). … Just about every school that uses “Tigers” for a nickname has at one point used a Tiger in sailor’s hat as a logo. It turns out, all these logos may derive from a cartoonist who was commissioned to create a logo for Occidental College in California (from Jay Blake). … Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at Air Force’s football facilities (from Griffin T. Smith). … Utah will wear their throwbacks this Saturday (from Tyler Riggins). … Kansas State will wear white helmets with retro script on Saturday. They wore this script for one year on purple helmets in 1988 (from Mike Stanley). … Ohio has new BFBS uniforms and helmet decals, which they’ll debut tonight (from Noah Wolf).
Hockey News: According to this video, Stars G Anton Khudobin wears a golf glove under his goalie mitt (from Ewan Williams). … Staying in Dallas, the Stars will retire No. 56 for former D Sergei Zubov (from Mike Chamernik). … Resident Canadian and major junior hockey fan Wade Heidt provided a list of some of the top clubs’ military tributes on Veterans/Remembrance Day. Among them are the Kamloops Blazers, the Portland Winterhawks, the Seattle Thunderbirds and the Kitchener Rangers. … Man, check out this Led Zeppelin hockey jersey worn by the band and crew during an American tour in 1975 (from David Firestone).
NBA News: Fascinating comments from Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, who says he changes into a new jersey at halftime every game. I’d love to know more! Does he have just two sets of each jersey, or does he throw each jersey out after wearing them for a half? Does he just prefer a clean jersey, or is it superstition — or something else? And, as Jason Collins asks, how many more players do this?
College Hoops News: Towson wore light blue uniforms for Autism Awareness last night (from Thomas Stavely). … North Alabama was clearly inspired by the Golden State Warriors with these jerseys (from Nathaniel Rea). … The Pac-12 Network was using an outdated Illinois logo on its scorebug last Sunday night (from Jason Cunningham).
Soccer News: A bunch of teams released their jerseys ahead of Euro 2020, including Germany, Italy and Spain. To see more of the Euro 2020 jerseys, head to Josh Hinton‘s Football Kit Watch Twitter account (thanks to everyone else who shared). … Also from Josh: Argentina has released their jerseys for the 2020 Copa America and 2022 World Cup qualifying. … One more from Josh: Forward Madison FC of USL League One announced a player signing by shoveling his name in the snow on its field.
Grab Bag: New logo for the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, a bike race across Iowa sponsored by The Des Moines Register (from R. Scott Rogers). … This piece takes a look at the evolution of the flight attendant uniform through the years (from Patrick O’Neill). … Under Armour has filed a lawsuit against apparel company Hotsuit, claiming Hotsuit’s logo is violating its trademark (from James Gilbert). … English rugby club London Irish is holding a design-a-jersey contest for the team’s 2020 St. Patrick’s Day shirt (from @Stumpy7780). … Police officers in Fairfield, N.J., wore Army-style green uniforms for Veterans Day (from Kary Klismet).
“Just about every single team released their jerseys ahead of Euro 2020, including Germany, Italy and Spain.”
Just to clarify, only 6 of the 24 finalists have been decided for Euro 2020 so far, so it’s not quite accurate to say these are all Euro 2020 releases. For instance, while Italy and Spain have qualified, Germany are still yet to secure their place and hence the kit they’ve released may not appear at the tournament.
WRT to the pic with the Padres’ camo tops, I like the top on the left side (the one without the green) a bit more than I like the other one.
The camo jerseys (which I am, overall as a concept, very much not a fan of for reasons that Paul has explained many times over the years) remind me of how for years the Padres were the only team to do it and how their yearly wearing of their original ones was such a big deal and possibly what they were most famous for uni-wise. I thought at the time, and still do, that it would have been cool if they had applied elements of it to their regular color scheme and gone to a palette of brown, dark green, and tan.
If there is one team that is potentially justified in wearing camo alts, it’s the Padres. But back when they started doing so, their regular uniforms were already inspired by and a tribute to military uniforms! They could definitely have worked a little bit of legend-making into their new identity if they wanted, though that would have cut against the pinstripes at home and away.
How were their regular uniforms inspired by/a tribute to military uniforms at the time?
The Padres explicitly advertised the relationship when they unveiled their navy-and-sand uniforms. The home whites and road tans were supposed to resemble the pre-blueberry uniforms of the U.S. Navy, and the tans also tied into the USMC’s garrison uniforms.
Unfortunately, the Padres pretty much ubiquitously wore their navy alt on the road, so instead of looking like a sailor or marine, they looked like a civilian retail store manager.
Their camo jersey thing definitely started before their navy-and-sand period. But yes the Padres certainly do have a long relationship with the military as does the city of San Diego itself
Just out of curiosity, Paul, what’s YOUR spray range?
X^O
I’m a California native and I also don’t get the hype for In-N-Out. Good sauce, and nice and fresh, but nothing special. I will add they are known to be an excellent employer. But yeah, their fries suck. And in Scottsdale, White Castle just opened their first Arizona location, and only their second out west, and same thing…I don’t get it. I’ve been to other locations, and I refuse to wait in a super long line because east coast transplants are losing their minds over this. This AZ location is their largest in the world, and they do serve alcohol.
As a White Castle partisan, I would never pretend that they serve “good food” in any conventional sense of the term. I like them more on a pop cultural level than on a culinary level. A rare case of me embracing the brand more than the actual product.
Two words: Freddy’s.
Oh wait, that’s one word.
I think there’s also the weird appeal of everyone knowing that you can order “off menu” at In-N-Out.
I don’t understand why that’s a point of appeal. I mean, either it’s like every restaurant in the world, including fast food where my normal McDonald’s order, when life absolutely forces me to order something at the Golden Arches, is technically not listed on the menu, or it’s an admission that their menu kind of sucks. In neither case does it make me think In-N-Out is anything special.
A lot of chain burger joints these days just list all the varieties of stuff they can put on your burger, and you order whatever you want from those selections. Much more efficient that In-N-Out’s “off menu” thing, which is literally just that except without the overt listing of options.
In fact I find the opposite more appealing, such as the original Billy Goat in Chicago, where trying to order any variant of the very few choices listed on the menu will (or did in the late 1990s when I frequented it) get you hustled out of line by other patrons while the guy behind the counter stares at you as if you’d just spoken Mongolian. The menu is the menu, take your pick, keep moving. That’s a quirky fast-food approach I can buy into.
I preferred Fatburger during my life in SoCal.
“White Castle fries only come in one size
What you see is what you get
And you ain’t seen nothing yet”
So let it flow! Let yourself go!
YES! Brent! :)
Thank you!!
Similarly, I prefer Five Guys to Shake Shack here on the East Coast.
I was very disappointed by Shake Shack when I visited Brooklyn, but fell in love with Five Guys. I’d eat there every week if there was a branch any closer, but I can’t justify a 40 mile round trip for a burger.
I actually liked Del Taco. For what it was.
+1 on Fatburger
In-N-Out may not be the best burger, but it’s pretty much the best $2 (or so) fast food burger. I haven’t had one that’s as good as it and at the best price. Fries do suck. Save money on fries, order two burgers.
This is exactly the point everyone is missing. It’s hands down the best burger for the price point. Of course you can find a better $15 burger, but try getting similar quality at sub $5.
Rally’s here in Ohio. The burgers are very good, they constantly have specials that are 2-for-$4 or 2-for-$5, and their seasoned fries are the best fast-food fries for my money (though Arby’s curly fries with Arby’s sauce are a close second). And a shout out to Sonic as well.
Paul’s In-N-Out experience mirrors so many who try it after years of hearing the hype. You either Get It or you don’t, to borrow a phrase. I grew up in SoCal and had access to it all my young adult life but didn’t realize how much I loved it and missed it until I moved away. Now it’s a must stop with every visit.
In-N-Out is the pinnacle of a certain style of burger: the cheap flat McDonald’s style burger. It is not a good style, but taking something famously bad, and actually making it good, is a particular kind of pleasure. The fries are famous for sounding good (cut from fresh potatoes at the store), but tasting awful. The simple menu (just burgers, fries, drinks) makes them seem like a throwback.
Lived in Northern CA 21 years, and INO is -the- only burger for us.
Period.
BD on Sat and it’s Double Double, Animal fries, vanilla shake. A huge amount of calories.
And I don’t care.
The secret is getting the fries well done, that way they’re hot when you get them, plus crispy. If you don’t get them we’ll dive they tend to be soggy and cold.
Non-cold fries aren’t a special secret bonus; they’re the bare minimum of adequacy that ought to be the default for every order. Cold fries are bad fries, and any place that requires patrons to make a special request for minimum adequacy is a restaurant that deserves to be driven out of business by a national chain.
Reminds me of living in Europe. When I would travel, I would seek out towns or neighborhoods with a McDonald’s. Never to eat at McD’s but because if there was a Golden Arches in walking distance, you could trust that hole-in-the-wall lunch joints and cafes would offer consistently good food. Absent the competition of a McD’s, the average quality at mom-and-pop lunch joints was dreadful everywhere in non-UK Western Europe.
Don’t want to be *that* Californian, but like the people in the comments are saying, you either Get It or you don’t with In-N-Out. I’m part of the former, as I just had some yesterday lol.
As for the fries, it seems that every In-N-Out (especially the ones near my house and the one near my former employer) have soggy fries as default. I always make it a point to get extra well done or animal style since even well done is still soggy sometimes.
At any rate (for me at least), In-N-Out is still my go-to fast food burger, even with a Shake Shack less than 20 miles away, and a Five Guys less than five minutes away.
No love here for the Midwest staple of Culver’s? Those places are the bomb, although they did change their fries a couple of years back and they’re not as good as they were. The burgers are still really good though, and they have their own branded root beer as well.
Culver’s is the best chain burger out there! I agree with you that their fries aren’t as good since the change but still beat most other joints out there.
The ultimate best Midwestern burger is Schoop’s but very few outside of northwest Indiana (Chicagoland) get to experience them.
I long for Culver’s and Schoop’s since moving out of the Midwest.
I will never contradict anyone’s praise for Culver’s, but as someone who lives within walking distance of multiple Culver’s, my personal favorite fast burger is our local Mooyah. Thicker, rounder burger than Culver’s, and they do the lettuce-bun thing to perfection. I love me a Culver’s butterburger! But I like a Mooyah iceburger even better.
OTOH, Culver’s has a really good diet root beer, as well as cheese curds, reliably good soups, and decent onion rings.
+1 to the list of Californians that just don’t get the big deal about In-N-Out. The burger is meh, and there’s just not enough ketchup and salt in the world to make those fries anything but bland. The shakes are decent, but on the rare occasion that I’m craving a fast-food burger, I’m Team Five Guys.
“The White Sox will be playing with a swoosh on their jersey, which is very special. Again, winners and competitors wear the swoosh.”
Just wanted to immortalize those words from the 2020 White Sox concepts linked in the ticker.
And his closing words? “Just Do It”.
I threw up just a little reading that.
To paraphrase the great Johann Cruyff, all 32 teams will be wearing the swoosh. If it worked the way Brandon Anderson seems to think, every game would be a tie.
Oops *30 teams.
While I’m at it, *Johan (with one n)
Might be because of the angle, but the picture of the Padres’ camo jersey doesn’t have a Nike logo on the chest…
Tried In-N-Out twice on our west coast jaunt last year: underwhelmed both times and the fries sucked BOTH times, definitely not a one off thing.
“Under Armour has filed a lawsuit against apparel company Hotsuit, claiming Hotsuit’s logo is violating its trademark”
Maybe if UA’s logo looked more like a U and an A instead of an H they wouldn’t have this problem!!
Paul, I agree with you about In-n-Out. I am in San Diego often and make a point to stop by at least once when in town. Animal Style, or sometimes Flying Dutchman, please. I suppose it’s mostly for the atmosphere, novelty, “secret” menu, and reputation. However, given the choice I’ll take a D.C. area (NoVa, technically) Five Guys burger always.
Five Guys isn’t really a valid comparison to In-N-Out, though many people use it as the East Coast comp. Sure, they’re both burgers, but they each offer wildly different takes on the product and the price point is not even close. You can get two In-N-Out meals for the price of one at Five Guys. For many years Five Guys didn’t offer shakes (not sure if that has changed), which, if you want the ultimate burger & fries experience, you gotta have access to a shake!
Each occupies a similar niche in its regional marketplace, so they’re valid comps. Quality, selection, and price vary among all the regional chains that occupy that market niche, but they still occupy similar niches.
Newer Five Guys locations and those that remodel have shakes. If it hasn’t remodeled in the last few years, it may not. But most do have shakes.
Five Guys does have shakes and I love that I have the option of getting either a chocolate shake or a chocolate malted shake, depending on my mood. Yeah, it’s more expensive than In-N-Out, but In-N-Out is just throwing money away. If you want cheap, Fatburger is a much better option.
I know that burgers (or any food) is a personal preference so it is kind of a waste to argue over what is better. With that being said, if you don’t eat a Five Guys burger within seconds of receiving it you eat a soggy mess. Sometimes you end up with a soggy mess of a bun by the end and it isn’t the good kind of mess. I take In-n-Out any day over Five Guys. Especially at their different price points.
Those COISKI media segments are great. Love all the details they show you at the various locales they visit.
Cannot tell, do the Padres’ camo tops for with white or tan pants? Either way, looks like no pinstripes.
Both with white pants, no pins.
Ah, so it’s a full alt uniform, not just a jersey swap. Thanks for clarifying!
That’s a lot of pieces hanging in the closet for a team that promised a minimalistic, new-brand-establishing approach to 2020. Five jerseys and four pants.
The strange Nike love in the White Sox concepts link was……odd. But that “City Edition” uniform was gorgeous. I’d gladly switch color schemes all together if that was a centerpiece.
Shouldn’t at least ONE of the White Sox concept uniforms include, you know, WHITE socks? Not that it matters anyway, with the players sporting the pajama-pants look and all.
Given how excellent, consistent, and longstanding the current White Sox uniforms are, and how great a change those three adjectives are from the team’s prior history, that’s my one criterion for taking any White Sox concept seriously. White socks or don’t bother. If you start with white stockings and work forward and upward from there, you can get into really interesting and innovative approaches to the baseball uniform that have the potential to improve on what Chicago is wearing. Anything else is all but guaranteed to be change-for-change’s sake or a downgrade.
I’ve never understood the literalism around here demanding white socks on the White Sox.
Only dark-colored pants would work with white socks. Are we all on board with that?
In the early ’70s, the White Sox wore red stirrups, while the Red Sox wore navy rups.
Very confusing for six-year-old me.
I don’t remember the navy stirrups on the Red Sox but I remember the red ones on the White Sox.
Socks are an afterthought now. For all we know every long pants-wearing White Sox IS wearing white socks for every game.
Partly it’s literalism, in that the color of the socks is literally the name. Of. The. Team. If that’s too big a stretch for the team’s management to work with, fine, change the darn name. If tomorrow the Cubs donned a shoulder patch with a tiger on it and the Tigers donned a shoulder patch with a bear cub on it, nobody would object to people complaining as engaging in “literalism.” Words have meanings.
And partly it’s history. The most notorious scandal in the history of pro baseball – maybe in the history of American sports, period – involved the White Sox accepting bribes to lose a championship, and the infamous bribe-taking team was and still is known as the “Black Sox.” So for the White Sox to wear black socks is akin to, I don’t know, showing up to a Veteran’s Day parade dressed as an Imperial Japanese POW camp guard. It’s just distasteful to anyone who knows and cares about the relevant history.
Black socks with prominent white stripes would be more than enough to satisfy my preferences with regard to Chicago’s name and uniform. But even white socks with black or other color stripes would look just fine with the rest of the White Sox’s uniforms, since their home pants have black pinstripes and their road pants are gray.
Could a White Sox player just wear white socks now? Are sock color rules just as lax or non-existent as shoe color rules?
If tomorrow the Cubs donned a shoulder patch with a tiger on it and the Tigers donned a shoulder patch with a bear cub on it, nobody would object to people complaining as engaging in “literalism.” Words have meanings.
***EXACTLY***
Boston and Chicago, if you wear anything other than solid red and white socks respectively, Change. Your. Names.
Those Chicago Sox concepts were depressing. I didn’t even focus on what was above the shins. Every single one was a fail from the shins down.
Or to put it another way, would you go around saying “My name is spelled Nestor but you must pronounce it Charles”? Of course not. Don’t make life difficult.
“Get a complete set of 1970s NFL Dairy Queen helmets right here.”
The Tampa Bay one has a right-hand side Bucco Bruce decal applied to the left side of the helmet.
In-N-Out. So many things in life over hyped they have no chance to meet expectations. If you went into In-N-Out w/o ever hearing a word about the restaurant …
…I’d still think the burgers were flat and the fries had no flavor.
What is the fit on the basketball shorts? They seem like they might be a little more trim fit, but that could just be my imagination making assumptions.
I have almost zero experience with wearing basketball shorts as an adult, so I don’t have a good sense of context. Let me check with my Adelph Wear partner — hang on.
From my Adelph Wear guy: “They fit like a standard gym short. No too slim, but not too baggy.” I realize that’s probably unsatisfying, but it is what it is!
Nope, that works for me. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be showing off too much leg in the gym. Thanks for following up, Paul!
Listened to your interview segment, that was great! Nice to hear a couple of radio guys who earnestly enjoyed the subject as well. One of the hosts went on about the stirrups on “fat guys” and how it’s a litmus test when they get a new player on his team. It was pretty hilarious.
A visit to San Diego without going to any Stone Brewing location? SHAME! I kid, I kid. Glad you enjoyed San Diego, Paul. I was there a few years back and enjoyed it immensely. Definitely going back someday.
No mention today of noted hockey (and garish fashion) pariah Don Cherry being fired from Hockey Night In Canada. Long overdue to be honest. But it finally happened, over a rant about poppies.
We recently got In-and-Out here in North Texas. I gotta say it is a great burger for the price. I’ve only been to one, but the one I go to in Lake Worth has a Chick Fil A level of speed and customer service. But the fries? No thanks. Terrible.
Early in his career Tom Barrasso used to wear a glove under his trapper. Can’t tell if it was a golf glove or a batting glove. link
“Two in the morning got the fat burger
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp”
I miss some of the SD staples that I used to go to every year for Comicon that are no longer there, like the old spaghetti factory and the place in the gaslamp district that had alligator burgers.
One detail missed about the Padres brown & gold uni history. Along with the A’s, the Padres used to wear yellow-gold sanitary hose (socks). They were under their brown stirrups, and white shoes were the standard color. None of the models wearing stirrups attempted to revive this fantastic tradition.
Paul, Have the cufflinks dropped yet?
Nope. Waiting for Teespring to get the inventory logged in. Tomorrow, I hope!
As far as changing jerseys at halftime I’ve read that many NBA players only wear a pair of sneakers for one game, then switch to a brand new pair. They oftentimes give them away to some lucky kid after the game.
“Just what I always wanted, a pair of basketball shoes that I will never come close to fitting into and as a bonus they stink!!”
According to Keith Olbermann, Pete Rose was infamous for changing his jersey not only in between innings, but in between the top and bottom of innings. As was almost always the case with Rose it was a cash grab which he used to bet on mlb games.
In N Out is overrated. Five Guys is a 1000x better … for those who insist it’s not a comp, Cookout is a price comp and still 100s of times better.
Culver’s is disgusting.
I’d rather eat moldy bread than White Castle.
Quick note – that bike ride is no linger sponsored by the Des Moines Register. The ride organizers broke ties with the paper after its (shameful) treating of the “beer money” guy. link
Another unmentioned detail. All-Star games now require the road team members to wear their own road grays. If Padres didn’t have the “sand” color road alt, their All-Star representative(s) wouldn’t be able to meet that requirement.
All-Star games now require the road team members to wear their own road grays.
Correction: All-Star Game requirement is for the road team to wear its *primary* road uniform. For most teams, that means grey. But if the Padres (or any other team) had a non-grey primary road jersey, that too would be fine.
Thanks for the clarification of the All-Star Game requirements. It seems the teams in recent years have been wearing home whites and road grays in that game. These may be designated “primary” jerseys for every team, and I haven’t seen a dark jersey now for years. Would a Padre now playing in All-Star game where NL is road team come out a wear a brown jersey? Seems very unlikely.
I’m not sure on what basis you say “very unlikely,” other than your own misconception of the rule. All-Star players wear their primary home and road uniforms. In the Padres’ case, their primary road uni includes a brown jersey, so that’s what a Padre would wear if the National League were the visiting team.
N.L. won’t be the visiting team again until 2021. A lot can happen between now and then. Let’s wait and see, shall we?