[Editor’s Note: Paul is on his annual August break from site. Deputy editor Phil Hecken is in charge from now through the end of the month, although Paul is still on the clock over at ESPN and may be popping up here occasionally.]
By Phil Hecken with Will Hamar
Follow @PhilHecken
We continue today with our coverage of the sports of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. I’m pleased to introduce today’s correspondent, Will “The Ham” Hamar, who will bring you a look at the uniforms of Olympic cycling. The Ham actually deserves some kind of medal himself, as he literally completed this article in a hospital bed having broken his ankle! That’s dedication.
At this point I’ll just turn the rest of this section over to the Ham. You can click on the photos below to enlarge, and Hamm has ranked these on a scale of 0 to 5
Olympic Cycling
By Will Hamar
Hello my UW family! I just wanted to preface this with a personal point: I don’t watch cycling. So all of my opinions on the uniforms here-in are just that, opinions.
Also as a sidenote, I wrote this while waiting to hear if I need surgery on my ankle, so please send good vibes my way! Let’s get started!!
First off:
Australia:
Nothing to be surprised here as all of Australia’s uniforms across all sports follow the same template. I personally hate neon, but if you’re gonna do it, this is how it’s done. Teal and yellow coincide nicely. 4/5 from me on this.
Belgium:
As I stated earlier, I’m not familiar with cycling so I find myself asking, why baby blue? However as an accent color, it works. I also love the fact that in prominently displays the flag on the chest and sleeves, so you don’t have to guess what team this is (we will get to that soon) I give this a 5/5.
Brazil:
On to the home team! In all honesty, these things are fairly ugly. Past iterations have used the blue from the flag as an accent, but these severely lack any originality and don’t jump out at me. 2/5 from me.
Canada:
Well, it just looks like they thought to themselves, “Why not rip off the Expos?” Because that’s pretty much exactly what they did. Black would have been a suitable choice but for whatever reason they went with blue. Still, I’ve seen worse 3/5.
Colombia:
These things are gorgeous. I love how the colors meld together, and it’s just overall pleasing to the eye. The swirl is an odd touch I feel, but I can’t complain too much. 4/5.
Czech Republic:
What you see us what you get, as the Czech had a very simple kit this year. Not to say that’s a bad thing, sometimes simplicity works. And this time it did. 5/5.
Denmark:
If there was a medal for looking good, Denmark would have taken the gold. Love the color scheme, love the general look, just love the uniform, ‘nough said. 5/5.
France:
Something about this just rubs me the wrong way, but I cannot seem to put my finger on it. I think it might be just too much of one color I feel, when your flag has 3 colors, you should try to implement them. France didn’t even try other than the flag across the chest. 2/5.
Germany:
When simplicity backfires. At a quick glance, I could not tell you what country they represent, and in a fast moving sport like cycling, this works against you. (Now I see why Belgium went with Blue) This is barebones, and I feel unoriginal. 1/5.
Great Britain:
Extremely plain and simple, but effective. Not a whole lot to say here, but big shout out to Chris Froome, who (at least as far as I saw) was the only one with a custom logo on his bike (which is fucking awesome btw). 3/5.
Ireland:
I really wish they would’ve thrown a curveball and went with Orange kits, but alas, they went with the tried and true green. They get knocked for using Navy as an accent Instead of the previously mentioned orange. 3/5.
South Korea:
This is the only one where I really don’t mind the white. This works in their favor as they’re easy to spot, and the design elements work well together, minus 1 point for the gradient effect. 3/5.
Latvia:
Not a lot to say here, just more white. And it’s kind of a lazy design. Extra point for that cool sash design, however. 3/5.
Namibia:
I really love how this kit flows. I like the colors. And apparantly Santa approves as well. So who am I to argue? 5/5.
Netherlands:
Probably some of the most eye pleasing kits during the entire Olympics. Never understood why they love Orange so much, but the design make it look like a waving flag, which is really cool. 5/5.
Norway:
Considering the alternative (which is mono red with a giant blue cross), these are passable, but dull as all hell. 2/5.
Poland:
Simple yet effective seems to be the name of the game. Bonus points for adding the bird alternate logo on the chest. 5/5.
Portugal:
I really like these, I do, but the blue shorts make it so my eyes notice that first. I guess it’s better than not being noticeable at all, but I just don’t feel it was the most effective. Probably some story as to why they went with blue shorts, but I couldn’t be bothered searching for it. As is, 3/5.
Russia:
Just imagine a bomb pop with Russia across the chest, and that’s exactly what this kit is. 1/5.
Slovenia:
Oh dear lord. This is the definition of NFNS (Neon for neon sake) I actually think I may have suffered retinal damage from staring at these atrocities. 0/5.
South Africa:
I actually really like how these look. Although I prefer the other look they’ve used in the past. Still, I love the look of these. 4/5.
Spain:
Ba da ba da ba, I’m not loving it. 2/5.
Lithuania:
I feel BP missed a big opportunity in not sponsoring this team. All jokes aside, these aren’t too shabby, and are definitely better than some of the previously mentioned teams (I’m looking at you, Russia.) 2.5/5.
Switzerland:
The Neutral country went with a neutral look. They’re neither flashy or gaudy, neither cool nor lame. Fitting. It’s almost poetic. The Neutral country gets a neutral score of 2.5/5.
Italy:
I adore these kits. Just once again I don’t see why they went with blue on the shorts, when red for green would’ve sufficed just fine. Still, not as bad as they could have been. Italy is a 4/5.
United States:
Something tells me the reason Britain’s look was so plain, was because we rolled out with these. I feel they’re too close to the union Jack with that center stripe. These are ugly as hell to boot. 0/5.
Thanks, Ham! And thanks for completing the cycling with a broken ankle! Heal up quick, and here’s hoping you don’t need surgery.
Interesting reviews there — readers — what do you think and would you rate these differently? I know this — that USA kit top? In the words of Jimmer Vilk, “I’d wear that!” ‘murica!
Grand Rapids Griffins Contest Design Update
OK folks. All the entries have been received (there were 86[!] in total). That’s far too many to showcase and vote upon at once, so after consultation with Marissa Malson of the Griffins, here’s how we’re going to go about revealing and voting upon all of the entries.
Over the course of four days, beginning tomorrow and ending next week, we’ll reveal approximately 22 of the entries each day, in alphabetical order, in groups of 11 (or 10). You’ll have the opportunity to vote on every jersey submitted in each group. You can vote on any, some, none or all, but you’ll only be permitted to vote one time, so you’ll have to choose wisely. The top 3 (three) vote-getters each day (we’ll close the voting off after each day) will advance to the “finals” — so there will actually be 12 (twelve) finalists instead of the original 10. We’ve decided this is the most fair way to run the voting in light of the tremendous number of entries we’ve received.
The tentative schedule for the reveals is this: Tomorrow (Wednesday, August 17): The first 22 (alphabetically) submissions. This will be the lede. Thursday, August 18: Set 2; Monday, August 22: Set 3; Tuesday August 23: Final Set. Sets 2-4 should be sub-ledes. Shortly after all four sets have been voted upon, we’ll announce the 12 finalists and send those lucky entrants submissions to the Griffins who’ll pick a winner(s). The winner should be announced during the week of August 29th.
OK? OK! Everyone come on back tomorrow to see the first set of submissions and get ready to vote on your favorites!
Collectors Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
Leading off this week with a 1970s Chicago Bears soap and towel set. Still sealed in the box. And notice the helmet depictions on the backside…my favorite version of helmet artwork from back then, the same ones you see on these NFL school folders. Now the rest of the week:
• Orange Products, Chatham N.J. I know that address just like 176 Johnson St, Brooklyn. Johnson was the home of Tudor football games for many years- that’s where you’d send off to order more electric football teams. You already have the Colts in blue- gotta have the white! Now, Orange is where they made the great mini sport football, baseball, and hockey kits of the 1960s/1970s.
• Never seen one from hockey like this one — you get two nets and twelve sticks, with “full color insignias for all twelve NHL teams.”
• Speaking of Tudor, here’s a 1970s Super Bowl electric football game, and it says “Total Team Control” on the front. Oh, who were they kidding? All the players ended up in one corner of the end zone all at once. Turn it on, it starts vibrating/buzzing really loud, and they all do semi-circles around each other ’til they crashed into the corner. Don’t know if baseball worked the same way. And here’s a Tudor hoops game from the 1950s!
• All aboard this 1970s MLB Lionel model train car complete with team logos.
• The late, great Apex provided this distinctive peach logo and design for this (Atlanta) Super Bowl XXVIII polo shirt.
• From Leo Strawn, here’s a 1970s California Golden Seals skate bottle opener.
• Here’s a Dolphins glass from Dan Marino’s Fine Food & Spirits. Surprised the league let him use the logo- or shhhh, maybe they just didn’t know.
• This 1970s Rawlings baseball jacket has the company brand rather than any MLB team.
• Don’t you like the simple look of these NFL helmets and facemasks? Of course you do, and while the auction shows eight separate helmets, this one is just for the Vikings bumper sticker from Hallmark Cards.
• What is this 1970s Jovan cologne-sponsored NY Jets jacket made of? Plastic? Vinyl? Bet that would be comfortable in a nice warm humid summer evening shower.
• You know how hi-tech football cleats of today are. Check out state of the art for the middle 1960s before Puma and Adidas crept in from overseas. You wore Riddell, or you went barefoot. I never realized that white trim on the sides had the laces looped through it, so you’d tighten them for more mid-foot support.
• And look how lo-tech these are. Here’s a B&W print ad from the early 1970s for the adidas “Americana” shoe, which was the official shoe for the ABA. Had a pair of these red white and blue beauties in 1972 and loved ’em to death, but the white mesh was tough to keep clean (unless you just wore them on the court.) Wait, did I say lo-tech?
The Ticker
By Mike Chamernik
Baseball News: According to Ross Yoshida, on Friday, Kike Hernandez became the first Dodger to wear striped socks since 1937 (from Ryan Denton). … The Tulsa Drillers will wear animal jerseys for a Zoo Night on Saturday (from OT Sports). … Also from OT Sports: Breast Cancer Awareness jerseys this Saturday for the Birmingham Barons.
NFL News: 49ers QB Jeff Driskel tailored his jerseys so that his sleeve stripes wrap all the way around. The Niners are known for their truncated stripes (from Justin Brown). … Titans LB Avery Williamson will wear custom American flag cleats for 9-11. The league office may fine Williamson if he wears the cleats during the game (from Brinke). … DirecTV’s interface still shows the old Dolphins logo. The team switched logos for the 2013 season (from @NY_Raider, via Phil). … Jordan Mayblum found a Ravens hat with a little-known late 1990s alternate logo (thanks to @_drewski for pointing that out). … Dick Butkus wore a bedazzled uniform for something called the Second Annual Super Comedy Bowl in 1971 (from Gene Sanny).
College Football News: In training camp, Syracuse has been wearing matte navy blue helmets, worn once each of the last two years, and orange pants, which were worn between 2009 and 2012. “A truly bizarre combo, indeed, and one that they’ve yet to bring out onto the field,” writes Perry Matthew Dornbush. … Auburn’s SEC patch has evolved since its 1998 debut, from a pennant-shaped design to the current circle (from Clint Richardson). … New pylons for Florida (from @DaveDoop, via Phil).
Olympics News: Here’s a thorough power rankings of Olympic men’s volleyball uniforms (from Rob St. Claire). … As we know, Nike has an exclusive deal with USA Track and Field, and the company has a bunch of rules regarding how its logos are shown, and how competitors logos are shown. Middle distance runner Emma Coburn sidestepped Rule 40 by draping her New Balance shoes around her neck after winning a bronze medal (from @arrpeeoh, via Phil). … Carmelo Anthony watched a graffiti artist create Melo mural the other day in Brazil.
Hockey News: The Regina Pats of the WHL will wear Toronto Blue Jays-themed jerseys in January. More info here (from Nelson Hackewich, via Phil). … The Rochester Red Wings will wear USA sweaters for Relive the Miracle Night on Friday. Mike Eruzione will be on hand (from Phil).
Grab Bag: Oregon introduced Trail Blazers license plates. We compiled a bunch of pro sports license plates last summer. … Here’s an updated MLS uni tracker through 23 weeks (from Kyle Burkholder). … Cyclist Tony Martin changed teams, going from Etixx ”“ Quick-Step to Katusha. According to Martin: “Team Katusha showed last year that it was a winning team and, honestly, I really like the Katusha jersey” (from Bernie Langer). … Air Force wrestling has sharktooth headgear. Yesterday we noted that Air Force unveiled new helmets inspired by the WWII-era P-40 fighter planes (from Phil). … NASCAR racer Ryan Blaney will drive a Virginia Tech car this weekend. Clint Richardson notes that it uses VT’s new typeface on the logos and car number.
And that’s it for today. Thanks to The Ham for his cycling review, Brinke for the Collectors Corner, and Mike for handling the Ticker.
Get ready to come back tomorrow for the first set of reveals and voting on the Griffins Jersey Contest…and until that time,
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“I don’t like to get into politics at all but when I realize the annoying geico cavemen had a sitcom, I want to pray for our nation.”
— Walter P.
Remember, the Dutch wear orange because of the House of Oranje-Nassau. We had a bunch of “Dutchies” (foreign exchange students from the Netherlands) at my university. Every Queensday they’d mark everything they could Orange from the rock to the signage, to the roof A/C units, to Honest Abe on his bronze horse.
link
In terms of uniforms I don’t understand how Germany gets knocked down so far because the cycling kits somewhat resemble the soccer/football kits they use and have the “Reichsadler”/Black Eagle (although I have to agree the Polish White Eagle is much more awesome)
If anybody is curious as to why the Dutch wear so much orange: link
Similarly, the Italians wear a lot of blue because it was (still is?) a royal colour.
RSB
The voting for the Grand Rapids content kinda stinks. What if there are groups that have a ton of great designs, while there are groups that have zero? Someone is going to get shafted, while someone is going to breeze by just because the guys/gals near them in the alphabet all stink at design.
I didn’t submit a design, so I have no dog in the fight, but I’d hate to see some amazing designs not even make it to the next round just because there were too many good options to choose from in any particular voting group.
Steve, I don’t disagree that this may not be the ideal way to present the submissions to the viewers, but a couple of things: Uni Watch readers aren’t ultimately choosing the winner — they’re narrowing it down (the Griffins could have said no reader voting at all); ultimately, of the twelve finalists (raised from 10), they will make the final call anyway. If in one group there are four really good designs, only three move on, unfortunately that’s the way it will break down.
It’s simply not feasible to have voting on 86 submissions at once; If a design is good enough to make it to the next round, it’s probably going to be in the top three on any given day anyway. By doing it alphabetically, we’re trying to eliminate the possibility of many “not as good” designs being presented at one time…it’s simple probability. If it were just say, eight at a time, you might have a good chance on one day that a lesser design moves on while a superior one gets neglected. With 22 (or 21), chances are better for a good mix of excellent and not-as-good designs being presented to the readers.
With 86 submissions but only 12 final spots, any conceivable voting system guarantees that some – probably many! – worthy designs will not make the final cut. Logistically, this many entrants requires some sort of bracket system, just as does the World Cup, and any bracket system guarantees that some lesser competitors will advance out of weaker pools while superior entrants from tougher pools are eliminated in the first round. So observing that some excellent designs will be eliminated and some inferior designs will advance is not a valid criticism of voting on this contest, since those outcomes are necessary and inherent to any possible voting method.
Now, Phil could have reduced the likely occurrences of inferior designs advancing by seeding the voting groups by quality, but in that case this really wouldn’t be a fan vote at all but a judged competition. If this is going to be a reader poll, then the likelihood of some good designs losing out to lesser ones comes with the territory no matter how the voting is set up.
“Phil could have reduced the likely occurrences of inferior designs advancing by seeding the voting groups by quality”
~~~
While you will see some that are clearly “superior” to others, who am I to judge what are inferior/superior and seed them that way? I have a feeling the cream of the crop (best 12) will rise to the top, no matter how they’re presented. The designs will be for the readers to judge, not me — but I can assure you each day will have a good mix of great and not-as-great submissions. Maybe one that would barely crack the Top 12 gets shafted as it is the fourth best on a given day while one that is just outside the Top 12 makes it in…but if it’s not even top 3 (where it will move on) in a given day, it’s probably not going to be selected by the Griffins anyway.
Exactly – I thought all of that was implied in pointing out that doing it that way would fundamentally change the process from a public vote to a judged competition. Seeding works for athletic tournaments, because each team brings a record of performance, so it’s possible to create objective standards to say, as of this day, this is the best team entering the tournament, this is the second-best, and so on. But with a mainly subjective competition like this, any kind of quality seeding existentially transforms the process from a democratic contest into an expert judgment.
Phil Hecken is getting slapped around a lot lately. Maybe all the little children ought to stop whining. Your pet fake Griffins jersey got four votes? Phil’s fault, obviously. A guest writer given a chance lays an egg? Hang Phil!
Phil does a great job keeping up with the blog. He put in a lot of extra work on the Chris Sale story, for example, that got overshadowed and went unacknowledged. If you think you could contribute, write a guest column, not an essay on Phil sucking.
Was there a prize for second place? No? Then your argument is invalid and you should be quiet.
Just a small comment on cycling kits in the Olympics. The national champion of each country wears a special jersey in the pro ranks therefore the designers have to come up with a different national jersey for the world championships and the olympics. The best design for each team would probably be a clone or very similar to the national champions jersey and this may well upset the national champion who in many cases will not have made the Olympic team so a significantly different design is needed.
Rich is right. The professional/amateur national team jersey is very often different from the jersey given to the national champion of a particular discipline, though France’s jersey seems almost identical sometimes.
The Olympic jersey is supposed to be substantially different, hence, Italy’s jersey is predominantly white instead of all blue. The USA jersey looks almost the same as the national-team jersey from UCI events, but some of the ones that the American riders have worn in the past have been extremely garish.
This was 1996:
link
Just once again I don’t see why (Italy) went with blue on the shorts, when red for green would’ve sufficed just fine.
As many of us know here on the site, Italy’s sporting color is blue, the color of the House of Savoy, the former royal house of Italy.
Hate to come here with bared fangs, but Ham – do some research, man.
Ireland in all-orange would infuriate the vastly Catholic majority for whom orange represents Protestantism, the British Crown, repression and persecution. This is not a secret. The Orangemen in Ulster are a sore spot. Don’t be this dense. On the other hand, the Dutch wear orange because of the House of Orange. Italians wear blue because it was the royal color of the House of Savoy. The French national color is “French blue”, not “French red”. And so on.
In an era where everyone has Google, Wikipedia and the entire internet at the fingertips on a phone for quick access, this level of ignorance is incredible. Spend a minute educating yourself. This is embarrassing and shows both a lack of understanding and a lack of interest in understanding. This site is better than this.
Yeah, “I wish the Irish threw a curve ball and wore all orange”…..Um….My mum was from Ireland and her people wouldn’t exactly be too happy about that. also, Blue IS an Irish colour, check out their national emblem.
To be fair, I did say these were my opinions. Not too mention being laid up in a hospital bed while writing them, so I apologize that you don’t agree.
While I do respect your opinion, Phil green lit it, so to say this website is above this is ignorant and inconsiderate.
Btw, my name is Will Hamar, Not Harrison Hamm lol I dig it though
Well said MJ, I was thinking the exact same as I went through the list. And to add, even though they are someone’s own opinions and someone else greenlit the article does not excuse the lack of research, opinion still should have fact behind it without a blanket statement of “i don’t understand why….”, you could if you did a little research.
As for the Canadian kits being Expo ripoffs, you could not be further from fact. They are actually throwbacks to the same jersey that Louis Garneau wore in the 1984 Olympics, with the baby blue being chosen for the same reason as Belgium, to be easily recognized. Garneau incidentally is now a cyclewear manufacturer who equips team Canada Cycling so there is a pretty big connection there.
It should be noted that the Virginia Tech car and fire suit were designed by longtime UniWatcher Clark Ruhland link
The hockey section might as well be “Hockey-Baseball Cross-Dressing News”.
Speaking of which, it’s somewhat weird that Rochester is going with the diagonally-aligned USA that the hockey team wore during the exhibition season prior to the Olympics, rather than the radially-arched USA from the Games themselves.
Thanks, The Ham, for the cycling uniview.
Couldn’t disagree more about most of the aesthetic judgments, but that’s just a difference of opinion. Really valuable overview and presentation today!
That Butkus comedy item reminded me of how great he was in “Webster”.
He wasn’t in Webster; that was Alex Karras.
I thought Karras was in “Mr. Belvedere”.
Bob Uecker (with theme song performed by Leon Redbone).
Correct. Butkus was on My Two Dads.
Karras was in “Webster.” Butkus was in “My Two Dads.”
I thought Karras was on “Saved By the Bell: The College Years”.
The Regina Pats as Toronto Blue Jays should look decent because they are a blue team anyway. But what strikes me as odd is that it’s the current iteration of the font/graphic identity in the front and the inaugural through World Series font for the back numbers. Strikes me as a little odd, but it might be for the best because fine serifs don’t play so great in dynamic hockey as opposed to more static baseball.
Missed opportunity, IYAM. The Blue Jays started out as the unique baseball team to have a centered image. Why isn’t the crest big, fat and hockey-sized at the front of the sweater?
Driskel is showing the full sleeve striping pattern of the 49ers as he has a longer sleeve on the jersey.
I applauded when the 49ers changed uniforms and returned to the look of the Super Bowl days. Great look. However, the truncated sleeve stripes irritate me, make no sense to me and need to be fixed.
If the sleeves are shorter, you can still have it tailored to show the full striping. Niners need to look at the road uniform of the Chicago Bears to provide them with an example of how to do their sleeve stripes properly.
Something about this just rubs me the wrong way, but I cannot seem to put my finger on it.
The piping around the cyclist’s nether regions, perhaps?
Belgium for the win today. Also like Slovenia, Portugal and the US.
Phil, there’s no U in Colombia.
Ireland in orange? Um, no. Looks great on the Netherlands, though.
My first line was supposed to be in italics. I knew what rubbed *me* the wrong way.
0/5 for the USA. SMDH.
Agreed!
Best. Kit. There. Ham must not love America… ha ha.
The US kit uniform is hideous. That chest logo looks like MS Word Art.
You spelled “awesome” wrong.
So true. That’s a fantastic cycling jersey. Looking a bit like the Union Jack isn’t really a flaw, since our flag is actually based on the British flag. (British civil ensign plus white stripes on the red field, then with a constellation of stars to replace the Union Jack in the canton.) If anything, the USA jersey looks more like Iceland’s flag than Britain’s, since you pretty much always see at least one diagonal red/white stripe when the Union Jack is referenced.
Also awesome? Latvia. The simplicity of the rest of the jersey makes that vertical sash jump. Also, the simplicity speaks to cycling jersey design history nicely.
Also, a closer look at the USA jersey (link) shows a couple of nice elements.
First, the chest logo is not at all clip-arty. It has a subtle 3D drop shadow, which I can verify from personal experience is actually pretty hard to make with anything short of a vector graphics program.
Second, the blue side panels have white stars. Which doubles the awesomeness of it as a USA jersey.
Valid point by Brinke regarding the Dolphins/Marino glasses. There are actually two different glasses shown. The one from Marino’s restaurant has no logo. The glass with the logo is a Mobil giveaway.
Ha! I didn’t even realize there were two different types. Why don’t athletes open those “signature” restaurants anymore?
On the reviews of the cycling kits, it helps if you’re soccer fan, because many of the color schemes are the same. Italy with blue, France predominantly blue with little red or white, and especially Germany’s kit, which puzzled the reviewer but which instantly screamed “Germany!” to any soccer fan.
Same thing for Slovenia actually, this is definitely not the definition of NFNS as they wear this color in many sports.
And… Australia is definitely NOT wearing any neon. Pastel on both accounts… Just bizarre.
yeah, this is definitely the case. As another commenter noted, shockingly ignorant. And, as a side note, I actually know because I support 1.FC Köln, which used to have several slovenian players. And a big thumbs down to the blog for linking to everxy goddamn DIII college soccer jersey unveiling but igonring Köln’s (especially when you feature every other BL team). Not your best work
To answer your question, Brinke, electric baseball didn’t have the same problem as the gridiron version. There was a track for the base runners so they couldn’t stray.
This “hot take” on the cycling kits was so ignorant, as several have already pointed out. Come on Paul.
Speaking of ignorant, you do realize Paul is still on vacation from the site, and had nothing to do with today’s entry, right?
Perhaps the point he was trying to make is that Paul put people in charge while he’s away and perhaps through the process of delegation has put someone in charge of reviewing uniforms who seems to be woefully unqualified to do so. Not knowing why certain countries are using/not using certain colors, why there’s a difference between a national jersey and a national champion jersey, claiming Australia is wearing neon… this review should never have been posted.
Correct. In the past, Paul has shared with us examples of his incredible professionalism when it comes to writing about sports uniforms. Paul sets the bar high for himself and for this site, and it was disappointing to see an article that fell so short of his standards while he’s away.
Chill. Phil has a daily office job and is — trust me on this — more overworked and underappreciated than you realize, especially during August. It would be easy for him to tell me, “If you want to disengage from the site this month, then we’ll just shut down on weekdays.” Instead, he shoulders the load. Cut him some slack.
Is the site a little different during August? Yes. Does the world keep on spinning nonetheless? Also yes.
Let’s move on. Thanks.
As in the past – such as athletes from former Soviet nations in 1992 – stateless olympians marched under the five-ring flag of the Olympic movement. Amnesty International has sponsored a project to create national symbols, including a flag and an anthem, for refugee athletes. Really good design work here:
link
Terrific flag design, that. Orange field with a black stripe to mirror the colors and shapes of flotation vests. Personally, I’d have put a gray stripe near the top to mirror the reflective strips most vests have near the shoulders, but that’s probably taking the symbolism too literally. A case of less is more here.
Great overview. I love cycling, and its always interesting seeing familiar cyclists in unfamiliar kits instead of their usual team colours.
A note on Canada – they aren’t ripping off the Expos. Canada has been wearing basically the same kit since the 1970s.
Jocelyn Lovell in 1972: link
Steve Bauer in 1984: link
Curt Harnett in 1988: link
(Check out the bikes – they look like a cheap version of my everyday commuter bike. With drugstore sunglasses and toe straps)
Aside from the history, those cycling jerseys don’t look anything like the Expos. Both use a light blue color. That’s literally the only thing they have on common, so it would make as much sense to say that Team Canada is copying the sky or the Ozzie Smith-era St. Louis Cardinals.
Besides, that red-white-and-sky-blue combo is fantastic. Pretty much unique in international sports, and if Canada is going to add a third color to red and white, light blue just looks better and more Canadian to me than black. I’d much rather see light blue than black as a third color on Canada’s national hockey and soccer jerseys, for example. Even though Canada tends to have excellent hockey and soccer jerseys even with black accents.
Canada’s hockey team did look pretty good (with distinct Olympic and Canada Cup unis) when they wore royal blue as a trim colour instead of black in the 1980s and early 1990s.
I don’t watch cycling, so I had no idea on the history of teams. That is a fascinating read however, thank you for sharing!
Thanks for all your hard work writing today’s piece.
Its not like I’ve memorized this stuff, but some of the moments (Bauer’s race in 1994 in particular where he lost the gold at the finish line) are iconic in Canadian cycling.
Typo (or just plain misspelling): under the bike unis, it is COLOMBIA, not Columbia.
Think the Vilkman already covered this:
Columbia : Located in New York City, known for higher learning
Colombia : Located in South America, known for Sofia Vergara
To all who pointed it out — yes, ColOmbia should be the spelling for the nation and has now been corrected. My bad for not catching that in Ham’s original piece.
Sorry to not have gotten to it sooner — but in addition to doing Uni Watch weekdays during the entire month, I still have a full time day job that takes up, ya know, much of my time. Was just covering a meeting that lasted two hours, so this is the first time I’ve even had a chance to look at the boards since about 9:45 am.
Still, my bad for not catching it originally.
I don’t think he quite understands the history of the colors of the cycling kit. It all relates to all sports, they’re not just picking random colors.
Will there be a separate track cycling review? The awesome helmets of the China team should not be missed
link
I cannot find anything to confirm this, but I bet that Belgium cycling’s historic use of that shade of blue is a nod to Belgian national hero Willy Coppens, the top Belgian ace of WWI with 37 confirmed victories. He flew a blue Hanriot HD1 painted that same shade of blue. He was a famous balloon buster, an extraordnarily dangerous pursuit.
Ravens tertiary logo hat… My Dad has one with that logo… We have had season tix since Day One. That logo was actually the basis for the current primary logo. The Ravens held an online contest for what should replace the original “Flying B” shield after the silly lawsuit, and that side view bird head won, with the original front view bird head coming in 2nd. Realizing that a black side facing bird head on a black helmet wouldn’t work well, they modified the side view and made it more purple, closed the beak, and added the B for Baltimore onto the head. The front view was also modified accordingly.
Re: Syracuse, it seems to be fairly common for college football teams to wear old pants for practice.