Cease Specific Uniform Panic, Revert To Vague Unease Comment Count

Brian

ugly-ass-jerseyskitten-does-not-like

kitten does not like

David Brandon was on WTKA discussing the new(!) varsity lacrosse programs, which you know all about, when he was asked about your favorite newspaper's purported stripey Michigan night game uniform thing:

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon was asked during an interview on WTKA-AM (1050) this morning if that was an accurate representation of U-M's uniform.

"No," Brandon said.

Brandon said Michigan's uniform would combine "elements of a couple different eras," but emphasized that the final product has not been revealed.

Before you point and laugh at the Free Press, a good source indicates the mockups everyone's gnashing their teeth about are "one of many possibilities," one that ended up "in the top two or three." The final result is not going to be like the "1960s look" Brian Kelly said Michigan was going to bust out in his press conference. That was never on the table because, as mentioned, the uniforms of the 1960s are hardly different than today's. The end result is going to be spiritually similar to the above: a throwback that attempts to go way, way back—source says "foot-ball yore"—and in doing so discards any pretense of historical accuracy.

This or something like it got so far down the pipe that the biggest holdup is the lack of a number on the front. Brian Kelly hates that because it makes it harder to track the opposition's substitutions. (As the kind of person who obsessively tracks his own team's substitutions and gets irritated at teams who don't put names on their jerseys*, I get that.) Michigan is hoping they can get away with a small number like a C or A on a hockey jersey above the block M or that numbers on the helmets will suffice.

So while it's possible the giant raspberry emitted by the public sees Michigan change direction on this specific design, the end result here is going to be an ungainly Frankenstein that no Michigan player has ever worn before. As Eleven Warriors' Ramzy said: "here, have some of our Pro Combat nightmare juice." The only thing that can rescue it is if all the players have Fielding Yost-level lip brooms by kickoff.

But… hey, new scoreboards, right?

*[Penn State excepted for reasons of tradition.]

Comments

bronxblue

May 26th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^

Can't we just use the Miami Sharks' uniforms from Any Given Sunday.  I mean, they have the same connection to reality and tradition as whatever "throwback" uniforms the group at Adidas comes up with.

Promote RichRod

May 26th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^

if it just borrows elements from various past designs and puts them all together.  That's called a mash-up.  You could create just about any uniform using this approach as long as the maize and blue colors factor in somewhere.

It's not grounded in any sort of tradition or heritage and is pretty much a bare money grab (from DB-shocking, I know).  Make it stop.

Six Zero

May 26th, 2011 at 2:45 PM ^

Again I caught myself saying 'hey, I'd like to see it with the whole uniform,' and found myself inspired.  I give you this:

Errr, no

Now that I've seen it like this... No.  Don't think I like it.

That's a pair of umbro shorts away from being a soccer kit.

a2bluefan

May 26th, 2011 at 2:50 PM ^

Call me a dud, but I'm not a fan of the throwback uniform concept at all, and especially not for this game. Why this game?  It's not like we're celebrating the 100th UM/ND game or anything related to the history of the UM/ND rivalry. We're celebrating the first-ever night game at the Big House. This is hardly something from our past, but rather something in our future.

zeda_p

May 26th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^

I'm all for a throwback, as long as it's a button down jersey like the 1800's job. That would be cool. 

Just putting a big 'M' on it.. meh.

Let's make Addidas (finally) do some work.

Caesar

May 26th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^

Alright, I hate to do this, but what are our standards here? I have a hard time expressing why something is ugly, and especially defending my tastes. Could someone try to hook up why the new retros are so bad? Is it because they're too busy? Too much of a departure from Michigan's established traditions?