Football teams and fans are split into two basic categories: those with flashy neon in your face jerseys and those with more classic, refined jerseys. On any given Saturday afternoon if you happen to tune into an Oregon football game, your eyes will be assaulted with a gaudy display of fluorescent greens and yellows paired with shiny chrome helmets and accents.
On the other hand, if you manage to find a Kansas State football game on TV, you’ll find a Manhattan Classic. Gray helmet with purple powercat on the side. Purple jerseys with two clean white stripes on the shoulders. Silver pants with simple purple and white piping running down the sides. These uniforms don’t just represent the different aesthetic tastes of these two football teams but the difference in the fundamental base that these programs are built on.
While some colleges around the country are starting to focus on TV ratings, others stick with a more traditional, mindset. The Oregon Ducks chose to build state of the art locker rooms and spend time choosing uniforms (granted the CEO of Nike is an alumni of Oregon). In contrast, Kansas State under Bill Snyder will stick to their guns. They chose to build their new press box using classic limestone and bricks around the outside instead of modern materials like glass and metal.
Since Snyder came to K-State, the pregame warmup music has stayed consistent. 1980’s rock classics such as Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and We Are The Champions by Queen are perfectly timed with their routine. Snyder listens to every word of the songs to make sure they fit the K-State style and he chooses classics to warm up to.
This major differences in uniforms and style choices are just a visual representation of the rift that has begun to develop between college football programs. There are pro’s and con’s to both of these choices.
Bright colors and high powered offenses gain more national attention and thus more exposure. On the opposite side, you have teams such as Kansas State that instead choose to focus on sticking to the basics and continuing their style of refined uniforms and classic coaching.
Neither choice is necessarily right for every person, but at some point you have to choose. Me? I say you can keep your flashy greens and yellows. I’ll stick to my Ozzy Osbourne.
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