We're Not Sure What "Uniform" Means
It's cool, guys. We're just in our teal phase.
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Ty Cobb; Al Kaline and Harvey Kuenn; Magglio Ordonez
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Gordie Howe; Steve Yzerman; Henrik Zetterberg
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Bill Laimbeer; Allan Houston and Grant Hill; Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups
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Tom Harmon; Jim Mandich; Tom Brady
UPDATE: someone said the "fair comparison" is the changes in Michigan's away uniforms over the years, as if 1) the Notre Dame game was not at home, 2) Michigan changed their away unis three times in a season, four if you count helmet numbers, back in the day 3) and looking stupid is acceptable as long as it's a road game. Here are the incredible changes in the last 40 years.
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1971 MSU program; Jim Harbaugh; Mike Hart
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Dave Brandon; Dave Brandon; Dave Brandon
December 13th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
who it belongs to? You know exactly what I meant.
December 13th, 2011 at 5:05 PM ^
This is not just about "slight changes" to the uniforms. This is about changing the uniforms from game to game -- in one case (at MSU) between warm ups and the game -- just to create some business school ("bs") buzz so that they can be exploited to raise more money for the empire.
I agree that the arguments about whether Adidas' uniform from year whatever is better/worse than Nike's uniform from that other year are very tedious. But meddling by a marketeer over what many fans consider to be an iconic, traditional uniform is legitimately unsettling to fans and probably bad sports management.
Canham sold everything he could, but he never went this far and probably wouldn't have even if it had been suggested. There is a point where selling crap, or changing stuff so it can be resold again, simply cuts to the soul and I don't think it is wrong to say "I object."
December 13th, 2011 at 5:24 PM ^
How does alternate jersey = more money? Does Adidas pay UM more if they wear an alternate design? Is there some assumption that fans will run out and buy these? (Which obviously happened with the UTL jersies, but they made a huge deal of it). I just don't see where the profit stream comes from.
This is not intended as an endorsement of the jersey switching, which I find relatively silly, if not the end of the world.
December 13th, 2011 at 5:29 PM ^
The assumption is that fans will buy these, which will mean more total jersey sales than we'd have if we just had one jersey design. This did turn out to be true in the case of the UTL jerseys, which sold like crazy.
December 13th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
If that's the assumption, I can't imagine they'll sell enough to make any kind of impact on the bottom line of the AD. The UTL jersey was hyped beyond belief, with leaks to the press, a special press conference to announce them, the hype surrounding the night game, and they were the home jersey, which have to sell substantially more than the away jerseys.
December 13th, 2011 at 6:44 PM ^
The assumption that they are going to sell them. In fact, I saw a tweet from the MDen this afternoon (retweeted by Angelique Chengelis) that the uniforms are now on sale.
I don't think it matters (to me) whether they are successful in selling them. They are coming up with different uniforms to sell that are "unique." They are engaging in product differentiation.
I stand with Brian on the point that this is all inconsistent with what a "uniform" is. Add to it that the classic uniform is (was?) great and was traditional, I am irked they are going down this route. Having decided that they need more and more money, they will just keep looking for more and more ways to make money. It is a function of the people they hire and the mission they send them on. I wonder whether they only want to win because there is more money in it.
December 13th, 2011 at 11:13 PM ^
I was going to buy a jersey in the first place. I think it's funny watching people blow a gasket over this, personally.
December 14th, 2011 at 6:43 AM ^
I hope they change jerseys every week if this is going to be the response. You can practically see Bando's head getting ready to explode. I just hope I'm around for the aftermath when they finally start throwing ads inside the bowl at Michigan Stadium, it's going to be an epic meltdown for the ages.
December 13th, 2011 at 6:41 PM ^
and that halo around the stadium 10 years ago was cool.
/s
December 13th, 2011 at 3:53 PM ^
I'm not sure he would have messed with the jerseys if we were the home team. He had ample opportunity to squeeze out more money with jersey alterations for the Ohio State game, but instead left our traditional ones.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
Dave Brandon did, most likely, high-five himself for respecting tradition so much, so fucking much, that he resisted the temptation to leverage his merchandising position with a redesigned jersey for the OSU game.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:20 PM ^
I remember when the 1997 jersey unveiled the blue M on the shoulder/sleeve. I don't remember much complaining, but it was certainly a departure from the Harbaugh-through-Dreisbach away whites. These seem to be more like those 1997 jerseys than the clown costume of the State game.
But to your point that Dave Brandon can't preach tradition and consistency then whip out five game jerseys in 13 games, I join in your opinion. I'm okay with keeping these over the yellow piping ones.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:51 PM ^
Completely agree.
The ever changing unis are stupid.
The hypocritical fanbase - TRADITION RABBLE RABBLE , I like the new home unis! - is stupid.
DB is not good at things.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:07 PM ^
Yeah, I wouldn't particularly have a problem if they were trying to find a good design to stick with, but then why not do that in the off season instead of on the field! How much would you bet that against Alabama next year, we'll be wearing something entirely different yet again! It's not that I don't like the adidas contract, but it does seem that we had good consistency under Nike and that the unis were exactly what you mean. Obviously Brandon doesn't consider the away jerseys particularly important to maintain a brand with them...but it's a slippery slope.
The only jersey that I thought was just a terrible idea was the one worn against MSU...but playing roulette with jerseys is pointless and stupid.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:13 PM ^
or "away" team against Alabama next year?
December 13th, 2011 at 4:20 PM ^
Don't credit Nike.... It's about the school. Ohio State allowed ridiculous throwbacks with Nike, while Alabama's pro combat uniforms were pretty much identical to their normal ones. I guess I can credit Ohio State with only allowing pure throwbacks, but I don't feel like being that generous.
Adidas is simply mimicking Nike, and schools can play along or stop it. Unfortunately, we have played along.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:55 PM ^
I would say its a trend across the industry and its fair to blame adidas for some of this. The more business they generate with the university, the better, so it's not like they won't push some of these crazy concepts towards Brandon. Of course he's the one who has to sign off on it...
December 13th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
The pied piper of pizza LBOs has brought us full and lucrative corporate suites, bumble-bee unis and weddings on the 50 yard line. I am happy that he is on the field every game, giving interviews post-game and keeping sports reporters on speed-dial. Da-vid (pronounced Da-veed, as we with lifetime Black Card Victor status like to call him), is the 1% AD we have been waiting for.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:43 PM ^
Next time the AD job is open please apply....and be prepared to explain on your interview why you thought it was ok to use your MGo megaphone to trash Brady Hoke when he was hired and shackle players with derogatory nicknames. Until then keep barking at the moon about Dave Brandon.
Much as your long hair and scruffy beard try to hide it you are speeding toward 40 and your anti-establishment shtick is getting pathetic.
December 13th, 2011 at 6:30 PM ^
I just have to ask, Brian, why are you fighting this battle? I mean, I agree with you to a point, but really, it's more about the kids. Recruits these days love the variety in uniforms. I understand there's something to be said for giving people want they need instead of what they want (ASU's gang sign trident logos come to mind), but...maybe not so much when you're trying to get these kids to sign up with Michigan.
I think we kind of come of as old men going "Change? Rabble-rabble-rabble!" Given that, I think Brandon knows what he's doing. He's leaving the home jerseys (mostly) intact so people like us don't get too pissed off, and he's doing what he kind to inject variety in the away uniforms to make it exciting for the kids, which they seem to like.
Maybe...not the end of the world?
December 13th, 2011 at 6:42 PM ^
Alabama never changes their uniforms and they do just fine in recruiting.
The whole "Kids like them so we should shut-up," is awful reasoning. Changing our uniforms isn't going to be in the top 5 reasons on why a guy comes to Michigan, and it doesn't help us on the field if they're "excited" about the uniforms they're wearing. You are just trying to find some reason other than the obvious for why we're allowing this to happen.
Being Michigan is much more important to our recruiting than simply trotting out 5 jersey designs in a season.
December 13th, 2011 at 7:37 PM ^
I actually coach high school athletes, kids getting recruited by colleges. Kids have always made choices on colleges for both sound and stupid reasons. Yes, kids like something that stands out. They like to look good. It's just as important as winning. Think about it, kids practice their dunks to get on Sportscenter, but when is the last time you saw a high school or college basketball player use the backboard when trying to make a shot in basketball. they'll try the creative shot that has a low percentage of going in rather than using their friend the backboard.
I love the tradititional uni's but Michigan since Don Canham took over has been about marketting the brand. And if he was alive today, with all the uni-changes, I think he'd be getting his share of the money in the uniform change-up's as well. As long as the helmet stays the same, I could care less.
In the past few years, the sample size of schools that haven't changed their jerseys or gotten into the gimick is probably just Alabama or schools that are completely irrelevant. Oh, Penn State, but now that the old man is gone, don't be surprised to see them try to reinvent themselves as well.
We hired a CEO from Domino's Pizza FERGODSAKES!! What did you expect - not to be corporate?
December 13th, 2011 at 6:53 PM ^
can you back up your first paragraph with facts? or is this just conjecture or a generalization?
just because we only heard positive feedback on the throwback uniforms, doesn't mean everyone loved them. i mean, who is going to complain and risk getting called out?
December 13th, 2011 at 7:00 PM ^
Brian, lets face it, you're just angry at Brandon because he got rid of your boy Rich Rod. It's crazy to me how you can be so up in arms about an away uniform, but sit through 3 years of absolute football crap and offer endless defense for Rich Rod's shortcomings.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:08 PM ^
They are white with maize pants. The number font is exactly the same as on the blue jerseys. There are numbers on the sleeves. There is no block M on the front. Changes have been made to them approximately once every 20 years.
These are all facts that don't apply to the clowniforms. When people say "but Adidas just put a whole bunch of different kinds of piping on them in the past couple years so this is OK too" that makes the false assumption that all that silly piping was also OK.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:48 PM ^
While I'm not a fan of the number of uniforms M has worn this season, I like the Sugar Bowl design better than the regular road unis. If it were up to me, I'd call it the new road jersey and leave it at that.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
Away jerseys are not sacred cows, and besides, these look pretty sweet.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^
I really like the sugar bowl jerseys. As long as they don't mess with our home jerseys, I'm cool with this version.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^
oh man...i spit my drink right out of my mouth when i read Dave Brandon, Dave Brandon, Dave Brandon
December 13th, 2011 at 2:52 PM ^
This season, Michigan has worn:
Six unique designs of jerseys: Normal home, normal away, last year's away template, UTL, MSU alt's, Sugar Bowl alts
Three unique helmets: No-number/blue facemask, UTL numbered/gray facemask, Numbered/blue facemask
Three unique pants: Normal maize, UTL, MSU white's
Just let that sink in for a second.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:04 PM ^
Just wait until next season! The country will laugh and scorn Alabama for their horrible, unrecognizable and bland jerseys while applauding Adidas' recognition of Ann Arbor's liberal tradition by incorporatiing a tye-died jersey, wool socks, and flip flops.
December 13th, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^
is what makes or breaks this from being in line with "tasteful retouching of historical away jersey looks" versus "horribly idiotic, let's put our fight song on our jersey sleeves".
in isolation, these whites are not altogether that bad, but adding a specific undershirt, even the blue one with the yellow M shown above, pushes it over into the realm of the ridiculous.
This started with the Big Chill, and it doesn't look like it's going to end any time soon, and that is what makes me want to vomit...
December 13th, 2011 at 7:51 PM ^
What exactly is idiotic about our fight song?
December 13th, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
I would have gone with Lidstrom over Zetterberg, but I get your point.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^
It just means that you can identify everyone being on the same team for a given game. Not that you can identify one team as being the same from one game to the next.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^
Tigers have the best uniform in sports. So awesome.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:56 PM ^
As long as the shoulder pads don't make the players look like bumblebees, I'm not that against it. The blue Adidas-style things don't look so bad in my opinion. Also, the yellow pants vs. the white pants is a better idea. I also like the yellow outline around the numbers and THANK GOD for no piping.
I agree, perhaps these should be our new away jerseys (but the blue adidas things on the shoulders might look a little weird... KSUish).
December 13th, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
Um....cough...cough. (Pull collar)
I kinda like them.
Now running from angry mob..........
December 13th, 2011 at 3:37 PM ^
I'll confess that my first reaction was "Eh, could have been worse," but...
(1) that reaction says something.
and
(2) I think everything looks better to us when we're 10-2. If I had seen these as we were entering the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl at 6-6, I would have vomited on sight.
December 13th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Oh no, not those freaking MSU away jerseys again. I just had scraped them from my brain.
ARRRRRRRRGH!
December 13th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
At least it's the most restrained of the uniformz we've worn this year.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
Take away the sleeves and the block M on the front and it's awesome jersey IMO. Having said that.....STICK WITH A GODDAMN JERSEY NOW!
December 13th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
Dave Brandon likes Michigan Football. Dave Brandon LOVES money.
December 13th, 2011 at 4:15 PM ^
Funny, didn't he take a huge pay cut to come to UM?
December 13th, 2011 at 5:53 PM ^
Ok, let me re-pharse that. Dave Brandon LOVES making money for the Athletic Department. That, in and of itself, isn't a bad thing, but I feel he is too willing to sacrifice Michigan traditions in the name of profit.
These uniforms aren't bad, but where does it stop? Not knowing that scares me.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^
Athletes representing my alma mater are still playing football, and fans are still filling the stands. The athletes are loving the uniforms, and I am still entertained by the football. Everything else IMO is fluff. Ain't nothin wrong with change.
PS: I think the traditional road uniforms are really ugly.
December 13th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
Change isn't bad per se. But change just for change's sake is stupid.
I think the comparisons shouldn't be made between Tigers/Wings/Pistons/Michigan. Michigan is more like the Yankees/Wings/Celtics/Real Madrid: the best in their respective sports. And none of those teams messes with their brand. Why should they? Why would the best teams want to change? What would they change into? Worse teams.
All of that aside, I don't hate these particular jerseys (assuming the pants are maize). The shoulder stripes are too reminiscent of our opponent, Virginia Tech, actually. The block M on the front doesn't bother me at all. Still, they aren't horribly ugly. I'll accept them as a one off type of thing. I wouldn't like them as a permanent jersey. I also think we should wear our normal whites for a bowl game that the whole country will be watching. But, I'll reluctantly accept it because they aren't too ugly.
Comparing this major overhaul to the adding of the sleeve-block-M-numbers-moved-to-top-of-shoulder-pads in the 90s is silly. Like it or not, that change did add some sort of Michigan-ness to the jerseys. The block M is a very recognizable symbol of Michigan, so it is appropriate to wear them on the road, to show the visiting fans who we are (which is why away jerseys carry the city name in other sports, not the mascot). The Adidas shoulder stripes have nothing to do with Michigan. It's just change for change's sake.
That being said, if anyone touches our blues or our helmets, they can go to hell.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
It's ok to mess with away jerseys camp. Hopefully non ugly preferred.
Tigers away uniforms have changed quite a bit throughout the years, including that horrible time in the 90's where there was no Old English D. Now that's sacrilicious.
But if the home jerseys start getting changed once a year, it's time to head to A2T&P.
December 13th, 2011 at 3:04 PM ^
Where are my Schembechler stripes? And where are we going to put the Big Jonnies? Now get off my lawn!
December 13th, 2011 at 5:36 PM ^
Mad props to you for the first "GET OFF MY LAWN" reference in this thread. I will now get off your lawn.
[EDIT: You beat the Eastwood guy below by just eleven minutes, so good job there. He was probably just looking for that epic .gif, tho.]
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