ESPN: Phoenix teams not dressed for success

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Diamondbacks. The Cardinals. The Suns.

Their play on the field has been questionable at times and one sports writer said, on top of that, their uniforms aren’t that great either.

ESPN’s Paul Lukas ranked 122 teams in four major sports on their uniforms. In Phoenix, the Coyotes ranked the highest at 76th, though Lukas called their red uniforms “unadventurous.”

The Phoenix Suns were right behind at No. 77, with Lukas saying that purple and gray doesn’t go together, and the team’s orange and gray uniforms are even worse.

As for the Diamondbacks, Lukas said they look like a minor league team, and ranked them No. 90.

The Arizona Cardinals fared the worst among Valley sports teams. Lukas hates the all-red uniforms they wear for some games, and ranked them 114th.

Lukas ranked the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens as the team with the best-looking uniforms and the NBA’s Sacramento Kings as the absolute worst.

At Max’s Sports Bar in Glendale, the general reaction was that uniforms of the Phoenix teams are “OK, but nothing to get excited about.”

Bar patrons had opinions about other sports teams’ apparel, too.

“The best-looking uniform of any pro team is the Chicago Blackhawks,” Mike Smith said. “That Indian head in the middle is the best emblem.”

Lukas ranked it No. 49, saying that the red home uniform is “so loud that the chest design [on the jersey] can’t compete with it.”

Smith said that for him, the all-time worst uniforms were the Chicago White Sox of the 1970s. The players wore shorts at the time and looked like a softball team.

Larry Roberts liked the Pittsburgh Pirates of the 1970s. “The Pirates were the first one to wear those funny hats,” Roberts said, speaking of the striped pillbox-style caps the Pirates used to wear.

But Joe Anderson put it all in perspective, saying it’s not about the uniforms. “It’s about the performance.”

And just how are the Phoenix teams in that department? “I’ll take the fifth,” Anderson said.