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Posts filed under 'Caps'
Back in the summer of 2006, when this blog was less than two months old, I wrote an entry about the “White War” of 1967, in which the Washington Senators briefly wore white caps and white socks as a way of protesting and ridiculing the white shoes worn by the Kansas City A’s — a little-noted chapter in MLB uni history.
Unfortunately, the only action photo I could come up with at the time was this one, which gives a very poor view of the white-clad Sens player. Fortunately, reader Paul Wiederecht recently came up with something much, much better.
Pretty great, right? And that’s just one of the excellent wire service photos Paul recently uncovered. Here are some more:
• Most of you are probably aware that the 1958 Topps baseball set showed many of the Giants wearing a prototype cap design that never made it onto the field, plus a few Giants were shown wearing the team’s proper cap. Until now, however, I’d never seen this cap variation, which was apparently an earlier prototype developed in the fall of 1957. Has anyone ever seen this cap design before?
• Speaking of the teams that moved west for the 1958 season, take a look at this, which ran in the 2/24/58 issue of SI. What are the Dodgers wearing there — a prototype design that was only used during spring training? Repurposed L.A. Angels uniforms? Anyone know more about this?
• But here’s the most intriguing photo of the batch — dig. I’d never seen or heard anything about this “air-conditioned” mesh cap design before. Judging by the photo date, it looks like the Reds were experimenting with it during spring training. Anyone know if they ever used it during the regular season, and/or if any other teams ever tried anything similar?
Big thanks to Paul for all this great material, and let’s all be alert to wire service photo collections, which are clearly an untapped gold mine of uni-relevant imagery.
Short-Notice Radio Alert: I’ll be appearing for about 15 minutes on WAJR-FM in West Virginia this morning at 9:30am. To listen in, go here click on “Clarksburg Listen Live” near the top of the page.
Western-Pennsylvania Reminder: Doug Keklak, Ryan Connelly, and some other Steeltown-area readers are organizing their own Uni Watch gathering this Thursday, January 7th, 6pm, at Silky’s in Squirrel Hill. Highlights from the past Steelers season will most definitely not be shown.
Uni Watch News Ticker: The Marlins are changing their road jersey insignia. … Jason Bay was signed by the Mets and Rangers. … Cycling update from Jeff Mayer, who writes: “Here’s the first look at the U.S. National Championship jersey for George Hincapie, who’s switching teams from Columbia to BMC.” … Bruce Soltys recently saw The Blind Side and, like everyone else, noticed all the Under Armour logo creep. But he also noticed this: “When former Vols coach (Phil Fulmer) made an appearance, the Adidas logo on the side of the hat was blacked out, but a Nike logo was in full view on the Florida rep directly behind him.” Interesting that they’d put the kibosh on one but not the other — did Nike pay a fee that Adidas declined to pay? … Webmaster John Ekdahl took this shot a while back. Note the cameraman’s jacket logo. … Georgia Tech hoops player D’andre Bell was sporting an upside-down flag patch last night (with thanks to Britton Thomas). … Yet another uni-related wedding maneuver, this time by Andrew Harris’s 2008 ceremony: “I had to find a way to honor my groomsmen, a quintet of Mets fans I’ve known forever. Here was the result — an acceptable use of the Mets’ black, I think (it was a wedding, after all). Each number represented the number of years I’d known the wearer. I’m wearing 43. My bride, Shawn, was excused from compliance.” … Very cool USFL helmet animation here. There’s also a WFL version (great find, Phil). … Andy Kuempel’s jersey number and helmet number didn’t match last night (with thanks to Dan Winter). … Interesting footwear note from Peter Macaluso, who writes: “My good friend plays receiver for a D-III football program and blew out his knee while making a cut this year. When he went to the rehab center, the people asked him if he was wearing the new Nike Vapors. When he said yes, they checked off a box, because apparently there’s been a jump in knee injuries this year due to the cleats actually being too good at gripping the ground and causing people’s knees to give out instead. I thought that was pretty crazy. I believe Wes Welker was also wearing Vapors when he was injured this week.” … Here’s a subtle little rivalry message. That’s Iowa State in 1977 (with thanks to Brian Powers).
January 6th, 2010
 By Phil Hecken
You will all recall that over the past two weekends, I had the pleasure of bringing you the participants in the “Clarksville ‘Design-A-Uniform’ Contest.” All the entries were outstanding, and it really was a labor of love hosting the contest. But we’re not quite done yet, as Coach Marc Walls has looked over each and every design, for uniforms and logos, and he’s narrowed it down to five finalists in two categories: Best Uniform and Best Logo. He’s allowed me to put his final five to a vote, and a short poll will follow the descriptions. If you want to refresh your memory, here is the full set of every submission. Click on any individual window and it will enlarge that graphic.
I will now turn the post over to Coach Walls, who’ll set up the finalists:
~~~
Hey Phil,
Wanted to chime in on those top choices you asked for. Overall comments: A really fine job done by all of the people who submitted work. Our players would be proud to wear any of your designs. One overall comment I’d like to make, is that I think some of the uniform templates some of the designers used were just fantastic. It really helped these designs come alive, and made me want to see some of the other ones the same way. It was hard to pick these few, but the criteria I used involved these factors:
Is it realistic?: Loved the off the wall submissions from some people, and our players loved seeing the multiple designs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen yellow pants for sale before though, and I think there’s a reason for that!
Is it something I can take to a uniform outfitter?: While the more professionally designed ones were great, I really enjoyed many of the submissions from the more amateur designers. I appreciate the effort because I couldn’t do any better. Unfortunately, for some, I just couldn’t print a picture and say “make me this.”
Is it unique?: Everyone wants to stand out, and for the right reason. I appreciate those uniform sets that are obviously original, because so many teams at the high school level, for budget reasons, use pretty simple designs.
Here then, in the category of “Best Uniform,” are the five finalists:
Joe Hilsberg: One thing I’m not crazy about in this set is the Capitol “C” on the grey Clarksville set. I’m not opposed to a vertical arch with a simple varsity block. Big fan of the “c-ville” logo. Not sure why. It’s kind of gimmicky, but something that would definitely be an attention getter. Overall, just a well thought out set.
Ryan Muraro: Another clean, well thought out set. Not too busy. I like the idea of the “C” logo with the “hs” inside. Plus, paired with the hat we already use, it’s obviously something that will mesh with what we’ve got going on. I like the less is more approach, and I really like the script “Clarksville.”
Steve Lastname: Is “Lastname” really Steve’s lastname? Kind of cartoonish, but I’ve always been a fan of the v-neck top like Stanford wears. I also like the “C” logo on the black jersey with the “cats” inside. Overall, a fun design. White and greys are nice and clean. I would change the “Clarksville” on the white set to the “Wildcats” wordmark on the yellow jersey. City names on the home jersey are always a pet peeve of mine. I’ve always thought you advertise who you are at home and where you’re from on the road.
Andy Altemus: I enjoy this set, and the thought put into it. I like the color set as it is, but would really like to see the set in a more “yellow” gold. I’ve always enjoyed that fancy font and number font. Simple, and effective. A great job.
Jeff Bahry: I really like the work he did on the multiple logos. Really good stuff. As far as the uniforms go, I think it’s contemporary, clean and well designed. Not too busy with the trim, which some might disagree with, but I like it. It’s a realistic uniform design.
An honorable mention to the uniform set by Kevin Callahan, which I think we would all agree was just fantastic, and the sort of throwback set that everyone would love. I loved the color combination, and would be proud to wear it. However, the design would be impossible to replicate unless we were ordering a throwback fit uniform set. But, I just wanted to give a public thanks to Kevin. Hopefully you do this type of work regularly, and if you do I’d love to see some more examples of things you’ve created.
And next are the “Best Individual Logos:”
Jeff Bahry’s logo set: Just enjoyed the overall effort of the design.
Chad Stilson – “C” logo: very creative spin on the Cubs “C” I really enjoyed it.
Ed Westfield – “C” logo with “hs” inside: One of my favorites. Really liked it on the home whites.
Kevin Connolly – Really enjoyed the whole set: the Wildcats script, the paw wrapping the ball.
Thomas Stafford – really enjoyed the “C” with the clawmark: Wasn’t crazy about the jersey font, otherwise the whole uniform set would have been a true favorite of mine
Another honorable mention to the Tennesse Flag alternate logo from David Vines: I really liked it. I thought it was clever, and something we’d love to put on as a jersey patch. A Great job.
Overall, I’m very impressed Phil. There are several of these logos and uniform sets that we’d love to use. I’d like to contact all of those people and thank them personally, and for those where we might be able to change the shade of gold, I’d like to do that as well. What I’d like to do is any time we use a logo or design for anything, we’re going to give that person a copy of their work. If we use a logo on a shirt, we’ll send them a shirt and a thank you note from our players. If it’s a hat, and so forth. We’re launching a website soon, and we’re going to give a thank you to those designers by name. If they run a business, we’ll happily advertise their business at no cost to them. However, I will request that anything we use we can have sent to us in a format that can be used to replicate. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, but if, for example, all we have of a logo is a jpeg, then the company that does our screen printing will charge an artwork fee to redraw it in their program. Saves us unnecessary fees, and really, if I’m going to pay, I’d rather pay the person whose idea it was. Thanks again for all of your hard work, and if you need any clarification on what specific design I’m talking about, feel free to ask. Thanks Phil.
Marc
~~~
No, Marc — THANK YOU! Obviously you and I aren’t quite done with this, and certainly you’ll have some business with all the participants. But now it’s time to turn it over to the readers for their say.
It’s very simple folks, and I’ll ask for your indulgence one last time. Please take a moment to vote for your favorite uniform and logo in the Clarksville Design-A-Uniform Contest. One vote each for the best uniform set and logo set, as identified above by Coach Walls.
Once again, a huge THANK YOU to Marc Walls and to each and every participant. I’ll be back to let you know the final tallys, but please know, everyone who participated is a true sport and you’re all winners.
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 Ahhh…the simple joy of a Sunday Benchies. Ooooohhh…and a new character too! Here’s Ricko:
Always good to “one up” the bar stud. Even if he is dumb as a box of hair. Or maybe it’s even BETTER if he’s that dumb? Hmmm…too close to call.
Enjoy your Sunday Benchies.
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 Our next round of NFL uniform tweaks/revisions and concepts is upon us.
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We’ll get started today with Ronnie Poore, who has an interesting concept for the Panthers:
Hey,
Enjoying all the NFL tweaks being posted on the uniwatchblog. Here’s my version of the Carolina Panthers. My take is “what if the Panthers joined the AFL in 1960, what would their uniform look like?” I took away silver, but kept the light blue and black. Gave them Northwestern stripes and a plain block C helmet logo. Even though alternate jerseys weren’t a staple in the 60’s I couldn’t resist the urge to give them a light blue jersey. Whaddya think?
Ronnie Poore
~~~
Our next redesign (more of a tweak really) comes from Dave Ebert, who’s taken on da Bears:
Phil,
I’ve been an avid dropper by to your site for a long time now. I really got excited when you started talking about revising the classic NFL uniforms. My beloved Chicago Bears recent choices have really stuck in my craw. What, with the Awful hack job on their alternate orange jerseys, to the WRONG socks when they come out in “all white”. I would love to infiltrate their uniform laboratory and inject my opinions.
In the designs I threw together, I basically went back to a similar look to the 1960’s uniforms, but added a “C” to the helmet. The idea was to eliminate the white striping on all elements. (shirt sleeves, pants and helmet) oh, and of course a grey face mask. I love the way the orange looks, right up against the navy. Kind of like the Giants’ red helmet stripe. That really does it for me.
Anyway, I hope you like. If I need to become a member to get these out there, I’m thinking I might have to.
Regards
Dave Ebert
~~~
Our next set comes from Lukas Nowinsky, who wants to change both the worst (understandable) and best uniforms in the NFL, the Bills and the Packers. But he explains the Packers tweak with this:
Hey Phil,
Let me start by saying I love the Packers uniforms the way they are, and I hope they stay that way. Since all the teams seem to be getting tweaks from fans, though, I thought I’d give the Pack a hypothetical makeover. I’ve attached a new home and away version.
Once I finished my Packers tweaks I couldn’t help but try to improve some
of the worst uniforms in football, the Bills. I went back to the royal
blue, and scrapped the mono-navy they’ve been wearing.
Thanks,
Luke
~~~
Moving along, we have Joe Katz, who has done some minor tweaking (and one major tweak) on the Rams:
took the Rams uniforms and did a few minor tweaks. Mainly, I killed the all blue look, and added a all gold look (not much of better, but I really like the gold.) I figured, if you’re gonna have a all color uni, and the blue looks terrible, you might as well go with gold.
Also, I took the gold from the shoulder logo, which was lighter than the rest of the gold in the uni, and made all of the gold that lighter gold.
The other changes are here, here and here.
Thanks, Phil, keep up the good work
Joe Katz
~~~
And our last submission today comes from Amos Miller, who’s decided to take on the entire NFC North:
I set out to change up the Vikings current terrible uniforms. I ended up redesigning the entire NFC north. I attempted to incorporate some element of history into each uni redesigned.
With the Vikings I wanted to keep a “modern” look but wanted to create something a bit less cluttered then the rags they don now. I ended up with the shoulder stripe equally being two different colors. On the away uniforms I attempted to incorporate the shoulder stipes of old by adding a line of purple piping underneath the dual stripe design. Upon completeing all I could think of was the Rams current Unis, but I liked them enough that I kept it.
I next set out to give a team pinstripes because I thought it would be novel. I ended up with the Bears due to their history in vertical stripes (‘94 throwbacks and 20’s leather). I threw in the bears claw mark pants for shits and giggles. I began to feel as thought I was redesigning the Broncos so on the away set I put the old iconic sleeve strips.
With the Packers I couldn’t really think of a way to include the old uni elements, so I just started pasting in a bunch of modern stripes and other junk. I later decided to put shoulder yokes in with an attempt the somewhat match the ‘94 throwbacks.
With the Lions I began by looking at some only logos, I of course found the White lion on two vertical stripes of blue and silver. The colors on the logo where slightly darker than the colors used now. I used the two stripe motif across the uni and replace the white lion with the modern logo they introduced at the beginning of this year.
Oh, and in response to your post about D2 football programs, being that my hometown is Bemidji, MN I can tell you that it’s pronounced something like Buh-MIh-gee.
Really enjoying the Uni Tweak section every Sunday.
Have a good one,
Amos Miller
~~~
OK, that’s it for this round of Uni Tweaks. I still have several more, and they keep pouring in, so keep them coming. Obviously, this is a pretty popular feature, and I have to say, some of the submissions have been absolutely outstanding.
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 Now that the NCAA football season has basically concluded, I’ve asked our man in the street, Jim Vilk, to come up with a season ending “Best Ten and Worst Five” college football uni matchups, spanning the entire season. Remember, these are his opinions, so be sure to hurl any vitriol in Jim’s direction. Let’s see what he came up with:
10. Temple/Penn State — Rectifying a rookie mistake — I completely left this beauty off my second-ever list…
9. Duke/Kansas — Almost like watching the Manning brothers face off, eh?
8. UCLA/Tennessee — I always thought this matchup would be good in a bowl game.
7. LSU/Georgia — One of the brightest games of the year.
6. Oklahoma/Texas — Beauty in simplicity.
5. Texas/Nebraska — I didn’t wait for the clock to almost tick to zero — I picked this matchup very quickly…
4. Indiana/Michigan — For some reason, I can hear Billy Crystal’s Fernando saying, “It’s better to look good than to feel good.”
3. Tulane/SMU — I like a good horsey helmet and I like green/blue unis, so this matchup is a worthy finalist.
2. LSU/Ole Miss — See the description for matchup #5.
1. UCLA/USC — Too bad the game wasn’t as stellar as it looked.
And Jim’s Absolute 5 Worst:
5. Ball State/Eastern Michigan — I have this thing against all-green teams on a green field.
4. Virginia Tech/Maryland – One over-hyped uni plus one well-intentioned tribute equals one mess.
3. Oregon/Arizona — One has almost no school colors, the other has a bit too many.
2. Tennessee State/Florida A&M — Well, at least it wasn’t monochrome…
1. San Jose State/Boise State — I also have this thing against all-blue teams (in really goofy unis) on a blue field.
I wanted to nominate Oregon/Boise State instead, but that pre-dated the lists (and I think Phil would have overruled me anyway).
~~~
Phil here. Thanks, Jim. How FAMU/TSU can only rank as the second worst game baffles me. And how you could possibly even think I’d let you put the Oregon Storm Troopers as a “worst” also boggles the mind. But a nice job with the rest of the list. Can’t say I agree with all your choices, but your quips are good.
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 Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Back to the pros today for a gridiron riddle. Although you can only see a partial scoreboard, that shouldn’t make much difference — either you know this game, or you don’t. Please try to find a link and post the link in the comments. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
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 As we begin counting down the days till the Rose Bowl, I’m going to be joined by tOSU’s biggest fan Larry Bodnovich and the man who’s been bringing you the Ducktracker all season long, Michael Princip, in a weekly look at some fun Ohio State University and University of Oregon factoids, uni histories and other fun stuff. Larry, of course, will be tackling the Buckeyes, and Michael will handle the Ducks.
We’ll begin with Larry today. He found out a fascinating little nugget about tOSU’s Heisman Trophy winning running back, Archie Griffin.
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I was looking though the All-American teams from Playboy. I came to 1975 and see “Archie Griffin” is not the real Archie Griffin. It is also funny how the only guy wearing white is the fake Archie. I do know that Woody Hayes would not let his players take part in the Playboy shoot. A year or so before John Hicks and Randy Gradishar were on the team. But the pics of those 2 look photshopped or airbrushed or whatever they did back then.
I got a kick out of seeing this fake Archie Griifin. I do not know who the guy is. I posted that on an OSU board and one guy said it looked like Greg Hines. But Hines was a lanky guy.
~~~
Thanks Larry. I gotta agree…our mystery man is probably not Gregory Hines. Great stuff. And now, on to Michael’s contribution.
In the spirit of the Ducktracker, I simply present to you Michael Princip’s “Ducks In The Rose Bowl” history. Unis and history all wrapped into one — be sure to click on all the stuff (including rare pictures and video) that’s in there — it’s an AMAZING job.
I learned this week that the Ducks weren’t always called the Ducks, their school colors were once green and yellow, and they have only been in the Rose Bowl a total of four times — 1917, 1920, 1995, and the 1958 game, which featured tOSU against UO — it’s a rematch that’s been in the making for 52 years. And it’s what we’re counting down to in the next few weeks.
Thanks Larry & Michael! Can’t wait to see what you have for us next week.
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Couple last things before the wrap — there seemed to be enough interest in a “College Football Pool” for the Bowl games, but I haven’t worked out the details yet. Well, that, and I haven’t found someone who’s proficient enough at the setup to have a contest ready today. I’m hoping today to make that happen. If not, perhaps Paul can make an announcement during the week. If I get it set up, I’ll post the link back in the main article.
Keep the “rename the Winter Classic” slogans coming. Personally, I happened to like “Pond Bond,” but that’s just me. Lets see if we can’t throw a few more out there.
And now, we’re done. Thanks to Marc Walls for his input on the Clarksville Wildcats Uniform contest. Once again, if you haven’t already please take a minute to vote in the poll. It’s only two choices, so it shouldn’t take you more than a few seconds. Congrats to all the “finalists” and one more big thanks to everyone who participated. Great stuff all.
Have a Super Sunday.
December 13th, 2009
 By Phil Hecken
And, finally, today we visit the last round of entries for the “Design-A-Uniform” contest for the Clarksville Wildcats. As with the previous three rounds, we have another outstanding set today. The last two entries, you will notice, are not in alphabetical order — one was received last weekend (as the first entries were being run) and the other was my fault, as I had received the entry but neglected to post it in proper order. So, those two will appear at the end of this entry. I believe I was able to upload every single entry sent my way, but if you sent me something that DID NOT appear, please contact me with your submission and I’ll make sure it gets to Coach Walls (and I’ll run it in a future column). So, lets take a look-see at the final entries:
Dylan Visvikis: submission
First and foremost, thank you for considering my submission.
I used the Rawlings Uniform Builder and took some screenshots.
This uni set is designed for a classic high school look with a modern twist–the “cougar head” logo, featured on the shoulder sleeves of the Home Whites, Road Grays, Blackouts, and the CHS Purples. It is featured on the chest of the Gold Alternates. The logo is outfitted with two of the five team colors, each depending on its surrounding jersey.
Home Whites: Self-explanatory.
Road Grays: Again, self-explanatory.
The “Blackout” Alternate Uniform: Can be paired with the pictured white pants or the Alternate Black Pants. This uni is for night games.
TWO ALTERNATE UNI OPTIONS:
Gold Alternates: The logo-centric option, can also be paired with alternate black pants.
CHS Purple Alts: The CHS option.
~~~
Adam Walter: submission
Phil,
Amateurish at best…but actually kinda happy how they turned out.
I attached both the new logo as well as the uniform line-up (both in .jpg form). Have a good one.
Adam Walter
~~~
Daniel Washburn: submission
I am far too lazy to come up with a complete uni set, but here is a black alt vest set that I put together quick with what was floating around in my head while reading about it. The idea is that the paw is scratching through the vest to show the undershirt. With the pants I wanted to continue that theme by purchasing black pants and then cutting the stripe with a knife. Don’t hem the edges, so they have a frayed look, and then sew a strip of yellow inside the pants. That is my outside of the box part.
20 years with the Cubs hat logo? Time to give the Good Guys their due.
~~~
Geoffrey Waterman: submission
Hey!
I might have a few more (like an away or something) on the way, but here’s what I have so far.
Two versions of home uniforms, and a logo in three colors that could go on a hat. Thanks! Take care!
Sincerely,
Geoffrey Waterman
~~~
Michael Watson: submission
For Clarksville High. First time trying this, only have sorry MS Paint to work with… this was fun.
Michael Watson
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Ed Westfield: submission
Phil,
My submissions for Clarksville HS baseball
Thanks!
-Ed
~~~
Mark Wilkes: submission
Here are my contributions to the contest.
Same interlocking logo design for CHS applied to two different uni sets with and withough gold outline. Did not use the Cubs “C” – why copy, be original! Same cap for both sets as I felt the two tone cap was needed to get some of the gold in and balance the purple.
CHSa – more traditional, minimalist approach to uni. Exception would be the use of yellow sanitary socks to add color/contrast and balance use of gold in cap (only works if the players show their stirrups of course)
CHSb – more contemporary without being over the top. Uses CHS logo with gold outline to help balance stronger use of purple on sleeves.
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute. I would welcome other opportunities like this (even if it means “devaluing” the design profession – which I am in).
Mark Wilkes
~~~
Wesley Willis: submission
Dear Phil,
Here are my three submissions for the uniform contest. Today, I am presenting a home uniform (mostly gold and purple), an away uniform (mostly white and gold), and an alternate (black and gold with purple pinstripes). I hope the UniWatch community likes what I have to show them, and I thank you and all involved for your consideration.
Warmly,
Wes
~~~
Vinny Bove: submission
Here’s my Clarksville uniform submission. Purple and yellow (that’s right, Packer and Steeler fans, it’s ‘yellow,’ not ‘gold’) are notoriously difficult colors to work with, and it was a challenge to come up with something that was both new and classic. In the end, I created a few different versions of the main logo (including a ‘CHS’ version), as well as two different versions of both the home and away unis.
The ‘C-cat’ logo is based off of the actual Chicago Cubs ‘C.’ I traced it, then added all the cat elements on top.”
~~~
Joe DeAngelis: submission
Hello Phil,
My designs have hints of classic uniforms (NYY & LAD) and a modern looking alternate vest jersey that I think would look great over a black T-shirt. The alternate cap is black based featuring a “wildcats” claw as a secondary logo.
Thank You
Joe DeAngelis
~~~
Well, that’s the final round of the Clarksville Design-A-Uniform contest. And a great bunch of submissions on which to end the weekend. As with the other three batches, please let the artists know what you think, and give them all a standing round of applause for their efforts!
As I had previously mentioned, now Coach Walls will review all the submissions, and I believe he’ll be narrowing down his (and his team’s) favorites in both the caps and the uniforms, which we’ll then put to a non-binding vote of the readership. Each and every one of them has been outstanding in its own right. If by some chance (and knowing me, it’s a decent chance) you sent me a submission and I didn’t include it, please send it to me again (a couple of the submissions actually got sent to my spam folder, and while I do check it to make sure there isn’t spam in there, it’s also possible one or two got through that i just missed). I’ll make sure Coach Walls sees them and I’ll include your design(s) in a future column. If you didn’t send me your design, the contest is officially closed, but I expect we’ll have another contest in the future.
Thanks again to everyone who participated! This turned out to be a LOT of work for me, but it was indeed a labor of love. The designs presented in the past two weeks lend me to believe that contests such as this do NOT devalue the work of true graphic designers, but they better stay on their toes, right? Great stuff all.
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Nice, fresh, new color Benchies today. And the author himself to set it up. Here’s the Rick:
“Always good the learn new things, right? Never too old to be a jock, right? Grab life like it’s a flask of Peppermint Schnapps and take a big ol’ hit on it…”
Thanks Ricko. Enjoy your Sunday Benchies.
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 UW stalwart Ryan Connelly, whom you may remember more for his DIY failures than his DIY successes, is busy with more projects. He recently made a cameo appearance at Sheep Station in Brooklyn, and shot me an E-mail updating me on his newest “project” — a “Uni Watch wall.” What’s that you say? I’ll let Ryan explain:
My dining room wall is being taken over by UniWatch…
I framed my Pittsburgh sports mash-up, my Swisshelm Express logo, and my Invaders disaster. (Closeups can be seen here and here.) The framing turned out better than i thought it would…
Great stuff. Now, if you read the second article (and I know you did), you’ll also remember that Ryan had painted his family’s shed to look like an old Mail Pouch barn. Well, RyCo just finished his latest mail pouch barn last month and sent along those pics for us to enjoy.
Thanks Buddy! Awesome job too. Keep up the DIY’ing.
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More uniform designs from the readership today. Some shorter descriptions, but the product is just a great as ever. If you would like to submit a uniform redesign for your team(s), please shoot me an E-mail and put in the subject line “Uniform Tweaks for (your team[s]“). Thanks.
Our first redesign today comes from Michael Weinbaum, who has a design concept for the Jags:
I’m a Jags fan (yes we exist) and I know you said you don’t like their new uniforms. I agree that there are a few problems with them, but I think that the road look is much worse off than the home look. You can barely see the thin stripe on the black pants, and the teal borders on the names and numbers never shows up, not even with hi-def TV. With that said, the Jaguars will be wearing black numbers with a teal border on the road for the next 5 years. For the next 5 years, the road jersey will have a thin snakey-thing so the road pants might as well have it too. So what minor change can be made to make this uniform ‘pop’ in a good way, both on TV and in person? See attached picture.
I believe that black pants are always going to look terrible, and I note that the Saints no longer wear them and the Ravens are phasing them out. There is a chance that teal pants might be a better look for the Jags, but that’s a thought for another day. One thing is for certain, as bad as black pants look in football, they look much much worse when mated to black-top socks. Thus my change. The Jags could start wearing these in a matter of weeks if they wanted too, whereas new jerseys will take 4 more years and new pants at least a year. Hope you like it, hope it earns a mention in your blog, hope they start wearing these after you publish this photo.
~~~
Our next tweak comes from Ron Verrecchio, who has a simple solution for the Ravens:
Just a quick fix for the away uni. Changed the helmet stripes to match the new pants stripe.
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Next up is Mike Hass, who has a couple different suggestions for the Steelers:
A couple of days ago I sent you my suggestion for a team (the Steelers) that needs a Uni Tweak. I listed my problems with their current uni, and explained how I would fix them. After thinking about it awhile, I really wanted to see what the new uni would look like, so I just designed it myself. Since I was only tweaking the current uni, I was done after an hour or two. I’ve attached what I came up with, and you can do with it what you will. I think it’s a subtle change, but looks way better.
Just to recap the changes I made. Before (current) and After (new uniforms):
• Block style numbers replace the italic san serif numbers.
• Black outline removed from NOB.
• Yellow stripes with thin black outlines changed to solid yellow, black, and white stripes.
• Stripe pattern added to socks as well.
• White inner stripe added to ultra thick black stripe on pants.
• Yellow added to collar.
And that’s about it. Enjoy!
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Moving along, we have Emanuel Caros, who had some ideas for fixing the Browns:
Phil,
As a means of putting off studying for my law school finals, I figured that I would try and update the Cleveland Browns uniform like a few people did in your last post.
I found a mock-up of a Bowling Green uniform and used it as my basis, adding logos (which i’m sure everyone at uni-watch hates that there are 4 different logos on one uni, but I think since they’re small, they come out as cool little details as opposed to obnoxious), changing the colors, and elongating the shoulder stripes so that they wrap around the entire arm. The helmet logo is supposedly one that was made in 1965 but never used; it looks surprisingly modern to have been made so long ago. I also added matching stripes to the originally solid white socks.
I like a dark/light brown contrast so I wanted to mess around with that two-tone look that comes about when players sweat, a la North Carolina’s kit, but all my ideas seemed too cheesy (“BROWNS” appearing on the side panel). Also, in attempting to be as realistic as possible, I realize that it doesn’t say “Cleveland” anywhere, but I couldn’t find a place for it without compromising my values in regard to uniform designs (I hate tiny words under the neckline!) and so it probably looks a bit too “college football.”
Anyway, I hope you like the result. Have a good one.
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Today’s penultimate concept comes from David Sonny, who has some thoughts on how to redesign the Bengals:
Okay, so I did this a while back to show certain people that a return to the past is not always a bad thing. This is just a mix of the 80’s and late 90’s uniforms with a little modern twist. I only did one color, obviously the white would just be an inverted version as would an alternate orange, so I left it as is. The mock ups only take around 30-45 minutes, but why spend the time when people can use their imaginations?
And that is how I see the Bengals uniforms if they decided to go back to revisit the past.
Enjoy.
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And today’s last set of tweaks come from Mike Forman, who has a couple changes for the Bills and Eagles:
Tweaked the Bills logo by gimping that lame motion eyeball streaky thingy from the current one (here’s how it looks with a new uniform). Also removed a lot of unnecessary black from the Eagles duds. Thanks.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Another reader submission today, this one comes from Brian Bennett, and it may be a doozy. That’s probably because you won’t find a link to it. But it does have a date, location and final score. Put on your thinking caps today, boys and girls, because this one may take some thinkin’. You can probably find something on the web that will indicate you got the game. Confused? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
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 Our man in the street, Jim Vilk, brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from Saturday’s games:
A posthumous honorable mention to a matchup we won’t see anymore, Hofstra/Northeastern — Somewhere, Wayne Chrebet is shedding a tear and Dan Ross is looking down with a sense of melancholy.
5. New Hampshire/Villanova — ‘Nova looks good anytime, but throw in some snow and a decent opponent and you have a Top Fiver.
4. Oregon State/Oregon — Yeah, it’s from Thursday, but it was a really slow week.
3. Florida/Alabama– Would have been ranked higher with normal unis.
2. West Virginia/Rutgers — My color palette special of the day.
1. Texas/Nebraska — Pithy comments not needed — just look at them and enjoy.
And the WORST matchup: New Mexico State/Boise State — I’d love to see the Broncs bust the BCS…but not in these unis.
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 Where’s Your Messiah Now? Well, it was a tough day for the Gators, falling 16-33 13-32 to Bama, to lose the SEC championship. This of course, sent my BCS predictions into a tizzy…couple that with frantic finishes from Cincy and Texas, and the whole kit-and-kaboodle almost went up in flames. Texas still isn’t a lock, but if not the Horns versus the Tide, then who? Horney Toads? Boise? Bearcats?
Nope. Gotta go with Texas, who IMHO got royally screwed out of a shot at the BCS last year, to meet Alabama. The rest of the bowls, kind of a crap shoot…anyway…the BCS predictions (they’ll be announced today at 8:00 pm EST on FOX) … check back then to see if I nailed ‘em. Here goes:
BCS Championship: Alabama vs. Texas
Fiesta Bowl: TCU vs. Iowa
Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Oregon
Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Georgia Tech
Tough calls this year…and I’ll probably be wrong…but those are my calls and I’m sticking with ‘em. Feel free to disagree or make your own predictions below.
 And as for the Heisman, the three finalists will be announced Monday during the 6:00 showing of ESPN’s SportsCenter, so I’ll make my picks now as well. Did Timmy’s meltdown yesterday affect his chances? How about Coy’s last minute save and a beaut? What about that kid from Stanford? Or maybe that kid from ‘bama… I can’t see Tebow winning it again, but he’s still gonna be tough to leave out of the top 3. I thought at the beginning of the year Colt would win, and nothing he’s done this year has led me to change that. So, that’s two finalists. Who’s my third…hmmm.
Gonna go with these three: Tim Tebow, Florida; Colt McCoy, Texas; and … drumroll … Toby Gerhart, Stanford. Real tough to leave out Mark Ingram, especially after he showed Tim Tebow who’s his daddy in the SEC Championship. If anyone sneaks ahead of Tebow, Ingram’s it.
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OK, everyone, that’s it for today. Thanks to everyone who participated in the Clarksville Design-A-Uniform contest. Coach Walls will have some tough choices. I believe we’ll be doing a poll to have you, the readers, pick YOUR choice for the best uni and the best logo, next weekend, but that’s dependent upon Marc. No matter what, though, there will be a new uniform poll.
Special HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to out to the man who brings you those polls, James T. Huening, who turns a year older today. Have a good one, JTH. Cheers.
Everyone have a Super Sunday.
December 6th, 2009
 By Phil Hecken
Today we begin with Round III of the Clarksville “Design-A-Uniform” Contest, with a plethora of superb entries. If you missed the first two rounds (or just want to refresh your memory or see the parameters), click here and here. Lots to get to today, so lets dig right in:
Amy Preston: submission
Hello,
I’ve been following Uni Watch for at least a year now, and although I don’t comment, I find it all very interesting. The opportunity to redo a uniform for a baseball team combined my two favorite things – design and baseball. This was by far the most fun thing I’ve ever had the opportunity to create!
With that being said, here are my submissions for the Design-A-Uniform Contest. Attached are a home white with “Wildcats” on the front, an away gray with “Clarksville”, and and alternate black (hey, he asked for it!) top that works with both pant bottoms with a “CHS” logo I came up with. I also came up with a new Wildcat logo that I think would work well for the school.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks so much for the opportunity!!
Amy Preston
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Michael Princip: submission
Phil, here ya go. My first attempt at designing a baseball uniform, and specifically a high school baseball uniform. Not much to say here really except I tried to stay old school with the fonts ‘CHS’ wordmark etc. It also looks like my subliminal inspiration, for the logo, came from vintage East India? ;o) This was fun.
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Paul Radetsky: submission
Phil:
Just forgot to get this to you, hope it’s not too late.
Thanks.
Paul Radetsky
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Ricky Roy: submission
hi, attached are my designs for the contest
i have a White home, a gray road, and purple one and a black one that could be worn as home or away.
also attached is the logo used for the hat and the black uniform
thanks,
R.Roy
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Matt Sajna: submission
Phil,
I hope this email isn’t too late. Just wanted to send in a logo that I thought up for Clarksville High School. I put it onto some hats to. Hope you like it.
-Matt Sajna
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Andrew Schroeer: submission
Hi,
I realize this is being submitted after the unofficial deadline; I hope it is not TOO late!
I like old-school designs and scripts, so that’s the direction I took this in.
Attached are submissions for the hat and a chest logo (a la the Detroit Tigers); I didn’t have time to flesh out the full uni, but I would imagine it would have piping like the Tigers jersey, and that’s it (gotta have piping at the end of the sleeves, too!).
Version 1 (CHS) was aimed at the request for a black hat that incorporates the purple.
CHS_alt is also aimed at the black hat, but without the offending purple. If purple had to be incorporated somehow, it could be somewhere on the shirt or it could be on the bill (not that you would, but you could).
CHS_alt_2 is to show the new CHS insignia with the current cap’s color scheme.
The CHS_Unis in their various guises are fairly self-explanatory, I think.
Again, I hope this isn’t too late!
Thanks for a great website, and a great contest!
- Andrew
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Thomas Stafford: submission
Hello gentlemen,
Attached is my entry, please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.
Have a good one.
Thomas Stafford
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Chad Stilson: submission
Thank you so much for extending the time. I hope the Clarksville High School likes my designs.
Thanks!
Chad B. Stilson
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Ben Traxel: submission
Hello Phil,
Thanks for another fun assignment! A little bit about my submittal, I started by looking up some quick history about Clarksville but didn’t find anything that really struck my eye from a uni standpoint. Looked over the school district website but still came up blank. Since the mascot is not incredibly unique I had nothing there either! Well, I went to Creamer’s website and looked up every college that used Wildcats as their name and checked out the options. Davidson seemed to have my favorite but I really didn’t want to do anything that detailed (call me lazy). So I just started messing with a C and seeing what I could come up with. Tried the paw thing but seemed overdone. Ended up with the Cat Eye in the center of a modified Reds/Bears C. Didn’t turn out too bad so I ran with it. Then I worked on the unis. The whites (actually cream) after a while ended up wanting to be single colored. I think the old style really came off nice. Stuck a generic C on the hat just because it seemed to go with that particular design. The grays and yellows are other design options as well. Anyway, I’m sure there will be plenty of tough competition but very glad to participate.
I worked some more on the Clarksville project and came up with a second set. Put some teeth in the C logo among other changes. Limited my use of purple as I know it is not a favorite of a lot of people, though being a Kansas State Alum it doesn’t bother me much (for bias reasons obviously!). Since the football coach likes black I mocked up some football unis and made black a large part of the design.
Thanks again.
Ben Traxel
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David Vines: submission
Hey, I’m David and I’m a student interested in graphic design. Below is a short description about each of the uniforms I designed and some of the styles that inspired them. Hope you like ‘em.
Primary Logo: A simple, clean, purple paw with a thin gold outline.
Alternate Logo: The three-paw “flag” alternate logo is modeled to reflect the state flag of Tennessee, with the stars on the flag being replaced by the school’s paw logo. This patch appears with gold paws and a purple backdrop, but these colors can be inverted.
Home Whites: These are easily my favorite of the bunch with the gold letters, purple pinstripes, and the primary paw logo as a sleeve patch. It’s very important that the stripes are as thin and as dark as possible on this jersey. There are also purple socks along with a purple belt, which I think is a nice final touch.
Road Greys: Grey uniforms with “Clarksville” written across the front and purple piping along the uniform. Sleeve patch, hat, and socks are the same as the home uniform.
Purple Alternates: Solid purple jerseys with gold sleeve piping and the “Wildcats” wordmark across the front with a black outline. It’s notable that the purple on the jersey is slightly lighter and the jersey’s wordmark is slightly more yellow than it appears on the other unis. These uniforms also need their own set of white pants, because the home pinstriped pants on a non-striped jersey would look like crap.
Black Alternates: Since your coach is asking for a black set, I created this alternate and a new cap to go along with it. The jersey has the letters “CHS” across the front, purple piping, and it goes with either grey or white pants. The most notable change on the uniform comes on the sleeve patch, where the three-paw “flag” logo is used instead of the primary paw logo.
Primary Hat: This cap features CHS Script logo in purple over a gold background, a purple brim, and a purple squatchee. The three-paw alternate logo is used as a patch on the side of the cap.
Alternate Hat: This hat is intended to be worn with the black jerseys, but can also serve some double duty with the gray roadies if you so choose. Similar to the Red Sox new alternate caps, this one features your team’s primary logo on the front over a black background, with a purple brim and squatchee to boot. What makes this makes this hat stand out are the small uniform numbers that are sewn onto the left side of the cap. I love football helmets with numbers on them (Alabama, Chargers throwbacks) and even though they are rarely if ever seen in baseball, I figured why not give it a try, especially since the black uniforms are the only ones with a numberless front.
~~~
Well, we’ve now completed Round III of the Design-A-Uniform contest. Yet another stellar round of submissions from all involved. Make sure you heap plenty of praise upon those who submitted their designs, as this was another fantastic batch. Our final round will be tomorrow, after which I believe Coach Walls will be making some of his final decisions, and we’ll put the finalists to a vote. Stay tuned!
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 UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game.
The Ducks, as I’m sure you’re all aware, WON the Civil War last Thursday evening, at Autzen Stadium, defeating the Oregon State Beavers, and in the process, earning a trip to the 2010 Rose Bowl against tOSU. Fantastic game was the Civil War, with the Ducks donning a “hybrid throwback/modern” uni set. Be sure to click on each of Mike’s graphics in the “Ducktracker” for pictures of each uniform combination the U of O has worn this season. He’s got some neat stuff in there, so poke around. Special thanks to Mike for providing updates for me and the UW board immediately following each game. It’s been a fun “ride” so far, with one more stop on New Year’s Day.
Here’s Your Updated Ducktracker
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Uni Watch CFL Fan and my buddy, Mike Styczen, who assisted me with some interesting trademark explanations (and with whom I plan on teaming up for a mega-post in the future), has done an outstanding bit on the Grey Cup, which is basically Canada’s equivalent of the Lombardi Trophy/Super Bowl. We had originally planned on having this run last Sunday, but because of the language barrier (I don’t speak Canadian), it was delayed until today. But, trust me, it’s well worth the wait. So, here’s Mike. — PH
The Grey Cup
By Mike Styczen
The 97th Grey Cup was played last Sunday between the western champion Saskatchewan Roughriders and the eastern champion Montréal Alouettes. The game was played at at McMahon Stadium in Calgary, Alberta — the end zone logo at the bottom of the photo is for the Calgary Stampeders, and at the top for the University of Calgary, who share McMahon with the Stampeders.
It was an exciting game, coming down to the last two plays. Montréal came back from 16 points down in the last 11 minutes, and with no time on the clock and Montréal down 2, Montréal kicker Damon Duval missed a 43 yard field goal. Saskatchewan wins! But wait – Saskatchewan is flagged for too many men on the field (13 instead of the regulation 12), and Duval kicks it through from 33 yards. Montréal wins 28-27!
Halftime entertainment was provided by Blue Rodeo, a reasonably innocuous Toronto pop-country band.
It was Montréal’s second win since 2000, against five losses in that time. Saskatchewan last won in 2007.
A little history about the Grey Cup itself:
The Grey Cup was originally donated in 1909 by Albert Grey (the Governor General of Canada and the grandson of the man for whom Earl Grey tea is named), to be awarded to the top amateur football team in Canada. For many years the trophy was awarded to a variety of amateur, military and university teams (including last Saturday’s Vanier Cup champions Queen’s Golden Gaels three times in the 1920s). From the 1950s onward, the Grey Cup was contested only among professional teams, and since the founding of the Canadian Football League in 1958, the trophy has been awarded to the CFL champion.
In one of the nicest traditions in sport, the Grey Cup is brought onto the field by Mounties in their red serge uniforms to be presented to the winning team. This year, in a bit of a twist, the Grey Cup was brought through the stands to the field.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are known for their rabid following. “Rider Nation” is known for following their team to road games in western Canada, dressing entirely in green, and (you couldn’t make this up) carving watermelons to wear as helmets or lingerie. Also remember that, for the World Junior hockey championships coming up in Saskatoon and Regina next spring, Team Canada is wearing a special green jersey to honour Saskatchewan fans and the Roughriders. Calgary has a large population of Saskatchewan expats and Regina is only 7 hours away by car, so the city was full of green, the stands at McMahon were full of green, and the city was actually sold out of watermelon last week.
The Riders home jersey is among the nicest in the league, green with a bit of black and white trim, worn with silver pants. The road jersey is a mirror image of the home jersey and is worn with green pants. This year, as part of the CFL’s “retro” year honouring the 1960s, they’ve been wearing a beautiful green throwback jersey with grey pants and a 1960s helmet logo, as well as a white alternate jersey with a different throwback helmet.
The Alouettes have a spotty history. The team was an original member of the CFL, moved into the weirdest stadium ever built (Autostade) in the 1960s and then Olympic Stadium in the 1970s. They made a splash signing NFL talent they couldn’t afford in the late 1970s and folded in 1982. The team was immediately reborn as the Montréal Concordes (owned by Expos founder Charles Bronfman), were renamed the Alouettes in 1986, and folded again at the beginning of the 1987 season.
The current Alouettes were founded in 1994 in Baltimore as part of the CFL’s ill-fated U.S. expansion, won the 1995 Grey Cup, and then moved north to Montréal with the move of the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore in 1996. They moved back to Olympic Stadium as the Alouettes and struggled at the gate for the first two seasons. In the fall of 1997, a scheduled U2 concert forced the Alouettes to move a playoff game to Percival Molson Stadium at McGill University in downtown Montréal at McGill University. The move to the smaller, more intimate venue caused a surge in interest in the team which has lasted to this day. The Alouettes now play their first 8 home games each year at Molson Stadium and their final home game and all playoff games at Olympic Stadium.
The Alouettes have an odd if memorable uniform. Red, white, blue, silver, black, I couldn’t tell you what their primary colour is. The home uniform is primarily red and the road uniform is primarily white, and this year they’ve also worn a blue alternate jersey, and a black alternate jersey. They’ve got red pants, blue pants and silver pants and I can’t figure out what gets worn with what, other than that they don’t wear monochrome. Twice this year as part of the retro year, they wore a sweet red throwback with white pants and an awesome white helmet.
Here’s one interesting quirk – the Canadian Football League is also known as the Ligue Canadienne de Football and has two official abbreviations: CFL (english) and LCF (french) with corresponding league logos. All teams wear a league patch at the base of their collars: the seven teams outside Québec wear a CFL patch and the Alouettes wear an LCF patch.
The Alouettes wore their usual white road jersey for the Grey Cup with blue pants and Saskatchewan wore grey pants with a new throwback jersey (similar to the throwback jerseys mentioned above, but with Colts-style shoulder stripes instead of sleeve stripes. Both teams wore advertising patches for Rona (a Canadian home improvement chain) and for Celebrex (arthritis medicine). There’s a much larger gallery of photos on the cfl’s web site.
It was a great week, lots of fun parties, a cool parade, lots of green, good weather, and a close game to top it off. Uni-wise, Saskatchewan was the clear winner with the throwbacks, it would have been nice if Montreal had broken out white versions of the throwbacks they wore during the season, but still the game looked very nice.
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Phil here. AWESOME job with that Mike. For many of those in the US who not only couldn’t be at the game, but couldn’t even WATCH it, this was an extra special treat.
 But wait! Uni Watch “screen grab general” and master “colorizer” Larry Bodnovich (who also assisted me with a column earlier this year) also has some amazing screen grabs he wants to share, and which put a perfect capper on this section.
Check out Larry’s magnificent screen grabs for a history of the Grey Cup, as well as a history of both Saskatchewan and Montreal in the CFL.
Had enough CFL yet? If not, you can always check out this column I co-authored with Hockey Wing President & 13th Man Teebz earlier this year, on the “defunct” American teams in the CFL’s ill-fated expansion south of the border.
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Another reader submission today, this one comes from Danny Wittels, and its neither a major sport nor from the United States, so I’m gonna have to rate the difficulty as “high”. Although, for those of you who follow sports outside of the United States, it may not be so difficult. As always, if possible, please try to find a LINK that includes the date, location, teams and final score. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
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Alrighty, Ricko’s got a new Benchies today, and I’ll let him do the honor of introducing it. Here’s the Rick:
“Ah, Friday nights. Such big plans. Such optimism. Come Saturday, though, your friend wants to know how it went. You can say something vague. Make him think… Aw, hell, better to just explain how life makes your head spin…”
Thanks Ricko. Enjoy your Saturday Benchies.
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 Lukas In The News: In case some of you missed it in the comments section yesterday, UW Prexy Paul Lukas was featured in a fantastic piece in Newsday, which is a pretty big paper in the NYC/LI area. Now, the article is “subscriber” only, but since I’m also an Optimum Online customer, I get the whole article. For those of you who can’t read past the first few lines, here’s the relevant portions:
Nike mostly threw history and lore out the window in favor of drumming up retail sales. By putting “a visual signifier on a dozen different teams,” as sports uniform maven Paul Lukas pointed out in a telephone interview, “you’re creating a cross-branding thing. By doing that, you’re saying that individual teams and schools are not what matters. You’re creating a new team. Team Nike.”
Lukas readily acknowledges occupying “a very geeky niche” in “obsessing” – his word – over sports uniforms with his on-line uniwatch blog and similar Uni Watch column for ESPN.com. But he is not alone, generating comments from readers as numerous and passionate as arguments over polls and the BCS bowl system.
“People who care about uniforms care a lot about uniforms,” he said. “They care about the visual aspect of sports. They care about logos. They care about team colors.”
Those logos and colors facilitate a team-follower association, while the Nike culture is “the retail tail wagging the on-field dog” situation, as Lukas put it, in which “the first question you now ask [about team uniforms] is, ‘How is this going to sell at the team shop or at Modells?’
“In sports, especially college sports where players change so much – in four years a whole new roster – what is constant? What are you rooting for? It’s that uniform and that logo. If you change the design, it’s jarring. You’re messing with something people feel very strongly about.”
“It’s interesting what is happening in college sports, and especially college football,” Lukas said. “It used to be that the sportswear companies did what the schools told them to do. Now it’s the other way around and Nike, especially, gives the marching orders. The outfitter somehow supersedes the school, and has unfortunately been successful with turning the proper relation of team-and-outfitter on its head.
“To my mind, it’s an honor for Nike to be making the uniforms for a school. But they’re a retailer as well and an outfitter, marketing to younger fans who buy this stuff. So you’ve got a 18-year-old sensibility driving what hundreds of thousands, really millions of fans and alumni, have to look at. Basically, the inmates are running the asylum.
“This is part of the larger video-game-ization of sports, the superhero-ization of sports. When you use terms like ‘pro combat,’ you have these fantasy teams and the players become like comic-book superheroes. And superheroes don’t wear uniforms. They wear costumes.”
Bad ones, at that.
Well said, Paul. And props to Newsday writer John Jeansonne for a well-written (and obviously well-researched) article.
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That’ll do it for this fine Saturday. I guess there are a few football games of note today — like the SEC Championship (pitting No. 1 Florida against No. 2 Alabama), plus the Big XII Championship and the ACC Championship, and a few other big and small games of note. Don’t forget to post some of your nominees for “Best” or “Worst” uni matchup of the day.
Thanks again to everyone who submitted their Clarksville Design-A-Uni entries (final set coming tomorrow) and make sure you give some love to today’s submitters; thanks also to Mike Styczen (“Mike 2″), for a terrific Grey Cup “mini-article,” and for everyone who’s been sending me NFL ‘uni tweaks’ — another batch will also run tomorrow.
Everyone have a fantastic Saturday!
December 5th, 2009
By Phil Hecken
Back with round two of the “Design-A-Uniform” contest entries for the Clarksville High School baseball team. If you missed the first batch of entries, you can see the whole thing here. Today we move on to the second set of entries, and they are every bit as good as the first. So, let’s get started:
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Adam Hainsfurther: submission
-Adam Hainsfurther-
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Peter Halbrooks: submission
I look forward to seeing everyone else’s designs!
Peter
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Joe Hilseberg: submission
Hey Phil,
So I threw a design together. I really like High School uniforms to be basic. Knowing that they already have the Cubs styled “C” hat I though I would work from that.
Home Jersey: I really played off of the Cubs look and feel here by introducing a home pinstripe. It can be black or purple…not gold! I also created a “Cville” logo to mesh perfectly with the existing hat. I think this design can hold up well over time. And of course all of the jerseys feature the Cubs number style…why not go all the way?
Road Jersey: Super clean. Basic varsity font and vertical arching. Enough said.
Alt Black: This jersey introduces a new alt CHS logo as well. I’ve personally always prefered the paw logo over the “angry cat” logo when dealing with cat themed teams. This is just a variation of a paw with stylized interlocking CHS letters. This logo can also be used as a sleeve patch on the home or road.
Let me know your thoughts.
-Joe Hilseberg
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Thomas Huppé: submission
Hope it will help.
Regards
Thomas Huppe
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Patrick Karraker: submission
Phil:
Here is my entry for the Design a Uniform contest. I designed two new logos for Clarksville — one which is a re-colored version of the Clemson paw logo, and a brand new “CHS” logo. For the uniforms, I created an almost Oregon-esque set featuring five jerseys and three caps, although I have preset uniforms so there is none of that crazy “mix-n-match” stuff. The first one, the primary home uniform, is a sleveless model featuring that CHS wordmark that the Clarksville coaches love. I paired this one with the black “CHS” cap. I think if any team is doing a redesign, they should have a pinstripe option, so that is my first home alternate, and I paired that one with the purple paw cap. The second home alternate, my personal favorite, is a black jersey, paired with a black paw cap, special for this jersey. For my road jerseys, my primary set is a gray jersey inspired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ road set pre-exorcism, which I always thought was one of the more underrated uniforms in baseball. This jersey is paired with the purple paw cap. Finally, my road alternate is a sleveless purple jersey which has an LSU feeling to it. This one is paired with the CHS logo cap. Good luck to the Wildcats this season, hope to see them winning with this look.
Patrick Karraker
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Eeth Koth: submission
I’ve attached my submission.
I only did one treatment being I’m a better thinking these things up than executing.
As you’ll see with my MS Paint nightmare.
~~~
Matthew Lanzoff: submission
Hey Phil,
First off let me say I love reading your work. Each of the writers bring a great voice to blog and as an everyday reader it nice to have things change up. Well with out any further ado, here’s what I put together for the Clarksville squad.
As a child of the 80s, hearing the name Wildcats my thoughts immediately go to the Thundercats. So thats where I started with my design. While I hate it on my Mets, I’ve never really minded it on some baseball teams I think it looks good on the field so I took the coach’s cues and put together a black home uniform. The white arm bands, which might be impossible to get from a uniform supplier, are inspired by Tygra’s random yellow embellishment on his sleeve. The chest crest is of course inspired by the Thundercats logo itself.
On the road, I thought the Clarksville squad would look best in a more traditional grey. This time we get the initials woodmark across the chest, complete with cartoon cat inspired font, and the sleeve bands make a return. For the team’s heads I wanted to go with something understated but consistent with the rest of the look, so I whipped up this.
I liked the idea of a school having a running theme through all their teams looks; so as a special bonus, I put the cat logo on a football helmet. I think its pretty appropriate.
Thanks,
Matt Lanzoff
~~~
Steve Lastname: submission
Hi Phil,
Attached are two files. One is the home and away jersey (and pants), the other is two possible alternates. Let me say that I don’t like the logo on the black alt, but I figured I’d explore it. I might like it more if I had more time to design the letters to look like the ones on the Cubs uniform. But then again, a Cubs logo rendered in yellow and purple on a black jersey just doesn’t look right, no matter how good the letters look.
Thanks,
Steve
~~~
Ryan Muraro: submission
Hey Phil,
My name is Ryan Muraro, and I am an aspiring design who just graduated this May with an Industrial Design degree from the University of Wisconsin Stout. Recently I read your entry about the Clarksville High School Wildcat baseball team’s desire for a rebranding effort, and I would like to entry my designs for consideration of fulfilling this request. The entry consists of 3 logos and 3 uniforms, descriptions as follows;
- The logos were built for identity consistency, as all of the logos are built around the cap logo, which will remain as was requested. Currently the Clarksville H.S. teams use several logos from various sources, so the hope was to create a logo set that could be used across the athletic department if desired. The “Chicago Cubs” C is perfect for building apon; being so symmetrical creates a perfect base. The First two logos are the Wildcat logos, one with full body and one with a cropped body. I took inspiration from the University of Kentucky logo primarily, but was sure to keep the logo’s look original. These are simple two-color logos, if there would be a desire to create more detailed-looking Wildcats, there is the option for that. The full version is a primary mark for print materials, spirit gear, etc; the secondary mark is streamlined with the exclusion of the Wildcat’s legs for use on team uniform elements (jerseys, caps; if it were to be used for other athletic teams, it would work for an excellent football helmet logo). The third logo is the CHS lettermark logo, again built off of the Cub C hat logo. Not much description needed for this logo, it’s meant to be a strong, clean, simple, versatile logo.
- The uniforms are pretty self-explanatory. The alternate is very Purple, but I must be crazy for not being afraid of the color. Purple, though, makes for a terrible complement to black, so there is no use of black throughout this uniform set. If black were to be uses, I would suggest either altering the shade of purple used with that uniform set, or just avoiding the use of purple all-together. The home uniform is super clean, the aways have an original script mark, the numbers are standard jersey block style, while the font is a standard sans-serif type (Abadi in this application, but is meant to be altered depended on what the manufacturer has available).
That may be a bit wordy, but I want to make sure there is a good basic understanding of my mindset while undergoing this design process. I hope that, even if this isn’t the design chosen, that my effort and skill are evident in the final product. Best of luck in the future, and thanks for this opportunity.
Ryan Muraro
~~~
Joseph Obermaier: submission
Hi Phil,
Here is my entry in the design a uniform contest. It was enormous fun. I missed out on the Sartell Sabres call…would have loved to try my hand at that one… Love the site! (I, too, once thought I was alone as a uni watcher.)
Here are the four pieces (putting on my best Michael Kay voice from when he was only on the radio):
1. Wildcat “mascot” logos, appropriately mean and inspired (maybe too much) by Halloween.
2. A home uni, proud whites with purple sleeves, trim and gold accents. Home mascot patch above the heart. “Wildcats” across the chest, purple trimmed in gold; matching colors for the oversized number on back. NOB in untrimmed purple. Purple stirrups with gold stripes trimmed in white (must be worn high!). Also with a “CHS” cap that is reminiscent of the great Habs (Canadiens) logo. The font is Copperplate Gothic.
3. An away uni, heavily gray, with plenty of black, and purple and gold accents. Away mascot patch above the heart. “Centerville” across the chest, gold trimmed in purple. Also with a CHS cap and oversized number on back; same fonts as the home uni, but with the colors inverted. NOB in untrimmed purple. Black stirrups with purple stripes trimmed in white.
4. An “alternate” jersey, no sleeves, with black and purple claw marks on upper right, and longer claw marks on corresponding shoulder on the back. “Wildcats” across the chest in a scratchy font called Viner Hand, purple trimmed in black. Number below left, same color scheme. Oversized number on back in same colors. NNOB (would mess with my claw marks). Same stirrups as the away uni; purple pants (I know, but why not for an alternate uni?). The cap is purple, with black brim, large gray panel in front containing the home mascot.
Anyway, there they are. I would love to hear any feedback the other uni watchers have on the designs. And find me some more contests like this one!
Thanks.
Joe
~~~
Well, that’s going to do it for the second round of the Design-A-Uniform contest entries. There are many more awesome ones like the ones you see today still to come. Make sure you praise and comment upon today’s entrants. Their work is awesome (and hopefully, it won’t devalue the profession).
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Got a brand new “Benchies” for you today, and it’s in color, much like the UCLA/USC uniforms last evening. Here’s Ricko to give you the rundown:
“Ah, the Holidays, that time of year when TV introduces the world of Mick and Mike to all the new high tech gadgetry out there. Imagine the excitement in BenchiesLand.”
Enjoy your Sunday Benchies.
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Our next batch of NFL uni tweaks feature more interesting concepts from the readership. Despite one or two posters not enjoying the reader designs, the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, and I have several more tweaks still to come. If you’re interested in this, please drop me a line and put in the subject line: “Uni Tweaks (your team[s])”.
First up is Patrick Woody who bring us this:
Hey Phil,
I know you’re getting bombarded with these things, but I’ve had a few NFL redesign concepts gathering dust for a while in the wasteland of my hard drive.
First up is one for the Titans. Basically I matched the helmet stripes up with the pants, removed all the Jetsons elements, and tweaked the logo to look more traditional and less cartoonish. The three stars on the sleeves probably doesn’t work, but I wanted to slap something on there and didn’t want to replicate the helmet logo.
Second is the Ravens, who to me are the Minnesota Timberwolves of the NFL. Like the Titans, here I wanted to remove the gimmicky cartoon elements (sorry, I can’t stand the superhero/cartoon trend) and make them look more like an established and storied franchise and less like a team playing in the Arena Bowl. Still, I wanted to keep the purple and black, even though I’m not a fan of that combo. On the jersey, I went with single-color block numbers because there is never a time when that doesn’t look good. The mustard pants would never fly, but I wanted to see how they looked. I left the cartoon bird head logo (limited by MS Paint – not much I can do with logos), but removed the superfluous “B”.
And last is the Falcons. Ok, this is pretty much just their recent throwback uniform, but I really think it’s such a damn-near perfect look that you can’t do much to improve upon it. I used a version of the red helmet without the gold stripes, although I do think the gold stripes would work. I also threw in the gray pants as a nod to the Bartkowski era uni’s, but with the throwback striping pattern. Of course, that pretty much made them the Giants pants with slightly different colors. Oh well.
~~~
Next up is Greg Skaljac, who has some thoughts on the Browns:
Love your site and the articles on changing some awful NFL unis — lifelong Browns fan, but can’t stand the current unis — need some modern updates.
See attached “brown jersey”, “wht jersey” and “alternate orange” looks…I also put in a new helmet utilizing the classic “brownie elf” with their original white helmets
~~~
Next up is Matt English, a Bills fan with an idea for a new helmet:
As a Bills fans, I thought they’ve been long overdue for a uni tweak. For starters, taking out the navy and going with a straight white/red/royal blue design. Here’s what I whipped up for a helmet redesign. It was originally primarily red, but I decided at the last minute in Photoshop to make it primarily silver/white. I brought back the old standing Buffalo logo. The stripes through the logo give a sort of Montreal Canadiens vibe, overall I think it has a retro aesthetic without being too plain.
~~~
Moving along, we have Mike Boriotti, who dislikes the current Panthers uniform, and has this to say:
So, I personally hate the Carolina Panthers look. I think the shoulder stripes are way to busy, the pants are ugly, and they completely misuse their quasi-Carolina Blue color; look at the UNC football team and you’ll see the correct way to utilize Carolina Blue. What I did was completely change the Panthers to much more traditional looking jerseys, pants, and socks. Other changes included getting rid of silver as one of there colors all together, using a new logo, and changing the blue to a much darker shade. The new logo is actually based on the 1947-1955 Pittsburgh Panthers logo, which I like better because it shows the entire Panther, and the Panther also looks like it is stalking its prey- very aggressive and masculine. One non-traditional thing I did was following the Jacksonville Jaguars in pairing black helmets with black pants, which for my money, is really cool looking when executed correctly. Also, the seams aren’t meant to be seen like on the Buffalo Bills, they just look that way. Big thanks and keep kickin’ fuckin’ ass UniWatch.
~~~
Last up for today is John Loukadakis, who points out that what follows are not actually his designs, but they are some new tweaks for the Redskins:
First let me say this is NOT my design, I read the Warpath as I am a HUGE Deadskins fan, another fan designed this, I just wanted to bring to your attention.
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UW #1 Seahawks Fan Michael Princip has been tracking the Oregon Ducks and all of their 2,456 possible uniform combinations this season. He’ll be updating it after each game.
The Ducks were idle yesterday, but they’ve got a HUGE game coming up this Thursday (December 3, 2009) in Autzen, when they meet their cross-state rival OSU Beavers in the 113th edition of the Civil War. Always a big game, this one is for a Rose Bowl birth! And, knowing the two combatants, you never know what kind of crazy uniforms they may break out just for this game. Will the Ducks finally break out the carbon helmets? Will the Beavers counter with their own version of pro-combat riflery uniforms that Paul first tipped us off to in his NCAA season preview back in the first week of September? Gonna be a true run for the roses Thursday next.
Here’s Your Updated Ducktracker
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, a little bit of twist to today’s entry, which comes courtesy of reader Andrew Leavitt. I know from what sport this comes, but you folks may need to put on your thinking caps. Pretty good puzzler today, but not for you die hards. Please, if possible, LINK to the answer in the comments. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. Date, location, teams and final score, please. And, as always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
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 In case you missed the comments late yesterday, reader Tod Hess (aka “aflfan”) graced the boards with a fantastic write up of some High School football they play in Detroit. I’ll let him describe it, along with the recap of the games. Here’s Tod:
“Every year in Michigan means one thing, Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) State Football Championship. They started in 1975 with four divisions and have now expanded to eight divisions. The finals are now played at Ford Field on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and had previous been played at the Pontiac Silverdome and before that Western Michigan University. Below are the photos from this year’s Championships. It is my favorite weekend of the year as I use to do stats for the finals for several years. You see almost every kind of offense you can imagine for spread to I formation to wishbone to veer to single wing and if Menominee makes it down to Ford Field you get to see the single wing. You also see lots of different uniform styles.”
Thanks Tod. And now, here’s a rundown of the games:
The Michigan High School Athletic Association held their boys football finals at Ford Field yesterday and today. Here are some pictures of the uniform match ups
Division 1: Detroit Catholic Central (blue) vs. Sterling Heights Stevenson (white)
Division 2: Lowell (red) vs. Inkster (white)
Division 3: East Grand Rapids (Blue) vs. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (white)
Division 4: Marshall (white) vs. Three Rivers (Purple)
Division 5: Jackson Lumen Christi (white) vs. Clare (green)
Division 6: Montague (blue) vs. Monore St. Mary’s Catholic Central (white)
Division 7: Traverse City St. Francis (Blue) vs. Hudson (white) — Hudson is way to busy to me.
Division 8: Beal City (white) vs. Crystal Falls Forest Park (black with striped socks)
* Those are photo galleries where you can look through a bunch of pictures. Great stuff, Tod, and thanks!
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Our man in the street, Jim Vilk, brings you his “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from Saturday’s games:
Honorable Mention to the best looking university game in Canada yesterday, the Vanier Cup between U. of Calgary/Queen’s U. — Okay, so it was the only game in Canada yesterday…
5. Washington State/Washington — A pretty sweet-looking Apple Cup
4. ND/Stanford — And one dandy of a ballgame, too.
3. Tennessee/Kentucky — Best of a slow week for the SEC.
2. Tulane/SMU — A serious contender for #1…if not for…
1. UCLA/USC – Wow! All that’s missing is Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles.
And the Worst Uni Matchup: Arizona/Arizona State – Wildcats won the game, but lost for the 2nd week in a row here.
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 And Finally…the Riflery Unis: I’ve been pretty hard on Nike these past few weeks for their “treatment” of school tradition with their superhero new “Pro Combat” uniforms that will supposedly turn the wearers into mythical warriors. I bashed the manufacturer for their hype, but never really commented on the uniforms themselves. Well, I dragged the man on the street, the man who never met a uniform he didn’t like, to assist with his unbiased opinion of the unis foisted upon us this past week. Yep, Jim Vilk will trade barbs with me on the riflery unis. Here’s Jim:
“This weekend we saw another round of Nike “Pro Combat” unis. Their purpose, of course, is to make my job harder when picking the Top 5 matchups. Okay, actually, their purpose is to give the players a lighter, state-of-the-art and more fashionable (?) uni blending the past and the future. This time, there were seven teams involved, which you will see below.”
Clemson: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
JV: Fine from the front. What’s that on the backside, chaps?
PH: Agreed. I actually liked Clemson in this. But WTF is with Nike and these pants. It’s like, they imagined a the pants as a picture frame that needed a border or something. With the focus on the buttocks. There is a pattern here.
Florida: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
JV: Again with the chaps. Otherwise, I really liked this one.
PH: This one is bad. Mono-blue, and the picture frame pants — a signature pattern for swoosh.
LSU: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
JV: Not bad. I can handle the wraparound leg stripes. I’d rather have yellow, too.
PH: Gold (intersting shade) helmet? Good; Jersey? Good; pants stripes that neither start nor end anywhere? Not good. Liked the “sleeve” stripes tho.
Miami, Fla.: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
JV: An improvement on the regular uni! Two-color numbers are kind of cool. Stripes too far on the backside, but at least they’re not chaps.
PH: Gotta agree here, as well. Definitely better than anything they’ve trotted out there in the past decade. I don’t mind the two color numbers, and they kept the pants relatively clean. Good job with this one.
Missouri: Exhibit A and Exhibit B
JV: From a distance, and in the right light, that’s almost a Seahawks away uni. Glad to see they managed to find a little room for some gold…
PH: If I am judging this solely as a uniform, I actually like it…a lot. But, could they have taken away any more of Mizzou’s identity in the process? At least the bottom of the cleats and the shoulders had some gold. And that helmet was pretty cool.
Texas: Exhibit A and Exhibit B
JV: A lateral move from a classic uni. Very well done.
PH: Outstanding job. Only two complaints: probably could have used a normal (if that’s possible) stripe on the pants, and, even though they were actually true as they could be to the original, I wish the helmet logo and numbers were either different sizes or that the numbers would have been black. Just would have made it easier on the eyes. But a nice job, swoosh.
VA Tech: Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
JV: Another improvement on the regulars, but that’s not saying much. Don’t mind the fading numbers and stripes.
PH: Another not-so-bad one, but they ruined it with the signature pants “swoosh” or whatever you wanna call it. But if that was their only digression, then I say, not too bad. Better than their current uni, but they should make their throwbacks their full time gig.
Final thoughts:
JV: In short, if you take away all the hype that surrounded these, you end up with what uni makers usually have – some hits and some misses.
PH: While I totally disagree with the entire exercise (did any of these teams really need “new” uniforms to begin with???), and think it’s more hype designed to move more merch, as uniforms, this batch wasn’t too bad. There, I said it.
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OK, whew…another short one. But hey, there was a lot to cover this morning. The pros take over the gridiron today, and don’t forget, tonight at 6:30 EST, the Grey Cup (that’s like, the Super Bowl for Canada) is taking place in Calgary. My buddy Mike Styczen reports that the entire city is sold out of watermelons. Why, you ask? Because Roughrider fans cut them, gut them, and wear them on their heads, like helmets. I shit you not. I guess that’s Canada’s answer to the cheesehead. Anyway, if you get it on your television, it’s a great game (and hopefully, both the Als and the Riders will be wearing their sweet throwbacks) and definitely worth watching.
Uni Watch Winter Classic Update: If you missed last weekend’s announcement of the UWWC, click here and scroll down to the second item, where Ricko describes the whole thing. Both Paul and I will be attending, and among all the other activities described, Paul plans on holding a Uni Watch Gathering at one of the local watering holes. Full details to be announced at a later date, but we hope to see as many of you as possible (so far, besides Ricko and Teebz, I believe rpm, Ben Traxel, jth and at least 20 others are planning to attend). Could be the biggest Uni Watch Gathering to date! Mark your calendars for January 22, 23 & 24, 2010.
Have a fantastic Sunday everyone.
November 29th, 2009
By Phil Hecken
OK, the long-awaited “Design-A-Uniform” contest entries have finally been all uploaded and flickr’ed (there were approximately 190 individual entries, from close to 40 entrants) that came in. That’s far too many to display in one post, so I’m going to be breaking them up into several different articles, interspersed with some other subjects, so as to give a little more variety into the weekend columns. I figure the easiest way to do this is to let each artist have his or her say, and to then link all their submissions to their own flickr set (since some had as few as one single submission, some containing multiple graphic, to others who sent me a dozen or more). And to be democratic about it, I’ll be doing it in alphabetical order. So, if your last name begins with “W” (and there were 7 of you who fall into that category), your submissions will be last, but that’s simply because of where you fall in the alphabet.
This entire contest began about a month ago, when I had posted a couple emails I had been trading with Marc Walls, pitching coach for the Clarksville WIldcats, which turned into the Design-A-Uniform Contest (and which was followed up with a column later that week by Paul which questioned whether contests such as this “devalue” the work of graphic designers). Well, I won’t decide the merits of either side of that argument, because what you are about to see are some pretty outstanding efforts by readers who participated in the contest. The guidelines were pretty simple:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
*The parameters: colors are purple and gold.
Not everyone followed the guidelines to a “T” (and a couple of you even submitted, as a bonus, football uniforms for the school). But everyone who participated did an outstanding job, and deserve your compliments and praise.
So without further ado, let’s look at the first 10 entrants (alphabetically). Simply “click” on the “thumbnails” in each link to view them full-size; you can also click on “detail” to view them (if there are more than one) in one full page, in almost full-size — clicking on those thumbnails will then provide you with a large picture:
~~~
Andy Altemus: submission
Here is my entry for Clarksville baseball. Me and my roommates helped with the designs. We like the pinstripe look and of course the classic stirrups are key. The two-toned hat design was also a favorite. Hope you like it.
Andy
~~~
Chad Anderson: submission
Here are my two entries in the Clarksville High design a uniform contest.
I didn’t actually design a uniform but I did design two logos!
~~~
Gretchen Atwood: submission
Phil,
I chose a uni builder that did not include caps so these are not exactly complete. But you get the idea of what the color scheme could be. I imagine gold/purple or purple/gold “CHS” caps with these.
Home: I am not a fan of lots of contrasted color piping everywhere. And purple is simply not a baseball color. So I would go with crisp whites with gold and purple accents, light on the purple.
Away: Again, keeping it simple. In this case have the uni number and outline in gold and only have the mascot name with purple and white. Makes the name pop while keeping the uni number visible but not competing with the name.
Alternate: I am also not a big fan of doing black just because. But since the coach wants it, here it is. Again, keeping the uni numbers simple so they don’t compete with the name.
Gretchen Atwood
~~~
Jeff Bahry: submission
Here are my entries for the Clarksville Wildcats. Home whites, road greys, purple alt and black alt uniforms along with two cap designs. I didn’t get too crazy with the “C” redesign, but gave it a more modern edge. I also used a variety of lettering and numbering fonts in an effort to create a unique look. I added gold piping to the black caps b/c I thought it looked cool! Here are some logos to consider, too.
~~~
Jake C.: submission
Just the white uni for now, that’s all i had time for. I just went with a classic design using the purple and gold as the primary colors. Double-striped pant leg, sleeves and collar, just kept it simple. Although I’m not a big fan of black, I used it as the primary color for the cap as requested. Custom logo with the wildcat paw and the CHS logo inside it. That’s about all I’ve got, hope you enjoy it, oh and the striped stirrups!
-Jake C.
~~~
Kevin Callahan: submission
Kevin Callahan – Creative Director, Alterra Coffee.
~~~
Kevin Connolly: submission
Hey Phil,
I’m an avid reader of uni-watch but rarely participate in the daily conversation. I was, however, intrigued by the design a uniform contest. I have a few options in my design and due to it’s overall size, I’ve compressed it into a pdf file that I’ve attached. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s contributions.
Regards,
Kevin Connolly
~~~
Joe Csikos: submission
Here is my shot at a home, away, and alternate uni for Clarksville.
Thanks,
Joe
~~~
Matthew Donnelly: submission
Thanks for this contest. I love to try my hand at these things.
I am a graphics teacher at a high school in Northeast PA, so I came into this with some idea how to pull this off. I tried to keep my thinking inside the box, as I know how public school budgets work and what can or can’t be produced.
For the hat, I incorporated a “CHS” logo based on the 1950’s-1960’s White Sox. I also included the wildcat logo on the brim. I have always liked contrasting brims, so I went with that in all of the designs as well.
The Home (pinstriped) and Road I kept fairly conventional – script logos, single stripe socks (I’m afraid that stirrups are gone at this level), and a wildcat logo on the left chest below the name. I “borrowed” the wildcat from a British rugby team and modified it for my own use – Inside a school, we can claim Fair Use.
I varied things a little on the yellow – A paw under the script logo and a LSU-like logo on the cap, leaving the brim alone. On this and the purple, I made the sock stripe vertical. Perhaps it is my own aversion to Yellow as a base uniform color, but this is my least favorite.
I gave the yellow alternate white pants, probably thinking of it as a home alt. So, the purple one has gray pants. I made the purple a pullover, with the largest graphic on the front – the full modified ‘wildcats’ script and logo from our friends across the water at Wakefield Trinity. I opted to reverse the regular hat, with the wildcat logo on the center of the hat, with CHS on the brim.
I also designed a sleeve patch, which I’m not fully satisfied with and may be too busy – I may need to make a choice between the wildcat or the CHS, but not both, even with a ghosting effect.
Thanks,
Matt Donnelly
New Milford, PA
~~~
Jamie Dupler: submission
For my uni design, I like the one color-white-two color look, I also like the number on the front and the script represents a classic look. Not a huge fan on purple and a black alternative, but I just went with a simple look with all three colors included. I spend about 2 hours a week on the beta.easports.com website designing unis under the team builder section of ncaa football 10.
~~~
That’s going to do it for the first batch of “Design-A-Uniform” submissions — there are many more to come, and they’re all as good as this first set. I’ll have the second batch tomorrow. Remember to thank the submitters for their hard work, and let them know what you think!
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 Division Two Football-Where Uni Design Goes To Die Ain’t Quite Dead…
By Phil Hecken & Jim Vilk
I’m back again with our man on the street, Jim Vilk, who loves him some Division 2 football. He insists that there are some really good uniforms to be found in this rarely seen division, and I, like Fox Mulder, I want to believe. So Jim scoured the circuit and came up with some unis he really likes…but will I? Let’s find out. Here’s Jim:
After reading our uni-review when the season began, one may have come away feeling there is nothing good to see in the land of Division II football. Today’s piece will try to dismiss that notion. Looking at close to 150 schools throughout the season, I have compiled a list of my favorite D-2 unis. Phil has taken a look at them, and we’ve both added our comments. The schools are not ranked in order of preference. I just went through the list in the order I found on D2Football.com. Apparently the smaller schools cut back on the photography budget, as there are some where I could only find home unis or last year’s sets. Anyway, you will see some different styles – some classic, some new. The only common factor is that, “Yes, I’d wear that uni.”
NORTHWOOD:
PH: Awful. Even UNC can’t make this combo look this bad.
JV: I put them in because of the great color combo, plus they contained the “bumper sticker” effect to the pits.
WEST GEORGIA:
PH: Nice.
JV: Yes sir!
LAKE ERIE COLLEGE:
Home (Jim saw that game and snapped that pic, by the way) and Away
PH: Awful. Times 2. How can you ruin black & green? I guess it’s possible.
JV: Original. I like the lightning bolts separating the colors.
ANGELO STATE:
PH: Not bad, but I could do without the Rams helmet.
JV: I’m a sucker for Rams helmets, especially when you add shoulder loops.
WASHBURN:
PH: Hmmm. Not too bad, but lose the yokes.
JV: Yokes save the uni – they break up the dark blue.
SAINT ANSELM:
PH: Great helmet, awful shoulders.
JV: Love the helmet. The shoulders jazz it up without going overboard. Might be tied with West Georgia for my favorite.
BEMIDJI STATE:
PH: NICE! If memory serves, I even liked their hockey sweaters. How you say their name again?
JV: Thought you’d like that. I like the original beaver logo in natural colors gracing the classic Jets-like uni.
GANNON: Home and Away
PH: Gorgeous, just need pants stripes.
JV: Yep.
KUTZTOWN:
PH: What BC should look like.
JV: Yep. Perhaps with a BC instead of a KU…
MILLERSVILLE:
PH: Only Iowa should look like the Steelers. And even they shouldn’t.
JV: But they have yellow numbers, so they’re different. Keep ‘em.
SHIPPENSBURG:
PH: Zee goggles…zey do nossing.
JV: Step outside the box, my friend. The logo is cool, and deserves a cool uni.
SLIPPERY ROCK:
PH: Whoa! Absolutely gorgeous! I even like the green socks…best Div 2 uni ever…maybe.
JV: Alas, they had white socks when I saw them play. Nevertheless, they do look good.
WEST CHESTER:
PH: Purple & athletic gold? Um…no. And, round these parts, “West Chester” is one word, yo.
JV: At least they also didn’t use the LA Rams’ colors.
PH: You say that like it’s a good thing.
CSU PUEBLO, COLO.:
PH: Um…no. Just no.
JV: Um, original. Well, the sleeve stripe appears to be.
NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS:
PH: AWFUL. Are we done yet?
JV: And yet I liked it, even though it’s a BFBS. Shoulder loops helped.
Finally, KENTUCKY STATE:
PH: Are you kidding me?
JV: I think it’s the green and yellow. I’ve seen far worse.
PH: Yet, you’d wear that. Man, I don’t think I’d ever want to see what’s in your closet.
Well, I have nothing else to say, so I’ll let Jim finish it up. Jim?
JV: As previously mentioned, this is not THE list of best Division II uniforms. If you’d like to show off a school whose unis you like, please post it in the comments section. I’d love to find out what you consider your favorite. At least we’ve seen that not all D-2 unis are coporately designed from the same template. There is variety, and maybe a little life here, after all.
Oh, and no, you you don’t want to know what’s in my closet (From last Christmas – the Hawaiian shirt is actually a Nativity scene. The tie is holly and ivy with French horns and the pants were part of a throwback Virginia Squires warmup [donated the top but kept the pants].)
~~~
Thus (mercifully) endeth the D-2 uniform rundown, unless you all have something else to share. Thanks to Jim for finding these. I think.
You may not know it, but Jim actually attends some D-2 football games, so while his opinion of their unis may not agree with mine, at least he’s heard of some of the schools we’ve reviewed today. And not only that, Jim’s a bit of a Division II shutterbug. Check it out:
JV:Went through my photos and found some halfway decent ones. Now let’s get your opinion:
Cal U. of PA/Slippery Rock: here, here, and here
Ky. Wesleyan/Lake Erie: here, here, here, and here.
Marian/Walsh: here. (NAIA schools, but better facilities than D-II – that’s at the Football Hall of Fame in Canton)
If nothing else, I had a blast going to the games and walking around taking the pics. If the NFL goes through with their work stoppage, screw them. I’ll take D-II anyday.
~~~~~~~~~~
Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Back to the diamond for today’s GTG. This one comes courtesy of Shaun Tunick, who has supplied us with a bew-tee-ful picture. Might not rate that high on the difficulty scale, but the pic alone is worth it. Don’t forget, please do NOT post the answer in the comments, but instead, post the link. Ready? Guess The Game From The Scoreboard. As always, if you enjoy the game, please send me some new scoreboards! Drop me a line. Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~
Mick and Mike are back in the apartment again, the way it should be — watching Chuck on the little tube. No — not that Chuck. Distracted tho they be by the commercials, the boys still manage to find humor in any situation. Or so it seems. Enjoy your Saturday Benchies. Take care, old frog, you croak too much against Moses. Or something.
~~~~~~~~~~
Our man in the street, Jim Vilk, brings you a SPECIAL “Top 5″ Best and one WORST college football uni matchup from Thursday and Friday’s games:
5. Wyoming/Colorado State — Because CSU’s in-state rivals really dragged down the Nebraska/Colorado matchup.
4. Pitt/WVU — Monochrome or not, it’s a sweet matchup.
3. Temple/Ohio — Ditto.
2. Alabama/Auburn — Tide almost lost #2 ranking, but this uni-matchup was a solid #2 regardless.
1. Texas/Texas A&M — Phil said it best: “Even Nike couldn’t screw up the Horns’ unis…this one was a classic.”
And the worst matchup: Memphis/Tulsa – I don’t dislike the colors, but the blues are too similar and the unis are too busy. Sorry, Leon.
~~~~~~~~~~
Alrighty then, that’s going to do it for this fine last Saturday in November. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Plenty of college football (at least the real, Division I kind) today, what with some riflery rivalry games and some big “intrastate” games as well. Haven’t heard whether USC/UCLA will be color vs. color again this year, but it’s definitely worth checking out (they play at 7:00 PST). And will the Gators vs. Noles be Bobby B’s last game ever? Could that be a riflery game? (If so, that’d be some kinda color on color matchup, if both teams play along.) Good stuff ahead, for sure.
Have a great day everyone.
November 28th, 2009
By Phil Hecken
You guys will recall several weeks ago I ran a “Design-A-Cap” contest, for Coach Jerome Nemanich and his Sartell Sabres, and the results were outstanding. Reader Marc Walls saw the original contest, and thought our fantastic readers could do the “Design-A-Cap” one better — to wit: Design A Whole Uniform!
Here’s Marc’s original e-mail to me explaining his idea:
Love the work you’ve been doing on the website. I really enjoyed the design a cap idea for today’s column. I saw that you had proposed a design a uni option. I think that’s a great idea, and if you’re interested I’d like to offer the school I coach to be the team you choose.
I am one of the baseball coach’s at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tennessee. We are looking to undergo a complete redesign, including possibly a new logo.
Here’s the catch, which I think will make it fun for uniwatchers. Our colors are purple and gold! I’ve tried with no hope to come up with uniform designs that use the purple in a way that isn’t awful, and I could really use everyone’s creativity. Our current hat is solid purple with the Chicago Cubs “C” in gold.
Intrigued, but semi-swamped with weekend entries, I did respond to Marc, who then got back to me with more of the guts of the idea, as well as a few pictures from which to base the uniform redesigns:
Our high school is planning to undergo a complete redesign of our uniforms over the next year. I’m going to make some requests, and attach some pictures to show what the team has had in years’ past.
The school has been using the same hat design for the last 20 years, the Chicago Cubs “c” logo in yellow on a white outline. The hat is solid purple. We are probably going to keep that logo, but are looking to add a few alternate logos. I’m hoping the savvy guys at UW can create some great logos for us to use. Here’s what we’re looking for:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
If we decide to use any of these designs in the future, we will definitely work out some kind of payment for all of your hard work.
* The parameters: colors are purple and gold, which I know is hard enough, without including the black.
Marc included four photographs to emphasize his points above:
“Purplemesh” … “Purplemesh 2″ … “Grays” … and “Yellowmesh”.
I got one last e-mail from Marc this week, with one or two points he wants to stress:
While we are looking for uniform ideas, we would also really appreciate any logo redesigns and cap designs. That’s almost as important as the uniform designs. And like I said, we will gladly contribute some goodies to everyone who works so hard on those mock-ups.
Well there you guys have it. Another reader has thrown down the gauntlet, challenging you to come up with not just a new cap and logo redesign, but a whole uniform redesign as well. I’m not sure what “goodies” Marc will be able to provide to the contest winner(s), but we’ll worry about that when we get there.
So, anyone who is interested, the “rules” are basically the same as the “Design-A-Cap” contest: Take Marc’s ideas and put them into cyber-reality. Just remember the “guidelines”:
* A logo incorporating the letters “CHS” … any font or format. Looking for something unique, even outside the box. We would love a hat design featuring the CHS logo.
* A ferocious looking “wildcat”. Any logo involving a wildcat or paw logo would be outstanding. Our football program has been using the Kansas State Wildcat, and we want something a little better.
* Uniform designs. We are looking for a white, grey, purple, yellow or black (yeah, I know). Our head coach loves black so any black jerseys or hat designs would be outstanding.
*The parameters: colors are purple and gold.
As with the Design-A-Cap contest, I would ask that when you have your design(s) ready, please send them to me and put as your “SUBJECT” line: Design A Uniform Contest. You can also E-mail me at that address if you have any questions. I won’t set a hard and fast deadline, but I’d expect the contest to be open for at least two weeks — so try to have your submissions to me by the weekend of November 14-15.
If you don’t have any “blank” templates, a few designs can be found here, here, here, and here, or you can simply google “baseball uniform builder”, which will provide ample ways to customize a baseball uniform. There are probably a bunch of other blank uni templates out there too.
OK? OK. Don’t disappoint us Uni Watchers! After seeing those Sartell Sabres Cap designs, I know how great your entire uniforms, caps and logo designs will be.
~~~~~~~~~~ Well, folks, in case you missed it yesterday, Uni Watch Prexy and ESPN Page 2 columnist Paul Lukas had a great piece on World Series Rings. Paul didn’t get to upload the column to the main article yesterday, since by the time it was released, he was on his way to Cooperstown. I hope there’s some stuff for him to do up there. Check it out if you didn’t get to read it yesterday — really great, and timely article.
~~~~~~~~~~ Dipping into the E-mail bag again, got one this week from Dave Magruder, who has done some fascinating research regarding NFL alternate and throwback uniforms, and the frequency with which they have been worn. Obviously, with the “Legacy” uniforms, and the tremendous number of alternates out there (as well as several teams throwing back this year), Dave wondered which teams were the least guilty of this. Here’s what he found:
~~~“Last night as I was thinking about the widespread use of throwback and alternate uniforms in the NFL recently. It made me wonder: How many teams have NOT redesigned their uniforms, or worn alternate/throwback uniforms since 1995? In other words, how many teams have retained the exact same look and uniform set for every game?
“(Obviously, I thought 1995 was a good starting point since it is still recent history, and most NFL teams wore throwbacks to celebrate the league’s 75th Anniversary in 1994).
“You may be surprised by the answer. From 1995-2009 there is not a single team that has retained the same uniform set for literally every game. All 32 teams in the league have either redesigned their uniforms, worn alternates, or worn throwbacks at some point since 1995. There were four teams that came close to retaining the same look throughout this period, though. I have outlined them below:”
Packers: Green Bay has diverted from their traditional uniform set only twice since 1995. This occurred in 2001 and 2003 when they wore throwbacks as mandated by the league for Thanksgiving Day games.
Colts: Indianapolis donned league-mandated Thanksgiving throwback uniforms in 2004. (Note: Colts have also changed their look in a couple minor ways. The team wore blue pants for several games in 1995–no longer a part of the team’s wardrobe– and permanently switched from a blue to a gray facemask).
Chiefs: Kansas City sported the same uniform until this year’s AFL Legacy celebration.
Raiders: Like the Chiefs, Oakland’s steak of uniform consistency was broken by league-mandated AFL Legacy celebration.
“As you can see, these teams were mostly eliminated for use of throwbacks that were mandated by the league, instead of issued by the team itself. Nonetheless, I was surprised to find that there is literally not a single team in the NFL that has survived the alternate/throwback/redesign craze.
“Thought this may interest readers. Thanks for all your hard work on this blog.”
~~~Thanks Dave! That’s very interesting. Only four teams (and even they are not immune) seem to have escaped the alternate/throwback craze. Not surprisingly, those four also ranked very highly on our recent home and road uniform surveys (results of the road poll here). Obviously, when you have a uniform that works, you don’t mess with it. Wish a few other teams would take a page from their books. Great stuff there.
~~~~~~~~~~ Teepee for your bunghole? Oh…wait — that’s Cornholio, not cornhole. Good thing Milwaukee’s finest David Frost (“Frosty”) has some schweet cornhole game boards he’s designed. I’ll let Frosty explain:
Very sexy…not trying to be a whore or anything, but I gotta tell ya – I got done with them last Thursday, took them to my kids’ baseball tourney in Charleston this past weekend…the compliments and inquiries – wow! There’s Packer fans everywhere!
So what exactly did Frosty design? Check ‘em out: here, here and here.
I’m guessing those are supposed to be Packers boards? Probably no significance to the numbers either.
Thanks Frosty!
~~~~~~~~~~ Cleaning out the cupboards today, I wanted to feature a Mets Uniform Redesign (is it me, or do we seem to have a lot of folks clamoring for the Mets to redo their unis? Don’t worry, we won’t be having any “Fixin’ the Mets” full entries this year — that’s what Spring is for, no?.) Anyway, reader Laurence Holland missed the last batch of uni-tweaks, but wanted to send along his Mets redesign concept, so without further ado, here’s Larry:
Hi Phil,
I know the moment may have passed, but with all the buzz about a possible Mets redesign for 2010, I thought I’d pass along my two-cent contribution. I first mocked up a cream-and-pinstripes combo over the summer, when the Mets rocked the oversized-NY throwbacks, so I was very happy to see that it might come to pass. I also tweaked the rest of their uniforms, the idea being to make them simple, classy, traditional, and black-less.
A couple of notes: the racing stripe on the away grays is supposed to be a little more subtle than the original ’80s version, though my ham-handed photoshop skills couldn’t really convey it. And the all-blue alternate with the blue-and-white trucker-style cap isn’t my favorite, but it’s the best I could come up with. Consider it a concession to merchandising reality.
Anyway, please do with this what you will. From my lips to Jeff Wilpon’s ears, eh?
Thanks Laurence. Next up is Bill Jones, who also missed the last “uni tweaks” but had a “Rays” tweak he wanted to share. Here’s Bill:
Hey Phil,
I love the uni tweaks! I know I’m late, but I did this almost 2 years ago had some trouble finding the MS paint file. I thought it was pretty good though, so I wanted to send it to you.
PL has mentioned that he liked the TB Devil Rays unis that featured green as a primary color. I too liked this design, and although I don’t completely hate it, I think the newer Rays unis are too sterile and flat out boring. I did, however, like the introduction of light blue, so I combined that with the deep green. I think it’s a handsome combination, one that is original and nicely captures the tropical feel without the use of aqua/teal (Does the world need more aqua? I think not!)
A couple notes…
For the logo, I kept the actual Ray that the team currently features as a sleeve patch. I also took the liberty of changing the team’s name to the St. Petersburg Rays (maybe it’s just me, but I think calling teams “Tampa Bay” is lame…the cities are Tampa and St. Pete, “Tampa Bay” is the body of water between them, and the Rays play in St. Pete). Besides, how can you argue with that two-tone interlocking S-P (for the hat), and the sweet “St. Pete” sleeve patch? I like the idea of calling the team the “St. Pete Rays”. Also, for that jersey, you may be thinking “what is going on with that that neck trim?” Well, think of the early 90’s Royals jerseys…
I’m proud of this one … and I never got around to it, but I totally envisioned a powder blue road uni (with the dark green hat…it would be killer!). Thanks a lot and keep up the good work!
–Bill Jones (not the gumball helmet guy)
Good stuff Bill. Thanks again to all who have sent me their uni concepts. I expect some time in the near future to begin running your Football Uni Tweaks, so if you’ve sent me something, it’s-a-comin’ — and if you want to send me some NFL tweaks, drop me a line.
~~~~~~~~~~Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: OK, another “apropos” scoreboard today. Shouldn’t pose any difficulty at all. But we’re winding down the major league baseball season so today’s game should reflect the timeliness of the year, no? Of course it should. Most of you, if you’ve been paying attention to events on the national stage, should be able to “name the game” (although, probably not the date) just from site. The rest of you may need to hit Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet. You gotta hit them anyway, in order to provide the link to the game. So, here we go: Guess The Game From The Scoreboard.
~~~~~~~~~~The boys are back for a little football today, (could Mick possibly wear more sweatbands, btw?), and Mick is about to make the acquaintance of one of Mike’s relatives. The things you learn about your friends when you meet a member of their family. So…enjoy the beginnings of a serial benchies:
Meet Mongo
More Mongo
~~~~~~~~~~That’ll do it for today. Hope you guys, especially all you designers (and wanna-be designers) out there really go to bat, no pun intended, for the Wildcats and Coach Marc Walls. If the ‘design a cap’ nominees were any indication of the incredible talent in UW-land, then I’m sure we’ll get some amazing entries for the full-blown “Design A Uniform” contest. Remember, send me your submissions to me, or email me if you have any questions about the contest. Take the last train to Clarksville — I’ll be waiting at the station.
Game 3 of the Fall Classic and lots of college football today — and surely there’ll be some interesting uni-matchups for Jim to choose from. Don’t forget to post some of your suggestions in the comments. There will be at least ONE color-on-color matchup (and maybe more) — with those colors to be black and orange. How fitting.
Hey — how does a monster score a touchdown?
Easy, he crosses the ghoul line.
Have a safe and Happy Hallowe’en everyone.
October 31st, 2009
By Phil Hecken
Well, MLB has finally begun the League Championship Series, so as the second season begins to build towards the matchup FOX would kill for a possible Yankees-Dodgers World Series (and a uni classic of epic proportions), lets take another look at what you, the readers, have dreamed up to fix your favorite teams. We tweaked the White Sox, the Brewers and the Blue Jays, plus a whole bunch of others — so let’s empty the baseball tank today and see who else needs fixin’.
~~~
First up is Hungry Hungry Hipster, who has an unique take on the Bronx Bombers. Here’s HHH:
Hi Phil!
Attached is my Yankees jersey “uni tweak.” Since the Yankees are so traditional and probably wouldn’t want a major redesign of their classic uniforms, I decided to give them a subtle update. I was inspired by the treatment the NFL ref jersey stripes got in their update several years ago. I widened the pinstripes at the top of the jersey, and they mirror the flared ends (serifs?) of the Yankee logo. :)
~~~
Next up is Matthew Mark Sajna, who has some ideas for the Indians. Here’s Matt:
Here is my idea of how to improve the Uniforms of the Indians. The first set include the home and away jerseys. These are fauxback uniform combinations, and they feature my idea for a new logo the team could intorduce as a sort of compromise for the protestors against the iconic Chief Wahoo. The second set features alternate unis for both home and away games. I brought back the red jersey as a harken back to the 70’s. Hope you like them. Thanks.
~~~
Our next submission comes to us from Jordan Fleck, who has some thoughts on the Houston Astros. Here’s Jordan (who apparently likes all capital letters):
SINCE EVERYONE SEEMS TO BE IN THE MODDE TO REINVIGORATE THEIR CURRENT TEAMS DESIGN, I THOUGHT THAT IT’D BE A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE THE ASTROS FAITHFULL A MAKEOVER. THE FIRST IS MY ATTEMPT AT USING THE CURRENT COLORS WITH A NEW SCRIPT FONT ON THE JERSEY AND A TWO TONE CAP. THE BLACK ALTERNATE WOULD BE USED FOR BATTING PRACTICE AND I DECIDED TO CREATE A BIT OF A FAUX-BACK FOR A COLT .45S JERSEY TO BE WORN ON SUNDAY GAMES.
IN THE SECOND ATTEMPT, I WENT BACK TO THE MIDNIGHT BLUE AND SUNSET ORANGE COLOR SCHEME WITH THE NEW SCRIPT FONT AND AN ORANGE AND BLUE ALTERNATE. I LIKE THE ORANGE AND BLUE TONES BUT THEY DON’T LOOK GOOD IN GREY.
Jordan also included this cool Chinese motif with his submission — not sure if that’s supposed to go with the Astros mocks, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
~~~
Moving along, we have Doug Peltz, who has graced his with his concepts for the Detroit Tigers and Oakland A’s. Here’s Doug:
I saw your column today about making changes to MLB jerseys. I have a couple that I came up with a while ago and though I’d pass them along. I have a away alternate and an Oakland A’s home alternate. I’ve also included a new Tiger’s logo which is a combination of the old 80’s logo and the more recent Tiger crawling through the Olde English D logo. Hope you like them.
~~~
Our next submission comes from Matt McCutchan, who tweaked the Marlins. Here’s Matt:
Going for a more classic look and most importantly away from the black. If the mgmt wants to get away from the “90s teal,” I thought a UNC blue with navy highlights and just a touch of orange, the way, say, the STL Cardinals have a touch of yellow, would look nice..along with the navy piping..i hope you dig it.
~~~
Another Mets concept — a tweak on a previous concept — comes to us from Adam Wood. Here’s Adam:
Let me just start by saying that I’m a little pumped that I’m sending my first uniform design to you. Whether or not anyone gets to see it doesn’t concern me too much. Alex Rocklein made an excellent design for the Mets. However, there are a few things that I thought would be better. You will notice in the attached picture all my proposed revisions.
1) Replaced that orange button on the hats with a much more subtle blue one.
2) Got rid of the funky orange drop shadows and just gave the blue numbers an orange outline.
3) Added a number to the front of the home jersey as well as enlarged the one on the front of the roadies.
4) Took Alex’s idea for the road’s arm bands and applied the blue-orange-blue pattern to the whites.
5) On the home uniforms only, I removed the mets logo and replaced it with a Mr. Met patch.
If you want to get really detailed
6) I took the traditional “Mr. Met at bat” patch and cleaned it up by making all the cream colors to white, and changing the blue hat with an orange brim to all blue in order to better match the team.
Thanks for taking the time to check my ideas out.
~~~
Although our next submitter, Andrew Dixon missed the article containing all the Blue Jays tweaks, he sent the following along for your consideration. Here’s Andrew:
Hi Phil,
I am sending along a Blue Jays concept I came up with about six months ago. At the time, I didn’t have an email address for you, but I sent it along to Paul and asked him to forward it to you. I don’t know if that never happened or whether it did and it was so long ago it was forgotten, but I’d love to share my concept with UniWatch readers! I know I missed the day dedicated to Blue Jays posts, but hopefully you can work it in when you present the other re-design concepts!
I drew up home, away, home alternate, and road alternate concepts. I must admit I have an inexplicable affinity for the whole sans serif/no capitalization “mod” look in fonts which has recently become popular again (think the Pepsi font). The funny thing is, I always thought I hated this style – especially the trend toward not capitalizing things that ought to be capitalized – and I think part of me still does, and yet I also must admit to being weirdly drawn to it. I know it is very reminiscent of that old Padres font from 1978-1984, but what can I say? I like it, even as I know it has that kind of dated look (but that sort of font is very in right now – again, Pepsi, photobucket, etc.).
The other idea I had was to alternate shades of blue in the lettering: Blue Jays, after all, exhibit more than one shade of blue in their feathers, so, between the lettering and the use of powder blue for the road alternate, I’ve employed three shades of blue in this design.
One final note: had I had the expertise, I would have tried to mimic the original Blue Jays font by having a white line pass through the middle of all the letters in the word “blue jays,” just like it does/did in their original wordmark. However, I couldn’t get that to work in MS Paint, which is what I used, without making it look bad/unprofessional, so I gave up. If someone can do that to this design, I’d love to see what it looks like.
~~~
Winding down, our next submitter is Dwayne White, who has some Cincinnati Reds concepts. Here’s Dwayne:
Phil:
I love the articles about the MLB uniform updates.
I decided to tackle the Cincinnati Reds. I am not much of a fan of the “faux old-timer” look that the Reds are currently sporting. I grew up following the Reds in the late-’60’s and ’70’s of The Big Red Machine era. I always loved their traditional look, but the pullovers went on to long.
On the jerseys, I “ditched the black” drop shadows and went with the MLB Block font that the Reds used from the 1960’s until 2007. I felt it was a more traditional look with an updated style. I am not a fan of the current font that the Reds are currently using. The guys at The Clink Room did a good job, but it is not my cup of tea.
The road jersey is a button-down version of The Big Red Machine uniform. The home alternate jersey is a cream-colored vest look from the mid-’60’s. I like the cream colored jersey of the Giants and I went with that look for the vests. In my opinion, not every team can wear vests. Much like every team can’t wear pinstripes like the Yankees do. The Reds and Pirates vests have a deep tradition and I thought I’d incorporate that look. I also included a pinstriped cap to go with the vests, but a red cap can also be worn.
The home jersey is a crisp, bright snow white color with the contrast of red. The Sunday alternate jersey is my favorite. The bright red with the contrast of white, devoid of any black or drop shadows, is an upgrade without too many bumperstickers. Plus, it can be worn with the white, gray or the pinstriped pants.
I also went with the 4 inch player names on the back instead of the traditional 3 inch letters. That also harkens back to the mid-’60’s up until 2007. I like the name under the numbers, but not in an arch like the Reds have used, but no trim was used.
I hope you enjoy my concepts.
~~~
Our next submission also comes from a reader, Christopher Parke, who missed the Blue Jays fixin. But that’s OK, he’s got a uni concept anyway. Here’s Chris:
Your recent blog post about revamping the blue jays awful uniforms got me in a creative mood. I used the ideas and designs of the contributors in your post (including yours)and some of my own ideas. The MS Paint file is attached. What do you think?
~~~
The penultimate tweak comes from Geoffrey Waterman, who has conceptualized the Seattle Mariners. Here’s Geoffrey:
Hi!
I don’t really think the Seattle Mariners need to much to change their uniforms, but with the Sonics gone and a new soccer team that incorporates very similar colors that the Mariners use, plus the Seahawks, I thought they could use some color change.
I decided to go with a combination of the M-trident logo from the olden days and colors similar to then as well as from the baseball-M’s logo era. I chose to use a different font (partly because the one they use now is difficult to find) because I wanted to find something that reflected the metropolitan aspect of Seattle while not being hoity-toity. And for the numbers I wanted to use something similar to the ones used in their current alternate, a little more curvy and visually appealing.
With the home uniform I didn’t want to add much except for the change in font, number and color scheme (enough damage already), so I kept the blue piping, blue belt and the blue hat on white, with a similar arch to the team name and player name. I liked the non-capital “seattle” of the powder-blue Pilots unis, so I took that idea but with the “Mariners” for home, keeping the capital M to match the capital S on the hat. I also introduced a side stripe for the pants (followed down into the stirrups) and the sleeve stripes that made the Pilots uniforms so sexy.
With the away uniform, the changes were much the same as with the home, including the pants stripes, but I kept a straight blue stirrup for simplicity’s sake. It is the away uni, after all.
The alternate uniform is a few ideas mixed together. it has the sleeve and pants stripes from the home uniform, with stirrup stripes that match the sleeves. I did the jersey in the blue but with yellow sleeves (not a vest!), and did just the trident logo and a number on the front—it is supposed to be a home alternate.
Thanks! Hopefully someone else did some Mariners mock-ups to compare. Like I said, though, not that they need it.
~~~
Next up is Ben Traxel, one of our Sartell Sabres “Design A Cap” contest participants. Ben has seemingly way too much time on his hands, as I think he’s tweaked every MLB team (or is on his way to so doing). However, they’re really outstanding efforts, and you’ll wanna check each one out. So, take a deep breath, and enjoy the creativity that is Ben:
Phil,
As you can see, I’ve been working waaaay too long on this and not enough at my job lately. Part of the sickness I guess. At least I’ve been having fun along the way! I’ve got some more started but these are the ones I have finished. I really liked the Brewers changes the other day and wanted to tweak my tweaks after seeing the awsome designs posted, but alas, I left them alone. I’ve been e-mailing back and forth with Frosty and RPM in the process too. Well, here’s an explaination of each of the ones I’ve gotten to so far (I will do them all but it might take till next season!).
Process: I generally tried to look at the past of each team (that has a past) and use what is already available instead of completely redoing scripts, logos, colors, etc. In some cases I’ve gone all the way though. I prefer the city letter on the hat, mascot on the homies, and city on the roadies. I started doing this before all the tweaking began on the blog, with my versions of 70s alt unis. This was inspired by the Royals powder blues this year. Had to do sansabelts to make it “complete” but I suppose they could be used with belts as well. After you started posting the White Sox, I took it to another level and began adding the dailies to go with my alts. I never really liked having alts but now I’ve kind of changed my tune and am okay with one worn occasionally. Stirrups with stripes are a must. I am tired of boring grays and boilerplate designs that seem to be the same on each team so I tried to make something unique for the whites and grays for everybody. I am not afraid of bright colors as you will see…….here goes.
Brewers: home … road … alt. Current design looks to be off the shelf by people who have no sense of history or passion for baseball. Definately needs a redsign. Put the old M back on the hat. Go with colors from the originals. I recycled the BREWERS which could be this design or the block font. Either one works, but I chose this one. Could do without the lower case e, but none the less, looks okay. Barrel man needs a comeback so I put him on the state map for the sleeve. Added the hops to get something from the current set. Colored sanis need to make a comeback here also.
White Sox: home … road … alt. I put the alt together before you even had your White Sox tweak post. I always dug the collars from the late 70s so I had to include them. This is the only team that doesn’t have stirrups but the stripes certainly add to the overall getup. I created a new hat logo with a C that I think turned out pretty good. Never liked the big S and smallish O and X on the current logo so I combined them to make it work better for the alt. I know the three concepts don’t match each other but since they are never worn together I never thought that really mattered.
Cubs: home … road … alt. Obviously the pinstripes didn’t need much help as they have become a classic even though they really didn’t come around until later in the franchise existance. I just modified the logo a little, going back to an older version. The bear sleeve patch was always cool and needs to be a fixture. The roads is where the Cubs always seem to have had touble as they tend to change quite regularly. I went with a powder blue that is not quite as electric as some and it looks to work quite well. The horsecollar and red CHICAGO made the whole design come together. I tried some combos of blue lettering/numbering but the red by far stood out. I hope they never bring back the red cap bill. I know a lot of people don’t like pins on dark jerseys but the white ones from the 70s look mighty fine with the white pants in my opinion on the alts. Added the powder sanis to make it complete.
Pirates: home … road … alt. This is one team that vests work on. Either a team is a vest team or they are not. Hint Rockies? Not much to tweak here, but add the colored sanis and make all letters in PIRATES the same size. The Roadies are one of my favorites. The horsecollar being contrasted with the gray really came to life with the double yellow stripe. Hasn’t been done in decades and I fell in love once I started messing with it. The yellow alt with the red trim is of course taken from the late 70s. Kind of fun and should be a big seller for the fans….IMO don’cha know.
Rays: home … road … alt. Here is one team with no history to go off of. To me this means no horsecollar which has ties to the ancient past. Being in Florida, they definately need to brighten their look and do away with their drab getup they have. The sunburst is cool, stick with that. Kept the Devil Ray logo on the sleeve as well. The colors though are brighter, happier, beachier, Floridaier. Created a “watertable” on the whites and made their version of power blue more acqua for obvious reasons. They definately need to have more fun. Maybe they were a little gunshy during their latest overhaul after that first disaster!
Orioles: home … road … alt. Like the Pirates, not much to tweak here. My biggest beef is that damn bird they keep sticking on the hat. It didn’t work before, it didn’t work when it was a cartoon, and it doesn’t work now. Nothing more wimpy than that birdmark. So. In the beginning they had a B on the hat. There is still nothing more classic than a basic letter as the hat logo. Stick the old block B back up there an don’t worry about the Red Sox claiming it is a copied B idea from them. It was their once, do it again. The cartoon duck thing, older style that looks much classier, works well on the sleeve. Other than that, These guys are good, keeping the city name on the grays of course.
Padres: home … road … alt. Similar to the Rays, this team needs color. They had it once and I think they need it again. I always liked the brown/yellow scheme but it does lead to a bid of a toilet bowl conotation so I stayed away. Electric powder is the way to go for these guys. The alts obviously play off the past and I chose the best remaining wordmarks for the dailies. The sleeve patch is also a classic and should be kept but the hat has always had issues. They never seem to be satisfied with the interlocking SD, how it should be connected, the exact font, etc. I created a new hat logo with the setting sun SD. This is another beachy team and colors need to be used to make this statement.
One more thing, I created my own template in Autocad where I do all my work. It is what I know best so I just stay with that. Well, there you have it. For now. I will be doing more, and will get them to you when I get another good batch. We might not be in baseball season at that time, but oh well. Always enjoy your weekenders.
Wow, Ben, those were awesome. But wait … He isn’t done yet — Ben also sent me mock ups (without descriptions) for the following — and I’m sure if he’s reading this post, he’ll tell us all about the following in the comments:
Oakland A’s: home … road … alt.
Arizona Diamondbacks: home … road … alt.
Florida Marlins: home … road … alt.
Texas Rangers: home … road … alt.
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Whew…that’s some work by the avid (or is it rabid?) UW readership. Great stuff one and all. I apologize for the length of this post, but I had so many great uni tweaks I wanted to put them all into one post — didn’t realize it was gonna be this long, but hey — more for you to enjoy. Thanks to all the submitters. Let them know how you feel about their tweaks!
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 Our man on the street, Jim Vilk, is back from the boonies for his “NC2A matchups”. He is gonna have a tough time with his uni matchups today — there are some outstanding potential ones, and a possible bunch of clunkers. Now, I don’t always agree with his choices, but he’s pretty discerning in his picks. How bout some nominees from you guys today? Scan the wires, check out the obscure games, find the doozies. You don’t want him to put USC/ND or The Red River Rivalry in the one spot, right? Post picks of your top (best and worst) games for his consideration down below. Thanks!
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Guess The Game From The Scoreboard: Aight…as the season winds down, we’re gonna get a little tricky with this scoreboard. Not all that tricky, but it might give you pause. Teams are pretty obvious, but that’s where the ease ends. Or maybe not. You guys are too good at this game to be stumped, especially with this one. But I’ll give it a shot anyway. As always, and if possible, please do NOT post the date of the game but link to Baseball Almanac or Retrosheet and post a link to the answer. If that’s not possible, but I believe it is, link to a newspaper story or something similar which details the game. OK? OK. Ready. Guess The Game.
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 ATTENTION UNI TRACKERS — If you’re on of those insane lunatics, like me, who has kept track of your teams’ uniform combinations for all 162 (or, if you track the Twins, all 163) games this season, think about gathering all of your data, plus a final writeup, for your tracking. I may post my Mets tracking tomorrow, depending upon the size of the post. I’m hoping to gather everyone’s tracking and (if Paul gives me the OK), possibly place them into one big file for inclusion in the archives. When you have your stuff ready, send them to me with the subject line “UNI TRACKING – (your team)”. If you made it this far, I thank you for all your efforts. You don’t need to be terribly brief in your write-up, but please don’t compose a novel either. Make sure you list any particular trends or unique factors. I can tell you this: The Mets sucked this year, but not surprisingly, they had better records in certain combinations — now, had they worn those combinations more or less often, would their record have been any different? Who is to say. All I know is, when all was said and done, the Mets wore TWELVE different combinations this season, sporting (shockingly) winning records in six of them. Stay tuned (if you care) for the full writeup.
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Ah…don’t ya hate it when those young whippersnappers think they’re faster and smarter and better lookin’ than you are? Pretty sure Mick does. Unfortunately, he’s wrong. But does this mean that Mick is only half-fast? Enjoy your Saturday Benchies. And remember, any resemblance between Mick and Rick is, well, purely coincidental.
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This and That: Did we ever get a linkie to the new UNLV basketball unis? I don’t remember. Forgive me if we did … I know this was posted (at least in the comments), but worth another look-see: SI takes a look at the AFL legacy unis … Speaking of AFL throwbacks, the Patriots and Titans Oilers will be wearing them this Sunday … Big game at Big Bend today, when the Irish meet the Trojans, and will the Irish break out the green like they did before the ‘77 matchup? … This is a few days old, but the Huff Post has a nice breakdown of Broncos Unis through the years … In one of those moments where “you remember exactly where you were,” it was 20 years ago today (don’t you feel old now?) … It’s gotta be the unis, right? Nope. Both football teams from Mizzou are winless in 2009, despite both wearing throwbacks last weekend … Fresh on the heels of Paul’s post yesterday on the Winter Olympics melted records medals, the London Olympics of 2012 has unveiled it’s logos — yawn … Wanna own one of them game-used, unwashed Bronco uniforms from last weekend’s Legacy game? Here’s your chance … If you’re not a baseball fan, or don’t live in the northeast, or reside in my condo (which has no heat, thank you very little), you might not know it was cold at Yankee Stadium last night — like really cold — Lots of Fudd’s and hoodies on the participants … “Bullpen? What Bullpen?” … For every king, a crown … Apparently the porthole was closed, but the velcro wasn’t … Looks like the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium will be a little shorter now, but let’s hope the Steinbrenner’s don’t hire this guy to replace this guy … Rafa, dude, what’s up with the shorts? Did they belong to A-Rod’s outfit? … Does this remind anyone of this? … And finally, what happens when you go to an adidas school, but you’d rather wear Jordans? Well, if you’re Marcus Jordan, what do you think? (thanks to James Huening for the tip.)
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Alrighty then, that’s a wrap for this fine Saturday. Enjoy the football, because it looks like mother nature may deprive you of baseball. Oh, right, I guess there’s hockey and some other stuff too. Unitrackers, start your engines, and lets see some of them gridiron matchups you hope Jim will pick as his top 5 (or worst). Have a great Saturday
October 17th, 2009
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