The great alternate debate

[zer0dotcom]

Within the past decade, alternate uniforms have become a mainstay in professional sports. Some are cutting edge and truely cool, so make us want to gouge our eyes out and break out in tears.

What makes an alternate uniform successful, and what makes it lower on the clothing chain than toilet paper? After carefully observing alternates in action (mainly the NHL, I stick to what I know) I've come up with 4 groups of alternates:

1: Colour swappers - ie The Flyers black unifroms, Florida Panthers. Colours are switched around to create a new look using existing designs

2: Within style - ie Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay, Atlanta

Stay reasonable within the same limits of the team's base design, colours and theme but give teh team a 'new' look

3: Overhaul! ie: Mooterus! a completely new look for a team, new colours and themes

4: Vintage/Retro ie: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton. Uses a heritage design, moving backwards rather than forwards

These are jsut made up from my observations, not everything fits in. Good looking uniforms fall into each catagory, as do ugly ones. Being an Origonal Six fan, I have a soft spot for Vintage/Retro uniforms, but I do like some of the new ones (Hello Columbus!)

What are your opinions? What is it that makes an alternate uniform good in your eyes?

[puckcool22]

1 and 2

[DEAD!]

Or: Sometimes it's just a case of not having teams having a 'clash' of colours like some soccer, or Aussie Rules teams!

[Chazberg]

Well the first alternates were really worn in baseball, and my Sox were one of the first teams to don them with their black jerseys in '91. Back then, I think alternates were more of a "good-luck charm", only worn sparingly and usually in key games or on Sundays, as is still the case with some baseball teams today. Sadly, today it has reached a point where it is solely to sell merchandise (NFL, NBA, NHL). For this reason, I'm not a big fan of throwbacks, which have become way too much of a marketing gimmic. I like alternates simply as a change of pace, that should basically be the same uniform with a different color. Though I do, of course, love the Stars' thirds.

[CC97]

4: Vintage/Retro ie: Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton. Uses a heritage design, moving backwards rather than forwards

nothing retro about vancouver, and edmonton's alternates (and officially Montreal has no alternate)

[shiznit1083]

I think what makes a great alternate is mixing up colors and slightly mofifing striping patterns to create an alternate that still fits within the frame of the original design and colors.  Some of the best are unifroms that could have been worn as an everyday unifrom (the Leafs, the Carolina Panthers, Trail Blazers.)

[Saintsfan]

I think some teams use alternates as a kind of guinea pig to see if a new look would wash with the fans, which is fair enough but means we have to look at some pretty awful designs in the mean time when they get it wrong (yes, hello Stars and Thrashers!) I personally don't mind this at all and wouldn't mind other teams having a more adventurous third, for marketing purposes, which would then enable them to secure there classic look (for example I have always thought an alternate for the Boston Celtics would be a good idea.)

[Discrim]

as we've seen, alts have been guinea pigs as saintsfan said, as they find themselves becoming a regular jersey, like with the Flyers, Blues, Sens, Sharks and Penguins twice.  also, we've seen past uniforms or color schemes inspire current looks (49ers, Phillies, White Sox, Cavs, Sonics, both Giants, Jets, i'm sure there are more).  Yeah, it is about the money, at least on the pro/major college level.  But some, like Notre Dame's green jersey, also play a role in the superstitions of sport, said greens having been worn during many of ND's greatest moments.  

group 1: color swaps: basically a change of pace, although they could wind up a new jersey (i.e. Flyers, most baseball, most basketball, most football)

group 2: revamping/within style: change of pace, possibly a litmus test for the future (i.e. Penguins 1, Predators, Wild)

group 3: overhaul: extreme change of pace, possibly test for new style, or just differentiation (i.e. Penguins 2, Mooterus, Oilers, most European soccer clubs)

group 4: throwbacks: link to the past, former player being honored, something like that (Lions, Chargers, Michigan State hoops, Warriors, Cowboys, Leafs)

[IceCap]

Sadly, today it has reached a point where it is solely to sell merchandise (NFL, NBA, NHL).

the mlb is just a guilty.

[paynomind]

I enjoy 3rd jerseys to give the teams an opportunity to take some chances that they ordinarily wouldn't dream of doing to their real jerseys.

I think your standard jerseys should stay the same for quite some time, until they need updated for the new generation of fans, or to fix a very dated design. Thereby, changing out an alternate jersey would be your chance to not only test market new things, but also do some fun, crazy stuff.

The teams that have the exact same jersey in primary color, white, and secondary color, with no striping or logo changes are laughably stuck in boring mode, and have missed the whole point. "Hey, look, we swapped the colors of fabrics before putting it in the sewing machine, thats a fun alternate, right?" No. It is, to quote the immortal Homer Simpson, "Booo-riiiing."

[gosioux76]

Thirds also provide healthy fodder for discussions like this one. I've learned to enjoy them just to have more new uniforms to critique on a regular basis, though that clearly isn't the intention of professional sports franchises.

[uniformity]

a throwback shouldnt be in the alternate category, and it isnt from a technical standpoint in the nhl- the exception being the Leafs. Throwbacks in the NHL are only worn a maximum of six times vs 15 (i believe) for alternates. The other rule regarding NHL alternates is that they may be worn in the playoffs if the team decides to drop another jersey-the Leafs do this.

3rd jerseys are both for the purpose of making money and trying crazy gimmicky looks. The former I dont care about but the latter is a problem. The NHL has enough of an image recognition problem allready, so having teams wear jerseys that make them look like other clubs is a dumb idea.

[zer0dotcom]

The MLB does have too many uniforms in my opinion. Home Uniforms, road uniforms, weekend alternates, home alternates...it's getting overloaded

[IceCap]

The MLB does have too many uniforms in my opinion. Home Uniforms, road uniforms, weekend alternates, home alternates...it's getting overloaded

exactly. at least nfl, nhl, and nba teams only have one set of alternates. alot of mlb teams have three alts. for three different reasons. home alts, away alts, and weekend alts, just as zer0dotcom said. if any of the 4 major leauges are guilty of producing thirds for the sake of $ its the mlb. i mean do the mets really need two different black alts? one will do just fine. you dont see the thrasers comming out with 2 different alts, one with the flying "T" and another with the thrasher logo do you? no. they only have one.

[Mr. Wrestling]

Thirds also provide healthy fodder for discussions like this one. I've learned to enjoy them just to have more new uniforms to critique on a regular basis, though that clearly isn't the intention of professional sports franchises.

I must agree!