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Uni Watch

Goths and Jocks Make Peace (at least in Under Armour’s imagined fantasy world)

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I you’re a fan of mono-black on the gridiron (or anywhere else, I suppose), yesterday was a very good day. Let’s start at Northwestern, where the Wildcats unveiled a new “gothic” costume that’ll be worn on Oct. 18 against Nebraska (click photos to enlarge):

A few thoughts:

• Hilarious that they’re calling this “gothic.” Anyone who’s ever spent five minutes in a high school knows that goths can’t stand sports and especially can’t stand football.

• What’s with the standard NOB lettering font? Doesn’t that undercut the whole design?

• No word yet on whether the players will come out of the tunnel on horseback while carrying Under Armour-branded jousting lances, but I’m sure Kevin Plank’s crew is working on that.

• The arch design on the back of the helmet is a shout-out to the archway at the campus’s main entrance. Storytelling!

• The “W.I.N.” on the nose bumper stands for “What’s Important Now,” which is problematic on two levels: (1) Everyone knows what’s important now for any college football player at any given moment is getting laid, period. (2) Sorry, but the use of “W.I.N.” as an acronym was officially retired when the whole country got finished laughing at this. Storytelling!

• What is Northwestern famous for again? Oh, right — Northwestern stripes. But hey, why bother to include that on a uni design when you can create a comic book fantasy about Sir Lancelot or whatever? Check that — those are indeed Northwestern stripes on the shoulders. Looks sort of like an afterthought.

So that’s our mono-black design news for the college ranks. Turning now to the NFL, there was some interesting news out o Philadelphia, where the Eagles announced that they’d be wearing their black alternate jerseys this Sunday night against the Giants. But according to Philly linebacker Connor Barwin, who did a radio interview yesterday, the Iggles won’t just be wearing black above the waist. They’ll also be wearing black pants.

The key quote from Barwin:

We will be wearing all black, for the first time ever, I think. We’ve always worn black jerseys with white pants, but we will be in all black, which is going to be very cool for Sunday night.

Actually, Barwin is mistaken on one point: The Eagles haven’t always paired the black jersey with the white pants. Back in 2003 and ’04, they went black over green.

Ah, but as we all know, green is a very problematic color for the Eagles and Nike this season. In fact, according to this item, the Eagles probably won’t be wearing their green jerseys until Week 10. Oh, but a brand-new set of black pants? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Nike knows how to manufacture anything in that color, no problem.

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Click to enlarge

Collector’s Corner

By Brinke Guthrie

Whoa, check out these 1960s NFL goalpost helmet kits! They have the old-style goalposts, and the boxes look to be in perfect shape. Two different auctions from the same seller — here’s Kit #1 (with the Browns’ “CB” logo) and Kit #2.

Those are tough acts to follow, but here are the rest of this week’s eBay picks:

• Even though I live in the land of In & Out, I still fondly recall going to Frisch’s Big Boy. So does reader Dennis Jones, who sent in the listing for this Chelsea Big Boy softball jersey.

• Look at the great cover artwork on this 1958 Cards at Cubs scorecard, signed by Mr. Cub Ernie Banks and others.

• Classic NHL team logos on this pair of 1970s thermal mugs.

• Eagles fans, here’s one of the 1970s helmet plaques with the green wings on white helmet treatment. Reminds me of Mel Tom and Pete Liske.

• This 1960s Yankees bobblehead is in pretty good shape considering its age. He’s in better shape than I am!

• Is this late-1960s/early-1970s Chicago Bears poster cool, or what?

• Here’s a 1970s NFL Thermos. But why didn’t they print those helmets in full color?

• These vintage Seattle Pilots pennants have lasted a lot longer than the team did.

• Nice-looking 1969 NFL uniform mini-poster!

• Here’s one of those cool copper 1960s NFL logo plaques. That one’s for the KC Chiefs. Speaking of which, I had this Chiefs poster back in the day. Bought it solely because I liked the graphics, not the team.

The Swingin’ Friar decorates this 1970s Padres/7-Up promo thermal cup.

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Baseball News: Royals speedster Jarrod Dyson has “Zoom” shaved into his hair. ”¦ Speaking of the Royals, Grady Harmon notes that Eric Hosmer’s compression sleeve has a subtle stripe pattern. ”¦ Here’s the towel the Nats gave out during their home playoff games a few days ago (from Tommy Turner, who appears to have quite the Nats collection). ”¦ Tristan Ridgeway plans to dress up as Kirk Gibson for Halloween. ”¦ Unfortunate typo last night on the Busch Stadium scoreboard (thanks, Phil). ”¦ In the past we’ve noted that Cardinals OF Jon Jay has worn argyle socks under his uni pants. He now appears to have switched to a groovy stripe pattern (from Scott B).

NFL/CFL News: Shame on me for not mentioning yesterday that the Titans added a “2” memorial decal for Rob Bironas on Sunday. Super-duper close-up here (thanks to Mako Mameli for setting me straight). … Officiating crews were all wearing pink ribbon patches on the backs of their caps on Sunday — except for back judge Greg Wilson, who was working the Bears/Panthers game and had the ribbon patch on the side, not on the back (good spot by Jamie Uthe). … Hmmm, is that a personal logo on Antonio Brown’s wristband? “Most like his ‘first down’ pose,” says Michael Korczynski). ”¦ Love the sleeve stripes worn by the 1972 BC Lions (good to hear from you, Ricko). ”¦ Visiting QBs who play in Seattle often tape up their earholes to help block out the crowd noise. Seattle QB Russell Wilson appears to have returned the favor last night in Washington (from Will Edge). ”¦ Don’t recall if we’ve mentioned this before, but Washington QB Kirk Cousins appears to be wearing one of those Qalo wedding bands (good spot by Chris Flinn). ”¦ Speaking of Cousins, they mistakenly showed him — or showed someone — wearing No. 12 during last night’s postgame show (from Travis DeMarco). ”¦ As noted yesterday, the league has banned any public use of non-Bose headphones, but that didn’t stop Seahawks DB Richard Sherman from wearing Beats prior to last night’s game. Michael Bennett also wore Beats, and Marshawn Lynch wore Monsters (all of this from Aaron McHargue — great work).

College Football News: In case you missed it in Sunday’s post: Georgia’s captaincy patches, which had changed from white to black the previous two weekends, changed back to white for Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt (from Britton Thomas). … Super-cool throwback helmet this weekend for UTEP. Looks like the facemask and neck bumper are cream, or vintage white, or whatever we’re calling it this week. Have we seen that color used for those uni elements before? … Here’s this weekend’s homecoming uni for Georgia Southern. “They’re trendy but also have many of Georgia Southern’s traditions represented,” says Ryan Minter. ”¦ Not sure what this will entail, but Purdue will be wearing “neon yellow” this weekend. “Not looking forward to it,” says Michael Burnett.

Hockey News: Derek Jeter and Frank Sinatra are featured on Cédrick Desjardins’s new mask (thanks, Phil). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: Some Flyers players wore striped socks to support the local Ronald McDonald House. ”¦ In an unusual move, the Islanders are bringing back a throwback of their infamous fisherman jersey — but only for pregame warm-ups. They’ll also wear their original 1972-73 uni for their final game at Nassau Coliseum next April. ”¦ Speaking of the Isles, their new alternate uni — which was last season’s Stadium Series uni — is in EA NHL 15, but it still has the Stadium Series patch.

NBA News: The NBA preseason began last night, and it appears that the referees have new uniforms. Looks like a significant upgrade (thanks, Phil).

Grab Bag: New red/black college hoops uniforms, with that weird color-blocking on the shorts, or Lousiville (thanks, Phil). … More than four decades after the fact, blood-stained guard and inmate uniforms from the 1971 Attica prison uprising are being returned to victims’ families. … UNC’s alumni association is asking its members to vote on their preferred shade of Carolina blue. “But everyone knows Carolina blue is Pantone 542, says Yusuke Toyoda. … Cyclist Michal Kwiatkowski debuted his world road race champ’s jersey at Il Lomabardia on Sunday (from Sean Clancy). ”¦ Blackout game tomorrow for Purdue volleyball (from Michael Burnett). ”¦ I bet you didn’t know this: October, in addition to being Pink-Saturation Month, is also Spina Bifida Awareness Month. Really! So a high school team in Paintsville, Kentucky, is wearing yellow socks because their coach’s son was born with the condition. Yellowtober! (From Josh Claywell.) ”¦ 75 years ago yesterday, these kids played football in Manhattan. Such a great photo! (Big thanks to Bruce Menard.) ”¦ New logo for the Aussie football team the Western Bulldogs. “This photo also shows a new jumper design, but I’m not sure if it will be a training top or clash jumper for next year,” says Leo Strawn Jr.

 
  
 
Comments (144)

    Paul, the Cavs are not changing their court design. The blog report is (pretty obviously) false and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert shot it down a few minutes after you posted the story on Twitter yesterday.

    Seriously, how could this Eagles green screw-up be this bad? I don’t even understand how it even happened at all, let alone how it takes nearly three months into the season for it to be fixed. Will we ever get a real explanation about what happened?

    The other thing that makes this much worse (and sadder) is that the colour issue is why the Eagles stuck with the old template when Nike took over. So, I assume that Nike has been working on this for at least that long.

    That’s Cousins old number; he wore 12 his first two years in the league:

    “In March [2014], Cousins announced that he would be giving number 12 to new teammate Andre Roberts, for the price of a $12,000 donation to the Kirk Cousins Football Camp. Cousins then switched over to number 8, a number he wore throughout his high school and college career.”

    The W.I.N. nose bumper is on all their regular helmets too and has been for a few years, not just this special gothic one.

    And while goths and jocks don’t generally share similar interests, I’m ok with the name only because the front lettering and numbers are pretty….well, gothic.

    It can even be found on the bottom of the jerseys too. At least on the retail ones. Not sure if they are covered up for players when jerseys get tucked in.

    Just love those old football pics. The kids and their protection make it better.

    Great pic Bruce.

    I’m really curious to see what black Eagles pants look like. Are they wearing solid black pants, or do they have green/silver/white striping?

    Odd that the NFL teams are all in color jerseys while AFL is all white jerseys. Sighting of rare Saints black helmet too.

    I think to better coordinate with the helmets. In 1969, fully half of the AFL’s 10 teams wore white helmets and 2 more wore silver helmets. Only three teams (Broncos, Bengals, Chiefs) had helmets of “color.” Compare to the NFL’s more colorful lineup of headgear; a menagerie of reds, blacks, navys, golds, yellows, silvers, blues, purples, oranges, burgundys and yes, whites, and the artist likely decided to add the dark jerseys for the NFL teams and go with white for the AFL squads.

    Funny thing about white helmets… from 1970-1977, all five teams in the AFC East had white helmets (Patriots, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Colts). In fact, AFL included, that division has not had less than two teams with white helmets since the 1961 AFL season, when the Pats were the only white-helmeted team in the AFL East.

    I love the racing stripe Lions logo! Always one of my faves.

    The Dolphins logo looks placed so it will fit in the square. It’s a bit askew.

    That 49ers logo was used quite a bit before the early seventies. The Vikes and Colts logos seem to have color-reversal problems. The Redskin logo looks wrong both in color and detail. The Falcons logo is backward – I guess someone hadn’t figured out that it was also the letter F. The Bengal logo is nightmare fuel.

    “The Falcons logo is backward — I guess someone hadn’t figured out that it was also the letter F.”

    In the Falcons early years (circa 1966-1977 or so), they actually DID stress the left side of the Falcon logo more than the right side. I recall a lot of games at Fulton County Stadium where the left side logo was painted at midfield either by itself or even a left side rendering of the Falcons red helmet.

    The Redskins seem to have inconsistent bumper styles. Most have nothing on the bumper, but #56,91,73,&36 seem to have the “R” logo on the front
    link

    I don’t know if that’s true. When I watch sports, I tend to make the hand symbols that the refs make (in both football and baseball). I would probably do the same thing if I were playing on the field.

    Here’s the complete Top 10 list of “What’s wrong with the NFL”:

    10. PED and painkiller abuse
    9. Pricing out working/middle class fans from stadiums
    8. Labor/management inequity
    7. Mistreatment of cheerleaders and other support staff
    6. Public financing of stadiums
    5. Discipline system with Goodell playing judge, jury, prosecutor and appeals court
    4. Veteran pensions and healthcare
    3. Unwillingness or inability to understand domestic abuse as league problem
    2. Actively lying about CTE/Concussions and stifling research
    1. First down pose

    You nailed it terriblehuman. I was looking for taunting and/or silly-ass sack dances but they could be a sub-category of First Down Pose. Maybe 1A?

    I was thinking their evil transcends the NFL list. Sack dances really are one of the worst things in the world, somewhere between ISIS and anti-gay laws in Africa.

    That NHL mug must’ve been produced exactly in 1970; it has Buffalo and Vancouver on it, but the Leafs are depicted with the 1967 logo.

    That Chelsea Big Boy jersey made me nostalgic for the days when the Elias Brothers logo was ubiquitous throughout the cities of southeast Michigan. These days, though, it seems like we’re losing Big Boys at a regular clip. I haven’t even been in one in a couple of years.

    Appointing teenagers who self-identify as “goths” as arbiter of what constitutes “gothic” seems a bit parochial to me.

    Yeah, because using the name of a story about terrorists attacking the Super Bowl is such a good idea…

    I’ve also heard “Black Sunday” used in reference to Super Bowl 18 when the Raiders destroyed the Redskins. That story is old enough that most people don’t remember it. Chill, yo.

    Um, aren’t those Northwestern stripes on the shoulders?

    And, re: Eagles, I consider choosing to go mono black much, much more embarrassing than getting stuck without your primary jerseys due to a manufacturing error.

    The “gothic” font spelling Northwestern is different on the front of the jersey and the arch on the back of the helmet. Compare the two N’s.

    That’s an accurate depiction of the arch on the helmet. As the jersey font is an accurate depiction of the signage around the Northwestern campus, down to the black and gold colors. As to why they don’t match up…you’d have to ask the campus architect.

    If the Eagles did not have a black alt, what would have happened if they had to play on the road against a team who chooses to wear white (ie Cowboys)?

    “Anyone who’s ever spent five minutes in a high school knows that goths……..”

    I must old. We didn’t have goths in my day.

    In junior high (mid-80s) we had “squids”, who were basically early goth kids. I remember one incident where a 9th-grade “squid” got into a fight with a 6th-grader, and the 6th-grader won handily. (It was a weird setup where 9th grade was still in some of our district’s middle schools.)

    A bit off topic Dodgers stuff ,but something I have always thought and I don’t know if anyone else has but the Dodgers interlocking block “LA” font doesn’t match any other typeface in the uniform set the same way the Brooklyn “B” did, I realise the LA came from the old PCL team and the team has used it since the move in 58 ,but have the Dodgers ever considerd bringing there LA logo into line with the rest of there typeface with a more stylised version along the lines of the Brooklyn B logo, and would they ever consider changing since the Block LA is iconic to the team now.

    Les

    The Brooklyn “B” didn’t match once the Dodgers went with the script wordmark, which goes back to 1938. So unless you’re suggesting the Dodgers go back to something in the vein of link…

    The Mets’ “NY” cap logo font doesn’t match anything else in their uni set either.

    Ditto for the Giants, Cardinals, and probably others that I can’t think of off the top of my head.

    I saw on Twitter about the Purdue volleyball blackout and thought it was a little funny. Those games are practically blackouts every night as it is.

    It’s a little awkward for Russell Wilson that he’s pitching both Microsoft Surace and Beats, which is owned by Apple. And the two companies are still nominally in competition (though not really).

    Also, I mentioned this in the Twitter discussion too, but this is a fight that Bose (and to a lesser extent, NFL) can’t win. They make a big deal and it’s Beats, not Bose, that gets talked about.

    It’s Beats that you see draped around player’s necks, while Bose shows up on coaches’ heads. Casual fans still associate Beats with NFL players and treat them like an official sponsor, or they see Beats as an outsider that players prefer over the establishment brand.

    And it’s probably Beats that’ll add to the endorsement of anyone who gets fined for wearing Beats before the game.

    (I’m guessing.)

    Also – there are much better sounding headphones. (But I know that’s neither here nor there for this site.)

    if I’ve learned anything being around football in 30+ years, when teams go monochromatic unis…they’re serious about that game. X10 if they are wearing black monochrome (sarcasm font)

    Conversely, if they’re wearing their standard team colors, they must not be taking the game very seriously.

    The really interesting detail on those Northwestern costumes is that the script Northwestern on the front is written in minuscule rather than all capitals. Normally chest scripts in college football are all one size but this is unique.

    What I really dislike about the set are the numerals. They seem far too narrow and the deep gold trim is insufficient to make the purple numbers pop against a black background.

    Gothic really isn’t supposed to be dark and imposing. French and Englih Cathedrals of the 12th-15th centuries typically had brightly painted multi-hued interiors. They were only scrubbed to bones during the French Revolution and Protestant reformation respectively.

    i normally dislike BFBS Uniforms, i have to say that i think the Eagles black uniforms are a nice break from the traditional. While the midnight greens are missing in action, at least the black jersey gives them some type of break from mono white. i am getting pretty tired of seeing the mono white.

    In 1997, the Philadelphia Eagles wore a green monochrome uniform for at least one game, but the Eagles had a bad season, and the green monochrome was dumped for the 1998 season.

    So sad to that the Western Bulldogs gone the meaner mascot route. Their old logo was probably the best in the league. link.png

    This is worse than when Brisbane went MM = SB.
    link

    I honestly wonder if any of the people hired to design sports uniforms these days ever played sports themselves. College football uniforms, in particular, are simply out of control. It’s a joke every week played on alumni and traditionalists and I beg someone — anyone — to please make it stop. Please.

    FWIW, the players themselves seem to like the alternates and basically treat them as an employee perk (especially since they’re not salaried and all).

    Yeah, I’m not getting the connection. So, if they did play sports they’re better equipped to design a bad uniform?

    Y’know, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out the Islanders supplied a sample jersey to EA Sports that turned out to have the LA patch on it. However, the patch looks like it might be rendered as a separate element.

    Still, it’s not quite as egregious a glitch as “Tiny Titan”, though it’s definitely nowhere near as fun, either.

    I supplied the screenshot to Paul from the game I was playing. The Rangers jersey is correctly labeled as “’13-’14 Stadium Series” jersey and should have the patch bc of that. ALTHOUGH theirs also has ‘Los Angeles’ on the patch. The Islanders list it as this year’s 3rd jersey so they should just remove the patch altogether. I would assume the Ducks & Kings Series’ jerseys have the LA patch as well.

    Well, if the Rangers’ jersey has the wrong city on the patch, then at least it’s not the Isles’ fault! ;)

    Guess it’s time to repurpose the Hot Topic song:

    “Burn down down, burn down Foot Locker/Don’t let it steal your soul away/Burn down, burn down Foot Locker…”

    The NU goth jerseys could be a hot item for certain “youth organizations” that have a big presence south along Chicago Rd/Clark St in the Rogers Park area south of Evanston.

    I usually agree with your commentary, Paul, but I think you missed the mark on the NU uniforms. The gothic font and black/gold scheme are inspired by the many signs in that style around campus. And there are Northwestern stripes. There right their on the shoulders.

    The Arch was only built in the early 90’s, so it’s not surprising the font doesn’t match the signs, which have been around for many decades.

    Wilson has worn Beats in the past but if you do a bit of looking he actually wears Bose headphones now. You can find a commercial with him and Clay Matthews here… link.

    Georgia captaincy patch color change was covered in Terry Duroncelet’s Sunday Morning Uni Watch.

    I’ll raise my hand as an exception to the rule that goths don’t like sports. Not that I’m that gothy, but whatever, it’s kind of funny to say. ;)

    Not that that makes Northwestern’s uni any less stupid. ;)

    Northwestern gothic uniform is yet another hideous example of obsession with “blackout” unis for college football teams trying to feel more strong! Here is reminder of EIGHT REASONS why this is terrible trend for college football teams and fans: link

    Some were wearing them, some weren’t. Just wondering if it’s some sort of protest or something.

    Thanks for posting that BC Lions photo. The logo on the helmet is from the 1971 BC Centennial, I had totally forgotten about them using it.

    That is a great picture. I was trying to figure out the logo, thanks for the information.

    The Nationals played in San Francisco “last night”. That fact makes it unlikely they handed out a towel “last night”. I assume it was Friday or Saturday?

    Last Sunday the Baltimore Ravens did not go “Pinktober” against the Indianapolis (I’m pretty sure they didn’t do the “Pinktober” thing the prior year either).

    I think Northwestern was going more for “Gothic Architecture” and less “Goth kids.” Not that old churches are any bigger fans of sports than Goth kids…

    Reminds me of this kind of

    link

    I think Northwestern was going more for “Gothic Architecture” and less “Goth kids.”

    Yes, of course. But connotation of “gothic” has largely been co-opted by goth kids. When people hear “gothic,” they think of goth kids (or at least some/many people do). That’s all I meant.

    Round arches, broken pediments, and Corinthian columns. That looks like Spanish colonial baroque not Gothic.

    Seeing as NUs campus (from what I remember) is predominantly gothic architecture, that’s what they’re going for. Missed the mark, yes, but that’s what they were going for.

    The NW gear looks as bad or worse than the Black/Purple/Gold Trim combo that Washington wore a couple weeks ago against Stanford.

    I agree. The fact that it is now paired with the white/white uniform combo (for a home game), the worst possible look for the Boilers, makes me think that’s going to look pretty bad. And on national TV to boot.

    The athletic department should stick to throwback uniforms like they did to honor the two Rose Bowl teams, because most of everything else has been horrible.

    anyone think it’s a bit tacky that the Titans are “honoring” a person that caused his own death by drunk driving?

    If nothing else, it can start a conversation about substance abuse. And no matter how he went out, I think it’s right to honor a guy who spent the majority of his career (and as it turned out, almost his entire adult life) with the organization.

    It beats the alternative, which is to essentially sweep him and his disease (I’m assuming he was an addict based on his BAC) under the rug.

    is there evidence he had suffered from alcoholism or could it been a case of just being drunk this time and making a very poor decision

    “Substance abuse” and “alcoholism” are two different things. If you use a recreational substance in a way that results in your death, then by definition you were abusing the substance. This is true even if your abuse of the substance was a one-off thing and not part of a longer addiction.

    As you say, maybe he just made “a poor decision.” The decision being, to abuse alcohol.

    is there evidence he had suffered from alcoholism or could it been a case of just being drunk this time and making a very poor decision

    As a student sports journalist at Northwestern (shout out to youtube.com/nnnsports) and a regular uni-watch reader, I have to disagree with your take on NU’s uniforms. Usually I too am opposed to BFBS uniforms, but I think it makes sense in this case for two reasons.

    1. Northwestern’s original colors were, for the first half of 1879, black and old gold, before switching to old gold and purple in the middle of the year. Now of course Northwestern is unusual in that they only have one official color: purple. But because of this, I think there is a legitimate argument for wearing black uniforms.

    2. The other problem with one-offs at many schools is that they detract from great uniform traditions. At NU we don’t have that problem. Northwestern football has very little aesthetic history. Of course the one thing we have is the Northwestern stripe, but that was only introduced in the late 1920’s and has not been a constant part of the uniform. The current uniforms NU wears, which I think are the best the ‘Cats have ever had, are only a few years old. Because of this, I think it’s almost more helpful to think of these uniforms as fauxbacks, an imagining of what 1880s Northwestern would have looked liked if they had had UA and modern design sensibilities. Of course, those uniforms wouldn’t have had either the arch or the Northwestern stripe, but whatever.

    I guess the point is, we don’t have anything good to throwback to, or much history to invoke, so we made something up, and I think they executed it pretty well.

    I have to disagree with your take on NU’s uniforms.

    It’s interesting that several people are disagreeing with what they perceive to be my negative take on this uniform. True, I poked a bit of fun at it, but I didn’t actually have much to say in terms of a negative critique, except for the NOB font (which nobody has refuted).

    Give me a break! When the title of your facebook post says “good grief. When will it end,” I think it is safe to believe that you have a problem with it. The uni day wasn’t that slow that you were forced to bring that must spotlight on it.

    And we all know that it is SUPER SCARY because it includes, gulp, PURPLE!!!!! It must be a Halloween scare just for you, Paul!

    I know I am in the vast minority but… I have always liked the Islanders “Gortons fisherman” logo, as well as the lighthouse secondary mark they wore. It fit the name of the team well and the spirit of Long Island, even though the team always tried to identify more with NYC than LI, geography be damned.

    I wasn’t crazy on the fisherman logo, but I didn’t think it was too bad. I definitely liked the lighthouse logo, though.

    What I absolutely HATED about those uniforms, though, was the wave pattern that carried over onto the numbers and NOBs. Those unis made me seasick!

    Agreed, the wave pattern and that number font could have gone the way of the dodo. Something like this person drew up would have been great though. Slight change to the logo, and a more traditional jersey.

    link

    I’m probably in a small minority that like the lighthouse, the colours, and wave pattern of the jersey. I’m not in the probably smaller minority that liked the “Gorton’s fisherman” logo and the “wavy” numbers.

    Team in the beer league I was in acquired a team home and away set of the “Gortman’s” style, but with an embroidered Wolf crest instead of the fisherman, from the Fort William/Thunder Bay Wolves of the SIJHL (now Fort William /Thunder Bay North Stars since 2003); had the three layer twill “wavy” numbers.

    A guy I know ran a team in the A division (Wolves) of the beer league and the team I was on in the B division (Buzzy’s Wild). A quick online search of course gives no pics, but I’ll try to contact him again to get a pic of one of the jerseys if he still has them – the Wolf crest was interesting if I remember correctly.

    Did Paul really write this post? Doesn’t seem like his style to not know that “Gothic” is in reference to the architectural type, rather than high school clique. Of course, he’s probably being facetious, and I’m just tired from a long day at work. Carry on.

    Of course I know it’s an architectural style! But as noted in an earlier comment thread, the term has largely been co-opted (or is at least now shared) by the high school clique. I guarantee you most college football fans are more familiar with the latter usage than with the former.

    Really goofy Northwestern unis. They look best in purple and white. Black is so overdone.

    My first little helmets were the old gumball NFL I got fro Shredded Wheat box. I had those goal posts and that set up.

    I think there is a strange phenomena happening with these new college football uniforms. No matter how bad they look, and even if the fans dislike them, any criticism from an ‘outside’ perspective is a perceived slight against ‘their’ team.

    I’m guilty myself. When Oklahoma announced the “Bring the Wood” alternates, I disliked most of the look. However, when I started hearing negative feedback from ‘outsiders’, I became defensive about them.

    Interesting…

    I think a good portion of the pushback from fans of the Washington football team stems from exactly this phenomenon. Fans themselves may not like or be uncomfortable with the name, but when someone not associate with the team starts critiquing it and/or wants a name change, those very fans will revert to a “who are YOU to talk about MY team” mentality. And it’s not just Washington fans, it’s fans of EVERY team.

    Not quite the same thing, but someone may *hate* their mom/pop/family, and bitch about them constantly — but let someone else say a bad word about one of them, and it’s all “don’t you DARE say nothin’ bout my momma.”

    I think this is more human nature than fan behavior at its base.

    Can we please stop with the whole ‘this green issue is an Eagles and a Nike issue’ stuff?

    It’s a goddamn Nike issue, and only a Nike issue. I don’t like midnight green, but somehow Starter, Puma, and Reebok had no issues with that color in the past.

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