Seeing Green

A week from today will be St. Patrick's Day, and in every place full of Irish people, whether full or half-blooded, green is everywhere. From leprechauns to dyed bodies of water, March 17 is where people enjoy seeing green. And professional sports is no exception.

The NBA introduced the St. Patrick's Day uniform program during the 2005-06 season, and ran throughout the second to third week of March. The initial participants were the Boston Celtics, the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks, cities with high Irish populations. The Toronto Raptors became the fourth participant in 2008, but three years later, they decided to replace their green uniforms with a camouflaged green version in honor of Veterans Day. 

The Knicks' green uniforms were also used during Christmas Day games. They received much publicity during the 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend, where 5'9'' Nate Robinson, playing the role of Kryptonite (or 'Krypto-Nate'), wore the Knicks green jerseys and neon green sneakers to beat Dwight Howard (dressed in his Superman cape) in the Slam Dunk Contest. 

The NHL's New Jersey Devils have been honoring the holiday by rocking their retro 1980s uniforms during St. Patrick's Week. The uniform prominently features green on the logo and the pants, in contrast to the current black and red scheme they use today. Their retro uniforms were used regularly from 1982-92, before trading green for black. Currently the Minnesota Wild are the only team with a green sweater; they use them as alternates, while the Vancouver Canucks use green as trim color to their uniforms. 

Major League Baseball also had some instances of teams sporting green caps and jerseys during St. Patrick's week, even if it's still Spring Training. The Chicago White Sox took it a step further by wearing green caps and white pinstriped jerseys with green trim on September 17, as part of their 'Halfway to St. Patty's' promotion. The most prominent example came from the Boston Red Sox, who wore green caps and uniforms in April 2007 to pay tribute to the late Celtics president Red Auerbach, and in June 2008, when the Celtics won the NBA championship. 

Unfortunately, the NFL has no such practice, considering that they are in an offseason during spring and summer. But at least the Green Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets wear green. 

Now, is anyone ready to rock green next week?  I'm sure you are.