Sunday Morning Uni Watch

@PhilHecken Did you see #okstate unis in the tunnel today? 🔥🔥🔥
pic.twitter.com/Q0CKCkuyOx

— matthew wade (@mbwade76) October 1, 2016

By Phil Hecken, with the SMUW Crew

Still 30 days to Hallowe’en…but why not break out the spooky stuff early, right?

Lots of gray (or is it “anthracite”) on the gridiron yesterday, as well as some, um…stuff that glows in the dark, as witnessed by the video above, which featured the Oklahoma State Cowboys in reflective uni numbers coming out of the tunnel yesterday. What will they think of next?

Even though yesterday was the first day of October, we were treated to very little pink (I guess we’ll make up for it today in the NFL), so that was a blessing. But there are still four more Saturdays left in the month, plus the other days during which the NCAA plays. Plenty of time to pink it up ahead.

OK — here’s the rest of your Sunday Morning Uni Watch. Enjoy.

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

Between this past Thursday and Friday, I was working as an assistant for a local recording studio in my town. Monumental (and fun!) learning experience for me, but as anyone who’s worked in a studio in any capacity will most-likely tell you, the lot of us were exhausted at the end of the day. I woke up on Saturday fully-expecting to be washed over with pink accessories aplenty, but to my (pleasant) surprise, there weren’t many (if any at all) massive Pinktober displays. Just the occasional pink ribbon decal here and there. Of course, we have a grand total of 5 Saturdays for October 2016, so this may only be the precursor for what potentially lies ahead.

From Thursday:

• STOP THE PRESSES. THE TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS ARE FINALLY LIVING UP TO THEIR NAME. AT LONG LAST. WHY IS MY CAPS-LOCK ON?

• Remember those grey uniforms that UConn wore last week against Syracuse? They shelved them in favor of all-white against opponent Houston, who apparently raided said shelves. Geez, those helmet decals couldn’t vibrate more with the helmet shell if they were those strange beds you’d find at certain inns.

From Friday:

• Some of the Stanford players had what looked to be ghosted NOBs. From what I can see, #98 seems to have a blank jersey over his main one, and the NOB is peaking through the chain maile mesh panel where the player name would be. Probably for player eligibility reasons, or maybe he shares the same number with a teammate. Same deal for #96 off to the lefthand side, although you can’t see his name from the angle we’re given.

From Saturday:

• The new Pitt uniforms with gold pants looks immensely better than with the white they initially wore.

• Purdue wore all-white against Maryland. T.V. number on one side, Boilermaker logo on the other. And thanks to Ryan Bucher, we can see that their facemasks mimic the path of the helmet stripe, like Oregon State’s old bars.

• East Carolina wore new yellow pants. The interesting part is that they initially announced that they would be wearing all-purple against Central Florida.

• Syracuse wore white facemasks on their navy helmets against Notre Dame. Normally, they wear navy.

• West Virginia wore yellow/yellow/navy for the first time yesterday against Kansas State.

• In a very kind gesture, the Miami Hurricanes have added a memorial decal for Miami Marlins pitcher José Fernández (and we also get a good shot of those merit decals. The orange with green eyes are for on-field performance, and the green with orange eyes are for academics).

• Illinois wore all-white (with new white facemasks) against Nebraska. Normally, their white helmets have navy facemasks. They also had this jersey in honor of Sam Foltz (credit to Illinois Football EQ).

• Kent State wore a rather underwhelming script “Kent State” decal on their helmets against Akron (closer look).

• Loved the way the UNC/Florida State game looked. In addition, both teams wore “I Fight Fanconi” decals (also note the double U.S. Flag on Florida State’s helmet). More info here.

• Even though this is an FCS matchup, I always appreciate the color-vs.-color action between Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin.

• Michigan State wore black socks in honor of Mylan Hicks, who was killed in a shooting in Calgary recently.

• Oklahoma State’s future seems… bright. Game shot here.

• The memorials for Nebraska and Michigan State punters Sam Hunt and Mike Sadler (respectively) continue, but one of the more interesting ones comes in the form of these coins used for the coin toss in all B1G games over the weekend. Closer look here.

• Stellar throwbacks worn by Texas A&M. South Carolina wore black/black/white.

• Florida’s orange pants are the epitome of “FLORIDA”. Don’t try to eat them, though. They’ll have a taste to them, but it ain’t orange-flavored.

• Looks like Louisville’s red-chrome helmets are here to stay.

• TCU wore new helmets against Oklahoma.

• Two developments over the weekend: Baylor actually wore school colors, and they were actually the better-dressed team. What was Iowa State thinking?

• Just when you thought Western Michigan couldn’t look any uglier… You’re about 30 days early there, boys. Credit to Will Posthumus.

• Grey For Grey’s Sake is nothing new, but Colorado State somehow manifested one of the most bland, uninspiring GFGS uniforms I’ve ever seen (H/T to Ryan Wright).

• I couldn’t find a photo, but LSU did have a breast cancer awareness ribbon decal on the back of their helmets. [Editor’s note: You can kinda see it here — Phil]

That’ll do it for Week 5. Hope you have a fantastic October, and I’ll see you next week.

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Thanks, TJ! OK, now on the the rest of your SMUW…

NCAA Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. Most of the 2015 trackers are back, with one new tracker added:

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), Davis Vinckier (tracking the B1G), and Ethan Dimitroff, (tracking the SEC). Rex, Dennis, Kyle and Davis are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is new to the NCAA Uni Tracking this season

Here are the Uni Trackers for WEEK FIVE of the NCAA Season.

Got a full set this weekend, thanks to Rex doing double duty today to pinch hit for Ethan (who got married last weekend and is on his Honeymoon!). Thanks, Rex!

Good now…onto the tracking…

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Rex is up first today (ACC):

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ACC

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

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And now, here’s Dennis with the PAC-12:

PAC-12

More here.

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And here is Ethan REX, with the SEC:

SEC

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And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

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And here’s Davis the B1G:

B1G

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Joe Ringham’s 5 & 1

Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, and Catherine Ryan after him, Joe Ringham is back for 2016 to make his “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) Bowl matchups. Sometimes he’ll have some “honorable mentions” and sometimes there will be more than one “bad” game. You may agree and you may disagree — these are, after all, just opinions and everyone has one. Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments section.

Here’s Joe:

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Good Sunday, everyone! Lots of good-looking games filled the college football landscape this week. Let’s see what made the cut for Week 5 to start off October…

5) Marshall at Pittsburgh — I had a feeling this would look good when I saw this one pop up earlier in the week. The Herd are one of the few who can make mono-white look good, especially paired up with Pitt’s gold/navy/gold home look for this game.

4) Kansas at Texas Tech — Love Tech’s red/red/white set for this game, something I don’t think I’ve seen them go with in recent memory. It certainly contrasted very well against the Jayhawks’ blue/white/blue.

3) Stanford at Washington — Another game I had a feeling would look fantastic when I saw it pop up earlier in the week. The same thing I said for Marshall can be said for Stanford, another who can make mono-white on the road look good. And the Huskies looked great at home in gold/purple/gold.

2) Baylor at Iowa State — This game looked so good it stopped me dead in my tracks. Absolutely loved the Bears going matte green/white/green on the road in Ames. Up against the red/red/anthracite home set that the Cyclones went with (first time, I believe, they’ve gone with that look), and you had one very sharp looking game.

1) North Carolina at Florida State — The best looking game of the day, hands down. Always a fan of the Noles’ gold/garnet/gold home set, and it matched up beautifully with the Tar Heels white/white/blue set. A sharp, beautiful looking game in Tallahassee.

Just off the board: Louisville at Clemson, Notre Dame vs Syracuse

And, finally…

+1) Kansas State at West Virginia — A week after I give the Mountaineers props for one of their best looks, they come out with one of their worst. Not even K-State’s great road look can make the yellow/yellow/navy of the home team look good.

That’ll do it for me. Let’s do this again next week.

Welcome to the 2016 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-08 by Michael Princip, who retired after several seasons, whereupon the project was continued by Tim E. O’Brien. He, too, retired from the tracking, but the project has been ably kept up by the man who also tracks the Pac12, Dennis Bolt.

Here’s this week’s Uniform Combo for the Ducks (you can click to enlarge):

You can read about this uniform, and MUCH MORE, by checking out the Duck Tracker here!

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!

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Rookie hazings are a part of baseball, and some are better than others. The New York Mets did a great League of Their Own tribute yesterday. … Check out this from ’83. Someone stole Doug DeCinces jersey, so he wore the blank bat boys top (from David Taub). … During yesterday’s Mets vs. Phillies game, Jose Reyes’ arm sleeve was messing with FOX’s green screen behind the plate (h/t Robert Hayes). … Here’s a really cool gallery of hypothetical 2017 ASG logos for every MLB team (thanks to Mike Chamernik). … By clinching a Wild Card spot yesterday, the Mets got their official Postseason Caps, and the New Era logo is orange, not white (as feared). It’s awful, but better than white (from MetsPlus by Niko G.). … Tweeter Matt Harris was “watching Magnum, P.I. episodes on the DVR (don’t ask) and one of the characters, TC, was wearing a Yankee pillbox cap.” … Based on Hanley’s Snapchat, the Red Sox have new clubhouse robes (h/t Pete Abraham). … “Yankee prospects seem to be wearing ‘Instructional League’ patches on left sleeve,” says Matt Harris, who asks, “Normal for all teams?” … The Washington Nationals are demanding their fans wear red for their first two home playoff games. FFS.

NFL/CFL News: From Leo Strawn, Jr.: “Was checking out photos of the Cincy/Miami game and noticed Dion Sims of the Fins has a tramp stamp on his pants. Are all the color rush uniforms like this?” … Reader Ted Arnold says, “This is a good read.” Suzanne Mitchell, Who Made the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders a Global Brand, Dies at 73. … Check out this great photoshop of how good the NFL’s Color Rash could look if the “one helmet rule” weren’t in effect (from Zach Lowman). … The Saints will wear their black jerseys over gold pants today. Thankfully. … Welcome to Pinktober. … Here are the cleats Von Miller will be wearing today (at least in warmups). … The Michigan State Spartans were not the only ones honoring/memorializing Mylan Hicks — the Calgary Stamps are keeping his jersey in their lockers when they’re on the road. They’re also wearing a helmet sticker. … *CROSSOVER ALERT (also posted in College Football)* Check out this cool 1959 state of Wisconsin football schedule. “I saw this on the wall at Stone Tap in Hudson, WI,” says Lukas Hoffland. “The Packers’ colors are listed as Navy Blue, Green and Gold (according to GUD, it was that preseason when blue unis were worn regularly for the last time, I think?). Also, this was the second-to-last season of Marquette University football.” … Don’t forget, if you’re reading this early, Early Football today from London. … This article ranks the Top Five helmets in the NFL, and not terribly. … Looks like the Tennessee Titans will be wearing all white today vs. the Houston Texans (via Zach Bingham).

College/High School Football News: Check out first and last initials and the RNOB from Houston 1990 at the College football HOF (from Steve DiPaola). … Watch out! Full camo (sorta) unis have made their way to the high school gridiron. … This author argues the Oregon Ducks need to rethink their preoccupation with uniform combos. … Ohio State has some interesting warmup gear: Their uni numbers feature buckeye leaves on them (h/t Heath). … Here’s a really cool Youngstown State U football logo from the late 1960s (from Robert Hayes). … *CROSSOVER ALERT (also posted in Pro Football)* Check out this cool 1959 state of Wisconsin football schedule. “I saw this on the wall at Stone Tap in Hudson, WI,” says Lukas Hoffland. “The Packers’ colors are listed as Navy Blue, Green and Gold (according to GUD, it was that preseason when blue unis were worn regularly for the last time, I think?). Also, this was the second-to-last season of Marquette University football.” … HOLY SHIT: This MAY take the prize for the worst uni/most crap going on ever in a High School football uniform (from ThomPucks), that’s his “alma mater, Methacton (outside Philly) look as awful as they play.” … Interesting helmet concept for the Tennessee Vols, which he “found” on Instagram (from John Alexander).

Hockey News: “Saw this odd Buffalo Sabres patch for sale with a cartoon player in a uniform with a red logo, shorts and trim. Don’t recall ever seeing a Sabres design featuring a kepi, either,” says Leo Strawn, Jr.. “Seller states it is from 1972. I wonder if that uniform was a prototype design that was shot down. I wondered too if the red on the patch was a way around licensing but that seems unlikely because I have a California Golden Seals patch from the same time period in the same cartoon style that is in correct team colors.” … New mask for @strombone1 (who I think is Roberto Luongo — after messing up Theo Fleury last week, I’m not assuming anything). From Ryan Connelly. … The Calgary Flames have a new helmet decal (from Paul). … New Saturday Night helmet for @ErieOtters, to go with Saturday Night yellow jerseys (via Paul). And here are the Saturday night jerseys (from Eric Brookhouser). … Think the “Royal Family” are hockey fans? Prince William and Kate Middleton Receive Customized Hockey Jerseys for Their Children During Charity Visit. … Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss has returned to the team, but he’s wearing his World Cup pads (from Stan Capp).

NBA News: Some dude on Reddit made a sweet DIY Cavs mosaic from bottle caps (from The VP). … This isn’t news, but here’s a nice closeup of the 42 “patch” the Golden State Warriors will wear to honor the late Nate Thurmond.

College Hoops News: Looks like LaSalle men’s hoops have new uniforms (from David Grzybowski). … Here’s another look at those LaSalle uniforms (h/t dennis). … “Michigan became the fifth school with Jordan branding (joining North Carolina, Georgetown, California and Marquette), but I remember that there used to be several other colleges officially sponsored by Brand Jordan (sans Jumpman logo),” writes Paul Lee. “St. John’s came to mind: ‘St. John’s had been with Nike since the Felipe Lopez era. The Red Storm, in part because of former coach Mike Jarvis’s friendship with Michael Jordan, was one of the first six schools to get the Brand Jordan uniforms.’ So did Cincinnati and North Carolina A&T. Have I missed any?”

Soccer News: PINKTOBER on the Pitch: The Tampa Bay Rowdies were wearing pink warm-up jerseys, last evening, and will continue to do so throughout October & will be auctioned for charity (from Mike Nessen).

Grab Bag: The AFL Grand Final (Aussie rules football’s Super Bowl) was played Thursday night and it was a beautiful colour-on-colour match, with Western Bulldogs in blue and Sydney Swans in red. Cubs fans take note: The Dogs pulled away in the last few minutes of a close game to break a 62-year premiership (championship) drought in their first Grand Final appearance since 1961 (thanks, Leo). … Speaking of the Cubs, “I saw this at the port in Malta,” says Kenneth Traisman. “Flag looks like Cubs’ “W” don’t ya think?” … Pinktober uniforms: not just for sports anymore. … Tiger Woods (remember him?) had his own personalized golf cart at they Ryder Cup yesterday (from J.Walker). … Some American Airlines workers are complaining their new uniforms are causing rashes. … The Nationals aren’t the only ones demanding fans wear red: The Ryder Cup is demanding fans wear red today for the final round. Asinine (h/t BIZBO). … It’s always *interesting* what some folks see when they turn a logo sideways (h/t Fractured but Whole).

And that’s it for this fine first Sunday in Pinktober. Enjoy what is sure to be a *fun* NFL breastacular today. Big thanks to all my SMUW Crew: Terry, Joe, Dennis, Rex, Kyle, Davis (and Ethan, hopefully enjoying his honeymoon). These guys are all aces — make sure you give them some props in the comments!

For anyone who cares, I was still sick yesterday (though I think I’m on the mend) — I don’t often (ever?) plug products, but two things I SWEAR BY, when one is getting (or already has) a common cold: Cold Eeze and Zycam. If you take these as soon as you feel a cold coming on, you WILL stop it, and if you don’t catch it, STILL take both, and you will totally lessen the severity and duration of said cold. Trust me on this one.

I’ll be back next Saturday with more good stuff (and depending on how things go — the final FINAL look back at the results of a *contest* held much earlier this year). Until then…

Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.

Peace.

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“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?”

— Jimmer Vilk