TheBigFiz21

Curious as to what the O's must have done today that got them wearing the traditional black vs Milwaukee today. In this tweet from about noon-ish local time, pitchers Kyle Bradish and Cole Irvin are seen wearing the orange alternate: Then, the team went with the non-CC black alternate at game time: Either the Brewers must have plans to wear navy tomorrow or the O's decided to wear black so they could get it out for the first time this season.

Going into the season, I had the expectation that the MLB on TBS branding wasn't going to change, but the only significant changes would be the presence of the TNT Sports logo in the replays and the intro of MLB Leadoff. Completely taking that away seems baffling to me. The only legitimate reason that generically rebranding to MLB Tuesday makes sense to me is having truTV simulcast some games later on in the season once they are done carrying the simulcasted NBA games for the season and playoffs. --------------------------------------- Editing this in to my post as to not self-jack the thread, but how will the networks handle abbreviations for the A's when they rebrand next year? I figure this won't be a problem for the national broadcasters as ESPN, Fox, and TBS won't have them on unless they end up in a miraculous playoff run. However, there are a few RSNs still using abbreviations in scoreboards though, so they will have to use something when, for instance, the A's are up against the Yanks on YES or the Dodgers on Spectrum.

Backtracking to Baltimore here: I'm not sure what to expect or hope for with an alternate Ravens helmet. I honestly do not care for an alternate. I have a fear that this will become a second helmet for the sake of having one. Maybe that has a lot to do with having the black helmet being so good, it never needed any changes in the first place. Now as for revising the black alternate, I'm not sure how to feel. The purple/gold number would work as I've seen it in the few times I visited open practices at training camps of years' past, but should I be concerned that the numbers could get lost while watching the standard overhead broadcast camera?

I guess the Rangers are investing their money in all the right places if they're not interested in a patch or didn't jump at QuikTrip for a deal.

I'm, 100% confident there will be some adjustments to the scoreboard before the regular season. No question about that. I'm willing to bet that either the fonts will be adjusted or CBS scraps that, making Super Bowl LVIII a one-off a la Fox Sports at SB LI, and whatever we see in the regular season carries them until their LXII in 2028. I will say, however, there were elements of the "retooled" graphics that I like. Scoreboard flashing the team name on scoring plays, the NBC-like TD animation, some of the transitions and wipes, the new scoreboard flash between commercial breaks, the player stat boxes...hopefully those stay around. Although, given how the "retool" looks, it's safe to say college football and hoops, golf, etc. will NOT get updated to match, right?

Chiefs wearing red pants today.

Birdland Caravan events get going on this weekend in Baltimore, so this is the first look post-Nike at the players in their new jerseys. First pic is an awkward one give, but up close enough to see the the new sleeve cuffs on Mountcastle. The trims look almost like the old jerseys had their sleeves folded up a bit if you ask me. Second pic is a decent look of the authentics on the players (left) compared to the three guys wearing the Nike/Majestic era replicas. Gonna take some getting used to if I even start to consider buying this jersey in the future.

I know the new "sponsor" went into effect almost two weeks ago and the whole ad patch thing isn't going anywhere, but... ...having a QR code on a jersey is the unquestionably worst thing about this.

The lower trim on the O's jerseys bothers me just as much as it does with Atlanta. Maybe when I see it on both alternates, it likely won't be as bad, but I at least feel justified in having blank replicas of each current jersey in either the Nike/Majestic style or the one before it. I could tolerate the new trim if they were going for the classic 80s pullover, but I don't think going in that direction works with the current script.

I'm as shocked as anyone else over the Ravens going purple/black. If they're really in the business of mixing it up as they like and have done so since the loss to Cleveland, they'll wear white and purple pants somehow in each of the next two weeks if they're lucky enough to do so. And since going WAH in the AFC title game sounds ludicrous, I'd bet the possibly of going white/purple if they somehow reach the Super Bowl is legitimately on the table. And if we're riding the superstition train, the only other justification is that they lost their last two home playoff games in purple/white. But I digress...

A few takeaways from the 2024 giveaway/promotion lineup. • They aren't backing down from the CC's anytime soon. They doubled down on it with a giveaway shirt, bobblehead, and hat. • Assuming the 6/29 game vs TEX is on Fox with the start time of 7:15 (not 7:05), I hope they don't go out their way to wear that against Texas that night just to match with the giveaway shirts in the stands. • The 1954 throwback returns for the 70th anniversary season. We saw the team wear this in 2014 vs STL for 2 of the 3 games in that series. This year, they are hosting the Mariners, but I think it will just be the one night only. Not sure if Seattle would be bothered to wear their CC's or just stick to their current teal or navy jerseys for the occasion.

Expectations for the divisional games (besides GB @ SF, obviously): • Texans and Ravens wear white/navy and purple/white again like they did Week 1. • Bucs wear white/pewter, Detroit continues to wear mono blue • Chiefs in white/red, Bills in blue/white again. What would look best for conference championship weekend: • Ravens advance and wear purple/white vs the Chiefs in white/red. If it was Buffalo instead, I would fear them wearing white/blue at Baltimore. • Bucs at 49ers repeat their regular season duel for the NFC title game. Packers at Bucs is a damn good second best option though.

CBS has only started to do this with their current scoreboard this year on multiple occasions. For example, last season's Ravens-Giants game saw this: But in this year's Colts-Ravens game (the first time CBS did this during the season), we saw the white background here: It certainly took me back, because I've seen them use alternate colors or a darker grey for the background when possible to maintain the abbreviations in white and, of coarse, avoid the clash of some closely related colors. I could speak more on this, but I'd rather save that for the graphics thread.

Good thing Green Bay won and now we're headed for another outstanding game when they visit the Niners next weekend. Of the four possible matchups for the other NFC divisional, I think Rams (wearing white/yellow) at Bucs (wearing red/pewter) would look the best.