Monday Morning Uni Watch

By Paul Lukas, on November 29, 2021

Click to enlarge

Good morning, and happy post-Thanksgiving! Lots of throwbacks around the NFL yesterday. Let’s start in Indy, where the Colts wore their 1956 throwbacks for the first and only time this season. Lots of people probably didn’t notice, but I enjoyed the sleeve stripes, sock stripes, and rear-helmet horseshoes. Lots of additional photos here, here, and here.

In other news from around the league yesterday:

• The Browns wore their white throwbacks while the Ravens wore their mono-black alternates, creating a white-vs.-black matchup:

• The Giants were another team wearing throwbacks (for the second consecutive week, oddly):

• Speaking of the Giants, here’s something that isn’t new but that I’d never noticed before: They routinely cut the red helmet stripe as it crosses the cutout on Riddell SpeedFlex helmets but don’t cut the stripe on Schutt F7 helmets:

• In yet another Giants development, they retired Michael Strahan’s No. 92 at halftime (interestingly, only one other player — a replacement player during the 1987 strike — has ever worn that number for the Jints):

Note that they gave Strahan a current-template Nike jersey with a captaincy patch. Obviously, Strahan never wore that template during his career. Moreover, he only wore the captaincy designation during the NFL’s Reebok era.

Also, note that Strahan’s former teammate Jessie Armstead wore a No. 64 jersey with Strahan’s NOB. That’s because Strahan was initially issued that number as a rookie in 1992 but changed to a different number because he didn’t like the way 64 looked:

So Strahan was into uni aesthetics from the start of his career!

• The Bengals wore their orange alternate jerseys:

As reader/commenter Tom Juettner points out, this was the first time the Bengals wore black pants with orange socks since 2005, and the first time they’d done so while wearing an orange jersey since 2004.

• The Panthers wore their blue alternate jerseys:

• Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks’s nameplate was coming loose:

• Two teams wore white at home: the Dolphins, plus the aforementioned Giants. (If you toss in the Cowboys and Saints from Thanksgiving Day, that means four home teams wore white this week.)

(My thanks to Jamie Burditt, Chris Sadeghi, and @r_v04 for their contributions.)

• • • • •

• • • • •

Walking the walk: Celtics center Enes Kanter wore “Freedom” as his NOB during the 2020 NBA bubble games, and he also has a history of inscribing “Freedom” on his sneakers (all shown above). Now he’s making it official by legally changing his surname to Freedom.

This presumably means that his NOB will change back to “Freedom,” although it was still “Kanter” last night (as you can just barely see on the right here).

• • • • •

• • • • •

Click to enlarge

’Tis the Season, Part One: Hanukkah began last night, so the Tugboat Captain (who’s back from the sanitarium and has regained most of her taste and smell, phew!) made latkes and I dressed accordingly.

Yes, it’s true — I wore a shirt that includes a bit of purple. It’s a Hanukkah miracle!

• • • • •

• • • • •

Click to enlarge

’Tis the Season, Part Two: With Thanksgiving now over, it’s time for a longstanding Uni Watch HQ tradition: the hanging of the plastic mistletoe that I bought for $2.99 at the now-defunct Woolworth’s at Herald Square in 1993. This marks the 29th consecutive year I’ve hung the faux ’toe, which, as always, will remain in place through the 12th day of Christmas. Let the Yuletide necking commence!

• • • • •

• • • • •

ITEM! Two-day merch and membership sale: Since most of the retail world is offering discounts today, I figured I’d do the same. For today and tomorrow, you can save 20% on anything in the Uni Watch, Naming Wrongs, and Uni Rock shops by using the checkout code CYBER2021.

In addition, for today and tomorrow, the price of a Uni Watch membership card will be $20, instead of the usual $25 — a 20% discount. That goes for gift memberships as well.

My thanks, as always, for considering our products.

• • • • •

• • • • •

The Ticker
By Jamie Rathjen

Football News: The designer of this season’s Super Bowl logo has come out as transgender (from Fran Fried). … Left over from Saturday: The TV first down line was missing from some of the Michigan State/Penn State game because of snow (from David Dahl). … Reader Wade Heidt has Canadian college uni tracking in yesterday’s comments. … Also from Wade: The CFL’s Calgary Stampeders wore alternate helmet logos yesterday.

Hockey News: Maple Leafs C Jason Spezza’s 1,200th NHL game was last night, so to mark the occasion they had an artist who makes mosaics for sports teams out of Rubik’s Cubes make a piece based on Spezza’s face (from Andreas Papadopoulos). … The Junior A British Columbia Hockey League’s Vernon Vipers wore their ““BCHL 60th-anniversary throwback-inspired uniforms” on Saturday (from Wade Heidt). … New white jersey for Division III Williams College’s men’s team (from Andrew Ayres). … Someone photographed near President Biden, on vacation in Nantucket, was wearing the jersey of Finland’s HIFK (from Rob Yasinac).

College Hoops News: Milwaukee’s men’s team wore striped warm-up pants yesterday (from Bob Brainerd). … California’s men’s team’s jerseys have piping that only goes around half of the arms and neck this season, though last season it was also there but only around the arms (from Mac MacArthur). … Valparaiso’s men’s team played NAIA Trinity Christian College yesterday. Trinity’s team name is the Trolls and it has a logo to match (from @beardedup).

Soccer News: Thursday was also known in the rest of the world as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the color for the UN’s campaign for it is orange. Germany’s women’s team wore orange warm-up shirts on Friday to commemorate the day. The German Football Federation also turned its logo orange. … In Italy, Juventus put an orange cover on every third seat in their stadium on Saturday to symbolize that one-third of women suffer from violence. … Also in Italy, Napoli are up to 10 different shirts this season after a blue version of a Diego Maradona-themed design was worn yesterday in Serie A. Some of the differences are just variations in accent colors (from Trevor Williams). … U.S./Portland Thorns midfielder Lindsey Horan is wearing No. 10 for the USWNT friendlies in Australia, which makes her the first USWNT player other than Carli Lloyd to do so since 2008. … New shirts for Japan’s J1 League’s Vissel Kobe and the J2 League’s V-Varen Nagasaki (both from Jeremy Brahm). … Speaking of the J1 League, new home shirt for Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. … England/Manchester City striker Ellen White got a commemorative No. 100 shirt for 100 national team apperances (from Graham Clayton).

Grab Bag: The charity Stonewall UK’s Rainbow Laces campaign runs for the next two weeks, and participants this weekend included the Premier League, English Football League, England’s women’s soccer team, and Premiership Rugby. … England Netball has a new logo, and for a series starting yesterday the national team plans to repeat something they’ve done before by having each player wearing the name of someone they consider inspirational, most often a parent, below their crests. … Here is an older article on transit systems that use “M”-based logos (from @churchofbasebal). … With the New Jersey Devils wearing “Jersey” on their new jersey, here’s a really fun Twitter thread on self-referential uni elements (thanks to all who shared). … The pandemic has effectively changed the dress code for Capitol Hill staffers.

November 29th, 2021 | Category: General, NFL | 35 comments

Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken, on November 28, 2021

By Phil Hecken with the SMUW Crew

Good Sunday morning all!

Yesterday, like many teams, Oregon and Oregon State played in their annual rivalry game — which was known as the “Civil War” until 2020 — and the game has been known for it’s (mostly) colorful uniform matchups since the mid-2000s. If you’re interested in the history of the rivalry, click here. It’s been going on for well over 100 years, so it’s definitely one of the older games out there.

As has happened a few times in the past, yesterday’s game was color vs. color. In this case, Oregon went head to toe “Apple Green,” which the Beavers of Oregon State countered with black/orange/orange.

While in most cases, I’m all for color vs. color games — especially rivalry games — as is often the case between these schools, that doesn’t make for a particularly good looking (or high contrasting) game. The overcast skies over Autzen Stadium only seemed to exacerbate the oversaturated look of the teams

When talking about this game with Duck Tracker Dennis Bolt, I remembered Oregon/OSU being color vs. color a few times (I thought three or four prior to today) and he confirmed they’ve done so three previous years.

Last season, with OSU hosting, the Ducks wore silver/yellow/yellow vs. black/orange/orange for OSU in what was known as the Fog Bowl. Prior to that, in 2018 it was mono-yellow vs. mono-black. Neither of those two games, at least to me, was particularly good looking, despite school colors on full display. The one color vs. color game I did enjoy was way back in 2013, when the Ducks wore green/green/yellow (with contrasting yellow sleeves) while OSU went mono-orange. Visually — at least to me — it was very appealing.

Over the past couple decades, when the at least one team has worn a white road jersey, the matchups have ranged from very good, to … well, let’s say if there was an all-time NCAA 5 & 1, the bra-straps vs. diamondplate game (that was in 2007) would be MY all-time & 1!

And with that, and a rivalry-weekend wrap, here’s TJ with your…

• • • • •

Sunday Morning Uni Watch
by Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

It’s that time of year again… RIVALRY WEEK. And let me just say, this year did not disappoint. Lots of close games, lots of glorified exhibition games *coughgeorgiavsgeorgiatechcough*, and plenty of uni news. No time waste, jus– just DO.

From Friday:

• Arkansas and Mizzou once again played in a color-vs-color game against each other, a tradition of sorts that was started shortly after the (MO) Tigers moved from the Big XII to the SEC. I like the idea, but I REALLY wish that Mizzou would wear this instead, that would truly make this a visual delight.

• I’m just gonna say it: at this point, South Florida owns the super-nuclear neon aesthetic (for special occasions, of course). If these were worn in the mid-to-late-90s (especially during the “Space Jam” era), they’d fit right in. Fitting, too: they had a new helmet stripe that showed the names of the original USF Bulls from 1997.

• Utah wore tribute helmets against Colorado (another look).

• I feel like I never get to see these two teams in broad daylight as much as I would think.

• Simple, but effective. Seriously, I love UTEP’s official shade of orange.

• *sigh* So much colorful potential, wasted.

From Saturday:

• GO (too much) BLUE! Seriously, what’s wrong with this? I still think that this game should be color-vs-color (with OF in maize pants, of course). I’ll also add that the weather conditions added that quintessential late-November touch. During the end of the game (specifically, the last sack the Buckeyes took), I noticed that the Jumpman logo on Wolverines junior Linebacker David Ojabo seemed to have jumped off. Additionally, I wasn’t able to get a clear enough screenshot, but the corners of Ojabo’s back numbers (these corners, specifically) were also starting to peel a bit (again, this was on the back of his jersey, not the front where the arrows are).

• You already know what I’m gonna say.

• I don’t know what it is, but this look just seems so… CHAMPAIGN. I kinda like it. It does however, show just how badly-balanced the navy jersey is, not a fleck of white to be found.

• Speaking of which, LSU wore all-white against Texas A&M. No 2,456 overtimes this year.

• I don’t know how they do it, but Oklahoma State almost always has a killer look almost every week. Also, Michigan’s David Obajo wasn’t the only one having Jumpman glitches on Saturday.

• Oh, but when Boise State does it, suddenly, there’s a problem. But for real, a snow game is ALWAYS a welcome sight around here. I just wish Sparty wore green lids, never was a fan of the whipped-cream-on-pie look. That belongs in your mouth, not on the field.

• Orange trou for Clemson.

• Retros for Maryland.

• Looks like the Team Typically Known as the Golden Flashes need to replace all of the burnt-out light bulbs in all of their unis.

• …Well, at least Southern Miss is playing the role. of the Golden Eagles. Tragic choice of color for the numbers, tho.

• Arizona State kept to a very Sparky look against Arizona, who themselves wore their Military Appreciation uniforms for a second time since revealing them.

• Okay, you guys have my attention.

• Just NOB things in the B1G.

• Lastly, you know I can’t not talk about this game. You want to talk about a visual masterpiece…

And with that, Week 13 is in the books. Now that we’ve reached the peak of the regular season graph, things will most likely slow down a bit with the conference championship games happening next week, teams that aren’t bowl eligible go into hibernation, awaking only at the first sight of a shiny object (age needn’t matter), and I think there was an upcoming game between two academies? Dunno what that’s about, but what I DO know is, I’ll see you next week. Hope everyone had a fun and safe Thanksgiving, and as always, HUGE thanks to Blaise D’Sylva for all of the helmet news that he provides.

• • • • •

Thanks, TJ! And now on to Jimmer’s 5 & 1.

Jimmer Vilk’s 5 & 1

After more than a decade in hiatus, the original “5 & 1” decider, Jim Vilk, has returned! Jim began doing the 5 & 1 many years ago, followed Catherine Ryan, Joe Ringham, Michael “Memal” Malinowski, and several guest pickers. Once again, Jim will pick HIS 5 best looking/1 awful matchup, and occasionally have some honorable mentions (both good and bad). You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.

If you have a game you feel is “worthy” of consideration for the 5 & 1, please either post it in the comments below or tweet Mr. Vilk @JVfromOhio.

Here’s today’s 5 & 1:

• • • • •

This season went by pretty quickly, huh? Well, it was fun while it lasted.

Honorable Mentions to

Utah State/New Mexico

A nice contrasting game on a nice sunny day.

__________

Alabama/Auburn

Next year’s matchup should make the Top Five, but this one’s pretty good too.

__________

5. Ole Miss/Mississippi State

With the Egg Bowl on Thursday, I didn’t have to scramble at the last minute to find a good photo.

__________

4. Iowa/Nebraska

One of the newest Big Teen rivalries might be my favorite… although I still wish the Huskers could end with the Sooners.

__________

3. Pitt/Syracuse

The blue pants turned a good matchup into a real Color Palette Special.

__________

2. Arizona/Arizona State

I don’t miss the Wildcats’ blue pants when they wear this great jersey.

__________

1. BYU/USC

The “Royal Oreo” looks sweet versus the cardinal and gold.

__________

Dishonorable Mention to

Florida International/Southern Miss

I was so excited about this combo… until I saw (or tried to see) those unreadable white numbers.

__________

&1. UMass/New Mexico State

Small *and* unreadable numbers make a (mostly) black & white matchup even worse.

Enjoy the postseason!

• • • • •

Thanks, Jim! OK readers? What say you? Agree or disagree with Jimmer’s selections? Let him know in the comments below.

NCAA Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2020 trackers are back!

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the B1G), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the Big XII AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking a couple seasons ago. Ethan will continue to track the SEC, and has swapped the B1G for Big XII (with Kyle).

Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences (along with each tracker’s info):

+ + + + + + + + + +

Rex is up first today (ACC):

• • •

ACC

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

• • •

And now, here’s Dennis with the PAC-12:

PAC-12

More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.

• • •

And here is Ethan, with the SEC:

SEC

And be sure to check out Ethan’s WVU Mountaineer Tracker.
Follow Ethan on Twitter here.

• • •

And here is Kyle with the B1G:

B1G

Follow Kyle on Twitter here.

• • •

And here’s Ethan with the Big XII:

Big XII

Welcome to the 2021 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-09 by Michael Princip, who retired after several seasons, whereupon the project was continued by Tim E. O’Brien. He, too, retired from the tracking, but the project has been ably kept up by the man who also tracks the Pac12, Dennis Bolt.

Here’s this week’s Uniform Combo for the Ducks (you can click to enlarge):

You can read about this uniform, and MUCH MORE, by checking out the Duck Tracker here and the color combo spreadsheet here!

Thanks Dennis!

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Cleveland’s baseball team can’t seem to catch a break. First the sign falls off the Clubhouse store, and now Progressive Field’s new Guardians sign is off-center (from David Raglin). … Lots and lots of triple digit numbers for the Yakult Swallows (from Steve Sher).

NFL/Football News: “I found a beetle in a museum who is a Seahawks fan,” writes Jay Shapiro. “Spotted this at the ‘exquisite creatures’ exhibit in Raleigh NC. This beetle sure loves the Seahawks.” … Jonathan Earl writes, “Apologies if I’ve missed this already featured, but NFL Auction (a great place to find interesting game worn items) has a Baker Mayfield jersey with sewn in hand warmers.” … ICYMI, the Colts will be wearing their 1956 throwbacks today against the Bucs. … For the first time this season, the Cincinnati Bengals will wear orange jerseys over black pants (against Pittsburgh). … The Browns will again be wearing their 75th Anniversary uniforms, this time against the Ravens. … ICYMI, on Thanksgiving, the Bears’ David Montgomery had his jersey stretched about eight feet by a tackler. … Maybe much moreso than other teams, Jets Twitter is having quite and effect on the New York Jets uniform choices, perhaps even forcing a redesign in a couple years. … Check out this high school color vs. color game, plus interesting number font for the yard lines (from Paul).

Hockey News: Brandon Weir notes that Bruins LW Brad Marchand often cuts slits or notches in his glove cuffs, apparently to a get a slightly greater range of motion. … Thursday was the time for the Sudbury Wolves wore their CHL Leave Your Mark jersey design contest winner (from Wade Heidt). … The following is also from Wade The CHL Leave Your Mark jersey contest winner was worn by the Windsor Spitfires on Friday. … Another from Wade: Here is a look at the new mask from Kraken G Chris Driedger, paying homage to the old Seattle Metropolitans. … Also on Friday, the Minnesota Wild wore warmup jerseys celebrating Native American Heritage Day. … The AHL’s San Diego Gulls debuted a new third sweater on Friday. … Welp: this was bound to happen when two teams share identical color schemes, right (from Jerry Wolper). … The QMJHL Halifax Mooseheads dressed like the old AHL Halifax Citadels on 90s night (from Wade Heidt).

NBA/College Hoops/Basketball News: The Canadian Elite Basketball League has added an expansion team in St. John’s. The CEBL’s 10th club is the Newfoundland Growlers. Wade Heidt adds, “It is the same owners of the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers. So yes, there will be the hockey team and basketball team with the same name.” … The Memphis Grizzlies announced four years ago they’d retire Tony Allen’s No. 9 this season (set for January), but Allen got arrested for allegedly defrauding the NBA’s health plan for retired players, so he wants them to retire his jersey next season. … London has a basketball team. Check out the socks on Shanice Norton (via Paul). … Going back to a classic Bucky Badger logo, Wisconsin showed off a sneak peek of the new uniform on Twitter earlier this week. Based on the clues, it looks like we may see the full uniform on Monday. … Tweeter Carlos Montalvan points out Washington and Winthrop were “competing for least visible NOB color combos” last night.

Soccer News: Great spot by Art of Scorebug who notes the shape and placement of the shirt advertisement “make me think Newcastle are the 4s.” He adds, “Come on you 4s!” … J. League champion Kawasaki Frontale have revealed what kits they will wear for the 2022 season from PUMA. Design is based on bath tiles, and the 26th anniversary patch is for when the club became professional in 1996 (from Sy Hart). … The ESPN Streak for the Cash with the Philadelphia Union logo incorrectly in place of FC Union Berlin (from Eric Kohli).

Grab Bag: Sick of corporate names on your sports stadiums and arenas? If so have you bought a naming wrongs shirt yet?, the folks at Deadspin agree with you and they have some suggestions for non-corporate names and nicknames (from K.C. Kless and Ron Ruelle). … NLL Team The Toronto Rock unveiled their new third jerseys. Wade Heidt adds, “The black and yellow jersey pays homage to the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats and OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs.” … Also from Wade, Panther City Lacrosse Club is the new NLL expansion team in Fort Worth, TX. Here is a look at the mask for Panther City G Kevin Orleman for upcoming season. … In women’s rugby union, the Barbarians took on South Africa, who decided to wear their clash white jerseys instead of their primary green against the Baa-Baas’ traditional black and white hoops (from Sy Hart).

And Finally… that’s it for this weekend. Thanks, as always, to the entire SMUW crew: TJ, Jimmer, Rex, Dennis, Kyle, and Ethan. Great season fellas!

Next weekend, I’m going to be curling in a Bonspiel up in Connecticut — my first trip out of state (believe it or not) since COVID hit, so I’ll be taking a one-weekend hiatus from UW for that. On that note,I’ll catch you back here in two weeks. Again, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and I want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating.

Peace,

PH

November 28th, 2021 | Category: Sunday Morning Uni Watch | 17 comments

TV or not TV: AFC Edition

By Phil Hecken, on November 27, 2021

By Phil Hecken, with Jimmer Vilk

Good morning and Happy Saturday, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and you’re enjoying the holiday weekend so far.

A couple weeks ago, Jimmer and I did a post on our proposals for NFC TV number “improvements,” (click here). The intro to that article explains the premise, but basically “For the purposes of this piece, we decided to review the NFC (AFC soon!) to see which teams have ‘adequate’ or good TV numbers, and which could be improved. We’ve also assumed that TV numbers must appear somewhere on the uniform. Due to shrinking sleeve lengths and the prominence of the maker’s mark on the sleeve cap, it will sometimes be necessary to suggest TV numbers in locations other than the sleeve or shoulder. In at least one instance (in the AFC), I will suggest removing the swoosh from the sleeve and moving it to the front of the jersey.” We get to that today. Last time, I had the “first” word, but today Jim’s going to go first. Here we go…

• • • • •

AFC EAST

Buffalo Bills

JV: They’re fine as is.

PH: Yep. Throwbacks are good too.

__________

Miami Dolphins

JV: The TVs are too small and the sleeve logo is ridiculously small. Lose it and put larger TVs there.

PH: I don’t think they’re too small, but they are too hard to read. They need contrast like they have on the aqua and white throwbacks. Hell, just make those the regular unis and call it a day.

__________

New England Patriots

JV: Elvis on the helmet is enough. Do the same as Miami with the TVs.

PH: One of the few teams that doesn’t have TVs. So, it makes sense to add them to the sleeve (and I agree with Jimmer — ditch the sleeve logo to do so).

__________

New York Jets

JV: They’re… can’t say fine… but they’re not in need of changing.

PH: There’s nothing wrong with the TVs. The same cannot be said for the rest of the uni.

==========

AFC NORTH

Baltimore Ravens

JV: I don’t have a problem with what they have.

PH: Yep, we’re good here.

__________

Cincinnati Bengals

JV: Put TVs in the sleeve stripes.

PH: Another team without TVs. Unlike Jim, I wouldn’t force them on the sleeve. I don’t really think the team needs them, but if they must have them, put ’em on the shoulders, like they did with the prior CR set.

__________

Cleveland Browns

JV: Either move the TVs to the helmet or leave well enough alone. I’m fine with either.

PH: Their TVs are fine on the shoulder. As much as I like helmet numbers, they really don’t need them.

__________

Pittsburgh Steelers

JV: Don’t mess, but feel free to keep the CR jersey for all home games. Alternatively, move the swoosh and put TVs on the sleeve stripes.

PH: Because the MOTB causes almost every player’s classic sleeve stripe design to be truncated, I’d actually advocate for moving the swoosh to the jersey and regaining full sleeve stripes (just like Iowa does). I know that has nothing to do with TVs (which are fine), but I hate the sleeve cap design. Fix that.

==========

AFC SOUTH

Houston Texans

JV: Houston – We don’t have a problem.

PH: They’re a little scrunched, particularly on the down linemen. There’s room on the shoulders — I’d move them up there.

__________

Indianapolis Colts

JV: I wouldn’t dream of messing around with this classic.

PH: The Colts have the same problem as Houston. With the swoosh on the sleeve cap, the TVs are too small and tight. However, with the shoulder loops, you can’t move them to the top of the jersey. But…they do have some pretty big helmet numbers, so I’m ok with their setup.

__________

Jacksonville Jaguars

JV: Just make the TVs a little bigger.

PH: These are just fine.

__________

Tennessee Titans

JV: The TVs need to get off the shoulder and move to the hip.

PH: Tennessee’s problem isn’t the TVs…it’s the stupid “sword” yoke. And the fonts. And a lot of other stuff too. But that’s for another day.

==========

AFC WEST

Denver Broncos

JV: Move them down to the sleeve caps.

PH: They’re fine where they are. They’re also fine on the fauxback/CR jersey.

__________

Kansas City

JV: Don’t touch the best jersey in the league.

PH: Jerseys are fine (but not the best in the league), but they need to remove the Native American iconography on the hat. One could put TVs there, but I’d rather they just add the interlocking KC.

__________

Los Angeles Chargers

JV: Bring back black helmet #s, and add them to the hips as well.

PH: They don’t need them on the hips, but I’d like them to use black numbers on the helmets as well.

__________

Las Vegas Raiders

JV: Just leave them alone, baby.

PH: Agreed. They are perfect.

• • • • •

And there you have it — the end of the TV numbers “suggestions”. These may not be ideal solutions (in some cases, it might just be best for teams to eliminate TV numbers altogether, but that’s not an option for this exercise). What do you think? Should “hip” TV numbers come back? Should more NFL teams use helmet TV numbers? Do teams even need TV numbers at all? Love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

Pittsburgh Steelers Logo Update

I get many concepts sent to me (keep ’em coming!), including the above “logo update” you see for the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, in what is most definitely a first, our featured artist Jordan Grimes has not only updated the logo, but he’s given a step-by-step tutorial, complete with a video, showing his thought process. I’m sure many of you are thinking “but the Steelers’ logo is perfect” — and I wouldn’t disagree — but Jordan has made a fantastic case for his proposal. Let me turn it over to him now.

Steelers Logo Update
by Jordan Grimes

Design critique never stops for me. So when I kept seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers logo used on T.V. and online it made me question why the logo has not been simplified.

An 8-letter work set in one half of a circle? We can do better.

The Pittsburgh Steelers logo is iconic, unique, and stable enough for an update for the future. Follow me on my logo update journey for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Goal:

Simplify the Pittsburgh Steelers logo so it’s more legible.

Current logo history and examples

Viewing the logo in multiple sizes shows legibility in the big areas, but once it gets smaller the letterforms start to bleed together and become illegible.

Logo simplification evolution

By simplifying the color and winnowing down to just an “s” this mark is getting somewhere.

“S” Evolution & Logotype

This inspiration for this logotype were the three stars in the primary Steelers logo.

The cross bars of the “E” are actually those same stars but cut in half. With that treatment it was fitting to bring the three star colors over to the three “E”s in the logotype.

Logo at scale

Logo Set

Social Media

Uniform

• • • • •

Thanks, Jordan!

Guess The Game…

from the scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from John Benal.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date & location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

Uni Tweet of the Day

The Splinter was always splendid!

And finally… that’s going to to it for today. Sorry there was no ticker, but Anthony has the holiday weekend off. I’ll have a full ticker tomorrow.

Hope everyone had a safe and good Thanksgiving, with plenty of leftovers to tide you through! I’ll be back with the SMUW Crew tomorrow as we put a bow on the regular season for College football, with lots and lots of good (and hopefully good looking) rivalry games. Catch you then.

Peace,

PH

November 27th, 2021 | Tags: | Category: NFL | 25 comments

A Uni Watch Look at Bill Virdon

By Paul Lukas, on November 26, 2021

For all photos, click to enlarge

Former MLBer Bill Virdon, who was Rookie of the Year as a player and a two-time Manager of the Year as a skipper, died on Tuesday. I grew up watching him manage the Pirates, Yankees, and Astros and always thought of him as a guy who wore his pants and stirrups perfectly — perfectly. I mean, look at those Astros photos shown above — it’s an object lesson in lower-leg aesthetic magnificence. Even the proportions of Virdon’s body, and his thigh-to-calf ratio, are Just Right.

He looked good in Pirates and Yankees stirrups as well:

That’s a good-looking manager, am I right? So I grew up thinking that Virdon totally Got It™ and have continued to think that ever since. I also like how that last photo shows how Virdon wrote his uni number, 41, on the tongues of his shoes. (Update: Reader/commenter Steve Dodell notes that Virdon is listed as having worn No. 21 during his entire tenure with the Yanks, so those “41”-inscribed shoes must’ve been holdovers from his time with the Pirates!)

Virdon also managed for the Expos, but I couldn’t find a full-body shot of him in that uniform.

Update: Here’s a shot of Virdon in his Expos stirrups. Looks like he didn’t bother to blouse his pants — tsk-tsk:

What I didn’t know back then — in fact, I didn’t discover it until doing a bit of photo research upon hearing of Virdon’s death on Tuesday — was that his pants/hosiery stylings weren’t nearly so appealing during this playing days, as seen in these next few photos:

Yikes — Virdon was a low-cuffer before that was even a thing! I realize the fabrics and tailoring were different back then, but he still went for a very dumpy look. Still, let’s give him credit for changing his lower-leg approach in the double-knit era. He was an old dog who learned some new tricks!

In a nearly too-good-to-be-true happenstance, just as I was putting the finishing touches on this blog entry on Wednesday afternoon, reader Jeff Moddelmog sent me a photo of Virdon wearing a Yankees cap with a few stray threads hanging from the “NY” logo:

It’s a bit odd that the equipment manager, the photographer, and Virdon himself all failed to notice the wayward threads (or maybe just didn’t care..?). But hey, life is full of loose ends, right? R.I.P.

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Taking it on the chin: Interesting development during yesterday’s Raiders/Cowboys game, as field judge Tom Hill sustained a cut on his chin during a tussle between players and worked the rest of the game with a very prominently visible bandage. Not sure I’ve ever seen that before.

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Thanksgiving report, part one: Yesterday’s Thanksgiving Parade in NYC included an NHL float, which featured former players (from left) Anson Carter, Kevin Hodgson, and Bryce Salvador. Additional details here.

The blue rectangles on the jerseys are for the parade’s 95th anniversary. You can get a slightly better look at one of them here.

(My thanks to L.J. Sparvero and Trevor “Teebz” Alexander for this one.)

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Thanksgiving report, part two: The only good thing about the Tugboat Captain being sequestered in the Covid sanitarium (she finally comes home today!) is that my brother and I were able to spend Thanksgiving with our mom. The assisted living facility where she lives has allowed only two guests in her apartment at a time during the pandemic, so Mary’s absence made it possible for the Lukas clan to spend the holiday together, which made Mom very, very happy.

Guests aren’t allowed in the dining hall, so we had the meals delivered to Mom’s room, and then I asked the staffer who delivered the food to take a photo of us. The food was bad and the photo worse, but I’ll still treasure the memory. Lots to be thankful for, even under the current crummy circumstances. Hope you all had some quality time with your families as well.

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Uni Watch Quick Quiz™: Okay, people — can you identify the soccer player shown above? Hint: He’s a famous athlete, but not for playing soccer. Answer at the end of today’s blog post.

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Too good for the Ticker: Oh man, what an awesome photo from the 1954 Little League World Series. Is that kid straight out of central casting or what? Magnificent!

(Big thanks to Trevor Williams for this one.)

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Alternate cap update: Supplies of the Uni Watch Alternate Cap continue to dwindle. Here are the remaining sizes and quantities:

7-1/8: 1 cap
7-5/8: 2
7-3/4: 1
7-7/8: 3

More photos and ordering details can be found here.

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Sorry, no Ticker today, because the entire Uni Watch team had yesterday off for Thanksgiving.

As for our mystery soccer player, it’s none other than MLB great Mariano Rivera. Big thanks to Alan Kreit for sharing that one with me.

Phil will have his usual weekend content on Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy that, and I’ll see you back here on Monday. — Paul

November 26th, 2021 | Category: Caps, Coaches/Managers, History, MLB, Pants, Stirrups, Team Logos/Insignia | 14 comments
 
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