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The Suns Shine Bright in Phoenix, And It’s Smokey in Tennessee

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By Phil Hecken

The Phoenix Suns unveiled a new set of uniforms last evening, via a “fashion show” at the Fashion Square Mall in Phoenix. After a rather lengthy introduction (which was rather well done), featuring the uniforms and players from 1968 up to the present, three sets of unis were (finally) seen. A home white, road purple, and a sleeved alternate in deep orange (click on any photos below to enlarge):

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The uniforms were apparently two full years in the making, from design to execution, and so far, I like what I see. They’re (of course) made of all adidas’ space age materials and fabric, but they are pretty minimalist, and combine some interesting “flair” (that’s probably the first and last time you’ll see me use that word to describe a uniform element) with a basic colorscheme of white, orange, purple and black. It was the bold orange uni that will probably attract the most attention, especially since you can see it’s sleeved, but lets take them one at a time.

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The home whites:

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This is probably my favorite of the three. The new wordmark is orange (on the uniforms trimmed in black) and features a really neat font — one that looks the same upside down as right side up. I particularly enjoy the “interlocking” attributes. Front and back numbers are black (for optimal definition) and the NOB is in orange. It’s difficult to see in any of the pics I grabbed, but there is a slight orange piping down the side, and a two-tone collar of orange and black finishes off the striping. There is a slight gradient to the “SUNS” wordmark, and a series of parallel lines forming the outline of a sun under the wordmark.

According to the Suns, these are called “speed rays,” and “the nine speed rays coming off the numbers symbolize the nine former players in the team’s Ring of Honor, the Phoenix-basketball logo is now on the waistband of the purple shorts and the sleeve of the orange uniform, and the gradient colors in the word ‘Suns’ symbolize the rising and setting sun.”

On the back of the collar is the secondary logo.

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The road purples:

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Though not quite a “mirror” image of the whites, these feature all of the same elements, save for a road Phoenix wordmark, rendered in the same interlocking font as “Suns”. As you can see from the above photos and graphic, there is an orange stripe running down the shorts, which wraps around the back of the shorts. This is also on the white pants as well. At the base of the shorts, at the seams, is a graphic that looks like a half-sun/basketball with phoenix wings extending upward.

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The orange alternates:

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The orange alternates have sleeves, making the Suns the second NBA team to officially have a sleeved alternate. While similar in marking/striping to the white/purple, these appear to have shorts in a different shade of orange from the jersey (you can see it more clearly in the first shot — you can also make out the striping and the new sun/wings logo). You can also see that the orange for the phoenix wings seems to match the jersey orange, while the pants are a redder orange. I’m not sure if this is simply the lighting/camera tricks. It’s slight, but it is noticeable.

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I actually enjoyed this unveiling, and it was nice that the Suns brought back many of their former stars (and not-so stars) and they all posed together wearing the various styles of uniforms the Suns have worn throughout their history.

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It was a nice walk down memory lane. I’ll end with a graphic I believe Todd Radom put together prior to the unveiling showing all the previous styles of uniforms worn by the Suns — and they were all seen in one form or another last evening:

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Well readers? I think this is one of the better uniform sets we’ve seen unveiled in recent years, and one I would definitely give a “GOOD” or Paul’s “Is it good or stupid” scale, and probably a B+/A- overall. I’m not such a fan of the purple roads (and not because I don’t like purple, it’s just not a good color for a uniform) and I will really need to see the oranges in action before I can pass further judgment. But I like the new wordmarks, the simplicity, and the entire package. I could do without that ass striping, but that’s really my sole major (and it’s not that major) complaint. Otherwise, well done, Phoenix. Well done.

If you’d like, I believe you can watch the video of the unveiling here.

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Baby, won’t you carry me…back to Tennessee

The other big uniform unveiling yesterday was, of course, The University of Tennessee. And of course, the big surprise was the introduction of a gray or, as UT is calling it, “smokey”. What the hell is “smokey” you say? Well, it turns out it’s actually a school color. It’s got it’s own PMS color even (PMS 426). But they also officially introduced new orange (which we’d seen before, but never officially) and white uniforms.

First, if you want to see the unveil in all its glory, here’s the full video (it’s about 25 minutes long, so feel free to skip it if you don’t have the time):

I was all prepared to do a writeup on these, but as fate would have it, I was contacted by a reader who is far more interested and invested than I, Jason Roberts, who approached me with his own review. And rather than regurgitate adidas corporate-speak or reinvent the wheel to describe these, Jason has done a far better job. So, allow me to present his review of these unis:

. . .

My thoughts as a Vol fan in his forties
by Jason Roberts

Though I am an ETSU graduate, I have been a lifelong Tennessee Vols fan (May be a requirement for males in Northeast Tennessee).

I know you had the Tennessee uniform teaser video, but thought I’d send another link to photos.

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The home and road jerseys are basically the same, just with new elements.

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Home (orange) jersey:

There would have been mass revolt had big changes been made here. The Tennessee fans love their orange. Noticeable changes

1) The power T logo on the front under the Adidas logo

2) An outline of the state of Tennessee is above the name on the back of the jersey. In my opinion, this was intended as a statement to Vanderbilt that U-T is “Tennessee’s school”. Butch Jones indicated that the state’s university should have the state on its back (paraphrasing)

3) The pattern of the material is new this year.

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Away (white) jersey:

As with the home jersey, only minor changes.

1) The black outline around the numbers has been removed. This was added back in the 90’s to assist broadcasters with seeing the player numbers on the field. While I’m not against incorporating the color black like some Vol fans, I never liked only using it as an outline. I like this change. The road jersey numbers have a faint checkerboard pattern. This is in reference to Neyland Stadium’s checkerboard end zones created coach (later athletic director) Doug Dickey in the 60’s.

2) The name “Tennessee” has been added to the front of the jersey above the numbers.

3) Tennessee outline is not on the road jersey. The power T is above the NOB on that one since Tennessee is spelled out on the front.

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VT Gray

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Alternate (Smokey grey) jersey/pants combo:

This is the first alternate jersey we’ve seen from Tennessee since the South Carolina game during (He whose name we don’t mention)’s lone year as head coach a few years back. Frankly, I loved those black jerseys. If you believe the story, they were a last minute decision, down to the week of the game. The decision was made so quickly that they weren’t actually Adidas jerseys. They were made by a company in Knoxville. Adidas logo was printed on them to satisfy terms of the school’s contract with Adidas.

Back to the story…these new grey jerseys have this Vol fan excited. Naysayers spout words like “tradition” when they object to changes. I say give the players and fans what they want. Kids want alternate jerseys. Good enough for me. The only tweak I would suggest is to go all the way and include a pewter helmet with an orange power T on them (just for the Smokey grey combo).

Butch Jones seems to be exactly what the Vols need right now. A player’s coach who can instill discipline and rally the Vol Nation like the early Fulmer years. He also seems to be a marketing genius who knows how to connect with high school and college kids.

My grade on the changes: A on an A+ scale. My prediction is that Tennessee will become a Nike school when the Adidas contract expires.

. . .

Thanks, Jason. Pretty nifty review there — I wouldn’t necessarily give the changes an “A” (I’m not sure any new adidas uniform which has the trademark treadmarks can rate an “A,” but on Paul’s “good” or “stupid” scale, I will certainly give these a GOOD). Readers? What say you?

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And now a few words from Paul…

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Membership update: Although I’m on blogcation, Scott Turner and I are still processing membership orders, and we just added a new batch of designs to the membership card gallery (including Kevin Lassiter’s card, based on Maryland basketball’s “pride” uniform, shown at right). The printed/laminated versions of these cards shipped out yesterday, so you new enrollees should be seeing them in the mail momentarily.

As always, you can sign up for your own custom-designed Uni Watch membership card here.

Meanwhile, one last reminder that the second annual Uni Watch Power Rankings will roll out on Monday over on ESPN. Remember, there’s a format change this time around: Last year we ranked the 122 Big Four uniform sets by going worst to first over the course of five days. This time we’re ranking each league’s uniforms one day at a time — MLB on Monday, NBA on Tuesday, NFL on Wednesday, NHL on Thursday — and then presenting the intermixed 122-team chart on Friday. Putting the finishing touches on it right now!

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UWFFL Logo

UWFFL Preseason Week 3:
By Rob Holecko

It’s time for another week of games here in the UWFFL. First let’s take a look back at last week’s results.

Curtis Peddle’s minor league Iowa Corn were the big winners of the week, scoring an upset victory over the UWFFL Chicago Cyclones.

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In other games, the St. Louis Slaughter prevailed in the Harvest War, the Brooklyn Uni Watchers defeated the New York Sharks and the Sacramento Scorpions also scored a close upset victory over the UWFFL San Francisco Reign Fire.

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In this week’s games, we’ll see two of Adam Cain’s New York teams go against each other as the UWFFL Sharks go up against the Garbologists, while two of Andrew Seagraves’ teams, the UWFFL Storm and the Rapid City Badlanders also face off. The Portland Gamblers open up their 2013 season wearing 1974 throwback uniforms against the Seattle Superbeasts, we see the debut of the East Bay Executioners (complete with their blood red shoes, which symbolizes the blood of their victims), and the debut also of another of our “concept” teams – the Los Angeles YouTubers.

When the regular season begins, you will vote on the six UWFFL games plus one minor league showcase game every week. The remaining minor leagues games will be voted on outside of Uni Watch via a seeparate linked page. Due to scheduling, the minor leagues actually begin their regular league schedule with two games this week. You can vote on those, if you so choose, via the link below today’s games.

Enjoy the voting, and we’ll see you next week.

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

UWFFL Preseason Week 3
  
pollcode.com free polls 

Link to additional minor league games.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: We begin with Leo Strawn today who writes, “The AFL goal umpires looked like lab techs in the past when they wore white lab coats and white fedoras. In recent years, the league has gone with rather normal shirts (albeit, in bright colors that don’t clash with the clubs on ground) worn with baseball caps for those umps. Now, it looks as though they may be trading hats in for a headband thanks to NASCAR technology. The headbands hold a goal-review camera that, along with other mounted cameras, will provide extra views for the video umpire in addition to the broadcast feed and will be trialed at this weekend’s Richmond Tigers v Carlton Blues match on Saturday.” … Oops! What team is Joe Mauer on? (nice catch by Mark Kaplowitz). … Good spot by Aaron Soucy, who saw something that more lends to an edit made by the production company for the WSOP on ESPN. In the first photo (he apologizes for the poor quality of the photos), Phil Ivey appears to have an additional sponsorship patch on his tshirt. In the second, it is gone, and actually Aaron doesn’t believe it shows up in the rest of the broadcast. … Corporate douchebaggery? Nike dropped sponsorship of 4th in world ranked US pole vaulter because he had to use tape over crappy velcro and covered up the swoosh! (thanks to Gordon Harvey. … Check out this New York Jets pennant from an episode of everybody loves Raymond–the episode Robert gets gored by a bull (h/t Alex Allen). … Here is a piece Todd Tobias did on Ben Davidson’s Raiders helmet when he visited him in April of last year. Lots of close up photos! … Father Ryan High School, a Catholic school in Nashville, TN, has decided to go “brandless” due to the “un-just” labor practices of apparel manufacturers. They are refusing any incentives or promotional products from apparel companies and refusing to advertise (logo creep) for the brands. “Could this be a first?” asks submitter Joseph Walker. … If you scroll down in this article, you will see “The Royals and Nationals will be wearing uniforms inspired by the 1942 Kansas City Monarchs and Washington Homestead Grays, in what will be a rematch of the 1942 Negro Leagues World Series.” Nice! … I think this has been mentioned before, but the Orioles are allowing a fan to design a t-shirt to be given away on Sept. 26 (thanks to Mike Wissman). … Andrew McKillop was combing through some old Air Force yearbooks, and found two photos of interest: Wyoming NOB (1972) and Air Force (two different colored facemasks in game). … A Marshall U. receiver gets his red helmet stripe removed but not because of his on-field activities (good find by Brice Wallace). … A “disturbing article” is how Jacob J. Sherman describes this piece on libraries accepting paid ads just to keep afloat. … Jarrod Leder watching a video that had the Big 12 backdrop behind the speaker and noticed the “dot” on the address above the speaker’s head was centered in an odd spot compared to the other addresses. … Kyle Beaudoin wanted to share some designs he has done that are sports related that he thought we’d find interesting. Some of those are pretty clever! … Gary Andersen is part of a corn maze in Wisconsin (thanks to Nate Neumann. … “The story of Hull City AFC’s rebranding to ‘Hull City Tigers’ is a guide to what NOT to do when you’re changing your identity,” says Yusuke Toyoda. “Don’t do it in stealth, without consulting fans, don’t refer to the club name as ‘irrelevant’ or ‘common’ or ‘lousy’, don’t make a week before the start of the season so you the league won’t let you use your new name for a year, and don’t talk about global marketing when you own a third-tier club in the English equivalent of Cincinnati, except without the glitz and the glamor.” … Joel Dale’s father-in-law had this beautiful vintage can of glove conditioner at his house. It’s still pretty full and will be used to break Joel’s 3-month-old’s glove when that day comes. … Here are some results of the “name the team” efforts back when Phoenix became a franchise in 1968. “I especially like the illustrations that go along with some of them,” says submitter Keith Winney. … Not uni related, but Michael Cooperman asks, “Is Lincoln going BFBS?” … Here’s batting gloves and the helmet from one of the LLWS West players, and a ‘sneak peek’ at their uniforms for today. Andrew Domingo notes one of his friends is on that team. … The AFL (that’s “Arena” Football, kids) is bringing a team back to LA, with a little help from KISS (thanks to Tod Hess) And here’s a bit more on that (from Yancy Yeater). … And there’s a new football field, grandstand & press box at Hermiston High, Oregon (h/t Alex Allen). … Last night the Carolina Panthers wore their greatest uniform in the history of ever togs. … The Diamondbacks will throw back to their purple & teal unis on August 31st. … Tim Kohn has been watching the Browns preseason games and noticed that local Cleveland affiliate WKYC has been using a weird Browns logo with no ear hole on the helmet in their coverage. … Buncha tweets from Sully (@pal3327): camo cap for Shorebirds fans, and a Shorebirds Rally For Life jersey; Lowell Spinners modeling their Loch Monsters unis. … Nice spot by Rob Holecko who noticed the kerning is very odd on a Bears #11 jersey. It wasn’t always that way (h/t to Samuel Lam). … Question/statement from “Jedidiah Springfield” — “This site about the history of Tampa Stadium has lots of cool stuff, but the photo that really got my attention was this one. Ever heard of “Buc Invader”? Maybe other readers have more info about this; I can’t find anything.” … Think pink is a new uni phenomenon? Graham Clayton notes the rebel World Series Cricket competition that was played in Australia between 1977 and 1979 featured three teams – Australia, who played in a canary yellow strip, the World team, who played in a sky-blue, and the West Indies who played in this all-pink uniform. “The West Indies players had reservations about wearing the uniform, due to the homosexual connotations of pink that were prevalent in the late 1970’s.” … And finally, here’s a look at the USMNT national kit. Nice!

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OK, lads and lasses — that’s a lot to digest, I know, but what are ya gonna do? Uni unveils are uni unveils. Thanks to all the contributors all week, and I’ll be back with you again on Monday, as I have one more week of pinch-hitting for Paul. Johnny Ek will take you through the weekend. Monday should be a pretty full day, as Paul will have his uni rankings series dropping and who knows what uniforms will be broken out over the weekend. There’s the Negro League Throwback game in Kansas City (I believe) on Saturday, and there are probably still a few colleges yet to tip their uni-hands for the upcoming NCAA season.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“One of the best nicknames anywhere ”“ Red Foxes! Great part of the world (I realize most people do not use the words “great” and “Poughkeepsie” in the same sentence, but the Hudson Valley is really happening these days), great attitude towards BCS ambitions (ie, fuhgeddaboudit), great potential ironic-detachment fan base in hipsters looking for something after Beacon DIA), overall great uni possibilities.”
–Conn Nugent

 
  
 
Comments (96)

    Tennessee’s smokey gray set is F-R-E-S-H. They can probably mix the gray elements into their other looks pretty seamlessly too. Big fan.

    What Tennessee SHOULD’VE done, in lieu of cluttering up the back of the jersey with a difficult-to-see outline in addition to the player’s name & number, was kill two birds with one stone by using nameplates shaped like the State. Like they did in the old days with their license plates…

    link

    Now that would’ve been something else.

    Fitting though, that today’s lead story involves Tennessee. RIP, The King.

    I like the smokey jersey and pants, but the white helmet looks really out of place with that set. Should have gone with a smokey helmet, or even an orange one.

    Those aren’t shorts the suns have introduced with the sleeved jersey–where I live the ladies call them “cropped yoga pants”.

    #bringbacktheshortshortsandgetoffmylawn

    Really not feeling those Suns uniforms. I like simplistic, I like clean. But these just feel stripped more than clean. The lines across the chest are too close to the wordmark, and the wordmark is too low on the chest (Look how much space is between the word and the collar). The whole thing just feels old, but not classic. I’m also not a fan of the sleeved jerseys. It’s simply another “LOOK AT ME” trick from adidas (Just like those GOD-AWEFUL trademark treadmarks on their new uni’s. Cannot put into words how much I hate those). Overall, the new uni set is, I agree, more good than stupid, but I still think it’s a downgrade from their previous set.

    “… Here are some results of the ‘name the team’ efforts back when Phoenix became a franchise in 1968. ‘I especially like the illustrations that go along with some of them,’ says submitter Keith Winney. …”

    I’m for the Phoenix Sun Jets look from the 1968 contest, but in this other universe, I agree with Phil that the unis introduced yesterday are really pretty good. The all-orange sleeved alternate would look great in a high school league.

    “But these just feel stripped more than clean.”

    Trying to come up with my own words for how I feel about the new Suns unis, but this statement actually fits perfectly.

    The Panther unis are probably the worst NFL unis ever. They actually make Jacksonville’s shitty uniforms look almost good.

    I agree. I absolutely hate those Panthers uniforms. They are better than the new Jags unis, however. :)

    I love the black on black look for the Panthers. They need a black hat and it would be awesome!!!!!

    Wonder how the players feel about the look of a sleeved jersey tucked into “shorts” that extend below the knee. Show up at the playground for a pick-up game in that look, and you’d be laughed off the court, or worse! (I notice one of the players has it untucked for his interview…)

    I’d like the Suns’ white jersey a WHOLE lot more with purple numbers instead of black.

    Suns identity is being destroyed in Phoenix and for good reason. The Suns did a poor job of ripping off their own past identity from 1992-93 (bursting Sun era) and came up with smorgasbord of wrong. Way too many incongruous parts with no symmetry.

    You know what I dislike about both the Suns’ new uniforms and the Tennessee jerseys? Both have two annoying pesky bits above the number that push it downwards and away from the viewer’s focus: Suns on the back (though not on the white jersey in the photo), where you have to get past a tiny logo and then a NOB before you see the number, and Tennessee, where on the front the manufacturer’s logo is at the top, then the team name, then the number. If you’re going to have two non-number elements on a jersey, they should surround the number and link instead.

    ” … And finally, here’s a look at the USMNT national kit. Nice!…”

    Agree enthusiastically. Those red-and-white hoop stripes are bold, distinctive and, you know, national-flag-informed. I also like the all-white 1930s throwback, where the only design element is that venerable stars-and-stripes shield. The navy blue jerseys with white sleeves should get lost at the dry cleaners.

    Now that the Nationals have tanked (thanks a lot, all you bait-and-switch DC baseball guys), I’m getting excited about USMNT. Jozy! Michael! Landon! All you guys with American fathers who were a bit indiscreet in their overseas procreative behaviors! Our plucky republic’s team just overwhelmed mighty Bosnia-Herzogovina in Sarajevo, to which I make reference only to prepare you all for the 17,000-word entry I will submit tomorrow on the origins of the First World War.

    The red-and-white hoops are so good that I kind of don’t care about the drab-to-awful blue-on-blue hoops the photo shows folded on the locker-room chairs. (For the love of Pele, let that be a practice jersey, or maybe some other team’s jersey.)

    The main thing USA Soccer needs is not so much uniforms that look good, but uniforms that look distinctive and consistent. Diagonal slash? Fine, just stick with it. Plain white and navy shirts with minimal decoration? Fine, just stick with it. Contrast sleeves? Fine, just stick with it. Red-and-white hoops have the advantage of making for some of the best and most distinctive shirts in world soccer, so here’s hoping that this is what settles in as the defining look of team USA. We can worry about the blue second shirt later, once the team powers-that-be and Nike have accepted that red-and-white hoops are to the USA as yellow shirts are to Brazil.

    The blue numbers is indeed the warmup shirt worn before the match and on the bench. Here’s link.

    Agreed on consistency – as distinctive as the red/white hoops are, I’d like to see the team settle on one look, whether it’s all-white or white with a sash. The thing with soccer uniforms is that while the design might change from season to season, the colors (generally) stay the same. Italy will always be the Azurri, Netherlands will always be Oranje and Argentina will always be La Albiceleste.

    Though USA has worn the red hoops on and off for a while now; it’s close to becoming a real contender for “our” oranje. It’s the look I hope they settle on.

    Aside from the sash on the hoops, I think this comes about as close as anything to the ideal team USA kit, for both men and women:

    link

    The plain whites stink. They look nearly the same as a dozen different countries. The Hoops rock.

    How many national teams of relevance wear all-white as the primary uniform, especially now that England has gone back to white/navy?

    The all-white is a relatively unique look in international soccer, even if it isn’t as unique as the hoops.

    Consistency is good, yes, but not if it means a consistent sash. I just hate that sash and love those hopes.

    How’s that hoopy-changey thing workin’ out for ya, Con?

    The sash: Not my favorite option. (Hoops, please!) But good enough that if USA stuck with it, I’d be happy to have it as our “signature” look. Better than faux denim, anyway. There is, after all, link for the sash.

    Suns look ok… I like the speed lines or sunburst or whatever they want to call it. The sleeved jersey needs to go away though.

    Tennessee should either ditch the gray alt, or add a gray helmet to it. The checkerboard pattern is too subtle though. I can barely see it on the numbers, so it’s sort of pointless. They’d be better off using an actual white/orange pattern in the stripes instead.

    …and the LA KISS? Seriously? I’d really like to call that a pathetic joke, but we are talking about a league which at one point had the Miami Hooters, so… yeah. This is why no one takes you seriously, AFL.

    I just read the story on the LA KISS on Yahoo! Sports. As far as the uniforms go, I do like both the Suns new uni sets as well as Tennessee’s.

    Also, this is non-uni related, but I wrote a story on link on how I attended two MLB games last Thursday. On a uni-related note, I was kinda surprised that the Indians wore their blue jerseys on a Thursday home game.

    Phil – in the past, clicking on the links would open in a new window or tab and all links after that point would open in the same window. Now (for the past two or three weeks) each link opens in its own window/tab, which is highly annoying. What’s the deal? Are you coding the links differently? Am I the only one with this issue?

    I’m not doing anything differently than I have for the past 5 years, but maybe it has something to do with the website upgrade that took place about a month ago. I’ll send your question to Ek.

    Could also be a browser setting. Try a different browser and see if it still does that.

    Nah, I tried that. It’s weird. Sometimes it will work for two, maybe three links in a row, but then revert to opening a new window.

    love all the orange in todays post! very refreshing on a friday morning.

    i like the suns unis, but something doesn’t work quite right with the 9 stripes. the curve against the number font looks a tad bit awkward, and a single digit just looks bad. also, the wordmark needs to come up on the jersey about an inch or so. big picture though, i love what they did. almost nailed it. with a few minor tweaks i could see that uni still looking good 10 seasons from now. and kudos for taking the time to actually think out a uni scheme

    A uniform set that looks like slightly modified prison jumpsuits in a league with majority black players is EXACTLY the kind of optics the NBA is shooting for.

    Regarding Father Ryan High School, they could buy uniforms made right in Tennessee if they opened their eyes. Wilson Sporting Goods has long manufactured uniforms in the state.

    link

    Wilson Uniform Factory
    4600 Roberts Matthews Highway
    Sparta, Tennessee 38583

    link

    link

    link

    It looks like the space between the numbers is the same as the space between two full-width numbers. It doesn’t work at all, though, when the ones don’t have any serifs.

    That’s one of my pet peeves that I don’t think had ever been talked about here: when the two digits in the number 11 are aligned too close to each other. It doesn’t happen much when the 1 has a serif on the bottom (link), but other teams link. With the Bears, where there are no serifs at all, a careless equipment manager will have the jersey looking bizarre.

    Which is too bad, because an un-serifed 1 can look pretty cool sometimes. link

    I had number 11 several times as a kid and found myself rooting for other #11s, and it seemed like there weren’t enough of them. I wonder if players avoided choosing it on some teams because with the digits so close together, it just somehow looked wrong.

    Mark, one thing I like even less than the 1’s too close together is when they are too far apart. It’s a sloppy look.

    For the Suns reveal…

    Let’s take the whitest guy we have, dress him in all white, and have him stand near a light source! I need sun glasses to look at that dude. :)

    I think I speak for all Suns fans who were hoping for a revised/updated version of the 90’s uniforms. We almost got the streaking sunburst but instead it’s a streaking number. That missing element was huge. The graphic on the shorts is also curious, as it reflects nothing from any of their six new logos. The word mark sits very low on the chest. “SUNS” on the home and alt uniform is fucking huge. The butt stripe across the pants is also awkward. Overall, I’m let down.

    link

    Also, the streaking number looks okay with double digits but with a single digit the design falls apart. Quite an oversight by the design team on that one.

    Alex- thanks for the brilliant way to show how close the Suns were to updating a classic , but then coming up woefully short. Great work,

    Here’s my view as a Suns fan.
    White is ok…needs to include Purple. I hate that they have taken purple almost completely out of the identity of the team (at least at home).
    I like the purple one, but it could use more color.
    The orange is a disaster. The sleeves are terrible, and the orange / black combo just doesn’t work.

    I do like the sunburst inside of the phoenix bird wings on the shorts, but the stripe across the ass looks like it was leftover from some high school team in the 90’s.

    The re-naming of Hull City definitely was handled in a very clumsy way. But I should point out that they aren’t a third-tier club; they are in the Premiership, which is the top tier. Perhaps you meant to call them a third-rate club

    “features a really neat font – one that looks the same upside down as right side up”

    It’s called an AMBIGRAM, smart guy.

    Would it have killed the Suns to make the numbers purple on their home and alt jerseys?

    But… but… why would they do that, when they could make them black?

    I am pretty surprised they went with a purple roadie. I figured it would be black. I guess the NBA wouldn’t allow them to step on the Nets’ toes.

    Yeah, I know. I guess I was just thinking about how the Nets released a black uni last year, so doing another one this year might steal some of their thunder.

    There was a commenter here who claimed to be in the know, and said NBA frowned on black uniforms, and hadn’t allowed any new black uniforms (tweaks for Spurs and Blazers aside) since the late-90s Utah Jazz alternates before making an exception for the Nets.

    I don’t see anything to dispute that claim, and it makes sense that the Nets will continue to be exception for the foreseeable future.

    Some of the name suggestions for the Suns from back in the day are pretty entertaining.

    “Conquistadors” – Hmm, somebody listening to a little Procol Harum at the time?

    “Chapparals” – Dallas had it for their ABA team at the time, though both leagues started “Rockets” franchises in 1967, so duplication wasn’t necessarily out of the question.

    “Sharks” – What.

    “Fryers” – Amused by the added comment “Typical for our climate!”

    “Pandas” – Again, WHAT.

    “Hmm, somebody listening to a little Procol Harum at the time?”

    ~~~

    NICE reference — If you asked 100 people to name a Procol Harum tune, 50 probably couldn’t and 49 of them would probably respond with “Whiter Shade…”. I bet 1 in 100 would name “Conquistador” (despite it, I believe, actually being a Top 40 single at one point).

    They should have been the Phoenix Phoenix!

    Or the Arizona Phoenix playing in Phoenix, Arizona.

    I would have picked Wreck of the Hesperus, only because I have a soft spot for songs about shipwrecks.

    That Suns home white uni REALLY needed purple lettering/numbering instead of orange. Instead, it’s generic and looks like it belongs to an orange and black expansion team. That makes the road purple seem completely out of place, but…the road purples aren’t that bad and are easily the best thing about the new set. Had the whites looked like an inverse of those, it would’ve been much more tolerable. Still not great, or even particularly good, but ok.

    The orange sleeved alternates with capri pants are a joke.

    And can we stop with the

    Why do you feel that purple “just not a good color for a uniform,” Phil? That’s a pretty sweeping statement. I’ve always been frustrated by Paul’s utter hatred of the color so I’m disappointed to hear you have similar thoughts.

    It’s probably just his personal preference. As a Vikings’ fan, I’ve always liked the purple jerseys (although I’m glad they changed back to the more traditional set) and it is, by far, my favorite color. In fact, I’m wearing a purple shirt right now at work, and purple and green were the main colors at my wedding (my wife’s favorite color is green). If there is any color that should be banned from uniforms, it should be teal.

    Sorry, I was writing most of that at about 1:00 am, and I should have been more specific. I don’t mind purple as a color, but in general I prefer a “lighter” (more red) purple to a darker (more blue) shade. When it’s that dark (suns new one, at least from the pics), it’s almost black. Just like a dark navy isn’t necessarily a good uni color, neither (IMHO) is a deep dark purple. I prefer brighter shades and colors — the new Vikes unis, for example, appear a bit lighter than these.

    It might just have been the lighting. Until I see them other than on a fashion runway, I don’t want to make any sweeping generalizations (as I probably did late last night).

    In regards to the Lincoln ticker item…

    Lincoln “Black Label” trim isn’t referring to the color of the trim, it’s just the moniker for their higher grade premium interior trim. There’s more than just black.

    “The Black Label name will signify more than just some new luxury leathers, woods and color combinations.”

    I clicked on the Todd Tobias piece on Ben Davidson’s helemt (really cool!), then out of couriosity clicked the Cincinnati Bengals Stories link and discovered that Buzz Ponce had written a book about Frank Buncom, a one-time all star linebacker who played for the Bengals in their first year (1968). Sadly he died just before the next season of a pulmonary embolism. I remember having his card as a kid. He was acquired in the allocation draft after playing in San Diego.

    The piece includes this completely stunning photograph of Frank Buncom and…..

    link

    The new Suns uniform is tepid .(I really don’t like that wordmark. It reminds me of the Twins current wordmark: clunky and cold.) There is no statement here. It feels half hearted, afraid to excite or offend. And black numbers? Oy.

    Look how this original uniform grabs your eye:

    link

    Two strong complimentary colors with just enough white trim. Look how that sunburst pops on the shorts with only minimal detail.

    Couple of other things. Todd’s representation of Suns uni history is cool but the first two should be reversed. Also, I don’t know what Dick Van Arsdale is wearing. It looks like some ebay knockoff.

    Does the Tennessee monochrome look like the pants and jersey are two different shades of orange, or is that me?

    Lowell Lock Monster jerseys for the Spinners? But the NY-Penn League already has waterborne monsters in Vermont. On the other hand, that’d make a great mascot fight!

    PS I didn’t know the LA Avengers had gone from the AFL. Serious downgrade, no matter what happens, from the Avengers’ “hood ornament” helmet logo.

    Tennessee has had an ongoing problem during much of their time with Adidas on getting the orange to match on separate items. I think this is as close as they will get.

    In the Tennessee photo showing the state outline on the back, the nameplate looks like it was sewn on by Helen Keller.

    That Bears #11 looks awful. It was fine the way they used to do it.

    The new Suns uniforms are bland, like everything NBA/Adidas. They all look basically the same to me. I will give them credit for having a contrasting NOB which I do like.

    I never had a problem with purple uniforms, in fact I think it actually does work very well for the few teams that use it, Vikings, Suns, Rockies not so much. Agree with Phil, a more vibrant shade of purple would be better.

    As for the sleeved jerseys, I think it’s going to look like a professional team (with tank top type) is playing an amateur pick up team with the sleeves.

    The Suns “speed stripes” look like skid marks from my boxers. What gets me is how the Suns promised that purple would be a primary color and it only shows up on the road uni. My guess is since it was 2 yrs in the making, since they missed the deadline last year, people voiced their disgust about black and orange and so they changed to purple roadies. Read any Suns twitter, Facebook or instagram and it’s 90% disgusted with this uniform. And hatred for Sarver.

    On the “good” or “stupid” scale, I give Tennessee’s new uniforms a grade of “stupid.” Here’s why:

    1) The adidas logo is essentially sitting on top of the Power T logo on the home and alternate jerseys and on top of the wordmark on the road jerseys. Disrespectful and unacceptable. This is the University of Tennessee, not the University of adidas.

    2) The cut of the “Techfit” jerseys, combined with the new “treadmark” pattern, makes the players look like they have narrow shoulders, concave chests, and pot bellies. It’s less noticeable on the white jerseys, but the orange and grey “smokey” look ridiculous.

    It’s too bad, really. The rest of the design features on the uniforms are decent enough, but they can’t overcome the major flaws.

    Loved the Dead-inspired section header, Phil. I’m sure Jed would be equally appreciative :-)

    I will do that on occasion (with heds/section titles), Hugh. Thanks for noticing.

    The Knoxville paper ran an article on the website about the Tennessee unis titled “Vols Add a Touch of Grey,” but then changed it a few hours later. Not sure why.

    have to say, pretty disappointed with the suns new product. especially with the sleeved orange on orange alternate. they look like cans of sunkist. how can a jersey be that bland with such a rich history of bold design? the “speed lines” do not react to the differences in the front number (single digit/double digit) and there are no real basketball sunbursts to be found. why not put the number in a basketball? sad.

    the armpit holes need a colored stripe and the wordmark needs to come up three inches. it is a) too close to the “speed lines” and b) on the abdomen and not the chest, leaving the sternum area really empty.

    all linear on the front but the lines on the back curve around the hip… really disjointed look, both front to back and top to bottom. the “speed lines” look as bad as the tail underneath the newer twins’ road grey unis. nine is too many; it’s not like their nine ring of honor members are on the tip of every nba fan’s tongue. if you aren’t going to tie into any other element, don’t just draw lines for no reason.

    pink elephant in the room: what the hell is that on the bottom of the shorts? they set up this fashion show like a natural progression of their uniforms past to present and this “thing” comes out of nowhere. it looks like a corporate logo for tequila.

    two saving graces: they didn’t go black for black sake or do the stupid airport code “phx” across the chest. that always annoyed me (looking at you atl).

    the whole project is a one-off. they should have taken three years and they would get it right. i see where they’re going (and i like it) but they didn’t get there.

    Bills wearing white at home against Carolina on 9/15 isn’t new, but this FB photo suggests Standing-Bison Throwbacks the same game:
    link
    was that known before?

    There’s been so much gray in uniforms the last few years, and most of the new gray reveals have been an eyeroll.

    For Tennessee, however, that shade of gray with their signature orange just fits GREAT. So much more natural than black.

    Good excuse here to mention the AFL’s newest and only orange team, the GWS Giants.

    I had no idea until yesterday, but that shade of grey is one of Tennessee’s three primary colors. I had lived my entire life thinking they only had two…except for the Lady Vols, which have used pale blue for years.

    Best name for a team from phoenix……AAA minor league “phoenix firebirds” cool logo too

    Fashion Square Mall is in Scottsdale, not Phoenix.

    My problem with the sleeved alternate – there’s no trim at all on the collar or sides, so (to me) it looks like a souvenir t-shirt bought at the gift shop.

    Compare that to Golden States’ sleeved alternate – the shorts striping carries onto the jersey, and there’s collar striping. It looks like a basketball jersey, not a cotton souvenir shirt.

    “@Dodgers: “Instead of getting booed, now I’m going to get ooed.” -@BrianWilson38 on why he chose the No. 00.”

    In my opinion, as a lifelong Suns fan, this list is everything wrong with the new Suns set, in order from worst to least concerning:

    1) AWFUL sunburst rays/”speed lines” behind the numbers that have no purpose
    2) black numbers on the white unis
    3) the mismatched stripes on the jerseys/shorts
    4) mismatching waistband logos on the purple ones. I really hate that dumb new S logo, so they could just stick with the PHX logo on all 3.

    I LOVE the shorts, and the road jersey would be perfection sans “speed lines” and the mismatched pinstripes on the jersey.

    One vote to start including MLS uniforms in the great uniform listing contest. Probably too late for this year. Plus it could grow the UniWatch fan base.

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