Atlanta Braves “Stars & Stripes” Home Cap

This is the cap the Atlanta Braves will be wearing at home on Memorial Day against the St. Louis Cardinals. For the fifth consecutive year, every MLB club will honor America’s veterans by wearing “Stars & Stripes” caps made by New Era. Just like previous years, a portion of the proceeds to each cap will be going to the Welcome Back Veterans fund. “Stars & Stripes” caps will also be worn league-wide on July 4th, and presumably on September 11th.

What’s new about the “Stars & Stripes” caps this year is that New Era is venturing away from the red, white, & blue color schemes from previous years. Caps will remain in each team’s official colors, but a digital camouflage applique will fill the team’s logo as well as the MLB logo as a nod to modern day military uniforms.

Check out the remainder of the Atlanta Braves “Stars & Stripes” caps being offered this year after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, I experienced Nike’s new SPARQ Sensory Performance innovations in action. I have no doubt in my mind that this new approach to vision training in conjunction with all other aspects of physical training will give an edge to the athletes who utilize these advancements. What’s most interesting is that vision training can be used by athletes of all levels to increase focus, reaction times & anticipation in any sport. I could rattle off a list of athletes off the top of my head that could use vision training immediately: Ahem… Josh Hamilton… Ahem…

SPARQ Sensory Performance is a system of technologies, products and programs designed to assess, analyze and improve an athlete’s visual and sensory performance. It’s another step in Nike’s nearly 40-year legacy of delivering game-changing innovations to help athletes perform at their peak.

“Sensory training is at the cornerstone of how we can build better athletes,” said Paul Winsper, SPARQ Performance Director. “With SSP we’re able to integrate both sensory and physical training together. This performance philosophy has resonated with some of the top athletes, teams and clubs throughout the world.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Calling all sports fans! Please take a moment to check out this new website, The Sportsfan Journal; written by 2 of my good friends, Ed Maisonet III & Kenny Masenda. I’ve know these 2 cats for a few years now, and I believe their form of journalism is a refreshing take on sports. I find myself reading their articles more than I do from the mainstream sports media on the bigger websites. Take a look for yourself here.

I’m always amazed at my design students who walk up and jam out a logo in 30 minutes and call it done. That’s not possible to have a solid mark so quickly. There are brands that are still adjusting lines over the decades; as is the case with these new changes to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ primary logo.

The primary changes for 2012 are:

-the leading script into the ‘o’ of ‘Dodgers’, it’s there in 2010, it’s gone in 2012

-the ‘D’ in ‘Dodgers’ also had a slight change, specifically the curl in the 9-o’clock region of the logo, it’s much shorter in the 2012 edition

-the flight lines of the baseball have been corrected

What do you think? Do the new changes help? Do you even notice?

The Braves may have lost last night, but we won our fantasy baseball league. The final match-up wasn’t even close! Yeaaa… we some big talkin’ fools now!

Congrats to the Braves for reaching the 10,000 Franchise Wins milestone over the weekend. Only the Cubs & Giants have more… not for long! Let’s go!

I can’t put my finger on that specific point in time, but there was a point where playing 8-bit Nintendo games, listening to 90′s alt rock, & watching reruns of Saved by the Bell became desirable, and ironically cool activities again. I’ve recently fallen back in love with baseball, and that obsession has led me back to card collecting. When I’m at the store these days, I look for a display and grab a few packs of Topps 2011 baseball cards. The last time I opened a pack of baseball cards, prior to this year, was probably 1992.

Topps, who are celebrating their 60th Diamond Anniversary, have made card collecting fun for people nostalgic of the past, as well as any casual fans of present-day baseball. Like most people, going into this season I knew a few players that are considered stars of the game. I also had a some prior knowledge about most of the Atlanta Braves, and my hometown Texas Rangers.

I think Topps realized there has been a significant gap between the baseball fans of yesteryear, where a large percentage of fans were into card collecting, and today’s more casual baseball fans. Topps’ 2011 collection does a great job at rekindling the nostaligia.

After the jump, I’ll highlight some of my favoirte things that Topps is doing this year. Read the rest of this entry »

1995 Atlanta Braves History poster

Calling all sports nerds! You need to check out Chartball.com and their amazingly designed info-graphics; charting championship seasons of MLB, NBA, & NFL franchises. These posters are visual candy for graphic designers & sports fans alike. Printed on uber-glossy paper, and measuring at 24″ x 36″, they are the perfect gift for any fan wanting to uniquely-commemorate the year their team won it all. The only drawback is that the posters ain’t cheap! They’re $42.95 ea + $9.99 shipping to wherever you are in the US. Tell us your thoughts! Would you spend roughly $53 for special wall piece?

Here’s a direct link to the 1995 Atlanta Braves History poster.

Most people who know me know that I’m a total sports junkie and I’ve been completely engrossed with baseball this summer. This is what my workstation currently looks like. I’ll design on my large monitor and stream baseball games on my extra screen. I don’t see much of the in-game action, but I’ve found that I enjoy listening to people talk about strategy more than spinning the latest indie rock jams. What’s wrong with me?!?

Holler at me if you’re an obsessed fan too! I’m always down for catching an Atlanta Braves game and I’d gladly welcome any advice in regards to my fantasy team. No joke, this MLB.TV package has been the best $99 I’ve ever spent.