"Titletown Five" and the Preakness

Tomorrow will see the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. All eyes will be on Orb as he tries to take his second race en route to the Triple Crown, but there's another horse in the field that every Packer fan should be watching.



"Titletown Five" is a 3-year-old dark bay colt co-owned by Packers Hall of Famers Paul Hornung and Willie Davis.

The colt's name is derived from a combination of the City of Green Bay's nickname and Hornung's jersey number. Hornung owns 30% of the horse, Davis reportedly slightly less, which might tell us why Paul gets to put his number on the horse.

His name is not the only connection Titletown Five has to the Packers; check out the green and gold silks worn by jockey Joel Rosario last July (pictured here with trainer D. Wayne Lukas:

Flickr/MattBritt00

That "G" logo looks great by itself on the side of a helmet, but just doesn't work when paired with another letter. They would have been better off using the Packers' interlocking "GB" logo instead.

The Preakness website shows slightly different silks, with a generic "GB". I don't know if that means the silks have been changed or if the graphic isn't 100% accurate. We'll have to see.

I find it ironic that Hornung is now part-owner of a racehorse, given his 1963 suspension for gambling.

Jockey Julien Leparoux will ride Titletown Five in tomorrow's race. He faces odds of 30-1, the longest in the Preakness, but I would never bet against the Golden Boy. He knew a thing or two about running in his day.

"Number One in Your Programs," Part II

Something happened recently that the Green Bay Packers haven't seen in nearly 90 years.

A player has been issued jersey number 1.

As we discussed last year, Curly Lambeau is the only Packer to wear the digit in a football game. Vince Lombardi had the number emblazoned on his sideline gear. And to that select group, we add... Matt Brown?

Brown is a quarterback out of Illinois State, signed by the Packers as an undrafted free agent. If he makes it through training camp and into a preseason game, he'll be the first number one since Lambeau in 1926.

On You Blue and Gold to Glory, Again!

Green Bay Packers

Today the Packers announced that after a year's absence, they will be bringing back the 1929 uniforms for one game:

Packers donning throwback uniforms vs. Browns

The blue and gold is coming back to Lambeau Field.

After taking a break last season, the Green Bay Packers announced on Monday that they’ll bring back their 1929-inspired alternate uniforms during an Oct. 20 home game against the Cleveland Browns during the upcoming 2013 NFL season.

The Packers unveiled the third jersey during a 34-16 win over San Francisco on Dec. 5, 2010, and wore them again the following season during a 24-3 win over St. Louis before taking the 2012 season off.

The alternate jersey is based on the Packers’ 1929 jerseys, which were blue with the jersey number in a gold circle on the front. The modern version differs from the original model in that it uses a larger gold circle and also includes a full-sized number on the back along with the player’s last name, to conform with NFL uniform regulations

The alternate uniforms also feature tan pants and a solid brown helmet, representing the leather helmets that players of that era wore. The Packers won the first of their 13 NFL championships in 1929.

We knew that the throwbacks were in the NFL Style Guide last season, even after the shift from Reebok to Nike, but I hadn't heard any indication we'd see them again.

It's probably too much to hope that Nike will pair them with blue undershirts this time, but I do wonder if we'll see a new helmet treatment, utilizing the same leather-textured look that Nike and HGI whipped up for Washington last season.

Something to wonder about as the season approaches.

Auction Gold - 1940s Leather Helmet

Heritage Auctions continues to serve up amazing Packers artifacts. This leather helmet, since painted white, once sat on the head of a Packer hero.

1940's Green Bay Packers Game Worn Helmet.  In the sports memorabilia game, sometimes it takes a bit of uncanny knowledge and a keen eye to spot a treasure. Here we present one of those special instances, as this auction listing features one of the only 1940's Green Bay Packers game-worn helmets ever to see hobby light.

Most likely donated to a local Green Bay high school after its time in professional football was through, this leather helmet once was used by a Packers player during the later part of the Curly Lambeau era. Now baring a light application of white paint throughout, a careful look at the shell's edges shows clear evidence of an original application of yellow paint. Originally obtained from the collection of a Green Bay media personality years ago, the helmet's front portion displays an extremely faint "PAC" from what once was stamped "PACKERS," and team historians and vintage game photography will confirm that this is the exact style as worn by the team about 70 years ago. While not a perfect example, it was unquestionably worn by a Packers player in the 1940's, and it could easily be brought back to life with the proper paint restoration. LOA from Heritage Auctions.

It's an amazing piece of history.

We've discussed this helmet before, when it was in the collection of Titletown Nostalgia. Shame about the repainting, but the faint trace of the "PACKERS" stamp tells us its story. You can see similar branding on the leather of Don Hutson's helmet in this undated photo:

Here's the stamp:

Game-worn Packer leather helmets are exceedingly rare. I'm aware of four in private hands, including this one and one in my collection. The Packers Hall of Fame has some, of course, as does the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. Now's your chance.

"Our Feel-Good War on Breast Cancer"

We already knew that the NFL's annual month-long pink-out "Breast Cancer Awareness" event was a total scam, but now there's evidence that these campaigns could themselves be doing serious damage to our collective health.

This is the cover story in this morning's New York Times Magazine:

In it, contributing writer Peggy Orenstein tracks the rise of branded campaigns (like the NFL's), compares them with the early screening and treatment techniques the organizations advocate and comes to the conclusion that "all that well-meaning awareness has ultimately made women less conscious of the facts".

You should check out the entire piece, but here's a section particularly relevant to our discussion:

In "Pink Ribbon Blues," Gayle Sulik, a sociologist and founder of the Breast Cancer Consortium, credits Komen (as well as the American Cancer Society and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) with raising the profile of the disease, encouraging women to speak about their experience and transforming "victims" into "survivors." Komen, she said, has also distributed more than $1 billion to research and support programs. At the same time, the function of pink-ribbon culture — and Komen in particular — has become less about eradication of breast cancer than self-perpetuation: maintaining the visibility of the disease and keeping the funds rolling in. "You have to look at the agenda for each program involved," Sulik said. "If the goal is eradication of breast cancer, how close are we to that? Not very close at all. If the agenda is awareness, what is it making us aware of? That breast cancer exists? That it's important? 'Awareness' has become narrowed until it just means 'visibility.' And that's where the movement has failed. That’s where it's lost its momentum to move further."

Before the pink ribbon, awareness as an end in itself was not the default goal for health-related causes. Now you’d be hard-pressed to find a major illness without a logo, a wearable ornament and a roster of consumer-product tie-ins. Heart disease has its red dress, testicular cancer its yellow bracelet. During "“Movember" — a portmanteau of "mustache" and "November" — men are urged to grow their facial hair to "spark conversation and raise awareness" of prostate cancer (another illness for which early detection has led to large-scale overtreatment) and testicular cancer. “These campaigns all have a similar superficiality in terms of the response they require from the public," said Samantha King, associate professor of kinesiology and health at Queen’s University in Ontario and author of "Pink Ribbons, Inc." "They're divorced from any critique of health care policy or the politics of funding biomedical research. They reinforce a single-issue competitive model of fund-raising. And they whitewash illness: we’re made 'aware' of a disease yet totally removed from the challenging and often devastating realities of its sufferers."

I started with mixed feelings about these league-wide branding events because they were ugly. Then I came to oppose them because they were a cynical attempt to mine wallets. Now I'm depressed because they might not even be accomplishing the relatively minor goals they proclaim.

Time for the NFL to get out of the whole business. Raise money, sure, for real research, but from top to bottom it's looking like this isn't the way.

Your Newest Packers, available now.

The 2013 NFL Draft has just wrapped up at Rockefeller Center, but you can already buy jerseys of your newest heroes.

They don't waste any time, do they?

1983 Draft Room

ESPN just tweeted out this photo of the NFL's Draft Room in 1983:

A far cry from the Rockefeller Center event I attended a couple years ago.

I love the helmet graphics marking each team's table. There's the Packers' table at the bottom of the shot:

That appears to be a gray facemask on the Packers sign, although the team changed to green for the 1980 season.

2013 Schedule Released

Tonight, the Packers released their full schedule for the 2013 season.

Couple of initial observations:

• That's a really early bye week.
• The Packers are scheduled to have five nationally televised appearances: three Sunday Night Football games (Week 8 at Minnesota, Week 11 against the Giants and Week 14 against the Falcons), one Monday Night Football game (Week 9 against the Bears) and one game on Thanksgiving (at Detroit). The games against New York and Atlanta could be flexed out, based on how competitive the matchups are that late in the season.
• The Thanksgiving game against the Lions is traditionally an opportunity for throwbacks. The 1929 blues obviously aren't going to happen, given the color clash (although they continue to appear in the style guide), but perhaps they'll do something else?

Auction Gold - Hank Gremminger's 1962 Championship Watch

The current Heritage Auction continues to offer some real treasures.

1962 Green Bay Packers NFL Championship Watch Presented to Hank Gremminger. Widely considered the best team ever put on the field by legendary coach Vince Lombardi, the 1962 Green Bay Packers bested the New York Giants 16-7 in front of 64,892 Yankees Stadium fans in the '62 league championship game.

Heritage Auctions

After receiving stunning gold rings for the team's 1961 championship victory against the same Big Apple gridders, the Green Bay Packers mixed it up a bit the following season by awarding their players and coaches with absolutely gorgeous 14 karat gold "Hamilton" watches. Offered here is the nicest 1962 NFL Championship presentational watch ever offered. Exhibiting flawless Mint condition, the original timepiece was awarded to defensive leader Hank Gremminger for his contributions to the magnificent squad.

Heritage Auctions

Obviously never worn by Gremminger which is evident from its pristine quality, the watch is accompanied with its original case. The face displays 12 sparkling white stones, in addition to "Green Bay Packers 1962 World Champions NFL," and the famed team helmet beneath the bold print, while its back is engraved "HANK GREMMINGER GREEN BAY 16 NEW YORK 7". Consigned by Gremminger's daughter, this is one of the most significant and eye-appealing pieces from one of the greatest teams in NFL history. LOA from Tina Schooler (Gremminger's daughter). Guide Value or Estimate: $2,000 - $4,000.

This is the second 1962 World Championship watch to come up for auction in recent months (the previous one had a metal expansion band, not the standard leather). These were given to players and staff in lieu of rings following Vince Lombardi's second consecutive title.

The face is simply gorgeous, with the Packers' helmet on a black field surrounded by diamonds.

Heritage Auctions

Even if the kerning is a little off, and the city name is rendered as "GREENBAY".

Hank Gremminger was a cornerback for the Packers from 1956-65. He was part of three championship squads; this one, as well as 1961 and 1965. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1976.

Gremminger in 1960

We might never see a finer example of this watch. A future centerpiece of somebody's collection.

Auction Gold - 1965-67 Don Chandler Game Worn Jersey

This amazing Glory Days-era jersey is currently up for auction at Heritage.

1965-67 Don Chandler Game Worn Green Bay Packers Jersey. The famed punter who was named to the NFL's 1960's All-Decade Team, and a Pro Bowler in 1967, Don Chandler will forever be remembered for kicking the controversial fourth-quarter "Phantom" field goal that tied the game at 10-10 in the Green Bay Packers' exciting victory over the Baltimore Colts in a 1965 Western Conference playoff contest.

The exemplary green and gold Durene jersey perfectly represents that classic Lombardi-era style of the 1960's. Graded a perfect A10 by the experts at MEARS, it displays the all-important "Sand Knit [size] 46" tag in the tail, while its original "[size] 46" tag remains in the collar. Use is extremely heavy, while it has more than 20 team repairs in the fabric, suggesting that it was also used by a different Packers player during practice. Sure to be the centerpiece of any high-end Packers collection, this is unquestionably one of the most impressive vintage football pieces in our May catalog auction. LOA from MEARS, A10. Guide Value or Estimate: $6,000 - $8,000.

It's truly amazing. This particular style is from the height of the Vince Lombardi era, a classic jersey that defined a team. By 1965, the Packers had finally settled on the block numbers the team still uses today (after first trying several variations).

They're not kidding about the team repairs - this jersey has been through the ringer. The work is so fine that you may miss it at first glance, but even a cursory examination reveals heavy stitching, especially on the numbers.

Amazing how much abuse these jerseys took, and the lengths the team went to in order to keep them on the field.

Image credit: Heritage Auctions