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Uni Watch Book Club: Colors

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It took a while, but I finally got myself a copy of the new book Colors: Pro Football Uniforms of the Past and Present, which attempts to present a fairly comprehensive look at NFL and AFL uniform history. Let’s start with the obligatory rundown of noteworthy photos:

• Always good to see another shot of the Broncos wearing vertically striped socks.

• Ditto for the airplane-helmet Jets design.

• Here’s a great shot of Wahoo McDaniel’s NickNOB.

Best stickum shot I’ve ever seen.

• Here’s a great close-up of the Steelers’ early logo, before they changed the “Steel” to “Steelers.”

• And speaking of the Steelers, here’s a rare sight: The team’s white pants, worn only in 1971.

• And speaking of rarely seen pants, here’s a shot of the Vikings’ early-’60s purple knickers.

• Check out this cheesy little nose bumper decal.

• Everyone associates the Oilers with “Love ya blue,” but they used to have a different color palette.

• I’ve seen lots of shots of Hank Stram wearing a Chiefs logo patch on his blazer, but this shot has the added bonus of the team’s secondary logo on his necktie.

• Here’s what I don’t understand about tearaway jerseys: Why didn’t every running back wear them?

• Look, if you need to wear a cast this big, you probably just shouldn’t be playing.

• There’s something extremely appealing about the simplicity of the old Cardinals uniform. Really works for me, even without the helmet logo.

• Here’s a super-close-up of the Falcons’ 25th-anniversary patch. I like how the stars on the NFL logo have been reduced to a few random threads.

• So much texture in this old Lions shot. The seams on the jerseys and pants, the edges of the numbers — that’s what I miss about today’s uniforms, which have largely eliminated texture.

• What the hell was Dave Jennings doing with a yellow stripe on his cleats?

• Here’s a new one: FNOT. That’s full name on tongue.

• First time I’ve ever seen a color photo of this press conference.

• Finally, check out this 1937 Redskins photo. That’s the same jersey design recently executed by DIYer Mike Sherman.

Pretty good stuff, right? Unfortunately, the book also has some problems, most of which can be traced back to the publisher, Beaver’s Pond Press, which is basically a vanity house. Here’s how vanity houses work: Instead of getting an advance against future royalties, the author provides all the production money up front and in return retains more rights and gets a bigger piece of the sales revenue pie. The publisher then handles the EDP (that’s editing, design, and production). Since the publisher has no investment in the product other than the production costs (i.e., they haven’t given the author any money up front), the EDP usually takes place very quickly and on the cheap.

In short, a vanity publisher is essentially a vendor for the author, which is no way to produce a quality product, because authors don’t know jack about how to produce a book. The Beaver’s pond web site says the firm was founded “to help writers reach their dreams of becoming published authors,” which is another way of saying, “We scoop up the shitty projects that real publishers turn down.”

None of which is to say that Colors is a shitty book. But it may explain some of these problems:

• The text is laid out with colored bullets instead of real paragraph breaks, which is incredibly annoying. I realize this is essentially the same way I format the Ticker, but the Ticker is a series of short, unrelated bursts (and it’s nowhere near as long as an entire book), while a book is supposed to present a sense of narrative flow. This was almost certainly done to save space and keep the book’s page count down, thereby saving on production costs, but couldn’t they just have used a smaller type size or something? Horrible design choice.

• Another bad choice: This is the flimsiest “hard”cover book I’ve ever encountered, because they’ve gone with a very low-grade cover stock that’s more flexible than rigid. I used to work in book publishing, and I know that using cheapo cover stock reduces your unit cost by maybe a third of a penny — not enough to justify the fact that your book will now feel like a cheesy rush job instead of a lasting document. Shame on whoever green-lighted this.

• There’s a separate chapter devoted to each team, with each chapter written by a different writer. This results in a lot of repetition (many of the writers repeat the same general points about football uniforms, which is something the editor should have addressed) and also leads to a very uneven tone throughout the book.

• Several of the chapter authors aren’t professional writers, and it shows. There are grammatical errors (again, something an editor should have dealt with), naked factual errors (“Today there is only one team that is wearing the uniform that it wore in its very first season — the New York Jets”), and lots of sloppy prose.

To be fair, there are also some positives, including lots of good anecdotes I hadn’t previously heard. For example: “In 1976, [Raiders] rookie defensive end Charles Philyaw wanted to have his full name emblazoned on his jersey, like his teammate, ‘VAN EEGHEN.’ What Philyaw failed to realize was that Van Eeghen’s first name was Mark.” Also: The Vikings chapter indicates that there was a coordinated effort for seven or eight NFL teams to wear white at home in 1964, specifically so their fans could see the visiting teams’ colors (this was apparently the source of confusion in the famous white-on-white Vikes/Lions game that year). Hadn’t heard about that before.

There’s also a very good chapter on officiating gear, written by Jim Tunney. It includes the following passage, which was new to me:

In the 1940s ”¦ only the Referee carried a whistle. The other officials wore a small horn strapped to their fingers. The purpose of the horn was that when a foul was spotted, the horn was blown. The officials then did not carry penalty flags, just horns. Sounding the horn did not stop play but served only to indicate that a foul had occurred. ”¦ In the 1950s, the NFL decided the fans could not hear the officials’ horn, thus the penalty flag was introduced.

No horn photos, alas. Anyone know more about this?

So, all in all: a mixed bag. I’ve been told that Jim Finks Jr., who coordinated this project, worked his ass off on it, and so did the people at Helmet Hut, who provided a lot of research support. My impression is that it was a labor of love for all concerned. But good intentions aren’t the same thing as a good book. Is this book worth $30? Frankly, I’d say no. But used copies should be coming into circulation shortly.

NCAA logo.jpg

Bracket Reminder: Uni Watch’s annual NCAA tournament bracket contest is now underway. For details, look here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Major, major find by the mighty Fleer Sticker Project, which has acquired a 40-year-old article that tells the full story of how the Seattle Pilots’ uniforms were developed. Among the many revelations: The uniforms were designed by a local newspaper artist; the designer wanted NOBs but management balked; the home unis were manufactured by Wilson but the road grays were made by Spalding; and the positioning of the scrambled eggs on the cap’s brim was adjusted to allow room for players to tug on their visors. There’s a lot more, too — this is a gold mine of a discovery. Savor every last detail here. ”¦ Speaking of Seattle: RIP, P-I. ”¦ The Islanders won’t be elevating their third jersey to primary status next season after all. ”¦ Really fun article about old officiating attire here (with thanks to Ryan Burns). ”¦ Why was Chase Utley going high-cuffed at a minor league game on Saturday? According to this article, “The Phillies require minor leaguers to wear their socks up for uniformity purposes. Utley could have gone to the [minor league] complex and worn his pants the way he normally wears them — with the bottom of his pant legs below the ankle — but he chose not to. ‘I didn’t want to stand out,’ Utley said. ‘They were nice enough to let me play in their game, so I figured I would respect them and do what they do.'” He went back to his usual low-cuffed look the following day. ”¦ Scott Burns sent along a bunch of Portland Buckaroos jersey photos. Check them out here. ”¦ Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date. ”¦ Awesome old Sprite patch available here. ”¦ Apparently the Raptors don’t exactly love their green St. Paddy’s Day gear. ”¦ I asked A’s equipment manager Steve Vucinich if he’d asked Corey Wimberly about his stirrups yet. “Turns out he wore ’em in Little League,” says Steve. “Then he got away from ’em, but he always liked the look, so he went back to ’em. Simple as that.” ”¦ J.Y. Owen checked in with a note regarding Sunday’s Twenty20 cricket match between England and the West Indies: “The new England captain Andrew Strauss played in his first Twenty20 match (the shortest form of the game) in three years, but the equipment managers were caught unprepared and sent Strauss out in the former shirt of Matt Prior with the nameplate taped over.” ”¦ Tris Wykes notes that minor league hockey advertising has spread to the pants. ”¦ I normally don’t care about the NBA’s D-League, but in this case I’ll make an exception. Mark Snider explains: “The home team for this game was the Idaho Stampede, wearing the black uniforms of one of their NBA affiliates, the Portland TrailBlazers, on Affiliate Night. The team in red was the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, wearing their regular road uniforms. And the third uniform was worn by Nathan Jawai, assigned to Idaho by their other NBA affiliate, the Toronto Raptors. Toronto didn’t want their player wearing the colors of another NBA team. So, they shipped Nate his Raptors road (third) black uniform.” Bizarre. And wait, there’s more: “The change also necessitated some uniform number changes for Idaho. Jawai wears 00 with Idaho, but his NBA number with Toronto is 21, so that meant that the normal #21 for Idaho, forward Jason Ellis, had to wear a different number. He wore #2, but because the change came late, he didn’t have a NOB.” That’s an awful lot of hassle for a game with a live crowd of about 17 fans. ”¦ Last week I linked to a video clip and said it showed Iowa wearing untucked jerseys in 1987. As several people pointed out, they were not going untucked — they just had stripes on their shorts that created an untucked illusion. But only Chris Chaussee came up with a photo to illustrate the point. ”¦ This book contains a short chapter about the Reds’ uniforms, and Jason Hillyer has generously scanned the appropriate pages for us. ”¦ Lots of stuff going on here. First, the nameplate is coming loose. Second, that’s Pirates pitcher Ian Snell, who’s pitching for Puerto Rico in the WBC. The “Davila” part of his NOB is explained here. And third, I think they meant to have a hyphen, not a period, in between the two surnames. ”¦ The Pirates apparently couldn’t wait for St. Paddy’s Day, as they wore green caps last night. Too bad about the logo creep and adjusta-straps. ”¦ Ben Traxel sent along some photos documenting a couple of projects. First, here are some 1950s pennants from his father’s collection (the Cubs design is particularly unusual). And then there’s this quilt, which he and his mom made back around 1983, when he was 13. “Once we settled on an idea and basic pattern, I copied each logo from my baseball cards onto newsprint at the size we needed to have them on the quilt (I made a few changes to keep it simpler, like not actually drawing the two guys shaking hands on the Twins logo). Then I used transfer paper and traced them onto the material squares. Mom had me use fabric paint and fabric paint markers. Together we painted each one before she sewed them all together, added the padding, and quilted the thing together. She quilted baseballs on each corner, since there were 30 squares and only 26 teams. It turned out pretty nice, but it wasn’t long before wanted something more grown-up. Now my boys have used it on their beds ”“- but unfortunately they don’t like it nearly as much as anything related to Star Wars.” Very nice! Additional photos here. ”¦ Fox’s Amazing Sports Stories series ran an episode about the Steagles last year (if you missed it, the entire episode is available here; it’s waaay too melodramatic but still informative). Rich Paine played #85 on the Steagles, Tony Bolva, and has sent along a bunch of photos from the set. … Two California high schools played a real throwback game, complete with wood bats and old-fashioned gloves. Details here (with thanks to Andy Luttrell). ”¦ And speaking of old-school gear, check out AntiqueAthlete.com (as suggested by Eric Sun). … If New Year’s Eve is for amateurs, St. Paddy’s Day is for idiots. Please do the world a favor and stay home tonight. And if you must go out, try to retain at least a shred of dignity, OK? OK.

 
  
 
Comments (124)

    Dave Jennings’ yellow striped cleats look like Puma cleats, I could be wrong though.

    Also noticed in the D-league shot, the player in red has a Rockets “R” on his shorts and right next to that is the Fleur De Bee. Wonder what thats all about? Do the rockets and Hornets share stock in the Rio Grande team?

    That Biletnikov photo is quite fun.

    I was reading somewhere that he suffered terribly with nerves, and normally threw up before games, frequently all over himself. This meant that he stank of sick whenever he played.

    Anyone heard anything similar to this?

    yeah…the jennings cleats are puma…maybe they’re actually football (soccer) boots and he borrowed a pair from the cosmos?

    i think the NASL cosmos and giants may have shared the stadium at the time (im prolly wrong tho)…but im pretty sure that in 1975 (that’s the year of jennings pic)…the cosmos wore green and white, so that wouldn’t explain the yellow stripe on the puma cleat

    hmmm

    “In the 1950s, the NHL decided the fans could not hear the officials’ horn, thus the penalty flag was introduced.”

    Did they mean NFL?

    that orange Portland Buckaroos jersey is a DIY project just WAITING to happen! haha

    [quote comment=”318422″]”In the 1950s, the NHL decided the fans could not hear the officials’ horn, thus the penalty flag was introduced.”

    Did they mean NFL?[/quote]

    Yes. Typo on my part. Now fixed.

    My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).

    Props to the Phillies for making their young kids wear-em-high; hopefully we’ll start to see some of them make it to the show and stay the course. And kudos for Utley for blending in.

    I absolutely detest the below-the-heel pants. I’d love for an umpire to comment on this fashion faux pas – didn’t the higher pants help them with the strike zone? I say, if you wear your pants under your heels, don’t even think of complaining about called low strikes.

    “Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?

    Those second-generation Atlanta Falcons’ link uniforms ought to inspire a redesign of the current threads. Or, they ought to scrap them altogether and go totally throwback. (I like the original helmet that had gold stripes on either side of the white-back-white.

    Does anybody know the back story of that cast?

    [quote comment=”318425″]My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).[/quote]

    this one?

    (he’s not crouching, but the goo is dripping…;) )

    [quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Also the Seattle Pilots “Scrambled Eggs” link is not working….

    What foresight in making that great quilt. Question is, why hasn’t mom added the Marlins, Rocks, Rays & D-Backs?

    The Antique Athlete web site has a Cleveland Browns bobble head figure for sale that features the never used “CB” helmet logo:
    link
    For a design that was never used, the Browns sure spread it around. It is rather ugly, so it is good that the design was killed.

    Re: Yesterday’s comments

    Phil,

    Not to pick nits, but while UA is Under Armour, it’s AU for Auburn University. The University of Alabama (turn head to side, spit) is also referred to as UA.

    The book looks like one that might pop up at the big-box club stores for ten bucks in a couple weeks.

    May be worth a walk by the giant table of books when you stop to pick up a keg of mayo.

    Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”

    [quote comment=”318428″][quote comment=”318425″]My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).[/quote]

    link?

    (he’s not crouching, but the goo is dripping…;) )[/quote]
    I found a couple of Lester in the crouch but this is the most gloppy…

    link

    Note the amount of goo on his helmet.

    Those were soccer cleats Dave Jennings was wearing, that’s the way they came black and yellow, you had no other choice. I had a pair in 1976.

    Shame about the Colors book, but about what I had expected. I’ll gladly wait for a used copy.

    Great review of the Pilots’ uniforms. That cap which used to sell for $1.19 (with an invitation to “charge it”) now goes for about link.

    Long wished that the Brewers would echo the scrambled eggs with a cap design of their own, using the barley stalks link.

    [quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.

    [quote comment=”318442″][quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.[/quote]

    MEB = Montreal Expos Baseball.

    It’ll mess with your mind, man! LOL

    [quote comment=”318443″][quote comment=”318442″][quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.[/quote]

    MEB = Montreal Expos Baseball.

    It’ll mess with your mind, man! LOL[/quote]
    Yeah, if that’s what it really meant. Which is doubtful.

    More likely that it was intended to be eMb, standing for Expos de Montréal Baseball (they’re rather particular about their language use up there).

    In any case, it’s muddy and unclear. Worse yet, it doesn’t read as an M even with the various colors removed. Bad design.

    I don’t buy books at full price anymore so I will take Paul’s advice and wait on a used copy of ‘Colors’ but I’m a sucker for ‘new to me’ NFL pics. How many treasure troves of rarely seen pics are out there.
    The picture of the Steelers in white pants is so jarring to my eye it makes me realize how iconic their look has become.
    Love the shots of link who was a favorite wrestler back when I sort of cared about that stuff.
    The Lenny Moore illustration is really great, done by Marv Corning, and it first showed up (along with a dozen just like it) back in ’69 or so in link which I think has been featured here.

    [quote comment=”318445″]There was a QB for the Jets named Dick Wood?[/quote]

    Absolutely. From Auburn. Was the starter prior to Joe Willie’s arrival.

    Anyone else get email from Ebbets Field Flannels today? Among the new stuff there’s a 1946 Quebec Alouettes home jersey (I mention it because of the discussion of the Expos logo). It would be a relatively easy DIY, btw, if you could live with it on a pinstriped double knit blank, that is.

    Also, there’s an 1883 New York Gothams road jersey. Very simple. Gray with a byron-collar and huge royal “N” and “Y”.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    [quote comment=”318429″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Also the Seattle Pilots “Scrambled Eggs” link is not working….[/quote]

    Here:
    link

    “Finally, check out this 1937 Redskins photo. That’s the same jersey design recently executed by DIYer Mike Sherman.”

    Wow, that’s a fantastic shot. Two things:

    1. I just took a real close look at my team picture, and the numbers really don’t have the “ridged” look (I’m not sure how to describe it) of that photograph. I wonder if the jerseys were the same.

    2. After seeing that the patch on Wayne Millner’s left sleeve is facing the same direction as the right sleeve patches, I checked to see if that was universal, and it appears it was. So thanks a lot Uni Watch, my jersey is now ruined.

    The old Cardinals uniform with the red pants and red socks, creates a modern day leggings effect.

    [quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    The Saints logo seems a little skinny, sorta like one they had before this one.

    [quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    As is Detroit.

    Ooops, I forgot to mention the most interesting thing: the back of Cliff Battles’ jersey. Doesn’t it look like there’s something really, really big on the back? What could that be?

    [quote comment=”318444″][quote comment=”318443″][quote comment=”318442″][quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.[/quote]

    MEB = Montreal Expos Baseball.

    It’ll mess with your mind, man! LOL[/quote]
    Yeah, if that’s what it really meant. Which is doubtful.

    More likely that it was intended to be eMb, standing for Expos de Montréal Baseball (they’re rather particular about their language use up there).

    In any case, it’s muddy and unclear. Worse yet, it doesn’t read as an M even with the various colors removed. Bad design.[/quote]

    I disagree…It’s in the same vein as the Milwaukee Brewers MB -glove like logo…there are still many people who thinks its a glove and have to be pointed to the M & B….I think it’s highly creative that it could pass for many things…

    Wish there were more of these

    [quote comment=”318453″][quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    The Saints logo seems a little skinny, sorta like one they had before this one.[/quote]

    It also shows the Colts with a blue facemask.

    [quote comment=”318455″]Ooops, I forgot to mention the most interesting thing: the back of Cliff Battles’ jersey. Doesn’t it look like there’s something really, really big on the back? What could that be?[/quote]

    His number. It’s just all buckled and odd, like Milner’s front numbers. Numbers on back were positioned a whole lot higher before NOB became involved.

    —Ricko

    [quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link
    Are they even available in small and medium?

    [quote comment=”318454″][quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    As is Detroit.[/quote]
    And the Patriots – royal instead of navy.

    [quote comment=”318458″]His number. It’s just all buckled and odd, like Milner’s front numbers. Numbers on back were positioned a whole lot higher before NOB became involved.

    —Ricko[/quote]

    Were the back numbers also much bigger than the front numbers? If that’s a 0 (Battles was #20), it’s significantly taller than the front 2.

    [quote comment=”318457″][quote comment=”318453″][quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    The Saints logo seems a little skinny, sorta like one they had before this one.[/quote]

    It also shows the Colts with a blue facemask.[/quote]
    And the Bills have the old stripes.

    [quote comment=”318464″]I’ve never understood how anyone can NOT see the M here

    link

    One of the all time great logos.[/quote]
    Not enough differentiation between the four strokes – by blending it together to support the other letters, they lost the defining characteristics of the capital M.

    [quote comment=”318464″]I’ve never understood how anyone can NOT see the M here

    link

    One of the all time great logos.[/quote]
    Because when most people draw an “M” it has 4 distinct lines, the middle two of which form a “V”.

    That logo is a curly e followed by two balloons and a puff.

    Steelers back in 1970 and 1971 wore white pants with the white jerseys. And their NOB was a striaght yellow on the white jerseys, nearly impossible to see on the family Zenith b/w TV.

    in the leatherhead days (30’s-40’s), in some cases, back jersey #s were much larger than the front #s. Very true for the Bears in the 40’s and I think the Lions, too.

    Mike Sherman,
    Your ’37 Redskins DIY is still a masterpiece.

    [quote comment=”318456″][quote comment=”318444″][quote comment=”318443″][quote comment=”318442″][quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.[/quote]

    MEB = Montreal Expos Baseball.

    It’ll mess with your mind, man! LOL[/quote]
    Yeah, if that’s what it really meant. Which is doubtful.

    More likely that it was intended to be eMb, standing for Expos de Montréal Baseball (they’re rather particular about their language use up there).

    In any case, it’s muddy and unclear. Worse yet, it doesn’t read as an M even with the various colors removed. Bad design.[/quote]

    I disagree…It’s in the same vein as the Milwaukee Brewers MB -glove like logo…there are still many people who thinks its a glove and have to be pointed to the M & B….I think it’s highly creative that it could pass for many things…

    Wish there were more of these[/quote]
    Exactly because you can’t translate the logo with a sentence or a full name (like “Le Club de Hockey Canadien” which explain the double ‘C’ and ‘H’ in the logo). For the Expos, the word “baseball” isn’t in the official name of the club so i guess it was only a question of the creator wanting to have those three words in there (Montreal, Expos and baseball).

    Something jumped out at me when I saw the Seattle newspaper. The White Sox logo is the one they started using in 1971 when they switched to a red color scheme. This is according to Chris Creamer and my own recollection as a long time White Sox fan. How did they get this in 1969?

    [quote comment=”318469″][quote comment=”318456″][quote comment=”318444″][quote comment=”318443″][quote comment=”318442″][quote comment=”318437″]Love the quilt…love the fact that the hidden “e” in the Expos logo was done correctly…drives me nuts when people get that wrong…possibly one of the most underrated logos…the Expos “MEB”[/quote]
    The fact that no two people can agree on what the shapes in the Expos’ logo mean – ELB? MEB? LEB? – is too much for me.

    To the extent that it is well-regarded at all, it’s over-rated.[/quote]

    MEB = Montreal Expos Baseball.

    It’ll mess with your mind, man! LOL[/quote]
    Yeah, if that’s what it really meant. Which is doubtful.

    More likely that it was intended to be eMb, standing for Expos de Montréal Baseball (they’re rather particular about their language use up there).

    In any case, it’s muddy and unclear. Worse yet, it doesn’t read as an M even with the various colors removed. Bad design.[/quote]

    I disagree…It’s in the same vein as the Milwaukee Brewers MB -glove like logo…there are still many people who thinks its a glove and have to be pointed to the M & B….I think it’s highly creative that it could pass for many things…

    Wish there were more of these[/quote]
    Exactly because you can’t translate the logo with a sentence or a full name (like “Le Club de Hockey Canadien” which explain the double ‘C’ and ‘H’ in the logo). For the Expos, the word “baseball” isn’t in the official name of the club so i guess it was only a question of the creator wanting to have those three words in there (Montreal, Expos and baseball).[/quote]

    The difference between the Brewers’ ball and glove and the Expos’ mess is that even without seeing the M and B, the design works. I understand that the letters are often found later, but I don’t know of a single instance in which somebody looked at the Brewers’ 1978-1993 logo and said “What’s that blobby thing supposed to be?” You get it – it’s a stylized baseball glove.

    With the Expos, on the other hand, unless you start with the capital M, the shape doesn’t make any sense. The white is either blank space or it’s a lower-case “l” standing for something unclear.

    With the Brewers, the letters are hidden in the general shape. With the Expos, the general shape is hidden by the letters (with some extra space thrown in). That’s the difference between a good design and a bad one.

    Wow! actual photos of Wahoo McDaniel playing football. i remember him as a “Wrassler” bragging about his pro football days. did you notice in this shot that he’s getting his punt blocked by Marty Schottenheimer, of all people?!?:
    link
    i’d love to have seen Marty tangle with the “Big Chief” in the wrestling ring!

    This is pretty funny from Boston.com…

    “Not only are the Sox wearing white uniforms with green writing and a shamrock on the sleeve, but the bases are green. And there is a little person on the field wearing a leprechaun outfit, complete with green coat and hat. Someone has put the number “15” on his back in white tape. I can’t imagine why…”

    [quote comment=”318470″]Something jumped out at me when I saw the Seattle newspaper. The White Sox logo is the one they started using in 1971 when they switched to a red color scheme. This is according to Chris Creamer and my own recollection as a long time White Sox fan. How did they get this in 1969?[/quote]
    Chris’s site, while excellent, has been known to be wrong every now and then.

    The White Sox were in fact using link in link. I believe that was the first year, but can’t confirm it.

    The silver Oiler helmet was based on the Hard Hat that most used at the time made of aluminium. In the 60s, the hazardous metal hard hats were replaced with white plastic. Hence, the white oiler helmet.

    Erie Otters dyed the ice green and wore green jerseys on Sunday.

    There’s a picture of the ice on their website, but no images of the jerseys:

    link

    I found a nice picture of Texas Rangers 1B Chris Davis wearing the “T” logo stirrups as mentioned a few days ago. I hope he (and others on the team) goes with this look all season long.

    link

    [quote comment=”318420″]That Biletnikov photo is quite fun.

    I was reading somewhere that he suffered terribly with nerves, and normally threw up before games, frequently all over himself. This meant that he stank of sick whenever he played.[/quote]
    I don’t know about Fred Biletnikov, but 1950-60’s Chicago Blackhawks goalie Glenn Hall was famous for vomiting before every game.

    Regarding the Biletnikov picture-the part that stuck (no pun intended) out to me was the blades of grass that were stuck all over his uniform. That stickum must have been good stuff. :-)

    Geez, folks, I get to busy to post for a while, and when I come back, I’m horribly disappointed by what I see. I mean, Paul makes a comment about the 1950s MLB pennants and “the Cubs design is particularly unusual”. It took me like 1/4 of a second to think, yeah … Cubs pennant in the 1950s … that IS unusual! If a Cub fan can come with that, surely someone else could have by now!

    link

    Heads up for tonight’s TV coverage: the Bulls will be in green while the Celtics will wear white tonight.

    And even more importantly, the Bulls cheerleaders will be in green too.

    [quote comment=”318474″]Chris’s site, while excellent, has been known to be wrong every now and then.

    The White Sox were in fact using link in link. I believe that was the first year, but can’t confirm it.[/quote]

    I personally thought we had that in 1967: but here’s a picture of the White Sox program from 1960 (scan down) so it seems to be a lot older than that.

    link

    [quote comment=”318475″]The silver Oiler helmet was based on the Hard Hat that most used at the time made of aluminium. In the 60s, the hazardous metal hard hats were replaced with white plastic. Hence, the white oiler helmet.[/quote]

    In the late 60s the Oilers added silver to their columbia blue, red and white. Helmets, pants and home numbers and jersey stripes became silver. They then returned to the original col. blue helmet briefly in the early 70s (with white home pants and col. blue road…Pastorini, Tooz, Burrough era), before switching to white helmets for the Earl Campbell-Archie Manning years (I say that cuz I believe both only wore the white helmet with the Oilers).

    Calling Timmy B. ….

    —Ricko

    So is everyone excited for the longest name in sports playing tonight to kick off the NCAA tourney? Chief Kickingstallionsims takes the floor for Alabama State tonight, anyone know if they happen to go NOB so I may see the first triple hyphen NOB in college basketball?

    [quote comment=”318482″][quote comment=”318474″]Chris’s site, while excellent, has been known to be wrong every now and then.

    The White Sox were in fact using link in link. I believe that was the first year, but can’t confirm it.[/quote]

    I personally thought we had that in 1967: but here’s a picture of the White Sox program from 1960 (scan down) so it seems to be a lot older than that.

    link
    Very cool find. Thanks!

    [quote comment=”318446″]The picture of the Steelers in white pants is so jarring to my eye it makes me realize how iconic their look has become.[/quote]

    checking in real quick…bob…check out the second section of this post, Before they were good — that’s ricko’s part — TONS of great old stillers pics, many of them in white pants

    great shit

    [quote comment=”318448″][quote comment=”318426″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?[/quote]

    Oops:
    link

    Also note that the out of date versions were all better than the current ones.

    [quote comment=”318489″][quote comment=”318446″]The picture of the Steelers in white pants is so jarring to my eye it makes me realize how iconic their look has become.[/quote]

    checking in real quick…bob…check out the second section of this post, link — that’s ricko’s part — TONS of great old stillers pics, many of them in white pants

    great shit[/quote]

    Yeah, nice stuff. I somehow missed some of that day’s entry. Could be because my battery ran out about halfway through what appears to be a six hour read. ;-)
    But you are right. Great old pix. Those white pants…..they just don’t look right, do they?

    Early’s 60’s Viking uniforms with the purple pants = completely AWESOME. They should dump the current unis and go back to these tomorrow.

    I see Steelers owner Dan Rooney has been named Ambassador to Ireland. Can someone with some art/Photoshop skills do a mock up of the Steelers’ unis with green replacing the black, white replacing the gold, and orange replacing the white?

    Here’s a link to a picture of the 2009 Red Sox St. Paddy’s Day jersey…Not sure on this one…I think it needs something…the white w/ white pants, wasn’t doing it…maybe just needed to be full button and not pull over.

    link

    “Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?

    Oops:
    link

    Also note that the out of date versions were all better than the current ones.

    Colts and Browns helmets are out of date, too, if we are considering facemask color.

    [quote comment=”318433″]The Antique Athlete web site has a Cleveland Browns bobble head figure for sale that features the never used “CB” helmet logo:
    link
    For a design that was never used, the Browns sure spread it around. It is rather ugly, so it is good that the design was killed.[/quote]

    Jim, Nice site. I just looked at the great old pennants on it. Like the pennants in the column today. I enjoy seeing old pennants.

    I don’t see how people can hate on the Expo’s logo. It’s easily one of the best baseball has had to offer. It works on several different levels and the colors and uniforms always flowed together.

    Anyone catch Crosby going sans visor against the Bruins on Sunday?

    He apparently wanted to drop the gloves with Savard, but Savard said he wouldn\’t fight him while he wore the mask, so he took it off at the end of the shift.

    Sort of makes me wonder why he didn’t just drop the helmet.

    [quote comment=”318478″][quote comment=”318420″]That Biletnikov photo is quite fun.

    I was reading somewhere that he suffered terribly with nerves, and normally threw up before games, frequently all over himself. This meant that he stank of sick whenever he played.[/quote]
    I don’t know about Fred Biletnikov, but 1950-60’s Chicago Blackhawks goalie Glenn Hall was famous for vomiting before every game.
    [/quote]

    And the Celtics couldn’t take the floor until Bill Russell voided his stomach ….

    [quote comment=”318496″]Here’s a link to a picture of the 2009 Red Sox St. Paddy’s Day jersey…Not sure on this one…I think it needs something…the white w/ white pants, wasn’t doing it…maybe just needed to be full button and not pull over.

    link

    I think it’s far preferable to what they’ve worn in the past. And it would almost be passable as a regular season uniform. I’ve never understood why alt uniforms have to be done in dark colors.

    [quote comment=”318499″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?

    Oops:
    link

    Also note that the out of date versions were all better than the current ones.

    Colts and Browns helmets are out of date, too, if we are considering facemask color.[/quote]
    Lions, too.

    [quote comment=”318504″][quote comment=”318496″]Here’s a link to a picture of the 2009 Red Sox St. Paddy’s Day jersey…Not sure on this one…I think it needs something…the white w/ white pants, wasn’t doing it…maybe just needed to be full button and not pull over.

    link

    I think it’s far preferable to what they’ve worn in the past. And it would almost be passable as a regular season uniform. I’ve never understood why alt uniforms have to be done in dark colors.[/quote]
    They don’t.
    link

    link

    link

    [quote comment=”318505″][quote comment=”318499″]”Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Missing link?

    Oops:
    link

    Also note that the out of date versions were all better than the current ones.

    Colts and Browns helmets are out of date, too, if we are considering facemask color.[/quote]
    Lions, too.[/quote]
    Oops. I guess that was already pointed out. I did a scan for “Lions” but not “Detroit” before I posted that.

    [quote comment=”318483″][quote comment=”318475″]The silver Oiler helmet was based on the Hard Hat that most used at the time made of aluminium. In the 60s, the hazardous metal hard hats were replaced with white plastic. Hence, the white oiler helmet.[/quote]

    In the late 60s the Oilers added silver to their columbia blue, red and white. Helmets, pants and home numbers and jersey stripes became silver. They then returned to the original col. blue helmet briefly in the early 70s (with white home pants and col. blue road…Pastorini, Tooz, Burrough era), before switching to white helmets for the Earl Campbell-Archie Manning years (I say that cuz I believe both only wore the white helmet with the Oilers).

    Calling Timmy B. ….

    —Ricko[/quote]

    years in question:
    1966-1971 silver helmets and pants (sorry Ricko, but the #s were still white on the columbia blue jerseys (though outlined in thick red). I’m pretty sure on this.

    1972-1974 columbia blue helmets (c. blue pants with white jerseys, white pants with c. blue jerseys)

    1975-1996 white helmets.

    That’s interesting on the helmet colors equalling the hard hats of the oil riggers.

    hope this helps, gang.

    The horn on the officials was something still used by Canadian high school football officals during the early ’90’s when I was playing. It led to many confusing plays when I was a kid. The officials still carried flags (in Canada they are orange instead of yellow), and would signal that a foul happened with the horn.

    [quote comment=”318502″]Anyone catch Crosby going sans visor against the Bruins on Sunday?

    He apparently wanted to drop the gloves with Savard, but Savard said he wouldn\’t fight him while he wore the mask, so he took it off at the end of the shift.

    Sort of makes me wonder why he didn’t just drop the helmet.[/quote]

    Ironically, this same argument came up yesterday. The problem was that he and Savard were not going to fight. Crosby’s visor was scratched, and he needed it fixed. The equipment guy didn’t have one handy, so he played the rest of the period sans visor.

    Some history on the Green Uniforms we’ll see all day.. (Not all of it accurate… e.g. uniforms keeping in same color schemes in 70s.)

    link

    [quote comment=”318438″][quote comment=”318428″][quote comment=”318425″]My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).[/quote]

    link?

    (he’s not crouching, but the goo is dripping…;) )[/quote]
    I found a couple of Lester in the crouch but this is the most gloppy…

    link

    Note the amount of goo on his helmet.[/quote]
    I’m partial to link. I had it as the wallpaper for my PC at work until I got tired of hearing people complain about it.

    [quote comment=”318488″]http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/03lV83Me3J0wv/340x.jpg

    Sadly, no name on back (#42 in gold)[/quote]

    I believe when he played at Stetson his first two years, they wore NOB….can’t find a picture though.

    [quote comment=”318513″][quote comment=”318438″][quote comment=”318428″][quote comment=”318425″]My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).[/quote]

    link?

    (he’s not crouching, but the goo is dripping…;) )[/quote]
    I found a couple of Lester in the crouch but this is the most gloppy…

    link

    Note the amount of goo on his helmet.[/quote]
    I’m partial to link. I had it as the wallpaper for my PC at work until I got tired of hearing people complain about it.[/quote]

    i can’t imagine why

    [quote comment=”318509″]Wow! Nice pic of the killer ’82 White Sox stirrup stripes!

    link

    1000 UniWatchBlog bonus points to the first person to correctly identify both mascots.

    :-)

    [quote comment=”318515″][quote comment=”318513″][quote comment=”318438″][quote comment=”318428″][quote comment=”318425″]My favorite stickum shot is a crouching Lester Hayes with goo dripping from his fingers (sadly, my Googling came up empty on a photo).[/quote]

    link?

    (he’s not crouching, but the goo is dripping…;) )[/quote]
    I found a couple of Lester in the crouch but this is the most gloppy…

    link

    Note the amount of goo on his helmet.[/quote]
    I’m partial to link. I had it as the wallpaper for my PC at work until I got tired of hearing people complain about it.[/quote]

    i can’t imagine why[/quote]
    Clearly, I’m surrounded by philistines.

    [quote comment=”318517″][quote comment=”318509″]Wow! Nice pic of the killer ’82 White Sox stirrup stripes!

    link

    1000 UniWatchBlog bonus points to the first person to correctly identify both mascots.

    :-)[/quote]
    Ribbie & Roobarb. I believe they were made from spare parts for Youppi and the Phanatic.

    [quote comment=”318519″]Ribbie & Roobarb. I believe they were made from spare parts for Youppi and the Phanatic.[/quote]

    Ding ding ding! We have a winner. :-)

    Is the Philly Phanatic the sole remaining unidentifiable blob mascot out there these days?

    (And did any other team ever feel the need to have two goofy mascots at the same time?)

    [quote comment=”318521″][quote comment=”318519″]Ribbie & Roobarb. I believe they were made from spare parts for Youppi and the Phanatic.[/quote]

    Ding ding ding! We have a winner. :-)

    Is the Philly Phanatic the sole remaining unidentifiable blob mascot out there these days?

    (And did any other team ever feel the need to have two goofy mascots at the same time?)[/quote]
    Good questions. And for the sake of clarification, Ribbie’s the one that looked like a magenta-colored Phanatic/aardvark hybrid

    Now that I look again, Luzinski isn\’t that much skinnier than either mascot in that shot.

    (And now that I think about it, he spent a lot of his career with either Ribbie, Roohbarb or the Phanatic around. I wonder if that was that some sort of trompe l\’oeil attempt on his part?)

    [quote comment=”318522″]Good questions. And for the sake of clarification, Ribbie’s the one that looked like a magenta-colored Phanatic/aardvark hybrid[/quote]I think Ribbie did hang around a little longer than Roohbarb. Did a solo act for a little while.

    I don’t believe the short-lived wolf is still at Comiskey these days, is he?

    [quote comment=”318524″][quote comment=”318522″]Good questions. And for the sake of clarification, Ribbie’s the one that looked like a magenta-colored Phanatic/aardvark hybrid[/quote]I think Ribbie did hang around a little longer than Roohbarb. Did a solo act for a little while.

    I don’t believe the short-lived wolf is still at Comiskey these days, is he?[/quote]

    The White Sox site lists something green called Southpaw. Looks like a possible distant cousin of Wally the Green Monster.

    [quote comment=”318521″][quote comment=”318519″]Ribbie & Roobarb. I believe they were made from spare parts for Youppi and the Phanatic.[/quote]

    Ding ding ding! We have a winner. :-)

    Is the Philly Phanatic the sole remaining unidentifiable blob mascot out there these days?

    (And did any other team ever feel the need to have two goofy mascots at the same time?)[/quote]

    Youppi is still around, he’s just with the Canadiens now instead of the Expos.

    The Blue Jays had two idiot mascots for a while (Ace and Diamond) after they got rid of BJ Birdie, but I think they’re down to one now.

    [quote comment=”318526″][quote comment=”318521″][quote comment=”318519″]Ribbie & Roobarb. I believe they were made from spare parts for Youppi and the Phanatic.[/quote]

    Ding ding ding! We have a winner. :-)

    Is the Philly Phanatic the sole remaining unidentifiable blob mascot out there these days?

    (And did any other team ever feel the need to have two goofy mascots at the same time?)[/quote]

    Youppi is still around, he’s just with the Canadiens now instead of the Expos.

    The Blue Jays had two idiot mascots for a while (Ace and Diamond) after they got rid of BJ Birdie, but I think they’re down to one now.[/quote]

    Ace is left, but Diamond is gone.

    Other Unidentified Mascots are Gapper in Cincinnati and Slider in Cleveland. There was a blue thing called Raymond in Tampa Bay, but I can’t find him on the site.

    [quote comment=”318527″]Ace is left, but Diamond is gone.

    Other Unidentified Mascots are Gapper in Cincinnati and Slider in Cleveland. There was a blue thing called Raymond in Tampa Bay, but I can’t find him on the site.[/quote]

    Apparently the only growth industry we have in America today is fuzzy mascot costumes.

    Does anyone know of any site which outlines the placement of cresting and numbers for hockey jerseys?

    [quote comment=”318482″][quote comment=”318474″]Chris’s site, while excellent, has been known to be wrong every now and then.

    The White Sox were in fact using link in link. I believe that was the first year, but can’t confirm it.[/quote]

    I personally thought we had that in 1967: but here’s a picture of the White Sox program from 1960 (scan down) so it seems to be a lot older than that.

    link
    More pre-1969 confirmation – link.

    Love the Pilots uniform history. Thanks Fleer Card Project.

    I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…the NFL never looked better than it did in the ’70’s.

    [quote comment=”318421″]yeah…the jennings cleats are puma…maybe they’re actually football (soccer) boots and he borrowed a pair from the cosmos?

    i think the NASL cosmos and giants may have shared the stadium at the time (im prolly wrong tho)…but im pretty sure that in 1975 (that’s the year of jennings pic)…the cosmos wore green and white, so that wouldn’t explain the yellow stripe on the puma cleat

    hmmm[/quote]

    Yeah those are exactly Puma soccer shoes mid-70’s. I had a pair of Adidas similarly designed black/yellow- a popular scheme then.

    “Scott Mason got this SI flier in the mail on Saturday. Note that the Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta, and Minnesota helmet designs are all out of date.”

    Not to mention the Colts, Lions, and Browns-

    Apropos of our whistle/hanky/horn conversation, I stumbled on link – the whistle used to signal the kickoff of the first Dolphins game.

    Bonus – a great portrait photo of link wearing his AFL Official finest.

    [quote comment=”318420″]That Biletnikov photo is quite fun.

    I was reading somewhere that he suffered terribly with nerves, and normally threw up before games, frequently all over himself. This meant that he stank of sick whenever he played.

    Anyone heard anything similar to this?[/quote]

    Yup. In Ken Stabler’s book, he talks about how Biletnikof used to “Call his Earl” before every game. He’d also smoke a pack of cigarettes & spend forever getting his uniform just right (cutting off every string, trying on different shoes, taping everything just so). Apparently, the guy was a mess before games.

    not to be off-topic but I’m playing in a tournament in Florida, and Chesapeake College has the best stirrups in the country, and all of players have to wear them

    [quote comment=”318537″]Apropos of our whistle/hanky/horn conversation, I stumbled on link – the whistle used to signal the kickoff of the first Dolphins game.

    Bonus – a great portrait photo of link wearing his AFL Official finest.[/quote]
    What’s with the high school stationary?

    [quote comment=”318541″]put it in the books

    /the wright stuff
    //that is all[/quote]

    *sigh*… All I get from the WBC is my starting LF injured. Hopefully the Hebrew Hammer will be back in time for the WBC Final Four.

    I can’t believe it, but I am really enjoying this WBC. Just move it to November, and change the scheduling a little bit (Please see comments by Chipper Jones) and it would be perfect.

    This link is pissing me off. I’m watching intermittently on a little TV in the kitchen and I keep forgetting link.

    It almost looks like the Bulls lost their luggage and they had to link.

    And couldn’t the schedulemakers figure out a way to give Boston a home game tonight so they can wear those link?

    [quote comment=”318540″][quote comment=”318537″]Apropos of our whistle/hanky/horn conversation, I stumbled on link – the whistle used to signal the kickoff of the first Dolphins game.

    Bonus – a great portrait photo of link wearing his AFL Official finest.[/quote]
    What’s with the high school stationary?[/quote]
    I presume that the ref, like NFL refs, worked part-time for the league and full-time for the high scholl athletic league.

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