tBBP

I think that's a fair point to consider. Having said that, I find myself in the unique position of really liking the overall brand identity despite the overdone military cosplay, so I don't know what that says about me, a former soldier.

I'm inclined to agree with you...to a point. I DEFINITELY agree with you about the leaping panther. I feel the basic essence of that could have been updated more in the artistic style of the current (read: less detailed, more refined)—which is pretty much exactly what they did with their 30th anniversary logo. I don't dislike their current primary crest; I'd have preferred one more like the above. Secondly, the tawny brown definitely adds something that the former yellow did not, but least among which is of course the fact that a number of the panthers found in Florida are that color (or close to it)—although the tradeoff is losing the "brightness" of the sun. Eh...design considerations. Where my point stops, however, is with the sweaters themselves. I do agree that the triangular yoke could have become a staple feature of their look (along the triangular shape of the leaping panther). That said, something about triangular yokes and normal horizontal stripe never has seemed "right" to me—but that's also relatively minor. The big thing to me dealt with the backs of those jerseys—especially the white ones—and in going back to the Year of the Rat and working back up, it really jumped out at me how Walmart-esque they looked: Now they eventually tightened that up by the turn of the century, but for some reason they kept the offset outlines on the white sweaters, which didn't help the "cheap-ish" look at all: (That was a good-looking sweater) (Those...not so much.) That said, that era also gave us one of my favorite (and I believe one of the best) third jerseys/alternate uniforms ever in life: Look at that...simply gorgeous. Now, with all that said, even though I feel the Panthers may have overdone it with the 101st Airborne branding direction, I'll give them credit for at least jumping in with both feet and really owning it. It did create some rather unique cues in NHL aesthetics that as of right now only they can claim, chief among them being the shoulder-mounted TV numbers, but then also their unique way of designating their captain and alternates via the "ranger tabs" above their sleeve patches. I also really like, clever as it is, how the scripts switch between FLORIDA and PANTHERS depending on placement on the jersey itself and between home and away jerseys. I actually REALLY like their current look, but the one part I don't care for is how that broad stripe doesn't wrap around the back. (To be sure, I can't stand that on soccer jerseys, either, though I understand the reason for it.) I do wonder how different the white sweaters would look with red numbers in place of navy... though I'm sure that choice for better legibility. But with all that's rolled into this look I don't know that there's a more cohesive(ly complex yet streamlined!) brand, top to bottom, in the NHL right now than this one. (And now we may all dig ourselves out of the weeds on this one...lol.)

fake edit: double post.

I've always t really enjoyed Marshall's particular hue of kelly green. That said, in my mind, this is the particular shade the JETS should double down on. I mean, they are Gang Green, after all—AND they represent New York. They should be as distinctively green as humanly possible....

I know they're not gonna do it, but I sincerely wish Clemson would add some purple to that pants stripe...p/o/p perhaps. For as unique as their colorway is, they barely even use any purple on their [primary] uniforms, which I think is a real shame.

It all worked out in the end. St. Louis got football back... they just wear CITYRED now.

Which doesn't take into the account the major construction taking place on I-40 between the two at the time—which made it even worse. (A pain I know ALL too well having lived and worked in Tennessee, traveling between the two, for five years.)

Alright, I'll bite, only bcuz I'm curious: what did Houston do to you, my friend? Yeah that whole situation was ate up from the gate. The original plan was to play both '97 and '98 in Vanderbilt's stadium until Adelphia Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) was completed in time for '99. The whole reason they ended up in Memphis in the first place was because Vanderbilt had a ban on alcohol sales in their venue. That said, a/ up until that point Memphis (like most of the rest of Tennessee at that time) was heavily Steelers/Cowboys—which Memphis still is to this day—and b/ well... Memphis specifically, but also the whole of West Tennessee, is the red-headed stepchild of the Volunteer State in that the heads who run the state keep forgetting that they exist...and it's evident in the overall lack of infrastructure development out there. Seriously, once you get past oh, say, Hurricane Mills, and at any rate west of the Tennessee River, whatever niceness you may perceive of the state seems to drop right off a cliff...along with the topography turning flatter and not-as-scenic (trying to be nice here). It's really an [unfortunate] tale of two Tennessees...and Memphis has long borne the brunt of that neglect among other things, still does to this day. (Oh and the vitriol in Memphis toward Nashville is still all the way real.)

A coach who will also now call the plays this coming season...

Speaking of things that always happen... (so good had to capture it twice) It just is what it is at this point...death, taxes, and the patented #CowpokeChoke.

For those of you not on Instagram: UTEP throwback vibes. Now, without seeing what helmet is going with these... this is one of the best classic uniforms I've seen... ever. Why? Because it styles non-traditional colors to a traditional style...it was the same thing with the Miami Dolphins when they were brand new in the 60s. AND, I've always wanted to see what a primarily orange and silver colorway looked like...this gives me a great idea of such (though I can't tell if that's gray or a really pale blue—which if it's the latter, even better).

That would essentially be what they used to have. (And I think the technical term for that is "shoulder yoke".) It's not the sword-point-shaped yoke I have an issue with—in fact that's the one element of their current set I actually do like, and its probably the one signature element of their visual identity...it's something they can build around. Everything else about that set is doing too much...all of it can go. (Well, okay, except for the two-tone blue, maybe the red.) Navy shell, numbers, sword sheath pants...whatevers, the double-gray especially...all of it can go. All of it.

I think that if anything we may see a slightly retooled version of the Snatit's current uniforms in the future. Granted they began their march to relevance in the older set, but they've become—and have somehow managed to stay despite their underachieving ways—relevant in the NFL landscape while trotting out these costumes they call uniforms, and the players (and many of the fans) seem to really like them, so just for those two points alone I don't think we'll see too drastic a change when/if they retool their identity. As for the Oilers throwbacks, well...that's a $$$$ move, plain and simple. And they/the merchandise will move MAJOR numbers, I can just about guarantee it. (I ain't buying none of it, though.)

As far as on-brand alts go, that's probably one of the better ones I've seen lately.

So now the NFL's doing this unnecessary nicknaming of the uniforms?? Geez... ....And yes, other than to gauge fan feedback ahead of their inevitable rebrand [at this point], this is 100% unnecessary. Snowcapped in a city that's dang-near flat as a pancake...aiight...

They do need to do something about those numbers, though...at least the 6 and the 9. Did they and the Sacramento Kings shop at the same number font store or something??

"New fan experience", eh? More like new fan distraction. What do they want fans to watch, the game on the court, or the court itself??

Just to keep the current Illinijack going, I submit this:

As did Kenny Easley, who people stay forgetting about: The Legion of Boom before the Legion of Boom.

Completely anecdotal, but after reading this, it suddenly dawned on me that both 1976 expansion teams, Seattle and Tampa, came into the league with respective analogous colorways...that are also perfect complements of each other (blue <-> orange // green <-> red), perfectly suited for the climates of their respective corners of the country (cool northwest and warm southeast). And there's your useless colorway commentary for the day.

If any two teams looked like clones in that era, it was the Lions and Cowboys: I remember as a young one growing up there were times I legitimately couldn't tell whether it was the Lions or Cowboys playing on TV or in the newspapers, and when they played each other it resembled more of an intrasquad scrimmage, especially given the lo-def technology of back then (and the artificial lighting in the Silverdome).

That's something I've long wanted the Angels to do. I'll take it one step further: strip out all the navy, swap all the silver for gold, brighten the red juatasmidge, and be the red-and-metallic-gold team in MLB. That I'm aware of right now the 49ers are the only other major pro sports team to use that colorway.

Yeeeaaaahh that ain't it. I've been to the Spokane Falls—several times, in fact. (VERY picturesque and scenic for those of you that haven't seen them in person.) That logo doesn't come close to properly representing them or the word "velocity". Sure, I get that there's a lot of velocity in moving water, and that's perfectly fine for an inspiration for a team branding, but THAT...that ain't it how you do that there.

You know what, now that you spell it all out that way, setting aside the Niners stuff, Seattle has somewhat of a similar story to Tampa in how they pretty much revitalized their entire culture just after the 2012 rebrand. It wasn't a wholesale color change, but it was/is different enough to clearly separate eras. (We'll go ahead and show a tad bit of respect to the 2.0 era only because they did start to turn a corner then and *ahem* they did make a Superb Owl in the Puget Slate uniforms—though we don't talk about the most obvious case of refballing that ever refballed around here). All that said, I'm actually glad they chose the older number font rather than the one they wore later on in the 90s (which is what I first thought they'd do), and yes, the vibrant royal blue and Kelly green definitely appear far more attractive. Having said that, ol' boy's mockup, with maybe a lighter navy or a dark royal, along with the brighter green, would be the perfect way to split the difference if/when they eventually go the "report the past, embrace the future" route whenever they do rebrand next. I personally wouldn't mind it at all—but I'm also not a Washington fan so I get no say in the matter. I also don't know that the NFC East needs another blue team, so there's that at least.

Some people ain't even committed to remembering that nickname now...what's a third time gonna harm 'em? THANK YOU.