If you're one of the two or three Buckeye fans that didn't know by now, the University and Nike held a press event last night at the stadium showcasing the rivalry uniforms, or as the folks in Beaverton refer to them, Pro Combat Uniforms. The Lantern has an excellent slideshow and Doug Lesmerises captured footage of The Quiet Storm presenting a much more football-like presence than the mannequin at the Schott that had served as the public's only previous look at ensemble as a whole.
Does not carry AIDS. Will not end civilization.I'm personally lukewarm on the helmets and probably a little too old to think the gloves are OMG-AWESOME, but I've been a fan of the jerseys and pants since we first saw them. True, it's not a replica of the 1954 kit, but this is 2009 and Dri-FIT's gotta be Dri-FIT, you know.
It seems as if quite a bit of you like them and the consuming public appears to as well: the one-time run of jerseys quickly sold out and can now be picked up on eBay for a mere $250.
Most importantly, the players love them (save for the shoes, that is). If they're good enough for the guys that risk limb every Saturday to bring joy to so many of us, that should be good enough, right? Other collateral benefits include recruiting and the mountains of cash the athletic department stands poised to reap from t-shirts, hats and other forms of apparel deemed worthy of the Rivalry Gear moniker.
It seems as if the crowd most vocal in their opposition to the uniforms is the Buckeye football beat contingent. Some of them are nuanced and hedging in voicing their displeasure while others are endorsing shovel whacks to the face of any fan that buys the "fake" throwback jerseys.
I pointed this out on Saturday, but the press box isn't exactly a well-dressed place. Hard-working, great guys that know a quite a bit about football, but Tim Gunn, they are not.
So why get so worked up? The University even went out of its way in their press release to say it was a one time deal and "We have no plans to make any changes to the traditional Buckeye uniform for the foreseeable future." The Oregonization of uniforms will never happen in Columbus, so can't we just let the kids on the team (and majority of fans) that seem to like the new look enjoy them for one big weekend?
Just hope the unthinkable doesn't happen in them or we'll never hear the end of it.
