September, 2005:

• Indiana Pacers Unveil New Uniforms, Logos (National Basketball Association)
  September 29, 2005
  This is more than just a wardrobe change. The new uniforms unveiled Thursday represent something bigger to the players. The pinstripes that came to be synonymous with the Reggie Miller-led teams are gone. This new, fresher, sleeker look symbolizes the next generation of Indiana teams. "Now, (fans) not only get to see the Pacers without Reggie Miller, but with new uniforms," said Jermaine O'Neal. "Some of the old-school people will get a look at a new-school uniform and a new-school team." O'Neal and Stephen Jackson served as the models for the unveiling, which took place in front of a curious crowd in the Entry Pavilion of Conseco Fieldhouse. The uniforms are the 11th in franchise history, and have a clean and classic look featuring the traditional blue and gold, with a new accent of gray on the uniform and added to the logo.
  Source: www.nba.com/pacers/, www.indystar.com
   
• Phoenix Coyotes Announce a "Name the Mascot" Contest (National Hockey League)
  September 28, 2005
  The Phoenix Coyotes announced today the team will introduce a mascot on October 15th at the game against the Detroit Red Wings at Glendale Arena. This will be the first time since the Coyotes debuted in Arizona in 1996 that the team will have a mascot. The Coyotes are launching a “Name the Mascot” contest to determine the moniker of the latest addition to the team. The Coyotes have revealed that the mascot will be a coyote, but have not released any further details about the character. The mascot will be present at all home games and will make appearances at community events, schools, and team events throughout Arizona.
  Source: www.phoenixcoyotes.com
   
• Uni Watch by Paul Lukas - "Socks and Stripes Forever"
  September 26, 2005
  If those words sound familiar, it's because they kicked off Uni Watch's exhaustive examination of baseball stirrups a few months back. But they're just as applicable to the NFL, in which Sunday's Colts-Browns game featured an old-fashioned hosiery hoedown. No, not this; Uni Watch is referring to the fact that every single player on the field was wearing striped socks, a sumptuous visual feast that's become all too rare a spectacle these days.
  Source: www.espn.com
   
• Kamloops Blazers Unveil New Uniforms (Western Hockey League)
  September 22, 2005
  The Kamloops Blazers are excited to unveil a brand new on-ice look for the hockey team with completely re-designed home and away jerseys for the 2005-06 season and beyond. “Our uniforms for 2004-05 were special editions commemorating 20 seasons of Blazer hockey,” said General Manager Dean Clark. “These new jerseys are a mix of old and new, with a little bit of the old familiar sleeve-length stripe updated to a modern, powerful, energetic look. As well, the addition of silver to our colour scheme gives our appearance a real modern, industrial edge,” added Clark.
  Source: www.blazerhockey.com
   
• Uni Watch by Paul Lukas - "The NFL's Mysterious Ways"
  September 22, 2005
  If the early returns are any indication, this is gonna be one doozy of an NFL season, at least from a uniform perspective. We're barely two weeks into the season, and already there's plenty to talk about. For starters, mere hours after Uni Watch's NFL season-preview column was posted, the Chiefs announced that they'd be wearing a "H.S." helmet decal this season in memory of Hank Stram, who recently passed away. It's a classy move, for sure, but check out the size of this decal -- it's huge! Far be it from Uni Watch to suggest that Stram doesn't deserve as big a tribute as possible, but the "H.S." is almost as big as the team's main helmet logo. It's not clear if the Chiefs were trying to outdo this season's two other helmet memorial stickers (the 49ers' "72" in memory of Thomas Herrion, and the Panthers' "51" for Sam Mills), or if they just have an odd sense of scale. Either way, looks weird.
  Source: www.espn.com
   
• Chicago Sky to be Newest WNBA Franchise (Women's National Basketball Association)
  September 20, 2005
  The Chicago Sky officially joined the Chicago sports landscape Tuesday, as the new WNBA team released its name, logo, colors and uniform at a fan appreciation event at the Adler Planetarium attended by more than 200 people. “We wanted the name to have meaning and capture our dreams,” CEO and President Margaret Stender told the crowd... We set three important criteria for the name. The name and the logo must be distinctly Chicago, it must be aspirational and encouraging and it must be high energy representing the style and substance that we plan to live by on and off the court.
  Source: www.wnba.com/sky/
   
• Uni Watch by Paul Lukas - "What Can White Do For You?"
  September 19, 2005
  Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it -- or at least that's the cliché. But it turns out you can do something about it, and teams were doing it all over the NFL this past Sunday. Uni Watch is referring to the fact that seven of yesterday's 14 home teams chose to wear white jerseys, instead of the colored jerseys they usually wear at home. The roster of home whites included the Bears, Bengals, Eagles, Buccaneers, Panthers, Texans and Cardinals.
  Source: www.espn.com
   
• Uni Watch by Paul Lukas - "Remembering the Real World"
  September 12, 2005
  The big news over the weekend in the uniform world, just like everywhere else, was Hurricane Katrina. In the NCAA, Southern Miss wore a little hurricane warning flag decal on the back of their helmets, several other schools wore helmet decals showing the outlined shapes of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and LSU added a fleur-de-lis for good measure. But the most conspicuous display was in Major League Baseball, where teams wore the Red Cross logo on their batting helmets. MLB teams have commemorated tragedies before, like when the Rockies wore a "CHS" sleeve patch after the Columbine High School shootings, the Mets responded to the 9/11 attacks by wearing special sleeve embroidery and first responder caps (which they've continued to wear on 9/11's anniversary, including yesterday), and the Astros wore a space shuttle patch after the Columbia disaster. But those displays honored the dead, while the Red Cross logo (which the Yankees are supplementing with a Salvation Army patch on their right sleeves) is about providing support and relief for the living -- a much less common uni-borne sentiment.
  Source: www.espn.com
   
• Manchester Monarchs Unveil New Third Jersey (American Hockey League)
  September 8, 2005
  The Manchester Monarchs, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, will wear the newly designed third jersey on the last home game of a multi-home game weekend, debuting on Sunday, October 30 against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the team announced on Thursday. The jersey, designed by the Monarchs and produced by The Hockey Company, is gray with purple, black and gold trim and solid purple shoulders. It features the word “Manchester” in purple, black and gold block letters across the chest, with Manchester running from left to right in a declining manner. The jersey also features a throwback collar tie with a white lace.
  Source: www.monarchshockey.com
   
• U. of Kansas Unveils Modified Mascot Logo (NCAA)
  September 7, 2005
  Six decades ago when University of Kansas advertising student Hal Sandy drew the famous happy Jayhawk mascot still in use today, he wanted to place the official "KU" lettering on its chest. But there was no official KU lettering then. That finally changed earlier this summer when the university unveiled a new "KU" logo to serve as KU's institutional symbol alongside the Jayhawk mascot and the formal university seal. So with Sandy standing by, KU today finished the job for him by revealing the "completed" Jayhawk mascot sporting the new official logo. It replaces a simple sans serif lettering.
  Source: kuathletics.collegesports.com
   
• Uni Watch by Paul Lukas - "Are You Ready For Some Football?"
  September 7, 2005
  OK, enough of this collegiate stuff. With the NFL season set to kick off Thursday night, it's time to turn our attention to the pros. You probably know about the big storylines already, since Uni Watch covered the season's major uniform revisions months ago, as they were announced. A quick recap for latecomers and amnesiacs: The Cardinals now look like an Arena League team; the Giants have a new road uniform, which isn't really all that different from their old road uniform; the Lions have a rather unfortunate new black alternate jersey (no word on whether they're calling the color "Honolulu Black"); and the Bills have a really cool throwback outfit, complete with the old "standing buffalo" helmet (which they'll be wearing Sunday, incidentally).
  Source: www.espn.com
   
• AZCardinals.com - "Football 101-II: The Uniform" (National Football League)
  September 1, 2005
  The Cardinals are unveiling a new logo and uniform for the 2005 season, so let’s take a look into the history of football uniforms and equipment. The legendary first game of American Football, played between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869 had only one piece of equipment—the ball. This account from journalist Allison Danzig: “(The players) merely laid aside their hats, coats, and vests. Neither team was in uniform, although some Rutgers players wore scarlet stocking caps.” The first recognized mention of any type of uniform to distinguish two teams is said to have been in 1874 when Harvard played McGill University of Montreal.
  Source: www.azcardinals.com
   
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