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Of Colorizers, Concepters, Comics…and Bizkit

Terry D's Fighting Irish

By Phil Hecken

We’re gonna take a break from the Native American discussion today, and bring it back to what (I think) makes the weekend posts so great — and that’s the fantastic submissions from you, the readers. Now, not everybody submits stuff, but those who do deserve a laurel, and hardy handshake from all of us.

Last Sunday’s post was one which turned out to be quite divisive — and over 350 comments appeared — but I thought for the most part the discussion was both civil and productive. Yesterday’s post further explored the themes raised last Sunday. And tomorrow, I’ll announce the next Uni Watch design contest, which was in large part based on the suggestions from you fine readers last weekend. Unfortunately, lost in the shuffle (especially last Sunday) were some mighty fine colorizations and some good concepts, and also a bit on the possibility of a Benchies tee-shirt. I’d like to give those who submit these great things to us a bit of due today.

~~~

First — a few concepts. If you follow Uni Watch, you know our first gentleman, Terry Duroncelet, from his fine work bringing us NCAA football observations during the season. But he’s also a concepter. And today, I’m going to give him the big stage with a bunch of his concepts:

I’ve been doing more college concepts as of late, so I thought I’d do a uni-dump (that sounds so wrong =S) of what I’ve done so far. By now, most of you have seen my Ohio State and Iowa concepts from my last submission. Here are the rest:

Penn State #1: I’ve had this idea for a while, and came up with four looks (well, more like two looks with weather-appropriate base layers). Nothing too drastic, just added a pant stripe and a diagonal “PSU” to the helmets.

Penn State #2: When the news of Joe Paterno’s final hours broke, I — and I’m kind of ashamed to admit this — made this in about 10 minutes in MS Paint around 9-10pm the Saturday night before his death. A small touch of the pant stripe from the first concept, and the helmet numbers from his early coaching career, both in black.

Notre Dame: I liked their openness with the uniforms from the 2011 season, so I came up with a classy mash-up. The jersey utilizes the shoulder stripes from the 1959 team, while the rest of the uni borrows influences from the current uniform’s sleeve and collar logos, pants, and the new “Golden Dome” helmet. The first helmet looks a little overly-textured to me, so I created a second one with less overwhelming texture, but the gold looks washed out compared to the rest of the uniform. I sampled the shells from these two pictures respectively.

Georgia Tech: The once-understated (from a uni standpoint) Yellow Jackets have turned out some real stinker uniforms in recent years. This uni returns to simplicity, with helmet stripes added and the collar logo and jersey wordmark taken from the current unis. And the gold numbers from year’s past can work on a white jersey… you just need to use Old Gold numbers with a thick dark outline, like before.

Missouri #1: The ever-so-tired Mizzou template is so worn out, the team that it was modeled for can’t even wear it anymore without looking played-out (but then again, it wasn’t a good-looking uniform to begin with), and with their move to the SEC, I wanted to create an SEC-worthy uni that’s still makes a statement and says “Mizzou Football”. I kept the jersey script and sleeve logos, but fixed the striping to match the classic helmet. And I fixed that little problem that they have with their golds. This is what a lighter gold would look like for this uni.

Missouri #2: Same thing as above, but with the darker more “Mizzou-like” gold as the standard gold.

*NOTE: I made these long before the news of Mizzou’s soon-to-be ‘M’-less helmets broke*

Indiana #1: After reading the part about Indiana’s stint with light blue (which I saw months ago, but had forgotten about) in Tim E. O’Brien’s open letter to the Hoosier’s football program, I wanted to see if I could come up with something of my own. I used the “Staubach” font that I found on dafont.com and had a little fun with sizing the numbers in GIMP (first time doing that). Three looks that still look like Indiana without copying TimE or looking like Oklahoma.

Indiana #2: I did another Hoosiers look with different jersey number colors so that the helmet doesn’t look so out of place. I’m extremely disappointed with how the TV numbers came out, but I still like this design a lot.

BONUS: I know that these aren’t exactly college-related, but I did these on 70% wanting-to-do-something-nice-for-my-friends and 30% sheer randomness/boredom: A GryffindorAmerican football team. The helmet is in the same “two-face” style as Maryland’s Pride helmets. I used Gryffindor’s crest on the left side with a scarlet facemask and the scarlet/gold checker pattern on the right side with a gold facemask. The pant pattern also plays off the checker pattern, and the socks are inspired by one of the many Gryffindor scarves. The font used for the jersey script, numbers, and NOBs is called “Magic School 1”, also from dafont. I made these for my friends Noelle and Tiffany, both of whom are huge Harry Potter fans.

‘Til next time, happy tweaking!

Thanks, TJ!

Next up, we have a frequent contributor, THE Jeff Provo, who is actually straying from his normal concepting realm, by bringing us his first set of hockey concepts(!). These actually came as three separate E-mails, but I’ll combine them here:

I thought I’d branch out into hockey. (Don’t worry, I’m not doing the entire league this time)

Dallas Stars.

When I drew the logo, I was going to use it for a sort of modernization of the USFL concept…. then I changed my mind and decided to see how it’d work on a hockey uniform.

~~~

LA Kings.

First, I resurrected the “Burger King” logo, with slightly more realistic coloring. No more purple beard. I created a new wordmark and then I tried to make the uniform a bit more fitting for royalty – metallic gold rather than athletic gold, among other things.

~~~

This is probably the last one for a while… maybe.

Detroit Red Wings.

No new logos this time – but I made the jerseys actually have, well, red wings.

Thanks THE!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Benchies Header

Benchies

by Rick Pearson

~~~

“Have you heard the good news?….”

3-24-12 d-league

And as always, your full-size.

~~~

Now, last weekend I had posted a little something after Benchies with regard to the possibility of Ricko perhaps offering some Benchies tee shirts up to the Uni Watch readership. I had hoped to get some feedback (and there was some, but it was invariably buried in all the Native American comments). So, we’re back for a second go.

Basically, Rick is wondering if any of you readers out in UW-land would consider owning a t-shirt based off the Benchies comic strips featured here each weekend. I’ll let him briefly explain:

My plans for “Benchies” tees? Don’t have anything solid. Someone (not me) asked if I’d ever thought of selling “Benchies” and, sure, I’d thought about “what if” for a long time. But Phil took off running with some ideas. Then I threw in a couple. Suddenly it seemed a little bit viable. I guess my thought is, “Is anybody interested?” Obviously I’d be pleased and honored if people thought enough of The Guys to wear them.

So we were wondering if there is any interest. I just threw a couple together with Rick’s suggestions — these are in no way final or even going to be made, but we thought you guys might let us know if shirts like these were available, would you consider owning one:

Here’s the one I posted last weekend.

And a few more:

“Mike”

“There’s a Hole” (shown in a long sleeve)

“Reality”

and

“Tebow”

the back might look something like this.

In addition, another great reader, Jason Bernard came up with this simple yet very cool design. Maybe that’s more appealing to you guys.

~~~

The idea would be to have a panel from one of the Benchies strips that have appeared here over the past year plus, and to turn a couple of those into tee shirts — that’s where you come in — do you guys have any particular panels you like? Rick thinks the one with Mike sitting in the dark was suggested by “Wheels” last weekend. Surely you guys can find some more.

The shirts themselves would (or could) even be done up as user requests, with a specific panel and NOB (or NNOB) or number on back, etc. Or maybe just one “set” Benchies shirt — really, what Rick is looking for is feedback.

Or, if you’d be more interested in something simple, along the lines of what Jason designed, I’m sure that could be done as well. Really, the possibilities are infinite.

So, if you’d be at all interested in wearing a bit of Benchies, tell us in the comments below. Any and all suggestions are welcome, OK? OK!

~~~~~~~~~~

colorize this

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

Last weekends colorizations, which were wonderful, definitely got lost in the shuffle. In fact, our two *star* colorizers, Gary & George may be taking a bit of a hiatus from the game. They do put in a tremendous amount of effort into their work, and it seems (to me anyway) that much of it gets lost in the *extra* stuff that goes on. In fact, both Gary and George wrote me during the week to let me know they might be cutting back on their efforts.

George began:

Hi Phil

I’m copying Gary into this too – I don’t know what he thinks about this.

I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks and perhaps this weekend has clarified my thoughts. I have no problem whatsoever with the debate on Sunday, interesting from this neutral viewpoint, but I am increasingly of the feeling that “colorize this” is something that most readers gloss over. When I first posted a couple of pictures the feature was less regular, but now in particular Gary and I are producing stuff weekly, sometimes on a tight deadline.

Now if people enjoy that I am happy to do it. But besides from yourself, Connie and LarryB there is no feedback.

Please don’t get me wrong – I’m not in any way asking for constant praise. I know it may seem like that – but it’s really not my point. In practice though I’m not at all sure anyone apart from a few actually look at the work, which as you both know is very time consuming. I don’t think most of your readers this Sunday got beyond the lead article (as I said, no problem if that’s so but let’s acknowledge the fact, and move from that viewpoint). There weren’t even comments about the Concepts, which also has taken someone some time to do.

So, where am I going with this rambling? I will still provide colourisations – it’s what I do to pass the time. I enjoy doing it. But I cannot guarantee that my submissions will be so often or in such numbers. Maybe if it’s rarer then people won’t think we just load a file into a programme, select a menu item and hey presto there’s a colourised picture.

I am, as we say over here, “on one” anyway this week – I’ve posted similar to Shorpy :)

I will however hopefully still get you one later this week – inspired by a little comment you made (intrigued?)

Best wishes
George

Gary followed with this:

I went to bed last night having thoughts similar to George’s. And I had intended to send essentially the message that George has already crafted.

My views are aligned with George concerning the limited interaction for the Colorized This feature. So perhaps it is time for me to take a leave of absence.

I’m not totally putting aside the digital paint brush, just refocusing. I started a draft about the Steagles uniform mystery, so I may just devote time to finishing the story.

Gary

Now, I’m hoping that their decisions weren’t influenced by the tenor of last weekend’s entry. But they do raise good points, and I would hope they will continue to submit (in fact, George did, as promised, and that is below). But I would hope you guys could show the colorizers (all of them) some love on the weekends — I realize I put a LOT of different stuff into the posts, but if you like what they’ve done (and trust me, these things take a LONG time to do), give ’em an “attaboy” every so often. OK? OK!

Now, on to this weeks colorizations — here’s George Chilvers with a treat for me:

Hi Phil

I promised you one for this week.

Last week you commented on Wales’ “harlequin” shirts. That’s of course a very old expression, and now they would be described as “halved”.

But this picture is of a true Harlequin shirt – possibly the most famous club rugby side, the Harlequins. Their colours are officially described as “Light blue, magenta, chocolate and French grey quarters with light green and black sleeves“. There is a story that many years ago it was announced that they were seeking funds to buy a new set of shirts an old bloke muttered “Heaven preserve us all”.

This picture dates from 1913, and I found it interesting to see even in the original that some shirts had clearly faded with constant washing. So, I’ve tried to reflect that in the colourised version.

George

Thanks George — pretty please keep them coming!

~~~

Our next colorizer is John Turney, who has a neat skill, whereby he not only colorizes B&W photographs, he adds filters and such to other people’s work and “tweaks” them. John has an original and two “tweaks” to Gary’s fine work this week:

Phil,

I colorized this classic Sammy Baugh photo, then used a filter to mimic the Kodochrome film of the 1930s and them removed some of the grain.

John

Thanks John. He sent in two more — I’m not sure who colorized the first one (it might have been Gary or perhaps Chance Michaels):

This one is a tweak on someone else’s colorization. I added the color to the crowd and changed the uniforms to more of a canvas pant for the Packers and changed the opposing team to the Lions. I also added a “Autochrome” filter to capture the photography of the day.

And finally, this last one is definitely one of Gary’s — since it appeared here last weekend:

This is also a tweak of someone else’s excellent work. All I added was an era-appropriate filter to solidify to colors and give it a richer look.

Thanks John.

And thanks to all the colorizers we’ve had over more than the past year. Let them know how much you appreciate all their efforts. I know I do. I hope Gary and George (and everyone) continue to grace us with their magnificence.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bizkit's First Birthday

And Finally…

That adorable little guy you see in the photo to your right is my son, “Bizkit.”

He’s turning 12 years old today (that’s a photo from his first birthday in 2001). A few select readers know of my dog, but for most of you, this will be a first look.

He’s getting on in years (although 12 isn’t really that old for a Jack Russell Terrier), but unfortunately in the past year he’s been afflicted with a number of maladies, including contracting diabetes — in fact, every morning and every evening, with the assistance of my Aunt, he gets injected with insulin (despite his small size, it’s a two-person job). He’s got a bunch of other stuff wrong with him too, so I hope he’ll continue to live a long and healthy life, but you never know.

So I’m taking a few minutes today to wish my little guy a HAPPY 12th B-DAY. Even though he never reads Uni Watch, he’s never complained about it either. Just to show you how tiny he is…here’s yours truly and Bizkit (when he was a bit smaller, and I was a LOT larger, probably circa summer of 2000 — nice sunburn I had that day).

~~~~~~~~~~

We’re almost done, but everyone’s favorite 5&1 boy (Jim Vilk) tipped me wise to a bit of happenings down in Miama last night.

This included a bit of sneaker message-art.

Thoughts?

~~~

And that’s all for today. Thanks to all of you readers, and especially all of you who contribute so much to Uni Watch. The weekends are all about you guys.

Everyone enjoy the Great Eight today, and I’ll be back tomorrow with the uniform contest and more goodness.

Cheers!

~~~

I think the next person who argues against these name changes by pretending to be offended by the Fighting Irish or the Vikings should be shot in the dick, nursed back to health, then shot in the dick twice more. If the person complaining is a woman, she should have surgery first to implant a dick, then have it shot as described above. “But what if I’m color-blind, and I’m offended by the Red Sox name? WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?” You draw the line on your pants, where your dick used to be.

— A reader named Dan

 
  
 
Comments (119)

    “I will still provide colourisations — it’s what I do to pass the time. I enjoy doing it.”

    That’s the point. I’m glad you share them, but you’re not colorizing/colourising those photos for me.

    And thanks, George, for yesterday’s link, which may have gotten lost in the ocean of comments.

    I would just like to take a moment to apologize for one particularly bad comment I made yesterday. I’m not going to quote it, but I’m sure Phil knows which one I’m referring to. Suffice it to say that I was drinking instead of thinking, and it showed. So, to anyone who read it and had an uncontrollable urge to smack me…

    I’m sorry.

    I have been remiss in not congratulating the colorizers on their work. I love so many of the images so much that it’s a little overwhelming, almost daunting…in the sense that if I downloaded and then had appropriately printed, matted and framed all the ones I’ve found spectacular I’d go broke. And run out of wall space.

    For example, today’s Baugh vs. the Bears photo, or Ted in the Chair, or Hutson Deep. They make me smile….and provide an extraordinary nanosecond of some kind of time travel.

    If I could afford it, I’d surround myself with the work of Gary, George, John and the others. But then I’d probably almost never get off the couch cuz I’d just stare at them, get lost in them.

    Sort of like that mirror in Harry Potter. You know, the one that shows you your heart’s desire?

    Yep. George, Gary and their peers have been a heart’s delight for me. Nothing on UniWatch grabs quite so arrestingly. My office printer (Epson Stylus Photo 1400) captures about 90% of the artistry, and I’ve framed quite a few 8x10s and 5x7s. No matting, frames from Jack’s 99 Cents Store, but they look wonderful.

    I’ve really enjoyed them, even though I read the blog much less frequently than I used to. I’m certainly very happy for link.

    link has been the desktop on one of my computers for a while now, and that Baugh photo just might find its way into the rotation somewhere. My only complaint is that more of the pictures aren’t as dynamic. IMO, there are too many team portraits, which I don’t find nearly as exciting as the action shots. But I’m not the one doing the work, so I can’t really complain.

    Special Delivery to Chilvers —

    Just went on to BBC website and noticed (belatedly) this bouquet to George:

    “… LIVERPOOL STUNNED BY LOWLY LATICS. Wigan pull off an unlikely win at Anfield to boost their chances of beating the drop as Liverpool’s desperate league run continues…”

    Oh yes indeed, Connie. Our first ever win at Anfield.

    Just opening another bottle of Becks. We’re still struggling but days like today make it all worthwhile :)

    “LOWLY LATICS”

    ~~~

    them’s fightin’ words, no?

    enjoy your becks

    I don’t think we can argue with the facts – we are lowly. But we do enjoy annoying the suits at the Premier League who don’t thnk we really belong in their club :)

    Hic!

    Let’s see… where do I start?

    -I was (pleasantly) surprised to see that my ND design was today’s splash photo.

    -THE, your Red Wings concept RAWKS =)

    -I’m down with wearing the Tebowing, Bub’s Pub, and position shirts.

    -The colorizations are amazing. I don’t say it enough, and I just want to say that as a one-time colorizer, I know how much work it is, and the ones who crank ’em out on a regular basis definitely inspire me to play around with GIMP more often to hone my skills. Please keep them coming =)

    -Bizkit is ADORABLE! (read: I’m a sucker for cute dogs)

    -As much as I hate LeBron for his “Heatles” comment last season, I stand by his side (and that of the whole team) in standing up (and bowing their heads) for Trayvon Martin. That’s the beauty of America, I guess: no matter how much we’re at each other’s throats, when tragedy and injustice ensues (see: 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, SOPA, etc.), we throw our “MY OPINION IS BETTER THAN YOURS!” mentality aside and band together.

    Overall, the last two days have been amazing reads, because topics like the whole Native-American-imagery-in-sports-branding/design discussion and the “reader’s special” column show people that things like Uni Watch, Heavy Metal, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, etc. aren’t things where you scratch the surface, and there it is. It’s a real in-depth thing that makes you want to dig deeper. It stimulates the mind with viewpoints and thoughts that otherwise wouldn’t have even crossed their minds. Sure, we may not always like the stimulation at first, but I think it helps us in the long-run.

    I’m gonna go back to sleep now.

    I would absolutely wear the Tebow shirt. However it loses something in the one panel look. It looks like they were already in the pose when he said it. I gotta say that I rarely laugh out loud at comics (no offense to Benchies, I just really have to be caught off guard to laugh) but today’s strip got me. If there is anyway to put the two panels on the shirt it would be perfect.

    Thanks.
    And there’s always a way.
    We’re just experimenting with “truncating”, seeing how they play.

    Wow, Terry…excellent college uni concepts! Notre Dame and Georgia Tech rock. The contrasting edges on the Notre Dame shoulder stripes are a wonderful, nineteen-fiftyish detail. Not wild about the additiona of light light blue to Indiana, but hey…

    Good work, man.

    Yea, I agree nice job Terry! Especially liked the Indiana set.

    The Notre Dame was cool, although the texture mapping on the helmet didn’t work out too well. You pretty much got it on the 2nd attempt, although I think it’d be better if the shadow at the top was lightened up a bit. Maybe, break it up some as well?

    I also want to humbly bow down to the colorizers. I have zero creative juices flowing through me and can’t even begin to phathom how to do that thing that you do. My favorites are baseball photos. While black and white has a certain romance to it, a well colorized photo of a days gone by baseball scene is pure art. Keep up the good work.
    Can’t forget the uni-tweaks while I am at it. When a friend of mine told me about Uni-Watch I felt like I had found my Mecca. I would love to see an archive of all the uni-tweaks over the years. That would truly be awesome.

    I would probably be more inclined to buy a Bub’s t-shirt rather than a panel t-shirt.

    I’d definately be up for a Bub’s Pub shirt. I like the idea of that, something that’s kind of an in-joke for Uni Watchers, but also works well as a nice, “generic” type of shirt (which is a good thing).

    I really love the concepts from Terry. Good job. The only one I don’t really like is the first Penn State design with “PSU” on the helmet. The second would be much better: with numbers back on the helmets.

    P.S. Happy Birthday, Bizkit!

    I understand the “Colourisers'” concerns and how it would be disheartening to not receive feedback on such a tedious piece of art, but you need to realize that it simply may not appeal to all of us. I, for one, am 24 years old and 99% of your photos are from the 19th century (I kid), a time far before my years. As this is nothing against you or your work, I simply heed the suggestions of many on the board who say, “If you don’t like something on the site, simply don’t read it!” I’m sure there are many who enjoy your work and I applaud you for devoting the time and effort it must take, but please don’t take offense when people simply don’t give you praise. Do the work because you enjoy it, not for us. If someone (even one person) happens to laud over it, then consider that just an added bonus!

    The helmets on that first Notre Dame photo reminds me of Rice Krispie squares. Seriously though, good job on the concepts and colorizing. My artisitic ability ends at stick figures so I’m always amazed at what shows up here.

    Happy 12th Birthday Bizkit! Hope your Dad gives you a long walk and nice belly rub today.

    I would totally wear a Benchies shirt. I love the Hooters waitress one. I love the idea of NOB panel too. So mark me down as very interested!

    While the Detroit Red Wings uniform is one of those sacred beast unis, the “Jeff
    uni is quite creative. The Dallas Stars , as opposed to the Red Wings , are currently in a uniform wasteland (an increasingly barren neighbourhood, since the Toronto Blue Jays and the Buffalo Bills have letft), but this still feels like a 3 years and done, uni. They should go back to the green and gold.

    I’d be more interested in a Bub’s Pub shirt, as it’s a more “in the know” design and not something that’s a one-panel joke. Bub’s Pub could be anywhere… kind of like the Paddy’s Pub shirts from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia… on one level, you just identify it as a “generic” bar shirt, but on another level (if you are a fan) you know exactly what it is and what it means.

    Me too – Bub’s Pub or the Mike shirt.

    But personally, I have a thing for real things based on fake things, so my beau ideal of a Benchies shirt would be an actual reproduction of Bub’s softball team shirts.

    I love the Harlequin shirt colorization. That’s just nice. One of the elements about this blog I’ve always enjoyed is its appreciation of history, and the colorizations are just one more aspect of that. While I can’t say I’m in favor of permanent colorization (I love the black and white/sepia photos), I really appreciate seeing them.

    And THE Jeff, appreciate the effort, but that Red Wings jersey hurts.

    “And THE Jeff, appreciate the effort, but that Red Wings jersey hurts.”

    Yea, I mean it could be cool, or it could be Ice Capades?

    Yeah, intriguing notion, but is a little Brian Boitano, isn’t it.

    Love the first Stars design, though. But maybe with green breezers, just because dark over light does have certain “bloomers” look.

    George C.- “Colorize This” is the #1 feature I look forward to each weekend on UW. Keep them coming my friend.

    I guess Anthony Davis will be getting a lot of play in the “You Might Like…” box.

    Just a quick note of thanks and encouragement to all of the folks that provide colorizations. Very nice work, and it also exposes us to images of sports and eras that we probably would not ever run across otherwise. I rarely comment (on any topic) but truly do appreciate the efforts of folks that contribute so much.

    The, your Stars unis are so good that seeing them almost washes away the bitter, bitter tears of the team relocating from Minny. Great concept.

    The Kings set, also great stuff, and a perfect example of how effective uni design can redeem a weak logo like the Burger King – or even presumably Gorton & the Buffaslug.

    Where you go with Detroit, I can’t follow, but keep the feathery sleeves & use the wheel logo, and you’d have maybe my favorite hockey jersey ever. And I say this as someone who doesn’t like Detroit, the Wings, or even really the color red!

    There’s something about a comic panel on a t-shirt that I have always liked. Maybe it is a throwback to the old “Far Side” t’s that I used to have as a kid.

    To George, Gary, and others:
    I’ve always enjoyed old photos (b/w & color). There is something very special about your colorization work. I look forward to each weeks entries. Last weekend’s photo’s were my saving grace once I saw the blog’s topic.

    Great stuff, as always, Phil. Give a “Happy Birthday” to Bizkit for all of us, and maybe a nice gluten-free snack.

    Terry, your Indiana concepts were off the charts. I LOVE maroon with light blue, and have been waiting for someone on this side of the pond to use it again.

    As somebody who has contributed several colorized pics (and pics to be colorized re: panoramics etc.), I understand how it can be somewhat frustrating when you receive little to no feedback about them. Yet, I understand that’s part of the deal when you contribute new material to the web, sometimes it gets lost. That being said, might I suggest you guys branch out more across the web. Keep on contributing here of course, but find some new avenues to also post your work (blogs, etc.). I’ve had a lot of fun creating/maintaining mine link

    Cheers!
    ~B

    I find the colorizing fantastic. However, I think the reason for the lack of feedback and replies has something to do with the format they are presented and the hyperlinks seem to get lost in the text. Even the heading “Colorize This!” made me looking for an image for others to colorize, as some sort of a challenge. I keep wanting to click on the pic of the three ballplayers to the right of the heading – and give up. If the colorizing section in the text gets some sort of makeover I think I’ll notice the great work on the site.

    “If the colorizing section in the text gets some sort of makeover I think I’ll notice the great work on the site.”

    ~~~

    excellent point…maybe paul’s way of presenting things (click on the photo for a larger one) is the best way of presenting them…

    As for the Heat paying tribute to Treyvon Martin, I like the thought, but seriously, a month later? Why weren’t they doing this on Feb 27th?

    Also, the hoodie picture rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. I know their hearts were in the right place, but it just didn’t seem like a proper tribute for a death. It’s a perfect tribute to a teammate that was suspended for breaking the NBA’s dress code of wearing suits to a game, but not for a teenager’s death.

    How about instead of taking a lame picture, they donate to, or even just call his family, and go speak at his school.

    PS- Carmelo Anthony, you ARE NOT Treyvon Martin. You are a millionaire who doesn’t have to worry about getting shot by your neighbors. You are as far from Treyvon as it can get, besides the fact that you are African American, and were wearing a hoodie.

    I’m far from a Lebron/Heat fan, but I thought this was a spot-on perfect statement. For those who haven’t followed the story, the hoodie photo was taken yesterday rather than a month ago for, I believe, two reasons:

    1. The story has taken a turn – and received considerable more publicity – in recent days, following the release of 911 tapes & other evidence that casts significant doubt on the way the events were originally described by Mr. Zimmerman (the shooter) and the police.

    2. The “hoodie” angle is a very recent phenomenon. It was raised in one of Mr. Zimmerman’s 911 calls, when he mentioned that Tayvon was putting on his hoodie. It exploded yesterday, when Geraldo Rivera basically blamed the hoodie for Trayvon being shot (a new twist on the sad old “look at how she was dressed – she was askin’ to be raped” argument).

    Finally, while Carmelo Anthony absolutely exists at a socioeconomic strata that few if any of us will ever even glimpse, he was once a young black teenager like Trayvon — who, we have to remember, committed the “crime” of walking around THE GATED COMMUNITY WERE HE LIVED with a bag of Skittles & an iced teen.

    One of the many issues raised by the Trayvon case is that, when you’re young and black, you DO have to worry about being shot by your neighbors – whether those neighbors are in a tenement building across the alley or at the end of the cul-de-sac in your gated community.

    Good points Hugh.

    I think the thing that irked me was the line about how Gabrielle Union told Dwyane about it last week. Which means these guys had no clue about it for over 3 weeks while it was being discussed on numerous news/ media outlets. To me it just goes to prove that these guys don’t venture off of ESPN, and for the most part have no idea of what is going on in the “real world.”

    As for Carmelo, I think his tweet should have said, “We all WERE Treyvon at some point. Remember our roots!! #Solidarity”

    I would also like to say, for the record, that I think this was a despicable act, by an over-zealous man. Zimmerman’s excuse that he was putting on a hoodie is the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever heard. How does a grown man feel that his life is threatened by a child putting on a sweatshirt. Wreaks of racism to me. Just my opinion.

    I thought that was a very nice gesture. It has changed my opinion of the Miami Lebrons.

    I know that in a way its not fair to have one’s opinion about a group of players who probably already do a lot of valuable charitable work changed because of a single outward gesture. However, I must honestly say that I look at that team differently than I did before. I don’t know of another team who has made such a public statement.

    Such outward displays are necessary to explore a racially charged issue and bring it further into the public discussion.

    Lots to like today.

    1. TJ, I’m loving your Indiana and ND concepts. ND’s shoulder stripes are, as Abe Lincoln would say, the pretty titties.

    2. George, the Harlequins colorization is amazing. What a great f’n shirt.

    3. Aside from the moustache, the Bub’s Pub shirt was rpm’s idea.

    4. Happy Birthday, Bizkit! As the housekeeper/butler/chef for a diabetic cat, I know that’s not a walk in the park. Kudos to you and your aunt for your love and dedication to your boy there.

    terry~excellent work, some of the best we see around here. the fact that i wouldn’t have changed too, and like the directions you were going means, in my mind’s eye anyway, you were spot on.
    jeff~i can’t believe i am saying this, but the first stars is really good.
    turney~fabulous baugh

    happy birthday bizkit!

    Oh, AND…

    I know Mike’s black and gold adidas aren’t aimed directly at my heart, Ricko. But it sure feels that way.

    The Jeff, the Dallas Stars alternate concept is outstanding. It is the perfect combination of bold and simple. So striking. So what if it mimics the Cowboys.

    As for the Colourisations, the gentlemen’s work is astonishing. But I admit to not always looking at them. It seems their excellent work might be better appreciated if it was highlighted once a month or so. Over-saturation, maybe (bad pun unintended). Also, I think it would benefit the work to have the original photo and its colourised version come up with one click, side by side. I know this would reduce the size (and the sense of marvel) but the whole point is to compare the transformation from b&w to color.

    Li’l Bizkit’s a cutie.

    “It seems their excellent work might be better appreciated if it was highlighted once a month or so. Over-saturation, maybe (bad pun unintended). Also, I think it would benefit the work to have the original photo and its colourised version come up with one click, side by side.”

    ~~~~

    another excellent point, thanks jim

    i will definitely try to rework the colorization bit (and maybe make them more of a rare treat) so that they get the proper love they deserve

    jason’s design on a yellow T with black ringers, 00 or 1 on the back if you wanted to get fancy, bu you could leave that up to the person who got one to put that on. it is a close as you can get to that 70’s polyester look that the gang is sporting, it would be like you are on the team so to speak.

    if you go with one of the strip ideas, and i can see wanting to do that, keep the back blank, it is extra production cost for you, and completely unnecessary.

    my 2 centabosus.

    Happy Birthday, Bizkit.

    Now tell your dad it’s the Elite Eight, not the Great Eight…

    I love the colorizations, too. Having tried to colorize some old family photos, and succeeding only in making my saintly grandmother look like a streetwalking Oompa Loompa, I have a small sense of the talent, patience, and technique that goes into making those little works of art.

    Benchies is better than at least half of the stuff on the comic page. And I love the Big Mike shirt — it sort of sums up my own athletic career.

    A couple of years ago, my then-12 year old son and I volunteered at an Autism Awareness walk, held at Reliant Park. After our orientation, and before the walkers started showing up, we sneaked through an unlocked door into the Dome. It looked pretty much as it looks in the linked photos, except there was a bunch of Astro World detritus (Astro World was the now razed amusement park that was next door to the Dome) stored on the field. It’s still a perfectly serviceable stadium. I miss going to games there.

    “making my saintly grandmother look like a streetwalking Oompa Loompa,”

    Oh that did make me laugh :)

    I always go straight to the colorized pics. I do colorize and I know it takes time and effort. I always try and thank the colorizers each week. Even if I say a basic thanks and nice work.

    The world was always in color. DUH. Just because color film was not invented and or used much until the 1970’s or so. That is why I enjoy seeing what pictures may have looked like as they should be.

    I colorize old family pictures of mine too. I have 2 cousins who do not like b&w pics being colorized. But many do. I too enjoy doing it because I like to.

    We know some of colorizing is educated guess work. But unless somebody does that guesswork, nobody has a clue how things actually looked.

    I have enjoyed how Gary and George gave tutorials a while back. I use the program Recolored and it is very simple. It has some limitations if the picture is too bright. I use it and tweak it with either Adobe photoshop elements 9 or Gimp.

    I have not done much overall colorizing with layers. I want to try it.

    I have not been colorizing as much lately because I have been playing with the Alien Skin exposure that John uses. I am using the trial version. It is a blast to use. For old pics from 1910’s and other eras.

    Bottom line is I understand George and Gary’s sentiments. I just hope if they take a small break they come back.

    Nice to see college football uniforms today. Terry does great work during the season and fun to see his concepts too.

    As a Buckeye fan I have always loved that 40’s style font. I finally read what it was called a few weeks ago. Too bad I forgot it.

    For all of you not watching the NCAA, the story broke last night as to what link. It’s decent and it feels a little old-timey. Not bad, but certainly not beer league by any means.

    And UMass-Lowell? Gorgeous jerseys! I would kill for one of those!

    Congrats go out to Cornell as well – Phil’s alma mater, I believe – as they knocked off the second-seeded Michigan Wolverines last night in overtime!

    yeah…what ^^^ said

    funny thing is, guy was the only pro athlete hamilton ever produced in any sport, and he was actually a backup to a buddy of mine, pat hoey

    in fact, when he would get in games, a bunch of us drunk frat brothers would chant “PLAY.PAT.HOEY” … “PLAY. PAT. HOEY”

    which would be pretty loud, considering our old barn only sat a couple hundy

    Ok, it’s still a familial institution. ;o)

    Huge win for the Big Red last night. You would have thought they won the tourney with the way they celebrated! :o)

    Shoulda come out with “Fighting lawSIOUX” on their jerseys. With the “law” in tiny little print.

    I look at the colourizers and concepters all the time, but time is something I haven’t had a lot of lately. So, I’m one of those who hasn’t commented as much. Keep them coming, though – your silent fans do appreciate them!

    Now that is even more awesome to still wear something similar. I would not have known that if you did not point it out.

    One thing I have said before about this blog. I use Mozilla Text to Image add on. When I open Uni Watch I do not always have to click on a link to see the pictures. I wonder how many others use this tool. For a column with so many images to look at, it just makes it very simple. And you rarely miss anything.

    Sometimes the images show in the comments too and sometimes not.

    Give it a try.

    link

    I know this is like asking a Ford owner if he/she knows where to get the best Chevy parts, but do you know of anything similar I could use with Google Chrome? Something like that would be fantastic, and I have no idea how to go about researching it.

    link

    Phil, thanks for putting the colorized pictures together on Flickr. I know you have done that with many other pictures or work on here.

    totally welcome, larry — thanks for submitting them, and keep em coming!

    Thats one helluva template you got there THE… ;)

    Good job today by both Terry and THE, got some very interesting stuff going on by both guys.

    one thing that struck me about the sammy baugh pic…and it’s why color really brings things out…

    were da bears going only with low whites, even back then? and low-cut shoes too….

    compare and contrast to the washington club in high tops and burgundy stirrups

    I noticed that, too, in a couple photos from the 73-0 game. Some of the Bears are in lowcuts. Particularly George MacAfee (#5)…
    link
    And a later PR photo…
    link

    Apologies to George. I always muck up the spelling of his last name cuz of this guy…
    link
    …who still was playing when I discovered pro football.

    I look at the colourized photos every week – I don’t usually comment because my comment would always be the same “wow – good work – I can’t imagine how much work that took” which I didn’t think added anything.

    I think the colorizers would appreciate the compliments no matter how generic the comment is.

    “We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare, and love we can spare. In return, dogs give us their all. It’s the best deal man has ever made.” – Margery Facklam

    – happy birthday Bizkit!

    Holy moly is the BC-Air Force Frozen Four game a beauty. Color-on-color, GREAT contrast between the two teams, and both unis are classically gorgeous.

    I could watch this game forever.

    Forgot to mention that it’s on ESPNU right now, for those of you interested.

    I would buy Jason Bernard’s design in a heart beat. Here’s why: As great as the comic strip is (it’s great), it’s too much of an inside joke for me to wear around town. But the simple “Bub’s Pub” with a mustache, now that I would wear. It’s simple and funny enough to get a laugh from people who have no idea what it is, but if they ask? well I’d let them have it, probably even show them the comic. Make that one and I’m a buyer.

    And just generally I’m not a fan of an actual comic strip on my shirt, but anything logo or text based I would definitely buy. Why not make a shirt out of the logo at the beginning of every comic?

    George, Gary and Phi-

    I’m a regular (daily) reader or UniWatch (and a PROUD card carrying member to boot), and I don’t post often, but after reading today’s post, I wanted to say that I very much appreciate and look forward to the colorization section on the weekends.

    I am a graphic designer by trade, and spend most of my time with CorelDraw, but always enjoy any time I get to use Photoshop. Your colorizing has encouraged me to go back to old family pictures and color them.

    I know it’s not easy to fill a deadline each week, and I certainly understand if you aren’t able to continue, but I wanted you to know how much I have enjoyed the work each and every week!

    Keith

    Liked the L.A. Kings purple jersey concept; great idea to make it look like a king’s robe. Maybe instead of changing the beard from purple to brown you could change it to grey; just like designer (Ken Loh) who originally submitted to the team had it.

    link

    Another idea for slight modification – possibly try an Old English or Tiffany font for numbers for these jerseys.

    A bit late, but I’m catching up on my reading. I do read and check out the colorizations. I do find it cool and fascinating. Granted, I don’t comment too much in here to begin with, but the guys that work on the colorizations are working on a different level than me. I wouldn’t have the time or patience to crank out a colorization of my own that would pale in comparison to their work. So, my relative ignorance on their abilities wouldn’t be served well by me posting some comments (It would be along the lines of, “Ooo! Shiny!” But, even if I don’t comment on it, I take your work seriously and appreciate the effort they put into it and share with the rest of us masses. Thanks, guys!

    Everyone loves what you guys are up too. Such clever work and exposure! Keep up the great works guys I’ve included you guys to my own blogroll.

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