twoeightnine's "Franchise Quarterbacks - Buffalo Bills" shirt. (Photo: TwoEIghtNine)

Featured several times on Yahoo Sports’ Puck Daddy (the pantheon of hockey blogs, if you will), twoeightnine Design’s t-shirts have become a hot commodity for hockey fans all over. With shirts featuring those always present allegations of diving towards Sidney Crosby, and an Shepard Fairey-esque salute to the single man who turned around Washington (hockey, that is), the online shirt shop struck a chord with fans that wanted witty and intelligent fan t-shirts.

Of course, once I found out Matt Johnson, the founder of twoeightnine, was running his business out of Western New York, and that he features the following “Franchise Quarterbacks – Buffalo Bills” shirt in his store, I had to feature him on the blog. Besides talking t-shirts, I of course had to ask Matt’s thoughts on the always depressing state of the Buffalo Bills.

Kat: How long have you been designing shirts? How did you get start up twoeightnine?

Matt: I think I’m at 2.5 years now? Maybe three? The last few years have been a strange trip for me and I really have no sense of time anymore. I got my start designing a t-shirt for Deadspin. It was back when the site was still “underground” but starting to make a name for itself. There was a small loyal group of commenters who joked about the start of a revolution. I took a sketch I did of Will Leitch as Che Guevera down to my neighbor in Philly who was a screen printer and twoeightnine was born.

Kat: Your designs run the gamut of sports, teams, and regions. Do you come up with all of the design ideas, or are some ideas submitted by fans of that particular sports or team?

Matt: They’re all mine. I tend to gravitate towards the Sabres and Bills because those are my teams and I prefer to work on ideas that I’ll enjoy working on. I’m in the process of expanding from that while killing some older designs at the same time. Right now I know I have limited periods where I do most of my sales. Mainly NFL training camp and Christmas. Plus most of my sales come from the Upstate NY region. It’s something that I want to break away from.

I’m always open to anyone’s ideas but the fact of the matter is that 99% of the time they suck. It’s a very inside joke or something that has no staying power past a week or two. As much as I love designing shirts at the end of the day I have to sell them too in order to make it worth my time. Something that only sells a handful of shirts isn’t going to do that.

Kat: What has been your best selling design?

Matt: The Beast Mode shirt for Marshawn Lynch, hands down. It’s not even close. Even with the suspension and the down year people were still buying it. Unfortunately I still haven’t sold enough to make a dent in those “lovely” I ♥ Buffalo sports shirt. If you’re a guy and you wear one of those please check your balls at the door.

Kat: As a Bills fan, I thought the Bills Franchise Quarterbacks design was depressing…until I saw the new Browns Franchise Quarterbacks one. Then I felt just a twinge better. Personally, which franchise do you think has a better chance of escaping their QB woes sooner?

Matt: Can I vote for neither? I guess if I had to choose I’d pick the Browns. I trust Holmgren and Co. more than I trust Ralphy and his crew. I’m not sure what happened this season in particular as opposed to the last ten but the switch finally flipped for me. My diet is now koolaid free. I need results before I get any sense of hope up. Unfortunately those results this year look like they’ll be even more losses.

twoeightnine's "Beast Mode" homage to Marshawn Lynch

Kat: Marshawn Lynch (subject of your Beast Mode shirt): lost cause or a risk to continue taking by the Bills organization?

Matt: The second one, by far. I don’t understand the “cut or trade him now before he screws up again people” at all. Nothing he’d bring back in a trade is worth it; he’s still a talent on a team seriously lacking it. And frankly anyone who says cut him is an idiot. I’m not sure what the real risk is. If you cut him now you don’t have him, if he gets suspended you don’t have him. But if he doesn’t get suspended you have a pretty good one two punch with Jackson and Lynch. It’s not like if he gets his third strike the Bills are going to have to forfeit the rest of the season or people are going to think that they’re a poorly run franchise that only has a future in Toronto and is one of the laughingstocks of the league.

twoeightnine’s shirts are available for sale on their website, and Matt is also active on Twitter.

University of Minnesota-Duluth features sophomore forward Jack Connolly, the little brother (despite being the same class year) of Boston University sophomore forward Chris Connolly. Chris is a sturdy little forward for the Terriers, currently second in the team in scoring with 10 goals and 21 assists, despite being thrown in seventy-five different line combinations this season. Jack is a powerhouse for the Bulldogs, leading the team in scoring with 18 goals and 31 assists. Jack is 7th in the nation in scoring, and his impact on the Bulldogs has been immense.

The Connolly’s have caused many BU fans to become slight UMD fans (although still many more pledge their WCHA allegiance to North Dakota), and many UMD fans to become slight BU fans (although many WCHA fans find East Coast college hockey grossly inferior). But what sealed the deal on my slight UMD fandom was the following shirt:

The one. The only. UMD Hjelle T-shirt.

The Bulldogs have a sophomore goaltender named Brady Hjelle, who played lights out last year, and found himself in a goalie rotation with junior Kenny Reiter this season. Reiter started last weekend’s quarterfinals against Colorado College, and will most likely start tonight’s game against North Dakota. Hjelle’s play last season – leading them from a seventh seed in the WCHA playoffs to the NCAA Regionals – spurred on this fan shirt, sold on the UMD fan blog Running With the Dogs.

For those of you not familiar with the reference, the shirt is based off the popular 2008 YouTube sensation, “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time.”

What can I say – I’m a sucker for a funny and punny fan shirt, and the Peanut Butter Hjelle shirt is one of my faves this year. Between this and Jack Connolly’s dominance, I have to root for UMD tonight over North Dakota.

NHL: St. Louis Blues

Last night, the St. Louis Blues mixed their St. Patrick’s Day commemoration with environmental awareness, and gave away a “Green Game” t-shirt to all fans in attendance (quite a risky claim to advertise – from personal experience, you should always give an exact number of giveaways, a la “first 5,000 fans”). The shirt giveaway was sponsored by Monsanto, a Cambridge, MA based agricultural innovation company with an emphasis on sustainable practices. This was the second year for the Blues promotion.

Shirt Grade: B I like the muted, antiquey kelly green shirt and faded style of the print. It also helps that the Blues’ team colors happen not to horribly clash with green. Kudos for using that to their advantage and not changing the logo’s colors for the holiday’s sake. Environmental awareness initiatives during games are the new “it” thing to do in sports marketing – trust me, I participate in one – but the giveaway needs to be backed up with sustained, but subtle, green initiatives, otherwise it is just a t-shirt giveaway.

AHL: Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

The Baby Pens (speaking of, we are long overdue for an edition of The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, but that’ll be another post) are selling two St. Patrick’s Day long sleeve shirts in their online store. The 2009 edition ($20) features their mascot, Tux, skating with a four leaf clover in the background on the front. The back reads “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.” The 2010 version ($22) features the logo in what appears to be a very dark green (nearly black), with a four leaf clover on the sleeve. Long sleeve shirts are always key in that part of Pennsylvania, where the damp gray chilly days seem to out number any other weather.

Grade: C The effort is there, but the execution is not. The 2009 version is too campy, and the 2010 version shows promise, but the green seems too dark. Kudos, however, for the 2010 edition’s four leaf clover on the sleeve.

ECHL: Gwinnett Gladiators

The ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators teamed with Old Time Hockey, the same Salisbury, MA based company who partnered to create some of the NHL’s 2010 St. Patrick’s Day gear, to create a green t-shirt to sell this March. The shirt ($20 with free shipping through today) features a rather disturbed and surly looking leprechaun brandishing a hockey stick, with a small Gladiators logo by his right foot. The all-caps font is rather 1950s style, and arches above Surly Leprechaun’s head.

Grade: A This is the first ever St. Patrick’s Day shirt I would ever consider purchasing, and not just because I’m in the market for a shirt from the team where two of my most favorite former BU hockey alums play. What sold me was the 1950s fonts – I’m a sucker for fonts. Plus, I feel like Surly Leprechaun is going to hurt me with that hockey stick if I don’t like the shirt.

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The back of the Gryba Senior Shirt.

This year’s shirt honors BU senior defenseman Eric Gryba – lover of flannel, avid hunter and fisherman, and the tallest defenseman since Tom Morrow (the subject of Jason’s 2006 shirt). Gryba is a fan favorite everytime he checks an opposing player or even thinks about getting in a position to score. The BU student section responds to Gryba much like fourteen year old suburban teenagers react to Nick Jonas – there’s screaming, cheering, and the occassional sobbing.

Gryba is a stand-up defenseman who is very comfortable with his role on defense – he’s not often trying to be fancy with the puck, and he very conscientious of his duties at the blue line. He holds the program’s record for penalty minutes, set during January 2nd’s game, but he’s not necessarily a dirty player. His penalties come from his tendency to play at the boards during defensive situations – he isn’t always laying guys out, elbowing, or aiming for player’s heads. It will be interesting to see what he does after college.

Gryba may not be my favorite BU player ever, but he’s definitely a personality I have enjoyed watching progress through his collegiate hockey career. Thus, I took $15 out of my wedding fund and ordered one of these shirts from Jason.

If you too want to commemorate the personality that is Gryba by purchasing a t-shirt, find “The Hockey Shirt at Boston University” group on Facebook and chat with Jason. The shirt is only $15, which is a deal when it comes to any fan shirts. Orders are due Tuesday, February 9th.

The NFL Snuggie. The horrors.

I never truly believed the apocalypse was near until I saw this.

To celebrate the beginning of the NFL pre-season, HSN has been selling the NFL Huddler (aka an NFL Snuggie) all day. To demonstrate its use, they are continuously showing a group of male and female models sitting on the back of a pickup truck eating with various teams’ Huddlers on.

Oh, because the people tailgating in Orchard Park, Pittsburgh, Philly, or Oakland aren’t going to beat you up for wearing a massive piece of team printed felt with arms while grilling and kicking back beers in their vicinity.

Sports fans, if you fear being cold while watching a game, I would like to introduce you to this nifty invention called a jacket. Last I checked, they worked really well for most of human kind.

So are they playing a college hockey game here or not? (Picture by yours truly. Yes, I can take good photos once and a while.)

Remember when I noted that Denver’s men’s ice hockey schedule release may have squashed rumors of a college game being a part of Fenway Park’s all-but-confirmed Winter Classic festivities? Well, the Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont may have revived those rumors by claiming that a source close to the organizers are looking to have the ice system down for three weeks of use, and are looking to schedule a college tournament within that time.

Dupont went on to mention that any official announcement about all of the Winter Classic would most likely take place near the beginning of July.

These new details would seemingly make a Boston College-Boston University game a possibility, because of the length of time the ice will be available. BC could still keep their commitments to the Denver Cup on New Year’s Day, while still having time to fit in an outdoor game against BU.

I’ll keep my eyes out for any additional clues.

********

Belated congratulations to the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury definitely proved his worth as a goalie on Friday evening (he actually made an acrobatic save in those final seconds – who knew?)

On the Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, John Curry did dress for Game 7, but his name does not get engraved on the Cup, and thus he was not allowed to carry it because of superstition. Until your name is on the Cup, you are not allowed to touch it as a hockey player. He was still spotted on the NBC broadcast wearing the nifty locker room hat though.

Speaking of locker-room hats, Puck Daddy posted a great feature on the conceptualization and production of NHL championship fan wear on Saturday. Those of you as obsessed with fan wear as I will geek out over the detail.

And a special congrats to the Pens fans at Puck Huffers (NSFW), who titled their championship post, “Our Curry in Heaven,” and part of their dedication to disappointed and bitter Detroit fans read:

It’s time for you to put your hands towards the sky and pray for redemption. It worked for us.
Then again, John Curry is God.

It’s clear I’ve been outdone. I think they might need to take over the “Everyone’s Favorite Goalie” posts.

No R Lifestyle's Green Champions Shirt

Kat: Why did you found No R Lifestyle?

Buddy: While the general idea of Boston apparel is not novel, we wanted to give the people of Boston and its surroundings something different to wear. We’ve all heard the term Masshole and seen shirts with mispronounced phrases on them, and we wanted to do something different. We set out to create a brand that points to the common attitude and demeanor with which Bostonians live their lives. There really is a lifestyle common among all of us although we come from many different walks of life. The lifestyle is centered on the deep pride people have in Boston, and the whole New England area, and the most common identifier of this shared lifestyle is the No R accent. I’ve heard many say that people from the Northeast are cocky and arrogant; I say it’s more of a confidence and comfort. That’s the feeling we are going for with No R Lifestyle.

Kat: You have a goal of selling a shirt in all 50 states, and you have 10 states down. That’s a lofty goal for a business only 18 weeks old! Why did you set such a goal?

Buddy: When we first launched the website in January, we expected all of our sales to be local and concentrated our “marketing” in Massachusetts alone. We became excited when we quickly received orders from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Maine in addition to Massachusetts and also realized that this brand is identifiable to anyone who has ever lived in or visited Boston, as well as those who are simply fans of the accent or the city itself. Because the ‘No R’ accent is probably the most recognizable in the world, we think it is a reasonable goal for No R Lifestyle to appeal to someone from each of the 50 states. The first year or so of No R Lifestyle is about establishing the name and idea behind it, and this is just another way to encourage growth and expansion.

Kat: What does being a Boston sports fan mean to you? Why is it different from other cities/regions?

Buddy: Boston is a sports town in the truest sense of the phrase. The city’s mood depends on how the Celts, Pats, Sox, or Bruins (Revolution, Cannons, and Blazers for some) did last night. I’ll never forget walking around Boston after the Superbowl loss to the Giants. Everyone I passed looked like they were attending a funeral. On the flip side, most Boston fans’ joy lasts only a day or so before its time to be “disappointed” by the next game, team, or season. This negativity is more applicable to the last generation of Boston fans. The last decade has really shaped a new breed of fans—fans with optimism. It will take some getting used to, but I think it will be good for the overall well being of New England.

Kat: You’ve obviously embraced your “No R” accent. What is your favorite word/phrase to say with that accent? (For example, I have a slight Canadian accent and I love saying the word “sorry” because of it.)

Buddy: For some reason I said two hours a lot while coaching baseball at Emerson College, whether it be two hours until game time, two hours of practice, or a two hour bus ride. All of these future television and radio personalities are quick to point out mispronounced words. “Two Owiz” quickly became a common phrase among the players who like to mock my Boston accent. I’m pretty sure they mimic the accent out of pure jealousy. A side note on the topic of the accent itself: I’m hoping with a lot of Boston based movies coming out in 2009 and 2010, that they finally get the accent right. I never understood why Boston actors absolutely overdo the accent that they grew up speaking, and other actors just completely butcher it (watch The Perfect Storm and you’ll know what I mean). It’s a pretty simple accent to nail; leave R’s off the end of words and add them on to words that end in A.

Kat: What’s next for No R Apparel? I see that you have added bumper stickers to the line – do you have any plans to add additional items, or have the items carried in retail locations?

Buddy: Ideally, at some point down the road we will have hundreds of different products ranging from onesies for babies to tire covers for jeep wranglers. In the immediate future, there are plans for hats to be released, and designs are being bounced around for hoodies to be produced in the fall of ’09. We are also contacting Boston area colleges in the hopes of doing some custom shirts with the University or College names on them. This whole experience is a learning process, and we love to hear feedback from customers and fans about what they want to see.

Most retail companies have already completed their apparel purchases for the year, so we have been unsuccessful in our attempts to get our products in stores this summer. If there are any retailers out there who would like to feature No R Lifestyle apparel, please let us know!

*******

Thanks, Buddy, for taking the time to talk. Buddy would like to giveaway shirts to a few readers of …On Being a Sports Girl. If you know the answer to the following Red Sox trivia question, email the answer, your name and email address to me at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com.  The first three correct answers will be sent to Buddy to receive a free shirt!

Trivia question: What former Boston Red Sox player is the only person in Major League Baseball history to turn an unassisted triple play and hit for the cycle during his career?

Update 6/1/2009: The contest is now closed! Big ups to our winners!

Before it was even universally accepted, my casual wear has consisted of sports related shirts and jeans (or jean skirts when the weather obliges.) Thankfully, instead of wearing super large, nearly dress like football jerseys or t-shirts, many lines have come out that cater to women like me. I featured one back in January (CPR Gear) and am featuring yet another one today – Vintage Blue.

"Dottie" a t-shirt by Vintage-Blue

Vintage Blue is a female owned company out of Philadelphia (but with Boston ties – owner Liza Gonclaves was raised in Boston) who hold the exclusive license to The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League images and team names. If you have seen the movie A League of Their Own (and really, who hasn’t?) you know of the AAGPBL, which was the first professional sporting league for women in the 1940s. While a large portion of America’s men were overseas in the World War II effort, women’s baseball took the place of men’s baseball to provide sports fans with professional baseball to watch.

Vintage Blue creates t-shirts and tote bags with images from this classic and unique time in baseball history, all cut quite fashionably. These shirts make kind of-sort of tomboy me look like I actually tried to look awesomely cool.  Upon first glance, they just look like retro, comfy shirts with a fun design, but up close, you figure out that the designs are sports related.

"Martha," a very neat V-Neck that I so am buying, by Vintage Blue

In addition, just in time for the end of Earth Week, this line of shirts is eco-friendly, using chemical-free fabric and recycled paper for all tags and marketing materials. The company has been featured in a bunch of recent “Green Expos” along the Eastern Seaboard. They also contribute 5% of their profits to non-profits around the Philadelphia area and beyond, and supporting programs that encourage positive encouragement and outlets for young women.

Right now, Vintage Blue shirts are being sold in the neighborhood outside Phillies home games, at various Philly retailers and at boutiques like Boston’s Bodega. Their full line is available at their website, which also has their line of non-baseball related shirts. Even if you aren’t interested in their shirts, their website is one of the better web designs I have seen recently – graphically, it’s very unique.

The dear ladies of Vintage Blue – most especially Liza – have passed along a coupon for readers of …On Being a Sports Girl: Buy their “Catch a Foul, Steal a Kiss” shirt, and get one of their totes for free. Not too shabby! Thanks Vintage Blue, and keep churning out these fun shirts!

Catch A Foul, Get a Kiss Offer from Vintage Blue

I’m always looking for neat sportswear companies to feature on my blog. If you would like to tell me all about your line, email me at sportsgirlkat@gmail.com