BFBS, Good or Bad

[WSU151]

I really disagree, McCall. I have yet to see an Oregon student say they hate the black, carbon, and anthracite. Most of them say "OMG THAT'S SICK!" Maybe DMo and Stuckey can expand on this, as they are pretty much our resident Oregon experts. The people who bleed school colors at a school like Oregon are the outsiders and older alumni...not the students or recent grads. Times have changed.

[WSU151]

Indeed. Did you see the National Championship game? The Oregon Ducks were wearing white, black, three kinds of grey, and highlighter yellow. The Oregon fans and cheerleaders, however, were wearing traditional green and athletic gold/yellow.

How much anthracite merchandise was available for sale?

[IceCap]

Given Nike's push to show off their corporate-coloured "sick" new uniforms? I'm sure they sold as much as they could. I have no way of knowing one way or the other though.

Still, you have to imagine that at the very least the black and silver gear would still have been available. The fact that the fans showed up in traditional colours says that the school population hasn't abandoned them completely.

[BadSeed84]

In Modell's I see they are now selling Phillies player shirts in black.

I dunno why but I secretly want one, even tho it makes NO SENSE.

[gdu]

I'm starting to think we're over-thinking the significance of black jerseys

Very true. What about the Sacramento Kings? When they switched from light blue to purple, was that PFPS? Or the New Orleans Hornets added yellow, was that YFYS? I find it quite interesting that people get upset over black and not over other added colors (i.e Sacramento's purple, New Orleans' yellow, and etc)...some sort of subconscious racism?...I dunno.

If the Mavs had made green alts just to sell green alts (but had no other history of the color), that would be GFGS, but that isn't what happened.

Ah, but the Mavs did go BFBS (Blue) though. But since it wasn't the "evil" black that everyone hates on here I guess that one is ok too. lol

No, they didn't. The Mavs were blue and green.

[knnhrvy16]

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).

I hate to break it to you, Knhrvy16, but my utter disdain for BFBS began with the Utah Jazz's black alts. I agree with you, they're not bad in and of themselves, but I was disappointed when they went with black instead of say, light blue, teal, or copper (OK, maybe not that last one, but still). Then you remember that the Jazz wore them about 4 times out of 5 when they were on the road.

I agree that the copper stripe was the best part of the uniform, and it would've been nice to see both a white and purple version of those alts. I also kinda hoped that they'd maybe even go with a green/gold/copper scheme when they changed this last year, or kept the copper with their double blue look.

I totally see what you mean, I don't think black was thier best choice (personally, I too would have preferred a sky blue or teal alt), but for what it was, I don't think it looked bad. The copper really helped it out a ton. Had the side panels been something like purple or white, it would have been awful, but from a design standpoint, the copper was a perfect balance in my opinion.

I remember being 11 or 12 or so and designing (sloppily with crayolas ) an entire Jazz set based on the black alt. I actually liked how it turned out, the purple-copper-black combo looked really nice all around. I wouldn't have minded at all if the Jazz were to head in that direction in '04 rather than the double blues, but at the same time I don't know how well Jazz Nation as a whole would have taken it. I knew quite a few fans who HATED the black alts.

[gdu]

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.

Oregon is one of those completely self-funding athletic departments. Does that make it ok to have BFBS now?

I'm of the mind that BFBS is good when the design is good, and bad when the design is bad. Its a color just like white that any team can use. Not every team SHOULD use black but most teams out there can make it work. A black jersey is just as likely to ugly as a purple or a green or a red jersey is. But when its black everyone around here flips out and whines about Nike ruining another team's identity. I think ASU's new black alts look great. I think Washington's are pretty ugly. I think the Mets and Knicks look better without the black in their uniforms. I HATE the Celtics use of black. I kind of like the Orlando Magic's black alternates, but think the jersey design is pretty bad regardless of color. They're bad, but it has nothing to do with being black. I loved Florida State's black alts, thought they looked awesome.

So the bottom line is that black is just another "supporting color" and I've got no problem with teams using it. BFBS is not inherently good or bad, despite the negative connotation it has around these boards.

That's the thing though, nobody talks about RFRS or PFPS because teams don't just make red or purple uniforms if those aren't there colors. Some of us think the same should be true of black.

Because those aren't neutral colors

Really, neither is black, in the sense of sports identities. White is plain, basic, like a canvass for the team's colors. Other than gray for baseball away uniforms, white is really the only neutral color. Black definately falls within the aspect of a team's color identity, whether as trim, accent or primary.

I disagree. Black in today's sports world has become a neutral color, almost as much as white. I think a lot of teams view black that way, and thus black jerseys consistently pop up. Traditionally you are right, black wasn't always used the way it is used today. But now, yeah, black is much more of a neutral color than it ever was in the past. And for the most part, the people guilty of BFBS unis aren't the teams rooted in tradition anyway (Celtics excluded).

But if you (and lots of people share your view here) still think black CAN'T be considered a neutral color for sports teams, then you will probably continue to see BFBS as a gross violation of uniform aesthetics.

A color can't become neutral, and even if it could black would never be that. Unlike white based uniforms, black uniforms are always at the expense of school colors. You might have any argument if a team had a red road home uniform and black road uniform, but no one does that.

[deliver2david]

A color can't become neutral, and even if it could black would never be that. Unlike white based uniforms, black uniforms are always at the expense of school colors. You might have any argument if a team had a red road home uniform and black road uniform, but no one does that.

The Lakers have a yellow home and purple road so when they went with a white jersey, that was WFWS.

[gdu]

Indeed. Did you see the National Championship game? The Oregon Ducks were wearing white, black, three kinds of grey, and highlighter yellow. The Oregon fans and cheerleaders, however, were wearing traditional green and athletic gold/yellow.

How much anthracite merchandise was available for sale?

uniforms in anthracite were for sale before the NCG.

[BigDmo]

Oregon merchandise is usually sold in 5 main colors, white, green, yellow, black, and gray. Most of these colors have actually been around for quite a while and we aren't the only school to sell gray colored hoodies with our not-so-gray colored logo on it. If this is about merchendising, why aren't we jumping down the traditional schools who let Nike produce black or gray shirts (that sell by the way) for profit?

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/browse/featuredproduct/438154/partnerid/2457/source/froogle_CA?CAWELAID=514649378

AHHHHHH BFBS!!!

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/Texas_Longhorns_Gray_Automatic_Hoody_Sweatshirt

AHHHHHH GFGS!!!!

Oh and for what it's worth, I wasn't too hot with the diamond plate design at first, but it grew on me. Same with the wings and adding in all of those colors. We don't all just lap up what Nike gives us, well most of us (meaning Duck fans) don't. I've gone into many discussions with fellow fans about the jerseys. After a while the general consensus is that in fact yes, we do like them, but hey, maybe it's biased, maybe it's not. There hasn't been any serious revolt or anything like that. Us fans worry about the performance of the team first and foremost, not the uniform.

[Kevin W.]

Those aren't jerseys. That's not even close to the same thing.

[IceCap]

Oregon merchandise is usually sold in 5 main colors, white, green, yellow, black, and gray. Most of these colors have actually been around for quite a while and we aren't the only school to sell gray colored hoodies with our not-so-gray colored logo on it. If this is about merchendising, why aren't we jumping down the traditional schools who let Nike produce black or gray shirts (that sell by the way) for profit?

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/browse/featuredproduct/438154/partnerid/2457/source/froogle_CA?CAWELAID=514649378

AHHHHHH BFBS!!!

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/Texas_Longhorns_Gray_Automatic_Hoody_Sweatshirt

AHHHHHH GFGS!!!!

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

Oh and for what it's worth, I wasn't too hot with the diamond plate design at first, but it grew on me. Same with the wings and adding in all of those colors. We don't all just lap up what Nike gives us, well most of us (meaning Duck fans) don't. I've gone into many discussions with fellow fans about the jerseys. After a while the general consensus is that in fact yes, we do like them, but hey, maybe it's biased, maybe it's not. There hasn't been any serious revolt or anything like that. Us fans worry about the performance of the team first and foremost, not the uniform.

Obviously any fan is going to care more about the team's performance ahead of the uniforms. This is a uniform and logo discussion forum, however. Discussing the pros and cons to uniform and logo design is kind of the point.

[BigDmo]

Indeed. Did you see the National Championship game? The Oregon Ducks were wearing white, black, three kinds of grey, and highlighter yellow. The Oregon fans and cheerleaders, however, were wearing traditional green and athletic gold/yellow.

How much anthracite merchandise was available for sale?

Those aren't jerseys. That's not even close to the same thing.

Oregon merchandise is usually sold in 5 main colors, white, green, yellow, black, and gray. Most of these colors have actually been around for quite a while and we aren't the only school to sell gray colored hoodies with our not-so-gray colored logo on it. If this is about merchendising, why aren't we jumping down the traditional schools who let Nike produce black or gray shirts (that sell by the way) for profit?

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/browse/featuredproduct/438154/partnerid/2457/source/froogle_CA?CAWELAID=514649378

AHHHHHH BFBS!!!

http://www.footballfanatics.com/COLLEGE_Texas_Longhorns/Texas_Longhorns_Gray_Automatic_Hoody_Sweatshirt

AHHHHHH GFGS!!!!

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

I was responding to WSU's comment, but thanks for your input

[IceCap]

And even with all of that grey and black gear available, as well as gear in the colour scheme of the National Championship uniforms available, the vast majority of Oregon fans at the National Championship were wearing green and gold.

[jc...]

Here is a real annoying example of BFBS.

[deliver2david]

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

[IceCap]

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

Is this a jersey that was worn in a game? Or just a fashion jersey?

Context people, context!

[BrandMooreArt]

Here is a real annoying example of BFBS.

Budweiser Select?

because its Harvick and Childress Racing, i dont consider this BFBS. obviously the guy who drove the car before Harvick was synonymous with black and i think they're pulling from that brand. Dale Earnhardt is still a huge brand and moves merch like no other. it has meaning for that team and if it increases hat sales because the black triggers an emotional nostalgic response, then awesome for them

to help clarify what a neutral color is, in design it is the value scale. black white and greys. that donst mean they cant be a primary swatch in a brand identity though, especially sports. but they are neutral because they merge well with various palettes and thats about aas far as the definition goes. so, you can also have your tans and beiges as well. red and yellow are often considered "adopted neutrals" because they work as accent colors with a variety of palettes.

[gdu]

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

Texas never wore those. Although, they did wear silver alts way before it became cool and never sold a replica of them that I am aware of.

[BlazerBlaze]

When Texas comes out with black and/or grey uniforms you might have a point.

Is this a jersey that was worn in a game? Or just a fashion jersey?

Context people, context!

They actually wear those in games.