I just feel...meh.
I just feel...meh.
"The mark of a great player is in his ability to come back. The great champions have all come back from defeat." - Sam Snead
Not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I think the era of the elite programs not having some kind of alternate is over. Notre Dame, whom I think had one of the top 3 most traditional uniforms in football, went crazy with theirs. Ohio State, another traditional uniform, has been all over the board with their alternates. Even Navy, who doesn't really worry about recruiting, has made the change.Originally Posted by Mac94
There are only about 3 schools left that haven't done something:
Alabama - Although they jumped on the Nike Pro Combat bandwagon. They may, or may not ever go with an alternate, but I suspect they'll be the last to do it.
Penn State - Quite honestly, they should have made a change a few years ago.
USC - I suspect they'll do something soon, they need a little injection of energy and Sarkasian already did the alt uni thing at Washington.
Of those three, only Bama can fall back on the "we just win" excuse. I don't think having alternate uniforms will win over a recruit alone, but it's certainly something they are interested in and something that can be used against a team without them.
I agree. I don't really like them as a fan and someone who likes our current uniforms.
That being said, all the former, current players, and recruits have positive things to say so if they're fine with looking goofy while winning, I'm fine with it.
Yeah I finally got a good look at em and I don't like all the details around the collars. I'm fine with it though, every once in a rare while.
Don't like them. The collar looks weird, the colors don't look right and the wood thing is beyond ridiculous. I don't mind change. I'm ok with the jersey every now and then for a special occasion. Leave the helmet and the pants alone.
We are gonna be laughed off the field with that wood thing. Every game the announcers will say something about it and people are gonna be like, seriously?
Makes no sense.
The color is the same as we have now. It looks like a different shade of crimson in the pictures, but Joe Castiglione was on the radio a couple of days ago and said that even though the color looks different in the pictures, it's absolutely the same color "in person".
The kids (players and recruits) seem to LOVE the wood grain thing. In fact, in all of the articles I've seen (about the unis) online, the wood grain is barely mentioned. It bothered me at first too, but I've grown to kinda like it (a lot of that has to do with the players loving it).
In the end, as long as the players like them, what else matters? If they win, I don't think any of us fans will really care what they're wearing.
The fans ought to be told how often we can expect to see the alt unis. I hope it's not very often. But I'm glad the players like them...it is a bit surprising they seem to like them so well, since the alts aren't the typical bizarro funkfest Oregon wannabes plop out there.
Maybe they'll grow on me.
Look-up "the Hawthorne Effect" and it may apply to this situation. It also dovetails nicely with the new definition of players as employees.
Hmmm. Interesting speculation. Perhaps so. But those kids are idolized to an unhealthy degree already. And, as has been pointed out, the last couple times the Sooners wore a special, they truly performed poorly. Still, the Hawthorne Effect may indeed be in play here.
I would think for new uniforms to have a dramatic impact on the players' performance one would need to unveil them right before the game. Perhaps you could harness the excitement and enthusiasm they displayed at the unveiling in a theater and transfer that to the playing field if they had no foreknowledge of the uniforms.
Unveiling them in June would seem to fundamentally waste any Hawthorne. Effect.
The kids are idolized by the fans. The new uniforms come from their "bosses" (the university) and may be perceived as an attempt to improve working conditions. Just pop psychology, but something has to explain why they like those unis.
The players are always gonna love alternate uniforms. The fans, not so much.
They aren't horrible except for the incorporation of black into them via the shoes, socks, wristbands, and armbands. I would be much cooler with them if those were just red. The facemask I can live with.
Thankfully, we don't do these very often, and I hope this year is the last for about another 5 years or so.
-100% Polyester fabric
- Applique logo at collar
- Flywire-strengthened collar resists stretching
- Jock tag!!!!!!
- Mesh panels
- Screen print graphics
- Side slits at hem
- Tackle twill numbers
- Officially licensed
No wonder the players were excited! Jock tag! I cant' believe Nike would part ways with the jock tag uniforms for a mere $134.95!
In the recent radio interview with Joe C (I mentioned above), he said when they were in the very early planning phase for the new alts, the number one rule they gave Nike was "no black or gray pants, helmets or jerseys". I was happy to hear that.
I've seen black and gray replica jerseys for sale in the bookstore before, but glad it hasn't made it to the field.
If I'm not mistaken, the basketball team did grays during a Blake Griffin season game or two. Meh.
Speaking of basketball, anyone notice that the football away alternates are cream, not white? Basketball's done cream ones on occasion and they've always looked sharp.
I noticed that too! Wish they would use that more often! Both basketball teams should use the cream color instead of white exclusively IMO.
I think they (the school & Nike) could get away with doing pretty much anything to the basketball uniforms and folks wouldn't care much. Football on the other hand...
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