I've been asked on a number of occasions what I think about BYU's upcoming blackout against Oregon St. I can't answer that in a short text message or in a brief conversation. My wife would tell you I can't answer much of anything without it being lengthy. I guess it's that attention-to-detail trait that I have and think everyone must appreciate. Anyway, this blog provides plenty of space for my feelings about the black out.
First of all, I generally do not like tinkering with uniforms, especially uniforms I view to be traditional. Oregon can do it all they want. Alabama can't. I am not a Yankees fan, but I'd hate it if they tried a black uniform with white pinstripes, even for one game. Those pinstriped uniforms are perfect. I love the classic, traditional look of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Bears, the Boston Celtics, Penn St. football, Indiana basketball, etc.
I view BYU's uniforms to be traditional. I understand they've been tinkered with right down to changing the shade of blue 13 years ago. There was even the bib debacle in 1999 (maybe it was just me, but I thought Hawaii's uniforms last Friday looked a little bib-ish). The frequent changing of uniforms a decade or so ago gave way to the obscure trivia question: Name the two BYU players who wore completely re-designed home uniforms each of the four years they played. (Answer later.)
My personal preference would be if BYU football and BYU basketball always wore these exact uniforms, only with the shade of blue from the basketball uniform being switched out to match the shade of blue from the football uniform.
Having said all that, I am intrigued when schools periodically have some sort of uniform switch to motivate the players and the fans (and to sell more memorabilia/gear). Such was the case in 2009 against Utah when BYU donned the royal blue above. Those rare cases should comply with the following Rules for an Alternate Uniform:
1. It must never be done more than once in a season. Unless you are Oregon and seem to switch uniforms at the end of each quarter. I personally think special uniforms should be trotted out every few years, not every few games. But NEVER more than once during a season. By the time the Oregon St. game is over, BYU's previous 8 games will have seen them wearing a military/camoflauge look, having a white-out in the stands, wearing their blue tops on the road, wearing their all-whites (jerseys and pants, but okay because of the blue turf), having the fans wear white and blue in alternating sections, having the fans wear all white, and having a black-out. Plus one game in there where everything was just normal. Are you confused? I am.
2. The highest form of alternate uniform is the throwback. You can throw back to almost any era, except the bibs. My BYU Football Vault book even shows a year back in about the 40's or 50's when BYU had some orange in their uniforms. Go with those, go with the royal blues, go with the silver helmets of the 60's, even go with the oval-less "Y" that Jim McMahon wore for a year. Throwbacks are fun, especially if both teams are participating.
3. White-outs look best in the day time (bright) and black-outs look best at night.
4. White-outs work best when the home team is wearing white. White-outs in the Marriott Center for basketball look awesome, as all of the fans match the team. If it were a true white-out in football, the team should wear their white jerseys.
5. A black-out should never be held against a team with black in its color scheme.
6. Any form of military tribute is more acceptable when playing against a service academy. Wearing names like "Honor", "Freedom", and "Duty" on the back of your jersey is just plain hokey.
7. Mixing colors (blue jerseys and blue pants or white jerseys and white pants) is not encouraged, but allowed in certain circumstances (a white-out or playing on Boise St.'s blue turf). It should never be done against Washington (see 1996).
As you can see, BYU has violated every one of these rules this year. In my opinion, here's what the alternate jersey schedule should be:
2009 - Wear the royal blue throwback against Utah; smart move and it worked.
2012 - Have a white-out against Oregon St. Have the players wear white jerseys and pants and ask all of the fans in the stadium to wear white for the afternoon game. All that white might even wake up the "It's not in the afternoon anymore" guy.
2013 - Have a blue-out against Utah. The players will wear blue jerseys and blue pants while Utah wears their white tops.
2015 - Have a black-out against Boise St.
2018 - Have a throwback day against Utah St. or schedule Wyoming or New Mexico for that. Both teams would wear uniforms from like the 1940's. This would be pretty cool. Hey, maybe by 2018 the RB will be needing to be torn down and the game could be held at the site of the old field there.
That's five alternate jerseys in 10 years. Sounds about right to me.
Whatever BYU does, it should do well. If the game is to be a white-out, make everything white - the uniforms, the fans (might even have to give out some white t-shirts), the main theme of the scoreboard and ribbons, etc. If it's a black-out, give fans plenty of time to get their gear and be excited to come in black. If the idea is to alternate sections, make it look more like West Virginia this past Saturday than BYU this past Friday.
If we're going to do something just because everyone else is doing it (which is probably the second main reason after reaping the benefits of apparel sales), we might as well do it better than everyone else.
I'm not entirely against the black uniforms and the black-out. But after eight different variations in the last eight games, and having a black-out in the afternoon, against a team whose colors are orange and black, I am against it. One other drawback of black, in the 4th quarter when the band starts playing "Popcorn Popping", it's going to look like a lot of burnt popcorn bobbing up and down.
So, the short answer to what I think about the upcoming black-out is best described in the short lines of Dr. Seuss:
"I do not like it! Not one little bit!"
Trivia answer: Fahu Tahi and Chris Hale wore different uniforms in 1999, 2003, 2004, and 2005.
