Alternate uniforms

[Claystation360]

That's very true and I can't argue with that but pick a uniform style know what I mean . I really like the alt's but they are so much different then the primary . I'm sorry it maybe just me but I like styles of curtain teams be their own and for them not to have 2 or 3 different ones it kinda it waters down there identity .

[nwtrailtrekker]

here would be my limits for alt jerseys.

NFL- 2 games

MLB- one specific day of the week.

NBA/NHL- 10 games

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I think alts are great, especially when they're completely different than other the main uniform. Case in point, the Mavs alt. Different colors, different font, different era -- the whole thing gives the franchise a completely different look whenever its worn.

[Gothamite]

Different colors, different font, different era -- the whole thing gives the franchise a completely different look whenever its worn.

Funny, that's exactly why I don't like those.

I think anything that waters down the team's identity is, of necessity, a bad thing. If the "alternate" is better than the primary, just make the switch.

Alts should compliment, not conflict with, the team's identity.

[SabreGuy]

I think that's probably the reason so many teams DO use alternates that are completely different from their usual set. Especially in the case of throwbacks (Blue Jays, Brewers, last year's Sabres and Canucks), it seems like a way to cater to fans who aren't fond of the current set of uniforms, but are still fans of the team. They may not be the majority, but they may be a vocal and financially significant minority. And that seems even MORE likely the case in the example of throwback alts, with older fans probably having access to more disposable income than the younger fans that the teams' regular set appeals to.

So, my point is, it's not as simple as "if the alt is better, go in that direction," because you have to ask yourself "better in whose eyes?"

[M59]

If you watch a lot of baseball, there's only so far you can go with "ooooh, I get to watch a white team play a gray team...again"!

For that reason, I love alternate jerseys, and feel they should be worn at least once a series.

NFL just doesn't have enough games for alternates to make sense, and if the NBA fell though a sink hole tomorrow, it'd be months before I noticed!

[Gothamite]

If you watch a lot of baseball, there's only so far you can go with "ooooh, I get to watch a white team play a gray team...again"!

If you're looking for a continued onslaught of new and random visual information, might I suggest that baseball isn't the sport for you. On any level.

[BallWonk]

If you watch a lot of baseball, there's only so far you can go with "ooooh, I get to watch a white team play a gray team...again"!

If you're looking for a continued onslaught of new and random visual information, might I suggest that baseball isn't the sport for you. On any level.

Besides, these days a white team playing a gray team would be an improvement. A lot of teams are wearing "gray" fabric that's effectively off-white under bright stadium lights or sunlight, or on less-than-perfectly-balanced TV screens. What baseball needs is not more jerseys with random solid colors; baseball needs darker and more color-differentiated shades of gray. Some teams need to start opting for darkish slate-blue or slate-green gray roads and whatnot.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Different colors, different font, different era -- the whole thing gives the franchise a completely different look whenever its worn.

Funny, that's exactly why I don't like those.

I think anything that waters down the team's identity is, of necessity, a bad thing. If the "alternate" is better than the primary, just make the switch.

Alts should compliment, not conflict with, the team's identity.

Sorry to play the age card, but perhaps it's a generational thing. I don't mind the visual stimulus and can appreciate how a franchise would want to have multiple identities. Does it water down their branding? Perhaps. But does it actually extend their branding? Perhaps that's another way to look at it.

I'm really not into the complement (spelling tip of the day: you wanted another "e" in there) thing either. When the Bengals wear orange instead of black, or the Broncos blue pants instead of white pants, so what? It's functionally the same uniform, just someone used the Paint Bucket feature to recolor panels. But when the Bills wear their throwbacks, doesn't it make a visual statement? It's not just recolored Buffalo Bills night at the Ralph; it's a totally different look which leads to a totally different atmosphere. It's about choices and options, and I like that.

There's also the possibility that it's sport-specific. I think alts look better in the winter sports than in the summer and fall sports, but really, I don't mind them whenever they're used.

[Gothamite]

Dammit. I always make that "compliment/complement" mistake. It's not a spelling error, it's the wrong damn word. Mea culpa.

I do see it as a watering down. I don't think you can say that it extends the identity when it replaces the old one in its entirety. Notre Dame's green jerseys extend their brand because green is a color already present in their scheme (logo) and they wear them with the standard gold helmets.

As much as I prefer the Brewers' Friday throwbacks, I think they weaken the brand. They come from a desire to straddle the fence, be all things to all people (which never really satisfies anybody anyway). Either make the switch permanent, or abandon the alts.

I don't know how old you are. I've been accused of being everything from a fuddy-duddy who lives in the past to a reckless fool who doesn't appreciate a team's visual tradition. So long as we're playing cards we'd rather not, I'm one of the few Packer fans who has loudly voiced support for the proposed 1994 uniform change since... well, since 1994.

But maybe you're right, and that it's a sport-specific thing. If that's the case, I come down more strongly in favor of restricting alts in baseball, the most traditional of American sports.

I think the NFL's got more or less the right philosophy when it comes to alternate uniforms:

• You can have one;
  
• you can wear it for no more than 1/8 of your games; and
  
• it cannot step outside your current identity unless it replicates precisely an old identity (within equipment restrictions);
  

I do wish they'd apply it to pants, though.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Dammit. I always make that "compliment/complement" mistake. It's not a spelling error, it's the wrong damn word. Mea culpa.

I do see it as a watering down. I don't think you can say that it extends the identity when it replaces the old one in its entirety. Notre Dame's green jerseys extend their brand because green is a color already present in their scheme (logo) and they wear them with the standard gold helmets.

I don't come from the business world, so perhaps it's an argument that they wouldn't want me to make. But as far as extending the brand is concerned, I mean it like this. If I'm Oreo, yes, I have the classic logo that everyone associates with the cookie. However, what if they can introduce a new mark -- be at an image, a saying, or whatever -- that appeals to a whole different segment of the marketplace? What if Oreo has a cool new logo that is unlike their current one what attracts people that would otherwise buy Hydrox? Are they weakening the traditional logo? Or extending to a new market? Don't the Mavericks attract more sales of their really-cool alt jersey than they would if it were simply a recolor of the standard blue/white fare? I think so, but I don't have the means to prove it.

For me it comes to this: In each league, there are only about 30 teams. Thus, only sixty possible uniform combinations for each league throughout its entire seasons? Maybe that was acceptable when color TV was a big deal and there were only four TV channels, but we have the means to do so much more! I say go nuts whenever you can; there are so many graphical possibilities with sports teams that a little experimentation and trial and error is a good thing.

[Hoopskid]

Usually the alternates are the better looking uniform. If we look at the NBA, here are just a few teams who's alternates are better than their home and roads. IMO.

Charlotte Bobcats - The blue jerseys definitely wins it.

Cleveland Cavaliers - My favorite jersey in the NBA.

Denver Nuggets - Unique, yet matches the home and road style, very nice.

Utah Jazz - No competition here.

(Just noticed, they're all blue jerseys)

None the less, I think these alternate are a lot better than the road jerseys that the teams use. However, I wouldn't like replacing them. The only team i'd replace the Road and Alt with is Philadelphia.

I always considered alternates to be jerseys that mix old and new and that the main purpose is for merchandise.

[BallWonk]

For me it comes to this: In each league, there are only about 30 teams. Thus, only sixty possible uniform combinations for each league throughout its entire seasons? Maybe that was acceptable when color TV was a big deal and there were only four TV channels, but we have the means to do so much more! I say go nuts whenever you can; there are so many graphical possibilities with sports teams that a little experimentation and trial and error is a good thing.

First off, a message to the youth of America: color TV hasn't been a "big deal" since like 1970, and there were far fewer than 30 teams in any major league at that time.

Anyway, I think modern television technology augers against "going nuts." Hi-def screens are very unforgiving of loud uniform design. And not just in an it-makes-loud-uniforms-look-ugly sense, which it does, but also in a loud-uniforms-give-you-headaches-and-seizures sense. On a hi-def screen, simpler, bolder uniforms dominated by neutral colors work far better. Intense colors are best limited to identity marks, like jersey scripts and player numbers, for HD broadcast. So a white or gray jersey with a bright red logo works better in HD than a bright red jersey with a white or blue logo.

[habsfan1]

Alternates should be limited to one per team, although I don't seem to mind the differences between the alternate and the 2 regular home and roads. Are you listening MLB?? The Mets wear the pinstriped home twice a year yet it's still considered their primary home jersey. For alternates done right, it gives everyone a chance to go nuts if they feel the need to expiriment to test the market. They can easily be disposed if fans don't like them.

To me throwback are in another category since they aren't expected to be worn on a regular basis. It brings back memories and great past rivalries. Wear throwbacks principally to honor a number of past successful eras.

[$teauA]

How about these things that Charlotte wore for "Race Night" against Memphis the other night:

[Linix129]

Simply, atrocious.