Timelessly Representing the Ballclub, SEC Edition

By Phil Hecken

I’m back again today with another installment of the popular “Timelessly Representing” series. Last time out we looked at the NCAA’s PAC-12, and today we’ll look at the SEC.

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, the NHL and some NCAA Football — 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, NHL, Part II, NCAA B1G Conference, and NCAA PAC-12 Conference

I’m pleased now to bring you UW reader John William Richey, 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 continue to run those I received for the NCAA. Keep in mind that I received this near the end of July, so some of the costumes uniforms the teams broke out this year may not even have been considered (although those wouldn’t yet be “timeless” would they)? Anything “current” may have been current prior to the 2013 season.

So let’s get started with JW’s …

. . . . .

Timeless SEC
By John William Richey

SEC West:

Arkansas: Arkansas’ one national championship was was won in 1964. Coincidentally, this was the first year a Razorback logo appeared on the helmet.

• 1964-1967

• Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium

_______________

Alabama: While Bryant-Denny is impressive today, Alabama football was built by Bear Bryant at Legion Field in Birmingham, Al.

• Current

• Legion Field

_______________

Auburn: Auburn has basically worn the same uniforms since the 1950’s, covering both of the school’s national championships.

• Current

• Jordan-Hare Stadium

_______________

LSU: LSU predominantly wears white uniforms home and away with the exception of a few home games a year against “cupcake” opponents.

• Current

• Tiger Stadium

_______________

Mississippi State: Love the old school MSU logo on the helmet, plus they snapped a 30+ game winning streak for Alabama that season in this uni.

• 1980

• Davis Wade Stadium

_______________

Ole Miss: What Ole Miss fan doesn’t want the powder blue helmet back?

• 1983-1994

• Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

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Texas A&M: I maybe a prisoner of the moment, but this uni beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, won Manziel the Heisman, crushed Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, and legitimized Texas A&M’s move into the SEC.

• Current [White-Out]

• Kyle Field

_______________

SEC East:

Florida: Beginning with Spurrier’s tenure at Florida, the Gators have typically worn the classic orange helmet and blue uniform at home.

• Current

• Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

_______________

Georgia: This was the uniform set that was originally famous for the “silver britches.” It also helps when Herschel Walker wears it.

• 1980-2005

• Sanford Stadium

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Kentucky: Sorry Kentucky. If you have to choose one, we’ll go with the plain white helmet, solid blue uniform, and white pants worn in the 1950 season, which just happened to be the year UK won their one national championship.

• Current

• 1950

• Commonwealth Stadium

_______________

Missouri: For a brief stretch with Chase Daniel at QB, Missouri football was relevant, and these were the uniforms worn during this time.

• 2007-2011

• Faurot Field

_______________

South Carolina: South Carolina has never been as hot as they are right now, and they always seem to wear mono-garnet at home for all big games.

• Current

• Williams-Brice Stadium

_______________

Tennessee: Another classic SEC uniform that has withstood the test of time. It’s been worn by Peyton Manning, won a national championship, and even survived the Lane Kiffin era.

• Current

• Neyland Stadium

_______________

Vanderbilt: Another team like South Carolina that even when the uni changes, still prefers a particular look. For Vandy it is the gold helmet, black uni, and black pants combo.

• Current

• Vanderbilt Stadium

_______________

Nice job with that JW! The SEC is (and has been for the past decade or so) the class of the NCAA, steeped in tradition with only a few teams succumbing to the Nikefication of uniforms. Still, there are a couple who’ve changed things up for 2013 — will any of those even last long enough to stand the test of time (to be come “timeless”)? Others, like Alabama, seem to never change. Even LSU, Florida and Georgia underwent some minor tweaks for this past season. But nice job with choosing your “timeless” unis & stadia. Readers? What say you…

Colorize This!

It seems like ages (months, anyway) since we’ve had a “Colorize This!” segment, and a couple of these were sent in a few months back, but with the final submission (which you’ll see below) from one of our extraordinary colorizers last week, I knew it was time to break it out again. Enjoy!

Click on each image to enlarge.

. . .

We begin today with David Firestone, who has a request for a colorization:

Phil,

I got this photo of a Finish wrestler, that dates to about 1912. I own one of the tea services pictured, and I thought that this would be a great photo.

Dave Firestone

. . .

Next up is Ryan Dowgin with an oldie:

Hey Phil,

Been a while, and I am really rusty, but I just finished this colorization. It is of Jim Laird, who played at Colgate from 1916-1919 with a two year stint in the Marines sprinkled in. He was named captain in 1920 but was ruled ineligible because he played in a game with professionals.

Ryan

. . .

Next up is a submission from M. Burnett, who doesn’t have a colorization, but sent in this nifty timelapse video of restoring and colorizing a 60-year-old photograph of grandma. Check it out:

. . .

Our next submission isn’t new, but the colorization was done by colorizer-extraordinare George Chilvers, with an informational update from Uni Watch Historian Terry Proctor:

Dear Phil,

Attached is the colorized photo of the 1956-57 Rochester Royals, the last year in Rochester. Also the B&W original. The work was done by George Chilvers. Having the picture colorized really makes the uniform quite attractive. As you’ll note on the B&W picture Number 14, Richie Regan, has White-on-Color numbers on his White jersey. I found out from talking to the Sand-Knit sales rep (he just passed away recently at age 90) who sold them the uniforms for the 1955-56 season said that the numbers were unreadable up in the cheap seats. So in the off-season the jerseys were sent back to Sand-Knit to have the Red top numbers sewn on. Somehow Number 14 didn’t get returned. Hope you can start up the “Colorize This” section again.

Terry

. . .

And we close today with another colorizer-extraordinaire, Gary Chanko, who’s back after being out of action for a couple months:

Hi Phil

It’s been a few months since my surgery and the cardiologist says I’m now recovered. Thought I’d toss in a baseball related colorization before the post season ends.

I can across this vintage photo that was recently donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame photo collection. It deserved to be colorized.

There’s not much history about the team, other than the player (James A. Carter) who is the grandfather of the donor. Interesting to note the Hampton Normal Institute (now Hampton University) was started as an educational institution for both African Americans and Native Americans. Appropriately the photo shows players from groups.

Gary

… .. …

That’s it for today. Thanks as always to all the submitters and lets keep those colorizations coming Uni Watchers!

Guess The Game…From The Scoreboard

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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. Last week’s scoreboard was, as it turned out, VERY easy. This week I have a feeling it’s quite a bit more difficult. At the very least, it will require some detective work based on the clues found on the scoreboard. Good luck!

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 9, 2012.

U.W.F.F.L. Week 7 Update

By Rob Holecko

Here’s what’s going on in the UWFFL this week. Fresh off a victory over undefeated Minnesota, Atlanta (5-1) takes on New York (5-1) for first place in the UWFFL East. In the minors, it’s a big rivalry game as the first Carolina Clash takes place, Raleigh and Carolina meeting with both teams wearing special occasion uniforms. Also, Rapid City is “going full Blizzard” this week in recognition of ranchers who have lost 75,000 cattle in a blizzard as they take on Youngstown in a key Central League matchup, and out west Vancouver is wearing their throwbacks against Goldsmith Gulch. All this and much, much, more at uwfantasyfootballleague.com.

Be sure to check it out and vote at uwfantasyfootballleague.com.

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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 Joe O’Bryan, with some new concepts for the Padres:

Phil,

Hi! I’d like to submit some padres concepts for the site. I’m currently not satisfied with the Padres’s look so I created a new SD logo based off some old St. Louis Browns stuff and I went with a faux back kind of feel.

Thanks,
Joe O’Bryan

. . .

Next up is Coachie Ballgames, with new Tiger looks for the LSU Tigers:

Hey Phil,

Good Afternoon.

Everything I read about LSU’s new walking tiger logo said it’d be good for more refined gear like polo shirts, but I mocked up their current crazy-eyed helmet tiger on a polo and I think it looks fine. Also put the new walking tiger on the helmet to see what it would look like.

Regards,
Coachie B.

. . .

We close today with Matt Malinoski who has concepted all the MLB teams at various times over the past year or so, with an update to his Red Sox concepts:

Phil,

Working off of a good photo of a 1972 jersey, I adjusted the lettering so it more closely resembles the McAuliffe typeface. Also made minor adjustments to the “3” and “5”. I also adjusted the illustrations on my website accordingly.

Thanks,

Matt

. . .

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

Alex Rocklein’s MLB Playoff Uni Tracking

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And now it’s down to three.

Last evening, the Cards absolutely got the jump on possible NL Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw, leading 9-0 after five innings, and never looking back — they cruised to a 9-0 win.

Both the Cards/Dodgers and Red Sox/Tigers (who play game 6 of their series today) have worn classic, non-softball-topped unis. In fact, the only deviation from the norm was last Saturday, when the Cards wore their cream colored “St. Louis” uniforms; every other game has featured white versus gray, and will again today when the Red Sox wear their whites and Detroit dons the grays. No matter who wins the AL, the forthcoming World Series will feature a rematch of a late-1960’s stint, and either one will look much like their counterparts did almost 40 years ago (it will also feature a much more recent rematch, which is described below):

In 1967, the Cardinals defeated the Red Sox (and the Cards wore red caps on the road, as God intended, then as well). Other than stirrups, we could see this matchup next week. The Sox’ home unis were virtually identical to today, while their roadies had a block “BOSTON” (in a different typeface from today’s font).

In 1968, the Tigers defeated the Cardinals; Detroit’s home uniforms were almost identical, but rather than the “Detroit” script (and orange outline) as they have today, the Tigers roadies were gray with dark navy numbers and block “DETROIT” lettering; they also featured TV numbers on the right OR left sleeve (an interesting quirk, depending upon, I believe, whether the player was lefty or righty, but I’m not 100% certain about that — it may have been determined by which side a player batted from — if anyone knows, please enlighten me!).

Of course, back then the uniforms were wool, not polyester double-knit or whatever space-age name they’re calling today’s fabric. Aside from the fabric, the primary difference between the Cards unis today and back then was a thin stripe down the home pants. Interestingly, their road pants had no stripe (neither set of pants have a stripe in 2013).

Quick Facts: The Cardinals have met both the Tigers and Red Sox three times previously in the World Series, and hold a 2-1 advantage over both; The Cards & Sox hooked up in 1946 (Cards won 4-3), 1967 (Cards won 4-3) and 2004 (Sox won 4-0); The Cards and Tigers hooked up in 1934 (Cards won 4-3), 1968 (Tigers won 4-3) and 2006 (Cards won 4-1).

So congrats to the Cardinals, and get ready for a good looking World Series, whether it’s the Sox or Tigers who oppose them (of course, any of the four teams would have produced a classic looking Series).

Uni Watch News Ticker: Didn’t receive too many ticker submissions yesterday (although I did get about a dozen on the Gotham/Metropolis-Batman/Superman movie costumes), so this ticker will be in the “old school” format. Apologies in advance to those who prefer the “sectioned” ticker. Now then: Check out this neat helmet car as Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go for a ride while filming “22 Jump Street” on the campus of Tulane University in New Orleans Oct. 12 (thanks to Chris Flinn). … On Thursday night Stephen Tod was in attendance at the Battalion/Whalers OHL game in North Bay and the team donned pink-trimmed sweaters. “It appears the teams colours were moved around with the olive green being displaced by pink, with the exception of the helmets,” says Stephen. “Pictures of the team wearing those sweaters can be seen on the North Bay Nugget page and on the Battalion’s website.” … Patrick Barnett sent in this picture of his son “rocking some very fine hosiery” in a recent football game. Says the proud papa, “He’s in eighth grade and just finished the season playing for Valley View Junior High School (which draws from Germantown and Farmersville in Ohio).” … “I’ve noticed living in Delaware is that there are a lot of special license plates, for a state this small I was curious how many we had,” says 1st Lieutenant Joseph Andersen. He looked, and it turns out Delaware has 97 unique special license plates to include: University of Michigan, East Carolina University, Delaware Association of Realtors, and Ohio State University. … Bayern Munich is 10% owned by Adidas and sponsored by Adidas, is warring with the a player who has a Nike sponsor (thanks to Andrew Rosti). … More Pinktober: Notre Dame’s drumline has pink drums (spotted by Anthony Nuccio). … USC is getting new hoops unis, and here’s some snippets they’re meting out (good find by Ahmad Billal Samady). … “Looks like the Ducks pro shop slapped an anniversary patch from this year on some left over jersey, (note the NHL logo on the tags),” says David Tolcou. … Interesting infograph on What each country leads the world in (submitted by Richard Stover). … Hmmm. A ‘skins cap with camo. “I found this hat, along with others, being sold at my local Lids stores, in preparation of November and the salute to service,” says Kyle Allebach. “I don’t know if they did it last year, but it’s still the middle of October. Shouldn’t it be pink? (Don’t let New Era see that…)” … Here’s an odd advertisement featuring Jason Witten, which popped up on Andy McNeel’s Facebook page. “Something very strange and unnatural about seeing an NFL player striking a Heisman pose,” says Andy> “Also of note is the fact that the Nike and NFL logos on his uniform are Photoshopped out. We can dream, can’t we?” … Members of the Florida Southern College men’s and women’s swim team wore pink caps for their meet against the University of Tampa on Friday, Oct. 18 as of breast cancer awareness month. “Both squads raised money for Team Gina, an organization that helps families who have mothers fighting breast cancer,” says submitter Wayne Koehler. … Not uni-related, but still — Is the tie dead as a fashion accessory? (from TommyTheCPA). … Last night we got our first look at the 2013 World Series patch on a cap. Ryan Lueking thinks the size is ridiculously big and “just plain dumb.”

Stuff Sent To Me From The Twitterverse: W. Mich wearing pink-decaled helmets Sat. vs. Ball State (@Kyle_Lago). Here’s another look. … Northwest Mo. Bearcats wearing all white at arrowhead in next weeks fall classic (@JonSaddler24). … NMU Wildcats debut of new home hockey uniforms (@Biddco). … LIU Post Pioneers football will be wearing their traditional green and gold today for homecoming (@mikestainkamp34).

And that’s going to do it for today — plenty of pink today in the NCAA, as you have both Oregon (pink helmets, shoes, socks, gloves, etc.) and New Mexico State (pink jerseys), plus others with pink decals and such on the gridiron. Is anyone not aware of breast cancer yet? Just making sure.

Thanks to JW Richey, all the concepters and the colorizers, and Alex, for their bits. You guys have a great day and I’ll catch you back here tomorrow!

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken

Peace.

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“(H)ere are these kids, raised entirely in this new era of car-magnet patriotism, acting as though ‘fighting breast cancer’ requires being seen to wear as much store bought pink as possible but zero personal involvement or charitable action.”
–R. Scott Rogers