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Every Rose Has Its Thorn

Every Rose Has Its Thorn

By Phil Hecken

Well, the big day is FINALLY here. The Granddaddy. Is. Today. Oregon versus Wisconsin.

Today is the Rose Bowl, the ONLY bowl that, while corporately sponsored, still maintains some semblance of past glory. So traditional that you can look back on a game from decades ago and still recognize both teams. We will look back on this game decades from now and instantly recognize both teams, right? Of course not, this isn’t your granddaddy’s Rose Bowl anymore.

No, we’re in the age of marketing by press release and hype. Both teams today will be wearing *special* uniforms, designed JUST for the big game. And their manufacturers are driving the hype train — Nike and Oregon, and adidas and Wisconsin. Both teams have gone in markedly (pun firmly intended) different directions for their one-offs.

Let’s look at the B1G representative first. I don’t even need to do any research — Wisconsin’s Press Release does all the work for me — such is the state of journalism today:

PASADENA, Calif. ”“ December 30, 2011 ”“ Today, the University of Wisconsin unveiled special edition adidas football uniforms that the Badgers will wear for the 98th annual Rose Bowl Game on January 2, 2012.

“The Badgers’ new look is inspired by the tradition of the Rose Bowl and the school’s back-to-back trips to Pasadena. The white and red uniform features a ‘Battle Rose’ design, including rose petal graphics within the jersey numbers, motion W helmet logo and stripes, adidas TechFit compression base layer and adizero gloves.”

So far, so good. And that will probably be a very nice look, and one which doesn’t stray too far from the Badgers’ normal unis. 50 years from now, I’ll probably recognize them. The uniform description actually appears in the first two grafs of the release.

How about their opponents, the Ducks? Let’s go to their press release:

Of the 17 paragraphs in that release, only the last four actually describe kind of what the uniform will look like:

“The uniform wouldn’t be complete without combining these innovations with a nod to the Duck’s rich heritage. Design elements include:

• A completely re-designed number system boasting an iridescent sheen similar to that on a mallard’s feathers. The larger, bolder numbers shift in color as they move.

• An armored wing design resting on new material engineered for maximum strength along the shoulder area

• A new look for the helmet featuring bright wings atop a mirrored appearance using a LiquidMetal black finish never before seen on the field. Though the wings are featured on the side, the iconic Oregon “O” still appears on the helmet located in a unique top-center placement.”

Interesting. What’s even more interesting is that not ONCE in that press release are the words “green” or “yellow” (the schools, ya know, actual official colors) mentioned. Sure, we get “LiquidMetal black” and bolder numbers that “shift in color as they move” — to me they look sorta brownish (like an actual mallard), but it will all depend on the light.

Like all of Nike’s uni unveils, they love to show the uniform in dark shadow. I can confirm, however that it is indeed green. And, as we can also see, they’ve finally dumped the Bellotti Bold font they’ve worn for several years.

Normally, I grade the pro combat uniforms (although I do couch the grades by saying “I’ll need to see it on the field”) but I don’t even want to hazard a guess for Nikegon’s latest. That helmet, with its “BlackMetal” finish could either be outstanding, or perhaps the worst thing to ever see the field since the last color shifting helmet the Ducks unveiled. I like the idea of the “color shifting” numbers, but again — they could really look awful on the field. Whatever the Ducks do look like, they will certainly make an impression.

So, let’s let the game begin. If you’re still not sold on what these unis will look like…

here’s a little teaser for Wisconsin:

and one for the Ducks:

If that still hasn’t whet your whistle for the game…click here for Wisconsin and go here for the Ducks.

Game on.

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WinterClassic2012AltLogo_crop_650x440

And a Hockey Game too!…

…we hope. High temps and rain are wreaking a bit of havoc with today’s scheduled Winter Classic between the Rangers and the Flyers at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philly. In fact, the scheduled 1:00pm ET start has been moved back to 3:00pm. Further details here.

But the two teams have revealed their special uniforms for the game, and they look to be pretty nice. Here are the Flyers:

1121-phi-wc12bettsschenn

1121-phi-wc12hanging 1122-phi-wc12full

And the Rangers:

1128-nyr-wc12collage

1128-nyr-wc12side


(Images from Icethetics)

Let’s hope for clear cool skies and a game that doesn’t run into the Rose Bowl…enjoy!

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50 Years Ago This Week

50 Years Ago…This Weekend

Back again with Rick Pearson who is here to bring us his look at the featured television college football matchup from 50 years ago. As always, Rick documented the game via his “kid cards”.

Another big set today, because 50 years ago they played ALL the big bowls ON New Year’s Day, not like now. Even more shockingly, none of the games were on ESPN. So here is the ever-indispensable Ricko:

~~~

New Year’s Day. Big Day. The four major bowls for our viewing pleasure, one of them the first football game telecast nationally in color (which meant the other three were in black & white), so we’ll again keep it short.

Jan. 1, 1962: The ORANGE BOWL (LSU vs. Colorado on ABC)
I got LSU’s number wrong, I guess. … They’d been black, but apparently may have been changed to purple as far back as when the TV’s were moved to the sleeves in 1959. … Also, I show a narrow gold edge on Colorado’s numbers, which looks like it may have been the case. … It was very, very narrow, however. … Was wrong about any gold on the helmet graphic, though. … Colorado had two black stripes at the top of their crew socks.

Jan 1, 1962: The SUGAR BOWL (Alabama vs. Arkansas on NBC)
Most notable uni thing here? Alabama broke out their old-style white helmets, likely to provide more contrast from the Razorbacks.

Jan. 1, 1962: The COTTON BOWL (Texas vs. Mississippi on CBS)
Practically a home game for the Longhorns. … At least by now I had figured out Mississippi’s helmets were royal blue, not red (hey, next to the navy jersey in black & white they looked like they’d be red; who figured two different shades of blue). … Rebels went with red stirrups for this one.

Jan. 1, 1962: The ROSE BOWL (Minnesota vs. UCLA on NBC)
Ta-DAAA!!! “Brought to you in living color…” (we didn’t have a color TV, so didn’t matter much to me) the granddaddy of them all. … With UCLA wearing having a set of powder blues, NBC must have figured it would help the broadcast, and not harm the black & white version, to make it color-on-color. … That’s a single maroon stripe on the Gophers’ crew socks, their standard look.

>>NEXT WEEK, the Senior Bowl and the short-lived U.S. Bowl wrap things up for “50 Years Ago This Weekend.”

~~~

Wow. A color-versus-color bowl game? Amazing! They’d never do that today, would they…

I kid of course — just busting Rick’s chops a bit. But I do want to again thank Rick for the amazing — and I do mean AMAZING — season-long lookback at the 1961 season via the Kid Cards. I’m off next weekend, but Paul will be running the final two games from 50 Years Ago-This Week, 1961. And as luck would have it, Ricko ALSO did the entire 1962 season in Kid Cards, so we can look forward to this fun and educational feature during the 2012 NCAA season as well.

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ncaa football

New NCAA BOWL Rundown

In what became an outstanding regular feature during the regular season, my buddy Terry Duroncelet is here to give us the uni machinations and assorted athletic aesthetics for the first batch of Bowl Games (up the Christian Sammich Chick-fil-A Bowl). What follows is the most awesome post-season rundown of the NCAA I’ve ever seen, so kick back and enjoy the ride. Here’s Terry:

~~~

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Hearth’s Warming/etc. and New Year’s. Now we move on to the part of the column where we read a huge write-up on college football uniforms and you wonder how I felt proofreading the entire thing =)

Gildan New Mexico Bowl (held Saturday, December 17th, 2011); the University of Wyoming Cowboys in white helmets, brown jerseys, and white pants, and the Temple University Owls in their standard cherry lids, white jerseys, and white tiled pants. Nothing too wild here (I wish WYO wore this), but Temple did go with a BLOB. No, I’m not referring to Muk from Pokémon, that stands for Bowl Logo On Back.

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (held Saturday, December 17th, 2011); the Utah State University Aggies in white helmets, navy jerseys, and white pants, and the Ohio University Bobcats wearing an all-white look as the road team. Nothing too mind-boggling (although personally, I rarely see Ohio wear all-white), but a fun game to watch, as the Bobcats pulled out a second-half comeback for their first bowl win in school history, and on the blue turf, to boot!

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (held Saturday, December 17th, 2011); the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in black helmets, red jerseys, and black pants, and the San Diego State University (or “CSU, San Diego”, if “SDSU” is too mainstream for you) Aztecs in their standard road look of red helmets, white jerseys, and black pants. I kinda feel bad for LA-Lafayette, because no matter what combination they choose, they’ll always look like these jerks. Not the best look to wear in Louisiana =/ But hey, when you make game-winning plays like this, you can wear Falconesque uniforms in Louisiana whenever you want.

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl (held Tuesday, December 20th, 2011); the Panthers of Florida International University went with their standard full-navy uniforms against the Marshall University Thundering Herd in all-white (note #2’s mismatched arm-warmer number). Remember when I mentioned that T.Y. Hilton (#4) was wearing a Nike Pro Combat HyperStrong compression shirt back in Week 2 against Louisville? An FIU kicker was doing the same thing in the bowl game. Also, the guys at ESPN were doing that thing where they use a video game to predict the outcome of the real game, but they had Marshall and FIU in the wrong uniforms: Marshall in green tops in the simulation, and FIU in last year’s all-white model. Oh, and that scrap at the end of the game wasn’t cool at all. Nowhere near as extreme as FIU’s more infamous fight against Miami (FL) years ago, but still dumb nonetheless.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl (held Wednesday, December 21st, 2011); the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs in the standard red helmets, blue jerseys, and white pants in their match-up against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in the purple lids with white jerseys and pants. Did I mention how much I hate Athletic Block (I’m going off the Nike Team Uniform Builder guide. They call the non-shadowed version “Nike True Block”, but I’m calling it Athletic Block)? LA Tech’s uniforms would be perfect if they used a real block font on their jerseys. But still a good-looking game, regardless.

Maaco Bowl Las Vegas (held Thursday, December 22nd, 2011); the Arizona State University Sun Devils and the Boise State University Broncos: two teams that always have you guessing what uniform combination they’re gonna wear. Boise State decided to throw in one more smurf suit for this college season (note the TV number on the Pro Combat helmet), while Arizona State went with white jerseys as the road team, with black helmets (not bad), and black pants (awful). I also want to say congratulations to Kellen Moore on 50 career college wins; the most in college football history. I wonder if #11 will get a commemorative jersey with #50 on it… Too bad he had to settle for a non-BCS bowl. This sign has never been any more true.

Sheraton Hawai’i Bowl (held Saturday, December 24th, 2011); the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles showed up to the game wearing an all-black uniform with a new helmet design (here’s the right side). I think this is their fourth of the season? I’m having about as hard of a time keeping up with their helmets as Goku does with his levels of grandpaism. Meanwhile, the University of Nevada (in Reno) Wolf Pack wore their standard road uniform of the navy helmets with pewter grey facemasks, with white jerseys and pants.

AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl (held Monday, December 26th, 2011); the University of North Carolina Tar Heels in their standard Carolina Blue tops, lids, and white pants, while the University of Missouri Tigers went with white tops and black pants. I didn’t catch much of the game because I had what would turn out to be an epic game to get ready for, but I watched the UNC/Mizzou game thinking “Wow. To think that we won’t be seeing that tired-ass template ever again as of next year (at least with Mizzou).”

Little Caesars Bowl (held Tuesday, December 27th, 2011); The Purdue University Boilermakers decided to go mono-black vs. the Western Michigan University Broncos. Ya know, WMU makes brown, metallic gold, and black look really good. Don’t know why. Oh, well.

Belk Bowl (held Tuesday, December 27th, 2011); University of Louisville Cardinals in all-white and North Carolina State University Wolfpack in all-red. Simple as that. Although it should be noted that there was a lot of red in a stadium that usually sees a lot of Electric Blue and black.

Military Bowl (held Wednesday, December 28th, 2011); the United States Air Force Academy in their standard white helmets, blue jerseys, and white pants, and the University of Toledo on their blue lids, white jerseys, and blue pants (gotta hole in yer pants there, #98). Nothing too different… except for the helmet decals. Both teams wore S&S decals to ring in the 2011 Military Bowl. Could’ve been worse

Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (held Wednesday, December 28th, 2011); the Longhorns of U Texas, Austin in their tried-and-true home Burnt/Texas Orange jerseys with white helmets and pants, facing off against the Golden Bears of the University of California, Berkeley. Cal wore their somewhat standard blue lids, white tops, and blue pants. Nothing special, but the bowl logo looks pretty cool.

Champs Sports Bowl (held Thursday, December 29th, 2011); The University of Notre Dame Fighting Peter Griffins Irish added player names to the back of their jerseys. No, the Mayans aren’t getting a head start on the end of the world, that’s a standard practice for Notre Dame. I’m sure most of you reading this already knew, but for those who don’t, they add player names to the jerseys for bowl games only. And the Florida State University Seminoles were — of course — looking like the ‘Noles. However, I wish that they would use the number font from their 2009 Nike Pro Combat uniforms. And while looking for that image, I found this hilarious photoshopped picture. What are they trying to say? “I’ll see your golden domes and raise you one pair of golden boots.” said FSU Kicker Dustin Hopkins to the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame had some new cleats, too, from Adidas’s new “Smoke” line. *Mr. Mackey voice* Smoking’s bad, m’kay, Adidas? If you promote smoking, you’re bad, m’kay? *normal voice* One more thing: Notre Dame Linebacker Dan Fox (#48) ripped the glove off of Florida State Wide Receiver Rashad Greene’s (#80) left hand with 13:18 left to play and threw it back behind him.

Valero Alamo Bowl (held Thursday, December 29th, 2011); The Baylor University Bears, lead by a thousand different uniform vendors, random shades of gold, and Heisman Trophy-winner Robert Griffin III, broke out new matte green helmets with their green jerseys and white pants. On the other side, the University of Washington Huskies football team must’ve been on a Star Wars binge during their stay in San Antonio, because they came out wearing a full-Stormtrooper suit.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl (held Friday, December 30th, 2011); The Iowa State University Cyclones wore special jerseys for this game modeled by Michele Bachmann earlier in the week. Nah, I kid, they actually looked like the Cyclones (even though that means that they look a lot like USC), and the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights looked like the Scarlet Knights (well, more like the Ivory Knights, but hey, they were the road team).

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl (held Friday, December 30th, 2011); The Brigham Young University Cougars and the Tulsa University Golden Hurricane wore digital camo helmet decals and helmet stripes for this game. I think it worked a little better for BYU, because I could barely see them, and sometimes I couldn’t tell whether or not the clear/gold awards (for academics, unless I’m mistaken) were placed over the main logo. As for the uniforms, Tulsa went mono-blue. Not my favorite look, although that number font is really cool. BYU went with their all-white uniforms. A clean, classy look, slightly sullied only by the somewhat incognito helmet graphics.

Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl (held Friday, December 30th, 2011); The Wake Forest University Demon Deacons went with their standard home uniform of black helmets and jerseys with gold pants. However, it was more of a home game for the visiting Mississippi State University Bulldogs. who went with a mono-white uniform and their matte maroon helmets. Also, one of the MSU players had his undershirt pulled by a Deacon, creating some maroon-colored Laffy Taffy. MOAR COWBELL!!!

Insight Bowl (held Friday, December 30th, 2011); The University of Oklahoma Sooners wore a brand-new fancy shoe known as Nike’s new Vapor Talon Elite cleats. Not bad. As for the uniforms, Oklahoma looked like their usual selves (which isn’t a bad thing), and so did the University of Iowa Hawkeyes (again, not a bad thing). High-fives all-around for a great-looking game.

Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl [or something like that] (held Saturday, December 31st, 2011); The Northwestern University Wildcats played their last football game as an “Adidas school”, as they will be protecting Evanston/Chicago next season. They went out with their purple jerseys and helmets with black pants, while the Texas A&M University Aggies — who, conversely, played their last game as a Big XII school — wore white jerseys with maroon helmets and pants. An O.K.-looking game.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (held Saturday, December 31st, 2011); The Bruins of the University of California, Los Angeles in their standard home uniform (fingers crossed that the TechFit crap gets scrapped next season), and the University of Illinois in their white jerseys, orange helmets, and pretty decent orange pants (fingers crossed that they get new, better-looking uniforms next season). Nothing out of the ordinary here.

Hyundai Sunbowlker Sun Bowl (held Saturday, December 31st, 2011); one of the more fun “non-BCS” bowl games of the post-season (besides the Cotton Bowl) in my opinion. Unfortunately, the uniforms worn by the University of Utah Utes and the Yellow Jackets of the Georgia Institute of Technology (or Georgia Tech, for those scratching their heads) were only good in terms of color contrast. The designs were kinda miserable. I wasn’t too big a fan of the match-up either, because I really don’t like the Utes (all because of a Sugar Bowl game a few years back), but my sister (who’s a UGA grad student) would kill me if I cheered for GT. Utah DB Mo Lee used those “Swag” bands that you see players wearing all the time to create some makeshift striped socks.

AutoZone Liberty Bowl (held Saturday, December 31st, 2011); The University of Cincinnati Bearcats were in their usual mono-white road uniforms, but with different helmets. They were matte black helmets with the C paw logo on the left side, and a T.V. number on the right side. I like. The Vanderbilt University Commodores went with a mono-black uniform with their gold helmets. I do not like. The one time it would’ve been perfect to break out the black helmets, and you don’t do it? Dumb. But then again, I’m not a big fan of that uniform anyway.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl (held Saturday, December 31st, 2011); It was like Christmas Part 2 for fans of the colors navy and orange, as the Auburn University Tigers and the University of Virginia Cavaliers went color vs. color. Auburn in their standard home uniform, and UVA in their orange jerseys, navy pants, and a brand-new orange helmet, which is one of the greatest orange helmets that I’ve EVER seen.

~~~

Wow. Just wow. Thanks Terry!

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Benchies Header

Benchies

by Rick Pearson

~~~

The cosmos being aligned as they are, we have New Year’s Day +1…

1-1-12 s-she said

And of course, your full-size.

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all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks Concepts

We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.

So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.

Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.

And so, lets begin:

~~~

We start with Kevin New, who has some new looks for the Astros:

Phil, I am one of the many devoted Astros fans here in Houston that has hated the uniforms ever since the team got away from the orange/navy era.

My uni concepts were developed with that color scheme and logo as a foundation to build from. Houston fans are hoping that with the change in ownership and leagues, a new uniform/color scheme/logo will follow. Anything will be better than continuing to look like the Arizona Diamondbacks’ older brother.

HOME
ROAD
HOME NAVY ALTERNATE
HOME ORANGE ALTERNATE
ROAD NAVY ALTERNATE

Thanks for the great website,

Kevin New

~~~

Next up is Skott Schoonover, who has some Clippers reduxes…

Hey Phil,

This is my concept for an overhaul of the LA clippers. The logo is a clipper ship, and I decided to ditch the red white and blue for more nautical colors.
Home
Away

Thanks, Skott

~~~

We close with Josh Sondelski, who has a Falcons concept:

Hi Phil,

Here’s a Falcons concept I threw together today.

Josh

~~~

And that’s it for today. Back soon with more.

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vilk all oregon 5 & 1

MoVi’s ALL OREGON 5 & 1 None

And now the portion of the post I wait all year for — the special, all-Oregon Five and one none.

Now, you know that Oregon has done the one thing they could do for the Rose Bowl (and likely for all next season) that MIGHT land Oregon in a future 5 & 1 (on the good side) — and that is to dump Bellotti. But they kept the B-Bold all season long, so Oregon was successfully kept from ever sniffing the promised land … but they did achieve the dreaded AND-1 status one time.

Well, as a special favor to me, I get to see Oregon in the top 5 spots one time during the season. Let’s see how Jimmer ranked them:

~~~

Ho Ho Ho…I mean, Quack Quack Quack…

Yes, it’s that time of year when I give Phil his present…an all-Oregon Top Five list. Now, in the spirit of peace on Earth, goodwill to all, I’m dispensing with the &1 (besides, astute Uni-Watchers remember what it was anyway) and I’m going to be as positive as I can. So, without further delay, I give you the first Ducks 5 & None:

5. vs. Missouri State – The carbon lid isn’t bad when surrounded by lots of school colors.

4. vs. UCLA – Why yes, those pants are very slimming.

3. at Colorado – Would have looked better on a cloudy day, but it still would have been #3.

2. at Arizona – Color-wise, this one was my favorite.

1. vs. Oregon State – I probably could have made this a Week 13 Honorable Mention, huh?

Well, there you go. A joyous season to you, Phil, and to all of you. Peace.

~~~

And a joyous season to you as well Jim. Remember the Ducks in the final bowl wrap, since they’ll be sans-Bellotti…right???

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That’s all folks. Enjoy your sports-filled day — one of the greatest days in sports. And GO DUCKS!

~~~

“The parade rout is lined with churches, and the city of Pasadena said that they won’t hold the parade, thus the game, on a Sunday. The ‘Never on Sunday’ policy was instituted in order ‘to avoid frightening horses tethered outside local churches and thus interfering with worship services’.” — Dante

 
  
 
Comments (222)

    Iconic “O” – laughing still harder. How in the hell does Oregon or anyone else claim iconic status for their ridiculous logo?

    This is an article that a friend of a friend wrote, and I thought it was a great read. It features some fantastic 1920’s era sheet music covers, the first of which you’ll see being the most notable. Lou Gehrig in uniform with cigarette in hand! I’m not sure if some of these images have bounced around before, but definitely check it out:

    link

    I’m pretty sure the LSU player pictured in front of Ernie Davis in the “All-America” shot is Roy “Moonie” Winston who went on to play for the Minnesota Vikings.

    link

    Hey StlMarty, our altomater made Sunbolker’s 5&1! Never thought I’d see Mo State on that list. Don’t know about those football unis but they do have some sweet hockey jerseys.

    link

    all the more reason to play the game in minnesota or canada and not pennsylvania

    although, just watch — when they play that first “northern outdoor” super bowl in giants stadium, we’ll have a blizzard

    cornmother nature has a way of letting us know that sometimes our choice of venues should NOT always be dictated by the almighty dollar

    so…you’re agreeing with “sometimes our choice of venues should NOT always be dictated by the almighty dollar” …????

    i can’t imagine having to move the starting times back two years in a row helps NBC much either

    but hey, who gives a shit if they can stick the game in a mid-latitude stadium where it might be rainy or warm (or both) if it makes them money

    betcha this one has the lowest ratings of any WC

    NBC doesn’t care about the Canadian markets. And why should they, when they can use teams from U.S. markets?

    The WC is, and probably will be for some time, a U.S. event that is appreciated in Canada. But not aimed at it.

    A little business reality in this discussion isn’t inappropriate.

    But, yeah, they’d do well to look at typically colder U.S. cities. Although the weather is capricious at best.

    It was 53 degrees here in Minny a week ago. Warmest Christmas Day since they’ve been recording weather.

    17 right now, though.

    Isn’t the goal of the thing to get more people to watch hockey? What difference does it make where it’s played? It’s hockey, outside (because apparently that makes it cooler), as an alternative to a bowl game that no one cares about because it isn’t the BCS Championship game. Does it actually matter if it’s Pittsburgh/New York in Pittsburgh or if it’s Los Angeles/Carolina in Toronto?

    Oh, brother. Do you know nothing of how networks think?

    Are they not allowed to think like a business? Are they WRONG if they think like a business? They’re entitled to consider ROI. It’s not like they’re dictating who makes the playoffs, just picking a game that will have appeal to markets they’re in.

    And they aren’t in Canada. NBC loses a market if there’s a Canadian team involved…compared to if that place is taken by a U.S. team It’s pure numbers, and I don’t get why people can’t grasp such a simple concept.

    So it should be New York vs Los Angeles then, right? Those are the two biggest markets, aren’t they?

    And the two biggest followings nation wide are probably Red Wings (constantly winning + long, awesome history = huge fanbase) and the Blackhawks (recent winning + large built in fanbase + best unis in sports + history = huge fanbase).

    LA and NY’s fanbases are split between teams (LA – 2, NY/NJ – 3). Plus, LA are notoriously shitty fans since they can go do stuff in the nicest weather in the world like every fuckin day.

    It’s a crime that Detroit hasn’t been awarded a WC but Philly has played in two (even Pittsburgh with their great fans probably didn’t deserve two before the Redwings get to host one). Detroit should host next and then Minnesota.

    Then they should host the rest in Chicago.

    Just have it at the I’m Still Calling It The Skydome next year, close the roof, crank the AC, Red Wings 4, Leafs 2.

    Maybe we could delay the game permanently or make it a part of a doubleheader with the Pro Bowl.

    Pitchers and catchers report in just 47 days.

    This Winter just happens to be ridiculously above average in temperatures for most of the country. Like, breaking 50 to 130 year old records.

    They call it Global Climate Change now.

    …and we still can’t predict the weather accurately, regardless.

    Looking at the schedules, the Rose, Sugar, and Orange Bowls have Always been played on Jan. 2nd if the 1st fell on a Sunday… even 50 years ago.

    Thank you.

    This absolutely is nothing new and, historically, has nothing to do with the NFL.

    It goes back even further than the 50s, I think. Colleges have long avoided playing on Sundays. Remember, guys, everything (stores, bars, restaurants…everything) used to be closed on Sundays, too.

    In fact, I believe if we check, it’s only been in the past 25 or 30 years that college basketball has been played on Sunday.

    anyone watching the rose parade?

    because they just posed the trivia question “why is the rose parade being held on jan 2?”

    they’ll be answering that question after the commercial break

    (on abc now)

    How will the answer explain why the Sugar, Cotton and Orange also pretty much always moved to Jan. 2?

    Because they followed the Rose Bowl’s lead, I suppose will be the contention.

    Possibly. But it might have to do with colleges’ longstanding (and I mean long, long, longstanding) policy of not playing on Sundays.

    Besides, where’s any evidence that even if the parade
    where on Sunday the 1st, the game wouldn’t still have been moved to the 2nd? (see preceding paragraph).

    I don’t get all this revisionist history just to make the NFL out as some kind of all-powerful ogre. Colleges avoided Sundays when no one gave a rat’s patoot about the NFL.

    The NHL also does a Heritage Classic, a Winter Classic game but between 2 of the Canada teams. They do it every few years rather than every year. The last Heritage Classic was in Calgary last season.

    yeah, but it’s only been held twice in the 9 years since it was founded. And there are no stated plans to do another one, though many believe the NHL wants to do it every other season, no official word has ever confirmed that.

    Being from the SF Bay Area, we’ve been on the NHL about trying to get the Sharks to host a WC at the Giants park. Guaranteed sellout if ever happened out here, but the league pretty much just gives us the finger saying “It’s too warm and too likely to rain for the ice to be ‘NHL Quality’ on game day”.

    Don’t hold your breath waiting for that.

    The point of the WC is to look back at the game’s origins, not the gimmick of playing outdoors.

    It’s about, weather cooperating, snow and cold and bundling up to attend the game. They want serious winter. That’s what they’re selling. Not “How funny is this, we’re playing on ice outdoors.”

    Yeah it’s 59 in the East Bay–I don’t see ever getting one. Though the view @ AT&T is great, there’s just no cold or snow. Tho I have been to a few night games there that are just frigid.

    You put a Heritage/Winter Classic near Toronto and not have the Leafs in it, they’ll riot faster than Vancouver did after losing The Cup to Boston.

    Yesterday was the last game ever for some very non-beloved uniforms worn by my beloved Seahawks. I must admit I’m very fearful of the potential trainwreck that Nike has in store for us, but I remain hopeful that if nothing else, we will again be treated to royal blue and silver like the glorious 1983 uniforms.

    Does anyone have an ETA on the unveiling? I’m guessing April.

    It can’t be any earlier than April, because Reebok is still the NFL’s official uni outfitter through the end of March.

    In any case, the usual routine these days is to unveil new designs at the draft, which is in late April.

    My point is doing an event like the WC without having a local team be part of it is stupid. Take Toronto out of it. Take The Jeff’s game (NYR/NYI vs. LA) and put it in St. Louis. (All US markets now. Happy?) No one will go to the game because the Blues aren’t in it and NY and LA fans won’t go that far for a single regular season game. You end up with a half empty stadium and even worse TV numbers because why watch if they can’t even fill the place up. You end up with the same numbers as the bowl game nobody knew existed, being played between I-Didn’t-Know-They-Had-A-Football-Team State and University of They-Used-To-Be-Good-Before-They-Got-Busted.

    The stadium would be full, put the game at a neutral site that isn’t as shitty and murderriffic as St. Louis (sorry StLMarty…) like Chicago or the Twin cities or hell, Green Bay, and people would turn it into a new years trip and the novelty of the game would draw local hockey fans who may not enjoy the teams.

    I’ve been to a few college Bowl games, and many of the people who show up are locals or people in town for other games/vaca trying to enjoy the atmosphere and looking to watch good competitive football.

    My only contribution to the WC discussion is to say that the special Rangers jersey is superb.

    My only contribution to Bowl discussions is to thank Rick and Terry for their demented attention to season-end games on two very telling stops on the time continuum … Terry gets special credit for listing those hilarious sponsor names without throwing up all over the website.

    WOW, How are we supposed to watch all the games today when there is so much to read and go over on Uni Watch today??

    Nice job to all.

    Both the Rangers and Flyers Winter Classic unis look awesome. Properly-done shoulder yokes go a long way in my book. I want both of those jerseys!

    Oh, and seeing The Jeff’s helmet revisions a day late, but as usual, they’re amazing!

    -Jet

    The only downside I see is both goalies with throwback pads are standing next to the bench.

    In the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas rundown, you’ve got an incorrect link. Where you say, “…and black pants (awful).” you’ve linked to a pic of UNC-Missouri. Not sure if it was on purpose…

    im sure it was my fault, since i have to recode every one of those links…i must have screwed one of them up

    totally NOT terry’s fault

    (though you were going with just “moono” this year) ;)

    Now that I’ve seen the Arizona St. pants (EWWW!) I kinda wish I hadn’t said anything! :)

    Did the Ducks ever wear their pretty throwbacks this year? Even in a fauxback variation?
    That bedazzled helmet is gonna be a nightmare. I’m actually hoping its so blindingly garish and shiny, that the zebras have no choice, but to disobey their corporate overlords and make Oregon switch to something that doesn’t blind the players or viewers.

    “CSU, San Diego”? Nice try, but…no. It’s been “San Diego State” for all but two years since 1923.

    The only time that SDSU was known as “CSUSD” was from 1972-74, when all 19 Cal State College campuses were renamed “California State University/College…” In 1974, a state law was passed restoring the name “San Diego State” as well as the names San Jose State, Humboldt State and San Francisco State. (My alma mater, Sonoma State, which was renamed Cal State College-Sonoma in 1972, was changed back to Sonoma State under a similar law in 1976.)

    Fresno, Chico and Sacramento are all officially CSU-whatever, but on campus (and on their uniforms) they’re Fresno State, Chico State, Sac State, etc.

    Really? I didn’t know that. From my experience, any Californian university with “State” in its name was part of the CSU system and officially named CSU (insert location name here). Then again, I did say that you could use “CSUSD” if “SDSU” was “too mainstream” ;)

    Will keep that new info about SDSU in mind in the future.

    Somewhat interestingly, I went to Long Beach State, and it is usually referred to as such on campus, but most apparel says CSULB. To confuse things a bit more, ESPN refers to it as LBSU in the score ticker, but that’s about the only place I’ve ever seen it abbreviated that way.

    Next Winter Classic should be at The Big House in Ann Arbor between the Red Wings and the Blue Jackets. They could play up the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry. Guaranteed sellout. Ilitch wants it to be at Comerica Park but he’d be a fool to pass up the bigger $$$ that would come from a much larger stadium.

    Ilitch doesn’t need to worry about money. And the NHL, NBC, and CBC would much prefer the skyline of Detroit for their background shots.

    And the Blue Jackets??? If Detroit gets the game within the next two years, it’ll be with the Blackhawks.

    On additional reflection, St. Louis or Minnesota would also be good choices to be the visitors in a Detroit Winter Classic.

    It’s been recorded that they are looking to have a WC game at The Big House with Detroit, but the visitor would most likely be the Blackhawks. I can’t see how it wouldn’t be either, especially given the Original Six rivalry and the potential to have the biggest crowd at a hockey game.

    Even ss a hawks fan, i wouldn’t want to see a repeat of 09. Detroit vs someone else and then the hawks could visit like minnesota or boston or something.

    This isn’t CFB related, but I came across this baseball card earlier. The picture is from a 1992 game between the Astros and the Mets, played at Shea Stadium. The thing that catches my eye, is that both teams are wearing white. Why would that be?

    link

    Looks like the Astros’ uniforms were off-white or cream. Seems to be unusual because most of the cream-colored uniforms were usually worn by home teams, especially the Giants. You can see a subtle difference in shades here:

    link

    Orsulak was not a Met in 1992. That photo is most likely from Friday, April 9, 1993. Orsulak went 2-4 with 2 singles. The Mets were swept that series, and finished an awesome 59-103 that season under Jeff Torborg and Dallas Green.

    It was the home opening weekend for the Mets, hence the bunting.

    Very cool use of the keystone design on the Flyers’ captain and alternate patches.

    The “vintage white” for the Rangers is nice as well. The Ranger logo (old style or modern) makes a great crest, but you’ll never see it for a full-time feature because the diagonal “RANGERS” is so iconic.

    Maybe. It does stand out, though, which I liked.

    Perhaps it was because the crest was made out of modern textiles. Had it been a felt crest (like the Wild’s), maybe it would have had the off-white color.

    Chicago fans suffer most during the winter classic. Due to his awesomeness, Eddie O and his sonorous voice is taken away from us for the 5-6 days around the classic while he informs the nation of how to play hockey.

    We miss you Eddie, please come back to us.

    The keystone captain patches for the Flyers are cool. Maybe they should keep them.

    Watching NBC Sports self-gratification special that’s on during the warmth delay, and noticed that when Henry Aaron hit #715, there was a U.S. Map-shaped flag painted into center field. Never noticed that before. Do we have any earlier images of baseball field on-field art?

    link

    Prior to that, red, white and blue stars were painted in the outfield at All-Star Games (I’m thinking of the 71(?) game in Detroit, where Reggie Jackson hit the monster home run. And I seem to recall the All-Star Game logo painted in center field a couple of years later when the game was at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

    Man, can we get a moratorium on the stupid Cam Newton Superman move? I guess it’s better than putting the palms together to form the Nike logo, though.

    I think it’s to honour the THC (Tradition of Hockey in Canada) and to appease the Canuck players.

    But players like Jagr don’t get their National Anthem and playing O Canada breaks regular season and Post Season protocol – If there isn’t a team from Canada playing, they don’t play O Canada.

    Example: the 2010 Stanley Cup finals (Chi vs. Philly) there were 0 O Canada. No Canucks needed appeasing, no “Tradition of hockey” needed be addressed.

    For the record – they were not booing. They showed Claude Giroux on the big screen at CBP and the crowd was yelling “Giroooooo”.

    But thanks for continuing the Philly bashing Skott and Tim – here in Philly we expect nothing else from idiots like yourselves!

    Beth, when you do things like pelt Santa with snowballs while booing him, you’re actively putting the scum-people persona on yourself.

    Some people like to put that persona on themselves – look at the career of Sean Avery. On an individual basis, I’m sure the people of Philly are lovely and polite.

    Put them in a Philly sports arena and they become the scummy, asshole sports fans that they have accrued WILLINGLY over the years.

    And they were booing. I heard people cussing and stuff on the broadcast coverage and immediately following, they started chanting USA USA – which normally I’m fine with, but it seemed ill-timed at best, and unnecessarily anti-Canaidan at worst (this game wasn’t against Team Canada).

    All of that behavior is because Philly loves no one but Philly. Are Philly fans scummy? Yes. (but for the record, most scumminess; like booing Santa; is because it’s the Eagles and the fans are pretty angsty w/o a Lombardi.)

    Way to check your team alliances at the Uni Watch door, Tim.

    A general sports comment forum isn’t going to thrive if fans hold on to their bias & attack each other, or at least I thought that was common sense. Nobody comes here to read how much their team or city sucks.

    And who gives a fuck if they boo Santa. Santa Claus is stupid and the guy in question was some drunk hippie in a green suit.

    Patty Labelle sure butchered the Star Spangled Banner didn’t she? Time to retire that song for something else, no one can sing it.

    Is this where I go to complain about the ridiculous Arizona Cardinals uniform they wore yesterday?

    Larry Fitzgerald was giving a clinic in being awesome and all I could think was that he looked like he should be hoisting a ballerina in the air. Who thinks that looks good and why are they in a position of power?

    Somewhat related…

    Was thinking the other night that this is the Number One Reason The Chiefs Should Never Go Mono Red…
    link

    Although, for those for whom the line between real events and electronic experiences has either blurred or been obliterated entirely, it’s probably the reason they SHOULD.

    No Jet’s “C”‘s for 2012.

    Ryan supported how Schotteheimer benched Holmes on Sunday. One of our predictions from Sunday was right: Santonio Holmes won’t be a captain next year.

    Ryan, who has eschewed having captains in the past, said that he won’t have captains again next year.

    The Rangers look even worse on the ice than I expected. “VINTAGE” WHITE IS UGLY AND STUPID. It is the athletic equivalent to the shabby chic interior design movement’s crackle paint.

    The first thing that came to mind watching was they should have gone color on color Blue vs Orange. It would have been contrast enough and would have looked good on the ice.

    Interesting to see the effect of the Oregon helmets in game action. If there were a rule (is there?) they would certainly be disqualified for the reflectiveness of the helmets.

    Also, they’re acting like its 110 degrees in the Rose Bowl. It’s like 82.

    During Erin Andrews’s pre-game interview of Wisconsin coach Bret Bielma, the subject came up and he said he was told Oregon’s helmets were “NCAA compliant.”

    That’s as maybe, but should they be?

    In theory, Oregon could be violating Rule 1, Article 4, Section 7-e and 7-f here. Players can’t wear “Any equipment that could confuse or deceive an opponent” or “Any equipment that could provide an unfair advantage to any player”. Those helmets do both.

    “Also, they’re acting like its 110 degrees in the Rose Bowl. It’s like 82.”

    82°F is heaven for someone like me, who grew up in the desert for his entire life. Try playing a football game in Blythe, CA in late-July/early-August, when the temp is in the high 110s-low 120s EASY, and then complain/whine about Rose Bowl weather.

    tuned into a little of the game- just to see the helmets. looked kinda like they came outta a gumball machine.

    But that’s just me.

    A blank letterman jacket would be easy enough to buy at a 1/5th of that, and getting a Flyers patch would be easy beans. The back would require a little work but nothing a sewer can’t handle.

    I was at the CFA Bowl (WAR EAGLE!) and Virginia’s orange lids were BRIGHT! Something was different with the cameras, cause the replay videos and the ESPN broadcast made them look red from up top.

    Oregon’s Rose Bowl uniforms are reminding me of the evil, monochrome hockey teams in Strange Brew. There’s just something odd and numbing about both that scene from the movie and the uniforms. Plus that helmet looks like they had to borrow it from an opposing team. It just doesn’t match in any way.

    I usually think Oregon’s uniforms are well designed, regardless of the school color issue. These are just completely underwhelming.

    So the Oregon helmets aren’t as blinding as I thought the would be, although I wish that the LiquidMetal black was LiquidMetal green, with yeller wings. That would be badass.

    And the mallard numbers are O.K., although they would work better on a white jersey.

    You can’t even see the “Battle Rose” stuff on the Wisconsin numbers from a distance… -_-

    Agreed. And that is one ugly-ass green Oregon is wearing.

    Badgers just look like the Badgers.

    Oregon is definitely a uniform of contradictions, on the one hand, they’re wearing a drab green similar to what Hawkeye and Trapper wore on M*A*S*H, on the other hand they’re wearing a Hologram – like helmet – that’s simply dazzling Overall, no use in complaining , the flood gates are already open – and it’s likely to get worst before it get better, as more and more teams adopt the Oregon way.

    Is this game going to end up 56 – 55?

    “Is this game going to end up 56 — 55?”

    Right on pace.

    I guess this was the intent, but as the sun is going down, the uniform is changing, I think the 3:41 PM PST version is particularly ugly.

    I thought Oregon’s unis would look great but in the cali sun it just looks terrible. In the dark it might look cool but really looks like crap

    I never thought I’d see chrome on the field. The Oregon helmets remind me of cheap plastic with shiny reflective paint.

    This may be a stupid question, but if Boise State isn’t allowed to go mono blue at home because it matches the turf, why is Oregon allowed to go mono green on regular grass? Kind of seems as if it’s a shot at Boise for having that stupid blue field.

    The no-mono-blue rule for Boise State only applies for the Mountain West. You can (more or less) do whatever you want in any other conference.

    The chrome wings would look good if the helmets weren’t also chrome, even black chrome. If the helmets were the same shade of green as the rest of the uniform that would look a lot better.

    i’m far more disappointed in the drab green unis than the shiny helmet…

    the shiny helmet is incredibly stupid, but it will obviously appeal to impressionable 17 year olds, so mission accomplished

    and it has NOTHING whatsoever to do with anything resembling any color oregon has worn before or hopefully since…

    but taken solely in a vacuum of a “helmet” … it’s not nearly as bad as i had feared

    I have said several times Oregon would look so much better if they used the school colors green or yellow. Or some better looking shade of green. That drab green is not attractive.

    They should maybe have used a green like this one.

    link

    Damn, LarryB. You’ve just taken Oregon’s uni from “awful” to “awesome” with a small hue change. I love that green!

    In terms of Phil’s comment on the Winter Classic likely earning it’s lowest ratings, I agree, I suspect it will fall below 2.0 – mayne 1.5 ish? The spark is largely gone, it’s not New Year’s day, and NY is not a great hockey market. i.e. Pittsburgh maybe one tenth the size of New York, but they have about 15X the number of hockey fans.

    I suspect the next game will be something like
    St Louis at Detroit or and I know all the comments about you can’t put a Canadian team on, and that’s probably right – but if it’s Toronto at Detroit – you can easily put 110,000 in the Big House – which might put a temporary new spark.

    I still think you can build a temporary 10,000 seat stadium, and play the game in Central park, or Aspen Colarado.

    Or you can keep filling up 40-70,000-seat venues at $200 a pop and laugh all the way back to the bank. As much as I really like your idea, there’s no way the NHL ever passes up the extra revenue.

    Meh. Oregon’s helmets don’t look as bad as I thought they would, but they still look really dumb with the rest of the uniform.

    nice to see who ever did that redskins concept awhile back finally come to life… except add chrome… err, sorta

    Oregon’s band uniforms might be worse than the football unis. Are those their practice uniforms? They don’t look like a school band, they look like Subway sandwich artists.

    Since we’re busy talking about Oregon uniforms, what’s with the band playing in warm-ups and ballcaps? Is that their usual uniform? I guess I’m just used to TBDBITL, so the dressed down band is an odd sight.

    Nike seems to have maneuvered itself into an unfortunate position with Oregon’s unis. Namely, “How do we top ourselves?”

    The problem with that is that it can lead to notions that are more radical, more ridiculous, more out of place and ever further away from the original mission.

    Unless, of course, the original mission is to promote Nike, not to keep Oregon looking good and reinforce the Oregon brand.

    Putting it another way, if we obsessively keep coming up with new and different ornaments for our Christmas tree, eventually we no longer need the tree.

    these are most likely one-offs…that is, we’ll (hopefully) never see the helmet again, and they’ll probably tweak the numbers and colors a bit for next season’s rollout

    i hope they retire the carbon and put back more of the highlighter yellow…prolly safe to say the black will stay, since the kids love that…and maybe they’ll even make an entire jersey out of the fabric they’re using for the numbers…who knows

    like paul says below — they can’t really “top” anything they do … they’re just going in different directions

    i sure hope to hell they don’t ever wear that shiny lid again…not unless it’s in green and yellow (if that is even possible)

    silver and blackmetal have no place in this color palatte

    I disagree — somewhat. Question: How were they gonna top the diamondplate design? Answer: They didn’t. In fact, they didn’t try — they went with the winged design, which was definitely a retreat in terms of outrageousness, pushing the envelope, etc.

    I think what you’re getting at, stated somewhat differently, is this: It no longer matters what Oregon looks like. What matters is that they keep everyone guessing, they keep rolling out new looks, each game has a “special” design, etc. Some of these new looks are good, some are not, most aren’t really that remarkable. Like I’ve been saying all along, each new Oregon uni is like a new issue of a comic book, with all the hype and exclamation points that a comic book cover usually has. And then you finish that issue and wait for the next issue, which will have another hype-driven cover. And some issues are good, and some are bad, and most are in between. That’s what Oregon has become.

    We’re harmonizing.

    By “topping it”, I meant “What other new, groundbreaking touch can we come up with next?” There’s nothing linear about the progression. I had the word “disconnected” in my noggin in relation to “out of place”, but forgot to use it when I got around to typing.

    And I didn’t mean to suggest Nike got to that point just now. They got to it a lonnnnng time ago.

    I don’t love or hate Oregon’s uniforms any more than their regular ones. The number font is better but yet harder to read. They are more of a bland green than usual but the shiny tinfoil hat helmet balances that out I guess.
    Then again Wisconsin’s look annoys me just as much. They followed their standard look for most of the season by going with my most hated look in football. All white. If they were kind enough to break out their much better red pants I’d give them a solid 9 out of 10 for their “different” look. But what always bugs me about Wisconsin is they’re the New Orleans Saints of the Division 1 football. The red on the uniforms, the red on the facemasks, and the red “W” are 3 different shades of red. Although I’m happy the facemask is a shade of RED at least and not gray.

    All white has been around only for, oh, 55 years or so. We don’t see that as one of the looks that is common to the game? It’s just teams that wear white helmets and pants at home choosing to go with only the change to a white jersey on the road. There is a really long list of teams that have done that…and have continued to do it…since the advent of mandatory whites.

    Isn’t any “rule” that says they have to have road pants, too.

    Then again, I suppose there are those who hate home pinstripes in baseball, too.

    I’m more bothered by the BFBS socks on Wisconsin. That’s such an athletic look…
    link

    Sidelight on that ’63 Rose Bowl game.

    Because of all the passing and scoring the game was running long, and there was concern whether they’d have to suspend play.

    No lights.

    I believe the fans had to walk uphill both too and from the stadium back in 1963 as well.
    It’s just a preference. To my eyes this looks much better than the all white:

    link

    And a bonus of UCLA actually having shoulder stripes. Double bonus for UCLA having a half decent team.

    Hey, I’m old enough to remember when the Rose Bowl was the final game of the day…and then when it was HUGE deal that the Orange Bowl went under the lights.

    It’s just a personal preference for me. Just like people hate the unitards, the softball alts, and the NHL wearing dark sweaters at home. It just bugs the crap out of me when teams wear all white. I just can’t stand the look. Stanford has annoyed me the same way when they stopped wearing the red pants and went all white on the road again. I just think the teams look better with the contrasting colors as opposed to the all white. Of course Oregon should be wearing yellow pants and not all green.

    And yes home pinstripes are evil and should be banished…. For the Astros… They’ve never looked right in them. All the other teams that wear them look fantastic with them.

    You got that right about the Astros. Just impossible to see them as a pinstripes team. Same for the Pirates (not counting the bumblebees, cuz that was a whole wonderful weirdness of its own).

    Although, since the John Brodie years (when the Indians–as they were known then–had Cardinal road pants) they haven’t worn dark pants all that many years. The all whites are far more common. Think John Elway vs. The Band.

    And they’re in all white tonight. Against Okie State in all black. Wow, Stormtroopers vs. Death Star gunnery mates.

    Ah the bumblebees. I love and loathe them. As a Pirates fan born in the 70’s they were just about gone when I started watching. My earliest baseball memories are of the Phillies-Orioles World Series. As long as the bumblebees are only brought back on occasion I can live with them. I wouldn’t want to see them back full time. Of course anything that helps them win more than 60 games is fine with me.
    As for the Astros the pinstripes have always looked as foreign on them as the brick red. Both need to go away and never be seen again.

    re: Bumblebees. Indeed, some things are beautiful…but should be left in their own time, just the way they are, right where they are.

    I saw the promo for the Fiesta Bowl and Stanford warming up. That’s what made me think of them in the all white too. I give Oklahoma State a pass since they’ve worn black forever. But like Oregon I’d rather see them with the orange pants when they go with the black jersey. I know I’m the only one that likes this over their all white:
    link

    But at least they didn’t counter the Darth Vader by breaking out those awful things they wore against ND this year.

    I liked the look of last year’s Rose Bowl better for them. But even in a loss I’m happy with what I see on the field. Maybe my Pittsburgh Panthers will be able to keep a coach for more than 3 days this time.

    Rovell:
    “The Oregon Ducks uniforms will be fused together to create one giant garbage bag to collect all the Rose Bowl trash”

    At some point in the future the swoosh will bring something like this out for them:

    link

    Just change the colors to some various shades of black, ugly green, bright or weird yellows, maybe lime, some chrome, silver, bronze, or copper would be nice and shiny too.

    If they don’t fly to close to the sun, that is.
    Which seems increasingly possible, btw.

    Hey, Phil, ever heard of Daedalus?
    (the names’s pretty much the same in either Greek or Roman mythology, so you could look him up)

    I’m sure someone living in Swoosh County has already had it blip on their searches and are already creating a prototype to show to recruits.

    im not sure there’s enough contrast between the two teams in the tostitos bowl

    Ah, the beauty of white as the “control group”. Pretty much guaranteed to clearly and instantly contrast with virtually any other color.

    Contrast isn’t everything.

    Yeah, black vs white is excellent contrast, but rather bland.

    Blue vs orange still provides *enough* contrast, and is far more visually appealing to me. For this particular game, with OSU wearing black, the white for Stanford is the best option, because their red is so dark. If OSU wore orange, then I’d want to see the red.

    I think the red and orange would still be too close to each other. As much as I dislike the all white I don’t think color vs color would work in this matchup unless Oklahoma State worked in the gray.

    So it’s only about “enough”?
    Not “best possible”?

    Yes, and that goes for Oregon’s numbers too. Note that I said yellow numbers, not white. Enough contrast to have been readable, but not the *best possible*.

    And I never said yellow/cheddar wasn’t a viable alternative to white. I, again, just said “one team in white” guarantees maximum contrast with virtually any color, and is a manageable policy largely eliminating pain in the ass game-by-game evaluations that leagues/organizations quite likely don’t want to take the time to deal with. Especially just not because fans would like to see it, never mind that it might make recognition less than optimum.

    “I never said yellow/cheddar wasn’t a viable alternative to white. I, again, just said “one team in white” guarantees maximum contrast with virtually any color”

    ~~~

    except of course, yellow gold/cheddar

    Ah, the exception that proves the rule, yet somehow disproves it. How does that work, anyway?
    (Actually Vegas Gold would offer even less contrast, because cheddar is noticeably brighter, and has worked for both WVa and Wyoming vs. white in the past couple years)

    You guys keep judging by how it looks on TV.
    NC hasn’t had anyone complain about its powder blue jerseys not working against white.
    Nor did the Houston Oilers during their entire history.

    Look, if anyone thinks “one team in white” as the general rule is going away anytime soon in football they’re frickin’ dreaming. So what’s the sense of beating it to death?

    Why not accept the valid reasons behind it (like, oh, I dunno, the way the human eye processes input?), and move on to worrying about something that actually might be failing?

    Or just stick to Madden, I suppose. It is, after all, such a great measure of reality.

    I don’t know Ricko… in the past 10 years we’ve seen more color vs color games than we had in the previous 30 years. Seems to me that as we head into the HD era, color vs color is going to become more common, not less – especially when combined with the Oregon imitation and teams having more uniform combinations than ever before.

    I shall remain silent on Stanford so I’ll say this. The first time I saw this current set of uniforms for Oklahoma State the sleeve “stripes” reminded me of the Van Halen logo. Upon additional looks they don’t but that was my first thought. I still get “Jump” stuck in my head when I see them.

    oregons unis looked nice tonight, but i think the helmet would have looked alot better if the helmet was matte black with the shiny wings. Also, the numbers looked really cool on tv and werent very difficult to read. however, the refs and the commentators in the booth had trouble reading them. The ref gave a penalty to the wrong person and both commentators mentioned that they couldnt make out the numbers.

    yeah the font is definitely annoying. I feel like they should have rounded numerals so it would kind of coincide with their “iconic” O logo

    It wasn’t the font, it was the shiny/reflective aspect. Solid yellow numbers of the same font would have been perfectly readable.

    I’m just glad they had the yellow outline. Other than being shinier than the uniforms there really wasn’t much difference in color between them. At least on TV. Kind of cloaked like the helmet logos.

    Lose the chrome and make the numbers matte yellow and they’ve got something there.

    The announcers would agree on losing the chrome, according to this article:
    link

    Interestingly enough, just as Okie State goes Darth Vader comes this news item…

    LONDON – Olympic fencer and movie sword master Bob Anderson appeared in some of film’s most famous dueling scenes — though few viewers knew it.

    Anderson, who has died at age 89, donned Darth Vader’s black helmet and fought light saber battles in two of the three original “Star Wars” films, “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi.”

    The Fiesta Bowl used to have my favorite bowl logo. I cringe every year seeing it sit sadly ay mid-field while 2/3 of it plastered over with advertisements looking like a peeling billboard. I also shed tears at the loss of the football catching gator and the smiling crown wearing Orange.

    Any word on the new gloves being worn by a lot of the Nike schools in recent bowl games? They look similar to the Carbon Vapors, but are definitely new. Thanks.

    Now that Oregon’s used shiny helmets, Paul’s “17-year olds like shiny things” can now be taken literally.

    Question from someone who doesn’t watch as much college football as some of you: What’s the deal with the star-shaped “C” on some of the Okie State collars?:
    link

    Captaincy designation, I assume, yes? Been that way all season, or just for this game?

    Gotta be captaincy patches, as a large number of Cowboys didn’t have one. And this is, indeed, the first time this season that they’ve used them. Best *football* cap’n designations I’ve ever seen.

    Oklahoma State has worn those captaincy patches in their bowl games starting with the 09 Cotton Bowl against Ole Miss and last year’s Alamo Bowl vs Arizona…here’s a couple of pictures.

    link

    link

    motherfuckers were favored by 3.5…

    so that FG is as good as a loss to me…that 6″ was VERY IMPORTANT if you’re in a pool…snatching defeat from the jaws of victory…

    just wasn’t my day, picks wise

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