I believe the change is more a construction modification that keeps the sleeve tighter so there is less for an opponent to grab. There may be a few jersey's that have the comlete stripe around the upper sleeve but I haven't seen them this year. The complete stripe was still around (no pun intended) in 2001 But the half stripe had appeared in 2003 At least Mike the Tiger still wears the old style jersey
This calls for a complete investigation and I hope someone will file a comprehensive report when it's done!