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Two Important Messages

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1) Uni Watch is closed today while I deal with a personal matter (not hurricane-related). Feel free to talk amongst yourselves. But please, no e-mails today unless it’s absolutely crucial.

2) Saturday’s party at Sheep Station is ON.

See you tomorow. ”“ Paul

 
  
 
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Comments (116)

    Haven’t posted on here in a long time but please be careful and hang in there Paul, Phil, and all of the other UniWatchers up there!

    Juan Grande

    Ya , that thing was awesome

    Ok topic.. Favorite uniform of all time and why… GO

    Picking a favorite is easy: Oakland/LA Raiders, late 80’s/early 90s. That’s the point where the pants started becoming metallic silver (instead of the gray of the 60s/70s) and there was still no logo creep. Why is a much more difficult question. There’s just something about the black & silver color scheme and the simple (but not TOO simple) uniform… it just works for me.

    1981-85 Milwaukee Bucks home jersey – white, with red trim, numbers & lettering and “rainbow guts” side panels in several shades of green.

    Why? Well, it’s the first NBA uniform I remember seeing, and at the time I had a bedspread with the same colours and stripe pattern. Simple as that.

    My favorite uniform is the Montreal Expos road uniform from 992-2004. I love the script “Montreal” and the red, white and gray colors.

    It was a great look and, at the risk of causing controversy, I like that the current Nationals road grays pay a bit of homage to them.

    I hated when they changed to that uniform (and the home pinstripe one that goes with it).

    It’s bland. It has the exact same color scheme as the Chicago Cubs had, and takes away the classic Expos number font for some boring varsity block. The pale blue of the previous road uniform looks much better than boring gray.

    At least keep the number font. That part screams “Expos”.

    I agree completely Mark, and would add that they also lost the iconic pinwheel hat in that redesign.

    One of the most underrated things about that design is the use of the fleur-de-lis as the accent mark on Montréal.

    I’ll play.

    For baseball I would choose the Boston Braves of the late 40s/early 50s. Even though it’s a throwback, link a good example. Just look at those socks and explain to me how you can’t love it. But more than the socks, I do think the script “Braves”/tomahawk crest is a true timeless logo. The black tomahawk looks much classier than today’s red.

    For football, it’s Alabama. They just illustrate what a uniform should be. So glad they haven’t given in to the craziness running rampant in college. And while The Jeff won’t like it, I’ll have to say Denver’s classic orange jerseys and royal blue helmets. It doesn’t hurt that John Elway was my favorite player growing up. The new orange jerseys pale in comparison to the original Orange Crush. Loved ’em.

    Football-Classic Buffalo Bills, Jack Kemp Era. Clean, simple and classy. Love the standing still Buffalo. The Red “Pat” Patriot uniforms are a close second.

    Baseball- Boston Red Sox, 1930’s-40’s. Doesnt get much better than Teddy Ball Game. Boston Braves and St. Louis Cardinals (Stan Musial Era) tied for second.

    Basketball- Boston Celtics Road Greens, Bird Era. Red Bulls Jordan era and Denver Nuggets Skyline tied for second.

    Hockey- Toughest category, so many good ones. Chicago Blackhawks narrowly beat the Buffalo Sabres (original set). Honorable mentions to the Bruins Originals (with Bear), White Rangers and Blue Penguins.

    Which part of the Jordan era? Rookie year (script Chicago)? Second season thru second championship (plain white NOBs)? Third championship thru sixth championship (pretty much the same as what they wear now without the logo above the NOB)?

    Stan Musial era features a few different looks as well.

    I actually like Penn State’s uniforms, especially away. Contrary to many people on this blog, I prefer something simple and distinctive. A simple, two-color uniform with a plain jersey with contrasting sleeves and collars, simple, plain pants with a contrasting belt, and a simple helmet with a single stripe is just plain, simple, and classy. I am the minority.

    I completely agree, Penn State, home and away are beautiful, they should lose the NOBs. Steelers unis from the 70’s through the mid 90’s, while they still had the block numbers.

    I agree. You’re in the minority. :) Ha!

    Simple, yes. Iconic, no doubt. A good looking uniform? Blah. To me, they’ve always looked “unfinished”. Could we at least get the Penn State logo on the helmet, or maybe through in a navy helmet and/or pants to the wardrobe? I’ve always HATED teams that have the all-white storm-trooper look. I’d say the same about the Colts, for example.

    A bigger offender is the Cleveland Browns…traditional, simple, of course…but still hideous. Needs a complete makeover. (And unlike Penn State, they haven’t won anything in over 50 years…so it’s not like the tradition is exactly a “winning” one.)

    A simple, classic, yet GOOD LOOKING uniform is the St. Louis Cardinals, IMHO. Birds on the bat have only been “tweaked” over the years, but it’s been the same basic look (sans that one year in the 50s) for about a century. Something about the splash of yellow/gold with the bat across the front that sets it apart from any other uniform, at least for me.

    Favorite, not “best”… 1996-2005 Minnesota Vikings away.

    Sleek, clean, and just different enough to stand out without looking garish.

    Still can’t believe that someone said “yes” to their current set.

    Lee*

    *Vikings fan since 1973, so I may be a bit biased.

    My favorite uniform of all time: 1909-1913 Cubs dark blue road:

    link

    Pure awesomeness.

    And they’ve been used as throwbacks twice, in link and link, with the ’97 version having the correct two-toned socks.

    …with the modern Cubs number font, those would truly be perfect. Even the curved numbers that they used in ’97 (I can’t find a picture containing them) would be good too.

    I grew up a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan mostly due to my grandma’s love for the team and my being only a 30 minute drive from Portland. When my grandma was still alive she used to yell at the tv “miss it, miss it, you dirty bastard” every time an opposing team would take free throws. Love the 80’s era unis.
    link

    1967 New Orleans Saints – both home and away.They took the 1960 Green Bay Packers/Cleveland Browns template and made it better …. Beautiful Old Gold numerals on both White and Black jerseys. Sleeve stripes, numeral trim and awesome stirrup socks. Skinny numerals with wide trim made for a unique, bold look. Satinny Old Gold pants with helmets to match ….

    By playing outdoors, the Old Gold looked 100x better than when playing indoors – that’s just the way it always is with Old Gold on football unis – indoor lighting never seems to do that color justice.

    These were the very best Saints uniforms in a history of many good sets. The current uniform is horible in color shades, template and those horrible black leotard bycicle pants, no socks to speak of, and crappy light tan passing for Old Gold.

    That’s too bad for us ….

    Real uniform? I hate myself for both of these, but a tie:

    1990s Atlanta Braves

    and

    1980s Philadelphia Phillies, the burgundy and powder era.

    But my single favorite uniform of all time, ever, was a one-day 2007 “throwback” that was really a dreadfully anachronistic fauxback:

    link

    From a throwback perspective, those were among the worst unis of all time. Almost literally nothing in common with the actual Grays uniforms they were depicting. The numbers are wrong, the GRAYS lettering is completely wrong, the year the Nats claimed to be throwing back to was off by at least 4 years, the piping widths are wrong, and on and on. But considered outside the context of actual history, those right there were the most beautiful uniforms I’ve ever seen on a field of play. Breaks my heart that they didn’t just change the front script to NATS and call it a full-time uniform.

    I loved the Bullets, too. Just like the Canucks’ Flying V jerseys. Go big or go home.

    In the pic, the 11 and 12 look to be as close to the stripe as they can be without touching, but 21 is further away and the numerals are spaced differently.

    Favorite uniform of all time: (this is a little bit of a cheat) – the 1969 Washington Redskins.

    Why? They still had the arrow helmet design, but they introduced the lighter burgundy and gold colors that they still use now. Mostly I love the way the alternating burgundy and gold stripes look on the sleeve of the white jersey.

    link

    Quebec Nordiques home(white…the way is still should be). Home team growing up, first jersey ever owned. Joe Sakic rookie #88. That was before I knew the Nordiques are one of the original jerseys with corporate sponsorship.

    We just cancelled our NYC marathon trip this morning so no party for us. We cannot justify a trip to NYC when water, transportation and even more important issues (food,shelter, electricity)for the people of NYC are still not available to them.

    Not from the area, but I heard on the news last night that there were like 46 miles of track underwater, which could take several weeks to fully drain, plus longer to actually clean up debris.

    Limited subway service north of 34th Street. Limited train service from Grand Central to Stamford, CT.

    I’m still going (assuming Air Canada can get me there)

    The mayor says the race is on, wants us to come show the world how resilient NYC is, who am I to argue.

    So I see yesterday there was some brief discussion about a school called Nike in some town somewhere and whether it might be named after a Nike missile site.

    This past summer, my son had a baseball game and the field he was playing on had an address on Nike Parkway. Naturally, I assumed that it was named after Paul’s favorite lifestyle company and figured the property would be festooned with swooshes galore.

    Turns out that it link that occupied the property a half a century or so ago.

    Not sure if this exact article was posted, but Tom Silverstein at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal dug deeper into the “helmet crack” on Rodgers’ and Jones’ helmets recently. Apparently the sticker that secures the helmet stripe in place widens in the back. Here’s the article:
    link

    I don’t understand why they block 2 of the vent holes. maybe there are enough other ones to the noggin vented.

    The fact that multiple teams block those vent holes leads to one of two conclusions: either the extra vent holes are completely pointless, or the teams are STUPID. If those holes actually provided some benefit, and the teams are covering them up… WTF?

    So yesterday I got an email from the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees (AAA team). They will be changing their name next year, and are having a party to celebrate. Anyone in the area want to go and take pics?

    ‘Name the Team’ Party Announced
    SWB Yankees Plan ‘Big Reveal’ to Unveil New Team Name, Logos

    The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees announced today that it will hold “The Big Reveal” party from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 14, at Genetti Manor, 1505 Main St., Dickson City. The free event is open to the public.

    At the event, the long-awaited new team name will be announced, along with the unveiling of new logos and player uniforms. The family friendly party will also feature free food and beverages (alcohol excluded), inflatable games, jugglers, caricature artists, face painters, balloon artists and much more.

    “We are very anxious to share with the community our new team name and brand,” said Rob Crain, President and General Manager. “We are entering a very exciting time for the franchise and this event will be a significant mile-marker in the club’s history.”

    In June, the SWB Yankees asked for the community’s input on a new team name. About 2,700 submissions were narrowed down to six finalists for the “Name the Team” contest. Fans then had the opportunity to vote for their favorite through the month of August. Since then, SWB officials have been planning and creating the new brand.

    The tallies are in and the fans have spoken. “We are looking forward to having a strong turnout from the community,” Crain said. “The free event and carnival-like atmosphere is going to be a ton of fun for the whole family.”

    Sixers in blue alts last night – loved them, except the silly under-arm crap that they still have.

    Favorite uni of all time? Keeping with the Sixers theme – and I do hope they honor these at some point – the 1977 blue away unis. Stars on the side panel. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

    Paul, I hope all is well.

    The Mariners…really? I can’t place my finger on why, but they are probably some of my least favorite uniforms in baseball. They just seem boring, outdated, bland…etc. They might be better with a little updating, nothing drastic though. But again…I can’t really pinpoint why I feel that way about them.

    Favorite uni is Boston Bruins’ black. Perfect blend of dominant and accent color. Great logo, and the gold sock/hosiery is art. And I’m not even a hockey fan.

    alrighty, dont hate me here, but I have some new news for Oregon football this week. they released a YouTube video (link),to push a marketing gimmick for the game Saturday at USC along with a new uniform combo.

    the punch line ($$$) is Storm LA.
    link

    my guessing that Oregon is coming out with their “Storm Trooper” look this weekend, including a white helmet.

    link
    link
    NCAA 13 Screen Shots
    link
    link

    This eBay listing, of a 1988 road Cubs jersey worn by Curtis Wilkerson, has something uniform-related that I’ve never seen before, and didn’t think existed. Certainly not for fan jerseys, but I didn’t think it existed for major league jerseys either:

    link

    Can anyone else spot it?

    It’s neither of those things. That pesky R has always been around, and in ’88 everyone had a Rawlings logo on the sleeve.

    It’s the size: when was the last time you saw a size 41 jersey?

    For fans, they usually offer sizes 40, 44, 48, and 52 (M, L, XL, XXL; all multiples of 4) and in the majors players can get sizes in between, but only even numbers. You see plenty of 46s and 50s and the occasional 42 (more in the ’80s and ’90s when jersey swere less baggy and there were more small-framed players).

    But a 41? Is that one-of-a-kind?

    Well…damn. I didn’t realize that was a thing. I know I’ve never seen a retail jersey with an odd number size, but I didn’t think it was particularly weird for a *real* jersey.

    Oh, I didn’t see that size 41 was a retail(!) sale jersey. I bet it was an overrun that was meant for a team usage, then sold. What do you think?

    Nick, maybe I could have been clearer; that jersey is game-used. I just went through the difference between retail and team sizes so that when I pointed out the odd size, nobody would say that it was only retail jerseys that have limited options for the sizes.

    That and Wilkerson was on the Rangers in 1988 & was traded the Cubs in December 1988. So it was probably a 1988 Manny Trillo jersey first? Trillo is listed as 6′ 1″, 150 lbs. But a 41 if 40 is no good?

    Can’t tell in that pic if the Rawlings mark is sewn on or a patch. No idea if it could had been a minor league jersey.

    That sounds like a good fit for Trillo given his height and weight, and that era’s tighter uniforms. I can’t imagine the minors taking an odd order like that, and the Cubs used to recycle their jerseys down to Iowa at that time anyway. With Trillo having played for the Cubs back in the ’70s and presumably having the seniority to make such a request, I think you’ve got the right idea about it being originally his.

    I’m close to Trillo’s size (at 5’11”, 145), and have always wished for a size 43 (using Majestic’s big cuts) or 45 (using Russell’s), which is why I noticed the odd size. Maybe I should buy it and then wear it when tighter jerseys come back into vogue one of these years!

    You are absolutely correct. Size 41 is a true rarity.

    I shop EBAY for jerseys often, for the past 11-12 years. I look at LOTS of jerseys every week – hundreds. The oddly sized jerseys you can count on to be very, very rare – perhaps one in ten thousand. My observations are that when looking at vintage athletic jerseys – pre-1970 – they are more often found in Baseball, usually major leagues or minors. There is perhaps something to the fact that there are only 25-40 jerseys in a baseball teams’ set, and that the group/team is small enough to have each individual sized for their particular jerseys.

    This personalized sizing of jerseys may be commonplace today with football and other sports, as well as teams’ purchases of many sets of the same jerseys (The Saints purchase many duplicates of home and away jerseys, and stars or skill platers have even more copies of the same jerseys) but my guess is – and a professional like Terry Proctor would certainly know better – but this was possible in baseball well before this was ever considered in football ….

    We watched this in my leadership class yesterday and I hope everyone can enjoy the bits of old uniform action: link

    The Cubs jersey is a size 41. If it was an authentic for sale to the public, it wouldn’t be an odd number. Great find!

    Ian, you’ve got it! As I described in my post up above, multiples of 4 like 40, 44, 48… can be found easily and are sold to fans. Players can also get 42, 46, 50, and up. But an odd number?

    Favorite uniforms:
    College football – Texas all-white
    Pro football – Chargers powder blue (also like the old white Arizona Cardinals with the Arrizona state flag on the sleeve)
    Basketball warmup – The old UCLA short waisted yellow warm-up
    College baseball – Florida State’s Vegas gold with garnet pin-stripes

    There was once upon a time we Irish would take any opportunity possible to make a statement by doing the exact opposite of anything the English did.

    Now, this: link

    I can’t decide if that’s cool or lame. Halloween is supposed to be about scary stuff and candy… striped socks don’t really fall into either category.

    I guess the socks are a chance to go dressed as RGIII and/or a corporate whore for Adidas next Halloween. LAME. (For the record, Subway coupons would have been less lame, but still lame.)

    Check out the 25 Greatest Knicks photo gallery — and, more importantly of course, the uniforms they and their opponents wore.

    link

    This photo features Dick McGuire in my favorite all-time Knick uni. I believe the opponents are the Rochester Royals (now known as the Sacramento Kings). Love those unis as well. Naturally, this was the pre-Swoosh era and a time when Chuck Taylors dominated footwear. Photo would probably be a great candidate for colorization.

    link

    For me, nothing the Knicks will ever wear can compare to the Bernard/Michael Ray-era unis – the navy & maroon ones, with the team name under the numbers. I swore long ago that I’d never let a piece of Knicks merchandise through my door, but I’d happily make an exception for those unis.

    Good to know that we’re on for Sheep Station. Can’t wait to meet everybody!
    On a related note, I’ve decided to wear a hockey jersey for the first time this year, just for this occasion. In suspending my lockout on NHL merchandise, I’m gonna wear this bad boy:
    link,!igE8cR6OzOlBPHw1ut00g~~60_35.JPG
    on account of the epic stripe job on the sleeves, as well as the chance to wear something from the time before Bettman. (Well, it’s a modern reproduction and not a true retro, but what can I do?)
    So please don’t steal my prom dress hockey jersey!

    (This has been in moderation since 9:22 a.m. EDT…)

    Late ’50s-early ’60s Cubs. Just a classy look (not getting into the shoulder patch debate here, just the uni)…
    link
    link\

    Based on the leaks and Chris Creamers sleuthing, here’s what I think we’ll see revealed in Houston tomorrow:
    link

    Favorite uni discussion (for better or worse)

    CFB: Michigan home (Navy/Maize) Rose Bowl jerseys (nike, 1990s)
    NFL: Titans home & away (1999-2006) Navy over white/ white over navy. Bring it back!
    NHL: Red Wings Winter classic throwbacks with old school “D” – classy
    NBA: Seattle SuperSonics – any era. pick one.
    CBB: Fab Five low shorts and black socks.
    MLB: Detroit home whites, LADodgers road grays

    If anyone is interested, Paul is doing well enough that he’ll be the featured guest on tonight’s episode of The Hockey Show radio show. You can tune in from 6-6:30 CT (7-7:30 ET) via internet through the link!

    While the interview will be about the Uni Watch Power Rankings, we will veer a little into other areas for Paul to share his thoughts. If you want to hear Paul chat about hockey and uniforms, tune into UMFM tonight!

    I didn’t go through all the entries, so forgive me if its been mentioned already…

    But the Miami Hurricanes will be wearing orange on orange tonight, hosting Virginia Tech.
    I believe it’s the first time they’ve ever went orange jerseys/orange pants…Not including the 2010 pro combat combination (also vs VT)

    Here comes the pun… Virginia Tech and Miami going mono y mono. VT looks great and I don’t mind Miami in all Orange.

    thanks to NFL network being available on brighthouse cable.. i keep forgetting about the espn NCAA Thursday night games

    link

    Didn’t he once wear a Braves warmup jacket that said “I-285” on the back? I cannot turn up a pic of it on Google. Anyone else?

    Yes, he did. I can’t dig it up right now, but somebody here posted a link to a blog post a while back with a bunch of photos from the Braves Hall of Fame that included Perez’ jacket and a CHANNEL 17 jersey.

    (I think I was at Perez’ first win when he beat the Phillies at Three Rivers in ’81.)

    He “earned” the jacket by driving around I-285 for a while because he couldn’t find Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

    My 2 cents on the favorite uniforms:

    Los Angeles Dodgers (and I even liked that 1999 silver brim thingie they did)

    Montreal Canadiens because nothing else in the NHL comes close.

    Portland Trail Blazers I don’t even follow basketball, but I like it.

    Colorado Rapids

    Seattle Seahawks (oh wait, that’s filed under ugly) How about the Denver Broncos home because the orange looks nice and I signed that internet petition for whatever good that did.

    Did anyone see this picture of JJ Watt wearing a new Astros hat it looks white with a blue star and a white H. Dont know if its the new hat or not but i kind of like it. link

    Well since anything goes today…I was eating a bag of M&M’s today and pulled out two random colors, green and yellow. I immediately thought of the Packers. It was kinda fun pulling out two colors at a time and assigning a team to them. I wonder if Paul would eat purple M&M’s? ;-)_

    Favorite Uniforms, hrmm….(I have more than these because I’m a wildman like that)

    NFL – I’ll be a homer and say Dallas Cowboys from the early days. Also, I have a love for the Bengals of the 80s and 90s.
    NCAA football – Oklahoma – sheer classic.
    CFL – Hamilton Tiger Cats from the Angelo Mosca era.
    NBA – Minneapolis Lakers.
    World Soccer – National Teams: Slovenia 2010 World Cup, Club level – Brisbane Roar. I like how Puma has hooked them up.
    Australian Rules Football – Essendon Bombers
    Baseball – House of David 1919 Road, Brooklyn Dodgers 1910, and the 1956 Australian exhibition team.

    there’s some pylons at the Chargers/Chiefs game that would make uni-watch readers’ heads explode.. a pink pylon with a camo ribbon on it

    In a game so meaningful it’s on ESPNU, not even ESPN2, Middle tennessee and Western Kentucky are color-on-color. Blue-on-red. Meaningless game to me, bur cool to look at. I’m in Wisconsin but respect the tradition and history of Michigan vs Ohio State, wouldn’t it be nice to see them go Blue vs Scarlet?

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