Uniforms

To the casual observer they look like the real thing: Uniformed Los Angeles police officers on motorcycles controlling traffic around action-packed chase scenes and sprawling film sets on the streets of L.A. Gawkers and paparazzi who get up close, however, might realize something is a bit off. The stripes signifying the officers' rank are gone, the motorcycles are without emergency lights and their badges read "Retired" across the top.

Rugby players serve as human billboards. So do cricket players, most of the world's best-known soccer stars and athletes who play the NFL's European brand of football. And, now that the Galaxy is selling space on its Major League Soccer jerseys to Herbalife, the question is whether baseball, basketball, football and hockey are any closer to making room on their jerseys for advertisers. "As soon as it pencils out financially and is deemed acceptable by fans ...

Move over, Tyra Banks. Bellmen, bartenders and concierges are the latest inspiration for fashionistas, who are outfitting hotel workers in name-brand designer duds. Gone are the red jackets with gold buttons and starchy white maid uniforms. In their place: wrap dresses by Diane von Furstenberg, trendy bubble skirts and Michael Kors slacks and shirts so stylish that workers don't need to change their clothes before hitting the bar after they punch out.

David Beckham was on his way to a post-game TV interview when he stopped, took off his jersey and autographed it. This was the jersey Beckham wore Wednesday when he made his first start and scored his first goal for the Galaxy. He gave the jersey to Allison Whalen, a 16-year-old soccer player who begins chemotherapy treatment next week for skin cancer. Whalen was diagnosed with melanoma in June, her father Chip Whalen said.

They were the team to beat in the 1980s -- and didn't they know it. In just a few months, the 1986-'87 Los Angeles Lakers would take Showtime to a new level with their fourth championship in eight years, so who's to blame them for a moment of silliness? Sometimes in hubris lies great camp. In January '87, for a Miller Lite promotional poster, the team headed down to Redondo Beach, where Body Glove co-founder Bob Meistrell and his wife Patty kept their 74-foot yacht, Disappearance.

As an Army surgeon in the Middle East, Dr. Keith Rose watched a colleague bleed to death after a truck in his convoy was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade. Rose could not get his comrade a tourniquet, which could have helped control the bleeding on the wounded leg. The doctor sat alongside the truck's mangled wreckage and talked with the man as he took his last breath. Rose was helpless. Once he returned to the U.S.

After 10 seasons as No. 8, Kobe Bryant will be No. 24 next season. The Laker guard will return to the jersey number he wore early in high school at Lower Merion (Pa.). Bryant wore No. 33 as a senior in high school but will not do so with the Lakers because it was retired after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's career. Paperwork for the jersey change was sent to the NBA office six months ahead of the 2006-07 season, as per league guidelines. A league spokesman said the request would be granted.

World Cup team uniforms -- "kits" as they're called in most of the soccer-loving world -- are not just a sideline topic. They are the face of a nation, and perhaps even a tactical tool as well. Carefully designed for the quadrennial event by huge athleticwear companies like Nike, Adidas and Puma, the soccer players' sleek jerseys have been easily adopted by fans off the field as both fashion and patriotic statements.