Monday, January 2, 2012

Players, not donors, wear the uniforms

With UNC football's return to Twitter, the players have already offered up a few talking points in the days since their loss against Missouri.

The first of which came from Donte Paige-Moss, who released a few less-than-favorable tweets about his thoughts on UNC's fans, support and the coaching staff. (For the record, I had no problem with what he said about the fans--he was right. But don't sound off on the coaches like that. Anyway, neither here nor there.)

UNC DB Tre Boston tweeted Monday his wish to have better Nike jerseys. "Dear #UNC can we please have swag like #Oregon cause we have the colors to do it but have the tradition of cavemen #SpeakingTheTruth."

Boston's tweet echoed the sentiments of everything I've heard around the football team. They love the colors but find the jerseys to be basic. And when they wore the navy blue unis for the Thursday night game against FSU, that got the players up more than having the game on national television or Lawrence Taylor in the locker room.

It's believed the powers that be want to keep the uniforms traditional rather than go after the Pro Combat unis that Nike puts out or utilize those navy blues more often. Don't feel bad football team, this is kind of how all the females in Chapel Hill felt when UNC cut ties with Victoria's Secret's Pink collection a few years back.

While the older folks may not like the different uniforms and point to Maryland as the cautionary tale, the fact of the matter is it's not about them. It's about the players. And it's obvious the players want the jerseys.


Last season there was talk of silver helmets coming to the team. A photo of one popped up on Twitter but there it stayed, never seeing the field once. It may not be "classic Carolina," but it's something new. Virginia tried it in the Chick-fil-A Bowl the other night, and UNC quarterback Bryn Renner put it best on Twitter "Not a fan of the UVa helmets, but I respect them trying something new."

In my brief time covering recruiting, I've been told by two recruits that a major factor in choosing among schools is the apparel giant that sponsors them. One guy once told me, no joke, that N.C. State and UNC were neck-and-neck, but he was giving UNC the edge because the Tar Heels were sponsored by Nike.

If you can get people to choose your school over another based on who provides your gear, then don't you think you should use that to your advantage. All those scrubs at Oregon would still love being on the team if they were 2-10 only for the reason that they get to take home all. that. swag.

Swag up, UNC football.

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Do you really want players stupid enough to choose their college based on what company provides their gear? Do you really want players stupid enough to get more excited about navy uniforms (not the school color) than being on national tv or visited by one of the best NFL players in history (albeit one of questionable character)? I don't.

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  3. Do the universities, states taxpayers, players(obviously not), students, boosters(no) pay for the uniforms? In my opinion if there is no cost, well, no cost other then a little ribbing from opponents fans, national media, newscasters at sportscenter, siblings, then what is the problem with giving the player what they want? I don't think they need to be switching every game like Oregon does, but why not vote at the beginning of the year which uniforms to wear home, away and then an alternate? The coaches could choose a few options for each so that way everything is under control to a point and something outrageous isn't chosen that could potentially embarass the university. Seems simple enough to me

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  4. How about the military style uniform that North Carolina's basketball team wore for their opening game against Michigan State for the Carrier Classic? I know that was a special occasion but I thought that was a great look and a very well deserved tribute to the men and women that have sacrificed so much for our country.

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