Digby

I gotta say, the Phillies' dedication to a uniform scheduled rotation even in 2022 is admirable. Pleasingly ordered.

Already had this matchup once this year (ended in a draw), but this will be a top-tier MLS Cup final in terms of the on-pitch fashion. I hope Philly wins and marks the occasion by making this their full-time primary scheme.

Kyrie’s got a COEXIST bumper sticker on his Lambo.

if it goes 6, Philadelphia could win the MLB and MLS title on the same day. I’m rooting for the trivia.

Yeah, seems like they’re going more overtly for the mashup thing using a 40s wordmark with the 70s/80s bear, neither of which was ever a front-of-sweater element originally. (Plus the 90s merch being pushed by the Reverse Retro.) it feels a little silly to me but I, too, will welcome any returns of Meth Bear.

The fact that they're apparently letting him go without any demands for compensation suggests this to me. My next question is wondering if the Nets decided an hour's due diligence was enough, or if they've been doing it for months while sharpening the knives for Nash.

I did. Seemed untenable ever since KD's ultimatum leaked this summer, barring a miraculously hot start to the season. But no defense and Kyrie finding new ways to defiantly be a bad person made sure that's not happening. It was also a bad fit from the beginning -- he was hired to be a celebrity coach for a celebrity team. No actual coaching resume to speak of. A great player does not automatically and immediately become a great coach, not even the squeaky-clean, floor-general white Canadian guy. Woj says they're interviewing Ime Udoka for the replacement job -- the non-flashy name who spent many years learning from the best coaches and then turned out to be a pretty good one himself once he got the chance -- but for his own baggage that he'll now bring along.

nailed it

loved the guy but candidly, never seen a Mitchell and Ness reproduction of that one, and besides the Spurs themselves are doing the turquoise one here so

Agreed, and while I understand where they're coming from, it's odd to have a jersey that pays tribute to one that was most famously worn by... Jordan and Shaq and Shawn Kemp, not any Spurs.

Oh boy, this will be fun. MLS Cup is the classic playoff tournament at the end of the regular season; classic bracket-style for now, may move to a group stage+knockouts in the future. US Open Cup is a bracket/knockout style tournament open to every team in MLS, the three USL leagues and I think even the semi-pro leagues below that; runs in parallel to MLS but is administered by US Soccer Federation, not MLS. CONCACAF Champions League is a group stage+knockouts tournament in the first half of the year, running in parallel to MLS, invites the top teams from MLS, Liga MX and the leagues of Central America/the Caribbean. Administered by CONCACAF, the regional federation. Leagues Cup has followed no consistent format thus far, but as of next year, will be a group stage+knockout tournament with ALL teams in MLS and Liga MX. MLS will pause its season for a few weeks to do this. Administered by MLS and Liga MX. Yes, this seems redundant with Champions League, so we'll see how having both shakes out; Leagues Cup appears to be a money-grab to get more of that money toward MLS suits instead of CONCACAF suits, and gets every MLS team filling their stadia with Mexican club fans for 1-4 games per year. Campeones Cup, I don't even know to be honest with you.

Arsenal at PSV today... obviously can't use the standard kit and the pink one wouldn't work either (stupid clash kit choice this year), the black one works but UEFA apparently doesn't like shorts clashes so they had to get one-off white shorts. Looks like no Adidas stripes of any color, which looks weird. Personally I think this is where UEFA is acting counter-productively ... teams in light-dark inverse of one another are harder to discern by my eye. I don't mind the same color shorts if their shirts and socks are heavily contrasted.

It's an even numbered year which means, yes, "MLS considering significant overhaul of playoff format". https://theathletic.com/3730955/2022/10/25/mls-considering-significant-overhaul-of-playoff-format-sources/?source=user-shared-article Key points: MLS wants way more postseason games to sell to Apple, considering a World Cup or UCL-style playoffs with four groups of four and then a knockout bracket. Fun idea and I feel like Grant Wahl or somebody else suggested that years ago at this point. Another option is keeping the current system but going back to two legs, which like...weren't they just doing that but then complained about how teams could lose the game they advanced in? That would be my preference, both for sporting reasons and because every playoff team ought to have a home game, but it's so MLS that they just continually change their mind on how to do this. Also this is going to amount to a long, long season with a whole lot of games.

Yeah, this is pretty much what I've figured would happen. It might be fun and different, but also, making it a closed shop feels like it's inevitable that San Jose will just flounder at the bottom of the 2nd tier indefinitely and I don't see how that solves any relevance concerns.

IMO -- that combo worked, to the extent that any of the "bone" collection works, because it downplays the Rams' current color clashes. The brightness of their royal blue and yellow serve to make the off-white color look dingy and it really gets too bleedingly obvious looking when there's so much blue in the uniform via the pants. I actually like the idea of a beige/off-white base color but it works with darker, more muted colors the way the SF Giants or Bucks have used it.

Let's not fix the pants pairing on the home by messing it up on the away. That look feels more Cowboys or Raiders to me. The navy pants with the white jersey feel very classic Patriots to me at this point; don't think we need white or silver pants there unless it's a throwback.

Didn't the Red Sox use "Dancing on My Own" as their "anthem" during their playoff run last year? Though I think that was the (superior) original by Robyn. And they probably weren't the first considering the song is what, 15 years old now. Everyone needs a quirky feelgood story though.

I've also always wondered if a consistent red-white-red stripe might be better for all involved, as well as getting rid of the number outlines that don't fit this set anymore. Apologies to gridiron-uniforms but gave it a quick try. I think the numbers work pretty well on the away to bring navy into the jersey, if it won't be in the stripe anymore. Not sure it works on the home.

Navy over silver still looks like the Patriots to me… however, I’m bothered that the white on the shoulder stripe now seems out of place. A problem the old set didn’t have with the silver shoulder stripe.

I don't know that I'd agree with that. I was a pretty big Austin skeptic but they've proven to be a worthy MLS market so far -- great atmosphere, cool stadium, strong art and jerseys, smart roster construction, my personal interest in seeing Diego Fagundez doing well again. Obviously the owner is still an :censored: and the initial desire to sandbag Columbus to get this was indefensible (and, it's proven, unnecessary in the end). I wouldn't begrudge a Crew fan from hating this team forever, but I think there's plenty to like for neutrals. Unless you're a petty neutral who thinks these sporting newbies need to suffer more first, like I do.

All else being equal I default to the fanbase who's been suffering the longest; I will bite my tongue and root for Philly, I guess. They've been so good the last couple years that it's a bit shocking they haven't made the final yet. NYCFC obviously just won last year and are generally contemptible; Austin and LAFC need to suffer for 5-10 more years.

that and upgrading the manager from Steve Bruce to Eddie Howe. Word is they've spent a lot on technical upgrades already though, which I'm sure helps.

I thought the club-to-media dynamic in England was bizarre and unethical, and that was BEFORE the threat of “the full Khashoggi” made its way into the sports pages.

Never forget.

Even despite Adam Silver's constant googly eyes for anything that Premier League clubs are doing, I don't see this happening. I do however think it's a no-brainer that the used-car-salesmen running MLS to implement this and sell it as "pro/rel, like the Europeans do" before the end of the decade.