On the Blue Jays New/Old Uniforms

Some fine looking ball players

 So the Toronto Blue Jays held an "invitation only" unveiling at the Rogers Centre recently, but with the advent of social media and instantaneous communications, anybody who wanted to be there, could be there (in a virtual sense, of course). If nothing else, the fact that these uniforms were kept under wraps and never really got leaked, that the Jays were even able to keep the secret up until their press conference, is quite an impressive feat. Yes, the logo was leaked a couple months ago, but it was anybody's guess what their plans were for the uniform.

Hopefully we never see any of these things again.

Since their release, the response has been almost overwhelmingly unanimous. The uniforms are great! The subtle adjustments to the classic "World Series-era" uniforms do a terrific job of bringing that iconic look up to modern standards.

Personally I am a huge fan of everything the team did with the re-rebranding. The sleek logo looks just enough like the old logo to be instantly recognizable, while making just subtle enough changes to it to avoid looking like the gaudy and over the top, 1997 "tweaking" of the original logo.

The uniform design doesn't need much exposition. The home whites and road greys are classic baseball, and the slight "sharpening up" of the iconic double stripe font for the numbers and front letters look great.

A nice effort, but ugly logo

Most importantly, the BLUE Jays will wear a BLUE jersey for the first time in several years. The tacky, trendy, black jersey is mercifully retired and the Jays new alternate shirt is the exact jersey I have been waiting for for years. The Jays had a blue jersey for a short while in the early 2000's, but combined wth the huge font and terrible logos of the time, it left much to be desired. Now, with the classic rebranding and a solid blue shirt, the Blue Jays finally have, what I would consider to be, a perfect set of uniforms.

I wouldn't mind the team making subtle tweaks going forward, maybe a new alternate on occassion, but this is a uniform set that the Jays should settle on for a long time. Their motto at the unveiling was "logo for life", and from a personal aesthetic preference, I really hope they're serious about that.

Perfection



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The New Blue Jays Logo

A horribly kept secret of the last couple years has finally been leaked and the Blue Jays new/old logo has come to light. We all knew it was coming; it was just a matter of when. The design is just new enough to look different, and just traditional enough to invoke the nostalgia of the glory years. In my opinion the Blue Jays have "hit a home run" (zing!) with this design. It essentially is the old logo that everyone loves, but touched up just enough to make it look like it wasn't designed 40 years ago. For comparioson's sake, here are the two logos side by side (courtesy uni watch).

The new bird kinda looks like the old bird went on a diet.

The Blue Jays can expect merchandise sales to go through the roof if this really is the new logo. One, because it is great, and two, because suckers like me will get nostalgic for the current logo that nobody even likes and start buying the current merchandise.

Now the question is; what will the new uniforms look like? Standard white and greys obviously, but I am really hoping they make a royal blue alternate (or whatever shade of blue that new logo is set upon).

http://www.uni-watch.com/

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Jets Finally Unveil New Sweaters

They finally did it. The Winnipeg Jets have finally unveiled their jerseys sweaters for their NHL return, and predictably, the fan response is luke warm. The first complaint I see a lot is that they're too plain. They look too much like a million other sweaters around the league (CBJ, FLA, PIT, NSH, STL). Basically, if a team already wears a dark blue uniform with a round logo, people seem, to feel the Jets are ripping them off.

Why did RBK have to ruin you?!

I think there are a couple reasons for the chilly reception. One, the complainers are correct about the sweater being plain. It is very plain. Especially the "polar night blue" sweater. It looks exactly like a hockey sweater is supposed to look. The logo on the front, some stripes on the arm and waist, and that is it. Hockey sweaters are not supposed to be ground breaking aesthetically. And the ones that do manage to introduce something new that people actually like are few and far between. The pre RBK Edge-ified Stars and Avalanche uniforms spring to mind as 'modern' designs that were universally beloved. But most "modern" redesigns end up being replaced within a decade like Buffalo, Edmonton, and Boston. The Jets kept it simple, and that was the right decision.

Second reason I think people are hating on this uniform, the team is becoming real. They're no longer the fictitious Winnipeg Jets that everybody can have a soft sport for. This is the jersey that a player will be wearing when he scores a game winning goal against your team. Not that there is anything wrong with getting some recreational hating in before the real games start.

 Could probably use more abstract lines

As for my commentary on the sweaters. Since my initial reaction this morning of a big hearty "meh", I have actually really grown to like this design. Other than the plainness of it, people's only real complaint seems to be the striping on the road whites. I do see what people mean, the two horizontal shoulder stripes do clash with the vertical, full length shoulder yoke. This was one of the first things I noticed, and I initially didn't like it, but the look has grown on me, and I would have to say I really like the decision. I think the arm stripes really stand out on the sweaters and I love the "aviator blue" accents. Also, I have a theory for the two prominent arm stripes. I haven't seen it mentioned in any news piece, but I wonder if the idea behind the two stripes is supposed to be symbolic of the fact that this is the second version of the Jets. Two stripes for Jets 2.0.

The only part of the uniform I dont like is the number and lettering. I am really not a fan of that "modern" style. I really don't take much issue with it though as these jerseys are almost guaranteed to undergo a few tweaks in the next couple years anyways. Sweaters these days never seem to go more than a couple years with out some kind of tinkering.

And even if you absolutely hate these, Chipman has strongly suggested (if not flat out said explicitly), the Jets will be bringing back the old uniform as an alternate as early as next season. Its really starting to feel like the Jets are back.




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New York Rangers Winter Classic Leak?

Making the rounds on the web today is a possible leaked image of what the New York Rangers might be wearing for this coming season's Winter Classic.

If these are indeed the Rangers' WC threads, than kudos to the NHL on more great branding for the Winter Classic. The Rangers' shield generally looks pretty weird on a jersey, but it looks great on that. And I love when teams use that sort of off-white colour, as opposed to the super clean white.

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Howard Berger's Photo Cache

Former Fan 590 Maple Leaf beat reporter Howard Berger has posted a lengthy expose of the Toronto Maple Leafs uniform on his new blog and its great not even for the info, but just for the bevy of classic photographs of Leaf action.

All the talk is that the Leafs are ditching their current, and very popular, third jersey in favour of a different vintage style third. Frankly, so long as the Leafs don't go for the 1980's jersey, they can do no wrong by borrowing from their history. I am as big a fan as anybody of the current third (I bought it when it was first unveiled back in 2000 or whenever it was) but a change would certainly be welcome.

Word has it the jersey will basically look like this, which I am fine with. I am a fan of the Leafs using all of their Leaf logos. I like them all.

Apparently these sweaters are 'Rob Fird' sized

See the full photo gallery here

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Prime Time Sports - Monday jersey talk

On to Prime Time Sports from this past week. Bob was finally back. The selection of fill-ins was pretty good, with the exception of Gord Stellick. I am sure he is a nice guy, and he is engaging as a round table panel member, but I don't think he can carry a program. He just sounds like too much of a sanitized, prototypical (or stereotypical) radio host.

Best Blue Jay in the best uniform.

On Monday Bob had Paul Beeston on asked him candidly about the Blue Jays switching logos next season and going back to the traditional (and universally beloved) Blue Jays logo. Beeston seemed to strongly imply that the switch was coming and hopefully that is the case. Its a disappointment that the Jays didn't wear the classic uniforms for Roberto Alomar's retirement day, but I am hoping it is just a sign that they didn't want to push the old school uniform at all this season in the hopes of running through as much of the current product before a full scale re branding next season. The switch has got to be all but a done deal; never mind the fans, who clearly love the old logo, but even the branding throughout Rogers Skydome is about 2:1 old school logo. There hasn't been an easier branding decision since the Winnipeg Jets.

Royal Blue > Navy Blue

Speaking of the Jets, Mark Chipman was also on with Bob, and in more uniform news (throughout this blog you will find I am quite obsessive about sports uniforms), he certainly left the door about as open as possible for the return of the classic Winnipeg Jets look at some point in the future. I have no problem with the Jets new branding, but it would be great to see the old Jets logo (90's era only please, the other two incarnations have not aged well) back in action as an alternate logo.

Links and Twitter handles: @FadooBobcat @FriedgeHNIC, @DamoSpin, @JeffMarek, @michaelgrange @GloBlair @GordStellick @darrenrovell @Paul__Jones @Wilnerness590 @keithlaw