If you can’t see the slideshow above, click here
UCLA unveiled a new alternate football uniform yesterday. They’re calling it “LA Steel,” but the rest of us can just call it “gray.” No word yet on which game(s) it’ll be worn for.
Obviously, this is just a stunt costume. But as stunt costumes go, I think it’s pretty good. I like this shade of dark gray, I love the inlined numerals, and I’m even okay with the helmet. Of course, it doesn’t feel very UCLA, but most college football uniforms no longer have any connection to their schools’ heritages. Viewed in a vacuum, I think this one is, surprisingly enough, closer to “Good” than to “Stupid.” ”” Paul
LeBron, the Cavs, and you: Within minutes of LeBron James announcing that he’d be returning to Cleveland, I started hearing from readers who wanted to know when the Cavs would be unveiling new uniforms. Surely they’d come out with a new look to honor LeBron’s return, right?
My latest ESPN column provides an explainer on why that won’t be happening (at least not right away) and also serves as an announcement for a new design contest: Redsign the Cavs! Get the full scoop here and then start working on your entries.
Mike’s Question of the Week
By Mike Chamernik
In the course of my weekly Ticker duties, I’ve noticed some patterns among the people who submit items. Every item from Trevor Williams, for example, is soccer-related. Leo Strawn Jr. sends in Aussie Rules Football stuff, Sean Clancy contributes cycling news, Brinke handles San Francisco teams. I’m sure these guys are well-rounded in their sports and uniform knowledge, but here at Uni Watch they’ve become niche experts on these particular areas.
Which corner of the uniform world are you most knowledgeable about? Or, if you’re a jack of all trades, which sport are you most interested in reading about? Post your responses in today’s comments.
As for me, although baseball is my favorite sport, I really enjoy NBA jersey news and history.
Tick-Tock: Today’s Ticker was compiled and written by Mike Chamernik.
Baseball News: Here are some really cool minimalist posters for all 30 MLB ballparks (from Brinke). … The El Paso Chihuahuas have some insane jerseys for their Bark in the Park game (from Phil). … Dave Freund colorized the stirrups in an old Cardinals photo. … The Braves will hold Zombie Night next month (from Phil). … The Brevard County Manatees wore ribbon-covered jerseys for the Cancer Care Foundation (from Phil). … The Louisville Bats will wear Star Wars jerseys on July 27 (from Phil). … Floral jerseys and socks for the San Jose Giants for Jimmy Buffett Tribute Night (from Phil). … Seems that a minor league All-Star forgot his usual helmet. … The Nashville Sounds will wear blue Nashville skyline jerseys on July 26 (from Lee David Wilds). … The Lakewood BlueClaws are holding their annual Springsteen Appreciation Night and wearing BruceClaws jerseys on July 26 (from Kevin, who didn’t give his last name) … Tom Konecny wrote a piece on how the Toledo Mud Hens’ jerseys ended up in a Pepsi commercial. … Wil Moore reports that during Tuesday night’s All-Star Game, Joe Buck said that Fernando Rodney wears his hat crooked to distract hitters. … Here’s a chart of what each team wore for the All-Star Game. “While the Mets and Rays representatives moved their memorial patches to the chest, the Pirates completely scrapped their Kiner memorial patch,” says David Taub. “Also, the White Sox, Braves and Angels wore their ASG sleeve patches on the left, with all others wearing it on the right.” … I may just be a rube, but I really want to buy this baseball glove that doesn’t need to be broken in (thanks, Ben Fortney). ”¦ For the Triple-A All-Star Game, some teams wore the All-Star patch on the chest, others on the sleeve, and the El Paso Chihuahuas apparently didn’t bother with it at all (from D.P. McIntire).
Pro Football News: The sharp-eyed Scott Lederer noticed that NFL.com still uses the 2012 logos for Training Camp, Kickoff, International Series, and Thanksgiving games. Scroll to the bottom and squint hard, you’ll see. … A Bills blog pondered when the NFL will allow uniform ads and how much those ads might cost (from Phil). … Unless it’s a photoshop, it appears the Broncos once wore road pants with their old home jersey (from Evan Hassinger). … Niners LB Blake Costanzo has worn the same cleats for two seasons and spray paints them the Friday before each game (from Brinke). … The Colts will give you $500,000 if you predict the correct outdoor temps for all 20 Colts games this year, and you must predict whether the Colts roof will be opened or closed, too. Yes, you have to be exactly right on everything. This is impossible, right? … The AFL’s Orlando Predators don’t own the domain name for OrlandoPredators.com, which is a site for something entirely different from football.
College Football News: New uniforms for Tulane. Here’s a shot of what the helmet looks like in action. … New field for Houston (from Phil). … Utah will have mountains on its sleeves this season (from Russ Morgan).
Hockey News: Some Sharks fans are threatening to cancel their season tickets over skimpy ice girl uniforms (from Bruce Hutchison). … Is the NHL planning black and green All-Star jerseys this year? (From Phil). … New jerseys for the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs (from Stan Capp). … The Islanders asked for fans to Tweet pics of their old ticket stubs, and they got some good replies (from Garrett). … New uniforms for the Tulsa Oilers.
Soccer News: Here’s a GIF that visualizes what happened to the 32 countries in the World Cup. … New third kit for Real Madrid. … Sports Direct tracked which shoes (or boots, if you will) scored the most goals in the World Cup. Nike and Adidas were at the top, but a brand called Warrior came out to play, too (from Michael Richardson). ”¦ Good article, with infographics, on Messi’s performance in the World Cup (from Coleman Mullins).
Pro and College Basketball News: Here’s a close-up view of the gold NBA titles patch. As you can see, it includes a little depiction of the O’Brien Trophy and an indication of how many titles the team has won. … Dark gray is now listed as an official color for the Warriors. Also, the team’s alternate “W” logo will be on their shorts (from Phil). … I saw this funky Bulls jersey for sale at a local Sports Authority last night. I’m not sure what that pattern is called, but I actually wouldn’t mind if the Bulls wore that on the court once or twice this season! Probably in the minority on this, though. ”¦ New courts for Northwestern and Baylor (from Phil).
Grab Bag: St. Louis Blues player Jaden Schwartz has changed his uni number to honor his late sister (from Phil). ”¦ New logo for Airbnb. It looks like something (from Brinke). … New home kit for French rugby club Stade Francais (from Eric Bangeman). … Related, Eric sends in the five worst rugby jerseys ever. … Here’s a gallery of shoes from the Tour de France (from Sean Clancy). … Here’s a map that shows that half of the United States’ population comes from only 146 counties. ”¦ Here are the brand/identity guidelines, including rules for color, typography, and so on, for the UCF (from Brian Crago).
2d mention of El Paso is incomplete.
I pulled up UW to read the comments..and there aren’t any. A first. This is what happens when you get up at 444a PT to go to the Niners stadium ribbon cutting. Which starts at 830.
I don’t always contribute to the Ticker, but when I do, it’s almost always on hockey.
LA Steel. Because Los Angeles is the new Pittsburgh.
Pretty sure the Broncos pic is a photoshop.
Disagree about UCLA’s new duds. The failure to properly render the eponymous stripes is too big to overlook. Besides that, there are plenty of other teams in the league with dark unis.
Or… we could start referring to the longer, more properly done shoulder stripes as LSU Stripes, or even Panther Stripes, and let UCLA wear their truncated dashes with pride.
In any case, the numbers are really the only good part of that uniform. The shoulders dashes being sliced up like that doesn’t really look good to me, the pants appear to lack stripes (though it’s hard to tell for sure) and the helmet logo should be gold with a blue outline and nowhere near that much extra black decal around it.
“Or… we could start referring to the longer, more properly done shoulder stripes as LSU Stripes, or even Panther Stripes, and let UCLA wear their truncated dashes with pride.”
Considering how little concern UCLA has shown in fixing the stripes problem on its jerseys over the last several years, I’m inclined to agree. We should reserve the name “UCLA stripes” for those truncated jokes the Bruins currently wear.
They really go out of their way to butcher one of the best color combos in sports.
I’m more concerned about the color. Anything other than UCLA blue is just wrong. But yeah, the whole thing is just wrong. Nothing about this says UCLA to me.
Nothing about this says UCLA to me.
Sure says “Nike” loud and clear though, doesn’t it?
Sure says “Nike” loud and clear though, doesn’t it?
Which is hilarious since the uniform is made by Adidas. If only they could actually start a trend themselves instead of just following.
Dammit – I just noticed this and came back to confess my faux pas!
+1. As a UCLA alumnus the continued use of these one-off unis is embarrassing.
Aesthetically speaking, and without reference to UCLA, I do like the style used for the numbering.
Consider me in the “numbers are alright, the rest is rubbish” camp as well.
And I agree with The Jeff – might as well call the proper shoulder stripes LSU Stripes, so long as Adidas continues to make a mockery of the shoulder stripe.
Idt the Broncos pic is a photoshop bc I vaguely remember them wearing that combo before. Judging by the helmet, it looks to be an original Revo so the pic had to have been taken between 2000 and 2008
Correction: 2009 and that’s Jabar Gaffney who played for the Broncos in 2009 and 2010, so the picture is from one of those two seasons
No, it isn’t. The name on the card is Ashley Lelie, who played for Denver from 2002 to 2005.
…and why did you reply to this post instead of the one further down actually dealing with the picture?
Bc it’s the first one i saw lol
Predicting the temp for every Colts game?
Yeah, that’s pretty much impossible. I didn’t read the official rules, but if they’re asking for the exact degree (not within say 5 degrees), this is one contest for which they probably won’t have a winner.
The official rules state: “The object is to predict the exact [their emphasis, not mine] ambient outdoor temperature.” Unless they have smaller prizes for people who come closest, and I didn’t see any notes about that.
From the contest page:
Flex scheduling: Please note that the relevant outdoor temperature will be that at the actual kickoff, even if the game is played at a time different from initially scheduled (e.g., if the game is flexed).
… yeah, I’d be shocked if there was a winner.
“Unless they have smaller prizes for people who come closest…”
Maybe the consolation prize is equal to the cash contents of Jim Irsay’s briefcase on 3/16/2014.
I remember the Rams had a similarly impossible promotion in advance of the release of the 2014 schedule. The league had already released each team’s opponents for the season, but you still had to come up with the correct week (as well as home or away), day (Thursday? Sunday? Monday?), and time. The prize was a measly $100,000. I’m not sure on what the odds a perfect guess are, but I presume it’s somewhere closer to a correct NCAA tourney bracket, and so should be worth at least a little closer to $1 billion.
No one, of course, actually won, though I’m somewhat disappointed I was correct when I half-jokingly guessed their week 17 opponent & locale correctly (at Seattle). For those of you not keeping score at home, this will be the 4th time in the past 5 years these two teams have wrapped up the regular season in Seattle.
I don’t mind the UCLA jerseys except the helmet decal. They couldn’t get a decal with no excess black material around the flowing, connected script? Perhaps if the shell wasn’t matte I wouldn’t notice it, but I’m thinking it’s going to look terrible in sunlight.
Yes, I picked up on the decal, too. But those uniforms are pretty sharp! It’s an excellent color combo.
Those MLB posters are awesome, but the site where you can purchase them is now out of business :(
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I find myself wondering if there’s any realistic way for me to step in and take their place.
serious.. can manufacturers stop with the over use of grey and black…
Be patient…we suffered through the over use of teal and black in the 90’s.
Of course, manufacturers will eventually come up with some other annoying color combination to replace grey and black.
QOTW: Most of what I submit is usually hockey or local or both. What isn’t that is usually something historical I have run across.
While I am more disposed to like reading about hockey and curling (though I’ve never played the game) than other sports, I probably most enjoy reading items of almost any sport that fill gaps in uniform or sports knowledge. DIY’s of any stripe I always like to see. Even though there are few things I care less about than current U.S. college sports or the NBA if there is an old pic that someone has colorized that suddenly doesn’t matter.
Some Sharks fans are threatening to cancel their season tickets over skimpy ice girl uniforms
Wow, really? Yoga pants and a long-sleeved jersey that’s cut off just above the belly button is “skimpy”? I think those girls would be more covered than any other cheerleader-type group in all of pro sports. I say let the overly prude fans give up their tickets before they start complaining about the evil rock music being played or the violence on the ice.
I agree.
You two realize that there are usually 16,000-18,000 cheerleaders in the seats around these skimpily-clad women, right? This is hockey. It’s not football. If you need cheerleaders or cheerleader-resembling women on your ice crew, you’re probably missing the point of hockey.
Oh, and I’m hockey, Mike. And a little CFL. 99% hockey vs. 1% CFL. LOL
They can’t all be cheerleaders. Certainly, some of them must be cheerfollowers.
I’m as traditionalist as it gets, but I’m fine with this. Cheerleaders are lame for hockey, but girls and guys in good shape wearing tight-fitting outfits doing a job traditionally done by disinterested dudes in windbreakers are A-OK in my book. Can’t fathom the tizzy.
“You two realize that there are usually 16,000-18,000 cheerleaders in the seats around these skimpily-clad women, right? This is hockey.”
~~~
Jesus, fuck — I stopped going to games around 1993 — pretty much right after the Isles ceased to field a hockey team — but if there are 16K cheerleaders around skimpily-clad women in the stands, well, I’m aboot to become a season ticket holder!
My specialty is home shoelaces of the ABA teams. Nothing I submit ever makes the Ticker.
My expertise is in tiny details in fonts and wordmarks, especially for New York Mets and Knicks. I spotted the lowercase d was different this year for the Mets and that the Knicks changed their numbers last year.
I’m probably the only one who cares that the front 6 and 9 on the Met uniforms has looked off for several years. I contacted their stitcher to no avail. I think this may have occurred due to taking away the drop shadow and not re-adjusting the number.
Link did not show:
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One item missing from the DUD all star game chart, the Padres moved the Tony Gwynn memorial patch to the right side chest from the left, replacing that with the Jerry Coleman memorial patch. They should have simply moved the J.C. patch to the left side from the right sleeve.
Your post just gave me an idea…yesterday, a bunch of comments involved who was or was not honored at the all-star game after their recent passing. Paul felt is wasn’t uni related. In a way it is, because recent deaths led to certain teams wearing memorials, which often have to be re-located. I suggest that if a death resulted in a team memorial on the uniform, it should be acknowledged with a simple announcement after player intros. It pays respect to each team that suffered a loss and also people who are casual fans tuning in for the game will know who the memorial is for.
No sir.. I don’t like it! Maybe you didn’t like baseball uniforms in the ’70s, but I do, and one of the reasons was the paucity of patches. The jersey had to stand on its own. I don’t want my team’s uniform to look like a trite roadside memorial.
As a Cleveland fan, I have a few issues with the Cavalier’s brand identity. First off, it bothers me to NO END that the font in the logo isn’t used in the uniforms at all. Secondly, blue is still used in the warmups and the logo itself, yet it appears NO WHERE in the uni’s. That inconsistency brings the whole identity down. I’d like to see a uniform that isn’t so boring. The home whites are the nicest of the lot, yet they’re still very drab. The gold alts should say “Cavaliers” like the white homes, but they only say “Cavs” ….The first LeBron era uniforms were classics…I’d like to see a new identity that is closer to what they once had.
Funny…we are almost polar opposites. I don’t like the logo font, so it doesn’t bother me that it’s not on the uniform. Blue needs to get out of here, unless it’s paired with orange in an 80s throwback. I think the home whites are the least attractive of the current bunch, and I’d rather see the Stepien-era uniforms return than the LBJ 1.0 version..
Can we at least agree that the post-Coliseum pre-LeBron uniforms should never see the light of day again?
I just think it’s funny that every team LeBron goes to gets 1000 new unis. It will happen again. Although I think they should just go back to the LeBron-era unis. They’ll change in a few years, they’ll also add many throwbacks as regular things again.
I’m into uniforms for officials, referees, umpires, etc. and how rules impact uniforms. So if you need some extra insight I’m happy to contribute.
While checking out the IOC’s latest official films segment (Mexico City 1968), I noticed an interesting NOB treatment on the US women’s track & field singlets. I’ve not seen this before in track uniforms, and it obviously predates the recent trend of athlete last names on bibs by, you know, decades. Check it out. Here Margaret Bailes prepares to hand the baton to Mildred Netter on the backstretch of the 4×100-meter final, right around 9:22. Fascinating!
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Here’s a screencap for quick reference:
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Awesome find, Don — I like!
Thanks for this tip-off, Don, to IOC film library.
Which circles back to the QOFTW. Like many an old coot, I am drawn to images and depictions of the sporting events I followed in early life. In my case, that means games and paraphernalia from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. “Emotion recollected in tranquility,” as the man said.
I was very self-consciously internationalist (a pretentious little bastard), and so nothing mattered more than the Olympic Games. Imagery from Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964), and Mexico City (1968) will always feel compelling. I would argue that those games featured the apogee of uni looks in any number of key sports (track and field especially), but my bias is ridiculous. Less debatable is the welcome absence of commercial logos.
And so yeah, Don, thanks very much.
Funny. As a soccer fan, I have a particular appreciation for the World Cup for both the international aspect and their lack of shirt sponsors. I’ll let you guys decide on the “pretentious little bastard” part.
“Which circles back to the QOFTW. Like many an old coot, I am drawn to images and depictions of the sporting events I followed in early life.”
~~~
So, the original Olympics then?
Connie, I am in full agreement with you about the 60s athletics aesthetics represented here. If you look carefully you may notice a subtle shift toward recapturing some of those elements in the past few Team USA incarnations. Certainly not widespread (Nike’s recent competition uniform work for USATF and USA Basketball, UnderArmour’s hideous stuff for US Speedskating), but it’s out there. The Ralph Lauren ceremony stuff in particular from 08-12 has done a good job bringing in some of the cues we love so much from that era.
Putting the great NOB find aside for a moment, the film itself is amazing. The cinematography and production values are superb. Totally captivating!
The Mexico City film is the best transfer of the batch yet. I was pretty stunned. Even the version they posted of Tokyo Olympiad (famously restored by Criterion) is a little disappointing. Really pleased with the 1968 film. Even more pleased that IOC is doing this at all. I’ve been wondering where to find these films for a very long time. If I can ever sit down and actually watch them all I’m sure there will be many, many more gems to report!
I stick with the main 4: Baseball, football, hockey and basketball. The constant changing of soccer and college sports overwhelms me.
“Click here” link to go to the UCLA slideshow directly is not working.
Fixed. Here’s the proper link:
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QOTW: Most of my comments are about the NFL, but I would like to see more CFL coverage. The weekend article a few years ago was a great start. I do realize though that with only 9 teams, there really isn’t much change or uniform news.
Steve, I wrote the weekend article. If anything happens, I’ll submit it but so far there’s been no news.
Once they start to unveil the third jerseys (whenever that is) there’ll definitely be an update.
Thanks man…great work. The CFL season preview was excellent.
“The CFL season preview was excellent.”
~~~
Indeed it was — that’s why Mike’s the man.
If there are two go-to things I can always count on him for — tis curling and CFL.
Mike rocks, despite his living up north.
Question of the Week: I’d like to think I’m one of the go-to guys on the Packers and Brewers (certainly Milwaukee’s minor league baseball history). I’m also a soccer nut, so my contributions have been trending in this direction. Specifically, I’d like to add “NYCFC” to my list.
“… Specifically, I’d like to add ‘NYCFC’ to my list…”
Awright!
You and me, Conn. We’ll hit a match. How’s your singing voice?
Superb.
Hey lads,
Can you add me to that list? I can’t sing a lick, but the World Cup has somehow turned me into a nascent socc, er football fan!
Traning Camp?
Fixed.
The ticker note about Northwestern having a new court is not correct. They had that court last season. Here is photo from Purdue game this last season. link
New court design was actually chosen back in 2011.
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Top photo in the link is the new court, I believe.
Correct. Here’s an article about it:
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The top image threw me because it shows the new court design in front of a fairly full arena. But as the article explains, it’s an old image photoshopped with the new court design.
Thanks for clarification. The new design looks so much like their previous court before the last change. But seeing the stripes on the end courts now verifies that. Pretty boring re-design if they are claiming to go with the hip thing to do. Should have left the center court logo as is with the wildcat. Anyways, thanks for help clearing it up!! :)
I tend to submit stuff about DC teams, Penn State and occasionally Yale. one of my site’s biggest traffic days was when a post about a Yale player wearing old style pants during The Game got linked here.
I look at the University of Houston’s new football field and even after all this time I’m still fixated on that negative space triangle!
Thanks Uni Watch.
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That ESPN article about the Cavs made me just shake my head. The main premise was that teams could never just change uniforms because then retailers would be stuck with obsolete merchandise.
Instead, they have to keep everything as secretive as possible so that the retailers can push the future obsolete merchandise to fans at full price.
Everything is “future obsolete” (except maybe Yankees merch).
You don’t want “future obsolete” merch? Simple: Don’t waste money on this crap.
Technically, we’re all future obsolete ourselves. So what’s the point of anything?
That’s deep, man… Too early for that stuff.
I thought Fernando Rodney’s hat was crooked in honor of his father….
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Good stuff so far, people. Even beyond Ticker submissions, which sports aesthetic area do you consider your specialty, if any? Sort of what I alluded to in my original question, I consider myself knowledgeable in NBA uniforms. I have a decent mental picture of what every team wore during their respective histories. I even know the rough timeline of the ABA.
Also, I still remember all the XFL teams!
MLB unis and logos – specifically mid-80s on.
10 year old me thought it was earth-shaking when teams started redesigning logos in the late 80s. Who ken they could do such a thing?!
QoTW:
I consider myself a subject matter pseudo-expert on NASCAR paint schemes, sponsorships, number history and the like; I know that doesn’t generate much interest here (and therefore doesn’t receive much coverage…I always look forward to the Daytona Preview though!) so I keep such commentary to a minimum and generally don’t bother submitting items for Ticker consideration.
aside from my love of aussie rules footy, i am an american product of the ’60s and ’70s, man, so i grew up in the era of rogue leagues and loved every second of it (gary davidson is one of my heroes in life), so i have a pretty good idea when it comes to expansion era pro sports (in est. leagues) and renegade leagues like afl (american football league), aba, wha and wfl (and, somewhat, the usfl, also)…and uni oddities and flashy unis from that era are within my realm of knowledge (usually my memory is pretty good about such things, if i knew about such-and-such, that is), and definitely something i will always love reading about…
oh, and i’m a buckeye, through and through, so i also tend to make a lot of, and enjoy reading about, ohio sports…esp. from our pro teams (former and present) and, of course, anything and everything from THE ohio state university…
that should be “tend to submit a lot of…”
My favorite sport is tennis, but that doesn’t really lend itself to a lot of uni news.
I don’t really consider myself an expert on any particular niche, especially compared to many of the Uni Watch regulars who I admire for their in-depth knowledge. That said, I’m from DC and went to college in Baltimore, so I’m most likely to comment on teams from that area, with a few random comments about stories from LA, where I currently live.
Every time there’s a Slam, it does.
I am the driver suit guy, I love race-worn driver suit and fire suits(yes there is a difference). I’m hoping to become Uni-Watches official driver suit guy at some point.
I’ll post about anything I notice that is uni related…but a large percent of my postings are about Lacrosse! It’s my favorite sport, and I really believe it’s one of the most customizable sports. This goes way back to the uniform vs equipment conversation. Lacrosse has both and a high level of customization for both.
LA Steel??? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!
LA Steel (1983): Dirk Benedict plays Mike Steel, a tough ex-cop with a passion for justice, who was kicked off the force for a crime he didn’t commit. With the help of his best friend, Paco (played by Erik Estrada), a former gang banger who’s gone straight, Mike Steel rides the mean streets of Los Angeles in his classic 1967 AMC Javelin, righting wrongs…and trying to clear his name.
Sybil Danning plays Jett, Mike’s sometime girlfriend, an exotic dancer with a heart of gold. Cheech Marin appears as Norberto, Paco’s colorfully eccentric father, who dispenses Old Mexican Wisdom along with laughs.
I can’t tell you how much I wanted this to be a real thing. And now I want it to become a real thing.
This movie can only happen if Elizabeth Pena plays the love interest Paco straightened up so he could get with.
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Oh, and if Paco dies in the course of saving Steel’s life.
Paco is lying in Steel’s arms, blood pooling beneath him. He squeezes Steel’s hand and says, “It’s been a crazy road, vato, but this is the end.” Steel: “Hang on, man! The paramedics are almost here!” Paco: “I want to to know something, Steel. (coughs) You are a hermano to me. In my language, that means….BROTHER.” Paco expires. Steel balls his fists and cries, “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” He stands up, and says, “I swear to you, I will find the people who did this. You have my word…HERMANO!”
Fade to black.
Petros and Money here in LA were discussing this and they love the UCLA midnight jersey from last year, but they were asking themselves why LA Steel? Maybe a Max Steel cross-promotion? (Yeah, a stretch, but I happened to run into that article with “Steel” in the title.)
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I tend to be mainly a WVU contributor, since that’s who I follow most closely. Obviously this is why most others have their areas as well. I would also send in a bunch of soccer footwear items, but the majority of this viewership doesn’t care even the slightest about which players are wearing solid black cleats, or blacking them out themselves, which happen to be a minor fascination of mine.
So basically WVU, with a sprinkle of Packers, but nothing near as insidery as Chance.
I’m most knowledgable about rugby unis, but enjoy reading about football (both NFL and college) the most.
Ashley Lelie (in the Broncos football card) wore 85 during his rookie season including their 1st preseason home game in Denver in which the team wore blue jerseys. He can be seen clearly wearing white pants with the orange striping.
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Additionally, Invesco Field had a blue background instead of a green one as seen on the card.
Definitely a Photoshopped image.
I’m not entirely sure I agree with you. Could it not be a photo from a team scrimmage at a practice field? He may have worn 85 in the first preseason game, but I did find this picture: link so it seems as though he was at least planning on wearing 10. He wore 8 in college and played at Hawaii, so they’d have had to photoshop the entire uniform if it was a college picture. The Broncos uniforms were no longer “new” by that point, so it’d be an incredibly stupid mistake if someone put in that much effort and then managed to use the wrong pants.
It seems Clinton Portis wore that combo as well (though maybe just at a practice where this photo op took place?):
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Nice… I’d say that probably seals it – not a photoshop, just practice. (insert Iverson video here)
QOTW: I’m nothing more than a fan and claim no expertise on sports uniforms, but I like to think I’m pretty knowledgeable about NFL, college football, and college basketball uniforms because those are the sports I follow most closely.
As to what I’m most interested in reading about, I would say it’s the aesthetics of team sports in general. And by that I mean just about any team sport, including the obscure (at least to Americans). For example, I loved today’s link to the new Stade Français rugby jersey. Whether it’s lacrosse, volleyball, team handball, or cricket, I’m interested in all of it.
Baseball is my favorite sport and probably favorite uniform as far as jerseys and hats…but the sport I have the biggest OCD for is football, particularly facemasks. I can notice the difference between two styles of facemasks just from a quick glance without really studying, it just comes naturally to me. Compared to the fact that I probably couldn’t name half of the brands, or even colors of the fielding gloves that my favorite players or teams use.
I really don’t care how the Cleveland Cavaliers are dressed, but given the Messianic fervor with which Clevelanders have embraced LeBron’s return, I really wish they could work this into their new logo:
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That reminds me of my favorite photoshop ever.
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Some Clevelanders…not all.
Those images are as disturbing as a Tribe or Braves fan wearing a ceremonial headdress. Enough already…it’s just a game.
Exactly, Jim. That’s the point. Anyone possessing even a passing familiarity with Christian iconography and practice understood that the enormous “WE ARE ALL WITNESSES” billboard was declaring LeBron a sort of Messiah.
ESPN did about 30 straight hours of reportage on LeBron’s return. That Cleveland radio guy got his fifteen minutes of fame for the repeated airings of his estatic, near orgiastic announcement that “HE’S COMING HOME!!!”
I apologize if I took it too far — I find our endless genuflection before guys who just happen to possess great athletic skills disturbing, and I was trying to illustrate how ridiculous it is. LeBron seems to be a nice guy. He ain’t Jesus.
No problem, Cort. And I couldn’t agree more with your last two sentences.
My specialty/obsession? Oakland Raiders, Athletics and the Golden State Warriors.
… and finding the identity of the 1977 All Star Game mystery man.
You can add the Oakland Seals, Invaders, Stompers and Clippers to that list, as well.
and the Oaks.
I am absolutely fascinated with the California/Oakland Seals/Golden Seals (and by extension, the Cleveland Barons). I found a hockey magazine from 1974 at my grandma’s house when I was 12, and I had no idea the NHL folded a franchise (or merged, whatever) as recently as the late 1970s. The Seals were a bad team with really cool jerseys and logos. Uniquely ’70s.
If you haven’t seen it (or even if you have), there’s a book called “Shorthanded” that goes through all of Seals history, including a section of every player.
This book is in my library. It needs a robust color photo section. After all, it has “Hockeys Most Colorful Team” in the title.
My area of specialty is making comments that have nothing to do with sports uniforms, on a sports uniform website.
Secondary and tertiary areas of expertise are, Long Posts That No One Cares About and Saying Stuff That Was Better Said By Others, If I Had Only Bothered To Read All The Comments Before Posting.
And Mormonism.
That GIF is awesome, I had to re-look to make sure it wasn’t Paul who did the ticker because it said they wanted to buy that new, broken-in Nike glove and thought that hell had frozen over. LOL.
My niche in the sports uniform realm is 1972. Baseball, hockey, football and basketball. I am stuck there, forever 12. And I’m okay with that.
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…after that, things started falling apart.
I was born in 1960 and agree with you about 1972…
I have been studying the history of Ohio State football uniforms.
I have thought about a pictorial history book and using some of my colorized Ohio State pics. Not sure how to go about it or getting permission to use pics.
I also know about other college football teams unis from the past. The late 1920s-1930s was the best era for college unis.
A Formula 1 driver had to modify his helmet for this weekend, or else face the threat of legal action from FIFA.
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This article shows pics of the original design that included the world cup trophy.
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I always love to see different MLB uniforms and the quirks that come with them. When Paul did you Equipment vs. Uniform post I found it so intriguing because there are so many different variations that baseball players can wear, which I think is something unique to baseball, although it definitely appears in other sports as well.
NFL, CFL, NHL and MLB are the unis I lose sleep over but I care about all of them to some degree.
My uni-commenting superhero skill is ascertaining the identity of unnamed/unknown players in photos/illustrations from the 1960s-1970s mainly (“No, that’s Alex Hawkins, not Jimmy Orr”), and occasionally providing information even less useful and more tangential than that (“Hey, the picture of THIS guy linked to in the Ticker – well, let me tell you something utterly trivial about SOME OTHER guy in the periphery of the frame”).
To whit, in the course of writing that post I answered what I believe is a still-unsolved UniWatch mystery from several years back, namely the identity of the woman wearing Wes Parker’s #28 Dodgers jersey in this mid-60s publicity shot alongside Phyllis Diller, Nancy Sinatra, and Annette Funnicello:
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The answer: Toni Lee Shelley
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Thank you!
Nice!
Lee
To my knowledge, most of my contributions to Uni Watch come from Notre Dame, hockey, football (not American football), and Chicago sports teams.
Haven’t see. Much if anything on your site about this but for some reason I lean towards boxing “uniforms”. I know the advertisements make it less appealing to you but in what other sport can someone rock fringe and it actual than look good.
QOTW: I am unquestionably the uniform expert in the niche sport of… orienteering. (I’ve designed a few club kits and have consulted on several others).
It’s already a small community already, and the average orienteer doesn’t really care about aesthetics at all. I only know of one other orienteer who reads this site.
My wife and I attended a UniWatch party in Seattle a year or so ago, and we both wore orienteering jerseys (which are most similar to cycling jerseys).
I have always been a baseball fan – right from the youngest players to MLB, I could sit and watch a game at any level. Two sports have now crept up on baseball to vie for my attention, the first is rugby league, particularly Australia’s NRL (all games online), and team handball where I pay particular attention to the Champions League which has every game online. As I side note – I am NOT looking forward to the NRL’s Super Hero round, where five teams will be wearing Marvel Comics Super Hero jerseys. I think I may hate those jerseys more than all these camo crap.
I like the uni history of the NFL, NHL, MLB and Bundesliga uniforms. I have some decent knowledge of most of them.
Hey Paul (or anybody who knows for that matter), can you go into detail a little bit about what colors can be worn at home for the NBA. I have white, yellow (gold like on the Pelican’s unis I’m guessing), orange, I believe you’ve also said the Hornets teal jerseys. Any other colors that you’d at least think could be worn at home (Clippers nautical jerseys, perhaps, meaning while road team also wears their color uniform)?
Anyone else think those Utah uniforms are fakes?
Has no one noticed that the “slits” in the shoulder stripes on the UCLA jersey do not match?? The right side is horizontal while the left side is at an angle. It’s driving me crazy!