Mini Blog Comments
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Well, How Southwest Conference Was That?
After having not scored in two games, Houston had a big, fast start. And Fritz got his first Big 12 win. I thought TCU was going to come back - but UH defense stayed focused on the turnovers. And now UH is on top at 2-0 in SWC matchups. I had tweeted a #WhatTheGameShouldLookLike and picked a photo from 1989 because Andre Ware was on the call on this game. I nailed it - because the last time UH beat TCU in Fort Worth, was that very game! That was fun - but if you know a TCU fan personally, please check in on them. Especially if they left the game early... they may be passed out somewhere in the street. For some reason, Dana wasn't even there. And the TCU kid in charge of TCU Football went missing for at least an hour or so...
Fourth SWC Matchup
A decidedly one sided affair since the Southwest Conference disbanded - but even steven right now. I should plot these rivalries to show the years the teams were good or bad. Fun futre project. I did do an historical record by team that uses color to show victories by team - so if you look at TCU in the 70s and 80s, there is not a lot of purple. But would still be interesting to do one of these based on team matchups.
Uni Winners of Week 5
New - never worn - combos!
And some surprise picks at the top!
BAYLOR
I shouldn't like this new never ever worn combo - but it looks really good. All yellow - no, but with the green helmet and in the sunlight, yes!
TEXAS TECH
First time wearing the all black. I love this uni - but in photos I think it needs a little more red. It just doesn't pop enough - but it probably does in person. And I really don't like the black tights.
TEXAS A&M
Another new combo - I think. I have not completed my post SWC years uni overview for A&M - but I do not think the maroon jersey was ever worn with a white helmet and maroon pants. And I really really like it in this game for the sake of contrast. Such a good looking game.
ARKANSAS
Classic again. But the red in the helmet was just so vibrant and looked so good paired with the Aggies new combo with the white helmet.
TEXAS
Still solid - always.
SMU
Same combo highly rated in many weeks - but the modernized traditional stripes with no gaps on the helmet has started to bother me. I was fine with it when it came out because I was just happy to have the stripes.
RICE
New combo. Not crazy about the plain navy helmet with the navy jersey. And I just really wish we had some stripes on those pants.
TCU
Just plain bland.
HOUSTON
Blood clot, gross.
At Least it was a Good Game
A really good looking and entertaining game. Jerry Jones gave the Aggies the Southwest Classic trophy one last time - it will be staying in their trophy case unless the series gets revived in AT&T since the stadium forms the trophy base. Nice write-up in The Battalion. It usually is a pretty close game.
Third SWC Matchup
The last Southwest Classic at a neutral site. New conference alignments have paused another one... With the new SEC there are no longer any divisions - so Arkansas and A&M will not play every year. For some bizarre reason, this matchup was not "protected". While this is the 81st meeting between the two schools, the Southwest Classic did not orginate until 2009. I am not sure if Jerry Jones owns the name "Southwest Classic" but the trophy base is AT&T Stadium. So one can assume that trophy will stay in the trophy case of the winner forever.
Uni Winners of Week 4
Who looked good?
TEXAS TECH
New red combo I was worried about - but with these new unis are there any bad combos?
ARKANSAS
Classic.
RICE
New combo for Rice - really wish the pants had stripes. But a solid look.
TEXAS
Classic - Arch with the start.
BAYLOR
Nothing new this week. Except they did keep Colorado from wearing all white.
TEXAS A&M
Still a little plain for an Aggie uniform.
SMU
First wearing of the blue Dallas uni this year.
HOUSTON
White helmet with the fun Houston script looks good with the red facemask and the all white looks good if you don't have to look at those stupid pants stripes.
TCU
First use of purple chrome helmet. It's a nice enough helmet but makes the rest of the uni look underdressed. Not sure TCU can make it off the bottom this year with these unis.
SMU Got Their Revenge
Whoa... that was bad. Not only did SMU get the Iron Skillet back, they did so in humiliating fashion for the last scheduled Battle of the Iron Skillet on the Hilltop. And without Sonny Dykes in the second half who was called for TWO unsportsmanlike conduct fouls after questioning two questionable holding calls that negated in one case a TCU return touchdown. I have seen no statements from the Big 12 refs regarding the ejection. Should have been a really good game, but SMU caught some early breaks jumping out to a 17-0 lead. TCU came back but then more bad breaks for them at the end of the first half. With the questionable calls and then the ejection early in the second half - it led to the most points ever scored by one team in the Iron Skillet history (and the most points ever scored). SMU did indeed Fry them Frogs and some eggs. But we can still laugh about SMU giving up all their tv $$$ so they can be on The CW...
Second SWC Matchup
103rd SMU-TCU game. Started playing in 1915 and only missed in 1919, 1920, 1925, 1987, 1988, 2006, and 2020. Battle of the Iron Skillet came into play in 1946. They have not been in the same conference since 2000 when they were both in the WAC. Currently only two scheduled games are left - this year and next. Someone said "...college football is losing a little bit of its soul. Or at least the traditional fabric that it’s made from...". Could not agree more! So... Sonny Dykes has won the LAST FOUR Iron Skillets - two with SMU and two with TCU.
Uni Winners of Week 3
Who looked the best?
TEXAS TECH
New combo with the new unis - is there any combo that isn't going to look amazing?!?
TEXAS
Classic.
ARKANSAS
Another classic.
RICE
Rice gets a nod because the new stripes - new combo (first showing of the white jersey). Thankfully, Houston did not black it out and we had an almost SWC looking game (those damn pants stripes).
TEXAS A&M
First all white uni since Johnny Manziel. An okay look - but without any stripes, pretty bland. You are not the longhorns...
TCU
First use of new black helmet. underwhelmed.
BAYLOR
Ugh... Scored lower because of the gold cammo logo on the helmet - I had to recolor that tiny cammo pattern for one game... by hand.
First SWC Matchup
Houston takes back the Bayou Bucket. Thought this would be a good game - but Rice got a slow start and just could never stop UH. And Willie Fritz gets his first UH win.
$179.20 - 50 Years Later
That is how much the trophy cost 50 years ago - between the cost of the beat up bucket Fred Curry found out shopping with his wife in New Braunfels and the cost of the trophy built under it. The trophy was the promotion dreamed up in a couple of touchdown club meetings and first awarded in 1974. And the Battle of the Bayou Bucket continues - for the moment. It's future last year was in question and they scheduled it for 2024 - 2027 But that *blasted* conference realignment bullshit forced them to cancel for 2026 and 2027. They just keep taking things away from me and leaving me only memories... Traditions mean something! For now, UH gets a chance to win it back and not let Rice keep it for a second year. Last year's game was incredible. I think this year might be just as good. The last time Rice won back-to-Back was 1993 and 1994. RICE RICE RICE!!!
Uni Winners of Week 2
Uni Worthy Mentions
TEXAS TECH
Favorite all white Tech uniform ever.
BAYLOR
So... all white with stripes is just beautiful...
RICE
Never before worn combo with the striped silver helmet with the Old English R. But the ivy league collegiate dorm decals took away from it for me.
SMU
New red jersey made its debut - a very bright red and a very colorful uni. It's okay - would prefer traditional stripes. The fat double stripes continue to increase their presence.
ARKANSAS
Nothing really new except the black trim on the sleeve patch - but getting a mention because it is so classic and solid.
New SMU Red Jersey
Pretty much knew this was coming. Last worn in 2017. But this version is not as traditional as advertised. It has the modern stripes on the sleeves and is paired with the modern helmet and the modern white pants. The stripes on the sleeves are the exact same as on the white jersey. Not crazy about that but I realize Blue/Red/Blue would not look too god without some white. And when they wore the black modern jerseys, there was no sleeve striping. So I guess I am glad about the striping and I am glad there are no red pants. But I am warry that the traditional stripes on the blue and traditional white jerseys might eventually fall by the wayside - the white may already be gone (not worn in 2023). I think uni manufacturers have finally figured out how to have stripes but not look dated. Not sure how I feel about that. Yea, it looks good - but will we lose old school in the long haul? There is hope that does not happen - the brand new blue jersey and coordinating pants still have the traditional stripes. By the way, the traditional helmet stripe were lost in 2012 when they briefly went with northwestern stripes - and they not been seen since.
Uni Winners of Week 1
This week we will focus on the new changes and how they looked on the field.
TEXAS TECH
I mean, seriously!
TEXAS A&M
I really like the maroon facemask on the white helmet. Maybe it was just Kyle Field with 107,315. All majestic on the tv - except, of course, the play...
RICE
Added gray on jersey and Northwestern stripes on sleeves.
SMU
Small change to SMU font making all sets consistent.
BAYLOR
I am sad. I love this uniform - and in photos it is beautiful. But on tv it was such a dull, gross green. These stripes just do not compare to the old days rendered in these colors. And honestly, it just did not look like Baylor.
ARKANSAS
Not a single photo zoomed in enough to see if black trim on pants patch is even visible. Null
TEXAS
While a beautiful uniform any day of the week - one of the best - it has been sullied by an SEC patch.
TCU
I mean good God... what happened? Who approved this plain jane shit?
Even More Stripes
Rice rolls out new duds and the stripes keep coming! Northwestern style sleeve stripes! Hey, the stripes are nice. But the best part here is gray being re-integrated onto the jersey. This is a move I have wanted and I think they were warming up to over the last couple of years. Little disappointed no stripes on pants but the Old English R on the hip really is a signature look for Rice now (just like jicky ass weird shit is on TCU unis... except this year?).
The Tech Reveal
Tech social media guys were up late teasing the July 1st reveal with "Tomorrow." With the official departure of Texas and OU, I was in a pretty bummed mood. And anyone wearing this shirt should be publicly shamed! Anyway, back to Tech. So the social media team was up and tweeting so we were hoping it was midnight. There was a video of the team and it had one kid said "The stripes on the ... is tough". The stripe on WHAT is tough? Could it be? Could we really be going back to the throwback stripe look??? We started looking around and @TexasTechTweets had found a slip-up at Red Raider Outfitters. They had loaded the shop too early and were maybe only checking the code. But we had it - we had striped sleeves jerseys. I took a screen grab and tweeted it. Texas Tech Tweets did too. Then the Texas Tech football twitter team contacted both of us. And they were very nice. So we both took it down - but slept so well knowing adidas DID NOT f*ck this up. At 12 minutes after midnight, they finally let us know it was today, just not right now. They settled for 10am (after yet another teaser) which I think was a good idea and oh, what a treat we got. The video ripping the tape off the field was genius. And there it was. Stripes on the helmet, stripes on the sleeves, and stripes on the pants! A solid modern touch to our history. Actually focused on three different eras. Absolute beauties... and everyone agreed! And yes, there is only ONE THING that would make these better.
Stripe Fest
It is a beautiful new movement across all of football. The stripes are coming back. Except TCU didn't get the memo... Not at all sure what happened there. Baylor made a few "tweaks" which got them a whole lot better uni set except the stupid anthracite that came later. And they did pretty good - but still didn't get the stripes on the helmet. Texas Tech, however, knocked it out of the park with the sweetest uni reveal I can ever remember. Complete uni summaries in the In The Wash feature in the right column.
WHAT???
It was TCUs turn... would it be stripes? Would it be the Flying T? No. Nothing. Like, literally nothing. Except a circa Baylor 2015 chrome helmet. Not even a striped helmet option. Someone said they looked like someone took the wrapper off some crayons. I am beyond confused. A day later and I am still confused - the one thing TCU is known for is the jicky crap on their unis. I finally accepted it after two decades - that was their thing and they eliminated it all. The Flying T tease was just mean. Welcome to the practice squad.
Baylor Has Stripes!
While I thought this was a wholesale new uni for Baylor - Phil at UniWatch pointed out it is really just tweaks - but those tweaks improve the whole uni set magnitudes! Gone are the new fangled sleeve trim and no pant stripes and maybe matte helmets - hard to tell if the yellow and white are matte or not. Welcome back STRIPES!!! Hallelujah! Stripes on the pants, stripes on the sleeves! Just the way it should be. The green jersey is the best with no color contrasting Nike "look at me" template collar and also the numbers have gone to white instead of yellow. A++ improvement. The white is equally solid. But sticking with the modern number font and athletic yellow instead of gold. I guess that ship is never coming back to port... But the stripes make this yellow far more palitable! Let's hope a black one doesn't sneak in... Oh shit, it didn't even take a day. Absolute trash. They just couldn't stand not having one trash nike uni. And still the dated dated bear claw shit? And how in the world can they say honoring tradition with that tweet... because the word BAYLOR is on the front? Well if they hadn't put it you would have NO WAY to identify the team. So the past is 2018.
But hold on - let's talk about bear claws... Baylor wore beautiful bear claws on their shoulders from 1982 to 1998! Stripes on Baylor pants and helmets have been on Baylor unis more than not throughout their uni history.
Helmets 1963-1992 and 2003-2012.
Pants 1963 - 1989 (minus 74-76), and some form of a fake nike stripe from 2005 until 2019.
Bear Claws 17 years + new claws 6 years = 23
No claws = 38 years.
Helmet stripes = 38 years. No stripes = 21 years.
Pants stripes = 31. No stripes = 28.
What is really interesting is that Baylor has not had sleeve stripes since the 60s when football jerseys were 3/4 sleeves.
From 15 to 10
With Texas and OU deserting their history following in the Aggies and of course who started this whole mess Arkansas's footsteps, we will be down to only 10 Southwest Conference games this year. Even less than really expected because the Big XII is just too big that we can no longer play the regional teams of our storied history that are left in the conference every year. So in addition, this year Tech does not play Houston. There will be no double or triple headers this year - 10 games on 10 different weekends. It all just really sucks - this is going to be a hard year for me. They have RUINED college football in so many ways.
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