In today’s Ticker: The Rays are a step closer to staying in Tampa, Indiana goes BFBS, and PJ Fleck’s impassioned defense of unnecessary uniform changes.
Uni Watch News Ticker for Sept. 19, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- The Rays will reportedly announce today that they’ve struck a deal to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg that would be ready for the 2028 season. (From Kary Klismet)
- The White Sox have published a super-interesting piece on their most recent rebrand in 1991, and how soliciting opinions from fans at a Chicago-area block party solidified their decision to go with a black, silver, and white color scheme. (From Phil)
Football
NFL
- Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is starring in a new Hulu commercial that uses the jersey nameplate as the spot’s premise.
- Cincinnati isn’t exactly a hockey hotbed, but Michael Niehaus spotted a Bengals fan wearing a retro No. 99 jersey with a “Gretzky” NOB during Sunday’s home opener.
- Many Eagles fans are upset that their Kelly green merch orders have either been delayed by Fanatics or arrived with defects. (From Kurt Esposito)
College
- Last night, Indiana unveiled a new set of black jerseys and pants, which they’ll wear Saturday against Akron. (From Sean Kerrigan)
- BYU will wear white helmets, jerseys and pants, all with navy accents, at Kansas this weekend. (From Phil and Kary Klismet)
- Oregon will wear black cleats this weekend with “thermal reactive material” trim that will turn multi-colored when warmed up. (From Mike Chamernik)
- UTEP will wear these brutal camouflage jerseys on Saturday against UNLV. (From @OmarRashonBorja)
- Old Dominion will wear helmets with throwback logos on Saturday for homecoming. (From Phil)
- Program reminder: Notre Dame will wear green jerseys and pants on Saturday at home against Ohio State. (From Phil)
- Minnesota Coach PJ Fleck went on an extended rant during his press conference yesterday, defending his program’s near-constant uniform changes. (From Phil)
More
- Herbert Hoover High School (West Virginia) has a new live husky mascot. (From Kary Klismet)
Hockey
NHL
- The Blues have unveiled their uniform schedule for the upcoming season.
Minors/Juniors
- The Huntsville Havoc of the SPHL have unveiled new jerseys to commemorate the team’s 20th season. (From Phil)
- Here are the inaugural jerseys for the FPHL’s Baton Rouge Zydeco. (From Ernie Ballard)
More
- Cross-listed from the NFL section: Cincinnati isn’t exactly a hockey hotbed, but Michael Niehaus spotted a football fan wearing a retro No. 99 Bengals jersey with a “Gretzky” NOB during Sunday’s game.
Basketball
NBA
- The scoreboard at the Clippers’ new arena will apparently span over an acre. (From Kary Klismet)
College
- D-III St. Norbert College has renamed its court after a former player who was the school’s first Black graduate. (From Kary Klismet)
Soccer
USA
- The NWSL has awarded an expansion franchise to Boston, though there’s no word yet on the team name or logo. (From our own Jamie Rathjen)
International
- Scotland: Amateur side Haddington Town AFC has accused billionaire Elon Musk of poaching the club’s logo and using it for his space travel company, SpaceX. (From Kary Klismet)
Golf
- Here are the best and worst team uniforms ever worn during the Solheim Cup. (From Phil)
Rugby
- Tim Dunn has updated his men’s Rugby World Cup jersey tracker through last weekend. Each match’s winner is shown in bold.
- The Springboks, South Africa’s men’s national team, typically wear a dark green kit for most of their matches. However, they wore a white and turquoise alternate uniform for their World Cup opening round, a decision that proved controversial among fans. Now, the team is saying that World Rugby, the tournament’s governing body, forced them to wear their alts for the first match.
Grab Bag
- Here are the kits for all of the teams competing in the upcoming men’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. (From Phil)
- Tiagos Tacos, a Miami chain restaurant, modified its logo for its location near the Florida International University campus. (From Jorge Cruz)
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has apparently scrapped the chamber’s suit-and-tie dress code, which will allow Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman to wear his preferred hooded sweatshirts and gym shorts on the Senate floor. (From Kary Klismet)
- French esports team Karmine Corp has unveiled plans for a new 3,000-seat arena, the first such arena in Europe. (From Kary Klismet)
- Statistics-based website 538 has a new logo. (From Ron Ruelle)
- Here’s a video showing how a DIYer turns sports balls into shoes. (From John Flory)
Comments (44)
Everything that I have seen is that the Rays’ stadium roof will not retract to save on costs and space. No word on if catwalks will remain in play.
Why am I not surprised Fanatics did a botch job? Seems every time they come up, it’s about their poor quality.
Fanatics did a shockingly good job with the Bruins Winter Classic gear last season. But yeah, most of their stuff is trash
So the Rays are sorted, looks like the Brewers are through 2050 as well. Leaves the White Sox & Orioles now trying to use Nashville to extort money from their respective markets. Truthfully, I thought the Brewers were the only realistic threat to relocate for 3 reasons.
1. Milwaukee’s Trip A team is in Nashville
2. Nashville is a bigger market than Milwaukee (barely)
3. I assumed the Rays would re-lo to Orlando if they moved.
Now, I’m not sure. If I were to bet, the White Sox will end up in the Chicago burbs and the O’s will get their entertainment district. Expansion can’t come soon enough to take Nashville and Salt Lake/Portland off the table.
I still favor Nashville + Montreal for realignment aesthetics.
AL West: Angels, A’s, Mariners, Rockies
AL Midwest: Rangers, Royals, Twins, White Sox
AL Central: Guardians, Rays, Stars, Tigers
AL East: Blue Jays, Orioles, Red Sox, Yankees
NL West: Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Padres
NL Midwest: Astros, Brewers, Cardinals, Cubs
NL Central: Braves, Marlins, Pirates, Reds
NL East: Expos, Mets, Nationals, Phillies
14 vs intradivision = 42 games
6 vs intraleague = 72 games
3 vs interleague = 48 games
Not Expos, please. All for a team in Montreal, but they’d need a different name. The Expos are the Nationals now – MLB shouldn’t make the same mistake that the NHL did with the Jets.
Thank you for this comment!
Agreed on Montreal: I want the city to get an MLB team, but I don’t want it to be called the Expos. However, Montreal’s team needs a name that works in both English and French, which Expos does nicely. I haven’t been able to think of a good alternate name that does so.
Realignment? Glad you asked!
NL East: New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, DC
NL North: Chicago, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City
NL South: Atlanta, Miami, Cincinnati, St. Louis
NL West: Arizona, Los Angeles, San Diego, SanFrancisco
AL East: New York, Boston, Baltimore, Toronto
AL North: Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota
AL South: Houston, Nashville, Texas, Tampa Bay
AL West: Colorado, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Seattle
The Rockies and Royals swap leagues to prioritize making all divisions out of teams in neighboring time zones, and to utilize a rivalry in Missouri.
Realignment? Now that you mention it:
NL: Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, NY Mets, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Toronto
AL: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Minnesota, NY Yankees
Southern League: Atlanta, Charlotte [expansion], Houston, Miami, Nashville [exp.] Tampa Bay, Texas, Washington
Pacific League: Arizona, Colorado, Las Vegas, LA Dodgers, LA Angels, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle
NO MORE DIVISIONS. NO MORE WILD CARDS. The pennant winners–and only those–of each league meet in a seeded playoff round, followed by the World Series. Limited interleague play.
I know MLB will never let this happen, but it is objectively good and I have spoken. I regret nothing.
Replying to R Scott…how about Montreal Lynx? Spelled the same in both English and French.
There is a 0% chance of any league putting another team in Canada. It’s not going to be Montreal. You’ll get one towards the east and one out west. Nashville is a lock for the east, Salt Lake City is a heavy favorite for the west with a very outside chance of Portland.
oregon shoes are just cool
Oregon is wearing “mood shoes”. Yikes.
Um, nothing new. Anybody remember the “Hypercolor” shirts back in the early 90’s? LOL
Pretty sure the Rays new stadium is a fixed roof
The renderings of the interior make it look like just about all the seats are going to be pretty close to the field.
This is the saddest Ticker I have read in days. To wit:
1. I lived through Indiana’s first dalliance with BFBS. It was a bad idea then and it is a bad idea now. Crimson and cream is fine.
2. Fanatics is why I haven’t bought any Eagles gear yet. How did we get stuck with this monopoly as a means of getting fan-driven merchandise? There is no incentive for quality and they know it.
3. The only thing UTEP’s camo pattern hides… are the player numbers. *facepalm*
4. PJ Fleck is the worst thing to happen to uniforms in decades. It started when he insisted on turning a school’s uniforms into a vehicle for his personal brand of pseudo-inspiration, with the paddles and the rowing the boat analogies. It was tolerated at Western Michigan and Minnesota got conned into it as well. An esteemed member of the Big Ten sold out its uniforms to this clown. And who the hell is he anyway? Nobody ever confused him with Nick Saban. It made UNC beating the snot out of Minnesota a little sweeter, not gonna lie…
5. Chuck Schumer should be embarrassed. Are we that sloppy as a nation and a society that we’re allowing John Fetterman to fetishize Working Class Hero status on the Senate floor? My man, you are representing 11 million Pennsylvanians, and nearly half of them didn’t vote for you. Show the Senate and your constituents a little respect and put on a suit and tie like a grownup. (And before you fight me, I am a registered Democrat and would have voted for Fetterman over Mastriano if I lived in PA, so don’t make this into some sort of tribal political issue; this is a sartorial issue.)
I weep for us all. But the Oregon cleats are pretty cool.
I have had one on one conversations with P.J. Fleck. He is real. His goal is to help young men become positive contributing members of society. The team’s grades have never been higher, the team has never been as involved in the community as much as they are now. His Row The Boat mantra is the result of what he used to help himself get through the death of HIS infant child. He uses it to help teach the members of the program how to get through adversity. Does he use phrases and hyperbole to help psych up these young men and Gopher fans? Absolutely. Easy to look at it and say it is B.S. But Gopher football has never been in better hands.
Thank you for the insight and for sharing. This puts things in a different context. While I maintain that a school’s uniform is not the proper vehicle for any individual’s mantra, I now understand its importance and what motivated it.
MJ, Thank You for your reply. The first time I met PJ Fleck, all I knew was what the media had said about him. The fast talking and use of phrases and hyperbole. But he was soft spoken and told me his goal was to make the program members as good as it could be in all facets of life. And from what I have heard and seen, his wife is wonderful in helping nurture the players who are away from their own mothers.
And for the record, I wish their uniforms only had maroon, gold and white, and DID NOT INCLUDE black or anthracite.
6) 538’s new logo just underscores the fact that it is officially dead.
On your last point, I was a Senate intern when Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado received dispensation to Senate dress rules to permit him to wear his preferred bolo tie in lieu of the then-required cloth tie. The senator I worked for was a former college professor who preferred to work in shirtsleeves, so he kept a jacket and tie handy in case he needed to rush to the floor.
The jacket-and-tie rule has always been honored at least a little bit in the breach, so I don’t object in principle to formalizing the breach. But while my basic attitude is that permitting Fetterman to dress as he prefers is ultimately a matter of respecting the choice of the voters of Pennsylvania, I think of casual dress on the floor as a House thing, not a Senate thing. But if we’re going to have the DH in the National League, I guess hoodies on the Senate floor are inevitable. How long until we see NFL or college gridiron jerseys in a floor debate?
Incredible to me that the Rays and MLB are making the same mistake as they did with the Trop. Building the stadium in St. Pete makes it obscenely difficult for most of their fanbase to get to, because there’s one way in and one way out.
This video is a helpful primer as to why it’s not just the outdated stadium working against the Rays: link
This was what I found most shocking as well. Why not Tampa?
I don’t get it. I was there for a while and you both are correct.
Kind of annoying is that the ESPN article linked mentions the new stadium being part of the redevelopment of the “Gas Plant District”, but doesn’t explain where that is. A quick lookup, though, reveals that… it’s exactly where the Trop is now.
*facepalm*
When there’s only one game in town (Fanatics), this is what happens.
No surprise that the Eagles fans can’t get decent merchandise. I won’t call it “fan gear.”
I made the mistake a few times buying from Fanatics. I won’t say every time there was something wrong but I would venture to estimate 60-70% of the time I had some defect. That’s far too high a margin of error.
What’s worse is they are taking over more of the market. It’s unacceptable to charge good money for such marginal work at best. I refuse to buy anything they produce or sell.
Homage.
Notre Dame finally sold out, huh?
Nasty mono green crap. Hate that. We will have officially bottomed out when Penn State goes mono navy some day. I still want to vomit every time Michigan goes mono blue. Not a fan of any of it.
Finally? They wore mono-green when they were the home team at Fenway Park against Boston College.
The White Sox have published a super-interesting piece on their most recent rebrand in 1991, and how soliciting opinions from fans at a Chicago-area block party solidified their decision to go with a black, silver, and white color scheme.
And yet every Sunday at home, the White Sox undercut this excellent brand by wearing those navy and red fauxbacks. Never let it be said that Jerry Reinsdorf’s incompetence doesn’t extend to branding.
It’s official: Rays stay in St. Pete.
link
The headline on the Springboks situation at the Rugby World Cup is that they had to change versus Scotland, but the real head scratcher is the point made further down that article about them having to have a second alternate for their game against Ireland. As far as I’m aware, every other nation at the tournament only has a single alternate. South Africa only have a second because apparently Nike didn’t anticipate that making a light green alternate may still clash with the Irish primary green kit. Seriously, the draw for this world cup was done two and half years ago. It’s not like Nike had come up with their design and then “oof, bad luck that the Springboks got drawn against the only other team in green at the tournament”.
There needs to be some kind of revolt against Fanatics.
Note on the St. Norbert item: It’s one of their intramural courts, not their current competition court.
The esports arena link goes to the Schumer article.
I’m a dyed-in-the-wool Liberal, and I approve of the suits-and-tie rule in Congress. Mr. Fetterman, this is likely the most important job you will ever hold. Show it some respect.
Endorse this 100%, sir.
PJ Fleck was great as a player but he’s bat sh!t crazy now.
The Clippers will come to regret the oversized scoreboard. The new barn in Detroit has/had one of the largest boards for the size of the building, and it’s just too big. Doesn’t matter how much you try to watch the game on the ice/court, unless you’re in the lowest 25% of the building, it will interfere with your eyesight. Given the latency between live action and video, it’s a little disorienting.
Should the Bengals fan have a Messier 11 on their jersey? After all Messier actually played in Cincy in the last WHA season.