Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken, on September 24th, 2017

By Phil Hecken & The SMUW Crew

Gorgeous game yesterday afternoon as the Cal Bears took on the USC Trojans, with the Bears wearing “Joe Roth-era” throwbacks. Here’s a look at Joe Roth himself modeling the uniform after which yesterday’s throwbacks were based.

If you’re curious as to who Joe Roth was, and why the team wore throwbacks in his honor, you can check this article out. There’s even a documentary on the man.

Seeing how beautiful these looked, one wonders why more teams (and Cal in this instance) don’t just jettison their current uniforms and wear throwbacks full time. A perfect example of this would be Pitt (interesting how similar the two throwbacks are). Pitt even wore road throwbacks earlier this year. But they’re far from the only school to have worn really great retro unis that should be made permanent.

There’s some good news and some bad news. Cal won’t wear these again (at least I don’t think they will) this year, but Cal announced yesterday the Roth throwbacks to be an annual tradition when hosting USC or UCLA. Well done Cal. Now consider wearing them more often — like every home game!

OK, here’s TJ Duroncelet with today’s SMUW rundown:

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

• Several teams wore these decals over the weekend for Extra Yard Week, in honor of teachers everywhere.

• Cal wore these STELLAR throwbacks against USC. An ace look from top-to-bottom.

• Arkansas wore their Razorboys uniforms against Texas A&M. They looked swell, but it would’ve nice to see them go the extra mile and use the NFL-style captaincy patches. Also: everyone, and their mothers, and their mother’s mothers repeatedly likened the Razorbacks to Ohio State.

• Remember when it was reported a week ago that the Dolphins, Buccaneers, and Jaguars were going to be wearing “One Florida” decals on the back of their helmets in recognition and support of the victims of Hurricane Irma? The Miami ‘Canes were seen wearing it on Saturday as well. I should note that The U wore the NFL version, which includes three dots, each one denoting he locations of Miami, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville, respectively (to the aforementioned NFL clubs). UCF wore a slightly-simplified version, which omitted the dots.

• Speaking of which, they wore all-white against an all-black Maryland squad.

• Oklahoma wore their cream alts against Baylor. I know they shouldn’t grow on me, but they continue to do so as the years pass.

• Indiana wore their Hep’s Rock uniforms against Georgia Southern.

• UNC played against eternal rival Duke, who wore the blue version of a helmet that they wore around this time three years ago. Also, you might have noticed Tar Heels mascots Rameses and RJ wearing these JR patches. They will be wearing those for the remainder of the 2017-2018 academic year, in honor of Jason Ray, a UNC student who served as the mascot in the mid-2000s and was killed in a traffic accident 10 years ago. The patch also helps to bring awareness to the Jason Ray Transplant Clinic (Ray was an organ donor, and his organs went on to help and save the lives of over 60 people in need of a transplant).

• John Roy’s/@John_Roy comment is so brilliant, that I need say nothing.

• We’ve seen various permutations of the ‘I can be your angel or your devil’ meme for a long time now on the field. Specifically, all-white vs all-black. But sometimes, all it takes is one team looking insanely-good vs. one that looks insanely-bad. That was the Saturday game between Florida and Kentucky. Good on ya Florida, and just stop, Kentucky. Just STOP.

• Jerry Kulig notes that an Iowa player’s nose bumper was knocked askew during the Iowa/Penn State game.

• Navy and Cincinnati looked PHENOMENAL, and it’s always a pleasure to see the Bearcats wear the red helmets.

• JESUS CHRIST, what do you even CALL this look? “Slightly-overcooked sweet potato pie with Cool Whip on top“?

• NC State wore new helmet decals in their game against Florida State.

• From Charles George/@805Pineapple: “The pride stickers on Hawaii’s helmets are Lei O Mano, Shark toothed club. Ancient Hawaiian war weapon.”

• STOP THE PRESSES. LOUISVILLE ACTUALLY LOOKS NORMAL(ish). THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

• SMU became the Dark Grey Mustangs for their game against Arkansas State.

• Texas Tech wore red helmets with these decals on the back of them in honor of Spike Dykes, the head coach of the Red Raiders from 1986-1999 (PC for the last pic goes to @SWCfootballNow). Here’s a closeup of the decal.

• And while we’re at it, Campus Sports (well, Sportscenter, technically) gives us a walkthrough of some of the uniforms mentioned here, including Cal, Indiana, Oklahoma, Ball State, and more.

That’ll do it for Week 4! I was handed the busiest hand by some strange universal force this week, so my apologies if I missed anything major from yesterday or the days beforehand. Until then, see you next week!

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Joe Ringham 5 & 1 Joe Ringham’s 5 & 1

Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, and Catherine Ryan after him, Joe Ringham is back again for 2017 to make his “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni matchups. Sometimes he’ll have some “honorable mentions” and sometimes there will be more than one “bad” game. 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.

Here’s Joe:

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Good Sunday, everyone! The first official weekend of Autumn is upon us, even if the thermometer doesn’t say so in some parts, and we had a plethora of good-looking match-ups this week. So, let’s get to this week’s list…

5) UCLA at Stanford — A little Pac-12 After Dark making the list. Simple, classic, and flat-out gorgeous.

4) UAB at North Texas — For a team whose nickname is the Mean Green, North Texas doesn’t look too bad going black/green/black at home. A pretty sharp look, if you ask me. Paired up with the gold/white/gold road look of the Blazers, and you have one very sharp looking game.

3) Cincinnati at Navy — I’m a huge fan of the Middies home gold/navy/gold set. It’s simple, classic, and just looks damn good. Paired up against Cincy’s red/white/red road look and you have one great looking game in Annapolis.

2) Kent State at Louisville — To me, this is the Cardinals’ best look, when they go with their traditional white/red/white at home. This matched up exceptionally well against the Golden Flashes’ gold/white/gold road set. Such a great looking game in the sunshine on a Saturday.

1) Southern Cal at California — The Trojans always look good, and have one of the most iconic uniforms in all of major college football. But, I have to admit, I was on the fence when I first saw these Cal throwbacks a few weeks ago. However… MY GOD did they look fantastic. Ridiculously good, creating a game worthy of the top spot.

And, finally…

+1) Syracuse at LSU — It’s not often that I have LSU on the bad side of the list, simply because I love the gold/white/gold look they always go with. However, against the white/mono orange of Syracuse… just didn’t look pretty in Death Valley.

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Thanks Joe! You can follow Joe on the Twitter and let him know what you think of his choices or make a 5 & 1 suggestion of your own!

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NCAA Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2016 trackers are back!

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the B1G AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking last season. Ethan has stepped into the dual role of both the B1G and the SEC.

Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences:

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Rex is up first today (ACC):

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ACC

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

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

PAC-12

More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.

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And here is Ethan, with the SEC:

SEC

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

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And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

Follow Kyle on Twitter here.

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And here’s Ethan with the B1G:

B1G

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Duck Tracker

Welcome to the 2017 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!

Thanks Dennis!

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Remember the contest…

…to design an Ambulance?

This was a quick and dirty contest held a couple years ago, in which reader Daniel Secord purchased an old ambulance and then invited readers to create a design for it.

A few readers participated in the contest, which was eventually won by Laura DeLuca (scroll down for her design).

Daniel took that design and eventually finished the ambulance

Well…

as you know, during the off-season, the Lions redesigned their uniforms, which meant Dan had to redesign/tweak the ambulance. He did. A quick note accompanied the following two photographs:

Hey Phil,

Here’s a picture of what I did to the ambulance because the Lions changed things up. New wordscript on the back and new helmet stripes up front.

Dan Secord

Check out the update (click to enlarge):

Cool stuff, Dan. Thanks for the update!

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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: The website MentalFloss has a history of the Starter brand. Submitter Patrick Mulcare writes, “The article features a photo of [a] Mets jacket with notably good arm stripes! It also mentions that the owner wanted to make fans be able to buy what athletes wear on the field.” … Yesterday, the Braves Dansby Swanson was giving his NCAAFB picks on Braves social media wearing a Braves/Vandy mashup t-shirt (good spot by Chris Brueckner). Tweeter Garrison Smith notes the Braves have also done a lot of regional university nights with shirts too. … Whoa — check out these custom Allen Edmonds “Barrellman” Milwaukee Brewer shoes (from Bruce Menard). … Hockey/Baseball crossover: John Sabol writes, “Odd jersey/hat combo @ #NHLChinaGames. Fan wearing an #Indians hat & #Canucks sweater. Gotta be a first” (also posted in the NHL section). … Football/Baseball crossover(?): Crazy mash up of NFL Shield and LAD logo, says Roberto Castañeda (also posted in the NFL section). … The Reds Greens wore their Shamrock jerseys and caps yesterday (a-bit-past-halfway-to-St. Paddy’s Day?). From Robert O’Byrne. … There’s some cool neon action on the Dodger Cafe sign — including a ball being thrown at the batter. That’s from Ray Hund who adds “This ‘bum’ hangout was located on Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, of course.” … Also from Ray: “If you look closely at this 1961 L.A. Angels team pic you might agree with me when I believe that there’s a logo in there I’ve never seen this team use before. It’s on the the left breast of the white short-sleeved shirt the guy is wearing on the far right. I’ve crudely drawn what I think I’m seeing, but maybe it’s barbecue sauce.” … The White Sox’ Al Alburquerque had an upside down front number 8 last night (good spot by Steve Dodell). … “Never knew the A’s have a Shibe Park Tavern at the Oakland Coliseum,” says Jimmer Vilk. … The Athletics’ Bruce Maxwell has become the first MLB player to kneel during the national anthem (thanks Paul).

NFL News: From Darren Rovell, back on yesterday’s date in 1984, it was “full name jersey” for Jack Youngblood. If course, we’d refer to that as “FNOB” (full name on back) or “DDNOB” (double decker name on back). … Reader Glenn Metzger says, “I was rewatching the Lions victory over the Giants from MNF, and noticed that the Nike logo on the right sleeve of the Giants jersey is backward. Is that a mistake, or have is that the new standard for Nike’s jerseys?” Shortly thereafter he added, “Had I watched for another minute, I would have seen it on the Lions jersey too. It looks bad. Why put it backwards?” … Great spot by @kevyon212 who notice this ad in the Verizon store seems to have photoshopped Eli Manning with number 11. Here’s the original, untouched image (from Dan Medina). … After the slight hullabaloo over the ticker item yesterday about the Eagles wearing green jerseys for the first time, I hope this item about “Eagle’s endzones are green! Never done that before. Usually, just grass or black for blackout,” from Blake Fox is better received. Here’s another look. … Football/Baseball crossover(?): Crazy mash up of NFL Shield and LAD logo, says Roberto Castañeda (also posted in the baseball section). … Not a big surprise, but here are the uniforms the Jaguars will wear for the London game today (from Clint Richardson).

College Football News: This is interesting. In a tweet yesterday, the Miami Hurricanes featured a player wearing a “U” chain (from Wayne Muller). Turns out the chain isn’t some 90s bling affectation, but their “turnover chain”. If a defensive player forces a TO, he gets to wear it on the sideline during the game (from @1201Main). … Tweeter Travis Holland wonders why so many college mascots were depicted wearing “sailor” caps. “(W)hat’s the history behind this?” he asks. The answer may be found here (from Kevin McGuire). … Looks like former Detroit Tigers & Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Kirk Gibson is featured on Michigan State Football’s cover today (from Mike Thompson). Gibson may have played pro baseball, but he was also a Spartan football player.

Hockey News: “What happens when neither team tells each other what they are wearing?” asks Mike Miller. Well, here’s what you get (sorry, I’m not sure of the teams being shown). … Here’s a look at the helmet/mask the Ducks’ Ryan Miller will be wearing this season (thanks, Paul). … Hockey/Baseball crossover: John Sabol writes, “Odd jersey/hat combo @ #NHLChinaGames. Fan wearing an #Indians hat & #Canucks sweater. Gotta be a first” (also posted in the baseball section). … A local liquor store in South Saint Paul MN called Hat Trick has been painting a mural showing famous hockey players plus in the “audience” famous MN sport celebs (from Sara Schieve). Check out some pics here, here, here and here.

NBA News: In case you missed it on Thursday evening, the Celtics unveiled their new uniforms “in the creepiest way possible” (from Phil Lawson). Years ago, I visited some friends in France, and there are literally dozens of these types of performers everywhere (though they never seem to move or blink an eye), and yeah, it’s pretty freaky.

Soccer News: Yesterday, VfB Stuttgart wore special jerseys, because it was the 25th birthday of their mascot Fritzle (from Martin). Reader Michael Poplawski explains: “Fritzle is purported to live in the Neckar river, upon which Stuttgart was built. Pictures are from German TV ARD’s Sportschau, where Matthias Opdenhövel introduces a segment about the origins of the mascot, and also the 1992/93 team photo where Fritzle was still yet to hatch. The jersey features a sketch of Fritzle on the front and includes the names of Fritzle’s fan club (something kids can join) both on the front and the back. The game jerseys featured green numerals, rather than the black numerals VfB Stuttgart normally wears.” … Our pal Conrad Burry has learned info about the 2018 World Cup Nike template and the USA kits design details. For more, click here.

Grab Bag: Over (down?) in the Australian Football League, they take their rules for wearing clash jumpers very seriously (from Will Pike). … On Friday night and Saturday Morning, President Trump weighed in on players who take a knee during the National Anthem and sports figures and topics. … Check out these custom caps: “Can’t recall if this has been covered already, but wanted to bring the work of Ruben Ortiz Torres to your attention,” says Bruce Jaynes. “That is all.”

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41 comments   Sunday Morning Uni Watch

Snapping Back to the Script Snapback

By Phil Hecken, on September 23rd, 2017

By Phil Hecken, with Jason Rezvan

You guys will recall that during the month of August I handled the weekday postings, and as I generally do during that month, I try to work with readers who have interesting ideas for topics — usually I’m able to get to every single person (and still be strapped for content), but not so this year, when the NBA decided to slow-bleed their releases during half of the month. As a result, I have a bunch of reader-inspired content still in the hopper, and today we’ll be treated to a neat piece by Jason Rezvan, who first started working with me in July on this. As fate would have it, Jason got married over Labor Day weekend (congrats!) so by the time he’d finished the piece for me my content for August had already been “booked.”

So, sit back and enjoy this look back at an item I’m sure many of once owned (and many probably still do) — the adjustable, or “snapback” cap. Here’s Jason:

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Snapping Back to the Script Snapback
by Jason Rezvan

N.W.A and Clark Griswold.

You’d be hard-pressed to find much overlap between these ‘80s pop cultural icons, but in my mind they will forever be linked by a single distinctive piece of uni lore: The Script Snapback.

And any conversation about this most iconic and enduring piece of headwear must begin with its pioneer, the erstwhile titan of athletic apparel, Sports Specialties.

Founded in Chicago in 1928 by 16-year-old David Warsaw, this small, family-run enterprise broke through in a big way by becoming the first company to sign a licensing contract with a professional sports team.

Unprecedented at the time, Warsaw secured his first license with the Wrigley family during the summer of ‘28 after requesting permission to sell ashtrays shaped like Wrigley Field and emblazoned with the Cubs’ logo in the stadium. Naturally hesitant, the Wrigleys only signed off on the endeavor after Warsaw agreed to pay a royalty on every sale.

From those humble origins sprang one of the world’s leading licensed sports headwear companies: Sports Specialties became the first official NFL licensee in 1963 and was subsequently named the official championship locker room headwear supplier for the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, All-Star Games, and the NCAA Final Four.

After relocating to Irvine, CA, Sports Specialties reached a new apex in 1984 after securing the first “authentic” license agreement in professional sports and creating its NFL Pro Line “Script” hat. These were the models given to team personnel as official game day apparel and quickly became its signature series. (The NFL colloquially referred to them as “coach caps.”)

As you can see in the item description above, these caps were 100% single color wool with a single line scripture and attendant pro league logo on the side.

The mark II series model sported a double line script as seen above – same font, only this time outlined by a second thread – and could be found in a variety of material: cotton twill, leather (featuring an adjustable buckle rather than the standard snapback), corduroy, and wool.

One interesting variation here is “The Pro” Workout Cap. Made from polypropylene material, its heather gray coloring was designed to mimic those of gym clothing.

From a marketing standpoint, not all teams’ logos translated to the script design. The Orlando Magic, New York Giants, and Los Angeles Lakers are examples of teams whose logo suites already included script versions of some kind. Rather than shoehorning a square peg into a round hole, Sports Specialties retained some (like the Magic’s star A) or all (the Giants’ and Lakers’ regular trademarked script) of these elements for their designs.

The popularity of the Script Snapback boomed alongside the rise of the nascent licensed sportswear industry in the mid-‘80s,¬ which, due to more prolific marketing efforts, the rise of superstars like Michael Jordan, and pop cultural ambassadors à la N.W.A and Clark Griswold, had made steady gains in both American and overseas markets. By 1992, Sports Specialties’ annual sales closed in on $70 million.

Nowadays, nostalgia-fueled marketing is driving a resurgence in the style. Mitchell & Ness have been churning out their own scripts for years; New Era, too. The exact scripts of these nouveau models differ slightly from Sports Specialties’ despite the fact that U.S. copyright law does not protect typefaces, but the general template and vibe hew close to the original. One reason contemporary scripts differ from the originals is architectural: modern crown shapes and circular bills have narrowed available headwear real estate.

The secondary market as well is rife with originals and replicas. Listings on eBay abound continuously, and even Etsy retailers have gotten in on the action.

Of course, the Raiders’ script hat remains the most desirable of all teams due to its association with N.W.A and the larger world of hip hop. ScriptSnapbacks.com is quite literally an entire site devoted to selling Raiders (and Kings) replicas, and a recent listing of a vintage L.A. Raiders script on eBay sold for a cool $349.99. Perhaps most emblematic of this model’s particularly iconic stature is this Slate piece (complete with a Uni Watch shout-out!) dissecting all the wardrobe mistakes in the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, including a dissection of the anachronistic replica font used for the film’s Script Snapback replicas.

Still, what truly sets them apart is the fact that, for the majority of hats in the series, nary an actual team logo can be found.

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Thanks, Jason, for the trip down memory lane! OK readers, what say you? Any adjustable snapback fans out there?

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What They’re Wearing Today…

The following is a list of some (though by no means all, obviously) uniforms, patches or helmets teams have announced for their games today.

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The Ticker
By Anthony Emerson

Baseball News: Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, a native of Puerto Rico, had “Pray for PR” on his batting helmet Thursday evening, showing solidarity with the island which has been battered by two major hurricanes over the past few weeks (from Joanna Zweip). … Several notes from last evening’s Red Sox/Reds game: First, the Reds had Hispanic Heritage Night and wore their “Los Rojos” jerseys. Second, early in the game NESN color commentator Jonny Gomes, who played for the Reds, said he occasionally changed his uniform three times a game because he sweated so much due to the weather in the Cincinnati area. Finally, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia wore a batting helmet with a front flap for the first time. He took a foul ball off his face several days ago against the Orioles. … Excellent stirrups from the Trenton (Mo.) Bulldogs softball team (from Seth Herrod). … This is interesting: Pirates infielder Josh Harrison appears to be wearing a forearm band that features an image of himself, his signature and a Bible quote. First I’ve seen of this. Does anyone else in the Majors wear something similar? (from Ben Foster). … A dance team in Missouri City, Texas is using the Royals’ wordmark in their logo. I wonder if they do routines to Lorde songs (from Mike Klug). … Marty Fox noticed that Cubs catcher Willson Contreras was wearing a cap with some sort of memorial ribbon on the right-hand side. Contreras is Venezuelan, and I can kind of make out the colors of the Venezuelan flag. Also note that Rene Rivera was also wearing a cap with a handwritten “Pray for PR” message. … Tequila-sunrise-inspired T-shirts are being sold by the Houston Fund to raise money for victims of Hurricane Harvey (from Lee Wilds). … Players on the Nationals wore a variety of different socks last night (from @JohnEye85). … The Houston Fire Department has T-shirts featuring the Astrodome in the center of their department badge. It should be noted that this is not the official badge of the Houston Fire Department — this is, which also features the Astrodome, though not as a central element (from @igTXSalazar). … The Padres broke out the #PonleAcento t-shirts for Hispanic Heritage Weekend (thanks, Paul). … The Padres Manuel Margot had no logo on his helmet last night (from Jason Ricles).

NFL News: The Eagles will finally wear their green jerseys for the first time this Sunday (from Sam McKinley). … This is also in the NCAAF section: Stu Kushner noticed that the LA Rams Color Rash unis were nearly indistinguishable from the new Michigan alternate unis. … This is also in the NBA section: the Atlanta Hawks post fan art to their Twitter every Friday as part of a promotion called “Fan Art Friday”. This week featured designer Christopher Muñoz and his Hawks/football crossover (thanks, Phil). … Nice bit of logo-awareness from ESPN: they used both the old and new Rams logos in a graphic comparing this season to previous seasons (from David Smolowitz). … The Browns will wear white jerseys, white pants and orange socks on Sunday against the Colts (from Robert Hayes). … The Eagles have repainted their endzones green (from Conor Geisel). … Last evening the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had some serious helmet paint chipping issues (from Steve B.).

College Football News: Not uni-related, but Chapel Hill Transit added “Beat Duke” to their exterior message board (from James Gilbert). … This is also in the NFL section, but Stu Kushner noticed that the LA Rams Color Rash unis were nearly indistinguishable from the new Michigan alternate unis. … Excellent article on the University of Oregon’s team seamstress here (from Alex Allen). … UCF has unveiled their “Space Game” uni patch, based on NASA mission patches. More info here (from Andy Seeley). … Iowa State University Marching Band sousaphonists appear to be wearing cycling caps (from Steven Sisco). … Here’s a piece on how Kentucky picks its uniform combo each week. … Powdersville High School in South Carolina have new uniforms (from Nick Oakley). … Adidas and the University of Kansas have announced an extension in their long-term partnership (from Caitlin Albaugh).

Hockey News: The logo for the 2018 NHL All-Star Game in St. Petersburg, Florida, was unveiled last evening. Hope the Honda part isn’t on the in-game jersey patches (from Chad Seufert). … UMass has unveiled the unveiling date for their new unis: September 25, on Instagram only (from Thomas Fleischmann). … The Ogden Mustangs, a junior team out of Utah, have released their new uniforms in a Twitter video (from Jon McBride).

NBA News: Cross-linked from the NFL section: the Atlanta Hawks post fan art to their Twitter every Friday as part of a promotion called “Fan Art Friday”. This week featured designer Christopher Muñoz and his Hawks/football crossover. … Conrad Burry was checking out Lids.com and discovered two NBA things I don’t think we’ve seen yet: a Cavs logo featuring the outline of the state of Ohio, and a “Minn” wordmark for the Timberwolves. Great find. … Lots of great pics of the forthcoming line of Converse sneakers inspired by the uniforms of the 30 NBA teams (thanks, Phil). … Color on color alert in the Spanish Liga ACB: that’s Valencia in orange and Unicaja Malaga in green (from @NYCking). … Domenico Delgado noticed that two non-Nike Warriors players, Steph Curry (who is with Under Armour) and Nick Young (who is with Adidas) folded their new Nike socks to conceal the Nike logo during picture day. I don’t know whether this is a comfort thing or an intentional way to limit Nike branding. Interestingly, Klay Thompson, who’s with Puma, didn’t conceal the Nike logo.

College Hoops News: The sports publishing company Lindy’s used an old Cincinnati logo in their annual college basketball preview (from Jonathan Machuga). … George Mason has unveiled their new uniforms in a Twitter video that you should probably watch with the sound off because of loud, obnoxious background music (from Josh Holman and Johnny Coleman).

Soccer News: A leaked track top has revealed that the Italian National Team will have a new crest, probably to be formally released just before the World Cup next year. For comparison, here’s the current crest. Major downgrade in my opinion, those stars look terrible. … Illinois launched their new kits in a Twitter post last night. Note the SNOB (from @DomIllini05 and Rob Hornick, who both sent this in).

Grab Bag: Parents of children at a school in Britain are angry that 87 students were sent home for not meeting the strict uniform standards set by the new headmaster. … Gardner-Webb University women’s volleyball wore neon green warmup shirts, the color of lymphoma awareness, in honor of assistant coach Heather Feldman who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma last year (from Richard Martin).

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43 comments   Caps

Wishing for an Ad-Free Lakers Jersey? Too Late!

By Paul Lukas, on September 22nd, 2017

Two more NBA teams announced jersey advertising patches yesterday. Let’s start in L.A., where the Lakers have struck a deal with the e-commerce site Wish (which I had never heard of until yesterday, although I’m sure that says more about me than it does about Wish). Here’s how the patch will look on their other jerseys (click to enlarge):

This one feels significant, because the Lakers are a legacy team playing in the league’s biggest market. It’s also worth noting that Wish is a company that combines lifestyle (which is what I mistakenly thought would be the dominant category for the NBA’s uni advertisers) and tech (which has turned out to be the dominant category). Additional info and lots of additional photos here.

Meanwhile, The Miami Herald broke the news yesterday that the Heat will wear an Ultimate Software advertising patch (never heard of them either). Here’s how that one will look (click to enlarge):

Ultimate Software is based in South Florida, so there’s a local connection. And, obviously, they’re another tech company. Additional info here.

These two moves mean there are now 16 ad-clad teams, with 14 teams remaining ad-free — for now.

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Click to enlarge

The weekly slop: Last night was the appointed date for my favorite NFL team to dress like clowns. Also, my favorite NFL team sucks (all the time, not just last night). Also-also, the other team dressed like clowns as well.

In other words, I did not watch the game and instead cleaned the house. This was good, because it meant I was home and could respond to all the people who emailed and tweeted to ask, “How come the Rams get away with wearing a different helmet? I thought there was a rule!” That never gets old, lemme tell ya.

Additional photos here.

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The Ticker
By Kris Gross

Baseball News: The Brewers and Cubs went blue vs. blue last night (from @Zanerzas). … The Reds will add additional safety netting in response to that girl getting hit by a foul ball at Yankee Stadium. … Speaking of, here’s an illustration of the original Yankee Stadium, including the names of every player who ever played there (artwork by Daniel Duffy, sent our way by Mike Chamernik).

NFL News: If last night’s Rams/Niners game got you down, check out how the Rams used to look (from Alex Cheremeteff). … Speaking of last night’s game, 49ers QB Brian Hoyer suffered a torn jersey. … Injured 49ers LB Reuben Foster was on the sidelines wearing a jersey with a ”5AVA6E” NOB. The 5 and 6 matched his No. 56 (from Brinke). … A fan convinced Patriots owner Robert Kraft to change mascot Patriot Pat’s number from No. 0 to No. 1 (thanks Anthony). … Pretty cool steelworker illustration on this Steelers schedule poster (from Robert Hayes). … As we prepare for the Colts and Browns matchup this weekend, let’s take a look at some classic film from the 1964 NFL Championship Game between those two teams (from Robert Hayes).

College Football News: Colorado State will wear Colorado flag-themed jerseys on Nov. 11 against Boise State. … Here is some more info on the “Dallas Razorbacks” uniforms Arkansas will wear on Saturday. … Houston will wear a Texas flag-themed helmet logo (from Ignacio). … We have the jersey matchup for North Carolina vs. Duke (from James Gilbert). … Also from James: UNC’s costumed mascots, Rameses and Rameses Jr., will wear memorial patches following the death of a former student who wore the Rameses costume for three years. The patches will be worn at all UNC sports events that the mascots attend (from James Gilbert). …Syracuse will wear chrome facemasks with orange jerseys this weekend (from Bryan Prouse). … Virginia Tech safety Deon Newsome will wear the No. 25 jersey on Saturday to honor Frank Beamer (from Andrew Cosentino). … Here is more info on the “Medal of Honor” uniforms Wayne State wore last weekend. … BYU developed helmet foam for real-time concussion detection (thanks Phil). … This Florida recruiting image uses the wrong number color. It should look like this (from Brian).

Hockey News: The Lighting and Hurricanes went color-on-color on Wednesday night (thanks Paul). … The Flyers wore Reebok warmups before the game, but Adidas jerseys during the game on Wednesday (from Kevin Kurz). … Golden Knights players delivered jerseys to season ticket holders (from Maximiliano). … Sauli Niinstö, the President of Finland, dropped the puck in Minnesota last night. Check out the umlaut on his NOB (from Steven Schapansky). … The Predators teamed up with a local developer to build a youth sports complex, and the developer uses the old Predators logo (from Ernad Selimagic). … The Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League have a new logo (thanks Paul). … The Colorado Eagles of the ECHL unveiled new jerseys, with an anniversary patch to celebrate the team’s 15th season (from Zeke Perez Jr.). … More new looks from the ECHL, as the Idaho Steelheads debuted new logos (from Nik Streng).

Basketball News: The Celtics shared some of the ideas behind their new black alternates (from Joe Giza). … Big Baller Brand has completely redesigned Lonzo Ball’s shoe before its November release. … Luke Adland passes along what looks like new Iowa State uniforms for this season. … Be on the lookout for Celtics guard Kyrie Irving on the hood of the GameStop/NBA2K18 car at New Hampshire this weekend (from Robert Hayes). … New yellow uniforms for North Dakota State (from @moserdustind).

Soccer News: It appears Nike is getting away from their generic kits for the 2018 World Cup (from Ed Żelaski). … Montpellier Hérault, a professional soccer club in France, will send a batch of misspelled jerseys to Montpelier High School in Vermont (from Jack Swagnon).

Grab Bag: We continue our daily update on nose piercings, here’s F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who wears a nose stud while racing (from Matthew Walthert). … East Grand Rapids High School in Michigan will be hosting a vintage field hockey game to re-create the first women’s field hockey game in the U.S. More info here (thanks Jamie). … Here’s an article about really small versions of everyday items, which is becoming a collecting niche.

• • • • •

Shame on me for not wishing everyone a happy autumnal equinox yesterday, and also a happy Rosh Hashanah for those who are observing. Plus yesterday was my half-birthday and I forgot to eat half a cake! Will try to make up for it today. Everyone have a great weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. — Paul

77 comments   NBA, Patches, Uniform advertising/sponsorship

The Inside Story Behind the ‘Dallas Razorbacks’

By Paul Lukas, on September 21st, 2017

Click to enlarge

As I mentioned earlier this week, Arkansas will be honoring their most famous alum, Jerry Jones, by wearing Cowboys-style uniforms when they play Texas A&M at the Cowboys’ stadium this Saturday.

On Tuesday I got to interview Arkansas equipment manager Jake Rosch, who filled me in on a lot of details regarding this uniform project. It was a tremendously enjoyable interview, and I think you’ll enjoy it as well. Check it out here on ESPN.com.

I really ought to interview equipment managers more often. They geek out about this stuff just like we do.

• • • • •

The Ticker
By Paul

’Skins Watch: A high school football team in Virginia has the phrase “Hoka Hey” on their jerseys. That’s a battle cry from the Sioux chieftain Crazy Horse. More info here (from Steve H). … Actress Danielle Panabaker attended last Sunday’s ’Skins/Rams game and wore a cap expressing her thoughts on the team’s name (from James Gilbert).

Baseball News: Twins P Jose Berrios, who’s from Puerto Rico, responded to the latest hurricane by writing “Pray 4 PR” on his cap. … The Wisconsin Timbler Rattlers are selling nameplates from Brewers who were on minor league rehab assignments (from Scott Hurley). … Looks like Padres C Rocky Gale was wearing teammate Austin Hedges’ chest protector yesterday. … D-backs 1B Paul Goldschmidt was wearing the Players Weekend socks last night.

NFL News: Following up on yesterday’s entry about nose rings: Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill has a nose stud (from Coleman Brockmeier). … And from yesterday’s comments, here’s former Dolphins RB Ricky Williams with a nose stud (from John Cropp). … Looks like Cardinals RB David Johnson has his own personal logo (from Matthew Crooks). … A group of current and former NFL players have asked commish Roger Goodell to designate November as a month for activism awareness, similar to the current campaigns for cancer and the military. It’s not clear to what extent, if any, this would involve uniforms or accessories. Goodell’s response is also unknown, at least for now.

College Football News: Indiana will wear their “Hep’s Rock” alternates this weekend (from Darrell Frazier). … Alternate cream unis this weekend for Oklahoma (from Sam McKinley). … 1997 throwbacks this week for Southern Miss. … Want to vote on the best San Diego State helmet of all time? Sure you do. … Military appreciation uniforms this weekend for Virginia Tech (from Andrew Cosentino).

Hockey News: Bauer, the hockey equipment brand, has come up with a new collar device that supposedly prevents brain damage. This appears to be similar to the device worn by Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly (from Ted Arnold).

NBA News: The 76ers have announced a “Spirit of 76” campaign, which will feature a retro-style court and a new alternate uniform, with the uni to be unveiled later this fall. The promotion will also include three new statues of yet-to-be-named Sixers greats (thanks, Phil).

College Hoops News: Florida State’s uniforms are staying the same for this season (from Ryan Kelly). … New court design for Creighton (from @CourtlandOlson).

Soccer News: Sporting KC wore their primary kits in the US Open Cup final last night (from @powerandfinesse). … The Portland Timbers have signed a five-year-old keeper (yes, really), and he’ll wear No. 100 (from Mike Donovan).

Grab Bag: There’s a new-ish book about the symbolism of national flags. … The great minutiae website Atlas Obscura has been doing an entire week of articles about pants. … Here’s one observer’s picks for the eight most iconic retro jerseys in rap videos (from Mike Chamernik). … With Toys R Us filing for bankruptcy, Robert Hayes found a graphic showing the evolution of the company’s giraffe mascot. … This is interesting: an artist who produces handmade quilts from prison uniforms (from Marc Rivlin). … The University of West Georgia has inked a new apparel deal with Adidas (from Bo Childers).

43 comments   College Football, Special Occasions
 
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