By Phil Hecken
Tough day for me personally, yesterday, as it was difficult to get a proper interwebs connection — so this will be a barebones post (well, as barebones as a weekend post of mine can be).
Lots of college action to get to with Terry D. So lets get right into it. Here’s your…
Sunday Morning Uni Watch
by Terry Duroncelet
The last Saturday in September 2012 was very interesting/busy from a uni-standpoint. We have a lot to cover, so let’s get right into it.
From Thursday:
• Washington wore their BFBS uniforms. Sad. Almost as sad as the call made in that same stadium three days earlier.
From Saturday:
• Illinois did their best Virginia impression and wore their navy helmets for the first time this season with orange jerseys and navy pants against Penn State. Here’s an Instagram? shot of the helmet from the Illinois Football Facebook page.
• Virginia did their best Illinois impression and wore their throwback uniforms against Louisiana Tech. Nice. Also note the 1968 nose bumpers (here’s a closer look). Huge thanks to Jim Vilk for sending that my way.
• Here’s a look at West Virginia’s stripe-out from the Mountaineers’ Big XII debut. Here’s another. In that same game, Baylor went full-Stormtrooper.
• Yes! Virginia Tech wore their best (road) combo ever: maroon helmets, white jerseys, and orange pants. Thank you VT, for embracing the Autumn colors in, well… Autumn. This calls for a celebration =) BTW, Cincinnati wore their red pants with the black jerseys. Even with the Bearcats’ choice of using the Adidas TaffyFit fabric, this was still a great-looking game.
• Duke wore their blue helmets against Wake Forest, and also: blue pants! I’ve never seen those from Duke before (not with their current uniform, at least). Also, Wake Forest wore their gold tops with black pants. Lots of great contrast in this game.
• Speaking of gold shirts, Boston College wore their gold jerseys with (insert official shade of red for BC here) pants. Not bad, but I really wish that Clemson (their opponents) would have worn their orange tops instead of the whites. BC also wore the glass pattern helmet stripe.
• San Jose State wore mono-white against Navy, instead of their usual gold pants. Not sure how I feel about this. I mean, it’s not a bad look, but it doesn’t really look like SJSU to me. Maybe it’s my inner Californian talking.
• North Carolina wore their US flag NC decal helmets. They also had that interpretation of the logo/flag at midfield. I understand their hearts are in the right place (this was for Military Appreciation Day), but still… gross. If I had my way, I would’ve kept the usual decals and replaced the NOBs with “‘Murrica”.
• Colorado apparently got a head start on the NFL’s annual skinning of the Pink Panther and wore these on Saturday. Oh geez, it’s not even officially October yet >.< (credit Mark Francis for forwarding me the Facebook link, otherwise, I wouldn’t have even known about this game). Also, the Buffs wore black pants with the black jerseys and gold helmets for the first time in years (again: gold lids. Colorado went full-Vader against USC last year).
• You know those new Tulsa helmets that Paul ran in the Ticker a couple of days ago? They broke ’em out against UAB.
• The LSU Tigers wore their purple jerseys against Towson, a common practice for LSU when hosting a non-SEC opponent. Here’s an epic shot from the LSU Facebook page.
• Oklahoma State went black/orange/black against Texas. I would’ve saved that combo for October, but I’m okay with this if it means that we see Okie St.’s orange tops more often.
• Some quick Division 1-AA news, as Albany State went color-vs.-color against Kentucky State (which seems to happen a lot with the former). Also note the TNOB (Team Name On Back). Thanks again to Jim Vilk for sending that my way.
• Ole Miss went with their grey uniforms against Alabama. I had a feeling that they would do this. Don’t know why.
• It was a wet one between Southern Miss. and Louisville. So wet, that the ref apparently raided someone’s lunchbox to protect his mic. From Bryan Grupp, who sent in that photo: “It looks like the head referee of the Louisville-Southern Mississippi game, which is currently being played in a monsoon, is using a Ziploc bag to keep his microphone pack dry.”
• Arizona wore their copper helmets against Oregon State.
• It’s Wisconsinmanmen vs. the Nebraska Noids! I’ll be honest, I think that Wisconsin should switch to those uniforms full-time (just take the big ‘W’ on the front and flip it with the small number above the heart, and create a home version of that). Some of the Badgers wore the TechFit version of the jersey top, while others wore the conventional (read: not ugly) fabric and cut. As for Nebraska… um… well… ah, I got nothin’. Also, remember when I talked about Robert Griffin III’s swooshless Baylor jersey from week 1? You might want to check that. To add to that, he was shown wearing his Adidas cleats with Adidas socks in that scene and in this scene seconds earlier. Weird.
So there you have it, a college football weekend jam-packed with colors, Letterman costumes, and pumpkin ice cream. Catch you guys next week.
Thanks TJ!
Catherine Ryan’s 5 & 1
The five and one has been a staple of Uni Watch for three years, usually ably administered by Jim Vilk. But he got old and tired, so we needed someone young and fresh. And we’ve found that someone in this year’s new 5 & 1 decider…Catherine Ryan.
Catherine’s settling into the 5 & 1 role quite nicely, although a number of you still disagree with her — and that’s ok, because it’s all opinion anyway. I think she’s doing a fine job. So let’s see what is on tap for this week:
Happy Sunday, everyone! There were a bunch of great games yesterday and a couple of pretty terrible ones. Let’s get started!
5. Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati: I gave Virginia Tech the business last weekend for those awful camouflage costumes. I was very happy to see them looking sharp this weekend. I have a weakness for colored pants on the road. Also, the white and black was a nice contrast for those who actually watched the game live!
4. Texas vs. OSU: Texas is one of the only teams that I look forward to seeing in all-white. I’m also a big fan of OSU pairing black helmets with black pants.
3. Ohio State vs. Michigan State: I might get some guff for not choosing an Ohio State game where the team is in their scarlet jerseys. However, they looked great yesterday in the road whites and I just couldn’t resist. Michigan State looked great at home even with the wild sport sleeves.
2. Duke vs. Wake Forest: I absolutely loved the look of this game. It was in close contention for the top spot. Duke looked great and Wake Forest showed up in their gold alternates.
1.Towson vs. LSU: It’s hard not to give LSU the top spot when they show up in those gorgeous purple jerseys. Add in the fact that a spunky Towson squad seemed to be sniffing an upset, and you have a great game all around!
Honorable Mention
Baylor vs. West Virginia — This was a beautiful game to watch and would’ve been in the Top 5 had I not had WVU in the countdown last weekend. Just trying to spice it up a little bit! The fans creating the striped effect in the stands was also pretty neat.
And the bad one…
Albany State vs. Kentucky State — So this happened yesterday. Make sure you take a closer look at Kentucky State’s sleeves.
+1 Honorable Mention
Wisconsin vs. Nebraska — Overall this was very ’blah’ to me. Everyone has seen the pictures, if not the actual game, so I look forward to hearing everyone’s opinions!
Thanks Catherine! Well readers, how do you think she did?
2012 Duck Tracker…
The fifth game of the 2012 Ducks season had the Duckies quacking up north at Wazzu. So they went green/white/gray against a Wazzu team also wearing gray pants. Definitely not one of the better looks for them.
Our 2012 Duck Tracker is Tim E. O’Brien, and here he is to tell you about it:
Oregon, what can I say? You want to be the uniform school but you keep dropping the ball with boring uniform combos. I like all the elements by themselves but together they’re just blah. Better luck next week.
Be sure to also stop by the Hoosier and NU uni trackers (yesterday, I was a heart divided), as well as the rest of the uni tracker sites.
Thanks Tim.
“Benchies” first appeared at U-W in 2008, and has been a Saturday & Sunday feature here for the past two years.
One must adjust to accommodate one’s immediate needs, mustn’t one…
Click to enlarge
That’s it for today folks. Sorry it was not a full-sized Phil post (and you’re probably all thankful for that). I realize the Nets got new uniforms but I don’t give a shit haven’t had time to fully assess their starkness. Maybe tomorrow, because I’m pinch-hitting for Paul — since it’s going to be a MMUW, I’d really appreciate it if you fine readers could go easy on the ticker material (yes, there will be one, and I can already tell you it’s looking pretty long) — but if you could either post in the comments, or e-mail to me or the uniwatching address, anything you happen to notice about today’s NFL games that falls into the category of “good for Monday’s MMUW” would be greatly appreciated.
Have a great Sunday, and I’ll catch you tomorrow.
“Boston College apparently has a fixation on condiments: Mustard on the top, ketchup on the bottom. Can’t recall if I’ve ever seen that combination before.”
–Skycat
Not quite sure why, but Wash St’s primer-gray helmets looked really nice on TV in my opinion. Really “popped” – if you’ll excuse the expression – more than I thought they would. Great to see my Deacons rocking the Old Gold, so much better than the black unis. Also, Carolina’s lid logo looked awesome no matter what you think, you gosh-darned hippie. America!
For me, it’s the glossy gray color, and especially the matching face mask.
Terry, I’m really disappointed in you using a generic HERP DERP image when you could have used this: link instead.
Am I the only one? I like that Wisconsin uni.
Yes you are. Looks like it was made with red electrical tape!
It’s not bad… I think it’d work better if it used Wisconsin’s actual W instead of the same font as Nebraska. Then again, if they did that and it catches on, you’ll eventually end up with football jerseys that look like sleeveless hockey jerseys. I’m not sure if that’s good or not.
The Wisconsin Uni was okay but if they ELIMINATED the BFBS on the facemask, socks and shoes (stick with red or white) and you have an interesting alternate/faux-back.
The adidas “Unrivaled” stuff hasn’t been selling well up here in Madison, at least where I work. I doubt yesterday’s performance will help. Personally I don’t like ’em.
I really liked them myself! I would love to get one of their “fauxback” hats they were wearing on the sidelines. Those were spiffy!
Anyone notice “ONE” was on the Illinois nose bumpers? I thought in the past they used “TEAM”> Was that a 2012 change or just for those funky helmets?
TEAM was a Ron Zook thing. Since he’s gone new coach Beckman has his own motto.
Did anyone see the Southern University-Florida A&M game yesterday? Southern’s jerseys had UCLA inserts that were full in the front and only very slightly shorter in the back. And all the jerseys had basically full sleeves, no “show-your-guns” cuts.
Now it just so happens that both teams were outfitted by Russell Athletic. Russell has been in the garment business since 1902 and has been making football jerseys for over 80 years. And they got a UCLA insert right. Amazing!
I was going to add-How come Nike, Reebok, adidas, Under Armour et al can’t figure out how to make a jersey correctly?
With age comes wisdom. Nuf ced!
Thanks Catherine! Well readers, how do you think she did?
Quite well, indeed. I might have disagreed with a couple of last week’s choices, but Catherine generally explains her opinions well, and they are opinions after all…
I’m still looking for a photo (I didn’t have my phone nearby)- I am pretty certain that a close up of a Wisconsin helmet last night showed a pink ribbon sticker. It was on the back of the helmet, bottom left.
It was a wet one between Southern Miss. and Louisville. So wet, that the ref apparently raided someone’s lunchbox to protect his mic.
That’s funny shit, TJ. Also, I agree 100% with you regarding Wisconsin’s unis.
Also-also: what the hell is going on with this centered alignment?
First– yes, I get it. Its an opinion piece, but why opine if not for argument’s sake, right?
Ok off the soapbox now– 5&1 was going soooo great i was to number 2 and so pleasantly surprised I had to make sure Vilk wasn’t back. And then you choose Towson?? Whatever about LSU and their purple people eater shirts, but really, Towson? With that God-awful stripe/panel/trapezoidal-shaped mess running down their side. Terrible #1 choice.
Overall, though, much better column this week. Maybe FSU will get in one of these days (when Towson has a bye week)….
I agree wholeheartedly. Towson’s uniforms are a catastrophe. Easily the ugliest uniforms in the CAA
By the way, what the hell is this:
link
That’s just embarrassing. But I agree with Phil, really couldn’t give any less shits about the Nets or their new boring unis.
That’s because it isn’t a basketball uni. It’s a hip-hop statement and will be marketed as such.
Catehrine, Nice job. I was telling my brother how good Ohio State’s road unis looked yesterday. I do usually like the scarlet home jerseys. But yesterday I kept thinking my Buckeyes looked pretty darn sharp today.
There was virtually nothing “back” about Wisconsin-Nebraska last night.
Those are self-indulgent “This is the Kind of Thing We’d Do If You Let Us” exhibitions for the uni-makers.
Which makes them far, far more TATC than anything.
And we’re letting them get away with saying they’re about “history/legacy.”
I call bullshit on them. Serious bullshit.
HEAR! HEAR!
The thing is that they could have made that game a good throwback game.
Wisconsin could have worn this style from early 1930’s Badgers in the white jerseys. vs Ohio State in the dark.
link
Nebraska should have worn this throwback.
link
WVU-Baylor really was a beautiful game to watch. WVU in blue/blue/gold (as west-by-god intended) and Baylor in all white, with the stadium striped… very visually striking. All the points helped too.
West-By-God, indeed buddy!
Really wish I could’ve been at that one. They should wear that at every single home game.
Maybe becoming an old grump (or lack of sleep), but finds it more troubling that schools will spend all this money on different uni options- I get its good for recruiting, and I love looking at em…but sometimes wonder if money better spent on a free scholly for a needy student, etc. NYY fan, so obviously, there are greays and there are pinstripes…tradition. BUt maybe just my lack of sleep today! Sorry.
Must be a sleep deprivation thing ’cause I’m thinking along the same lines.
What the hell is up with the comments section?! The alignment is off, can’t tell when someone is replying to a previous post.
Anyway…good job on the 5&1 today. I also thought Kentucky-S. Carolina looked great.Here’s a good pic: link
The alignment looks fine to me… what browser are you using?
In IE9, everything is center aligned, instead of left aligned like usual. It looks like it started with Phil’s closing statement.
Two words: Google Chrome
Firefox 15 on Mac OS X Lion. I have Steve D.’s “problem.” I would predict that Phil centered the Benchies strip, and then forgot to close the center tag. No need to throw out the baby with the bathwater–your browser is likely fine.
IE9, eh? Well, I launched it and saw no problem. But since IE9 has no ad-block like Chrome 22 has..I’d swear I saw a Nike ad on the page.
Musta been mistaken.
p.s. Lovin Catherine Ryan’s column- even thought about it during games yesterday, alt forgot MY list.
I love Catherine Ryan’s column simply for the fact that her full name is the same as the first names for my son and daughter.
The WVU-Baylor game looked good alright–for Madden fans.
And good work Catherine. I like that pic of you with the tiger ears.
I agree with Robbie Robb about all the different uni options. It’s a bit gluttonous. We always hear it’s for recruiting because these programs have no spine and let the tail wag the dog. Wouldn’t it be refreshing to hear a coach say, “We have a strong tradition and want strong men. This is about football. If you want glitz and glamour, then go somewhere else. We’ll only take men who work hard and win. So what is more important to you, winning on the football field or the color of your shoelaces?”
let’s try to fix it
Didn’t work
maybe this will left align
Watching the Vikings-Lions game right now and they showed Adrian Peterson wearing soccer-style shin guards. Is this normal?
Nevermind…did my own research and found out it is pretty normal for AP to wear the guards.
The Seahawks’ road unis are only better than the home ones because of the lesser use of neon.
Nope. The Seahawks road uniforms need more neon. Seattle should embrace the neon. We’ve had like 20 years of darkness in sports uniform design. It’s time that someone broke the mold.
Bright colors are not evil.
Don’t mind the neon. It’s the design that sucks. They seem to be kind of disposable — until a new fad comes along. They will not stand the test of time.
Which is why I wish they’d wear the gray pants at home and the blue pants on the road.
The Oregon Washington State game with both wearing gray pants was strange. I kept think of back in the early years when both or all teams wore khaki pants.
Oregon would have looked better with green pants.
Indeed. It’s like these teams aren’t even thinking when they decide on their uniform combos. I mean, how often do we see a team pull out a BFBS uniform against a team that typically wears black? For the love of Azura, if you’re gonna deviate from your normal uniform, wear something different than your opponent. Duh…
Yeah that’s pretty normal for Adrian Peterson.
My problem with Catherine is she continually picks on FCS teams. If they’re not playing an FBS team, they shouldn’t be included in the countdown.
Hey I went to Youngstown State, which is FCS!
At the end of the day, FCS is still Division I. I have no problem with her including them in. Heck, it could be the NAIA and I wouldn’t have any problems. It’s all college football.
Go Penguins
YSU! YSU!! YSU!!! 4-0 to start the season, with a trip to the defending national champions next week. The Penguins are back, baby!
I loved watching the Penguins in the 90s! I look in on them, from time to time, to see how they’re doing. Here’s to a great season for them!!!
The men’s basketball team is on the rise, too. I’d keep an eye on them, Butler can’t rule the Horizon League forever. lol
Go Guins! :)
Why not? College football is college football. This site is about aesthetics, not rankings. If some lowly team happens to have an awesome uniform, should they not be mentioned?
Indeed. Some of the D3 teams here look fantastic while others look like they were designed by preschoolers. I’ve loved some of Catherine’s choices and hated others just as I did with previous years. But it’s nice to see someone speak their hatred of the all white on the road and their favoring of colored pants on the road though. Still my biggest peeve in football.
has the Assistant Coaches for MSU that call that signal in the plays wear red Spartan hats?
link
and what was that giant green patch on his sleeve
Tennessee went full stormtrooper for what I believe is the first time in the Dooley era. They had been wearing orange pants on the road (A look I prefer).
link
I wouldn’t really call Tennessee a Stormtrooper team, because Dooley era aside, the Vols wear all-white on the road on a regular basis.
Is the term only reserved for when teams wear all-white as an alternate, then? Either way, it was still a departure from what they had been wearing on the road the last 2 years.
“Is the term only reserved for when teams wear all-white as an alternate, then?”
Yeah, Stormtrooper usually refers to a team that doesn’t wear a Tennessee/Penn State/Texas-style white uniform on the regular, like Baylor from yesterday. They usually wear gold helmets, and had they done so against WVU, I would’ve referred to them as wearing mono-white, but they went with the Stormtrooper look with their choice of white helmets with the mono-white uniform.
Also, Georgia Tech’s QB looked like he had some kind of elastic bands cinching the sleeves on his bumblebee jersey.
link
Redacted. I guess the blue stripes are where the jersey ends, and the sleeves are the compression shirt underneath. What a stupid uniform.
“…If I had my way, I would’ve kept the usual decals and replaced the NOBs with “‘Murrica”.”
That’s funny, Phil!
it is funny — but that’s TJ’s line, not mine
back online now (don’t ask)
sorry if there was a problem with the comments being centered — i managed to leave out one little teensy “>” in the coding and that’s what happens…it’s also what happens when you’re working on the equivalent of a commodore 64 at 2:30 am…
should be fixed now (if it wasn’t already)…
The Dolphins are wearing white jerseys/pants at Arizona today, eschewing wearing aqua pants with their white jerseys as they have done in recent seasons on the road.
Didnt get a screen shot, but in the first game of the Angels-Rangers doubleheader, Zack Greinke’s NOB was misspelled. He later changed to a jersey with his NOB correctly spelled. Dont know what inning it happened, but the Ranger’s announcers mentioned it in their commentary.
Only watched the Niners game casually as I was otherwise occupied.
Are the Niners that good, or the Jets that bad?
Thanks Rexie.
Yes.
Don’t know if this has been posted yet, but the Cardinals have instituted “High Socks Sunday.” More info near the bottom here:
link
I’m a Nebraska alum, I think those unis should be burned and never spoken of again. Terrible
As an alum , I loved the Badger uniforms.
Switch the letter/number on the chest, maybe reverse the helmet colors, and I’d be very happy with it.
If anyone should be wearing grey it’s the Ole Miss Rebels.
How come the C-Hawks will go apeshit on the pants mismatching away but when it comes to home it’s all blue all the time?
It’s amazing to me that Ole Miss v. Alabama was excluded from the 5+1. Ole Miss wears their “dress greys” opposite the traditional, clean Alabama look. Ole Miss, as Trevor wrote, should be the only team, aside from Georgia, allowed to wear grey. Grey is ACTUALLY a regular part of both uniforms.
Hey Catherine – no UVA vs La Tech on your list? IMO, the best looking game of the weekend. Just sayin’…
Ducks are loving the gray pants a bit too much so far this year but at least they didn’t go all white. I like the copper Arizona helmet but maybe because it makes me think of the Rattlers. Wouldn’t want it full time though. Nice to see the rare LSU purple games. I’m not a big LSU fan but with those contrasting end zones and the tigers eye they have by far the best looking field in D1 as well.
link
^Western Michigan new uni’s and yellow Toledo helmets
link
^UTSA Orange pants
Holy cow! I had no idea that Toledo had yellow lids! And The UTSA game was unfortunately blacked out for me >=(
I do like the carbon helmets of WMU – and the Gold lids for Toledo, nice change of pace. Now, not sure if I like that shoulder strip for WMU. It has potential – just may have to grow on me
Um, you forgot the Miami / NC State game…