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Uni Watch

Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By

By Phil Hecken and the SMUW crew

It was the “birthday” this week of Minnesota Golden Gophers mascot Goldy, so what better way to celebrate the occasion than to break out the golden slippers you see above. Those were on the feet of new Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck, who brought a number of gimmicks with him (most notably the addition of his “Row The Boat” phrase to certain helmet stripes). I’m pretty sure Phillip John Fleck never wore yellow mascot-themed shoes while with Western Michigan, but then again, I’m not sure I want to know if he did.

To celebrate Goldy’s birthday, the Gophers themselves went mono gold and wore special helmets (more on those below, from TJ). For those of you keeping score at home, Minnesota has now gone mono-maroon, mono-white and mono-gold in three games this year.

And now, let me turn the rest of this section over to Terry “TJ” Duroncelet, who’ll bring you the SMUW rundown, followed by the 5 & 1 and the trackers. Enjoy, here’s TJ:

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
by Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

From Thursday:

• Boise State wore all-orange against New Mexico, thus completing the trifecta (Week 1, Week 2, Week 3), but WHO CARES, they have a DOG who retrieves the kicking tee from the blue turf after each kickoff! THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Thank you Javen Knott/@jjbadluck for this offering of purity. Yes, I am aware that this type of thing has been done before, but C’MON, how can you say “no” to SUCH A GOOD PUPPY???

From Saturday:

• SMU wore their skyline decals that I dig A LOT. TCU wore their purple chrome helmets.

• Toledo wore new decals in celebration of 100 years of Toledo football against Tulsa. Here’s a closer look, plus another variant.

• East Carolina cosplayed as the 2015 Baltimore Ravens. To better effect, of course.

• Louisiana-Monroe wore their P-40 uniforms, in recognition of Military Appreciation Day.

• …Well, at least nobody can accuse the Golden Gophers of not having any school spirit. There’s actually a reason for this: it was Goldy the Gopher’s birthday, and there are certainly worse ways to celebrate. Good on ya, Minnesota (and hey, my Mom’s birthday is tomorrow, coincidentally). Lots of additional notes from this game: here’s the time-lapse video of one of the helmets getting decal’d, which includes this dual-State decal in honor of those affected by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. One of the #6 players for Minnesota (I’m unsure if it’s Tyler Johnson or Chris Williamson) has a captain’s ‘C’ (PC: nick/@nthartness). It appears that the Gophers graphics team is a couple of weeks behind (PC: Robbie Weaver/@RobbieWeaver).

• Thanks to Brandon Marcello/@bmarcello on Twitter for confirming what I’ve always thought about Auburn from day one.

• Tennessee wore “Florida Strong” decals on the back of their helmets in their game against Florida. The design is remarkably similar to the “Texas Strong” decals worn by Houston the week before (and I think I mistakenly called them “Houston Strong helmets” last week when I meant “Texas Strong helmets”).

• Not an FBS team, but in case this wasn’t touched upon already: Burrill Strong/@sgtwolverine on Twitter notes that the Furman Paladins have “FU All The Time” on their neck bumpers. Sure enough. As an aside, I couldn’t find the original photographer of that last pic unfortunately, but the full gallery for their game against NC State can be found here on the Furman U website.

• Louisville wore mono-black against Clemson, who responded with an abruptly-fully video. Oh c’mon, now they’re just messing with us. If that’s the case, I’m calling Clemson the Sharks.

• Miami (OH) apparently has the same taste in uniforms as Louisville (or lack thereof).

• Washington State wore these bone decals in honor of Freeman High School, a school in Rockford, Washington that was recently the scene of a school shooting, which resulted in the death of one student, and left three other students injured.

• Rice wore this decal on the right side of their helmets in their game against Houston.

• Vanderbilt wore a new helmet design against K-State (more looks here).

• Look at this image. Now look at this one (provided by Ƒormerly Ƒunhouse‏/@BackAftaThis). Thank hell that the latter will be illegal as of next year.

• It’s a satisfying weird feeling (if that makes any sense) to see Oregon wear actual school colors for more than two seconds (PC for that last pic: Ƒormerly Ƒunhouse, again). And some love for the hockey fans out there.

• The Colorado State offensive line ain’t the only thing with a huge, gaping hole in it. That’s Rams QB Nick Stevens.

• Utah wore their excellent Ute Proud helmets against San José State.

That’ll do it for Week 3. Will Louisville ever go back to a more sensible look? Will Oregon continue wearing school colors consistently throughout the week? Will the Boise State doggo continue to receive the praise that it deserves? Tune in next week to find out!

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Thanks, TJ. Ok, now on to the remainder of your SMUW ensemble.

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Joe Ringham 5 & 1

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 again for 2017 to make his “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni 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:

. . .

Hey again, everybody! Already to week 3 of the season. To the list we go…

5) LSU at Mississippi State — I was debating putting this one on the list, trying to decide between this and another game involving major conference teams. In the end… this was too pretty to leave off.

4) Central Michigan at Syracuse — A bright, colorful looking game in the Dome. Really dug the Orange going orange/orange/navy at home, and it looked really nice against the gold/white/gold of the Chips.

3) Baylor at Duke — Searching through the early window of games Saturday, this one really stood out to me. Love it when Duke goes white/blue/white at home, and when you match it up against Baylor going gold/white/gold on the road (a look I think they should always go with), you have one seriously good looking game.

2) North Dakota at South Dakota — We venture into FCS for a great looking contest that I had had my eye on since the middle of the week. Really liked how the green/white/green of UND clashed against the red/red/white of the Coyotes. One may see Christmas colors, I see a great looking football game.

1) Harvard at Rhode Island — Another venture into FCS, but damn did this look good. The Crimson looked fantastic in their crimson/white/crimson road unis, clashing excellently against the blue/blue/grey of the Rams (bonus points for the light blue Ram horns against the navy helmet.

And, finally…

+1) Middle Tennessee at Minnesota – Even though I love putting Goldy on one side of the helmet, this was just horrendous looking. Hopefully the Gophers ditch the mono gold the rest of the season.

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Thanks Joe! You can follow Joe on the Twitter and let him know what you think of his choices or make a 5 & 1 suggestion of your own!

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NCAA Uni Tracking

Uni Watch will again track the uniform combinations worn by the “Power 5” conferences. All of the 2016 trackers are back!

We’ve got Rex Henry (tracking the ACC), Dennis Bolt (tracking the PAC-12), Kyle Acker (tracking the Big XII), and Ethan Dimitroff (tracking the B1G AND the SEC). Rex, Dennis, and Kyle and are all returning from 2015, and Ethan is back after joining the NCAA Uni Tracking last season. Ethan has stepped into the dual role of both the B1G and the SEC.

Here are the Uni Trackers for the Power 5 Conferences:

+ + + + + + + + + +

Rex is up first today (ACC):

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ACC

Week 3 hurricane key:
C- Cancelled
RS-Rescheduled

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

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

PAC-12

More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.

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And here is Ethan, with the SEC:

SEC

And be sure to check out Ethan’s WVU Mountaineer Tracker.
Follow Ethan on Twitter here.

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And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

Follow Kyle on Twitter here.

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And here’s Ethan with the B1G:

B1G

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Duck Tracker

Welcome to the 2017 Oregon Ducks Uni Tracker. This little project was originally begun way back in 2008-09 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!

Thanks Dennis!

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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Not sure specifically where this took place, but there appeared to be a nice ‘vintage’ base ball game going on in Boston yesterday (from Jordan Mayblum). Apparently the teams are Boston Beaneaters vs. The providence Grays … We all know ballplayers have special “tricks” for tweaking their equipment, but I don’t think I’ve even seen this before. Looks like he’s trying to remove pine tar/sticky stuff from the handle (from Beau Parsons). … “Did you know that the guys who carved Mount Rushmore also had a baseball team?” asks Rob Yasinsac. “I took these photos at the visitor center museum during my visit this past August. The jerseys say ‘Rushmore Memorial’ and the sweater jacket depicts an early version of Rushmore, minus Teddy Roosevelt.” More info here. … Because the game was moved due to Hurricane Irma, the Brewers were wearing white at home even though the Marlins were technically the home team (from Nick @nthartness).

NFL/CFL News: Rarity for CFL teams to wear white at home, notes Wade Heidt, as the dark jersey is designated as the home jersey. The Toronto Argonauts wore white at home on Saturday against Edmonton. … Also from Wade: University of Manitoba Bisons unveil their new home football uniforms for 2017. He adds, “Returning to the colour scheme (black and gold) of the Bisons team that won the 2007 Vanier Cup national championship at home. This uniform unveiled for the 10th anniversary of the win. However, they have still been wearing brown and gold trim on their white road uniforms.” … Here’s a close-up of jersey patch that Falcons will wear tomorrow for first game in their new stadium (thanks, Paul). Here’s how it looks on the uniform (also from Paul). … “I went into a Kroger in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta today and saw these great Pepsi and Coke displays next to one another,” says Lindsay Resnick. “Love them!” … In an unsurprising move, the Seattle Seahawks have announced they will be going monoblue today against the SF 49ers.

College Football News: The Baltimore Sun had an article about University of Maryland equipment manager Drew Hampton continuing in the family business (from Stephen Murphy). … This isn’t new news, but it’s always cool to see Michigan’s iconic helmets being painted/touched up (from J.R. Rogers). … Twitter account Helmet Tracker has announced the ” greatest college football helmet contest ever!”.

Hockey News: As you’re aware, the NHL has switched uni providers from Reebok to adidas this year, and this article ranks all 31 of them. As with all ‘ranking’ pieces, it’s entirely subjective. … The Winnipeg Jets have a small freshii logo patch on their practice uniforms this year (from M Remis). … Tweeter Adam Rickert notes, “looks like Isles made a small change to LI in their logo. Look at left side/where I points.” I’m not quite sure what he’s referring to, but I am posting it here in case anyone else sees it. Could just be the angle at which the photo is turned. … The Chicago Blackhawks stripe thickness issues on the white goalie unis appear to be fixed with the change to adidas.

NBA News: A few people have commented on the new alternate uniform that the Cavaliers unveiled late Friday night. The seemed to think that because Goodyear is their advertiser, the “tire track” design is 100%, completely, unintentional. Uh huh. … We’ve still yet to see unveilings of NBA throwback uniform for four teams, so Conrad Burry has made a few ‘guesses’ (he’s been pretty spot on with his leak coverage thus far). Not saying any of these are what will be unveiled, but it’s probably safe to say it will be close to it. … The Pistons announced which games they’ll be wearing their “Statement’ uniforms (from Kyle Hess).

College Hoops News: If you haven’t seen it yet, every Saturday Morning, ESPN does a “uniform” piece. Yesterday’s featured a portion dedicated to ULM’s unis and got the “story” behind the costume (from Josh Sánchez‏). … Are these possibly new Georgia Tech Men’s Hoops unis for the 2017-18 season? (from Shawn Hairston).

Soccer News: “Not sure why, but Romeu came on the pitch without a number for Southhampton” yesterday (from Garrett Heinrich). Here’s another view (from Julian Avila‏). And here’s the rip that caused him to go blank (from Chris Morris). … New kit for AC Milan (from Coug123). … “Here’s a Look at all Premier League home kits without sponsors,” says Josh Hinton. “Not too much better.”

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Comments (55)

    It may be the differences in the way the outline of Long Island is rendered between the two manufacturers.

    Also, “‘vintage’ base ball game” links to item on baseball in Mount Rushmore.

    The Utah “Ute Pride” helmets are awesome! I like what they normally wear but those aren’t bad as a change of pace.

    I loved the Ravens gold pants but to each their own for everyone who hated them. But serious question to those of you who like the Saints in gold pants (which I do). Are there any of you who like the gold pants for the saints but NOT for the ravens? If so, please explain why it is good look for Saints but not for Baltimore. I don’t mean this as a challenge to anyone’s taste I am just trying to see why “Gold pants love” isn’t consistent.

    I’ll hang up and listen.

    I would fall into the category of loving the Saints in gold pants and not the Ravens.

    -The Ravens “gold” pants look more mustard colour to me when comparing with other teams with gold pants.

    -My general rule of thumb. If a teams wears gold pants with a dark jersey, they should be wearing either a gold helmet or the helmet should be the same colour as the jersey. The black/purple/gold combination is busy for a football uniform and breaks that general rule.

    -I appreciate the look of the Ravens, but the beauty of their signature look to me does not include gold pants. I always liked the original black pants with the single white stripe. Kind of had an ominous look to it when matched with the purple jersey, tying in with the theme behind the team name.

    link

    Thanks Bill. That would have been my answer if you had not beat me to it. To each his own but I think black & gold (and purple & yellow) are better than purple & gold and definitely better than purple and mustard. That said, I like the new neon T Wolves jersey so what do I know : )

    So I’ve noticed that mono yellow has gotten the &1 spot in the 5&1 all three weeks so far. (Michigan, West Virginia, and now Minnesota) I guess Joe really doesn’t like that look! :-)

    How did Texas vs USC get left out of the 5 & 1 and second Texas tech went all white and West Virginia wore white helmets

    I agree, that one was great as always. I can’t say I’ve agreed with these 5&1 choices so far this year…but I guess he’s trying to mix it up a lil bit

    I often disagree with some of Joe’s choices in the 5&1, but that’s going to happen with anybody’s subjective rankings. He has always liked to include some FCS games and other schools that aren’t just the top tier programs. It’s not new for this year.

    One thing that I don’t like is when one team goes mono white and the other team has white helmets and white pants, like the Wisconsin-BYU game yesterday. Out of the six main uniform elements (helmet, jersey, and pants for two teams), all but one of them was white. Boring! I guess it probably wasn’t bad enough to be the &1 this week, but still.

    In general, I don’t like all of the mono white, mono BFBS, and GFGS that is so popular in college football right now. It just drains all of the color out of the games. That’s why I appreciate seeing a game like North Dakota vs. South Dakota make the 5&1. Nice bright colors that complement and contrast with each other.

    Re: Manitoba Bisons football post. They have switch only the home uniforms to commemorate the Vanier Cup win in 2007. They did not win the championship game at home. The 2007 Vanier Cup was played in Toronto and University of Manitoba is in Winnipeg.

    The school colours are brown and gold with a bit of black sprinkled in. The new black home uniforms still have a bit of brown trim. There is brown trim around the gold numbers and the mask is brown.

    The new uniforms pay homage to the 2007 Vanier Cup win, but do not look exactly like them. 2007 uniforms look similar to the New Orleans Saints. Here is a photo from that Vanier Cup Game:

    link

    I do miss the predominantly brown home uniform they have worn for the last 10 years. May be time to start a “bring back the brown” movement for university football fans in Canada. Here is a look at the old brown home uniform:

    link

    Or, rather, the blurb for the ranking article links to the practice jersey, while the actual practice jersey blurb doesn’t even have a link.

    I noticed that too. Anyone have a link to the actual article, since the Ticker doesn’t identify the source?

    i found this matchup of uniforms somewhat spellbinding as you never see these colors vs each other. hell, oregon by itself is eyecatching and so is wyoming.

    either way it got my vote for eyecatching uniform combo of the day

    link

    Texas Tech wore all white against Arizona State and WVU wore White/Blue/Blue against Delaware State. Big XII tracker doesn’t show correct combinations.

    This East Carolina/ Baltimore Ravens comparison is moot. East Carolina has been wearing these colors longer and more often than the Ravens, who are known (like the Saints) to wear black socks and pants to look like tights. The only thing appropriated was the number font. And don’t forget that the Ravens don’t wear purple helmets.

    Note to TJ; Oregon was NOT wearing school colors. The green they wore is a much lighter hue than what used to be considered their official green.

    Hi Terry, while you are correct in saying that the while last few years the Ducks have favored a darker palette, the apple/emerald green that they use is one of the official UO brand colors. And in general, people have complained lately about their heavy use of white, black, gray and neon yellow, leaving the apple/emerald green and lemon yellow out. If you look at their uniforms from pre 1998, you will see the much lighter green.

    The original islander logo stopped at the Nassau/Queens border (showing the island and not the city parts of the island ~ Brooklyn & Queens) The “new” logo shows the whole island

    I don’t have a photo, but the field at the LA Coliseum is pretty much of a mess for the Rams/Skins game today. Not only does it have the ghosted images of the Pac12 logo and college hashmarks from the USC/Texas game yesterday, but it also still has the remnants of the NFL Kickoff logo from last week’s Rams game.

    I noticed the Kickoff logo during last night’s game, too. I wonder if they have a special way to remove that, or just hope the grass grows long enough quickly so they can cut it? I know from my wife having spray-painted some stuff in the yard in the past that takes longer than a week and/or a few mowings to fully come out.

    No link for the final item in the ticker (PL shirts w/o sponsors). Hovering over part of the text produces an underline, but no link present.

    The Rams might look fine with blue or gold, or even gray, facemasks. It’s the white facemask, not the gold jersey trim, that ruins the look.

    So, tell me again how anything Syracuse related qualifies for the 5 (the plus one maybe) with that ridiculous numeral typeface. No, nuh uh. It looks absolutely stupid. I can’t get over it.

    Those muted colors & matte helmets don’t look good under anything but natural sunlight. The white helmets and pants are the only parts that work.

    That Georgia Tech basketball jersey is definitely not next year’s jersey. It is an old Russell jersey, probably being presented to a former player. It has the Russell tag in the neck and on the bottom of the jersey.

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