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Uni Watch

Frozen Confines Action, And A New Panthers Combo

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Good morning, everyone. It’s a beautiful day for college hockey…let’s play two!

That’s just what they did in Chicago’s venerable Wrigley Field yesterday, and that’s what they’re planning on doing today. Before we get into that, I want to thank Phil for the kind words he wrote on Thursday, and I want to thank all of you who left nice comments regarding my two weeks’ notice. I may not be as universally loved as the Ticker, but I was liked by a good number of you. I’ll gladly take that.

Now then, with the ice still in place from Tuesday’s Winter Classic between the NHL’s Blues and Blackhawks, Wrigley hosted two B1G games in the Frozen Confines series. The first one featured a classic rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan.

It was an odd but visually pleasing scene: two schools playing hockey in a baseball stadium, wearing special baseball-inspired unis, with headgear that mimics their football teams’ helmets. Phil gave us a preview of Michigan’s unis, and I shared Ohio State’s with you last weekend. I wasn’t sure if I’d like the Wolverines’ homage to the Cubs, but once I saw it in action it quickly grew on me.

And even though the Buckeyes’ anthracite unis looked more like black during the game, I had no complaints.

Is it just me, or are those helmets more of a proper shade of gray than the football helmets? Anyway, speaking of visually pleasing…check out the view from the cheap seats!

The old scoreboard was put to good use, not only showing the teams playing in this series, but showing fellow B1G member Minnesota’s bowl game, and two B1G men’s basketball games.

Here’s a little closer shot of the action with the stadium lights in the background, and another wide shot as day turned to night.

The nightcap featured Notre Dame taking on Penn State. Phil gave you the rundown on these, and when I read his previews, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a good looking matchup. It turned out to be better than I thought.

My biggest concern was with the Irish’s light blue numbers. The dark blue shadowing seemed to help just enough, though.

They also wore football-inspired helmets, unlike Penn State. The Nittany Lions went with navy blue helmets to go with their navy blue sweaters.

The script was a little small, although the numbers were properly-sized, and that matters more to me. The goalie’s headgear almost looked like a football helmet, but with the retro lion logo on both sides. Notre Dame’s goalie countered with a ski hat atop his golden dome.

Today there will be a women’s game first followed by a men’s game. Wisconsin’s women will play Ohio State, and Wisconsin’s men will play Michigan State. Phil previewed both Badgers unis, which leaves us with the question, “What will the Buckeyes and Spartans wear?” Ohio State hasn’t said anything while I was working on this article, so they may just wear their standard unis with red sweaters.

Michigan State broke their silence yesterday, saying they’re going with…drumroll, please… their regular unis.

Here are some still shots of their “timeless and classic” unis.

Some might say it’s a bold choice to not go with a specialty uni. Others might say it’s a cop-out. I don’t have a problem with bucking the specialty alternate trend, especially since they have a very solid look. Plus, as the Spartans will gladly remind you, they’re no strangers to playing outdoors.

Guess that kind of makes them the Yankees of outdoor hockey, so I can see the desire to go with their usual look.

 

 

 
  
 

Panthers Going With An Unusual Look For Sunday's Game

Unlike the Spartan hockey team, the Carolina Panthers are going with a never-worn-before combo this weekend. In Phil’s NFL preview yesterday, he said the Panthers are going silver/white/silver/white.

Hard to believe, but the only other time they wore silver pants with white jerseys was in the final game of the 1998 season against the Colts. Carolina wore blue socks in that game.

The pants were a little darker then, so between that and the blue socks I liked that combo better. The current silver britches have the same problem as Ohio State and Georgia: they’re so light they almost look white.

At least the Panthers didn’t go with black socks. That would be too Raiders-ish for me. This now makes the 13th different combo for Carolina this year, which Phil says will tie them with Jacksonville for the most combos in one season. So they have that going for them, which is…something.

 

 

 

That's All For Today

I have something going for me, too, and that’s one more Sunday Morning Bowl Watch with the SMUW Crew. Which is very nice. Take care, everyone, and the Crew and I will see you tomorrow.

 

 

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Comments (17)

    The two games last night had a cozy winter night’s feel to them watching them on tv.

    About the Panthers and the grey pants. I hope this white sock with no stripes phenomenon is a fad that will fade. I find it fine in some rare situations. I do not find it fine wearing white socks w/ grey or silver pants.

    Speaking of that, it seems like the grey pants we see in the NFL these days are too light a shade. This is 2025. We have amazing technology. We can’t be given proper silver pants with a sheen like we had in the past? I tip my hat to the Raiders and the Cowboys for giving the effort to get us silver pants but every football team wearing the grey pants should be doing the same.

    Blue socks would have been a huge improvement! The Panthers no doubt, need silver britches as do other teams both in the NFL and NCAA

    It’s Nike; prior to them, Reebok had no problem doing metallic colors or pants with the proper sheen. And before that, Adidas, Wilson, Champion, Logo 7/Athletic, Starter, Puma, etc.

    Look at any footage prior to 2012 and you see a huge difference compared to what Nike has brought to the table.

    It feels like the tail is wagging the dog, like Nike dictates to the NFL and teams that “this is what your uniform is going to look like” instead of the other way around.

    And it seems like the NFL is fine with it; it’s why you see the Cowboys with baby-blue pants, the Eagles with a “midnight green” that’s more teal than green, the Buccaneers with “pewter” pants that look more dark brown than pewter, and the Panthers with “silver” pants that look more off-white than silver.

    I think it’s the materials. They aren’t made of the same kind from back in the day. That material was heavy!

    I still can’t understand why Nike won’t make silver pants for teams with silver.

    It bugs me that Penn State didn’t wear the traditional helmets. I, for one blame the shootout loss for that decision. All the other teams did and looked great.

    Both my broomball and ski helmets are white with the blue stripe.

    Why wouldn’t they put the rink along the 3rd base line? This way they’d get fans closer on one side and one end. I haven’t really followed these outdoor hockey games. Is this the usual set up?

    Yes, this was the same setup as the first time the NHL Winter Classic was played at Wrigley. I don’t think the Wrigley outfield is crowned since White Sox groundskeeper Roger Bossard designed and supervised building the new field and drainage system. This would enable the rink to be built on a nice flat area, as opposed to having to tear out the pitchers mound

    These hockey games and football games in baseballs stadiums make no sense to me.
    So the only good seats were at first and third? And don’t even get me started on the price for ND-Army at Yankee Stadium. Sight lines looked horrible, and prices were outrageous.
    I guess save it for the 24 years olds that “have to be there.” Not worth my time or money when the better viewing is on TV or at the proper arenas and stadiums, mid field/ice, upper levels.

    I was at the game with my dad, and we didn’t mind the view at all.

    Mind you, we were on the 3rd base side—the exact area you thought would lend itself to a good view—but there’s really no bad seats in Wrigley. My dad and I have attended baseball, football, and now hockey there and we’ve had a great view for all three.

    Wow, what a throwback memory for the Spartans . I was actually at that game (hmm, I wonder if I have a scoreboard photo) and if memory serves it was quite a chilly day for early October. Being less than 4 weeks after the September 11 attacks security was tight. My girlfriend at the time, in her infinite wisdom, attempted to bring her purse in and was rebuffed. She had to march all the way back to the car to lock it up. We also went to the MSU-UM game at the Big House in 2010. Both games were more of a spectacle but the sight lines were way better than a baseball stadium.

    I was at the Frozen Confines games—both Friday night and last night—and the Buckeye women actually surprised us with unveiling a new uniform *at the game.* It was probably the best of the weekend, and matched up incredibly well with the Wisconsin women’s uniform.

    I’d love to do a little guest spot and recap the Saturday action if Paul would have me :).

    Never mind, just saw that you were a few steps ahead of me, Jim! Should’ve read today’s post before making the suggestion, lol.

    Enjoy uni-retirement, good sir!!

    The Ohio State women wore some nice looking uni’s that evoked the Blackhawks’ 2009 Winter Classic duds. Out of all the teams I thought Penn State was the best dressed with the old school brown pants and gloves.

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