Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken

Week 13 has now come and gone, and it seems the unis just keep getting worse. But at least we got a snow game. And quite possibly the best looking game of the day involved an FCS team taking down Florida. A team that completed exactly zero passes And won. Such is the state of the NCAA.

Got a pretty full post today (including a preview of the Grey Cup — scroll down) so I’ll just end it here and turn it over to TJ now:

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet

Short list this week.

From Wednesday:

• There’s being late to the party, and then there is being LATE to the party. Toledo wore what might be the ugliest Pinktobervember costume to hit the FBS field in recent years. Not much for me to say here because Paul already said it all (scroll down a bit).

From Saturday:

• It was a cold, overcast day in my area yesterday, so Texas A&M dressed up for the occasion. The helmets are a reversed version of the ones worn for their BFBS game against Mississippi St. last year. The uniforms matched their gameplay, as LSU rolled through, 34-10.

• Not to be outdone by an Adidas school, Nike-outfitted Arkansas broke out all-anthracite uniforms as well. Now, while both sets were lame and unnecessary, I actually liked the aTm ones over the Razorback ones. Not by much, though.

• Clemson wore Paul’s favorite color monochrome purple uniforms at home against The Citadel. *pssst* hey Clemson… it’s all about balance. Orange pants would’ve done you wonders. Just saying.

• Is this the first time this year that Wake Forest wore their white helmets at home? I’m probably wrong.

• Speaking of white lids at home, that’s exactly what Fresno State did over the weekend as well. I think that’s their first time doing that ever.

• It was a slight brisk in Columbus yesterday.

• Tennessee played in-State rivals Vanderbilt while wearing their Smokey uniforms a second time this season.

• Wisconsin wore those wonderful red helmets for a third time against Minnesota.

• *sighs* Such vibrant colors on both ends, and so much potential for an eye-catching game, but my experience with possible uniform matchups has been the same as with these super-hyped games: it’s fallen short of my expectations. The game wasn’t anywhere near as close and dramatic as I’d wanted, and the unis also fell short of what I was hoping. I know it’s far too much to expect an all-green/all-orange matchup, but come on: why so much black? Even this guy has the right idea. Not that I needed to worsen my vision by linking that, but still…

That does it for Week 13. I kinda wish that there was an evil version of me writing some garbage for Week 14: one that hates decent uniform contrast, and loves coconuts and doesn’t hate Chris Brown’s guts, because next week is RIVALRY WEEK. Lots of big games, including the Civil War, The Game, the Iron Bowl, and… dammit, I need to brush up on my signature games other than those three. See you next week.

The Canadian Superbowl, a/k/a The “Grey Cup”
By Mike Styczen

The 101st Grey Cup is this weekend in Regina. The game will feature the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (for the East) versus the hometown Saskatchewan Roughriders (for the West).

This is the 18th appearance in the big game for Saskatchewan (3-15). They’ve played in 3 of the last 6 Grey Cups, winning one and losing two (including the memorable “13th man” game in 2009).

This is also the 29th appearance for Hamilton including its predecessor teams. They haven’t been in the big game since they won it in 1999.

The game is being played at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field (formerly just Taylor Field). The stadium sits just outside downtown Regina, and various incarnations have been located at that site since 1910. The oldest parts of the current stadium date to approximately 1936. Planning is underway for a new stadium to be ready in 2017, on a site just west of the current stadium. The stadium has roughly 33,000 permanent seats, and temporary seating for the game will bring the capacity up to around 44,000.

As the home team, Saskatchewan will wear green. They’ve got two versions of the green set: the conventional Reebok set (with a variety of odd panels, piping, etc.), and a beautiful throwback set. I’d bet on the throwbacks being worn, but who knows.

Hamilton will wear the road whites. The Ticats have had a beautiful look the last couple of years ”“ abandoning the Reebok template and going with something that’s both modern and reflects their most iconic look. They also did a throwback this year (to the 1943 Grey Cup Champion Hamilton Flying Wildcats). The less said about that, the better.

Hamilton has had a strange year. As part of a multi-year plan to build a new stadium, Ivor Wynne Stadium was torn down and the team played its 2013 home games at the University of Guelph Alumni Stadium, about 50 km away. The Ticats hosted a playoff game against Montreal in gale-force winds that led to the strangest field goal attempt (from 22 yards!) I think I’ve ever seen. The new Tim Hortons Field will open at the old Ivor Wynne site next year.

In “tribute” news, the Ontario Hockey League Guelph Storm are doing a Hamilton Tiger-Cat tribute this weekend. And the Western Hockey League Regina Pats paid tribute to the Roughriders a few weeks ago.

Some of the other storylines around this game:

• The Sheepdogs (who are quite excellent) are doing the national anthem.

• The halftime act is Hedley. No, I’ve never heard of them either. It’ll still be better than last year’s shitshow.

• Hamilton coach Kent Austin played QB in the 1980s with the Roughriders, and was Grey Cup MVP with them in 1989. He’s a local hero and his banner hangs outside Taylor Field ”“ which has caused a bit of angst for Rider fans.

• Incidentally ”“ that 1989 Grey Cup win was also over Hamilton, in a game many still call the greatest Grey Cup ever played.

• The weather has been extremely cold this week, causing a few cases of frostbite ”“ though it should be warmer by Sunday.

• One Regina sex shop has gotten behind the Riders in a big way.

• And of course Saskatchewan fans.

As much as this pains me as a Stamps fan, I’m going to go with Saskatchewan at home for the win.

Catherine Ryan’s

Five And One

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Happy Sunday, UniWatchers! Yesterday was a busy day and despite some pretty easy match-ups, we saw a couple close games and even a major upset. I received a bunch of tips and a lot of you were all over the map! Let’s get to the countdown!

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Honorable Mention: My beloved alma mater, Villanova University, played Delaware in the Battle of the Blue and mounted a 23-point comeback to win 35-34. While the uniforms weren’t that impressive, I did love Villanova’s gorgeous throwback helmets and wanted to give them some love.

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5. UNLV vs. Air Force: As a general matter, I like the color gray a lot. I loved how this game featured it as an accent color without overdoing it. UNLV matched pants/lids while Air Force came out in an all-blue uni.

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4. Oklahoma vs. Kansas State: On a weekend where Clemson spit in the face of all who love the color purple, I figured it appropriate to recognize a school that consistently does it right. Overall, this game was simple and clean.

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3. Wisconsin vs. Minnesota: I have a soft spot for Minny in the all-maroons. I also loved Wisconsin’s red helmets with the black stripe.

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2. Michigan vs. Iowa: This game had great contrast and was actually one of the most competitive games of the day. I love how Michigan wears the maize pants on the road and Iowa’s home uniforms are just fantastic.

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1. Nebraska vs. Penn State: If you didn’t think this game was gorgeous then you need your eyes checked. First of all, look at Nebraska. Red pants. Classic uniforms. On the road. Just beautiful. Add in the classic and simple look of Penn State and you’ve got your #1.

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+1: Portland State vs. Eastern Washington: If you like beauty, look away. This game combined TWO different types of camo and took place on that god awful red field. [Here’s more awful photos – click if you dare<–PH]

Duck Emerald Bowl Tracker

Once again, Tim was busy yesterday, so I’ll handle the writeup. But Tim did create the graphic and left us with this thought:

The new jersey looks great and matches the helmet and pants perfectly, except for the bit of yellow on the pants’ swoosh, but other than that, a solid ‘traditional’ look for the modern ducks.

That’s actually a pretty good summation of what the Ducks wore yesterday. Except I’d disagree that it looked great. Of course, matched up against Arizona’s bloodclots, maybe it did look good.

But even worse than the look of the game was the result. Oregon probably definitely cost themselves a shot at the Rose Bowl (which they they really didn’t want anyway).

So, the lesson here is, be careful what you wish for. because you just might get it.

Thanks to Tim for the graphic — if I hadn’t seen the game, I would have asked him why it was in black and white.

Uni Watch News Ticker:

Are 3-D printed jerseys the next big thing? (thanks to Paul Lee). … This next item is described as “Paul’s worst nightmare” by submitter Kurt Esposito. … Newsweek acknowledges what we’ve known all the time – College football is a fashion show nowadays. … If you don’t follow rugby, you probably weren’t aware that “Wales went GFGS against Tonga (instead of red),” says Eric Bangeman. “What’s particularly odd is that Tonga wore white instead of its usual red, so we had two teams wearing change kit.” … Several people chimed in with this: During an event Saturday morning, the Single-A Vermont Lake Monsters (New York-Penn League) unveiled a new logo and merchandise. … Oops: A Northwestern student is wearing an adidas jersey in a NU commercial
(nice spot by Joseph Hiley). … Here are the home uniforms for the newest NBDL team – the Delaware 87ers (from James Ashby). … The summer collegiate Kenosha (Northwoods League) unveiled their logo and merchandise for their inaugural 2014 season (submitted by Alan Poff). … If you like muddy games, this was from Friday’s Class AA high school playoff game in West Virginia as Sissonville played at Wayne. “Lucky no one drowned,” says Brice Wallace, who sent that in. … And to end things on a good note, I think we can all agree, the Charlotte Hornets returning to teal and purple is a very good thing.

And that’s it for today lads and lasses. But before we go, I wanted to wish a very happy Uni Watch birthday to George Chilvers, our colorizer extraordinaire. Thanks to TJ, Mike and Catherine (and Tim E.) as always.

Enjoy the NFL today. Have a great Thanksgiving to all the Americans, and to those who celebrate, a Happy Hanukkah as well. Catch you next weekend!

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

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“As much as I hate the clown suits A&M is wearing today, I absolutely love those helmets.”
–Pflava