RVB On Iowa's Pink Locker Room
From today's Detroit News (http://detnews.com/article/20111101/SPORTS0201/111010355/Fitz-Toussaint…):
"I love the pink locker room," Van Bergen said. "I've never had an issue with the pink locker room. I think it gives it nice décor, the Feng Shui really feels good before the game. It warms you up. It's very welcoming. I think more teams should go with pink. I have no problem with it. I think it's a great touch. It's better than the off-white, jail-cell look."
He may be the most quotable of Michigan's current linemen, and with Molk, Lewan, etc., that's saying something.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:52 AM ^
Feng Shui, Bitches. Feng Shui.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:57 AM ^
Feng. Shui. Up.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:54 AM ^
i wonder how iowa is going to take the quote
November 1st, 2011 at 1:43 PM ^
Iowa is not going to care. That's how they'll take it.
November 1st, 2011 at 8:56 AM ^
That color doesn't have a stigma attached to it like it used to. It's practically the NFL logo's 4th color these days and is quite embraced by many players who wear the pink towels, cleats, socks, tape, etc.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:00 AM ^
RVB is the man. I still prefer Molk's comments on hitting people though
November 1st, 2011 at 9:00 AM ^
Reverse psychology. Hayden Fry would have been frsutrated yet impressed that the young man turned a negative into a positive. Everyone else worries about the effect the room has on their team's demeanor. "HA" scoffs young Mr. Van Bergen. It's a colored wall. Nothing more, nothing less.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:06 AM ^
IIRC the color of the room was not chosen just because ut is "girly" (and point is well made that BCAM has made it a trendy trim color now). I think they chose it because pink has a theraputical effect of making someone less aggressive. Luke the color red has been shown to make people more hungry (which us why McDonald's interiors are heavy in red, like many restaurants).
November 1st, 2011 at 9:19 AM ^
Is that avatar Beardcore approved?
November 1st, 2011 at 9:31 AM ^
I'll let it slide
November 1st, 2011 at 9:41 AM ^
November 1st, 2011 at 10:14 AM ^
My avatar photo is NOT a porn pic of a bunch of half-naked women.
Those are three robots. Ask Brian, he knows....
November 1st, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^
I just finished watching that whole series on Netflix. Thank goodness for two monitors, so I could watch the human race try and preserve itself AND find out what the players were wearing for halloween.
November 1st, 2011 at 2:11 PM ^
What show is that?
November 1st, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^
Battlestar Galactica
And superstringer, I'm with you: what's wrong with a few half-naked robots?
November 1st, 2011 at 10:36 AM ^
You are correct, many jails have a cell that is painted pink, where they will put a violent person for awhile til they calm down. It does have a mental effect and that is what Coach Fry was trying to do, sooth the opposing players so they would be more mellow and not be aggressive.
Does it work <shrugs> maybe a little, but if it helps your team, it helps your team. I think it tends to mean more to teams that rarely or never see it as opposed to other B10 teams that see it every other year.
November 1st, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^
There is some truth to mood colors (pink = soothing, red = hungry) but this is really about superstition. Someone told someone about mood colors and next thing you know, the visiting locker room is pink.
What's missing here is some basic sense of controls. In the case of violent criminals, you're taking them AWAY from stimuli and essentially putting them in sensory deprivation for hours where the pink can have an effect. For a group of college-aged athletes, they're not in there long enough for it to really matter, and anyway once they leave the locker room they're amped up as all get out. The thing about subtlety is that it only works when it's not drowned out.
Arguably the pink might work AGAINST Iowa, soothing pre-game jitters so the athletes can focus on the game plan. Then they remove themselves from it and amp themselves up by soaking in the gameday atmosphere just before kickoff. But there's no way to test this in a double-blind fashion, and lacking any meaningful evidence whatsoever, the Occam's Razor verdict is just to call it a (white)wash. (rimshot)
November 1st, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
[read this while not having your lips match the words]
Ok Dragonchild, you have convinced me. Your Kung-Fu is greater than my superstition. I will not challenge you again.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:18 AM ^
but what RVB said seems to reinforce the myth to me. If the color of the locker room "warms you up" and makes you feel "welcome", isn't it having the desired effect?
just sayin'
November 1st, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
November 1st, 2011 at 9:21 AM ^
how Iowa is really involved in the breast cancer awareness movement. Good for Iowa.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:47 AM ^
RVB rocks. I have a soft spot in my heart for our homegrown linemen.
November 1st, 2011 at 9:54 AM ^
Nice quote by Van Bergen.
I remember hearing a story once where we had a game in Iowa City and Bo told the assistant coaches to bring all the newspaper, wrapping paper and notebook paper they coud find to cover every inch of pink on the walls and celing in that locker room before the team could step inside. So, he apparently took that color seriously.
But I don't remember hearing many stories about that locker room otherwise. We lost in Iowa City just once between 1985 and 2008. I assume the success just overshadowed any good stories to worry about the pink.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
I was just on a stadium tour last weekend and they said that the first time he took his team to Iowa Bo had his assistants run out and buy all the construction paper and take they could find and cover every inch of pink. Don't know if he kept up the practice but at least he did for his first year.
November 1st, 2011 at 12:10 PM ^
I tweeted Angelique about just "Covering the walls with paper to mitigate whatever effect it might have" and she replied saying Bo "used to have this done" so I'm assuming it was more than a one time deal consdering the phrasing.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:06 AM ^
...I will happily rent a van filled with copies of the Free Press, drive to Iowa City on Thursday, park at Nile Kinnick Stadium and tape the pages to the pink-painted walls of the visitors locker room.
Seeing the Free Press everywhere ought to really get our guys pissed off and in a mood to fight!
November 1st, 2011 at 9:56 AM ^
He's right though. That off-white grayish color is depressing as all get out and standard for just about every locker room. Embrace the pink.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:15 AM ^
I remember hearing Bo used to have student aides get there ahead of the team and tape paper over ALL the walls, to hide the pink.
Now, it's Ray Lewis's chinstrap.
November 1st, 2011 at 12:00 PM ^
your avatar? Are those the Huntsman daughters?
November 1st, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
Battlestar Gallactica characters. Those are toasters...
November 1st, 2011 at 12:54 PM ^
Gods damnit, that is frakking insensitive.
November 1st, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^
I have had this avatar for, like, 2 years, and never ONCE a questiona about it. Now two, in the same forum topic in fact.
Those are Models Nos. 3, 6 and 9. No. 3 is a bossy control-freak. No. 6 is slutty and evangelical. No. 8 is overtly emotional and tends to be too self-critical.
For better (larger) pictures, Google image "Lucy Lawless" (yes that one), "Tricia Helfer" and my fave, "Grace Park." I think the middle one was in Playboy.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:31 AM ^
In one of the below articles, this is telling and quite sad..."The depth on our offensive line is probably as low as I've ever seen at a university." Per Hoke.
It's really a shame that Tony Posada decided to leave the program and we couldn't land Jake Fisher.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^
I am not worried about the fish that got away, I want our current lineman to stay healthy and then I see a good number of quality recruits coming in. They will fill the holes as they come and with Hoke and company I am not so worried. The next class will be crucial and I am glad to see that it is highly rated.
November 1st, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^
It's pretty obvious why the staff is taking 6 Olineman in one class. They'll probably take 4 in 2013 too.
November 1st, 2011 at 11:35 AM ^
November 1st, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^
Molk just needs to head butt everyone in the tunnel to snap them out of the "pink funk"
November 1st, 2011 at 11:52 AM ^
He sure does have some fond memories about a place where he's never won a football game.
November 1st, 2011 at 12:53 PM ^
How is Mike Cox?
November 1st, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
I actually was working on a project in IC back in '05/'06 when Kinnick was doing their stadium and pressbox expansion. Was fortunate enough to know the Construction Manager that was performing the renovation, and got to tour the new section of Kinnick (south end) which contains the home & visitor's locker rooms.
I snapped a few pics, thought I'd share...everything, and I do mean everything in there was pink or as close as you can get. Lockers, walls, carpet, toilet partitions, tile, toilets & sinks (sort of rose colored, not truly pink).
November 1st, 2011 at 1:31 PM ^
they go apeshit, become very, very aggressive. I've always thought that this one was probably backfiring on Iowa with some regularity.
Meanwhile, gotta love Lewan. That is one bright and funny dude.
November 1st, 2011 at 1:49 PM ^
They go apeshit because they think the prison is insulting/emasculating them. It's not because the color pink naturally incites people. Enough with the ridiculous psychobabble.
November 2nd, 2011 at 10:25 AM ^
those reading carefully at home. It's about how the color excites your retinas, liminal--maybe primordial responses. But studies on the subject are contradictory, and what shade of pink matters. If there's any other way I can help you, let me know. :)