Last weekend, I ran an article which was chock full of photos and short writups by Dan Kennedy, the reader who won the Grand Rapids Griffins design contest back in August of last year. If you’re not familiar with any of that, please click on the link above. Because Dan was at the game late, he only had a chance to send me the photos he’d taken with some short descriptions. I had wanted to follow up with Dan, and today…I have.
I spoke with Dan this week and he was kind enough to let me into his kitchen, so to speak on his design, the process and a few personal bits as well. Here we go:
. . . . . . . . . .
Uni Watch: Hey Dan — thanks for the interview — did you have any other photos from the game?
Dan Kennedy: I know that the Griffins posted a couple dozen in-game shots to their Flickr account which are a lot better quality than my phone shots and you can see a lot better detail of the unis in action.
UW: Great. OK How old are you and where do you live?
DK: I’m 37 years old and live in Brighton, Michigan (20 minutes north of Ann Arbor).
UW: How long have you been reading Uni Watch? How did you “find” Uni Watch (from Paul’s ESPN column, been reading for years, via twitter, friend, etc?)
DK: I’ve been reading the blog and following Uni Watch on Twitter for close to 8 years now. My brother, Mike, originally introduced me to Uni Watch as he’s really into the history of sports and enjoys looking at and reading about old uniforms.
UW: Have you ever entered a design contest before (Uni Watch or otherwise)?
DK: Yes, the USA Today ran a national contest to design a mascot for the 1988 Summer Olympics. I was 9 years old at the time and happened to be in a summer art camp where that was one of the projects. The instructor submitted the class’s designs to the contest and mine ended up being one of the winning designs featured in the newspaper. I remember it was a frilled lizard (has a big ruffled collar around its neck) wearing Olympic-inspired Zubaz cap and shirt. Haha…only something a 9 year-old in the 80’s could dream up.
UW: That’s um, interesting. Maybe we can pursue that one at another time. Do you have pics/links to any of your other designs?
UW: Awesome. I may have to pursue those further another time as well. OK, What was your thought process for the Griffins’ design? Did you use solely the parameters provided in the UW entry from 8/1?
DK: Yes, I pretty much stuck to what was asked for/recommended in the official rules of the contest. I put a lot of time into the design, so the last thing I wanted to do was go outside the lines too far and have my design rejected or disregarded.
UW: How did you come up with the design you ultimately chose? Did you have several other versions that “didn’t make the cut”?
DK: When I decided I was going to be a part of the contest, I sat down and started sketching ideas. This is always the first part of my process for these type of contests. My mind usually is flooded with ideas and getting them out quickly on paper is a great way to prove what will work and what won’t. I had a couple other directions that I was considering, but felt they were too expected and, ultimately, went with something that was more unique. Prior to sketching, I did a little research into past winners of this contest and wanted to make sure I came up with a solution that was different and fresh.
UW: What did you think of the contest rules/voting, etc?
DK: I thought the rules were fair. The voting got a little confusing when there were so many submissions that voting blocks/groups had to be formed. I was concerned that if you happened to be in an earlier voting group that you would have more time to be voted on, thus providing an unfair advantage. However, after reading the fine print, I was relieved that only votes during a certain period of time for each group would count despite polls still being open and votes still being cast. Most of the designs that got strong vote totals were the strongest designs (with the exception of a few) in my opinion. The cream always rises to the top.
UW: Once the Griffins selected you as their winner, what happened next?
DK: I honestly did a double-take because I really had no idea what the Griffins organization was looking for. If it were a typical Uni Watch contest, I usually have a sense of what catches Paul’s eye knowing his sensibility from reading his thoughts over the years. However, in this case, there were some other strong finalists and it was a matter which direction the Griffins wanted to go. It felt kind of surreal when I won because I knew that my design would actually be put into production and worn in a real game, which is something I’d dreamed of since I was a kid. After being announced as the winner, I received an email from their Digital Marketing Director congratulating me and asking for the files of the artwork I’d created so they could use those in creating the jerseys.
UW: Did they work with you closely to bring the jersey to fruition? Did they suggest or make changes? Did you have any additional input other than the original design?
DK: No, I took a little extra time to clean up my files for production and then handed them off and never heard anything again from them. It’s obvious that they made some slight tweaks based on manufacturing requirements, but the final product was pretty close to what I had mocked up. I remember being concerned that I didn’t provide artwork for the numbering that I suggested in my mockup and they never reached out regarding it. I was nervous they’d use numbering that didn’t go with the feel of the design, but I was pleasantly surprised that they made a choice very similar to what I had suggested. They also carried the stripe pattern on the sleeves to the socks which I wasn’t expecting either and that was a very nice touch.
[Here’s Dan’s original contest design submission, followed by the jersey the Griffins ended up wearing — you can click any photos to enlarge — PH]
UW: Aside from receiving a custom jersey, what else did you receive — just tickets to the game or did they give you a tour? Did you get to meet any of the executives or players prior to the game?
DK: They gave me tickets for my family, my brother and his family who live just outside of Grand Rapids, and my parents who’d never been to a hockey game before. They accommodated our whole group and it was really nice of them to do that. Upon arriving to the game an hour early, they gave us a backstage tour and then took us down to the ice before pregame warmups and presented me with my own personalized jersey. Their team photographer took some pictures of me with it which they tweeted out and featured on the Jumbotron during the game. We weren’t allowed in the locker room, so I didn’t get to meet any of the players. That would’ve been fun to get their reaction about the jerseys since they’re the ones who actually wear them. Although, they did give us a free pass to their high-five alley in the tunnel where where the starters go onto the ice when being announced. It was a lot of fun to be that close to the action, especially for my kids and my nephew and niece.
UW: You told me you (or your wife) drove to the game. How long was the trip?
DK: The trip was two hours. We went to my brother’s house for the afternoon to visit and hang out prior to the game. Then we all ate an early dinner and went down to the game together. The weather was unbelievable that day as it hit nearly 60 degrees and the sun was shining. That’s unheard of in Michigan in the middle of January. It was a great little day trip.
UW: What happened when you arrived? DK: I was asked to enter the arena at the media entrance where Marissa, the Griffins Digital Marketing Manager, met up with me. She then proceeded to give us the behind the scenes tour and presented my with my personalized jersey.
UW: Where did you sit for the game? DK: We sat about halfway up in one of the corners of the lower section. They were pretty good seats and had no problems following the action.
UW: Did the Griffins win? DK: Yes! They smoked the Cleveland Monsters 5-0 and it was their goalie’s first ever shutout.
UW: What did you think of the experience? DK: It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m really grateful to have had a chance to see a design I dreamed up in my head get so much support and come to life on a real stage in front of me. I had random people approaching me asking about the jersey I was wearing and it was awesome to tell them that I designed it. I got a lot of positive feedback and high-fives/handshakes that night. My niece caught a puck that flew over the glass and got to keep it. My family and I got on the Jumbotron a few times during the course of the game thanks to a lot of crazy dancing from the kids. The cherry on top was that their post-game auction for the player-worn jerseys had one of the largest turnouts ever and raised over $20,000 for the Griffins Youth Foundation. It was the full experience and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.
UW: Thanks, Dan. I will definitely want to follow up with you on a bunch of things. Glad it was a great experience for you!
. . . . . . . . . .
There you have it. As you can see, Dan’s got a lot of talent and a good eye for design. I’ll definitely be back with him at some point down the road for a look into more of his concepts. Hope you guys enjoyed (vicariously) his experience. I know I did.
ATTENTION NY AREA READERS!
If you live in or around New York City and you’re a Mets fan (or even if you’re not), today is the annual Queens Baseball Convention, a “mid-winter gathering of fans of baseball, held in Queens. (Their) design is a combination of ‘Fan Fest’ meets ‘Comic Con’. The spirit of the day is for the fans to get together, celebrate baseball in Queens, and to bring the kiddies and bring the wife.”
As he has in year’s past, Paul will be hosting the “Uniform Panel,” which includes myself as well as power hitters uni and logo designer-extraordinaire Todd Radom, Mets numbers’ guru Jon Springer, Mets stitcher Russ Gompers and Mets uni collector Nick DiSalvo. This is basically the entire panel that made up the contingent the last time the QBC was held (in 2015 — the 2016 event was snowed out). Here’s a look back at the 2015 Uni Panel:
If you’re interested, c’mon down — the Uni Panel runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm, but there are activities taking place throughout the day (the event runs 11:30 am to 6:00 pm). The Convention is being held at Katch Brew & Grill in Astoria, Queens. The full list of details as well as ticketing, and more, can be found here.
NFL/Arena News: As you may be aware, the Baltimore Brigade are a new Arena Football League team. “I first thought the players had matching spat around their ankles, but after another look its actually a sleeve,” writes Rick Friedel “Looks to be part of the uniform. I don’t follow AFL so not sure if this is a league thing or a team thing.” … Here’s your first look at the Atlanta Falcons jerseys with the Super Bowl LI Patch. … And, here’s how it looks on the Patriots’ white jerseys (from Lord Fontleroy). … Here’s a look at the field and the end zones, which have now been painted in, for Super Bowl LI (from J.S.). … Did you know the Baltimore Ravens were STANLEY CUP Champions in 2000 and 2012? Yeah, neither did I (nice spot by LH Griffel). … Most of the fake helmet designs for the “LA Chargers” in this set suck, but there are a couple good ones.
College Football News: Are the Utah Utes getting new uniforms. This tweet seems to imply this (and I agree with the concepter that a “Utah strip” would look very good on those unis). … Someone has gone to the trouble of mocking up an FSU “iced out” helmet that in the words of submitter Christy is “hideous”.
Soccer News: Former U.S.A. Soccer player (and former World Cupper Alexi Lalas) “Opened up a box of 100+ jerseys I’ve accumulated over the years. Some still have original tags…some still have original sweat.” Submitter Kevin Brewer thinks that’s “quite a haul.” Looks like one of those jerseys is this ‘famous’ one.
And that’s it for today. Thanks to Dan for the great interview.
As listed in the sub-lede above, I’ll be at the Queens Baseball Convention for most of today (between travel and time there), so tomorrow’s content will likely be light. I’ll try to do a ticker (even if it’s a smallish one) but I can pretty much guarantee tomorrow’s post (size) will be small comparatively. But no worries (for those of you who can’t get enough of 5,000 word posts) — next weekend is the Super Bowl, so there will be plenty of great content, including the always awesome uni histories of both teams (from GUD guru Timmy Brulia).
If you can make it down to Katch Astoria for the QBC, make sure to stop by and say hello to me, Paul and the others on the uni panel. There’s a LOT of good stuff at the QBC besides that too, so I can guarantee you’ll be entertained.
For everyone else, have a great Saturday, and I’ll catch you tomorrow. But until then…
For most of today’s photos, you can click to enlarge
[Editor’s Note: Today we have a guest entry from Jeff Callahan, who’s come up with a great DIY project. Enjoy. — PL]
By Jeff Callahan
I’ve always loved ballparks, and I recently built one of my own — sort of. It’s a tabletop baseball game that’s similar to the classic paper football game where you nudge the “ball” across the board.
The basic premise is that you flick a wooden puck (the ball) across the board, which has regions designated for outs, double plays, sacrifice flies, singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. There’s also a die, which can be rolled head-to-head with your opponent for stolen bases. To give you an idea of how it works, here’s a short video of me “hitting” a home run:
I first got the idea for this game in 2003, while sitting in algebra class. I created that first “ballpark” out of a piece of notebook paper, and I’ve developed the idea further since then. Unfortunately, I no longer have that original piece of notebook paper, but I do my first prototype board, from 2015, which I made using Pages for Mac (and probably most of the ink in our printer):
That was a decent starting point, but I wanted more. Initially, I wanted to use a fancy wood, like mahogany or cedar, to create a new game board. But my wife, who’s an artist who works with wood, recommended that I choose a wood that’s easy to manage and carry around with minimal alterations, so I went with particle board. I asked an employee at Home Depot to cut it to size.
Once I had my piece of wood, I began marking it up to create the game board. I love stadiums that have odd dimensions, so I included as much variety with the outfield dimensions as I could while keeping it fun to play:
If you look closely, you’ll see lots of small blue dots scattered across the layout. That’s because I “batted” and recorded over 100 hits to make sure the hit-to-out ratio was reasonable.
The next steps were to apply the first coat of acrylic paint, and to use masking tape to help apply the foul lines:
Then I added a second coat and a matte finish, and boom — I had a stadium.
Now that I had a ballpark, I needed players to play in it. In the early days, we used Clue game pieces. But it didn’t feel right having Colonel Mustard stealing third when he was supposed be murdering Mr. Boddy, so I decided to create my own players.
I purchased blank game pieces from a craft store and thought about how to paint them. I knew I wanted the players to reflect the uniform element I love most: the socks. I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan, so I designed one team with a stripe pattern based on the Redbirds’ classic socks and stirrups:
For the second team, I used a navy/orange color scheme. I’ve always loved how teams like the Tigers and Colt .45s have looked when wearing those colors on the field.
Getting the stripe pattern on these small pieces was difficult. I used electrical tape, which worked really well.
Final step was to paint the wooden puck/ball to look like a baseball. With that step completed, I was ready to play ball.
Now that this game is complete, I’ve started on a new project. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint:
———
Paul here. Let’s have a standing O for Jeff and his awesome project. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, Jeff.
• • • • •
The Ticker By Paul
’Skins Watch: Cleveland will reportedly be the host city for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. It’ll be interesting to see how much, if at all, Wahoo is used in the game’s promotional graphics. Looking back at previous ASGs played in Cleveland, the 1997 logo was Wahoo-free, but the 1981 logo included Wahoo. The press pin for the 1963 game included Wahoo, as did the pin in 1954. (Logos notwithstanding, Cleveland sure has hosted the game a lot of times!) … More on the Wahoo/All-Star connection in this good analysis piece (from reader/commenter Andrew). … The 2018 U.S. Open golf tournament will take place at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island, which is promoting the event with, among other things, this cap (from drewizz, who didn’t give his real name).
Baseball News: LSU will retire Todd Walker’s No. 12 on April 14. … Whoa, check this out: Willie Mays in a circa-1980 Giants pullover jersey, which he never wore on the field (from Ferdinand Cesarano). … Here’s the first thing I’ve heard or seen about new Spring Training caps. Isn’t the Reds version the same as last year? (From Andrew J.) … Longtime Uni Watch reader/contributor Cort McMurray has written a piece about which Astros cap Jeff Bagwell should wear on his Hall of Fame plaque. … The Indians are giving away a bobblehead during spring training featuring uniform that’s no longer part of the team’s wardrobe (from Robert Hayes). … At the end of yesterday’s lede, I showed a photo of Mary Tyler Moore wearing a Twins jersey and toss her cap in the air while making an appearance to throw out the first pitch. Turns out the back of that jersey had a “Moore” NOB and an American flag patch. … Yesterday’s entry included a mention of how the Brewers used to bring relief pitchers to the mound on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. While trying to find a photo of that, Paul Deaver found two shots of the Braves using a Harley scooter in 1959. Look here and here. … This seems odd: Former UNC baseball player Dustin Ackely had his number retired last night — at a UNC basketball game. “As far as I can tell, that’s not a jersey style he ever wore at UNC,” adds James Gilbert.
NFL News: Should’ve seen this one coming: It appears that the Pro Bowl will have a Color Rash theme (from Wyatt Beltz). … The Maryland Transit Authority has unveiled some buses with Joe Flacco wraps. Note the absense of the NFL and Nike logos (from Kevin Beebe). … Former Eagles RB Brian Westbrook says he didn’t like the blue/yellow throwbacks that the team wore in 2007 (thanks, Phil). … Packers RB Ty Montgomery, who was originally signed as a receiver and continued wearing No. 88 after moving to the backfield, will get a new number next season. … Kit Kat, the chocolate bar, produced a promotional Marcellus Bennett jersey with a misspelled NOB (from Chris Flinn). … I talked on a Vermont radio station yesterday about the Super Bowl uniforms and the Celtics’ advertising patch. You can access the audio here. … Here’s a close-up of the Super Bowl LI patch on a Pats jersey (from Moe Khan).
College Football News: The Senior Bowl has some seriously ugly neon practice jerseys. … “I received my 2017 Syracuse Football schedule email this morning and immediately noticed the different jersey,” says Brandon Munger. “The ‘skyscraper’ number font seems to have been replaced with something much better and the number is outlined in (hopefully) white. I don’t know if these changes are for real, but one can hope!”
Hockey News: Fans attending “watch party” for last night’s Blues game got these team logo socks (from Stan Capp). … A Connecticut legislator has proposed a Hartford Whalers logo license plate. Kinda surprised that wasn’t already available (from @LouiseBrooksFC). … Tragically Hip-themed jerseys tomorrow night for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. … Here’s a shot of a 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky playing baseball while wearing nothing but sneakers and short-shorts (from @PleatedFront). … Brad Marchand of the Bruins wore former teammate Milan Lucic’s gloves last night. Here’s Marchand from last night, here’s an old shot of Lucic, and here are the two gloves side by side (from Peter Fahey). … Also, as you can see in that previous photo of Marchand, he appears to have his sleeves tailored extra-short (from Shane Bua). … The Erie Otters will wear these jerseys for “Guns and Hoses Night,” which will benefit local police and firefighters.
NBA News: The 76ers will wear these Chinese New Year shooting shirts prior to tonight’s game against the Rockets. Houston will wear the same New Year’s uniforms we’ve seen them wear in the past. … NBA coaches wore bow ties last night, in memory of former NBA Coaches Association head Michael Goldberg, who passed away earlier this week (from Zachary Loesl).
College Hoops News: Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, upset with his team after a loss to NC State, has banned his players from wearing Duke apparel on campus (from Brinke). … The Colorado coaching staff wore sneakers for Coaches vs. Cancer last night. Note the ref’s pink whistle, too (from Andrew Wharton).
Soccer News: Info on Tottenham’s 2017-18 kit has leaked. The big news is confirmation of the rumored change from Under Armour to Nike (from John Muir).
Grab Bag: F1 driver Lewis Hamilton has challenged fans to design his new helmet. … New hat for golfer Dustin Johnson. … New 150th-anniversary logo for the province of Ontario. “What makes it especially grotesque is that it cost the taxpayers of my province $30,000 to create this piece of crap!” says a disgruntled Sandy Dardick.
• • • • •
QBC reminder: I’ll be chairing the Mets uniform panel at tomorrow’s Queens Baseball Convention. Panelists include Phil, Todd Radom, and other stars. Tix available here. Hope to see you there.
Mary Tyler Moore died yesterday. For those of us who grew up watching her eponymous sitcom, which was set in Minneapolis, one indelible image of her will always be the bit in the opening credits where she’s washing her car while wearing a what appears to be a Vikings jersey with No. 10 — Fran Tarkenton’s number.
The scene goes by really fast. It lasts only two seconds, or maybe just a second and a half. To see what I mean, click on the video below — I’ve configured it to start five seconds before the car-washing scene:
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it, right? But that scene nonetheless had a big impact on people, in part because licensed retail jerseys were somewhere between rare and non-existent back in the 1970s. So the sight of Moore wearing a Vikings jersey — or at least something that signified as a Vikings jersey — was pretty cool. It apparently had a big effect on my longtime ESPN.com pal/colleague Jim Caple, who wrote the following in 2003:
I was a huge Vikings fan back then [in the 1970s] and desperately wanted a Minnesota jersey, but the only one I ever saw that wasn’t worn by an actual Viking was the Fran Tarkenton jersey Mary Tyler Moore donned while washing her car during her show’s opening credits. I wanted that Tarkenton jersey so badly that if Mary had ripped it off her body and handed it to me personally, I would have been too busy slipping it over my skinny body to even bother looking at her naked chest.
True, she must have gotten the jersey from somewhere and, had I lived in the Twin Cities, I might (and I stress the word “might”) have been able to find one, too. But I didn’t. I lived 1,500 miles from Minnesota and there was nowhere for me to buy that Tarkenton jersey. … [B]ack then, if you didn’t live in the city where the team played, you simply were out of luck when it came to buying any gear with a team logo.
The car-washing scene wasn’t part of the original opening sequence when the show debuted in 1970, incidentally (nor would it have made sense then, because Tarkenton was playing for the Giants at the time), but it was added in 1973 and remained through the show’s conclusion in 1977. It’s clearly not a legit Vikings jersey — no sleeve stripes, no TV numbers. But purple and No. 10 with a Minnesota backdrop still communicated the message loud and clear.
One thing that’s apparent from that brief video snippet is that the jersey does have an NOB. It’s impossible to make out what it is (believe me, I’ve tried), although it looks like it might not be “Tarkenton”:
Update: Reader Ken Gelman has provided a behind-the-scenes video that shows the car-washing sequence being filmed, and there’s a clear shot of the NOB. Here, I’ll let you see for yourself:
(I’m told that the video isn’t jumping to the right spot for some people. If that includes you, the NOB is “Vikings.”)
The Vikings weren’t the only Minnesota team whose jersey Moore wore. She once threw out the first pitch at a Twins game while wearing the team’s jersey — and, of course, then threw her cap in the air. Nicely done. RIP.
(My thanks to Willard Kovacs for the Twins jersey shot.)
• • • • •
Chargers-redesign contest results: Very recent history notwithstanding, it’s entirely possible to successfully merge a lightning bolt and the letters “LA.” Take the design shown above, for example — it was created by reader Chip Harris. It’s one of many uniform and logo designs that are showcased in my latest ESPN column, which has the results of our “redesign the Chargers” challenge. Link coming later today. Sorry, was just informed by my editor that this has been pushed back to next week. Dang.
• • • • •
Celtics/GE update: In case you stopped by the site before 10:45am Eastern yesterday (or didn’t stop by at all), we now know how the GE advertising patch will look on the Celtics’ home and road uniforms. Here you go — and if you click on these, you’ll get really big versions (all pics from @KyleClauss):
The most interesting thing is that the GE logo is rendered in the Celtics’ team color, instead of GE’s signature blue. Still looks awful, though.
Based on some of the response to yesterday’s news, a short FAQ session might be useful. So:
Why don’t those jerseys have the Nike logo?
Because Nike doesn’t take over the NBA’s uniform contract until next season.
Yeah, but the GE patch won’t be there until next season either, and they had no trouble showing that.
They can show the GE logo without violating someone else’s contractual rights. As of now, Adidas is still the NBA’s outfitter. Teams can’t show the Nike logo on their uniforms, even at a press conference, until Nike takes over.
But here’s something interesting that reader BHayd spotted: The Adidas jock tag was apparently removed from the jersey at yesterday’s press conference. Check it out (click to enlarge):
So while they can’t add the Nike logo just yet, they’re not exactly giving Adidas a big good-bye hug either.
They didn’t show the GE patch on either of the Celtics’ two alternate jerseys. Does that mean those won’t be used next season?
I have no idea. But it’s worth remembering that we’ve only seen the Blue Diamond Almonds ad on the Kings’ home jersey. I’m fairly certain this doesn’t mean that the Kings are scrapping the rest of their uniform program.
Could Adidas or Under Armour try to troll Nike by signing a deal to be an NBA team’s uniform advertiser?
No. Certain companies are not permitted to advertise on NBA uniforms. Alcohol and tobacco brands, for example, are not allowed. I’m sure competing lifestyle brands are also blacklisted. And even if they weren’t, why would a team want to piss off its new uniform supplier by inking a deal with one of the supplier’s competitors? Things don’t work that way.
Could the Yankees try to troll Boston by signing up to be the Celtics’ uniform advertiser?
You’re really overthinking this. Or maybe underthinking.
So now I have to buy a jersey with a stupid GE patch?
Actually, you don’t have to buy any jersey at all, with or without a patch, ever. But if you insist on purchasing an overpriced polyester tank top, most of the ones available next season will not have the ad patches. The teams will have the option to sell ad-inclusive versions as well if they want, but the ad-free versions will be available for all teams.
I hate these ads! Isn’t there anything we can do to stop them?
No, unfortunately.
Don’t you think having the patch in team colors makes it less objectionable?
Not to me, no. It’s still an advertising patch, and advertising patches don’t belong on a team uniform. As for this one, could it be worse (like if it wasn’t rendered in team colors)? Sure. It could also be a whole lot better. For example, it could not exist at all, which is really the only acceptable solution.
Soccer and rugby already have uniform ads. What’s the big deal?
Sorry, we’re not gonna go through that again.
I don’t understand all the fuss. These teams and companies are in business to make money. How can you object to that?
Alliteration Situation: Brewers Bullpen Buggy By Mike Chamernik
Each week the Brewers post a “Warehouse Wednesday” video, in which they go through their archives and show off some of their old stuff. Yesterday they gave us a look at their super-cool bullpen buggy. It was used back in the 1970s (note the Barrelman-era hat logo, which even predates the classic “mb” ball-in-glove mark) and is brought out these days for promotional events. As was noted in the video, the cart doesn’t have a motor anymore, so it needs to be pushed wherever it goes.
As neat as the buggy is, the Brewers once had something even better: During the mid-1990s, the team’s bullpen vehicle was a Harley-Davidson (the company is headquartered in Milwaukee) with a sidecar for the pitcher to sit in. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find any photos or videos of the motorcycle or sidecar. Does anyone have anything?
If you want to learn more about bullpen buggies, motorcycles, and so on, Paul wrote a good ESPN story about them in 2007, and ESPN writer Jerry Crasnick recently explored the question of whether they should be brought back.
(Thanks to Nicole Haase for the heads-up.)
• • • • •
The Ticker By Mike Chamernik
Baseball News: The Louisville Bats will wear special jerseys and give out these hats for Muhammad Ali Appreciation Night on June 3. Ali was from Louisville and the night is exactly one year after his death (from several readers). … The Chiba Lotte Marines revealed a new uniform yesterday that features a snakeskin-like pattern on the pants and cap brim. … Mariners P Felix Hernandez had a 2000 Yankees World Series ring stolen from his house last November. It’s a mystery as to how he got the ring. … A total eclipse will occur this year on Aug. 21. The Lexington County Blowfish will wear an eclipse-themed jersey that day (from Jeff Suntala). … The Mariners have a dual M’s and Marlins Ichiro bobblehead night planned this year (they play Miami at home in April). “Notice correct colors and even correct hosiery lengths!” says David Sperino. … Missouri State will have four hats and six uniform combinations this season (from @stlcards109901). … Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, the home of the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers, will have a 20th-season logo (from Alex Freedman). … This piece of trivia is a few years old but still appears to be true: No player on the Nationals, Astros, Indians, or Red Sox ever had the last name Washington, Houston, Cleveland, or Boston, respectively (from reader Coinside). … With all the gun violence in Chicago, President Trump is threatening to “send in the Feds.” Hey, they’ve been gone for 100 years (from Charles Dettmann). … The Nationals will not introduce FDR as a racing president (from Tommy Turner). … The Asheville Tourists will wear tie-dye and become the Hippies for one night in June. The name is the result of a lost bet with the Greenville Drive, a rival Class-A team. … The Hartford Yard Goats are planning a Hartford Whalers weekend this summer.
Football News: Ravens FB Kyle Juszczyk’s Pro Bowl shirt has a misspelled NOB, as Mark Johnson notes. Consider this a mini-Question of the Week: What was the worst way your name was ever misspelled? Mine is a tie between “Sharminick” and “Chirmiak.” … The name, logo, and uniforms were announced and revealed for the Baltimore Brigade, the newest Arena League team (from several readers). … A writer for a political publication says that the NFL should embrace nostalgia, including throwback uniforms, to make the Pro Bowl better (from Anil Adyanthaya). … The U-18 USA national team unveiled new uniforms (from Sean Vanderbrook).
Hockey News: The Ducks wore Angels-themed warm-ups last night. … The promotional hat from Tuesday night’s Penguins game has four stars in the 50th anniversary emblem, not four Stanley Cups like the official logo (from F.J. Skupnik). … Speaking of the Pens, jerseys in their team shop have the Centennial Patch in the wrong place. It should be below the sleeve numbers (from Daniel Levy). … Tris Wykes found a shot of the Hartford Whalers practicing in short-sleeve jerseys, or maybe just T-shirts.
NBA News: The Hornets wore teal at home last night against the Warriors, who wore white on the road, and the Mavericks wore their navy alternates at home against the Knicks, who wore white on the road. … The Kings and Cavs went color vs. color in Cleveland. After winning the game, the Kings had a little fun with the Cavs’ logo. … The Spurs will give fans hats in Texas, Texas State, and UTSA colors during a few upcoming college spirit nights. … Depending on how you read it, Celtics coach Brad Stevens either skirted a question on the team’s new GE jersey ads, or he gave a subtle dig (from Brian Schmidtke). … Although the GE ad won’t appear on Boston’s uniforms until next season, a new GE ad has just been added to the team’s backboard post (from Zachary Loesl). … Also from Zachary: “Wednesday was Australia Day for the Bucks, so the team celebrated by giving away Matthew Dellavedova bobbleheads, and Dellavedova himself wore sneakers in Australia’s national colors.” … And one more from Zachary: The Trail Blazers honored their 1977 championship team and coach Terry Stotts wore a retro outfit for the occasion.
College Hoops News: Arizona State wore throwbacks last night (from Cole Streeper). … Providence wore fauxbacks last night. … Michigan will wear pink Jordans tonight for Coaches vs. Cancer week (from Megan Brown). … The North Carolina men’s team was informally known as the White Phantoms from the 1920s through around 1951. Newspapermen gave the team the name due to its white uniforms (from James Gilbert).
Soccer News: Arsenal’s trainer had tape over the Champions League logo on his med bag during a Premier League game the other day (from @MrSack4).
Grab Bag: New logo for the Division II Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The redesign includes a specific color scheme (PDF) for each school (from Vaughn Johnson). … Lacoste unveiled the uniforms for the U.S. and International teams for the 2017 Presidents Cup (from Phil). … Tiger Woods signed with TaylorMade and will play the company’s metal woods, irons and wedges (from Brinke). … New spacesuit for NASA. Additinal info here (from Kyle Martinek and Brinke). … President Trump is very strict about his staff’s attire. … The Japanese outdoor apparel company Montbell supplied an Osaka shrine with branded white robes (from reader Greg).
When the news came down that the NBA would allow corporate advertising patches on game jerseys for the 2017-18 season, I heard a few people in high places saying, “Okay, some teams will go for the ad revenue. But the legacy franchises — your Knicks, your Celtics, those kinds of teams — they won’t do it.”
It looks like that theory is about to be disproven. Late yesterday afternoon my ESPN colleague Darren Rovell reported that the Celtics are about to announce a deal that will result in, among other things, a GE ad patch on Celtics jerseys next season. The story was quickly confirmed by The Boston Globe and other media outlets. The deal will reportedly be announced today. I’ll update this post once that happens.
Update: The deal has now been announced, and we can now see what the patch will look like on the Celtics’ home and road jerseys. They do not appear to have shown how the patch will look on any of their alternate jerseys. Interestingly, the patch shows the GE logo rendered in Celtics colors — green and white — instead of GE’s standard blue and white.
Might have been nice if they’d bothered to get the jerseys properly centered on those mannequins, eh? It almost looks like the patch is so heavy that it’s tugging the jersey off to one side.
A few notes:
• GE recently moved its corporate headquarters from Fairfield, Connecticut, to Boston, so this deal with the Celtics would appear to be part of the company’s housewarming party.
• For those keeping score at home, this deal would make the Celtics the third NBA team to sign up with a jersey advertiser for next season. The other two are the 76ers (who’ve inked a deal with StubHub) and the Kings (who’ve sold out their jersey to Blue Diamond Almonds).
• The GE logo is one of the oldest and most durable of all corporate marks. The first version of it dates back to the 1890s, and it’s barely changed at all since 1934 (click to slightly enlarge):
With its old-fashioned Art Nouveau flourishes, the logo is an odd fit for the modern sports world. For that matter, GE itself seems like an odd fit — I was expecting most of the NBA’s uniform advertisers to be lifestyle brands. Maybe that’ll still turn out to be the case. For now, though, this one is a bit of a surprise.
This is the part where I say the whole thing is very, very disappointing. Get used to that — we may be seeing 27 more of these announcements by this fall.
When the NHL unveiled the 2017 All-Star game jerseys on Jan. 11, Paul wrote the following:
“If you can get past marketing mumbo-jumbo, the designs are perfectly fine, if a bit conservative.”
That was before we had the full picture on those uniform numbers.
The photos from two weeks ago made it clear that the numbers would be filled with a sort of “jeweled” texture. That feature is much more pronounced in a photo that the Islanders posted to Twitter yesterday (see above).
Interestingly, photos on the NHL Shop make the effect seem much more muted. It remains to be seen what the numbers look like on the ice, but let’s hope the photo above is more exception rather than rule.
• • • • •
The Ticker By Alex Hider
Baseball News: The Mets, in addition to changing the brim on their alternate home cap from orange to blue, are changing the sleeve patch on their two blue alternate jerseys from Mr. Met to their primary skyline logo. … The Mariners are retiring No. 11 in honor of Edgar Martinez (from Mike). … Fans want the Royals to retire the number of recently deceased pitcher Yordano Ventura (from Phil). … Nile Smith noticed that the Indians are doing a stirrup giveaway on July 21, which led Robert Hayes to point out that the team is also doing a 1977 jersey giveaway on Sept. 9. According to a team spokesman contacted by Paul, the stirrups will actually be two-in-ones (the faux stirrup part will be red with navy stripes and a block-C). Also, the team will not be wearing throwbacks on the day of the 1977 jersey giveaway. … Sweet new throwbacks for Louisville. Speaking of, here’s a ranking of all of Adidas’ throwback unis (from Phil). … Lots of uni combos this season for Wazzou (from Sam). … 1940s throwbacks upcoming for the Hanshin Tigers.
NFL News: Ever wonder what the Titans’ Super Bowl championship caps would have looked like in 2000? Here you go (from Jason Wolf). … Peter L. Fredrickson still has this Giants gumball machine keychain from the early ’70s. Considering it’s been 40 years, it’s still in good condition! … The New England Steelers? (From Penguins Chronicles.) … Check out this old shot of the Steelers’ basketball team (from Jerry Wolper).
College Football News: Yesterday’s Ticker mentioned that LSU has been giving recruits old jerseys. Bryan Moss says this is a common practice and points out that Alabama has done the same thing in the past (note the jersey template). … UAB has announced a partnership with VICIS to research safer football helmets. … Dale Earnhardt Jr. has quite the college football helmet collection (from Dell Michaels).
Hockey News: The Ducks unveiled their warm-up jerseys for a crossover night with the Los Angeles Angels (from Mike). … Here’s an oral history on how Fox came up with the much-maligned “glowing puck” graphic they used in the ’90s (from Mike). … Here’s a listicle of the 20 worst NHL unis of all time (from Phil). … Could the NHL be headed to China? (From Ted Arnold.) … These are the All-Star unis for the National Women’s Hockey League (from Phil). … The Utica Comets of the AHL will wear glow-in-the-dark unis Saturday (also from Phil). … The Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL unveiled a 1967 throwback uni (from Wade Heidt).
NBA News: This Wizards are currently beefing with the Celtics, so all Washington players wore black before the game as if they were going to a “funeral” (thanks to all). … Stephen Curry had the top-selling jersey from October to December (from Phil). … Stance has new NBA socks for Black History Month (from Paul). … Damian Lillard has new kicks honoring the Blazers’ Finals win. The plaid represents the colorful jackets of Coach Jack Ramsey (from Mike). … Matthew Wilson sends along some excellent photos of a color-on-color game between the Cavs and the San Diego Rockets from the early ’70s. Of course, the Cavs had gold home uniforms in those days, so all of their home games were color-on-color.
College Hoops News: Marquette wore special shoelaces to raise awareness for pediatric cancer yesterday. More on Princess Lacey’s Laces here (from Zach). … Nice color-on-color game between West Virginia and Kansas last night (also from Zach). … Oops, wrong Wildcats! ESPN used the Abilene Christian logo instead of the Kansas State logo during the broadcast of KSU’s game against Iowa State last night (from Kary Klismet).
Soccer News: Here’s what the Philadelphia Union of the MLS will be wearing on the road this year. More info here. (thanks to all). … The Rochester Rhinos of the United Soccer League have a new uniform supplier (from Ed Zelaski).
Grab Bag: Some photos show NASCAR replacing drivers names with the Monster Energy logo on the windshields this season. Is this a change for all drivers? (From Matthew.) … New logo for Nebraska Christian College athletics (from the Bearded Blog). … Someone turned a doodle of the iconic photo from the Muhammad Ali/Sonny Liston fight into a tattoo (from Andrew Cosentino). … Sportswriter Jeff Pearlman asked actor Nick Turturro about his 10 favorite sports unis (question near the bottom of the page) (from Matthew Walthert). … Here’s what the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles of the Indoor Football League will be wearing this season (from Rovitz). … Former president Barack Obama wore pants with the Nike logo his post-presidential round of golf the other day (from Phil). … The announcement of the title for the next Star Wars movie marked the first time that the SW logo was rendered in a color other than yellow. … Marvel has unveiled the logo for its upcoming film Black Panther.
