Uniformz: Michigan Elects NOT to Wear Basketball Sleeves for Tournament
Via twitter, @thomasbeisner, who hosts a University of Kentucky sports television show, reported earlier this morning that adidas schools will be wearing basketball uniforms with sleeves for the NCAA tournament. He followed up that report with the caveat that Michigan (and early-season foe NC State) will NOT wear these jerseys. The full release is from Sports Business Journal Daily article which is, unfortunately, behind a paywall.
Link here for the financially-inclined: https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2013/02/27/adidas.aspx
This could have been a disaster. Is it possible that the AD is getting the message that the fan base isn't too stoked about the Uniformz trend? Tweets pasted below:
Thomas Beisner @thomasbeisner
NCAA teams sponsored by adidas will wear short-sleeve uniforms in the NCAA Tournament.
Thomas Beisner @thomasbeisner
According to @SBJSBD, Michigan and NC State will not wear them. IU says they haven't heard and Louisville says they don't know specifics.
February 27th, 2013 at 12:50 PM ^
Bullshit. It is a logical extreme that disproves the premise. Soulfire specifically defended "doing anything to make a buck." A straw man would be if he'd defended something specific and I were the one who interpreted that to mean "doing anything."
February 27th, 2013 at 2:08 PM ^
You act like he didn't put "anything to make a buck" in quotes. That phrase was clearly used to represent the view of Brandon that the anti-Brandon crowd has. Not even an exaggerated representation, either, as plenty of posters have made that exact accusation.
He defended Brandon and the idea that making money is good for the athletic department, and you said he'd probably be OK with putting commercial logos on football helmets and jersey with 2 ft ads. Your comment might not technically be a straw man, but you offered an extreme example that no one would endorse then said "you'd be OK with it." Yes, I get you're using an extremem example to make a point, but you're also misrepresenting his original position.
All that said, the second half of your comment is a lot more fair (even though you do suggest Brandon is wrecking "everything fans like" and that there is some kind of homogenous sense of "what fans like").
February 27th, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^
Actually, I didn't defend "doing anything to make a buck" like you assert, hence the quotes around doing anything to make a buck. I was arguing that MGoBlog members who feel that way about him shouldn't, and that they mischaracterize DB by doing so. I didn't enumerate that, but I didn't feel I had to. In that respect, yes, you provided a straw man argument.
I understand there's a line you mention, I agree there's a line. Providing alternate uniforms and embracing social media do not cross that line, in my opinion. Brandon's ability to market the university has been tremendous, and while I understand sometimes we have to put up with uniforms we don't like to look at for a game, don't you think all of the new facilities and upgrades might be worth it? I certainly do.
February 27th, 2013 at 5:32 PM ^
Fair enough. I get what you're saying. My only quibble now is that I don't think the uniformz are necessary to have the facilities upgrades. Truth is, the revenue gain from them is probably miniscule in comparison to ticket revenue and TV revenue.
February 27th, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^
MaizeAndBlueWahoo, I think you can change your signature now.
February 27th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^
It's a better quote now that it ain't true.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:37 AM ^
That'd be a lot of points!
People love the coaches- but give too little credit for who hired them.
People love the new facilities- but don't like new prices and advertizing
....
Now that doesn't mean all changes are equal- some things should never be touched- some to the point of being obvious:
school colors (creating new ones- not maize v. neon- although I see why that bothers people), mascot, helmets, block M...
But some things although important to many will have changes:
advertizing in areas it wasn't before, unifroms- more types and different styles, twitter/media- even on the court etc.
No one is going to please everyone- and balancing tradition, school culture, and success is not easy. But as long as you keep the untoucahbles alone, and dont run from what built Michigan- if you have success that is what the job is. And to say DB did any of the unnacceptable things seems silly to me- and he sure has been very successful!
February 27th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
Let's just stick to the 89 uniforms (home and road) and call it a day. That, or I'd also be very happy with the Cazzie's that we wore against PSU. Maybe DB is finally getting the message that when you stick to the roots of your brand, you can dictate to 12 year-old boys what is appealing, rather than the other way around.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
Evansville did this for a long time.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:19 AM ^
And that guy looks like he's having a great time, too!
He seriously looks like he's thinking, "I can't wait for this game to be over! I hate Mom for making me play basketball. God, I just want to go home..."
February 27th, 2013 at 11:27 AM ^
February 27th, 2013 at 11:45 AM ^
...or a baseball BP jersey.
February 27th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
if he wasn't carrying the extra weight of the sleeves.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:08 AM ^
February 27th, 2013 at 11:15 AM ^
But... but.. the wasted advertising space!!
February 27th, 2013 at 11:16 AM ^
You guys got it all wrong. FADS ARE AWESOME!!!! You should hear all the compliments I get on my double bicep barb wire tattoos. Sometimes I wear bibs with one strap undone and no shirt underneath. People get so jealous.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:21 AM ^
Back in high school, hated playing basketball with sleeves. It was always "sun's out, guns out" for me playing basketball. That was probably more psychological than anything, but I always felt like the sleeves made my shot feel funny.
In the end, my guess is it wasn't so much DB saying no to them, but the players saying they didn't want them. If the players wanted them, I'm sure Michigan would be wearing them as well.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:48 AM ^
You sir. Are 100% correct.
February 27th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
I always wore a t-shirt underneath. A lot of those HS gyms weren't well-heated and it could be downright chilly if you were just in a tank top. We had also made the transition to baggy uniforms, which was good from a shorts perspective but meant that the jersey was always really loose. The t-shirt kept it in place.
February 27th, 2013 at 11:58 AM ^
The first time someone misses a few shots in a row, it would be natural to start thinking about the sleeve clinging to his shoulder and upper arm. You don't make a change like that while the season is in progress; you make it in practice before the season starts.
February 27th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
February 27th, 2013 at 12:45 PM ^
i imagine the unis with sleeves would be more like a tight-fitting under armour style shirt than a t-shirt.
Although I do remember going to a b-ball game at Crisler against Iowa freshman year with some friends. Iowa was out on the floor warming up in their shorts and t-shirts over their jerseys. One of the girls said, "Man, they must really be bad. They can't even afford real uniforms." Same girl who cheered along with the rest of us during her first basketball game and turned to me to ask, "Which color are we?"
February 27th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^
...in CollegeBasketballTalk, there is some speculation that (for the teams that will be wearing them - Louisville has accepted, I believe) they will bear some stylistic resemblence (varying depending on team, I am sure) to the uniforms that will appear in the McDonald's All-American Game, as you'll note below:
February 27th, 2013 at 1:46 PM ^
February 27th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
God....they look terrible
February 27th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
February 27th, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^
I frankly have also never really understood the need for a singlet in basketball. With all the new fabrics now I just don't see sleeves being a hinderance. It seems like a convention that has outlived its usefulness.