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Three Musketeers of Clevo

3 musketeers hed

By Phil Hecken

After the three pack of NBA uniform unveilings on Monday, the LeBron-less Cavaliers of Cleveland introduced their uniform set yesterday. Very nice. Having already slightly tweaked their logo replacing the “vegas” gold with “athletic gold” and making the basketball a more ‘purplish-red,’ (which the Cavs are referring to as “wine” but which I’ll call burgundy) the Cavaliers reflected these color changes in their new uniforms.

The differences are both subtle and dramatic — taking the deeper shade of burgundy for the new jersey, and removing all the side piping and the blue accents — going for a very simple and elegant two-color (burgundy and gold) jersey with five-collar stripes (gold-burgundy-gold-burgundy-gold on the roads, with the opposite sequence on the homes). The numbers on the roads are gold on a burgundy field and burgundy on a white field for the homes. That striping pattern is repeated on the road and home waist band and hems, respectively.

Like the Jazz, who unveiled Monday, this takes elements of their original jersey set and updates them. Very simple and subtle, and very effective.

According to the team, the “new expression of wine and gold home and road authentic uniforms … reflect the colors and style elements from the earliest years of the Cavs.” In addition, “On both uniforms, special details make them distinctive. The Cavaliers DNA statement: ‘All for One. One for All.’ is printed along the back of the inner-collar of the crew neck jersey, and the Cavaliers secondary logo ‘C-sword’ appears on both sides of the shorts.”

Indeed, upon closer inspection, “All for One. One for All.” is found inside the collar. Now, I’m pretty sure these uniforms were designed long before “The Decision,” but it’s an interesting coincidence that this now appears where it very easily could have once read “The Cleveland LeBrons.” No doubt every team that doesn’t play it’s home games in Miami will appreciate and applaud the Cavs on this new direction and wish them the best as they move forward.

I’m pretty sheltered, but I don’t live in a cave, yet I’d never heard of a team’s “DNA statement” before yesterday. A slogan or motto, yes — a DNA statement — that’s a new one on me. I love the Dumas line too, it’s almost an “in your face” to the “three amigos” or the “Miami triumvirate” (or whatever they’re calling themselves down in South Florida).

These new uniforms are a very welcome change in an NBA loaded with garish blue uniforms. The throwback portion (the gold-burgundy striping) is tastefully done, and the new font is clean, legible and I love the vertically arched lettering of “Cleveland” and “Cavaliers” (including the large last letters of each). RAL NOB is ok as well.

Fantastic job Cleveland. May you play on the court without the Chosen One as good (well?) as you look in the new uniforms. You can check out the official Cavs unveil here.

~~~

Now…what about the Mavs? Did they officially unveil or not? There have been several leaks of their new uniform, which is probably the least well-kept secret in the NBA. But there isn’t really much of a change — the Mavericks appear to simply have swapped the light and dark blue on their road uniforms for 2010-11, and added a new logo to the pants. And, look closely at this picture — there’s actually a new Mavs uni on the player on the far right — #20, Dominique Jones. Briefly yesterday, the Mavericks team store had this jersey for sale (although it had been removed). I’m not sure if it’s back yet. Not much of a change, right? Swapping the light blue for the dark. Meh.

~~~

Anyway, the big news yesterday was the Cavs new threads. Gorgeous, right? What say you all — the floor is yours.

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all sport uni tweaks

Back with some more mid-week tweaks again, and if you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way. Got a few more tweaks in the past week, but there’s plenty of room for some more. Let’s see what we have this week.

~~~

Starting off the show is Jody Beamer, who has some looks at the NFL team many of us feel has the worst uniform in the game. These are an improvement, and they don’t necessarily line up with his bullet points, but that’s OK:

Hello Phil,

Back Again.

Attached is a complete reconstruction of the Buffalo Bills. Some Points of Emphasis:

1. New Logo: Sans-RedStripe.

2. White Helmet, White Facemask, Solid Red Stripe, New Logo. Very simple considering their current helmet has about 700 stripes.

3. Royal Blue/White at Home, White/White on Road, RFRS/White Alternate.

4. Blue Socks, Solid Red Stripe for Home/Away, Red Socks, Solid Blue Stripe for Alt.

Pictures in no particular order again. Sorry.

— Jody Beamer
Graphic Designer, ACS Manager
The Kentucky Kernel

~~~

Next up we have Matt Cunningham, who brings an interesting look to the St. Louis Cardinals:

Phil,

The Cardinals are one of the few teams that do not wear their city name on their road jersey. I decided to find out. I threw in a few details of my own in with it.

The birds on the bat are from two different generations. The one on the left is from the previous “birds on the bat” design while the one on the right is of the current design. I also combined to alternate logos from the past to create a nifty retro sleeve patch to go along with the jersey. It didn’t work well on the hat, plus I do not think that the StL should never be messed with (I could do without their current Sunday home game hats). I also included a home jersey with the city name just for fun.

Thanks for the time,

Matt Cunningham
Peoria, IL

~~~

In the three spot today is Scott Owen, who has something old, something new, something borrowed and something orange for the Houston Astros:

Phil,

I made six Astros customer Uniforms that are uni tweaks. I thought I would share.

My inspiration came from the old Astros colors. Why switch colors, ever? The only part of the newer era Uni’s I like is the Astros logo in the state of Texas. That is how I came up with them.

I have attached them

Scott Owen
Business Sales Manager
Dell

~~~

Thanks to everyone for submitting their tweaks.

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wahoo

Collector’s Corner
by Brinke Guthrie

• An absolutely great 60’s NFL advertising poster.

• More NFL from the 60’s — a cool tablecloth, some HOF playing cards, and a board game depicting the Niners/Packers.

Help kick off NFL season #41 as the Giants visit the Niners @ Kezar Stadium.

• Patriots FAIL; blue facemask on this gym bag.

• Do you..Wahoo?

• I don’t have the heart to tell this seller his 1969 NFL American Revolution Bicentennial patch is actually for 1976.

• Great look for the Minnesota Twins here. Love how the white gets all pointy at the top.

• Remember the early 80’s Sports Illustrated posters? Jack Ham does.

• I’m used to the new NHL masks. Now when I see an old one I think, “slasher movie.”

• I loved these 70’s helmet plaques. Notice how the facemask kinda points downward?

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ticker

Uni Watch News Ticker Starting off today is Dan Cichalski who found this cool shot of the Mick’s first pair of cleats with both #7 and his initial #6. … Larry Bodnovich shares this amazing set of 1954 Miami Hurricanes “shoulder pattern of squares.” On closer inspection, I believe those are actually hurricane tropical storm warning flags. Great find, Larry. … Looks like the Browns brown trou are history. Charles Ryals states that according to Tuesday morning’s Plain Dealer, Eric Mangini confirmed after practice that he has retired the teams brown pants look. “It wasnt very well recieved” he said with a laugh. … Caleb Borchers apologizes in advance, “Excuse me if I’ve missed this in the ticker, but I thought that I would send in the latest shenanigans from Stade Francais. The team that in the past has come out with this, this, and this has decided to offer up this this season.” … Who was first? Carl Gaines provides a fun piece researching the use of “Tampa Bay” by Tampa pro sports teams. Turns out it wasn’t started by the Bucs as many local residents believe. Rather it began with a team wearing one of Paul’s favorite unis, the Tampa Bay Rowdies who had their name a few months before the Bucs back in the mid-70s. … They can’t screw up the pants, can they? Kevin Hastings notes Owen Wilson is in a romantic comedy that comes out in December — he plays a Nats relief pitcher. OK… but what’s up with these pants?? Did he get his baseball uni tips from Champ Bailey? That’s some high cuff action. … Gerry Dincher has found some odd “ears” on a golfer. An interesting choice by Penn State’s Hanule Seo, a golfer for the Lady Lions. … More on a possible Penguins patch comes from Zach Tanner who says, “Rumor is that this is the patch the Penguins will be wearing this season for the new Consol Energy Center. No word on if it will be work on just the home jersey or on the white jersey as well.” … Reader Brad Blunt, the gentleman who first brought to our attention the “out of state college plate” phenomenon, in an attempt to regain “site cred,” has redeemed himself with these absolutely gorgeous photos from the late 1890s through the 1930s at what is now St. Charles H.S. (now called St. Charles East), in west suburban Chicago. Says Brad, “The details in the photographs are amazing, and I am so excited to see the different kinds of protective equipment they used. Primitive shoulder pads and helmets, and are those nose guards around their necks?” More can be seen here. Also from Brad, a gallery of hideous marching band unis. … Big news for you Nike Combat fans: “The Nike Pro Combat System of Dress uniforms the schools will wear are engineered to provide superior protection and durability, while utilizing advanced fabrics and tooling that reduce weight. Nike worked diligently with each university to bring relevant elements of the school’s rich heritage into the futuristic elite fit uniform designs. The collaborations with the universities produced the highly customized uniforms that will be revealed just days prior to the start of the 2010 college football season.” The dates of the games will be announced at the uniform unveiling Sept. 1 in New York. The 10 schools are Alabama, Boise State, Florida, Miami (Fla.), Ohio State, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, TCU, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. … Reader Shusiman found this article on the 8/16 Yankee game: Francisco Cervelli wore David Wright’s glove at third base (also noted by David Vines and Brinke Guthrie). And Dan Cichalski has the answer. … Li’l help? Bill Solich noticed that both Eric Mangini and Mike McCarthy had what looked liked a button shirt Reebok branded shirt instead of a polo shirt. He did not see anything like this available on NFL.com. Is this a new head coach specific look? … In ‘honor’ of the passing of Bobby Thompson, Marty Hick sent in an old design he had for a No Mas T-Shirt Contest. Too soon? … More from Brinke: “Cool shirt” on the Fed. He also thinks the same people who make the Giants bobbleheads make these. “Same typeface on the base,” adds Brinke… Shawn De Haven just wanted to tell us that yesterday the Hanshin Tigers (Central League, Japan) wore black uniforms from their 1948-49 days when they were the Osaka Tigers. … High sock comeback? Ari Roth notes, “mark feinsand (@bloggingbombers) who covers the yankees for the daily news just tweeted this sequence: Okay, for all that have been hounding me to ask Dave Robertson why he has seemingly abandoned the high socks, I have your answer…Robertson said all he has right now are high-top spikes, which he thinks look terrible with the high socks…Once Robertson gets the shipment in of his low cleats – which he expects soon – he’ll be back to his high-sock look. He promises.” … Matt Shevin sends along an extremely lame Tiger jersey given to Regis yesterday by a Detroit radio host sitting in for Kelly Ripa. … UW Prexy Paul Lukas announces new football uniforms for Portland State. And finally, what ticker would be complete without a Japanese Baseball update from Jeremy Brahm? “Here are some shots of the throwbacks for the Central League: Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants, who played the home team white Chunichi Dragons” … RIP Bobby.

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There’s a long drive … it’s gonna be … I believe ”” the Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! — Russ Hodges

 
  
 
Categories
NBA
Comments (178)

    I hate putting in two comments in a row on different subjects, but those “hideous” High School Band uniforms look pretty damn normal to me. You guys obviously don’t watch too many halftime shows at H.S. or College Football Games. You can’t compare those to athlete’s uniforms, I don’t see anyone comparing Ohio State’s Football unis to their Band’s unis, do you?

    First the Jazz, now the Cavs. This is almost too good to be true. I didn’t know the NBA had it in them.

    Sports are all about tradition so it’s nice to see teams return to their roots.

    Do you think LeBron will be a little jealous that he won’t get to wear those cool unis?

    1. I like the Cavs’ new unis. A lot. Simple, classy.

    2. That group shot is the first I’m seeing of the ‘actualized’ Golden State uni. While I like the idea of it, not too sure about the execution.

    3. I agree with the Astros uni tweaks, although I don’t mind keeping the cursive typeface. They definitely need to bring back the H on the star hats, and they need to dispense with the red/brick/whatever it is, and go back to at least the original Astros colors, if not the Colt .45 colors. As bad as blue is in the NBA, red in the MLB is almost worse.

    re: cavs, gotta disagree, sort of. i don’t think the cavs necessarily improved. obviously the new look is simpler, which is usually for the best, and i like that they dropped the blue and went to yellow, but i don’t think it’s necessarily a better overall design (no side panels, lettering, etc). i personally liked the lebron-era cavs uni’s, didn’t think they needed a change.

    I’m thinking these were designed with the thought that LBJ could be taking his talents elsewhere. New unis for a new era, and all that. Plus, with the exception of the hideous 90s Cavs unis, LeBron wore just about every throwback there was. This way the Cavs are wearing something LeBron never did. That might mean something to some people.

    Regardless of the reasons, I’d definitely wear that.

    Actually, I’m thinking they were designed with the thought that LBJ would be staying in Cleveland–after they won the NBA title in 2009/10, which, of course, never happened.

    What would have happened was that the people who went out and bought the jersey during the off-season (on sale) would have gotten cheated because they would now be wearing the old design, even though, from the management point of view, that was the best way to clear the inventory to clear the way for the new design.

    A couple examples off the top of my head where this happened to clear inventory and dupe fans, die-hard and bandwagon, into buying new jerseys:

    *St. Louis Rams (won in yellow, then switched to gold)
    *Houston Rockets (won back-to-back, then went to the crappy stripes with the shark rocket)

    When I saw the leak of these yesterday, my first thought was “BORING!” (I think I may have even commented that exact sentiment yesterday to whoever posted the link.) After sleeping on it and reading Phil’s assessment (nice job, btw) and these comments, I’m backtracking a bit. I never really cared for the “Cavaliers” logo that’s been featured on the jersey the last few years. It looks like they never really got the curves right on the giant “C” and just said “ah, the hell with it… it’s good enough.” The whole logo has just always looked unfinished to me.

    These new unis are nice. Clean design, no unnecessary stripes or flourishes, just team name, player number and NOB. It ties in much more nicely with their new floor and I really like the Three Musketeers tagline. Maybe Dan Gilbert can go all Charlie Finley on us and get a player to change his name to “d’Artagnan.”

    I really like that they dropped the blue. I’ve never been a fan of a team having more than two official colors. IMHO, when teams are referred to by their colors, it should be something like the “maize and blue” or the “scarlet and grey,” not “wine and gold… and blue.” While we’re on the topic, I wish the Cavs would drop the phrase “new expression of wine and gold” from their marketing jargon. It’s been 8 years now. It’s not new anymore. It’s wine and gold. Period.

    I couldn’t agree more. I know this blog generally prefers classic looks to more modern looks, and I agree more often than not, but between the sleek new T-Wolves unis being panned yesterday and the boring new Cleveland jerseys being praised today, I think it’s gone too far.

    I actually thought the ‘old’ Cavs jerseys were some of the best new NBA jerseys to come out in the past several years. The new ones look to me like cheap high school jerseys. No personality whatsoever.

    Simply look at the two color schemes: blue, black & silver vs burgundy & Athletic Gold. Which one is redundant and which is a rarity? What ever your tastes are, it’s generally not good if a league monopolizes on a color scheme, and that’s what the T-Wolves new duds do. And are excessively busy side panels really a sign of progress? Sometimes less is more.

    I agree with Wes whole heartedly on the Cavs unis. They look like cheap knock offs you’d find on the street, or a rec team that tries too hard to be a “real” team. I loved their last jerseys, this was a big step down IMO. The last ones you would know who they were even if there were no names or numbers on it, these ones you won’t. Never been as anti a new uni as much as I am with this one.

    The LeBron-era Cavs jerseys were hideous. A total failure of taste and design.

    Take a look at an Apple Store. Notice anything? It’s called minimalism. It is a hallmark of good design.

    Ummm… Phil… those are not “hideous marching band uniforms”, those are hideous DRUM CORP uniforms. Marching Band and Drum Corp are two COMPLETELY different things. Also, there are some really good uniforms in DCI (Drum Corp International), like the (Rosemont) Cavaliers,

    link

    Phantom Regiment,

    link

    Madison Scouts,

    link

    Santa Clara Vanguard,

    link

    and various others. Although some of the other designs should be limited to WGI (Winter Guard International).

    The larger S at the end of CavalierS is not a good thing- it’s totally FuddruckerS or NationalS.

    At least they didn’t mix upper and lower case.

    That’s a nod to the old Miracle of Richfield unis:
    link

    Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Didn’t like it on the SF Giants, link but I don’t mind it as much here.

    Couldn’t agree more. I HATE the enlarged “C” & “S”. Totally distracting (at least get the weight of the letter form correct) and totally unnecessary.

    If the weight of the letterforms were correct then we have an instant classic. Too bad. So close…

    The uniforms that the Buffalo Bills wear now are the league’s worst. But the designs shown today are very nice. Only thing is that the jerseys look a lot like the 1980 New York Giants.
    These would be a huge improvement for the Bills.

    I agree- those are nice. I’d keep the logo as it is, though. I think the red stripe adds to it.

    The blue Buffalo without the stripe looks like it’s missing something- maybe add a tail?

    re: Jim Thome Shaving Cream in the Face

    JTH and family are in town, so last night he and I watched the White Sox-Twins thriller at Bunny’s (same place I took Paul to watch the Vikings-Saints).

    When Jim Thome got shaving cream-pied in the postgame interview (after the first HR walkoff at Target Field), we talked about what a tired cliche that’s become. And about how a veteran such as Thome would take it. He was, not surprisingly, fine with it.

    However, this morning while watching the highlight package on Fox Sports North, I noticed something…it was John Rauch who delivered it.

    Ah-ha. Good idea, if you aren’t sure how the venerable veteran will handle such a thing, hand the pie to your guy who’s, like, 6’13” or something.

    —Ricko
    P.S. Jimbo and Family picked an interesting hotel. Turns out it’s right next the grocery where I shop and, far more intriguingly, dead center in the events of Favre Day. Maybe three miles from the airport and 1.5 from the Vikings’ facility. The “motorcade”, as such, likely went right past their hotel, and JTH did say he saw the helicopter. I’m sure that made his day. (eyeroll)

    If the Cavs aren’t calling it burgundy, then neither should we. The proper word for that color is claret.

    I say this mainly because I like the sound of the word “claret,” plus it’s an Anglo-Saxon rather than French word, plus in color terms it’s a bit more precisely apt to the slightly more purplish red the Cavs are using. But mainly because I think it sounds cool!

    Alternatively, if the Cavs are going to call that color wine, then the correct name for their yellow isn’t athletic gold, it’s cheese.

    I agree in principle with calling it cheese – but that would just lead to some bad commentary involving the words “swiss” and “holes”, and we don’t need that, do we?

    “I love the Dumas line too, it’s almost an “in your face” to the “three amigos” or the “Miami triumvirate” (or whatever they’re calling themselves down in South Florida).”

    Forget who it was, but someone coined the term Miami Thrice and that’s what I’m going with.

    They were using the Musketeers line at least as far back as the 08-09 season, which is probably why it made it onto the uniforms.
    link

    I still don’t know what the hell a DNA statement is though. Maybe something you get every month from the blood bank?
    link

    Also, re Bobby Thomson, if you can find a copy of Don Delilo’s novella link, definitely give it a read. It later became an early chapter of his much longer book Underworld, but Pafko at the Wall is one of the great baseball short stories.

    Jody, great job on the Bills tweak! The only critique I have is that the alt looks a lot like the Pats old uni. Other than that they look fantastic. And I love the simplification of the logo.

    Yessir. Excellent job, Jody.

    PS I’m also with Phil on giving the love to the Cavs’ new look.

    PPS About the color green. The welcome re-introduction of a little green to the new Jazz unis doesn’t compensate for the green departures from the T-Wolves, Mavs, Seahawks, Rays, et alia. Maybe the LA Clippers– with their nowhere-ville red and blue — might take it up.

    Oh man, I love those Astros tweaks. I’d pick any three of those, have a uni unveiling, and call it a day. Awesome work, maybe some of my favorite tweaks I’ve seen yet.

    As for the new Cavs uni, I think it’s okay but it feels lacking in something. Maybe just a white outline around the team name and number would have helped, IMO.

    I don’t normally comment on uni tweaks unless they involve one my teams….but I love the Astros tweak…very nice, would like to see it happen..

    Nice Cavalier unis, I appreciate the simplicity…as unlikely as it may be, wouldn’t be just absolutely wonderful in Cleveland won the NBA title this year and Miami tanked…

    The whole theatrical crap and presenting of the “big three” makes me want to watch the NBA again…to root against them..

    I don’t care about the blue facemask, I just BOUGHT that Patriots gym bag! Love Pat Patriot (“the lopsided Chinaman” as he was described by artist Phil Bissell) as I love few things.

    Are you the same Bill Scheft who wrote “The Show” column in Sports Illustrated a few years ago? If so, I enjoyed reading your column every issue, especially at the end where you introduced the the obscure musical act you were “opening” for.

    If you’re not, nevermind.

    Same guy. Thanks for remembering. Send me your address at link and, if you want,I will send you a copy of The Best of The Show, a collection which came out to zero acclaim five years ago.

    Uni Watching the Late Show:

    What shoes was Dave wearing on the recent Julia Roberts show?

    Thanks.

    Brilliant move by the Cavs. All teams should take note. When the highest profile player in your team’s history leaves, change your unis, if the look is identifiable to that player’s era.

    (There are obvious exceptions, but those are usually with teams whose profiles will never be smaller than a player’s … yankees, red sox and etc.)

    I always thought the A’s should’ve ditched the Bash Brother look when they were gone … but they kept it. Damn cursed unis.

    No way. Oakland home whites are in my top 4 unis…besides I think the green and gold was way bigger than just the bash brothers….

    Not talkin’ color change. Just a change.

    I dig the 70’s, early 80’s look. It’s iconic.

    Seriously “All for one and one for all?” Unless they change their name to the Musketeers, this quote is a complete fail.

    Almost as bad as that awful mascara commercial where they are trying to be ‘Charlies Angels’ but they’re playing the Magnum PI theme song…

    UC class of 84 here, go Cats in the Skyline Crosstown Shootout, baby. Nothing like a three-way on a cold winter’s night watching the Cats and Muskies.

    Of course, I live in California now, so make that, ‘having sushi and a lemon water from Trader Joe’s while watching the Giants.”

    Before you jump on that one, Phil, a three-way is spaghetti, chili and cheese. And it’s FANtastic.

    Now I’m hungry, Brinke…

    you boys in flyover country like a lot of processed cheese on your foodstuffs, yes?

    I have a general rule about tweaks: don’t start mixing and matching elements from different eras into one, because it comes out as a smorgasbord & trying to be too much to everybody. These elements work, but by themselves. It’s kind of like the 49ers 1996 update, it was a classic that didn’t need updating.

    Lukas always rags on teams for “bookending” wordmarks with larger letters, like the Bucks, but ignores it on the new Cavs wordmark. :-/

    Anyways, these look OK, I guess. They look like highschool unis. The new colors are great, but it doesn’t do much to put out the Cavs “brand.” It’s just plain letters on a plain jersey. My overall rating, about a C+

    maybe that’s cuz lukas didn’t write this review

    he’ll probably have his own take on the uni’s on the mothership later today…

    i happen to like the “bookender” large numbers, but that’s just me…to each his own

    The “bookending” thing is a classic element of American design, however, going back to early 19th century commercial typography. You see it a lot on stock and bond certificates, on retail signage, even on banknotes. And on sports unis, such as link, which appropriately enough is from a team named after a commercial product, so the commercial design roots of the bookend style are visible.

    Thank you for pointing out that designs exist in areas other than sports.
    Sports is not where everything begins and ends. Design styles move around among all kinds of products.

    Seriously. Sometimes I think we here don’t always examine concepts in the greater context, don’t see that there’s more than one perspective on things.

    —Ricko

    But that Rainiers lettering is not a bookend but rather a gradient design- all the letters are a different size. Shorter in the center to taller at the ends.

    The CavalierS letters are all the same except for the first and the last.

    If it were like the Rainiers lettering it would look far better.

    But what those other typographic treatments do well (when bookending) is get the correct weight of the letterform. With common design applications these days (Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.) it’s too easy to just enlarge a letterform, which completely distorts the proportions which leads to an awkward relationship between the letterforms.

    Agreed with Patrick, and from what I can see I’d say that the Cavs lettering is not an ideal example. To my eye, the bookended letters need either to be a different style of some sort – with some flourish or decoration to them – or they need to maintain the weight of the rest of the letters. The C and S in CAVS look to me like they’re scaled up, including thicker widths. If so, that’s a how-not-to example of bookending to me.

    But hard for me to be sure at the relatively small scale of internet graphics!

    I wanted to also mention that it’s nice to see Phil’s take differing from Paul’s. I find it great that they express different opinions and give room to both perspectives. Good work today Phil.

    Kind of on board with this one. Yeah, you never want too many frills, no reason to get gaudy, but these Cavs jerseys seem a little too simple, a little too generic. Maybe if the quote had been on the outside of the jersey where we’d actually see it, that would’ve helped a little. Maybe. I’m still on the fence about that particular quote.

    Good call on dropping the blue, though.

    Is that Matt Murton in the first Hanshin Tigers picture? He was a good young player for the Cubs several years ago and I think was traded to Oakland in the Rich Harden deal. I had wondered what ever happened to him. Good to see he is getting to play somewhere.

    I always liked Murton, seemed like he had a bright future ahead. He was a big reason why the Harden deal felt fair to me.

    Remember, the Cubs got Murton in the same deal they got Nomar Garciaparra in… he’s been all over the place.

    I think it’s silly that Nike is going to do the Combat unis again for Florida, TCU, VT, & Ohio State…why not use four new schools like UNC, Iowa, Arizona St, & Oklahoma State (for example). That being said, I’m looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.

    It will be interesting to see what they do with Alabama. Those fans are so proud that their unis have been basically the same for 60+ years, I can’t wait to hear the uproar if they do something radical(especially if they lose a game while wearing them) :)

    Good point there.
    Nike must have shoved some serious money at ‘Bama for it to allow the Tide to become part of the “football costume” parade.

    Honestly, say whatever you want about ‘Bama, I figured they were better than that. And strong enough to Nike to FO.

    —Ricko

    I am pretty sure that of all the schools Nike is doing this year…Bama will be the most “subdued”..if thats the right word.

    Dont think they will go to crazy…..or who knows they may just decide if they have creative license…they might as well go all out on this one….it would be awesome if they added a houndstooth element…

    I’m disappointed that Nike is playing up the aesthetics of the uniform and how the jerseys are lighter and all the same BS as last year and ignoring the real advantage of the Pro Combat gear, which is the weight savings and increased mobility of the integrated pads on the girdle and undershirt.

    Too many football players don’t wear their ancillary pads because they think the bulky, heavy hardshell pads slow them down or mess with their quickness. This is a good way to get skill players to protect themselves with a much smaller loss of mobility and Nike just ignores it in favor of the titanium D-rings on the belt.

    “…and I love the vertically arched lettering of “Cleveland” and “Cavaliers” ”
    I generally love the redesign, but am I the only one who’s completely sick of the capitalized LAST letter? Been used to death, it never looks good, and has now become cliché.

    “… am I the only one who’s completely sick of the capitalized LAST letter?”

    All the letters are capitals. :-)

    I’d agree with LI Phil’s take: “i happen to like the “bookender” large numbers, but that’s just me…to each his own.”

    I know this is a collection of older jerseys, but the only teams I see using that style are the T-Wolves and Bucks, so I don’t see it as much of a cliche. If it were 7 or 8 teams then yeah, but a couple two or three? No big deal.

    Not a comment for or against the Mavs’ new unis, but the links in the post to leaked new uniforms are different than the one DoJo is wearing in the photo shoot. His number is centered under “DALLAS” rather than being to the left as it has been in the past.

    Re the Penguins patch: Remember when the Mets unveiled their Inaugural Season patch last year? “Inaugural Season of What?” Paul and others complained. I look forward to similar complaints about how fucked up an organization the Penguins are.

    The Penguins patch at least has a graphic representation of Console Energy Center. Had the Mets gone with something similar — say, the exterior facade around home plate that resembles Ebbets Field — it might have resulted in a better patch. Instead, they took the Citi Field logo, removed the “Citi Field”, and were left with an abstract design with little to no apparent history with the Mets. In other words, the Mets fucked up. Again.

    on the unis, yes, the mets had the horrid domino’s pizza patch, which everyone hated…

    however, on the caps (much smaller and less noticeable, and completely unnecessary), they had the actual graphic representation of shea…

    THAT patch should have been on the jersey, (no pizza patch anywhere) and nothing on the caps

    just another fuckup by the wilpons

    Which begs a couple core questions…

    It needed two different patches?
    Or patches in two different places?

    I’m not sure I can even fathom the thinking behind the rationale that led them to see that as a solid idea.

    Well, y’know, other than it’s another bumper sticker for the collection.

    Oh, wait, I think I get it. One was the CitiBank promotional patch, the other was the team’s celebratory emblem.
    Hmmm, technically, the first flat-out advertising patch may have been slipped in right under our noses.

    —Ricko

    Not the point.

    The point is that the Mets patches weren’t identical.

    If the patch on the hat was the Mets’ team patch, wouldn’t that suffice for both hat and jersey, as with the Twins this year? Where was the need for a second, different patch entirely? What was the purpose of it? There’s no reason for it to exist other than to more-than-subliminally reinforce the CitiBank element.

    In that dynamic, that’s perilously close to an full-on advertising patch.

    —Ricko

    i agree with you that the pizza patch sucked

    i don’t think anyone but the wilpons and citigroup was pleased with it

    as far as two different patches? well, if you have two different patches, you need to put them in two different places

    why do the twins need a patch (identical) on both the cap and the jersey?

    is that so fans who buy the merch with either will need to buy a new “clean” cap/jersey next season

    mets should have had ONE patch only, the one they wore on the cap, and only had it on the home unis…period

    Arrrgh. Not bemoaning patches in two locations.

    I’m talking about that in the Mets’ case, one patch was the team patch and the other was, I think we could reasonably argue, the patch to satisfy the sponsor’s purposes.

    What would be any other reason for two so completely different designs to celebrate the same thing?

    —Ricko

    arrgh…and i agree with you on the mets…

    just when you said

    Which begs a couple core questions…

    It needed two different patches?
    Or patches in two different places?

    i thought you were, ya know…bemoaning patches in two locations

    My bad, was typing as was thinking about it…and then the possible reason for two different patches struck me. And that maybe something had whizzed right by us all, slipped under out collective radar: a bald-faced, but nicely disguised advertising patch…with the “reverse proof” being that a team patch for the same thing already existed.

    Was sorta recording the thinking out loud, I guess. Should have gone back and edited the beginning.

    —Ricko

    I don’t think that’s a V-neck. I think it’s just the clip on mic distorting the collar’s shape.

    As Giants’ pitcher Barry Zito was pulled from last night’s game against the Phillies I noticed a 3-inch long rectangular glare above the “San” on his jersey. Is it possible he had a piece of clear packing tape on his jersey? Did anyone else notice this?

    Love the new Cavs’ unis. Very UCLA-ish. Getting rid of the frills works for uniforms and other things.

    Now please don’t let Nike mess with Alabama’s unis.

    Wonder what Nike will do with the Bama helmet, I think during the Ray Perkins era, they occasionally reverted to the white version.

    Looking goooood Cleveland!!! Less is always more! I was iffy on the LeBron-Era unis, they had elements that I liked but I felt like it was overloaded. Felt like if they had simplified certain aspects of the uni I would have liked it more.

    Nice tweaks, guys.
    Orange hat for the Astros, definitely. First and third unis with that hat, and the blue/orange hat with the orange jersey. That would be my preferred set.

    Larry B, great find with those Hurricanes photos! Never saw that jersey before.

    Portland State ditched the black? You can tell Jerry Glanville’s gone. Huzzah.

    link

    Bama did wear white helmets before…

    Also, according to this history, they used to alternate for home/away games. link

    Anyone hear what any of these new Pro Combat uniforms will look like?

    Simply fantastic information/pics regarding the 1954 Miami Hurricanes unis. Thank you Larry B.

    Absolutely.
    Have never seen those before.
    Wonder if those “flag patches” were red and black, or if they were rendered in Hurricanes’ orange and green.

    —Ricko

    I like the Cavaliers new uni set, except for the alt logo on the shorts … why use the old font?

    Wow. I was certain that most of the readers here would be falling over themselves to praise a high school jersey from the 60s, but I certainly didn’t predict that Paul would agree with me on this one.

    I agree, I thought Paul would like this set. It has the non-cluttered, simplistic elements that he appreciates. Not to mention the striped trim (if that’s the right term).
    I do like this set. Which is odd because I don’t care for the logo color update. My only complaint is the logo on the shorts seems a touch out of place. Overall, they could have done MUCH worse (e.g. the Wolves).

    But I like D-III basketball, Paul…

    We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. As Jon points out, though, it sure beats the T-Wolves, right?

    If they kept the old gold, I might have agreed on the boring part. But the brighter yellow makes it pop. Could never make myself want the old jersey, but I may actually get one of these.

    You usually have good taste, Paul, but here you’re wrong. The old uniforms were fine, but this is an instant classic. Only thing missing is a gold alternate. Now, if they would just stop wearing all the throwbacks and mashups, they’ll have some identity.

    My one complaint of that article, as a DIII alum, is that the vast, vast majority of D3 Hoops unis have way more character than the Cavs current set.

    Addendum: The vast, vast majority of D3 unis I’ve seen, which is a little more limiting to the NCAC and some other Indiana and Illinois schools.

    Hmmm , somewhat surprised – but I guess that what makes Paul interesting to read.

    In terms of how we view a uniform, there appears to be different variables that depending on one’s view, gets more weighting – colours, design, etc.

    I think if the Cavs had worn this uni -from their inception – it would be viewed as an un-touchable

    Another big thumbs up to the Cavaliers here! I never cared for the LeBron uniforms – too busy, awful wordmark. These new ones have an elegant simplicity without being boring. And I love that they dropped the blue. Burgundy and gold don’t need any accent colors. Coupled with the Browns losing the brown pants, the Cavs just made Cleveland a great uniform-town. If only the Indians would clean up and go with those alternates full time.

    The Mavs – blah. And they should have kept the Dallas wordmark in white instead of navy.

    Great job on all of today’s tweaks. Can most of us just agree that it’s not nostalgia talking when we say the Astros belong in navy and orange? Of any real-world uni overhaul, that might be #1 on my wish list. And I’m not even an Astros fan.

    Hey Phil, what’s the latest on the baseball jersey contest?

    Hey Phil, what’s the latest on the baseball jersey contest?

    i’ve finally begun putting them all together, flickring them and such…i hope to finish that this week and to begin the unveils next week…sorry for the delay…kinda busy these days

    Gilbert tweeted that indeed, the new unis would be in Comic Sans. He was of course, kidding, but it was funny.

    Btw, LI Phil, nice use of “Clevo” in the headline… I don’t think I’ve ever seen that word used outside of local old-school alternative press.

    musta be the economy. not that i was a potential customer, although i have been known to collect the occasional program, interesting there were no buyers for that sweet niners giants 1960 program at $10.

    I really like the new Cavs unis. The Jazz did a great job as well. Looking at the other new ones: The Clips have a nice overall uni, so the tweaks just seemed unnecessary. The Wolves uniform is just a bad one, and this doesn’t make it any better. The Mavs new one is meh as well. BTW: did they change their nickname to the Dallas Dallases?

    Ah, the Wolves. Is a much less time-consuming process to list the things they’ve done right under the new regime.

    —Ricko

    ’tis true. Other than signing Kevin Garnett not a lot of “thumbs up” to give them.

    —Ricko

    Saluting the Minneapolis Lakers at their first home game? Or was that an insult to the Laker franchise?

    Love how in that shot of Owen Wilson in the Nats’ uni, the shirt on the guy to his right looks like it says “Natonals.” If that were really what it said, it would be an awesome UW awareness moment by the costume department.

    Please don’t tell me I’m the only one who couldn’t stand the outdated Jazz logo in 1985, or now, when it’s still outdated.

    See if you get a birthday present from ME this year! And to think I’d just ordered a genuine, game worn _____ (year your favorite team started playing) ___________ (your favorite team) game-used uniform – not just the jersey, mind you, but the complete uniform! We’re talking jersey/sweater, pants/shorts, socks/sanitaries & stirrups, cap/helmet/headband, and cleats/shoes/skates! Jock strap, too!!!!

    But now I’m cancelling the order.

    Except for the jock strap, of course.

    My comments keep getting eaten.

    This, to me, should be the Cavs jersey. It’s simple and distinctive. Yeah, LeFraud (or whoever) wore them, but so did a lot of other players:

    link

    I agree. I wish they had gone back to the originals.

    However, this new one has a lot to like: Just two colors!; an unusual color combination–particularly in the NBA’s sea of blue; the three small stripes on the collar, sleeves and waist–sweet!; no superfluous borders around the wordmark and numbers. It’s a clean design. My only complaint: I’m a stickler for standard block numbers, mostly.

    Why do some people associate simplicity with High School uniforms and why is that bad? I just don’t get it. These uniforms are not boring, they are easy on the eyes and distinctive. If that’s high school, well then, Go Team!

    The best part is that they resisted the temptation to put a buttmark on the new unis. What’s the point of that? It just makes me think of this:
    link

    Cavs new uniforms look good to me.

    The Hurricanes 1954 uniforms did feature the storm or hurricane warning on the shoulders.

    Ohio State will wear a Nike combat uniform again I see. While I am anxious to see all 10 uniforms, I wish they would just wear a throwback instead.

    You just knew after last years Michigan game that it was not a 1 time deal.

    Yep, especially since the Michigan uniforms were worn in an away season.

    Whatever the deal is, last season’s uni was pretty sweet

    link

    Don’t the MLS Toronto FC jerseys have “All for One” on the back of the collar somewhere?

    I think those Cavs’ jerseys originally weren’t intended as a steal from Dumas.
    They were gonna say,
    “All for The One”

    But then Lebron announced, “I’ll be taking my talents to South Beach”.
    So they quickly edited out a word.

    —Ricko

    I figured Paul wouldn’t like the new Cavs uniforms. He has always said that they had the best sports uni upgrade in the past 25 years. And I agree with him. There really was no reason to change, other than making a statement about moving on without LeBron James. That being said, if they were going to change, I really like these unis. I agree that their original threads were the best, though.

    It only seemed like the best upgrade at the time, because the previous black and blue unis were so laughably forgettable.

    I have to take some exception to the “hideous Marching Band Unis” bit….

    Those are not bands. They are drum and bugle corps (subtle difference I grant you that but might as well be the Grand Canyon to a band geek like me). What you have to appreciate is that those are from the worlds top drum and bugle corps. Look up DCI or drum corps on YouTube and you will be blown away. They are loud and brash but they are meant to be that way. They are designed to be seen from a bit of a distance and travelling at break neck speeds. Kinda like stage make up in that sense.

    I do know what I am talking about here having been involved in the activity as a performer, instructor, designer and soon to be adjudicator since 1986.

    DCI (Drum Corps International) just held their 38th World Championships Finals at Lucas Oil Stadium. Check out link or link for further information on the activity. I think many here will be suitably impressed.

    – Generally OK with the Cav’s new uniform. I love the triple piping and the lack of white. The old swashbucklng C on the shorts, though, looks out of sorts. As bookend capital letters go, this is as good as it gets. And boring? In a league where garish rules, I’m thinking Cleveland will stand out. My grade: B+

    – Is ditching the team name a Dallas thing? Where’d the Mavericks goe? It belongs on the home uni.

    – The Bills proposal is outstanding. My question: Did Buffalo ever explain their inexplicable uniform combination? And since it is universally panned, why does the team stick with it?

    – The Cardinals proposal works, too. I’d bump up the L in Louis to loop over the bat.

    – As for the Astros: Six? Isn’t that overkill? What is it about uniforms being uniform that people can’t accept. I can accept maybe ONE alternate. An alternate for home and an alternate for the road is pushing it, but TWO alternates? Let’s back off. As for the ‘stros: Bring back the old caps. Navy or orange or both. Bring back the shooting star on the home unis. Like the Houston road version.

    – The Penn State golfer’s attire is outstanding! Solid A

    Not including the throwbacks and the “Mavs” alternate jerseys, historically, Cuban jerseys with “Mavericks” on the front haven’t done well at all, at least aesthetically.

    THIS is why they’ve ditched the Mavericks moniker:
    link

    Meg Whitman the bulldog gets a much needed facelife in that bobblehead. What a waste.

    I dont know if anyone else noticed this but it looks like adidas changed some of the collars on some on the NBA uniforms for this up coming season

    Atlanta Hawks
    old – link
    new – link

    New Jersey Nets
    old – link
    new – link

    Oklahoma City Thunder
    old – link
    new – link

    Philadelphia 76ers
    old – link
    new – link

    Phoenix Suns
    old – link
    new – link

    San Antonio Spurs
    old – link
    new – link

    Washington Wizards
    old – link
    new – link

    The league felt that there were too many distinct collar styles and decided to streamline them (I was actually told about this more than a year ago but wasn’t allowed to talk about it). So, yes, you’ll be seeing lots of new necklines this season. Great work by Joel in compiling those before/afters.

    Many people are also e-mailing me about what appears to be new fabrics in some of the latest NBA photo shoots. The league will have a major announcement about this on Sept. 21st. That’s all I can say for now.

    I’ve noticed the round neckline to v-collar trend here. If I’m right, I’m expecting the Bulls, Celtics and Trail Blazers to follow suit. I wonder if every team got ordered to switch to the new fabric, as well.

    I dug the Clippers update, and while the LAC secondary logo on the previous collar looks awful, taking it off the collar and putting it between the collar and the team name in the front of the jersey, while better, wasn’t well-executed, because the collar looks like someone cut a triangle out of it, and the LAC logo now pushed all the other elements of the jersey down. Best to eliminate the logo from the front altogether.

    I didn’t like the OKC Thunder jersey before, but now that they’ve streamlined the collar, it’s a bit more tolerable. If all else fails, winning titles always seem to help make something ugly look acceptable, as long as you’re seeing it everywhere, all the time. Another way to make something look better is to make a new, uglier jersey, then go back to the old jersey after people complain about it. I believe it’s called “the New Coke strategy.”

    Didn’t see a Bulls picture on NBA.com, but it would appear that the Celtics and Blazers left their collars intact. I wonder why Derek Ebanks didn’t have a number on his jersey. Don’t players who might eventually get cut get to pick out a number?

    Great, just what we need: a league dictating that teams show less individuation in their uniforms and enforcing greater centralized standardization.

    Then again, in all but one of the examples above, I think the new collar looks much better than the old, so I guess soul-sucking corporate dicta can have their upsides.

    In other words, the D-League approach: same uniforms, same fonts, only different colors. Better-looking collars are a side-effect of cost-cutting. If they could’ve saved even more money by making it more ugly, I’m sure they would have.

    I hate that little notch at the bottom of the collar. It’s either a crewneck or a V-neck. It looks stupid to try to have both.

    *takes a guess* Could this be the NBA’s answer to the NHL’s EDGE rollout? New, more moisture-resistant fabric? New jersey cuts?

    No wonder there were a lot of teams changing (hell, even tweaking) uniforms this year.

    Again, I am only GUESSING here.

    I was looking at the 2010 NBA rookie photo shoot photos and noticed that alot of the neck lines have changed…is there a reason behind this?

    “…very simple and elegant two-color (burgundy and gold) jersey with five collar stripes…” You see five stripes, I see adidas’ “three stripes”… I also don’t like that their new shorts have only the logo on the sides. Reminds me of replica shorts where it’s too expensive to have the entire pattern. It also reminds me of the Chicago Bulls original black shorts, with only the Bulls on the shorts. Again, it just screams out “REPLICA” to me.

    Anyway, tons of teams are incorporating yellow/gold into their uniforms, third jerseys and/or court design colors. I know that Cleveland HAD yellow in their past, but being a Lakers’ fan, I’m just a tad jealous–but also a tad flattered.

    Teams that have, or recently had but longer, yellow in their colors:
    *Atlanta Hawks (most prominenly in 2004/05 – 2006/07 Alternate jersey)
    *Cleveland Cavaliers (organization’s first 3 jerseys, and secondary color beginning 2010/11)
    *Golden State/San Francisco Warriors (most of their history)
    *Indiana Pacers (throughout their history, but especially recent years’ alternate jerseys, plus court color during championship run against Lakers)
    *Memphis Grizzlies (Jerry West connection? Jersey design elements, and prominent presence on the floor: extended NBA key stripe.)
    *Miami Heat (Pat Riley connection? Entire areas of yellow in painted area of the home floor and minor jersey elements.)
    *New Orleans/OKC (briefly) Hornets (2007/08 Alternate jersey, yellow numbers in most recent jersey)
    *Oklahoma City Thunder (what colors DON’T they have? But the color “bars,” painted area extensions, are in yellow)
    *Sacramento Kings (gold–but not yellow, 2005/06 – 2006/07)

    ————–
    As far as the Washington Wizards minor tweaks to their official jersey, aside from adidas and NBA changes, the name on the back of the jersey shouldn’t have been something that must be changed to accommodate the new fabric. If it was indeed changed from gold in white outline to white lettering only, the conspiracy theorist in me thinks that they’re trying to keep Wall in Washington (because Cleveland wasn’t able to get the job done with LeBron) and make Wall feel at home (or rather, college; LeBron wasn’t at “home” in Cleveland, since Cleveland =/= Akron) so the back of the new Wizards updated jersey TOTALLY looks like a clone of the Kentucky Wildcats jersey (aside from the stripes on the side of the jersey).

    Cavs new unis are just too simple for me. And I like simple. These don’t just look like college jerseys- they look like high school jerseys!

    I love the colors, but it just needs something a tiny bit extra. Maybe a simple set of stripes on the side.

    That is what I recently heard. Why don’t they just wear throwbacks for the rivalry game with Michigan.

    Other teams can wear throwbacks. Ohio State should wear throwbacks.

    These two teams have fantastic uniforms and don’t need alternates or throwbacks or combat uniforms. What the hell is wrong with what they have? They have perfected their uniforms long ago, the only change they need is Rodriguez to bring a team that will compete.

    It should be mentioned that the Cavaliers have been using the “All for one, one for all” motto for several years now, so it’s not aimed at LeBron. Or, if it was, it failed.

    The new Cavs unis are awful. However, they do exemplify a ‘starting over’ mentality. The previous unis had class, the new ones look like a pick-up team went to a sports store and bought out the red and yellow jerseys on the sale rack and had a seamstress slap some ‘no thought’ block letters on the front. ewwwww!

    As for the Browns, Madden got it wrong for the fifth straight year. To make it short: If it’s in the game, it’s not in the game. If it’s not in the game, it’s in the game.

    Paul will love the Hanshin Tigers’ socks
    link

    Yokohama Bay Stars in their Taiyo Whales throwbacks
    link

    Yakult Swallows are not two tone
    link

    The new cavs jerseys are a massive downgrade. I’m prolly one of the younger people to frequent your blog, and my views don’t often differ all that much from most everybody else, but really? The blue and the piping were great!

    could that Lilly undershirt from the other day just be a “lucky” undershirt that he brought from the cubs when he was traded at the deadline?
    The color is the same. It could have a cubs logo on the back.

    When’s the college football preview article coming? I’ve been looking forward to it for a couple weeks now

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