Good Thursday morning, Uni Watchers. I hope everyone had a good Wednesday.
Due to some unforeseen family and personal issues yesterday (plus the fact that there was very little uni news), I wasn’t able to prepare my usual early lede. Today’s column was first run almost five years ago, and on a weekend, so it may be “new” for a lot of readers. But even if you did happen to check it out back then, it’s one of the columns of which I’m pretty proud, and I think it will make for some excellent discussion today.
I’ll have some new GTG’s below, and I expect to have some additional articles throughout the day. But for now, please enjoy this piece from May 2021, which is one of my favorite Think Pieces. Enjoy!
One thing that has always piqued my interest is how fans can “like” a certain uniform — one we might otherwise consider bad, or of poor design — based on how well a team does while wearing it. There are numerous examples (I’ll provide four below) of what I consider to be less-than-good to poor uniforms but are nevertheless beloved (and considered “good”) by fanbases due to the success (usually a title) of the team. Conversely some really beautiful uniforms have been otherwise dismissed by fans — two of which I elaborate on below — due to a team’s lack of success in them.
You may not agree with my examples, and that’s fine. But I think you will agree in principle that a team’s good (or bad) fortune in a specific uniform can certainly affect fans’ perceptions of the quality of said uni. Maybe not so much for us, but certainly for the sports fan in general. Let’s take a look at some of what I consider “bad” unis that are nevertheless beloved in many quarters, simply because those teams were successful while wearing them.
I am probably in the minority here, especially as a Mets fan, but I’ve always hated the uniforms worn by the Mets when they won their second, and most recent, World Series, way back in 1986. I’ve always thought it was a poor design — I’m fine with pins, and I’m fine with racing stripes — but having both on a uniform was overkill. Not only that, but somewhat inexplicably, the team chose to go with pullover jerseys but paired them with belted pants, a rather disjointed look. Yes, not every team that wore pullovers wore sansabelt pants (or vice versa), but these were exceptions rather than rules.
But because the team won the World Series in these uniforms, fans love them, and by extension, think they’re “good” uniforms. Not only was their stripe overkill, but frequently during play, the jerseys would shift, causing misaligned stripes (this is especially upsetting to those of us with OCD). I didn’t dislike the gray roadies as they didn’t have pinstripes. And I will always like the Expos racing stripes (especially since they wore button fronts and belts), but I never liked the stripes/pins look of the Mets, despite their success wearing them.
I’m not sure how many people love these uniforms, but it’s way more than it should be. Let’s face it — this turn-of-the-century design was probably dated before it ever took the field, and yet the Patriots wore it for 20 seasons (roughly corresponding to the tenure of a certain QB), and with it came unbelievable on-field success (Six Super Bowl wins in 9 appearances). That unparalleled success, at least in the NFL, makes this the uniform of champions, beloved by Patriots nation and a good chunk of the US of A. But it’s really not a good looking uni by any stretch of the imagination.
The not-quite-stripes/not-quite-loops on the shoulders, the way too fat side panels (which also often suffered from misalignment with the pants stripes, even the pants stripes themselves (I get they are trying to match the jersey side panel) just look a bit off. And the red/blue/red jersey panel doesn’t jibe with the white/red/blue/red/white pants stripe, which doesn’t mesh with the red/white/blue number treatment. Like the Mets, it’s not an awful uniform, but it’s not great either. But it’s viewed by many as a great uni due to the success the team had while wearing them.
Conversely, the team for decades had a gorgeous uniform, but because it was mostly associated with losing (even losing big on the biggest stage), many fans can’t seem to get behind it. It’s gotten more popular over the years, but once the team dumped it after the 1992 season, most football (and especially Patriots) fans were happy to be rid of it — solely due to the team’s lack of on field success. A similar situation exists with the Buccaneers creamsicle uniforms — almost as soon as they went to the pewter and red, and had success, fans deemed the far superior unis losers.
In this instance, I think most Uni Watchers will agree with me: this is a terrible uniform. But that’s certainly not the consensus of most sports fans. Sartorially, there’s nothing good about this uniform: it’s BFBS (about two decades after that was a thing), it’s got sleeves (did anyone ever think that was a good look for an NBA jersey), and the giant slashing “C” logo on the chest (with offset uni number to boot) isn’t really a wordmark nor a logo, at least not in the classic sense of the term. And yet, there is a significant population who love this uniform, and for one simple reason: it brought the NBA title to Cleveland for the first time ever.
In the months after the Cavs won the title, I did an informal survey among my sports (but not uni) friends. I’d ask them if they liked that Cavs jersey. Almost all of them did. And when I followed up my initial query with a simple “Why do you like it?”, their answers were always some form of this reply, “well, they won the NBA title in them.” Most of my more uni-attuned friends weren’t nearly as positive. Some of my younger sports fan friends (more than one, but not that many) even went so far as to say “I won’t wear a tank top, but I’d wear that sleeved shirt.” I’m sure that was probably the NBA’s (and adidas’s, who introduced the sleeves) intent too — produce a shitty looking jersey they know fans will buy. Which is yet another reason this uni (jersey) is so bad: it was designed purely for the retail aspect. I’d ask you guys to conduct a similar experiment among your non-uni friends: ask whether they like the LeBron/Cavs black jersey. I bet you’ll find a surprising number who do. Winning definitely elevated an otherwise putrid uniform for the sole reason that it brought with it a title.
OK, this is a bad uni, but not in the way the other unis are bad: this is more of a so bad it’s GOOD type of uniform. It was certainly pretty radical when it was introduced, and it may be as popular today as it was back in the 1980s. But let’s face it — other than its uniqueness (and possibly color scheme), it was clearly a product of its time. I’m pretty sure no one ever tried to replicate this one (as many have done with the tequila sunrise look popularized by the Houston Astros). That’s because it’s not a particularly good design — no wordmark/logo (per se) on the front, uni numbers down by the wrists, odd “V” pants striping. Unique? Yes. Good? No.
But, despite all this, fans seem to love it. Can that all be attributed to the fact that the Canucks greatest NHL success (reaching the 1982 NHL finals) came in these unis. They also reached the 1994 Finals (losing to the Rangers) and 2011 Finals (losing to the Bruins) — and guess what, those are popular unis too, but they weren’t nearly as garish as the Flying V’s. I can only imagine how much more popular (and thus, viewed as “good”) those Flying V’s would be had they won that 1982 Final. Probably a lot.
September 3rd Dodgers at Angels Final Score 6-2 Dodgers
Great article, I do remember the original posting. I dislike all four uniforms shown, especially the Patriots with its mismatch of panels and striping. Only basketball uniforms should have side panels, by the way, so that disqualifies the Mets ugly uniforms as well. Hockey britches can have striping, football pants cannot do without striping and thin seamlike stripes are OK on baseball pants (pinstriped baseball uniforms are always OK). Never sleeves on basketball jerseys, unless it is a girls team from the 50s.
As for the association with winning wearing ugly, I have never understood that. As a Mets fan I loved the 86 title but I never liked the uniforms they wore at that time. Better to win while being dressed nicely.
To me, it has as much to do with fandom, combined with the fact that it is the teams definitive look, even if not their best look. When I think “what do the patriots wear?” I think of the side panels.
I understand that. But I am glad that when I think of the Patriots I think of Patriot Pat uniforms, even if I never saw them play in it. Those side panels…
I think it is just a matter of what people were brought up with as well. I know Paul talked about it a lot, that there are in fact objective standards you can judge a uniform by. In this case there are some bad uniforms that don’t fail the objective standards, but more the subjective standards brought on by things like tradition. For example, I do agree the Pats Brady era uniform isn’t good, but in a vacuum it certainly isn’t awful. That uniform is bad to me for a host of more subjective reason when compared to the NFL uniform history and universe:
The Pats were traditionally a red team, going navy felt like a step into the trend of the turn of the century abandoning of vibrant colors for muted colors, and it also made them less distinctive amongst a host of other navy uniformed teams.
The repetition of the helmet logo on the sleeves, it is not awful, but unnecessary and yet another product of the era it made in.
The side panels, not awful in of themselves, and if they had existed throughout NFL uni history we wouldn’t bat an eye at them, but because they traditionally aren’t part of football uniforms it just sticks out. Ditto with the nature of the shoulder stripes, certainly UCLA style stripes work, and that was their thing for years, this feels like a modern reinvention of them that just doesn’t work.
The dark pants paired with a light helmet. This creates an imbalance with the uniforms, typically pants match the helmet color or are lighter than the helmet. The exception was white helmeted teams going with dark pants to avoid mono white from time to time. It feels off, even if it is slowly becoming the norm now.
None of those are egregious objective failures, like illegible numbers, clashing colors, etc. But they all buck the norms or in the case of going from red to navy, make their brand less dynamic.
I recall Paul using a metric called the S.U.C.K. Factor (S=Success, U=Ugly, C=Clock, K=Karma) to objectively judge uniforms.
Is the inverse of this premise also true: that a good uniform can wash away the pain of a terrible team?
Exhibit A: Bucco Bruce is beloved despite 21 years of relative futility for Tampa Bay, especially considering that the team’s fortunes almost immediately reversed upon switching to pewter?
it would seem so for that expansion cycle–the Seahawks uniforms during the 70-80’s are beloved, even if the on-field results during those times were not.
You touched on it a bit, and it’s been covered at Uni-Watch before, but a team’s success influences how fans feel about a uniform, like with the Mets and Pats here. The Ravens and Seahawks are good examples of this as well, and maybe (??) the late 90s era Broncos uniforms. None are great, but they aren’t awful, and the uniforms became aligned with the team’s success, making them more palatable somehow.
Current example of this that comes to mind would be Lions fans defending the team’s bizarre refusal to wear their silver pants this season because they apparently keep winning in mono blue or white.
Always loved those Pats uniforms way more than the red Pat Patriot i grew up with. Should have just ditched the side panels and kept them.
Never understood uniforms that had side panels that were meant to mesh/blend into the pants. Mainly, because most of the time they never stayed lined up. That just made them look awkward. Also, the Pats blue jerseys didn’t match the silver pants. The jersey had two red stripes on each side, while the pants only had one red stripe on each side. I was, however, a fan of the Pats blue pants. Probably would have looked a lot better without the side panels on the white jerseys.
I don’t know if anybody “loves” the Denver Broncos design, but when they won back-to-back Super Bowls, you knew the ultra-90s-looking horse head would never go away.
Same with the Eagles’ midnight green unis. After Super Bowl 52, it was (and will continue to be) here to stay…
But the Eagles has been wearing the modern classic (YMMV) Lurie-era midnights for about 20 years before winning their Lombardi Trophy – had plenty of time/chances to change, so they didn’t keep those around for so long just because they won in them (I hope they stick with them BTW – the Braman Birds under-performed and those uniforms were/are over-rated (again, YMMV).
Fair points, Chris. The same thing happened with the Phillies. Underappreciated uniform set goes away in 1992, team changes to lesser uniforms and has the longest sustained period of success in franchise history…
The only set I consider ‘under appreciated’ from the mod-P era is the late 80’s/pre-bubble-script is the gone-too-soon road grays :
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I stand firm that the only reason the powder blues are popular today is because Carlton, Schmidt, Rose, et al wore them in ‘80…their post season record in the blues (both in decades old and recent history) isn’t all that good.
Great post (redux)! I never saw the original but definitely identify. I am a lifelong broncos fan starting around 1975. I initially hated the 1997 switch to the blue nikeified unis.
BUT, they won their first Super Bowl after 4 blowout defeats. I made my peace with the new unis on Jan. 28, 1998. Though I never loved them, I liked them because the broncs finally got their rings!
I didn’t mind the “Brady era” Patriots jerseys much, but I wasn’t a fan of how narrow the shoulder loops were on Brady’s jersey during his final season or final two seasons. It almost looked like spaghetti straps in comparison with other players’ stripes and how the stripes looked originally. Yet I still find that uniform better than what they changed to after Brady left — it looks more sloppy with the different sock styles, monochrome navy, and the occasionally inconsistent name and number styles.
I’m stunned that nobody has addressed the elephant in the room: The Rainbow Guts.
The Astros introduced the uniform 50 years ago this offseason (not sure what date the press conference was). It’s amazing the traction that the design has attained — to the point where minor-league and college and youth teams today are still using the motif.
Feel free to browse rainbowguts.wordpress.com for visuals.
This is a great piece, Phil. Thanks for re-running it!
I’m a little more willing to forgive a team for bad design choices (though there are certainly plenty of uniforms I don’t like). There is a certain charm to, say, 90’s NBA uniforms like the Raptors, the Hawks, and the Jazz, but I wouldn’t call any of those looks good. Same with the original Tampa Bay Bucs. There was some design thought and a clear idea.
I have a different reaction to uniforms like the Patriots set shown above–that’s just such a mishmash of ideas and elements with no throughline. I’d put the current Nats set in the same category–just bad design by virtue of having no consistent vision.
Totally agree on some of those 90s nba unis. They pushed the envelope way out and tried new things and it’s so easy to cherry pick classic elements that still resonate. I would love to see the teams try modern edited takes on some of those looks. For example I loved the navy rockets unis with the zig zag “pinstripes” but I look back on them and hate that they are so thick and don’t run the entire length of the uni. I also like that wacky rocket cartoon logo, but I don’t think the entire logo is necessary on the front of the uni. If it simply said HOUSTON or ROCKETS across the front with the cartoon rocket flying around the word, or did a less cluttered version of the logo to fit the players number inside the rockets orbit they’d have something new and much more modern looking that pays homage to a ridiculous but lovable classic.
It’s very much a nostalgia factor. I, for one, like the Mets unis from the ’86 championship, probably because it was a great triumph (and, one that’s replayed year after year as a great WS moment). I would disagree that the pinstripes and racing stripes are overkill.
The passage of time also seems to make a difference for long-suffering teams and fans, and it just depends on the timing. In the late ’70s, the Jets, for example, left behind the Namath design for (essentially) the set they just adopted again. For me, the current uniform reminds me of a very disappointing era of Jets football (Walt Michaels, Joe Walton, and dare I say, Rich Kotite). Yes, their collective existence has been mostly failure, but if you look at the results throughout their history, the Namath design and the period where they wore the revamps during Parcells through Ryan constitute the most success they’ve ever had (which is not a lot, but still, you take what you can get). I would also add that comparatively, the current set is just plain uninteresting when compared to the Namath/Parcells revamp look. I also recall as a kid living in the NY area, you had the two local teams with the “concord” Jets design on their helmet and “Giants” on the other (not sure what else you could do with “Giants”, but there are endless, far more exciting logo and/or helmet designs for a team called The Jets). Just seemed very boring vs other team logos. At least, that’s how I recall it at the time.
I personally prefer the 1982-1985 version of the Flying Vs, as they smartly pushed the chevrons down to put the numbers up higher on the sleeves, above the flying skate. They also used the “CCM” number font that teams like Los Angeles, Washington, Buffalo, and Montreal switched to in the 1980s, which the Canucks would also continue using up until the switch to the Edge uniforms.
Even the Canucks 1982 Stanley Cup run couldn’t make Vancouver fans love the V. It was and is still hated, with the exception of a small group of people who I can’t decide if they have really good or really bad taste.
I think the ‘issue’ (if you consider the V’s to have one – I don’t, but my taste is sometimes suspect) is not the design but the colo(u)ring.
Just look at how great the Vancouver V chassis looks when rendered in Columbia Blue and Sheridan Red:
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Had the Canucks kept the green and blue and applied those to the new-fangled uniform style, I say they’d have earned high marks.
Another thing that’s helping the Super Bowl era Pats unis are that the current loser era Pats unis are so boring and depressing, especially given their refusal to pair dark tops with silver pants, or choose the proper socks. Like, what happened internally with a franchise that was generally pretty staid and conservative when it came to conformity to traditional ideas of what an NFL team looked like (at least once you got past the problem areas with their sets you touch on above) to suddenly become mono-blue ugliness topped by red epaulets and a Flying Elvis helmet?
Agree wholeheartedly, Phil.
Now I’d like to go off-topic with a concern that was prompted by that photo of World B. Flat at the top.
During the past year or so, websites and newspaper sports pages everywhere have been rife with photos of athletes screaming as some sort of celebratory self-congratulation. Every day it’s the same thing — somebody with his or her big fat mouth wide open yelling at the ceiling or wherever. I despise these photos. I loathe them. They quickly became a cliche, but for some reason every photo editor around feels compelled to shove another one in our faces.
I wrote to our local paper’s sports editor and asked him to stop it. He said he hadn’t been aware of it. He hasn’t stopped it.
I despair.
Agree. The dreaded “passion of the game” photo. I feel the same way about the hype photos and pics teams use to introduce uniforms. All the flexing, yelling stomping, squatting, etc. Stupid looking… just show the damn uni on the player from all sides and move on. I suppose I get the idea of showing them “in action”, but the overly emotive stuff is cringe worthy to me.
Laughed out loud at this…
But it is the situation where you don’t blame the game, blame the player…
SCREAMING head up became a normal celebration about a decade ago, I guess…
Seizing the arms in a “defibrillator” pose accentuates the effect…
Never understood it…
Just like when people will win a game and then scream “let’s go!” at their teammates…
you’ve already gone… there is no more to lets go, you won…
Tom Brady started that and then nobody else really understood it… it’s not a celebratory cry, it’s a rally cry.
What about the White Sox license plate uniforms? Weird, non-traditional design that is beloved because of the 1983 division title and 50th anniversary of the All Star Game at old Comiskey Park. They still wear it as a throwback and I believe it has been copied by minor league and college teams.
They were a definite upgrade to those wide collar jerseys they wore from 76-81. I noticed those didn’t make the list LOL
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The Raptors choosing to wear those god-awful red jerseys with “north” in the white chevron (the “earned” jersey (whatever happened to just home and away kits?)) in the clinching game was the most asinine choice they could have made. They had other, much better options. But no. Now we’re saddled with the franchise’s crowning achievement memorialized in a stupid design, which carried over into the following seasons.
If the Raptors won’t bring back their inaugural jerseys permanently (which they should do), they should bring the 1999-2006 jerseys and keep them. Those eras were peak Raptors. It’s been downhill ever since.
meh…
the first jersey’s are a lovely example of 90’s uni design. leave em there.
Two words: disposable income
2 of these are a couple of tweaks away from greatness. The Flying V is actually an ingenious idea, not just because the v pattern on the neck makes for a great retro looking sweater but because it’s Vancouver and they can forgo a word mark or logo altogether in favor of the color blocking that does double duty. Is the actual Flying V uni good? Not really. It’s too too much. If the v color blocking was essentially all there was, it would be great, but there’s just way too much other color blocking/striping/chevrons/whathaveyou going on. The black version is as close to greatness as this gets, but should be paired with plain shorts, and ditch the v pattern on the sleeves for a simple color blocking on the sleeve cuff and even stop the V at the top of the shoulder rather than double it back down the back of the jersey. The yellow version should not exist. Kill it with fire. This should have been a red base or white base uni, same tweaks as before.
As for the Mets. The Mets script mark it a dog and always has been. I can’t stand it. It fits the category of highly structured and precise “casual handwriting” that baseball uses way too much (see Indians, dodgers, A’s, etc) and the M is so hard to look at for me. It’s also a very short word for a script application. The New York script mark is a winner for me though (and a shame it has to compete with their all caps NEW YORK mark, which is also great). For me, if the Mets merely ditched the underarm stripe panels on these, they’d be fantastic. The yoke and pants striping is a great look for them.
GTGFTU:
Patriots at Bengals
December 12, 2004 (Week 14)
NE 35, CIN 28
I actually love the V uniforms and would love if they used a blue/green version full time.
I don’t have an issue with the Mets 1986 uniforms at all. I don’t think the racing stripe adds or takes anything away. You can’t even compare them to the BFBS uniforms that would come.
Those Patriots uniforms are objectively terrible but at least they look like the Patriots.
That’s what makes the Cavs ones the worst by a mile. Not only do they look horrendous – they don’t even look like the Cavaliers. They are both a color and jersey style that they never used previously. Such a shame that’s what they won the title in.
Great piece, Phil! I remember reading this when you originally published it and it’s just as good another time around.
I feel much the same way about the Broncos’ uniforms from the late 90s. They won their first two Super Bowls in them, so they gained quite a bit of traction with the fans. In fact, I even have a soft spot for them based on that. But they were always a downgrade from the team’s classic Orange Crush look.
By the way, I really enjoy the “Best of Uni Watch” concept. There are several great pieces from over the years that deserve to be re-aired from time to time. It was a treat to see this one come back into circulation!
As a die hard fan of all Cleveland sports teams, I admit to having a love/hate relationship with the Cavs BFBS sleeved jersey. My favorite Cavs unis are the original wine and gold and the Mark Price era royal blue and orange. I never liked when the Cavs added black to their unis during the Shawn Kemp era. The thing about the Cavs winning the title in that abomination of a uniform is not only did they win the title in it but they came back from 3-1 down to do it. Plus it ended a 52 year run of Cleveland sports futility which makes the attachment to that uni even stronger.
But what do I know? My all time favorite is the Cleveland Indians Bloody Mary all red uniforms.
Wouldn’t speak for Yinzer Nation, but aren’t the Robo-Penguin uniforms held in high regard?
Such a let down that the Marlins didn’t win either of their Series in what they were born in.
And the Titans dumped the Oilers branding a season too soon-if they had stuck with tried and true Luv Ya Blue the year they’ve made it to the SB, the uni-verse would not have to suffer the Titans’ today look.
Great story, Phil, and no way it ever lose its timelessness!
THE one element that has always bugged me about those Patriots uniforms — and any other unis exhibiting such — is the 5 having a drop serif from the top crossbar. It looks like the equipment team ran out of 5s and double-reversed their 2s to make a cheap-looking 5.
I’m certainly not from Vancouver, but to me the Flying-V sweater has always been awful in a singularly charming way. It’s like the gaudy ’60s-’70s chandelier in a previous house of mine: I HAD to keep it, not because it was in good taste, but because it existed impressively *beyond the range* of ordinary human taste.
Personally, I love the “flying V” Canucks uniform. They came out when I was 11 and becoming more aware of the world further than my own front door. They totally blew my mind. As you mentioned, yes, they are probably a bad uni design objectively but they own a special place in my mind.
I don’t think those Mets unis are that bad actually. It seems like a few teams had the racing stripe motif around that time frame. It just so happens the Mets won it all while wearing them.
One of the most glaring victims of “victory bias” is the Baltimore Orioles. Their early-’90s cap with the “ornithologically correct” bird seems so aesthetically superior to the cartoon-bird head that it isn’t even close. Unfortunately, everyone seems to associate that cap with the Os’ unsuccessful early years in Baltimore, and with the prolonged crappiness that followed their successful ’70s and ’80s teams.
Really not sure what an “1982 NHL Final” is.
Has the Stanley Cup Final ever been referred to in this manner?