Uni We Love: This week we want to highlight the two teams competing in baseball's World Series:
the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals. Paul Lukas points out that both teams not only wear Royal Blue, but the exact same shade: Pantone 288. Even still, depending on lighting, fabric, and pattern the colors may appear slightly different from each other. This is an issue we know all too well here at TSP. So who has the best claim on Royal Blue? The Mets use of the color is more prominent these days, but the Royals are well...the Royals, so they do have the upper hand in that regard.
Reading Material: Brian Windhorst talks about some of the more difficult adjustments Lebron James is trying to make in preparation for his next title run. Gregg Easterbrook tries to get to the bottom of the Patriots' decade of NFL dominance. Philadelphia Magazine relives some of the Philly Phanatic's greatest moments in honor of his selection as Good Morning America's number one mascot in the MLB.
And while we're on the subject of
mascots, how about Kansas City Royals mascot Sluggerrr wearing real stirrups with his uniform? Old school is making a comeback, not only with throwback jersey styles but with knicker pants and stirrup socks too!
Team of the Week: Our Team of the Week is 1 Ten Basketball from Fort Worth, Texas. These roundballers from the Lone Star State know how to look fierce and have fun in these eye-catching red Ultra Geo Basketball Jerseys.
Patterns like the Ultra Geo have
grown in popularity in the wake of the explosion in camo patterns in recent years. Check out this close up of the Ultra Geo pattern to the right. Other patterns such as Static, Blend, Typography, and Plated have also seen a boost. We're seeing this trend not only in sublimated styles, but stock too, including unis, warm-ups, hoodies, tees, helmets, and catcher's gear. As we've learned over the years at TSP, styles and trends are a funny thing. What's new is endlessly recombined with what's old to create something fresh yet familiar.
Uni We Love: Here at TSP we're
excited about the introduction this week of two exclusive new designs created by our awesome art team. The Elite Super Arrow and the Elite Semi Pro were created in part in response to feedback we've been receiving from customers looking for a look like some of the classic NBA uniforms from the past.
This also got us talking about this question-posing graphic that's been making the rounds on the NBA-centric circles of the internet.
Opinions were mixed both around TSP HQ and the interwebs, with a clear bias toward the most recent teams. None of the other centers could match Shaq's sheer physicality on the 00's team, one argument goes. No one could compete with the long distance shooting of the 10's team, says another.
But the 80's team with Magic Johnson heading the point, Isaiah Thomas playing the off-ball smaller guard, Moses Malone and Kevin McHale kicking butt and taking names underneath, and the greatest Small Forward of all time, Mr. Larry Bird, doing a little bit of everything else, would, in this writer's opinion, ultimately take the day.
Reading Material: For some historical perspective on the mastermind of our greatest modern sports dynasty, check out Jordan Ritter Conn's investigation into Greg Poppovich's formative years.
The class of the sports uniform blog game, Mr. Paul Lukas, has some, shall we say, unfiltered opinions on the Oregon Ducks latest "costume." And in honor of the MLB playoffs, a nice piece from Grant Brisbee at SB Nation on Met's pitcher Matt Harvey.
Team of the Week:
This week we're giving a shout out to Abilene, Texas' very own West Texas Impact '05 Fast Pitch Team. These girls were undefeated champs in their league last year, and here they are rocking some Augusta Performance Tees in Columbia Blue with their Hot Pink emblem.
Notice how the tail becomes a cancer awareness ribbon. A nice personalized touch for our champions. Check out more of our custom softball uniforms here.
Uni of the Week: We've been known to sell a camo item or two around here at Team Sports Planet. Within the past few years especially, from the softball diamond to the basketball court, camo patterns have added a welcome touch to many a team's look. What we've not seen before, however, is the camo trend pushed forward into the realm of formal wear.
Mr. Cam Newton, having a pretty exceptional start to his season in leading the upstart Panthers to a 4-0 record, broke that barrier like he was busting into the end zone on a fourth and goal at the one yard line two weeks ago, showing up to the team facility in a camo-patterned blue blazer.
While some on the internet were less than kind, we'd like to salute the boldness. And besides, it's nice to know he's staying humble and not wasting money on a professional stylist to tell him what to wear. You keep doing you, Cam.
Reading Material: Matthew Shaer spins the tale of Adidas' attempts to topple Nike from the footwear throne for GQ. From the ESPN.com archives, check out Don Van Natta Jr.'s profile of Jerry Football. And this story from the New York Times about a suburban Missouri community cutting their football team begs the question: is this the beginning of a trend or merely an anomaly?
Team of the Week: Team Sports Planet Team of the Week award goes to the Rondout Rovers Soccer Team, based out of Kingston, New York. They play in the Rondout Soccer Club, which provides athletic opportunities for youngsters of all areas in Hudson Valley area. Here they are looking sharp in some our performance tees. You can check out some of our other soccer team uniforms here. We're saluting the Rovers this week!
