It's been a day since I saw the first picture of BC's new helmet. My initial reaction was was mild disappointment. I've progressed from there to full on hate.
How can a simple stripe (with stain glass effects) cause some much angst? Because it has no ties to our past, looks like another team, and finally just looks ugly.
When Tom Coughlin added the lone maroon stripe, there was similar head scratching. BC had always worn solid gold. Why change? I liked the first stripe. It was simple. Elegant. It also incorporated our two colors. Instead of complimenting the gold, the new three bar stripe distracts.
My second problem is how much the helmet looks like the 49ers. While that might seem hypocritical coming from someone who was advocating an Eagles-style helmet earlier this summer, there is a difference. My eagle wings idea was for a one-off occasion. This white stripe is permanent. And if we wore wings, we would still look different from the Eagles or Rice because of our color scheme. But our maroon looks enough like the 49ers red, that from a distance it will look very 49erish.
Finally, I just think it looks ugly. If you are going to take up that much space in the center of the helmet, I think you need a logo on the side. As it is, it looks like something is missing.
The Under Armour relationship has been great. I like the new uniforms and appreciate the willingness to give BC a distinct look. But this helmet is the first misstep. And based on how long it took to get rid of the italics numbers, I think we are stuck with the white stripe for at least a decade.
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I thought they should just put "Winning!" on both sides of the helmet.
I did not even notice the stain glass stripe until the close-up of the helmet was posted. I also noticed that the stain glass effect is in the uniform numbers. It's a big change but I have a lot more important things to worry about and so long as they are "winning" I could care less how they look.
i'm guessing the "stained glass" thing is supposed to be a nod to gasson or bapst or something? why else would they put that on there?
regardless, the old helmet was better and didn't need changing.
WHO MAKES THESE KINDS OF DECISIONS FOR BC? When we left the solid gold helmets I was very disappointed, too. Like we were leaving behind our roots to be something else. Can we alums raise some hell on this one? It just looks stupid, ok? Like some interior decorator on Ox thought this was cool and somebody in the Ad's office said,"Awesome." Smoke another one if you like this helmet.
It took me a lot of years to get used to the damn single stripe. Now a double-stripe with"stained glass"? Just awful!
These must have been done by a designer from UConn.
The hockey sweaters are way worse, with "stained glass" on the sleeves.
http://bceagles.cbscollegestore.com/store_contents.cfm?store_id=396&dept_id=15147&product_id=202101
Does UU want to get out of its contract?
Way too "frou frou" for my taste. Looks like a "Project Runway" assignment gone seriously bad.
I think it looks kind of cool. I'm willing to see how it looks on TV before making any final judgments. It gives some uniformity (ah ha ha ha) to our sports teams if they share the stained glass pattern and it is pretty unique.
the more important question is where is baldwin jr?
for a change... this doesn't bother me too much. You knew they were going to carry over the stained glass in someway from basketball and I'll take this over the angry chicken on the helmet...
They already carried over the stained glass pattern from basketball by putting it on the shoulders on the football uniforms and on the sleeves on the hockey uniforms. There is no point for it to be on the helmet other than UA just wanting to do the whole "we're Under Armour and want to show some FLASH" thing. It's ugly. It's pointless. It needs to go.
You know there's nothing going on in BC sports when a bunch of people are up in arms/offended by a stripe on a helmet. Let's take a deep breath... it's not a huge deal - it's just a uniform. And unlike the italic numbers, it doesn't really hinder anyone while watching the game. Football will be here soon enough -- let's hope this team stays healthy, has a little bit of luck, and puts together a nice run...
Definitely not a fan of the stripe. A different idea that I think would be neat if they wanted to put a fresh spin on our helmet, would be to take the stripe away altogether and have just the gold helmet. Then have a variety of stained glass decals (they could just be maroon) that players get rewarded with, akin to the buckeyes on the Ohio State helmet. I think if you had something like that, you have the best of both worlds, the traditional helmet, with Under Armour feeling as though they are making their money with a new concept.
The biggest problem I have is with the SHORT PANTS.
This move is unnecessary, for sure, but I am going to withhold final judgement until I see the helmet from my seats, or an TV. A camera 5 inches away doesn't necessarily show how it will look to spectators.
As mentioned by EL Miz, the stained glass is a nod to BC tradition. The stained glass reminds us that BC is a Catholic place. That's a good thing.
BC should drop the stained glass effect and go back to one stripe. Along with the stripe, if changes need to be made so that the UA marketing team can earn its bonus this year, a maroon number on one side of the helmet akin to U of Alabama would be awesome.
The number should obviously be on the right side of the helmet so that it reminds us that BC is a traditional and conservative university(sarcasm).
I love the colorful stained glass windows in Bapst Library. The stained glass design on the football helment is pointless and only reminds me of the Duke mens basketball uniforms(that have stained glass). BC should do everything it can to distance itself from Duke in athletics.
The new stripe is awful and needs to go. I'm e-mailing Gene about it today.
If BC is going to do stained glass, then there should be some maroon panels and gold panels mixed in with blank panels, a la Frank Lloyd Wright windows. Without color it looks more like cracked glass, or maybe graffiti. It doesn't work anywhere else on the uniform because it can't be seen from a distance.
The double stripe reminds me of 1960s era Pop Warner league helmets. It's very dated. I'm from the gold helmet era, and frankly, I think the maroon stripe adds a touch of class. I guess it reflects our '60s-era coach.
I guess I am in the camp that doesn't understand what all the fuss is.
ATL - can we vote on it ?
The helmet above all else is the most visible identity of the team. To me its sacrosanct, and this minor variation is unnecessary and dumb looking. Go Niners!.....
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