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Auction Action

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As you’ve no doubt noticed in the left sidebar, our friends at Grey Flannel currently have a catalog auction in progress, and I’m happy to report that it’s a doozy. Here are some highlights:

• One of the Yankees’ less-heralded milestones is that they were the first MLB team to wear a 50th-season patch (here’s the full auction listing).

• Most of you know that the Braves briefly wore nickNOBs in 1976 (or, in Andy Messersmith’s case, an ad for Ted Turner’s TV network). But it’s not often that you get to see one of those jerseys. That one, of course, was for Jimmy Wynn, the Toy Cannon (full listing).

• Here’s a new one on me: This Paul Dean jersey had a little tie-down thingie on the inner-rear shirttail. According to the listing, this was “a drawstring professionally sewn in the back tail with holes sewn in the front bottom tail to tie the shirt tail down to keep the jersey tucked inside the pants when worn.” In other words, it was a very low-tech version of the crotch-extension “diaper” attachments sometimes found on football jerseys (full listing).

• The listing for this 1974 Astros jersey says it’s from “the first part of the 1974 season before the names on back were added.” I hadn’t been aware of the ’Stros making a mid-season addition of NOBs, and Bill Henderson’s guide specifically states, “Names used on back in 1972-73. 1974 uses no names.” So I checked with Bill, who said, “I suppose it is possible that they’re right. I have only three photos of 1974 game-worn home jerseys in my archives, and none have an NOB.” Getty and Corbis don’t have any ’74 Astros photos in their archives, so that’s no help. Anyone know more?

• I’d completely forgotten that Cesar Cedeño spent three-plus seasons playing for the Reds — and that he’d worn a tilde while he was there (full listing).

• I really, really like the sleeve embroidery on this Giants jacket (full listing).

• Here’s a Little League bonanza: a killer jersey, pants with a uni number, a swell jacket, and there’s more too (full listing).

•  Always fun to see one of those experimental satin uniforms (full listing).

• Here’s a unique piece of ephemera: a Roberto Clemente injury report (full listing).

• This is my favorite item in the entire auction catalog: When the Mets won the World Series in 1969, stadium namesake Bill Shea gave the players’ wives special championship necklace pendants (full listing).

• This Detroit Lions jacket has gotta be one of the greatest NFL jackets ever (full listing).

• Everyone knows I love Princeton’s old striped sleeves. But what I really like about this sweater is the magnificent Spalding tag.

• I may just bid on this set of stars/stripes football gear myself (full listing).

• Look at the crazy striping all over this 1940s jersey. Looks more like a current NHL alternate design (full listing).

• I’m a total sucker for those old All-American sweaters, especially when they come in threes (full listing).

• Totally digging this basketball jersey style with the stripes across the torso (full listing).

• Check out the absolutely astonishing patch on this Big Ten official’s warm-up jacket (full listing).

• The Harlem Magicians were the team that Marques Haynes formed when he left the Globetrotters. In addition to the jersey, this lot also includes a poster and two programs (full listing).

• Here’s a great example of vertical arching, block-shadowing, and extended letterforms all used together, to impressive effect (full listing).

• I love love LOVE the beaded collar and armhole trim on this jersey. Also, this is another example of vertical arching and block-shadowing, but the letterforms haven’t been vertically extended like the ones on the previous jersey, so the effect isn’t as extreme (full listing).

• And what’s better than beaded trim? Beaded trim with a striped side insert (full listing).

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Want to see more? You can browse the entire auction here.

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Hats of many colors: Yesterday’s post about coaches and managers wearing special headwear prompted lots of good responses:

• Photos from yesterday’s post showed that the Indians’ coaches wore piping-clad caps in 1973. But it looks like they also wore them in ’74, at least judging by this photo, taken on 7/19/74.

• Reader Joe Delach reports that the manager of the Lakeland Flying Tigers — that’s Detroit’s single-A affiliate — wears scrambled eggs on the bill of his cap.

•  And Robert Brashear reminds me that at least one Yankees coach has worn a white cap in spring training on at least one occasion.

• I had mentioned that football coordinators often wear red caps on the sidelines so players can quickly spot them from the field. But as many readers pointed out, coordinators often wear red shirts as well as red caps (or sometimes gold shirts, or some other bold color).

• In a related item, I always thought Jerry Glanville wore black to look bad-ass or whatever. But according to this 1989 article, he did it so he’d be easy to spot on the Oilers sideline. “Ironically,” notes Doug Brei, “when he moved to Atlanta, he encouraged Falcons ownership to switch to black helmets and jerseys. Wouldn’t that make him harder to spot on the sideline?”

• In yet another related tangent, I’ve noted before that Notre Dame QBs wear red caps on the sideline, but I didn’t know there was a whole article about that until Conor Levey sent me that link.

• I had asked about the full range of years when the Oakland brain trust wore white caps. The consensus appears to be 1965 through 1980.

• Speaking of the A’s, you can see all of their white-hatted coaches — along with a certain other team wearing glorious blue — in this video of the 1973 World Series Game 1 lineup introductions, which reader Joe Hernandez was nice enough to send my way. (As an aside, there’s something very interesting toward the end of that video: The first ball was thrown out by Henry Aaron, who had just finished the ’73 season with 713 career homers. Pretty unusual to see an active player throwing out the first ball, no?)

• This isn’t quite the same thing, because we’re moving from coaches to players, but reader Stetson Pevear told me something I hadn’t heard before:

At various times in the 1960s, eligible receivers for the Alabama football team wore white helmets while the rest of the team wore standard crimson helmets. This was so the quarterback could distinguish the receivers from the other players, obviously. This was one of Paul Bryant’s idea’s that was eventually outlawed by the NCAA. I have not been able to find a good picture of this, but it is documented on the uniform history page on RollTide.com, and my dad personally witnessed games where this occurred.

• And in a similar item, Fred Fisher says Navy receivers wore Day-Glo helmets for some early-’60s games so they’d be easier to spot.

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I hadn’t been aware of either of those last two examples. But I do know of at least two other college teams that had non-matching helmets: (1) In the mid-1980s, Iowa State wore gold helmets, but players who exhibited outstanding performance were given red helmets (coach Jim Criner thought this was better than merit decals), leading to an interesting spectacle on the field. (2) Washington reportedly had a similar protocol in the 1960s, when the team wore gold helmets but standout defensive players were given purple helmets. I’ve never seen a photo of this, however.

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Collector’s Corner, by Brinke Guthrie

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Which choice sounds better: hand-to-hand combat at the mall for that last whatever, or point, click, and buy that special uni-themed item on eBay? Here are some options to make that second choice even more appealing:

• The cover of the Texas Rangers’ 1974 media guide cast Billy Martin as a movie star.

• Here’s a great MLB mini-helmet display. (Don’t like that one? Here’s another one.)

• How about a set of MLB All-Star Game baseballs?

• Really like this: a 1978-79 Seattle SuperSonics snowglobe and mug.

• Oooh, a neato 1970s NFL Cardinals mini-helmet buggy!

• I remember these NFL helmet pencil sharpeners. Very cool to see one still in its original packaging.

• Here’s a classic: a New York Giants Christmas LP!

• If you’re gonna knock off the Cowboys’ helmet, at least get the stripe right, eh?

• Wouldn’t this 1974 Detroit Wheels poster look great on your wall? (What, you forgot about them?)

• And we’ll wrap up today’s installment with this nice Phillies bobblehead (plus they’ve also got Rangers and Expos versions).

Seen something on eBay that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: We’ve seen decals coming off of helmets and paint knocked off of helmets, but this might be the first time I’ve seen both at the same time. I believe that’s the first time I’ve seen an Under Armour chinstrap, too (major thanks to Alan Chewning). ”¦ Two soccer-related items from Jeremy Richardson: Maryland’s kit feature’s a state flag motif on the left pant leg and right sleeve, and here’s a great slideshow of players who’ve worn masks on the pitch. ”¦ New road uniforms for North Dakota State hoops. The homes are apparently unchanged (with thanks to Daniel Tharp). ”¦ Now that all the NHL alts have been unveiled, the alt-jersey code for NHL 11 is now available (with thanks to Jeff Morris). ”¦ Here are the latest rankings of NBA players by sneaker brand (with thanks to John Muir). ”¦ Steve Johnson of the Bills apparently wants the team to wear their throwbacks full-time, although not in quite those words (with thanks to the other Mike Hersh). ”¦ Here’s Sporcle’s latest uniform quiz. ”¦ Here’s a good shot of White Sox equipment manager Sharkey Colledge in 1956 (nice find by Warren Humphrey). ”¦ And hey, speaking of Warren, it’s been a while since I mentioned his sensational site, Both Teams Played Hard. Click on the red navigation tabs at the top of the home page to see some extraordinary old jerseys, and be sure to click on the “Photo Archives” tabs for a mother lode of dynamite imagery. ”¦ You wouldn’t think there was more to learn about the 1958 NFL championship game — greatest game ever, overtime, Alan fucking Ameche, blah-blah-blah — but Alex Higley just noticed that the officials were wearing super-cool jackets with uni numbers and patches prior to the game’s start. ”¦ Saddest, most pathetic uni-related story ever: During Pat Burns’s funeral, someone stole a bunch of his autographed jerseys. ”¦ Nearly three years ago I wrote a profile of Packers stitcher Marge Switzer. Here’s a video about her preparations for the debut of the Pack’s alternate jersey. About halfway through the video clip, there’s a segment with equipment manager Red Batty, also talking about the new throwbacks. Highly recommended viewing (big thanks to Ryan Diestler). ”¦ The old Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota has its own Facebook fan page, which is loaded with great photos and video clips (with thanks to Jeff Flynn Jr.). ”¦ Reprinted from last night’s comments: Johnnie LeMaster’s 1984 NOB featured a superscript “e” (although he’ll always be better known for another NOB). ”¦ Do Reebok and the NFL know that the Broncos’ cheerleaders are wearing the swoosh? (As noted by Mike Vamosi.) ”¦ Remember this photo, which I ran in a recent wire photo entry? Phil has done a truly magnificent job of colorizing it. Hot damn, is that gorgeous or what? ”¦ Color-vs.-color alert: Illinois/UNC last night (as noted by Matt Harris). ”¦ I don’t have an iPad. But if you do, you should probably buy this helmet decal app and let us know if it’s any good (with thanks to Joe Nocella). ”¦ Derek Jeter as a Royal? Don’t hold your breath. But it’s no more unlikely than all the other Photoshopped images on this page (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ A post-game celebration after a dramatic victory resulted in a stolen jersey for a member of the Michigan soccer team (with thanks to Joseph Lichterman). ”¦ Paul Lee notes that the D-League appears to be using a new ball design.

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Yes, Virginia, there is a dreidel: Tonight marks the beginning of Hanukkah, the ancient Hebrew celebration of Christmas. Yes, I stole that joke. And if you know where I stole it from, that means you’ve been spending too much time on another web site instead of this one. That should fill your heart with guilt and shame, which means you’re practically an honorary Jew right there. Mazel tov!

Anyway: My best wishes to all who’ll be celebrating tonight, and don’t forget to leave out some cookies and milk for Santa.

 
  
 
Comments (150)

    When I was a child I remember an Army/Navy game in which one team painted their receivers’ helmets orange so their quarterback could more easily spot them. This would have probably been late fifties or very early sixties…

    During the 1998 World Series, Sammy Sosa threw out the first pitch before game one at Yankee Stadium, and I believe Mark McGwire threw out the first pitch before game four at The Murph.

    Speaking of red caps, here is a pic of the TV official at the Tennessee/Kentucky game last weekend.

    link

    I shake my head when I consider how this blog would have exploded had it been in existence in 1976. link I was working at my first job and well remember Mr. Turner’s stunts. But as bad as his baseball was, Superstation 17 and WGN could reliably be counted on bringing baseball everywhere, even to the depopulated areas of southern Kansas. For that I was grateful.

    Georgetown vs. Mizzou was color-on-color last night. Also, Mizzou has FINALLY resolved their “gold/yellow” issues – well, for b-ball anyway… link

    I liked the Missouri mustard jerseys. Pity.

    But I’m guessing a chunk of their fanbase is happy.

    Since when is a basketball team wearing yellow/gold, or gray or light blue as a home uniform news?

    It really isn’t… but since none of the other sports seem to realize that those color combinations work, I say keep reporting it anyway and maybe the right person will see it and say “hey, that looks really good” and we’ll get a powder blue vs orange football or hockey game.

    Illinois goes through periods of wearing nothing but their orange so I’m sort of used to it. But basically solid orange vs. any color can get a little rough on the eyes as a game wears on.

    The unfortunate thing about the UI/UNC game was that UNC didn’t take the opportunity to wear their whites, which are by far the better looking of their set. I actually miss the original Alexander Julian’s where even the side panels were white.

    Illinois is somewhat unique since orange is a relatively dark color. Their uniforms looked darker than UNC’s to my eyes. This has been done before–the two teams wore this combination in the National Championship game in 2005.

    Light blue, to my knowledge, is almost never used as a home light color, and teams like UNC and UCLA are probably why.

    So every time the Lakers wear yellow at home there is a color versus color game? I’m one who considers yellow or gray or silver to simply be a substitute for white – much like powder blue was a substitute for gray uniforms in baseball.

    Isn’t every color vs color game a case of one team using something else as a substitute for white?

    It’s not really worth reporting because it is relatively common, but it still fits the definition. It’s like the local news reporting car accidents. They only focus on major ones that backup traffic or cause fatalities, but a fender bender in a parking lot with only minor damage is still a car accident.

    /how’s that for a horrible analogy?

    Not scientific, but it’s interesting looking at the results of that Sporcle quiz as an indicator of the most and least recognized helmets (ok, helmet descriptions) in the NFL.

    Percent guessed right:
    1. Indianapolis Colts – 91.3%
    2. San Diego Chargers – 91.3:
    3. Washington Redskins – 90.7%

    30. Buffalo Bills – 54.6%
    31. NE Patriots – 53.9%
    32. Jax Jaguars – 49.7%

    Well, I’d never seen the word “astroid” before, but other than that, it was incredibly easy. I don’t see how anyone who calls themselves a football fan would miss any of those. They’re really too specific for any confusion.

    Actually, they’re not “astroids,” but “hypercycloids,” at least according to the Steelers’ website:

    link

    Paul,

    Great content today. So many great things to comment on, I don’t know where to start.

    I read every entry and you and Phil do a great job. Thanks for giving me something to start my day, as I always read it while eating breakfast.

    You know, I was thinking the opposite! But don’t get me wrong–I think that’s more a sad commentary on my lack of ability to focus on multiple topics.

    The topic I would like to focus on: have all of the 2011 MLB uni changes been announced? Are Indians and Nats the only changes?

    About the yankees coaches wearing white caps, there was at least one picture in their 1993 yearbook of one of their coaches in a white cap. I never thought anything of it until I read the blog today.

    UNC related thought…

    My dad, an alum, often lamented how they couldn’t wear the more muted “actual” Carolina blue because it doesn’t show well on television.

    Seems to me, with alternates becoming common and HD becoming the norm, UNC could at least have alts in pantone 278 now.

    The blue jerseys look like a spot on Pantone 278 to me. The text on their white jerseys looks a little darker though, but it’s probably an illusion caused by the dark outline.

    Loved the introduction of the World Series lineups (I was 14 at the time). Always enjoyed Curt Gowdy’s work, notice how he didn’t utter one word while both teams were introduced?

    You bet I noticed that. And I noticed no electronic gadgetry or music telling us how important everything is. I noticed it was an afternoon game, too. Yes, grandpa misses the simpler times. ;)

    HAH…y’know…if i had any extry time at work, i was actually gonna do just that…

    /great minds and all that

    So, what exactly is the proper direction for a tilde to face? When it’s typed out, the end of the “tail” points upward, however on the Cedeño jersey, it’s pointing downward.

    But listing says the strap is “a drawstring professionally sewn in the back tail with holes sewn in the FRONT bottom tail.” So if the strap is supposed to tie from the back to the front, doesn’t that mean it’s going under the crotch area?

    Good point. Also, it’s obviously not exactly like a fight strap, considering that its intent was to keep the jersey tucked in.

    With all the money Steve Johnson makes playing football, you’d think he could pay someone to translate his tweets into English?

    I don’t have a screen grab – because I don’t know how to do that – but Cesar Cedeno was wearing a nameless #28 jersey in the 74 All-Star game, played July 23.

    There’s some rather sloppy uni-related chatter between Joe Garagiola and Curt Gowdy, too….Joe comments on all the National League players wearing white shoes, and mentions that the Reds usually wear red (sic!) or black. Curt Gowdy tops him for innaccuracy by recalling how the A’s were initially ridiculed for wearing “those gold shoes”.

    Those shooting-star unis were awesome. Zipper-front on the orange ones.

    Just announced on Twitter:

    @pwilson24 New numbers on #Colts jerseys. WR Taj Smith will wear No. 10. LB Nate Triplett will be in No. 54.

    Wow! Nice! Who’s that team the Pats are playing? You’d’a thunk the NFL, on the cover of it’s own official magazine, would have given a professional identity to the defense.

    ah, good point… hadn’t considered that. I just figured it was a feature article on the Pats and not necessarily because they were playing the seahawks.

    Love the fall leaves on that cover, and the hill side homes right in the background. Really gives it that old school backyard pick up game feel. For a brief second, it looks like they’re playing the Rams, white and blue era. The forearm of the Pats player partially obscures the generic player behind him, which sort of tapers the center stripe, makes it look like a Ram horn to me.

    I think drunken idiots are drunken idiots. We just happen to be able to see more of it thanks to phones that record video, and the internet.

    I really don’t see how the Soldier Field incident reinforces Reilly’s hypothesis. It was an accident. It has nothing to do with the subject of the article.

    But hey, he was able to use the word “death” as an attention-grabber.

    It’s a Reilly hypothesis, which means that even if he is serious about it (unlikely) it has little basis in fact.

    Fan behavior was a lot worse in the 70s and early 80s when nobody wore jerseys. This is article is such a non-issue that it’s not even worth deconstructing.

    I can tell you this, having attended road games in some hostile environments: The reason road fans usually get real trouble is that they are asking for it. Not the kid in the parking lot, obviously, but serious issues in the stands are usually the result of obnoxious visiting fans taunting and egging on their all-too-willing-to-engage opponents.

    One thing Reilly brings up that I would be interested to hear about: When did replica jerseys really turn the corner as a marketable item? I remember as a middle-schooler being incredibly jealous of a friend who actually had a Michigan jersey, something I had never seen. By the mid-to-late 90s, though, replica jerseys were available in many places and I actually owned one (or two, or three, or ten, or…)

    Were they always available and I missed it, or did someone finally catch on to what a good idea it was to sell the things?

    Were [replica jerseys] always available and I missed it, or did someone finally catch on to what a good idea it was to sell the things?

    I think they started to become widely available in the late ’80s, and at some point there was a shift from teams buying their uniforms from manufacturers to manufacturers paying teams to wear their unis so they could sell replicas.

    “And yet, if one of these jersey boys were on fire, the player whose name adorns the back of that jersey wouldn’t take the time to put him out with his water bottle”.

    Money quote.

    Wow some of those Derek Jeter cards are horrible. His head is huge on some, arms are too short and very white, shoulders are too broad, etc. It’s very comical.

    “Reader Joe Delach reports that the manager of the Lakeland Flying Tigers – that’s Detroit’s single-A affiliate – wears scrambled eggs on the bill of his cap.”

    Well, they ARE the Flying Tigers…

    Those uniforms look like some sort of Military Appreciation Day jerseys. Does the manager always wear them?

    I think it’s one of their regular alternate jerseys, but I’m not sure. They’re really into the whole flying aces of WWII theme.

    Hmmm… surprised I’m the first with this: Happy Hanukkah, Paul (and all who celebrate as well)! Now the rest of my fellow gentiles can be “honorary Jews” for feeling guilt and shame ’cause I beat you to the punch. :-)

    Loved that Detroit Wheels cover… great how the stripe above the logo flows down into the QBs helmet stripe. Nice effect.

    What’s the etiquette on this sort of thing? Since I don’t celebrate it, I don’t know if it’s appropriate for me to wish someone a happy Hanukkah or not. I’m of the opinion that it isn’t.

    Conversely, if someone who celebrates it wishes ME a happy Hanukkah, I think that’s completely appropriate.

    YMMV, of course.

    Hmm… interesting take. Do you see it as possibly offending the Jewish person or merely an awkward attempt at religious solidarity?

    Can we get a rabbi to weigh in on this?

    Nah, I’m not worried about offending anyone. I just don’t see it as my place to wish someone a happy holiday that I don’t really know much about beyond the superficial.

    As I said, if someone wishes me a happy Hanukkah, I think that’s cool. And I think that people who don’t celebrate Christmas and get offended by people wishing them a merry Christmas are completely missing the point.

    Well, as someone who doesn’t celebrate christmas… I try not to get offended when people wish me a merry one… but the whole season can be kinda overwhelming and annoying. So, missing the point or not, it’s rather easy to get tired of hearing it.

    /especially when you work in retail and have to listen to bad christmas music for 8 hours a day for an entire month

    Seriously? I wish my Chinese laundry woman (yes, I have one) a Happy Chinese New Year, and she always seems to appreciate it… I say, “Happy Canada Day” to my Canadian friends…. If I had any Muslim friends, I’d surely wish them a happy ramadan….

    I think people appreciate the gesture all the more if you’re not celebrating it yourself. It shows that you’re aware, not in your own little cultural bubble, reaching across the aisle, etc.

    All of that said, I don’t actually celebrate Hanukkah. I’m gonna call my mom right now to wish HER a happy Hanukkah, though.

    Is Ramadan a “happy” type of thing? I really don’t know.

    I do know that my idiot boss a few years ago scheduled a meeting during lunchtime and he brought a pizza in. Nice gesture, eh? Well, it was to everyone except the guy who couldn’t eat that pizza because it was Ramadan and he had to watch a bunch of other people stuffing their faces.

    Many years ago when I was just beginning in my career, I scheduled a sales presentation at our office in Manhattan. My potential clients was a convenience store association from Michigan. I blew all my sales budget on a HUGE lunch order from a midtown steak house.

    It was ramadan.

    They were all practicing Muslims and only drank the water.

    Didn’t close the deal.

    Lesson learned.

    “I don’t actually celebrate Hanukkah.” Damn. Oh well… I tried.

    @JTH: re: the “idiot boss.” That sounds like something Michael Scott on “The Office” would do.

    LOL @ Ricardo. That’s a good one.

    >>“I don’t actually celebrate Hanukkah.” Damn. Oh well… I tried.<< No no no, I totally appreciate the gesture. Thank you!!

    And then there are those of us who celebrate Festivus :P

    The Feats of Strength, the Aluminum Pole, the Airing of Grievances, it’s all good!

    Re the Sal Maglie item: those jackets were worn by the Giants through at least the 1980 season. I bought a very similar one that year.

    Random off topic post…I live in Niagara Falls, NY and have attended both Baseball and Football games at Sal Maglie Stadium. FYI Paul…Niagara Falls HS wears knockoff Michigan Wolverines football helmets.

    Your comment today about the scrambled eggs on the cap of the Detroit A affiliate Manager is correct. For the past four years the “Commander” of the Lakeland Flying Tigers has worn such a cap. I am only one of two non players to wear a similar cap as a photographer.

    Check out the :20 mark:

    link

    White jerseys, silver pants and striped socks, a look never worn by the Pats with the current uni set. Looks pretty sharp.

    I’m outta the loop on this one… is that the scuttlebutt? The Vikings? Really? I’d have thought the Bills or Jags would be prime fodder for that move. That’d be a real shame to break up the Vikings/Packers/Bears troika (sorry, Lions fans, but… ya know…).

    So if the Rams move to LA, do they take the Rams’ identity and colors or leave them in St. Louis? Interesting precedent the NFL has set with Browns, ain’t it?

    Wouldn’t apply to the Rams, who previously used the name in Los Angeles (and Cleveland before that).

    Don’t forget that the Rams’ lease requires St. Louis to build them a new stadium in 2015. Missouri just passed Proposition A, which will strip St. Louis of $150M annually. Whoops.

    If there’s an NFC spot available in LA in 2015, the Rams will be coming back home.

    Hmm… so if it doesn’t apply to the Rams, I assume it would to the Jags, Bills and Vikings. Thank God. We don’t need another Utah Jazz on our hands.

    I actually typed “and LA Lakers” after the Jazz, but I thought it was overstating the point, so being a music fan I considered “Utah Jazz” the more egregious of the two. :-)

    The best possible scenario from a uniform perspective, is to have the Vikings stay in Minnesota, and wear purple pants and monochrome more often.

    The Bills will likely move to Toronto, and become the “New Argonauts”. Jacksonville will stay put, and upgrade their uniforms.

    Looks like the Chargers will be returning to LA, and be christened the Southern California Sun. Of course, those classic WFL uniforms must return, but the gray face masks should be changed to magenta.

    “The best possible scenario from a uniform perspective, is to have the Vikings stay in Minnesota, and wear purple pants and monochrome more often.”

    Just have to add, make sure they’re the purple satin pants.

    I have said it before and I will say it again. Los Angeles can have the Lions but they have to take the Fords with them. Then again the Lions aren’t really NFL football are they.

    The tangent about some schools having players with different helmets than the rest of the team reminded me of what my dad’s high school used to do. The school mascot was the Argonauts, and when he played there, if a guy would fill his helmet with merit stickers, they’d be switched to a decal-less gold helmet. The symbolism was behind the Greek story of Jason and the Argonauts and the quest for the Golden Fleece. Used to have a picture of my dad in a gold helmet and the rest of the team in the regular ones, but I’m not sure what happened to it.

    Side point, I have Sirius, but never listen to the sports talk or whatever.

    I’m curious how they got away with calling it “The Score”… as that’s the name of a big sports talk station in Chicago (the 3rd largest radio market).

    Since Sirius is nationwide, in Chicago they’re technically competing with them. Hmmmmmm…

    I don’t know if any of these sports channels can copyright their “gimmick” names.

    I mean, how many “FAN” or “TEAM” or “TICKET” sports radio stations are there by now?

    The Score is a Canadian ESPN type station and has been around since the 90s.

    Interesting note from the Packer blog at jsonline.com – wish I had a picture of this!

    “……The Packers wore their brown “throwback” helmets during practice, but they wore their usual green jerseys. It wasn’t the most artful combination of colors to say the least……”

    I’d like to see a picture of that.

    One of the interesting things about that Packers video is that the throwback helmets just arrived. Instead of being able to break them in during Training Camp, they have to get them game-ready in just a couple days.

    In the photo showing the Indians’ coaches wearing the piping-clad caps in 1974, check out Gaylord Perry’s NOB. The last name is centered above #36; however, the first initial was added due to his brother Jim’s joining the Tribe that year.

    Paul,

    Awhile back you mentioned that because you were more involved with ESPN, you’d be posting less here, taking more days off, etc.

    I know you take one month off… but it seems like you’ve kept up a full article (often many topics) and full ticker every single weekday.

    Even on days when you have an ESPN column- which you said you weren’t going to do.

    Curious what changed? Its great, and the content has been just as good as always… just curious because you made a big deal about it.

    It’s like when my kids remind me that they shouldn’t have dessert because they didn’t eat their veggies …

    With very few exceptions, I usually run a very small lead item on days when I have an ESPN column running. That will be the case again tomorrow, in fact. So I’ve pretty much stuck to that protocol.

    It’s true that I don’t call for a snow day as often as I had anticipated. Why? The usual reasons: workaholism, obsessivness, etc. And yes, taking off for the entire month of August helps.

    I’m touched by your concern, though. If it makes you feel better, I just woke up from a nap (really!)…

    Re possible move of Vikings to LA:

    If that happens, expect to see the Kings go back to the 80s look, and you can keep all the purple and gold pro uniform combos in one city!

    I wonder how Californians would react to following in the footsteps of Pittsburgh?

    If the Vikings franchise does relocate, there’s a decent chance the league would reserve the Vikings name, logo, and heritage in Minnesota. Therefore, you’d see a new nickname for the Los Angeles NFL team.

    The LA Kings should revert to purple and gold.

    “The best possible scenario from a uniform perspective, is to have the Vikings stay in Minnesota, and wear purple pants and monochrome more often.”

    paul…where’s that “ban” button again?

    Sure, it fits in with the Purple People Eaters. Monochrome works best with darker helmets anyway.

    Ok, I have done my “running” (read driving around picking up stuff)

    1. Great to see and hear Curt Gowdy on the opening of the World Series video.

    2. Love the Mets grays on the video.

    3. I remember watching the Detroit Wheels on Channel 20 here in the Detroit Area. I think they had a couple of games on TV. Give me a break on my memory I was nine.

    4. I had a Lions Helmet car when I was young. Heck, it may still be around here.

    Finally, WARNING on the Sporcle site. It is VERY addictive.

    Just got done watching that video and loved every second of it. When I saw Billy Conigliaro it reminded me that he got in on Charlie Finley’s nickname on back trend too, though his was a little less gimmicky…

    link

    This pertains to the item about non-matching/unique helmets on the same team. Scroll down to the end of this link and you will see how Yale’s unique formula:
    link

    “In 1962 only, additional stripes were added to some players’ helmets (or perhaps to all of them); the stripes were worn on either side of the middle blue stripe, and were colored according to each player’s role on the team: green for the offensive unit, red for the defense, and yellow for “all-purpose” players. A Yale game program from this era lists a set of nicknames for these three units: “Commandos”, “Apaches”, and “Bulldogs”, respectively.”

    According to Helmet Hut, Wisconsin’s late 60s teams (sadly, some of their worst) wore two different kinds of helmets – red for most of the players, black for those who won defensive player of the week “Savage Awards.” Sadly, that’s the only time Bucky Badger has actually been on the helmet.

    Also on tildes: CNN is starting a Spanish-language network and has a new logo for it: the familiar CNN earthworm yoga with a tilde above BOTH “N”s.

    I hope this isn’t a dumb question, but where the heck is Ricko? Not sure if it’s been a day or a month, but it seems like it’s been a while since I’ve seen comments from him here.

    Ricko is a big wig at Wikileaks and because of a US government witch hunt he’s had to go into hiding. Trust that he is keeping up with Uniwatch daily but has to do so via printouts carried to him by trained pigeons.

    Love the orange-numbered browns home jersey on the Both Teams Played Hard homepage. and Tom Flick went to my high school, so it’s doubly cool.

    I know what else I wanted to comment on was the Green Bay Packers video. I thought it was awesome and can’t wait to the the uniforms on the field.

    Just heard you on the radio, Paul. Sounded good. I grinned when I heard that question about the Nike NFL fakes.

    Haven’t seen this mentioned. Pacers and Jazz wearing red shoes and red shooting shirts for HIV/AIDS awareness…part of World Aids Day. I assume this is happening at all NBA games tonight.

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