A Seriously Weird NOB

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The jersey shown above is currently available for purchase on eBay. The seller claims that it was worn by William VanDeSteeg, who was a linebacker on the Ravens’ practice squad in 2009 but never made it onto an NFL roster. If the jersey really is legit and not a counterfeit knockoff, it has one of the more unusual NOBs we’ve ever seen. Consider:

• Internet references to VanDeSteeg all show his surname as intercapped with no spaces, but the NOB shows it as “Van De Steeg,” with two spaces.

• Instead of being all-caps, the NOB includes lowercase letters.

• The “T” is capped, when it should really be lowercase.

• The “g” is base-aligned, instead of having the descender projecting below the baseline.

What a mess! I’m sure some of you are saying, “Chinese knockoff,” but why would anyone make a counterfeit jersey for a player who never made it past the taxi squad? Moreover, the eBay seller is a Ravens specialist with a near-perfect feedback rating, so he appears to be reputable. Definitely a weird one.

Update: Reader MJ Kurs-Lasky has found an action shot of VanDeSteeg wearing this jersey! It’s from a practice on Aug. 11, 2009 (click to enlarge):

So: Confirmed!

(My thanks to longtime Uni Watch reader/pal Joe Hilseberg for bringing this jersey to my attention.)

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Winter Classic: It wasn’t all that wintry, but this year’s Winter Classic was a winner from a uniform standpoint. Man, did those Blues uniforms look great or what? Additional photos here and here.

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KRC update: After a bit of a holiday hiatus, Key Ring Chronicles is back! The first installment of 2017 involves an unattractive pink bow. Check it out here.

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Birthday boy: Please join me in wishing the happiest of birthdays to our own Phil Hecken — that’s him at right — the best and most loyal bench coach a web editor could ever hope to have (and a damn good curling skip to boot). Enjoy your special day, buddy!

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The Ticker

By Paul

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Hockey News : Here’s more about how Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves got into a game as the team’s emergency goalie the other day. “It even has shots of him doing his equipment manager duties in full goalie gear during the game,” says Taco Todd. … The old WHA was supposed to have a team called the Miami Screaming Eagles. “They actually signed the great Flyers goalie Bernie Parent, but they couldn’t find a rink in Miami, so they moved to Philadelphia and became the Blazers before ever playing a game,” says Jeff Flynn. Here are some photos showing how their uniforms would have looked. … Buried within this page is the news that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers will wear military-themed uniforms on Jan. 14.

NBA News : The Bucks wore their green road uniforms at home last night, with the Thunder wearing their white home uniforms on the road (thanks, Mike).