Lights Out

You know, the Astros would look really good in a jersey like this.

I personally think it looks better than the original and I always use it when I make Iowa concepts. It's more dynamic without being too much of a departure from the classic logo.

That's not a bad look at all. It definitely would have paired better with their road uniforms than the ones they ended up going with.

Nice work. I don't like their current font, but I'd be satisfied with your updates to it.

The color balance absolutely was not better in the past. There was no pewter at all on the jerseys in the '90s set. Pewter was and is their unique color, yet they managed to leave it off the jerseys entirely in favor of generic red and black. Their current uniforms are a big improvement in that regard.

I can see your perspective. I don't tend to think that "dated and kitschy" is the right tone for a sports brand, but to each their own. I like the Dolphins' current logo. To me, it looks classy, professional and dignified, whereas the old logos just looked like cartoons (especially the late-'90s/2000s version).

Those uniforms could have worked with the navy trim if the orange outlines on the numbers/stripes were thicker. As it stands, though, the orange trim disappeared because it was too thin to really contrast enough with the navy outlines. Given how simple and minimal those uniforms were, they couldn't afford to screw up the color distribution to the degree they did. The new update is a big improvement just because they finally fixed that issue. I do agree with you about the vintage logo. I'll never understand why people like it so much. To me, the dolphin looks old and wrinkly.

Doubt it. They would still blend in with the million other teams that use navy as their main color.

Apparently, this is what the alternate logo would have been if the NBA didn't move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte: https://www.ebay.com/itm/PROTOTYPE-DEMO-CHARLOTTE-HORNETS-2017-NBA-ALL-STAR-GAME-NEW-ERA-59FIFTY-HAT-/123014912605?hash=item1ca4429a5d%3Ag%3AUMkAAOSwp-Rachmg&nma=true&si=9zrMXKmyzlbFqmHzRwc%2BGeM%2BdQY%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Apparently, the Cavs' road uniforms from the first LeBron era were originally going to use the team name instead of the city name and feature more navy in the striping: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-2004-Cleveland-Cavaliers-LeBron-James-Unused-Prototype-Pro-Jersey-Size-52/352293121829?hash=item52064e6f25:g:zU4AAOSwErFZ0I1o

Not terrible, but not really an upgrade from what they had. It reminds me a lot of the old FOX graphics package from 2005.

Very strange Timberwolves prototype from eBay... it features the Rev30 fabric, the old tree-trimmed collars and use of green, and a weird take on their side striping from that era. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adidas-Authentic-Minnesota-Timberwolves-Jersey-Sample-Rev-30-Pro-Game-Apparel/253366851134?hash=item3afdd7563e:g:zHMAAOSwBp9aWmPz

The sleeves and GFGS ruin it.

Crossposted from the NBA Changes thread:

I do, but only because of this:

That's the exact helmet I had in mind.

And if they fixed the helmet stripe to match all other stripes on the uniform.

Unpopular opinion: I actually liked TBS' score bug from last year. They definitely needed to shrink it down a bit, but other than that, there was nothing wrong with the design. The one they had before that was also excellent.

This is apparently a prototype road jersey for the Yankees: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Authentic-New-York-Yankees-Jersey-Prototype-Auth-Rare-Russell-Throwback-Retro-44-/202057342774?hash=item2f0b8e5f36:g:3O8AAOSwfrxZvaLs

The Suns also put together a similar gallery of proposed uniforms. Most of them are tacky and awful, but there's a couple gems: http://www.nba.com/suns/gallery/1992-93-phoenix-suns-uniform-designs

This one's definitely my favorite of the bunch... very '90s, but in a good way: I was also surprised at how much this proposed logo foreshadowed their 2000-2013 look almost a decade earlier:

The new FOX graphics actually look great in action, but I agree that the team logos should be on the scorebug. I think they'll end up making that tweak eventually.

Another early Reebok Edge prototype has been unearthed - this time for the Bruins, circa 2004: http://www.ebay.com/itm/BOSTON-BRUINS-EARLY-EDGE-PROTOTYPE-2004-AUTHENTIC-REEBOK-JERSEY-SIZE-54-/222599843772?hash=item33d3fc0fbc:g:MYwAAOSw2RdZgK7T

You do raise a fair point on the Spring Training games, but still, people show up in droves to watch exhibition games that don't count in a dump of a stadium, just because it's some semblance of major-league baseball in Montreal. I doubt we'd be hearing much talk about Montreal as an expansion market if those games drew poorly. It's true that the Expos had winning seasons in 2002 and 2003. But let's be real, they were only a couple games over .500 in both seasons and didn't make the playoffs. In 2002, it was viewed as a foregone conclusion that the Expos were going to be contracted and they were playing out the string in a lame-duck season. In 2003, the league sabotaged the Expos' chances of making the playoffs by selling off Orlando Cabrera at the deadline and refusing to allow them to make September call-ups. That year was also the beginning of the short-lived San Juan experiment, which sent the message that the team was going to move if it couldn't be contracted. Before that season, the MLB had even floated the idea of pulling the Expos out of Montreal and having them share Fenway with the Red Sox until a buyer could be found - an idea that obviously didn't end up working out. It's not like the Expos were trotting out World Series teams to play in front of empty seats, like what's happened in Miami and Tampa Bay. There isn't a city on Earth that would keep showing up to games under those circumstances. The Rays haven't had it easy, but they haven't had to put up with even a fraction of the bull :censored: that Expos fans did. Since their World Series run in 2008, they've been able to field competitive teams on tiny budgets most years. Their 2008 season didn't get ruined by the players going on strike. They aren't splitting their home games between Tampa and San Juan. The league and the Rays' ownership haven't colluded to destroy the team, nor have the Rays been sold to the league outright. The post-1994 Expos were screwed on a level we may never see again. I'm not saying that Montreal is New York/Boston/Philly/Chicago status. But there have been worse markets with more going for them.

Montreal was a good basketball market ruined by a lot of different factors: poor ownership after Bronfman sold the team (especially the Loria era), the Blue Jays screwing the Expos on TV rights just as the Expos were starting to get really good in the '80s, the '94 strike, stinginess by the local business community in Montreal, etc. The fans didn't "quit" on baseball until the MLB made it abundantly clear that baseball was quitting on them. Bringing up the Expos' average attendance in 2004 is unfair without considering the context. By that time, the Expos were owned by the league, had narrowly dodged contraction two years earlier, and were playing a significant portion of their "home" schedule in an 18,000-seat ballpark in San Juan. They had failed to get consistent bilingual TV and radio coverage over the previous few seasons. One year, the only way fans could follow their team was to listen to French-language radio broadcasts streaming live on Expos.com. And this was back in 2000, when an estimated 34% of Internet users were still stuck on slow dial-up connections! Things had become so petty that IIRC, even the signs around Montreal directing people to Olympic Stadium were taken down while the Expos were still playing there. Bottom line: fans are not going to show up to support a franchise that spends all its time and energy on creating reasons to move out of town. It's the same reason why Qualcomm Stadium was a ghost town for the Chargers' last few years in San Diego. Speaking of attendance, the Expos drew over 2 million fans four times (1979, 1980, 1982, 1983). The Rays have only managed that feat once, in their inaugural season. So if Montreal isn't a major-league caliber baseball market, what does that say about Tampa Bay? Things have changed dramatically since 2004, though. The current mayor of Montreal, Denis Coderre, has been vocal in his support for bringing the MLB back. There's a group of investors in place that meets the MLB's conditions to own a franchise. There's a large grassroots movement to bring baseball back to Montreal, headed by former Expo Warren Cromartie. Despite being a :censored:hole, Olympic Stadium is packed every year for the annual Spring Training games. And Manfred has continuously voiced his support for the Montreal market, which is incredible considering how hard Selig tried to crush any hope for baseball in Montreal.