My Rant on My Hometown Teams

[rmackman]

I figured I'd give a nice rant on what I like and don't like on my favorite teams. Who better to throw ideas at than you guys.

Miami Dolphins - No real complaints. My favorite was when they had this style

but really no complaints. It even looks good considering the sleeve stripes are different on the aqua vs. the white jerseys. Mabye tone down the blue shadowing a little? It looks fine though.

Miami Heat - I already discussed this in my Heat Logo post. I kind of like the Heat unis they have, but I think maybe they should have kept the word HEAT in red on the black jerseys.

Florida Marlins - I don't really like that they made the team almost all black. The black alternate jersey needs some more teal in it. The home jersey should have kept either the name OR the stripes teal, not make it all black. There's too many black teams. Teal was original, and it's basically a Florida color. Black hats are fine though b/c it was goofy in 1993 when they were ALL teal.

1997 was about the right mix. Put the fish back on the road jersey that they used to have. That was a neat idea at the time.

Florida Panthers - No complaints. They've always had the same jerseys for the most part. Maybe they should have left the blue as the alternate and the red as the road jersey.

Milwaukee Brewers - I've already made my proposals on this.

Green Bay Packers - Classic...you don't touch this!

Milwaukee Bucks - I like the home jerseys, but I feel they should make hunter green their primary color again instead of purple. The silver lettering on the road jerseys is weird b/c silver is barely in their color scheme. I miss those late 80's early 90's style jerseys as ugly as they are. Mitchell and Ness should make a version of those.

[Gothamite]

As a Packer fan, I would make a couple changes to their uniforms.

I almost wish Wolf had gone through with his update in 1994:

By now, the fans would have been used to it (and we would have won a Lombardi trophy in one). I like it because it would have paid homage to the two great eras in Packer history - the logo of the Lombardi era and a color scheme from the Lambeau era.

But I recognize that a total overhaul would not be accepted by the fans. Even so, I think there are some changes that need to be made to the current Packers uniforms to make them more like the classic Lombardi-era uniforms.

First of all, I'd remove the Coach Gregg-era stripes from the neck. That's a must.

Then I'd change the striping (neck and sleeve) to match the classic 60s stripes, as seen on the 2003 Thanksgiving throwbacks:

I really hate the white/green/white/yellow stripes they wear now on the road.

[The_Admiral]

The old 60s Bucks uniforms are the best. Forest green and red.

[rmackman]

Grey facemasks are horrible unless you have grey in your color scheme i.e. Dallas Cowboys. Making the Packers Vegas gold is a bad idea to. What's with every team switching to Vegas gold? The Rams did it, the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL, I mean come on. Enough is enough, there's nothing wrong with regular gold. Why would you eliminate the stripes from the Packers' sleeves? You should only do that if you have a design that accentuates the sides or shoulders i.e. Broncos and Titans. The Bills have some piping, so there's no room for it. You don't eliminate shoulder stripes just to do it. The collar stripes are cool b/c nobody else really does that. It's different. Your second idea is basically just the Packers throwbacks, in which case they might as well just stay as it. I think your first rendering is too bland though. I don't like uniforms that are completely devoid of pizzaz (Raiders are an exception because that's classic), but I also don't like really busy ones like Buffalo's. The Packers are a classic and their uniforms should be left alone. Packers jerseys are there with the Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Boston Celtics. You just don't mess with a good thing. If you have to do something MAYBE add more stripes to go back to how the Pack was in 1996.

[Gothamite]

Sorry, perhaps I didn't make myself totally clear, Mack. Check the caption on the second I was posting - it is the 2003 throwbacks. I offer it here only as an example of the jersey striping I want the Packers to use.

I wouldn't adopt the gray facemasks from the throwbacks, only the sleeve and neck striping. That would take them back to a Lombardi-era design, which seems to me a good thing.

I wish I could take credit for the concept in the first graphic, but I can't. That's the uniform Ron Wolf chose for a Packers update in 1994. Personally, I would have added a single green stripe to both helmet and pants, but for the sake of historical accuracy, I did not add them to my graphic.

Back when Wolf chose the design above, no other teams had switched to metallic gold. The Rams and Penguins were still using athletic gold. So the Pack would have been the first, blazing a trail instead of following.

I would eliminate the sleeve stripes because few players wear sleeves. That's why they reduced the stripes from five to three in 1997, and why I think they should go ahead and eliminate them all today. Were I the Commish, I would prohibit the tank-top customizations that so many players have done and mandate the wearing of sleeves. Should that happen, I would be glad to have sleeve stripes on the Packers' uniforms (the 5-stripe set you suggest).

If the "Packers jerseys are there with the Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Boston Celtics" then it's time to remove Forrest Gregg's additions. You ditched his sleeve logo, you ditched his extra pant stripes and pant numbers, time to ditch his neck strips, Packers!

[marlinfan]

Florida Marlins - I don't really like that they made the team almost all black. The black alternate jersey needs some more teal in it. The home jersey should have kept either the name OR the stripes teal, not make it all black. There's too many black teams. Teal was original, and it's basically a Florida color. Black hats are fine though b/c it was goofy in 1993 when they were ALL teal.

1997 was about the right mix. Put the fish back on the road jersey that they used to have. That was a neat idea at the time.

The pinstripes in the home jerseys are gray not black. But I get your point and agree to degree.

[Gothamite]

Are they? I'm pretty sure that they're black.

[rmackman]

They're black, my friend owns an authentic one.

[rmackman]

Hey Goth, didn't mean to bust your chops. You know we all get a little passionate about our beliefes sometimes...of course that's why we're here. I don't like the whole cutting off the sleeves idea either, and it has to stop. You'd think the league would have done something considering the NFL seems to get pissed if I were to say accidentally spill kool-aid on my sock and put a stain on it then I'd get fined.

[mac]

they used to be teal though and that was better.

[Gothamite]

Yes, the teal pinstripes were much better looking than the black. The Marlins used to have a great look, but they've been slowly chipping away at it, and now they have a generic black mess.

Hey Goth, didn't mean to bust your chops.  You know we all get a little passionate about our beliefes sometimes...of course that's why we're here.  I don't like the whole cutting off the sleeves idea either, and it has to stop.  You'd think the league would have done something considering the NFL seems to get pissed if I were to say accidentally spill kool-aid on my sock and put a stain on it then I'd get fined.

Mack, I don't mind a little chop-busting. I know we both love the Packers, and changing their uniforms is a volatile issue, to say the least.

I'm with you. I don't understand why the league doesn't step in. They get a bad rap for squelching individuality, but this is one arena that is definitely their business.

I also question how much good it really does to chop off the sleeves. Now, instead of opposing linemen grabbing sleeves, they can actually grab the shoulder pads. I would think that grabbing a sleeve is more obvious and more likely to result in a flag. This may be more about looking "tough" than actually improving play.

[Pat]

I agree. Dont dare touch my Packers unis. The Wolf proposal was ok, but it was the Green Bay Packers here. Keep em how they are. They are in uniform perfection.

As for the Marlins. I agree more teal needs to be involved. I hate how black has takem over(see toronto). Be unique here, go with more teal. Not totally oveboard but I agree it needs to be involved more.

[Gothamite]

I agree. Dont dare touch my Packers unis. The Wolf proposal was ok, but it was the Green Bay Packers here. Keep em how they are. They are in uniform perfection.

"uniform perfection?"

Once we remove all the "improvements" they've been subjected to since the Lombardi days, they will be.

[Discrim]

i know one thing, if i changed teh Packer gold to vegas gold, the home would look very similar to what Wolf proposed, except I would have also modernized the old "Heisman" logo and used gold numbers instead of white. I'd also have a gold yoke on the white jerseys, similar to the 94 throwbacks

The Bucks, i don't mind the scheme but I'd implement things differently. I would simply utilize silver more, have a barber pole alternate (the multiple greens would make a comeback) and most importantly switch back to green as the primary color. seriously, the barber pole alt would look good if done right.

the Brew, they're good as is but I sorta liked their Germanic-style uniform from (wow) 10 years ago...has it been that long already?

[Gothamite]

Well, it was introduced ten years ago. They only moved away from it five years ago, which seems long ago enough.

Gold numbers instead of white? Maybe. Could work, so long as they didn't outline them in white. I hate that on the Rams.

Do you mean gold shoulders? Like these? Replace the blue with green?

[rmackman]

That would be really weird and high school-ish. I don't even like how the Titans have that type of design. It's just weird. In fact, the Bills sort of did that too.

[machpost]

Florida Marlins - I don't really like that they made the team almost all black. The black alternate jersey needs some more teal in it. The home jersey should have kept either the name OR the stripes teal, not make it all black. There's too many black teams. Teal was original, and it's basically a Florida color. Black hats are fine though b/c it was goofy in 1993 when they were ALL teal.

My only problem with the Marlins is that I wish they would come up to Viera, unbolt all of those gawdy teal seats at Space Coast Stadium, and take them back down to Jupiter with them

[Discrim]

Well, it was introduced ten years ago. They only moved away from it five years ago, which seems long ago enough.

Do you mean gold shoulders? Like these? Replace the blue with green?

yup...oddly, despite my age it makes me feel old

and yeah, i mean gold shoulders, but just on the whites, the greens wouldn't need it. it would be almost exactly like the throwbacks.