Dave Brandon Unveils Commemorative Lloyd Brady 2012 Sugar Bowl Uniforms
ANN ARBOR, Michigan (AP) -
University of Michigan Athletic Director Dave Brandon unveiled a brand new look for the Wolverines football team in preparation for their January 3rd Sugar Bowl appearance against the Virginia Tech Hokies. The announcement caused a firestorm of controversy amongst boosters, university officials, and unemployed arm-chair blog-critics alike.
The audacious uniform design features a University of Michigan student known in fan circles as Lloyd Brady. Brady is screen-printed prominently above the familiar block M logo, holding a spoonful of sugar in rapturous delight to celebrate Michigan's BCS berth.
Ryan VanBergen models the new Wolverines designs and pensively contemplates suicide.
"This is all about extending the Michigan brand," said Brandon in front of an assembly of visibly shocked press correspondants and fans. "Lloyd Brady is an emblem of the plugged-in, 24/7 blogosphere. We worked hand-in-hand with Adidas to make sure he is presented in full splendor. These uniforms harken back to the great traditions of the past while looking forward, boldly, to the coming day when the tail of internet fandom will inevitably wag the dog."
When asked how the idea began, Brandon detailed a wild night of inspiration. "Well, the nebula of the idea started one evening at a local bar with Jim Brandstatter. Beers led to shots, shots led to harder stuff, and, well... Let's just say cocaine played a role. Jim was keyed up, to say the least. Rambling on about Michigan Replay, about how the spread offense was really an outgrowth of the homosexual agenda... lots of wild ideas. I saw his white, powdery mustache and made a comment about how apropos it looked in light of our sugar bowl appearance. Once we got on the subject of sugar, the rest is history."
From there, a team of over three-hundred Adidas designers set to work creating a Sugar Bowl uniform worthy of the annals of Michigan history. "I think, clearly, we're entering a new era in sportswear," said Marty Tisdale, senior game apparel supervisor at Adidas. "The front of the uniform makes a bold statement. This isn't your father's Michigan Wolverines, no way. This uniform is the sportswear equivalent of social media - it gets people talking. In fact, the uniforms are outfitted with smart chips and keypads sewn into the fabric. During timeouts, players can tweet messages, via voice recognition, to fans in real-time with the push of a button."
The eye-catching uniform backsides are sure to turn heads on Jan. 3rd.
"The front of the uniform is really the tip of the iceberg," said Tisdale. "The backside is where we really pushed the envelope. The forty-two block M's on the back represent Michigan's forty-two Big Ten championships. As you can also see, we've tastefully adorned the uniform with a ghost-twill, sweat-wicking logo decal of our marketing partners, Domino Sugar. We hope the fans will appreciate the surprising blend of unrestrained whimsy and soul-crushing corporate fellatio."
When asked what he thought of the design, head coach Brady Hoke muttered something indistinct, then caught Brandon's stern gaze. He then offered, rather half-heartedly, "Well, you know, I think they're... tremendous."
The only coach who didn't seem on-board with the design was offensive coordinator Al Borges, who missed the press conference. He walked into the Schembechler Hall after his lunch break, took one look at the uniform concept, and turned away. After minutes of staring blankly out into the distance, hands in pockets, he said, "What have we done? God in heaven, what have we done?"
Brandon pays no mind to criticism, however. "The future is a scary thing to some people. I mean, think of the first facemasks. At the time, the guys wearing them looked pretty faggy. These are the next step in that evolution."
If Wolverine fans are unhappy with the Sugar Bowl uniforms, they can take heart; they are not permanent. Brandon also announced plans to wear different uniforms for each and every game next season, a total of twelve unique Adidas Tech-Fit designs. "Right now we're experimenting with different looks. Brandstatter and I like black-on-black, maize-on-maize, really eye-catching stuff." Then, with a furtive snort from a rolled hundred-dollar bill, Brandon added, "And of course, there's always white-on-white."
December 13th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
I'll buy seven.
December 13th, 2011 at 8:40 PM ^
Because of the tide turning and all.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:52 AM ^
The tide has turned so drastically that geologists fear that the peninsula known as Michigan may be flooded by the surrounding lakes.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^
I'm holding out, hoping that it floods Ohio instead.
December 14th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^
It seems to fit Ohio's design and fashion aesthetic very well. Would probably sell very briskly, and be hard to keep on the shelves. Unlike in Ann Arbor, say, which is a more pretentious and snotty town.
December 13th, 2011 at 8:41 PM ^
I was eating dinner when I scrolled down to the back-of-the-uniform image. Needless to say, my desk is eating my dinner now. Great job!
December 13th, 2011 at 8:47 PM ^
Ghost of Bo is on a roll! Well done!
...Though now would be a good time for Dave Brandon to debut the Giant Lloyd Brady costume as Michigan's new mascot.
December 14th, 2011 at 8:25 AM ^
Brandon should debut Lloyd Brady himself as our new mascot. And I'm only half-kidding about that.
December 13th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
Thank you for the laughs. You are the King of Toomuchery!
December 13th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^
I would actually buy one of those
December 13th, 2011 at 11:26 PM ^
Brilliant, kudos to you Ghost of Bo. Lol'd and woke up the kids!
December 13th, 2011 at 9:49 PM ^
December 13th, 2011 at 10:12 PM ^
December 14th, 2011 at 9:37 AM ^
the pants too!
Go Blue!
December 14th, 2011 at 10:27 AM ^
They wear pants in Ohio?
December 14th, 2011 at 11:03 AM ^
Only the more sophisticated peole (aka the MIchigan fans)
December 13th, 2011 at 10:13 PM ^
December 13th, 2011 at 10:15 PM ^
Order with the bonus photobomb patch now:
December 13th, 2011 at 10:21 PM ^
So that's what's at the bottom of the slippery slope? It's even worse than I thought.
December 14th, 2011 at 10:47 AM ^
At least it's not scratch & sniff!
December 13th, 2011 at 10:22 PM ^
And his own.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:51 AM ^
[EDIT: cleaned up the picture a bit]
YEAH I MAD
December 13th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
Shit, somebody delete this before Brandon sees it. We can't allow him to get any more ideas in his head.
December 13th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
is still not as good as the classic Idaho Vandals look:
"Dude... I think you need to wipe better."
December 14th, 2011 at 9:53 AM ^
Cripes - that looks like he's got a maxi pad stuck on the outside of his pants.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:16 AM ^
a used tampon.
/ImAGirlImAllowedToSayThat
December 13th, 2011 at 11:04 PM ^
that the points count when you upvote the OP.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:09 AM ^
Thank you for this, it's hilarious!
December 14th, 2011 at 12:12 AM ^
This is brilliantly done. The photoshopping execution, plus the photoshopping ideas (I give extra credit to the tiny block M's; I could actually see adidas or Nike doing something like that) and then the writing is just phenomenal ("pensive;" "contemplating suicide"-- genius). This is just all-around excellent, OP.
December 14th, 2011 at 12:40 AM ^
LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO LMAO
December 14th, 2011 at 12:50 AM ^
But I just feel white hot raeg. Burn all of the uniforms!
December 14th, 2011 at 12:55 AM ^
Hot damn i'll take one.
Come on brandon, this is getting old. at lease these are better than the ones against sparty. I would have been okay with these instead of those but releasing these is kind of like admitting, "oops, you know those jerseys we wore against state? yeah our bad." I have no problem with UTL jerseys but we should not have more than three uni's TOPS
December 14th, 2011 at 12:56 AM ^
I lol'd just looking at the pictures, then I read it. I almost threw up from laughing so hard when I got to the part where Dave talks about doing cocaine with Jim Brandstatter
December 14th, 2011 at 1:05 AM ^
Wow. Just. Wow. +1 internets to you.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:27 AM ^
"Sugar britches" and "Candyass".
December 14th, 2011 at 1:57 AM ^
This post is right on time. I have been suffering from a bad case of end-of-college-football-season doldrums. I believe I am now healed. Thank you, Ghost of Bo.
December 14th, 2011 at 1:59 AM ^
Does Michigan become the first fanbase to make it onto TWIS because of uniforms?
December 14th, 2011 at 2:12 AM ^
but, Bumped So Hard. Awesome, man.
Still waiting on the PhotoBomb bump.
Note: it's hard to type while drunk.... this post took about 5 minutes, and about 31 backspaces to type.
Addendum: what the hell BigTenFootball? Why do you down-vote everything?
December 14th, 2011 at 2:34 AM ^
Attention: I smuggled this concept art out of Brandon's office late this evening...
It's true, men. The shark it about to be officially jumped.
December 14th, 2011 at 3:12 AM ^
Yellow helmet with blue wings FTW!
December 14th, 2011 at 8:24 AM ^
December 16th, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
Srsly. The last game I was at, I noticed 4 different shades of maize on our unis: helmet wings, helmet numbers, jersey numbers, pants.
Is it too much to ask to make them all one color? We have the technology. Can't we write it into the Addias contract that they have to match the maize in the helmet wings?
December 14th, 2011 at 3:40 AM ^
December 14th, 2011 at 9:19 AM ^
The spoon is what makes the uniform. It should be the official Sugar Bowl Logo.
December 14th, 2011 at 3:52 AM ^
The thought of Dave Brandon snorting a line and wiping off his nose while trying to sell us on the importance of having 12 different jerseys for every single game....funny stuff.
Seriously though, do we really need another jersey for the Sugar Bowl? Why must you insist on messing with a classic, Dave Brandon?!!
December 14th, 2011 at 6:35 AM ^
lol....This made my day.
December 14th, 2011 at 7:25 AM ^
Michigan seniors selected alternate jersey for Sugar Bowl
Link: http://detroitnews.com/article/20111213/SPORTS0201/112130428/1131/sport…
December 14th, 2011 at 7:34 AM ^
The title is a bit misleading. Chengelis writes...
"Michigan's seniors were asked for their input into the new white road jerseys the Wolverines will wear for the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3 against Virginia Tech in New Orleans."
This doesn't mean they, themselves, chose to go with alternates. Perhaps they only had the choice between a few Adidas designs. And even if they wanted alternates, I'm not sure the players' desire to switch things up justifies wearing five different uniforms over the course of a 13-game season. Each class will want their own definitive uniform and then we'll have Oregon-esque ANARCHY, I tell you!
I'm still sticking with my original hypothesis: Brandon forced them into it during a coke-fueled rampage.
December 14th, 2011 at 11:04 AM ^
Let the seniors be seniors.
YOU don't have to wear the damn uniform. Unless you are a senior on the football team?
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