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Macon Mayhem Unveil New Unis, Meet Their Designer

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Good Thursday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good Wednesday.

My mom (who’s 90!) has been having some health issues the past several months; she fell a couple months ago and after a brief hospital stay, she was released yesterday and is now back in her home. That’s the good news. But there’s still a long road ahead. I wanted to give you guys an update on that, and it will appear as a sub-lede following today’s main article.

Now then.

The Macon Mayhem are a minor league hockey team who play in the SPHL (formerly known as the “Southern Professional Hockey League”), located in Macon, Georgia. If you’re interested in the full history of the team, click here. But for our purposes, the Mayhem were born as the Augusta Riverhawks, and the team relocated to Macon and were renamed the “Mayhem” in 2014. They’re now celebrating “10 Years in Macon” as you can see from the patch pictured above.

This season, the Mayhem got three new uniforms — a black, a white, and a powder blue alternate. We’ll take a look at those first, and then we’ll meet the designer of the new uniform sets.

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Black Uniform

The jersey collar is three-tone, with a red, white and powder blue stripe. That blue stripe extends out around the shoulders, creating a black yoke on the black jersey. White TV numbers outlined in light blue are present on the upper sleeve, followed by a striping pattern of white/black/blue/black/white, with a solid block of red color extending to the sleeve ends. The crest and wordmark feature the team’s “Mayhem” logo, with the words MACON MAYHEM below the logo. The hem of the jersey has a light blue stripe. It’s a bit difficult to see in the photo, but there is also a set of vertical blue, white and red stripes running down the sides of the jersey

Breezers are black, and the socks mimic the sleeves: black on top, with the five-stripe pattern, followed by all-red at the bottom.

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White Uniform

The white uniform is similar to the black, but there are a few differences. On the jersey, the same red/white/light blue striping pattern is present on the collar, with the blue stripe forming a yoke, which is black. TV numbers on the sleeve are black outlined in light blue. Stripes are beneath the TV numbers, in a light blue/white/red/white/light blue pattern, which is then followed by a solid black color block extending the remainder of the length of the sleeve. The crest/logo/wordmark is the same on the white sweater, and there is also a light blue stripe at extending around the base of the jersey. There are vertical stripes running down the jersey side, in blue, black and red.

You can see the vertical side stripes a bit better here:

The same black pants and socks are used for the white jersey.

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Light Blue Uniform

This jersey is different from the black and white in several aspects. The collar has a red/white/black striping pattern, but is asymmetrical. A red/white stripe runs from the left side of the neck all the way down to the end of the sleeve, which has a black color. “MACON” is written in white letters with red outlines on the black portion of the sleeve. The Mayhem crest/logo sits in the center of the front of the jersey, and the hem has a red/white/black/white/red stripe that sits just above the base. The right sleeve is light blue, and has a white TV number outlined in black. The breezers and socks are the same as on the two primary uniforms.

All three jerseys have a special “10 Years of Mayhem” patch located on the upper right side of the chest. Here’s a closeup:

If that light blue sweater seems familiar to you, “our new alternate is heavily influenced by the old Atlanta Thrashers uniforms,” said Graham Tuck, Media Relations & Broadcasting Coordinator for the Mayhem.

The uniforms themselves were designed by Drew Blevins, who explained the uniforms in greater detail.

As the designer of these jerseys in coordination with our team owner, Chuck Norris, I can speak to what these jerseys are and what the inspiration was for each one.

The logo set was designed by Jason Villanti of Redpin Design. You can read more about the logo here.

The jerseys are my design as the director of creative services for the Mayhem and their sister organization, the Fayetteville Marksmen. I worked closely with our owner, Chuck Norris, and team president, Alex Wall, to achieve a design that was both new and unique to our team in Macon.

The one word that kept coming up when designing the home and away sets was “timeless.” We knew we wanted a black base because the logo just popped off on the black canvas, and that seemed to be our thought from the outset for the primary home.

I had run some vertical stripes in a Fayetteville design I had done last season and gotten some positive feedback on it, so the vertical stripes on the sides of the jerseys flowed well and gave that extra shot of color into the overall look.

One of my favorite pieces to work on was the inner yoke inside the collar of all the Mayhem jerseys. Being such a heavy music town, we wanted to showcase the artists from Macon and choose a quote that summed up our city and our organization. “We let the world know we were here with everything we did,” is a line from Jason Aldean’s “Tattoos on This Town,” and it just kinda fit for us. Aldean is from Macon too which tied it all in nicely.

Obviously the 10th Anniversary logo was a cool touch to add with this rebranding, and helps tie in the previous seasons of Mayhem hockey to now. It was more serendipitous timing to be able to add such a sharp piece to the new uniform, but Chuck was adamant about having that be on the jerseys this year and it’s cool to be carrying 10 years of tradition with you every time you take the ice.

The blue alternate jersey is really my love letter to Georgia hockey. My brother grew up an Atlanta Thrashers fan and when the team left Atlanta, they took their blue home jerseys with them. The striping down the arm, spelling out “Macon” and giving our powder blue the spotlight was a way of telling our fans that we’re here and woven into the fabric of Georgia hockey and we’re proud to be a part of that history and heritage. I was grateful for the opportunity to design that one because I think the unique look meant a lot to the people of Georgia and now they have a chance to see that look on the ice again and build new memories with something that is fresh and new while still being familiar.

The bottom line for us was we wanted to produce a look that our fans and our team would be proud to wear in the arena and in the community. When you’re more than just a team that plays 28 home games and you’re trying to be a linchpin in the community and do some good in your area, you really want a look that separates you and makes you proud every time you wear it. We’re proud of our team and our town and we hope our fans are proud every time they wear our logos and our jerseys.

Thanks, Drew!

I like the new uniforms quite a bit, and that homage to the Thrashers old uniform will definitely be a hit with fans!

As a minor league hockey club, the Mayhem wear many one-offs and specialty jerseys thoughtout the seasons (you can see several here). But I think the best change was the to the logo:

Some of you, I’m sure, will like the old logo with its hand-drawn feel, but I prefer the new one. According to designer Jason Villanti, it is a “fresh characterization of a viking as a bold and determined character, embodying the heart of Georgia. The viking has retained some elements of his past, like his red beard, battle worn helmet and missing tooth, but is now re-energized in black instead of navy.”

The Mayhem begin their 2024-25 season with a pair of games against the Fayetteville Marksmen, with the season opener tomorrow night followed by a second game on Saturday evening. The full schedule is here.

Your thoughts?

 

 
  
 

A few words about my mom

I don’t often talk about my mom, who turned 90 back in February, but I did want to talk for a minute about her today.

Mom lives by herself, in the home in which I grew up, and which is only about 15 minutes away from where I currently live. Back in August, she had a fall, and after a brief hospitalization, has spend about the past two months in a rehabilitation facility. I visited her often, and frequently spent afternoons at the rehab place (which is why I haven’t been doing much afternoon posting on Uni Watch), and her recovery has been slower than she would have wanted. But yesterday afternoon, she returned home.

I spent a good bit of yesterday with her, and while I’m sure she’s glad to be “back,” she’s not quite comfortable in her familiar surroundings, and my Aunt and I made several modifications to the house so she’ll be able to more easily navigate. Even prior to her fall, she had great difficult walking (she uses a walker) and has one of those Acorn stairlifts to get her from the first floor up to her bedroom on the second floor. She’ll need an aide (starting at 4 hours a day, but that may need to be increased), and any additional recovery will undoubtedly be slow and incremental at best.

As some of you know, I’m an only child, and my Aunt (who just turned 84) and I have been her primary caregivers for a while. Between the aide, my Aunt and me, hopefully she’ll be able to get by, although her quality of life isn’t great. She does have a few friends with whom she and my Aunt will meet on a semi-regular basis, so at least she has that. Unfortunately, she aged several years in the past couple months. I will try to spend as much time as I can with her, but she knows that with my Editorship at Uni Watch, there will be several hours every day when I need to work on the blog. I hope you’ll all bear with me over the next few days and weeks while she gets reacquainted with her surroundings and settles back into a more familiar routine.

But the good news is that’s she’s finally home, and hopefully will continue to improve. I’m sure some or many of you have an elderly parent or parents, and it’s not easy when they approach the end of their days.

Anyway, now that mom’s back home, I thought I’d share the news with you guys, and I apologize if my recent content — both quality and quantity-wise — hasn’t been up to snuff. There may be a day or two here and there when I may need to produce a bit less content, but I’ll continue to do my level best to continue Paul’s vision for Uni Watch, and for our great community to continue on as it has for the past several decades.

Thanks for indulging me.

And now back to the rest of today’s morning article!

 

 

Guess the Game from the Scoreboard

Guess The Game…

…From The Scoreboard

Today’s scoreboard comes from Andrew Scott.

The premise of the game (GTGFTS) is simple: I’ll post a scoreboard and you guys simply identify the game depicted. In the past, I don’t know if I’ve ever completely stumped you (some are easier than others).

Here’s the Scoreboard. In the comments below, try to identify the game (date and location, as well as final score). If anything noteworthy occurred during the game, please add that in (and if you were AT the game, well bonus points for you!):

Please continue sending these in! You’re welcome to send me any scoreboard photos (with answers please), and I’ll keep running them.

 

 

Guess the Game from the Uniform


Based on the suggestion of long-time reader/contributor Jimmy Corcoran, we’ve introduced a new “game” on Uni Watch, which is similar to the popular “Guess the Game from the Scoreboard” (GTGFTS), only this one asked readers to identify the game based on the uniforms worn by teams.

Like GTGFTS, readers will be asked to guess the date, location and final score of the game from the clues provided in the photo. Sometimes the game should be somewhat easy to ascertain, while in other instances, it might be quite difficult. There will usually be a visual clue (something odd or unique to one or both of the uniforms) that will make a positive identification of one and only one game possible. Other times, there may be something significant about the game in question, like the last time a particular uniform was ever worn (one of Jimmy’s original suggestions). It’s up to YOU to figure out the game and date.

Today’s GTGFTU comes from Gene Shaw.

Good luck and please post your guess/answer in the comments below.

 

 

And finally...

…that’s going to do it for the early post. Thanks (again) to Drew for giving me the rundown on his Mayhem designs!

I should have a few more articles today, so please keep checking back in.

And thanks for allowing me to talk a little bit about my mom too. It may not have appeared so, but it was definitely cathartic.

Everyone have a great Thursday, and I’ll catch you guys back here tomorrow morn!

Peace,

PH

Comments (27)

    GTGFTS- October 10th, 1957. That’s Lew Burdette shutting out the Yankees in game 7. Burdette gave up 7 hits and one walk. Del Crandall homered.
    I wasn’t at the game but my Mom let me stay home from school so I could watch it on TV.

    Unless this blog is your 100% income, it’s completely understandable if it’s not posted daily.

    The world does not end if news or information about sports uniforms gets to anyone.

    If this blog is that important, hand off to other teammates and put this off your radar.

    Quality of life and well-being comes first.

    Sports information is absolutely last.

    Agreed. The readers understand the blog ought to be secondary to you. We don’t expect it to be a higher priority than your mothers health

    It’s good to hear that your mom is doing well Phil. As others have said, UW should not be a priority given the circumstances.

    As for the uniforms, it feels like there is too much going on with the home and away jerseys. It feels like the fourth colour (whichever that may be) has been shoehorned in. For some reason I don’t feel that way about the alternate, which I think is great.

    Hope your mom will adapt to the new situation, thanks for sharing your great amount of caring. On a completely different note, I really like the Mayhem uniforms and logos. Their powder blue sweater is truly beautiful and keeping the same britches and socks with all three sweaters works really well here.

    This is a familiar situation, personally and for many of my 60 something friends.
    Do what you need to do to love your mom.
    You’ve done great at the helm of UniWatch!

    Sending love to your family Phil!

    Also, is the team owner THE Chuck Norris?… or just A Chuck Norris?

    I did a little research. Its not THE Chuck Norris. This Chuck Norris is a local real estate developer.

    You have the full and complete support here in your professional and personal choices. Family first. All the good you do here is temporary. The time with your Mom will be a forever memory. I like so many others have been down this road. Bless you brother!

    As for the Mayhem…Like the symmetry of the home-road.

    Phil:

    All the best to your Mom; I also grew up on LI and have parents in their 90s still in my childhood home – it’s tough to manage them as they age.

    A completely unsolicited piece of advice is to hire an eldercare attorney to help coordinate their financial and legal needs. We’re getting 24/7 aide coverage for my mother solely because the lawyers pointed me in the right direction and arranged their finances appropriately. No plug for a specific firm, but the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys has a “find a lawyer” feature on their website that I used to find one for my folks.

    Thanks Kevin (and to everyone who had supportive words!). Thanks for the advice — once my mom went into the rehab, we had a meeting with the stakeholders, and they recommended just what you have suggested. And we’ve been in contact with an eldercare attorney in the nonce for planning her future needs. Greatly appreciated (and yes, great advice)!

    GTGFTU is from the Ravens’ first regular-season game after moving from Cleveland, against the Raiders in 1996

    GTGFTU September 1, 1996, Oakland Raiders (14) at Baltimore Ravens (19), Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD

    The Ravens only wore these uniforms their first three seasons in the league. I can further narrow that down to 1996, their first season, due to the Russell Makers mark on their uniform. Uniforms the next two years were made by Starter

    Furthermore, their opponent, although blurry and unclear, I can see enough to tell they’re wearing grey pants, and their white jersey has black numerals on it. They only played one opponent that fits that bill that season, the Oakland Raiders.

    This was actually the first regular season game by the Baltimore Ravens. The player in focus is Earnest Byner, who scored the game winning touchdown for them in said game

    I apologize if my recent content — both quality and quantity-wise — hasn’t been up to snuff

    You crank out four to six articles a day and you’re worried about quantity?
    Don’t be.

    Family comes first. And I haven’t noticed any dropoff in quality, so you’ve got that going for you as well.

    Take care and enjoy as much time with your mom as you can.

    RE: Hockey
    Please go back to the Macon Whoopee. I mean, really.

    RE: Scoreboard
    MILW’KE. That’s the best they could do?

    My son, who works for the team and was quoted in the story, told me that someone else still owns the rights to the Macon Whoopee name. I don’t think they can even have a throwback night and wear Whoopee sweaters without having to jump through a lot of hoops.

    I never cared for the asymmetrical Thrashers unis, though the original versions were superior to the mess the Reebok Edge system made of them. This third for Macon looks like it’s based on the original design. As for their regular uniforms, I’m not crazy about the side stripes, but it’s not the worst thing. Having an outlined shoulder yoke on a jersey where the yoke and the body are the same color, though, never looks right to me, so the black jersey feels a bit off. Maybe if the yoke was red, to match the ends of the sleeves the way the black cuffs match the black shoulders on the white jersey?

    Phil, you don’t have to apologize for anything regarding the quality of your work on Uni Watch, it has always been first rate. Your Mother’s health is much more important than worrying if you are doing enough articles. Best wishes to her, I hope she can get used to being back home again and that she feels better.

    I really like all 3 interations of this uniform, especially the ice blue version. That color seems to be having a moment now, yes? The side stripes are an interesting look. It breaks up the black jersey well. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen that done before. I’m just surprised they don’t have an ad patch, like for a certain insurance company.

    all the best to you Phil. .agree that I hope you’re making sure you take care of your main priorities. maybe Paul could fill in here and there to support you who have been there for him a lot. or does he only post when he wants to sell stuff. I’d hope he’d support his main man in a pinch. And if not, we’ll all be juuuuuuuuust fine if posts are more infrequent (daily not needed on my end)

    Phil, let me echo the people saying you have nothing to apologize for. You produce far more content each day than most people can enjoy in a week. Put your family first; we’ll always appreciate your work no matter how often it appears.

Comments are closed.