Changes to Titans uniforms in 2018 are 'not minor'

[MJWalker45]

5 hours ago, gek_6 said:

I'm starting to believe that more and more.

 

The colors are better on the current set, but the design of the previous kit was better. If they had only changed the former pant stripes to the current and used the collar design from the new kit and added the current helmet design and current uniform colors to that 2008 version they would be considered modern classics. 

[ColeJ]

Seajacked

[jerrylawless3]

I'm confused. I thought I clicked on a forum called "Changes to Titans uniforms in 2018 are 'not minor'", but all I see is a bunch of Seahawks stuff.

[BBTV]

26 minutes ago, jerrylawless3 said:

I'm confused. I thought I clicked on a forum called "Changes to Titans uniforms in 2018 are 'not minor'", but all I see is a bunch of Seahawks stuff.

 

Titans being discussed in the other thread. 

[Red Wolf]

55 minutes ago, jerrylawless3 said:

I'm confused. I thought I clicked on a forum called "Changes to Titans uniforms in 2018 are 'not minor'", but all I see is a bunch of Seahawks stuff.

It's a nearly 40 page thread on uniforms we know virtually nothing about. Things have to go off the rails at some point. 

[Noeltrebek]

On 3/26/2018 at 6:14 PM, burgundy said:

 

 

What is this? It can't be the front of the jersey because there's not that much space between the collar and numbers.

 

 

Please don't be pants

Please don't be pants

Please don't be pants

Please don't be pants

Please don't be pants...

 

Omg I know what they are, if it’s something nobody has then it is sleeves. They are giving a nod to rugby shirts. The sleeves will protect the players’ arms from cold and sun. They have titans written  on them. Just a thought. Yes I know it would  look dumb with the pads they wear. 

[C-Squared]

3 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

Winning the President's Trophy rocketed the Sabres up to #1 in NHL merch sales

 

There's whole sports that pair with these fashion shows.

 

3 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

“As long”? No. The Patriots’ current look predates all of those uniforms. Also Philly’s got a ring, which will likely enshrine the Midnight Green look for the foreseeable future. And Tennessee’s changing so *shrug*

 

As Cosmic said though, reasons for keeping a bad look are complex and varied. 

Maybe ownership is fond of a bad uniform because it’s “their” mark on the team. Maybe Maybe it sells well despite being a bad design. Maybe a team figures a bad modern design allows them to “double dip,” selling both the current look and the popular throwback stuff. Maybe ownership just doesn’t care. 

 

I don’t believe anyone ever said a bad look can “only” be kept around thanks to a championship run, but I stand by the argument that a championship makes it easier to keep a uniform around past its best-by date. 

 

NE in '00, PHI in '96, TEN in '99, the rest within a few years. Split hairs aside, 1/3 of the league is arguably 10-20 years outdated (ATL, NE, CIN, DEN, PHI, LAC, CAR, BAL, ARI, maybe NYJ & DAL) - only a handful with success to back them... all these teams simultaneously clinging to dated looks is emblematic of something bigger and more objective (like teams enjoying the flexibility of alternate/throwback/color rush gear) than this worthlessly subjective theory that *might*  apply to 2-3 teams.

[NYUNDERDOGS]

6 minutes ago, Noeltrebek said:

Omg I know what they are, if it’s something nobody has then it is sleeves. They are giving a nod to rugby shirts. The sleeves will protect the players’ arms from cold and sun. They have titans written  on them. Just a thought. Yes I know it would  look dumb with the pads they wear. 

Ok now im scared.

[IceCap]

16 minutes ago, C-Squared said:

There's whole sports that pair with these fashion shows.

Editing someone's post to make a point is super tacky. Also? The Sabres hadn't won the President's Trophy right when they unveiled the look, when they rocketed to the top of the league's merch sales. So no. The Slug, like it or not, sold like gangbusters before the team even played a game in it.

[Noeltrebek]

I actually see them doing this or sometime in the future. Creates room for ads later as well. 

[C-Squared]

3 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

The sluggalo was super tacky. Also? The Sabres hadn't won the President's Trophy right when they unveiled the look, when they rocketed to the top of the league's merch sales. So no. The Slug, like it or not, sold like gangbusters before the team even played a game in it.

 

I ain't mad atcha, brother. Let's keep it light.

 

In reference to the sluggalo, former NHL marketing VP Brian Jennings claimed that any NHL uni change causes a 20% rise in merch sales. Former Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn claimed the team never wanted the unis & that Reebok and the league mandated the design. The NY Times correlates the team's sustained merch success that year with their 10-game opening win streak and league-best record.

 

...but I'm sure a few more wins would have changed all that.

 

The Pats haven't changed their primaries in ~20 years because they've benefited from evolving NFL uni rules to put Brady in six different jerseys over that same time span. Teams simply don't need to change their primaries like they used to.

[IceCap]

4 minutes ago, C-Squared said:

I ain't mad atcha, brother. Let's keep it light.

I’m not mad, just annoyed that you seem to miss my point, or are purposefully avoiding it.

 

5 minutes ago, C-Squared said:

...but I'm sure a few more wins would have changed all that.

I never suggested just “a few more wins” would have changed it, and this is where the annoyance comes in. 

I said winning a Cup would have changed it. Not “a few more wins,” or anything else so trivial.

I’m saying the Sabres, an often downtrodden team in the hockey hotbed of Buffalo, winning the Stanley Cup very well could have enshrined the slug uniforms for years to come. 

 

8 minutes ago, C-Squared said:

Former Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn claimed the team never wanted the unis & that Reebok and the league mandated the design

Now you’re arguing against a point I’m not even making.

I never defended the Buffaslug logo or the uniforms. I thought the sucked when they came out and I still think they suck. 

The designer of the thing “explaining the process” did nothing to move my opinion on the logo years ago either. So I agree with you, and the Sabres apparently. The whole look was awful. 

 

I’m just saying that a Cup win very well could have changed the entire dynamic. Suddenly it’s a uniform associated with Buffalo’s only championship. Redemption for the 1999 Brett Hull “foot in the crease” goal, at the very least. 

 

Again, that’s not a defence of the design. I’m just saying that winning it all can have that effect. 

 

[DeFrank]

If the Seahawks chose not to rebrand for the 2012 season they would still have the exact same uniforms as they do today. I fully believe that. We always talk about the Patriots, and actually come to think of it, the new Seahawks uniforms, as having staying power because of on the field success.

 

Beast Quake happened at the end of the 2010 season. I think it's fascinating how different I think of the 2010 Seahawks than I do 2012. I think a big part of that is the uniforms. Marshawn Lynch totally fits on both sides of the rebrand, obviously, but it's crazy how different the Seahawks now seem as a franchise. From 2008-2011 or so, the tail end of the Hasselbeck era, they were kind of summed as the only team with a losing record ever to win a division. And then... Nike. Russel Wilson. Richard Sherman. The white backlash to Richard Sherman. etc. I just think it's interesting to think about all of that stuff happening with them still in their weird rainy Seattle uniforms.

[C-Squared]

 

 

 

Did these become iconic or did people say “what a shame they won a title in those?” You recognized the theory was flimsy enough to try shoehorn in some merch data to validate it, which also couldn't withstand scrutiny. The slug merch boom was a one-year gimmick fueled by newness and bandwagoning. The team didn't want the unis in the first place and moved on as soon as they could. That a Cup would have saved the slug is a fine theory if you ignore every verifiable piece of evidence available.

 

The Sabres tried to satiate their actual fans by integrating the white throwback as an alternate. To bring this full-circle, I think a lot of teams are staying put with their primaries in 2018 because they have so many other outlets for new unis that don't require full rebrands. Teams might even have learned a lesson from slug-style rebrands and decided to keep the primaries safe and push boundaries with fringe sets, instead. The Pats haven't needed a hard refresh because they've crammed silver, an 80's-00's hybrid, and two throwback jerseys within their existing brand... most NFL teams "in need of a refresh" have done the same.

[Tracy Jordan]

If the Titans are going with navy helmets, then it's time for the Texans to switch to white helmets. Maybe the two franchise can negotiate a deal to allow the Oilers identity/history to return to Houston. I don't think fans in either city would have a huge problem with that. If the Pelicans and Hornets were able to pull it off a few years ago, the NFL is certainly capable of doing it now.

 

[WavePunter]

4 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

The colors are better on the current set, but the design of the previous kit was better. If they had only changed the former pant stripes to the current and used the collar design from the new kit and added the current helmet design and current uniform colors to that 2008 version they would be considered modern classics. 

They've never worn a "kit"

[daveindc]

2 hours ago, Tracy Jordan said:

If the Titans are going with navy helmets, then it's time for the Texans to switch to white helmets. Maybe the two franchise can negotiate a deal to allow the Oilers identity/history to return to Houston. I don't think fans in either city would have a huge problem with that. If the Pelicans and Hornets were able to pull it off a few years ago, the NFL is certainly capable of doing it now.

 

 

 

 

Is there really a clamoring for the Oilers identity in Houston? Texans fans seem to enjoy the current team and its identity.

 

[NYUNDERDOGS]

28 minutes ago, Tracy Jordan said:

If the Titans are going with navy helmets, then it's time for the Texans to switch to white helmets. Maybe the two franchise can negotiate a deal to allow the Oilers identity/history to return to Houston. I don't think fans in either city would have a huge problem with that. If the Pelicans and Hornets were able to pull it off a few years ago, the NFL is certainly capable of doing it now.

 

 

Stop the Oilers are long dead and you know it.

[Cosmic]

1 hour ago, C-Squared said:

In reference to the sluggalo, former NHL marketing VP Brian Jennings claimed that any NHL uni change causes a 20% rise in merch sales. Former Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn claimed the team never wanted the unis & that Reebok and the league mandated the design. The NY Times correlates the team's sustained merch success that year with their 10-game opening win streak and league-best record.

 

...but I'm sure a few more wins would have changed all that.

You have to look at that article in context... it is from the death of the slug. The correlation was probably made from looking at the general trends of the season; I doubt they looked at detailed sales numbers to see when exactly sales spiked or didn't. As for Larry Quinn? "We always wanted to go back to the original uniform,” said Larry Quinn, the Sabres’ managing partner. He said the slug design was an effort to find a fit for the trim, postlockout Reebok uniforms mandated by the league. “It’s been a five- or six-year process.”  Sure, they always wanted the classic uniform back, but they just had to go to a completely different logo and modern striping for four years in the middle because they just couldn't get the old logo to fit on the Edge template! 

 

The Sabres can't be an example of a team that was super successful and still changed, because there was a huge difference between the 2006 Sabres and the 2010 Sabres. They made it to Game 7 of the ECF in the last year of the red/black. There was good reason to believe that injuries cost them a trip to the Cup Finals (IIRC they were missing four out of their top six defensemen in Game 7). In the first year of the slug, although they won the Presidents Trophy, they struggled in the playoffs. They should have been more convincing in the first two rounds, and they were embarrassed by Ottawa in the ECF. They took a step back from the previous year. That offseason, the team blew up when they lost their two best skaters to free agency within a few hours of each other. It was a pretty hard break from the Presidents Trophy team, and they missed the playoffs completely in the next two seasons.

[IceCap]

1 hour ago, C-Squared said:

 

 

Did these become iconic or did people say “what a shame they won a title in those?”

Both? You need to remember that those of us who care enough to seek this forum out and sign up? We're in the minority. We're the weirdos. We all went "what a shame the Cavs had to win in black t-shirts" but to everyone else? Yes. That look helped redefine the Cavs' brand.

 

 

 

Seems the Cavs' C on a black background became a huge part of their identity after the Cavs won the title in that look.

 

1 hour ago, C-Squared said:

You recognized the theory was flimsy enough to try shoehorn in some merch data to validate it, which also couldn't withstand scrutiny.

I mean I think it could stand up to scrutiny. My only point with the merch sales was that it proved that the general Sabres fandom wasn't so against the Slug. That one year boom after it was introduced could have been enough to make it stick had they won the Cup.

 

I mean Buffalo and Cleveland are very much alike. Northern Rustbelt town, a "blue collar" identity, and tons of heartbreak when it comes to sports. The Sabres winning in the Slug would have associated that uniform set with the city's ultimate "redemption." Much like the C on a black background became that for Cleveland and the Cavs.