cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
The new basketball uniforms are sparking up some interest. I've looked at them just as I looked at the new football uniforms over the last few years and I come back to the question, What's wrong with scarlet and gray?
There's more black and more white entering the color scheme of OSU's sports teams and I don't get it.
Red and white, red and black are two of the more popular schemes in college and professional athletics.
Scarlet and gray is unique and I like to think that even if I were not an alum I would still find scarlet and gray a wonderful break from the mundane.
Evidently my opinion is not shared by those who pick the uniforms for OSU, or for that matter by many of you who regularly post here.
My first big question is who's designing this stuff?
My guess is that it is out of the house, Nike Corporate. They've had a love affair with black, especially when it comes to the color of the ink in corporate profits, but also in trying to reduce the use of any school's colors and increasing the use of white or black in uniform design. Why?
Why does Northwestern suddenly show up with black jerseys? Why is Oregon's green and gold suddenly reduced to a piece of piping around a black jersey? Why does OSU suddenly remove the gray from the jerseys and replace it with black and white stripes?
One reason is to make money for Nike. Change a jersey and ex number of fans (the fool's portion in my humble opinion) run out to buy the change.
Another reason I believe is that this is Nike's attempt to create a corporate image that covers all schools. This is not unlike the 1960's decision by the NFL to eliminate all old individual team logos and go with the corporate, league-wide, helmet logo. Good by Brownie, meat packer Hank and quarterback-rising-above-the-towers-of-Manhatten and hello helmet sideview.
Yuck. How conformist.
OSU's colors are unique. That quality makes a statement, you see a team in scarlet and gray in any sport and you think, Buckeyes. It's OUR corporate image.
Think for a second how succesful Michigan has been with their colors and the adoption of the winged helmet to every possible application. (and I don't give a damn if you hate it, the fact is that you instantly recognize it) When you see those shades of blue and yellow and that motif you know what school is involved. That's the power of Product Identity, and they have it in spades and they don't screw around with it.
Now I watch as the gray on football pants fades to damn near white, as the gray disappears altogether from the jersey, and as the basketball team trots about in shorts more suitable for MC Hammer or the cast of The King and I and in the midst of all that cloth I try to find OSU's signature, scarlet and gray. I don't find it.
What gives? What's wrong with gray, especially scarlet and gray, the colors that make our school unique in a world of blue and gold, red and white, red and black?
What's wrong with a school and alumni who say nothing as this tradition gets trampled for the best interests of Nike Inc.?
There's more black and more white entering the color scheme of OSU's sports teams and I don't get it.
Red and white, red and black are two of the more popular schemes in college and professional athletics.
Scarlet and gray is unique and I like to think that even if I were not an alum I would still find scarlet and gray a wonderful break from the mundane.
Evidently my opinion is not shared by those who pick the uniforms for OSU, or for that matter by many of you who regularly post here.
My first big question is who's designing this stuff?
My guess is that it is out of the house, Nike Corporate. They've had a love affair with black, especially when it comes to the color of the ink in corporate profits, but also in trying to reduce the use of any school's colors and increasing the use of white or black in uniform design. Why?
Why does Northwestern suddenly show up with black jerseys? Why is Oregon's green and gold suddenly reduced to a piece of piping around a black jersey? Why does OSU suddenly remove the gray from the jerseys and replace it with black and white stripes?
One reason is to make money for Nike. Change a jersey and ex number of fans (the fool's portion in my humble opinion) run out to buy the change.
Another reason I believe is that this is Nike's attempt to create a corporate image that covers all schools. This is not unlike the 1960's decision by the NFL to eliminate all old individual team logos and go with the corporate, league-wide, helmet logo. Good by Brownie, meat packer Hank and quarterback-rising-above-the-towers-of-Manhatten and hello helmet sideview.
Yuck. How conformist.
OSU's colors are unique. That quality makes a statement, you see a team in scarlet and gray in any sport and you think, Buckeyes. It's OUR corporate image.
Think for a second how succesful Michigan has been with their colors and the adoption of the winged helmet to every possible application. (and I don't give a damn if you hate it, the fact is that you instantly recognize it) When you see those shades of blue and yellow and that motif you know what school is involved. That's the power of Product Identity, and they have it in spades and they don't screw around with it.
Now I watch as the gray on football pants fades to damn near white, as the gray disappears altogether from the jersey, and as the basketball team trots about in shorts more suitable for MC Hammer or the cast of The King and I and in the midst of all that cloth I try to find OSU's signature, scarlet and gray. I don't find it.
What gives? What's wrong with gray, especially scarlet and gray, the colors that make our school unique in a world of blue and gold, red and white, red and black?
What's wrong with a school and alumni who say nothing as this tradition gets trampled for the best interests of Nike Inc.?
