Digby

Mexico seems to be in a historic (for them) talent drought, so from that perspective that's a big issue. Stewart was probably a big role in the largely successful four-year plan of rebuilding the MNT from basically zero, though, so this could be a big loss for US Soccer if they don't get the replacement hire right (to say nothing of how this likely prolongs the team's lack of a head coach).

And now Stewart's out as sporting director. Some kind of housecleaning going on!

Seems that way, yeah. Might be Adidas's new popular graphic pattern in the style they love to do so much.

I'd rather they just wear the standard cap but in some kind of super-light material that'll sell well to sweaty heads in the South or something. Most of the alternate designs churned out for these are pretty bad; templated fashion hats are even worse.

I feel like I'd normally agree, but this works for me as a callback to those mid-10s Quakes kits that have sorta become their definitive look in my brain, which is a nice follow-up to their last home set calling back to the Donovan early-00s era.

Sorry to interrupt the Dadbook and "soccer is boring" posts, but we have a slightly better view of the Quakes kit. Looks better than I would have expected, honestly.

On the plus side, should make the white and blue kits feel like part of the same collection. One of the many things that bothered me about the initial/men's World Cup set is that incongruity between the 90s raver tie-dye for the blue and the early-00s sleek-future-and-contrast-panels for the white. Aesthetic harmony is a good idea! (But yes, a design that just looks like it was in a paintball match doesn't sound promising.)

Yeah, it might be the ex-skateboarder in me but there was always something endearing and, I guess, consensual with the Jackass stuff. Though honestly I don't even know if it's a fair comparison. Kayaking down concrete stairs and shooting fireworks out of your butt cheeks somehow seem levels less stupid and dangerous than this. The overall sports mediaverse's continued fealty toward Dana White is really something else.

One or more of those channels shared the Red Sox and Bruins broadcasts with NESN for years in Boston, so I imagine they may have had local sports elsewhere too. Of course that was an era where that made sense to do and those channels were perfect for it. Nowadays, not so much, though I also feel like the likes of TNT are equally pointless channels in the streaming era.

When the voice of reason is the Twitch guy streaming from a windowless room decorated with Pokemon art, you might be starting from a bad place anyway.

Brian McBride will not be returning as USMNT general manager. Not clear if he was let go or if he stepped down. I don't really know what his job was, anyway.

BMO in LA? Is this a situation a la Chevrolet sponsoring Man Utd despite not selling that brand in the UK?

This is my guess as well, especially since the secondary color for each jersey kinda becomes the primary color on the back of the jersey. Though I'm hoping for the teal and pink versions, too. In general I suspect it's a tough thing to design a set of four jerseys for this ASG format where there are no possible clashes, though also it's kind of a fun challenge.

The first two City leaks look nice and classy, and then... weird lightning kit? WTF is that? Not befitting of a club of their presumed stature at all.

Feel like maybe you can go mostly grey for one of your kits but not both. 2008 Chivas USA-levels of clash differentiation here.

When it comes to American healthcare providers, the distinction between non-profit and for-profit seems mostly bureaucratic. Up there with major universities on the "we're non-profit, wink wink" scale.

Healthcare providers are to American soccer teams what offshore betting sites are to English ones, apparently.

Ha, I actually think that the Quakes blue that they've mostly used recently sorta stands out -- MLS has so much blue but very little of a classic, down-the-middle royal blue a la Chelsea or Rangers or the Italy NT. These guys or Montreal both could seize it but neither can just quit black shirts. But sneaking in more red would make sense for them too. TBH I'd love to see the Quakes in the light teal of their Clash days. These are unironically great jerseys.

I didn't know the CW was still a thing. One of those television channels that I don't understand the point of in the modern era. I guess this is the point!

that teaser has got major “Tame Impala playing at Red Rocks” vibes, would be an interesting direction. Colorado is one of those 90s franchises that’s oft-forgotten but usually has very interesting and solid kit designs, especially away.

what did fan replicas of the vest jerseys look like? Just the vest, or was there a red undershirt sewn in?

Yeah, I remember the last time I was in Portland, if memory serves, the stadium shop had a whole wall of PDX carpet/Timbers mashup scarves and hats etc. I thought it was funny but kinda weird since that obviously wasn’t the brand, even on the away kit. Ahead of the curve in a way though, I guess.

Well I was going to ask. Do the Timbers have any specific plaid heritage? Like how the Blazers did this a few years ago but there was a reference to those signature Dr. Jack suits. In that sense the Timbers will probably finally have a PDX teal away kit in a few more years; hopefully not causing any apoplectic fits of rage from out-of-towners.

Based on the mockup I actually feel like the Adidas stripes being gold would be a better look. (But they need to change things up to sell new jerseys, of course.) I don't know, it's weird -- I feel like on recent Timbers' green jerseys, it's usually tough to find a proportion of white trim and gold trim that feels "balanced"... but also only using one of the two as trim colors is boring and unfitting. But on the whole I'd say this is one of the better home jerseys they've had since the lite rebrand of the mid-10s.

Fun game we're all playing. My initial thought was that it looks like a subway tile pattern, but like the real classic tiles that aren't quite perfect, like you see in the older NYC subway stations (which they've done very well to preserve as a city).