Arizona Sports Uniform Playoffs Day #3
Jul 21, 2016, 7:05 AM | Updated: 11:33 am
It’s the first-ever Arizona Sports Uniform Playoffs!
Over the next several weeks, we’ll be polling you, the sports fans of Arizona, to determine the best-dressed pro team in the history of The Grand Canyon State.
We’ve ranked 48 different uniforms worn by major-league teams based in the Valley for voting purposes.
In the first round, we’ll feature four different matchups per day. Seeds 17-48 will be voted on in Week 1, with the top 16 seeds earning byes into the second round.
Without further ado, here are today’s four first-round matchups (voting closes at 7:00 a.m. Friday, July 22).
(And, if you want a different look at each uniform, click the links in the paragraph for each.
#31 D-backs original home whites vs. #34 Cardinals 75th anniversary throwbacks
The first time the Arizona Diamondbacks ever took the field — March 31, 1998 — they were wearing these uniforms. The team would wear these at home for three seasons, ditching them in time for the 2001 season — the first and only championship campaign in team history.
For the NFL’s 75th anniversary, the league allowed each of its franchises to wear throwback uniforms. For the Cardinals, that meant going all the way back to 1921. The jerseys were the regular Cardinal red, but with small shoulder numbers on the front and three horizontal stripes around the sleeves, which also included a patch with the letters ‘CC’ for Chicago Cardinals. The red version was worn in Week 3 of the 1994 season in Cleveland, a game the Cardinals lost 32-0. The wore the white version at home in Week 9 and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, 20-17.
#18 Suns current black ‘PHX’ alternates vs. #47 Suns sleeved orange alternates
It’s an all Suns alternate battle here on Day 3! The Suns’ Civic pride alternates were unveiled in time for the 2015-16 season and were worn 13 times throughout the season, including Opening night against the Dallas Mavericks.
Sleeves and NBA uniforms just don’t mix. In fact, that’s been the long-standing attitude of the NBA. That changed when 2013 when the league’s official uniform supplier, adidas, unveiled sleeved uniforms for the Golden State Warriors. The Suns also got a sleeved orange version for the 2012-13 season. They wore those for three years before ditching the sleeves on the orange alternate last season.
#23 D-backs sleeved ‘A’ logo homes vs. #42 Coyotes current red homes
This was the second generation of Diamondbacks’ home uniforms. After the original design was scrapped in 2001, these became the normal home uniform to go along with the sleeveless version which had been around since the inaugural 1998 season. These uniforms were worn at home through the 2006 season.
About 13 months ago, the Arizona Coyotes tweaked their uniform look once again, rolling out similar jerseys but adding more black to the shoulders.
#26 Coyotes original Kachina home whites vs. #39 Suns current orange alternates
When the Coyotes arrived in Phoenix in 1996, they ditched the traditional red, white and blue and conservative uniform look of the Winnipeg Jets and boldly changed their fashion with a Southwest feel. They chose forest green, black, sand, purple and brick red as their color scheme and introduced a very different-looking jersey than what the NHL was used to. This home version (yes, at the time NHL teams wore white at home), despite its uniqueness, became very popular with new Valley hockey fans.
Remember the scene in Can’t Buy Me Love (the original, not the horrible Nick Cannon remake) when Cindy Mancini tears off Ronald Miller’s sleeves on the first day of school and immediately makes him cool? You don’t? OK, trust us on this one, it happened. Anyway, the Suns gave their alternate sleeved jerseys that same Cindy Mancini treatment, and it turns out it made them infinitely cooler. Now everyone do the African Anteater Ritual!
RESULTS FROM DAY 2 • #29 Cardinals current roads def. #36 D-backs current primary roads 55%-45%• #20 Cardinals current homes def. #45 D-backs current alt roads w/turquoise 66%-34%
• #21 Coyotes black alternates def. #44 Suns Latin Nights sleeved alternate 90%-10%
• #28 D-backs second-generation roads def. #37 D-backs second-generation homes 67%-33%
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