http://static.flickr.com/67/171277505_38ad397e95_b.jpg <--- pics of new Oregon jerseys:lol
The new Oregon Uniforms are worth every penny. ..
from Uniwatchblog.com .. . which btw is a great site to see all the new jerseys
Oregons new Nike-designed football uniforms are being unveiled today. No, theyre not quite as extreme as the illustration shown at right, but theyre predictably silly nonetheless, featuring four different jerseys, four different pants, and three different helmets, all of which can be mixed and matched (plus there will be several different undersleeve options, creating even more of a crazy-quilt effect). Theyve also reprised the diamondplate pattern and the Oregon and O on the pants, all of which first appeared in last years Civil War game. Basically, the whole thing is ridiculous, which is pretty much what everyone expected.
I got a sneak peek at the new designs because I wrote a short piece about them for the new issue of ESPN [the] Magazine, which hits newsstands today. Naturally, I poked fun at the new unis, although I didnt go overboard because by now everyone knows what to expect from an Oregon uniform. If ever there was a case of Dog Bites Man, this is it.
Anyway, heres what I want to talk about today: While working on that article, I spent the better part of two hours interviewing Nike VP Tinker Hatfield (the guy whos also largely responsible for the Air Jordan line) and Nike Creative Director Todd Van Horne. And as is so often the case when dealing with people you supposedly revile but have never actually met, they turned out to be really interesting folks. I remain diametrically opposed to their notions of branding, and I think their idea of good design is very, very different than mine (and, I hope, yours), but I enjoyed talking with them and gained a lot of respect for them in the course of our discussions. I also give them a lot of credit for being so open and forthcoming with me, even though they knew my feelings about a lot of their work. In short: classy guys.
Stockholm Syndrome? Yeah, maybe, at least in part. But the reality is that its easy to demonize a faceless abstraction called Nike (which is why Ill no doubt continue to do it), but things get a bit trickier when you put living, breathing human beings into the equation. With that in mind, and in the spirit of fairness, I want to share some of the things that came up in our interview but didnt make it into the short article I ended up writing:
The Nike people are well aware that the approach theyve taken with Oregon and with some other schools wouldnt fly with some the countrys more conservative programs. The University of Oregon is willing to partner with us on this approach, and I dont think youd find that in too many Division I programs, Hatfield told me. If we walked into Joe Paternos office and said, How about putting Penn State on the left leg of the pants?, wed probably get tarred and feathered. We think its great that there are these storied programs around the country that have tradition, and you just dont mess with them. I love Michigans uniforms; I love the simplicity of Penn State. He sounded pretty sincere about this (although, as I pointed out to him, Nike did mess with Michigans road jersey last season). Of course, it would be nice if he could bring some of that simplicity to other Nike-outfitted teams, but thats another matter.
If you look again at this photo, youll see that Oregons new pants and jerseys come in green, yellow, white, and black, but the helmets only come in green, yellow, and white. Why isnt there a black helmet? That was discussed some players thought itd be pretty cool, Hatfield told me. But I didnt think it would be right, out of respect for Oregon State, because they have black helmets. So I vetoed any black helmet.
On the performance side, the new uniforms are made of a fabric called FA05, which is supposedly much lighter than its predecessor, FA04. You can see some statistical comparisons here and here.
Nikes Oregon program is all geared toward catering to the athlete not just in terms of the uniforms performance-based aspects (which makes sense), but also in terms of aesthetics (which doesnt, at least to me). They hold focus groups with the players, have the players submit design sketches, and so on. So if you think these unis look like they were designed by a bunch of 20-year-olds, well, to a certain extent they were. They want to feel intimidating, like gladiators coming into the arena, Van Horne told me. And about the diamondplate pattern, Hatfield said, Its basically a graphic representation of toughness. The players want to look tough its a tough sport, theres a lot of intimidation. Frankly, I think this is all pretty stupid, but hey, 20-year-olds are stupid (if anyone reading this is 20 years old, I apologize, but trust me, your smarter years are ahead of you). Of course, the larger issue is why Nike would cater exclusively to the athletes when theres a much larger group of people who have to look at the uniforms, but thats a separate issue.
It could have been worse: Many of the players were in favor of going with the asymmetrical-sleeves look, but the Nike people decided against it.
The tapered uni numbers (heres the full set) are a new typeface called Bellotti Bold. They were essentially art-directed by Oregon coach Mike Bellotti, who didnt like the numbers used in the Civil War game (and hey, who can blame him?). Hatfield said, The tapered number just adds a little more of a dynamic attitude. Basically, if a player feels more invincible, hell go out and play better. Thats sports psychology 101. Again, I think this is silly at best, but it appears to be another case of giving the players (and, in this case, the coach) what they want.
Speaking of the numbers, the actual number fabric is stretch twill, so the numerals will stretch and give along with the rest of the jersey apparently a first in uni design.
So have I suddenly become a Nike apologist? Hardly. I still think theyre the biggest problem in sports design today, I still think they usually have the manufacturer/team relationship backwards, and they reeeaaaalllly need to cut back on all the swooshes. And when Hatfield trots out a talking point like, Were used to the criticism, because thats the role of the leader, as he said to me toward the end of our interview, thats just a convenient all-purpose dodge.
But it was good to trade ideas with Hatfield and Van Horne, and to be able to put a human face on Nike to see the man behind the curtain instead of the Wizard of Oz, so to speak. Only problem is, the curtain is covered in
