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Uni Watch

There’s Logo Creep, and Then There’s Full-On Logo Assault

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Last week I Ticker-linked to this women’s hockey photo, which showed the largest Reebok logo I’d ever seen on a uniform. The person who sent it to me mistakenly said it was from the Olympics; it’s actually from the 1994 Women’s World Hockey Championships. It turns out that the men’s uniforms were similarly afflicted.

These examples have led a few readers to contribute additional instances of particularly egregious logo creep. For example:

• In the 1996 World Hockey Championships, Nike used a big-ass swoosh as a stand-in for pants striping and also got a bit carried away on the jersey shoulders.

• In the 1990s, the Adidas folks really went overboard with their World Cup soccer kits.

• Speaking of the World Cup, Reebok went waaaay around the bend with the 1994 Russian design.

• And of course I would include the Broncos’ pants striping, which was designed by Nike (although, in an ironic twist, it’s been manufactured by Reebok for the past decade).

There are also lots of examples in non-team sports (like when Nike protested Adidas’s use of stripes by plastering a huge swoosh on Rafael Nadal for the 2005 Rome Masters), but that’s a whole different animal. For now I’d like to stick to examples involving team uniforms.

So: Got any additional cases of egregious logo creep? Send ’em here.

(Big thanks to readers Rob S., John Muir, Jace Rauman, and Andy McNeel for their contributions to this discussion.)

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Collector’s Corner, by Brinke Guthrie

Next week we’ll be all baseball, to celebrate the start of the MLB season. But for this week, we have a mix of stuff — let’s take a look:

• Remember how cool it was to get a varsity letter in high school? The raised texture of the chenille design? Then you’ll love this — a genuine Ernie Davis Syracuse varsity “S.”

• Hmmm, I’m not sure this bobblehead looks like Sandy Koufax, but it’s still pretty nice.

• No sag, pinch, or bind in this 1940s baseball underwear ad.

• Here we have my personal most wanted sports item on eBay: the complete set of 1970 Chiquita NFL stickers.

• Don Rickles would love this Flyers hockey puck radio.

• Reader Jon Solomonson submitted this Mets View-Master set.

• And here’s one from Paul: an amazing Park Ridge Hornets hockey jersey.

Seen something on eBay that you think would make good Collector’s Corner fodder? Send your submissions here.

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Logo design contest reminder: I’m currently sponsoring a design contest to create a logo for the Baseball Project. Full details here.

Uni Watch News Ticker: Two leftover items from St. Paddy’s Day: First, Scott Willis reports that Giants closer Brian Wilson used a Sharpie to give himself green-trimmed shoes. And Ryan Connelly found something I hadn’t been able to find — photos of the L.A. Kings’ green warm-up jerseys. Three interesting things there: (1) Interesting that they’d go to the trouble of using vertically arched NOBs on warm-up attire. (2) Also interesting that they used gray instead of white. (3) Take a look at those uni numbers. I would’ve expected them to have used gray shamrocks and then added green numerals. But no — the numerals are die-cut out of the shamrocks, with the green jersey fabric showing through. An unusual approach! Great job by Ryan to catch this. ”¦ Several truly wonderful cycling posters on display here (big thanks to Sean Clancy). ”¦ Lots of old Giants, Dodgers, and Yanks spring training photos, including some really good uni-relevant shots, in this slideshow (with thanks to Tom Mulgrew). ”¦ Interesting NOB for Dutch cricketer Ryan Ten Doeschate. “Never seen the ‘Ten’ printed vertically like that,” says Jon Grossman. ”¦ Alan Kreit notes that Habs goalie Carey Price was wearing a toque on the bench on Friday night. ”¦ New soccer kits for Paraguay and Colombia (with thanks to Kenny Loo). ”¦ Florida State has cracked down on a high school for trademark infringement (with thanks to Greg Trandel). ”¦ The first-ever MLS game in Portland resulted in the first MLS jersey snafu in Portland. That’s Rodney Wallace of the Portland Timbers, from Saturday night (screen shot courtesy of Chris Peterson). ”¦ Two items of note from Mike McLaughlin: Rays skipper Joe Maddon has new eyeglasses, and here’s the first full-length article I’ve seen about Justin Morneau wearing the S100 helmet. ”¦ One of the many positive aspects of the Mets having released Luis Castillo is that Mookie Wilson has reclaimed his rightful uni number. ”¦ The Middle Tennessee State women’s hoops team is adding a memorial patch for slain teammate Tina Stewart. “Nice show of sportsmanship by Auburn’s athletic department, which helped out and sewed the patch on after the NC2A finally gave its OK,” says Lee Wilds. ”¦ NHL goalie gear, part 1: Dwayne Roloson of the Lightning is wearing a special padded undershirt (Mike McLaughlin again). ”¦ NHL goalie gear, part 2: Rick DiPietro is wearing one of Chris Osgood’s old helmet/cage mask combos (with thanks to John R. Follett Sr.). ”¦ “The Vancouver Whitecaps have ‘Since 1974’ on the backs of their collars,” writes Kenn Tomasch. “The thing about is, they actually played in the NASL from 1974-1984 but then folded along with the league. A new team called the Vancouver 86ers was started in 1986 (commemorating not only the year of its founding, but Vancouver’s centennial), which then re-named itself Whitecaps in 2001. So ‘Since 1974’ is not quite correct.” ”¦ Man, Salty’s NOB looks longer than ever, at least as they’ve lettered it on this jersey (screen shot courtesy of Rob Holecko). ”¦ Ben Matukewicz notes that Kansas State coach Frank Martin was wearing KSU cowboy boots the other day. “Not sure how often he does this,” says Frank, and neither am I. ”¦ Seriously old-school look for Stanislaus State baseball (with thanks to John Klobucar). ”¦ Thanks to everyone who sent birthday notes yesterday — much appreciated. … RIP, Pinetop. You’ll be missed.

 
  
 
Comments (178)

    General question prompted by L.A. Kings kelly warmups.
    link
    Are a four-leaf clover and a shamorck the same thing?

    Doesn’t a sharmock typically have only three leaves?

    Google image search would seem to indicate that most times that’s so, but that four leaves apparently is an acceptable representation…
    link

    —Ricko

    Lucky enough to lug around all that extra weight, huh.

    I knew that a shamrock was a clover, just too early in a.m. and phrased it badly. Was thinking about the typical graphic representation. And I guess I found out. The four-leaf variety is used, but not nearly as typically as its less-endowed brethren.

    —Ricko

    I was once called out on this by scores of letters to the editor from enraged Irish readers when I used a photo of a four-leaf clover to illustrate a story about Ireland in a business magazine I edited. A shamrock is a three-leaf clover. A four-leaf clover is not a shamrock. The four-leaf clover is a symbol of luck, mainly in America, whereas the shamrock, which always has only three leaves, is an ancient symbol of Ireland precisely because of the association of the three leaves and the Christian Trinity.

    Simply put, a shamrock has three leaves and stands for Ireland. A four-leaf clover stands for well-intentioned American ignorance about what a shamrock looks like.

    It’s not just Americans. Celtic FC in Glasgow, Scotland sports a four-leaf clover on its jerseys:
    link

    Which is fine, I suppose. But for those who are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the shamrock is appropriate.

    And that there was what I was getting at (trying to confirm) in the first place.

    That the Kings swung and missed.

    —Ricko

    “That the Kings swung and missed”

    have to disagree… the number fits in better with 4 leaves rather than 3. in this case anyway…

    and a 4 leaf clover is just downright lucky ;-)

    Well, they swung and missed, technically, if the goal was to use a symbol of Ireland and/or St. Patrick’s Day (see Scott’s post).

    —Ricko

    So… those three-leaf clovers in my yard are shamrocks? If I find one with four leaves, I am lucky. However, I would not be so lucky to possess a shamrock?
    Do the Celtics have a little “church vs. state” thing going on?

    “Nice show of sportsmanship by Auburn’s athletic department, which helped out and sewed the patch on after the NC2A finally gave its OK.”

    Wait, NC2A? Not only is that not shorter than NCAA, it’s actually harder to type, and requires at least two extra keystrokes on many mobile devices. I understand saying “N-C-two-A,” since it’s actually shorter than “N-C-double-A,” though neither is shorter than just saying “N-C-A-A.” But writing it with a 2?

    Don’t mean to pick on the individual who’s quoted writing it that way; it’s just a thing we’re all doing to spelling now that I just happened to notice in this way this time. Still, NC2A makes negative amounts of sense. I blame the Big Ten’s new B1G logo.

    Is that a geographic/regional thing? When I first started dealing with sportswriters in other parts of the couuntry way back when, it was easy to notice that some folks said “NC-2-A” compared to the midwestern “NC-Double-A”.

    But it still always was written “NCAA”, so your point is well-taken, Scott. Rarely is it TYPED “NC2A”. That seems like an affectation.

    —Ricko

    Not sure where the writer is from, but from a geographical standpoint, I’m from Alabama and have always said “N-C-double-A”. When typing it though? Never thought to put NC2A. Of course, I’m the guy who’s anal enough to ALWAYS type out words completely and correctly when I’m texting someone. I cannot stand “txt talk”, and think it’s one of the biggest scourges on this nation. Even if “NC2A” doesn’t really qualify as part of the texting language per se, it still just looks dumb. And is incorrect, to boot.

    Ooh, tangent time!

    “GSW” is common parlance among emergency medical professionals, yet “gunshot wound” is actually fewer syllables.

    Anyone remember the video game “Earthworm Jim” (or EWJ, its awkward-to-say abbreviation)?

    I understand that head protection is very important in baseball. Can someone explain why all of the new helmet designs have to have so many nooks and crannies? Same goes for football.

    Ventilation, or to increase structural rigidity in certain areas, like the crown, without adding extra weight.

    There are indeed other ways, but you’ll find that that is a very good way. The other ways basically amount to “add more material of some sort, and that adds weight.

    It’s the same reason structural steel comes in I shaped beams. The orientation and design of the ribs makes things much more rigid than the same amount of material in a flat sheet.

    As an example: take something flat and narrow. Say, a playing card, cheap butter knife, whatever. Bend the flat side. It’s easy, right? Now bend the thin side. It doesn’t bend, now does it? It would if you used enough force, but you can’t exert enough to do that, can you?

    The ribs and such in the molded shell act like that.

    I can’t imagine that making as much of a difference as better padding. They look so terrible. I think I would rather taking my chances with a concussion. And I’m easily concussed.

    “Can someone explain why all of the new helmet designs have to have so many nooks and crannies?”

    To hold the butter, of course:
    link

    Do we know for certain the Broncos’ pants stripes were designed to mimic a swoosh? I’m not disputing the assertion, I just don’t remember seeing proof.

    I’ve never thought it’s a swoosh, and I doubt anyone ever will find proof that it is.

    I think it’s more about something I’ve mentioned before, that Nike’s design touchstone seems to be: “If at all possible, no straight parallel stripes. We will take them out of sport.”

    Only rarely does a Nike original design include such a thing as typical, traditional pant or sleeve striping.

    And don’t someone mention LSU football and others. Nike didn’t design those unis. They supply unis for a pre-existing design. Huge difference.

    —Ricko

    Many of their current and recent college basketball designs utilize traditional stripes.

    I did say “only rarely,” didn’t I. Given the total percentage of schools out there, and the relatively high or low profile of the schools involved, they probably aren’t as dogged in their determination.

    I’m talking about a general school of thought that obviously permeates their thinking. Every uni and every school/team is going to be different and individual, and have certain considerations (the high or low profile of the school being one of them).

    But it doesn’t change my opinion of what seems to be their overall approach. When they can, they steer clear of such things.

    Any design house has a certain core belief, and you can find it if you look. No typical stripes seems to be Nike’s. Overall, that is. And overall doesn’t mean “100 percent”, btw.

    —Ricko

    I agree. I was just pointing it out, because those are recent uniforms. It seems little by little that the philosophy is changing back toward a middle ground between traditional and progressive. Just all the round cars of the 90s were in direct opposition to the square cars of the 80s, and now we’re getting the best of both worlds and seeing some cars that actually look really nice. It takes designers a while to ‘harness the power’ of certain aesthetics.

    Of course was intentional. But don’t think it was the opening salvo of a movement to use a kind of giant swoosh in every uni they design. Rather was, overall, to get away from stripes, to show they weren’t mandatory. They just based the first one on the swoosh. That, I’d never argue with.

    If Phil Knight believes that, ultimately, Nike’s competition will be someone like Disney (that’s what he’s said) it’s easy to believe he thinks the company is influential enough to eradidate stripes from sports unis…given enough time and money, that is.

    In Nike’s perfect world, no one wants to wear a uni with stripes because it isn’t cool. And that hits adidas right where they live.

    —Ricko

    The main entry kind of talks around the elephant in the room: Addidas. Addidas has been practicing logo assault for decades with the three-stripe thing getting pride of place on numerous uniforms as an element of the uniform itself, and even as a result making its way into team logos. The only thing in the list that compares is the 1996 hockey unis, where it appears Reebok was attempting to use its logo as stripes just as Addidas does. Which Reebok does to this day on many of its shoes.

    Imagine if Nike forced every NFL team to use a Broncos swoosh down every pants leg and around every shoulder on every uniform, replacing all the Northwestern stripes and other patterns with swooshes, and then did the same for every baseball, basketball, and soccer team it outfits anywhere in the world. If Nike did that, it would be as heinous a logo assaulter as Addidas.

    In fact, if we define logo assault as simply the overly aggressive placement of manufacturer logos, then what Addidas does goes far beyond mere assault. There’s a difference in kind, not degree, at work here: Addidas does not merely place an oversized logo on its products. It incorporates its logo into the fundamental design of its products, to the same extent that sleeves are a fundamental part of a jersey’s design, or that a team’s colors are a fundamental part of its uni design. So if logo creep is like simple assault, and logo assault is like manslaughter, then Addidas is engaged in logocide.

    Ah-ha? (lol) See my comment above, and the reasoning behind Nike’s “obliterate-parallel straight lines” platform starts to make sense, dunit.

    —Ricko

    Adidas made jerseys in the mid-80s for some international tournaments. All through the arms, the three stripes went up and down the sides. The Soviets wore Adidas jerseys during the 1987 Canada Cup.

    From 1990-1995, Tackla had the manufacturing contract for IIHF jerseys in international tourneys. The shoulders on all of the jerseys had three hexagons on each side, shaped like the Tackla logo. I have a couple of Team Canada jerseys from this era.

    From 1994-95 – the Reebok vector was plastered on the shoulders. From the Team Canada jersey I have, the jersey tagged as a Reebok jersey – Made by Tackla.

    To this day, Tackla still makes jerseys for IIHF tournaments, mainly the lower levels below the A group, as well as the Under 18 and Under 16 tournaments. Nike still has the contract for all A level tournaments and the Olympics to my knowledge.

    That’s EXACTLY what I thought when I saw the incorrect spelling, but I didn’t want to be “that” guy by pointing it out… I’m glad someone with more clout than myself did though.

    D’oh. When I was a kid, I was a terrible speller on account of putting double-consonants basically everywhere. I mostly conquered that habit, but it still sometimes rears its ugly head. Perfect grist if they ever need to make a sequel: The King’s Typing.

    I used to be in the Habit of capitalizing the Words I deemed Important.

    Actually, it’s not unprecedented. From what I understand, it’s still a normal system in Germany, though I’ve never confirmed that, and was used a lot in the early days of modern english. One work where it really stuck out at me was in Ben Fraklin’s autobiography. Read most any document from that era, it’ll stick right out at ya if you’re looking for it.

    “When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect o the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation”.

    The Constitution does it too:
    “WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence (don’t Canadians still use that spelling?), promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”

    In many ways, I like the system Better. It allows for Extra emphasis on words the writer deems somewhat more important. Kinda like the internet convention (though as you can see with the preamble there, that didn’t start with the internet) of all caps shouting for a little extra perk. Honestly, We’ve lost something with the flat monotone society demands of our writing now.

    I’m sure I am in the minority here, but I actually like the current generation of the 3 stripes. What I don’t like is the breaks they put into it. The main reason why I like it is it’s an easy way to keep the jersey design simple, and incorporate the team colors into the jersey.

    The Timbers’ game was actually in Colorado, not Portland.

    The irony is that I had a Seattle Sounders fan (they don’t like Portland) tweet me that it was complete BS, how could Portland screw up the flag and blah blah blah. Turns out, one of SEATTLE’S players also had an upside-down flag Saturday night in New York (but changed at the half). I haven’t been able to find conclusive visual proof, though.

    Moral: Don’t be a fanboy.

    I’m thankful that MLS has finally switched to the international soccer convention of listing the home team first, but I can see how that will be confusing for the ‘traditional’ American sports fan.

    Any self-respecting military man will agree with your first statement.

    Today is 22Mar11.

    Also of note from that game, the Rapids stadium was plastered with the version of their logo with the championship star above it but the star is absent from their uniforms. I thought they would have added it to the uni’s as well

    Having watched the replay of the game last night, the Rapids are wearing a championship patch, or at least were for their opener. I imagine either later this season, or next season we will see the star added.

    Yeah they add the star next season I believe and will wear the patch all year. Also they will be playing with a silver ball instead of white. I’m not sure if that is only for home games or all of their games.

    Here’s the protocol for MLS Cup Champions:

    The next year they play with the silver ball in their home matches and wear the scudetto (shield) on their shirts for the entire season. The following year, the scudetto comes off, the star goes on. If they were to win it again this year, I reckon they’d have the scudetto AND one star in 2012.

    no. the problem is that, no hockey teams have “warm up” jerseys. that’s just the practice jersey template (this seasons version). yes, the authentic practice jerseys have fight straps. still… that’s more effort that went into that particular jersey! impressive!!!

    speaking of “this seasons practice jerseys”… i’ve noticed this: most of the time the penguins will use this seasons template for home (both consol & southpointe) practices. and last years template for road practices. just thought that was interesting…

    Florida State is right in protecting their imagery. But I think FSU is leaning heavy on this school district to send the message to other schools around the country to cease and desist. I have no problem with the imagery, but can the university claim exclusive rights to their nickname?

    What’s next? Duke going after every other “Blue Devils” school in the country? Yale or Gonzaga or Georgia suing to protect their Bulldog? Where does it end? How about no nicknames or letter identification (i.e. Wisconsin “W”)for high schools? And then the NCAA will have their schools go after high schools’ colors. No more Orange & Blue-that’s Florida. Navy & Gold belong to Notre Dame.

    It all boils down to one thing-money. And who gets to make it.

    Also the REAL Golden Rule.
    “Them that’s got the gold makes the rules.”

    Sorta like the NFL trying to claim it owns “WHO DAT?”.

    —Ricko

    Living in New Orleans, I am SO sick of this stupid argument. (NOT you for posting it Ricko!)

    It seems like every other week the news radio is clogged up with lawsuits over these two words… Pathetic.

    The difference is that “blue devils” and “bulldogs” are both used by multiple NCAA member institutions and are basically public domain team names. “Seminoles” is, as far as I can tell, unique to FSU. It’s still dickish though. I always wonder why colleges don’t just license their imagery to these schools for a dollar a year and rake in the good publicity from being the cool college that lends its name out.

    You also can’t copyright a color scheme, though an iconic enough color can be copyrighted, like Pantone 278 as Carolina Blue or Hex #1E90FF as Dodger Blue.

    Similarly, you can’t copyright a single letter, but you can copyright a monograph or a typographic style. That’s why USC and South Carolina got into it last year over their common use of interlocking “SC” on their baseball caps. I bet Wisconsin holds a copyright on the typographic style that includes the Action W.

    I bet Wisconsin holds a copyright on the typographic style that includes the Action W

    ~~~

    i don’t know…has wisconsin ever filed a C&D against high schools attempting to use the motion W? seems like they’re pretty mellow about it

    Wisconsin has sent more C&Ds than anyone for appropriating its logo for their use. They are the most un-mellow of the bunch.

    Kansas State is probably among the more mellow. Instead of sending C&Ds, they generally offer to license the logo to the school for $1 per year, as long as the ‘Power Cat’ (as it’s called) is not used in blue and red. Those are the schools that get C&Ds from KSU.

    I know they sent a C&D to Warren Central in Indianapolis to stop using the motion W, but then helped them come up with an alternative.

    Wisconsin has sent more C&Ds than anyone for appropriating its logo for their use. They are the most un-mellow of the bunch.

    ~~~

    clearly the sarcasm tags aren’t working today

    Andy, aren’t K-State’s colors Purple & Grey? Red & Blue are Kansas University’s hues.

    Exactly. They don’t go after anyone except schools that use their logo in the colors of their arch rival.

    True, for sure.

    Where the line gets blurred is on, say, any cartoon aligator. That automatically an infringement on Florida’s nickname? I don’t know the answer, but based on a past actions (discussed here) U of Florida apparently thinks so.

    And I agree about some kind of blanket “general usage” agreement. That was attitude most teams and schools took before marketing revenue got so big. And the need to protect images became important.

    Didn’t the Maple Leafs actually lose their logo back in the ’70s because the courts ruled the club had allowed it to slip into the public domain because so many dry cleaners, et al, had been using it with paying for the privilege?

    —Ricko

    They can send a C&D to anyone remotely similar to them, but it’s up to a court to decide what would be infringement. It would probably require a cartoon gator, in bright colors, wearing a hat, as the mascot for a sports enterprise or promoting something intended to attract Floridians.

    The rule is that it’s only infringement if the defendant’s design could intentionally or unintentionally be confused with the plaintiff’s or imply endorsement of the defendant by the plaintiff.

    The USC-SC thing wasn’t actually a copyright infringement case as much as it was a quiet-title case to determine who actually owned the copyright through prior art or public association. It was an unusual outcome in that the party that had a legitimate claim of prior art (South Carolina) lost because it had allowed the design to be usurped by USC in public association because South Carolina had never challenged USC’s claim previously. That’s why schools have to police their logos so strictly.

    :( FSU’s a jerk for suing a high school. The high school is promoting the university, the university should be proud.

    :) FSU HAS to sue the high school to protect it’s intellectual property, otherwise any organization (school or private sector) can use the image and name as they please without penalty.

    :( But using the logo AND the name? Why can’t the high school use the NAME?

    :) It’s probably that they can’t use the LOGO AND NAME. FSU surely wouldn’t have to sue to protect the copyright if it was only the name being used

    :( But there are lawyers involved, so FSU still must be a bunch of jerkheads.

    :) What do you get when you have 99 lawyers up to their necks in quicksand?

    :( More quicksand?

    :) Yep.

    I think Adidas is by far the worst when it comes logo abuse. The 2010-2011 NBA warm-ups are a perfect example of this. Adidas’ 3-striped trademark goes from the collar of the NBA shooting shirt to the ENTIRE length of the player’s arm to their wrist. Even worse, Adidas’ trademark stripe also goes the ENTIRE length of the gigantic player’s leg on the warm-up pants. Just think of the percentage of that outfit that is now covered in Adidas’ 3-stripes…amazing. Nike comes across as a gentle puppy dog compared to Adidas’ NBA logo abuses.

    There is, I suppose, a valid distinction to made between how you treat the warmups and how you treat the actual game uniform, though, and I believe it’s the distinction Paul is making.

    I know I’ve seen some “generic” gray baseball pants from adidas at SportsAuthority. Three black stripes all the way down both pantlegs is hardly “generic”. On a warmup, not so bad. Don’t wear wear them to play the game.

    —Ricko

    They also make them without, though.

    adidas’ three stripes blurs the line between design element and logo creep, which is why it’s so great from a marketing/brand recognition standpoint but also so terrible from the viewpoint of people like you or me who think that the court/field should be as free from that sort of advertising as possible.

    “They also make them without, though.”

    I assume you meant baseball pants, and I know they do. I just thought peddling a model for “civilian” use with such a heavy-handed logo representation was a bit much.

    And I have to admit I’ve seen very few people wearing them, and didn’t see them on the racks this past summer. So evidently they weren’t exactly a hot item.

    —Ricko

    Ricko, Adidas also does the same logo-abuse to the World Cup soccer uniforms as well…which would be an actual game uniform. Even though the 3-stripes way be considered fashion, it is 100% the Adidas logo.

    link

    That’s what I meant. There probably is a somewhat accepatable distinction between warmups and game unis (and I was speaking in reference to the NBA).

    I don’t mind it so much on warmups. I mean, what the hell, warmups are sort of part of the pre-game pizzazz, especially in basketball. Not to the such a degree in most other sports.

    Make no mistake. Not defending adidas. Just saying that the harder Nike works to eliminate stripes, the harder adidas seems to work at incorporating them. Which, to me, says adidas knows what Nike’s up to.

    —Ricko

    True, I don’t care too much about warm-ups. Would it be better if they weren’t so logo-festooned? Sure. But honestly, who gives a shit?

    Three stripes going from the collar down the sleeves and down the sides of the pants IS logo creep, but it’s also iconic. The Adidas tracksuit is such a familiar image that anything similar will usually have two stripes applied in the same manner. Something like that is a lot different from, say, the soccer jerseys that have the truncated stripes at the tips of the sleeves.

    For me, an Adidas tracksuit or a warmup patterned after it isn’t logo creep in the same way that the three stripes on the vamps of my Sambas isn’t logo creep, because it doesn’t affect the iconic design. Once it starts creeping into new designs or gets warped into some kind of postmodern thing, that’s where logo creep starts for me.

    And yes, I would consider any kind of truncated stripes postmodern. If it doesn’t go all the way from band to cuff, it’s creep.

    don’t forget about Kappa and Roma link

    have to admit the three stripes on the sleeves has never really bothered me that much, as long as it went all the way down. the truncated stripes are just ugly. but puma putting extra logos on the shoulders bugged the crap out of me. link

    Funny you reference the Reebok hockey uniforms from ’94, Reebok has a similar treatment on this year’s Bolton’s kits.

    link

    The picture in the third or fourth bullet of the giant nike pant swoosh on Chris Chelios is from the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, not the World Championships. World Championships are held every year in May and the World Cup is held every 6-8 years or whenever IIHF and the NHL can agree upon it…..

    Speaking of new soccer jerseys (Paraguay & Colombia), check out France’s 2nd jersey……..pretty interesting. And by wearing it, you’re all ready for the cafe….

    link

    Yeah, we talked about this when it was first unveiled. Beautiful design, masterful stroke by Nike to incorpoate an iconic Gallic image.

    I swear, Nike is doing almost everything right in world football at the same time that they’re screwing up American colleges. Been that way for years.

    Guess we should give them credit for knowing that many U.S. football fans gravitate to trendy and tacky above all.

    Also that 17-year-olds need to be recruited, meaning a stylin’ uni is far more valuable that something involving history, pride and tradition, those being concepts they apparently have little or no interest in embracing.

    —Ricko

    “Lucky to wear your uniform? Dude, you should be thinkin’ you’re lucky I’m playin’ for YOU.”

    (As usual, what you’d think would be obvious often needs explaining here).

    Nike’s marketing strategies are, as they should be for such a global enterprise, different for different parts of the world.

    I was talking about Nike’s original designs for U.S.-centered team sports (that would includ such things as baseball in the WBC), because that’s where they’re doing what they’re doing, where they’re making the most profound changes in the basic approach (which is the other side of Chance’s comment).

    Also, I was talking about the use of stripes as trim/decoration/add-ons, not in the fabrics used. Plus, IS that a new look, or is that harking back to something traditional? In Europe, such a thing works. Here, it most times would just be seen as old-fashioned and stupid…and very unlike typical Nike U.S. imagery.

    And I also said “‘overall’ doesn’t mean ‘100 per cent'”, but if an exception can shoot down a contention for you, then, hey, congratulate yourself, and have a good day.

    —Ricko

    Apparently, the Whitecaps are doing something similar to what the Ottawa Senators did on their original shoulder patches from 1992-2007 (in the Sens’ case, using link – 1894 – even though there’s a 58-year gap in NHL hockey in Ottawa).

    The Washington Nationals used to do something like this, when they had “Est. 1905” in their logo.

    In reality, this franchise was established in 1969, and moved to Washington in 2005.

    The bogus “1905” was an exceptionally poor choice. I believe that that year was chosen because that was when the AL’s Washington Senators changed their nickname to “Nationals” (even though the “Senators” name remained the one that most people used).

    The really strange thing is that, if the Nationals had wanted to select a phony old-timey date that claimed an imagined linkage to Washington baseball history, they might have chosen amongst several legitimate dates:

    * 1884 – first season of Major League baseball in Washington, in the old American Assoc. (that team lasted only the one year)
    * 1891 – first season of Washington Senators, in the final season of the old American Assoc.
    * 1892 – first season of NL ball in Washington, as Senators move from defunct AA to NL (team folded in 1899)
    * 1901 – AL’s Senators began with the founding of the American League (moved to Minnesota in 1961)

    Using any of these dates would have been questionable, though defensible. But citing 1905 was especially weak.

    Nice shout out to Pinetop Perkins, one of the last remaining true Mississippi Delta Bluesmen.

    I’m from Aberdeen, Mississippi, made semi-famous by Bukka White’s “Aberdeen, Mississippi Blues” (later covered by the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band and called “Aberdeen”). But Aberdeen isn’t in the Delta, if anyone cares.

    Love blues music almost as much as I love sports.

    maybe we’re looking at the “Since 1974” in the wrong light? it’s geared towards the fans and the “spirit” and rooting interest in the team. kinda like “we’re back, but we never stopped loving you” type thing

    make sense?

    Yeah, and that’s fine. Surely the spirit of the Whitecaps extends that far back, even if the actual club had breaks in the timestream.

    It also doesn’t hurt that the face of the franchise – at least management wise, is Bob Lennarduzzi, a home-grown star for the Whitecaps from the NASL days.

    And there is a lot more success tied to the Whitecaps name than the 86ers, which bandied about mainly during the numerous unsuccessful attempts at launching a national soccer league during the late 80s-early 90s.

    Except the 86ers won more championships than the Whitecaps did (four CSL titles to one NASL title). But, yeah, Soccer Bowl 79 is the one everybody remembers and mythologizes. ‘Caps II won that pair of USL-1 titles.

    And Whitecaps is a way better name anyway.

    Take away the stupid pit and shoulder blade swatches and this practice jersey–at least what I see from the rear–is one of the best looking designs to come along in a while. Those two colors really compliment each other well…I love the font and its vertical arch…the numbers in the clover are fanciful yet dignified. Sweet.

    link

    OK, I want to restart the NBA color scheme solution topic.

    As far as getting rid of the red and blue I say Grizzlies, Clippers contract. Bobcats move to become the “New SuperSonics”.

    The Mavs could return to green as the primary color with blue as the accent.

    Miami, red becomes fuchsia. link

    OKC, blue becomes gray.

    TWolves, no more blue back to gray, black and green

    Nuggets go to purple and gold link

    Royals, purple blue as opposed to red and blue

    Red (-3)
    Blue (-6)

    I would love to see that, if only because LeBron James would be forced to wear hot pink.

    Also, could you mock up that Nuggets spread in their current colors, with the powder and athletic gold as the primary colors and navy (or true royal, i think that’s a little bright to be considered navy) as a third color? As far as I can tell, that’s a unique color scheme, certainly compared to blue and orange, and they’re definitely the only team currently wearing powder blue unis.

    I *should* like that color scheme. After all, I love it on UCLA. But to me it has never looked right on the Nuggets. I hope they have a uni re-do soon. With Melo gone, this is a good time for a new look. Or an old one.

    Tim: How about an orange alt for the Heat with black as the secondary color and fuchsia as the tertiary?

    Jim: I totally agree about the Nuggets. I don’t understand why, but that color combo just doesn’t look right. Maybe it’s the particular shade of powder blue they use.

    Didn’t the Denver Rockets (while there still was an ABA) wear lavender and athletic gold at one time?

    —Ricko

    Speaking of the ABA, always loved this SI Cover of Dr. J…
    link

    Wanna have some fun? Find the video of the first NBA All-Star Game after the merger. The Dr. knew it was his debut on national TV, and he lit it up.

    —Ricko

    Didn’t the Denver Rockets (while there still was an ABA) wear lavender and athletic gold at one time?

    ~~~

    wow…two days in a row i get to link to the remember the aba website

    Thought so. Scroll down about 3/4 of the way to the 71-73 unis…
    link

    Taking a cue from the Lakers, I suppose, they called it “Columbine Blue” (that’s a flower, people; has nothing to do with the name of a high school).

    —Ricko

    Either my monitor’s off a bit, or you used pineapple instead of orange. Looks good, though.

    My first thought is no way, but then again the Pistons are one of my least-favorite teams. Make it so.

    As someone who lived through the “New Breed” era, I have to say no, no, NO! We’ve got enough problems in the Motor City – we don’t need to go through that nightmare again!

    OH!

    anyone watching (and crying over) the NC-two-A’s?

    seems to me like the cincy bearcats are getting away with an awful lot of adidas creep

    three claw marks, which just happen to look a lot like the three stripes on the shoulder? i don’t know much, but i know bears, or cats, or even mythical bearcats…aint sloths… especially when you consider the “c” on their jersey clearly has four claws…

    and the three stripes on the back of the collar? is that kosher too?

    They were obviously scratched by a cartoon bearcat. Much like cartoon mice and cartoon rabbits, cartoon bearcats only have 3 fingers.

    Definitely fails the creep test, but at least that’s a more clever use of the three stripes than simply adding them on top of an existing design.

    As long as the three stripes are of two different colors (in Cincinnati’s case, white jersey; two black stripes surrounding one red), it is permitted by the NCAA. Stripes of all one color are not allowed.

    I emailed this in, but its too good. The 1998 Glasgow Celtic kit may have more little logos on it than I’ve ever seen on a single shirt, front and center, plus on the sleeves and notice the little diamonds sublimated inside the green stripes. link

    True. We make fun of various manufacturers in the big four North American sports, but Umbro probably predates anyone other than Adidas for plastering their logo all over everything. And at least Adidas did it in a way that actually looked good in the mid-80s.

    No, they get extra demerits for that, because it would be a perfect jersey … except it has the Umbro mark logo-assaulted onto the sash. The sash should be uninterrupted, or if interrupted, only the club logo should be on it. Putting the Umbro mark on the sash makes the manufacturer’s logo the single most prominent visual element of the jersey.

    I respectfully disagree. I think the sash, even if it is interrupted slightly by the logo, is still the most prominent element, followed by the large club logo over the heart in its own space. I think the Umbro logo is somewhat muted by being placed on the sash. I don’t notice it until after I see both the sash and the club logo, and that’s a good thing in my eyes.

    It’s as perfect as you’re going to get in the Logo Creep Era. I’d wear that.

    Just so everyone knows Umbro is owned by Nike, that’s why all of the Umbro national team kits have the same shorts template as all of the Nike ones. With Umbro owned by Nike and Reebok owned by Adidas I would expect that logo creep will continue to happen with all of those. I know there is a lot of hate for nike out there but if you look at the current designs of both Adidas and Reebok it is quite obvious which company is the more egregious offender.

    In honor of Paul’s bday and/or to deflect from their BB loss Sunday nite,

    There’s a survey of and a couple of quotes about ND FB unis.
    I like the Holtz comment “Our jerseys have an interlocking N.D. on the sleeve, a number on the front and back, no names, and we wear black Adidas shoes. People ask me why we wear black shoes, and I said, ‘I didn’t think the players would like brown ones.’ People complained because we don’t have names on our jerseys, and I said, ‘You should feel lucky we have numbers on them.’ It has the N.D. and that says it all.” ~Lou Holtz”:

    SURVEY:
    link

    sorry if this was posted here already.

    “Sandy Koufax bobblehead from 1962 – First year after the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn”

    The purpose of ebay is to punish me for knowing things.

    ya know…the idiot seller probably saw somewhere “first year of dodger stadium” (which is true, dodger stadium opened in 1962) … and thought, “yup, musta moved from brooklyn in 1961”

    it’s probably safe to say not many people know, and fewer remember, the dodgers played in the coliseum 58-61

    Oh, I think quite a few people still know that the Coliseum was the Dodgers’ home, especially considering that the Dodgers played an exhibition game at the Coliseum in 2008 – and one of the most famous exhibition games ever was staged there as a tribute to Roy Campanella.

    And moreover — take it from a bobblehead fan: that’s not a “Sandy Koufax” bobble. That dark-haired little dude was used as a template (there were several for that late-’60s line — and yes, the date is wrong too) for many teams. They added the “32” for the Dodgers but it was never intended to *look* like the great Mr. K.

    To put the final nail in the coffin that it’s not Sandy Koufax, the bobble-head is a righty. Mr Koufax was perhaps the greatest lefthander of all time!

    I honestly don’t think the Broncos stripes are that big of deal, nor do I think they closely resemble the Nike swoosh. Sure, I realize Nike did it on purpose, but I never even thought of it until I read it on this blog a few years ago. I still can’t even really see how those stripes are supposed to be a Nike logo.

    So what do we think of the sideways swoosh in the link? Utter coincidence, or another example of the designer referencing his employer’s logo into the finished product?

    Myself, I’ve always felt these to be in-jokes, Easter Eggs added by Nike employees to amuse themselves and other Nike employees.

    Honestly, I think that’s a nostril, as rendered on many a mammal in probably tens of thousands of comic book illustrations throughout the years.

    That Newport cigs icon, though, that’s something else altogether. Just rotate the image 180 degrees.

    —Ricko

    I know this is a place for the uni-obsessed, but you have to be insanely detailed-oriented to catch that nostril. Never saw it until now. On purpose or not, I don’t think it matters one bit. If .0001% of the sport fan population catches onto it, I don’t have a problem with the design.

    And as for those Bronco stripes, I have no problem with them. If that’s supposed to be a Nike swoosh, it’s extremely convoluted at best, and hardly resembles the brand. It’s just part of the overall design, which has been successful, stayed intact for almost 15 years, and is generally pretty good.

    Fifty bucks for a baseball View Master reel?
    link

    Dang, wonder how much my Don Maynard football instructional would be worth?
    link
    Well, now I know.

    Notice Maynard never wore a chinstrap?
    He had those things on the side of the helmet, evidently using his high cheekbones to help keep the helmet steady on his noggin.

    —Ricko

    Met Don Maynard once, on a flight from Florida to Nevada, back in ’89. Could not possibly have been nicer. Sat in the aisle and talked to us for a while, showed us his Super Bowl and Hall of Fame rings. He didn’t have a reputation as a particularly gregarious type as a player, maybe he just enjoyed having someone recognize ol’ #13 and wanted to kill some time during the flight. I’m a fan.

    Whole lot about Don Maynard in the Joe Namath biography (great book). He harbored a tremendous grudge against the NY Giants for first attempting to make him play RB, then cutting him, before he hooked on with the AFL Titans/Jets. Truly harbored an animus against Giants coach Allie Sherman, who forbade the Giants from drinking r playing cards with the Titans after many had established friendships. Led the post-game cheer of “Goodbye Allie” after the Jets/Giants initial preseason game where the Jets killed the Giants at the Yale Bowl. It is written that the Jets players were nmore fired up for that game than the SuperBowl III where they beat the Colts.

    In a true indication of the times, before mega-million contracts and celebrity athletes, Maynard was a real regular guy. A bit of a self-reliant conservative, every single day he commuted he demanded a receipt for the 10 cent toll on the Tri-Borough Bridge to deduct on his Tax Returns – My kinda guy!

    I suppose this isn’t uni-related, but since this is a congress of self proclaimed nerds it seems like a good place to ask. Does anyone know where I can find a screenshot of the NAPA know-how guy and that crazy eyes expression he has when he pulls out the air filter?

    I know the wikipedia says otherwise, but my recollection is that the vancouver ’86ers were named to commemorate the worlds fair held in Vancouver that year, not for the city’s centennial.

    Could have been. The World’s Fair was in Vancouver in ’86. Wouldn’t have been the first Canadian sports team named in honor of a World’s Fair.

    However, 1986 was the 100th anniversary of the city’s incorporation, so it’s easy to see why one would think that.

    With apologies for being off-topic, I have a feeling most here, including our Fearless Leader, would enjoy this page. Happy Birthday, Manhattan!

    link

    What’s the difference between what this Vancouver team is doing and the Washington Nationals claiming to have been established in 1905?

    GREAT NEWS!

    Don’t know if you guys (or Paul) read about this today but among the rule changes for the NFL, there was a provision that will keep the grass/turf green for the foreseeable future

    Sad that we need this rule, but exciting nonetheless

    Oh, darn.
    And they were so resolutely marching farther and farther down to road to everything feeling so nice and artificial, too.

    —Ricko

    At least the Packers and Jets don’t have to worry about it. I’d add the Eagles, but they’d probably be the first to have BFBS turf.)

    With all the talk of logo creep, and the mention in a few comments about teams using fuchsia on uniforms, I felt I needed to post this for everyones viewing pleasure…

    link

    Gotta love it…

    Sponsored by Janelle’s Beauty Parlor…
    “where they now use disposable towels for your protection.”

    (Actually heard that tagline line once on small town radio station. Damn near drove off the road).

    —Ricko

    Not a bad jersey, but they are in terrible need of a completely new team logo/crest/whatever you want to call that patch. I don’t usually criticize but I haven’t liked it since it debuted. It just looks like something that was hastily thrown together.

    they are in terrible need of a completely new team logo/crest/whatever you want to call that patch

    ~~~

    well, there’s that and then there’s that shitty white amorphous shape in the blue sash

    Wait, I’m confused. I thought that a manufacturer’s logo on the sash made for a “perfect” jersey. Now it’s a bad thing? I was gonna make a snide remark about maybe it’s OK unless Nike does it, but Umbro is Nike, so it doesn’t even make that much sense.

    It’s best if we just don’t think about it too much (sarcasm button). Honestly, in this case the Nike logo in the sash doesn’t bother me too much. They made a great jersey otherwise, and as I meant to mention it with the Umbro one, the swoosh is in the one place I’m usually okay with on the jersey. It’s opposite the club logo, not obscenely large, and in my uneducated opinion it doesn’t detract too much from the overall design.

    For what it’s worth, I’m currently living in Colombia, and have seen a couple students at the university where I work wearing the new Adidas Colombian national team jerseys this week.

    My take on them is that I don’t like them so much. First of all, when I see them (echoing a comment by RS Rogers above in reference to Adidas), I think of Adidas more than I think of Colombia. The design, while based on Colombia’s jerseys from the recent path, looks just like every other Adidas jersey with the three stripes on the shoulder and the exact same numeral and NOB font. Also, the color of the jersey, instead of the traditional gold, is a flourescent yellow, which I do not like at all.

    Interesting detail from the article about the MTSU memorial patch:
    “…but late Saturday night NCAA officials told MTSU senior women’s administrator Diane Turnham that the Nike swoosh does not count as a patch.”

    I fear this ruling will set a precedent that can only allow for more logo creep in NCAA Basketball. Exactly what we need…

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