By Phil Hecken
Yesterday evening, the Arizona Coyotes unveiled their new 2015-16 uniforms (other teams, like the Oilers, unveiled a new third, while the Columbus Blue Jackets, Nashville Preds and Montreal Canadiens all had some sort of changes — which are listed below in the Hockey ticker).
Before we look at the new unis, I (for one) am very disappointed the ‘Yotes didn’t invoke some sort of homage to the Peyote Coyote uniforms which they wore from their move from Winnepeg in 1996, through 2003 (even their alternate from 1998 had the logo of what is called the “Kachina”).
Fortunately, there are visual cues from those early uniforms in the new set. Let’s take a look-see (click on any photo to enlarge):
Home
Road
As you can see, the current primary Coyote head logo is unchanged from their past uniform, and appears on both the remained the same for both the “Sedona” red home and white road jerseys. What’s new is the addition of black (a harkback to their original colors). The sleeves contain black color blocks, which begin at the shoulder and end at the gloves — with a thick red stripe, followed by a thin white stripe, thin red stripe, and solid white (on both jerseys). Pants are black. Home socks are red/black/red ending with white/red/white, and the road socks are very similar — just substitute white for the home red at the top of the sock.
Here are some good closeups:
The Coyote’s press release describes the unis like so:
The body of the Coyotes home and away jerseys remains unchanged but the new jerseys feature an original sleeve stripe designed to connect with Arizona’s distinctive striated landscape. These bold sleeves, along with a striking black pant, will be worn both at home in Glendale and on the road. The new red jersey shoulder patch features a coyote’s paw “A” mark, an icon built for Arizona’s hockey fans; while the white jersey shoulder will carry an updated “AZ” mark, connecting back to the new word mark. Finally, a uniquely Southwestern pattern in the jersey’s neckline connects the Coyotes to the legacy of Arizona. This updated uniform features Reebok’s latest technological innovations and represents an industry leading commitment to the best for the athlete.
.
Interesting patch on the shoulder. Here’s a closeup:
There are, so far, just the two uniforms — home (Sedona red) and road (white). Unfortunately, the current (and past) coyote logo contains cream — but none of the rest of the uniform does. While this is welcome (cream unis for hockey don’t look good as they look like they’re simply dirty — and dingy when compared to the white ice and boards), the logo looks “off” (as it did in the previous set).
Of course, their previous uniforms didn’t have any cream on them either — something I never quite liked about those uniforms — but the cream was picked up by the shoulder patch. The current patches do the same thing. Still, not a great rationale for keeping the cream. They have a different patch on the home and road uniforms (worn on both shoulders), with the home containing the “paw” patch and the road having tweaked “AZ” Arizona patches.
Both jerseys will feature a modified lace-up collar:
It’s a little difficult to tell, but it looks like the number fonts have been tweaked slightly as well:
Also, and unfortunately I don’t have any closeups, a new “Southwestern” pattern added to the neckline.
You can see the whole uni reveal in this video:
All in all, it’s not a bad uniform by any means, and it does bring back the black from the originals. But it really doesn’t have the “wow” factor (and that’s not necessarily a bad thing) it could have. And of course, the Peyote Coyote would have been a great logo to return to — maybe they will do that on a future alternate. I don’t love it, but I certainly don’t hate it either. It’s not all that much different from their current uniforms (all things considered), but the black addition is a definite upgrade. The black shorts are also a nice change, as the red pants they wore in their past set produced a feeling of too much red (especially on the all red home). The only thing I’ll miss from the old uniforms were those wonderful Northwestern stripes.
On Paul’s “good” or “stupid” scale, overall it rates as good. If I were giving it a letter grade, it’s about a “B”.
OK, guys — now it’s your turn — what say you?
Classic Ballpark Scoreboards
I’m pleased to continue with a favorite weekend feature here at Uni Watch, “Classic Ballpark Scoreboards,” which are created by Gary Chanko. You probably know Gary best for his wonderful colorizations, but he has been a solid contributor for many years, and this is his new project. This segment will appear every Saturday on Uni Watch.
Here’s Gary (click on image to enlarge):
Classic Ballpark Scoreboards – Series II
by Gary Chanko
The previous edition of Classic Scoreboards revisited Colt Stadium, the temporary home of the Houston Colt 45s. This time we’ll walk a few hundred yards across the Colt Stadium parking lot for a look back on the Astrodome.
Astrodome
Home of: Houston Astros (1965-99); Houston Oilers (1968-96)
Houston Cougars (NCAA) (1965”“97); Houston Gamblers (USFL) (1984”“85); Houston Texans (WFL) (1974); Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (1966”“2002)
First MLB Game Played: April 9, 1965
Last MLB Game Played: October 9, 1999
Current status: Limbo, but with hope for restoration.
The Astrodome was a futuristic American innovation and engineering marvel – the world’s first model for domed stadiums. The Dome was self proclaimed the Eighth Wonder of the World when it opened a half century ago and it probably was. You can discover all the Astrodome’s wonders in this 1966 publication.
Arguably the most notable of the Astrodome’s many futuristic innovations was the $2 million ($15 million in 2015 dollars) scoreboard, “the world’s largest, most versatile animated scoreboard.” It measured 474 feet long and 40 feet high, with 50,000 light bulbs. If you weren’t around to see it in operation, watch here. And, page 16 of the publication link above provides all the details of the scoreboard design and operation.
This scoreboard graphic recalls the first pitch of the Astrodome’s premiere game against the Yankees on April 9, 1965. The first batter, Mickey Mantle singled on the second pitch for the first hit. The Astros won in 12 innings 2-1 in a contest that lasted a piddling 2 hours 35 minutes. A nine inning game today struggles to finish in less than 3 hours!
Design Note: The scoreboard’s snorting steer graphic would not have been displayed during Mantle’s first at bat. It was part of the animation shown only after Astro’s home runs.
A Few Things to Know
• Sept. 6, 1988: After 23 years, the original Astrodome scoreboard explodes one last time before being removed to add 10,000 additional seats as condition to keep the Oilers franchise from relocating to Jacksonville.
• The Astrolite light screen was the center piece scoreboard feature. At the time it was the world’s largest 100-line television screen covering 1800 sq. ft. Among the best of the animation sequences was this one when the opponent’s pitcher was sent to the showers.
• This 1975 birthday tribute from the Texas Monthly magazine covers a portion of the Dome’s evolving legendary history.
• This Astrodome “Then and Now” photo retrospective covers it all.
If anyone is interested in purchasing a digital copy of these posters, Gary is working on an online purchase option. In the interim you can contact him directly at Classicscoreboards@gmail.com.
Uni Tweaks Concepts
We have another new set of tweaks, er…concepts today. After discussion with a number of readers, it’s probably more apropos to call most of the reader submissions “concepts” rather than tweaks. So that’s that.
So if you’ve concept for any sport, or just a tweak or wholesale revision, send them my way.
Please do try to keep your descriptions to ~50 words (give or take) per image — if you have three uniform concepts in one image, then obviously, you can go a little over, but no novels, OK? OK!. You guys have usually been good with keeping the descriptions pretty short, and I thank you for that.
Like the colorizations, I’m going to run these as inline pics — click on each one to enlarge.
And so, lets begin:
First up today is Jared Buccola with some tweaks for the 49ers new BFBS unis:
Hey Phil & Paul,
By no means am I condoning the use of BFBS for the 49ers, but this is my tweak for what I think is a lesser of the very evil design that we have seen. Obviously the helmet has to stay the same because of the NFL’s one helmet rule. My biggest problem with the new set is the lack of white and gold, which makes it look like the 49ers went for a complete redesign, and then ran out of money for a new helmet. So with the jersey I wanted to make sure there was enough white and hold to tie it into the helmet. The other obvious fix is the sleeve stripes. With the pants, same as the jersey, I wanted to add white and gold to tie it into the helmet and match the pant stripes to the sleeve stripes. I also think any design that goes mono black with a different color helmet looks terrible, so this was my quick fix. I still think BFBS for the 49ers is a horrible idea in general, but this is somewhat of an improvement.
Jared Buccola
And we close today with Toby Young with a new look for the OKC Thunder:
Hi, I love your website & twitter page. As I assume you guys are wanting the OKC Thunder to update their current bland look & I was wanting to send you an updated Thunder uniform pallet that I was tinkering with. I piggybacked on the current alternate uniform design, but made it more accurate to their color scheme. If it looks like dog dookie please let me know. Thank you for your time.
Toby Young
And that’s it for today. Back with more next time.
Design contest reminders: In case you missed it, Paul is running an ESPN contest to redesign (or, if you prefer, re-redesign) the Clippers. The deadline is next Thursday, July 2, 7pm Eastern. Full details here.
Also: I’m running a contest to redesign the Rays. Deadline for that one is next Tuesday, June 30. Full details here.
Uni Watch News Ticker:
Baseball News: 99 years ago yesterday, the Cleveland baseball team became the first to wear uniform numbers (from Todd Radom). … August 21 is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Night for the Lake County Captains and they’ve chosen the Michelangelo jerseys for the night (via MiLB Promos). Also from MiLB, t’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s @CRKernels Halfway to Xmas w/ special jerseys & @MikeTrout Snow Globes. … Check out this gorgeous press pass from the 1950 World Series (h/t Old Baseball Photos). … Triple Crown Winner American Pharoah was given his own jersey by the Angels. … “I don’t recall seeing this before, but the Dodgers, Giants, and Yanks apparently played a three-way game in 1944,” writes Chris Cruz. “Here’s an image from the article showing all three teams (and two different Giants unis).” … Here’s a look at what the Carolina Mudcats will be wearing tonight (from MiLB again). And this: the Back to the Future jerseys the Montgomery Biscuits will be wearing tonight. … Check out the socks Billy Hamilton was wearing yesterday (via Reds) — since they’re UA shoes, those socks are very similar to Northwestern’s flag desecration unis.
NFL News: “National Geographic on Instagram posted this beautiful shot of the Congo complete with a random Kurt Warner Cardinals jersey,” writes James Comfort. “At least I think it’s Warner.” … Question: What was the last year the Washington football team fielded an all-white team? (h/t Ghosts of DC). … Here’s a “Classic apostrophe catastrophe” (good spot by Rory J.). The apostrophe catastrophe was corrected by 1981. … Reader Kary Klismet notes “The San Francisco 49ers chose a uni-centric way to show their support for the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling.”
College Football News: Interesting article regarding Alabama and Auburn, and why they don’t have a Confederate battle flag on their uniforms. Among other reasons: “If those who believe the flag represents the South, why doesn’t Auburn or Alabama have it branded on their jerseys? Because it would do more than just clash with the colors.” … Within this interview with VT Hokies AD Whit Babcock Q&A, he makes some comments about Nike and uniforms in last two paragraphs (from Woody Weaver).
NBA/Basketball News: Check out this very cool graphic of all 31 first-round draft choices who played for Coach K (h/t Samtavious Mingo). … Nice gallery from Life that looks at old school hoops (hey colorizers — some of those might be great).
Hockey News: Hmmmm. Wonder what this sort of cryptic tweet from the Montreal Canadiens is alluding to? Could it be a uni modification of some sort? New material? It may be something minor. As pointed out by Chris Creamer, laces on Habs’ sweaters last happened in the 1970s. And sure enough, Chris confirmed it (h/t John Muir). … “Holy Crap,” writes Jonathan Daniel. “Look at those unis” (that’s obviously Peter Bondra, pre-NHL). … Here’s a look at the patch the Nashville Predators will wear this season, as they are hosting next year’s All Star Game (via Casey MacDougal). … Here’s a look at the new to the Colorado Avalanche’s sweater. As Chris Creamer points out, the new shoulder logo is the same as what the old Rockies used to wear, and both based off Colorado State flag. … Yesterday, the Columbus Blue Jackets unveiled a new secondary mark (h/t Mark McClure). Here’s a another look (from Ethan Sheets). … Are the Edmonton Oilers going to have an orange third sweater? (via Rich Homie Carl). It sure looks like it (from Lipschitz). Here’s more on that (h/t CJ Fogler).
Soccer News: Apparently, Atlanta’s new Major League Soccer (MLS) team stole its name from an amateur team. … Conn Nugent says, “Both teams in France v Germany Women’s World Cup (we)re looking good, though I wish the French sox were a redder red.
Grab Bag: Here’s a look at how Kobe Bryant and Kung Fu helped Serena Williams design her Wimbledon shoe. … Interesting (prophetic?) timing on these new rainbow themed sidewalks in Philadelphia. … “Thought of you when I saw this” article on doorless elevators in Germany (thanks to Douggie Keklak). … “Interesting rundown on how various organizations and retail brands took to social media to commemorate the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision,” writes Kary Klismet.
And that’s all for today. Everyone have a great Saturday (couple throwback games on the diamond today). I’ll catch you guys tomorrow.
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“Really? Now I have to worry about my kids reading UniWatch because they might see George Brett with his pants unzipped???”
–Lose Rem
The Coyotes moved from Winnipeg. The Avalanche moved from Quebec. And while the Oilers have stayed put, the Hurricanes moved from Hartford.
This has been your former WHA franchises report.
I was just going to say the same thing.
Fixed. And total brain cramp on my part. In the mid-2000’s I actually dated a lady from Winnipeg, so I’m well aware of the fact that the Coyotes moved from there (her father was actually an AHL player in his day, and she was a big hockey fan). I have NO idea why I typed in Quebec. Sorry.
Hey Choad: The Coyotes moved from Winnipeg. Are you stupid?
If you want to make these sort of juvenile comments, I recommend you visit another site.
I’d appreciate a link to this theoretical other site.
He probably means reddit. Or youtube.
I know I’ve seen that template on the Creamer boards. Are the Coyotes (or their designer) stealing from somebody?
It’s not a bad uniform and will work well in Vegas or Portland.
Do you know what a brain fart is?
As the others pointed out…they played in Winnipeg…the author the article needs to be called out for this terrible mistake.
They may think they know hockey uniforms…but obviously don’t know hockey history…
I wouldn’t call that Coyote trim color “cream.” I think they refer to it as “sand;” they do reside in a desert climate.
They do refer to it as “desert sand”, and I for one think it works just fine with the logo, seeing as how the undersides of real coyotes tend to be a color similar to that (even Wile E. gets that right). And logos don’t always have to be restricted to uniform colors.
I agree; the Blackhawks crest is enhanced by its use of colors beyond red, white, and black. I would have preferred the Coyotes use sand in place of white in their striping.
I like the Coyotes new uniforms. It’s a set they can now call their own, not so Red Wings like.
Love the black block where the numbers are.
Personally, I’ve always felt the Coyotes had been aping the look of the 1930s Montreal Maroons (particularly the 2003-07 versions that actually had waist stripes).
I hate to seem trolly, and I mean no disrespect, but the Yotes’ uniforms are horrid. When I first saw them, my thought was, “Someone on the design team found some black material and just went, “Oh. What the heck.”. Terrible mess of stripes and colour inconsistencies, the paw print patches on the home sweaters are much too large, it is just ugly. As for Edmonton’s wonderful homage to the Alberta Oilers of the old WHA, SPECTACULAR! And a great send off for the storied Rexall Place/Northlands Coliseum. I am disappointed with the Av’s move, nice patches that pay tribute to their state and the old hockey Rockies, but the sweater is still an “apron”. 2009 called, they want their terrible fad back. Montreal’s additions are nice and minimal – you don’t mess with perfection, and Columbus’ patch change merely tweaked the one flaw on an otherwise beautiful uni.
You are correct, sir – these are terrible no real thought or creativity AT ALL. Claw patch sucks looks really bad this is an absolute FAIL.
On the Canadiens new jerseys…apparently the home reds’ league patch will be the French version (LNH), while the away whites’ will be the English NHL.
The Coyotes took a huge step in the wrong direction with these new unis. I’m not as down on purple as Paul, but I really can’t stand BFBS. I know the Coyotes original uniforms had some black, but these are just way too forced. It’s lazy and uninspired. Kind of like hockey in Arizona.
Totally agree, horrible uniforms.
Is there some reason that hockey teams can’t wear light colored pants?
I remember a couple of features here showing the Capitals with white pants/LA Kings with yellow, and I thought it looked great. I really don’t understand the lack of light colored pants either.
It’s a bitch to get the black rubber stains of pucks off of vinyl, which the breezers are made of. Darker colors hide them better.
…I was not aware that a hockey puck would actually stain anything. Hrm.
Also, most hockey pants are made with all of the padding sewn in. It’s not really washable. For throwbacks and alt jerseys they will sometimes use a nylon shell over top but that’s the exception.
@ The Jeff if you’ve spent anytime at hockey rinks you’ll know he’s referring to the scuff marks left by the puck that you see around the boards, glass and goalie equipment, I get your point though lol
@ Vee63 not true, there are a lot of girdle type protection systems that are being used which have the shells separate from the pants, similar to the old cooperalls. Also the breezers you’re talking about usually have pouches which hold the padding allowing them to be removed for washing.
The article on why Alabama and Auburn don’t wear the Confederate battle flag misses the obvious reason — Ole Miss enthusiastically adopted it, and why would Alabama or Auburn wear an Ole Miss symbol?
I have to say, I’m really disappointed with the Coyotes uniforms. They are frankly, boring, and lack any sort of real creative aesthetic. Slap some black on the sleeves? Isn’t that a sort of lazy BFBS?? I’ve never minded the logo or the colors, the sand and Sedona red look sharp… But surely, the kachina pattern on the sleeves would have been a much more desirable way to go.
Colorado is REALLY disappointing. It’s the same shirt, just a different shoulder patch. I was hoping to see them get rid of those bra straps. Honestly, Edmonton’s simple orange design was my favorite. And I’m a Lightning fan!
I’m mostly happy the Coyotes didn’t dabble in any modern reebok design elements. It’s a sound look, i just don’t care for the colors. There are still too many reddish and black uniforms in the league. It’s fine though.
Poor Colorado. Those outdated armpit stripes ruin everything.
The Coyotes sweater is a Whalers sweater from the mid 80’s with the current IIHF sweater template thrown in. Really disappointed.
The Coyotes’ unis are okay. The new numbers and NOB font are an improvement, in my opinion, but it’s particularly disappointing that they didn’t do anything more with the waistline.
I’m very happy with the Oilers’ orange jerseys. I’ve been hoping they’d do something like that for some time.
As for the minor changes: the Blue Jackets’ patch change is a lateral move at best; the Avs’ patch change is arguably a downgrade, as it removes a unique part of their identity and doesn’t address the real problems with their Edge unis; and if there’s one team that should own the lace-up collars, it’s Montreal. Plus, I’m surprised they haven’t used the LNH shield before now.
“Question: What was the last year the Washington football team fielded an all-white team?”
link
/highfive
Nice.
Well played. I may have been one of the few who liked that look (don’t get me wrong, I love the return to the gold pants, but those look better with the burgundy tops). The all-white look (or white with burgundy pants) is, IMHO, a better look than the white over gold they wear today.
You’re not wrong. But their superior white-on-white look included red socks:
link
link
White-over-burgundy (with white-top socks, of course) is a classic look for Washington. I simply do not understood the apparent disdain for this combination; usually, a team’s fan base will tend to favor a uniform worn during an era of great success, whether or not the uniform itself actually was any good (see: Seattle’s current horror show).
Not this time. Apparently, four Super Bowl appearances — three for victories — mean nothing.
I guess sometimes, there’s only one plausible explanation — people are stupid.
I thought I was looking at the Senators at first when I saw these Coyotes uniforms.
Regarding the Astrodome scoreboard, I recall an orange light added in one corner during the mid-to-late 70’s. If an Astro hit a home run while it was lit, it was referred to as a “Foamer” and everyone got a free beer.
I do remember going to a game at the Astrodome between the Astros and Giants and the deal was if the Astros struck out Willie McCovey in an even numbered inning on an even numbered minute then there would be free beer. When McCovey got two strikes it was an odd numbered minute so the pitcher went to the rosin bag. Then Willie stepped out of the box a couple times, then the clock changed to an even minute. On the next pitch he took a weak hack at the pitch and the crowd erupted!! FREE BEER!!! The Astros fans gave him a standing ovation at his next at bat.
Here’s another discussion about “Foamer Night” link
And the light was supposed to be ‘on’ for 60 seconds and ‘off’ for 60 seconds. But if you timed it (which my drunken buddy and I did one night) you found that it was actually 55/65 in favor of ‘off’. We somehow tracked down an Astrodome flunkie on the press level and presented him with the facts. For our efforts we were rewarded with seats in the press area and a few beers each.
Nice.
I think the Yotes jerseys look like tank tops. Definite downgrade from the previous ones.
San Jose and now Phoenix have taken what were visually interesting uniforms and simplified them to the point that they look like practice uniforms. Neither San Jose’s nor Phoenix’s sets look “bad,” but looking like you’re wearing your practice jerseys can’t be desirable, right?
Boring is the new Interesting.
I like the new Colorado Avalanche shoulder patch. It is a homage to the first NHL team in Colorado, the Rockies, who used that same design. And making the center circle black, a team color, instead of the normal yellow turns it into a hockey puck too. (The old Yeti patch was a strange non-Colorado thing–there’s no Sasquatch/Yeti tradition in Colorado.)
Except the disc isn’t black; it’s blue.
Seconded on the “addition by subtraction” of the foot-thing. I’m an Avs fan, I’ve been waiting for the other patch to go away. I give it my official blessing.
The Coach K graphic would be better if 1) it never happened (GO HEELS, never graduate); and 2) if they actually used season-appropriate jerseys. Mark Alarie never wore those Nuggets uniforms, Bobby Hurley didn’t wear the Kings’ current set, etc.
‘Yotes: meh. BFBS is no good, numbers are less plain.
Avs: seriously, who wears aprons any more?
Why do web sites (Pro Football Talk, Bleacher Report) tease a particular photograph and then when you go to the story, all they provide is a link to a Twitter post? Why not just show the photo in question?
The MLS naming is a shambles. I can understand Minnesota but what’s united about Atlanta? Do people not know that these names come from tradition. Just adopting a name because other/ European teams have it to give them credence just feels wrong.
So what would you prefer – some cheesy singular nickname from the MLS 1.0 days? I for one have absolutely no problem with the club being named as it is. Atlanta United FC is the formal name of the club, and eventually the club or their supporters will give the club a nickname.
Even if you leave the nickname in the hands of the supporters, wouldn’t Atlanta FC be better than Atlanta United FC?
I’m surprised by the mild criticism of the new Coyotes uniforms. It’s clean, consistent, and attractive. At this point it’s by far the best uniform out of the Arizona professional teams.
Everyone seems to miss the fact that the orange Oilers sweater is a throwback to there WHL days. link
Arizona becoming yet another NHL team with unnecessary BFBS accents and especially unnecessary BFBS pants. I can’t boo these uniforms hard enough.
I’ve always liked Uni-Watch for the outstanding coverage of one of the things I like most about sports, the uniforms. On Saturday, you stepped it up. Thank you. You are a class act.
Phil, for your hockey credibility please refer to hockey pants as pants. Nobody in the hockey world calls them shorts, Minnesotans call them breezers and just about everywhere else calls them pants.
These Coyotes Jersey’s are absolutely horrible!! That black looks like they just put a black arm band over their jersey. Then it goes to the the Sedona Red w/a stripe that is totally off base distance wise. I can’t even figure out what they were trying to do with the stripe. I have never seen a jersey so mismatched!!! Collar looks stupid as well as the colored line on the hemline. With the exception of Ottawa these are now the worst jersey’s in the NHL. The Coyotes owners really blew this one!!