TORONTO, February 09, 2012

Raptors’ Camo Jerseys

On March 21, 2012, the Air Canada Centre will see something no NBA court has ever seen before… camouflage jerseys. Let’s face it: these uniformly ugly uniforms were the Raptors’ only ticket to an ESPN mention this season. To be fair, MLSE usually does a pretty good job of honouring veterans (as well they should), but this move reeks more of PR than patriotism. Also, stamping the Canadian flag on everything doesn’t make you Canada’s favourite sports team - winning does (or losing enough to secure a damn decent draft pick). In the words of Raptor Blog’s Joseph Casciaro: “Seriously, let that sink in for a second. Camouflage freaking jerseys.”

Team Canada’s New Soccer Kits

Last week the Canadian Soccer Association and Umbro Canada hosted an event at Brassai to unveil the 2012 national men’s and women’s Umbro kit (that’s England-English for “uniform”). Unfortunately, a cool downtown lounge does not a cool sport make. In true Canadian fashion, the large obnoxious V-graphics of old have been replaced with smaller, snootier scribbles. A couple inches long, the emblematic embroidery found inside the neckline of shirts and on the right hip of shorts is a sound wave graphic of “O Canada.” Like the Sanskrit tattoos bringing unique to a ribcage near you, it’s a cute idea, but requires more explaining than it’s worth.

Blue Jays’ Old-Meets-New Uniforms

We had one of the top-selling hats in the MLB, but Toronto can’t have nice things, so we changed our logo. Again. The 2012 season will see the Jays Blue Jays (the club’s also downplaying its own nickname) sport a new logo that’s supposed to put the ‘blue’ back in Blue Jays and win over the hearts of Canadians from sea to shining sea with – shocker – a big red maple leaf. The look is a modernized version of the team’s original 1977 insignia and will be paired with blue caps and blue shoes. Old, new, whatever… Brett Lawrie will look good in anything, and that’s what counts.