Welcome back. After the first installment of “ideas that didn’t quite make The Fringe” got strong feedback a few months ago, it only made sense to run it back. So here we are with round two, diving into the pile of concepts that never became full articles but still have something worth bringing to the surface.
If you need a refresher, here’s the quick version: there’s a running Google Doc filled with short, usually one-sentence ideas that might eventually turn into Fringe articles. Most don’t. Sometimes they lack a clean narrative, a real arc, or a payoff that justifies the space.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t good.
Today, a few of those ideas get their chance to shine. These are some of the more interesting concepts and facts that didn’t make the cut but are still worth your time. So without further ado, let’s dig into the Fringe vault and see what we can bring into the light.
Fake Jerseys in Video Games
Sports game development, especially on the tight yearly cycle the market demands, can lead to some funny outcomes. In this would-be article, we’re taking a look at some of the fake or placeholder jerseys that have appeared across major sports video game franchises.
This usually happens during moments of relocation or expansion, when developers are forced to make quick decisions with incomplete information. The result can be some pretty bizarre designs so let’s highlight a few here:
#1: The Oklahoma City Thunder
Long before the days of Shai, when the Seattle SuperSonics were in the process of relocating to Oklahoma City, the team had not yet revealed any branding to the public. It wasn’t until late September of 2008 that the name, logo, colors, and uniforms were officially announced.
Unfortunately for EA Sports, that timeline didn’t align with the development of NBA Live 09. Faced with a deadline, they improvised. The team appeared in the game simply as “Oklahoma City Team,” wearing generic black-and-white jerseys with summer league-style logos filling in for the missing branding.
It was later corrected, but at the time, it was a pretty funny workaround.
#2: The Winnipeg Jets
During the development cycle of NHL 12, a leaked screenshot began circulating that supposedly showed the Atlanta Thrashers, who were in the process of relocating to Winnipeg, wearing their future Jets uniforms.
The rumor gained enough traction that the Jets’ PR department had to step in and clarify that the design was fake. In reality, EA didn’t have access to the actual uniforms yet and had simply placed the Jets logo on a generic white jersey as a placeholder.
For a brief moment, a completely fictional uniform almost became “real” in the eyes of fans.
#3: The Houston Texans
In Madden NFL 2002, the Houston Texans made their first appearance in a video game. The only issue was that the Texans were still a full year away from actually playing an NFL game.
At that point, the Madden team was working with only early design concepts. In the game, Texans players wore white helmets, but by the time the franchise officially took the field, they had switched to the now-familiar deep steel blue.
That means there is technically an alternate Texans uniform combo that exists only in Madden.
Mel Hein and the 1938 NFL MVP Award
Mel Hein was a center and defensive lineman for the New York Giants throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1938, he was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
He remains the only offensive lineman to ever win the award.
Hein had a remarkable football life beyond that. He is enshrined in both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame, and he later became a key executive in the All-America Football Conference during its push to merge with the NFL.
There’s a lot to his story, but the headline is simple and almost impossible to replicate: he’s a center who won MVP.
And honestly, what more do you need than that?
Ranking Members of the Extended Witt Family
Most people know that Bobby Witt Jr.’s father, Bobby Witt Sr., was a longtime Major League pitcher. What many people don’t realize is just how deep the baseball ties in this family go.
Between Witt Jr.’s brothers-in-law and extended connections, multiple members of the family have reached the majors. So naturally, we decided to rank them.
6th: Cody Thomas
Thomas, who is married to Witt’s sister Shaley, is the only member of this list to finish below replacement level. He posted a -0.4 WAR and appeared in just 29 major league games.
5th: Zach Neal
Neal, who married Kianna Witt, logged a 0.4 WAR with a 5.35 career ERA across just over 100 innings. Interestingly, he and Thomas were teammates in Triple-A.
4th: James Russell
Russell, married to Nikki Witt, edges out Neal despite a slightly lower WAR. His ERA was 1.25 runs lower, and he pitched roughly three times as many innings.
There’s also a family tie here, as his father Jeff Russell and Bobby Witt Sr. were teammates in both Texas and Oakland.
3rd: Bobby Witt Sr.
The patriarch lands third, though his case is complicated. His career numbers are all over the place: a 4.83 ERA, roughly 2,500 innings pitched, and 14.6 WAR.
He also gets bonus points for, quite literally, making this list possible. Without him, and his wife, there is no Witt baseball tree to evaluate.
In that sense, you could argue he belongs at No. 1.
2nd: Jeff Russell
Jeff Russell, father of James, is likely the second-best player in the extended family. He and Witt Jr. are the only All-Stars in the group, each earning two selections.
Russell posted a 14.8 WAR, slightly higher than Witt Sr.’s, in far fewer innings, and paired that with a much stronger 3.75 ERA.
His biggest accolade came in 1989 when he won the Rolaids American League Reliever of the Year Award.
1st: Bobby Witt Jr.
The easiest rankings on this list were the bookends. Witt Jr. is already on a trajectory that will see him surpass the combined production of much of his extended family.
He’s also the present and future of the group, and the most impactful player in it by a wide margin.
We could go deeper here, but we actually just wrote a full article on him, so go check that out.
Final Word
Well, that’s all we got for now. Until the next time we clean out the idea vault, it’s back to regularly scheduled Fringes.
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