Black is a beautiful color. If it weren’t for all the free gold ASU shirts I have accumulated over the years, I would still have a closet full of black clothes, thanks to my high school days. It’s a timeless color that works with everything, but that being said, I couldn't care less seeing it on our football team anymore.
ASU once again showed off its blackout jerseys (and brand new vomit-decal helmets) on national television during its 37-34 loss to Notre Dame.
I remembered how exciting it was to see those jerseys live for the first time against Missouri during the 2011 season, but now they are just a worn-out, overused option, and that new helmet doesn’t help matters.
I would rather see the team wear its “Maroon Monsoon” jerseys more often, as it did last week against USC. It's a much more modern look that displayed our school’s traditional colors, compared to having an all-black look with our school’s colors demoted to only outlines and stripes on the jersey.
I get it: Black jerseys are always cool to see, because they are automatically associated with being badass, but ASU should have better balance and discipline on when to justify bringing them out another time.
While wearing the black jerseys, ASU has a sad record: Losses to Notre Dame, Oregon and UA, compared to a “win” against Wisconsin this season and against Mizzou back in 2011.
I understand that the alternative jerseys are a nice attraction for recruits, but if we keep on wearing them and losing, the novelty will wear off and they will become just an ordinary jersey. Every team in the Pac-12 can have its own “black out” jersey; it doesn’t make us special.
Stanford recently wore its black attire last Saturday against Washington, and UCLA is debuting an “LA Midnight” look this year (also against Washington — I guess everyone has a problem with the Huskies).
So what does it mean for the initial appeal if everyone is capable of doing the same thing?
Do potential recruits say, “Do I want to wear black with a little bit of maroon and gold on the side or a little bit of blue and gold on the side?”
Sports teams, whether professional or collegiate, have a strong relationship and fascination with having an alternative black jersey. They may look great, but in the end, it means nothing. The only thing that matters is the result of the game.
We could do without the black jerseys and stick with better variations of our school colors. We don’t need to pay royalty checks to whoever is still alive from AC/DC and The Rolling Stones to play “Back in Black” and “Paint It Black” 10 times every quarter at Sun Devil Stadium (or even Kanye West’s “Black Skinhead,” perhaps).
So let’s back out for a while and just bring out a better-designed jersey with our school’s actual colors for everyone to enjoy on the field — ditch the black.
Also, don’t forget to burn those helmets.
Reach the columnist at vqnguye1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @TaeQuangDoh
