The Shibe Vintage Sports History Blog

This Thursday night the one-loss Atlanta Falcons will take on the New Orleans Saints on the NFL Network. Since last week was Thanksgiving, 3 games were played on Thursday, but this Thursday, the 29^th, the league will return to the regularly scheduled one-game Thursday Night Football.

The Falcons will be the home team, and for the 2^nd time this season will wear their alternatives jerseys. These black jerseys with white lettering include all red helmets and white pants. The first time the Falcons wore their alternatives this season, in week 4, the team beat the Carolina Panthers, but the last time the dirty birds lost in the alternatives was last season vs. the New Orleans Saints, the only ever loss in the alternatives uniforms. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: Who is credited with coming up with the winged helmet design? Answer to come tomorrow.

Wednesday’s answer: The Little Red Flag is a Harvard pennant that, since 1884, has been waved by Harvard's "most loyal fan" after each score by Harvard during The Game. The tradition began with Frederick Plummer, class of 1888, who attended the Harvard-Yale game 59 times between 1884 and his death in 1948.

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Last season the Detroit Tigers made a huge splash free agent signing by inking Prince Fielder to a huge contract. Fielder played well in 2012, helping propel the Tigers to the World Series before being swept by the San Francisco Giants.

While every MLB team is looking to upgrade via free agency this offseason, in the world of Minor League Baseball, teams are changing brands, moving cities, switching affiliations, and often manipulating their logos. The West Michigan Whitecaps, single A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, have changed their logo in order to pay tribute to their parent club. The previous log had little to do with the Detroit Tigers, but the two new logos unveiled last week change all of that. The team has taken the letters “W” and “M” but have them written in the same font as the Detroit Tigers “D”. The other logo is similar to the Whitecaps original logo, but the wave clutching the baseball now has a tiger tail coming off of it, and looks more ferocious than before.

This move makes sense since the minor league club is signed with Detroit as their affiliate through 2018. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: What is the "little red flag" and what does it have to do with the Harvard Yale Football rivalry? Answer to come tomorrow.

Wednesday’s answer: When the team moved to Kansas City in 1955.

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While the NHL remains locked out, some movement amongst the AHL squads isn’t unprecedented. For example, the most recent maneuver was the Adirondack Phantoms. The Phantoms, formerly of Philadelphia, are moving further and further away from its Philadelphia roots. The team has decided to shed the purple from its logo and, since it will eventually end up in Allentown, change the name from Adirondack Phantoms to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The logo sports a new font, color change, and overall simplification. The team will begin playing in Allentown when the arena there has been completed. The team projects this to be for the 2014-2015 season. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: When did the Athletics change the team colors to gold and green? Answer to come Monday.

Wednesday’s answer: Harry Wismer, the broadcaster, wanted there to be a connection between Notre Dame and the Jets.

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56-49. It’s a winning record. In fact, it’s exactly a .533 winning percentage. It doesn’t illustrate dominance,merely a slight edge. So, what does it mean? 56-49 is the all time record of the United States Naval Academy in the school’s annual match up with rival Army. Last year, Navy beat Army 27-21.

While this game has nothing to do with the BCS or National Championship, it could be considered the biggest college football game of the year. No other rivalry has so much emotion built into it, even if neither team comes into the perennial match up with a winning record.

This year’s game will be played on December 8^th in Philadelphia. In preparation for the game, Navy has come out with a special uniform for the Midshipmen to wear when they face the Black Knights. The jersey is white with blue on the shoulders, the Navy crest on the neck, with some gold accenting the blue. “Navy” is written across the chest in simple font and the obligatory Nike “swoosh” symbol on the chest. In addition, the back of the jersey has the word “Navy” stamped just above the butt. The helmets are white, blue, and gold with the Navy crest on the side and flags on the back that spell out “beat Army”. The undershirt is red, white, and blue with the phrase “Don’t tread on me” written on it.  

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: Why did the New York Titans (now the NY Jets), uniforms resemble Notre Dame's uniforms? Answer to come tomorrow.

Wednesday’s answer: 1960-1965.

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Apparently, this offseason was meant for name changes, logo changes, and movement amongst eastern Minor League Baseball teams. First, the Reading Phillies announced the team’s name would change to reflect their individuality. The team changed its name from the Reading Phillies to the Reading Fightin Phils.

Another team, in a similar situation, and geographically close to Reading also made a name change. The Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees, formerly the Red Barons, made the change from “Yankees” to the RailRiders. The Railriders also changed the team’s logo, making it a porcupine riding on train tracks imitating a train car. The team’s new colors are electric gold, rich maroon, and Yankee’s navy. The maroon was meant as a nod towards the Red Barons while the navy keeps a bit of the short-lived Yankees around. The new name for the team was voted on, and won convincingly.

In addition to the new name in Scranton, up in Buffalo, the triple A Buffalo Bison have a new logo. The team made the change after the MLB affiliation switched from the NY Mets to the Toronto Blue Jays. The orange and blue tones that shouted Mets are gone, replaced by a dominant red with classic white and blue accompaniment. The new color scheme harkens back to the 80’s and 90’s Bison Baseball, something that team officials believe fans will like. The new logo also has Buffalo mascot Buster in the center holding a bat, ready to swing away.

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: In what years has the Dallas Cowboys not played on Thanksgiving? Answer to come Friday.

Thursday’s answer: Navy.

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This Saturday, the University of Arizona takes on rival Arizona St. While this isn’t the Red River Rivalry, U of A and Arizona St. have had a history of playing hotly contested intense games. In preparation for Saturday’s game, the University of Arizona, which usually wears white and navy helmets, had decided to wear all red ones. The red helmets will match the all red uniforms the team struts out from time to time. The last time the Wildcats wore red helmets, the year was 1980. U of A wore red helmets between 1968 and 1971 as well as between 1977 and 1980.

The red helmet idea comes after the team wore all copper helmets earlier this year to represent the state of Arizona’s copper mining tradition. Because the players will be wearing all red, the school is asking all fans who come out to the game to wear all red. The “red out”, as the school is calling it, shows the school’s desire to take a big game from their state rivals, and giving the Wildcats an 8-4 record, making them bowl eligible.

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: The first time Notre Dame wore their traditional green jerseys, what team did they beat? Answer to come tomorrow.

Thursday’s answer: A Bison.

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Only 11 days ago, it was announced that the Reading Phillies, the Phillies double A minor league team, would be changing its name. The Reading Phillies have the longest running relationship with their major league affiliate in all of Minor League Baseball. The name change came in order to give the team’s fans more of a personal connection to the team, as opposed to retaining the same name as their Major League affiliate.

While trying to deviate from having the exact title as the MLB club, Reading didn’t go to far away from its roots. The Reading Phillies are now the Reading Fightin’ Phils. Fightin’ Phils has always been a nickname for the Philadelphia Phillies, made popular by announcers Harry Kalas and Scott Franzke.

In addition to the name change, the team added an Ostrich mascot. The mascot was chosen due to an on-the-field gag at the stadium in which a hot dog vendor would come onto the field dressed in an ostrich costume. Reading, known as “baseballtown” will print the moniker on some of their alternative jerseys. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time: What type of animal is used in the Buffalo Sabres logo? Answer to come tomorrow.

Thursday’s answer: Throughout the 2009 season, the Phantoms wore a series of specialty jerseys in commemoration of the Spectrum and its history. These included among others a jersey designed after the jerseys worn in the 1976 NHL All-Star game, a Broad Street Bullies jersey and a black Spectrum jersey with red, orange, green and blue stripes similar to the Spectrum logo.

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The team may not play a game until April, but it’s already showing off the new uniforms the players will wear on Saturday’s at home. The team will debut the new uniforms on April 13^th vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, but that didn’t stop team president Bill DeWitt III from showing off the new uniforms to Cardinals fans this past week.

These alternative jerseys have one distinct feature to them. Instead of “Cardinals” written on the front, it will say “St. Louis”. Now, while this may seem minor, especially since teams have jerseys with the city written on them, and jerseys on which the team name is displayed instead. The Cardinals organization hasn’t worn uniforms with the name of the city on them in 80 years. This addition of the Saturday alternative jerseys means that only the Yankees, Tigers, and Dodgers have yet to add alternative jerseys to their repertoires. The new alternatives have other distinct features. The jerseys are made to look like flannel jerseys of the past, and are done in an off white color. The tradition two birds holding the bat that the Cardinals have employed for years has changed. The bat now goes through the top of the “S” in “St. Louis”. In addition, the new jerseys harken back to the 50’s with piping around the collar. The jerseys best resemble the ones the Cardinals wore back in 1932. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. For more information check out the shirts here: http://www.facebook.com/proleagueauthentics?fref=ts 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time:  In the Philadelphia Phantoms final season in 2009, the team wore different jerseys than they normally did. What did those jerseys look like? Answer to come Monday.

Thursday’s answer: The "Classic Roundball Logo" refers to an alternate logo featuring the full team name inside an orange basketball was used during the first half of the 1970s.

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Don’t you wish you could close your eyes and when you opened them it would be Christmas? Who wouldn’t? Not to be cliché, but the holidays is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a time for presents, cookies, and family, along with each family’s own traditions.

Another Christmas tradition is the slate of NBA games that one can watch on December 25^th. Generally, the NBA schedules 2 or more marquee matchups, with the biggest superstars competing. This season marks the 65^th season the NBA will have games on Christmas, and one of the matchups on tap will be between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics. The NBA will unveil their “BIG Color” jerseys this Christmas, with all 10 teams playing on the 25^th wearing them. The jerseys are all have a monochromatic color. For example, the Celtics will wear all green jerseys, the Nets will wear all dark green, and so forth.

The teams get a whole uniform in the “BIG Color” scheme, including a shooting shirt, warm-up pants, etc… Adidas, which makes the all the NBA jerseys will also produce these Christmas ornament-like jerseys. 

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. For more information check out the shirts here: http://www.facebook.com/proleagueauthentics?fref=ts 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time:  What does the "classic roundball logo" mean to the New York Knicks? Answer to come Tomorrow.

Thursday’s answer: The team switched because it had chosen colombia blue which the Oilers had chosen. Thus they switched.

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Last night R.A. Dickey became the first Mets pitcher to win the N.L. Cy Young award since Dwight Gooden in 1985. In fact, he becomes only the third Mets pitcher of all time to win the award, joining Gooden and three-time winner Tom Seaver. The Mets are still unsure if they will trade Dickey this offseason, but for now he is signed on to pitch for the team in 2013 under a team option.

If Dickey remains a Met, he will wear two new blue jerseys unveiled by the Mets yesterday. The first is a blue jersey with orange writing. It reads Mets on the front with the All-Star game patch introduced earlier this year on the side. The orange writing is outlined in white, similar to the “Los Mets” jerseys the team has worn previously. The other alternative jersey is blue with gray writing that has orange outlined stitching to it. The word New York is written across the front with the players number just below on the left side of the jersey. The gray/silver writing harkens back to the 1982-84 Mets jerseys except those jerseys had the word “Mets” on the front, not “New York”. The early 80’s was the last time the Mets wore blue jerseys on a regular basis. Both these jerseys will be available to purchase soon, and will appear multiple times in the 2013 season.

Authentic Store Buzz: Pro League Authentics has just come out with a new exclusive line of apparel. The Legends Line- Wilt Chamberlain. A fan of Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, or maybe you just know him as Mr. 100. Wilt Chamberlain was a basketball legend, considered by many to be the most athletic and talented player to ever strut onto the NBA hardwood. The big man, who wore number 13 and was famous for wearing the sweatband on his head, once dropped 100 points in Hershey, PA. PLA has the exclusive line of shirts of the Wilt Chamberlain line. For more information check out the shirts here: http://www.facebook.com/proleagueauthentics?fref=ts 

As the NFL season continues, PLA continues to provide a great selection of authentic NIKE NFL jerseys including the newest one, a home blue Andrew Luck jersey. In fact, PLA is now offering 50% off on any NIKE NFL jerseys. All are authentic. Check our selection out on our website, call up the store to inquire, or keep track of our Facebook Page and Twitter feed for daily updates.

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Authentically Speaking Trivia Time:  Why did the original Texans have to switch team colors, eventually switching to the current Chiefs colors? Answer to come Tomorrow.

Thursday’s answer:  Fans began singing the song to "OK Blue Jays" by Keith Hampshire and The Bat Boys, which was released in 1983 during the 7th inning stretch in addition to singing Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

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