tBBP

Aaaannnnnd the rats have rained down in Miami Gardens. Ladies (if there's any in here) and gentlemen...I present the 2023 NHHL Eastern Conference Champion: YOUR...FLOORRRRRIIIIDDAAA...PAAAANTHERRRRSS!!! One sweep down, one to go (unless Dallas finds whatever juice the Celtics drank last before last night).

Yeah but...if Vancouver sports Johnny, what's Abbotsford gonna wear?? And speaking of wearing stuff, I'm guessing Carolina is gonna keep these white CANES roadies around for a while, yes? Well, I'm looming more closely at that chest script and...if they fashioned some (italicized) block numbers in the same style to match and then applied them to their other two jerseys, that might be a way to evoke the original NASCAR look in the present and going forward...

Okay, so wait—hold up. Somebody help me understand this...does this mean they played a whole dang season, went through two drafts and started op OTAs under that nickname and the thing was still pending application in trademark court?? And somehow the league let that pass?? Or am I missing something here (which I'm sure I am)? The comedy show in DC just writes its own jokes at this point, doesn't it?

That's actually exactly the shade of blue I've been envisioning the Rays switching to in my mind's eye. Even that with the yellow would be far more distinctive than the overdone baby/navy pairing they have now. And also: how exactly did we as a society decide on this particular shade of blue to represent Father's Day again???

I'll say this for the Texans, now that we're in full-on Texjack territory: from a technical perspective (inasmuch as anything aesthetic can be technical), yes, the Texans do have a contemporary classic on their hands—or would if someone on their equipment staff would remind them that it is indeed not an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to wear red socks with their navy pants for away games—and they do have one of they very best logos in all of sports...BUT, the big issue with said contemporary classic is the utterly drab colorway itself. Had they come out in, oh, I don't know, some shade of orange, preferably more vibrant, and something closer to stonewashed denim, we'd be having a different colorway conversation. (Aaaannnd I might've just told on myself by divulging that last part )

That's Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gary Bettman to you, pal.

Speaking of random jersey sightings—or just random sightings period—I'm still trying to figure out how this happened: What either of them was doing in Jacksonville of all places is still lost on me, but yet...there they are. (For those not in the know, the other guy is UFC all-time great Rashad Evans.)

If not for the Cavs, I wouldn't mind seeing the Nuggets do burgundy with gold. That said, if they win the 'ship this year, will their current look then become "untouchable" like how so many people sweat that a championship look can't/shouldn't be changed?

I watched that live as it happened (on TV, of course)...and laughed my royal behind off the whole time. In case anyone is curious what led up to all that, here you go: Cliff notes: Max Domi, channeling daddy Tie—and I guess following his captain's lead, more on that in a bit—crosschecked Nicolas Hague into the boards, then followed it up with more rough play, which got him two separate minors and a ten-minute game misconduct for a grand total of fourteen penalty minutes on one incident. And oh yeah, about his by-that-point absent captain, Jamie Benn: he got hit with a game misconduct and the early exit for the exact same infraction less than two minutes into the game: Oh and did I mention Vegas scored three goals barely eight minutes into the contest?? Just a straight-up implosion by Dallas all around...crosschecked themselves right off the ice and right out the game. (What is it with teams wearing green just straight self-imploding in game 3 of conference finals this calendar year thus far?) The result? 4-0 game, 3-0 series for VGK.

With crab meat all over it.

Completely agree—and the same is true up here in South Dakota, as well. Oh and should you ever get to Baltimore again and the opportunity to go to an O's game comes up, let me leave you one small little itty bitty teeny weeny piece of counsel: DO IT. You will absolutely, proof-positively love it. For as confined and utilitarian as that park is, it is still one of the very best in baseball.

So ummm...I think someone or a couple someones from the organization heard me. 3-0 Vegas on Dallas' home ice at the moment about halfway through the second period... EDIT: And right as I hit "Post" VGK scores their fourth of the game.

Be VERY careful what you ask for.......

Count me in as an fan of the cartoon bird white panel cap (that's got to be my fave baseball cap thus far) and as one who would also prefer to see a cursive B cap in place of the O's cap. Not for nothing, but the day I attended a game at the Yards I saw those white panel bird caps flying of the shelves (one of which landed right in my left hand, in my bag, out the door and directly onto my noggin)...meanwhile I don't think I saw a single O's cap move.

I gotta go with Deke—as in Dikembe Mutombo—or, if one prefers, Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo. Alex English was a little before my formative years; otherwise it's possible I'd pick him. But that to the side...yeah, Mutombo. This moment will always be iconic in my mind:

You know what...I wouldn't hate that. And at any rate it's a far more interesting use of an otherwise dull colorway. (I still say they should change their colorway altogether—but NOT to light blue, please let that ship stay sailed—but I might as well be ice-skating uphill talking like that...)

I hadn't realized SKC and CITY played each other already. Let's check the uni matchup and... Well that's...different. Also...what is MLS' aversion to contrast in their kits?? Both those kits would look better with navy shorts (IMO).

Wait...what??? How/when/why did they choose THAT nickname??

Interesting you mention the Saints, because that is the first team I thought of when I saw the shimmer fabric of the Knights' gold sweaters. If adidas can engineer a dazzle-type fabric good enough to use for hockey sweaters, I'm sure Nike can come up with something similar for a potential gold alternate top for the Saints (recalling their one-time gold alternates from like '02 or whenever it was), or dazzle-type fabric period for the teams that have a "metallic" in their colorway (Saints, 49ers, Raiders, Patriots...am I missing any?). Having said that, and I don't know that I mentioned this previously, but the adidas shimmer fabric itself also looks super nice in person. It's probably the reason I prefer it in smaller doses, because it has greater effect that way. (I didn't know this at first, but those black VEGAS alternates of theirs also have shimmery gold NOBs...wonky number font aside, that also looks really good in person. Doubt I'll splurge for one of those, though.)

Okay, so...first off, WOW what an experience. I went to that game 2 yesterday and...well, Vegas has truly done a number with the in-arena entertainment. (Which, I mean, being Vegas, it's kinda in their wheelhouse, no?) I also know if I go again to go for the Allegiant Flight deck...sure it's SRO, but I could see just about everything from there. Not bad for 70 bucks on a last-minute deal! Now, to the game. After Dallas' second goal, that building felt just...well, about as sluggish as the Knights looked on the ice for pretty much the entire game. I mean, sloppy passes, being more passive than aggressive, missing PLENTY open looks at the net the few times they ventured into the offensive zone during the game—and speaking of, is there some metric that tracks how long a team spends in the offensive and defensive zones? Because it felt like Vegas spent a solid 2/3 of the game camped put in their own defensive zone. Can't win too many games like that...and Dallas sent plenty pucks on net, which was my biggest gripe all game up until the end of regulation: by the second intermission, Vegas had a total of ten shots on goal to Dallas' seventeen (IIRC); five minutes into the third it was like 21-12. That, plus the fact that it seemed like none of the Knights could keep a puck on their stick blades, was just maddeningly frustrating. Energy seeped as the clock crossed 18:00 into the third period—and then finally, the Knights showed some life, and Marchessault came through with that equalizer. Suddenly, the building woke from the dead, and by the end of regulation, it was a completely different energy. But man, when Chandler Stevenson slapped that rebound in on a clean net barely a minute into OT—thanks to the Knights finally doing what they hadnt done all game, by crashing the net and being aggressive on their forecheck—that building dang near blew up! (And I dang near went hoarse.) I tell you what, though: they better not roll out flat like they played 5/6 of the way come game 3 down in Dallas, or they might just get skated right off that ice down there. That said, I may not live down that experience for a while. Not bad for my first live NHL game! (And they even gave a button to commemorate it. )

Regarding the city neighborhood pattern, I guess they weren't too far off: I do find it very puzzling that none of those city neighborhood shapes are colored in Orioles signature orange...like, wouldn't that have been a no-brainer of a decision? Now, regarding the following... I need to know whether the Orioles or Nike authored all this...or whether they co-wrote it. Either way, this is textbook doingthemost.com-level stuff. And I don't know...Ive been to Baltimore many times, even spent a year living just outside the city. Bmore certainly has its issues, but one thing I can say proof-positively is that there is NOTHING bland about the City...and you ain't got to venture too far into town to see, well, color, so I don't know where that "surface level of the city" mumbo-jumbo came from. If anything, wouldn't you want to showcase the vibrance, rather than "hide" it inside the collar and sleeve cuffs? Had they done that—and added the full-color version to the cap undervisor—I wouldn't give these a higher mark (despite the fact that this is the third of the four [?] CCs shown thus far this season that is heavily or fully black). As is, yeeeaaah I'mma have to say "no" to this one. (And of course, as always: this is just one man's opinion...my two rusted Lincolns.)

You know what? That's what it is. I don't know how I couldn't see that while trying to dissect it...but it's the white bands on the gold jersey that's throwing it off. And while gold and gray may as well be their base scheme, I don't see them ever completely dropping black (or red). Speaking of, I found some concepts on Icethletics and Twitter that I believe get closer to an ideal solution for the gold sweaters... This one syncs up even better with the gray jerseys. And now that I'm looking at this, the gold base is offset well by the black (and gray). Here's another similar mockup: I REALLY like this one...it kinds flips the color order around between the black and gray—and the thin white piping isn't needed—but I think the gold plays better with the black breezers. Also, I think its safe to say this thread's been temporarily Knightjacked...

I wonder the same thing re: football pants. So far, I've only seen that shimmer fabric used on the Knights' sweaters and the bronze parts of the Capitols' screagle throwbacks. It does feel slightly scratchier than the flat fabric, but yes, the dazzle fabric is super-light, like, almost lighter than paper to the touch. (The matte fabric is only slightly less light...but all very breathable.) All that said, yep, like you I found myself wondering how or if Nike can/did engineer a similar type of fabric to use for pants. Might require a lot of lycra, but with all the monetary resources they have, I'm sure they could pull it off. Heck...I'd like to see if adidas could pull that off for their own football uniform pants!

I'll say this re: both...on ice and from a distance, the gold and white jerseys do sync up better with one another. The issue—for me at least—is in the details up close. The floral pattern imprinted on the sleeve stripes just seems to...well, their effect is greater in the gold bands on the black and white jerseys (and on the crest) moreso than on the white bands on the gold jerseys...and then there's that glittery fabric. I love it, don't get me wrong, but...up close, it's just a tad bit too much for me. (This from someone from Florida, where shiny glittery things are all over the place, so take that for what it's worth.) The shimmer is FAR more pronounced in person, for those who haven't seen one up close yet, but...here are the best photos I could dig up: All of that said, I absolutely love how Vegas has settled into the gold and gray as a primary colorway. (Actually I love everything about this identity...one of the reasons I've been such a huge fan of the team since their inception.) About the crest...I'd have to see a mockup to see how it'd look with gray swapped out for black, but it may lose some depth if color-swapped, and I don't know that I'd want to see that. Now, flipping over to Dallas...I still wish they'd outline their numbers with black to play better off their crests, but I must admit that green looks dang nice on the ice, now that I've seen that in person, as well. I mean that is about as perfect a hue of green as they could have chosen.

I know this is cross-posted from the SiG forum, but...ever since Vegas switched from gray to gold as primary homes, something had looked...off to me about those sweaters, which is why I held off for so long on getting one. Well I'm in Vegas this weekend for both mini-vacay and game 2 (finally get to see the Knights play live!), so I swung on over to the Armory (their team store) to get an up close look at those gold sweaters and...yeah, those are just a bit too glittery for my taste. They work great as a 3rd/alternate (and speaking of alts the black VEGAS script alts look much better in person than I thought), but as primaries it's just too much. I much prefer the original gray sweaters that feature the gold enough to notice but not distract...so that's the one I got. Sidebar: I still cannot get over how well both Vegas' and Seattle's identities turned (one of the stores on the strip has a good amount of Kraken stuff). If those were adidas' last contribution to NHL aesthetics, then they are going out with a big ol' bang AND leaving a pretty high bar for team identities in their wake.