Droppin

Well the NCAA basketball season is upon us and it couldn’t be coming at a better time for this sports fan.  This Friday night, UNC will be celebrating the opening of the basketball season by goofing off and scrimmaging a bit.  The event will be hosted by Stuart Scott of ESPN (boo-yah) and this will be the first chance for many to see the new freshman in action.

With seven experienced returnees and six incoming freshman (ranked best class in the nation) Roy finally has the depth and experience that he was used to at Kansas.  In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year of sorts for the Heels, they finished second in the conference last year at 23-8 and Tyler Hansbrough’s tough play earned him rookie of the year honors.  However, the Heels were bounced from the tournament in the second round by cinderella George Mason.  This year, the Heels will have more options than to just feed the big fella.  In addition to the sophmores (Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, and Marcus Ginyard) you will have the top-ranked point guard (Ty Lawson), top-ranked shooting guard (Wayne Ellington), and the top-ranked power forward (Brandan Wright).  The rest of the rookie class should help out Tyler as well as it includes 6′ 9″ Alex Stepheson, 6′ 8″ Deon Thompson, and power forward William Graves.

The Heels will host St. Augstine on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7:30 p.m.  Their second and final exhibition will be on Saturday, Nov. 11, against Pfeiffer.  I will post the rest of their schedule in another post here shortly.

We had already seen the “new” colors and logo a while back but the Bucks organized a full-fledged fashion show to unveil their new look for the 2006-07 season.  Adidas selected to go with the “shimmer” fabric which I am personally not a fan of.  The home unis are white with the Bucks nameplate and the road uniform is green with a similar nameplate.  You have to believe that a red alternate is on the way (which I think will be better than the green).  The Bucks also redesigned their court featuring the new logo and a shaded three-point zone.  [Check out my main man Noel in the road unis - Go Heels!]

Gone are the days of sticking with one identity for longer than 15 minutes.  Don’t get me wrong, I live for new uni changes but I don’t think we will see an expansion team stick with one set of unis for years like we can see with some of the classic teams out there, for better or for worse. 

Here is the story from the Bobcats website:

The Bobcats will have a new look in 2006-07, as they unveiled their new alternate team uniform on Wednesday, with blue as the predominant color and accented by the team’s other official colors of Bobcats Orange, black and silver. This uniform serves as the second road uniform, to be worn in addition to the orange away uniform the team debuted before the inaugural 2004-05 season.

“Alternate uniforms have proven to be very popular with fans across sports and we are proud to introduce our third uniform to Charlotte Bobcats fans,” Bobcats President and Chief Operating Officer Fred Whitfield said. “Bobcats Blue is one of our team colors and the new blue uniform will look sharp on our players and complement our orange and white uniforms very well.”

The Bobcats Blue road jerseys will bear the “Bobcats” wordmark across the chest, similar to the team’s white home jerseys, with white letters and numbers. The uniforms include a solid black side stripe, compared to the side panel design featured on the current white and orange uniforms. Orange is still present in the uniforms with vertical stripes flanking the black side stripes and also running along the bottom of the shorts. Silver piping separates the black stripes from the orange stripes along the sides of the uniform.

Additional features on the jersey include black stripes along the outside shoulders of the jersey and inclusion of the Bobcats’ partial logo on the back of the neck. On the shorts, the Bobcats secondary logo sits within the black side stripes on both sides.

The Bobcats worked with the NBA to design the blue uniforms, which include the signature wider opening at the jersey’s back V-neck to allow freedom of movement. Charlotte is the only NBA team to sport that unique feature. The blue jersey also mirrors the current set with angled numerals on both the front and back of the jersey and includes an insert (orange in color) at the front V-neck.

The jerseys will be on sale in mid-November in coordination with the team debuting the uniforms on Saturday, Nov. 18, when Charlotte plays at Orlando and two days later at home for the first time on Monday, Nov. 20, when Dallas visits Charlotte Bobcats Arena. A full list of retailers who will stock the blue jerseys will be announced in November. The Bobcats will wear the alternate uniform for a minimum of six games during each season and up to a maximum of 15 games.

Authentic blue jerseys are currently available exclusively as part of a special offer for Bobcats fans. New season ticket holders who sign up for two or more club seats beginning with the 2006-07 season will receive an authentic blue jersey, autographed by the player of the customer’s choosing.

“Once again, the Bobcats have developed a uniform that is unique but respects the classic basketball silhouettes that are core to the game,” said Christopher Arena, vice president of apparel licensing for the National Basketball Association, which worked together with the Charlotte Bobcats as the architects of the Bobcats identity. “Second road uniforms allow teams to extend their identity and connect to the fans in an authentic manner. The Bobcats second road uniform, while utilizing many of the core elements of the team’s identity, features the Bobcats Blue with black inserts and integrates their signature orange in a bold, unique way.”

In contrast to the team’s current uniforms, the principal uniform fabric on the blue uniforms is adidas clima-cool diamond back mesh which permits air flow to keep the players cooler. The side panels are adidas clima-cool shimmer, which wicks moisture away from the skin to the outside of the fabric where it quickly evaporates.