On Being An Old Man With A Precious Lawn

1). To those of you saying "It's just one game", I would politely counterpoint that many see "just one game" as a means of opening the pathway to a slippery slope. 

2). I was pushing for 1957, Ron Kramer-era throwbacks, where the longsleeves could come from a compression shirt, grey facemasks, and numbers on the helmets, so the 1965 look is very close to that:

And if that doesn't work for you, how about 1940 Tom Harmon style throwbacks...

And lastly, if that doesn't work, further honor Desmond and the 20th Anniversary of the catch:

And for those of you thinking this is a lot of to do about uniforms, politely, uniforms are a critical common thread that links the three men above together.  So if we're bent out of shape about it, maybe it's because symbols are imbued with meaning.

If these are the unis, then they contradict all of the branding verbage that we've been hearing so much about since RR was fired.

They make me think of raccoon skin coats, straw boater hats, the charleston, ukeleles and a pending stock market crash.

They do not reinforce all of the michigan man, tradition, he gets it, man ball, toughness, finger pointing and podium thumping talk we've had to listen too since January.

There is nothing Michigan about them other than color.  The crackly 'M' and striping are faux design.  We've been Disneyfied.

Most likely the 1899 photo is the key used by the designer. The finished version combines three elements of the photo: [1] the classic block M jersey; [2] the striped jersey worn by the team captain in the photo (I'd like to see game photos, but this was likely worn for some games, maybe away?); [3] the stitching motif on the M is probably a reference to the stitched padding on the shoulders of some jerseys from that time (seen second from the right in the 1899 photo).

What they should have done is gone with a classic
look we could all feel proud of.

Something that brought back memories of what
it is to be a Michigan football player.

Something that honors the past players instead
of making the current ones look like clowns.

What they should have done is created the
Rob Lytle throwback helmet, something that looked
like this:

How awesome would that have been?

Thanks to Markusr2007 for the link to the pic...

ND better have have tie dyed deep fried dog shit that matted with Ronald McDonald looking uniforms. Screw you guys...I'm going home.

I'm shifting attention.

ND unis.

This is the retro "I just tripped ballz all weekend" 60's ND game jerseys.

Unfortunately what you say especially about corporate America being focused on the bottom line and short term results is all too true.  But for all of you that support a playoff system in football you are begging for college athletics to become even more focused on "what have you done for me lately".   A playoff system will help push college sports even closer to the short term focus that corporate America has.   How sad would buckeyes and trojan fans be today if their had been a playoff system the last eight years that allowed them to compete every year for a National Championship?   How much pressure will their be every time a team goes 3 or 4 years of missing the playoffs before the fan base yells for the coach's head?

So if Brandon is going corporate maybe it is just a necessary step on the one winner per sport every year mind set.

P.S.  I really do hate the striped jerseys.

Whether or not these jerseys are well-received will ultimately come down to the game's outcome.  If we win, the misty watercolor memory of that first night game will cause everyone to find the jerseys growing on them.  If we lose, they're banished to the attic forever.

As for the 1965 uniforms, it's pretty clear why they weren't chosen - they're not distinctive enough from the current jerseys.  Yes, hardcore freaks like us know they're different (M on the shoulders!  Numbers on the helmet!), but 99% of the country would have no idea what the difference is.  If you're going to go throwback, you have to go whole hog and do something that looks totally different.  

Liveblog?

Well, to be honest they are growing on me. The fundamental problem M has re: throwbacks is that we haven't significantly altered the look since Crisler arrived in '38. Everything before that was a mis-mash of stripes/rugby/baseballish unis that sometimes had an M, sometimes didn't and the M changed from player to player in the same season.

So, I don't mind this amalgam of multiple looks that describe aspecs of M football uniforms from 1880-1935 or so. I'm sure this will be covered at the PC tomorrow night.

The other thing is that it's pretty clear to me that DB is towing the line between branding M in a modern way & marketing the program in the 21st century to young people (eg, night games & throwback unis scoreboards)..... and staying within tradition (not touching the helmets, no ads for football, Hoke Uber Allies). I'm not sure what else you could expect from him.

Are you guys the same people that yell at me to sit down during games?

I'm just curious what they'd do for Penn State throwbacks.

You can count on the fact that they would miss the obvious answer right under their noses.

Brian hit the nail on the head.

Dave Brandon is a corporate guy with a strong background in cheese; first in a company whose claim to fame was cheesy coupons, and second in a company whose main product IS mainly cheese.

I'd point out that Domino's cheese isn't actually very good cheese, but I probably don't need to. The goodness of the Domino product wasn't the issue. The salability of the product was the only concern. Obviously.

Steve Jobs is a marketing genius. Dave Brandon is a numbers man. Steve Jobs' selection of jersey would be amazing and come in a box you wouldn't want to throw away because it would be as nice or nicer than the garment. Brandon doesn't care about the design, as long as it generates numbers. Maybe he also has bad taste, though I don't think that matters. 

The joy for a guy like DB comes in looking at mass markets (read, "lowest common denominator"), and not at whether a particular football jersey actually, you know, belongs on a Michigan football player's torso.

To expect a Dave Brandon to lead Michigan in any direction other than midwest-corporate-mediocre-sucky when it comes to "branding" the athletic department is wishful thinking. This is a corporate coupon man, not a visionary.

If Brandon designed a car, it would be a station wagon or a minivan. It would sell well. It would be boring as hell to drive, but he would get much acclaim for creating it, and either way, he'd be rolling in coin.

What sticks in my craw is that the University of Michigan is a respected institution of higher learning. That is what gives its so-called "brand" value.

The athletic department's "brand value" has been its success on the field. Without that, the winged helmet and all the other bullshit wouldn't mean a damned thing.

Michigan is not a corporation selling a product. It is a school offering something far more meaningful. The team unis stand for Michigan the Institution, and not Michigan, the cheesy T-shirt manufacturer.

I hope Brandon can get that through his egocentric skull at some point.

It's a shirt.

So, what happened to the all the Brandon's "Pimp-Hand" posts from last fall?  Looks like he is using both hands to grab money.  I wonder what corporate sponsor's logo he'll put on the jersey or if he'll save that for the helmet?

Nice post Brian.  I am resigned to seeing this kind of crap more and more.  And make no mistake - it is pure crap.  I also bet that this will back fire on him big time.  Most fans have no idea this is happening.  I hope Ann Arbor Torch and Pitch Fork offers a senior discount.

I can only hope that NDs look worse - but that is not possible. 

I'll say it again--Michigan was proud to get the former CEO of a pizza company whose immediate ad campaign under new leadership was 'Our product is the worst in the country, but we're working on it.."

That's a great picture of Mel Anthony's long TD run in the Rose Bowl.  I had never seen that before. 

Skip ahead to 1:18 to see the actual play...

Assuming that the jersey Michigan will be unveiling tonight is the one pictured in MGoBlog and other sources, then I have a recommendation for tonight's presentaiton.

I think we're all largely agreed that the jersey being shown is a composite of a look for the late 1800s/early 1900s along with a Michigan varsity sweater.  All these uniforms, etc. were the inspiration for the design.

What I'd like to see is one or more of the players dressed up as "reenactors" wearing the uniforms that inspired the thowback look Michigan will be wearing against Notre Dame next Septemer.  You put that inviduals or other indivduals next to (I assume) Denard Robinson (and others), who will be modelling the throwback uniform.

I think the majority reaction to the jersey right now is negative.  By showing the old uniforms right next to the new ones, at least people would have an easy and strong visual that puts together the old and the new.  It would certainly be more effective in terms of promoting the jerseys and the "look" than showing, for example, the pictures from the past teams that we've posted here.

David Brandon and his marketing team have had months to plan this.  I imagine it would take awhile to reproduce the older uniforms, but I have very little doubt that there are actual samples in the university's archives, that could be used as a pattern and would provide information on the materials actually used, etc.   It would take a little planning and research, but it could certainly be done.

One final thought about the use of reenactors.  Even though their uniform doesn't look like the throwback, I'd have put someone in the uniform used by the Michigan football team in 1887 to remind everyone that it was the Wolverines who taught Notre Dame how to play football.  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1887_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team for background information.  It would be a great way to highlight the very simple fact that Michigan's football tradition spans a longer time than Notre Dame's and that the Wolverines taught the Fighting Irish how to play the game in the first place.