By Phil Hecken
Today we’ll be taking a look at the fourth set of uniform submissions for the Lewis & Clark Design-a-Uniform Contest, for the team known as the “Governors.” If you’re not familiar with the contest, please give that a read. The contest’s creator, W. Ross Clites will be asking readers to design uniforms for all of the teams in the Lewis & Clark League, and thus far we’ve asked for submissions for a total of six teams. We’ve looked at the “Captains,” “Diplomats,” and “Explorers,” and today, we’ll see the concepts for the “Governors”
Two other teams have been put to readers for concepts, the Lookouts and the Navigators. If you’d like to submit your concept for either team, the deadline for submissions for the Lookouts is Wednesday, March 26, and the deadline for submissions for the Navigators is Wednesday, April 2. Tomorrow, Ross will have a short write-up for the seventh team, so make sure you check back then!
At this point I’ll turn it over to Ross, who will go over the guidelines for voting, and then I’ll be back with some final words before we take a look at the entries from our contestants. Here’s Ross (these guidelines will likely accompany each set of voting):
Alright boys and girls, here is how the voting is going to go for each Lewis & Clark Baseball League team:
1. The hierarchy of importance goes primary logo, then uniform design, and then all rest (i.e. hat design, secondary logos, etc.) Cast a vote for the design with your favorite primary logo, first and foremost. Do not fault someone for going outside the design guidelines. Changing a wordmark or adding a third color is not a disqualifier for good thought process.
2. Your votes will take the field of applicants down to a final two per team.
3. We, the LCBL Executive Board will make the final decision on the winning proposal. However — and this is big — design is never complete and collaboration is paramount to success. We will likely settle on a combination of the final two submissions. We might love the logo of one, but prefer the jersey scheme of the other. In this, you will both be winners with full prizes to ensue. The possibility does exist for a total victory, of sorts. One designer could present the best looking jersey, logo, hat, and all the rest. Do not get offended when your submission gets handed back to you with redlined edits. We hate to hand out homework to the winning look, but tweaks may be requested. It is a studio project and not a math equation; the “right” answer takes some massaging of details.
4. With permission from both finalists, our graphics department will meld the two submissions together (if necessary) and place it in our common platform. This is done as a common denominator showcase for all twelve to look uniform when the contest has reached its end.
5. Someone, not even in the top two, could see an element (such as an awesome secondary logo) appear in the final iteration. We would never select the winner based solely on a minor design element, but we will also not let it go to waste. In this, all submissions could be part of a bigger design team. This contest — and frankly this site — was created to identify the best possible combinations of logos and materials in the sports world. This rarely comes from one person’s mind; we will reward any of those that play a part in making our on-field product the best it can be.
Thanks, Ross. A few words about the submissions below:
Some of the contestants sent one single image, others sent multiple images. Some contestants sent descriptions (in some cases, very lengthy ones), others had little or no description. In an effort to make the voting as fair as possible, I have put those who sent multiple images into one single image, and no descriptions of the uniforms will follow. If you’d like to see all the entries for the Governors and their write-ups/descriptions, I have hosted the entire set on Flickr. Keeping in mind Ross’ rules for voting, you may use these as an additional guide in determining which submission(s) you think are the best.
The submissions will be in alphabetical order and voting will follow. You may vote for any three of the concepts below. You may click on any image to enlarge. OK? OK. Here we go:
Bert Ayers:
Jeremy Baxter:
Scott de Fasselle
Timothy Fesmire:
Mason Fiske:
Ryan Foose:
Kevin Gaffney:
Alex Giobbi:
Brady Ivie:
Yossi Katz:
Denver King:
Curtis Peddle:
Bryan Phillips:
Peter Scharl:
Bill Smith:
OK, readers. That’s quite an impressive set of contributions! Now it’s time for you to vote. You’ll be allowed to vote for up to THREE (3) submissions. You may wish to scroll up for one more viewing, and write down your favorites.
And now it’s your turn! Make sure to vote for your favorites and let all of the concepters know what you think of their designs. They all put a great deal of effort into this, so tell them how they did (and lobby for your favorites, if you wish).
Thanks to all the submitters ”” we’ll be back next weekend at which time Ross will reveal the winner(s) and how they will adapt the design for the Lewis & Clark league!
Uni Watch News Ticker:
Baseball News: Pretty cool 2014 Cubs Season Tickets depicting programs from the past (from Tom Hamann). … UW has another stirrup hero: Zach Lee. Says submitter J. Nakamura “Not only the perfect stirrups, but the boy knows how to perfectly blouse his pants — a thing of beauty to behold.” … This is a great gallery of turn of the century baseball in Utah put together by the Salt Lake Tribune (thanks to Shane Jorgenson, and also Rich Whittaker). … A black & camo Texas Rangers jersey? “This is from the Texas Rangers ESPN link to Dick’s Sporting goods,” says Micah Hudgens. “This isn’t for real is it? Who wears BLACK in the middle of a TEXAS Summer.” … Pretty good article here on the history of the Braves (and how Atlanta became the “home of the Braves”). … Oooohhh, check out this beautiful uniform for the Hoosiers (h/t Darrell Frazier). They wore them yesterday (h/t Josh Margolis). … Good spot by Kevin Walker who thinks Mississippi State’s number placement looks off. … Check out this beautiful photo of Pee Wee Reese as a member of the Louisville Colonels in the 1930s (via Dodgers History and @pal3327). … First-time submitter Adam Kaufman was watching this video and noticed that McCutchen was wearing a 2012 all-star game patch on both his hat and his jersey.
NFL News: Couple from Chris Flinn: The show Pawn Stars Thursday night featured a jacket from the first NFL all-star game in 1939. A second episode of Pawn Stars had these pendants from Super Bowl I and II, most likely given to Packers staff or wives. Estimated to be worth $1,000 each. … Also from Chris, Eli Manning hits back against ”˜fake game-worn gear’ suit. … A “pinhead suggests ads on NFL jerseys,” writes Chris Hamilton, “will result in fewer commercials in the long run.” … We know Steve Smith will now have “SMITH SR” on his jersey, but Scott Moody saw an interesting Under Armour name plate in the Ravens locker room. “Wonder what each player’s looks like. Maybe it was unique to him?” he adds. … Anticipation is building for the Browns new uniforms. … You probably heard the news that the New York Jets signed Mike Vick, so the photoshoppers were busy yesterday. Says Brian Jud, who spotted that, “If you’re going to photoshop Vick on the Jets and go out of your way to add a number, I feel like you shouldn’t use someone else’s (Geno Smith’s) number.”
College Football News: “Check out these helmets from George Fox University!” writes Kyler Dougherty. Here is a link to the story from a Portland News outlet. … Florida State’s most famous face (Chief Osceola) is about to get a makeover (from Andy Zare). … “Have you guys seen these?” asks Brady Phelps. “They were posted 4 months ago, but I’d never seen them.” We may have, but once more can’t hurt. … Also from the “have we seen these before?” file: You may have heard about an old series which pitted the NFL champ versus an all star college squad, but the wonderful MMBolding site includes info and photos from EVERY game of the series. Says submitter Bob Gassel,”The All Star team’s uni’s included these beauties from 1962.” … Arkansas has some new “Speedflex” helmets, which, if you believe the hype, “is engineered to disperse energy and reduce the risk of trauma.”
NBA News: In a bit of a surprise, Michael Jordan has apologized for his signature shoe exploding (from Tom Adjemian). That story was also sent in by Birthday Boy Paul, who adds “I love that Jordan called his agent. Wow, talk about a highly personal apology.” … Also from Paul, a forgotten chapter in NBA history featured Phil Jackson as a member of the Nets. … Robert Zimmerman has penned a nice article on the value of jersey ads for the NBA. … John Wall would like the Wizards to change their name back to the Bullets.
Soccer News: There’s a new petition on Change.org to stop the slaughter of kangaroos to make soccer shoes (from Markus Kamp) who writes “With your disdain for many of Nike’s business practices (and designs), which I share, I thought you might find this petition interesting.” … The New York City Football Club (NYCFC) has revealed the winning logo (it’s a roundel) from the recently held public voting. There’s video of the New York City FC “badge” unveiling here (video link from Leo Strawn, Jr.). Leo adds he’s “Not impressed with this in the least.”
College Hoops News: Wow. In yesterday’s Dayton Daily News, there was some delicious trolling of THE Ohio State University going on on the front cover (thanks to Willard Kovacs and John Ekdahl for spotting that). … Interesting point raised by Randy Miller: “Mercer showed up with legible jersey numbers for its win over Duke. The Bears had worn those illegible ghost numerals all year and indeed retained the ghost lettering on front and back. Wonder if this was an NCAA mandate for anyone wearing those things?” … Yesterday the Wichita Shockers got new unis for their first round matchup with Cal Poly (h/t Jason Waterfalls). Those are very similar to the black set they debuted in last year’s tourney (h/t Matt Snyder). … Because there aren’t enough makers’ marks in the NCAA, Nike has now put one on the leggings. … Women’s hoops, back in the day: “Times have changed — Skirts? Hairdown? Glasses? No Fans?” (via @pal3327). … “Buzzfeed had a great ranking of the NCAA tourney teams by fierceness of the mascot,” says Dustin Semore. … Of course Craig Sager was wearing a bracket tie last night (thanks Coleman Mullins).
Grab Bag: Here’s a good piece on the move to change the New Zealand national flag (thanks, Paul). … Check out this epic collection of “Do Not Disturb” signs that Andrew Rader thought was right up our alley.
That will do it for today. Don’t forget to cast your votes for the Lewis & Clark “Governors” contest — and by the time many of you read this, the Major League Baseball season will already have its first game in the books. That’s right, the Dodgers & Diamondbacks are playing a pair Down Under. I’ll have coverage of that tomorrow, plus more. Everyone have a great Saturday.
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken
Peace.
“The ads on the unis? No!!! It looks like crap in Europe, it looks like crap for auto racing, and watching the local minor league teams play that already have them it looks like crap there. We already have the broadcasts, half time shows, pre & post game shows sponsored, play on courts corporate that are sponsored, and in arenas named after corporations. Those arenas and courts are already plastered with enough ads to more than cover anything that’s needed. We do NOT need ads on the uniforms as well.”
–Bromotrifluoromethane
To that guy who wants the NFL to add jersey sponsors: No. Commercials are annoying, but they’re easily skippable with a DVR or other means, and they do give you time to grab another beer or whatever. The person who switches channels when a commercial comes on and doesn’t come back isn’t really a fan the NFL needs to worry about in the first place. Jersey ads are ugly as fuck and there’s absolutely no evidence to support the idea that the NFL would actually use less/no commercials if they had them. The CFL has jersey ads *and* plenty of commercials.
We don’t need corporate advertising on every available surface, asshole.
Wait, I thought people watched football for the commercials. Or is that just the Super Bowl?
Although I agree with you, that’s why they want to put ads on the jerseys. Because some people DVR the games, they fast forward through the commercials (which is their right), but the powers to be (whether corporate or league), know this and thus need a way to get their product out.
That’s why I’d rather listen to games on the radio. Then you don’t have to see the ads. Sure the announcers have a few live reads, but at the most they are :15.
The Kangaroo petition is so far off the mark as to be insulting to Kanagroos.
Kangas are culled for good reasons (there’s far too many of them and the top predators are gone), and so using the leather to make things is nothing but good—the Kanga is dead anyway, so the leather might as well be used to make shoes. The meat is also sold in supermarkets in Australia and elsewhere around the world (and is quite good if prepared correctly).
The regulations for killing the kanagaroo mandate a bullet to the head to avoid unnecessary trauma to the animal as the most humane method available.
The joeys (young) are killed because they are too young to live, so not killing them is far more inhumane. Because of the marsupial breeding process there is almost always at least one Joey being reared—in a mammal they would still be foetal at the age talked about here. The hunters involved in the cull preferentially kill males to avoid having to put down the joeys, but sometimes it can’t be avoided.
This isn’t a case of an animal being over-harvested when endangered, threatening its survival. This is a case of a well-managed ecosystem’s products being taken to market.
And it’s not just Nike either. Multiple companies use Kangaroo leather for soccer boots.
Now even your food belongs to NIKE
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Nothing wrong with going back to your roots:
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…and in the mccutchen photo in the ticker he is posing in a left handed batting stance… He bats righty
He was doing impressions of other hitters.
The logo in Timothy Fesmire’s Governors submission bears a striking resemblance to the old Duluth Dukes logo.
I for one welcome our new monocled overlords. And on a bear? That’s a must-have.
How better to display my reaction at the sheer effrontery of a bad uniform than to have my monocle pop out?
I love the logo of the bear wearing the tie and jacket. State legislatures would probably be a lot more effective if they were run by well dressed bears.
Well Dressed Bear for President!
I think Ryan and I need to coordinate on the animals. I was doing a frog before the Diplomats entries were posted and ended up tossing it to go with the bear. I’m going to have to work alot harder if I keep making similar logos.
so that’s when the Jets wore the stripe-less jerseys…the All-Star game after their Super Bowl Season: link
The Vick Jets pic is missing his dark visor
Also the Browns are out to lunch. Just because fans get used to a new uniform doesn’t mean they like it and that it was a good idea. What happened to the 49ers updated look? They went back to the old one. Jets and Giants went back to their old looks too. Same with Minnesota (for the most part)
New NFL looks flame out as much as they succeed. People still don’t like the lame new Miami uniforms and I suspect they will be changed back within 6-8 years
Meanwhile, the Broncos, Patriots, Eagles, Rams & Titans are still going strong with their new looks (with minor tweaks).
Let’s wait until we actually see the Browns’ new uniforms before we judge them, mmmkay?
C’mon man. We know what Nikefied horrors are coming. Some sort of Seattle/Atlanta/Arizona monstrosity that looks like a spandex bodysuit with side paneling. Vertical this, neon that.
Look at the ridiculous collars, the sweat boxes, the ugly patches of different fabric here and there.
Just compare this form fitting misshapen sweatboxed bumpy shell to what a real NFL uniform looks like
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Best week yet for Lewis & Clark. Thank you Mr. Peddle for displaying so many of the possible numerals!
Thanks Denver,
You know me and how I like to mix it up, just like I do in the UWFFL.
I’m not really a fan of ads on jerseys either, but, I’ve been watching rugby league from Australia for about 10 years now – there are ads on their jerseys and I really don’t notice it.
Also – the New Zealand flag change. I think it’s a great idea to change it. I’m a Canadian, ours changed when I was 12 years old. The fact that we were cutting some ties to Britain wasn’t lost on me even at that age, and to me it was a good thing. And while I’m not a fan of rugby union (I prefer rugby league), a white fern on a black background would be great. Or – a white kiwi bird (national rugby league mascot) would be great as well.
I say make modifications on the Coat of Arms.
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Get rid of the crown.
Replace generic European woman with Greek Oread Echo.
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Replace generic Maori cheiftain with goddess Arohirohi.
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Simplify the shield. Think City of Pittburgh, PA with kiwis or boats or etc. where the eagles are.
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Keep the silver fern under shield as is or make a silver fern wreath to encircle the shield.
Flag color should be black, navy blue, royal blue, or Bondi blue.
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The photo of the 1878 Salt Lake City Red Stockings features a right fielder named Hebert J. Grant, who went on to serve as President of the LDS Church in the 1930s & 40s. He is the last Mormon Church president to wear a full beard (his successor, George Albert Smith, sported a Van Dyke, which is to the full beard what those baseball jerseys with contrasting colored sleeves are to actual vests: a cheat, a tease, a folly).
No offense to George Albert Smith, or Lenin, or my 11th grade History teacher Mister Oleske: but I got a thing about Dutch-inspired facial hair.
I’m not sure if the point about Jordan is sarcastic or not, but would it be considered tampering if he contacted the player directly? Also, I’ll give it to Jordan. The player isn’t even on the Jordan roster of athletes. It’s no different then a regular guy going out and buying a pair of Jordans to wear. I doubt His Airness is calling every single person whose shoe has ever split.
He didn’t actually apologize, according to his agent.
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Does anyone know of a company that offers high school basketball uniforms in the style of the Boston Celtics? I cannot find one. Hard to believe, since the style is such a classic.
Thanks in advance.
Watching Mich St-Harvard game… Harvard team all has just an “H” on back. Nice touch.
I miss the days when the majority of lead articles, or the bulk of the article in general, was about real uni-based news. I’ve grown weary regarding all of these contests about redesigning or fictional unis. Interesting, sure, but it seems as if they’re become a larger and larger focus to the site.
Sorry. Most of the time I have plenty of “real uni-based news” (and that’s why there is a weekend ticker) but this contest will probably take up at least one weekend lede for a couple more weeks.
I’m also trying (and falling behind) to complete my Capstone, which is like a Masters Thesis, this semester, so I’m grateful to not have to come up with new “real uni-based news” twice a week (especially with having to do the ticker and other UW things).
Apologies — but the ticker has many, many uni-based items, and you are always welcome to discuss those.
Oh, and tomorrow will have PLENTY of real uni-based news, including a fresh new lede.
Thanks for your understanding and patience.
I’ve enjoyed the design contests myself. The chance to see some really talented Uni Watch readers show what they can do is always something I look forward to.
I agree completely. The contests are getting old.
The Dodgers are wearing their white unis today/tonight yet they are the road team!
The Yankees wore the home pinstripes in Tokyo 10 years ago, even though Tampa Bay was the home team. In fact, the then Devil Rays wore practice jerseys for at least one of the games, I believe.
Man, the D-Back’s black softball tops are brutal.
Bert Ayers: is the monocle on your bear mascot a nod to the governor’s eye patch from the walking dead? Please say yes. Haha.
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