By Phil Hecken and Jeremy Brahm

[After a brief hiatus, UW Pacific Rim Correspondent Jeremy Brahm is back today to bring to us a look at a sport which doesn't get a lot of play on Uni Watch: Australian Rules Football. I got my first taste of this sport in the nascent days of ESPN, back before No Limit Texas Hold 'Em was featured in primetime, and well..."Prime Time" still hadn't played a down in the NFL (or an inning for the Yankees). While I admit I never quite understood the sport, being a cross between American football and rugby in my mind, I did enjoy watching it whenever it was on the telly. And they've got some really cool uniforms too. That's where Jeremy comes in. So, without further ado, let's take an in-depth look as this fascinating sport which receives little or no airtime anymore in the United States (although that may be changing), but which is quite popular elsewhere. Enjoy! -- Phil]

As a youngster who first got cable in 1981, ESPN at that time was a wonder because you always got something new on the television that you may have never seen before, even not on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. A number of the readers asked about Australian rules football uniforms (call them guernseys or jumpers, mate) in June after a posting about the striped socks for one of the teams. But who can forget the goal umpire lab coats and hats. Sadly, now they look like the regular officials, except that they get to wear a hat and pants. They still wave the flags though.

Today, I’ll give you a bit of the history and we’ll have a look the Australian Football League and their clubs. I want to give a big thanks to Rob Meredith and his website, footyjumpers.com and Wikipedia.

The Australian Football League (AFL) actually dates back to 1896, when eight clubs broke away from the Victorian (State) Football Association, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne, St. Kilda and South Melbourne (now Sydney Swans). In 1897, the Victorian Football League (VFL) was created. These teams were all around the Victoria state and centered on Melbourne and its suburbs.

In 1908, Richmond and University were expansion team, but by 1915 University had disbanded and left the league with 9 teams. In 1925, Footscray (now Western Bulldogs), Hawthorn and North Melbourne joined the league and these 12 teams would all remain in their current location and a part of the league until 1982.

After the 1981 season, the South Melbourne Football Club moved to Sydney and became the Sydney Swans. You can see the old Victorian Football League logo here and on the body of the swan. With the Swans move, the VFL had become an interstate competition because Sydney is in New South Wales.

In 1987, the West Coast Eagles and Brisbane Bears joined the league and therefore it became a “national” competition.

In 1990, the league was renamed the Australian Football League. The league further expanded to Fremantle, two teams in Adelaide (Port Adelaide and the Adelaide Crows) to the current 16 teams, which included the merger of the Brisbane Bears with Fitzroy to become the Brisbane Lions.

In 1999 the AFL instituted away or “clash” uniforms. This was due to the fact that some teams have similar designs or colors for their uniforms. Such as Essendon and Richmond, Essendon and Carlton, North Melbourne and Geelong, North Melbourne and Collingwood, Collingwood and Geelong, Melbourne and Essendon, and Melbourne and Carlton.

Previously teams would wear white shorts to differentiate themselves (look at those photos again and you will see it). Now these alternate designs have made it easier for players, officials and fans to differentiate to the teams. (But for the most part the team’s jumpers have not really changed that much, over the years.) And now for the teams:

Adelaide Crows, based in Adelaide, South Australia. The Crows’ colors are navy blue, red and gold. Their navy blue can appear to be black with the light hitting it (2008 model). This year’s primary uniform (home) looks almost exactly the same from the front, except for the lack of the black side panels to the bottom and the gold sleeve and collar cuffs. Also they are known to wear striped socks. Their clash model for this past season uses the crow as a centerpiece with yellow and red panels accenting the bird’s shape. The Crows have a new logo and the 2010 clash uniform is white with a “fierce” crow.

Brisbane Lions, based in Brisbane, Queensland, the Lions are the combination of the Fitzroy Lions and Brisbane Bears in 1996 and started play in the 1997 season. The uniform colors have both teams history, maroon (Brisbane Bears), blue (Fitzroy) and gold (both teams). Fitzroy was based in Victoria state and when the Lions play games there, they adopt a red, gold and blue color scheme, which was Fitzroy’s color scheme. You can see on the back of the uniform, BBFFC or Brisbane Bears Fitzroy Football Club. Their current primary uniform looks like it has over the years, but just with a change in the collar. The Lions just changed their logo to this. And here are their uniforms for 2010.

Carlton Blues, based in Melbourne, Victoria and are known for having an interlocking C (Carlton), F (Football) and C (Club) on their chest in white. Their clash jumper is white with dark blue side panels and the interlocking logo in dark blue as well. Both looks to me are classics because they are very simple, but distinct with the chest logo. They also wore a “Livestrong” special in July this past season.

Collingwood Magpies, based in Melbourne, Victoria. Collingwood earned their nickname because of their white and black stripes that mirrored that of a magpie. Their primary uniform and clash uniform are mirror images. The primary uniform is more black, while the clash is more white. Surprisingly the Magpies do not wear striped socks. I would like to see a different design for the clash uniform just so that it is very “different”. Like this one from 2002. Even Collingwood and Carlton have had problems with the similar uniforms in the past.

Essendon Bombers, based in Melbourne, Victoria, have always had a red sash from the left shoulder to the right hip on their black tops and striped socks. Their clash uniform looks similar, only with a wider sash as a diagonal line. What is funny though is that when they face Richmond, similar design but with a yellow sash, they have to write a letter to the AFL says that Richmond’s uniform clashes. Maybe they could wear a white uniform with a red sash?

Fremantle, based in Fremantle, Western Australia, have a purple, red and green color scheme. Paul would think that it would look horrible, but the primary uniform looks pretty decent because the white anchor separates the other three colors. But the back looks weird with the red and green sections stopping so high. If they went all purple on the back, that would have been fine. The clash uniform is white with a purple anchor. Very simple, but keeps the anchor the same as the primary, just in a different color. Originally the nickname of the team was the Dockers but Levi Strauss & Co. challenged the club because of their Dockers brand (now not a part of Levi Strauss). After the 1997 season, Dockers was dropped officially, but it still an unofficial nickname from the fans.

Geelong Cats, based in Geelong, a suburb southwest of Melbourne, are known for their navy blue vertical lines (hoops) on a white uniform. Their primary uniform is similar to their historical colors. Also the Cats have worn striped socks. But with an introduction of a new logo in 2008, the Cats made their clash uniform look like their logo. I really like this clash look because it is a majority color and the graphic looks cool. For the 150th anniversary of the team, created in 1859, Geelong wore a special jumper with the names of all of its players, in all years, for the Round 16 game on July 18th, 2009.

Hawthorn Hawks, based in Melbourne, Victoria, are known for their yellow and brown vertically striped uniforms. Sometimes the Hawks wear striped socks as well. Their clash uniform is based on their team logo, but with little yellow in the design. Personally I am not a fan of the yellow and brown color scheme and prefer the clash uniform to the primary strip.

Melbourne Demons are known for having a navy blue base with a red V yoke for their primary uniform. This year (2009) the Demons have introduced a red clash uniform with the secondary Demon logo, in navy blue. I like the look, which is much better than their clash uniform from 2008.

North Melbourne Kangaroos are known for their royal blue and white vertical stripes. The clash uniform that they are using has been called “Argentina stripes” for good reason. Still not as bad as this one in 2000 as a one off with Orange cellular service. For their regular uniform in 2000, just change the orange to the light blue and there you go.

Port Adelaide Power, based in Adelaide, South Australia have a white, silver, black and teal color scheme. Can anyone say San Jose Sharks? The primary uniform is well atrocious, teal chest, black torso, frazzled white and black lines. Hell this clash uniform from 2003 looks better than what their primary uniform looks like. The 1870 on the back of the neck is when the team was created (as a club, not when they entered the AFL which was in 1997). Their current clash uniform in white with a sash-like teal and black looks nice. The all teal back could be better in white with teal numbers. This week the Power announced complete change in their jumper designs, an instant classic and they are designed by a 7-year old, brilliant!

Richmond Tigers, based in Melbourne, Victoria, are known for their black uniform with a yellow sash from the left shoulder to the right hip. The clash uniform had additional yellow side panels. They could do a white clash uniform with a yellow sash couldn’t they?

St. Kilda Saints, based in Melbourne, Victoria are one of the hard luck teams in AFL history with only one premiership (Grand Final win) in 1966 and one of the few teams in the world that have had a stick figure for their mascot. The Saints have a red, white and black color scheme, that is shown in three panels for their primary uniform and even three colored striped socks!! Their clash uniform has a wide white panel and a white back to make white the predominant color for the uniform.

Sydney Swans are the only team in New South Wales, have a white base with a red V yoke with the outline of the Sydney Opera House at the bottom of the V. The Swans also wear striped socks. Furthermore, on the back of the uniform, you see SMFC for South Melbourne Football Club, which was where the team was based before moving to Sydney.

West Coast Eagles, based in Perth, Western Australia, have a navy blue, white and gold color scheme. The Eagles have a three panel primary uniform with the Eagle head logo in the center of the chest. I would prefer that the entire logo be outlined in white because the back gets lost in the navy blue. Their clash uniform is based on their original home uniform, with white additions but with the current Eagle head logo. This week I found that the Eagles had changed their clash jumper for the 2010 season. Don’t these look similar to the clash jumpers of Adelaide?

Last is the Western Bulldogs, based in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. The Bulldogs have a red, white and blue color scheme. In Western’s previous history as the Footscray Bulldogs, had a history of blue top with a wide red horizontal stripe outlined with white lines. Western has continued the look with its primary uniform, but added the Bulldog head on the bottom white line. The bulldog’s ear is outlined in red, while the line to its eyes is blue, where the line comes from. I would like to see a blue or red outline for the numbers on the back, instead of this. Also notice the FFC for Footscray Football Club. The Bulldogs’ clash uniform is white based, with a red horizontal line and a blue horizontal line and the Bulldog head logo in the middle. The back does have an outline in white on the horizontal lines. I like how the logo is incorporated into the uniform on both primary and clash versions.

Also Australian Football from time to time has some special events and special uniforms, such as the Indigenous All-Stars team, with a boomerang and almost even a smiling face with the logos looking like eyes. And a Legends match from 2007.

Now with ESPN’s agreement with the AFL, you can watch the AFL again on television without a pay-per-view subscription. So sit back, put a shrimp on the barby and toast a Fosters to the truly Australian game.

Phil here. Thanks Jeremy, for that fascinating look footy down under.

Best Uni Your Team Ever Wore? Good question…in fact an excellent question.

If you didn’t catch Thursday’s comment thread, you may have missed this little ditty from Beardface:

You know what would be a fun project… Coming up with a list of the best possible uniform for each team in the NFL. Use any uniform in their past and choose the best one. now, of course, you’d have teams like Carolina where you have the default, but that would be a fun project, don’t you think?

A couple people played along, but this thought never generated any real legs. But it’s actually a great suggestion for a project. Only, instead of limiting it to the NFL, lets include all the major sports. OK, hockey too. So, in the comments below, think of your favorite team in each sport and think back (or, forward) on what was the greatest uniform set that team ever had. Is it the current one? Or is it something from way back when? Let’s see what we can come up with. To get this started, we had two suggestions from Thursday I’ll repost here as examples of the best uni set a team ever wore: Saints and Lions. Gotta say, those are both gorgeous unis — and likely great candidates for the best uni set a team has ever worn.

What say you, readers? Pick a sport and post a pic (or if you can’t figure out how to post a link), describe the year(s) a team wore a certain style of uniform.

Kudos to Beardface for the suggestion!

UNI WATCH WINTER CLASSIC ADVISORY!!!

As many of you are aware, but the rest of you are not…Ricko and Teebz are in the process of organizing what they’re calling the “Winter Classic” — and they’re hoping to turn it into what could be a really really fun event for any and all interested Uni Watchers. I’ll let Rick describe it:

Even as we speak, Teebz (he of Winnipeg and “Hockey Blog In Canada”) and I (Ricko) are beginning plans for the first Uni Watch Winter Classic, a gathering here in the Twin Cities in January.

Paul may attend. He’s discussing covering Pond Hockey and other things with ESPN. I’m helping him with a list of “story possibilities,” including an interview with Ray Crump, who purportedly fashioned the first flapped batting helmet, for Earl Battey of the Twins (Crump owns a souvenir shop/baseball museum kitty corner from the Metrodome). Perhaps the Vintage Minnesota Hockey Jerseys folks? Maybe some curling?

· We’re talking January 22-23-24, 2009 to be precise, during which not one, but TWO Pond Hockey Championships are scheduled.
· U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis near Mall of America.
· North American Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Minnetonka, in a far western suburb.
· Saturday the 23rd is “Hockey Day in Minnesota”

Also possible…

· Minnesota Wild versus Detroit Red Wings, Thursday the 21st at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center. Wild is a tough ticket.
· Minnesota Timberwolves versus New Orleans Hornets (not, unfortunately, in their Mardi Gras unis), Friday the 22nd at Minneapolis Target Center. Special on tickets, $20, including some kind of vintage t-shirt.
· Wild versus Columbus Blue Jackets, Saturday the 23rd at the “X” with “Hockey Day in Minnesota” patch giveaway. Not as tough as Thursday’s Red Wings game, but still tough.
· Possibility of NFC Championship at Metrodome that weekend (said “possibility,” lol). Tickets pretty much impossible but we could tailgate.

Teebz can’t get any info on hotel group rates until we have some idea of how many rooms we’ll need. The best bet now is that we’ll focus on the Lake Nokomis Tournament. It’s older, has more rinks and teams, and is a bit more whimsical, perhaps. Plenty of places to eat in the neighborhood, including a pair of “joints” that claim the Juicy Lucy as their signature entree and another with fabulous pizza.

Lodgings would then likely be in the area of the airport./Mall of America. That means easy light rail connections to the airport, the mall and downtown (Target Center for ‘Wolves and Metrodome).

When the time comes, either Teebz and I can handle rooms and tickets through our PayPal accounts.

So far we have half dozen or so locals committed, plus Teebz and rpm (Robert Marshall) from out-of-town, and Phil is working on ways to leverage some of his inheritance early so that he can swing it, too.

For now, we’d like some feel for who would be interested. Any more form Chicago? Wisconsin? Hey, it’s Teebz, Grand Poobah of the UW Hockey Wing, and with any luck, the creative Mr. Marshall, Phil, and maybe even our Fearless Leader/Founder.

Some links:
Lake Nokomis
Lake Minnetonka
Vintage Minnesota Hockey
Curling
Crump’s. Baseball Museum
Elsie’s, voted Twin Cities best bowling (near downtown)…

So post if you’re interested… email me and I or Teebz will be in touch.

Looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible,

–Ricko

Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Back to baseball today. This latest scoreboard comes from reader Nicholas Law. Another from the way back machine. As always, please DO NOT post the actual game score in the comments, but instead post a link to it. Date, location and final score please. Guess The Game. And if you want to keep this going through the fall, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!

Ricko’s got the “explainin’” on this one. Here’s Rick: “Ah, Saturday. Settling in for a marathon of Nike self-promotion on the tube. Still, though, life is good. And, despite the occasional communications breakdown, we survive to soak it all in. Getting soaked may be important for UWers today. ‘Gosh, Mr. Tebow, part of you is all “scaley.” The heartbreak of psoriasis?’” Thanks Rick. Enjoy your Saturday Benchies

OK, that’s gonna do it for today. Obviously, I didn’t get to the Clarksville Design-A-Uniform contest entries in time for this weekend, but I will have a lot of time this coming week to get to those — so all of you who sent me your submissions, they’re coming. Lots of college football, with riflery games aplenty today. Lets see if those superhero costumes Nike is outfitting their top programs with perform as well as they are hyping them. Don’t forget to post your suggestions for “best uni matchups” in the comments for Jimmy Vilk, (or your worst, as the case may be), and lets have your suggestions for your favorite teams “best uniform look” in their uniform history. Everyone have a great Saturday!

As you may have noticed, Grey Flannel Auctions recently signed on as a sponsor — a nice partnership, since I’ve been reporting on their auction items for years. Here are some of the more interesting items from their current auction catalog:

• My favorite item in the entire action, hands down, is this awesome Babe Ruth Mutoscope. Further details in the auction listing.

• On second thought, maybe my favorite item is this old Schaefer ad (full listing).

• Totally digging these Indians pencil clips (full listing).

• Once upon a time, the Yankees gave away really cool trinkets for Mother’s Day (full listing).

• Man, remember when the Kentucky Colonels used this NOB font? (Full listing.)

• Speaking of NOB lettering, there’s soooo much to like here (full listing).

• I saw this gorgeous Spirits of St. Louis jersey at the Grey Flannel booth at the National Sports Collectors Convention last summer, and it was a sight to behold (full listing).

• Who did these amazing stirrups and shorts belong to? The All-American Redheads (full listing, plus you can learn more about the Redheads here).

• Several very cool Globetrotters lots here, here (love the globe on the back of the jersey), and here.

• It’s rare to see a zebra-striped NBA ref’s jersey, and even rarer to see one with this incredible chest patch. That gold trim looks chain-stitched, too (full listing).

• Granted, I’m not the biggest NBA fan, but I don’t think I’d ever seen this Spurs insignia before (full listing).

• Nice pair of sub-script NOBs here and here. The second one is particularly interesting because the NOB is on a nameplate, something you rarely see on a basketball uni.

• I’ve always said that the ugliest jerseys make the coolest Uni Watch membership card designs, so someone really ought to sign up and go with this motif. Or maybe this one.

• Okay, so we all know the Eagles used some unusual sleeve stripes in the early 1970s, but the striping somehow looks even weirder when the jersey is viewed all by itself (full listing).

• Old sideline capes are always cool, even if they’re from the NFL’s most annoying team.

If you want to check out additional items, the full auction catalog is here.

The Proctor Files, Continued: Yesterday I mentioned that the Rochester Lancers used different uni number fonts for the front and back of their jersey. That prompted the following note from sporting goods maven Terry Proctor:

I’m partially responsible for the Lancers using two different numeral fonts. We (Ruby’s Sporting Goods) sold the Lancers those striped jerseys in 1968 when they were still in the old American Soccer League. Dick Howard, the goalie at the time, came into our store to order the Lancers’ uniforms. Dick was from England and liked the Bukta jersey style with the stripes. So we contacted the U.S.A. distributor for Bukta, the Peter Green Co. Ltd of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and placed the order for the knit-in striped jerseys, royal blue nylon soccer shorts, and solid athletic gold soccer socks.

The special-order uniforms came in to us directly from England. We had them lettered in Rochester by the Holley-Messner Corp.. who did most of the screen-printing and tackle twill for the Rochester market. The Lancers, who were always a seat-of-the-pants organization, could only afford one-color numbers on the back and no logo for the ’68 season. It was my idea to have the numbers sewn on with black thread to give them a little contrast. H-M used Stahls Pro Block, which is basically plain block, for the back numbers.

When the Lancers joined the NASL in 1970, they decided to spruce up the old striped shirts with the logo patch and front numbers, instead of buying new jerseys. We ordered the embroidered logo patches from Voyager Emblems in Canada through their U.S. broker. Then we had Rose Yacuzzo, our own seamstress, add the front numbers. Rose used Stahls Varsity Block font as her stock style, and that’s the reason for the different fonts.

The Greatest Achievement in Human History, Update: Remember those 1956 Portland Beavers undersleeve stripes, which I was so excited about a few days ago? Dave Eskenazi, who provided me with those photos, has now come up with seven additional pics that show the sleeve stripes. Oh man, does that look awesome or what? And Dave says he probably has more photos buried in his archive, including some action shots. “Coming your way as I excavate them,” he says — can’t wait.

The funny thing about all this is that Dave has apparently known about the sleeve stripes for ages but never thought to mention them to me. The main reason he sent me those first two photos — the ones that formed the basis of my Wednesday post — is that they were in color. Color PCL photos from the 1940s and ’50s are rare, so he was excited to share them with me. He mentioned the sleeve stripes in his e-mail, but he was clearly jazzed about the color, not the stripes. Makes you wonder how many other amazing uni-related tidbits have fallen through the cracks because nobody thought they were noteworthy.

Meanwhile, as you may recall, Jerry Cohen of Ebbets Field Flannels said the striped shirts couldn’t be reproduced in small quantities. But I got a note last night from Bob Halfacre — formerly of AIS Sports and now running his own Bobcat Athletic operation — as follows:

I am pretty sure we can make these in smaller lots. Maybe 100 pieces? We use a local knitter that can knit the striped sleeve panels, it’s just a question of their minimum. I’ll ask, and in the next week or so I’ll try and figure out what these would cost to do.

It would be good to gauge the readership’s interest in a shirt like the one in the Beavers photos. Would you consider buying one for the right price? If so, let me know.

Uni Watch News Ticker: That new powder blue Royals cap, aka the worst-kept secret of the off-season, has now officially been unveiled. … What’s worse than unveiling a really ugly new rugby kit? Unveiling a really ugly new rugby kit and bragging about it. … Here’s a weird one: an old shirt collar with a little bats/ball logo and a “Red Sox” imprint. … Other good eBay finds: a gorgeous rawlings undershirt, an interesting baseball cap, a really nice 1960s baseball jersey (way overpriced, though), a seriously old wool jersey, an Ohio State baseball jersey, a really nice jersey script, a baseball jersey made by Everlast (!), a seriously garish 49ers tee, a simple but very classy cycling jersey, etc. … Jacoby Ellsbury is changing his uni number from 46 to 2. … Check out the awesome maple leaf sleeve patch worn by the 1915 Victoria Bees (typically awesome contribution from Dave Eskenazi). … The Florida Panthers will finally unveil their alternate jersey on Monday evening. I’ll have an insta-review here on the site, much like what I did for the Mardi Gras design on ESPN, at 7:30pm Monday. … Nice visual timeline of Virginia Tech helmet history here (with thanks to Mike Kennedy). … Alberto Rodriguez-Baez sent along some great photos from his mid-1980s youth football team in Monterrey, Mexico. I didn’t realize there was such a football youth culture in Mexico, but Alberto says, “The football tradition [in Monterrey] is h-u-g-e! Growing up in Mexico, my favorite sport wasn’t soccer, but football. Football is still my favorite sport by far.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Tremendous color footage from the 1957 NFL championship game (Browns vs. Lions) here and here. … UC-Irvine now wearing yellow at home (with thanks to Nick Fox). … DIY news from Joe DeAngelis, who writes: “I had an annoying vacant spot in my sports room that called for some décor. I didn’t want to place a generic poster or photo but wanted something unique to display. So, after a trip to the local arts and crafts store and spending approximately $25 on supplies, I created a piece I’m very proud of. Granted, it’s no Picasso, especially up-close, but it’s created directly from my eyes and hands, and it’s become a nice conversation piece.” … Oh Dear. Full details here (with thanks to Ethan Hagen). … Will DeFord’s wife has been making Chargers-themed cupcakes. … That was some bright game last night at the Garden. …

Thanks to Phil’s recent “Worst Uni Ever” poll, you’ve seen plenty of Colorado Caribous photos lately. But most of you probably haven’t seen this one.

That shot, along with a bunch more (click on the thumbnails for larger versions), come from this site devoted to NASL jerseys, which reader Rob Bryant just brought to my attention.

In a nutshell: The site is so awesome that I might just have to become a soccer fan after all. A very small selection of the highlights (click on little pics to see big pics):

• Totally digging the chest logo used by the Montreal Olympique.

• Stripe-o-rama! That’s the Rochester Lancers, 1971. Interesting to see that they used a different font for the rear uni number.

• Love how the San Francisco Quakes used the cross stroke on the Q to form a fault line — or, better yet, to fracture a soccer ball. (As an aside, did you know there was an indoor soccer team called the San Francisco Fog? How awesome is that jersey?!)

• Sort of quaint how Minnesota teams are always named after the state, not after a particular city, as in the Minnesota Strikers. Not such a bad thing when it results in the state outline being depicted on the jersey, though.

• Check out the silver chain-stitching on this Las Vegas Quicksilvers jersey (which also has one of history’s clunkiest, most awkward NOBs).

• Uni typography doesn’t get much more quintessentially ’70s than this Edmonton Drillers design. Only problem is that the jersey is actually from 1982. Interestingly, the 1970s-esque design replaced something that was much more ’80s-ish.

• Very odd insignia for the 1980 Houston Hurricane. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a team intentionally obscure part of the type like that. But it’s probably better than this.

• The Adidas logo really ruined the elemental simplicity of this 1979 California Surf design. Looks better in this overexposed photo, since you almost can’t see the logo creep. (And speaking of the Surf, check out this shot from a game played at Vets Stadium, complete with all the MLB logos in the background. Ah, the indignities of being a minor sports league.)

• My vote for best NASL sleeves goes to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, for obvious reasons. Mmmm, tasty.

• Then again, the Toronto Blizzard had some pretty cool sleeves too.

• What happens you’re your team uses really huge-ass NOB lettering (and, as an aside a sews the apotrophe on backwards)? You run the risk of ending up with a DDNHOB (double-decker hyphenated NOB, duh)! Those jerseys are from the Hartford Bicentennials (now there’s a team name with a short shelf life), who had a very cool chest logo.

• Do you get the feeling that maybe the Detroit Cougars didn’t originally plan on using NOBs?

• On the other hand, the New York Cosmos left plenty of NOB room but didn’t know how to use it.

• So much to like in this photo of the Chicago Sting vs. the Dallas Tornado.

• Now that’s a weird number font. If you scroll through this page, you’ll see that the Clippers used all sorts of weird number treatments in their brief two-season existence.

• Starred socks! As worn by the Houston Stars, natch.

• Okay, I don’t mean to harp on the NOBs, but come on. Joe Hilseberg, where were you when this league needed you?

• I hate logo creep but love ticking stripes. So what do I make of this? Hmmm, that’s a tricky one. The team in question, by the way, is the 1980 Memphis Rogues, although they weren’t the only team using that design element.

• Interesting to see that the Philly Fury used a contrasting placket. Looked pretty good!

• Does this 1967 St. Looie Stars jersey totally look like a thrift store special or what? Yes, I’ll buy it for $6, sold!

And look, the site even has a page devoted to NASL cheerleaders. Would you believe the KC Spurs called their cheering corps the InSPURettes? And the Tampa Bay Rowdies called theirs — wait for it — the Wowdies.

And just to bring everything full circle, reader Raifie Bass has a real prize in his collection: a Colorado Caribous satin jacket!

That settles it, from now on Uni Watch will cover soccer exclusively, the end.

Research Query: Two years ago I wrote an ESPN column in which surveyed the Cowboys’ assorted uniform quirks, past and present. The following summer, I wrote similar columns about the Cubs and White Sox.

Those columns were really fun to write, and popular besides. I’d like to do more of them, but I’ve had a hard time identifying other teams that would benefit from the same treatment. Maybe the St. Looey Cardinals..?

Can you think of other teams that would fit the bill here? Remember, the operative concept here is NOT “Let’s look at this team’s entire uni history”; the idea is to find teams that have had interesting uni histories, replete with quirks and underappreciated nuances. If you go back and read those three previous columns, you’ll see that the Cowboys, Cubs, and Chisox fit this description exceedingly well. If you think any other teams qualify, don’t be shy about telling me. Oh, and please don’t bother suggesting Oregon’s football team, thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: New Aussie football kit for Port Adelaide (designed by a seven-year-old girl — no, really, read the sixth graf) and West Coast (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Check out this bizarre baseball jersey patch. That’s the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz, circa 1940s. … Phil found some interesting shots of Teddy Ballgame wearing cut-off windbreaker sleeves and an undershirt. Here’s another. … Apparently Kareem didn’t get the memo about which shoes and socks to wear to the photo shoot (with thanks to Jeremy Richardson). … Danny Millan has started a new Brooklyn-centric clothing line. I appreciate the sentiments, although I hope the Brooklyn Nets never actually come to pass. … Remember these football gloves? Here’s the next evolutionary step (with thanks to Jonathan Mayer). … Ever wonder why David Vyborny used to use solid-black sticks? Right, me neither, but Columbus Dispatch beat writer Aaron Portzline had this to say during a recent online chat: “David Vyborny was so peeved that he didn’t get a stick deal that he used to spray paint his sticks black to keep from advertising the manufacturer. Vyborny was an interesting dude” (with thanks to Kellen Dargle). … Scandalous news out of New Jersey, where a little birdie informs me that the Devils’ throwbacks, slated to be worn on March 17th, will be lame-o fauxbacks. According to my source, they’re just using the current jersey template with green replacing the black. Also, they’re using the modern red and a darker green. Pfeh. … What team is this? Details here. … Troy Polamalu’s little embroidered cross is suddenly everywhere. Word I hear from league sources is that they’re okay with it because it’s covered by his hair, sort of like if he had a message on a T-shirt under his jersey — out of sight, out of mind — but I suspect the real story is that they don’t want to wade into the thorny thicket of religious expression. … Lots of Mets fans sent me this item about the new cream-base pinstripes, which will be officially introduced in a few weeks. The item implies that the cream pins won’t have the black drop shadow — I hope that’s true, but it does not jibe with the information I have. … Yesterday’s Portland Beavers entry inspired Craig Rockhold to send over a bunch of pics from that PCL exhibit at the San Francisco airport. … In a move that’s waaaaay overboard for a high school, Under Armour is sponsoring River Hill High in Maryland and has provided them with a different uniform for every game this season (with thanks to Jonathan Blake). … Pete Woychick recently rediscovered these two high school hoops warm-up tops in his parents’ attic. Super-offensive logo icon on one of them, but nice pieces nonetheless. Odd to see St. Joe’s abbreviated as “St. Jo’s,” no? … Throwbacks will be in the mix this season for Loyola Marymount. No images yet, but the game dates are listed in the middle of this page. … 1957 A.L. Red Book, in what looks to be tip-top condition, available here (thanks, Teebz). … Back to Uni Watch’s new favorite sport: Coachie Ballgames has done an analysis of World Cup uniforms and concluded that it’s all about the collars.

Yes, it’s purple (at least on the front). Yes, it’s two-tone. Yes, it has an abbreviation. Yes, I love it.

Full details over on ESPN. — Paul

It doesn’t take much to make my day — just genius, transcendence, perfection. Serve me up a tall glass of those and I’m an easy fella to please, ask anyone.

Case in point: Show me a 1956 Portland Beavers jesey and I’ll walk around with a big, goofy smile on my face for the rest of the day. The fun Cardinals-knockoff design (which is odd, because they weren’t affiliated with the Cards at that time), the gorgeous chain-stitching (that’s a modern reproduction, but still…), it’s a masterpiece. What could be better?

Oh, maybe this.

Holy shit holy shit holy shit, look at those sleeve stripes mimicking the stirrup stripes! It’s like a perfect call-and-response mating dance. It’s like that beautiful dream that you can’t quite remember when you wake up. It’s like heaven on a stick, only without the stick.

But was it just an isolated thing worn by that one guy? A mere tease to torture us with visions of what might have been? No!

Just imagine it: an entire team decked out in the game’s greatest stripe pattern, high and low. The mind reels, the body trembles. This, brothers and sisters, is what the political and corporate puppet masters don’t want the people to know about. This is the vision that could awaken the masses from their narcotic stupor and upend the establishment. This is How Life Is Supposed to Be.

I know of only one other baseball team that had matching sleeve and sock stripes: the early-1940s Cubs (see photos here, here, and here). I thought they were an isolated example, but the Beavers pics suggest otherwise. This changes everything.

Allow me to suggest a few immediate and urgent items for the agenda:

• There must be other photos of the 1956 Beavers out there. It is imperative that we find them.

• Now that we know the Cubs weren’t the only team with matching sleeve/stirrup stripes, we need to start scouring the old newspaper files for additional examples. I’m confident that they’re out there.

• We must — MUST — find one of these old Beavers undershirts. There has to be one stowed away in someone’s house, tattered and moth-nibbled. It is essential that we find out who manufactured it. (Jeremy Brahm, you live in Portland, so please start snooping around in people’s closets and attics, thanks.)

• Meanwhile, it is just as essential for someone, or perhaps several someones, to begin making reproductions of the undershirt. Jerry Cohen, Peter Capolino, whoever’s running the show over at Stall & Dean this week — I’m talking to you. Get crackin’. (Update: Cohen just told me, “Love to, but it can’t be done. No one will make a garment with knit-in stripes in low quantities. The machinery doesn’t exist anymore in the U.S.” Then he added, “If someone wants 10,000, maybe…” Okay, I’m in for the first thou. Who’s with me?)

• Finally, I hope all you Photoshop tweakers are already busily creating images to show us how other teams might have looked if their sleeves had matched their hose. Imagine a sleeve stripes based on this pattern, for example. Or this. Or, dare I even think it, this.

Okay, brothers and sisters, our mission is clear. But before we adjourn, let’s give a word of thanks — nay, a standing ovation! — to Pacific Northwest baseball historian Dave Eskenazi, who discovered these amazing photos and sent them my way a few days ago. I’ve been in a state of bliss ever since.

Like I said, I’m an easy fella to please.

Update: About an hour after this entry was posted, reader Roger Faso came up with this team portrait. Looks like five of the players are wearing the sleeve stripes in that shot.

Bigger Update: Dave Eskenazi has just come up with seven additional photos showing the sleeve stripes. I’ve put them all here.

Mardi Gras in November: The Hornets will unveil their new Mardi Gras alternates this afternoon. I’m not allowed to talk about them until the unveiling begins at 4pm eastern. So at that precise moment, I will post a short new entry here on the blog (probably just a photo and a few sentences) and will also have a new column going live on ESPN. Trust me — love ’em or hate ’em, you sure won’t be able to ignore them.

Uni Watch News Ticker: You’d think the NFL could use its current logo when turning people down for Super Bowl tickets (that’s the letter Bo Baize got). … Big Ohio State riflery photo gallery here, and a Miami riflery gallery here. … A little birdie — okay, a little birdie named Moe Khan — tells me the CFL will switch to having the home team wear white next season. … Kevin Marks got an excellent shot of Lendale White wearing what appears to be three pairs of socks (or two pairs plus a calf sleeve, whatever, same diff). … CJ Giannuzzi spotted this guy at last Sunday’s Steelers/Bengals game. … Wanna buy 200 really cool vintage sports T-shirts? I have just the link for you. … Jonathan Cain wonders why Benny the Bull’s uniform doesn’t match what the team wears. … You can really see the difference between the Packers’ seamless and standard jerseys here and here (with thanks to Jacob Shell). … This photo is full of Very Famous People but I’m not gonna tell you who they are because it’s such a great photo — why ruin it with celebrity baggage? (But Jen Muller knows who they are.) … Hey look, a big sportswear company has decided to treat its sweatshop workers like human beings after all. What a concept. … Memphis had one player going NNOB last night. Not sure of the story behind that (as spotted by Chris Salove). … Extremely garish new uniform for the Brisbane Lions (with thanks to Heather Hamilton). … Someone has started a petition demanding that the MLB Network air the Dock Ellis no-hitter. Not a bad cause, but it would be even cooler if they’d air the No Mas-produced Dock Ellis no-hitter animation.

The Twins unveiled their new uni set yesterday afternoon, and reader Jeff Barak was on hand to take some photos and get some crucial info. Let’s take a look:

• The new home uni: Pretty much the same as the old one, except they’ve tweaked the insignia (personally, I never liked the old one, so I wasn’t looking for tiny incremental changes — I was hoping for an overhaul) and added the obligatory inaugural season stadium patch (nice enough — here’s a closer look). But the big news, according to Jeff Barak, who specifically asked about this, is that they’re finally scrapping the nameplates and going with direct-sewn lettering, which means no more pinstripus interruptus. So is it good or is it stupid? The NOB change alone is enough to make it good.

• The new road uni: Love the jersey, hate the two-tone cap. There’s already been some griping that the jersey looks too much like the Nats’ road design, but I’m okay with it (and let’s face it, it’s a huge improvement over the old road pinstripes). Other pluses: Direct-sewn NOBs, an anniversary sleeve patch that doesn’t suck (although it also isn’t great — enough already with the beveled numerals, and doesn’t the zero look a little too bulbous?). Only potential pitfall: The insignia breaks across the placket at a less than graceful spot. Overall, though, quite good.

• The new home throwback: Ding-ding-ding-ding! Even better than last season’s throwback, because they won’t be wearing them with that stupid red cap I hated. Plus the pins are nice, the cream base fabric is nice, the sleeve patch is nice (and yes, the cap patch is idiotic, but whaddaya gonna do — endure it for one year and then we can all pretend it never happened), and hey, NNOB! They’ll be wearing this beauty on Opening Day and then for Saturday home games. Very, very good.

• The new solid navy alternate: More of less the same as the old one, except for the insignia tweak, plus they’ll be wearing this one with a navy “M” cap instead of a red “TC” cap (or at least that’s the plan — headwear protocols tend to get very laissez faire after the first month or so). Whatever, solid alternates are always stupid.

• The new home pinstriped vest: Can’t believe they didn’t git rid of this thing. You’ve heard of addition by subtraction? Well this is subtraction by continuation. And it’ll look even worse this year, because they’re gonna put the stadium-opening patch on the upper-right chest, where it’s gonna stick out like a festering sore. ¡Estúpido!

Overall: The Twins will be a better-looking team in 2010 than they were in 2009, but not by as much as they could have been. Maybe next time they’ll have the balls to scrap the home insignia and “M” cap, which reek of 1980s.

(Further press release-y details here and here.)

Uni Watch News Ticker: Hey look, they fished an old billboard out of Puget Sound! Oh wait, no they didn’t. Douchebags. … Underbill alert from Andy Chalifour, who spotted something written under Dave Dravecky’s brim. … A girls’ soccer team in Pittsburgh recently played a benefit game to raise funds to fight children’s blindness, and Tony Bruno’s niece wore a Braille NOB. … There are football gloves and then there are football gloves. “That’s Hamilton Tiger-Cat receiver Dave Stala,” says Jim Vilk. “I kind of like them, even though the first thing I thought of was Audrey Hepburn.” … Yesterday I asked about cross-sport memorials, and Lendsey Thomson came up with this one: “That’s me chucking it when I played at Bradley. On my left sleeve you will see the cross patch that was in memory of Danny Dalquist, a Bradley soccer player killed in a fire before school started in 2007. All of the Bradley teams had this patch or some variation on their jerseys.” … Latest apostrophe catastrophist: Pizza Hut. … Officially speaking, the Orioles do not have any uni changes in store for next season. Unofficially, however, they appear to have made a small tweak to their script, as discussed here. … Is there anything Nike won’t swoosh-ify? Nope (with thanks to Maks Skuz). … Did you know there’s gonna be a National High School Sports Hall of Fame opening in Larry Holmes’s hometown? I didn’t, until Kirsten told me yesterday. … My friends Charles and Carrie have started a “Brooklyn Jews” T-shirt project (available here). Nice, but it ain’t no Jewboys. … Nice shot of Terry Bradshaw wearing the 1969 centennial decal. And man, look at the size of his uni number! (With thanks to Josh McDaniel.) … Check out this interesting front-helmet logo. “It’s a semi-pro team called the Kings, but I’m not sure where they’re from,” says Brian Schulz. … Slideshow of Oklahoma’s riflery uniforms here. “The gloves and cleats are nice, but everything else looks like a knock-off Sooner uni you would find at Wal-Mart,” says Tulsa resident Jordan Guthmann. “Also, no images of the white helmet, but thankfully they took a close-up of the belt buckle. Bogus.” Press release that reads like a love letter to (or, more likely from) the Nike Propaganda Minister here. … Lots of new rugby uniforms in New Zealand (with thanks to Dylan Moran). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Wearing the wrong uniform can land you in the hoosegow. … Jason Bini says this poster is hanging on the wall at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. “It’s in the middle of a hallway filled with inspirational pro, college, and Olympic athlete photos,” he says. … Reprinted from last night’s comments: Check out the tremendous old AFL and NFL patches available here (thanks, Ricko). … Lots to like in this Shorpy pic, esp. the caded collars on the jerseys and the overall feeling of texture — so much texture! That’s what got me interested in uniforms in the first place (with thanks to Stuart Greenlee). … The U.S. World Cup jersey may have been leaked. If that really is the design, I’m gonna be pretty happy — the swoosh notwithstanding, it’s a beauty. … Skeebs gave Brandon Jacobs the cow-catcher treatment for yesterday’s practice but says it was just a one-and-done kinda thing. “Would look better with a visor,” he notes.

Because selling them is easier than dusting them: After weeks of selling old indie singles on eBay, I’ve now moved on to a few select LPs and zines. Anyone who bids on the Suckdog LP and the copy of Siltbreeze gets a free dinner (well, assuming you’re willing to go a restaurant and walk out on the check, which should be no problem for anyone interested in Suckdog and Siltbreeze); anyone who bids on all five issues of The Baffler gets to hear some funny stories about Tom Frank (he and I share a birthday, which was really fucking annoying in 1998); and anyone who bids on the three copies of Disaster gets a free scan of My Wife (a hilarious one-sheet zine from the same era) featuring a Bill Callahan comic. Bid early and often, etc., etc.

Who do those stripe-clad shins at right belong to? As if you didn’t know. That’s me, Scott M.X. Turner, and Phil Hecken engaging in a classic “sock-off” outside Sheep Station during yesterday’s Uni Watch party. Here’s a rundown of who wore what:

• Ryan Connelly came all the way from Pittsburgh to attend the festivities. Okay, so he was already in town to visit friends, but still. If he jersey looks familiar, it’s because he recently wrote about it. Meant to ask him about that “Analog cap but never got around to it. What’s the scoop on that, Ryan?

• Another long-distance attendee: Daniel Dingerson (shown with his galpal, Meghan Dalton), who came down from Boston. Daniel’s Reds cap, incidentally, is a DIY effort: He bought a blank red cap and sewed the logo patch onto it. He said he wants to make more of these but the sleeve patches he finds online are usually too wide. “Most of them are about five inches wide; I’d prefer about three inches wide,” he explained to me. Anyone got a good source for smaller logo patches?

• There were several ooohs and ahhhs when Jeff Lang walked in wearing his Wahlers sweater. And as my flash made apparent, he was wearing a New Zealand All Blacks T-shirt underneath the jersey.

• It was great to meet Ed Westfield Jr., who recently ordered a membership card with infinity as his uni number. He said the T-shirt he was wearing was a recent thrift store find. I was happy to see that he availed himself of Sheep Station’s excellent meat pie.

• Scott Turner wore an umpire’s shirt with really cool patches on the chest and sleeve. Underneath that he had a super-cool German soccer jersey.

• I first met Terence Kearns a week ago at the Brooklyn Beefsteak, where he dressed very appropriately. This time around he was wearing a Sydney FC jersey. My bad for not getting a better photo of him (that’s Scott Turner’s hand making a cameo), esp. since Terence was truly the life of the party — lots of good chatter, good stories, and good cheer. He has a doozy of a membership card design idea, too. Here’s to you, buddy.

• Here’s David Vines, a mere high school lad. His family is from St. Louis, which is what his T-shirt is referring to.

• Kenny Jacobson wore a hockey jersey from a European barnstorming team he used to play on (and also took the photo at the top of this page — in fact, he’s a professional sports photographer).

• I was mildly obsessed with the odd collar on bench coach L.I. Phil’s 2007 Chivas Guadalajara jersey. And hey, see that hole near the end of the sleeve? That’s so you can do this!

• My pal Carrie Klein was recently going through some stuff in her mom’s storage locker and came up with this 1984 Celtics jersey, which she hadn’t seen since high school. As you can see, the back design was definitely a product of its era.

• Carrie brought her buddy Kevin Haley, guitarist in the Bon Savants.

• What would a Uni Watch party be without a new DIY hoodie from Matt Powers? This one featured sleeve patches from variouis eras, along with a questionable NOB and a massive uni number. Say what you want, but Powers actually makes these things himself while the rest of us just gab, and I say good for him. Oh, and he was very excited to see this sign across the street from the party venue.

• Jeff Cohen just moved to NYC a few weeks ago. Can you guess which town he left behind? Looks like he hasn’t quite let go yet.

• Confession: I’d forgotten all about this shirt design (created by former intern Nina Dubin) until Brad Eckensberger showed up wearing it. And look, SOB — that’s slogan on back. (Want to get this shirt for yourself? Look here.)

• Toward the end of the party, I glanced over to a nearby table and noticed some guy who had nothing to do with our group wearing this amazing jacket. “CMYK,” of course, stands for the four color of process printing — cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The little numbers next to each letter represent the percentage of each color needed to create the green color of the jacket — pretty damn clever. Turns out the jacket was made by a company specializing in design-related apparel.

All in all, a swell day, which made for a happy editor. My thanks to all who attended, and especially to Ed Westfield Jr., who took lots of photos.

Holiday Reminder: I’m about to start working on my annual Uni Watch Holiday Gift Guide column for ESPN. So if you have suggestions for cool uni-related gift ideas, I’m all ears.

Annoying Tech Reminder #1: If you’re so inclined, you can now follow Uni Watch on the Twitter and on the Facebook. If you’re not so inclined, that’s fine too.

Annoying Tech Reminder #2: If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer, webmaster Johnny Ek and I would greatly appreciate it if you could take a sec and add the Alexa add-on to your browser, which will help us crunch some site-traffic numbers (plus you’ll get access to cool analytics for every site you visit). It only takes a few minutes and would really help us out. If you’re willing, the Firefox add-on is here and the IE add-on is here. After downloading them, you’ll need to fill out a very short registration form (age, gender, etc.). Can do?

And as long as I’m bugging you to do stuff…: Wouldn’t it be nice if you nominated Uni Watch as “Best Sports Blog”? Yes, it would. You can do that by going to this comment and clicking on the little green plus sign. Thanks.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Twins will unveil their new uni set today at 1pm eastern. … Look at Joey Mullen in a neck-roll thingie, circa 1991 (with thanks to Zak McGinniss). … Like I’ve been saying all along, the Bengals’ helmet is very problematic (with thanks to Matt Shevin). … Here’s what the U.S. hockey team will be wearing at the Vancouver Olympics. … One side of the “Don’t give your designs away for free” argument is neatly summarized by this poster (thanks, Kirsten). … Also from Kirsten: Check out these amazing Chinese public health posters. … Last item on this page notes that University of Alaska Anchorage goalie Bryce Christianson forgot his practice jerseys and game jerseys for a series against Wisconsin and ended up practicing in an inside-out Wisco jersey (with thanks to Nathan Fiala). … RPI hockey recently held its “Black Friday” game. “It’s an annual thing they do to celebrate the first home ECAC league game at the Fieldhouse, and they raffle off the jerseys at the end of the game,” explains Jared Sharpe. … In a related item, Louisville Trinity High, a Catholic school in Kentucky that normally wears green and white, celebrated Friday the 13th and the school’s 666th game with blackout uniforms, which just proves that solid-black unis are the mark of the beast, or something like that. … New kit for the Philadelphia Union. … Check out this awesome shot of the 1930 Bolivian World Cup team — love it (thanks, Coachie Ballgames). … David Murphy’s son is my kind of ballplayer. … Lots of photos of TCU’s riflery uniforms in action here, and Virginia Tech’s here. The Hokies, of course, were playing against the U.S. military Maryland. … Remember the Colorado Caribous, who won Phil’s worst-uni poll yesterday? Rob Bryant found an awesome team portrait of them. … Browns vs. Browns? Nope, that’s two high school teams, the Heath Bulldogs and the Ironton Tigers — both from Ohio, natch. Lots of additional photos here. … AirTran has created team-themed jets honoring the Colts, Falcons, and Ravens. ” Ironically, no Jets jet,” notes Dave Montgomery. … All of this season’s U. of Arizona hoops players were recently asked the same set of questions by the Arizona Star. Among the questions: “Who has the best uniform in basketball?” Some of the responses are interesting. Look here (with thanks to Orlando Rodriquez). … Bernard Scott had his belt undone yesterday (good spot by Steven Wyder). … The Avs’ new blue alts made their on-ice debut on Saturday. Lots of pics here and here. … Nice. … Even nicer. … Not so nice at all. … What did Jamaal Charles have in his sock during pregame warm-ups yesterday. … Here’s an interesting question: Is this guy the heaviest No. 11 currently playing college football? The heaviest No. 11 ever? (As pointed out by Matt Mitchell.) … Interesting look at where logos fall on the color spectrum (with thanks to Chad Todd). … New volleyball uniforms for the Japanese team in the Grand Champions Cup (with thanks to Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Instead of NOB, how about NOS, for name on side? That’s Perugia Volley, a volleyball team in Italy’s Serie A Volleyball League. … Benn Wineka, the man behind the Roy Williams Tie Tracker, has put together a list of the UNC hoops team’s sneaker choices. … Here’s a new one: The Missouri Mavericks (CHL) will be wearing Harry Truman jerseys on November 27th. Proceeds from the subsequent jersey auction will benefit the Truman Heritage Library. Give ’em hell, Mavs (with thanks to Jared Speckman). … Big collision in Saturday’s Georgia/Auburn game resulted in at least one of Bacarri Rambo’s interior helmet pads being knocked clean out of the shell — you can see one of them airborne here and landing next to him here (big thanks to Brent Hardman). … Also from Brent: Georgia wore a baseball-themed helmet decal for UGA baseball player Chance Veasey, who was seriously injured in a scooter accident on campus a couple of weeks ago. “Kinda wierd to see a baseball logo on a football helmet,” Can you think of any other cross-sport memorial/honor decals or patches like this?” The most famous example, of course, is the “9″ that the Expos wore in memory of Rocket Richard in 2000. I know there are other examples, but my memory banks are failing me at the moment. Anyone..? … Speaking of the Expos, while looking for something else I came across their 1969 yearbook cover — niiiiice. … Still more Expos arcana: What’s up with that rear helmet decal? Photo is from 1969, showing the first homer ever hit at Jarry Park. … Looks like some of the Colts have gone to that same super-stretchy seamless jersey that the Jints and Jags have been using. Further evidence here (screen shot courtesy of Jackson Bungart).

By Phil Hecken, with James Huening

First off. A note of apology to Jeremy Brahm, with whom I had collaborated on a HUGE post for today. Somehow…and I’m not sure how…I ended up deleting an ENTIRE post — and his portion is simply too long to recreate now (as I type this, it’s close to 11:30 pm, Saturday night). I can and will recreate, as best as possible, the rest of what I had prepared (that includes the Worst Uni Ever, Benchies, Guess The Scoreboard, Ducktracker, and 5 & 1) … but the NFL uni mocks and Jeremy’s portion will have to wait. Again, my deep apologies to Jeremy (he’ll vouch for me — I sent him the full mockup of his piece earlier this week). Sorry, buddy, I’ll get to it soon!

Now then, at least I can still bring you the final voting from the Worst. Uni. Ever. poll on which James Huening (my wingman) had provided all the legwork and assistance. So, without further ado, here’s James:

Here are the eagerly-awaited results for our poll to determine the worst uniform ever worn in (US and Canadian) sports.

9) The Orlando Thunder (1991-92) collected a mere 2.47% of the vote.

8) Gathering 3.23% of responses were the San Diego Padres (1978).

7) 4.38% of you thought the Toronto Raptors (1995-99) were the worst ever.

6) The green glare of the Seattle Seahawks (2009) was disliked the most by 5.43%.

5) Our last finalists to collect less than 10% of responses were the Vancouver Canucks (1978-85), who were chosen by 8.78% of respondents. (OK, the uni had some slight modifications during this time period, but the overall design stayed basically the same.)

4) The University of Oregon Ducks football program (2006-2008) was selected 11.18% of the time.

3) 13.42% of the vote went to the Chicago White Sox (with shorts – 1976).

2) With 22.26% of the vote, the Tucson Toros (1980) were our early favorites and they jumped out to a commanding lead over our eventual #1…

1) …The Caribous of Colorado (1978) who made a valiant comeback to take the top spot with 28.83% of responses collected

Full results can be found here.

Once again, thanks to everyone who participated. And more than 5,100 of you did, which was nearly double the turnout of our previous survey. I wonder if the mention in SI.com’s Hot Clicks had anything to do with that.

Thank you James (and thank YOU to everyone who participated). We’re going to keep polling you guys, but James needs a little break. His fingers are all cut up from counting all the ballots, and those hanging chads were a biotch to figure out. Hopefully, it didn’t affect his curling skills.

Congratulations to The Caribous (sic) of Colorado. You simply had the Worst. Uni. Ever.

Boy…Mick’s on a roll these days in Bub’s Pub. And when there’s no ladies around on which to work his magic, well — he gets sage advice on the ladies.

Enjoy your Sunday Benchies

Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Back to baseball today, and this is an oldie but a goodie from SlimandSlam. I’m pretty sure the difficulty level on this one is quite high, but I also believe the clue you need is right there on the scoreboard. Put on your thinking caps for this one. Guess The Game. And if you want to keep this going through the fall, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!

UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game. The Ducks were resplendent in school colors — black and steel are school colors right? And, they were taking Arizona State behind the woodshed (31-7 as I write this). So
Here’s Your Updated Ducktracker.

Our man in the street, Jim Vilk, brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from yesterday:

5. LA Tech/LSU — Love those stripes!

4. Nebraska/Kansas — Normally I like white pants with white-helmeted teams, but the Huskers are a great exception.

3. Iowa/Ohio State — Big Ten teams may be overrated, but these unis aren’t (Oh, and the ANF sticker stands for “America Needs Farmers).

2. VMI/Army — I salute this classically cool matchup.

1. Tennessee/Ole Miss — Another white-helmeted team that doesn’t need white pants, and another title for the SEC.

And the worst matchup: Virginia Tech/Maryland — At least the Terps were saluting REAL warriors.

Thanks again Jim. But I’m gonna have to “Go Off The Boards” with the worst uni pick — and this photo doesn’t even begin to do it the injustice it deserves: TCU vs. Utah. Honorable mention could probably go to Oregon vs. Arizona, but Arizona didn’t look too bad.

OK, that’s gonna do it for today. Two legacy games (the Bills visit the Titans Oilers in the early game, while the late game features the Chiefs Texans at the Raiders).

And to all the New York City-and-environs denizens, don’t forget today is the UW Gathering at Sheep Station in beautiful Brooklyn. 2:30 till whenever. Hope to see you there.

Everyone have a great Sunday!