Is there no end to all the black?!

[lahaye7]

I agree with all of you people. Why would you use black when burnt Orange is probably the most defining team color in sports? When I see that color, I think Longhorns. When I see black, I think of MANY other teams.

[SouthSidePride]

If its a one time thing, it is not bad at all. I kinda like them. Too bad I hate the 'Horns.

[NissanNut]

It's not that bad. Nike may had asked them about the black jerseys, but I have a feeling that the players and coaches had a huge say in it. I don't really want to see them go with black too often, but good idea for this game... before it started. Damn, did they get stomped. Either Duke is real good or Texas is overrated... worst, the game wasn't played at Cameron. But, East Rutherford is Duke's second home.

[jdukie]

This game was nothing more than a perfect example of two teams that have no business having black in there color schemes at all!! I was shocked that Billy Packard was criticing Nike for adding the Black jersey for Texas AND for adding the black trim to the duke uniforms. I think this was the only time I have ever agreed with anything the man has said.

At least the Dukies blew them out, maybe all of this overrated talk will go away.

[cheo25]

I was shocked that Billy Packard was criticing Nike for adding the Black jersey for Texas AND for adding the black trim to the duke uniforms. I think this was the only time I have ever agreed with anything the man has said.

Where was Billy Packer's whining about five years ago when Duke introduced the predominately black uniform, which is far worse than any "trim?" Why didn't Packer criticize Duke and Mike Krzyzewski back then? Nike should be criticized for a lot of uniform garbage they've heaped upon the sports world, but shouldn't the schools and teams wearing them get some criticism, too? I agree with criticism of the Texas black, but Packer oughta keep his mouth shut, since he didn't call Duke on it years ago.

[jdukie]

?I agree with criticism of the Texas black, but Packer oughta keep his mouth shut, since he didn't call Duke on it years ago.

I can agree with this statement. Packard seemed to miss the boat on the whole Duke with their black. As a Duke fan I always tolerated the black alternate before the they started using it full time between 2000-2003. After the 02-03 season they seemed to work the blue jersey back into their regular rotation, but when they added black to the blue jerseys last year and I started to fear that black on the home jerseys wasn't far away. Sadly, my worst fears were confirmed this year.

[thepablo21]

I like how Billy Packer criticizes Nike for bringing out black uniforms, but doesn't mention the MILLIONS of dollars Nike pays the schools to sponser them. I think most any team would add black to their logo for a couple mil.

[powersurge]

I thought it was a stupid explanation too, but that's what they said. Not sure why black would be used to commemorate the anniversary. I think what they meant was that Black is a Nike color, so Nike was using it's own color to commemorate the occasion

Just wondering, how can a company trademark a color?

How is black a NIKE color?

[Mike Felder]

Well, black is not trademarked of course, but pretty much any time Nike gets ahold of a team's uniform, they seem to add black to it. So I see where Packer was coming from there.

And jdukie, I'm with you...I tolerated the black alt. for Duke until it completely replaced the blue roads...and I hate the jerseys they have now. Can I please see the Devils in the road blues again? Please?

[bigwalk]

The first year Duke wore the Black alternates was either '96-'97 or the following year. Then they wore them in a home opener against St. Joe's and maybe once or twice later that year. They didn't get exposed to much of the country in big games for a couple of years. Maybe that had something to do with Packer's response to Texas and not to Duke. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Duke was one of (if not the) first college teams to incorporate a black uniform without having black actually be a school color.

[Mike Felder]

It was '96-'97...the theme of the team's poster for that year was "Back in Black" and had the whole team posing in the new jerseys. I remember seeing them wear them in a road loss to UCLA as well as a few other times.

It was pretty rare to see them in black until 2000 though.

[rainmaker17]

Texas played like plop in them. Maybe they should never wear them again beause they're "bad luck". Or maybe they should stop wearing them simply because they look weak.

Texas coach Rick Barnes made several jokes before the game regarding Nike and the jerseys. He said something to the effect of "if we lose in those jerseys, we'll blame Nike." The consensus here is they won't wear them very often anyway. I wasn't a fan of the idea when I heard about it, but it could have looked a lot more ridiculous.

[hawk36]

Horrible... for both teams. How much nicer it would have been to see an all blue Duke vs an all burnt orange Texas. Guess I'm living in the wrong century for that though.

[Gregmond]

Hawk - I'm with you. I would love for two teams to match up in their coloured uniforms ... provided that they aren't the same colour. They could then have white or black as an alternate.

Why is there this need for at least one team to be in white (except the Lakers) ... no one has B&W TV anymore (which is where I assume the rule came from)!