By Phil Hecken
I’m back again this weekend with Caleb Borchers, who last week gave us a preview of about half of the uniforms in the 2011 Rugby World Cup. If you missed that article, or want a refresher, be sure to check it out, as it sets up today’s grand finale. And now, the second part of that preview. Great stuff here, even if you’re not a fan of the sport. Oh, bring on the Haka.
Here’s Caleb:
The 2011 Rugby World Cup, Part II
By Caleb Borchers
A couple things came out in last nights opener.
The players aren’t the only one with new jerseys. The IRB got the refs their own update: Old and New.
Adidas wasn’t kidding when they said their new jerseys were super tight. Sonny Bill Williams needed help putting a replacement on in the opening game. The fact that his first ripped certainly didn’t speak well of the quality, however.
Perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing part of opening night was the world class opening ceremonies. Auckland had a fireworks show for the ages.
And now, on to Part II of the uniforms:
Japan: Traditionally: The Japanese have two traditional looks that they wear frequently, due to the frequent use of red in international sides. These were on display in the 2007 RWC. The first is a red and white hooped jersey. The second is a dark blue jersey with red accents. Japan also has the least intimidating logo of any national side.
2011: Again Canterbury has stuck close to tradition with the typical jersey. Can’t tell if the second jersey is yet another BFBS number or just a very dark blue. Clearly the two jerseys have a bit much in the way of unnecessary piping.
Namibia: Traditionally: Don’t feel bad about knowing nothing about Namibia. Rugby fans have to look it up on a map every four years. In 2007, and most years, the alternated between a blue jersey with green accents and a white change strip. Like the Americans they have an eagle (of some sort) for a team logo.
2011: It appears that Namibia’s look at this RWC will stay under wraps until they appear on the field.
New Zealand: Traditionally: Perhaps no team is more defined by their jersey. It is black. All black. That is unless they are forced into a change strip that crushes their sense of identity and collapses their confidence, leading them to crash out of the RWC at a historically early stage. After that debacle they went to a white alt, but they still hate playing in it. On a side note, most teams will look oddly pleasing at the World Cup without the corporate sponsors which the IRB bans from the jerseys. That difference is not felt with the All Blacks because they don’t wear a corporate sponsor (at least not recently) due to Adidas paying premium dollar to keep that black jersey clean.
2011: Adidas has come up with a doozy this time. The traditional black jersey has a white collar, which from a distance make them look like the floppy flying collars of years past. Too bad they are charging Kiwi outlets double the cost of other countries, squandering the great reviews they got when it first came out. The change jersey is again white, with a black collar.
Romania: Traditionally: Romania uses the superman color scheme of yellow, red, and blue. They looked fine in the 2007 version. They also had a change strip that went monochromatic.
2011: The Romanians are coming with something new and interesting. They have a red sleeve and a yellow sleeve, an eagle wing on the red one, and an embossed eagle on the chest. The blue alt is very similar. Some will suggest it is all too much, and they are probably right. Still, I’d rather see adventure (Romania) over boring (Georgia) any day. No one will mistake Romania for the local State Technical College’s club team.
Russia: Historically: The Russians are the only newcomers to this year’s RWC. As such they have no uni history at the tournament, but historically have a very simple look. There most recent look was a simple red and white.
2011: Russia looks to have gotten nothing more than the standard Canterbury template. No word on an alt jersey, though a plain white jersey is likely.
Samoa: Historically: Over the years Samoa has not had a jersey that drew much attention. They have worn a solid blue jersey with white shorts. This was the 2007 look. In November 2010 they debuted a new jersey with some Samoan flair. They then reverted to a traditional look in June of this year.
2011: Last November was apparently a dry run for the jersey they will wear in 2011. In addition to the obvious sleeve pattern there is also a floral/vegetation pattern embossed into the jersey. (Kooga really loves that element.) They have a white alt as well, which may be needed against the Namibians. Again, like Fiji I am excited to see some national identity coming out of these Polynesian sides. Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji give the Rugby World Cup a flavor not seen at many sporting events.
Scotland: Historically: The Scots stay close their national flag with their jersey. In 2007 it looked like this and more recently like this. Scotland’s blue often leads to clashes, with both blue and black teams, so they have to have an alternate. In recent years it has been white, but historically was more exciting/ugly.
2011: Canterbury has tried to give the lowly Scots a more regal look by adding in a lot of gold trim. It’s an interesting and positive move, or least would have been if Canterbury didn’t feel the need to stripe rugby jerseys like you paint a basketball court. The alternates are white.
South Africa: Historically: The South Africans have a long history in the green and gold with the Springbok logo. For some, however, that history is more than a little tied to apartheid. (The recent film Invictus dealt some with the issue.) Over the years this meant adding the Protea flower to the Springbok, and eventually to a national Protea crest being added across the shirt from the Springbok. The 2007 jersey looked like this.
2011: The South Africans have created a firestorm this year, because they now have the same issue as the Wallabies. The crest, logo, and RWC patch cannot all fit on the front of the jersey. So, they merely moved the Springbok to the sleeve. Many within the South African rugby community are enraged. They see this as political correctness gone amok and the destruction of a century of team identity. None the less, the Protea is on the chest and the Bok is on the sleeve. Also, notice that they South Africans have the trophy embroidered on the sleeve with their victorious years (1995 and 2007). They have a white alt that is boring and doesn’t look much like South Africa. They will only need it if they see Ireland in the playoffs, which is a distinct possibility.
Tonga: Historically: The Tongans have worn a traditional red jersey. In 2007 they added some nice Tongan design elements to the sleeves. Tonga, coming from such a small nation, don’t get some of the perks that other nations get. In 2008 they clearly tried to save some cash by wearing their 2007 RWC jerseys with the patch pulled off leading to discoloration on the right chest. (You can kind of see it in this photo.) All that to say, the population of 100,000 leads to outfitters giving them little attention due to the lack of merchandising opportunity.
2011: Kooga have given them a very plain look. They may have attempted to emboss something into the sleeves, but its hard to pick up even in the promotional photos. The alternate is even plainer and likely will be needed against Canada or Japan.
USA: Historically: The Eagles have a long history of visual uncertainty. In 2007 they went with red jerseys with odd striping and a white change strip. More recently they have bounced around to different suppliers, including an Adidas nightmare and more recently Canterbury’s standard template. They’ve yet to settle even on red, white, or blue as a dominant color. This June they tried some novel ideas, including the Evel Knievel look and the patriotic remix of the Islanders fish sticks jerseys.
2011: Personally I was hoping for something along the lines of the Knievel jersey. Instead, they are going to go with standard Canterbury fare. The change jersey is blue. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them wear each twice. Rumor has it that we might see these at some point as well. I really hope that is a rumor alone. While I like a little adventure, I’m not in love with the idea of an Uncle Sam sunburst popping out of the players genitals. A bit too much.
Wales: Historically: In 2007 Wales went with a simple look and an odd charcoal alternate. Since they have done a variety of red and white looks, with a brief stint of green socks. They’ve also been prone to adding alternates merely to appease sponsors. Most recently they have looked like this, emphasizing the white.
2011: The 2011 jersey has Under Armor putting the “Ree-Box” to shame. In addition to making sure no one within a mile forgets who made the jersey, I’m also sad they chose to go with red socks instead of green. They have a black alt, like the English but with slightly more precedent, which is extremely unlikely to be needed at any point. I would give short odds on Wales choosing to wear them anyway “just for fun/making money.”
Tremendous job with that Caleb. Thanks again for such a thorough preview. So what do you say, Uni Watchers? Are you ready for some footy?
It’s GOTTA be the shoes…
Well…somebody had to say it. I’m actually surprised it took this long.
For years, Nike, Reedidas & now UA have been using uniforms (and especially sneakers) as a recruiting tool, and many recruits have been known to publicly state their reason for attending a school came down to the “fresh” uniforms and kicks (see: Oregon & Maryland). But to my knowledge, no recruit has ever said he didn’t want to attend a school specifically because he didn’t like the uniforms or sneakers. But no more.
Check out this quote: “I didn’t like that they were an adidas team. … I didn’t like their colors, either. I don’t like green and gold. That’s ugly … When you got ugly colors like that, you gotta be Nike. … Baylor has some ugly shoes, too.”
That quote comes from Archie Goodwin, and you can read more about the whole story here.
Since I’m handling the Monday post, Paul has left me in charge of the uniwatching inbox for ticker material. It literally blew up when this story hit the interwebs. It’s probably for the best that he’s both out in the middle of nowhere AND out of cell/E-mail range because this may have been the last straw in a week dominated by shiny objects used to attract 17 year olds. We now know those same shiny objects can be used to repel them as well.
I’m just surprised no one said so sooner.
Thoughts?
Benchies
by Rick Pearson
“Here-a-logo, there-a-logo, everywhere-a…”
And, of course, the full-size.
Uni Tweaks
We have another new set of tweaks today.
If you have a tweak, change or concept for any sport, send them my way.
Remember, if possible, try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per tweak. You guys have been great at keeping to that, and it’s much appreciated!
And so, lets begin:
We start with Pat West, who begins our NFL Kickoff Weekend with some NFL tweaks:
Phil:
Here are some tweaks of AFC teams. I tweaked 8 different teams as I would leave the other ones alone anyway. I copy pasted the Wikipedia templates created by Johnny Seoul into MS Paint and then tweaked them from there. Hardest part was to match the colors.
Bengals: Got rid of the funky white patch at the top of the pants, the side paneling and dropped the drop shadow.
Chargers: Made the powder blue the primary.
Chiefs: Made the black on the helmet logo yellow and fixed the pants striping on the red pants so they matched the white.
Dolphins: All I did was get rid of the drop shadow.
Jaguars: This uni obviously requires a lot of work. I got rid of the piping. I like how the helmet is a gradient change in the light between teal and black so I created some trim on the pants and sleeves to mimic that gradient shift.
Patriots: Got rid of the piping on the home and the piping and side paneling on the roads.
Ravens: Got rid of the drop shadow. I made their black pants have two purple stripes that mimic their helmet stripes. I gave them purple socks for the white unis.
Texans: Toyed around with white helmets but the navy looked better. Added some extra shoulder striping to match their pants.
Pat West
Next up is our final tweaker for the day, Austin “Tex” Fischer, with some NHL concepts:
Hello UniWatch, I sent in some hockey concept several months back. Here are some new concepts.
All Star 1
All Star 2
All Star 3New York Rangers 1
New York Rangers 2Tex
Thanks fellas — back with more tomorrow.
Gridiron News & Notes:
There’s a bunch of things you need (and other things you don’t want) to know about the upcoming college and pro games this weekend.
• In one of the more disgusting “look at me” activities NFL players will be undertaking tomorrow is to wear gaudy stars-and-stipes cleats and gloves. Because nothing says America, Fuck Yeah than this. I wasn’t going to mention the tenth anniversary of a certain date on these boards, but this is really just taking it too far.
• I don’t know how many college teams are getting into the Stars & Stripes act, but here’s what Northwestern will be wearing on their helmets today. Not a fan of this, but it’s far less noxious than the “look at me” kicks & gloves the a few NFLers are planning to wear.
• The Buccaneers plan on paying tribute to the late legend Lee Roy Selmon throughout their season by wearing patches on their helmets. Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris hopes that some type of memorial will be used for the coaches, as well, since he would like to be part of the tribute, according to this article.
• Tonight’s Michigan/Notre Dame game will end two of the longest running helmet style streaks.
• Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s Reebok cleats will bear America’s Stars and Stripes with the word “Never” on the back of his left shoe and “Forget” on the right.
• Not to be out-patrioted, Major League Baseball teams will wear American flag patches on their caps Sunday.
• In college football, Tulsa will be going with a star-spangled helmet script Saturday.
• Boston College will have red bandana helmet stickers, to honor former BC athlete Welles Crowther, who saved a number of lives during the attacks on the World Trade Center.
• Arkansas will have a red, white, and blue mid-field logo.
• Samford will have a dual helmet tribute, for 9/11 and for Alabama’s tornado victims.
There will probably be a lot more…but that’s enough for now.
OK folks. Last night the Diamondbacks wore throwbacks to commemorate their 2001 World Series win. More photos here. ASU went BFBS. Joy. Enjoy a full slate of college football today — got a few very good early season match-ups, including the first ever night game in the Big House, replete with special costumes for both Notre Dame and Michigan. See you all tomorrow.
“Robinson spats his cleats when Big Ten season rolls around. He gets hard so many times it prevents his shoes from flying off.” — mmwatkin
Those All Star hockey uni’s look too much like my hometown Flyers. I liked Pat West’s NFL edits, although I enjoy the Raven’s drop shadow…
Oh, and, just so we are all clear; the Bucs are wearing patches on their helmets. I’m glad the NFL switched to those soft helmets in the off-season, or else that statement would look really foolish.
You do know that for many, many years the NHL All-Star Games were orange and black, right?
More likely to be either red, white and blue, the host team colors, or black and silver (yes, black IS one of the official color of the NHL shield.)
And the old NHL logo was orange and black.
Hence, orange and black unis for many All Star Games in that era, which was at least through the ’70s.
According this website, 1990-91 was the last season with orange and black stanard for the All Star game…
link
Actually, you missed the 1992-93 season.
A full breakdown of the ASG unis can be found link. Orange and black were used going back to the very first benefit game. When the ASG became a regular thing, they went with colorful red, white, and blue designs, up until 1960, when they adopted link.
Black and gold remained the primary colors (although the West Division All-Stars would wear blue and orange for a few seasons) up until 1993, when the renamed conferences got new (and ugly) logos, and the star-patterned unis followed those colors (teal for east, purple for west). Mercifully, the logos were changed to a dark red for the Eastern Conference and dark blue for the Western Conference in 1997-98, even though the league moved to a North America vs. the World format for the game. Since then, the only game they haven’t had red and blue is the 2004 game, which gave us red vs. green – and went with the Wild’s “wheat” instead of white, much to my chagrin.
Probably did. Just went forward from the ’70s until I found the first set not orange and black.
Was only trying to establish, roughly, how long they continued to match the league’s logo colors.
Thanks. I’m just anti drop shadow in general. Kind of the same way that Paul is anti purple. No real reason to remove it other than that. The only NFL uni that I’m ok with drop shadow is Atlanta’s and that’s only because it’s subtle.
I was so mad at the fuckery that is the Notre Dame “throwback” uniform, that I whipped up my own “corrected” version. The only Adidas influence that I kept was… well… link
Surprisingly, a great entry today!
Ballparkbiz observes that the Daytona Cubs will have a new look next year, posting the link to Studio Simon’s work:
link
Naturally, the team has the trendy powder blue in its new set. I hope, though, that Cubby the mascot doesn’t have to wear shades.
link good article here about the phoenix coyotes layign down their new ice!
Was in the kitchen getting coffee and looked up to catch a highlight of nice Missouri TD pass.
Oh, wait…
re: Archie Goodwin
So, where does this fall on the Dumb-Ass Nature vs Dumb-Ass Nurture continuum?
I dunno, it seems like a perfectly valid reason to me. Sure it’s stupid if they were the only school interested in him, but that obviously isn’t the case.
When you’re desperate for a job, you take what they offer. When you have multiple companies that want you, you get to dictate terms. Same thing here.
Gotta kill a year somewhere, right? Might as well wear colors he likes.
Except you failed to note that Archie is indeed attracted to ‘shiny objects.’ Frankly he comes across as yet another whiny overly spoiled brat who has been helicopter parented and spoiled like a spoiled brat every mili-second of his entire spoiled spoiled brat life. His attitude comes across as one of ‘Baylor should change their entire color scheme to suite me.’
Go fuck yourself, Archie and when you’re working the fry-o-later at BK two years from now after you flunk out of whatever college you do end up attending, remember I like mine extra crispy and with extra salt.
I’m almost convinced the NCAA needs to go back to freshmen being ineligible. Let’s find out if these kids can cut it in college. Also would stop this insane, “I’m announcing which school I’ve chosen to benefit from my stardom by donning their hat at a news conference” shit. The kids who can’t handle college? They can find a job (or something) and try out for a pro team later.
Would that kinda suck for them? I suppose. But here’s a bit of reality: No one has a RIGHT to a shot a pro career. You kinda gotta earn it inside whichever paradigm exists in your chosen sport, sometimes in more than one way.
A nice idea in theory, but would freshmen still be allowed to play on say a ‘freshmen team’ like they had back from the whenever college started to the mid 1970’s? Even then, what’s to stop a kid form taking a bunch of gut courses his freshman year (which EVERY incoming college student seems to have to do these days, no matter how many ‘honor’/’AP’ classes they took in high school, thereby gaining his eligibility then skipping their classes while the season is going on then entering the draft or turning pro or whatever? The school still gets fucked over.
Which leads me to a different but kinda related area, that of paying college athletes. No doubt we all have heard and read the various bleats and shrieks from the usual suspects about how those ‘poor’ college athletes are being exploited, but the evil schools who make a gazillion and one dollards off of them every single week, so said athletes must be paid.
No.
They shouldn’t be paid, since they ALREADY are getting paid. They get a scholarship which includes free room and board, plus in addition to being able to eat at the school cafeteria they get to eat at the training table, free medical care from the training staff, they get to travel all over the fucking country for free, and they get a per diem when they are on said road trips.
Some morons have said that only athletes on the sports teams that make money, ie Florida football, Duke basketball, should get paid, which is a moronic idea as implementing that is a lawsuit waiting to be crushed and lost. But, if you’re going down that ‘tard road, fuck it, just eliminate EVERY sport that doesn’t make money for EVERY college/university and high school in the country.
That would mean saying goodbye to any and all chances of America being anywhere close to competitive in track & field/swimming/etc at the Olympics.
I did say “almost convinced.” :)
And I’m not the only one. Several talking heads have wondered about it aloud, too.
For one thing, it does get the spotlight off the kids for a year. “I’m 17 and I’m a star” maybe needs to be curtailed a bit. College is, as most of us who attended know, a lot about growing up, too.
The kid is like the anti-Lukas. He wants to wear Nike and hates yellow and green. As someone who likes purple uniforms, I say kudos to him.
I think that Archie is speaking from a “Uni Watchish” perspective.
If I was a highly touted football recruit, there is a long list of schools I would not attend because of their uniforms, and because of their Nike affiliation.
I wouldn’t go to Missouri if they wanted me. They look outlandish.
And what does Archie know? Baylor actually has decent uniforms. And you can’t blame the Bears for the shoe design. That’s the manufacturer’s fault. On that point I agree with Arch. Most shoes these days are atrocious. Except Penn State’s!
BTW, you know who came up with the phrase “It’s gotta be the shoes” don’t you?
Missouri was in the black last night, right?
twas mars blackmon, no? (aka spike)
When I played football in college about 14 years ago, I went to a Reebok school. Because I was not a highly-sought-after recruit (I spoke to a few coaches, but not more than 4) and went to a Division III school, I didn’t have a choice like these kids do now. I really didn’t care for the Reebok cleats we were provided with, but they were free and I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, playing football was just a bonus–I was in college to go to college.
Gotta go with The Jeff on this one. If the schools and manufacturers are using aesthetics to recruit players, they have no complaint when a recruit turns around and includes aesthetics in his decision. Besides, I like green and gold as a color scheme, but those are some ugly ass shoes.
Actually, since it’s generally accepted that red, white, and blue is the most successful color scheme in the history of the world, what’s the second most? Is it green and gold? Maybe red and gold or purple and gold because of Rome?
link
An opinion on what the Eagles should be wearing
And now, the updated ugliest unis of the last fifteen years, compliments of xfinity.comcast.net:
link
I still don’t get it. If the Bucs’ creamsicle is such a horrendous color, why doesn’t Tennessee ever get grief for its unis? Same color. At least it was at the time.
Must be that the red on the Bucs is more mindful of the Creamsicle wrapper. Otherwise, makes no sense for one team to get hammered while the other escapes mention.
It’s different because Tennessee is stuck with those colors due to the University picking them before the football team even existed…. while the Bucs chose to wear it intentionally. I guess. *shrug*
/if anything Tennessee is worse with the bits of black outlining that aren’t consistent between the home & away unis
Can’t disagree. So I ugess these ugly lists are really about criticizing choices as much as they are about how the uni looks. Not just a design critique but a policy review.
That’s sort of an inside-out version of a book reviewer saying, “How am I supposed to know if a book is any good if I don’t know who wrote it.”
Hilarious pic for the Pistons’ “New Breed” unis. Allan Houston looks so thrilled to be there… no wonder he jumped ship and signed with the Knicks instead!
The Wizards belong on that list…but that gold/black version was cool. The regular blue unis were way uglier.
The Seahawks also belong…but not in green!
The Bucs definitely do not belong there.
I do agree with you that the green unis, while pretty tacky, are still less offensive than their most depressing shade of blue uniforms.
Also concur on the Wizards’ old unis sucking, and the Bucs not belonging there.
The gold/black Wizards is one of the worst basketball uniforms of all time. OF ALL TIME.
The Seahawks don’t belong on the list either. Their worst combination is the all-white, and it’s not any worse than any other dark helmet/all-white uniform.
As for the Bucs… the worst part of their old uniform was the logo. It is kinda funny though, the way those uniforms seem to show up regularly on both worst and best lists.
I like the creamsicles and the Seahawks’ green jerseys. That person doesn’t know the difference between loud and ugly. It’s possible to dress loudly and still be stylish if the design is consistent and doesn’t clash.
The all-maroon Coyotes uniform does not belong at all. That is a practice uniform, hence the lack of stripes!
The image of the Coyotes against Colorado has them in their alternate uniforms, Mike, from their psycho Coyotes days. Those were definitely worn during the regular season.
Tonight is the first pre season NHL game Rangers vs St Louis on M S G and NHL network @ 7pm
I was confused for a moment, but then I realized it was the start of the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.
Wow, whoever put up the link for Centre Ice Arena’s website has a serious graphics skill deficit. Looks like the Buffalo logo was cut-and-pasted over Nashville’s, and the page itself looks like it’s straight out of Geocities c.1999. (The Centre Ice homepage isn’t much better.)
Curiously, the official tournament logo features the Rangers’ Liberty logo instead of the regular shield.
Wow, in this day and age for a website to look like that is just pure laziness. Btw, the Buffalo logo is pasted over the former Atlanta Thrashers logo.
Right about the logo, my bad.
Well it was an embarrassing ugly win for England today in their ugly black gear. Embarrassing for Nike is what happened to the belloti bold numbers throughout the game:
link
link
link
link
link
link
Are the peel-off numbers a new feature that make the jerseys stronger, lighter, faster, etc?
That’s why you don’t press numbers on a non-mesh uniform that’s going to get rubbed and jostled a lot. If the material isn’t porous the plastic just sits on top instead of adhering.
“That’s why you don’t press numbers on a
non-meshuniformthat’s going to get rubbed and jostled a lot. If the material isn’t porous the plastic just sits on top instead of adheringperiod.”(Fixed)
Screnprint/heat-sealed numbers are pure evil. Tackle twill FTW. Which brings me to my next point: Why would you use screenprinted/heat-sealed graphics for a rough sport like rugby? It’s a TACKLE sport, so it only makes sense to use TACKLE twill graphics. Duh.
I hate to sound like a Purple-lover, but I want the Dbacks to make the 2001 throwbacks an official alternate. To be honest, I’m getting effin’ tired of the BFBS alternate that almost never gets used and I never really liked the red at all. Just bring back the original A jersey and I’m happy.
I don’t mind sounding like a purple lover. Bring back those unis full-time.
There’s no purple stigma on this site. Paul doesn’t like it but we don’t really care that much about our fearless leader.
If they aren’t going to go back to the old color scheme go with the old designs in the new colors (with gold instead of tan), keep the number font but revert to the old wordmarks.
anyone watching game day?
they just showed a pic of ND’s costume for tonight, but scUM’s is under a black cape…fowler just said something like “they’re a secret — not even the players know what they look like”
either he’s completely full of shit, since we already had the “unveiling” months ago … or are they going with something else (a la maryland changing unis prior to their game on monday)?
can’t imagine this design is a big secret still, to the players or UWers…so why is fowler being so coy?
Aren’t they just a ripoff of the Minnesota Swarm?
link
;)
I can’t imagine Michigan would change at the last minute. The uniforms they are supposed to be wearing tonight have been retail gold. Michigan fans I have talked to said that stores like MDen that have carried them sell them out within hours of getting some in stock.
link
It looks as if Adidas was influenced by Under Armour’s Maryland scheme.
THE jeff approves and jim vilk would wear that
Um… no. Not on a football uniform.
I would wear it to go golfing, though…assuming I was ever drunk enough to actually agree to go golfing.
Whoa, when did the Hungry Hungry Hipster become the CEO of adidas?
Somewhere, Bo Schembechler is reeling into cartwheels six feet under.
Watching College Gameday…. Boston College will be wearing #19 and a red bandana sticker on their helmets to honor Welles Crowther, a former BC athlete who died on 9/11.
Also, they’ve got Michigan’s uniform covered up, and they’re saying “it’s a secret”.
looks like someone didn’t read the “Gridiron! News!” (re BC bandana)
Just finished reading the column
South Africa made a subtle change in the mid-’90s. Traditionally, the springbok faced the player’s right, but in 1996 it was turned around and now faces the player’s left.
By facing forwards on the left sleeve, it has been turned around again on this shirt.
the idea with this is that it’s facing “forward” – apparently saru/ccc think that right equals forward and left equals backwards. since it’s on the sleeve, obviously it just needs to be facing forward literally. on the non-world cup shirts the bok is still facing left.
interestingly, this is the exact opposite of what hugo chavez did with the horse on venezuela’s flag, and for the same reason. he turned the horse from right to left and said he was doing it to make the horse face forward… the fact that he’s also a leftist remained unspoken, i suppose.
Some great tweaks today. My faves: Bengals, Senators, Texans and Dolphins. Ravens were good too.
Pat West took the best uniform in the NFL and made it better:
link
Love the yellow-gold outline on the arrowhead. Great stuff!
Thanks! Trying to switch those over was super hard. They had all this black and gray to create more depth so I had to fool around with like 4 or 5 different shades of yellow. Often times the simpler the change the better when it comes to unis, no need to overhaul something that’s pretty classic.
The Texans one looks good but I wouldn’t put UCLA stripes on a team that’s already accused of always chasing the Colts.
You know the funny thing is those were the first ones I did and I had always not been a real big fan of the Texans unis. However, after a long road trip with a friend who described the Texans unis as “sexy” I took a second look and they aren’t too bad. I wasn’t really going for a full on UCLA stripe look for them. I was trying to mimic the little “USC” shoulder stripe they have now but combine UCLA and USC stripes. Now that I think about it that’s probably sacrilege for some LA residents.
Daytona’s alt jersey~SSC Napoli’s old jersey
link
while I agree and understand the outrage with over-the-top nature of the Reebok/NFL cleat situation… I can’t quite understand the hostility/criticism toward the various college programs choosing to display a little more stars and stripes this weekend.
I was hoping the anti-establishment attitude of uni-watch might take a break this weekend. I guess not.
It isn’t anti-establishment as much as wondering when, and if, the line into “tackyland” might get crossed.
In some of this there is a certain amount of apparently trying to put a positive—strangely almost festive—spin on the day. A need to make something good out of it.
It comes off a bit like the Participation Trophy generation still can’t figure out how to handle that sometimes you really do lose one, that things don’t always go your way.
It’s a sad and sorrowful anniversary, and aside from recalling the extraordinary bravery of so many that day, there’s nothing “stand up and cheer” about it.
It’s like Pearl Harbor or the JFK assasination. Days of numbing national shock, grief and horror. You deal with it and move forward as best you can. And you remember. Waving a flag won’t change what happened, won’t make it better, won’t minimize the damage.
It is what it is. The 10th anniversary of day when we took an appalling hit.
where’s the hostility toward the colleges?
i simply remarked about NU’s (northwestern u that is) decal as “not a fan of this”
i’d rather all games that wish to acknowledge the events of 9/11/01 simply do so with a reverential moment of silence…and that’s all
this is NOT a day of celebrating anything…teamwide S&S memorials aren’t the worst possible statements, but i don’t see the need for them…are any of the players, teams and schools any less reverential or somehow dishonoring the memory of the lost by NOT wearing red white & blue?
i’d simply prefer they didn’t do it and i’m not a personal fan, but i don’t see how I’m hostile to the colleges for doing it
Moreover, over 12% of the casualties from that day (not counting the hijackers) were not American. So, where’s the flag-waving for them?
yeah, not a fan of NU doing that especially be cause they’re located in evanston, pretty far from DC and NY. Now I know people everywhere were affected in small and significant ways. but I would only think this would be appropriate for a Fordham or Georgetown or something.
I think the best one is BC’s, since they’re commemorating a fallen comrade instead of just attaching themselves to the nebulous concept of patriotism.
I am a middle class white dude from the suburbs of nyc and even I know that no self respecting gangsta would be caught dead in anything but Nike. Nike and New Era are the only brands with street cred. As much as we don’t like it on this blog every kid white, black, purple, green wants to be a gangsta so the fact that this kid doesn’t like Baylor because they are addidas shouldn’t suprise anyone.
Lost in all of this discussion is the fact Baylor is actually a Nike team.
not for hoop…they’re sponsored by adidas for hoop and nike is for football
which might explain why their football team and their basketball team wear a different shade of gold
So, Nike actually understands what “gold” means. Nice.
That’s interesting. I just assumed that the entire athletic department of a major university signed a contract with a manufacturer to make all of their athletics uniforms. Does anyone know if Baylor used to be Adidas and has switched to Nike?
You would think Nike would love to sponsor their basketball team since their players really do murder people from time to time.
The “gangstas” in my town often wear Chucks.
like these, right?
I’m sewing an American flag patch on them right now for Opening Day.
Thanks a million, Caleb.
JUST DON”T LET DAN SIMON ANYWHERE NEAR THE MAJOR LEAGUE CUBS BRAND…. YIKES!!!
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How many other baseball teams have had a logo/mascot that’s a switch-hitter?
Total cop-out to go with a gray road uni instead of full powder blue.
But never mind the color scheme, those could be the worst script wordmarks I’ve ever seen.
I’m told that my Idaho Vandals are doing the stars and stripes helmet logo like Northwestern. I don’t know how well it’s going to look with the black and gold color scheme. I’m assuming it will look bad.
Of course it’ll look bad. Show me a stars-n-stripes logo that doesn’t look bad.
link ;)
Here’s the Vandals. Yup, not great.
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And a closeup…
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The Cuba (the sequel)
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The script Cubs really looks more like Cuba… and was the reason the Cubs got rid of their script back in ’90’s.
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I alluded to it above, but that old “team Cuba” wordmark was light years better than these ridiculous jagged-edged ones.
Nothing better than the annual Kentucky Chicken Steelers V Trojans game in Iowa. Actually a good *finger* lookin’ game. 5&1 Jimvilker?
byu-texas could be a nice matchup. maybe too much white helmet for one game, but two sharp looks.
BYU – Texas is right up there with Penn State – Bama for today’s best looking game. That said, we can all rest assured neither will be Vilk’s number 1.
exactly patrick
i’m not throwing good money after bad picking PSU/bama
dark horse could be the scUM/notre dome costumes under the lights…
Why the hate for Michigan from an eastern tenderfoot like yourself Phil? Best helmets since time began.
it’s a great matchup…from the knees up
both teams are in black socks…looks fargin awful
All of those will be taken into consideration. Just gotta check link to see if/where they belong on the list.
HAHAHA now that was funny Jim
also interesting to note about the RWC is that the RWC doesn’t seem to allow adidas stripes. check out argentina’s RWC shirt and standard test-match shirt:
RWC shirt: link
test shirt: link
the same thing occurred back in 2007, the rwc shirt had plain sky-blue sleeves, while the test shirt had blue adidas stripes.
wish fifa would adopt the same rules.
Reminder to those that A) have DirecTV, and B) Don’t have NFL Sunday Ticket:
Tomorrow is free preview day
I believe all carriers of RedZone are offering the same tomorrow. I know Comcast is, and Uverse did so last year, and I’m pretty sure I saw a commercial advertising it again for this year.
Just saw this…epic fail
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The tattoo reads “Live Life to it’s Fullest”
What a waste of tattoo ink.
Some not entirely clear pics of the Namibia shirt in action. From what I can see, it’s a good one – simple and classy.
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Thanks Phil for posting my tweaks. I just want to say a big thank you as well to Paul and you for creating a platform for all of us uni nerds to have a community where we can express ourselves and be drawn further and further into the sports abyss. If my wife knew how much I loved sports when she married me I think she may have have had second thoughts.
I’m digging the Rangers tweaks Tex. If the Rangers were ever to lose the wordmark on their blues for a logo that would look really good.
University of Washington is wearing white helmets, with a flag W. I read somewhere that Coach Sark lost a cousin in the WTC
anyone have pics? also seems like they’ve got a red, white, blue stripe according to this “Patriot Day: Washington’s wearing a one-time commemorative helmet: White with red, white and blue incorporated into UW’s gold (stripe down the middle) and a W with stars and stripes. It’s a pretty cool look.”
picture if you go to the gameday site and in the top right click on “Media” then “photos.” The stripe doesn’t look RWB in the photo though.
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NU has the N-USA decals on the helmets, the same pattern on the 50 yard line N and a S&S ribbon on the baack of their helmet.
weak sauce.
also, caleb, how are the cherry blossoms on japan’s shirts any less intimidating than the english rose, irish clovers or welsh feathers? i quite like japan’s logo…
Just saw Penn State’s cheerleaders. They’re wearing camo shirts w/ the Nittany Lion logo on it. I’m guessing this isn’t the usual attire they wear, but is it for the 9/11 anniversary?
Just very quickly talked about PSU changing their uniforms this year on ABC, how they got rid of the white collar. And how Alabama hasn’t really changed either, and you know who these two teams are no matter what.
… and how refreshing is that!
Arkansas just put a picture of tonight’s Red White and Blue logo helmet on their Facebook page. It’s the same as the one at midfield for the game.
IU is wearing white helmets. IU IS WEARING WHITE HELMETS. So disappointed…
IU hasn’t worn white helmets since ’66…
they don’t look bad but they look like wisconsin/nebraska at home now and oklahoma on the road. Weak Sauce.
Nebraska in the super-stretchies. Looks like straight ass with pant stripes that stretch to ridiculous proportions.
My own feelings about 9/11 are so conflicted, I don’t know where to start. I’m going to an auto show tomorrow, a fringe benefit of which is that I’ll be incommunicado. Ironically, one of my favorite pieces of artwork was Nam Jun Paik’s video installation of a huge American flag in the window of a bank at the corner of Broadway and Houston Street. It was removed quite a few years before the towers fell.
When did rugby jerseys turn into cycling jerseys?
“High performance” designs first appeared at the 2003 RWC with the gear Nike supplied England, France and South Africa. link Other manufacturers were using new fabrics, but most retained the classic rugby shirt design and shape. By the time of the 2007 tournament in France not a single proper collar or rubber button could be found. All teams were wearing new high-tech gear.
Wyoming wearing brown pants, gold jerseys, and brown helmets with a RW&B cowboys decal.
fuck…there’s vilk’s 5 & 1 winner
big house looks good under the lights…UM & ND look pretty sharp too
officials look sharp as well.
ND’s throwback is really inaccurate, but Brian Kelly looks really sharp. The ref is also wearing a throwback cap.
What the throwback should look like (with the TechFit application):
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May be correct but I’m not buying the big M. Other than that they look great. ND would look better with Moono’s sleeve stripes but they look mighty fine as is. Dig the shamrock. Check out the retro Adidas logo on the Wolverines.
Adidas’ version of Boise State-Georgia.
Another gimmick game.
Getting tiresome, actually.
ND’s shoulder stipes (accurate or not) look stupid. Like the Colts tee-shirt jerseys.
Did Notre Dame even HAVE a green version of those shoulder loops that season, or did they just wear their white (with gold and navy) from the year before? Was kelly (with gold) used only for their darks?
For at least ONE road game, they didn’t wear white (at USC)…
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That is ND from 61 in white.
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That is ND in 60 in white.
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That is 1959 in white.
nice pics larry
so, no matter what year they’re throwing back to (61 with the shamrock on the lid or 59 with the double green stripe) it’s wrong
so, as we’d been saying all along — it’s a *fauxback* or an amalgamation of a couple of past looks
still looks good, if inaccurate
So hard to tell what year ND threw back to. Why not just focus on one year?
In the ’61 shot, is the dark color green or navy?
My Kid Cards from ’61 and ’62, made while watching the games on TV, show this jersey at home, which debuted in 1960…
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The kelly with gold numbers and loops (no white on jersey at all) were 1963, so that would be the year I’m wondering about the occurances of white on the road.
Because by 1964, the shoulder loops were gone…
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Which begs another question. If none of Notre Dame’s road opponents wore green, and since so few games were televised, did the Irish even WEAR white jerseys that season?
I ask because back then there was a weekly syndicated show that ran every Sunday morning, replaying the Notre Dame game films from the day before play-by-play…and I have nothing in my files, nor my memory banks, of noticing a white jersey with just two shoulder loops in one color. That is to say with no gold whatsoever.
Granted, I might have missed the show the few times they did wear white. That’s why I’m asking.
From what I saw ND did wear white in 60,61,62 also.
Damn, the Internet changes things.
Back then I didn’t even know those jerseys were kelly.
Color photos were scarce, and if you missed the announcers’ descriptions on the black and white broadcasts there was almost no way to tell the difference between a navy jersey and rich kelly green jersey.
So you only assume nothing had changed.
The white Colts style with kelly numbers and trim? Right here tonight is first time I’ve ever seen that jersey. I guess that weekly Sunday show didn’t come around until ’62 or so, huh…cuz I sure as hell would have thought, “Aha, something new.”
Well, not just the Internet.
Cable TV and videotape changed things, too.
Hmmm…more to learn.
1963 Playboy All America team.
Notre Dame player in back row.
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The numbers and loops appear to be the same color (I think, so I had that right), but are they gold or white?
And we’ve seen a 1959 photo that could be the white road counterpart, but what were their whites (if any) in ’63?
The confusion deepens. The cutline for this photo says ND has a new coach, Hugh Devore. His first year was ’63.
That means the photo is from ’62…
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But my Kid Cards from Irish games in ’62 show the two-color loops on the dark jerseys (wouldn’t have got it wrong; white was always a noticeable contrast on B&W TV). So…did they break out the simplified version just for USC? And then decide to wear it full-time in ’63 (based on the Playboy photo?). Got me. Precious little info on uni changes in newspapers back then.
Okay, he shows the numbers and loops as white.
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Good to learn.
Still leaves unanswered if the ’62 and/or ’63 whites were just two kelly “loops” or still had the gold and kelly multiple pattern.
The b&e pics show them to be the multiple pattern.
So as near as we can tell, ND’s jerseys tonight are based on a jersey worn only in 1959? When they kinda sucked?
Yeah, there’s a Heritage for you.
They were 2-8 in ’59, eight losses between wins in the first and last games.
Does Monty Stickles look like an old-school football player or what?
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Question.
Scroll down to the photo of #84.
Is that navy or green on the numbers and shoulder stripes?
We know they likely weren’t forest green, so they’re either kelly or navy.
I can’t tell for sure. Even at 400%.
But they LOOK navy. At 400%, that is. Especially the “8” on the sleeve.
And so do Notre Dame’s female cherleaders weaing a 70’s sweater vest with big interlocking chenelle lettering. Couldn’t tell if they wore saddle shoes, though.
why is Junior Hemmingway the only Michigan player(that i have noticed) that has a patch commemorating the 1st game under the lights. everyone else has an “retro” ADIDAS logo while he has this huge patch.
nvm, it has something to do with Desmond Howard
His jersey was described as the “first Legends jersey” on the radio. Seems extremely gimmicky to me, and it sounds like there’s going to be more…
New Mexico Lobos seem to have gone back to the wolf’s head logo on the helmet, I believe they had the NM wordmark on there last week.
They did.
Yes I saw that earlier. I wonder if they will switch home and away?
Shoulda went back to last year’s jersey, too.
I believe the officals uniforms are throwbacks at the Michigan/ notre dame game also.
I hate when announcers call them throwbacks.
Musburger just explained Michigan’s plan to keep circulating numbers of legends rather than retiring them. So if the current no. 21 (already wearing a patch honoring Desmond Howard) keeps making big plays for Michigan, will a future no. 21 have to wear TWO patches?
So THAT’S what that patch is?
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I suppose he could wear one patch with “42” but that might get confused with baseball.
UofM-ND Officials all have great caps except the referee who is wearing a standard black baseball style hat.
Couldn’t they find him a black ivy cap or would that be too obvious?
Just got done watching Portland Timbers and Philadelphia Union play and the entire MLS is having all of it’s players wear a 9/11 memorial armband. The armband featured the official logo of the 9/11 memorial and fans were encouraged to donate to it and other related charities. A lot of teams were either displaying a large flag being held by the crowd or several thousand small flags that were to be held aloft from the 9th to 11th minutes of the match. New England handed out 3500 seats to military personnel. Chivas USA was allowing all military personnel, fire, police, emt’s and paramedics free entry into the game and a majority of teams were auctioning off items from the games like jerseys and donating the proceeds to charities benefiting first responders as well as families who lost loved ones in the two towers. Pretty classy as far as I’m concerned.
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It is pretty classy. It reminds me when the Union link against D.C. United after that plane crash in Russia with all of the Polish politicians on the plane.
Vikings extended Adrian Peterson.
Seven years, possibly $100 million if all incentives met.
Haven’t heard yet how much is guaranteed.
Whos, he’ll be a pretty old running back in seven years.
But…that’s the way things are.
On the downside, that’s 7 years in those purple clown suits. Unless the Vikings come to their senses.
“if all incentives met”
~~~
like no more than 1 fumble per game?
For the record, Walter Payton fumbled more times in his first three seasons than Adrian Peterson did in his.
Not forgiving AD’s butterfingers, just noting something a pro football writer pointed out somewhere along the way.
Not as many games on TV or as much cable exposure when Sweetness was young, though.
Although that should have been in Daunte Culpepper’s contract. Late in his days with the Vikings he had more fumbles than games played. For a QB, this is just not good.
Georgia Tech wore their away-whites tonight, which involved reversing the Navy and Gold on the home-whites with white pants (with spike). The numbers are Navy with White and Gold outlines.
Also all the ones for #s 10-19 look to be differently spaced when compared to all the other 2-digit numbers numbers.
I wish they would go with gold pants if they are going to insist on using so much Navy. Wearing white pants is fine if there’s a lot of gold like there was in 08 and 09, but there has been virtually no gold on the away-whites the past 2 years.
Don’t know if anyone else caught it, but with 4:23 remaining in the Notre Dame/Michigan game, the ND players were going over to their sideline when one player sat on an equipment box. The thing I noticed though was when that player placed his helmet next to him, there was a small pile of extra shamrock helmet decals. The moment in question here was after Denard Robinson had thrown an interception deep in ND territory.
You talking about link
Matt Kenseth’s NASCAR race car was sponsored by the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and it was a yellow car with red trim. His driver suit, however, was the purple Royal Crown livery.
I can’t remember any time there was such a mismatch between suit and car except when there was a driver change in the middle of a race.
BC wore the new helmet stripe tonight.
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And here are some of the stars&stripes logos:
Arkansas
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Washington
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Northwestern
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USF (including the Lee Roy Selmon tribute)
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Rice
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Sorry Caleb…Your Rugby evaluation sucked ass. Did you even notice that every CCC jersey was a shitty template, voiding any tradition or personality of any nation. No mention of how they fucking turned Japan’s cool traditional hooped kit into a baby bib.
If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t have said that his “Rugby evaluation sucked ass”. Yeah, the Canterbury (sp?) template sucks, but that doesn’t give you any right to bash one’s evaluation.
What’s the point of a uni review if you ignore the uniforms in question, regardless of how cookie-cutter the templates are? Why don’t you take over CCC and run it the way you want to if you have such a problem with their work?
Until then, take your basement troll attitude somewhere else.
You are right. I guess I missed the point of a website that critiques uniforms, by critiquing uniforms.
“Why don’t you take over CCC and run it the way you want to if you have such a problem with their work?” So…In a given week, we will read at least one article written here blasting a design or template. Is this your response to all of them? As it turns out I would love to take over CCC, or Nike, or ________. It’s on my list of things to do, right after mowing the lawn.