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Teams that changed their uniforms just before or after a championship


IceCap

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So the original thread was locked due to the actions of a certain banned member. yh, the mod who locked the thread, said that a new thread dedicated to staying on topic could be started. So here it is! Hopefully...

I was really getting into football around the time the Broncos switched to their futuristic look that was followed by two straight Super Bowl Championships and I remember watching the draft following the Ram's Super Bowl XXXIV victory and being blown away at seeing the Rams' new navy and old gold helmets. Still, it's the Rockets' switch to those pinstripes clown suits that come to mind whenever someone brings this topic up. I was only seven when the Rockets won their second NBA Championship, and not even watching the NBA when it happened.

Still, I remember catching a documentary about that team when I was in my teens. The end of it talked about the Rockets failing to win three straight the next season. That was the first time I realized that the 90s pinstriped uniforms were introduced immediately following back to back titles. Just made them all the more hideous to me.

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I believe the ultimate example of this would be the '96 Colorado Avalanche, who didn't just change uniforms prior to hoisting the Cup....nordiques-avalanche-joe-sakic.jpg

It's crazy how putting two uniforms next to each other can really show how much superior one set (Nordiques) is over another (Avalanche).

imagejpg1_zpsbdf53466.jpg
image.jpg1_zpswbnsopjp.jpg

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It’s interesting why it happens so frequently that a team changes their look and then BOOM championship. It makes sense. New uniforms usually come with regime or attitude change which usually results in the team improving on the field and/or surface of play.

My favorite example of this is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their championship came a few years after the switch, but it signaled a change in culture. That team was never going to win the super bowl in the creamsicles. They had to make an organizational top to bottom attitude adjustment and the uniforms were a huge part of that. It’s hard to even imagine that Super Bowl against the Raiders with the Bucs in the creamsicle uniforms.

PvO6ZWJ.png

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Twins, World Series Champs, 1987. New Uniforms (intro of "M" hat)

Disclaimer: If this comment is about an NBA uniform from 2017-2018 or later, do not constitute a lack of acknowledgement of the corporate logo to mean anything other than "the corporate logo is terrible and makes the uniform significantly worse."

 

BADGERS TWINS VIKINGS TIMBERWOLVES WILD

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That team was never going to win the super bowl in the creamsicles.

I just can't go that far. That's like saying USC's teams are better than UCLA's because red is more aggressive than Columbia blue

While the Bucs' uniform change was indeed part of the franchise's cultural overhaul, it wasn't a necessary part of it.

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It wasn't immediately the next season, but the Pistons abandoned the Grant Hill teal...

grant-hill.png

...and went back to a modernized "Bad Boys" look shortly before winning the title in the 03-04 season.

2004Pistons.jpg

On a side note, while I'm not a Pistons fan I appreciated that this team was filled with role-players and lacked the typical superstar talent of a Jordan-Pippen, Kobe-Shaq or LeBron-Wade-Bosh style team. They just executed at an insanely high level and beat many "better" teams.

UyDgMWP.jpg

5th in NAT. TITLES  |  2nd in CONF. TITLES  |  5th in HEISMAN |  7th in DRAFTS |  8th in ALL-AMER  |  7th in WINS  |  4th in BOWLS |  1st in SELLOUTS  |  1st GAMEDAY SIGN

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The Mets won the World Series with these road jerseys in 1986

1986ws5a.jpg

...and changed to these in 1987

keithhernandez.jpeg

...and won the NL East in 1988 (probably shouldn't qualify as a title, but whatever) wearing these

Ron+Darling+leaves+game+.jpg

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That team was never going to win the super bowl in the creamsicles.

I just can't go that far. That's like saying USC's teams are better than UCLA's because red is more aggressive than Columbia blue

That's not what I intended to present. I didn't mean they couldn't have won in the creamsicles because they were "softer" uniforms and therefore portrayed weakness. I've never bought into that notion. I meant that the orange uniforms had developed such an attached losing stigma that they needed to change to something else or they never would've gotten out of that losing mindset.

Obviously a uniform change was not fully responsible for the turn around, but it was a part of it.

PvO6ZWJ.png

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Patriots, changed to the current uniforms in 2000 and won 3 Super Bowls in 2001,03 and 04 seasons

That was sad. A beautiful old-school red, white, and blue look with Pat the Patriot replaced by a generic blue and silver brand with the Flying Elvis.

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Patriots, changed to the current uniforms in 2000 and won 3 Super Bowls in 2001,03 and 04 seasons

That was sad. A beautiful old-school red, white, and blue look with Pat the Patriot replaced by a generic blue and silver brand with the Flying Elvis.

I don't mind the Flying Elvis so much, it's the bland jerseys with the over piping tthat I can't stand.

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The Mets won the World Series with these road jerseys in 1986

1986ws5a.jpg

...and changed to these in 1987

keithhernandez.jpeg

...and won the NL East in 1988 (probably shouldn't qualify as a title, but whatever) wearing these

Ron+Darling+leaves+game+.jpg

I'll never know why they ever chose to use that design. They're may as well be the Yankees from Queens.

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