Monday, May 25, 2015

Uni Watch Rankings 2015

Paul Lukas—Uni Watch blogger, ESPN uniform columnist and dean of sports æsthetics journalism—has posted his new 2015 NFL uniform rankings.

Given his well-known love of the classics, not to mention the colors green and gold, it should come as no surprise that the Packers continue to rank highly in his estimation. Not quite as highly as they did last year, when he put them at #2 behind the Chicago Bears.

I won't spoil the entire list for you, but will tell you where he puts our Pack: third-best in the league.

3. Green Bay Packers (-1)


Still the perfect autumnal color scheme for a fall sport. The Pack might have ended up one or even two spots higher in this year's rankings if not for some lingering ambiguity regarding their uniform set: They're scrapping their Acme Packers throwbacks and replacing them with a new throwback uni. No word yet on what that design will be or when it will be unveiled, so for now Green Bay's grade has to be considered a bit incomplete.
Check out the rest of the list, as well as video of Lukas explaining his top and bottom choices, on ESPN.com.

Friday, May 22, 2015

The Worst Seat in the House

American astronaut Scott Kelly tweeted out a picture of Lambeau Field taken from an unusual vantage point: the International Space Station.


Wow. A fantastic look at the stadium, nestled right in the middle of its neighborhood:


It's also an unusual view because we're used to looking at photos that correspond with our "North=Up" map orientation. Downtown Green Bay has an unusual layout in which the streets are aligned not north-south but angled to run parallel with and perpendicular to the Fox River.

Here's the photo rotated to comport with our customary map view:


I guess I hadn't really thought it was possible to give us a unique perspective on a place so widely-photographed as Lambeau Field, but Commander Kelly has gone to great lengths to do just that.

Sunday, May 10, 2015

1937 Game Action

This photo was taken at the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan on November 21, 1937, as the Packers took on the New York Football Giants.


This was before road jerseys became mandatory, so the Packers wore their new navy jerseys with gold yokes. The Giants rotated between red and royal blue jerseys that season, so it's possible that this might not have been a blue-on-blue matchup.

I love the official's uniform, with its flat cap and very blousy knickers. We can also see his stirrups clearly enough to notice that he's wearing the right one backwards (big hole goes in the back).

They might have looked good, but the Packers lost that day, 10-0.