What are your all-time favorite uniforms in each of the major team sports?
MLB: Cardinals, circa 1960s
NFL: Packers, green jersey, circa 1960s
NHL: Canadiens, white jersey
NBA: Warriors, The City design (bonus points for the rear uni number appearing inside a cable car)
What about your all-time least-favorite uniforms?
MLB: Rockies, purple jersey
NFL: Bills, dark-on-dark.
NHL: Coyotes, original design
NBA: Cavs, mid-90s road
Why do the Pittsburgh Steelers put their logo on only one side of their helmet?
You can get the full story here.
Why do the Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins all wear black and yellow?
Because those are the colors of the Pittsburgh city flag. And heres the story behind why those colors were chosen.
Why dont the White Sox wear white socks?
They used to, back in the franchises early days. White started disappearing from their socks in the 40s and had vanished almost entirely by 1953 (although white stirrups reappeared for the 1959 World Series, and again with blue sanitaries! in 1969 and 1970).
But as to the larger question of why they went away from white, the surprising answer is that nobody seems to know.
Why do the Islanders have those four stripes on one shoulder?
They represent the franchises four consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1980s.
Everyone loves the Chargers powder-blue jerseys. Why dont they go back to wearing them full-time, instead of just once or twice a year?
The teams owner is very fond of the current design and wants to keep it.
Is it true that the 49ers were going to switch to a totally different helmet design a few years back, with 49ers on the side of the helmet instead of SF?
In 1991, the 49ers created a prototype for a new helmet design, which they introduced at a press conference. But fan reaction was so overwhelmingly negative that the idea was scrapped the next day.
Whats the Expos logo supposed to be?
Actually, there are two separate interpretations one in English and one in French. English version: The overall outline of the logo is a stylized M for Montreal (you kinda have to squint to see this). The red e on the left is for Expos, and the blue b on the right is for baseball. Add it all up and youve got Montreal Expos baseball. The strip of white next to the e is essentially just wasted space its not an l or anything like that. French version: The red symbol on the left is a c, which combines with the white strip to form a d. Toss in the b on the right and outlined m and youve got c-d-b-m, for Club de Baseball Montreal.
Whats the deal with the H inside the C in the Canadiens logo?
The Canadiens are frequently referred to as the Habs or les Habitants, and many people mistakenly think thats what the H stands for. But thats wrong the H actually stands for hockey because the franchises official name is Club de Hockey Canadien.
Why do the Oakland As use an elephant as their secondary logo?
The full story is here.
Why does Fresno State have that V on the back of their helmet?
The full story is here.
The G logos used by the Packers, the University of Georgia, and Grambling all look the same. Whats the deal? Which one came first?
The G originated with the Packers. Some background info on all three logos is available here.
Whats with the green dot on the back of NFL quarterbacks helmets?
The green dot signifies a radio-equipped helmet. Further details here.
Why dont Tom Brady and Kyle Brady (or other NFL teammates with the same last name) have T. and K. initials on their nameplates? Doesnt that violate some sort of NFL rule?
First initials for same-surnamed NFL teammates used to be required, but no more. They were made optional prior to the 2007 season.
Why do some teams insist on wearing the American flag backwards on their sleeves?
Its not backwards. Proper flag etiquette calls for the blue field to face forward, so the flag looks like its fluttering back as it (or the person wearing it) moves forward. So if a flag patch is worn on the right side of a garment or vehicle, it should be oriented like so. This applies to sleeve patches, helmet decals, military uniforms, buses, the space shuttle, Air Force One, and so on.
Why do baseball and basketball teams wear white at home, but football teams wear white on the road? And whats up with the NHL?
Early baseball teams had a hard time finding good laundry facilities while traveling, so they started wearing gray on the road, because it hid the dirt better.
Early football teams often had only one jersey, usually colored. Some teams also had a white jersey for use on the road, but this was generally worn only if the two teams in a game had similar color schemes (which is pretty much how it currently works in European soccer). When games started to be televised, road whites became more important, because many colors looked the same on black-and-white TV. So the TV era also marked the start of the two-jersey era. But keep in mind that under current NFL rules, football teams dont truly have home and road uniforms they simply have white and color, and the home team gets its choice of which one to wear. While most teams choose to wear color at home, there are several, like the Cowboys and Redskins, that prefer to wear white at home.
In the NHLs early years, teams had only one uniform, which was almost always colored. The concept of road whites was introduced by the Red Wings in 1934, and other teams soon followed, but colors were still worn at home (thats why the Rangers are known as the Broadway Blues, for example; in fact, the Rangers didnt add a white uni until 1951, becoming the final team to do so). The league experimented with wearing white at home for a few seasons in the 1950s but then went back to wearing colors at home. But teams on the road were having the same sorts of laundry problems that baseball teams had experienced decades earlier, so the NHL switched to white at home in 1970 and stayed that way for the next 33 years this is the period of hockey most of us are familiar with, so we tend to think of white as the natural home color, even though it wasnt always that way.
The NHL switched back to wearing colors at home in 2003. Why? The official reason was that the league wanted home fans to be able to see the colored uniforms; the unofficial and more accurate reason is that sales of colored jerseys were lagging, so they wanted to give them a higher profile. (A contributing reason: Most NHL teams alternate third jerseys are colored, and teams want to wear those at home, which would force their opponents to bring a set of whites with them on the road, so why not just make all home games colored?) Some hockey minor leagues actually have it both ways, wearing white at home for the first half of the season and then switching to white on the road for the second half.
Even the people at the NBA office are unsure of why basketball became a white-at-home sport, although factors like laundry access and black-and-white TV probably had something to do with it. Keep in mind, though, that several pro teams have worn colors at home, including the Lakers, who continue to do so. Others have included the Warriors (yellow), Sonics (yellow), Bullets (orange), Cavs (yellow), and Spurs (silver, when they were in the ABA).
Why dont you write more about soccer, the worlds most popular sport?
My knowledge of soccer is very limited, so I dont feel well equipped to write about it. Readers frequently bring soccer-related uni developments to my attention, however, and whenever possible I try to pass along that information within the column.
Is there a Web site that lists which uniform combo each NFL team will be wearing for each game?
No, unfortunately.
Are there web sites that show the uniform histories for each sport?
Yes. Baseballs uni history is available here; pro football uniforms back to 1959 are here, with pre-1959 uniform info here and pro and college football helmet designs shown here; and NHL uni history is available here.
Im not aware of any site that covers the NBAs uniform history, although loads of old jerseys are displayed here, and the ABAs uniforms are showcased here.
Theres a uni-related photo I want you to see. Should I send it as an attachment, or just send you its URL?
If theres a photo on the web that you want to show me, just let me know the URL of the image, or of the page where its located. But if the photo isnt on the web (because you took it yourself, or you scanned it from a hard copy, or someone else forwarded it to you, or whatever), you can either upload it to a photo-hosting site like Flickr or Photobucket and then send me the resulting URL, or else just go ahead and send it as an attachment.
I sent you a tip, and you wrote about it, but you didnt give me credit how come?
First of all, dont be so sure that I didnt notice it on my own. In general, though, if one or two people let me know about something, Im happy to credit them by name. If more than two people tell me about the same thing, Ill just say that several readers mentioned it, because it gets cumbersome to list so many names.
Why dont you put all the photos on the same page as the text, instead of formatting them as pop-up links?
I refer to so many photos that thered be no way to fit all of those images onto the same page as the text. Pop-up windows allow me to reference lots of visual material without cluttering up the page. If you find it annoying to toggle back and forth between the text and the photos, try opening two browser windows one for the text, and one for all the photo links and positioning them on opposite sides of your computer screen. Thats what I do myself when Im checking the material before publishing it. You can also install Cooliris on your browser, so you can preview the photo links without actually clicking on them.
I just read a column from your archive, and some of the photo links came up as Page not found. What gives?
Unfortunately, link rot is a fact of life, especially with wire service photos, which are usually kept on servers for only three or four weeks. I try to choose photos whose URLs will stay active, but sometimes it isnt possible. The one thing I can guarantee is that the links all work when a column is published.
Oh yeah? Then how come I just looked at your new column today and some of the links came up as Access Denied, or something like that?
Occasionally I link to a blog or a small personal site that cant handle all the hits from Uni Watchs large readership. So the site crashes, or it exceeds its bandwidth limit and is shut down by its ISP. Ive gotten much better about anticipating this type of problem (or at least I think I have) and now try to avoid these types of links.
Why do you hate purple so much?
I actually think purple in nature is quite nice eggplants, violets, plums, etc. But purple in man-made design applications has always struck me as really tacky. Like, seriously, have you ever seen a purple car? A total nightmare. Same goes for purple clothing, especially uniforms.
Dont you realize purple is the color of royalty?
Sure, but so what? I live in America, a country whose very conception was predicated on anti-royalty sentiment. Maybe thats why, as I like to point out, not a single U.S. state uses purple as one of its official state colors. If that doesnt fill your heart with patriotic pride, nothing will.
Why do you get so worked up about the Nike and Reebok logos appearing on uniforms?
Short version: Because the only logo that belongs on a teams uniform is the logo of the team itself. The relationship between fan and team is very special players come and go, they retire, theyre traded, and so on, but the fan stays loyal to the team, to the logo, to the uniform, no matter whos wearing it. Thats an unusually pure form of brand loyalty, and it shouldnt be sullied or cheapened by the presence of any other brand logos.
For a much longer explanation, look here.
Ive designed a new logo and uniform for my favorite team. Who should I send it to? If I send it to you, can you forward it to the proper person at the team, or maybe to the league office?
I know you dont want to hear this, but pro sports teams and leagues arent interested in unsolicited uniform designs dont bother. (Heres an ESPN column I wrote about fans who submit unsolicited designs.)
I want to submit an NFL uni tweak to Phil. Where can I find a uniform template to use?
You can start by googling. If you dont like what you find, heres Phils advice:
What I do (and Im guessing others do) is to find a site like Chris Creamers Sport Logos (from that main page, just click on any logo, which will take you to a specific teams logos and uniforms for example, Arizona). just click on the uniform, copy it (right click), and save it in something like MS Paint or Photoshop. Once you have that saved, you can erase the colors to create a blank, or adapt the particular team as youd like.
I want to become a uniform designer. Where do I start?
First, get a degree in graphic design. Then join a brand-design firm that works with the major sports leagues, or get a job with the properties division of one of the leagues. Simple, right?
My sons Little League team needs new uniforms. Which colors should we use? Do you think we should go with vests?
Its nice that you value my opinion so much, but Im in no position to make those sorts of decisions for you. For what its worth, I think forest green and mustard always look great together, and of course Im unalterably opposed to any use of purple. But the best thing you can do for a Little Leaguer is to teach him (or her) to wear stirrups.
Why do you love stirrups so much?
Because they look cool and theyre unique to baseball. And I practice what I preach: I wear stirrups while playing softball.
OK, youve convinced me Ill wear stirrups. Where can I buy them?
You can always search for baseball stirrups on eBay and see what comes up. Or you can contact Robert Marshall, whos an authorized dealer for Twin City Knitting, the last American stirrup manufacturer.
What are all these terms I keep seeing on your site, like NOB and Pedro porthole and Ree-box?
These and many other uni-centric terms are explained in the Uni Watch Glossary.
Do you write about other things besides uniforms?
Yes. I write regularly about food, travel, business, advertising, design, pop culture, Americana, and pretty much whatever strikes my interest at a given moment. Im a full-time freelance writer.
Where can I see your other writing?
Some things Ive written about food and eating are available here, here, here, and here. There are links to some of my other work on this page.
Are you the same Paul Lukas who used to publish the zine Beer Frame back in the 1990s?
Yes. For the uninitiated, Beer Frame: The Journal of Inconspicuous Consumption was a small magazine that examined the details of consumer culture in much the same way Uni Watch examines uniform design. Unfortunately, almost all my Beer Frame back-issues are now sold out, except for issue Nos. 7, 8, and 9 (if youre interested in purchasing them, contact me). A small sampling of old material from the zine has been preserved here.
What about your 1997 book, Inconspicuous Consumption: An Obsessive Look at the Stuff We Take for Granted?
The book is out of print, but there are plenty of used copies floating around out there.
Why dont you write a book about uniforms?
Lots of reasons, but the biggest one is that writing a book would entail a lot of work that would turn my life upside-down, and I like my life the way it is.
Are you related to the old Hollywood actor Paul Lukas, who won an Oscar for Watch on the Rhine?
No. But he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and I have a photo of that star on the door to my apartment. Years ago, everyone thought this was really cool; nowadays they just say, Oh, nice Photoshop job.
Which jerseys do you have in your closet?
People are often surprised to hear that Im not a jersey collector. I explain why here.
Do you collect any other sort of uniform-related stuff?
Yes. I really like old uniform catalogs from sporting goods companies the older, the better. I have a nice little library of these, many of which still have the original fabric swatches pasted onto the pages. I also collect the uniform style guides published by the various sports leagues. Im not interested in selling any of this stuff, so please dont ask. But if you have any catalogs or style guides that you want to sell, contact me.
Im trying to find a particular replica jersey do you know where I can buy it?
Im only interested in what the players are wearing. Im not particularly knowledgeable about the retail and merchandising sides of the uni world, and I really dont care what fans buy or wear. But you can always post a query to the comments section of the current entry on this site. Someone will likely know how to find what youre looking for.
Sometimes I forget which day your ESPN column appears, or Im too busy to check to see if a new one has been posted. Is there a way I can be notified when new installments of the column are published?
Yes. Send me a note and Ill add you to my mailing list. In addition to receiving a signal flare each time a new column is posted, youll also be notified when Im doing live internet chats, the occasional TV appearance, etc. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
How can I get to be the Uni Watch intern?
That job is currently taken, but at some point Ill rotate the position to somebody else. If you want to be considered, send me a note.
Youre really nit-picky and you write about clothes so, like, you must be gay, right?
Nope. But what if I were? What if the guy sitting next to you is? What if YOU are? What difference does it make? Stupid question about a non-issue.
What if I have a question that you havent answered here?
Send me an e-mail.
Travelling is my life
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