By Phil Hecken
Back in the summer when I was pinch-hitting for Paul during the weekdays, I received numerous submissions for articles from you fine readers. I’ve gotten to most of them, but there are still a couple that I haven’t had a chance to run — today is one of those days I’m going to run one. And it’s a treat for historians, and a very obscure chapter in NFL history.
Today’s feature piece comes from Pittsburgher and uni historian Jerry Wolper, who I’ve worked with on several pieces and whose monumental work on the “BucTracker” (a detailing of the uniform combinations worn by the Pittsburgh Pirates during their “Bumblebee” period of 1977-1984) and whose efforts were detailed on this blog previously. Jerry offered up the following research piece on the long-forgotten “Federal” Division that the NFL briefly had prior to the merger with the AFL in 1970. Here’s Jerry with a look back at…
The NFL’s “Federal Division”
By Jerry Wolper
Is the NHL’s Metropolitan Division a bad idea for a name? Absolutely.
Would the NFL ever make that kind of mistake? Well…
When the NFL added their sixteenth franchise in New Orleans for the 1967 season, they decided to go to four four-team divisions. According to an article in the Dec. 1, 1966 Pittsburgh Press, the four divisions would be named Central, Coastal, Capitol, and Federal.
In the Dec. 11, 1966 Press, columnist Roy McHugh discussed the realignment and the naming:
“It’s the Federal Division – the one with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St. Louis, and New York in it – because no one could think of a better name. This was the big problem when the club owners met in New York and split up the league into quarters – putting suitable labels on their handiwork.
“First they agreed to keep the Eastern and Western Conferences (previously referred to as divisions) intact. St. Louis and Dallas are in the East, Baltimore and Atlanta in the West, but this is the jet age.
“The Eastern group that includes Washington became the Capital Division. Philadelphia, Dallas and New Orleans accepting the name out of patriotism.
“Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago decided to call themselves the Central Division, which made sense geographically.
“The other group in the West – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore and Atlanta – will be the Coastal Division, but don’t ask what seabreezes blow all the way to Atlanta.
“‘We were the last ones to get a name,’ says the Steelers’ Dan Rooney.
“There were several unadopted suggestions, he reveals: Columbian, which fell flat; Liberty – which was favorably received until one owner pointed out that Philadelphia was in the Capital Division; Central, which made for duplication.
“The lateness of the hour and onset of hunger pangs may explain why Federal was so popular with everybody.”
On Feb. 22, 1967, the Press reported on NFL meetings in Honolulu. The report mentioned that “Incidentally, the division in which the Steelers will play has beeen[sic] changed from Federal to Century because the owners didn’t like Federal and all the others division begin with ‘C’.”
And so the short life of the NFL’s Federal Division ended. The not-much-better Century lasted until the 1970 merger, when the
American and National Conferences each went with Eastern, Central and Western Divisions.
Thanks Jerry!
Too Good For The Ticker…
Last weekend, I was pleased to bring you the incredible historical Vancouver Baseball images found and wonderfully edited by Bruce Menard. Yesterday I received an e-mail from Bruce, which stated,
Believe it or not, I somehow managed to miss a few panoramics that are on the Vancouver website…at least one of which I absolutely would have included last week.
So I just finished an edit on it, maybe you could run it this weekend. It’s from June 10, 1914 – Pennant Day. The Vancouver team is raising the ’13 Northwestern League Championship Pennant.
It’s very large and filled with some really great details (uniforms, signage, the band). I edited it down to @10,000 px wide. There’s even a few more panoramics from that day, but this one is really the best.
OH…and there’s an alternate shot of that 1915 Opening Game pic from last week. It’s a bit of a different camera angle…so I made an edit of that as well.
Not only did Bruce include those two, but he found a third photo, “a different view of that 1914 Pennant Day pano, taken from home plate looking outward…great angle.”
So, without further ado, here are those three beautiful photos (click on each one to enlarge):
Tremendous! Thanks, Bruce!
A Kerfuffle in Carolina
If you follow me on Twitter (and you know you should), I try to scour the Interwebs and Twittersphere for breaking uni news (some of which appears the next day right here on Uni Watch); on Thursday evening, I came across a story (click the link in the tweet) which contained the following photo:
New midfield logo for NC State football? -> https://t.co/nwav5S8p1s pic.twitter.com/sHqRWa5h2l
— Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) November 1, 2013
Now, this being cyberspace, and with the ability of photoshoppers out there, no one was sure if this was real or a prank — if so, it would be the ultimate trolling by NC State by basically “stealing” ECU’s mid-field logo. The story gained legs, and sure enough, some intrepid soul snuck onto the field and confirmed that, indeed, the logo was real:
That NC State logo that looks like ECU's? Apparently it is REAL -> https://t.co/S6dTrtG1bN pic.twitter.com/JXQVLKDupH
— Phil Hecken (@PhilHecken) November 1, 2013
And so, apparently, someone climbed up the stadium yesterday and snapped this photo:
So today, the North Carolina Tar Heels take on the North Carolina State Wolfpack in both teams’ big rivalry game for 2013. And North Carolina will be greeted with what is essentially the East Carolina University Pirates’ mid-field logo. In Wolfpack colors. Unless it’s all just a really elaborate hoax. Or not.
Stay tuned.
Colorize This!
Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.
Back with a new edition of “Colorize This!” today — it’s somewhat small, but it features colorizations by two UW stalwarts, and a request for a colorization from an old friend.
Click on each image to enlarge.
We begin today with Rick “Ricko” Pearson, who has a request for a colorization. It came as part of a separate e-mail, which I’ll share with you because there’s great history here:
A HA!,
Lennie Moore DID spat his shoes at Penn State. That would make him one of the very, very earliest to do so a matter of course. His senior season was 1955.
I never knew one way or the other because he already was with the Colts when I started looking at such things in football.
Moore apparently continued it immediately to the NFL because I also found what must be his first training camp PR photo, judging by the wearing of #36.
NOTE: Don Clark spatted at Ohio State a bit later. Played in 1958 Rose Bowl between Buckeyes and Oregon “Webfoots” (announcers call them that). Clark’s #18 and carries on, like, the second play.
Other early spatters I know of were Art Baker and John Mackey at Syracuse (time of Ernie Davis).
Very, very few were spatting in the 50s. By about 1961 it started to spread.
…for any colorizers’ benefit, those are royal blue kneehigh stirrups (with a version of NU stripes in white) under white crew socks.
Next up is George Chilvers who took up the cue from last weekend and colorized one of Bruce Menard’s wonderful Vancouver Baseball photographs. My God this is gorgeous:
Hi Phil
Some pictures just call out to be colourised. This one was actually shouting to me :) As always when colourising little detail emerges – did you see the two ladies looking out the upstairs window before?
What an amazing set of pictures these from the City of Vancouver Archives are!
George
And we close today with one from Gary Chanko, who also went deep for six with this beautiful rendering of LSU player Billy Cannon:
Phil,
As a football uni design element, UCLA stripes have all but disappeared in recent years. Lest we forget, this image of LSU 1959 Heisman Trophy winner, Billy Cannon shows how they should look.
View the original B&W here among a collection of old school college football photos.
Gary
That’s it for today. Big, big thanks to Ricko, George and Gary. Fantastic stuff this week!
Guess The Game…From The Scoreboard
It’s baaaaaack.
I figured last weekend’s scoreboard might stump you guys, but you intrepid readers solved it in almost record time. I don’t have much higher hopes for today’s game, but you never know. There’s also a bonus scoreboard game (at the end of this section) that was sent in by reader David Firestone (it’s a bit out of focus, but it shouldn’t be too difficult).
If you solve it, as a courtesy to other readers, simply LINK (go to Baseball Reference) to the game and post that link in your comment — feel free to describe HOW you solved it, using any clues you may have gleaned from the Scoreboard.
OK? OK! Post your answer (in link form) in the comments section below. Good luck.
Last week’s scoreboard/answer: March 4, 2012.
BONUS SCOREBOARD
U.W.F.F.L. Week 9 Update
By Rob Holecko
We’re starting to get into the stretch run here in the UWFFL – no gimmicks this week, just some good matchups. Home field advantage throughout the playoffs may be on the line as the Top 2 teams in the UWFFL when the 7-1 Minnesota Mustangs travel to New York and take on the 7-1 Sharks. Other big games: Detroit at Atlanta, San Francisco at San Diego.
There’s also a big game in the minors as the #2 Anchorage Orcas (8-1) take on the #3 Sacramento Scorpions (also 8-1). Also Carolina and Florida face off in the East, and Goldsmith Gulch vs. Las Vegas and Vancouver vs Portland in the Pacific look to be important games for those teams’ playoff hopes.
Be sure to check out all of this week’s action and vote for your favorite teams at uwfantasyfootballleague.com.
Uni Tweaks Concepts
We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.
So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.
Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.
Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.
And so, lets begin:
We begin today with Alex Manjerovic, new idea for the Pitt Panthers:
Hey Phil,
I did a Pitt uniform concept which I attached to the email. I find the whole topic really interesting and was wondering that if you like the concept, maybe I could possibly do the whole ACC like Jeff Provo did with the Big Ten the other day. I sent the email to the Uni Watch email and your email that you have on twitter because i wasn’t not 100 sure how to contact you.
Thanks, Alex Manjerovic
Next up is Dan Johnson, with a bunch of NBA concepts:
Phil,
Here are a few of my ideas, who knows, maybe someone would like them.
Thank you Sir!
Dan Johnson
We close today with Kiechel Valentine who has a Rockies ‘fauxback’:
Phil,
The San Diego Padres inspired fauback of the Rays is tremendous. Here is one for the Rockies inspired by the early 80’s White Sox uniforms.
Kiechel C. Valentine
And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hallowe’en may be over, but the spirit isn’t, especially ‘sports pumpkins.’ Coleman Mullins was at the CK (Ceredo and Kenova) Pumpkin house in West Virginia. By Halloween night they have over 3000 carved pumpkins. “I went on the 25th, so they only had about a third of them done.” … Stephen Gradinscak noticed on Sports Center that the Chicago Bulls are still using the New Jersey Nets logo on their locker room standings board. The Wizards might be the old colors as well but it’s hard to tell. … Special unis on tap for Michigan State today? According to this article, “Alternative uniforms are in the house, but until game day, you can’t be sure they will wear them.” And will they have a special new helmet too? … Today’s Florida/Georgia hook-up, known as “the World’s largest outdoor cocktail party,” just got “elitist” by adding an upscale, three-story club adjacent to EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Fla. … Tonight, despite having black as an actual school color, Purdue will have a black out against THE Ohio State University. Purdue will have a new black helmet with a train track helmet stripe motif. … On Thursday, Paul highlighted Shane Victorino’s choice of cleats for Game 6 of the World Series, and now here’s an interview with the artist who created other customs for Victorino (thanks to Andy Pitt). … Here’s a pretty funny “poster” for todays Hokies/Eagles game (h/t Sully @Pal3327). Also from Sully, every UMass hockey player has an action picture above his stall. … Andrew Roman thought we might find this Michigan State helmet project interesting. “Recently I completed a custom paint job on a fire helmet I had laying around my house. I used green and white spray paint, also a clear coat. I taped off the stripe down the middle and used football helmet decals from eBay on the sides. … UMass hockey will wear military appreciation sweaters on November 9 (spotted by Josh Tremblay). … The Boston Red Sox now have an official World Champions patch (h/t @TheEmblemSource). … Interesting article from Notre Dame’s newspaper, The Observer, entitled, “Stadium grounds crew ”˜take care of God’s field’,” (sent in by Robert Murphy). Says Robert, “Something I learned from it was the line design in the end zones at Notre Dame Stadium points towards the ND student section and the Main Building (aka the Golden Dome). This means that the designs in each end zone, though they look alike are more like mirror images.” … UMass will wear special “American Flag” motif helmets today in their game vs NIU. … Paul is quoted in this New York Times article, “Who Made That Referee Shirt?”. … “Just saw the comment from last week’s ticker about Colgate’s helmets,” writes Ryan Dowgin. “This is what they wore in 1994, so it could be worse. And for the record, I like the ‘gate on the sides. Although I wouldn’t mind a switch to uni numbers on the sides like they used to have.” Also from Ryan, “Since I didn’t realize that Mike Philbrick is a Holy Cross alum, let’s talk about the (non-matching) blue and white undershirts Holy Cross is wearing under their purple uniforms. Talk about ugly!” … Texas A&M will be all decked out in their patriotic best for Military Appreciation Day. Helmets too (h/t Jared Colville). … The Minor League baseball Rochester Red Wings have revealed new logos for 2014. … Robert Luongo debuted a new mask, and it makes him look like Johnny Canuck! How awesome is that (great find by David Hutchison). … Reader David Lassen writes, “A friend of mine who has coached American football in Europe sent it along. Apparently there’s a college football league starting in India.” It’s pretty cool — they’ve got uniforms and everything. Too bad they’re all from the same template. … Western Illinois will be sporting new helmets today (h/t Joshua Gleason). … Here’s a good look at Baylor’s “blackout” uniforms for next Thursday’s game against Oklahoma. … Boy, those were some orange Beavers in Corvallis last night. … And finally, looks like the Utah Utes will be joining the ‘Merica party for next weekend’s game against Arizona State.
And that will close the books on the first Saturday Uni Watch of November, 2013. Big day for some Uni Watchers, as the annual Uni Watch Brooklyn Gathering at the Sheep Station in beautiful downtown Brooklyn (2:30 pm till ?), a mere stone’s throw from the Barclay’s Center place the Nets play. And you’re guaranteed to meet at least some of this crew:
Be sure to wear (or not) your finest jersey and a pair of ‘rups. I’ll see many of you later this afternoon. OK? OK!
Big thanks to Jerry and Bruce, and of course the concepters and colorizers too! Great job today everyone.
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“The fact that the term has been used as a franchise name for 80 years really dilutes it’s ability to also stand as a racial slur. Eighty years of Redskins football means that the vast majority of people don’t view it in any kind of negative light. In a parallel universe, 80 years of the ‘Harlem Niggers’ franchise would have the same effect ”“ most people not viewing it as a slur.”
–“The Jeff” Provo
Last photo in your NC State piece is from the local news helicopter flyover.
Why is the NC State / ECU logo thing such a big deal?
Did ECU trademark the use of the outline of the state of North Carolina?
NC State didn’t steal ECU’s logo. They’re just giving their own logo a similar treatment. Last time I checked the outlines of states weren’t copyrighted/trademarked.
The ECU logo with the outline of the state isn’t even their main logo. It’s just their midfield logo for football. It’s such a minor logo (again, more of a logo treatment than a logo) that it’s not even listed on the ECU page on sportslogos.net
Here, take a look for yourself:
link
So why is everybody freaking out? And they are freaking out enough that the local news did a fly over of the field??? Seriously?
I think multiple colleges in one state all have the right to use the outline of their state. And in this case, I actually think North Carolina *STATE* trumps *EAST* Carolina. ECU is more of a regional school in the eastern part of the state whereas NC State is the public university for the entire state! I would say NC State has more of a right to use the state outline than ECU.
Are NC State and ECU big rivals or something? Why is this such a big deal?
It’s not a big deal, it’s just that State fans have the shortest tempers in the whole world and every other fan base in North Carolina knows it and *loves* to set them off. That’s what this is about, and it worked.
I’ve always thought the East Carolina fans were worse. Not because of they have shorter tempers but because they’re like annoying gnats. So I got a good chuckle seeing this. Hah!!! That being said I’m glad to see UNC win.
Shouldn’t East Carolina have their logo in the shape of East Carolina instead of North Carolina?
Color me confused.
“East” Carolina has a shape?
Of course it does… take the 2 Carolinas together, and split them in half. The eastern side certainly has a shape, though it probably doesn’t lend itself to sports logos very well.
They are fairly big rivals. I didn’t see the big deal either. It’s just your mascot in the state outline. ECU, however has used that midfield design on merchandise. Living in Eastern NC, I see that midfield logo in sticker form about twenty times a day on my commute.
I was hoping somebody would take on the colorizing challenge from the set of Vancouver photos…and I’m not surprised that it was George Chilvers who did it…and that he chose the ’18 Tacoma Tigers. George, that is a seriously A++ effort on the colorization, tremendous work!!
Cheers!
~Bruce
Thanks Bruce.
They are a brilliant set of pictures.
George, that colourision is exquisite.
(unlike my typing)
George is an artist. All the colorization projects are wonderful, but George’s attention to detail is, with every photo, remarkable.
So true, The attention to details is incredible.
Thanks to the colorizers today George and Gary.
One thing about the great LSU colorization by Gary. I think the numbers may have been black. I have seen some color pics where they were black. Ricko would know for sure.
Yup, the numbers WERE black in that era.
link,!y8
I don’t recall when we determined they changed to purple. Don’t know if it was precisely when the TV numbers moved down to the sleeves, or shortly thereafter.
Anyone here today remember than discussion?
Okay, okay, I’ll trying linking to another image…
link
Interesting. The photo has the Tv numbers on the sleeve in contrast to the Sport magazine cover. Let’s find out when the color changed to purple.
Brilliant work by Kiechel Valentine!! i love love LOVE the Rockies ‘fauxback’:
#ROX!
Lots of UMass stuff in today’s Ticker. GO MINUTEMEN!
I knew about the 4 C’s for the NFL divisions prior to the merger, but I didn’t know about the almost Federal thing.
It’s almost a shame they didn’t keep those names, since they’re so terrible at geography.
(Dallas to the South, Carolina to the East, Miami to the South, Indianapolis to the North, Baltimore to the East)
Well, they could have gone with Legends and Leaders…
Guess the scoreboard is August 12, 1941.
link
The alternate Michigan State helmet is a fan concept done by a guy on a Michigan State message board who makes all sorts of fantasy Spartan helmets. Someone went too far with the alternate speculation yesterday afternoon, tweeted it to a sports radio host who didn’t know it was a fan job, and all of the sudden you have yourself a rumor.
The internet is really good at doing that, isn’t it?
It was amazing how fast it blew up, too. Made it through a bunch of local sportscasters (who really aren’t anything more than an empty suit who talks about sports), made it to a few Michigan boards… It took like an hour.
Give me names like ‘Metropolitan’ any day over drab and often incorrect terms like ‘East’ or ‘Southeast’. Of course if the NHL was going to use an amorphous name they may as well have gone back to the old ‘Norris’ et al.
Without looking at comments, this is my guess the scoreboard (old pic)
link
and your bonus scoreboard….
link
“Let British Columbia Flourish By Her Industries”
Bruce, those panoramas are wonderful. Thank you for sharing!
You bet Quiet Seattle, glad you enjoyed them!
That game is August 12, 1941, Vern Olsen-Max Lanier.
The Cubs uniform is the big giveaway because they only wore the blue with white letter vest for ’41 & ’42. There’s no WW2 patch on the uniform so this game had to be in 1941.
The scoreboard listed #23 as a pitcher and Vern Olsen wore #23 in 1941 so you just have to match the game/scoreboard. They don’t have play by play data for this game so I can’t tell you any details about the play of the field.
Love the photo of the Cubs playing the Cardinals. Even though it. Is a b/w photo, it appears that the word “Chicago” is in white lettering. Always thought that logo on the road uniforms was in blue.
Ted,
They wore a gray vest with blue letters and a gray vest with the CUBS logo on the left breast in 1940 and then switched to a light blue vest with white letters in 1941 and then added the WW2 patch in 1942 and then they went back to a short sleeve gray uniform with blue letters in 1943.
The Adam Dunn game is from September 16, 2013 vs the Twins. Dunn hits a HR in that at bat.
I wonder if the Sox will wear that patch on their uniform for the next season, like the Cardinals and Giants in ’12 and ’13.
I like that the MLB is adopting a scudetto-type deal. Patches indicating defending champions have been common in European soccer (English premier league champions get gold sleeve badges, Italian Serie A champions get the famous “scudetto”, UEFA Europa League and Champions League winners get patches on their chests) and that has made its away across the pond with the MLS.
Reader David Lassen writes, “A friend of mine who has coached American football in Europe sent it along. Apparently there’s a college football league starting in India.” It’s pretty cool – they’ve got uniforms and everything. Too bad they’re all from the same template. …
At least it’s not some crappy Russell Athletic template. Most of those look pretty good.
While I was watching last night’s Oregon State game, I noticed a few of their cheerleaders were wearing the interlocking OS logo the Beavers had been using for the last few years. I thought that logo was no longer a part of their branding?
I guess the PC police got to Corso — he picked the Noles again, but this time he just put on a 1954 FSU uniform and a little eye black, but no headdress or war paint. He did give a half-hearted tomahawk chop, but it wasn’t the over-the-top display that we’ve come to expect from his picks.
In light of yesterday’s fantastic article on spatting; I see a ton of spats on South Carolina players today
Game photo, Cubs at Cardinals, is August 12, 1941.
link
Dressed to the Nines shows cubs wore that Uniform in 1941 and 1942 only.
Phillies Pitcher on scoreboard is listed as number 11.
Number 11 is Lefty Hoerst, 1941. Baseball Reference .com shows 1941 Phillies Schedule vs. Braves (Boston) at Boston
link
The August 12, 1941 game is a 2-1 loss to the braves in boston in 13 innings. Cubs-Cardinals from the same day matches scoring on scoreboard.
Bonus scoreboard is Sept. 16, 2013.
link
Doing a little online thrifting today…
Here’s a Dolphins jacket that echoes the failed helmet concept from several years ago. So bad that it’s good! Nah, it really is bad: link
Coke bottle caps from the 1960s! link
1976 NFL lunchbox: link
1975 version (No Tampa Bay or Seattle): link
I have that lunchbox, it’s awesome.
As always I applaud the effort of the conceptors especially since I have never sent any of my own in yet but as a Panthers fan I’m not liking the Pittsburgh one.
I’m one of the few that liked Dino on the helmets (and hate the “Pitt” nickname. All
My Panthers stuff I buy I make sure it spells out the full Pittsburgh instead of just “Pitt”). Plus the Panthers should never EVER wear all white on the road. That other Pa school wears all white. Whenever the Panthers have done it the last few years it makes my heart cry a little more each time.
“Where did you go to college?”
“Pittsburgh.”
“Where in Pittsburgh?”
“The University of Pittsburgh.”
“Oh. Pitt.”
I’ll take heat for this as well but I still say Navy still does ND better than ND does ND. Navy uses the proper shades of gold that matches up better. The blue facemasks with the blue over gold at home and the white over blue (or gold) on the road. They look much better than ND. Even the Navy dress up costumes are usually done better. But that’s just my 2 pennies.
I also now realize why I only browse UW on the Mac at home. On the mobile with Dolphin it is brutal to try to get through (although to be fair once I turned the mobile version off in favor of the full version it’s a bit better but still mostly brutal). Guess I’ll stick with the computer from now on.
Helmets: Notre Dame is much better than Navy. If Navy went with the full metallic gold that they have used as a trim color (anchor logo, helmet stripe) on one of their special Army game helmets, it would be much better. There is no reason these days why a team that uses a metallic gold as a color (Purdue, Pitt, Navy) should not have a school-appropriate metallic-colored helmet.
Uniforms: Both schools use a similar dark blue (Adidas’ collegiate navy, Nike’s obsidian). The difference is the gold color. Notre Dame uses the Adidas “old gold” which was chosen last year to better match the helmets and give the uniform a 60s “old school” look. Navy uses Nike’s pale old gold color, which looks rather washed out (see Pittsburgh for another example)
This site published the rumor that Navy would be switching to Under Armour next season (could very well be; last night after the game, I saw a Navy staff member with an Under Armour Navy jacket). Perhaps they’ll come up with a better look than Nike.
Looks like the C-Link grounds crew skipped painting the 10 yard line, since it overlaps with the soccer penalty box.
link
One of Texas Tech’s defenders is wearingg a white mouthguard with red fangs.
Bear will look purdy Thursday night against Sooner. Aggie looks like shit tonight against U Take Em Points. Aggie should have worn the Maroon hats.
HAIL TO THE MOTHERFUCKING REDSKINS
That’s not the way to support your team.
UCLA is wearing black socks. Have they done that all year or is this a special occasion?
This is another week I’m glad I don’t have to do the 5&1. With all the all white on the road and other terrible looking games it would be pretty hard for me to find enough games to make it to 5. Lots to pick from for the &1 though.
Re: the scoreboard pic – it’s nice to see two players wearing blue undershirts that are blue all the way to the vest. It seems that in most of the close-up, posed photos of Cubs in the vest jerseys, they’re wearing undershirts that seem made for regular style jerseys. The blue stops near the top of the arm and obviously white undershirt shoulders look like crap either side of a sleeveless jersey.
Notice something strange about the scoreboard? Six of the eight AL team’s catchers are #18! Along with three, maybe four of the NL catchers. Not only that, there’s not a pitcher or catcher that day with a number above 24! Whaaa?? Pitchers wearing 2, 4, 5… 1!
So… going back to Baseball Reference I see the only game with pitcher and catcher uniform numbers that match the scoreboard is the game taking place. Both pitchers are 23 Chicago’s Vern Olsen and Cardinal’s Max Lanier. The Cubs catcher is 24 Greek George and 14 is catching for the Cardinals, Gus Mancuso.
All other games depicted on the scoreboard, including the Browns/White Sox match up, show numbers assigned by the scorecard printer. Lou Gehrig is not pitching for the Yankees!
I love old scoreboards!
Since the Cubs are thinking about new road uniforms, it would be great if they went with those vests, in gray.
1. The colorizations were great. That segment is easily my favorite of the weekend posts (“Benchies” would be close behind. I miss it so). Thanks, guys, for your work!
2. “…place the Nets play.” I’m calling it the LIBOR Center.
3. I’m still calling him Roberto Luongo.
unc has used the state shape at half court in basketball for years
at the end of the game saturday unc celebrated on the midfield logo.
Spencer Herlong (@TarHeelPhoto) tweeted at 1:14 PM on Sat, Nov 02, 2013:
Tim Jackson slapping the logo and yelling “Our State” link
(link)
he has a couple other photos of the celebration and nc state players then taking offense
Who came up with this crazyness:
Central- Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago
Capital – Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas and New Orleans
West — Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore and Atlanta
Century- Pittsburgh, Cleveland, St. Louis, and New York
I mean, dividing teams up by region isn’t hard.
The Central is fine: GB, Min, Det, Chi… perfect
But West should be Dal, LA, SF, StL
Should have a “south” with, Bal, Atl, Was, NO
North, Phi, Pit, NY, Cle
I mean…. it took me a minute to figure that out.
It had a lot to do with teams wanting to keep (or in some cases create) rivalries. The column also refers to teams wanting the visitor’s share of the big gates in New York. Geography was a minor consideration.
The New Mexico v San Diego State women’s soccer pic features a rip off of the old Wales FA logo
link