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Uni Watch

‘Plaid’ Is Not an Official Team Color — Yet

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It’s been a weird six weeks or so for the Rays. First came the plaid blazers. Then the blazers begat plaid-brimmed cap design that somehow became anointed as the team’s BP cap. The kicker came last night, as the Rays trotted out the plaid-brimmed hats e for last night’s game against the Orioles.

I was out of the house all night — first in Manhattan at the “60 interviews in 60 minutes” radio thing (my teeny segment of which went really well, thank you) and then in Hoboken to see Dump and the Clean (who both rocked the house quite nicely) — so I missed this new milestone in baseball headwear. My ex post facto assessment, written at 2am while half-asleep, is something like this:

Did the caps look good? Not particularly, but they didn’t look that bad either. The Rays’ uniform is such a snooze that any bit of added visual interest is welcome from where I sit. Also, remember that this is the same team that added the striped socks a few months back. In an era when every team takes its marching orders from MLB HQ, I like that there’s a team willing to do its own thing. (And besides, it’s not like plaid has never appeared on a baseball diamond before.)

Moreover, the plaid program seems to fit skipper Joe Maddon’s studiously eccentric persona. So while the caps may simply be a marketing gimmick, they don’t feel like one, at least not to me. They just feel like an extension of Maddon’s sensibility. Look at this quote he gave after the game: “All this stuff has been done in different ways before. When something new comes out, people, some enjoy it, some frown upon it, some don’t get it and that’s OK.”

Good for him. And for them.

New ESPN column today — here’s the link.

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Pretty amazing, even for them: I recently got a note from reader Eric Discher. “I’m the type of guy who removes the button from the top of all my baseball caps,” he said. “So when my wife bought me a cap from USA Soccer, I promptly removed the button. Well, on the underside of the cap, there’s the metal thing that keeps the button in place. Here’s what I found upon removing it.”

Boy, they don’t miss a trick, do they?

Giveaway reminder: I’m currently giving away an original uniform painting from the Maple Leaf Productions archives. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Yesterday I mentioned that Air Force would be wearing special uniforms this weekend against Army, but we didn’t have a photo. Now we do. “As an alumnus, I take a lot of pride in the lightning bolt helmets and am not a big fan of the change,” says Brett Waller. I love the bolts too, but I have to admit that I kinda dig this helmet. Reminds me of a circa-’62 all-star design or something like that. Necessary? Definitely not. More stupid than good? Probably. But I like it anyway. ”¦ Update: As several readers have quickly pointed out, the Air Force helmet design is based on the tail design of Thunderbird figher planes. … Hmmm, is this the Twins’ new BP jersey for next season? No, it’s not — I’ve seen the new BP designs, and that’s not what Minnesota’s will look like. I can confirm, however, the basic template shown there is accurate, and so are the illustrations shown here. Pretty awful, but it’s just BP gear so I can’t get too worked up about it one way or another. Those pages come from a Majestic catalog, which also shows something new on tap for 2011: Cool Base pants (with thanks to James Craven). ”¦ Remember the NFL’s pink-accented gear? Get ready to see a lot of this weekend, and throughout the rest of October. ”¦ Jeff Spry notes that Robbie Cano was missing his Steinbrenner memorial patch on Tuesday night. ”¦ The NFL is launching a line of women’s clothing and accessories, “including logoed jeans, branded yoga mats and even a purse made of recycled license plates.” Sounds, uh, groundbreaking (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ Decent video about how Oregon football chooses its uni design each week (with thanks to Kurt Witten). ”¦ The Capitals will unveil their Winter Classic throwback on Saturday. ”¦ The Falcons will be wearing their throwbacks this Sunday against the Niners. They’ll also be presenting throwback jerseys to all their former Pro Bowlers — except for one (thanks, Brinke). ”¦ Pitt State will be wearing camouflage jerseys this weekend (with thanks to Matt Newbery). ”¦ Check this out: Not just color on color, but blue on blue! That’s Pitt vs. UCLA, 1970 (with thanks to Larry Bodnovich). ”¦ Raheem Brock of the Seahawks wore green socks at yesterday’s practice. ”¦ Ladies and gentlemen, your Connecticut Whale logo. The water spout is a nice touch, no? (With thanks to Alan Kreit.) ”¦ New basketball uniforms for George Mason (with thanks to Josh Holman). ”¦ Interesting interview with Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer, in which he sounds like he’s expecting Reebok (which is an Adidas-owned brand) to lose the bidding for the new NFL license. We’ll all find out in about a month. ”¦ Here’s a weird one: Erick Yohe says this photo was taken in the “M” section of RFK Stadium in Washington during the Nats’ first season, 2005. What’s with the Dodgers logo on the armrail? I put that question to D.C. baseball expert R. Scott Rogers, who responded with a lengthy analysis that’s too long for the Ticker, but you can read it here. ”¦ Who knew BYU used to have players with triple-digit uni numbers? And here are some in the 200s! Those are all from the late 1920s, courtesy of Larry Bodnovich.

help

And now a quick word from Phil: Attention MLB uni trackers (and non-trackers): I’m planning on a postseason uni prediction piece for the weekend, and I’m hoping you guys who follow the possible postseason teams can help me out.

If you’re tracking the Braves, Phillies, Reds, Giants, Padres, Twins, Rangers, or Rays, please give me a shout. I’m looking to find out the uniform proclivities and protocols for those teams. For example, I know the Phillies will break out their creamy alts for home day games, but I’m not quite certain of how the other teams determine how they’ll dress on a given day. If you can let me know how it works for these teams, that would be great. Obviously, Yankees trackers need not apply.

 
  
 
Comments (186)

    Maybe the update should read that the Academy helmet mimics the Thunderbirds’ helmets.

    Though now one should wonder if Navy will wear some sort of Blue Angels inspired uniform.

    On the ‘Blue Angels’ uni, I’m envisioning a blue helmet, yellow/gold ‘Michigan State stripe’, yellow/gold uni numbers and either a gold or blue facemask. A helmet like the pilots wear would be pretty boring. It’s just yellow.

    The unis could get interesting if they tried to pattern them after the pilots uniforms.

    link

    If I wasn’t at work I’d do a mockup.

    Not really uni related….but there are so many things wrong with this story:

    link

    It says the cheerleader exchanged fire with the gunman….so things are so rough that NFL cheerleaders are packing!!!!

    There’s nothing wrong with someone having a gun in her home for self defense. Obviously she had a good reason for it.

    I thought I spotted something weird on the brim of one of the Rays players in a snippet of highlights I caught late last night. That’s great. It’s funny to see that Todd Kalas had hand in the design of the BRazers. His father, the late, great Harry, had a knack for snazzy, ’70s-style sportwear: link

    Not sure if you guys know this, but the helmet mimics the tail pattern on the Air Force Thunderbirds’ F-16s. I think it looks pretty cool myself!
    link

    It’s a tradition because the No. 5 aircraft spends a large portion of the show inverted, thus, the 5 appears right side up during those maneuvers. The 5 on the pilot’s flight suit is upside down as well.

    I love this helmet and the pants, but I think the jersey could have gone through one more design revision.

    The Thunderbird flight helmets and the USAFA football helmets have the same design.
    link

    Well, the facemasks are slightly different….

    Looks like Air Force’s helmet is taking it’s cue from the Thunderbirds flight demonstration team.

    Sorry Frank. Didn’t mean to duplicate your post. Yours popped up on refresh as I posted mine.

    The “scallops and stars” imagery has been on most Thunderbird jets going back to the 50s, and I think it’s been on the helmets worn by the pilots for nearly as long.

    Pretty cool, as far as these things go.

    Love love love those Rays caps. I was out in the wilderness (literally) most of September, and so hadn’t heard about the plaid caps before I caught a few innings of the game last night. I almost cried, it was so beautiful. Plaid on a baseball uniform has been a dream of mine since I was a kid – seeing it in action was almost an “I can die happy now” moment. And yes, sucker that I am, I went straight online, found where I could order one, and plunked my thirty-three bucks on the barrelhead.

    It’s not so much that the Rays unis are so plain that anything would be an improvement, but rather that they’re so simple that they can absorb radical alterations and still look good. There are a lot of plain baseball unis that could not stand up to what the Rays have done this season; I think that requires a significant rethinking of the low marks everyone has given the current Rays unis. Myself included; I think I called them C-minus unis at the time, and thought I was being generous; clearly, their ability to stand up to sock tinkering, light blue alternate shirts, and now plaid indicates that the basic uni is more like a B-plus.

    I hate for this to be happening in what may be the Twins last, best chance to make the World Series for a while, but I hope that the Rays are successful enough in October for the socks and plaid cap to become official, permanent uni elements.

    Also, while on the way to and from said wilderness, I stayed at a number of La Quinta motels and noticed that the chain’s link uses a Rays-like sunburst with one longer-than-the-rest glint reaching down and to the right. Could the Rays be the sleeper design influence of the last few years?

    If a PLAYOFF team needs to give away 20,000 tickets the last week of the season, what they wear on the brim of their caps is truly irrelevant.

    link

    Is Mayflower still in business?

    link

    The team did not need to give away tickets. They chose to give them away. The Rays are not the only playoff(contending) team that is not selling out. Saw Highlights from the Reds game the other night GAP looked damn near empty. Why can’t the Braves sell out they are still in the hunt and it’s Bobby Cox’s last year.

    The Braves don’t sell out because over %50 of people in Atlanta aren’t actually from the state, or even from the region.

    LI Phil, Mr. Marshall or Jim I wounder what that uniform would look like with matching plaid stirrups….

    I was at the game last night (and was at 4 of the last 6 home games, so I’m no bandwagon free ticket grabber) and saw that, next to the striped stirrups in the team store, they sold plaid socks (not stirrups) with the starburst logo. If the Rays read this, I would advise them to stay away from the plaid socks and stick with the stirrups. (Which I wore to all those games, by the way. Quite a few compliments, too.)

    I would love to see them go to plaid stirrups full time. It might be enough to get them to wear knickers full time, too.

    The hat is a nice one-time thing, but I wouldn’t do it permanently.

    Clearly not. BallWonk only speaks of himself in the third person, like Bob Dole. I call myself “I” and “me” and stuff.

    As to why I have a Nats jersey with a “BallWonk” NOB – Nom de Plume Name on Back, or NDPNOB? or is that AKANOB? – in my closet, I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for that.

    I’m glad you see the value in design. A. It’s mostly being paid for by the money they get from the DOT and B. Car accidents are expensive as well. Might as well have your tax dollars go toward something that could potentially save you money down the road.

    I think that font change is pretty much nationwide. I know I’ve seen a few of the interstate signs here in Columbus that have switched to that new font. I don’t really see how it’s any more readable, but whatever. I mean, seriously if you’re blind enough that you can’t read the old font… you shouldn’t be driving.

    I agree “The Jeff”…and FWIW, I don’t drive when I am in NYC…usually Metro-North & Subway myself around…are the “eye-tests” going to be changed too? The old font is easier to read IMHO…is this really a priority to change street signs? $220 Million could go elsewhere (or even be saved) for something much more productive…it’s just a matter of time before a new “more easy” font is mandated…why not just Helvetica…that font is everywhere already…if you cand read caps, then youshouldn’t be driving.

    The article points out – though several paragraphs below quoting a bunch of angry residents who don’t actually know the facts in order to justify a basically false headline that fits the political bias of the newspaper – that the sign replacement won’t actually cost an extra $220 million, since most of the signs will be replaced as part of the normal practice of replacing signs when they need replacing anyway.

    As to the readability, “the old font is easier to read IMHO” is not exactly a sound basis for making public policy or deciding how to spend public money. There’s actual, rigorous science behind public sign standards, and the research is pretty clear that upper/lower type is more readable than all caps. This isn’t really a matter of opinion to be debated, but a matter of fact to be researched.

    Agreed.

    It’s easy to bitch and whine about tax money, but this seems a reasonable expense on all fronts. As used as I am to the all-caps, I’ve seen studies indicating that initial-caps are easier to read.

    Signs need to be replaced anyway, and clearer signs are better signs. This is not only *not* a waste of money, it’s a particularly appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.

    NY Times ran a fantastic (if you’re into this sort of thing, which I am) article about the Clearview Highway font back in 2007: link

    The most interesting tidbit I took from the article:

    “In nighttime tests, Clearview showed a 16 percent improvement in recognition over Highway Gothic, meaning drivers traveling at 60 miles per hour would have an extra one to two seconds to make a decision.”

    Granted, highway signs and street signs would have different levels of improved clarity – but the same basic principles apply.

    ‘Tis true. In short, the brain actually reads the shape of the word before it sorts through the letters. So, if the signs are mixed-case, the brain can use what it knows to identity the words more quickly, whereas ‘LINCOLN ST’ is basically a rectangle (to the brain), and thus it actually has to see the letters to read them.

    Maybe not everywhere. An interstate split near downtown Nashville has recently changed from I-40 West toward Memphis and I-65 South toward Huntsville to MEMPHIS and HUNTSVILLE.

    And then 10 to 20 years from now, they’ll claim to need to replace all the new signs, stating that all uppercase letters will improve legibility and driver reaction time. The circle of life.

    I THINK I WILL START POSTING ALL OF MY COMMENTS IN UPPERCASE IN SOLIDARITY WITH ALL OF THESE OUTRAGED NEW YORKERS. STICK IT TO THE MAN, MY CAPS-LOVING BRETHREN!

    IF YOU CAN’T READ THIS THEN YOU SHOULDN’T BE USING THE INTERNET. AM I RIGHT, THE JEFF?

    Seriously, though. NYC link where all caps are de rigueur. link are being phased in, though.

    I like the plaid. I say let them use it for a full uniform.

    Of course, on the downside, it would be more of a pajama look than anything else in the league, but I’m ok with that.

    Agree 100%. I tend to like traditional uniforms and I think the Falcons’ is a great one, but there’s nothing wrong with spicing it up once a year with a special uniform, especially one that’s actually relevant.

    Great stuff.

    The new batting practice template vaguely reminds me of current soccer jerseys. I suppose the white inserts are made of a lighter mesh material, with the rest being CoolBase. Whatever. If the inserts were contrasting team colors, it might be a little better.

    Plaid is hideous. Ugly-ass and loud. Never liked it as a kid, thought it looked ridiculous for the Grunge Era, or on Ray Romano or if its for outdoors, kilts or wood workshop. It’s just too much, too busy, too radical. It just reeks of something, I don’t know if it’s the 1970s, Bob Uecker, Bud Selig the Sleazy Used Car Salesman, or a really obnoxious sportscaster with a bad toupee.

    No I’m not, but that’s irreverent. In the early 80s as a kid I had this god-awful multi-brown plaid shirt with white buttons that was hideous (and my favorite color at the time was red). It just never appealed to me. And I’d consider the old Brooklyn Dodgers plaid much more tasteful and appealing.

    Don’t know if the 1916-1917 Dodgers’ unis could actually be classified as plaid. They seem to be more of a Tattersall or checked pattern.

    I’m not of Scottish or Irish heritage, but I can understand the power of plaid. Adopting team tartans strikes me at first blush like something MLS would do, but link as does link (which calls its athletic teams the Tartans, and adopts the Ancient Carnegie tartan). I can understand where a team from an area with a large Scottish/Irish population might as well.

    When he lived in Rochester Grapes was a member of the Rochester Pipe Band. Kilts were part of their uniform.

    On the Twins not new BP jerseys, I noticed they used the old Twins logo. You can see it most in the S in Twins, it’s blocky instead of pointy. Is that BP design been around a while and is now just being used for the official BP jerseys or did someone mess up in photoshop?

    I’m also curious on the Rays hats. Not a bad look, though feels like something the St Paul Saints would do. Now I remember when they added their striped socks they could do whatever they wanted cause socks were not official parts of the uniform. But I know hats are. Isn’t there some lengthy process to add an alternate, or tweak a jersey or hat? Or is this looked at as a one time gimmick and not an official change so MLB doesn’t care? Or does MLB see $$$$$$ and ignored their own uniform modification rules?

    You raise excellent points. I think that as long as MLB gets their $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ they couldn’t give a rat’s as*. All kidding aside, I believe it takes around three years to get a new design OK’d by MLB Properties. They have to approve or actually do any new design, colors, yadda, yadda, yadda. Big Brother at his worst.

    Okay, the old Twins font was used on that “prototype”. In laymen’s terms, the secondary color of the team will be in the white spots (think scarlet with the Twins in the picture). And the O’s will likely have the orange ones pictured, so that they can be seen on Google Earth maps like a sore thumb.

    I applaud the TB Rays for dressing outside the batter’s box. But Joe Maddon needs to getting eye glass frames more suited to wearing w/a ball cap than hip granddad reading glasses. . ..

    The “Connecticut Whale” logo is a joke, thats no way to court the NHL back which is what the goal is. I really expected more from Baldwin.

    It’s a cartoon whale with a hockey stick. It’s no worse than a cartoon shark biting a hockey stick, is it?

    Those seats with the LA logo were also at Cooper Stadium in Columbus, longtime home of the Columbus Clippers.

    With all of the throwbacks used in games by almost every team in the majors, I would love to see a game where the Dodgers or Giants or anyone else used the Plaid uniform.

    They are made and sold by Ebbets Field and Mitchell & Ness from time tio time, so they can be done. And they look better than 85% of the crap we usually see on the diamond ….

    Right now the jerseys are solid white, gray or team color. If they are going to start putting patterns on that fabric, lets begin with the Under Armor “flannel” look and then we can talk about plaids. Baby steps!

    As I mentioned earlier the Dodger uniforms were not plaid, but Tattersall (checked). I would consider the 1916 Giants’ uniforms to be plaid, though. I guess pink was a popular color then.
    link

    Regarding the UCLA/Pitt Blue vs Blue, I have never seen that UCLA Blue jersey – with Athletic Gold numerals in the “fancy font” used in the previous plain White numeral era. Pretty sharp look – wish UCLA would go back to that font with Old Gold numerals – similar to the 1999-2005 era.

    Most likely RFK Memorial Stadium bought used seats from Dodger Stadium at some point, thus accounting for the odd logo on the seat in the photo.

    Actually, although the design on the blazers and caps can accurately be described as “plaid”, I think a more accurately designation in terms of the color and location would be “MADRAS”…. as in a madras shirt or blazer. Very fitting for this Florida-related team. The cool colors of dark and light blue are much more evocative of madras than the warmer colors found in woolen tartans described as “plaid”. And it appears that the blazer and brim is made of a much more lightweight material, more like a cotton than wool. “Madras” fits in perfectly– a summer sport, semi-tropical Florida, and retirees in St. Petersburg.

    Which leads me to believe that the next trend for the Tampa Bay Rays will be…. SEERSUCKER!!!! Five’ll get you ten we’ll see that next season.

    I had the same thought – well, OK, the same thought minus being smart enough to remember the word “madras”; I was all like, “that really light fabric they sell in the Territory Ahead catalog” – but when I looked closely at the versions of the cap for sale online, I was surprised to find that it’s an actual plaid. Which is to say, it’s the same thread pattern in both directions of the weave. (Warp and weft, right? And if so, how come the evil Enterprise from the “Mirror Mirror” universe didn’t use weft drive?) You see a lot of not-quite plaids where the weave uses two slightly different thread patterns, so it’s not the same if you rotate the fabric 90 degrees. True plaid is so rarely achieved, even when people try, that I think it’s important to call out those who succeed in making a true plaid!

    Now the old 1910s Giants and Dodgers, those were not really plaid. Windowpane or tattersall, maybe, but not plaid as a Scot would know it.

    I’d imagine it’s because of the low ceilings. You ever bumped your head while wearing a baseball cap and had the squatchee driven into your skull? Not pleasant.

    SAINTS BLACK LEOTARDS

    The Saints wore their Black leotard Pants for the first time this year against the Falcons, and promptly LOST.

    They are 16-2 while wearing Gold Pants, and 2-3 while wearing the Black Leotard Pants.

    I had hoped that after a great 2009 post-season, a Super Bowl victory, and a very good first two games in 2010 (and four preseason games) all wearing Gold Pants, that we would FINALLY be spared the Black Leotard thuglet, idiot,
    bantam junior college wannabe, horrible Pants look.
    No such Luck.

    Black Leotards Pants … Simply Nauseating …..

    SAINTS BLACK LEOTARDS

    The Saints wore their Black leotard Pants for the first time this year against the Falcons, and promptly LOST.

    They are 16-2 while wearing Gold Pants, and 2-3 while wearing the Black Leotard Pants since the beginning of the 2009 Regular Season. That includes the 2009 season ending loss to Carolina where the Saints wore Gold Pants and lost while playing their paractice squad and subs.

    the website says, “a grimacing blue whale diving through a green C while clutching a hockey stick” but trust me, i’m a fat guy, that whale is stuck

    CT Whale logo:

    it’s good. one thing – baleen whales don’t have teeth, they have baleen plates. hence the name, baleen whales.

    Air Force Helmets:

    i didn’t like them until i saw the Thunderbird connection. RAD. love it.
    i hope Navy does a Blue Angel uni at some point!

    TB Devil Rays:

    love the plaid. love Maddon.

    I’d be interested to know what actual Thunderbird pilots think about these special AFA football unis.

    Do they see it as an honor (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery) or is it presumptuous/disrespectful to co-opt their look (you need to earn it)?

    lessee…

    they’ve told every other school what to think and what looks good…surely the flyboys are no different

    We’re not talking about the cadets. We’re talking about the Thunderbird pilots. You know, the actual officers who’ve not only graduated from the Academy, but have also earned the privilege to fly in the elite squadron upon which these (are they calling them pro combat?) unis are based.

    All the services see their respective academy as a point of pride and vice versa.

    Remember that the Army/Navy game is often adorned with the patches of many actual units.

    Despite Phil’s cynicism, I’d think that the actual USAF Thunderbird pilots and crews are proud of them as the mission of that group is that they’re representative of men and women of the entire USAF.

    If it is a bone of contention, I’m sure AF wouldn’t let it happen regardless of what Swooshie thinks looks cool.

    SB

    Re the change in street signs:

    I think it’s fine to use that style on full highway signs, but in regards to neighborhood street signs, how will they be mixed and matched? Will street names without descenders be centered on the one-line street signs? If the overall word is centered, you have an inconsistant look between signs. If all words are spaced equally on all signs, those without descenders will look odd.

    As for the cost, as long as it’s done as part of the regular replacement of signs, I’m good with it. If not, shoot the officials that voted for it.

    Kudos for the plaid hats.

    And for those who don’t like them, the Rays could have done worse…like wearing what their rookies wore:
    link

    Kudos also to the Cito ‘staches. Not everyone wore them,
    link
    but I’m glad those who did were allowed. A nice fun tribute.

    Maybe the Rays figure that if they’re not getting enough fans out there, they can wear whatever the heck they want? What’s next, Armani Suit Night? (Maybe Steve Martin can throw out the first pitch…)

    I’m hoping for a 2008 World Series redeux, so we can pack that ashtray in St. Pete with real baseball fans from Philadelphia.

    You would’ve loved the family of Mutts fans at CBP behind me on Saturday night… obviously delaying our 4th straight division clinching for one more day was the highlight of the Jerry Manuel era for them.

    It was standard procedure when I was a kid (60’s). Because if you didn’t, another kid would come along and slap the top of your head and that button would feel a hammer against your skull!!

    -Jet

    “Yesterday I mentioned that Air Force would be wearing special uniforms this weekend against Army…”

    Navy, not Army this weekend.

    I have to question that LA seat response. As mentioned in an earlier comment, those seats were also found in Columbus’ Cooper Stadium, and a year or two back I saw pictures of them in another ballpark (it may have even been in the comments here). As I recall, someone found a link that showed that it was a seating manufacturer’s logo.

    I really hope Reebok loses the NFL license. I think we can all assume It’s Nike who would possibly outbid them. As much as we ridicule Nike for putting the swoosh EVERYWHERE and silly stunts like Pro Combat, they’re lightyears ahead of Reebok/Adidas in fabrics and fit. Just look at Nike college football teams with traditional uniforms. Their solutions to issues like shoulder stripes (LSU, VT), sleeve stripes (Iowa, Florida), and form-fitting fabrics make jerseys like the Colts’ and Giants’ stretchy new getups look amateur.

    I remember what a shock it was when FOX jumped in and outbid CBS for the NFC. No one expected an upstart to jump in like that. So I can totally see a smaller company, wanting to make a mark, overbidding and getting that deal.

    Nike teams have the same truncated stripes that adidas and other teams do. I like Eli Manning’s new jersey. It actually has stripes that go all the way around the sleeve. The regular cut of the new Reebok jersey is horrendous, though

    Yeah, um… link

    It appears that he was outfitted with thicker stripes (presumably to match the rest of the Giants) on his jersey this season, even though it’s the same jersey cut as last season, and the stripes no longer go all the way around the sleeve. The ‘quarterback cut’ of the new jersey has small sleeves, like Eli’s, while the normal cut that most other players wear just has armholes, like a sleeveless top.

    My fault. I forgot this place enforces a kindergarten conduct policy. We’re adults, and that’s not even a ‘curse word.’ Phil got a little salty, and I got a little salty back. There’s no problem with that. It’s how the world works.

    quote from that article:

    “The nation’s largest women’s group doesn’t like it one bit. ‘It’s so obnoxious to once again be using women’s bodies to sell fundamentally unhealthy products,’ says Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women.”

    of course, we should only be using women’s bodies to sell healthy products

    “Last week, the chain confessed that more than six in 10 Americans ages 18 to 25 – the chain’s key demographic – couldn’t identify who Colonel Sanders was in the KFC logo.”

    Let’s see… is Colonel Sanders the K, the F, the C, or the white guy with the funny beard?

    Mrs. White: He didn’t actually seem to like me very much; he had threatened to kill me in public.

    Miss Scarlet: Why would he wanna kill you in public?

    Wadsworth: I think she meant he threatened, in public, to kill her. [rolls eyes]

    Congratulations on resisting the obligatory “finger lickin’ ” jokes.

    What? Wait….

    frig.

    SB

    At a conference during my college years, a girl came up to me and said “You go to Notre Dame, don’t you?” Not recognizing her, I asked how she knew.

    “No one else wears plaid ties.”

    I bought one of the Rays plaid caps at the game Tuesday night and I love it. That said, I think it’s great as a fashion cap, or even as a BP cap, but as far as games, I think it’s best left as a one-game thing. Forty years from now, it could be a trivia question.

    However, the argument has been made for a Rays cap with a Columbia blue brim, and I think last night solidified it. From our seats in right field, you couldn’t tell that Matt Joyce’s brim was plaid if you didn’t already know, it just had some sort of design on it that made it look light blue, and it looked good.

    Statistically, the odds are pretty good he took the handout. If the last twelve years have taught us anything, it’s that nobody pays for tickets to watch the Rays. ;)

    What would you rather have, plaid brims, or obnoxious lines in places on the crown of the cap where they don’t belong?

    Imagine that … the Bengels jersey COULD be worse!!!

    link

    (though Chad thinks THEY’RE GREAT! … though when in New York, he stated “They’re Great”)

    1. Clearview had been link for usage on highway signs. I am a bit surprised to see it used on street signs, but my guess here is that since many Interstate signs are switching to Clearview fonts, the increased exposure to this typeface will breed enough familiarity that it will work in the smaller space provided by street signs.

    2. I think Tampa Bay could really pull off a home plaid look like the Dodgers, though with the lighter shade of blue instead of their darker shade.

    3. Isn’t the MLB license coming up soon? I remember Paul mentioning this a while back when he reviewed the uniforms worn by the revived baseball program at Oregon.

    Guess it would be like the White Sox and Bulls alternates had a little rendezvous in New York and that jersey was the result.

    Those Yankees reverse pinstripe uniforms were sharp, I could see them as a regular road uniform, or a alternate uniform. I think some people get a little too carried away with a particular uniform style, it’s not like the home Yankee uniform would be changed. Also, the club has had uniform changes before, so it’s not like we’re changing the US Constitution here.

    I could understand the outrage if the Yanks went crazy, and adopted red and blue as the primary colors, but a uniform change which keeps the integrity of the Yankees tradition certainly has merit. You can have the best of both worlds in uniform design, keeping the essence of tradition, along with newer ideas for the younger fan.

    There’s no doubt in my mind a classy alternate look from the Yankees would gradually be accepted and embraced by their fans. Younger fans more quickly, but eventually the older fans would come along, realizing how absurd it is to get worked up over this issue. I would bet anyone here there would not be rioting in the streets of New York is such a change were made, or mass boycotts of games.

    I don’t necessarily disagree.

    However, the fact that the Yankees are pretty much the ONLY team and ALL of pro sports that isn’t on the constant change/alternate/etc. jersey bandwagon, I’d like to see them stay as-is, forever.

    I don’t hate alternates at all, and generally like the new trend of colorful alts. And I’m not a Yankees fan in any way. Still, the fact that their tradition has been going on so long, and it bucks all current trends- I like it.

    “a uniform change which keeps the integrity of the Yankees tradition certainly has merit.”

    wait…what?

    going reverse pinstripes (presumably with midnight blue pants as well) “keeps the integrity of the Yankees tradition”?

    so…the mets swapping a black jersey for white did the same thing?

    because, that’s pretty much what the yankees considered

    Huge difference, because black wasn’t part of the Mets color scheme.

    And it’s not like the Yankees would start losing with a classy uniform change. The world will not end if the Yanks wore a dark alternate top, for example.

    “The world will not end if the Yanks wore a dark alternate top.”

    that may be saturday’s quote of the day

    How about this for another quote of the day.

    “If the Yankees ever wear a quality alternate uniform and start having losing seasons, I will have gender reassignment surgery”

    I still think it’s awesome that the Yankees and Dodgers made it through the ’70s unscathed and somehow were able to keep buttons on the jerseys and belts on the pants.

    I hope to see the Air Force unis on TV or at least highlights.

    Those look pretty fancy and for one game are neat. I still liked the Air Force helmet when it had the blue silver blue middle stripe. Air Force from what I can tell was one of the first college teams to use decals. They had those bolts lat 50’s. One day somebody can figure out what college team was first to use a logo.

    Air Force does play Navy this week, which is a better game than some of the BCS conference mediocre games which get shown on a regular basis. Maybe the CBS College Sports Channel will air this matchup.

    I would like to see a logo on both the Navy and Army gold helmets. Both service academies have good logos, which would translate well to the helmet. Navy actually had a dark blue helmet nearly a decade ago with “Navy” in yellow script.

    My cable guide shows Army vs Temple Saturday at noon. I did not check everywhere else for the game.

    Interesting point about the Army and Navy helmets. I am not a fan of gold helmets such as Notre Dames plain gold. But the shade of gold such as Army is one I have always liked with.

    I saw some of Baylor and Rice and the lighter gold of Baylor’s helmet is nice in my opinion.

    Larry,

    Where did you find the Pitt-UCLA pictures? I was at that game, and I’m sure I’ve mentioned it in early color-on-color discussions. (There was no problem distinguishing which team was which.)

    Those I saw a while back in Pitt yearbook online. I saved them. I was just looking through my old pictures and thought it was blue on blue even though one was dark blue and UCLA had the light blue. I wondered how many times color on color was the same color?

    “Orange Bowl Stadium Dodger Pair Seatback Chairs” … is “Dodger Pair” a brand name? A style? 30 second google search provided no answers.

    “Meanwhile, the next Uni Watch party will take place next Saturday, Oct. 9, 3 p.m., at Sheep Station in Brooklyn, N.Y. So throw on your favorite jersey and mingle with your fellow uniform enthusiasts — we’ll see you there.”

    I’ve been waiting for the next New York meetup, you’re holding it about a mile from my place, and I’m out of town? Drat.

    NC State is making another attempt at new bball jerseys. Although its not a view of the front, it looks like Adidas is using the NBA fabric on the college jerseys. link

    I own several Reebok football hats including the Replica Orange AFL Refs lid, They all have the vector on the bottom of the button. Perhaps it is a anti-counterfeiting measure? Why remove the button?

    -Leatherhead

    I love those Rays caps. There’s something so charming about the club’s story, their blazers and now adopting the tartan for caps. I don’t much care that this new step is at least half a marketing ploy to sell caps, since it originated with something the team did for themselves.

    Shame that they don’t have a fanbase – they deserve so much better.

    I don’t like the plaid bills. I would probably prefer the crown to be plaid and the bill solid. I wouldn’t wear it either way. Is there a black under bill?

    Lest we forget, Joe Maddon made his players travel in Ed Hardy gear. And listening to Coldplay doesn’t make him cool.

    Looks like my hypothesis about RFK and Dodger Stadium being built at the same time leading to RFK using Dodgers-branded seats as spare parts belongs on Glenn Beck’s blackboard. Alas. Appears to be some kind of manufacturer’s mark. I wonder if it’s an indication that the seat frames in question were originally designed for, or based on original designs for, Dodger Stadium?

    However, the Nats really did use a lot of obviously secondhand equipment from other clubs when they first came to town, so it wasn’t necessarily an absurd hypothesis!

    I’m a collector of hats and have found that reebok as well as new era caps have their logo’s on the bottoms of the buttons so its not something nike just does. However this has only started happening the last 3 or 4 years

    Perhaps this company made the stadium seats in question:
    link

    If so, its not a Dodger logo at all… They’ve been around for 50 years, so they could’ve been involved in seats for RFK and Dodger construction. They seem to just make bleachers now, but who knows what was in their past.

    I remember reading on the Dodgers’ site that Dodger Stadium originally had wooden seats, and they were link. With a quick glance on Google Image search, link was the only pic I could find of the old wooden seats at the stadium.

    Today, the only wooden seats that still exist (even surviving the McCourt renovations) are on the Club level of Dodger Stadium, where the chairs are painted the colors of the levels of Dodger Stadium (the same pattern that was on the walls of the old Dugout section pre-1990’s and on that link that separates the new Dugout Club section from the original Field Level seats).

    The last link came from link I found while searching for pics for this post, which illustrates how Dodger Stadium went from a concept in the early 1960’s to the ballpark it is today, with original concept art and color swatches. Interesting stuff.

    I will say that although they weren’t as cool as the Army’s ACU unis…Air Force did their thing with this one. I hated it at first then it grew on me! Loved the Helmets! Ready for war!

    Guys, Great article and very very interesting blog. That’s one thing I’m really looking forward. Looking forward to reading more from you next week.

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