"Bronze: the superior weaponry, armor and strategy made Spartans legendary Warriors." That is the line Nike put in to its video of their new Michigan State Pro Combat uniform. Bronze. There has been a huge uproar since the pictures came out yesterday.
These are actual facebook comments on the uniform page:
[caption id="attachment_98" align="alignright" width="225" caption="The MSU Nike Pro Combat Uniforms to be used against Michigan"]
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"I'm sorry, are we Notre Dame or Michigan State? Where's the "White" to go with the "Green and White"?"
"Cool uniforms - for a team that is green and gold. Maybe my memory is failing, but the Spartans are Green and White!"
"I feel like we are trying to mimic the irish with the gold helmets. Why aren't we using our own traditions. Where is the white!! We are green and white!!"
Those are just three that I picked from the first page of comments. There are 473 comments. Not all are negative but they mostly seem to be. It's also a great way to get Spartans to fight with one another. I'm not sure if there is a single fan base anywhere that hates each other more than Michigan State Spartans. I'll admit it. I hate most of the dumb asses in the stands at games. Just last week against FAU I had to sit through a moron call for "Little Giants" 27 times. That was for every play not just field goals. And don't get me started on the douchebag the week before. There are too many examples to fit into one post.
[caption id="attachment_99" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Not Notre Dame's Helmet"]
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Here's my breakdown of the unis. I like the uniforms. I've liked the switch to dark green over the years and I think the bronze accent in it fits in perfectly without standing out. I love the cleats. I would totally rock shoes colored like that. Actually I already do. I hate the helmet. I understand what they were trying to do, but "300" came out a long time ago. It's a little late to make a uniform honoring the movie. Wasn't Gerard Butler here last year for a game? Does that mean next year we are going to get a spray tan uniform in honor of Jersey Shore since one of the Snookies was here last week? They are called Snookies right? I've never watched the show.
[caption id="attachment_100" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Can Kirk Cousins wear this since we're honoring 300?"]
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If they really want to honor King Leonidas with the helmet, I fully expect Kirk Cousins to have a black wolf hair mohawk on his helmet. Not only does the helmet stick out due to its color, which is different than the other 7 Nike Pro Combat helmets in that it didn't use true team colors, it sticks out because it is ugly and simple. It would be ugly no matter what color that was. That helmet makes me want to go play Halo.
Doug Zuba, a Michigan grad and artist, made a great rendition of the helmet to go with the uniforms. His website is www.thezuba.com, and you can find all his helmet pictures here. The green and white helmets he made are incredibly bad ass. I hope that his design is taken into account for future uniform options.
[caption id="attachment_101" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="Sweet Helmet design from Doug Zuba credit www.thezuba.com"]
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I would go out and buy these helmets in a second. I have two coffee tables sitting next to me that would house these perfectly. They may not make me think of fighting Persians in front of a green screen, but they are sweet.
One thing to remember. These uniforms are not permanent. They will be worn for one game. That's also the biggest problem. They will be worn for the biggest game of the year against our biggest rival. Granted it is something that will make us stand out on a national stage (assuming that game goes national with two undefeated...ish teams), but I don't know that Georgia is thrilled over the national exposure their power ranger pro combat uniforms got them. I'm not sure I heard anybody who like theirs and now we got a helmet similar to theirs...except at least Nike used Georgia's school colors.
Let's take a look at the 8 other Nike Pro Combat uniforms for 2011.
[caption id="attachment_103" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Oregon, Georgia, Boise State"]
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[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Ohio State"]
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[caption id="attachment_105" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="LSU"]
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[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Army"]
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[caption id="attachment_107" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Navy"]
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[caption id="attachment_108" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Stanford"]
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[caption id="attachment_109" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Make the "S" green and this becomes awesome"]
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Oregon's uniforms might not stand out from their usual mix. Georgia's are terrible, along with the dull ugly OSU unis. I like the darkness of Stanford's. I love that helmet. If Nike already has the flat black finish with a block "S" on it all they have to do is make the "S" green for it to be a much better helmet. Instead the bronze brings on too much mention of Notre Dame, or a mix between Wayne State and Notre Dame stirred by the dumb Oregon Duck.
Who knows. Maybe the bronze will be a good look and help us stop Michigan. The look certainly worked well for Notre Dame.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNBhtOaBf2c&feature=player_embedded#!']
As always, follow me on Twitter @ChatSportsEck to get my views on the world.
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