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For most media outlets, the big NBA news yesterday was David Stern’s announcement that he’ll be stepping down as commissioner in February of 2014.

But they all buried the lead. The real NBA headline yesterday was that the owners have officially backed off from their uniform advertising plan. This essentially confirms what I reported last week.

I think this one calls for Q&A mode:

Does this mean the uni advertising initiative is officially dead?
No. According to Darren Rovell’s story, linked in the first graf, the owners “put off” or “tabled” the program because “they needed more time to study it.” So the whole thing could be revived later on.

When will that be?
There’s no indication of that so far.

The plan was originally supposed to go into effect next season — a year from now. Could that still happen?
I doubt it. The final vote to approve the plan was originally supposed to take place in September. We’re now about to enter November, and the additional time to “study” the plan will likely push things into the new year. Even if they worked out the kinks by early 2013, I don’t think they’d have enough time to implement the plan by the start of the 2013-14 season. For one thing, it was widely reported a few months ago that the ad patches would go where the NBA logo is now positioned, which would force them to move the NBA logo to the rear neckline (like on MLB jerseys). That may seem like a small change, but it actually has implications that ripple throughout the uni-supply pipeline, from manufacturing to retail. And as you know, uniform changes, even small ones, need to be set up well in advance. I just don’t see them getting their shit together in time to launch this initiative next season.

What about the season after that?
That makes more sense. Stern, who opposes uniform advertising (but said he wouldn’t “stand in the way of it”), will officially step down in February of 2014. His replacement, Adam Silver, is the guy who was directing the uni advertising program, so that should tell you the scent in the wind. If they choose to go ahead with this plan, it would seem plausible for them to get started at the outset of the 2014-15 season — Silver’s first full season as commissioner. It would be a strong way for him to put his personal stamp on the league, to show that he’s not Stern.

But again, that’s if the owners resolve their differences and concerns and decide they want to go ahead with it. As Rovell and I have both reported, they’ve hit some speed bumps, and it’s not yet clear how, or if, they’ll deal with them.

Rovell’s article says they were worried about endorsement conflicts, but last week you said the big problem was that the owners couldn’t agree on how to divvy up the cash. Who’s right?
I suspect we’re both right. The two claims certainly aren’t mutually exclusive.

Did the #NoUniAds campaign have any impact on the owners’ decision?
Not sure. I do know we got their attention (sorry, can’t go into details, but trust me, they noticed), but I’m not sure to what extent, if any, it factored into their thinking.

If they’re just gonna revive the plan in the near future anyway, and if you don’t even know if #NoUniAds made a difference, isn’t today’s headline a bit misleading?
Hey, when the Martians die in War of the Worlds because they can’t survive Earth’s atmosphere, it’s still a victory, even though the humans didn’t directly defeat them. When Dunder Mifflin decides not to close the Scranton branch after all in this episode of The Office, it’s still a victory, even if Michael and Dwight’s “Please don’t close us down” expedition had nothing to do with it. In short: You take what the enemy gives you, and right now the enemy just retreated.

And even if they revive the plan, I think we probably just bought ourselves at least a year. A lot can happen in a year — circumstances can change, minds can change. (Hey, maybe my mind will change and I’ll suddenly come to be in favor of uniform ads! But I doubt it.) And even if they end up instituting uniform ads in 2014, that’s still better than 2013 (just as 2013 would have been better than 2012, and so on). Like I said, you take what they give you.

I know a lot of you invested time, energy, and emotion in the #NoUniAds campaign. Go ahead and enjoy the moment — you’ve earned it.

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Race to the bottom, continued: Remember Atlantic High School’s two-tone uniforms from a few weeks back? The same company that made those, Futuristic Woo, has now designed uniforms for another Miami-area school, Carol City High. This what they’ll be wearing in 2013 (click to enlarge):

Carol_City_2013_Youso_Apparel_Uniforms.png

As you can imagine, I’m not too thrilled with the use of Native American imagery (and I’m not the only one), but that’s the least of the issues here. The rest of the internet is already going ballistic over this design, which of course is exactly what the school and the manufacturer want. I’ll limit my comments to this: It’s not often that you see a pant design that gives such literal meaning to the term “dick for brains.”

Meanwhile, according to a Futuristic Woo press release, schools across the country are clamoring to have the company design their uniforms, so get ready for the brave new world of costume design, wheee!

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Fun with pumpkins, continued: From now through Halloween, I’ll happily post photos of any uni-related pumpkin carvings you folks come up with. Here are today’s submissions:

• “My wife and I are both Clemson fans,” says Benji Boyter. “We did their ‘Tiger Paw’ logo last year, so we did something different this year. And by ‘we,’ I totally mean ‘her,’ because I don’t have the patience to do all that intricate carving.”

• Kevin Driscoll carved this Iowa Hawkeyes jack-o-lantern.

• “Here is my attempt at the UMD Bulldog logo,” says Chad Kaddatz.

• I really like this one: Alan Bloomquist’s brother, Barton, carved a Randy Johnson pumpkin.

• Greg Boaz carved this Alabama pumpkin. “I realize I screwed up the E,” he says.

• “My friend Sam made this Kansas State pumpkin,” says Stephen Berry. “I told him he has to keep it on his porch until they lose a game. So, as gross as it may be, we’re all hoping this is still molding on his doorstep come Christmastime!”

• From Jon Beckmann: “In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Twins winning their first World Series, I based this year’s pumpkin on a design from a T-shirt I have.”

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Uni Watch News Ticker: Will the Warriors’ as-yet-unrevealed alternate uni look like this? Could be, according to a former Adidas employee. “That photo was taken in April, so tweaks may have been made,” says my source. “They were playing around with the idea of short-sleeve jerseys too. Also saw a Cavs jersey sample that spelled ‘Cleveland’ with every font in their history — pretty damn ugly.” That sounds like this season’s Cavfanatics jersey. Intriguing. ”¦ A few follow-ups from yesterday: First, I asked what Mike Jenkins was wearing under his jersey. Several readers explained that it’s a shoulder harness thingie. … I also mentioned that I’d never seen NFL players trading jerseys after a game, but Rob Stukenborg pointed out that Arian Foster and Ray Lewis did it last year. … Oregon’s football stadium has a flag telling fans which color the Ducks will wear that week — and, implicitly, which color the fans should wear (from Jay Sullivan). … The official typeface for the 2016 Rio Olympics has been unveiled (from Cody Dannen). … This is pretty interesting: USC has been having players change their uni numbers — not just between games, but sometimes within games. And apparently there’s no rule against that. Fascinating (thanks, Brinke). … Gotta love this Edmonton Eskimos paper helmet (from Jon Solomonson). ”¦ Gerry Dincher was watching a 1978 Ohio State game and noticed an interesting midfield logo. “Is there a hidden meaning?” he asks. “Are the Buckeyes saying they are the Big One in the Big Ten?” … Lots of good photos and interesting analysis in this article about memorial venues in general and Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in particular (big thanks to James Ashby). … “My brother, Brian, interned with the Chiefs a few years ago,” says Brett Gaul. “He was Lamar Hunt’s fill-in for the team picture — you can see him to the right of Herm Edwards in the second row. They then put Lamar’s head on Brian’s body. One of the coolest things ever. Trent Green and Jared Allen kept calling him Mr. Hunt and asking if he needed anything.” ”¦ As you may have heard, sprinter Lolo Jones is now a member of the U.S. bobsled team. “I noticed that she covered up the Nike logo on her top,” says Anthony Gonsalves. “She is sponsored by Asics. Also, she’s wearing a track top.” ”¦ Robert Griffin III, John Wall, and Bryce Harper — all of whom play in DC — have bonded over some striped socks (from Max Weintraub). ”¦ New uniforms for the Lexington Legends (from Eric C. Leach). ”¦ Mike Wissman is really annoyed by that guy in the Marlins jersey at the World Series. ”¦ Angel Pagan keeps ending up with torn pits (screen shot by Sean Robbins). ”¦ New sweatbacks for Vanderbilt (from Will Edge). ”¦ The animation sequence at the beginning of this 1966 Chargers highlight clip is priceless (major thanks to Bill Kellick). ”¦ Good article about NFL coaches’ attire (from Jeff Flynn, Jr.). … Here are some more photos of Boston College’s flag-desecration costume. ”¦ Tim Gambill notes that Clay Matthews is wearing Nike but the Pats player is wearing Reebok in a current Gillette commercial. ”¦ “The Bears are running a ‘Believe in Monsters’ costume contest — as in ”˜Monsters of the Midway’ — for Halloween,” says Jerry Kulig. “This guy titles his entry as ‘homemade 1920s era.'” Very cool.

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As you may have heard, those of us here on the eastern seaboard are supposedly staring down the barrel of a loaded hurricane. So I’ll be spending most of today stocking up on bread, meat, batteries, meat, candles, meat, Diet Coke beer, meat, and cat food, not necessarily in that order.

I’ve been through a few ’canes in my day. In 1976, Hurricane Belle forced the postponement of my Little League All-Star Game (or as my mother put it when I asked if she had washed my uniform, “Paul, trust me, you are not going to be playing baseball tomorrow”). We lost power for a few days and our big willow tree forever. Naturally, I thought it was all very exciting, especially the part where I got to eat all the ice cream because it was just gonna melt anyway. In ’85, I was away in college while Hurricane Gloria was bearing down on Long Island. I remember being at my girlfriend’s place, doing the things college students do (let’s not go into details), when it occurred to me that I should call my parents and make sure they were okay. We chatted for a few minutes and then the line went dead. That was kinda creepy. They turned out to be fine, although we lost a few more trees.

My Mom was always terrified of a hurricane destroying the house. When she and my father moved to a retirement community in 2003, it took a few years before she stopped saying, “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about a hurricane taking the roof off the house anymore.” (Sometimes for good measure she’d say, “And we don’t have to worry about that tree falling on the car, either.”) Now she lives in an apartment tucked inside what is essentially a glorified hotel. She has a million-bazillion aches and pains to keep her occupied and can no longer be bothered with hurricanes. But I’m sure she’ll call me this Sunday to make sure I’m ready for the storm, and we’ll end up talking about Belle, and Gloria, and the other hurricanes we’ve been through over the years. See, that’s how you know you’re getting old: When you’ve been around long enough to get sentimental about hurricanes.

But before the storm comes, I have an epic Saturday planned: At noon, a tour of Bannerman Island; at 6pm, a beefsteak at an American Legion Hall in New Jersey; and in between, I hope, some bowling at my favorite pin-bashing emporium in Paterson. That’s my idea of hurricane prep.

 
  
 
Comments (132)

    re: Chargers animation….

    I’m always amazed at how SLOW things are/happen in old films, commercials, etc. That animation sequence takes :50. If made today, with today’s audiences’ attention spans it would have to be no longer than :05!

    (btw: I have to include myself in the Short Attention Span pool.)

    The Hi-Lites are cool! I love me some front-of-the-endzone goalposts!

    Re: the Ohio State midfield logo, it actually read as “Big 10″…using the Block O, instead of the 0.

    That logo was used for years. The other side of the O also had a Big 1 but it was upside down. So the logo was readable from both sides of the field.

    Some player reaction to the Steeler throwbacks from link:

    Buzz over uniforms

    You can call them their bumblebee uniforms, their jailbird outfits and laugh at them all you want, but some Steelers actually like the 1934 throwback uniforms they will wear Sunday, three days before Halloween.

    “We’ll be excited to wear them,” said nose tackle Steve McLendon. “Something different. I actually like them, I think they’re nice jerseys, the colors, the big ol’ patch number. I just hope it’s big enough for me.”

    The jerseys have been mocked and ridiculed by commentators across the country since they were publicly introduced in June. They have black and yellow horizontal stripes with block black numbers set off in white rectangles on the front. Oh, and the horizontal socks to match.

    “You get 45 guys dressed out in them, I think they’ll look good,” said safety Ryan Clark.

    “I actually got one for my wife, she loves them. She wanted one with my number on it. I think she’s pretty fashionable. She wouldn’t wear it if it were ugly.”

    Even 340-pound tackle Max Starks thinks it’s a good idea.

    “It’s exciting. It shows the history of the organization. The fact the organization has 80 years in the NFL and has throwbacks to wear, I think it’s one of the cool things to say that you’ve been part of that history.”

    “Horizontals are never flattering. Vertical stripes are little bit better on my end, but you have to do what you have to do, right? I’ll still make it look good.”

    Re:Lots of good photos and interesting analysis in this article about memorial venues in general and Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in particular…

    To this day, I have not driven past the old stadium site on 33rd St. I have such fond memories of growing up at that stadium that I don’t want to ever not see it standing in that spot.

    I generally agree with the author when he notes that fans tend to forget who the stadium is named for (i.e. “Memorial” gets associated with the O’s and Colts rather than World War I and II veterans). However, one way for fans to be reminded of the original intent for the naming of those sports venues is to float the idea of selling out the name of the stadium. The first thing I think of is the Bears asking to so to Soldier Field. The suggestion of corporate whoring focuses people back on the civic nod to those that served this country in battle. The resistence to such renaming gives hope that all is not lost just yet with the general population.

    Paul’s Bar & Bowling? That’s awesome! How much work would you get done if you lived in the duplex next door? Your only hazard on the way home is choosing the right door to unlock!

    It’s an awesome place — so awesome that I drive to NJ roughly every six weeks just to bowl there. The name is a nice bonus.

    True story: Paul’s Bar & Bowling is in Paterson, and the guy who first told me about it (a good 10 years ago now, maybe more) is named Freddie Patterson. So the place matches my name and the town matches his name.

    I love this blog. Everything about it makes it the first website I check in the morning. It seems like Paul and I would get along in real life, except on the issue of Native American imagery. I have no problem with it, this coming from a guy who’s great grandfather grew up on a reservation in Oklahoma until he decided to join the Marines during WWI. On that note, I actually like the uniforms, not because of the imagery, but because they are different and thinking outside the box. Also, its just a high school (for now). Differences aside, I love the blog and would like to attend one of your get togethers one day (as long as its not in NYC :p)

    Also, the Marlins jersey is annoying, but now as bad as the people that wear Cowboys jerseys to games that dont involve the Cowboys.

    As someone who doesn’t wear jerseys to games, I honestly don’t understand the fuss. Why can’t someone wear whatever they want (including a Marlins jersey, or a Cowboys jersey, or whatever)?

    Why is everybody so down on big ballparks? It helps your pitching & defense immensely. They can’t all be home run bandboxes playing softball games.

    I know Seattle has announced they’re moving in the fences for next season. Not sure of the exact details, but they’ve been thinking of doing it for several seasons. Their reasoning was sound. Team spokesman Stan Dewercs explained, ” We’re tired of being beaten like a narc, at a biker rally.”

    Why in the hell have baseball outfields *not* been standardized? I mean, seriously, how is it even remotely fair for a ball hit 400ft in one park to be a homerun while a ball hit 400ft in another park is an easy out?

    This is one of the reasons I don’t care about baseball.

    That’s pretty lame to blame their weak offenses, bad drafting & free agent signings on the outfield fence distance. Maybe the people in charge aren’t doing a good job.

    Great pitching always triumphs stupid “sexy” home runs.

    I never said the reason they stink was their fences. I reported that they want to move them in. That’s it. I would 100% agree with your evaluation concealed. They’ve had some great pitchers over the years. Some being the keyword. The rest of what you say, re: lack of run support, and front office mojo, is where they’ve failed miserably, outside of one or two seasons.

    It isn’t bad at all for a fan of the Cowboys to wear a Cowboys jersey, anywhere at all.

    Wearing sports gear is an act of self-expression; a fan tends to wear gear of a team he/she likes, as a way of stating “I am a fan” of the team in question (leaving aside those who wear a team’s gear just for looks, not particularly caring about the team).

    I have very few jerseys; but I have many (too many) hats — both for teams and also with other logos on them. The team hats that I have are of teams that I like; at last count I had 4 Chelsea hats and 17 Nets hats (New York, New Jersey, and Brooklyn). And I would wear these hats anywhere, including to games that don’t involve these teams (if I went to games).

    The oft-used comment that, by wearing a team’s gear, one is “supporting” or “repping” the team is not true — or, at best, partially true. One is in fact supporting oneself, by projecting a part of one’s identity. Which is to say that, when I wear a Chelsea hat, I am announcing myself as a Chelsea fan, because that’s what I want to project.

    And this act very often has a very obvious result: I frequently find myself in conversations about Chelsea in particular or about English football in general, started by someone’s having noticed my hat. A guy who works in my local Popeye’s has become my buddy thanks to such a discussion, a discussion which he started upon seeing my hat a few years ago.

    Yesterday, the day after the Nets had worn their beautiful ABA uniforms while playing in their former ABA home building, I wore one of my New York Nets hats; and I wore as a jacket my New York Nets warmup top. These worked to start conversations about the previous night’s game and about the Nets, which obviously pleased me.

    And the same thing tends to happen when wear my Cosmos hat or jersey (one of the few jerseys that I own).

    So no one should complain if a Marlins fan wears a Marlins jersey, even if it’s to a game in which the Marlins are not playing.

    I ALWAYS make sure to wear a Mets hat when I’m catching a ballgame in the Bronx, Game 1 of the Cards/Nats series was the first time I’d worn something other than a Mets cap to a game in DC.

    I know people have lamented New Era’s move from an apparel company to a “lifestyle” company, but I love the “Fly your own flag” slogan.

    So now we’re criticizing baseball fans for wearing a baseball jersey to a baseball game?

    Something something Orioles cap / something something Yankees owner box…

    No it is NOT annoying because not every one who goes to a baseball game has a closet full of the specific team caps, jerseys, etc. The World Series is my Super Bowl & I would watch and/or go to any game no matter who is playing (and wear my team gear). Isn’t the Super Bowl stadium full of fans from every other team anyway?

    Maybe I’m weird (ok, fine, I’m weird – not the point), but I honestly wouldn’t give a shit about going to the Superbowl if my team isn’t in it. Yeah, I watch the game on TV every year, but why the hell would I want to spend money to watch 2 teams that I don’t like? That same thought pattern has to apply to the World Series or the Stanly Cup or that silly game with the orange ball.

    “…but why the hell would I want to spend money to watch 2 teams that I don’t like?…”

    Because you’re a fan of the game before a fan of the team? I’ve been to plenty of games where I didn’t care about the teams or the outcome or if was spring training or minor league, I just enjoy going to the arena/park/field whatever, have a few beers and relax and watch the game.

    The point about the superbowl is completely different since it’s such a unique event and I know some of the type of people who wouldn’t go to a football game ever but go to the superbowl from time to time, and they have no interest in who’s playing.

    You know, I’ll preface this by saying that high school uniform is terrible. I’m not one that necessarily gets offended by the Native imagery (and I’m part Cherokee), it’s just purely the design that makes my eyes bleed. Good Lord.

    That being said, in a vacuum, if I knew this stuff could be limited to the high school level and below, I’d be ok with it. The caveat to that is if the kids enjoy wearing this kind of uniform – and from all indications, they do. A lot of those kids will never play sports beyond that level. Let them have their fun. Whatever. The adults watching shouldn’t have too much say in what they wear, in my opinion. It’s not like college where people donate to the school (at least, not to the same degree).

    Again, I stress that I know my same argument could be somewhat applied to college football, and I by no means want to see that at the college level. And too, I don’t give a crap about high school football (my team always sucked), so that makes me a little biased. I just feel like if this type of design MUST hit a field somewhere, I’d much rather it be on the high school field, away from TV and where the players (mostly) play it for fun.

    Am I wrong in thinking that way? Perhaps. Not saying my opinion can’t be influenced to change.

    I wish it did stick to only high school football, but it’s leaked into college, the NFL & other professional leagues. I wish we would keep fashion trends & sports completely separated from each other. Honestly, that Carol City High set looks like a clown suit. Think powder blue tuxedos.

    Every day that Cleveland Browns helmet looks better & better.

    Earl Bennett of the Chicago Bears was fined, according to this article – link – for wearing orange cleats on Monday. I thought the NFL permitted players to wear team-colored footwear this year? And, as the article notes, Bennett’s teammate – Brandon Marshall – was NOT fined for wearing orange shoes.

    Anyone have any additional info?

    Perhaps the league rules on team color shoes require the Bears’ to be more navy than orange? I really don’t know.

    It also doesn’t say that Marshall wasn’t fined, it says that it’s uncertain if he was.

    Either way, it seems really freakin stupid at this point. You’ve got players with pants cut off above their knees, socks being worn in every manner possible, and random pink all over the place – and you’re gonna fine a player for wearing solid orange shoes when orange *is* a team color? Really, NFL? Really?

    My first foray into Stirrup Friday – I went with the 1908 Cubs. I just wish the cut was a 7 inch opening. The cut barely gets above the lip of my shoe.

    link

    Paul,

    There appears to be something wrong with your site layout in Firefox. I’ve just upgraded to the latest version and the columns are all messed up. Thought you’d might want to know if you don’t already.

    Thanks.

    Looks OK to me. Junked Chrome for latest Firefox on Win7.

    Would love to play with Win8 I must say- but don’t buy the initial release, danger Will Robinson.

    I’ve seen this too in Chrome. When I click on the entry title to see the full entry (not sure if I’m describing that right), everything is formatted correctly.

    i have chrome too and noticed the same issue. it isnt a hassle for me since refreshing does the trick. so.. no harm done.

    RE: Carol City uniforms

    Aesthetically speaking, those uniforms are a disaster for trying to incorporate way too many elements into one design. However, those helmets are amazing. As a fan of a certain football team in Washington, DC, I would absolutely love that helmet design. I’m surprised more teams haven’t gone that route (or incorporated some sort of all-over helmet graphic generally).

    The ‘Skins need some rich guy to pay for their new uniforms. Oh wait, they’re OWNED by a rich guy.

    However, those helmets are amazing. As a fan of a certain football team in Washington, DC, I would absolutely love that helmet design.

    Hmmmm, now where have I seen that helmet concept before?
    link
    link

    Northwestern(Springfield IL) HS’ Warriors were using a similar helmet in 2009:

    link

    I think they have since changed to a less ornate design.

    Paul, it’s awesome that you’re able to visit Bannerman’s Island. As long as you’re up there, I strongly recommend a walk across the Poughkeepsie Bridge (link). They took a giant historical derelict train bridge across the Hudson, and repurposed it with a pedestrian walkway. The view is beautiful, and it’s neat walking across the historical relic.

    BTW question 15 in ESPN’s daily SportsNation polling is whether you’re in favor of ads on NBA unis or not. So if you care, get your ballot stuffing practice in today.

    It’s an unfairly loaded question (in our favor), because very few fans are *in favor* of uniform ads. Many of them don’t care, and many are opposed. But actively in favor? Not gonna be many of those.

    Just sayin’: If we get one more membership order, we’ll have enough to produce the next batch (we do them in batches of eight).

    Translation: Next person to sign up will have a very short waiting period for his or her card.

    I know that it’s human nature to look for patterns in things, but I can’t help but wonder if there’s some sort of grang uni-cycle that oscillates back and forth between traditional and crazy. Looking at those goofy high school unis, I couldn’t help but think of the terrible sublimated jerseys that the NHL experimented with in the early ’90s. If the analogy holds true, the good news is that about a decade later most NHL teams were going hardcore retro, and perhaps football is reaching the peak of its insanity and will soon start swinging back to the traditional look that I’m guessing most readers here prefer.

    Make that “some sort of GRAND uni-cycle…” (though Grang does make a quality unicycle).

    I think there’s just too many overlapping trends to call it a cycle at this point. Just look at the NFL of late – within 10 years, you’ve got teams going throwback (Giants, Browns, 49ers, plus the various throwback alternates), teams going futuristic (Seahawks, Jaguars, Vikings, etc) and teams that have managed to sorta do both (Bills, Chargers). And that doesn’t even include the various black alternates we’ve seen during the same time frame.

    The star also looks red, but we’ve been told by the Astros they are going back to Blue and Orange. I think it looks the way it does because Creamer zoomed in on an image that wasn’t the best quality, and then he manipulated the image to make it easier to see.

    That image has so many artifacts from the combination of zooming in and a “sharpen” tool, that you can’t reliably determine anything from it.

    The H appears slightly larger in proportion to the star (and thicker) than the original. I guess that’s the extent of the “font change” for the H.

    I think the H-star, rather than being boring and dated, is classic.

    The mid-90s shooting star, on the other hand, is dated.

    I agree with Winter. When I think of the Astros, I think of the Star-H logo’d cap. The fans spoke to this point and the organization is going back to that look. Not many people actually liked the futuristic/Star Trek gold, shooting star logo from the mid-90s…even though they won more games under that logo.

    Meh, to each his own. I hated when the Astros changed to that cap logo. I still have the home and road of the gold star caps, but I never liked the look. I guess I was a baseball purist even before I knew it.

    Interesting article talking about possible contraction of the NHL.

    link

    If you were to contract the league’s teams to 12 based SOLELY on uniform aesthetics, who’d stay and who’d go?

    Pretty easy, actually.

    Montreal, Boston, Toronto, NY Rangers, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, New Jersey, Buffalo, and Edmonton.

    The Original 6 stay, as do the Flyers, Blues, Devils, Kings, Lightning, and Sharks.

    If there’s expansion the Pens and Wild get the nod.

    I’d also like to contract 3rd/alt sweaters! 1 home and 1 road is all any club needs.

    Didn’t see this on here yet (or maybe missed it) these are the WORST uniforms in the history of sports. You’ve been warned, not for the faint of heart. Blame Flo Rida

    link

    Nice Kevin. I’m surprised everyone missed that one. Get that Yuban brewing….stat. Friendly jab. Good catch anyway. Somebody in the PNW wishes a safe weekend to those in the eye of the storm.

    I swore I saw a picture of Ray Rice trading jerseys with Arian Foster from last week. I can’t seem to locate it now.

    So sad about my hometown Lexington Legends’ unis. Maybe the biggest uni downgrade since Flying Elvis. Maybe worse. They had nice link and link jerseys and a solid link before. Even the hideous link were better than these new monstrosities.

    No. Just, no. The Legends’ new uniforms look like something that a comic book villain would have his henchmen wear. (In other words, yeah, they’re really, really bad.) Flying Elvis, on the other hand, was an upgrade for a team that should have never worn red to begin with.

    I like the color scheme & the home jersey. But the road and alternate looks like a 1990s version of a 1980s jersey. On the alt, if you have white & silver lettering with a blue outline, you don’t need that additional white outline either. If anything, the home creams deserve a much more retro-looking cap.

    It must be about moving some merchandise. I thought the “L” logo that incorporates the state of Kentucky was brilliant. The new hats are much less inspired.

    Stanford during the Harbaugh era used to switch guys jerseys during the game quite often. Not sure if they are still doing so under Shaw though

    this is why Flo Rida (and other pop singers) doesnt write their own songs….those unis look horrbile.

    Changing numbers in a college game is not unusual. If, for example, you have two players on a play wearing the same number, one of those players would have to have a different number and would throw on an oversized jersey with the different number than they usually wear. When I went to USC in the early 80’s, in those situations, the player would wear a jersey “bib” (no sleeves) with a different number.

    the rule now is that the player has to completely change jerseys, can’t just use the bib thing anymore. last year at Cal both of our “#1” guys were on punt returns together. for the first game or so the equipment staff used a modified #49 jersey that was cut down the middle and then velcroed together, like a vest, to make the switch quicker and easier. Eventually they had to stop doing that and for every conflict the true number jersey had to come off with the conflict jersey going on, then switching back later.

    On the possible Golden State Warriors alt uni: is this another attempt by adidas to push forward a short-sleeved jersey, ala the last couple of All Stars? That prototype doesn’t look to be as form-fitting as the one that Dwight Howard sported in 2011, but I wonder if the same minds are behind it. adidas would be stoked if it caught hold, from a fan merchandising perspective – average Joes would be much more willing to wear basketball jerseys around town if they had sleeves to hide their pasty upper arms.

    One interesting note about the shorts in that shot is what appears to be a subtle spear motif. Aside from Hardwood Classics sets, I don’t believe the Warriors have used any Native American iconography since the mid ’60s (unless you count the Thunder mascot, but he was more of a “future-native”.)

    My guess shirt is the warm up shirt.

    The jersey will look just like the shorts, but with the script on the t-shirt… Let’s go Golden State Pacers.

    Yea I found the arrow interesting.. kinda confuses the brand though.

    o…h…

    i was in high school (grew up down the road a ways) when ohio state was using that big 10 monstrosity around the 50…the block “o”, of course, was already there…they added the “big 1” to it, obviously to make it read “big 10” without altering the block o (back in the day when we had astro-turf, or something equally as fake)…it was just a creative way of going about it…no ulterior motives that i was ever aware of…

    oh, and good luck with the wind and rain up there guys…i rode one out in florida while living there years ago, and i can tell you, hurricanes do not = fun…

    If that is the Astros logo and what they will be wearing on their caps, then it’s a very good update of their classic logo.

    Good luck Paul and everyone else in the Nor’Eastercane’s path. Living in a part of Pa that looks like it’ll take a pretty good hit as well I’m off to pick up the important things. Beer, TP, beer, bread, beer, milk, beer, eggs, beer, and maybe some water, candles and make sure all my batteries are fully charged at some point.

    Then again if it gets too bad I’ll be living out of the fire house for a few days anyway helping to evacuate the town for the 2nd time in 13 months (lesson learned from last year, take the spare phone charger because nobody ever remembers one). Blargh!!!

    Bannerman used to literally make guns out of various surplus rifles and sell them as “Bannerman specials”. Imagine shooting a springfield action with a mauser bolt and an enfield barrel? The harmonics alone must have been insane.

    Does anyone else see blood splattered on the stripes of flag, on those Boston College wounded warrior uniforms?

    link

    I can see why you sould think it was blood splatter, but it looks more like weathering to me.

    I think that’s more of the faded paint chip effect, which bugs the hell out of me to faux retro clothes & uniforms. That uniform, not only does it look tacky & very All Star-ish/Evel Knievel, it teeters on sacrilegious. You don’t get to alter the flag to fit your stupid uniform like it’s more important than other football teams.

    This was the image that came to mind with Paul’s headline today:

    link

    But, I don’t feel confident in the long run because Adam Silver seems like another snake in the grass & I think this will get done eventually which makes me leery of investing anymore time & emotion into the NBA. Honestly the NBA has turned me off & it’s not fun seeing everybody end up on the Lakers, Heat or Celtics, and today’s stars & egos don’t help, either.

    I grew up a Celtics fan and still somewhat pull for them but once the expansion years came about I changed allegiances to the TimberWolves right from their initial announcement. Had I known the pain it would cause me through the years I would’ve stuck with the Celtics. LOL But to me the last 5-10 years the NBA has become unwatchable. The few times a year the TWolves are on I can’t even get into it to watch them.

    And as I said late last night I give it about an hour that Silver is in power before he’s calling around to get the ads on the uniforms discussion going again. Sad news.

    Apropos of nothing:

    I’m trying to create a DIY Mizzou hockey sweater. Having read this site for a while, I know many of you are well-versed in this area.

    To that end, a couple questions:
    1. Any suggestions where I can find blank hockey sweaters?
    2. What’s the best materials to use for numbers and stripes, were I to get reallly creative.

    Please send any suggestions to link

    I apologize in advance if I’ve breached any protocol. Love the site.

    Thanks.

    I’m wondering if the Big Green Egg could withstand grilling during a Hurricane.

    “Yeah? Well I spent Hurricane Sandy grilling.”

    I don’t think I’ll be using it during the ’cane, but I’m not bringing it in from the back yard. Just gonna leave it there. Should be fine.

    Alright, allow me to clarify. Marlin guy has worn the same jersey to the last three games in San Francisco. It’s not a one game thing, and he appears to cheer for the Giants (though he left before the 9th last night). He also switches hats inning to inning (visor and various tassel hats–clearly i am indeed obsessed for some bizarre reason). At any rate, this isn’t a random I went to a big game and wore orange to shoe solidarity. This is more than that.

    For those wondering why this matters, all I need to tell you is I’m a 19 year Eagles season ticket holder. Wearing an arbitrary team jersey to a game is unthinkable in my world. I get opinions vary, but its in my DNA…

    The only people who have to wear jerseys at a sporting event are the players. Fans can wear whatever we want, with the knowledge that others may express their opinions about it.

    I wore a Pirate cap to Fenway during the ’86 World Series:

    “Are you a Pirate fan?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I’m sorry.”

    Hey Paul, not an every day commenter, but I wish you guys luck with Sandy headed your way. Love reading your site every day.

    Was there any reason behind the helmet Louisville was wearing or was it just because they could?

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