Who @%$#ed with the helmet stripes?

Are you high?

a. i hadn't heard about the helmets being changed. honestly, i probably never would've noticed if someone hadn't said something
b. i like the names. easier to figure out non-star players like O and D lineman, tight ends, linebackers, etc

and get off my lawn!

pictures of the helmets or it didnt happen

The vent holes are always going to be darker than the adjacent surfaces, so if the yellow stripes were running over them, they would appear from a distance as they had had some sort of interrupting gash in them. It's far better visually that they run smoothly from the wing all the way to the back of the helmet. The only solution would have been to choose a helmet with vents in a different location, but who knows if that's possible, or if the placement of the vents would be even less advantageous for our helmet design. Frankly I didn't notice anything different, and they don't look odd to me. If you look closely at the striping over the years it's changed subtly several times.

I much prefer the names on the jerseys. It didn't prevent the 1997 squad from being team-oriented, did it?

And I'm old-fogier than you... freshman year in '71.

I think this is what the old fogey is talking about. This is a picture of an otter with a helmet on:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p164/sonar1313/campbell.jpg

This is a picture of Braylon Edwards:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p164/sonar1313/edwards.jpg

Note the angle between the stripes on the side and the wing. Braylon's go straight back and make something close to a 90 degree angle, the Otter's are more like 45 degrees. It does look a little weird, though on TV, it probably won't be noticeable. OTOH, I don't see any reason why the helmets can't be properly striped. You can see the vents on Campbell's helmet there if you look close, and they don't look like they'd interfere with the stripes. Perhaps it's just sloppy paint work on the part of the helmet maker. Either that or Rich Rod is destroying all our traditions again, the farking bastage.

edit - I'm retarded about putting images in. I guess you won't see any dead corpses from me. No live ones either. just click the links.

...I thought this was grandpa down-in-front being ornery, but the difference is noticeable, and thus an utter travesty. I guess it's hard to appreciate perfection until it's fucked with.

"but even Bo didn't @%$# with the helmets!"

Helmet 1969-1974:
http://www.helmethut.com/College/Michigan/MI6974.html

Helmet 1975-Present:
http://www.helmethut.com/College/Michigan/MI75XX.html

Also, *shudder*, let's not get into the pride sticker issues:
http://mvictors.com/?p=1077

Chad Henne, among others from his era, wore a Revolution helmet and had a similar pattern.

along these lines, did anyone notice how mcguffie was wearing a revolution helmet in the rice spring game picture? that little bastard should have been wearing one last year. maybe he'd still be around.

after putting dog poop in a paper bag and lighting it on fire on Old Man Clemens' porch]
Billy Madison: Oh my God, Old Man Clemens hates shit.

Frank: Shh, here he comes.

Old Man Clemens: Who the hell is it? What do you want? Judas Priest, Barbara, it's one of those flaming bags again.

Barbara: Don't put it out with your boots, Ted.

Old Man Clemens: Don't tell me my business, Devil Woman. Call the fire department, this one's outta control.

[Old Man Clemens steps on the bag, then lifts up his boot and smells]
Old Man Clemens: Eck, poop again.

Billy Madison: He called the shit "poop".

[Billy, Jack, and Frank laugh hysterically]

Frank: This is the best night of my life.

[They continue laughing]

Old Man Clemens: I'll get you damn kids for this. You're all gonna die.

Sorry man but this,(sigh) seriously your making a big deal over nothing.

I love the old, grey face masks. 1 game, just for 1 game!

Jeag is right! Henne's helmet was the same as the Otter's in Wahoo's post. I have no idea how to include pictures or links in my post, so just click on the link to "Ron Bellamy's Underachieving Allstarts" that Brian has on the left. The banner there has a picture of Henne that shows the same stripe placement as Big Will's. It was not that noticeable either on TV or live. So, I do not think its that big of a deal. There have also been other changes over the years. If you go back far enough, they used to have numbers on the helmets in addition to the wings.

Aren't the vents in the revolution helments irregularly shaped? I think a yellow stripe over the vent look might look like it had a waive in it. I assume they tried it that way first, and decided it looked bad.

I would love them to take the names off the uniforms, epecially at home. It looks classy and reinforces the team aspect of the college game. You can buy a program to help identify the players. Too bad they don't do the free paper programs anymore.

If Henne's Revolution helmet had divergent stripes, as Campbell's does, then that means Michigan Football™ has had asymmetry amongst team helmethood for at least five years.

UNACCEPTABLE

jeag is right!

http://www.chadhennefans.org/images/1.jpg

http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/10/10-12-06tdc/10-12-06dsports...

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/2008/writers/don_banks/04/27/snap.judgments....

but it doesn't seem to be as big of a difference. My legitimate hypothesis is that Campbell's head (and therefore helmet) is so enormous that the hole-maneuvering of the stripes is more pronounced.

with the Revolution helmet vents.

The problem is that it's not just a vent, but an indentation in the helmet shell surrounding the vents. They probably tried to paint over these already, but it probably didn't work well or look very good. I dislike the look of the Revolution helmet, in general, but the UM equipment manager Jon Falk is probably just doing the best he can with a freaking ugly helmet surface. It is what it is.

As far as the comment on UM helmet awards, I'm firmly in the camp that helmet awards should and must return, but I realize that they will not under Rich Rodriguez. Former UM backfield coach, and former WVU coach, Don Nehlen handed out "flintlock gun" helmet awards to Mountaineer players between 1980 and 2000. They looked stupid, IMO. RR axed the idea of any helmet awards when he became HC at WVU in 2001.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_d6hDn1rGjV4/SRR19n5vJgI/AAAAAAAAADY/gH3IcxkhhX...

Honestly?

You're bitching about moving the stripes a few degrees? Go DIAF, the internet is already too retarded without you.

Move the stripes back to where they used to be.

The helmet stripe shenanigans didn't start with Rich Rod, so quit the bitching about him "destroying tradition" etc.

Here's a pic from the 2006 FYS game:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65796002@N00/263468554/
Look closely at the stripes. On the fronts of the helmets, some players' stripes start on top of the humps in the wings near the center of the helmet. Other players' stripes start in the low valleys of the wings. Other players' stripes have that 45-degree angle look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marylea/270530849/
2006 CMU. Look at the great difference in space between the outside stripes and the center stripes of the different players. Compare #7 and #40. #39 (45-degree angle) and #4 (straighter back).

I noticed this years ago, peeps. It's not new. The stripes have not been completely uniform for several seasons now.

If the new helmets keep our guys un-concussed and on the field, I can deal with a little variation in the striping. I am all for tradition, but losing guys to preventable head injuries should be avoided at (nearly) any cost. If they switch to scarlet and gray helmets I will be concerned. If we keep the winged helmets intact as much as the new helmets allow, I am OK with it.