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Hi there. Remember me?
Yes, it’s Paul here, back from my annual August break from the blog. Before I say anything else, please join me in giving a standing O to Mr. Phil Hecken, who produced some absolutely sensational content during my absence. If you enjoyed that content — and I’m betting that you did — go ahead and tell him so in today’s comments. He deserves it!
I’ll tell you more about my month off later this week. But there’s no time for that now, because there’s all sorts of uni action afoot, especially in college football, where four Adidas-outfitted schools unveiled new alternate uniforms yesterday (as shown above, clockwise from top left): Arizona State, Washington, NC State, Nebraska. (Yet another Adidas school, Louisville, also unveiled a new set yesterday, but they didn’t provide a full-body photo so I didn’t include them in today’s lede photo grouping.)
All of those uniforms, and dozens and dozens more, are showcased in my annual Uni Watch College Football Season Preview, which has the full scoop on all of this year’s new unis, logos, field designs, and more. It’s now available over on InsideHook. Enjoy! (Conveniently, this means I didn’t have to write a full lede for today — a nice way to ease my way back into the blog.)
Meanwhile, I’ve also been slogging away on the NFL Season Preview, which will be available next week.
Pin delay: Today is the first of the month, so I’d normally be launching our latest Uni Watch Pin Club design, but this month’s pin was delayed at the factory (even though we put it into production way back in May, grrrrr). It should be ready for ordering either at the end of this week or the beginning of next week.
On the plus side, I can say it will definitely be worth the wait — you’ll see.
The Ticker
By Lloyd Alaban
Baseball News: Yankees coaches don’t like wearing their full unis (from our own Phil Hecken). … Someone wore the Orioles’ 2014 postseason shirt in the dugout last night (from James T. Paterson). … Orioles LF Ryan Mountcastle wore former teammate Chris Davis’s glove last night. Davis retired a few weeks ago (from Douglas Adams). … Mets 2B Javier Báez lost a diamond earring during a postgame celebration yesterday. … Blue Jays SS Bo Bichette has a Spider-Man-themed bat. … Former MLBers and current broadcasters Al Leiter and John Smoltz are no longer permitted to work in the MLB Network studios because they refuse to be vaccinated.
Football News: Bank of America Stadium is painting its end zones ahead of the East Carolina/Appalachian State game this weekend (from James Gilbert). … Here’s Ohio’s uniform schedule (from our own Alex Hider). … New gloves and shoes for ECU (from @BenOnSports). … Here’s a uni tracker for the University of Tennessee going all the way back to 1949 (from Chad Fields). … UCF will wear black tomorrow against Boise State (from our own Phil Hecken). … Also from Phil: White over orange for Boise State this weekend. … Here’s an article about the nostalgia some 49ers fans have for buying jerseys (from our own Brinke Guthrie). … New uniforms for Florida A&M. … South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had amusing remarks when announcing this week’s uni combo.
Hockey News: The Wild teased new unis (from @WojoDuke).
Basketball News: The Wizards wore a number font that they don’t usually wear during the Summer League. Here’s their regular number font (from Jay Anderson). … Reader Etienne Catalan has the latest NBA uni assignments. … New uniforms for the University of Utah women’s squad (from our own Phil Hecken).
Soccer News: MLS usually does promotions related to childhood cancer in September. Here’s this year’s warm-up shirt for all teams (from our own Jamie Rathjen).
Grab Bag: New kits for Japanese men’s volleyball team V2 Safilva Hokkaido (from Jeremy Brahm). … Also from Jeremy: Krispy Kreme has a seasonal rugby ball doughnut in Japan. … Tennis legend John McEnroe appears in a DirecTV commercial wearing a shirt that’s similar to the one he wore years ago on the court. But in the commercial, set in the present day, the shirt has a Nike maker’s mark, while the original shirt had a Tacchini maker’s mark (from our own Phil Hecken). … Also from Phil: The U.S. Ryder Cup team has unveiled its uniforms. … NBC announced that its coverage of an LPGA event next month will feature history’s first all-female broadcast team for a golf tourney.
Gonna miss you: Charlie Watts was my favorite member of my favorite band, my all-time favorite drummer, and one of my favorite musicians, period. Although the Stones have now been a glorified oldies act for longer than they were an important creative force, they still seemed indestructible and eternal, so Charlie’s death last week hit me hard. On some level, of course, it’s a bit silly to mourn the deaths of celebrities we’ve never met, but this one still hurt. R.I.P. — Paul
I understand that in college sports there is some benefit to trying new designs so often. It helps uni and athletic design grow and evolve, but when they hit on something good, it would be nice to enjoy it for a while. The arizona state unis are a good example. Why not keep that around for a while? In the future what will teams throw back to when every week they wore a different jersey?
Great job again this year, Phil! Appreciate you providing great content for us all while Paul is away.
And welcome back, Paul. Hope you had a nice August.
I’m more into music than I am uniforms. I got upset when the Browns changed to those hideous uniforms 5 years ago. But losing rock and roll icons upsets me even more, in a different way. I’m also not big on getting caught up in celebrity deaths, like you said. But music hits me in my heart and my soul so I give myself a little allowance to be upset by losing a rock god. Tom Petty was the one that hit me harder than I thought it should.
If I would have been wise enough to listen to the Minutemen when I was a kid, D Boon would have floored me.
When MCA (Adam Yauch) died in 2012, I lost it.
MF Doom got to me last year.
Great job by Phil over the last month, and welcome back Paul !!
Paul.
Re: Charlie Watts, R.I.P.
I know how you feel.
Welcome back Paul!
Expect to see the Wild uniforms on Sept 4. Winter Classic uniforms.
Great job Phil, and welcome back Paul!
While it’s easy to forget they even have a football team, the University of Kansas are another Adidas school that unveiled a new alternate uniform.
link
Yes, but not yesterday. That one was revealed on Monday.
The Kansas uniform pictured in Paul’s Insidehook preview is really something. Not sure how much I like it, but it certainly stands out. The K logo on the helmet is very interesting, I have never seen that one before.
I love that Kansas uniform!!
Would be better with a current logo but the colors make my blood flow.
Like you, Paul, Charlie Watts was my favourite drummer, for my favourite band, kind of the calm eye of the storm looking on with amusement at the Stones hurricane that swirled around him. Even at they grow older, the Rolling Stones have always seemed to have an air of being eternal about them, and they’ll always be my #1. But losing Charlie was a gut punch. The Stones will go on, but it’ll never be the same.
Your feelings remind me of my reaction to the death of bassist Jack Bruce (of Cream) a couple of years ago. Saw them (never met him), and it put me into a state of funk for a while there. Always liked the style of Charlie Watts on the kit. Thanks Jack and thanks Charlie.
Michigan and Jim Harbaugh are now awarding specific merit decals for different milestones. Previously, decals were given out only for victories, leaving their helmets almost completely unadorned. Achievements now include players successfully tying their own shoes, as well as learning the new NIL rules and regulations. Good to see the Wolverines have more reasonable expectations this season.
Navy is not independent in football. They are in The American.
I know. Getting my editor to fix it.
Great job Phil! And another well done to all those who contributed in August! A lot of great content.
Welcome back Paul. The college football preview now feels like the event that signals the return to autumn!
Phil, thanks for giving us another great August of uni-related content and for all of your hard work to keep the site from missing a beat. We really appreciate it!
Great job, Phil, and welcome back Paul.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed an appreciation for all of the music that I missed out on in my youth, when I was very much just a metal head. I recently purchased a remastered copy of “Exile on Main Street”. Such a great album. RIP Mr. Watts.
What a punk-ass group of Yankees coaches, disrespecting the pinstripes. All of us would-be athletes can only dream of taking the field with a number on our backs, but these spoiled brats are only concerned with their personal comfort.
Which begs the question: if comfort is the issue, when will the players start wearing baggy pullover hoodies in games? I mean, if polyester jerseys are so darned uncomfortable?
The majority of MLB managers and coaches wear sweatshirts and cage jackets during the game. Players on an off day do at times as well. It’s no big deal. My guess is you’d be shocked by the levels of undress during the 4th inning of a game by players watching in the clubhouse. A reliever will be in a massage chair with no pants or cleats on and 20 minutes later he’s jogging in from right field.
Well, someone thought the phenomenon to be worth writing an article about. I, and they, think it’s a big deal.
I don’t, however, give a flying fuck what players wear off the field.
Hahahahahahahahahaha. Well done. Thought this was a serious comment for a second. Bravo
My comment makes more sense than yours, that’s for damn sure.
People: Let’s stick to discussing uni-related issues instead of insulting each other. Thanks.
I have to support pitching coach Matt Blake here though: …he was given a number by the club without getting to make the decision for himself. “I’m number 67. There’s no reason to wear that,” Blake joked.
When you’re issuing numbers like 67 to your uniformed personnel, don’t be surprised when they don’t want to have such digits visible in public.
But Mark — it’s NNOB! Doesn’t that count for something in your book?
;)
The Tennessee football uniform tracker shows that they’ve worn an orange jersey and white pants for 602 of 840 games, just over 70 percent of the time. I wonder if they’ve played a disproportionate number of home games, or if they’ve been in a lot of color vs. color games.
You figure any time they played LSU, they wore orange. If memory serves, they would go color-on-color against Alabama (they want to return to that tradition, but Nick Saban declines to go along)
On the topic of baseball managers not wearing jerseys, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli–who is trim enough to look good in a jersey–always wears a pullover of some kind. The disconnect for me is that he also wears high socks and perfectly bloused pants.
Why go to all the effort on the lower leg to just wear a pullover?
Lots of uni-goodness in this cincinnati.com photo gallery about the 1961 Reds!
link
-Jet
The day he died, I kept noticing radio stations paying tribute to Charlie Watts by playing Stones songs – that he didn’t appear on! Like “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and ” It’s only Rock and Roll”.
Charlie “played” on the “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll” video and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in the Rock and Roll Circus video so I can see some younger DJs not knowing that Kenney Jones and Jimmy Miller played on those songs. I also heard “Happy” on the radio after Watts’ death, another song with Jimmy Miller on drums.
The majority of MLB managers and coaches wear sweatshirts and cage jackets during the game. Players on an off day do at times as well. It’s no big deal. My guess is you’d be shocked by the levels of undress during the 4th inning of a game by players watching in the clubhouse. A reliever will be in a massage chair with no pants or cleats on and 20 minutes later he’s jogging in from right field.
No offense meant, Dustin, but “it’s no big deal” is more of an assertion than an argument. This site is specifically for uni-related issues that MOST players & fans unreflectingly consider “no big deal.” So, is this or isn’t it?
I would say this all started because it’s always been common to see managers & coaches wear jackets over their unis. Fair enough–they’re often older fellows who aren’t running around all the time like their players, so why let them freeze? At some point, though, jackets got mixed up with sweatshirts and hoodies, and an unmistakable piece of OUTERWEAR (the jacket) got sartorially entangled with items that have a kind of dual identity. Hoodies started out as outerwear, but the sort of garment Boone wears (along with many other people) is obviously nothing of the sort! It’s an interesting case of an outer layer getting “smuggled inward,” as it were.
Is that necessarily okay? In a way, it’s hard to approve of. I mean, Boone’s arguments for wearing his hoodie are pretty much arguments for switching to street clothes entirely. And that’s a valid convo to have! But so long as managers & coaches are going to wear unis, there’s an argument for respecting the entire concept of the “uniform.”
Part of what makes Uni Watch fun and unique is that there is no uniform related issue or detail that is not considered “a big deal”…
A refreshingly ad-patch-free Wizards summer league jersey
Minor ticker correction needed… Orioles’ rookie Ryan Mountcastle doesn’t play LF anymore, only 1B and DH now. That’s why the linked pic shows him at 1B with a runner next to him, and why he would be wearing the glove of former 1B Chris Davis.
To be fair, Mounty mostly played LF at end of 2020, and started 18 games there early this season, but that experiment is over. He’s listed with infielders on the roster page.
Great Job Phil, and Welcome Back Paul!
My rock star gut punch was Rush’s Neil Peart, in 2020. It reminded me how much of my college years were spent in thrall to that progressive Canadian tripod. Perhaps he had an influence in my taking up the drums, even though I can’t play any Rush songs.
Welcome back, Paul. I hope you’re refreshed and relaxed, and I’m looking forward to a travelogue.
I don’t think there’s anything silly about mourning the death of a celebrity, especially when their art has influenced you. When Adam “MCA” Yauch of the Beastie Boys passed several years ago, it hit me hard.
Phil great job last month! The site kept humming along and there was many great posts.
Now, for personal opinion sake, I really don’t see why it’s ticker worthy for Uni-related website who is/isn’t vaccinated at the MLB Network. Not our business, it’s their choice, and I think the only reason it would be posted was to fuel the comments of people talking about those two as selfish or idiots or whatever negative thing people say when unvaccinated white males are outed as “not vaxxed”.
Because it explains their absence from usual presentation and the reason why. There was no praise or criticism that I saw in the item.
Actually, Rich, Uni Watch has been covering broadcast media developments for many years. It was news when it was announced that broadcasters wouldn’t be working road games remotely because of pandemic travel restrictions, and it’s news when two big-name studio analysts have to work remotely. I didn’t present it as a positive thing or a negative thing — just a thing.
Also, I have literally zero interest in “fuel[ing] the comments.” Except in rare specific instances when I invite comments on a particular topic (as I did today regarding Phil), I honestly don’t care if a post gets lots of comments or none at all. I’m much more interested in comment quality than comment quantity. As it turns out, that Ticker item has “fueled” exactly one comment: yours.
Let’s please move on. Thanks.
That Wizards Summer League number font looks an awful lot like the Cavs numbers…
Lennon’s death hit me hardest because he was my favorite artist in my favorite band, the nature of the death and heard about it in almost real-time while watching a Monday Night Football. Joey Ramone’s death also hit me hard because I met and had a conversation with him in CBGB back in the 70s and he died from lymphoma instead of the rock star overdose/plane crash type death.
Losing Charlie Watts and Rod Gilbert, both class acts, in the same week was a bummer. RIP
ASU uniforms, surprisingly I like them. Would not expect the bright yellow would work with the metallic gold, but it looked good.
I know it is a retro logo on the pants, therefor old news, but can I ask why the top of the s is cuttoff? Totally get the 70s vibe, it reminds me of Mexico city olympics.
Seems to me like a better logo would have contained a full S that looped over and aligned or connected with the U. Completing the continuous flow or motion effect through the logo. Just my 2cents
Welcome back, Paul! Glad to have you back after your annual August sabbatical.
And well done, Phil! As much as I miss Pauls’ contributions in August, it’s actually one of my favorite months on the Uni Watch calendar because of the imaginative content Phil creates and pulls together from the collective Uni Watch readership. I’m already eager to see what’s in store 11 months from now.
My GOD, that Nebraska uniform is atrocious in so many ways.
Camo to honor 9/11? Huh? What does the tragedy of 9/11 have to do with the camouflage our military wears? How is THAT the best way to honor the victims, instead of a patch or sleeve band or, I don’t know, ANYTHING else than “rah-rah go-go GI Joe ‘merican military might!” uniforms?
And last but not least: white camo? It’s barely going to be visible on-field, if at all.
Just such a tone-deaf, wrong-headed, gross, misguided appropriation of military sycophancy under the guise of honoring the victims of a terrorist attack.
Swing and a gigantic, bottom-of-the-9th, 3rd strike, game-ending miss, Nebraska.
Paul, describing the Stones as eternal and indestructible was spot on. Charlie’s death shook me as well and not because he was my favorite drummer in my favorite band but for the reasons you stayed – he’d always been there (at least as long as I’ve been around) and I just thought he always would even though I knew better.
I saw Charlie, Mick, Keith and Ronnie on the Voodoo Lounge tour in 1994 at RFK Stadium in DC and thought to myself, “Good thing I got a chance to see them because they probably won’t be touring much longer.” Granted, they were only in their fifties at the time but I never imagined they’d still be on the road in their mid to late seventies.
This prompted me to ask my Dad, with whom I attended that show and many others, if he ever thought the bands of his youth like the Stones and The Who would be still at it in 2021. He said it didn’t even enter his mind when he was a kid because he never thought he’d get old either!