Big thanks to everyone who came out to the Uni Watch party in Cleveland two nights ago — I had a blast. Hope you did too. Thanks also to Phil, for covering for me while I was on the road.
Now then: I have a big backlog of excellent wire service photos, so let’s take care of some of them today. Contributors for this batch include Mark Kluczynski, Mike Hersh, Jerry Wolper (which explains the high number of Pirates-related photos), Bill Henderson, Brendan Slattery, Bruce Menard, Warren Humphries, and Mark Peterson — my thanks to all.
• We’ve seen this logo on Lou Brock’s helmet before, but I think this is one of the best looks at it we’ve ever had.
• Ralph Kiner always was a ladies’ man.
• I think we’ve seen this Brewers prototype photo before, but once more can’t hurt.
• Here’s a potentially major find: When the Cowboys switched their helmet from white to silver in 1964, were they considering a Cowboy boot logo?
• Soooo much going on in this photo — I’ll let it speak for itself.
• Even in black-and-white, it’s startling to see the A’s in solid green.
• Looks like Bill Madlock’s BP jersey had a nickNOB back in 1984.
• Here’s something you don’t often see: topless women boxers.
• Remember the hockey mask that Dave Parker wore for one plate appearance in 1978? Here’s a shot of it that I’d never seen before. (If you’re not familiar with the story of Parker’s mask, I wrote a detailed column about it a few years ago, and my full collection of Parker mask photos is here.)
• Speaking of masks, here’s a style I’ve never seen before on a baseball diamond. According to the caption, that’s Rick Renteria, who wore the mask in the field, but not while batting, to protect a broken nose in June of 1982.
• I like how the Pirates’ inaugural helmets were called “plastic caps.”
• Remember our recent discussion of zebras wearing glasses? Turns out the NFL had at least one bespectacled official way back in 1981. The refs wore black hats in those days, so that guy is a side judge or field judge or whatever.
• This is fascinating: When the Braves moved to Milwaukee in 1953, they switched schedules with the Pirates, but the Bucs had already printed a bunch of tickets, which were suddenly useless. So they burned them.
• When the Buffalo Braves came into being, it looks like there were some humorous suggestions for the team’s name.
• Here’s a great shot of Cookie Gilchris getting his Broncos jersey. Note the crotch extension hanging off of the back!
• Awwwww. That’s a White Sox ball boy, circa 1910.
• Does anyone know the story behind this WHA logo? I’m not familiar with it.
Membership update: A new batch of designs has been added to the membership card gallery (including Jorge L. Cruz’s design, shown at right, which is based on Oregon’s “Fighting Ducks” jersey). The printed/laminated versions of this new batch should mail out early next week.
If you haven’t yet made good on that New Year’s resolution to sign up for membership, there’s no time like the present.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Nike gloves have been kosher in the NFL for several years now, but Under Armour gloves? Is that new? (Screen shot by Marc Bauche.) … Pretty funny Sabres-related editorial cartoon in the Buffalo News the other day — complete with period-appropriate uniforms (from John Gworek). ”¦ A few days ago I asked if any MLBer besides Hunter Pence hits while wearing one batting glove. Nobody was able to come up with another full-time one-glover, but Alex Higley says Todd Helton sometimes goes one-gloved when he’s mired in a slump. “He likes to switch things up when he’s not hitting,” says Alex. ”¦ Gordon Blau was helping a friend clear out some of his parents’ things when they came upon this great old Mets straw hat that had belonged to the friend’s father. “Knowing what a huge Mets fan I am, he gave me the hat,” says Gordon. “It is so gorgeous, I can barely stop adoring it.” ”¦ Japanese baseball note from Jeremy Brahm, who reports that NPB has announced that the Ganbarou Nippon batting helmet decals to support earthquake/tsunami relief will be worn again by all players in 2012. ”¦ Royals prospect Wil Myers has never worn batting gloves (from C. Trent Rosecrans). ”¦ Tim Reyes notes that Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson, who’ll be in the upcoming NFL draft, has “the best uni-related name ever.” Yeah, until someone names their kid Swoosh McReebok or something. … Cycling news from Bernie Langer: “American team Garmin-Cervelo has changed its name to Garmin-Barracuda and released its 2012 team kit. It’s nice to see they’ve returned to their argyle pattern on their standard jersey; last year, they’d largely abandoned it, except for their special Tour de France jersey, which looked pretty similar to the new one.” … Whoa, check out this amazing Cubs long bullpen parka/overcoat thingie (awesome find by Bruce Menard). … There was a lot of talk about the UW-Whitewater’s chest wordmark during the Stagg Bowl. Here’s a good shot of it in its natural state, without being stretched. Not so remarkable after all (from Corey Bruns). … A basketball team in Kuwait has copied the Wizards’ uniforms (from Ben Marciniak). … Threadless.com recently ran a T-shirt contest to come up with a mascot-based design for each of a dozen major universities. You can see the winners by clicking on each university’s icon on this page (big thanks to Will Wyss). … Two sports-related things about the Denver-based indie band Tennis: (1) Their name is Tennis. (2) Their new album design has a retro Nuggets feel (from Brian Mazmanian). … Good thing I don’t live in Baltimore (from David Cline). ”¦ Georgia State hoops wore new orange uniforms at home, last night, and coach Ron Hunter went barefoot, as a promotion for the charity Samaritan’s Feet, which provides free shoes to needy children. Photos here, additional info here (from Britton Thomas). ”¦ Here’s an excellent account, including some developmental drawings, of how the Broncos’ current identity was developed 15 years ago (big thanks to Ryan Hess).
awesome
why can’t teams throw in the mono every once in a blue moon if they insist on a dark top? even in b&w that looks good
in color, even better
Welcome back from Clev. Did you get to that restaurant I suggested? Also, did you every receive that pin in the mail?
Restaurant: No (didn’t have time).
Pin: Yes! Thank you so much!!
Wow, I’ve never seen that WHA logo before anywhere. Thanks for posting it! I too would be interested in finding out a bit more about it…
I definitely like the look of that one. It’s got that late-60s aesthetic, like “The Hockey Player from U.N.C.L.E.” or something.
1972 was the inaugural year of the WHA, so it may simply have been the more “flashy” logo upon the league’s startup. Graphically, that logo would be a mess when printed smaller.
I’ve never seen it before, but I’ll give you a theory.
The Whalers likely made that one up themselves.
Why?
The original WHA logo used during its formative time (which, btw, was already around when partner and I got involved) had swiped the little player from the logo of the Milwaukee Admirals, I believe it was). You can see the “A” on his chest. The logo in that photo uses the original typography, but with a different hockey player.
The WHA eventually changed its logo. That particular press conference may have been in the “tween” time, when the league was trying to quietly get away from using the Swiped version. Baldwin and his group, being among the more marketing savvy in the league, may have whipped up their own sign so as NOT to use the Swipe in such a high profile setting.
This, of course, is the logo that replaced the Swipe…
link
(Having a devil of a time finding the Swipe quickly online…but I’m at work so I can’t spend any more time looking right now).
Since the Admirals started as an amateur team called the Milwaukee Wings in 1970, I’m going to say that this is improbable.
The team was rechristened as the Milwaukee Admirals in 1971, meaning that the WHA had approximately one year to get their house in order with the pilfered logo. In fact, the independent Admirals’ logo link. Why would the WHA or the New England Whalers steal something from an amateur team that no one has heard of?
In 1973-74, the Admirals jumped to the USHL, and they changed their logo to link. This, however, would have been much too late for the Whalers to borrow it in the summer of 1972, so it leads back to the previous logo when they played as an amateur, and relatively unheard-of, club.
Furthermore, Gary Davidson was an Orange County guy, not a Milwaukee County guy. Baldwin is a Connecticut guy through and through. Neither of them have shown any interest in the Milwaukee area, especially a fledgling amateur team in 1971.
Honestly, Teebz, I’m just going by what I was told when we came on board with the WHA. Someone had whipped together a logo for them, and the hockey player was bagged from an existing logo, and I thought they said it was the Admirals. All of this was LONG before Howard Baldwin became involved, btw.
What I DO know is that the original WHA logo’s hockey player had an “A” on his jersey…because I “whited it out” with paint and a brush when we started doing things, changed it to look like this…
link
When I get home I’ll see if I have any of the really early stuff, when it that still had the “A”.
And, no, it’s wasn’t an Alternate Captain “A”.
Was a big-ass capital “A” on his chest, and you could see enough of it to tell it was an “A”.
Hope I can find something at home.
I’m not doubting you, Rick, about the more common WHA logo, but the logo in the picture linked by Paul? Highly unlikely. The picture is from 8/11/72, long before the Admirals jumped to the more well-known USHL.
Although, I could be wrong. If so, all bets are off, and no money is guaranteed! ;o)
All I’m saying is the original was bagged from somewhere, probably in spring or summer of 1971. And I don’t claim to know where, just that I thought back then the Admirals got mentioned. Whose logo COULD it have been? Some junior team? Another minor league team? Dunno. Just know it was “borrowed”…and the WHA realized maybe they ought to come up with one of their own.
The sign for that news conference likely was a jury-rigged temporary because they didn’t want to use the Swipe, but hadn’t settled on a new league logo yet.
It IS the type from the original, that much is evident.
I’m pretty sure you have this publication, Teebz…
link
Does it use the second official logo? I’m trying to recall how quickly they got the “non-Swipe” into use.
Don’t have it with me, but I’ll check into tonight (if I remember). I’ll also poke around and see what I can dig up in a couple of other publications.
Interesting to see in link that while coach Alex Monchak has a vertically arched NOB, manager Chuck Tanner doesn’t.
Maybe Monchak, having been with the Pirates link, is reusing an older uniform.
“Meh” on that Denver thing. Still liked the previous edition much better. All I would;ve done was darken up the shade of blue they used to use just a tad. Everything else was damn near perfect.
HATE the orange striping down the sides of their current uniforms and don’t care for the letter font they use for the NOB either.
Huh. I never noticed the Swoosh in the Broncos nostril before. Well that makes me appreciate the old logo & unis even more so.
You never noticed it because it isn’t there. It’s not a Nike swoosh. The proportions are completely wrong. Calling it a Nike swoosh is like saying a red hexagon is a stop sign.
Swoosh, and nostril turned CCW 90 degrees:
link
If it was made by anyone else, I’d say it was a coincidence.
To me, that image shows just how much of a stretch it is. It’s people that dislike Nike *wanting* to see it as a swoosh.
Rotate it 180 and stretch it a bit more and you’ve got a Starfleet logo.
I’m sorry, but Nike doesn’t get to own every curved shape with 2 pointed ends.
*gasp* I didn’t realize Nike had also infiltrated the hallowed images of Star Trek! ;)
We’re not talking like it’s a circle or a square or star here. So it’s not a perfect Swoosh clone, it’s more subtle; a clone would be too obvious.
Both have roughly the same basic shape, it even tapers off into a fine point one direction & does drop down farther in rounded weight on the opposite end. I’d say “too close” considering who designed it.
Enough people have suggested there’s a Swoosh in the Broncos uniforms. Isn’t that far fetched to think they would put it in the logo, too. Nike is sly enough to pull off such a thing and this was a very important job by Nike back in the day. I wouldn’t put anything past those assholes.
Or, as someone else has said… sometimes 3 stripes are just 3 stripes.
Well in that case, then I don’t see a mimic Swoosh, I see the Devil – or Hitler: Hitler Blanks a Donkey – that bad man blanking a pet monkey. Silly me. #KidsintheHall
Doesn’t the article state that the pant stripes were not designed to look like a swoosh, from on the of designers himself? Seems to me the same would be true of the nostril. It doesn’t look like intent to me. If it was intended to be a swoosh, it would be a swoosh, not a sorta, kinda, if you rotate it this way and think really hard, it could be similar to the swoosh.
It’s not a swoosh, it’s a nostril. It maybe sorta kinda looks like THE swoosh, but it’s not.
Exactly. If it isn’t just a nostril, then Superman’s nose has been a subliminal Nike ad for more than 60 years.
That’s a pretty good account of the design process. I’m sure there were some great logos and uniform designs that got cut in favor of the robo-horse and bat-wing, but that’s how it usually goes, unfortunately.
like the broncos piece a lot–especially the initial version of the helmet.
‘In his words he said, “I want a horse that looks like it’s going to kick your ass”.’
Looks like he didn’t get his wish – with the horse facing forward, its just the full back who’ll get kicked :P
Paul,
I think UA was added to the NFL Equipment approved suppliers this season.
According to various press releases, Anquan Boldin, Tom Brady, and Cam newton are all paid endorsers.
I think players can —or perhaps just do despite the fines— use Cutters, too, as long as they have a contract with the company.
Not sure if he still counts as an MLBer, but Jay Gibbons is a one-glover:
link
Damn, $12,000 in 1953 money wasted in printed Pirates tickets. As a former printing press operator it hurts to look at that.
I would imagine that the Braves or MLB had to have reimbursed the Pirates for the loss. $12,000 in 1953 would be worth over $101,000 in 2011. I wonder if the amount paid was actually $1,200.
Re: “(1) Their name is Tennis.” Reminds me of one of the best band names ever, “Bettie Serveert”, (Translates to “Bettie Serves”) named after Dutch player Bettie Stöve. link
Always loved that band. Saw them live several times ’94-ish.
Their 2010 album – “Pharmacy of Love” — is pretty good. Favorite cut: “Deny All.”
Tennis’ last album, Cape Dory, was maybe the best album I’ve heard since 1998. It’s kind of one of those “concept albums” where the whole thing tells a story, but the songs stand well on their own, and many of the tracks out-Spector Spector on the Wall of Sound front. One of those works that’s so perfect that it spoils me for even trying anything else by that artist, since it can’t possibly be as good, right? (Same reason that I’ve only ever read one other Doctorow novel after Ragtime. If I hadn’t already read Ragtime, I would have thought The March was a great novel, but all I could think was, “It’s good, but it’s no Ragtime.)
I feel like the Broncos concept logo in that article looks very similar to one the Dallas Mavericks logos. Maybe some of the Nike folks who worked on the Denver rebrand also worked on the Dallas rebrand.
link
link
Don’t forget the “Horsepower” insignia from the teal days of the Detroit Pistons.
-Walter
Ooh the teal pistons, I had forgotten that, dark uni days in the motor city
I liked the teal Pistons.
On one hand, yeah it was using the trendy colors of the time. On the other hand, it was actually a unique scheme for the NBA.
The teal Pistons were hideous. The best element was the horsehead logo. A pity it couldn’t have been kept as an alternate.
That Broncos logo is almost identical (though reversed and slightly more menacing) to a logo used by the Buffalo Stallions an indoor soccer team that played in the early 80s
link
Now that’s a nice logo! They look like actual horses. Though…I don’t know if I am intimidated by them like I am by the current Broncorobobeast.
UA gloves arent new. Its actually pretty interesting a few years back in order to get the NFL to allow players to show the UA logo on the field UA gave the NFL a bunch of stock in the company.
That seems strange. So, the NFL has a personal interest in Under Armour, but basically left them out of their new outfitting contracts? This is America. You’re supposed to exploit conflicts of interest for every penny they’re worth.
The NFL doesn’t have statutory antitrust protection like MLB does. Are you sure the FTC would let a merger like that go through?
The picture of Phil Garner sliding into third while Darrell Evans receives the high throw is off the charts!! That particular iteration of the “San Francisco” script is my all-time favorite; too bad it only lasted one year.
-Walter
Buccos ticket burning: Gotta love the name Goody Levy, Federal Tax agent. Sounds like the title of a ’50s TV show.
Even better, it sounds like a 1940s radio drama. Maybe Goody Levy, Federal Tax Agent, was a confidante of Johnny Dollar, Insurance Investigator, from the great old serial, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar.
If someone can explain to me why the Pirates and Braves switched schedules……
In those days, each league had four eastern teams and four western teams. In the NL, Boston, New York, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia were the east, while Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis were the west. Especially with train travel, they wanted to minimize the long east-west trips, so a trip to the other “division” involved going to all four cities, and homestands always featured all four visiting teams.
When Boston moved to Milwaukee, they became the fourth western team, while Pittsburgh became eastern. So they switched schedules.
my goodness, i LOVE what they were trying with the “D” logo on the right section of the concepts!!!
i see what they were trying for, and why it wouldn’t work… but damn, that could be sharp somewhere else
imagine minor tweaks of the upper-rightmost “D” for the Detroit Lions… or, for the “D” just to the left of that for a team named the Dragons. really cool stuff:
link
Yeah, some of those broncos look like dragons. Getting a little Duke logo tendencies from the lowerleft D.
What’s with the star on the INSIDE of that Cowboys helmet??
Clear helmet shell, maybe?
Looking at it again it looks more like a label/sticker or something. The size is wrong and it looks skewed (unless the other side is different???)
This looks to me like they were experimenting with different logos to put on the new silver/blue helmets. Those logos could be just paper and map pencil; it was the 1960s, after all. My guess is that they looked at the white-outlined star, the “sheriff’s badge” hidden inside the helmet held by Murchison, and the boot, perhaps among others.
I only wish the Cowboys would return to that darker silver/blue helmet (and pants) and settle on ONE shade of blue.
What’s the story behind the Ralph Kiner pic? I had never heard of the Jr Rose Bowl. Oh and look at the gams on that broad, sorry couldn’t resist. If you look closely @ the foxy boxing pic you can see a tiny adidas logo & the three stripes along the sides of the ladies shorts, I guess logo creep has been going on longer than we thought. P
That photograph made my day. So silly, preposterous, and dumbed-down witty. And, yeah, T’Challa, what the hell was the Junior Rose Bowl? Or was it that our ingenue was Miss Rose Bowl, Junior Division? The USA in the 1950s has to have been be the funniest hegemon in history. Ah, youth.
I think it was for the California Junior College Football Championship.
Here is a site with a little more information – at least about the picture itself:
link
Wikipedia has this blurb about the Jr. Rose Bowl (on Rose Bowl page)
Junior Rose Bowl
The stadium has hosted the Junior Rose Bowl from 1946—71 and 1976—77. Between 1946—66 and 1976—77, the game pitted the California Junior College football champions vs. The NJCAA football champions for the National Championship. It was organized by the Pasadena Junior Chamber of Commerce. The Junior Rose Bowl became the Pasadena Bowl football game from 1967—71; it was billed as the Junior Rose Bowl the first two years, but instead two teams from the NCAA College Division competed (then later the University Division, usually featuring teams that were not invited to other major bowls).
Cool work.
We’ve seen this photo before, but hey…I’m not complaining….
Welcome back, Paul! Great to see you Tuesday.
Another one batting gloved player is the Tigers’ Clete Thomas (mired in the minor leagues of late).
link
Great picture of the little ball boy from 1910. I’m trying to put some colour into it, but has anyone any idea why the little fella’s wearing a cap with a “B”?
B for ball! (I’m guessing.)
Oh yes…. could be :)
B for batboy? B for boy? B for his first name (Billy)? Well, we know he was a lefty.
The flag behind Billy is a good example of how hard it can be to distinguish red from blur in old b&w photographs.
No one has mentioned the wonderfulness of that Mr Met straw hat, so I hereby do so.
Blur is a lovely color.
Blur is a great band from Wigan :)
Ugh, Blur sucks. Well, Song 2 sucks. For all I know the rest of their stuff might be ok, but thanks to that song I refuse to even attempt to listen to more of them.
WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT??????
The Verve are a great band from Wigan – d’oh!!!!! Blur are rubbish!
I was actually once up on a business team-build thing up in teh Lake District n England, and apparently passed Damon Albarn. My daughter was mortified when I got home and told her that I had no idea who he was :)
Most of Blur’s music doesn’t really sound like Song 2 at all.
Here’s “Coffee and TV,” a great song and one of the better videos of all time featuring a animated milk carton searching for someone.
link
If you don’t like the song, at least lower the volume and watch the video.
Is it just me or doesn’t some of the sketches bring to mind the Boise State Broncos logo? I wonder if they used the initial thumbnails as a jumping off point?
The Boise State identity was done by Joe Bosack, not Nike.
hey paul, i would like to send for a membership card, but when i try to click the link for your email, all i get is a blank page……any chance you could send it to me or post it here?
uniwatching at gmail
thanks buddy…..be on the look out for my info
Greeting from purple clad bmore. I alway thought the Broncos logo sampled liberally from the Baltimore Stallions CFL logo. And UA has contracts for shoes, gloves and undergear with several NFL players FWIW.
link
It might have influenced them… but really there’s only so many ways to draw a side view of a horse’s head.
It’s also a bit similar the St Louis Stallions prototype: link
The Broncos branders show all that work, but the helmet design wound up looking pretty damn close to the Baltimore Stallions of the CFL. It’s too close to say it wasn’t influenced by it. Even the helmet striping is similar.
link
the MIAIM Hurricanes, you betcha.
Oh, so the color orange came from the fire in the Bronco’s belly, and not the fact that it’s a team color? Fuck off.
Otherwise, interesting piece.
Oh chill out. The “Fire Within the Bronco” sounds cooler than “well, they started wearing orange in 1962 and told us we couldn’t change it”.
saw this headline and saw first: The Jeff (Fischer)
link
*snicker*
One tiny step closer on my quest for world domination…
Yeah, but you’ll have to take two steps back for snickering.
Develop a real link and you’re back in business.
No – this is the best laugh to have
link
Oh chill out. The “Fire Within the Bronco” sounds
coolerstupid.Fixed.
Sorry, but I think I side with Bernard on this one. Press release boilerplate is obnoxious, but never more so than when they try to fellate the potential season-ticket buyers.
-Walter
How about just making up a story about how the orange is ‘rooted in team history and reminds one of a sunset over the western horizon of Mile High’ instead of making up a story about an imaginary inferno within a horse’s tummy that sounds like a third grader wrote it. Those types of press releases really are more embarrassing for Nike than anything else. I just picture all these copywriters, art directors and designers concocting this thing in a room late at night, exclaiming to each other how cool this is going to sound and how this story is going to ‘tie the whole identity together’ and other mumbo jumo, all the while the audience just laughs at how stupid it sounds when it comes out of their mouths. Not everything needs a reason, and if you do need a reason for a design choice, ‘because it has historical precedent’ is rarely a bad answer.
Well said.
There’s something wrong about the Iowa logo on that Threadless site; or did I miss something?
Cool Mets straw hat. That’s the first time I’ve seen Mr. Met drawn with discernible pupils; usually they are solid or have a small white dot (reflection of light?) in them. Was this common?
One of the many great things about Mr. Met — as originally rendered, at least — is that his pupils were little baseball diamonds:
link
That is great, because it makes him look kinda mad.
And I don’t mean angry. I mean deranged.
So I see! Sometimes that dot was, upon closer inspection, a diamond. I’ll be keeping an eye on him when I see Mets memorabilia.
I don’t know why but when I saw the Met strawhat I thought of Lindsey Nelson !!!
I’m sure Nelson had a sport coat or two that would’ve complemented that hat.
Hockey…
Tennis…
Any other bands who have for a name?
And I’m not talking about names that include a sport e.g. The Baseball Project.
Heh. I forgot that words enclosed in greater than and less than signs get interpreted as HTML tags.
Any other bands who have < sport > for a name?
The Detroit Cobras?
Hockey?
Not that I can think of straightaway – but you could try this:
link
“Amish Tool” and “Farting Letter” seem quite good
Back in the 1990s, there was an indie band called Soccer, fronted by the little brother of Gail O’Hara, who edited the indie zine Chickfactor.
There was a indie band from Chicago in the early 2000’s called American Football… members of Cap’n Jazz and Joan of Arc.
American Football were a fantastic band.
D.J. Polo?
Judges?
…
We’ll accept that.
There’s a Quebec band called “Les Dales Hawerchuk”. Hawerchuk is, of course, a Hall-of-Fame NHLer.
The Zambonis wear hockey jerseys when they play. The Zamboni was originally named for its designer Frank Zamboni.
Polo.
My bad. Reading too fast. It’s bands, not brands.
VON HAYES!
Cripes. I’m surprised nobody’s said “Mookie Blaylock” yet.
Hockey is a sport.
Von Hayes is not a sport.
Soccer is a sport.
The Zambonis is not a sport.
Tennis is a sport.
Les Dales Hawerchuk is not a sport.
Polo is a sport.
The Detroit Cobras is not a sport.
Forgot one…
American football is a sport.
link
Miss ya, George
I know this isn’t exactly a dugout style sweater….but it’s pretty close, no? Close enough you could use it as a base and add a logo or letters and make it work I would think:
link
“Swoosh McReebok”! Hilarious! It’s the little things in life…
Per the Globe and Mail (a well respected Canadian Newspaper)
link
Next Year’s winter classic is
Toronto at Detroit
The need to feel secure that the Big House will be sold out appears to have trumped the need for two US markets. Now if by some fluke it doesn’t sell out?
That would be the case, I imagine.
NBC’s viewing “carrot” would be “see the huge crowd” added to the outdoor game, and the proximity of Toronto and Detroit–especially factoring in a first appearance by a Canadian team–would trump the “two U.S. markets” policy. They want to keep it a “viewing event.”
And they believe that “carrot” will draw more overall viewers nationally than any particular U.S. market would in its own ADI. And they’re probably correct. Otherwise, the Leafs make no sense. Not from a U.S. Network’s point of view.
“the proximity of Toronto and Detroit”
The point being that knowing you can sell tickets in two markets helps when you have that much seating capacity to deal with.
Interesting also that in 2013 January 1 is a Tuesday, so they may be banking on many, many companies giving their employees Monday off…which would allow those from Toronto to travel the day before the game.
(If they wait til ’14, it would just be a Wednesday off and they’d lose that advantageous logistic).
Agreed with everything you said Ricko – thinking the same thoughts
I suspect the NHL agonized over whether it’s Toronto at Detroit or Chicago at Detroit. Afterall Chicago is not too far away either. But 115,000 (that’s what they’re going after) – there’s no more populous /hockey obsessed market than South Ontario. In terms of holidays – in Canada – Thanksgiving (Oct) isn’t that big (compared to the States) Chistmas through New Year is – 90%+ take that entire period as holidays – I would guess.
One other comment
Detroit will have to work hard to make it feel like it’s a home game for the,. I can easily see there being more Toronto fams than Detroit fams – and ideally for TV – you might have a 50/50 split – which could produce an underlying Canada/US friendly tension – even though the Red Wings are run by Canadians , with a lot of European players, and the Leafs are run mostly by Americans.
Another Detroit and Chicago game would feel a little repetitive. (As would another Washington and Pittsburgh game…I’m actually hoping that it DOESN’T happen, but Sid and Ovie’s presences might be too good to pass up.) Having Buffalo come in would be very good too, especially if you want to double-up with a Wolverines/Spartans (Ryan Miller’s university) game. But Toronto at the Big House visiting Detroit…that would be INCREDIBLE. Lemme tell you, if this isn’t the time to relax the “we need two American teams because we’re pandering to NBC viewership” rule, there will never ever be a time. And true red vs royal blue outside on white ice would look pretty fantastic too.
Agreed, Mike. I don’t want to see any repeats until all the best teams are used up.
By best I mean… no one wants to see Columbus, Tampa, etc.
“Sid and Ovie’s presences might be too good to pass up”
~~~
see?
that’s the shit im talkin’ aboot
you want to get a one-time hockey fan BACK into the game? DON’T BE TRYING TO SELL ONE OR TWO ‘STARS’ … i have NO interest whatsoever in them…
sell the damn game, sell the history, sell the teams
STOP making it all about one or two players
Or just trade the players to whatever teams are in the WC.
Rockets “PJ” unis to return next year as throwbacks…
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As the article stated, “throwups” would be a better term.
Still, there were some decent elements to that uniform/logo set. The colors were all right. The logo was pretty good. The wordmark was fine. Put the wordmark on a plain white or navy uniform (no pinstripes), with the number underneath the wordmark, and you’d have a decent uniform.
Decently ugly, I guess.
Let’s face it, Houston’s identity has been a hot mess ever since. The most fondly remembered uniform was a hodgepodge of dissimilar fonts and mismatched trim, made mighty by the teams two championships. About the only element worth building an identity around is the “shock wave” that encircles the players’ arms.
-Walter
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
even though i hated that uni possibly more than any nba uni…
i hope they bring it back JUST to piss off
champermothervilkerOnly if the Mets bring back the drop shadow…
Y’know, I liked those uniforms, but I’m not the intended audience. As a liberal arts major from the Northeast, I tend to go for the outre and preposterous.
-Walter
Quite possibly the first use of “outré” on this website.
Ewwww.
Worst basketball uniform ever.
Not so fast…
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Then there’s this one:
I said, this one:
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Yup, those are spectacularly awful. Let’s take a look at some other contenders, shall we?
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While all of those teams have seriously upgraded since then, if they threw back to those I wouldn’t be too heartbroken. I can’t say the same for the Rockets, Cavs and Raptors. Those three should just be forgotten.
The sad, sad tale of NBA basketball in the ’90’s. Woeful.
Just a brutal era for uniforms, but at least the collars were proper crewnecks.
Now the current Rockets uni is pretty good…especially when they wear the alt.
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Combine that with the current Kings look,
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and that’s a good modern matchup.
Okay, my opinnion is pretty hardcore on helmet stripes. And I nearly had a coronary when my coach added those link to our Houston Energy helmets (because he played for Carolina). He also brought those horrible mono blood clot (wrong red, to boot) unis… of course being a women’s team, we referenced them by something else.
But – if you are gonna screw up your on-field image anyway, the way that Bronco helmet protototype had the link is pretty cool.
That helmet would have made those uniforms look ten-times more ‘nineties’ than they already do.
This is an AWESOME video of the Packer grounds crew putting up the finishing touches on Lambeau Field for the playoff game Sunday.
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Oh, and while I’m at it, McCarthy announced the Playoff Captains for the Packers. Fortunately the Packers pick different captains every week during the regular season, and do not wear the captaincy patches. Unfortunately, the Packer pick permanent captains for the playoffs, so they do wear the captaincy patches. Look for the patches on Rodgers, Driver, Hawk, Woodson, Crosby, and Bush.
Cool video!
Doesn’t look like he’s on a major league roster anymore as of 2011, but Jay Gibbons was a one-glover on both the Orioles and Dodgers
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Where did threadless get their Hawkeye logo? Not only is it old, it was never official.
He’s a pitcher, but the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner goes one-gloved.
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Love the old-time ice cream trucks in the CoTD. Thanks for sharing!
“Eat a plate of ice cream every day”
Couldn’t agree more.
What logo is on Rick Renteria’s pillbox cap? I’m assuming it’s the Pirates minor league affiliate at the time. Never realized minors had pillboxes back then. link
Alexandria Dukes, who were a Pirates affiliate in the 1980s.
As a longtime Alexandrian, I would absolutely kill for one of those pillbox caps. Also, the stadium the Dukes played at is still there; today it’s used for a summer college wood-bat league, and today would barely qualify for little league bleachers. Hard to imagine that they played pro ball on that field.
The Bulls had a player wearing number 14 with NNOB Wednesday night vs. Washington. Looked odd with the blank spot on the back of a classic uni. I don’t see a player wearing 14 on the Bulls roster, so I don’t know who it was.
Check the last item in yesterday’s Ticker.
Considering that he spent about 47 minutes of the game on the bench, you’d think they could have gotten a jersey with his name on it by the time he got in there. It was a home game, for crying out loud.
Hell, supposedly, link Wednesday to get to that game. How ’bout a little reciprocity in the effort department?
I think I’ve been working too hard- I missed all of Thursday’s post. It’s like a bonus Uni Watch today!
I have only one word for Rick Renteria: “Fidelio.”
I don’t know what that boot is on the old Cowboys helmet–never ever once seen anything like that, and I’m pretty familiar with their history. Would love to know more.
In a development that’s not directly uni related but still of some relevance to UW, punk band Rise Against have proven that you don’t need to go pink to go BCA: link
With most lawmakers gone for the holidays, President Obama took full advantage of the empty stage, appearing with everyday Americans to make the case that House Republicans need to relent and pass a payroll tax cut extension that would mean an extra $1,000 a year to a typical family.
I think you got the wrong website buddy.
I’m having a bit of trouble viewing your blog. I’m running windows 7, firefox 3.6. Any ideas what might be wrong? The text is showing up funny.