upperV03

Agreed 100%, although I think what bothers me most might honestly be the extra space to the right of the second ‘A’. The pointed ‘A’ gives the illusion that the type is off-centered at first glance and also throws off the balance and visual weight. They needed to allow for more space on either side of the type. Frankly, they easily could’ve taken the font from the previous crest and straightened it out. My preference would’ve been for them to just make a couple small tweaks to the previous crest. Below are four quick ideas of what they could’ve done. Far left would’ve been my first choice, far right would’ve been my last choice but still an improvement over what they went with IMO.

And they both got outclassed by Three Little Birds.

Watching the semifinal between Georgia and Ohio State on Saturday night, I thought both teams’ uniforms adapted really nicely onto the Vapor FUSE template. We had already gotten a glimpse at the jerseys beforehand, so it wasn’t really a surprise. As you can see in that photo of CJ Stroud (and as we already knew beforehand), it’s unfortunate that tOSU’s B1G patch had to be applied so high up because of the chevron seam on the chest. I still think the Buckeyes would’ve been better served by going with the horizontal seam across the chest like what Oregon used on their Ohana uniforms in 2020 and what Seahawks players tested that same year. One thing I did find interesting was that, as far as I could tell, none of Georgia or tOSU’s pants had the integrated thigh, hip, knee, and tailbone padding that was highlighted back when Oregon first unveiled the template back in 2019: There have been a couple of Oregon players use pants with the conventional pad pockets the last couple of years (namely Bo Nix this year), but a vast majority of Oregon’s players (even o-linemen) have used the pants with the integrated padding system since 2019. I haven’t heard from players directly, but I have heard second-hand accounts of how much the players have liked the pants with the lighter integrated pads. Would be very curious to know if Nike even gave UGA or tOSU the option to receive pants with the integrated pads, of if it was a choice by the EQ staffs and/or players to stick with the more conventional pants.

Nashville going with Johnny Cash “Man in Black” for their new secondaries: Going the blackout route makes sense given the inspiration, but aesthetically it’s pretty underwhelming. Blackout/stealth kits have also been played out IMO and the musician-inspired direction is no longer original.

Navy socks make all the difference in the world. Anything with maize pants is still a win, but navy socks make for the best and most balanced overall look.

Blazers/Warriors was primary color heaven last night. End result was extremely frustrating as a Blazers fan, but I loved the uniform matchup. Red vs. blue on the Warriors’ primarily yellow court. Almost an ideal color vs. color matchup IMO. Both teams in clearly contrasting colors, on a court that also contrasts but is harmonious with the home team’s uniform.

There’s also no reason they can’t just wear their throwback pants instead of these pants with the silver stripe.

Footy Headlines (grain of salt) is reporting that Charlotte’s new away kit will be purple and pink: If true, not hard to find the likely inspiration behind the color scheme: Would be embarrassing and shameless IMO.

If I did a ranking of all of the winged helmets the Ducks have done, neither of those would be in the top half. Those first ones were revolutionary for the Ducks and for all of CFB, but purely aesthetically they don’t measure up with a lot of the other winged helmets the Ducks have done.

As an Oregon fan, I disagree. Especially with the winged helmets, I much prefer a version of winged helmets over just the “O” on the sides. I suppose I’d be fine with a mix of both, but my ideal situation would be to bring back the mallard finish lids with the “O” on the sides and have every other helmet (apple green, yellow, black and/or white) with wings. There are definitely some Oregon fans that prefer the simpler helmets, but based on what I’ve seen I’d say a majority prefer the wings. As for the jerseys, I’ve actually enjoyed this base design quite a bit. It’s more distinctive than 2018-20 and more cohesive than 2016-2017. It’s sticking around for one more year next year, and I’m hoping what comes in 2024 will build off of the current look but have color balance more similar to what was seen from 2009-2015. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but the mix & match ability is what defined those eras of Oregon’s uniforms and it’s something this set has lacked a little bit. Shameless plug, but here’s what I’ve recently come up with as a concept idea for 2024:

The Ducks didn’t do an official uni reveal, but they’ll be wearing all-white with white face masks today vs. North Carolina.

I wouldn’t say those two patterns are almost identical, they have a similar overall shape but the keeper shirt pattern almost had a DNA look to it with all of the lines. That said, the pattern on the new Italy shirt reads more as a wave/ripple pattern than marble due to the blue base color and the pattern being tonal. I think the pattern and shirt as a whole is fine; decent first effort for Adidas but pretty unremarkable. If it were me, I would’ve changed the gold accents to white or gotten rid of them altogether. The flag accents on the side/hem stripes are solid, but the gold adds nothing to this particular shirt IMO. The crest is also still very underwhelming, but that’s a different discussion.

Based on the helmets the Tar Heels are wearing in practice, it looks like they’ll be in their throwbacks. I’m guessing the Ducks go white/white/green, as they’ve already worn all-white this year.

The Ducks have dedicated practice helmets for that purpose, though. They usually break the game helmets in during their walk-through the day before the game, but in this case I suspect the EQ team just had the players break them in early so they could prep them and set them up in the stadium locker room. If the Ducks do end up wearing them, it’d be their first time wearing these white lids with white masks. Previously they’ve only used green masks, but there have been a couple recruits wear the white masks recently.

Have heard from one person that the Timbers’ new primary kit will include plaid. Can’t confirm that, but wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it ends up being accurate. Their 2017/18 primaries had an embossed plaid pattern, so if true I’d expect more of a bolder approach this time.

The SC actually stands for “Sporting Club”. I’ve always hated it, it absolutely would be better if it had KC instead.

Just checked that site and they actually have the new LAFC secondary shirt as well. Holy :censored: does it look atrocious in these photos:

That Atlanta shirt is pretty nice, although I would’ve been curious to see it with black sleeves (basically a total inverse of their inaugural shirt). I do like how the 3 red/2 black stripes actually match the crest, something that always bugged me about their inaugural “Five Stripes” shirt. The Miami and LAFC shirts are both pretty forgettable. I do like the simple crest on the LAFC shirt, but the rest isn’t exactly revolutionary.

I would think it was the opposite, actually. I would bet Nike planned before the season to have their elite programs “debut” the new template (not technically since Oregon has had it since 2019) if any of them made the playoff. They did the same for the 2017 playoff, as Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson all wore the Vapor Untouchable template for the first time in that year’s CFP. That year Washington made the playoff, but didn’t receive the Vapor Untouchable template until the 2018 season. I know for basketball Nike has a select number of so-called “Elite” schools, and I would assume the same was/is true for football as well. If so, Washington probably wasn’t considered one back then and TCU likely isn’t now. Could also be as simple as Nike not anticipating TCU having a chance to make the playoff and so they didn’t put jerseys on the new template into production for them. In any case, this wouldn’t have been a last minute decision by Nike. These jerseys were likely put into production before the season.

Yeah, that too. I think the design may have just fit above the seam, but it’s possible they would’ve had to shrink it a little bit.

They’re going all-white vs. Michigan: Unlike Georgia and Ohio State, looks like they didn’t receive the new Vapor FUSE uniforms. Not all that surprising IMO, they didn’t even switch over to the Vapor Untouchable template until 2019. Nike’s probably had the template switch for programs like UGA, tOSU, Alabama, SC, etc. in the works for a couple of years, whereas for TCU it could be another year or two. I would fully expect Michigan to have the new template.

I would expect them to keep their current kits through next year. The next Copa America is in 2024, so there will definitely be new kits in time for that.

As a Timbers fan, I can’t help but agree. That said, I’ll be happy to see the Sounders pump out another ugly kit. Basically a tradition at this point. IMO Seattle’s most successful away/third kits have featured a variation of green and/or blue. Their inaugural blue away kits, the 2013 cascade shale kits with the green/blue vertical stripe, the 2015 “pitch black” kits with neon shorts & socks, the 2016 navy/cyan third kit, and their 2017 “Heritage” white kits were all pretty good.

Since I made that post, the 3-star jerseys have actually been put up for preorder on soccer.com and worldsoccershop.com. They have the three stars placed in a triangle, just like what the players were wearing after the trophy presentation. There are also a few other pieces of the Adidas winners collection that have the three stars placed in a triangle above the crest as well: The same was true for the USWNT in both 2015 and 2019. In 2015, the 3-star jerseys released after the WC triumph had the stars placed in a triangle. In 2019, the 4-star jerseys released after the WC had the fourth star placed above the other three (also rendered in gold): In both cases, the stars were placed horizontally above the crest when new kit sets were unveiled. I would expect Argentina to play with the triangle of stars until they get new kits altogether (likely in 2024).