Tradition do you really care? Or just used against rival fans?
Ok we got the new uniforms and many have issue screaming tradition. I feel Michigan's tradition is first great academics, winning, winged helmet, block M and finally Maize & Blue. Many feel the uniforms are a tradition(though the away ones have changed many times before the past few years). My question and I ask for real honesty is if you really are about the tradition, or is it another point you make in an argument to be better then rival fans? Do you really care or just really care about winning the pissing contest?
Mod edit: Title changed. OP: If this doesn't capture what you're looking for go ahead and change my edit, but "Tradition" isn't descriptive enough. JGB.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:06 PM ^
ever bring up to opposing fans. Keeping with the traditional uniform is important to me because I don't think there's anything else greater than that jersey. And, when fans and opposing fans turn on the TV, they should be able to say, "That's Michigan" at first glance.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:08 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:10 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:11 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^
Dirk McGurk we hardly knew ye.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:12 PM ^
And don't like the uniform (helmet is okay but not an improvement). If nobody buys these "special jerseys" Brandon will stop screwing with them. I won't buy one.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:13 PM ^
is it time to raise the threshold to post new threads?
December 18th, 2012 at 7:19 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:29 PM ^
I'm not sure why people are freaking out about your post so much. It's an interesting question. This place gets really group-thinky about certain things, and I think it's a fair question to stop and ask "how many of you actually think this?"
That said, your title is really bad. I had no idea what the thread would be about when I clicked it. But whatever. Sometimes the internet just has its meltdowns.
December 18th, 2012 at 10:54 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:19 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:16 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 8:39 PM ^
... and I'm reaping all the benifits."
December 18th, 2012 at 7:18 PM ^
I'm going to be honest in the spirit of DirkMcGurk's actual post.
I generally think the alternate uniform craze is just generally stupid. It used to be cool when a team like the Detroit Lions would wear retro uniforms on Thanksgiving or something. I'm not sure I'd say I liked it because of tradition, but it at least seemed to be for a reason other than "we can." Tradition or not, I think it's dumb when "uniforms" change so frequently, seemingly just for the hell of it or to squeeze some dollars (I'm much less opposed to the AD making money than a lot of people around here, but the uniform thing is a means of making money that is unavoidable, which is why I hate it).
Personally, I don't mind the idea of Michigan's uniforms changing, provided the wings are untouched. I didn't mind the UTL jerseys, and I thought the return to putting numbers on the helmets for a season was cool. But again, it was a historic match-up, against historic teams, playing in a historic rivalry, for the first night game in one of the most storied stadiums in the country. It they want to bust out special uniforms for it, so be it. Make it a big ol' spectacle, you've got 113,000 people watching a football game.
My main problem is the degree to which they are usually so ugly. The Sugar Bowl ones weren't bad. The Bama ones were worse than that. The MSU ones were obviously the nadir of Michigan anything. (Still think UTL were pretty cool, though.)
December 18th, 2012 at 7:22 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:24 PM ^
To address the tradition issue surrounding the unis, I for one do not want any changes to the maize and blue home unis. I think we should wear them for all home games. The white away jerseys can be toyed with, but keep it consistent.
I think a football version of the white basketball jerseys would be cool, just keep the maize pants.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:25 PM ^
Wrong song
December 18th, 2012 at 7:30 PM ^
The internet seems to be missing a Fiddler Tradition gif. If I were a rich man, I would do something about it.
As for the original question, I think all of the new uniforms dilute the brand for a quick money grab. I dislike very much.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:30 PM ^
UNACCEPTABLE GIFS!!!!1!!1!
December 18th, 2012 at 7:36 PM ^
or directing me to a better gif site?
This could turn into a pissing match. Let me see your best tradition gif! I think mine is better than yours!
December 18th, 2012 at 7:40 PM ^
My only tradition gif is probably the tradition of me having no idea how to embed anything even though I've probably read a "meta" post about it 300 times.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:48 PM ^
Right click on the gif itself and click copy image location. When you post a reply, click on the green/yellow/red square labeled "image." Next past into the URL and click on a random box. You have added a gif (and great value) to the board.
Now come at me!
December 18th, 2012 at 7:22 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:40 PM ^
Are you saying with your last sentence that we should only care about things if a bunch of other people do as well? If that's the case, you do realize that this is a Michigan blog, that Michigan attracts a lot of nerds, and caring deeply about things few others do is basically a nerd's super power?
December 18th, 2012 at 9:53 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:41 PM ^
Recruits do not give a FUCK about alternate uniforms when it comes to committing to a school.
December 18th, 2012 at 9:55 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 11:23 PM ^
I'm sure they like p---y and cars too. And hell, other schools do that. Why don't we do that?
I like calling triple reverse throwbacks every play. Doesn't mean I'm right.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:27 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:29 PM ^
There are many, many traditions involved with the University of Michigan and it's football team. When it comes to the football team, the only tradition I really care about it winning. I may be in the minoirty, but I wouldn't care if the team rolled out in brown and mauve uniforms if it meant we would win the next 10 national championships. Obviously, that's not realistic, and I do care to a certain extent about the helmet, the home blues, etc, but all I really want is for the team to win...a lot.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:36 PM ^
You should have went to school in the SEC then. Or perhaps Miami is more your speed... (Miami in the 80's of course)
December 18th, 2012 at 7:42 PM ^
But turns out I didn't actually make my college decision on football. Instead I chose on an opportunity for a great education and just ended up along for the ride sports wise.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:56 PM ^
I assumed you did.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:29 PM ^
Agree with your first two sentences. You kind of lost me after that.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:38 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 7:35 PM ^
I'm all about protecting the Tradition that U of M proudly and rightfully owns. While I have reached the point that when I tune in to watch an Oregon football game, I expect "uniformz", I still expect, when I watch Michigan, to see "uniforms".
To see anything less then becomes a distraction from enjoying what I expect to see when I purchased my season tickets or turned the TV on. And I absolutely HATE distractions when it comes to Michigan Football!
December 18th, 2012 at 7:40 PM ^
Honestly, I wouldn't hardly notice the changes if people didn't make a big fuss about them. Then again, I have no fashion sense, nicely augmented by poor vision.
Personally, me, myself, in my own personal opinion, I would save the mother of all uniform changes until we meet Ohio State in a mid October classic.
December 18th, 2012 at 7:42 PM ^
I know right. Whatever happend to predictability, the milkman, the paperboy, evening TV?
December 18th, 2012 at 8:02 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 8:04 PM ^
Damn this kills me.......
December 18th, 2012 at 8:13 PM ^
I reserve the right to be a hypocrite, though, and like an alternate away (not home) jersey that someone comes up with in the future. That has yet to happen, though.
December 18th, 2012 at 8:22 PM ^
"Do you really care or just really care about winning the pissing contest?"
I suppose I would phrase it like this - it bothers me to some extent that the athletic department of my alma mater tinkers with the brand of Michigan to a point where it seems as if things (like alternate jerseys) are done only because the demand for Michigan goods is relatively inelastic as college merchandise goes.
Like some others here, I don't mind a considered approach to the matter of changing the uniforms or alternative jerseys, but when it seems like things are being done because they can be done and for no other reason, and at the risk of diluting the brand (and it might be a long time before this happens admittedly), I do get concerned.
I wouldn't say this is some kind of pissing contest with other fanbases, but instead fans with a vested interest in the marketing of the school for whom they cheer, their alma mater, or whatever the connection may be. The Michigan brand, like few others in college football, is a nationally known and iconic brand that evokes a reaction that few brands do in that realm. People identify strongly with it, to a point where tinkering with it is tinkering with their own identity.
December 18th, 2012 at 8:24 PM ^
December 18th, 2012 at 8:29 PM ^
Through all of those years, our jerseys remained largely identical - sure there were tweaks over time and he materials changed with technology but the changes were minimal and gradual. The jersey that Desmond wore during his heisman season is almost identical to that worn by Woodson during his. That jersey is a sense of identity. I always looked at the schools that regularly screwed around with their jerseys and though "I guess if you have no tradition, that's what you do" but I always thought we were above that gimmicky crap. Alabama, USC and Texas have traditions similar to ours and they keep their jerseys almost identical. Hasn't hurt them in recruiting. I dont understand why we want to be Oregon.
Also, sorry about so many of the snarky posts on this board. Some people just love to trash topics that don't fit their lofty standards. I like this topic.