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Brew Crew Contest Hits Next Phase

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Remember the Brewers’ uni-design contest? The three finalists, shown above, have now been chosen. You can vote for your choice here, and there’s some additional info here.

New ESPN column today — the long-delayed NHL season preview. Enjoy.

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ABA contest reminder: Our friends at Grey Flannel Auctions are currently running an ABA photo contest. Details here.

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Uni Watch News Ticker: The Sharks’ original owner, George Gund III, passed away yesterday, so the team is adding a “GGIII” helmet decal. The decal will be upgraded to a jersey patch “at some point,” presumably in the near future. … The NBA will unveil this season’s All-Star Game uniforms this morning. Expect them to look very much like the video game leaks from a few months ago. ”¦ Some new uni number assignments for the Reds (from Brice Wallace). ”¦ New 20th-season logo for the Rochester Honkers (from Luke H). ”¦ Here’s another article on that controversial (and now-withdrawn) U. of Cal logo (from Tom Mulgrew). ”¦ Check out this cool DIY MLB pillow (from Scott Lederer). ”¦ Here’s a video showing how the AHL’s Chicago Wolves designed themselves a G.I. Joe jersey (from Andrew Bray). ”¦ Michael Sullivan made a scale model showing his vision for new improvements to Ralph Wilson stadium. ”¦ Here’s some not-very-illuminating news regarding new uniforms for the Browns. … Here’s an analysis of the NFL road teams’ uni choices from last weekend. … Nothing says Super Bowl I like Len Dawson smoking a cigarette. … Check out the amazing official’s jersey in this Russian hockey video clip (big thanks to Zane Tuck). … Western Kentucky hoops will be wearing throwbacks tomorrow (from Gary Moore). … Reprinted from last night’s comments: What if every MLB was Auburn? It might look like this (from Denver Gregg). … Jeremy Brahm sends word of new soccer uniforms for several Japanese teams, including the Urawa Reds, Yokohama F.Marinos, Hiroshima Sanfrecce, and Omiya Ardija. ”¦ Latest school to wear the NBA/Xmas-style uniform: Tennessee. ”¦ The Raptors will go G.I. Joe on Jan. 26, which is Canadian Armed Forces Day. ”¦ Here’s a piece about Nike basketball socks (from Kyle Mackie).

 
  
 
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Comments (79)

    I can’t say I like any of the designs. The first one has zero imagination; it’s just copy-and-paste throwbackism. The second jersey looks like a softball jersey (all the hat is really nice) and while the third one has some charm… It’s just a little to minimalistic for a redesign contest. Minimalist designs should come off as sharp and classy, not boring.

    So the 2nd hat gets my only “Like”. Sorry y’all :/

    This. I voted for the first one because of the traditional bright colors. I’m tired of dark, muted shades of blue.

    -Jet

    I’m not even angry about the doping anymore. I’m angry about what a complete and total bastard he was to anyone who tried to blow the whistle.

    Concerning the fan inspired renovation of Ralph Wilson Stadium…what happens to Sheldon Cemetary? I don’t think the Bills need a poltergiest on top of the crappy run they’ve had since the Music City Miracle. But I do love the climate controlled atrium.

    “… Michael Sullivan made a scale model showing his vision for new improvements to Ralph Wilson stadium…”

    I just feel a whole lot better about everything knowing this country still produces guys like Michael Sullivan. What a cool project and — the beauty part — so incredibly detailed and thought-through.

    PS. At the Brewers uni comp I voted for Candidate #1, what MRB describes above as “copy-and-paste throwbackism.” He’s not wrong about that, so I listed my birth year as 1992 so that the judges think that throwbackism is totally trendoid for Generation Whatever.

    I appreciate the thought that went into Michael’s proposal, and he does a fine job of turning a venue that has always been lousy into something rather interesting.

    There is a better alternative.

    They are planning on spending $130 million on upgrades to what is essentially an oversized high school stadium, which was placed in a terribly inconvenient location by a lazy and possibly criminal county legislature 40-some years ago.

    Rather than invest more money in a suburban wind tunnel (have you ever been to a Bills home game? Brutal), why not put a stadium closer to the heart of the city? Why not use some existing, underutilized property, as part of a downtown revitalization?

    Just east of downtown Buffalo is the Central Railroad Terminal building. It features a multi-story tower, perfect for the offices, conference rooms and upscale restaurants Sullivan envisions for The Ralph. The Terminal is targeted as the Buffalo stop on the proposed high speed rail system that would link downstate to the rest of New York.

    The Astros proved you could restore a dilapidated railway station, add a sports stadium to it, and create something both beautiful and functional. The chief problem with Minute Maid Park is that the trains don’t run to Union Station anymore. Imagine an NFL stadium, with all of the amenities that Sullivan describes, that also is on a main commuter rail line. Trains could come in from Rochester, Syracuse, Erie, PA and southern Ontario. It would be a showcase for the rest of the league.

    An Art Deco masterpiece, revived, restored, and repurposed for the NFL.

    Speaking as someone whose alma mater just unleashed a truly execrable logo redesign, it seems a shame to me that the new U Cal logo was dropped. I’m not a fan of the gradient treatment of it, but that aside, it was a great bit of design work. If this same design had been introduced in the early 1960s, then A) Without the internet the inevitable chorus of people who hate everything new (often including me!) would not have had access to the internet to make their complaints quotably public and B) It would today be held up as an example of great design from a golden age of American commercial art.

    Would that be The GeeDub? I also have a GWU degree, and I found the logo reboot (covered here in the link BTW) fairly execrable myself.

    Remember, nobody liked the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial design when it first came out. You have to give new ideas time to grow on you.

    Sad news about the demise of Buffalo’s alt. On the Lightning anniversary patch, the 2 is too close to a Z in form for me. I literally read the word “ZOO” on first glance and had to do a double-take for it to scan correctly. Still, TB has such a clean look these days that simple is the way to go for the anniversary logo/patch. I just wish the top of the 2 had a little more curve to it.

    As much as I don’t like hockey, their netminder masks HAVE to be some of the coolest things in all of sports.

    Probably the single most opportunity for any player, in any sport, to be creative and fun with some attire. Incredible looking designs.

    As an old goalie who painted his own masks back in the day (I’ll have to find and post pictures one of these days), I disagree. The modern mask designs are TOO good.

    Yes, they reflect individualistic ideas presented by the goalies, but they are done by professional airbrush artists. What I loved about the early mask designs of the 1970’s was that they were “homespun”, i.e. not done by pro graphic artists (Gilles Gratton’s lion mask being the exception).

    It was just so cool to see professional NHL level hockey with pro uniforms… and funky homemade mask designs.

    -Jet

    As artistic as these new masks are, the old, crude ones seem to better stick in the memory.

    Mike Palmateer’s mask looked like it had been painted by a blindfolded ten year old, but it was cool. Gerry Cheevers, Jim Rutherford with those red wings above his eye holes, Doug Favell’s weird Ultra Man striping: all awesome.

    Is there a rule on the books in MLB prohibiting mask art? It’s curious that it hasn’t caught on with the switch in styles that’s taken place in MLB.

    A prohibition, or maybe they feel it distracts the pitcher. Thoughts?

    RE: ” The Rangers have new red practice jerseys. Doesn’t feel right, does it? Red is a Rangers color, but it should never be the dominant color. ”

    Practice jerseys come in array of colors, including red which the Rangers have worn for years if not decades.
    i.e.,: link, from the 1990s.

    Most media in Boston refer to the Bruins 4th line as the “merlot line” because they wear dark red sweaters in practice.

    There’s also white, black, grey, and I believe green.

    You made sort of a big deal about the Rangers’ red practice jerseys. I don’t really think it’s much of a deal at all. Here’s why:

    I used to be the sound guy at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, MA, where in the late-90s/early-to-mid-oughts we had an AHL team, the Lowell Lock Monsters, as well as the UMass Lowell team. Both teams had a number of colors for practice jerseys. I think the college team had only blue, red, white (the team colors) and black practice jerseys, which at the time also didn’t have team logos or anything, just blank jerseys. The Lock Monsters, however, had a lot of practice jerseys. For most of the time, they were the Carolina Hurricanes affiliate, and the team colors were red, black, and purple (the mascot was a purple alligator). They had practice jerseys in all of these colors, plus white, but they also had green, yellow and gray practice jerseys. They even all had the team logo.

    So what I’m saying is, hockey teams have a lot of practice jersey colors, so they can break up into different squads/roles for whatever they’re working on in that session.

    i really, really, really DON’T want to by that guy… but does Montoya’s “Jets” mask remind you, or conjure up thoughts of a propeller driven/powered plane?

    :-)

    ok, now i’ll be that guy…

    the kearning of the “FW” on Ward’s backplate… i CAN’T look away!!!

    Jonas Hiller finally proves that nothing, NOTHING, is more intimidating than the “foregin car lawn mower engine builder” center parking lot! NOTHING!!! (worst mask of the bunch)

    is Lundqvist wearing a tramp stamp on his head?

    all in all, GREAT artwork on all of those masks!

    Dave Gunnarsson is a busy, busy man…

    why are you ALWAYS hating on Hiller’s masks? Since he went stealth black, I think his have been among the coolest.

    first off, MEANS, thank you for being grammar police. proud that i’m the only one that spells a word wrong…

    kek, look at the backplate of this current mask. when you see the skill that his artist has, the execution of the front and sides of this mask is utterly frustrating! it’s like the guy concentrated on the backplate, and mailed the rest of the project in. if my work is going to be on display for the whole league to see, i’m putting my best foot forward. not firing up the vinyl cut sticker machine, and buying some gold decals from the airport gift shop.

    harsh, i know :-)

    For whatever it’s worth, for the first time in a good long while, the first Red Wings sighting of the season will have the arched names.

    Brewers fan unis: Two decent fashion jerseys and one near-masterpiece. Aside from voting for Ben’s design, whose only real flaw is being dangerously close to a better uniform than what the team actually wears – and I like the Brewers current uniforms! – I’ve also let the club know by tweet and email that I will buy the beer barrel man cap if they ever sell it. Would be as close as I’m likely to get to my ballcap holy grail of the 1998 Brewers TATC cap.

    Re: Auburn MLB: why why why did he put the Mets jersey as a black one? That’s just awful.

    I must say that I favor the design No. 1 by Ronnie. Varrecchio. That design is an “A”, good stuff. Now, let’s tweak it up an “A+”.

    Stirrups and VANOB are a given — expected from any serious and good uni-man. MLB should require pants stopping at the top of the calf muscle, unless you have Dr. James Andrews’ excuse note stating otherwise ….

    We have Yellow — let’s use it! Let’s darken it slightly so that it is readable without too thick a trim. Love the Yellow numerals — didn’t we see on UW the 1930s Boston Bees wearing something like them? Awesome break from the mundanity that is modern MLB templates.

    Query — Why doesn’t anyone use the double placket trim anymore? The single trim used everywhere today (less TBTC unis) looks lacking and cheap, and totally misses the point. Why don’t teams ever reach a bit (harkback) and use rear pocket flaps and pocket trim? (study the KC Monarchs, everybody, lot’s of good to take away from their unis)

    How great would a Yellow (crown & brim) cap look on a team using Yellow as a significant color — at least for an Alternate? Am I the only one that loves Yellow as the main color when combined with road grays?

    Give it a go and see what it looks like.

    I’m asuming Black shoes — these aren’t the 1971 NHL Golden Seals, after all!

    Go get it. Great uni overall.
    Makin it better ….

    Double placket trim: Check out the San Diego Padres home whites and road grays. The Padres’ double placket trim is best thing about their currently mediocre edition of a once-pretty-good uniform set.

    Nope. Check that. They meessed it up. Look at the TBTC jerseys, early Mets, etc. where there are dual piping on each edge of the placket going fully around the neck of the jersey. Hard to explain, but you’ll see it.

    Technically, I think #1 is great, but it bothers me because of the mix of themes. It either needs to stick with the “glove” logo/motif or to the beer/brewing/beer barrel man concept. Combining them doesn’t make sense.

    Vertical arching is a beautiful thing, but if you think they’ll give that treatment to the individual player names, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you.

    I was gonna mention that too!

    Whatabout pic #16? WTH???
    “Not originally published in LIFE”. No shit!

    Good to know that even professional photographers don’t hit all of their shots.

    Never cared for the taste of Fresca. Too bad Gatorade had not yet been rolled out, wasn’t that sometime in 1968?

    Smoking Lenny Dawson ….

    Love the photo. Captures the era.

    The 1969 movie “Number One” depicts Charlton Heston playing the Saints’ over-the-hill QB struggling with facing the end of his career. The film gets you into the locker rooms and practice fields and sidelines of the 1968 Saints. Great time capsule of that time and place. You usually can find a DVD on EBAY. “C-” movie, “A+” time capsule of that NFL setting.

    Lots of real Saints players in the movie and involved in sideline and pregame meetings, bus rides, etc. The Saints team back then would stay at the Airport Hilton as a team the night before each home game, and bus it in to the Tulane Stadium. The film captures pregame meal and bus ride to the stadium, with fully half the players smoking continuously through the meal, the bus ride, and dressing before kickoff.

    Insanely different from today!

    Heh. Reminds me of when the placekicker in the movie The Replacements is smoking a cigarette while lining up for a field goal. Does the NFL even allow players to smoke on the sideline during games anymore? I would imagine if they did, they would be subject to public no smoking bans in areas where that’s applicable. (As a non-smoker I think public smoking bans are unnecessary and unenforceable.) It would be cool to see an NFL player light one up during a game.

    We were watching a documentary about Dutch soccer legend Johann Cryuff the other day. My 16 year old could not get over the sight of managers smoking in the players’ dugout.

    Rhys Ifans sucking on that heater is the funniest scene in “The Replacements”. I have always associated smoking with football. My primary accomplishment as a little league football player was making a daily trip to the convenience store next to our practice field, to pick up a pack of Marlboros for Coach Marciello. Ten year olds could buy smokes in New York State back then.

    True story. In 1974 when I started high school as a 9th grader in public school in New Orleans, there was a main Smoking Quad and smaller smoking areas around the school. 13 year old 9th graders would light up between EVERY single class break. Kids would be fidgeting with an unlit cig in their mouths waiting for the bell to ring so that they could run to the closest smoking area to light up. Coaches would admonish the football players that they could be kicked off of the team if a coach caught you smoking, and a few were. Crazy.

    Could you imagine that today?

    Good morning, Paul. The link to the ESPN column is not hyperlinked on the lede. It’s just showing as text.

    They’re pretty well organizized by 2013 standards. First three rows are AL, then NL. Rows within leagues are east, central, then west. Within each row the teams are in order by city (or alternative to city) name – except in their alphabet Seattle comes after Texas.

    Carrying over from yesterday, I’m curious about Paul’s thoughts on the Seattle Seahawks logo and uniforms and the Vancouver Canucks logo which are both heavily influenced by NW native art and design.

    In most instances where one sees Tlingit or Haida artwork, one assumes the artist has that ancestry. Of course, that is only an assumption.

    Wonder if the Cleveland Cavaliers will do anything to commemorate Gund, since George and Gordon owned the Cavs for about two decades, and oversaw the construction of their current home, formerly known as Gund Arena.

    Whats interesting is I thought there were going to be 4 finalists?!! I went through the gallery myself and from a design standpoint and creativity had four other designs tagged as “finalists.” I would like to know who this panel of judges was that looked over and made the preliminary vote for the three finalists.

    Saw that yesterday. The funny thing is he had to turn the packages upside down (or similar) in some cases to get the eyes to “look” where he wanted them to.

    The Brewers’ old “glove & ball/MB” logo was conceptually cute, but it’s too cartoony–more minor league than major. Worse, just like the Indians’ “Chief Wahoo” head, it’s oversized: it just takes up too damned much space on the cap front and looks disproportionate. If the Brewers want to reintroduce the baseball-mitt logo, then put it on the left sleeve; but their 1970-77 cap with the capital “M” would look far better.

    WTF?

    in ribbing from below the ankle to the mid-foot provides a comfortable fit and great range of motion.

    I don’t know about y’all… but my heel does not move!

    WTF?

    From Nike sock article: “in ribbing from below the ankle to the mid-foot provides a comfortable fit and great range of motion”.

    I don’t know about y’all… but my heel does not move!

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