Black is Beautiful, if not Plentiful
>> Tuesday
You knew you weren't going to get anything resembling rational thought in an article entitled "25 more things we miss in sports," basically a chance of old-timer sportswriters to have a wank about what sports were like when they were 9 years old (No ads in stadiums, wood drivers, "the perceived innocence of college sports," etc.)
But this one took the cake
24. Non-black college uniforms
They were neat for a while, a break from the norm, a variation on the typically retro throwback. But now that nearly every NCAA program has trotted out a variation on all-black uniforms, school colors have become all but obsolete.
The purpose of uniforms is to identify a team or program -- heraldic devices of a sort. While most schools have historically employed a neutral color (black, white or gray) to serve as the signature shade for home games, a number of programs have lately taken to wearing all-black as their primary uniforms. Therein lies the problem: If everyone does it, everyone looks the same, negating the purpose of uniforms in the first place. Only a handful of athletic programs remain true to their roots -- Southern California and Penn State are two that come to mind -- and while they may not sport the prettiest pairing of hues, at least we can tell them apart. -- N.J
Well, just among the D-1 Football programs without black jerseys (let alone all-black jerseys), I also count...
- Michigan
- Michigan State
- Ohio State
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Wisconsin
- Minnesota
- Northwestern
- Syracuse
- West Virginia
- South Florida
- Pitt
- UConn
- North Carolina
- North Carolina State
- Georgia Tech
- Clemson
- Miami (FL)
- Duke
- Boston College
- Virginia
- Virginia Tech
- Florida
- Mississippi State
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Arkansas
- Alabama
- Auburn
- Texas
- Kansas
- Kansas State
- Texas A&M
- Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Nebraska
- Baylor
- Iowa State
- Washington
- Washington State
- Arizona
- Arizona State
- Cal
- UCLA
- Stanford
So by my count, only 16 BCS Conference College football programs have black jerseys or black alternates (Iowa, Purdue, Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, Florida State, Maryland, Wake Forest, Georgia, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Texas Tech, Colorado, Missouri, Oregon, Oregon State).
Oh, don't forget Notre Dame and Navy. But why let facts get in the way of a good argument? Read more...
A hazy shade of winter
A good way to be sure the curtain is closing: Your home run calls sound like, "Ken Griffey Jr.! Number 625!" It may be true that Griffey is, in fact, coasting along the final few miles, the odometer turning evermore slowly until the friction of the road brings him to a halt. But I make it a point not to eulogize the living, and I wish other people would do the same.
Hard to imagine Fratelli d'Italia being played in Oakland, but OK
>> Thursday
The US Bid Committee for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups (whose awarding is less than 2 years away), has released through its site http://www.gousabid.com/ the cities who are still in the running to host a World Cup game should the United States be awarded either tournament. This list is down from a prior list of 70, which frankly included just about every NFL and major college stadium in a town with more than two stoplights.
Did anyone really think Fayetteville, AR would host the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Fernando Torres?
The list has been narrowed to 27 cities, of which likely 12-14 will likely be chosen to host matches.
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New York City, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Glendale-Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, and Washington, D.C.
Just a few notes
12 cities on the list host MLS teams in their metro areas (Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC). The only US Cities with an MLS team that failed to make the cut are Columbus, Salt Lake City, and Portland.
All 9 sites of the 1994 World Cup are still eligible (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, New York, Boston)
Should each city use the venue that most would assume they would use, then 22 of the 27 potential host cities are using venues constructed or substantially renovated in the 15 years SINCE the 1994 World Cup.
21 of the 27 potential host cities have hosted a major soccer event (MLS game, International friendly, Club friendly, World Cup Qualifier, Gold Cup game) since 2006.
Two things on which Hugo Chavez and I agree:
>> Wednesday
1) Everything bad in the world is America's fault.
Read more...Black Thursday... or Monday... or whatever day it was
Props To YCS Writer Mike's Little Brother
>> Tuesday
Dave Sever has gotten off to an excellent start in his pro baseball career, posting a 3.13 ERA in nine outings (seven starts) with a WHIP under 1.00
Read more...Calling all MLB utility players
>> Monday
Sophisticated Ivy League research.
Participating in this study entails answering three brief questionnaires (about 10 minutes total). Additionally, we will ask you to nominate 3 friends or family members to answer brief questionnaires about you.