Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken and the SMUW crew
Follow @PhilHecken

Personally, there’s some good news and some bad news from yesterday. The good news is that my curling team had a nice come-from-behind victory. The bad news is that I missed the Florida game. Or is that good news too. Also bad news was that, as noted yesterday, my SMUW rock, Terry Duroncelet, was indisposed last evening and as such, was only able to bring us the early games, and VERY few people tweeted or e-mailed me with uni news from the evening games. So, after TJ’s wrap, I’ll do my best to fill you in on some of the later stuff.

But first: Florida.

As I said, I didn’t see this game. Perhaps you didn’t either. You can get some feel for the “swamp thing” uniforms from these clips:

Break ‘em down, @tezivey #SwampJacks #GoGators #TAMUvsUF pic.twitter.com/kjuA3QVX6Z

— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) October 14, 2017

FELEIPE FOOTBALL #Gators pic.twitter.com/A9hTuLyQUJ

— Only Gators .com (@onlygators) October 15, 2017

It’s Dre Day and errbody in The Swamp celebratin’. #Gators pic.twitter.com/2HyZsMtD7I

— Only Gators .com (@onlygators) October 15, 2017

A couple notes: As expected, orange numbers on grayish-green (with sublimated alligator skin, no less) uniforms didn’t make for the greatest contrast. From those clips, the numbers were hard to read. The team put the Gator logo on one side of the helmet and numbers on the other (a trend pioneered by Boise State, but copied by many teams now). The team also went NOB, which previews hadn’t showed. That was nigh on impossible to read.

Reader Chris Perrenot sent in this photo (not sure which player this is) showing a player who really tweaked his hosiery:

CSATC had a helmet observation:

@PhilHecken One of the Florida Gators O-lineman (#64) appears to have a matte finish helmet when everyone else has gloss. pic.twitter.com/QdJ2AANY5s

— CSATC (@cshaff34) October 14, 2017

I’m not 100% sure, but I think the Florida decal on the helmet is a “Florda Strong” (or Hurricane relief) sticker:

I don’t normally like to comment on uniforms I didn’t actually “see” (on TV or live), and in that sense, I’m really pissed I missed this game. However, I thought these were complete clown costumes going in, and none of the video or still photos I saw has made me change that impression. I know Paul, who gave a not-as-bad-as-I’d-thought-it-would-be review early this week, didn’t “hate it.” (You can click on that for more photos of the uniform and a brief description.) Like Paul, I thought that both the helmet and pants should have had the faux-gator skin — you ALWAYS go full gator. It’s hard to believe that it took 18 months for these unis to be developed, and THANKFULLY, they’re a one and done. If you’re going to pull a stunt like this, best make sure it’s a one-shot deal.

And although I didn’t see the game, a few tweeters let me know how it went…

These Florida uniforms are worse on tv than the pics. Didn't think it was possible

— Joel Jackson (@boomer4568) October 14, 2017

Who thought these Florida uniforms were a good idea… #TAMUvsUF pic.twitter.com/9AgcXz6ce9

— Eric Daniel (@edanielatl) October 14, 2017

Those Florida Gators’ uniforms got me like … #TAMUvsUF pic.twitter.com/abhAagz6Bc

— NOLA Tickets (@NOLATickets) October 15, 2017

Florida's uniforms are what we thought they were. pic.twitter.com/cAvdcGyXXi

— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) October 14, 2017

Aight — enough about that. We won’t have the Gator Swamp Thing uniforms to kick around anymore. Here’s Terry with his portion of the SMUW:

Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet

It was certainly Friday the 13th for Clamp and WASU, huh?

From Friday:

• Apparently, Syracuse is the first football team ever to field a player with the number ‘ɔ’ (PC: Marcus Solis/@MarcusSolis7).

• Normally, I’m neutral on yellow vs. white jersey games, but I also subscribe to the fact that there’s more to a uniform than just a jersey, and this is an excellent example of how great a game can look when both teams coordinate their uniforms properly.

From Saturday:

• I’m guilty of not noting enough blood jersey spottings (where a player has to put on a different jersey with a different number and no NOB, either because their main jersey got bloodied, or to avoid fielding two players with the same number at the same time and drawing a penalty. There are a myriad of other reasons, but those are the two main ones), but I’ll try to change that going forward. Case-in-point: a Tennessee Vols player was spotted with a NNOB #50 jersey on Saturday (PC: Clayton Hurdle/@churdle76).

• Pitt wore their amazing retro unis against NC State, who wore all-white, a recipe for yet another excellent-looking game for Week 7 (I question that filter, however). And big ups to the NC State graphics department for using the appropriate colors for their Twitter feed updates (and an even bigger ups to ACC Tracker/@ACC_Tracker for the tip).

• DE-FENSE!!! *stomp stomp* DE-FENSE!!! (PC: Matt Shevin/@mattsevin)

• Temple has a weekly tradition in which they select one player to wear #1. This week, it was Isaiah Wright (PC: Blake Fox/@tennisblake), who normally wears #13. Also note the nifty captain’s ‘C’ treatment on the player below him.

Air Force wore their F-35 uniforms against UNLV.

• Normally, I’m neutral on yellow vs. white jersey games, but I also subscribe to the fact that there’s more to a uniform than just a jersey, and this is an excellent example of how great a game can look when both teams coordinate their uniforms properly. Wait… why does this seem like déjà vu?

• Oklahoma State wore 1957 throwback helmets in their Homecoming game against Baylor (and those socks are fantastic).

• Miami (FL) wore green jerseys against Georgia Tech.

Alright Phil, the wheel is yours…

• • •

Thanks, TJ — unfortunately, I don’t have much to add.

• The University of Central Florida wore special helmets and uniform patches celebrating UCF’s original identity as “Florida Technological University” where its original purpose was centered around “supporting the growing United States space program at nearby Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.”. Their helmets also had a special stripe which depicted the solar system

• The Minnesota Gophers went full anthracite against the mono-white Spartans. Actually, their helmets were gold, and they had anthracite decals. This is just not a good look.

• The Stanford Cardinal broke out the mono black unis & helmets they seem to break out once a year. They wore those against the Ducks last night.

• Also busting out the mono black was Arizona State University, who broke out that look versus the Washington Huskies.

• Georgia Southern wore throwbacks to honor “Erk” Russell, and they looked really nice. I know script on a football uni is kind of odd (they had it on the helmet, too), and probably more associated with baseball, but I thought it looked really good.

• Reader Cassian Wykes asks, “Have we seen this “quilted” look on thigh pads before? Dartmouth at sacred heart (Yester)day.”

• And finally, Jonathan Cain send us this Hope vs Adrian, DIII color on color match-up from yesterday.

I apologize if I missed anything. TJ’s the real pro here (and I usually send him a decent amount of stuff, but for some reason, I had almost NO tweets or e-mails yesterday). I’m sure we’ll have a fuller rundown next week when Terry is back on the SMUW beat full time.

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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 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:

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Working on the last little bit of this provided a little welcome distraction from NLCS Game 1. But, anyways… let’s go.

—

Good Sunday, everyone! Hope everyone enjoyed this seventh weekend of the college football season. Let’s see who made the list this week…

5) New Mexico State at Georgia Southern — I came across this game just by happenstance. But, I absolutely loved the unique look of this game. The navy/mono-grey of the Eagles really isn’t something you see too often and it matches up quite well against the crimson/black/crimson of the Aggies (side note: love the Zia symbol on the Aggies’ lids).

4) Baylor at Oklahoma State — Some have said in the comments that I don’t give the Big 12 enough love on the list. Well… here you go. Really loved the white/orange/white OK State went with here, one of their better home looks. Match it up against the green/white/green Baylor went with on the road, one of their better road looks, and you have quite an appealing game to look at in Stillwater.

3) North Dakota at Montana — We venture into FCS here for this beaut from the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies looked fantastic in their silver/maroon/silver on Homecoming. Match it up against the green/white/green of the Fighting Hawks and you have one excellent looking game in Missoula.

2) Texas Tech at West Virginia — This one, while flipping through the early slate of Saturday games, boldly stood out to me. Loved the Mountaineers going navy/gold/navy here, and it really stood out against the red/white/red of the aptly named Red Raiders. Just a bright, colorful game in Morgantown.

1) Washington State at California — I went to bed a little early Friday night and didn’t get the chance to see this live. But, damn did this one look good in Berkeley. Cal came out strong in their navy/gold/navy home unis. Wazzu looked equally as strong in their crimson/white/crimson road look. Pair that up together, under the lights, and you have one spectacular looking game after dark in the Pac-12.

And, finally…

+1) Texas A&M at Florida — Kudos to those of you who tweeted this to me earlier in the week… because this simply looked hideous. Never do this again, Florida…

That will do it for this week. I’ll see you next week!

• • •

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

More Here.
Follow Rex on Twitter here.

• • •

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

PAC-12

More here.
Follow Dennis on Twitter here.

• • •

And here is Ethan, with the SEC:

SEC

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

• • •

And here is Kyle with the Big XII:

Big XII

Follow Kyle on Twitter here.

• • •

And here’s Ethan with the B1G:

B1G

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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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MLB Playoff Uni Tracking

A few years back, reader Alex Rocklein tracked the MLB Playoffs by uniform — you guys may recall this. Here’s what his 2010 Uni Tracking looked like. Alex also tracked the playoffs for Uni Watch last season as well. Here’s how the 2016 World Series looked.

After a few weeks of MLB playoffs, including the World Series, we’re now at our final graphics package.

We welcome Alex back this year, having tracked the playoffs through the Division Series. He’ll be back again next weekend with updates on the Championship Series’ — click the graphic below to enlarge.

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Paul’s Latest on ESPN

On Friday, Paul had his annual NBA preview, and it’s one of the largest columns he’s ever done, especially for a pro league. I’m not a huge NBA fan to begin with, and even less so now that they’ve added advertiser patches to more than half the teams’ uniforms, but as always, Paul has done a stellar job with his preview.

Great read, so be sure to check it out if you missed it!

Enjoy!

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Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Crossover alert! Here’s a local news feature from 1980 about the Detroit Red Wings softball team (some shots of unis there — also posted in hockey). From Steven Schapansky. … Thankfully, the Cardinals never had a baby blue crown to go with their red caps when they wore powder blue unis, but here’s how one might look (h/t Beauty of a Game). … The Astros dumped that stupid Tal’s Hill this year, and now there are giant digitized ads featured on the batter’s eye during Game 1 of ALCS where the hill used to be (from Denis Costello). … It’s not quite an “I’m Calling It…” shirt, but Jimmer Vilk notes, “At PumpkinFest in Coneaut Lake Park (NW PA). The DJ is rocking a Rock Like Shea t-shirt. You’d wear that.”

NFL/CFL News: “Both Saskatchewan and Ottawa strayed away from their primary looks on Friday night,” writes Wade Heidt. “Made for a good-looking game not commonly seen. The Saskatchewan Roughriders wore their vintage-style alternate uniforms. The Ottawa Redblacks left their road white helmets and white pants back home, going with an alternate black helmet/white jersey/black pants look on the road. … With Hallowe’en approaching, the Browns graveyard markers return, 2017 edition (good spot by Robert Hayes). … Check out the gold Viking helmets in the background of this photo (I think that’s Elena Delle Donne and Randy Moss). From Damon G.. … The NFL is thankfully (blissfully) free of pink this month, but it’s pinktober in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos midfield logo in pink (from The Tao of Steve B.). … The subject of this e-mail says it all (from Douglas Ford): “DC FOOTBALL team never looked better…..Saints aren’t shabby either.”

College/High School Football News: “It’s a tradition at Lincoln Homecoming for students to ask a teacher to wear their jersey,” says teacher Nate Bowling. “Shouts to KH for letting me rock his smedium” (from Paul Friedmann). … Interesting helmet striping (similar to Navy, ODU and a few others) for the Brookland-Case High Bearcats (spotted by Doug “Bear” Hazard). … You may recall a couple weeks ago, Jimmy Corcoran sent us an item where a high school team (his nephew’s) used a “C” on the helmet to denote captaincy (first I’d ever seen). It turns out they also use an “A” for the Assistant Captain designation. … KilroyFSU writes, “check out the way this Orlando-area high school cribbed the Vikings logo and modified it to use negative space.” … Yesterday’s UNC Tar Heel uniform was given the Tyke treatment (from James Gilbert).

Hockey News: The newest team in the NHL, the Vegas Golden Knights, has a new mascot named “Chance”, and he wears #1 (via Paul). .. Crossover alert! Here’s a local news feature from 1980 about the Detroit Red Wings softball team (some shots of unis there — also posted in baseball). From Steven Schapansky. … The hockey world is mourning the death of Port Huron’s Gary Warwick Sr. His custom-made masks have been worn by goaltenders wherever hockey is played. … The Adirondack Thunder (of the ECHL) will wear Dave Strader stickers on their helmets all season (from ShawnGilligan). … Last evening, for reasons that escape me, the Tampa Bay Lightning wore white at home, as God intended (from Brad Leonard). … The St. Cloud State Huskies wore Pink in the Rink jerseys last evening (from Chris Brolin).

NBA News: WHOA! OK, I never get excited about hoop courts, but From Target Center reopening, the logo for the Timberwolves’ star & eye are lit from below the court (from Conrad Burry). Or is it lit from above? The latter would make it less cool, but it’s still pretty cool. Here’s another look. Mike Chamernik sent along this Reddit thread which says the light comes from under the court. But then again, there is a convincing argument otherwise. … In a game on Friday night between the Clippers and Lakers, a clippers player wearing NNOB took the court. You can read the Reddit comments for more (from Zach Loesl). … The colorful legacy of the American Basketball Association will be celebrated at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on April 7, 2018, when the ABA’s 50th reunion is held (from Kenny Kaplan). … If you look at this tweet stream from Conrad Burry, you’ll see many uni designs for the G-League teams.

Soccer News: “At the Oregon Ducks soccer game on 10/13, the Oregon Duck mascot was wearing a black version of his classic longsleeve shirt with a rainbow colored Duck head and “BEOREGON” on the front instead of the typical yellow O,” says Ian Gerig. “The rainbow colored duck is part of the “BEOREGON” campaign which is a athletic-department wide diversity celebration.” Here’s a picture of his new look, and his normal look for reference. … This website is in Polish (w/pictures), but here’s a logo history of the Polish soccer association, PZPN (from Ed Żelaski).

Grab Bag: It seems like Nike may be losing its dominance on the key teen market, the next generation of consumers. According to Piper Jaffray’s semi-annual Taking Stock with Teens survey, Nike was one of the biggest losers among apparel and footwear brands.

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