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Christmas Comes Early to Uni Watch HQ

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That NFL style guide that I wrote about last week is just one of several excellent items I’ve recently scored on eBay. Another is the wool jersey you see above, which I believe is from the 1960s (you can click on it, and on all the other images in today’s entry, to see a larger version). I really, really like it — somehow the diagonal script and the plain horizontal lettering work well together for me. And only 40 bucks! Here’s the rear view:

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One small detail I really like is that the local sporting goods supplier’s tag has the same black/gold color scheme as the jersey:

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The tagging also provides a clue as to Donnelly Electric’s location. If you google “Donnelly Electric Twin Cities,” you end up with this. If you click on “Street View,” you’ll see that their current logo isn’t nearly as nice as the one on the jersey. Too bad.

Another recent eBay find was this excellent 1954 Oliver Brothers baseball uniform swatch folder:

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“Schollerized” — never seen that one before! The seller was actually selling two of these as one auction lot (the other one is from 1953), so Mike Hersh and I agreed to split the price and each take one of the folders. Our winning bid: a mere $38. A few days ago I visited Mike at his office to give him his swatch folder, and while I was there he showed me a bunch of early photos of himself, which I’ll be featuring on the site shortly — maybe as soon as tomorrow. Stay tuned.

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And some lobster ribs on the side: Yesterday’s New York Times food section brought news of a meat phenomenon I hadn’t previously been aware of: pig “wings” (further info on them here). This gustatory trend has not yet hit NYC, which puts me in the unfamiliar position of being way behind the carnivorism curve.

I assume some of you out there have sampled this menu item by now. Is it a revelation? Is it total bullshit? Is it, as I suspect, somewhere in between? Do tell.

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Yesterday, in keeping with longstanding tradition, I dug around in a cupboard until I found the plastic mistletoe that I bought for $2.99 at Woolworth’s in 1993. Then I grabbed the stepladder and hung the faux ’toe in its appointed spot, thereby marking the official start of the holiday make-out season. Let the Yuletide necking commence!

All of which is just an excuse for me to run down the usual slop about the holidays, blah-blah-blah:

• If you want to buy someone a Uni Watch membership as a gift, full details on how to do that are available here.

• From now through the end of the year, if you order two sheets of stickers based on your membership card design (that costs $26), you’ll also get a free sheet of Uni Watch logo stickers (a mix of all three colors). Instrux for ordering stickers can be found here.

• Speaking of the Uni Watch logo stickers, my recent offer still stands: If you want three of these stickers (one of each color), send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Paul Lukas, 671 DeGraw St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. If you want to enclose a coupla bucks or a barter offering, that’d be nice, although it isn’t required. And my easily confused post office would prefer that you please send things to Paul Lukas, not to Uni Watch, okay? Okay.

• I’m still taking submissions and suggestions for my annual Uni Watch Holiday Gift Guide column, which will run next week on ESPN. If you have any tips, send them here. Thanks.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Here are the uniforms for the volunteer staff at the London Olympics (from Jeremy Brahm). … Pity the poor spotter, or anyone else, who had to decipher Arlington Bowie’s uni numbers (from Chris Mycoskie). … When Bobby Valentine showed up at Fenway for his job interview, he had a little Pedro porthole action on his shirt (good spot by Ben Marciniak). … New uniforms for the minor league Bluefield Blue Jays (from Matt Lindner). … “The British Library has opened a digital database of over three million pages of newspapers dating back to the 1700s,” reports Ben Fortney. “Unfortunately, it requires a subscription, but it could be gold for historians and uni sleuths alike. A quick search for ‘Arsenal Football Club’ brought up hits from as far back as 1890, and there were definitely illustrations and pictures included in the previews. Good stuff, even if it’ll cost a shiny shilling.” … Latest college basketball team to go gray: Purdue. … We’ve seen what the Rangers’ Winter Classic jersey looks like, but what about the rest of the uniform? The answer appears to lie in this bobblehead (big thanks to Adrian Acosta). … Yesterday’s Ticker mentioned how the Pac-12 logo on Oregon’s field will be a different color for Friday night’s game. Here’s a photo of the new logo (from Shaun Tunick). … Longhorns news from Matt Mitchell, who writes: “Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who normally wears No. 84, will wear Fozzy Whittaker’s No. 2 jersey this week. Whittaker suffered a season-ending knee injury at Missouri on Nov. 12. Safety Kenny Vaccaro, who normally wears No. 4, wore Whittaker’s number last week at Texas A&M.” … Small note on Miami football’s Facebook page suggests that the Hurricanes’ green jerseys will be retired after this season (from Bryant Grosso). … Tim E. O’Brien has written a post about the ubiquity of the maple leaf in Canadian teams’ uni designs. … Also from Tim: “Last year I told you about the authentic Bears throwback socks I was able to purchase at a local sports paraphernalia store, and you mentioned them in your Christmas gift guide column on ESPN. Those same socks are now available on the Bears’ web site — in the women’s department (most of the way down the page). As a proud owner of these socks, I’m kind of upset at the gender roles being implied by this. Real men wear high socks.” I’m a proud owner of these socks myself, but maybe the Bears were just taking a cue from the photo I linked to in that gift guide column last year. … Speaking of socks, I recently got myself a pair of these. The stripes at the top are a nice bonus. … Another state with a new license plate design: Mississippi (from Michael Martin). … I wish Steve Jobs were still alive, because I’d love to hear what he’d have to say about Siri’s very selective ignorance. … Deron Williams played 15 games in Turkey during the NBA lockout — enough for his number to be retired. … Whatever you think of the Marlins’ new uniforms, I hope we can all agree that their new mascot needs a bit of work (from Nick Phillips). ”¦ UGA players apparently didn’t like their Amateur Pacifist uniforms (from C. Trent Rosencrans). ”¦ DC United’s Facebook page now features a retrospective of the team’s uniform history (from Geoff Holm). ”¦ The Reds are getting a new mascot. “That’s in addition to the three they already have — Gapper, Mr. Redlegs, and Rosie Red,” says Gabriel DeBiasi. “This will make them the team with the most official mascots.” ”¦ Last week I Ticker-linked to Wisconsin’s new retro-ish hockey jerseys. Two additional details on that design: The inner shirttail lists the Badgers’ championship seasons, and the inner collar has a quote from Badger legend Bob Johnson (big thanks to Nicole Haase). ”¦ Purdue Pete’s sidekick: gone but not forgotten (from Kurt Esposito). ”¦ Good article on the seven occasions in the past 30 years when Hull City has had to borrow another team’s kit (from Les Motherby). ”¦ The Montreal Impact — a new MLS team — will unveil their inaugural uniform tonight. “I for one cannot wait!” says Andrew Mocella. ”¦ Patrick Sharon was checking out the online listing for this estate sale in Michigan and noticed a major prize lurking amidst all the photos: a serious collection of NFL helmet plaques. That sound you just heard was Brinke Guthrie booking a flight to Michigan.

 
  
 
Comments (232)

    Love reading the site every day, but I don’t really see the relation of the Siri thing to uni watching…

    Seriously. Siri doesn’t want to be an accessory to murder. Can’t blame her. How is that uni related?

    Now that everyone with a keyboard is a columnist, er I mean blogger, people will find something to complain about and have an “exclusive.” How many of us on the internet are talking just to be heard? More and more everyday it seems that people are just upset to be upset, if only to complain. I guess it’s a good thing Siri isn’t emblazoned with a red maple leaf, eh? ;)

    Jesus H. Christ on a stick… the ticker often hilights whimsical and interesting non-uni-related stuff. Always has. Its part of the charm of the site.

    Often times these little items don’t interest me. You know what I do? I don’t read them.

    Heck, 1/2 of a typical ticker serves no interest to me… so I just skip it. I have no idea how people have the energy to launch a complaint about an item in the ticker.

    When I saw “DC United’s Facebook page now features a retrospective of the team’s uniform history” I said to myself… I don’t care about soccer uniforms, I’m going to not click that link.

    See… easy!

    I think Chris problem is that the ‘whimsical and interesting non-uni related stuff’ has become an all too common occurance and is usually just a bunch of leftist barbs

    Leftist, rightist, upside down or Martian. If you don’t agree with the opinion/humor/writing of this site’s OWNERS. Don’t read. Chistopher F – very well said…

    I don’t know if this has been resolved below, but it looks like the current version of Siri is a beta version that is in testing. It works from yelp and a few other sources and may or may not be based on customer reviews, folks tagging themselves in a certain place, etc. And as apple has said, they’re working out the glitches.

    link

    The Reds are getting another mascot. Because what fans want more than anything – including a team that can win in the postseason – is a team with THREE EFFIN’ MASCOTS?!?

    Rant ended.

    I apologize. I read it wrong… it’s FOUR EFFIN’ MASCOTS!?! What happened to good, old-fashioned, going-to-a-stadium-to JUST WATCH A BASEBALL GAME?!? Baseball teams don’t need cheerleaders, tee shirt cannons, DJs, in-stadium TV shows, video game stations, or multiple mascots (or, some would argue, any mascots at all.)

    Rant ended this time. Really.

    Mr. Met, The Chicken… and even Mr. Red Legs are ok with me. Maybe even Mrs. Met, too ;-)

    I am just mourning the loss of the country’s love for the GAME of baseball. Now it’s becoming short attention span theater – Disney on a Diamond. Organizations make sure that there’s something other than the actual game to entertain you at every moment.

    The Reds are not getting a fourth mascot. They already have four mascots. They’re just updating Mr. Red, the first of the four.

    Heck, Schottzie used to be the real mascot. Huge dog, sat on my chest once in her office, and I fed it Lorna Doones and Yoo-Hoo on the way to a “Beethoven” movie. True.

    I like the twin “Paul’s Beverage” bottles in the second flannel uniform swatch folder photo! Where did you score those, and what’s the story of that company? Still around?

    According to the info on the bottle, Paul’s Beverages was located in New Castle, Pennsylvania. But I found those bottles — with soda still in them — being used by a small soda bottler in, of course, Wisconsin. Bought about a dozen of them, brought them home, drank the pop, saved the bottles.

    ‘pop’?? Just what part of the boonies you from, Paul? We downstate New Yawkers call it ‘soda’….. ;-)

    I’ve never heard a New Yorker use the term “pop”. Is that your normal preference, or did you just use it as a Wisconsin reference.

    Even though I’ve moved to the deep south from the midwest… “I still call it pop”

    Haha. My ex-fiancee’s family was a bunch of Michiganders. Getting together with them and hearing “pop” over and over drove me crazy.

    It’s “coke”, by gawd. Doesn’t matter the brand. Always has been, always will be.

    /southerner

    As a life-long Milwaukeean, I can tell you we DO NOT use Pop. Ugh. Worst thing I’ve ever been accused of. Ever.

    Donnelly Electric outfit is the bomb, only made bombier by its St Paul provenance…

    “…Here are the uniforms for the volunteer staff at the London Olympics (from Jeremy Brahm) … ” Wow. These Games will go down as, well, quite distinctive, graphically speaking. Terrible logo. Worst ever, in fact. Appalling art exhibit “inspired by” the Olympics. Post-modern poppy crap. And now purple jackets with red military-style trim, festooned with “brass” buttons, for the poor volunteers.

    And your MEAT socks, Paul, you know those MEAT socks with the stripes? Umm…

    I’d love to add an old wool jersey (most preferably gray) to my meager sports memorabilia collection. It’s just a matter of finding that right design with the right colors at a thrifty price, or something out of Ebbets Field Flannels (not interested in a pricey MLB uni). I would assume basically ebay would be the main place to hunt. Not in a particular hurry, of course. Any tips would be appreciated.

    The Donnelly jersey is beautiful. It’s what used to make uniforms great — classic fabrics, style, trim, and colors. And made in the U.S.A. Much like the Tiedman & Formby line (which is featured in the upper left-hand corner). That seems like a super company. Great find!

    The doofus ranting about the Maple Leaf in Canadian team logos lost me when he said Calgary was in B.C. ….

    (Insert trollface.jpg here)

    I think his point is clear enough even with the (probably intentional) geographical error.

    Nothing personal, but bad Geography Knowledge is one of my pet peeves. If you’re going to attack something, you need to know basic facts about that something…

    That was an editing error. The sentance/joke was supposed to be:

    **After 27 years in Canada, not only did the Flames slap on an Alberta Flag on one shoulder, they threw the Canadian flag on the other – just in case you hadn’t realized Calgary was in British Columbia, Canada.**

    But while editing the piece, I changed Alberta for some reason (because I’m an idiot) and then changed “British Columbia” to B.C. to make the sentence sound less redundant.

    Then today when I realized the error, I also realized the joke wasn’t funny, so It’s just all Alberta now.

    Better to attempt a joke and fail, I guess, than to be a serious fuddy-duddy like me… Again, nothing personal…

    Canadians don’t like jokes huh. John Candy, Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Jim Carrey, Will Arnett, Phil Hartman, Tom Green, Leslie Nielsen, Rick Moranis, Seth Rogen, Norm MacDonald, Will Sasso, Mathew Perry, Martin Short…

    Really Pat? Really? Missing the point, aren’t we?

    History folks, a Canadian (I’m hoping) not getting a joke about Canadians not getting jokes. It’s the Canadian “Who’s on first”. [this is a joke]

    Mike, we’re all good, I looked like an idiot and deserved to be called out on it.

    Well aside from the Calgary error (that was pretty bad BTW) but I think that the maple leaf is fine for these Canadian logos. They’re representatives of Canada since their teams are participants in an American league. If you look at the logos for the CFL, none of them have a maple leaf, because they don’t need to advertise that they are from Canada since all the games are in Canada.

    Tim misses quite a few things in his rant.

    The Ottawa Senators’ “alternate” logo? It was used as a shoulder patch from 2000-07 on the alternate black uniforms. Ottawa is the nation’s capital, so why can’t they have the maple leaf on their uniforms beside the clock tower featured at the Canadian Parliament building? The Washington Capitals have the eagle above the Capitol building on their secondary logo. If one is going to bitch about the Senators, make sure an American team is committing the same offence.

    The Jets HAD TO slap the maple leaf on every logo because they are using a logo based on the Royal Canadian Air Force’s roundel which prominently features the maple leaf in it. If they had gone out and designed their own logo, they may not have had the maple leaf in it at all. However, because they got permission from the RCAF to use the roundel, they kept the maple leaf in the logo. The Jets signed a contract with the RCAF to use the roundel, and this may have been one of the stipulations.

    Aside from Tim re-arranging the province lines, the Flames are apparently wearing the flags on their shoulders in honour of the club’s heritage. I agree that this one may be overkill, but when your secondary logo sucks and blows at the same time, the flag is an immediate upgrade.

    The Blue Jays are Canada’s only baseball team today, and have always featured the maple leaf in their logo. Since it’s part of their logo’s heritage, why is this a problem? It’s no worse that the link who have stars and stripes in their logo. And the CHL is based entirely in America.

    Toronto FC? Canada’s only MLS club when they were included in the 2007 expansion into the MLS. They were the lone Canadian representative. Why is this an issue if they are the only team in a different country?

    C’mon, Tim. You’re better than the unresearched diatribe you posted.

    You know… when the CFL tried it’s little US expansion, those teams didn’t all put stars & stripes in their logos to signify to the Canadians that “hey, we’re US teams in YOUR league”. Why is it so damn important for Canadian teams to do it?

    The Sens? Why add the leaf? It doesn’t smack of anything other than, “LOOK WE’RE IN CANADA!” It comes off desperate and silly. And this wasn’t a post about American teams over using red, white and blue or American symbols, so mentioning the Caps would’ve seemed a bit odd to me. Though, I have, in the past removed such nonsense (Blue Jackets) in my concepts and have an entire post here dedicated to making the NBA have less red white and blue teams.

    The Jets didn’t have to do shit. They had a clean slate and opted to put the leaf in. Egregious. You say they had to ask the RCAF? They had to ask the Maple Leafs too! RIDICULOUS. If you have to ask another team in your league to use the same image, you’re probably too close to their identity. And I think many people have proven that even while using the roundel as inspiration, the leaf is not necessary.

    and the BJs and Toronto FC are the same deal, your the only team in Canada (even though the BJs weren’t for the first 30ish years of their existence and Toronto FC isn’t the only team anymore)? Whoopee. You’re not a national team. Be Toronto otherwise rename yourselves Canadian BJs and the Canadian FC.

    And bad logo elements in your history doesn’t mean you should keep them around. See: Chief Wahoo.

    They are only bad logo elements in your opinion, Tim. To some, the maple leaf in the Blue Jays logo is classic, particularly to – I don’t know – Blue Jays fans.

    I mean, that post was your opinion and you’re fully entitled to it, but I think it was stupid.

    Isn’t it a bit sad, though, that Canadian teams – apparently – feel the need to constantly define themselves in comparison to the US?

    If Canada is truly a proud nation, and I believe it is, then their sports identities shouldn’t show clear signs of an inferiority complex and slap those F***ing leafs all over everything.

    Canada – and it’s great sports history – deserves better design than cookie cutter, copy paste design. The Canucks are a perfect example of this. Strong, original, independent and uniquely Canadian.

    Unfortunately I hate them, as I am a Blackhawks fan. haha

    Tim, you’re now missing the point entirely.

    Washington = America’s capital, and they use the eagle (America’s symbol) and a building representative of their nation.

    Ottawa = Canada’s capital, and they use the maple leaf (Canada’s symbol) and a building representative of their nation.

    If you argue against one, the other is just as “desperate and silly”. You can’t crap on one, and hold the other to a higher standard.

    The Jets didn’t have to check with the Maple Leafs. You’re arguing nonsense here. They did have to conform to the RCAF’s demands on the use of the logo, and they decided to keep the maple leaf as part of the logo BECAUSE IT IS PART OF THE ROUNDEL. What part of “we are buying the usage of an established logo” aren’t you getting? If you want to use the Steelers logo, you abide by their rules of usage. See how that works?

    As for the Blue Jays and Toronto FC, the CFL teams in the US did use stars and stripes in their logos. The most successful team, the Baltimore Stallions, certainly had link in their logo.

    If only national teams can wear symbols of a nation, then the Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Phillies, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Capitals, Washington Nationals, Allen Americans, and Rochester Americans should immediately be renamed or folded. After all, they don’t represent the masses that live in the USofA.

    Your argument for Chief Wahoo speaks of a racially-sensitive reason for retiring that logo, not a nationally-sensitive one. Huge difference there.

    This wasn’t a post on American teams, so – again – why would I bring up the Caps? it doesn’t matter if I think the eagle/cap logo is good or bad, I’m not going to talk about when talkina bout the maple leaf trend.

    I’m also not the one talking about CFL teams, because stars and stripes have shitelse to do with horses.

    AND YET AGAIN, I’m not discussing the merits of jingoistic sports identities across the global landscape, I’m not talking about the overuse of the Star in American sports (but there is an overuse even though a star, even a five pointer, isn’t necessarily comparable to the use of the maple leaf.) and I’m certainly not talking about the Allen Americans.

    I’m talking about the leaf and how it’s a cop out, copy/paste, BAD design element. Now that’s an opinion, my opinion, and yours differs and we probably wont ever see eye to eye. So that is what it is. But your muddling the argument by referring to American – sorry, United Statsian – logos and trends, which I never mention in the article because it isn’t relevant.

    And the Jets thing infuriates me. Why use the roundel in the first place? They could’ve gotten the old identity that everybody loved and wanted and just updated it. But no. They had to militarize it. Whatever… That’s a bad logo, and if that’s as good as the RCAF allowed them to make it, they shoulda scrapped it. And if they are the ones who put the damn leaf on the wordmark and alt logo, they should be ashamed of their actions, cause those has nothing to do with the roundel.

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    Oh, and one last thing, some of your USA examples are kinda flimsy.

    Like, to say the Philly Eagles area national symbol team is…a bit of a stretch, IMO. It’s an animal that happens to be the nations symbol, but it’s just a pretty badass animal.

    The Phillies’ liberty bell logo is a logo that, while having to do with America – United Statesica, I keep fucking that up -, is uniquely Philadelphian. You can’t have a Miami Liberty Bells team. If Ottawa had/has a Canadian equivalent, that should trump using the leaf.

    Cowboys use Texas’ flag as inspiration(as Texans are wont to do, for better or worse), not the Stars and stripes, which is at least provincial and not national.

    And the Caps are in the Cap. The logo maybe needs less eagle, but the building (the Cap) is in that city so that’s fine by me (I have no problem with the building in the Sens’ logo, just the leaf).

    Tim, I don’t think you’re listening to anybody here. Teebz is providing a reason for them to use the maple leaf in their logo and you’re shutting it out, citing that the teams are lazy, using the leaf as a cop out. But tell me, a cop out of what? Out of designing an uniform? I disagree.

    Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Like Washington DC is the capital of United States. So it makes sense to use stars and stripes, eagles, anything national. So Ottawa has a leaf, makes sense.

    You covered Toronto Maple Leafs. The Jays are the only Canadian team so if they play a game in Texas, it makes sense to carry that pride all the way down there for a ballgame. Raptors are currently the only Canadian team in the NBA as well.

    Winnipeg chose to honor its military. It has a leaf. So that’s in their uniform.

    Flames, their logo sucks like Teebz says. Whatever else is an improvement.

    Montreal and Vancouver have no reason to incorporate the leaf so they don’t. Same with Edmonton.

    It’s fine if you don’t like that the maple leaf is everywhere but before you go on a quite angry rant (as evidenced by the volume of your swear words) again, just think about why they have the leaf. I don’t think they’re copping out of anything because really, what reason is there to?

    Isn’t it a bit sad, though, that Canadian teams — apparently — feel the need to constantly define themselves in comparison to the US?

    I once asked a Canadian backpacker I met why every Canadian abroad wears the maple leaf flag his answer was exactly “So nobody confuses us for Americans.”

    “before you go on a quite angry rant (as evidenced by the volume of your swear words)”

    While I wasn’t/am not angry, I just fucking swear all the goddamn time ’cause I can and don’t give a shit.

    I’m smiling right now. Very happy.

    And I didn’t swear once in the original “rant” (I don’t think)

    Listen, I know Teebz can come up with rational reasons for the logos to be the way they are. I understand why the flag is there, I just feel in most cases, it’s stupid. The Senators and the Raptors probably agree with me and got rid of those logos.

    I could come up with rational reasons why the Preds logo should have that yellow stripe link But it’s bad design. It’s stupid. And I wish they would get rid of it.

    Winnipeg’s argument that the RCAF made them keep the leaf is silly for two reasons. The Jets didn’t have to really get approval, if Canadian Copyright and Tradmark laws are anything like the US’s, then that is a BS story. And that logo isn’t very good design, IMO. I think it looks cluttered and bad.

    And the alt logo and the word mark are horrendous pieces of trash. Awful. Hell, the best part of the wordmark is probably the leaf since it distracts me from the awful script.

    Also, the BJ’s have been the only Canadian team in the MLB since 2004. The Expos existed well before them and never felt the need to slap the leaf on there.

    That’s a backronym for why the leaf is there, so that argument it busted.

    And teams like The Canucks or the Raptors, who don’t have flag logos (not anymore for the raptors), are they not bringing pride with them to America? How about the fact that they wear the words TORONTO or VANCOUVER on their uniforms? Why isn’t that enough?

    To me it just seems silly and superfluous.

    “Isn’t it a bit sad, though, that Canadian teams — apparently — feel the need to constantly define themselves in comparison to the US?”

    Not as sad as Americans who feel the compulsion to condescend to foreigners and tell them what behaviour on their part is appropriate.

    In the early days of Confederation, there was a pretty clear economic and cultural divide between the Conservatives and Liberals. Conservatives favoured protectionist trade policies and a focus on the British Empire. Liberals championed free trade and continentalism. The Conservative view tended to prevail until 1896, when Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals formed a government. Between the 1860s and 1890s, Ontario began its transition from the poor sister of Confederation, a rural backwater, to the industrial heartland and, ultimately, an economic engine that overshadowed Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

    Depending on how you look at trade policy, the Tories’ tariffs on manufactured goods were either to credit or to blame for that development, which was fed by American companies’ establishing branch plants. Nearly every important US-based multinational in the first half of the 20th century (Ford, General Motors, IBM, Standard Oil, to name a few) made Canada their first foreign outpost. As a result, the Canadian economy has long been described as a branch-plant economy.

    In the 1960s, particularly as our centennial neared, a wave of nationalism began to swell up. There had been “patriotism” before, but it always seemed attached to the British Empire. This was different: English Canadians began both to celebrate and search for a distinct identity, while in French Canada, they began to question whether there was any future within Canada at all.

    I note that Tim doesn’t have a problem with the Québec Nordiques’ use of the fleur-de-lys. Maybe he thinks it’s a second-tier symbol (provincial or state). It is, in fact, a national symbol for québécois, who view themselves as a distinct nation within Canada.

    I would suggest that, in response to the trend in English Canada, the multinationals began to slap the maple leaf on their own logos. In another interesting case, after an ad campaign in the early 1970s announced that Esso stations would convert to the Exxon brand, the change never took place.

    Meanwhile, Canadian corporations began to play up the link. Including the link the Canadian government launched in the 1970s.

    The Canadian government got into the act. Where the link used to grace government buildings, letterhead, and signage, in its place a link and link began to appear.

    Was this a reflection of a national inferiority complex, as Tim suggests, or of a growing self-confidence? I choose the latter view.

    Taking a critical look at Tim’s blog post, I’m not even so sure the maple leaf is truly “ubiquitous.” The Montréal Expos used a fleur-de-lys in their script logo. The Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Montréal (wait for it) Canadiens do not feature a maple leaf on their uniforms. Okay, the Canadiens did link.

    The Montréal Impact are about to join Major League Soccer – no leaf in their logo; rather, there’s a fleur-de-lys. Vancouver Whitecaps? No leaf. Not like the 1970s ‘Caps. And back in the NASL days, the Edmonton Drillers, Montréal Manic and Montréal Olympique went leafless. (The Olympique actually based their logo on a globe.)

    Eight teams in the CFL, and not one of them features a maple leaf in their primary logo. Meanwhile, there’s that damn lone star on the helmets of not one, but two NFL teams.

    The Ottawa Senators, I think, ought to be entitled to display a maple leaf as they represent the capital region. It would be more appropriate than a centurion representing “senators.”

    I don’t think Canadian teams have a “maple leaf problem” any more than sports designers in general suffer a creativity problem (“Let’s put a hockey stick in a cartoon animal’s paws!” “A basketball team? Quick: draw me a basketball!”).

    Or than American teams suffer from a stars-and-stripes problem (cough, cough, New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Capitals, Rochester Americans, the Yankees’ star-spangled top hat) or an eagle problem. Hell, D.C. United’s logo features an eagle and a star, just in case you missed one. I guess it would’ve been overstating the point to include the Capitol dome, too. Or maybe that didn’t work so well for the old baseball Senators. Then you’ve got the Phillies with the Liberty Bell.

    It occurs to me that the United States simply has so darn many nationalistic/patriotic/jingoistic symbols that Tim can’t recognize their collective ubiquity. And that doesn’t even take into account the presence of the American flag on every helmet worn in the NFL? I’ve lost track: Is the NBA still putting the flag on the backboards? Meanwhile, link, he’s not American enough.

    Yeesh.

    WOW.
    That’s dense.

    hahahaha

    Uh, were to begin:

    **Maybe he thinks it’s a second-tier symbol (provincial or state).**

    ~I do think it’s provincial, just like the Texas state flag, but that doesn’t mean, like, the Houston Texans have great design, its just not nationally inspired.

    **québécois, who view themselves as a distinct nation within Canada.**

    ~yeah, well nobody likes them anyway… (It’s a joke, please don’t respond to this… haha, I’m going insane today.)

    **It would be more appropriate than a centurion representing “senators.”**

    ~agreed. but they don’t so the maple leaf comes off as out of place.

    **I don’t think Canadian teams have a “maple leaf problem” any more than sports designers in general suffer a creativity problem (“Let’s put a hockey stick in a cartoon animal’s paws!” “A basketball team? Quick: draw me a basketball!”).**

    ~Agreed, that’s kinda my point.

    **ubiquitous**

    ~That was probably a bit of hyperbole on my part.

    **Eight teams in the CFL, and not one of them features a maple leaf in their primary logo.**

    ~It’s the CFL, if they threw on maple leaves on those teams, that would be patently ridiculous.

    **New England Patriots, New England Revolution, Philadelphia 76ers**

    ~At least their names are based in patriotism, so patriotic logos make sense, not so with the Blue Jays. Maybe this point is splitting hairs, but I think there is a distinction.

    **Hell, D.C. United’s logo features an eagle and a star, just in case you missed one.**

    ~ hahahaha, that’s pretty good.

    **And that doesn’t even take into account the presence of the American flag on every helmet worn in the NFL?**

    ~stupid.

    **I’ve lost track: Is the NBA still putting the flag on the backboards?**

    ~stupid

    **Meanwhile, if a presidential candidate doesn’t wear the requisite flag lapel pin, he’s not American enough.**

    ~Stupid. Just like S&S caps are stupid.

    But the post was not about American sports identities, which are mostly – MOSTLY – provincial. Stop changing the subject.

    You’re arguing that jumping off of the bridge is a good idea because the Patriots did it. What would your mother say…?

    Maple Leaf – good if you’re the only Canadian team in an American league or your team is called, you know, the Maple Leafs; bad otherwise.

    I don’t see what the big deal is about putting a red maple leaf on Canadian teams. It’s not like Canada is as vast as the United States. It’s not a bad design or logo, it’s distinctive and it is their trademark. I can’t think of too many simple logos from country flags off the top of my head that could be slapped on a sports uniform or logo as a modest reference. I think Tim E is having a cow over nothing.

    Maybe if they started putting the red maple leaf on their coins I wouldn’t get stuck with damn Canadian nickels & quarters in my pocket change.

    After living in Texas, I’ve come to the conclusion that overreliance on a flag or flag element in a team’s logo is a signal that the team has an inferiority complex. Every minor league team in Texas, in any sport, has a flag or some obvious element in it.

    Even the major league teams fall victim to it. The Rangers were always the Astros’ little brother until very recently and they wave the flag all over the place, while the Astros only have a stylized star and an unused alternate logo with a map. The Texans are the new kids on the block and their primary logo is specifically intended to evoke the state flag, whereas the Cowboys again only use a star. Contrast these to the three NBA teams, which are all respected, and none of whom use flag elements anywhere.

    Seeing flag elements in a team’s logo or design at this point just tells me that the team is trying too hard to prove itself.

    Disagree. I think some teams that use the state flag typically do so when it is easy to use, that is the elements of the flag are easy to incorporate into the design. Can you imagine trying to replicate the intracacies of the NYS on a patch? Nearly 2/3’s of the state flags are way too intricate to incorporate into a teams design.

    As well, I think most people in the US can identify Texas as “The Lone Star State”, hence the ease of designing around a star, where as not too many could identify the pelican state.

    I’m not a fan of the blue-and-orange color combo, but I’ve got to give credit to the Mets and the Knicks for using them: they’re the state colors, aren’t they? Orange for Holland and blue for England, right?

    Don’t forget the Islanders, they’re still in NY for now. Nassau County’s flag is orange with a blue seal.

    According to the sometimes fallible link, the blue/white/orange is taken directly from the United Netherlands flag of 1625.

    In the Mets’ case, their colors are Dodger blue and Giant orange. That they match up with the old Dutch colors is a coincidence.

    In the Mets’ case, their colors are Dodger blue and Giant orange. That they match up with the old Dutch colors is a coincidence.

    Exactly backwards. The Mets colors symbolize New York City. That one was used by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the other by the New York Giants is the actual coincidence.

    The team name is the Texans.

    Logically, they would evoke the state in some ways.

    Note the Oilers didn’t.

    Even worse geographically is that he refers to himself as an American and projects that Canadians are not Americans. Last time I checked Canada is in America. Peru is in America. Brazil is in America. Mexico is in America. Everybody from the southern tip of Chile to the northern tip of Canada is American.

    I know TEO’B is an avid poster here but that maple leaf post really makes him sound like an arrogant and ignorant person.

    Stop it with semantics. Americans – people from the United States of America – refer to their country as America, as well as the US, and the United States.

    You knew what I meant and are being difficult.

    Well just keep that in mind when you think of “American made”. That doesn’t mean it was made in the US. My American made car had the engine built in Mexico and was assembled in Canada. That doesn’t stop it from being American made.

    And it’s not semantics, just more inaccuracies in your post.

    Tom, your “American Made” car was built by a US company with outsourced labor. A Ford with Japanese parts is still “American Made”. It’s advertising and corporate dishonesty at it’s finest, but it’s got nothing to do with the semantics of Mexico being in North America.

    Oh come on. The most common global usage of “American” is to refer to someone from the USA. Yeah, technically anyone from both continents qualifies, but in reality no one in Brazil is calling themselves Americans. Don’t act stupid.

    American is the internationally recognized demonym for someone from the US. Every other slang version except for derivations of Yankee means North American, which would be even worse.

    Every Canadian I know uses the term “American” to refer to people from the United States and would never refer to himself using that term.

    Frank Lloyd Wright used the term Usonian to denote a person or thing whose nation is the United States of America. As in many things, Wright was both crazy and totally on to something with that idea.

    As to the ubiquity of the maple leaf, this isn’t a difficult question. It’s just an example of Canada’s well-known inferiority complex. You think having better healthcare and education, cleaner and more democratic politics, just as many guns but fewer shootings, longer life expectancy, and more oil than Arabia makes up for not being the Greatest Nation on Earth, which of course is the USofA? Not on your life it doesn’t.

    I mean, sure, Canada has CBC radio, and Corner Gas, and that other show about the cute chick who goes back in time to fix her past, and all the really good actors including both Bill Shatner and that stewardess on Pan Am, and politicians with names like Stockwell Day and Preston Manning, and the RCMP, and its own beach at Normandy, and all the robotic arms in space, and a 2-0 undefeated record in war against the US, and hockey, and, well, it doesn’t matter how long you make the list of things Canada is awesome at. When the rest of the world wants to talk to North America, do they call Ottawa? Never. They call Washington. Thus the constant maple leaf overcompensation.

    Though the Blue Jays at least have the plausible argument that blue jays are tree-dwelling birds likely to be found among maple leaves. And the Senators represent the nation’s capital (Canada has its own Senate and all), where a national symbol makes sense. The Maple Leafs are, you know, named that. The Jets now take their identity from a branch of Canada’s armed forces that uses the maple leaf as a symbol. And so on. When you start going down the list, the only really objectionable example is the Canadiens, who despite the name don’t use the maple leaf, what with being French folks who don’t actually want to be part of Canada anyway.

    Wow. I’m not sure why there is this uproar over the maple leaf. It’s not like we burned the White House down at some point in hist…. oh, right.

    Look, rationalize the usage of the maple leaf all you want through a perceived inferiority complex, Arr Scott, but the fact of the matter is that you spouted off alot of the stuff that your country strives to achieve that Canada has, yet you claim to be the best country in the world. I’m not arguing that distinction whatsoever, but why point out all the things that would make your country a better place to live if you did, in fact, have them?

    Here’s what I do know about Canada that makes us somewhat superior: if you label something “Canadian”, it link throughout the world. An American-based company published that report, and found that America slipped to sixth. This was based on a survey that asked about “the qualities that people think of when they hear a country’s name, read or see images of a location, or plan a business or leisure trip”.

    But back to the task at hand… while sports teams are different than a world traveller, the fact that I have provided substantial reasons for the maple leafs in each of the logos that Tim tired to rip down proves not only that we don’t have an inferiority complex, but that we stand quietly and proudly while Americans lose their minds over our patriotism.

    So tell me, I beg you, who has the inferiority complex?

    Teebz, I like you and I value your opinion but we’re arguing different points. You say patriotism, I say misplaced patriotism. There’s a time and place, but I just don’t feel like the jets, BJs, raptors, etc. are the place.

    Hell, Ottawa’s use of the leaf would make sense had they branded themselves as Canadian senators rather than Roman Senators (Which as a Ancient Greek and Roman buff, a senator wouldn’t be as low ranking a position in the military as that logo makes them out to be, but that’s a different argument, haha). But they didn’t.

    We’re not going to see eye to eye on this so I’ll stop arguing with you.

    Friends? ;)

    Tim, I never held you in any sort of disregard. I just thought your anger over the maple leaves in the designs was misplaced.

    We’re still good. I’ll still respect your redesigns in that I think creativity shouldn’t be stifled. You made better points the more this discussion went on, and I agree that some of the maple leaves in the designs are superfluous and unnecessary. Calgary is a prime example of this when they could have just done something simple link for a shoulder logo.

    We’re good, Tim. All good. I know I go off the rails on here sometimes, and the varying opinions is what makes these discussions valuable. :o)

    To clarify, my “same here” was in response to Casey Hart, not to Tim E. O’Brien’s comment “Tom V. would prefer we use the term United Statesian.”

    This Canadian doesn’t object to the use of “American” to describe los estadounidenses and does not find it applicable to Canadians, when the perfectly useful noun Canadian is available.

    Teebz, if you failed to comprehend the gallons of irony dripping off my note, or the deep admiration for Canada I pretty plainly expressed, or the ridicule I was poking at American jingoism, then I can only assume that either your Canadian inferiority complex or your Canadian modesty blinded you to the compliment I was paying the True North Strong and Free.

    If it helps, I can promise in future to speak loudly. And. Slowly. So. You. Foreigners. Can. Understand. Me. When. I. Speak. American.

    [See, that last paragraph there? That’s me making fun of Americans like myself. Because we have this reputation for … oh, never mind.]

    True story: I moved to Europe in early 2003, just before the Iraq invasion, and thanks to my Minnesota accent, most locals thought I was Canadian. Which I took as a compliment, and I never disabused strangers of the impression.

    Maybe if it weren’t so damn italicized, Arr!

    haha

    Also, something no Canadian has mentioned:

    Oh Canada is 1000x better than the Star Spangled Banner.

    First, most people can’t sing the SSB because of the huge vocal range needed to sing it.

    Second, the lyrics are old timey and confusing. See: Christina Aguilera and others

    Third, it’s about one battle and not about how beautiful and awesome our country is (Which is why America the Beautiful should be the National Anthem, specifically this version link ).

    Irony and sarcasm don’t drip unless they have the right intonation on them.

    The internet hardly allows that which is why some use the [sarcasm][/sarcasm] tags.

    Thanks Bills, how could we tell you were at Rogers Centre (It’s Center Canada, but don’t get me started…) without that helpful little leaf?

    Actually, it should be SkyDome… but don’t get me started.

    After being in moderation for so long, I thought there was no way I’d get “ballsack” and “penis” in the same post.

    Kudos to me. haha

    Another new license plate? Jeez. At least it’ll be easier to get a Mississippi plate.

    Anyway, I liked Tim E’s rant of Canadia. I like the Maple Leaf design on certain teams, but everything being leaf-y is just annoying. No one cares if three people don’t know if the Raptors or the Sen’s are from Canada, so the leaf is unnecessary.

    Tim are you gonna do any tweaks on Canadian logos with the leaf?

    Well, I’ve done concepts for many a Canadian team and many get rid of these leafs.

    Jets
    Flames
    Sens
    Blue Jays

    I’ve done many redesigns already.

    really glad UGa used some common sense and will not ProCombat this weekend. Can’t beat a classic pair of silver britches…it will wide the arse kicking they will receive.

    Looked around that same estate sales website where the helmet plaques are listed and found this in my home town:
    link
    I may be too young to remember some Pepsi ad campaign or something, but whatever they are it looks like there’s a full set of them for some caffiene and sugar addled collector

    Question about the minor league Blue Jays jerseys.
    I thought there was a rule (written or unwritten) that professional baseball teams cannot have any jersey element that mimics the look of a baseball. I imagined that is because an apparent baseball could be confused visually with and actual baseball on the field. The new big league Jays do not have the baseball background on the logo on the jersey, but these minor league Jays do have the ball in the graphic. Is the rule only applicable at the big league level? Are the graphics of the minor league team just plain inaccurate and the ball will not show up when physical jerseys are produced? Or is that rule just a myth?

    It’s definitely an MLB rule.

    1.11(e): “No part of the uniform shall include a pattern that imitates or suggests the shape of a
    baseball.”

    Maybe the minors (counterintuitively) have more faith in their players’ ability to recognize the difference an actual baseball and a picture of one?

    Which would be ironic, since if you’ve ever seen a Rookie League game, it sometimes seems like those kids can barely recognize an actual baseball as something they’re supposed to hit, catch, throw, or avoid being hit by.

    Regardless of what one thinks of ballplayers’ intelligence, it does seem that having a baseball-sized picture of a baseball at about the same spot on a pitcher’s body where he holds the actual baseball in his glove before he pitches is maybe not the best idea in the world.

    I had pig wings in Tennessee last fall. They were ridiculously good. I remember several of us tried them and wondered why we had never heard of them or had them before. I love BBQ and eat it frequently. If any of the BBQ places down in Florida had them, I would probably order them exclusively. Yes, they were that good.

    There’s a restaurant about five minutes from my place that serve “Ribees”. Essentially, they are what is described as
    “pig’s wings”. And they are damned good – better than chicken wings in my opinion.

    Where in Tennessee, if I may ask? Chattanooga seems to pride itself on being a BBQ town (though certainly nothing like Memphis), and I haven’t noticed any pig wings around here.

    I think I’ll stick to my ribs… pardon the pun.

    It was at Creekers BBQ in Elizabethton, TN. Everything there was great, but those pig wings were amazing. I haven’t found another place that carries them. I’m always looking, though.

    A Tex-Mex place called “link” in my link in Philly has them on the link

    They just remind me of baby back ribs that have been separated. Of course they might actually be ribs, I’m sure there’s no naming standard for “Pig Wings.” I’ll have to ask them next time I go.

    Always love reading about food on here & learning culinary stuff I’ve never heard of before! Will look out for pig wings.

    The Donnelly Electric enterprise would be well-served by reinstating their old word mark. What a beauty!

    Is it too late for the Marlins to start over? I’m not just talking about the minor league mascot.

    Contrast link with link. Is it possible for something else you stick on a car to have too many bumper stickers? What was wrong with link?

    The sunburst would look good if it were downplayed or were the only primary element, but thrown in with everything else it looks messy. B.B. King was born in Mississippi, but made it big in Memphis and L.A. He bought that guitar in Tennessee. What business does it have on a Mississippi license plate? If they’d just made a blue and gold magnolia as the badge with the same wordmark and ribbon, or only had the sunburst without a badge, it would have been a much better design.

    BB King is very active in promoting Mississippi, and I think he’d disagree that his guitar doesn’t belong on the Mississippi license plate. In fact, I imagine he gave his permission and is honored by it. The BB King Museum is in his hometown of Indianola, not Memphis or LA.

    link

    Personally, I don’t like the sunburst myself. But I think anyone could find one they like on this page…

    link

    If the bobblehead is indeed psychic, the Ragdolls’ full WC uni is going to feature their brighter modern gloves?

    They just wear their modern gloves and pants with the current navy-red-dirty thirds anyway.

    I’m sorry, but the idea of wearing an injured teammate’s jersey number just seems stupid to me. I understand Oklahoma’s tribute to Austin Box, but a guy hurts his knee and players can wear his number?

    Pretty much, yeah. We’ve seen this four or five times this year and it’s always struck me as both stupid and selfish.

    Phil called ’em “Get Well Patches.”

    Pretty good term for it.

    And, yes, it’s stupid. But that’s the Participation Trophy Generations, for you. Just can’t seem to fathom that sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to go.

    It’s also stupid from a superstitious standpoint. When I was in high school, our top wideout one year got hit pretty hard and broke his hip, he was out for the year. Another receiver decided to honor him by wearing his number for the rest of the season. The very next game, he broke his foot.

    Needless to say no one else wore #11 anymore after that.

    First, I’ll admit I am an Oklahoma alum, so that automatically means I dislike anything Texas. When I read this, I almost felt insulted. The OU football team decided (as a team) to honor their fallen teammate by taking turns wearing his uniform, to honor him and show his family how important he was to the team.

    Texas is wearing the jersey number for an injured player? It feels like an insult.

    Don’t worry, the ability to spot the difference isn’t limited to Oklahoma fans. I’m a Texas fan and trust me, the Box tribute is infinitely more meaningful than this.

    Living in a community with a minor league ball team, I was happy when teams stopped using their Major League affiliate’s nickname. (It seemed ours had a new one each season.) Still, I have to marvel at the Bluefield logo. The Jays branding effort is quite good and pretty versatile.

    Well, the Vikings stadium issue may be about to take an interesting turn. It was just announced by the state budget office that there will have a HUGE surplus at year end.

    I mean HUGE.

    Now the battle will begin, I suppose, as to what should be done with dough.

    In a related note, also was on the news this a.m. that Zygy Wilf has purchased a $19 million apartment. In New York.

    Had it been in L.A., things woulda gone nuts around here.

    About $870 million.

    Also, game vs. Broncos Sunday may not be on TV.
    As of last night, still 3,000 tickets left.
    Have until noon today to peddle ’em.

    What fun, huh? Trying to get a stadium while putting a suckwad product on the field? Good thinkin’, Zygy.

    FYI, I am the New Yorker that sold his apartment to Zygy Wilf for $19 million. Since I bought it for $78,500, things are definitely looking up around here. Think I’ll put Paul and Phil on fat retainers.

    If you listen to Republicans it’s because the Democrats over-taxed.

    If you listen to Democrats it’s because the Republicans over-cut.

    If you listen to Jesse Ventura we’ll all get a check (a piece of business that ultimately had a lot to do with the recent shortfalls around here, btw). Not sure governments should declare a dividend with taxpayers as the the shareholders. It’d be nice, but not sure government is a for-profit organization. Unless, of course, you’re an elected official.

    I believe it was Will Rogers who said, “Many a man has been elected to public office intending to do good…and ended up doing very, very well.”

    Or something like that.

    Well, a representative government is basically a corporation with its citizens as shareholders. Of course, that still requires the legislature to authorize the dividend, which they should only do when the profit couldn’t otherwise be put to better use.

    “I wish Steve Jobs were still alive, because I’d love to hear what he’d have to say about Siri’s very selective ignorance”.

    You mean the guy who wouldn’t even acknowledge paternity–a bit of selective ignorance–of his own kid? Not as progressive as people think he was.

    And his products are made by sweatshop workers. I really don’t think Jobs would give a shit – just send him a check until the next product release.

    That, and his selective ignorance of his own friggin’ cancer… all the while being a husband and father. He can rot in hell for all I care.

    Good Lord. What bile. This is a site about graphic design. Steve Jobs was the most important force in the development of a beautiful line of products that married utility and aesthetics as well as William Morris ever could have dreamed. Name me some mass-consumed, everyday items than look better than the Apple product line.

    Not to mention that many (if not most) graphic designers use apple products because they cater to what we do. Couldn’t care less about the man’s beliefs, but when it comes to design, he was revolutionary.

    The link we’re discussing from the ticker has nothing to do with design. I never gave an opinion about Apple’s design philosophy.

    My opinion is that Steve Jobs was a terrible person. If my wife got cancer, and had (figuratively) all the money in the world, and she did nothing but try to meditate it out of her… I’d feel devistated and betrayed.

    I guess you also think Joe Paterno is a great guy because of his legendary coaching record, filtering out any of that other pesky negative stuff?

    Keith S: No they don’t. They run the same software that you can run on a cheaper PC. I’m a designer as well. Never owned a Mac.

    The interface is much more intuitive. That’s why people buy Apple computers. That said, I was astounded how his death was a small step below the assassination of the President on the publicity and public mourning scale.

    Andy: I guess we could argue this all day and get nowhere. Apple’s and Windows’ interfaces are just as intuitive. Its all what you’re used to.

    Since I’ve been using a PC for 8+ hours a day for like 15 years, Apple’s interface is completely non-intuitive to me. I’m sure vice-versa for you.

    Neither is better. I promise I can get as much design work done in the same time as you or any other Apple user. And, again- vice versa.

    In regards to the new road alts for the San Francisco Giants, here are what I think are the options.

    Most likely scenario: Use the exact road jersey that they currently do, and replace “San Francisco” with the SF logo.

    link

    If they really want to do a more modern copy of the original, they can add a black headspoon to the current jersey.

    link

    What would I like to see though? Add a headspoon to the current jersey that matches the braiding that already exists.

    link

    Sorry, forgot the links. Again…

    Most likely scenario: Use the exact road jersey that they currently do, and replace “San Francisco” with the SF logo.

    link

    If they really want to do a more modern copy of the original, they can add a black headspoon to the current jersey.

    link

    What would I like to see though? Add a headspoon to the current jersey that matches the braiding that already exists.

    link

    I wish Steve Jobs were still alive, because I’d love to hear what he’d have to say about Siri’s very selective ignorance. … ………….What on earth does this have to do with uniform etc?

    that was actually my next response. all the outside crap like this really takes away from the joy of reading this blog

    See, to YOU it’s “outside crap”; to ME, it’s what I feel like writing about, which has a lot to do with MY joy of CREATING this blog.

    If you find it hard to skip over the bits you don’t care about on this web site, you must have a hard time with Real Lifeâ„¢, which is full of bits worth skipping over….

    this blog is far from ‘real life’ which is why many people read it. I dont think many people come here looking for recipes or social opinions

    First, I think you’re mistaken about that. Second, while I’m vaguely interested in why people come here each day, my primary interest is why *I* come here each day. Today I came here to mention, among other things, pig wings and Siri. And while I realize this may come as a rude awakening, my reason for coming here each day will always trump yours.

    just an observation from a reader buddy, no need to get your panties, i mean stirrups all up in a bunch.

    Oh, please. You talk about “outside crap” ruining your day and then you’re all “Whoa, no need to overreact.” It’s one thing to make a weak argument; it’s another when you don’t even have enough self-respect to try to defend it.

    You are all way off the point. “Why people come to this site…” is not the issue. The issue is that there are things such as pig wings and most of America has never heard of them, or worse yet (as in my case), has no idea how to get their claws on some.

    People, we are talking about pork wings here. PORK! God’s greatest gift to man. What is better than a great chicken wing? I thought nothing was until about 5 minutes ago. Now I know Pig Wings HAVE to be. Wings made of pork, well screw me with my own elbow, this just rocked my world. “Why people come here?” Lets get back on topic people.

    It’s like if aliens came to Earth and all people wanted to talk about is, “why they came here?” Who cares why they are here. What I want to know is what do they taste like and why aren’t we eating them RIGHT NOW? Could you imagine what Martian tastes like? I bet they taste as good as pig wings, though I wouldn’t know because I have been deprived of wings from pigs. God, I feel my life is so unfulfilled now.

    “Screw me with my own elbow” has replaced “fuck me dead” as my favorite variation. Thank you Mike V. You have brightened my day.

    No problem, always glad to help. What can I say, new pork products just brings it out in me I guess.

    i never said it ruined my day i said it is ruining this blog. The blog is deviating from its said purpose and that might turn some people off. You obviously dont care about that as its all about You so i guess in retrospect it doesnt really matter then eh?

    Uh oh Paul. I see you have the ability to edit your own posts. From “I’m glad you see the light. Carry on.” to a more degrading “I believe the boy’s finally got it. Carry on.”

    Rewriting these conversations to your liking eh?

    See Paul, this is what I’m talking about. No reasoning with ’em. He’s complaining about 107 words in approximately in nine sentences out of an over 1400 word article.

    Nonsense.

    I occasionally edit my own comments (never anyone else’s, except to occasionally fix a potentially misleading typo). It’s a perk of having the keys to the car.

    See Paul, this is what I’m talking about. No reasoning with ‘em. He’s complaining about 107 words in approximately in nine sentences out of an over 1400 word article.

    Tim, putting one’s work out in public means dealing with (or at least accepting the existence of) the public’s reaction. It’s part of the package. If you can’t stand the heat, etc., etc.

    Now, some public reactions are more rational than others. But that’s life.

    Sheeesh, settle down.

    Its not hard to skip over stuff you don’t like. From what I can tell, this blog does not have a script installed to force you to click any of the links.

    I hate adding fire to this useless argument, but I just will never understand why people feel the need to voice their opinions about something they don’t care to read.

    i care to read about uniforms etc. If i need social commentary then I’ll go to someone who’s life doesnt revolve around buying used clothing and collecting report cards

    This kind of stuff been bothering you for a while? Probably not, because this is what the Uni-Watch blog has always been.

    It’s actually somewhat flattering that people feel invested enough in their own personal visions of what they want Uni Watch to be that they get annoyed when it deviates from that vision. It means they feel some sense of identity with the site, which is a very nice thing. I get that.

    But many different people have many different visions. I can’t please everyone, so instead I try to be true to my own creative instincts and let everyone else take it from there.

    The result is that the site isn’t always exactly what a given person wants it to be. It is, however, exactly what *I* want it to be (well, more or less — there’s always room for improvement). I’m afraid that will have to suffice.

    When you get Uni Watch, you get me — ALL of me (or at least quite a bit). It’s a package deal. I realize you may like some parts of me more than others. I’m fine with that. Most of the site’s readers appear to have learned how to be fine with it too.

    Paul, does “ALL of me” include pig wings because I really would like some. Ahhhhh, salted meats, yum.

    You can ask Siri where to hide a body, and she’ll give you a list of swamps, metal foundries and… something else. I forgot.

    I wish I had a dime for every time this website discusses something I couldn’t care less about. But you know? It’s not *my* initiative that puts this thing on line every day, thank God.

    I hope this is a joke because the reason for the two stars and the three stripes is pretty obvious, no matter how dubious the three stripes are.

    And yes, I know what the DC flag looks like.

    Sorry, I’m getting torn to shreds, personally, by POed Canadians on my own site.

    They’re a very touchy people, and I did not know that (this is a joke, please be nice to me, haha, I watch hockey. I even own a Toewser Canadian Hockey Jersey. Love me).

    Not surprising that a movie with entirely fictional sports teams would imagine that a Miami-based sports team would use Art Deco lettering for its wordmark for essentially the same reason it wasn’t a stretch for Back to the Future 2 to consider the likelihood that MLB would expand into Miami. They’re logical extensions of Miami being a major city with an ingrained stereotypical aesthetic.

    How in the world did everyone miss this until now? I remember the movie, but obviously not this detail. This is un-canny.

    I really don’t see much similarity, other than that the word “Miami” is used on both jerseys. The BASEketball script is just taken from Miami Vice.

    I actually like that painting. A lot.

    I have a painting done by a sea lion hanging on my wall at home. The blend of blues and reds that the sea lion did actually made the picture look better than 99% of the art I see at gallaries. The key, however, is that it is simple and understated like your painting, Tim.

    Very excellent piece of artwork, in my humble opinion.

    I agree, that’s why I own it. :D

    The artist who did it sells all different paintings of other subway/metro systems of other cities too

    link

    pretty cool stuff, if you ask me.

    Hey now, don’t be mean to the artist, he/she came up with an excellent idea for a piece of art.

    And I have no idea how the prints – I guess I shouldn’t’ve said painting, it’s more of a print.

    Paul, I have no idea how you put up with the idiots and trolls. It’s 1:40 and I can’t wait to go to bed thanks to all these morons yelling at me about how I hate Canada.

    Thanks Teebz, but all the people commenting over at TEOB.com are, hahaha

    I own a toews canada jersey. A TOEWS CANADA JERSEY!

    (rocks back and forth in the corner muttering to himself…)

    TEO’B, if it’s any consolation, the response you’ve gotten is nothing compared to letters to the editor I received the time I misspelled it “Ottowa” and copy desk didn’t correct it. You’d think I’d just clubbed a baby seal on land stolen from the First Nations or something from the vehemence of the response. Which is odd, because as we know, Canadians are in no way sensitive about national identity vis-a-vis the United States. (To be fair to the Canuckistanis, that was a remarkably boneheaded error on my part. I was offended at myself once I realized the mistake.)

    My experience perfectly illustrates why the United States is superior to Canada. Not only would an American not get all huffy and complain if some idiot furriner misspelled “Washington,” we probably can’t even spell it correctly ourselves.

    No offense Tim, but you did basically trash a country’s national symbol in basically a random rant. Anyone would be up in arms if they got a moose aboot in the hoose.

    I can’t help but agree. As an American and a journalist, I’m embarrassed that this guy also shares these titles … his post is littered with screw-ups and omissions that would make most editors cringe.

    If it’s any consolation, Tim E., I enjoyed your Canadia rant. I just got on Uni Watch to see the shitstorm you bravely weathered. You should get a Uni Watch Stirrup of Honor.

    If I could just point you to scroll down to the section titled, “A Note to the Pissed/Offended,” located here – link – I think you’ll feel at least a bit differently.

    If not, oh well. F*** it.

    for some reason, i can’t get ‘sweet baby james’ out of my head today

    /that is all, carry on

    Was the first of December, all covered with snow,
    And so was the Turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston.
    The Berkshires seemed dreamlike
    On account of that frosting,
    With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go.

    There’s a song that they sing…

    And now all I can think of is Sweet Georgia Brown and Sweet Baby Ray’s. Thanks Phil, now I can’t concentrate in antitrust class.

    All ranting about what should or shouldn’t be on this blog aside, no one bothered to actually respond to “I’d love to hear what he’d have to say about Siri’s very selective ignorance.”

    Here ya go:
    link

    Some of those truck graphics would make really good logos, sports or otherwise. I really like the gold field with the blue triangles on page 2.

    This is why I love the holidays – the goodwill and warm feelings toward each other (looks at the comments for today) … in the immortal words of Lee Corso, “aw, fuck it.”

    Any chance in a future article you could show some close-ups of the wool flannel swatches from your new book? I am always very interested in the shading differences on old flannel jerseys and, even when I blew up the pictures in today’s feature, it wasn’t close enough for me :) Consider this a fan’s request!

    Going back to the Catch of The Day photo, can anyone tell me what style of number font is used on the Cowboys jersey of that era? It’s a really cool font, very subtle and classy. Some other examples of it on other uniforms: link
    link
    link

    Regarding the Meat Socks, I can’t help but thing of a certain song from the Popeye movie…

    Everything is meat, meat meat
    Careful what you put on your feet

    Worked late today/night…finally got a chance to catch up on some uni-watchings… and a flame war broke out.

    Geez! People whining about CANADA? LoL.

    Okay I know we live in Meat-Ocracy… so there is room at the table for every ones opine, but hey sports fans… there are greater injustices out there uni-formally speaking (see the horror that was the Teal/Purple generation of Uni’s) than picking on Canadians fetish.. I mean national pride with the leaf thing.

    All whining aside, this blog is, has been, and always will be about the very fabric of the sporting life. It has, what we call in the Ad Bidness….Uni-versal appeal.

    “People whining about CANADA?”

    ~~~

    i know, right? jeez, it’s america’s toque…nothing to whine aboot

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