A Hill I'm Going to Die On

I get asked a lot what my job as a sports information professional entails.

 

Well, there's a lot. Here's the break down: Write press releases, take pictures, update the web site, run social media accounts, be a DJ, act as (or coordinate) public address and other game operations, run the scoreboard (sometimes), make graphics (for social media and publications), and last, but certainly not least, do live game statistics.

 

Obviously, I don't do all of those things at once all the time. But it's that last job there that is, generally speaking, the most vital. Game statistics are the final record of the game. It will be what others look at to gauge their success over time. There's a reason that we know that Aaron Judge set his American League home run record in 2022 - because there were people around to keep the statistics of every baseball game played through history.

 

As a statistician, I take my job seriously. I want to get everyone the credit they deserve for their accomplishments. Some sports are harder than others, and it really helps when you are able to have multiple people spotting and watching to help you track those games. For example, during football games, I have an extra spotter, but our public address guy and scoreboard operator also will usually be tracking the play and are able to call out the numbers for me to enter into the system. For the indoor soccer team, there is a team of spotters on field level who call out the player numbers as well.

 

I made a point of mentioning what the spotters are calling: Player numbers. I don't have a roster in front of me at games. I have a computer program that has quick keys to signify anything from a shot in soccer to a tackle in football to a dunk in basketball or a strike in baseball. As I enter that information it is VITAL that I (or my spotters) can see the numbers on the uniforms.

 

And this is where we get to the title of this blog post. I am sick and tired of bad uniforms. And people need to stop making them bad on purpose.

 

Here's the blue on black. It's not bad standing still. But a bitch at full speed.

What do I mean bad? I had a basketball team come through with black jerseys and blue numbers. Not light blue, THIS BLUE. I had a high school football team once that had white uniforms with light gold gradient numbers that were impossible to read on a sunny day. I have had soccer and basketball teams that come in with either a white or black top with just a colored outline for their number (so, technically, it's a white/white or black/black situation). And I've had multiple teams come in with gray jerseys with black numbers. And/or, the number will be some weird font that makes it impossible to distinguish numbers (Brazil's funky looking font for their numbers in this World Cup bother me, too).

Black on black. No. Never.

Enough with this madness.

 

Let's get one thing straight - they started putting numbers on uniforms for the ease of everyone involved to keep track of who each player was. Baseball was first in America, but there are stories going back to Aussie Rules Football being the first to implement it. The whole idea was for broadcasters, fans, and statisticians to be able to figure out which player hit that home run by just looking at the back of their uniform. They sold programs by telling you that "you can't tell the players without a scorecard." It seems like a no brainer, You put numbers on the uniforms, you should be able to see the numbers.

Why do teams do it? Aesthetics - "It looks cool!" - is a big thing. People who don't know or think about the practical reasons that numbers are used just want to make something that will look cool enough to sell lots of or makes for something that is eye-catching. 

 

The other reason is more devious. Old school coaches - especially in football - would do it so that when other teams were watching film, they couldn't easily identify players. But in today's digital age, no one is using film. Hell, no one is using video tape. And almost every team is using an online video sharing service that athletes can use to create their own highlights to send out to coaches at the next level in the hope of being recruited. So hiding numbers really doesn't serve the same purpose it once did.

You'll also ask, aren't there rules against this sort of thing? Well, yes there are. I know, because I looked them up (at least the ones for the team sports I deal with at the college). And each sport has uniform guidelines that teams are supposed to follow - some are longer than others. There are graphic examples in most of them showing that numbers on the back should be a certain height (usually 8 inches) and numbers on the front another height (usually 4 inches). Some of them even have width guidelines for the "stripe" or "stroke" of the thickness of the font. And all of them (except NCAA baseball, which has the least written about uniforms) plainly lay out that numbers should be a clearly contrasting to the uniform. And every one of the examples I laid out above are considered out of guidelines.

 

But what none of those sets of guidelines has any real consequences for failing to follow the rule. I think I saw that the NCAA football rule book said maybe a 15-yard penalty before the kickoff. NCAA basketball probably would award a technical (and two free throws) before the game. Nothing that would necessarily be a full punishment that would affect a team long term. I suppose you could hit a team with a lost time out, maybe. Or fine a team for doing it at the pro level - but those leagues have people who make sure that the numbers can be seen. (Oh, and have access to replays and have multiple people keeping stats.)

So, I am up here on my soapbox screaming at the world trying to raise awareness that we need to stop making bad uniforms. Numbers need to be seen - and be on the front and back of jerseys in most cases. It will help the fans, the broadcast audience, and people like me - who get called into question when stats aren't correct.