UMass Lowell (1980-2002)

In the grand tradition of Vermont, Boston University and Northeastern, here's another hockey school that fooled around with football for a while. The University of Lowell Chiefs/UMass Lowell Chiefs/UMass Lowell River Hawks fielded a varsity team at the Division II and III levels from 1980 through 2002. The school was formed in 1975 following the merger of Lowell State College and Lowell Technological Institute (a.k.a. Lowell Textile, which had a football team until about 1950).

One major caveat: I'm uncertain about some of the color combos the Chiefs/River Hawks used, and the 2002 road uniform is just a shot in the dark (thus, the "No Reference" label, which the awesome Basketball Jersey Database uses for a few early NBA/BAA teams). As I think I've said before, once a program dies — especially a small-school program — its history tends to die with it. 

Much of the research comes from grainy black-and-white photos from the Sojourn yearbook, whose quality was rather haphazard. (Hey, at least they had a yearbook, which is more than I can say for my alma mater.) But if anyone out there has any info, feel free to pass it on!

There's also a Facebook page with some vintage photos.

1980: Not long after winning a national club championship, Lowell took the field as a varsity unit for the first time. The unis bear a vague resemblance to those of the nearby New England Patriots. I'm not certain of the color combo on the chief logo is correct, but it's the same combo the hockey team used later in the decade.

By 1982, the chief logo was gone from the helmets.

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1983: By this time, Lowell worse something that looked more suited for practice than Saturday afternoons. That said, the plain jerseys with the stubby numbers were a mainstay well into the '90s.

The sleep-inducing Lowell uniform of 1983. 

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1984-85: The helmet becomes silver, with a "Chiefs" script on the side, and better matches the pants than the white lids did.

The silver helmets in 1984.

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1991: For its finest season as a varsity unit (the Chiefs were undefeated until the NCAA D-III Tournament), the newly rebranded UMass Lowell went all red, with not a trace of blue to be found.

1994: The Chiefs become the River Hawks, and the new logo appears on the helmets. Everything else stays the same.

1999: Sometime in the '90s, the River Hawks elevated their program from D-III yo D-II and blue overtook red as their primary color. The numbers are HUGE, a la the old Seattle Seahawks. The shoulder logos that face each other bring to mind the weird Patriots unis of the Drew Bledsoe era.

2002: For their final season, the River Hawks went with a very plain design, with a number on only one side of the helmet. Sleeve numbers are absent, and the only logo is a Northeast-10 Conference patch on the front. The only trace of red is on the belt, which is strange for a team that wore nothing but red a decade earlier.

Addendum: The spring 1994 name change was a nifty process, as school administrators whittled the options down to four and put them to the students in a (non-binding) referendum. The River Hawks won out, but the logo did not.

The final four candidates are presented in the Connector student paper.
The Lightning and Raging Rapids logos look like they belong on an Arena Football team,
and the Ospreys logo uses lettering out of the 1970s.

The winning name, but not the winning logo.

The (Somewhat) Complete Holy Cross Uniform History, Part III

Ya, it's been a while. Time to get back to the Holy Cross retrospecticus. Where did we leave off? 1969? Part III will take us through the 1990s.

Part I Part II

1970: Back on the field after the '69 season was cut short due to a hepatitis outbreak, Holy Cross ditches the stripes on the shirts, but keeps them on the socks, at least for cold-weather games.

1971: The "HC" logo and sleeve numbers vanish, making for a very plain uniform.

1972: The helmets are now white, and a squished version of the "HC" logo is on the sides. 

1976: With a coach in town (Neil Wheelwright), Holy Cross makes its biggest overhaul in years. Purple helmets return, this time with numbers on the side, and a spaced-out "H O L Y  C R O S S" wordmark appears across the front. I always liked this jersey, and I have no clue why.

1979: A crusader logo replaces the numbers on the helmets.

1981: Another new coach (Rick Carter) means more changes. Stripes return to the sleeves, white pants replace the silver models and the numbers return to the helmets. Also note the addition of the Champion logo on the sleeve.

1986: The silver pants return. This was the style The Cross wore when it went undefeated in 1987 and two-way threat Gordie Lockbaum was a legit Heisman Trophy candidate.

1992: A new "HC" logo debuts on the helmets and home jerseys. Curiously, the road jerseys and plants retain the older style.

1994: The road uniform matches the home version.

1996: Helmet numbers and purple pants return, and names on the back are worn for the first time. By this point, we're getting into the era when if you didn't like Holy Cross's uniforms, just hold tight because they'll probably change in the next half-hour.

1998: The full Holy Cross logo appears on the helmet, the silver pants return and the names on the back vanish. A year earlier, the Crusaders started wearing the Patriot League patch on the jersey fronts. The jerseys have a Wilson logo; the pants are from Reebok. Ah, the days before exclusive apparel deals. ...

1999: The 1990s were full of oddball fads, like the swing revival that was a big deal for about a week or people randomly shouting "Who's your daddy?!" Drop-shadow numbers were another fad of that era, although at least they lasted for more than a week. Holy Cross joins the parade in 1999 and keeps them through 2002.