The Uniforms

Submitted by jbibiza on

What's the general feeling about the uniforms we wore on Saturday?  I personally favor the traditional Michigan unis with an occasional subtle style upgrade, but if you want to go all WVU/Oregon (to please Adidas?)  then stick with simple stuff like the normal road jersey with dark blue pants. 

MSU's Nike combat thing was a bit much but at least they looked formidable.  We, on the other hand, looked like we were dressed to be the clowns at a girls' sleepover party... weak, weak weak!  

When making our sartorial choices we should remember that:

"We Are Michigan"

The Baughz

October 17th, 2011 at 9:43 AM ^

Loved the all white. I made several comments hoping one day Michigan would wear all white, and they did. I would rather see the usual white road jersey with the white pants. Im not a big fan of the stripes. I hope we wear all white for the rest of the away games.

skipinmich

October 17th, 2011 at 5:26 AM ^

I think they looked great.  I'm not saying they should replace the other road uniforms, but the change was kind of refreshing.  I wouldn't mind seeing them in the future.

P.S. I think it was nice surprise to get even more emotion flowing into what was going to be an emotional game. 

Vasav

October 17th, 2011 at 5:37 AM ^

At first I was "get off my lawn!" about the stripes. But the thing is, I don't think they look bad. And I think I prefer them on the white jersey since that thing has never been sacred, and has looked downright terrible the last few years. I honestly wouldn't mind if the stripes stayed on them - remember, there were fifty years of Michigan football before the winged helmet. If those stripes were to remain as a consistent fixture on our away jerseys, I wouldn't mind. It may even become an iconic part of our look - and I wouldn't mind that at all.

The white pants are cool, and I wouldn't mind seeing them @Iowa (since they have a similar colored pants) but overall I'd prefer if we just have maize pants. I think the big thing is I'd like the home jerseys/pants to remain normal (since that look has literally been around since the late 1930s) and for us to have a SINGLE away look - so that folks know what Michigan will look like. I know I'm being a little too old-fashioned, but even though I like the look of the numbers and even the stripes and the white pants, it bothers me that in seven games we've had five different looks (traditional home, UTL, traditional w/helmet #s, regular white shirts, striped whites w/white pants). And that doesn't include the guys who had to wear the old white jersey with the "horns" on the back @NW.

I think my biggest thing is I don't want to be Oregon. I'd prefer if we had one set of maize pants and one helmet design all year long, and a traditional, clean blue jersey, and then do what you want with the white jersey as long as it looks good (and those horns were terrible) - giving us just two uniform combinations all year long. One at home, one away.

But I get the feeling this is an old-fashioned sentiment, and jersey sales will cause crazy looks to pop up every year.

Muttley

October 17th, 2011 at 8:20 AM ^

I hated the idea of the bumblebee shoulder stripes on the UTL uniforms, but they blended in and were barely noticable in all but up-close shots.  Same thing with the away uniforms, except that instead of blending into blue from a distance, they blended into yellow.  (They looked yellow to me, not maize.)

I liked the all-white pants.  Bo did, too.

buddhafrog

October 17th, 2011 at 5:47 AM ^

I bet the players liked them.  I liked them (as long as this is a rare thing - not certain that it is). I bet recruits like them.  However, with the lose, I now never want to see them again.

In reply to by ijohnb

tubauberalles

October 17th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^

I thought Brandon was bringing tradition back to Michigan.  Those things were more West Virginia than anything Rodriguez ever did.  Guh.  I thought it was bad enough for the UTL game, but I got over that by telling myself it was a one-time deal and here, just a month later, Brandon goes and outdoes himself.

I think the one thing that we may have overlooked in hiring a former pizza CEO is his preference for copious amounts of cheese.  He's definitely vastly increasing the cheesy factor for the UM experience.  Embarrassing...

 

RickH

October 17th, 2011 at 10:00 AM ^

They were horrible.  The scary thing is, other people are somehow saying that they liked our jerseys.  I don't know if I could watch Michigan if I had to keep looking at those jerseys instead of the beautiful, traditional uniforms that shouldn't be messed with at all because they are fucking perfect.

Don

October 17th, 2011 at 7:22 AM ^

reinforcing the Michigan brand, but he gives no indication he understands what that means. Those circus uniforms were a glaring departure from the classic, simple uniforms that have been a fundamental element in the Michigan football brand for many, many decades, going back to the days of Crisler and Yost and continuing through Schembechler to Carr.

It's ironic that so many people seem to have no problem with them given the tremendous amount of bitching over yellow piping on the jerseys in recent years.

Don

October 17th, 2011 at 7:57 AM ^

What are the players going to do if Hoke and Brandon say no to alternate new jerseys? Quit the team? Go on strike?

Sometimes what young people want is dumb and stupid. I believed that when I was 18, and I've seen nothing since then to indicate I'm wrong.

unWavering

October 17th, 2011 at 9:13 AM ^

I get your point, but I highly doubt the players even asked for the alternate uni's.  It was a cool surprise and the players probably enjoyed it.  Remember, the players ARE Michigan football, and we are just spectators. 

BTW, thanks for pointing out that what young people want is both dumb and stupid.  I mean, old people have never wanted anything dumb, like segregation, homophobia, or general closed-mindedness.

Feat of Clay

October 17th, 2011 at 7:25 AM ^

They sure got a reaction. I was in the boondocks, getting game news via twitter, and after they took the field there was an incredible chain of tweets from all quarters about nothing but the uniform.
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<br>I've seen less discussion of clothes on Oscar night.

Nacho Mama

October 17th, 2011 at 7:28 AM ^

Not a fan of the merry-go-round of uniforms. Michigan has tradition. Our uniforms and helmets use to bring fear just on sight to opponents.  We need to get back there and get out of the gimmicks.  The same thing driving the return to Bo philosophy, quotes, and imagery, should drive the uniforms.  Back to basics.  

AMazinBlue

October 17th, 2011 at 8:02 AM ^

The "legacy" unis for the UTL game was fine, but I hated the stripes on the shoulders.  I don't carefor the white pants either.  I may be old school, but you don't mess with the Michigan uniform.  You don't see Alabama, Texas, PSU or USC messing with their uniforms do you? No.  This BS that it helps gets recruits, I don't buy it.  If a kid is only coming to Michigan because of the uni, go somewhere else, that sounds like a MSU kid to me.

I didn't like the MSU unis either.  I thought they looked like a cross brtween Baylor and Colorado.  Oregon's changing uniforms every week is making college footbal look ridiculous.  The Maryland crap is silly.

miCHIganman1

October 17th, 2011 at 8:26 AM ^

I heard the broadcaster say we came out in our traditional jersey for warmups and then switched before the game. Can anyone who was there verify this? If so, it seems gimmicky and feels like we stopped to States level.
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<br>I would have loved for them to be wearing those ridiculous jerseys and us wear our traditional ones

Elise

October 17th, 2011 at 8:50 AM ^

Please forgive me for wanting to see a uniform that even vaguely resembles the uni they wore while I was growing up watching them on TV, or while I was in school...  The field wasn't even recognizable as a Michigan vs. Michigan State game when the camera zoomed out.   Also, how are people not upset about the "Shoutout to the Halo" arm sleeves??

Two Hearted Ale

October 17th, 2011 at 10:07 AM ^

Progress doesn't stop when you graduate. Tradition means a great deal to Michigan football but the away uniforms have changed every few years for as long as I have watched.

If tradition dictated that uniforms never changed from the time you started following the team they would be still be wearing mesh jerseys that don't tuck into the uniform pants and shoulder pads that are three sizes too big.