More leaks of NBA City designs yesterday, beginning with the Nets retail shirsey shown above, which obviously draws from their New Jersey period. The core design is similar to last season’s tie-dye throwbacks, but without the tie-dye. Since this season’s City designs are all supposed to be historical mash-ups, there’ll presumably be other details from the franchise’s past on the side panels and shorts.
Meanwhile, a more intriguing situation — and definitely a more absurd one — unfolded around the Thunder, who apparently leaked their City uniform in their own media guide. Beat writer Joe Mussatto, who covers the team for The Oklahoman, broke the news:
Here's the full spread. Looks like the Thunder will be wearing a lot of white this season. pic.twitter.com/IpfV4xzqWX
The odd context of the leak is exceeded only by the oddness of the design itself. If the media guide is to be believed, OKC’s City uniform will be white with silver/grey trim (but a full-color ad patch, of course — sigh). Let’s take a closer look (click to enlarge):
SportsLogos.net has a really good breakdown of the historical inspiration for each design element. But that almost seems beside the point compared to the larger issue here: Are they really going with grey on white? Seriously? Is there any chance that they left out the colors because it hasn’t been officially unveiled yet? Maybe a printer’s error in the media guide?
Seriously?
Meanwhile, the Spurs may have provided a hint about their own City design with their season ticket package:
As I explained last week, the City alternates begin showing up on this year’s uni schedule in early November, so we’ll likely keep seeing more leaks for the next couple of weeks and then a flood of official unveilings.
The MLB postseason continues (minus my SF Giants) with the Dodgers going for their second straight World Series win. They won it back in 1955, too; that’s the year for this rather pricey Ebbets Field “Messenger” pass. As the seller explains, “This bright pink colored ‘Messenger Press Pass’ would have been used during games 3, 4, and 5 at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.” But what messages were they relaying?
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• Here’s another great item from the same seller as above; a 1947 New York Yankees press pass, with “The American League Baseball Club of N.Y., Inc.” right on the front, all official-like. “Positively not transferable,” it says on the back, so don’t get any smart ideas about getting into the wayback machine and using it yourself.
• Buffalo Bills fans, keep your hands clean with this Bills soap dispenser of unknown vintage.
• New York Mets fans, keep your car smelling good with this set of Mets air fresheners. One’s a glove and the other is a helmet. (Hmmm, will your car smell like a dugout or clubhouse?)
• Nice artwork on this 1982 McDonald’s/Milwaukee Brewers promo placemat.
• Tareyton cigarettes (that’s Dual Filter, fella!) sponsored this 1962 Baseball Guide & Record Book, published by The Sporting News.
• Here’s a box of a dozen Thurman Munson Wiffle Balls from 1978. (Curve It! Bat It!) They also come with some collectible player “discs.” Munson would tragically die a year later in a plane crash.
• This promotional booklet was issued two years later to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the NFL in 1969.
• This big ol’ 1970s Cleveland Browns helmet is in fact called an “NFL Helmet Picnic Flair Set.” The helmet opens up and I assume all the spoons, knives, forks, plates and cups (35 pieces!) fit inside.
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The Ticker By Alex Hider
Baseball News: Reader Jeffrey Schleicher notes that the ALCS games in Houston look a bit off because the lettering on both the Astros’ home jerseys and Boston’s road jerseys leans to one side — something that Paul first wrote about a few years ago. Luckily, we get at least two more games in Boston, where the jersey matchup is much more balanced. … Speaking of the ’Stros, Houston players wore beanies with the team’s batting practice Tequila Sunrise-inspired logo prior to last night’s Game 3 (from Ignacio Salazar). … Former Atlanta player Dale Murphy threw out the first pitch before Game 2 of the NLCS Sunday, and had several wardrobe changeson the field. He initially wore his own jersey, then removed it to reveal a Henry Aaron jersey, then removed that to reveal a jersey for 3B Austin Riley, and then put on a pearl necklace as a nod to OF Joc Pederson (from Michael Rich). … Comedian Joe Mande (who was featured in a Uni Watch post earlier this year), points out that the logos of the remaining four teams in the playoffs spell out BLAAH (thanks to all who shared). … In this interview that first aired in 2017, Rush vocalist Geddy Lee showed journalist Dan Rather his extensive baseball memorabilia collection (from Ted Arnold). … The man who designed the mascot for the Kintetsu Buffaloes of Japan’s Pacific League back in 1976 is now making Kintetsu-approved merchandise of the old mascot (from Jeremy Brahm). … The U.S. National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. is planning an exhibition of historic baseball memorabilia next year (from Phil).
NFL News: Jackson Mahomes, the younger brother of Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, has apologized after he filmed a TikTok dance on Sean Taylor’s memorial logo on the day of Taylor’s number retirement. … Mark Dziak lives in Bremen, Germany. He was at the Bremen Freimarkt (“Think big fair with rides, vendors, and lots of good food,” he says) and noticed this trash can that had appropriated the NFL logo.
College Football News: The next two items are from Phil: BYU will wear mono-white against Washington State on Saturday. … As a reminder, Penn State will wear their throwback mashup jerseys against Illinois on Saturday. … @NFL_Journal found some rare color photos that show Arizona’s old “UA” helmet logo and New Mexico’s teal accents. … This time-lapse video shows the Arkansas Razorback logo being painted at midfield at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium (from Matt Snyder). … Miami will go mono-BFBS on Saturday against NC State (from Jason Lefkowitz).
Hockey News: As had been previously announced, the Coyotes wore white at home for last night’s home opener against the Blues — a way to give home fans a look at the new Kachina road throwbacks. That created some logistical challenges for the Blues’ equipment staff, since they were forced to pack all their blue gear in addition to all the standard white road gear they were bringing along for the rest of their road trip (thanks to all who shared). … This cool behind-the-scenes video shows the efforts that the Maple Leafs equipment manager goes through to make sure he has replacement sticks at the ready (from Ted Arnold). … Speaking of the Leafs, they wore black straps and ear loops with their blue home helmets during the preseason but have now switched to white in the regular season (from Andreas Papadopoulos). … In a move that may be pandemic-related, the Rangers are labeling water bottles with player numbers, rendered in the proper fonts (from Alan Kreit). … The next two items are from Wade Heidt: The Moncton Wildcats, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, and the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL as well as the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, wore cancer awareness uniforms on Sunday. … New mask design for G Kelton Pyne of the Regina Pat Canadians, who play in the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League.
Soccer News: Venezia FC’s new fourth jersey has leaked after the team was spotted holding a photo shoot (from @WiscoFTW). … Fans of HBO’s Succession will love this: In a Season 2 storyline, Roman Roy mistakenly buys Scottish club Heart of Midlothian FC in the hopes of pleasing his father — a fan of the club’s archrival, Hibernian FC. Hearts are now giving away jerseys with the fictional sponsorship “Waystar Royco” as a promotion for the show’s third season, which debuted Sunday (from @BestSeattle77). … Soccer blog Squad Numbers has a piece where it forms 10 center-back pairings of every combination of numbers from 2 through 6, which are the traditional numbers for defenders. But the restriction is that it’s only using defenders currently on European men’s teams (from our own Jamie Rathjen and Museum of Jerseys). … Paul noted yesterday that he had received a bottle of Kraken rum — the official rum of the NHL’s Seattle Kraken. That prompted Andrew Clarke to note that competing brand Captain Morgan released a limited-edition bottle upon Leceister City’s Premier League Championship in 2016. … Here’s what the badges for Italy’s top clubs looked like in 1984 (from Jeremy Brahm). … AFC Bournemouth’s new MF Robbie Brady will wear No. 12 (from @DorsetBengal).
Grab Bag: Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is starting his own political party, and its new logo was roasted on social media yesterday for its similarities to both the G.I. Joe and Top Gun logos. … Longtime reader Andrew Cosentino , whose name is probably familiar to you from his many Baltimore- and Virginia Tech-related Ticker contributions over the years, was a guest on the Baltimore podcast The Truth in This Art, where he discussed Uni Watch, Turn Ahead the Clock, and City Connect uniforms. … I never noticed this before: The two chocolate bars that dot the “i” in the Twix logo double as the “pause” symbol — a nod to the candy’s previous ad slogan, “Need a moment?” … New name and logo for Nielsen, the TV ratings company (from @PhillyPartTwo).
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; for all photos, click to enlarge
A feast for the eyes yesterday in Chicago, as the Bears wore their 1930s throwbacks against the Packers (additional photos here and here). You know I can’t get enough of those striped socks:
Fun facts: This was the first time the Packers have worn a color other than white in Chicago since 1956, when they wore navy (while Chicago wore their dark navy — a game that must’ve been very visually challenging!). And the last time Green Bay wore green in Chicago was way back in 1936!
Since Chicago was wearing the 1936 design yesterday, it would’ve been so great if Green Bay had created their own ’36 throwback — or even if they’d worn their new 1950s throwbacks. But I understand why they want to debut those at home (which they’re due to do next week, in fact), not on the road.
In one additional note from yesterday’s game, Green Bay players were playing with a Packer soccer ball during pregame activities. Not sure I’ve ever seen that before:
In other news from around the league yesterday:
• Washington wore their throwbacks:
• Also from that Washington game, Washington tried to deflect attention from the Gruden/email scandal honored former defensive back Sean Taylor by retiring his No. 21 — only the the third number retirement in franchise history, after Sammy Baugh’s No. 33 and Bobby Mitchell’s No. 49 (although the team has lots of other numbers that aren’t officially retired but have effectively been taken out of circulation; Taylor’s number was in that category until yesterday):
• In that same game, Washington defensive lineman Chase Young honored Taylor by mimicking Taylor’s signature facemask tape (as others have done over the years):
Young wore the tape job only for the first half; he was tape-free for the second half.
• The Broncos wore their navy alternates:
• The Giants celebrated the 10th anniversary of their 2011 championship season by wearing white jerseys at home with throwback grey pants (the same uni combo they wore in Super Bowl XLVI):
• During halftime of that Giants game, members of the 2011 team wore jerseys with memorial patches for strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul (MP), offensive lineman Mitch Petrus (62), and defensive back Tyler Sash (39), all of whom have died in the past 10 years. The ceremony also included a logo for the 10th anniversary of the championship:
• The Jags went mono-black:
• During the Sunday-night game, NBC showed an amateurish-looking graphic that inexplicably showed Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wearing a helmet visor (which I don’t believe he’s worn since 2010) and a Saints logo on his hip (???):
• The aforementioned Bears and Giants were the only two teams that wore white at home.
(My thanks to all contributors, including Dave Chojnacki, Edward Connolly, Matt Dunn, Dan Pfeifer, John Okray, @ianb78, and our own Phil Hecken.)
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ITEM! NBA Season Preview now available: The NBA regular season tips off tomorrow, which means we’ll be in that brief sweet spot where all four Big Four pro leagues are in action. It also means it’s time for the annual Uni Watch NBA Season Preview, which has all of the uni and logo news for the coming season. It’s available for your reading pleasure over at InsideHook. Enjoy!
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Bulletin reminder: In case you missed it on Friday, my latest article on Bulletin is an interview with football uniform historian Bill Schaefer, who creates all of the uniform mock-ups that appear on the amazing Gridiron Uniform Database website. We talked about how the GUD got started, he research methods, his “white whale,” his goals for the site’s future, and a lot more. I hope you’ll check it out on my Bulletin page.
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Click to enlarge
Yo-ho-ho and giant cephalopod: Did you know that there’s a brand of spiced rum called Kraken? Yeah, you probably did, but I didn’t until a bottle of the stuff showed up at Uni Watch HQ on Friday. Turns out that Kraken (the rum) is the official rum of the Kraken (the NHL team), so they sent me a bottle, along with a Kraken/Kraken co-branded ski cap. The ski cap will end up in the 2021 year-end raffle; the bottle will be put to good use.
Since the best-known spiced rum is probably Captain Morgan, shouldn’t there be some sort of nautical Morgan-vs.-Kraken smackdown? It’d be sorta like Alien vs. Predator, but on the high seas. And with booze.
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The Ticker By Jamie Rathjen
Baseball News: Gigantes de Carolina, one of the teams in Puerto Rico’s Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, have a new logo and jerseys (thanks, Phil).
Football News: Left over from Saturday: FCS Campbell’s colors are black and orange, so of course they wore mono-black for their last pre-Halloween home game (from Paula Parker). … If you’re not aware, Tennessee enters the field through a giant T formed by the band, and on Saturday the stadium lights were turned down and just the T was lit up (thanks, Phil). … FCS school Dartmouth revealed a new helmet yesterday (from Ben Whitehead). … Oklahoma apparently has a drum where it displays logo decals of defeated opponents (from @PaytonGlen). … Reader Wade Heidt has Canadian college uni tracking in yesterday’s comments.
Hockey News: The WHL’s Everett Silvertips wore pink accents on Saturday (from Wade Heidt). … Also from Wade: The Junior A British Columbia Hockey League’s Cowichan Capitals were the first BCHL team to wear “retro-inspired throwbacks” for the league’s 60th anniversary.
Basketball News: One or both of George Washington’s teams appears to be getting new uniforms today (from Matt Eliot). … Here is one writer’s ranking of every Jazz uniform (thanks, Phil).
Soccer News: Italian club Napoli, who like to participate in trends like wearing black and camouflage and unusually, for soccer, wear those at home, wore a black Halloween-themed shirt in Serie A yesterday — of course for a home game (also from Trevor Williams). … The NWSL’s Portland Thorns have been taping over the ad on their warm-up shirts recently for several reasons. … College teams that wore pink socks or other items included Duquesne and Florida Atlantic. … Australia’s men’s A-League already has a ad in its name and at least on social media is back to being “A-League” plus the advertiser, while the women’s A-League doesn’t have one. The leagues were renamed to “A-League Men” and “A-League Women” a few weeks ago, but that lasted maybe a few days. … Reader Michael Rich got a survey from Atlanta United focused on its shirt ad asking, among other things, for agreement or disagreement with several statements about the ad.
Our latest raffle winner is Jason Tirotta, who’s won himself a bobbleball from the Mascot Hall of Fame. Congrats to him, and thanks to the Hall for sponsoring this one. — Paul
Good Sunday Morning everyone. Hope you had a great Saturday and a better Sunday. Early NFL action again today, as the Jaguars take on the Dolphins across the pond, so if you’re into pro football, today’s another big day for you.
Now then, even though I appreciate (and laud) teams like Alabama and USC for always having just two uniforms (home and road), I’m also well aware … and no longer an old man screaming at clouds … that a good chunk of College teams are going to wear multiple unis throughout the season, and a small, but still sizeable chunk, will introduce “special” one-game unis. They could be throwbacks, fauxbacks or unique unis (e.g. the Notre Dame “Shamrock Series” uni, the Army or Navy duds for their end-of-season game, or next weekend’s UCF “Citronauts” uni). These usually hold the most interest for me. So way back at the end of August, when adidas announced “reverse retro” uniforms, my interest was particularly piqued.
Adidas unveils reverse retro college football jerseys for ASU, Indiana, Kansas, Miss St, NC State, Nebraska and Washington. pic.twitter.com/e0fAfufAO2
Of those seven, I was most interested in the ASU jersey and particularly interested in the powder blue Kansas jersey. Shortly thereafter, KU announced the uniform would be worn for homecoming and was throwback inspired.
And no unveiling would be complete without the obligatory hype video:
Despite my belief that royal and powder don’t pair well together, I was smitten. But rarely do hype videos and studio stills do a uniform justice once it sees the actual field. Plus, before I knew what they’d be wearing, I knew Kansas was playing Texas Tech, a school with almost as many potential uniform combinations as Oregon, and I was worried their choice of threads might otherwise clash or take away from that KU kit. But it did not. I was most pleasantly surprised how great the game itself looked, and Rock Chalk’s royal/powder did not disappoint. Check it out:
Even in long shots with a wide exposure, the combination of royal/powder/royal against red/white/red looked splendid!
Nice right? It’s not often Jimmer and I agree on a #1 (or any) in the 5 & 1, but this one was a layup. Well done KU (and TT). Now, here’s TJ with the rest of your…
• Washington wore their (almost) throwbacks (helmet decal notwithstanding) to commemorate the 1991 National Championship team against UCLA.
• No decent pics on my end, but Tom Cotter writes: “Noticed something tonight. Army decided to display 101st Airborne insignia on their helmets tonight. The eagle on the patch is based on Old Abe, an eagle that was the mascot of a Wisconsin Civil War regiment. Camp Randall the stadium is on the site of Camp Randall CW training ground. An entrance has an arch that includes a carving of Old Abe at the top. Someone at West Point knew their history.”
• Utah wore these rad helmets against Arizona State.
Thanks (as always) TJ! Now onto the 5 & 1 and then the rest of your SMUW.
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:
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First time in over a month I haven’t had to work on this list from out of state, and the cool Fall weather has arrived, so I’m in a good mood. I’ve even been agreeing a lot with Phil this weekend!
Honorable Mentions to
Nebraska/Minnesota
I can gopher … er, go for this almost-mono uni.
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Iowa State/Kansas State
Bit of a weird number font on the cyclones, but at least it’s readable.
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5. Florida/LSU
So citrusy they should have played the game in Orlando.
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4. Louisiana Tech/UTEP
If you axe me, that’s a nice looking helmet, Miners.
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3. Fresno State/Wyoming
First time I get to show off the Cowboys in their home jerseys.
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):
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):
It’s BAAAAACK.Alex Rocklein has been tracking the jerseys of all the teams involved in the MLB Post Season for the past several seasons. We’ve now concluded the Wild Card and Divisional Series’ and have moved on to the ALCS, with the Sox & Astros knotted up at 1 apiece, and LA/Atlanta playing a nail-biter last night, which Atlanta won in the bottom of the ninth. Although he sent me this graphic before the Dodgers/Atlanta game was completed, the graphic is correct for the jerseys worn (see full tracker). One small change: any team that has a front number on their jersey shows the number of the starting pitcher from that game (previously it was all #21).
Here’s the full tracker (which will get filled in as we go through the NLDS/ALDS, NLCS/ALCS and World Series):
I hope you guys enjoy this annual feature and you’ll thank Alex for all his effort with a quick “Thanks” in the comments below! Look for this feature every weekend until the World Series is complete!
Bulletin reminder: Paul here. In case you missed it on Friday, my latest article on Bulletin is an interview with football uniform historian Bill Schaefer, who creates all of the uniform mock-ups that appear on the amazing Gridiron Uniform Database website. We talked about how the GUD got started, he research methods, his “white whale,” his goals for the site’s future, and a lot more. I hope you’ll check it out on my Bulletin page. Enjoy!
Uni Watch News Ticker By Phil
Baseball News: Fifty-two years ago yesterday, the Amazin’ New York Mets won the 1969 World Series, completing their “Miracle” season by defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles (from Bruce Menard). … When you think of Reggie Jackson (“Mr. October”), the first team to come to mind probably isn’t the Houston Astros (from Ignacio Salazar). … New logos unveiled for two new Alternative Baseball (authentic baseball experience for teens/adults with disabilities) teams. The Tri-State Continentals and Meridian Red Hots (from Bill Fenbers). … For you scorebug fans: FOX pulled a mid-first inning scorebug color change, flipping colors to match the jersey tops (from Jason Yellin).
College/High School Football News: Ohio Stadium is getting new turf next season and Ohio State wants its fans to help them decide what it looks like (from Munch Suchland). … University of Louisville legend Lamar Jackson will have his No. 8 jersey number retired on Nov. 13 during a ceremony at the Cardinals’ home game versus Syracuse. … What do you do when the ref forgets the coin for the opening toss? You improvise, of course (from MrMichael). … Purdue will be wearing some form of Neon Yellow/Volt helmet Stickers next weekend (from Boiler Unis).
Hockey News: The Coquitlam Express had their home opener on Oct 15, their first home game in their home arena in 593 days. Wade Heidt notes, “The Express still have the same black uniforms. However, they have new white uniforms. More yellow trim and less black trim in their new white uniforms compared to the old ones. A photo gallery can be found here in this article.” … The BC Hockey League unveiled its retro jersey designs yesterday in celebration of the league’s 60th Anniversary season. The designs range from retro-inspired versions of current uniforms to throwbacks to a previous look. … Check out the he new Abbotsford Canucks jerseys (from Wade Heidt). … Check out this CBC Radio with a story about goalie-mask art (from Jeremy Brahm). … WHL G Drew Sim was recently traded from the Vancouver Giants to the Regina Pats. Here he is in uniform for the Regina Pats still wearing his gloves and pads he had with the Vancouver Giants (from Wade Heidt).
Grab Bag: Reader Kraig Bishop “came across this totem pole at an antique store in Martinsburg, WV and immediately thought of Uni-Watch. If only I had space for it.” … And finally, reader Chris Plasencia writes, “Not sports-related but check out this “Songs About Buildings” video tour of the TWA Hotel at Kennedy Airport. Great detail of flight attendants’ uniforms, including an embroidered design at 3:10 that I don’t think I have ever seen. Link is part of Open House New York’s largely virtual offerings this year.”
And finally… that’s all for today folks. Thanks to the SMUW Crew of Terry, Rex, Jimmer, Dennis, Kyle & Ethan. Another bang up job guys.
Sending special good thoughts out to Paul today. He knows why.
Everyone have a good Sunday and week ahead, and I’ll catch you back here again next Saturday.
Good Saturday Morning, Uni Watchers. It’s the weekend! We made it.
A few months back, I ran the first part of Sean “Superfly” Walsh’s MLS Redesign Concepts. Today, we’re back to finish off the set. If you missed (or just want to refresh) the first part, please click on that link, as it contains an introduction/setup for Sean’s designs. There’s a lot to get to, so I’m going to turn it over to Superfly as he brings you his…
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MLS Redesigns, Part II by Sean “Superfly” Walsh
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LAFC:
LAFC have a strong look in black and gold, and I like what they’ve done with white and gray/silver on some of their alternates, but DC United already have the mono-black look locked down, so I made a Monaco style diagonal halves jersey (blatantly ripping off my Galaxy 3rd kit design, their going to be pissed), balancing the overall set with gold. Stayed with the white and silver on the away kit, giving it a bit of a Raiders vibe with the black and silver badges. The sublimated print are waves, representing the SoCal surf. I also made a third kit, kind of a “City Edition” if you will, shades of blue representing the ocean and sky, the stripes in the colors of the LA city flag, which is also included on the right sleeve, and a sublimated “Dia de los Muertos” print.
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NY Red Bull:
I’m surprised a company that is so obsessed with branding has never referenced their original can in their kits, which aligns nicely with traditional halved and quartered jerseys. As far as I can tell, only the Salzburg club have used this template, so my set uses various versions of halves/quarters, red and white for home, goldenrod and black away, and the 3rd alternate most closely resembling their original can, but in a bit darker shades of blue and silver/gray than the original.
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Portland Timbers:
Like our proprietor, I am a fan of green and gold, though I prefer a forest green and old gold look. I generally like Portland’s kits, but because of the affinity for their colors, I wanted to create my own versions. I also created a fourth kit in red and black, colors which the Timbers have used multiple times in the past, the red, representing Portland’s nickname “Rose City,” includes a geometric rose-like sublimated pattern, the black accents reference the classic red and black lumberjack flannel, and the red and black overall paying homage to the Trail Blazers.
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Real Salt Lake:
RSL are getting back to their original look, they brought back the navy/blue shorts this season, after years of red shirts and shorts, but I think they can do better. If any team should have the traditional sash design, it’s Real Salt Lake, seemsveryroyal. I also included one blue sleeve on the home jersey, just because I like asymmetry (both RSL and Spain, the inspiration for RSL’s colors, wore a red jersey with one navy sleeve for one season/tournament cycle). I think sleeves not matching is against FIFA rules, but it’s dumb rule, so…… Also, I like Atlanta’s white uniform with gold trim, seems like a color combo for royalty, so RSL gets a version too.
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San Jose Earthquakes:
I like the blue and black of San Jose (always been a fan of Inter Milan kits), but San Jose have had some awful uniforms through the years, despite having a strong color palette to work with. They seem to have conceded Inter-like vertical stripes to Montreal (although it appears Montreal is going has gone [as I said, been doing this for awhile] in a different direction, so… ), so they need to stake their claim to some kind of trademark look, so instead of stripes or hoops, I went with neither, or kind of both, Croatia-style checkerboard. The away kit template in the is called “Dash,” apparently a reference to dots and dashes of Morse code, but I think it also evokes the digital ones and zeros of Silicon Valley. The all red, third alternate kit is an homage to the NASL Earthquakes, that literally includes a graphic that looks like the line drawn by the needle of a Richter scale, so that was easy and obvious, and sometimes obvious just works.
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Seattle Sounders:
Seattle’s Rave Green and Sounder Blue are obviously distinctive, so my first instinct was to leave as is, even though I didn’t particularly like the overall look of green shirts and blue shorts, but after playing around with the colors a bit, and adding navy to the palette, the green and blue grew on me, so I designed a whole set, with interchangeable shirts, shorts and socks. I also created a Sonics homage as a fourth kit, using both the kelly green and gold of the 70s and 80s, as well as the darker green and gold of the 90s, rendered in broad hoops, evoking the band across the Sonics’ 70s-80s jerseys. I think for at least one derby a year, Portland and Seattle should wear their “basketball” kits.
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Sporting Kansas City:
Since re-branding from the Wiz / Wizards, as Sporting Kansas City, I’ve liked several of their uniforms, and am a big fan of their light blue and navy color palette. A couple of motifs have stood out for me, first, the “state line” concept represented in their badge, that produced a modified “halves” jersey for a couple seasons, and the argyle motif that appeared in several alternate kits, so my versions of the home and away kits bring these back. A third alternate is rendered in gold and royal blue, again evoking the state line concept.
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Toronto FC:
Toronto have had mostly all red kits since joining MLS, and they have often included significant gray elements, whether it be sleeves or striping, to give their kits a unique look, but they’ve never settled on gray element that would be consistently distinctive, and set them apart, so I gave them Victorian era quartered jerseys in red and gray (turns out TFC incorporated a variation of the quarters design into this year’s shirt, so I guess we were on the same wavelength). The away kit mirrors the home in white and light gray, with all red trim, and I made a third alternate, in Blue Jays colors, could rotate with Leafs and Raptors (black and purple version) colors too each year.
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Atlanta United:
Atlanta has only been in the league a few years, I love their red and black stripes with gold trim, I love that they use peach and gold on white as alternate colors, nothing I would change, but I don’t like their 2021 kit, huge downgrade. I would add an alternate, obviously based on the uniform Hank Aaron wore when he hit number 714 and 715, one of my favorites, couldn’t decide whether to base it on the home or away jersey, so I did both.
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Austin FC:
Austin FC looks great so far, green and black vertical stripes, unique and instantly recognizable. Another alternate that should be easily recognizable, based on the UT football uniforms, burnt orange and white only, no frills, just like the Longhorns. They can wear it when Houston comes to Austin, just to piss them off.
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Columbus Crew:
As I’ve stated earlier, Columbus established a strong identity early on, with its all yellow home kit (which they’ve dropped this year, hopefully temporarily), and all black (usually) change kits, but I did want to create a third alternate for them. I used the scarlet and gray of Ohio State, and the checkerboard and diagonal lines motif from the Crew’s “old” badge (which they are apparently keeping after another logo change disaster) to create a white and gray checkerboard jersey, with gray shorts, and all scarlet trim, numbers and badge.
__________
LA Galaxy:
The LA Galaxy is another team that has established a strong identity, with all white home kits, and various forms/colors of the traditional sash, which I like, and didn’t feel particularly inspired to change, but again, I wanted to create an alternate that referenced a favorite kit of mine from their past, the Green and Gold kit of the 2000s. In this case, The jersey emulates Monaco’s diagonal halves, but that still outlines/carves out their sash, then transitions to the green of the bottom half, and into the shorts.
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Minnesota FC:
I like Minnesota’s colors, and their badge is great, but after trying various concepts for home and away, I just couldn’t come up with anything that I particularly liked, other than an alternate, maroon set, that is simple and goes well with their light gray and blue colors.
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Montreal:
Montreal have changed their name to Club de Foot Montreal, as well as their badge and colors, so we’ll let them do their thing, but I do have a third alternate for them, the inspiration being obvious. I loved the Expos 70s-80s uniforms, still have their classic hat that I wear regularly, and those thick red and blue stripes translate nicely to a football kit. If I had the PS skills, I would have replaced the Fleur de Lis in the badge with the Expos logo.
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NYC FC:
I generally like NYC FC’s uniforms, and didn’t feel the need to re-do them, but did create an alternate based on the NY Yankees, since the Yankees organization does own a part of NYC FC.
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Vancouver Whitecaps:
I generally like Vancouver uniforms, particularly when they use the blue band across the white jersey, so I wasn’t particularly moved to re-do, another boring color palette, but I did want to make a third alternate, and the inspiration should be obvious. I’ve rendered the Canucks’ Flying V in a more traditional chevron pattern of football kits. Gold, black and red hoops are a must, socks matter in both soccer and hockey.
__________
San Francisco International Football Club:
And finally, if I was granted an expansion team, it would be the San Francisco International Football Club (I stole the “International” name years ago, before Beckham did it), with the inspiration for the badge and colors being the United Nations, which was originally located in San Francisco. Away kit is a complete rip off of Barcelona’s Centenary kit, the third, is based on Wimbledon Tennis club’s colors, which I always liked.
• • • • •
Thanks, Superfly! Like Paul (and I’m sure many others who read this site), I’m not a soccer guy, but I try to get into it whenever possible. To my eyes, many of these redesigns are pretty sweet. In the words of Jimmer Vilk, “I’d wear (some of) that.” Well done.
Readers? What say you?
MLB Playoff Uni Tracking
It’s BAAAAACK.Alex Rocklein has been tracking the jerseys of all the teams involved in the MLB Post Season for the past several seasons. We’ve now concluded the Wild Card and Divisional Series’ and have moved on to the ALCS (last night). The first graphic depicts all games played in the WC and DS. Although he sent me this graphic before the Red Sox/Astros game was completed, the graphic is correct for the jerseys worn (see full tracker). One small change: any team that has a front number on their jersey shows the number of the starting pitcher from that game (previously it was all #21).
Here’s the full tracker (which will get filled in as we go through the NLDS/ALDS, NLCS/ALCS and World Series):
I hope you guys enjoy this annual feature and you’ll thank Alex for all his effort with a quick “Thanks” in the comments below! Look for this feature every weekend until the World Series is complete!
Bulletin reminder: Paul here. In case you missed it on Friday, my latest article on Bulletin is an interview with football uniform historian Bill Schaefer, who creates all of the uniform mock-ups that appear on the amazing Gridiron Uniform Database website. We talked about how the GUD got started, he research methods, his “white whale,” his goals for the site’s future, and a lot more. I hope you’ll check it out on my Bulletin page. Enjoy!
The Ticker By Anthony Emerson
Baseball News: Reader John Fitzgerald sent along some shots of his 1999 MLB All Star game duffle bag and commemorative ball. John says that “A friend of our family is a former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher, and he was given this bag filled with various trinkets when he was in town signing autographs before the game. He passed these along to me at dinner while he was in town.” The bag is a great piece of memorabilia that I had never seen before. … I think we’ve discussed this before, but just in case — a portion of the old Forbes Field outfield wall still stands on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus (from Kary Klismet). … The ABC sitcom The Wonder Years features an anachronistic Phillies pennant in the main character’s bedroom — the show is set in 1968 but the logo in question wasn’t used until 1972 (from Matthew Green).
NFL News: The WFT is wearing throwbacks this weekend (from our own Jamie Rathjen). … The Jags are going mono-black tomorrow in London (thanks, Phil). … Bucs lineman Vita Vea had a hell of a time trying to remove his jersey for a post-game jersey swap after Thursday night’s game against the Eagles (from Moe Khan).
College/High School Football News: Ohio State is calling on fans to help design their new turf (from Jason Hillyer). … Here are this weekend’s unis for Virginia Tech, UNLV, Texas Tech, and KU.
Hockey News: The Devils have added a memorial helmet decal for the late Jimmy Hayes, while Chicago wore practice jerseys reading “Haysey” (from multiple readers). … Wayne Gretzky was almost always seen on the ice in his iconic Jofa helmet. An exception was the 1996 All-Star Game in Boston, where he wore a CCM (from @tucker_1993). … The Canucks misspelled RW Alex Chiasson’s NOB. It’s pronounced like “Chaisson” but spelled “Chiasson” (from multiple readers). … The Blue Jackets remembered their late G Matiss Kivlenieks who passed away this summer during their home opener Thursday night. G Elvis Merzlikins wore a No. 80 Kivlenieks jersey in warmups. No. 80 was on ice behind the nets and a banner was put in the rafters (from Wade Heidt). … Also from Wade: The OHL’s Flint Firebirds hosted a “Pink the Rink” promotion on Thursday night.
NBA News: The Kings flashed this new wordmark up on the Jumbotron during Thursday night’s game. Perhaps a City Edition preview? (from @nbaunitracker). … Mavs F Dorian Finney-Smith was without a championship tag during last night’s preseason finale (from @MavsTracker).
College/High School Hoops News: Georgia State men have unveiled new unis (from Doug Hazard). … Sign of the apocalypse: a high school gym now has a corporate naming rights advertiser (from Andrew Griesman).
Soccer News: St. Louis City SC’s new stadium will include an art installation commemorating the historic Black neighborhood that formerly stood on the site (from Kary Klismet).
And finally… that’s all for today. Big thanks to Sean for sharing his MLS designs. For all you soccer guys (and gals), how’d he do?
Everyone have a good Saturday — enjoy the College Football and MLB Playoffs, or whatever it is you may be doing. I’ll catch you all back here with the SMUW crew tomorrow morning.
Jimmer Vilk’s 5 & 1
