Rutgers New Football Uniforms

[RyanMcD29]

Can we get one thing straight here? Although Rutgers has had a mediocre history at best, they still PLAYED. IN. THE FIRST EVER. COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME. Say what you want about the tradition of designs, but it's far from the fact that Rutgers has no history. In fact, it's quite the opposite

[Island_Style]

New uniforms....pretty much everything I expected.

S#!t on your history, whore yourself out to the swoosh, come out looking like some UA rejects...mission accomplished. Congratulations, Rutgers.

What history? The football program's peak was the first game ever played.

[pcgd]

Rutgers: Downhill since 1869

[MC Buffalo]

Can we get one thing straight here? Although Rutgers has had a mediocre history at best, they still PLAYED. IN. THE FIRST EVER. COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME. Say what you want about the tradition of designs, but it's far from the fact that Rutgers has no history. In fact, it's quite the opposite

If this is in response to my post, I didn't mean they had no History of actually playing College Football, but if you asked 100,000 people outside the state of New Jersey (or Big East rival school fans) to name 50 College Football Teams how many lists would have Rutgers on it?

Rutgers will be the talk of the Big East in 2012 if for no other reason then their new duds, I'd take that kind of attention if I were a Rutgers fan.

and these uniforms really are not bad looking, each time you look at the helmet it gets better looking.

[Kevin W.]

Rutgers will be the talk of the Big East in 2012 if for no other reason then their new duds

I doubt it. They aren't the first irrelevant team to introduce flashy new uniforms in an attempt to drum up publicity and most of them didn't really get much publicity outside of the initial unveiling.

It seems that Oregon is the only school that it really works for, but that's mainly because Oregon gets the Nike publicity machine working in overdrive.

[RyanMcD29]

Can we get one thing straight here? Although Rutgers has had a mediocre history at best, they still PLAYED. IN. THE FIRST EVER. COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME. Say what you want about the tradition of designs, but it's far from the fact that Rutgers has no history. In fact, it's quite the opposite

If this is in response to my post, I didn't mean they had no History of actually playing College Football, but if you asked 100,000 people outside the state of New Jersey (or Big East rival school fans) to name 50 College Football Teams how many lists would have Rutgers on it?

Rutgers will be the talk of the Big East in 2012 if for no other reason then their new duds, I'd take that kind of attention if I were a Rutgers fan.

and these uniforms really are not bad looking, each time you look at the helmet it gets better looking.

I wasn't necessarily directing it just at your post, I was seeing it quite a bit in the past few pages. I get what you mean but I was just addressing the majority of the thread

As for the uniforms, as I made mention to earlier, I'm not a fan. I get what they're going for, but it doesn't seem very "Rutgers-like" to me. I mean that as I think of Rutgers as having simplistic looks in football for as long as I can remember. The silver helmets are a cool idea thinking about the Knight imagery, but using it full time isn't the way to go IMO. I've knocked on them emphasizing black too much as of late, and I can see them going overboard on the black here with this new look, too.

[thespleenenator]

Well, I shouldn't have said, "This is what kills me..." That sounds snippy, but I'm not intending to be snippy. I'm seriously wondering why some people think that the uniform needs to be fun to look at. It's interesting to me why some people are more enamored with and focused on the uniform than the team or the game itself. To me, it undermines the point of the game when people are bummed because the uniforms aren't flashy enough.

Part of identifying a team is using their traditions to create tasteful, dignified uniforms. What Rutgers and many other schools have done goes beyond that, abandoning their traditions to create something that a Disney World employee would wear.

Why not? It's fun. It's college. Live a little.

I understand the "fun" aspect of college and agree with it- to an extent. I don't always agree with Paul Lukas, but I think his notion of teams as partly business, partly civic entity applies here. The students and student-athletes will be at the school for four years...sometimes less for the student-athletes who go professional early. Meanwhile, you've got decades upon decades of alums who have been watching their school play ball longer than the players have been alive. Doesn't the team hold a responsibility to maintain at least some resemblance to the team they once knew and watched when they were students? By no means am I denouncing evolution or modernization. But when the change is so radical, how can fans and alums relate to what is essentially unrecognizable from the team they knew?

No. Because I think most smart alums will realise that what they are giving up (a small, mediocre tradition) is much less then what they are gaining (national attention and aknowledgement). I garuntee at least one of their games they wouldn't have been broadcasted, will be, just because of the uniforms. If I am a smart alum or a program that hasn't gone anywhere, I would be happy right now. The alums who actually care about that are not going to be enough to sway the university in any which way.

Now, if Rutgers starts LOSING in these uniforms, then I could see them going back. Otherwise, they'll take the attention and money over the small amount of tradition that nobody cared about in the first place.

Rutgers will be the talk of the Big East in 2012 if for no other reason then their new duds

I doubt it. They aren't the first irrelevant team to introduce flashy new uniforms in an attempt to drum up publicity and most of them didn't really get much publicity outside of the initial unveiling.

It seems that Oregon is the only school that it really works for, but that's mainly because Oregon gets the Nike publicity machine working in overdrive.

1 word: Maryland.

[Kevin W.]

I said most, not all. Also, people stopped giving a crap about Maryland after that one game.

[thespleenenator]

I said most, not all. Also, people stopped giving a crap about Maryland after that one game.

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

Also: Arizona State. I know they had some hype, but not enough hype to warrant the amount of attention they got. The game against MIzzouri was between two unranked oppenents. How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

[Kevin W.]

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

I'd like to see some proof of that.

How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

That too.

[Island_Style]

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

I'd like to see some proof of that.

How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

That too.

It seems the SVP show mentioned what Maryland wore every week. I buy what Spleen is saying.

[aawagner011]

Well, I shouldn't have said, "This is what kills me..." That sounds snippy, but I'm not intending to be snippy. I'm seriously wondering why some people think that the uniform needs to be fun to look at. It's interesting to me why some people are more enamored with and focused on the uniform than the team or the game itself. To me, it undermines the point of the game when people are bummed because the uniforms aren't flashy enough.

Part of identifying a team is using their traditions to create tasteful, dignified uniforms. What Rutgers and many other schools have done goes beyond that, abandoning their traditions to create something that a Disney World employee would wear.

Why not? It's fun. It's college. Live a little.

I understand the "fun" aspect of college and agree with it- to an extent. I don't always agree with Paul Lukas, but I think his notion of teams as partly business, partly civic entity applies here. The students and student-athletes will be at the school for four years...sometimes less for the student-athletes who go professional early. Meanwhile, you've got decades upon decades of alums who have been watching their school play ball longer than the players have been alive. Doesn't the team hold a responsibility to maintain at least some resemblance to the team they once knew and watched when they were students? By no means am I denouncing evolution or modernization. But when the change is so radical, how can fans and alums relate to what is essentially unrecognizable from the team they knew?

No. Because I think most smart alums will realise that what they are giving up (a small, mediocre tradition) is much less then what they are gaining (national attention and aknowledgement). I garuntee at least one of their games they wouldn't have been broadcasted, will be, just because of the uniforms. If I am a smart alum or a program that hasn't gone anywhere, I would be happy right now. The alums who actually care about that are not going to be enough to sway the university in any which way.

Now, if Rutgers starts LOSING in these uniforms, then I could see them going back. Otherwise, they'll take the attention and money over the small amount of tradition that nobody cared about in the first place.

National attention for looking just like every other Nike-fied modern team trying to follow after Oregon's lead? There's only so much national attention and acknowledgment to be had when you look just like everyone else that's trying to do the same thing. Read: Arizona State, Boise, Mizzou, Utah State, Washington State, Hawaii, Maryland, etc. It's flavor of the month at its finest and soon they'll realize they're just like everyone else and have zero distinguishing traits. The attention and acknowledgment will fade away within the first two months of the season. That has no lasting power or benefits.

[Kevin W.]

One radio show =/= the whole sports world. Scott Van Pelt is one man.

[illwauk]

This... is one badass helmet. I may have to pick up a mini version and I'm not even a Rutgers fan.

[thespleenenator]

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

I'd like to see some proof of that.

How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

That too.

I can't sum up old Sportcenter footage from the fall, but I know that at least ONCE ever College Football Final, they mentioned Marylands crazy uniforms.

The first thing people talked about when they mentioned that game wasn't the game itself, it was the uniforms.

http://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-st-sun-devils/2011/9/10/2416697/asu-vs-missouri-wild-victory-sun-devils-blackout-friday-osweiler (Headline is "blackout")

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312520009 (AZ won in a blackout)

And how many people you know went up to you the next day and said "Hey, did you see those Arizona State uniforms?". Same with Maryland.

[aawagner011]

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

I'd like to see some proof of that.

How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

That too.

I can't sum up old Sportcenter footage from the fall, but I know that at least ONCE ever College Football Final, they mentioned Marylands crazy uniforms.

The first thing people talked about when they mentioned that game wasn't the game itself, it was the uniforms.

http://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-st-sun-devils/2011/9/10/2416697/asu-vs-missouri-wild-victory-sun-devils-blackout-friday-osweiler (Headline is "blackout")

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312520009 (AZ won in a blackout)

And how many people you know went up to you the next day and said "Hey, did you see those Arizona State uniforms?". Same with Maryland.

The term "blackout" is used solely as a reference to the crowd theme in those articles you posted. It does not reference the uniforms.

[thespleenenator]

Well, I shouldn't have said, "This is what kills me..." That sounds snippy, but I'm not intending to be snippy. I'm seriously wondering why some people think that the uniform needs to be fun to look at. It's interesting to me why some people are more enamored with and focused on the uniform than the team or the game itself. To me, it undermines the point of the game when people are bummed because the uniforms aren't flashy enough.

Part of identifying a team is using their traditions to create tasteful, dignified uniforms. What Rutgers and many other schools have done goes beyond that, abandoning their traditions to create something that a Disney World employee would wear.

Why not? It's fun. It's college. Live a little.

I understand the "fun" aspect of college and agree with it- to an extent. I don't always agree with Paul Lukas, but I think his notion of teams as partly business, partly civic entity applies here. The students and student-athletes will be at the school for four years...sometimes less for the student-athletes who go professional early. Meanwhile, you've got decades upon decades of alums who have been watching their school play ball longer than the players have been alive. Doesn't the team hold a responsibility to maintain at least some resemblance to the team they once knew and watched when they were students? By no means am I denouncing evolution or modernization. But when the change is so radical, how can fans and alums relate to what is essentially unrecognizable from the team they knew?

No. Because I think most smart alums will realise that what they are giving up (a small, mediocre tradition) is much less then what they are gaining (national attention and aknowledgement). I garuntee at least one of their games they wouldn't have been broadcasted, will be, just because of the uniforms. If I am a smart alum or a program that hasn't gone anywhere, I would be happy right now. The alums who actually care about that are not going to be enough to sway the university in any which way.

Now, if Rutgers starts LOSING in these uniforms, then I could see them going back. Otherwise, they'll take the attention and money over the small amount of tradition that nobody cared about in the first place.

National attention for looking just like every other Nike-fied modern team trying to follow after Oregon's lead? There's only so much national attention and acknowledgment to be had when you look just like everyone else that's trying to do the same thing. Read: Arizona State, Boise, Mizzou, Utah State, Washington State, Hawaii, Maryland, etc. It's flavor of the month at its finest and soon they'll realize they're just like everyone else and have zero distinguishing traits. The attention and acknowledgment will fade away within the first two months of the season. That has no lasting power or benefits.

Newsflash: the general populous doesn't see that. Most people aren't crazy about uniforms like us. They see shiny uniforms, and they talk about it. Schools aren't going to pass up on publicity like that, especially schools like Rutgers.

[PhlyBoy]

People were talking about Maryland for at least half the season.

I'd like to see some proof of that.

How many tuned in JUST to see the black uniforms? I'm willing to be quite a few people.

That too.

I can't sum up old Sportcenter footage from the fall, but I know that at least ONCE ever College Football Final, they mentioned Marylands crazy uniforms.

The first thing people talked about when they mentioned that game wasn't the game itself, it was the uniforms.

http://arizona.sbnation.com/arizona-st-sun-devils/2011/9/10/2416697/asu-vs-missouri-wild-victory-sun-devils-blackout-friday-osweiler (Headline is "blackout")

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312520009 (AZ won in a blackout)

And how many people you know went up to you the next day and said "Hey, did you see those Arizona State uniforms?". Same with Maryland.

Exactly. Uniforms are college football now. Their the "cool" thing. I'm 19, and while I love an Alabama uniform as much as the next guy on these forums, all my friends think is "wow Maryland has sick uniforms" or "what's Oregon wearing this week?" it's the culture, and it's what makes momey. And I'm fine with it. Most teams do pretty cool stuff actually if you took off your traditionalist goggles

[Kevin W.]

Uniforms are college football now. Their the "cool" thing.

Well, then, it's time to give up on college football. If it's more about the fashion shows than the game itself, then all hope is lost.

[thespleenenator]

Uniforms are college football now. Their the "cool" thing.

Well, then, it's time to give up on college football. If it's more about the fashion shows than the game itself, then all hope is lost.

It isn't. The game will always be more than the uniforms. You can wear the craziest stuff in the world, but if you do't win, your attention will only last so long. However, for schools who might need that initial attention boost, uniforms can be a way to achieve that. When you're a program like Rutgers, every little bit helps.