About a month ago I mentioned that I had to go see a podiatrist, and that he turned out to be uni-aware, which was nice. I had to see him again yesterday, and the first thing he said to me was, “My daughter says the Marlins are wearing the ugliest uniforms she’s ever seen. I haven’t seen them play yet this year — are they really that bad?” So we spent a few minutes talking about the Marlins, and at one point I said, “They actually have this orange cap that they haven’t even worn yet. Maybe your daughter will like that — or maybe she’ll think it makes them look even worse.”
Fast forward about 10 hours. I’m at last night’s Mets/Brewers game with my friend Emily, who’s driven down from Connecticut to watch the game with me. The game is a blowout, so we’re talking about pretty much anything other than baseball, and I begin to mention my trip to the podiatrist. Just then, the scoreboard shows a highlight from the Marlins game — Giancarlo Stanton crashing into the fence while making a sensational catch in right field — and I notice that the Marlins are finally wearing the orange cap. I will now forever associate this cap with my podiatrist.
One added bit of weirdness: Although the Marlins wore the orange caps, they went with black batting helmets. Very odd, especially since they have orange helmets.
Last night marked the Marlins’ 36th game of the season, incidentally. I wonder what the record is for the longest a team has gone before wearing a new uniform element for the first time. (The Mets still haven’t worn their black jersey this season, even though it’s technically part of their wardrobe, but of course they’ve worn in many times in past seasons.)
Meanwhile, since some of you have asked, I’ve been going to the podiatrist because I have a mild case of bunions. They don’t look too severe (read: I can’t ditch my writing career and make a fortune as a circus freak, at least not yet), and I have zero discomfort, but the Dr. Uni-Aware said I needed orthotics to keep the situation from getting worse. So he made a cast of my feet — an interesting experience — and now I’m fully orthoticized.
Such a funny word — bunions. Bullwinkle had one, and it could forecast the weather, but not mine. Dr. Uni-Aware says they’re mostly genetic (unless you’re in the habit of wearing super-restrictive high-heeled shoes, which I’m not), so I was probably pre-programmed to get them. I was worried he’d tell me that I’d have to stop wearing Chucks and start wearing some kind of godawful orthopedic footwear, in which case I was fully prepared to say, “Nah, just amputate my feet instead, I’ll make do with bloody stumps, no problem,” but he said Chucks + the orthotics = fine. Phew.
I have to go back and see Dr. Uni-Aware one more time in a few weeks (sort of a 100-mile check-up for the orthotics). I look forward to discussing the Marlins’ orange caps with him.
Cue the Allen Iverson monologue again: The NFL Equipment shield keeps showing up on jerseys and shorts in NFL rookie training camps (even though the new Nike game jerseys just have the basic NFL logo), leading many readers to speculate that the players have been wearing old Reebok stock with the vector swapped out for the swoosh.
I finally got around to asking Nike about this, and here’s what publicist Brian Strong told me: “The NFL shield is reserved for anything worn on gameday (including uniform, sideline, etc). The NFL Equipment logo is placed on anything worn outside of gameday (training, practice, workouts, lifting, etc). So what you’re seeing in training camp is definitely not old inventory.”
So there you have it.
Uni Watch News Ticker: Here’s an overview of the 2012 Premier League kits that have revealed so far (from George Chilvers). … In a related item, Chelsea decided to wear their 2012-13 kit for the last game of the 2011-12 season (from Matthew Denver). ”¦ Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Good piece on this season’s Texas Rangers throwbacks. … Also from yesterday: Sad news for NOB enthusiasts, as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink has retired. … FNOB alert! That’s Brice Queener (duh) of the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse. “His younger brother, all-star Brett Queener, is on the same team, but Brett just has ‘Queener’ — no first name or initial or anything,” says John Sheehan. … The Padres will be wearing 1978 throwbacks this Friday. Nice, but the NOBs should be vertically arched, not radially. Disappointing. … One of Mike Francesa’s “the big difference nowadays” hobby horses is that books are written about certain athletes before they’ve accomplished anything of note. He did a long riff on this when a book about Jeremy Lin was published about two months ago, and he went off on it again yesterday when he learned that there’s a new book about Bryce Harper. I’d be the first to agree that it’s kind of silly to publish a 340-page book about a 19-year-old who’s had something like 60 big league plate appearances, but it’s even sillier — not to mention disingenuous — for Francesa not to realize that the real difference in sports media from, say, 30 years ago is that we now have geeks who actually get paid to write about uniforms radio stations completely devoted to sports 24/7, blowhard sports radio hosts who blather on about nothing for hours at a clip, and sports radio shows that are simulcast on cable teevee (now there’s some compelling television). In other words, Francesa himself is a huge component of the hype machine he loves to critique. I don’t begrudge him his success — hell, more power to him — but it would be nice if he had even a shred of self-awareness about being part of the problem. ”¦ New uniforms for two Omaha high school marching bands (from Sean Gierke). … Mariners reliever Charlie Furbush has probably been teased about his surname for decades. And the kerning on his NOB doesn’t exactly help (screen shot by Laurence Holland). ”¦ Here’s what the yellow, green, an polka dot jerseys will look like for this year’s Tour de France (from Kenny Loo).
I wonder if your podiatrist wears stirrups on Fridays?
Betcha fersure he wears sanitary socks, though, huh.
“Dr. Uni-Aware”? That’s a French name, isn’t it?
It’s pronounced “Throatwobbler Mangrove”.
“One of Mike Francesa’s “the big difference nowadays” hobby horses is that books are written about certain athletes before they’ve accomplished anything of note. He did a long riff on this when a book about Jeremy Lin was published about two months ago, and he went off on it again yesterday when he learned that there’s a new book about Bryce Harper. I’d be the first to agree that it’s kind of silly to publish a 340-page book about a 19-year-old who’s had something like 60 big league plate appearances, but it’s even sillier – not to mention disingenuous – for Francesa not to realize that the real difference in sports media from, say, 30 years ago is that we now have geeks who actually get paid to write about uniforms radio stations completely devoted to sports 24/7, blowhard sports radio hosts who blather on about nothing for hours at a clip, and sports radio shows that are simulcast on cable teevee (now there’s some compelling television). In other words, Francesa himself is a huge component of the hype machine he loves to critique. I don’t begrudge him his success – hell, more power to him – but it would be nice if he had even a shred of self-awareness about being part of the problem.”
Don’t forget that thing called Twitter!
On the topic of Francesa, he was interviewing Doc Emrick on the NHL playoffs, and the conversation took a surprisingly long turn to the topic of uniforms, particularly regarding which uniforms make it easier/harder for announcers. Doc even brought up the Maple Leafs infamous blue-on-blue, white-on-white NOB controversy.
Francesa talked hockey?!?! I thought he was on record as saying it’s not a real sport.
Which is why I never listen/watch Mike Francesa.
Give the devil his due: He’s been devoting significant time to hockey — or, more specifically, to the Rangers — since the playoffs started. He freely admits that he’s not particularly hockey-knowledgeable, so he brings in guests who know their stuff and gives them time and space to stretch out. He’s also attended most of the Rangers’ playoff games at the Garden.
Francesa not a bad sports journalist…he’s just (as Paul said) completely unaware of his role in the hype-machine.
I’m disappointed in Emrick. I disproved the white-on-white Maple Leafs uniform long ago thanks to Rob Ullman’s project. It astounds me that Emrick wouldn’t know that there were no white-on-white Leafs uniforms with his hockey knowledge.
Then again, Emrick has probably forgotten more about hockey than I’ll ever know.
The kerning on Fur Bush’s jersey last night made me want to drown baby unicorns. Or at the very least, travel back in time to when he was 8 and tell him to not play for the Mariners.
On their regular road tops, at least it looks like all one word: link
Small consolation, I’m sure, but if I were him I’d take the little victories at this point.
The kerning on Fur Bush’s jersey last night made me want to drown baby unicorns.
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…the Fur Bush thing looks almost intentional. Has it been that way all year?
It’s tough to kern fancy typefaces that have the flared serifs. You’d need them to overlap and MLB tailors don’t get that kind of training.
They could just go NNOB…
Personally, I’m not big on fancy NOB fonts.
Of course, the traditional block letters can have their drawbacks. The first time I saw NHL defenseman Doug Bodger in a game on TV, I thought his NOB read “BOOGER”, until I heard an announcer call his name. Granted, this was some 20-odd years ago, long before HDTV…
The Redskins had a backup QB named TOM FLICK many moons ago. I recall one camera angle made the L and the I look a little too close for comfort one time.
They could still do a better job than they did… even without merging the teal outline:
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Single-color NOBs would probably help a bit as well.
I don’t know why teams feel the need to go multicolor with NOBs, unless there’s some striping behind the name that would necessitate an extra layer for contrast (assuming the team wouldn’t just use a solid nameplate instead). One color is generally fine; two is okay; three is just a bit much for such relatively small letters.
The Marlins do have link that match the caps.
Thanks. I THOUGHT I remember that look from that preseason game that was shown nationally.
The Phillies used to have interleague caps as part of their wardrobe. I don’t know if they still do, but those wouldn’t have been worn until late May or June despite being part of the team’s official uniform set.
Nope. 2007 was the last season for those, per sportslogos.net.
Interleague or not, link. That’s a really nice cap logo. Maybe for special occasions?
Much better than the mostly blue cap they wear on home day games. Darken the visor and pair it with the faux/harkenbacks and there you go?
I totally forget that the Rangers ever had a powder blue road uni.
I always remember the Braves, Phillies, Cardinals, Royals, and Brewers.
Don’t forget the cubs, too. link
I’ll bet the antipathy many of us have to the powder blue has to do with the shade of fabric most teams used to use. If it was a shade or two paler it would look okay.
Expos, Twins & Mariners.
White Sox & Pilots.
Would like to see the Sox in powder & red for Sunday road games.
White Sox back in powder and red for Sunday road games…that would be awesome. Paul, could you contact Jerry Reinsdorf and make the request?
Francesca, self-awareness. Hmm. What’s wrong with that picture. At least his former rival/sidekick/nutjob has been relegated to satellite where it’s much harder for me to accidentally come across his voice.
My folks love Francesca. Me, I think he sounds like a hangover that doesn’t end.
I was in Taiwan at the end of March, and there were FOUR books about Jeremy Lin, along with 14 magazine covers.
If I had known before the trip, I would had taken a box of Lin jerseys with me and made a fortune.
I took them with me to Beijing second week of March and gave them out to the people who work for our company. Big hit.
What a difference an orange cap makes. Fish in black caps is a D uniform at best. Same uni, orange cap, it’s a C-plus or better.
I’d kind of like to see what it would look like if the Marlins put the white road script on the home uni & the black road script on the road uni.
Was about to post the same thing. Hell, I don’t even like orange as a uni color, but that uniforms looks so much better than the black hat/sock look.
It’s like this, geniuses. You just redesigned your logo with bright colors. Please… emphasize them. Is that too much to ask?
Agreed. Orange caps and stirrups with the home whites is a much better look. But Loria loves black and until he’s no longer the owner, that will be the color the Marlins emphasize.
Couldn’t agree more. Less black, the better!
“… and the black HOME script on the road uni.”
Agreed with Chris – I’m not a huge fan of orange, as a color, but I’ve thought for years since the first rumors of a Fish transmogrification to black & orange surfaced that in a world where both the Giants and Orioles exist, the only way to make it work in Miami would be to emphasize the orange. Starting with an orange cap. Seeing the orange cap in action, I think, confirms this theory. It’s not the prettiest cap in the bigs, but it’s fun, and if I were a Marlins fan, that’s the one I’d want.
A huge thanks to the Marlins for NOT supplying orange spikes.
The black shoes and belt on that pitcher in the photo provide a 60s/70s vibe that I just love.
In regards to the 1978 Padres throwback, and many other throwbacks, how is it that these details such as the arched names and other details are overlooked and missed?
Is it manufacturing? Is it revisionist history? Or is it just apathy? I always had this vision that sports teams have some sort of history vault or closet where all things of past are kept – doesn’t every team have a Paul Kitchen? See 2:00 minute mark of this video of Ottawa Senators Vault link
I always just assumed team would pull out old jersey and say here ya go? But I guess that is not the case?
This starts and ends with one factor: Majestic doesn’t want to do vertical arching.
Probably why the Braves don’t have it anymore, right?
The degree of difficulty is higher, granted, because with vertically-arched names, all names have to be custom-cut, while with radially-arched names, you can use standard pre-cut letters. I’m guessing Majestic doesn’t want to be bothered with having to cut for custom orders (although people could just take blanks to a pro shop willing to do VA cresting, or go the DIY route if they’re feeling particularly skillful).
I have to give extra credit to the New York Rangers for not only continuing to use vertically-arched NOBs, but drop-shadowed VA NOBs. And, of course, it’s reasonable to expect the Detroit Red Wings will continue to use VA NOBs as long as Mike Ilitch is around (aside from their preseason-only serifed straight-backs, of course).
What would standard, pre-cut letters look like arranged in a vertical arch? Too tacky or stupid for words….or not so bad?
This whole thing that vertically arched lettering is too hard to do is a total myth. Are you really telling me all those letters have to be hand cut? The technology to have a computer connected to a machine that can create and cut out vertically arched letters can be found in any high school technology lab. It is just total laziness that any company wouldn’t want to do it. The technology to do that is easily 30 years old.
But the point is that each one is cut-to-order. It’s cut by a machine, yes, but every time the Braves have a call-up, they’d have to order the new guy’s lettering at that time, and wait for it to be done, etc. as opposed to just having boxes of pre-cut letters that they can sew down in a jif.
It’s professional sports. Do you know how many sewing/seamstress shops would be willing to contract to make a teams uniforms or at the very least be available to sew a name onto a new jersey at a moments notice/on call?
This is exactly why I don’t like vertically arched player names from a design stantpoint — because the letters have different shapes in each name. It isn’t uniform.
Vertical arching is fine for the wordmark, because every player sports the same one. But, in the player name, the shape of a given letter differs depending on where it falls in the name, and also depending on the length of the name. This is chaotic. I’d prefer never to see vertical arching in the player names.
But why? I’d love to know the details.
They’re a multi-million dollar company… and the lettering is most likely applied by people making near minimum wage. And the lettering itself is probably cut by a computer-controlled machine, right?
It just comes down to the corporate perception of efficiency. If it takes more time and resources to do something they can do differently in a cheaper, faster fashion, and with equal functionality, and they believe they won’t be impacted in sales, then they’ll go the cheaper-faster route every single time.
Vertical arching is a custom job, no matter how you slice it, and custom job = extra time and resources, plain and simple. Doesn’t matter to them if it’s mere seconds or inches.
I’m afraid it would come down to the team paying for its own uniforms and *demanding* vertical arching; two very unlikely scenarios. It’s simply not as important to them as it is to us.
I feel your pain when it comes to baseball uniforms without vertical arching. It’s been so many years since any team used it, I would consider it a lost art. I know a few NHL teams have it, but hockey hasn’t succumbed to the volume of alternate tops and last-second callups that would make lettering the requisite number of baseball jerseys such a daunting task. The thing is, I can render and print a player’s name in minutes with the computer at my disposal: Does MLB lack such a resource? Earn some of that ridiculous money we spend on tickets!
Agreed! Hell, the guy at the mall kiosk can embroider a cap with radial arching. I’d imagine MLB has access to even higher quality/funtioning machinery, no?
Shh! Don’t jinx it!
I still dread seeing it every time the Mets go on the road, especially given how freakin’ awesome their black-less road greys look. I thought perhaps they might wear it once a month, six times all season, but happily it remained dormant throughout April and at least the first half of May.
Who knows; maybe the team decided not to wear it at all. The new unis look great and the reaction thereto has been overwhelmingly positive; why foul that up? [Yes, even given the team’s history, I can still ask that question.]
Here’s to keeping the black jerseys and caps on the shelf.
I’m not a fan of orange but I kinda dig the marlins orange hat however only if it accompanied by the player going high cuff. The colors sort of feed each other and one without the other looks crappy.
Mike Francesa is a blow hard. He talks just to hear himself and the best part is that in two months he’ll mention something like ” While I was on vacation I read a great book about Jeremy Lin”
I have a little problem with orange. Too much orange makes me queasy. It overwhelms. It’s a complimentary color, at best.
The Marlins should be sporting aqua as their primary color (teal, if you will) with orange trim. The cap and socks should be auqua. Get rid of that rainbow junk on the lettering and color the letters aqua with orange borders.
The Astros old orange gets lots of love ’round here, but I much preferred them in their early navy Star H get ups.
The Bengals, when they go with the orange jerseys, just make a mess of a uniform that much worse.
The Marlins should put that orange back on the shelf and get to work on an aqua uniform pronto.
Couldn’t agree more. Marlins would look SO much better in aqua with orange trim.
I absolutely love orange, but it is just too much as a primary color on a baseball uniform. Too…electric. But as a secondary, it’s fantastic – Astros indeed always looked better in blue caps/socks with orange in the supporting role. For me, some of the finest uni’s to ever grace a diamond have orange trim – Colt .45’s/early Astros, original/current Mets, Giants current home.
Miami’s use of orange as a primary would be fine (though I prefer the Marlins in teal) if it’s executed properly.
The ’71 Astros uniforms are a fine example.
My problem with their ‘traditional’ home uni set is the jersey. It’s boring front lettering could use numerical accent, and home jerseys should display the team’s name, not the name of the city/state IMO.
Now that the orange caps have been freed, put the road grays to constant use!
“and home jerseys should display the team’s name, not the name of the city/state IMO.”
Naw. Sometimes a letter or logo looks better.
Marlins in aqua? How’s this?
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/nothing better to do today…
Nice job, The! That would look much better than either of their current choices.
Very nice indeed! Though I’d suggest an orange bill.
That looks great, but I think that it would look just as great if the Marlins used the vivid light blue they already have in their new color scheme instead of aqua.
Heck, I can do the same thing in 10 seconds!
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Nice work, Jim! Tho he is missing the cigarette. Still their best look IMO.
Nah, their new light-blue accent color is much more vibrant than their old teal unis.
Which remain the best unis in franchise history, current set with orange caps included.
Yeeaaaah….just what the league needs…MORE BLUE :(.
Teal has been part of the teams indentity since the beginning.
Oh, yeah, that’s it, The Jeff. So much easier on the eye than orange or black.
Can you do anything about the black wordmark now (if you have a couple of minutes ;) )?
I actually really like the blue they have in their logo now, I don’t think the old aqua works well with Orange, but that blue does.
If they focused on the Yellow, Blue and Orange more and used black as a secondary color (the black works well in making the white, orange, yellow, and blue pop, it does the opposite when it is the focus as it is for the logo we see the most), the miami vibe they said they were going for would be obvious.
Get rid of the black alternate, have either an Orange alt only or add a blue alt. The Black hat can stay but the jersey needs to go. Also fix the numbers.
If they don’t use the orange prominently, there’s only one other option for me:
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(except for that black hat…get that outta there)
They really got it right the first time.
Now I could go for aqua and orange, but only if the Heat and the Panthers used it, too. Pittsburgh shouldn’t be the only city with all the teams in the same colors.
Guess I’ll be the turd in the punch bowl: I always found the (Florida) Marlins’ script a tad on the lumpy side. It could have used a calligrapher’s tuneup. And it bugged me that nobody thought to cut the white tackle twill out of the “O” on their grey road jerseys.
AMEN!
Well, I didn’t say they got it *perfect*…just that they got it right…
I agree. I really liked their inaugural uniforms. It was a unique and good-looking set. They messed it up when they followed everyone else with the trend to black design elements.
Oranges Poranges, Who said,
Oranges Poranges, Who said,
Oranges Poranges, Who said,
There ain’t no rhyme for oranges!
door hinge
Here’s a distracting undershirt pattern, but its actually part of the uniform.
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It’s High Point University vs. Radford on 4/7/12. More photo in the game photo album here (album #3):
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Like the moth is attracted to flame, it means my ruin, yet I cannot look away!
“…(unless you’re in the habit of wearing super-restrictive high-heeled shoes, which I’m not)…”
More’s the pity.
Does anyone have a screengrab with a close up of the back of the orange hats?
I am curious if the batterman on the back of the cap is blue/orange or black/orange. The initial caps New Era put out had a blue/orange batterman, but now all I can find is black/orange.
Original
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Current
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Not a great view, but it looks black to me:
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The Tour de France jerseys have LCL Banque on them. Is this a new name for Credit Lyonnaise? It seemed like that was ALWAYS on the jerseys, perhaps this is a new name (like the way our banks in the US always seem to change names?)
It’s actually the new name of the Credit Lyonnais (Le Credit Lyonnais, LCL get it…).
They changed a few yeras back when they tried to sweep all their bad investments under the rug.
Apparently, Crédit Lyonnaise formally changed to LCL circa 2005. Lance Armstrong was the last one to wear the maillot jaune with the old name, as the 2006 jersey had the LCL branding.
Of course, for a company trying to rehabilitate its image, the first Tour with the new branding would have to be the one where the winner would be caught in a doping scandal…
high school marching band uniforms? really?
You’re objecting to the existence of h.s. marching band uniforms?
Or to the coverage of same in the form of one sentence in the Ticker?
I, for one, appreciate the coverage. My daughter is in marching band, and when you go to competitions and see 20 or 30 different schools in their various uniforms, comparisons are inevitable. Some are more “traditional” than others, and some are just Godawful.
I appreciate the mention (band director here), but there’s nothing special about schools getting new uniforms. (I am glad to hear that the district is footing most of the bill, though.) Especially when those are pretty much just stock designs from Band Shoppe.
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As a marching and jazz band kid in HS, I appreciate very much the mention of their uniform stylings on the site. We were always commenting on elements of the unis from other schools, just like is done here.
Not opposed to it myself. It’s a uniform, that required a look-see. In fact I thought it was your version of a pop quiz. Now I need to check to see if they’re both BFBS.
I had to do a bit of research on Vertically Arched Lettering (VAL) vs radial arching; I came across Paul’s excellent Page 2 column from 2006:
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I wonder; what do we call the lettering on the back of the Islanders’ fisherman/wave jersey from 1995-98? The nameplate is neither straight nor arched; it’s link to the curvature of the shoulder yoke. The letters themselves are also link similar to vertical arching, where the shape and angle of the letter changes depending on its position in the name.
Call it “countoured lettering?” Or “vertical contouring?”
Early in the prototype stage of one of the Mariners’ iterations (I think we call it the Griffey Junior rookie uniform), they arranged the team’s nickname in a lazy wave shape. Not all that different than the Brooklyn Cyclones’ script.
Technically, the lettering and numbering was known in the industry as “wave letters/numbers”.
This was supposed to be a comment to the Islanders’ Fisherman design. Crap.
I want to puke.
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Easy, Jay. It’s full of faulty analysis. Just because some clown says it’s gonna happen, that doesn’t mean it’s gonna happen. Like most of the uni-ad articles that have been written lately, this is just really weak trendspotting.
I agree that it won’t happen because of this one article but since when does faulty analysis have anything to do with an issue once it gets rolling? My fear is that these types of articles will became more and more pervasive to the point that when ads appear on uni’s in pre-season it won’t be a big deal because it’s not the regular season. Then the next logical step is to put ads on certain parts of the regular season uni in a small way which opens the flood gates to all manners of advertising.
It has to start somewhere and the more people hear about the possibilities the less of an outrage when the first steps are taken.
It has to start somewhere and the more people hear about the possibilities the less of an outrage when the first steps are taken.
That’s one way to view it. Another way is that the more people hear about it, the more outraged they’ll become. #NoUniAds
Well I think it’s interesting that it is getting blogged about (on major blogs/websites), etc and that we are finding folks with the opposite feelings for advertising on uniforms.
My question is when ads pop up on uniforms, where will other advertising disappear from? Less commercial breaks? Less advertising in the stadiums? Or cheaper tickets and concessions at the parks? The only way advertising should encroach more into the games is if the fans see something in return. You wanna put ads on the uniforms? Ok, how about 20% off the price of the ticket?
Unfortunately I doubt any of that happens as (I think) Paul has said in the past all the MLB, etc do is cry poverty.
I don’t think the owners/league would reduce the cost of anything. My guess is they would say, “Because of this additional revenue stream our costs should be minimized for number of years and we will try our best to maintain the current costs to our fans.”.
Nope – and the sponsors will raise prices because that money will have to come from somewhere besides their bottom line: us.
And additionally I somehow think we are slowly being warmed up for ads on uniforms as the patches are getting out of control. Like the numbers on the front of the NHL helmets, are they really necessary and when they’re deemed not necessary the commissioner has a clear path to getting a sponsor there, as in “hey, we already had an element there whats the difference if it’s a small healthcare sticker or the players number?”
Same thing with MLB, patches galore for new stadiums, old stadiums, 47 years since our last division championship and some triple A players dog died so theres a patch for that. How long until the rockies don’t have a a 14 year anniversary to celebrate and decide well we’ve always had a patch there for something or other, this season we’ll go with a mastercard patch. It’ll only be for one season…
I’m just ticked that there isn’t an option to comment on that post.
I’m not sure why this issue makes me so viscerally angry. Logically, I know that the author’s assertion that we’d get used to it probably has a fair bit of truth to it. I don’t like MLB pajama pants, dark colored jerseys and synthetic caps, but it doesn’t stop me from being a baseball fan. I still dislike those things, but I AM used to them. Kind of, as the author says, like Facebook updates.
But still the thought of ads on sports uniforms makes me mad. Soccer and NASCAR were ad vehicles before they really came on my radar as an adult, and I think the ads being there has turned me off from being able to take those sports more seriously. People talk about the years of tradition in European soccer teams, but I don’t see it. All I see is a big ad for an airline or tech company or bank. There’s no tradition there for me. Maybe if I had been a fan before the ads were added, I would have less of a problem with them, if that makes any sense.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that uniform ads might not drive me away from a sport of which I am already a fan, but they certainly do deter me from taking a league seriously if the ads are already there before I discover the sport.
Soccer, sure. NASCAR: no. There is no way NASCAR would exist without the level of sponsorship you see now.
Take a team sport: The Chicago White Sox make their own money with their own stadium, which hosts half the games they play… and always against one other team.
NASCAR racer Tony Stewart doesn’t have a Tony Stewart raceway where he hosts 40+ races against one other competitor, where he sells hot dogs and beer and pockets all the profits.
Yes, NASCAR racers get a split of the profits. But check the leaderboard… it ends up being a few million/year. Not even close to being able to support a garage with 10-30 cars, each costing like $300,000. With huge crews, etc.
I have no problem poking fun at the sponsorship in NASCAR (Ricky Bobby is hilarious)… but the reality is: no individual sponsorship, no NASCAR.
I had thought about noting that I understood that argument, but my post was already getting long. Also, I worry about the “big four” eventually trying to make the same case. Especially once the change has occurred. “Oh, we can’t take jersey sponsorship off now, or we wouldn’t be able to afford to exist.”
But I do also logically understand that NASCAR and other forms of auto racing are impossibly expensive to compete in, and that the money has to come from somewhere, and that the easiest place to get that money is to sell a patch and paint job. But I don’t see how the “big four” would immediately cease to exist without jersey sponsorship in the same way NASCAR likely would.
The part that made me “viscerally angry” as you were was the part where he labeled any objection to the inevitability of filling up every possible empty space, anywhere, with advertising, as “faux-prudery”. Not even REAL prudery, either.
Good to see a few items in the ticker related to the Premier League across the pond. As far as Chelsea wearing their 2012-13 uniforms this past week, it seems as though a few teams do this every year. Newcastle United wore their 2012-13 away kits this past weekend when they visited Everton: link,,10278~2771744,00.html
Not sure what happened with the link there. Try these:
link
link
link
We (Wigan Athletic) wore our new kit on Sunday too
link
Interesting that the stripes don’t carry on to the back, so from behind it appears to be an all-blue kit
AC Milan have been wearing their new kits as well.
Norwich also wore their new kit Sunday.
Vertical arch over radial arch!? It’s an outrage!
with regards to those new tour de france jerseys – reading the copy of the link, it says Le Coq Sportif’s logo has been revamped, with the rooster facing right instead of left. this is meant to imply that the rooster is facing forward instead of back…
how did we come decide that facing right means forward and facing left means back? the springboks did a similar thing with their logo a few years back. traditionally the springbok was jumping left, but around the time of the 2003 RWC SARU updated the logo and the bok was jumping right, which they’ve kept since.
(except for this most current RWC shirt, when the bok was moved to the left sleeve and so turned around again, but that makes much more sense. compare that to the aussies who didn’t rotate their wallaby logo and so the wallaby is actually facing back…)
anyways, my original question – why, in sports-uniform-aesthetics, is a logo facing the viewer’s right considered to be facing forward, while a logo facing the viewer’s left considered to be facing back?
anyone?
Because we read from left to right? So, anything moving in that direction is “going forward”.
Exactly.
This is also why in Peter Jackson’s LotR trilogy, whenever we saw the protagonists moving forward on their journey, the predominant movement on the screen was from left to right.
I have a feeling that if we watch any non-sporting event movie/TV show that follows forward movement of one or many characters, we will probably find that well over 50% of the time (I would imagine 80-90% of the time) they’re moving from left to right. I’d never thought of it before, but “forward movement” from right to left would just look … odd!
True, but with Jackson, he said it was a premeditated decision.
IIRC, David Lean did the same thing in Lawrence of Arabia.
makes sense…
i wonder if it’s the reverse in cultures that read right to left… and the implications that would have for the LotR trilogy. :D
Well, they’re taking the ring back to where it came from… so it sorta still works.
I do wish Tim hadn’t mentioned it though, the next time I watch it I’ll be involuntarily watching for that factor.
Perhaps that’s why Aresnal FC changed the cannon on its crest?
link
I had heard they changed it so the cannon was facing France, but I’m guessing that’s not it.
This all reminds me of when my son and I saw a picture of some beach. I told him, “That’s obviously the Pacific Ocean.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because the water’s on the left, so that’s west.”
For a second, he almost bought it.
The springbok facing the player’s left debuted at the first Tri-Nations in 1996.
Here’s a shot from RWC99: link
How come Mike Francesa has never written a book?
Because he believes literacy among athletes and media should be illegal.
Or at least discouraged?
doesn’t one need to know how to read first?
and sports radio shows that are simulcast on cable teevee (now there’s some compelling television).
I don’t like the actual shows, but I actually find radio on TV compelling. But I’m a talk radio geek (originally majored in it, but found out how bad the lifestyle is).
I actually enjoy the ins-and-outs of what goes into producing a talk radio show. Hence, while I can’t stand Dan Patrick… I often find myself watching his radio show broadcast on TV if theres nothing else on.
I get what you’re saying, but watching Francesa guzzle Diet Cokes on YES is totally pointless. Here’s the Mink Man.
Watching radio on TV is as boring as it sounds. They just sit there & talk into a microphone or look up info on a computer.
point?
I think he’s saying that watching radio on the T.V. is boring.
I saw the vice versa at a small club in back in 2004. That was not boring.
link
Well here, specifically on TV antenna NBC 5.2 shows the link from 3pm to 6pm. While I totally dig the traffic chick in Christina Filiaggi, many times it looks like everyone just fell out of bed & is having a convos on the front porch.
What’s next…watching Paul and Phil work on their UW entries?
Whats the prob with the Marlins unis? The only negative is the size of the hat logo….other than that- its got that South Florida vibe, plus we finally have a team with an orange hat….there’s too many red/blue color schemes in pro sports today so a little orange and black is refreshing.
Yes.
And as you said, a little orange and black…not black and orange.
Guess I can call off the protesters now…
link
Go celebrate, fellas. Victory is ours! Just hope it doesn’t take another 36 games or longer to see them again.
I’d take the hat insignia off the left sleeve of the jersey. It’s nice to see a plain sleeve every now and then.
The stylized marlin without the M might look nice on the sleeve.
a…plain sleeve? What’s that?
I think a better question would be “what is right with the new Marlins unis?” Nothing. Terrible design; the blockshadow on the numbers is ugly as is the marlin & the color shading on the wordmarks is mediocre at best. Like we need another team in primary black.
So, the photo you show of the Marlins in orange helmet, they are also wearing the orange cap. I love the orange cap with the orange stirrups. As a Rockies fan I wish they would use their alt purple cap in the same manner only at home with purple pinstripes with purple socks/stirrups. Currently they wear a black hat with black socks and purple pinstripes which makes no sense. Shouldn’t the hat/accessories always match the pinstripe?
Often? Yes. Always? Never say always.
The Rockies have the same problem the Marlins had (have). Started with a color scheme unique to baseball, and slowly morphed into mostly just being black and white. It’s frustrating. They are the team most in need of a uni overhaul, in my humble opinion.
I would be willing to accept a uni change. But, I think they have the pieces in place for better combos. A la purple cap, purple stockings, purple belt as with whites w/ purple pinstripes. Road: Greys with purple or black. Purple jersey needs to be redone as a unique shirt with purplr or blck capand with either grey or white w/ pinstipes And the vests as a special alternet. That’s quite a few good combos.
Don’t know if you saw this but apparently the local NBC affiliate in Los Angeles can’t tell the difference between the Sacremento Kings and the L.A. Kings….
link
I stared at that image for a while, trying to figure out who it looked like, and I’ve come to the conclusion that he is Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann’s lovechild.
Wonderful illustration of how little the local media in L.A. thinks of the Kings.
And to think that when somebody asked, “What’s wrong with this picture,” I went straight to the old Clippers logo…
//You can tell by the fact that the basketball’s panels don’t line up realistically. They do now.
I’ve just shown my father, a Manchester Utd fan for almost 60 years, next season’s “gingham” kit.
He just shook his head. Says it all, really.
Wayne rooney is on the cover of the new espn mag in the flannel kit.
Those Tour De France jerseys were very cool, in regard to the fauxcollar.
Dont know if this has been posted before, but there are new rules for high school football jereseys this fall…the CIF today issued a press release with examples of whats allowed and whats not….looks like basically the point is to get rid of 2-toned jerseys:
link
Well that’s nice and stupidly control freakish for no reason. Good jorb, high school football rules makers.
Orange is a nice cap color. It is.
Celtics at the Sixers right now on that great looking court… that’s the way basketball is supposed to look.
link
free the orange caps…
marlins orange caps held hostage game 1…the streak starts anew
A’s and Rangers go green vs. red tonight:
link
Good. If only the A’s had yellow pants instead of gray, that’d be awesome.
yeah, um…no
that would actually look worse than gray
now…if they wore green trou with the green tops…
yellow trou with yellow tops…
…but then the Rangers would contrast better in their blues.
gold trou w/gold tops = win
stop the fucking softball & football look
you play BASEBALL…your tops and bottoms MATCH…and you wear fucking socks/rups too
softball tops, even if they’re in decent colors…are the devil
you wanna wear the softball top??? wear fucking matching trou
I see we’ve found Phil’s gray facemask…
Merry fucking Christmas to all of us.
At least 4 things wrong with that photo (tho I’m counting the long pants twice)
The long pants are obvious, and we’ve already covered the A’s gray pants – so the 4th thing must be the Rangers in red instead of blue.
LOVE the Catch of the Day.
Byrne looks the most authentic. But, boy oh boy, that Devo guy really pops.
Like the orange Marlins look.
But they gotta downsize the M on the caps and sleeves. Waay too big.
But we knew that.
instead of saying, “Uni Watch is gravely distressed by the latest machinations emanating from the offices of Swooshkateers, Inc.,” as I might do in the column, here I’ll be more inclined to say, “Nike totally sucks.”
~~~
Happy Sixth Anniversary, Uni Watch!
Seconded with extreme jubilation!
Happy 6th birthday, UW!
I thought the Rangers wore a Red jersey on the roadfor the entirety of the 1984 season. The Ranger fans site/blog mistakenly refers to it as a “short-lived alternate”.