When I first heard about the Toronto Raptors introducing a camouflage uniform, two sentiment overcame me: excitement and anxiety. I am an adamant and borderline obsessive fan of all things camouflage. These are the first ever NBA camouflage uniforms and when fashion meets professional basketball, I’m always curious. However, camo is often employed in a less than flattering way and I am personally not a big fan of the existing Raptors uniforms. While they’re not horrendous, they are nothing special and changing the color and patterns won’t make them any better. It didn’t help the Raptors’ that the last attempt at an all camouflage basketball jersey for the UNC vs. Michigan State Carrier Classic was less than successful and more of a hot mess of patterns. I’m aware taste is personal, but there is such thing as universally poor design and sports marketing planning.

UNC Camouflage Uniforms. Photo courtesy Yahoo Sports/UNC.

Originally the uniforms were done up all in camouflage everything to help the Canadian Forces on Remembrance Day (the commonwealth countries’ version of Veteran’s Day) on November 11th, 2011. However, the lockout changed that planned target date came and went with no resolution to the lockout in sight and the Raptors and more significantly, their parent organization MLSE, was left with camouflage jerseys and no plan on when to wear them and a new sports marketing events to plan. In the end it comes down to money and return on investment, after all sports are fun, but they’re a business. MLSE decided that the Raptors would wear the uniforms for four games this season, the first on March 21st at home against the Chicago Bulls for “Canadian Forces Night”.  I support my country’s troops and will always respect the decision to honor those in uniform.  However, MLSE dropped the ball on multiple fronts when it comes to these camouflage uniforms not just in design but in their tribute to the troops. I found it all borderline insulting both from aesthetic standpoint and as a Canadian.

Andrea Bargnani modelling the camouflage uniforms. Photo courtesy of GQ.

If you watched the Raptors in action against the Bulls, you probably experienced eye fatigue like I did trying to focus on the Raptors. The digital camouflage uniform was dizzying even in HD as the designers behind these jerseys thought that camo down to the team’s basketball shorts was a good idea. Digital camouflage is supposed to be disorienting, covering a team in it is too much. Distracting the competition is never a bad idea, but these were ridiculous. I never thought I could say this, but there is certainly a thing as too much camouflage.

While the Wounded Warrior camouflage uniforms that Under Armour put together for their NCAA schools were not perfect, it was a better use of the pattern. Big numbers with camouflage print and hits of the print on the pants and gloves. It was an homage that at least looked like there was some thought into the design. Under Armour told a story and made direct donations. Perhaps the Raptors would have benefitted from adidas taking the full reigns, rather than it clearly being an MLSE endeavour. Sparring use of the camo print would have made these uniforms less of a nightmare for the television cameras and fans watching at home as the numbers were easier to read and less painful to watch.

Detail of the CADPAT camouflage print that the Canadian Armed Forces employs.

I don’t mean to sound unpatriotic, but I hate the current Canadian Disruptive Pattern (CADPAT) they chose for the uniforms. Despite it being practical in trials and simulations, I find the four shades of green uncomplimentary when it comes to using for fashionable purposes and it looks messy from far away but the details look decent up close (like a reverse Monet). I’m not a fan of most digital camouflage in general even when it based on nature. I prefer my camo more organic and reflective of the outdoors. Perhaps the designers could have benefitted from reading the bible of all things camo, DPM: Disruptive Pattern Material by maharishi founder, creative director and designer Hardy Blechman. It has over five thousand images and plenty of source material. They could have also chosen a heritage Canadian Forces camouflage that looked better from a distance.

Jose Calderon wearing the camouflage jersey in game play on March 21st. Photo courtesy The Canadian Press.

In terms of the color, or rather camo blocking, I found the layout of the pattern poorly thought out. The uniforms would have looked so much better if the Raptors’ had switched out the black side panels for camouflage on the jerseys as well as the shorts. They should have kept the body of the jerseys and shorts black (in of unknown soldiers and their sacrifice), outlined the “RAPTORS” and players name in white, while using the lightest shade of green to fill in the in the numbers and names. The Canadian flag on the back shoulders of the jerseys is a nice touch as is the “Canada” stitching on the back of the shorts. The piping and Raptors claws would stay white to pop against the black and camouflage pattern. This would be a more tasteful homage and would probably have minimized costs by not printing such large quantities of the camouflage print on performance materials. The lovely Raptors Dance Pak also wore their uniforms done up in a camouflage style. They wore jersey dresses (I was guilty of wearing them as a teenager, never AGAIN) in all camouflage. It would have also made the digital camo more easier to deal with and less of a visual nightmare.

DeMar Derozan and Jose Calderon model the camouflage uniforms. Photo courtesy of RaptorBlog.

When it came to the accessorizing, a few Raptors picked correct colors. After seeing Amir Johnson in his usual street clothes, I can only honestly say he makes better fashion choices on the court and is good when it  comes to picking the right shoes. Johnson wore a pair of neon green Nikes to compliment the shades of green in his uniform. Black or white kicks would only work with neon socks as all black or all white socks and shoes is too typical. Kudos to Johnson for going bright and having fun with his footwear. Check out poor Jose Calderon and his camouflage sneakers – does he not look terrified? He’s generally very haphazard in his wardrobe choices but even Calderon knows there is such a thing as too much of a good (or bad) thing.

After reading the Raptors press release, it seems they only focussed on the fact that they used camouflage, there is no real story telling besides stating that is a Canadian pattern. Canada does have a rich Armed Forces history that many Americans and even Canadians do not know about, and this could have provided a great introduction to the history of our brave men and women who have sacrificed for the country. It would have been nice for the Raptors to do more visual storytelling within the uniforms and created a design narrative and not lazily slapping some pattern on the existing uniforms. Fixing poor design with marketing and promotions is ill-thought out and frankly, lazy and reflects poor planning.

DeMar DeRozan wears the camouflage uniforms in game play on March 21st, 2012. Photo courtesy The Canadian Press.

MLSE sold the March 21st game and upcoming events as “Canadian Forces Night”. It’s all well and good to invite members of our Armed Forces to game (apparently only 300 – the Air Canada Centre holds about 18,000). Tom Anselmi, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment explained “This game [sic] and the team’s camo jersey are just small gestures that show our organization’s commitment and appreciation for what the Forces do for our country.” When it came down to it though, only twenty percent of the camouflage style Raptors gear would go towards MLSE Team Up Foundation, directed to the Military Families Fund and its Soldier On Program. I found this deplorable and downright insulting, as did my fellow Canadian basketball bloggers Joseph Casciaro and James Borbath. First of all, who would spend the money on something so hideous when they could do a direct donation that would go one hundred percent towards supporting our troops and their families instead of just twenty percent? Also, the markup on this gear is without a doubt INSANE and clearly MLSE cares about covering their costs than helping out brave soldiers who frankly, don’t make a large income despite risking their lives for our freedom. Why not make March Armed Forces Appreciation month and donate half the proceeds from ALL Raptors apparel and concession sales (both are extremely marked up areas anyways) to the troops? Clearly, MLSE took this as a way to market the Raptors as “Canada’s Team” and try to capture the country’s attention, not just the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The idea is all well and good, but their efforts were frankly half-assed and short-sighted. Perhaps if they wanted to touch families from across the country, they should have invited soldiers from bases outside of the GTA (of the three hundred at the game, only Trenton, CFB Borden and Toronto soldiers were invited).

MLSE has the Raptors playing three more scheduled home games in these jerseys: Monday, March 26 versus the Orlando Magic, Sunday, April 1 versus the Washington Wizards and Monday, April 16 versus the Atlanta Hawks. Perhaps they’ll get their act together and show a little more love to those they’re supposed to be honouring.