Page 3 - Tom Reding
- - October 24, 2022While the state of the 2022 Major League Baseball season is still in limbo, that doesn’t mean we don’t still have baseball on the mind. We’ve talked previously about baseball bats, some of our favorite baseball stadiums, and even how to properly break in your new glove. Along with gloves and bats, custom baseball helmet decals have also become a major part of modern baseball equipment for teams looking to create a professional on-field appearance. But there’s one major component to the game that we haven’t discussed yet… the ball. A baseball is the most essential part of the game. It’s what keeps the action going, it’s the main collectible for fans sitting the stands, and it also must be properly engineered to provide the best and most consistent experience for the players. Baseball can technically be played with any ball you have laying around. Whether it’s a tennis ball, whiffle ball, or a softball, whatever you can find can be used for a quick pickup game. However, when it comes to
- - October 19, 2022
Baseball and cricket may seem similar in the fact that they both require players using a “bat” to hit a ball while trying to score points, but the games are very different from one another. Baseball has long been known as America’s pastime and has been a staple of American sports since it was invented in the 1800’s. While baseball, and the rules as we know them, was not invented until around 1846 in New York, it derived its ideas from games like cricket and stickball played in other cultures. So, while American’s might thing that they were the ones that came up with the idea of two teams hitting a ball with a stick, they would be mistaken. The first reference to cricket is dated around the late 1500’s and was referencing a person that had played cricket as a young boy in the 1550’s. So, while baseball has been around for a while, Cricket most certainly pre-dates it by a couple hundred years. However, the first official international cricket match, was played between Australia and England
- - September 22, 2022Football season is in full swing! And while our beloved Chicago Bears upset the San Francisco 49ers in week 1, they couldn’t beat Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in week 2. We’ll get them eventually, but for now it’s time to look towards the future and hope for a win going into week 3. Football is always our favorite time around the offices. High schools and colleges are back in session with their seasons in full swing, while NFL teams start their march towards the Super Bowl. Programs around the country need help promoting their teams and schools, and we help provide those helmet decals, wall decals, and more! The one thing we don’t provide, however, is the footballs themselves. Just like NBA basketballs, NFL footballs are created to strict design specifications, which help keep the playing field level, in terms of equipment. The football itself should not be a tool used to give one team an edge over another team, which is why “deflategate” with Tom Brady became a talking point in 2015.
- - August 24, 2022Football uniforms may seem pretty straight forward in terms of the jerseys themselves, but when it comes to the pads and the other equipment that make up the full uniform, you may be surprised by some things. Football is one of the most physically taxing sports you can play. With every down and every play there is physical contact that most people would never experience even once in their entire lifetime. Because of the nature of the game, the uniforms and equipment used in the game has evolved over time. Helmets have been reinforced in ways that wasn’t possible before, pads have been updated to better protect the players, sensors are added to some areas in order to monitor different aspects of the players during the game, and there are even telecommunication devices in some helmets. The equipment and uniforms that football players use today are far different from those that were used in the past. Let’s take a look at some of the new and unusual things about football players’ uniforms that
- - August 08, 2022While the WNBA does not garner the same audience as the NBA does, the women involved in the league are doing some amazing things. These athletes are showing kids around the world that basketball is a sport loved by all races and genders, and by putting in the work, they too can make it to the professional level. The WNBA was founded in April of 1996 by David Stern, who was the commissioner of the NBA from 1984 through 2014. The inaugural season was played in 1997 and unfortunately did not get the respect it deserved out of the gate. Eight teams were included in that original season, with the league now consisting of 12 teams (6 in the western conference and 6 in the eastern conference). Unfortunately, the WNBA fanbase is not nearly as large as the NBA fanbase is and this is evident in the coverage of games. We are fans of the WNBA as we love the impact it has on young female players and how it shows young girls that they too can be sports heroes. Because of the smaller crowd sizes, TV coverage,
- - July 26, 2022With the NFL preseason set to kickoff on August 4, 2022, now is a great time to touch-up on your NFL terms and rules. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve watched football or maybe you’ve just decided that this is the year you’re going to learn some of the rules. Whatever the case may be, we wanted to put together a quick list of terms and general rules that you should know when watching football this fall season. Football may seem confusing to those that don’t know the rules, but the idea of the game is very simple. In order to score points, a team must either cross the goal line with the ball or kick the ball through the uprights at the back of the endzone. A different number of points are awarded for the different types of scoring plays and each team has four attempts to move the ball ten yards on the field. Sounds easy right? Unfortunately, there’s a bit more to it than that. There are penalties that can occur, there are ways to extend your time of possession down the field, and there
- - July 14, 2022Helmet decals, wall stickers, and spirit packs are a great way to show pride in your team and your organization, but that’s just the start of what you can do. One of the key elements to any good organization is the locker room. The locker room is the place where the team feels safe, it’s their security blanket, they store their equipment there, personal items, and more. It’s the place where they retreat to after an incredible victory, and the place they go for comfort after a tough loss. A locker room may not seem like an important part of a team, but it’s more important than you think. Depending on the size and financial backing of your organization, there may be an unlimited amount of things you can do to boost team spirit in the locker room, or there may be only a few. Whatever your budget is, it’s the little things that will make your players feel like part of a team, part of a family, when they are in that building celebrating a win or being comforted during a loss, and one of the
- - July 03, 2022With the NBA playoffs just around the corner we wanted to take a look at one of the main components of the game, the basketball itself. Just like MLB baseballs, NBA basketballs are made in a specific way with specific measurements and specs that they must adhere. This is to help level the playing field as much as possible when it comes to equipment, meaning that all advantages in the game are placed on the player’s abilities themselves and not from the ball. So, as we root for our Chicago Bulls as they face the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, let’s dive into how basketballs are made for the NBA.
What Makes Up an NBA Basketball?
The Leather
Believe it or not, all of the leather used for official NBA basketballs have come from the same place for the last 20 years. The Horween Leather Co. in Chicago is one of the oldest leather tanneries in the United States and is the perfect supplier of the leather used to create NBA basketballs. While the leather is from the same - - June 29, 2022When playing baseball there are three main pieces of equipment you need to be successful, a baseball glove, a baseball, and a bat. Sure, one could argue that as long as you have something that resembles a bat and a ball, you could still play the game, but for the sake of argument a glove is still going to be necessary to safely play the game in the way it was intended. a So, when it comes to a glove, how do you know which size to get?
Different Types of Baseball Gloves
Before we get into the physical size of a baseball glove it’s important to know that there are different types of gloves as well. The glove (or mitt) that a catcher uses is not the same as that of a pitcher. There are also different gloves for infielders, outfielders, and even first baseman. In the case of little league and younger kids, you’ll probably only find that the catcher uses a catcher’s mitt while most of the other players just have a glove that fits their hand. Sometimes you might find a kid that is using a first - - June 16, 2022Even though the NBA finals are over for the year and the Golden State Warriors have taken the crown, we wanted to keep the basketball talk going. And while the players and their on and off court antics can be entertaining, the mascots are a timeless part of any team. While big name stars and position players come and go from NBA teams, the mascots are here to stay. Sometimes being replaced by updated versions of themselves, and in the rare occasion being replaced altogether, typically a team’s mascot lasts a lot longer than many of the players. The job of the mascot is to provide an extra level of entertainment for the crowd, and in some cases, go the extra mile to show off their physical skills. Certain mascots have been known to tumble and flip during timeouts and half time shows, while other mascots simply entertain the children in their section. Whatever basketball team you cheer for you’re probably aware of the mascot, and you may be bias and think your mascot is the best. Thankfully
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