When has fan pressure worked?

[Blue Falcon]

I'm also wondering about a proposed Steelers change before the '96 season. I remember watching my Stillers barely beat the Colts for the AFC Championship Game, and I distinctly remember hearing Bob Costas say this would be the last game the Stillers played in those uniforms.

I freaked out!!! Not only did the game almost cause me to have a heart attack, but I wasn't able to find any info at all in the ensuing months about any change.

Then in 1997 the Stillers got the rounded numbers and added the logo to the jerseys. But I don't consider that a real 'change' like Costas was hinting at.

Boy, was I pi$$ed about that when I heard it, though.

[edensker]

I can also remember hearing about a proposed change to Nebraska's helmets in the mid 70's.  Keep in mind this was still in the early days of the helmet the team still uses.  The team had apparently hired a graphic designer to come up with a stylized "N" and the best the designer could come up with was the same letter that NBC had started to use the same year (1975, I believe).  The outcry was supposedly pretty vocal at the time.  Thus, the (relatively puny) block "N" survives today.  Can anyone out in Husker nation shed additional light on that story?

That is a very interesting story. I was born and bred a Cornhusker, but have never heard of such a thing. Of course, that might be because I was only ten years old in 1975, and as I grew up in the middle of nowhere, not a lot of information was available in that pre-internet age.

I will ask some of my Cornhusker brethren about this and get back to you.

Speaking of the Nebraska helmet, when Adidas forced those ugly side-paneled jerseys on the Cornhuskers a few years ago, a vague announcement that uniform changes were coming was initially made. Since no details were provided, fans panicked and started writing letters to editor and making calls to the University demanding that regardless of what else was done, the helmet was not to be altered. Fortunately, such a plan was not in the works, and it was a good thing, because there might have been rioting.

[Gothamite]

There may have been some fan pressure involved when the Packers did not change to Vegas gold.

There might have been, had the change been unveiled. But Ron Wolf decided not to go through with it before they ever showed the new uniforms to the fans.

One press release in a team publication was as far as they went.

[Gothamite]

Then in 1997 the Stillers got the rounded numbers and added the logo to the jerseys. But I don't consider that a real 'change' like Costas was hinting at.

It's possible that Costas didn't know how significant (or in-) the change would be, but it was in fact a change. The NFL would probably have announced a forthcoming change, the shops would have cleared out all old Steelers jerseys, etc.

[ASU]

What about the fan outrage due to the famous "49ers" logo change? Niners dropped it like a bad habit.

Did you read the first posting?

[action11]

Houston fans made their soccer team totally change its name from the 1836 to the DYNAMO

[BBM]

Houston fans made their soccer team totally change its name from the 1836 to the DYNAMO

That was because it was considered somewhat racist though, right? Unfortunately there's nothing politically incorrect about the Buffaslug.

[dfwabel]

I can also remember hearing about a proposed change to Nebraska's helmets in the mid 70's.  Keep in mind this was still in the early days of the helmet the team still uses.  The team had apparently hired a graphic designer to come up with a stylized "N" and the best the designer could come up with was the same letter that NBC had started to use the same year (1975, I believe).  The outcry was supposedly pretty vocal at the time.  Thus, the (relatively puny) block "N" survives today.  Can anyone out in Husker nation shed additional light on that story?

That is a very interesting story. I was born and bred a Cornhusker, but have never heard of such a thing. Of course, that might be because I was only ten years old in 1975, and as I grew up in the middle of nowhere, not a lot of information was available in that pre-internet age.

I will ask some of my Cornhusker brethren about this and get back to you.

Speaking of the Nebraska helmet, when Adidas forced those ugly side-paneled jerseys on the Cornhuskers a few years ago, a vague announcement that uniform changes were coming was initially made. Since no details were provided, fans panicked and started writing letters to editor and making calls to the University demanding that regardless of what else was done, the helmet was not to be altered. Fortunately, such a plan was not in the works, and it was a good thing, because there might have been rioting.

You were close. It involved NBC and teh state of Nebraska, but not directly the university and athletic teams.

From Wikipedia: In 1976, NBC unveiled its new "N" logo on New Year's Day, replacing the "NBC Snake" logo that was in use since 1959. The trouble with that, though, was that Nebraska ETV created a similar logo first. NETV filed a lawsuit, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement, in which NETV received a color mobile unit and other equipment totalling over $800,000, in exchange for discontinuing their logo. A new NETV logo, which replaced NETV's "N", was unveilled May 25. NBC's purloined "N" logo lasted until 1979, when the Peacock was overlayed over it. In 1986, the "N" was gone for good when NBC unveiled its current, Peacock-only logo.