LongDistanceHeart

If they cut one into 100 pieces, maybe he could afford a swatch.

I might have to shell out for a St. Pats jersey. Kelly green is tough to pass up (except for Dallas. I got all I ever wanted from that team with the Mooterus).

On the one hand, I really want to believe that this will go a lot like when Nike got the NFL contract a few years ago. People freaked out that Nike was going to bring their wacky collegiate designs to the pros. Instead they came out with designs that were mostly par for the course: traditional franchises looked like they were supposed to, while the Seahawks debuted a relatively subdued redesign that was coming anyway. On the other, the NFL has a bit more clout than the NHL, and the NHL has not exactly been known for restraint in on-ice branding over the last 20-25 years. I don't recall seeing any wording like this article around the NFL deal, or Nike's upcoming NBA deal. It reads as if adidas is going to treat this a lot like their MLS deal, and that's not something I want to see. Here's hoping they at least spare the Original Six.

, those are pretty affordable compared to the days of fighting people off to pay $300+ for an Aeros gamer. What I'd give to be in a hockey market where jerseys are affordable. Although, I'd give a lot just to be in a hockey market again.

The only thing worse than parent-owned minor league clones is when the minor league visual identities lag behind the parent club. Good to see them get it together. Worcester and Texas were among the worst offenders. As for the 'Yotes, it's always been pretty straight forward. The league doesn't want other municipalities balking at spending public money on new arenas. No matter how bad things get in Glendale, there were ways to try and make it work. Abandoning a top-15 U.S. media market less than five years into a new arena deal would have been a major black mark on the league. For the suits, that's way more important than "they don't even have ice there!" As for Arizona's jerseys, I thought they were awesome with waist stripes (2003-07). It's a small change, but now they look like glorified practice jerseys (see also: Sharks, San Jose).

Unless Adidas wants to invest heavily in CCM, this is just one part of a drawn out cycle. Adidas and Reebok have failed overall in North American team sports. Outside of soccer (their MLS deal lead to some serious coups, including David Beckham), it's been an utter disaster. Fans of college heavy hitters like Notre Dame, Tennessee, and UCLA really grew to hate Adidas uniforms and came to associate their product with an overall drop in relevance by their programs. Their basketball division has struggled for decades to compete with Nike/ Jordan, culminating in failed bets on Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard. Reebok's gridiron gear never resonated with the kids the way Under Armour did. And I don't need to tell anyone here what hockey fans think of Reebok at this point.

Ah, thanks for the link! I stumbled on it when I acquired the jersey in February, but forgot to bookmark it or save the photos. Haven't been able to find it since.

Does anyone know what lettering the Sharks used circa 2006-07? I'm finally sending my teal sweater out to Action Spot next week and I'd like to be able to make sure. Never been able to tell from photos whether it was stacked, kiss-cut, etc.

55? It barely hit 85 here (after a week of consistent rain) and people were commenting about how unseasonably cool it was.

Heh, the fabric will get a field of runs before anything else. It is what it is. I appreciate the suggestions; I'll probably go with IJ and the eliminated team discount. But the team store (somehow that never crossed my mind) is a good one to file away.

I've been looking at getting a Pens Premier alt as a gift for someone. This person is not particularly concerned with correct fonts, and would probably look at me like I was insane if I dropped the coin on an authentic for them. That having been said, I've seen some really shoddy customization on premiers, especially from NHL.com. Like, letters falling off after one trip through the wash bad. Anyone have insight on the quality I'd get from IJ? I'm not totally opposed to sending it off to the team customizer or another lettering company like EPS, but I thought I'd see what's out there.

I pretty much echo everyone else with respect to camera choice. Smartphones (an iPhone 6 in my case) have decent enough cameras that they work for stills inanimate objects. I also have gray carpet in a part of my home that's got a few different lighting options; that usually does the trick.

When Matt Schaub came to the Texans much was made of his taking David Carr's #8. The local daily actually published a how-to guide for converting your jersey to a Schaub. Thankfully the Texans had the same jersey design and manufacturer for their first decade, so there aren't a bunch of egregious fouls running around town.

The Aeros did so many cool one-offs that my wallet is trembling just thinking about it. Luckily they at least sold replicas for several, because gamers are just out of hand (looking at you, 2000 All-Star Game).