Would we still have ugly uniforms if Yao was not here?

I never really had any problems with any of our uniforms yet.

 

Changing the uniforms after two championships was stupid. Changing the uniforms after two championships to that pinstriped monstrosity was insane.

You dress for the job you want and the Rockets should want to be champions...



Notice the pain Bird feels when he sees the classic uniforms. If he saw the pinstripes or the current version, he'd be laughing at us.

 

this is like the stupidest poll to start a poll

 

they would have changed the jerseys for sure maybe a few years later for new jersey sales alone and other $ reasons.

but yao did really make that change come a whole lot sooner there is no doubt about that. i dont even remember talks about possibly changing the jerseys until mid way through yao's rookie year.

anyone who thinks they would have been changed in 2003/04 regardless of Yao being on the team is being ignorant imo.

 

I think they would have definitely existed, but would have looked different. Forgetting Yao, you have two factors that made a uniform change likely.

1. The pinstripe uniforms were some of the worst in the history of uniforms. A few people may have enjoyed them, but most hated them from day one.

2. New arena. The team was moving into a new arena. New arena, new era, new uniforms were logical.

I am convinced we would not be still using some variation of the pinstripe. I am further convinced that the primary color of our uniforms would be red. I am also convinced that they would nonetheless look completely different without Yao, as they do have an eastern influence to them, obviously.

 

Without Yao, we would have gotten an update of the classic jerseys, like they did in Seattle and Detroit.

 

this feels like an offseason thread.

 

isn't it?

 

I liked them too, especially the logo.

 

So you are complaining that the classic (red) is changed, and then you are whining its red because of China... so wait, do you want red or not?

 

bad workman quarrels with his tools

 

no, the only opinion that matters was the that of the $ (dollar sign). Despite the few on this board who were okay with the design, it was universally hated by most, and rarely seen outside of Houston (or in Houston for that matter) on fans. Les also once famously said a team led by Francis and Mobley was the most talented Rockets team he ever had. He's said some dumb things and had some horrible opinions, but at the end of the day he is definitely driven by money - the new arena (which many here hate for pandering to millionaires too much) is the classic sign of that.

Here's a funny uniform thread from way way back in the day - December 1999

I particularly like the last post from Juan

Les is about the money, however you slice it. I don't have data but can only imagine and would be willing to wager the Rockets PJ's sold horribly. Beyond that, I'd also assume most teams get bumps when new jerseys come out (especially if they don't look horrible).

Jerseys most thought were ugly and likely sold bad, combined with moving into a new arena with the opportunity to replace ugly jerseys with decent ones and get increase jersey sales, plus i remember regular rumblings about jersey changes even before Yao, and I conclude it is pretty safe to assume that the Rockets jersey was getting changed, one way or another. Frankly, though the eastern influence is a big part of it, another reason, imo, the current Rockets jersey is so, well, classic (some may even say boring), was reaction to the PJ's, which were so complex and cluttered and did so poorly for them

They weren't bad to begin with, and likely sold very very well. Plus, they have definitely been tweaked over the years.

You don't change a good thing, you just improve on it. You definitely change a bad thing - which the Rockets PJ's were.

So you can argue that we might have different jerseys without Yao (we would) and that they'd be nicer (or they could be worse) or still be blue (or maybe they'd be yellow?), but without a doubt, in my mind, we'd have a different logo/jersey than the Rocket dildo and PJ's, and without a doubt they'd be "simple" - like our current design.

 

in other words...

if you don't like the current jerseys

AND

you became a rox fan post-pinstripe

THEN

blame your saviour for that (assuming he can ever be blamed 4 anything)...


(dog chasing tail chasing dog)
(internet palindromists)

bzzzrrrp!!! brzzzrrpp!! does not compute!!! (1 billion heads spontaneously explode)


...is that about right, tinny?

 

I still don't understand why Houston didn't go back to the classics when the Toyata Center was built. That would seem like the "duh"-thing to do. The Rockets made 4 finals appearances in those jerseys! All that? Just to be an era forgotten?

Were there any legal issues or something? Or did it just not slip Les's mind? Seriously.

 

With the possible exception of the Calvin move, all of these items were driven by money.

The Hakeem deal was about his contract size - Hakeem wanted a lot more than anyone in the organization thought he was worth as a player - at a time when interest in the team had declined a fair amount. Les wasn't going to overpay.

Rudy T. wasn't winning. Going into a new arena with a mediocre team. Not the best way to get the most bang for your buck. The JVG hire created interest, got us back to the playoffs and set us on the path to relatively more success, all of which resulted in increased ticket sales and viewership.

if i recall, the reason we changed our uniforms in the first place was because, despite the 2 championships, Les didn't think the old ones were selling enough. He thought a new, younger, hipper uni would help skyrocket sales.

It's about the money with Les...nothing wrong with that.