By Phil Hecken
We’re back today with Part II of the USA Baseball Jersey Design Contest (if you missed part one, with it’s long description and the first 18 contestants, click here). The second group (sets III and IV) will be revealed today — with VOTING — so be sure to cast your vote below. As with the first two sets, BE SURE TO VOTE AFTER EACH SET OF NINE IS SHOWN. You can vote for as many (or few) as you like, but you can only vote once. It’s that simple. The top two vote getters FROM EACH SET will advance to next weekend’s final vote. I’ll have the winners from last weekend’s first round of voting at the end of this post.
All set? Let’s get started!
Bruce Genther
Dan Corbalis
Mason Fiske
Ron Verrecchio
Ryan Ripperton
Kevin Callahan
Sean Flaherty
Derek Buchheit
Sean Connor
AND NOW”¦VOTING FOR THE FIRST NINE TODAY — “SET THREE” (You may pick as many as you like)
Brendan Gargano
George Teaford
Ben DeRosa
David Timmerman
Ryan Lindemann
Steve Spurgeon
Lonnie Walker
Nick Lineback
Matt Harvey
AND NOW”¦VOTING FOR THE SECOND NINE TODAY — “SET FOUR” (You may pick as many as you like)
And that’s it for today. Great stuff, yes? And there’s still one more batch (Sets Five and Six) to come. Make sure you voted in BOTH polls. The top two from each poll will advance to the final round.
Let all the concepters know what you think in the comments below!
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Surviving and Advancing
Congratulations to last weekend’s four winners (first and second place vote getters) in SET ONE and SET TWO! You are moving on to the finals next weekend:
Bryan Spangenberg and Andrew Stone from Set One:
Aaron Ganci and Trayton Miller from Set Two:
I’ll have the winners from today and tomorrow for you next weekend, when we’ll run the finals. Make sure to vote today and tomorrow for the final four sets.
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Too Good…
for the Ticker
Got an e-mail from Brice Wallace regarding the passing of an icon from years ago. Anyone around my age remembers the Gong Show, and with it, its creator and crazy host. I’ll let Brice take it from here. It’s a bit too long (and too good) for the ticker, so I’m running it here. Here’s Brice…
With the passing of Chuck Barris of the “Gong Show” this week, I’ve seen a few videos from the show (which I loved as a teenager), and some of these show clips indicate Barris “got it.”
In this one, he’s wearing two great jerseys, although they’re not great together:
In this one, Gene Gene the Dancing Machine has a stuffed-toy baseball bat thrown on stage and handles a couple of basketball passes:
At the end of this clip, Barris wears a nice three-stripe 1976 Phillies cap:
— Brice Wallace
Thanks, Brice. That brings back memories — I used to watch that show during lunch time when I was in grade school (we were sent home for lunch back then). Every. Day.
RIP Chuck.
OK. Now, on to the ticker…
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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil
Baseball News: In their countdown to opening day, the Cincy Reds posted a beautiful photo of Sparky Anderson yesterday. … “Any chance this is the @Nationals new alternate hat? Or is this BP? Never seen it before today,” asks Matt Windsor. … Henry Aaron was number 44 right? Not always. As a rookie he wore number 5 “after incumbent Bobby Thomson broke his leg sliding. But he switched to double digits (No. 44), which he considered a good luck symbol, after establishing himself in his first season.” That picture is from this tweet and the factoid from this article, which is well worth the read. … Here’s one from Mike Schindler on a pair of Dunnings in White Sox jerseys: “This seems like an odd jersey. Looks almost like the BP jerseys from 2015. But also, the Sox have never used a name plate thing.” … Kansas softball will be wearing orange jerseys today. Clint Richardson notes, Kansas the jerseys are for kidney cancer. KU coach’s husband passed away from the disease years ago. … In a completely not shocking development, the Chicago Cubs will be wearing gold-outlined elements and gold NOBs in celebration of their World Championship on April 10 & 12 (from Drew Hill and Joe Ringham). The Cubs’ Home Opener is April 10, and the “ring ceremony” day is April 12. … Our ACC Tracker Rex Henry got this “sweet” (his words) NC State baseball jersey yesterday. … Of course Bruce Menard spotted the similarities immediately. … The Beloit Snappers will wear these Hawaiian themed uniforms on June 17 when Pohlman Field turns into Snapperitaville (from Garrett Mansfield). … Tweeter Geoff asks, “hey, @UniWatch, @PhilHecken can you remember (the) last player to play with glasses on?” I can think of several players to wear glasses (and and are we counting those fancy “speed racer” glasses or regular, plain old ‘glasses’?) … Whoops, there was an upside down number 8 in Cleveland on a banner counting down til opening day (good spot by Labflyer). … New Era already has Braves caps with the SunTrust Park patch for sale (from Malir Sal). … According to a certain ESPN scribe (whose tweet is embedded in the article), we can expect the Red Sox to wear their “BOSTON” (strong) uniforms on Patriots’ Day (April 17 this year). … EMU Football may have a shitty field, but they sure do have some purdy new pinstripes (from EMU Baseball). … You know you’re dying to see a photo of the Philadelphia A’s basketball team featuring Jimmie Foxx, from 1931, right? (from Bruce Menard). … New Easton helmets have triple logo creep: on left, right, and top. “Seems like a little much,” says John Furstenthal
NFL News: Lots of outdated NFL helmets on this promotional flyer from Sports Illustrated, says John Flory. It allows you pick your favorite teams sweatshirt as a free gift by submitting the teams helmet sticker and mailing it back. … DAMMIT: The Philadelphia Eagles generated a little bit of a stir for uniform critics following the NFL this offseason, but a proposal to allow for an alternate helmet design in addition to the standard helmets for each team has been yanked from the agenda by the team. Dammit. Here’s more on that. Dammit. … More good bad news: the Pittsburgh Steelers have dropped the bumblebee “throwbacks” for good, but they won’t be wearing any throwbacks in 2017 at all.
College Football News: Not much news on the NCAA FB front means stories like this become news: Jeff Darlington reports Just had a nice chat w/ Jim Harbaugh about his khaki game. He upgraded to @lululemon pants and says, ‘I’ll never wear anything else.’ Smart.” That comes from James Gilbert). It even became a story on the Mothership (thanks, Paul). Here’s more on that from the WaPo (thanks to Tommy Turner). … On a non-Lululemon note, watch the new video board come to life with the ASU Sun Devil Stadium construction cam. … TJ Hudge noticed a few Michigan players still had their CapitalOne Bowl stickers on their helmets for spring practice.
Hockey News: Tweeter Saxon Brack seems to thing that T. J. Oshie has an autograph on his number, but I’m thinking it’s either from the boards or even a puck mark. … Buried in this article is the news that the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators will play two games in Sweden next season, the NHL’s first regular-season games in Europe since 2011. While we probably can’t expect special unis, you know there will be at least a commemorative patch. … Here are your NHL Jersey Fouls (of the week), submitted by Alan Kreit. … You guys remember the Grand Rapids Griffins jersey contest right? Well, Dan Kennedy was the “winner” but the Griffins graciously selected a runner up, and that was Adam Cain, who was on hand to receive his OWN jersey, which was based on this design which he submitted to our contest last August. Congrats Adam! (thanks to Grand Rapids Griffins for the pics). … The Charlotte Checkers will be wearing & auctioning these throwback sweaters on April 8th (from Thomas Harris).
NBA/Pro Basketball News: “(Yester)day the logo I designed for the European Championships 3×3 Basketball was revealed,” says Lucien de Groot. “The FIBA format has a portrait and landscape template and standard fonts. The image has to show basketball action and an iconic landmark. The tournament will take place in a pop-up stadium at the Museumplein in Amsterdam, just in front of the Rijksmuseum.” … Following up on an item mentioned in yesterday’s ticker, here’s an article on Hassan Whiteside’s non-personalized personalized shorts (thanks, Paul). … The Delaware 87ers announced the team will host Beau Biden Foundation Night on Saturday, March 25. Former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden is scheduled to be in attendance as the two organizations look to raise awareness for the Beau Biden Foundation for the Protection of Children. They will wear jerseys (like the custom one above) which look like this. (thanks, Paul). … According to this tweet, it sounds like Stance is no longer the ‘official on-court’ sock sponsor/advertiser for the NBA (from Cane from the 6ix). Apparently Nike’s deal includes socks, too. … Shaquille O’Neal, who was among other things, was honored with a giant statue last night, also had his jersey made into a cake, even with the NBA logo under the collar (from Mandy Lopez). … And the nightly NBA uni update, from Zach Loesl: Color on color for Denver vs. Indiana (in their Hickory unis!), white on the road for the T-Wolves vs. Lake Show, and white on the road for the Hawks at the Bucks.
College Hoops News: Looks like the NCAA is having a little trouble spelling Notre Dame (from Josh Claywell). … Tweeter Alex Gerwitz has been “color trackng” the NCAA tourney. Here’s a look at Thursday’s games. … Mike Briggs proclaimed last night’s Baylor/South Carolina tilt “turrible.” I’d say that’s our &1 next weekend from Jimmer Vilkanova, no? Jimmer thinks not. He also notes they glow in the dark. … Check out this pretty good Marquette uniform tracker graphic (from Andrew Terenzio). … I was a bit nervous to click on the email with the subject line, “Look closely at Coach Calipari’s butt,” but Douglas Ford merely wanted to share, “UK JEANS! CBS showed Calipari visiting a donut shop in Memphis. As he stood up I noticed the UK logo on the pants pocket.”
Soccer News: James McClean will honor Ryan McBride by wearing number “5” for Ireland (from Squad Numbers Blog). … ‘Footy McFooty Face’ is currently leading the San Diego MLS nickname vote. (This is why we can’t have nice things.) That comes from KLM. … In case you missed it, the new Barcelona jersey has been leaked. … LouCity (Louisville City) got a “back (of the jersey) sponsor advertiser a day after GE was announced as the main sponsor advertiser (from Josh Hinton).
Grab Bag: If you’re into typography or that sort of thing, a Pennsylvania advertising agency has released a second collection of Philly fonts, including one called “Soda Tax” (from Thom D.). … “The 2018 Winter Paralympics released their event pictograms, the little stick-figure logos that stand for each sport,” says R. Scott Rogers. He adds, “Apparently, the pictograms incorporate Korean letter shapes into their forms. From the press release: “The pictograms are designed to showcase this vision using South Korean alphabet known as Hangeul. Like the Olympic pictograms that were launched at the start of the year, the lines of the Hangeul letters are reflected in the pictograms representing the six Para sport disciplines for the Paralympic Winter Games.” The similar, but color-reversed, 2018 Winter Olympics pictograms were released in January.” … Looks like Indy car driver Graham Rahal has an apron with a pocket for his phone (from Tyler Johnson). Yes, I know that’s not an actual apron. … Everyone knows how much I love Loudmouth Golf pants, so I follow them on Twitter. That’s why I’m not sure if the guy on the right is wearing a BoSox visor and Yankees pants is doing it as a goof…or if he’s just confused. … Everyone has custom jerseys it seems, even the Halo Video Game World Championships (from Damon Hirschensohn). … “When I saw the new Kentucky State Fair logo, it flashed to mind the “time vortex” that is shown in the opening of the old TV show, ‘The Time Tunnel’,” says Kevin McLaughlin. … Corporate-funded art or culture can easily be called a win-win, says contemporary art curator Nato Thompson. Social justice causes get money and sponsors get the benefit of looking good. But what’s the difference between advertisement and actual social good? Thompson offers his humble opinion (from Marc Rivlin).
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And that’s it for today. Big thanks to ALL the entrants in the Redesign the USA Baseball contest. Good luck to the second 18 today. Make sure you vote (in BOTH sections). I’ll have the final entrants (for both today’s voting and tomorrow’s) next weekend.
Everyone have a great day, and I’ll catch you next tomorrow. But until then…
Follow me on Twitter @PhilHecken.
Peace.
“My sister has a Soul & seems to enjoy it.”
— Ryan M. (discussing car models)
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I don’t think those Baylor unis actually glow in the dark – they’re just high-vis yellow. They way those colors work is that they reflect UV from the light source – and are actually more effective in lighting conditions when the ratio of UV to “regular light” is higher so the UV reflective garment looks brighter than regular garments. That’s why those colors are really effective at dusk but not any better than a bright regular color in bright sunshine (or the dark!).
In that scenario as the lights get up to brightness it must work in a similar way making them relatively brighter than the surroundings.
Sorry, should be “not MUCH better” in bright sunshine – technically they are brighter because they’re turning UV light into visible light in bright sunshine and that adds to the regular reflected light – but the effect isn’t as dramatic as everything is relatively brighter.
Isn’t Henry Aaron wearing double digits in that photo? 5_? Looks like 54 or 52.
I know – I searched for a larger sized version but I still can’t tell what that red to the right of the 5 is. But it sure looks like another number.
Based on the angle of the wrinkle, I’d guess that’s a 2.
Everyone wondering about his number, but check out that crudely-painted M on the helmet.
Cool photo of Hank Aaron. It says he wore #5 but that picture looks like there is a second number curled up in there. What else could it possibly be?
Baylor/Carolina not Baylor/Clemson.
Baylor/South Carolina
Baylor/SOUTH Carolina. Not Baylor/Carolina. Not now, not ever. :)
Question: why do both schools presume to use the “Carolina” moniker? I recall having heard UNC referred to this way, so I find it odd that USC (another moniker to which they can’t lay claim) would use it. Also, do Western Carolina or East Carolina ever refer to themselves simply as “Carolina?”
(Full disclosure: I am a UNC grad).
Ryan: the argument over who is the true “Carolina” between UNC and USC has been waging for generations.
We Tar Heels generally argue that USC is only known as “Carolina” within the state of South Carolina but UNC is going to be recognized as “Carolina” pretty much everywhere else.
I have never heard or seen schools such as East Carolina, Western Carolina, or Coastal Carolina attempt to sell themselves as “Carolina” at all.
This is the convention I always adhered to growing up in the Northeast but definitely after graduating from Chapel Hill.
South Carolina is stuck, since “USC” and “Carolina” have long been used by other (more prominent) universities at a national level. Carolina is UNC, it is South Carolina within the borders of South Carolina, but it is never East, West or Coastal Carolina.
Shit. Of course, my bad. Now fixed.
When I saw the gold outline in the logo on the Cubs hat, it instantly reminded me of the old Calgary Cannons hats from the PCL in the late ’80s.
link
That 1963 Senators reproduction Nats cap is listed on Lids as a BP cap alongside their current white-panel BP cap. The one I ordered arrived yesterday, and it’s made of the silkier fabric New Era uses on BP caps.
I wish the Nats would bring back the DC BP caps they had in the beginning. I loved those.
Baseball Reference indicates Hank Aaron first wore 5.
He may have, but in that photo he’s wearing 50-something.
T.J.’s Cap’s sweater was accidently signed by HOF Mike Gartner in the locker room for some reason, he kept it.
It looks like there is a second number after the 5 in the Aaron picture. To me it looks like either a 2 or a 5.
That Sawks/Yanks guy: Confused, goofing, or just a regular person? The worst aspect of MLB lately is not the DH, or everyday interleague games, or New Era logo creep. It’s the incessant harping on and overly serious promotion of the Bosox/Yankees rivalry by MLB and its network. This is a game, not a war, and there’s no reason a person can’t root for both teams, just like ordinary fans might root for any other two teams. If I grew up in New York, and were unfortunate enough to be raised by a Yankees-rooting dad instead of a decent Mets-backing family, but then went to college and had a career in Boston, I’d wear Sox and Yanks gear too. And instead of either one of them, I’d hate the Blue Jays and Orioles with a rivalry-like passion.
You almost lost me when you said the worst thing wasn’t the DH, but I hung in there and fully agree. The Sawx/Yanks duopoly and the resultant hype is the scourge of our current time. The DH was the scourge of the 70s.
Scotty’s just itchin’ for tomorrow’s COTD…either that or trolling. ;)
That outfit is almost as bad as wearing one of these.
As a Yankees fan who would rather play catch on I-95 than wear any Bosox gear, I roll my eyes at the ceaseless hyping of the rivalry. From my point of view, it just means I have to suffer more games on ESPN and Fox.
I wear gear from a lot of MLB teams, but to wear two different teams at the same time is a fashion faux pas as far as I’m concerned.
As a Yankee fan who grew up in North Jersey and has lived in Greater Boston for 20+ years and now calls it home, let me say this:
1. You’re absolutely right about the incessant over-hyping of the rivalry. Really just one (more) example of the marketing industrial complex ruining something special by oversaturation (see also, the NFL).
2. I must respectfully disagree about your other premise, at least as it relates to a Yankee fan transplanted into Red Sox Land. Here’s the thing: since I arrived here, almost any outward expression of Yankee fandom is met with reactions ranging from (at best) a good-natured jab to (at worst) outright venom. The whole “Yankees Suck!” chant is inescapable in contexts you wouldn’t think imaginable. On the T after the Celtics 2008 championship parade? How about a spontaneous chorus of “Yankees Suck”? (Real life example.) There are many, many Sox fans up here — perhaps the vast majority — that treat the whole thing as the playful rivalry it should be, and to them, I am a harmless curiosity. There are also many, many others for whom I am the “invading other.” Bottom line: I will never be able to embrace the Sox as my “other team.” Would such a thing be possible had I settled in Minneapolis or St. Louis or Seattle? Probably. But, speaking only for myself, this is not, I’m afraid, possible as a Yankee fan in Boston.
(Incidentally, it chaps my ass whenever there’s a Sox-Yanks rivalry story and they go searching for Sox fans in NYC to show how tough their lives are. Are you f’ing serious? You mean the city where a substantial portion of natives grow up rooting for a team other than the Yankees? You mean the city where there are multiple “Red Sox bars” in which to seek refuge? You mean the city where it wouldn’t be the least bit unusual to find someone sitting next to you who is a Padres or Royals or Brewers fan, or who grew up in some other far-away land where baseball doesn’t even register? Want to do a puff piece on a “persecuted sports minority”? I invite you to the Hub of the Universe for a stroll around town, searching in vain for a single “Yankees Bar” with me and my Jeter jersey!)
I’ve been to concerts in Boston where they chant “Yankees suck”. Concerts. Plural.
I’m glad to see more contestants Respecting The Placket this week. Sean Connor’s my favorite. Spurgeon’s numbers could use some work but I really like his overall concept.
As usual, pretty much all the design entries are fun and interesting, and each quite good in one way or more, but for me it’s a telling indictment of the project itself that of all the entries so far, I’ve only seen one that I would regard as an upgrade over the basic elements of the current USA uniforms. The two main criticisms of the current USA script and cap logo – they’re too simple and dated! also too busy and modern! – are in such tension that it’s not possible to resolve one of the supposed defects without magnifying the other, and that’s what just about all of the entries do. You can go even simpler, but thereby more dated, or you can go more ornate and modern, but therefore less tied to any sense of the national visual identity.
Brendan Gargano’s design is the exception for me, and so far the only one I’ve voted for. There are things I like a lot about all the entries so far, but Brendan’s is the first one that, for me, transcends the limitations of the contest itself.
I like the olde timey chest wordmark of Gargano’s design, but the pillbox stripes on a regular ball cap and the off-center star ruin the concept for me. If the cap was actually a pillbox and the star was centered, I would have voted for this concept.
Eric Sogard is still active in MLB and still wears glasses.
The new Nationals BP cap was put up for sale in February. I tweeted to Phil on 2/8: link and it was covered in the ticker on 2/11/17: link
Again, kudos to the Team USA unis artists. All creative and wish I could vote for each one. Chuck Barris was something way ahead of his time. His energy was nuts.
former equipment manager for the Youngstown State Penguins here-as far as stickers on the Michigan helmets for spring ball.
well a lot of teams will leave helmets as they were at the end of fall. so you will see various things-helmet awards-some will have stripes and then you will have new transfers-incoming early freshman with nothing on their headgear. it is always an interesting mix.
I think the White Sox jerseys with nameplates are from their wintertime Fantasy Camp; the attendees get a personalized jersey.
Without even seeing tomorrow’s sets I’m going to predict right here and now that Ron Verrecchio is going to win this contest. His white and powder blue concepts look pretty much exactly like the concepts I came up with after I saw what type of uniforms were getting the most votes last week. Here’s what happened:
Before I designed my concepts for this competition I had to make a decision: stay true to my avant-garde style which won’t win, or ignore my stylistic instincts and come up with something more conservative and traditional that will have a better chance at winning. As anyone can see based on looking at my concepts, I stuck with my avant-garde style. I couldn’t resist because I thought of making an American flag version of the Astros tequila sunrise jerseys and I also thought of having the team wear red and white vertically striped pants like Uncle Sam (don’t worry, the tequila sunrise jersey was not intended to be worn with the Uncle Sam pants, there was a whole other set of solid one-color jerseys to be worn with them.) So because of those admittedly whacky ideas I decided to stay true to myself and sacrifice any chance at winning.
However, after seeing the types of uniforms that were getting the most votes in last weeks sets, I came up with another concept, this one much more conservative and typical of baseball uniforms that have been worn on the field for generations. I chose a plain white jersey with a red headspoon and navy “USA” diagonal script on the right (jersey’s left) chest. I also did the same thing on a gray away jersey. As you can see, Ron Verrecchio’s white and powder blue jersey’s are pretty much this exact same concept, and not surprisingly when I voted for him he was in the lead.
I like Verrecchio’s concepts, especially the white uniform, because they say “America” without beating you over the head with stars and stripes or camo. You can instantly tell it is the uniform of a team from the United States because of the subtle use of red and blue on a white template. It is clean and simple and looks like something Ralph Lauren could have designed. There’s a reason classic baseball uniforms like the Yankees and Tigers never go out of style: it’s because they are timeless, and that’s exactly what Verrecchio’s white uniform is: a timeless classic.
If I could change one thing I would make the powder blue set a gray set because the powder blue is too reminiscent of the late 70’s and early 80’s and that was a very garish time when it comes to baseball uniforms and any uniform set that looks classic and timeless shouldn’t have any kitsch factors to it. Other than that great job Ron!
I wouldn’t mind the powder blues if teams did the right thing and issued them as road jerseys with matching pants. As home jerseys, with white pants, not only are they mismatched, but they look like Smurfs.
I’m not a huge baseball fan so please forgive me if this is common knowledge, but what teams have been using powder blue alternate jerseys as home jerseys? I would enjoy seeing them paired with powder blue pants and occasionally worn as away throwbacks.
The Rays and Royals, off the top of my head. There are probably more, but I can’t think of any at the moment.
If San Diego gets a team in MLS, I vote they go with Surf as the team name. San Diego Surf sounds good. Since Los Angeles took their NFL team, San Diego should take the team name of an old NASL team from the LA area.
Phil describes the Steelers’ decision to not use throwbacks next season as “bad news”, but personally I think the “throwback” trend has been played out.
For one, there is usually a reason that older designs have been replaced. Second, because football uniform cuts and equipment has evolved, often the throwback designs simply don’t look right even if they looked fine back in the days when uniforms had sleeves and could feature stripes.
This doesn’t mean that there aren’t a number of NFL teams that, if I had my druthers, would return to old designs. The Patriots, Falcons, and Bucs come to mind.
Mostly, though, the novelty has worn off due to repeated use.
“Mostly, though, the novelty (of throwbacks) has worn off due to repeated use.”
That, the one-shell helmet rule, and the current bright colors trend are the reason the NFL adopted Color Rush for Thursday night games. Long time Uni Watch readers will remember about five years ago the NFL tried to trademark the phrase “Throwback Thursday”. We theorized the NFL was planning on having Thursday night games be throwback games to stir up ratings for Thursday night which were apparently not good. Then the one-shell helmet rule was adopted, and that pretty much ruined the “Throwback Thursday” idea. As we all know now it evolved into Color Rush with special one-off one-color uniforms, but even that had issues because color blind fans had no idea which team was which while watching the games on TV. So now we are stuck with one team wearing all white versus one team with a Color Rush uni, with the occasional color vs color that apparently color blind people have no problems with. Not as cool as the original Color Rush concept with *every* game being mono color vs mono color, but hey, it’ll have to do.
One odd thing about Color Rush uniforms is how they are trendy, fashion forward, and modern looking, and yet many of them contain throwback elements, making for a very odd mix of old and new. Is this a way for the NFL and Nike to try and appeal to younger fans and yet appease older fans at the same time?
Another reason the throwback trend could be on the decline is teams have simply run out of old uniforms to throwback to. It will be interesting to see what the NFL does for it’s 100th season in 2019. I mean, if you take the 75th season in 1994 and the 50th Anniversary of the AFL in 2009 as indicators of things to come, you’d expect lots of throwback uniforms, but with this current Color Rush trend and the one-shell helmet rule, we may get a throwforward season with futuristic uniforms (like what MLB did in 1999). But what I’m hoping for, and can still be done with a one-shell helmet rule simply by removing the stripes and logo decals, are 1920’s throwbacks and fauxbacks, with some teams playing as defunct teams from the same area. For example: the Browns could suit up as the Canton Bulldogs. Somebody on the SportsLogos.net message board designed uniforms based on this idea and they were all amazing. I really hope this is what the NFL does in 2019 to celebrate it’s 100th year. And 2019 will also be the 150th year of American football so you can only imagine the uniforms that will be worn by NCAA teams! Wouldn’t it be awesome if one player on every team got to wear jersey number 150 like how that handful of guys wore number 100 in 1969 for the 100th year? Lots of cool stuff to look forward to! :)
I’m coming from a hockey perspective here (don’t pay much attention to NFL unis), but I agree 100%. The throwback trend has become horrendously overplayed in the NHL, and it’s resulted in the recycling of some pretty awful uniforms that should never have seen the light of day again (i.e., Washington & Calgary’s current 3rd jerseys).
As a general rule, I think throwbacks are fun for the occasional special event here and there, but when a team brings in a throwback as a “new” full-time uniform (like, say, the Flyers or Penguins), I find it lazy and uncreative. If you’re introducing a “new” uniform, it should be an actual NEW uniform, not something recycled. It feels like a lazy copout.
And finally, it bothers me when horrible teams (like the Oilers for most of the last 20 years) decide to drum up support by bringing back the unis from the “glory days”. It almost feels insulting to the original guys who wore those unis. I’m sorry, but the collection of various crap teams that Edmonton has put on the ice for the last couple of decades does not deserve to wear ANYTHING that once graced Wayne Gretzky’s shoulders. Heck, if I was the team owner, I’d make them wear that ridiculous flying meteor 3rd jersey from the early ’00s for every game until they had some success and deserved to look good :-P
I like Sean Connor’s interlocking “USA” logo. Really like this better than just going with “US”.
The wordmark itself is well designed but I don’t like the font, it looks too much like Times New Roman, the default serif font in Microsoft Word. I was taught in school that serif fonts are designed for the small text in a newspaper / magazine article or in a novel because the serifs help readability by keeping your eyes on the same line. Obviously everyone has different aesthetic taste but I think most Times New Roman style serif fonts look terrible in logos and on sports uniforms. They make whatever logo or sports uniform they appear in or on look very amateurish, as if the designer didn’t spend time looking for a more appropriate font and just went with the default font on his computer. I’m not saying Sean Connor did this, I’m just explaining the vibe a serif Times New Roman style font gives me when I see it used in art.
Regardless of the font, I like the way the USA wordmark looks on the hat, but it is way, way, way too busy with the star in the background, especially how the red baseball stitching is squeezed in there. Get rid of the star and perhaps the outlines and as-is the USA wordmark is very well put together, even if I do hate the font. I especially love how the bottom part of the S snakes through the triangular hole in the A. Excellent work Sean! :)
I typically prefer traditional unis, a less-is-more approach, yadda yadda yadda — but I love Bruce Genther’s second set – the red/white/blue versions with names below the numbers on the back. Doesn’t look like his designs will be moving on in the competition, but they garnered at least one fan. Bravo, Mr. Genther!
Almost spit out my coffee when I read “beautiful photo of Sparky Anderson”.
Well, at least he didn’t write “gorgeous”.
Everyone has custom jerseys it seems, even the Halo Video Game World Championships
E-sports are becoming a bigger thing and every team has their own “jersey”. This one is team Str8 Rippin
I think Set 1 today was stronger than Set 2. A lot more votes for that set. As of right now, first place in set 2 would be 6th place in set 1. Some nice concepts wont make it through. Oh well.
I won’t argue with your premise (about strength of set), but any time I’ve run a contest (going back to the Griffins and probably before that), for whatever reason(s) the second set ALWAYS gets fewer votes than the first (just look at the totals from last week). I’m not sure if that’s because people lose interest, or because they don’t realize (despite my trying to make it clear) there is a second set on which to vote or whatever, but the second group NEVER has as many votes as the first. That’s why each group is taken independently (you’re in “competition” as it were with only your other group members — sorta like pool play in the World Cup or WBC). If your design is strong enough, you’ll win (or place second) in your own group. If not…I’m sorry, but that’s the way it breaks down.
Polls of any more than 12 (and even that’s a lot) are too long and confusing. Nine is a good number (and even less is better — but I wasn’t going to break it into smaller groups, and they wouldn’t have worked out mathematically anyway).
I don’t know if there is a “best way” to vote on 50+ (in this case 54) entrants, but breaking it down like this seems to work the best. In the past I’ve done them alphabetically, but this time I did them in the order they were received. At least this way, each contestant is competing against a design that was received at roughly the same time.
When the concept was first proposed a couple weeks ago, I had no idea I’d receive so many submissions (and never promised we’d have voting at all) — especially since there is no “prize” of any type. So, it’s all just ‘for fun’ anyway — and bragging rights, I guess.
Those USA re-designs are all so great-especially the caps! I had to force myself to vote for a select few. BUT I want them all – they are all winners ;-)
If that San Diego vote is indeed won by Footy McFootface, they need to name the team David Attenborough.