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Michigan Unveils New Hoops Unis

UM 550

By Phil Hecken

Last evening, the University of Michigan unveiled their new basketball uniforms for the 2016 season, with what I have to say was about a little fanfare for such a “major” release in a LONG time. They unveiled the unis at Crisler Center before several hundred students, but the event didn’t *seem* to generate the media attention one would think it would. This might not be such a bad thing. But usually these releases are accompanied by a full media-type blitz, complete with huge, full color graphics packages from Nike (or Jordan Brand, who are technically the manufacturer of the unis), press releases explaining how they’re faster, stronger, lighter, etc. But unless I missed something, none of that happened.

With that said, the uniforms are probably about what we were expecting — a white, gold (maize) and blue set for both the men and women, pretty simplistic in design, and quite nice. Here are some photos from the unveil (click on any photos below to enlarge):

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Nice, right? Very basic (and classic). All three uniforms feature a block “MICHIGAN” arched across the chest, with the collar and sleeves having a simple striping pattern. Since I’m not a Nike-phile, I’m not sure what or which generation of jersey this is, but the jerseys feature noticeable ventilation holes. The Jumpman logo (UM is now the fifth school to have this branding, joining North Carolina, Georgetown, California and Marquette) is on the right shoulder, with the B1G logo on the left.

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The shorts feature a block “M” on the waistband, with another Jumpman logo on the left side and block “M” down both sides. There is a striping pattern on the hem.

Altogether, a very nice set — certainly more restrained than they were under adidas; of course, we’ve yet to see if Nike/Jordan introduce any special uniforms that push the bounds of taste any further. But for now, these are pretty nice, if restrained.

Here’s a few shots from the MGOblue blog, which gives some nice tight shots, and also shows the back of the jersey (which seems to have an odd shoulder cut):

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You can see some more photos from the unveiling event here, and there are several photos not shown on this page in my flickr album.

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colorize this

Colorize This!

Occasionally, I will be featuring wonderful, high-quality black and white photographs that are just begging to be colorized.

Tuffy

Just one colorization today, but it relates to last Saturday’s post, which featured a great lede by Leo Strawn, Jr. In that post, Leo included a black and white photo of Tuffy Leemans from his playing days at George Washington University:

In the comments that followed the post, it was hoped that someone would colorize that photo. Not coincidentally, that piece also featured some tremendous colorizations by George Chilvers (please scroll down from the above link if you missed them last weekend), and George saw the colorization request…and did what he does best.

Here’s George…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tuffy Leemans buff and blue GW Uni for UW 24 Sep colour - George Chilvers

Hi Phil

Tuffy Leemans – By popular demand from (last Satur)day :)

George

. . .

Thanks, George. Great stuff as always!

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UW Friday Flashback

UW’s Friday Flashback

We’ve seen lots of uni-related memorials for José Fernández this week, so my Friday Flashback column on ESPN takes a look back at some notable moments in MLB memorial history (including Jason Simontacchi’s black ankle band for Darryl Kile in 2002, as seen here).

Check out the Friday Flashback here.

Enjoy!

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The Ticker
By Paul, pinch-hitting for Phil

Baseball News: The Padres marked Dick Enberg’s final home game on Thursday night by mowing his signature “Oh my!” phrase into the outfield grass. … The José Fernández jersey that had gone missing from a memorial shrine in Miami has been returned (thanks, Mike). … The tarp at Fenway Park now has a giant Red Sox-themed ad from L.L. Bean (from Josh Claywell). … Speaking of the Sox, they added a sleeve patch last night for David Ortiz’s final series, with a matching cap patch. Ortiz becomes, by my count, the fifth MLB player to be honored with a farewell patch while still an active player, joining Tony Gwynn, Cal Ripken Jr., Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter. … With the Marlins playing the Nats in DC last night, the Nats Park scoreboard show a José Fernández jersey, instead of the Marlins logo, atop the Marlins batting order. They also put “16” on the back of the mound, something i don’t think I’ve ever seen before for a visiting player (from David Raglin and Noah Petro, respectively). … “Couldn’t get a screenshot so I took one from the MLB feed: Mookie Betts was wearing a sweatshirt under his jersey,” says Omar Jalife. “Not sure if this is something he usually does but I don’t remember anything on the ticker like this (except for Randall Cobb).”

NFL News: The Bills will wear solid-white tomorrow (thanks, Mike). … Reprinted from yesterday’s comments: The Cowboys will wear blue at home on Thanksgiving Day against Washington (from Mance Fine). … Steelers WR Antonio Brown, barred from wearing blue cleats, will wear team-colored cleats that honor Arnold Palmer instead. … We’ve had several notes about one- and two-bar facemasks lately, which reminds me that Chiefs WR Otis Taylor had an unusual mask setup: Instead of a two-bar, he had two separate one-bars. Weird, right? … Samuel Lam asked about the sweater being worn by a guy on the 49ers sideline during Super Bowl XXIII. It’s apparently the old logo from Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.

College/HS Football News: The Dallas Morning News has a big package on helmets and concussions, and the threat they pose to high school football, which of course is a very big deal in Texas. … UAB’s new uniforms, part of their new deal with Under Armour, can be seen here. “Those uniforms are just for the next scrimmage (mid-October) and the spring game, with a full 2017 reveal still planned,” says Nick Salyers. ” The uniforms mimic the Nike uniforms from before UAB’s football program was shut down, including scale patterns on the sleeve panels.” … College football players can’t do commercial endorsements. But their girlfriends can (from Ian Albrecht). … Cross-sport move by Miami, which has added a memorial decal for José Fernández (thanks, Mike). … Riverdale HS in Mount Blanchard, OH played their first game of a three year heritage series last night throwing back to one of the three schools that consolidated to form the Riverdale Falcons in 1962. Jack Marshall notes last night, they became the Mount Blanchard Hurricanes.

Hockey News: The Capitals will wear their red throwback alternates for all Thursday and Friday home dates this season (from Ed Kendrick). … A legal case that hinged on the question of whether a hockey glove is just a glove or “an article of plastic” went all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court (from Mike Styczen).

Basketball News: New court design for the Cavs (from Robert Hayes). … This rundown of NBA uni changes for the upcoming season has a bunch of omissions. My own annual rundown will be published in a few weeks, shortly before the start of the regular season. … New uniform for Youngstown State.

Grab Bag: At the Ryder Cup, a bag of clubs with Arnold Palmer’s name was placed near the first tee, and a bunch of fans wore Palmer T-shirts. Also, a group of fans wore hockey jerseys. “This link discusses their connection to the late Flip Saunders and a Timberwolves patch with which they honor him,” says Douglas Ford. … New logo for Long John Silver’s. … American Airlines flight attendants say their new uniforms are making them sick (from Andrew Hoenig). … Portland, Ore., is the latest police department to embrace Pinktober (from @FormerDirtDart). … Sad news yesterday, as word came out that the Carnegie Deli will be closing at the end of the year. It was never my favorite local pastrami option (that would be Katz’s), but it’s still an NYC institution, and I’ll mourn its loss. The owner says she’ll keep busy by “licensing the iconic Carnegie Deli brand.” Of course. … Chivas (they play in LigaMX) will be wearing a pink striped jersey instead of their red one (from Omar Jalife).

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That’s all for today — sorry for the relative dearth of content, but I was sick (hopefully nothing serious, but enough so that I took my first sick day from the office in two years) yesterday, and probably won’t be fully recovered today either.

Big thanks to Paul for handling the ticker duties in my stead, and of course, George for the great colorization. Back with SMUW tomorrow. Everyone have a good Saturday.

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

.. … ..

“I’ve never been a fan of the term “swag”. I am grateful, however, that hand warmers make the cut.”

— Marty Hick

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Comments (50)

    I don’t understand the racerback cut of the Michigan hoops jerseys. I hope that doesn’t become a thing.

    It’s the one flaw in an otherwise-perfectly fine uniform. Well, one of two; their placement of the player number using this cut causes the player names to look really bad.

    Re: Mookie Betts’ hoodie, he had worn one under his jersey a few times in April as well. IIRC there were 3-4 Sox players that were doing it.

    In that ticker item, submitter Omar Jalife mentions Randall Cobb also wearing a sweatshirt under his jersey. I’m sure he meant James Jones, the other Packers receiver who wore a hoodie last year before the practice was banned by the NFL for this season.

    Correct. in fact the new rule is called the James Jones rule e.g. cannot wear a hoodie under your jersey.
    Several Red Sox players wore the hoodies under their jersey in April including Ortiz

    A black outline for the Cavs’ new court…gee…didn’t see *that* coming…

    And of course there are calls for the team to make the black (I’m calling them Winning Ugly) alts permanent. At what cost victory, Cleveland?

    The Cavs have a really nice set of the wine and gold uniforms. A good looking pro basketball uniform. Stick with that.

    I despise the BFBS alts. The black t-shirts would be good for intramural sports teams. This is not how an honest-to goodness NBA uniform should look.

    It should be simple to describe their look to a casual fan – the Cavs are wine and gold (maroon and yellow). I feel it is messing with their visual identity by adding in navy blue on one alternate and the black on another alternate. And all these colours are on this court. Disorienting. They never wear black and navy together, yet they are both on the court and they are for alternates. Navy and black also do not match really well with the maroon.

    The floor should just have the wine and gold.

    This exactly. Is it that hard to figure out? Unfortunately what I feared when they wore the black ALTs in the finals has come to pass, a ton of people I know feel that black should be a team color now that they won in them.

    New logo for Long John Silver’s? Why don’t you reopen some of your old locations instead so I don’t have to drive an hour to get your fish?

    Go back and read that last sentence. I wouldn’t drive 10 feet for Long John Silver’s, much less an hour. They’re probably doing you a favor!

    Even though, if I get the chicken/fish combo I don’t always know which filet I’m eating, I love that place. And I do drive an hour for it, but only when I’m going somewhere else in the vicinity. I miss the Long John’s/Taco Bell store that was only five miles from my house. Only thing missing from that location was pizza!

    Those Michigan jerseys look very good, however the cut doesn’t leave much space for NOB. Might be better positioned underneath the number.

    Tony Gwynn the first player honored still playing with a patch and then after his passing, with a memorial? Thats a trend that will be more common as time goes on.

    Why is Sam Strong reporting (poorly) on helmets for this weeks college matchups on ESPN.com? Seems strange to not see Paul on the byline. That, and the quality of the article suffered. JS

    From yesterday: “Next week’s Thursday-night game: Cardinals (white) at 49ers (black).”

    I thought Thursday night football was supposed to be color on color..?

    Yeah, the NFL kinda screwed that up. Half of the “color rush” uniforms are white. There’s only 2 color vs color games this season – Broncos/Chargers and Titans/Jaguars. The rest are just one team in mono-color vs the other in mono-white, even when there’s no logical reason that it couldn’t be color vs color. The Packers are wearing white instead of yellow, the Raiders are white instead of silver, etc. It’s quite dumb.

    The Raiders in mono-white is a travesty. I could have replicated that look in Madden 11 about 6 years ago. The Raiders should be in either mono-silver or mono-black. Blasphemy! Outrage!! Ill shove Phil Knight’s intestines down his gullet for the brazen act of blasphemy!

    Besides, you said it best. Its white-v-color, not true color-v-color. Silver and Gold Bowl, anybody?

    Maybe they’re realising how bad colour-vs.-colour matchups look.

    It’s bad enough seeing one team in a monochrome uniform; we definitely don’t want two. Also, we shouldn”t complain about an all-white uniform. A team in all white looks dignified.

    It’s only a matter of time until someone mows a Nike swoosh into the outfield grass. Enough already.

    Also, I can’t underemphasize my distaste for patches that celebrate active players.

    I can’t underemphasize my distaste for patches that celebrate active players.

    This means you have no problem with such patches. Did you mean to say OVERemphasize?

    Carnegie Deli may not be the best deli, but the vibe is like no other. Had a great time there with some friends on vacation in the spring of ’07.

    I don’t know if this has already been mentioned, but the Flames have gone with a different helmet decal then previous years. New: link
    Old: link

    Another jumpman squad is Oakland U of the horizon league. They have NOB under the numbers, unique side striping, and some other neat features. Have been that way long before jumpman came around though I am sure.

    Was listening to Boston sports radio (98.5) and they were mentioning how apparently they had Jonathan Kraft on last week and he said that the Pats Pro Shop ordered what they believed would be a year’s supply of color rash jerseys, but that they had sold 3/4 of the inventory by the Thursday night game. $$$$$$$$$$$$$

    Am I the last one to notice that new Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart eliminated the dog bone merit stickers on the back of the players’ helmets?

    OK by me – that eliminates a lot of the clutter.

    Texas, Northwestern, Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, Texas A&M, and Georgia State have all gone WFWS (white for white’s sake) so far this afternoon.

    These teams (that at least used to wear traditional colored helmets and pants with their white jerseys on the road) are now almost indistinguishable as you switch channels from game to game.

    Pretty sure Wisconsin usually wears white pants on the road, and if it’s their regular combination, then it doesn’t really count.

    Just a quick point of clarification. The Jose Fernandez Ravens jersey “disappeared” from (and was returned to, thankfully) Alonzo High School in Tampa, not Miami.

    Washington Capitals should wear their red alternate throwbacks for 41 homes games instead, with the Weagle logo as the main crest.

    That looks cool! I like stars on front. What would be neat is just 4 stars on the front, in similar style of OHL Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the old Cornwall Royals jerseys.

    Reading the hockey glove story just serves as a reminder to me of how overly complicated customs regulations are.

    Contrary to that Dallas doctor, high school football isn’t going anywhere. Better tackling techniques, testing, and technology will help reduce the concussion rate. But football is a voluntary activity, and serious injuries will never be eliminated. Soccer has a high rate of concussions, but that doesn’t get much coverage.

    Dick Enberg has as his partner for a time with the Angels, Dave Niehaus, who was the Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Mariners up until he passed away in 2010. Enberg’s signature line “Oh My.” Niehaus signature line “My Oh My!”

    I know you covered the Ryder Cup cloting a couple days back, but I absolutely loved what the US team was wearing today. The Red and Blue striped polos with the white pants/shoes looked outstanding.Much better than the Mono Grey of the Euros

Comments are closed.