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A Different Kind of Super Bowl Uniform

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Several New York-area Uni Watch readers have mentioned to me that they’re volunteering for the Super Bowl Host Committee. One of them is Jeffrey Jacobs, who’s a volunteer team captain for various events during this week. He asked if I’d be interested in seeing his uniform, and of course I said yes. Jeff, take it away:

All volunteers received a large box. Inside the box were a yellow baseball cap, gloves, headband, mock turtleneck shirt, and three-in-one jacket, along with two gray fleece scarves — one with a New Jersey logo, the other a New York logo [for all of these photos, you can click to enlarge]:

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In addition, I am a Volunteer Team Captain, and as such received a gray shirt and gray three-in-one jacket with “Team Captain” printed below the Super Bowl Host Committee logo:

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Good stuff — thanks, Jeff. The thing I find most interesting is the Visa logo on all the gear. As we reported in the Ticker last week, Visa has just unveiled a new logo, but the logo on the volunteer attire isn’t quite the new logo or the old one — it’s sort of a hybrid of the two:

Meanwhile, in case you’re wondering: Jeff asked permission to share these photos with us, and that permission was granted, as long as it was clear that he was acting as an individual and not as an official of the Super Bowl Host Committee. So let the record show that that’s the case.

Jeff isn’t the only Uni Watch reader who’s volunteering for the Host Committee. Here’s Alan Kreit in his Host Committee (if you can’t see the slideshow below, click here):

Alan will have more to say about his Super Bowl Host Committee experience after the game is over — stay tuned.

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Sox sleuthing: Got a note the other night from Keith Olbermann, who wanted to know the story behind this photo of Eddie Stanky (click to enlarge):

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A few things about that photo:

1. Stanky managed the Chisox from 1966 through ’68. But the Sox only wore that road uniform in ’66, so that has to be the year the photo was taken. And as you can also see, the team’s road uni was blue-ish in that year, not a true gray as shown in the photo.

2. It would have taken me a little time to figure this out, but Olbermann immediately recognized that dugout as belonging to Tiger Stadium.

3. The big oddity, of course, is the cap. What’s up with that?

The first issue is the color of the cap. It matches the color of the uniform, and I’m pretty convinced that the photo was mistakenly color-corrected to make the uni seem less blue and more gray. If that’s the case, then the cap was probably light blue, just like the uni.

We already know that the Sox experimented with light blue caps during spring training of 1966. Uni designer/historian Todd Radom uncovered that nugget of info a few months back:

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But did the Sox — or at least Stanky — also wear the blue caps during the regular season? After I showed the Stanky photo to Baseball Hall of Fame curator Tom Shieber, he came up with a Boston Globe item from May 19, 1666:

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As you can see, Stanky had been razzed by Charlie Dressen for wearing a light blue cap. Dressen was the manager of the Tigers at the time — and the White Sox happen to have played a three-game series at Tiger Stadium on May 13-15 of that year, just a few days prior to that news item appearing the Globe.

Add all of this together and it appears that the Stanky photo was taken in May of ’66, and that Stanky wore a light blue cap for at least one game of that series in Detroit. What we don’t yet know is whether anyone else wore the blue cap, and/or how often it was worn. But it sure looks like it made the jump from spring training to the regular season, at least on one occasion. Big thanks to Keith, Todd, and Tom for adding this new entry to the MLB uni timeline.

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Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

With the clock ticking on Candlestick Park’s date with the wrecking ball, check out this 1970 Giants program, signed by several big-name players, including Bobby Bonds and Gaylord Perry. Note the cover line — “Candlestick Park of the Future.” I believe they are referring to the impending move-in by the Niners, and the enclosure work that would soon be done.

Here’s the rest of this week’s eBay and Etsy finds:

• Reader Mike Powers sent these two items in — a Toronto Toros ice cleaning sweater, and a 1950s Duncan Yo-Yo Champions wweater. [Wow, that yo-yo sweater is one of the greatest Collector’s Corner items ever! ”” PL]

• Here’s a really nice-looking LA Rams sweater from Cliff Engle.

• Another reader submission, this time from Jacob Sherman, who sent in the listing for this 1934 Diamond Stars Baseball Bubble Gum Wrapper.

• You usually don’t see Champion stuff from back in the day with simply the NFL shield.

• I don’t know what a picnic flair is, but these are my favorite NFL helmet depictions ever.

• Here’s a vintage 1960s Cincinnati Royals duffel bag, sponsored by Marathon Oil.

• Had this! A 1990s Nike/Cowboys pullover. For you kids out there, this item is from the Cowboys first go-round with Nike, when Jerrah went rogue and cut his own deal with ’em. (The Cowboys had to go with no makers mark for one season as a result.) Also found this jacket, which had a bit of a canvas feel to it on the outside.

• The Cowboys Nike stuff was nice, but I do miss the old days of the “NFL Pro Line,” like this Russell/Steelers pullover from the 1980s.

• This auction is for a 1970s game-worn Packers polo shirt. Note the mesh-like Sand Knit construction, and the one-bar facemask facing the “wrong” way.

• And we wrap up this week’s listings with a nice-looking 1960s Vikings copper plaque.

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

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Tick-Tock: Today’s Ticker was compiled and written by Garrett McGrath.

Baseball News: The Cubs are honoring Wrigley Field’s history in their 2014 promotions. It has the good (a replica Chicago Federal jersey day on April 23rd), the bad (Build-A-Bear Plush Doll day on September 7th), and the ugly (Cubs fedora hat day on May 3rd). … Justin Morneau will wear number 33 for the Rockies (move over Larry Walker). … The Astros released this flexi-disc record in their 1982 game programs: Gene Elston’s radio broadcast of the ninth inning of Nolan Ryan’s fifth no-hitter in the Astrodome on September 26, 1981 (from Chris Perrenot). In more Nolan Ryan news: Matt Cliff made a Groom’s cake for his friend Noakes that honors the infamous fight between Ryan and Robin Ventura. … New caps for the Double-A Akron RubberDucks. … South Carolina’s batting helmets are logo’d up and ready to go for the new season.

Football News: Who is everyone’s favorite crack-smoking mayor rooting for the in Super Bowl? … Even Media Day at the Super Bowl has an official uniform for each team. God bless you, Mr. Goodell (from Matthew Smith). … Another little birdie who claims to have close ties to the Syracuse football team says, “I can bolster your rumor of the new uniforms, and they’ve been in the works for quite some time.” Chrome and platinum are rumored to be part of the design overhaul.

NBA News: The NBA might discontinue sleeved jerseys if enough players complain. … The Blazers might not be altering their home or away jerseys after all. I guess they didn’t see any of the great Uni Watch reader redesigns last month.

Grab Bag: Puma and Arsenal have announced a long-term licensing deal (from Ted Arnold). … The US Department of State has advised American athletes against wearing Team USA gear in non-accredited areas in Sochi. … The US Hockey team posted their helmet and skate decals for the games. … Here is a fascinating article on the history and future of camouflage. … Mexico’s Olympic skier Prince Hubertus von Hohenlohe wants to be the best-dressed Olympic athlete, so he’ll be wearing a mariachi-themed ski suit. … At the Lamont Peterson and Dierry Jean boxing match on Saturday night, challenger Jean wore a Quebec Nordiques jersey with No. 1 and “And the new” stitched on the back. But haberdashery wasn’t destiny — Jean lost (from Shane Martin). … Microsoft has renamed its SkyDrive cloud storage to OneDrive due to a lawsuit (from Brinke Guthrie).

 
  
 
Comments (77)

    The Visa logo is not a hybrid; it is the one-color version of their outgoing or old logo. You can see it on the spec sheet for merchants here [PDF]:

    link

    I love these kind of spec sheets. I understand uniformity, but god damn, they take themselves so seriously.

    Agreed completely. I hesitate to calculate the total humanity lost to the world when employees were forced to create that document, and then enforce.

    There’s one silver lining in there, though. Looking at page 5, towards the bottom left, we can feel reassured than when the Cubs bring back their powder-blue-with-white-pinstripes road uniforms as God always intended for them to do, there will never be a Visa advertising patch on there!

    I’ve seen a million (give or take a million) of these brand guidelines, and as overly strict and self-important as they might seem, you kinda need them if you’re letting millions (literally) of vendors use your identity and you can’t be present every time someone prints a menu or puts out a sign.

    Indeed. And for a carefully-crafted brand, the “what not to do” is perhaps the most important part.

    But sometimes it’s especially hard to patrol compliance. How many websites are still using the link to push their Twitter feed?

    We do ’em all the time… and vendors STILL have to be watched like a hawk! I swear some will jerry-rig a hybrid version in no time if you’re not careful.

    But seriously, the text is in error.

    the logo on the volunteer attire isn’t quite the new logo or the old one – it’s sort of a hybrid of the two

    The logo on the volunteer attire is not “a hybrid of the two” logos; it is “the old one.”

    Are chrome and platinum really different colors? And how does each differ from silver – on, in four-color printing, gray? And why do no sports teams use rhodium as a color? Rhodium rocks.

    I think they might be referring to the “chrome-like effect” of a supe shiny/reflective orange metallic helmet shell.

    Sort like these Schutt examples.

    link

    I did a Google search, and I found a link to a page from Uni Watch from 2009 with a two star shield. (in the ticker: link)

    Did you ever find anything about this, Paul?

    Got to be a version intended for use where reproducing all the stars was especially difficult, much like the reason they redesigned it in 2010. Although I doubt that was the case here.

    I think the best part of that plaque is the football/M logo.

    Cliff Engle is the designer/label that made those sweaters in the 80s. I have a “Ditka” Bears one.

    I see the SB Committee gloves are all “high-tech” with their finger tip thingy so you can use your iphone. (I’m assuming that what that is)

    Man, that’s a lot of swag for volunteers. Anybody know how many are participating on this host committee? And did the NFL-host city do this in other cold weather cities like Indy?

    I’m really hoping the SB comes to the new Vikings stadium so I can volunteer and get my hands on similar gear.

    “The Blazers might not be altering their home or away jerseys after all. I guess they didn’t see any of the great Uni Watch reader redesigns last month.”

    Looks to me like they did, since they link to another article specifically discussing the Uni Watch reader designs.

    Frankly, it would surprise me if the Blazers changed their uniforms in a substantial way. They’ve been going with some variation of the “safety patrol” stripe since the year after they won the NBA title. That’s a healthy stretch.

    Jeffrey, did the Host Committee happen to charge volunteers for that box of stuff?

    My neighbors used to volunteer for the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston every year, and the box of stuff they would get (typically a t-shirt, windbreaker, baseball cap) would end up costing them about $65-$70 each.

    The volunteers had to pay!? For advertising-festooned near-worthless swag that will be forgotten right after the event is over? That’s crazy.

    Thanks for sharing, Jeff. That was cool to see. Given the weather this winter in north Jersey, I hope all that stuff is warm enough! Question, did they ask for your size before sending out the goods? Or is it like one size fits few? And it’s all like XL? So if someone who normally wears a SMALL, they end up swimming in the stuff they are wearing…

    Nice haul for free!

    I just checked the Deutsche Bank page. It went up to $80 to be a “volunteer” this year (under the “Packages” tab).

    link

    No, just to answer a couple of questions – No, we were not charged for our gear. Yes, we did have to supple our size. Also, it’s my understanding that this is way more gear than it typical for volunteers, due to the obviously unique weather circumstances. Since I’m working my first shift this afternoon/evening outdoors, I certainly hope it’s warm enough!

    I’m a northeasterner who’s worked a bunch of famous events, but none of them in the middle of winter, and will second on how the stuff is basically always free.

    I’m looking forward on a report of how warm you keep when you bundle all the stuff on you. So much volunteer work is standing around outdoors, which is pretty amusing when I think of all the running, cycling, triathleting and such being done right by me.

    Thanks for the response. I’m right down the road, so I know how cold it is. Stay warm, today. And if you do hop on the the boards tomorrow, do let us know if the stuff was warm enough.

    Kudos to the Portland Trailblazers’ management team for NOT accepting substandard design from adidas. They weren’t “wowed,” so they decided against change. Maybe there’s hope.

    is having volunteer labor for the Super Bowl how the NFL justifies its existence as a “non-profit” [sic] entity?

    Does that mean you can write off your $5,000 Super Bowl ticket as a charitable donation?

    No, because you have to subtract the value of any good or service received from the value of a charitable deduction. But simply writing a check to the NFL as a donation? Good question. Probably not, since federal corporation law recognizes several classes of nonprofits to whom gifts are not tax-deductible. (You can’t deduct donations to political campaigns or parties, for example, even though campaigns and parties are nonprofit entities.) As a 501(c)(6) entity, the NFL is likely not a deductible charity.

    I don’t see why NFL being a non-profit is such a big deal to people (other than its utility as a tax dodge for member teams, obviously). It’s not that different from a trade association for for-profit corporations.

    I guess folks get bent about NFL because of the tv deals, licensing, etc. that generate bigger bucks than are generated by most trade associations (the AMA with their cash cow called CPT would be a prominent exception). The NFL cash, though, mostly flows through to the member clubs which are generally taxable entities.

    I kinda get that, and I guess people don’t get that NFL itself doesn’t actually see that money. It’s meant as a loss leader that negotiates deals and handles litigation, etc.

    It’s not that different from a trade association for for-profit corporations.

    The legal status is not different at all – same section of the tax code.

    But the actual real-life statuses of the two are nothing at all alike. That’s part of what rubs me wrong. The National Association of Mustard Makers is an association of independent businesses that promotes their collective interests. The NFL is a single business entity that sells the product of professional football. There is no real similarity between the relationships of Heinz and French’s in the mustard business and the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos in the football business.

    True. Heinz could do great without French’s. Each NFL team needs suitable opposing teams.

    Also, I’m pretty sure that the National Association of Mustard Makers couldn’t get away with using unpaid labour to pick mustard seeds or something by calling them “volunteers”.

    Though, and I’m probably trying too hard to keep the comparison going, the National Association of Mustard Makers could conceivably have volunteers working at the annual Mustard Makers of America convention.

    They *could*, though using interns in a non-educational manner is even more illegal than abusing volunteers.

    On the USC batting helmets, it looks like the one in the lower left corner is horribly off-center.

    I love how on the Arsenal page announcing the Puma deal there’s still a nike logo listed with the sponsors.

    I just noticed that most of the stock photos of the Diamond Era caps on mlb.com are different now than they were last year. Seems a bit unnecessary, but the angle suggests maybe they’re not as box-y now as they used to be…did they switch pictures because maybe they’re being assembled differently? Is there a way someone can look into this more?

    Best quote I read on Twitter about everyone’s favourite crack-smoking mayor last night: “The world is again captivated by a media & police pursuit of a slow moving white Ford Bronco”

    Seriously, the fact that these money making endeavors employ an army of volunteers makes me sick. MLB got hit with a lawsuit this summer, (link), hopefully the same will happen to the NFL.

    On a more serious note – today is “Bell Let’s Talk” day in Canada, in which people are encouraged to talk about mental illness and depression in particular to try and take some of the stigma away and in particular to let people who are suffering know that they aren’t alone in their suffering, to seek help.

    link

    All of the Canadian NHL teams are getting behind this (using the hashtag #hockeytalks). Most touching of all the Winnipeg Jets are supporting the initiative by wearing Rick Rypien jerseys in warmups.

    link

    Alot of NHL teams wear tributes during warm ups only…can they not wear these during a game?

    LaSalle Men’s Basketball will be wearing a memorial patch for #15 Tom Gola the remainder of the season. link

    I gotta say, that’s a better Super Bowl logo on the swag than the actual logo. Kinda reminds me of one or two of the designs posted here on Uni Watch a few months back.

    Peruvian soccer club Universitario has new kits. They’re simple but have a unique design element where a DNA sequence is woven in to salute a former player- Jose’ Luis “El Puma” Carranza.

    Kit- link

    “El Puma”- link

    I really like how Morneau said he was “borrowing” Walker’s number in the photo. Very classy move from one Canadian to another.

    Interesting interview on a friend’s blog about the naming of the Reno Aces:

    link

    “We didn’t have to roll out and be the Reno – I can’t even imagine – Mountain Goats or God knows what. We didn’t need to be the Reno Ewoks.” – Aces marketing director Brett McGinness

    I don’t understand why they need “volunteers” for the super bowl host committee?? They’re making massive amounts of money from this thing, they couldn’t pay these people something??

    To paraphrase an old saying, no company ever got rich by paying market-rate, living wages to service employees (unless you count Trader Joe’s, Uniqlo, Costco, Whole Foods…).

    Regardless of anyone’s particular view of the Redskins’ name controversy, it’s not rational to assert that because DeMaurice Smith is black and most of the players he represents is black edifies the position that the only people who defend the name are white. Perhaps the majority of people who support the ‘Skins name is white, but the Smith assertion doesn’t support that position.

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