My Most & Least Favorite Sports Uniforms

I had trouble coming up with an interesting topic to write about today, so here is a rundown of pro sports’ best and worst uniforms, in my opinion. After all, I am a graphic designer and have studied such things as color theory, so I am kinda an expert on the subject.

Best MLB Uniforms: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim alternate red
This is kinda of a surprising choice, but for some reason that slightly lighter-than-normal red with the white trim and the team letters also in red really stands out to me. Torii Hunter pulls it off quite well. There are a lot of good MLB uniforms to pick from. Some of the runners-up would include the Dodgers classic home white, the Mariners alternate teal, and the Orioles new alternate orange.

Best NFL Uniforms: Cincinnati Bengals home black
I like that the Bengals went a little different route and instead of having the same logo on each side of the helmet, covered the whole helmet with the tiger stripes. Their use of the orange on the shoulders and legs of the uniform also stand out nicely. The Chargers powder blue were a very close second.

Best NBA Uniforms: Orlando Magic home blue
I had much difficulty choosing my favorite NBA jersey. It really comes down to which style do I like better: classic, throwback, weird, or modern. The Celtics, for instance, have virtually never changed. The Warriors have recently gone back to some sort of retro looks. The Jazz have kinda gone back to an older logo but swapped out for some bad color choices. But the Magic, I felt, have the cleanest, most attractive look with these blue uniforms.

Best NHL Uniforms: Minnesota Wild home red
I had to be somewhat biased in one of my selections. I would never be caught cheering for the Angels, Bengals, or Magic, but the Wild on the other hand I would. And when I think of hockey, I think of cold; and when I think of cold, I think of winter. And that reminds me of Christmas. And what better than Christmas year-round in these awesome red and green uniforms?

 

Worst MLB Uniforms: San Diego Padres – all
Baseball really doesn’t have any truly ugly uniforms, in my opinion. I used to despise the Blue Jays recent unis but they have gone back to their glory days this offseason. The Padres also released some new uniforms for 2012, and while they are okay, they are also super dull. White, gray, and navy blue with no accent colors to speak of. If I was a Padre fan I would not be excited to run out and purchase one of these slightly tweaked new jerseys.

Worst NFL Uniforms: New York Jets road white
I really dislike the Jets, so that probably played into my decision a little, but these uniforms, like the Padres, are flat-out boring. Yes they went back to a classic logo in the past decade, but they are even worse than the Padres in that they’re just two colors–green and white. And not even a vibrant, attractive green.

Worst NBA Uniforms: Oklahoma City Thunder home teal
Not only are the Thunder’s teal jerseys the worst in the NBA, they are the worst in all of pro sports for several reasons. 1) Why did they have to include the word “City” in their team name to begin with? Oklahoma Thunder runs off the tongue much nicer, and would fit on the jersey better. 2) Thunder is associated with storms. Storms are dark and gray. Yet they chose a happy sunny day turquoise? Blasphemy! 3) These are not creative at all. The font is boring. The layout is atrocious. I like turquoise in general but not for this team.

Worst NHL Uniforms: Florida Panthers
A close second for worst overall is the Florida Panthers. Most pro teams have reduced their logos to clean-cut illustrations, but the Panthers continue to use this out-dated full-detailed panther, and with poorly representative colors, in my mind. Doesn’t work for me.

What do you think? Am I way off on some of these choices?