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Are You Ready For Some Football?

Pro Bowls and College Football


By Phil Hecken

With the NCAA Football season now underway and the NFL kicking off this week with a Wednesday night game in the MetLife new Meadowlands, and with Paul’s TREMENDOUS NCAA Preview up on ESPN, it’s time to shift gears away from the summer of baseball, the Olympics, golf, tennis and soccer … and get down to the pigskin. Lots to get to today (and lots of stuff saved up from the summer that will just have to wait). But, like I said in my last post before turning the weekdays back to Paul, lots of favorites are returning for the fall: Duck Tracking, the 5 & 1, Sunday Morning Uni Watch (coming tomorrow!), Colorizations, Concepts, Benchies, 50 Years Ago, and “Stirrup Fridays.” Don’t worry, they won’t all be running today.

I’ll keep my intro short, since we have some big news from our friends over at the Gridiron Uniform Database, plus some new news about their other ventures (the Diamond & Basketball Uniform Databases). Rob Holecko will fill you in on the GUD, DUD & BUD, and then Tim Brulia has an special update on his and Bill Schaefer’s newest addition – the Pro Bowl. So, I’ll now turn the rest of this lede over to Rob & Tim. Gentlemen:

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What’s New at the GUD (DUD & BUD)
By Rob Holecko

As we are on the eve of a new football season, it is time once again to update the Uni Watch crowd on the goings-on at The Gridiron Uniform Database. Just this week we have completed adding the 1920-1932 seasons to the database, and in a moment our Tim Brulia will be telling you about another exciting new section we have added to our site. But first we want to give a quick rundown of our other projects. The Diamond Uniform Database has been rolling along this season, with David Taub continuing to keep track of what every MLB team has worn this season. His tracking, however, has remained merely text-based as we continue to search for a full-time graphics person to bring the uniforms to life. We have had a couple people express an interest in working with us on this, but we haven’t found the right person yet. If you think you are or know that person, let us know.

At The Basketball Uniform Database, we are in our first off-season getting ready for tip off in a couple months and Tim O’Brien, Matt Beahan, possibly Jim Vilk and the rest of the crew will be helping us to track the 2012-13 NBA season when it starts, and research into past seasons is a huge undertaking that we have only begun to scratch the surface of. It will be awhile before the basketball research is anywhere near what Tim Brulia & Bill Schaefer have accomplished with the GUD.

Now to tell you about a new project. We are looking to create a college football version of the GUD. We haven’t exactly defined the scope of the project, whether we are going to eventually tackle every single season of every single Division 1-A/FBS team possible all the way back to the first intercollegiate game in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton is yet to be determined. We have a long way to go before we even are able to say we intend on having every current FBS team for the current season. We may first roll out simply the Top 5, and then Top 25, and then just the major conferences before expanding. We are beginning by simply expanding upon the teams already covered in the College Football Uni-Tracker.

We started the College Football Uni-Tracker last season and it will continue in that form for the time being. We had some wonderful submissions last year, (the Virginia Tech graphic in the splash photo was done by Ashley Wilkes, and he was one of a handful of intrepid trackers who sent us graphics in last season) and we hope to continue featuring the work of some of the best unitrackers from around the internet. A week or so ago here in Uni Watch, Tim O’Brien mentioned that he would be tracking Indiana and Northwestern as well as taking over the Oregon duck tracker for this season. He also mentioned his blog article where he invited you to participate and set up your own blog and track your favorite college team. For 2012, in order to encourage greater participation, the College Football Uni-Tracker has decided to remove the requirement that you use only Bill Schaefer’s GUD template, so we will be proud to feature your uni-tracking in your blog on our site, no matter what graphics you use. While removing this requirement means that some graphics won’t look like others, in the end we hope it will lead to more trackers participating. Therefore if you are joining Tim’s “movement” and starting your own uni-tracking blog, let us know in the comments below or with an email to RobHolecko@gmail.com, and we’ll be glad to feature your tracking graphics on our site. Or if you’d like to do as those did last year and just send your graphics directly to us, that will continue to work as well. Many of last year’s trackers are returning, but there are still many teams without a tracker.

Hopefully a year from now at this time we’ll be launching a full-fledged college version of the GUD, but in the meantime let’s continue to see how many teams we can track individually.

Now let’s hear from Tim Brulia about the new section that we’ve added to the GUD:

_______________________________________________________

The Gridiron Uniform Database Welcomes The Pro Bowl
by Tim Brulia

It is our pleasure at the Gridiron Uniform Database to bring you the graphical history of the Pro Bowl. Ably detailed by our graphic engineer Bill Schaefer, we would like to take this time to walk you through the history of the Pro Bowl uniforms, as well as the AFL All-Star Game.

We start with the very first NFL Pro All-Star Game between the New York Giants and the NFL All-Stars (with help from some players from non-NFL west coast teams) played at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles on January 15, 1939. The Giants wore their standard red jersey, while the All-Stars wore a rather generic uniform of white helmet, plain blue jerseys, white pants and blue socks. For the next two Pro Star games (both played in L.A.), the NFL Champs (the Packers and Bears respectively) wore their normal garments, while the All-Stars wore outfits that featured a red jersey with a white shoulder insert with a blue star on each shoulder. After the 1941 and 1942 seasons, the Pro Star Game was played in the colder climes of New York and then Philadelphia. Uniform wise, these games resembled their baseball counterpart as the Champions wore their own unis against the All-Stars, who wore their normal team outfits, making for a colorful – if helter-skelter – look for the brave fans in the stands.

After an eight year hiatus, the Pro All-Star Game was resurrected by the Los Angeles Newspaper Charities Associaiton and played at the Memorial Coliseum. The format was the best of the American Conference playing the best of the National Conference. The uniforms were exact duplicates of each other, with one team in red helmets and jerseys, the other side in blue helmets and jerseys. In the 1952 season game, the Pro Bowl rectified the confusing scenario by permanently outfitting the American (soon to be Eastern) Conference in red helmets and jerseys and the National (soon to be Western) Conference in blue helmets, but with white jerseys.

The East and West would retain the jersey colors right through 1969. The only real changes to these duds would be: 1957 season when both team would apply white rounded helmet numbers, 1958 season when the helmet numbers were dropped, but TV numbers would be added to the sleeves of both jerseys, and a thick red shoulder stripe would be added to the East’s red jerseys, 1965 season when the generic helmets would be repainted gold for both squads, with a red/white/red stripe pattern for the East and a blue/white/blue stripe pattern was given to the West. And for 1969 season, both sides wore the commemorative patch for the NFL’s 50th season on their left shoulders.

Before we hit the Pro Bowl chronology since the 1970 merger, let’s take a quick rundown of the AFL All-Star Game’s uni history. The AFL didn’t start playing an All-Star Game until year 2, after the 1961 season. The East wore a white jersey with blue shoulders bedecked in white stars while the West players wore red jerseys with white shoulders and a bevy of red stars. The unique feature was that the players wore their regular team helmets in the fray, making the game a little more colorful. The Divisions would switch uni colors every now and then through the years. One game (played after the 1965 season) featured the Champion vs. All-Stars format (similar to what the National Hockey League was doing with their All-Star Game at the time), with the Buffalo Bills wearing their normal white uniform against the All-Star clad in red. Changes to the unis came in the last two years the AFL ASG was played (1968 and 1969 seasons). The East would have all players wearing a plain white helmet and the West featured the players in solid blue helmets. The next year, the AFL, perhaps sensing history, bedecked both teams with the AFL logo on the helmets and the jerseys. The ASG game played on January 17, 1970, was the very last the American Football League game ever played. One twist of irony in the AFL All-Star Game…one of the innovations of the AFL, names on the backs of the jerseys, was never worn on any of the AFL All-Star jerseys!

Now back to the post-merger NFL. The Pro Bowl was now referred to as the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, and the uniforms reflected the new NFL. The best of the AFC would wear a red helmet with a large white “A” trimmed in blue, with a white/blue/white stripe combo, a white jersey with “AMERICAN” on the front in red with red numbers and finally, names on the back, red pants and white socks. The NFC’s finest would sport a white helmet with a medium sized blue “N” outlined in red, with a blue/red/blue stripe pattern, blue jerseys with “NATIONAL” on the front in white with white numbers also with names on the back, white pants and blue socks. With the exception of some tweaking (or in case after the ’73 season, the removal) of the stripes, these unis would be untouched through the 1977 season ending Pro Bowl.

In the 1978 season game, the NFL decided to allow the players to wear the same team logo helmets they wore during the season. This look would last right through the 1987 season ender.

Starting with the 1988 season finale, the NFL began the tricking up phase of PB uniforms. For the first time, stars became a part of the look, going down the sides of the pants, as well as the PB logo on the jerseys. Also for the first time in 1988, the maker’s mark (Wilson) was affixed to the uni. This revision lasted through the 1993 season ender.

By the 1994 season, the Pro Bowl unis entered their current phase, with uniforms changing design every two or three years. Such zany items as fading colors, sublimated logos, team wordmarks, PB logos below the back numbers, ankle length pants (the 2010 season edition), etc. come to mind.

But two things have remained constant in spite of the free-form design era: 1) Players wearing their own teams’ helmets and 2) The base color for the AFC has always been red and the NFC’s has always been blue. That goes back to the 1970 merger.

Oops! I almost forgot! We even added the lone AAFC All-Star Game, the Shamrock Bowl that was played after the AAFC’s 1949 season!

I like to thank the website mmbolding.com in particular for their detailed history of the Pro Bowl. Also we courtesy the database of the Los Angeles Times, gettyimages.com, google news archive and newspaperarchive.com for much of the information that you see here. Again, without the artistic talents of our own graphic engineer, Bill Schaefer, the GUD would not be able to make this valuable addition to the database. Whatever you may think of the Pro Bowl today, the game has been an integral part of the NFL’s history and to not include it would be a disservice to the mission of the GUD.

With the recent completion of adding the 1920-1932 uniforms and this inclusion of the Pro Bowl’s uniform history, the GUD has completed its task of bringing you the complete history of Pro Football Uniforms from the beginning…or have we? Stay with us for the coming season to find out!

. . . . . . . .

Thanks Tim & Rob! Great stuff and looks like you guys have some great plans and additions for this year. Looking forward to this season.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Screen Shot 2012-06-24 at 10.32.36 PM

“Benchies” first appeared at U-W in 2008, and has been a Saturday & Sunday feature here for the past two years.

. . . . .

Sometimes it’s fun just to let him talk and see what happens…

9-1-12 d-Kapper

Click to enlarge

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Stirrup Friday

Stirrup Fridays…

Because we love the stirrup here at Uni Watch, this section is devoted to those of us who sport the beautiful hose on Fridays — a trend popularized many years ago by Robert P. Marshall, III. For many of us, it’s become a bit of an obsession, but a harmless one — a reflection of our times. Where we once had Friday ties, which has been replaced by Casual Friday — we now have Stirrup Fridays. It’s an endearingly simple concept — no matter where you work (or even if you don’t) — break out a fresh pair of rups to compliment (or clash with) your Friday attire.

Lets talk a look at who participated in Stirrup Fridays recently (click on all photos for a larger view):

. . . . .

Matt Brevet

Matt Brevet

Wild Card contention stirrups:

“I rode my bike over to The Yard, biking in stirrups makes sense. I got an Os chant from a passing car. Usually when people yell from cars, it’s not positive, so that was particularly nice. I got a few versions of, “Nice socks, dude.” Sometimes I make the correction.”

. . .

James Poisso - 8-31-12

James Poisso

45 Phillies:

“Today’s stirrups are 1945 Phillies, and are for my alma mater LA Tech (start of football season).

The colors & stripe match perfectly.”

. . .

James Huening - 8-31-12

James T. Huening

Indiana U:

“Never daunted, we cannot falter…

Yep. College football season is underway and we’re still undefeated!”

. . .

John Kimmerlien - Bainbridge Island-20120831-00184

John Kimmerlein

Bainbridge Island:

“Classic-era Orioles today, in support of their relevance this late in the season for the first time in too long.”

. . . . .

And that ends today’s look at Stirrup Friday — all of you who participate, send me your pics and a brief (~50 words) description of their relevance, and I’ll run ’em here on Saturday.

If you’re not a member of Stirrup Nation and want to join, just visit Comrade Marshall’s house of hose (and you can see the available selections here) or if you have any questions about the availability of stirrups, drop him a line at rpmarshallart@gmail.com.

OK? OK!

“from each according to their stirrvp
to each according to their strype”

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Uni Tracking (2012)

MLB Uni Tracking – The 2012 As and Nats

Today’s featured Uni Tracker is Stephen Coulter and he’s been tracking both the Athletics and the Nationals this season.

Here’s his up-to-date report:

. . .

Hey Phil,

I am enjoying all the content you guys have been putting out in Paul’s absence. Great work, its a really appreciated break from my otherwise mundane work day.

I was just curious if you were going to do any Uni Tracking pieces for this years MLB season. I have been tracking the Nats and the A’s and its been quite interesting to me, but maybe not to others :)

Anyways, I was just curious….thanks again.

Nationals Uni Tracking Summary
Nationals Game Log

Athletics Uni Tracking Summary
Athletics Game Log

Stephen

. . .

Thanks Stephen — and to answer your question — I’ve only posted one tracker so far, but if there are any others out there (and I know there are), I’m asking you to send them in to me and I’ll run them over the weekend. If you guys didn’t click on Stephen’s links — they’re worth checking out — he’s done a really nice job with this!

Keep them coming, trackers!

~~~~~~~~~~

all sport uni tweaks

Uni Tweaks Concepts

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

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

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

Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.

It’s been a while (but not too many of you sent in during my weekday run — time to start sending in the concepts again, OK?)

And so, lets begin:

~~~

First up is Walter Helfer, with a “what if” set of unis for the Miama Heat:

heat1 - Walter Helfer

heat2 - Walter Helfer

Dear Phil,

Here are a pair of Miami Heat uniforms, if their history went back as far as 1972-ish.

-Walter Helfer

. . . . .

And closing down the show today is Jay Goodwin, who has a concept for the 2013 Charlotte Hornets:

Jay Goodwin - Hornets Uni Concept


Jay Goodwin - Hornets Logo

Hi Phil,

My name is Jay Goodwin. First of all, I am a big fan of your website because I am also somewhat of a uni/logo geek (lol). I love to design and draw logos (as probably most of the people who send you emails also say) but I’m also a big fan of bringing the Hornets name back to its rightful home: Charlotte, North Carolina. With the recent news that the New Orleans Hornets owner wants to drop the name for a more NO related name, it only makes sense to return the Hornets name back to the place where it would be a “NC related name”. So I’ve made up a concept that I want to share with you and get your opinion on. Keep up the good work with your website and articles. I hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks,
Jay Goodwin

. . . . .

That’s it for today — Back with more next time.

~~~~~~~~~~

8793928_448x252

And finally…

Lots and lots of great college football today, starting off with the Irish & Middies playing early (9:00 am EDT) in Ireland, in the “Emerald Isle Classic.” We know Notre Dame will have a special uni for this one, and who knows if Navy will as well — so if you are reading this early — make sure to tune in the game (CBS will carry the early morning broadcast, and Verne Lundquist will have the call). Even Jim Vilk, who long ago swore off watching college football, may have to tune in. Terry Duroncelet will surely have this, and the entire rundown of all the first Saturday of college football tomorrow.

And that’s going to be it for this fine first Saturday in September (wow–it’s September already?) — where did the summer go…

Thanks to Rob & Tim, Ricko, all the stirrup wearing crazies, the concepters and the tracker…you guys keep all those coming. Tomorrow kicks off the first “Sunday Morning Uni Watch” of the season featuring Terry D, the brand new “Duck Tracker” as envisioned by Tim E. O’Brien, and a very special “5&1” with Jim Vilk AND his replacement protégé, Catherine Ryan, plus more good stuff — so make sure you check back for all of that.

Have a great Saturday folks!

~~~

“Monuments to Confederate military figures are all over the South, and Jefferson Davis’s Birthday is still an official state holiday in most southern states. That doesn’t offend me as a northerner; it offends me as an American.”
–Paul Lukas

 
  
 
Comments (185)

    You stirrup people are weird…

    I mean, yes I completely agree that stirrups should be worn with baseball uniforms… but beyond that… um…

    No.

    I don’t know if I’d call it a “special uniform” for Notre Dame. Special accessories, certainly (shoes, maybe socks, special undershirt). But based on the pictures tweeted over from Dublin, everything else (helmet, jersey, pants) will be the standard ND away uniform.

    Just an Update on people who have taken up my call, I have had 7 blogs pop up already to join my tracking cause:

    Boise State Uni Tracker
    Eastern Michigan University Uni Tracker
    Maryland Uni Tracker (actually, there’s two of them)
    Mississippi State Uni Tracker
    Mizzou Uni Tracker
    Ohio Uni Tracker
    Ohio State Uni Tracker

    And one guy said that he’d know all the Pac 12 uniform combos well before the games but so far he seems too good to be true (which I kinda expected…).

    Still have some good teams for tracking like Cal, ASU and others.

    Join me.

    I would be all over WVU tracking if I had a computer, but life has thrown some shit my way and its just not possible yet. Ill keep track and save some in-game pics just in case, and maybe I can help someone else take care of them this season…

    Thank god NCAA football is back. I have my coffee right now, and if the Irish start leading in Dublin, my coffee will start to turn Irish in Wheaton.

    No matter what, with an 11 am Kickoff for the ‘Cats, a 7 pm start for the Hoosiers and a 9:30 start for the Ducks, I’m going to be drinking all day long.

    It just feels right.

    Hey, Tim E. Speaking of college football and drinking, check out this post on theChive on beer pong tables, specifically picture #21… I immediately thought of ya!

    link

    Table 21 is fucking AWESOME! Nice find. If I’m running this site, that’s not just ticker worthy, that’s track-down-and-find-the-creator worthy.

    In other news, I love that Table 4 is playing 21 cup. A much better version of BP.

    21 Cup Rules:

    Three beers in 21 cups,
    Three player per team all playing at once,
    Each player is playing against a singular opponent on the other team which builds rivalries and allows good players to control other good players,
    If your opponent makes a cup, you have to drink the beer within before you can shoot,
    Three balls in use (one for each pair of opponents),
    Three teammates scoring into cups in three consecutive shots without the other team shooting in between is a send-back,
    One re-rack at 10 cups,

    Fast paced and fun. :)

    Also, I own a pink version of table 35. No Joke.

    (one last rule for 21 cup, bouncing is allowed but it’s just one cup. Don’t be a bitch, don’t bounce.)

    OH MY GOD!

    CBS is trotting out David Feherty as the sideline reporter and it’s the SMARTEST MOVE IN ALL OF TELEVISION EVER.

    He’s already the funniest sideline reporter I’ve ever seen.

    Don’t worry, we all know that for Notre Dame it’s gonna get a lot worse uni-wise.

    Golf ball dimples, lopsided helmet…

    Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be SO much fun.

    At this rate in a couple years they’ll play dressed as leprechauns.

    The best part of the leprechaun uniforms will be the corresponding endzone art – a series of symbols representing the proud history and heritage of the school: a pink heart, orange star, yellow moon, green clover, blue diamond & purple horseshoe.

    Here’s how old I am: I remember a time when there were no blue diamonds or purple horseshoes.

    I don’t remember the blue diamonds ever not being there, but I do remember them being touted as a new addition to the lineup.

    My wife keeps a box of that garbage in the house (hidden from the kids) and almost all the marshmallows are different from the way they were back then. Even the “new” blue diamonds have been phased out.

    I think the only marshmallow charter member still around is the pink heart.

    In my opinion, these Notre Dame uniforms are AWESOME! Love the little “pieces of flare.” I mean… they are the “Fighting Irish”, they should add these pieces of the uniforms to their every day uniform. It would be nice to get every player to join in the under sleeve party though.

    Um, no. Shamrockery doesn’t quite work.

    The new pants are a little better match with the helmets, but not by a whole lot.

    The new face masks are an understated change. They have a slight glint to them, but they’re still gray. Some of them seem as if they’re full-on metallic gold at the top (where they contact the helmet). That could very well be my fading vision, though.

    This is old, about a month or so ago, but on August 7 the Akron Aeros had a Browns v. Steelers night. Unfortunately, they had the Steelers logo on the wrong side of the helmet.

    link

    That sort of thing is probably fairly common. No one wants to use a plain helmet if they don’t absolutely have to, so it just makes sense to slap the logo on the wrong side of the Steelers helmet anyway.

    Um… yeah Tim. The point being that they should have created the original image with the Steelers helmet on the other side, not to mirror the image they actually used.

    You should cut back on the drinking this early in the day.

    Oh sorry, I hadn’t read your comment, I thought Tony was saying that was why they got the logo wrong.

    My bad.

    And if you were a Hoosier football fan, you’d realize it’s the only way to deal with the pain.

    We have a losing streak to Ball State.

    Ball State.

    Go Tigers ! Hook ’em ! And shouldn’t we be calling GT’s helmet a “wasps nest” finish instead of a “honeycomb” ?

    It would actually be a yellow jackets nest, but a honeycomb pattern nonetheless…

    And I thought Michigan was ditching the helmet numbers? Gameday has them on their display helmet in front of the set..

    ESPN sometimes is a year or so behind on certain on-set helmets. Wouldn’t surprise me if they didn’t have the current ND helmet, either.

    “Yep. College football season is underway and we’re still undefeated!”

    But for how long? I’m placing the line at Indiana +13.5 against Indiana State.

    Expect IU in red lid, red jersey, white pants. A source of mine hinted that this week’s look would be Coke Classic. I hope that’s what he meant.

    If ISU is stormtrooping, which I expect they’ll do, I’ll be disappointed. White, white, blue would look excellent against IU Coke Classic.

    Let’s just say I’m glad Phil ran the photo today and not tomorrow or else he might have had to go apeshit with the strikethrus on my little write-up.

    and a fine photo is was.

    i guess it goes without saying, but i enjoyed all of those but i enjoye all phil. stirrup friday is a hoot man.

    link

    Just because the word ‘honey’ is there doesn’t mean it necessarily involves actual beeswax. It’s a geometrical term… Appropriate for the nerds at GA Tech, I might add.

    Well, you need to be more specific. If you had said “honeycomb conjecture” in the first place, I would have known what you were talking about.

    Or something.

    Well, at least Notre Dame’s shiny helmets and darker pants make the game vs Navy look less like a scrimmage than in previous years. It’s still absolutely pathetic in terms of color matching.

    I dunno, if we’ve been paying attention to college football for more than a year-and-a-half we know those “lookalike” matchups happen every so often.

    Cuz ninety-ll teams play, and most of ’em established some kind of uni tradition before everything was on TV.

    Oh don’t start that crap with me… Notre Dame and Navy have played EVERY SINGLE YEAR since 1914. (Yeah, I looked it up) It’s almost always looked like a scrimmage. It wasn’t a good thing then, and it isn’t one now.

    So because it irks you (this one game out of about 1500 games this season), they should change 98 years of history?

    You can fight that fight, more power to you, but it ain’t gunna happen…

    What “crap”?
    I’m saying you’re aren’t accustomed to it by now?
    That the world is perfectly suited to everyone’s visual preferences?

    Such a shame, that.

    Hey, Wisconsin & Nebraska came out with “rivalry” uniforms so that game doesn’t look like a scrimmage (well, it still sorta does because Adidas sucks, but not the point) and that rivalry doesn’t even really exist yet, surely it wouldn’t kill Notre Dame or Navy to wear an alternate for that game – and they both have non-crazy options. Navy could easily re-use the white helmet from their pro-combat uniform, or Notre Dame could wear green as they’ve done at various points in their past.

    Well, yeah, but that would require equipment managers or coaches to demonstrate some skill at art direction.

    Given their typical efforts, I’m not sure we should expect much from them.

    “Just change the jerseys, guys. Otherwise you’re in over your head.”

    The one remaing … flaw about ND’s uniforms might be the sandstorm color that Adidas uses for trim on the numbers and ND monogram. It looks a bit grayish in comparison to the helmets and pants. That metallic gold fabric they’re using for the numbers for the Miami game might be a better fit.

    And the fact that the gray facemasks should’ve been changed to blue ones at least 25-30 years ago…

    No. Gray is all right. I’ve wondered how a gold mask would look, especially after seeing the Oregon chrome helmet. I suspect that would be a bit too much, though.

    If gray is an actual team color it’s OK but the teams still using it that (Colts, Browns, Cardinals, ND etc) that have no gray in the tam colors it looks awful… Memo to those teams. The rest of the world started coloring their facemasks team colors decades ago.

    I just love the GUD. The amount of work the guys put into it is amazing. I for one realize how much work Tim,Rob,Bill have done.
    It is a lot of fun to go through it too. Also as a colorizer it is a huge help.

    Ditto on the thanks, Larry.
    With the Pro Bowl images, the last 20 years took 3 times longer to do than the previous 50. It was so frustrating to do from a graphic point of view but the ends justify the means. If I hadn’t done the Pro Bowls I wouldn’t have figured out some new techniques that enabled me to do what I did for the new Seahawks’ uniforms.
    I definitely appreciate the shout-out.

    After actually watching a little bit of today’s game, you may want to make the main uniform just a little bit more grayish rather than pure white, because the white outline on the numbers really sticks out. It’s clearly a whiter white than the jersey.

    Yes, obviously. But an accurate depiction of a uniform must be based on what we see, not what “they” intended for us to see. If colors don’t quite match, then they don’t match, and that detail must be recorded for the sake of history.

    /I’ve probably drank more than you have at this point, so don’t take me too seriously…

    Ok, I was about to say, I think I need to drink more to deal with this today…

    No, I brought up the materials comment because I haven’t noticed that. And I’m watching ESPN on DirecTV, which is the best picture of any combination of provider and channel I’ve ever seen (as opposed to Fox Sports on DirecTV which looks so pixelated it looks like it’s buffering on my laptop).

    Well, I get the game on ESPN2 with WOW… and the white outline shows up nicely on the more distant shots. On the closeups it is pretty much the same color as the jersey. Personally, I’d put it on the template just for the sake of showing that there is a physical white outline on the numbers, rather than it just being a gap in the jersey striping.

    Im kinda digging the northwestern jerseys.. Wish everyone was wearing thevsleeveso.. But I like the stripes along the front and back of the jersey.

    Those numbers for Northwestern are impossible to read on TV. I hope they’re clearer at the games. Thank Jeebus for the TV numbers on the shoulders. And of course they went with my least favorite look in football. White on white. Only way they could look worse is add a white helmet.

    “Loving the stripes on the compression sleeves, though.”

    ~~~

    i can’t believe no one thought of doing that years ago

    I’ve tried 2 TV’s and neither looked anywhere near legible. I guess need new eyes.
    I hate the compression sleeves. Can’t we just put some miracle grow on the actual jersey sleeves and bring them back? Make them from a tighter compression-like material if they have to but keep them as part of the jersey.

    And I say again…. The NU white pants are the suck…

    The purple jerseys with white numbers and black striping will be much more legible. The chest striping makes it much harder to read the numbers on the white jersey. Maybe if they were a little bolder font.

    I can’t believe just how many NU players are wearing the compression shirt. I must say agree with those above, loving the look.

    I am loving the looks of the Basketball UDB. Wets my appetite for more. May I ask: How long before we get to see another season or two? Also, any notions of including the ABA down the road?

    So… you’re gonna have the 2013 season ready before it happens?

    You should probably work on the past before you try to predict the future.

    /just sayin’

    Cruising the rpm link…

    Sir, it’s been said before, but you have to know that your bobbleheads are just about the most delightful, the most joyful thing in all of sports. Honestly.

    Masterful work.

    My local high school (Lafayette Jefferson Bronchos. Yes, with an “H”.) broke out new helmets last night, mirroring Boise State, only with their colors (red and black). Other side of the helmet was blank.

    link

    yes they do

    but then, all matte helmets do

    ~~~

    top contender for the 5 & 1 fer sher

    I hate this matte trend but I do have to admit the one Ohio is wearing actually looks mostly decent.

    Same here. They looked good.

    I wonder do the matte helmets maybe not get scuffed as much? Getting other teams helmet paint on them?

    If I’m not mistaken, the matte helmets scuff MORE than the usual clear-coated helmets. And they look terrible after a bunch of hits.

    It won’t happen because the Irish struggled during this period, but I would like to see the blue jerseys with the white and yellow striping from the Faust era as a Notre Dame throwback.

    Gerry’s Moeller High School homages? You’re correct; it won’t happen. Even he saw the light and went back to Ara Parseghian’s navy shirts with white numbers and letters for his final two seasons.

    but I would like to see the blue jerseys with the white and yellow striping from the Faust era as a Notre Dame throwback home jersey.

    Fixed

    double checked it last night! today has to be one of the greatest days of the year so far.. college football truly begins, Buckeyes won and DW starts tonight..

    New turf at Boston College. Looks good; the maroon matches the jerseys and isn’t that terrible washed-out color of a year ago.

    Y’know…as long as Arkansas State doesn’t look like crap, Phil just *might* get his fondest wish tomorrow…

    It’s weird to see them in those colors. I like it but I’m so confused at the same time. Couldn’t they invent a cream helmet or something? HHHhmmm…

    Lot of great uni stuff out there today…Northwestern’s horizontal stripe and spandex sleeves as well as FSU’s garnet and gold shoes and socks.

    Most surprisingly I noticed the return of the midriff. Lots of players tucking the uni under their shoulder pads ala late 80s and early 90s. Sorry no time for pics.

    the tiggers vs the tiggers colour vs. colour would look a lot better if both teams weren’t wearing white pants

    IU’s gloves and undershirts sport black. Fuck you Adidas. Hoosier don’t wear back, boilermakers do. God, UA is quickly overtaking you. You’re a goddamn joke…

    Also, ISU look TERRIBLE! Mono White with black, navy and royal elements? Train wreck.

    I’m liking that look for Michigan except for the helmet numbers. Going back to the blue facemask is a major plus as well. Of course I still hate the look Bama has. Yeah it’s classic, fantastic. I still hate it but they do get points for realizing a log time ago that putting names on the uniform is a good thing.

    Count me as not a fan. Of course I hate ND and Penn State’s as well. Not to say I hate all the classics. Ohio State, USC, and Georgia look great. So many things I hate about Bama’s.

    With those tops I like the yellow. With the road whites they’ve worn the last few years I wouldn’t mind seeing blue pants. As long as they don’t go back to white.

    M is for moron? the wolverines wear gold pants.

    the helmet numbers are the only thing wrong with michigan. they muddy up the helmet and take away from the wings, and you can’t read them anyway. it’s an uneeded bumber sticker on an otherwise fine look.

    This is true. It is maize and not yellow. I was too busy screaming at Tino Sunseri to think properly. That may become the theme for the year once again unless they finally decide to bench him.

    yes they call their gold maize, but it is still a shade of gold. but you are correct even though it is not the shade of maize they first used. but whatever, shades of gold change over time for all teams that wear it. the point is they came up with a nice jersey without changing their uni, and i applaud that, why change everything. and more importantly, how would blue pants make it better in any way?

    Not sure it was mentioned at all but my beloved Pittsburgh Panthers didn’t have names on their jerseys tonight and it looked terrible. Then again with how bad the team played it may be a good thing the names were removed.
    They’ve had this uniform set for a few years now and other than the awful set of white pants and the “Pitt” on the helmet it’s grown on me. Lose the white pants and put the panther head back on the helmet (and now add the names back on) and it would be perfect.

    Which as a PittSBURGH fan I’ve always hated. It’s The University of Pittsburgh not The University of Pitt. I refuse to wear anything with “Pitt” on it.

    In the city, it’s Pitt. Period. If you try to refer to the University as “Pittsburgh” without “University of” in front of it, you’ll get funny looks.

    How about them Youngstown State Penguins.
    YSU 31
    Pitt 17

    YSU unis looked rather plain. white jersey and plain white pants. The football team did a great job.

    I’m so glad I missed having to watch most of this game due to other commitments. What I saw of it wasn’t very good.

    My alma mater beat Pitt! Go Guins! :)

    IDK what I’m more excited about, YSU beating an FBS school, or Ohio (NOT Ohio State, OHIO) beating Pedophile State. Ah yes, its a great day to be a mid-major from Ohio. A major school from PA? Not so much…

    So right Joe. I am a YSU grad too. Today was a good day. Ohio State rolled in Urban Meyer debut. Ohio U beats Penn State. Youngstown State beat Pitt.

    I enjoyed all 3.

    my dad is a YSU grad as well..

    the lady that backed into my wife’s car a few months back was a YSU grad too.. which is kinda rare in FL

    I only saw the last few minutes of the game but YSU deserved that win. The Panthers were the suck today and the Pirates got beat as well. Not a good day. But PSU got beat by Ohio so at least I had that.

    Tony C, I am enjoying Michigan game too. Way too many goofball Michigan fans in the Youngstown area.

    Got to see pics of the game on ESPN.com. Looks like YSU got new uniforms. I liked the truncated shoulder stripes a la LSU, but at least they didn’t try to copy the 49ers again. Trust me, that was more than a coincidence when they did that. Their biggest donor by far is the DeBartolo-York family.

    On a related note, CBS affiliate WKBN has the YSU win against Pitt as their lead story!

    Holy shit. I can’t believe I’m typing this, but Oregon almost looks great! The stupid-ass wings and feathers on the helmets and shoulders aside, that’s a damn fine uniform. That green and yellow is wonderful. They should make those the school colors!

    I think it’s past that now.

    The helmet wings work great in Philadelphia but I’m not sure if I like or hate the ones for Oregon. Maybe if they were in the matching shade of green instead of chrome.

    Boooooo to the new Toledo helmets. Always loved the block Toledo with the rocket logo and now it is a single rocket on one side and ugly numbers on the other……booooo

    The matte finish is okay….when it stays on,but I noticed it coming off on a lot of helmets

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