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Good morning, and happy Veterans Day! If you are a military veteran, please accept my thanks for your service — it is appreciated.
Uni-watching can take place where you least expect it. Case in point: Reader Bryan Beban noticed yesterday that Judge Bruce Schroeder, who’s presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial in Kenosha, Wis., has a box of Milwaukee Brewers tissues perched on a shelf behind his chair. Note that the box has the Brew Crew’s now-obsolete logo — someone get Schroeder some fresh homer hankies with up-to-date branding!
Or then again, maybe don’t bother, because Schroeder is apparently quite fond of the older design. While looking for more photos of him, I discovered that on Nov. 1, when jury selection began, he arrived at court wearing a Brewers jacket with the same outdated script as the tissue box:
Sure enough, this article from two weeks ago describes Schroeder as a “die-hard Brewers fan.” Hmmm — has MLB started selling licensed team-branded gavels yet? They’d certainly have at least one customer!
I find all of this rather refreshing. Judges are so imperious-seeming, so it’s nice to have some little reminders that they’re human like the rest of us. I do worry, though, about someone who showed up in Schroeder’s courtroom wearing a Cubs or Cardinals sweatshirt.
As an aside: I know that the Rittenhouse trial and Judge Schroeder are both charged topics at the moment, but let’s please stick to uni-related commentary. Thanks.
(Big thanks to eagle-eyed Bryan Beban for spotting the tissue box and letting me know about it.)
Photo by Justin L. Fowler, The State Journal-Register; click to enlarge
ITEM! New Bulletin article: My latest piece for Bulletin is about two Illinois high schools that wear “half-and-half” two-tone helmets that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before — and that I think could potentially rewrite the book on football helmet design.
Those of you who’ve subscribed to receive my Bulletin content via email should already be seeing this piece in your in-boxes. Everyone else can read it on my Bulletin page. Enjoy!
North Carolina party reminder: In case you missed the details last week, I’ll be convening a Uni Watch gathering Durham, N.C., this Saturday, Nov. 13, 2:30pm, at Tobacco Road. That’s just two days from today! No RSVP is necessary — just show up and look for me (or for lots of people wearing jerseys).
This will be the first Uni Watch gathering since the 20th-anniversary parties in 2019. I’m looking forward to meeting lots of you!
The Ticker
By Paul
Indigenous Appropriation News: Union Public Schools in Tulsa, Okla., having previously scrapped their “Redskins” team name, have settled on “Redhawks” as their new identity (thanks to all who shared). … In an interesting twist, a group of Native Americans in Colorado has filed a legal challenge to the state’s ban on Native-based team names on the grounds that it prevents schools from using Native iconography in positive, honorific ways (thanks to all who shared). … Paste magazine, which is based in Atlanta, thinks the Braves should change their name (from Adam Vitcavage).
Baseball News: The U.S. Mint is issuing some really nice Negro Leagues commemorative coins, with proceeds going to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. … The good news is that the great Jeff Passan — probably the best baseball writer in the country — has re-upped with ESPN. The bad news is that the biggest non-ESPN contenders for his services were gambling sites. Yeesh. … This is cool: The Paper Moon Diner in Baltimore has thousands of Pez dispensers on display, including lots of MLB-themed ones (from Marcus Hall). … A Japanese man has been arrested for stealing a high school baseball uniform and wearing it while “committing a lewd act.”
NFL News: Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs changed accessories at halftime of last Sunday’s game against the Broncos. In the first half he had blue arm sleeves, red gloves, and blue/red sock accents. In the second half, all the red and blue elements were gone, replaced by white (from Stu Taylor). … Color Rash this week for the Broncos. … Titans RB D’Onta Foreman has changed his number from 45 to 7, a move that I suspect has something to do with new teammate and fellow RB Adrian Peterson wearing No. 8 (from Lee Wilds). … Former 49ers QB Joe Montana, appearing on The Dan Patrick Show, discussed various uni-related issues (from Erik Spoonmore). … The Ravens will wear white over black for tonight’s game against the Dolphins (from Andrew Cosentino). … Here’s Jason Von Stein’s weekly NFL mascot/uni illustration.
College Football News: Here are this week’s uni combos for Iowa State, UNC, and Cincinnati (thanks to all who shared). … New uniforms for D3 school Centenary (from Alex Anderson). … New homecoming helmet for FCS school Lamar (from Ashly Elam). … Flag-desecration uniforms last night for Northern Illinois. … Lots of great photos in the article about Maryland football history (from Steve Ammidown).
Hockey News: New Silicon Valley-themed mask for Sharks G Adin Hill (from Wade Heidt). … The ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators will have new white sweaters for their game on Nov. 20 (from Jack Daley). … Fun article about Blue Jacket’s G Elvis Merzlikins’s new bright-blue pads (from Dan McCue). … The Blues, apparently confusing Veterans Day with Memorial Day, plan to honor 13 fallen U.S. service members on their pregame jerseys tonight (thanks, Phil).
Basketball News: Mount St. Mary’s men’s coach Daniel Engelstad honored former coach Jim Phelan by wearing one of Phelan’s bow ties for the school’s season opener (from Al Hood). … Clemson plans to honor a bunch of past men’s and women’s players by hanging their jerseys from the rafters. It’s not clear, at least to me, if their numbers will be officially retired as well. … New road uniforms for Texas Southern men’s. … A group in New Brunswick, Canada, is raising funds to preserve the country’s oldest existing basketball court, which dates back to 1893 (from Kary Klismet).
Soccer News: Napoli will have at least 12 kits this season (from Trevor Williams). … U.S. Soccer has extended its outfitting deal with Nike. … Yesterday’s Ticker had an item about the Premier League not letting clubs wear away kits at home on Boxing Day to support a homelessness charity. “Apparently the English Football League is going to let that happen if a formal request is made, although only Cardiff City and Portsmouth have done that so far,” says our own Jamie Rathjen. … A statue of Sir Walter Raleigh located outside the Raleigh Convention Center has been decked out in gear from the NWSL’s North Carolina Courage (from James Gilbert). … The Canadian Premier League’s latest team, beginning play in 2023, will be in Vancouver (from Wade Heidt). … Six months after the Columbus Crew launched a new logo, fans still don’t like it.
Grab Bag: New 50th-anniversary logo for Atari. … Here’s one of the better articles I’ve seen about Facebook’s new “Meta” identity and logo. … Here’s a video rundown of 10 all-time ugly NASCAR designs (from David Firestone). … New team names and logos for the Arena Lacrosse League’s Western Division (from Michael Sullivan). … If you scroll down to the bottom of this page, you’ll get an explainer for the symbolism behind NASA’s official SpaceX Crew-3 mission insignia (rare non-Carolina-related item from James Gilbert). … It’s a little hard to see, but the Miami (Ohio) field hockey team has “Love” and “Honor” printed up the sides of their jerseys (thanks, Jamie). … This is so great: My friend Nate Clesowich spotted this guy on the subway wearing a Hüsker Dü New Day Rising mask! … The city of Jackson, Mich., has removed Andrew Jackson from its city seal (from Timmy Donahue). … A Chicago police officer accused of pointing his gun at innocent teens in 2019 had the Punisher skull logo on his uniform at the time. … A woman in Pittsburgh is accused of stealing packages from people’s stoops while wearing a FedEx uniform.
Edit: “Cowboys CB Trevor Diggs ” should be “Trevon Diggs”
Fixed.
Paul – Nice article on Bulletin! (I’m not on Facebook so I’m leaving it here.)
Thanks, Ben. Wouldn’t have happened if not for you!!
been way to long since I’ve been to the Paper Moon Diner
About those helmets, didn’t Notre Dame do something similar for the Shamrock Series in 2012?
link
Ah, good call – I forgot about that one!
Great article on Bulletin, Paul! I’m also not on FB, so commenting here… but I feel like University of Maryland deserved a mention in this article, they started wearing state flag helmets back in 2011!
True, they aren’t strictly “two-tone” like the other examples, (being lifted directly from the state flag). But I think those definitely set the ground for the Navy helmets a year later!
I was expecting a video on ugly NASCAR paint jobs.
That being said, SlapShoes does good work. Watch his videoes on Buick and on “Liars, Thieves, and Lawyers.”
I as well : (
I don’t fault NASCAR for racing ‘ugly’ cars that were what the manufacturers churned, but when they turned the Ford Taurus into a race car…that I do not forgive.
Always thought the late ‘80s-early ‘90s Chrysler LeBaron would have made a sharp looking NASCAR entry.
I really enjoyed the video, too. Totally disagree with him on #10, though. Otherwise, good stuff. -C.
Re: two-tone helmets.
Isn’t it a little difficult for quarterbacks to try to discern helmets if a player runs an out route vs. an in route and the QB is looking for a helmet color rather than a jersey color?
I seem to remember that the reason why the Bills went to red helmets in 1984 was because Joe Ferguson was confused by the white helmets worn in the same division by the Jets (which had gone to all-green in 1978), Dolphins, Colts, and Patriots.
They *thought* that was why Ferguson was tossing so many INTs. But when they changed helmet colors, he threw even more of them, so that apparently wasn’t the problem.
But your point about the potential issues for QBs is an interesting one.
Maybe that’s why the Jags split their old helmet on a different axis. That thing stuck out from any angle.
I know that’s why Michigan never switched from the winged helmet; made it easier to tell which direction the receiver was facing.
Paul – I know you look at life through a uni-lens, but even posting the judge from the Rittenhouse trial is a tough lede to then tell people to ignore politics. When you make decisions like this, how do you decide if the uni-relevance is worth it compared to the potential political commentary?
It’s simple: I ask people to stick to the uni-related aspect. So far today, everyone has respected that standard. I fail to see the problem.
It’s funny: If I ever venture into non-uni territory, people say, “Stick to uniforms!” But when I stick to uniforms, you take issue with that. [Insert shoulder-shrug emoji here.]
Understood, guess I just am personally struggling to focus on the uni-verse when something veers into being that serious. I’d also say that I’m doubling down on that “stick to uniforms,” since this to me isn’t explicitly uni-related.
Thanks for the reply though – happy to disagree on this one.
I once went to Troy city traffic court on a trumped up speeding ticket charge. I wore my Mets jacket to court.
When I pled not guilty to the the judge and before he told me to go talk to the city attorney to plead it down- he mentioned to me that he was also a long suffering Mets fan too.
After the conference with the city attorney where I would plead to parking on the pavement with a $75 fine and a $50 surcharge.
After throwing the book at a kid wearing a Yankees t shirt- the judge accepted my plea and only made me pay the $75 fine and dropped the the surcharge! My Mets’s jacket saved me $50.
I bet that Japanese uniform thief was a big “Yanks” fan. HI-YO!
That said, please get that man some help.
As a fan of the team, I prefer the Brewers 2000-19 logo and uniforms to their current set. Even though the MB logo is a classic.
Although not uni related, I found it funny how the judge was pictured looking at cookie magazines during a break.
I’m curious if Judge Schroeder is a fan of that Brewers logo/colors, or just the type of fan that doesn’t update merchandise all the time.
Strong fondness or distaste for a particular logo is common in this community, but there are definitely fans who really don’t seem to care too much when teams update their designs.
I can definitely see the potential for full Franken-uni get-ups in our future. Or a remix uniform where one half of a helmet is a throwback design and the other half is a team’s current design. I wonder if split facemasks are not far behind.
With regard to the Blues, it IS Remembrance Day in Canada. Doesn’t quite explain why a US based team would be honoring fallen US soldiers, but…. well, I’ll shut up now before I get into trouble.
Thank you for sharing Paul.
Safe travels to you.