Timelessly Representing the Ballclub, B1G Edition

By Phil Hecken

I’m back again today with another installment of the popular “Timelessly Representing” series, and today we begin our look at the major NCAA Football conferences.

Originally envisioned for baseball, several readers have submitted their thoughts on which uniform and stadium (or arena/building) would serve as a “snapshot,” if you will, of a club’s perfect uniform and home, if one were to consider a team’s entire history. It’s subjective, of course, and very likely can be heavily influenced by the ballclubs and stadia from a particular reader’s childhood, although this is not necessarily the case. But based on the more recent vintage chosen of both team and building, it seems like one’s formative years play a role in this.

We’ve now tackled MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the CFL, and the NHL — if you’d like to check those out, here are NBA, Part I; NBA, Part II NFL, NFC Edition; NFL AFC Edition; MLB, National League Edition; MLB, American League Edition, the CFL, NHL, Part I and NHL, Part II.

I’m pleased now to bring you UW reader Christopher Hall, who, like several others, compiled this list during the summer — I had hoped to get to these during Paul’s blog-cation, but I was just overwhelmed with reader suggestions for articles. Now that it’s deep in the heart of football season, I’ll run the NCAA Timelessly series.

Ready? We start with the B1G today.

. . .

Timelessly Representing the Big 10
By Christopher Hall

Hey Phil. First off, thank you for the chance to put this list together. As a Michigan fan, it was a chance to learn a lot about the histories of the B1G’s other teams and stadiums. With that, I realize that I’m no expert as to any other teams’ iconic looks and designs over the years. If you disagree about any of the iconic looks I’ve listed, please let me know, if only to better my favorite teams in the NCAA. Thanks again and have fun reading!

__________

Illinois

Uniform – Home Blues, circa 1989

Stadium – Memorial Stadium (pre-renovation)

__________

Indiana

Uniform – Current, 2012 helmet

Stadium – Memorial Stadium

__________

Iowa

Uniform – Black (Steelers style) homes, circa 2000

Stadium – Kinnick Stadium (post-renovation)

__________

Michigan

Uniform – Nike-era Maize and Blue

Stadium – The Big House (pre-renovation with press box)

__________

Michigan State

Uniform – Home green unis, circa 1986

Stadium – Spartan Stadium, circa 1990

__________

Minnesota

Uniform – 2001 home uniform

Stadium – The Metrodome

__________

Nebraska

Uniform – 1995 white aways

Stadium – Current (Memorial Stadium)

__________

Northwestern

Uniform – Current white aways

Stadium – Ryan Stadium, circa 1970

__________

Ohio State

Uniform – 1973 Home uniforms

Stadium – The Horseshoe (post South EZ renovation)

__________

Penn State

Uniform – Pre-NOB home jerseys

Stadium – Beaver Stadium, 2005

__________

Purdue

Uniform – 2001 Home blacks

Stadium – Current (Ross-Ade Stadium)

__________

Wisconsin

Uniforms – Current

Stadium – Current (Camp Randall Stadium)

. . .

Thanks, Christopher. Nice job with that! Obviously, most of this is opinion, but I would say you’ve done a pretty nice job in that regard. Lots of tradition (well, maybe not so much anymore) so many unis from several eras could probably all qualify, and of course, it being college, not too many stadia from which to choose.

Readers? What say you?

Paul’s Latest on ESPN…

In case you missed it, Paul’s latest ESPN column, his Uni Watch 2013-14 NHL Preview, is now out for your viewing pleasure.

Highly recommended if you didn’t yet see it!

Uni Tweaks Concepts

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

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

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

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

And so, lets begin:

~~~

We begin today with Joshua Balsley, with a slight update for the Nationals:

Phil,

My subtle alteration to the Washington Nationals uniform is inspired by uniforms worn by soliders during the American Revolution.

Basically, it’s a combination of their blue and red alternate jerseys. Brought back the “DC” logo because I like it and it’s been my high school’s logo for decades. And added the white stripe to the pants. Thought about changing the colors of the belt and socks.

Here is the inspiration for my uniform concept.

Like I said this was a subtle change, but I spent more time on than I should have trying to make it look as best as possible to present to you and the folks at uni-watch. Although I enjoy imagining, designing and altering uniforms/jerseys/kits, I lack the ability to make my “projects” look nearly as good as I imagine them. It can be frustrating because I believe I have a lot of great ideas but I’m unable to do my visions justice. Also, I’m not sure it helps I use GIMP. Since I do this for fun photoshop isn’t worth it so I’ve made do.

I welcome any tips, suggestions and/or criticism. If y’all like my idea, I’d be glad to share others with the folks at uni-watch. Let me know if this is the best way to share them or if y’all prefer folks share ideas another way. Hope you enjoy and I look forward to a reply. Have a great weekend.

Joshua Balsley

. . .

Next up is Matthew Blinco, who decided to concept the new American Athletic Conference logo in all its members’ colors:

Hey Guys,

I saw someone had an “American” logo submission for today’s UniWatch blogpost so I decided to send you guys one of my own. Shows what they would look like with the team color swaps like some conference like the SunBelt and C USA do.

Thanks,

Matt Blinco

. . .

We close today with Christpoher Roberts who followed up his original Pelicans uniform submission (below) with a couple new ones (these were sent to me July 17 — before the Pelicans actually unveiled later this summer; yes, I’m a bit behind with these):

Hey Phil,

Here’s a couple of concepts for the New Orleans Pelicans that I made. These are infinitely better than the one I submitted 6 months ago (scroll down), which happened to be my first uniform design ever. The “New Orleans” wordmark is apparently what will be on the actual uniforms. The “Pelicans” wordmark on the first alternate comes from the floor design. I originally made the first three uniforms but decided to get a little creative with the Crescent City Basketball logo, which I love. The inspiration for the second uniform set came from the Golden State Warriors uniform set and San Antonio Spurs alternate uniform. The number font and player name font is from the Texas Rangers. I decided not to include a stripe down the side to give them a more classic look.

The main differences between the two (besides the huge logo on the front) are the change in the logos above the player name and the on the shorts; the numbers changing from a two color scheme to a three color scheme; and the tramp stamp (I did it just for Paul) changes from “Pelicans” to “New Orleans” only on the first alternate.

Here’s a link to hi res images of the uniforms.

Thanks,
Chris

. . .

And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.

Guess The Game…From The Scoreboard

Click To Enlarge

It’s baaaaaack.

OK, readers — you know the drill (and if you don’t it’s quite simple) — you simply need to figure out what game is being played using the clues found on the scoreboard. This one should be VERY easy, based on the visual clues.

If you solve it, as a courtesy to other readers, simply LINK (go to Baseball Reference) to the game and post that link in your comment — feel free to describe HOW you solved it, using any clues you may have gleaned from the Scoreboard.

OK? OK! Post your answer (in link form) in the comments section below. Good luck.

Last week’s scoreboard/answer: June 8, 2008

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U.W.F.F.L. Update
By Rob Holecko

The UWFFL is back this week and here’s a few interesting story-lines to follow. With the NFL’s new guidelines on multiple helmets in place, three UWFFL teams, Tampa (pictured left, decked out in creamsicle orange), Atlanta and Seattle are wearing the throwback colors that their NFL counterparts can’t, the Brooklyn Mariners (pictured center) are wearing a special tribute uniform in honor of a military hero, and our latest expansion team, the Albuquerque Red Skins (pictured right) make their UWFFL debut with a team nickname that is currently at the center of a lot of controversy and hope that things don’t break bad for them.

Read all the details and be sure to vote to help us choose this week’s winners at www.uwfantasyfootballleague.com.

Uni Watch News Ticker: The Newtown High football team remembered Sandy Hook with special jerseys (This happened last week, but Dane Drutis just saw it yesterday). … In the video posted on deadspin.com from MLB.com showing Mariano Rivera making his way out of the game on Thursday, Mark Teixeira is in the dugout in a 2011 Yankees Playoffs sweatshirt (good spot by Chad Stegemiller and also by Brett Crane). … Thursday night, Portland State wore some kind of camo pattern vs. Cal Poly. … App State will be wearing gray uniforms today (first time ever) versus Charleston Southern. … “According to Sam Presti, GM of the Thunder, the team will likely wear a sleeved jersey at least once this year,” writes Brittany Novotny. “He had no specifics as to which game it will be. He also indicated they will continue to use the navy blue alternates this year. See about the 22:00 mark in this video of his press conference.” … Is there a 2012-13 Stanley Cup Engraving Error? Michael Kramer thinks the engraver got the B in “Blackhawks” upside-down this year. “Look at the Cup’s new engraving and that from the Hawks’ last go-around. The error isn’t a misspelling like last time (note the clearly altered “Versteeg” on the ’09-’10 version); it’s much more subtle.” … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: “Check out this rugby clip,” says Jason Bernard. “Do rugby teams not have change strips? Can you believe the hot pink ref?” … “Do we really need UA-logo’d onesies?” asks Gretchen Mittelstaedt who received an E-mail with the subject line, UA For Your Littlest Athlete.” … Patrick McQuillen cannot remember the last time Tyler Myers had the NHL logo on the collar of his jersey. Even in public appearances the logo is missing. “Also, do NHL players wear their official game jerseys for appearances,” asks Patrick. “The Buffalo Bills appear to wear replicas.” … The Warriors’ Stephen Curry has left Nike and gone to UA (thanks, Brinke). … Nike and the Portsmouth schools have reached an apparel deal that is described as “a ‘win-win’ because while student-athletes can wear a Nike product, the agreement gives the school district ‘the opportunity for affordability and purchasing a mass product at a low rate’,” (this depressing news comes from Tommy Turner). … They still play football at old City Stadium, where the Packers played from 1925 to 1956. It’s the home field for Green Bay East High School. When Ashwaubenon High School’s JV team played the East JVs there Monday, its coaches went old school. Shirts, ties and even a fedora (thanks to Jeff Ash). Also from Jeff, The Green Bay Packers will help out Concordia College (Alabama) after that tragic bus fire a few days ago – the Pack will be donating gently used game pants and socks. … The Washington Huskies will be wearing their shiny new gold helmets today against Arizona (h/t to Jimmy Wong). … LSU will honor their late coach, Paul Dietzel, with a “PD” decal on their helmets (thanks to Daniel Fontenot and Trey LaBorde). … Orioles rookie Jonathan Schoop has been batting sans gloves since he’s been called up (good spot by Bryan Duklewski). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments (Tom Mulgrew): Here’s Yasiel Puig dressed as Gumby (part of the annual MLB rookie hazing ritual). … Aaron Scher saw this display in a McDonald’s a few days ago. He’s not sure why they chose to use a photo of Cruz in a Pro Bowl jersey, especially with the other two in their normal attire (and why is his helmet missing the red stripe?). … Yesterday, Boston College took the (now no longer unique) step of tweeting out pieces of their new basketball uniforms. … The Golden State Warriors will have a alternate white sleeved jersey for 2013-14 (thanks to Mike Rowinski). According to this article, they’ll wear it “for every Saturday home game during the 2013-14 season, beginning Saturday, November 2, 2013.” Here’s another look. … Check out your Utica Comets in on-ice action! (h/t Harry Michelson). … Hmmmm – I tweeted about this the other day, and now it’s happened – Cam Newton’s UA Visor Clips will cost him $10,000 (h/t Josh Petty). … Check out the Ohio University Football team in 1903. Says submitter Jonathan Daniel, “Looks like at least four different kinds of uniforms and four of the guys have some kind of (I’m assuming) face guard dangling from their necks.” … Seems as though the Washington Wizards have a new-ish look (h/t “MH”). … Tweeter Jason Bray “found this bottle today for the 1976 orange bowl. Did OU use this logo?” Anyone know? … Last evening, the Reds wore their Los Rojos jerseys (thanks to Patrick O’Neill), in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (see notes).

. . . . . . . . . .

In Case You Missed It … Paul’s Annual NHL Preview is now on ESPN.

That’s going to do it for this fine last Saturday in September. Big thanks to Christopher Hall for the “Timelessly” effort on the B1G, and to the concepters & Rob — don’t forget to visit the UWFFL blog to check out this weekend’s matchups and to vote on your winners.

Lotsa uni-shenanigans going on this weekend for the colleges, so I’ll expect that tomorrow’s SMUW and 5 & 1 will be huge! And the Ducks are back in action tonight (late) taking on a gray-jersey’ed Cal team (hope the boys from Eugene take that into consideration) so we’ll have a Duck Tracker tomorrow as well.

Everyone have a great Saturday, and I’ll be back with Terry, Catherine and Tim with a full Sunday Morning Uni Watch tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace

.. … ..

“We don’t count Ohio State because some of their players got free tattoos and drove cars, which makes them Everything That’s Wrong About Sportsâ„¢.”
–“terriblehuman”