First Weekend of College Football Reveals Some Uni Designers Have Lost Their Minds

First off, an apology to my faithful readers here on JJB, I’ve spent the last few weeks moving into my new apartment and getting ready for the new school year, as well as taking care of some personal business, but I’m back to bring you the breaking, most important news, and damn funniest sports jersey blog you will read on these here internets. Now to paraphrase Rex Ryan, let’s go talk about some damn new uniforms! (Quick side note, Oregon did wear new uniforms in their loss to LSU, but the team literally breaks out a new uniform combination every week, so I will not discuss them after this.)

Georgia – My Initial Reaction

Ok, Georgia did do one thing right, they put the team name on the back of every uniform for team pride, which I think is ALWAYS a classy move.  But besides that, they look absolutely ridiculous. The red and silver helmets are a big downgrade from the team’s standard look. And as far as alternate Georgia football uniforms go, these absolutely tank compared to the Matthew Stafford era blackout uniforms. The all red is very ugly and the black and white accents do little to help that. Poor effort here from Nike.

Boise State – My Initial Reaction

You know, some people complained, but I actually liked Boise State’s new pro combat uniforms from this weekend. Do I think it would be cooler if that Blue Bronco were on both sides of the helmet? yes, but the first thing that jumped into my mind were the Pittsburgh Steelers helmets, they are only one sided and they have one of the most beloved helmets in the NFL. The all white jersey looked pretty crisp with its blue and orange accents, and I like that the BOISE STATE is a different color than the numbers. The only creepy part was the one blue shoulder, as it harkens back to Nike’s failed orange shouldered alternates of the Mid-2000’s. Regardless, of all the new uniforms this weekend, this one I would not mind seeing again later in the year.

Oklahoma State – My Initial Reaction

Its not that I hated Oklahoma State’s new uniforms, its just that thanks to the OTHER OSU (Yes, the one you’re thinking of) wore their white/grey uniforms last time they came to Michigan Stadium in 2009. Thus turning me foul on the color. Also, grey is not very intimidating, its just kind of meh, its like Oklahoma State’s away whites were dipped in dishwater or into a puddle and then put on the players.

Maryland – My Initial Reaction

First you need to watch this in case you missed the Miami v. Maryland game from Labor Day

These new Maryland uniforms worn against Miami in their 32-24 win last night set all social media on fire. Twitter hated them, Facebook loved them, and the country was instantly divided by a team’s football jersey, as your faithful author, seeing so much controversy stirred up by a uni made me all bright eyed and eager to jump back on the grind, and you can also thank my friends over at BSPN for asking me to write this post. Here were some of the reactions to last night’s controversial unis

Twitter – Comments ranged from the good, to the bad, to the just plain confusing

“Diggin Marylands color scheme tonight! By far the most unique I’ve seen!” –  Oklahoma Reciever @RyanBroyles

“OH GOSH! Maryland uniforms #Ewwwwww!” – Miami Heat Forward @KingJudas (err..James)

“The 1970’s Houston Astros have just released a statement that they would not be caught dead in the new Maryland football uniforms.” – ESPN Basketball Analyst @JayBilas

Facebook – Info pulled from this CNN post

“From the moment they (Maryland) entered the stadium, there was a collective “huh?” from most people watching.  Depending on which side of the aisle you fall, you see it as either an affectionate nod to their undying love for the state or a group of men headed to a Medieval Times joust.”

• “Did you know if you held your smartphone up to a Maryland helmet last night, it would have scanned it as a QR code?” –  Toby Srebnik
• “It looks like a really bad trapper keeper from 1994” – anonymous
• I blame the (Frederick, Maryland) power outage on TVs overloading from trying to display Maryland’s uniforms.”

Google – Read excerpts from John Talty’s article on International Business Times from this morning.

“At one point during the game, Maryland was the No. 1 Google Trend and multiple Maryland related hashtags were trending on Twitter. those are usually the spots reserved for Justin Bieberor Kim Kardashian, but on Monday, it was all Maryland...It’s an incredibly old cliche to say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but it directly applies to this situation. When one of the major issues a team faces is a lack of relevancy, getting into the news for a gimmicky uniform design is absolutely brilliant…For once Maryland is relevant and that’s all that really matters.”

New Maryland Coach Randy Edsall said on SportsCenter this morning – “We are THE state university of Maryland and are very proud of that, we want everyone in this state to feel a part of what Maryland football is doing, it is our Maryland pride uniform. By putting this one we know that we are playing for every person that lives in this state and every person to every don a Maryland football uniform.”

Most of you are probably wondering now, what do I think about these jerseys? Personally, I was shocked when I saw Maryland come out in these. From the top, I think the split helmet is cool, but is too confusing when the team switches sides of the field, Under Armour needs to leave this idea with other sports. The jersey is not as bad, nor are the pants. I think that these uniforms are a nice homage to the state of Maryland, IF and only IF they are a one time ordeal. My idea is to move to what their NFL siblings do up in Baltimore.

If you look at Ray Rave’s right shoulder, you will see the Ravens secondary logo, which incorporates the team name as well as the Maryland state flag into one nice and tidy coat of arms. If Maryland wants to make a permanent homage to the state they represent, they should figure out a way to incorporate a subtle logo like this onto every uniform combination.

Now as for the upcoming week in College Football, there are two important uni-related notes

The Arizona State Sun Devils will be breaking out their beautiful new ‘Blackout” uniforms against Missouri this coming Friday, September 9. Fans will be wearing black in the stands to make Sun Devil Stadium as intimidating as possible.For my full review of one of my favorite college football uniforms, look here.

And finally, I have to include the fact that I will be attending the Notre Dame vs. Michigan “Under The Lights” matchup at Michigan Stadium this weekend. Both teams will be donning special uniforms which I talked about in a post earlier this summer, which you can read here. I’ll be back with my first NFL primer of the new season after the weekend, but for now, may all of you enjoy the wondrous weekend that is about to be upon us in 3 days, the NFL returns in 2, and Michigan plays ND in 4. Till the next time – J