By Phil Hecken
Yesterday was one of those days when I had a ton of stuff going on, and I literally got to watch about 10 minutes of football. Fortunately, the man who’s been doing our NCAA Roundup’s this season was watching a whole lot more. So we’ll jump right into that today. And, boy, did I miss some stuff yesterday. Terry Duroncelet will kick off with the late week games you may have missed, and take you home with the bulk of yesterday’s games. Here’s Terry:
NCAA Roundup
By Terry Duroncelet
• Thursday was actually pretty mundane from a uni-standpoint (which is good, because we were spared this UCLA bowling ball alternate helmet). The biggest uni-story of the game was actually that of a fan, who ran on to the field with 4 seconds left in the 2nd Quarter blowing a whistle while wearing a phony referee uniform. He then ran away from the real refs while streaking, and the distraction resulted in a fight that was uglier than UCLA’s super-stretchies. Besides the mayhem that unfolded, the Arizona Drumline (if not the whole band) were wearing fake black moustaches in that same game (although it’s hard to see). Anybody know why?
• On Friday, the Rutgers squad was wearing black helmets and pants with their white jerseys against Louisville. The interesting thing about those helmets is that the “R” decal was white, instead of red like the last time they played the role of the Scarlet Ebony Knights against Pitt earlier in the season. Gotta love those black and red cleats, though! Justice was served however, as the Cardinals would hold on to win the game 16-14.
• Moving on to the Syracuse/West Virginia game, I received a tremendous heads-up from reader Ed McCorduck: “Last night at home against West Virginia, on the left side of all the Orange helmets were little black stickers with the name “AL” in white (round ones, not in the shape of the Raider shield), an evident tribute to Al Davis who like me was the holder of a Syracuse University Artium Baccalaureiin the lucrative field of English and a sometime benefactor of our alma mater. This was the first real opportunity for SU’s football program to honor Davis during a game; when he passed away on the morning of Saturday the 8th, the Orange and their equipment were already nearly 2,000 miles away from the Carrier Dome down in the Big Easy to take on Tulane in another dome later that night, and they didn’t play at all last week. (And less visible in the photo and only slightly more so in this one are memorial decals the Syracuse helmets have also borne this season to honor NFL Hall of Famer John Mackey, who died in July. The significance of the decal is that Mackey wore number 88 for the “Orangemen” and for the Baltimore Colts, and his number is now retired at Syracuse along with the smaller by half but arguably more illustrious “44.”)”.
• Indiana did the Stormtrooper thing for the second time this season while losing to Iowa 45-21. Here’s to hoping that Tim E. can forget about his Irish Coffee long enough to update the Hoosier Tracker ;)
• Confound these Duke Blue Black Devils… they drive me to drink (nah, I kid. I’m against underage drinking). On another Wake Forest note, here’s something I totally missed from last week: Virginia Tech going Stormtrooper w/ throwback helmet logo against the Demon Deacons.
• Ole Miss broke out the red tops against Arkansas.
• Oklahoma State looking more like themselves against Mizzou.
• Virginia Tech impressed both Jim Vilk and myself simultaneously on Saturday: me for playing “Enter Sandman” by Metallica for their entrance music, and Movi for wearing these new orange jerseys (with the white retro-style helmets) for their Homecoming game against Boston College.
• TCU wore their black jerseys and purple pants against New Mexico. First time ever with the new Speed Machine design, and the first time since their 2011 Rose Bowl game against Wisconsin.
• LSU wore their Pro Combat uniforms against Auburn. Except for the grape soda pit panels, these are actually one of the better 2011 AmPac suits, and definitely better-looking than this hot mess.
• Maryland *finally* broke out the white helmets this season.
• Speaking of white helmets, Oregon went with Stormtrooper suits against Colorado.
• Boise State, in response to the “No-Field-Colored-Monochrome-Unis-At-Home” rule, wore new grey jerseys (different greys from last year’s Nike Pro Combat uni) with their standard blue helmets and pants. So many things wrong here. First off, the grey was so dark, that it blended with the blue, thus making it an effort in futility. They should’ve worn orange jerseys (ya know… an actual school color). Not only that, but the pewter grey shirts made the blue numbers with orange trim almost totally unreadable.
• Houston wore those awesome throwbacks against Marshall. Too bad the Thundering Herd‘s crappy screenprinted numbers ruined an otherwise epic uni-matchup. Grrr…
• Tulsa wore these light blue carbon-print helmets against the Rice Owls Yesterday. They include the “Tulsa” script on one side, and a TV number on the other side (side note: what is “SportStar”?). Big thanks to Kris Bolom for bringing that to my attention.
• The new Notre Dame Golden Domes look just as great on the field as they do in the Facebook album. Also of note was the shamrock “X” decal on the back of said helmets in memory of graduate student-assistant Xavier Murphy.
• Northwestern leaked a pic of their surprise helmet on Friday night. As a ‘Bama fan, this helmet makes me smile. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the rest of the Grimace costume one-off uniform.
• Tennessee looks to have switched back to the old model jerseys. Not a single super-stretchy in sight. Awesome.
• Washington wore black pants against Stanford. Not awesome.
• Nothing too crazy regarding Wisconsin/Michigan State, except what looks to be an upside-down “M” serving as the “W” on the entire coaching staff’s zip-ups. Presumably a factory error. Credit Graham Teitelbaum for the info and the pic.
Thanks for the great wrap-up Terry!
Colorize This!
Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.
Once again, only two submitters this week, and I bet you can’t guess who they are.
George Chilvers got to me first this week, so he leads off:
Phil – and another one for you.
A few weeks ago I sent you a picture of Harry Lyon, a Wigan Athletic legend, scoring at Oswestry Town before Wigan (or The Latics as they are known) were even in the Football League.
Harry was (and still is although he passed away a number of years ago) a real idol to the older supporters of the club. He was real star, and versatile. In this picture (against Hyde United) our goalkeeper had been injured – and this was in the days before substitutes. Harry went “in nets” and we held out for a 1-1 draw.
Original to be found here.
Best wishes from a decidedly damp Wigan
George
Hi Phil
A proof of concept here – proof that you can even colourise a lot of white. :)
I mentioned this picture in midweek comments. The year is 1968 and Leeds United are playing a European tie against Standard Liege of Belgium. Standard usually wear red shirts, but for some unknown reason turned up at Elland Road with an all white kit, unknown to Leeds (who wear all white). It was only discovered when both teams got onto the pitch, and the picture shows Billy Bremner of Leeds staring out an opponent.
Leeds offered Standard their away kit, but Standard amazingly said it didn’t fit. After 15 minutes of wrangle Leeds backed down and changed to all blue. And yes, the referee should have spotted it long before the teams got onto the pitch.
Original here.
George
Hi Phil
It’s up to you if you use this this week or have it in stock for next week.
Interesting little picture – it’s BFC Viktoria 1889 Berlin team photo taken about 1911, when they won the German Championship. The interesting aspects to this are firstly that the picture comes from the Library of Congress collection (it’s here). Why it should be part of that collection though is puzzling. I’ve tidied it up a bit as well as colourising it (you may notice that one player is elbowed off the right hand side of the picture, so there’s only 10).
Secondly is more thought-provoking, and perhaps is enhanced by the colourisation. The colour has (in my opinion, maybe you’ll disagree) brought these guys to life – they all appear normal, regular guys, some having a laugh. But within a few years they were presumably all in uniform trying to kill my ancestors. But at the same time my wife’s grandfather was in the Polish Army, in the service of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also on the Axis “side” on the Italian Front. Funny old world. And a lesson about the futility of war.
End of lecture :)
George
Wow, George. As usual, a tremendous output! Thanks.
And now on to Gary Chanko, the second part of the G&G duo:
I learned about the Steagles from my Dad, now 91 and a life long Eagles and Phillies fan. If you’re not familiar with the temporary meager of the NFL’s Philadelphia and Pittsburgh teams during WW II, this Wikipedia entry will get you up to speed.
The source image was taken during the last game of the 1943 season at Shibe Park and won by the Packers 38-28.In 1944 the Eagles returned as a single franchise. The Steelers however temporarily merged with another NFL team and lost every game. (You can find out the team in the Wiki article above!)
The black & white original was not the best for colorization but with some cropping and upscaling the final product is passable. Color selection was a challenge and I’m not 100 percent certain about the Steagles silver pants or the color of the stripes on the refs’ socks.
Gary
Tremendous job lads. And now, our baseball historian BSmile has a challenge for you both (or anyone else) — and it’s not baseball!:
Phil,
I usually keep my panoramic collection related to baseball, but this one was pretty sweet. Nice logo patches on the sleeves, wish they were more easily visable. Maybe Uni-George/Gary would want to take a crack at colorizing it?
And for your reference, the stats.
Cheers!
~Bruce
Thanks G, G & B. Back soon with more Colorize This!
Tracking The 2011 MLB Playoffs
Alex Rocklein is back…so let’s put ’em in the books!
The World Series moved to Arlington last night, with the Cards sporting their road grays but the Texases Rangers actually wore blue caps over white tops, defying the red over white streak that had catapulted them into the series.
The Rangers may have looked like the Rangers, but you know what they say about streaks. (Insert Bull Durham quote here)
Albert Pujols pretty much taught the Texases the meaning of the word “respect,” and it’s doubtful we’ll see the Rangers in the blue caps over whites again. That’s right, Albert Pujols picked a good time to join Reggie and the Babe in the annals of World Series lore, smacking three consecutive homers in last night’s game. Damn…he also picked a good time to be a free agent.
Here’s your Updated 2011 MLB Playoff Tracker.
With the World Series concluding this week (sometime), I’ll be back with Alex’s completed Playoff Tracker next weekend.
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 Bruce Genther with a Miama Dolphins tweak:
Using the latest craze to add sublimation to uniforms…and keeping the teams original color of aqua and adding navy throughout the design, here is what the next Miami Dolphins home and road uniforms may look like. Enjoy!!!
Bruce A. Genther
Because we didn’t get enough of the NFL loving the boobies, Marcus Hall reminds us:
Phil,
Since this month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I decided to have some fun with some logos and unis that I pulled from Wikipedia. For each team, I replaced one of their main colors or accent colors for pink. Some i changed “the obvious choice” of color and others i had more fun with.
-Marcus from Baltimore
Closing out the weekend, we have Alex Cloutier, who has some concepts for the as-yet-to-be determined Marlins unis, and some logos too:
Hi there.
All of my life I have been an avid Marlins fan, which is a bit odd since I was born and raised in western NY, but any way through those years the team has always had one solid constant look. It wasn’t the best look but it wasn’t that bad either. As everyone knows by now next year the Marlins will move into a much need new ballpark, and with that move they will become the MIAMI Marlins and that means Mr.F fish can’t stay. Now recently this abomination was leaked and the teams visual pride died right there. So as a life long fish fan what do I do? Right the wrongs of course! and here they are:
CAP LOGO: An M with a fin on the back.
Word mark: Inspired by the logo.
And finally the unis. I really liked the vests from the 90s and thought they should bring them back.THank you, Alex
And there ya have it. Back with more next weekend.
Benchies
by Rick Pearson
And we thought Rex Ryan had all the great post-game material…
And, of course, the full-size.
Jim Vilk’s 5 & 1
And now for the part of the post that I wait up all night for you’ve all been waiting for…
Actually, Jimmer got this to me in plenty of time…unfortunately, the decrepit commodore 64 I am using to upload all the stuff for today’s post was what made this another late one. Let’s see how Movi did:
Terp Tracker – ‘Bout time they wore the shelmets!
Honorable Mentions to Rutgers/Louisville – BFBS keeps it out the Top 5, but points awarded for the Ottawa Rough Riders flashback.
And to UNC/Clemson – Aww, man…this was my projected #2, but navy isn’t a school color.
5. Boston College/Virginia Tech – I say “Hokie doke!” to those orange jerseys.
4. USC/Notre Dame – I thought the Gerry Faust-era jerseys were better, but I don’t think those are coming back anytime soon…
3. East Carolina/Navy – Even the mascots make for a great matchup.
2. Middle Tennessee/Florida Atlantic – Too bad FAU plays the opposite of how they look.
1. Marshall/Houston – Never. Take. Off. Those. Throwbacks!
And the bad one: Georgia Tech/Miami – Some teams deserve to wear orange…others should have that privilege taken away from them.
Thanks Jim.
And there you have it folks. Enjoy your Sunday.
“This Hoosier game is going so well, I’m think about turning my morning coffee into an Irish coffee.” — Tim E. O’Brien
Fake mustaches, or real ones in some cases, are a symbolization for prostate cancer awareness. Unfortunately, I don’t know how it originated.
What a coincidence…and here I was growing an NBA lockout mustache (wasn’t going for the full beard the way David Stern did in ’99). Guess mine can serve a dual purpose…but I’m not wearing a ribbon.
Let’s see, the NBA players apparently said they’d entertain rosters being cut by two.
Huh? They’d consider fewer jobs? How dare they call themselves a union. What a joke. Billionaires arguing with millionaires. Who cares.
Apparently only they themselves and the media. I sure haven’t heard any great anguish from the general public over the cancelled games. Probably because football is so front and center right now.
Of course, around here it IS the T-Wolves so nobody really gives a shit, anyway.
wait…there’s a lockout?
who knew?
how bout if each player cuts his posse roster by 2? the leechs, hangers-on, ‘advisors.’
wait.
i dont give a rats you know what bout the NBA.
never mind.
Don’t get me wrong…my world won’t end if they cancel the season. I love college hoops, too. But forgive me for caring. Unlike all of the cool people, I don’t watch football. I’m waiting for my season to start next month.
If I came on here every week for Monday Morning Uni Watch and said I don’t give a rat’s you know what about the NFL, the response would be “Well, then why spend so much time complaining about it?” Yet anytime the NBA gets mentioned, people line up to say “Nobody cares.” Well, call me Nobody, then.
Not saying I’ve never complained about the NFL…but I don’t do it constantly.
On one hand, Boise’s gray jerseys are rather crappy looking and hard to read, and orange would look better and make sense. On the other hand, the “no mono-blue at home” rule imposed on them is stupid as hell. So… I completely agree with idea of following the rule while causing as many visual problems for everyone else as they can.
There’s no rules about mono-green on grass fields or mono-white in snow games, so there doesn’t need to be one for mono-blue on smurf turf either.
“There’s no rules about mono-green on grass fields or mono-white in snow games, so there doesn’t need to be one for mono-blue on smurf turf either.”
Do you REALLY need this explained to you again?
Nothing ever changes around here.
Oh please, explain to me why a stormtrooper uniform in the snow is perfectly fine, but a blue uniform on a blue field isn’t. It’d be one thing if they said the blue field was illegal, but they didn’t. Blue field is fine. So, if the blue field is fine, and a green uni on grass is fine, then why is the blue uniform on the blue field wrong? What’s the difference?
While I agree in principle with you, The, it’s slightly different.
I don’t think there’s a green team out there that matches almost *exactly* with the grass or turf. Therefore, they’re easier to see. If they did, then you have a case. I believe Boise carefully matched the blue on purpose. Didn’t they even have a player lie down on a play to hide from the defense?
With snow, it’s too unpredictable, and you can’t really fault them, because they sweep the field.
Now mono green on grass/turf and mono white in snow will lose points in the 5&1, most definitely, but I don’t think you can penalize them any other way.
Didn’t they even have a player lie down on a play to hide from the defense?
Really? Is there video of that? …but even on a normal field, lying down is probably a good way to hide for a couple seconds just because it’s so unexpected.
I recall reading about it, but a quick search hasn’t produced a video yet. Anyone else remember hearing about that?
Besides, Boise should be wearing more orange.
That is exactly what I said Jeff.
It is a dumb rule.
Morning, Jim. You’re up early. Did you consider the Eastern Michigan V. Western Michigan for the 5 & 1 this week. link
I know you included Eastern earlier this year in a 5&1, but they look so good. And the Green and White looked great contrasted with the Gold and Brown.
I looked at the Western/Eastern pics for a while. I think they were my final cut…in fact, if Houston would have worn their regular jerseys, they’d be on the list.
Do you review pics from all the games before your selections? SI.com often is missing photos from the non-BCS conference team’s games.
I see just about all of them. I know what each team’s regular unis look like, so the week before, I look at the schedule and make a preliminary list…more like a 10&4 instead of a 5&1. Once Saturday comes I sift through as many photos as I can find to whittle down the list, or to find any surprises. Takes a few different sites, but there isn’t much I don’t see.
I think Northwestern looked like a high school last night.
Smuckers University.
The fabled Fightin’ Grapes.
I liked the purple the Wildcats wore. As I said the numbers should have been white. I think that would have looked so much better. The “claw” marks reminded me of Oregon wings.
Why did they use a silver helmet?
Seems like the lighting at Northwestern is not as bright as other stadiums. I saw a game there in 2002. Seemed dark in person too.
They bring in lights for night games, they don’t have adequate lights at the stadium. You can see the difference here,
Night Game: link
Day Game: link
Note the lack of the light towers.
Dead link
Night Game: link
Had not thought about that. Ohio Stadium rents lights for night games and will do so this Saturday.
Just watching some of the Wildcats game Saturday made me think how dark it looks. Darker than most that is.
I was at the game. It was near impossible to see the numbers from the stands. I kept getting players mixed up.
On a side note QB Dan Persa’s “scratches” were upside down (see picture 18 in the gallery below).
link
I thought the Notre Dame helmets looked strange on my TV. Don’t know if it was some HD distortion, but the helmets almost seemed luminous (which I suppose was the intent, and to an extent that it was distracting. Instead of watching the game, I was focused on these glowing gold helmets. And close ups were equally strange…..the otherworldly glow made me think the rapture prediction was one day off.
Same here…I watched a few minutes of the game and found the elctrified gold helmets a distraction.
There’s the general view that if you wear sweat pants out in public as part of your every day wardrobe, you’ve generally giving up on how you look.
I think the football equivalent, is BFBS pants – in a week where Notre Dame made their domes even more shinier – there are the Washington Huskies donning their “we don’t really care how we look” attire.
Geuax Tigers! Impressive victory against Auburn so who care about what they wore…but I’ll criticize their Nike Pro Combat uniforms anyway. I’ve seen worse, but Nike and LSU missed a chance to do them up correctly.
1. Conceptually, I have no problem with the purple armipits. In fact, contrasting armpit panels may very well be the solution to those shrinking UCLA shoulder stripes in some cases. What I object to in this case is the SHAPE of the armpit panels. They were oddly scalloped, especially in the front, and too large. So what if that is the normal shape of the armpit panel on the Pro Combat jersey template. If they’re adding UCLA shoulder stripes to the template and darkening the armpit panel to match, then change the shape of the damn armpit panel. That doesn’t sound so hard to do.
2. Why does LSU insist on using ugly blackish purple helmet stripes which don’t match the purple elewhere on its uniform? I understand the whole deal about making the teams helmet logo more easily recognizable on TV by making it contrast more with the helmet. Then make LSU’s helmet logo darker and more contrasty if you have to, but still make the stripes the normal shade of purple. The helmet stripes should match the purple stripes on the rest of the uniform, but they don’t. LSU’s helmets sometimes look like they belong to a completely different uniform.
3. LSU’s dominant color is GOLD. “Love purple. Live Gold.” Has anyone from Nike’s design team ever even been to a game at Tiger Stadium? Nike Pro Combat uniforms should at least try to capture a school’s traditions…and I don’t mean gimmcky stuff like tiny Bear Bryant houndstooth fedoras hidden on stripes and numbers such as they did at Alabama. LSU should have been wearing gold pants yeaterday. A recognizable LSU uniform has lots of gold in it. LSU is not LSU in all white.
Just my two cents…
I agree completely… after I replace all of your “gold” with “yellow”. LSU wears yellow. Notre Dame wears gold.
Catalog color names can suck it.
At Pep Boys a spark plug is a spark plug, no matter what we think it ought to be called.
Just, y’know, sayin’. ;)
Jeff, nope…you need to adjust the color of your TV set. LSU wears gold…yellowish gold, but gold nonetheless.
A couple of weeks ago I sent Paul some pictures I took recently on field at an LSU game to demonstrate how lighting tremendously affects the appearance of that color gold. In bright sunlight it can look yellow. In the shade it’s a darker gold…even an orange tinge. With some colors (red, blue, green, for example) if you change the lighting the color may look lighter or darker…but you know you’re still looking at the same color. However, with LSU’s gold the lighting can really play tricks on your eyes…the color looks different in different lighting. Ask Paul to post the pictures I sent him because I don’t know how to do it from here.
And my comment about adjusting the color of your TV set is not a facetious one. You can watch LSU live on the field and then look up to the jumbo screens for a replay and the gold looks different. I’m telling you, it’s weird how that yellowish gold changes shades.
They normally wear the same poorly named “athletic gold” that everyone else wears. It’s yellow. It ain’t metallic, it’s yellow. I don’t care how many teams want to call it “gold”, it isn’t.
It’s a stupid name that comes out of long past technological limitations and macho bullshit. Yellow can mean cowardly, so no sports team wants to be “yellow”. The color is what it is.
Seriously, it’s just about being practical. Athletic Gold is “yellow”. Metallic Gold is “gold”. It’s the easiest way to avoid confusion.
Jeff, forget about the product names for a moment. The color gold can be represented by a sort of tan or brownish metallic color. Gold can also include a yellowish, non-metallic shade that is darkened with a little red in it. I didn’t make these rules. ;>)
Has anyone written to Sting yet?
Y’know, to point out the song should have been called, “Fields of Yellow.”
Jeff, or better yet, start adjusting the white balance in RAW images of yellow gold and see where that takes you.
Yeah, and “blue” can cover a really huge range too. That’s why if we’re talking about the Tennessee Titans, we specify “navy” or “powder”.
Sure, you can use “gold” to describe both LSU and Notre Dame, and you’re not technically wrong… but why? Why be intentionally confusing? If you say LSU is wearing yellow helmets, everyone knows exactly what color they are. If you say they’re wearing gold… now you’ve gotta double check and see if they’re “athletic” or “metallic”. Just… stop it.
Athletic Gold is Yellow.
Metallic Gold is Gold.
It’s so much simpler that way.
Getting THE Jeff to back off on his stance of the yellow/gold argument is like one man trying to push a mountain into another county with only his bare hands. Ain’t happening.
Jeff, if you actually saw what an LSU uniform looks like at the end of an afternoon game when the sun is going down you would definitely not call it yellow.
I wish I could show you a picture of Tyrann Matieu I took where he is facing me and the early afternoon sun is shining from his left. The left half of his helmet looks yellowish…the right side looks darker gold. Same for his shoulder stripes.
Once again, Jeff refusing to acknowledge what the rest of world & sporting equipment industry concluded to a long time ago, and replacing reality with his own reality. Just because you think Athletic Gold is “[actual] Yellow”, doesn’t make it so. It’s like saying all shades of yellow (or any color) are all the same.
Jeff, your non-conformity and lackadaisical interpretations isn’t cute or endearing, it’s annoying & ignorant to say the least. Shape up and get with the rest of the program and we’ll all be better off for it. If we can learn specific terms for colors, you can too.
Yeah, whatever. Ask the average person about a Packers helmet, they’ll tell you it’s yellow.
A school bus is “yellow” to the common person, and it’s a much darker color than a Packers helmet.
I am not in the minority here. But you go right ahead and continue to be an elitist over an outdated catalog color name. I really don’t care.
Again I am agreeing with Jeff. I said it yesterday in the comments late. Yellow is yellow and gold is gold. If little kids know the difference that says it all.
Little kids don’t even know how to tie their shoes…
I laughed about the kids tying their shoes.
That part is true.
Would you rather see LSU wear a gold helmet or the yellow? I know everybody is used to the yellow. But gold is what they started with ages ago.
They used gold on the leather helmets when they first used a color that was not the typical leather helmet color.
Larry, LSU still wears gold headgear…it’s just a different than the old gold that they wore up until the mid fifties. The gold they wear now is very similar in color to a bar of “Gold” Dial soap.
If yellow is yellow and gold is gold, then the Steelers and Michigan must wear the same color pants.
Except they don’t.
Here’s how it works. Because gold has been deemed precious to most known civilizations, there have been two representations of it pretty much as long as humans have been creating anything from paintings to sculpture to fabric. One is metallic, one is not. Why? Because in some media, metallic properties could not be incorporated.
In the world of sports uniforms it evolved that the two often were differentiated by giving the metallic version an additional descriptor: “Old” Gold.
Then, I suppose because of the expansion of color TV people couldn’t accept that the non-metallic version actually was different from yellow (which it is; look at PMS spec book, it has more red, enough that it would turn white unquestionably into pink) the terms “Light” or “Bright” Gold and, later, “Athletic” Gold were added.
I don’t give a rat’s ass what a uni-unconcerned observer (or a 9-year-old) says while watching football. Here–where we supposedly have accurate knowledge of the terminology of the subgroup—the benchmark is now, and pretty much always has been, that catalog descriptions establish the baseline.
Now, people can fuss that’s it’s wrong, grumble that it ought to changed…but they sound a little like someone railing, “Why do they call it ‘peppermint’? It doesn’t taste like pepper at all. By God, that should be changed, and I’m going to see that it is.”
People have their stances on yellow or gold. if one wants to be technical about it ok. When I think of gold I think of one thing. And Yellow something else.
To me yellow is yellow no matter what LSU calls it or anybody else. LSU wears yellow helmets. Army, ND, Pitt, Purdue etc wear gold helmets.
Can we ban THE from ever making another stupid comment about gold or yellow again?
LSU’s unis with the old gold looked good yesterday. Yes, that’s old gold. As navy blue is to Carolina blue, old gold is gold. Amazing concept.
On another note, someone PLEASE do a roundup of all the teams that have worn black when it’s not a school color and LOST (Washington, Duke, and Rutgers this weekend alone) Note to schools: Stop. It. Already.
LarryB: “Army, ND, Pitt, Purdue etc wear gold helmets.”
I dunno, Larry…those look like metallic tan to me. ;>)
Jeff, for many years I was a black and white film shooter and only in recent years have I transitioned to color digital photography (I still prefer black and white, though.). What I have learned is that if I am shooting color at LSU I use the most neutral color settings I can (shooting RAW) and then simply adjust exposure, stauration and contrast later. If you use anything other than a neutral color setting LSU’s gold goes haywire and you start seeing all sorts od permutations of it…some subtle, some not.
Pardon all the typos, folks…just too damn lazy to proofread all the time. Sorry…
I just got out of the shower, Jeff…and I used a bar of gold Dial soap. It was gold, alright…but it didn’t look anything like the color of a Notre Dame helmet.
I think the “previous record” needs to be changed, but whatever…it’s time to press to reset button:
link
LOL…I had no idea this was such a touchy subject around here.
Here is what wikipedia has to say on the matter:
link
Oops…try again:
link
(go to “Gold (color)”
From the wikipedia page:
The use of gold as a color term in traditional usage is more often applied to the color “metallic gold”.
I do believe my point has been made.
Athletic Gold = Golden Yellow = Yellow
Metallic Gold = Gold
Game Over.
Jeff, read the whole damn article…it even shows examples of shades of (yellow) gold.
This is getting kind of silly.
BTW, the package of that bar of Dial soap I referred to above says “gold”…and that soap sure looks a lot like the color of an LSU helmet.
it even shows examples of shades of (yellow) gold.
That would be the whole point, wouldn’t it? I see Shades of Brown. Shades of Yellow. Shades of Orange. I don’t see Shades of Gold anywhere.
Yellow is not a shade of Gold. Gold (of the non-metallic variety) is a shade of Yellow. Yellow is a primary color. Gold is not.
(Non-metallic) Gold falls somewhere between yellow and orange. I didn’t make the rules or name the colors…I was busy watching LSU football that weekend. Call it whatever you like, but we know the difference between yellow and LSU gold. And we’re perfectly happy because WE’RE NUMBER ONE right now. ;>)
BTW, Jeff, you are wrong…the wikipedia article does indeed show different shades of the metallic gold that you insist is the only color gold.
Would you call this: link a gold car? Because I sure as hell wouldn’t.
Jeff, one last thing…
If you take the metallic finish off of your (old) gold, then isn’t it just some shade of tan then? So basically, your gold is just metallic tan. Gold, the metal, is described as a yellow metal…not a tan metal.
Jeff, would you call Notre Dame’s pants gold…or tan?
link
And yet the Navy and Marines insist, despite protestations from THE, that one of their two service colors is gold (with blue for the Navy and scarlet for the Marines). And if you’ve ever seen their service flags, they look just like LSU’s helmets.
How BYU-OSU made the 5 & 1 last week but BYU-ISU (a orange and black school with decent looking unis) didn’t this week is beyond me. link
But I suppose that is part of the mystery that comes along with the 5 & 1, huh?
Yep.
Looked at those pics for a while, too, but the plain black pants got to me. They were probably the 7th best matchup, so there’s some consolation.
Not only did Tulsa wear those…um, funky helmets, they wore them against Rice with their October pink R helmets.
link
Nice to see Terry get the lead position today. He and the contributors do a helluva job chronicling things and, given the uni-shenanigans in college football every Saturday, it’s probably the most “newsworthy” subject on Sunday mornings.
Agreed. College football is my favorite. I spend most all day watching it. But it is a lot of work for Terry and Jim to hunt down pictures for us.
Thank you both! =D
Terry is a ‘Bama fan too? Well, you sir are my new favorite UniWatch contributor.
All in all, a solid weekend of college uniforms, to be honest. My biggest gripes would be with Duke and Rutgers – if you have a COLOR in your mascot name, then wearing a different color is just utterly ridiculous. Also, I wish Tennessee had worn their orange pants. It makes for link in college football, IMO. Props go to Virginia Tech, love the orange jersey; LSU’s uniforms were pretty darn nice; and at the risk of drawing the ire of The Jeff, I like Indiana’s white helmets. To me, they especially look good when paired with white jerseys and pants.
Chris, do you find Tennessee has a problem with the consistency of its shade of orange? Look at pictures of the coach’s gear compared to the players’ uniforms. Look at the orange numbers on its white jerseys…they sometimes look more gold than orange to my eye. Look at their shoes. In this day and age I can’t understand how they can’t get everything to match…
Oh definitely. Their numbers last night seemed to be closer to a yellowish orange than the “T” on the helmet or even the stripes on the pants. Heck, look at Dooley’s pants. To me, that’s a pretty close approximation to what I think of as being “Tennessee orange”. I live in Tennessee. I would say most of the fan gear matches Dooley’s pants, as well. I don’t understand why they don’t force Adidas to get with the program on the jersey colors.
Tennessee has had issues with this for a while. The jersey is usually a different shade than the helmet stickers, shoes, and sometimes pants stripe (Jersey is paler, looks yellow in certain light). The basketball jerseys seem to be the helmet sticker colors. The coaching gear varies. Consumer merchandise is a crapshoot.
I like Indiana’s white helmets, too. The crimson ones look too much like Oklahoma’s. W/O stripe it’s different than Nebraska’s and different than Wisconsin’s. I still maintain cream is an underused, if not nonexistent color in collegiate athletics. Hoosiers still could do something about that. Crimson on cream for home basketball unis w/white highlights would be a winner. Don’t know how that could translate to football. Cream helmets? Ideas? C’mon, TIm O’B.
I’m tired of saying this: “Cream and Crimson” is hyperbole. We wear red and white.
True. If anything, Oklahoma should be using a “cream” base for their uniforms. They’ve already tried it for their link.
When is the GJB (Grey Just Because) series going to run? Or have I already missed it? I think the grey (or granite/ silver/ concrete) looks worse than black, especially when it’s not a school color.
Just another gimmick…
Amherst College’s football team wore a lot of pink around the feet and ankles for its homecoming game yesterday:
link
Prostate cancer awareness is symbolized every week the Browns.
I am wrapping myself in toilet paper all month to raise awareness…and that makes me feel really, really good about myself.
Brown is the color for colon and colorectal cancer.
Prostate cancer is light blue.
What’s wrong with the Miami jerseys?
I mean, I don’t love the trim pattern, but it’s been there for years. The football team has been really good about sticking to the school colors (unlike the basketball team). So what’s the problem…?
And I’ve hated the trim pattern for years. Someone here coined a term I like to use: they have eyebrows over the numbers. As for the pants stripes, yeah, one side looks a little like the state of Florida, but the other side looks like a limp…appendage.
I’ve never been a fan of the ‘Canes, but I’ll admit that in the 80s they looked fantastic.
Nice college f-ball roundup Terry! Starting to rival Paul’s Monday Moaning roundup. I thought for sure the MSU-Wisconsin tilt would be in the top 5. Spartans back to their regular green unis and the Badgers looked classic as always, except I dislike that motion W.
Thanks, Patrick! Although, I could never match-up to Paul and the work that he does.
Interesting to see about Syracuse’s “AL” stickers.
I noticed in the same game that WVU was wearing an “MP” sticker on the backs of their helmets, presumably to honor THEIR recently deceased benefactor Milan Puskar:
link
Sorry, no pic. Anybody else have one?
I hope none of you young-uns mind that I rush through most of the material on contemporary uni matters so as to see what the mail brings in on vital matters from the 1920s and 1940s. Today was such a bonanza. Gary’s Steagles shot is terrific. But for pure maniacal zeal, it’s hard to top George, whose sense of history is broad enough to encompass the fates of minority populations conscripted in the armies of Franz Josef and the development of an endearingly unspectacular English football franchise. The Wigan team, we learn, were called “Latics.” What? Why? As George and Gary hope, their art enlivens the past and provokes (among some of us) a deeper sense of kinship with predecessors. Tradition, EM Forster said, is democracy for the dead. For me, weekend Uni Watch has become an important part of how I regard the past.
Even though George would be a hell of a lot better if he were Irish.
Great-grandmother was Alice Hanlon from Dublin and in another branch great-great-great grandfather was Michael Kelly from Longford. However I also have ancestry from Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. Not to mention Liverpool, Chester and Norfolk, and my yDNA is pure Anglo-Saxon :)
Wigan are called the Latics from the local dialect pronunciation of Athletic – ” ‘latic”.
Anyone know the significance of the ‘notch’ in Okie St.’s shoulder / pant stripes? (If you can really call them ‘stripes’… half-assed BS… but I digress)
It’s not in perfect condition, but here’s the duck tracker for this week. Sorry I missed the post.
link
Hey, Jake. Do have an email address I can reach you at?
W00t! CotD
Thanks Phil, but mostly I’d like to thank that horrendous IU football program. Without them, this wouldn’t’ve been possible.
And Terry, the Hoosier Tracker is always up to date – link
LOL, I know. I just wanted to use the Irish Coffee thing for the sake of comedy ;)
Congrats on getting CotD, BTW.
it’s funny — i had that pegged for the COTD before terry even gave me the NCAA rundown – in fact, as soon as you posted it, i said…COTD top nominee right there; and of course, terry put it in his section without knowing i’d have it down below…
/great minds and all that ;)
Gary and George, glad to see the colorizations again. Gary, it is good to see a football one. American football that is.
I’m sitting in the upper deck of Wembley Stadium watching the Bucs and Bears. What a shame, not a bit of pink in sight.
Is the view OK, Jim?
I’ve got tickets for the England v Spain game – top deck, half-way line.
The view was just fine – row 15 upper deck on the 30 yard line.
Short piece on cnn.com today about why baseball managers wear uniforms, including a great quote from Paul
link
Objection to Caroline-Clemson’s top five exclusion: navy is a school color. Yes, it’s predominantly used for trim, and the Carolina blue pants look much better, but navy’s a valid color for them nonetheless. Whereas Washington’s black pants are completely unacceptable (black not being a UW school color), Carolina’s navy pants should be acceptable, even thoguh there are better options.
The bit on Syracuse honouring Al Davis rubbed me a bit the wrong way.
If the guy was important enough to honour, the fact that the team was in Tulane and playing later that night shouldn’t have been an issue. A bit of black tape on the helmet, a handwritten AL in sharpie, something.
Or are they unable to do a tribute without consulting the communications department and a team of graphic designers?
How accurate were the Houston throwbacks? I mostly wonder about the pants stripe.
Give credit to any school that tries to wear a real throwback. Why this need to do a pay homage to an era or team is stupid.
And those Cougar teams were famous for their red crew socks, too (eyeroll).
And here’s an obscurity. I believe a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame wore a jersey like that while playing WR for Houston.
That would be Larry Gatlin….. who is a tee shirt Texas Longhorn fan and has done exactly squat for his alma mater until he deemed UH be blessed with his presence yesterday.
Those unis were fabulous btw. But the arched ‘HOUSTON’ wordmark was wrong. It was link back in the day. Even the link had a retro look.
The Coogs used the arched font in the late 60’s-early 70’s.
link
A few weeks ago England (and France) rugby teams were castigated on this site for a lack of respect to New Zealand because we would “force them” out of their all black kits at home.
Can we have an apology now? Not once were the All Blacks forced to change kit, and even in the Final France changed to all white – even though as an Englishman I have no great sympathy for France – our oldest enemy lol. As I said at the time, lot of fuss over nothing :)
Vikings in their throwback alternates today versus the Pack. Why don’t they just make these their normal threads?
Because they are too proud to admit they made a huge mistake and will wear those terrible things until they determine a reasonable time has passed, make some lame statement about bringing tradition back to the Vikings, then they will go back to what wearing what they shouldn’t have ditched in the first place.
The Vikings need to jettison those” turkish taffy” duds for good!
Because they’re relocating soon.
Ugh, I’m afraid that Marcus is predicting the future instead of making a tweak.
…forgive the grammar inaccuracies, please…
Alex, your marlins concept is absolutely brutal. Get real. The new logo is about 10000 times better than yours. Stick to your day job.
Actually I’m a college student and have no day job to stick to.
Quan Cosby of the Broncos caught several punts today with his jersey completely untucked. Bad look from him even though the game had a great finish.
ahhh! my eyes!
link
how long before the vikings revert to this uni permanently (or even better, go to ucla loops, which nike proved can be done with LSU yesterday)?
just fix the color purple on the lid (and keep the gray mask) and we’re good to go
I assume you meant UCLA loops on the whites, because the Northwestern stripes have been the style on the purple.
Loops on the purples would be just too odd, especially to anyone who’s been watching the Vikings for more than five years.
well…i did and i didn’t — i had thought there was one season where they wore UCLA loops on the purple tops, but after looking at the vikings page of the GUD, i see it was that they wore northwestern stripes on the whites, not UCLA loops on the homes…
so, in a way, i stand corrected — and i agree, on purple, the loops might be too much…
exhibit a
Loops on the white jersey, yes. Simply a beautiful look. Gray facemask. Loved Sunday’s Viks purple jerseys with their early 90′ sleeve stripes (northwestern?). Sorry, I wasn’t sure if that’s what they’re called. For me, their current set is bottom 3 in the NFL, right above my hometown Seahawks, and then the Cardinals. Loved the turkish taffy comment. Like Sir Charles says, …” turrible, just turrible.” Vikes alt? raises them up to the best in the league, in my humble opinion. Sorry Paul, I know how you feel about your purple.
just for one goddamn day can we NOT have to get into the “gold/yellow” pissing match??????
just ignore it
we all know THE is wrong, and the more you encourage him, the more he’ll fight back
The true question is what color is the piss, yellow or gold?
I didn’t know there was such a controversy here. What I thought he was talking about was that he thought LSU’s (yellow) gold actually was yellow and not yellow gold (for lack of a better description). I was trying to point out that in different lighting, or depending how a digital image is processed, LSU gold can sometimes take on different shades or hues…and not only look just either lighter or darker, but like different colors altogether. I didn’t realize that what he meant was that he thought yellow gold was actually yellow, and not gold.
Yeah it’s a whole thing here. I actually tend to agree with THE. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s yellow.
But let’s just leave it there.
christ…i wanted to avoid this ongoing discussion, but lets just end it here
i’ll just leave it with this:
“athletic gold” IS YELLOW…you’re not wrong to call it that
but in the same token, that which you call “YELLOW” is also, and more appropriately called “ATHLETIC GOLD”
this whole thing got started when THE wrongly started correcting those of us who referred to it as “gold”
either one is acceptable, but athletic gold is what “yellow” has been called for almost a century
OK? OK!
I still say Pink is just lightish red.
link
Well from now on, I’m not saying yellow or gold:
Athletic gold = link
Gold gold = link
Old Gold = link
Can we all agree on that?
/now I want a hot dog…
Okay…if you say this is yellow, I’ll take your word for it:
link
I say that’s mustard.
@ pierre:
i wouldn’t say what LSU wears is “yellow” because i don’t think what they wear is “athletic gold” either…it’s close, but you’re correct — there’s a more brown (or red, if you will) element to it
athletic gold, like that worn by the packers or the steelers, could be called “yellow”
but the same token, the “yellow” worn by oregon or michigan is NOT gold
i know it’s a tricky situation…semantically as well as visually
maybe ricko’s “solution” of referring to athletic gold as “cheddar” is a good compromise…we can save “gold” ONLY for “old gold” or “vegas” or “metallic” gold, and “yellow” for stuff like oregon and michigan
but just as “blue” can be “royal” “dark” “navy” or “powder,” so too can gold be “athletic” “vegas” “old” or “metallic”
THE just can’t seem to get past the colors in an 8-pack of crayolas
Phil…not trying to sound like a know it all and don’t want to prolong a silly argument, but listen to what I’m saying. It all depends on the lighting. Originally, I was actually agreeing (in part) with Jeff that LSU’s gold can sometimes look true yellow in bright sunlight…and then the player turns and it looks like gold. It’s all about the lighting.
I just watched the end of the Green Bay game…indoors against Minnesota. When the cameras would come in tight GB’s gold helmets looked dark like LSU’s in the photo above. But yet I can pull up GB Packer color photos on the internet taken in daylight and they look yellow. But I wouldn’t be surprised if you had both helmets in front of you right now GB’s and LSU’s would be exactly the same.
That color gold ( or whatever you want to call it) is weird. It actually changes hues in the light like a blue or a red doesn’t. It can look very different depending on the lighting conditions.
I was taught that gold is that color that falls somewhere between yellow and orange. “Old gold”, I was taught, is that metallic color that’s supposed to look like the metal, gold. I was unaware there was a contoversy over that.
I think we should go by what the teams designate their colors as instead of having an endless debate about what a color looks like. Both the Packers and LSU claim they wear Gold, case closed. Purdue, Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and a number of other schools claim their colors are Old Gold though each shade looks different and very few of them resemble the Gold they used 50 years ago (which would have actually resembled Old Gold).
Michigan and Oregon don’t call their color Gold (UO calls it yellow and UM calls it Maize). It doesn’t matter what it looks like because they are going to call it what they want. Fabrics change and consequently colors used by schools evolve, doesn’t mean a school is going to change their fight song or any other tradition that refers to the color. Great example of this would be Central Michigan who for a while used a metallic gold. They still claimed they wore Maroon and Gold despite using a different shade of gold than they had in the past, and a few years back reverted to their previous gold (which is Athletic Gold). You can say their colors are Maroon and Yellow all you want but that wouldn’t make it true.
Thank you, Doug.
If we could take teams helmets and remove all logos or hints of who wears the helmet. Or pieces of fabric from the sleeves or so. And show those to people who may have no interest in sports. I imagine people would call the color what it appears to the eye.
If you strip all decals and such off an LSU helmet. How many people would say it was yellow?
if you show them a BC helmet how many would cal it gold?
I never realized this was such a hot topic. I may have not paid much attention to it before.
We know what certain teams call their colors. But how do they appear the the eye?
Athletic Gold = “Ricko Gold”
Old Gold = “The Jeff Gold”
Can we agree on those terms?
you’re missing the point larry
it’s not what YOU call the color — it’s what the team calls it…at least that’s what douglas said and i think that’s probably the best way to handle it
50 years ago…cal played usc — what did ricko call those colors?
that post i did yesterday on LSU — what do they call their colors and what have they been calling them for 118 years?
go to chance’s board…what color do the packers wear?
please…im begging you
stop making THE feel like he’s justified in going against 100+ years of history
yes…it’s “yellow” but it’s ALSO GOLD
and if the teams call it gold, then so should you
I’m coming late into this, but it certainly matters what the team call it, not what you think it is. Wolverhampton Wanderers wear “old gold”. That has changed in tone over the years, and is now quite orange. But no-one would ever dream of saying they wear orange.
Leicester City had a change kit a few years ago of “fosse gold” (their old name was Leicester Fosse) – it was beige.
In rugby league Wigan wear cherry (red), Warrington primrose and blue (yellow), Bradford red, amber and black (yellow). We just get on with it.
However, a few years ago I was listening to a radio broadcast of a rugby game and they had a female commentator (very rare in a rather mysogynist sport). She said “Huddersfield are pressing forward in their purple and orange jerseys”. She was of course absolutely correct, but the male co-presenter a few minutes later felt obliged to say “Huddersfield are of course in their traditional claret and amber”.
Wow, all of you who think what LSU wears is “Gold” need to read Animal Farm.
Might as well just change the team name now.
link
ah…yes
in the greatest sport in the world, the rangers are back wearing their proper red caps, and immediately the uni gods are smiling upon them
too bad the cards aren’t the home team so we could see their sunday home cap…
i know the consensus here (at least amongst those ricko’s age and up) is that the cards should wear blue caps on the road, but with everything else on their uniform being red (shoes, socks, sleeves), the blue caps don’t go…of course, i didn’t grow up with stan the man like rick did — my memories of the cards were always red caps ALL the time — so to me, the blue isn’t a throwback as much as it is just an odd quirk
Where’s the powder blue polyester?
With the royal blue, red-brimmed hats.
Other than that, with either red hats or royal, they wore gray on the road.
you tawkin bout the texases or the cardinales, rick?
Texas.
I meant the Cards. When Phil mentioned red hats on the road my first thought was link
How cool would link be, though? ;)
Just sayin’ (as I’ve always said) the ’56-’63(?) style hats are a better road choice than some cockamammy contrived thing like a red hat with a navy visor, which they have never worn.
At least it’s an accurate throwback.
The red on the road during the Cepeda-Maris years looked just fine, too. And would today. But that particular navy isn’t shockingly wrong. Not if we know Cardinals’ uni history.
Tennessee’s white unis are awkward. The black NOB’s and trim on numbers stands too much out to work with the uni. If they wanted (or in this case, needed) black trim, couldn’t you add some black trim to the pants stripes and helmet logo? It would make everything match more, aside form actually making the orange’s match.
anyone getting a johnny podres feel about holland tonight?
does he get the ball for game 7 (if there is a game 7)????
Boise State and Washington State made a mockery of uni design yesterday with the awful use of grey. The look BSU sported was made even worse due to the blue on blue on blue. WSU seems to be really into the new GFGS (grey for grey sake). link
Yikes!
To be fair, grey is one of WASU’s colors, but that charcoal mess for pants…
(link)
Pretty sure that Virginia Tech always (or at least fairly often) plays Enter Sandman for their entrance music.
RE: the Wisconsin coaches’ jackets having an upside-down M instead of a W.
That jacket is available for purchase on the Wisconsin Bookstore website and it appears to have the same problem, which would mean its not an isolated run or incident.
link
Those awesome Houston throwbacks are being auctioned off at the UH football website.