One Steph Back, Two Stephs Forward

The market long dominated by Nike is suddenly in a three way arms race between the Kanye-power of Adidas and the ascendance of alien-cum-basketball player StephenCurry for Under Armour. 

A story out from ESPN reported on the way Nike botched their wooing of Steph Curry, clearly not valuing him enough as a potential spokesman that they didn't put much into their presentation. As Ethan Sherwood Strauss reports, "In the meeting, according to

Dell, there was never a strong indication that Steph would become a signature athlete with Nike. 'They have certain tiers of athletes,' Dell says. 'They have Kobe, LeBron and Durant, who were their three main guys. If he signed back with them, we're on that second tier.'" 

And that's only part of the story. From recruitment by a low profile teammate, to the fashion sense of his baby daughter Riley Curry playing a key role, Strauss' article is a fascinating read from top to bottom. Under Armour and the shoes and basketball uniforms they sell stand, along with the Golden State Warriors, as entities smart enough to be ready for the opportunity Steph presents, but still very lucky to be the ones benefiting from it. 

As Business Insider reports, “Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank said in April that he wants to build a $1 billion basketball brand around Curry."  Whether this represents a real crack in the dominance of Nike or merely a blip, only time will tell. 

With reports out recently on the genius of the silicon valley start up thinking fueling the Warriors rise, it's worth pointing out that nobody but nobody could have predicted the historic run the Warriors are currently on, and the corresponding spike Under Armour sales that would follow the rise of it's leading brand ambassador. 

As the Warriors close in on a record-setting 73 win NBA regular season, sports apparel executives from the big 3 manufacturers are surely already scanning the horizon for the next low risk, high reward signing that can catapult their brand in the public eye. In the mean time, any basketball uniform is going to look good when the player wearing it does stuff like this. 

The Future Aint What It Used to Be

Uni We Love:

In honor of the passing of Mr. Yogi Berra, we’re making the Yankee Pinstripes our uniform of the week.

Mr. Berra, known both for his prowess on the diamond and his way with words, was a towering figure not just in the world of sports but in the culture at large. 

Some of our favorite Yogi-isms: "The future aint what it used to be." 

"If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be." 

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it." 

Yogi had a penchant for turns of phrase that seemed silly at first glance, but revealed some deep knowledge about the hidden nature of the world upon further reflection. We salute him.

Old School, New School, Too Cool for School

"I call this play the Hickory Dickory No-Shot-Clock."

Designing sports uniforms is a finesse game more akin to a feathery jumper from Jimmy Chitwood than a bruising tackle by Rudy Ruettiger. The ingredients are straightforward. We’d like to see the name of the team somewhere. And a number, also, to appease the referees and Cousin Joey in the cheap seats, is also standard.  And whatever beast of the eastern wild, be it mythical cartoon puma, jaguar, or wildcat, represents your team may also find it's place. (Scientists report ninety percent 

"I'm wild on the inside, baby."

of all team names come from the genus mascotus wildcatus.)

A player name, maybe? A post-game jersey emblazoned with any other name would no doubt smell as rancid. But since Joey learned to read last year, he does appreciate seeing the family moniker above those identifying digits. Beyond that, maybe a stripe here, some stars there. 

"This racing stripe here is pretty sharp."

But much like the culinary holy trinity of onions, garlic and olive oil, it’s all about the how. How you go about putting together a simple group of ingredients. The fashion-forward-thinking brain trust here at TSP HQ likes to stay ahead of the hot new thing in custom basketball uniforms. Sometimes, though, the hot new thing is...wait for it...

...the old thing.

Bird..Bird..Bird.. Elite Louisville is the Word

The tip-off to a new season is only a few weeks away(pun very much intended). So what should be on your mind besides making it to the chip and winning it all? Looking great as you do it. Plus I know just the right look to fix that, The Elite Louisville package. And the good news about this package is teams will be too focus on your jerseys how/where to get them, that the competition will be little to none and hopefully with that your team can ride the luck Louisville had and win it all.


TSP: Elite Louisville Package

Welcome to the Jungle!

Recently, the use of animal print in team sports apparel has exploded!

Zebra print softball jersey

Tiger print softball jersey

Leopard, zebra, tiger, elephant, alligator, OH MY! - all now viable decoration options. The ability to customize with sublimation technology (dying the patterns directly into the fabric) has definitely helped bring this type of uniform style to a whole new level! And it's not just the uniforms that are getting the jungle makeover - accessories, such as socks and hats have also been spotted with wild prints.

And it's all across the board - not just one sport that is diggin' animal style in their jerseys. Bikers and wrestlers are already known for having very eccentric and flashy styles, but this trend seems to be transcending into other traditional sports, such as basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball, cheer and even football! Check out some of the unusual and creative applications of animal prints below:

Baseball with Leopard print?

Cyclists have all the fun!

Elephant Print on basketball jerseys - very interesting to say the least!

I wonder if players from back in the day EVER imagined that teams would be donning jungle-inspired patterns in their uniforms.

 I'll be curious to see how animal print jerseys evolve over the years or if this is just a passing trend.

Do you like to see wildlife prints in team uniforms?
	YES - love it!
	NO - it's hideous!

 

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NBA Lockout 2011: Players, Owners Fail To Reach New Collective Bargaining Agreement

The NBA lockout is here to stay and it just doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon. It's unfortunate for all of the true NBA fans around the world, left with no one to root for, while owners, players and others can't come to an agreement. Another unforeseen problem cause by the economy. So what other options do the disgruntled NBA fans have to assuage their hunger for the sport?

They could watch Minor League Basketball and the fact that the leagues are very regional helps too! The main drawback to this is finding a station that would air their games, public access, CN8, etc...?

Basketball fans could start showing more support their local High School Basketball team. The players are local stars and the tickets are cheaper than any NBA game I could imagine. $20 a seat? Maybe?

Or you could get off your butt and start your own basketball team instead of being an "Armchair Quarterback Point Guard." That way you can put in all of hard work and dedication you expect of your favorite basketball heroes with half of the critics and none of the salary! :)

Michael Jordan Basketball Training 05 - Protect

Michael Jordan Basketball Training 04 - Driving off the fake

Michael Jordan Basketball Training 03 - Crossover

Michael Jordan Basketball Training 02 - Jab Step

Michael Jordan Basketball Training 01 - Offensive Philosophy

Basketball Uniforms: You Know My Name...

...Look up my number!

As I anticipate another snoozer of a MLB All Star game it struck me that I--perhaps unlike others-- let me know, have no idea what my favorite baseball players numbers are. Do you know yours?

The flip side of that is how almost emblematic--a part and parcel, if you will-- I associated basketball players with their numbers. Being from Philly and of a certain age, if you will, there is no other #6 than Julius Erving. (Dr. J) And never will be.

I'm sure others out there feel the same way about Michael Jordan (#23), Magic Johnson(#32), Larry Bird(#33) and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (#33). Ooooops!

Numbering basketball uniforms. It's a slippery slope, wrapped in a riddle, with a whole boat load of merchandising money attached to it all. Not to mention a much trickier thing to deal with than it really should be.

And WTF up with #00?!?!?


First off, my all time "#00" (double loser, is one Benoit Benjamin, who somehow, someway miraculously hung in and around the NBA for 14 freaking years. That's 98 in dog years. A I'll be damned if I can think about a bigger dog ass player than Benoit. (FYI: Here's a cool link to a site to search for players by number)

Any who.

In AAU ball, it seems like every 5-6 years they rethink the regulations concerning numbering. (Here's a link to the 2009 Rule book (I haven't personally been able to allot the time required to get thru it yet (Folks at my company are religious readers!). But for cripes sake James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. You'd think we'd have the freaking numbering figured out by now. (And don't get me started on the differences that rules that run the hoop leagues in Europe! (Those wacky Croats, Serbs, Spaniards, et al.)

Any who.

as some of you know, I worked for the LA Lakers way back in the day. And Shaq was #34and Kobe #8. 'Member? Life was simple.) But even that fond, numeric memory has been set asunder. (i.e., Both players now wear different numbers and, well, you prolly heard they haven't been BFFs for a little while)

Basketball numbering will never be easy. As Barbie used to say "Math is hard"!

Sports Uniform Guy
TeamSportsPlanet.com

Basketball Uniforms -- The Sweet 16 Battle is On!

Looking for the Best Basketball Uniforms? Click Here for More!


Being in the Sweet 16 @ the "Big Dance" is an enormous accomplishment. An honor for the participants. And...well, the best damn place in the world to strut your basketball uniform sense of style. (This is admittedly probably a minority point of view on the subject of the NCAA tournament, but...hey...It's what I do here.)

With all the eyes of the basketball loving universe upon them, the top college teams are sure to be wearing their Sunday, goin' to church best, right? So let's take look at this year's Sweet 16 competitors. The early favorites to move on the the "Fashion Final Four". And the sad sack Cinderellas drably waiting for their coach to turn into a pumpkin.(That's "coach" as in horse-driven carriage.)

Please remember that betting is strictly prohibited in this pursuit (although rampant and fun as all get out.) Let the "catwalk on the courts begin"!

First off, Nike is all OVER this group and for those that say it's "all over" for Nike (see Under Armour), the timing might not be so coincidental. Unlike in years past when the mighty swooshsters seemed to design basketball unis with one eye tied behind their backsides, this years crop is pretty impressive and diverse in their impressiveness....but I digress.

Let's start with the "Sour Suckers of the Sweet 16":

#4. Kansas. So middle of the road, middle of the country, middle of muck & mire. They look like the pattern TV use to pop up with the national anthem, when TV "went blank" for the night. (I swear kids, this used t happen!) Sa-Noooze.

#3. North Carolina. "Old school" is kinda cool. Same old Crap...? Not so cool. The diamond, plaid-esque design on the side panels pixel ates with violence on my 52" HD flat screen. These unis were made with B&W "rabbit ear" TV sets in mind.

#2. Pittsburgh. Steeltown, USA. Yeah, I get it. But do your unis have to look like some coal miner's daughter's Home Ec class project?! Knit one, pearl two. Okay, nap time now, kids.

And this year's biggest NCAA Tournament FASHION DISASTER...

#1. Gonzaga. Looks like someone on the team's Grandmom volunteered to make uniforms for the event. And she had "lots of old braiding and piping and swatches of a whole different color of fabric over here that would look nice...." Tries WAY TOO HARD. And somehow manages to fail 3 times over in the process.


***********************

Now, the "Fashion Final Four" the Best Dressed @ the Big Dance:

#4. Louisville. Had to get an Adidas team in here and they did it up right. Wide shoulder cut, good use of construct.

#3. Oklahoma. A surprise to even myself. These do the Sooner state proud.

#2. Villanova. Really cool use of alternating, two-tone trim around neck and more. That Jay Wright knows from style.

And my pick for the #1 best dressed team @ the Big Dance....

#1. SYRACUSE. Or The Orange. Or more simply: ORANGE. The simple statement made bold with color. Even the home uni. Proves that you don't gotta get all jiggy wit' it to take home the prize.




Sports Uniform Guy
TeamSportsPlanet.com

Basketball Uniforms - Lost Youth

I've written in the past about how street fashion drives basketball uniform styles like no other sport. What I failed to mention then is something that struck me just recently as I watching a wretched high school basketball game on a local cable channel. Not the level of talent; I take that for what it is.(i.e., Excessive palming, erratic shot selection, a reluctance to play team defense, etc.)

What I was newly struck by was how ridiculously out of control basketball shorts' length and overall bagginess have become. Since every 5th grader has --at least in their mind-- mastered the between the legs dribble, this combination has produced many -- if they weren't so annoying -- comically moments.



With the school season soon upon us and an AAU run in the not so distant offing, I am making my case to STOP THE MADNESS!

Proper proportion is a fundamental design characteristic. Not just in basketball uniforms, in almost all things that are well-designed. What is proportionally out of sync is easily detected by the human eye, even at an early age. Then why have we found ourselves in the pickle of watching young hoopsters fall over themselves in circus-worthy shorts?!?!

Why? Because "That's how the kids want to wear them?" To which I reply, as my father would have said "Tough darts."

At TSP, we sell tons of basketball uniforms every year and have done so for going on ten years. In the past two years, we've sold almost no youth sized basketball uniforms. Don't get me wrong, we're selling to more teams and schools than ever, but almost no youth sizes. Coaches of 5th graders are ordering Adult larges in the hopes that they'll be "baggy enough for the boys."

Manufacturers have made the adjustment. They did so 3-4 years ago, bowing to style. But no matter. A 4 foot guard is currently "pantalooning" at a gymnasium near you. Enough already!

The saying goes, "Youth is wasted on the young." And that true to some degree. But can we at least get them into a properly fitted uniform in the process?!?!?




Sports Uniform Guy
TeamSportsPlanet.com

Basketball Uniforms and Fashion

No team sport's uniforms seem to be more driven by or conversely affect general sportswear attire more so than basketball's. While one could argue the golf's tepid trends rule large over the “corporate casual” domain, for the youth (and young at heart)nothing compares to b-ball's domination of what drives fashion
(for young men in particular).

Think about it. Haven't the length of men's & boy's short --in general-- reflected the fashion of at or below the knee length shorts that first cropped up on the court?

True, for a while an little ways back, the football jersey in it's “throwback” form was fashionable. But so were basketball jerseys at the same time. Fortunately, both these trends, much to the chagrin of the fine folks @ Mitchell & Ness (a leading manufacturer of throwbacks). FYI: They're also based in Philly!

Baseball jerseys are cool to wear at the ballpark, but are suspect anywhere else. And the push to the ankles and beyond of recent baseball pant styles are even regretable in MLB. I may be getting old or just be old school, but when a new kid comes up from the minors and he's sporting traditional just below the knee pants, I find myself rooting a little extra for him.

Soccer suffers from several maladies in crossing over into mainstream sports wear "fashionability". The dominance of Adidas and it's ultra strict "3-stripe hegemony" renders --at least to American consumers-- virtually unwearable. I will say that in Europe, N. Africa and other locales, Adidas is enormously popular as "street" attire. It does not make it or those choosing to wear these jerseys any more fashion forward.

No. Basketball uniforms, both jerseys and shorts, play a significant yet little noted or appreciated role in the trend-setting of general sportswear. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief that competitive swimming's latest fashion trends will forever be relegated to the pool. "Love how you look in that Laser!" isn't going to be a catch phrase any time soon.


Sports Uniform Guy
TeamSportsPlanet.com

Kobe Qvells About USA Basketball Uniforms

I was watching NBC's coverage of the Olympics about 11PM EST on Friday night, when Kobe Bryant filled the screen for an interview. He said, approximately (I was a little bleary eyed) that the 1st time he saw his USA Men's Basketball uniform, he "laid it down across my bed" and just looked at it, "humbled" (A word many had previously believed was not in Kobe's vocabulary). "I had goosebumps", Kobe continued. This was frankly, positively startling. Kobe...arguably the best basketball player of our generation...was emotionally affected by a simple (albeit nice) basketball uniform. What up with that?

I'm a Philly guy. Lifelong hoops fan. And, for full-disclosure's sake, worked for the LA Lakers from 1991 to 1995 in corporate sales. During what was commonly referred to as the Randy "No Fun" Pfund & Del "Dull" Harris era. Interrupted, ever so briefly, by the 19 game Magic Johnson head coaching fiasco.

Kobe, as the son of former Sixer Joe "jellyBean" Bryant, claims "Philly-roots" when in actuality the guy grew up in Italy for most of his formative years. JB moved back to Philly with a sweet-heart asst. coaching deal @ St. Joe's Univ. when they thought they might have a chance of signing wunderkind that was Kobe.

As we all know that didn't quite work out. Jerry West, B-ball talent evaluator extraordinaire, took one look at the HS Kobe and deemed that giving up chain-smoking Seribian Vlade Divac was expendable (along with cash, future considerations, and the equivalent GNP of several Eastern European nations...or something like that).

So Kobe was a laker. And with Shaq...all was very good.

But Shaq...in Kobe's mind...was too, well, Shaq-a-licious. (In other words, "he ain't no [fill-in the name of any center on the Michael Jordan lead Bulls]")

Oh, and I didn't have sex with that woman in Colorado either...Or...IF I did she wanted it, too. (Survey says: Wife Gets 5 Carat Diamond!)

So...as you can tell...my feelings about Kobe are...conflicted.

But I agree that he is the best NBA player of our time.
(With LeBron a-knocking)

I was just astounded that such an "anointed one" could be so --seemingly & heart-feltedly-- taken aback by the very sight of...a basketball uniform.


Sports Uniform Guy
TeamSportsPlanet.com