Novelty Uniforms -- A Compromise Proposal
It seems to me that the rationale behind these novelty uniforms is that they appeal to players and make the program more attractive to recruits. I have my doubts about that but I'm not in a position to know.
Seems to me though that there's one way to know for sure: put it to a vote of the players. So we do a secret ballot. If they like the unis, the rest of us can put up with them. If the players don't like them, we send them back.
Let the players decide -- whaddya say Brandon?
August 9th, 2014 at 12:55 PM ^
That is why every team does it.
The businessmen like it. That the players like it is somewhat incidental.
the jerseys. If they didn't the businessperson would not like it.
August 10th, 2014 at 10:38 AM ^
That was kind of the point. Why else would businessmen like producing extra uniforms?
No they don't. See PSU and Alabama. If the money wasn't there we wouldn't do them.
August 10th, 2014 at 1:50 AM ^
hate to tell ya.. but Bama has had them on several occasions.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
How about fans under 40 get one game a year where the team actually wears something different and interesting and you olds get the other 11-14 games. Is that fair?
Some of us are young and hate garish Walmart uniforms. Tradition is tradition because it has meaning.
which has nothing to do with the uniform.
August 10th, 2014 at 2:53 AM ^
So Alabama has better tradition than Michigan, because they win more? All teams that won seven games last year have exactly the same tradition?
Tradition for someone graduating in 1960 will be very different than someone who graduated in 2014.
I posted this uniform timeline on another thread earlier today.
http://mvictors.com/?page_id=63647
If they ever go to that two-tone pants again I will renounce my fanship.
I'm in my 20s and think the alternate uniforms look like crap. I guess I'm not as cool as you are.
Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with age, or race, religion, sexual preference or choice of food.
Well I'm not concerned about how those in the minority feel about the situation. You don't really factor into the equation. College football has spoken and UNIFORMZ are here to stay. Get used to it (or don't and just continue to bitch about only getting 11 games with your preferred uniform. We don't really care.)
August 10th, 2014 at 2:55 AM ^
What sucks is that it's the big games with the novelty uniforms. Reading a history of Michigan big games 20 years from now will be confusing as hell, because the uniforms of both teams will change every game.
August 10th, 2014 at 8:11 AM ^
Yeah, I mean, you might not even be able to tell which is your team as it will be too confusing!
August 10th, 2014 at 9:31 AM ^
Will you literally not be able to tell who's who? No, but don't you think it will be a little weird to flip through the history of say Michigan vs MSU and see the uniforms wildly change year to year?
And I would be happy never having another alternate uniform for the next six decades.
August 10th, 2014 at 8:33 PM ^
Yep. I'd be happy with...
Home: maize pants. Small block M on upper left thigh. Blue shirt. Tiny maize "MICHIGAN" over large maize numbers on the front. On the back, maize names straight across over large maize numbers. Maize numbers on both sleeves. Tiny maize manufacturer's logo upper left chest.
Away: Maize pants, white shirt. Same logos and numbers as home, but blue on white.
The end.
I'm actually cool with alternative uniforms and doing wacky shit from time to time. I liked the bumble bee stripes. But alternatives should be cool looking. Adidas is just consistently hideous and their preoccupation with putting the three stripes everywhere fills me with murderous rage.
a 30 year old walking around in an UTL jersey to get punched in the stomach and I'm under 40.
How about we stick with the best uniform in college football...and stop fucking it up.
Next thing you know some jackass will propose putting a block M on the helmets for the game and get rid of the wings.
August 10th, 2014 at 12:13 AM ^
It's really fucking sad that you think the traditional uniforms are not interesting.
August 10th, 2014 at 8:14 AM ^
Ageist
August 9th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
By the time the players can vote the uniform's already been designed and prepped for mass production.
And you think any AD is going to say no for a chance to sell more jerseys? Hell no.
August 9th, 2014 at 12:58 PM ^
The players love alternate uniforms.
August 10th, 2014 at 2:56 AM ^
Citation needed. Also, what the hell else are the players going to say? You think anyone who says they suck will ever be allowed in front of a mike again?
This time, even I like them. That almost never happens. Judging how most of the players reacted, I'd say they agree.
How about we have thread overkill regarding effing uniforms?
There is no overkill.
Well, except in how ugly these uniforms are.
People need to focus their energy on things they can change, like the student tickets or the seat cushions.
Our AD has been pumping these 'once-a-year special' jerseys for three or four years now (I've lost count). It ain't going to stop now. Feel free to bitch and whine all you want, but attempting to start a fan compromise to find a real solution is a waste of time and energy.
Texas has a good compromise: Use them in practice.
http://www.burntorangenation.com/2012/3/29/2910944/texas-football-2012-…
Players get their uniformz, school gets their traditional look on gameday. Everyone goes home happy.
We already have special practice unis.
The annual Adidas templates every #teamadidas school wears? That's true, we do.
About what they wear in practice. Worst compromise ever.
Seems to work just fine for Texas. But, hey, whatever.
EDIT: And for those who say these things are for merchandising, Texas remains consistently in the top 2 to 3 merchandising schools each year. You can still sell plenty of gear without uniformz, it seems. Here's last year's rankings:
http://www.clc.com/News/Archived-News/Rankings-Annual-2012-13.aspx
here's a compromise. quit acting like you are the voice for the ghost of bo schembechler, and just watch the damn game.
Texas should want more want an alternate jersey, it should want an alternative primary color. Burnt orange is a butt ugly and clashes with other color except white.
Jalen Brunson ( basketball) , chose MSU for his fifth and final official visit....we can forget about him now..
Is that you?
Nope, mike, why?
crazy fool just called out Big Daddy Dave Brandon on Mgoblog.com....
ohhhhhhhh no u didn't.
i will say this. the arguments on both sides are ridiculous. tradition is more than a uniform worn for a single game in a season, and not many recruits will pick a school based on the chance of wearing a one off uniform in future seasons.
you know what is tradition? winning football games. you know what causes recruits to strongly consider picking your school? winning football games.
I'm in my mid-50's ... I've been watching Michigan football since 1973. I'm okay with the uniforms. Don't hate them, don't love them ... I'm okay with them. Beats the hell out of those awful throwback-to-the-40's uniforms.
I agree with slimj091's point above -- these uniforms are neither an assault on tradition, nor the game-changer for recruits. It's a relatively small datapoint in the shadow of the key thing, which is having a winning program.
Michigan's tradition is not based on just the classic home uniform. That classic home uniform is held dear because many of us recall the glory days when Michigan would maul opponents at home in those uniforms. It's not the uniform, per se; it's the winning associated with the uniform.
Go ahead and wear the all-blue uniform for the PSU game. But more importantly, go out and dominate PSU in that game.
Well said...
August 10th, 2014 at 2:59 AM ^
If winning is he only tradition that matters to you, you are a bandwagon fan, by definition. The team that wins the most games every year clearly has the best tradition, so why not just root for whoever that is?
That's obviously ridiculous, so clearly you care about something more than just winning.
If the alternates are here to stay, and there's no way around it, how about this: we use the alternate UNIFORMZ!! for bowl games?
(For the record, I do not like them, either.)
Great looking uniforms!!!
"Go fuck yourself."-Dave Brandon
Some like it some don't.
Some like blue, some like purple.
What can you say?
I was looking forward to all blue uniforms, but the pinstripe numbers not so much.