By Phil Hecken
We’re back today with Part 2 (of 3) of the Redesign the Washington Football contest. If you missed Part 1, you can check out the first 11 submissions here. All submissions are in alphabetical order, so today is the second set of 11 contestants.
By now, I’m sure you guys are familiar with the groundrules, so a quick recap: 11 submissions will be shown on three successive weekend days (Saturday-Sunday this weekend, and Saturday of next weekend), and following that there will be voting on all the entries. The top 10 from there will move on to the final voting, from which one victor will be crowned. All logos and uniform concepts will be displayed below, and you can click on each graphic to see a full-size version. Descriptions of each submission will follow.
Ready? Here’s Part 2:
Hungry Hungry Hipster
Description: Washington Warthogs: named after A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, nicknamed “Warthog” by U.S. Air Force pilots. Alliteration in “Washington Warthogs” gives name a pleasant sound. Moreover, Warthogs has “hogs” embedded in it, making a reference to the franchise’s o-line nickname. Logo: helmet and wordmark. Helmet features a warthog’s mouth as painted on an A-10’s nose. Font named “Top Secret” used in wordmark, which is designed to resemble Washington D.C. flag. Uniforms: traditional burgundy and gold, with D.C. flag as sleeve stripes. Gold alternate jersey makes Warthogs only NFL team with yellow jersey currently.
Will Hogg:
Description: Here is my re-design for the patently offensive “Redskins.” I’ve renamed them the “Hog Mollies,” mostly for the die hard fans that don dresses and pig heads. This would keep that tradition in tact and honor it at the same time. Mascots should be born out of organic traditions like that (see: Crimson Tide, Boilermakers, etc.). The Hog Mollie is also apt for the Washington lifestyle of pork barrel politics and the fat cats on K Street. The logo is simple, clean, easily recognizable, and unique in that no other NFL team has a swine of any kind for a mascot. The color scheme is much the same, but with a darker burgundy and richer gold. As for the uniform, it is slightly changed by the Northwestern stripes on the shoulders, but other than that the uniform is left to its nostalgic “Redskins” look. No need to mess with a design that works. Enjoy!
“Josh8990”:
Description: I rebranded the team the Hogs – the name that once referenced Washington’s offensive line. The uniforms are based on the old “R” logo worn during the Lombardi years. I removed the feather and helmet stripe, and changed the “R” to a “W” on one side of the helmet. The other side displays the player’s uniform number. As punishment for the Redskins era, I developed an “Atonement Alternate” for the first Sunday in November (Native American Heritage month), featuring ridiculous shoulder yokes, striping, fonts, and BFBS. I inserted a “pants wetter” crotch panel, a deserving home for the Nike swoosh.
Larry Kamenec:
Description: For my Washington DC football idea I wanted something that spoke of DC, but did not care for a lot of the other names. I liked the Warriors or Generals, but I wanted to stay away from military names because too many athletes speak of being “warriors”, and Nike has the “Pro Combat” and GI Joe outfits already. It all is so overdone. I chose the name of the Washington Power. I also liked shortening it to The DC Power (a little bit of a double meaning with direct current, but I can look past it). I think the current team has one of the best color schemes in football so I left that alone. This is basically a Redskins throwback with new logos. The name was broken ”“ the unis aren’t. So why fix what is not broken?
Anthony Losada:
Description: Let’s see the Washington Football proposal. As you mentioned in the web, the current Redskins’ colors are sweet and hard to erase from their image. Here I come with some tweaks about this. The team will be renamed to avoid the concerns about the team’s identity, and they’ll be the Washington Stemps. Both the logo (cow skull) and the wordmark are closely related to the far wild west. The name, actually, is an old west slang term which can be translated as legs, which can be related to the speed and explosiveness that you need to play in the NFL. By the way of the logo, I chose it because it fixes with the whole new identity and have some wild connotations, as many of the NFL logos.
James MacNeil:
Description: I love their colours already, so I stuck with a general refresh to go along with a DC flag/map inspired logo. Used Tim E’s 2-D template.
Ed McVey:
Description: This re-branding concept is based on Washington Football history and tradition. The warrior here is not a Native American or modern soldior, but the warrior of Washington’s proud football past. The logo uses Sammy Baugh and familiar Washington imagery, to make a connection to the team’s history, without using the Native American theme. The helmet graphics recall the design made memorable by the team’s 1st Super Bowl appearance and fondly remembered coaches – Lombardi and George Allen. The colors and uniform would easily enable fans to identify the Warriors as a Washington team, and help to make the switch to the new name.
Daniel Nacy Meltzer:
Description: I made this way back when the Supreme Court threw the case out of court. I’m a longtime fan and DC native that has transplanted to North Carolina within the last year. Since moving here, my Redskins gear (shirt, scarf, hat) collects dust in the closet, because while it has context within Washington DC, I’m embarrassed to wear such an offensive word emblazoned on me in public without that local context. So the rebranding: The DC Cherry Blossoms, complete with new color scheme of pink/robin’s egg and black. Yes I’m serious.
Tim E. O’Brien:
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Description: This concept may look familiar to some because I did a similar theme when trying to rebrand the Washington Wizards. It was fun then and I thought it would be fun now. Most everything is inspired by the almighty dollar (this is Nike’s philosophy, I just took it literally) and yet the uniform still maintains a classic feel.
Joseph Obermaier:
Description: NAME: DC Defenders (mostly for the alliteration, although maybe it will help bring back some defense to the NFL). LOGO: I took inspiration from the DC flag and borrowed liberally from the Nationals’ style. A stylized DC flag comes out of the D (its missing a white stripe across the bottom, but that made it hard to see). A clipart mashup of Uncle Sam running with the ball serves as a secondary logo. UNIFORM: Colors are red and white like the DC flag, with blue trim and a real retro feel to the uniforms.
Brittain Peck:
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Description: The United States of America, with it’s headquarters in Washington D.C., is home to the most lethal ass-kicking machine of a military that human history has ever known. When our nation’s capital is the battleground to the sport most analogous to warfare, it is only fitting that the team that takes the field consist of nothing less than Warriors. Calling upon generation’s of US military aesthetics, as well as years of uniform tradtiion in the Redskins organization, the uniforms worn by the Washington Warriors serve as both an any-given-Sunday tribute to the few and the proud as well as a present day battle armor to bring the outdated “Redskins” into the play of modern warfare. COLORS: deep red, charcoal gray, tan, and gold based on a combination of the current Redskins burgundy and gold and the drab fatigues of combat. LOGO: primary derived from a combination of a capital letter “W”, for both “Washington” and “Warriors”, the District of Columbia’s flag, and the eagle and trident emblem of the Navy Seals, the fiercest of our nation’s real-life warriors
secondary a solitary “W” formed from two parallel stripes and a single star, based on the design of the Bronze Star Medal and intended to be worn as a badge of honor. SHOES: tan. reminiscent of the combat boot style worn by Army in the 2011 Army / Navy game HOME: charcoal jersey & tan pants based on the present combat uniform consisting of tan pants and a dark body armor vest, also reminiscent of the tan pants worn in in the early to mid 1900’s by the Redskins. SHOULDER STRIPES: red -white-red based on the ribbon associated military medals awarded for acts of valor and bravery in combat as well as the double stripe in the District’s flag. HELMET: slightly metalic tan with deep red center stripe bordered by thinner charcoal gray stripes; logo in transparent gray on sides the side logos resemble the subdued color palette used in combat military patches and insignia. ALTERNATE UNIFORMS using a color palette based upon that of the Redskins, yellow is used as an accent / trim color to accompany red over an otherwise entirely charcoal, Seal Team Six style uniform.
Phew. And that’s the second set of designs. I’ll have the third and final set next Saturday. We’ll vote on Sunday next — yes, I realize it’s Memorial Day Weekend when the voting takes place, so if you don’t get a chance to check out Uni Watch then, make sure you check back during the week. We’ll keep the poll open all week.
Benchies
by Rick Pearson
Indecisions, indecisions, indecisions…
Click to enlarge
The Stars Come Out in Detroit…
Yesterday, in an interplague matchup the Detroit Tigers (playing as the Detroit Stars) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (playing as the Pittsburgh Crawfords), threwback in some my-tee-fine negro league uniforms (I’ve written about the Stars and I’m pretty sure I’ve done a rundown on the Craws as well). If you’re interested in yesterday’s matchup, you can read about it here.
I didn’t see the game live (on teevee), but I did see clips, and I thought both teams looked great, despite being saddled with modern gear. And how about those SWEET socks on the “Crawfords”? Hey, Comrade Marshall — how’s about hooking Stirrup Nation, a/k/a the Revolution, up with some of those (socks or rups)…PLEASE. Everyone seemed really into it, and almost everyone played along by showing some sock. Everyone, that is, but one guy. That’s right, Prince Fielder pulled a total douchebag, look-at-me move by wearing his uniform like a big pair of oversized pajamas. Now, I didn’t see the game, but from every clip I saw and every photo I looked at, he was the only one to disrespect the game and the Negro League tribute by the Tigers and the Pirates. Sad. Actually, if you look at the first clip (below), it appeared that possibly Delmon Young was also long-pantsed. Still, almost everyone went with bloused pants/socks.
You can check out some video of the game here, and a goodly amount of photos here and here.
Colorize This!
Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.
After the splendid selection of portraits of Ben Traxel’s grandpappy yesterday, we’re back with a “regular” edition of Colorize This! today.
Last weekend I promised you a very special colorization from our newest stalwart, John Turney, so we’ll start with that one today. As always, with the new format, click on each image to enlarge (unless otherwise specified).
Here’s John:
Classic catch by Willie. The same colorization as the Rams/Packers at Marquette field. I overlaid the colors and over the field and crowd, then added a Fall filter in Photoshop to simulate the light of an October day then did used a Alien Skin Exposure Kodochrome 25 filter to brighten image.
Gorgeous image John. He had one more he got into me yesterday, so I’ll run that as well:
Following October 11, 1947 UNC”“Wake Forest football game in Kenan Stadium.
I do do many college, but seeing the likely light blue over dark blue uniforms I couldn’t resist. I colorized in Photoshop and then added an Alien Skin Exposure Kodachome Filter after the colorization.
Thanks John! Well done.
Next up is the first half of the G&G Boys, Gary Chanko:
The 07 May 2012 Uni-Watch News Ticker posted this photo of Bart Starr wearing an unusual version of the Packers’ “G” logo. Most likely this design was a prototype before adopting the current version which remains virtually unchanged since 1961.
The colorized version illustrates the design would have had visibility issues from a distance. It also lacks the football shaped oval design element reportedly requested by Lombardi. I’m not a helmet expert, but the headgear Starr is fashioning could have been a MacGregor model. It appears similar to the helmets used by the New York Titans during the initial franchise years.
Interested in finding out more about this unusual Packers logo? This blogster is searching for an answer.
Gary
Beautiful work, as always, Gary.
And closing down the colourizations today is the other half of the G&G Boys, George Chilvers:
Hi Phil
People often ask how long it takes to colourise a picture. There are two elements to the answer – actually physically doing it (which is about 6 hours I would say for an average picture), and how long a period those hours are spread over as I don’t normally do a picture in one session. This picture has taken me months because of the latter element. I had doubts about doing it to begin with. And having started it I kept putting it aside, feeling uncomfortable at times. But I’ve finished it now. Maybe some of your readers won’t know why I have hesitated.
This picture is of the Manchester United team on 5 February 1958 before a European Cup tie in Belgrade against Red Star. The team was nicknamed “The Busby Babes” (Matt Busby was their manager), and it is generally agreed one of the most talented teams ever to have been assembled. But on the following day, 6 February 1958, the plane bringing the team home, after a refuelling stop in Munich, crashed on take-off and 8 of these players along with 2 aircrew, 3 Man U staff, 8 journalists and 2 other passengers died in the crash.
The original of this is one of those iconic sports pictures that occur rarely. Although many of the people whose pictures I colourise are now dead, this one just felt a bit odd to do, somehow a bit different. But I did it, and have decided to pass it on, in memory of those who lost their lives that day.
George
Great stuff, George, even if the subject matter was somewhat troubling. Thank you.
That’s all for today. Thanks to all the colorizers, and I’ll be back with more next time.
And that will do it for this fine Sunday. Had a little trouble with the board going down last night, so that’s all I’ve got for today. Everyone have a great Sunday.
“If I make a veggie burger for some half-wit at a barby but I slather it in bacon grease to make it taste good, it ain’t a veggie burger any more.” — Robert P. Marshall, III
The colorized version of Willie Mays’s catch is amazing — seeing that photo in beautifully rendered color gives it a vitality and immediacy it’s never had before.
Same is true for the Man U photo. Poorly rendered colorization just underscores the Distance between the event pictured and the viewer: these are people long dead, historical artifacts. Seeing those young men in vibrant, realistic color makes them real: you appreciate the Munich Disaster not as a remote misfortune, but as a very real tragedy. The colorization is a beautiful memorial to those boys.
Epic research fail from John, though. That game was in September, not October.
Sorry
Hardly epic John.
No big deal. You were explaining the look you give and I for one appreciate your input.
Funny how MLB teams feel like they have to do turn-back-the-clock and bobblehead promotions to get fans to turn out for interplague games. Has anyone done a study to see if more of these “special” games, in particular the turn-back-the-clock events, take place during these stretches?
Using anecdotal recall, yes, regular season interleague games yield A LOT of throwbacks to World Series between the teams in action. Remember that supremely old-style matchup between the Cubs and Red Sox? Yep.
The Pirates & Orioles did a 1979 one. I’m sure the novelty wore off by the end of the pregame ceremony. Padres/Indians, Cubs/Sox, Padres/Mariners; countless ones. Instead of MLB admitting that Interleague Play is a failure, they make it much worse by forcing it every single day. I can’t WAIT to see what kind of effect this has on the travel schedule, 2-game series, rainout makeup dates at the end of the season. They had no idea how good they had it with a league-only balanced schedule. It was the most fair & made the most sense.
How would it possibly make travel any different? Like there’s any real difference between traveling to Detroit instead of Cincinnati, DC instead of Baltimore, Oakland instead of SanFran, etc. C’mon man.
Jeff doesn’t understand. Shocking.
Yeah, I don’t understand. The teams travel all the god damned time, and the two leagues nearly near mirror each other with city locations (LA/SanDiego, SanFran/Oakland, NY/NY KC/St Louis, Pitts/Philly, etc) so the idea that the travel schedule is going to somehow be any worse than it is now is just dumb.
Complain about the broken tradition all you want, but freakin travel is not going to be a problem for the teams.
it’s more than just the distance involved, THE
at least you recognize that
but simply because you can have interplague is not a sufficient reason to justify it
Pretty sure the original comment was largely in the context of adjusting to rainouts, etc.
Because while travel is possible, that doesn’t make it advisable.
Who wants to see a team play three games in three different cities in three days to wedge in a rainout makeup on an off day. Somewhere in there some pretty bad baseball would be the result.
Who wants to see a team play three games in three different cities in three days to wedge in a rainout makeup on an off day. Somewhere in there some pretty bad baseball would be the result.
What stops that from happening now? Baseball schedules are nothing but runs of 6 games at home 1 day off, 6 on the road 1 day off, 3 at home, 1 off, etc. Sure, making up rainouts probably sucks… but the interleague aspect of it seems rather irrelevant.
The only real issue is the whole DH garbage – but if you remove that, then what’s the point of even calling them separate leagues?
MLB has scheduling rules: you can only play the whole regular season within 178 to 183 days. Over a 6-month schedule, it barely concedes with more than 3 off days in a 30/31 day calender month (the All Star Break eats 4 of them in a row; the only time for consecutive off days). Teams cannot play more than 20 games in a row without an off day, doubleheaders basically cannot be scheduled & there’s a bunch of regulations within those.
Not to mention playoff dates are pre-determined thanks to the stupid Networks (whom are really controlling what’s going on) and you can only start the season so early & end it so late due to so many cold weather climate teams & outdoor stadiums. Plus MLB likes to have everyone have their Opening Day within the first week regardless of how cold or early it is.
Interleague scheduling will result in teams playing at least 3 series of 3-games a season; some will have more & as long as MLB keeps the ridiculous Natural Rivalries up it will continue to create more havoc & unbalance because these restrictions will mandate even more inflexibility. Players also despise 2-game series (which also will be increased in the A.L. thanks to Houston moving to the A.L.) & amount of isolated 3-game IP series will only increase the likelihood of snow/rainouts resulting in a logjam late in the season of makeups & traveling inconvenience of playing games in multiple cities on consecutive days. Pennant races will be affected. It’s already bad enough as it is with teams going on 2 or 3-game road trips on opposite ends of the coasts. An unbalanced heavy-divisional schedule only adds more uncertainly & inflexibility due to dividing up the remaining 45/45 home/road games between 10+5 teams.
This isn’t football, basketball or hockey where there’s vast amounts of off days & far fewer games. So excuse my skepticism from someone who doesn’t understand who’s not a baseball fan at all.
How does all of that change anything? Obviously the scheduling rules can easily be modified. Beyond that, it looks like travel already sucks, how much worse can it get? Heck, RIGHT NOW, the Yankees are in the middle of a 6 game home stretch – then they have one off day, then play 6 in California (3 vs A’s, 3 vs Angels), off one day, then 3 games in Detroit. So, the 3 in Detroit becomes 3 in Cincinnati or Pittsburgh or whatever. In what way is that worse?
Why don’t you design the MLB schedule if you think it’s so easy, Jeff.
THE…
Oh, come on. You don’t understand that, say, the Indians go into Detroit more than once a season, but the Pirates will only be there once this year? Quite often teams make up a rainout “the next time the team is in town.” That requires no additional travel. For the Pirates (in this example) there IS no “next time in town.” If a game in Detroit this weekend had been rained out it could well have been bitch to make it up later.
That’s one of the dilemmas we’re talking about.
Seriously, that isn’t part of your knowledge base?
Here’s the tentative interleague format for next year: link
I don’t understand the hate for interleague play. Calling it a snarky name like ‘interplague’ speaks to the staid, traditionalist, stick-in-the-mud, stick-up-the-ass mentality of some baseball purists.
What’s wrong with it? There are 162 games in a season – that means seeing a lot of the other 13 or 15 teams in your league, and a ton of the other teams in your division. As a Jays fan, it was a nice treat to go to the ballpark yesterday and see them playing the Mets – not the Yankees or Indians for the umpteenth time.
Seriously, if baseball went to a format where every team played one series against every other team, and then had the remaining games divvied up according to rivalries/proximity/divisional matches, etc, would it be so horrible?
Have you not seen what Interleague Play has done to the All Star Game & World Series? MLB had fans before 1997 you know. The schedule was fine the way they were for 125+ seasons & cheap novelties like IP do nothing to enhance the game, not to mention the discrepancy it brings to the schedule with uneven leagues, divisions, Wild Card & unbalanced schedule. How is it fair that some team has to play the Yankees 6 times while another gets the Royals 6 times?
I seriously doubt you see the Indians for the “upteenth time” a season because they only make one trip to Toronto a year. You’re sick of the Yankees because you play them 18 times a season (just like BOS, BAL & TB) which is way too much & they play everyone else each in the A.L. only 6 to 10 times, plus the completely random 18 games against the N.L. & 9 of those without your DH.
Leave the sport alone. It doesn’t need gimmicks or to be like the other leagues. Let the leagues meet in the World Series when it matters most. Homogenizing the leagues, divisions & schedules will only make the sport more boring & unremarkable.
Alright, the Jays don’t play Cleveland as much as they used to. You’ve got me there.
As for your other points, I’ll start with all-star games / the World Series. Are you referring to the tie game that led to the present asinine all-star format? That’s unrelated to interleague play. Besides, all-star games weren’t a must-watch before, and they aren’t a must-watch now.
As for unbalanced leagues (assuming you’re talking strictly about numbers) will soon be a thing of the past. When it comes to ‘fairness’ and ‘balance’, you’re talking about issues that will always exist. Some teams draw tougher opponents or have tougher travel than others, regardless of division or league. I think things would actually feel more ‘fair’ if every team played every other team in a season.
I don’t really understand the characterization of interleague as a ‘cheap novelty’. Why would I? That’s like calling interconference NBA games a novelty – or football games between former AFL and NFL teams. It’s nice, as a fan, to see other teams occasionally. And as someone who attends a lot of games in person, it adds something to see certain players in person. I’ve been to hundreds of games in Toronto over the decades, and never saw certain players play because their careers came in the non-interleague era.
Baseball’s scheduling didn’t arrive at perfection 125 years ago. Nor did baseball itself.
Ever since Interleague Play the ratings for the All Star Game & World Series have gone down to record lows. That is not a coincidence. The All Star Game is being ruined by Interleague Play, basically unregulated world wide online fan voting popularity contest, team quotas & expanded rosters to the point that it’s a joke (’11 84 players for a 9-inning exhibition game!) Plus the players don’t even care anymore, because there is no such things as league pride anymore, most are well-compensated & the current farce is a symptom of preceding events.
It would be one thing if teams in the division all played the same IP schedule, but they don’t, and it still won’t be possible; especially with these so-called “Natural Rivals”. The reason why IP is cheap is because it was designed to lure fans to stadiums during the part of the season when interest is low – that’s all there was to it. It does nothing to enhance the game itself & only took the lure away from the ASG & World Series while wreaking havoc on the integrity of the schedule.
And it turns out, adding IP meant nothing because vast majority of IP matchups were boring and if anything, it takes away games from rival league opponents, and with each passing year, league identity fades even more rapidly. Just because it worked in 1997 doesn’t mean it still works in 2012.
Just because you’re bored with watching American League games, don’t take it out on the rest of us. You played right into Bud Selig’s hand. I think league-only scheduling was a pretty damn good idea & they should have stuck with it. 13/15 other league teams should be more than enough to keep interest in a season.
Don’t worry, I won’t ‘take it out’ on anyone – I don’t actually have the power to influence Major League Baseball policies.
You can make fun if you want, but the fact of the matter is that I’m a knowledgeable fan who attends games and watches on TV. I’m just as qualified as you are to weigh in on the matter. I have a hard time believing I’m the only one sick of seeing the same teams all the time when there’s another league of teams that are rarely seen. Today is a near-sellout at the SkyDome, and Toronto’s Mets fans have come out of the woodwork. It’s a great atmosphere, and if sacrificing the odd Orioles series is the cost, I’m all for it.
I appreciate your passion and won’t attempt to change your mind. My original comment spoke more to Phil’s dismissive ‘interplague’ references in the ticker. If you’re going to trash something, at least say why. Otherwise, it gets old fast.
How do you feel about 3 divisions in each league? I like the playoff race being more open but the format has certainly killed off some old divisional rivalries.
“My original comment spoke more to Phil’s dismissive ‘interplague’ references in the ticker.”
~~~
dan, over the years i’ve trashed the interplague so many times, im really getting sick of reiterating those points — mark (concealed) handled many of my arguments with aplomb
i don’t know that there is a *perfect* answer, because each fan (even true fans such as yourself) feel differently — i find it funny that i’m called a purist, traditionalist and stuck in the mud by the same people (maybe not you, but others) who vehemently oppose changing the names and mascots of the cleveland and washington baseball teams…you want to talk about “stuck in the past”
look, i don’t like the interleague matchups because they’ve never been handled fairly — and even next year, they still won’t be — if you HAVE to play games, then make every team play every other team the same number of games
im not particularly a fan of the three divisions — that again was a bud selig invention to give the teams without the resources a more fair chance to make the playoffs — you think the brewers or the royals could compete if they had to play the yankees the same number of times as everyone else? in some years, maybe, but over an extended period of times? no way
so the divisions themselves are unfair…the teams in the late 90s like cleveland feasted on shitty teams on minimum payrolls, and the yanks and sawks did the same, only it was on the orioles, rays and jays
if you really want to make things fair (only they wouldn’t be) have each team in the AL play every other team in the AL the same number of times and abolish the divisions altogether…then have the top 2 or top 4 (because, god knows we need more playoffs) teams duke it out for the right to rep their league
if you want to have interplague, then have every team in the NL play ONE SERIES every year against every team in the AL…none of this forced, bullshit *rivalry* crap — you will still get your *natural rivalry* series every year, just not a double dose of it
but this “one year the AL east will play the NL central, next year the NL west, and then the third, the NL east, and in the fourth year we’ll make up the teams you missed the first time around” bullshit
if you made interleague like THAT, then maybe i could get behind it
but as it is now, and as it is being proposed for next year?
it still sucks dick
“How do you feel about 3 divisions in each league? I like the playoff race being more open but the format has certainly killed off some old divisional rivalries.”
I’m against divisions. They are a fallacy because division winners are not always teams with the top records in the league, and I don’t think teams should be rewarded/punished for being in the right/wrong division based on luck. There is no such thing as geographical balance in North America. 2/3rds of MLB teams are east of the Mississippi River.
Bring back the balanced schedule, get rid of Interleague Play, take the top 4 teams by record, seed them & call it a day.
Thanks for your reply, Phil. I absolutely see where you’re coming from. Part of the reason interleague still seems weird and gimmicky is because your team will play some of, but not all of, the teams from the other league. It’s strange to see the Mets come into town, knowing they won’t be back for a few years.
I think the interleague rivalry games are acceptable, but only in limited doses. To me it seems like Oakland-SF, Yankees-Mets, Cubs-Chisox, and maybe Angels-Dodgers are all ‘events’. But Rays-Marlins, Padres-Mariners etc are just stupid. MLB doesn’t need to manufacture rivalries.
That said, I think every team should play every other team. As a hockey fan (I am Canadian, after all) it’s nice to know that you’ll get to see how your team performs against every other team, even if you play some more than others.
I can agree that interleague to this point has been poorly executed, and while I like the idea of having 15 teams in each league next year, the format seems wonky.
The reason interleague play sucks: the teams you play aren’t competing against you for anything! The NL teams compete for their own league, the AL teams compete for their own league. Why, on Earth, should they be playing each other during the regular season? I wonder if college football fans think it would be fair for non-conference games to count toward league standings? Doubtful. But that’s exactly what’s happening in MLB.
It’s a gimmick, no different than if baseball decided tomorrow it was going to use a homerun hitting contest to decide games that go beyond nine innings.
I wonder if those Blue Jays fans are more excited about seeing Johan Santana now that he’s a Met than when he was a Twin. It’s not like players don’t move between the leagues an awful lot as it is.
I think next season the NL Central plays the AL West in interleague play. As a Pirates fan, the Bucs-Indians series has actually been good for the game, and I hope it will continue. The Pittsburgh-Cleveland rivalry will always be strong, regardless of the sport.
In fact, in the 1997-2003 span of games between the two teams, when the Indians had better teams, the Pirates had an unexpected 10-8 advantage.
But Cleveland and Pittsburgh aren’t competing for anything in baseball. I’m not advocating for league realignment, but those games mean absolutely zilch to those teams. And if they’re so great for the game, then why aren’t they playing 20 times a year? How about 30 times a year?
Hey, Prince, you weren’t playing for the Clowns here!
link, so why not you?
Prince and Cecil don’t exactly get along, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that the son doesn’t emulate the dad’s uniform habits: link
As a Carolina graduate, it pains me to say this, but the colorized picture of Kenan Stadium is wrong. Wake won the game 19-7. It was a major upset; Carolina would not lose another regular season game for more than two years. The players in the photo should be in gold and black, not Carolina blue and navy.
Good eye ChrisN I think the picture could be labeled wrong as sometimes happens. In 1947 Wake Forest had plain black helmets too. The following year wake did put a stripe on the helmet and wore what would have been gold and black pants. SO the year may have been 1948. In 1948 Wake wore black jerseys and black pants for most games. Wore gold jerseys for maybe 3 games.
Anyhow John does great work but as Chris said, the colors should be black and gold.
North Carolina wore all white in its game vs Wake in 1947. wake wore gold and gold and solid black helmet.
In 1948 Carolina wore white pants, white helmet and Carolina blue jerseys.
If it is the case that it is Wake Forrest in photo, then I fully admit my error. It was a Tarheel website I got it from and I thought it was Carolina in picture. But, I also know I am no expert in college football and prone to such errors. Sorry if it caused you any pain. Call it mistaken idenity. However, how do you like the light blue over dark blue? I thought it looked good. Maybe it was too good to be true, but again, sorry for the error. Changing it to black and gold is an easy fix.
I liked the look. And North Carolina did wear dark blue in the past also.Not just light blue.
Like I said pictures are often labeled with the wrong dates or teams.
I have always liked the blue on blue uniforms. Like the Toronto Argos
Hey, what’s that kitschy Canadian niche sport called again? The one with the really big trophy and the annual HBO show? Right, hockey.
I am profiled on the Third String Goalie blog today. Check it out here.
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Classic-cut jersey – always a plus in my book!
Best entries of the day are HHH’s Warthogs, Ed McVey’s Warriors (although the Sammy Baugh logo is probably a bit too close to this: link) & Joseph Obermaier’s Defenders, even if they do steal a bit from the Natinals.
or this
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Or all of these
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I always loved that Giants style logo back when I was a kid. It was on football cards too
Obermaier’s logo actually derives more from the W-Nats minor league affiliate Potomac Nationals (Class A Carolina League playing in Woodbridge, VA)
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True enough. I remember when they were the Prince William Canons…
Wow, I didn’t like the hogs before but I love the a-10 idea! That warthog submission looks awesome!
Anyone want to take a stab at colorizing the photo of Johnny Callison’s 1964 All Star Game home run celebration at home plate? The photo has several NL players who would end up in the Hall of Fame: Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Marichal, Gibson, Banks, etc all in their team hats and uniforms.
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I will have to say that even though I absolutely hated the contest to rename the Cleveland Indians because American Indians is the accepted terminology (a redesign would’ve been fine because I can see how some people could be offended by Chief Wahoo), I am glad to see Washington get redone because Redskin oz actually offensive. Great concepts the past two days
Wow, when HHH departs from his flag fetish, he’s damn good! I loved his submission! I still think it needs an icon-type logo, in addition to the flag-ish stamp, but screw it–that is an awesome uniform package.
Thanks Mike, I really appreciate it!
In addition to the flag-ish stamp wordmark, the Warthogs helmet can also be used as a logo. The Rams, Bengals, Chargers, and Browns have all used an image of their helmets as an icon-type logo in the past, and the Browns are now the only team to do this. If my Warthogs concept became a reality, the Browns won’t be so lonely anymore, LOL!
To me, it’s between Ed McVie’s Warriors or the Cherry Blossoms. Maybe they can play the Jackie O First Ladies!
Love the Cherry Blossoms helmet. Take the DC off the front and you have an excellent helmet design. Let’s Go Sakura!
I think the best of the bunch was James McNeil’s Federal’s concept today. Great concept and I think it would sell. The Warthogs looked cool too, but I can’t imagine that on an NFL field.
That Willie May’s photo is fantastic! Well done.
The colorizations today are top notch evocations of the Fifties. Willie, Bart, Man U. Wow. George’s back story of the MU disaster deepens the artistry of his work with something especially poignant, involving. Those kits look pretty damn good, too.
The colorizers continue to provide material that, had I the funds for all the well-deserved matting and framing involved, would cover my walls from baseboard to ceiling.
Good work.
I always think that if I had a sports bar, I would cover the place with the colorized photos.
I agree with Connie and Ricko.
Nice to see Gary and George’s work again.
I can’t stand Man U, but I can’t hate on that photo or the colorization. I can appreciate the emotion behind the photo and the tragedy. And that Mays picture looks absolutely great!
In the Willie Mays catch photo, did John Turney have to add color to every single individual shirt in the crowd one at a time? If so that must’ve taken a while! Or is there a quick way to randomly add color to crowds in Photoshop?
I wondered that right away too. But John stays pretty quiet on here.
I usually gray scaled my backgrounds on crowd scenes.I am mostly worried about the game action. Seeing the fans colorized is impressive. I would love to see an answer on how long it takes to do the crowd.
I do the individuals in the crowds one at a time. It does not take that long. I pick one color then do a few shirts, then another, then another. I also try to pick colors of clothes worn back then. Of course, I am guessing based on movies and magazines. But colorization of a photo like that does not take much time. Since 80% of it is green, it takes about 30 minutes to do a photo like that.
With a football photo I color the grass first, then do the faces. Then I do the background and the crowd. I save the players in for for last.
I try and get info on what stadium looked like, but it is not always possible. You have to find a legit color photo and try and match.
Then, with the Alien Skin Exposure software I can add the “film” look. Kodachrome, or Fuji or Ektachrome or Polaroid or whatever. I pick what I think looks best. Even though adding a filter takes about 1/2 a second, I spend more time looking at different filter iterations that the actual colorizations. There are so many and each presents a different look, tone, and feel.
So, yeah. I do color them one at a time, but the way I slop “digital paint” on them, it takes very little time. If you were to look very close you’ll see tons of errors. But since they are presented in 72 DPI, the eye cannot see the tiny errors unless the whole thing is magnified.
Also, the Mays photo would be even better if I had a higher ressolution of it. I just took that one off the web. If I had it in a book or a high resolution scan, then it would be really nice. But we have to work with what we can get.
The Mays picture is amazing With the crowd colorized. Surprising you say it does not take that long to do the crowd.
How about when the crowd is far away and hard to make out individuals. You still give them a colorized look. In seeing your past efforts.
Like the crowd shot in the Wake Forest picture. I like how you give it that look.
on far away crownds I use the same method with smaller strokes and make sure the whole thing looks kind of brown. I then add the flesh color to show faces . . . I will submit some in near furture with backgrounds both ways.
I said it yesterday, I’ll say it again…..
I’d love to see the burgundy and gold stay. The Hog reference to the Washington football team, however, is tired and played out. Played out YEARS ago. The Hogs and Riggo were great, but that was for a fleeting time 25 years ago or so. Let it go. Stop putting on dresses and pig noses. You look like a fool.
btw, I am a lifelong ‘Skins fan.
…and those damn fools in Pittsburgh need to stop waving those yellow towels around too.
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Dammit, I forgot the sarcasm tags…
Gwar just played here last night.
I agree. While we’re at it – give the six illegitimate SB rings to the teams that deserve them!
I understand using “Warthogs” as a nod to the Hogs of the 80’s, however, when I hear “Washington Warthogs”, I think of the ill-fated indoor soccer team at the Capital Centre (I won’t acknowledge the corporate sponsor on the arena at the time).
Agreed. Some of these designs are sharp, but Washington Warthogs will always be an indoor soccer team
HHH- I liked your design the best out of today’s entries. I’m not sure about the yellow on yellow, but i liked it as a whole. Great work!
I tried to leave this on the Green & Gold blog but it keeps kicking me out.
I have the answer to the Bart Starr photo – that was a shoot for a MacGregor equipment ad. There were also shots with Johnny Unitas and Mike Ditka but I’ve only ever seen the Unitas shots actually used as an ad.
Note that none of these players EVER wore a MacGregor helmet on the field – Starr and Unitas wore Riddells and Ditka, being a Chicago Bear, wore a Wilson helmet (Halas had a deal with Wilson and was their major distributor through his sporting goods business). However, that didn’t stop all 3 from taking the endorsement money from MacGregor.
I would assume that MacGregor just threw together that logo for the photo shoot. I would guess that Starr told the MacGregor people that they were going to be adding the “G” logo so they just faked up a logo. The Ditka shot has him in just a plain helmet but the Unitas shots have him with the real Colts horseshoe logo.
There is a pretty good post on these over on the gameuseduniverse.com forum – someone asking about these as possible game used items.
John in KC (formerly John in KY)
Adding the link to the gameuseduniverse.com forum – see page 6 if this doesn’t post properly:
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Thanks for the link John.
Interesting.
any idea what year this photo was taken…?
NFL Network’s “Top 10 Uniforms” is on right now. I just saw Paul say something, I had no idea he was interviewed for this show!
I didn’t have NFL Network in 2010 when this episode first aired so this is my first time seeing it.
A couple of quick observations:
So far my favorite is Ryan Connelly’s bulldog (from yesterday’s post). For whatever reason, it’s been ingrained in my head and I just can’t get rid of the image.
Ed McVey’s Warriors logo is too similar to the Giants’ early logo and should have been acknowledged as such.
Although I liked Brittain Peck’s color schemes, I’m not crazy about his and others’ Warriors obsession which currently permeate our national dialogue. I happened to watch “Knute Rockne – All American” which aired on TMC yesterday. Mr. Rockne made the point (at least in the movie version) that man, by his very nature, is competitive. Sporting events allow us to use our competitive instincts in a wholesome way rather than the destructive ways brought out by military “adventures.” Sporting events are not war; they are channels to replace our competitive instincts.
So, maybe this has been covered already, but on the first poll will everyone get one vote for their favorite, or will they be able to choose multiple favorites?
I don’t know about anyone else, but with the Cleveland contest I would have had a hard time picking an all out favorite after the first round, and so far, it looks as if the Washington contest will be even harder.
“on the first poll will everyone get one vote for their favorite, or will they be able to choose multiple favorites?”
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still working on the logistics, but i think the first round of voting will be either a vote for your favorite 3 or 5
definitely more than one pick at first, and the top 10 vote getters in that poll will move on to the final 10
there will be only a “vote for one” in that final round
winner of that is the overall contest winner
Ok. Thanks.
5 sounds good to me.
Geez Fielder and Young, couldn’t you play along for just one game? I was very disappointed while watching the game. I hope they get fined. On a related note, I actually went to the Negro League game referenced here: link
Cecil Fielder “paid” for the bleacher seats that day, giving us free admission.
Lots of good entries so far. From today, my favorite is probably HHH’s, although I’m not crazy about the helmet logo.
From yesterday’s batch, Chris Giorgio’s Wild Hogs entry tops the list for me. Bruce Genther’s entry is a close second.
A bit of nod to Andrew McCutchen, who broke out red and white cleats for the game yesterday.
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Not historically accurate, of course, but they certainly are not his regular Pirates shoes.
So we can at least give him credit for having fun with the whole thing, I suppose.
“Not historically accurate”
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really? you sure they didn’t have two-tone colorways back then?
Really diggin’ that Uncle Sam as a footballer for the DC Defenders. Is that original work, or was that borrowed from somewhere to use in Obermaier’s concept? Whichever the case, it’s good work!
It’s a mash up of different pieces of existing clipart (top hat/head/body/ball) trimmed to match and colored up a bit.
The problem I have is that the color scheme is not theirs. That has New England Patriots all of over it. I’m really liking James McNeil’s version. Keeps their current, traditional colors, and logo is not bad at all.
Love James MacNeil’s Federals design (well, except for the “newfangled” number font). My personal favorite.
However, as long as the team plays in Maryland, I don’t know how well the district map/flag motif would go over in either MD or DC (to say nothing of VA). Would be one thing if there were historical precedent, a la the Giants bringing back the ny on their helmets, despite playing in NJ, but my suspicion is that the marketing powers-that-be would downplay the team’s “first name” somewhat, akin to the Angels. Awesome design and branding, though.
Who manufactured the caps for yesterday’s Stars/Crawfords game?
Some inspired work today.
Mr. Nacy Meltzer’s Cherry Blossoms is too good to be taken seriously by the NFL or any sports league. Too bad.
Mr. O’ Brien’s Federals logo is about the best thing he’s ever done. Stunninly accurateg depiction of what D.C. represents for most of the country.
Mr. Macneil puts a map of D.C. on the helemt. When have we seen that before? Never. A map of the nation’s capitol…I love that.
I don’t think of cows or cows’ skulls when I think of Washington D.C., but Mr. Losada’s logo is really well rendered. Plus the nickname, Stemps, is endearingly odd.
Finally, I have a soft spot for simple, silhouetted animal logos. Mr….uh…Hogg knows how striking and effective that is. But what I really like about the concept is his explanation “that no other NFL team has a swine of any kind for a mascot.” Not one member of the rich and varied swine family is represented!
I noticed we had a passive aggressive entry in each day this weekend.
I would have really liked if the Stemps concept was used for the Houston Texans instead.
I like MacNeil’s use of the city flag and outline of D.C.’s borders. Granted, they don’t play or even practice in the District, but it’s a good look.
Thanks for the compliment!
James Macneil and Brittain Peck’s designs are to me far and away the best two of both day’s bunches.
Glad to know I’m not the only one who likes Peck’s design.
Thanks. I appreciate the support.
I have stayed out of the rename the teams topic for the most part. I was thinking if the Skins changed to go back and use the Federal colors and unis.
But today on a message board I saw that the USFL may come back. Is that true?
I saw an article about that too – but as it was described, they were intentionally avoiding any cities with NFL or MLB teams, so it’d be the USFL in name only, none of the old team names would be returning.
As for the Skins bringing that look back… the USFL Federals wore green, silver & black and used an eagle for a logo. I think a certain divisional rival might have a problem with that.
DOH ya good point about the Eagles. oops
I must say I enjoy the guys work on the designs. I admire the time and effort.
this idea has been around for a while…maybe they will get it off the ground in 2013…or maybe not…again…
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Ed McVey’s logo of the Capitol Dome and Washington Monument looks awfully a lot like a dome and minaret of a mosque. If President Obama approves this, it would give fodder to the “he’s a secret Muslim” crowd!
I thought it looked more double phallic than anything.
Nelson Cruz of the Rangers, who normally wears batting gloves, is going with out batting gloves today in Houston to try and break out of a slump. First at bat he got a 2 run single, so hopefully its working. I dont know if he has done this for the previous two games in this series (dont get to watch too many Rangers games in Denver), but he has done this before. Last year in an August game against the Angels he went bare handed at the plate and had two homers and 6 RBI.
As a Redskins fan all my life I have no problem with a name change. It should be done. Don’t even think you will get my vote if you don’t use the classic burgundy and gold. That is a must.
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this, but Randy Choate of the Marlins wears stirrups with ORANGE sanis. Don’t know if I’m crazy about the look- I think white sanis would pop more, but my question is, Is this in the MLB style guide? Since so few players wear stirrups anymore, do teams have to add this to their official uniform?
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i think randy choate just became my favorite major leaguer…maybe of all time
It even looks decent with the black softball tops!
I liked the Marlins unis when I first saw them, but after watching them in action for a few days, I really like them. They look like baseball uniforms and have a modern twist. I’m a fan. Still hate the Marlins though, 1997 and all that.
That’s a cool look, but would quickly turn to shit if he was standing next to a teammate with black stirrups/white sani’s.
Coloured sani’s should be a requirement for some teams (how good would the Pirates look with athletic gold instead of white?)
Late last night I turned on the Pirate replay with the Tigers. Pittsburgh looked sharp. I laughed at Fielder though. He did not look sharp.
People bananas @ the Giants game today. Must get one.
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Enough already with the re-naming of the teams.
Enough comments from you.
Believe it or not, there isn’t always developing news on the sports uniform front on weekends. Gotta find something to talk about. Besides, assuming everyone here is a uni geek, we’ve all designed or dreamed up uniform ideas before – so why not share?
There’s some weird ass pepsi max field of dreams game thing on Fox right now, but one of the teams is wearing solid navy uni.
Terrible television, interesting uniform.
if this guy is correct, the bart starr photo was from a macgregor catalog in 1964…
“I believe the photo in question is from the 1964 MacGregor catalog. Starr was a ‘consultant’ for the company (as you can see he is wearing a Mac helmet too in the advert) and was probably just used as prop for the photo as Mac offered various actual team decals or hybrid styles of those decals like this one which seems like a (somewhat blasphemous) Bears and Packers mixture.”
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I think Tim’s Federals is the clear winner from today’s entries, but still doesn’t beat the Insiders and Wild Hogs from yesterday. Mostly because I think burgundy and gold should be a dealbreaker.
I like Tim’s uni design and number font, but I think that font should translate to the number on the helmet. I also think the logo design is too intricate to display on the helmet or elsewhere on the uniform.
Thanks!
But just so you know, the helmet number font is like the #10 in the lower right hand corner of a $10 bill. link
lighten up
The color of Bart Starr’s shirt is perfect. Almost a forrest green, almost a touch of blue. When doing Packers I use that same shade. Made the Packers stand out from a middle of hte road green.
I think Brittain Peck’s design is gorgeous.
I like the idea of featuring red a bit more prominently. Maybe a slightly darker red than shown, and using it for the helmet logo? If the red were a shade darker, its use in tendem with tan would perhaps satisfy those who’d prefer to keep the current base color scheme. The flag motif woven into the logo is very nicely done.
Overall, a stunning set.
Thanks David.
A day late, but it should be said that the annual Negro League Baseball Museum award ceremonies average about a 15% rate for major leaguers showing up to accept their awards. For that reason alone, Prince Fielder gets my pass on not wearing his pants right in the pictures above as he’s been a good supporter of the museum
Seems much more important than how he wears his pants, doesn’t it?
15%? That’s pretty shameful. I took a trip to KC 2 summers ago. The Negro Leagues Museum was the highlight of the trip. It really was my main reason for even going to KC.