George Ferguson
Well-known member
Been playing golf all day and hadn't a chance to post this. Met some interesting people at the Holiday Inn Express this weekend, including a rep who was here for the game from Nike, Jordan Harper's parents and the officiating crew.
First, the uniforms. I know everybody had their opinions and I see Cat fans hating on us and all, but the minute I saw the tops with the pants, I loved them. The Nike rep told me this year's consensus was simple, solid colors with less going on on the unis. He wouldn't tell me all the combos, but he told me the main home uniform will be the old-school maroon top/solid silver pants. The maroon pants will go into the road rotation as well, and there are other uniform combos. He said the players involved in the process all referenced the unis they saw growing up, mostly 2000-2009. An interesting fact about the new unis is, though they are very simple with two colors, maroon and silver, only Montana, Oregon and Oregon State has this exact Pro Combat style this season. The material, composition and exact design of the Griz' unis this season aren't available to most of Nike's schools until 2014 from what I was told. Thought that was pretty cool. Ran into Nate Harris at a gas station after the game and he said it doesn't even feel like they are wearing a true football uni because they are so light and fit so perfectly. He said they are pretty much the coolest thing he's ever worn in athletics.
Also of note from the game. An observation but thought it was interesting. The red-shirts were really trying to keep the student section in check. Not the fun craziness aspect but the taunting of Appy's players, chants and what not. I witnessed a large group of kids filing down behind the redshirts well before the game started and they were chanting FTC (like dumbasses) and a couple of the red-shirts really admonished them. I'm not sure which ones they were cause they were turned around so I couldn't see the names,but one of them yelled at the kids chanting it "We don't do that here." I thought that was really interesting conisdering none of the RS have even been in the rivalry yet. Another group of girls tried to start the chant and again some of the Redshirts turned around and pretty much put a stop to it quickly. I thought that was really cool.
Met Jordan Harper's parents. They were so excited and proud. Very nice people. Also spoke with a ref who said it was a great game to officiate. He said the noise was unlike anything he's ever experienced. He said it was one of best season-openers he's ever worked based on the atmosphere, the teams, and the execution. He said it was one of the cleanest season-openers he's ever seen and he thought both teams were really talented.
Anyway, a lot to digest still from an amazing night, but those were some things I thought I'd share.
First, the uniforms. I know everybody had their opinions and I see Cat fans hating on us and all, but the minute I saw the tops with the pants, I loved them. The Nike rep told me this year's consensus was simple, solid colors with less going on on the unis. He wouldn't tell me all the combos, but he told me the main home uniform will be the old-school maroon top/solid silver pants. The maroon pants will go into the road rotation as well, and there are other uniform combos. He said the players involved in the process all referenced the unis they saw growing up, mostly 2000-2009. An interesting fact about the new unis is, though they are very simple with two colors, maroon and silver, only Montana, Oregon and Oregon State has this exact Pro Combat style this season. The material, composition and exact design of the Griz' unis this season aren't available to most of Nike's schools until 2014 from what I was told. Thought that was pretty cool. Ran into Nate Harris at a gas station after the game and he said it doesn't even feel like they are wearing a true football uni because they are so light and fit so perfectly. He said they are pretty much the coolest thing he's ever worn in athletics.
Also of note from the game. An observation but thought it was interesting. The red-shirts were really trying to keep the student section in check. Not the fun craziness aspect but the taunting of Appy's players, chants and what not. I witnessed a large group of kids filing down behind the redshirts well before the game started and they were chanting FTC (like dumbasses) and a couple of the red-shirts really admonished them. I'm not sure which ones they were cause they were turned around so I couldn't see the names,but one of them yelled at the kids chanting it "We don't do that here." I thought that was really interesting conisdering none of the RS have even been in the rivalry yet. Another group of girls tried to start the chant and again some of the Redshirts turned around and pretty much put a stop to it quickly. I thought that was really cool.
Met Jordan Harper's parents. They were so excited and proud. Very nice people. Also spoke with a ref who said it was a great game to officiate. He said the noise was unlike anything he's ever experienced. He said it was one of best season-openers he's ever worked based on the atmosphere, the teams, and the execution. He said it was one of the cleanest season-openers he's ever seen and he thought both teams were really talented.
Anyway, a lot to digest still from an amazing night, but those were some things I thought I'd share.
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