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Uni Watch

Buckle Down, Winsocki

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Our lead item today is short but packs a big punch, because reader Drew Samuelson has noticed something that the rest of us all missed: Looks like Dodgers pitcher Takashi Saito has a lucky belt buckle — an oversized gold design that he appears to wear pretty consistently (at home, on the road, even back in spring training). Back when he pitched in Japan, his belt was gold-toned but conventionally sized, at least in this photo. Anyone know anything about this, before I pester the Dodgers PR office about it?

Moving down below the belt, as it were, here’s something that’s been bugging me: Last Thursday I ran this photo of Eddie Lantigua wearing those under-the-shoe elastic straps. But the more I look at it, the more annoyed I get over something else: Look closely and you’ll see that there’s a patch of fabric in the middle of each pant leg, with the seams clearly visible just above the knee and at the lower shin.

These seams never appeared in baseball pants back when cuffs were worn hiked up. But now that the pants are long, I see the seams all the time — in TV close-up shots, on the softball field where I play, in sporting goods listings and catalogs, etc. They all have one thing in common: They look like shit.

What’s the thinking behind this patch/seam design? Is it an extra layer of fabric to protect against rips and tears when sliding? Is it a tacit acknowledgement that a long length of polyester is incapable of draping correctly without some reinforcement? When did it start infiltrating the baseball diamond? And how can we eradicate it as soon as possible?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Genius catch by Matt Reilly, who notes that the visor Drew Bledsoe was wearing in Sunday’s post-game press conference had an upside-down star (instead of one like this). … Looks like Moises Alou’s helmet doesn’t quite fit (with thanks to John Furstenthal). … Purdue mascot Purdue Pete usually wears No. 1 (at least the live character does — the cartoon version is usually wears a “P”). But this is his 50th season, so he’s wearing No. 50 — except during the school’s recent game wearing 1966 throwbacks, when he wore No. 66. (With thanks to Bill Donovan.) … Soccer news, courtesy of Walt Keys: “FC Barcelona played in their Champion’s League opener in shirts featuring the Unicef logo. While it’s customary for Euro soccer clubs to wear corporate sponsorship, this is the first time in the club’s 107-year history that they’ve worn a third party’s logo. But instead of receiving a fat corporate payoff, FC Barà§a has agreed to donate a portion of their yearly proceeds to the international children’s charity.” Further details here. … Fifteen-letter nameplate! (Thanks to Fred Schlect.) … Some guy from USA Today interviewed me yesterday about Oregon’s uniforms. We spoke for about 20 minutes, covering a lot of interesting aspects and nuances. Somewhat predictably, the two most boring things I said are what made it into the finished article (and they got this site’s URL wrong to boot). Sigh. … Update: They just fixed the URL in the online edition of the article.

 
  
 
Comments (153)

    I agree, those are two monsterously boiring quotes they used.
    Oh, and the extra material in the baseball pants are for sliding purposes… at least that’s what I’ve always assumed. Guess that’s not very helpful.

    About the double layered knees on the pants. The purpose is exactly what you deduced. They are used to reinforce the knee for when a player slides. But I only recall seeing them in polyester pants.

    I wore polyester pants in the early stages of Little League but when I was older switched to cotton. The cotton pants did not have this feature. I used to have to wear a sliding pad on my knee because I developed a hole in those cotton pants. When I got a hole in the polyester my knee was never exposed because of this dual fabric layer.

    I’ve wondered why Lantigua’s pants have been produced in greater numbers. On the bottom of the pants, the pin stripes start to crash into each other. It’s mayhem on the inside of his leg. Look at how classy link look. Granted, those stripes aren’t –perfectly– aligned, but there’s an obvious attention to detail. Compare and contrast to that Lantigua photo and the latter is just plain gross. link, but Jose Reyes’ pants are similarly done like Jeter’s. I find it hard to believe that in Quebec there’s not one tailor that can take care of this pinstriping issue for minimal cost.

    I can’t believe a respectable publication like USA Today would not even think to check to make sure they had the right url. What a shame!!

    If someone else was wearing the upside down star on the sideline, It would have appeared normal to Drew’s usual line of vision on the field, he’s on his back more than a 2 dollar whore. (This lands in the conspirency theroy catagory, but maybe it was like when a flag is hung upside down to signal distress, this star represents the locker room atmosphere with TO in it and he’s displaying a silent protest? )

    Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.

    I always assumed, like most, that the extra fabric was there for extra protection on the most highly-abused part of the pants. I can say from experience, though, that it doesn’t always help a whole lot.

    Just got back from portugal, where the three biggest soccer teams are each sponsored by the same company. I don’t know why the national telephone monopoly needs to adverstise, but that’s not my problem. My problem is that the logo looks like ass on all three teams’ unis.

    Benfica, it’s hard to see, but the jersey color is red, while the logo is orange.

    link, which used to be worse — the vertical striping was narrower so the shirt was very, very busy. At least the blue shades match pretty well. But couldn’t they have reduced the logo to fit in the white stripe?

    link at least moved to a horizontal alignment of the logo to match the striping (“hooping”?), but the color scheme is still awful. Photos of the square logo on these stripes can give you a headache.

    from yesterday…

    [quote comment=”8552″]Alright. I can’t take it any longer. I have to admit it. I really like the new Nike “Briscoe High” commercials. Apparently, they’re going to play a full schedule. New commercial every week which shows highlights from that week’s fictional game. They’re following Briscoe High through the playoffs, where they’ll obviously win it all.

    It’s clever and fresh and the unis aren’t awful, at least not yet.[/quote]

    i totally love the return of jill arrington as ryan’s mom (deion’s wife)… not to mention jillian barberie as the hottie in the hallway…

    Nike’s “Football is Everything,” reinforcing that what happens after the school bell is more important than what happens in the classroom.

    Bledsoe’ upside down star is Clearly a distress signal. Our man Drew is feeling the heat of the incomparable Tony Romo breathing down his neck.

    [quote comment=”8577″]from yesterday…

    [quote comment=”8552″]Alright. I can’t take it any longer. I have to admit it. I really like the new Nike “Briscoe High” commercials. Apparently, they’re going to play a full schedule. New commercial every week which shows highlights from that week’s fictional game. They’re following Briscoe High through the playoffs, where they’ll obviously win it all.

    It’s clever and fresh and the unis aren’t awful, at least not yet.[/quote]

    i totally love the return of jill arrington as ryan’s mom (deion’s wife)… not to mention jillian barberie as the hottie in the hallway…[/quote]

    I also love the Briscoe High commercials. Nike’s best use of cameos since the link.

    [quote comment=”8570″]I can’t believe a respectable publication like USA Today would not even think to check to make sure they had the right url. What a shame!![/quote]

    USAToday=respectable?? HAHAHAHAAHAHAH.
    Journalism-lite, please!

    [quote comment=”8572″]Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.[/quote]

    Agreed with all those, but you have to admit UConn has some nice looking duds. [/UConn fanboy]

    [quote comment=”8572″]Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.[/quote]

    Remember, the SEC is the same conference with the Florida Gators who wore those ridiculous Nike color sleeves last season

    Response to Post #11

    Is Portugal Telecom the monopoly? As recently as two years ago, Benfica was sponsored by Vodafone. I don’t know if Vodafone is still available in Portugal, though.

    I would compare their need to sponsor the three biggest teams to Carling’s decision to sponsor both Celtic and Rangers in Scotland. I think they do this because the fans so violently hate each other that they would not only show loyalty to their team’s sponsor, but they would actively choose not to use their rival’s sponsor. This problem is nipped by sponsoring both of them.

    maybe they went back and fixed it, but the URL I see in there is “(uniwatchblog.com)” which directs to this site just fine. *shrugs*

    The bit on Barca’s advertising isn’t entirely correct. The UNICEF logo is the first that they’ve worn on the front of their shirt. Barca has worn a small patch of Catalan station TV3 on the left sleeve for the last few years. Here’s a pic of Samuel Eto’o with the tiny link.
    It’s pretty impossible to see, but the logo should look like link.

    Now what would really be accurate with those commercials is Urlacher not being able to play because of his lack of knowledge about history and failing a test. (However with the coach as his teacher, he’d pull some strings and get him to play.) And then Ryan and Jillian Barber knock boots at an underage drinking party and after he gets arrested and misses sectionals he finds out she’s pregnant and oops, there goes the scholarship.

    [quote comment=”8568″]About the double layered knees on the pants. The purpose is exactly what you deduced. They are used to reinforce the knee for when a player slides. But I only recall seeing them in polyester pants.

    I wore polyester pants in the early stages of Little League but when I was older switched to cotton. The cotton pants did not have this feature. I used to have to wear a sliding pad on my knee because I developed a hole in those cotton pants. When I got a hole in the polyester my knee was never exposed because of this dual fabric layer.[/quote]

    This is exactly right. Since most minor-league teams and youth teams go with polyester due to it’s “durability” and because it’s cheaper, the reinforced shins come in handy when players blow out a leg. It happens occasionally. I should know. I blew out a leg in our men’s softball game this season playing on what can only be described as gravel.

    With lighter coloured pants, it is noticeable. With black pants, which is what I wear, it is almost unnoticeable except for the threadin

    “Then there are four colors of socks”??? WTF! does that mean they might actually wear yellow socks? or is diamond plate considered a color?

    [quote comment=”8591″]maybe they went back and fixed it, but the URL I see in there is “(uniwatchblog.com)” which directs to this site just fine. *shrugs*[/quote]

    They must have changed it. I looked at it not even a half hour ago and noticed it was wrong.

    Somehow, I got cut-off. Sorry for the additional post.

    Anyway, it is almost unnoticeable except for the threading near the ankle. Since most softball and youth players don’t wear stirrups, and a lot of minor leaguers have gone away from stirrups, this is becoming quite common to protect the leg when sliding.

    One more reason for the rediscovery of the stirrup in baseball.

    [quote comment=”8591″]maybe they went back and fixed it, but the URL I see in there is “(uniwatchblog.com)” which directs to this site just fine. *shrugs*[/quote]
    Yep. Credit where credit’s due. The URL is fine now. (But would it have killed them to make it a hyperlink?)

    [quote comment=”8591″]maybe they went back and fixed it, but the URL I see in there is “(uniwatchblog.com)” which directs to this site just fine. *shrugs*[/quote]

    Ah, they fixed it — nice!

    Too bad they can’t do the same with the print edition…

    I to like the briscoe high commercials, for one im a huge fan of michael vick (and a member of his website (www.mikevick.com/forums) but who is ryan? does he play in the nfl or sumthing?

    [quote comment=”8595″]This is exactly right. Since most minor-league teams and youth teams go with polyester due to it’s “durability” and because it’s cheaper, the reinforced shins come in handy when players blow out a leg.[/quote]
    Wait. What are MLB pants made of? I always thought they were polyester as well. You know, like in the Seinfeld episode where George convinces the Yankees to switch from poly to cotton and all the uniforms shrink.

    “Oh my God, Mattingly just split his pants!”

    [quote comment=”8593″]Now what would really be accurate with those commercials is Urlacher not being able to play because of his lack of knowledge about history and failing a test. (However with the coach as his teacher, he’d pull some strings and get him to play.) And then Ryan and Jillian Barber knock boots at an underage drinking party and after he gets arrested and misses sectionals he finds out she’s pregnant and oops, there goes the scholarship.[/quote]

    shoot. if ryan wants some more burn, then perhaps he should get mom jill arrington to tussle with assistant coach urban meyer.

    Uniwatch’s quote on the Oregon Ducks and their miserable uni situation is cited this morning on Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Fan Opticon blog. For those not in the know RJYH is one of the top college football blogs:

    link

    [quote comment=”8596″]”Then there are four colors of socks”??? WTF! does that mean they might actually wear yellow socks? or is diamond plate considered a color?[/quote]

    From the picture that was with the article, it looks like they wear black socks with the black, white with the yellow and NFL-style white and green with the white, but I can’t tell if they wear green with the green.

    That USA Today article was horrible. Not only were Paul’s quotes boring, they really had nothing to do with the rest of the article. Come on, have they not heard of segue’s?

    I ain’t gonna lie – looking at those stupid pants makes me want to break something. I’m doing my part, though – back when Dmitri Young (an early adopter of the look IIRC) was with the Reds, we heckled him mercilessly about his jammies one day. We were tough to ignore because we had good seats, and he shot us an unpleasant look. Guess we showed him.

    [quote comment=”8600″][quote comment=”8591″]maybe they went back and fixed it, but the URL I see in there is “(uniwatchblog.com)” which directs to this site just fine. *shrugs*[/quote]
    Yep. Credit where credit’s due. The URL is fine now. (But would it have killed them to make it a hyperlink?)[/quote]

    Actually… it is now a hyperlink. Someone there is reading this blog. Big brother.

    PAUL, i was watchin a rerun of a highschool football game on espnU with St. Joe Ans Bosco high and St. Joes wa wearin the florida two tone sleeve thing, one wa white ans the other maron, it like they was some middle school team tryin to look cool,…… they failed

    [quote comment=”8609″]
    …And check out these link.[/quote]

    I say Boca Juniors has link in soccer right now.

    [quote comment=”8610″]Looks like Ronaldinho is sticking with his headbanded look that he started in link.[/quote]

    Ronaldinho wore the headband at least a week before New York, link in LA.

    That baseball pant style isn’t new. Our high school uniforms were just like that, and we wore pinstripes too, so it was noticeable. That was back in 1992.

    And it wasn’t just the game pants. Our practice pants (which were just an old set of game pants) had the same thing going on with the knees. I may actually have a pair of the practice pants stored away somewhere.

    Forget Briscoe High – who are those high school kids who can keep up with NFL Pro Bowlers? Disney needs to get on that movie ASAP.

    Is the guy that plays Ryan in the “Briscoe High” commercials anybody of note, or is he just a random actor?

    Can we make sure that we are sober when we post comments in this section, please people. Am I the only one who needs a translator for the high school football post?

    sorry my post was bad, i was in a major hurry. but the St. Joes prep highschool was wearing the sleeve design like florida an virginia tech with one sleve being white, like the rest of the jersey, and the other sleeve being maroon. and it looked terrible, very sloppy and unclassy to me

    I agree with Todd that Ryan represents the hopes and dreams of boys and men to make it to the NFL.

    As for Purdue Pete, that head of his gives me the creeps.

    As for the quotes in USA Today–way to go, some guy. You have the makings of a fine reporter.

    [quote comment=”8586″]Response to Post #11

    Is Portugal Telecom the monopoly? As recently as two years ago, Benfica was sponsored by Vodafone. I don’t know if Vodafone is still available in Portugal, though.

    I would compare their need to sponsor the three biggest teams to Carling’s decision to sponsor both Celtic and Rangers in Scotland. I think they do this because the fans so violently hate each other that they would not only show loyalty to their team’s sponsor, but they would actively choose not to use their rival’s sponsor. This problem is nipped by sponsoring both of them.[/quote]

    I don’t think Portugal Telecom is a monopoly, but from what it seems, it’s the biggest communications company in the nation (that’s not saying much, since it’s a small country). There was a company called Telecel that sponsored Benfica and was a secondary sponsor for Porto, but I don’t know if that got folded into PT or what. Porto used to be sponsored by Revigre’s for a long, long time, that’s a tile company; Benfica has had numerous sponsors in the past, including a casino and some others. I think it’s interested how we come to identify teams with their sponsors, clearly their marketing is at work with that.

    [quote comment=”8629″]Did you see Oriole pitcher Daniel Cabrera’s link?

    More Gustavo Chacin than “Wild Thing” Ricky Vaughn.[/quote]

    Maybe now he’ll see where the strike zone is…

    All of my old baseball pants from my glory days in the Los Angeles Recreation Center League had the extra layer on the knees. The outer layer of my right knee always ended up with a big hole.

    Why don’t Major Leaguers play in cotton? Was George Costanza the only intelligent man in any front office over the last 40 years?

    In response to that USA Today article, I’ve gotten several inquiries from radio stations that want to interview me (read: looking for free content to fill their airtime). One was a sports talk station in Oregon, whose producer said that having me on would “help stir things up.” Having been around this particular block a few times, I know that’s a polite way of saying, “Come on our show so we can totally abuse you for making fun of our uniforms,” so I declined.

    I did accept an invitation to talk about uniforms on AM 800 CKLW, in Windsor/Detroit, however. They’re gonna have me on at 5:45pm EST. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have streaming audio….

    Ryan may represent the dreams of every high schooler, but they make a pretty big point of establishing that he’s Deion Sanders’ son, so who knows what the real allegory is?

    [quote comment=”8634″]Ryan may represent the dreams of every high schooler, but they make a pretty big point of establishing that he’s Deion Sanders’ son, so who knows what the real allegory is?[/quote]
    Hope they don’t show a clip of Ryan doing any tackling drills, because then we’ll know for sure that he ain’t Deon’s kid……

    So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Pleasure to have you here, David.

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Come on, it’s either do this and enjoy myself, or actually do work and be bored. I mean, really……

    And I would think the world actually hates us because we go into sovereign nations and try to tell them how to live their lives, not necessarily because li’l ol’ Mr. Met is obsessed with team uniforms……

    They had to get Matt Leinart, because Michael Vick can’t even finish a fictional season without spending some time on the DL.

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]

    Anyone who gets their “news” from USA Today would not understand the complexities and beauty of the uniforms on our beloved teams.

    Keep doing what you do, Paul.

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Hmmm… let me get this straight. You read far enough into a USA Today article on the subject of football uniform aesthetics, then you click on the link cited almost all the way at the bottom said article just so that you can come here and bitch about the existence of the site?

    Bravo, sir. (Assuming you are American) you have proved your assertion that we as a society have nothing better to do.

    [quote comment=”8638″][quote comment=”8634″]Ryan may represent the dreams of every high schooler, but they make a pretty big point of establishing that he’s Deion Sanders’ son, so who knows what the real allegory is?[/quote]
    Hope they don’t show a clip of Ryan doing any tackling drills, because then we’ll know for sure that he ain’t Deon’s kid……[/quote]

    i dont get what is going on here.

    i will play along with shula and meyer coaching (as themselves) as well as vick, tomlinson, et al playing (as themselves- jeez their jerseys even say so!) they even named the high school after marlin briscoe for christ sake (he makes an appearance as well). but then, we have the matter of a mr. ryon williams, number 18.

    now, in these commercials there appears deion sanders and jill arrington who are his parents as stated in commercials 1 and 2. but why then, does ryon have a different last name than both his parents?

    is that not REALLY supposed to be deion and jill?

    are these two people supposed to be the only 2 not appearing as themselves in this season long advert?

    [quote comment=”8647″]
    Great. Now I’m screwing up other peoples’ posts. Hopefully this will help.

    Better?[/quote]
    I fixed it, you never closed the “i” tag.

    [quote comment=”8648″][quote comment=”8647″]
    Great. Now I’m screwing up other peoples’ posts. Hopefully this will help.

    Better?[/quote]
    I fixed it, you never closed the “i” tag.[/quote]
    Sure I did. I just used an “a” instead of an “i”

    Uh, I mean thanks for fixing it.

    [quote comment=”8632″]In response to that USA Today article, I’ve gotten several inquiries from radio stations that want to interview me (read: looking for free content to fill their airtime). One was a sports talk station in Oregon, whose producer said that having me on would “help stir things up.” Having been around this particular block a few times, I know that’s a polite way of saying, “Come on our show so we can totally abuse you for making fun of our uniforms,” so I declined.

    I did accept an invitation to talk about uniforms on AM 800 CKLW, in Windsor/Detroit, however. They’re gonna have me on at 5:45pm EST. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have streaming audio….[/quote]

    [personal insult deleted/IP will be banned if this continues      -webmaster edit]

    [quote comment=”8645″]i dont get what is going on here.

    i will play along with shula and meyer coaching (as themselves) as well as vick, tomlinson, et al playing (as themselves- jeez their jerseys even say so!) they even named the high school after marlin briscoe for christ sake (he makes an appearance as well). but then, we have the matter of a mr. ryon williams, number 18.

    now, in these commercials there appears deion sanders and jill arrington who are his parents as stated in commercials 1 and 2. but why then, does ryon have a different last name than both his parents?

    is that not REALLY supposed to be deion and jill?

    are these two people supposed to be the only 2 not appearing as themselves in this season long advert?[/quote]

    They’re all just supposed to be regular citizens. “Ryon” is supposed to be any one of us. You can see Vick, Tomlinson, etc. tying to push him to perform to his potential…

    Deion is just a dad. Steve Young is a local superfan.

    Paul-

    What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.

    [Alright. I’ve had enough of this.      -webmaster ed]

    [I just checked the IP of this comment.   “146.197.243.16”   Guess where it goes?   Beaverton, Oregon.   You can’t make this stuff up, too funny.         -webmaster ed]

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? [/quote]

    Who is he directing this question to? Since the vast majority of people reading and posting on this blog are interested in it, I doubt any of us are “disturbed” that it’s on the internet. His little rant would have been better sent to US Today than here.
    With all the kiddie porn and pedophiles online, it seems a little odd to be upset by a website like this.

    About Purdue Pete:
    Anyone else find it weird that there is a human inside of a mascot depicting a human?
    This has always bugged me about Purdue, Nebraska, etc.

    What’s going on here today?

    Anyway, Colin Cowherd was talking about the USAT article this morning on ESPN Radio. Paul wasn’t mentioned (at least not in the segment I heard).

    Cowherd’s take was that if you don’t have the history & tradition of a Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, etc., you go the opposite route for recruiting. Their target audience is the young kid & for some, having a chance to wear the uniforms that everyone is talking about, is pretty cool.

    [quote comment=”8641″][quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Come on, it’s either do this and enjoy myself, or actually do work and be bored. I mean, really……

    And I would think the world actually hates us because we go into sovereign nations and try to tell them how to live their lives, not necessarily because li’l ol’ Mr. Met is obsessed with team uniforms……[/quote]

    Amen, Senor Met.
    do you call yourself that because your noodle is 8+? :)

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]

    im sure there are thousands of sites on the internet that i know of and that i dont know of that i find disturbing, and not one time, have i gone on a message board of that site’s content and made disrespectful comments towards it or its members.

    it’s a courtesy i afford to those individuals and their preferences, and i would expect the same courtesy in return.

    in the mean time i would check your local listings because tonight you can look forward to: On the set with Rachael Ray, Janet Jackson at the gym and more on the next ET!

    [quote comment=”8653″]Paul-

    What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.

    [Alright. I’ve had enough of this.      -webmaster ed]

    [I just checked the IP of this comment.   “146.197.243.16”   Guess where it goes?   Beaverton, Oregon.   You can’t make this stuff up, too funny.         -webmaster ed][/quote]

    I like talking about uniforms, etc. (why else would I be here), but never did I realize that people take critiques of their team’s uniforms so seriously. I mean if you like Oregon’s uniforms (and it sounds as though Beaverton, OR is fairly united in their love) then defend it. But attacking the person who critiques their uniforms smacks of childishness.

    I guess if I went to a school where the unis sucked that hard, I’d be pretty irritable too.

    Anyway, somone give that man a drink and calm him down.

    [quote comment=”8653″]Paul-

    What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.

    [Alright. I’ve had enough of this.      -webmaster ed]

    [I just checked the IP of this comment.   “146.197.243.16”   Guess where it goes?   Beaverton, Oregon.   You can’t make this stuff up, too funny.         -webmaster ed][/quote]

    HA HA HA HA HA! It resolves to “barrierc241.nike.com” That could be the funniest thing I’ve seen today. (Yes, it’s been a rough day for me.)

    Search results for: 146.197.243.16

    [quote]OrgName: Nike Incorporated
    OrgID: NIKEIN-1
    Address: One Bowerman Drive
    Address: Legal, DF/4
    City: Beaverton
    StateProv: OR
    PostalCode: 97005-6453
    Country: US

    NetRange: 146.197.0.0 – 146.197.255.255
    CIDR: 146.197.0.0/16
    NetName: NIKE
    NetHandle: NET-146-197-0-0-1
    Parent: NET-146-0-0-0-0
    NetType: Direct Assignment
    NameServer: BARRIER241.NIKE.COM
    NameServer: BARRIERB241.NIKE.COM
    Comment:
    RegDate: 1991-02-28
    Updated: 2003-05-01

    OrgTechHandle: IDT-ARIN
    OrgTechName: Internet Domain Technical
    OrgTechPhone: +1-503-671-2635
    OrgTechEmail: link[/quote]

    Nothing like an unbiased opinion on Oregon’s Nike uniforms, huh?

    Also, as a webmaster, do any of you have any idea what an absolutely fabulous piece of information this guy just gave me?

    Man, that Oregon guy was such a hypocrite…
    If its all about the sport and watching the game why wouldn’t nike outfit them in a solid jersey with no stripes or anything instead of those turds they wear.

    What a shame, cause from the neck up, Oregon looks like one of the best teams out there…

    Thanks to David (#64) and j (#77), I prompted to say what I should have said sooner: Paul (and webmaster Ed) thank you for your ongoing efforts. You have helped raise a lifelong interest of mine to the level of passion, and have done so intelligently and with a sense of humor. Thank you for giving me someplace to go for a few minutes every day where I can “hang out” with some like-minded and interesteing folks.

    [quote comment=”8665″]Thanks to David (#64) and j (#77), I prompted to say what I should have said sooner: Paul (and webmaster Ed) thank you for your ongoing efforts. You have helped raise a lifelong interest of mine to the level of passion, and have done so intelligently and with a sense of humor. Thank you for giving me someplace to go for a few minutes every day where I can “hang out” with some like-minded and interesteing folks.[/quote]
    I’m the webmaster and “webmaster ed” stands for “webmaster edit”.

    Haha. Maybe I should change it.

    [quote comment=”8667″][quote comment=”8665″]Thanks to David (#64) and j (#77), I prompted to say what I should have said sooner: Paul (and webmaster Ed) thank you for your ongoing efforts. You have helped raise a lifelong interest of mine to the level of passion, and have done so intelligently and with a sense of humor. Thank you for giving me someplace to go for a few minutes every day where I can “hang out” with some like-minded and interesteing folks.[/quote]
    I’m the webmaster and “webmaster ed” stands for “webmaster edit”.

    Haha. Maybe I should change it.[/quote]
    Like when Bud Bundy changed his name to Grandmaster B?

    [quote comment=”8666″][quote comment=”8663″]

    Also, as a webmaster, do any of you have any idea what an absolutely fabulous piece of information this guy just gave me?[/quote]

    i give up john…[/quote]
    There are some fun things I can do, especially since it’s nike. I would never do anything malicious or vandalistic, but I can control how this page loads, looks, what information is sent, etc. depending on what IP is trying to access it. This one little incident is not going to make me change anything, but let’s just say I’m filing this info away in the ‘ol memory bank.

    [quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Beings that 90% of the rest of the Internet is porn, I think this is actually a good thing to waste your time obsessing about. You won’t get divorced if your wife catches you posting here

    [quote comment=”8655″]About Purdue Pete:
    Anyone else find it weird that there is a human inside of a mascot depicting a human?
    This has always bugged me about Purdue, Nebraska, etc.[/quote]

    I tend to agree, primarily because the “human” mascots tend to look extremely dorky. I am born and bred Cornhusker who is proud of my school and its nickname, but I will readily admit that mascot Herbie Husker is terrible.

    When I went to school there in the 1980s, there was a grass roots movement to dump Herbie and replace him with a mascot called Husker Rat. The theory was that it was one of the big ol’ rats that hang out in grain bins. Someone created a nifty looking logo, and I even bought one of the t-shirts.

    Alas, it never caught on and Herbie remains.

    Damn, this sucks, because I’m one of the few that loves it when Nike pushes the boundaries. If they are going to experiment with Oregon’s uniforms, they should expect some criticism. I really hope it’s some low-level intern being the crybaby; I’d be really disappointed if it was a higher-level employee.

    The one thing I like about Oregon’s unis are I don’t have to see them everyweek. Being in Ohio I tend to be doing something else when the west coast schools are on. So let them experiment all they want out west but not out east!

    [quote comment=”8655″]About Purdue Pete:
    Anyone else find it weird that there is a human inside of a mascot depicting a human?
    This has always bugged me about Purdue, Nebraska, etc.[/quote]

    When your mascot is a human character (like a Boilermaker, Cornhusker, or Patriot), you can’t avoid having a person portray the human character. :)

    As far as logo creep on Pete, Pete has worn a team uniform for football and basketball for some years now and thus experiences the same logo creep as the players do on their uniforms. At football games, Pete usually wears receiver’s gloves with a pretty prominent swoosh as well.

    Pete’s been jersey #1 for quite a few years now, with the exception of this year’s #50 and the #66 for the 1966 Throwback Game, with the last major exception being the Outback Bowl on 1/1/2000 when Pete was number 00. It was neat seeing a football jersey with 00 on it. I wonder what happened to the jersey….

    As far as the crazy posts above, it’s pretty amazing that someone would come here with an agenda like that person from Oregon, and funny that they would be found out! :D

    [quote comment=”8673″]Damn, this sucks, because I’m one of the few that loves it when Nike pushes the boundaries. If they are going to experiment with Oregon’s uniforms, they should expect some criticism. I really hope it’s some low-level intern being the crybaby; I’d be really disappointed if it was a higher-level employee.[/quote]

    well, i know from my niketalk.com message board that nike has internet watchdogs for things like this (we have actually received some cease and desist letters based on posted content that leaked)… i mean, this is the worlds largest focus group!

    i wouldnt be surprised if it is simply an intern with carte blanche to fire back at will…

    On the Nike Briscoe commercials:

    Lee Corso is on Mike and the Mad Dog in New York right now talking about it. He said he was there for 2 days shooting the spots at a local high school stadium in the L.A. area. He also said there were over 5000 extras and it was a gigantic production.

    [quote comment=”8675″][quote comment=”8655″]About Purdue Pete:
    Anyone else find it weird that there is a human inside of a mascot depicting a human?
    This has always bugged me about Purdue, Nebraska, etc.[/quote]

    When your mascot is a human character (like a Boilermaker, Cornhusker, or Patriot), you can’t avoid having a person portray the human character. :)

    As far as logo creep on Pete, Pete has worn a team uniform for football and basketball for some years now and thus experiences the same logo creep as the players do on their uniforms. At football games, Pete usually wears receiver’s gloves with a pretty prominent swoosh as well.

    Pete’s been jersey #1 for quite a few years now, with the exception of this year’s #50 and the #66 for the 1966 Throwback Game, with the last major exception being the Outback Bowl on 1/1/2000 when Pete was number 00. It was neat seeing a football jersey with 00 on it. I wonder what happened to the jersey….

    As far as the crazy posts above, it’s pretty amazing that someone would come here with an agenda like that person from Oregon, and funny that they would be found out! :D[/quote]

    Perhaps only a human mascot can portray a school whose nickname incorporates a person, but what about schools like Notre Dame (the short Irish guy on the sideline at every game), USC (the Trojan replete with shiny armor), and Florida State (the Seminole and his famous flaming spear, or whatver the hell it is).

    My point is that these schools all have human mascots and they didn’t feel like they had to go with the cartoonish look.

    [quote comment=”8671″][quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Beings that 90% of the rest of the Internet is porn, I think this is actually a good thing to waste your time obsessing about. You won’t get divorced if your wife catches you posting here[/quote]

    Raul, you need to incorporate your wife into your porn hobby. If you do that, she’ll come around…. :)

    More Corso talk:

    Mad Dog just asked him about the Oregon game coming up and Corso said, “I can hardly keep them straight because they have 500 uniforms. I’m waiting for them to mix-and-match them so all the players are wearing different uniforms at the same time.”

    What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.[/quote]

    Man, I’m sorry I missed this kerfuffle.

    This goes to the heart of one of the things that I like most about Uniwatch – the idea that certain things are objectively good and objectively terrible. The Detroit Tigers look sharp in their uniform; the Rockies look like dogshit. Sure you can say “it’s taste, and taste is subjective so who are you to judge?” and that’s true to a point, but Television is objectively good and Nickelback is objectively terrible and if you argue those things then you are wrong. I know this guy was just a Nike shill but a lot of people probably feel the same way. “I like the Oregon uniforms, and that’s my opinion so who are you to say I’m wrong?” Humanity, that’s who. Those things are an affront to nature, much like my beloved Hokies’ nonsymmetric sleeves. This is an objective fact, disputed only by idiots and little children who don’t know any better.

    Did you ever go on blogs for tv shows? WOW those people actually think the shows are real. I’d rather keep the conversations to sports related.

    [quote comment=”8678″]Perhaps only a human mascot can portray a school whose nickname incorporates a person, but what about schools like Notre Dame (the short Irish guy on the sideline at every game), USC (the Trojan replete with shiny armor), and Florida State (the Seminole and his famous flaming spear, or whatver the hell it is).

    My point is that these schools all have human mascots and they didn’t feel like they had to go with the cartoonish look.[/quote]

    When you have four or more different people portraying the mascot, like Purdue does with Pete, each with a different face and other features, the only way you can keep uniformity is to have some kind of mask. It’s hard to avoid being “cartoonish” with a mask like that.

    Purdue considered changing Pete to a Sparty-like foamy costume with a total makeover in clothing, and the resounding vote was to keep Pete the same. So folks seem to be happy with him as-is. :) Plus his head is made by students in the Aviation Technology department with composite materials, which is a pretty neat connection.

    Bringing it back to uniforms, Pete’s wearing #50 this year in honor of his 50th birthday, and Pete has always been “cartoonish”–in fact, he originated as a cartooon! :) I don’t think he’ll change anytime soon, especially in light of the vote to keep him unchanged.

    As far as uniforms go for Pete, he wears a basketball uniform to basketball games, but often wears the football gear to other events like other sports and public appearances.

    [quote comment=”8585″][quote comment=”8572″]Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.[/quote]

    Remember, the SEC is the same conference with the Florida Gators who wore those ridiculous Nike color sleeves last season[/quote]

    I forgot about Florida’s orange sleeves… but remember Virginia Tech’s, which were worse.

    All this mascot talk takes me back to comment #109 from yesterday’s post:

    [quote comment=”8555″]I was pleasantly surprised to read some discussion about Indiana University’s football uniforms. Of the possible combinations they have, the only one I don’t like is crimson-on-crimson.

    I say “crimson” specifically because up until 2001 or 2002, IU’s athletic teams were a mishmash of different shades of red and a multitude of IU logos, including the hideous logo. The new AD dictated that all IU teams adopt the same logo and color scheme and had a design firm produce an updated “IU”. It’s the only good thing this AD did, as he generally left the whole athletics department a mess when he left.[/quote]
    the AD’s name was Michael McNeely. One of the items on his wishlist was that he wanted to create a new mascot.

    Thankfully this never happened (unless you count the chunk of limestone at the north end of Memorial Stadium). Otherwise we could have been stuck with an updated version of link. Or maybe he would have just unearthed the old costume. What? You don’t recall Hoosier Pride, the IU mascot from 1979 all the way to 1980? It was possibly the worst “human” mascot of all time.

    P.S. Thoughts and prayers to Terry Hoeppner as he recovers from brain surgery.
    link

    [quote comment=”8683″][quote comment=”8678″]Perhaps only a human mascot can portray a school whose nickname incorporates a person, but what about schools like Notre Dame (the short Irish guy on the sideline at every game), USC (the Trojan replete with shiny armor), and Florida State (the Seminole and his famous flaming spear, or whatver the hell it is).

    My point is that these schools all have human mascots and they didn’t feel like they had to go with the cartoonish look.[/quote]

    When you have four or more different people portraying the mascot, like Purdue does with Pete, each with a different face and other features, the only way you can keep uniformity is to have some kind of mask. It’s hard to avoid being “cartoonish” with a mask like that.[/quote]

    Good point. But then how do Notre Dame, et al do it? Is it one person or multiple? Could Purdue simply choose people based upon their physical characeristics? (as I’m sure Notre Dame dose…unless of course everyone who goes there who’s not on the football team is only 5 ft. tall).

    What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.

    Touche to Nike! They win the battle here. The fact that anyone is paying attention to the Oregon Ducks uniforms (as unusual as they might appear) means Nike is getting exposure for their brand. And an article in USA Today actually brings significantly more attention (positive or negative) than Uniwatch, Creamer or any other sports identity site could hope for.

    That’s why they get it.

    GSH

    [quote comment=”8689″]Touche to Nike! They win the battle here. The fact that anyone is paying attention to the Oregon Ducks uniforms (as unusual as they might appear) means Nike is getting exposure for their brand.[/quote]

    Oh, please. The whole “It’s designed to get a reaction, that’s the whole idea!” argument is so bogus and weak. Yeah, if they went out there with giant swatsikas plastered on their jerseys, I’m sure everyrone would talk about that too — and hey, that would mean it’s a huge success, right?

    To those of you advancing this argument, here’s a thought: Everyone stops and looks at a car wreck. But that doesn’t make a car wreck a good thing.

    Anyone with “Oregon football” in the Banned from Uni Watch” pool, step forward to claim your winnings.

    If you backed one of the other entrants
    “Logo creep”
    “P*rp*e”
    “Monochromatic football”
    “Alternate jersey”, or
    “Baseball jammie bottoms”
    please play again.

    Wow, just wow. What a spiteful day our little Uni-verse is having. Thanks, Nike shill! Way to make converts. By the way, we are allowed to judge because the last time I checked, freedom of speech was still in the Constitution. Though it might not be much longer.

    Ek, Ed, John–thanks for being on top of things, and keep that info in a safe place. I have a feeling that we can look forward to more infiltration in the future.

    Topical but a bit OT:

    Earlier today, Jan Vennagor of Hesselink, the biggest name in football, scored the opener for Celtic in the Match Day 1 of the European Champions League.

    link insists his full name appear on all jerseys, including when he plays for the Dutch national team.

    For example, link

    [quote comment=”8679″][quote comment=”8671″][quote comment=”8639″]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]
    Beings that 90% of the rest of the Internet is porn, I think this is actually a good thing to waste your time obsessing about. You won’t get divorced if your wife catches you posting here[/quote]

    Raul, you need to incorporate your wife into your porn hobby. If you do that, she’ll come around…. :)[/quote]
    I don’t have a porn hobby. A friend of mine from high school lost his six figure job after sexually harassing a female coworker. He told me his porn habit led him to see all women that way and it has destroyed his life. I’m just glad it was him and not me.

    I know I do not have to remind Uniwatch readers of this fact but Phil Knight (Nike founder) contributes millions of dollars to his alma mater, the Oregon athletic program.

    Nike uses the Ducks as their own “on-field” labratory and in turn a promotional machine to get attention to the co-brands.

    GSH

    [quote comment=”8652″][quote comment=”8645″]i dont get what is going on here.

    i will play along with shula and meyer coaching (as themselves) as well as vick, tomlinson, et al playing (as themselves- jeez their jerseys even say so!) they even named the high school after marlin briscoe for christ sake (he makes an appearance as well). but then, we have the matter of a mr. ryon williams, number 18.

    now, in these commercials there appears deion sanders and jill arrington who are his parents as stated in commercials 1 and 2. but why then, does ryon have a different last name than both his parents?

    is that not REALLY supposed to be deion and jill?

    are these two people supposed to be the only 2 not appearing as themselves in this season long advert?[/quote]

    They’re all just supposed to be regular citizens. “Ryon” is supposed to be any one of us. You can see Vick, Tomlinson, etc. tying to push him to perform to his potential…

    Deion is just a dad. Steve Young is a local superfan.[/quote]
    Steve Young and Ryon’s father r both from former Briscoe State Champion teams according to link

    [quote comment=”8699″]Hate to nit pick, but it’s Takashi.[/quote]

    That’s not nitpicking — that’s a big mistake on my part. Thanks for pointing it out.

    I’ve corrected the text.

    [quote]So, is any one else disturbed that there is actually a site like this on the internet? I mean I didn’t realize that watching or playing sports had ANYTHING to do with how the players LOOKED on the field. I mean if I cared about what someone was wearing I would be watching Entertainment Tonight, NOT watching football…

    Seeing this site quoted in a mainstream US newspaper and actually seeing that people actually care about this crap is just further proof that Americans have nothing better to do! It is no wonder the rest of the world hates us….[/quote]

    LOL @ flame attempt

    [quote comment=”8680″]More Corso talk:

    Mad Dog just asked him about the Oregon game coming up and Corso said, “I can hardly keep them straight because they have 500 uniforms. I’m waiting for them to mix-and-match them so all the players are wearing different uniforms at the same time.”[/quote]

    I remember reading somewhere that the 1980ish Pirates toyed with the idea of doing that for a game but decided not to. Anyone remember anything like that from an interview or anything?

    The ump just made magglio ordonez tuck in his back pocket that was inside out during his at bat in the bottom of the 4th. I know you guys talk about it a lot, but never realized it was against the rules

    [quote comment=”8704″]The ump just made magglio ordonez tuck in his back pocket that was inside out during his at bat in the bottom of the 4th. I know you guys talk about it a lot, but never realized it was against the rules[/quote]

    There’s nothing in the rules about the pocket per se. But the rules do state that the uniform can’t be so baggy as to create an unfair advantage (i.e., to make it more likely that you’d be hit by a pitch), so that’s probably what it was about.

    I’m sorry if this has been covered…I didn’t read all of the comments.

    Saito weras a Mizuno belt that is popular with Japanes baseball players. The blue material on the belt is actually patent leather and is a very shiny blue.

    These belts ( with a darker shade of blue) were used by the Japan team in this year’s WBC.

    Paul did you see the yankee game last night where bernie was seen multiple times on the bench wearing a yankees hat with the american flag on the side (most likely from the night before) while the rest of the team was not? Also has anyone asked why the yankees who normally wear the FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority hats that the mets and marlins and umps had on didnt do anything of the sort this year?

    [quote comment=”8566″]link[/quote]

    Well, many people feel that Jerry Jones did make a deal with the Devil in signing T.O. Maybe Drew is just trying to emphasize it with the upside-down star……?

    [quote comment=”8696″]I don’t have a porn hobby. A friend of mine from high school lost his six figure job after sexually harassing a female coworker. He told me his porn habit led him to see all women that way and it has destroyed his life. I’m just glad it was him and not me.[/quote]
    My porn habit, on the other hand, has opened my eyes to a ton of stuff that I am missing out on…… :P

    Vikes redux. Had dinner tonight with a friend of mine who had this important question to ask me: Why are the Vikings uniforms blue? I thought they were purple. I launched yet again into my diatribe about the new unis, even mentioning you guys again and the good fight against random striping–to no avail. She, too, was only concerned that the unis weren’t purple.

    I’m a lonely uni-obsessed gal out here in MN. Glad I have this site.

    I was watching the Rangers/Tigers brought to you by Majestic game today and notices that the Majestic Logo was on the left sleeve of the Rangers vest and the Tigers jersey. I take it that the logo is on that side because most batters are righties?

    And boo Oregon Unis….just boo.

    [quote comment=”8689″]What makes you a design expert anyway? You say there is good design and bad design…..what the f*ck do you know about design?

    You’ve obvously missed the entire point of the uniforms…..TO GET PEOPLE TALKING!

    Thanks for pushing the agenda.

    Touche to Nike! They win the battle here. The fact that anyone is paying attention to the Oregon Ducks uniforms (as unusual as they might appear) means Nike is getting exposure for their brand. And an article in USA Today actually brings significantly more attention (positive or negative) than Uniwatch, Creamer or any other sports identity site could hope for.

    That’s why they get it.

    GSH[/quote]

    The point of a uniform is to get people talking? That’s it? A lot of the talk about Oregon’s recent football uniforms has been quite negative and of the nature of how Nike needs to stop making such clown suits. It’s not a good thing to have that kind of talk incessantly, even if people do say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Nike’s influence on Oregon’s recent uniforms has been a disaster, and it is a turnoff. Since my Boilers are playing Oregon in a couple years, I know a lot of people whose first thought when they hear the phrase “Oregon Football” is not “what a good football team” but rather things like “I won’t be able to watch that game with Oregon’s uniforms” and “I can’t believe Oregon whores themselves out to Nike.” Not good publicity….

    I’m all for people being entitled to their own oppinions, so go ahead and make fun of Oregon’s uniforms. I, however, will say that IN PERSON, those uniforms look sharp. No picture or TV screen will do them justice. Am I biased? Of course I am, but those uniforms, especially the black ones in the fog of the 2005 Civil War game look amazing.

    The point of a uniform is to get people talking? That’s it? A lot of the talk about Oregon’s recent football uniforms has been quite negative and of the nature of how Nike needs to stop making such clown suits. It’s not a good thing to have that kind of talk incessantly, even if people do say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Nike’s influence on Oregon’s recent uniforms has been a disaster, and it is a turnoff. Since my Boilers are playing Oregon in a couple years, I know a lot of people whose first thought when they hear the phrase “Oregon Football” is not “what a good football team” but rather things like “I won’t be able to watch that game with Oregon’s uniforms” and “I can’t believe Oregon whores themselves out to Nike.” Not good publicity….

    A lot of the publicity has been negative on this and the Creamer site and that’s it…and hate to tell you but this is not Fashion Week in NY’s web site Bill…

    The Ducks unusual unis have not killed the Oregon fan base… sold out all season.

    I could’nt name one player on the Oregon team, but I’ve heard more discussions about their uniforms (good and bad) than any other team on blogs or in USA Today or ESPN… so they’ve already won the PR battle whether you choose to accept it or not is your perrogative.

    Heck we’re debating it right now so touche to Nike, Gotcha.

    GSH

    I think the TV screen does do the Oregon unis justice. I saw the game Saturday night, they looked so cartoonish that I kept wainting for the anvils to fall from the sky

    [quote comment=”8718″]Heck we’re debating it right now so touche to Nike, Gotcha.[/quote]

    Again, this talking = success standard is beyond lame. Everyone’s “talking about” the Iraq war too, so I suppose that’s another PR success?

    And what’s with the “gotcha”? Like, this is all some clever ploy by Nike, to create something so miserably awful that it floats to the top of public consciousness and is therefore some sort of convoluted triumph of branding? Remember, shit floats too.

    Cheap spectacle and over-the-top sensationalism will always be easy ways to garner attention. They’re also lazy and creatively bankrupt. Anyone who thinks that good design is simply a matter of getting tongues wagging needs to think harder. A LOT harder.

    [quote comment=”8572″]Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.[/quote]

    not all the Big East is terrible, Rutgers uniforms are awesomely classy

    #129 by Minna H on 09.13.06 9:26 pm

    link

    Enjoy.

    Vikes redux. Had dinner tonight with a friend of mine who had this important question to ask me: Why are the Vikings uniforms blue? I thought they were purple. I launched yet again into my diatribe about the new unis, even mentioning you guys again and the good fight against random striping–to no avail. She, too, was only concerned that the unis weren’t purple.

    I’m a lonely uni-obsessed gal out here in MN. Glad I have this site.

    Wow, a lot of hate going on today and tonight! Never though a board discussing unis could get soooo heated!!

    It’s easy to see that Nike makes very advanced products in terms of the technology involved. The Oregon Unis are lighter and I’m sure they fit better than those of the past.

    This kind of advancement is great. Football has always been on the forefront of technology, better helmets, lighter helmets, pads that can be water cooled, etc.

    The problem comes when function is forgotten in the blinding light of branding. I’ve wondered why over the past few years Nike can’t just make say, a blue undershirt. “Nope, it’s gotta have dots right at the elbow…that’s a great idea. Then people will know it’s us, and we’ll make more money.”

    Why, oh why can’t they just make normal products? They usually have the best product for the job, but more often than not it’s too ugly to wear.

    Waaaay behind the posts today… since today was so hectic, I guess the only thing I’ll say is that I don’t know if that guy’s IP should have been posted here. I don’t know much about computer privacy and html and firewalls… but couldn’t someone do some damage with that? If it’s useless, then whatever. But, I’d feel guilty if anything happened to that guy’s shit—-even though his opinion means about as much as my ball sweat.

    [quote comment=”8725″]Waaaay behind the posts today… since today was so hectic, I guess the only thing I’ll say is that I don’t know if that guy’s IP should have been posted here. I don’t know much about computer privacy and html and firewalls… but couldn’t someone do some damage with that? If it’s useless, then whatever. But, I’d feel guilty if anything happened to that guy’s shit—-even though his opinion means about as much as my ball sweat.[/quote]
    He insulted Paul, the blog and the people who post here in a profanity-laced tirade not once but twice, all from Nike’s headquarters presumably using Nike-owned computers. I can’t imagine Nike is happy about that.

    There’s nothing wrong with posting the IP, especially in this situation.

    Last post for the day. George, thanks for the link, though I’m not exactly sure how it fits with my lament. Also, touche is not correct in this instance. You can take your hat off to Nike instead. As for them winning, it all depends on what is their aim. If it’s to secure their fan base, well, that’s not hard to do as fans are incredibly loyal. If, however, their goal is to bring in new customers, I think they will fail in that respect. Yes, we are talking about it here, but how many of us are going to rush out and buy the Oregon gear? Nobody who is not a fan already, I’ll wager. Our talking about it will most likely reinforce our negative mindsets about the gear. THAT is what Nike apparently doesn’t understand.

    [quote comment=”8656″]What’s going on here today?

    Anyway, Colin Cowherd was talking about the USAT article this morning on ESPN Radio. Paul wasn’t mentioned (at least not in the segment I heard).

    Cowherd’s take was that if you don’t have the history & tradition of a Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, etc., you go the opposite route for recruiting. Their target audience is the young kid & for some, having a chance to wear the uniforms that everyone is talking about, is pretty cool.[/quote]

    FWIW, Cowherd used be a local Portland sports-talk host, and was for the most part a Ducks kiss-up. To see (or hear) him defend what the Ducks are doing does not surprise me a bit.

    Sorry, I wasn’t clear. If Nike’s goal is to secure the Oregon fanbase, well, that’s not hard to do as fans are incredibly loyal.

    The rest is the same. Good night, all, and let’s see if the Uni-verse is a bit more pleasant in the morning.

    [quote comment=”8720″][quote comment=”8718″]Heck we’re debating it right now so touche to Nike, Gotcha.[/quote]

    Again, this talking = success standard is beyond lame. Everyone’s “talking about” the Iraq war too, so I suppose that’s another PR success?

    And what’s with the “gotcha”? Like, this is all some clever ploy by Nike, to create something so miserably awful that it floats to the top of public consciousness and is therefore some sort of convoluted triumph of branding? Remember, shit floats too.

    Cheap spectacle and over-the-top sensationalism will always be easy ways to garner attention. They’re also lazy and creatively bankrupt. Anyone who thinks that good design is simply a matter of getting tongues wagging needs to think harder. A LOT harder.[/quote]

    I think I’m experiencing Oregon uni-fatigue. Can we generally agree that the vast majority of this community detests the look while the minority that likes them are entitled to their sartorially-stunted opinions.

    While Oregon’s unis have sparked a lot of discussion, they won’t be remembered in history as classics.

    Good uniforms become classic when they transcend sports and become a visual icon easily identifiable to even casual observers. A few of these timeless classics stand out — Yankee pinstripes, Notre Dame’s golden helmets, the Tigers’ old English “D”, the Cowboys’ star. I’m biased, of course, but I would venture that IU’s candy-striped basketball warmups fall into this category.

    While taste may be subjective, history is not. There’s a reason classic uniform concepts endure.

    I remember reading somewhere that the 1980ish Pirates toyed with the idea of doing that for a game but decided not to. Anyone remember anything like that from an interview or anything?

    My recollection is that the players wanted to have someone wearing each of the nine possible combinations on the field, but the equipment manager told them that they were required to wear the same uniform.

    (And before anybody posts about more than nine combinations, the cap color was dictated by the jersey and the sock color by the pants – gold cap with black jersey, black cap with gold or white jersey, and the socks worked the same.)

    [quote comment=”8726″]He insulted Paul, the blog and the people who post here in a profanity-laced tirade not once but twice, all from Nike’s headquarters presumably using Nike-owned computers. I can’t imagine Nike is happy about that.

    There’s nothing wrong with posting the IP, especially in this situation.[/quote]
    What’s the first thing they tell you when you go to work at any corporation? Don’t use the company’s computers and e-mail for your own personal use.

    That being said, maybe Nike sanctioned it, maybe not. If they did sanction it, then posting the IP is fair game. if they didn’t sanction it, then too bad for them; maybe they shouldn’t hire people who are lacking in the art of discretion.

    Either way, if the roles were reversed, I’m not so sure The Swoosh wouldn’t do the same thing. All’s fair in love and war……

    [quote comment=”8732″][quote comment=”8726″]He insulted Paul, the blog and the people who post here in a profanity-laced tirade not once but twice, all from Nike’s headquarters presumably using Nike-owned computers. I can’t imagine Nike is happy about that.

    There’s nothing wrong with posting the IP, especially in this situation.[/quote]
    What’s the first thing they tell you when you go to work at any corporation? Don’t use the company’s computers and e-mail for your own personal use.

    That being said, maybe Nike sanctioned it, maybe not. If they did sanction it, then posting the IP is fair game. if they didn’t sanction it, then too bad for them; maybe they shouldn’t hire people who are lacking in the art of discretion.

    Either way, if the roles were reversed, I’m not so sure The Swoosh wouldn’t do the same thing. All’s fair in love and war……[/quote]
    For some reason many people think the internet is totally anonymous. It isn’t. Every time you post on a message board or a blog, send an email or even visit a website, there’s a record of it.

    It’s no different than calling someone on the phone and screaming profanities at them without blocking caller ID.

    Just for the record, posting an IP address isn’t anything malicious. Only very determined, intelligent and knowledgable internet wizards could do anything with that info, and they’d be able to find that IP address by themselves.

    The bottom line was that this person used company property to verbally assult people on the internet. I’m not gonna do him any favors.

    Just thought I would mention that UniWatch got a mention on a Oklahoma City Sports Radio show yesterday. The host Jim Traber a former Orioles first baseman made mention of the USA Today article and aggreed with Paul’s comments and mentioned the site by name a few times.

    About Bledsoe, it’s the same thing as when you fly a falg upside down…it’s a sign of distress. He had a terrible game and he can probably hear Romo’s footsteps behind him.

    [quote comment=”8718″]The point of a uniform is to get people talking? That’s it? A lot of the talk about Oregon’s recent football uniforms has been quite negative and of the nature of how Nike needs to stop making such clown suits. It’s not a good thing to have that kind of talk incessantly, even if people do say that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. Nike’s influence on Oregon’s recent uniforms has been a disaster, and it is a turnoff. Since my Boilers are playing Oregon in a couple years, I know a lot of people whose first thought when they hear the phrase “Oregon Football” is not “what a good football team” but rather things like “I won’t be able to watch that game with Oregon’s uniforms” and “I can’t believe Oregon whores themselves out to Nike.” Not good publicity….

    A lot of the publicity has been negative on this and the Creamer site and that’s it…and hate to tell you but this is not Fashion Week in NY’s web site Bill…

    The Ducks unusual unis have not killed the Oregon fan base… sold out all season.

    I could’nt name one player on the Oregon team, but I’ve heard more discussions about their uniforms (good and bad) than any other team on blogs or in USA Today or ESPN… so they’ve already won the PR battle whether you choose to accept it or not is your perrogative.

    Heck we’re debating it right now so touche to Nike, Gotcha.

    GSH[/quote]

    OK, well, George, tell me this. I have not bought a pair of Nike shoes since these debacles they call technology have begun occurring- one-color sleeves, dot-matrix baseball shirts, etc. Now I realize the loss of my shoe business will not cause Nike to go out of business. However, I know for a fact that I am not the only person who has done this. I imagine Paul has probably done this as well, for example. Now how can you rationalize that LOSING BUSINESS is good for them? Keep in mind they’re trying to MAKE money…
    And the sad thing is, I actually liked their old green jerseys with yellow helmets and the interlocking “OU”, which they last wore in their Fiesta Bowl loss to Colorado several years ago… not coincidentally, the last game I actually wanted the Quack Attack to win…

    [quote comment=”8684″][quote comment=”8585″][quote comment=”8572″]Oregon’s unspeakably awful unis belong in the Big East alonside the disasters worn by West Virginia, Cincinnati and Syracuse.

    Note that you don’t see “sartoricide” in the tradition-laden SEC, where football teams still dress the part.[/quote]

    Remember, the SEC is the same conference with the Florida Gators who wore those ridiculous Nike color sleeves last season[/quote]

    I forgot about Florida’s orange sleeves… but remember Virginia Tech’s, which were worse.[/quote]

    How was VT’s worse, same uni just different colors. They both sucked. Your Gator bias is showing… = )

    About the Japanese, they love patent leather. I had some patent leather Mizuno (Paul’s gonna cry but they were white) spikes when I was in HS that my (Jpnse) mom bought for me in Tokyo. I was styling…everyone asked me about those shoes. They have some baseball bags too that are so shiny you’d think a Marine spit polished them, LOL. Makes it easy to clean…

    BTW, who’s illin on Herbie Husker, that’s the coolest mascot ever, next to Pistol Pete, and this from an Okie. = D

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