I know I’m going to take a lot of crap for this one. It seems everyone and their mother hates Seattle’s uniforms with a passion. “The green is too gaudy!” they say. “What kind of color is ‘RAVE GREEN’?!” they say. “And what the hell is the deal with this ‘ELECTRICITY’ third jersey? Even more puke-inducing!” they say. Maybe “they” are all right. But I enjoy the Sounders’ look anyway, so they’re all the way up at #12 on my list.

Seattle’s got new home and away threads for 2011. Overall, they’re a step up from last year. My biggest glaring issue: the stupid “TPU bands.” Those things that look like giant silver backpack straps around the chest and back of the shirts. They’re meant to help the athlete wearing them, and a few other MLS clubs like D.C. and Chicago are already using them. But with both of the aforementioned teams, the TPU bands are transparent (or at least the same color as the rest of the shirt) and fit fairly seamlessly into the overall design of the uniforms.

With Seattle this year, it seems they want to show off this technology and make it as gaudy as possible, baiting the kits’ detractors even more. It even cuts into the background of the Sounders logo, which is a party foul to me.

I’m also sort of bummed out Seattle decided to go with a black away jersey this year instead of the blue of seasons past. It’s not a big complaint, though-the black looks good, just not nearly as fun as the blue.

Enough with the criticism; let’s get to the point of why I actually like the Sounders’ jerseys. The green is a bit loud, yes, but it definitely stands out. And the club’s badge is one of the best in MLS. It incorporates iconography from the city the club represents into a clean, classic crest.

The shirt itself sports some major improvements from last year. The neck of the jersey goes from the strange tube-like collar of last year to a more modern look this year. Also, I appreciate whenever a club’s sponsor is a local company. Indeed, Xbox is a Microsoft product, a corporation based in Washington. But there’s even a step up here: the sponsor logo went from the slightly-too-long “XBOX 360 LIVE” of last year to simply “XBOX” this year. It looks fantastic.

Perhaps the club’s Electricity third jersey is a tad too highlighter-ish. It’s very out-there. But isn’t that what third jerseys are supposed to be? Departures, adventures in uniform experimentation? I’d hate this if it were Seattle’s home shirt, but since it’s only the fun third jersey, I can appreciate it. If big European clubs like Lyon are allowed to wear shirts like this, why can’t the Sounders have their electric third jersey?