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Sticky Situation

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Not bad, right? Those are the new Uni Watch stickers, made by our friends at StickerYou (the same folks who are making our membership card stickers). I’ll be handing them out at the upcoming Uni Watch party at Sheep Station, which will be taking place next Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2pm. After the party, I’ll make them available for sale too.

New ESPN column today, about a topic I’ve brought up a few times in recent weeks. I won’t give away more than that, except to say I’m really happy with the way the column turned out and think you’ll find it pretty interesting. Take a look.

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Beefsteak alert: Jon McCue reports that the Stevens Institute of Technology softball team will be throwing a beefsteak fundraiser on Nov. 29 (that’s five full days after Thanksgiving, so you should have run out of leftover turkey by then). It’ll take place on the Stevens campus in Hoboken, and Jon promises that the room has “a spectacular view of Manhattan.”

Tickets are $30 — a total bargain by beefsteak standards. To purchase tix, or for further info, get in touch with Jon.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Next time you’re complaining about the NFL’s pink-out, keep in mind that it could’ve been worse (from Ryan Rodriguez). … The Bills will wear white at home on Sunday — the first time they’ve done that in 25 years. (from Timothy Tryjankowski). … And remember, if you’re interested in NFL teams wearing white at home, we have an entire page devoted to that. … Mildly stunning to see somebody other than the Great One wearing No. 99. That’s Wilf Paiement of the Leafs (from Gerry Muir). … U. of Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson talks briefly about his mask toward the end of this Q&A (from Jon Beckmann). … More corporate-sponsored douchebaggery from the NHL. … An English rugby league club is changing its name from the Harlequins to the London Broncos. “The new logo is, to put it politely, underwhelming,” says Coachie Ballgames. … The Blackhawks will wear camouflage warm-up jerseys on Veterans Day (from Steven R. Goluch). … Very good article about Virginia Tech’s football uniforms, although the headline takes a certain liberty I’m not too thrilled about (from Kevin O’Brien). ”¦ “The University of Tennessee library has posted digitized images of Tennessee football programs, going back to 1904″ says Scott Hickman. “The entire program is included, not just the cover (although the covers themselves are the best part). My favorites are the cartoon covers from the 1970s, like this one for a game against Boston College.” ”¦ I just won these super-cool 1950s baseball uni swatch folders. More photos when they arrive in the mail. ”¦ Soccer note from Michael Kramer, who writes: “It’s not unheard of for a player to hand-inscribe his undershirt with a tribute or shout-out to show the cameras in the event that he scores a goal. Within the past couple of weeks, however, Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli (10/23 at Man Utd.) and Doncaster Rovers’ Billy Sharp (11/1 vs. Middlesbrough) opted to use the NOB lettering from their respective leagues — Premier League lettering for Balotelli and Championship lettering for Sharp. One would think they had some assistance from the team seamstress.” ”¦ No photo, but Robert Baker says he spotted one of the Purdue volleyball players — possibly Amanda Miller — wearing boxing headgear. ”¦ Update: Here’s a video clip about Amanda Miller’s headgear. … While looking for something else, I discovered that Orvis, of all places, sells a pretty cool-looking retro-style football jersey. ”¦ Hey all you St. Looie fans: One of you should snap up this 1988 Cardinals cookbook. ”¦ Do decals have a harder time sticking to matte-finish helmets? Maybe. “Looks like Lake Erie claimed the northern part of the state,” quips Matt Eggen. ”¦ Disturbing note from Jordan Pope, who writes: “I work for a Nike team dealer in Washington and we received our sideline exclusives for Fall 2012 with what appears to be a notable change to the Green Bay Packers pants for next year. The green-white-green striping down the pant leg does not start at the top of the pant but rather farther down, at roughly the same spot as the scarlet stripe in Ohio State’s Pro Combat uniforms.” Ugh — I reeeealllly hope that’s not a sign of things to come. ”¦ Update: For more about the pants striping, check out this comment. … Good spot by Douglas King, who writes: “In the game against Clemson this past weekend, one of Georgia Tech’s players had a non-traditional nose bumper (no screws), and you could see the manufacturer’s name poking out from behind the ACC sticker.”

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This just in: I’ll be discussing Permanent Record in a fairly lengthy segment on today’s edition of the NPR program Here and Now.

You can use this page to see when (or if) the program is available on your NPR affiliate.

I’ll post the archived audio tomorrow.

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I’m not gonna make a habit of this, but I’ll do it just this once, to help get the ball rolling: There’s a new link at Catch of the Day.

 
  
 
Comments (164)

    and the last item in the ticker is the new Riddell 360. The facemask isn’t actually connected (at least seems not to be) at the nose bumper like most helmets/masks have been for years and years.

    From the San Diego Union-Tribune (link):

    “The Padres will unveil their new uniforms in the next week. A club official said they represent “an evolution and not a revolution.” The “bring back the brown” faction will be disappointed. While the colors remain basically the same, the look will be more traditional with bolder numbering, lettering and trim.”

    Great story- the kind that makes me proud to be a Boilermaker. Thanks Jeremy for finding the link, and thanks to Paul for posting it.

    LOVE the stickers Paul. as an aside, i am creating a logo for my department (which i want to be similar to the stickers) and need help w/ a platform to alter text and input pics, simple stuff, but any suggestions?

    “The new logo is, to put it politely, underwhelming,”

    Love it! (the quote, not the logo)

    Billy Sharp’s tribute was to his son, Luey, who passed away Saturday. He was only two days old.

    link

    Worth also noting that, in most circumstances, lifting your shirt to display such messages is against the rules, and will be punished with a yellow card. The referee in the Doncaster game was knowledgeable enough to the situation NOT to punish Sharp in that instance, a rare exercise in common sense.

    To quote the immortal Bill Shankly: “The problem with referees is that they know the rules but they don’t know the game”

    Balotelli did a video on the City website, where he said that he’d asked Chappie, the team equipment manager, to make the shirt for him.

    Super Mario wore his “Why Always Me?” shirt in response to public attention over a series of personal mishaps, the culmination of which was setting fire to his home while setting off fireworks in the master bathroom.

    Needless to say, he was yellow carded.

    “Disturbing note from Jordan Pope, who writes: “I work for a Nike team dealer in Washington and we received our sideline exclusives for Fall 2012 with what appears to be a notable change to the Green Bay Packers pants for next year. The green-white-green striping down the pant leg does not start at the top of the pant but rather farther down, at roughly the same spot as the scarlet stripe in Ohio State’s Pro Combat uniforms.” Ugh – I reeeealllly hope that’s not a sign of things to come.”

    ~~~

    While not good news, I should clear the air here and say that it won’t be like ‘Bama’s AmPac pants from link, but more like the Florida Nike Pro Combat 2011 unis from their bowl game against Penn State (see #94 link). The top of the stripe (as shown with #94 in the previous link) will start from the bottom of the belt chamber, but — for the most part — will still be a full stripe.

    Also see: the new link. The “Three Color Stripe” option on the pants will give you a general visual, although I’m sure that the belt chamber won’t be that big.

    Also see: the new Nike Team Sports uniform builder. The “Three Color Stripe” option on the pants will give you a general visual, although I’m sure that the belt chamber won’t be that big.

    Here’s what he’s referring to:
    link

    And now a simple question: WHY?

    “And now a simple question: WHY?”

    Because they touch themselves at night. That, and it could do with the fact that the belt chambers on those new pants are padded (you can kinda see link), although there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping them from doing a true full stripe, belt chamber included. I’ll have a chat with them in a few hours. But first: Breakfast.

    Really stupid, just like messing up Auburn’s classic pants this year. I just don’t get this stupidity. Hey, let’s take one ear off the Mona Lisa painting to touch it up.

    One thing you have to consider with these stripes that end below thw waistband is that many players now wear their jerseys untucked. (In his later years, Bret Favre, for example, never wore his jersey tucked.) And they’re making the jerseys shorter, presumably for that reason…or players or having them tailored that way.

    Okay, but that does not explain why Auburn’s stripes were shortened on the other end.

    And isn’t there a rule that NFL players have to be tuckers?

    Is that not just, doing something different for the sake of being different? Call me crazy, but I’m a ‘Bama fan and I was actually OK with those pants. The cut-off stripe is weird, but at least we placed our script A in the negative space. I guess the Pack could put a G there (for “Greatness”), but otherwise… what’s the frickin’ point?

    This gets back to a question I posed here a few days ago…how much of Nike’s football pants designs are functional as opposed to strictly cosmetic?

    Nike has designed pants with multiple panels, some of which are constructed of different fabrics. How much is for the player’s comfort, ease of movement, moisture wicking or ventilation?

    From what I have read, Nike considers itself an innovator in research and development of modern, functional uniforms. How much of that claim is just marketing bullshit…or how much is true?

    I would really like to hear from players who have actually worn Nike designs to find out how these modern uniforms perform.

    Well, we already know that the Packers’ players prefer their non-striped throwback pants — more comfy without the stripe panel, apparently. So now they’ll have a teeny bit of non-striped pant area to be happy about.

    Paul, do you know if those throwback pants are of the the new, seamless variety?

    I’m just curious to know if these new modern designs are more comfortable than the traditional, paneled pants (with the seam down the back of the leg) are.

    “Well, we already know that the Packers’ players prefer their non-striped throwback pants – more comfy without the stripe panel, apparently. So now they’ll have a teeny bit of non-striped pant area to be happy about.”

    Actually, the stripes on the Nike Pro Combat pants are sublimated on a link, so the new Nike pants are presumably more comfortable than the current Reebok pants, whether or not either of the pants have stripes.

    I just can’t bring myself to be outraged over this. It seems like a rather small change, even if it is unnecessary. It’s really not going to affect the overall “look” of the team.

    I personally think it has nothing to do with form or function. It’s just cheaper to make unis out of pieces of cloth than whole panels (you can stamp out more in the same piece of fabric and waste less). It’s about the bottom line – and Nike and others try to fool us into thinking they are better and more engineered…

    Oh, come on, people, assuming it’s true about the Packers’ stripes its all about making sure we can tell the pants are made by someone new: Nike.

    Period. End of discussion.

    Oh, but the truncated stripes show from SO much farther away.

    Like, say, in every game, photo and highlight we see?

    Y;all realize we’re complaining about pants that we don’t even know they make yet right? To the OP, you sure you weren’t looking at the Jesuit unis?

    Quick appearance then I’m gone, had to add this link. Paul is quoted in an article about K State uniforms on the KC Star webpage.

    link

    you are pissed about some writer using “uni watch” as a headline, but you are ok with selling tshirts ripping off the logos of sports teams?

    I could explain the roughly 37 ways in which this is a poor analogy, but it would probably be more fun to let other people do it. Go for it, people.

    Steve doesn’t visit often, Paul. When he does, he’s like the ostracized crazy uncle at Thanksgiving or Christmas that the family simply tolerates because they feel bad about not including him.

    In short, he’s cousin Eddie from the Vacation movies.

    “You serious, Clark?”.

    Eddie was awesome. Don’t compare a troll to Cousin Eddie.

    I’m not going to go into detail Steve, but that’s the difference between parody and misappropriation of a trademark.

    You don’t have to register a trademark to own it. Paul holds the trademark, because the phrase is most closely associated with him and because it’s generally attributed to him in public use.

    If parody is so “OK” then why does Paul feel the need to hawk his wares so steathily with phrases like (if you’re interested in shirts with a carvivorous and humorous take on an unmentionable sports groups’ wording” (or sumpthin like dat)? Rather tahn just saying, “I’ve got Meats shirts for sale. They look like the Mets logo but I’m doing a parody of it”.

    Perhaps paul doesn’t feel the same as you??
    Perhaps the Mets doen’t feel the same as you?

    Paul?

    Jus’ aksin’

    “If parody is so “OK” then why does Paul feel the need to hawk his wares so steathily with phrases like (if you’re interested in shirts with a carvivorous and humorous take on an unmentionable sports groups’ wording” (or sumpthin like dat)? Rather tahn just saying, “I’ve got Meats shirts for sale. They look like the Mets logo but I’m doing a parody of it”.”

    Because one is good, creative writing and the other is shitty, terrible writing. (idiot)

    Sorry, I’m not a degreed journalist like you, Timmmy.

    Can you or can you not see the point of my “Meats” query?

    J.A.

    Because the team sent Paul a cease and desist order and he felt it was easier to comply with the order by deepening the satire than to spend the time and money to fight it in court.

    That’s what I thought. So simply claiming “Parody!” doesn’t make it all OK. Thus, Paul has to hide ‘neath the cover of double-speak to promote his items. My exact point.

    No, it’s not doublespeak. Just claiming parody isn’t enough, but in this case Paul would win in court; it’s just not worth it for him to fight it when he can just alter his approach. If he considered it a priority he probably would fight and win. Just like how he’s simply complaining about this other blogger using his trademark without attribution instead of expending the time and effort to stop him that can be better spent elsewhere.

    I can’t say for him since he’s probably more laid back about it than I am, but I would send that blogger an email simply asking for attribution next time.

    Didn’t know this site existed? Hell, I think he came to this site and googled Virginia tech unis. Some of his comments were practically taken right of these pages – and the storm trooper video??? Come one…

    This just in: I’ll be discussing Permanent Record in a fairly lengthy segment on today’s edition of the NPR program link.

    You can use link to see when (or if) the program is available on your NPR affiliate.

    I’ll post the archived audio tomorrow.

    “… While looking for something else, I discovered that Orvis, of all places, sells a pretty cool-looking retro-style football jersey. …”

    Oh, God, I cannot stand the fact that Orvis makes something that I might like to wear. The whole idea of snobbery (or reverse snobbery) is that it relieves one of the obligation to THINK and RECONSIDER and WEIGH THE EQUITIES. Life is taxing enough already. Shit.

    I own a few of these and they are pretty good products. THEY ARE YHE ONLY Orvis items that I have. There is simply nowhere else to get these items in this quality that I know of. I have spent many hours over many years trying to locate Cotton football jerseys on the internet – to no avail. I have bought many descibed as “vintage” that are usually lighter than a cheap t-shirt, and inadequate for numbering or DIY projects.

    The Orvis jerseys are rugby quality, and out of many urchased, perhaps the only ones I am pleased with.

    I’m not gonna make a habit of this, but I’ll do it just this once, to help get the ball rolling: There’s a new link at Catch of the Day.

    Great Catch of the Day – it’s safe to say I won’t be productive for the next few hours at work now.

    I have been thinking about all of the multiple uniforms that so many college football teams have been wearing. With so many teams wearing these, the question is, how many teams actually wear just two, home and away?

    I can think of Penn State, maybe USC and UCLA, Texas? I am not sure. What can you come up with?

    ‘Bama, Auburn, Georgia when they aren’t wearing AmPac… those are the definites from the SEC.

    Ohio State, usually? Michigan, usually? Don’t know how you are viewing the “one-offs” in this context.

    LSU, as well…basically same uniform since 1956.

    Actually, though, LSU usually wears white at home for SEC games and purple at home for non-conference games. They try to wear white on the road, unless the home team objects.

    One interesting tidbit that a lot of people don’t know is that when LSU first adopted its new uniform in 1956 it had a set of alternate gold jerseys…I don’t know if they even had purple jerseys yet.

    link

    I am excluded the AmPacs and the one offs. Just two unis all season. The specials used to be interesting when they were unique. Now they are just lame. I think having just two has become unique.

    Count me as one of the UGA alums who would like to see us wear the black jerseys once per season.

    They’ve been sold as “fashion” jerseys for so long and the excitement when the team wore them in a game was on another level.

    Dog, I agree…I love Georgia’s black jerseys. (Might be because black is actually one of Georgia’s colors.) The jerseys bring out the black stripe on the pants which otherwise looks out of place when Georgia wears red jerseys.

    I agree that Georgia’s black jerseys look great! Black and red is a great combination of colors for a uniform.

    The Black jerseys would look 500% better if worn with White pants instead of Silver. I always have thought the Silver pants were a “dingy” look and the switch came too close to the Falcons doing the same – despite Georgia’s history of wearing Silver years prior to the Falcons appearing on the scene.

    The White pants make the Red or Black jerseys jump out and are a crisper look. Photoshop it and see what I mean.

    They change the unis up a lot, but my alma mater, Rice, currently has two uniforms and one helmet.

    Penn State is probably the most obvious one. I don’t think that will change as long Joe Pa is alive. I’m pretty sure Texas A&M is still only home and away as well.

    Notre Dame has really worn only three uniforms in its history: blue, green, or white jerseys with gold pants.

    Forgot to share this from Tuesday. The DCI (Drum Corp International) Facebook page posted a question status asking where was the strangest place that a current/former member of a marching band/Drum Corp has worn their uniform. I think you’ll get a little kick out of mine…

    (link)

    Actually, I would prefer link to the grab-bag of komenkitch the NFL actually vomits on us. It makes the pink more akin to a baseball team putting a patch on the sleeve. Compared with random but ubiquitous stuff just being pink – socks for some guys, shoes for others, wristbands, handwarmers, eyeblack, whistles, you name it – the pink stripe/facemask thing looks classy to me.

    Depends on the team though. It works like that on a Giants helmet because it’s really not that far off from the regular thing anyway. I can’t imagine that looking very good on a Steelers or Raiders helmet… not to mention how do you handle a team like the Rams?

    I think the best option, if they just *have* to do the breast cancer thing, would be a pink ribbon patch on the front of the jersey, around the same size and location that the captain patches normally are.

    The Raiders and Giants have the same color facemasks, so why does it work for one but not the other?

    Helmet stripe, yo.

    The Giants normal stripe is red, pink isn’t that far off from it. The Raiders helmet stripe is black. Pink will look bad.

    Ah, I actually didn’t even notice that the stripe was pink in that ad.

    So I guess that kind of illustrates your point.

    I think you’re right, The, but I still think that even with a pink stripe on helmets where it doesn’t work as naturally as on the Giants, a pink helmet stripe/facemask would be a step up from what the NFL currently does. Frankly, a pink facemask alone would probably be just as effective in terms of what the NFL is trying to achieve, and would probably be about as attractive as it’s possible for this promotion to be. Especially if only done for two weeks (or once per home stadium) instead of four or five.

    I was in a planning meeting last night for an American Diabetes Association event, and someone pointed to the whole NFL-goes-pink thing as something to shoot for. I resisted the urge to make audible gag noises. Barely.

    I dont have a pic, but one of Ohio’s defensive players was missing his entire decal on the left side of his helmet. Wonder if that was because of the matte, or because Ohio didnt order enough decals. When someone is missing decals in college, it always reminds me of cheap PoDunk High Schools who dont have money to do decals and leave their helmets plain.

    I don’t want to see you say anything the next time I’m complaining about the Browns or Penn State’s blank helmets.

    Hudson Bay unveiled a collection yesterday of Canadian Olympic winter gear inspired by next summer’s games. I guess you do what you can to leverage the summer olympics for the Christmas season…
    link

    Man, I love Canadian nationalist iconology. The maple leaf, the Mounty, Tim Horton. But I’m a little concerned that the beaver — greatest of all national animals, though kangaroo, kiwi, and dragon are right behind — has been slighted in recent years. Friendly Neighbors to the North! Feature ever more prominently Castor canadensis!

    Here’s something for you, Connie: a moronic Canadian senator – why do we even need them? – wanted to link.

    The reaction from Canadian people with real jobs was swift and brutal, to say the least.

    Personally, Miss Eaton’s idea was ridiculous to the point of being utterly stupid. The beaver is a resourceful and intelligent animal. If it wasn’t for humans, beavers would be the only animal that can change landscape. They are nature’s engineers, and they are a proud and noble animal.

    Beavers are fab, Teebz, no question. Besides, Nunavut has dibs on the polar bear. The Nunavut license plates are polar bear-shaped, fer crissake.The Inuit would be super bummed if southerners appropriated it.

    Not that you asked, but the beaver is also New York City’s official animal. Check out the city seal: beavers and windmills.

    “a moronic Canadian senator”

    ~~~

    this phrase has been brought to you by the department of redundancy department

    Just taking a straw poll if you will, because I know I’ve gotten in trouble in here before by lumping everyone that comments in with Paul’s opinion and I don’t want to do that.

    I’m curious however, in what, if any, is an acceptable form of sponsorship when it comes to sports and corporations? It seems like there is nothing acceptable for some.

    I think the NHL has been treated rather unfairly in the past few days with what seem like rather tame corporate agreements.

    I don’t recall anyone having any adverse opinion on say, Sprite’s sponsorship of the NBA Slam Dunk contest (and it has been sponsored for years hasn’t it? A few companies that come to mind are Schick and Barbasol for some reason but I could be wrong).

    I also don’t recall anyone saying anything adverse on the All State Good Hands net behind so many goal posts and that’s very prominent, although we don’t even really think about it.

    I look forward to some spirited comments and debate!

    I don’t mind the sponsorship of the all star game and especially not of the slam dunk contest. Those are both exhibitions that are somewhat frivolous.

    My problem with the Black Friday game is mostly that the game was created specifically for the promotion. The NHL didn’t announce that it was going to have the game and then shop for sponsors. There’s also a gut feeling I can’t really justify that says this promotion interferes with this specific game that has real implication in ways that exhibition game or full series sponsorships don’t.

    *the game was created specifically for the promotion*

    For as long as I can remember, the Boston Bruins have played a matinee the day after Thanksgiving. Usually against an Original Six team, but not always.

    So this is NBC and the NHL jumping onto an already scheduled game and giving it a sponsor.

    Like I said, that’s a gut feeling. I have no explanation for it. I’m gonna have to go with Potter Stewart here and say I can’t define what’s too far but I know it when I see it.

    General position on corporate sponsorships:
    – having your home facility sponsored by something local can be good; IE – local enegery concern (Penguins and Wild), local paper (Lightning), local food condiment maker (Steelers). All local companies that directly reflect the city they’re in.
    – sponsoring EVERY, DAMN, MOMENT, OF THE, FUCKING, EVENT is ludicrous, at least on the field. whatever the tv people do off the field, annoying as it can be, is whatevs

    The NHL, even in the eyes of fans, will be a whipping post. Having Timmy’s be the ASG sponsor IN CANADA makes tons of sense. But, when Dodge was The Official Sponsor, the NHL let them slap the ram head on everything and it was truly tacky. The Discover partnership is lame, but there’s a sliver of humor there (a CC company sponsoring the Black Friday game. think about it.)

    Paul has referenced several college football articles where recruits and other HS players have said “seeing a Nike logo on the uniform means the school is legit,” and unfortunately that’s true of the pros and sponsorships. After the lockout the NHL was on OLN, and it was mocked accordingly. Since then, Comcast changed that channel to be more than just bicycles and hockey, and now it’ll be NBC Sports. That’s huge, and in a way, the biggest sponsorship. First it was The Bicycle Channel paying the league, now it’s a major network. And tv numbers seem to support the idea that the NHL is now legit because it has that deal. True, tv deals are not exactly sponsorship deals, but when you seen the peacock next to the NHL shield, it adds boatloads of credibility. An I be that no hockey fan (except those with Dish) is going to complain over that Comcast/NBC “sponsorship.”

    /spent

    My biggest problem with the NHL all-star sponsorship is that they’re literally changing the name of the game. I think “The Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game” (which is what the game is now called, as of a few days ago) is much, much worse than, say, “The NHL All-Star Game, Presented by Tim Hortons.”

    I’m pretty zero-tolerance on any of this stuff, because it’s a slippery slope (all-star today, Stanley Cup tomorrow). But there are definitely degrees of offensiveness.

    And for the record, I *hate* the Allstate ad on the net.

    I always found the Allstate (and Toyota, when they sponsored the Gator Bowl) nets to be a distraction. Makes me feel sorry for the folks sitting behind the goalposts who have to see it up close. Find another way to sponsor that…like, after a successful FG, show a scoreboard cartoon of the Allstate hands catching the ball.

    The Rose Bowl gets it. Insist that the sponsor knows its place. In the same sense, I agree that “The NHL All-Star Game, Presented by Tim Hortons” would be a better choice than “The Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game.” I have no problem with corporate sponsorship when it helps the games, but when it tries to be the primary focus, then there is a problem.

    “Makes me feel sorry for the folks sitting behind the goalposts who have to see it up close”

    not fer nothin… those people probably can’t notice it at all… too close

    Good point RyCo! It never looks like anyone CAN’T tell if a FG/PAT is good/no good because of the net. Plus it’s only up for kick attempts.

    I sit behind the goal at Pens game and that net is up ALL THE TIME and I barely notice it.

    I’m pretty zero-tolerance on any of this stuff, because it’s a slippery slope (all-star today, Stanley Cup tomorrow).

    link

    In sports, I don’t mind whoever built a facility putting his name on it. If the public pays to have it built, it had darn well better be named Veterans Stadium or County Stadium or the Name of Worthy Person Memorial Stadium or whatever. And if the Anheuser-Busch company or William Wrigley ponies up the cash to build a ballpark, then it can be Bush Stadium or Wrigley Field. The slippery slope only starts when it’s a matter of selling a named sponsorship to a third party with no involvement in building the park or fielding the team.

    Local sponsorships are always cool in my book (See: the Pontiac Silverdome for the Detroit Lions, and its predecessor: Ford Field). I have no problem with Nike putting a swoosh on everything Oregon, or UnderArmour Kevin Plankifying the Maryland Terps. It’s when the companies that don’t have a huge roll with keeping the world of sports moving start randomly sponsoring teams and stadiums that it becomes a problem (See: the Oakland Raiders’ Overstock.com Colosseum randomness).

    And while it’s true that sponsorships help to generate revenue, it becomes a problem when they try to sponsor anything not yet sponsored with whatever comes to the imagination. Summer’s Eve: The official clam-cleaner of the NFL. What? Who cares about the “Mission Flour Tortilla Game Wrap-Up”? How does the “AT&T Call To The Bullpen” maximize my baseball-watching experience? Sponsorships — when they make sense, and are moderated — are perfectly fine. However, I don’t want to watch a Taco Bell commercial while the ball is in play, and I’m trying to tell the Lakers to play man-to-man defense on the Mavericks.

    I always thought it was the Pontiac Silverdome because it was in Pontiac, Michigan, not because Pontiac had the naming rights.

    Especially since there’s no way in hell any of the Fords would be willing to let GM do that.

    Incidentally, I know some of you like to keep sports in a tidy little corner that doesn’t intersect with the rest of the world, but the increasing corporate presence in American life (whether in sports sponsorships or anything else) is EXACTLY what’s driving the Occupy movement.

    I’m not saying the Occupiers are protesting the Tim Hortons NHL All-Star Game (indeed, I suspect many if not most of them aren’t even sports fans). But what they’re upset about comes from the same place as my outrage over corporate douchebaggery in the sports world.

    I stand with the 99%.

    I just don’t understand how in this day and age, we can expect any sports league to be a viable entity without some corporate sponsorships. I mean, are we all that naive to think that games just magically appear on our “talking boxes”?

    Also, I’m more than willing to give the NHL more leadway than any of the other majors or golf or tennis for that matter, what with the issues they’ve had over the years.

    I’m not saying it’s coming to this, but if a Tim Horton’s sponsorship is the difference between me seeing an NHL all star game or not, that’s not a decision I don’t give two seconds to.

    I wonder how many of you that gripe and complain about the bowl system (not the sponsorships mind you but the system itself) would applaud an actual playoff if someone like AT&T or Pepsi would foot the bill.

    Sorry, this isn’t the 50s, where a ballplayer posed for an outfield ad for Chesterfields and the games were only on AM radio. The landscape is very different now and it costs a lot of money.

    And trust me, I’m no 1%er…I have the 1040s to prove it!

    I just don’t understand how in this day and age, we can expect any sports league to be a viable entity without some corporate sponsorships.

    Yeah, it’s not as though they charge money for tickets… or sell advertising on their TV and radio broadcasts… or sell any merchandise… or sell overpriced food and drink at the game…. Yup, no other option except to sell out the branding to corporations, sure enough.

    I think individual players should be allowed to have corporate sponsorship to supplement their salaries. I’m sure we’re all in agreement that professional athletes are underpaid.

    Reggie Bush, brought to you by Pizza Hut…

    Have you seen what the TV deals for MLB, NFL and the NBA are going for these days?

    Like I said, it’s different now.

    Kek, you seem to be misunderstanding the TV deals — the leagues GET PAID for those deals. The networks pay them for the right to broadcast the games, not the other way around. Huge money!

    You’re right Paul, using the TV example by itself is a little misleading. It’s not good enough to make my point by itself.

    I only mean the landscape is so different now. Players are making so much more money. Everything costs more at games. Leagues are getting big $ to put games on air, so the networks seem to have to sell every bit of advertisting, etc, etc.

    My overall point is just that there is more money at stake on all sides of the table, that’s all.

    We have to remember, a sports league as a whole as well as the individual teams in general, are in the business of making money. Some may think they have ample avenues to do such (as you’ve mentioned, tickets, food, gear, etc), but others may disagree.

    I’m thinking that the NHL missed an opportunity to dress one team in all black unis. Also, I’m grateful that they are not doing that. Yet.

    The Islanders normally play on Black Friday in the afternoon. They’re introducing some hideous black alternates this season. Coincidence?

    The answer is yes, but the Isles will undoubtedly use the occasion to play up their new alts as they play the Devils at 3PM ET at home.

    Sometimes, insanity wins.

    The Isles have usually introduced the latest 3rd between Halloween and Black Friday.

    Considering the colors of the 3rds, THAT’S the joke.

    (Please, let us not speak of the new 3rds, even when they’re released. It shatters me inside.)

    The game’s in Boston.

    So unless the Bruins wear some kind of throwback or go white at home (the way God intended it), they will be wearing all-black unis.

    I can accept corporate money in sports; I grew up in Houston for Christ’s sake. Sponsorships should not in any way detract from the actual sporting event. Additionally, they should make sense.

    I’m actually okay with the “AT&T Call to the Bullpen.” Even if the Cardinals don’t have AT&T service at Busch Stadium, AT&T provides that service in the real world. I don’t particularly like it, but it’s a plausible sponsorship. Similarly, Reliant Stadium in Houston makes some sense; I could not tell you what energy provider the Texans use, but Reliant is an option for them. Even better, Reliant is a local company.

    I don’t much care for anything that has to be shoehorned in. Even if it’s a web-based company, O.co Coliseum just sounds screwy. I particularly hate the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Papa John’s has retail stores, and if you order pizza from there, it’s not hard to learn that they have a website.

    TL;DR version: I’ve accepted that sponsorship is a part of pro sports today. I just wish those sponsorships would be more sensible.

    All this corporate sponsorship bs comes down to one thing: greed.

    Stadiums (or games) were named after civic leaders or veteran memorials…or simply a county or city.

    PapaJohns.com Bowl? Jesus.

    It’s an endless money grab that knows no boundaries.

    Yes, times are different. No doubt. The degree of greed and avarice today is mind boggling and embarrassing.

    First – St. Pete Times to rename itself Tampa Bay Times, which means the Lightning will play in the Tampa Bay Times Forum.
    link

    Second – for the 96/97 (or was it 97/98?) the NHL had an award called the NHL/MasterCard Save of the Year. It was one year only and Chris Osgood won it (the save, was indeed, ridiculous). Funny that the award lasted only one year yet there is such a thing called the Bud Light Plus/Minus Award, which has (was?) given out more than once.

    It was actually the Alka-Seltzer Plus Award at one point (yep, the plus-minus award was once named for a product with “Plus” in its name). I remember making a note of that when Paul Ysebaert won the award back in 1992.

    Changing the construction template of the uniform wouldn’t necessarily mean the design would have to change for this kind of tweak to happen. Would you be able to ask them about the stripe placement specifically?

    Just in time to save us from the corporate discussion that’s unfolding above, today’s ESPN column is up, and I don’t mind saying I’m really proud of how it turned out. Enjoy:
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    “Interestingly, as Martinek was escorted to the penalty box after that fight, his left hand barely peeked out from its sleeve. Did his jersey get stretched out a bit during the scuffle, or was he trying to hide his ring from the linesman?”

    Paul, that looks like Martinek’s elbow pad becoming uncovered and slipping down towards his hand. Prety common result of these political debates.
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    I’ll admit to a totally arbitrary thing on the corporate sponsorship — as long as it sounds like a person’s name, I don’t have that adverse gut reaction to it. I know Wrigley Field and Busch Stadium were named after the men and not the products — but when I hear Miller Park, Heinz Field, Coors Field, Ford Field, that seems close enough.

    FedEx Field? 3Com Park? O.co Coliseum?

    That’s where I start feeling woozy.

    Busch Stadium (the current incarnation) is not named after a person or people. It’s a straight-up link.

    Oh, wait. I forgot. Corporations are people.

    Never mind.

    True story: The original Busch Stadium was going to be named Budweiser Stadium, but MLB put the kibosh on that. So they went with Busch Stadium — and then launched a beer called Busch.

    And you can look it up.

    Growing up in StL, for me it was always named after Auggie Busch, even given the trickeration with the name of the beer.

    Interesting that they didn’t keep it Busch Memorial Stadium, though.

    Many years ago a Dutch colleague, Han van Eijden, put in loads of research to produce a book about English club colours and badges. My small part in this process was to edit Han’s English (see “Acknowledgements”) :)

    For a variety of reasons we never got it published, but Han has the contents in a blog:
    link

    Those Tennessee football programs are great. After snooping around that site I found this picture from 1978:

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    The picture isn’t that interesting but two of the last names of the cheerleaders caught my eye – Helton and Timberlake. Does anyone here know if they would be related to Todd Helton (future Tennessee quarterback) and Justin Timberlake (who was born in Tennessee)?

    I thought it was interesting. I wonder why more athletes don’t take David Carr’s or that one pitcher’s approach and either use tape to represent the ring or get a tattoo mark instead of a ring/as a placeholder on the field.

    Hey Paul, I know it’s not “game” action, but you’ve shown pictures of Peyton Manning wearing his wedding band taking reps in training camp. Don’t you think most athletes would wear a ring all of the time, or never? The “only during training camp” seems unusual to me. Got a conjecture? (Betcha he just forgot to take it off…)

    Or he figures he isn’t as likely to get hit in camp. Y’know, the red jersey n’ all.

    Nobody here’s ever had a finger swelling while it’s being constricted by an unyielding metal ring? It don’t exactly feel great.

    Then had to have the ring cut off?

    Endured the inevitable female feedback that follows such a development?

    Let’s just say there are a number of practical reasons to remove your ring for athletics.

    That’s what you get for covering the matter to thoroughly! You really didn’t leave a lot of room for valuable commentary beyond people who have photographic evidence of other ring-wearers.

    And right on for the OWS reference. It really is all of a piece. I come at this from a distinctly pro-capitalist, conservative philosophical position. Yes, the profit motive is good. I don’t have a problem with greed as such. But maximizing revenue is not the only good. There are virtues beside profit, and in point of fact those virtues are more important than profit, or at least they were to the people who founded and built is country. “Republican virtue” is the phrase George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or James Madison would have recognized. “Good citizenship” is what McKninley or Coolidge or Eisenhower would have said. And the scary thing is that the current moment of screw-the-community-show-me-the-cash is nothing new in history. What would be new, unprecedented in history actually, is a society letting pecuniary interests so overwhelm any notion of common citizenship recovering. In all previous instances, disaster has followed, whether in the guise of a Caesar or a Robespierre or a Lenin. Sports aren’t at the forefront of anything in this regard, but they’re an easily visible symptom of a much deeper in unmooring of fundamental values.

    If one can look at the corporate commercialization of all aspects of sports, which is to say the

    Is the guy on the Tennessee-BC program from 1977 supposed to be Albert DeSalvo, the Boston Strangler?

    The stocking cap and jacket the BC fan is wearing reminds me of the one Tony Curtis wore in the Boston Strangler movie:

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    Yo…Those Tennessee programs are off the chain!! There is some great UniWatch content, such as pictures of players in unis. An issue of discussion must be color scheme. When Tennessee has worn black jersey, we have dismissed it as BFBS. But from the drawings and photos, it is clear that they originally wore orange and black.

    That is a treasure trove.

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