I guess I never thought I’d see the day that the sports landscape would be so dominated by things outside of the game.
Reams of print and a thesaurus of verbiage have covered every aspect of athletes’ continued misdeeds. Discussion about the X’s and O’s of competition has now been replaced with media focus on uniforms.
And the company Under Armour, which is one of the world’s leading retailers of athletic apparel, is licking its chops after receiving a degree of national publicity the company couldn’t even fathom purchasing.
Out West we’re all used to Nike University, home-based in Beaverton, Ore. and headed by Phil Knight, He shops uniforms by the crate-load 150 miles south down I-5 to Eugene and the University of Oregon, his alma mater.
There’s simply no such thing as a traditional Duck uniform or combination of jersey, pants and helmet.
They now reveal their uniforms as part, I guess, of a gridiron fashion show, parading their athletes down a runway before the adoring public and the flashing cameras.
The University of Montana is by no means immune from such things, recently donning all black to face Montana State University and wearing throwbacks for another Bobcat game.
And I can tell you that UM players were pumped when the uniforms were revealed in the locker room a few minutes before kickoff.
But now here comes the University of Maryland, not exactly your household collegiate football power, looking for anything to draw attention to something other than itswin-loss record.
The multiple-colored helmet collage, different on both sides, is designed to replicate the state’s flag.
And the jersey, which they’ve decided not to make available for purchase by the general public at this time, garnered further attention.
Now I never realized that ESPN had a uniform reporter who happens to be the editor of the website Uni-Watch.com.
And I’m more than distressed that the network’s Outside the Lines dedicated the better part of a 30-minute program discussing the uniform’s design, even interviewing “icons” of the fashion industry.
Under Armour, co-founded by Kevin Plank, a Maryland alum and former player who also sits on the school’s board of trustees, inked a $17.5-million agreement to furnish the uniforms to all Turtle (or Terrapin) teams.
For football, the team captains pick the combinations – some kind of pressure and what a way to show leadership qualities.
First-year mentor Randy Edsall is all in favor of the wardrobe diversity. He no doubt realizes where his bread is buttered – and said to play well athletes have to feel good about how they look.
I wonder if NFL Hall of Famers Jim Otto or Ray Nitschke orother gridiron trailblazers worried about such things. Or was their banner predicated on how many paint scrapes adorned their helmet or how much mud was under their facemask at the end of the day?