The Redskins Blog

On Assymetrical Helmet Striping, And Other Links

I love some good uniform chatter in the offseason. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you know that. But I still manage to be impressed at the extent to which the folks over at Uni Watch pay attention to that stuff. For example, today a Uni Watch reader writes in with an extensive dissection of team uniforms that use two or more varieties of striping, and the Redskins are held up as an example of What Not To Wear.

He writes:

Another really bad one is the Redskins. I’ve always hated the fact that they’ve gone with symmetrical striping on the helmet and asymmetrical striping on the pants. They had the opportunity to match things up with the introduction of the gold pants, which has created an awesome and coordinated bottom-half combo but has done nothing for the overall mish-mash. (I’d love it if they just switched the helmet stripes to match the new pants and socks.)

You can see what he’s talking about here in the photo above: the stripes on the pants are asymmetrical — that is, burgundy on one side of the center line and gold on the other — while the stripes on the helmet are symmetrical: each side of an imaginary center line would have gold, burgundy, and white in that order.

This seems like an incredibly specific thing to notice, and I say that as someone who was obsessed with the gold pants and was just this morning complaining about the typeface on the Pro Bowl jerseys. I can honestly say that in all of the countless Redskins games I’ve watched over the last three decades, I have never once had this complaint. Does this bother anyone else out there?

Meanwhile, here are a whole bunch of other links to Redskins-related stuff worth reading:

• CSNWashington’s Ryan O’Halloran offers his final total snap counts for the season. The lesson is a familiar one: London Fletcher is remarkable.
• UltimateCheerleaders.com posts an interview (apparently from Asiance Magazine?) with Redskins Cheerleader Charo. No, not the one who used to be on Hollywood Squares,
• The Post And Courier in Charleston, S.C., reports on a local man who was thrilled to finally become a Redskins season ticket holder after 22 years on the waiting list.
• WaPo’s Reliable Source has a “spotted in the area” type item that makes it sound as though head coach Mike Shanahan was wandering aimlessly through Tysons Corner mall. I’m skeptical that Shanahan has ever “wandered” anywhere.
• Interesting contrast here, between Rich Campbell’s Free Lance-Star piece looking back on the Redskins’ first year in a 3-4 defense and John McClain’s Houston Chronicle piece on Wade Phillips’ plans to install the 3-4 for the Texans.
• Jimmy Halsell breaks down the available cornerbacks over at WaPo’s Redskins Insider. Nnamdi Asomugha is one of my favorite non-Redskins players in the NFL. Just throwing that out there.
• And on Real Redskins, Rich Tandler points out that the Redskins had the 10th toughest schedule this year. Coincidentally, they pick 10th in the draft. Green Bay had the toughest schedule for a playoff team, 9th overall, if you believe that means anything.