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Good morning, everyone, and a big thanks to reader Ian Lee. Yesterday, in the comments section of Phil’s Penn State Hockey article, he told us that Ohio State also revealed the specialty unis they’ll be wearing at Wrigley Field next weekend. And, just like Penn State’s, they’re a nod to their school’s baseball team.
The Buckeyes will be playing the Michigan Wolverines (so hopefully no one will try to plant their school flag in the ice, and if they do, hopefully no one will start fighting over it) on Friday, January 3rd, before Penn State plays Notre Dame. The next day, the Ohio State and Wisconsin women will play at Wrigley, followed by the Wisconsin and Michigan State men’s teams.
The uni looks quite nice. Ian said it was black, but it looks more like anthracite to me.
There’s a difference between the bulk of the jersey and the black/white/red/white/black striping the Buckeyes use (which always makes me think of the old Tampa Bay Bandits), so I’m calling it anthracite. The light gray letters and numbers outlined in red show up very well on it.
This is a multi-sport crossover uni, because along with the baseball script, they’re wearing their usual helmets which look just like the football team’s…right down to the Buckeye leaf merit stickers.
Also, there’s a small buckeye leaf logo on the collar, and a larger patch of it on the shoulder. Here’s a closer look at the entire uni from the side:
As Phil said about Penn State’s jerseys, I’ll have to see how OSU’s script looks in a big outdoors setting. I wish the numbers were bigger, but I think it will look good anyway. Hopefully the Wolverines will come out with something to complement these unis, and hopefully we’ll get a little bit of gently-falling snow as well.
Going Down A Big Football Field Rabbit Hole
No, that’s not an AI-generated image of a hole in a football field. That actually happened this Summer in Alton, Illinois. The sinkhole, caused by a mine collapse underneath the field, was one of many things I saw when I went down a football field rabbit hole while searching for more college teams with Gs on their goal lines. I searched all 134 FBS schools this week, and of those 134, only nine have Gs on the goal lines. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
Air Force
Auburn
Coastal Carolina
East Carolina
Georgia
Navy
Texas A&M
UCLA
Western Michigan
I really wish LSU would add them, because they have numbers every five yards…why not have something at the goal lines? Plus, it would push the number of fields with Gs into double figures. Still, nine is more than I thought there were, so I was pleasantly surprised. I know Division III Geneva College has Gs as well. Hopefully I’ll be able to go through all the FCS, D2 and D3 teams some day.
Along with the odd sinkhole I saw when I searched “Illinois football field,” I got a bunch of oddities when I searched “Kentucky football field.” There are quite a few colorful fields there, including a new orange one at Paris High School.
According to this article, “Paris isn’t the only high school in Kentucky that went away from the usual green turf either. Warren East (blue), Ludlow (red), and North Oldham (teal) all took a different route” recently. At least there’s one blue”grass” field in the Bluegrass State! There’s also a purple one…sort of. Just past the end zone at green-turfed Somerset High School, there’s a purple mini-field where kids can play during the game.
I love this. I’d love it even more if they had mini goal posts for the kids. And I love the name “Briar Jumpers” almost as much! I’m guessing they’re the only school in the country with that name.
My favorite surprise came when I searched “Clemson football field.” One of the results was this beauty of a field from 1969, college football’s centennial season:
SO much to love here. Diamond patterns in the end zones, helmet shapes at the yard numbers, and they even threw a bone to the people on the other side of the stadium with one of the centennial logos.
The helmet shapes gave me flashbacks to when I almost liked the Raiders. It was before Jack Tatum, and it was when they had Raider shields at the yard numbers.
It also reminded me of two of my all-time favorite fields: the early ’70s San Diego Chargers…
…and the early ’70s Pro Bowls at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
If Tudor Games ever decides to recreate that Pro Bowl field, I’ll get back into playing electric football. Or maybe someday I’ll make a paper football field in that design.
Farewell, Greg Gumbel, And Goodbye Until Tomorrow
The sporting world lost another great voice with the passing of Greg Gumbel yesterday.
Rest in peace, Greg. You will be missed.
Take care, everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow with Sunday Morning Bowl Watch, Part One.
Good stuff, Jim. Fun going down those rabbit holes, isn’t it?
Re THE: I’ve never been a fan of the dark gray or the leaf represented in red. It would look so much better in actual school colors/symbols.
Very fun… even when I can’t make an article out of it. Glad I was able to this time.
The leaf symbol is so associated with OSU that it still works when colored in scarlet or gray (which works because they’re the school colors; color it in maize and blue, dark green, orange, and it fails).
It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Stella McCartney Team GB uniforms from London 2012. They were based on the Union Flag design, which is universally recognized. Then she tweaked it by changing colors, but keeping within a recognized “British” color: shades of blue. It wasn’t universally praised, but you can see what she was trying to do.
I always thought the way Georgia its G’s was awesome. Almost made me want to go there.
Almost.
One thing I look for in a field is how many still have a “half hash mark” on the goal line. East Carolina, Navy, and Clemson still do. I think there are a few others but very few. The half hash mark used to be pretty common but there are very few that do it any more.
That is a fine level of detail. Kudos!
Wish I would have noticed that before going through each school. I’ll definitely have to check while looking at FCS, D2 and D3.
The sweater script is nice (I’m warming to that being occasionally used in lieu of a logo), but I hate the way the e in State connects so sharply to the underline tail.
Those OSU unis are a real snoozefest. The only redeeming part is the helmets, which are a nice touch.
That’s the standard Ohio State hockey helmet. The Big Ten has a few football-inspired hockey helmets, including Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame.
I got to go to one of those Pro Bowl games at the LA Coliseum. One of many good memories worth my dad.
That must have been fantastic.
Dad and I went to a lot of baseball games, but never a football game. Oh well, I have lots of great memories with him, and that’s what matters.
Oh I never noticed Gs weren’t present on every football field! This will stick out like a sore thumb to me from now on.
Good stuff, Jim. Fun going down those rabbit holes, isn’t it?
Re THE: I’ve never been a fan of the dark gray or the leaf represented in red. It would look so much better in actual school colors/symbols.
Very fun… even when I can’t make an article out of it. Glad I was able to this time.
The leaf symbol is so associated with OSU that it still works when colored in scarlet or gray (which works because they’re the school colors; color it in maize and blue, dark green, orange, and it fails).
It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Stella McCartney Team GB uniforms from London 2012. They were based on the Union Flag design, which is universally recognized. Then she tweaked it by changing colors, but keeping within a recognized “British” color: shades of blue. It wasn’t universally praised, but you can see what she was trying to do.
I always thought the way Georgia its G’s was awesome. Almost made me want to go there.
Almost.
One thing I look for in a field is how many still have a “half hash mark” on the goal line. East Carolina, Navy, and Clemson still do. I think there are a few others but very few. The half hash mark used to be pretty common but there are very few that do it any more.
That is a fine level of detail. Kudos!
Wish I would have noticed that before going through each school. I’ll definitely have to check while looking at FCS, D2 and D3.
The sweater script is nice (I’m warming to that being occasionally used in lieu of a logo), but I hate the way the e in State connects so sharply to the underline tail.
Those OSU unis are a real snoozefest. The only redeeming part is the helmets, which are a nice touch.
That’s the standard Ohio State hockey helmet. The Big Ten has a few football-inspired hockey helmets, including Michigan, Penn State, and Notre Dame.
I got to go to one of those Pro Bowl games at the LA Coliseum. One of many good memories worth my dad.
That must have been fantastic.
Dad and I went to a lot of baseball games, but never a football game. Oh well, I have lots of great memories with him, and that’s what matters.
Oh I never noticed Gs weren’t present on every football field! This will stick out like a sore thumb to me from now on.