I bought this hat at the OG Switch Ajax before it moved further down east a few years ago.
It stood out with the purple seams and eyelets and the logo is easy to fall in love with. Throw in one of the sickest teams in skateboarding and this hat's a winner. Unfortunately, it shrunk and has to be re-sized.
I’ve already wrote about a hockey, football, and a baseball jersey. So my fourth jersey had to be basketball. On hand is what kicked off my collection; Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant. Recieved as a present in 2005, it was obviously made before his switch from #8 to #24. It’s one of those jerseys directed to the fashion sense as opposed to the replica/authentic uniforms.
Way back in the day, the Lakers started out in Michigan as the Detroit Gems in 1946. After one season, they moved to Minnesota and became the Minneapolis Lakers, the firstNBA dynasty. George “Mr. Basketball” Mikan, who played 9 seasons there [1947 - 1956], would be the most notable player of that franchise. They would move again to the city of Los Angeles in 1960 and the rest is history.
The featured jersey is a crossover with the Minneapolis style and the current Los Angeles look. Above is Elgin Baylor, originally drafted by MPLS in 1958, wearing their blue and white pattern. Below, Kobe Bryant dawns the home colours of forum blue [former team owner Jack Kent Cooke hated the word “purple”] and gold.
A cap to match as always. I grabbed this online and waited longer than its expected delivery, but it was worth it. It also seemed fitting this had the classic Lakers logo on the front and the current logo on the side. Right off the bat, I knew I needed this with my jersey.
"Forum blue" crown with gold contrast brim, button, and strap, and the classic kelly green underbrim. Perfect.
Kobe Bryant was raised in Italy, but attended Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia, PA. In his 4 years with the Lower Merion Aces, he compiled 2883 points, a state championship, and was a highschool All-American. He would forego college and enter the 1996 NBA Draft.
The 1996 NBA Draft is highly regarded as one of the best draft classes in history. He was selected with the 13th overall pick by the Charlotte Hornets. A few days later, then-Lakers GM Jerry West made the deal to bring the 17-year-old Lower Merion student to Los Angeles in exchange for Vlade Divac. The Lakers would also sign the biggest free agent in the game; Shaquille O'Neal, and the two would form one of the best duos in the league for years to come. He was also the youngest individual ever to play in an NBA game as a third string shooting guard with limited minutes averaging less than 8 PPG. At the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest, he would recieve the top prize. It would be a small glimpse of what would become for the rest of his career.
In 1999, Phil Jackson would come out of retirement and coach the Los Angeles Lakers. It would be the biggest benefit for the organization as it would result in an NBA Championship in 2000 - their first since 1988. In his third year in the league, Kobe Bryant would hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy at only 21 years of age. He would win it again in 2001 and 2002, conducting a three-peat, like many other historical players on Phil Jackson's previous teams.
As well as the Lakers did in the post-O'Neal years, they would continue to come up short in the playoffs. However, Kobe Bryant would be the face of the franchise often leading the league in scoring and contiuous All-Star Game appearances. On January 22, 2006, he registered the second highest point total in a game with 81 points. One of many of his season highlights. At the end of the 2007-08 season, he was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
After many changes to the team, Kobe Bryant would not earn another championship until 2009, seven seasons after his last win. He was given his first NBA Finals MVP Award which was renamed after Bill Russell. The Lakers would repeat as champs again in 2010 and giving him his second straight Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
Kobe Bryant has represented Team USA twice in the 2007 FIBA Americas and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. On both occassions, he would take home the gold. He is also confirmed to represent the USA for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England.
Career highlights:
5x NBA Champion [‘00-‘03, ‘09, ‘10], 2x NBA Finals MVP [‘09, ‘10], NBA MVP [‘08], 12x NBA All-Star [‘98, ‘00-‘10], 3x All-Star Game MVP [’02, ’07, ‘09], 2x NBA Scoring Champion [‘06, ‘07], 8x All-NBA First Team [‘02-‘04, ‘06-‘10], 8x All Defensive First Team [’00, ’03-’04, ’06-’10], and Olympic Gold Medalist [2008].
In 2007, he and his wife Vanessa founded the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation. A charity establishment "dedicated to improving the lives of youth and families in need, both domestically and globally."
Beyond The Glory [2002]
"I don't want to be the next Michael Jordan..." - Kobe Bryant
I tried getting this posted as early as I could, but couldn't. As long as I make the deadline before Saturday - it's still a legit post. With one of my jerseys posted every Sunday, it gave me more ideas to write about my other hobbies for the different days of the week, just to make this site more full. Today is the inagural day of Fitted Friday. The way how this works is a show and tell for my fitted caps which don't have a matching jersey, but still need to be shown some love. Most will be items I haven't displayed while others are recycled photos with more/different/detailed writing. Tomorrow will be a different item for Saturday, so stay tuned. Now on with the show:
For the first entry of Fitted Friday is a three pieced combo. Here we have the authentic home, road, and alternate colours of one of my favourite baseball teams; the New York Mets. For those who prefer the tongue and cheek term; New York Mess. Regardless of being the lovable losers of New York City, it's still better than being a bandwagon jumper for those damn Yankees. However, you might think I'm a hypocrite at a later entry. I do have a couple of matching jerseys with these caps, but I don't think they're ready for display - yet.
Between the mid 1850s to the late 1950s, New York had 2 National League teams before the Metropolitans arrived in 1962. They were the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants - both are now in Los Angeles and San Francisco. So as the Mets club came to fruition, they subtly honoured the previous New York franchises and chose blue [Dodgers] and orange [Giants] as their team colours. In their first two seasons, they played in the original field of the NY Giants; the Polo Grounds. In 1964, they occupied the historic Shea Stadium for 44 years until settling into Citi Field in 2009.
The Mets would win 2 World Series Championships [1969, 1986] with 11 former players inducted into Cooperstown including Nolan Ryan [above] & Gary Carter [below].
For this week's jersey, I'm showing my Toronto Blue Jays Roberto Alomar home white uniform. As a Rogers Centre employee, we are entitled to certain perks when it comes to merchandise. Although I had to drop a few more dollars to have it crested the way I wanted, it was worth every penny and I'm blessed to dawn the jersey of my favourite Blue Jays player growing up.
The classic jersey needs the classic cap. This is actually part of the alternate uniform that was worn by the team between 2008-10 for Flashback Fridays.
Roberto Alomar Velazquez's career started as a minor leaguer in 1985 for the San Diego Padres. Already impressing coaches and scouts, he was finally called up to the major league club in 1988. He would make his first All-Star appearance as a reserve in his third professional season. In the winter of 1990, he and fellow teammate Joe Carter were dealt in a trade to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was in this city where his offensive and defensive skills would blossom and place this town on the map for the baseball world.
During his 4 year stint in a blue and white jersey, Roberto Alomar would continue to dominate the league as his batting average was near or above .300, make four All-Star Game appearances, four Gold Gloves, and a Silver Slugger Award. During the 1992 American League Championship Series, he would hit one the biggest home runs of his career to tie the game in extra innings leading to an eventual series win, earning him his first and only ALCS MVP Award.
The Toronto Blue Jays would make their first appearance in the World Series against the Atlanta Braves, making this the first time the championship game was played outside of the United States. They would take out the Atlanta Braves 4 games to 2 capturing their first World Series title. This is also the first time a Canadian team would win baseball's highest prize. There are a lot of "firsts" for the Blue Jays in the 1992 playoffs. In those 6 games, Roberto Alomar batted .206 with 3 runs and 3 stolen bases.
The next season, Toronto would make a second appearance in the World Series and another run at the title against the Philadelphia Philles. It was another historic moment when Joe Carter would hit the second walk-off home run in World Series history defeating the Phillies in 6 games. They were the 8th team to win back to back titles in its 100 year history. Roberto Alomar batted .480 with 12 hits, 5 runs, 6 RBI, and 4 stolen bases.
In 1996, Roberto Alomar would sign with the Baltimore Orioles and would have brief stints with the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Signing with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005, health problems would deteriorate his skills during Spring Training. He would finally call it quits after an outstanding 17 year career in the majors with a .300+ batting average, 210 home runs and 1,134 RBI in 2,379 games. He is 51st all-time with 2,724 career hits
Career Achievements:
2x World Series Champion [1992, 1993], 10× Gold Glove Award winner [1991-1996, 1998-2001], 4× Silver Slugger Award winner [1992, 1996, 1999, 2000], 1992 ALCS MVP, 12x All-Star [1990-2001], All-Star Game MVP [1998], Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee [2010], and Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee [2011].
Additionally, his name and number was added to the Toronto Blue Jays Level of Excellence - an honour bestowed upon a former Blue Jay for his contributions to the ball club. He was awarded that prize on my first day working at the Rogers Centre in 2008.
Early this summer, he had a signing at the Jays Shop to promote his clothing line. Because this was a lousy corporate event, photographs with the player were not allowed and only one item was allowed a signature.
As lame as it was, I had the great pleasure of meeting my baseball idol and have him sign an 8x10.
"I'm not only a player of the game. I'm a student of the game. I watch and learn." - Roberto Alomar
Happy first day of November. Delivered on time is this month's new blog header. Inspired by The Office's whacky character Creed Bratton [which also happens to be his real name], his image will grace this website for the next 29 days.
"I've read some of it. Even for the internet, it's... pretty shocking."
In the Benihana Christmas episode, Creed sings a very catchy song on the karaoke machine. Little did I know, it's an original single written and performed by the man himself. Another fun fact: He was a guitarist for 60's pop band The Grass Roots.
It's Sunday, and as stated last week, it's my Jersey Sunday blog entry. Today, I'm featuring my first, and so far only football jersey; my Los Angeles Raiders Marcus Allen. This is my most recent addition considering I just picked it up yesterday morning. Fast fact: he is the older brother of former Toronto Argonaut; Damon Allen.
This peice was not easy to grab. I had to find a current Oakland uniform with stitched details, strip it, and drop another fistful of dollars to create what I have right now. I know RBK was not the jersey sponsor at that time and the logos are clear as day, but this was the closest I could get to the real thing. Additionally, I specifically wanted the black one because Marcus Allen and his Raiders team won a Super Bowl Championship [1984] wearing these coloured uniforms. Much thanks to Pickering Pro Image for the cresting job.
No Raiders jersey would look complete without the cap. I'm pretty sure this was released under the Oakland umbrella, but as long as it didn't say that city - it was all good. It's a vintage Starter snapback and it's as perfect as a Raiders hat should be.
Big logos, 2-tone colour pattern, 6 panel construction, and the Starter logo embroidered on the back. Like the Kings cap, I didn't grab it to look like a hypebeast and pretend I'm Eazy-E.
Marcus Allen was chosen 10th overall by the LA Raiders in the 1982 NFL Draft after 3 collegiate years at the University of Southern California where he won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Award. He also shares the record of 12 games with 200-rushing yards. As a Los Angeles Raiders running back, he helped the team to an 8-1 record and was awarded several Rookie of the Year honours.
In 1983, the Los Angeles Raiders made an extraordinary run through the playoffs and Marcus Allen showcased one of the greatest performances of his career. He scored four touchdowns in that post-season, ran 466 yards and rushed 58 times. The Raiders won their way into Super Bowl XVIII against the Washington Redskins. Marcus Allen set two championship game records rushing for 191 yards and ran 74 yards for one of his two touchdowns that night. The first record stood for 4 years and the latter stood until 2006. They would go on to win 38-9 and Marcus Allen was named Super Bowl MVP.
In the 1985 season, his team finished 12-4 and won the AFC Division Championship. Marcus Allen rushed for 1,759 yards, scored 11 TDs, and was named NFL Offensive Player of the Year and NFL MVP. However, the next 8 seasons would be disastrous for the silver and black. Hampered by injuries and poor draft picks, they made one post-season appearance the next 7 years, head coach Tom Flores took a job further up north, and his troubling relationship with club owner Al Davis was not softening the landing.
In 1993, having as much as he could take in California, Marcus Allen signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Regardless of representing a different city, he led the league in touchdowns and took the team to the AFC Championship game. For his great leadership and effort, he was awarded the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He also led the team in rushing yards in his first three seasons in Missouri. Marcus Allen would retire after the 1997 season holding three league records and respectively ranked #72 on The Sporting News' 100 Greatest Football Players [1999] and #85 on The NFL Network's 100 Greatest Players [2010].
Career Highlight and Awards:
1981 Heisman Trophy, 1982 NFL Rookie of Year/AFC Rookie of the Year/NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, 6× Pro Bowl Selection [1982, 1984-1987, 1993,] First Team All-Pro Selection [1982, 1985], Super Bowl Champion and MVP [XVIII/1983], and 1985 NFL MVP.
In 2000, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2003.
With a career spanning 16 seasons, he totalled 12, 243 rushing yards and scored 123 touchdowns.
He also shares a league record for most consecutive seasons with more than one touchdown [16], holds a league record for most consecutive seasons with one/more than one TD [16], and is the oldest player to score more than 10 TDs in a season [37 years].
I just think that we're capable of so much more; we don't utilize all our capacity like we should." - Marcus Allen
More new ish from my all time favourite skateboard company; Deathwish. Peep the Halloween release, the Cheech and Chong "tribute" deck, and Furby's newest release.
I just got my Detroit Red Wings Gordie Howe jersey back from the flea market. They have a custom embroidery shop with jersey cresting services. It didn't turn out that bad. The sleeve numbers are a bit off in size, but all together - it looks really good and was only $20. Gordie Howe wore this style jersey for 15 seasons between 1956 to 1971. Although he didn't win a Stanley Cup in it, he still set league records in goals and points.
Way back in the day, numbers - particularly for the Red Wings, determined the type of berths/beds the players slept in when travelling by train. The lower the number, the better the bed. A previous player who wore the #9 was traded and passed it on to Gordie Howe. He was comfortable wearing #17 - but for a good night's sleep, inherited the single digit. It was definitely a good decision for he'd carve a historical career with this number. I was asked, "Why don't you have his name on the back?" During Howe's career, nameplates weren't a standard part of the Red Wings uniform and were then used after he retired in 1971. I wanted to have the jersey as close as possible to the real thing.
As always with my jerseys, I need the hat to match and grabbed this Zephyr snapback cap. It definitely has that vintage look with the scripted front and team logo on the side.
Born in March of 1928, Gordon "Gordie" Howe, the Floral, Sask. native headed east to try out for the New York Rangers as a 16 year old. Unfortunately, he did not make the team, but it would not deter him from becoming a professional hockey player. He was soon discovered by a scout for the Detroit Red Wings and was assigned to their minor league club; the Omaha Knights of the United States Hockey League. After one season in the USHL, he was called up to the NHL for the 1946-47 season.
As a Red Wing, he would line up with Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel to form one of the most offensive lines in the game. Nicknamed "The Production Line," they would hoist the Stanley Cup four times between 1950 to 1955 while building one of sports best rivalries with the Chicago Blackhawks.
His aggressive style of play and gentleman conduct off the ice gave him the much beloved nickname,"Mr. Hockey." Furthermore, a play was named after him, the Gordie Howe Hat Trick which consisted of a goal, assist, and a fight. Mr. Hockey would only achieve it twice. He would continue to dominate the league's numbers, leading the game in points and goals wearing the white and red.
After a 25 year stint in the Motor City as a right winger, Gordie Howe hung his skates in 1971 leaving behind a legacy very few can match. Upon his retirement, he was the all-time leader in points and goals.
Gordie Howe would come out of retirement in 1973 and play for the World Hockey Association's Houston Aeros. Alongside his sons; Marty Howe [#3] and Mark Howe [#4], it would be the first time in hockey history where father and sons would make up an offensive line.
In 1977, they were shipped off to the New England Whalers and in 1979, after the WHA-NHL merger, the three would play together for one last season as the newly named Hartford Whalers.
In 1980, Gordie Howe would make his 23rd and last appearance at the NHL All-Star Game in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena. The same city he'd start his career in over 30 years before. It would also be his final season playing as a professional as well.
In 1997, at 70 years of age, Gordie Howe signed a one game contract for the now-defunct International Hockey League's Detroit Vipers. Although his only shift lasted for 45 seonds, it would make him the only player to hit the ice in 6 different decades.
Gordie Howe represented his homeland for the first and only time in his career when Team Canada faced the USSR in the 1974 Summit Series. Unfortunately, USSR won the series 4-1-3. Mr. Hockey registered 7 points [3 goals, 4 assists].
NHL Career Highlights and Awards: 1767 games played, 801 goals [2nd all-time leader], 1049 assists, 1850 points [3rd all-time leader], 6x Art Ross Trophy [1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963], 6x league MVP (1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963), 4x Stanley Cup Champion [1950, 1952, 1954, 1955], 23x All- Star, and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee [1972; 3 year waiting period was waived]. Furthermore, his #9 jersey is retired by the Detroit Red Wings, Houston Aeros, and Hartford/New England Whalers. The Whalers relocated and became the Carolina Hurricanes, but the number still remains unissued. In 1998, he was placed #3 on The Hockey News 100 Greatest Players of All Time. His wife, Colleen "Mrs. Hockey" Howe, is the creator of The Howe Foundation, an organization to help less fortunate children participate and enjoy the game of hockey. Although she passed away in 2009, her legacy lives on through her husband and their charitable institution.
Legends of Hockey: Gordie Howe
Mr. Hockey has since reached pop culture status, from music, television, and films. These images have to look familiar.
Before I publish and re-publish this post, let me end it off with the holy grail of Gordie Howe memorabilia: My dual-signed action figure baseplate which also bears the autograph of Johnny Bower.
"If you love it, you can overcome any handicap or the soreness or all the aches and pains, and continue to play for a long, long time." - Gordie Howe
This post gave me a great idea. Seeing how it is the end of the week, I thought it would be fun to write an entry of each jersey in my collection every Sunday. Kind of like these guys, but include my baseball and basketball unforms in the mix along with the cap to match. I don't have much - but I do have enough. It'll be a good 10-12 notes for everyone to look forward to.
