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Monday Morning Uni Watch

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The Packers’ 1929 throwbacks — first announced way back in March — finally saw their first game action yesterday. Has there ever been a longer gap between unveiling and on-field debut? Personally, I never liked the brown helmet, and still don’t — doesn’t look like a leather helmet, doesn’t look like the Packers, doesn’t look good, period (really clashes with the green dot, too) — but I loved how the rest of the uniform looked yesterday. And I really liked that the coaches’ gear had “Acme Packers” on it.

In other football observations from the weekend:

• The Bucs did their annual creamsicle routine. And in a fascinating development, they even went with full-mesh jerseys with screened graphics, just like back in the day. Not often that you see a team go with a throwback fabric. I hadn’t remembered them doing this with the creamsicle throwbacks last season, so I double-checked. Sure enough, they did.

• Here’s an odd one, at least to me: The Dymo label on Jason Witten’s helmet reads, “82 Betsy.” At first I thought maybe that was his wife’s name, but it isn’t. Then I googled “Jason Witten Betsy” and came up with this message board thread in which it’s mentioned that Witten “is a Betsy alum” — apparently a reference to his high school. Could someone please enlighten us about this? (Update: First comment of the day, from Tommy Forrester, reads as follows: “Jason Witten went to high school up the road from me in upper east Tennessee at Elizabethton High. That is where ‘Betsy’ comes from.” Fascinating. Still odd that his high school is listed on his Dymo label, though.)

• Not sure I’ve ever seen a hand-warmer pouch used by a head coach before.

•  Speaking of coaching attire: I couldn’t find a photo, but Atlanta coach Mike Smith was wearing something really weird toward the end of yesterday’s Falcons/Bucs game. Looked like it had three vertical zippers on the front, or maybe just reflective strips..? If anyone DVR’d the game, I’d love to take a closer look.

•  The Ravens aren’t exactly my favorite-looking team to begin with, but they really hit a new low last night.

• Turning to Saturday’s college action, Virginia Tech players had a new rear-helmet decal (the one of the left of the American flag). Not sure what it was for. Anyone..? (Update: I’ve now been informed by several readers that this was a “212” decal, a reference to the boiling point of water. In other words, the players were supposed to “get hot” out there, or something along those lines.)

• USC and UCLA went color-on-color.

• We finally got our first on-field look at Oregon State’s undersleeve stripes. While they looked better on some players than on others, for the most part I thought they were a success:

• Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews had some decal problems.

• Yet another Civil War note: At one point in the third quarter, one of the broadcasters mistakenly stated that there was a fumble on the play. After viewing the replay, he realized what he’d actually seen was one of Oregon State’s orange shoes.

• An Oklahoma player was spotted on the sideline in an NNOB jersey. Maybe this was just a temporary jersey he wore on a special teams play to avoid a duplicate-number situation..?

• And a leftover item from Thursday night’s Texans/Eagles game: Stewart Bradley’s helmet speaker was hanging out beneath his earhole.

My thanks to all contributors, including Kurtiss Dilley, Brady Graham, Aaron Wiens, Joshua Brisco, Matt Bristow, and Jon Solomonson.

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Research project update: Occasionally people ask if our “White at Home in the NFL” page, compiled by Tim Brulia, could be broken down by season instead of by team. Tim has taken that request to heart and created a year-by-year breakdown. You can find it at the bottom of the “White at Home” page.

Giveaway reminder: Our friends at Gridiron Memories are giving away a college football helmet to a lucky Uni Watch reader. Full details here.

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Much more fun than watching college football: Up in Yonkers, just a few miles north of Manhattan, is an abandoned power station. It was built a century ago to provide electricity for the commuter rail lines north of the city. Not sure exactly when it was decommissioned, but it’s been sitting there, vacant, for several decades now. On Saturday I went to check it out.

Gaining entry was easy enough, thanks to this gap in a fence. Kirsten and I wandered all over and even went up on the roof, where I began to climb one of the smokestacks (although trying to scale the whole thing would’ve been rather daunting). Here are some of the photos I took:


Uni Watch News Ticker: Last week I ran this 1980 shot that showed two little Indians sleeve patches. Now Mark Peterson has found some additional examples. “It only seems to have been worn in 1980,” he says. “Maybe an Indians version of Stargell Stars? But what’s that text under it?” Good questions. Anyone know more? ”¦ Mark also sent photos showing a variety of interesting tidbits, including that weird 1934 Phillies jersey with the white P and the white tail; an excellent view of the “monkey cub”; a rare peek at the 1937 Indians’ sleeve patch; the 1917 Giants in full plaid; a good shot of the seldom-seen 1927 Tigers jersey; and a shot of a Tigers throwback game from 1992 that I hadn’t been aware of. Those photos all came from this massive message board thread, which is loaded, and I mean loaded, with good stuff. ”¦ The Indianapolis Indians will be wearing a 125th-season patch next year (with thanks to Nile Smith). ”¦ C. Trent Rosencrans attended Redsfest over the weekend and got a shot of the Sparky Anderson memorial patch that the team will be wearing next season. ”¦ We’ve occasionally seen high school football teams whose pants are one color on the front and another color on the back. But Memphis East High in Tennessee extends the front/back color dichotomy to their jerseys. Plus they have SNOB. Plus-plus they’re yet another high school ripping off an NFL logo. Lots of additional photos here (thanks to Clayton Hawks). ”¦ Several very nice vintage curling sweaters just showed up on eBay. Look here, here, and here. ”¦ Josh Lassiter, who made me promise I’d mention that he hates Texas A+M, found a photo of an Aggie with a missing “A” decal. ”¦ Remember that high school that got a bunch of free BFBS uniforms from Nike and then got flagged because black isn’t one of their school colors? A penalty for that violation has now been handed down (with thanks to David Lassen). ”¦ The Preds just called up goalie Mark Dekanich, who appears to have one hell of a mask design (with thanks to Dirk Hoag). ”¦ DIY alert from Eric Fisk, who spotted someone wearing a homemade Oregon State uni on Saturday. ”¦ I’ve mentioned Alex Ovechkin’s NFL undershirt numerous times. I just assumed that little sternum-level hole was a random tear, but now it appears that it’s not random at all — it’s so his diamond-encrusted pendant can show through (great catch by Rob Ullman). ”¦ Here’s a weird one: a very old Spalding football jersey in lime green. Didn’t think anyone was offering that color way back when. ”¦ Major find here: a 1981 video clip of a Cincinnati TV station covering the unveiling of the Bengals’ new uniforms (big thanks to Brad Burke). ”¦ Lots of Ron Santo photos floating around the past few days. Here’s the most interesting one. That’s his prosthetic leg in 2003. ”¦ Barron Calvert reports that he just got a mailing from the Dodgers that included this illo of the team’s new BP jersey. I can confirm that it is accurate. ”¦ Tris Wykes has written a good story about high school teams “borrowing” their logos from other teams. ”¦ Act fast to get this full set of Chiquita NFL stickers (thanks, Brinke). ”¦What do world-class downhill skiers wear under those flashy bodysuits? Here’s an extremely uni-cational video clip of UK skier Chemmy Alcott discussing all her gear (with thanks to Adam Brodsky). ”¦ Rugby news from James Vetter, who writes: ” The England Sevens team unveiled new orange change outfits this weekend in Dubai, and won the first round of the IRB World Sevens series, beating Samoa in the final.” ”¦ The girls’ hoops team at CE Murray High in South Carolina wears gold socks on one foot and maroon on the other — and they’re not even consistent about keeping the same colors on the left and right (big thanks to Chris Rodgers). ”¦ So the Nats plaster a W on their home jersey and promptly stun the baseball world by landing a huge free agent whose surname happens to start with W. Coincidence? ”¦ I tried to score this 1927 Spalding uni catalog but got outbid. Mike Hersh, did you win it? ”¦ Alex Higley has a friend who’s the great-grandson of Bummy Booth, the first great Nebraska football coach. He provided an amazing 1898 team portrait from Booth’s collegiate days at Princeton. That’s Booth at lower-right, but I’m more interested in the guy sitting next to him — look at that padded chest insert! ”¦ Oooh, an Oakland Invaders jacket — from Swingster! If that brand doesn’t ring a bell, look here. ”¦ You know that nice Kutztown jersey I have? Someone’s selling one just like it (and overcharging for it) on eBay.

 
  
 
Comments (197)

    jason witten went to high school up the road from me in upper east Tennessee at Elizabethton High. that is where “betsy” comes from. they are known as the cyclones.

    I second the Jason Witten “Betsy” comment. The mascot for Elizabethton High School where he graduated (and his brother Shawn is the current head coach, by the way) is “Betsy”, a cyclone. The marching band is called “The Betsy Band”. The nickname is a shortened version of Elizabethton. FYI, the school colors are orange and black.

    Here’s a link to the mascot: link

    Here’s a link to the football helmet:
    link

    Jason Witten went to Elizabethton High School, home of the Cyclones, in Elizabethton, TN which is located in the northeastern corner of the state near the North Carolina and Virginia borders. He played for his grandfather Dave Rider, and his brother, Shawn Witten, who played at Virginia Tech, is now the head coach at Elizabethton.

    Betsy is a nickname for the high school used by the local press and citizens.

    link

    link

    The “212” decal on the back of the VT helmets was apparently in reference to “getting hot” since 212 degrees is the boiling point of water:

    Frank Beamer at 4:20 in the “FSU Postgame Head coach Frank Beamer” video on this page:
    link

    The Ravens looked good. All they really need to do is switch to a matte finish on the helmet, use purple socks and maybe add a double purple stripe down the pants (to match the helmet) and they’d be great.

    The Packers on the other hand, looked like crap. Historically inspired crap, but crap nonetheless.

    i wouldn’t go so far as to say the pack looked like “crap” but aesthetically, it wasn’t great

    im not sure how you pull off a faux-leather helmet and make it look good, but maybe they could have at least simulated a pattern…i suppose the brown was the most ‘realistic’ they could think of, but maybe they could have worn a gold lid like they did in 1994 (even though it would have been historically inaccurate, it would have matched the numbers & bullseye)…or a tan helmet to match the pants…or even a blue helmet

    the brown was just so jarringly different (and not in a good way)

    a for effort…c for execution

    Phil, if they had gone with a historically inaccurate helmet you would have been hammering them with your “get it right” argument! That being said, yes it would have looked much better with a yellow helmet matching the bullseye.

    I think they were stunning. I was at the game and they looked better live than in pictures. I may be biased, but I give them an “A” for effort and originality.

    The Packers have the money… why not affix a leather layer on top of the helmets? you get the leather look, something everyone would talk about, and a little added concussion protection. win, win, win.

    That’s what I was thinking. Are there any technical barriers to just making a leather, or leather-like, outer shell for a regulation helmet? It’d be like hats for bats, but for a helmet: Hats for helmets. The fabric pattern just about designs itself – basically three strips of leather would do it, with reinforcement at the outer edges. Seems like it’d be easy, so I wonder if the Packers considered it but ran up against some kind of practical barrier, or if the idea just didn’t occur.

    They could have done a slight aqua print to simulate a leather textured helmet, the same way the Ducks do their carbon lids. I know, it’s the no fun league.

    Yeah, but a raven’s head does have a sort of sheen to it. It isn’t matte finish at all.

    So the current finish doesn’t bother me. It’s well within realm of the overal design concept.

    —Ricko

    I wish the Ravens would give their helmets the Jacksonville treatment and make it appear purplish when the light hits it a certain way, since that too is how Ravens feathers look.

    Bright green clashes with dark brown? Nonsense! Those colors look great together!

    The problem with the Oregon State uniforms: As I suspected, you’ll never be able to get every player to wear the undershirt, especially in the warm months. Running back Jacquizz Rogers went sans sleeves, for example. The other part was the socks. Even on the players who appeared to have them pulled up, the stripes on the socks seemed much thinner than the stripes on the sleeves and helmet. Then, of course, there were the players who didn’t pull them up all the way (I find it hard to imagine that they wouldn’t stay up, given the caliber of today’s hosiery).

    The Packers, however, looked great and remarkably consistent with their full blue socks. The best way to eliminate sock inconsistencies in the NFL? I think it’s to eliminate the mandatory white at the bottom of the sock and only issue full, team color socks (with stripes where applicable, of course).

    Upon further investigation, there were a few players on whom the socks looked as intended, but the white yarn looked really dingy compared to the bright white on the sleeves and helmet. In addition, I think this throwback would have looked better with a standard shiny helmet.

    Not sure adopting the “soccer socks” look is the answer. Full dark socks, especially in football (and with white cleats in any sport), always remind of some old guy in Delray Beach doing yard work.

    Don’t the NFL uni quidelines call for a certain amount of white to show above the shoe tops?

    —Ricko

    And when everybody wears the whites to a different degree, some low, some medium, some high, some none at all, then you end up with a trashy look. Full color socks and black shoes for all.

    Did anyone else find it odd that Roethlisberger played almost that entire game with his jersey COVERED in blood?

    After he got clocked in the first he was bleeding from a broken nose all night and didn’t change the shirt. I know for a fact pro hockey and soccer will not let players play with blood on the jerseys, does this not apply in the NFL?

    Apparently not, because Tony (H/R)omo suffered a lacerated chin in the opening 2008 game against the Browns, and played the rest of the game… I think.

    link

    Why do MLB teams insist on primary color BP jerseys? Is this just to provide an alternate color shirt, or is there some historical reason or BP regulation?

    Shout out to Clayton Hawks if you’re in Memphis. I didn’t think anyone else here “gets it”.

    Why do MLB teams insist on wearing neutral colored jerseys instead of their primary colors in the first place?

    “Hi, we’re a random Major League Baseball team, our official colors are red and navy, but we usually wear white or gray uniforms.”

    Makes sense to me…

    Well I think it should be that way, but they shouldn’t be able to wear it during the regular season (Orioles). But what most teams should do is not go with writing that looks like their normal one on their home jersey (Giants). The Giants should have their old spring training unis with the GIants in cursive and the cursive g on the hat.
    Like this:link.

    That is a link. That I put up just scroll over it and click on it because it doesn’t look like a link.

    The original batting practice jersey was white:

    link

    And the Sox had white mesh BP versions of the home jersey from ’76-’80, and this one in 1981 (unless they used 3 different BPJ’s in ’81 along with the navy mesh road BPJ) :

    link

    Why are all BPJ’s in color? Good question. Seems like a marketing opportunity to come up with some white alternate BPJ designs.

    I wonder if they could paint some kind of pattern or design to make the helmet “look” leather. They do the camo look at other designs. Surely somebody smarter then me can figure it out.

    not only did the bucs do the full mesh screened on graphics, they somehow managed to get the vector moved off the sleeve and onto the shoulder

    not sure if this was because the jersey cut (different fabric?) or a concerted effort to actually fit the sleeve number on there…whatever it was, it was great…perhaps the geniuses who make these things would consider moving that logo off of the valuable real estate on the sleeve and place it…oh…about 1″ higher, so it’s on the very edge of the shoulder

    They really ought to just put it on the front in the same general area that Nike usually has their swoosh, if the damn thing must be there at all.

    actually, the swoosh makes a lot more sense where it’s located than where the reebox is placed, but i think the NFL requires it on the sleeve…

    but this placement actually, ya know, works

    Maybe the back of the collar, like the NHL? Nah, that might actually make some sense!

    The thing that interested me the most about those Bucs jerseys (aside from the mesh collar, itself a bit odd as the stretchy-ribbed collars have been around for a long time) is the cut. Gee, if they only assembled their regular uniforms that way, maybe certain teams could have something more than vestigial shoulder stripe-lets…

    Just a thought.

    Hey, Phil. I colorized this sketch of Sammy Baugh fighting off a Chicago Bear a couple of weeks ago. Just wanted to get it out there.

    link

    I am shocked that you guys didn’t realise (or atleast note) that the Ravens were doing their version of a “throwback strip” with the black pants on purple jersey. The did that look for the first 3-4 years then went to purple on white since the 2000 season (maybe 1999) and that was the first time they have worn that colour set since they tried he white pants on purple shirt.

    I thought it looked great along with the Packers unis myself

    They only did the purple on black for their first season – 1996. They added white pants and used those with the purple jerseys in 1997.

    ’tis true.
    But did wear white high socks (striped in purple and black) with that first uni. Made them look less crow-legged.

    Then again, they ARE the Ravens, aren’t they. ;)

    —Ricko

    Ravens looked great yesterday, better than solid black. It was unique, and Baltimore should embrace that. The Ravens should wear this uniform at home more often.

    I hated their leotard look from yesterday. Ugh. And especially with black socks. If they would’ve changed it to purple socks it could’ve looked better, but they need like a purple or white stripe down the side.

    Does Terrell Suggs or anyone else for that matter seriously think that he looks good in his tights/unitard/leotard/whatever the hell you wanna call it it looks like crap look?
    link
    He wasn’t the only Raven who went with this look last night. That uni from last night looks bad enough with white socks but it looks indescribably bad without any white socks.

    Football in THE MATRIX.

    Or dance class.

    Not really sure which of those looks they’re going for.

    —Ricko

    I think it’d have to be dance class.

    The Matrix was supposed to represent the “end of the 20th century” as the pinnacle of society – so any football uniforms in the Matrix would probably have a late 80’s or early 90’s styling to them, which would mean no leotard look.

    It was a great movie though… It’s a shame they never made any sequels.

    I doubt aesthetics played TOO much into his decision. A thing that goes overlooked here a little too often is the fact that athletes consider comfort/performance first, aesthetics second for the most part. I’m not saying guys won’t change something on their uni up to look cooler, but for the most part I think it goes more towards performance.

    @Paul: I didn’t take a screenshot during the game, but here was one photo on ESPN’s site that shows another coach wearing the same jacket as Mike Smith during the Falcons/Bucs game. Its the only picture I’ve seen so far of it.

    link

    Looks to be a wind-breaker style jacket with 3 zippers. Outside 2 are probably pockets.

    Packers’ brown helmets sure didn’t work, did they.
    They’d have been better off going with a metallic copper, even…something to suggest the helmets were more saddle brown and had a texture to them.

    But not wear what amounted to stripeless, numberless original Broncos helmets. Just looked…off.

    Jerseys are a hoot, though.

    And, of course, an espn talking head had to say, “Wearing their throwbacks. Well, throw ’em back.”

    Once again, people, not the point. Isn’t to say they’re gorgeous, is only to replicate, within today’s constructs, what they looked like back then, to get a glimpse of the past. Might as well watch a documentary on George Washington and observe how stupid powdered wigs looks. No shit, Sherlock.

    —Ricko

    Might as well watch a documentary on George Washington and observe how stupid powdered wigs looks. No shit, Sherlock.

    True fact: George Washington did not wear a powdered wig. He was quite proud having a full head of hair, so he wore his own hair long and powdered it to look like a wig. Apparently, this was the kind of thing that made a man a chick magnet in the 18th century.

    if you’ve read mccullough’s 1776 (although im sure he’s not the first to suggest/unearth) that the father of our country’s gun fired lots of blanks…so not only was he a 1700’s chick magnet, he never had to worry that any of his off-field dalliances would result in antonio cromartie-esque civil actions

    I’ve read that and several other pieces on Washington, and there is little indication that Washington was involved in that sort of thing, with the possible exception of a flirtation with a married woman early in his wife. All accounts suggest he was a devoted husband, who fathered a nation instead of children. This is in contrast with contemporaries such as Hamilton, Franklin, and Jefferson.

    Washington’s public image gets a short shrift, because everyone knows his rather stodgy face from the dollar bill but not the cool portraits from the War era, where he looks young and dashing.

    Washington did have one very prominent uniform-related moment: When the Continental Congress was choosing to form an army in 1775 and needed to choose a general, Virginia Representative Washington arrived at congress wearing his full military uniform. It was considered inappropriate to campaign for assignments or political positions, but his attire got the point across.

    Not only did Washington show up in full military uniform, he showed up in a uniform he designed himself, and which later served as a model for the whole Continental Army, which would go on to be pretty much the sole reason that on American maps, good-guy armies are shown with blue ink and bad-guy armies are shown in red. Also, Washington’s self-designed officer’s uni is the inspiration for the actual sports unis of the GWU Colonials, whose colors of buff and blue are sampled from one of Washington’s surviving coats. Or that’s what they told us during freshman orientation in the early 1990s, anyway.

    As to the chick magnet thing, I didn’t mean to imply that Washington slept around, just that he was, in fact, a chick magnet. The man set women a-swoon pretty much his whole life. There are even hilarious passages in the correspondence between John and Abigail Adams where Abigail seems to enjoy pricking John’s inferiority complex by expressing a rather warm view of Washington.

    “There are even hilarious passages in the correspondence between John and Abigail Adams where Abigail seems to enjoy pricking John’s inferiority complex by expressing a rather warm view of Washington.”

    true, at least from what the adams bio (also mccullough) gleaned

    and i was kidding about washington sleeping around…tho you have to wonder how today’s media might have vetted his earlier life…the media, such as it was back then, were rather salacious in their own way

    as a uni aside…hamilton college, my alma mater, also uses buff and blue for its school colors, and we’re the “continentals” — the obvious reference being to the continental army

    Phil, as a Gee Dub alum, it has always bugged me that we were the Colonials, not the Continentals, since kind of the whole point of Washington’s career was making people on this continent not colonials anymore.

    The best excuse I can come up for the GWU nickname is that Washington earned his first fame, and also won ownership of some of the land that would go into founding GWU, for his service in the French and Indian War, when he was indeed a Colonial who spent the entire war unsuccessfully angling for a commission in the imperial army. And by “service in” the war, I mean, “managed to singlehandedly start” it. Aside from giving Washington a lifelong grievance against the snooty Brits who failed to give him the title he wanted, the F-I War also made Washington an international celebrity and bestselling author. Anyway, if you look to the earliest bits of his career, where he first made his name, Colonials almost sorta kinda makes sense. But not really, and Continentals remains the obviously superior nickname.

    Lol this is an awesome discussion. Like many of you, I’ve studied my fair share of American historical figures, but always kind of glazed over the George Washington. Obviously I’ve always known all the important info about his impact on this country. But after hearing about him “swooning” women and “shooting blanks” I think I’m going to have to dig deeper on this unique character. Haha.

    The Bengals reveal their new uni on local tv. 1981. What a great find!

    Imagine that power station during its early years of operation. Just grand. And what about that ENTRANCE facade? Man.

    Ah Denny Janson and Walt Maher, worked with both of them. Knew Reggie Williams, too. And Kings Island, great place.

    God, I hate those Colt jerseys with two little stripes up top the shoulder pads.

    Considering the Colts introduced the UCLA stripe (home and road) to the NFL, seems a shame.

    For an old duffer like me, really hard to watch because they look like something from THAT 70’s SHOW, the kind of “official” jersey “just like the pros wear” that you’d find at K-Mart back then. Might as well just remove them and go with plain jerseys (TV numbers only) a la the Raiders and Penn State.

    —Ricko

    It’s really not that hard to slightly modify the uniform cut to accommodate the stripes. Also, tapering the stripes to the armpit would look better than the truncated versions.

    I think it’s time to stop referring them to as “stripes.” Perhaps “swatches” would be more appropriate.

    This is a carry over from yesterday’s post, but has there ever been talk on here about why the word “yellow” seems to be verboten in uni-land? If you asked any non-sports fan what color the Saints are, they’d say gold. If you asked what color the Steelers, Packers, and Chiefs are, they’d say yellow. Yet the official color of all 4 teams is listed as gold. Obviously, the Saints and Packers are not the same color. Ultimately meaningless, but just something that’s always bothered me.

    Because Oregon and Michigan wear yellow.

    That other gold–Packers, Steelers, et al–is, using catalog nomenclature (which we often do here), Athletic Gold.

    Saints gold thesedays is, generally speaking, Vegas Gold. Their origial unis were Old Gold.

    —Ricko

    The Saints looked better when they had gold in their black pants, especially the wide gold stripe when Ricky Williams played there. It may have been a one year experiment, New Orleans needs to bring that back.

    Saints wore black pants with gold and white striping for a number of seasons. Wore them while Archie was still there, in fact.

    —Ricko

    …which looked much better than the current stripeless pants.

    combine those with gold jerseys… it’d be great.

    They should bring those pants back and go with the socks too. Maybe their “ninja” or “All Black Nightmare” or “Leotard” uni would look better.

    Why “burgundy” and not “wine”?
    Why “navy” and not “indigo”? A sailor’s uni and peacoat are far darker than some of the “navy” we see out there.

    What’s the difference, it is what it is. The “Athletic Gold” identifier (actually it was “Light Gold” for quite some time first) has been for forty years or more.

    We also say, “Put on your shoes and socks”, but if we did it in that order we’d look pretty stupid. I doubt the expression with change, though, and we’ll just keep using it.

    —Ricko

    I also think its because, in the era when many pro teams and colleges chose their colors, they didn’t want anything associated with their teams to be “yellow”, signifying cowardice.

    Now, Yellowjackets or something would work because it’s part of an existing name.

    But just plain “yellow”. Nah, they’d have avoided it.

    —Ricko

    The whole “gold/yellow” thing goes well beyond uniforms, and way back before athletics as we know them today. In the formal language of heraldry, colors are defined by general terms, rather than specific shades; i.e. “Vert” (green) could be lime green, Kelly green, or hunter green. Similarly, shades of yellow are defined as “Or”.

    Also, technology has progressed faster in the last century, and that includes fabrications of textiles, paints, and other materials used to create the visual identities of sports teams. For a good long time, it was either not possible, or feasible, to replicate metallic shades in fabric on any large (i.e. not handmade) scale.

    Here we go again. Yes, they call it maize.
    Not talking about how team’s label their colors.

    Y’know, Jack Kent Cooke called purple “Forum Blue,” too.

    By PMS systems, etc., Oregon and Michigan wear Process Yellow. The others wear PMS 116 (or is it 106? Help me out here, gang; don’t have my NFL uni guides at work).

    —Ricko

    Which Michigan process yellow are you referring to? They use two different colors: one for the football uniforms and hockey helmets, another for everything else.

    link

    The resolution isn’t great, but the closeup shot of Jed Ortmeyer at 20 seconds on this clip shows the different colors of yellow on the helmet and jersey, back from the non-dazzle days of the maize jerseys. Michigan has since moved back to dazzle fabrics on the jerseys, but they are still not the same color as the helmets or the football uniforms. This clip is from the “Molly Game” NCAA tournament first-round game at Yost Ice Arena, and this hit was only the fourth-most interesting event that happened.

    Michigan’s official color is 116. But they seem to use that brighter yellow on football uniforms and some merchandise

    What’s the source on Michigan wearing 116? Looking up the color, I don’t buy it. It doesn’t resemble the “official” maize ribbon nor any of the athletic apparel; far too dark.

    It just was announced that Don Meredith died at age 72 of a brain hemmorhage. Dandy Don was one of the good ones that retired way before he had to. “Turn out the lights, the party’s over…” RIP #17.

    For what it’s worth, I don’t think any team does a throwback game better than the Bucs have done the last two years.

    In addition to the authentic jersey material mentioned today,
    -they have attention to detail including the stripped socks
    -they give the field the throwback paint job
    -they surround the stadium in throwback wall banners
    -the cheerleaders use the old huge pom-poms
    -they use the throwback games to induct someone to their ring of honor (last year Lee Roy Selmon, this year Coach McKay)
    -and they only do it once a year instead of the allowed twice a year which I feel makes the event seem extra special.

    I was relieved when Tampa Bay moved away from the creamsicle uniforms, and in particular those dreadful orange pants (they frequently wore white at home). You’ve nailed it with the one week a year thing–this is a cool throwback, done well. Special uniforms lose their punch if they are used almost as much as the regular uniforms.

    They definitely do it right. My Brownies never really have to do throwbacks, unless they want to throw back to the Kardiac Kids era, but it would be cool to see the field painted differently and with a two-bar helmet or Brownie the Elf at midfield.

    Would be interesting (odd, but interesting) to see Browns wearing those drop shadow numbers and plain white helmets. Y’know, the AAFC look.

    Dante Lavelli, Mac Speedie, Marion Motley…them there guys.

    —Ricko

    The Bucs did a great job replicating old Tampa Stadium yesterday, back in the day, Hugh Culverhouse(original team owner), dressed in an orange leisure suit on game day.

    Other things the Bucs did correctly: 1. the end zones were dead perfect to their brief glory days (1979-1982); 2, they gave out the fishing hat McKay wore on the sidelines and 3. they even trotted out a mascot used in the McKay years. Moreover, during that period, the Bucs wore orange at home more often than any other part of their orange history, so most locals associate the orange jerseys with the Selmon-Williams-Bell-Wilder era.

    One last point: while the Bucco Bruce helmet decal has rightly deserved criticism, the orange jerseys with white pants are, in my mind, second only to the Chargers powder blues in unique and attractive uniforms. They threw the baby out with the bathwater when they re-did the uniforms. A red pirate attack flag (a great logo)on that helmet would be uniform nirvana for me and many other Bucs fans.

    I agree that the Bucs do an absolutely amazing job with the once-a-year throwback uniforms. Every details is correct. On TV, I felt like I was watching a game at old Tampa Stadium! It was great.

    Problem is, the Falcons didn’t play along, so as great a job as the Bucs did, it looked weird.

    I don’t understand why that looks weird.
    How is it different than the Raiders, Browns, Bears, etc. playing against the Cardinals, Falcons, Broncos, etc.?

    it looked weird because we’ve never seen the creamsicle next to the “new” falcons unis

    just like it looked weird the first time any *new* uni goes up against any good, old, standard uni…

    only this was in reverse

    or

    something

    I still don’t get it. I don’t see how the Bucs can look weird because of their opponent. I don’t think that teams need to complement each other. There is nothing wrong odd couples.
    I enjoyed watching them. And yes… I thought about how mad Rerun’s brother was with Dwayne.

    The Bucs didn’t look weird, the matchup of the teams looked weird…like someone messing around with either a Playstation or a time machine.

    All that work they did to make everything look period-appropriate, and the Falcons did nothing. That’s not a real throwback game to me. Same thing in Green Bay – they should have worn those against the Bears or someone else who played back in that era.

    Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) wore some kind of mess last night. I don’t know if it was a throwback or what the occasion was, but they used their old moniker, VPI on the jerseys. Check it out yourself Here

    Virginia Tech (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University) wore some kind of mess last night. I don’t know if it was a throwback or what the occasion was, but they used their old moniker, VPI on the jerseys. Check it out yourself here.

    It was an ode to their Corp of Cadets, just like their football team did in their game against Boise State… except with less black.

    A couple other nuggets from yesterday’s Tampa Bay throwback day:

    I love that they adjusted the on field graphics…double-bar helmet too! link

    Throwback mascot too: link

    I commented on twitter, it would be nice if the networks would play along and adjust their on screen graphics for the throwback games.

    Or better yet, have the other team play along. Or at least schedule your throwback game against a team who still wears relatively the same uniform as they wore when the Bucs wore orange.

    Great find with that power station. I love finding old buildings like that for photography excursions. I just may have to make a trip up to New York…

    In the same line they’re tearing down an old grain silo in my hometown of Huron, OH. Paul actually drove past it on his US 6 tour. Went inside it once for a mass casualty drill. Unfortunately they’re tearing it down now to put up condos for more tourists.

    Going back to yesterday’s post, can what if the 49ers went with white pants with their gold jerseys? I thought that look in ’96 looked great. But if they would make it with the new pant stripe.

    Yes. That would be awesome. With the normal unis too, UGH if only I was the uni director of the 49ers

    Those Oregon State unis were great. Love the helmet too, I like how it looks without a glare, looks pretty sharp.

    The OU player is backup QB/place kick holder John Nimmo. I don’t remember him going NNOB for any other games, and he has always worn number 5. The other number 5 is defensive back Joseph Ibiloye, so I am not sure why there would be a problem.

    Glad Nimmo doesn’t have a NOB. I have a bitter opinion of the guy. He’s the 4th string QB (behind Landry, Drew Allen, and Blake Bell…) but he’s the cockiest football player at OU in my opinion. Of course he tried to start a brawl with my boys at a campus bar a couple weeks ago. Lol. Love OU, despise Nimmo. So by all means, don’t give him the value of a name. Then again, he’s the holder, so he’s obviously got a skill at holding balls. ZING. He was the topic of quite the twitter attack though.
    “Nimmo drives the windowless van.”
    “Nimmo killed Bambi’s mom. Poor, defenseless Bambi’s mom.”
    “Nimmo jams to Chumbawumba.”
    “When Nimmo was born, the nurse slapped him twice. Just for the fun of it.”
    “Nimmo prefers cats to dogs. That’s the same as letting the terrorists win. Durka burka lurka don’t like you Nimmo.”
    “Nimmo called your mom fat. I’m just saying…shes a pretty lady and doesn’t deserve that, thats all.”
    “Nimmo is to blame for all road construction that’s made you late. Ever.”
    “Nimmo wants you to just call him angel of the morning, baby.”
    “Nimmo sneezes in the buffet line.”
    “Nimmo took the Wonderlic test. The score had Vince Young laughing for hours.”

    On a sidenote, I don’t know if anyone saw it, but during the OU/OSU Bedlam game, I swear Jeremy Beal (the Big XII defensive player of the year) lost the OU decal on one side of his helmet. I was too busy screaming during one of the biggest games of our year to make a point of it then.

    One thing that is common in European soccer that we never see in the States is the use of a truly different uniform for the second color. A uniform whose colors and patterns bear little or no resemblance to that of the home uniform–for example, the period occurrence of blue uniforms for Manchester United, which at home wears red, white, and black.

    The NFL rules don’t exactly allow this, but why not use a completely different uniform for a football team’s contrast color? The only team that kind of does this is Dallas, whose colored uniform uses colors of blue and silver nonexistent in their white uniforms. I’m talking about a bit more extreme, though, like New England either wearing their current blue uniform or, for contrast, their throwback reds. Tampa Bay switching from red and pewter to creamsicle instead of to white. The Rams using their existing vegas gold uniforms but changing them up with the photoshopped athletic gold-horned helmets and jerseys when they need a contrast.

    This would require regular use of a second helmet, which is currently illegal, but I think it would be cool. A chance to use a completely different design and color palette for the same team.

    I’d be ok with that for some teams… basically those few that have a history with 2 or more distinct looks… the Bucs, the Rams, Patriots… Broncos… but I don’t particularly like the idea as a whole. I’d love to see the Chargers use powder blue or navy blue and ditch having a white jersey… but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to see them bring out red as their alternate color.

    The Giants home and roads are not “inverted” versions of each other. There is no red and no stripes on home blues, there is no blue and stripes on road whites….

    We sorta had this in ancient days in the NFL. The Colts wore red jerseys for night games in 1954 and 1955 (when they played against the Lions and the Packers in Milwaukee). Also, the Chicago Cardinals wore blue jerseys quite often when they played the Giants at the Polo Grounds (the Giants wore red as a primary jersey until 1953) and occasionally when they played the Redskins at Griffith Stadium.

    Bucs looked awesome yesterday in their throwbacks. and it’s obvious they lost that game because they don’t wear them enough.

    = P

    I loved the look of the Ravens. I am a fan of the color tops/color bottoms. Their black on black is so AWESOME!!!!!!!

    I’ve seen that Yonkers power station a couple of times from the train as I was traveling up to Albany and Rutland, VT on business. The complex just screams for a combined retail/dining/condo repurposing. Given the state of today’s economy, I guess backdrop for a postapocalyptic action movie will have to do.

    The Seahawks retired Walter Jones number 71 yesterday during the 2 minute warning. This is only the 3rd number they have retired, so they are a bit new to the whole thing, but I’m confused on their design. Here is the banner link
    It looks like they used the older Seahawks colors, newer number font and are still using the wrong name font which is in tradition with the other 2 retired banners.
    Here are Jones actual jerseys. link link
    Previous banners link

    Looks like the new Seahawks blue and green to me Mickel? I seriously wish the Seahawks FO would give a shit about these type of things.

    I thought it would be the new colors. Thanks for the correction. I agree with you though, they only retire a jersey about every decade, why not get it right?

    Anyone else love the Rams throwbacks? I think royal blue and yellow is one of the best uniform color combos in sports. Add the best helmet logo in the league, and you’ve got a winner.

    I agree. The Rams’ throwbacks are timeless. When they wear the gold pants, the current look is good, but not as sharp.

    The simple horn itself, however is terrible in all its forms. It can’t even fit on the helmet without being link to link for bolts, clips and facemasks. Awful. If you can’t actually fit the logo on the helmet, it’s time for a new logo.

    I’d vastly prefer they return to link.

    Rams helmets, along with the Vikings IMO, are the best in all of the NFL. I actually think their current unis, the navy jerseys with the gold pants, are the best unis in the NFL. I like the throwbacks as well, however the grossly mismatching of the jersey and helmet color (same problem with the awesome Viking throwbacks), really detracts from it.

    DJK, I agree with everything you said.

    I think the Rams current uniforms are still among the best in the league. I remember when the Rams changed to that look in 2000, it seemed like one of the best upgrades in the NFL. At that point in team history, it was just time for a change. And I think the uniforms are still great. But over the last decade I’ve come to appreciate the “classic” look of their old uniforms as well, and I’m glad to see them brought back a game or two each year, beginning last season.

    Last night I was watching the Ravens/Steelers game when my girlfriend walked in the room, looked at the TV and said, “Whatever team that’s wearing those purple jerseys is hideous.” She then said that the Ravens also needed to rexamine their black pants and socks look. I think I might have found true love.

    Regarding the small Chief Wahoo patches on the right sleeve of the Indianss jerseys. I am quite sure those were called Press Stars. The were given to the player for an outstanding play, etc. by the now defunct Cleveland Press news paper. I would say they did this in 1980 and or 1981. The paper went out of business in 1982. I don’t know who at the paper was in charge of giving them out.

    Sweet! With your info, a quick Google search brought this link up:

    link

    Just another thing we wouldn’t ever see happening today.

    I HATE HATE HATE the Ravens look from last night. Prefer the all black if they want to pair the black pants with dark jerseys.

    I do think though the Ravens would look sharp if they made the helmets black with a purple sheen similar to the black/teal thing the Jags do. Would look even better IMO applied to the Ravens.

    The Indianapolis Indians may have a 125th Anniversary Patch for 2011, but it’s simply not true. They are claiming 125 consecutive years of professional baseball in Indianapolis, which includes the histories of other franchises, including the National League Indianapolis Hoosiers of 1887-1889 and other minor leagues. The current Indians franchise wasn’t founded until 1902 (which will be 109 years ago) as a part of the Western Association after other teams had spun off to form the American League. the patch and anniversary is simply incorrect… They’ve been claiming the same thing on banners outside Victory Field for a few years.

    (Apologies for the self-reply.) At least the press release for the patch is more up front of the history, as a celebration of all professional baseball (though there was also professional baseball pre-dating the 1887 N.L. Hoosiers.) The stadium banners are less up front about the fact that the history includes other franchises…

    did anyone else notice how the san diego chargers went and half assed their uniforms this weekend…thye had the endzones painted old style and even the cheerleaders were in throwback gear…but then they just came out and wore the powder blue alternate jerseys not the throwbacks

    The “212” logo on the back of the VT helmets is in reference of the boiling point of water. The idea is that water can not boil unless at 212 degrees F. If it is at 211 it will not boil. This is a way of telling players that you must give the game everything you have or else you will not accomplish your goal.

    Packers throwback were awesome. And the worst throwbacks are still better than many teams regular jerseys (Bills, Donkeys, Ravens, Vikes, Eagles come to mind). The Eagles yellow and blue t-back from a few years ago > than the blackish green they usually wear. Now those awesome kelly green ones are the best.

    About the LA high school that wore BFBS: I’m out east, but if you can only wear your school colors, then what do you do with the schools that wear white jerseys?!?! That district must have a lot of CVC (color vs color) games…..or does it?? Just more ammo for The Jeff, eh?

    If they truly followed their rules… but I bet they don’t.

    I’d almost guarantee that white is considered an acceptable “neutral” color, simply because it’s been used for so long that it’s seen as normal.

    Did anybody say why Virginia Tech wore those white helmets and unis again? I think they look good. Not cray about the stripe stopping and I read here how they cut them at that spot

    I agree with Paul that the Oregon State sleeve stripes looked good on some players, ok on others. Overall a great experiment that I hope others will try. I think the key is to try to place the stripes a little higher than most of the OSU players had them. Need the stripes to start right where the shoulder pads end – right in the middle of the biceps.

    Lineman for the Pats on the bench..wearing a cold weather ski cap…plastic hang tag still dangling…

    I cannot not for the life of my find a good picture but in the Civil War game, the Ducks wore white names on their white jerseys. I had never seen that before but it was clear when they zoomed in on a player on the bench. You can barely make out some letters on #21’s jersey in this picture. link

    oh crap, did i read in the comments that it was jth’s sayers? i knew it was coming up, how did i miss that? well, i am still under the wire james, happy 40th, don’t jump off a bridge!

    in meaningless news:
    with just over an hour to go on the “deadline”, no stirrups have made the cut of the minimum, only one made it halfway, but i will be ordering all but purdue anyway. the scUM was most popular, edging out the illini and indiana by 1, and the THE, and quackers by 2.

    Here’s one I forgot to mention, Ironwood Ridge, also from Tucson. It’s not an exact ripoff, but it’s pretty obvious they took inspiration from K-State link

    …and paul, much more fun then watching college football? more fun then watching college football maybe, but i would suggest, even though i know you did this on a saturday, much more fun then watching the best nfl game ever played.

    kenny/greengoblin~
    for olde tyme’s sake….the blue tree was set up this weekend, and the banister is all aglow. it’s time for uniform holiday paradise in blue aluminum and glass my friend, with the help of chicago’s christkindle mart obviously. you won’t be reading this, but love to you and yours.
    love,
    you might have evened up the roses this year

    Again, from the “I’m Confused” department… That’s a neat picture of the 1934 Phillies jersey, but according the the Hall of Fame website, the color scheme was slightly different: link

    Looks like someone colorized the photo. Maybe the filters on the camera made the red look dark and blue look light. I’ve seen old black & white Reskins and New York Americans photos like that.

    Per Jason Witten on his radio show in Dallas (BAD Radio-theTicket). It’s an old helmet he likes to use (basically the shell, with crazy padding). One of the equipment guys called it “Betsy” and it stuck. Nothing really to do with his school.

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