BFBS, Good or Bad

[Lights Out]

So my point is this: IMO, I don't mind BFBS. Just make sure that it looks good if you're gonna do it.

Same here. I love Arizona State, Virginia Tech, and Oregon's BFBS looks, but where BFBS goes wrong is when you get uniforms like these:

Dark numbers + black jersey = nightmarishly hard to read. Why do teams insist on doing this? Make it readable, please!

[Kevin W.]

Virginia Tech's BFBS was terrible, but with how it was designed, it would have been terrible even if it was white. It just was not a good design.

[Funkatron101]

Hate it. The ONLY instance I have ever liked was the Jazz alts of the early 2000's. Not so much out of homerism, but because I love how copper was used so prominently (black and copper are a fantastic combo). Aside from that, not one BFBS design has ever looked good to me. This includes even random black accents (see New York Knicks or Minnesota North Stars, for example).

EDIT: IDK if this was meant to only pertain to college football, and if so I apologize. I'm just saying that in general, in any sport, it doesn't fare too well with me).

My beef with the Jazz black alternate is the same reason you have issues with those others. That Jazz concept had like 6 colors, and the black was such an insignificant part of the palette that most people wouldn't have guessed that it contained black at all.

[Lights Out]

It also looked like an emo chick's prom dress thanks to that ugly color combo. I would have much rather seen a sky blue alternate with the front mountains.

[BrandMooreArt]

black is widely used because it complements nearly every color scheme and by adding black to a uniform it changes the entire mood/message. you take a red/yellow scheme which is bright, youthful, fun and with black it becomes more intimidating. would Darth Vader be as bad ass if he were wearing any other color? Batman? peoples perception of black (in the west) is that it is a color of rebellion, angst, authority, power, elegance, masculinity, mystery, and elite status. it works well for sports teams. its an easy and effective way do something different to move merch or call attention to a special occasion, like a primetime game which is often when the Ravens break out the black unis.

the bad guys wear black. black credit cards are for a select few. black tie dinners are for the classy and rich. many martial arts highest achievement is the black belt. every color has meaning and symbolizes something. those who say "its just a color" or "it dosnt matter" do not know the first thing about color theory or branding/marketing. color plays as much a part of our lives as anything. it affects our moods, our eating habits, our perception of everything it touches.

black also affects visual weight. a black object appears to weigh more than a white one. this plays a part in athletes as well, making them look slimmer but also heavier and more powerful.

[Falcons11497]

black is widely used because it complements nearly every color scheme and by adding black to a uniform it changes the entire mood/message. you take a red/yellow scheme which is bright, youthful, fun and with black it becomes more intimidating. would Darth Vader be as bad ass if he were wearing any other color? Batman? peoples perception of black (in the west) is that it is a color of rebellion, angst, authority, power, elegance, masculinity, mystery, and elite status. it works well for sports teams. its an easy and effective way do something different to move merch or call attention to a special occasion, like a primetime game which is often when the Ravens break out the black unis.

the bad guys wear black. black credit cards are for a select few. black tie dinners are for the classy and rich. many martial arts highest achievement is the black belt. every color has meaning and symbolizes something. those who say "its just a color" or "it dosnt matter" do not know the first thing about color theory or branding/marketing. color plays as much a part of our lives as anything. it affects our moods, our eating habits, our perception of everything it touches.

black also affects visual weight. a black object appears to weigh more than a white one. this plays a part in athletes as well, making them look slimmer but also heavier and more powerful.

this post> all

/topic

[tvko]

I look at it from a mostly aesthetic standpoint. While I don't like the Mets' black uniforms, it is for a different reason than Paul Lukas. He's concerned with the tradition of the team, I'm concerned with the fact that it doesn't look good. Same thing with Oregon's all-black set. I'm not concerned that it doesn't have any green, its design just doesn't appeal to me. On the flip side, I love USC's BFBS basketball uniforms, because to me they look quite nice.

Additionally, "blackouts" are fine to me as a one-off thing for certain teams, like Georgia used to do with football. AZ State's new alt is OK too, since they are incorporating it into the entire identity. But, if a team like Michigan or Arizona started to wear black trim or a full-fledged black uniform, it wouldn't make any sense and I would be 100% against it, since it wouldn't suit the overall package

With some teams, black has no business being in their set because the identity is already complete. But, a lot of teams that rock the black have either incorporated it into their identity (thus not BFBS) or use it as a special occasion type of thing (take it or leave it depending on the aesthetics).

[Kevin W.]

Oregon's black is especially egregious because it's one of their rival's colors. Would it be ok if Ohio State started wearing blue? How about Texas wearing crimson?

[Lights Out]

I look at it from a mostly aesthetic standpoint. While I don't like the Mets' black uniforms, it is for a different reason than Paul Lukas. He's concerned with the tradition of the team, I'm concerned with the fact that it doesn't look good.

I agree, and you've found a great way to articulate the crux of the problem I have with many of the traditionalists in the uniform scene. There is WAY too much time spent on analyzing the tradition of the program or team and not enough time asking whether or not it looks nice. If a uniform looks great then why should it be rejected and shunned on the grounds of "not traditional enough"?

[Morgan33]

It's a crutch, plain and simple. Can't come up with an interesting alternate with the colour pallet and logo at your disposal? Just colour the primary jersey black with stripes in the team colours. Then you sell it to people on the theory that black is an "attitude."

Agreed. The Sharks "Black Armour" alternates are a good example of this.

[Morgan33]

It's a crutch, plain and simple. Can't come up with an interesting alternate with the colour pallet and logo at your disposal? Just colour the primary jersey black with stripes in the team colours. Then you sell it to people on the theory that black is an "attitude."

Double Post

[Morgan33]

It's a crutch, plain and simple. Can't come up with an interesting alternate with the colour pallet and logo at your disposal? Just colour the primary jersey black with stripes in the team colours. Then you sell it to people on the theory that black is an "attitude."

Triple Post... wow

[infrared41]

Bring all of you discussion about it into this thread because im tired of seeing it in almost every thread about college football.

No one cares.

[BigDmo]

Oregon's black is especially egregious because it's one of their rival's colors. Would it be ok if Ohio State started wearing blue? How about Texas wearing crimson?

Oh please. OSU doesn't own black. If we were using ORANGE I'd be in no way for it.

Besides, black and yellow looks better than orange and black

[McCall]

Oregon's black is especially egregious because it's one of their rival's colors. Would it be ok if Ohio State started wearing blue? How about Texas wearing crimson?

Oh please. OSU doesn't own black. If we were using ORANGE I'd be in no way for it.

Besides, black and yellow looks better than orange and black

Not the point. Of all things, college colors are more or less the most sacred. A lot more than pros. Why would a college all of a sudden add black? And why would they want to go so far away from their traditional school colors? Strictly to look cool or profits.

[rams80]

black is widely used because it complements nearly every color scheme and by adding black to a uniform it changes the entire mood/message. you take a red/yellow scheme which is bright, youthful, fun and with black it becomes more intimidating. would Darth Vader be as bad ass if he were wearing any other color? Batman? peoples perception of black (in the west) is that it is a color of rebellion, angst, authority, power, elegance, masculinity, mystery, and elite status. it works well for sports teams. its an easy and effective way do something different to move merch or call attention to a special occasion, like a primetime game which is often when the Ravens break out the black unis.

the bad guys wear black. black credit cards are for a select few. black tie dinners are for the classy and rich. many martial arts highest achievement is the black belt. every color has meaning and symbolizes something. those who say "its just a color" or "it dosnt matter" do not know the first thing about color theory or branding/marketing. color plays as much a part of our lives as anything. it affects our moods, our eating habits, our perception of everything it touches.

black also affects visual weight. a black object appears to weigh more than a white one. this plays a part in athletes as well, making them look slimmer but also heavier and more powerful.

So we want our sports teams to look like anti-heroes.

Right.

Anti-heroes suck. Thank God the Nineties are over. Please join the 21st Century.

/Doesn't black lose its exclusivity when all the little non-Star-Bellied Sneetches decide they want to wear black too?

[rams80]

Oregon's black is especially egregious because it's one of their rival's colors. Would it be ok if Ohio State started wearing blue? How about Texas wearing crimson?

Oh please. OSU doesn't own black. If we were using ORANGE I'd be in no way for it.

Besides, black and yellow looks better than orange and black

Not the point. Of all things, college colors are more or less the most sacred. A lot more than pros. Why would a college all of a sudden add black? And why would they want to go so far away from their traditional school colors? Strictly to look cool or profits.

We're kind of also dancing around another issue. One of the primary justifications for the existence of collegiate athletics is that the teams serve as advertisements for the schools. Now, when we consider that 1) the list of completely self-funding college athletic departments is rather limited and 2) as a consequence, a lot of athletic departments need the tuition and activity fee dollars of their academic student body to survive, maybe these school advertisements should prioritize donning the academic school colors and not whatever looks cool or whatever Nike told you to wear this month.

I'm also kind of concerned that some here seem to think 17 and 18 year olds are THAT materialistic and can be so easily swayed just by jersey colors. Yes, I know they are quite swayable and shallow, but I think the priorities of most are not that incredibly far out of whack.

[THE U.]

I think it's stupid that Miami uses black as the official away jersey in basketball.

[srj34]

I don't mind black as a trim color - I like the way the Knicks and Celtics use it, for instance - but to just conjure up a black jersey out of nowhere, no. That doesn't work for me.

[McCall]

I don't mind black as a trim color - I like the way the Knicks and Celtics use it, for instance - but to just conjure up a black jersey out of nowhere, no. That doesn't work for me.

Ironically you've given 2 of the best examples of BFBS.