Getting Ready for Friday Night Lights

By Phil Hecken

Today I’m pleased to have one final guest entry — and this one is timely, since it’s about teams of which I know very little — Texas High Schools. I remember seeing Varsity Blues on cable (several times, as I had one of those magic boxes back then), and I’ve heard of Friday Night Lights (but have never seen it), so my knowledge of Texas high school football is pretty limited — but I do know some of the teams have better uniforms than some colleges, and some of the stadiums in which they play cost more than the GDP of some small countries. So it’s a big deal.

Back before I started my weekday subbing for Paul, I put out the call to see if anyone wanted to pitch a uni story to me to run during his sabbatical — I received a few (and I’ve run most — some just didn’t get in because of a lot of breaking uni news), and this one will run today because it’s timely — the Texas High School Football season starts tomorrow (Thursday night lights?). Anyway…I want to introduce Christian Berumen who joins me with his…

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RANKING THE TOP 10 TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL UNIFORMS
By Christian Berumen

First off my name is Christian. I live in Amarillo, Texas, and have been reading the stories on the website for over 5 years now. I contacted Phil when he put the call for guest entries while Paul was away and I wanted to do a ranking of some sort in football and I figured what a better way then to rank my top ten Texas high school football uniforms, and to top it off the season kicks off this Thursday — so let’s get started.

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10. Caprock Longhorns

This is # 10 not because they have great uniforms, but because they are my alma mater, which will always have a place in my heart as my senior class led the school to its first playoff game in thirty-five years. I feel like I had a hand in getting these jerseys for the the team because I pitched the idea of those jerseys to our coach at the time.

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9. Amarillo High Sandies

As a few other teams on the list, the Sandies have a uniform that has a classic look to it — it has gold pants with two black stripes and one white stripe the jersey has seen a few updates to it but has stayed on the conservative side. The jerseys are plain black and white, with the numbers being bold in the opposite color of the jersey and the neck and cuffs are gold, and in all capital letters the name AMARILLO is on the jerseys. the helmet is white with one black stripe and a black face mask with a sandstorm connected to an a and the word Sandies on top.

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8.Cibolo Steele Knights

The Steele Knights are a team that is as simple in the color scheme as it gets, with the school colors being black and white. The uniform is made by Adidas which I hate because of the tread marks and the cutting the sleeves; and also how do you mess up the UCLA stripes? Back to Steele — the helmet has the team logo on on side and number on the other the jerseys are plain black with white numbers on the sleeves, and black numbers for the white jerseys. Both pants have the school logo on the left hip area and the Adidas logo on the other hip area.

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7. Katy Tigers

The Tigers and Nike make the red and white look better then Adidas makes Nebraska look Katy just like Steele have one helmet, two jersey’s and two pants. The helmet is white with two stripes and a Tiger with the word Katy on each side. Both jersey’s say Katy on the chest. Have the numbers on the shoulders in either white or red. The pant are either all red or all white with the Katy logo on them.

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6. Lake Travis Cavaliers

I call lake Travis the high school equivalent to Texas tech university when it comes to uniforms because they have the same colors and same apparel company (Under Armour). They have two helmets (black and white); they have four jerseys: red, which has white numbers in the shoulders and a black stripe; black, which has a red and white stripe from the neck area to the sides and has Cavaliers on the chest with white numbers on the shoulders; white, which has black numbers outlined in red on the shoulders; it also has Lake Travis on the chest in red, and two stripes from around the arm holes; and, grey, which as the black jersey has the stripe from the neck down to the sides. The black, red, and white pants all have weird lines In the back of the pants, kinda like Hawaii, while the grey has a thin black line that turns red as it curbs to the back.

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5. Odessa Permian Panthers

Permian has a simple color scheme: black and white. They have stayed with a simple look of white helmet. Mono home is something I despise, but somehow they make the mono black and mono white work. I like every now and then they go opposite color on pants to break up the mono uni combination.

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4. DeSoto Eagles

DeSoto has about as many uniform combinations as Baylor in my opinion, as they have a full black uniform and also have a gold jersey with barely readable numbers. And a white with gold numbers. They have two helmets that I’m aware of: gold, black and a third helmet that is to come at a later point in the season.

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3. Cedar Hill Longhorns

The Longhorns switched from Nike to Under Armour as the team uniform provider this offseason. The red uniform is a clean look that won’t be good on the eyes. The black uniform as a whole could’ve used more color in the pants, and the white uniform has a clean and simple look the one thing I would recommend is please don’t go mono color.

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2. Euless Trinity Trojans

The Trojans of Trinity have what I call a simple uniform combo: one helmet with two jerseys and two pants. The helmet is black with a T on each side. The jerseys are black with red outline around the numbers, and white with the same treatment on the numbers. Your pants are the basic black and white pants from Nike.

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1. Allen Eagles

The Eagles from Allen have been in the news lately. Whether it’s from having to play a season away from their new stadium because of structural issues or because they have won there third straight state championship, but they make the list at number one because I like how they utilize their color scheme of navy blue, red, and white. Here is the blue helmet. Added to the mix last year is a white helmet which was the year the team has won a state championship and has the school mascot eagle on it. They have three jerseys. Two blue and one white. The first blue jersey is a navy blue jersey with white numbers outlined in red and Eagles on the front. The second jersey is a lighter blue jersey with navy sleeves. The white jersey has the USC stripe but in blue. The pants are navy blue and white with ALLEN going down the side of each pant leg.

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And there you have it. Thanks Christian.

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 usually appears on the weekends, but has appeared every Wednesday in August, while I hold down the fort during Paul’s sabbatical. It will be returning to its usual Saturday spot in September — Phil.

Here’s Gary (click on image to enlarge):

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Classic Ballpark Scoreboards – Series II
by Gary Chanko

In this edition of Classic Scoreboards we venture over to Detroit for a look back at a historic ballpark at the site where professional baseball was played since 1896.

Briggs Stadium (1938-1960)

Baseball and Football Home of: Detroit Tigers (1912-1999), Detroit Lions (NFL) (1938-1974), Detroit Panthers (NFL) (1925-1926)
First Tigers game: April 20, 1912
Last Tigers game: September 27, 1999
Current Status: Demolished 2008-2009

The old ballpark was birthed in 1912 and known then as Navin Field after its owner Frank Navin. When Walter Briggs became the franchise owner in 1938 the name was then changed to Briggs Stadium. And, finally in 1961 the site became Tiger Stadium. But for Tiger fans, it was simply known as The Corner, after its location at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull.

For more about the evolutionary history of Briggs Stadium you will want to read this SABR article.

The Navin Field scoreboard was located in left field and reflects a common scoreboard design layout used by Osbourne Engineering in many of the engineering and construction firm’s early ballpark projects.

The 1930s series of expansions created the upper decks and the manual scoreboard in centerfield.

In 1958 this hand-operated scoreboard (although a few electronics were added in the 1940s) above the bleachers in center field was replaced by an electronic version. It provided out-of-town scores in the left and right wing sections, and (of course!) an analog Longines clock.

The illustration captures a game played on July 14,1944 between the Tigers and White Sox. The records show the game was completed in an incredible (by today’s standards) 1:19!

A Few Things to Know

• The first games at Navin Field and Fenway Park were played on the same date.

• Lou Gehrig ended his playing streak of 2,130 games at Briggs Stadium on May 2, 1939.

• Among the quirks of Navin Field (and its successor ballpark names) was the 125 foot tall flag pole in left center field. The pole was actually in the field of play. The centerfield flag pole in Minute Maid Park outfield is similarly in play, as well as Comerica Park prior to 2003. Today the old flag pole remains it its original position as plans develop to preserve the site.

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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.

…More on the Steelers Gold

Got the following e-mail from Christopher Wade who was intrigued by the Monday ticker/research from Bill Schaefer which mentioned that the gold in the Steelers’ uniforms for 2015 more closely resembles the gold in their helmet stripe than did the 2014 unis. Here’s that e-mail (click photo to enlarge):

Hey Phil,

Regarding [Mon]day’s NFL note about the Steelers helmet yellow not matching the sleeves or the pants, those 4 photos piqued my curiosity.

I imported the 4 photos into Photoshop and in each photo, tried to find examples of ‘Steeler yellow’ in each of 3 areas – helmet stripe, sleeve and pants. I was looking for areas that weren’t too bright from sunlight highlighting nor too dark form shadowing. In the photo, you’ll see where I pulled the 3×3 color samples from, trying to find matches. (why 3×3? because the areas on the sleeve and the stripe were so small in some of the photos, and I wanted to be consistent)

In the attached photo, you’ll see 3 color swatches for the 4 photos, appropriately labelled. In the last photo, from this year’s pre-season, I also sampled the Packers yellow for comparison. That photo was the hardest to use as it’s oversaturated from the sunlight. The transition areas from highlighted to shadowed is very small.

It appears that the Steelers have done something to try to match the colors more consistently, though this is far from a scientific sample. It was a quick and dirty 30 minute job.

Hope you find this useful. Love the site.

Chris

Nice work, Chris — thanks for sharing!

Uni Watch News Ticker:

Baseball News: Here are some beautiful photographs of Camden Yards throughout the years (thanks to Andrew Cosentino). … “Didn’t realize Mississippi was spelled with that many S’s” says Josh Claywell, in another unfortunate case of jersey lettering crossing the rubicon and forming unintended spellings (a problem we’ve seen on the RAAYS and D-BAACKS among others). … The Frederick Keys will be donning these “Art in the Park” jerseys on September 5th (via MiLB Promos). Also from MiLB, here’s a look at the throw jerseys the Great Lakes Loons will be sporting this Sunday. … Great look at Alex Torres’ protective ring (still from the Mets) on top of his Las Vegas 51s cap (great find by Andrew Constant). … The Brooklyn Cyclones will be wearing these today for Sidd Finch night (h/t Erick Fernandez). … Reader Brian Kerhin writes, “Remember the Uni rant against the Wisconsin TimberRattlers military jerseys? They wear it as a badge of pride in the last program.?” But — dammit — UNI WATCH is two words! Is that so hard? … Last night, J.A. Happ was wearing the Pirates alternate hat with road grays (h/t Zack D’Ulisse). … As we all eagerly await the ChiSox ’76 throwbacks, we get (possible) awesome news: Shorts for the coaches? (thanks Paul). … Also from Paul, check out this baseball related Politico cartoon (PL notes that both Biden and Clinton are depicted as lefties). … “Phanatic” tweets, “Nevr knew talent that guest starred on Mr. Belvedere episode. Mays, Aaron, Mantle, Killebrew, Bench, Jackson & Banks!” (thanks to Patrick Stickney).

NFL News: “Pretty rare I find a facemask I’ve never seen before, but just as rare to find a pic of (Fred) Biletnikoff wearing a mask other than the single or 2 bar mask we all know,” writes Gene Sanny. “Pic is labeled as 1974 — maybe he had a facial injury for a while there, because he wore the 2 bar after that again.” … In a new DirecTV commercial (which I have not yet seen), in which Randy Moss is the pitchman, there is a picture of a jersey he never wore (via Tyler Wiederhoeft). … Here’s a good look at the 50 Yard Line numbers for the Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium (h/t James Gilbert). … As they always do (don’t), the Steelers are not wearing front helmet numbers during the preseason; they will return for the first game (thanks, Paul). … Tweeter Blake Bollinger asks, “Any idea what’s going on with the Bears nameplates in Madden?” … For readers of Uni Watch, this is quite possibly the easiest quiz ever. I expect everyone on here to get that question correct! (Be honest, if you DIDN’T get it correct, what year did you think it was?). … Andrew Corsentino writes, “Justin Forsett picked his number, 29, after heavy deliberation with Arian Foster and Ben Tate.” … Mike Wissman says, “Forget Matt Barkley. Forget Tim Tebow. God and the Eagles have found their third string quarterback.” Um…Third String? I’m guessing at the very least he starts. … Oooohhh, check out the Frosted Flakes socks on T.J. Ward (via Cody). … Remember the Oilers? Here’s the Astrodome, converted for football (great pic from Super 70s Sports).

College/High School Football News: Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) has upgraded their uniforms. … If your goal is to make your field look like dead grass, well, then I guess you’ve succeeded. That’s the Belle Vernon High School field in Pennsylvania (thanks to Douggie Keklak). … Here’s a look at the unis for the Montana Grizzlies for 2015. The orange jersey is a throwback celebrating the Griz’ 1995 I-AA Title (from Eric Witts). Here’s some video (from Brett Clark), who notes they “include some GFGS for the Granite Game.” … “Noticing from several Aggie FB Life tweets, there seems to be a trend with the practice (and media day) jerseys,” writes Susan Freeman. She didn’t specify, but I’m guessing it’s the three stripes on the shoulders. … The McNeese State Cowboys will be doing a “Camo jersey reveal this Thursday at 6” (thanks to Chris Mycoskie). … The U (Miami, that is) has new back bumpers this year for all their Riddell football helmets (h/t Christy). … Notre Dame’s stadium renovations include a new scoreboard and a better view of Touchdown Jesus. … Speaking of Notre Dame, their Shamrock Series jerseys have arrived (from Warren Junium). … Good piece from the Gray Lady: “Under Armour Seeks to Do for Maryland What Nike Did for Oregon” (thanks, Paul and Tommy Turner).

NBA/College/Basketball News: In what I assume is a screengrab from a video game, is Madison Square Garden using blue paint for the key (they’re currently orange); from Hit The Glass). … There will be a few upgrades at Cassell Coliseum this year for the Virginia Tech Hokies (from Andrew Cosentino). … If you won the ABA MVP award, you got this sweet jacket (great find from Super 70s Sports). … Tennessee State University has a new court design. Here’s the old design, and here’s the new one (from Oscar Cullom).

Hockey News: Here’s a look at what is purported to be the New York Rangers 90th Anniversary Patch (which appears to be just an updated on-ice 85th logo) — thanks to Chris H.. … Via a Reebok catalog, the sweater crests for the Avs-Wings 2016 Stadium Series game (h/t Conrad Burry).

Soccer News: Interesting font (particularly the “A”) in this jersey, which will be worn by Mario Balotelli of AC Milan (nice spot by Tim Cross). … Bayern Munich sure know how to take a team photo (from Tim Cross).

Grab Bag: Late Night Uni-spotting: From the 11/14/1985 episode of David Letterman, check out Chris Elliott’s awesome tube socks and a Lawrence Taylor jersey in the crowd (thanks to Douglas Ford). … Here’s a time-lapse video of Clint Bowyer’s Darlington car being painted (by hand!) with a throwback/tribute paint scheme (thanks to Chris Hickey). … A group of rugby fans have protested against Saru by burning Springbok jerseys. … Effingham County High School will keep using the nickname “Rebels,” (making sure that sports uniforms have an “E” rather than a caricature of a Confederate soldier), but will not take any other action on the topic, leaving two drawings of the Confederate soldier on signs inside the school, letting the band play “Dixie” and letting students carry Confederate flags at sporting events. … From 1983 to 1987 the WAFL had both a 25 metre and 50 metre arc marked on the field, as seen in this footage of the 1987 Grand Final between Claremont and Subiaco. From 1988 onwards, only the 50 metre was marked out (from Graham Clayton). … Curt Schilling, who got into a bit of hot water over a tweet yesterday (and more, and has since been suspended from his LLWS duties), is also an ardent uniform collector (not of the sports variety though).

And that will do it for this fine Wednesday. Thanks to Christian for his Texas HS rankings, Gary for his scoreboard feature, Chris for the Steelers gold update, and to anyone who tweeted or sent an e-mail for the ticker. Paul will be back tomorrow for a very special post (his annual College Football uni preview runs Thursday on ESPN — probably my second favorite column he does each year [after the Baseball preview], so be sure to come back early and often once it goes live). You guys have a great day!

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

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“I’m a little disappointed in the lack of sideline tarp coverage here…can we get a rundown of the top tarp designs in the ACC at least? We know my Heels are #1, but who else?”

–Dan T.