Stadia Arcania

Once upon a time, obsessive reporters of the arcane were relegated to Usenet or mailing lists - or God forbid, swap meets and paper newsletters. Thanks to the wondrous machinery unleashing blogs, however, even the most narrow of subjects get a full and broad airing, with plenty of real reporting and humor thrown into the bargain. Take sports. Sure, there are blogs for every professional sports franchise, every league, every college team, every tiny sport of any kind. But I've fallen hard for two that slice those sub-sets even smaller. One covers sports stadia and arenas - specifically the politics around new buildings. Field of Schemes takes a decidedly negative stance to deep-pocketed team owners going on the public dole to build more luxury boxes and is an equal opportunity basher of stadium deals. Also a terrific read -  as is Uni Watch, a blog by Paul Lukas, who also writes about the same subject for ESPN. Uni Watch is also relentlessly negative, zeroing in on hideous choices sports teams make on their haberdashery. Included many times over is a pet peeve of mine: those super-long baseball pants, which have replaced the classic baseball socks of yesteryear on today's diamond stars. In the latest ESPN column, Lukas asks for votes on the ugliest sports uniforms of all time. Some particularly hideous choices, including the old Chisox 80s look. Would that the Mets would listen to Lukas and do away once and for all with their lame black/blue combo and stick with the classic pinstripes. That and bringing back the traditional stirrups - as seen above in the classic Cardinals look.

Tags: baseball uniforms stirrups stadium stadia