Back to the Old School: Raptors turn back the clock

March 7, 2014 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

The Raptor is back!

The purple is back baby! Well, sort of. Today the Toronto Raptors announced that next season they will wear their classic raptor jerseys for select games. While some people hate these jerseys, I love them. The red raptor logo is a classic, and no team can pull of the purple, red, and black like Toronto. These bad boys were some of the best jerseys in the 90s. True, the white pin striping and team name could have been better, but with logo, colors and pants logos are fantastic. While Space Jam may not be coming back with Lebron James, at least we have these bad boys for some 90s nostalgia.

Jingle Balls: The NBA’s Christmas Jerseys Disaster

December 16, 2013 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

It’s beginning to look a lot like a Christmess

Christmas is here! The trees, decorations, and yuletide spirit are everywhere this time of year. On the 25th of December the NBA will be unwrapping some presents that frankly should have a sticker that reads “Do not open ever”! That’s right, the NBA has established a new merry tradition that is the equivalent to the gifting of a holiday fruitcake. Nobody wants it, but we get it anyways. Talk about a mess. The NBA has tried to establish Christmas day as it’s own holiday. What I mean by this is that football has Thanksgiving, so naturally the NBA wanted it’s own holiday in the spotlight, in this case Christmas. Now the NBA has five games for 2013 and like all great Christmases decided it needed its own traditions. However, whoever came up with this idea should receive a mountain of coal for Christmas.

The NBA has made it a tradition to wear new uniforms on Christmas day. Last year I thought the NBA couldn’t do worse than hideous one color uniforms with just outlines of the team’s name. Well one thing I can say about the NBA is that it never ceases to surprise me. When the new uniforms were revealed I laughed thinking oh they must have gotten the pictures mixed up. Those are ten-dollar t-shirts from the gift shop. Boy was I wrong. Ok are you sitting down? Because I am about to go on a rant about these eyesores.

Where to begin? Hmm let me see I know I’ll start of with the sleeves. Why do you need sleeves in the NBA? You play indoors! Why do you guys need freaking sleeves are you really that cold inside an NBA arena? Come on these aren’t NFL linemen who have rolls of arm fat or baseball players trying to avoid the sun. If it was just the sleeves on awesome uniforms I could give these a pass, but it’s more than just the sleeves.

Next it’s the colors. True these colors are not as terrible as last years, but certain team colors don’t make sense. The Lakers, who have a great white home uniform, don’t need a white Christmas jersey. They have purple and gold. Where is it? The Knicks, for the love of god stop wearing all orange. First this isn’t Halloween, and second you look like a bunch of pumpkins. If there was more blue then maybe, but these uniforms are just plain orange. The Knicks chant should be no new york no new york no. The spurs plain grey? or the Rockets all red? Come on guys I bet a five-year old could come up with something better. Sure the colors are bad, but it’s also that these uniforms are just one color. There are no accent or secondary colors to add some details to these uniforms. Even minor accent colors or designs would offset the main colors nicely. However, with just one color except for around the collar and sleeves. Without these other colors these jerseys just look like plain t-shirts from the NBA store that I could easily buy.

The final nail in this uniform coffin has to be the logos. These are the worst logos on a uniform I have ever seen. Sure they are the team’s regular logos, which are great, but for some reason they thought forget the script or original let’s put a giant silver logo on the chest. Come on why silver? Are you just trying to put a bullseye on what makes these jerseys awful. Sure it looks good on the Nets jersey, but who else has silver in their color palette? These look like metallic versions of each logo. It as if they decided let’s put a futuristic logo on the plainest jersey possible. That makes no sense.

In conclusion the only good thing these jerseys have given us is this fantastic commercial (link here). Other than that these uniforms are just an awful representation of the NBA. Come on these look like pajamas. Hey maybe that’s what they were going for the pajama Christmas morning look. If not for the so-called “Christmas morning pajama look” these uniforms are some of the worst to ever be presented on the hardwood. Maybe Santa will make a last-minute stop and give these teams new uniforms, unfortunately I think he’s a little too busy. Dear NBA, please get new Christmas uniforms next year. Heck, do green and red uniforms. Those would be better than these atrocities. Either way let’s hope the NBA delivers on Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Can they be stopped? When will the Heat’s reign end?

November 4, 2013January 6, 2014 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

The Big Three now go for the three peat

The 2013-2014 NBA season has many captivating story lines. Derrick Rose’s injury, Kobe’s bout against father time, and Eastern Conference’s futility. Still, no NBA team is stirring up more controversy and headlines then a certain team from South Beach. The NBA’s evil empire, the Miami Heat.

With the opportunity to three peat as champions and join some of the league’s most storied teams, the heat is on in Miami. The question is can a David step up and topple the mighty Goliath? Can any team upset the Heat and spoil their quest of dominance? The reloaded Nets and the Bulls struggles have many doubting their ability to knock King James of his throne. Can a team from the Wild West such as the Thunder, Clippers, or Spurs be able to shock the Big Three? Without question the Heat are the lightning rod for attention in the NBA.

Whether its Lebron’s legacy, the team’s health, it’s fans, or just the animosity that no other team seems to get attention in the NBA, the Heat are the logical focal point. It’s understandable why this team is hated so much. The best player in the NBA leaves his hometown team and community to create an all-star team just to win championships. Theres the constant media attention where the top NBA story always involves Miami. It doesn’t matter if Kevin Durant drops 50 points for the Thunder because ESPN needs to analyze James’ supporting cast for the hundredth time. Miami is despised for having the worst fans in sports, who only either care about the team when they are winning or are so spoiled because they have jumped on the best team bandwagon. Heat fans are always complaining for no good reason! Why? Now idea, they’ve won three championships in a decade so what’s the problem? However, the biggest reason the Heat are hated is because they are the best.

They have Lebron James, and your team doesn’t. Their arrogance and cockiness about being the best team drives NBA fans crazy. This team just thinks it will be a breeze to win another championship. However, I think there is another thing at play here. People still love Michael Jordan. The fact that Lebron is threatening what many claim is the NBA’s greatest legacy strikes a nerve within die-hard NBA fans. Then you hear the criticism and laundry list of reasons why Lebron James will never surpass his Airness. The points, position, competition, the list goes on and on and on. The fact that Lebron threatens one of if not the most beloved player in NBA history, and the way he has achieved his success, just riles up Jordan supporters who will try to find any flaws within James’ game. However, there is no question that right now there is no better player in the NBA.

The question shouldn’t be if Lebron James is the best player in the NBA, he is, but is there a basketball team that is constructed better than the Heat right now? Is there such a team whose sum of parts will equal a greater team then the Heat? Obviously, Lebron skews this equation by being the best player in the game, but is there a roster whose depth and overall talent can expose the Heat’s flaws of being a team built on three players? These are the questions that teams in the NBA must answer. I think there is such a team. With so much talent in the NBA and a few teams with loaded and lethal rosters, it might be when not if the Heat are eliminated from contention this year. Will Lebron hoist his third trophy, or will some other superstar begin their own Hall of Fame legacy? We await with bated breath to find out if the King will get another ring, or if his mighty empire will be failed be a worth adversary.

Lone Star Mess: Dallas’ uniform debacle

June 9, 2013 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

Fans designing the uniform? Either genius or a disaster waiting to happen

The Dallas Cowboys have one of the most iconic sports uniforms in history. From the white jerseys, to the iconic navy star on the helmet, the Cowboys logo and uniform are as recognizable as Coca Cola. Unfortunately, while the Cowboys may have one of the best uniforms and logo in sports, the other Dallas teams don’t provide the same nostalgia. The Mavericks and Stars are updating their looks for the 2013 season. First, renegade NBA owner Mark Cuban is once again thinking outside the box. Rather then hire a professional design team, Cuban has announced that the fans will have the chance to redesign the logo and uniform in a fan contest. While this does give the team great publicity, along with increasing the relationship between the fans and the team, it also could be a publicity stunt that goes horribly wrong. But seriously though do you really want some twelve-year-old with crayons designing your pro team’s uniforms? To see what the fans have come up with so far check it out (here). However, there is still hope that the Mavs could have some pretty awesome uniforms, however the same cannot be said for their NHL counterparts. The Dallas stars have had

Houston we have a problem

an identity crisis for a few years now. After years of uniforms that just read “Dallas” in a boring script, when it was announced that Stars would get their long-awaited makeover people rejoiced! Then when the jerseys made their debut fans were seeing stars, and not in the good way. Rather then tweak their intimidating black and dark greens uniforms, the Stars decided to ripoff of the old Hartford Whalers. Seriously call Gary Bettman these uniforms were stolen! Seriously the lighter green, and a black that suspiciously looks navy, I think the Whalers were robbed. While the uniforms might have been ok, the logo just kills these uniforms. You thought Dallas would have learned from their infamous constellation uniform disaster, but unfortunately the new logo is terrible. A giant D with a simple star? Really? These uniforms are disappointing. This is just another attempt of what I call “modern retro”, when a team tries to make themselves have a classic look, when they don’t have that classic look. While some Stars fans may like the change, personally I hate these uniforms. I think the Stars have a major identity crisis and these new uniforms aren’t helping. What do you think about the Stars new uniforms? Take the poll to vote for your favorite.

Thunderstruck: Durant loses his thunder

May 19, 2013May 23, 2013 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

Once again Durant will be haunted by another season without a title

Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the NBA today, period. However, he can never seem to get out of the shadows and into the limelight. When drafted, he was the number two pick after Greg Oden, and at the time considered the second best college basketball. Fast forward to 2013, and once again Durant is still number two behind the King, Lebron James. Unfortunately for Durant, no matter how many points he scores, or how many wins he brings to Oklahoma City he will never truly be inducted into the NBA’s elite until he wins a championship. It’s unfortunate, but even Lebron James went through the same thing. Lebron would have never been considered one of the greats until he won a championship. Now that the King has accomplished that, and will probably add another trophy to his hardware this season, he is without question considered one of the greatest. For Durant he must win a championship to solidify his greatness. We can now say that Lebron James is truly one of the greats, however we can’t say that about Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, or Dwight Howard because they don’t have a ring. Is it unfair? Yes, but winning a championship is the finally piece of cementing a lasting legacy in the NBA. Look at Charles Barkley, undoubtedly one of the greatest basketball players ever, but will never be considered one of the best because he doesn’t have a ring.

Until Durant has a ring, he will be excluded from the NBAs elite club

Until Durant has a ring, he will be excluded from the NBA elite club

The thing that worries me is that Durant has embraced the fact that he’s the Thunder’s star. He’s to0 eager to pass to his teammates in big situations instead of manning up and proclaiming that this is my team, I’m taking these important shots! Listen, I’m not saying that Durant didn’t have a good playoff series, but if he wants to be an elite player in this league he needs to step up his game especially in difficult situations. If it’s the end of a game and the Thunder need a big shot, he shouldn’t be looking at his teammates to take those shots, but demand the ball. By winning a ring, it proves that Durant overcame his trial by fire and deserves to be included in basketball’s elite club. Without question, Kevin Durant is one of the best in the game today. But, if he wants to be an NBA legend he needs to take his game to the next level and bring home a ring to Oklahoma City. This reminds me of a great quote from the Sandlot; “heroes get remembered but legends never die”. For Kevin Durant he can no longer be complacent with being the second best player in the NBA. He needs a ring if he wants to be one of the greatest players to ever grace the hardwood!

Identity crisis: UConn Huskies update look

April 30, 2013 / Rich Sports Talk / Leave a comment

Umm this looks like a wolf and a generic one. Does Minnesota know about this?

Out with the old and in with the new! The Connecticut Huskies athletic department just got an overhaul. The department felt it had an identity problem, most of the teams had their own individual logos and colors. Uconn felt that it’s teams were too different and that it was causing confusion. In an attempt to bring it all together the Huskies decided to have all their teams have the same colors and a new banner to fight under. However, this may not have been the best idea. Just look at the new so-called “Husky” logo. Tell me that doesn’t look like a wolf? What husky looks like this? Personally, I think they should have stuck with the football block “C” logo instead of this. This is a sad attempt to make Jonathan the Husky “fiercer looking”. Unfortunately, this logo is terrible and appears stolen from either the Timberwolves or some high school. I guess the only good to come out of this extreme makeover college edition is that at least the teams look relatively the same. What do I mean by this? UConn’s problem was that almost all of their teams had their own identity. They each had different logos, some had a husky others didn’t, and different color palates that were all varying. While blue and white remained a constant, some teams had red or silver as part of their uniforms. No more! Now all the teams will rock red, white, and blue for 2013. One problem, where the heck did the red come from. Personally I preferred just the blue and white, maybe a little silver but I think the red is alt tile much. While most of the uniforms

Here’s looking at you punk!

have turned out to be improvements, the two premier teams suffered in the makeover. Basketball’s new uniforms are not much to write home about and was a missed opportunity, but the football team’s are a train wreck. At first glance it looks like a sleek uniform but then you get to the helmet. Enter laughter, dread, or fist palm what ever action suits your need. So the classic C is gone, ok so the new husky will be on the side right? Um no Plain sides, Uconn in script along the back, and the infamous cujo stare on the front. I can just imagine when opponents line up against the Huskies next year what must they be thinking. Thank god I don’t have to interview the football players. Who do I look in the eyes the players or the husky?

Despite now having the teams now matching, Uconn’s new mascot and overuse of red has left something to be desired

Uconn has at least done one thing right. At least now their teams all match and they didn’t create absolutely ridiculous looking uniforms, I’m talking to you Maryland. While the uniformity is great, I still believe the boat was missed with the new Husky, overuse of the red accent color, and laughable football helmets. To see all of the team’s new looks click the (link). I just hope for two things. This mascot won’t last too long and for the love of god don’t make some crazy red alternate uniform. We’re still recovering from those silver atrocities from a few years ago. What do you think of Uconn’s new looks? Did they hit a home run or strike out? Comment below and let me here your opinions and ideas.