Football - the New York Giants restored the “NY” logo on the helmets, and put plain white numbers on the dark blue jersey. Classy.
Damn straight! 
(I’m graduating from Michigan this week.)
As has been pointed out, the Red Wings have great uniforms. So do the Tigers. And the Celtics. And I agree, most of the Original Six uniforms still look good. (It pains me to say it, but the Blackhawks do have especially cool uniforms – though I still like the Wings’ unis better.)
When the Hurricanes were still the Hartford Whalers, they wore navy uniforms that weren’t too bad. And the St. Louis Blues have pretty good jerseys, too.
(Oh, and since Soup mentions it, the baseball portions of 61* were filmed at Tiger Stadium! I thought about going out to be an extra in that movie, but decided not to…)
My favorite is probably the Green Bay Packers, if for no other reason that is such a part of my childhood and growing up years. Like RickJay said, it just means football to me.
I also like the Chicago Bears uniforms. I like the color and the fact that the numbers look different than the numbers on other team jerseys.
There is just something basic and grounding about seeing the Packers and the Bears on the field together. Those two uniforms will always be real football to me. Although when they played each other wearing those throwback uniforms, ye gads…
The best pro sports uniform is the Dallas cowgirls!
The Yankees, though, commit one unforgiveable crime on their unis which ruins the whole thing. They don’t put the players’ names on them! That’s just plain arrogant. As though I, even though I’m not a Yankee fan, ought to know every player’s name and number. Memorize them - “Let’s see…3 is Ruth, 4 is Gehrig, and 55 is…Ramiro Mendoza.” (With apologies to Reilly.) I don’t even know every player number on teams I LIKE!
My favorite uniforms are the Cleveland Indians’ away grays. Their home uni is pretty good, too.
No name on the Yankee uniform is one of it’s GOOD features. And really, how necessary is it? If you’re attending a game, you’re too far away to read the name, and if you’re watching on TV, the announcers and the graphics tell you all you need to know.
Hockey - Blackhawks, no other hockey sweater even comes close.
Football - Bears. Classic old-school NFL uniforms. If only they’d win a friggin game once in a while.
Baseball - White Sox. The black hat with the Sox logo on it is the best hat in baseball.
See if you can guess where I’m from.
I love the New Orleans Saints’ uniforms. I also thought the New England Patriots’ old uniforms – the ones with the hiking soldier on the side – were pretty neato.
See, that’s the BEST part of the Yankees uniform. As much of a Yankee hater as I am (and, clearly, the Red Sox have the best uniform), not having names is the way it should be. If you can’t identify players by their numbers, then you don’t DESERVE to know who they are. The arrogance (and tradition) is beautiful.
Well, real tradition means that there shouldn’t be any numbers, either.
If they’re playing at home and you’re their fan, you’ll know who most of the starters are. But if they’re playing in, say, Anaheim and you’re an Angels fan, you’re not going to know who the second-stringer is who just came out to relieve Bernie Williams in center. How many people know the names and numbers of every player - including AAA players who might be called up tomorrow? Or that guy from the Twins who might be traded there next week?
TV announcers tell you much less than you think about who’s making the plays. It makes me crazy when I tune into a Yankees game and see a pitcher I don’t recognize. If they’ve already introduced him, it could be an entire inning before they say his name again.
It’s a minor irritation, I grant you. But it still knocks the Yankees down a couple notches on the uniform appreciation scale.
jadailey - If memory serves correctly, the Yankees were the first team to put numbers on their uniforms, back in the 1920s. I guess this was considered a wild, untraditional move at the time!
[hijack]But now you’ve got me wondering, which was the first team to put NAMES on the uniforms? Was it a product of the television era?[/hijack]
Yup…the numbers on the back of the uniform were originally the batting order.(or so I’ve heard) Now batting ELEVENTH…number 11 Chuck Knoblauch!
Yankees Braves and Indians for traditional and simple elegance,but I’m pretty partial to the Mets home black jersey with black cap/blue brim.
Yes, the Flyers orange jerseys are now gone.
Best Jerseys ever–everything the San Jose Sharks have worn.
You’re being sarcastic, right? Black home alternative jerseys were created by the devil! Completely tacky. I must say, though, they look better on the White Sox (who at least have black as a team color) than the Mets.
Baseball – the home uniforms of the Yankees, Dodgers, Tigers, and Royals.
Football – A lot of good ones. The 49ers current uniform is good, but the version they wore in the 80’s was, IMHO, the best looking NFL uniform ever. The Lions, Bills, and Cowboys are good too. The Cowboys have that thing where they wear white jerseys at home. Again MHO, their dark jersey looks better. I also liked the “old” Giants uniform. It’s similar to the one they have now, but but with white pants, and the Giants logo on the helmet.
I know that in the case of the NHL the league eventually forced the teams to put names along with numbers on the backs of jerseys. The Maple Leafs owner, King Clancy (I believe), was worried that it would hurt program sales so he had the names put on in blue lettering on the backs of the Leafs’ blue jerseys.
First team to put names on uniforms? AFAIK, the original AFL – New York Titans, Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, & Denver Broncos.
Cool, another place to promote my local hockey team, the Lubbock Cotton Kings, and their logo. Easily the meanest cotton ball you’ve ever seen. And they’re in the finals this year! First game is tomorrow, woohoo!
[slight hijack]
Wasn’t Harold Ballard the owner at the time?
Anyway, your blue lettering/blue jersey/program sales story sounds like something Ballard would do. If he was alive today, I have no doubt he’d recast the phrase so as to tell the fans, “All your money are belong to me.”
[/slight hijack]
Best all-time baseball uniform has to go to…
The Turtles in the movie “My Blue Heaven.” Sponsored by a sharp-dressing former mobster, their uniforms look like white sportcoats with red shirts and yellow ties (if I recall correctly). Very sharp indeed.
My real answer: Boston Red Sox. This is only coincidental to the fact that I am a Sox fan. They have kept their uniforms, well, uniform throughout the years (despite an ill-conceived change in caps once or twice). I agree that the Yankees and Tigers have to come in a close second place, for the same reason–they’re classic, simple, and remain traditional. All of these “alternate” uniforms that some teams use which result in a differently-colored shirt and pants just make the players look like beer-league softball players rather than the major-leaguers they’re supposed to be.