Sunday Morning Uni Watch

By Phil Hecken and the SMUW Crew
Follow @PhilHecken

We had a bunch of specialty uniforms yesterday, as we are now into the month of October, but there may not have been a purdier one than the fauxback sported yesterday by the University of Florida. The Gators took on Auburn in The Swamp, and man, that sure was a gorgeous looking game. The Gators didn’t quite throwback, pairing elements from uniforms past, but the white hat with the “Circle F” was drop dead outstanding. I, for one, wouldn’t be bummed if they made that one permanent (even though their current orange script “Gators” is bordering on iconic). Pair that with the throwback jersey and pants and you have a might-tee-fine lookin’ kit. And Auburn looked pretty good too!

OK, there’s a lot to get to so I’ll turn the rest of this over to TJ.

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Sunday Morning Uni Watch
By Terry Duroncelet, Jr.

Spooktober HAS BEGUN. Scary skeletons (and uniforms) SHALL NOW COMMENCE. And what better way to start October than with a team whose whole identity circles around bones? Let’s get right into it:

From Thursday:

• They say one must dress for the occasion. As much as I bemoan schools going towards the darkness (sometimes, literally) in lieu of their true identity sometimes, I gotta say, there was something about East Carolina’s unis that just… HIT differently on Thursday. Maybe it’s because of October, maybe it’s because of that hilarious kerfuffle with the lights, but on this night, they worked (sorry for the more Temple-favoring photo: finding pics of this game proved to be next-to-impossible for some reason).

From Friday:

• A bit of font love from Cincinnati.

From Saturday:

• As LSU is wont to do, they wore purple jerseys at home against non-conference opponent Utah State. Given the Aggies’ nifty design (also, it appears that LSU Defensive End Neil Farrell Jr.’s 150 patch fell off during the game), combined with LSU not wearing the white helmets and pants like they did a couple of times this season, you have quite the attractive matchup. Another shining example of why CONTRAST. MATTERS.

• How To Change It Up Without Being Deafeningly Loud About It: a clinic, brought to you by Kansas State. The white helmets and pants looked outstanding, and can definitely stand to live in their closet as an alternate option. Well done, Wildcats. Simple, but effective. As for Baylor, while they looked great, their greens… well, they were giving me 2012-2018 New York Jets vibes (game stills from K-State/Baylor don’t illustrate this for some reason).

• Toledo wore commemorative uniforms in honor of the undefeated 1969 team against Western Michigan.

• Contrast Matters: Undying Love for Tulane Edition. If everyone did a 5 & 1, this game would easily be in most of our Top 5s (certainly in mine). Tulane can wear these on the road forever and I would not be mad in the slightest.

• Contrast Matters: *Angry Terry Noises* Edition (photo cred: Emerald McIntyre and ULM Photo Services). Good Grey-vy, this was ABYSMAL to look at. I’ve eaten unseasoned grits that were less dull than how this game looked. I’ve seen old sun-bleached, decades-old signage growing up in my desert hometown in Southern California that had more color (and just overall look cooler) than this matchup! Additionally, ULM were originally going to wear these helmets with the military appreciation uniform, but then decided against that for the actual game. Let’s wash this grey-ny taste out of our mouths…

• Notre Dame and Bowling Green: now that’s a matchup I can get behind!

• Another looker for the books: Texas and West Virginia. Granted, true perfection would’ve been the Longhorns in all-white with the Mountaineers in this, but this certainly doesn’t suck. Also from the game: I think you’re missing another ‘Ho’ there (h/t @MeanJoeFranco).

• It was a black-and-white affair for Louisville. The occasion was that the uniform was designed as a tribute to Muhammad Ali and his famed white trunks with black trim.

• Navy wore… navy (mono-navy, to be exact).

• It was a black-and-white affair for Iowa State. Wait a minute…

• WOW, I was pleasantly surprised by this matchup between Arizona and Colorado. For sure, one of Arizona’s best looks, if not their best outright.

• Penn State can only stand to benefit from switching to these full-time (no white shoes, though: stick with the white crews and black cleats… and maybe keep the navy facemasks).

• As much as I love Ole Miss’s light blue helmets, they should NEVER wear them with the navy jerseys ever again. As someone who has to dress professionally every day for my day job, there’s a big difference between mixing-and-matching, and simply being mismatched.

• Speaking of lids, South Florida wore the full USF logo on the helmets for the first time in school history (at least, as far as I’ve been told) against UConn.

• The duality of man: North Carolina wore their best road look, while Georgia Tech… well… actually, before I say what I want to say about GT’s look, let me preface by saying that their ties with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is awesome, and admirable. That being said… the uniforms from the pure perspective of aesthetics, equated to about the same as scrambled eggs with about the same salt content as the entirety of the Dead Sea *wretch*.

• It was a black-and-white affair fo– OH, COME ON! Alright, so Michigan State –as I’ve mentioned in the past– is one of the nicest-looking, most appropriate teams to put in all-white in college football. They just… look right. And then… we have… THE. I’ll keep it short and simple: this is the only black Buckeyes wearable item of any sort that I want to lay eyes on.

And that’ll do it for Week 6! Of course, we have to mention your go-to for all of your helmet needs. Hope everyone has a great day, and I’ll see you next week!

Memal’s 5 & 1

Following in the footsteps of the original “5 & 1,” Jim Vilk, Catherine Ryan after him, and finally Joe Ringham, for 2019 we have a new “5 & 1” (five good looking and one stinker) uni-vs-uni matchups — Michael “Memal” Malinowski. Like Joe, Catherine & Jim, Memal will pick HIS 5 best looking/1 awful matchup, and occasionally have some honorable mentions (both good and bad). 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 Memal

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The calendar has flipped to October and interconference play is heating up. Most of this week’s matchups looked good, though we know as Halloween approaches teams will begin to bring out all sorts of scary costumes, err specialty uniforms. Onto the picks!

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5. Utah State @ LSU

It was an unusual scene to have LSU in their standard purple uniforms playing at home so early in the day. But Utah wore their white/white/white combo with a stripe pattern I thought looked very sharp against the Tiger’s standard plain stripe details. Also, this was the third week in a row LSU wore purple jerseys, which I bet is the longest such streak since it was their primary jersey color.

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4. Cal @ Oregon

The Bear’s simple blue/white/white combo with those thick, dark stripes provided a terrific contrast to the Duck’s yellow/nightmare green/yellow set. I didn’t care much for that shade of green, but as the lights came on at Autzen it really complimented that delightfully garish shade of yellow Oregon sports.

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3. Tulane @ Army

The Black Knights of Army wore their namesake color from head to toe while the Green Wave wore sky blue/white/sky blue. This would have been a magnificent game to have attended live, for the tropical olive green and sky blue would have stood out magnificently in the surroundings green wooded forest surrounding of Michie Stadium and old stone buildings of West Point.

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2. Virginia Tech @ Miami

Not only did I enjoy the way the Hurricanes white/orange/orange combo look against the maroon/white/maroon of the Hokies, but I liked the U’s traditional stripes against the sharp lines on VT’s unis.

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1. Georgia @ Tennessee

Neyland Stadium at night for a big game is one of the best settings in college football. That both teams wore their traditional home and away sets took this game over the top for me, especially since this has been the game the Vols have brought out those awful gray uniforms. It might have been a disappointing night on Rocky Top , but it certainly looked great!

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And because someone has to be the sacrificial lamb…

&1 Memphis at Louisiana-Monroe

Did Memphis become the Snow Tigers and I didn’t notice? And I’m not sure what the Red Hawks were doing with these uniforms, but even if I knew the story behind the look they would still be very ugly uniforms topped with white helmets that look very out of place.

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Thanks Memal! You can follow Memal 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 2018 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 a couple seasons ago. Ethan continues his dual role of tracking 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 (new for 2019!) — check out Rex’ Weekly Update.

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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

Welcome to the 2019 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!

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, here’s how the 2017 Playoffs shook out, and here’s the 2018 Playoffs.

Alex is back once again for the 2019 MLB Playoffs. We’ve just completed the Wild Card games and now we’re into the Divisional Series. So, here we go…

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Current Uni Tracking

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Full Tracking

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Thanks, Alex.

Uni Watch News Ticker
By Phil

Baseball News: Twitter account MiLB Promos asks, “With the new Fredericksburg Nationals treatments released, the question must be raised: What other Presidents would make a good swinging logo?” Some interesting replies there. Also, Potomac baseball relocating to Fredericksburg, but will remain the Nationals. … Check out this great photo of the 1927 NLB Royal Giants during their Asia tour, featuring Manager Lonnie Goodwin, with catcher O’Neal Pullen, pitcher Ajay Johnson and shortstop Biz Mackey (from GOAT Jerseys). … Giancarlo Stanton has pinstriped Nike batting gloves (from Mandy Lopez). … We can all use a laugh, right? (thanks to Marcus Hall).

NFL News: New Orleans Saints Linebacker Demario Davis was fined thousands of dollars for wearing a headband during last Sunday’s game that reads “Man of God.” (also send in by Brinke).
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College Football News: Hmmm. It seems that SMU’s new “Dallas” uniforms are not just special alternates — it’s more of a concerted effort to re-brand the team (and the entire athletics department) to emphasize a much closer bond with that city. … Check out this ticket stub from first game at UNC’s football stadium. James Gilbert also notes the dedication game was two weeks later vs Virginia. … The great Blaise D’Sylva continues his NCAA helmet collection with yesterday’s selection of the Kansas Jayhawks.

Hockey News: “Caps beat the Isles on Long Island (Friday) night, and the Caps brought a Nationals helmet on the road to show support for the Nats in the playoffs,” observes John Muir. “Ilya Samsonov wore the helmet after his first career win. The Nats game just about overlapped with the hockey game.” … You may not think of ASU as a power puck school, but they do have some nice kits (from ASU_Uniformity). Here’s another look (from Mark Pick). … Speaking of schools you might not associate with hockey, RMU has some new alternate unis for the season (from RMU Men’s Hockey). … The Cleveland Monsters will wear, and raffle off, this jersey on November 22, for the Childrens Cancer Foundation (from Tom Pachuta). … Here’s a look at the Sabres new 50th Anniversary Jersey (from James Beattie).

NBA News: Yesterday, the Chicago Bulls teased something was coming in a special announcement (from Ryan Andrew). Several have speculated, based on that video, that a pinstripe uni announcement awaits. … And, lo and behold, the Bulls did just that. Here’s a bit more on that.

Soccer News: As always, for all your soccer needs (leaks, tears, alternate kits, etc.), be sure to check out Josh Hinton’s twitter account.
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Grab Bag: Jersey numbers have quite the history to them and there are a number of different guidelines for each sport. Many sports have rules about who can wear which numbers, and it’s interesting to see the differences between sports. … And now, some weird purple news: “Dodge Charger and Challenger owners have been leaving the bright yellow shipping guards on the front spoilers of their cars for aesthetic reasons (debatable whether it looks good),” writes Ron Ruelle. “The chief designer of the cars has announced they will now ship them with purple covers. He hates them being left on,so it is unclear if he thinks this is an improvement, or so hideous that people will remove them.” More here.