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.

TOP 10 CROSS COUNTRY COACH RANTS

 Here at Sports Uniform Stuff (SUS) we occasionally like to reach out to the coaching community and hear what’s on their minds.  This go ‘round we spoke to that rarest of breeds, High School Cross Country Coaches (HSXCC).

We asked them what was on their minds. What was bothering them. What differences there are in today’s high school cross country runners as compared to when they themselves competed. 

As you might have expected when asking long distance running coaches almost anything, we got a lot more than we bargained for.

However, since here at SUS, we can’t go on and on and on like they tend to do….

we just made ‘em up ourselves. So here are the top ten.

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!