In today’s Ticker: Eagles-themed manicures, some fun minor league alternate identities, and more.
Uni Watch News Ticker for Feb. 10, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- A Tigers fan with more than 1,200 signed baseballs is looking for a way to share his collection. (From Brandon Weir)
Minors
- The Double-A Hartford Yard Goats will play one game as the Hartford Bouncing Pickles this season. The name refers to the fact that it is illegal to sell a pickle in Connecticut if it cannot bounce. They’ll also play two games as the Hartford Schoolboys, as a tribute to local Negro Leagues star Johnny “Schoolboy” Taylor. (Thanks to all who shared)
- The wonderful Savannah Bananas have introduced a yellow “Banana Ball.” Here’s a good rundown on previous experiments with yellow baseballs. (From David Kerr)
Football
NFL
- Here’s a profile of the “God of Sod,” George Toma, who’s been the groundskeeper for every Super Bowl.
- Fans in Philly are gearing up for the Supe by getting all sorts of Eagles-themed manicures.
- Here’s an article on KC fans’ use of the tomahawk chop.
More
- XFL 3.0 has revealed secondary logos for all eight of its teams.
Hockey
NHL
- The Rangers wore Black History Night pregame jerseys on Wednesday. (From Wade Heidt)
- Also from Wade: Devils G Vitek Vanecek’s new mask is a shout-out to former netminding greats Martin Brodeur and Glenn Resch.
- Hurricanes G Antti Raanta has new pads for the upcoming Stadium Series game. (From Al Hood)
- In a related item, Caps G Darcy Kuemper was breaking in his own Stadium Series gear at yesterday’s practice.
- Following up on an item from yesterday’s Ticker, it turns out that teams are not required to wear pregame jerseys for the military, “Hockey Fights Cancer,” or St. Paddy’s Day after all. Although a New York Post article linked in yesterday’s Ticker said those jerseys were mandatory, they are actually optional.
- Newly acquired Rangers RW Vladimir Tarasenko will wear No. 91, the same number he wore with the Blues. (From Alan Kreit)
Minors/Juniors
- The USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers have unveiled their rings for winning last sesaon’s league championship. (From Kary Klismet)
More
- A goalie for a Mexican kids’ team in 1966 had a very unusual mask. (Thanks, Jerry)
Basketball
NBA
- The generally reliable Suns Uni Tracker account says that the team will have at least three new uniforms next season.
- Speaking of the Suns, newly acquired F Kevin Durant, who wore No. 7 with the Nets, will go back to his old number, 35, in Phoenix.
- In a related item, pro golfer Stewart Cink wore Durant’s new Suns jersey on the links yesterday. (From @Illisconsin)
- Just in time for the All-Star Game: new NBA-themed Oreos. (From John Cerone)
- When the NBA retired No. 6 this season for Bill Russell, players already wearing that number were grandfathered. One of them, G Nickeil Alexander-Walker, has just been traded from the Jazz to the Timberwolves, so that means No. 6 is now retired in Utah. That leaves 12 remaining players wearing No. 6. One of them is T-wolves G Jordan McLaughlin, so Alexander-Walker will need a new number in Minnesota.
College
- Virginia’s women’s team wore combination Black History Month/football player memorial warm-up shirts yesterday. (Thanks, Jamie)
- Syracuse women’s wore pink at home last night, with UNC wearing pink-trimmed white on the road. (From James Gilbert)
More
- It’s a little hard to see, but Timpview High School in Utah is apparently wearing the same “5 for the Fight” patch that the Utah Jazz wear. (Good spot by Jordan Fischer)
- The boys’ teams for Watseka and Hoopeston High Schools in Illinois wore 1980s throwbacks on Monday night to recognize former players from that era. Additional info here. (From Kary Klismet)
- Wayne County (Ky.) High School’s boys’ team wore throwbacks on Tuesday night to commemorate Monticello High School, which was consolidated into the current school in 2013. (Also from Kary)
Soccer
USA
- Good news out of St. Louis, where the new MLS team has decided not to sell its stadium naming rights, at least for now. (From Micah Burk)
International
- England: Third-tier side Derby County’s shirt advertiser’s logo is rendered in inconsistent colors on the team’s kit. (From John Cerone)
- Germany: Men’s Bundesliga side Werder Bremen has a new kit manufacturer (Hummel) as well as a new shirt advertiser (Matthäi, a local construction company) for 2023-24. Here’s a fun animation showing the evolution of their shirt design. (From Mark Dziak)
- Japan: Here’s a fun thread on J-League costumed mascots. (From Jeremy Brahm)
- Scotland: 2023 is the Scottish Football Association’s 150th anniversary, so they’re teasing a throwback shirt for the men’s national team. (Thanks, Jamie)
- Turkey: New Galatasaray signing Nicolo Zaniolo will wear No. 17 in memory of 17-year-old Muhammed Emin Özkan, who lost his life in the recent earthquake. (Thanks, Anthony)
Golf
- Cross-listed from the NBA section: Pro golfer Stewart Cink wore Kevin Durant’s new Phoenix Suns jersey on the links yesterday. (From @Illisconsin)
Grab Bag
- Here’s a good thread on the uniforms being worn by the U.S. Alpine Ski Team at the 2023 World Championships. (From Jeff Ash)
- Here are the new dresses for the UK’s Netball Super League’s Manchester Thunder. (Thanks, Jamie)
- New “Otto Orange”-themed lacrosse helmets for Syracuse. (From Michael Hochman)
- New police uniforms in Kirksville, Mo.
- Here are the pictograms for the 2024 Paris Olympics. (From Bill Robinson)
Comments (16)
The Scotland 150th anniversary kit was already released: link
Second line of the link you shared: “We expect the Scotland 150th Anniversary uniform to be released in time for the Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus in late March.”
The XFL secondary logos immediately reminded me of one of my favorite Simpsons quotes:
“Why make 31 flavors when you can’t get vanilla right?”
Isn’t the point of pictograms to be instantly recognisable and easy to understand? I needed to read the small print in half of those 2024 Paris Olympics pictograms.
Me too. And having Olympics pictograms that focus on playing surfaces and equipment rather than human athletes breaks with long established tradition and violates the stated values of the games. The athletes, and human excellence in sporting performance, are supposed to be the center and purpose of the event. Traditional pictograms, which depict the human form of athletes performing the sport, are more in keeping with that ethos than the Paris pictograms.
When the NBA retired No. 6 this season for Bill Russell, players already wearing that number were grandfathered. One of them, G Nickeil Alexander-Walker, has just been traded from the Jazz to the Timberwolves, so that means No. 6 is now retired in Utah. That leaves 12 remaining players wearing No. 6. One of them is T-wolves G Jordan McLaughlin, so Alexander-Walker will need a new number in Minnesota.
Charlotte too. Jalen McDaniels has been moved from the Hornets to the 76ers. 6 had been retired prior to Bill Russell’s league retirement, for Julius Erving.
Not surprised Durant is switching numbers, since 7 is retired by the Suns for Kevin Johnson, but I’m a little surprised the BR article didn’t mention anything about the number being unavailable in Phoenix at all. The way the article is written, a reader less familiar with the Suns might assume KD was changing his number solely out of personal preference.
It’s kind of weird that Alexander-Walker is currently listed as 6 on the Timberwolves’ roster page, right next to McLaughlin who’s also 6. Obviously that will change in short order, but it is an amusing anomaly nonetheless.
I used to be a devoted Uni-watch reader but have really not cared to read the past year or so. The ongoing articles with the negative slant on uniform ads or advertising in general have become a little too much. I really don’t think it is that much of a big deal. I don’t even notice the jersey ads when I watch a game. Maybe it is because of my auto racing and cycling background where everything has a logo (ad) slapped on it. I actually prefer cars or clothing that don’t have gigantic logos/ads on them. Yeah, I want my favorite teams’ uniforms to look just like they did when I was growing up but I also realize that times change and sports franchises, leagues, and competitors have the right and/or the need to make a dollar even if it means putting an ugly ad on a sleeve.
Thanks for the feedback, Rod — I hear you.
FWIW, if you simply look at the stories linked from the site’s home page, you’ll see that the vast majority of our recent coverage has *not* been about uniform advertising. But again, I hear you.
Paul,
Thanks for understanding and realizing I was not trying to be a jerk.
RB
Absolutely nothing jerk-y in your comment!
We may disagree about whether uniform ads are OK (which is fine), but I totally get that it’s a drag to read negative coverage. Believe me, it’s not much fun to *write* negative coverage either — I’d rather be positive! Unfortunately, there’s a lot of uni news lately that I don’t feel very positive about.
Interesting article about yellow baseball history. I wonder when competition softballs went to yellow covers? (I also learned a Wilson softball can go for $130.) Surely there were studies before/after that justified the move. I’d love to see Little League, Ripken League, etc experiment with yellow baseballs.
I found it an interesting article too. I’d love to see more experimentation with yellow baseballs. At work I prefer to use yellow legal pads over white. Easier on the eyes.
When cricket first experimented with playing at night under lights, they needed a more visible ball color than the mud-washed maroon of traditional test cricket balls. Ball makers first tried neon yellow and orange, but while these colors worked well for fielders looking for balls to catch, they didn’t offer enough contrast for batters compared to the green and brown of a cricket pitch. Also, they couldn’t make the seams on the yellow and orange balls visible enough for batters to read spin on the ball. Which, in cricket as well as baseball, is important both for safety and for batter performance. In the end, they settled on bright pink with black seams.
The only significant difference between the sports in this instance would seem to me to be that cricket batters are usually looking to read the ball’s bounce up off the ground, while baseball batters are watching the ball come down from above. So perhaps yellow’s insufficient contrast with grass and dirt in cricket isn’t a problem for baseball batters.
Regarding Raanta’s pads, I don’t get trying to make these flat-fronted pads look like retro bumpy pads for this game. For the Winter Classic, where retro is the theme, maybe, but for the Stadium Series, where big, bold, and flashy is the order of the day? It just seems out of place. And it just makes me miss actual bumpy pads all the more.
Who would want to buy a pickle after it’s already been bounced?