We have had the Bethlehem Steel graphic t-shirt available for awhile now. It’s been offered up in a forest green colorway and it pays tribute to one of the more storied clubs in American soccer. With a history that dates back 100 years, Bethlehem Steel went on to become one of the most successful clubs in the history of professional soccer here in the US. They won the National Cup (which is now called the US Open Cup) 5 times over an 11 year span between 1925-1926. Pretty remarkable record for any club.

Sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around history. It’s hard to imagine what things were like so many years ago. But that is part of what makes history so fascinating. And thinking about soccer teams that were playing 100 years ago is not only crazy to think about, but it shows that there is tremendous soccer history in the United States. And we’re proud of that history and we think it’s important not only to have an understanding of it, but also to share it with people. That’s the main reason why we offer shirts celebrating these amazing histories and storied clubs. And Bethlehem Steel plays a very important role in the history of the soccer here in the US.

Now we are proud to present the Bethlehem Steel shirt in a navy colorway. The jerseys of this infamous US soccer club were navy, and we wanted to play off of these OG jerseys by releasing an updated navy colorway. These are now available exclusively in the Bumpy Pitch online store.

Their original jerseys featured a large “B” on the upper chest and was the only marking or imagery that were found on these initial kits. Understated to say the least, but pretty fresh in a stripped down manner.

We wanted to play off of these original jerseys in some manner so we went with our own “B” set in a vintage typeset printed on the left sleeve.

2011 maybe just about over, but we got together with our friends from BucketFeet for one last partnership for the year. From now until the end of the year, we are doing a joint promo for you to receive 30% off your online order from both BucketFeet and Bumpy Pitch. All you need to do is head here, enter your name and email address and a code will be sent to you that can be redeemed at both the Bumpy Pitch and BucketFeet online stores.

As part of this promo, we will also be donating a portion of sales that use this special code to Love Futbol. If you are unfamiliar with Love Futbol go check them out. They help empower communities to build soccer fields. It’s a very cool organization doing some incredible work and we’re very happy to help out by donating a portion of sales from this promo.

If you want to cop some last minute gear and help out a good cause along the way then make sure you act quickly. And don’t forget, with every purchase from the Bumpy Pitch web store, we will match each product sold with a soccer ball to be donated to kids around the world.

We are releasing our second collaboration with Nike and it seems like the perfect time to provide some insights into the inspiration behind the graphics. The first release was inspired by the rivalry between the MNT’s of the United States and Mexico, which happened to peak right around this year’s Gold Cup.

This current release takes a look at popular sports, teams and cities in the United States through the lens of the United States National Team jersey silhouette. For these we were given the opportunity to come up with graphics inspired by two teams in two different sports respectively. We opted for the Boston Celtics / Los Angeles Lakers rivalry in the NBA, and the Oakland Raiders ( re-imagined them from an LA perspective) and the NY Giants for the NFL.

As we set out to work on these graphics we tried to take the legacy of each team and city into account and pay homage to each of them. We designed for these teams with a more soccer specific aesthetic. As a soccer inspired company we had to put our own touch on these famous teams and designed what the logos may have looked like had these been soccer teams instead.

Hit the jump to check out some detailed images of the shirts and a deeper look into how we came up with the graphics.

The shirts are available at Bumpy Pitch, Nike and select retailers.

We’ll start with the Lakers v Celtics rivalry. This has to be one of the most iconic rivalries in American sports; an easy choice for us to want to work on. Add in the love we have for LA as a city, and the fact that Boston shares the name of one of the world’s most iconic soccer clubs, our efforts on the graphics play off of each of those ideas.

For the LA graphic we were inspired by the city and the legacy of the Lakers. The first thing we wanted to do was a crest that somehow spoke to the identity of the city. There are few things as “LA” as driving in traffic. Everyone in this city spends a ton of time in their car and on the freeway, so we took the shape of the California freeway sign to use as the shape of our crest.

When you think about the Lakers v Celtics rivalry, it’s difficult to not think back on the Magic v Bird era. The height of that rivalry was played out in the Great Western Forum here in Los Angeles. Before the Staples Center housed the purple and gold, The Forum was the home of the Lakers. There is one aspect of the Forum that I always will think of and it is these columns that hug the exterior of the stadium. So we played off of these columns and included them in the graphic which provide almost a bed for the words “Los Angeles” to sit on. The graphic is rounded out with our BPFC Crest and stars to represent the number of times the Lakers have won the NBA title.

For the Boston graphic we were inspired by a certain team from Glasgow and we wanted that to shine through. If you have ever googled Celtic you will find that there is a myriad of different shapes and styles that the search turns up. We took an obscure version of a Celtic to use as the centerpiece for the graphic. We set that against the classic green and white striping that all things Celtic remind us of and offset that with the soccer ball that we use in our BPFC Crest. Add Boston wrapped around the top, and the year the Boston Celtics were founded and the graphic is complete.

Everybody is talking about Cyber Monday so we had to get in on the action as well. But we did it with a twist. So here is the deal.

- We are offering a three pack of shirts for $45. That’s 50% off the normal price of our shirts. But here’s the deal. It’s a mystery pack. You order the size, and we pick the shirts. There’s an element of mystery involved (maybe we call this #mysterymonday instead?). This could be the perfect opportunity to get some seriously marked down shirts. Keep one or two and give the rest as gifts? Don’t worry, whatever you choose to do with this great deal is your business, we won’t tell.

Head here to get the deal. This lasts for 24 hours only, so get your 50% off while time and supplies last.

No refunds or exchanges on this one.

I’ve been hearing all kinds of things about today’s date. 11-11-11 seems to have people in all kinds of moods. I don’t really have any particular feelings about it other than that it is pretty cool. And I’m pretty sure that at 11:11 I’ll be making a wish. I started doing that as a kid, so how can I not do that when the clock hits 11:11 on 11-11-11. Enough of the number one for you yet?

We didn’t want this unique day in history pass us by without getting involved on some level, so we have decided to take 11% off everything in the Bumpy Pitch online store. All you need to do to get the discount is use coupon code “Lucky11s” when you checkout. Head on over to the shop and pick up a couple items before the weekend. Plus, whatever you purchase today will have a great story associated with it. You can tell people you got 11% off on 11-11-11 when you bought it. Then ask them what they did that day. You win!

Besides some of the more boutique or lifestyle driven accounts that we work with, we have recently began selling Bumpy Pitch through a select number of soccer specialty stores. These are the stores that make up the heart of the soccer business. They may not have the scope of the giant sporting goods stores, but they have the passion and commitment to soccer that is essential in terms of continuing to drive the sport forward. One of these stores is Premier Soccer and it is located in Cheseapeake, VA. It’s run by a guy named Justus who always wanted to create a career form himself in soccer. That career path led to Premier Soccer and the opening of his own store.

“Finding a career in soccer was always my dream and there is nothing better than being around the sport I love every waking moment.”

“We are a “mom-and-pop style” soccer shop. Less than 5 employees but doing our best to serve our local soccer community. We pride ourselves in the face-to-face interaction a customer receives in a brick-and-morter retail environment. Letting a customer try on a new pair of boots, juggle a ball with them and then walk out of the shop ready to lace them up.”

I love hearing stories of people following their dreams and finding a career path that fulfills them. That same ideology is at the hear of Bumpy Pitch and The Original Winger. If you find yourself in or around Chesapeake, VA, stop in and say hello to the crew at Premier Soccer. And to Justus and his team, keep up the good work and keep living the dream. Thanks for your support!

This past weekend I had the chance to do something I never really imagined doing. I was invited to Cal State University Northridge to talk to a class of students about Bumpy Pitch as a brand, the story behind it and design inspiration. I’ll start this off by saying I had no idea how this was going to play out. I knew it could go a couple of different directions resulting in a couple different results, but I was hopeful that it would be a positive experience for all involved.

It ended up being one of the cooler things I have done in a very long time. It was great to talk about Bumpy Pitch. Tell stories about how we started. Why we started in the first place. Share some of our experiences, talk about things we have done well, and share stories about times when mistakes were made. We ended up going over some of the inspiration for our designs ranging from our BPFC Crest, to styles like Fall River, Brooklyn, The Shed End, etc.

One of the things that I didn’t expect was how looking back on where we started and how Bumpy Pitch has evolved over time would be such an interesting experience. We so often are hyper focused on what’s next, what’s around the corner and thinking about the future that we tend to forget about the past. Where we have been. What we were thinking at certain times. What was inspiring us at different moments, etc. This allowed me the opportunity to look back at some of what has happened with the brand, share those experiences and take stock of where things are at now. All very cool and humbling to do.

After talking to the students and then answering a number of questions, I got to check out what they were working on. The class was basically divided into eight teams with four students each. Each team was responsible for coming up with a brand, a logo, an inspiration board and an explanation of what their product or service would provide. Seeing all of the projects, the designs, the inspiration for these “brands” and so on took me back to those early days when Dunny, Ace and I would do the same things that they were doing. Creating something that didn’t exist before is not an easy thing to do, but these students were right in the thick of it. Each of these teams had a strong belief in what they were creating and it was inspiring to be around so much enthusiasm and excitement. I’m hopeful that some of these students end up pursuing some of their ideas as there were definitely some good ones in the class.

Big thanks to Professor Farah for inviting me to speak and to the students for helping me leave even more inspired than I was before the class. You guys were great.

Verne Troyer in the building! Scratch that, this picture was actually snapped of Verne just outside the Riverside Studios for a taping of the ITV2 show Celebrity Juice. Verne, Ray and Lonny are out in the UK filming, making appearances, meeting the locals. All the things that they should be doing while on their UK tour.

Yesterday Ray checked in with a picture from his hotel which was attached to the stadium in Sheffield. Today he sent over this image of our boy Verne Troyer on his arrival at Riverside Studios wearing our BPFC Crest for kids shirt. Much respect on the support my dude! I look forward to hearing some good stories when you guys get back!

Often times when we make a particular product, it’s a one time only type of release. Call it limited edition or whatever you want, but much of the time we just never plan on doing multiple runs of the same product. That was the plan with the BPFC Raglan when we released it. It was going to be limited to the one run and once it was done, well it was done.

But after a lot of emails and requests to bring it back, we decided to do so. Only difference this time around is we have added a second colorway in an “eco black.” Both colors are now up on the Bumpy Pitch web store and available for sale.