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The Tampa Bay Rays have always been willing to do things differently.

Though they routinely have one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball, the Rays have reached the playoffs in five straight seasons by getting the most out of their roster.

They introduced the idea of an “opener” in 2018, leading to the best ERA in the American League just a month after the strategy, though that is just one part of a long list of Tampa Bay innovations.

The Rays’ latest? The reveal of their City Connect uniform on Monday, which uses a balance of “grit and glow” and elements meant to highlight the unconventional nature of the organization.

Its on-field debut will come during the weekend series against the New York Mets beginning May 3 and will be worn every Saturday thereafter. The Rays will also be the first team to wear their City Connect uniforms multiple times on the road — they will wear the threads on June 16 against the Atlanta Braves and Aug. 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The “grit” comes from the willingness to do things differently as an organization, while the “glow” is focused on the vibrance of Tampa Bay, according to Warren Hypes, vice president of creative and brand with the Rays. The design celebrates the city’s “counterculture scenes,” which include skate, street art, streetwear, tattoo and music, according to the Rays.

The jersey texture is meant to look like black that’s “been faded in the sun.” Tampa Bay is written across the chest, marking the first time the city’s name will appear on the Rays uniform since 2007. The letters themselves have a skateboard grip texture and a logo similar to Thrashers magazine, an influential skateboarding magazine founded in 1981. The cap logo is the combination of a ray and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The Rays focused on different cultures and stories of Tampa Bay in their design. While Tampa Bay is perceived as a great place to retire or go on vacation, the Rays believed that it was important to touch on the “vibrant underground community” of the city.

A key element of that community? Skateboarding.

“Skateboarding makes you look at the world in a different way. If you talk to skaters and they’re trying to figure out how to skate stairs or rail or something else, something that’s not meant to be skated, you’ve really got to open your mind to a different way of thinking,” Hypes said. “And I think there’s so many natural ties and parallels to Tampa Bay, No. 1, and No. 2, the way we operate both on the business and team side here.”

In 1978, Tampa Bay opened a skate park at St. Perry Harvey Park, the first public one in Florida and one of the first in the country. Nicknamed the “Bro Bowl,” it is part of the National Register of Historic Places. There are multiple design features that pay homage to the city’s skateboarding heritage.

On the underside of the cap and jersey numbers lies a texture that resembles skateboard grip tape. An inside neck and pant hip graphic includes a Ray executing a “stalefish” skateboard trick where a skater grabs the back of the board, one of the more creative details of the uniform. According to Hypes, they wanted to illustrate the correlation between skateboarding and baseball with that element.

“Again, going back to the grit it takes to try a trick hundreds of times before you land it and looking at how that has parallels with baseball and all the hard work it takes. All the time in the cage, bullpen sessions, everything else it takes to have your big moment in baseball,” he said.

The jocktag graphic is a Pelican with three palm trees above it. The palm trees included in the Pelican decal is an ode to the historical marker located at the Bro Bowl. The Pelican refers to the roots and history of baseball in the area. The St. Petersburg Pelicans were part of the Florida State Negro League during the 1940s and 50s.

There are also references to the “Devil Rays” era of the organization throughout the design. The letters across the front of the uniform are a direct influence of the original Devil Ray lettering.

Gradient accents of the uniform is a subtle nod to the old Devil Ray throwback look. The gradient stripe is on the right sleeve of the jersey, but travels down the left side of the pants.

Hypes emphasized they wanted to reimagine the Devil Rays’ colors futuristically for the colors of the gradient accents. The decision to have the stripes designed to go from the right sleeve to the left pant ties back into the main organizational message of the Rays to be innovative.

“That’s just tying back into that against the grain attitude that makes this region special and makes us as a company special,” he said. “I think the way we operate our business, we very much carve an untraditional path in a game that’s so steep to tradition. And that’s our kind of nod to celebrate that.”

The designing process of the uniform with Nike began four years ago. There were six to eight different iterations of the uniform itself.

Hypes revealed that the first time they went to Nike, they had “several hundred different” ideas that ranged from big ones throughout the region and words that meant something to a location. However, Nike helped them narrow it to three or four different concepts.

Players such as Pete Fairbanks, who is into skateboarding and skate culture, have enjoyed the design. Star outfielder Randy Arozarena said they were “beautiful.”

“I think even people who maybe didn’t grow up with skateboarding as much in their culture have really connected to the color sets,” Hypes said. “And once you explain the story, we’re really invested in the way that we’re doing something different and telling a story differently with this.”

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UCLA stuns No. 7 Penn State for 1st win of year

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UCLA stuns No. 7 Penn State for 1st win of year

PASASDENA, Calif. — Nico Iamaleava threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more on Saturday as UCLA notched its first win of the season in stunning fashion, knocking off No. 7 Penn State 42-37 at the Rose Bowl.

The Nittany Lions, who lost to Oregon at home last week for their first loss of the season, have suddenly dropped two straight, and could fall out of the Associated Press Top 25 after a sluggish performance that saw the Bruins (1-4) take a 27-7 lead before holding off the visitors.

Penn State (3-2) allowed more than 400 yards to a team that hadn’t held a lead all season, and is being led by interim coach Tim Skipper after DeShaun Foster was fired Sept. 14.

“It feels great. That is a valiant team and our coaches, we stuck together. Everyone counted us out, we just needed to keep going to work,” Skipper said on the CBS game broadcast. “Every single play counted today. That is a top-notch Penn State team. We kept our minds right and just continued to execute.”

The Bruins became the first 0-4 team to defeat a top-10 team since 1985, when UTEP knocked off BYU.

“Ballers always ball out,” Skipper said of Iamaleava. “He shows up every single week. I’m glad he’s on my team, I will say that.”

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Belichick to stay course as UNC flounders again

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Belichick to stay course as UNC flounders again

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The stands at Kenan Stadium were nearly empty long before halftime, and the fervor that surrounded the hiring of Bill Belichick at North Carolina has, in the span of just five games, devolved into exasperation and frustration after the Tar Heels looked awful yet again in a 38-10 loss to Clemson.

UNC trailed 28-3 after the first quarter, giving up 14 points on Clemson’s first four plays. The Heels are now 0-3 against Power 4 teams, having been outscored by a combined total of 120-33.

Despite the struggles, Belichick shrugged off a need for structural changes so soon into his tenure.

“The main thing we need to do is to keep doing what we’re doing but do them better,” Belichick said. “Fundamentally we’re not doing the wrong things, we’re just not doing them well enough.”

Belichick chalked up Saturday’s defeat to self-inflicted wounds at “two or three critical times” and noted that execution and coaching are to blame.

“It’s a lack of concentration,” he said, “and part of that is coaching, too, so I’ll take my share of the responsibility.”

Saturday’s implosion comes just days after a letter from GM Mike Lombardi to donors was released publicly, in which Lombardi calls this a “rebuilding” campaign for the Tar Heels and explains in detail about a dearth of talent on this year’s team due to exits from past recruiting classes.

After the loss to Clemson, Belichick downplayed the branding of a rebuild, but when asked directly what he’s telling recruits about the status of the program, he appeared to acknowledge a long-term approach.

“We’re honest with them, honest that we’re building, and if you want to be a part of a program that’s being built, then we’re here for you,” Belichick said.

That’s not the notion UNC’s players seemed to embrace after a 2-3 start.

Quarterback Max Johnson, who got his first start Saturday in place of injured Gio Lopez, said he feels UNC has enough talent, and receiver Jordan Shipp strongly pushed back against the notion this program was in need of a rebuild.

“I’m not here to rebuild, I’m here to win football games,” Shipp said. “That’s why I’m here. Whatever they’re doing with the donors, that has nothing to do with me. I’m here to win football games and that’s what 100% of my focus is on.”

Belichick said he won’t make changes in personnel based on a long-term vision of the program, despite the poor results early on.

“The guys who deserve to play are going to play,” he said. “I’m not going to base it on how old they are or whatever. Guys that play the best deserve to play. We’ll see how that goes. My expectations are to come in and have a good week this week and get ready for Cal.”

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Dodgers vs. Phillies (Oct 4, 2025) Live Score – ESPN

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Dodgers vs. Phillies (Oct 4, 2025) Live Score - ESPN

— Alejandro Kirk hit two solo home runs, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also connected and the Toronto Blue Jays won a postseason game for the first time since 2016 by thumping the New York Yankees 10-1 in Game 1 of their AL Division Series on Saturday.

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