Skip to content
 

I’d Like to Teach My Team to Hit / When There Are Men on Base

img411.jpg

Yes, that’s me. The photo was taken in my apartment in the autumn of 2000 (I’ll explain why later on). I’m using it for today’s entry because last Tuesday’s post about Passover Coke led to a bit of soda pop discussion in the comments section, and at one point I mentioned that the cola wars have a generational component that’s very similar to some of the uniform-marketing conflicts we frequently discuss here at Uni Watch. It’s an idea I’ve been thinking about for years, and today I want to explore it a bit further.

First, some quick history (and bear with me here — I promise this will lead back to uniforms): For roughly the past 50 years, Pepsi’s marketing campaigns have emphasized youth and generational themes. Here are some of the company’s slogans during that time: “For Those Who Think Young”; “You’re in the Pepsi Generation”; “The Choice of a New Generation”; “The Taste That’s Generations Ahead”; “Be Young, Have Fun, Drink Pepsi”; “Generation Next”; “Taste the One That’s Forever Young”; and “Every Generation Refreshes the World.”

You might think youth appeal is basic soda marketing, but Coke has never gone this route. The company’s slogans over the past century have tended to emphasize timeless, universal messages with no generational pitch: “Enjoy Coca-Cola”; “Coke Is It”; “It’s the Real Thing”; “Things Go Better with Coke.” The closest they’ve come to a generational slogan is “For People on the Go” (and maybe “Catch the Wave,” which was paired with the supposedly youth-directed Max Headroom character and was also widely perceived by mid-1980s ad critics to be an attempt to align the brand with new wave music, although I always thought that was a bit of a stretch).

The thing about constantly pitching yourself as the hip new thing is that you constantly have to reinvent your image to keep up with current trends and fashions. That’s why Pepsi’s logo has changed so much over the years, while Coke’s has remained relatively consistent.

For a while now, I’ve been thinking of sports franchises as either Coke teams or Pepsi teams. This has nothing to do with which soda is sold at which stadium; it’s about whether the team’s approach to marketing — including, but not limited to, its logo and uniforms — reflects Coke values (stability, universality, timelessness) or Pepsi values (youth, change, generational themes).

Obviously, I’ve made some generalizations here, and not every team fits into a neat little Coke or Pepsi box. But some things are pretty obvious: The Yankees are the ultimate Coke team; Oregon football is probably the ultimate Pepsi team; for a while there the White Sox were about as Pepsi as a baseball team could be (tons of uni changes, logo changes, team color changes, first MLB team to wear NOBs, etc.), but over the past 20ish years they’ve become paragons of Coke-ism; and so on.

Here in New York, the Coke/Pepsi dichotomy is easy to see. The Yankees, obviously, have always been a Coke team (which is why it made such perfect sense when they developed a player named Phil Coke — too bad they traded him to Detroit). And for a long time the Mets were fairly Coke-ish, too — they wore pinstripes, stayed NNOB until the late 1970s, were one of the handful of teams that never wore sansabelt pants, held Old Timers’ Days (a Pepsi team would never do that), and generally adhered to a set of relatively traditionalist baseball values.

But in the late ’90s the Mets began to change. Remember, this was when the Yankees were re-establishing themselves as a dominant force on the field and at the box office, and it’s almost like the Mets said to themselves, “Okay, we’re never gonna out-Coke the Yankees, so we may as well embrace the Pepsi approach.” That’s how the Mets ended up adding black throughout their design program; it’s how they introduced a new alternate cap design for three consecutive years; it’s how they almost completely stopped wearing their primary home cap and listed their black alternates as their “preferred” uniforms in the MLB Style Guide (how can an alternate be preferred and a primary be almost completely put out to pasture?); it’s how they were the first team to go with those embarrassing two-tone Cool-Flo batting helmets; it’s how they took the 1999 TATC promotion a ridiculous step further by coming up with the Mercury Mets; and so on.

Coke and Pepsi approaches go beyond uniform choices, of course. A team’s cola protocol can be evident in everything from the style of its P.A. announcer (the NBA is pretty much a Pepsi league in this regard) to the music it plays at its stadium or arena (there’s nothing more Coke than a live organist, right?) to its commercials and other advertising.

Again, I realize this paradigm doesn’t work for every team, but it’s good food (or drink) for thought. And even if you think this whole concept is silly, we should at least be able to agree that this is a Coke uniform. Now if we can just get Phil Coke to wear it.

Meanwhile, here’s another odd intersection of the cola wars and sports: When I attended Game 5 of the 2000 World Series, a Pepsi Challenge booth had been set up in the Shea Stadium parking lot. I not only took the challenge but wrote a small item about it for Fortune, the fee for which conveniently covered what I’d paid for the Series tix. For reasons I still don’t understand, the story’s editor insisted on using me, instead of a model, for the photo accompanying the story — which is how we got the photo shown at the top of today’s entry. It is, of course, not the least bit representative of how the Pepsi Challenge actually works, but the editor had his mind made up about it. (He knew I thought he was nuts and tried to make it up to me later by sending me a big print of the photo, which is sort of like Homer Simpson trying to smooth things over with Marge by getting her the bowling ball he really wants for himself.)

As a little epilogue, or postscript, or denouement, or free bonus tracks, here are three items not mentioned in the story:

• I’d had several beers and a cigar by the time I stepped up to the Pepsi Challenge booth, so my palette wasn’t exactly pure.

• The chucklehead in the article who yelled, “They put crack in the Pepsi!” happens to have been me.

• My then-girlfriend, a lifelong Coke partisan from the South, chose Pepsi and was mortified. It really challenged all her assumptions about herself, like discovering she was adopted or something, and she was pretty inconsolable. Ah well — within a few hours, that seemed like the least of our worries.

Buffalo-Bills-Logo.gif

+ + + + +

Actual good news!: As you may have heard, a Federal judge decided yesterday afternoon that America can sit on its ass every Sunday and watch football this autumn after all, whoo-hoo! (Rumors that the judge’s ruling was sponsored by Bud Light are almost completely untrue.) In apparent celebration of these glad tidings, the new Bills uniforms were leaked in a Madden video clip last night. But then YouTube took the video down, so someone re-posted it, but then YouTube took that one down too, and look, we could go on like this for hours but instead let’s just go straight to the screen shots that someone was thoughtful enough to make.

Looks pretty good, am I right? Whichever poor sap gets picked by the Bills with the third pick in the draft, at least he’s gonna look sharp next season.

+ + + + +

flag.jpg

Travel plans (and tremendous personal loss) revealed: As a handful of you knew yesterday, the flag shown at right is for the city of St. Louis, which is where I’ll be working on an ESPN story toward the end of next week. I’d like to point out that I’ll be in town for Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, which means I’ll be missing some totally kickass parties back here in NYC (and that everyone at my friend Dawn’s annual Derby Day party won’t get to eat my very delicious derby pie). Never let it be said that Uni Watch doesn’t involve great individual sacrifice.

Anyway: I’d like to convene a Uni Watch party on the evening of Thursday, May 5. Haven’t settled on a venue yet, although a pair of Show Me State readers have already provided two strong possibilities:

1)  St Looie-based reader Marty Hick has suggested the Bleeding Deacon — an intriguing option, given their bizarro curly hot dog, which looks like my kinda sandwich. So I was penciling in the Deacon as the presumptive favorite. But then…

2) Ben Traxel, who used to live in St. Louis and now lives in the bootheel, has suggested the Corner Bar & Grill, which is the only remaining venue in America — the only one, ladies and gentlemen! — for cocked-hat bowling, which looks like a total fucking hoot (further photos and info here and here). Now, I’ve bowled tenpins, candlepins, duckpins, rubber band duckpins, Canadian five-pin, mini-bowling, and feather-bowling, plus I know about Texas kingpins, but I’d never heard about cocked-hat bowling until now. And just in time, too, cuz this is the last remaining place to cock one’s hat! Apparently you have to reserve the basement ahead of time, which sounds totally worth it.

Let’s put it this way, people: I’m definitely gonna eat that hot dog while I’m in town, and I’m definitely gonna toss a few games of cocked-hat bowling. The only question is which one I’ll be doing with you folks. I’m kinda leaning toward the hat-cocking, since that seems like more of a group activity than eating a hot dog (and since I’d rather not have to rent out the Corner Bar & Grill’s basement all by my lonesome [although I will if it comes to that!]).

Got other suggestions? Want to point me toward other cool stuff to do while I’m in town? Do tell.

Screen shot 2011-04-25 at 3.55.15 PM.png

+ + + + +

Bobble Birthday Boy: Please join me in wishing the happiest of birthdays to our own Robert Marshall (shown at left in “Go away, I haven’t had my coffee yet” mode). Whether he’s selling stirrups, putting his own spin on bags, or just spewing his unique brand of wisdom in the comments section, Robert is one of the handful of people in my life who remind me that there’s always room to work harder and be more creative, and that not being awesome is basically unacceptable. In short, he is an inspiration.

In typical Marshallian fashion, Robert’s chosen today — the day when we should be getting gifts for him — as the day when he’s bestowing his latest batch of custom-made bobbles on an unsuspecting world. You can see the latest 10 designs on this page. As I think you’ll agree, they’re some of his best work yet, with tons of great little details (I especially like the ref’s whistle lanyard, and also the collar on this one).

Congrats on a sensational round of bobbles, Moose, and happy 41st. Hope you get everything you wish for when you blow out the candles.

+ + + + +

guthrie.png

Collector’s Corner, by Brinke Guthrie

Got some great stuff this week, including this great helmet plaque. I always wanted one of those (I was intrigued by how the facemask was cut right in the middle) but never got one!

In other eBay finds:

• Here’s an absolutely cool 1970s DeLong brand NFL logo sideline jacket.

• Look at these 1960s Keds NFL sneakers, with some Riddell trim.

• Here’s a nice selection of MLB mini-pennants and buttons from the 1950s.

• This may be the only time one of the few times in your life you’ll see the words “World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates.”

• In keeping with our recent mini-theme of athlete-owned restaurants, here’s a nice vintage ashtray from an eatery owned by the Colt’s Alan Ameche.

• Just another tequila sunrise.

•  Chris Yarolimek sent this one in: a big album of MLB patches.

•  And Paul came across this great Durene football jersey [which I’d bid on myself except it’s too big for me, grrrr ”” PL].

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

+ + + + +

Uni Watch News Ticker: Vanderbilt baseball wore a red-white-blue “patriotic” uniform on Sunday. ”¦ Ronnie Poore spotted a textbook case of unfortunate typography. ”¦ Jonathon Binet notes that Hueytown High in Alabama has a helmet logo that looks a lot like the Under Armour logo. ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Check out the wedding band on the Los Angeles Dons kicker (thanks, Ricko). ”¦ Also from yesterday: Good piece about how the Red Wings tape their sticks. ”¦ Marc Malfara notes that Walgreens and Wegmans have settled a lawsuit over their respective “W” logos. No word on any comment from the Nats. ”¦ Good news from Chris Cruz, who reports that UCLA’s shoulder stripes, which had practically disappeared when the team switched to super-stretchies last season, reappeared for the Bruins’ spring game. ”¦ Why would a Washington Caps polo shirt have an NFL hologram tag? Paul Barrett recent spotted that shirt at a store. ”¦ I haven’t mentioned anything about the Giants’ World Series rings until now, but I really like that they’re mostly white gold instead of the usual yellow gold. Handsome. ”¦ “I was at my in-laws’ place over the weekend and saw a book about the history of BYU football,” says Eric Westover. “The first part was about when it was Brigham Young Academy, and there were some interesting photos. In this team portrait, some of the players appear to have their positions indicated on their uniforms. And in the 1940s, they added orange to their uniforms so ‘they could be seen easier.’ That didn’t last long.” ”¦ Yesterday I mentioned that 1951 was the 50th anniversary of the National Association. Now Terry Proctor has provided scans showing that logo being used on the front and back covers of a 1951 Montreal Royals program. “The National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues was established at a meeting of minor league presidents in Chicago in 1901 with Eastern League (now the International League) President Pat Powers serving as the NAPBL’s first president,” explains Terry. “The NAPBL office was based in Auburn, New York, Powers’s home town. The NAPBL is still in business today but goes by the name ‘Minor League Baseball.'” ”¦ Check out the game match-up that was shown on the MLB Network crawl the other night (good catch by Brice Wallace). ”¦ Also from Brice: Check out this 1986 shot of Marshall’s placekicker with some serious toe-strap action. That was legal?! “Yup,” says Ricko, to whom I showed the photo. “A number of high school and college kickers tied off in various versions of same. Didn’t work as well in the NFL with ball right on the ground, no tee. As far back as Ben Agajanian, who had a special shoe because he was missing toes, modified shoes were permitted for kickers. Tom Dempsey only reinforced the concept. Once you allow a ‘modified’ shoe, how the heck do you define an appropriate modification and an inappropriate one?” Nowadays, of course, modified shoes are off-limits. ”¦ MLB is promoting the All-Star Game in Phoenix with a bunch of cacti. ”¦ A columnist in Hawaii has had enough with the pink uniforms already (with thanks to Bill Sodeman). ”¦ Darwin Barney of the Cubs is shaping up as my new hosiery hero (with thanks to Neil Berger). ”¦ Interesting news about the organ at the College World Series — check out item No. 9 on this list (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Add this to Jim Tressel’s transgressions: playing dress-up soldier. “I’m a veteran, and am all for supporting our troops, etc., but this is downright silly, and on the wrong side of offensive,” says John Kimmerlein. ”¦ Bill Scheft opines that the Giants’ last-’60s road uni had the most perfect jersey-to-pants-to-sock stripe sync-up of all time.” ”¦ Betsy Nichols knows someone who made a bunch of short “Upstate New York Olympics” videos. Most of them are either too cute or not quite cute enough, but two of them are genius: abandoned building bowling and drive-in movie tennis. ”¦ Check out the logo at the top-left of this page. Has the NBA been using that for a while, or is it new? Is it just for the online store? (As noted by Marcelo Cordoba.) ”¦ Jon Beckman reports that Nick Swisher used Russell Martin’s bat in the 7th inning last night. ”¦ A high school baseball coach in Tampa is our kinda guy, at least judging by the second graf of this story (with thanks to Dwayne White) ”¦ Your co-workers will love this one: the sound of every NHL goal horn (this public service brought to us by Seth Moorman). ”¦ Check out the unusual facemask that Blake Sloan was wearing back in the 2000 Stanley Cup finals (nice find by Jared Rosen).

Save the date: See this? See the bit in the right sidebar where it says it’s coming to NYC on May 11 as an ESPN co-production? I think it’s gonna be really good. Further details soon.

 
  
 
Comments (209)

    With EA being EA, I have to wonder about the accuracy of that Bills uniform. Granted, the size of the video makes it a bit hard to tell, but it looks like it could easily be a 70’s throwback and not the *new* uniform. Wasn’t there supposed to be some navy on the new set?

    If it is legit, then I think the Bills ought to be slapped for using that stupid god damned gray facemask. The original charging buffalo white helmet only had a gray mask for the first 2 seasons, the mask was blue for the rest of it’s existence.

    /and pepsi is still better than coke, though I do drink both

    Pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to pick out a small amount of navy trim at that resolution.

    True enough… but we are talking about the Bills here. I’m not sure if I can accept the idea that their navy trim is actually that subtle. I figured they’d use it in some blatantly obvious way and ruin the whole look.

    But it looks a lot better with grey than with the blue.

    I would’ve switched back to a red buffalo (but kept the stripe, in blue of course) but otherwise this is exactly what I’ve been saying they should do for years. It’s about damn time.

    Write something that doesn’t include the mets, you are turning into a uni version of bill simmons. He can’t write an article without mentioning boston, lukas must include the mets in every post.

    Agreed. Besides, it’s not as if this blog is Mets-exclusive, or even focuses on the Mets. They get mentioned quite a bit, but they should. Just like I’m sure the Cubs or Sox would be major components if Paul were based out of Chicago.

    To be fair, the headline is clearly also a Mets reference, so that makes three.

    I’d be willing to bet money* that the Mets are not mentioned to a statistically significant degree here more frequently than other uni-significant teams such as the Yankees, Nats, U of Oregon, etc.

    *Not actually willing to bet money.

    1) Today’s headline is NOT a Mets reference. In fact, I first considered making it, “I’d like to teach the Mets to hit…” (instead of “my team”) but changed it because I wanted to make it LESS Mets-centric. The idea is that “my team” could be sung by any of us.. by ALL of us!

    I also considered including the next rhyming line, like so:

    I’d like to teach my team to hit
    When there are men on base
    I’d like to take Wilpon to lunch
    And punch him in the face

    But again, too Mets-centric, so I opted not to use it.

    2) I would be willing to bet money that the Mets do indeed get mentioned more often here than other teams do. Part of this is that they’re so uni-notable (only team that routinely wears its road cap at home, first team to use the two-tone batting helmets, worst sleeve patch ever, only team that took the TATC promotion to the next level,, etc.). And part of it, yes, is that they’re my team, so they’re on my radar more.

    That’s life.

    That was me making fun of the Mets is all. Life affords a Nats fan so few opportunities to make fun of other teams that you’ve gotta cut a guy some slack!

    And hey, the Mets are looking good all of a sudden. A four-game winning streak and they’re all the way back to 9-13. That’s like almost striking distance of a playoff spot. In the NBA.

    Sorry, the lyric sticks in my noggin as “I’d like to steal Fred Wilpon’s lunch and punch him in the face”.

    I enjoy reading Paul’s personal take on things…even if it seems to some that the Mets get mentioned often, I have no problem with that. It’s part of the same reason that I enjoy reading Bill Simmons. Besides, I think you’d be really hard-pressed to find a singular web forum/site that discusses a larger range of sports, leagues & teams.

    Anyways…
    I thought the analogy of Coke/Pepsi to different teams was totally spot-on.

    Cheers!
    ~B

    Paul, you’re an outstanding writer. As a writer and marketing spinster myself, I thoroughly enjoyed today’s column. As for your alleged focus on the Mets….first of all, that’s not really true. Even if it is, the stories of your personal experience add depth to the column. So please don’t censor yourself; keep up the good work.

    Realize there’s a comments section and contact email that you can post stuff about other teams. If its notable enough, Paul will include it in the ticker and give you a shout-out.

    He’s posted plenty of White Sox stuff I’ve sent in.

    Love the proposed look for the Bills, but doubt that the sleeve stripes will look that good on the finished product.

    Is it the 50th for the American Ass’n or the National Ass’n?

    Who ever the poor sap picked third by the bills will be the luckiest player picked in the draft because the new uniforms are going to finally give buffalo there first superbowl victory.

    Just you watch. The Bills will (Warning: Cliché Ahead!) surprise a lot of people this year. Just get three All-Pro offensive linemen in front of him, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is a cinch for MVP.

    “…(He knew I thought he was nuts and tried to make it up to me later by sending me a big print of the photo, which is sort of like Homer Simpson trying to smooth things over with Marge by getting her the bowling ball he really wants for himself.)…

    Nice.

    Happy Birthday, Moose Marshall! This latest batch of bobbles is fantastic. And NugeFam 2.0 is over the moon with our new little soccer brother. Really, RPM, Paul is right: you’re a goddam artist. Don’t get mad at the high-falutin’-ness, but I’m thinking William Carlos Williams…

    … or maybe John Dos Passos. Happy twoscore-and-one, comrade!

    Someone needs to get RPM in touch with the folks at the link. Text or art, comrade Marshall is just the sort of voice the Wapsi was made for.

    You’re just modest, Paul. That’s a terrific photo, in that its ridiculousness is the perfect distillation of the Lukasian response to consumer-marketing culture.

    The Coke/Pepsi thing is a good framework, but I’m always suspicious of binary spectrums. Does all marketing really boil down to a clash between “timeless” and “now”? Thinking about it, it certainly does so to a larger degree than I would have expected. But I think there’s an important dimension that one might call “fun” that’s neither “timeless” nor “now.” When, say, link or link build marketing campaigns around high-concept comedy, it seems to me that they’re reaching for a brand identity that’s not aimed at either timelessness or currency.

    And while I can’t think of any top-level pro teams that have adopted this approach, it does characterize most minor-league sports marketing. All those Parrothead jerseys or bring-your-dog-to-the-park days or livestock mascots or whatnot in minor-league baseball and hockey aren’t really about being the choice of a new generation; they’re about a kind of self-aware, not-quite ironic, fun that’s constantly winking at itself as if to say to the fan, “Yeah, we know this is ridiculous, but come on, you’ll have a good time.” It’s not quite “camp,” which is more about the pretense of the thing, doing a thing “as if” one were doing the thing. More of a “despiteness” that approaches entertainment-as-entertainment. It’s letting the consumer in on the joke of the whole marketing enterprise.

    Anyway, it works for a lot of lower-level teams, and I think I see hints of it in a few big-league teams as well, though not full-bore, as an alternate to the classic/new dichotomy. When teams like the Capitals or the Brewers adopt throwback uniforms that take what were at the time Pepsi identities and treat them like Coke identities, I think that’s an example of the Dos Equis approach. And, honestly, if you’re the Pirates, say, isn’t this the right approach? You can’t make a credible claim to Coke-ness while selling a product the consumer knows is as bad as it is, and Pepsi-ness is also probably not credible for a team with so much history. Seems just the sort of team for whom an appeal along the lines of, “I don’t always take my family to a ballgame, but when I do, I prefer to watch Pirates baseball,” might be the best option, at least until they manage to stay in a pennant hunt for a couple of Augusts in a row.

    Tradition For The Sake Of Tradition or TFST, would be a shorter way of describing the marketing approach of some teams when talking about logos and uniforms.

    While this approach is usually good, it can lead to closed minds when it comes to change. For example, the Yankees jersey would look even better with the red and blue top hat logo on a sleeve.

    TFST would also occur if the Sacramento Kings became the Anaheim Royals. Pointless, since the exploits of the Royals happened in Cincinnati 40 plus years ago.

    Guess you could say Coke is fine, but elements of Pepsi work as well.

    Most tradition seems to exist for it’s own sake, so that TFTS is a bit redundant.

    As for the Kings potentially being the Royals, that’s more like retro for retro sake… which fits in nicely with the Pepsi thing, given the recent permanent additions of the Throwback flavors of Pepsi & Mountain Dew.

    /also, where do Faygo & Jones fit in?

    Oh don’t freakin start today.

    You know damn well it’s shades of gray and depends on the individual teams involved.

    Don’t start? You’re the one who wrote off most tradition as hollow and meaningless by saying it’s “TFTS”.

    And, because we agree it IS a team-by-team, uniform-by-uniform, consideration, why say that?

    TFTS I think is appropriate to describe the influence of tradition, good or bad, in uniform styles. We also see TFTS in teams who go retro as a homage to older teams. Again, this can be either good or bad, depending on the execution.

    Those retro Oregon State football unis were great, but the retro blue/yellow Philadelphia Eagles unis were hideous.

    TFTS occurs when a team like the Rockies emulates the White Sox at times. Colorado should have embraced purple, and went with purple pinstripes if they wanted to go down that road.

    Ok, fair enough… though I’d almost want to call the Rockies a case of fauxdition(tm). Fake tradition. A new team starting out and rather blatantly imitating another established team instead of trying to do their own thing.

    Also
    “Colorado should have embraced purple, and went with purple pinstripes if they wanted to go down that road.”
    Just wait till Saturday & my NL concepts post. ;)

    That you got right. Plenty of “fake tradition” out there. That’s the kind of thing that led to some nimrod claiming 40 years after the fact that the helmet horsey was brown to “make the transition easier” for Broncos fans adjusting to the new orange and blue.

    Yeah, right, two years of meager attendance and lousy teams really ingrained that cheddar and brown to the Denver faithful. All four of them.

    Team-by-team it is, absolutely.

    Not sure I’m buying this. If we dismiss this kind of thing as “fake tradition,” it puts newer teams in a bind. Maybe the Rockies and Rays WEREN’T around in the age of flannels, but it’s not worth “doing your own thing” aesthetically if you originated in an era with ghastly aesthetic values.

    I mean, should Coors Field have been built with vinyl siding? It’d be a hell of a lot more ’90s. But in architecture and costumery alike, the present day’s fashions are too horrible to justify embracing for the sake of “authenticity.” If tradition offers the only tolerable alternative on tap, it isn’t just “TFTS.”

    So teams like Arizona and Florida have exactly two choices: go modern, and get (rightly) denigrated as tacky style disasters, or go retro, and get denigrated as inauthentic. Sorry, Yanks and Cards fans: they can’t just get into a time machine and MAKE themselves into established teams with a lineage. Shouldn’t mean they have to settle for aesthetic scraps.

    I don’t think opting for a “traditional style” uniform necessarily is copying anyone else, any particular team.

    As to the White Sox, until their switch to their current style they were as “all over the map” as any team in baseball. So I suppose it could be said they decided to copy the Yankees. Or themselves (their ’50s unis). Either possibly could be true, but one thing IS certain. They opted to return to pinstripes, which is (despite what Yankees fans and others may claim) a traditional style uni not soley the property of the Bronx.

    You know, a league with 30 teams should have plenty of room for both “traditional” and “modern” styles.

    You might call something a “tacky style disaster” now but if they keep wearing it for 30 years, it becomes a classic. Case in point, let’s take a really good look at those Yankees, shall we? You’ve got a primary logo that uses red & royal blue, with a uniform that contains neither of those colors. It might as well belong to another team. Then you have the clunky hat logo (not to mention the inconsistencies on the letters – horrible font)- and there’s 4 different versions of the damn thing. You call that solid design? People would mock the hell out of a team today that came out with 4 variations of the same logo, but because it’s the Yankees and they’ve worn it for 70 years, it’s a “great uniform”.

    Time (and tradition) has a way of making bad things seem less so.

    Or, as I think John Huston said: “Whores and ugly buildings become respectable if they hang on long enough”! But I don’t believe the facts change that much, however perceptions might.

    No doubt, tradition has perpetuated a few questionable design choices, like the Yankees’ issues cited above. And the Dodgers–that red number seems to belong to a different uniform! Still, it seems like apples & oranges to compare those stylistic whimsies with, say, Tampa Bay’s inaugural uniform, or the recent Toronto designs.

    I submit that if the Astros hadn’t changed their duds since 1975, and were embarking on their 37th season in that get-up, it STILL wouldn’t be a classic. If an alternate-universe Mariners played in the Kingdome another century, IT still wouldn’t be. And the same goes for any “modern” uniform concept it’s ever been my displeasure to encounter.

    And the leagues indeed have 30 teams, but that’s no reason to embrace a good-to-bad design spectrum when none of them is REQUIRED to be bad. And it’s little consolation to any fan whose home team represents the regrettable end of the spectrum. Should a Toronto fan be okay with a shoddy uniform just because SOMEONE has to be left holding the modernist ball?

    I would say cases like the rainbow Astros uniform are in a separate, more innovative category. Opinions may be split on these type of uniforms, but my guess is most Astros fans look back fondly at those uniforms. Houston does need a dose of tradition for traditions sake, and replace the current uniform.

    TFTS is certainly needed for the Blue Jays, they had a real good look for the majority of the existence of that franchise. Another club which could use TFTS are the Angels, way too much red in that uniform.

    The “exploits” of the Royals actually occurred 60 years ago in their original hometown of ROCHESTER, NEW YORK where they won their only NBA championship, thank you.

    “… I haven’t mentioned anything about the Giants’ World Series rings until now, but I really like that they’re mostly white gold instead of the usual yellow gold. Handsome. …”

    ***

    Handsome? Handsome??!! Tell me you’re kidding.

    I have to agree with Paul. The white gold ring is distinctive and clean looking, and it makes the gold details look that much more crisp. And not to turn this into too much of a fashion blog, but the silver/white gold still looks great, without being too “over-the-top” or “look-at-me”, as many championship rings are (ex: every recent Super Bowl ring).

    OK, guys. Maybe — maybe — in the alternative, grotesque universe that is sports championship jewelry, the Giants’ ring is a nice piece of work. All things relative, et cetera.

    But here on Earth, that “clean looking”(!) little bijou is a disaster. I mean, come on.

    RE: Vanderbilt unis. Found this on a message board.

    “Sundays are Military Appreciation Days. I have heard the team will wear them every Sunday.”

    Source: link

    it’s how they almost completely stopped wearing their primary home cap and listed their black alternates as their “preferred” uniforms in the MLB Style Guide (how can an alternate be preferred and a primary be almost completely put out to pasture?)

    Bingo. The essence of Stupidâ„¢.

    As for the Bills, if that’s it, me likey. The helmet decal is a little too big, but apart from that it’s a good look, certainly magnitudes better than what they have now.

    I believe the NBA has been using that logo for their online store for a while now, and as you can see, they have similar logos made for the WNBA and D-League online stores. Personally, I love them, and would nto be heartbroken to see the current logos be updated with these marks.

    These are pretty much instantly my favorite league logos ever. And I don’t even like the NBA, or basketball in general. I love how the dunking-man form of the D-League logo has a spirit of aspiration that’s absolutely right for a minor league. Just flip the red and blue on the WNBA version and bingo, a perfect unified logo set for all of pro basketball.

    Funny thing is, the NBA only has an online store now, as the big store on 5th Avenue is no longer there. It was always crowded when we visited, and they had some cool old stuff on display. Yet the NHL store (on 6th) continues to operate. With mucho Hartford Whaler gear.

    I think the stripe relationship between the jersey pants and socks is the very reason I don’t like that Giants uniform. It seems like the easy way out to make everything the same. There’s no visual interest.

    I don’t dislike that uniform, but I think your basic point is well taken. Putting repeating stripe elements in such close proximity is, in my opinion, the very definition of the hobgoblin of little minds. It doesn’t always suck, but it’s a really lazy default option.

    totally disagree

    it wouldn’t look good on every team, but there is something to be said about the absolute perfection of matching stripes

    that so makes my OCD feel good

    I think the problem here is that the particular matching stripes just aren’t a very strong stripe pattern. Thin and weak and it just doesn’t scale well or hold up across the various uniform elements. Barely adequate as a pants stripe; entirely too narrow for socks or jersey. Make the stripe wider and it’d validate the general rule that football uniforms are best with a consistent stripe pattern. (Not necessarily consistent colors, but the pattern should remain consistent.)

    Ironically, although it’s mentioned as the road uniform, which it was, the picture of Homer Jones looks like the 1967 HOME game against the Eagles at Yankee Stadium, a season in which the Giants wore white at home for every game.

    I don’t think that’s a general rule at all. I mean, rarely is this done, and even through the years, there’s only a few examples of NFL teams that used the exact same stripe pattern from head to toe, the Oilers being probably the ‘best’ example of the phenomenon. I’m quite obsessive compulsive about certain things, aesthetically and mentally, but that Oilers uniforms just doesn’t do it for me, Phil. It’s too much of a good thing. I’d much prefer the blue helmet with the solid white stripe paired with blue pants and a white stripe, for example, to break up all that stripe monotony.

    OK, Paul … who would you rather eliminate from this earth first: Wayne Hagin or Kurt Busch, who I just saw on a national gas station commercial (during Sportscenter) state: “Well, I know one thing about marketing. The more logos you put in one place, the better.”

    I thought of Paul as well, but then it seems racing would fall more like an MMA fighter. I know there are teams, but it seems to me to be more of an individual sport.

    I once saw the Max Headroom guy (Matt Frewer) and Bob Huggins on Bourbon Street on the same night.

    I would give both of my spherically shaped reproductive organs to meet Huggy Bear down here on Bourbon St. I might not make it back to tell you all about it!

    I am already on creating the second existing cocked-hat bowling venue. Erie Maennerchor Club(as I have mentioned) has four duckpin and four ten pin lanes. How has no one thought of this!? Perfect way to spend winter holidays at home! Update when I get a Thanksgiving league started. Obviously, we are gonna need some uniforms…

    Tressel’s/OSU’s Pro Combat stance has gone to a level of disrespect and insanity, much like their added NCAA Violations. That being said Paul, my insight on the Coke/Pepsi debate.

    Don’t forget, Coke’s generational approach if any has always had an older feel, with CLASSIC as their main tagline. They tried going modern once and found out that didn’t work (Remember New Coke?.) When things work and they aren’t broke, they’ve learned not to change it.

    Additionally Pepsi’s driving force has been it’s flaghship, Pepsi and Mountain Dew. Of course they also own Gatorade and Tropicana, Lipton and Mug Root Beer, their only “Modern/Young” marketed products seem to be No Fear beverage and SoBe juices. Doritos and Frito-Lay are their other assets which they tend to combine w/combination deals. Pepsi and Doritos go great together.

    On the other hand, when I worked for Coca-Cola for a short time last year, I got an inside look on their marketing/portfolio ventures. First off, last spring they changed their marketing a bit on their sodas when bad press came out about HFCS. Now, it’s not soda, or pop, they refer to them (on the labeling too,) as “Sparkling Beverages.” Their teas/juices are “Still Beverages.”

    While Pepsi seems content with their product library, Coca-Cola has started buying up small bottlers/beverage makers similar to Large Breweries and obtaining Craft Beers/Microbrews.

    Their main “young” market would probably be Glacieu makers of (Tom Brady and Jennifer Aniston’s Smartwater,) as well as ex-50 Cent shareholder’s VitaminWater brand. They of course have the Minute Maid brands of juices, Bacardi Brand Mixers, Carribou Coffee, Monster Energy Drink line, Gold Peak Tea among others. It appears as though they realize young people may not be in love with Coke itself, and rather than screw with a sure thing (Worldwide recognition of it’s colors and logo,) they’ve went and purchased anything new and hip that might keep them in the “New Generation’s Mind.”

    Sorry for the rant about beverages, I’ll leave you alone now.

    Ha, ha, ha. I peed in the Coke and Pepsi cans. That’s why Paul looks so confused. Classic prank!

    I think the look of confusion comes from trying to figure out how to drink from the cans while holding them that way!

    Happy Birthday, rpm!

    Now find yourself a softball team in KC, so another part of your world will be once more aligned with the universe.

    Yes, Happy Birthday Robert! So happy I’m not Flickr fucked anymore, thus can see all of Robert’s super work, plus all of the other fine Uniwatch Flickerage during the work day.

    Growing up in the 1950s Pepsi Cola’s taste was completely different from today’s formula. Back then it was closer to Coca Cola’s with more “bite” to it. That changed around 1964 and the rest is history. Frankly, I can’t stand today’s Pepsi. Not being a coffee drinker I will take my own Coca Cola with me to restaurants that serve Pepsi. I’ve taken the “Pepsi Challenge” on several occasions and always pick Coke. As a lifelong Coke drinker it’s not difficult to choose between the two.

    When Coca Cola brought out “New Coke” in the summer of 1985 I tried it and immediately rejected this Pepsi wannabe. I traveled to stores throughout Western New York buying up all of the original Coke I could find. This action meant that I never had to drink “New Coke.”

    Coca Cola established a “Hot Line” for people to call in and tell them how they liked New Coke. What people (myself included) really told them was how much they hated the new formula and that we wanted the “real thing” back. People became so passionate about their feelings that Coke had psychologists monitor the calls. The firestorm was unheard of. Realizing their mistake the Coke bigshots asked of themselves, “What have we done?!” and brought out “Classic Coke” (now made with fructose). By Labor Day of ’85 all was right in the world once more.

    I always fancied you a Mountain Dew Code Red kind of guy. The things you learn on Uniwatch!

    This nice pants/stripe/socks ratio (noted in the Ticker) is, of course, largely achieved because it is white crew socks over white striped stirrups. Unless the stirrup is modified, it fixes the position of the stripe…
    link

    Couple of thoughts on the Bills.

    Is there an official announcement planned?

    Which uniform will they give the player at the draft?

    If they give him the old uniform it seems odd since he may never wear it. Are there any other teams who draft, or signed a guy, gave him the ceremonial uniform, and the player never wore the uniform because the team changed it. This could also happen if a franchise relocates as well.

    Interesting if that is the case.

    The Baltimore Ravens didn’t have a uniform or a logo yet at the 1996 draft. They were represented among the team flags on the sides of the MSG Theater by a plain navy blue sans-serif wordmark on a white background, and IIRC, their draft table had what amounted to a Penn State helmet with the aforementioned wordmark on the side. I don’t recall whether their first pick, Jonathan Ogden, was handed a jersey to pose with, but if he was it would have been a plain navy jersey with a white numeral.

    The Browns would have to be a Coke team. With a late 70’s dip in the New Coke realm with orange pants. They went back to Coke Classic and have been there ever since.

    That picture makes me want to punch a kitten. Or Art &%#$&% Model.

    15 yrs and yes I’m still bitter :)

    Craig D, I feel the same way about Clay Bennett stealing the Sonics after being in Seattle for 41 years.
    Do the new Browns not fill the void for losing the original Browns? We will someday get another NBA franchise, and like Cleveland will remame our new franchise the same name…but I still think everytime I see OKC I will cringe.

    There’s sad object lesson in such things, of course.

    Most times when a community loses a team because it balks at upgrading facilities, or building new ones, and eventually does get a new team, it costs them far more than it would have to keep the original.

    For one thing, anyone in the construction business will tell you, “Build it now. You won’t get it cheaper if you wait.”

    I certainly hope that doesn’t happen with Minnesota and the Vikings. But if it does, it will.

    I think I remember reading about this a few days back as well, but in yesterday’s game, Andre was not breathing Ethier.

    I think I remember reading about this a few days back as well, but in yesterday’s game, Andre was not breathing Ethier.

    Happy Birthday, Marshall!

    For the past week, I was on vacation in Arkansas visiting family. They are HUGE Cardinal fans who often speak of what a great city St. Louis is.

    I only hope you have as much fun as I did down in that area!

    BTW, what an interesting entry to return to.

    Great analogy, Paul. Whenever I watch American Restoration on the History Channel, the soda items that are being restored and always look great are COKE items. As a Steelers fan, I would say the Steelers are a Coke team.

    Regarding the Penguins, they are definitely becoming more of a Coke team, using NHL standards. The Pepsi teams in hockey would be clubs like Vancouver, Tampa, San Jose, Columbus, Florida, etc.

    the penguins have skated in 4 different uniforms this season alone. i don’t want to even count off the top of my head how many unis they’ve skated in since ’92. off ice they’ve had season slogans “generation x” in the early years of orpik, staal, crosby, malkin & fleury. and market more to a younger generation than an older generation (student rush tickets being 1 example).

    to say the penguins are coke would be putting them with detroit & new jersey (the ULTIMATE coke NHL teams, IMO).

    penguins are totally pepsi…

    heads up though, the “RBK edge” disaster will really screw this discussion up league-wide.

    teams that changed for changes sake
    teams that added “bettman & edge” template stripes
    teams that thought they had to change because of the jersey cut/seams (hello, bull-a-slug)
    and teams that ultimately stayed the same

    I think the Blue Jackets are more of a Fanta team. Someday they will be in the big leagues.

    If I’m understanding it correctly, it would seem that the Red Wings and Canadiens are the Coke-est of NHL teams. The Devils would be close behind.

    No doubt, the Penguins do utilize some Pepsi traits in their marketing approach. Then again, with a player like Crosby, any team in the NHL would be going after a younger fanbase. The two blue retro uniforms are a nod to the past of the franchise, unlike some of the other alternates worn by post-Expansion Six franchises.

    In terms of stability and tradition by NHL standards, the Pens are closer to Coke. I would also put the Flyers in the same category, both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia have been the class of the Expansion Six franchises.

    so… “stability” you say:

    (scroll down to the “click on jersey details” please):

    link

    the Pens are my favorite team… but they’re pepsi all the way.

    Yes, the Pens have had many different uniforms since 1967, so I would agree they have more of a Pepsi approach in that area. In terms of a brand, the logo would be identified in the Coke category, when compared with the entire NHL. We have to remember it’s been roughly 45 years since the Expansion Six debuted.

    Paul’s article about this topic implied time as a factor when classifying teams. When we’re talking about the NHL, the vast majority of teams entered the league after ’67. So it would be wrong to assume the original six have a monopoly on being called Coke teams. Using the standard of time and performance, it’s accurate to put the Pens and Flyers as Cokes.

    When watching the Pirates, that Coke needs a whole lot of Captain Morgan’s or JD!

    I saw highlights of the Pirates last night and it was sad to see how many empty seats were in that beautiful ballpark.

    My then-girlfriend, a lifelong Coke partisan from the South, chose Pepsi and was mortified. It really challenged all her assumptions about herself, like discovering she was adopted or something, and she was pretty inconsolable.

    It’s worth noting that not all Southerners are Coke partisans. Pepsi was created in New Bern, NC and while PepsiCo’s HQ is in Purchase, NY it is a North Carolina corporation. North Carolinians in my experience tend to prefer Pepsi when they’re not partaking of their local cult favorite, Cheerwine.

    Georgia is Coca-Cola country except for in and around Columbus where Royal Crown (which also once sponsored the Mets) rules. Emory University received a land grant from Asa Candler and huge amount of Coca-Cola stock from the Woodruffs and is intimately tied in with the company, as evidenced by many buildings and schools named for Woodruffs, Candlers and Roberto Goizueta. Don’t step on campus with a Pepsi!

    Ordering a Pepsi in an Atlanta restaurant is rather…interesting. I made that mistake once. The look that waitress gave me, you’d think I killed her dog or something. Oy.

    Forgot about Sun Drop. I do see it’s being marketed in the Northeast Corridor now.

    To guide things back on topic, would it be safe to say that the “Cokeness” of a sports franchise’s branding is in direct proportion to its success on the field? I realize it’s a broad generalization and exceptions will be found.

    If we are talking local drinks/preference I rather enjoy Ale-8-one, a Kentucky drink, and of course you can’t go wrong with an ice cold bottle of Ski.

    Hey, if Blenheim Ginger Ale can attract a nationwide cult following, so can Cheerwine.

    Royal Crown has its place, even in the deepest warrens of Coca-Cola territory. If RC is on hand, not even a Woodruff would willingly pair a Coke with a Moon Pie!

    Does anybody else see a parallel between this post and the Majestic vs. Nike “lifestyle” post Paul ran last week? Seems to me that Majestic is a Coke team and Nike is a Pepsi one.

    I’d like to make my official “I’m not saying a word about Jim Tressel’s offensive outfit” post. So I’m not saying a word about it. No military tribute rants from me today!

    Paul,

    With your continued advocacy of the Derby Pie I hereby dub you an unofficial ambassador and defender of the glory of this great state’s Pie. But as a Kentuckian it’s a shame you can’t join the celebration here.

    P.S. I would also like to share for those that aren’t aware that Hunter S. Thompson’s piece “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” is a must read every year around Derby time.

    link

    P.S.S. You have reminded me I need to get an order for some stirrups in sometime.

    that is possibly one of the greatest things i have ever read in my entire 22 years of life.

    Interesting how that durene football jersey on Ebay has the numbers just INSIDE the yellow stripes on one side of the jersey, and overlapping ONTO the stripes on the flip side!

    -Jet

    In regards to the bit about Jim Tressel wearing the military uniform, that should say “playing dress-up *airman.” That is the camouflage pattern utilized by the US Air Force, not the Army. As an Airman myself, it’s already a travesty that our uniform is being worn in that manner, so I would appreciate it if we weren’t called “soldiers.” It may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us serving, we take pride in our respective branch of the military.

    I am assuming Mr. Tressel’s intentions are good, but the uniform is meant to be worn by those who earned it and as a whole. As far as I know, Mr. Tressel has not earned that right and there are much better ways to show your appreciation of our country’s service members.

    Understood, Justin. Like a lot of civilians, I often lapse into using “soldier” as a generic term for all military personnel. Thanks for the reminder.

    I was just having this editorial debate with a colleague today. Since “troops” is icky when applied to any small number of particular fighting persons, and since “troop” the singular is even ickier and “trooper” the correct singular is kind of archaic at this point, is it preferable to say “soldiers” for a small number of particular uniformed personnel, even if there’s a chance that some of those so designated might be marines or airmen? Or should we give in and just use “troops” all the time and avoid the whole soldier/airman/marine/sailor/guardsman thing?

    The reason UCLA’s stripes were ‘back’ is because they’re using the old jerseys for the spring fame. You can tell just by the material, but you can also notice the difference in placement for the Adidas logo.

    Don’t some people in the south somewhere call *all* carbonated drinks “Coke”?

    That kind of brand-name-generalization drives me nuts. If I ever have a kid who calls a tissue a “Kleenex ™”, I’m kicking him out of the family.

    With that in mind, make sure you never go cheap and buy your kid Megablocks instead of Lego, because I guarantee they’ll be called “Legos” regardless.

    Once dated a woman from Eastern Europe. She used “Hoover” as verb for vacuuming, as in, “I just Hoovered the living room.” She’d lived in London for three years. Is that a British usage?

    Yes, they do, as in “What kind of Coke do you want?” There are also a few people – elderly people – who call Coca-Cola a “dope” in reference to it once containing trace amounts of cocaine, which it hasn’t since the early 20th century.

    Yep. “Coke” represents the entire genus carbonaticum. If you want the specific beverage down here, ask the waitress for a “Co-Cola.”

    ‘Tis true, and I’m guilty of it myself, though in recent years I’ve transitioned to using a more generic “soft drink” or “soda”. I will say this though, after being engaged to a girl who grew up in the Midwest and being around her family (transplants here to Tennessee) – I’d rather hear my relatives call a Dr. Pepper a “Coke” than hear any carbonated beverages be called a “pop” one more time. I hate that word. Different strokes and all, I guess.

    All in what we’re used to.

    Do we stand IN line, or stand ON line?
    Do we PLAY catch, or HAVE A catch?
    Is an informal game a PICK-UP game, or a CHOOSE-UP game?

    What about a mechanical apparatus that delivers beverages when money is deposited into it?
    That at POP machine, a COKE machine, or a SODA machine?

    “Pop” doesn’t come out of nowhere, of course. It’s a shortened form of “soda pop.”

    Which, btw, even Max Mercy referenced.
    “You keep pitching those no hitters in the Soda Pop League.”

    Oh sure, I understand where the term comes from. For me, it’s all about a comfort zone that I am instantly put out of whenever somebody references a popular item in a different way. How do you respond the next time you would like a carbonated beverage and your with the transplanted in-laws? “Hey Aunt Michelle, can I have another po… I mean, sod… I mean… hell, just give me a Coke”. Quite the dilemma, you see.

    The English language is a pretty funny thing.

    To paraphase the Bandit in SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT:

    Sometimes how right or wrong you are depends on what part of the country you’re standin’ in.

    Can’t argue with Burt Reynolds. Now give me a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper, and make it quick.

    “You keep pitching those no hitters in the Soda Pop League.”

    ~~~

    pretty sure he said “soda pop valley” (in reply to “saginaw valley”)

    point still well taken

    Yeah, I couldn’t remember if he included “valley”, and was too lazy to go to imdb to check it.

    btw, for a really great photo (one rarely seen this days among photos regarding the film) check out the out the double truck on thumbnail pages 92-93. More photos accompany the rest of the article…
    link

    imdb sucks for “the natural” quotes, so you wouldn’t have found it referenced there anyway

    i thought i could rely on your honor, hobbs

    Even a team photo of the New York Knights (which someone enterprising really out to market; wouldn’t mind a nicely matted and framed copy myself).

    I’ll have to check the closed captioning, but isn’t it a fictional name, something like “Sabatauk” Valley? I’ve always assumed so, but because the screenplay seems to fiercely obscure any clue as to exactly where the Hobbs family farm might have been located…other than to, perhaps ironically, note that the pitcher who faces Hobbs in the final at-bat is a “Nebraska farm boy.”

    And, of course, Roy’s “The Cubs have sent for me” to Iris, delivered with a familiarity that suggests perhaps the farm was in or near Cubs territory.

    being from wisconsin… yep, we call it ‘pop’… also, people outside of wisconsin call a ‘bublar’ a ‘drinking fountain’, weirdos.

    thanks paul, and phil for last night. and i love that today’s post is the kind of post that makes uw so fantastic(in my horchata) sans that pixture of the jerk-off in the silly mask. what a tool.

    no bloody deacon, let’s bowl, i’ll pitch in to make it happen if that needs to be done. hell, i’ll make a darn trophy for the event, i have been meaning to rush job a bowling bobble anyway.

    okay, i don’t know, artist? not any more, i don’t have the strength to start from scratch here, i think i will just have to make every little thing art, and make sausage for dough. but who cares about that, after almost 2 months of painting, and thinking i would finish before i did, all pixtures were taken, all vids were shot, so last night it was time for catharsis, the final video, the end of the run. i invited a friend over to throw on some masks and burn bobbles. i can not explain how much fun it is to blow shit up that you have made, or at least their representation. i suppose it is like the way anybody would feel at the end of any long project in any field, except i actually burn shit instead of complaining about my boss. so try effigy, it works, i was on cloud nine by eleven. it could have gone better. mr. john murphy, who was also participating in mask has a masked face never seen. we could have let certain things burn longer. it could have not been raining so the lighter fluid would explode in my face. the head of one of the bobbles pops off and is neve destroyed. the extinguisher has a separate video because someone hit stop. eee tee cee dot. but whatever, i love killing things around rylol’s bobbles(which sustained minimal fire damage sas usual), and it is a one take thing, there is no going back. yes, it IS creepy. yes it IS stupid, so what’s it to ya? i needed to blow off steam. link. the link was cut off, so we restaged this short, in real time that extinguisher was more or less shot into my gullet. tastes like baby powder, but with a lil more pinch of toxic.

    i can not explain how much fun it is to blow shit up that you have made…

    I remember an old “Peanuts” strip in which Linus (I think) is making little mud sculptures or clay sculptures or something like that, and then he kicks each one to bits after he makes it. When Charlie Brown asks him what he’s doing, he says, “I’m torn between the urges to create and to destroy.”

    I think that strip may have been used by Robert Short (the theologian, not the guy who moved my Nats to Texas) in The Gospel According to Peanuts to illustrate the Old vs. New Testament concepts of God. At the very least, link as well.

    Going diagonally…

    My favorite line from PEANUTS came from Lucy (I believe):
    “I love mankind. It’s people I can’t stand.”

    My favorite: Charlie Brown and Linus on the little brick wall.

    Linus: “You know what they say, Charlie Brown. You win some, you lose some.”

    Charlie Brown: “Gee, wouldn’t that be nice.”

    The bowling sounds like fun. The BD doesn’t really have activities. I’ll make the trip to St. Chaz.

    You are doing God’s work, my friend. Great job on the bobbles. Hope you enjoy your birthday in the Lou; I recommend a nice cold Stag on draft to get into the spirit.

    YES!!! little ryberto is standing tough through all the fire and drilling (and looking away while you licked him). LOVE IT! great work!

    jesus christ comrade

    i can smell the acetylene from here…or is that propane

    well anytime you work and focus eventually you get frustrated and ask what the hell am i doing? what the hell is this, what’s the point? do i want this building? is it worth these floors? boom motherscaratcher boom, i don’t need this floor. boom boom, i don’t need that floor. it isn’t the best analogy, but it speaks to the catharsis on as universal a level as i can come up with after lighter fluid/plaster/extinguisher fumes. i’m not a breaker so to speak, i don’t punch walls or holla at a pineapple, but if i had a nickel for everything i created and destroyed, i could take the fam to jack stack. thanks man, just came, tears(honestly).

    st. chaz? there is a place called st chaz? yeah, that’s where we should go.

    so my mom who is not a dumpster diver any more sadly, but is a bowler(average was pert near 200 when i was in HS a billion years ago), was at the alley on the day they ripped out the old carpet and put in new, so she snagged a remnant from the trash. it came today, perfect for the front door in it’s if only there were black light glory. i called her to say thanks. of course…”i thought you would appreciate a gift i got from the trash”. which of course i do. got’a love mom.

    soooooo on my favourite day, daylight savings, one of my cats was eated by a pit bull. thankfully it is a day unlike say june 3 that can’t pass without me noticing, or feeling guilty for forgetting. anyway, like a day or two later bobbler send me an email, will the cats be in the video? i of course am mourning, chance was eaten by a dog i sez. but the videos the cats have been in was because they wanted to be in them, i nary used them as props. but i loved the fact that mark wanted them in, so pineapple and i did a staged one…
    a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnqGedSkogU”>this or that
    and of course i noticed the sun going down and the shadow, so there is always this creepy video. yeah, i see the logo creep too, it’s a double creep.

    I’ve noticed a proliferation of ticker items regarding license stickers ending up on the wrong league’s merch in the stores (the Caps shirt with the NFL tag, for instance).

    I shot some footage for a local news story about a sock factory about an hour away from where I live where they make stuff like link and link. There’s one person on the assembly line who sits there with rolls of those hologram stickers and slaps them on the packaging. Now, I’m all for quality control, but I can imagine someone who’s five minutes from the end of their shift grabbing the wrong sticker and not really noticing since they all sorta look the same at a glance.

    By the way, if you ever get the chance to tour a place that makes athletic clothing, do it; it’s always cool to get a better understanding of how these things are turned from spools of string into something like those NBA All-Star Game socks.

    that’s exactly why tck’s 85% quality control “passes” as god enough 73% of the time. you want perfection? make your own damn socks, right? am i right? shifts, shifts shifts, that poor suck, he needs a damn union. i may as well live in 1837, i love making everything, why can’t that be my job, 19th C crazy OCD dude on a farm. then again in 1826 my fam was still in southern germany ocding about creating the most modern wurst or brew, but i could re-learn deutsch. time travel? anyone? can i go with you? i am already missing 1/2 my teeth, and i rastled a bear so i gots skills, take me with you.

    I think I need a new decoder ring because I have no idea what the frell you just said.

    decoder, pfft, you know me well enough, i call BS. my language at times may be off centre, but it isn’t that tough to figure if you are so inclined. that being said, i know you comment on every thread, but you don’t remember fribbling me the night before i moved to kc when i was reaching out to uneen friends? if i could have crawled through my commodore to your nintendo that day as i looked out on my empty studio i would have. and when got there, rather then strangle you, i would have right proper tongued your ear, gently caressed your cheeks , and told you i love you madly. i would have played grab-ass with you until you cried make it stop. so when i said fribble that/i kid, i was referencing that day. i wasn’t actually calling you out, i was knocking myself. i knew i was rambling, so i was telling myself to shut it, like you did, i need that sometimes, i dig that. so, if you want the dictionary def of why i said that, there’s my reverse present to you jefferey, like the free stirrups i have enveloped today for a couple get its. fribble that as in i didn’t men to fribble on and on, i didn’t mean to fribble your day, efribbletc. now do you get what i was saying lover?

    I’m digging the article Paul. We forget the emotional tenets of branding sometimes. As far as your former girlfriend is concerned: Coca-Cola has a strangle on the South. You have to live it to believe it.

    In different parts of the country, people argue about saying “pop” vs. “soda.” I’m from Texas. Coca-Cola is so ubiquitous that we would use “coke” as a pronoun.

    Me: “You want a coke?”
    Friend: “Sounds good. Grab me a Sprite.”
    Friend 2: “Dr. Pepper, thanks.”

    I’m currently at school in Pennsylvania. The deal with Pepsi in our cafeteria kills me on the inside.

    I’m in NW Georgia as well and have been in on that conversation many of times. Coke is coke……and so is anything else that you might want to drink that isn’t milk or sweet tea. I might have tasted Pepsi a total of 5 times in my life and wish I had each of those moments back and I would’ve just remained thirsty.

    Not uni-related but it is a pretty impressive info-graphic I came across. Hope ya’ll enjoy it.

    link

    that hueytown “under armour” helmet logo actually look a lot more like the hope college helmet logo than the UA logo:

    link

    Interesting. I don’t think the Bulls crossover works very well on the pants with the cuts players wear today. I’m thinking you’d be better off ditching the diamond shape and just using a more standard stripe… or maybe moving the diamond up to the hip instead of below the knee.

    I don’t think we want to see offensive linemen in pinstripes either, but it’s a neat idea in general.

    i’d switch the collar to navy or orange, or a double stripe kinda like the oilers do. but other than that, yeah, it’s a real sharp looking jersey! great work!

    link

    That Bears hockey design is amazing, and this is coming from a Packers fan! It just lends itself perfectly to the hockey style I guess. Great work all around, but especially wit the Bears one Tim E.

    Whenever I see those Ducks Day Glo socks, I will think of her. Cuz, that’s the only way I will be able to deal with that shit.

    Hey Paul, Logan Morrison is auctioning off his pinstriped cast to benefit the American Lung Association. His dad died of lung cancer last year. It looks like it was signed by the Marlins.

    link

    Is it just me, or is the Bills road uniform sporting a unitard look? I see a white jersey, blue pants, and blue-topped socks. If so, is there anyone here influential enough to head this travesty off at the pass?

    Was thinking same thing. When last the Bills wore royal pants at least they had the good sense to wear red socks.
    link

    This is late and moderately irrelevant, but I think today’s feature article was one of the best, most insightful things I have ever read on Uniwatch. You should reproduce it for ESPN. Obviously, the example doesn’t always work, but it’s a handy tool.

    And while I tire of hearing of the Mets, I don’t object to Paul using it–I pay more attention to my team’s uniforms, why shouldn’t he? And they do represent important concepts and ideas (many of them bad ones) for the rest of baseball.

    Hey Paul, I was looking at my backpack during class today and noticed there were quite a few Nike swooshes on it. I decided to count them…. 14. There are 14 swooshes on my backpack. I took it upon myself a while back though, to color the giant orange one black like the rest of it. I’ll have to post a pic soon.

    As for the Red Wings tape article, I was always taught black tape for forwards to help hide the puck, white for defense and goalies to help see the puck. It seems to be much more personal preference now. How to tape a stick…. that is as individual as anything can be in sports. I’ve changed later in life to a smaller knob (insert joke here), and two layers on the blade to cushion the puck.

    In an unrelated issue, I have to pony up huge coin for new goalie pads due to offspring’s growth. Cannot find natural finish, would love to get a pair.

    Let me just say this:
    Ya gotta love Marshall (rpm, Moose, et al).
    UW’s own combination of Hunter Thompson, ee cummings and…

    and…

    aw, hell, I dunno who else. Or what else.

    But you DO gotta love him.

    Especially on a day when have been discussing the merits of (and terminology for) different brands of soda pop, whether TFTS is redundant (The Jeff’s right, btw, it is), football/hockey crossdressing and the theology of “Peanuts”.

    If UW were a corner tavern it would the most interesting, and possibly most oddball, joint in town.

    If UW were a corner tavern it would the most interesting, and possibly most oddball, joint in town.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    … and I would never leave.

    The NBA logo has been using that logo as their in site all purpose logo for some time now, I couldn’t give you a time frame, but it’s been more than a year.

Comments are closed.