With the new season starting there needs to be some changes.
No, not players. Or coaches.
Uniforms.
Oklahoma needs to have a variety of different jersey combinations. This will give the fans something to look forward to each game.
I know the game itself is enough for fans to look forward to as the season is about to begin. I’m ready for it. But, the team will stand out more if they wear something besides the same old red and white.
Oregon has over 200 jersey combinations. The Ducks could wear a different uniform each game, if they wanted to.
It would be cool for the Sooners to switch it up from time to time.
Flat red. All black. Add silver.
I really would like an all-white helmet with a red interlocking OU.
It would be something to keep the fans guessing each week about what the jersey would be. It will give the fans something else to look forward to, besides the game. They could wear one uniform for on-the-field warm ups. Then come out of the tunnel for the kickoff in something completely different.
[colordiv color="red"]Sure, a lot of people would say it is a change of tradition. They want the traditional red and white jerseys. Oklahoma has more football tradition than almost any other program.[/colordiv]
So, for old-timers, what’s wrong with “Crimson and Cream”?
A cream jersey would be cool. With cream paints and red helmet. And old-style socks. Why not?
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Regarding Oregon..Remember Nike is based in Portland and one of the Nike co-founders, Phil Knight) is a major Oregon alum-booster with a $14B net worth and the uniform-design resources of Nike at his service. Thus all the uniform designs and variations. Check out their football locker room (google).
First, as one die-hard Sooner with a superhero alias to another… Bravo! (Bet you’ve never heard that one before!)
Now, I think what you are saying is that our uniforms are outdated and a little stale. I could not agree more, Hunter. I do disagree on the premise of taking the Oregon/Oklahoma State approach, however. Part of the experience of Oklahoma fandome is tradition.
We are one of three schools (Oklahoma, Alabama, Notre Dame) with 7 undisputed National Titles since the inception of the AP and Coaches polls (I don’t count Alabama’s “fake” titles). What those three schools have in common is longstanding tradition. Oregon and Oklahoma State… Not so much! We do need some tweaking, because, as already mentioned, the look is stale (just like Notre Dame and Alabama!).
I’d go with the Michigan State approach, rather than the Oregon one. I’d prefer to give Oklahoma a clean, updated modern look that stretches across the athletic department, but leaves the fan a feeling of “continuing with tradition”. Here’s what it would be:
1) Get rid of white! We are Crimson and Cream. Let’s replace all white on our uniforms with an “off white” (say…Pantone 468!). Yes, this includes football, too. what’s wrong with being the only team in CFB to play away games in an “off white?” I like the idea of a white away helmet, only, of course, it would match the new “cream” uniforms.
2) We already decided a long time ago to start outlining the lettering in the endzones. How about outlinng the lettering on the uniforms, too? The black outline around cream colored lettering against the crimson backgrounds will look GREAT!
3) Use a sceondary logo! A while back, I had graphic artist Tim E. O’Brien draw up a logo concept of the Sooner Schooner from the front. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Timmacane/Uniform%20Concepts/May%20Update/Schooner_Logo_1.jpg) It looks GREAT! Why not USE something like this, say, on the sleeves?
4) Have a uniform wordmark for the jersey fronts. Actually… We already have one. How about we USE IT?! Acroos ALL uniforms?
5) Finally, embrace Oklahoma. Have something on the uniforms across all sports that indicates the Sooners as “Oklahoma’s franchise.” I prefer using the center figure from the Oklahoma flag, and placing it on the left side as a chest emblem. On the white (er… “Cream”) uniforms, this would be on a light blue (for the flag) or crimson circle, as the emblem is close to cream in color.
Anyway… Those are my thoughts… Modernize, but then leave it alone.
A) if you are going to publish anywhere, use spellcheck
B) ‘Operations’ before ‘Marketing’: Oregon tries to generate interest in their uniforms because their team is NOT consistently good. They have to trick it up, Marketing creates temporal interest, Operations creates lasting brand value.
C) One throwback uniform game per year is OK.
Good point, Chris. Grammar point: “Oregon tries to generate interest in its uniforms because its team is NOT …” Remember: Singular noun with a singular verb.
This response is full of sentence fragments and misplaced commas as well. It looks like the grammar police just got busted while picking on a high school kid.