Hokies jerseys stolen before game

[rainmaker17]

Thanks Hedley!

[CubsFanBudMan]

As entertaining as this is... in this day and age, it's surprising that VT did not do as others suggested and either A) have 5-10 spares around since numbers can be duplicated in college and/or B ) let the starters wear the jerseys of the 85th man or however many players the Hokies have.

I mean, wearing the GT jerseys is funny, but it just doesn't seem necessary in 2007.

[Coacher42]

I feel for VT! At least the rest of the team had their jerseys. I'm reminded of the 2005-2006 season that I was coaching basketball at McNeese State. Our managers forgot to put the uniforms on the bus for our game at Louisiana-Lafayette. I found out about it right before we pulled into town, about an hour and a half before tip off. We had to play a regionally televised game in ULL's bright red practice gear!

[DDR]

Two thoughts: 1. If I'm a VT player that has his jersey stolen, I'd rather wear the modified (and I use that term loosely) GT jerseys than take the jersey of another unlikely-to-play player. I would feel like I'm insulting them by taking their jersey. They already know they're at the bottom of the depth chart, at least let them keep their own jerseys. Plus, it's kinda funny to have to do that. I'm sure they had some fun with it, and hey, they got a good story (and some media coverage) out of it.

2. If Nike asks me to draw a swoosh on my jersey in that situation, I'm drawing the Reebok logo.

[BlueSky]

This was without a doubt one of the most bizarre things I've seen. Their QB should get an award for "Best Performance While Wearing the Opponents' Uniform."

The announcers also questioned why VT traveled without spare jerseys. Bet they will from now on! There was also some mention of the spare jerseys being flown in from VT on a private jet. If that happened, it's a ridiculous waste of fuel.

[-kj]

Of course, there was the time when Marseille had to wear kits borrowed from the home team, Auxerre, because the kits they brought would have clashed:

Apparently Marseille didn't have an Adidas rep there to make sure that the Airness logo was blacked out. They didn't even cover up the Auxerre crest.

[PackerBadger]

Boy, what a crappy look. Maroon, orange, navy and gold? Who would design that mess? And the player's name in lowercase? Nike has lost its mind!

All kidding aside, I'm a little curious as to why they bothered to put Glennon's name on the back, seeing as how there's no NCAA requirement that names should be on the back. (Though there should be. And now, back to the thread's main point ...) And it is surprising that they didn't carry at least some spares. (I went to a Wisconsin-Minnesota game in 1982 where the Badgers' QB had his jersey ripped in the first half and wore #31 for the rest of the first half, then a nameless #12 (his number) in the second half.)

What would have been more amusing is had GT worn its white jerseys/gold pants combo, which they have done at home on occasion, and VT had worn its maroon jerseys and had to replace a few missing ones with GT's non-white jersey. Imagine a whole team of maroon with a few dots of gold.

[Bouj]

I was at the gym and saw Erin interview the VT QB. Well, I thought it was the VT QB, but then I saw the jersey, and then I was confused by the GT colors, then I saw the blacked out parts. The volume was off, so it took me a couple of seconds to realize what had happened. First I thought he whole team was in GT's white jerseys, but they weren't. After that, I assumed he got blood on his jersey and they had to switch it with a white GT jersey since they hadn't brought an extra.

As for taking a backup's gear, my uncle's buddy, a benchwarmer on the HS football team, had to give up his shoulder pads when the star running back's pads broke. Like on the sideline, right then and there during a game.

Not degrading or insulting at all to let one of the guys on the team know that he has no chance to play, so he might as well give up his pads.

[FlyersHockey1967]

I personally find it stupid that nike actually said to have their logo drawn on the uniform. That makes no sense. They didn't even make the jersey. I guess it's all about the brand these days.

I don't care if they're a nike school, it's gotten beyond pathetic now.

[Billy B]

Virginia Tech should have packed backups in case something like this happens. Even my team did that, and we needed it because someone had to switch numbers. What would they have done if somebody's jersey ripped to the point where it was no longer able to be played in? They should have prepared better, but it was fun to watch. My favorite was the name written with the first letter capital and the rest lower case.

[patsox]

I don't understand why they would even bother writing the names on the back, unless it was a joke or something.

[Luigi74]

Also it looks like they used a normal sized Sharpie to put the names on the back, they couldnt find a jumbo Marks-A-Lot marker.

[BBTV]

Also it looks like they used a normal sized Sharpie to put the names on the back, they couldnt find a jumbo Marks-A-Lot marker.

Now that's a quality marker.

[LMU]

You also have to wonder why they didn't bother writing the names in all caps. The lowercase letters made it looked even more halfassed.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

You also have to wonder why they didn't bother writing the names in all caps. The lowercase letters made it looked even more halfassed.

I think it adds to the charm.

Can Nike legally require VT to draw their logo on jerseys they didn't manufacture?

[BBTV]

You also have to wonder why they didn't bother writing the names in all caps. The lowercase letters made it looked even more halfassed.

I think it adds to the charm.

Can Nike legally require VT to draw their logo on jerseys they didn't manufacture?

Why not? They're essentially just paying for ad space on the jerseys, so I don't look at it any differently than if McDonald's was their sponsor and required their patch on all the jerseys. It's just a little weird since in this case the sponsor's business just happens to be manufacturing jerseys.

[BRice16]

You also have to wonder why they didn't bother writing the names in all caps. The lowercase letters made it looked even more halfassed.

I think it adds to the charm.

Can Nike legally require VT to draw their logo on jerseys they didn't manufacture?

Well, here's the thing, Nike doesn't manufacture jerseys in the first place. Va Tech's jerseys (most Nike teams except Oregon, actually) are made by Powers athletic. They stich the swoosh on as the jerseys leave. So it's really a moot point.

Irony is, Russell Athletic, whose logo was blacked out on the replacement jerseys, used to manufacture some of Nike's on-field stuff in the early to mid 90's.

[DGivens87]

My question is this: what did they do with those "transformed" GT jerseys after the game was over? Did VaTech just give them back? Did they get thrown in the trash?

Inquiring minds want to know!