Oregon State Beavers Unveil Slightly Tweaked Uniforms

By Phil Hecken
Follow @PhilHecken

On an otherwise very slow uni-news day yesterday (which makes sense, since it’s Easter/Passover weekend), the Oregon State Beavers unveiled “new” uniforms, in conjunction with their Spring Game. At first glance, they closely resemble their previous uniform set. There are some differences however. First, let’s get the obligatory “hype” video out of the way — you can basically fast forward to about 1:23 if you just want to look at the new uniforms (or watch the whole thing if you want to see some highlights of past years uniforms — keeping in mind how bad some of those were):

Rooted in the past, climbing towards the future# pic.twitter.com/9C0HLncTP1

— Oregon State Football (@BeaverFootball) April 20, 2019

Three slightly tweaked uniforms were revealed: A mono-black, a mono-orange and a mono-white:

• All three were shown with a black helmet featuring an orange stripe and the Beaver logo on the side.

• All three jerseys now say “BEAVS” in block script across the chest.

• All three jerseys have stripes on the shoulders, and truncated stripes down the pants.

• The new white pants have the same stripe pattern (black/orange/black) as the previous set.

• The new orange pants have a different pattern (black/white/black) than the previous set (black/orange/black).

• The new black pants have an inverse pattern (orange/white/orange) from the previous set, which was white/orange/white.

• Number fonts appear to be the same as the previous set.

Let’s look at all three individually:

BLACK:

ORANGE:

WHITE:

You can get an idea of the striping patterns from each of the three photos above. The pattern on the shoulders is basically replicated down the pants. It’s different than any shoulder striping pattern in the college game today, as it’s a wide stripe with a thin(ner) contrasting color middle stripe. Here’s a close up on the orange jersey:

You can get a better idea of how the uniform looks as a live model was wearing the all black uni at the Spring Game yesterday. It looks like this pattern (in different color combinations) is replicated on each of the different color unis (note the guys behind him are in the last iteration of the uniform — which doesn’t look that much different):

Below is a look at the Beavers’ previous uni. Note the striping pattern was on the shoulder cap, the pants stripe was even more truncated (and reversed), and the numbers were orange, bordered in white. The new unis have the fatter stripes on the top of the shoulders, and the numbers are white, bordered in orange.

So what else is new? Well, it wouldn’t be Nike if their designers didn’t have to add at least one signature element to the uniform, right? If you go back to the hype video, you may have seen the “new” numbers:

Still don’t see it?

OK, here’s a real close up:

Yes, they have a sublimated tree ring pattern inside the numbers. Because, ya know, Beavers chop down trees to make dams, so…

Yeah. Fortunately, it looks like the tree ring pattern is so subtle we won’t be able to see it except in extreme closeups. But of course, now we’ll never unsee it either.

All three jerseys feature an image of the Beaver logo on the collar:

I don’t hate the new uniforms, which look a lot like the old uniforms. Last time around, the Beavers sported black, white, and orange helmets, and I’d imagine they’ll have 3 again this time around. They also mixed and matched all the color combinations, so look for that this fall as well.

So there you have it — really, not much difference from before, although I do like the fact that they changed up the number color pattern on the black jersey. Definitely makes that one a bit easier to read:

NEW (left) vs OLD (right)

Gonna have to wait to see how they look on the field of course, but there’s nothing spectacularly good (or bad) about these so far (other than the sublimated tree ring pattern). I’d call it a lateral move — if they were a grade “B” before, they remain a B today.

Your thoughts?

Uni Concepts & Tweaks

After being dormant for a while, the Uni Tweaks/Concepts have returned!

I hope you guys like this feature and will want to continue to submit your concepts and tweaks to me. If you do, Shoot me an E-mail (Phil (dot) Hecken (at) gmail (dot) com).

• • •

Back today is concepter John Elbertson, who has some tweaks for the Winnipeg Jets:

Phil,

This Winnipeg Jets concept started with the idea of carrying over various elements of the old Thrashers design. However, the yellows with the blues reminded me too much of St. Louis, so I scrapped that part and went back to red as an accent color. I got a tip online to reintroduce the tribute to the Royal Canadian Air Force, and I thought their roundel looked awesome on its own, so I used that as a shoulder patch instead of the Jets’ current logo. All that was left was to bring in the asymmetrical sleeve …. I just couldn’t do it. Went with some traditional stripes instead.

John E.

• • •

Thanks John. OK readers (and concepters). If you have some tweaks or concepts, shoot ’em my way with a brief description of your creation and I’ll run ’em here.

This is Eggcellent!

In the spirit of today, the one and only Gene Sanny sent in the following:

“Extra waterslide decals from my pocket pro helmet customization project led to a few of our eggs getting a classic NFL logo treatment.”

Click to enlarge
.

Thanks, Gene!

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Artist Andy Brown (who I’ve featured on UW several times) visited the Oakland Coliseum Friday evening and here’s a timelapse of his painting of that park. … Here’s a pretty good article entitled “Solving A Mystery: Sam Thompson and the ‘Philadelphia’ Uniform” — but UW friend and baseball historian Keith Olbermann doesn’t think it’s such a mystery. … On Friday, April 19, LSU Softball played at Arkansas. Submitter Patrick Walsh reports, “Down big the Tigers tried to generate some positive juju by changing batting helmets mid-game, going from purple to white.” … Reader Justo Gutierrez was at Home Depot and “they were selling these garden flags that didn’t have the apostrophe catastrophe. In fact no apostrophe at all.” … We’ve seen this before, but not in a while: Serial killer Ted Bundy wearing a Mariners sweatshirt during court in 1979. Adam Vitcavage says it’s “probably not what the team had in mind for good PR.” … The Pittsburgh Pirates wore First Responder patches yesterday (from Matt R. and Jerry Wolper). Here’s how it looks in action (thanks, Brinke). … The Tampa Bay Rays became the Devil Rays again last night (from John Sabol). Here’s how they looked in action (WTF is with those socks?). From Robert Hayes. … Good for Eric Lovejoy who says, “you know your a uni-watch nerd when you’re making your son bat handle stickers in his team colors on the morning of his first little league game.” … JFC (from Ignacio Salazar). … The Colorado School of Mines(!) broke out the pink camo top/silver pant/white sock combo for Strike Out Cancer Day (via Paul). … The Yankees Clint Frazier wears Derek Jeter cleats (from Andrew Harts). Here’s another look (from Mike Sgroi). … Steven noticed Florida was wearing yellow socks while Alabama is wearing yellow hats in yesterday’s softball tilt. He asked “Anyone know the significance of the yellow?” One answer came from Walter Young, one answer came from Tim Abel, for Alabama, and another answer came from Gators Uniform Tracker for Florida. … On Passover/Easter weekend, Clemson wore camo. Paul had a really good take on why this might not be the best time to do it (read through the whole thread). … Mets AAA starter Zack Lee rocked some solid stirrups yesterday (from Shane Bua). … The Indians and Braves went color vs. color (both in new alts for 2019) yesterday (from John Sabol). … The Indianapolis Indians were rocking a black cap/gold pullover/black (belted) pants combo with “INDIANS” across the chest, in Pittsburgh font. Confused? Don’t be, they’re a Pirates affiliate (from Lee Wilds).

NFL News: Mark your calendars. Joseph Bailey notes “September 15 will mark the last pro football game that the teams play on a combined football/baseball field as the Raiders host the Chiefs. I’m sure it’ll be a beautiful game with those two teams. Interesting about the raiders’ schedule is their next home (in Oakland) game won’t be until November 3. [When the infield will be sodded over — PH] Oakland will host their last game December 15 against the Jags (what a way to say goodbye to the fans then to play somebody other than the AFC west). It’s not like the league doesn’t know they’re moving.” … Russell writes, “Learned from Helmet Hut that @packers’ Jim Taylor had his 2-bar changed to a 1-bar as a ‘gutsy and symbolic response’ to @Chiefs’ Fred “The Hammer” Williamson’s vow to knock out Packer runners in SB I. Had never heard that one.” … On Friday the San Francisco 49ers announced they’d be wearing their throwbacks as alternates again this year. Aaron Farber would love to see them break out the red throwbacks. … Great find by What the Helmets?! who found these great pictures of Sterling Sharpe with a makeshift helmet strap designed to keep his helmet attached to his head prevent further injury to his neck.

College Football News: Whoops: slight problem with this ESPN graphic. Says submitter Tyler Connor, “Problem here, that picture isn’t Quinnen Williams. That’s Irv Smith, Jr. (82).” Quinnen Williams is number 92. … Delaware football player Colby Reeder appears to be wearing the 150th anniversary patch ahead of the 2019 CFB season during their spring game yesterday (good spot by Bob Novotny). … Unlike their compatriots in Corvallis, the Oregon Ducks didn’t get new uniforms yesterday, but their quarterbacks were wearing red jerseys in a template that was retired a few years back (good spot by Glen Matthews).

Hockey News: The Cleveland Monsters goalie Brad Thiessen paid homage to Cleveland’s hockey history with his most recent mask (from The AHL). You can read more about that here.
.

Soccer News: Bugeaters FC (a men’s semi-pro soccer team based in Nebraska and compete in the USASA at the 4th level of US Soccer, according to their Twitter bio) have introduced a new home kit as well as a new secondary kit (from Protagonist Soccer FC). … The Real Madrid 2019-20 “Icon Retro” (WTF?) jersey has been leaked.

Grab Bag: Thailand’s Women’s Volleyball team design for 2019 season. Says submitter Jeremy Brahm, “I wonder if they will have to create a white one for FIVB regulations.” … The Campbellsville (KY) Fire Department uses the Tigers D (from Josh Claywell). … Check out this very cool advertisement for a salmon egg dispenser (yes, that’s what it’s called), sent in by Tyler Borm.