
Good morning, Uni Watchers, and Happy Thursday. I hope everyone got through their Wednesday with aplomb.
While the Detroit Lions have not officially declared their uniform combination for Saturday night’s NFC Divisional Playoff game, you can take it to the bank they’ll be doing so in their Monolulu Blues — or as fans of the combination refer to them — the “Blueberries.”
I’ve written at length about the superstitious uniform nature of the Lions often (maybe even too often), and after their surprising run to the NFC Championship game last year and new uniforms this year, they’ve given us plenty to discuss. I’ve noted their uni proclivities this season, their twice teasing throwbacks, how they have a fantastic looking uniform they wore exactly once, and of course, their preference for mono-below-the-neck. Every game this season, save for the one blue jersey/silver-gray pants, was either Monolulu blue, mono-white, or their BFBS (blue/black/black/black).
We’ve discussed how the Lions pants/socks decisions are left to players, and are decided upon the week of the game. But the one thing I always focused on was the Lions’ performance in certain uniform combos this season, since these were new uniforms. I hadn’t considered prior seasons in terms of “streaks,” since to me, last year’s and this year’s “blueberries” are not the same uniform. But if we do, I wanted to see how well the Lions performed in all instances where they’re gone Monolulu blue. Talk about streaks…
The first time the Lions ever wore all-blue was in 2017. They wore them once that year and lost.
The second time came a season later. It was worn once and resulted in a loss.

After not wearing monoblue in 2019, the team wore that combo twice in 2020. Both were losses. They would not wear the combo in 2021.
In 2022, they were worn on October 23rd, a fifth consecutive loss in the combo.
A lesser ball club might have thrown in the towel, thinking they were never going to win in the combo. But the team decided to give it another shot on December 4th, against the Jaguars. And they won. Finally.

The team would wear them once more in 2022, which resulted in another victory.
So after wearing the blueberries seven times over six seasons, the Lions record stood at 2-5. Then 2023 rolled around.
The team debuted the Monolulus against the Falcons on September 24th, and they won. And then they wore them again on October 8th, and they won again. And again, and again. The Lions would end up wearing the all-blue combo five times during the 2023 regular season, and with two home playoff games, wore it in both, and the Lions won all seven.
So after going 0-5 initially, the Lions rolled off nine straight wins in Monolulu blue, going back to December of 2022.
I’m sure you’re aware that while not the same uniform, the Lions have been perfect (5-0) in the new blueberries.

So if you’re scoring at home, that’s 14 straight wins in silver/blue/blue/blue (and an undefeated record in the new blues).
With that kind of mojo, and especially considering the superstitious nature of the team, there’s little doubt the Lions will be wearing the blueberries Saturday night (and as I had suspected on Monday, the Commanders confirmed they will be repeating their burgundy/white/burgundy/burgundy combo, so the game will not be pretty).
If their streak holds up — and as the number 1 seed they have home field throughout — the Lions could ride the blueberries straight to the Super Bowl.
As this is an odd-numbered year, the NFC is the designated home team for the Super Bowl. So, if the Lions make it, they can wear that combo in the big game too.
I’ve always maintained that uniforms don’t win games. But I wouldn’t want to bet against the Lions in Monolulu blue.
What do you think? Will the Lions ride the blueberries to the Super Bowl?
I have a suggestion for the site in response to what I feel like is a pretty weak subject for today’s lede: what about a suggestion/request poll/forum where readers can submit ideas for articles and then the community can vote on them? It could be general or extremely specific, and those interested could indicate if they want to contribute to the piece directly.
I don’t want to give up on the site or even join the ranks of those bemoaning its direction, but it certainly feels like it’s becoming a database of “What will x NFL/CFB team wear in y game?”, which invariably includes a history of how often said team has worn said uniform historically and in recent seasons. Combine that with the weekly NFL previews, the weekend NFL and CFB recaps, and the recent series of NFL concepts showcasing seemingly minute tweaks, and it’s all a bit much.
Thanks for the feedback Charlie, and admittedly this wasn’t what I was planning to cover. There was a giant lack of uniform news yesterday (this whole week, really), and I was dealing with a family health issue yesterday so I wasn’t able to do a deep dive into something. You know my e-mail — if there is something you’d like me to cover on a “slow news day,” shoot me a line. In fact, I’ll do you one better — I’d love you to pen a piece on something uniform related, which I’d be happy to then run for the readers. If you would prefer just to suggest something in the comments, that’s fine too.
Phil, I appreciate your response, and I offer my heartfelt sympathy as I know this has been a trying time for you personally. Perhaps I should have been a bit more thoughtful.
I will certainly take you up on your offer if/when I find something that I feel passionate about. My recent ideas have been far too negative, which is certainly not the kind of stuff I want to see here.
Is there a way to present what you would consider “negative” in a way that would pique the readers’ interest and drive conversation???
Marcus, I wish! Multiple times over the years I have toyed with the idea of a “What’s wrong with Uni Watch?” article. Opening line: “We often hear about what makes Uni Watch so great. We know what’s right with it, but what’s wrong with Uni Watch?”. It would basically be a list of grievances, or the UW equivalent of Frank Costanza’s “I’ve got a lot of problems with you people” lol! I’ve resisted the urge to bring it up.
Maybe a more constructive approach would be better received.
I say go for it! Nothing breaks up groupthink better than a challenging article to make us think :-) I’m all for it.
I’d definitely read a soccer related article authored by you. seesm like you have a depth of knowledge and thoughts on the sport and its unis
I agree with just about everything you’ve said. I’ve read this site daily for as far back as I can remember, and it seems most of what appears now is just recaps of things that have already been seen on social media. Growing pains and finding one’s groove are always apart of change, but this is slowly becoming a site I just navigate to once or twice a week. I miss the deep dives, interviews, season previews, and seeing a light shined on very esoteric aspects of the sports uniform/logo world – the topics that made UniWatch UniWatch.
My two cents:
I love the idea of putting a poll up of what type of articles people are interested in. If for nothing else, I think it would encourage more people to write guest articles if they know there are others interested in their specific niche interest.
For decades there have been slow uniform news weeks. We’ve typically gotten things like “Here’s my pencil sharpener collection” or “I went to this concert last night”. I personally appreciate that Phil keeps it on topic during slow times instead of going completely off-uni. I appreciate the effort to always put something out there that is still what we came here for.
Last, I also appreciate that Phil has an “Open Pen Policy” for lack of a better term. If someone puts forth the effort to write a lede, it’ll get run. The concepts or tweaks may not always be Earth shattering, or even what most Uni Watchers prefer, but I still like the insight into what other people look for in a “perfect uniform”
I don’t miss those posts on things like the Brannock Device, what was for dinner, and what obscure band was just seen. I like the uniform discussion, and I like the site more now. But that’s just me. I’m sure many enjoyed that.
To take the contrary position, with the “Oregonization” of CFB and the NFL, to say nothing of the NBA, CBB, RR, and CC, Phil et al. is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I agree that learning about x team’s color combo is repetitive, and yet it is uni-news. How much is too much? As with everything aesthetic, YMMV.
This is a difficult topic. I’ve had many of the same thoughts but, at the same time, realize that this site is largely a labor of love and not commerce so it feels wrong for me to criticize. After all, I’m positive I could not do better or even nearly as well. I do think that a site like this owes its brilliance to the obsessiveness of its founder. Paul was an obsessive on this, and apparently a few other things, and I found it fascinating to just visit his brain every morning via his posts. Most of us are not obsessives, however, and overall that’s a good thing. But for a site like this, perhaps not. I sort of feel like the site was handed over from an obsessive to a non-obsessive and it’s tough for a non-obsessive to generate the daily posts that fascinate simply because most of us don’t notice what people like Paul notice. Once Paul would write about something, then I’d notice it and would be fascinated by it. But Paul was the noticer, not me. Which is why he was the person to run this site, not someone like me, who loves uniforms and everything about them, but who just can’t see what Paul sees. Anyway, just my thoughts on this. As I said, this is a difficult topic because we all love this site.
I’m with you on this, and this not a critique of Phil whatsoever.
Paul’s analysis of many small-ish/subtle details was always fascinating to me. Almost always, I found myself saying, “I never noticed that” or “who would ever notice that?”
Phil is, of course, a different person, so his vantage point is his own. It’s not better or worse, just different. I still enjoy the site very much, I just had to adjust my thoughts and expectations about it a little. Seems a reasonable and inevitable side of change, yes?
Wanted to add my thoughts on this too.
I also miss Paul’s unique uni observations and the inside info. (I would love to get confirmation directly from the Lions on this, beyond the Anzalone comment.) But I’ll note that I am a more active commenter than ever before in part because I love following NFL uni combos and I appreciate all the attention that the site is devoting to that topic now. Personally, that’s what drew me to uniforms in the first place.
Can you email the Lions equipment manager and get their side of their uniform superstitions? That would be interesting to hear, and would probably answer your question. Doesn’t UniWatch have that kind of contact info?
link
Ask and you shall receive
That subject was actually covered with an article I wrote on the Lions recently. link
If you click this link, there are a bunch of neat uni tidbits. Part of my article noted the highlights:
If you read that article, you’ll note that “Alternatives are often reserved for the team’s biggest games, so a nationally televised primetime matchup made sense, from a branding perspective.” This year, the team has had several prime time and nationally televised games, but this year those primetime/national TV games have been reserved for the Monolulu blues and the new blue helmet/mono-black outfits. I guess that makes sense, since those are both “new” uniforms for 2024, while the throwbacks have been staples, off-and-on, for decades.
Other juicy nuggets from that article, which was penned in October of this year, include this. It was rather prophetic!
Linebacker Alex Anzalone, who is involved in the pants selection, joked the group has settled on monochromatic looks for what he said feels like 90% of the time.
And even though he claims he isn’t superstitious, he’s aware of how the team has struggled in the blue jersey/gray pants combo in recent years.
“We probably won’t go with the blue and gray again any time soon,” he said with a laugh.
IIRC, the Niners went with their throwbacks in SB XXIX because they were considered “lucky” and had to get a waiver from the NFL to wear them vs. the Chargers.
By that time, the throwbacks had become their de facto primary uniforms for the season. They only wore their regular unis with the gold pants three times – weeks 1, 2, and 5.
It was a bit of a crazy year, since you also had Dallas introducing their modernized double-star jerseys midseason, debuting on Thanksgiving, and worn every game afterward through the NFC Championship except for week 15 against Cleveland (where they wore their regular royal-numbered jerseys).
New uniforms are a down grade from the previous. All Nike had to do was go back to the 90s template. Instead they couldn’t help themselves and have to put there bastardized spin on it.
I really hate the non-white mono look in general, but those pics show that it can work much better if you just put striping of some kind on the pants have some contrast with the socs. The solid blue look is really awful. To answer the question posed, yes, I think they will ride those monstrosities as long as they are playing.
GTGFTU – January 11, 1987 – AFC Championship Game – Denver 23, Cleveland 20
Wait, a website based on sports uniforms is now being accused of posting too many items about *checks notes* sports uniforms? What is this world COMING to?
Bit of a weird response considering the fact that Phil himself admitted this wasn’t the greatest piece. Even weirded to throw out the term “accused” when I was clearly posting from a good place.
GTGFTS – October 3, 1962 – Game three of the National League playoff – San Francisco 6, Los Angeles 4 – Maury Wills steals three bases to finish the season with 104 stolen bases
I peruse Uniwatch on the daily. It’s part of my routine. Everything on here is great. If I don’t like an article, I skip it. That’s it. See what’s on here and enjoy it. Gotta be grateful for what we see here. Sure, there are ways to “improve”. But this site is a blessing from start to finish. Every contributor does a fantastic job. Thank you for all you do!
Shh, don’t tell anyone. Hope you didn’t just jinx us.
Gives another meaning to the term “Go Blue!”…and we’ll apply that to Notre Dame this coming Monday as well.
I get the feeling that, even if the Lions were to end up losing a gut-punch playoff game or the Super Bowl this year wearing the monolulu blues, they will still wear them full time next season anyway.
I have mixed thoughts on the mono uniforms. I believe they’re more appropriate for the NCAA rather than the NFL. I actually prefer the mono-black of the Saints. After seeing it for so many years, I feel it has became their signature look. With the Lions, I believe contrasting looks would be better but don’t mind the mono look they currently wear. It wouldn’t upset me if some other teams went mono once a year. However, I would not want to see other teams wearing them on a regular basis other than the Cardinals. If the NFL isn’t going to require tucked in shirts or t-shirts matching the jersey, I will say go sockless like the NCAA. To me sockless looks better than the off color t-shirt or matching socks and pants.
On to the other topic that seems to be in most comments. Run the site as you see fit. Personally, I am only interested in baseball and football but occasionally read other articles of interest. If the topic is of little interest, I do this magical thing called “scrolling by”. If I decide to not look at the site for two weeks, so what! I have zero money invested in this site, so I feel no reason to complain. I have way too many things in life to occupy my time, then suggesting changes or making complaints.
Keep up the good work!
I think they should break out the silver pants. If they are really that good the uniform shouldn’t matter for superstitious reasons.