Today on the Ticker: A new national soccer team unveils its first shirt, an interesting NFL quirk, and more.
Uni Watch News Ticker for Sept. 20, 2023
Posted in:
Baseball
MLB
- The Rays have finally-finally reached a deal to build a new ballpark. The proposal however still has to go through a public approval process that will take at least a few months.
- Oops: As part of that ballpark announcement, the Rays posted a rendering that included an AI-generated Rays fan wearing a Wander Franco jersey. MLB placed Franco on administrative leave last month for an alleged relationship with a minor. (From our own Phil Hecken)
- Longtime Uni Watch favorite P Chris Paddack, who’s missed the entire season following arm surgery, is wearing his usual great-looking stirrups during his minor league rehab. (From Eric Lichtenberg)
- The Astros have painted the area to the right of the batter’s eye green. (From Andrew Cosentino)
Football
NFL
- A note from Paul: “In this week’s Monday Morning Uni Watch report, I neglected to mention that the Colts’ 40th-season patch, which they wore in Week 1, was not worn in Week 2. A team spokesman has confirmed that the patch was intended all along to be worn only in the season opener, although I don’t recall that being specified when the patch was originally announced.”
- Mono-white for the Bengals this week. (From our own Phil Hecken)
- The Bills are playing the Commanders for the third time in four years this week. Washington has had a different name for each matchup.
- Reader Ethan Price noticed the Patriots didn’t have the usual Gillette Stadium logo on the field as they had in recent years. Ethan did some digging, and apparently, they haven’t had the logo on the field since Week 17 in 2021.
College
- Black/white/black for Iowa this week. (From multiple readers)
- UConn will wear military-themed helmets this week. (From @DreamSeasonPod)
- BFBS this week for Missouri State. (From Colin Davis)
- Santa Monica College’s JUCO team, which has used a variety of shades of blue over the years, unveiled navy jerseys for the first time earlier this season. (From Kary Klismet)
CFL
- The Tiger-Cats have released their Indigenous logo ahead of Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which recognizes the legacy of Canada’s Indian residential school system. The holiday falls on Sept. 30 each year. (From multiple readers)
More
- In the latest example of how upstart pro football leagues are doomed to failure, USFL 2.0 and XFL 3.0 are expected to merge before the 2024 season starts.
Hockey
NHL
- The Kings will wear their “heritage” alternate and chrome helmets 15 times this season. (From our own Phil Hecken)
- New center ice design for the Sharks. The center line features a repeating shark fin logo pattern, while the center ice logo is the team’s alternate logo. More photos here. (From multiple readers)
- The Jets are unveiling a new sweater on Saturday. (From Wade Heidt).
- Also from Wade: The Jets and the Flames went color vs. color in a rookie tournament in Penticton, British Columbia, over the weekend.
Basketball
NBA
- Here’s a GQ piece on the Magic’s newly-released throwbacks. (From Kary Klismet)
- And here’s more background on those throwbacks, too. (From our own Phil Hecken)
College
More
- The first permanent 3-on-3 basketball venue has been finished ahead of this year’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. (From Kary Klismet)
- FC Bayern Munich Basketball will play its season opener in the basketball Bundesliga on a new high-tech glass floor with video screen capabilities.
Soccer
USA
- MLS has launched Hispanic Heritage-themed pregame shirts for Hispanic Heritage Month. (From our own Phil Hecken)
- Franklin Pierce University men’s soccer team has received its rings for winning the 2022 NCAA Division II national championship. (From Kary Klismet)
- Carolina Core FC, a new independent team in MLS NEXT Pro, has unveiled its logo. (Also from Kary)
International
- Australia: Here’s a rundown on all the new uniforms in the top-tier A-League. (From Kary Klismet)
- England: Newcastle’s new Champions League shirt debuts a block font along with a plain white back, as opposed to its Premier League shirt, which continues the black and white stripes from the front of the shirt. The lack of stripes complies with UEFA’s rules, which state that there must be an “area on the back of a playing shirt reserved exclusively for the shirt number.” FIFA has similar guidelines for international competitions. (From our own Anthony Emerson)
- France: New third shirt for Paris Saint-Germain. (From our own Phil Hecken)
- The Marshall Islands has released its first-ever men’s national team shirt. (From Jeremy Brahm)
- Scotland: Celtic’s shirt had their charity logo on the front of their shirt yesterday. (From Ed Zelaski)
Cricket
- Australia: New shirts for the Big Bash League. Details here. (From multiple readers)
- New Cricket World Cup shirt for India.
Grab Bag
- Gross: The name of a London subway station turned into a Burberry ad for Fashion Week. (From Dave Sikula)
- New logo for the Christian Democratic Union of Germany. (From our own Anthony Emerson)
- The new eighth team in Australia’s Super Netball is called the Melbourne Mavericks. The color scheme is interestingly listed as three different shades of blue and nothing else. (From our own Jamie Rathjen)
- Clawson (Mich.) High School has renamed the court in its gymnasium after Alex Verner, an alumna and multi-sport athlete at the school who was killed in a mass shooting at Michigan State University in February. (This and the next two items are from Kary Klismet)
- Kalamazoo Community College is asking for public input to name its new costumed mascot.
- Here’s what a proposed multipurpose indoor arena in Cincinnati could look like.
Comments (27)
as a canes fan i cant speak for Sharks fans. but the new center ice logo for them looks crisp and gorgeous
There’s always been a negative attitude towards start up spring football leagues on this site and I don’t understand why. I don’t see the merging of the USFL and XFL as a failure at all, but instead I think it’s a good thing. Both leagues have shown innovation in both rules and gameplay and IMO, could be a fantastic feeder league for the NFL.
I also think the NFL would be smart to invest in the league and make it their own. With the NFL’s continued focus on minority coaches, imagine if the NFL had their own developmental league where coaches of all backgrounds could get Head Coaching and Coordinator experience needed to to help them climb the coaching ladder in the NFL.
The league could also become a test bed for rules, technology and much more! The XFL’s kick off rules for instance are a great way to save the kick off and the importance of the play. Rather than having non-stop touchbacks or the possible elimination of the plan, the XFL has found a way to make it work. They could continue tweaking it for the NFL in the future.
On top of that, it could become what the NFL Europe once was with teams having protected players. I just think the potential for a spring NFL developmental league is through the roof if done right.
“There’s always been a negative attitude towards start up spring football leagues on this site and I don’t understand why.”
Not necessarily. Jimmer Vilk & I (but mostly Jim) have been BIG on the USFL since its reincarnation, and we both are quite pleased it has survived (so far) for two full seasons.
The link refers to the combination as a “merger of equals,” but I wonder about the stadium issues in each league. The XFL is in better shape with regards to playing locations, as 7 out of its 8 teams have secured stadiums–only the Vegas Vipers are without a home in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the USFL famously has its teams sharing stadiums, with only three teams currently in their namesake cities/states: Birmingham, Memphis, and Michigan. Right now, if a merged league required the teams to have secured playing sites, only 10 out of 16 would qualify. If the combined league were to ensure all 16 teams had a home, we may end up either seeing a lot more revived USFL names if the “homeless” teams can’t find sites.
I consider the USFL following and branding to be stronger, so I wish they would absorb the 8 XFLers and re-brand/relocate many of them, using legacy franchise names and locations.
OTTOMH:
STL and SEA remain unchanged, assuming they draw fans not flies…if the latter, one goes to Denver as Gold 2.0, the other to LA as an Express reboot.
LV goes back to the Outlaws name (which just so happens to be the name used by the defunct OK/AZ USFL franchise) but the XFL 1.0 look, Dallas can keeps the new-look Renegades (another recycled USFL brand).
DC becomes the WAS Federals (year 1 look), SA dumps the Brahmas BS and goes by the ‘Slingers.
Move the Guardians to Jacksonville to become the Bulls – or better still(?) – Chicago (Blitz).
Sorry Roughnecks, the Gamblers look is tough to top and H-town isn’t big enough for 2, so out west you go…to under-football-served Oakland as the re-christened Invaders.
The TB Bandits went under 2x already…best to leave that market alone.
I don’t see the merging of the USFL and XFL as a failure at all
Agreed. It’s only a failure if they fold. I don’t get all the negativity either.
Paul is a sports traditionalist. He may say he’s not against all innovation in uniforms, but generally he wants sports to be the way they’ve always been. He did greatly expand soccer and women’s sports coverage. But spring football further bleeds the overlap of sports between seasons that annoys traditionalists.
And worse, this particular overlap is partly up against baseball. And 100% of the time, traditionalists are baseball fans. Because baseball is treated as a holy institution.
It’s the editorialization that annoys me. Paul practically insults fans of spring football like myself for being such. Which signals a certain bandwagon effect in the comments.
“Paul is a sports traditionalist”
I believe the term he prefers is “classicist”
But spring football further bleeds the overlap of sports between seasons that annoys traditionalists.
Actually, that has nothing to do with my skepticism about the alternate football leagues (including the ones that have played in the fall, like the UFL). And that’s what it is — skepticism, not negativity. I don’t think these leagues will survive, because, um, THEY NEVER SURVIVE. I’m not rooting against them; I just don’t take them seriously. That’s all.
It’s the editorialization that annoys me.
Yeah, imagine me expressing my own opinions on my own website. Crazy.
Paul practically insults fans of spring football like myself for being such.
Actually, I’ve never insulted anyone for being a fan of anything. Again, I’m simply skeptical about these leagues. If you’re an enthusiastic XFL fan, that’s fine by me, just like it would be fine by me if you enthusiastically believe in the Tooth Fairy. But I might point out that the Tooth Fairy isn’t real, and the XFL is only barely more viable than that.
In a world where reality is an increasingly optional frame of mind for a growing number of people, I find reality checks — like, say, the reality that alternate football leagues never survive — to be useful. YMMV, etc.
Anyone ever hear why Colorado wore the old Nike template last weekend?
That’s just the Buffs’ standard black home jersey. They’ve worn that old Nike template since they unveiled that uniform design back in 2015 (link), including (before this past weekend) as recently as the end of last season (link).
Now, it’s true that the Buffs did break out a new black jersey for the home opener against Nebraska a couple of games ago (link). But those were special jerseys that they wore with their black helmets that were designed (for reasons I don’t really understand) to deemphasize the gold and make the uniform more of a black and white ensemble (link). (Notice how, among other things, the numbers are outlined in black rather than the silver and gold outlining of the older jerseys.)
Will Colorado wear those new black jerseys again this season? I wouldn’t be surprised. I also expect that Nike has a complete uniform program overhaul in the works for the Buffs now that Deion Sanders is in charge in Boulder, but that probably won’t be rolled out comprehensively until next season at the earliest.
That’s bizarre! The link that was supposed to go to a photo showing Colorado’s mostly black and white uniform worn against Nebraska instead goes to a completely unrelated photo. Let’s try this one instead:
link
So, the new video glass floor. We know that all electronics are destined to fail at some point. Any word on what they plan to do if the floor goes out during the middle of a game?
Keep playing on it like any conventional basketball court?
Unplug it, wait 15 seconds, plug it back in.
The Patriots no longer having the stadium logo on the field is because they got rid of the lighthouse in the logo. It came down in the summer of ’22, so they removed the logo from the field that season. And now the new circular logo isn’t made for being painted on field
“Here’s what a proposed multipurpose indoor arena in Cincinnati could look like.”
(Insert Ricky Watters quote here).
“The Jets are unveiling a new sweater on Saturday.”
Not holding my breath that it will be Thrasher-esque.
“In the latest example of how upstart pro football leagues are doomed to failure, USFL 2.0 and XFL 3.0 are expected to merge before the 2024 season starts.”
I hope the deal falls through…though I’d love to see the XFL’s San Antonio, DC and Orlando teams re-packaged as original USFL counterparts, especially the Federals!…and that a stand-alone USFL sticks around a tad longer.
I’d prefer Jacksonville to San Antonio or Orlando.
But yes… bring back the Feds!
The Kings’ third jersey is not a throwback, but a “heritage” jersey with throwback elements. They last wore an actual throwback in 2021.
Fixed.
Except “heritage” is misspelled. Although a “hertiage” jersey sounds intriguing!
Thanks. Fixed (again!).
If the Commies wear their best pairing of burgundy-over-white, I’d actually like to see the Bills counter with white-over-blue (a combo they’ve never worn against Washington NFL), provided they pack white socks, which means they probably won’t. Of course I’m OK with Buffalo in all-white too….but not the Zebras.
the pats removed the image of the lighthouse from the field because it was torn down and a bigger one was in the process of being constructed for all of last season, I assume they just have forgotten to bring it back now that there is a new lighthouse
That Ti-Cats logo looks like it has 5-o’clock shadow.
Original meme league (Big Bash League) has especially bad shirts this season.
Why all the hubbub about the Astros batter’s eye this season? Was it different last year? If not, they didn’t do too badly for themselves with it, plus it was the same for both teams.