Hawaii Winter League

One of my Christmas presents this year was a North Shore Honu t-shirt.

The Honu are one of four teams in the Hawaii Winter Baseball League.

www.hawaiiwinterbaseball.com

The other teams are the Waikiki Beach Boys....

...the Honolulu Sharks...

...and the West Oahu Cane Fires.

(Yes, that's Joba Chamberlin. He played in the league in 2007.)

A bunch of future major leagues have played in the league, including Ichiro, A.J. Pierzynski and Derrek Lee. There has also been some players with interesting names who didn't make it, including Bobby Bonds Jr. and Craig Griffey, plus two women.

I first became aware of the HWB during my honeymoon in 1995,

when I bought a Maui Sting Rays t-shirt.

I still have the shirt and love wearing it.

New School

Last week we got a taste of the new Nike Pro Combat Uniforms

when Ohio State wore theirs at Michigan.

Yesterday, several schools wore theirs.

(Nike chose 10 schools in all to get these uniforms.)

Most notably, Florida....

Although I'm not a big fan of white helmets, these aren't bad.

My complaint is with the back side of the pants.

It looks like they're wearing a pair of chaps.

Miami's didn't look too bad, until I got a close look at the numbers.

Terrible.

Virginia Tech's weren't bad.

But then I got a look at Missouri's....

Bad. Especially the helmet. Bad.

Worldwide Pants

They say "Pants make the man."

(They say that, right? OK, maybe I made it up.)

I couldn't help but notice some pants irregularities today.

Washington puts the "red" in Redskins.

Don't like it.

I know this is the Browns regular road look....

...and I love a good pair of brown pants (ask my co-workers),

but I don't like these.

And the Bucs buck the fashionistas and wear white after Labor Day.

UNIon

The MLS expansion team Philadelphia Union have unveiled their uniforms.

Love it!!

From the team's website:
--Midnight blue is the dominant color
--The club crest is centered on the front on a wide panel of Union gold
--Accent piping, the light blue color of the flag of Philadelphia, can be found on both the top and bottom of the jersey, as well as the tip of each sleeve
--Back of collar, “Jungite Aut Perite”, Latin for Join or Die, Benjamin Franklin’s rallying cry for colonial unity.

I'm convinced that, if every boys and girls soccer team in the Delaware Valley went to just one Union game, MLS in this area will be very successful. I know I'll be planning an outing with my team.

David Stern OK'd this?

Not sure what's the point of these New Orleans Hornets Mardi Gras uniforms...



Wouldn't it be great if the Hornets picked up Mardy Collins?

I don't hate this, but I want to

So, Ohio State broke out some new unis for their final game of the regular season.

They didn't look so bad to me.....

....until I read this on Ohio State's webpage:

Ohio State sported new "modern classics" uniforms, designed by NIKE especially for its "Rivalry" series. The one-time only tribute uniforms, featuring white helmets with red stripe down the middle and black numbers on the side, white jerseys with scarlet numbers and a touch of gray on the shoulders, and gray pants with a double scarlet stripe down the side, pays homage to Ohio State's 1954 national championship team in its styling and design.

The uniforms are part of the Nike Pro Combat line, a new system of dress and the lightest football uniform Nike has ever created. Ohio State is one of 10 elite football programs to debut the Nike Pro Combat uniform before the uniform's official introduction at the start of the 2010 season. The Nike Pro Combat uniform is 37 percent lighter than current designs and 46 percent lighter when wet.

Seriously....it makes me want to respect Penn State and Joe Paterno.

Twins, Royals - Just in time for holiday shopping

You better believe that the Twins and Royals unveiled new uniforms and hats respectively now instead of in the dead of winter so that new shirts and hats can be under the tree in about a month.

Here are the Twins new unis....

All in all, not bad. No complaints here. Looks like they're going with the TC hat at home and on the road. (Aside: I was probably in my 20's when I finally figured out what TC stood for.)

The Royals also unveiled new powder blue hats.

They'll wear these hats with their powder blue uniforms for home day games.

I read where the hat will be available at the team store prior to the Kansas-Missouri football game across the street at Arrowhead this week. Pricetag: $38. $38?!?!?