The Ravens are poised to unveil new uniforms later this spring. Most things (including the logo) figure to remain as they are, but there’s one huge change coming: purple is out like Ricky Martin.

Instead, the team is shifting to a shade of midnight blue as their primary color. The reasoning, as relayed to me, is as simple as it is unassailable: midnight blue is both more aesthetically pleasing than purple and also more befitting the name “Ravens”.

From what I’ve been able to gather this is a change that a lot of folks within the organization have wanted for awhile. Steve Bisciotti, in particular, has apparently never liked purple. He believes that the Vikings own that color and that the Ravens should have something of their own. When the team’s marketing folks pointed out that no other club uses deep blue as their primary color — and that the change wasn’t so drastic that it would compromise brand identity — he signed off.

Word is that the blue they’re using tilts toward purple enough that it won’t alienate fans, and it won’t look anything like what the Cowboys or Rams use.

No confirmation yet on when they’ll officially unveil the new unis, but I’m told you should probably mark this day on your calendar.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant move. It’s time. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Six total — two, then four more after the jump. Enjoy.

The move has apparently been in the works for several months and will be made official later today (April 1st, 2009).

I just got off the phone with a WNST insider who explained the move this way:

“Look, we didn’t even show up in the last group of ratings — we got beat by a sports station in DC for god’s sake. Nobody gives a damn about us during baseball season. It was time to do something that would put us back on the map and help prove to the world that we have the Mid-Atlantic region’s number one sports web radio media platform. Signing the area’s #1 on-air talent seemed like the best way to do that.”

I’m hearing that Marks will start out as Nestor’s co-host in the 2-6 pm time slot before eventually taking that shift to herself.

(source)

Please let me know if things don’t look normal (screenshot below — click for full size). And, if they don’t, tell me what system/browser you’re using. Odds are that I won’t be able to do much about it, but I’d definitely like to try.

Some background is in order.

Back in 2001, a studio out of Amsterdam called Experimental Jetset produced an iconic t-shirt called John Paul Ringo George. Click that last link for the history.

It became one of those things that took on a life of its own, and it has been re-worked literally thousands of times (proof). In terms of sports, the best example is probably the fairly awesome Mothering Hut “Bullets Bench” shirt.

I got to thinking that we needed our own version. So, there it is pictured above (click it for a larger version).

You can get one for yourself right here, and I also made a version for the pitchers.

Let me be clear: these are not “Orioles” t-shirts. In the spirit of the original Experimental Jetset design (which was, likewise, not a “Beatles” t-shirt), this is an abstract expression. In this case, it’s all about love and respect.

RedBubble gets great reviews for their print-on-demand service, and they use US-made American Apparel blanks. They’re not as good as screenprinted shirts, but I don’t have the resources right now to print up a batch and sell them myself. That said, RedBubble lets you pick your markup, and my take is only about $2 a shirt.

If you dig the idea but don’t want to buy a shirt via RedBubble, email me and I’ll send you the design so you can make one yourself with an iron-on transfer or whatever.

The future is bold, friends.