#CCSLCProblems and Glimmers of Hope

[BigBubba]

This may be just a product of my late-night boredom, but it seems that relatively often, we have stories about how awkward we feel being the only ones in the room who comment about the uniforms or how ignorant our friends are towards uniforms (heck, there's a conversation going on in the Gear Grinder thread right now). Really, being a Creamerite is a constant struggle for acceptance and trying to be understood...which is where the second part comes in. Sometimes, we hear our friends/significant others make unsolicited comments about uniforms. Whether it's a simple "Team X's logo is ugly!" or a "Wow, that Penguins jersey with those weird panels is bad - they should go back to what they wore before." that would make any of us Reebok-haters proud, we cherish these little comments close to our hearts, knowing that there are others like us.

I was watching the Jets game yesterday with my brother, and I commented on how ugly the mismatching shades of green on the jersey looked. His response? "I don't really notice it, to be honest."

I doubt this thread will go anywhere, but hey, who knows.

[McCall]

Well the hashtaging isn't really the best of starts.

Otherwise, yes, I get what you mean. Though my brothers do have similar interests on the subject to varying degrees. But still sometimes I'll really go into details and even my older brother who follows fairly closely (and may be a lurker here occasionally) still will give me grief. Though they all do because 1) I'm the middle child and they have since we were kids, and 2) I was the only one to go into graphic design and not teaching and so they feel threatened by me actually knowing about something they don't and so they give me crap to still make me feel inferior.

[DeFrank]

All of my friends just kill me whenever I make a comment about our high school teams having mismatched colors. Some navy and white, others royal and orange, some navy and gold, navy and yellow, royal and gold... JUST KILLS ME.

[IceCap]

I must be lucky, or maybe I've just worn down my friends and loved ones

My parents generally like to talk uniforms when I bring them up. They have their opinions, and that forms some common ground. I try not to bring it up all the time whenever sports comes up, but when I do they seem receptive.

My sister's gotten into it, actually. She even visits the mothership for news, and I can always count on a text from her whenever a huge unveiling happens.

My friends either humour me for brief moments, after which I get the clue and shut up, or sometimes show brief instances of genuine interest.

If you want to avoid being hassled for being a uniform and logo geek just pick your battles. Try to gauge how people will react and go from there. Like, if someone doesn't think the Vikings updated their logo don't go off on a tangent explaining the subtle differences. You're just going to look like a weirdo. If you want to discuss how bright and vibrant the Stars' new green sweaters look, however, you might get an interesting response or two.

[alxy8s]

I don't usually make any comments. I said something once about how the Saints always seem to lose in the all-blacks and my roommate thought it was the strangest thing that I would remember something like that. Then again, he was a Lions fan that didn't notice the logo refresh, so he's probably a poor reference point.

My dad and I went to the Georgia/Boise State game in 2011. When Boise came onto the field, he said, "We aren't losing to a team with a helmet that looks like that." Admittedly, Georgia's look wasn't any better that night, but I was proud of the sentiment. I've never heard him say anything about sports design other than that.

[infrared41]

Honestly, none of the sports fans in my social circle find my interest in uniforms to be "odd" or "weird" or whatever. If I bring something up that's uniform related, etc. they all discuss the matter with at least a mild interest - and I've yet to have someone say they don't know what I'm talking about. A couple of the guys on my staff at work, while not "geeks" like we are around here, get into talking jerseys or changes, etc. And my GF knows more about this stuff than do a lot of the people in our little community here.

In short, it's never been an issue for me.

[hockey week]

My friend noticed the Steelers dropped the flywire collars before I did, and then another friend posted about the beachtowel White Sox throwback jerseys being awful. It was a good night...well, except for the actual games...

[shaydre1019]

I'm actually like the guy in my group of friends that they ask about uniforms. They know i'm more knowledgeable than the average fan so i guess they value my opinion more.

And my older brothers were really in to uniforms when we were growing up, but i'm the only one that obsesses over them.

Also idk if anyone else here does this, but when i go to sports stores or any stores that sell sports apparel i always go and feel the different materials. It;'s interesting feeling the different textures, pattens, etc. And cool feeling like authentic materials for the first time.

[Chawls]

Sometimes I feel weird that I care about what uniforms teams wear. But then whenever I see a team's official twitter account tweet out what combo they're going to wear (sometimes as early as 3 days in advance), it's as if my interest is somehow validated. Like, they obviously wouldn't send out a tweet like that unless more than a few people actually cared, right?

[Midway]

My name is Hermilo and I too am an addict. For any sport we watch, my friends generally heckle me for paying more attention to what they're wearing than what the score is. My best friend in particular will sarcastically tell me things along the lines of "so according to your logic, team X will beat team Y because their uniforms look better." To which I always jokingly reply "well generally, when you look like :censored: you play like :censored:."

They secretly like the quirks of sports aesthetics though, which is made evident by the obscure comments they'll make anytime there is a big reveal. They just won't admit it.

[andycumbee19]

I'm always the one to point out stuff about uniforms when me and my family sit around and watch football. My brother instantly grasps it once I notice, it usually takes Dad a quick minute. Also, when we're at a game somewhere, we can just point out fakes like it's nothin. My Dad is also the one that's ALWAYS amazed that I have so much "insider information" as he calls it about who's wearing what on given game days & why they're wearing it.

I've also got a friend now who is beginning to take notice of such things when she's not with me. I feel like I'm doing something right!

THANKS, CCSLC!

[Jaffa]

Sometimes when I point out that a player is doing something unusual with his socks or that a number is misaligned compared to the rest of the team, Mrs Jaffa looks at me like I'm proper mental.

At a recent family gathering, our youngnephew announced he'd just been accepted into a local team. Questions duly followed about when and where he'd be playing, if he'd be starting or a sub, that sort of thing - my line of questioning though concerned what was the team's kit like and was he being given a set shirt number? Mrs Jaffa gave me that look.

Green and black striped shirt, black shorts, green socks - and he's '12' for the season. I know you're curious too. Heh.

[CS85]

My girlfriend's listened to Basically Sports and gets weirded out when we go on uniform rants. She honestly didn't notice the difference between a road and home Blackhawks sweater. ONE'S WHITE AND ONE'S RED SHE DIDN'T SEE ANY DIFFERENCE OH GOD

*hurls self off of building*

[OnWis97]

Well the hashtaging isn't really the best of starts.

I actually like that part of the thread title.

Anyway, I have one friend who is into it (though his tastes are nothing like mine; if it's weird and promotes an apparel company, he likes it), but my knowledge has resulted in me taking some ribbing. Of course this is back in high school. Now, I seldom talk about it with friends beyond, "yeah I like the Vikings new uniforms". My wife knows I am into it and she'll go a couple of sentences when a game is on and sometimes even offer a comment (often about monochrome football uniforms, which she hates).

[MiK]

It's funny you should start this thread now, as I was watching the Cincinnati-Green Bay game this past sunday with family, my oldest sister points out that she likes the Bengals helmets and jerseys (they were wearing the orange alternates, but you already knew that). I gave a non-committal response to that but was quick to point out how much I hate the white panels on the side of the jersey, and she stared at them for a second and said "yeah that looks f-ing awful."

I was so proud.

[Jer15]

I've got a good one:

A couple years back when Ottawa changed the striping pattern on their socks it jumped out to me right away. I remember talking to a co-worker (who's a huge hockey fan) about the game. I recall saying "did you notice Ottawa changed the striping on their socks? much more traditional now".

He looked at me like I was from mars.

[Joshawaggie]

I'm lucky that my wife loves that I love this stuff, and she gets into it too. My brother is a member here, so I have people that understand, thank God.

[nash61]

CCSLC taught me how to spot a knockoff a mile away. Now I can't focus on the game because the loser in front of my has an "Icinla" jersey on. UGHHHH.

[the admiral]

. . . even my older brother who follows fairly closely (and may be a lurker here occasionally) still will give me grief. Though they all do because 1) I'm the middle child and they have since we were kids, and 2) I was the only one to go into graphic design and not teaching and so they feel threatened by me actually knowing about something they don't and so they give me crap to still make me feel inferior.

[McCall]

. . . even my older brother who follows fairly closely (and may be a lurker here occasionally) still will give me grief. Though they all do because 1) I'm the middle child and they have since we were kids, and 2) I was the only one to go into graphic design and not teaching and so they feel threatened by me actually knowing about something they don't and so they give me crap to still make me feel inferior.

Yes, that is a picture of an old man holding a cigar. I'm proud of you.