Avoiding Clown Uniformz for the Michigan-Ohio State game
The slippery slope is getting slippery. We can see where the next slide is: Clown Uniformz for the Ohio State game. You know, gotta match our big rivals special look that we know they will wear.
Dave Brandon is plotting as we speak. Addidas is plotting as we speak. The lure to do "special" uniforms for Michigan-Ohio State is irresistible. What can we do? How can we avoid it?
Don't fight it, channel it.
A simple yet elegant (and authentic) idea is to have both teams wear their home uniforms for the game. Talk about throwbacks . . . this is authentic. It is what every Michigan-Ohio State game used to look like.
When games started being televised on black and white TV, they had the problem of not enough contrast to tell the teams apart. So they had the visiting team wear white.
I don't think we have that problem anymore. Michigan's and Ohio State's home uniforms are a natural color compliment to each other. It's not like Michigan playing Notre Dame in home uniforms. This would look great and give a special classic nod to the rivalry without clowning it up.
USC and UCLA have done this recently with great success. When they first starting doing it, they each had to sacrifice a time out penalty, but now it can be done without penalty with both team's approval.
Call your local AD now.
October 19th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
I liked the throw back uniforms when the NFL started doing it - what a decade ago? Now I am firmly in the "get off my lawn" camp. If OSU isn't getting their pro-combat on then I hope we just go traditional home / away. But I understand your point and it's a good compromise if some uniform stunt has to be done. I always thought it was great that Michigan wore their throw backs every week!
I liked the UTL unis on both sides and thought that was appropiate for the special occasion. Hopefully we burned the clown unis from the weekend - those were horrible.
October 19th, 2011 at 3:43 PM ^
Throwbacks are fine, but what Michigan got dressed in on Saturday wasn't throwbacks. It was some Frankenstein monstrosity dreamed up by some Project Runway reject in Adidas' lab.
That said, I didn't hate the white pants. I think if you lose the stripes on the shoulder pads and just went with a flat blue, the uniform looks pretty good. I worked up something on MS Paint, and it wasn't too bad.
October 19th, 2011 at 3:41 PM ^
ohio is wearing their pro combats against wisconsin....It's in the press release...
October 19th, 2011 at 3:46 PM ^
Came in here expecting to neg more "I hate the uniforms" banter that I've heard a million times. Instead, I found a very good idea. +1 sir, +1.
October 19th, 2011 at 9:56 PM ^
Full disclosure: I was originally just going to bitch about the unis and raise some internet rabble to try to peremptively keep Brandon/Addias from clowning up the Michigan-Ohio State game.
But as I was writing it, I thought instead of just bitching why not come up with a constructive alternative?
October 19th, 2011 at 3:56 PM ^
While I can understand the uproar with new Unis for every game, I will simply say this. There are two things that UM/ Adidas need to address yesterday.
1) Why the hell is it that the jerseys stretch so goddamn much when they are pulled on by a tackler? I can think of several instances this season that our players have been brought down because the jersey is too easy to grab ahold of and it doesn't rip away. FIX THIS!!!
2) The UTL Unis were great. That said, the Ringling Brothers jerseys from the MSU game were terrible. Give me white pants for some road games. Give me the UTL once per year for a "special" game, and give me the old Nike unis from 2006 back IMMEDIATELY. The Block M on the back of the home jerseys SUX. The road white jerseys are OK, not great. The helmet numbers are fine, I can go either way on those.
Beyond that, we are not OREGON. Oregon relies on uniforms because they have no tradition. UM already has the BEST unis in all of Sports IMO. Why do we need to change from the best for the sake of change? Why? Because the Pizza Man is a marketing failure. Stop already. DB... you ran Dominoes into the ground, please don't do it to our beloved Football Team.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:00 PM ^
Whatever happened to less is more. That should be the motto of the AD when it comes to decisions based on uniform changes.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:31 PM ^
Exactly this. No stripes, no special jerseys, and preferably no helmet numbers, helmet stickers, or white pants. I want a clean look with maize and blue while not covering up our helmet. Honestly, if a recruit can't appreciate our tradition to the extent that they choose to go to a different school just because our jerseys aren't Oregon's, then fuck 'em. There is something great about knowing that our old jerseys were OUR jerseys that we stood by instead of constantly changing to 'look cool' on the field.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
The stripes on the jersey is what bothers me the most out of everything. If we are going to do a throwback jersey to pay respect to the teams in the 70s or whenever, wear what they wore, not some stupid looking version of what they wore.
I don't want the white pants, but there could have been a way to make it look less retarded. DB went full retard when he decided on that look.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:02 PM ^
If USC and UCLA didn't employ this strategy already I would be for it.
October 19th, 2011 at 10:00 PM ^
Our claim to it is authentic too. Every Michigan-Ohio State game from the late '50s on back looked like this.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
If they want to keep screwing around with the uniforms so much, what about having a solid maize jersey much like the tourney version for the hockey team?
October 19th, 2011 at 5:00 PM ^
For a split second, I thought you were talking about those Maize uni's from the Big Chill.
Surely you aren't talking about those... right?
October 19th, 2011 at 4:06 PM ^
I like the idea
October 19th, 2011 at 4:14 PM ^
And even though it's a great idea of both teams wearing home jerseys, David Brandon will be like, but whats the revenue stream err I mean fun from that!!??
October 19th, 2011 at 4:19 PM ^
Let's have a throwback to the days when Michigan kicked Ohio's ass with regularity. Our guys can wear whatever uniforms they want as far as I'm concerned, as long as they have Buckeye blood on them at the end of the game.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
Call!
October 19th, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
We could wear imitation wolverine fur coats for warm up. F it let's go all in ...... I'll take shitty looks for a thousand Alex. Yeah a double jeopardy.... The uniforms at state looked like prison bitches on the field. Seriously, call Nike and get this fixed if you are going to do it. F it has been a bad week.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:42 PM ^
the difference would have been that we would not all be quite so grouchy, 'get off my lawn about it.'
October 19th, 2011 at 4:56 PM ^
I will say it... I liked the killer bee unis, especially the Victors-Valiant maize shirt underneath. Yes, I am too old to legitimately like the alternates, but I did. To each his own, I guess.
October 19th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^
Not sure why all the negativity about it...we have to keep up with what the KIDS/Recruits want...think RECRUITING here
October 19th, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^
Hasn't it already been proven that 17-year-olds like any fucking thing you toss in front of them as long it's presented with enough flash and bang?
October 19th, 2011 at 5:34 PM ^
WAAAH WAAH THE KIDS ARE STUPID! THE PROGRAM SHOULD BE ABOUT WHAT I, THE FAN, WANT AND NOT WHAT THE KIDS WHO ACTUALLY GIVE THEIR ALL ON THE FIELD WANT! BECAUSE THEY'RE RETARDED!
October 19th, 2011 at 5:48 PM ^
College football history is littered with countless instances of coaches telling players they can't have what they want and we seem to have gotten by OK.
There has got to be a better reason for things like this than "the players want it."
October 19th, 2011 at 8:55 PM ^
I'll take it one step further . . . I bet the majority of players like women. And I bet they would like to see more cheerleaders on the sideline if they were sans clothing. As such, does it mean that the AD/coaches should consent? Answer: Yes.
October 20th, 2011 at 10:32 AM ^
I'd like that too. So yes.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
If Dave Brandon needs to pull out some stupid adidas-trash uniforms to help us recruit then he needs to be fired because he clearly doesn't realize that we have the biggest stadium in america with the winningest college football program in the country with 11 national championships and 42 big ten championships to back it up. we're not flippin indiana. kids want to play for michigan
October 19th, 2011 at 5:37 PM ^
Why the negativity? Are you serious? They were tacky like Ed Hardy shirts and jean shorts. Bumble bees and overused phrases on the under shirts aren't my cup of tea. Those kids can go to Maryland if they want bad uniforms...
October 19th, 2011 at 4:57 PM ^
I must be a freak minority that Likes our Road Unis better than the Home..Ive Love the Yellow on White contrast with the awesome helmets...it looks great on TV
October 19th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
Prison uniform
October 19th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
Prison uniform
October 19th, 2011 at 4:59 PM ^
Just leave everything the fuck alone
October 19th, 2011 at 5:04 PM ^
I am such a fan of this idea! I think it would look great, and it could even happen without the unneccessary noise.
I hope Addidas and Brandon sees this.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:09 PM ^
It's the stripes that look awful. All white jerseys and pants with the winged helmet on the road looks great.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:11 PM ^
Okay, I tried to resist going all Andy Rooney, but I just can't do it. I was a student in the 70s and didn't mind the all-whites back then. But other than that, Michigan-Ohio State games since stayed fairly constant until OSU started going Nike-nuts two or three years ago. Those abysmal uni's they've worn since detract from one of the great sports experiences anywhere. If Michigan goes down that road, it will be a puke-worthy day for many of us old-timers.
As for both teams wearing home jerseys, don't like it either. I want it the way it's been, before piping etc. (at least we are trying to get rid of much of that crap). The UTLs are a necessary evil, the clown stuff from last Saturday less necessary and more evil. But man, I wish they wouldn't mess with Michigan-Ohio State.
A generational note: my son-in-law, who is a South Carolina fan and has no connection to Michigan beyond me, thinks the UTL jerseys and clown stuff are the best-looking alternate uni's he's ever seen. I feel old.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:39 PM ^
Tell your daughter to get a divorce. Liking those jerseys can only be bad news...
October 19th, 2011 at 5:21 PM ^
I have a great idea for our uniforms for the Ohio game. We wear our traditional blue jerseys with our numberless helmets. We dress much like we did for the western game. Actually just like we did.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:22 PM ^
I'm not sure what our uniforms look like anymore?! Someone get me a Tylenol ...
October 19th, 2011 at 5:32 PM ^
fuck you guys, so hard
do you know who LOVES these jerseys? The players. Why don't you fucktards go tell Kevin Koger that you think he looks stupid... I'd enjoy that
October 19th, 2011 at 5:44 PM ^
that's exactly why I said they were a necessary evil. It is important to keep the players happy. Helps with recruiting too. But please don't do it for the Ohio game!
Oops, post I was replying to got deleted as flamebait.
October 19th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
If I ever met Kevin Koger, I'll be sure to tell him that. He seems like a pretty chill dude anyway...
October 19th, 2011 at 5:40 PM ^
A teal jersey with a horse for a logo, but make the horses legs be exhaust pipes! Yeah, that's it!
October 19th, 2011 at 5:56 PM ^
The road uniforms have sucked for a while. People have put up with them because they are road uniforms: they have changed a hundred times over the years, and they have no tradition, period.
The uni's they wore in EL were great, IMO. I'd rather have them than their official roads.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:02 PM ^
October 19th, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
Love the helmet numbers, love the white road pants (even after Labor Day), but really. Let's just go back to the 80's-90's road jerseys, or even the late 90's-early 00's M's on the sleeve unis, and call it a day. Simple, understated, classic, no stupid bibs or trims or garbage like that.
DB can go take a swim in a revenue stream for all I care. Enough is enough.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:18 PM ^
Ugh. Seriously. What is a Michigan football uniform anymore? This is a sad day.
Btw, it's solid maize on solid blue, no stripes, no piping, no "M" logo, very small Nike logo. No helmet numbers, road unis same as above except plain blue on plain white with three very clean arms stripes blue/maize/blue. Crisp. Clean. Traditional. Solid.
October 19th, 2011 at 6:59 PM ^
The players should have a big say and they liked these State game uniformas a lot. It's their effort, time, sacrifice and actually their program.
MIchigan has the best home and road uniforms in college football and I'd like to see them every game. I really don't count. Your suggestion is a great one though.
October 19th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
This is what they wore when I was in school and I still have my #1 road uni with the stripes on the sleeves. I'd love to see these come back.