Digby

Pacers planning to wear their yellow Statement jerseys for at least the first four games of the semis, after wearing them all through the first round, home and away. I guess we're leaning into that one. (Knicks are gonna alternate between white and navy, both home and road, in response).

Celtics/Cavs looks blessedly normal for the first four games. All white at home, Cleveland in black on the road and Boston in green.

3 hours ago, Dynasty said:

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's because of fashion. The City Connect program is trying to get jerseys and other products to sell and I would think people are more than likely going to pair the more tame neutral colors with their jeans, jackets, etc.. Colors like navy, black, and grey can pair better with everyday clothing than something as vibrant as orange, pink, or neon green. Not speaking for everyone... just maybe the general public.

I think that was maybe true 10-20 years ago but we're at a point right now where colors are in, bright ones too (think Barbie, Y2K aesthetic), and the throwback nostalgia cycle is pointing to a pre-navy blue era. There is a certain #darkmode aesthetic that's always a possibility for these looks and is more obviously different than the usual baseball whites or light grays. If they wanted to do bright colors they would (see: San Diego, Tampa Bay, Boston). 

The Mavs' building looked ridiculous last night. Crowd was wearing the usual white and grey but also every possible shade of blue and a significant amount of vibrant green. Meanwhile, the team is wearing black on a mostly-black court. And I LIKE the Mavs City set and think it works well for it but again, this is why it looks insane to wear these in big games. 

23 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

Indeed, that was an unfair judgement on my part for the ‘09 and ‘10 Celtics (and I wouldn’t hold 2011 against anybody). But still, the Clippers and 76ers tenures for him have been nothing short of damning regarding his ability to coach past mid-April.

I've said this before but I kind of view those late-00s Celtics and Lakers teams as the last gasp of the traditional NBA and associated tactics. Perhaps he was better suited for a time of more rigid and predictable tactics, and just happened to click perfectly with that Celtics group. Before the Heatles and especially the Curry years changed everything.

It's reasonable to blame Doc Rivers for the Bucks falling to the 3 seed (if they stayed at 2, Philly probably would've been an even tougher matchup) but losing Giannis for this series was the bigger problem for them, in all fairness. Has every team in the East lost a key starter for this playoff run? That's unfortunate for the game.

11 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

That 2008 title was such a fluke, given the rest of Doc’s resume.

Doc wasn't the problem for the Celtics in 2009 or 2010, injuries were. 

Now, 14 years and 3 teams later, on the other hand...

21 hours ago, LMU said:

2024/25 - Heat Culture in white

2025/26 - Heat Culture in red

2026/27 - Heat Culture in Miami Vice pink

2027/28 - Heat Culture in Miami Vice blue

2028/29 - Heat Culture in Miami Vice white

2029/30 - Heat Culture in ransom note black

2030/31 - Heat Culture in ransom note red

2031/32 - Heat Culture in ransom note white

Also need to get "Heat Culture in white but a different version without any red" in there somewhere too.

^ No, that double New York thing is too gimmicky for a timeless, original-era franchise like the Knicks.

I do, however, like the retro wordmark treatment they're using on their playoff warmup shirts:

Not just the lack of white at home, that's really three different brands they're wearing. Do you prefer the classic navy brand, the royal blue brand, the blackout fightin' numbers brand? I guess the gold and the number font are shared, but still. 

I went to the New England/Miami game on Saturday (sold off my extras for a tidy profit, though). It was weird to see Gillette at full capacity, as someone who doesn't go to Patriots games or pop/country concerts. The concourses are unpleasant when it's crowded!

The fandom was weird. People weren't rooting for Miami, per se, it was more like a hyperfocus on just being near Messi and anything he'd do. So the energy in the crowd was strangely quiet despite the large number, except for whenever Messi would touch the ball. 

I don't think anyone will be converted to Revs fever on the night. It's still difficult to see this whole experiment as anything other than a one-time, black swan type of event for MLS.

1 minute ago, tscuzzy said:

Now imagine if they wear the '5280' uniforms in the championship clinching game?

I was under the impression that Philly wasn't allowed to put "76ers" as the jersey wordmark due to the obvious chance of quick-glance confusion about a jersey number. I liked that idea better.

2 hours ago, crashcarson15 said:

The Rays are a '90s expansion team playing in a non-traditional market. The more they look like that, and not like a team playing baseball's version of Original Six dress-up, the better.

 

Is it a good jersey? I dunno — but I like it because it's the type of uniform that fits this program better than most, and it's a better look for who they are. A set of complementary traditional jerseys would be a vast upgrade on what the Rays otherwise wear now (throwbacks non-withstanding).

Should they play pre-war dress-up, no. Should they play 70's dress-up... maybe...

That skateboarding ray is the dumbest thing I've ever seen and I love it. This is going to reach Marlins levels of illegibility, but at least it's fun when viewed as vector art on a screen.

The new USL League One team next year in Portland, Maine next year will be called Portland Hearts of Pine. Name's a bit of a mouthful, wish they would've used Maine as the location signifier given that the other Portland already exists with a tree theme. Also feel like there's high odds of Merritt Paulson filing a lawsuit over it, because he's that kind of guy. All that said, total banger of a crest that feels very Maine to me. 

On 4/25/2024 at 4:12 PM, crashcarson15 said:

(Indy Eleven is not the feel-good sports story everyone wants to make them out to be.)

A rich guy deciding that wealth qualifies him to influence policy decisions is, in all fairness, not unheard of in MLS. Looking forward to Bob Kraft once again trotting out random MOD EDIT

36 minutes ago, BBTV said:

 

I didn't see it personally, but local radio hosts also said that normally he may have been tossed there, but that maybe he got a little leniency after the league admitted in the L2M that the refs should have granted them a time-out in a spot that directly lead to NY hitting a go-ahead shot towards the end, and missed multiple fouls that would have given them points.  Like a "we looked bad and it impacted a result, so let's make sure there's nothing that anyone can point to in this game."  Not intentional, like they got screwed or anything, just bad / missed calls in unfortunate spots.

 

Just speculation, I didn't see it.

I know local radio hosts are not objective but they should just embrace Embiid's heel turn instead of guessing theories. The L2M was bad but referees don't generally allow nut shots, shoulder checks, and leg pulls in the following game as a make-up.

If anything was a make-up call, more likely was that he had 21 FTA.

That's sad about Embiid's condition, but also, he was at Draymond levels of dirty play last night and absolutely got top-ten superstar treatment in not getting tossed.

I'm not one of those people who roots for your league if your team itself is knocked out -- we don't have the coefficient stuff in North America, rivals can go to hell, MLS is ridiculous anyway -- but I have to say I like the idea of "Columbus, Ohio: continental powerhouse". Obviously MLS will take credit as if they even want that team to exist. How long before Nancy makes the leap to a European side?

9 minutes ago, tigerslionspistonshabs said:

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but what's wrong with Soldier Field? Doesn't it have historical significance? I know it's old as dirt, but so is Lambeau, Wrigley, Fenway, and half the stadiums in college. If it's just a matter of modernization, couldn't some renos be done and save say, $4 billion dollars?

It was modernized, but disastrously so. Not that that rationalizes everything that's happened since, but it does explain it. The three stadiums you've mentioned did modernization right. Somewhat shockingly competently in the Ricketts family's case.

5 hours ago, tBBP said:

Which underscores how good an idea it is to think beyond the box sometimes regarding hyper-localized identities. I mean shoot, Vegas just did it. There's nothing about Vegas that infers anything about knights (unless some sarcastic peazy somewhere wants to bring up the Excalibur), and that doesn't even address the irony of the Golden Knights playing in the Silver State. Yes, we all know how why the team has the Knights nickname, but the point is that sometimes fun branding is fun whether [hyper-]localized or not.

 

I think the hyperlocal stuff is largely the product of Nike putting its full weight into the City Edition-ification of all that it can (even if the roots of that probably trace, before that, to soccer). New teams get to start there, so lucky them.

That said, I'd also suggest that part of this is because we're going on a century in some cases of pro sports as an established cultural/economic force... and several decades of the merch-selling, in particular, being an enormous economic piece of the pie. So it's getting harder and harder to do something new. And that's not just the capitalist cynicism of attention being more valuable than quality. There's also the legal element, as evidenced by a Utah pro team nickname getting legally scuttled by a college team mascot on the other side of the country, which is insane. 

So there's a level of clever trendiness but there's also this piece of being forced to come up with something comically specific and difficult. I do some day-job work in the drinks industry, and the craft brewers have completely run out of reasonable names for beer. With that industry being so localized, I think it's insane that trademark disputes mean two individual beers (not even breweries) can't share a generic-ish name if their distribution areas are time zones apart. But, here we are, and now every new beer I see has a name like a Fiona Apple album title. Same gist.

I don't know that the Mardi Gras color scheme works in a hockey context, at least not this particular one. But the 90s scheme of purple with sky-blue trim seems like a versatile no-brainer regardless of which direction the name might go in.

Honestly I really dig the beehive/mountain combo design motifs that DetroitHockey has been using in coverage, and it's a sharp color scheme too. But I suppose a bees theme are too Blue Jackets (and opens the door to something corny like the Utah Buzz), the mountains and colors are too Avalanche, and the mountains are doubly beaten to the punch by Real Salt Lake's new jersey.

(Honestly didn't even realize Utah changed their flag until all of this -- new one is pretty good!) 

4 minutes ago, bowld said:

Maybe instead of Black Diamonds they could be the Utah Double Blacks?

 

Much like what I might say at the top one of Snowbird's peak bowls, I'm not sure we want to go down that one.

25 minutes ago, monkeypower said:

 

I definitely think there could be something there, taking from something like these. It would fit the old-time hockey feel.

 

 

I've always thought the (New York) Jets should have branded around something like this but with vintage travel posters instead.

Love the aesthetic of those posters, but I was even thinking something less travel poster (agree on the Jets though) and more outdoors-gear emblem.

Relatedly, Utah's ski resorts are particularly well-represented among resorts with strong mid-to-late-century modernist designs. Best aesthetic for that industry, IMO.

On 2024-04-20 at 10:44 PM, ruttep said:

The Bruins posted this graphic and all I can think of is how much better the centennial uniforms would be in this shade of gold

I was hoping that's what we'd get for next season and beyond. At that point I could at least live with the weird stripes and white numbers. 

I've always pushed for a retro ski vibe for one of the mountain-region MLS teams but it would work for hockey too. Maybe even better, as a winter sport. Especially at this current moment where REI-chic is still pretty on-trend. Maybe he got a focus group to tell him that the practice-jersey Jazz was simply too galaxy-brained to work.