Speaking of footballs…
The official NFL footballs are still made in right here in the USA — by Wilson Sporting Goods in Ada, Ohio. Every year during the lead-up to the Super Bowl the networks send a camera crew out to the sleepy Northwest, Ohio town (any Ohio Northern grads in the house?), to document the old ladies in their smocks making footballs. The folks at Horween took some great pictures on a visit to the factory which you can see here.
Saturdays and Sundays in the fall only mean one thing, football. Back in Ohio it is basically all people care about (not so much in Cleveland this year, but we are having a rebuilding decade). Recently I discovered Original Leather Head footballs, the perfect companion for chilly fall afternoons. Designed and crafted by Paul Cunningham (a former photo editor at Major League Baseball), Leather Heads are hand-sewn in New Jersey from American leather (via Horween in Chicago and Prime in Maine) and like many heirloom quality goods, they only get better with age. The footballs are so good looking my only dilemma is whether to use it or not. Maybe the solution is to buy two; one to use, one to just look at??
James Jung, a friend of ACL, offers his thoughts on cycling escapades both domestic and abroad.
As a spindly-legged kid, I spent most of my summers tucked in my Austrian father’s broad slipstream while we pedaled up and down New Hampshire’s winding back roads. Saddled atop his dinosaur of a Motobecane, ragged cycling shoes wedged into his toe clips and his unruly grey hair flapping in the wind (he never wore a helmet, which, he assured me in his heavily-accented English, were for loozahs), he’d ramble on about all the epic Alpine rides he and his fellow farm boy buddies had done as teenagers. Then he’d crack open a can of Coors when we got home, drain it and tell me more. I knew ‘em by heart: The time they’d hooked their hands onto the back of a bus in order to coast the last few rain-soaked kilometers into Munich just to buy an LP of Revolver; the time they’d stumbled into a Swiss gasthof, cycling caps askew and faces full of grime, only to be fed for free by the matronly proprietor who’d pitied such a worn-out and weary-looking crew; and of course the many occasions on which they’d outmaneuvered slick Italian sport coups down Passo di Stelvio’s 48 hairpin turns. Sure, just the other day I blew a few too many freelance checks on this carbon fiber racing rig, but no matter how modern my tastes have become, I’m still – thanks to dad – obsessed with vintage bikes, no-frills cycling apparel and leg-breaking rides.
Unsolicited thoughts is a recurring column of assorted musings from ACL’s most cultured friend Mr. David Coggins.
May is a fine time in the sporting world unless you support a team that plays in Madison Square Garden. The mediocrity of regular season basketball gives way to the intense playoff march, and hockey players grow their post-season beards while pursuing the Stanley Cup. In baseball parks, on the other hand, it’s too early for true believers to abandon improbable dreams of October success. If you’ve still got room in your life for more sporting distraction—and you do—consider another definitive contest: the UEFA Champions League.
Break out your cable knits, white pants and saddle shoes and lets go play some squash. The Life archive produces some terrific images of the 1947 National Amateur squash tournament. Considering the style of the event, it is almost crazy to see how relevant the clothing is for today. Granted I’m not going to be wearing this to the office this summer, but it could work for some leisurely vacation activities. More photos after the jump.
Nothing makes me feel like winter is over like baseball’s opening day. Each season I like to buy a new cap to wear throughout the summer. Recently I have been buying throwback caps from the Cooperstown Collection. I’m a long suffering Cleveland Indians fan and the franchise has some really classic retro hats to choose from. Styles like the 1978 block “C” version pictured below. You won’t see everyone wearing those throwback styles around the stadium, which is a good thing. This is especially true for me — I hardly see any Indians hats at my stadium in the Bronx.
