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Sunday Morning Uni Watch

Maryland Boston College Football.JPEG-0b2f5


By Phil Hecken

Before we get into yesterday’s college action, I want to draw your attention to a fantastic lede written for yesterday’s UW by Tim Brulia on the Pittsburgh Steelers throwback uniforms, which will be worn today against the Washington football club. If you didn’t read that yesterday, do yourself a favor and give it a read — it’s terrific.

Now then…to yesterday’s gridiron action. As you can see from the splash, Boston College broke out their “military appreciation” uniforms. I’m not going to get into any type of discussion about why they wore them or what they stood for or what charity or group benefits from them — whatever your position on the Wounded Warrior Project (and I do support it, before anyone takes umbrage) — I want to briefly discuss the travesty of a uniform that was put on the field. Ugh.

First of all, I don’t think it’s proper etiquette to “wear” the flag on your uniform, and I think it’s even more distasteful to approximate a flag that might, if it were actually flying on a pole, be in such a distressed condition that it might have to be retired.

Secondly, the stars on one shoulder, stripes on the other with the schizophrenic helmet stripes — that just looks bad. Not quite as bad as this other flag desecration uniform, but pretty close. Shockingly, the team wearing that getup was BC’s opponent yesterday, Maryland.

But I could live with the gimmickry (even the ridiculous helmet), if that were where the clownish look ended. But no. UnderArmour decided the uniform wasn’t quite complete. That’s right, the continued the flag motif down the back of the pants, right down to the socks and shoes! They even had specific right and left socks.

But the ass stripes really annoy me. And this is not an isolated incident — UA puts this pattern (see it on UMd?) on several of its teams, including Hawai’i (who are also slated to receive flag desecration uniforms later this year (Nov. 24th to be precise). Ugh.

Anyway, there was plenty of other action on in the College ranks yesterday, so I now turn this over to Terry Duroncelet who will bring you his…

. . . . .

Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet

Not that this is uni-related or anything, but I looked at my local weather earlier this week, and was immediately put in a good mood looking at the drop from Friday to Saturday. Now that’s what I call college football weather. Hope everyone’s doing well on this last Saturday in October 2012, especially those on the eastern seaboard. I understand that hurricanes can be very bothersome, and I do hope that everyone’s safe and prepared. Allow me to (at least temporarily) take your mind off of Sandy with this week’s college football findings.

• On Friday, Louisville not only wore white at home, but they also changed up their helmets by going with logos that were strictly red and white, and a single red stripe. Was this for a special occasion? Maybe it has something to do with the Keg of Nails (which they took home for the first time in five years)? Also, Cincinnati wore black-over-red. Not bad. An okay-looking game considering it’s between two teams who wear the Adidas Laffy-TechFit suit.

• On Saturday, Tennessee did their best Derek Dooley impression by wearing their orange pants against South Carolina. There were plenty of Gamecocks with pink accessories on in that same game.

• Boise State wore white/white/orange against Wyoming. Don’t think I’ve seen them in that combination before.

Not my favorite look from Arizona.

• North Carolina wore these helmets against NC State. Here’s the Facebook album if you’re interested. I love these. I really do. I kinda wish that they would’ve worn the Carolina Blue pants instead of going mono-navy, but this isn’t a horrible look by any means. In that same game, NC State wore white-over-red, which I don’t remember them wearing in recent years.

• Speaking of new lids, Colorado State wore these pretty sweet helmets as part of an orange-out against Hawai’i. Credit to Jeremy Mauss for the first link.

• Vanderbilt wore white helmets and pants with the black jerseys for I believe the first time this season against UMass.

• Boston College wore this. Yikes. Well, I have to say that the gold warms up the look a bit, and considering UA’s previous WWP uniforms, I suppose it could be worse. That is, until I saw the back of the pants. No. Just no. Also, please note that just because I say that the WWP uniforms look like garbage, DOES NOT mean that I hate WWP in any way, shape, or form. I swore myself off of McDonald’s as of March 1st, 2012 (and I plan on keeping it that way), and I would much faster eat nothing but McD’s for an entire month before I slander the Wounded Warrior Project or any organization like WWP. I don’t care if this uniform costume simultaneously cured cancer, put an end to world hunger, and created a black hole that sucked up only the stupid people of the world *coughbudseligcough* (which would be great if it did all of those things, although I doubt that uni-technology is advanced enough to do any of those things… yet), if it looks like crap, I (or Phil, or Paul, or whoever) is going to say it looks like crap. But please do not take my hatred for the uniform as hatred for the program.

• Last, but not least, in Kent State’s upset over (then #15) Rutgers featured a bit of jersey gore. From Rob Ullman, who forwarded this to Phil (and then to me): “In Kent State’s big win over Rutgers yesterday, the Flashes’ star Dri Archer tore his jersey all to hell during the first quarter. He finished the game wearing a NNOB #26 jersey instead of his regular #1! Wow…My alma mater on TV, winning vs. a ranked opponent (for the first time ever) and uni hijinks to boot? PINCH ME!” Sorry Rob, those crabs from a few weeks back are all boiled and in my freezer.

And that’s it, really. This was definitely one of those slow days from a uni-standpoint in the our-throwback-is-better-than-yours blackout whiteout greyout stripeout beerout unique atmosphere that is college football in the 21st century, but I hope you enjoyed this week’s installment, and I’ll see you next week. And to those near Sandy’s path, stay safe.

. . . . .

Thanks, TJ! Once again, I hope my intro didn’t stomp on Terry’s (very similar) critique of the BC flag costumes. But it’s nice to know he’s in agreement with me on this one — and I think most of you also are. And thanks for the kind words about Sandy, TJ — I’m most definitely in the path (as is Paul and hundreds if not thousands of UW readers). I’ll have a bit more on that in the kicker.

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colorize this

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

After a couple of weeks off, we’re back today with quite the full set — and the usual suspects — John Turney, George Chilvers (who sent one that truly has to be seen at full size to be believed) and Gary Chanko are all represented below.

Let’s see what’s in store:

. . . . .

Up first is John, with a couple:

bank mcfadden clemson color - John Turney

Phil,

Bank McFadden, Clemson

Usual coloration with a bright filter to bring out orange and purple.

John

. . .

1929YellowJackets-1 - John Turney

Phil,

1929 Yellow Jackets

With a colorization and a Technicolor filter.

John

. . .

1929YellowJackets-2 - John Turney

Phil,

Same colorization, but this time with a old kodachrome filter with reduced grain.

John

. . . . .

Next up is George, who also has a pair:

Simon Weirs grandad RAF Sullam Voe v Gordon Highlanders - George Chilvers


Simon Weirs garndad RAF Sullam Voe v Gordon Highlanders

Hi Phil

I’ve been (and still am) a bit busy, so little from me recently, but I thought I’d share this one with you.

It’s an RAF team from Sullam Voe in the Shetlands (the uppermost tip of Scotland) who in 1944 won the Shetland Cup against the Gordon Highlanders.

Nothing really much to add :)

George

. . .

Georgetown 1911 colour - George Chilvers

Phil

Sometimes people ask how long does it take to colourise a picture.

Some can be done in a couple of hours in one sitting. The majority take a few hours over a few days.

Some can take a lot of time over weeks. This is one of those :) It is the most complex picture I’ve ever tried, and could in fact carry on for a few more weeks yet, perfecting it. But I have to get my life back somehow, so I’ll send this for peer review now! I am sure someone will find some bits that need more work. If so, my apologies, but what you get is what you see.

It’s a football game at Georgetown University from 1911. I think it’s a lovely picture – all those different automobiles, interspersed with a few horse-drawn carriages. A large number of ladies are present, some balancing precariously on cars or on the stands. There are people trying to peek in over the fence at the back – but surely they couldn’t see much. There are police in abundance, including a couple in front of the far covered stand who seem to be pretending they are on the scrimmage line. The red team coach has his loudhailer ready to shout instructions. Wearing fur is still socially acceptable. Etc, etc, etc……

Best wishes
George

. . . . .

Next is Gary, who acted upon my “This would be a good colorization candidate” wish from a last week:

Hal Smith (1) - Gary Chanko

Phil,

re Random Old Awesome Photo

Yes, it does make a great colorization and an interesting research project to discover more amount the unusual “B” on the batting helmet.

Here’s another image featuring the same batting helmet from the Orioles 1955 season. But I was unable to find other examples of this design, including images of players wearing a regular “B” cap (although you can purchase a replica of the cap). Maybe the “B” logo was only employed on batting helmets?

More research needed to unravel this obscure bit of Orioles history …

Gary

. . . . .

Saint%20George%20Football%201944

And finally, another possible good colorization candidate, from Jerry Kulig (unfortunately the resolution is not terribly high):

P

Just stumbled onto this one –

St. George HS, Evanston, ILL.
1944 team photo, suitable for coloration (school colors: blue & white).

–Jerry Kulig

. . . . .

Once again, a tremendous effort from everyone. Great job all around.

Back with more Colorize This! soon.

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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.

. . . . .

At times like this, we really need to keep our emotions in check…

10-28-12 s-Giants Tigers

Click to enlarge

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Alex Rocklein’s Playoff Uni Tracker:

Uni Watch readers will recall that last season, Alex Rocklein tracked the major league playoffs by uniform worn. He’s back again this year and the graphic below is the 2012 edition.

For SF Giants fans, and national league fans (like Paul & myself) in general, it’s been a nice series — with the Giants building 3-0 series lead and heading for a possible sweep tonight. Detroit got another great pitching performance, giving up a mere two runs for the second straight game. Unfortunately, the San Franciscan’s were even better, giving up ZERO runs for the second straight game. At least everyone can agree on one thing — it’s been a great looking World Series.

Here’s the chart: (click image to enlarge):

2012-playoffs-SF

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Duck Tracker 2012


2012 Duck Tracker

The eighth game of the Ducks 2012 season featured them at home, taking hapless Colorado behind the woodshed (final score 70-14, and it wasn’t that close). Of course, for an opponent who wears black pants on the road, Oregon decided to go gray/black/black, making the game interesting (though boring) visually — silver helmets vs gold helmets, white tops vs. black, and both teams sporting black trou. Normally I love the Duckies in anything gray, and I don’t mind the full-ninja look, but somehow this one just didn’t quite do it for me. Tim may disagree.

Ducks_2012_G_08

Our 2012 Duck Tracker is Tim E. O’Brien, and here he is to tell you about it:

. . .

Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about Ducks! Finally Oregon puts together a complete and beautiful look. This game looked great… or at least that’s I assume since I – along with most everybody else – couldn’t watch the game on TV. The photos and highlights looked great though. I love the black with gray notes and I think this may be my favorite jersey/feather pattern color combo of the bunch.

As always, feel free to visit the full Duck Tracker site for more Duck-tastic info (Duck Uni Rumor: Next week the Ducks might break out these and wear all white… we’ll see…) and, as always, feel free to visit any of the other Uni-Tracker sites.

. . .

Thanks Tim.

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Catherine Zombie animated

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.

Some interesting games for sure yesterday, and one I would bet dollars to donuts will (and better) end up as the “and 1”. As far as the good games, I don’t seem to share Catherine’s tastes, but that cool. I know what I’d pick, but like Mr. Vilk’s selections, they probably won’t match up — and that’s fine, because it’s all opinion anyway. So…let’s see what’s on tap for a special pre-Hallowe’en edition of the 5 & 1 (and in case you’re wondering what the 5 & 1 splash photo is…well, check it out).:

. . .

Happy Sunday, Uni Watchers! I hope everyone had a lovely Saturday! Let’s get to the countdown!

5. Delaware State vs. Morgan State: A little bit of an unorthodox pick but I thought this game had a couple of very interesting uniforms. I’m still on the fence about a couple of the elements but overall, as a whole, I think it looked great!

4. NC State vs. North Carolina: North Carolina broke out the chrome helmet but I’m actually a fan of the tarheel logo. Overall, a really good-looking game AND one of the best finishes of the day!

3. Notre Dame vs. Oklahoma: Can’t leave this match-up out. Classic.

2. Missouri vs. Kentucky: Missouri broke out the MU Gold tops while Kentucky went with the blue-white-blue combo. Great game!

1. SMU vs. Memphis: This game was GORGEOUS. I admit I’m a sucker for red and blue but it’s hard to argue with this game. (I hope!)

And the bad one…

+1 Boston College vs. Maryland: Halloween came early. Yikes.

. . .

Thanks Catherine! OK, I’m definitely in agreement with you on at least one of those top 5. But you absolutely NAILED the bad one, so that’s good enough for me. Readers? How about you?

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And Finally…

…that will pretty much end this post.

As some of you may know, I work for an elected official who is up for re-election, so the past few months have been, well, a lot of work. So, I’d first like to thank all the great readers and contributors to the weekends who have made it possible to bring you (I hope) quality stuff each time out. With next weekend the last one before the election, Paul’s giving me the weekend off (not that I won’t be working), but I will be enjoying the Uni Watch Gathering — that’s this coming Saturday at Sheep Station in Brooklyn — I know we have a few special guests from out of town already confirmed — plus Paul will be there, as will Catherine Ryan from the 5 & 1 section. That is, of course, assuming Sheep Station is still standing after Hurricane Sandy.

And on that note I shall close. As even fewer of you may know, I’ve been a weather buff for years, and in fact, before my gig here on UW, I was a moderator and admin on two separate weather boards (hurricane boards), and I was on during both 2004 (when Florida got creamed) and 2005, when we not only had Katrina, but Rita and Wilma as well. So when I see the forecasts for what the eastern seaboard faces for Hurricane Sandy, I’m not looking at them as some kind of novice. Although I’ve never really been through a hurricane (I was away at college for Hurricane Gloria in 1985), but I do remember a few close calls we had in the 1970s. Last year’s Hurricane Irene was (thankfully) a dud, and it was still fairly bad. If what the models are predicting are correct, Long Island and the Jersey coast, plus New England, could be in for one hell of a ride in the next 48 hours. Some of the models are predicting tropical storm force winds sustained for more than 24 hours, with up to 20″ of rain. I live inland (about 10 miles from the coast) so I needn’t worry about storm surge, but it’s expected to be very bad for many areas. Depending on the timing, (and it’s a full moon on Monday — so high tides will already be above normal) and the angle and forward speed — many areas are looking at tremendous flooding; they’ll probably close down the NYC subways, and most of the bridges. Power outages are expected to be 50% or more for millions of people. It’s not going to be fun.

So, to all the Uni Watchers and their families and friends who live in the path of this storm, I’ll close with what I used to say every time a storm approached — prepare for the worst, and hope for the best. Stay safe everyone. And buckle up.

I’ll catch you in two weeks.

~ ~ ~

“For what it’s worth, I caught a bit of the BC-Maryland game on ESPN Goal Line. I think it was the play-by-play announcer asking the color man what the prospects were for BC to win the first ACC game of the season. The color man’s response was ‘if they can out-ugly them, they have a chance.’ I don’t think they were referring to the style of play.”
–Skycat

 
  
 
Comments (140)

    yes…

    i usually schedule them to go live at 7AM, but the past couple times there has been a glitch and it didn’t go live as planned (including last weekend, when i actually slept in for a bit, and i didn’t get the post up until after 9); wanted to just avoid that possibility for sunday

    I just don’t get the new 5 and 1. I haven’t been reading the comments so I don’t know how other people feel, but a lot of these included in top five seem almost completely counter to my opinions and what I perceive as being the general opinions of the rest of the Uni Watch reader base.

    Isn’t that the point of things like this?

    If we all agreed on everything then this would be a very boring site.

    I hate that Arizona look. Why we couldn’t just wear white-cardinal-white or white-navy-white (the only two combinations we should be wearing at home) I don’t know.

    Seriously, where can I find a ranking of the five best SEC match-ups of the day?

    Wait… what?

    I love the new 5 and 1. This place can kinda stifle non-conventional uni-watching, and as a non-conventional uni-watcher, I absolutely love that a fellow non-conventional uni-watcher gets some airtime.

    The new 5 and 1 is completely counter to the aesthetics to which most of this site is devoted.
    The top 5 contains pink accessories, hideously overdone piping, mismatched colors, and designs that are generally perceived as overdone.
    I will concede that I appreciate Catherine’s effort to reach outside FBS and BCS match ups, but there have got to be better games out there.

    You neglected to point out that Pitt wore blue pants at home for the first time in six years! I think it’s a pretty good look (though admittedly I’m biased)…Would have looked even better if they hadn’t busted out the pink accessories.

    link

    I actually saw that game yesterday, but I could’ve sworn that they wore blue pants at least once in the last three years, so I didn’t mention it. I would’ve if I’d known that it’s been six years since the navy trou showed up on a Pitt uni.

    I didn’t think it was six years either. I still hate the white pants and wish they stayed with the gold at home and blue on the road but it’s not a bad look. Now if we can just get the names back on there…

    you got your wish:

    “Earlier this week, Pitt coach Paul Chryst made his team an offer. Beat Temple, and he would put the players’ names back on their jerseys.”

    from here

    Nice to see Dri Archer make uninwatch! Went to high school with him! Go venice high indians!

    We need a new 5&1 person now. Catherine goes against the opinions of the majority of readers here. While she’s obviously entitled to hers, Paul should find us someone better to represent us.

    “…better to represent us” in what precisely?

    Is this going to some greater forum which will have opinions voted on? This is an opportunity for people to debate, agree, disagree, put up their own opinions and so on.

    If someone put up opinions that everyone sagely nods their heads and agrees with unanimously, then I’m afraid this would be a VERY dull site. Debate is what makes things tick.

    Thankfully it isn’t.

    The last sentence belongs with the “if someone put up…” sentence.

    See – I even disagree with myself :)

    Attacking a contributor because you disagree with their commentary is not welcome here or anywhere were adults congregate to exchange opinions.

    Perhaps your time is better spent in some other endeavor.

    Shorter version: “Validate my biases!”

    Which in a nutshell reflects everything that’s wrong with this country and why our civilization is going down the terlet.

    Keep up the good work, Ms Ryan. Your picks are rarely what I would have picked, and that’s precisely why I like this season’s 5-and-1. I already know my own opinions. Reading someone else express them would be boring. And much of the time, this season’s 5-and-1 has picked some real gems that would otherwise be overlooked.

    I think the difficulty in putting together a “Uni Watch Conventional Wisdom” 5-and-1 is the fact that certain “traditional favorites” play every season, and once the conference schedules get moving, you get a lot of matchups that, while visually pleasing, are not especially “noteworthy” from a Uni Watching perspective. Therefore, while the Penn State-Ohio Sate tilt from yesterday may have topped many Uni Watchers’ list from yesterday, there’s nothing particularly notable about that game, and therefore wouldn’t spark much in the way of discussion. Same will hold true for Alabama-LSU next week, etc. (The Jeff made the same point in re: Florida-Georgia below.) I frequently don’t agree with Catherine’s choices, but I don’t particularly want to see a list that is simply a rotation of Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, USC, Nebraska, et al. I understand the point that folks are making about Catherine’s “unconventional” picks, but I think that her picks really cause me to do a closer examination of what it is that makes for a visually pleasing CFB matchup for me personally.

    I think you make a good point. As I’ve said before, I appreciate Catherine reaching outside FBS and BCS matchups. Howevere, I think it would be reasonable to have some better analysis of WHY she is making these unconventional picks. Simply saying “This game was GORGEOUS” doesn’t really match up with this site’s subtitle, “THE OBSESSIVE STUDY OF ATHLETICS AESTHETICS.”
    If UK v Mizzou is going to make the top 5, please say why you like it, not just parroting what they are wearing. WHY is what they’re wearing pleasing to you?

    Other than one week I really haven’t had any huge issues with what she’s picked either. But then again I admittedly HATE most of the traditional and classic looks with a passion. Not to say I love all the modern ones but there’s more out there than just putting Alabama at #1 and Penn State at #2 every week.

    It will be interesting to see if the Giants wear their alt road unis with the “SF” logo. They usually wear that and their cap with the orange bill on Sundays. This might be the first time a team clinched the World Series in their alt greys.

    I’m curious about this as well. This is their first chance to wear an alt this postseason (no Friday home games or Sunday road games until now).

    “This might be the first time a team clinched the World Series in their alt greys.”

    Probably would be. I can’t imagine many teams have had a grey alt to begin with. The Marlins clinched in their black alts in 2003, though.

    I guess it’s too much to ask – given how power/authority operates in college sports – for one player to come out and say in regards to those flag uniforms, “I will not wear that.” If the player could present his position articulately and support this position with some knowledge of the flag code, then he could possibly generate some support.

    I guess what bothers me most is that these uniforms are worn regularly without as much as a peep from anyone. Not faculty, not the mainstream media, not fans.

    And, I should note, I find it ridiculous that Phil and Terry feel it necessary to explicitly say that they are not against the WWP entirely, they just oppose the uniforms. If readers can’t read the damn words on the page and figure out the critique, that’s not Phil’s problem and it’s not Terry’s problem. Let’s stop tap-dancing around the military and just call bullshit when we see it.

    These uniforms are ugly, stupid, and offensive. Whatever good comes from the WWP does not excuse these pandering monstrosities.

    Can we please get Vilk back in the 5&1? It has gone from my favorite SMUW column to the one I cringe before reading (like Benchies…). FSU/Duke, UGA/FL, etc.. plenty of great-looking games passed over for the likes of some high school teams?? C’mon, Catherine… This is the Big Leagues!

    I rather like that she seems to go for more obscure teams. Yeah, sure, UGA/FL looks good – but we’ve all seen that matchup multiple times. Showcasing uniforms that we’re less aware of is a good thing, even if we may not particularly care for said uniforms.

    In regards to the 5 & 1, my issue isn’t with what games she picks. I don’t care if they are classic picks, stupid picks, off-the-wall-picks, etc. My issue is with her analysis, such as:

    “A little bit of an unorthodox pick but I thought this game had a couple of very interesting uniforms. I’m still on the fence about a couple of the elements but overall, as a whole, I think it looked great!”

    When I finish reading, I don’t know why she thinks this game “looked great.” What makes the uniforms “interesting”? Why is she “on the fence about a couple of elements”?

    That’s my issue. She’s claiming that she liked 5 particular match-ups and didn’t like 1, but she’s not really telling us why she thinks so.

    I know this is mostly fluff material, but if it’s going to be published, shouldn’t it be of a decent quality?

    On the colorization – the first picture has the name misspelled. It’s Banks McFadden, not Bank like the picture says. Also, the uni’s would’ve been navy and orange, since he played before we intoduced purple into our uniforms. As for the helmet it too would have been navy with possibly an orange stripe going vertically and horizontally down and across the middle of the picture (depending on the year of the picture). Just some constructive criticism from a Clemson student. Like it though as a modern take on one of our greatest players. Great work!

    Correct. Thanks for providing some visual support. Would’ve snapped one of his uniform that we have up in our football hall of fame, but it’s a little difficult to get in there on Sundays. Thanks for the back-up!

    Nice Halloween outfit Catherine. A zombie gymnast, eh? Zombies fit pretty well here in Pittsburgh.

    As for Pitt wearing blue pants…does anyone even really care about the Pitt football team anymore? Outside of alumni, not too many people in Pittsburgh go to the games. And due to money, they ironically lost their one moneymaker at home: when the fans from Morgantown come up Interstate 79 to watch Pitt job out to their Mountaineers, just like this year when Pitt jobbed out to my YSU Penguins.

    If there is such a problem with Catherine’s 5&1, why don’t people start offering up their own 5&1 picks here in the comments. I am sure when people do that, you will see that there is a great variance in what UniWatch readers think is a great looking Uni-matchup.

    Well said.

    I enjoy the Sunday UW with the great work put in by all. I spend most all day Saturday watching college football. I flip around to at least see every game for a few plays.

    I realize how much work these people do for the Sunday column.

    Of course I enjoy the colorizations done by all. I am glad they are back today.

    Watched some college football yesterday (I don’t usually) and I got to say, I love the colour scheme of Wyoming’s unis. Brown is an under-used colour in uniforms.

    I am concerned for Catherine’s safety…if you look at the side-by-side picture of her and McKaya Maroney, that is a lot of locks on her door!

    starting to get windy here (no rain yet)…don’t worry i won’t be doing hourly updates or anything, but i was just at a presser with Gov. Cuomo who seems to be less panicky than the rest of the talking heads on tv

    good…looking very 2016

    Something about the gold helmets and red stripes on the BC reminded me of something I read ages ago, which a quick Wikipedia check confirms: When the White House and Air Force were figuring out how to deal with transporting the president by air under Eisenhower and Kennedy, the USAF is said to have proposed an aircraft livery for the first 707s to become Air Force One that was red and metallic gold with block letters. President Kennedy rejected the scheme as being too imperial, and the White House hired Raymond Loewy to design something more dignified. Loewy’s design of two light blues and a black Caslon “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” is used to this day.

    Anyway, I’ve always wondered what the Air Force’s original red-and-gold design looked like. A brief Google and archival search hasn’t turned up anything, but the BC unis may give a hint of the kind of visual impression it would have made. Good thing JFK called in a professional!

    At the beginning of the Mich/Nebraska game I noticed that the RB, and I think Denard Robinson, had different jerseys on from their teammates. If you look at the pic in the link, you’ll see the RB is missing the yellow stripe under his name, among some other items.

    link

    I guess I’ll defend myself and provide some insight into how I make these choices. First off, I try to watch the ESPN Goal Line channel during the day because it shows highlights from all the games on a loop (it’s like NFL RedZone.) It’s hard to see live footage of some of the games but that channel usually provides some live look-ins. I typically write down games I think look good/bad and adjust the list throughout the day. I also read some blogs from smaller conferences/D-1AA to see if there are any good match-ups in there. So, that’s the main process. I like to try and make the list interesting. A few of you mentioned that the list would be boring if I continuously picked classic uniforms (which I occasionally do) and I agree with that. We also have a great recap of nearly all the big match-ups every Sunday, right before my countdown. I try to find some match-ups that maybe nobody has seen yet.

    Additionally, I try to spread the picks around and not go with the same team 2 weeks in a row (if I can avoid it. Of course, if it’s a great game I will pick it) Also, while I agree UniWatch readers probably share similar preferences, outside of agreeing on a GREAT uniform and a TERRIBLE uniform, I think there is a lot of wiggle room. Absent a disgusting/horrendous design and color scheme, a uniform should provoke debate. To address my analysis: Phil wanted me to keep the posts very, very brief and I may have interpreted that too literally. I’ll try to fit in more specifics!

    So, those are my thoughts on it all. I really appreciate Phil giving me the chance to take part in this blog and I appreciate you all reading every week (even if I continuously ruin your Sundays.) I hope you all will still read and maybe I’ll win you back by the end of the season!

    You don’t need to justify yourself, Catherine. Keep doing what you do. Whether I like your picks or not, I love seeing what you’re going to post. It’s nice to see a female’s point of view on these things as well. I hope that doesn’t come off as sexist or anything, but let’s be honest. The majority of this site is of the male persuasion, and its nice to see things from a different perspective!

    Nice costume, by the way.

    No explanation, rationale, or defense required! Ignore negative personal attacks and keep following your own instincts.

    But please, please no more “blood clot” characterizations about my Gamecocks!

    Accountability for what; to whom? This is a blog.

    “So many up in arms,” .. Please, you have no information to validate that statement because you have no knowledge of how many viewers access this blog or what percentage choose to comment.

    “Dame” ? What’s gender have to do with this? Unbelieveable.

    Yes, believable.

    Catherine: Keep doin’ what you’re doin! You clearly put time, effort, & thought into your picks, and you shine a spotlight on match-ups that I (and, I’m guessing, several other UWers) hadn’t seen or paid much attention to.

    The fact that some unfortunate souls express vociferous disdain at your having a different opinion than they do should in no way be interpreted as a shortcoming on your part.

    I’ve always enjoyed this part of UW Sunday, and I think you’ve done a tremendous job of taking the torch from Mr. Vilk & keeping the “5 & 1” light shining brightly!

    I’ll say something, Catherine, since I’m in the minority whenever hockey is discussed.

    Don’t apologize for what you like. It’s the very reason WHY you should be featured. You provide a yang to everyone’s over-played yin – that is, everyone’s normal matchups of big NCAA teams. You provide a few readers a chance to see other matchups that the NCAA doesn’t even promote. That’s precisely the idea: trumpeting the great aesthetic matchups that the TV viewer doesn’t get to see.

    Keep the great matchups coming. Personally, I don’t give a rat’s ass about NCAA football whatsoever, but I do appreciate a good-looking game. Your piece is one of the reasons I stop by on Sundays.

    Agreed. As another one who has an opinion in the great minority hear it’s always nice to hear all different kind of opinions on here. From the start I loved the 5&1 and sometimes agreed and other times cringed at what was listed. No different now. Keep up the good work!

    What people seem to be forgetting is that it’s your opinion….no wrong or right – just opinion.

    Don’t sweat ’em.

    Catherine, you are so silly. Why do you love dark pants so much? I think Uni Watch should hire a NEW 5+1 person. I am superior to Catherine in every way. Mr. Lukas, hire me!

    Great Benchies today. An old-fashioned test of a comic strip is whether you want to cut it out of the paper and pin it to somebody’s office door. This Benchies is a clip-and-pin strip. Exactly how I’m feeling about the Series and the NHL.

    It’s been particularly sad to see the Washington Capitals on Facebook and Twitter promoting Hershey Bears games as if it’s the NHL. Dude, unlock your own players and get back on the ice or STFU about hockey.

    The guy operating the Capitals’ Facebook and Twitter is most likely an intern who will probably be out of work if/when the season is canceled. Ease up a bit.

    I don’t have a problem with whatever staffer runs the social media accounts. (Probably not an intern. Most companies have learned that lesson: Giving an intern the keys to your social media suite is begging for trouble.) I follow the Caps on both networks because the team runs an engaging communications shop. My problem is with the team, which has decided to pretend that there’s no lockout and that the Hershey Bears are Washington’s local NHL team.

    I’ve worked in communications for a long time. I guarantee you that it’s not the junior staffer who types the tweets who made the choice to pretend that the Hershey Bears are really the Caps. For one thing, that sort of decision is never made at that level. For another, plenty of NHL teams are doing the same thing. This is a higher-level, possibly league-led, initiative for teams to present a false face to fans.

    Remember, the players aren’t on strike. The NHL shut itself down. Which it has every right to do, but it’s insulting for the league to shut itself down, to unilaterally deny us top-level hockey, and then encourage teams to pretend like they’re still playing hockey.

    Blah. If the Bears are going to wear a throwback uniform, it should be from 1936 with the ridiculous amount of stripes. Otherwise it just looks like a bad knockoff of their current uniform.

    Unmentioned in the main post were Oklahoma State’s “Phantom Pete” decals to go along with their all black unis against TCU yesterday.

    link

    link

    “OrangePower.com – Error
    You must be logged-in to do that.”

    ~~~

    can you possibly get jpgs of those? most of us probably aren’t members and aren’t going to become ones just to see that

    yes, thanks!

    so “pistol pete” is on two weeks in a row? i know they wore him on their orange lids last week (and covered it)…but i (and i guess terry too) missed that yesterday…paul will probably have it in the MMUW

    My 5+1 from yesterday:

    5. Oregon State vs Washington
    4. Iowa vs Northwestern
    3. Michigan vs Nebraska
    2. Harvard vs Dartmouth
    1. Notre Dame vs Oklahoma

    ugly: Delaware State vs Morgan State, NC State vs North Carolina, SMU vs Memphis, Maryland vs Boston College

    Those Carolina helmets looked cheap and fugly, like plastic chrome. And where was the light blue?

    Maryland should have gone rogue in the ACC Under Armour Bowl to make things interesting.

    I have no idea, but I think the Steelers/’Skins game is causing me physical pain. The Steelers are bad enough, but then you’ve got Washington wearing those mismatched yellow pants… owwwww.

    Presumably because they wanted a patriotic song, and someone finally noticed that God Bless America isn’t.

    actually, the teams are completely bereft of pink today (jets & fish)

    although the refs have pink sweatbands and whistles

    and yeah — i’d trade the refs having pink shit full-time for the players having it never

    I agree with The. And honestly, the magenta flag – I know the color pink; I worked with the color pink; the color pink was a friend of mine. You, little penalty flag, are not pink – looks just fine as a penalty flag. Highly visible, really jumps out on HD TV, great contrast with the field and as long as the players are pink-free, easier to see than the yellow flag in about a third of the games.

    A little pinkwashing every year would be fine, and if the league is going to do it, it should be limited to things like penalty flags, pylons, and sweatbands. Nothing else.

    MY 5&1
    Rather than being a troll, I thought I would be a counterpoint to the current 5&1 and see what commenters think. Also, it is a good excuse for me to scan through photos of every game I can get my hands on. I am not sure if my links will work in here, but I’ll give it a shot.

    5. link– I like the Georgia as home version of this matchup best. Florida does white on white as well as anyone. And the link, oh the pants stripe! A thing of pure beauty.

    4. link — I am a sucker for those Kelly greens of Marshall. While I don’t love some of UCF’s link, it tends to work in game action.

    3. Notre Dame vs Oklahoma– I agree completely with Catherine on this one. OU’s home uni’s are classic, and Notre Dame’s Super Duper Chromed-out, Shiny as anything gold link looked great under the lights. Even down to the gold outlined navy link for ND, I really liked how this game looked.

    2. link – White/Red/White vs Green/White/Green. Solid, simple uni’s on both sides and great contrast. And Ohio rocks the matte helmets as well as anyone in the country.

    1. link– Duke dropped all BFBS this week. I love how the garnet and gold bounces off the strong and simple blue and white. Also, FSU’s helmets really start to pop this time of year once all those merit decals show up.

    &1- This is not my worst uni matchup of the week, but the most frustrating. It has so much potential, but falls far short.
    link —I have always been against Tenn’s road uni’s. The black outline on the orange numbers (presumably for visibility purposes) does not match the orange on white of their helmets. I loved the orange pants, and if they would either drop the black from the jerseys or add an outline on the helmets, this would be a great unique set. South Carolina wore what I think is one of their best looks, but then muddied it all up with link. Garnet and Pink clash even more than any other color with pink.

    Catherine, I appreciate your view, keep it up. I just wanted to add a different point of view

    I saw clips of the Ohio v. Miami game….I remember thinking that Ohio may very well have the nicest uniforms in the country.

    Phil (and Paul) — Technical question: is there any way that hyperlinks in readers’ posts could bring up a new window (a la the moderator hyperlinks), or at least not result in a “reset” to the top of the comments upon hitting the “back” button? (I know it makes me lazy, but I’m actually less likely to click on a fellow reader’s hyperlink, because I know I’ll have to spend 10 seconds of my time relocating the point in the comments I was previously reading…)

    the software used to do that (i want to say as recently as two years ago?) but when ek upgraded us, we don’t have that functionality anymore (or at least, if we do, it’s not set to that)…i like that myself, which is why whenever i post a link, i add coding to make it open in a new window

    unfortunately, the regular commenters don’t have this feature (it’s also why you guys can’t post inline videos or photos)…

    if there IS a way to change it — i don’t know, since i’m not the tech guy…perhaps paul or ek know, and maybe it can be changed

    Thanks for the reply, Phil. If it’s a quick fix (by those tech guys “in the know”), it’s one this reader would appreciate!

    Some of us read this on our phone. I used to read it in the mobile format but the comments are all chronological there and replies often don’t make sense because they don’t directly reference the comment they’re replying to. In the full site version I get the indented comment threads but I have no option to open a link in a comment in a new window since I’m on a phone. Regardless (and I may have intertwined issues here), I almost never click on a link in the comments when on my phone due to the page reload time combined with the fact, especially the fact, that it sends me to the top of the comments every time after I return to the comments and I then have to scroll down and attempt to find my place again. Without numbered comments that becomes far more of a hassle than it’s worth…to me, at least.

    Don’t mean to pry, or make this a big issue, but what kind of phone do you use? I’ve viewed, and commented on, UW for over a year now on nothing but my BlackBerry. I open every link in a new window, and even the links in peoples comments. You just have to know how to do it. If its a big deal, let me try to help. Lots of phones will let you open a new tab if you just click and hold the link. It should pop up a menu that offers the “open in new tab” option. If you have a touch screen just hold down on the link and it should give you that option…

    Coleman didn’t have a reply option for his comment, so I’ll reply to my own comment just above it. Thanks for the tip! Doesn’t work on every link, esp the secure links, but it does help with most of them. Appreciate it.

    BTW, am using an HTC EVO.

    Try the click and hold… I don’t have an iPad, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

    NC State seems to wear red pants occasionally for big road games and somehow finds a way to blow those games. Last time was at East Carolina two years ago. The most notable part of the uniform was the red helmet, which was previously worn exclusively with red shirts and pants.
    I think matching pants/helmet combination looks good on any team.

    It’s also the second week in a row that light blue was not a main color on Carolina’s uniform or helmet.

    George Chilvers,
    That is a great picture, you are very talented! I always look forward to seeing the great work you, and all the other colorizers do!

    The new 5 & 1, I like it. Plus, the zombie pic? Great. Like the boss says, it’s all opinion anyway. Don’t like it? Not your site.

    White helmet? Please no white jersey/pants to go with this!!!

    I still like the look from week 1 best but a decent look this week for the Ducks. If they were playing somebody besides Colorado it would’ve looked even better but not too bad.

    Noticed that some of the knit hats on the Chicago Bears sideline for the throwback game do not have the poofy ball on the top. Moreso on the coaches, probably for headset considerations?

    Actually all of the teams have new cold weather sideline hats with the poof ball regardless of throwback.

    BTW, amid all this football..there is this thing called the World Series going on.

    Go Giants.

    From the upper deck, the Steelers’ numbers were unreadable. (So were the names, of course.) A brighter background might help. Or, less authentically, white block numbers would probably work.

    The stripes worked fine for me. Black shoes would have worked better than gold. It’s an interesting look, but they need to deal with the readability problem if they want to use these regularly.

    Speaking of pink going too far, I’m just heading down to Saddledome to see the Hitmen play the Rockets.

    link

    I’ll tweet something from the game.

    “to see the Hitmen play the Rockets.”

    ~~~

    is that some kind of weird canadian mashup of the xfl and the nba?

    Bret Hart was one of the founding owners of the hitmen, but the team has been owned by the Flames for years.

    Kelowna Rockets. I have no idea what it means.

    Bad but not nearly as bad as the light blue and yellow Eagles ones from a few years ago.

    I know the BC uniforms were absolutely wretched, but I did like the addition of helmet numbers. I wouldn’t object to seeing that full time, though the purists may raise hell.

    Just had a glance of the Seattle Sounders green unis (or shall I say, kits) and I believe one can argue the case that they are pretty close to being a true camouflage set because they blend in so much with the field (er pitch, that is). Perhaps that is the reason why we don’t see this shade of green on baseball or football teams.

    Ya know, I never looked at it that way. I just always thought. “Fuck, those kits are hideous.”

    Is the Marlins jersey guy in Detroit? I swear I just saw him waving behind home plate when Posey hit the HR.

    Hey, this is my first comment on here, I just wanted to point out that Old Dominion and Delaware went color vs. color yesterday and it was pretty cool to watch. I know it’s FCS, but it was a good uni match up and I think you should take a look.

    Thanks, love the site!
    Joe

    Terry,

    As someone that lives in the North East and doesn’t function well below 85 or 90 degrees at minimum please feel free to send those 80’s here ASAP. I’d be glad to keep them for you all Winter!!!

    Rains from the outer bands of Sandy just started here about 3 hours ago. I must now go put the Ark in the water.

    Wow, I was really expecting to see some kind of write up about the Oklahoma & Notre Dame game. Two of the most traditional programs, playing on very traditional uniforms. The CF world rarely get to see these two on the same field. Surprised it wasn’t mentioned more (Kudos to Catherine for the 5&1 inclusion).

    Behind 2-0 to the Reds.
    Behind 3-1 to the Cards.
    Four shutouts in the postseason and a 3HR night from Sandoval.
    A bulletproof pitching staff.

    2012 WS Champions.
    And now I lay me down to sleep. Whew.

    I really love that other people are making their own 5&1. You can have modern uniforms on the top 5, but that Delaware St game was an eyesore. I would much rather read other people’s opinions and lists than this fodder published weekly.

    UNC helmets looked great, except the decal. The “foot” ? really? Why not do ram horns or something else. the chrome look was awesome though

    Their name is the Tarheels, and they are proud of it. I had a friend who played football there and had a tar spot inked on his right heel. I personally think it’s nice to see them find a good showcase for that particular logo.

    Kentucky should be banned from the top 5 any time they wear that white shirt/blue sleeve crap. The blue stings the retinas. Delaware State/Morgan State had some bad colors and the second hand designs don’t help, either.

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