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Posts filed under 'Equipment/Accessories'
I got an e-mail the other day from someone informing me of an error in the the Uni Watch Glossary. He said I needed to change the entry for “Pupello Pouch” (which refers to the strap-on hand-warmer pouches worn by NFL players) because the proper term is actually “Pupello Pocket.” And he was in a good position to know, because the guy e-mailing me was the hand-warmer’s inventor, Frank Pupello himself.
As many of you know, Frank devised the pocket during his lengthy stint as the Buccaneers’ equipment manager. But it turns out he also came up with several other innovations I hadn’t been aware of. We discussed all that and more in the following interview, which is lengthy but worth checking out in its entirety — trust me.
Uni Watch: Let’s start with some basics about you. When did you work for the Buccaneers?
Frank Pupello: I was there at the very beginning, in 1976, and I stayed for 21 years. At one point I even started working on a book called 21 Stinkin’ Years. You can take that any way you want.
UW: Had you previously worked for any other NFL team, or in any other sport?
FP: I never worked for another NFL team. But before I was with the Bucs, I was with the University of Tampa. And before that, Jesuit High School, which is in Tampa. I attended high school there, and I tried out for the football team when I was a freshman, but I hurt my knee. So I said to the coach, “I’d like to be with the team, but I can’t play.” And he said, “Well, why don’t you go in the back and see if they need any help.” And as the old saying goes, I’ve been in the back ever since.
UW: So you got your start in the equipment biz while you were still a teen-ager in high school!
FP: Right. And when I was a senior, one day I saw a coach from the University of Tampa — there’s no more football there now, but there was back then. So their coach was watching our practice, and I figured he was taking a look at one of our players. So I went into the equipment room to get something, and he followed me in. Turned out he was there to talk to me. He said, “You want to come to the University of Tampa and do this over there?”
UW: So he recruited you as an equipment manager?!
FP: Yeah. Amazing. So I went over there and did that for two years. But when the Bucs announced they were coming in, the university decided to drop football. So in 1975 I went back to my high school and coached there for a year — I was the assistant defensive backs coach — and meanwhile I was sending résumés to the Bucs, trying to get in there. Eventually their main equipment guy, Pat Marcuccillo, hired me as his assistant.
UW: When did you take over for him?
FP: In 1982. Pat had a little trouble with the front office, and Coach McKay had enough confidence in me to give me the job, instead of bringing in another equipment guy.
UW: And what do you do nowadays?
FP: Since 2000 I’ve been working for Bank of America in Jacksonville.
UW: Wow, that’s a very different world than the NFL. What do you do for them?
FP: Right now, believe it or not, I’m working risk closure. So when someone messes up and screws up something on their account and we have to close it, I’m the guy who closes the account and tells them that we’re doing it.
UW: So you deal with all the fun people.
FP: Yeah, I deal with a lot of people who are very irate.
UW: When you left the Bucs, why didn’t you stay in the sports world?
FP: I had some connections with the Devil Rays, and I was supposed to be a shoo-in for the clubhouse job there. And I stupidly trusted some people who said they’d take care of me, and then that didn’t work out. By that point I was kind of disillusioned with sports. And any other sports job I could have taken probably would have meant moving away from Florida. Plus it was kinda nice to finally have my weekends to myself, be able to watch NASCAR and stuff like that, ’cause I’m a big NASCAR fan. So it was nice to be able to live like a normal person for a change. My wife likes it better this way, too.
UW: Okay, now let’s talk about your signature invention, starting with its name. Is it the Pupello Pouch, or the Pupello Pocket?
FP: It’s the Pupello Pocket.
UW: I’ve often heard “pouch.” Do people often get that wrong?
FP: Sometimes. But the name I came up with, and the name it was marketed under when we were selling it, was the Pupello Pocket. And then the logo on the pocket said “Pupello Design,” which is the company I put together to sell them. We don’t sell ’em anymore, because I can’t get anyone to make ’em.
UW: How and when did you invent it?
FP: When I was working with the Bucs, we always had problems in cold-weather situations. And Coach McKay came to us one day and said, “From now on, I want us to be prepared when we’re playing in cold weather. This bullcrap where we go out there and freeze our asses off, we’re not gonna do that anymore. Frank, I’m puttin’ you in charge of researching this and finding out what we need.”
Now, this was before the days of the NFL making deals with everyone and their mother for equipment. Back then you did everything yourself, you made your own deals, you bought your own jerseys, the whole bit. So I called around, talking to long-underwear companies, ski gear companies, places like that.
UW: When was this?
FP: 1980, more or less. ’79, ’80, ’81 — somewhere in there. So at some point I stumbled upon this company called Zinkwazi — I don’t think they’re even in business anymore. They made some really nice long underwear. We got to talkin’, and I said we needed some head liners, which were sort like hoods. So they did those for us, and they were made out of polypropylene. Real nice. And they were asking what else I needed, and I got to thinking about the quarterbacks. Because when you’re playing a cold-weather game, you’d see quarterbacks like Joe Namath…
UW: They’d have the pockets sewn into the jersey, like a sweatshirt.
FP: Exactly. And I didn’t want to do that. Because we’d been in games where it starts out warm and then it gets cold during the game, so what do you do then? So I thought that if we had something removable, like a muff, that would work. But it had to be geared for football. I wanted nylon on the outside and polypropylene on the inside. I wanted it cuffed, to keep it warm. It had to lay flat. It couldn’t absorb water. And I said, “I don’t want a buckle on it, because I don’t want a player to be tackled by it. I want Velcro, so if a defender grabs it, he’ll end up holding the pocket instead of making the tackle.” And that actually happened one time, where the defensive player ended up with a handful of Pupello Pocket, and our player scored a touchdown.
So I sat down and kinda sketched out what I wanted, and they made me a prototype. And it kind of evolved — I’d say, “Make a little longer, try this, try that,” and they’d keep revising it. A later version had a little pocket on the inside where you could put one of those hot packs. So then we started taking them with us, and people would call: “Where’d you get that, where can I get one,” blah-blah-blah. And of course, some people stole the idea.
UW: You mean other teams?
FP: No, I mean other companies. We tried to get a patent on it, but we couldn’t get the patent because it was too close to a ski muff.
UW: Now, these early ones that Zinkwazi was making for you, did they have your name on them?
FP: No. In fact, they had Zinkwazi’s name on them. After a while they went out of business, so I found someone who’d make them for me in Tampa. We made them on a small scale, but I did sell some to the Eagles, to the Vikings…
UW: So you were willing to share the idea.
FP: Sure. And besides, once teams saw it, they wanted it. And if they couldn’t get it from me, they’d just get a knock-off from some other company. That’s what you see the players wearing now — knock-offs. But they’re not as good as the original one I designed. They’re too heavy, they don’t lay flat, they have buckles instead of Velcro. I’ve seen players tackled by them.
UW: I confess that until you sent me the photos where the “Pupello Design” logo is visible, I didn’t realize it was a branded product. I thought the term “Pupello Pocket” was more of a slang term that covered all hand-warmer pouches.
FP: Nope. It was actually in Zinkwazi’s catalog as the Pupello Pocket.
UW: When was that?
FP: Probably around ’82, ’83.
UW: So just a year or two after you came up with the idea.
FP: Yeah, exactly. And then Zinkwazi went out of business, but I still had a demand for them. Plus, the players kept stealing the damn things! The players and coaches would steal ’em for golf. Hunters loved it, too. One of our players, Scot Brantley, I ended up making him a few in camo for hunting. So I tried every way I could think of to market these things — I tried marketing them to Titleist, companies like that. But it didn’t work out, and by that time the knock-offs were being made in China, so those were cheaper.
UW: Did you ever have any discussions with the NFL, either in terms of striking a deal with them or in terms of them coming to you and saying you couldn’t use unauthorized equipment or anything like that?
FP: I approached them at one point, and they said I’d have to buy a license. So they got real, uh…
UW: Corporate.
FP: Yeah, corporate, that’s a good word. Not the first word I would have used.
UW: But they never tried to make you stop using the pocket.
FP: No. Even after they licensed someone to make knock-offs with the team logos, they didn’t make us use those — we were still able to use mine. A lot of times, you know, we were able to do stuff because we were overlooked.
UW: You could fly under the radar.
FP: We didn’t even have radar. Nobody cared about us. So got away with a lot of stuff.
UW: Like what?
FP: Well, some players had shoe contracts, but they didn’t like the shoes they were contracted to wear. So we’d tape up the shoes, and then I’d draw the shoe on the tape.
UW: You mean you’d draw the swoosh, or whatever?
FP: I mean I’d draw the laces, the holes, everything. Tony Davis had a big contract with Nike — this was before Nike was any good — so he wore Adidas, and we painted ’em to look like Nike.
UW: What about the rest of the uniform? Did you pull any maneuvers there?
FP: After I took over in 1982, I started making the helmet logo bigger, a little bit at a time. Nobody ever noticed. I’d make it a quarter-inch bigger, an eighth-inch bigger. I’d call up the decal company and have them make it bigger.
UW: What was your feeling about Bucco Bruce? Some fans love him, some hate him.
FP: I always liked him. But you know, we never called him that — that was just the media’s term.
UW: What did you call him?
FP: We called the logos “Morgans,” after Morgan the Pirate. So in the old days, we wouldn’t put the logos on the helmets in training camp until the week before the first game, so they wouldn’t get messed up. I’d do the kickers first, then the quarterbacks, the receivers, and then on the very last day I’d do the linemen, because otherwise they’d get all beat up during practice. So as that week went along, it’d be like a little surprise each day to see who got their Morgans on their helmets, and everyone’d be saying, “Hey, are the Morgans in yet?” and “Alright, got my Morgans today!” and all that. There was even a little newspaper item about it one time. But then the league got more commercial and wouldn’t even let you practice without the helmet logos, so that kind of ruined that little ritual I had.
UW: Were you there for the first season of the pewter?
FP: No. When the orange and white left, I left. When they came in with that puke-er color, I left.
UW: So were you happy to see the orange and white throwbacks last season?
FP: Well, it would’ve been nice if I had been invited, or had some input, or maybe got to put the decals on the helmets. Up until that time, I was at every orange and white game the team ever played, and I put the decals on the helmets for every orange and white game ever played. So I kind of broke my streak, which I didn’t like. And they did make a few mistakes, which I could have helped them with.
UW: All throwbacks tend to have some errors. Overall, though, it looked good to see the design back on the field?
FP: I guess. We didn’t get the game up here in Jacksonville. Afterward, I got e-mails from some of the players saying, “Where were you?” And I said, “Nobody told me about it. Nobody invited me.” But that’s the NFL — it stands for no freakin’ loyalty.
UW: Anything else to add regarding the Pupello Pocket?
FP: Well, I wish I could’ve made money on it. Just like the clear facemask, I wish I could’ve made money on that too.
UW: Wait, you invented the clear facemask?
FP: Yes, I did.
UW: Wait a minute, there were clear Lucite masks way back in the 1950s.
FP: Yes, there were Lucite bars. But not the shield, the clear eye shield.
UW: Oh, the visor! You invented that?
FP: Yes. Sports Illustrated even credited it to me. The first one I did was in 1974, for a University of Tampa player who got poked in the eye. I went to a motorcycle shop and got a yellow visor, because we were playing at night, and I rigged it up on his helmet and it worked out pretty good.
UW: Was it positioned pretty much like the visors we see on the field nowadays?
FP: Yes, exactly. Then a couple of years later, when I was with the Bucs, Lee Roy Selmon got poked in the eye, so I came up with two things: First, I came up with a facemask that had two bars by the eye. Now, there was a mask before that, a receiver’s mask that had two bars by the eyes, and that was called the New York Giants Special. But I took it and made it longer, and Schutt called it the Tampa Bay Special. [Here it is being worn by Harvey Martin, who's posing with the proud designer. -- PL]
UW: So you worked with Schutt to design that?
FP: Yes. I also worked with them to design the “shark cage” mask for Doug Williams when he broke his jaw. In fact, there’s a photo of me holding that helmet at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Now, about the visor shield, there is some controversy about whether we were first or whether it was the Vikings.
UW: Yeah, I always thought it was the Vikings myself.
FP: The issue is, I did it for Lee Roy Selmon, but he never wore it in a game. He only wore it in practice. The next time I did it was for Hugh Green in 1984 — he got hurt in a car accident. He wore it in a game, but the debate is who was on the field first — him or the Viking player. It was very close.
UW: But either way, you came up with the innovation prior to that.
FP: Yes, the Selmon shield was a few years earlier. Also, if you have the NFL’s 75 Seasons book, look on page 273 — they credit me with the shield there too.
UW: What’s the story behind the solid-orange uniforms that you were supposedly going to wear for Sam Wyche’s last game?
FP: The fans had voted on it. The team had a food drive — you were supposed to bring in a canned food item, and they had two barrels set up to receive the food. One barrel had a picture of a uniform with an orange jersey and orange pants, and one had and orange jersey with white pants. So the fans voted by where they deposited the food. And the orange-on-orange won in a landslide. So for that game, we sent the players out for pregame in their white pants, and then we were gonna have ’em change to the orange when they came back after pregame. Then we’d come out in solid orange and blow everyone’s mind. I had the orange pants all laid out in the lockers and everything. And some of the players were all excited about it. But Hardy Nickerson said [affecting bad-ass African American accent], “I ain’t gonna play this game if I gotta wear orange pants with my orange jersey. I don’t like it.” And Coach gave in. So one guy vetoed the whole thing. It was bullcrap. We could’ve been the first ones to wear the solid-color uniforms, which of course everyone does now.
UW: What about the uniform numbers on the white jerseys in 1976 — weren’t they, like, famously hard to read?
FP: Yes. Our white jerseys had orange numerals outlined in red, but the orange was too light — there wasn’t enough contrast, and it didn’t show up right, especially on films. We had to fix it for the following year. So Ron Wolfe [better known as the Packers' GM, but he was Tampa's VP of operations in the mid-'70s -- PL] decided to have an in-house contest. He invited everyone in the organization to submit ideas for how to solve the problem with the uniform numbers, and then they’d judge which was the best.
So a bunch of people brought in their ideas — secretaries, trainers, all different people. Some of them mocked it up on posterboard, some people made up actual jerseys with heat-transfer numbers or whatever. And there were some really weird things, man — orange number outlined in black, outlined in brown, solid dark-orange numbers. And me. My idea was to reverse the colors.
UW: So instead of orange numbers outlined in red, it would be red numbers outlined in orange.
FP: Correct. But how were they gonna judge the winner? Ron gave me all the entries and said, “Go to the back fence” — which was two football fields away — “and stick ’em up on the fence” So I went over there with some clothespins, stuck ’em on the fence. And when I came back, the only one you could make out and read clearly was mine. So I won. And that’s what we wore the next season. [Frank's idea to change the number colors was later mentioned in the team's 1992 program, when the Bucs made their next round of uni changes. -- PL]
UW: What did you win?
FP: I think he gave me 50 bucks and a cigar. And I don’t smoke.
UW: Any other changes you were responsible for?
FP: Well, we did change the socks. If you look at the early photos, there were stripes on the socks, to match the sleeves. And a different set of striped socks for the orange jersey. So after the first year, Pat and I sat down and said, “Y’know, we gotta keep changin’ the socks every week, this is a big piece o’ shit. This is too much like work.” And he said, “So what should we do?” And I said, “I dunno, why don’t we just go with orange-topped socks and the hell with it.” And he said, “Good idea — do it.” It was just too much work switchin’ socks back and forth, man. Plus some of the players were tall and some were short, so the stripes never lined up the same way. It looked like crap, man. Looked like a damn seismograph or something. That was no good. So we went with the solid top.
UW: There’s one other thing I wanted to ask you about: You guys had one of the more unusual uniform memorials when you had that “Mr. C” sleeve script for Hugh Culverhouse in 1993.
FP: We had it on the back of the helmet, too.
UW: Really? I didn’t realize that [and have been unable to find a photo of it -- PL]. I was always intrigued by it on the sleeve — a very different approach from the usual black armband or initials. Who’s idea was that?
FP: I’m not sure. Maybe Coach McKay. I can’t remember exactly who it was. I do know that my Dad did the script for it, though. He was a graphic artist. He actually did it for the decal on the back of the helmet, and then we sent that to the people who did the jerseys and had them put it on the sleeve.
Actually, you know whose idea it might’ve been? It might’ve been Mr. C’s daughter, Gay Culverhouse. She might’ve been the one who came up with it. Anyway, everyone called him Mr. C. Everyone. He was a good man. I tell you what, I miss him. A good guy. We thought about putting his initials on there but we thought nobody would know what it was for. “Mr. C” just seemed to fit him. He wasn’t a champagne kinda guy. He was more of a “Let’s have a beer” guy. Mr. C.
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Phew! Lengthy but worth it, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Frank says he also has videos of some old TV interviews he did back in the day and plans to upload them to YouTube, so here’s hoping he gets around to that soon.
“Capitalist Tool,” indeed: Hey, all you budding journalists out there: Forbes magazine is inviting you to write for them. Just one catch: You’ll be working for free. But hey, it’s worth it for the “exposure,” right? And if your career somehow doesn’t take off as a result, then you’ll have more time left over to paint Tom Sawyer’s fence, so it’s a win-win!
Technical Difficulties: Due to a computer crash last night, I lost a bunch of today’s Ticker material. I was able to reconstruct most of it, but I might have missed a few things, so if you sent in something good yesterday and don’t see it listed below, feel free to re-send it today.
Uni Watch News Ticker: New throwbacks for the Bears, and if you can work up the energy to give a shit then you’re way ahead of me. Let’s face it, any Bears throwback that doesn’t revive this or this is a waste of everyone’s time. … It’s official: The Mets now lead the league in young players with absolute beaks for noses. … Matthew Robins reports that the Mariners have printed up seven different pocket schedules this season, including four in foreign languages! … Southern Miss baseball is wearing a jersey patch to mark the school’s 100th anniversary (with thanks to Jonathon Binet). … Also from Jonathon: Many players in Auburn’s recent A-Day game were wearing the old SEC 75th-anniversary patch, last seen in 2007. … Best broken bat photo ever? It’s certainly in the running. … If you watch this video clip, you’ll see Johnny Damon was wearing white spikes the other night. This wasn’t an all-42s game, so what gives? (As noted by Joe Saputo). … Did you know Heath Bell wears special Marines-style cleats when the Padres wear camo? I didn’t, until Pat Finley pointed me toward this story. Couldn’t find a photo, though. … It would be great if a Uni Watch reader snapped up this old NFL comforter and this Vikings bobble (both spotted by Brinke Guthrie). … New retina-searing alt kit for the Seattle Sounders. … Here’s something I’d never seen before: Babe Ruth in catcher’s gear! That photo ran the other day with this story (big thanks to Dan Cichalski, who treated me to lunch yesterday at the always-wonderful Rutt’s Hut in New Jersey). … The creator of Minnie and Paul — the two guys shaking hands across the river in the Twins’ logo — has passed away. … Everyone can breathe easy: Joe Maddon can wear his hoodie after all. … Statistical oddity: Mike Pelfrey leads the Mets in wins and saves. … Two good US Presswire finds by Doug Summers: First, check out the weird facemask being worn by Ray Brown in this 1977 shot (kinda reminds me of those inflatable jobbies). And dig Alfred Jenkins wearing Pumadidas! … When did the Jets wear this helmet? I don’t recall it at all (good spot by Aaron Bell). … Great Questions of Our Time No. 327 (as posed by Mike Colvin): Exactly why was Mike Laga shown wearing a pink jersey in the 1987 Topps set? Like, did they think the shitty airbrushing job on the cap would distract us from the jersey? … “Zach FitzGerald of the Albany River Rats has a capital G in the middle of his surname,” says Teebz. “The problem is that the River Rats use an NOB style that doesn’t show off this peculiarity. Back when he was with the Manitoba Moose, however, he was able to express himself properly. I’ve never seen another ‘FitzGerald’ like that on a hockey jersey. Do you know of any other athletes that had capital letters in the middle of their surnames?” William VanLandingham comes to mind. Anyone else? … Speaking of NOBs, for well over a decade, the Cardinals have styled their McNOBs as all-uppercase with a space. But Kyle McClellan has a superscript “c” — never seen the Cards use that style before (good spot by David Lee). … Other Cardinals-centric observations from David: Matt Holliday shredded his batting gloves last Thursday; Brendan Ryan has had a swoosh on his sleeve; and someone showed up at Busch with some interesting headgear. … Hey, remember Gary Hogeboom? He was probably never as interesting as he was in that photo, what with the 25th-anniversary patch and the hip-borne uni number (thanks, Phil). … Here’s the ball that will be used for the World Cup Finals (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Contribution of the day, or maybe the year, courtesy of Chad Todd: If all rain delays were a fraction as entertaining as this one, the world would be a far, far better place. Kudos to both teams, and to the video crew that documented the proceedings and produced the clip. Bravo.
April 21st, 2010
As you may recall, an old Packers dickey — just like the one Donny Anderson was wearing in the aftermath of the Ice Bowl — was recently auctioned off on eBay. I meant to bid on it, but the auction closed while I was curling in Duluth and I flat-out forgot to bid. I’ve spent the last two weeks kicking myself over it, especially since the sale price was plenty reasonable.
Turns out I needn’t have worried.
Rather amazingly, the guy who won the auction was Uni Watch reader Jeff Fedenko (who you may remember from this entry nearly two years ago). Once he received the item from the seller, he decided to give it to me as a late-breaking birthday present. Good thing I neglected to bid on it — I would’ve been bidding against Jeff.
Jeff lives in Brooklyn, so yesterday afternoon I biked over to his place and tried on my gift. It’s a beauty, especially the magnificent tagging. A unique item, and in Uni Watch colors to boot!
Thanks again, Jeff. Uni Watch readers’ generosity of spirit never ceases to amaze.
And that wasn’t the only vintage Wisconsin-related item I was given yesterday. On the way to Jeff’s house, I stopped in to visit my friend (and co-Foreword) Liz Clayton. She’d been out of town during my birthday, so until yesterday she hadn’t had a chance to give me this super-cool container of salve. I love that the brand name is “Consin.” And look — still salve-y!
Meanwhile: New ESPN column today — the annual MLB season preview. And the curling column should be running tomorrow.
Plus I’ll miss the Mets getting swept by the Phils, so it’s a win-win: Some friends and I will be rattling around Scotland during the last week of May (arriving in Edinburgh on the 22nd, leaving on the 30th, all over the place in between). Sorry, no Uni Watch party on this trip, but we’re looking for some sporty things to check out: rugby, soccer, cricket, curling, whatever (except golf — not our scene). If anyone on that side of the pond has suggestions, please give me a shout. Thanks.
Also: If you live in London, I’d like to have a word with you. You can contact me here. Double-thanks.
Uni Watch News Ticker — 100% prank-free!: Really interesting article about how Penn State uses Nike for everything — except volleyball shoes (with thanks to Chris Flinn). … Totally bizarre Italian baseball commercial with a D-Day/WWII theme here (surreal find by Roger Faso). … Also from Roger: Burlesque starlet Angie Pontani doing her baseball-themed striptease in Mets colors. … Really interesting article about the evolution of Duke’s shade of blue (big thanks to Adam Darowski). … New kit for the Melbourne Hearts (with thanks to Steven Taylor). … Dustin Pedroia is wearing camo-trimmed cleats this year. Further details here (with thanks to Kevin Flight). … Major find by Tom Langan, who’s discovered that someone on Flickr is compiling vintage lacrosse photos. He and I both like this one. … “I thought I’d share some early-’70s pictures of the basketball uniforms from the Fairport (NY) High School Red Raiders,” writes Doug Brei. “The style is very reminiscent of Marquette, among others. Terry Proctor probably sold these to us!” … Here’s a great rundown of this year’s most interesting MLB promotions, which I first read on Ken Davidson’s blog. … The Angels are holding a “yard sale” to sell off a bunch of memorabilia on April 17th. Details toward the bottom of this page (with thanks to Kyle Mackie). … Here’s the logo for this year’s MLS All-Star Game. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Latest NBA trend is low-top sneakers. … A Tiger Woods sculpture made out of condoms? Sure, why not. Be sure to click on the photo for the full-size effect (Chris Flinn again). … What’s up with Kris Benson’s BP jersey? No side panels, and that looks like a Rawlings sleeve logo, not Majestic. “You can’t see it in that photo, but I was watching on TV and there was no MLB logo on the back either,” says Mike Boriotti. … Never expected to see these guys wearing hockey uniforms. Details here. … Wonderful video clip of White Sox players explaining the stories behind their uni numbers. Highly recommended (with thanks to Dan Cichalski).
April 1st, 2010
By Phil Hecken, with Johnny Okray
Golf kind of gets the short shrift at Uni Watch, but that’s understandible — it’s not (technically) a team sport, unless we’re talking about Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup teams, or some of the various college golf teams, so there’s not much “uniform” about it — more just individual outfits and athletes in sometimes unflattering attire.
Golf equipment, understandibly, gets even less play, as it should. But every so often, golf equipment, and the science of the sport, merits an investigation. Today is one of those days.
If you’re a golfer, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the recent controversy involving Phil Mickelson (and others) who’ve been flouting the rules of golf by using a specific brand of club which has technically (and until recently, not actually) been banned by the USGA/PGA and R&A. Yeah, but “It’s golf, Phil — do I care, or more specifically, what’s the big deal?” you may ask. Well, if you’re a duffer like me, it’s no big deal. But when you’re a tour pro, it’s a very big deal.
So, I’ve asked Uni Watch’s resident golf pro, Johnny Okray to take a look at the controversy, since I’m neither fluent in golf nor particularly adept at science. But it really is a big deal, and it may have far more of an effect on the way professional golf is played for some time to come.
And now, in my best Ed McMahon intonation…”Heeeeeeere’s Johnny”:
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Many people who follow golf, or follow it casually, have heard about the new changes to the grooves on irons. Many people have heard the controversy caused by Phil Mickelson who, along with other players, has found a loophole in the rule that allows them to use an older model club with different cut grooves, or “U-grooves”. These clubs are the Ping Eye 2 irons.
The rule that U-grooves are no longer legal to use in PGA Tour events took place on January 1, 2010, but because of a lawsuit by Ping close to 20 years ago, their Ping Eye 2 wedges have been “grandfathered in,” and are legal to use if they were manufactured prior to April 1, 1990. So what many of you are asking right now is, “Who cares? If they want to play with a club that is 20 years old let them. How can that be an advantage?”
Although it might not seem like an advantage, the spin rate created by U-groove wedges and V-groove wedges is vastly different. A side-by-side comparison shows the differences. In some laboratory testing, the U-grooves actually create more spin by coming out of the rough than from the fairway. This might give a player who hits the ball in the rough, more of an advantage to control the ball than if they hit it in the fairway.
The USGA did testing on grooves back in 2006 (and released in 2007) when this controversy really heated up. In its testing, the USGA evaluated grooveless irons, as well as clubs with traditional V-grooves and U-grooves at the current USGA limits. Out of the rough, the report states, “the V-groove is only a modest improvement over no grooves at all, whereas the U-groove offers a substantial improvement over both the grooveless and the V-groove clubs.” Golf Digest did its own testing right around the same time.
Utilizing the swing robot at Golf Laboratories, Titleist Pro V1 balls and a pair of wedges made by Wilson Golf Technology to exacting specifications with their only difference being the type of groove, their test involved a full-wedge shot, a half-wedge and a chip, as well as a full-wedge from simulated rough. In the non-rough conditions, the differences in spin generation between the V-groove and the U-groove were what might be termed inconsequential (less than 10 percent). However, it was in simulated rough that the numbers jumped. A U-groove shot spun nearly 61 percent more than a V-groove shot. Whoh nelly! It’s no wonder that the pros would want to use the older wedges with the U-groove technology.
So why in the world did Ping get grandfathered in the first place? Well, it goes back all the way to the 1985 when Ping’s club designer Karsten Solheim designed the Ping Eye 2 irons and wedges by curving the edges in an effort to reduce the tendency of U-shape grooves to scuff the ball. In mid 1987, the USGA banned Ping’s Eye 2 clubs, giving the reason its radius-edged grooves are believed to be too closely spaced together.
You can imagine that Ping was not too thrilled with this ruling, and it was in August of 1988 that Solheim filed a $100 million antitrust lawsuit against the USGA and Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. Solheim later filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. Solheim was seeking to overturn the USGA ban on the Ping Eye 2 irons. Between 1990 and 1993, Ping, the PGA Tour, and the USGA go to court many times and spent millions of dollars on legal fees. They actually settled out of court eventually with the USGA agreeing to grandfather all previously made Ping Eye 2 irons, and Solheim agreeing to the authority of the USGA as rules-maker and promising to immediately begin making conforming irons. (See this timeline for reference.)
Fast forward two decades later, the ban on U-grooves actually happens to the demise of many players because the lack of spin. But, with the clause to grandfather the Ping Eye 2 irons in, any player who wanted to use them could. Most notably John Daly, Hunter Mahan, Dean Martin, er Dean WILSON, Mickelson, and Freddy Couples have used the Ping Eye 2 irons in the past few months. Is it “cheating?” No, because there is that clause. But is it a little dicey? Sure it is. But it was still considered legal.
Fast forward again to March 8th of this year, and Ping and the PGA Tour agree to ban the Ping Eye 2 irons for good at the end of March, 2010. Ping representatives said that they predicted this controversy a long time ago, but is happy with this ruling because it will “level the playing field”.
Now you may ask, “How will this groove ruling affect me?” Well, it won’t go into effect until 2024 for everybody. So when you and your buddies tee it up this summer, you can use almost any club you want as long as it doesn’t appear on this list. And here is a nice diagram of conforming and non-conforming grooves.
Think this is a hot club? Here’s an eBay auction for a 1990 Ping Eye 2.
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Great job with that Johnny! As you can now plainly see, 99.99% of the hack golfers in the world can still shoot in the high 90s and get to keep our ‘non-conforming’ u-groove wedges. But for the guys who earn their living doing this sort of thing, there is now a price to be paid for those who can bomb it off the tee, but who also can’t drive straight.
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 Meet Lead Lukas: Live (sorta) from Duluth, that’s Uni Watch Prexy Paul Lukas, who as of Saturday morning, finds his rink sitting at 2-0 and in the “A Bracket” quarterfinals, after a successful first day of curling at the House of Hearts Bonspiel. Good show, buddy.
Of course, we know he owes it all to his world-class team, lead by skip Craig Brown (a multi-time national champion), who obviously sought to intimidate the opposition by flaunting his gorgeous Team USA jacket. Paul was joined by Matt Cartier (second) and Becca Jensen (vice), who ably swept for Paul’s perfectly placed guards. And although he beautifully set the tone for the match with his precision and placement, Paul proved equally adept in his sweeping duties (do those pants say “The North Face”?). Looks like he’s been doing it all his life, no?
I didn’t catch the name of the vanquished skip (seen here in white), doing the obligatory jello shots, but the beautiful lady in the yellow tee is Jen Holtan, who split time with Becca on Paul’s rink. I’m sure Paul will have plenty more photos and stories upon his return to New York, but there was one skip on the sheet next to him wearing a gorgeous cardigan. Recognize him? How about now? Yep, that’s Skip John Shuster, who you might remember for his performance in the Vancouver Olympics.
Perfect start to a perfect day. And, is this a great sweater, or what?
Good luck today Mr. Lukas. (For anyone making the trek to the Duluth Curling Club, Paul’s first match is the Quarterfinals, taking place at 12:45 pm.) Make us all proud!
Late update: As fate would have it, who should Paul’s rink draw in the QF’s? You Got It.
(Most of those photos were taken by Paul’s Twin Cities buddy Jack Kirr. Big thanks for sharing.)
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 I wanna be…your Sledgehammer: As long as we’re on a winter sports theme now, the President of the Hockey Wing and Chancellor of Canuckistan, Teebz is here to bring you the rundown on one of the coolest sports from the Vancouver Paralympics. Yes, everyone’s favorite: “Sledge.” Here’s Teebz:
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If you’re bored with all that college basketball stuff that’s happening today, you might want to check out the “other” Olympics that are happening in Vancouver, BC. The 2010 Paralympic Games are nearly over, and there have been some great stories. The one sport that I’ve admittedly been glued to is sledge hockey. I know that’s hard to believe, but the men that play this game are amazing athletes, and this sport really deserves to be seen by more people. It’s physical, it’s fast, and the players have incredible skill!
Just in case you may have missed it, Team USA is playing in the gold medal final against Team Japan at 3PM ET. Team USA is the reigning World Champion, and are the heavy favorites in the gold medal game. Alexi Salamone is the leading scorer for the Americans thus far, collecting three goals and four assists over four games. Showing how dominant they are in their own zone, Team USA has yet to surrender a goal in the Paralympic Games, and look to continue that trend against Japan today.
If you’d like to watch the gold medal game, you can watch the game online here for free! Nothing better than watching a great hockey game for free, and seeing the gold medals awarded to the victor! Check out the sledge hockey action today!
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 Back again with more Uniform Tweaks, Concepts and Revisions today. Lots to get to, and if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.
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Leading off today is Patrick Woody (aka “Pflava”) who has a few MLB concepts for us:
Hey Phil! Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately – been pretty busy. Anyway, here are a few tweaks I dug up recently…
Boston Red Sox: In short, I think they get the undersleeves (and honestly, their socks) completely wrong. Just because they’re the Red SOX doesn’t mean all their trim has to be red, too. The cap is navy, and having solid red sleeves and socks throws the balance completely off. Especially at home. Regarding the socks, there is a reason Boston used to wear those awesome striped stirrups with the navy at the top — it balanced out the top half of the uniform perfectly while remaining dominantly red. So, here’s what I did.
Chicago White Sox: Next, I changed the other Sox a bit. Like a lot of folks here, I love the red trim the White Sox used to use. I really like how it pops against the black while being used minimally. Also, the current black/silver is a bit bland and lifeless and IMO is looking a bit 90’s-dated. So I added the red trim on the home and road uni’s (I absolutely HATE the White Sox current roads). The alt is just an updated version of the 70’s look, and nothing they’d ever wear in a day game. But I LOVE that old time look on the font. I actually wanted to use that for the road grays, but I’m far too limited graphically in MS Paint and couldn’t find a version of it in black. Ideally, the road grays wouldn’t have the “Sox” logo. Oh well.
Texas Rangers: Next is my local team, the Texas Texases. The Rangers visual identity is an absolute trainwreck that never gets enough attention, mostly because no one cares about this team in any way. When they announced that “Texas” would be on the home and road’s, I came up with this tweak. Basically I got rid of the 3-D dropshadow nonsense and all the unnecessary white on the road uniforms while simplifying the cap logo and striking a balance between the red and blue. There are very few teams that need a two toned cap, but the Rangers are one of them. That’s the only way to clean up the cap logo while retaining red, white and blue. So the “T” is now plain white with no trim whatsoever (when all that crap is removed from the T, it’s actually a nice, symmetrical logo that works well on a cap).
Minnesota Twins: I did this before they unveiled their new set for this coming season. Nothing groundbreaking here, just a basic return to the 60’s look that is one of my all time favorites (and as a Braves fan, I despise the Twins). For the road grays I took the old Minnesota script that, frankly, they should have used in the first place. I’d still much rather see something like this as their full time set and not an alt, because the original Twins uni’s were magnificent. As for this alt, just ignore it as I have no idea why I even added it.
That’s all for now.
Patrick
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Next up is Skott Schoonover who has a “fantasy” football concept. Meet the Apollos:
I made these unis for my fantasy football team. The team is the Apollos. I know since it’s a fantasy team it doesn’t qualify as a uni tweak, but I was pretty happy with how this turned out.
Skott Schoonover
PS- Love the site.
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Our final set of concepts today come from Eli Netting, who has some interesting proposals for the Pittsburgh baseball and football clubs:
I know it’s too late to enter the official Uni Tweaks Contest, but I wanted to send in my deisgn changes for the Pittsburgh Steelers & Pirates. Please forgive the rough look of the changes. I used Snagit.
The one uniform nobody seems to want to touch is the Steelers. I will gladly admit that I’ve been a Steelers & Pirates fan since before I was born. I agree that the Steelers don’t “need” to be tweaked, but my curiosity got the better of me. What if the colors were reversed for the home jersey? So I did it. I kept the gold helmet because, even though it was originally used before I was born, I love the look of the (pseudo) gold dome.
For the Steelers road jersey I changed the pants from yellow to black and the helmet from black to white (again just out of curiosity). I think they both look pretty good.
I know the Steelers will never do any of these (especially the white helmet) but I think they should really look at the all-yellow jersey. Maybe as another alternate?
For the Pirates unis, I’ve been drooling over the chance to change these ever since they started wearing the pinstripes on Sundays. With all due respect to the teams that wear pinstripes, I don’t like seeing the Buccos in them. It works for the Yanks, Mets, etc but it just doesn’t seem right for the Pirates. For the Sunday jersey, I took out the pinstripes and replaced them with yellow sleeves. Maybe they could go back to the vest days (of both recent & long ago) seasons.
For the Alternate jersey, instead of red, they could’ve gone with a yellow jersey (again with the vest) and yellow pants (like they did back in the glory days of the 70’s).
I wish I could say that the “A” standing out on the jersey is a coincidence, but it’s not. It’s exactly what it looks like: a shot at Pirates management for dismantling good teams (with loads of potential) just to save a buck.
Thanks for taking the time to check out my tweaks. And thanks for the great blog!! Here We Go Steelers! and Let’s Go Bucs!!
Respectfully,
Eli
Thanks to all the guys for their submissions. Back soon with another tweak show.
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 Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Today’s scoreboard comes from me. That’s right — I was at this game with Paul. If that’s not enough of a hint, then maybe the scoreboard itself will be the other clue. OK? OK! Ready: Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. Date, location and final score, please, and be sure to link to your answer. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
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Well, there you have it. All the traditional sports in one post: golf, sledge, curling & baseball. We won’t be discussing hoop, where I continue to practice bracketfailology. Ouch. But hey, 341st isn’t out of it yet. A late win by Maryland bumped me up from 353rd place! Yessir, Terry Bevington’s Pants, I’m coming to get ya. Wait, that doesn’t sound right.
Everyone have a great Saturday.
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It’s not just a rock — It’s forty-two pounds of polished granite, bevelled on the belly and a handle a human being can hold. And it may have no practical purpose in itself but it is a repository of human possibility and if it’s handled just right, it will exact the kind of poetry — as close to poetry as I ever want to get. The way it moves… Not once, in everything I’ve done, have I ever felt the same wonder and humanity as when I’m playing the game of curling. — Chris Cutter
March 20th, 2010
What see there is a new batting glove that supposedly offers much more protection against being hit by a pitched ball. It’s from a new California company called XProTex (further details here). And if you’re using new batting gloves, you may as well use them to hold a new bat. As you can see, the lower handle is contoured like the handle on an axe, which supposedly generates a sweeter swing. Further details on that one are available here.
New ESPN column today — my annual look at spring training
The Proctor Files, Continued: As usual, sporting goods historian had something to say about each of the catalogs I featured in yesterday’s entry. Here’s his commentary:
Universal Bleachers: We didn’t sell for them. They were a “once-in-40-years” purchase and sold primarily through people who specialized in outfitting new gyms or renovations. We did sell Aalco Backboards from St. Louis and Nevco Scoreboards. I sold a high school in the Rochester area a Nevco football scoreboard in 1973 and it was used for football until 2006, when it was moved to their soccer field. It still works fine.
Snyders: This catalog looks awfully familiar. I can’t place the manufacturer but I can tell you it wasn’t Snyders — they appear to be just a dealer themselves. Several manufacturers used Dodge-Davis flannel products. Some would allow their dealers to private-label their catalog as well as only including the dealer’s label in the finished garments. As I’ve mentioned before, we had some companies that only included our label (Powers Mfg., Stall & Dean), some that included both the manufacturer and the dealer labels (Russell, King-O’Shea), and those that made a special combination label with the dealer’s name and their name (Sand-Knit, Spanjian). I’ll do some more research and try to figure out who Snyders’ actual manufacturer was.
Swingster: They were an in-stock company that made casual/coach’s wear, softball uniforms, and jackets. Their quality and prices were good but delivery was often spotty at peak times. Teams in our area wouldn’t order softball uniforms until March or April. By that time, dealers in the warm-weather states had often depleted Swingster’s inventory for a certain style or color, so we often had to change it with the team’s OK. Too bad you don’t have a Swingster catalog from around 1981 or 1982 — they made complete, color coordinated softball uniforms in four versions of “tequila sunrise” stripes (red, green, royal, and navy). They offered softball jerseys, softball pants, softball/coach’s shorts, coach’s shirts, and mesh-back caps with the tequila sunrise striping. I still have two of the coach’s shirts. I’ll try to get you photos.
By the way, that “coach” wearing the all-gold outfit looks like a reject from a tryout for the Village People. As dealers we complained to several companies about the models they used. Champion Products and Russell at first had their catalogs produced by agencies that used real New York-type runway models. The girls all resembled Twiggy and the guys were real Village People types. The poses and their props were hilarious, like using a piece of black tape for eye black, or a piece of wood to resemble the shaft of a hockey stick. Or having the hockey players wearing football shoulder pads and a pair of gym shorts to resemble hockey pants. After enough dealer complaints, Russell and Don Alleson Athletic hired real-life high school and college athletes to model their uniforms. Big improvement.
Hurry Hard!: As you may have noticed in the Ticker lately, I’ve been hunting (without success) for a vintage curling sweater. That’s because I’ll soon be heading back to Minnesota, where I’ll be participating in the House of Hearts Bonspiel at the Duluth Curling Club. I’ll be getting a full day-plus of personalized instruction from ace curler Tyler George and then competing in the ’spiel for the next few days after that.
The House of Hearts is an annual charity bonspiel that’s sort of like a pro-am, with world-class skips teamed with lesser players, including novices (that would be me). All proceeds go to benefit a Duluth medical-services operation, and I’m hoping to do my part by getting some pledges. No pledge is too small — seriously, just contribute $5 and you’ll make me very proud (although larger pledges are welcome, of course). To contribute, please go to Amazon Payments and either log in to your existing Amazon account or, if you don’t have one, create a new Amazon account. Once you’re logged in, click on “Personal” and then on “Send Money,” and send whatever amount you deem appropriate to plukas64 at gmail dot com. Put “For House of Hearts” in the memo line. Thanks.
I’ll be flying home from Duluth on March 21st, which is significant for two reasons: It’s the date of the next Brooklyn Beefsteak at the Bell House, and it’s also my birthday. This is what’s known as a very happy coincidence. I’ll be getting off the plane, making a quick stop at my apartment, and then heading right to the Bell House, where I’ll be celebrating with a big beefsteak birthday bash.
The last Brooklyn Beefsteak was a hoot (full coverage here), and I encourage all NYC-area readers to attend this time around. There will be two seatings: 2pm and 6pm (my party will be at the 6pm). I won’t be delivering any slideshow presentations this time, although I may reprise my onstage role handling visual aids for Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., who’ll be performing once again.
I’ll be spending most of the event at a table with my close friends (all of whom will have to listen to my boring stories about curling in Duluth and pretend to be interested because, hey, it’ll be my birthday), but of course I’ll be happy to say hi to any Uni Watch readers I see there.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Rangers have added a spring training memorial patch for front office employee Bobby Bragan. It’s not yet clear to me whether they’ll keep wearing it during the regular season. … Forget color on color — the Tigers and Florida Southern went gray on gray the other day. Looks like all the Florida Southern players wear stirrups, too, although many of them seem to do so rather grudgingly (with thanks to Ben Kelly). … Speaking of stirrups, check out Meiji University of Tokyo (with thanks to Randy Policar). … Two great eBay finds by Mike Hersh: First, scroll down through the entire listing to see the great illustrations on this hat box. But here’s the real prize: a salesman sample curling stone! … Sidney Crosby’s Olympic stick and gloves are missing. … Interesting little video about the graphic design of racing cars here (with thanks to Lance Smith). … Also from Lance: an absolutely amazing collection of vintage supermarket display photos. … Here’s another one of those photos of Aussie soccer players wearing three-digit uni numbers. … Michael Vick says he wants to play for the Panthers because he likes their uniforms, which is just one more strike against him (with thanks to Frank Cha). … Is this completely gorgeous or what? It’s from an amazing site devoted to letterhead design. Highly recommended clicking (big thanks to Craig Ward). … Here’s some nice 1965 footage of Virginia Tech playing William & Mary in the first game ever at Lane Stadium (nice find by Michael Kennedy). … Oneonta State’s lacrosse team is wearing some seriously striped jerseys. Additional pics here (with thanks to Tom Langan). … Matthew Algeo wonders if the Hoofddorp Pioniers — a Dutch baseball team — might be getting a call from the Phillies’ legal team. … Brett Crane notes that the Angels don’t seem to be wearing the new BP caps, which is particularly interesting because they never went for the last BP cap design (they stayed with this instead of going to the do-rag stretch panels). … NHL trade deadline news from John Muir, who writes: “According to the Washington Capitals, newly acquired Scott Walker will keep his #24 from Carolina.” … Disappointed to see that Lastings Milledge, who’d gone high-cuffed throughout his career up until now, was pajama-pantsed yesterday. … Here’s something I haven’t seen before: an old Wham-O Frisbee catalog (with thanks to Mike Hersh). … Uni Watch pastry chef Elena Elms reports that over 75 years’ worth of UNC-Chapel Hill yearbooks have been digitized, with lots of good uniform pics and other treatse lurking within. … Ohio State note from Ben Teaford, who writes: “On Senior Night, they gave out the traditional framed jerseys for the seniors. But for some reason they chose to use a jersey style the team hasn’t worn since this senior class was in their freshman year. Maybe they just had some laying around still. Odd choice.” … There’s a new site devoted to the evolution of MLB baseballs (with thanks to Matthew Felix). … Tons of amazing WHA-related stuff — photos, videos, factoids, you name it — at this fantastic site (major thanks to Alan Kreit). … Gumball helmet king Bill Jones has made a new set of helmets for the top three Olympic hockey teams. … Many World Cup-bound teams wore their new kits in a series of international friendly matches over the past couple of days. Michael Orr provides a good round-up here. … In other soccer news, Italy has unviled their new Puma kit (with thanks to Stephen Wong).
March 4th, 2010
Got an interesting note the other day from reader Matthew Strauss, who attended last Sunday’s Pats/Titans game. I’ll let him explain:
I was lucky enough to get field-level seats right next to the tunnel where the Patriots ran in and out of. After the game, when the team was running off the field, I felt something go splat next to my foot. When I looked down, it was a game-worn glove from one of the players. Naturally I scooped it right up. The only catch is that I have no idea whose it is.
This is the glove model in question. The two players I could immediately recognize running off the field around the time I grabbed it were Julian Edelman and Junior Seau, but it wasn’t from either of them. I didn’t see any RBs, LBs, or WRs wearing anything quite like it. It’s a size 5XL, so I’m assuming it came of a pretty big dude.
I’d be curious to see if we can narrow down where it came from. Perhaps the collective power of Uni Watch can solve the mystery of the glove’s owner, given the size, style, color, etc.
Now, I could cheat by asking a few people at Reebok, who could probably give me the answer in 20 seconds. But where’s the fun in that? Get crackin’, people — I’ll give a free membership card to the first person who can solve the mystery of the Matthew’s glove.
Membership Update: Speaking of memberships, new batch of cards mailed out yesterday, including Alan Borock’s Dolphins treatment, shown at right. Somewhat incredibly, this is the first card we’ve done with Miami’s current aqua design. Surprised it hasn’t been requested more often.
As always, you can see the full gallery of card designs here, and you can sign up to get your own card here.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Some patent applications are more interesting than others (big thanks to my buddy Jon Hammer). … Want to vote on the best hockey mask in the NHL? Do it here (with thanks to Tim O’Connor). … Major historical find by Dan McCue, who sent along this item about the first football game west of the Mississippi, played in 1889 between Grinnell and the University of Iowa. Look at those hats! … Oh. My. God. Further info on the Trail Smoke Eaters here (big thanks to Ryan Connelly). … Very odd two-tone shoes being worn by Kevin Durant the other night (with thanks to Matt Mitchell). … Titans coach Jeff Fisher wore a Peyton Manning jersey while introducing Tony Dungy at a function. … Congrats to webmaster John Ekdahl and his wife Amy, who just got back from their honeymoon in Ireland. Lots of pics here. … The Cowboys have added a practice jersey sponsor (with thanks to Mitchell Goodman). … Craig Dodge wore his vertically striped socks to the Broncos/Pats game two Sundays ago. That photo is from his full-on game report. … Powerful article about the Redskins’ sideline mascot here — recommended reading. … Here’s a Halloween costume idea worth stealing: You can go as the ghost of Ted Williams. Note the throat scar and icicles (as modeled by Adam Fritzen). … Oregon will reportedly be going with this look on Saturday. … Pacific will wear a special “Stockton” jersey on December 9th. “As a Pacific alum, I’m not a fan of this,” says Aaron Davis. “It seems like a desperate attempt at fixing a rift between a community and the university it houses, a relationship that’s always been strained in Stockton.” … Check out this photo — simple but gorgeous. “My buddy took the photo during Expos spring training West Plam Beach in 1982,” says Joel Kirstein. “Pretty funny seeing a very young Terry Francona and a very young Cal Ripken Jr., both with full heads or hair!” … Phillies prospect Dominick Brown has been playing for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League, and boy does he Get It™ (with thanks to Josh Miller). … Wow, look at that gorgeous sea of green gridiron. That’s from Vince Lombardi’s first game as Packers head coach in 1959. … What does this helmet logo stand for? Jacob Reed explains: “This is the helmet for Cherokee High School in Cherokee, North Carolina. The school system is operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a sovereign governing nation (susceptible to Federal Laws, and some state laws). On their helmets, they use the Cherokee syllabary. The letters on the helmet are pronounced tsa-la-gi (roll the t and s together), so it sounds like sssa-la-gee. It means Cherokee.”
Weekend Update: Uni Watch will be closed on Friday in memory of my friend Charlie, whose funeral I’ll be attending tomorrow afternoon. As soon as the services are over, I’m off to Louisiana, where I’ll be spending the rest of the weekend reporting an ESPN story that I think you’ll all enjoy once it’s finished. Phil will be running things over the weekend, as usual, and I should be back by Monday (which, incidentally, is when my annual NBA season-preview column will be running on ESPN). See you then.
October 22nd, 2009
My recent ESPN column about goalie pads prompted an interesting note from Mark Coale. “I was listening to HNIC radio the other day and they said goalie pads next season will be based on the goalies’ individual measurements,” he wrote. “They said former goalie and now league employee Kay Whitmore will spend the season going around and getting metrics on every goalie, so things will be custom-made for next year.”
This was news to me, so I went back to Tyler Hull, who works for Bauer and is the guy who provided me with all the info for that ESPN column to begin with. Here’s his very informative response:
Mark is correct. In 2003 the league limited the size of a goalie pad to 38 inches high, but goalies can use that size any way they want. Pads are measured from the inside of your ankle to your knee and then from your knee to the top of your thigh, so goalies often add “thigh rise” (i.e., extra pad) to the top to get to the 38-inch limit if they want them that high. A shorter goalie might use a 33+5 pad, or a taller goalie might use 37+1, depending on the original size of the pad and how tall the goalie is (or at least how long his legs are). The end result is that Chris Osgood and Steve Valiquette end up using the same size pad, even though one of them is 5′11″ and the other one is 6′5″.
That’s just plain goofy, so starting next year goalies will be required to use pads that are measured and fitted to them by the NHL. It won’t be a big change for the bigger guys, but smaller goalies who’ve been using bigger pads will feel the crunch.
Faaaaascinating. On the one hand, this makes sense: Smaller goalie, smaller pads. On the other hand, a shorter goalie already has a built-in disadvantage, since there’s literally less of him to cover the net, and now that shorter goalie will have the bonus disadvantage of having less pad coverage. Hmmmm — discuss.
Culinary Corner: I’m going to let you in on a little secret today, people. It’s such a good secret, you won’t believe you never thought of it yourself. It’s such a good secret, you won’t believe it isn’t available on supermarket shelves. It’s such a good secret, you won’t believe it hasn’t become the basis for a national restaurant chain.
It’s a really good secret.
The secret is this: When you’re heating up maple syrup for your pancakes, waffles, or French toast, spike it with an ounce or two of bourbon.
It’s so simple, so obvious, and soooooo good. Most of the alcohol vaporizes as you heat up the syrup, so the end result isn’t overly boozy — it just imbues the syrup with that great bourbon flavor and complexity.
You can try the same thing with other whiskeys, or with rum, but I’ve found bourbon works best. It doesn’t blend in properly unless you heat up the syrup, so don’t be lazy about that. And don’t bother adding bourbon to non-maple syrups like Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth — nothing can make those taste good.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Hey, speaking of food, check out this class I’ll be taking on Saturday. Guess what T-shirt I’ll be wearing. … The Broncos players who Twizzler-twisted their sock stripes on Sunday will not be fined. … Some additional images have been added to Mako Mameli’s collection of screen shots from Showtime’s AFL history series. I especially love the Raiders’ shield-themed yard markers and red sideline hashmarks. … Also from Mako: More info on Maurice Jones-Drew’s number and NOB. … Chris Mitchel recently visited the prison museum at the state penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa. “They had a collection of some sweet prison baseball and football team photos, some of which you can see here,” he says. “There are also some cool other pictures of various uniforms worn by the inmates (sorry, ‘offenders,’ per the warden). Stripes are not the only pattern used.” … Nike is exploiting honoring the 100th anniversary of UNC hoops by producing a series of throwback replicas, including the red-trimmed jersey and shorts (with thanks to Jordan Woodson). … The horror, the horror (postgame shot courtesy of John Romero). … Rick Ankiel was cleaning out his locker yesterday — including an Adrian Peterson jersey (as spotted by Ben Traxel). … On Saturday Kirsten and I attended a very special party where, among other things, we were forced to don rabbit ears and pose alongside a giant bunny, which was even more terrifying than it appears in the photos. … Amazing Charleston Charlies jersey available here (great find by Dan Cichalski). … Cliff Lee didn’t have the blue squatchee on his cap last night (as noted by sharp-eyed Jay Fanelli). … Hey, remember Frozen Coke? No, of course you don’t. Ricko doesn’t even remember it, and he’s eleventeen hundred years old. But if you did remember it, you might also remember this (major find by Brinke Guthrie). … The Bunkie (La.) High School chain gang has some, uh, unique uniforms, complete with NOBs (with thanks to Chris LaHaye). … Hmm, subtle. … Braylon Edwards, making his Jets debut, went double-sock-striped last night. … There’s a guy out there who’s making super-cool hand-crafted footballs. Further details here (with thanks to Bill Austin). … Get better soon, Bizkit.
October 13th, 2009
As you may have noticed, there was an extra color on NFL gridirons yesterday. We all knew it was coming, and it was pretty much what we expected. In other words: snoozers.
My general feeling was: (1) It looked like crap, and (2) I didn’t really care because it was 75 degrees and sunny here in NYC, so there was no way I was gonna spend the day watching teevee. Caught about 15 mins. of the Giants game before going hiking in Staten Island. (Yes, hiking in Staten Island — it exists! We even saw three whitetail deer. In Staten Island!)
Anyway: It could have been pinker, because Chad Johnson/Ochocinco had been toying with the idea of a pink chinstrap, but instead he just went with standard white — something of a surprise, because at various points in the past he’s gone with a black version and an orange version (most recently during a preseason game a little over a month ago, which earned him a fine).
Ochocinco’s chinstrap maneuverings have been of particular interest to reader Henry Chan. I’ll let him explain:
In 2007, I came up with the idea to make Johnson an orange and black “Bengal-striped” chinstrap. The idea didn’t come completely out of the blue: Back when I was in University in the late ’90s, I created a company called “Strap It On Sports” — “SioSports” for short — with the idea of making custom-painted chinstraps for NCAA football teams (I figured I would start with college and hopefully work my way up to the NFL). I made a couple of prototypes based on my hometown CFL Calgary Stampeders and then sent letters with hand-drawn mock-ups to various NCAA schools. The chinstraps were customized with the school logo on the chin cup, along with the player’s name and/or number. Unfortunately, I received no response and the idea kind of faded. I no longer have the mock-ups, either.
Anyway, back to Chad Johnson. I figured if he was willing to wear an orange chinstrap (which incidentally was an Adams 50 “youth” model and not a Adams 100 “pro” model), then he might be willing to wear one with black tiger stripes, so I ordered an orange chinstrap and began to customize it. Unfortunately, the paint didn’t adhere very well to the plastic chin cup or the straps, and the idea again faded.
However, this past summer I tried using a black Sharpie instead of paint, and it worked perfectly. After experimenting with a few different designs, I was able to come up with the first Bengal-striped chinstrap, customized for Chad Ochocinco. On September 17th I sent the chinstrap to Chad, c/o of the Bengals, in the hopes that he might wear it for a game (hopefully he won’t make me pay for the fine), or at least a practice.
Very cool. Personally, I’m surprised the NFL has been so tight-assed about chinstrap colors and designs. They already allow bright-colored gloves and color-trimmed shoes, yet they cling to plain white chinstraps. I’m not saying I want them to allow other colors and patterns; I’m just saying I’m surprised they haven’t done it. And I bet the eventually do it in the not-too-distant future, whether Ochocinco wears Henry’s chinstrap or not.
Research Reminder: In case you missed it last week, I’m trying to gather as many different hockey red line designs as possible. I’m not talking about the center ice logo — I mean the red line itself, which is sometimes solid, sometimes checkered, and sometimes imprinted with little icons relating to the home team. If you have any red line designs to contribute, please send them here. Thanks.
Culinary Corner: Why pay 50¢ at the convenience store for a bag of chips when you could spend far more time, energy, and money making your own, as Kirsten and I did on Saturday? The great thing about cooking them yourself is that you can make them as dark as you want — and believe me, I want.
So here’s what you do: Go buy a few nice-sized baking potatoes (preferably russets, but any tuber will do). No need to peel them — just slice them really thin with a mandoline or food processor or whatever. Soak the slices in water for two hours and then dry them as best you can. A salad spinner is ideal for this, but only losers eat salads so I assume you don’t have one of those. Just use paper towels.
Meanwhile, take the widest pot you own, pour in a few inches of vegetable oil, and heat it until it registers 380º on a candy thermometer (if you don’t have a candy thermometer, just stick your finger in the oil until nothing’s left but the bone). Working in batches, put the spud slices in the oil. Don’t crowd them in the pot — if they touch, they’ll stick together. When the chips reach your desired shade of golden brown (figure three-ish minutes), use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a rack or paper towel. Let the oil heat back up to 380º and then start the next batch. While those slices are cooking, transfer the first batch of cooked chips to a big bowl.
Repeat all steps until the bowl is full or you run out of potato slices. Toss cooked chips with salt. Transfer chips and self to sofa in time for Monday Night Football. Serves 1.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Padres wore jersey patches promoting their charitable foundation yesterday. … New masks for Jonas Gustavsson and Dan Ellis (with thanks to Matthew Gahm and Dirk Hoag, respectively). … Jeremy Lewis reports that Pearl Jam’s current tour features team-based T-shirts for each stop on the tour. “The number corresponds to the date the show was played,” he explains. … Sanchez-o-rama! That’s Jonathan at bat and Freddy on deck, as recently snapped by James Allen at Dodger Stadium. … Totally gorgeous basketball warm-up shirt available here. … Man, if you’re gonna steal an NFL team’s design, why would you choose the Bengals? Those are the Lincoln University Blue Tigers, a historically black college in Jefferson City, Missouri (with thanks to Jason Walker). … So now Adidas logo creep has spread to deodorant. “Guess which brand was on sale?” says Timothy McGlone. … And speaking of Adisas logo creep (with thanks to Brinke Guthrie). … More NOB inconsistencies, this time for Pitt (with thanks to Chris Hilf). … Mike Menner notes that the Twins have already produced a printed version of their 2010 schedule, and that it includes this logo. A sensible person might reasonably conclude that this logo will be worn as a sleeve patch next season, but of course I can’t confirm anything of that sort. … How do you make the lame-o blackout thing even lamer? Put a nickname on your jersey and color-reverse your helmet stripe (as noted by Brian Davis). … One one-handed D1 hoops player? Sure, why not? (With thanks to Chad Todd). … Chris Speakman, who runs the excellent Sports Propaganda operation, has a new line of screen prints available from Topps. … Hmmm, is hockey headed for its own Gazoo helmet? The funny thing about using Messier as your helmet spokesguy is that he looks the same without a helmet as he does when he’s wearing one (with thanks to Ryan Harrington). … Interesting NOB available here. “Looks like a FNOB, but it’s actually the jersey of Ovince Saint Preux — who, according to my research, is now an MMA star,” says Nathan Haas. … Four of Southern’s football jerseys were stolen prior to Saturday’s game against Jackson State, prompting a quick uni switcheroo (with thanks to Prentice James). … Now that the UFL has unveiled its helmet designs, Bill Jones has gumball-ized them. “Also,” he adds, “I have been working on sets of NCAA helmets. I have recently uploaded some the FCS and D2 sets that I have completed, as well as the Asian baseball sets that Jeremy Brahm helped me with, to my Flickr stream. I hope to have my FBS and FCS throwbacks uploaded this month, and then I will start on a D3 set.” … Showtime has aired the third installment of its AFL series, so Mako Mameli has added new images to his screen shot set. Dig the alternating-color yard line numbers in KC! … Also from Mako: Really interesting article here about the Broncos’ throwback field design. Highly recommended reading. … Texas A&M went with white helmets on Saturday. … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Rochester Amerks wore some awesome throwbacks on Saturday. … “I was browsing eBay today when I came across a photo slide being sold by the Topps Vault,” writes Paul Carr. “The picture shows Don Zimmer, supposedly from 1972, wearing a very strange Padres cap I have never seen before. The cap is similar to the one they wore for most of the 70s, but the yellow panel in front is HUGE, going all the way back to Zimmer’s ears.” Anyone know more about this? … It’s gotta be the shoes, or something. … Hmmm, is this a hint of what the 2010 BP caps will look like? … Classy move by David Wright, who closed out the season by wearing blue stirrups yesterday — nice (pics courtesy of Steve Wojtowicz). … Kellan Walski spotted this guy at yesterday’s Pats game. “Turns out the guy knew someone who worked at a sporting goods store and was willing to put in the work on the custom job,” he says. “The numbers were custom-cut to be able to fit three across without looking too squished. Beneath all of that customization is a Lawyer Milloy jersey.” … Apple (the computer company, not the record label) is suing Woolworths (the Australian supermarket chain, not the defunct five and dime retailer) due to some logo similarities, although that seems like a stretch to me (with thanks to John Muir). … The Capitals have made changes to their banners and retired numbers (with thanks to William Yurasko). … NOB of the year, right? And yes, it’s his real name, although maybe he should change it to “Ah, Shit,” given the state of the Rams this year (nice find by Tyler Hull). … Hey, did you know there’s a blog that’s tracking the demolition of Yankee Stadium? Love the straightforward URL (with thanks to Kevin Rozell).
October 5th, 2009
By Phil Hecken, with Rick Pearson
Back again with more NFL uni tweaks, but this first section, entirely envisioned and described by Ricko, is, in a word, “brilliant.” Whereas our previous “tweaks” were designed to solve our own misgivings about certain teams uni-choices, these are actual practical solutions to real problems. What is that real problem? Well, unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past decade, you’ve most likely noticed that the sleeve on the football uniform, with the exception of a few quarterbacks, a wide receiver or two, and kickers, is basically a vestigial element now. While this may not be such a big deal in the overall scheme of uniform design, it is a MAJOR headache for teams who still choose to put stripes on what were once full sleeves. You’ve seen the half-assed solutions being proffered by designers who are admittedly clueless apparently at a loss for ways around the new uniform cuts. Some have apparently no stripes at all. Or they end up stretched onto the chest. I mean, c’mon. This is getting ridiculous.
Enter Ricko. What he’s about to offer up is a simple, straightforward and logical answer to the “disappearing sleeve” on the NFL uniform. And with that, I give you Ricko:
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 Talk About Wearing Things On Your Sleeve
by Rick Pearson
First of all, this is NOT about re-designing anyone’s unis, so let’s not get our hackles up. This is about what to do with sleeve stripes when you have no sleeves to put them on.
A while ago on UW I asked, not altogether rhetorically, Why not put the stripes on the sleeves of the compression shirts? That makes this about an “Apparel Innovation.” Nothing more.
The central notion, then is: Let’s give up trying to make stripes work on today’s shortie jersey sleeves, shall we? The hell with it; put ‘em somewhere else. Say, where they belong? That way, TV numbers and logos could move back to (when appropriate or desired) the more traditional position on the sleeves. Also, TVs could return to the customary 4-inch size…in some cases in the past, even larger.
This idea WOULD require development of a half-sleeve compression shirt in addition to the full-length and “armpit”-length versions typically produced. Secondly, it would be nice if the NFL adopted a Uni Rule reading: “Shoulder pads and armpits must be completely covered by the player’s jersey and/or under sleeves”. But that’s not realistic, I suppose. I think today’s players really get off on showing their guns. “Chicks Dig It” is the rationale, I imagine.
So, without a lot of explanation of what you’re about to see, here’s what you’d get (presented in no particular order)…Redskins, Packers, Giants white, 49ers, Browns (yes, I added stripes to the brown pants; couldn’t help myself [white socks too -- that pic was taken from last year's preseason game when the Brown's first broke out the Brown pants with Brown leggings -- they have since switched to white socks [--PH]), Steelers, Vikings throwbacks and Bears.
I did mess around with Cardinals, taking elements of their St. Louis and early Arizona unis (especially the whites) to show how a team could to do some unique things with the compression sleeve stripes. The “5-stripes same width” look is derivative of their throwback socks from 1994. Taken to the dark uni, it’s interesting, but a bit much. This combination — more like the 1980’s — for home and road may look old-fashioned to some, but it’s clean…and interesting. A sort of “minimalist” spin on their St. Louis duds.
And, yes, I did the Bengals, not to criticize their current uni, but to show that a team could really go nuts, actually making the compression sleeves the uni’s “signature element“. I certainly could have done the same concept for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats or Princeton University, so please don’t take it as slam on the Bengals. No white version of these sleeves with this one. Imagine them, black sleeves and colored stripes, with a white jersey. Yowsa.
Conclusion (mine, anyway)? It could work.
BAD news for fans: Two separate garments needed to get “official” game day look.
But that’s the GOOD news for the NFL merchandising arm (no pun intended). Plus, they’d probably sell a boatload of just the striped compression shirts, too.
Okay, I’m done.
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Phil here. Great job with that Ricko. You may have seen some of these designs in the comments section before, but never in a full-blown post. This is an idea the NFL should seriously consider, especially for teams who still, ya know, wear striped jersey sleeves.
After Ricko came to me (and you via the comments) with the idea of the comp sleeves, one of UW’s readers, Patrick “pflava” Woody provided me with a graphic set of Ricko’s proposals, which I’ll present here, and which gives another idea of how both the long and short sleeved comp sleeves could look (in a couple of cases, Patrick’s template designs differ from Ricko’s, but the idea is the same): Redskins, (which is more of a throwback look than Rick’s compression sleeve idea for the current uniform) Vikings (throwback), Steelers, Browns, 49ers, Giants (road), and Bears.
Fantastic job with those Patrick. I also wanted to show you the same concept, brought to you by Fred Strom, who took Ricko’s Packers idea and made this mockup. But he didn’t stop there: Fred also mocked up the Steelers, da Bears, and (my favorite), the Browns. Great job Fred. (By the way, Fred is the guy who gave us one of the first neon snot green Seahawks — created shortly after Paul’s April Fool’s Day post — and who saw my piece on them last weekend, but whose work I wasn’t familiar with at the time). So, I’m including Fred’s Neon Green Seahawks concepts here.
I’m sure I’ll be featuring more great works from Patrick and Fred as the season wears on. But props to them for helping to bring Ricko’s Comp Sleeve proposals to us today as well.
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Getting Loopy On You
by Phil & Rick
Moving along to a joint effort between Ricko and myself, we’re sure you’ve noticed that not only have sleeves disappeared on NFL jerseys, so too have the once prevalent and beautiful shoulder loops (or “arches” as Ricko refers to them) that at one time once graced NFL uniforms in varying degrees. Whether their disappearance into truncated stubs like this, this and this is a function of the new jersey cuts, or simply manufacturer’s sloth isn’t really important. What is important is that even teams who sport truncated loops still have players who wear full loops with the current jersey.
Obviously, then, there is no real reason why the loop has basically disappeared. Sure, the newer cuts might make it a tad more difficult to design a uniform with actual loops but this truncated garbage is horrible. Ricko and I differ a bit on solutions to this, since technically, most teams “loops” weren’t actually full loops (as I like) but “arches” (as Ricko calls them), which are more approximations of loops, as seen in the UCLA style guide (although some teams did use full loops and some were full but tapered). I prefer the full loop, whereas Rick would prefer to end them under (or close to) the armpit, but either way, the appearance of a full loop is what is needed.
So, in my tweak, the Colts get full loops whereas in Ricko’s redesign, he gives them “arches” and ends them at the armpit. The New York Jets get the full treatment in redesign as do The Titans of New York, whereas Ricko would again end the loop (arch) under the arm. After looking at both of those options, perhaps neither one is perfect, but both are better than the truncated loop. As a compromise, we’d both move to taper the loops as they pass under the arm, yielding a look like this. Much better, no?
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OK. That’s it for today on this bit of uniform fixing. But you gotta give big ups to Rick Pearson for the Comp Sleeve idea. Seriously, Mr. Goodell … Are you listening?
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UW’s biggest Seahawks fan, Michael Princip has a fantastic ongoing project over at his Illustrated NFL site. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. Mike recently added a few more illustrations over in the Artists Section. Most notably, a new entry for Lon Keller and his amazing true vintage football illustrations. Michael totally digs this one of Tom Fears (80) & Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch (40).
Great stuff! Be sure to check that out if you haven’t already!
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UW Mystery Jersey “square” — My doubles partner and UW West Coast Correspondent Brinke Guthrie has found the latest UW mystery. Check out this Huskie…what in god’s name is that dark square on his belly? I first thought it was a sweat stain, due to the new jersey cuts (which are giving unis a weird two-tone look), but now I’m pretty sure there is more to it than that. Different material? Anyone wanna take any guesses? Neither Brinke nor I can ever remember seeing anything like that before.
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I don’t usually pay much mind to “top 10 best” or “worst” lists of uniforms. I mean, we here on UW should have the final word on that sort of thing anyway, right? But Ricko sent me this one. This one is a head shaker. Plus the guy who wrote it is either a homophobe or a bad comedian. Probably both. But check out the choices and the rationales. Here’s a typical quote: “The Dolphins uniforms should be San Fransisco’s uniforms. It’s hard to imagine a uniform that better represents fruit than these.” Right. Not quite sure how old it is, but it’s definitely not from this season. Still, this gets a huge “WTF?”
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 Our man in the street, Jim Vilk brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from yesterday:
5. Wyoming/Colorado – Throwbacks save the day.
4. Florida State/BYU – Cougars matched up well with FSU…well, looks-wise, that is.
3. Florida Atlantic/South Carolina – If FAU played as good as they looked, they’d be champs.
2. Southern California/Washington – Upset game; uniforms not upsetting at all.
1. Giants vs. Colts Duke/Kansas – The greatest game ever played…in Lawrence, Kansas…this weekend.
And the baddie worst uni matchup of the weekend: Cincinnati/Oregon State – A veritable black hole.
Nice work Jim. How you couldn’t put the throwback Buff’s higher is beyond me, but hey…at least they made the list. Those helmets are the bomb.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Got another scoreboard submission from SlimandSlam today. Not quite sure about the level of difficulty, but you guys should be able to get it without too much difficulty. Stadium should be obvious, as are the teams — it only comes down to the date and the final score. Might be tricky. Ready? Guess The Game. As always, please link to the answer thru Retrosheet or Baseball Almanac. Thanks for the submission, Slim!
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 Well, the football season is in full gear now…and the boys of Benchies are back on the gridiron. I asked Rick how come Mike wears adidas, Mick wears Nike, and the defender in this clip wears Puma. Rick’s answer? “It’s just until I get my shoe contract.” Of course. Anyway, enjoy your Sunday Benchies. Bonus points to anyone who can name the sweatband manufacturer.
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And that’s a wrap for this Sunday folks. If you missed yesterday, there was a “Design A Cap Contest” you all should check out. Keep those submissions coming!
Please make sure to compliment Patrick & Fred for their efforts as today as well. Good stuff there. And for the love of god…can somebody get the NFL front offices on the line and convince them that Ricko has the answer to the disappearing sleeve? Not only would the comp sleeves solve the disappearing/shrinking stripe problems, but they’ll be able to move one more piece of merch in the process. It’s a win-win! Cheers.
September 20th, 2009
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