Football (soccer) has it right

[mjrbaseball]

Having learned how football (soccer) teams have their kits, with a primary and a clash rather than home and road, I think the idea would work in other sports.

Baseball is pretty much a free-for-all already, so it wouldn't matter. The NBA (and even college hoops) could easily adopt soccer's concept. Some say there are logistical problems with the NHL doing it, so I will say that it might look good, whether it is practical is another matter.

As for the NFL, I think they should take it a step further.

Each team should be allowed a minimum of two and a maximum of three jerseys. At least one of them must be a light color. Most would probably be white, although yellow or powder blue, for example, would be allowed.

Teams could have up to three different pants colors, and two different helmets. All colors and designs would have to be pre-approved by the league well in advance.

During the off-season, home teams decide which combination they will wear for each game, with league approval. Once that is done, road teams pick their combinations. As long as everyone agrees the combinations are different enough, it's ok.

It would bring a lot more color-on-color games, which I would favor. It also allows for the occasional light-on-light, considering some teams might opt not to even have a white jersey.

[hawk36]

I agree. I've long wished for a Charger Powder Blue vs Raider Black game. Would be amazing.

[pianoknight]

USC and UCLA play a Red-Blue game occasionally.

NCAA rules stipulate that the Away team is penalized a timeout for wearing their home set, so typically the actual Home team just immediately burns a timeout after kickoff as a gesture of sportsmanship.

Of course with Kiffin there, they'll probably burn a timeout and then try to burn UCLA's playbook or tie their running back's shoelaces together.

Also, the Rams play a Navy versus Zebra game:

[Mingjai]

USC and UCLA play a Red-Blue game occasionally.

NCAA rules stipulate that the Away team is penalized a timeout for wearing their home set, so typically the actual Home team just immediately burns a timeout after kickoff as a gesture of sportsmanship.

Of course with Kiffin there, they'll probably burn a timeout and then try to burn UCLA's playbook or tie their running back's shoelaces together.

NCAA eliminated that rule the year after the UCLA-USC "burnt timeout" game. Now it's pretty much home team discretion for non-conference games and conference rules/home team discretion for conference games.

[Kevin W.]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

[BJ Sands]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

That'd be a nightmare for on-ice officials, off-ice officials, stat-keepers and media. I've covered color v. color hockey games and it was not fun.

[02Rover]

Could you imagine Ohio State v Michigan both in the traditional home unis?? Wow, that would be great. Scarlet jerseys and silver helmets vs the dark Blue of Michigan and thier winged helmets?? I thought I had seen that from many decades ago, but not sure.

To do that in 2012 would be outstanding.

[Kevin W.]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

That'd be a nightmare for on-ice officials, off-ice officials, stat-keepers and media. I've covered color v. color hockey games and it was not fun.

Uh, just so we're clear, you do know that the Rangers wear blue-blue-red-blue and the Blackhawks wear black-red-black-red, right? They contrast in every way.

[BJ Sands]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

That'd be a nightmare for on-ice officials, off-ice officials, stat-keepers and media. I've covered color v. color hockey games and it was not fun.

Uh, just so we're clear, you do know that the Rangers wear blue-blue-red-blue and the Blackhawks wear black-red-black-red, right? They contrast in every way.

Uh, just so we're clear, what looks cool and neato for a fan is different than what working professionals need. Hockey is so fast that anything that distracts the eye could be a problem. Dark vs. white is much easier than dark vs. dark to deal with if you're looking for details.

But no, even though I'm on this message board and covered the sport for five years, I don't know what the Blackhawks and Rangers look like.

Clearly you didn't read my first post on this thread. I'm not somebody who hasn't been around sports and just wants things because they'd look awesome.

Yes, it'd be a nightmare.

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

That'd be a nightmare for on-ice officials, off-ice officials, stat-keepers and media. I've covered color v. color hockey games and it was not fun.

Uh, just so we're clear, you do know that the Rangers wear blue-blue-red-blue and the Blackhawks wear black-red-black-red, right? They contrast in every way.

Uh, just so we're clear, what looks cool and neato for a fan is different than what working professionals need. Hockey is so fast that anything that distracts the eye could be a problem. Dark vs. white is much easier than dark vs. dark to deal with if you're looking for details.

But no, even though I'm on this message board and covered the sport for five years, I don't know what the Blackhawks and Rangers look like.

Clearly you didn't read my first post on this thread. I'm not somebody who hasn't been around sports and just wants things because they'd look awesome.

Yes, it'd be a nightmare.

that game was brutal to watch as a fan. i actually loved both jerseys, i own the maroon one.

[BrandMooreArt]

im totally in favor of this too, it seems like such an obvious thing to do to us but its rare we get any color vs color especially in NFL. how great was this game?

one thing ive always wondered though, why do so many other sports have their home teams wear white? i think if you're going to designate a home jersey it should be your primary color. (special exceptions allowed though, like the Cowboys)

[Billy B]

one thing ive always wondered though, why do so many other sports have their home teams wear white? i think if you're going to designate a home jersey it should be your primary color. (special exceptions allowed though, like the Cowboys)

Especially for a sport like basketball. It looks normal since we're used to it. But if you think about it, it's kind of weird that a team paints the whole court in their team colors and then wears white and lets the road team wear their colors on it.

[aawagner011]

one thing ive always wondered though, why do so many other sports have their home teams wear white? i think if you're going to designate a home jersey it should be your primary color. (special exceptions allowed though, like the Cowboys)

I think the logic was that the home fans would get to see all the opposing teams' colors throughout the season. Otherwise, for the most part, the games would look exactly the same to the fans in attendance. Every home game, the matchup would be the home team's color uniform vs. a white away uniform. Now this works in football where helmets and pants are often various colors, but in sports like basketball and baseball I think it makes sense for the away uniform to typically be the color.

[Gothamite]

In basketball, white at home makes perfect sense. The home players stand out against the paint and wooden floor, and especially the fans in the seats. Makes them much easier to see.

White at home in hockey makes no sense to me, for the very same reason. White jerseys on white ice means that the road team stands out and is much easier to follow.

[twi]

Color at home in hockey also lets teams wear their alternates at home without making the other team bring an extra set on road trips. Outside of the Maple Leafs, have there been any full time use alternates that were white? Excepting the Mighty Ducks when they had that home and road alternate set, that's a different case.

In theory, I love the idea of a primary/clash system instead of a home/away system. I just don't think it holds up as well in hockey or basketball as it does in soccer, where the play and players are more spread out.

[Orgo]

Color at home in hockey also lets teams wear their alternates at home without making the other team bring an extra set on road trips. Outside of the Maple Leafs, have there been any full time use alternates that were white? Excepting the Mighty Ducks when they had that home and road alternate set, that's a different case.

In theory, I love the idea of a primary/clash system instead of a home/away system. I just don't think it holds up as well in hockey or basketball as it does in soccer, where the play and players are more spread out.

Post the (2004) lockout, there have been only 3 white alternates: DAL, TOR, and WSH. Stars had that white college alternate before they fully switched to the college uniforms. The Caps also had the Winter Classic jerseys as alts after the actual WC was played, but it was just for road games. Seems like white alts in the NHL are a rarity, given the fact that coloured jerseys are worn at home.

[Kevin W.]

The Canucks had a white alt for the 2010-11 season and Montreal had one for 2006-07.

[Kevin W.]

Yes, color-vs-color games should happen more in pro sports. Can you imagine how great a Blackhawks-Rangers game would look if both teams wore their colored jerseys?

That'd be a nightmare for on-ice officials, off-ice officials, stat-keepers and media. I've covered color v. color hockey games and it was not fun.

Uh, just so we're clear, you do know that the Rangers wear blue-blue-red-blue and the Blackhawks wear black-red-black-red, right? They contrast in every way.

Uh, just so we're clear, what looks cool and neato for a fan is different than what working professionals need. Hockey is so fast that anything that distracts the eye could be a problem. Dark vs. white is much easier than dark vs. dark to deal with if you're looking for details.

But no, even though I'm on this message board and covered the sport for five years, I don't know what the Blackhawks and Rangers look like.

Clearly you didn't read my first post on this thread. I'm not somebody who hasn't been around sports and just wants things because they'd look awesome.

Yes, it'd be a nightmare.

I'm sorry, but that was out of line. Clearly I made one assumption too many but there was no need for you to rip my head off like that.

[hormone]

I'm going to respectfully disagree. I beleive each sport does it the way it works for that sport. Baseball, the players hardly ever are matched up against each other. Where two navy blues looks odd, it can work. I think you need a white vs. color for the others. The only other sport I can tolerate color vs. color is basketball when you have a light color (gray, yellow) vs. a dark color. It looks horrible to me when you see like a red vs. blue. Soccer has always done it so it works. That's just my .02.

[Digby]

I think color-vs.-color works, but only sometimes. Yellow vs black is great, or red vs navy... great. But maroon vs navy, for example, would be a nightmare. As it stands with the current color vs whiet standard, I think yellow vs white, or powder blue vs white matchups are too similar. The nice thing about soccer is that teams often have three jerseys and can wear whichever one maximizes contrast -- though, sadly, they frequently don't. If I had a dollar for every time Man City wore their damned primary kit against a team wearing royal blue...