By now we all know that the Golden State Warriors have accomplished a rare feat: they beat the top-seeded team in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. While the Warriors are only the third team in NBA history to do that, this same franchise has dished out several upsets in its time. One only needs to look at history to see that the Warriors often saved their best ball for the times when they weren't favored. By the same token, they've also come up short when they were favored a few times. Let's take a look:

1975. The Eastern Conference was clearly the stronger one this season, with both the Celtics and Bullets winning 60 games while the Warriors led the West with 48 wins. After the Bullets beat the Celtics for the East title, they were heavily favored over the Warriors in the Finals. The Warriors ended up sweeping the Bullets for their only NBA title since moving to the Bay Area.

1976. As defending champions the Warriors looked even better. They went 59-23 to finish with both the NBA's best record and the West's best record by 16 games. Surely the Warriors were headed back to the NBA Finals. The Phoenix Suns had other ideas though, upsetting them in the Conference Finals.

Fast-forward to the Chris Mullin era.

1987. The fifth-seeded Warriors made their first Playoff appearance in ten years and beat the Utah Jazz. This one wasn't a huge upset, as the Jazz' record was only two games better than the Warriors', but they went to the second round for the first time in a long time and got to face the juggernaut Lakers in the Semifinals. They avoided a sweep thanks to guard Eric "Sleepy" Floyd's 51 points in Game 4, but the Lakers weren't to be denied that year.

1989. After missing the Playoffs the previous year the Warriors returned as the seventh seed in their first year under head coach Don Nelson. Again they faced the Utah Jazz, but this time the difference between their records was eight games. Interestingly enough, the Warriors were even more dominant this time, sweeping the second-seeded Jazz in three straight (the series had gone the full five in 1987). As they did two years earlier, the Warriors bowed out in the second round in five games, this time against the Suns.

1991. Coming off a season where they narrowly missed the Playoffs, the Warriors returned as the seventh seed. This time they went up against the Spurs, beating them in four games. Once again they were eliminated in a five-game Semifinal series to a Finals-bound Lakers team. This was the only Playoff appearance for "Run-T.M.C.", the Warriors' trio of high-scoring stars Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin.

1992. The Warriors finished with a 55-27 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. It looked like this young team was finally maturing and ready to move past "spoiler" status. This time though, the Seattle Supersonics did to them what they had done to other teams in the past: made them the victims of a first-round upset.

1994. After another year where they missed the Playoffs, the Warriors returned as the sixth seed with rookie sensation Chris Webber. Even though they were the lower seed, their record was only six games worse than the Suns', who were their first round opponent. There wouldn't be any upset this time though, as the Suns won the series in a sweep. Nelson would be fired as coach next season.

Now this year we've seen the Mavericks go 67-15 and get eliminated in the first round by this 42-40 Warriors team. Nelson is back as coach and seems to be picking up where he left off. Perhaps it was in the Warriors' best interests that they got into the Playoffs thanks to a late-season surge, because if they'd played this well all season they might've fallen victim to their franchise's habit of choking. Will the Jazz or Rockets dispose of Golden State in the next round in five games? Will the Jazz avenge those first-round losses from the 80's? Will the Warriors make it to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1976? There are so many questions to be answered, and we'll have to wait to find out. Stories like these are why I always look forward to the Playoffs.

The Nets-Magic game is on ESPN right now and Clifford Robinson is playing. Yes, Clifford Robinson. The same Clifford Robinson who's standing behind Michael Jordan in that now-famous clip of "The Shrug" from Game 1 of the 1992 NBA Finals. It's hard to believe that not only is he still in the NBA but he's still playing significant minutes.

He's doing all this at the age of 40. No, he isn't the oldest player in the NBA (that distinction goes to Dikembe Mutombo), but he's right behind him in second place. Robinson was taken by the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round of the 1989 NBA Draft, which makes him the only active NBA player to participate in an NBA game during the decade of the 1980's.

I'm not some huge Clifford Robinson fan or anything, but it's weird when you realize how long certain athletes have been around. You also feel old when you realize how relatively young some of these guys were when you first started following the sport.

On a related note, I came across this page on nba.com while checking facts for this post. It's interesting.

I was reading bgalella's blog entries about the worst NBA throwback jerseys (a must-read if you like old basketball uniforms and obscure NBA players) and I got to thinking about how many uniforms in sports today I don't really like. For some teams it's not so much that their current uniforms are terrible, just that their old ones were so much better. I feel that many of today's sports uniforms are either too dull or try too hard to look "modern." Sometimes it seems to be a combination of both. With that in mind, I've come up with a list of the top ten pro sports teams whose old uniforms I wouldn't mind seeing brought back. Because baseball, basketball and football are the only sports I follow very closely, those are the only ones that will be represented on this list. I've included photos for anyone who needs visual proof.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers

When I think of the Steelers I think of a tough, blue-collar team. Their old uniforms reflected that.

Their current uniforms, however, replaced the old varsity block numbers with these skinny, rounded-edged, slightly slanted numerals. They don't look nearly as intimidating as the old ones did.

See what I mean?

9. Utah Jazz

I'll admit that those old uniforms with the J in "JAZZ" shaped like a musical note would probably look outdated in today's NBA, but what was so bad about the ones with the mountain in the background?

They weren't the best, but look at the ones they have now.

They're so...boring. They have no personality. I'd rather see the original with the musical note than these.

8. Houston Astros

Their current uniforms are OK, I suppose, but the Astros don't seem like a "pinstripe" team to me, if that makes any sense.

I thought the ones they had before looked good though.

I honestly don't know why they felt they needed to change these.

7. Minnesota Vikings

I'd always liked the Vikings' old uniforms.

They weren't spectacular, but they looked like you'd expect a traditional football uniform to look. For some reason they decided to "update" them.

Same basic design, but the rounder edges on the numbers and the white stripes on the sides and sleeves make them look more like the run-of-the-mill "modern" uniforms we're seeing more and more of these days. Their originals just looked better.

6. Denver Nuggets

Powder blue is not a tough-looking color, though some try to make it so.

Their previous uniforms seemed more appropriate for a bunch of guys representing the mile-high city. The N and S were big, while the "UGGET" in the middle was shaped like a mountain. Their colors weren't wimpy either.

I had a hard time finding a good photo of a player wearing this uniform. I guess when a team is perennially one of the worst in the NBA it tends not to get as much media coverage.

5. Buffalo Bills

The Bills had some classy uniforms back in the day. The colors were vibrant and the numbers were distinctive.

The ones they have now are too complex and the colors have been dulled.

How does a team actually look at this design and consider it an improvement?

4. San Diego Padres

I liked the Padres' uniforms in the 90's. The one with pinstripes and no numbers on the front is still the ultimate Padre uniform to me.

After wearing a butchered version of that uniform for a few years they changed to this thing they wear now:

Boooooring.

3. Houston Rockets

The Rockets' current uniforms have sort of an "Eastern" flavor, probably because one of their star players is from China.

While these current ones are better than the ones they had in the late 90's, they still don't compare to the ones they'd had for about 20 years before that.

Simple but effective. They changed them after winning the second of their back-to-back championships. They haven't won one since.

2. Toronto Blue Jays

I always loved the old Blue Jays uniforms. They had unique lettering, and that logo that combined a blue jay head, a baseball and a maple leaf was pretty cool.

Now they have uniforms that are just ordinary.

You never really appreciate a good uniform until it's gone.

Finally, the uniform I miss the most...

1. Sacramento Kings

I don't care what anyone says, those old Kings uniforms were awesome.

I even own a Mitch Richmond jersey in that design. Now their road uniforms have purple as the main color.

I know that purple is a "royal" color, which fits with the name of the team, but it just doesn't have the same edge. Neither does the lettering.

Yes, change is inevitable in life. That doesn't mean I have to like it. If any of these teams decided to go back to their old look you wouldn't hear me complain. Can you think of any uniforms that you wish were still being worn today?