I’ve written several times that the Chiefs’ red pants are arguably the single best uniform element in the NFL. But it hadn’t occurred to me (or probably to anyone else) that the Chiefs would pair them with their red jerseys to create a blood-clot effect, as they did yesterday. It marked the first time in franchise history that the team has gone solid-red. Further info here.
Interestingly, the Chiefs were wearing white pants during pregame warm-ups, so they must have changed britches when they went back into the locker room just prior to the game.
It was a terrible look (insert predictable quip about Lamar Hunt, grave-rolling, etc.), but I kinda wish they had made it even worse by wearing their red-topped socks, which would have extended the blood-clottage down their shins. Instead, they went with their white socks, which felt a bit like a cop-out. If you’re gonna go garish, go all the way.
In other NFL news from yesterday:
• The Chiefs weren’t the only monochromatic team yesterday, as the Titans went with solid light blue. From the highlights I saw, it appeared that the pants and jerseys had different shades of blue. Then I looked at photos to confirm what I’d seen and discovered it was a sweatbox-related effect. Nike really does suck.
• The Bills wore their standing buffalo throwbacks. They were at home, so the Panthers were wearing black on the road. Additional photos here.
• In that Bills/Panthers game, Fox showed a graphic of Bills quarterback EJ Manuel wearing last year’s neck roll collar. The weird thing is, Manuel is a rookie, so that can’t be a photo from last year. So either Manuel grabbed an old jersey that was lying around, or else Fox Photoshopped his face onto an old photo of someone else. Either way, not good.
• Still more from that same game: At halftime the Bills honored their Wall of Fame inductees, each of whom was given a commemorative blazer.
• The Bears wore their Monsters of the Midway throwbacks (additional photos here). This game also provided us with our first jersey typo of the season, as Bears defensive lineman Shea McClellin was missing an “L” on his NOB.
• Love it when the Rams go white over blue. Not as much as I loved it when they wore white over the now-discontinued gold pants, and some white-topped socks would be nice, to avoid the leotard effect, but still. When they go with this combo, they’re a very good-looking team.
• According to a small note in this article, Detroit wideout Calvin Johnson exchanged jerseys with Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson after the Lions/Cards game: “When asked what he was going to do with the jersey, he said, ‘It’s my jersey.’ In other words, he’s likely keeping it.”
• Does Jeromey Clary of the Chargers have a cast on his thumb? I did some Googling and couldn’t come up with anything about him having a thumb injury, but his right thumb sure looks heavily bandaged at the very least.
• No photo, but 49ers defensive back Donte Whitner was wearing solid white socks — no red at all — for last night’s game against the Seahawks.
• From that same game: Anyone know why Marshawn Lynch was wearing a ski mask? (Richard Sherman wore one as well, but his mask didn’t cover as much of his face.)
• Prior to that Niners/Seahakws game, San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick was wearing some truly ridiculous socks. It takes some special chutzpah to combine a corporate logo with the backwards version of your uni number and end up with a word usually associated with the opposing team’s star running back.
• Fox’s pregame show mistakenly showed Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald as a Cowboy.
• CBS bugged everyone by using a yellow “Final Score” graphic that looked distractingly like a “Penalty Flag” graphic.
Turning to Saturday’s NCAA action, Phil and his contributors had good coverage in yesterday’s post, but here are some additional items:
• Alabama defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson’s NOB had a backwards “R”! Reminds me of when the same thing happened to Fred Robbins of the Giants back in 2005. Similar surnames, even!
• Looks like UCLA punter Sean Covington was wearing someone else’s helmet.
• In addition to all the other “36” memorials in the UCLA/Nebraska game, UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley had “R.I.P. #36” written on his towel.
• South Carolina kicker Landon Ard was wearing the least football-ish eyeglasses ever to appear on the gridiron. I have to believe he was having trouble with his contact lenses or something.
• It’s a little hard to read, but Iowa was wearing a “Beat Cancer” helmet decal. Not sure if they’ve been doing that all season or if they just added it for Saturday’s game.
• Arizona wore stripe-less white helmets. First time those have been worn without the stripes since the 2009 Holiday Bowl.
• Here’s a weird one: Oregon was using the old Hartford Whalers logo, apparently to signal certain play calls or personnel packages. Anyone know more about that?
• The white jerseys that Louisiana-Monroe wore against Wake Forest were different from the ones they’d worn two weeks earlier against Oklahoma. As you can see, the ones from this past Saturday had a different number font and were NNOB. Apparently there are rumors floating around about a laundry problem that forced the team to procure replacement jerseys, with no time to add the NOBs.
• Turns out the Pac-12 has a weekly uniform report. Here’s the one for this past weekend.
(My thanks to all contributors, including Stephen Boyd, Jared Buccola, Michael Cossey, Oscar Cullom, Mike Davis, Peter Dubois, Brinke Guthrie, Kyle Hanks, HHH, Mike Cline Jr., Scott Mason, Lauren Melton, Matt Shevin, William Smith, Kevin Wos, and of course Phil.)
Another reason not to sit home on the sofa: This Wednesday evening, Sept. 18, 7pm, I will be one of the featured guest participants in the latest installment of Ask Roulette, a fun little project in which strangers ask each other questions about anything they want. Further details here. The video at the bottom of that page is helpful, too.
Ask Roulette takes place at the Housing Works Bookstore Café (I’m told that they’ll be adding my name to that listing any moment now), and it’s free. You can participate or just watch. Either way, hope to see some of you there on Wednesday evening.
’Skins Watch: Fox’s pregame coverage of yesterday’s Packers/’Skins game included a mention of the Oneida protestors outside Lambeau Field. The protest itself was small, perhaps due in part to rainy conditions. Interestingly, the Packers’ CEO appears to be sympathetic to the ’Skins protest movement. Meanwhile, the Oneidas say they’re planning another protest for early November, when the ’Skins visit the Vikings. ”¦ The Washington Post’s editorial board, noting the recent softening of Roger Goodell’s tone, says it’s time for Dan Snyder to do the right thing (thanks, Phil). … Interest in the ’Skins name controversy has spread across the pond, where it’s now being covered by the BBC. Pretty funny that they used such an old photo, though — the ’Skins haven’t been outfitted by Adidas since 2001 (from Geoff Poole). … Washington Monthly writer Jamie Malanowski suggests that the ’Skins should be renamed the Washington Arrows (from Paul Fogarty). … Anyone who says, “Indians don’t even care about this issue” has clearly never read the Indian Country Today website, which has long been opposed to the ’Skins name. Here’s their latest piece on the naming controversy (from Matt DeMazza).
Baseball News: Our latest chance to look for uniform flaws in a movie will come in this upcoming film about Roberto Clemente (from Chris Weber). … Here is what the Japanese Professional Baseball League is wearing for their “Victory Series” all-star games. Interesting to see that the mock-ups include real stirrups (from Jeremy Brahm). … Speaking of Japanese baseball, Wladimir Balentien continued his high-cuffed look after breaking the Japanese single-season home run record. But after going homer-less in three straight games, he went back to pajama pants on Sunday and promptly hit two homers to break the record (from Yusuke Toyoda). … “On Saturday, the Orioles wore their black uniforms,” says Noah from Maryland. “This marks the first time this year they have worn a colored uni when it is not the scheduled day (black is on Friday, orange is on Saturday if they are at home). The O’s announcers suspected it was a superstitious thing — they’d a big win in black the night before. If so, it didn’t work, as they lost in black on Saturday.” … Dodgers pitcher Onelki Garcia made his MLB debut on Friday. According to a note toward the bottom of this page, that made him the first player ever to wear No. 98 in a big league game (from Patrick O’Neill). … Mets pitcher Carlos Torres didn’t have his orange squatchee on Saturday. ”¦ Someone needs to tell Hunter Pence that nobody wants to see his knees (from Mike Miller). ”¦ Good story about a 1977 Mets giveaway item (from my pal Jamie Jensen). ”¦ Twins and Rays went navy vs. navy yesterday (from Mike Engle). ”¦ Coleman Mullins attended yesterday’s Pirates game at PNC Park and spotted an ad that analogizes the evolution of health care coverage by showing a progression of Pirates jerseys. ”¦ I just scored this vintage softball uniform for a song. Pretty stoked about the jersey. More photos once the uni arrives in the mail.
NFL News: What if NFL teams looked like their names? A bit of Photoshoppery has provided us with the answer to that question (from Nik Streng). ”¦ “What do you do when you have a junk airplane and live in north-central Maryland?” asks Charlie Charnigo. “You turn it into a Ravens objet d’art. I like the detail, from the John Harbaugh pilot to the Lombardi Trophy tail.” ”¦ Odd that this ad shows Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick in their team jerseys but shows Victor Cruz in a Pro Bowl jersey (from Ernest Penaflor). … Not uni-related but still fascinating: A new study shows that NFL fans tend to eat fattier foods when their teams lose. So now you can blame your lousy team for ruining your health.
Hockey News: A new rule will prohibit players from tucking their jerseys into their pants, and Alex Ovechkin isn’t happy about it. It’s worth reading that article just so you can see the quote that includes the term “jersey puller-outers” (from Mike McLaughlin).
Soccer News: Here are some more photos of Bayern Munich’s Oktoberfest kit (from Stefan Schubert). … Brazil’s Santos FC released a third kit featuring an image of the Santos coastline. “Not too shabby,” says Yusuke Toyoda. ”¦ Spectacular striped jerseys for the Iowa State women’s team (from Nick Wilwert). ”¦ Wayne Rooney of Manchester United wore this headgear against Crystal Palace during the weekend, to protect the head injury that he recently picked up during training (from Graham Clayton).
Basketball News: Here’s something from last week that we all missed: The Cavs and Bucks are seeking league approval to print some season ticket-holders’ names on their courts (big thanks to Leo Strawn Jr.). … North Texas will unveil new uniforms during midnight madness on Oct. 10 (from Brayden Ruthart).
Grab Bag: As you may have heard, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss now co-own an arena football team, called the L.A. Kiss. In this interview, sent my way by Trevor Williams, Simmons says, “I like the passion and the athleticism [of football], but visually, it’s never done anything for me because everybody dresses alike. If I was doing a football team, [it would be] more like the X-Men — one guy has a visor, one guy’s dressed like a beast.” Later on in the interview he says his team’s uniforms will “follow AFL regulations. But Paul is talking now with the outfit designers. We may change the outfits every week!” … Canelo Alvarez wore Mexican flag-themed gloves for Saturday night’s bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Here’s another good view. Meanwhile, Mayweather wore striped socks, which is something you rarely see in the ring anymore. … “The Hamburg Blue Devils of the German Football League went helmet-crazy back in 2004, long before HGI came up with the new styles,” says Stefan Schubert. “Their helmets were airbrushed and just like the ones from HGI cost a fortune. That was the main reason why they abandoned that style after one year.” ”¦ “Harborfields High School on Long Island is known for being one of the highest-ranked public schools for academics,” says Jim Moeller. “But unfortunately their football jersey supplier doesn’t know how to spell.” ”¦ Subtle design changes for The New Yorker.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one that was aggravated by the yellow “final” on the bottom of the screen
The washington name issue was discussed on british radio this morning, where they contrasted it with the issue of Spurs fans calling themselves the Yid army.
No mention of “Outside the Lines”? The show on Sunday was regarding the Redskins name.
It has been all over sports radio in Toronto and mentioned on TSN’s panel show on Sunday morning. Momentum is rolling.
Re: Marshawn Lynch
Because he’s a weirdo.
Sherman wears a ski-mask pretty frequently, anytime it is at all wet/cold, Lynch usually doesn’t wear one, but it was really, really wet… though he always does this with his gloves during warm-ups…
link
link
which I find strange and squid-like…
We used to do that with our gloves during warmups in high school. Might be more common than you’d think.
Could it be the best way to maintain/protect their dreads? No idea here, just a guess.
Oregon football, first under Chip Kelly and now under Mark Helfrich, have been calling plays and/or offensive packages with cryptic cards like the Whalers one for a few years now. (Kelly has been doing it with the Eagles now too.) Here is a article on it that I found fascinating link
Wow, that article WAS fascinating! Thanks for posting it!
I forgot to mention that pictures are worth a thousand words, and getting information visually was how things worked long before language was developed, so it’s really no surprise that this system works. The surprising thing is why it took so long for someone to develop a system like this for football. You would think it would have come out before speakers in helmets because all you need for this are pictures/drawings on a piece of cardboard.
Re Highmark BCBS “evolution of coverage” ad: Jersey identified as “1924” has a Baseball Centennial patch on its left sleeve, should be identified as a 1939 jersey. Makes you wonder about the attention to patient details.
Shouldn’t the photoshop of the Bills player in the “what if NFL teams looked like their name?” gallery be Buffalo Bill Cody? Instead, the bison head is a play on the city name.
And a Charger is a horse used for warfare, although they’ve always had the lightning bolt motif.
Or howzabout a cell phone charger? anything! that one was lame. i got a tiny cheuckle from some of them.
As a Charger fan, I read a great book covering their founding up through Air Coryell. It’s been a while so I don’t remember specifics, but they were named the Chargers because of the original owners ties to Visa Credit Card Company. I’d love to find that book again (I checked it out from the public library in the town we were in at the time, but haven’t seen it since).
It was actually Carte Blanche, if I recall. Owned by Baron Hilton, who also owned the team.
Hilton always insisted that the name had nothing to do with his credit card, that it came from a fan vote. Myself, I suspect that they came up with the name and then held a contest to see if a fan could suggest it for them, as the Cosmos did…
And that Photoshopped tiger head looks like a Siberian tiger, not a Bengal tiger.
Buffalo Bill Cody was the inspiration for the team name, back in the AAFC days:
link
Trying to claim Canada even back then.
That would make the Bills the second professional sports team whose link.
^^ Good stuff.
Interesting that Wikipedia (which, as we all know, is NEVER wrong) claims the current team got its name from the fact a male bison is called a billy. I’ve always heard bovine-type designations for bison/buffalo — I.e. bull, cow, calf
So… we complain when teams wear socks that match the pants and look like leotards, then we also complain when the Chiefs actually wear white striped socks to avoid the leotard look? Pft, KC looked fine.
You’re implying that I’m being inconsistent.
But here’s the thing: The blood-clot look resembles a unitard. So it’s too late for them to avoid the leotard/unitard look. If they’re already going for that look, I think they should go all in, including the socks. That’s all.
I think what the NFL needs to do is make teams pick what pants they are going to wear months in advance, like their jerseys, instead of suddenly changing their mind after pre-game warm ups. That way they don’t surprise people, like the Panthers did with the “Greatest uniform in NFL history.” (Sarcasm in that last comment.) I just wish the Browns still had the orange jerseys, orange pants, and the brown pants, and gone monochrome with orange and brown. See what the damage ended up being.
I disagree. The socks are the only redeeming quality about the uniform. I’m against encouraging teams to make their look worse.
I am glad I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the Chiefs look. It was horrible! Same with the Titans. The Titans all-blue look is not flattering!
The Chiefs looked great, and the Titans would have looked better if they had blue hats.
To be fair, seeing Victor Cruz in his Pro Bowl Jersey looks like a Giants Jersey to the unpaid intern tasked with finding the picture.
This is actually a sponsorship issue. While McDonald’s is a sponsor of the NFL, they are not a sponsor of every team which has to be negotiated separately with each individual team. McDonald’s is a sponsor of the Ravens and 49ers but not of the Giants, therefore they have two options … 1) Use Victor Cruz in a non-Giants uniform, in this case his Pro-Bowl uniform or 2) Scrub the uniform of all Giants logos (notice they did this to his Giants helmet, particularly the bumper). To save time and money, they chose to go with a picture that they didn’t have to alter much (option 1).
Being a sponsor of the NFL only gives you rights to the shield and collective rights. Collective rights means you can use individual team logos but only when you use all 32 of them together without featuring one logo more prominently than the others.
Isn’t sponsorship fun?!
Since the “big red” Cornhuskers didn’t wear red at home, the Chiefs had to make up for it with red-over-red.
Anyone else think Nebraska’s Saturday jerseys called to mind these?
link
P.S….
You know you’re a uni/equipment geek when now that on the play where Burt Reynolds scores the winning points in 1974 THE LONGEST YARD he begins the play wearing Riddell cleats, switches to SpotBilts mid-play, then back to Riddells to cross the goal line.
Is true.
I would not make up such a thing.
Pfft. Burt Reynolds didn’t score the winning touchdown in that movie, Adam Sandler did.
(I kid. Very good to see you here Ricko, hope you’re doing well)
The number style (numeral 2) on Burt’s jersey also changes during the game.
To all those who say the name Redskins is a way to honor the proud, brave people of Native American ancestory, there appears to be a disconnect.
“The (Oneida) protest was itself small, perhaps due in part to rainy conditions.”
Way to prove the Redskins wrong Oneida.
link
Ha! Nice!
Peter, forgive me but your post confused me. Is your point that the Oneida proved themselves to be neither proud nor brave by not showing up in greater numbers in the rain to protest the “Redskins”? I think the lack of protesters shows that the Oneida are smart enough not to stand in the rain in order to support a stupid cause, but that’s just me.
According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know) the Oneida Nation of Wisconson has 21,321 members. The reservation is, in part, located inside the city of Green Bay. If only 24 members of the Oneida Nation of Wiscons showed up for the protest, that means that 0.0011256507668496 of the Nation are so offended by the name “Redskins” so as to stand in the rain at Lambeau in order to make their collective voices heard.
According to an article in the yesterday’s Green Bay Press Gazette:
“The Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin has taken a formal position objecting to the “Redskins” name and logo and will continue to raise that objection, but it had no plans to be part of Sunday’s protest, tribal Business Committee member Brandon Stevens said earlier.”
If there is a contingent that are literally fair weather protesters, than I guess the issue isn’t truly that important to them. It doesn’t look good when fans have more resolve to show up than those fighting a social issue.
Bollocks. Very few social or political issues can gather crowds at any one place and time to rival a football team’s paid attendance. It was a notable event in American history when a presidential candidate managed to routinely draw crowds of 50,000 and up during his campaign. Since 2009, Tea Party “rallies” have rarely drawn more than a few dozen people to any one place and time, anywhere in the country, and yet that movement has transformed the life of the nation. It’s just the nature of the beast that not many people show up to most political events, whether a protest or a rally.
Couple of uniform notes about the Pirates,(who currently have won more games at this calendar date than the 1990-92 clubs).
First, the Clemente movie released on dvd is not the official movie sanctioned by the Clemente family, it’s the lower budget production. Second, the ad listing Pirate uniforms made a mistake by listing the 1996 road uniform as the 2000 version. The old logo on the sleeve is a dead giveaway.
Good catch! I missed that while focusing on the “1924” jersey.
Oh man, what a mess that Pirates jersey ad is….ugh! (although I like the initial concept)
Additionally, in the article, the people who made the film spelled his name wrong. Walker is his second last name, not his middle name. Spanish naming customs give a child two last names: their father’s comes first, then the mother’s. Kinda like how David Ortiz was mistakenly originally known as David Arias when he first started playing.
The South Carolina kicker has a medical condition that requires the glasses. He was the subject of some media taunts in 2012 and the New York Times helped explain the situation –
link
I miss athletes in nerd glasses. It was such a sports movie staple in the 70s and 80s.
Maybe Warby Parker can start designing athletic glasses for the hipsters in the NBA and NFL.
When I was a younger man and worked as a baseball umpire, before contact lenses were widely available, I wore glasses. Let me tell you, an umpire with glasses gets some serious taunting (and tough skin).
Are we not counting the glasses worn by the likes of Chuck Muncie or Eric Dickerson? Or is the assumption that those were protective goggles, and not prescription eyewear?
They were definitely prescription in Muncie’s case.
Eric Dickerson had poor vision as well.
Back in the 1970’s and 1980’s West Indian cricket captain Clive Lloyd wore prescription glasses, even when batting:
link
Monsters of Midway get-up still #1. Wow…
Like many others, presumably, I didn’t like Titans todo-celeste, but the Chiefs almost-all-red worked just fine…
Me, during some highlights show: “Look at that, honey! Look at how those orange numbers explode on that navy jersey? Have you ever seen anything more beautiful? Here, let me back it up so you can see it again!”
My wife: ” I’m going to bed.”
It’s lonely, the uniform aesthetics life…
“… My wife: ‘ I’m going to bed.’…”
Now, Cort, darlin’, far be it from me, your avuncular comrade, to pry into matters best left behind the drawn curtain of domestic life, but I will confess to be a wee bit curious as to your reply to this spousal communication. Did you say:
A. “Bed?! Now you’re talking, baby!”
or
B. “OK, honey, I’m just staying up for another 45 minutes or so to see if I can catch some late-breaking news from the 49ers-Seahawks game”
I’ve been away from my computer.
We live in a 1700 square foot house. Our Youngest Child is a junior, taking AP classes. He doesn’t sleep. He roams and rambles, deep into the night. He appears, out of nowhere, asking questions about Frederick Jackson Turner’s Frontier Thesis and Reconstruction’s impact on modern Southern culture. No privacy, no peace, a constant state of anxiety: it’s like living in Romania, under Ceausescu.
So it was 49ers – Seahawks.
The Chiefs do have a strong logo, and if I could make a change, it would be to jettison the single stripe on the sleeves in favor of an arrowhead.
Same here. The Chiefs almost made it work.
The Titans, on the other hand. A team from Tennessee should not wear a Texas Tuxedo-inspired look.
Presumably link would be better?
The Oilers/Titans obviously missed a huge opportunity there.
Nice evidence of the effectiveness of the league’s new knee pad requirement. . .
link
He has knee pads. Effective knee pads? Probably not, but he has knee pads.
That’s my point. The league requires everyone to wear knee pads, but most players knees are just as exposed as past seasons.
Forgot to post this last week, but at the Saints vs Falcons game, the Superdome’s mini “Jumbotrons” show certain replays when not running commercials. During the replays there is closed-captioning that is extremely sloppy and probably to result of a voice-recognition program. During the explanation of a play or penalty – I can not recall specifically which play – the closed captioning read “sexually offended” when I believe explaining a successful first down conversion …. It was on and off the screen too quickly to attempt a screen grab.
mini “Jumbotrons”
That’s like the inverse of jumbo shrimp, right?
“… Spectacular striped jerseys for the Iowa State women’s team (from Nick Wilwert). …”
Zowie! Those are wonderful. Think about it: NCAA soccer jerseys these days provide a rare opportunity for new designs that don’t have to accommodate commercial crapola. Every college can sport unis just as awesome as the ones worn by George Chilvers’ colourised bravos of the early 20th Century. Maybe without the skin pallor and shocking inattention to hair gel.
They are indeed excellent (albeit with a pedantic note that they would be called “hoops”, not “stripes”).
Reminiscent of Partick Thistle from Scotland:
link
Actually, Thistle are wearing stripes, not hops this year. Go figure.
As it turns out, a few teams are wearing that Nike template this year. I believe Syracuse and a team from San Fran are using the hoops withthe US MNT number box from a few kits ago, too.
It looks great, but then you see it again and again, and it loses some of the magic.
SB
By the way – the Chiefs’ Red over Red really sucks, and adding Red socks would only worsen the problem. Please stop encouraging them ….
re: ticker item about the Japanese all-star jerseys
That’s for the Japanese Women’s Baseball League (JWBL) and it should be Victoria Series (though it doesn’t seem to be sponsored by the lingerie brand).
The Chiefs didn’t look as bad as I feared. The striping on the pants and the white socks helped. The Titans going with the navy socks helped their look as well. And every time the Panthers want to pull out that Black over Black combination they should be shown photos of yesterday’s game. That is how the Panthers should look.
“Pretty funny that they used such an old photo, though – the ’Skins haven’t been outfitted by Adidas since 2001”
And yin-yang tattoos haven’t been popular since 1998.
I found it funny that the Bills are still sporting that horribly wrong throwback design on their sleeves, as – if they just do it enough, it’ll change the actual history. Ironically, the socks they wear ARE period correct, though yesterday in the reverse (blue) color scheme. Seriously, if the socks have the thick/thin stripes with the hairline red outline, doesn’t anyone in the Buffalo organization question why the sleeve stripes aren’t matching?
I recall reading on twitter last night (don’t remember who) that the Chiefs players made the call & were allowed to wear the red on red to salute the fans.
I don’t dislike it; they made it look better than most teams who try it & look bad. Even if you hate it, the positive is that they apparently did it for the fans’ red-out. They lose a lot, & people in KC still support them. Nice gesture if the story is true.
As far as the mismatching Titans blue & sweatboxes, I’ve noticed that a lot of nfl players besides the big fellas are sweatier early in games than before (with traditional mesh jerseys). I own an authentic retail version, and I can tell you these things are hot! They may wick the moisture, but they are the equivalent to a 70’s cold weather jersey. I’m surprised we haven’t heard more from players about it; they must be stifling!
Chiefs looked sharp. I thought you’d like them, Paul. ESPECIALLY the white socks. It’s funny, I was quite surprised to see your response. At least you haven’t become predictable!
Agreed on all points. Plus, the pants are easily the weakest element of the ensemble. Helmet? Excellent. Jersey? One of the best in today’s NFL. Socks? Classic. Pants? On loan from a second-rate pee-wee league.
McFarlane Sports Picks came out with a red-on-red variant of Priest Holmes in 2003. I believe they replaced it with a red-on-white correction when it was pointed out that the Chiefs had never worn that particular uni combo:
link
And now here we are, 10 years later.
This figure was the first thing that went through my mind when I saw yesterday’s game.
I was unable to take picture during the game yesterday. Christian Ponder was wearing his wedding ring. link
Here’s another, clearer picture
link
What’s the standard? Rubber placeholder or sans-ring?
I would think most players would go without. Exceptions would include a rubber replacement ring or David Carr, who would place a strip of tape around his left ring finger as a placeholder.
I did some searching around, I came across link written by a certain Paul Lukas. Ryan Fitzpatrick seems like the only other non-special teams player to wear the actual ring on the field.
Jags went white over white yesterday but I don’t think anyone actually saw the game. Even the TV station here in Orlando apologized for televising the game.
But actually I don’t think it’s a bad look, with all the black accents.
link
I don’t mind the Jags unis (though I’d like more gold!). It’s just the helmet that doesn’t float my boat.
I’ve said before I’d’ve preferred the gold/black fade to go right to left (not front to back). TAHT would make their lids unique IMHO.
Had they kept the helmet from last season instead of that monstrous two-tone thing, they might actually look decent.
Even the TV station here in Orlando apologized for televising the game.
Must suck when the Jags are on the road and the game can’t be blacked out. But yeah, the white-white look isn’t too bad.
I said it after last week; surprisingly the Jags uni doesn’t look that bad in action. When looking from various angles, all the superfluous do-dads, and clutter don’t show up as much making it look much better… helmet excluded.
Carson Daly demonstrated the powers of his new Social Media Orange room this morning… He was talking about how his job focuses around social media listening, and as an example, he “covered” the buzz on a Redskins name change.
I did not hear Uni-Watch mentioned, but he did cover the Goodell stance-change, as well as the protests at the game.
They also used the old 1982 tucked feather logo. Maybe it fit on screen better?
“We may change the outfits every week!”
Someone should let Gene know that that’s been done already. It’s called Oregon.
Knowing How Gene operates, he probably wouldn’t do that unless Nike paid him to do it… kinda like Oregon.
“A new rule will prohibit players from tucking their jerseys into their pants, and Alex Ovechkin isn’t happy about it.”
Too bad they don’t have a rule outlawing clown outfits like Washington wears.
Strikes me as a way for Reebok to force their mark on the bottom of the jersey to still be seen. Creating a rule to protect an advertiser? Another sterling moment in the Gary Bettman regime.
Except Reebok doesn’t have their mark on the bottom hem. It’s on the back of the neck, just above the player’s name.
Couple interesting “uni” notes from ESPN’s slideshow from behind the scenes of the Mayweather v. Alvarez fight.
It looks like Mayweather had two uniforms laid out to pick from. He also had 45-0 stitched on his equipment bag (he was 44-0 heading into the fight).
link
During the Packers-Redskins game yesterday on Fox, at one point around the 2nd quarter I noticed the ticker on the bottom of the screen that shows the scores, stats and such had every players last name as Griffin. I first noticed when it was showing the info for the Cowboys-Chiefs game because I wondered who the hell Tony Griffin was. It proceeded to go through three or four more games before it suddenly disappeared. I should have caught a screen grab, but was wondering if anybody else had noticed.
If ever there were a game for the Redskins to have gone back to the burgundy pants…
Agreed!
I was hoping for the Redskins to go white-over-white, which is not a great look for a team called the Redskins, but would have been slightly better than what the Redskins wound up wearing yesterday.
USA Today link about that!
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I thought the Chiefs looked great, and the white socks absolutely made it.
Found an article about the Griffin ticker snafu.
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“but I kinda wish they had made it even worse by wearing their red-topped socks”
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In regards to Sherman and Lynch don’t they both have dreads? Possibly the hood or balaclava look is used to control the dreads under the helmet.
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Link about Brandon Ard and his glasses from last season.
Not every player on the Chiefs went with the high white socks. In fact, a few went with red or mostly red for that extra special leotard look.
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Pretty sure those are the same white socks, but worn over red tights,and with the socks sagging down. Similar effect as red-topped socks, though.
The good folks at the Men in Blazers podcast wants to know what Americans think about Premier League team logos: link
Go ahead, it’s a good time killer.
That was fun.
High school that is both Chrome-Winged and GFGS unis. It’s Edison Preparatory School in Tulsa, OK.
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Chrome wings, but matte gray unis.
L.A. Kiss. Spare us,please. Maybe the team should dress in platform shoes while they are at it. And wear garish makeup. If the team folds, there is always a job selling Kiss caskets.
At least my childhood dream of seeing the Kiss insignia on a football helmet will be realized. Now, there’s something that can be realistically described as iconic. But, yeah, this is about thirty-five years too late.
What’s the over-under on weeks until the Eagles get in some kind of trouble for having something on their giant play cards that the NFL doesn’t like because it depicts something that’s not a league sponsor?
So the Chiefs didn’t go monochromatic at their home opener as a shout-out to their new head coach Andy Reid (aka: “Big Red”)?
Da Bears 1940’s Monsters of the Midway throwbacks, the best throwback unis in pro sports. Bears 2-0!!!
Apologies if this is a rerun, but VaTech is waging war against their viewers’ eyes link with maroon and orange camfaux.
I’m okay with the Redskins rebranding themselves as the Arrows, as it’s an element that has appeared on the uniform and makes as much sense as the Chargers being referred to as the Bolts, or the Angels as the Halos. For that matter, change the Atlanta Braves to the Atlanta Tomahawks. Paul, does this (not) meet your criteria vis-a-vis misappropriated intellectual property?
Doesn’t work for me, no.
I’m still intrigued by the idea of keeping the iconography and changing the name to The Americans.
To be honest, I’m still not sure what I think of the idea.
I wonder how people would react if they kept the name, but dropped the logo and imagery. No feathers or spears or arrows or anything remotely Native in origin, just a Helvetica W on the helmet.
When the fundamental problem is that the team name is a racial slur, then no, making a bunch of changes but keeping the racial slur as the name would satisfy exactly nobody. Redskins dead-enders will be enraged by any “surrender” to the movement against the team’s name, so keeping the name while abandoning the logo and helmet will piss them off just as much as if the name were changed, too. People who object to the team’s name will not be satisfied, since the name will be unchanged. And fans who don’t give it much thought will simply be confused, and probably a little bit alienated by the strangeness of the move.
Alienate diehard fans, fail to satisfy critics, and confuse the public in the middle: Pretty much the worst outcome the team could possibly achieve. Which probably makes it Snyder’s most likely endgame.
Couple of uni related superstitions in a baseball article on ESPN.
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Paul,
I found this through a site called Maps on the Web.
Its a map of every professional baseball team. I haven’t looked at it to see
how accurate it is but thought it might make and interesting post.
Here is the link
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Wow… are there really 6 states that don’t even have a Single A team? How is that even possible?
They try to keep affiliates close to their parent teams, right? I imagine they want to minimize travel for call-ups and scouts.
And even independent teams wouldn’t want to be too far from other teams, since players are hoping to catch on with affiliates.
Well, if someone asked you to make a list of the states that don’t have affiliated pro baseball teams, wouldn’t nine people out of ten say, “Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas?” And the tenth would either forget that Hawaii and Alaska are states, or they’d include Idaho?
But all six states without affiliated ball do have either independent minor-league or college wood-bat teams, which are roughly akin to rookie-level ball.
There are leagues not represented on the map – in my part of the world, the Pioneer League and American Association are not represented, I’m sure there’s other leagues in other areas.
The map is seriously out of date:
Lists the Astros in the NL.
Shows the Portland Beavers in the PCL. That team moved to Tucson for the 2011 season, and will be moving to El Paso next year.
another mis-named team in this map is the Scranton-Wilkes Berre Yankees. they became the Railriders before this season started
I don’t think this is a particularly new picture, but shows the Ameobi brothers of Newcastle United: link
That’s Sammy on the left with FINOB, and Shola on the right with just LNOB, except the first initial obviously doesn’t help distinguish the two players.
You should always say Shola Ameobi’s name with a Sean Connery accent, it makes the name even more magnificent then it already is.
Don’t Forget Ameobi on Special1 Tv, Shut Up Dave in Newcastle!
Crap, now I’m going to spend all day watching those on YouTube…
Brilliant.
Though there was a rule that player must wear knee and thigh pads this season, apparently Frank Gore of the 49ers is ignoring this. Isn’t there a fine or cannot play in the game ? Whats up with this ?????
It’s true that Gore didn’t wear knee pads in Week 1:
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But he did wear them (albeit well above the knee) yesterday:
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Re: Kaepernick’s socks, I’m pretty sure those are two 7’s on his socks and not a certain corporate logo. Still pretty silly.
You’re right! Two backwards sevens, not a swoosh and a seven.
Still ridiculous.
Audry Perez of the Cardinals made his MLB debut this weekend link
I hate Cincy’s uniform so much I might not watch tonight’s game. It’s that deep.
Noah’s wrong. The Orioles wore black on a Sunday earlier this year against the yankee’s.
Paul – you think there’s anyone I could reach out to with the Rams organization that could get the gold pants put back??? They are a great looking team with them, these white ones with the Navy jersey are OK, but the navy ones just are so blah. The stripes are just tacky too, they don’t match any other stripes on the uniform and are just tacked on generically.
Also, I’d love it if Jagr had retired right after he found out about the “no-tucking” rule! Just to get at that terrible NHL commissioner Gary Buttman.
Anybody notice the Referee Mike Carey wearing the “old” font in the MNF game?
Not sure if anyone else caught it, but Bayern Munich wore their Oktoberfest kit on Saturday at home, instead of their traditional red (though the keeper wore the red kit instead of a goalie jersey). What was noteworthy is that one of the Bayern players had the Hermes sleeve logo that all Bundesliga players are wearing this year upside down:
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Here’s a view of how the logo should look:
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Is it just me or does the SC kicker look like “Half Face” Richard Harrow from Boardwalk Empire with those glasses on?
Anyone think the Rams’ white over blue is really disgusting? I DO! Paul has a fetish for white jerseys and dark pants. I don’t know why he loves it so much. It’s so middle school.