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Uni Watch

Sunday Morning Uni Watch

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By Phil Hecken and the SMUW crew

Most schools who chose to play dress up this weekend went the camopander/GI Joevember/’MURICA route, but not erstwhile Colorado State. Nay, they eschewed the patriotic gestures and instead wrapped themselves in the flag. The Colorado State flag, that is — here, this is the flag of the State of Colorado.

The Rams wore custom unis yesterday, with special white helmets featuring two blue stripes (and a red “C” surrounding the sun) and a very literal representation of the state flag itself as the shoulder panel on a white jersey. The pants were also white, with two blue stripes running down the legs. It was a very clean look — and I liked it.

With opponents Boise State in mono-blue, it was (IMHO, anyway) a good looking game (also note Boise has S&S helmet numbers):

I’m actually surprised more teams haven’t attempted to adopt some form of uniform based on their state flag. Then again, there might might be a good reason few have. Plus, most state flags either suck or simply wouldn’t translate to a uni. Top of my head, I know Texas Tech attempted a flag-esque uni, and Oregon did a fauxback loosely based on the Oregon flag, but not really. Indiana based one of their helmets on the Indiana state flag.

I can’t think of any others. But now that Maryland, T-Tech and Colorado have all done it, I wonder if others will follow. If done well, there are a few state flags that might translate well enough onto a uniform (Arizona comes to mind, and New Mexico and Tennessee have possibilities). Any others?

And now, for the rest of yesterday’s action, I’ll turn the rest of this section over to my sidekick, TJ, who’ll bring you week 11 of…

• • •

Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

Week 11 was a WEEK. #1 went down, #2 almost went down, #3 was PUNISHED, and the Crimson Tide made me stress-eat an entire bag of Lifesavers Gummies last night.

From Wednesday:

• Kent State and Western Michigan got a head start on Veterans Day since they obviously didn’t play on Saturday, with BOTH teams wearing white S&S helmets (and the socks worn by the Golden Flashes are nothing short of extra).

From Thursday:

• North Illinois also partook in the pre-Veterans Day festivities.

• It’s always a good time when Pitt wears their awesome throwbacks. Oh, and UNC wore white/white/navy, I guess (actually didn’t look too bad).

From Friday:

Not to be left out: UNLV also wore S&S decals (at least it was on the Marine Corps Birthday).

• I mentioned some weeks back that Temple bestows upon the honor of wearing jersey #1 to a specific player each game. I couldn’t tell who it was this week, but his NOB was apparently having none of it (PC: Jedi ASU/@JediASU).

From Saturday:

***QUICK NOTE*** As you would expect, NUMEROUS teams wore some type of Veterans Day gesture on the field, be it pregame or in-game. Certain teams with a few more details that I would like to point out will be noted in further detail after the quick ‘n’ dirty on the others. Please note that due to the sheer number of demonstrations, I will almost undoubtedly miss a few, in which case, apologies in advance. Lastly, please understand that my usage of the terms “gesture” and “demonstration(s)” are not meant to denote scorn by any means whatsoever, unless you pull the stunt that Northwestern did some years back. Deep breath, here we go…

• LSU, Minnesota, UCF, Ole Miss, South Alabama, Florida International, Louisville (full uni), Syracuse (video), West Virginia, Louisiana Tech, Troy (game shot), Kansas State, Mizzou, East Carolina (helmets, too), Iowa, Utah, and probably 2,456 quillion others. [And those who didn’t, clearly hate America — PH]

• Vanderbilt modified their grey alts with the seals of the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as sidelining their usual nameplates for black ones with the last names of fallen service members (video here). They also wore “Deep Water” helmets.

• Northwestern also did the mono-grey thing with S&S decals against Purdue.

• Air Force wore throwback uniforms in their game against Wyoming, in honor of the U.S. Air Force’s 70th anniversary (founded in its current state in 1947).

• Penn State is late to Pinktober. Actually, the student section wore the pink in recognition of the school’s old color scheme of pink and black (PC: Blake Fox/@tennisblake).

• Marshall wore helmets in honor of the 75 who were apart of the infamous plane crash of 1970 (closeup of the details here). You can read more about them here.

• Would it be crass to ask what Louisiana Tech’s Ground & Pound game is like? As an aside, that ‘X’ looks horrible (PC: Jeremy Davis/@jeremy_davis__).

• The captain’s ‘C’ on (what looks to be) Canes WR Braxton Berrios’s jersey looks like it’s about to exit stage left (PC: Griffin Smith/@GriffinTSmith).

• NC State wore red helmets against Boston College.

• I mentioned ‘Cuse already, but they also wore mono-grey against a gold-chrome/white/black Wake Forest team, which made the game look a bit… *ahem*.

• Michigan State wore all-white again, this time on the road against Ohio State.

• Innis Gaines plays for the TCU Horned Frogs, the #G team in the nation going into their game against #5 Oklahoma (PC: Ƒunhouse/@BackAftaThis).

And THAT’LL do it for a very-busy Week 11! I don’t know how to end this since covering Saturday’s festivities has left me a little brain-frazzled, so simply put: I’ll you all next week.

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:

. . .

Happy Sunday, everyone! With a crisp, autumn chill in the air, we are starting to hit the part of the schedule I love. This is where you get some of the best-looking uni match-ups, as the schedule winds down. This week was no exception. Let’s see who made the cut…

5) Nebraska at Minnesota — This one snuck up on me, but damn did it look good. Always a fan of the Huskers usual white/white/red on the road, and I loved how it clashed excellently with the maroon/gold/maroon the Gophers went with at home. It made for a striking, yet great-looking, game.

4) Georgia at Auburn — I got alerted to this game via Twitter, and was very much impressed. The Dawgs looked sharp, as always, in their red/white/grey road set. It matched up excellently against the Tigers’ usual white/navy/white home set. Apparently, that was the only part of the game that went well for Georgia.

3) Southern Cal at Colorado — Came across this one while flipping through the afternoon games and immediately loved what I saw. Always have loved the Buffs’ gold/black/gold home set, and it pairs up perfectly against the traditional road look of the Trojans. Just a simple, sharp looking game in Boulder.

2) Notre Dame at Miami (FL) — I’ve had my eye on this game all week… and it didn’t disappoint at all. Such a beautiful looking game this was, with the Irish in their classically simple road unis and the U in their traditional home unis. Took me back to their classic tilts nearly 30 years ago…

1) Iowa at Wisconsin — As soon as I turned on my TV, upon coming home from running an afternoon errand, and saw this game, this became a hands-down #1. I’ll let the pictures do the talking for me here.

Honorable Mention: UTEP at North Texas, North Carolina at Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech

And, finally…

+1) Wake Forest at Syracuse — I don’t know if it was because of the wonky looking sleeve pattern on the Wake road tops, or the fact that Syracuse broke out the mono-greys that look just flat-out terrible… but this game just fit into this slot so well.

Enjoy the week, everyone. I’ll see you next Sunday!

• • •

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!

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):

• • •

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

And now a few words from Paul:

Hi there. In case you missed it on Friday, the Uni Watch mini-helmet (shown at right) is now available for ordering. Full info here, or just go straight to the ordering page.

Also, we have a new T-shirt, designed by Rob Ullman. Full details here, or go straight to the ordering page. The design is also available as a coffee mug.

My thanks, as always, for your consideration. We now return you to your regularly scheduled weekend post.

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: “Noticed on MLB Trade Rumors app that the photo used for the Yankees has a Carlos Beltran mitt,” says Michael Biggins. “Yanks traded him last year and he won the WS with the Astros this year.” … Here’s an interesting article entitled, “A Dozen Business Lessons from Waffle House” which, if you read down, has a good Yankee uni reference at #5 (from Adam Herbst). … Players in “other” unis: Tigers Hank Greenberg joined the Army in May 1941 and served as anti-tank gunner. He was released 2 days before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. When the US declared war, Greenberg reenlisted joining Air Corp, who he served for till June 1945 when discharged after 47 months service (nice writeup from @OTBaseballPhoto). … The Arizona Fall League is not immune from camopander, as seen being seen joyfully worn on interested players (from Joseph Giordano).

NFL News: We’ve already seen several teams sporting “Salute to Service” gear, but this article contains a pretty good rundown/overview of what has taken place so far (and what to expect your team to sport if they haven’t already). … Marquette University High School (the Hilltoppers) use an interesting variation of the LA Rams logo (from Luc Anthony). … Not quite ‘skins Watch, but close: “Edmonton’s mayor is right — it’s time for (Edmonton) Eskimos to change name” (from Joshua Dowdell).

Hockey News: Check out this “Pat Tillman” goalie mask for the Arizona Phoenix Coyotes (from Chuck Loads). … On Friday night, the OHL Kitchener Rangers wear Remembrance Day uniforms to honour the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge in World War I (from Wade Heidt). He adds, “Classier than some of the G.I. Joke stuff we see. Here is a shot with the full uniform on the ice. Second photo shows a vintage style diamond design for the captain’s patch.” … Here’s a look at the logo the Capitals will be using for the Stadium Series game on March 3rd VS the Maple Leafs (from @KP8Design). … Here’s a look at the 2018 NHL Stadium Series Logo Patch and Team Crests for the Caps and Maple Leafs (from our own Jamie Rathjen‏). And here’s a bit more on the game. … Last night the San Jose Sharks did a baseball crossover sporting Oakland Athletics-themed jerseys during warmups (from @CouvillierMax). … The Texas Stars did a ‘murica night last evening and well, you be the judge of the unis (from Bobby D.). … The Peoria Rivermen Veterans Day sweaters feature the C-130 Hercules flown by the 182nd ALW and the CH-47 Chinook flown by the 2-238th AVN. Both Illinois Natural Guard units in Peoria (from Joe Ringham). … The AHL Hershey Bears REALLY love America (from @RealJesseLee). … Tweeter The Backhanded Devil observes, “The promo photos for the Devils camo warmup jerseys show the US flag placed on the wrong sleeve. Appears they removed them altogether prior to the game.”

NBA News: There is a new logo for Wisła Kraków’s basketball team (from Ed Żelaski‏). … It was two “light” (gold vs. white) jerseys in a game between the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Los Angeles Lakers in Milwaukee last evening (from Zachary Loesl). Still odd to see Laker gold on the road. … Also from Zach, Andrew Bogut was wearing a Veterans Day themed shirt on the bench. … Reader Jack Connell “Was at Dicks sporting goods [yester]day and saw this goodie. Fultz Shirt Jersey with the number 7 in the Nike style at dicks sporting goods.”

College Hoops News: The Kansas State basketball team will bring back its vintage lavender jerseys for a game this season. K-State announced Friday it will wear the throwback look during a game against TCU on Jan. 20 at Bramlage Coliseum. … According to Robert Hayes, Youngstown State Hoops have new road jerseys. … God. Country. Notre Dame. Or so says the waistband slogan for the Fighting Irish and their new unis (from Terry Mark).

Soccer News: The Cartilage Free Captain blog has a new project called Recurrently Generated Football League where fake English football club names are computer-generated (from K.C. Kless). K.C. adds, “They have gone the extra mile and are creating background stories, logos/crests, and kits for the teams, like this one for ‘Fab Town’.” … Northern Ireland debuted a new kit which sported a mismatched typeface on shorts and shirts (from @Greggo_82). … According to Jeremy Brahm “Cote d’Ivoire had ‘German 7s’ on their numbers today in their final World Cup Qualifier.”

Grab Bag: Signs of the apocalypse, volume 235: Labatt Blue Light cans are now available in Zubaz (from Christian Zummer). … Here’s an article with a couple good looks at helmets worn by Evel Knievel. … There’s a new scoreboard at Rhodes Arena (home of the Akron Zips, doncha know), “which is too low for volleyball in my opinion,” says Jimmer Vilk). … Ireland’s Rugby Union team played South Africa on Saturday evening. As both teams usually play in green, the home team opted for a change of jersey design. It kind of backfired (from Ted Arnold).

 
  
 
Comments (33)

    More university uni tracking Canadian rules style. Road to the Vanier Cup continues with the conference championship games being played Saturday. Tracking uni combos for full country since only 3 games.

    – Quebec conference championship (Dunsmore Cup) in Quebec City:

    Montreal Carabins went white/white/blue. Laval Rouge et Or broke out the alternate shiny gold helmet with red jerseys and pants.

    link

    – Ontario conference championship (Yates Cup) in London:

    Two purple teams in championship. Wilfred Laurier Golden Hawks went white/white/purple. Western Ontario Mustangs went silver/purple/purple.

    link

    – Canada West conference championship (Hardy Cup) in Calgary:

    UBC Thunderbirds went blue/white/blue. Calgary Dinos went mono-red.

    link

    -And of course, the big news and controversial decision in the Atlantic conference. The Loney Bowl was cancelled due to an eligibility issue of a St. Mary’s Huskies’ player. The Loney Bowl has been awarded to their scheduled opponent in the final, the Acadia Axemen:

    link

    Thanks for doing these entries every Sunday morning. As an American I know nothing about these schools or their teams but it’s always fun to see what our northern friends and neighbors (neighbours?) are up to uni-wise.

    Thanks tosaman! As many readers may be aware, I love Canadian football. I have followed the university game in Canada since I was a kid. I’ll do what I can to help promote interest in the game. More students for these schools should be into it.

    The US college football unis were being tracked on Sunday, so I just started documenting what was happening in Canada West conference. Easy to do Canada West during regular season since I live out west in Vancouver and there are only 3 games a week. Lots of uniform variations from week to week similar to what we see in US college game.

    The Loney Bowl is back on, being played Tuesday. What a clusterfuck. If the guy is ineligible its Mount Allison that’s getting screwed.

    I appreciate the updates on the Canadian games. I follow my two schools, Queen’s and Manitoba, and that’s about it. I live in Calgary but don’t care about U of C because I’m not an alum – I made $1000 of a colleague of mine a few years back when Queen’s beat U of C in the Vanier Cup.

    Wade thanks for sharing the Kitchener Rangers info.

    Kitchener Rangers Remembrance Day Vimy Ridge uniforms are more than “Classier than some of the G.I. Joke stuff we see.”

    I can’t think of any Remembrance Day/Veterans Day/Memorial Day/etc. tribute sports uniforms that look better than the ones the Rangers wore.

    Are there any others that you think have come close?

    Kitchener Rangers do an excellent job with their Remembrance Day jerseys each year. They show other teams how it should be done.

    Those are good but still like this year’s Rangers jersey the best out of all those.

    CHL usually does it right.

    Other places usually not so much.

    Agree that Arizona state flag would be a great uniform. I’d probably like to see Arizona instead of ASU do it, since their colors, blue & red, lend itself to this more than ASU’s maroon & yellow. However it might be cool to see them both do it in their rivalry game, as long as they could get enough contrast. Since they don’t have the same uniform supplier, that would probably be impossible.

    I actually think those Maryland flag helmets have a cool medieval heraldry look to them and would welcome more ncaa uniforms that had sweet helmet designs like that.

    Yeah, I never thought those uniforms were that terrible, especially considering their “normal” uniforms that season looked like this:
    link

    Iowa-Wisconsin is in the running for best looking college game of the season this year.

    And the Devils didn’t have the flag on the wrong sleeve. When worn, the flag should always be placed as close to the heart as possible, so left sleeve is preferable to right sleeve. But whichever sleeve is used, the stars should be on the left. The only exception is if the flag is worn on the right sleeve by an active-duty member of the U.S. Army while in uniform. Did the entire roster of the New Jersey Devils enlist in the U.S. Army last week? If not, then their stars-on-the-right patch violates the Flag Code and thus desecrates the flag.

    This isn’t Nam, there are rules: link

    Arizona flag would make a phenomenal uni. Sakerlina would be moce too, but I doubt they’d ditch their school colors as completely as the boys in Fort Collins did. Arkansas would be a hilarious flag-based uniform.

    What a treat to have more good looking college games than could ever fit in the 5 and 1. And so few clunkers, even in light of the S&S etc. Great week for college unis.

    Edmonton Explorers

    Nickname is still in relation to the location.

    You get to keep the Double-E logo.

    Nevada rolled out basketball unis based on the state flag last season and I believe they are doing same this season link

    Good job as always on the college football uniform rundown each Sunday. Joe, Terry Phil and anybody else who pitches in.

    I appreciate the work you guys do.

    Steelers wore their city flag for a game vs. Indianapolis in the 75th anniversary season of the NFL. Hilarity ensued:

    link

    New Mexico and New Mexico State have used the Zia Sun symbol from the flag on their helmets in recent years but neither school have dropped their colors for the flag’s colors yet. As a New Mexico alum I’d rather if they go non school colors go the flag color route instead of anthracite like they have been doing.

    Ohio, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Wyoming, and Louisiana all have state flags that could make for interesting uni concepts

Comments are closed.