NWLA Tournament Uniform Rankings (Post-Tournament Article)
8/22/14
by Trent Steffes
I'm going to take this opportunity, using this platform to go ahead and name myself: "NWLA Tournament Fashion Police Chief: Trent Steffes." Basically, uniforms and logos are a passion of mine, and it's a subject I find myself spending way to much time and effort into. So now, I'm going to make these thoughts I have public and hopefully useful and rank every 2014 NWLA Tournament Team's uniforms.
15. HVWBL
The bottom four of this list all find themselves where they are, because their uniforms are straight-up plain. Nothing flashy, just plain, old, run-of-the-mill solid color t-shirt with a logo on the front. The reason Hudson Valley finds themselves at the very bottom, however, is because of their logo on the shirt. I find it disturbing. Couple that with a simple plain white t-shirt, and you get the #15 uniform there.
14. SRL
SRL has a pretty nice logo. I love when a logo can convey meaning, and theirs gives a nod to their geographical location. By a river, I presume. But being that this isn’t CWBC’s logo rankings, their logo doesn’t put them over other uniforms from the tournament. Again, it’s just a logo on a plain, grey shirt.
13. CWBC
It’s not up for discussion: CWBC has one of the better logos in the entire nation. Personally, I think it’s too busy for a league logo, but it is a great overall logo. However, I was very disappointed their uniforms weren’t more elaborate than they were. It didn’t help them that baby blue is my least favorite color, either. At least they had matching hats, but if we’re playing in a tournament where the sport is based off baseball, having a basketball on your team’s hat wont buy a lot of points with the uniform critic. And then their Sunday shirts were just, again, a plain white shirt with a logo on them. I expected more from Cincy, but their logo helps make up for it.
12. WWL
Here, we have the last of the teams with plain white shirts. But WWL gets the nod over the rest, because they all had matching league hats, to go along with the shirts. Granted, the colors on the hat and shirt didn’t match, but it was a great look. Part of that had to do with the font in which “warriors” was printed, which I found to be pretty cool. This is another case in which I thought a meaningful logo would constitute a more creative uniform.
11. KWL
The Aces’ uniform was very nice. The black arm accents on their shirts was the right choice (yellow would’ve been almost unnoticeable.) But despite them being actually very nice, there really isn’t anything memorable about their uniform. They’re definitely not the worst looking shirts of the whole tournament, but they lacked a memorable quality.
10. HWL
The Brew Jays are definitely our NWLA rivals (even though they may not see it that way) so placing them on the list was difficult. Place them too low: it’s a jerk move. Place them too high: seems like I’m being too nice. Then, I thought: ‘Does Josh Smith really care? I mean, his shirt was off for practically half the time.’ In fact, I’m amazed it was on for the picture I’ve included. But their uniforms are very aesthetically pleasing. They picked the perfect shade of grey to complement the shade of blue they chose for their kick-ass logo, and some of the guys had matching hats to go with the shirts, and it looked killer. It, like KWL, lacked an it-factor, but they are very pleasing to look at *the shirts, that is.)
9. MWL
I told the boys from Wisco that I thought the upgrade they had from their 2013 uniforms was perfect. I think it’s cool when a uniform represents the players that put it on: the guys from Mequon aren’t very flashy, but they have that something special that will make you look twice. The change they made was adding a red stripe on the shoulders, and it complements the red swoosh of their logo like a son-of-a-gun. I think that if they all got hats like Mike Boyles’ Star and Stripes Brewers hat, it would shoot them right up the uniform rankings.
8. GBL
It’s a beautiful thing when you can get all your players to wear matching shirts, shorts, and socks. I find the Paw Chest’s shirts to be simple, but the uniform overall is terrific. Matching your team will really go far with this ranker, but their simple shirt holds them back.
7. MNWA
’m being a bit modest here with my own team, but this is generally where our uniforms rank overall. I designed our shirts, and I aimed to create something different from all the other NWLA Tournament teams, and I think I did. I used several different teams for inspiration for our shirts, such as Marquette University’s basketball team for the stripes on the sides, and the Minnesota Vikings’ number font (altered to my liking.) And I’ll have you know that I fought for the Zubaz hats from Day 1. My cause was met with opposition for a long while, but once we got two weeks out and still no hats, with the Zubaz hats on sale, I got the ok from the others to pull the trigger. And guess what? People loved them. Definitely something no one had seen before, and don’t worry: we’ll bring more next year. And don’t be surprised if the zebra stripes make their way on to our 2015 uniforms.
6. SWBL
The Skibbe Cardinals use a design from the HRL’s Blue Jays (which I have seen first-hand.) I absolutely love the format of these jerseys, and so they get a big ovation from me. If these guys all wore Cardinals caps, oh boy. There are just a lot of design elements used here, life fading, layering, and the incorporation of the wiffleball. I just love them.
5. HRL
HRL and I both used the same Minnesota-based apparel company to print our jerseys, so we share a nice bond there. I totally love that one of the teams from the Land of 10,000 Lakes had a depth map of an actual lake as the base for their jerseys. Not to mention, they had two amazing alternate HRL logos on the shirts, and a great name and number font. I loved these shirts, just like I loved HRL. Maybe if H8R wouldn’t have cut the sleeves off of his shirt, HRL would’ve found themselves at 4, or 3.
4. WSEM
I’m not sure who from the Dads I said this too, but I told someone that they had the best sock game of anyone there, hands down. They all had matching Nike Hyperelites with their team’s colors on them. I have no idea how they found them, but all I know is I want ones in maroon and gold, next year. Add to their socks: matching shorts, simple, yet great shirts, and awesome hats: and you have a great uniform. Well done, WSEM. Well done.
3. PWL
If there’s one thing I learned from the NWLA Tournament, it’s that Chris Galloway always goes big, which means he never goes home. Of course it’s Galloway’s team that has the matching authentic Nats hats with the matching authentic Nats jerseys, and as a Bryce Harper fan: I loved it. The only thing keeping them from the top of this list is that it isn’t original. But don’t let that insult you guys form Potomac: you all looked great.
2. TBW
These guys have great colors, and they knew how
to complement their great colors.
They have great hats, two great shirts, and matching shorts.
It didn’t hurt them to have matching arm sleeves and socks, too. TBW is not only an elite wiffleball
team, they have elite-level uniforms, too. I’m very excited to see what they break
out for next year in Royal and Gold.
1. OCWA
Hopefully, this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. Freaky Franchise has matching hats that look like MLB level hats, multiple (and I mean multiple) shirts in their closet, and shorts with their logo and numbers on them. Boom. Game over. Best-dressed award goes to the guys from upstate New York. I had a great time getting to talk to these guys a little bit, and I barely paid attention to what they would say, because I was too busy staring at either their uniforms, or “Randy” Bush’s mullet.
PS: R.I.P. Randy’s Mullet.
by Trent Steffes
I'm going to take this opportunity, using this platform to go ahead and name myself: "NWLA Tournament Fashion Police Chief: Trent Steffes." Basically, uniforms and logos are a passion of mine, and it's a subject I find myself spending way to much time and effort into. So now, I'm going to make these thoughts I have public and hopefully useful and rank every 2014 NWLA Tournament Team's uniforms.
15. HVWBL
The bottom four of this list all find themselves where they are, because their uniforms are straight-up plain. Nothing flashy, just plain, old, run-of-the-mill solid color t-shirt with a logo on the front. The reason Hudson Valley finds themselves at the very bottom, however, is because of their logo on the shirt. I find it disturbing. Couple that with a simple plain white t-shirt, and you get the #15 uniform there.
14. SRL
SRL has a pretty nice logo. I love when a logo can convey meaning, and theirs gives a nod to their geographical location. By a river, I presume. But being that this isn’t CWBC’s logo rankings, their logo doesn’t put them over other uniforms from the tournament. Again, it’s just a logo on a plain, grey shirt.
13. CWBC
It’s not up for discussion: CWBC has one of the better logos in the entire nation. Personally, I think it’s too busy for a league logo, but it is a great overall logo. However, I was very disappointed their uniforms weren’t more elaborate than they were. It didn’t help them that baby blue is my least favorite color, either. At least they had matching hats, but if we’re playing in a tournament where the sport is based off baseball, having a basketball on your team’s hat wont buy a lot of points with the uniform critic. And then their Sunday shirts were just, again, a plain white shirt with a logo on them. I expected more from Cincy, but their logo helps make up for it.
12. WWL
Here, we have the last of the teams with plain white shirts. But WWL gets the nod over the rest, because they all had matching league hats, to go along with the shirts. Granted, the colors on the hat and shirt didn’t match, but it was a great look. Part of that had to do with the font in which “warriors” was printed, which I found to be pretty cool. This is another case in which I thought a meaningful logo would constitute a more creative uniform.
11. KWL
The Aces’ uniform was very nice. The black arm accents on their shirts was the right choice (yellow would’ve been almost unnoticeable.) But despite them being actually very nice, there really isn’t anything memorable about their uniform. They’re definitely not the worst looking shirts of the whole tournament, but they lacked a memorable quality.
10. HWL
The Brew Jays are definitely our NWLA rivals (even though they may not see it that way) so placing them on the list was difficult. Place them too low: it’s a jerk move. Place them too high: seems like I’m being too nice. Then, I thought: ‘Does Josh Smith really care? I mean, his shirt was off for practically half the time.’ In fact, I’m amazed it was on for the picture I’ve included. But their uniforms are very aesthetically pleasing. They picked the perfect shade of grey to complement the shade of blue they chose for their kick-ass logo, and some of the guys had matching hats to go with the shirts, and it looked killer. It, like KWL, lacked an it-factor, but they are very pleasing to look at *the shirts, that is.)
9. MWL
I told the boys from Wisco that I thought the upgrade they had from their 2013 uniforms was perfect. I think it’s cool when a uniform represents the players that put it on: the guys from Mequon aren’t very flashy, but they have that something special that will make you look twice. The change they made was adding a red stripe on the shoulders, and it complements the red swoosh of their logo like a son-of-a-gun. I think that if they all got hats like Mike Boyles’ Star and Stripes Brewers hat, it would shoot them right up the uniform rankings.
8. GBL
It’s a beautiful thing when you can get all your players to wear matching shirts, shorts, and socks. I find the Paw Chest’s shirts to be simple, but the uniform overall is terrific. Matching your team will really go far with this ranker, but their simple shirt holds them back.
7. MNWA
’m being a bit modest here with my own team, but this is generally where our uniforms rank overall. I designed our shirts, and I aimed to create something different from all the other NWLA Tournament teams, and I think I did. I used several different teams for inspiration for our shirts, such as Marquette University’s basketball team for the stripes on the sides, and the Minnesota Vikings’ number font (altered to my liking.) And I’ll have you know that I fought for the Zubaz hats from Day 1. My cause was met with opposition for a long while, but once we got two weeks out and still no hats, with the Zubaz hats on sale, I got the ok from the others to pull the trigger. And guess what? People loved them. Definitely something no one had seen before, and don’t worry: we’ll bring more next year. And don’t be surprised if the zebra stripes make their way on to our 2015 uniforms.
6. SWBL
The Skibbe Cardinals use a design from the HRL’s Blue Jays (which I have seen first-hand.) I absolutely love the format of these jerseys, and so they get a big ovation from me. If these guys all wore Cardinals caps, oh boy. There are just a lot of design elements used here, life fading, layering, and the incorporation of the wiffleball. I just love them.
5. HRL
HRL and I both used the same Minnesota-based apparel company to print our jerseys, so we share a nice bond there. I totally love that one of the teams from the Land of 10,000 Lakes had a depth map of an actual lake as the base for their jerseys. Not to mention, they had two amazing alternate HRL logos on the shirts, and a great name and number font. I loved these shirts, just like I loved HRL. Maybe if H8R wouldn’t have cut the sleeves off of his shirt, HRL would’ve found themselves at 4, or 3.
4. WSEM
I’m not sure who from the Dads I said this too, but I told someone that they had the best sock game of anyone there, hands down. They all had matching Nike Hyperelites with their team’s colors on them. I have no idea how they found them, but all I know is I want ones in maroon and gold, next year. Add to their socks: matching shorts, simple, yet great shirts, and awesome hats: and you have a great uniform. Well done, WSEM. Well done.
3. PWL
If there’s one thing I learned from the NWLA Tournament, it’s that Chris Galloway always goes big, which means he never goes home. Of course it’s Galloway’s team that has the matching authentic Nats hats with the matching authentic Nats jerseys, and as a Bryce Harper fan: I loved it. The only thing keeping them from the top of this list is that it isn’t original. But don’t let that insult you guys form Potomac: you all looked great.
2. TBW
These guys have great colors, and they knew how
to complement their great colors.
They have great hats, two great shirts, and matching shorts.
It didn’t hurt them to have matching arm sleeves and socks, too. TBW is not only an elite wiffleball
team, they have elite-level uniforms, too. I’m very excited to see what they break
out for next year in Royal and Gold.
1. OCWA
Hopefully, this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. Freaky Franchise has matching hats that look like MLB level hats, multiple (and I mean multiple) shirts in their closet, and shorts with their logo and numbers on them. Boom. Game over. Best-dressed award goes to the guys from upstate New York. I had a great time getting to talk to these guys a little bit, and I barely paid attention to what they would say, because I was too busy staring at either their uniforms, or “Randy” Bush’s mullet.
PS: R.I.P. Randy’s Mullet.